The Hateful Tongue

The tongue, in and of itself, can do nothing; however, like a rattlesnake lying in wait for its prey, the tongue lies stock-still until put into motion by the imaginations of the heart. Just as the rattlesnake is the vector by which deadly poison is delivered to an unsuspecting victim, the tongue becomes the vector of poison emanating from the heart of man, causing great hurt, dissention, and irritation. Jeremiah says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17: 9). It is mans’ tongue that communicates the wickedness of his heart.

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: . . .” (James 3:6, a). Few things can stir up trouble as quickly as an unruly tongue. Words mean things – words matter; and when spoken in anger, or thoughtlessly they can produce devastating consequences. Marriages have been destroyed because of words. Men have been killed in response to hateful words. I am sure wars have resulted because of words thoughtlessly promulgated. Words have resulted in the dissolution of life-long friendships as well; and carelessly spoken words are especially grievous when haphazardly spoken by Christians.

When the unbeliever speaks hateful words, those consequences mentioned above can be the result; certainly that list is nowhere near complete. Christians who are not in control of their tongues are just as likely to produce the same results; however, unlike the nonbeliever, words poorly chosen by a Christian are much more likely to result in bad decisions being made by a lost soul, decisions with eternal consequences,. Many people have been “turned off to religion” by the thoughtless often hostile words spoken by a Christian, whether in conversation with the unbeliever or in careless gossipy conversation with others, frequently about other Christian.

Not too long ago, while speaking with a man who is a self-proclaimed atheist, I was hit with a question that is too often asked in response to any attempt at sharing the gospel. “Why”, the unbeliever asked, “would I want to be a Christian when you people are always at each other’s throats?” That is always a fair question, because too often we do hear of squabbling within the Church, or between professing Christians. For instance, this gentleman atheist I have mentioned was aware of the hateful vitriolic monologue levelled at the pastor of an area church by a Christian who at that time served as a leader in a local church. There was no way I was going to be able to reach this gentleman with the Gospel; he was completely put out. That insensitive Christian will one day stand before the Lord and answer for their actions, as will many of us. Yes, very few will be able to say they have never been guilty of lashing out with the tongue; I am certainly guilty myself.

The tongue is not the only vehicle with which hateful words can be communicated by the Christian. While the tongue verbally expresses the wickedness already in the heart – the written word can be just as harmful, for it too is a vehicle for transmitting malicious expressions from the heart to the mind of the reader. Every day I read hateful messages, from those proclaiming to be Christians, levelled at other entities such as: politicians, companies, employers, the church, etc. Christians ought to practice as great control over their fingers as over their tongues.

Social media can be a wonderful tool for spreading the gospel and reaching out to those in need of compassion and support; yet this is the media through which some of the most venomous language I have ever encountered has been posted by Christians. Sadly, unlike the tongue, we have more control over our written words than our spoken words. The written word can often be reconsidered and then deleted, whereas the spoken word, once delivered in anger, is much more difficult to edit and can never be deleted. The sad part is that one has plenty of time to consider his or her language when posting on social-media; which means they have considered their words and then posted them anyway. This is a shame and an affront to the Christian faith.

Instead of giving our “mouth to evil”, and “framing deceit” (Psalms 50:19), with our tongue – and fingers, how about we speak more often along this fashion, “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them” (Psalms 126:2). Remember, every word we speak produces consequences; let us strive to mitigate the bad consequences of our words.

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The Missionary

“Declare his glory among the heathen, and his wonders among all people.” (Psalms 96:3)

So important are missionaries, that the last words spoken by Jesus to his eleven disciples were: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. ‘Amen’”. (Matthew 28:19-2 Notice this work is not to come to a close until “the end of the world”; it is intended to be an abiding and far-reaching effort to reach imperiled souls with the Gospel; for without the hearing of the Gospel, lost sinners are doomed to an eternal Hell where they will be separated forever from the presence and love of God.

While foraging through old photos recently, the Lord brought two pictures to the front which pricked my heart. Those pictures were of a lady and gentleman I knew many years ago, Jim and Tommie Eggimann. These two dear people (both now with the Lord), who were associated with Missions to Military, ministered to men and women from all branches of the armed forces, primarily Navy due to the location of their ministry. Jim and Tommie were my first encounter with missionaries and played a large role in my spiritual well-being; I have since maintained a high regard for missionaries.

Too often our missionaries are either forgotten, or they are placed on the proverbial “back burner”. My own prayer time is usually consumed with things of a personal nature, and. shamefully I admit my prayers far too seldom invoke the Lord’s blessings on our missionaries abroad; and if anyone needs our prayers (and resources) it must be these selfless saints who have left behind everything they know and marched out into a very dangerous world to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe it was our pastor who said recently, “They are doing what you and I are unable or unwilling to do”.

Since becoming a member of Calvary Baptist Church, I have been privileged to meet and get to know many other missionaries. Some of these missionaries serve in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, here in the states, and some of them in very dangerous political environments. These folks have recognized a calling of the Lord in their lives to “go” and have then been sent by various churches and organizations to their particular mission fields. “They are doing what you and I are unable or unwilling to do”. Nevertheless, willing or not, we are all missionaries, called into that right and honorable work. We may not be “sent”, but we do have a mission field.

Wherever we reside, work, play, or wander is our mission field, and I dare say most of us (me included) have been very poor missionaries. We must learn to be always on the lookout for an opportunity to share the Gospel with those around us, whether at home, working, on vacation, etc. In 1986, Uncle Sam sent me on my first paid cruise to Israel. One morning I joined my friends John and Bill, with whom I spent most of my time, on a bus ride to Megiddo to view the massive valley there. A few days prior, John had discovered an amazing sandwich shop where the proprietor, a man named Abraham, made pita bread sandwiches so remarkable that as recently as a month or so ago John, Bill and I (with great pleasure) were still discussing them.

On his first visit to that sandwich shop, John felt led to leave a gospel tract with Abraham. On the day we visited the valley, John took Bill and I to that shop to get a sandwich. We knew he had previously given the gentleman a gospel tract, and that doing such things was illegal at the time so we were all a little anxious about returning. To our delight, Abraham told us he really liked the tract because it said “good things about the Jews”. John had acted as a missionary that day, allowing himself to be led of the Holy Spirit and presented Abraham with the Gospel. Prayerfully, we hope to find Abraham in Heaven someday. If we do, then in all probability, John the Missionary will have played a small part.

Help your local church to support the missionaries which have been sent by your church; however, like John, be a missionary wherever you are and. “Declare his glory among the heathen, and his wonders among all people.” It is OUR calling!

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Love Demands Resistance

“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)

God is the transcendent king; one whose law defines for us His character. As He prepared to go silent for 400 years, God both encouraged and warned his people that He never changes, “For I am the Lord, I change not . . . .” (Malachi 3:6); His character is forever uncompromising, which is later evidenced in Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews wrote of Jesus Christ that He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever”. (13:8) Jesus is God (John 1), and He never changes.

Romans 13 is used today by pastors, doctors, politicians, and others as proof we are ALWAYS to submit to the authorities; however, they are wrong. There are times when resistance is not only justified, but becomes a biblical requirement. True ministers of God will recognize God’s Law as supreme; it is King! Governments, which disregard God’s law, place Christians in positions where they are no longer bound by Romans 13 and must resist.

The Founding Fathers not only modeled for their progeny a form of government based on God’s law, they went out of their way to ensure their reliance on God and His Law was evident in our foremost legal document, the Constitution of the United States of America. They understood the truth behind the following quote, “Governments who do not yield to Jesus Christ do not work to preserve human life; they work to undermine and destroy human life.” They understood that governments are ordained of God to uphold His law, not their own; and when a government no longer fears God, their own law becomes their god. Evil are they who do not fear God!

This travesty can be no more evident than in a country where government not only condones but applauds the merciless slaughter of over 60 million defenseless children. Our government mocks God’s law, placing their law above His; they have made themselves to be gods. Their law says “kill for convenience”, God’s law says “Thou shalt not kill”. “No country or people [who despise God], and who are responsible for this kind of slaughter can expect to avoid the wrath of God”, and I believe we are today experiencing a very mild case of God’s wrath; a fury which I believe is only ramping up.

The issue of abortion, while certainly requiring us to stand up and resist government decrees, may not be the more pressing matter deserving of our efforts; the larger issue is the failure of government to recognize the authority of scripture, and of God himself. They fail to understand God is transcendent to all kings, princes, magistrates, and yes, even the President of the United States of America. When any form of government denies the divine nature of God, they become their own gods; and as such, develop a complete disregard for the sanctity of life. Before the study of history is completely outlawed, please research the slaughter which took place under the governing of Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Leopold II, Hitler, and countless others. Anywhere there is no fear of God, there will be slaughter! As a nation, America no longer fears God!

Today, Christians are being mocked, ostracized and marked as unemployable for refusing to defile themselves with an immoral concoction. While completely unaware of how this substance was developed, many have accepted it, they are NOT blameworthy! However, those who now are knowledgeable and are being commanded to partake have a terrible and consequential decision to make; allow an illegitimate king to force them to defile themselves, or resist his mandates and face destitution, this is an agonizing decision. Nevertheless, Romans 13 does not bind them to bow to immoral mandates, and strong precedence exists for resisting the king. Under threat of death, Daniel “. . . purposed not to defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat . . . .” (Daniel 1:8) Also in Daniel we find his three companions thrown into a “fiery furnace”, for resisting a king’s mandate. (Daniel 3:16-25)

Jesus Christ authored the Law, and His law states, “Thou shalt not kill”. Remember, the Law defines His character, and His character never changes; it is as wrong today as it was then to murder. Furthermore, too little is known about the long term ill effects of the king’s concoction for us to accept it, and if we do, we will be encouraging our neighbors to do so as well; love of God and neighbor demands we resist the king’s mandate to defile ourselves, regardless of cost.

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Gone In an Instant

“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:15)

Our pastor stated recently, and correctly so, that while walking through a cemetery you will find tombstones of men, women, and children of all ages; infants, preteens, teens, young adults and the aged – there is not an age group which is not represented in a graveyard – and no single one chose the day they would die.

In the summer of 1971, two twin brothers with whom I was attending elementary school were mowing lawns for neighbors. Not long into their efforts one of the brothers collapsed to the ground while pushing a mower; doctors said he was likely dead before he hit the ground. That young child, who most probably by the time of his death was at the age of accountability, will either be in that place of torments Jesus calls Hell, or is forever resting in the presence of his Lord – I choose in his case to believe the latter.

On 17 May, 1987, a friend of mine, and of others with whom I am friends on Facebook, was killed instantly when two Exocet missiles slammed into the port side of the U.S.S. Stark. Stephen Kiser and thirty-six other men died in that attack, most of them instantly with others dying very shortly afterwards. Stephen was the Senior Chief of the Command and looking forward to his quickly approaching retirement; he was also a born-again believer, and if I recall correctly, often led Bible studies for the crewmen of the Stark. Stephen closed his eye in death that night of the attack and immediately awoke in the presence of the Lord; but what of the other thirty-six, all very young men? It is certain that among those thirty-six men some died as unbelievers and in all probability they, like the rich man in Luke 16, were buried and are in Hell today – it is heartbreaking, but true.

It does not matter who you are, how old you are, what your ethnicity is, nor does it matter your social status in life – death can take you suddenly, unexpectedly. God’s word says to “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1) We just do not know what will happen from one minute to the next, much less one day to another. Many millions of people have been hurled into eternity having no warning that death was at hand; a great many of them were taken so suddenly that they did not even have time to discern they were dying.

In God’s word no one spoke more of Hell than did Jesus. In Matthew 13, Jesus said of the unsaved, “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (vss. 49, 5 In Matthew 25:41 he warns, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels”; and again “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

Revelation 20:11-15 speaks of a terrible day of judgement, an event to which ALL the unsaved will be summoned; there will be no avoiding the gathering that day, there will be no escape for those who have lived their lives in open rebellion against God. On that dreadful day the book of life will be opened, and we are warned, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE.” (vs. 15)

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Friend, please understand that because of your sin debt, you are on your way to an eternity in the flames of Hell; but God, in a profound exhibition of great love and grace sent His only begotten Son to bare your sins to the cross paying your debt for you; and believe too that Jesus rose from the grave three days later and sealed that deal. If you will believe this and then with a broken and contrite heart call on Jesus to save you, he will do so – you will be delivered from the eternal flames of Hell. Do not put Jesus on the back burner; do not wait until your time is up.

In Memory of Stephen Greg Kiser, SCPO (1951-1987)

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Man in the Middle

The man died! Moments after his death, the man found himself standing at a large gate guarded by a rather intimidating figure. The guard asked the man his name and the circumstances surrounding his death. “My name is Unknown (UK)”, said the man; “and as for my death, I died of shock and suffocation.” The guard, somewhat skeptical, and with a hint of condescension, looked down at the man and said, “UK, before I can open this gate and allow you in, I have a few questions for you.”

“In your lifetime, did you strive to keep the Laws of Moses, following all the rituals and ceremonies required of God’s people?” “I have heard, of course” replied UK, “of all those requirements that one must observe, but I never paid any heed to those; they just seemed so petty and empty to me, so I ignored them all.”

“How about indulgences”, inquired the guard, “how stands your account today?” “Indulgences!” scoffed UK, seemingly somewhat amused. “Even a no good wretch such as I, understands the folly of trying to buy my way out of a punishment I have long deserved. No, sir, indulgences I never considered.”

“What religious denominations were you affiliated with in life?” UK looked at the guard and said, “Sir, the only church I ever attended is one we visited when I was a child, and we attended only on one holiday. I have never officially belonged to any denomination and I can’t even recall the name of the church we attended that day, or even where it is located; you see sir, my parents felt we had all the church we needed at home”

“Ok, so you never belonged to a denomination, but have you ever worked in a soup line helping to feed the hungry, or provided shelter from the cold for the homeless, aid for the sick, help to the widows, comfort to the hurting, hospitality to those who hate you, etc.?” “Well, no sir” replied UK, “I have never even considered the plight of the homeless, hungry, hurting, and certainly not the well-being my enemies; my thoughts were always on me and my own wants and needs; I was a selfish man, without a selfless bone in my body.”

“Have you never been baptized, had hands laid upon you, spoken in strange languages, partaken at the communion table, confessed to a priest, made a religious pilgrimage, etc.?”, inquired the guard. UK replied, “Sir, not only have I done none of these things, but I lived my life in such a manner that all I have done was in open rebellion against God and all that He expected of me – I lived the most unrighteous of lives.”

Astounded, the guard replied, “So, UK, you are telling me that not only did you NOT do ‘all that you could do’, you essentially have done nothing resembling righteousness at all; so, what then compels you to think you have any right whatsoever to cross through this gate and enter this glorious heavenly realm?” UK, looking up into the guard’s eyes and with joy radiating from his face said, “Because, sir, just before surrendering His last breath, the man nailed to the middle cross turned towards me and said that I could; and I believed Him!”

The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 that ALL of our righteousness, the best we have ever done, appears as nothing more than filthy rags in the eyes of God. Your sins have been paid for; however, they left a filthy stain upon you, and that filthy stain is all God sees – unless, of course, you have heard and believed the Gospel and then with sincere humility fallen to your knees and cried out to Jesus, confessing your need and asking Him to save you. When you do so, you are immediately in Christ Jesus, and when God looks at you from that point on, all He sees is His only begotten Son and His righteousness.

I Corinthians 15:1-4 says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” Friend, this is the Gospel, believe it and you will be saved – the man on the middle cross said so!

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