A WORD FITLY SPOKEN

Exortation by Bro. David Williams of the Kouts, Indiana Ecclesia

My Dear Brethren and Sisters, one of my human afflictions at times, is insomnia, the inability to sleep. I find this true when preparing a exhortation, because I can’t seem to shut down my brain. Recently this has been especially true, because I not only have been writing an exhortation but I’ve been preparing for the study day coming up in 2 weeks. My mind has been reflecting back to the early 1950’s and the draft board and Vincennes where I served my 2 years. For an unknown reason the word ‘oblivion’ came into my mind, the condition or fact of being forgotten. It’s kind of a scary thought, to be completely forgotten. Sometimes when I have this problem I’ll get up and do my readings, which seems to help.

Many times a lot of my talks are prepared during the night. On this particular night I was up around 2 A.M. and decided to do the readings. It happened to be the Psalm 22 which start with these words as found in the Revised Standard.

‘I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me, In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord, in the NIGHT my hand is stretched out without wearing, my soul refuses to be comforted. I think of God, and I moan, I meditate, and my spirit faints. Thou dost hold my eyelids from closing, I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, I remember the years long ago. I commune with my heart in the night, I meditate and search my spirit.

This was a Psalm written by Asaph, and it seems to me that he too suffered from insomnia. His remedy was to get the ME and MINE out of the mind and replace it with God.

‘I will remember the deeds of the Lord, yes, I will meditate on all YOUR works and consider all YOUR mighty deeds. YOUR ways, O God are holy.’

That particular night I read the Psalm first. I then went back to read the chapter in Exodus, it was dealing with the laws of Justice and Mercy. There were many good things in the chapter about the lives we are to live. It was mentioned not to go along with the crowd, but to be honest, and in this world we live in, it is so easy to go along with the crowd, it is so easy to be dishonest. And then in the next chapter God said, ‘IF you will follow all these commands, I will give you a full life span.’ What’s that, three score and ten? We read these words last week in Psalm 90, if you remember, ‘The length of our days is seventy years, or eighty, if we have the strength, yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.’

Well, brethren and sisters we gather here this morning, following the command of our Lord to do this in remembrance of HIM. We know that this is just one of HIS commands, but if we try our best to follow HIS commands we are promised eternal life, not just a full life span, but eternal life!

A few Sundays ago, Rob and Pat and I were talking along those lines after Sunday school. Do you ever stop to think about eternal life? Do you ever think of ‘infinity’? Endless or unlimited space, time, distance, quantity, etc. Now that can keep you up at night!

Turn with me to John’s gospel chapter 6, we’ll pick it up at verse 53,

Jesus said to them, " I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Later on in the chapter we find that many of his disciples deserted Jesus because of that saying, verse 66;

‘From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy one of God.’

So we meet Sunday after Sunday to remember HIM, looking for more than a full life span, and knowing that there is NO OTHER way to find eternal life, except through our Lord and Saviour.

My duty this morning is to prepare us to partake of these emblems on the table. So I stand up here, knowing that each of you has individual needs that I know nothing of, knowing full well, that some of you might go home disappointed by the words of exhortation.

Years ago when we lived in Canada, there was one sister in our ecclesia who was very abrupt and honest. (She was a dear sister of the old school and would never utter a word during a bible class, but when the class was over she would let you know if you had said something that she didn’t agree with.) I had given an exhortation on ‘attitude’, which if memory serves me right, I felt was a decent exhortation. After the morning meeting she really let me have it. She didn’t enjoy the exhortation, and it upset her and she wasn’t shy about telling me all the things that I said that were wrong (in her eyes). I was speechless, but I went home feeling very sad that I had let her down so very much!

We know that people need different treatment, because they are different. On that particular Sunday my sister in the Truth didn’t need to hear about ‘attitude’.

I know Bro. Dennis Gillett has been quoted a lot lately, but I’ve been reading one of his books again and in the chapter on ‘individuality’ he says, ‘Some like it blunt, can take it, and thrive on it. Others cannot, and being blunt is like working over their feelings in hob-nail boots. Some are pugnacious and strong, others are retiring and nervous. Some are always confident and others are always feeling their way. Some are steely and others are sentimental.’ End of quote.

And so we gather here a group of individuals yet as Bro. Dennis said, ‘the units are part of the unity’. The principal of love cannot flourish in isolation, it needs a loving relationship with others.

One of my favorite little verses in the Bible is Proverbs 25 verse 11, I know I’ve quoted it many times, ‘A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver’. In these words Solomon has captured something of the feeling we experience when we contemplate some particularly helpful or appropriate words. These kind of words are the result of sensitivity, perception and insight, qualities few of us really have. They may be spoken, sung or even whispered.

As I mentioned earlier I’ve been dwelling on the past again. In the 50’s Bro. John and I were very close regarding the draft. It was a difficult period of my life and Bro. John was a great help to me, so he has been on my mind. Then, in 1970, when my faith had reached rock bottom, Bro. John took me aside and we had a little chat. His words were like ‘apples of gold in pictures of silver’ to me. They were words of sensitivity, perception and insight.

When Bro. John was dying, we came down from Wisconsin to see him. The family had told us he was not going to be with us much longer. He was at Carol and Al’s, I went in to visit with him and he motioned to me to come close. He whispered in my ear, ‘do you have any words of hope?’ Again I was speechless, he caught me entirely off guard, and I spoke of not giving up, there was always the hope that he would recover and so forth. I’ve always wished that I could have come up with those words like ‘apples of gold in pictures of silver’, that he had given to me. I didn’t. Only a few have that ability, and I’m not one of the fortunate ones. Usually I speak without really thinking, and often am sorry for what I said. There are times when it is better to say nothing at all.

In 2 weeks, (God willing) Sis. Marg and I are going to visit Beth & Jared and I will see my grandson for the first time. When we visit them I always look forward to having breakfast with Bro. Bill Iliffe (Jared’s grandfather) and Hazel. It’s become a tradition, we meet them at an Amish restaurant, have breakfast and a visit. Last September while the ladies browsed through the gift shop, Bro. Bill and I had a lovely chat. We’ve known the Iliffes long before Jared was born. They were one of Marg’s mom and dad’s best friends. In fact, I knew them even before Marg came into my life, as they were Welsh and had 3 lovely daughters. In those days I made it my business to be friendly with those who had daughters! Bro. Bill passed away a few weeks ago and so we won’t have the pleasure of having breakfast with him next week. I’m going to miss it greatly and again wish I would have told him last September how much I enjoyed his company.

I’m going to be kind of sentimental now, please bear with me. I came across a poem in the Christadelphian magazine, author unknown,

Good-bye brother, but only till the morning, For which we, longing, look and watch and wait, When He shall come, the king of kings adorning. And rule the world in majesty and state. No tears, our God shall wipe them all away, And sorrow ne’er shall dim thine eyes again, Thy robe is righteousness in that bright day, Good-bye brother, only until then.

There’s an ad I’ve seen on TV, I don’t remember what it’s an ad for, but you see a young man and a woman sitting at a table in a swank restaurant. She says to him "You’ve made my life so very happy, I love you so very much", and he says nothing. She arises with tears in her eyes, grabs her coat and leaves. Then, after she’s gone he says, "and I love you too, so very much". While he’s saying that the words, TIMING IS EVERYTHING flash across the bottom of the screen.

Brethren and sisters how often we let the opportunity to show love pass us by. We should seize the moment! Brethren and sisters, if we have something good to say, then say it. If we have something good to do, then do it. For that moment may be lost forever if we let it pass us by.

For all of us there is that word fitly spoken. I don’t care what the problem is we can find appropriate words in the Word of God. I’m sure we all experience it while doing our daily readings, how the answer to our problem comes to us from God’s Word. When we think of our Lord we know that He relied on God’s Word during his sojourn here on earth. And Isaiah prophesying of Jesus said, "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary". That thought should be in all our prayers, give us the ability for words of wisdom for those who are weary or in distress.

We read Psalm 85 last week, verses 10 & 11 express God’s favor toward His covenant people, they’re words that speak to us as we gather to remember His Son. "Love and faithfulness meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other, Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven."

At this very moment God is looking down at us from heaven. As we prepare ourselves now to partake of the emblems I thought we could do no better than to listen to God’s word. I’ve just picked some random quotations:

"I am worn out from groaning, all night long I flood my bed with weeping, and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow, they fail because of all my foes. The lord has heard my cry for mercy, the Lord accepts my prayer." "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered." "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you." "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Presently the emblems will be passed from hand to hand, from one individual to another individual, from brother to sister, it will be a time of quietness and reverence. There will be no audible word spoken, yet if we let our hearts speak to us as we partake of the bread and wine, we will hear words fitly spoken, that will be like apples of gold in pictures of silver.