GO STAND SPEAK
No King, But King Jesus!
"Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life (Acts 5:17-20)."
A few months back, my family went to Ft. Hood during the terroristic attacks against our soldiers. While they were there loving on our soldiers, praying and encouraging them with God's word, I was in Tulsa working on two DVD projects. One is called The Abortion Matrix and the other is called Go Stand Speak. Both DVDs are due to be released in June.
The Abortion Matrix is the sequel to the ground breaking video called The Massacre of Innocence. It was this video by Eric Holmberg that initially broke my heart, opened my eyes, and recruited me into the battle against the culture of death.
The second DVD project, Go Stand Speak is a call to the church to come out of the four walls of our buildings and return to the proclamation of the Gospel in the public square. The righteous goal is to raise up a new generation of preachers boys that will fearlessly take the Gospel of the Kingdom into the highways and byways of their communities.
Eric Holmberg, the producer of both films is very excited about this particular project. He wrote recently and stated:
Rusty:
Don't know if you have been following it (www.gostandspeak.com) but it is amazing the buzz that is being generated by this. People all around the world are excited. I am frankly surprised by the response. FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS! Thanks for being such a big part.
Your co-laborer in the battle for truth and life!
Eric
Based upon this DVD project, my pastor, John Wachsmann, asked me to present a series of teaching to prepare our church, Life Church, to set up a beachhead of prayer and proclamation in our own community. The following is the vision, mission, and message presented to equip the church to "Go Stand and Speak all the words of this life." I pray other Christians and churches will adopt this outreach model. Our nation is in desperate need of the church to come out of the caves of irrelevance to once again engage our communities with the claims of Christ and the truth of His Word. If interested, feel free to contact me and we can discuss the possibilities.
For the next three Wednesday meetings, we will build on this theme Go Stand Speak to prepare our church for the first end of May outreach. It will be on Saturday, May 29th, from 2-4 PM. We will set up a huge cross, a set of the Ten Commandments, a table with Bibles, Christian literature, and a Life Church flyer, plus a large Life Church banner, in order for the public to know who we are and why we are here. Our goal is to set up this outreach every two weeks on a Saturday from 2-4 PM.
We will need prayer warriors to pray for the outreach, our nation, leaders, families, communities, and folks who may stop by and need prayer. We will need sign holders and those who will pass out Bibles and Gospel tracts (If any of you are interested, I can send a sample of the Gospel tracts we will hand out). And as we go, we will trust that God will watch over His word to perform it in our lives and through our lives unto others.
Turn in your Bibles to Acts 5:17-20. The background of this text reveals that there was great fear, great power, and great growth happening in and through the church of Jesus Christ. It put the "powers that be" on notice that there was a new sheriff in town, one called King Jesus. They were so threatened by the truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom; they imprisoned the messengers of Christ. God sent His angel to bust them out. After their release, God commanded them to go back to the same spot of their arrest and speak the same message that got them in trouble in the first place.
Notice the command from heavenly headquarters, they were to "go, stand, and speak all the words of this life." Notice as well, all the commands require actions, not prayer, thought, or meditation, but active obedience. Go Stand Speak, all three actions are required to impart to the world "all the words of this life." There were times in redemptive history, you may recall, where the Lord actually called His people to stop praying and act in obedience to His commands. Moses at the Red Sea and Joshua dealing with defeat at Ai are two prominent examples. I'm not making light of prayer. It is extremely important, but we can't use prayer as an excuse to avoid obedience to act on the behalf of God's commands. James tells us plainly, "Faith without works is dead." We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only. It is a recipe for self-deception (James 1:22).
We are to Go Stand Speak and tell the world that God is the Creator of Life, the Sustainer of life, and the Governor of life. He is the source of all life, both natural and spiritual life. The Scriptures teach, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Our life is hid in Christ. The Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:3, 4 declares, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
We must remember as Christians, Christ did not come to this earth to take issue, but to take over. He did not come to make bad men good, but dead men alive. The message we carry is vital. Men and nations are dead in their trespasses and sins, but Christ makes us alive through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. If we have this truth and know this truth, we have the responsibility to share it with others. Jesus stated, "Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8)." We can do no less.
Remember what that one street preacher said, "If he had the cure for AIDS and just kept it under his bed, what would suffering people think if he didn't share the cure with them?" We have something greater than the cure for AIDS, heart disease, and cancer combined. We have the cure to sin, which in most cases, causes the disease in the first place. The Church of Jesus Christ has been commissioned by the Lord to be the salt and light to the world. Jesus admonished, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
In God's book of wisdom, Proverbs 1:20-22 states, "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?" Proverbs 8:1-5 declares:
Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
Proverbs 9:1-6 concurs:
Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.
What do these Scriptures have in common? Why are they important? At the end of Proverbs chapter nine, another woman that is the antithesis of the woman wisdom is revealed. She is foolishness, which competes for the souls of men in the public square. It is the spirit of the age empowered by the sins of men and the deception of Satan that lead men and nations to hell.
When you observe our nation, communities, and families, what do you see? Are these entities established in wisdom, righteousness, godliness, truth, health, soundness, and wholeness or are these entities suffering from foolishness, transgression, perversion and rebellion?
If the church does not bring the truth, wisdom, and the love of God out in the streets, what voice, message, and influence remains dominant? Is it the voice of wisdom or foolishness that carries the day? I would submit to you it is the church's absence in the public square that has led to our nation's current malaise.
Brothers and sisters, it is time to come out of the four walls of our buildings and make Christ relevant to our culture that is sinking into sin, tyranny and despair. It is time to hearken to our Lord's command Go Stand and Speak all the words of this life.
We must GO: In relationship to go, man has a two-fold calling. One is based upon the "Cultural Mandate" found in Genesis, which calls us to subdue and take dominion in God's earth. We are to utilize our gifts, callings, and talents to work God's creation to produce good fruit and a better quality of life for our families and others.
Secondly, we are called to fulfill the Great Commission. Study Matthew 28:18-20.
We must Stand: Standing is tied directly to going. Read 2 Chronicles 20:1-17. The Apostle Paul concurs in the New Testament. He commanded the church, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6:13)."
We must Speak: Romans 10:14, 15 states, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
God spoke His word and the heavens and the earth were created. Hebrews 11:3 states, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." How powerful is the spoken word of God? Everything your senses detect in the universe finds its source in God's word.
How powerful is the spoken word of God? Jeremiah 1:9, 10 declares, Then the Lord put forth his hand, And touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."
What saves the souls of men is the saving faith that comes through the spoken word of God energized by the power of the Holy Ghost. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Let us therefore "Go Stand Speak all the words of this life" in the market place of ideas in Jesus' mighty name!
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