[0:00] We welcome you to the media ministry of Bethel Community Church, knowing Jesus, making Jesus known. It's Memorial Day weekend and I pray that you can enjoy your time with others and family.
[0:18] Today we're going to look at words, words with Proverbs. What does Proverbs say about words? Several weeks ago, Teddy talked about the sluggard.
[0:32] Never heard a message on the sluggard before. Jeffrey last week did friends. Today I'm doing words. I believe Tom has next week on family. What Proverbs has to say about family.
[0:46] And so, but I thought that song was going to be the last song. Anybody remember, what's the title of that song we just sang? Let my words be few?
[1:00] You know, I'm like, did he switch it up from the last song to this song because he wants my words to be few? Well, you know, I think of the preacher who had the band-aid when he was speaking one Sunday.
[1:17] And people were wondering, what happened? So he said, I got this band-aid because I cut myself this morning. I was shaving and I was thinking about my message and I cut my face.
[1:28] And somebody says, you know what? You should have been thinking about your shaving and cut your message instead. And so, maybe you'll be thinking that this morning.
[1:39] Let his words be few. We want to start with a little quiz on words. Because words are important. Words help us to communicate.
[1:51] So, you can blurt out the answer if you so feel, if you have it. First one, what's the average amount of words that men speak in a day? How many?
[2:05] 8,000. We don't speak that much. 7,000. 7,000. If you were my dad, I'd say 700. Number two, average amount of words that women speak in a day?
[2:19] What did you say, Wally? Wally said 50,000. 20,000.
[2:30] 20,000. So, if you extrapolate it over 80 years, the average lifespan, men speak about 205 million words. Women speak about 600 million words.
[2:46] That's all I'm going to say. That's all I'm going to say. Let's go on. How many different words does the average person use in a day?
[2:58] Different words. Any answers? Seven? That's close. 1,000 to 2,000.
[3:08] So, that means we're repeating a lot of the same words. By the way, going back to the men, I asked my dad once. I said, Dad, how come you don't speak that much? And he said, I'm giving you the short answer.
[3:22] He said, your mom. Fair enough, Dad. We went on. So, number four. What's the most spoken language in the world?
[3:34] Well, you know what? In one, it said Mandarin. In another, it says English. So, I don't know.
[3:44] Take your pick. English, it says there's about 1.4 billion who speak it. Mandarin, about 1.2 billion. So, but in another one, it had English as actually third.
[3:56] Here, it's got Spanish third. What's the simplest language you think to learn? Spanish. You're right. Finally, you guys are one for four. You're batting 250.
[4:07] You're going to get a couple million on your next contract. How many words are in the English language? There's around 170,000 words in the English language.
[4:22] How many words are in the Bible? There's about 800,000 words. Over three quarters of a million words in the Bible.
[4:34] Just a couple more. What are some of the most common words in the world? One's a, the is number one.
[4:49] Hello. Third one is my wife's favorite candy. Chocolate. And fourth, John would be happy, is Coca-Cola.
[5:05] Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola. And I don't know how this next one, because I don't. Laos. Laos. So, I don't know how that got there.
[5:17] Longest word in the Bible. It's 18 words. There's twice. Once in Psalm, Isaiah 8, 1, it's Isaiah's son. And then in Psalm 56, 1, it's a name of a song David had.
[5:30] So, and then the longest English word is? It's pneumono ultramicroscopic silicovocainoniosis.
[5:46] 45 letters. That's a long one. That's a long one. So, we don't probably use that one every day. So, a little thing on, just a few things on words. Words. So, but this morning, we want, as we think about words, words help us to communicate.
[6:02] You know, with others. That's the reason for words. If, you know, I brought a pencil today. And so, Wally, would you describe what this pencil looks like?
[6:19] Yeah, what's a pencil? That's a word. That's the word. Pencil. Wooden writing instrument.
[6:33] Something called lead. All right. Okay. You're getting scientific now on me. So, but this is what I have. This is my pencil.
[6:46] Wally, okay. Yeah. Okay. You can speak on pencils next week. Thanks. Well, it's actually a pair of scissors, Wally.
[6:57] You misunderstood what I said. I brought scissors. So, words have meanings. And I got this pencil, Wally, by the way.
[7:10] And we associate things. That's how we communicate. That's how we try to get along. It's through words. And words can be either spoken, which I'm doing right now.
[7:23] They can be written. We have the written words. They can be signed. You know, you go to a concert and the words may be signed for the hearing impaired.
[7:34] They can be gestured. You know, we watch people and we watch their gestures and we don't think, oh, they're having a birthday party.
[7:45] You know, we read theirs. The youth like the two games, gestures and reverse charades. That's some of their favorite games on Wednesday nights.
[7:56] And also, words can be through deeds. When every day I bring my wife flowers, I don't have to say anything.
[8:07] Because, wow, you did that this decade finally. You know, so our deeds. Those are different ways that words are communicated one to another.
[8:22] They're good communicators and bad communicators. If I asked you how many are good communicators, I wonder how many would raise their hand. I would have to say, I think I'm not a very good communicator.
[8:33] If you heard my wife and I in an argument, she's usually the first one to say, I'm sorry. You know, and it's not because she's the wrong one, but it just seems like she's very, probably humble, would be the word.
[8:54] Men, do you ever have times, you know you're wrong, but you just, you're like, I can't say the, I don't know what words to use. You've got the perfect words.
[9:04] You know exactly what to say. I don't. Maybe she says, just say, I'm sorry. Oh, okay, I'm sorry. Have you ever had a boss who's a bad communicator?
[9:17] You know, it brings a lot of frustrations. They say that Mike Schilt and Craig Berube, that's one of their, what helps them to be successful, is that they're good communicators. I'd say Mike Schilt needs to probably do a little more communicating right now during this month.
[9:32] But usually people say, I like my boss because I know what's expected of me. He gives me praise. Or she tells me what we need to work on.
[9:44] They're usually good communicators. You have frustrated communicators. And two of the ones I wrote was a child who doesn't have a vocabulary but wants to try to tell you what they want or need.
[10:00] And you can just see the frustration. And sometimes, you know, I see in little ones, they teach them signs because they can't speak. You know, I'm whatever, hungry and thank you or more, more.
[10:13] This would be me, more, more. And then how about as an elderly person? You know, maybe you've seen that in your parents or me.
[10:25] I can't remember that word. What's that? Oh, I know that word. And we just, our brain can't pull it out and we're frustrated. How about have you upset anyone or has someone upset you this past week because of the words that were spoken?
[10:42] Again, I'm sure probably most of us could say, yeah. Yeah, that's happened in my life. That's happened in my life. Have you ever stuck your foot in your mouth and wished that you could take the words back?
[10:58] Yeah. Often. Often. Lord, oh, why did I say it? Oh, that was so stupid. Yep, we can't take those words back.
[11:08] So do you have trouble saying just the right words? We're going to see a little clip from skit guys. A lot of guys haven't heard of them.
[11:21] They do skits and this is for Valentine's on just the right words. All right.
[11:49] I got it. She's going to love it. Let's go. Whoa, how did you find a card so fast? I'm speaker of lady language. I hear their voices in my head. Much like Beethoven heard music.
[12:01] No, I think those are just voices. Either way, I've got a card and you don't. I'm trying to find one with the right words. I just can't find one that really describes how I feel.
[12:13] Here, this one. This one. This is the one. Yeah. Okay. Sugar is sweet and so is honey. I bought you this card because I had no money.
[12:26] That is so you. No, it's not. Yes, it is. No, it's not. It's not me. What are you trying to say? I need a card that says, I don't deserve you.
[12:38] I never have and I never will. From the moment that I first saw you, I knew that I wanted to be with you, to know you, to understand you.
[12:50] I am humbled that you chose me. I have married out of my league and there's not a day that goes by that I don't recognize that fact. And I've never, I've never taken our vows lightly. What do I say to the mother of my children, my best friend, my soulmate?
[13:06] I love you can just sound so cliche and trite, but it's the only words that I know. I love you. I mean, that would be a card, you know? That would be a card that I'd want to buy.
[13:18] What's the matter? What happened? Don't look at me. Okay. Look away. I have, what's the matter? It's like I'm a swimming pool and your words are like cannonballs landing.
[13:33] Pull yourself together, man. Attention, everybody. We are in the presence of a true wordsmith.
[13:44] No, we're not. Allow his words to be the wings on which your cards fly. No, no. I want what he's having. Okay, we need to go.
[13:55] We need to go right now. I've got an idea. We'll get those cards that are blank on the inside and we'll write your words on them and then we'll give them to our ladies. But we have to write in calligraphy.
[14:07] I'm just going to take your card. Wait, wait, what was that part about the true soulmates? I need a pen. I'm going to write this down. That stuff is gold.
[14:18] That'll give me a whole Sunday of football. Oh, no. Oh, no. So, maybe some of you can relate to that.
[14:32] You know, Proverbs gives us some good insight into the power of words and they're both good and bad. So, let's, let's look at some of these things.
[14:43] I'm going to try to go slow enough that you can go with, into the verses with me. Let's start with Proverbs 15. Proverbs 15.
[14:55] So, first off, words can be very powerful. It says in Proverbs 15, 1a, a gentle answer turns away wrath.
[15:08] You ever been in conversations and you're getting mad, the other person's upset, and also, it's just, it starts to escalate and gets louder and louder and louder and because you, you've got to get the best point in and they've got to get the best point in.
[15:28] But it says here, a gentle answer turns away wrath. I, I experienced this opportunity the other day. There was, it was a chance for this conversation to escalate.
[15:42] And the Lord gave me a gentle answer and it turned it away. So, it proves a gentle answer turns away wrath.
[15:53] But look at the B. But harsh words stir up anger. Harsh words stir up anger. So, a gentle answer and a harsh word.
[16:06] Wow, those are opposite. What, I asked the question, what usually makes the difference between the first and the second? And I'm going to suggest to you today, it's, it's usually pride.
[16:18] I won't be wrong. I am going to prove it to them and the louder I speak, if I get louder than them, I'm going to get my point across and I'm going to be the one who won. But it says, a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
[16:33] And then, the very next verse, the tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable.
[16:45] You know what, I think of, with our children, and the frustration that can come as you're parenting, and you're, you just never listen to what I have to say.
[16:57] And then, but then some, some parents, they're like, you know what, I know I have to be firm, but maybe there's a different way. Maybe I'm going to use a little reverse psychology.
[17:09] Hey, oh, you, you probably wouldn't want to do this. You wouldn't, well, yeah, no, I would, I would. And, and, and so, the idea is that having some wisdom in how we communicate can bring so that knowledge is acceptable.
[17:29] And I, I think you, you can get the point where, you know, of course, you've got to train them up, you teach them, but you, you say, you know what, I'd like to be able to bring this across so that you would use it.
[17:47] Look at the second part, but the mouth of fools spouts valley. You will do this, you will get it done, if you don't, I think of, a lot of times, Facebook, what I hear about what goes on on Facebook, people just spout off anything.
[18:12] And it seems to be so easy because you just type it in, send it out. And yet, I'm constantly hearing, like, that person is foolish.
[18:24] I just wish they would not say anything. Hmm. Proverbs 17, 27, along that line there.
[18:40] He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. It doesn't happen often, but there are times I, after a conversation, I'll say, thank you, Lord, that I did not say such and such.
[18:57] That would have been so stupid. I, I would have been foolish to say that. Thanks for restraining my tongue, for keeping me from saying what I thought about.
[19:09] I think those words can often be used with people on Facebook. The next one, words can be loud, but weak.
[19:20] Jeffrey used this one last week for friendship. In Proverbs 27, 14, it says, he who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him.
[19:34] Wow. We had a guy on campus with Honest College, his name was Hallelujah Bob, and that's what we called him. Hallelujah Bob. And you could hear him halfway across the street, Kevin, Hallelujah!
[19:48] I don't know that guy. And, and so he was a believer, he was, he, he was a good guy. But, he lived in our dorm, and you could hear him downstairs, we were on the second floor, you could hear him downstairs, and you knew he was coming, and all of a sudden, you'd hear his voice, and all of a sudden, you could hear, tong, tong, tong, tong, tong, everybody's closing their doors, because he also liked to talk a lot.
[20:14] And, one time, we didn't get our door closed in time, and my roommate, Tom, jumps into the closet and closes the door. And after Bob was talking for about 20 minutes, Tom opens it up, oh, hi, how's it going?
[20:29] And, but that was Hallelujah Bob, and people knew who he was, and his loudness, at times, caused some problems. I remember working in the city schools in Sheep Metal, and, and, they were doing remodeling in all the schools in the city.
[20:46] And I remember, I think this was down on Peabody, the Peabody school, and teachers would just be yelling, Joe, sit down, Jimmy, do this, Mary, did I tell you?
[20:58] And, and kids didn't look, it was like, they were so used to it, it meant nothing. So, words can be loud, but ineffective or weak.
[21:11] Next, words can be helpful at the appropriate time. If you go back to Romans, or Proverbs 15, it's in verse 23, it says, a man has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word.
[21:36] Have you ever said to a friend, you know what? I really appreciate, I was going through a really tough time, and the words you shared were so helpful.
[21:48] I needed to hear those words that you had to share, and I really appreciate it. In Proverbs 25, 11, listen to this one.
[21:59] Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances. So, there's a right way and a right time to share.
[22:13] Let me ask you this question, has anyone ever shared truth with you in a difficult time, and you had to say, I believe that, but this is not the time to tell me about it.
[22:26] I don't need to hear that right now. I think sometimes a loss of a loved one, we just don't know what to say. And somebody, you lose a loved one, and somebody says, hey, hey, that's okay, don't cry.
[22:43] You know what? They're with the Lord. Do you think they would want to come back to hear? Say, you know what? I don't need to hear that. They are my friend.
[22:55] I got along so well. Right now, I just hurt because they're not here. Last week, I had an opportunity or a week before, a guy named Bob, 80-something years old, working on the job and got to share the gospel with them.
[23:08] But I knew he was lonely. He said, yeah, I was married for 53 years, and we were good friends. I'm lonely. And so that allowed me to ask some questions.
[23:22] I got to share the gospel with them and told them I'd pray for them. The Lord's allowed me to share the gospel with a lot of people lately and I'm making notebook and I got Bob on there at Weston Place.
[23:37] He's lonely. He's hurting. So words can be helpful at the appropriate time.
[23:49] Words can be useful for life. Look at Proverbs 4 here. Again, we're going to go back to our children. 20-22, it says, My son, give attention to my words.
[24:01] Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight. Keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life to those who find them and health to all their whole body.
[24:13] Proverbs says, you know what? Children, listen to the instruction of your parents. You may think you know everything but you don't. Here it says about instructions to children with a good outcome.
[24:29] Unfortunately, we probably can list a great number of kids who have not heeded instructions and then they struggle through life. how to manage finances, relationships, and so forth.
[24:46] The fifth one, Proverbs 16-24, words can be tasteful and healing. Let me ask you this as I read this. See if this depicts you at all.
[24:59] 16-24, 16-24, pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
[25:11] Are you a person that has those kinds of words for others? They're helpful.
[25:24] I think of a man, George Nelson who passed away and he just, the way he would talk with you, he just appreciated the things you would do.
[25:35] I remember sharing once and I don't know why he was there but afterwards he came up, Kevin, I really appreciate what you had to say. That was really neat.
[25:46] And you know what? It's neat. Have you ever considered this? And he would go to a certain thing and he said, look at this, the Lord showed me this and yeah, that's neat, that's neat.
[25:56] And then later on I was like, he corrected me. I didn't even know it. He was, and the way he did it, you're like, that's okay. That's okay, the way he did it, I'll take that all day long.
[26:12] He was a neat man. He was a neat man. They can be tasteful and healing. Here's what some healing words could be with my wife.
[26:26] I was wrong. Yeah, I was wrong. You were right. I was wrong, you were right.
[26:36] That can fix an argument really fast, can't it? But unfortunately, pride a lot of times keeps us from saying that. I am sorry. Please forgive me.
[26:49] Wow. Those are great healing words that we can use. Next though, words can be very hurtful. They can be very hurtful.
[27:01] Look at Proverbs chapter 12, verse 18. There is one who speaks rashly like the thrust of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
[27:14] There's one who speaks rashly. In that New Living Translation, it says, some people make cutting remarks. If I ask you, do you know anybody like that?
[27:25] You'd probably say, yeah, some people make cutting remarks. 1627 says, a worthless man digs up evil while his words are as a scorching fire.
[27:43] Wow. You know what I know one of the biggest lies I was told when I was young? Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words, what?
[27:59] Will never hurt me. That was one of the biggest lies I was ever told. Maybe you have, you can think all the way back to when you were young and something that maybe your parents said or a friend said, Jill, Melissa Topol told her she had a big nose when she was about 10 years old.
[28:18] It still haunts her. It's not even big. It's not even big. But our words can haunt others.
[28:30] And others can, words can haunt us for a long time. Last, words can be deadly. I don't know if you saw that posting or the news two weeks ago, a Malaysian girl, 16.
[28:46] Anybody see that? She asked her followers on Facebook, really important, exclamation point, help me choose, D slash L.
[28:59] 69% wrote D, death. Five hours later, she was found dead. Words can have excruciating and sometimes deadly results.
[29:16] So, we've looked at some of these here in Proverbs. I want to give us a couple things to help us as we might choose our words of what we speak. And these aren't from Proverbs, so I'm taking the liberty to use another verse.
[29:33] First, we need to be careful with our words of what we say, especially against spiritual things. The Lord said in Matthew chapter 12, verse 36, he says this, and I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak or every idle word they shall render account for in the day of judgment.
[30:03] Words need to be backed up with action. In 1 John 3, 18, I think it says, my little children, let us not love in word, but in deed and in truth.
[30:17] And maybe you can think of the many promises that you gave your children or that your parents gave to you and there was no action to it. Those words were empty.
[30:30] So we need to be careful with our words. Our words need to be backed up with action. It says in James 1, 19, the third thing is, let's, I forgot it here for the second, for the time being.
[30:45] This you know, my beloved brethren, let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Think about how many arguments, how many tough situations could have been avoided if we were just quick to hear because we misunderstood what the other person said and we were slow to speak.
[31:06] We are usually very fast to be right back on the offensive and say, no, that's wrong instead of being quick to hear, slow to speak.
[31:16] And the fourth thing, it says in Colossians 4, 6, it says, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as it were with salt so that you may know how you should respond to each person.
[31:39] It should be seasoned with salt, with grace. I think that would save us a lot of agony in our life. I want to spend the last couple minutes here, God's, the words of God, the words of God.
[31:57] What do those mean? In Proverbs 30, verse 5, it says, every word of God is pure or tested or proves true.
[32:10] He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words lest he reprove you and you be proved a liar. Every word, there is something we can count on in this life.
[32:23] It's God's word. His words are true. They're pure. By his words, he brought the world into being. In Genesis 1, we see, let there be light.
[32:35] Let this, let that. He spoke these things into being. His very words. By his words, he makes himself known to us.
[32:46] John 1, 1, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. John 1, 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory.
[32:58] The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So his word, Jesus Christ, makes known who he is to us and we can tell others.
[33:10] The Lord has given me lots of opportunities lately. I'm thankful. I'm taking some of them. I'm blowing some of the others. He's bringing people in my life. I'm able to say, you know what, I'm a youth leader and I've given my youth a homework assignment to go out and ask someone, if you die tonight, do you know where you go?
[33:30] And I've got to do that homework assignment because I can't just give it to them. So can I ask you that question? And the lady, the other day, elderly lady, she gives me an answer and she goes, did I pass?
[33:41] I said, let me tell you what God's word says and I got to share my testimony with her and she says, well, how do you know that what other Buddha who believes in Buddha and such and such and such and it allowed us to talk for like 20 minutes on the difference between the Lord and others.
[34:01] Let me share a couple things with Jesus, our master communicator. He was the master at it. His words could cut through the chase.
[34:12] It could help the hurting. They were powerful. His words were all-knowing. Remember the woman at the well. Jesus is talking to her and he's telling her so many things and in verse 29 it said she went back in the city and she said, come see the man who's told me everything I've done.
[34:32] He knows all about me. He told me. He must be, is this not the Christ, the Messiah? His words had command. Remember he's in the boat.
[34:44] They're all scared. There's a terrible storm going on. They said, help us. We're going to perish. Gets up. Peace. Be still. His words had command. They had power and his words even had power over death as we think about Lazarus.
[35:00] Lazarus, come forth. You're not dead anymore. You're alive. And he came forth. His words were all knowing. They command it and it happened.
[35:12] He had power over death. And last, God's words have action. They have action. I said earlier, our words need action.
[35:23] Little children, let us not just love in word but in deed and in truth. And the verse I've been using the last couple weeks with all these people is John 3, 16.
[35:34] I'm saying, he loved you. That's his words to us. God so loved the world. That's the words to the world. The action is that he gave his only begotten son.
[35:48] His words are backed up by his actions that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life.
[36:01] And I'm missing opportunity. Believe me, I'm missing him. I shared with the lady, an elderly lady the other day, it was out of not pure motive.
[36:13] She talked a lot. I thought, you know what, I'm going to have her quiet down. What would happen if you died in that? She shares the gospel back to me. I was like, wow, here I had some impure motive.
[36:24] I just wanted her to be quiet. And she shares that with me. The Lord had actions after he had words.
[36:35] And we've got words that we can share to this world. And I want us to end, instead of us having a song up here, I've got a song by Hawk Nelson.
[36:47] If there's something you can remember as you're going out here is your words can be powerful. But they can be powerfully bad or good.
[36:59] They can hurt people. They can build people up. You can encourage people with your words. You can discourage people with your words. And I pray that we would take God's word into this world that is dying.
[37:14] They're lost. At the restaurant the other day with the youth, Mitch comes up sharing the gospel with them.
[37:26] And there's Melissa who was our server. And afterwards I said, Melissa, you heard that conversation. She goes, I don't go to church anywhere. I don't know it.
[37:38] I don't know it. Our words can be a great help. It can be a healing to the world out there. So if we can have that song and then I'll close in prayer.
[37:52] As I close in prayer I just challenge you as I've done with the youth in the last couple weeks. I think the Lord's changing me with the video series we saw on asking questions, engaging the culture, sharing the word with the world.
[38:06] And so if I brought any praise to myself that was wrong. You know, the Lord because I can think of the many people that I said, no, I didn't have time.
[38:19] I don't have time. Or, oh, that might be embarrassing. Or, oh, what would they think? I can tell you all the people I've shared with the last couple weeks nobody has said get out of here. There was the guy last week who said, I don't care.
[38:33] I don't care. And I still think about that. But I'll do the same thing with you as I've done with the youth. I've started challenging them this week when you just speak up to one person.
[38:49] You can say, you know what, last week in our message the speaker challenged us to ask one person do you know where you'll go when you die? You can use me as the excuse.
[39:03] I've done that for like four weeks with the youth. Zero. Zero. Next week there was one Lila and Chloe.
[39:14] They shared the youth that they got to. Last week there were eight to ten people that said, yeah, we got to share. We got to ask. We got to talk about the Lord.
[39:26] And one said, I share because I knew you were going to ask me. So, I just encourage us. I told the Lord, Lord, I'm not very good at this. I'm really not.
[39:37] But if you'll help me, I've got good news to share. Lord, thank you for your word. I just pray that the words will be used in our life this week.
[39:54] Help us to see people. There are people that are hurting, that need to hear your word. There are people who are dying. And Lord, we're not going to save them.
[40:04] But you've asked us to share the great news. We've got a great savior. We've got a great need. They need to hear about you.
[40:16] And I just pray that we would just open our mouths and let them know about you. We thank you for this day. I pray for safety.
[40:27] Home and throughout the rest of this week. I pray for goat wh catching a fewела. We've got all the users of theож bakeries and others of the bhung of the hum and we've got to the go close and .