I Will Not Keep Silent

Isaiah 62:1-4 ESV

“For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

    and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

    and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your righteousness,

    and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

    that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,

    and your land Married;

for the Lord delights in you,

    and your land shall be married.”

When we, as followers of Jesus Christ, believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, we are crucified with Christ and buried with him in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ now to walk in newness of life to him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore, we are not to let sin continue to reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it ends in death. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it ends in life eternal (see Romans 6:1-23).

And this is the message of the gospel of Christ that we are to be giving out to the people. We are to be telling the people that Jesus Christ died on that cross, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just so we can go to heaven when we die, but he died that we would now die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we would live for the Lord and no longer for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of sin so we would now honor him with our bodies.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20]

But sadly, at least here in America, this message is being squelched by those who are teaching a cheapened form and an altered form of God’s grace and his gospel of salvation. And so many people are following the lies and not the truth. Thus, it appears that not many have forsaken their sinful practices to live godly and holy lives in obedience to the Lord. But sin is still reigning in their mortal bodies, and they are obeying its passions, for many are being given permission to keep sinning under the auspices of God’s grace.

Nonetheless, the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce (to say “No!” to) ungodliness and fleshly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (see Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10).

And the Scriptures teach us that if we claim we are in fellowship with God while we practice sin, we are liars. And if we claim to know God, but we do not obey his commands (New Covenant), in practice, that we are liars. And if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we are not saved from our sins, but we will die in our sins. Heaven will not be our eternal destiny. And we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, this is why we must keep speaking the truth of the gospel, and we must not be silent. For many people are perishing in their sins because they are believing lies which are telling them that they can believe in Jesus Christ once in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed them, but regardless of how they live their lives. And so we have a lot of people professing faith in Jesus Christ going through the motions of religious practice who are not genuinely saved from their sins.

So, we have to keep speaking the truth, and we must keep exposing the lies for what they are, and we must keep telling the people to turn from their sins and to follow Jesus in obedience, for if they don’t, they won’t have eternal life with God. So we must keep speaking truth so that many will be genuinely saved and on their way to heaven. But we must know that our salvation is progressive sanctification and it will not be complete until Jesus returns and he takes his faithful ones to be with him for eternity.

For, when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith in Christ, our Lord, we enter into a marriage covenant with the Lord. Jesus Christ is now our husband and we are his bride, but more like the Jewish marriage covenant which is not complete until the groom comes for his bride after he has prepared a place for them to live together and he then takes her to be with him, and their marriage relationship is thus consummated. Our marriage to Christ will not be consummated (completed) until he takes us to be with him for eternity, but provided we continue to walk in obedience to him.

[Matt 24:9-14; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 2:24-25] 

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811