Power through obedience | Lessons from Matthew 8 (Part 2)

In the early days, when I had been a pastor for 15 years already, the Lord said to me, “Shut up! Stop talking, I’m tired of listening to you!” For the Lord to say that to me through the Holy Spirit was pretty damning! He said, “Go out and DO everything you talk about and tell other people to do – AND DON’T COME BACK TILL YOU’VE DONE IT!”

My whole life has been putting into practice what I have believed – and I’ve gained unbelievable experiences with God. All my life, whether it was the cancers, the communist prison, all my ministry, the whole of my life has simply been putting into practice what I believe.

In His teaching, in healing the sick, in His life, Jesus SHOWED who He was by the AUTHORITY that He had. The crowds following Jesus sensed this. I don’t suppose that the centurion had been on the mountain, but he must certainly have heard of Christ’s reputation. As a soldier, he understood authority. He had to respond to the authority of his superiors. And in turn, he had authority over those under him. It’s the chain of command. Under the authority of Rome, he only had to say to his soldiers, “Obey! DO IT!” – and they did! A soldier HAS to obey his commanding officer. When he says, “Go, do this!” – he does it! When the centurion said to Jesus, “You have authority; I’m a man under authority, and I’ve got soldiers under me” he understood, in a very practical way, the authority that Jesus had!