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The Royal Order of Edifiers: Part Three
The Lord is at work “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body” (Ephesians 4: 12).
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.”
Perhaps by translating the Greek word for “corrupt” as “toxic” we might better understand it.
You need not only be careful what you say but where you say it. Solomon wisely said, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from trouble” (Proverbs 21: 23).
An ageless axiom states: “Four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”
We are very adept at exonerating and exempting ourselves. May the words of this message slip by the defenses of your mind and explode with reason therein.
The Scripture warns against slander. The Greek word translated “slander” literally means “devils,” or “diabolical.” There is no characteristic so unbecoming of a Christian as to deserve the title “devilish” as that of a slanderer.
The word means a gossip, defamer, one who smears, back-bites, or slurs another.
As an adolescent my Mom gave me a little hand written note which I kept in my wallet until I wore it out. It contained this great truth that has influenced my life: “A soft answer turns away wrath.”
Let all corrupt speech die under the holy breath of God.
We are to speak “what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (James 3: 29).
This is an appeal to let your tongue be sacred to what edifies.
Be careful in talking to or about youth. Build them up. Infants have confidence in their parents, grandparents, and others close to them. What they hear influences them dramatically. They tend to want to live up to what those they love say about them. If they hear negatives they come to believe them.”You are stupid” results in stupid conduct. “You are a bad boy” results in bad behavior.
Conversely, positive reinforcement results in good behavior.
One of the four things noted earlier that do not come back is “the neglected opportunity.” Don’t miss an opportunity to build up someone —– anyone.
You build people up by encouraging them to be their best and do their best at everything.
God does not require us to be the best at anything. He desires us to do our best at everything. Build people up to become and be their best for Christ. Christ did it.
He did it for little children by instructing His disciples to let them come to Him.
He did it for the woman caught in adultery by telling her she was forgiven and to go and sin no more.
He did it for Simon Peter after Peter’s denial by giving him the assignment to feed His sheep.
As Jesus’ proxy resolves to edify others, build them up.
The Royal Order of Edifiers: Part Two
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4: 29).
Is Jesus your prototype for a lifestyle? If He is your exemplar then do as He did. He consistently encouraged His followers. He built them up. Do the same to others that they may see your good work and glorify Him.
Are you a people builder? Or, are you a member of Satan’s demolition crew? Poetically the task of building up people is likened to that of a physical builder.
“I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a hove-heave-ho they swung a beam
and a side wall fell.
I asked the foreman, ‘Are these men skilled?
The kind you would hire if you wanted to build?’
He replied, ‘No indeed,
common labor is all I need,
For I can wreck in a day or two
What it takes a builder a year to do.’
I thought to myself as I walked away,
Which of these roles am I trying to play.
Am I worker who builds with care
Carefully measuring life by the rule and square.
Or, am I content to walk the town
Content with the job of tearing down.”
Are you a wrecker or a builder? When people see you coming, do they yell, “Wow! Here comes an edifier!” Or, do they look for a back door? You know the kind of person, they brighten up a room just by walking out of it.
From nature comes an admirable example of edification. Have you ever noticed how geese fly in a “V?” Have you ever noticed one side of the “V” is longer than the other. Do you know why? It has more geese in it.
That “V” is an aerodynamic advantage. The lead goose has the greatest wind resistance. The formation reduces the wind resistance experienced by all others by 40%. All that honking we hear is goose talk. They are saying, “Go get ‘um. You’re the man, Atta boy. You rock.” They are edifying the lead goose. They also rotate when the lead goose gets tired he rotates to the back of the formation and another takes the lead. The relieved goose joins the others in edifying the new leader.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if when people walk away from a contact with you they would feel edified, built up?
Jesus Christ said, “You shall be My witnesses….”
Your speech makes you a good or a poor witness. As His ambassador what you say and do reflects on Him. Ideally, it should be a commendation of Him to all who encounter you.
The Royal Order of Edifiers: Part One
Are you ever discouraged and it just feels like no one cares? Then along comes someone to encourage you. Good, isn’t it? Has it ever occurred to you it is you who can build up someone.
Jesus Christ said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
In a world that tears people down Jesus builds them up.
If Jesus is your Savior let Him control you as your Master. If He is your Master, model Him. Scripture says, “It is enough that a servant should be as his master.”
Acts 10: 38 gives a succinct summary of the life of Christ: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good…”
There is your prototype, your template for life. Pattern your life after Him. “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (I John 2:6).
Jesus seized opportunities to build people up. Jesus was an edifier. In the word edification the root word for edifice can be heard. An edifice is a building. The process of edifying is the mission of building up. As believers that is one of our most important roles.
He edified little children by telling His disciples to let the little children come to Him.
He edified the woman caught in adultery by saying, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
He edified Peter, who denied Him. After the resurrection when they encountered each other Christ asked one question three times, “Do you love Me?” Peter’s affirmation resulted in Christ edifying him by giving him an assignment, “Go feed my sheep.”
On the road to Damascus Saul was stricken blind and the voice of Christ was heard to give him instructions to go into Damascus where someone would tell him what to do. Christ sent Ananias to him who put his hand on him and said, “Brother Saul….” In that simple statement Paul was edified.
Even on the eve of His execution He comprehended the mood of His disciples and said to them, “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1).
It is said most people we meet are in need of encouragement. That means your opportunities are abundant. Remember the last time you encouraged a down and out person. Doing so made you feel good, didn’t it? Even if you consider yourself in need of encouragement you were doubtless encouraged by being the person encouraging another. So go out there and have yourself a good day by encouraging others. Remember Jesus said, “As much as you have done it to the least of these you have done it unto me.”
Revive Us, Oh Lord
We do well to pray as we sing: “America! America! God shed His grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!”
Much of the godly luster has rubbed off of America.
Instruments of measurement need calibrating.
Glasses need to be updated.
Rifles need sighting-in.
Clocks need to be synchronized.
Likewise, lives and nations need spiritual renewal.
America is in crisis need of rejuvenating. Rarely has despotism been given a green light. Our moral life has decayed. Spiritually we are bankrupt.
One in every five Americans needs a psychiatrist.
There are 25,000 suicides annually. Ten times that number try.
We recently experienced a 77% increase in juvenile crime.
We are a living demonstration that self-governance without self-discipline won’t work.
While struggling to revive our core values don’t give up on America.
America needs revival. This, however, is not the only time revival has been needed.
In the early 1790’s when our young nation was emerging, they took a poll at Harvard and could not find one single believer.
They took one at Princeton and found two believers. They found only five students who were not members of the “Filthy Speech Movement” of the day.
When the Chaplain of Yale opened his Bible in chapel, decks of cards that had been inserted by students into a cut-out in the pages fell out.
At Dartmouth, students conducted a mock communion service.
These schools were all started as Christian institutions. Consider their decline and destitution. It is now said, “The road to hell is paved with Ivy League diplomas.
The nation’s public moral fiber was eroded. With a population of 5,000,000 we had over 300,000 alcoholics. A great whiskey rebellion was so destructive that President Washington had to call out the national guard.
Immorality and illegitimacy were rampant.
The churches were so decadent that Chief Justice John Marshall wrote Bishop Madison of Virginia saying, “The churches are too far gone to be redeemed.”
Time and time again throughout history God has shown His model of spirituality. His model may either be embraced for our good or rejected at our peril.
The low road of sin to disaster can be left by an individual or nation at any moment for the high road of obedience and blessing. May we live to see it.
The Matchless Mystery: Part Two
This is a rerun on a vital topic deserving of being repeated. Occasionally we need to take a deep dive in considering a complex spiritual issue. Following is certainly one. Try this, what is eternity, that is, there being no time. We live in a parentheses called “time.” We are so sensitive to it we count seconds. When thinking of spending eternity in heaven or hell we question won’t that get boring?
We ask what age we will be in heaven? We are so preoccupied with growing old that we think the aging process will be a part of the afterlife. No it won’t. Remember we are considering eternity where there is no time, hence no age.
Three things were created simultaneously: time, matter, and space.
John 1: 1 states, “In the beginning was the Word…” Theological scholar Hershel Hobbs says the Greek literally states, “Before time began to begin was the Word….” Sounds confusing but there was a time when there was no time.
Want to go deeper? There was a time when there was no space.
Now the third creation, matter. There was a time when there was nothing, no matter. According to most astrophysicists, all the matter found in the universe today — including the matter in people, plants, animals, the earth, stars, and galaxies — was created at the very first moment of time. They agree, there was an occasion when there was no time. Remember, it was created.
Before these three were created the Trinity existed in eternity. There will be an occasion when this will be true once more.
Following are three examples illustrative of relative facts. Consider a weight, a clock, and a ruler. They aren’t always the same.
A one pound object here on earth weighs one pound because of the gravitational pull on it. On the moon that same object weighs three ounces. Could it withstand the heat on the surface of the sun it would weigh 28 pounds.
The ruler represents mass. Mass, that is the size and density of an object also varies depending on speed. Driving at 50 miles an hour your car is three ten-millionths of an inch shorter. Traveling at 90% of the speed of light it would be half its length.
Now the mind boggler that hints of a state of there being no time. The star Sirius is nine light years away. If traveling there and back you could travel at 99.99999% of the speed of light the following would occur. Your friends on earth would be 18 years older and you would be only 12 hours older.
To conclude by saying we can’t understand this is a bummer. It should not be because no such state where there is no time, space, or matter with which to compare it exists. Even the wisest physicists can’t explain it, yet they believe it. Knowing we live on the vortex of such a state which we enter at the moment of death makes it wise to decide in what state we want to spend eternity.
If the state God was in before He created the heavens and earth was good enough for Him, I want to spend eternity in it with Him.
Jesus stepped through the veil between heaven and earth, died an atoning death on the cross, and rose again to open the portal into heaven to all who by faith believe in His redemptive work and submit to Him as Savior and Lord might spend eternity with Him.