by
Pastor Jack Hyles
(1926-2001)
(Chapter 26 from Dr. Hyle's excellent book, Justice)
It is very, very rare in the Bible to find a verse that is repeated word for word in the same book of the Bible; yet here we find the same 19 words repeated twice in Proverbs. That must mean that their message is extremely important.“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”
—Proverbs 18:8“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”
—Proverbs 26:22
Let me begin by giving a brief word study on these verses. The word, "words," can be translated "a tasty, deadly morsel" or "words of sport." Some people make sport out of gossip. The word, "talebearer," means "spice peddler." The word, "wounds," means "deadly wounds." The word, "belly," means the "entire human cavity." Even science now is discovering that your spirit has much to do with your health. The Bible already makes that clear.
What is being said in these passages is that the tasty deadly morsels (words) of a spice peddler (talebearer) are as deadly wounds to the entire human body (belly). Notice that it does not say that these words cause a deadly wound, but they are deadly wounds. Now let us notice what happens.
1.
Someone is going to die.
2. This passage speaks of someone being deathly ill. There are only three different people mentioned in these verses:
(1) the talebearer,
(2) the hearer of the tales, and
(3) the object of the tales.
One of these three is the one who has the deadly wounds and is going to die. Which one of these three possesses the deadly wounds?
3. When a talebearer gives his tasty deadly morsels to the hearer, he
thinks that he is destroying the object of his tales.
In reality, it is the
one who hears or accepts the tasty deadly morsels who is being poisoned and
destroyed. The talebearer has already been destroyed or poisoned, but does
not realize it. Although he is trying to destroy the object of his tales, he
is actually destroying the hearer and is already destroyed himself. So, the
object of the tales who is the one whom he is trying to destroy, is the only
one who is not destroyed!
When I try to stop someone from being a talebearer, I am trying to prevent him
from poisoning the hearer. The talebearer is already destroyed. You cannot
destroy an individual with evil tales about him, but you can destroy the person
you are telling. There are five truths here to remember:
(1) The talebearer is trying to destroy the object of his tales;
(2) The hearer is the one who is being destroyed;
(3) The talebearer has already been destroyed;
(4) The object is the only one who is not destroyed; and
(5) Therefore, the only one not destroyed is the one the talebearer is trying to destroy.
When someone comes to you with a tasty deadly morsel of gossip, you are the one who is being poisoned, and you are the one who is going to be destroyed. Most Christians would not consider themselves to be gossips, but they are careless about the things they allow themselves to hear. That is self destruction! A Christian should run from talebearers like he would run from a loaded pistol or a knife in the hands of someone who is trying to kill him. We would not consider drinking poison; yet, we take in deadly tasty morsels!
4.
The pitiful one is the hearer of the tales.
The talebearer is already evil because he is trying to destroy the object of
his tales. The one who hears the tales is usually a good person who simply
did not have the courage to rebuke the talebearer. As a courtesy, he listens
to the tale, and the poison is poured into him. Once it goes in, it goes
into the innermost part of his being, and he begins being destroyed! Do not
listen to tales, for you are the one who will be hurt! If you do listen to
them, you will be destroyed. Run from gossip. Run from the talebearer! Run
from the slanderer.
5.
The hearer must learn that he is the one who must die.
The hearer must learn that he is the one who must die.
Talebearing kills us. When you listen to someone gossip, you are
spiritually killing yourself. Do not listen. It is poison.
6.
The hearer must realize that the talebearer is trying
to
kill him.
The talebearer does not know it. He thinks he is trying to kill the object
of his tales, but in reality he is trying to kill the hearer. Would you be
friendly to someone who is trying to kill you? That talebearer is a murderer
who is trying to kill you. Do not drink one drop of his poison, no matter
how tasty it is! It's deadly! It will spiritually kill you and destroy your
spiritual effectiveness!
7.
God gave us warnings not to listen.
These are warnings to potential hearers not to listen. We better take heed
to the warnings of God. Good people are destroyed because they do not fear
the talebearer. If we believed this, we would flee gossip with great fear.
Gossips are deadly to the hearer, not to their intended object. Proverbs 18:14, "The spirit of a man will sustain his
infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?"
Things That Listening to Gossip Will Kill
1.
It will kill your spirit.
The spirit of a man can sustain him in the most difficult situations, but
once a man's spirit has been wounded, he cannot bear the difficulties of
life. The wounded spirit comes from accepting poison about others. You will
spiritually destroy yourself if you accept those tasty deadly morsels.
Once a
person comes to me with a tale about anybody, I look at him like a person
pointing a loaded gun to my head. They want to hurt me even though they do not
know it. I do not want anyone to destroy my spirit. I will not allow deadly
poison to enter my mind. Once the spirit has been destroyed, it is almost
impossible to get back.
2.
It will kill your trust.
How do I stay upbeat with so many enemies who are trying to destroy me? I
ignore them! I do not read their letters or take their phone calls. I do not
want them to destroy my spirit and prevent me from helping those people who
need me.
One of the saddest statements I hear over and over again is, "I have just about
lost all of my confidence in preachers." The reason that has happened is because
you have been drinking poison. You are the one who is being destroyed. Most
preachers are good and godly men; yet, your trust in them has been damaged by
the poison.
3.
It will kill your joy.
I can look out at my people and spot the ones who have been listening to
poison. Their spiritual joy is gone, and I can see it in their faces.
Tragically, the joy of the Lord is hard to restore. I have remained full of
joy because I have refused to drink the poison. People worry about me
because I am so criticized and slandered; yet, I am not the one who drank
the poison. The hearers of the slander are the ones who are in danger of
losing their joy.
Even if I hated someone, I would not want to know anything bad about him because
it would poison and destroy me. That is why I still am so happy. I do not know
bad about people because I refuse to listen. That is the secret to keeping your
joy!
Fundamental churches are all fighting the same battle because the Devil hates
soul winning. Pastors have been destroyed because they listened, but they would
not have been destroyed if they had been the objects of slander instead of the
hearers!
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Justice
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More Life Changing Sermons by Dr. Jack Hyles:
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"I am an old-fashioned preacher of the old-time religion, that has warmed this cold world's heart for two thousand years." —Billy SUNDAY
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