Proverbs 13:17, Messengers and Messages
July 15, Proverbs 13:17 (12:18)
1 Thes. 2; 1 Cor. 4:1-5 “We were bold in our God to speak unto your the gospel of God with much contention.”
Messengers and Messages
What are we to make of the fact that many entrusted messengers no longer tremble at God’s Word, but mock and deny it openly? They have, as someone put it, transmuted God’s Word into theological bubble-gum! R. A. Torrey once remarked: “Loose theology leads to loose morality.” We could phrase it: “Lost theology leads to lost morality!”
a. Those Right or Wrong: In ancient times messengers were entrusted to bring tidings or instructions to others on behalf of their masters. It was a solemn duty and a sacred trust to carry such messages. Some messengers betrayed that trust and brought a false or distorted message. Recall how Gehazi twisted the message of Elisha to Naaman (2 Kg. 5). Others were faithful ambassadors and served their masters well. There is the beautiful example of Eliezer, who having gone, at Abraham’s bidding, to seek a wife for Isaac, could say: I being in the way, the Lord led me (Gen. 24:27). By his very faithfulness he forfeited the fortune that could have been his, for he was Abraham’s heir!
b. Those Good or Evil: Mischief or health, life or death, war or peace, may hang on how the messenger delivered his message. Oh, what words can tell the tragic wrong done by false or faithless messengers! God’s Word affirms that the wicked will not prosper, nay, cannot prosper (Ps. 1:3-4). Eventually their betrayal becomes known and they are punished. They fall by their own mischief in the end. The faithful ambassador is like one who brings a healing medicine, for so the word health implies. His faithfulness benefits himself as well as others.
c. Those Faithful or False: Faithfulness costs! It cost Abraham the willingness to yield up of his only son, Isaac. For Esther it meant risking her life to go before the king, unbidden, but she declared, If I perish, I perish! (Est.4:16). For Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, it meant being cast into a fiery furnace. It cost Daniel being thrown into the den of lions (Dan. 3:6). It cost Stephen a cruel death by stoning. It cost Peter a martyr’s death (Jn. 21:18-19). It cost Paul much tribulation and finally his life. Paul told the Ephesian elders: I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God (Acts 20:21-27). He reminded the Corinthians that the Gospel Word was to the one a savour of death unto death; and to the other a savour of life unto life. Nevertheless, said Paul, We are not as many who corrupt the Word of God, either to soften the message, or to save our own skins (2 Cor. 2:1617). Every believer is an ambassador for Christ, charged with calling men and women to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20-21). Are we faithful or false messengers? Do not miss the crucial point that the cost of faithfulness is, at worst, limited to this time and place; the cost of falseness has eternal consequences! Ask yourself: Does it cost me anything to be faithful to my Lord and King? If not, why not?
Thought: “How can there be great faith where there is little faithfulness?” (Gurnall)
Prayer: “How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things.”