Honest Christian Speech
S. Martin. Acts 4:18-31 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.… I. THAT WHICH THE CHRISTIAN HAS HEARD IS WORTH REPEATING. He knew not God — words from heaven have revealed to him God. He was far from God — words from heaven have been the means of leading him nigh to God. His heart was at enmity towards God — words from heaven have been the means of reconciling him to God. He knew not how he could be pardoned — words from heaven have directed him to the Lamb of God. So timid was the Christian before he heard these words that he was like a soldier who trembles at the flutter of his own banner, and starts at the clangour of his own trumpet — words from heaven have so aroused his latent courage, that now, armour-clad, and sword, in hand, he glories in the battle of a true life, and instead of shrinking cowardly from the conflict, he now, in the thickest, sharpest warfare stands. Verily, worthy of the world's acceptation are words which are God's power unto salvation. And, think you, will the winds waft these words of God? Will the waters spread these Divine voices? Not your winds, O ye husbandmen, not your waters, O ye merchants; but the currents which carried Peter onwards when he said, "I cannot but speak," and the breath which moved John when He testified, "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." II. THE SPIRIT OF FAITH INCLINES THE CHRISTIAN TO REPEAT WHAT HE HAS HEARD. 1. Observe the order in which religious belief and speech are hero placed. We have heard; and we cannot but speak. This is like Paul's language, and it is in harmony with that of David, "I believed, and therefore have I spoken. We also believe, and therefore speak." This order has been reversed, and much mischief has been the result. Are not children often made to say, "We are members of Christ, we believe in God the Father Almighty, and in His Son," while all evidence is wanting of such union, and of such faith? And converts, before they enter Christian communion, are often required to confess their belief in all the doctrines which that community holds. In some cases men publicly teach and preach before they believe, and the mischief of this false speech is most terrible. Immediately a lad has acquired a few religious ideas, he is often ushered into a Sabbath-school to speak. So soon as an adult is religiously impressed he must confess himself a Christian publicly, and speak. And when he has made a profession, he must be hurried into some sphere of Christian instruction to speak. Now where is the Nazareth in which Christ's disciples are brought up? Where the wilderness that precedes the showing unto Israel? Where the men who, like Paul, sojourn in Arabia before acknowledging Christ in Jerusalem? Premature effort makes weak Christians, and if you would have in Christ's Church strong Christians, men who can work, you will certainly keep all young converts for a time at Nazareth; and even after that you will sometimes send them into the wilderness. We have no confidence in number; our confidence is in the right men to do certain things. Faith comes by healing — faith grows by listening — doubts are dispersed by waiting and by inquiry. Moreover, listening, while it permits the honest, unwilful doubter to suspend his confession, is the best means of guiding such into that integrity of faith in which, like Thomas, they can address as living the Saviour whom they thought dead, and cry, "My Lord and my God." We cannot be always silent, that would be concealment; and we dare not be always reserved, that would mislead; we speak. There is something in the very principle of faith which moves to utterance. 2. But while it is of the nature of faith to incline to speech, that testimony which is the object of Christian faith, exerts the same influence. For what is it that the Christian has heard? Faithful sayings, worthy of all acceptation. And if his heart be right, sensitive, alive, it cannot be to him a matter of indifference whether or not men hear and believe that which he has heard and believed. The word that he has heard is a Divine word; and he would have others hear, that God may be glorified. It is the message of reconciliation; and he would have others hear, that they, too, may be reconciled. The origin, the worth, and the truth of the gospel, move the believer to speak. Its utility, its wonderfulness, the good-will to man that it induces, the believer's own conscience, obligation to the gospel, all move him to speak. If the Christian history appeared to him a fable, seriousness might bid him" hold his peace; if the Christian doctrine were doubtful, integrity will command silence; but the tendency of the believer's faith in the gospel is to move him to speak. 3. And beside the inward impulse, there is an external demand for honest, Christian speech. The disciple of Christ believes that which multitudes around him have not heard; and as he detects, by many symptoms, their ignorance, the spirit of faith saith, "Inform them — speak." He binds to his heart that which many reject; and the spirit of faith saith, "Repeat that which you have heard, persuade, warn, speak." He sees many perishing for lack of that remedy, of that provision by which he is saved; and the spirit of faith saith, "Tell of the antidote to sinfulness — speaking." The Christian in the midst of an ignorant community is like a fountain in the desert; a beacon on a dangerous coast; like his Master when surrounded by a multitude of the sick and needy in Palestine. Lepers are before him — he knows what will cleanse the leper. The palsied and the paralysed are around him — he knows what will re-animate the withered nerves. Divers diseases are exhibited to him — he knows what will remove them all. For sin in all its forms, for evil in all its workings and results, the Christian knows a remedy, and has a remedy. "Then keep not silence about it, but of it — intelligently, lovingly, earnestly, incessantly, but seasonably, speak." III. CONSIDERATIONS HELPFUL TO HONEST CHRISTIAN SPEECH. 1. Multitudes, by voice and pen, are sneering at religious faith and speech. Be not driven from either by the sneers of men; but let us learn from them. There is some excuse for them. The world has heard the Church say she believes what the Church cannot prove that she has ever heard; and the world has had reason to suspect that some Christians speak that which they do not believe. Paul told Titus, "There are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, whose mouths must be stopped." So you see it is not simply talking about religion that the world wants and that the Church requires, but it is seasonable talking, talking about the right thing. 2. We increase our faith by listening. The mere prayer for increase of faith is not enough. How many precious moments in the day are lost, during which you might be directing your ear to Christ! Do not say that there is any incongruity between your listening to the voice of Christ, and your standing before a bench or behind the counter. Wherever it is right for you to be it is right for you to speak to your Saviour. And if you think that you honour Him by fancying that you must be in the place of worship to think of Him, or that you must have the Bible always open before you, you make a very serious mistake; for you want Christ with you everywhere. Thomas Carlyle recommends as a remedy for the false speech of the age, that the tongues of one generation should be cut out. But the cure for the truthless utterances of the Church will be found in placing listening to Christ before believing — in meditation upon the object of faith, and in placing speech after this meditation. Such bridling of the tongue will make perfect men; while clipping of the tongue, as Carlyle forgets, would only make maimed men; and God's way of redeeming a man is not to maim him, but to make him whole. 3. As it is not mere faith that saves us, but faith in Christ, so it is not religious speech that the world needs, but speech of true religion. As our interpretations of the Bible are not necessarily the Bible, so no Christian system is Christ, and some systems called by His name have no connection at all with Him. Do not let men hear so much about my views (for of what consequence are they?), our principles, our Church, our denomination, our fathers, our tradition, our theology; for amid these sounds men lose the only Name by which a sinner can be saved. (S. Martin.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. WEB: They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.