SLANDER NO ONE

My family and I have been trying to practice the discipline of not gossiping.  We are making it a spiritual discipline and let me go on record to say it isn't easy.  The exercise proposed was to not speak negatively about anyone for three days - turning our thoughts to the positive about a person instead of the negative.  It is a noble feat - one that I can do for about a day until I slip back or backslide to an old pattern of behavior. The theologian,  Charles Haddon Spurgeon reminds us of what God thinks about spreading slander among those we know.

"Do not go about spreading slander among your people...Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt." Leviticus 19:16-17
"Slander emits a threefold poison, for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person who is being slandered. Whether the report is true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden to spread it.  The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should regard it as shameful to help the devil dishonor the church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur.

Many rejoice in putting down their brothers and sisters, as if in doing so they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a covering over their father, and the one who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need leniency and silence from our family; let us offer it cheerfully to those who require it now. Let this be our family motto, and our personal bond: SLANDER NO ONE.

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin and prescribes the way in which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother to his face, not by talking behind his back. This approach is manly, brotherly, Christlike, and under God's blessing will be useful.  Do we shy away from it? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our conscience and commit ourselves to the responsibility, in case by tolerating sin in our friend we become partakers of it.

Hundreds have been saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate warnings of faithful friends and family. Our Lord Jesus has set us a gracious example of how to deal with erring friends in His warning given to Peter, the prayer with which He preceded it, and the gentle way in which He endured Peter's boastful denial that he needed such a caution.  In response to Peter who boasts that he would never fall away from Jesus even if all else do, Jesus calmly said, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.  And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."  Luke 22:31-32

Thanks be to the God of Israel

  Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
   make known among the nations what he has done.
 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
   tell of all his wonderful acts.
 Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
 Look to the LORD and his strength;
   seek his face always.
 Remember the wonders he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
 you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
   his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
 He is the LORD our God;
   his judgments are in all the earth.
  He remembers^[c] his covenant forever,
   the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
 the covenant he made with Abraham,
   the oath he swore to Isaac.
 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as the portion you will inherit.”
 When they were but few in number,
   few indeed, and strangers in it,
 they^[d] wandered from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another. 
He allowed no one to oppress them;
   for their sake he rebuked kings:
 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.”
  Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
   proclaim his salvation day after day.
 Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
  For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
   he is to be feared above all gods.
 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
   but the LORD made the heavens.
 Splendor and majesty are before him;
   strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
  Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
   ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
   bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his^[e] holiness.
  Tremble before him, all the earth!
   The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
  Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
   let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
   let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
 Let the trees of the forest sing,
   let them sing for joy before the LORD,
   for he comes to judge the earth.
  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
   his love endures forever.
 Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;
   gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
   and glory in your praise.”  Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.
   Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.”


 
1 Chronicles 16: 8 -36

Everlasting Covenants

When Isaiah the Prophet foretold of the coming Messiah, he said the Messiah would be called, "Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace."  And every attribute that Isaiah spoke of has been confirmed in The Messiah Jesus - if you choose to believe.

A great theologian, Henry M. Morris,  once wrote about the everlasting covenants of God and it was reprinted today in the devotional "Days of Praise."

Signs of the Everlasting Covenants

November 17, 2011

 

"And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth." (Genesis 9:16)

 

The first mention of the key word "covenant" is in Genesis 6:18, where God promised to establish a covenant with Noah after the Flood. This everlasting covenant was made with all the earth's future populations and is still in effect, symbolized continually by the beautiful rainbow arching through the sky after a rain.

 

God also made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and Isaac. "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God" (Genesis 17:7-8). This time, the symbol of God's everlasting covenant between them and their descendents, the people of Israel, was that of circumcision, "a token of the covenant between me and you" (Genesis 17:11).

 

There is still another everlasting covenant--this one with all the redeemed of all the ages. "I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (Jeremiah 32:40). God has made this "new covenant" applicable to all the saved, and this time, the sign of the covenant is nothing less than the precious blood of Messiah, shed on our behalf. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will" (Hebrews 13:20-21). Henry M. Morris

Arsenius the Roman

He said, "I have often repented of having spoken, but never of having remained silent."

The 'microphone' is always on...

The other day we were talking about our filter...the one between our thoughts and lips.  We reminded each other of how often we speak without filtering.  Oh the way of man...this is an area of constant refinement in my life.   Gossip and slander are lurking around every corner of conversation.  Just yesterday an unfortunate conversation happened between two political leaders of the free world.

"I cannot stand him. He's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama. The US president responded by saying: "You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day."

Neither leader apparently realised that microphones that had been attached for a press conference had already been switched on, allowing journalists waiting for a press conference to hear the conversation.
The exchange was first reported on the French website Arrêt Sur Images, and was later confirmed by a Reuters reporter who also heard the remarks.

The gaffe came before a press conference while the two presidents were in a private room.

Pondering this 'gaffe' made me remember instructions for right living as found in the Bible.   It is written, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."  And again it says in another writing, "Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God."

Sadly, the thought of getting 'caught' saying something unedifying about another is humiliating.  But the reality is that I should be more humbled knowing that God in Heaven is listening to every word. To Him my personal microphone to His ears is always on.  "In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears."  I am grateful that He is listening.  Why should it surprise me that the God who hears my prayers and praise and cries will not also hear every other word.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

References:  Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, Psalm 18:6, Psalm 19:14