GREAT FAITH

For without faith, it is impossible to please God. For anyone who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

(Hebrews 11:6) 

- believe that He is God, that He can do anything- believe that He rewards those who diligently seek 

Him

The Faith of the Roman Centurion

1 When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. 2

And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3

When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to

grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

(Luke 7:1-5)

6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends,

saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to

come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 9 Now when Jesus

heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they

found the slave in good health. (Luke 7:6-10)

What made the Centurion’s faith so great?

- He believes that Jesus can heal his servant (which is common faith)- What is uncommon and great is his faith in the sufficiency of Jesus spoken word, not requiring his physical presence

God’s word carries His power and is sent out to minister.He sent His word and healed them, and delivered

them from their destructions. (Psalm 107:20)

God’s word is effective.So is my word that goes out from my mouth; it

will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I

sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

God’s promises are exceedingly great and precious.by which have been given to us exceedingly great and

precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:4)

God’s word is alive and powerful.For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power

[making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the

dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) -

Amplified

The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman

from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-

possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away,

for she keeps crying out after us.”

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt

before him, “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the

children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat

the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Then Jesus answered, “O, Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her

daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matthew 15:21-28)

From common faith to great faith:-She also believed on Jesus’ power to heal (common faith)-She actually started with a wrong approach, she came to Jesus in pretense,  she positioned herself as a Jew- She kept shouting and crying out after being ignored by Jesus- She realized her helplessness and removed her pretense, she humbled down to Him- She was tested in her faith and she passed the test- She received a revelation of God’s goodness and willingness to meet her needs

In Conclusion:What makes a person’s faith so great?

1. We must believe in the sufficiency and effectiveness of God’s word-That the word of God carries power to meet whatever needs we have, whether it is healing, or deliverance, or wisdom, or provision, etc.

Then Jesus told him (Thomas), “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those

who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

In Conclusion:What makes a person’s faith so great?

2. We must believe that God blesses us even in times of unworthiness, when we feel like we have failed Him-We must boldly come to Him in the attitude of humility and gratefulness (not boasting)

God has made a great many promises. They are all “Yes” because of what Christ has done. So through Christ we say “Amen.” We want God to receive glory. (2 Cor. 1:20)

3. We must receive revelation upon revelation of God’s goodness, no matter how contrary things may look like