# Don’t Let Satan Silence Your Voice

Key Passage: Acts 4:13
Date: June 7, 2024

Acts chapter number four in God’s word. I like that men seem like they enjoy singing too. That’s an added to it. I like it all. Acts chapter number four of God’s word.

And Acts chapter four, once you find that, I want to talk for just a minute before we get going. Acts chapter number four of God’s Word, Acts 4. You found it? Good. Everybody there?

But politically, I see a lot of hope for America in the future. I really do. Even before Friday, I said that. Of course, that was huge, the decision. And I think midterm elections will go very well. I think the next presidential election will go well. I think they’ll still be cheating. I don’t think it’ll be as much. We know what to watch for. And there have been some laws and things changed in some states to prevent it in such a mass capacity. I think the conservatives will win by enough of a margin that will do good, just my opinion. And I see a lot of hope politically for America.

But I’m concerned very much so about the soul of America, about us in our churches, and our Christianity and our beliefs, our standing. I’m very concerned. By the way, that’s much more important than politics. We get the soul of America right with God. God can give us good politicians. And I’m concerned about that very much so. That’s my burden. I think that’s our root, really, our problem.

And I think God will allow me to put my finger on some of the problem that is becoming a great problem in our nation that’s affecting the soul of America. And so I want you just to give me about 40 minutes, 45 minutes. So let’s just try to focus on this one truth that we’ve got to focus on today. Now with all that being said, let’s get a little context into this Acts chapter four.

God had blessed the early church greatly. Chapter number two, the Spirit of God came down in power. 3,000 people saved and baptized. It was amazing. And then chapter number three, Peter and John, these two preachers, they went to the temple. There was a lame man. He could not walk from the time he was born. He was 40 years old, if I remember right, and could not walk all those years.

And so the preachers met this man, and we won’t go into all that. God used them to heal him in the name of Jesus. And so this fellow, he starts leaping and praising God and running around the temple. And everybody around town starts hearing about this guy running around. Everybody knew him because he was always begging for stuff. And they said, “Man, the lame beggar, he’s healed! He’s running around town!” And people began to gather by the thousands on the east side of the temple, on Solomon’s porch, they call it. It’s a large place. Thousands began to gather there, and Peter took the opportunity and he stands up and he starts preaching, and 5,000 men—amen, typically men are a little tougher to get saved—but 5,000 men. I don’t know, I tried to study out. Was it a religious day where just men were supposed to be there or what? I’m not sure. I couldn’t really find anything there. Well, the Bible says 5,000 men. Maybe because it kind of coincides a little bit with the feeding of 5,000, 5,000 men plus women. Now Jesus is feeding them spiritually, not just physically. And 5,000 men saved.

And it really begins to just thousands getting saved in Jerusalem. And it creates a ruckus. And so the religious leaders—Annas, the chief priest, and Caiaphas’s father-in-law and others as relatives, the Sanhedrin—they’re all upset about it. And so they snatch Peter and John and they pull them into this, or they spend a night in jail, and then they take this countless trial of some sorts. And they began to question them because thousands are getting saved and the church of Jerusalem is growing greatly. And they said, “What are you doing filling Jerusalem with this doctrine?”

And that’s where we’re going to pick this thing up in this chapter, chapter number 4, verse number 13 of the book of Acts.

Would you please stand as we read God’s word together today, Acts 4, verse number 13. They just questioned them and they said, “Hey, look, if you’re talking about that man that was healed, Jesus did it, the faith in the name of Jesus did it.” And then verse number 13: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. And they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What shall we do to these men? For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem. We cannot deny it. Watch this. But that it spread no further among the people. Let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.”

And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye? For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Satan has always tried to silence the voice of God’s people. I will not use them all. I had so many written down, but let’s just mention a few of them. I think of Moses, that voice that God was going to use to go to Pharaoh and say, “Hey, let my people go.” And Satan said, “I want to take that voice out,” so Satan was trying to kill Moses. He’s just a little fellow. Satan’s always been about that.

What about John the Baptist, the voice of righteousness that went to old King Herod and said, “Hey, bud, it’s not right for you to marry your brother’s wife.” And that’s a sinful thing. And that fellow didn’t like that. And so what? He was trying to silence. Satan always tries to silence. Remember he used Herodias and that daughter and that wicked dance and had the head of John the Baptist cut off?

Think with me through history and through the Bible. What about Isaiah, that great prophet of God? We think maybe he was related to royalty. We’re not sure, but he had so often he could go to the king and voice his opinion to the king. And yet Isaiah, they put him in a hollow tree and they cut the tree in half, trying to silence the voice of God’s people.

You just studied out whether it be Jeremiah put in the pit and in the mire. Old Jeremiah got so, he was preaching to the children of Israel, “Hey, you better listen to God.” And God said, “Go ahead and bow the knee to Babylon because of years of sin,” but they wouldn’t listen. They kept putting him in prison and wouldn’t feed him sometimes. Finally, Jeremiah got so discouraged, he said, “I want to quit. I’m so tired of telling the people what God said.” Jeremiah wanted to throw in a towel. Jeremiah temporarily quit, but Jeremiah said, “Man, His word was like a fire in my bones,” and he said, “I can’t help but speak.”

But Satan, Satan’s always been about silencing. That’s what we’re reading here in this text. Peter and John and thousands were listening to them. And Satan did not like that. So Satan raises these religious, somewhat political leaders of the day. And the thing they’re after, they’re after the voice of Peter and John. They don’t want the truth to spread to other people. And they’re telling them, “Look, we’ll let you go, just quieten down. Don’t let the truth be voiced by you.” Now listen to me, stick with me here.

Satan is so busy in America trying to silence the voice of God’s people. He’s just trying to change the mindset. He doesn’t want the Christian’s voice to be heard on Election Day. Satan doesn’t want Christians to go out and vote. Satan doesn’t want the voice of pro-life. He wants you to be quiet about that thing. He’s trying to oppress you. Even if there’s a great victory, he wants to oppress you where you don’t say much about the pro-life victory.

That’s why, friend, Satan—remember he’s the prince of the power of the air—that’s why Satan likes it when there’s censorship on YouTube or Facebook. Brother Marley was telling me, I got my first sermon kicked off of YouTube, censored out. And it was the most popular one. It was about COVID in the next chapter of Bible prophecy. Satan loves to censor things. He’s all behind that. By the way, Satan doesn’t want Elon Musk to buy out Twitter. $44 billion. It sounds like a lot of money to me. But I’m saying Satan is always busy trying to silence the voice of God’s people.

For a while it’s bothered me about Cracker Barrel selling alcohol. Doesn’t it bother you? What a shame. It’s supposed to be a family restaurant. I’ve told how many managers at Cracker Barrel, “Hey, would you let the higher-ups know I’m very disappointed in your decision to sell alcohol?” And I’ve had the vast majority of them say, “Thank you for telling me that. I’m on your side,” and they’ll say, “I’ll pass along.” But I’ve seen the billboards now—trying to remember, was it chicken and beer or something like that? Beer, even on the billboards now.

So I’ve been wanting to email, and I’ve tried to do my best to find corporate, you know, and find the CEO and all those things, and I’m trying to email them. And wouldn’t you know it, they’ve got some kind of logarithm or something in there where I was trying to send him a Bible verse—more than just a Bible verse, Habakkuk 2:15—wanting him to give his brother to drink. But boy, they kept locking that email. I tried to figure out where the logarithm was. So finally I took the 215 out, you know, and I sent Habakkuk’s word, but I didn’t put that 215. Boy, praise the Lord, it went through. Hopefully she got it on her desk the next day.

I’m just saying Satan loves to silence. He’ll create every logarithm in the world to censor God’s voice from being heard in our day and time. Satan is so busy. That’s why Satan doesn’t like Christian schools getting started. He’s trying to silence the voice of God’s people. He’s always been about that and he always will be about that.

And by the way, God has commanded us to let our voices be heard, especially when it comes to the gospel. We call it the Great Commission, found five times in the Bible. Did you notice that Great Commission? Typically, it’ll say “teach.” When sometimes you use the word “preach,” you do those things typically with your mouth, your voice. God is saying, “Hey, I want you to get the truth out.”

In the text right there we just read, did you read what they said? Hey, said, “Hey, old buddy, judge right there, Sanhedrin, you have your say? Maybe it’s an answer. Hey, you tell me which is right: for me to obey you or me to obey God?” God was telling you, “Get the gospel out. Get truth out.” Satan’s trying to silence him. God says, “Hey, get your voice up.”

I love it when God told Ezekiel. God called Ezekiel. He said, “I want you go preach. Go tell the truth to the nation of Israel.” Now, Israel, He said, is rebellious. God said, “Ezekiel, I’m going to give you a hard head.” Sometimes it’s good to be hardheaded. Amen. Literally, you look it up in the book of Ezekiel. He said, “Hey, I’m going to make sure your forehead is harder than theirs.” Man, you’re talking about some hard-headed preachers. God wanted to get the truth out. You just look all across the Bible. God’s all about that.

What about Paul? Paul is on a ship, and they get in this big storm, and Paul goes along with the Lord, and the Lord says, “Hey, listen, bud, I tell you what, you’ve testified of me over in Jerusalem, and you’re going to testify of me over in Rome.” I’m just saying, check it out. All through the Bible, God wants the truth to get out.

Satan’s always trying to silence the voice of God’s people. And there’s a battle. That battle is going on greatly in America today. I want to try for just a moment to talk about how Satan is trying to silence the voice of God’s people.

Number one: Look over in First Peter chapter number five. First Peter chapter five. If you trust me, we’ll just read it. You don’t have to look it up, or if you want to look it up, look it up. First Peter chapter number five, and would you look at verse number eight? First Peter 5:8 of God’s word. When you’re there, would you say amen? Good deal. Look at verse number eight. First Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a…” What’s the next two words?

He didn’t just say lion; he said “roaring lion.” “There’s a roaring lion walking about and seeking whom he may devour.” Now, why does God say the devil is roaring? That lion, they say, has its territory, its pride, and it roars to put fear. “Hey, I’m the king of this territory right here,” and he wants to intimidate.

Satan is trying very hard to intimidate God’s people into being silent. That’s going on everywhere you look. He’s roaring, trying to intimidate you and just quiet you down about the truth. He’s busy.

Here’s one way he’ll do it: He’ll make you think, listen to me, he’ll make you think that you’re the only one standing. That’s what happened to Elijah. Remember that great battle on Mount Carmel? Somehow Satan got in his head. Elijah got discouraged and said, “Well, I’m the only one standing.” And God said, “Huh, bud. There are 7,000 that haven’t bowed.” But Satan’s busy making us think we’re so small and minute.

We had this preacher fellowship not too long ago, and God blessed it. A teenage boy came from another independent Baptist church, and he prayed. He said, “Lord, thank you that I get to see we’re not the only one standing.” Did you notice the mindset of the boy? Satan was making that boy think he’s the only one, and he’ll make you think you’re the only one at work, too. Young people, he’ll make you think you’re the only Christian standing at your school.

I’m telling you, Satan tries to intimidate you and makes you think, “Well, there’s nobody else on my block that will put up a Bible verse in the yard. There’s nobody else on my block that will put up a pro-life sign. There’s nobody else putting anything on their car.” Whatever it may be, he’s just busy trying to intimidate God’s people to get us to silence our voice. He loves to do that. He’s roaring. He’s trying to get you to just think you’re the only one. He’ll get you to go to a family reunion and think you’re the only one that loves God and loves the Bible. But he’s just busy intimidating us, trying to make us quiet down.

Now when I preach about our voice getting out, I’m not talking about us fighting with everybody, arguing because anybody looks at us cross. I’m not talking about that in some crazy way, just ready to fight with everybody. I’m talking about standing in the appropriate time and letting your voice be heard. And by the way, if we err at any point in our day and time, it’s not on speaking out too much; it’s not enough. Oh, friend, it’s so key.

Here’s another tactic he’ll use in trying to intimidate you. Did you notice what they said in verse number 13? Acts 4:13: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.” Now, by the way, I think they were smarter than those guys because those guys are in hell today. Peter and John are in heaven today. I think Peter and John are a whole lot smarter than them.

But they perceived that they were unlearned by the world’s terms and by the world’s philosophy at that day and time. Here’s what I’m saying, especially young people: The world is good at making Christians feel like you’re a bunch of podunk. You don’t know anything. You’re as ignorant as can come, dumb as a box of rocks. And the honest truth is the flip of that is the truth. Can I be honest with you for a second? Evolution is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in all my life. That the whole universe came from a little dot? Come on, friend. Wow.

If I had an extra tail like a monkey, I always need an extra hand. I wouldn’t have dropped that thing off; I’d have kept it. But it’s just dumb. We came from a little bitty dot and one little amoeba. It’s just dumb. We’ve never seen that one time. Your ancestors may have come from a monkey, but mine didn’t, friend. I was just dumb. Dumbest thing in the world. People who studied it out think Charles Darwin recanted on his deathbed, saying, “Oh, it ain’t true.”

I can prove real quickly here that the world’s not billions and billions of years old. The sun is slowly burning up, and they know that. If you go back about six, seven, ten thousand years, it’s fine. If you go back millions of years ago, man, we’d be squished. The earth is slowly slowing down in its revolution. This is true science, the laws of the universe that you can observe. Not this theory that they call science—that’s a bunch of junk. They watch it; every couple of years, they actually have to add a second to the official clock because the earth is slowly slowing down. If you go back 16,000 years ago, no problem at all. But you go back 70 billion years ago, man, we’re spinning so fast, everything that’s spun off this world—we’ve got a problem, friend. I’m a Tennessee country boy, but I got common sense. Evolution is dumb as it comes. But they’ll make you feel like you’re ignorant.

The moon, as it travels, collects a little bit of dust. They thought the dust would be feet thick because of 70 billion years. But when they landed, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” what’s the next thing he said? It’s solid. Why? About an inch and a half of dust. Why? Because it’s about 16,000 years old. Friend, I’m just telling you, don’t fall for this thing of the world trying to make you feel ignorant. You’re the smartest person in the world. You’re going to be on streets of gold one day. They’re going to be burning in hell one day. I’m not trying to be mean, but that’s just the truth of the matter.

How dumb do you have to be to not figure out that if you make guns illegal, the only ones that have them are the criminals? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. How many years did they say that’s not truly a baby? That’s a fetus. Now that science has truly advanced, and we have 3D, even 4D ultrasounds, they can say what they want, but even a country boy knows that’s a baby right there.

Satan will do his best just to get you quieted down. He doesn’t want your voice to be heard. He’s always been about that. He’s just trying to intimidate. By the way, talking about this abortion thing: 61% of the American public thinks it ought to be outlawed. So don’t fall for this saying, “Well, it’s just a few that are against it.” No, the majority of Americans are against it. Satan is the prince of power there, and he’ll get you so deceived by the media. Open your eyes, turn off the screens and open your eyes to what’s going on around.

By the way, on television, they have to have some homosexual in every show. It’ll make you think it’s about half of Americans. A monthly adult population, they say that now—I think this was done in 2021—it’s only 7.1% of Americans. But it’s convincing our youth that everybody’s doing it, so the youth are starting to follow that a little bit. Friend, that’s the lie of Satan, and he’s busy trying to silence the voice of God’s people.

Now here’s a wonderful thing. If you go back over there to Acts chapter four, look in verse number 29. They got threatened, and they go back. The little church meets together, it’s growing, and they have this prayer meeting. I want you to see what they pray. Verse number 29, Acts 4, verse number 29: “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may…” What’s the next word? “Speak thy word.”

Can I just put a little side note in there on verse number 29? It’s a shame how many preachers are scared to death that the IRS is going to take away our tax-exempt status. Friend, we ought to be wise about it, but they do take it away. Hey, God will take care of His church. Keep speaking the truth. They were threatened right here in the Bible too, and they said, “Hey, give us boldness.” Verse number 30: “…by stretching forth thine hand to heal; that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.”

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they…” What’s the next word? “Spake the word of God with boldness.”

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. But if you don’t have that boldness, it comes from the Spirit of God. Satan’s always trying to just squelch you from saying anything about truth. I’ve been in those lunchrooms, and you feel that oppression to say anything good and right. Don’t you go ahead and stand. I’ve had to stand alone, but I never really was alone at the workplace, because as long as you’ve got God, you’ve got the majority for it.

How does Satan try to silence our voice? By intimidation. Number two: By deceiving us. Satan is a master manipulator, and he’ll deceive us. I’m concerned about this next point because, as a whole, Americans are falling for this one. You don’t hear this preached or mentioned very often anymore. A little bit of the philosophy of our day and time is we’ve got to be unified, and we don’t want division. Think about that philosophy. Hitler’s are born out of that philosophy. God’s people never have been for peace at any cost.

Yes, the Bible says, “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” But if they’re murdering babies, it ought not to be peaceable inside. No, if they’re dead wrong against God and His Word, I don’t want to be quiet about that. I’m not for unity in that. If they’re for murdering babies, I’m for division over that right there.

Check out creation at the very beginning. God began to divide. He divided. God is even dividing. Jesus Christ came to divide. He’s separating the truth from error. I’m not talking about going around and fighting with everybody, but, friend, if we bite into this apple of peace at any cost, that is a mistake. I’m not trying to fight with everybody, but I ain’t going to change.

I like what one of our people said years ago when they traveled up to Antioch and went to a Baptist church that was turning liberal. They were talking about voting whether they were going to close down service on a Sunday night. She came back and told my wife that there was this old farmer guy in overalls, and every time they’d bring it up, closing the doors of church on Sunday night, he always raised his hand and said, “I’m against it. Preacher, I’m against it. Hey, if they’re giving sex education in our public schools, I’m against it.”

Say, “Well, we’ve got to be unified.” No, we don’t. The early colonies in early America weren’t unified with England. You call that a revolution? They divided over truth. Don’t fall for that. I’m not for trying to start fights, but I’m not for changing either. Satan would love to just silence our voice. Some things you must not be silent about.

I was listening to a guy talking about “one nation,” and he didn’t say “one nation under God.” I got a problem with that. Friend, somewhere along the line, the guy says, “Hey, I’m for truth first.” So important. Peace at any cost? No. I don’t like to fight, but I’d rather fight and stand for the truth. And Satan’s just pushing that philosophy.

We’re using the term “tolerant,” not so much anymore, just “unity.” They’re really pushing unity down. I like unity when we’re unified around the right thing. Be careful with this philosophy in our day and time: “Oh, we just can’t fight; we’ve got to be unified over everything.” No, no, no. I’m not going to be unified over murdering babies.

I like what old Horse Green, the great author years gone by, said: “It’s impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people because they know what the truth is, and that’s where they’re going to stand.” All the YouTube videos, all the other philosophers, all the self-help speakers—I’m not saying it’s all bad, it might have a little bit of help—but it ain’t nothing compared to that book right there. The answers are right there. That’s what we need to be unified around. In comparison, you can throw them all in the ocean. Take the Bible. That’s the truth; it’s the key.

Can I say another deceiving lie that Satan throws out there trying to keep our voices quiet? Satan will say, “Well, Christians ought not be involved in politics.” You ever heard of it? “Well, don’t mention religion or politics.” Man, you take those two out, you’re losing a whole lot—losing heaven, gaining hell. We are called by Jesus Christ to be the light and the salt. If you take that light out of that dark arena, it’s going to be really, really dark, friend. We must be involved in politics with salt. Don’t fall for that lie of Satan trying to silence us.

Here’s another lie of Satan: “Well, you just live it; you never speak it.” They call that—they don’t use that term as much anymore, but they use this term a lot—lifestyle evangelism. Friend, you live it because one day when you speak it to them, you’ll have a life to back it up. My friend, it is more than just living it; it is speaking it. That is the command of Scripture all through it.

By the way, Satan is doing a good job. It is very far and few between anymore to find an actively soul-winning Baptist church. That’s a shame on us. You have a hard time hearing that anymore, seeing that. I’m talking about whether they’re out there getting gospel tracts out everywhere they go, trying to get somebody saved. That’s a shame on us. Satan has silenced our voice in many ways, and he’s busy on that.

He said, “No, no, no, we’re not going to silence our voice on truth, especially the gospel.” So Satan’s trying to silence us—how? Through intimidation, by deceiving us, and in this last thing, by leading us into sin.

Satan’s always like this: If he can’t beat you, he tries to join you. Let me tell you a way he often does it in churches just like this right here. He gets little cliques here and there, and we’re bigger and we’re better and all the rest of that junk. It gets the church divided, with little cliques in the church fussing and fighting and arguing, backbiting and stabbing each other in the back. Oh, shame. Satan’s ultimate goal is to silence our voice. If they’re kicking you in the backside, you’re still in front of them. Just keep serving God.

But Satan loves to get us divided amongst each other. He’s all about that. In the book of Acts, what happened? They couldn’t get them by threatening, so the next thing, they had two people inside the church start lying about how much they sold their land for. Satan’s always busy about that. And then he’ll try to get us to backslide, going into sinful, rotting things. He’ll try to divide our marriages.

Our teens had a teen activity Friday. But you know what Satan will do? He’ll try to get the teenagers talking about each other and getting into little cliques. That’s just Satan. He’s always busy doing all this. He’ll try to get us into sin. He’ll try to destroy our testimony so that when you do stand for the truth, there’ll be no value to it. He’s trying to get you just to live a sinful life.

Friend, let me just say this: If you’ve got a potty mouth at work, you’re not going to be able to speak a whole lot and be effective at work. That’s just the truth. Stand and do right and speak. Don’t let Satan silence your voice. The ultimate goal is that Satan doesn’t want the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to get out.

Do you mind if we get one last illustration in here? Years ago we had some neighbors moving beside us. And they had a friend come down before, and I remember he met me at the fence backyard. And of course, I tried to witness to him right off the bat. He said, “Hey man, I don’t mind you witnessing to me. He wasn’t saved, didn’t get saved. He said, 'I don’t mind. He said, ‘Don’t talk to these people moving in. They’re moving down from Michigan, and they want me to come down first and check out and make sure you find a house away from any church.’ So you understand these people, they’re like against religion and church altogether. So don’t talk to them about God. You can talk to me, don’t talk to them.”

Well, they moved in. And that year, we were trying to put in an above-ground swimming pool. We bought it off of Craigslist, I believe it was back in the day. Honestly, for the most part, I was at work; my family dug that thing out. Digging in Tennessee is not a good thing, man. And their name was Mike and Denise. Mike and Denise would sit over there and watch us by the hour. Sometimes we’re just wanting to get away from everybody to be at home, you know. Sometimes neighbors are just watching everything you do because they want to see if you’re real or not. And they would sit over there, they would drink, and they would just watch us. Then sometimes they would come over and give us advice, “Do this with the liner, do this with the filter,” and all that. And we wanted to say, “Hey, man, why don’t you come over here and do it yourself?” We didn’t, but we wanted to.

And we didn’t right off the bat witness to them. We tried to be wise about it, but eventually began to witness to them. He would drive a truck; he was gone one time over the road, and his wife, Denise, was very sick. She was throwing up blood. My wife took her to the hospital. We found out then what was going on. And they had both drank pretty much all their life. Your liver’s like a filter, and it gets hardened; that blood can’t get through. Her blood pressure and all that was just crazy. And literally her esophagus, I believe it was, was leaking, and it was just draining; her stomach was full of blood. Stonecrest Hospital, they said, “We got to take her back for emergency surgery, and we don’t know if she’s going to live through it.”

And my wife tried to tell her about Jesus, and she said, “No.” And they came back again and said, “Ma’am, you got any family? Can you get family here? Because we don’t know if we’re going to make it. Would you call family?” They tried to call Mike, and Mike was, I don’t know, in Texas or somewhere trying to get in town. And my wife said, “Denise, you’re about to go back. Would you let me tell you?” She said, “No.”

They came back one more time. When you sign all these papers, because we don’t—we really kind of—it’s a slight chance you’re going to make it through this, but we’ve got to do something. She signed the papers, and my wife said, “Would you let me tell you? Just let me tell you.” Finally, she said, “Yeah.” Did you notice that she was wanting to speak the gospel to her? Finally, Denise said, “Okay.” And Denise heard the true gospel. They’ve been alcoholics for a year. They’ve been around religion where you’ve got to change, and they’re like, “We can’t change.” And we told her the truth: God loves you just like you are. He’ll save you just like you are. And she heard those gospel stories. She was so glad.

And before she went in that surgery, she bowed her head and said, “Oh, man, Jesus, I want to get saved. Would you save me?” And the blood of Jesus Christ covered all that wicked sin for all those years. Denise got saved.

Denise lived through that. Maybe a year after that, she passed. But in the meantime, Mike got home, and he knew what had happened, but Mike wouldn’t let me talk to him, and I’d try, but he just wouldn’t let me talk to him. But towards the end, they were going to move. And Mike finally—here’s the thing that started happening for Mike—you know, Denise was kind of hanging on life and death. And Mike, the first time he’d even let me—he’d come. He said, “Hey,” I remember him knocking on our door one time, and I came to the door. I said, “Mike, what’s going on?” He said, “Hey, would you say a word for my wife?” He couldn’t even say the word, “Would you pray for her?” But I knew what he was talking about. “Mike, I’d be glad to.” And he just kind of softened. “Mike, I’m praying for your wife.” “Man, thank you.”

Finally they moved, but he came back, or right before they moved, I believe it was. I remember he had come up and said bye to us, and he was leaving. And I thought, “I’m going to try it one more time.” And Mike was leaving. I remember I came down off the steps. “So, Mike, can I tell you?” And that’s what Mike said. He said, “I was hoping you had asked me one more time.” And I had the purpose of telling him. Mike bowed down and asked Jesus Christ to be saved. He’s so glad to be saved. They moved. She’s passed. Mike has come down only from Michigan and visited us before.

But, friend, I’m telling you, if Satan would just guide us so intimidated—“Well, that guy,” remember he said, “Don’t talk to them about the Lord”—we would have never voiced it. Satan’s trying to silence your voice. Now, live it—it wouldn’t have worked if we wouldn’t live it—but speak it.

There are some main characters in that book. One of those is a wise man, and one of those is a fool. And often in America, the majority of the people are what’s called simple-minded, biblically. If the fool is just so loud and the wise man never stands up, then the simple often go that way. The Bible talks about smiting the scorner, and the simple will be made wise. The Bible says, “Do not answer a fool,” and then the next verse he says, “Answer him.” Sometimes it needs to be answered. Why? Not because that fool is going to go off and do his own thing, but for the simple.

If we quiet down in our voice, we may not change, but the simple won’t hear it. That’s why we need to be loud. That’s why we put on the church sign out there. There’s something about it. Why? For the simple. If we’re just quiet, the simple will go that way. I’m not talking about unwise, foolish, loud talking, but wisely standing for the truth. It’s needed for them. In our country, the simple are right there in the middle, and they need you to stand and let your voice be heard in the right way.

And the preacher’s got to stop using his voice and let you go home and get some food somewhere. We’re glad you’re here this morning. Be back tonight, 6 o’clock, looking forward to God working on our hearts and our lives. And praise the Lord for just great people in our church. Love it, wonderful people. Congratulations, Brother Mark Hardy on that. The Lord did it.

Original File: Don’t Let Satan Silence Your Voice - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday AM 06262022