If These Were Silent

“As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’

“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” but you have made it a den of robbers.’

“And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.” (Luke 19:37-48 ESV)

I live in the United States of America, a nation which is touted as a “Christian” nation, “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” For “Christianity” is the number one religion in the USA, but on a fairly worldly scale overall, based upon what the Scriptures teach. For it appears that the majority of professers of faith in Jesus Christ in America are following more after the teachings of humans than they are following after the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, in full context.

The masses appear to have largely accepted an altered and diluted gospel message created in the minds of human beings which does not require death to sin and walks of obedience to the Lord and to his commands. And it promises its adherents that if they just profess faith in Jesus Christ that now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), that heaven is now guaranteed them, that nothing can take it away from them, and that they can sin as much as they want and still go to heaven when they die, basically.

So, many of those followers of Christ who are still holding to the tenets of the faith, as taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles, in full context, who are openly and publicly sharing the truths of the Scriptures, are largely being ignored or rebuked or silenced, and are being called “legalists” and teachers of “works salvation” and “negative,” and thus to be cast out and aside and treated as though we are the enemy. I had one pastor tell me he was warned about people like me, people with “strong convictions.”

But Jesus says, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” 

And so Jesus weeps over the USA, too, because so many who profess his name are blinded from seeing the truth and are following after the lies, instead. Those who are still teaching the truth of the gospel don’t normally have large followings, though some do. But those who are teaching what people’s itching ears want to hear have people flocking to them by the hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions, for they are teaching what the people like to hear, not what they need to hear.

And although I do believe that my nation is under the judgment of God, and that one day our physical enemies are going to come against us to destroy us as a nation, right now we are being destroyed from within by the many wolves in sheep’s clothing (charlatans) among us who have deceived the minds and hearts of so many people. And they aren’t all preachers, but many of them are politicians and our government heads, too. They are the enemies within who are killing our nation from within its own borders.

They are the ones who are tearing us down to the ground because they have been able to deceive the masses into following them and believing in their lies. And they are the ones who have obliterated, not only the truth of the gospel, but the character of Almighty God and the true meaning of “church.” For they have turned the gatherings of what are called “churches” into businesses of men, being marketed to the world just like any other businesses. And thus they alter what is of God to make it likeable to man.

But Jesus says, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers” (or into a marketplace).

And “his house”, i.e. the church, is not a building, and it is not a church denomination, and it is not a corporation under the state, and it is not a social club or a civic center, and it is not a house of entertainment, and it is not a business to be marketed to the world, although this is what it has been made into. But “his house” is his body, the body of Christ comprised of all who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ who are denying self, dying daily to sin, and who are following the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands.

So, if we are out there teaching the truth that Jesus and his NT apostles taught, in context, and if we are sharing the truth of the gospel, and the truth about who the church really is, and how she is supposed to function biblically, and if we are refuting the lies of the enemy coming against us, then we are going to have people who are out to destroy us and to silence us and who will try to keep others from hearing our messages because they don’t want the people to hear the truth. They want them believing the lies.

Hear my Voice 

An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally. 

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

https://vimeo.com/119813963