Let The Beauty Of Jesus Be Seen In Your Speech – Part 1

Wade Webster

The song that serves as the central thought of this lesson contains both direct and indirect references to our speech. In the fourth verse the song speaks of letting the beauty of Jesus be seen in all that we say. The fourth verse also urges us to strive to keep sweet. Although keeping sweet doesn’t have to refer to speech, it is likely included. In the third verse, the song speaks of remembering how Jesus was treated and reviled when someone is unkind to us and speaks some word that pierces us through. Clearly, the implication is that we should show the same restraint in our speech that Jesus showed in His speech.

There are just under 65,000 words in the four gospels. A little over 31,000 of those words are from the lips of Jesus. Jesus spoke often in the gospels and we can learn much from what He said and how He said it. What kinds of words characterized the speech of Jesus?

Gracious Words

Luke records, “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Lk. 4:22). As you know, grace refers to unmerited favor. Jesus spoke with favor that had not and could not be earned. Just think of the words that Jesus spoke from the cross. To those who had shouted for Him to be crucified, He prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). To the woman who was taken in the act of adultery and cast down at His feet for sentencing and stoning, Jesus asked,“Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” (John 8:10). When she answered, “No man, Lord,” Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). This woman came fearing severe judgment, but she left having found saving grace. It should not surprise us that Jesus spoke gracious words. You may recall that Jesus taught that the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart (Mat. 12:34). This is the reason why Solomon instructed us to keep our hearts with all diligence because out of it are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). As we think in our hearts we are (Prov. 23:7). Our works and our words just reveal the condition and the contents of our hearts. When John spoke of the incarnation of Christ, he described Jesus among other things as being full of grace (John 1:14). Since Jesus was full of grace, that is what came forth from His mouth. If we have the mind/heart of Christ, then grace will be what comes out of our mouths too (Phil. 2:5). To the Christians at Colosse, Paul wrote, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Col. 4:6).

Thoughtful Words

Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned”(Mat. 12:36-37). Idle is from the Greek word argos which means lazy and useless. Idle words are words that are uttered without thought. We must give great thought to our words because of the power that they contain. Solomon declared, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Prov. 18:21; cf. Jam. 3:5-6). Life was in the words of Jesus. On one occasion, He declared, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). What about our words? Do we give the thought that we should before we speak? Solomon wrote, “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness” (Prov. 15:2). Again, we read, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit” (Prov. 17:27). Are we slow to speak? James wrote, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (Jam. 1:19). Do our words tend toward life or death?

You Can Move Mountains In Your Life

David Sproule

One must NEVER take a verse out of context!  One must NEVER make a verse in the Bible mean something that it did not or does not mean!  Still, when one understands passages in their context, look for applications for us today.

During His last week of life before the crucifixion, Jesus cursed a fig tree because it had no figs, and “Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt. 21:19).  When the disciples “saw the fig tree dried up from the roots” (Mark 11:20), they “marveled”
(Matt. 21:20).  They asked, “How?” (21:20).

Jesus gave the apostles the key to such power in their lives—“Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22)!  And not only to “have faith” but also “do not doubt” (Matt. 21:21).  Jesus gave the apostles miraculous “power” (Matt. 10:1), which is not available to anyone today, but even that miraculous power would not work if there was “unbelief” (NKJV) or “littleness of faith” (NASB) present in the hearts of the apostles (Matt. 17:20).

In speaking to the apostles (keep the context), Jesus said, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).  For the apostles:  Faith + Prayer = God’s Power.  The “moving of mountains” was commonly used among the Jews as a proverb for doing that which seemed impossible or overcoming some great difficulty (see Matthew 17:20 and 1 Corinthians 13:2).  The miraculous power from God would enable the apostles to do the impossible or overcome a difficult with God’s help.

So, does this passage not have any application to us today?  Let’s be clear that it does NOT have any miraculous application to us today.  No prayer is going to move a literal mountain today, and a literal mountain remaining upright and not in the sea is not a sign of a lack of faith.  HOWEVER, even for the apostles, this terminology was probably figurative.

Here’s a question: Do you have any “mountains” in your life?  Do you have obstacles that don’t seem to go away?  Do you have God-given responsibilities that seem too large to accomplish?  While the age of miracles has ceased, the power of God still works within us and for us (Eph. 3:20; Phil. 2:13; Heb. 13:21).  So, don’t try to scale that “mountain” in your life or try to remove that “mountain” WITHOUT God’s help!  What does that involve?  First, “Have faith in God.”  Do everything you can to increase your faith through God’s Word (Rom. 10:17).  Second, “ask,” “pray” “in faith, with no doubting” (Jas. 1:6; Mark 11:24).  When you do, remember this: Faith + Prayer = God’s Power.

Watch Out For The “New Math”!

David Sproule

The boldness of Satan is astonishing and sickening.  The first time we are introduced to him is very early in the Biblical narrative—in the 57th verse of the Bible, that “cunning…beast” enters the scene.  The first thing we read of him doing is planting a seed of doubt in the validity of the Word of God (Gen. 3:1), and then going further to lie profusely about the consequences of disobeying God, “You shall not surely die” (3:4; cf. 2:17).  Truly, “he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).  From the very beginning, he has been adding to and taking from God’s Word to cause mankind to violate God’s Word.

And, unfortunately, since the days of the Garden in Genesis 3, mankind has been following his lead in adding to and taking from the Word.  Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, when they were forbidden to do so (Gen. 3:6).  Israel molded a golden calf and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, as if it was their “god” (Ex. 32:1-35).  Moses struck the rock to provide water for the Israelites, instead of speaking to the rock as God instructed (Num. 20:7-12).  Time and time again, God’s creation was disregarding the clear directions given to them by their God.  Who did they think they were—what math were they using—that they could disobey God?

From the beginning, God has always told man what He is to do in order to please God (“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat,” Gen. 2:16).  He has always told man what He is not to do (“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” 2:17).  And, He has always told man the consequences of disobedience (“for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” 2:17).  Still, man, being influenced by the father of lies himself, transgresses God’s clear directives.

It is no wonder then that God has to repeat Himself throughout Scripture.  In Deuteronomy 4:2, He made it clear, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it.”  Again in Proverbs 30:6, “Do not add to His words.”  Then, finally, on the very last page of the Bible, “anyone” who “adds to” or “takes away from” the Word of God is warned of the serious and eternal consequences thereof (Rev. 22:18-19).

God’s math is simple—do not “add” to or “subtract” from what He says, lest you “multiply” your sorrow and “divide” yourself from Him.  Yet, the cunning beast still thinks that he can teach his new math and get away with it.  Friends, remember that the devil is a liar!  His new math is from hell and leads to hell!  Let us remember that we must “listen to” and “do” the will of God in order to “go in and take possession of the land” He is giving us (Deut. 4:1).  What He commands us is “for our good always”—now and in eternity (Deut. 6:24).

The Christian and his Bible

I find my Lord in the Bible

Wherever I chance to look.

He is the theme of the Bible

The Center and Heart of the Book.

He is the Rose of Sharon

He is the Lily fair

Wherever I open my Bible

The Lord of the Bible is there.

He, at the Book's beginning

Gave to the earth its form

He is the Ark of shelter

Bearing the brunt of the storm.

The Burning Bush of the desert

The budding of Aaron's Rod.

Wherever I look in the Bible

I see the Son of God.

The Ram upon Mount Moriah

The Ladder from earth to sky

The Scarlet Cord in the window

And the Serpent lifted high.

The Smitten Rock in the desert

The Shepherd with staff and crook

The face of my Lord I discover

Wherever I open the Book.

He is the Seed of the woman,

The Saviour, virgin-born.

He is the Son of David

Whom men rejected with scorn

His garments of Grace and Beauty

The stately Aaron deck

Yet He is a Priest forever

For He is after Melchizedek.

He's Lord of Eternal Glory

Whom John in a vision saw.

Light of the Golden City

Lamb without spot or flaw.

Bridegroom coming at midnight

For whom the virgins look

Wherever I open my Bible

I find my Lord in the Book.     —Author unknown

The Promise That God’s Word Will Never Pass Away – Part 3

Wade Webster

It Is A Confirmed Promise

God’s promise alone is enough for us. We know that God keeps His promises (1 Kings 8: 56). We know that He cannot lie (Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2). We know that time after time, God has been found to be faithful. This is especially clear in the case of this promise. Through the centuries, men have tried to destroy the word of God, without success. Someone has well said, “His words have passed into laws, they have passed into doctrines, they have passed into proverbs, they have passed into consolations, but they have never ‘passed away.’” Bernard Ramm said, “A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put.” Consider just few of the failed attempts to destroy God’s word:

• Jehoikim: Johoikim slashed and burned the word of God because he did not like the prediction that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy the land (Jer. 36:29). Though he cut out the unwanted prophecy and cast it into the fire, it still came to pass. God’s word lived on. At the instruction of God, the destroyed section was restored and additional words were added to it. What happened to Jehoikim? According to Jeremiah’s prediction, Jehoikim died and was “buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer. 22:19).
• Antiochus Epiphanes: Antiochus Epiphanes was a Syrian ruler who came to power during the period between the testaments. When he became ruler in Syria in 175 B.C., he destroyed the temple, sold the people of Jerusalem into slavery, forced Greek culture upon the people, and sought to do away with the sacred writings. He wanted to break their morale and substitute the worship of Zeus for the worship of God. Once a month, houses were searched, and whoever was found with a copy of the law or had observed the practice of circumcision was condemned to death. Yet the sacred writings survived his reign and persecution.
• Emperor Diocletian: Diocletian was a Roman emperor during the early part of the fourth century A.D. He decreed death for anyone who possessed a copy of the Bible. He took great pleasure in burning Bibles. After two years, he boasted that he had completely “exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth.” He even erected a monument over the ashes of burned Bibles. However, just twenty years later, when Constantine came to the throne and offered a substantial reward for copies of the word, the law of God was found in abundance (2 Kings 22-23). In fact, within twenty-five hours, fifty copies had been offered to him. Like those before him, Diocletian had failed.
• Voltaire (1694-1778): Voltaire was a well-known French infidel. In 1778, he boasted, “One hundred years from my day there will not be a Bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” He further boasted, “It took twelve men to build Christianity. One will destroy it.” Only fifty years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society used this very printing press to print Bibles. Furthermore, the house in which Voltaire had lived was used to store and distribute Bibles. Approximately two hundred years after this prediction, a first edition of Voltaire’s work sold in Paris for a few cents. On that very same day, December 24, 1933, the British government purchased an ancient New Testament manuscript, Codex Sinaiticus, from the Soviets for half a million dollars. The highly-prized manuscript, dated about 350 A.D., is still on display in the British Musuem.
• Thomas Paine: Many remember Paine as the author whose writings were influential in moving the colonists to declare their independence. However, in his book The Age of Reason, he ridiculed the Bible and its claims. His book became known as The Atheists’ Bible. In boasting of the demise of the Bible, Paine declared, “In five years from now there will not be a Bible in America. I have gone through the Bible with an axe and cut down all its trees.” However, it was Paine who was eventually cut down. He spent the last part of his life in bitter isolation, and his dying words were filled with regret. Dying, he declared, “I would give worlds if I had them, had The Age of Reason never been written  . . . . O Lord, help me! Christ help me! . . . . Send even a child to stay with me, for it is hell to be alone. If ever the devil had an agent, I have been that one.” Fittingly, Paine’s printing press was also later used to print Bibles and biblical materials.

Although we need no confirmation to take God at His word, much confirmation can be found relative to this promise. Amazingly, in trying to destroy God’s word, God’s enemies have confirmed it!