FAITH – Part 2: Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel

In Matthew 8, there is an account of a centurion who comes to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant who is gravely ill. 

        
Matt 8:5-13 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
 
During those days, the Lord Jesus was performing great miracles throughout the land such as healing the sick, making the lame walk, walking on water, calming the sea, raising the dead, etc. This centurion had obviously heard about Jesus (although we do not know precisely what), and believed in his heart that he could beseech the Lord to heal his servant. The Lord Jesus was indeed fully willing to travel all the way to the centurion's home to perform the miracle, however, the centurion revered the Lord Jesus to the extent that he felt unworhty of receiving His holy presence under his roof. The reverence this centurion possessed towards the Lord and his conviction in the Lord's ability to speak the words that could heal his servant from a great distance away astonished the Lord who then made this statement:
                  
Matt 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
 
With that statement, this centurion's faith was declared by the Lord to be greater than all professing Jews of that day, and the Lord went on to add the following:
 
Matthew 8:11-12 Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
 
The reference made to those that will come "from the east and west" is a reference to those that will come from the Gentile nations and become true believers. The reference made to "the children of the kingdom" is a reference to those born as professing Jews. They represent those who should have become true believers because they are direct decendents of Abraham and came from the Jewish nation; they are cast into outer darkness because they never do become saved. This Biblical Christian doctrine, that most true believers will come from the Gentile nations and will accept Christ as their Messiah, rather than from the Jewish nation, who will reject Christ as their Messiah, is taught in several places in the Bible, such as in this parable of Matthew 22.
 
Matt 22:1-10 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.    
 
The reference made to: "but they which were bidden were not worthy..." is a reference to the Jewish nation that should have accepted Christ as their Messiah but never became saved, (and it might also refer to those that should have become saved because they were brought up under the hearing of the Word of God but never do become saved); and the statement: "Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage..." is the invitation that goes out to all the Gentile nations to receive Christ as their savior. Although most true believers will come from the Gentile nations, the Bible declares there will be a remnant of Jews that will become saved.
          
Micah 5:8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
   
Romans 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.

FAITH – Part 1: O ye of little faith

As true believers and faithful Christians, the Lord commands us to have faith and to walk by faith. But what is faith? The Bible defines faith as this:
   
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
 
The Greek words used here are defined as follows:
Faith = "Psitis" = noun = belief; strong conviction of the truth of something

Substance = "Hupostasis" = noun = real; has a firm foundation; firm trust; confidence; assurance
 
of things hoped for = "Elpizo" = verb = to hope for; to wait for with full confidence

the evidence = "Eledchos" = noun = proof; that by which a thing is proved or tested; conviction

In other words, because faith is a noun and not a verb, it is something that we possess, not something that we do. According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the "hoping" is the verb in this sentence. Therefore, we could say that faith is a belief, or a stong conviction, in something that what we confidently trust in, and that it is a true reality, and that we confidently hope for it, or wait for it, even though we cannot see it.

But there are degrees of faith; we can have a little faith, or we can have a great amount of faith. In the New Testament we find a few instances of when the Lord Jesus accused those around Him of having “little faith”, as we read in Matthew 6 in its full context.
   
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
 
God does not want us to worry. As it is a sin to serve the world, it is also a sin to worry about our lives. “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.” And in verse 30 we read; “O ye of little faith”.  In other words, we could say that if we did have a lot of faith, we would never worry about our lives; what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear, and what will happen tomorrow. Every second and every minute that we spend worrying about our lives and about worldly things is precious time that the Lord wants us to devote to seeking the kingdom of God. If we truly have faith that God loves us because we are His child, then we should never doubt that He is always there to watch over us and take care of us.

Imagine a person that had a young son or daughter that would constantly worry about their life, as in, what would they have to eat, or drink, or what clothes would they have to wear. It would be as if that young son or daughter had no trust whatsoever that their parent was able to provide and care for them. It would actually be an insult and an embarrassment. This is the same principle that Jesus is teaching us in Matthew 25. We serve a God of miracles; we serve a God of love that provides for all the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field and who wants to care for us and provide us with what we need. Just as we would always want to provide for our own children and wish for their comfort and happiness. The principle remains the same and when we do not have the faith that God wants to care and provide for us, we insult God.  In our minds and in this way, we reduce the power of God and what His will is for us because it is God who works in us "in both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Therefore when we forget this principle, Jesus makes the charge, "O ye of little faith."

Matthew 6:30-34 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
    
This does not mean there won't be times when we must endure a testing period, such as times when we might suffer great loss or sickness. Just as Job was tested by God, Job knew that we are to receive both good and evil gracefully as Job said to his wife, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
   
Job 2:6-10 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh . What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

However, in the end, God rewarded Job with twice as much as he had before.

Job 42: 9-12 The LORD also accepted Job and the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.