"Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist" (Luke 21:14-15).

How many times have we thought or even said aloud, "I wish I had said that?" Our verses today are like that, only there is one big difference. We, too, can speak that appropriate word, and it will come out just right.

This rightness is because the message, while it forms in our minds (hearts) and emanates from our lips, originates from God. The "I" of verse 15 is further explained in Matthew 10:19-20: "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." And in Mark 13:11, "for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost."

What a formula for being right all the time! We should let the Author of all truth speak through us. This is probably the fastest way to approach Solomon in all his wisdom. The setting for these powers, however, is one of persecution of the saints. It was an assurance by Jesus to His disciples that when they were confronted by adversaries they were to settle down, not get stirred up. They were to empty their minds of strategies, and not meditate on a great rebuttal.

Testimony to the lost is like that. It takes a committed Christian, submitted to the Lord, knowledgeable in the Word, and available to be used at a moment's notice to make a difference in someone else's life. John 14:26 reads: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." KBC