"Can't Shut My Mouth"
Well, praise God! You know, I could almost just quit right there and began repeating �praise God� and �thank You, Jesus� as I consider all of God�s blessings and all He has done� When I consider the mighty works He is doing and what He will do� O, when I count the blessings I get excited! Our Lord is soon to come after His church, and that excites me.
I must tell somebody about all that my God, through Jesus Christ, has, is and will soon do.
If I don�t, I think I�ll explode! God has made it possible for me to share His Gospel with all I come in contact with. That contact is by pen, from the pulpit, just walking along and just waiting in lines. Sometimes it�s one-on-one, sometimes it�s with two or three, and sometimes it�s a crowd. No matter the number or where I�m at or who likes or dislikes it. I must speak about my Jesus! The title of this message is �Can�t Shut My Mouth�.
I recently sat in a service and people were asked to testify. I sat back and waited because I feel like a hog at times from speaking so much. I wanted to give opportunity for others to glorify God, encourage others with what God was doing in their lives. I love to hear praise reports, what people are going through and how God keeps His promises. But I was troubled and the Holy Spirit in me grieved because it was like having to drag testimonies out of people! When I see people sit there with nothing to say about how GREAT our God is, it riles me! When people sit there with air in their lungs, two good legs to walk on, yet can�t glorify God for anything! I get stirred up! When people can come freely to a comfortable climate-controlled church in the most grace-covered blessed country in the world, but can�t utter a word of praise, honor and glory to God, it causes a burn and a boiling deep down inside of me that I cannot contain! My jaws start to tingle, my tongue starts to quiver, power bursts into my legs and the Holy Spirit comes out of my mouth! In our home church, House Upon A Rock, there�s a young girl who has to spend time in a wheelchair... Yet when most young people are out dating or cruising or spending time out in the world, she is praising her Jesus! She�s sold out, testifying, exhorting and proclaiming her Jesus to all who can hear! Friends, if you approached that little sister today and told her she could get up and walk out and live life as other teenagers, if she�d just not mention Jesus, let me tell you what her answer would be: �CAN�T SHUT MY MOUTH!�
I�ve been reading a book called �The Heavenly Man� � it�s about a Christian in China, Brother Yun. I read about the dangers of being a Christian there. He and his wife are both listed as spies and enemies of the government for being followers of Christ.
Still, from a young age he accepted God�s call
to preach and untold numbers have been converted to Christ. The brother hadn�t ever seen a Bible � they are severely punished for having one. Yet at 16 years old this young man, already poor and starving, wanted a Bible. He fasted with only a small bowl of steamed rice and some water once a day for 100 days. He got on his face and prayed and called out to God, asking for a Bible. His family and others thought he had lost his mind. God gave him visions of how the Bible would come, and in the night it came exactly that way. The journey to get that Bible to him had started at the time he first asked God for it! It shames me as I read this book, but it stirs me. I read of men and women who TRULY hunger and thirst after righteousness, amid trials that are 100 times worse than any we face! They have to baptize in the dead of night in winter, breaking ice on rivers to avoid detection by a religious bureau. Brother Yun has been captured, beaten, a cross tied to his back and paraded down streets, tortured, all for preaching the Gospel. He often traveled in freezing conditions to appear at some house or barn, knowing he�d be arrested just for speaking of Jesus. He went to preach on his honeymoon and was arrested and beaten. His wife married him when everybody else told her not to. A poor preacher wanted by the law, and they would never even have a home. God called her and was preparing her before they ever met! As for Brother Yun, several times they offered to free him if he would deny Christ, if he would just not preach about the death and resurrection, the miracles and healings, the book of Revelation� No normalcy about his life by the world�s standards. Most preachers and churches today would see no blessing and say he was a crazy fanatic. But Brother Yun can�t help but talk about his Jesus! Let me remind you of these scriptures, Hebrews 10:22-25. I have no doubt today that Brother Yun and his wife would say, �Can�t Shut Our Mouths.�
When people wouldn�t stand up and testify, the Holy Spirit put Acts 4 on my heart and in my mouth. Peter and John were preaching about Jesus Christ. A crowd gathered and some healing was going on, and people were believing in this Christ. In 4:1-2 we see where the religious folk got mad, the priests of the temple, the Sadducees (theologians). They laid hands on Peter and John (4:3), arresting them. In verse 4, many believed because of what they had seen and heard (about 5000). Now the Jewish council wants to hold court (4:5-7). I see some familiar faces among them � why, there�s Caiaphas. Remember, he labeled Jesus a troublemaker and an outlaw. All these religious high priests that were okayed by the government and entangled in the world system. They had a question to ask. And yep, they put their foot in their mouth! In verse 7 someone asked, �By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?� See, Peter and John didn�t okay their preaching with these men, or go by the set religious �outline� of approved topics. Peter and John weren�t bringing any glory (or wealth) to the high priests or their temple. They were trouble-makers to the religious! O but verse 8 makes me want to dance: �Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost [extremely important], said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel.� That boldness comes from being FILLED � no one is gonna go anywhere without it. That Holy Ghost boldness removes all fear and cuts the enemy like a sword! Continuing in 4:9-12, Peter told them it was Christ by which those things were done - the only permission any true Christian needs! I can hear Peter now, �You know, Caiaphas, Jesus of Nazareth that you thought you had murdered � God raised Him from the dead and HE�S ALIVE! He�s the Foundation and no man can come to the Father God except through Him!� Those religious devils sitting on the council start looking at Peter and John differently after they saw and heard the boldness by the Holy Ghost! They started out thinking they were unlearned and ignorant, but ended up marveling and taking knowledge of them. Why? Because they had been with Jesus! People can tell if you have truly been with Jesus. These rulers saw that a true miracle had taken place, but they couldn�t grab the credit for it. No way to deny it. They decided to threaten and run Peter and John off. �Let�s make a deal with them then later we�ll come up with some scientific explanation�� I can hear them as I pen this. It was the same antichrist spirit then, that is in the world now (1 John 4:1-3). The priests commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Hmmm� Don�t guess any of us ever encounter that? Oh but in Acts 4:19, I like what Peter and John told them � in today�s language what they said was, �What you think, say, or do to us does not matter. Our God is the only true Judge. We serve and obey and glorify Him!� Then follows the statement that brought forth this whole message, verse 20: �For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.� Oh friends, they said �after all we�ve heard Him say�� I cannot keep silent! I must tell the world! No, you �Can�t Shut My Mouth!�
In closing today I want to remind some of you and warn others. The coming of our Lord to rapture out His church is close. Those filled of the Holy Spirit (those with the Holy Spirit abiding within) will be leaving! But as that day approaches the attempts by satan to shut you up will increase. The persecutions seem hard now, but they are light compared to what is coming to America. You will be given much opportunity to compromise, but you can�t. You can�t! Remember all God has done for you in times past. Remember scriptures like Hebrews 10:24, �And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.� Let us give thought to how we will stir one another up to do God�s work in the world! Verse 25: �Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.� If we sit around a blazing campfire and someone takes a coal out, what happens to that coal? The fire, the glow dies! It stops putting out heat and light. It just smolders and deteriorates. O but if, before it turns to ash, it is put back in with the glowing coals of the fire, it will come to life and glow again itself! No difference to a child of the Lord � God has us to assemble to keep the fire burning bright. If you fail to attend, it is my job to come to you in love, to talk to you and try to get you back to the fire! This is all the more important in these last days. Are we responsible for our brothers and sisters? Yes! Is our testimony important? Yes! Each one of us has a testimony that is meant to encourage someone and to glorify God! In John 9:4-5, Jesus said, �I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.� Everywhere we look, people are headed to hell. Church pews that once held families on fire for God are now empty! Darkness is coming and we have much work to do. Remember 1 John 4:1-3 and try the spirits � warn people of the antichrists that roam freely in the land. Jesus the Light is here in US in the form of the Holy Spirit. When the church is raptured, the church �Holy-Spirit-filled-people� will leave. The light leaves and darkness like the world has never seen will set in. What I spoke to you about the harshness in China does not compare to what is coming. Get serious, get busy and be accountable for your brothers and sisters. This is why you and I must say, �Can�t Shut Our Mouths!�
In Christ's Love, Bro. Don George
You are all invited to join us for services at House Upon A Rock Tabernacle in Jamestown, KY. Services are Sundays at 9:45am & 6:00pm, and Thursdays at 6:30pm (Central Time). Praise and worship, true anointed preaching, and the mighty presence and power of God �
A church that�s alive is worth the drive!
For more information, visit the church�s website: House Upon A Rock
