Christian Message Boards: Why the Hush?

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Posted by WildB (Member # 2917) on :

“And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

“And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known” (Mark 3:11,12).

Have you ever wondered why the Lord did not want these “unclean spirits” to make Him known? We believe it was because He didn’t want the likes of them telling others about Him. That is, He knew that the testimony of such sinful, unclean creatures would hurt Him, not help Him. He already had enough people thinking He was “in cahoots” with devils (Matt. 12:22-24). If people heard devils testify of Him, well, that wasn’t exactly the kind of testimony He needed!

We often wonder if the Lord feels the same way today when instead of unclean spirits, unclean believers testify to others about Him. We’re not suggesting that only saints who get straight “A”s in conduct should be allowed to witness, for none of us is perfect. Nor are we saying that God can’t use the testimony of sinful men, for if He can use Balaam’s donkey to speak His words, He can certainly use carnal believers. But we can’t help but think that if God “had His druthers,” He’d much rather use a saint who has purged himself of uncleanness and is “meet for the Master’s use” (II Tim. 2:21).

We believe the same principle applies when it comes to pointing people to Paul as our apostle. In Acts 16:16, “a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination” followed Paul, saying:

“These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

“And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (v. 17,18).

What the devil was saying was true, of course, but that didn’t stop Paul from hushing the testimony being offered by such a questionable source. And so when we as grace believers try to convince our brethren that Paul alone is the servant of God that shows unto us the way of salvation in this dispensation, our testimony will be received much more readily if our lives “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Titus 2:10). Anything less would cause Paul, if he were here to see it, to be as grieved with us as he was with the damsel possessed with the spirit of divination.

by Pastor Ricky Kurth

https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/berean-searchlight/?utm_source=twominutes-list&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=twominutes_20180330