LUKE 4:16-22 – And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
THEME OF THE DAY: GRACIOUS WORDS: DOORS FOR THE GOSPEL. Imagine sitting in the synagogue and seeing the Lord Jesus stand up, receive the scroll of the prophet of Isaiah, and then begin to read, without comment, the glorious news of the Gospel. After reading it, he gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The place was still. We would have heard a pin drop. Speechless was an understatement. Then Jesus has something else to say – “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Now the crowd had something to say based on Who spoke and what He said. And it wasn’t a critique of Jesus and His Words. It was astonishment of Him and the quality of His words. All they could do was acknowledge how graciously He spoke. The impact of our Lord’s gracious words was significant. And so will ours be . . .
Speech is one of the clearest and most accurate means of measuring the spiritual quality in our walks with the Lord Jesus. Christians are to be known in their homes and beyond by the Christ-like graciousness of our words. King Solomon, in his wisdom book of Proverbs, has a lot to say about speech and particularly, that which is soft, wise, and gentle in answering – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit (Proverbs 15:1-4). Moving into the New Testament, the Apostle Paul is straightforward in describing the quality of speech which is always to come forth from the mouths of God’s people – Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29). And let’s not forget the impact gracious speech has on people. Like the Words of Jesus in the synagogue.
Our speech will either affirm our profession of faith in Christ and open doors for us to share Him with those who hear the wholesome “other worldliness” in our words. Or our speech will betray our profession of faith in Christ. By using the language of the world, unkind words, critical words, and words unbecoming a Christian, we fail to represent the Lord Jesus. The unbeliever hearing our words has no reason to believe we are different, and offer nothing of value to them for this life or the next. So, beware. Speech matters and gracious words will open Gospel doors.
PRAYER: “Father, may I build and maintain a reputation of being a person of gracious and kind words.”
QUOTE: “Our speech will either affirm our profession faith in Christ or betray our profession of faith in Christ.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim