True Faith Shown in Humility

Faith Shown Through Humility

1. We have heard, as the Gospel was being read, the praise of our faith as manifested in humility. When the Lord Jesus promised that He would go to the centurion's house to heal his servant, the centurion answered, "I am not worthy that You should come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant will be healed" (Matthew 8:8).

By calling himself unworthy, he showed himself worthy for Christ to come not into his house, but into his heart. He would not have said this with such great faith and humility if he had not already carried Christ in his heart. For it would be no great happiness for the Lord Jesus to enter someone's house if He were not also in their heart.

This Master of humility, through both word and example, once sat down in the house of a certain proud Pharisee named Simon. Although He sat down in Simon's house, there was no place in Simon's heart "where the Son of Man could lay His head" (Matthew 8:20).

2. The Lord rejected a certain proud man from discipleship who had eagerly volunteered to follow Him. "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go," the man said. But the Lord, seeing what was hidden in his heart, replied, "Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matthew 8:19-20). This means, "In you, deceit like a fox dwells, and pride like the birds of heaven. But the Son of Man—who is simple rather than deceptive, humble rather than proud—has nowhere to lay His head." This laying down of His head teaches humility, not the raising up of it.

Therefore, Jesus turned away this eager volunteer, but drew to Himself another who refused. In the same place, He says to someone else, "Follow Me." But the man replied, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father" (Matthew 8:21). His excuse was a dutiful one, which made him all the more worthy to have his excuse removed and his calling confirmed.

What the man wanted to do was an act of duty, but the Master taught him what he should prioritize. Jesus wanted him to be a preacher of the living word to bring others to life. But there were others who could fulfill the first necessary duty. "Let the dead bury their dead," Jesus says (Matthew 8:22). When unbelievers bury a dead body, the dead bury the dead. The body of one has lost its soul, while the souls of the others have lost God. For as the soul is the life of the body, so God is the life of the soul. The body dies when it loses the soul, and the soul dies when it loses God. The death of the body is inevitable; the death of the soul is voluntary.

3. The Lord sat down in the house of a certain proud Pharisee. He was in his house, as I have said, but not in his heart. But into the centurion's house He did not enter, even though He possessed the centurion's heart. Zacchaeus, on the other hand, received the Lord both in house and heart.

Still, the centurion's faith is praised for its humility. He said, "I am not worthy that You should come under my roof," and the Lord responded, "Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel" (Matthew 8:10)—according to the flesh, that is. For the centurion too was an Israelite undoubtedly according to the spirit.

The Lord had come to fleshly Israel, that is, to the Jews, to seek first the lost sheep among this people, and from this people He had also taken His human body. "I have not found such great faith in Israel," He says. We can only measure people's faith as humans can judge it; but He who saw the inward parts, whom no one can deceive, gave His testimony to this man's heart. Hearing words of humility, He pronounced a sentence of healing.

4. But where did the centurion get such confidence? "I too," he says, "am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it" (Matthew 8:9).

"I have authority over certain people who are placed under me, while I myself am placed under a higher authority. If I, a person under authority, have the power to command, what power must You have, whom all powers serve?"

Now this man was a Gentile, for he was a centurion. At that time, the Jewish nation had soldiers of the Roman empire among them. He served in the military according to the extent of a centurion's authority—both under authority himself and having authority over others. He was an obedient subject who ruled those under him.

But the Lord (and note this especially, beloved, as you need to) was already announcing that although He was physically among the Jewish people only, the Church would spread throughout the whole world. He would send apostles to establish it, while He Himself would not be seen but believed on by the Gentiles. The Jews saw Him but put Him to death.

Just as the Lord did not physically enter the centurion's house, yet while physically absent but present in majesty, He healed the centurion's faith and his household. The same Lord was physically present only among the Jewish people. Among other nations, He was not born of a virgin, did not suffer, did not walk about, did not endure human sufferings, and did not perform divine miracles. None of this took place among the other nations, and yet the scripture about Him was fulfilled: "A people whom I have not known has served Me" (Psalm 18:43). How if they did not know Him? "They obeyed Me when they heard of Me" (Psalm 18:44). The Jewish nation knew Him and crucified Him; the rest of the world heard and believed.

Faith That Touches Christ

5. The Lord also symbolized this seeming absence of His body but presence of His power among all nations in the case of the woman who touched the edge of His garment. He asked, "Who touched Me?" (Luke 8:45). He asks as though He were absent, yet as one present, He heals.

"The crowds are pressing against You," the disciples said, "and You ask, 'Who touched Me?'" It was as if He were walking in such a way that no one could touch Him at all when He asked, "Who touched Me?" They answered, "The crowd presses You." The Lord seemed to say, "I'm looking for someone who touched Me, not someone who pressed against Me."

This is also the case with His Body now, which is the Church. Faith in the few "touches" it, while the crowd of many "presses" against it. You have heard, as His children, that Christ's Body is the Church, and if you are willing, you yourselves are that Body. The Apostle says this in many places: "For His body's sake, which is the Church" (Colossians 1:24), and again, "You are the body of Christ, and members individually" (1 Corinthians 12:27).

If we are His Body, then what His Body suffered in the crowd, His Church suffers now. It is pressed by many but touched by few. The flesh presses it, but faith touches it. Lift up your eyes, I ask you—you who have the ability to see. You have something to see before you. Lift up the eyes of faith. Touch just the edge of His garment; it will be enough to heal you.

6. See how what you heard in the Gospel was prophesied to come and is now being fulfilled. Therefore, on the occasion of the centurion's faith—a man who was physically foreign but at home in heart—the Lord said, "Many will come from east and west" (Matthew 8:11). Not all, but "many" will come from east and west. The whole world is represented by these two regions.

"Many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness" (Matthew 8:11-12). Who are "the sons of the kingdom"? The Jews. Why "sons of the kingdom"? Because they received the Law, the prophets were sent to them, they had the temple and priesthood, and they celebrated the symbols of all things to come. Yet they failed to recognize the presence of the very things those symbols represented.

"Therefore the sons of the kingdom," He says, "will go into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12). And so we see the Jews rejected, and Christians called from east and west to the heavenly banquet, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, where righteousness is the bread and wisdom is the cup.

7. Consider, brothers and sisters, that you are among these people—those who were foretold long ago and are now being shown. Yes, truly, you are among those who have been called from east and west to sit down in the kingdom of heaven, not in a temple of idols.

Be, then, the Body of Christ, not those who merely press against His Body. You have the border of His garment to touch so that you may be healed of the flow of blood—that is, healed of carnal desires. You have, I say, the border of His garment to touch.

Consider the apostles as the garment, clinging closely to Christ's sides through the fabric of unity. Among these apostles was Paul, like the border—the least and last, as he says of himself, "I am the least of the apostles" (1 Corinthians 15:9). In a garment, the last and least part is the border. The border appears insignificant, yet it is touched with healing power. "Even to this hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless" (1 Corinthians 4:11). What state could be lower or more insignificant than this? Touch it, then, if you are suffering from a flow of blood.

Being Mindful of Weaker Brothers and Sisters

8. The border was just now offered for you to touch when we read from the same apostle: "If anyone with knowledge sees you, who have this knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of the one who is weak be emboldened to eat foods offered to idols? And because of your knowledge, the weak brother, for whom Christ died, will perish" (1 Corinthians 8:10-11).

How do you think people might be deceived by idols that they suppose Christians honor? Someone might say, "God knows my heart." Yes, but your brother does not know your heart. If you are strong, beware of greater weakness; if you are weak, beware of even greater weakness.

Those who see what you do are emboldened to do more, to the point where they desire not only to eat but also to sacrifice there. And then, "because of your knowledge the weak brother perishes." Listen, my brother: if you disregarded the weak, would you also disregard a brother? Wake up! What if you sin against Christ Himself?

Pay attention to something you cannot disregard: "When you sin against the brothers and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ" (1 Corinthians 8:12). Let those who disregard these words go ahead and dine in the idol's temple; won't they be among those who press against Christ rather than touch Him? Then they come and fill the church—not to receive healing but to create more pressure.

9. You might say, "I'm afraid of offending those above me." By all means, be afraid of offending them, and you won't offend God. Consider who is above the person you're afraid of offending. Without question, you should be reluctant to offend those in authority over you. But isn't it clear that the One who is above all others must never be offended?

Think about the hierarchy of those above you. First are your father and mother, if they are raising you properly and bringing you up for Christ. They should be heard in all things and obeyed in every command—as long as they don't order anything contrary to the One above them. In that case, they must not be obeyed.

And who, you might ask, is above the one who brought me into this world? The One who created you. A person begets a child but doesn't know how. The parent doesn't know what kind of child will be born. But God, who saw you before you existed so He could create you, is surely above your parent.

Your country, too, should be placed above your parents. When parents command something against your country, they should not be obeyed. And whatever your country commands against God should not be obeyed.

If you want to be healed—if after twelve years of suffering with a flow of blood, after spending all your money on physicians without receiving healing, you finally want to be made whole—O woman whom I'm addressing as a symbol of the Church, the Father commands you one thing and your people another. But your Lord says to you, "Forget your own people and your father's house" (Psalm 45:10). For what purpose? What benefit? What advantage? "Because the King has desired your beauty" (Psalm 45:11).

He has desired what He made. Even when you were deformed, He loved you so that He might make you beautiful. For you—unbelieving and deformed—He shed His blood and made you faithful and beautiful. He loves His own gifts in you. What did you bring to your Bridegroom? What dowry did you receive from your former father and people? Was it not the excess and the rags of sins? He cast away your rags and tore apart your impure clothing. He had mercy on you so that He might adorn you. He adorned you so that He might love you.

10. What more need I say, brothers and sisters? You are Christians and have heard that "if you sin against the brothers and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ" (1 Corinthians 8:12). Don't disregard this if you don't want to be erased from the book of life.

How long should I speak in bright and pleasing terms about something that grief forces me to address and won't allow me to keep secret? Whoever chooses to disregard these things and sin against Christ, let them consider what they're doing.

We want the rest of the unbelievers to be gathered in, but you are becoming stumbling blocks in their way. They want to come, but they stumble and turn back. For they say in their hearts, "Why should we leave the gods whom even the Christians worship as we do?"

God forbid, you will say, that I should worship the gods of the Gentiles! I know, I understand, I believe you. But what consideration are you giving to the weak consciences you are wounding? What consideration are you giving to their value if you disregard their salvation?

Consider at what price they were purchased. "Through your knowledge," says the Apostle, "shall the weak brother perish" —that knowledge you claim to have when you know an idol is nothing, and in your mind you're thinking only of God as you sit in the idol's temple. In this knowledge, the weak brother perishes.

And lest you should pay no regard to the weak brother, the Apostle added, "for whom Christ died" (1 Corinthians 8:11). If you would disregard him, at least consider his price. Weigh the whole world in the balance with the blood of Christ.

And lest you should still think you're only sinning against a weak brother and consider it a trivial fault of little importance, the Apostle says, "you sin against Christ" (1 Corinthians 8:12). People often say, "I sin against another person; am I sinning against God?" Deny, then, that Christ is God. Do you dare deny that Christ is God? Have you learned some other doctrine when you ate in the idol's temple?

The school of Christ does not teach that doctrine. I ask: Where did you learn that Christ is not God? Pagans usually say such things. Do you see what bad associations do? Do you see that "evil company corrupts good habits" (1 Corinthians 15:33)? There in the pagan temple you cannot speak of the Gospel, and you hear others talking about idols. There you lose the truth that Christ is God, and what you drink in there, you vomit out in the Church.

Standing Firm in the Truth

11. "It is no god," you say, "because it is just the guardian spirit of Carthage." As if it would be a god if it were Mars or Mercury! But consider how the pagans view it, not what it actually is. I know as well as you that it's just a stone.

If this "guardian spirit" is truly special, let the citizens of Carthage live virtuous lives, and they themselves will be the "guardian spirit" of Carthage. But if the "guardian spirit" is a demon, you have heard in the same Scripture, "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons" (1 Corinthians 10:20).

We know very well that it is not a god. If only the pagans knew this too! But because of those weak ones who don't know, their consciences should not be wounded. That's what the Apostle warns us about.

The fact that they regard that statue as something divine and take it for a god is proven by the altar. What is an altar doing there if the statue is not considered a god? Let no one tell me, "It's not a deity, it's not a god." I've already said, "If only they knew this as we all do." But the altar stands as a witness against the intentions of all who worship there. May it not also stand as a witness against those who sit at meals with them!

12. Don't press against the Church if pagans do. The Church is Christ's Body. As we were saying, Christ's Body was pressed but not touched. He endured those who pressed against Him but was looking for those who touched Him.

Brothers and sisters, it's my responsibility to speak to you, to speak to Christians. "For what have I to do with judging those who are outside?" (1 Corinthians 5:12), as the Apostle himself says. We address outsiders differently, as being weak. We must deal gently with them so they may hear the truth. But in you, corruption must be cut out.

If you ask how pagans are to be won over, how they are to be enlightened and called to salvation, here's the answer: Abandon their ceremonies, abandon their trivial shows. Then, if they do not agree with our truth, let them at least be ashamed of how few they are.

13. If the one who has authority over you is good, they nourish you; if bad, they test you. Receive nourishment with gladness in the first case, and in testing, prove yourself approved. Be gold. See this world as a goldsmith's furnace—in one confined space are gold, chaff, and fire. The fire is applied to the first two: the chaff is burned, and the gold is purified.

Someone has yielded to threats and been led away to the idol's temple: Alas! I mourn the chaff; I see the ashes. Another has not yet yielded to threats or terrors. They have been brought before the judge and stood firm in their confession, not bowing down to the idol. What does the flame do to such a person? Doesn't it purify the gold?

Stand firm, then, brothers and sisters, in the Lord. Greater in power is the One who has called you. Don't be afraid of the threats of the ungodly. Bear with your enemies—among them you have those for whom you may pray. Don't let them terrify you in any way.

This is true health—draw it out at this feast here, from this source. Here drink what will satisfy you, not what will only drive you to madness at those other feasts. Stand firm in the Lord. You are silver now, but you will be gold. This comparison isn't our own invention; it comes from Holy Scripture: "As gold in the furnace, He has tried them and received them as a sacrificial offering" (Wisdom 3:6). See what you will be among God's treasures! Be rich in relation to God—not to make Him rich, but to become rich from Him. Let Him fill you; admit nothing else into your heart.

14. Are we encouraging pride or telling you to despise authorities? Not at all. Those of you who are troubled on this point, touch also that border of the garment. The Apostle himself says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God" (Romans 13:1-2).

But what if authority commands something you should not do? In this case, disregard the lesser power out of respect for the greater Power. Consider the different levels of human authority. If a local official orders something, must it not be done? Yet if the order contradicts the provincial governor, you don't despise authority—you choose to obey the greater authority. The lesser authority shouldn't be angry if the greater is preferred.

Again, if the governor orders one thing and the emperor another, is there any doubt that you should disregard the former and obey the latter? So if the emperor commands one thing and God another, what do you decide? "Pay me taxes, be subject to my authority." Yes, that's right, but not in an idol's temple! In an idol's temple, God forbids it. Who forbids it? A greater Power! Pardon me, then. You threaten imprisonment; He threatens hell. Here you must take up your "shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one" (Ephesians 6:16).

15. But one of these authorities is plotting evil against you. Well, he is only sharpening a razor to shave the hair, not to cut off the head. You have just heard what I said in the Psalm: "You have worked deceit like a sharp razor" (Psalm 52:2).

Why did God compare the deceit of a wicked ruler to a razor? Because it only reaches our excess parts. Just as hair seems superfluous on our body and can be shaved off without any loss to our flesh, whatever an angry ruler can take from you should be counted among your superfluities. He takes away your poverty—can he take away your true wealth? Your poverty is your wealth in your heart.

A powerful person can only take away your superfluous things. They can only harm these external possessions, even if they were permitted to harm the body. Even this present life, for those whose thoughts are fixed on another life, can be counted among the superfluous things. The martyrs demonstrated this by despising it. They didn't lose life; they gained Life.

16. Be certain of this, brothers and sisters: enemies have no power against believers except to the extent that it helps them to be tested and proven. Of this be sure—no one should say otherwise. Cast all your care upon the Lord; throw yourselves wholly upon Him. He will not withdraw Himself and let you fall.

He who created us has given us assurance even about our hair: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30). Our hairs are numbered by God—how much more does He know our conduct, since He knows even our hair! See how God does not disregard our smallest details. If He disregarded them, He would not have created them.

He created our hair, and still keeps count of it. But you might say, "Though our hair is preserved now, perhaps it will perish." On this point, hear His word: "Not a hair of your head shall perish" (Luke 21:18).

Why do you fear other people, O human being, when your place is in God's care? Don't fall from His hands. Whatever you suffer there will contribute to your salvation, not your destruction. The martyrs endured the tearing apart of their limbs. Should Christians fear the injuries of these Christian times?

Christ is our Life. Think, then, of Christ. He came to suffer, but also to be glorified; to be despised, but to be exalted; to die, but also to rise again. If the labor frightens you, look at the reward. Why do you wish to arrive by an easy path at something that can only be reached through hard work?