CAN I HAVE A “WORD” WITH YOU?
SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 1:21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.”
I. WE USE WORDS (As a part of communication)
A. To Teach
B. To Warn
C. To Convey Feelings
II. THE EFFECT OF WORDS (Talking)
A. Can Hurt
Proverbs 12:18 (a) “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword
Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
Proverbs 18:8 “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”
B. Can Heal
Proverbs 12:18 (b) “but the tongue of the wise is health.”
Proverbs 15:26 “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.”
Proverbs 16:24 “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health
to the bones.”
C. Can Consol and Comfort
Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”
Proverbs 12:25 “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.”
Proverbs 15:23 “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”
D. Can Condemn
Proverbs 13:13 “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”
III. WHEN MEN USE WORDS UNWISELY
A. There is a temptation to talk.
1. A multitude of words.
Proverbs 10:19 “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.”
Proverbs 17:27 “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”
“Actually, the use of words can be a very tempting exercise for man. He will use words to show how wise and well educated he is, instead of to help others.” Spiros Zodhiates Pulpit Helps
“Using words to show off is both an enslavement for the unbeliever and a temptation for the Christian who witnesses.” Spiros Zodhiates Pulpit Helps
2. Hasty words
Proverbs 29:20 “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
Ecclesiastes 5:2 “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. 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.”
Ecclesiastes 10:14 “A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?”
3. Unskillful words
Hebrews 5:13 “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”
I Corinthians 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:”
B. There is a temptation to deceive.
II Timothy 3:6 “For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly
women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,”
Proverbs 2:16 “To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;”
Proverbs 7:4 “Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: 7:5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.”
IV. WHEN GOD USES WORDS
A. To Create
1. Speak worlds into existence, yet He took time to talk to children
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
“And God said . . . “ “and it was so”
2. Speak Life into dirt
Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
B. To Sustain
Hebrews 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:”
C. To Judge
Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we
have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2:2 For if the word spoken
by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompence of reward;”
D. To Save
1. Sometimes Rejected
Hebrews 4:2 “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
2. Always Searching and Reproving
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of
the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
3. Always Beckoning
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
E. To Call
Genesis 12:1 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”
Exodus 3:4 “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him
out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”
V. JESUS IS THE WORD
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
CONCLUSION:
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
Reason together ? {3198} jk"y; — yakach, yaw-kahh'; a primitive root; to be right (i.e. correct); reciprocal, to argue; causatively, to decide, justify or convict: — appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct(-ion),
Proverbs 22:17 “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. 22:19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.”
