“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy
people … Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and
not suffer sin upon him.”
— Leviticus 19:16
Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the
hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the
report be true or false, we are by this precept of God’s Word forbidden
to spread it. The reputations of the Lord’s people should be very
precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil
to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a
bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren,
as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah’s wise sons cast a mantle
over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We
may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from
our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now.
Be this our family rule, and our personal bond-SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN.
The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and prescribes the
way in which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother
to his face, not by railing behind his back. This course is manly,
brotherly, Christlike, and under God’s blessing will be useful. Does
the flesh shrink from it? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our
conscience, and keep ourselves to the work, lest by suffering sin upon
our friend we become ourselves partakers of it. Hundreds have been
saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate warnings of
faithful ministers and brethren. Our Lord Jesus has set us a gracious
example of how to deal with erring friends in his warning given to
Peter, the prayer with which he preceded it, and the gentle way in
which he bore with Peter’s boastful denial that he needed such a
caution.
On this day...
- Genesis 3 - 2023
- Genesis 2 - 2023
- Ephesians 3 - 2011
- The Plain Gospel - 2011
- Forgiveness is the remission of sins - 2011
- John Calvin Dealing with Self-Denial - 2011
- John Calvin the Educator - 2011
- Being faithful in a very little - 2011
- Moving forward - 2011
- Being cleansed fully - 2011
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