The Surprising Foundation for America

Thomas had to prepare another sermon for another midweek service. He had the intimidation that came with having to do something at least once a week, and sometimes more than once weekly.

Sermon video

Every preacher will know what I’m talking about. Sometimes the hardest thing to discern is what God wants us to talk about.

There’s an old joke that says every preacher knows what it’s like to be sitting on the front row on Sunday morning, flipping through a songbook, trying to find a sermon.

First of all, that’s the wrong book to be flipping through. Although, I have gotten a sermon from a song sometimes.

But Thomas was working on the sermon and was able to go to the guide. The guide of course is the Scriptures. Like he had done many times in the past, Moses was going to guide Thomas. God called him to apply the scripture for the midweek service, not the (as we think of it) big Sunday service.
Thomas probably thought, “I just have to try to get through it.” So, he spoke on Deuteronomy chapter 1.

The Surprising Foundation for America

But what came as a result of this was the surprising foundation for the United States of America. Not only did he find something that would help him have the midweek sermon, but he also found something that would affect the United States of America.

As you read on, you’ll realize that Thomas was going to be instrumental in the establishment of a town. You’ll also see the significance of the scripture from Deuteronomy that he spoke on in that midweek service; not only in Moses’ time but also in Thomas’ time and our time. The fact is that this sermon that he came up with contained the surprising foundation for America.

So Thomas went into the book of Deuteronomy, the first chapter, and focused on verse 13.

The Significance in Moses’ Time

Before getting into the scripture, let me give you the back story.

Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, had asked what Moses did all day. He went on to observe the day-to-day work that Moses did. He would go to a tent, and the people would line up and, from morning to evening, bring him their problems and disputes that they had with their brethren. Moses spent all day judging those matters.

Jethro was able to tell Moses that what he was doing wasn’t good. He said Moses was going to wear himself out. (Exodus 18:13-18) I’ve heard people say, “I’d rather burn out than rust out.” But, either way, you’re out.

God will give you discernment in learning how to balance your life so you can continue to minister for another day.

That’s what Jethro advised Moses to do. He told Moses that he needed to get some help. That’s exactly what Moses did. (Exodus 18:19-26) He wasn’t able to bear all the complaints and problems, so he chose wise people to come and help. If the matter was more difficult, the people would be sent to Moses. He heeded the word of his father-in-law, and God allowed it to be good.

That’s what Moses was talking about beginning in verse 9 of Deuteronomy chapter 1.

In verse 10, Moses makes mention of the number of Israelites. Conservative estimates say that there were between 1.5 and 2 million people making the trek through the wilderness.

Although he doesn’t yet know it, Moses is coming to the end of his life. He may have felt it but didn’t know it. He knew that Joshua was going to be his successor, and wanted the situation to be good when he handed it over to him. In verses 11 and 12, Moses says, “May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times more numerous and bless you, just as He has promised you! How can I myself bear your load and your burden and your strife?”

When Jethro first suggested that Moses get some help, Moses was able to choose the people on his own, because he knew them all. Now, the Nation had grown so large that he wasn’t able to make the decisions on his own. That’s why, in verse 13, he said, “Choose wise, discerning, and knowing men, among your tribes, and I will appoint them as leaders over you.”

This is something that has become the foundation for the United States. It has made us one of the greatest countries in the world. It has made us one of the happier countries in the world because we focus on freedom: The freedom of people being able to choose our own leaders.

So Moses told the Israelites to choose “wise, discerning, knowing men” and he would confirm them as leaders.

In verses 14-17a, Moses goes on to say, “You answered me, and said, ‘The thing which you have said is good for us to do. So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and well-known men, and appointed them as leaders over you, leaders over thousands, and leaders over hundreds, and leaders over fifties, and leaders over tens, and officers among your tribes. I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the issues between your countrymen and judge righteously between every man and his fellow countryman, and the foreigner that is with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment, but you shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s.’”

This is how it works when you have a proper judge. He (or she) seeks the wisdom of God. We know that there are unjust judges because, in the New Testament, Jesus spoke of one. (Luke 18:1-8)

But here, Moses said how they are to be great. Verses 17-18 say, “’ You shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring it to me, and I will hear it. At that time, I commanded you all the things you should do.’”

Moses was going to wear himself out. His father-in-law told him he needed to divide up the responsibility and have the other leaders find capable men to take care of things. Then, it was getting too large for Moses to go himself and pick out men from the different tribes so he spoke to each of the tribes and said, “You get together, you choose people; honorable and noblemen, and then I will appoint them (so he still had final say) as leaders over you.”

Moses led the children of Israel through the desert for 40 years.

What you see here in this passage of scripture is the basis of a phrase that’s used in the U.S. and not much anywhere else in the world. It’s called the consent of the governed.

In the United States, we have the privilege of being able to choose our leaders. We have the privilege of being able to elect representatives who are supposed to represent us and make good, righteous, Godly laws. That doesn’t always happen, but we can at least make an attempt.

We have the choice to allow people to stay in power or not.

Moses was setting up the system of government with instructions for judges. He did that to help himself and also to help Joshua, who would succeed him.

The Significance in Thomas’ Time

Let’s go back to Thomas. He is an actual person in American history. His name was Thomas Hooker. He was a preacher. In fact, he was deemed to be one of the best preachers of the 17th century.

Thomas’ background was: he was born in 1586 in England. He went to Cambridge University. Many early leaders of the United States went to Cambridge, came over to the US, and were preachers who formed the basis for the United States of America.

Some people want us to forget that. Some people want us to cancel that out of our minds. Some people want to shout about the separation of church and state. Well, the phrase separation of church and state is not in the Constitution.

In fact, the first amendment to the Constitution guarantees us freedom of religion. It gives us the freedom to exercise our religion. If someone were to say you could only meet together during church services, that is a violation of that right. That is not free exercise.

Perhaps I want to go visit a Christian friend at his home and have a Bible study. That’s free exercise. But if someone tells us we can’t do that, it’s not the free exercise of religion.

Thomas Hooker became a pastor. If you recall, the Church of England had pulled out of the Roman Catholic Church. Many preachers and Bible scholars saw that as an opportunity to return the church to the principles of God’s Word. It was called the Reformation during that time. They were trying to reform the Church of England.

Some of them thought it would take too long, so they began to form small congregations in different areas. It was like forming several small independent Baptist churches, or several Churches of God. There was no hierarchy dictating what they could and could not do. Those people were called Separatists, but they were part of the Puritans.

There was another group that decided to be patient and change the church from within. The ones who tried that often ran into trouble.

Both groups began to get pressure from the government. They didn’t want them to be out from under their control, so they had to flee.

In the case of Thomas Hooker, he fled to Holland. It’s said that he had to disguise himself in order to leave. But, he and his family, like many others, got on a ship and came to America.

They came to a place where they had the opportunity to worship God according to the dictates of their hearts. It was a blank slate, a new land. It was a time of opportunity to figure out new ways to do things and ways to govern fairly. Aren’t you glad?

Now, I may have fictionalized the part about Thomas having the consternation about the sermon, but it absolutely was a midweek service. It absolutely was based on Deuteronomy 1:13. That verse, again, says, “Choose wise, discerning, and knowing men, among your tribes, and I will appoint them as leaders over you.”

In 1633, Thomas became a pastor near Cambridge, Massachusetts. Three years later, he, his wife, and 100 men from their congregation went south to establish a town. You’ve probably heard of it: It’s called Hartford, Connecticut.

The midweek service was in 1638 and he found the passage of scripture. I don’t know if he had a manuscript of the sermon, but if he did, it did not survive the passage of time. There was a man who took notes and had 13 short paragraphs. It is said that he took notes in shorthand. The note taker was Henry Wolcott, Jr. He wrote out the key points of Thomas’ sermon.

The first one was, “The choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people by God’s own allowance.”

The second one: “The privilege of election which belongs to the people must not be exercised according to their whims but according to the blessed will and law of God.”

Number three: “Those who have power to appoint officers and magistrates have it in their power also to set the bounds and limits of the power and places unto which they call them.”

Four: “Because the foundation of authority is laid firstly in the free consent of people.”

So, they decided they were going to establish the government of Hartford, Connecticut, and use the above principles in doing so.

Just a year later, in January 1639, they began setting up the constitution for Connecticut. These principles, “the consent of the governed:”, and the subsequent constitution paved the way for other colonies as they were establishing their constitutions.

Later, those same principles were the foundation for the establishment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Today, Connecticut is known as “The Constitution State.”

That midweek service changed the course of history.

The Significance in Our Time

This is not only a piece of our history. It’s significant in our time as well.

We have the importance of free and fair elections. No one has to know how you vote. We still have secret ballots.

While some in power may overstep their authority, we do still have the consent of the governed.

During a mandated business shut down, one of the local restaurants where I like to go for coffee shut down for a brief period. The next time I checked, they had a sign on the door stating that they were going to remain open and gave the number of their attorney. I’m thankful that they chose to stand their ground against over-reaching governmental interference.

You may be thinking, “Aren’t Christians supposed to be good citizens? Aren’t we supposed to be obedient to authority?”

YES!

We are supposed to be obedient to legitimate authority over us. We do not have to be under the hands of tyrants or tyranny. I hope that we have the strength of character to stand. The Bible says, “…having done all to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13b)
We have the freedom to be able to disagree. We should have the freedom to be able to disagree and debate.

There is the force of medical things. It’s amazing to me that I can turn on the TV and see an advertisement for some drug. The commercial will begin to expound on all the benefits of the medication being advertised and that will go on for about 30 seconds. Then, all at once, a laundry list of possible side effects will begin playing.

Now we have a drug that is authorized for emergency use, and we ought to have the right to decide whether or not we want to take it. There are a plethora of problems with this drug that we’ve not been told about.

The CDC website says that people have been permanently disabled, over 150,000 hospitalizations, and over 5,000 miscarriages as a result of this new medication.

It all comes back to the consent of the governed.

We live in a free land, and a free country

I don’t know what the future will hold, but I’m concerned about what we allow to start happening.

A man was camping in the Arabian desert. After he got set up and started to relax, he heard a noise outside the tent. He looked and saw a camel loitering outside. He shooed the camel away, but soon it was back. He did this again and again but finally got tired of getting up. He allowed the animal to just put his head inside. He patted the camel’s nose, and before long, the whole camel was inside the tent.

To keep the camels out of the tent, it’s going to take people who have the courage to stand.

So, let’s stand for freedom. Let’s stand for the Constitution. It’s not a perfect document as it was written by imperfect men, but notice the foundations from scripture that were put into the early constitutions. Let’s be careful when our liberties are in danger.

Corrie Ten Boom had her liberties taken away and spent time in a concentration camp. She was freed as a result of a clerical error. Later on, she came face to face with one of her captors.

She had gone to church after church speaking about forgiveness. The man approached her and she recognized him and knew she had said that she had to forgive. He told her that he had been a guard where she was imprisoned. He said that God had forgiven him, and he asked if she could as well. Fighting her personal will, she reached out her hand to shake his, and she felt the forgiveness come.

I hope that we never get to the place where we would be taken captive. We have the consent of the governed. It’s been said that we’ve been given a republic, it’s up to us to keep it.

The fundamental ideas of Connecticut, inspired by the words of Deuteronomy 13:1, preached by Thomas Hooker, said in it’s opening preamble, “For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God by the wise disposition of his divine providence so to order and dispose of things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in and upon the River of Connectecotte and the lands thereunto adjoining; and well knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people there should be an orderly and decent Government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people at all seasons as occasion shall require; do therefore associate and conjoin ourselves to be as one Public State or Commonwealth; and do for ourselves and our successors and such as shall be adjoined to us at any time hereafter, enter into Combination and Confederation together, to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess…”

The Most Important Consent

You and I may debate some topics, and we may not always agree, but there is one area where it’s important that the consent of the governed takes place: That is, that God loved us so much that He gave His Son so we could be forgiven of our sins. He gave His Son so that we could experience salvation.

When we accept that free gift of salvation, we accept Jesus as One who is the Lord and Ruler of the universe. He has the right to rule and reign in all our lives. When we become His child, we consent to be governed by Him.

The most important consent to being governed is to consent to be governed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you’ve never accepted Him as your Savior, I invite you to come to Christ today. As I’ve mentioned before, the gift is free. You can receive it by faith. When you do, you will become a new creature. Your life will be changed. The former things have passed away.

Some of the things you liked before, you won’t like anymore. Some of the things you didn’t like before you will begin to like. Some of your friends may not like the changes taking place in your life and you may lose some of them. It’s OK because the best friend you could have is Jesus.

The best decision you could make is to place yourself under His authority and allow your life to be governed by Him.

If you want to know how to accept that free gift, please use the contact information on this blog page to reach out to me. I would be thrilled to help you.

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022

Hope for the Journey

The darkness was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Waves hit the side of the ship. They were hitting so hard, it felt like sledgehammers were pounding on the side of the ship.

The storm was getting rough. — The storm was getting rough

They were in an area that wasn’t very tall: In fact, it was just a little over five feet tall. Children could stand up, but the adults had to lay down or crawl on their hands and knees for the most part.

The storm was worsening outside. It was so dark. Then they heard the water come over the side of the ship, and before long, it came through the hole and they were all drenched.

Sermon video

A History Lesson

About 402 years ago, Henry VIII had pulled out of the Catholic Church and established his own church: The Church of England. (We know it as the Epispicol Church today.) That was an opportunity for people that were concerned with the corruption in the church.

Now some of the people just wanted to continue on with their traditions and their formal church services just like they always had. the prescriptions, There were others, though, that were concerned about some of the things that were going on and how the church was becoming corrupt. They saw it as an opportunity to reform and purify the church so they became known as Puritans.

So you had one group going along with the status quo, just like it always had been another group that wanted to change for the better where they could worship God from their hearts. There was another group of Puritans who said, “It’s hopeless. We’re not going to be able to do it with them. We’re not going to make it with them”. So, they decided to pull out. The congregations that did were called Separatists.

They were both Puritans, but there were those within the church and there were the Separatists

The group of separatists started getting pressure. The government did not like what they were doing, and the established church did not like what they were doing. Some of the Reformers within the church were sympathetic towards them, but not enough. Finally, they had to flee, so they went to Holland.

When they got there they had a pastor named John Robinson. Their church grew to three times the size it was when they first got there. Then they heard about the New World, land of opportunity. They said, “Some of us can go there.”

Even though they had gone to Holland and God was blessing their church with growth, they were concerned about their children, being assimilated into the culture that they were in.

Then they heard about this new place they could go where they would be starting from scratch, without any previous ties or conditions. It would all be up to them. They wanted that opportunity. They wanted to come to the land of the free.

Pastor Robinson envied them so much. He wanted to go but he knew that he had to stay with the congregation that would be left behind.

So on one particular day, they all gathered together and went over to a place called Delfshaven and had a day of fasting and prayer. Then they send them on their way.

So they sailed to the coast to Southampton and they got on what Robert Morgan called “a creaky little ship” known as the Mayflower. That was the group I was describing at the beginning.

The ship was barely as long as a football field. At its widest point, it was 25 feet wide, and it was just an area of about 15 feet where it was that wide, and then it narrowed toward the ends.

It was dark, they had storms, the water got in part of the time, and they had some other passengers on the ship that nobody wanted: cockroaches and rats. And so ` They were on an area that they called the gun deck. BUT, they never lost sight of God.

Every day they would read from the scriptures. They might sing, they might have somebody expound on the scriptures, somebody may have preached. But every day they read the scriptures.

On September 16, 1820, they came to Psalm 107. A portion of this Psalm was spoken by those who were on dangerous voyages but rejoiced because their God controls the elements and knows how to guide them to safe harbors and their desired haven.

Psalm 107:23-31 (NIV)

Scripture for today's post — The scripture for today’s post

²³Some went out on the sea in ships;
    they were merchants on the mighty waters.
²⁴They saw the works of the Lord,
    his wonderful deeds in the deep.
²⁵For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
    that lifted high the waves.
²⁶They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
    in their peril their courage melted away.
²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
    they were at their wits’ end.
²⁸Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out of their distress.
²⁹He stilled the storm to a whisper;
    the waves of the sea^[b] were hushed.
³⁰They were glad when it grew calm,
    and he guided them to their desired haven.
³¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

The last part of verse 30 says “He guides them to their desired haven.” They arrived at a safe haven known as Cape Cod.

Then they decided to get back on the ship. When they got back on the ship, they were preparing to start a colony for England, in Northern Virginia. They decided that before they did that they needed to seek the Lord and establish a form of government

So while they were still on the ship, they wrote a formal binding agreement, known as the Mayflower Compact. It was signed on November 11, 1620.

“In the Name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten … having undertaken for the Glory of God, and the Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick.

This document became the foundation for our representative form of government.

As we look a little deeper into this Psalm, we will realize that we need to be glad when God gives us a noble cause, and two other thoughts on this passage of Scripture.

Be Glad When God Gives You a Noble Cause

If you are a Christian, God has given you a spiritual gift. You may not know what it is, but I know you have one because the scripture says you do. You can read in several places in Scripture about these spiritual gifts and if you combine them all together, there are about 19 that are listed in Scripture. (Romans 12:6-8, I Corinthians 12:8-10, I Peter 4:11) They are probably representative that’s probably not a complete list.

But it is something that God gives you the ability to do. Sometimes it’s an ability to do something you didn’t have the ability to do before. You know that’s a spiritual gift when it comes. Other times He takes things that come naturally to you and helps you use that for His Glory. Be glad when God gives you a noble cause.

He has given you a noble cause if you are a Christian, You need to figure out what that is. You ask “How do you do that?” You pray, first of all, and listen to that still small voice within.

There are a couple other things you can do. Ask around and see if there’s a need. Somebody may come to you and say would you teach a Sunday school class and you may say, “I don’t know if I can do that or not.” You may wind up doing that and God may confirm it for you. Or, God may confirm that it is not your gift. So you continue to seek and follow God’s leading.

One of the other things you can do is to study the Word. Stay in the Word and it will begin to speak to you and become personal to you, Just like the passage in Psalm 107 became a personal Word to those Pilgrims in the storm. They needed hope, and they got hope. It was God who made the waves go up and down and He knew how to take them to their desired haven, and He indeed did take them there.

God gives you a purpose for your life. It’s really difficult going through life without purpose. People who go through life without purpose and meaning get caught up in trying to numb the pain and get involved in alcohol or illicit drugs.

But you have a purpose. Live according to the purpose and be glad for it.

Don’t Expect Carying Out This Cause to be Easy

The second thing is: don’t expect carrying out that purpose to always be easy. Sometimes it is. Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) Sometimes He does make it that way, not always.

I know some who have gone through difficult times serving the Lord, Others question them asking how they made it through. Here in the dark moments, they were expecting God to take them through.

One of the reasons why it’s not easy is because Satan doesn’t want you to do the work of God. You may run against the brick walls that Satan throws out. Not only brick walls but fiery arrows that come towards you and all kinds of opposition. But greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. (I John 4:4) You might face satanic opposition.

There are other things that make it difficult, and that is just living in this old world. It rains on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). We just have some troubles going on in this world. You have times when the opposition of Satan is going on around you and people are being influenced by that. Maybe not you or your immediate friends, but still it affects the whole world.

We experience hardships just by living in this world.

But then we realize that God commands the waves. This passage of Scripture says that they’re going up to the heavens and back down to the depths. Those travelers were experiencing that for real. The passage says they reeled to and fro and they staggered like a drunk man, and their soul melts and they come to their wit’s end.

God Will Bring You to Your Safe Haven

The first thing is to be glad that God works in our lives. He gives you direction. You don’t need to know what the end is going to be, all you need to know is the next step. When you’re pretty sure about the next step, then you take it. Then look for the next step and the next step. Eventually, it will work out.

Sometimes you go along you don’t see very much very clearly. Right now, we see through a glass darkly but one day, we will have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 13:12) One day we’ll understand all these things that we didn’t understand here in this life.

It says in Scripture that their hearts melted and they cried out to the Lord in trouble. We don’t usually want the difficulties when they come, but after we’ve gone through them, we are thankful, because they drove us closer to God. They helped us to realize our need for a Savior, and they drove us to accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

So they cry out to the Lord in their time of trouble. Then God brings them out of their distress, and He calms the storms and the waves get still and they were glad because of the quiet. Then He guides them to their desired haven.

Sometimes we have a little problem going through this life here because God doesn’t always pay on Friday.

Robert G. Lee was a preacher in Memphis, Tennessee, and he preached a famous sermon over and over again. . It was called Payday Someday, But Not Always on Friday, and Not Always on Our Timetable.

When we’re in the dark times of life, that’s when we need to trust God. Trust Him with what we have here and then in the next steps, and He will take us through that.

We were in a lean time of life. We were asking God where He wanted us to go and what He wanted us to do next. Many of my friends were out finding good jobs and were making a lot of money. We were just trying to figure out what we were going to do. and what our next stop was going to be. It was a difficult time. Rhonda came across the verse and it said even though the stalls are empty, I will praise the Lord. (Habakuk 3:17).

I just want to tell you, she never complained one time. She never said anything about me out and getting a higher-paying job.

God has seen us through the dark times. We have 50 years of proof. God sees the safe haven and can take you there.

It might never end up looking really good here in this life. Lazarus ended up being a beggar all his life. There was a rich man and it looked like his life was really good. Both of them died. The rich man ended up in hell. Lazarus, the Bible says was in Abraham’s bosom, which is also described as paradise.

Later on, the rich man looked up and asked for pity, and for just a drop of water because he was in agony. He was told, “In your lifetime you had good things, and now you are tormented But Lazarus, in his lifetime, had the evil and now he is comforted. ” (Luke16:19-31)

I just want to tell you that God will see you through. I don’t want to be completely gloomy about this because I’m not saying that all of us have to be Lazarus. This whole earthly existence won’t be like that. Many times God will turn things around & will give you things that just bring joy to your life.

Dave Ramsey is a good example. He went bankrupt and came back and then he learned how to do better. Some of the gospel groups that we really like, The Cathedrals, for example. They made it to the top, but there were a lot of years when it was really tough. God can take you to your safe haven. Hopefully, you’ll experience the good part here in this life.

But even if you don’t, you could spend eternity in joy compared with this little dash here on this earth.

So what you need to know is that you know that you know that you know that if you were to pass from this life, you will have the assurance that you would go to Heaven. Heaven would be your safe haven.

Be glad for what God is doing for you. Be glad for God’s purpose for your life. Persevere when it is not easy. Most of all, come to the place where you know that you would go to Heaven.

February 23, 2022February 23, 2022

A Word Fitly Spoken

Today I want to talk about a word fitly spoken as found in Proverbs, Chapter 25. Verses 11 through 13.

Sermon video.

First, I want to tell you a little story from my own life when I was looking for a word to be fitly spoken.

A Personal Story of FItly Spoken Words

I was student teaching in Benton, Illinois and my supervising teacher told me that they were going to have a prom and told me I had to go. He also told me I could bring someone if I wished.

I had met Rhonda (my wife) a few months before and decided maybe I’ll see if she would go to the prom with me.

I was afraid, however, that if I called her, it would be too easy for her to say no over the phone. So I had a strategy: I was going to go in person and be standing right there and see what happened. She would have to tell me no right to my face.

So I talked to the supervising teacher he said it would be fine. I could go up to Rend Lake College, and if I ended up being late coming back, that would be all right. He understood what was happening. I was so thankful for that.

I had my plan to go and talk to her face to face. The first problem, once I got to the campus, was how to find her. There is a place there called the “South Oasis.” and I thought they may be hanging out there, so I headed that way. Sure enough, there she was, along with all our friends and many folks that I knew from Ten Mile Baptist Church.

It had occurred to me that somebody would say, “Well, hi, what are you doing here? I did not want to say in front of everybody that I was there to ask Rhonda out. I don’t know what I said. I waited for some time, but I never could get Rhonda by herself. Then I heard the bell ring and I thought, “There goes my dream.” But, fortunately, Rhonda was the last one going inside. I tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?” She said yes and we went over a little way where nobody was around.

Looking for an encouraging word. — I was hoping for my own encouraging word.

Finally, I stammered and out that there was going to be a prom and would she go with me. I was waiting for that word to be fitly spoken which would have been, “Yes.” But instead, there was this little pause. I’m sure it was just a second, and then her mouth dropped open and she said “I’m shocked!”

I asked, “Well, does that mean yes or no?” I wanted to make sure. She said “Yes, yes.”

There it was, a word that was fitly spoken!

Encouraging Words and Discouraging Words

Have you ever had someone who believed in you? It could have been a teacher or a family member. Have you ever had someone say something that just discouraged you? Maybe someone even kept you from trying to do something that you should have done?

Proverbs 25:11-13 (MEV)

¹¹A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
¹²As an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold,
so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

¹³As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,
so is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

I want to talk to you about a loving example of God’s words, correcting words, refreshing words, and words fitly spoken in general.

God’s Words

First of all, think about God’s words. We open the Bible up and it says, “In the beginning,” (Genesis 1:1) we move over to the New Testament and we go to the fourth Gospel, and it starts with, In the beginning.” (John1:1)

The Gospel of John says “In the beginning was the Word {capitalized}, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

Go down to verse 14 and it says “The Word {again capitalized} was made flesh and dwelt among us, {This is talking about the Living Word, not just letters on a piece of paper.} and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth.”

There’s the clue, “the only begotten Son of the Father,”

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” This is a story about Jesus. The word “words” represents other things.

The Word is the divine expression of the Father. Jesus said, “If you want to know what the Father is like, look at me and you’ll find out.” (John 14:7)

The Words of Creation

At the beginning of the Bible, we read “In the beginning, God created the heavens of the earth.” (Genesis1:1) Then he started the sentences with the words “Let there be.”

So you have let there be light, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let us separate the waters from the waters. Then God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. Then God said Let the earth produce vegetation, plants, and so forth. And God said, Let there be lights in the heavens, to separate the day from the light and it’ll be for seasons. Then He says, Let the waters swarm was swarms of living creatures and then God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures. And God said, “Let us make man in Our image.”(Genesis 1: 2-26)

In all those earlier ones. He just said, “Let there be” and it was. “Let there be light,” and there was light. Let these things happen and they happened.

It didn’t take billions of years to happen, either. I believe He spoke and it immediately happened.

So you have the words of God.

Word of God

We also have the Word of God. We have the Bible. As we read, we read the story of God’s workings with people.

We have the story that goes out to the people in the Old Testament. There is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the 12 sons of Jacob. Much of the Bible is about that.

In the New Testament, it tells us holy men of God spoke as the Holy Spirit moved upon them (2 Peter 1:21), and they wrote it down. Moses wrote, so we have the writing way back there in history. We have the words.

The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, we have the words of God-The Word; the Bible. As apples of gold, you have a Word that is fitly spoken.

Precious Words

We have the illustrations mentioned in verse 11. It says, “A word fitly. spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Other translations may say in pictures or it may say that it is in a basket.

In trying to figure out what the “pictures” are they said it was like an engraved picture, and the picture can be engraved in settings of silver. Then another said it was like an ornamental basket that was made out of silver that had representations of apples fashioned out of gold. Sometimes the metal was sort of like silver lace you could see through as it said on the table.

The passage talks about precious things like silver and gold. Wherever people get married they have a wedding ring that represents the union between a man and a woman. The ring does not have to actually be gold, of course. It represents a commitment.

When you get ready to buy those wedding rings, you want to get the best. It’s something that’s precious.

“As apples of gold in settings of silver, so is a word that is fitly spoken.”

Correcting Words

There are also correcting words, as it says in the next verse. “As an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear. “

A wise reprover, rebuker, or one who gives correction.

That works well when you have somebody who has an ear to receive the correction. There are some people that, if you try to correct them, you might have a fight on your hands. You might experience that with children.

But it works best both for them and for you if they have an ear to hear the correction. They have to have an obedient ear to receive that.

Billy Graham’s Words

Billy Graham was a famous evangelist. He preached all over the world and had an audience with at least five presidents, maybe more. He was flying one time and there was a salesman sitting next to him. The salesman was using what some people would call “colorful” or inappropriate language. It seemed like he couldn’t help himself; everything that came out of his mouth was either vile or swearing. Even after he found out that Billy Graham was a minister, he just continued to spew it out.

Reverend Graham asked him, “Do you get paid for all that swearing that you do?” The salesman replied, “No. I do it for nothing. Why?”

The Reverend responded, “Well, you work cheap. You throw away your character, you bring pain to your friendships, you hurt your family, you break the Lord’s commands and you even put yourself in danger. You work really cheap.”

I don’t know if this man heard with an obedient heart or not, but he did receive a correcting word that day.

Words for a Young Basketball Player

There is a gentleman named James Malinchak who is a public speaker. He’s well known for public speaking and he’s written some books. After a while of public speaking, he became a millionaire. He was chosen to be on an episode of ABC’s show “Secret Millionaire.”

When Mr. Malinchak was in high school, he was a basketball player, and actually got a scholarship to go to college. He had to quit due to an injury.

Be receptive to instruction. — Be receptive to instruction

But, back in his basketball days, he was working really hard. He had a basketball goal in his yard. One day, his neighbor came up to the fence and was standing there watching.
James was missing a lot of baskets and his neighbor said, “I can help you with that.”
James thought, “Who is he?” and asked, “Did you play basketball when you were in school?”
The neighbor said, “No.”
“Are you a coach or something?”
Again, the man said, “No.”
So James shot a couple more times, and then, out of curiosity said, ” Okay. Tell me how you can help me.
He said, “You’re putting your elbow way out. Pull your elbow down and you’ll have the better straight shot at the basket.”
Well, James tried it and he started making more baskets.

When you get a correcting word you need to have an obedient ear for it to really work.

Words for King David

We know the story of how King David fell into sin. The Bible tells us that he was a liar, an adulterer, and he was responsible for a murder. He’s often called a murderer, but he actually set it up for a man to be killed.

So here’s David, and he’s God’s king, and he’s done all of this. Of course, he thinks at least hidden but he hasn’t. A course of people in the palace knew about it, and I’m sure the word spread through the countryside.

The prophet Nathan received word from God telling him to go talk to David. King David could have had Nathan put to death, but the king had an ear to hear.

David's correction. — David’s correction.

Nathan came and snuck up on David with a little story about a lamb. He told a story about how somebody took this person’s only lamb. David was angry about that! Then Nathan turned it around and said, ” You are the man.” Then David realized he was talking to him. He had violated another man’s wife. But he could be forgiven, and he was forgiven. (2 Samuel 12)

But suppose he hadn’t had an obedient, willing ear. If he had rebelled against Nathan, there’s no telling what the rest of the story of the life of David would be. But he repented of the sin and God forgave him, and his kingdom forgave him.

David is known as being the greatest earthly king of Israel. (We all know that in the spiritual aspect Jesus is the greatest king) He was forgiven because he was willing to hear.

Refreshing Words

Then there are refreshing words, according to the next verse.
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

The time of harvest could be hot times, especially in the Summer harvest, but even in some of the Fall.

The cold of snow at harvest. They had ways of preserving the snow. Of course, now we have refrigerators and actually even make ice now. But they were able to bring the snow.

When you’re out working hard on a hot summer day, and you wipe the sweat from your brow and you’re a little bit parched. Then somebody brings you a good cold glass of ice water. Snow at harvest was for refreshing.

A faithful messenger refreshes his masters. So we have refreshing words.

You may go throughout your day and you may come across 30 people. Several of them may just talk about the weather and other things that are not of much consequence. There may be 19 people who come along and really compliment you on something. That makes you feel good when they do that and it motivates you. Then you may have one person give you some harsh criticism.

That night when you go home, what do you remember? You should remember the compliments but it’s awful hard to because of that one word of harsh criticism.

Well, we should have words that are refreshing words.

There’s a sign at a local restaurant that reads: We do not repeat gossip. And then it finishes: So listen closely the first time.

A man named James L Sanders said his mother could be really exasperating. Sometimes when people are upset with other people they will vent about something. Sometimes they will do it in a criticizing way and put the person down. He said his mother is really good. When somebody was doing that, she would listen to the conversation, just waiting for her moment.

When there was a lull in the conversation, then she would be empathetic, she would say “I understand that…. ” But then she would say, “But are you aware that (the person being criticized) makes pies and takex them to the other ladies in the neighborhood?

There wsa a critical conversation about some man. and she said, “I understand what you say. But are you aware that he took a day off from work to go help a neighbor?”

She had refreshing words to say.

There was a lady who was known for being positive all the time. She would always manage to work the word “yes” into the conversation. One day her daughter came over to her house and they were getting ready for lunch. Her daughter looked in the freezer and she said, “Mom, do you have any ice cubes? ” The mother replied, “Yes. They’re not frozen yet.”

She was positive. Always be positive as much as you can.

I’m told that in the Civil War, there was a general his name was Jeb Steuart. Toward the end of the war, Jeb Steuart was preparing for a charge by forces that were several times greater than his. The captain looked to general Steuart and saw a smile on his face. General Steuart realized that the captin was wondering what was going on and so he answered the question he saw in the captain’s eyes. He said, “When you fear God, you don’t have to fear anything else.” A refreshing word to that Captain that was in battle.

So we have we have these words that are like apples of gold in settings of silver. We have correcting words that we ought to be willing to hear when they come our way – when it’s true. If it’s not true, ignore it. If it is true, do something about it.

Concluding Words

Do you realize you have sinned? Do you wonder if there’s any hope that God will forgive you?

The Bible tells us that even though we’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)

If you’ve never accepted the gift of salvation, you can do that today. You can reach out to me, and I will show you how.

God bless you . Have a wonderful day.