In Peter Allison's sermon 'Fitly Spoken Words,' he explores the profound impact of words, drawing from Proverbs 25. A 'fitly spoken' word is likened to 'apples of gold in settings of silver,' emphasizing its beauty and value. Such a word must be truthful, well-timed, appropriately applied, and delivered with patience and gentleness. Allison underscores the inherent moral dimension of words, suggesting that even music can convey moral expressions. Through biblical examples, notably the story of Abigail and David, the sermon illustrates the importance of delivering words with wisdom and discernment. The sermon further draws parallels between words and faithful messengers, highlighting the responsibility of messengers, including parents and church leaders, to convey truth without personal bias. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is presented as the perfect messenger, embodying the essence of a 'fitly spoken' word.

Proverbs chapter 25. I'd like to read beginning of verse 11. Hear God's word. A word fitly Spoken is like apples of gold and settings of silver. Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuke to an obedient ear.

Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him. For He refreshes the soul of His masters. Whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain. And by long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone. May we never forget these as precepts, for by them we are given life.

Heavenly Father, your Word is truth. It endures forever. It is fitly spoken. And we ask this morning that you would teach us through it, that you would break down our resistance to your word, the excuses that we have. Father, may your Holy Spirit instruct us, and may you enable us to receive this word with meekness, as it is your word.

And I ask that you would sanctify these lips, that through a vessel of clay and through a sinful lips, Lord may your glory come to us in Jesus Christ, amen. Well, I don't need to remind you this morning of the power of the spoken word. Spoken word. God's word is powerful and as those who are created in God's image, our words also have a power in them to do good or to do evil. God brought forth light and brought the entire world into existence by speaking by His Word.

And we today still cannot understand what God did by that simple word of His power. For over a hundred years, physicists have been thinking that they were right on the doorstep, right on the verge of being able to discover the foundation of creation. They looked down into creation and they learned about atoms and then they learned about the subatomic particles and they thought, well we are there. Once we understand these fundamental building blocks of the universe then we can understand how this world was made. But when they got down to the very bottom, they found out they couldn't find out anything.

They didn't even know whether it was a particle or a wave, whether something had mass or no mass. And that's a pretty big deal, not to know whether something has mass to it or no mass. In fact, it was even worse than that. It was, there seemed to be a million possibilities for everything and some things only existed when you actually measured them. And so this enigma has stymied physicists for over a hundred years.

Turns out when the equations that work very very well in the in these in the smallest scale of the universe when they're applied to the large scale of the universe, they're way off. Not just a little bit off, they're way, way off. And not just way, way off, they're unimaginably off. As one physicist said, 10 to the 120th power off. That's 10 with 120 zeros.

The national debt can't even begin to compare with that number. It's way off. So there's something fundamental that we simply don't understand. It's because the Bible tells us that it's God who laid the foundation of the earth, who stretched out the heavens and forms the spirit of man within him. And he did that by the power of his word.

And we cannot even begin to understand it. It would almost seem like the very existence of things is determined from above. Determined from above, it doesn't come up from beneath. The foundation of the earth is not something that we can fathom, but it's something I think that comes from God himself by the power of his word. And I think until physicists acknowledge once again that God is all wise, that His Word is true about everything about which it speaks.

They will continue to search in vain for the foundation of the earth and have equations and systems that are completely incompatible and don't fit together. It's a well-known problem. It's called the theory of everything. And it has eluded physicists, and I believe we'll continue. Because these things are done and accomplished by the power of God's Word.

God brought forth Lazarus to life with words. Lazarus, come forth. And a man who was bound, hand and foot, moved, walked. I was working in the garden yesterday trying to clear it. Ten years ago we had set it aside just to let it mature and thought it was time to clear it.

And I was at one point tangled up in vines around my feet and realized just how difficult it is to move. In fact, no matter who you are, that's the way you tackle even the strongest man, is to get a hold of them around their ankles while they're running. But Lazarus is able to move even though his hands and feet, even though his feet significantly are bound by the power of God's Word. Proverbs tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

And so it is Quite appropriate and beautifully expressed that a word that is fitly spoken is indescribably beauty, beautiful, and is functional. And I'd like to look this morning at this expression. What is a word that is fitly spoken? What does it mean to have words that are like apples of gold in settings of silver? Like the most valuable thing, gold, in a setting of another very valuable metal, silver, it's a thing of beauty and it's also a thing of value.

What is a word that is fitly spoken? What is a word, first of all? It's not speaking of a mere combination of letters like the. But I think when it speaks about a word fitly spoken, it's speaking about the expression of an idea. The expression of an idea.

It's a collection of words, but they're not just a random collection of words. They're words that are arranged according to the rules of syntax and grammar. And they're arranged according to those rules to be able to express an idea, a thought, that conveys a desire in the mind of the speaker for a specific purpose. In other words, there's a goal in view in the mind of the speaker. And there is also in the mind of the speaker a response that is desired.

And so we might say that when the Bible is speaking here about a word, it is speaking about this collectively, this expression. And it can be then, because it is the expression of people who are moral agents, it itself is moral. This word has a moral attribute to it, moral dimension to it. The words of a parrot do not have any moral attribute to them. They're just amoral.

Because a parrot is not a moral agent. A parrot doesn't sin or not sin. So they can speak words, but they are not the same as the words that are spoken by a person. Now, music can also be an expression. Music.

I believe, and I... Music. I believe that every verse in the Hebrew Bible is set to music. There are annotations in the Hebrew text that have been preserved along with the text from the very beginning as long as the text has been preserved that That are music they they are like having notes right in with the Bible. So I think we need to also think of music as part of this word, when the Bible speaks about a word, fitly spoken, that it can be a musical expression as well.

And that our music, because it is the creation, production of moral agents, also has a moral dimension to it, moral attribute. It's not amoral. Music is not just sounds that are stuck together and neither moral nor immoral There are things like that objects right a TV is not immoral or moral It's just an object can be used in an immoral way or a moral way, a right or wrong way. But music is different. Music that is the expression of humans who are moral agents has a moral dimension to it.

And I'm not speaking just of the words, I'm speaking of the music itself is a moral expression. And so it too can be like an apple of gold in settings of silver. Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold. These expressions, these communications. So think of all these forms of expression and the expression of thoughts, the expression of ideas when it speaks about a word fitly spoken.

Now what is then a word? What makes a word fit? What makes it fitly spoken, fitly expressed? Fitly spoken, fitly expressed. That the word, it says a word fitly spoken, a word spoken, in Hebrew is essentially the same word, one's a noun and one's a verb, but it's the same word.

And this expression is used several places in the Bible. And it's this word, word, if you will, this word that's spoken. And it's always used to refer to something God has said or something that a man has spoken, an expression. Well, verse 14 teaches us about the content of what is expressed. The content must be true.

Whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain. If you are expecting rain, you're looking for rain, to have clouds and wind without any rain, without any water is a big disappointment. Now if the clouds and wind are a form of judgment, then it's probably not a disappointment if there's no rain with them. But We think of clouds as that which bring rain, and we need rain. And any farmer pays a lot of attention to the clouds and the rain.

They need the rain. Just like Jane speaks about the farmer waiting for that early and the latter rain. And so if you have clouds, that farmer sees those clouds and he needs that rain for his crops and there's clouds and wind and dust storms and vortices and so on but no rain falls or just a couple drops fall. That's a big disappointment. So the content of a word fitly spoken, it's negatively expressed in verse 14, should not be something that falsely raises hopes.

It shouldn't be something that is not true. That's a let down, that's a disappointment, especially after our hopes were raised. And this is especially important in making promises, whether it's politicians or parents, making promises. We want to do something. We intend to do something.

But for whatever reason, that something, whether it's taking our children to the pool or the park or reading them a book, doesn't happen. Whatever that promise was, it doesn't happen. Or maybe it's a business transaction where a promise is made about what you're going to deliver or what will be delivered to you. What will be included in the purchase that you are making. When we are promised something and it doesn't happen, there is disappointment.

And this, I think, is especially true of superior and inferior relationships, where words are spoken, where promises are made especially. It is important that these words, if they are to be fitly spoken, need to be true. And so we can learn to express ourselves more accurately and we can say, well, if this, this, and this happen, then we will do what you're asking. Or we can say, if the Lord wills, as the Lord wills, or as the Lord enables we will do this, or we intend to do this. So we can express ourselves more accurately in making promises.

The content needs to be accurate, it needs to be true. But secondly, The timing of the expression needs to be right. That's really the essence of that word, fitly, that's inserted in there between the words for word. The word fitly literally is referring to circumstances. The circumstances have to be appropriate.

Ecclesiastes 8.5 puts it this way, a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment. Because for every matter there is a time and judgment. It's saying, there's a wise person realizes that there's more than just the truth of what they're saying. That there is a right time to say something and a wrong time to say it. There's a good time, an appropriate time, a fitting time to give expression to a particular thought.

And there is an ill-fitting time, an inappropriate time to say something. We all know this is true in the area of humor, that the timing of what is said is everything, from something that is wonderfully funny to something that is not remembered. And sometimes when we try to, when we live through a very funny experience and then we try to repeat it we're not able to do that because you had to be there the timing had to be right for that expression you see there are teachable moments every every teacher knows that there are teachable moments. When things happen, when certain circumstances occur, then our minds are more receptive to being instructed. We're more receptive to listening.

And so a teacher who is going to have words that are fitly spoken will recognize what is the right time for saying something. There's a right time to bring a rebuke or reproof and a wrong time. It May be needed, it may be deserved, but a wise heart, Ecclesiastes says, that discerns both time and judgment. Not just the judgment, not just the truth about something, but a wise heart discerns the right time, the right manner in which to express it. And that's the sense then of the word fitly, the circumstances.

Abigail, you remember the wife of Nabal, did not tell Nabal everything that happened when she got back. Because she realized that the time was not appropriate when she got back. You remember that story where her husband denied and really disrespected David's servants when David sent his servants at the time of the harvest, at the time when they were bringing in their produce, and that would be the appropriate time to share with people in need. David sent servants. He expressed a need.

He asked for something of Nabal's abundance, and Nabal disrespected the servants and sent them away empty-handed. And Nabal's wife, Abigail, wisely discerned that this would not bode well for Nabal, that David's servants had helped Nabal. They'd protected his shepherds and flocks while they were in the field, so they didn't lose things due to thieves and so on. And so she immediately forms a plan to intercede, a wise plan. And she takes food and so on the things that David was asking for and she intercepts David on the way To her house David is angry.

He's been offended. He's been disrespected. He's been slighted and he is coming to avenge himself. And she, as a great lady, she's a lady of means, she's a lady who commanded servants, She was, you might think of her as a queen, a queen in the good sense of that word. She's a woman of authority.

She falls down at David's feet and she intercedes for her husband Nabal's foolishness, even making a play on the word of His name. And she has quite a lengthy dissertation there, interceding with David, speaking a word, a fit word, in season. And David says to her, blessed is the Lord God of Israel who sent you this day to meet me. Blessed is your advice and blessed are you because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and avenging myself with my own hand Indian but he recognized that this timing was of the Lord For indeed as the Lord God of Israel lives who has kept me back from hurting you unless you had hurried and Come to meet me surely by morning light no males would have been left to naebol David recognized that that her timing and her words The Lord used to preserve him from committing a great sin and and going and killing this man and all his household. And David received from her hand, And David, Abigail went back to Nabal and he was there holding this feast and Nabal's heart was merry.

And so it says that therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. She recognized there was a right time to bring her reproof and a wrong time. And so it was in the morning when the wine had gone from Nabal and His wife had told him these things, she reported everything that she had done, that his heart died within him and he became like stone. The power of words fitly spoken. Parents know that teachable moments happen around bedtime for children.

That that's a time when hearts are tender. That it's a time when it's often appropriate to speak of serious things in a short and short way. Beautiful things. It's a time when counsel can be given and received, because the time is right. It's a fitting time.

There's a time for bringing every proof, and there's a time not to bring it. When people are more relaxed, when they're not otherwise occupied, when other needs are not pressing upon them, when their mind is not distracted with other pressing matters, These are the times that are fitting to bring weighty matters up. You see, we know this, we know these things. We might say, well, that's obvious or That's second nature. But God has taught us these things.

And these things are in His Word. This matter about timing. Yes, it is, we would say yes, it is sort of second nature to anybody that has any emotional intelligence. But we all make mistakes in this area, and we also need to remember that these things are not just in us because we're born with them, but they have been taught, if we have these abilities, they have been taught to us by God. They're in His Word.

And if we don't have these abilities and these instincts, or they are poorly formed, then we can learn these things because these are part of God's Word. And the Lord gives to His disciples, His people, the ability by His Spirit to learn the things that He teaches in His Word. If this was just something that came by instinct to understand the right timing, then there would be, and we didn't have it, there would be no hope for it. How can you teach something that's instinct? You can't.

You can't teach any human to have the instincts of a dog or a cat. But we can learn the things that are revealed in scripture. The things that God has revealed in scripture are ours. And so if this is an area that may be difficult, or maybe you've gotten it wrong sometimes, and you think, well, I just can't do it, remember this is in the Word of God. This is something that the Lord does teach us, and we can learn it by the grace of God and by His Holy Spirit.

Now thirdly, what comprises a word fitly spoken is the right application of truth. Verse 12 describes it as, like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuke. So this is the other half of Ecclesiastes 8 that says a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment. The time we've just been talking about. But a wise heart also discerns the judgment, the right application of truth.

There's wisdom to rightly apply the truth. The truth wrongly applied is like looking at somebody's mouth as they chew, open mouth as they chew food. It just doesn't sit right. Wisdom is not just knowing something, But it's understanding how to use that knowledge, how to apply it. It's understanding nuances.

It's understanding perspectives. People have different perspectives and a wise person is going to understand the perspective with which someone is coming to something. We see an example of this in David's life where Nathan comes to David about his sin. We just read actually about his sin with Bathsheba. Nathan the prophet came with a lot of wisdom in the right application of truth.

And he presented the truth in such a way that he caused David to see the truth, And then he applied it to David. He came and told the story of a wealthy man who goes to a poor man and takes his one lamb because he doesn't want to sacrifice a lamb out of his wealth. And David is rightly angry. He's justly angry at that wealthy man taking the single ewe lamb that ate at this man's table with his children away from him. And then only then after he had aroused David's just anger at this atrocity does Nathan say, You're that rich man.

And David is convicted by the Holy Spirit of His sin in that matter. That's the right application of truth. The right application. It's wisdom in knowing how to apply what is true to that particular situation, to that particular perspective. So if we're going to be those who are able to speak a word fitly in season, Then we need to pay attention to these nuances, to the right application of truth and do so with wisdom.

It's a wise rebuke to an obedient ear. That is like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold. Have you ever been reproved by somebody who has great wisdom? I know I have. And when it's done well and it's done with wisdom, It's a delight.

It really is a delight. You think, you know, I'm really glad they came and told me that. You feel blessed. You feel loved. And then you've been reproved by somebody who didn't have that kind of judgment.

And it's just like fingernails on the chalkboard. You might know what they're saying is true, but every bone in your body is resisting, acknowledging what they're saying is true. What's the difference? One came with skill, with skill in that judgment. They came with skill.

They knew how to express the truth. They knew how to rightly apply the truth. They understood the perspective in which they would find you, and they wisely related to it. You know, a rebuke is one of those rare things that is more blessed to receive than to give. It's one of those rare things that is more blessed to receive than to give.

It's one of those rare things that is more blessed to receive than to give. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive when you are speaking of a gift. The blessing of giving is greater to the one who is giving the gift than it is to the one who is receiving it. And if you haven't experienced that, you should. The blessing of giving is great, but in every proof, the blessing is to the one who receives it.

It's like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold. Two different words for gold in the Hebrew, but they both mean gold. This is something that's valuable and it's something that is beautiful. A wise rebuke to an obedient ear. So there's one more thing in our text though about what a word, what a fitly spoken word is, and that's in verse 15.

And that is the right mode of expression. So we have the right timing. So first of all it has to be true. We have to have the right timing for it to be fitly spoken. We have to have the right application of the truth.

Something can be true but poorly applied, poorly understood, poorly communicated. But then we also have to have, fourthly, the right mode of expression, the right way, the right manner of expression. By long forbearance, A ruler is persuaded and a gentle tongue breaks a bone. If we are going to have words that are fitly spoken, we need to speak with patience. By long forbearance, a ruler is persuaded And a gentle tongue breaks a bone.

Patience and gentleness. Patience and gentleness. When we're trying to persuade somebody, whether it's somebody, a sinner that's gone astray, or whether it's a king who is ruling improperly, The key, the Bible says, to our communication with them, if it's to be fitly spoken, if it's to be effective, has to be patient, long forbearance, not becoming impatient because we talked to them once and they didn't change their mind. Or we came at them with strong rhetoric and graphic analogies and a harsh tone That's not going to persuade anyone. It's not going to be a word fitly spoken, an apple of gold in a picture of silver.

Strong rhetoric stirs only those who need no persuading. So it's especially important when we are coming to a rule, or we're asking for them to reconsider something that they have decided, legislation that they want to vote for, judgments that have been made in a court of law by long forbearance, patiently waiting, speaking with patience, and a gentle tongue. It's gentle. It's not by how strong we can be. It's not by how bold and brazen and demanding that we can be that break a bone.

It says a gentle, a gentle tongue breaks a bone. You know, and this is difficult, especially where our passions are stirred, where we feel very strongly. It's very hard to come into that situation and speak gently. When everything in us is screaming to pound our fist on the table, to bang our shoe on the table, to make demands and ultimatums, to speak with really strong and stern language. There is sometimes, There is sometimes a place for that.

But it's far less often than we like to think. By long forbearance, patiently waiting, maintaining a communication that's reasonable, That's gentle. These are the things that change people's minds. You know, Paul said it's the goodness of God. It's the kindness of God that leads people to repentance.

It's the kindness of God. That's what moves people. Even Aesop understood this and he had his fables and stories about these things. But we don't need to read Aesop. These principles are in the scripture.

They're what the Bible teaches us. Aesop, you remember, had this bet between the sun And the wind as to who could get the traveler to take his coat off and the wind thought that he could do it he thought I'm strong I'm mighty and I'm just gonna blow and I can I can get this coat off this man And he blew his hardest, but the more he blew, the more the man clenched his coat upon him? And the sun came out and started shining brightly, and of course the coat came off rather quickly, without a lot of force. And that's the principle here, right in the Word of God. By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone.

So there are these two metaphors to speak of the beauty, The beauty and the value of words that are fitly spoken. It's like beautiful and expensive jewelry. That's what a word fitly spoken is. Beautiful and expensive jewelry. A beautiful and expensive ornament.

Now, if expensive jewelry was not appropriate, it could not serve as something with which to compare beautiful and edifying speech that glorifies God. If expensive jewelry was not appropriate, it wouldn't be able to be compared to beautiful and edifying speech. But it is, that's what speech is compared to, beautiful and expensive jewelry, ornaments. It's also compared to refreshment in a season of toil. And I think there is in a sense, the central theme of these verses is verse 15.

It's so much of a chiasm, but it's arguably not there. But I definitely think that this is the central theme of this passage here. That by, that like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the souls of his masters. A faithful messenger is like the cold of snow in the time of harvest. Now, it doesn't mean an unseasonable snowstorm in the middle of the harvest.

It's referring to, you might think, a glass of iced tea in the middle of the harvest, or what we might call a snow cone in the middle of the heat of harvest. A snow cone. That's what it's speaking of. Something that's cool and refreshing. And people have had ice long before we've had refrigerators.

You just have to do a little reading, and you'll learn that ice was preserved throughout the summer long before refrigeration. They could cut ice out of frozen ponds and pack it in insulators like sawdust, and they could keep ice a long time. So ice, an ice cold drink in the middle of the hot season of harvest is a great refreshment. And that's the analogy used to describe a faithful messenger. A faithful messenger.

Messengers are very important in many ways. Think about it. Messengers are very important. One of the first things I was given when I got to college in the Navy was this thing called a message to Garcia. You've probably heard of it because according to the, according to the numbers I've seen, this message has been repeated or distributed hundreds of Millions of copies of this message.

But why was this message given to me as just as I'm joining the Navy? Well, because it's the story of a faithful messenger. And I think that's what captured people's hearts is the story of this message to Garcia. There was, In 1898, the United States was facing a war with Spain. And there was a command given to a Colonel Arthur Wagner, and he's the one who writes this, he was the head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence.

And President McKinley asked, where can I find a man to carry a message to Garcia? And Colonel Wagner said, well there's a young lieutenant named Rowan here in Washington and he can take it. So the president said, send him. That day Colonel Wagner invited his lieutenant Rowan to lunch with him at the Army Navy Club, and he asked him, when does the next boat leave for Jamaica? And this man, Colonel Wagner, was apparently somewhat of a prankster.

So Lieutenant Rowan thought he was trying to play a trick here, but he looked up the sailing time and told him when the next boat sails. And Colonel Wagner said, well, can you sail on that boat? And Lieutenant Rowan said yes right away, thinking it was just some game that was being played. But he realized that wasn't the case, what the next sentence was from Colonel Wagner was, I'm prepared to take that boat. You have been selected by President McKinley to carry a message to Garcia.

He is somewhere in the eastern part of Cuba. Your duty will be to find him and learn the military situation in Cuba insofar as he knows. Your success and in all probabilities the outcome of the possible war with Spain will depend upon you. Leave at midnight tonight and get that message to And then Colonel, or I should say this Lieutenant Rowan, wrote his summary of this trip. He wrote it about 30 years ago, 30 years after it happened for a Washington newspaper.

So this is his stories published in the Washington newspapers. He wrote about how he delivered this message as the messenger. And it wasn't an easy trip. He had to sail to Jamaica. He had to get through Kingston, it's Jamaica's streets, and he had to go through, travel through dense jungle to a place where they really didn't know where he was.

He was just somewhere in Cuba. In Cuba and he had a number of different modes of communication. There was at one point His carriage was surrounded by armed men. He was taken from house to place to be able to get rides to the next arranged transportation to the next leg of his journey. At the end of a seven, one seven mile trek, they emerged on the banks of a bay and there was a, there was a fishing boat.

They were able to signal the boat and get the boat to the, to carry them. He had a ride on the back of somebody to get out to the boat. There in the boat it was camouflaged and they were instructed that well at one point by a Spanish patrol boat, they were instructed, well, you got to get down in the bottom of that boat. And then he realized what all the camouflage was for as the, as the sailor of That boat spoke with the Spanish patrol boat. He was facing a bit of a danger because he was in waters of different countries.

So he's really a U.S. Soldier out of uniform in a foreign land. He could be treated as a spy. And so When this Spanish patrol boat pulled up, their commander of the boat said, how are the fish biting? And the sailor of his boat said, well, they're not biting well.

And he had some more small talk, and the Spanish patrol boat went on believing him to be just a fishing boat and so on. And this story goes, at one place they camped overnight, several strangers appeared in their camp and they declared that they were Spanish deserters. He was unsure about that and suspicious of that and sure enough they were awakened he was awakened in the middle of the night from his hammock by a gunshot the guy had tried to kill him execute him they ended up they were able to kill their attackers who were part of the Spanish army, and so on. And this goes on like this for days. It took him a couple weeks to be able to reach this Garcia.

And when he got there, he delivered his message. And then Garcia had a message for him to take back, and he asked him if he could leave in two hours and he went back with two hours rest through all the same dangers. That's the story of a faithful messenger and it's been repeated hundreds of millions of times, it was given to everybody that entered the Navy because a faithful messenger is like a cool ice cold drink on a hot day, a hot day of hard labor. A faithful messenger does not impose his own agenda on the message, but he communicates the message of the one who sent him. And most of us maybe will never be given a command by the head of military intelligence to deliver a message to somebody in a remote country, but we are, most of us, all of us, messengers.

Pastors and teachers are messengers. They're messengers of the king. They represent the king of kings. And so a church needs to choose its messengers carefully. So that The message is not adulterated by their own ideas, but the true message of Jesus Christ is faithfully communicated.

Parents, mothers and fathers, you're messengers. You're messengers that God has sent to your children to teach them the gospel, to give them the message of salvation. God said of Abraham, I know that he will command his household after him. He was a messenger to his family, teaching them, bringing to them the message of life, the gospel, which is the good news. See, all of us, in some way or another, are messengers.

And as messengers, it needs to be, we need to be faithful messengers, speaking a word fitly. But Christ here, as we saw last week, this week as well, Christ is our perfect Christ is our perfect example. Christ is the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld Him full of grace and truth. Christ is that faithful messenger sent from heaven to bring life at the transfiguration of Jesus Christ on that mountain where he was there with Peter, James, and John, and Moses and Elijah descend onto the mountain and speak with him.

There we hear God's voice. This is my beloved Son. Hear Him. Jesus Christ is that faithful messenger. As Malachi says, the Lord whom you seek will the messenger of the covenant in whom we delight.

The Son of Man has come as the messenger of the covenant to seek and to save those that were lost, to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed. What a wonderful message and what a wonderful messenger. May the Lord give us the grace to be faithful messengers, able to speak a word fitly in season to those to whom we have been sent. Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank you for Christ, the faithful messenger, who has come to earth, who has brought to us this gospel who is the gospel himself who is the messenger of the covenant, who is the message of hope, of life. You Lord are the way, the truth, and the life.

And apart from you, there is no truth and no life. We ask that where we lack these skills that you may teach us, and where you have given to us these skills that we may use them for good, that we might be as a faithful messenger to those to whom we are sent. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.