Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Nov 18th, 2014 JUST FOR LADIES – By Camille Stahl

Today’s Passages – Acts 9 – 10 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 86 – 90; Proverbs 18)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Isaiah 40:31

Read the “1118 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “Persecutor, Preacher, Prisoner”, “They’re All Precious In His Sight” & “The Beauty Of Salvation“                             

Shuttest Thy Mouth

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Proverbs 18:8

When God repeats something in His Word, He means business.  In Proverbs we see the same 19 words repeated twice.  That must mean that their message is extremely important.

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Proverbs 26:22

In this verse, the word, words, can be translated a tasty, deadly morsel or words of sport.  The word, talebearer, means spice peddler, wounds means deadly wounds, belly means the entire human cavity.

In other words, the tasty deadly morsels (words) of a spice peddler (talebearer) are as deadly wounds to the entire human body (belly). Notice it says, they are deadly wounds.

So there is the person who is gossiping (the spice peddler), the juicy gossip, maybe about a person (the tasty deadly morsels), and the person who is listening to the gossip (the person being killed with the morsels).

So who is destroyed, the talebearer, the listener or the one being gossiped about?

When a gossiper tries to destroy with the ‘morsels’ to the hearer, he thinks it’s the one who hears or accepts the morsels who is being poisoned and destroyed. The talebearer is already been destroyed or poisoned.  The morsel (the person or thing that is being gossiped about) is the only one who is innocent

A talebearer is trying to hurt you even though they don’t know it.  When you listen to gossip, you are the one who is being poisoned, and you are the one who is going to be destroyed. Most Christians don’t think that just listening to gossip is wrong, but it is self- destruction!  A Christian should run from talebearers and consider it as if someone is trying to kill them.  They usually are a good person who simply did not have the courage to rebuke the talebearer.  Run from the talebearer! Run from the slanderer.

God gave us warnings not to listen to gossip.  These are warnings to the hearers not to listen.

3 Things That Listening to Gossip Will Kill

1.  It will kill your spirit.

“The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” Proverbs 18:14

2.  It will kill your trust.

“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:” (1Peter 3:10)

3.  It will kill your joy.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  (Philippians 4:8)

Thoughts from Jack Hyles

Thank You

Revelations 20:10