Posted on 06/18/2022 12:48:35 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Proverbs 18:6-8).
He’s just looking for trouble, arguments. In 13:10, we found out where that comes from, “Only by pride cometh contention.”
The Bible gives a definition of a fool, here are the verses and you can look them up: 1:7, fools despise wisdom; 1:22, they hate knowledge; 1:32, they can’t handle prosperity; in 10:18, the fool is a slanderer; in 10:23, they love mischief; in 14:9, the fool mocks sin; in Psalm 14:1, the fool said in their heart there is no God; Proverbs 12:15, they are blind; 14:16, they are over-confident.
A religious fool thinks he can get away with what he is doing because he is religious, and he doesn’t think there is a God that will bring him to justice. His concept of God could never punish His creature. We call these birds universalists that believe that even Hitler is saved, and that God will make him nice in heaven. A lot of people are like that. Even though they profess to believe in a God, you and I both know by the way they live that they are only fooling themselves. They have said in their hearts, there is no God.
“. . . and his mouth calleth for strokes,” he’s just ripe for someone to punch him in the mouth. In other words, his words get him into trouble, and bring swift punishment down upon him. He makes his own bed to lay on, the fool brings upon himself his own trouble and his own punishment.
“A fool's mouth is his destruction,” because he doesn’t trust Christ, he trusts only himself, so he ends up destroying his own life and his own soul.
“. . . and his lips are the snare of his soul,” they trap his soul. Some men say, “I’d never do that!” and he won’t do it because of what he said. They said, “I’d never walk the aisle in a Bible-believing, fundamental church and pray like those idiots do!” and they won’t do it. They might say that out on a job to be macho and manly, and the Devil might just hold them to it. Somebody will try to get them to come to church and the Devil will say, “You remember what you said? You said you would never go there.” And his pride will well up in him, and say, “No way!”
We are always better off to never say never. Haven’t most of us already eaten too much crow for one life? Now, a man does grow a bit over the years, and we might have said something ten years ago that we regret today, or just grew out of that particular belief attributing to more study and more knowledge. It is just better never to commit yourself to something you are uncertain of.
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds,” people out telling tales on people, or spreading rumors and gossip, just revealing the worst about other people is talebearing, and it is ugly. Nothing hurts worse in this life than a former friend that decides to talk about you behind your back. It is right that these things are described as “wounds.” It hurts longer than fifty stiches you might get after an accident, they certainly sting a lot longer.
People you once held in the highest admiration to turn around and stab you is just hurtful. Of course, nothing took Jesus Christ by surprise, but it still had to hurt terribly when Judas betrayed him in the garden. The Bible calls him, “my familiar friend.”
Folks have a right to leave their church. Something might come along that feeds your spiritually better than the one that you were previously a member of. But that does not give you the right to bad mouth your former preacher. Many pastors have poured out their lives in other people, helped them when they needed help, even financially—to have those people speak poorly of that pastor is a deep wound and totally uncalled for. In some cases, the art of simple empathy is lacking in America today.
It is a wound down in the heart, deep in the belly. It would be much better for you to just walk up to him and smack him in the mouth than to talk vicious things about him behind his back.
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”
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