Lisa Barry: Have you ever known anyone who loves to spread bad news about someone else? They never come right out and admit it though. What they do is claim that they're merely sharing this information so that the hearer might pray more effectively--as though God needed all the gory details in order to do something about it. Have you ever been tempted to speak an unkind word about someone else? Of course, we all have. But as we'll find out today, for the person who wants to walk with Christ and sit at His table, then that one must put a tight rein on his tongue. It's the 4th vow to spiritual power, and Elisabeth Elliot has a lot to say on this subject. So stay tuned for this Thursday edition of Gateway To Joy coming up next.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, talking with you again today about five spiritual vows. I didn't make these up. I learned them from A. W. Tozer, a wonderful, godly man who has written so beautifully things which all of us need to know.

Vow number four is never pass on anything about anybody else that will hurt him. Never pass along anything about anybody else that will hurt him. I want to link those words with a hymn called "There's a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea. There's a kindness in His justice which is more than liberty." Listen now to "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy."

In 1 Peter 4:8 we read, "Love covers a multitude of sins." "The tale bearer has no place in God's favor." You know what a talebearer is--somebody who tells stories about other people. Hey mom, he's doing this. Did you know what he's doing? Oh mom, look what she just did! I can remember my mother saying, "I don't want you to tattle. If you have something to tell me about yourself, you can come and tell me, but you don't tattle."

Tozer says, "The tale bearer has no place in God's favor. If you know something that would hinder or hurt the reputation of one of God's children, bury it forever." I think that bears repeating. "If you know something that would hinder or hurt the reputation of one of God's children, bury it forever. Find a little garden out back, a little spot somewhere, and when somebody comes around with an evil story take it out and bury it. Say, 'Here lies in peace the story about my brother.'"

Beautiful, isn't it? God will take care of it. The Bible says, "With what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged." That should certainly give us pause when we're tempted to pass on stories about other people. I am guilty. I confess it; I am absolutely guilty. I'm sure I have passed on many things, which I should have buried. May God forgive me for that.

"With what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged." That ought to shut our mouths. "If you want God to be good to you," Tozer says, "you are going to have to be good to His children. You say, 'That's not grace.' Well, grace gets you into the kingdom of God. That is unmerited favor. But after you are seated at the Father's table, He expects to teach you table manners. He won't let you eat unless you obey the etiquette of the table.

"And what in the world is the etiquette of the table? It's that you don't tell stories about the brother who is seating at the table with you--no matter what his denomination or nationality or background." This is number four of Tozer's five vows for spiritual power. "The etiquette of God's table is that you don't tell stories about the brother who is seating at the table with you--no matter what his denomination or nationality or background.

I love this hymn "There's a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea. There's a kindness in His justice which is more than liberty. There is welcome for the sinner and more graces for the good. There is mercy with the Savior; there is healing in His blood."

Where would I, Elisabeth Elliot, be without that mercy, that healing from the blood of Christ--that welcome for me, a sinner. The third stanza says, "For the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind. And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind." I just love that! I think about that; I say it over and over again. "For the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind." So when you and I think we know something that ought to be spread abroad, let's remember that God looks at it from a very different perspective than we do. His love is much broader than the measure of our poor, little, pitiful minds. "The heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind."

The fourth stanza says, "If our love were but more simple we should take Him at His word, and our lives would be all sunshine in the sweetness of our Lord." I know that my love needs to be simplified. I want to love people that are loving, people who love me. I don't find that very difficult. But it's a very different thing to have the simplicity and the breadth of love that God is telling us about.

"If our love were but more simple we should take Him at His word." How often do you take God at His word? Do you know some hymns that sort of sing themselves over in your heart? I hope you do. This is a very small thing that I can try to do on my radio program. My husband and I do a lot of traveling. We visit many, many different kinds of churches. We've discovered that most of the churches today major in what they call praise songs, which are just what it sounds like--praise to God. We're not knocking those, but we do feel very sad about the fact that some of these great hymns of the Church are no longer being sung. I think people lose a very great deal thereby.

I've often said that the great hymns, such as I've been reading to you this week--"Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord," "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy"--these hymns have gotten me through many a dark night. Praise songs are wonderful, but they won't get you through the night.

So I just want to earnestly ask that if there's anything you can do about getting your church to use some hymns--even if they don't use hymnbooks, they can put them on the overhead--and intersperse the hymns along with the praise songs. I think you'll find yourselves greatly enriched.

Let me read once again that third stanza of this hymn "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy." "For the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind." I'm so glad about that. "And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind."

Remember never to pass on anything about anybody else that will hurt them. "Grace gets you into the kingdom of God. But after you are seated at the Father's table, remember that He expects to teach you table manners." And I think probably there are some children listening to this program, and they're having a hard time perhaps learning the table manners that their mothers and daddies are trying to teach them. The Lord also has a hard time with you and me sometimes. Let's listen to the hymns and learn some of them by heart.

Lisa Barry: Psalm 105:5 challenges us to remember the wonders that He has done--His miracles and the judgments He pronounced. Hymns are a great way to remember the wonderful truth about God. They'll come back to you and minister to you when you need them most. Something else that will minister to you is the book that we've been offering all week called The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. It's been around for a long time, but with good reason. Nowadays if a book spends two weeks on the best seller list it's considered a success. This book has been around for a half a century and is still going strong. It will keep you challenged every day of your life. To purchase a copy of The Pursuit of God for yourself, just send $9.50 along with a note to this address:

Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska 68501. And if you'd like a copy of today's program, you can call us for information on how to purchase that. Our toll-free number is 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Well, have you found us on-line yet? You'll find everything there is to know about Gateway To Joy on our Web site. That address again is gatewaytojoy.org.

Gateway To Joy is a listener-supported production of Back to the Bible. And remember, when you support Gateway To Joy, you're not only helping with the day-to-day ministry expenses, you're also casting a vote of confidence for Gateway To Joy in your area. Will you stand today and be counted? Tomorrow Elisabeth shares the last vow for spiritual power, so be sure to join us then for the next Gateway To Joy.