Do you know a piece of good news? Use it at a strategic time to drop some encouragement on your struggling brothers or sisters. You can minister in this way like nothing else can.

A lady asked a man working in the produce department if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, "Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that’s how we sell them!"

"You mean," she persisted, "that after all the years I’ve shopped here, you won’t sell me half a head of lettuce?"

"Look," he said, "If you’d like I’ll ask the manager." She indicated that would be appreciated, so the young man marched to the front of the store. "You won’t believe this, but there’s a lame-braided idiot of a lady back there who wants to know if she can buy half a head of lettuce."

He noticed the manager gesturing, and turned around to see the lady standing behind him, obviously having followed him to the front of the store. "And this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half" he concluded. Later in the day the manager cornered the young man and said, "That was the finest example of thinking on your feet I’ve ever seen! Where did you learn that?"

"I grew up in Grand Rapids, and if you know anything about Grand Rapids, you know that it’s known for its great hockey teams and its ugly women."

The manager’s face flushed, and he interrupted, "My wife is from Grand Rapids!" "And which hockey team did she play for?"(1)

On board a cruise ship, a newlywed couple asked the steward not to mention that they were on their honeymoon. They didn't want people to tease them. The next day they were aware of some peculiar glances from their fellow passengers. So they asked the steward if he had kept his promise. "Of course. When people asked if you were just married, I told them no, that you were just good friends."

The things we say and the way we say them are important matters. Humor aside, the things we say can be a great help or a great hindrance to living. In some cases they can either give life or they can kill.

That is what Solomon said in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 18:21, he wrote: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

With the power of the tongue, mothers sing their babies to sleep at night. Ambassadors represent their nations. Teachers stretch the minds of their students. Attorneys defend their clients in court. Christians tell of the saving power of their Lord.

Likewise, with the power of that same tiny organ, power crazed dictators order the executions of hundreds. Smooth talking swindlers bilk retired people out of their life savings. Spiritually blind and rebellious men curse their Maker who has given them life. Abusive parents unleash verbal cyanide on tender, innocent children.

Join me this morning as we give our attention to this acknowledged "power" that Solomon attributes to the tongue. Related words like "tongue," "mouth," "lips," and "words," appear almost 150 times in the book of Proverbs alone. That means that on an average of just under 5 times a chapter, Solomon refers to the issue of what we say. Given that volume of copy, we need to pay attention.

Solomon says we can use our tongues for good or evil – for life or death. In this message and in one to follow, I want to deal with some of the positive and negative, life and death ways we can use our tongues. In the process I hope to challenge you and me to harness this power for the good of God’s kingdom and those around us. We’ll deal this morning a few good uses of the tongue and in the message, with some of the bad uses.

The tongue really can be used for good. A case in point is that of Jack Durante, a Phoenix, Arizona restaurant owner. Jack’s tongue got him out of a real jam. One Saturday night after he had gotten home from the restaurant, he answered the doorbell and was surprised by three masked gunmen who forced their way into his house. One of them hit him with a pistol, knocking him out. When he awoke, he was bound at his hands and feet with tape. The robbers had escaped with $600 in cash and his wife's diamond ring valued at $10,000. Jack crawled to the bed table, knocked the phone down to the floor, and dialed the police station with his tongue!

The tongue can be used for good!

Actually, Proverbs mentions a number of good uses of the power of the tongue - uses for which we do well to be reminded. For instance, the tongue can be used for:

Proverbs 15:22 says, "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but in many counselors they succeed."

That same theme is mentioned in Proverbs 11:14 - "Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory."

Again in Proverbs 24:6, we read, "For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory."

These ideas are probably presented over against the idea of the often-mentioned "fool" in Proverbs who thinks he knows it all already and does not seek advice from anyone. His self-focused unwillingness to hear counsel is a major reason for his downfall.

Several additional things are mentioned in Proverbs regarding this subject of the tongue used in wise counsel. For instance, in Proverbs 12:5, we are told where not to seek counsel: "The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful."

From that I gather that it is foolish for us to seek counsel from one who has no concern for righteousness.

We live in a "counseling" age. Many people devote their lives to the lucrative business of giving others advice. And they have no shortage of clients. Counseling is a booming business. Some of this counseling is probably good, but for the Christian, there are some pitfalls.

I am amazed at how often Christians are inclined to go to counselors who do not know or serve the God of heaven and know little or nothing about His Word. Somehow, the hanging out of a shingle with a name followed by the letters "Ph.D.," and a $100 - $150 per hour fee seems to mesmerize some Christians to the extent that they feel this is where they must go to receive "counsel." In fact, "counseling" today has become so professionalized that some feel that if it is expensive, it has to be good! If it were only the fact that such Christians are spending so much money, I would not feel inclined to say anything further. It isn’t my job to manage others’ money. But sometimes more is lost or destroyed than mere pocketbooks.

There are professional counselors who do not know or care for the Word of God who give very bad advice – advice like, "get a divorce," "have an affair," "leave the family and pursue your selfish dreams," "disregard the ‘oppressive’ teaching of the Bible and the church." I have seen Christians advised to file lawsuits against other Christians in violation of the Word of God. I have seen such ungodly advice as telling a person he was justified in hatred. I have heard of people being told to "act out" their revenge, beating and cursing mock objects like pillows, pretending they are the head of the person with whom they are angry. I have seen people advised to lie. I have seen people told that they must be "true to themselves" first, regardless of what it does to others.

Do you know what the Bible says about things like these? I quote this time from the Psalms: "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked..." (Psalm 1:1).

The Psalmist goes on to present the right alternative to seeking counsel from those who don't know God by stating that the real answer needed to stabilize life is to meditate on God's law. Such a person, David says, will be "like a tree planted firmly by streams of water." In our "counseling" language today, he will not be "dysfunctional." He will be "stable."

For the Christian, wise counsel should be found among those who know God and live by His Word. It should not be sought among those who do not know Him!

How often I have seen the simplest of people living wisely by the teaching of God's Word, knowingly or unknowingly avoiding major problems of life that destroy others. And how often I have seen the sophisticated high rollers of our society destroyed because they either don't know the Word of God or don't care about it.

But let me also warn you, just because someone claims to offer "Christian" counsel does not in itself make everything OK. Not everyone today who claims to be Christian views God's Word as the guide for life. Some place the name "Christian" as a very thin veneer over a core of humanistic values and philosophy.

How can one tell the difference between counselors? How can you decipher a counterfeit from the real thing? Let me show you. Please turn to Proverbs 2:1-6.

Then you will discern the fear of the LORD,
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

These verses tell what is necessary to discover the knowledge of God, something that every counselor must do if he or she is to really help others. One must "receive," "treasure," "incline one's heart," "cry out," "seek," and "search" for the Wisdom found in the Word of God. When you are in the company of such a counselor, you are likely to find good advice.

That God intends for Christians to seek counsel among other Christians is seen also in the NT. Romans 15:14 says, "Concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish [i.e., counsel] one another."

Actually, every Christian has access to the divine source of good counsel. Listen to Proverbs 22:17-21.

---Proverbs 22:17-21, NAS

The promise here is that wise counsel has been written in God's Word. Every Christian can go to that directly.

"But Dave," someone says, "If the Bible is so great as you say, why do so many Christians have problems today?"

Because so many seek out the evening newspaper or the TV guide rather than the Word of God. When it comes to Scripture, they depend upon others for their knowledge.

There is special, intimate counsel available from God for those who seek Him diligently and obediently with all their heart. Proverbs 3:32 says, "For the crooked man is an abomination to the Lord; but He is intimate with the upright."

That word "intimate" in the Hebrew language implies a kind of intimacy of private counsel. (If you have the NASV you'll find a note about that in the margin). God is available in a very special way, as an intimate Counselor, to those who are really concerned for doing His will.

One of the good uses of the power of the tongue, then, is giving wise counsel.

A second good use of the tongue is:

Listen to Proverbs 15:4 on encouragement: "A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit."

I like the way the Living Bible puts that one: "Gentle words cause life and health; griping brings discouragement."

Few things stop the progress of God's work on earth among people like griping. A worker can feel exhausted, tired to the bone, but with some rest, he'll be back at it. He can be working in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds - but as long as he stays encouraged, he will make progress. Let him get down in the dumps and discouraged however, and the work will grind to a halt. Here in this verse the cause of such discouragement is griping

It does seem that there are some people who cannot do anything without finding something to complain about. Ninety-five percent of a program can be working perfectly and such people will ignore that to find fault with the other five percent. It seems to be second nature for some to complain. And "second nature" it is… the old nature.

The Bible gives some pretty high-powered examples of this.

Moses nearly tossed in the towel in the desert when the Israelites complained about the manna that God had given them to eat. Numbers 11 records Moses' discouraged words where he even asked God to kill him rather than require him to go on leading those griping people. God wasn't pleased with the complaining, either. He caused a wind to blow quail into their camp, then while the meat was still in the teeth of the whiners, He caused a plague to kill a great number of them.

Nehemiah, in the description contained in the book bearing his name, asked God to never forgive the sin of the people who were demoralizing the builders working on the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 4). That’s a little extreme, perhaps, but complaining is a serious matter.

In contrast to this, the Bible calls us to be encouragers and that is really my point. Listen to several passages:

"Pleasant words are as honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." (Proverbs 16:24).

"Bright eyes gladden the heart, good news puts fat on the bones." (Proverbs 15:30).

The idea here is one of healing, life-giving words, words that nourish and lift the spirit, putting "fat on the bones," so to speak, of a malnourished spirit.

Perhaps there has never been greater cause for discouragement than that experienced by the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln during his term of office. He led the country through her greatest trial ever, the Civil War. Though later, history would declare him a hero, up until the time of his death, he was still considered by many to be an enemy.

Several years ago, PBS aired a television program on what many would consider a dull subject: The Library of Congress. Much of the program had to do with the mundane stuff of index cards and files. But in the midst of the program, Dr. Daniel Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, brought out a little blue box that he said was one of the library's rarest treasures. The label on the box read, "Contents of the President's Pockets on the Night of April 14, 1865." That was the night Lincoln was assassinated.

Boorstin removed the items from the box and displayed them for all America to see. There were five items:

"The clippings," said Boorstin, "were concerned with the great deeds of Abraham Lincoln. And one of them actually reports a speech by John Bright which says that Abraham Lincoln is 'one of the greatest men of all times.'"

Today that's common knowledge. But back then millions of people shared a contrary opinion. The President's critics were fierce and many.

There is something touchingly pathetic in the mental picture of this great leader, all alone in the Oval Office, seeking solace and self-assurance from a few yellowed newspaper clippings read under the flickering flame of a candle.

Indeed, "Pleasant words are as honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

Do you know a piece of good news? Use it at a strategic time to drop some encouragement on your struggling brothers or sisters. You can minister in this way like nothing else can.

And the timing of such news can be important.

"A man has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word." (Proverbs 15:23).

There is a commercial I have seen on television a few times that has this man and woman sitting together in a nice restaurant. She looks deeply into his eyes and says, "I love you." There is a pause, in which he simply looks at her with no response. The moments tick by. Finally she gets this hurt look on her face, gets up, puts on her sweater, and leaves. At that point he says to her empty chair, "I love you, too." The scene ends with a statement like, "Timing is everything."

You might recall another commercial a few years ago for a well-known ointment: "Stop hurting, start healing, with Camphophenique." From time to time your discouraged brothers and sisters could use a bit of spiritual Camphophenique, rubbed on at just the right time.

Proverbs 12:18 says, "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

No true Christian would dream of taking a sword to a brother or sister, but we need to be aware that rash, unmeasured words can effectively do the same thing to their spirit. We need to be very careful in the use of our tongues in this area.

Wise counsel and encouragement – these are two ways to use the power of the tongue to promote life. A third way the tongue can give life is by:

Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls."

Notice that reference to the tree of life. Adam and Eve came to the tree of life to eat and live forever in the Garden of Eden.

Apparently, in the same way, a person who is righteous in Christ becomes like that tree of life to others. They come to him or her to find fruit and live forever. Such fruit is attractive to hungry people. In the same way, the life of a righteous person ought to be attractive to spiritually hungry people.

In his book Gold In The Making, Ron Lee Davis tells the story of a missionary who visited a leprosarium. As he was talking with some of the patients there who were afflicted with that terrible disease he met one particular leper who had a vital, glowing love for Jesus Christ. The two of them began to visit together.

The leper told him, "You know, I didn't always have this joy, this love of God in my life. When I first came to this place I was the most angry, most bitter man here. But there was a man from the village nearby who came out every day to visit me. Every single day he came out and brought me food, and at first I threw it back in his face. He'd come out and offer to play cards with me, but I shouted at him to leave me alone. He wanted to talk with me but I would have nothing to say to him. Still he kept coming to visit me, day after day after day after day.

"Finally, I could do nothing else but ask him, `Why? Why do you keep coming to see me, to love me, when all I ever show you is bitterness and hatred?'

"And he told me it was because of the love of Jesus Christ." Then the missionary asked, "Well, how long did this man from the village come out to see you before you gave your life to Christ?" The leper answered, "He came every day for thirteen years."

Paul Harvey once told how an Eskimo kills a wolf. He coats his knife blade with blood and lets it freeze. Then he adds another coat of blood and then another. As each coat freezes he adds another smear of blood until the blade is deeply hidden within a substantial thickness of frozen blood.

Then he buries the knife -- blade upward -- in the frozen tundra. The wolf catches the scent of fresh blood and begins to lick it. He licks it more and more feverishly until the blade is bare. Then he keeps on licking harder and harder. Because of the cold he never notices the pain of the blade. His craving for the taste of blood is so great that he does not realize his thirst is being satisfied by his own blood. He licks the blade until he bleeds to death, literally swallowing his own life.

Life and death hangs in the balance of the way the wolf uses his tongue. The same is true for us. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."

We give life to perplexed and struggling people by wise, Bible based counsel. We give life to discouraged brothers and sisters by timely encouragement. And we give life to the spiritually dead by using our tongues and our lives to bring others to Christ.

May God help us to do it and may we be receptive to His help!

Footnotes: Use your back button to return to your place

1.Author Unknown

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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