For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the
darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12
I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but I have. I’ve noticed the silence of the local church on some issues that affect us all. I’m not speaking about The Church—the Bride of Christ—the blood-bought Church of the Living God. I’m speaking about the local church. And when I speak of silence, obviously, I’m not referring to the head-banging, hard rock music that drowns out any hope of invoking the presence of a Holy God. It is the silence on particular issues that is deafening.
Why is it? Why that deafening silence?
For one thing, the church is in an apostate condition. If you’re a pastor and you don’t know that by now, you’re blinded to the truth concerning the times in which we live. You are obviously not familiar with the voice of the Holy Spirit of God who promised to teach us all things. Believe me, He does, if we’re in learning mode. So if you are not being taught by His Spirit, maybe you’re not living and walking in His Spirit, which means, perhaps, you’ve never had an encounter with the God of Glory in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If this is the case, you need to face the dilemma and take care of your spiritual problem—the need for a Savior. Until then, you have no business occupying a pulpit, no business purporting to handle the Word of Truth.
That said, I’d like to return to the subject at hand—silence of the church.
One of the saddest portions of Old Testament scripture is when the prophet of God was unwelcome, his message was scorned, and the people became silent as they eased the prophet into the mire of the pit. It was easier that way. It relieved them of responsibility, so they thought. “Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchhia the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison; and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sank in the mire.”
Something similar happened in Matthew 14:1-3 when Herod the tetrarch, hearing of the fame of Jesus, seized John the Baptist, bound him, and threw him in prison for preaching the gospel of the kingdom. John had exposed Herod for the sinner he was and it angered Herod. In the final analysis, John the Baptist was beheaded in prison, his head brought in to the daughter of Herodius, who brought it to her mother. Such wickedness is unsurpassed. And silence prevails.
Let’s take a look from the prophet’s viewpoint. Isaiah had a lot to say on this subject. He used such calls to service as this: “Awake, awake, put on thy strength …” (52:1). If you read the entire chapter, you will see the urgency to “Arise, rise from the dust.” It’s time to awake out of apathy and speak to the sin problems.
In 40:29, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” In 58:1, God speaks through Isaiah and says, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
God has always had a voice crying in the wilderness. His expectation of His people is that we “Cry aloud and spare not.” Just tell the truth … align everything you do and say with the Word of God.
Again, in Isaiah 41:10, the prophet says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” We have nothing to fear in speaking out for Christ, for He has promised the victory in battle; yet there remains silence in the church.
In our text (Ephesians 6:2), the Apostle Paul talks about spiritual warfare. Read it again. We’re at war, dear reader, and we have instructions on how to handle spiritual warfare, but before we can fight the battle, we have to understand the war—what it is; what it is not.
1. We do not fight against flesh and blood.
2. We do fight against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness; against spiritual wickedness in high places.
As pastor-teacher, my responsibility is to fight the good fight of faith. You ask, “Where do you get your authority?” Glad you asked. The answer is Romans 1:3-5: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name …”
You see, I am instructed to preach the gospel of Christ. It is a matter of obedience to the mandate of the ministry of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18). “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” In verse 19, he emphasizes that he has “committed unto us the word of reconciliation and that we are ambassadors for Christ …”
Do I run the risk of being ridiculed and misunderstood because I preach against sin? Yes, indeed. Do I risk being rejected? Certainly.
How do I handle that? I don’t. I allow God to handle it for me. (We will talk more about that next time.) If we can believe God to point out our own sins and to cause our hearts to be heavy until we’ve repented, we must believe God to give us grace and strength to “Cry aloud and spare not.” Sometimes it hurts, but those are the instructions. “Spare not!”We must be filled with the Spirit of God, who causes us to believe it all and to preach it all.
Martin Burnham, Missionary pilot to the Philippines, killed in the cause of Christ, said to his wife, Gracia, “It seems to me that either we believe it all or we don’t believe at all.”
Do you believe it all? Pastor, do you preach it all? Or do you leave out the hard part, the controversial part, the part that might cause you sleepless nights and difficult days because you dared to expose obvious and deliberate sin?
We who are in Christ Jesus are the sentinel, the watchman on the wall. Jeremiah in 3:17 said, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.”
But listen … we must do the work of a watchman on the wall. We have responsibility in all of this. Ezekiel 33:6: “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”
Lord, help us to break the silence and do the work we’re called to do.
Watch for a continuation on the subject of the silent church; until next time, keep your eyes on the prize, and don’t be afraid to speak the truth in love.
Victor W. Baugh, Sr., Th.D., Ph.D.
Pastor, St. Luke AME Church
Havana, AL
http://www.thatgracemayabound.blogspot.com/
