when I was in the fifth or sixth grade probably 11 years old 10 years old and there were times that I came home from school didn't feel quite cheery that day because somebody said something to me that was offensive maybe I felt bullied a little bit maybe I felt that they cut me down with somewh of criticism I'll never forget my mama mother would say mark just always remember sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you well I didn't want to tell my mother but that's simply not true our words
have a powerful effect upon other people in fact encouraging words bring joy to a discouraged downtrodden spirits and fault finding stinging Words Crush the spirit hopeful words bring joy to our hearts and critical words Pierce our hearts like swords positive encouraging words Lift us up negative condemnatory words knock us down you remember that in Revelation chapter 14 the Bible talks about a group of people that'll be prepared for the coming of Jesus you'll recall that Revelation 14: 1 to5 are part of the introduction to a message to prepare people for the Lord's return and in
Revelation chapter 14 beginning with verse one we read then I looked and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 14 44,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads so this group of people called 144,000 this group is a group of people that are ready that are redeemed when Jesus comes their father's name his father's name is written on their foreheads that is to say they reflect his character but our text goes on to say they sang as it were a new song Before the Throne before the four living creatures and the
elders and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who redeemed from the earth so they were positive people they were people singing of God's wonders people singing of God's praise then it says these are the ones who were not defiled with women in other words they didn't accept the false doctrines of the Harlot woman Revelation 17 they virgins they are espoused to one lover Christ the these are the ones who followed the lamb wherever he goes these were redeemed from among men being first fruits to God and the lamb and then the text
goes on to say and in their mouth was found no deceit for they are without fault Before the Throne of god notice it says in their mouth is found no guile no deceit there's no hypocrisy there their words were positive their words were uplifting their words were in encouraging the words were spoken with dignity you know in the Bible there's a great deal said about speech and the second coming of Jesus Christ in fact Jesus said you remember in Matthew chapter 12 if you have your Bible take it and turn to Matthew 12:36 Jesus talks
about the importance of words yes the 144,000 have no guile in their mouth they have no deceit in their mouth they are they speak kind and courteous words not rough and crude words Matthew 12:36 Jesus talks about the words that we speak and here we find Christ's own words he says but I say to you that for every Idol word men may speak they'll give account in the day of judgment for by your words you'll be justified by your words you'll be condemned so words are extremely important how is character revealed character is revealed by
the words we speak and by our actions you remember in the Book of James the there's a whole chapter dedicated to the words we speak I'm impressed with a statement from the book Christ object lessons page 336 six that says this the power of speech is a talent that should be diligently cultivated of all the gifts we have received from God none is capable of being a greater blessing than this with the voice we convince and persuade with it we offer prayer and praise to God and with it we tell others of the redeemer's love
how important then that it be so trained to be the most effective good I'm interested in this one sentence in the statement that says of all the gifts that we've received from God none is capable of being a greater blessing than this the words that we speak can be an incredible blessing to others or they can be a curse so of speech our speech is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to us the words we speak have a powerful influence on the people around us principle number one Jesus words provide an example
for all of our speech we're going to take our Bibles in turn to Luke chapter 4 and look at Jesus speech because Jesus speech provides an example for us of all of our speech we begin with Luke 4: 16 you know the story well Jesus comes to the synagogue where he' been brought up as his custom he goes to worship on Sabbath as a religious teacher he is taken he's given the book of the law to read and he reads from Isaiah now if you were sitting in this audience and you had been oppressed criticized
and condemned by the Pharisees who were so critical in their speech and you heard Jesus read these words your heart would have been encouraged Jesus reads in that synagogue the spirit of the Lord is upon me he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor the good news of God's forgiveness his grace his Mercy he sent me to heal the brokenhearted those that are emotionally distressed ripped apart by negative emotions to preach delivered it to the captives those that are captives to habits that are sin ful and that are caught in the Noose of
Satan's grip the recovery of the sight to the blind so the blind can see Divine realities to set at Liberty those that are oppressed to preach the acceptable year the poor think of how your heart would have thrilled if you would have heard those words we go on then he closed the book and he gave it back to the attendant sat down and the eyes of all who were in The Synagogue were fixed upon him and he began to say verse 21 today the scriptures fulfilled in your hearing so all bore witness to him and
marveled at the gracious Words which preceded out of his mouth what kind of words preceded out of the mouth of Jesus what kind of words were they everybody gracious words now it's interesting the word for gracious there in the Greek language is the word ctis and it's the only time in the Bible that Grace is used to describe words so so what is Grace Grace has to do with love with kindness with courteousness it has to do with mercy and compassion gracious words are are courteous words gracious words are kind words gracious words are pleasant
words gracious words are not are not rough they're not crude they're not thoughtless now you find two powerful examples of Jesus speaking gracious words at a time when you would not expect him to speak gracious words or anybody to do that first you look at Jesus interaction with the Canaanite woman you find it in Matthew chapter 15 here's a wonderful example of Jesus gracious words you wouldn't expect this she's a Canaanite woman now who were the Canaanites to understand jesus' comments you have to understand a little bit about the Canaanites who were they the Canaanites
were Heathen tribe that believed in multiple gods or goddesses they practiced sexual fertility rights that is to say that these sexual fortuit rights of uh prostitution were offered to their gods as worship they actually made human sacrifices of their children to their gods they were a violent barbaric people and here we see Christ interaction with them Jesus here sees faith in a very unlikely place he actually com complement a Canaanite woman let's look at the story in Matthew chapter 15 verse 21 and onward then Jesus went out from there departed to to the region of
Ty and sidon that's in Lebanon Southern Lebanon Behold a woman of Canaan came from the region and cried out have mercy on me oh Lord son of David my daughter is severely possessed but he answered her not a word so if you speak to somebody and they don't answer you a word and and that's just silence that that seems strange doesn't it it seems like they're ignoring you but then it said say verse 24 but he answered and said I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the House of Israel first he's kind
of silent and then this is discrimination he says hey look I'm not send to you I'm send to the Lord sheet of the House of Israel she says Lord help me he says it's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little ones I mean that's rejection then she says Lord yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs with fall from the master's table and Jesus says great is your faith let it be to you as you desire see Jesus is silent because he's drawing her out he's not discriminating against her
he is initiating perseverance he is simply wanting to demonstrate something that in spite of apparent silence in spite of apparent discrimination in spite of apparent rejection this woman has great great faith and Jesus says to her oh woman great is your faith be it to you as you desire Jesus finds faith in an unlikely place his hopeful words lifted her spirits his hopeful words encouraged her heart his hopeful words bring joy to her soul Jesus had one desire drawing out her faith encouraging that Faith taking the Little Bit of Faith she had in stimulating that
faith we find Jesus as well with words of encouragement to a Roman Centurion you find it in Matthew chapter 8 Jesus words were gracious words Jesus words always tried to bring out the best in other people and in circumstances where he could have criticized and condemned he certainly did that to the Pharisees he certainly did that to those that thought they were religious but were condemning other people uh we look at here in Matthew 8:5 Matthew 8 looking there at verse 5 here is a centurion that comes to Jesus now who who were the centurions
well obviously the centurions commanded at least a 100 soldiers they could be appointed by the Roman senate so some centurions were appointed by Roman senate for their exploits but some came up through the ranks of the Roman army they were especially known for their courage and bravery some historians say that the Roman centurions would be the first over the wall of the castle of the enemy uh some of them would be the first to break through the enemy's defenses they were hardened in battle unlikely to respond to the gospel they knew knew the horrors of
War they knew the brutality of battle but this man's servant was dying he was desperate the Holy Spirit had been working on his mind you see we can't always see the working of the Holy Spirit on another person we don't know what's going on in their heart or their mind and let's look what happens in Jesus words to this Roman Centurion Matthew chapter 8 we read the story starting with verse 5 he comes down he pleads with Jesus he said Lord my servant is lying dead near death he's paralyzed he's dreadfully tormented Jesus says I'll
come and heal him the Centurion says look I'm not worthy you enter under my roof he's very humble but speak the word he said I'm a man under Authority I command forces but look at what takes place when Jesus heard it he marveled pause there for a moment what causes Divinity to Marvel what causes Divinity to Marvel the Roman Centurion has a servant that's dying he says to Jesus you don't even have to come to my house he has such Faith Divinity Marvels when you are facing trials in your life when you're facing a difficulty
and heartache and sorrow in your life but you hang on by faith Divinity Marvels and then verse 8 and n and 10 verse 10 particularly Matthew 8 when Jesus heard it he marveled and said to those who followed assuredly I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel what do you think this compliment to a Roman Centurion who was brutal who was hardened with battle what do you think it did for him here is something extremely practical look for the good in others think about something you can compliment in
them let your words be words of encouragement not discouragement I'm interested in this statement third volume of the testimonies page 542 it says this you may think that what you do or say is of little consequence when the most important results for good or evil are the consequence of our words and actions the words and actions looked upon as so small and unimportant are links in the long chain of human events so the words we speak to another the words of encouragement you say to somebody at a fellowship meal the words of hope that you
say to somebody after church that prayer you pray with them that phone call you make that email that you s may be the very thing that encourages your heart first lesson principle number one we learn from Jesus to speak gracious and kind words now here's the second principle positive words spoken to others bring Health to the body and mind and spirit another words as we speak positive words it brings health to our own bodies but it ALS also builds up the immune system of others and brings health to their body Mind and Spirit that's biblical
and it's also scientific Proverbs chap 16 verse 24 Proverbs 16 verse 24 positive words bring Health to the body to the mind in the spirit Psalms Proverbs 16 verse 24 here the wisest man that ever lived writes pleasant words what kind of words everybody oh I want to speak pleasant words don't you pleasant words are iconico sweetness to the soul that means they boy up the spirit they give you a sweet spirit and health to the bones positive words uttered in a kind Spirit build our immune system they boost our health impatient words Angry Words
unkind words or critical words words break down our immune system and negatively impact our health now there's a book called words can change your brain this book is by uh two physicians Dr Andrew Newberg who's a neuroscientist at Jefferson University and Mark Robert walderman a Communications expert this what they say they say a single word has the power to influence the expression of geneses that regulate physical and emotional stress words can change your brain a single words spoken to a teenager who's struggling a single word of Hope spoken to your child a word of encouragement
spoken to your wife a word of encouragement spoken to your husband a word of encouragement spoken to somebody after church that word of encouragement has the power to change the brain now look the book goes on it says this it talks about exercising positive thoughts that can change our reality and listen to this scientific statement by beholding a positive and optimistic word in your mind you stimulate frontal low brain activity this area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex and and are responsible for moving you into action as our research these
Physicians say has shown the longer you con concentrate on positive words the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain in other words when somebody speaks a positive word to you it lodges in the brain Center and as it lodges in the brain Center it stimulates you to action so speak positive words you bring Health to the emotions you bring Health to the spirit you bring Health to the body you built up the immune system principle number three in our discussion of the positive words of Christ negative words spoken to others about an
individual separate the best of friends so you speak negative words to other people and what it do it do it separates the best of friends where do you find that Proverbs 6 16 Proverbs 16 you know I've been in pastoring and Ministry for 57 years going on 58 years and here's one thing I've noticed if you have people in your church that is speaking negative words about other people there's nothing that divides a church more than criticism we want to uplift people not knock them down Proverbs 16 verse 2 728 an ungodly man now what
kind of person is this what kind of person is this everybody and what's this ungodly person doing oh man an ungodly person digs up evil it it is on his lips like a burning fire a perverse man SWS strife and a whisper separates the best of friends I don't want to be an ungodly person do you I don't want to be up evil I don't want to be on my lips like a burning fire I don't want to be like the perverse man that SWS strife and I certainly don't be like want to be like
the Whisperer have you heard about what Jane said have you heard about what Harry did what does the Whisperer do what does he do what does she do separates who the best of friends this is an amazing statement from written in the review and Herald magazine November 24 1904 un Christlike speech lies at the foundation of nine10 of all the difficulties that exist in the church what's nine10 what's what's the what's percentage is 9/10 90% you can get rid of 90% of all the problems if you've only spoke kind loving gentle words to other people
un Christlike speech lies the foundation of nine10 of the difficulties that exist in the Church Satan's agents are industriously trying to get professed Christians to speak unadvisedly who is it who is it that gets people to speak unadvisedly about other people who who does that who does it Satan's agents when they succeed Satan exalts I don't want Satan exalting do you because God's followers have hurt their influences now let's suppose you go to the doctor how many of you have ever been to a doctor and have one of these stethoscopes around their neck well they
have those stethoscopes what what are they doing with those stethoscopes they're listening to your heart now let's suppose your doctor has this funny look upon their face and they say oh you have a heart murmur heart murmur heart murmurs murmurs indicate heart trouble right well you know what in the spiritual life it's true too murmur indicate heart trouble if you're murmuring about other people you have spiritual heart trouble now our murmuring often says more about us than it does about them there are three reasons why people tend to be critical of others and I want
you to watch them in your own life and I want to watch them in my life three reasons why we tend at times to be critical of others reason number one we do not understand the depth of God's grace when we understand the Majesty of God's love the magnitude of his forgiveness the greatness of his goodness toward us we will tend to be far more charitable toward others we received Grace so we can be gracious you remember Paul's words in Ephesians 4 when he says be kind to one another tenderhearted even as God for Christ's
sake has forgiven you when we s how much we owe to Jesus for pardoning our sins we will be much more forgiving toward others we are forgiven so we can forgive we are pardoned so we can pardon we've been shown mercy so we can be merciful we are loved so we can love Christ speaks well of us so we can speak well of others the first reason we take tend at times to be critical is because we do not understand the fullness of God's grace the second reason we at times tend to be critical is
we don't understand the nature of our own Hearts we're insecure in our own relationship with Jesus and with others therefore for some strange reason when we criticize others and knock them down we we tend to feel that we can Elevate ourselves you see here's an eternal truth you never Elevate Yourself by pulling others down our Assurance is in Christ our security is in Christ Our worth is in Christ and in some way some strange way it's hard to understand that some people feel if they criticize others it fuels their own pride and makes them feel
Superior when we criticize others we can have this tinge of superiority but when we're secure in Christ we lift others up rather than pulling others down so the second reason we sometimes criticize others with negative words as we don't understand the nature of our own Hearts now there's another reason we don't understand the situation that they're going through the less you understand about somebody else the more more you tend to be critical of that person we make judgments Without Really knowing the facts we have a superficial knowledge of the experience that they're going through we
criticize what we do not know let me give you an example of this early one morning in New York City there was a man riding on a train that Monday morning and it's a Commuter Train the Train's packed with people he's riding with his three kids one child is about 5 years old one child's about six seven one child's about nine or 10 and the kid he's sitting down and his head is in his hands I want you to Picture This scene the the the train is absolutely full of people some people are reading their
newspaper some people are listening to music on their headphones some people are looking at the news on their iPhone some people are reading a book and uh as this man is sitting on the train his head's in his hands his kids are running up and down the aisle of the Train the commuter train they're loud they're jumping on the seats and people are getting nervous and you can see the people are getting nervous I mean they're really nervous and pretty soon one lady puts down her newspaper and looks at the guy and says sir the
least you can do is take care of your kids your kids are some of the most undisciplined kids I've ever seen why don't you get get him under control Mister he looks up the kids are down there ways from him and in a quiet whisper he says I'm so sorry we've just come from the hospital my wife had a long battle with cancer and died last night I haven't told my kids yet and I had my head in my hands I was kind of ignoring them because I'm trying to figure out what to say when
I come home home did that lady feel any different when she knew the story did she feel any different what do you think did she feel any different when she knew the story see when she knew the story it made all the difference often we criticize others because we don't know the story we don't know what they're going through we don't know their heartache we don't know the pain that they've experienced I love what it says in Proverbs 18: 13 Proverbs 18 and you're looking there at verse 13 The Book of Proverbs gives us such
wisdom in human relationships such wisdom in the way that we deal with others Proverbs 18 verse 13 the scripture says he who answers a matter before he hears it it is a Folly and shame to him now I like the way the English revised version puts this I'm a King James person but sometimes you get a Nuance Proverbs 18:13 says same verse let people finish speaking before you try to answer them oh wow husbands wives I should not dwell on this very much let let your wife finish speaking before you try to answer her let
your husband finish speaking his sentence before you interrupt half no I shouldn't have gone there all right let people finish speaking before you try to answer them that way you will not embarrass yourself and look foolish that's the revised standard of this isn't that that's great let people finish in other words what's it saying listen to others try to understand why they respond the way they do attempt to enter their world and comprehend their life experience now there's something though that we don't want to listen to that's criticism about another person let's suppose that you
are not the one doing the criticizing but there's somebody that comes to you and they begin giving you this tiate of uh about somebody else how do you handle that here's our fourth principle if we listen to CR to criticism about a brother or sister in Christ and enjoy now notice the words enjoy hearing their about their failures we are as guilty before God as if we spoke the words ourselves so if I entertain enjoyment about listening to other people criticize other people I'm as guilty before God you remember in Revelation 12: 11 it talks
about the devil and what is it say about the devil here in Revelation 12 Revelation the 12th chapter and you'll notice there in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10 and I heard a loud voice saying now salvation and strength in the Kingdom of our God in the power of His Christ have come for the accuser of our Brethren who accuse them before God day and night has been cast out what's what's the devil called here he's called what the accuser of our Brethren so if we listen to
such talk we become Satan's sympathizers I don't want to be one of of Satan's sympathizers do you I'm sure that you don't want to be one either if we join in the criticism and speak evil or negatively of others we develop those traits in our own lives look here's a marvelous statement quite long but every sentence in it is remark able gospel workers page 479 gospel workers page 479 cultivate now when you cultivate your garden what do you have to do when you cultivate the garden you have to work at it right when you cultivate
something it doesn't come naturally cultivate The Habit habits often don't come naturally of speaking well of others dwell upon the good qualities of those with whom you associate and see as little as possible of their errors and fail when tempted to complain what someone has said or done praise something in that person's character Earnest workers have no time for dwelling upon the faults of others we cannot afford to live on the husks of others faults and failings pretty plain isn't it but look at how this statement goes on evil speaking is a two-fold curse why
is evil speaking a two-fold curse falling more heartily upon the speaker than upon the hearer he who scatters the seeds of dissension and strife reaps in his own soul the deadly fruits now this next sentence is powerful the very Act of looking for evil in others develops evil in those who look by dwelling upon the faults of others we are changed into the same image but by beholding Jes Jesus talking of his love Perfection of character we become changed into His Image so evil speaking produces what evil in those that look so what do you
do when somebody comes to you and begins criticizing somebody else you simply smile and say to them have you talked to John or Mary about this let me pray with you that when you approach them that you'll approach them with a humble heart and the two of you will be reconciled see that's when somebody comes to me and says Pastor have you heard this and this and this I say you know I'm happy to pray with you about it but if you talk to them about it that leads me to the fifth principle in this
having the speech of Jesus conflicts can often be resolved if we follow the counsel in Matthew 18:1 15 it's amazing how you can solve conflicts Jesus has given us wise counsel and there's a practical reason for it I want you to look at Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15 here's your fifth principle we can often resolve multiple conflicts if indeed if indeed we follow the counsel of Jesus Matthew 18:15 Jesus says moreover if your brother s against you that is if you have ought against your brother go and tell him his fault between you and
him alone if he hears you you have gained your brother that's a powerful passage when problems when the problems we have with another person are shared with other people the problem spreads and people tend to do what they tend to take sides when you go to the other person what does it do it limits the conflict between the two of you and why do you go the purpose of going is reconciliation the purpose of going is not so you can be defensive the purpose of going is is not so you can tell the other person
how angry you are with them the purpose of going is to unite heart with heart mind with mind spirit and spirit secondly going directly to the other person enables us to understand their point of view we may have misunderstood something they said we may have created an unnecessary barrier following the biblical Council removes that barrier we can understand thirdly following the biblical Council by discussing the issue privately provides the best opportunity to avoid hostility it provides the best opportunity to keep the other person from becoming super defensive approaching another when problem s arise with an
attitude of humility and a heart filled with forgiveness makes all the difference the purpose of going directly to another is not to defend our point of view it's not to argue for our position it's to reconcile our differences it's to create a spirit of unity so the devil can't drive a wedge between us sometimes you know after we've spoken to another sometimes things don't work out as we wish they would and maybe we need to bring somebody else with us to to to mediate to solve conflicts but most of all we go in the spirit
of kindness love humility in the spirit of Christ to speak gracious words the reason we go to another is to bring us together not to create further separation now here's the sixth principle encouraging words in encouraging words hopeful words can make an eternal difference in somebody's life they can save a life John 6 verse 63 John 6 verse 63 Jesus says to us that the words he speaks can save our life and as we Echo his words we bring life to others John 6:63 what does Jesus say to you it's the spirit who gives life
the flesh profits nothing the words that I speak to you they are spirit and they are Life The Words of Christ are lifegiving and when our words reflect the words of Jesus they too become lifegiving I was in the major Auditorium in Jamaica actually in the large a large Stadium there in Jamaica we are having a satellite series that went through not only Jamaica but all of inter America and always before my meetings I come an hour ahead of time go over the sermon pray about it look out over an empty Auditorium and think about
the people that are going to be there and pray for those seats the program producer was up in the balcony and he yelled down at me Pastor Mark I yelled back up now we're in a large Stadium I'm getting ready to preach I'm going over my sermon I'm praying I want no interruptions he said Pastor Mark yes he said there's somebody on the phone they need to talk to you I yelled back tell them to call me later after the meeting he said that this person it's is in this person this lady is insistent it's
a young woman she's got to talk to you she got to talk now all of a sudden the Holy Spirit impresses me forget about your sermon go talk to that lady so I picked up the phone hello this is Pastor Mark Finley Pastor I just wanted to call you you're the last person I'm going to talk to on this Earth I have the pills in my hand i'm GNA swallow them right now and commit suicide but I want you to I want to give you my name my father is a prominent Elder in this country
and I want you to go and tell him after my death that I love him and tell him that I had no hope I said tell me your story tell me your story tell me why you had no you have no hope tell me what's Driven you to that point well Pastor I used to go to an Adventist college but I got involved with my friends on Friday nights where the other kids were at Vespers I was going out and partying a lot got involved in out drinking a lifestyle that was not in harmony I
didn't let anybody know I kept all those things secret and uh Pastor I feel so guilt-ridden I feel so guilt-ridden that life is not worth living just tell my dad I loved him we talked about God's mercy we talked about his forgiveness we talked about his love I could tell that my words were getting through to her and at the right moment I said I want you to do something for me right now and I want you to keep your phone so I can hear you I want you to go to the toilet right now
and take those pills in your hand and flush them down it was a serious moment but usually I don't listen to people flushing the toilet I said I want you to flush them down right now she flushes I go there I I'm listening are they all gone yes are there any more in the bottle no Pastor now the next thing I want you to do is this who's your closest friend she tells me how far do they live from you oh they're not far I want you to go there right now how long is it
going to take you to get there 10 minutes when you get there call me and I'll tell you something give me the address she gives me the address I'll tell you what if you don't go there I'm coming after you whether you're dead or alive I'm coming after you you need to know this preacher is serious you go there and call me she calls me all right I want you to live talk to your friend for the next hour after my sermon I'm calling you again so I call her again we pray and we pray
and we pray and I say look where do you live she gives me your address I said this is amazing I'm flying in a helicopter to an appointment to preach to thousands of people about five minutes from where you live I'll tell you what I want you to do I want you to come to that sermon because I'm not preaching to everybody that night I'm preaching to you young lady I preach a sermon called The Best Is Yet To Come and I tell her look before I leave this place you gotta you got to come
and talk to me you got to tell me you're gonna be okay or El I'm G be too worried about you you don't want to worry an old preacher please I preach a sermon called The Best Is Yet To Come the helicopters in the field people are greeting me they're taking pictures I don't care about that all I want to know is is this lady going to be okay is this lady going to be okay I'm heading for the helicopter I I don't have any idea whether she's in the audience and I see this girl
about 19 break out of the crowd she's coming running and running I said that's her she takes my hand she says Pastor you got to know your words made a difference I'm gonna be okay now Jesus has forgiven me you may not have an experience as dramatic as that but your words are going to mean hope to somebody your words are going to mean life to somebody your words are going to encourage somebody your words are going to lift their Spirits the seventh principle is this the Christ who spoke positive uplifting encouraging words to those
around you will give you the words to speak to others Isaiah 50 verse4 Isaiah 50 verse4 one of the most marvelous passages in all the Bible on the words we speak now there are four things about our text that we need to know about Isaiah 50:4 I do not have the ability to speak the right word at the right time to people but God can give us those words God through his holy spirit can put the words in our mouth Isaiah 50 verse4 the Lord has given me let's read it together from the screen you
ready to read the Lord has given me the tongue of the learn that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary he wakens me morning by morning he awakens my heart to hear as the Lord now notice first part of the text the Lord God has given me the tongue of the learn you and I are not wise enough to know who needs what word when we're not wise enough to know that that person going by us needs a word of encouragement a word of hope we're not wise
enough to speak the right word but the Lord God as we get up in the morning and say Jesus give me the words to speak to people around me today give me the help me be a blessing to those around me today Lord help me speak the right words to those around me the Lord God will give me the tongue of the learn now what's the tongue of the Lord God gives it but what is it the tongue of the learn that's what I say the Lord God gives me the right words to speak the
Lord God gives me what to say that I should know how to speak that's the manner in which I speak it can you speak the right word in the wrong way can you do that can you speak the right word but your demeanor is Harsh and cruel maybe it is the right word but maybe you're overbearing then it says the Lord God's given me the tongue of the learn that I may know how to speak the tongue of the learn that's what I say how to speak that's the way I say it a word in
season to him who's weary what's what's in season what's that mean in season at the right time so is what you say important is how you say it important is the right time to say it important can you say the right thing in the wrong way at the wrong time can you say the wrong thing at the right in the right way at the wrong time can you say the right thing in the right way at the wrong time do you want to say the right thing in the right way at the right time let
me give you an example so I had just preached an Evangelistic series and baptized a wonderful young man he had come from a Catholic background and his his uncle actually was in Rome with the Pope a priest with the Pope and he came from this Italian Catholic Family I mean one of these Italian Catholic families I mean you eat spaghetti and lasagna and pizza every other day you know I mean what what these wonderful Italian families you know and he came to me after he had been baptized he said passam Mar I'm really in trouble
I said why are you in trouble he said because you know your sermon on the Mar of the Beast I said yeah I know that one you know that one about 666 in the pope yeah I know that one he said that sermon was the one that convinced me I should come to Jesus and be baptized and he said so what I did is i i in those days we had tapes you know tape recorders you don't know what they are if you don't know ask somebody older but we had a tape recorder and he
said I I I I copied all your tapes on the mark of the beast and I made about eight or 10 of them and I gave them to every one of my Catholic relatives and they so angry with me can't believe it I said my friend was the first sermon you ever heard me preach on the mark of the beast no Pastor did I study with you for weeks before that yes Pastor um did did did was that the first sermon I preach in my Evangelistic series no Pastor you preach that after about five weeks
or so I had heard about 18 or 20 sermons Pastor you think I made a mistake was it the right message is the message of Revelation 13 is that true did I present it in the right way I hope so was it the right time to give to all his Catholic relatives not at all not at all now let me bring this a little bit closer Home how many of you here today are married can I see your hand Don't Be Afraid how many of you are married okay have you ever been about ready you're
lying in bed with your wife or your husband about ready to go to sleep and and your husband says to you you know I was really offended by what you said today is the best time to bring up problems five minutes before you go to sleep even if you say it in the right way is there a right time the Lord God has given me who who gives me now the Lord who the Lord God has given me what the tongue of the learn earned that I might know what how to speak a word when
in season to him that's weary our prayer each morning should be God help me speak encouraging hopeful words at the right time in the right way Christ optic lessons page 340 wherever we are we should watch for opportunities of speaking other to others of the Savior if we follow Christ's example in doing good Hearts will open to us as they did to him not abruptly but with tact born of divine love we can tell them of him who is chiefest among 10,000 and the one altogether lovely this is the very highest work in which we
can employ the talent of speech it was given to us that we might present Christ as a sin pardoning savior you may wonder what talents you have the greatest talent that God has given you is the talent of speech there is no greater privilege no deeper Joy no higher honor than using the gift of speech to share Jesus love the truth of his word and the last day message that he has for the world here's my prayer may we be sensitive to the opportunities he gives us to speak hopeful encouraging words every day may we
be sensitive and responsive to the doors he providentially opens may we be alert to the possibilities before us to speak a word at the right time time to some seeking Soul longing for words of Hope and encouragement would you like to say to Jesus today Lord help me to speak positive encouraging words words filled with hope I want to be an encourager not a discourager I don't want to be one of Satan's sympathizers listening to condemning words about others I want my words to be filled with grace filled with joy filled with hope as we
bow our heads to pray together oh my father thank you for the opportunity that you give us to speak hopeful encouraging words forgive us when we haven't been speaking those kind of words forgive us for times we've criticized and Lord thank you thank you that Jesus gracious word can fill our hearts and lives to be a blessing to others send us from this place with that desire in Christ's name amen
