My dear readers,

When to Speak, and When Not To!

Proverbs 10:32: "The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness."

No one needs to be reminded of the potency of words. Right words heal wounds and relationships. Wrong words destroy lives. Words conjure images in the mind that impact the heart. Desires are put down or awakened by the words we hear. When we obey lies, our lives are ruined. When we obey truths, our lives become rich and full. It may not be what we like to hear all the time, but we know it is the truth. It helps decision-making and brings forth the right attitude because we live in truth and are surrounded by people who speak it. But we know that lies fuel the world. Lying is typical in this materialistic world. But the righteous Christian makes a difference. He must live like his heavenly Father, who cannot lie, in contrast to the god of this world, who is the father of lies.

The righteous are believers. They know what to say that will bring acceptability to others. The word “acceptable” has the idea of bringing pleasure or happiness. The joy is spiritual. It is toward a better relationship with God in Christ. Every righteous person who knows God’s Word well can bring joy to others. Jesus promised that His sheep will hear His voice and they will follow Him. When God's Word is taught and explained rightly, believers who listen and obey will experience precious and eternal happiness. They are sanctified. They are drawn closer to God in Christ because they know God the Father better through the Word. When they accept the Word, they know they are not receiving the words of man, but the very Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”

Then why is it that it is not often accepted when we share the truth of God? Sometimes it could be due to the hardness of man’s heart or the stubbornness of the hearer. Other times it could be the fault of the Christian who shared because he did not share God's Word correctly.

For example, some believers speak the right words but at the wrong time, resulting in disastrous results. Relationships are ruined. Lives are destroyed. With the global norm of placing our messages on the internet, the warning from Proverbs 10:32 is even more crucial. The messages we put on the internet include pictures and words. Once a regretful message is put up, be it out of anger or frustration, and it is read, the damage is irreversible. The consequences are life-changing. The shame it brings can be global because the internet world is global! The fear of humiliation remains forever for someone who holds on to that thoughtless message. This damage is many times worse for Christians.

When the professing Christian speaks or writes a careless word, he will ruin his reputation and the blessed Name of Christ. The perspective of Christ by people will be severely damaged. For example, is it the right time to teach a bereaved person the errors of the Charismatic Movement at the end of a vigil service conducted by the family’s Charismatic church? A visitor’s aim is to bring comfort. Instead, he taught the errors of the Charismatic movement to the bereaved family after the service. The reaction was one of anger and total rejection of the truth. The teaching might be correct, but the timing was disrespectful and insensitive. The result was that the family became more entrenched in their Charismatic beliefs. The teaching was biblical, but the timing and the place were wrong. The lips of the righteous must know when and where to teach the truth.

Every believer must know the truths of God sufficiently in order to help others. But to help others effectively such that they will accept the biblical counsel, the following three factors must occur together: We must speak the right words; we must speak at the right time; we must speak at the right place. To fulfil these three requirements and bring about a Christ-honouring outcome, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. The final acceptance is from the Lord. Helping others to be more like Christ is a spiritual battle.

Sometimes we tend to comfort and speak the truth to get it off our conscience. This approach is not the best way. The person may not be ready to accept the truth as he might still be upset or angry. It is better to wait for him to calm down before speaking with him so that he will be prepared to accept counsel. The goal is acceptance. The righteous person needs the Holy Spirit's help to speak the right words, to discern the right time, and to prepare the heart of the hearer so that he can be used by God and bring spiritual blessing to others.

The mouth of the wicked speaks forwardness, i.e. perverse or fraudulent things. The perverse things include doctrines that result in carnality, half-truths, deceptions, words that bring down the character of others, rumours, gossip, sowing seeds of discord, hindering the work of Christ, discouraging the hearts of believers, and all things that draw the believer from the path of holiness. The lies that are the most deadly of all lies are those that lead people into hell. These are lies spoken in the Name of Christ. They come from pastors, elders, seminary and Bible College professors, and theologians who have written Christian books with a dash of spiritual arsenic. Many who drink in these pernicious doctrines will be lulled into a false sense of spiritual security, causing them to be almost beyond salvation since they sincerely think they are going to heaven. The wicked of the world who lie and deceive others to be rich will destroy physical lives and bring poverty. But professing believers who lie and deceive in Christ’s Name will bring eternal damnation and bankruptcy of the soul. This is rampant in the last days as Christianity has fallen apostate. Seminaries and Bible Colleges are citadels of deception. There are dead churches today that spawn carnal Christians more than in any period of church history.

Perilous times are here to stay. It will get from bad to worse. There is no revival in the future, only global destruction by fire as God has prophesied. 2 Peter 3:3-7: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

Conclusion – God’s righteous ones must rise to the occasion and speak the truth in an acceptable manner now more than ever before. With much prayer, they must speak biblical words at the right time and place. The last days are here. Wicked deceivers are everywhere within Christendom. If God’s righteous keep silent, no one will shine the light of truth into a darkened Christianity. Lies and half-truths abound in churches, Bible Colleges and seminaries everywhere. May God help us, for Christ’s sake, to speak God's truth that will result in acceptance, for His glory. Amen.