Friday, July 20, 2018

BOOK: Exhortations For The Church, Volume 2: Chapter 23


Joan Boney
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Corrupt Communication?

The apostle Paul said ...  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  Eph. 4:29


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We can define "corrupt communication" in God's sight by what Paul says ...

Paul tells us the communication that comes from us should be "good to the use of edifying". 

To edify is to build up the church in the faith ... to instruct, to inspire, to strengthen morally spiritually.


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I am very non-political.  But a few years ago, there was an election in USA in which I found the candidates to be very interesting.

I was at my neighbor's house.  I wanted so much to say, "And what do you think of the candidates?" really just wanting an entrance to tell what I thought which amounted to nothing.  

But I had just been spending time on this scripture which says to let my conversation be "edifying".  

I refused my own flesh, not letting it say what I wanted to say ... keeping my flesh crucified ... making my flesh "suffer" by not letting my tongue speak about this election.

By this God taught me what Paul means by Eph. 4:29.

There are so many times our flesh is "tickled" by something that has happened and we want so much to speak about the happening ... but will it really edify that other person, building that person up in the faith?

This scripture can be done but it will take practice and prayer to do it.

And we might have to keep thinking on this scripture to overcome our own fleshly speaking.

God told Joshua to overcome by meditating on the scripture day and night.

Joshua 1:8 ...   This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

If we want to do a scripture, we need to think about that verse "day and night"... write out the scripture and keep it before us for a season until we get strong enough to actually do that scripture. 

Eph. 4:29 … Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.



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