"He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." Psalm 147:9
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.” Exodus 9:13-14
“There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.” I Samuel 2:2
“And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.
As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.” Isaiah 59:20-21
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” John 6:39
“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” Ephesians 4:15
The phrase “speaking the truth in love” , must be kept as it is, without changing one word, or leaving one out.
The first word, “speaking”.
Notice that this word is “speaking” not “ speak”. “Speaking” is present tense. It is continued action. Christian’s aren’t to just say something once, and then quit. Christian’s are to keep on speaking.
But, what are they supposed to keep speaking? Not, just any old thing.
”But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36
”But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” Ephesians 5:3-4
These are just a few things Christians aren’t supposed to be speaking. We shouldn’t be glorifying sin, or making jokes about it with our mouths.
”Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.” Proverbs 14:9
What we as Christian’s are supposed to speak is the truth. We are also to be speaking it constantly.
But, what is truth?
”Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6
Jesus Christ is the truth!
We are to preach Christ Jesus the Lord! We are to preach Jesus, and what He said.
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39
We aren’t to preach, “what I think”, or “what I believe”. We are to preach what the Scriptures say.
” For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord…” II Corinthians 4:5
The Bible also tells us to speak God’s Word constantly.
”Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:” Deuteronomy 11:18-20
Again in Deuteronomy 6 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…”
Why should we do this? The beginning of the verse starts of with the word “therefore”. For this reason, above it.
”[T]hat your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them” (vs. 16)
The Bible also tells us that we are to preach Jesus Christ, and no other god! We are to be speaking the truth. We are to be speaking Jesus Christ.
”Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.” Psalm 16:4
One of the most wisest and godly men I have ever known, Bro. Grover Laird once wrote, “Regardless of how strong we are in our belief of the truth, we should never give attention to those teachings that we know are false. False teachings are dangerous and can be convincing.” (Prov. 19:25)”
”Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” I John 5:21
Another thing about speaking the truth is that we don’t always speak with our mouths.
It has been said that actions speak louder than words. Jesus Christ wasn’t constantly speaking with His mouth. His silence is even recorded in a few places!
Yet, it doesn’t change the fact that the Bible calls Him, “the Word of God”. He gave witness to the truth by His actions. And that is what we Christians are to do as well. We speak the truth by our actions. Do our actions show Jesus Christ, or someone else?
Proverbs 11:9 also says, “An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: . .”
If our words say one thing, and our actions say another, it can be a dangerous thing.
The Scripture says that the hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor. It seems we could turn someone away from God, so much as to possibly send someone to Hell by hypocrisy!
Romans 2:22-24 says, ”Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”
Again Matthew 12:36 says, ”But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
Proverbs 8:13 also says. ”[T]he froward mouth, do I hate.”
“Speaking the truth in love”.
Lastly we are to be speaking the truth in love. When we speak with our mouths it should always be motivated by love, just as it should always be the truth.
It should not be because we think we are better than others, or done out of a mean spirit.
“[P]ride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Proverbs 8:13
But, remaining silent would not be right or out of love either (Ezekiel 3:17-21)!
How do we speak the truth in love?
Just about every one of us has fallen short of the standard of always using our tongues for the Lord (James 3.2).
Luke 6:46 says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
One thing that would surely help is to examine our hearts before we say (or write in today’s day and age) words. Is our heart right with God?
I John 4:8 tells us that God is love, and Ephesians 5:2, tells us to walk in love. If we are walking with God, He will surely guide us in the right direction. And we can ask for His help to both speak the truth, and to speak it in love.
These have been just a few thoughts.
God bless.
When Ravens Cry 