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Overland Monthly / OV207 - Every Idle Word by C.T. Russell
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OV207 EVERY IDLE WORD BY C. T. RUSSELL
Pastor of Brooklyn and London Tabernacles
"Every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment; for by thy
words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned." —#Mt 12:36,37.
AT SOME time in the near future we must
consider for the benefit of fellow-Christians what the Bible has to say
respecting the Day of Judgment. For the present we suffice ourselves
with the general explanation that this term Day of Judgment has been
seriously misconstrued by theologians and by the public. It has been
used out of harmony with the Scriptural usage. It has been used out of
harmony with reasonable, logical deductions. The term Day of Judgment
is generally understood to mean Day of Sentence or Day of Doom. In
fact, Doomsday is frequently used as a synonym without the slightest
warrant. The term Day of Judgment signifies the Day of trial or
testing; as in our text we read that men shall give an account in the
Day of Judgment for every idle word. The proper thought on the subject
of judgment from the Bible standpoint is this: God created our first
parents innocent, perfect, and placed them on trial. Their Day of
Judgment was in Eden. How long it would have lasted had they remained
faithful to God we are not informed, but as soon as they had disobeyed
the Divine Command, their day of trial or judgment was ended, and the
sentence, "Dying thou shalt die," began to be inflicted. The judgment
or trial of Adam was over, and since all of his posterity share his
imperfections and are equally unworthy of life on that account,
therefore the sentence of sin, "Dying thou shalt die," rests upon every
member of the race, just as though each individual had been on trial in
Eden and had lost in the trial with Father Adam. This matter St. Paul
clearly enunciates, saying, "By one manÂ’s disobedience, sin entered
into the world and death as the result of sin. Thus death passed upon
all men, because all are sinners" (#Ro 5:12.)
This being true, how comes it that there
is any mention made in the Scriptures of another judgment day? If all
mankind already are judged unworthy of eternal life and worthy of death
everlasting, why should there be any further judgment? The Bible answer
to the question is that there would have been no reference to a future
judgment day had it not been that God had provided a Redeemer, Christ
Jesus, by whose merit the first penalty against our race through Adam
will eventually be abrogated, set aside.
In consequence of the setting aside of
the first sentence of death a second trial or judgment will be opened
to every member of the race. The first trial or judgment was of one man
(Adam) for all of his race. A second trial or judgment, secured by the
Redeemer, will treat Adam and all of his race individually; granting
them each an individual or personal trial, hence unlike the first trial
in Eden, which was of one man and for the race. This second trial has
not yet been provided for our race, except in the sense that it has
been prepared for and promised—"God hath appointed a day in which he
will judge the world in righteousness." That day will be the Millennial
day—a thousand years in length. It will be the world’s trial
OV208 day or time of individual testing.
Whoever of the world comes to a knowledge
of the fact that God has provided such a future trial, such a future
opportunity of obtaining eternal life, is on notice at once that every
intelligent act of his in the present life will have a bearing upon his
prospect for eternal life in the future. If now he uses wisely the
opportunities of the present life he may upbuild for himself a measure
of character, self-control, etc., which will prepare him for a more
honorable place during the Millennial Kingdom and make his progress
there the more rapid and the more easy. Or, on the contrary, by
degrading himself in the present life he may undermine his character,
and, during the Millennial Day of Judgment (trial) find himself so much
lower in the human scale and have so much further to advance out of sin
and death conditions into the condition of perfection and everlasting
life.
The Church has her judgment day in the
present life—during this Gospel Age. All consecrated believers,
begotten of the Holy Spirit, are now on trial for everlasting life or
for everlasting death as "new creatures in Christ Jesus." If such do
not comply with the conditions of their consecration, but draw back to
sin, their trial will be in one sense useless and the sentence of utter
destruction will rest upon them—"the Second Death."
Idle Words—Pernicious Words.
The context shows that our Lord in our
text addressed, not his disciples, but the worldly, the Pharisees.
Doubtless the same principle applies to the Church. Every idle or
pernicious word of ours has its weight, has its influence with
ourselves and with others. Those who are rightly informed respecting
the LordÂ’s will in such matters, the LordÂ’s consecrated people, have a
great responsibility—a responsibility of what effect their words and
influence have upon others. Our words, whether written or spoken,
exercise an influence upon the minds and thoughts of others. Frequently
they go from one to another, and thus, if pernicious, evil is spread
far and near and the word once uttered cannot be recalled. Some one has
wisely said that Error can get around the world while Truth is getting
its boots on. Oh, the power of a slanderous word! Oh, the power of an
insinuation! Yea, even of a shrug of the shoulder! Who does not know
it?.Who is unaware of the fact that this is the practice of the world
daily; and alas, the practice also of many of God’s people—professing
Christians! The bitter word of sarcasm or insinuation is shot out often
unthinkingly, but the terrible poison goes from heart to heart and
fresh roots of bitterness are scattered abroad, which a lifetime of
holy living cannot fully counteract.
On the contrary, what a power the tongue
has for good, using the word tongue here in its broad sense,
representing not only words spoken, but the words written and printed.
As an illustration: What speaker or
writer has ever done more to help poor humanity than the Prophet David
in the inspired Psalms which he wrote? Truly, as Solomon has said, "A
word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (#Pr 25:11.)
As for the Church, the Lord has indeed agreed that He will not judge
the Church according to their words and their deeds entirely, but
according to their spirit, their intention, their will, their energy,
their zeal for Him and His Truth. Nevertheless, He assures the Church
that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak, and that
they may thus judge or test themselves. If their hearts are right—full
of love for God, for the brethren, for mankind, for their enemies, they
will speak accordingly, manifesting their love and kindness in words as
well as in deeds. The good heart out of its good treasure will shower
blessings—fruits and flowers of refreshment and kindness, while the
evil heart will send forth bitter words, poisoned arrows, injurious to
all with whom they come in contact.
OV209 Whoever, therefore, finds that he
is continually stirring up strife and wounding his friends should
promptly make an examination of his heart to ascertain the trouble
there.
He should not be content to say, "I meant
no harm." The heart that is not full of goodness, kindness, generosity,
love, will likely not control the tongue properly. We must reach the
place where not only we do not will to do harm to our neighbors, but
where we sincerely wish to do them good. Then that good heart, out of
its treasure of goodness, will speak words of kindness, of love.
Men Shall Give an Account.
But now, considering the words of our
text as applicable to the Millennium, how will the world render its
account in the future respecting the words of the present life? Not
surely in line with the teachings of the Dark Ages that, during a
twenty-four hour day, the whole world could be ranged in line and each
individual remember each pernicious word and evil act and give an
account of the same to the great Judge? Quite different will the
reality be. The Judgment Day will be the thousand year period of the
Millennium and the account of every evil act, of every sinful deed, and
of every pernicious word will be recorded in the individualÂ’s own
character, just as a towel bears the mark of every unclean wash dried
upon it. In other words, the wrong-doer not only injures others, but
specially injures and marks himself by the wrong he has practiced in
evil speaking and evildoing, and the more deeply has he marked his
character accordingly. It is in line with this that the Scriptures
assure us that in the resurrection time many will come forth to shame
and lasting contempt. It is a time in which characters will be shown
up. How terribly ashamed some will be of their showing!
Some who now appear to be honorable
indeed, some who now rank fairly high amongst men, will then be seen in
truer colors. Their shame and the contempt in which they will be held
by mankind in general will be a part of their punishment for their
wrong course. The shame will last until gradually they will be able to
demonstrate a more noble character. Their contempt will continue until,
under the blessed, uplifting influences of the Millennial Kingdom, they
will have attained the way of the Lord more perfectly.
We are not to think that this signifies
that every man will be justified from the Adamic death condemnation by
any words that he could utter. Nor are we to think of the expression,
"By thy words thou shalt be condemned," that any man could come under a
second condemnation until first freed (through Christ) from the
condemnation of original sin. Nothing but the merit of ChristÂ’s
sacrifice can justify any. Nothing but the blood of Christ can justify
those who come to God by faith, in this Age, or those who will assure
him of their loyalty for righteousness by works, in the next Age. We
are not to understand our Lord as here contradicting the general
testimony of the Scriptures.
By Thy Words Justified.
The lesson is in harmony with the
Scriptural declaration, "Blessed is the man who is not condemned by
that which he alloweth." That is to say, the ungenerous, the unkind,
are very apt to blame others strongly for misdemeanors of which they
themselves are guilty. The man whose words respecting others do not
condemn himself is to be congratulated as a happy man indeed. The
person whose criticism of others is so kindly, so generous, so merciful
as to not involve a condemnation of his own course is certainly an
exceptional man or woman. We call to remembrance our LordÂ’s words,
"With whatsoever measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again,"
and, interpreting our text in harmony with this, if our words are
generous and kind, loving and benevolent we shall receive similarly
kind treatment of the Lord. If our language
OV210 respecting others be harsh,
cynical, critical, unkind, we may expect reproofs from the Lord. Why?
Because all mankind are by nature fallen, imperfect, depraved; and the
person who sees the faults of others and fails to see his own, needs
the correcting chastisements of the Lord to show him his true condition
reflected in his course of conduct and language toward and respecting
others: he indicates that he himself needs to be taught some very
important lessons without which he will not be prepared to make
progress toward the Divine standards of character.
On the contrary, the person who is kind,
gentle, forgiving, forbearing, sympathetic, disposed to make allowances
for others shows that he has learned an important lesson already and
that, to a considerable extent, his heart is right. Whatever there is
wrong with such a generous soul is unintentionally wrong, a wrong which
is intrenched in his flesh, but with which his heart is not in accord.
By his kindly words respecting others he marks himself, indicates his
character as of the kind which God can approve; as one of the class who
at least love their neighbor as themselves, and thus imply also that
they love God, because as the Apostle points out, "He that loveth not
his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not
seen?" Contrariwise, he who loves his neighbor speaks generously of
him, is merciful toward him, and compassionate, undoubtedly would
greatly respect and love the Divine character in its perfection of
Justice, Wisdom and Love.
Blessed are the Merciful.
This brings us to another Scripture of
similar tenor: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
It is true that God gave to natural Israel a code of laws which defined
the course of life for them saying, Thou shalt not do this and that.
Yet that Law was intended in great measure to show to Israel and to the
world the impossibility of an imperfect man or woman keeping perfectly
the Divine requirements. When the Lord would state His Law from the
other standpoint—positively and not negatively, He sums the matter up
in a few words, Thou shalt love the Lord supremely and thy neighbor as
thyself. He who is merciful is in the condition to be blessed of the
Lord, because he more than others approximates the standard of the
Divine Law—Love; for mercy is the expression of love.
We see, then, that the Divine promise
that he who is merciful to his neighbor will receive the more mercy
from the Lord is not a mere ipse dixit,
nor a mere rewarding of such a proper course. Rather it is in harmony
with the principles and essence of the Divine government, because the
more generous and loving the heart, the nearer to the perfect
condition.
If this principle could be rightly seen
by Christian people it would work an almost instantaneous revolution in
the hearts and conduct of all who desire Divine approval and favor.
Instead of burning one another at the stake; instead of putting on
thumb screws; instead of condemning one another to eternal torment,
Christians would be seeking to bless one another, to think and feel
kindly respecting one another and disposed to pray GodÂ’s blessing upon
those who despitefully use them and persecute them. Instead of slander
and misrepresentation and envious insinuations, the spirit of love and
kindness and mercy and godlikeness would more and more prevail amongst
those who have named the name of Christ and have professedly enlisted
under His banner and covenanted to walk in His footsteps.
Nor would the blessing stop with the
Church. The world, seeing such an example of love and kindness, would
be ready to take knowledge of the followers of Jesus, as they did in
the days of the Apostles, saying, "Behold, how these Christians love
one another " Then our LordÂ’s words would have a practical
illustration, "A new Commandment I give unto you,
OV211 that ye love one another, as I have
loved you" to the extent of laying down our lives for each other. As
the Apostle declares, "We ought also to lay down our lives for the
brethren."
It has seemed at times as though some of
those who profess relationship to Christ as members of His Church do
even more of petty evil-speaking and slandering and busy-bodying than
do the worldly who make no profession whatever. According to the
standards set forth in our text the worldly, if they have more of the
quality of mercy in their hearts will evidently be more pleasing to God
than those who have made much profession and neglected the MasterÂ’s
commands and failed to cultivate his spirit of love and mercy, in word
and deed.
Let us all remember our text and apply
it. "By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou
be condemned." As we think of the fact that these sermons reach the
eyes of about seven millions of readers weekly, we feel the weight of
our responsibility. It is our desire that they be just such as the Lord
can approve, and such as will be helpful to all.
IF I COULD KNOW
IF I could only surely know That all
these things that tire me so Were noticed by my Lord—The pang that cuts
me like a knife, The noise, the weariness, the strife, And all the
nameless ills of life—What peace it would afford I wonder if He really
shares In all these little human cares, This mighty King of kings—If He
who guides through boundless space Each radia
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