Hymns 403
Scripture Reading:
Matt. 12:35-37 The good man, out of his good treasure, brings forth good things, and the evil man, out of his evil treasure, brings forth evil things. And I say to you that every idle word which men shall speak, they will render an account concerning it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
WORDS REVEALING A PERSON’S HEART
Speaking occupies a great part of a person’s life. It is, in fact, a very crucial part of his life. The Lord Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34). A person’s words express his heart; they reveal the things in his heart. It is not easy to know a man through his conduct, but it is very easy to know a man through his words. A person’s conduct may often give others the wrong impression, view, and judgment of him, but it is very easy to know a person through his words because no one can easily restrain or control his own words. Out of the depth of a man’s heart the mouth speaks. A man speaks from the fullness of his heart. If a man lies and deceives with his mouth, it means that lies and deceits rest in his heart.
THE NEED TO DEAL WITH LIES
John 8:44 says, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks it out of his own possessions; for he is a liar and the father of it.”
He [Satan] needs lies to establish his kingdom, and he needs lies to overturn God’s work. Everyone who is born of Satan can lie and is engaged in the work of lying. Once a person is saved and becomes God’s child, the first lesson he needs to learn is to deal with his words before God. We should reject all lies. We also should reject inaccurate, exaggerated, or distorted words. We should reject all conscious or unconscious lies. God’s children must rid themselves of all lies. As long as some lies remain, Satan will have the ground to attack us.
NO IDLE WORDS
We must realize that the words of God’s children are the fruit of their mouth. No one whose heart is holy will speak filthy things. No one whose heart is filled with love will speak hatred. By its fruit the tree is known.
This does not mean that we can speak anything as long as it is true and factual. Sometimes it is not a matter of whether or not something is a fact. Something may be a fact, a definite fact, yet it should not be a fruit of our mouth. It may be true, but we should not utter it. This is not a matter of truth, but a matter of idle words. The word may be true, but it is an idle word. I have just said that our speaking must be according to facts. However, not all facts need to be spoken. We cannot and we need not speak idle words.
The Lord said, “And I say to you that every idle word which men shall speak, they will render an account concerning it in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36). Idle words from a Christian’s mouth will not be spoken once but twice. Whatever is spoken carelessly today will be repeated again in the future. It will be repeated in full, sentence by sentence. When it is repeated the second time, we will be justified or condemned based on it.
NO EVIL WORDS
First Peter 3:9-12 says, “Not rendering evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing one another, because you were called to this, that you might inherit blessing. For ‘he who desires to love life and see good days, let him cause his tongue to cease from evil and his lips to speak no guile. And let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it; for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears incline to their petition; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’ ”
Another kind of words which should never come out of a Christian’s mouth is evil words. What are evil words? Evil words are words of reviling, words of cursing. A child of God cannot render evil for evil or reviling for reviling.
BEING RESTRICTED IN WORDS
The Tongue Being a Restless Evil
James 3:7 says that every living thing can be tamed, while verse 8 says that no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. The tongue cannot be tamed by man. It is full of deadly poison. It is an untamed evil, “a restless evil.” There are evils that can be tamed, but the evil of the tongue cannot be tamed. How foolish it is to loosen one’s tongue! If a man relaxes his tongue, he is a very foolish man indeed.
A Spring Cannot Gush Out Two Types of Water
What follows is clear and obvious. One cannot bless God with his tongue and use the same tongue to curse the man created by God. He cannot bless on the one hand and curse on the other hand. A spring cannot gush out two types of water. A fig tree cannot produce olives, nor can a vine produce figs. Salt water cannot produce sweet water. The fruit reveals the tree. The water reveals the spring. A person whom God uses surely produces sweet water; there should not be any bitter taste to his words.
God’s way of salvation today is to install a new spring and a new tree in us. If I am a fig tree, I will surely not produce olives. If I am a vine, I will surely not produce figs. If God gives me something new, if He places a new life in me, surely I will produce sweet water.
PAYING ATTENTION TO LISTENING
Resisting an Itching Ear
Let me speak a frank word to all of you. Many improper words in the church would disappear if all the brothers and sisters learned the lesson of listening. The church has so many improper words because there are many brothers and sisters who want to listen to them. There is the demand; therefore, there is the supply. There are so many defiling words, criticisms, evil speakings, slanders, double-tongued speakings, because many people want to hear them. Man’s heart is deceitful, wicked, and defiled. Because the heart wants to hear these words, someone is always ready to speak them.
If God’s children know the kinds of words they can and cannot speak, they will know the kinds of words they can and cannot hear.
We must learn to listen to healthy words. We should not be led away by those who spread rumors and improper words. We must say, “I do not want to listen to these things.” Many sins will cease and many brothers will be edified if you do this.
Making a Conscious Effort to Learn
New believers must be taught in the matter of speaking. They must be taught the way to speak, and they also must be taught the way to listen. They must learn to fear God in the matter of speaking. This is a great matter, and it is a definite threshold which one has to cross definitely. This lesson does not come without a price. We need to spend much time to develop the habit of speaking accurately. Speaking inaccurate words is a form of lying
Psalm 141:3 says, “Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; / Keep the door of my lips.” We need to have such a prayer. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” pp. 587-588, 592-595, 598-601)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” ch. 36
