The Pilgrim Path---Proverbs 15---assorted verses 

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15: 1

“A HARSH WORD…”

Behind a car the other day, this was a sticker on the back, “My rights Do Not End where Your feelings begin!” Pretty much speaks to our world. You have rights as an American citizen---but we have gone overboard. We tyrannize people. We run roughshod over others---even in evangelical churches. We place “self” above the Savior. Tragic don’t you think? I had to “park” for a while in Proverbs chapter 15. It is not encyclopedic in its treatment of the way we use our mouth and “words”---but it is extremely helpful:

---verse 2: The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

---verse 4: A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

---verse 7: The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.

---verse 14: The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

---verse 18: A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

---verse 23: To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!

---verse 26: The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but gracious words are pure.

---verse 28: The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

---verse 30: The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.

---verse 33: The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak…” Matthew 12: 36

From Francis Schaeffer: …with love we must face squarely the fact that our culture really is under the judgment of God…We must proclaim the message with tears and give it with love…It will not do to say these things coldly. Jeremiah cried, and we must cry for the poor lost world, for we are all of one kind…I must have tears for my kind (Death in The City).

From Charles Spurgeon: No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow. If we honor Christ and are blessed, it is by the things which we do today.

From John Duncan: Oh, how sweet it is to confess sin before a sin-forgiving God! A sin-forgiving God!

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason