Word of Salvation – Vol. 19 No. 04 – October 1972

 

Cheap Talk

 

Sermon by Rev. D. K. Baird on Proverbs 26:18-28

Scripture reading: Proverbs 26: 18-28; James 3

Psalter Hymnal: 169 (1-4); 20; 449; 443

 

In Post Office advertisements which urge you to use the telephone, you sometimes read, “Talk is Cheap”.

And indeed a phone call can save you a lot of money sometimes.  But we don’t just talk on the telephone; we are always talking: it is very much a part of our life.

We talk to one another at home; we talk at work; we talk when we come here to church.

We all do it every day.

Unfortunately much of the talk which we hear day by day, and some of the talk which we do ourselves, is cheap in another way: cheap and nasty.

And this is what our text today is about: “Cheap Talk”.

Talk which does not help anyone, but actually hurts them.

It is worth looking at these verses so that we might be sure that we ourselves are not hurting others in this way.

Also it will help us to be warned about others who do do this.

* * * * *

The first thing I want to mention here is this:-

1.  TALK CAN BE DECEPTIVE

I am sure this is not news to you.

We all know what gossip is all about.

In fact it can be quite amusing sometimes to have one of your own statements come back to you again after it has been around the local “grapevine”.

That is, if you can still recognise it as what you said!

* * * * *

Then again we know that people promise things, but they just don’t get around to doing them.

And worse than this – there is the downright deception that we encounter in the business world we deal with.

And in parliament even: no one ever seems to admit a mistake how is that possible?

There is plenty of deceptive talk about.

Some people are able to look you straight in the eye and tell you a downright lie and not blush in the slightest.

* * * * *

Now you may be thinking, ‘I don’t do anything as shocking as that!’  Very good.  But are we completely free from distorting the facts in ways which seem small enough, but really are harmful?

Verse 19 describes the person who deceives his neighbour and then says, “I am only joking!”

Isn’t this what married couples do sometimes?

You know when you are out at someone’s place and you make jokes about your partner: jokes that hurt.

Your partner laughs them off at first, but after a while they start hurting a bit and you can see that they are hurting so you say, “I am only joking you take things too seriously!”

But you did not really mean it as a joke did you?

You see, that sort of thing does a lot of harm.

A person who does that, says verse 18, is like a madman throwing firebrands in every direction and they hurt people.

* * * * *

How about gossip? – whispering?

We seem to have something in us which likes to pass on a story with a flourish.

We like telling a colourful story, and we like to think that others approve, so we are not as careful with the facts as we could be.

They tell me it is very enjoyable to eat an oyster: you can enjoy it all the way down.

Gossip is like that to some people: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.”

* * * * *

I’m sure we just don’t think at times.  We probably don’t think that some of these things do much harm.  Indeed we may think they make life interesting.

But really… gossip can be just like putting wood on a fire.

If there is no gossip a certain story of quarrel may just die a natural death.

But WITH it, it can flare up into a major clash.

* * * * *

As I said we probably don’t realise what we are doing.

But verse 28 gives us a good warning:-

“A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

We need to consider the result that this is going to have on others.  It brings ruin and hurt all too often.

* * * * *

We know that this sort of thing is widespread in the community, and even we Christians fall into it.

But WHY do we do it?  And this brings us to the second point:-

* * * * *

2.  IT ALL STARTS IN THE HEART

Remember what the Lord Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”?

That gets down to the cause of the problem.

He also said that whatever kind of fruit you see on a tree, you can be sure that it is the same kind of tree that produces it.

In other words, a person who genuinely speaks kind words shows everyone that he is a “kind-hearted” person.

And, of course the other way around too.

* * * * *

Now I know that all of us say things which we did not mean, and straight away we think “I could have bit my tongue out”.  But if we are in the habit of doing these things it shows that there is something wrong in our innermost being.

Verse 24 tells us about it.

It is “He who hates”, and “he who harbours deceit in his heart”, who dissembles with his lips.

This is what the Lord is interested in: what is deep down inside us.  He wants LOVE from within us for Him and for our neighbour.

Real, genuine love that is vitally interested in the Lord and others more than me.

He does not want that hatred and deceit which this verse speaks of.

* * * * *

But here Christians can take a great deal of comfort.

Because a Christian is someone who is “pure in heart”.

We read that in the description of the Christian in The Beatitudes.  It says there, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Jesus does not mean there that we have to be PERFECT in heart.

He rather means that the Christian’s heart has been CLEANED up by the Lord.

Because through the Blood of Jesus the guilt of your heart has been removed.  And the Holy Spirit is at work in you.

In fact, even the love of God Himself has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

This opens up great possibilities for you.

It means that in Christ you are not trapped in this business of hatred and deceit in your heart as an unbeliever is.

* * * * *

We all fall into problems now and then about being honest with people.  And we should be convicted about it.

We should even see it as coming from the sinful nature which we have.

But all the same we have been given a new heart, and we now actually have God’s very own law written deep within us.

Our basic motives have been changed by the Lord.  And the Lord is at work in us to strengthen these motives.

It is not as though we have a corrupt heart controlling us which has us in its slavery, and we can’t get out.

Rather everything points to us being able to get on top of these problems which come from our remaining sinful nature.

Let us keep asking him for more and more strength for this every day.

* * * * *

I said earlier that these verses were also helpful to us because they warn us about others in the world.  And so the third point is this:-

3.  YOU JUST CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT PEOPLE SAY

The question is sometimes asked whether we as Christians should trust others.

This is especially a problem in business – can we take a person’s word for it?

After all, as Christians, we have been loved by the Lord: shouldn’t we therefore love in return?

Because people might get upset if you look as if you are not trusting them:- and we shouldn’t want to upset anyone.

But the big problem is that the longer you live, the more you realise that the community is full of deception and corruption.

Everywhere there are people who are trying to take you down.

In fact, this is just what this chapter of Proverbs is saying too.  So, in such a world, can we trust people?

* * * * *

The simple fact is that there are certain people you just CAN’T trust.  This type of person is described in verse 25:- “when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart.”

The Lord tells us here that the person with hatred and deceit in his heart is NOT to be trusted.

Be warned!  Don’t believe him!  He has all sorts of horrible tricks ticking over in his mind.

His whole desire is bent on getting the better of you, and those smooth words are only just part of the catch.

* * * * *

The Lord is telling us here to be careful.

And it is not just for our own benefit: we owe it to the Lord Himself to be so.

Because everything which we have has been entrusted to us by the Lord and must be used in the way in which he wants.  We have actually been bought by the precious blood of Jesus so we can serve him.

It is not just that WE will suffer if we get caught, but it means that we have dispensed the Lord’s things as we should have.

            [Editor’s note: should perhaps (?) read: ‘’…have not dispensed the Lord’s things…”]

So we have to be careful.

Some people we CAN trust – we have learnt over the years that we can.

But until we get to know them in that way, we must be careful.

* * * * *

Be careful!  But that does not mean that we become nasty and horrible just to make sure we don’t get caught.

After all it IS true that a Christian must do everything in love, and nothing AT ALL with hatred behind it.

The balance is as hard as walking a tightrope, but we are to practice it none the less.

These words of our Lord express it well: “Be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.”

It is a balance.

Jesus does not give us an alternative: wise OR innocent.

We must aim for both together.

I mention this here, because what we are likely to do, is that when we hear that we cannot trust people, we decide that we will give them some of their own back, or say nasty things about them to others.

But the Christian, even in his wisest moments, must not lose his innocence.

Even when we are well aware that people cannot be trusted, and we have to insist on certain written agreements and contracts, even then our hearts are to be full of love, not of hatred and deceit.

As CHRISTians our aim must be to improve things with others.  After all that is what CHRIST came to do: to save sinners.  With gossip, it was that we helped STOP the gossip by just not passing on those little tit-bits.

And now when it comes to not being able to trust some people, we have to show that WE can be trusted anyway, even if no-one else can.

And if we are doing that in the strength of Christ, people may well be disturbed and change their habits.

This is the way the Lord Jesus wants his life shown forth in the world, so that people will be attracted to him.

And now lastly:

* * * * *

4.  “CHEAP” TALK WILL BE PUNISHED

There is plenty of cheap and nasty talk.  AND people seem to get away with it!

Especially in business – so many people seem to do so well even though they are just like this person in Proverbs 26.

So much lying and cheating; and yet they prosper!  Well verse 26 and 27 tell us that they won’t get away with it for ever.

* * * * *

A person with hatred in his heart may be able to hide it fairly well.

But he can only hide it for so long.

Verse 26: “His wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.”  In other words, everyone will know about it.

The next verse tells us the principle that is involved: – “He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back upon him who starts it rolling.”

* * * * *

You know that saying, “Honesty is a good policy.”

It is not such a popular idea these days, but in the past many people would go by this in their business deals.

And the idea is that if you deal honestly, you will get a good name, and your business will increase.

This seems to be the idea here in the text, only the other way around.  Eventually people will find out about this person’s lies and deceit.  (He could only keep it hidden for so long).

And it gets around town that he is not a person to be trusted – and so business drops.

In a way, this is a fitting punishment for the crime.

* * * * *

But there are people who seem to continue to be successful, in spite of their lies.

They may have a monopoly and people have to buy from them anyway.  It may be though that their popularity is very low and they have few friends left.

But whatever happens in this life, you can be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ sees all that deceit and hatred which lies in the heart.

And it will all be straightened out when our Saviour and King returns on Judgment Day.

He will judge everyone with perfect righteousness on that day.

* * * * *

It is important that we remember this, for it will help us.

Remember that Jesus IS king, but his kingship will not be fully seen until he returns to judge on the Last Day.

In the meantime we have to press on with a life of honesty and love, even though no-one appreciates it very much.

But they will appreciate it in the finish.

* * * * *

CONCLUSION

Talk can indeed be cheap: cheap and nasty.

We are all familiar with it in the world around us, and unfortunately in our own life too.

Where does it start?

In the heart…!

If we would speak in a way that honours the Lord, we need the Lord Jesus to clean up our hearts.

And a Christian can be thankful here:- we do have a new heart; let us then develop it to the full.

* * * * *

But we are living in this deceitful world.

Be wise!  Learn that we cannot trust those who have deceit and hatred in their hearts.

But let us also look forward to Judgment Day, when all these things will be fixed up.

And in the meantime, live the life of Christ in our talk: Christ Jesus, “who committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips.”

AMEN.