A Practical Lesson from Great Faith

(Article for publication week of 10-16- AD 2014)

 

"For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, 'Go', and he goeth; and to another, 'Come', and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this', and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned Him about, and said unto the people that followed Him, 'I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel' " (Luke 7:8-9).

We have been considering for several weeks now the subject of "great faith" from our passage here in Luke 7:1-10, and its parallel in Matthew 8:5-13. We noted first the humble spirit found in the centurion and his absolute confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. We further noted this great faith was found in a surprising character; it was surprising first for it was found in a gentile "dog" (the name the Jews called our forefathers), and it was surprising secondly for it was found in a soldier. We also used this lesson to show that our Lord never condemned men serving in the military, nor does He ever require us to become pacifists to be His followers. The military is a lawful calling (for a man, not a woman), but is a spiritually dangerous calling for it subjects a man to many dangerous temptations. One of the Puritans, Richard Baxter said that keeping a bar is a lawful calling, but a dangerous one (spiritually). So a man needs to be careful and prayerful about joining the military (especially the U.S. military which is being used as mercenaries in unjust, undeclared, unconstitutional wars to promote the New World Order).

But , I repeat that the military is a lawful calling and many Christians have been faithful soldiers, like Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart, and tens of thousands of our Southern Forefathers who joined the Confederate Army to resist the Yankee invasion of our Homeland. In fact one of the greatest Revivals God has ever sent down from heaven was in the Confederate Armies as recorded by Pastor J. William Jones in his book, "Christ in the Camp."

So, now I make an important and critical point from the Roman Centurion whom Christ called "great faith." The point is this: you do not have to be a preacher to serve the Lord. The Lord called His Own disciples, who were preachers and apostles, "little faith" , but he called this Gentile Soldier, "Great Faith." You can serve the Lord and be of Great Faith in any lawful calling. Dear ladies, you can be of great faith and serve the Lord in your calling as a Wife and Mother (Titus (2:4-5; I Timothy 5:14, e.g.). In fact, there is no higher calling than that of Wife and Mother, and I pity and scorn the feminists she- devils who deny it and try to enter into a man's calling. I thank God for women like my own dear wife who gave up a lucrative career as a physician to devote herself to her high calling of wifehood and motherhood.

I repeat, the Lord did not command the Roman Centurion to get out of the Roman army, nor did John the Baptist (read Luke 3:14), not do any of the inspired scriptures in either Testament. The scriptural injunction to each of is "let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called" (I Corinthians 7:20). If you are in a lawful calling when God saves you, remain in that calling and be faithful to God and man until the Lord directs your path another way. As old Brethren used to pray (some few still do), "Lord choose our changes." Every lawful calling is a place where God uses His people. Being a carpenter or farmer or homemaker is just as useful and honouring unto the Lord as being a public preacher of the word. Let us all be faithful where the Lord has put us (if in a lawful calling).