Ephesians 4:29: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
In verse 29 Paul talks about the importance of allowing no unwholesome talk from your mouth. Rather, the believer should use his mouth to speak words that will build up others and benefit those who listen. I considered not spending any time on this verse. In December 2004 I took three weeks to talk about the importance of words, as we examined the phrase speaking the truth in love. But this topic is so vital, I decided to examine an additional aspect of the power of the tongue.
First of all, here are the links to the three articles in December that dealt with the power of the spoken word.
December 15, 2004
December 22, 2004
December 29, 2004I like verse 29 in the King James Version. 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. The Greek word used here for grace is "charis" the word used for God's grace and divine favor. The Greek word used for edifying signifies the building of a house. Every word we speak should work to contribute to the building up a person in the kingdom of God. Every word we speak should minister God's grace and divine favor to others. By the way that includes the words we speak to ourselves and about ourselves. Your own words should contribute to the building of the kingdom of God in your life. Your words should minister grace and divine favor to you, not condemnation.
Matthew 4 begins with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. He fasted for forty days, and then he became hungry. Satan came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." In verse four Jesus replies, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
The Scripture often refers to the Word of God as food. Even as a man must eat food for the physical body, so the spirit of the believer must be fed the Word of God to grow strong and healthy.
Here are more references from the Bible regarding the Word of God as food.
Psalm 119:103: How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
Jeremiah 15:16: When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight.
John 6:50-51: But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Jesus, the living Word of God, is the bread of life.
In the Greek New Testament there are two main words used for the term "word." One is logos and the other is rhema. Logos refers more to the entire revelation of God found in the Bible. Rhema refers more to the spoken word, or a specific word of revelation. Every day we should spend time in the logos or in the Bible reading, studying and meditating upon that logos. But then sometimes the Holy Spirit will quicken a particular Scripture verse for own edification, encouragement, comfort or direction.
Here is what Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says regarding the term "rhema." "The significance of rhema (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," Eph 6:17; here the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the inidividual scripture which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisiste being the regular storing of the mind with Scripture."
In Matthew 4:4 Jesus said that we don't live by bread alone, but by every rhema that comes from the mouth of God. God wants his church to meditate on the logos, or the Bible, then the Spirit of God will lead with rhemas, or specific revelations from the Word God that will empower us to victory in our daily lives.
For example in the New Year's Day letter I wrote for this year, I shared about one specific Scripture verse that I am standing on for this year of 2005. That verse is Psalm 5:12, For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. That verse has been part of the logos, or the Bible for centuries. But at the end of last year that verse became a rhema to me because the Holy Spirit spoke that word specifically to me for this year. We are to read, study and meditate on the logos, and then we live in expectation that God will give specific rhemas to enable us to prosper in every area of life.
Are you beginning to see the beauty of God's ways? God commands us to speak words that will build up, and that will minister grace and divine favor to the hearer. How does that happen? As the Holy Spirit makes the logos alive to us, then we can begin to share those rhemas with others. Then there will be times that God will quicken a specific verse of Scripture for you to share with another person. That is a rhema, and will build up that person, and will minister grace and divine favor to that person, and will feed that person spiritually.
Then one day the Holy Spirit may actually speak to you a brief word of encouragement for someone else. It will not be a verse, but a short message that will be Biblically based, and will minister grace and feed another brother or sister in Christ. That is a rhema from the mouth of the Almighty God.
Continue to daily feed on the logos, or the written Word of God. Then expect the Holy Spirit to make that word alive to you. Live with the expectation of hearing rhemas from the mouth of God. And live with the expectation, that you will receive rhemas for others that will build them up, and minister to them grace and divine favor.
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org