If These Were Silent

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 

So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 

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.” (Luke 19:28-40 ESV)

This historical event was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 ESV:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

    righteous and having salvation is he,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

So, the Lord Jesus had need of the donkey, for this was to fulfill prophecy regarding the Christ (the Messiah) who had been promised and who had now come in the person of Jesus Christ. He was fully God and fully human when he lived upon the earth. For Jesus always was with God, and he is God, and although he was born of a human mother, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and thus his birth Father was God the Father. So Jesus was not born with a sin nature, in the image of Adam, as we are. And all the while he lived on the earth he never sinned, although he was tempted to sin of the devil.

Now Jesus had 12 men who he had chosen to follow him in ministry, but they were not his only disciples (followers). He had many other people, both men and women, and probably children, too, who followed him as their Lord and Messiah, at least temporarily they all did. And so as the Lord rode this donkey into the city of Jerusalem, this multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen the Lord do. And they said, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

So, the people were proclaiming that Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah of Israel, their long awaited King. But some of the Pharisees, most of whom were opposed to Jesus Christ, asked that Jesus rebuke his disciples, that he silence them in their words of adoration and praise and thanksgiving to God for the coming of their Messiah. But Jesus’ response to them was, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Amen! I love that part!!

Does the Lord Jesus need us humans? He doesn’t need us in the sense that he can’t do it himself or that he has to have us helping him out for him to be able to accomplish his work on the earth. For even if we are silenced, the very stones will cry out when God makes them cry out. But it is in God’s plan and purpose that he should use us humans to do his work and to carry out his purposes. And he created us for that purpose, not because he needs us but because he wants us, which is why he created us. 

And presently we are living in a day and time when many hypocrites, like the Pharisees, want us silenced. And so they are going to great efforts to try to discourage others from listening to us and in order to dissuade them from following the truth of the gospel in order to go after a lie. But if they silence us who are the Lord’s true servants and messengers, the Lord can make the rocks cry out. That is not going to stop God, which is what they are trying to do. They cannot conquer the Lord Jesus. He will always prevail! Amen!

So, if you are being silenced, or if you are in a situation where it appears that will take place very soon, just know that our God is fully sovereign over all things, and nothing can thwart his purposes. What he purposes he will do despite all the opposition against him and against his gospel and against his messengers. So, just keep speaking, and don’t be silent. Keep sharing the truth of the gospel, and please be discerning of the lies, for the lies are what are permeating the church overall here in America.

So keep telling the people that Jesus died on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and so we will live for him and no longer for ourselves. Keep telling them that he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now honor God with our bodies. And keep telling them that he died that we might be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness. And don’t forget to tell them that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. This is critical we get this!

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

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