Posted on 12/09/2021 10:00:45 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth” (Proverbs 10:17-20).
Verse 18, the one guy smooths over his hatred and lies about it, and another utters a slander. They are both fools. The issue is not what you say or don't say with your mouth, the issue is what is boiling on the inside.
Verse 19, “in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin,” that's a terrible verse to quote to a preacher, isn't it? They get up there for 4 hours a week and preach their hearts out, and “in a multitude of words there wanteth not sin.” That’s kind of a rotten thing to say. But the fact of the matter is that the more a man talks there is more of an opportunity to say something wrong. For sin to slip in. It's just true. That's why there's such a premium placed in the word of God on folks being slow to speak, slow to wrath and some of those things.
“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin,” back in verses 8 and 10 we talked about a prating fool, that’s somebody just babbles, talk, talk, talk, talk.
“. . . but he that refraineth his lips is wise,” James says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (1:19)
Verse 20, “The tongue of the just is as choice silver,” now that relates to where we started back in verse 11 for instance, “the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life,” verse 16, “the labour of the righteous tendeth to life,” verse 32, “the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,” but it says there in verse 20 that “the tongue of the just is as choice silver.”
Most of us that were saved later in life, in our 20’s and 30’s, it was a lot of years before we got around men that weren't blaspheming and vulgar all the time. Those that attended mainline denominational churches were the gospel isn’t well know can recall deacons in the church that were not beyond turning the air blue once in a while.
I was in my 20’s before I was with a group of men who actually lived their testimony. It took me a little while to adjust to that. I kept expecting somebody to stumble. And do you know what? You need to be one of those guys. Young Christians really are watching you, expecting you to stumble. When you don’t, you strengthen their faith. And this does not only apply to strangers. Your kids do not need to hear you slip up. You need to sanctify your mouth.
“The tongue of the just is as choice silver,” so that righteousness comes out of it and your conversation will stick out in the world if it's not dirty.
“The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.”
The world doesn’t believe that. The world believes everybody's heart is valuable, even Michael Jackson's heart. He loves little children. Yea, but maybe a bit too much? That’s not what the Bible says. Sure, their souls are valuable, right? I'm sorry that Michael Jackson went to hell. No one wanted that, the least of which himself. His heart was of little worth. In fact, it would have been better, looking back, if he had never lived. He corrupted an entire generation of kids. His actions in life now serve as justification of sorts that pedophilia is okay, as long as one loves his prey. That’s nonsense! His heart was of little worth. There are some folks that parts of their lives are worthless.
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Good one.
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