Watch Your Mouth

if God’s people would take their
Bibles once again and turn to the book of James. We find ourselves in James chapter
4. And in order to introduce this
particular passage of scripture, as I do, I know, quite frequently,
I want to bring in kind of an observation from the horticultural
world, from the world of trees and plants. There is a characterization that even our
agriculture department has utilized for many years, identifying particular
plants as noxious weeds. as having no benefit or not only
no benefit but having a negative element to them. There are trees
and plants that really are seen as being nothing but trouble. They crowd out other plants,
perhaps even clogging stream beds. They propagate very plentifully. And one particular plant, particularly
in Colorado, is the Russian olive. I read up on the Russian olive
this past week. As I began to lean into this
particular illustration, I think it is fitting. I think it’s a
fitting illustration for the passage at hand. Because I think
even in the church, there is a noxious weed. There is a noxious plant, an
invasive species that has come into the church and will trouble
the church, even destroy the church, if it isn’t removed. And so as I read up on Russian
olives, I discovered quickly that they’re not native to the
beneficial olive trees that we all know and some of us love. My family particularly is no
big fan of olives like me. This particular version of olive
is not really palatable for human consumption, but is loved by
birds, and therein lies part of the problem. The trees are
propagated by multiple means. They not only have an extensive
root system that fans out and eventually sends up what’s called
suckers, new trees, but they also propagate by seed. The seeds,
and I discovered these seeds, I used to call them footballs.
They were tiny little seeds, and they even have really cool
markings. They look just like a miniature
football. But these seeds, because they are olives in a sense, are
eaten plentifully by birds, ravenously, and then they are deposited plentifully
across the land. The seeds last a long time. They’re very hardy. And these
seeds can be planted and germinate almost anywhere. Here’s how one
article described them. Russian olive can grow in a variety
of soil and moisture conditions. It is shade tolerant. It can
be found along streams, floodplains, fields, open areas to approximately
8,000 feet. They can outcompete native plants,
interfere with natural plant succession and nutrient cycling,
and tax water reserves. It can grow on bare mineral substrates
and dominates vegetation. And so the Russian olive, in
addition to being just an unsightly tree that has no real benefit
other than perhaps an occasional measure of shade for someone,
these trees have lengthy, almost two-inch thorns. So they’re not
even a good climbing tree. And because of that, the state
of Colorado and other states have identified Russian olives
as a noxious weed, a noxious tree that requires great effort
to eradicate here in our state. And that effort has been going
on for many years. It’s difficult to get rid of
them. The tree that I want to talk
to you about The noxious weed that grows in the church is just
as difficult to get rid of, if not worse. James has been talking about
the mouth, you might recall. He’s been talking about the mouth
really throughout this entire epistle. If you have your finger
in James chapter four, just flip back to James chapter one, verse
26. Where James says, if anyone thinks
himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, that’s
where he first introduces that little illustration that he will
reuse. He deceives his own heart. This
man’s religion is worthless. Flip over to chapter two, verse
12. So speak. and so act as those who are to
be judged by the law of liberty. Our speech ought to be informed
by, it ought to be touched by the grace of God at work in our
hearts and lives. Turn over to chapter three. James
is concerned about the speech of the people of his flock. that it ought to emulate Christ,
it ought to be a good testimony, and James applies that to teachers
in chapter 3. But look specifically at verse
2, we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in
what he says, he’s a perfect man, able to bridle the whole
body as well. He’s a mature man, a godly man. still focusing on this whole
aspect of speech and the destructiveness of speech, the potential to do
real harm in the church, turn to chapter three, just by way
of reminder, where James addresses bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. You see, there’s a practical
outworking to this speech. This speech now begins to be
used as a weapon. Look at verse 14, but if you
have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not
be arrogant and so lie against the truth. Don’t claim that this
is from God. Don’t claim that, stop even claiming
that you’re a Christian. If you talk like this and if
you have this kind of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition
in your heart. And then finally, and again,
by way of reminder, look at chapter four. This is the immediate context. And James ties it all together. the whole challenge of placing
our faith in Christ that he brings up in chapter one, verse 26,
the challenge to teachers in chapter three, the challenge
of selfish ambition at the end of chapter three, and here in
chapter four, essentially the doorway to what he deals with
with regards to worldliness. Look at verse one. What is the
source of quarrels and conflicts? among you. Is not the source
your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and
do not have, so you commit murder, and cannot obtain, so you fight
and quarrel.” James says that our speech should be guarded,
our speech should be bridled, Even like a mighty horse is bridled,
our speech should really model the liberty in Christ that has
been secured by Christ’s death on the cross and our faith in
him. But our speech can be terrifically
destructive. As James begins to point out
in chapter three, selfish ambition. which is the hallmark of this
particular passage. This is exactly the context.
If you would, turn now to chapter four, beginning in verse 11. Just two verses. James chapter four, verse 11.
Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against
a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges
the law. But if you judge the law, you
are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. There is only
one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your
neighbor? This passage is easily related,
not only to the greater context of this book, but to the immediate
context, to sinful speech that James began back in chapter three,
to the fruit of that sinful speech in selfish ambition, which he
addresses at the end, and really to worldly behavior that he treats
in the first 10 verses of this passage. Even though there isn’t
a direct connecting particle, there is no word that directly
connects it, in a sense that makes it even stronger that this
passage, verses 11 and 12, is directly tied to those verses
which preceded. And James essentially begins
here to give another illustration of worldliness. Another side,
another aspect to evil speaking. And so in the days or weeks that
lie ahead, I want to trace through this with the help of James’s
map here. I want to trace through the source
of slander. because it is an insidious tree. It is a noxious weed that must
be removed from the church. And as we begin to look at what
I would call the insidious tree of slander, in the next few weeks, we’ll
look at its putrid fruit. And when I say putrid fruit,
I don’t mean to say that there might be a good apple on this
tree. Every fruit that this tree produces
is putrid. Everything that this tree produces
is rotten to the core. But not only is its fruit bad,
we will look at its gnarled branches. It is an unsightly tree. It’s
an ugly tree. It’s a tree that brings no benefit
at all to Christ or to his church, but not only its putrid fruit
and its gnarled branches, but the insidious tree of slander
has a treacherous root. We’ll look at that too. But this
morning, I wanna start with the fruit. The insidious tree’s putrid
fruit. Look at verse 11. And I knew that I would frighten
you if I said that we would only look at one word today. We’ll
look at one sentence. One sentence, verse 11. Do not speak against one another,
brethren. Before we even look at what it
is, consider how strongly James urges this of believers. The form of the verb makes it
clear that he is commanding them to stop an ongoing practice. One commentator explained, it
does not refer to an occasional slip of the tongue, but to habitual
slipping, constant criticizing. Specifically, he’s talking about
negative or critical speech, and he says, You didn’t just
fall into this. You didn’t have a bad day. This
is a regular feature of your life. This is a regular feature
of the church, and it has to be stopped. To begin with, I want to look
this morning, what is it to speak against? What does this word
mean, do not speak against one another? And I want to note that
although I think the best word to translate this Greek word
is slander, that word almost needs to be clarified before
we can rest on it to translate this Greek term. And that’s because
we have a tendency to lean on, to rest on the more legal definition
of the word slander. Here’s the legal definition of
slander. Slander, noun, an oral defamation
in which someone tells one or more persons an untruth about
another. Which untruth will harm the reputation
of the person defamed. Slander is a civil wrong. and can be the basis of a lawsuit. And so slander, another characterized
it in these words. He says it is the utterance of
false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s
reputation. That’s how most people understand
slander. And so, because the legal definition
points to divulging untruths, most of us would be quick to
exonerate ourselves from the exercise of slander. I didn’t
say anything untrue. Not so fast. The biblical definition
is not so lofty. And given that, Many more people
are thereby guilty of the sin of slander than ever dreamed
to be. The word is katalaleo. It literally
means to speak evil of or to speak against, and it refers to hostile speech,
deriding speech of another brother, to mock someone, to criticize
them in malice. There are many different uses
of this particular word. It’s used in the Septuagint,
which is always a great place to turn to see how the translators
of the Old Testament, those that translated the Old Testament
into Greek, how did they use this word? It’s a fascinating
study. It only happened nine times.
It’s only used four other times in the New Testament. We’ll look
at that in a moment. But in the Old Testament, this
word was used to translate such verses as Psalm 44.6. of 4416,
because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, because
of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. And so it is
used to characterize just that harsh, critical, behind-the-back
speech. It’s used in Job 1913, these
10 times you have insulted me, you are not ashamed to wrong
me. They’re translated as insult. And then again, in Psalm 101,
it’s used, whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him, I will destroy. God doesn’t care much for slander. But it does begin to paint a
picture of this word. It begins to give us an understanding
of the richness of this word, that it’s not just something
that’s untrue. The essential element to it is
malice, hatred for someone else, where you are actively wanting
to do them harm by your words, by the report that you bring,
you’re wanting to put them in their place as you see it. And so the stress on this particular
word is not so much of spreading a false report, The essence really is a hatefulness,
a hostility, a malice towards someone that seeks to cut them
down, seeks to put them in the place that we have deemed fitting
for them. It’s translated in the new American
standard to speak against, which I find to be somewhat weak, honestly. And so I began to look at how
else is this word translated in other versions. And there
are various translations beyond just the word slander, which
I still would tell you is the best. One translation says, stop
slandering each other. I think that’s a great translation.
That’s my preference. King James has it, speak not
evil one of another. Which in addition to being archaic
and Elizabethan is frankly scary. What does it mean to speak evil? That isn’t language we typically
use. The ESV has it, speak not evil, do not speak evil against
one another. Essentially the same translation,
scary, spooky. Not particularly helpful to me.
The Holman has it this way, do not criticize one another. To
me is far too mild, given the nature of this word. Another
translation says, more modern day speech, do not bad mouth
one another. Well, that’s interesting. It’s
hip, anyway. Goodspeed has it, do not talk
against one another, which is pretty generic. The 20th century
translation says do not disparage one another. That’s coming in.
I’d call that a good translation based on the nature of this word.
Tyndale had it very simply. Do not backbite one another.
That’s very graphic, isn’t it? which ties in, essentially, the
meaning of this word, to go behind somebody’s back and to begin
verbally dismantling them. William Barclay says, stop talking
harshly about one another, and that is spot on. And if it wasn’t
so wordy, I would probably land there, but slander is good. I
like the translation of the word slander. Perhaps we can glean
some help to consider how is this word generally defined? One characterized it as indulgence
in unkind talk, harsh criticism. Another brought in a very noteworthy
observation. There is with this word the love. of finding fault. And check your heart, because
I think a lot of times we relish this, because if we can knock
somebody down off of their pedestal, we feel better about ourselves,
don’t we? Another described it as unwanted derogation, running
each other down. There’s a key element that we
have a tendency to overlook in defining what this word slander
means. These words are often spoken
in the other person’s absence. One pastor described it in these
terms. to speak harshly of or to speak
evil of someone else in that person’s absence, to criticize,
to insult, to slander someone when he is not there to defend
himself. You see, that’s the easiest time
to make your argument. That’s the easiest time to tell
somebody what the person is really like, how they really deserve
to be considered. He goes on and says, it is the
sin of those who meet in corners and gather in little groups and
pass on confidential tidbits of whispered information which
destroy the reputation and good name of those who are not there
to defend themselves. As we begin to look at this word,
one word thus far this morning, one of the key elements in this
word slander to disparage is that the other person usually
isn’t there. They’re not there to defend themselves. I said a moment ago that this
same word is only used four other times in the New Testament. And
when you think of the nature of this word, you would think
that it would have been used much more plentifully, but only
four times. Three of them are in Peter’s
first epistle. We’re not gonna turn there right
now, and in fact, I’m gonna come back to these, I promise, I know
I say that, and sometimes don’t get there. If I finish this sermon
today, I will get there. 1 Peter 1, slander. 1 Peter 2 1, slander. 1 Peter
2 12, slander. 1 Peter 3 16, slander. More on those in a moment. But
there’s a place where this word occurs, which we’ve already looked
at. You remember several weeks ago when we talked about hurricanes?
I talked about Tropical Storm Philippi where we saw selfish
ambition brewing. We talked about Category 2 Cretan,
the storm that he mentioned on the island of Crete to young
Titus, factiousness that destroys churches. We talked about Category
5 that had hit Asia where Paul writes in Galatians, immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
outbursts of anger, disputes, all of those things had hit Asia
and had wreaked a mighty havoc. But there was category five Macedonia. The interesting thing about Category
5 Macedonia, it was merely a forecast. But it was a forecast of a storm
that was coming that was so destructive it would have destroyed the church
there. It would have destroyed God’s
work. And it was set up to do so. And Paul, in addressing the Category
5 storm that was taking aim At Corinth, he used essentially the same
list that he did to speak of that which had already hit in Asia. Strife, jealousy, angry
tempers, disputes. But he adds one little word that
isn’t found in any of the other weather reports. You guessed
it, it’s our word. Slander Paul was afraid to even
go to Corinth because he feared that when he got there This church
that he had such a passion and such a heart to plant would be
devastated and destroyed By the slanderous speech of the people
in it And so what James is speaking
of here is no different It’s careless, it’s critical, it’s
derogatory towards someone else. The Puritans used to refer to
it as a word that has fallen completely away. I’d never even,
I know that I’ve never used this word, calumny, right? You either, huh? Calumny is the
act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously
calculated to damage another’s reputation. And because of that,
I love Thomas Manton’s effort to clarify here. He says that
there’s different kinds of calumny. There are different kinds of
evil speaking, whispering and backbiting. Whispering is a private
defamation of our brother. among those who think well of
him.” Backbiting is more public. Backbiting is when you just slam
somebody in front of others. To backbite is to say those harsh
or mean or spiteful things about somebody in the presence of other
people. That brings us to another key
element of this as we begin to look at describing and uncovering
the significance, the meaning of this word. Another key element
in understanding this word slander or evil speaking is that it’s
not necessarily false. You heard me right. It’s not
necessarily false. You see, we have this tendency
to exonerate ourselves from the sin of gossip simply because
we believe that what we said is true. Why shouldn’t it be
said? I was only passing along what
really happened. I was giving them the facts. Well, hang on. One Puritan described the sin
of slander in these terms. This signifies speaking anything
that may hurt or injure another. And then he begins to describe
what anything is. We must not speak evil things
of others, though they be true, unless we be called to it. And
frankly, we know well that there are times where we need to come
and testify. We need to come and confront
a brother in sin, where we need to address someone who has done
something wrong. But he says we must not speak
evil things of others, even though they’re true, unless we’re called
to it. unless we’re called to it and
there be some necessary occasion for it, much less we report evil
things when they are false. I mean, when we think of slander,
of course it’s wrong to pass along a false report. Of course
it’s wrong to invent something. But he says it’s wrong even to
pass along the truth at times. And he closes with this, our
lips must be guided by the law of kindness as well as truth
and justice. It’s not so much that these words
are false as they are harsh. Would it surprise the saints
to know that our church’s agreement in fellowship with one another?
If you’re a member of this church, you’ve already agreed to this,
this is our covenant. We do promise and endeavor by
God’s grace to bear with one another’s weaknesses, failings,
and infirmities with much tenderness. We want to bear with one another. We want to live with one another.
We know that we’re not going to be perfect, but it goes on. We promise an endeavor by God’s
grace to bear with one another’s weaknesses, failings, infirmities
with much tenderness, not revealing them to any outside the church. Did you get what he said? Not revealing them to any outside
the church, nor any inside, unless it is according to Christ’s rule.
and the order of the gospel provided in that case. You know what that
rule is. It’s Matthew 18. It’s a simple rule. Matthew 18
verse 15, if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in
private. You don’t pick up the phone.
You don’t get on the internet. You don’t go to a chat room.
You don’t talk to a group of people in the corner. You go
to your brother and you talk to him in private. And I love
this. If he listens to you, you have
won your brother. That’s the rule of Christ. Because anything else slips into
this selfish ambition and destructiveness that Paul and James have warned
about. Proverbs 16, 28 says, a perverse
man spreads strife. And a slanderer separates intimate
friends. Why is slander so bad? Because
it destroys people. It destroys relationships. It
destroys reputations. It destroys churches. Sharing
negative reports about a fellow sinner, not according to Christ’s
rule. And so slander, or evil speech
or derogation or backbiting or disparagement can include any
number of particulars. Here’s one faithful commentator’s
list. To speak evil includes willful
false accusations. We know that that’s wrong. These
are the kinds of things where we say and we’re convicted immediately.
Raising false reports, bringing false charges, This is bearing false witness.
Of course this is wrong. But the rules get really fuzzy
for us after that. Because the second thing that
he brings up are exaggerations of faults that are real. Everybody
would look at them and know that this is a fault. They know that
this is a sinful tendency. They know that this is a character
quality that God needs to work on in this person’s life. that
they need more of God’s grace for this particular thing. There
are the exaggerations of those things that are real. Anybody
looking at them, anybody talking to them, we all have them. Exaggeration or distortion of
the truth, as one said. Increasing or aggravating their
faults, as Manton put it. We see who they are, everybody
knows who they are, And we talk. The third, the third thing in
his list, not only willful false accusations and exaggerations
of fault, but needless repetition of real faults. It’s not unlike
the previous, but it is different. Why are we talking about this? What cause did we have to talk
about it? It’s the needless criticism,
it’s the needless banter. And then finally, slander, which
we’ve already identified as sinful and wrong. One pastor described it as derogatory
speech that is maliciously intended to influence others against the
person being spoken against. It is harsh, deliberately calls
attention to the faults of others while minimizing their virtues. The evil lies in the speaker’s
hostile intention aimed at eroding the position or character of
the one spoken against. You think you’re out of the woods? That you haven’t slandered? Keep
listening. Because Thomas Manton says that
even to listen to reports like that, is sinful. Thomas Manton says, do not give
way in it to others. Do not give way to slander. Don’t
listen because sometimes it’s, it’s a, there’s a Purian interest
is piqued, isn’t it? We want to hear what someone
else said and what they did. Do not give way in it to others.
Your ears may be as guilty as their tongues. Such whisperings should never
be heard without some expression of dislike. Our countenancing
them draws us in to a fellowship of their guilt. Did you hear
what Manton says? To even listen in on a conversation
where disparaging comments are made, where slander is given,
it’s wrong. It’s sinful and it should be
repented of. So where do we come from? Where do we get off? How do we
land on this spot where we are so readily inclined to talk about
another sinner’s sin? What is the cause of slander?
What motivates us to this? What brings this sin out in people,
Christian people? In looking at this for the last
month, I landed on four or five. First of all, an unsettled soul. Sometimes we’re not at peace
within. Our hearts aren’t right. We’re on edge. We haven’t prayed.
Our walk with God isn’t great. We’re just on edge. We walk around
on edge and something happens and we lash out. One pastor called this the excess
of a restless soul. There was another observation
from reading the cause of slander. Why would a Christian stoop to
this activity? A critical spirit. We’ve gone looking for faults,
and we’ve already identified they’re not too difficult to
find. especially if we look in the mirror. We’ve gone looking
for faults, and of course they’re never difficult to find, but
we went looking expectantly. We’ve been paying attention.
We’ve been watching our brothers and sisters not to note God’s
work of grace in their lives. Look how far God has brought
them. We went looking to find fault. There’s another observation I
made in looking at all the different things that go in to make a Christian
into a slanderer, a sinful outburst. And this probably would be the
easiest, if you will, to excuse of this list. They had a bad
day. Some note, some observation, some disdainful thought was mulling
around in our mind. We had been sitting on it far
too long instead of going to our brother, and when even slightly
provoked, it erupts to the surface, and there it’s out. There’s a fourth thing that I
observed. Not only an unsettled soul and a critical spirit, a
sinful outburst, hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. This is frightening. But we often begin to think that
we are above falling, not unlike Peter’s boast, not me, O Lord.
We see far more evil in our brother than we ever imagined possible
in ourselves. In them, we see a greater potential
for sin. In them, we naturally observe
greater actual sin. It’s hypocritical. And then the final thing that
I observed as a factor in this, not always, and I realized that
some of these begin to heavily overlap if not run together. Arrogance and pride. Arrogance
and pride is a factor that leads for a Christian to slander. But
this tendency is built upon the previous, I realized that, that
of hypocrisy, only here, And not only do we not see our own
sin, we do not observe our own potential for sin. As such, we begin to see that
we are of another class of Christians. We are of those who are called
upon to police and to scold and to berate our brothers for their
faults, by any means possible, even slander. John Calvin called this a disease. He says it’s just another disease
innate in human nature that everyone would have others to live according
to their own will or fancy. It’s not that they could find
chapter and verse for the things that they berate you over. It just doesn’t measure up to
their standard. And so he says, we dare to impose
on our brethren our rule of life. We confidently condemn whatever
does not please us. Jesus was well aware of this
tendency, this human nature. It’s exactly what he addressed
in Matthew chapter seven, wasn’t it? Do not judge so that you
will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you
will be judged, and by your standard of measure will be measured out
to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s
eye, but do not notice the log in your own? How can you say
to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, and
behold, the log is in your own eye? This tendency that we have to
judge and condemn others It’s a sickness, it’s a sinful sickness. It’s the sin of pride. It’s the
sin of pride that looks and says that somehow by my own efforts
I’ve arrived, but you need my help. I loved, I loved the way one
Puritan settled this In his own heart and mind, he said to a
truly humble man, this is impossible. He is accustomed to contrast
the outcome of his own life with the requirements of God’s law. And to know how awful is the
gulf which separates the one from the other, he knows too
much against himself to take delight in censuring the faults
of others. Slander, evil speaking, is a
sure sign that he who is addicted to it is ignorant of the immensity
of his own shortcomings. No man who habitually considers
his own transgressions will be eager to be severe upon the transgressions
of others.” Did you hear that? No man who habitually considers
his own transgressions will be eager to be severe upon the transgressions
of others. I did say one sentence. We’re
almost there. Look at the passage. Do not speak
against one another, brethren. James is writing to Christian
churches, brothers in Christ, his admonition here is directed
not only to brothers in Christ, but it’s directed about brothers
in Christ. It’s brother to brother here.
It’s a fellow Christian that is in view here. It’s a Christian
who is speaking to others about a brother in Christ. This makes it all the more a
rebuke by James of those who engage in this practice. The
focus of this entire epistle is from James as a brother to
brothers. Thirteen times in this epistle,
my brethren, my beloved brethren, he uses that nominative to refer
to those to whom he’s writing. He’s writing to Christians, but
he’s writing about Christians’ behavior in their speech about
another Christian. It should also be instructive
to us that this word was almost entirely absent from extra biblical
writings. I know, I know that you’re playing catch up. I know
you’re still back on where I was 15 minutes ago, but I want you
to hear this. This word, slander, was almost
entirely absent from extra-biblical writings. That’s because the
concept of evil speaking a brother or a friend against another brother
or friend wasn’t even acknowledged as an ethical standard. The heathen
world thought nothing of this practice. As one commentator
said, it obviously played no vital role in the ethical exhortation
of the non-biblical world. Slander, however, is not a Christian
practice. Peter, remember Peter? Remember I promised you? Peter,
all three times that he uses the word, he’s talking not about
Christians in the church, he’s talking about how the world treats
the Christians. You see, it was a holy God in
his word, in his law, and by his standards that he communicated
that slander was utterly sinful. Brothers in Christ should not
be engaged in the exercise of slander. As Christians, our brothers
in Christ They should not defame each other. They should not derogate
against one another. They should not slander one another. Henry said, we had better say
nothing than to speak evil. You know what that is? That’s
Bambi. That’s Thumper. Even a cartoon
rabbit knows well enough, if you can’t say something nice,
don’t say nothing at all. What is this? But to raise the
hatred, said Henry, and encourage the persecutions of the world
against those who are engaged in the same interests with ourselves. Our merciful God, now that we have seen what slander
is, we know that we have engaged
in it. We have participated in it. We
have invented it. We have used it plentifully in
our lives against our brothers. And by your grace and for your
glory, we repent and we plead for you for the grace to change,
effecting us a new standard, a new level of speaking. Lord, if there are any here who
do not know Christ, any attempts to reform their behavior, their
thinking, Their activity will be found to be hopeless. They like we need the Lord Jesus
Christ. We need the grace of God. And
that begins with forgiveness for our sin. And so, Father,
we pray that you would do your work, a mighty work. In each and every heart in this
room. For those who need Christ for salvation. Do that work. For those who need Christ and
his grace to change and to rise above the sin of slander, Lord
God, we pray, do your work. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.
Amen.