But Not Quiet

I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian. I'm not ashamed to claim his name. Present-day hypocritic, lukewarm Laodicean church goers typically lift their beautiful voices plenty highly when they sing those lines inside their steeple houses, but they would not dare lift up their voices singing those same words out in public before the world, the world being the children of the devil.

I am speaking this on Thursday, the U.S. Thanksgiving Day in 2025, though it is not a holiday here in Japan where I am, and I just walked back to my house this morning after 8 a.m. from singing praise to God in heaven beside the junior high school wire mesh fence just a long stone's throw from my house as those junior high kids walked and rode bicycles into the nearby school gate, each of them steadily daily journeying on to their eternal abode. Oh, how it set my heart afire with joy, causing them to hear praises sang to our creator God in heaven. I am missionary Richard Yerby in Japan, now continuing my sermon series on Job's glorious declaration in chapter 3 verse 26 of Job, where Job proclaimed, I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet, yet trouble came.

Job chapter 3 verse 26, and this sermon's title of mine is, But Not Quiet? Continuing to preach on Job's spiritual custom of neither was I quiet. Do you practice the same religious custom of not being quiet about the creator God of the human race? He ordained that we be his mouthpieces here on earth, we who are bought by his precious blood and become a child of God with citizenship in heaven. This important and most powerful matter of raising our voices for our creator God in the presence of every human soul that we possibly can is a fierce spiritual battle that is highly opposed by the enemy.

Thus, courage is necessary, making preparatory prayer essential for any victory. You please pray without ceasing for God to give you courage to speak to others about him. Also intercede much in intercessory prayer for the lost souls around you daily, asking God to draw lost souls to you to hear you speak to them of their eternal destiny.

Rest assuredly that almighty God is on your side in this matter, and if you are serious about wanting courage to speak up for your creator, then he is most serious about giving you that courage. Let's pray to him about that. Heavenly Father, I now pray to thee for that needed courage.

Please help me to be a good witness for thee. Please help me to have the same testimony that perfect and upright Job had. Neither was I quiet.

Please take away the spirit of the fear of man from me, because thy holy scriptures clearly teach us that the fear of man bringeth a snare. Please fill me with thy divine courage. Help me not to be the least bit embarrassed or ashamed of thee before others.

Help me to be a bright and shining light, always lifting high my Lord Jesus Christ and exalting him before everyone. I pray this for Brother Richard too, and I pray for all Christians now on earth. Amen.

You pray to God for guidance about what methods to use to impart words of God's salvation, as some methods of speaking require less courage than others. Consider starting with the easier methods. I write short, bold, powerful prayers that get right to the point of earnestly calling upon God to be saved.

Then I pay a printer to print those prayers in quite large size print on the back of shirts, jackets, and vests. Then I wear those prayers on my back out into the world. Many lost and undone hell-bound sinners see those prayers when I go about out in public in their presence.

The following is a sample of one of those prayers. Lord Jesus Christ, my creator God and soon coming judge, create within me a heart broken over my sins and contrite. Grant unto me repentance toward God the Father and faith toward thee, the savior for all mankind.

Following the end of that printed prayer is printed in my website's URL, so people could take note of it and read more about God on my website. If you would like a copy of more such prayers like the one that I've just read to you, do please simply ask me for them by email. All the letters in my gmail email address are small case and there is no spacing between the letters and the numbers.

Email address is richardgordy77 at gmail.com. Gordy is spelled g-o-r-d-y, richardgordy77, and that is at gmail.com. In early 2019 or so, when I was preaching in various places in the area of Navarre, Florida, I stopped into a convenience store one night and walking in, I observed outside a young clean-cut guy, likely a recent high school grad, and a lady probably in her 20s with a rough-looking guy somewhat older. It appeared that the rough-looking guy was collecting what little pocket change that these other two had, and upon finishing my business inside, I walked past the counter on which lay a good number of small change, small coins that the rough customer had laid out, and he is holding the candy bar that he had selected to buy, and the cashier is saying to him, you need 14 more cents. I don't think those three people had any more money among them, and I think that the rough customer picked up those coins and left his candy bar on the counter.

Anyway, as I exited the door and turned right, walking toward my car, the young clean-cut guy, now behind me, called out to me. I like your shirt, buddy. He had just seen that prayer that I read to you now on the back of my shirt.

I spoke to him. Thank you. God bless you.

I need that. That omission of his surprised me, and he kept speaking. I need to be in church.

Likely his Christian parents had made him attend church with them while he was being reared in their house, and upon finishing high school, likely he ceased going to church, and now he is very evidently in bad company. I will be praying that you will do right, I said to him as I went on. I did not stay to talk long with him as the rough customer was ready to leave.

They three were in one car, and the rough customer would easily flare up against any delay I caused, likely bringing rough percussions upon the young guy for speaking up to me. Now, by Father in heaven, save all three of them to the utmost, I pray. Listen to my listening friends agreeing with me with that plea.

Friend, listen to me. Just think of the great good it would do our nation for each and every blood-bought, heaven-bound soul to wear such a prayer on their back often when they're out in public. Likely your employer would prohibit such on the job site.

That is your employer's prerogative, but you can keep a vest handy to slip on upon departing from your workplace. I wear a prayer written in the Japanese language here in Japan on my back on shirts and jackets. Public places are crowded with lost Buddhist souls in this crowded nation, and seeing the prayer on my back has caused a few lost Japanese people to ask me of eternal matters.

Strangers approach me to talk about it. You can display a short Bible message on your car. Jesus says on a bumper sticker, or give a needed message to those around you traveling the road of life.

My one personal vehicle here in Japan is a most practical compact utility van. It is basically a square metal box, its two sides and rear making excellent billboards. So I pay a printer to print large-sized print letter prayers on magnetic sheets and adorn both sides and the rear of my van with a total of six such signs.

Many lost souls traveling along the road of life view those written prayers, the content of which is calling upon Lord God Almighty to be saved. Upon receiving the first batch of those magnetic sheets from the printer, I placed two on each side and two on the rear hatch of my little square van, and the following Sunday, I drove to the church where I was invited to preach that morning. Sister Isozumi and her children arrived in their car right after me, and she is a most talkative sister in Christ, and upon seeing six prayers on my van's exterior, she sat in praising me, telling me that is a wonderful thing to do.

So I remarked low-key that I have extra signs of those signs and would be glad to loan her two or more to decorate on her car, and she immediately exclaimed, oh no, I'd be too embarrassed to have them on my car. Not only is she talkative, she is most transparent. It's refreshing to be around a person like that.

Since the end of the year 2004, it has been my custom to spend most of each winter away from my main residence here in Matsuda town, and a fine Japanese brother in Christ lives in this town, and he is most kind to look after my house and affairs when I am away, and one thing he does is to drive my vehicle some to keep the battery charged. The first time I left my vehicle in his care with those six glorious prayers showing on it, when I returned, he remarked to me that this time he charged my van's battery by letting the engine idle for 15 minutes as the van sat in its parking spot. That fine Japanese brother would not dare be seen driving those six prayers around town.

I perceive that most of us lukewarm Laodicean church people subconsciously deem ourselves to be of about the same caliber as the best of the saints down through the ages, totally unaware of the severe degree to which we are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. You can read those very words yourself in Revelation chapter 3 verse 17, and our Lord is presently spewing this Laodicean church out of his mouth, and that spewing will steadily intensify with more death and famine and destruction until the rapture. Lord stir up each of us, we want to be overcomers.

My rental house here in Japan has exterior metal wall siding that magnets adhere to, so I hear magnetic prayers to the front exterior wall of my house, and the narrow quiet street out front is about eight feet from that front wall. Sitting inside my living room from time to time, I hear Japanese children stop out front and read one or more of those prayers aloud. Buddhist teens and adults wandering by my house on foot, they silently gaze at them, silently reading the prayers.

They are too proud to voice the prayers aloud. All these prayers that I display are always available for people to gaze upon. The Holy Spirit faithfully dealing with their hearts as they do so.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no, I'm gonna let it shine. Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine.

Let it shine till Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Do you detect my heart overflowing with the joy of the Lord due to following Job's glorious example of not being quiet about our creator God? And the examples I've given thus far do not even require a saved person to open his or her mouth and speak up vocally.

Think on that right now. You please listen to God the Holy Spirit telling you exactly where you can easily display signs teaching salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. If it is hard for you to muster up enough courage to talk verbally to people about God, or if you feel like you don't know exactly what to say, you can also consider passing out tracts in other Christian literature.

Choose tracts that have a clear, well-organized message of salvation in them, and preferably a prayer at the end of the written message if such tracts are available to you. If you don't have the courage to hand a tract to someone in person, consider putting tracts where people can take them. I like to walk through these dense neighborhoods here in Japan, crowded neighborhoods, leaving Christian literature at each door of each house while getting exercised by taking a walk and also praying as an intercessor for the souls who will pick up that printed prayer and read it.

Here in Japan, it's allowed to put advertising circlers and religious stuff like that into mailboxes, things that are not genuine postal mail. It's legal to put them in there, and I do that. It's a blessing to do it muchly.

Think of the places you can leave the gospel in print for people to take of their own free will. You can wear an attractive badge or similar item with a short gospel message on it, and most all people who see you will see that message. I believe it is most important to exercise discretion about putting writing about God on our clothing to ensure that it is not done in an irreverent or immodest manner.

What I put on my clothing, I put it on my upper back so people look at my upper back to read it. I read a Christian woman's writing in some Christian publication. She talked about previously wearing a shirt.

What's women doing wearing shirts? She talked about wearing a shirt with writing about God on its front, and she said that she soon quit wearing it because God convicted her of people looking at her chest to read it, and I say, amen, sister. Good for you. Amen.

I personally question whether or not it glorifies God for an adult man to wear a t-shirt with a gospel message on it. Maybe a child, maybe, but to me, on an adult man, it just appears cheap, much too cheap for a high and holy righteous God to be written about on a t-shirt with a man wearing it, and I certainly believe it most inappropriate for a woman to wear a t-shirt or such shirt that reveals the shape of her body in a manner that causes men to look upon it with lust, and more so if that form-fitting shirt has a gospel message on the immodest shirt. May God help us to make all the ways we speak of him most honorable to our high and holy, pure, upright, and righteous God.

May all our communication methods glorify him. If permitted by your human boss, you can display a small sweet gospel message at your workplace, even just having your Bible at your workplace sends a loud and clear message that you are on God's side. It is quite regrettable to me that many employers forbid or discourage such.

I believe that, in general, God is not so pleased with Christians spending their workday in a place where they are not allowed to talk about him at all. Of course, your purpose for being at work is to diligently do the work you're getting paid for. You're not on the job to talk about unrelated subjects, but if at break time, lunchtime and such, you are strictly forbidden to talk about God while most all other chatting and talk is permitted.

Possibly God is not so pleased with us spending each day of our lives in such a place that shuts him out of that part of his creation. If you work in such a place, diligently seek God's will and guidance concerning it. It's quite common for us to lack courage, to be like Job, causing us to keep silent about God.

When I was a young adult, God really began dealing with me to witness about my savior, and I wasn't opposed to doing so at all. I wanted to, but courage sure was lacking, so I prayed about it and I began witnessing to children, as that didn't require as much courage. You consider talking to children about Jesus and singing gospel songs to them and teaching them gospel songs.

It is rewarding in that they are more prone to listen than adults are. Also, they are an eternal soul, actually an adult in the making, at a time when their heart is tender and formable, easily influenced and molded by any input into it, whether the input is good or whether it is bad. If you absolutely feel like you just don't know what to say to people or how best to say it, then read to them, especially the children.

Read the Bible, Bible stories, good Christian literature for their age level. Sing Christian hymns and songs to them and with them. Don't be overly concerned that the scriptures and some hymns might be above their level of understanding.

It's important for them to understand, but it is more important for them to be exposed to the Word of God. That which you sing and read to them will lodge in their hearts and understanding of it will come later as they steadily mature in growth. Even before a baby is born, it is beneficial to the baby for its mother to read the Bible to her baby in her womb and sing hymns to unborn babes.

I promise you that is true. John and Charles Wesley's dear mother was keen to do this for the many offspring that she bore. Christian parents, I hope and pray you are desirous to train your children to be like Job and not to be quiet about God.

Training them to speak or sing songs that they know to smaller children is a good way to get your children started. If there are smaller children available in your family around you, you can easily have your four-year-old child sing a simple song to a baby, telling the four-year-old that it is important to sing to that baby about God. Starting your children serving God as soon as they are old enough to sing a short song about him is most beneficial to both the speaker and the hearer.

Back when I really greatly lacked courage to speak to adults about God, the more I witnessed the children about God, the easier it became to also talk to adults about him. Please use any upright method you have courage for to get started telling anyone about God. Watch God quickly bless your efforts by giving you spiritual growth and increasing your courage.

The younger the heart is, the easier it is to witness to them. Witnessing and singing to babies will benefit both the baby and you, I promise. Singing hymns and gospel songs as you go about your daily routine is an excellent way to broadcast the good news of salvation in Christ.

When we witness person to person, often that person goes on the defensive trying to evade and escape, but that is not likely to happen when you sing out as you're doing it simply for the sake of singing. People around you aren't likely to get nervous by thinking it is a personal attack coming their way. Still, they hear it all, and God can thereby work in their hearts by what they hear.

You well know that the melody helps us to remember and to memorize the words of a song. Thus, more of the song's message is likely to lodge in a person's heart than the words of normal conversation. If you sing of your savior out in public, it is not likely to put people on the defensive like a personal encounter with them will do.

Still, many people will snicker and make fun of you. Just ignore them and keep glorifying God. Do not hesitate at all because you consider yourself a poor singer.

Praising God is not a subject that is assigned to good singers only. Praising God is commanded of everything that hath breath, in Psalms 150 verse 6. My singing out in public draws more derisive laughter than does my preaching, but I just go on singing anyway, and I plan to keep singing praises to my God for all eternity while the people who now scorn me are then weeping, wailing, and gnashing their teeth forever if they reject Christ till the end of their earthly journey. Neither was I quiet.

Lord God, help us all to be like Job, God bless you, my listening friend. Witness for the Lord, let your light shine. Glorify the Lord God who created you.

Amen.