Don't Keep Quiet!
Notes
Transcript
There is a Time to Speak
There is a Time to Speak
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Silence
Silence
Silence - Absence of Sound.
Silence - Absence of Sound.
The Bible uses silence in several ways:
As reverence to God (Hab. 2:20).
As a symbol of death (Ps. 94:17).
As a symbol of Sheol (Ps. 115:17).
As an expression of despair (Lam. 2:10).
A way to shut up the opposition (Matt. 22:34).
As a dramatic pause following the opening of the seventh seal in (Rev. 8:1).
Boldness, Bravery, and the Reformation!
Boldness, Bravery, and the Reformation!
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door, igniting a fire that reformed Christianity by exposing the lies of his time and breaking the religious systems that ensnared the church for nearly a thousand years!
“Martin Luther was filled with audacious bravery as he confronted the church in Rome with its departure from the true saving gospel. His singular commitment to biblical truth became the driving force behind the Reformation. As the Lord empowered Luther, his pulpit became one of the most clarion sounding boards for His Word this world has ever witnessed.” – Steven J. Lawson
“If the church needed a reformation in Luther’s time, we need one more desperately now.” - Phil Johnson.
Open Up Your Mouth!
Open Up Your Mouth!
Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
The Wilderness
The Wilderness
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
Jezebel attacked Elijah after the fire of God fell and the people repented.
Jezebel attacked Elijah after the fire of God fell and the people repented.
“False prophets speak only of God’s freeness to forgive, and are profoundly silent about repentance.” - John Calvin.
4 Sypmtoms of a Jezebelic Attack
4 Sypmtoms of a Jezebelic Attack
Isolation
Hopelessness
Comparison
Exaustion
He Came Out of the Wilderness With a Shout!
He Came Out of the Wilderness With a Shout!
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
We Need the Rain!
We Need the Rain!
James 5:16–18 (ESV)
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Open up your mouth and begin to pray!
Open up your mouth and begin to pray!
The Dead Do Not Praise YAHWEH
The Dead Do Not Praise YAHWEH
If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
Idolatrous people make dead idols, becoming like their idols, deadened to the world, and then dead under God’s judgment.
In neither their living nor their dying do they offer praise to God.
They do not praise God by their actions or words but honor things that did not make them, cannot help them, and are unworthy.
The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.
Warn the Wicked
Warn the Wicked
18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
Preach the Whole Counsel of God!
Preach the Whole Counsel of God!
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
The Covenant Reformation
The Covenant Reformation
David takes his Kingdom to a higher level by restoring the Ark of the Covenant to God’s people.
David knows the favor and the absolute power that comes with the Ark of God’s Presence being brought back to the camp.
David dances before the Lord and worships without inhibitions.
It is the celebration of a redefining moment.
A time of Reformation!
But sitting in the window this time is another distractor. Michal (David’s wife) becomes irritated by his actions.
Something rises in her that hates him.
28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.
29 And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.
The spirit of Jezebel will always contend with your prayer and worship because she wants to be praised.
The Jezebel spirit will always rise during open heavens and windows of opportunity.
Michal sits like Jezebel in a window, glaring at the ministry of David, and she uses her words to belittle and condemn him.
“If she can dominate your mind and distract you from your assignment, you will miss your window of opportunity. Here is where you must learn that you will never out-argue this spirit. Jezebel sits in the window watching you all day, planning and rehearsing her indictments against you. - Robin Johnson.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Jezebel’s weapons are words that belittle and make you feel inferior.
Jezebel’s weapons are words that belittle and make you feel inferior.
The Jezebel Spirit plots your demise while you work, plow, persevere, and worship.
Here is David’s response to Michal’s verbal assault:
And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Your Praise is a Weapon!
Your Praise is a Weapon!
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishments on the peoples,
Praise makes war on false gods, false stories, false pride, and false hopes. Praise gives credit where it belongs, Yahweh, who alone deserves glory and praise and who provokes hopes that will never disappoint. Praise and warfare came together as the people began to praise the Lord with their throats and take up swords with their hands. Let’s praise God and wage warfare against the enemy! Don’t keep quiet! It’s time to open up your mouth and make hell mad!!!
Praise makes war on false gods, false stories, false pride, and false hopes. Praise gives credit where it belongs, Yahweh, who alone deserves glory and praise and who provokes hopes that will never disappoint. Praise and warfare came together as the people began to praise the Lord with their throats and take up swords with their hands. Let’s praise God and wage warfare against the enemy! Don’t keep quiet! It’s time to open up your mouth and make hell mad!!!