On Discernment

"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise" (Prov. 10:19). "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him" (Prov. 29:20). "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul" (Prov. 18:7). "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction" (Prov. 13:3). "A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards" (Prov. 29:11). "Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known" (Prov. 14:33). "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him" (Prov. 18:13). "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding" (Prov. 17:28). "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" (Prov. 18:21). "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels" (Prov. 1:5). "Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge" (Prov. 14:7). "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (Jas. 1:19). "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Mat. 12:36,37). It's been said that "a wise man has something to say, but a fool HAS to say something." I don't know about you my friend, but I have no choice but to conclude from what I see and hear every day, that there are few to none who actually believe what the Bible says; about these things and everything else as well.

The world we live in, which has certainly rubbed off on God's people quite emphatically, actually thinks that people who talk a lot know a lot, and people whose words are few just don't know enough to talk about. Do you really believe that all the chatter on cell phones about nothing constantly will not fall into the category of being condemned, as Jesus plainly said? That is correct; Jesus said that people will go to hell for speaking words that have no good purpose. Most people's mouths are on such 'cruise control' in fact that it is utterly impossible to have a sane conversation on the phone with them. My solution? I use my phone almost never. I don't like being on the phone to begin with, and I cannot bear to try to have a conversation where I am waiting for a pause in someone's endless talk to say something meaningful, only to be stampeded as soon as my mouth opens. No friend, this post is not about cell phones, though no doubt someone will leave a defensive comment to that effect. It is about the very serious issue of God's people not understanding what sin is, and that sin will bring damnation if carried to the grave. And I will close by saying that whatever we are and do morally and spiritually on a consistent basis will be what we continue to be. And if we are just plain inconsistent about what we are, then we will no doubt be caught off base in crunch time. Indeed there is a very good reason that the apostle Paul wrote the following admonition to all who will hear it: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philip. 2:12). And that very good reason is the one he gave here: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." And that is why he continued on to say this: "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (II Cor. 5:10,11). Amen.