HopeLives365

Mark Finley: The tongue of the learned, that's what I say. How to speak, that's the way I say it. A word in season to him who's weary. What's in season? What does that mean, in season? At the right time.

Guest (Male): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, "Life Changing Words," Part 1. Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: When I was in the fifth or sixth grade, probably 10 or 11 years old, there were times that I came home from school and didn't feel quite cheery that day because somebody said something to me that was offensive. Maybe I felt bullied a little bit. Maybe I felt that they cut me down with some word of criticism. I'll never forget my mama. Mother would say, "Mark, just always remember sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you."

I didn't want to tell my mother, but that's simply not true. Our words have a powerful effect upon other people. In fact, encouraging words bring joy to a discouraged, downtrodden spirit, and fault-finding, stinging words crush the spirit. Hopeful words bring joy to our hearts, and critical words pierce our hearts like swords. Positive, encouraging words lift us up. Negative, condemnatory words knock us down.

You remember that in Revelation chapter 14, the Bible talks about a group of people that will be prepared for the coming of Jesus. You'll recall that Revelation 14:1-5 are part of the introduction to a message to prepare people for the Lord's return. In Revelation chapter 14, beginning with verse one, we read, "Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His Father's name written on their foreheads."

This group of people called 144,000 is a group of people that are ready, that are redeemed when Jesus comes. His Father's name is written on their foreheads, that is to say, they reflect His character. Our text goes on to say they sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. They were positive people. They were people singing of God's wonders, people singing of God's praise.

Then it says, "These are the ones who were not defiled with women." In other words, they didn't accept the false doctrines of the harlot woman in Revelation 17. They are virgins; they are espoused to one lover, Christ. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and the Lamb. Then the text goes on to say, "And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God."

Notice it says in their mouth is found no guile, no deceit. There's no hypocrisy there. Their words were positive, their words were uplifting, their words were encouraging, their words were spoken with dignity. In the Bible, there's a great deal said about speech and the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12:36, if you have your Bible, take it and turn to Matthew chapter 12, verse 36. Jesus talks about the importance of words.

Yes, the 144,000 have no guile in their mouth. They have no deceit in their mouth. They speak kind and courteous words, not rough and crude words. Matthew 12:36, Jesus talks about the words that we speak. Here we find Christ's own words. He says, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Words are extremely important. How is character revealed? Character is revealed by the words we speak and by our actions. You remember in the book of James, there's a whole chapter dedicated to the words we speak. I'm impressed with a statement from the book *Christ's Object Lessons*, page 336, that says this: "The power of speech is a talent that should be diligently cultivated. Of all the gifts we have received from God, none is capable of being a greater blessing than this."

With the voice, we can convince and persuade. With it, we offer prayer and praise to God, and with it, we tell others of the Redeemer's love. How important then that it be so trained to be the most effective good. I'm interested in this one sentence in the statement that says, "Of all the gifts that we've received from God, none is capable of being a greater blessing than this." The words that we speak can be an incredible blessing to others, or they can be a curse.

Our speech is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to us. The words we speak have a powerful influence on the people around us. Principle number one: Jesus' words provide an example for all of our speech. We're going to take our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 4 and look at Jesus' speech because Jesus' speech provides an example for us of all of our speech. We begin with Luke chapter 4, verse 16.

You know the story well. Jesus comes to the synagogue where He had been brought up. As is His custom, He goes to worship on Sabbath. As a religious teacher, He is given the book of the law to read, and He reads from Isaiah. If you were sitting in this audience and you had been oppressed, criticized, and condemned by the Pharisees, who were so critical in their speech, and you heard Jesus read these words, your heart would have been encouraged.

Jesus reads in that synagogue, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor," the good news of God's forgiveness, His grace, His mercy. "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted," those that are emotionally distressed, ripped apart by negative emotions. "To preach deliverance to the captives," those that are captives to habits that are sinful and that are caught in the noose of Satan's grip.

"The recovery of sight to the blind," so the blind can see divine realities. "To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the poor." Think of how your heart would have thrilled if you had heard those words. Then He closed the book and He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. He began to say, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

So all bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. What kind of words proceeded out of the mouth of Jesus? Gracious words. The word for gracious there in the Greek language is the word *charis*, and it's the only time in the Bible that grace is used to describe words. What is grace? Grace has to do with love, with kindness, with courteousness. It has to do with mercy and compassion.

Gracious words are courteous words. Gracious words are kind words. Gracious words are pleasant words. Gracious words are not rough, they're not crude, they're not thoughtless. You find two powerful examples of Jesus speaking gracious words at a time when you would not expect Him to speak gracious words, or anybody to do that. First, you look at Jesus' interaction with the Canaanite woman. You find it in Matthew chapter 15.

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Mark Finley: Here's a wonderful example of Jesus' gracious words. You wouldn't expect this. She's a Canaanite woman. To understand Jesus' comments, you have to understand a little bit about the Canaanites. Who were they? The Canaanites were heathen tribes that believed in multiple gods or goddesses. They practiced sexual fertility rites, that is to say, these sexual fertility rites of prostitution were offered to their gods as worship.

They actually made human sacrifices of their children to their gods. They were a violent, barbaric people. Here we see Christ's interaction with them. Jesus here sees faith in a very unlikely place. He actually compliments a Canaanite woman. Let's look at the story in Matthew chapter 15, verse 21 and onward. "Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon." That's in Lebanon, southern Lebanon.

"Behold, a woman of Canaan came from the region and cried out, 'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely possessed.'" But He answered her not a word. If you speak to somebody and they don't answer you a word and that's just silence, that seems strange, doesn't it? It seems like they're ignoring you. But then it says, "But He answered and said, 'I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'"

First He's kind of silent, and then this is discrimination. He says, "I'm not sent to you; I'm sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." She said, "Lord, help me." He says, "It's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little ones." I mean, that's rejection. Then she says, "Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Jesus says, "Great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire."

Jesus is silent because He's drawing her out. He's not discriminating against her; He's initiating perseverance. He simply wanted to demonstrate something: that in spite of apparent silence, in spite of apparent discrimination, in spite of apparent rejection, this woman has great faith. Jesus says to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it to you as you desire." Jesus finds faith in an unlikely place. His hopeful words lifted her spirit.

His hopeful words encouraged her heart. His hopeful words brought joy to her soul. Jesus had one desire: drawing out her faith, encouraging that faith, taking the little bit of faith she had and stimulating that faith. We find Jesus as well with words of encouragement to a Roman centurion. You find it in Matthew chapter 8. Jesus' words were gracious words. Jesus' words always tried to bring out the best in other people.

In circumstances where He could have criticized and condemned, He certainly did that to the Pharisees. He certainly did that to those that thought they were religious but were condemning other people. We look at Matthew chapter 8, verse 5. Here is a centurion that comes to Jesus. Now, who were the centurions? Obviously, the centurions commanded at least 100 soldiers. They could be appointed by the Roman Senate for their exploits.

Some came up through the ranks of the Roman army. They were especially known for their courage and bravery. Some historians say that the Roman centurions would be the first over the wall of the castle of the enemy. Some of them would be the first to break through the enemy's defenses. They were hardened in battle, unlikely to respond to the gospel. They knew the horrors of war. They knew the brutality of battle.

But this man's servant was dying. He was desperate. The Holy Spirit had been working on his mind. You see, we can't always see the working of the Holy Spirit on another person. We don't know what's going on in their heart or their mind. Let's look at what happens in Jesus' words to this Roman centurion. Matthew chapter 8, starting with verse 5. He comes down and pleads with Jesus. He said, "Lord, my servant is lying near death. He's paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."

Jesus says, "I'll come and heal him." The centurion says, "Look, I'm not worthy you enter under my roof." He's very humble. "But speak the word." He said, "I'm a man under authority; I command forces." But look at what takes place. When Jesus heard it, He marveled. What causes divinity to marvel? The Roman centurion has a servant that's dying. He says to Jesus, "You don't even have to come to my house." He has such faith, divinity marvels.

When you're facing trials in your life, when you're facing difficulty and heartache and sorrow in your life, but you hang on by faith, divinity marvels. In verses 8, 9, and 10, especially Matthew 8:10, when Jesus heard it, He marveled and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel." What do you think this compliment to a Roman centurion, who was brutal and hardened with battle, what do you think it did for him?

Here is something extremely practical: look for the good in others. Think about something you can compliment in them. Let your words be words of encouragement, not discouragement. I'm interested in this statement in *Testimonies for the Church*, Volume 3, page 542. It says this: "You may think that what you do or say is of little consequence, when the most important results for good or evil are the consequence of our words and actions."

The words and actions looked upon as so small and unimportant are links in the long chain of human events. So the words we speak to one another, the words of encouragement you say to somebody at a fellowship meal, the words of hope that you say to somebody after church, that prayer you pray with them, that phone call you make, that email that you send, may be the very thing that encourages your heart.

Principle number one: we learn from Jesus to speak gracious and kind words. Now, here's the second principle: positive words spoken to others bring health to the body and mind and spirit. In other words, as we speak positive words, it brings health to our own bodies, but it also builds up the immune system of others and brings health to their body, mind, and spirit. That's biblical, and it's also scientific. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 24.

Positive words bring health to the body, to the mind, and the spirit. Here the wisest man that ever lived writes, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul." That means they buoy up the spirit; they give you a sweet spirit. "And health to the bones." Positive words uttered in a kind spirit build our immune system; they boost our health. Impatient words, angry words, unkind words, or critical words break down our immune system and negatively impact our health.

There's a book called *Words Can Change Your Brain*. This book is by two physicians, Dr. Andrew Newberg, who's a neuroscientist at Jefferson University, and Mark Robert Waldman, a communications expert. This is what they say: "A single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress. Words can change your brain." A single word spoken to a teenager who's struggling.

A single word of hope spoken to your child. A word of encouragement spoken to your wife, a word of encouragement spoken to your husband, a word of encouragement spoken to somebody after church. That word of encouragement has the power to change the brain. The book goes on to say, when it talks about exercising positive thoughts that can change our reality, "By beholding a positive and optimistic word in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe brain activity."

This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex and are responsible for moving you into action. As our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain. In other words, when somebody speaks a positive word to you, it lodges in the brain center, and as it lodges in the brain center, it stimulates you to action.

So speak positive words. You bring health to the emotions, you bring health to the spirit, you bring health to the body. You build up the immune system. Principle number three in our discussion of the positive words of Christ: negative words spoken to others about an individual separate the best of friends. You speak negative words to other people, and what does it do? It separates the best of friends.

Where do you find that? Proverbs 16. I've been in pastoring and ministry for going on 58 years. Here's one thing I've noticed: if you have people in your church that are speaking negative words about other people, there's nothing that divides a church more than criticism. We want to uplift people, not knock them down. Proverbs 16:27-28: "An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends."

I don't want to be an ungodly person, do you? I don't want to be digging up evil. I don't want it to be on my lips like a burning fire. I don't want to be like the perverse man that sows strife, and I certainly don't want to be like the whisperer. "Have you heard about what Jane said? Have you heard about what Harry did?" What does the whisperer do? He separates the best of friends.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: This is an amazing statement written in the *Review and Herald* magazine, November 24, 1904: "Unchristlike speech lies at the foundation of nine-tenths of all the difficulties that exist in the church." What's nine-tenths? What's the percentage of nine-tenths? 90%. You can get rid of 90% of all the problems if we only spoke kind, loving, gentle words to other people. Unchristlike speech lies at the foundation of nine-tenths of the difficulties that exist in the church.

Satan's agents are industriously trying to get professed Christians to speak unadvisedly. Who is it that gets people to speak unadvisedly about other people? Who does that? Satan's agents. When they succeed, Satan exults. I don't want Satan exulting, do you? Because God's followers have hurt their influence. Now, let's suppose you go to the doctor. How many of you have ever been to a doctor and had one of these stethoscopes around their neck?

What are they doing with those stethoscopes? They're listening to your heart. Let's suppose your doctor has this funny look upon their face and they say, "Oh, you have a heart murmur." Heart murmurs indicate heart trouble, right? In the spiritual life, it's true too. Murmurs indicate heart trouble. If you are murmuring about other people, you have spiritual heart trouble.