Latest / Mount Eaton Church / The Mouth "Verbal Tattooing" - Pastor Dave Cornell
Transcript
- 0:09Well, it is great to be back here with you today.
- 0:14Sometimes I just have to say, okay, now what
- 0:16day is this? What church am I in, okay? I love
- 0:19being at Mount Eaton. I've got to tell you, I
- 0:21love Joe Cain. He is the real deal. He and I
- 0:24sat together at the Pregnancy Resource Banquet
- 0:27a month ago or so, and we just had a great time
- 0:30together. And I need to tell you, I did a baptism
- 0:33here January 3rd for three people who know me
- 0:38from kind of a previous life. And the church
- 0:42was gracious enough, Jody and Joe worked together,
- 0:45the church was gracious enough to open the baptistry
- 0:47for us. After worship practice, we were under
- 0:51there looking for why it was cold and the water
- 0:53was not. We had 40 people here for a private
- 0:57baptism, and Joe was here that day cleaning up.
- 1:01He's the real deal. I've been to churches all
- 1:03across this country. I was in our church, which
- 1:07is a church of about 300 for 38 years. Started
- 1:10a bunch of churches. I have kids all over the
- 1:11country. God has blessed you with a really good
- 1:14man. Period end. There's nothing I get from this,
- 1:19although you can think about that. He is the
- 1:22real deal. I want to tell you that. So I love
- 1:26Mount Eaton. I love coming here. Did a lot of
- 1:29work here in 22 until Joe at the installation
- 1:32service. Some of you remember that. And then
- 1:34he was here. I would be here to come to church,
- 1:38but I live in Stroudsburg. And we go to Mount
- 1:41Bethel Church down in Mount Bethel. That's my
- 1:43Scandinavian church, my wife's background. And
- 1:46I love what they're doing down there, but that's
- 1:49not my community. Just like I love what you're
- 1:52doing here, but this is not my community. I'm
- 1:55still committed to Stroudsburg and to all kinds
- 1:58of people there. I teach, I speak, I mentor a
- 2:01private foundation, visit a lot of older people.
- 2:05do more than my share of funerals at this point,
- 2:07but I'm really glad to be here with you. We're
- 2:09going to be talking about the mouth this morning,
- 2:12and there is an outline in your bulletin. I put
- 2:15the title on it as verbal tattooing. You could
- 2:18talk about it as words have power, whatever you
- 2:21kind of wish, but that's what we're going to
- 2:23be talking about. I'd like to read for us, before
- 2:26we go any further, kind of a parallel piece to,
- 2:29Owen, you didn't read Proverbs, did you? You
- 2:33did. I don't recall that. Okay. Maybe I was talking
- 2:37to Jody. I don't know. I'd like to read from
- 2:40James 3 and contrast that to the power of life
- 2:44and death is in the tongue. Compare and contrast
- 2:46it. James chapter 3, reading verses 1 through
- 2:4912. Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren,
- 2:53knowing that as such we will incur stricter judgment.
- 2:57For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does
- 3:01not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect
- 3:03man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now
- 3:06if we put the bits into horses' mouths so that
- 3:09they will obey us, we direct their entire body
- 3:11as well. Look at the ships also. Though they
- 3:15are so great and driven by strong winds, are
- 3:17still directed by a very small rudder whenever
- 3:20the inclination of the pilot desires. So also
- 3:24the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it
- 3:26boasts great things. See how great a forest is
- 3:31set aflame by such a small fire? And the tongue
- 3:34is a fire, the very world of iniquity. The tongue
- 3:37is set among our members as that which defiles
- 3:40the entire body and sets on fire the course of
- 3:44our life and is set on fire by hell. For every
- 3:47species of beasts and birds and reptiles and
- 3:49creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed
- 3:52by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue.
- 3:55It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
- 3:58With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with
- 4:01it we curse men who have been made in the likeness
- 4:03of God. From the same mouth come both blessing
- 4:06and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
- 4:08not to be this way. Does a fountain send out
- 4:11from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
- 4:14Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives?
- 4:16Or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce
- 4:21fresh. May God add his blessing. to His Word.
- 4:25Can we bow for just a word of prayer? Oh Lord
- 4:28God, we believe that this is in fact Your truth,
- 4:34Your Word, Your ideas put into written form.
- 4:38Lord, I thank You for that. I need that. I thank
- 4:41You for my friends here. Lord, I ask that You
- 4:44might take these faltering lips, this inadequate
- 4:51message, and Lord, that you might direct it by
- 4:52your Holy Spirit and use it in people's lives.
- 4:55I thank you for this church, and I thank you
- 4:57for the people. I pray you protect it and encourage
- 4:59it and use it as a lighthouse continually. For
- 5:02it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Have you ever
- 5:06said something, and right after you said it,
- 5:09you wish you could take it back? Nobody, right?
- 5:13Ever sent an email or a text, put the send button,
- 5:17and you, oh no! Yeah, I know you can wipe it
- 5:20away, but guess what? It doesn't always happen.
- 5:22I was at an event recently, and I was talking
- 5:26with my wife and another woman, and a person
- 5:28came up who is severely challenged ethically.
- 5:31He wanted to connect, and I verbally kneecapped
- 5:34him. And then I was proud of myself, and then
- 5:38I was grieved. And now I have to apologize. I
- 5:43don't want to do that. Any one of you would say,
- 5:45if I gave you the background of this, off. He
- 5:48deserved it. He got what was coming to him. But
- 5:51that's not true because the Bible says, vengeance
- 5:54is mine, saith the Lord. And when you or I take
- 5:57vengeance on somebody, guess what we're doing?
- 5:59We're stealing from God. And I don't want to
- 6:02be in that category. We can remove tattoos. I've
- 6:05called this verbal tattooing. You can see that.
- 6:08We can remove tattoos, but we can't remove words.
- 6:12Not easily. Words express how we feel and how
- 6:15we think, don't they? They can hurt, and yet
- 6:18they can also heal. And today I would like to
- 6:20talk more about healing than hurting, but we're
- 6:22going to start with the first. Job said to his
- 6:25comforters in chapter 19, How long will you vex
- 6:28my soul and break me in pieces with words? Words
- 6:32matter, and being in the Lord's work all these
- 6:34years has made me acutely aware of the significance
- 6:37of not just people's words, but my words. Phrases
- 6:42assembled in my mind are understood by those
- 6:45who hear them through the grid of thousands of
- 6:47experiences, all sorts of backgrounds and personalities.
- 6:51A word, a tone, a gesture can mean so many different
- 6:55things to various people, things that maybe I
- 6:58don't want to communicate at all. If it were
- 7:01not for the truth of the Word of God and the
- 7:03presence of the Spirit, I couldn't speak. Friends,
- 7:05I know the power of words to wound. And maybe
- 7:09you have been wounded really badly or really
- 7:11recently. I don't know. But I also know the power
- 7:14of words to heal. And I'm so grateful for that.
- 7:16I have heard words so appropriate, so gracious,
- 7:20so timely, so loving, which have so wonderfully
- 7:25addressed the need of the moment that I'm speechless.
- 7:30That's why words are so important to God as well.
- 7:33Because our words carry impact, God holds us
- 7:38accountable for them, not only for the harmful,
- 7:41hurting ones that wound, but also for those that
- 7:44lack of them when they could heal, or their presence
- 7:47when they heal. Now there's a teaching outline
- 7:50in your bulletin, and here's the idea. Living
- 7:52wisely means speaking wisely. And this is taken
- 7:55from James, because James is the only book of
- 7:58wisdom in the New Testament. And I would like
- 8:01to consider this morning how James contrasts
- 8:03and compares to Proverbs 18 .21. The power of
- 8:09life and death is in the tongue. So think with
- 8:12me. James 3 is a primer on, first of all, the
- 8:16seriousness of negative words. And he outlines
- 8:20five principles, if you look at those first six
- 8:23verses, to show their gravity. I'm going to take
- 8:26this from James 3, verses 1 through 5 and 6,
- 8:29okay? He says, we all stumble. Yeah, we do. I
- 8:35do, regularly. Stumble indicates that the words
- 8:40that I use when they're negative are immature.
- 8:44That's the idea. If any person does not stumble,
- 8:47he is a full or complete or mature person, not
- 8:51sinless. And who has not felt the piercings of
- 8:55negative words, right? Maybe false words, maybe
- 8:58even true words. but certainly unkind and inconsiderate.
- 9:03Stumble indicates that these words are words
- 9:06of immaturity. Words may seem small, and he uses
- 9:10the idea of a horse's bit or a rudder for a ship,
- 9:13small in comparison to a larger situation, but
- 9:17that masks their significance. That's the missing
- 9:20word. Words seem really small, but that masks
- 9:23their significance. Termites are really tiny
- 9:26too, but they are a terror. Someone was telling
- 9:28me that the pillars on the support beams down
- 9:32in the basement of the church over there were
- 9:34taken out because of powder beetles. How about
- 9:37that? Words can shower sparks, missing word,
- 9:41that create big problems. Maybe it's a lust for
- 9:45gossip. Maybe it's a shading of the conversation
- 9:48show you or I come across as being better, more
- 9:52significant, and more appropriate than we are.
- 9:54Shading conversations can really lead to trouble.
- 9:58In James 3, verse 6, the source of sinful speech
- 10:01is indicated as evil or hell. Jode Stoll, a great
- 10:06exposer, calls them the dynamite in our dentures.
- 10:09And you know what? And I've done this. Maybe
- 10:12you have. Our words can switch from poison to
- 10:15pious in a moment, can't they? But God is not
- 10:20fooled. Matthew 12, verse 34 says, Out of the
- 10:23abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Proverbs
- 10:2612, 18 expands on this at the top of your outline.
- 10:29Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue
- 10:31of the wise brings healing. How many of you have
- 10:33ever gone on a fishing boat out of New Jersey,
- 10:36beyond land, getting bass or bluefish or something
- 10:39like that? Anybody done that? All right, a few
- 10:41of you. You know what happens when you get the
- 10:43fish, you give them to the mate afterwards, and
- 10:45he fillets them, right? And the boat is pitching,
- 10:48sometimes a lot more than you want it to. The
- 10:50boat's rocking, and the mate's filleting the
- 10:52fish on the back end. And that knife is, and
- 10:55you think, oh man, this guy's, he's got his hand
- 10:57like this and he's cutting like that. That knife
- 10:59is really, really, really sharp. And that's better
- 11:03than not because you don't want to try to do
- 11:05that twice or struggle with it. You want to do
- 11:07it cleanly and neatly and not cut your finger.
- 11:10Words can cut like knives or like box cutters
- 11:12or like a sharp knife slicing open flesh. That
- 11:16gains our attention. The truth is that all too
- 11:19many people, and all too many of us, me included,
- 11:22have spoken at times with daggers, who have box
- 11:25cutter -like conversations, people who would
- 11:28never think of drawing a knife and slashing it
- 11:30across a stomach or a face or a hand. And God
- 11:32gives that picture in order to draw our attention
- 11:34to it. It's an image. It's an image the Bible
- 11:37wants us to have as it speaks of the seriousness
- 11:39of false, maybe brutally honest, or slanderous,
- 11:43or malicious speech. and I am personally grieved
- 11:47at my own part in this, and yet personal discomfort
- 11:50should not prevent me from speaking it just because
- 11:52I'm uncomfortable. Someone asked me, I won't
- 11:54tell you who it was, but someone asked me, are
- 11:56you preaching to us or are you preaching to yourself?
- 11:58And you know what the answer is? I'm preaching
- 11:59to myself. And if God uses that in your soul,
- 12:03great, glad to hear it. But this message is a
- 12:05message for me, and I believe for you. And it's
- 12:09what God laid on my heart several months ago
- 12:11when Joe asked if I'd speak today. Now the Bible
- 12:14does not say that no man can tame the tongue
- 12:16to make us miserable and hopeless. But so that
- 12:20we might know this, that self -effort cannot
- 12:24cure us. We must have the indwelling control
- 12:27of the Lord. In other words, as you see here,
- 12:31our evil cannot be self -managed. That's the
- 12:35idea. Either Christ controls us or the venom
- 12:39of self will. It's not to make us hopeless. And
- 12:44I would say right away, right at the beginning
- 12:45of the message, if you're here this morning and
- 12:47you don't know where you stand with Christ, where
- 12:51you stand with God, then I would urge you, take
- 12:53a few minutes and come to the place that I did
- 12:56when I was a sophomore in college, 20 years,
- 12:58a lot more than 20 years ago. Hey, watch that.
- 13:03I'm talking about speech here. That's not nice.
- 13:09Oh, man, what a crowd. I was 20 years old. And
- 13:15a friend of mine had become a believer. Great
- 13:18guy. He'd been a wild man. Great guy. And we
- 13:21got together the next year, sophomore year, and
- 13:22I said to him, hey, we're both athletes. And
- 13:25I said, hey, Don, what's with you? You're different.
- 13:29You're still a great guy. He said, Dave, I've
- 13:32begun a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
- 13:34Can I share that with you? I said, yeah. And
- 13:37he shared with me a gospel pamphlet. I wasn't
- 13:40ready to sign on, but I thought about it. I thought
- 13:42about it a long time, months. Finally, one night,
- 13:45I became convinced that the resurrection of Jesus
- 13:47was real. And if I was trying to manage and direct
- 13:51my life myself, I was a fool. And so that night
- 13:55where I lived, I knelt down where I lived and
- 13:57I said, Lord, I believe that you rose from the
- 13:59dead. And I want to entrust my life to you. I
- 14:02believe you died for me and rose from me. Nothing
- 14:06special happened that night except that I became
- 14:07a Christian, a follower of Christ. And if you're
- 14:10not sure where you are, where you stand with
- 14:12God, before this day is out, take some time and
- 14:15say, oh God, and mean it. If you don't mean it,
- 14:18God won't take it. Oh Lord, I want to trust my
- 14:21life to you. I want to make sure that I'm rightly
- 14:23related to you. You will not regret it. We must
- 14:27have the indwelling control of the Lord. And
- 14:30while transforming our tongues requires supernatural
- 14:34strength, God has made some real solid resources
- 14:37available to us. These resources are called the
- 14:40truth or the armor of God. The first piece of
- 14:42armor that God gives us is truth. The Bible teaches
- 14:45that truth is our source of spiritual energy.
- 14:49That's why Joe is a great Bible teacher. I've
- 14:51got to tell you, he's wonderful. I love listening
- 14:53to him. He knows the Word, and he's committed
- 14:55to giving it to you. And by the way, he leaves
- 14:57it all out in the field. He deserves that break
- 15:00that you as a congregation have given to him.
- 15:02I hope he comes back refreshed. And as we discover
- 15:05and process God's word, the indwelling spirit
- 15:08of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, transforms truth into
- 15:11growth and growth into a pattern of managing
- 15:14life by the strength of God. And so God has blessed
- 15:17us with a wealth of truth when it comes to having
- 15:20positive speech and managing the tongue. And
- 15:23here is the good news. That little member of
- 15:25our body, that's going to eat the pizza, is just
- 15:28as able to heal as it is to wound. And that is
- 15:32what I think we want to focus on today. How do
- 15:35I have that? I'd like to emphasize speaking helpfully,
- 15:40not negatively. Many of the best instructions
- 15:43for us are given in Proverbs, and so I'll quote
- 15:45liberally from that. So what does Scripture say
- 15:48about the power of positive words? We're going
- 15:51to take a look at their marks, number one, and
- 15:53their makings, number two. So first of all, their
- 15:56marks. What are they? Well, they are honest.
- 16:01Righteous lips, Proverbs says, are a delight
- 16:03of kings. What does that mean? It means right
- 16:05means straight. I'll be straight with you, honest
- 16:08with you. Healing words may be words of reproof.
- 16:11You know what? I had a guy in my church, about
- 16:13every year and a half, he'd come to me and say,
- 16:15Dave, I need to talk to you about this. And it
- 16:16stung, but he was right, and it helped me. Righteous
- 16:19words may be words of reproof, or words that
- 16:22excise, cut out the problem, or spiritual infection
- 16:25in our lives, and then allow real growth to occur.
- 16:29Proverbs 27 .6 says, Faithful are the wounds
- 16:32of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of
- 16:34an enemy. That is really true. A true friend
- 16:38will carefully but occasionally say, you know
- 16:43what? You need to understand this. You need to
- 16:45hear this. I'm risking our relationship. You
- 16:47need to hear this. Proverbs 17 .10 says this
- 16:50as a balancer, though, a counter. A rebuke goes
- 16:53into a wise man a hundred times deeper than into
- 16:56a fool. That means be really careful if and when
- 16:59you rebuke somebody. Be careful. Secondly, not
- 17:03only will they be apt, they will be few. Proverbs
- 17:0617 .8 makes the point. Even a fool can be mistaken
- 17:09as being wise if he says nothing. In other words,
- 17:12the less said, the less that can be used against
- 17:14you. And for a neighbor's good, fewer words may
- 17:18maintain a friendship. In other words, don't
- 17:20show up in their house, call them on the phone,
- 17:22text them and email them all the time. Did I
- 17:25hurt anybody's feelings with that? I don't know
- 17:26of anybody here doing that. I don't. When words
- 17:29are many, Proverbs 10 .19, transgression is not
- 17:32lacking. James 1 .17 says, let everyone be quick
- 17:36to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. That is
- 17:38the best counseling verse I know. Thirdly, they
- 17:41will be calm. Healing words are calm. Sparing
- 17:45use of words is commended as the mark of a cool
- 17:48spirit in Proverbs 17. And that often denotes
- 17:52a person of understanding, wisdom, and grace.
- 17:55Why? It allows for a fair hearing. Your parents,
- 17:59I have six children. I know something about being
- 18:02a parent and something about making mistakes.
- 18:04I learned hard you better not accuse your kids
- 18:10of something if you don't have all the facts.
- 18:16It's very easy to come to a prejudicial conclusion.
- 18:20Calm words allow for a fair hearing. They allow
- 18:23tempers to cool, and its influence is potent.
- 18:26Comfort is a ministry of the Holy Spirit. and
- 18:29the people in which he lives, those who belong
- 18:31to Christ. Comfort or soothing has a sense of
- 18:37to soften or loosen to it. You can read about
- 18:41that in Ecclesiastes and in Revelation 22 too,
- 18:44where it says, and the leaves of the tree were
- 18:46for the therapy or the healing of the nations.
- 18:50Proverbs 15 .4 says, a wholesome tongue is a
- 18:53tree of life. It bears and supports lots of good
- 18:56things, but a false lying tongue wounds. Think
- 18:59about what you would like in a friend. I've had
- 19:02some great friends across my life. I still have
- 19:04a bunch of them. Think about what you'd want
- 19:08in a friend. You want someone who's encouraging,
- 19:10right? Someone who shares solid perspective when
- 19:13asked. By the way, don't give advice unless you're
- 19:17asked, or unless you're asked to preach. Paul
- 19:20Tournier, a great old Christian medical doctor
- 19:23from Switzerland, said this. Unsolicited advice
- 19:25is really criticism in disguise. That's a potent
- 19:29statement. Think about what you'd like in a friend.
- 19:32Someone who shares an encouraging perspective,
- 19:35a solid perspective when they're asked, who perceives
- 19:39need when it's present, who restrains themselves
- 19:43even when provoked. You know what? There's not
- 19:47a lot of good said about passion. in Scripture.
- 19:51In fact, it says passion is rottenness to the
- 19:54bones. I know it's a big cultural word now. Everybody
- 19:56has passion. There's a passion for that, a passion
- 19:58for the next thing. Not a lot of good said about
- 20:00passion. A lot of good said about calmness and
- 20:03comfort. What does a friend like that feel like?
- 20:07It feels really good, especially in a time of
- 20:09need. Not a sharp tongue, but a soothing tongue.
- 20:12Sharp is made to cut. Soothing is made to comfort.
- 20:15Fourthly, they'll be apt. They are honest, few,
- 20:19calm, and apt. A right answer is crafted with
- 20:22love and thought to the need of the moment and
- 20:26given with grace. Like apples of gold and settings
- 20:30of silver, as the proverb says, which is quoted
- 20:33by Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address
- 20:35and carved in stone in Washington. Aptness, the
- 20:38words of a good person, a good friend, a good
- 20:41companion, a good Christian are a tree of life.
- 20:45Think about what a large fruit or nut tree, like
- 20:48a hickory tree. A lot of shagbark hickory around
- 20:51here. I mentioned this is the first service.
- 20:53Hickory nuts, great food, good for you. Terrific
- 20:57wood for building or supporting or beams, mine
- 21:00timbers, houses, etc. And great for burning fires.
- 21:05It's supportive, nourishing, encouraging, warm.
- 21:09Proverbs 15, 4 say, a good man finds his words
- 21:13bearing fruit. both in the good that comes back
- 21:16to him as well as the benefits which accrue to
- 21:19others. Fifthly, they'll be timely words. Oh,
- 21:22this is really important. To speak a word in
- 21:25season to him that is weary. In season means
- 21:27at the appropriate time. Feelings can be lacerated
- 21:30by a clumsy or a cruel thrust. Chapter 18, verse
- 21:3414. On the other hand, they may be revitalized
- 21:36by a timely word. Their sweetness to the soul,
- 21:39Proverbs 16, 24. Timely. I wouldn't be a bit
- 21:43surprised if every one of us has someone come
- 21:46across the orbit of our life this week who gives
- 21:49to us that sense of this person really needs
- 21:53a lift today. God allows that in his sovereignty,
- 21:57and God uses us in our preparedness for that.
- 22:02Next, they are grace -filled words. Colossians
- 22:044, 6 says, let your speech be seasoned with grace
- 22:07as it were with salt, that you might know how
- 22:10to respond to the need of the moment. You know,
- 22:13you'll come across people, maybe this week, they've
- 22:15lost their job. Their child has really strayed.
- 22:19There's an impending divorce. The ex is doing
- 22:23awful things. Maybe they lost a family member.
- 22:26Maybe their finances are shattered. How do you
- 22:29speak? How do you speak when you come across
- 22:31a situation like that? Do you say, oh, you know,
- 22:33whenever God closes a window, he opens a door?
- 22:36You know what that is? That's Christian blather.
- 22:39Yeah, blather. In other words, something trite,
- 22:43which sounds like Christian speak or Christianese,
- 22:47but it literally has no thought behind it at
- 22:50all. Or do we pause? Do we digest the importance
- 22:54of this moment to that person and then try to
- 22:56be supportive? in that moment, in a way that
- 22:58gives them more hope and strength than they had
- 23:02previously. You know, I know Joe's going to be
- 23:04gone this week and going to be out of town. If
- 23:08you'd like, I can come over and take care of
- 23:10the baby so you can go food shopping so that
- 23:12when he comes home, you don't have to do that.
- 23:14You can spend that time with him. Okay? Those
- 23:17are the marks of healing speech. How are they
- 23:20made? How are they produced? Well, having Christ
- 23:24in your life, Lord of your life, your God, Savior,
- 23:29is the starting point because then the moment
- 23:31you trust Him, His Spirit comes to indwell your
- 23:34life. And He wants to use your life and my life.
- 23:37Speak through us and use us. He wants people,
- 23:41He wants the world to recognize that we're children
- 23:43of our Heavenly Father by the way we act, by
- 23:46the way we speak, by the way we be, by the priorities
- 23:48we set, by the way we use our money and so forth.
- 23:50So I need to have Christ in me, His Spirit living
- 23:53within me. And second line, need to live out
- 23:56Colossians 3 .8. Put aside anger, wrath, malice,
- 23:59slander. Let no abusive speech come from my heart
- 24:01through my mouth. It comes from my heart. It's
- 24:04an ongoing process. And I blow it regularly.
- 24:07Typically in my life, I like to make funnies.
- 24:10And sometimes they don't come across as funny.
- 24:12They're useless. So the old timers, that's more
- 24:16than me. For all those of you who have left.
- 24:20Middle ages and on. Used to call this the mortification
- 24:23of the flesh. The putting to death that flesh
- 24:26that I want to put me first. And wisdom is the
- 24:29guiding principle. And wisdom comes from putting
- 24:31the Lord first. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
- 24:34of wisdom. The deep respect. Not my feelings.
- 24:38The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
- 24:40That means I want what I say to please the one
- 24:43who I call God. And so I'm aware that the words
- 24:46I utter will be recorded. Then when I set aside
- 24:50my feelings and ask God to do the driving of
- 24:52my life, his wisdom helps to discriminate whether
- 24:55to speak and when to speak and how to say it.
- 24:58It's not enough, friends, just to refrain from
- 25:00speaking, to zip the lip, right? That's not good
- 25:04enough. That's kind of like the citizen. You
- 25:05know, you don't go to prison if you are a citizen
- 25:08and you obey the laws. As long as you don't break
- 25:09the law, they're not going to arrest you, I don't
- 25:12think, and put you in jail. But in God's kingdom,
- 25:14that's not enough. It's not enough just to not
- 25:16do the wrong. In God's kingdom, James says, Him
- 25:19who knows what to do, what is right to do, and
- 25:22does it not, it's sin, right? We're to do what's
- 25:26right in God's sight as well. It's not enough
- 25:28to simply refrain from speaking, to not show
- 25:31the poison that's under my tongue. Rather, the
- 25:34mind of the righteous ponders how to answer,
- 25:36Proverbs 15, 28. But the mind of the wicked pours
- 25:39out evil things. Bad, harmful, miserable, troublesome
- 25:43things. Isaiah 50, verse 4 says, The Lord has
- 25:47given me the tongue. of the trained or the disciple,
- 25:50that I may know how to sustain the weary one
- 25:52with a word. All this being said, words have
- 25:54weaknesses also. Words are no substitute for
- 25:57deeds. They cannot alter facts. Brazen denials
- 26:00and emotional excuses will have no impact to
- 26:04God. They cannot compel a response. The Bible
- 26:07says in Proverbs 29, 19, a servant is not disciplined
- 26:11by mere words. Though he understands what you're
- 26:14saying, he will not give heed. You know what
- 26:16that sounds like? My kids. And yours. There's
- 26:21got to be some discipline behind it. Sorry, that's
- 26:25old school. Okay, lastly, what hinders healing
- 26:29words? What contributes to a scorching tongue?
- 26:32If the tongue of the wise brings health, it's
- 26:34the unregulated and undisciplined that scorch
- 26:36and hurt. So here's what hinders it. Number one,
- 26:40speaking without thought or consideration. Number
- 26:44two, giving momentary relief to our feelings,
- 26:47making feel good for the minute, for piercings,
- 26:51to speaking cautiously without thought. There
- 26:55are some of us who do not bridle our verboseness
- 26:58and probably should. That means too talkative
- 27:01if you don't know what verboseness is. Versus
- 27:04the tongue of the wise is gentle and brings comfort.
- 27:07Thirdly, here's a nourishing my inner martyr.
- 27:11Do any of you have an inner martyr? Oh, man,
- 27:14I can't believe what they did to us, what he
- 27:17did to me, what she did to me. An employer, a
- 27:20church, leadership, spouse, child, parent, you
- 27:28name it. Nourishing your inner martyr won't help
- 27:34you produce healing words. What prevents me from
- 27:38having a healing tongue? What experience? Is
- 27:41it the scars that I bear that are too difficult
- 27:43to touch and make me unpleasant? You know what
- 27:46they say? Hurt people hurt people. Is it painful
- 27:50discomfort with myself that causes me to constantly
- 27:53compare myself to others? What is the healing
- 27:55the Bible speaks of and do I really want it?
- 27:57Or do I recklessly want what I want regardless?
- 28:01Do I want to think about the one who controls
- 28:03my tongue and controls what I write about online?
- 28:07Who is in control? really shows where I am with
- 28:11God. Ephesians 4 .21 says, let no unwholesome
- 28:15word, that word is the word sapros, S -A -P -R
- 28:18-O -S. We get our word sap from it. Now other
- 28:22than maple syrup and maybe birch bark, have any
- 28:24of you ever tasted the sap of a tree when you
- 28:26were kids? Broken twigs? It's bitter. That's
- 28:29where you get this word sap from, sapros. Let
- 28:32no bitter word, no unwholesome word proceed out
- 28:36of your mouth. How many of you have gardens and
- 28:39you raise tomatoes? Anybody? Got any tomatoes
- 28:41yet? Any ripe tomatoes yet? What happens when
- 28:44you get a nice, big, fat, juicy beefsteak, ripe
- 28:47tomato, and you put it somewhere in the kitchen,
- 28:49who knows where? And you put it there, and you
- 28:54forget about it, and it begins to... What does
- 28:59it smell like? It stinks! That's what God's talking
- 29:04about. Let no unwholesome... bitter word. It's
- 29:07literally used as spoiled fish, decayed trees,
- 29:10and rotten fruit. Something that smells and tastes
- 29:13bad. In each case, it's something which should
- 29:16nourish or be helpful, but which has quietly
- 29:19rotted its way into being garbage and being thrown
- 29:22out. Here's the last one, mental laziness. Too
- 29:25often we want to give the least costly answer
- 29:27in terms of time and thought. an emotional connection.
- 29:30And so we give a Christianese answer, like I
- 29:33talked about earlier, something that sounds spiritual,
- 29:36but holds little substantive truth. Well, I have,
- 29:40I've run out of gas. And I would say to you,
- 29:44that's of God, because you've heard enough. Now
- 29:48you're faced, and I am faced with a choice. I
- 29:52need to consciously say, Lord, I want you to
- 29:55be the Lord of my mouth, not just to prevent
- 29:59the venom from coming out, but so that you can
- 30:02use my mouth to bless people. Will you do that?
- 30:06Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for this church.
- 30:09I thank you for these people who have come on
- 30:11a hot Sunday to listen to your word. And I pray,
- 30:15Lord, I ask you to help these ideas and these
- 30:17words resonate, ricochet through their minds,
- 30:21Lord. And I ask you, Lord, that for the people
- 30:24who right now are asking you to take control
- 30:27of their responses so that they are apt and calm
- 30:32and few and timely and grace -filled. Oh, Lord,
- 30:38might you bless their lives. And through that,
- 30:42bless lots of others in this church and out of
- 30:44it. And we'll give you all the glory in Jesus'
- 30:47name. Amen.