I want to preach a message this morning entitled, "Say What?" Psalm 19:14 says, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer".
Father, we thank you for your word and we're grateful for your presence here and we do declare your greatness in this place. May we decrease and may you increase and may your word take root in us. I pray God that the enemy would not distract and that he is a liar. I thank you Jesus that you are in this place to encourage us, to build us up and to help us be more like you. We'll give you the glory for that anointing this morning, in Jesus name, amen.
One of the new sayings that's going around is, "Did I just say that out loud?" How many are guilty of saying something that you meant to just keep in your head? We can never have too many reminders of the importance of words. I want to speak this morning about that issue. This has got to be one of the greatest prayers that a Christian could ever pray, "Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight". This is the prayer of the believer in their private prayer time. God, whatever I say and whatever is going on inside me, let it be pleasing to you. Sometimes I think we just read this and think about the things we're going to say, but the truth is this is a heart issue and not just a mouth issue. The Psalmist said at a time when he was before God, "Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you".
Luke 6:45 says, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks". Whatever is stored up inside is going to come out. If you don't want it to come out of your mouth then you have to make sure it's not going on inside of you. Then you'll never have to ask yourself the question, "Did I just say that out loud?" The truth is that if whatever you say out loud is good inside then what you say outside is going to be just fine.
We often hear of the power of the pen and the power of the press. We're excited in this nation to have that freedom. But I want to remind us that there is power in the tongue. Jesus' tongue is described as a double edged sword. In Revelations 1:16 it says, "Out of his mouth was a sharp two edged sword". He knows its power and he has the skill to work it. The truth is if you are skillful with your tongue it can be used for good but if you don't then you're going to hurt yourself more with it than actually using it for what it was intended for. We've got to be skillful with our mouth, our words are so powerful and they determine our life and our destiny. What we do with our mouth makes all the difference with where we're going.
People have to have a license to drive. How many are glad people need a license to drive? As our kids are getting older we should have to give them a license to use their tongue too. Everyone should have it. Matthew 12:37 says, "By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned". There is no way to somehow negate the power of our words. Our words determine our eternity. That's why God says that if you will confess the Lord with your mouth you will be saved. Our mouth is involved in everything that we do. Our words determine our eternity, our words shape our today and they create our tomorrow. I want you to think about that. As Christians we are called to be masters of our mouth, excellent in our speech and in control of our voice. It's one thing if you're 14 years old and your voice is changing, that's part of learning how to master it and knowing what you're doing. But there comes a point when you begin to have your own voice and you get to control what you say and what you do.
Our words and our speech is one of the major topics in the Bible. We know when we look at the world that it handles the most powerful materials with care. Even nuclear material can be used for good or evil purposes and this is why people get so concerned about it. It's either going to be used to make electricity or to blow things up. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat of its fruit". How many understand that our mouth is really like a nuclear reaction? The meltdown that happens when the tongue is not in control and not treated with the importance that it deserves is no less significant than a nuclear meltdown gone bad.
There are several specific areas that we're going to look at today about speaking carefully. Someone made the observation that there are 7 openings on our face and all of them come in pairs except for the mouth. They decided that the reason God did that is because we have enough trouble dealing with one. What are the areas we can look at in the Word of God? Number one, we need to guard against how much we talk. We are a talkative society. I'm an italian so I know what it means to talk but I'm also a preacher. Men talk about 20,000 words less than a woman during the day but when they started figuring out what preachers do they realized that men actually talk more than women do, about 30,000 more words a day. That's a scary thing. The Bible says, "Where words are many, sin is not absent but he who holds his tongue is wise". In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking but he who restrains his lips is wise.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, "For a dream comes through much activity and a fool's voice is known by his many words". Some of you have some dreams or plans that God has put on your heart. It's one thing if you lay down to sleep at night and you've got a dream but a dream can actually come true if you do something about it. Most people don't do something about it, they do a lot of talk. A dream comes through much activity. God has got a plan for you and a plan for me, and we can talk about it all we want but we've got to do something about it.
It's impossible to talk a lot and stay sin free. The Bible says that a fool talks a lot and they show it by what they say. As believers we do a lot of talking but a restless tongue shows a restless heart. If you are never quiet then you're never at rest. The Bible says we must be still to know God and we must be quiet to hear from Him. I like quiet, I really do. Have you ever noticed that it makes a lot of people uncomfortable when it gets quiet? If we're always talking then God doesn't have room to get a word in edgewise. God says, "Where words are many, sin is not absent". That means there are times when we need to be so guarded in what we're saying. If I find myself just rambling and talking then pretty soon I'm going to say something that's not right or pleasing to the Lord.
We need to guard against idle words. Matthew 12:36 says, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak they will give an account of it in the day of judgement". Christian, do you realize that every word you're saying has significance? And we will stand before the Lord. The word ?idle' means every inoperative or non working word. It's like a car that's running but never gets put in gear. This is when we say something carelessly or haphazardly. It's ok to have fun and to joke, it's ok to enjoy life and say things, those aren't idle words. You can bring joy to people's lives just by the things that you speak, you can say something funny. I love it when Larry tells his jokes, I love to laugh. Life is stressful enough, it brings joy and peace.
Idle words also mean using a lot of words to say something but really saying nothing. A lot of people say a lot of stuff but really say nothing at all and it may be far better if they never said a word. Our politicians need to hear this message. It also means when our word means nothing. How many know that our word is our bond? An idle word is when we say we're going to do something but don't do what we say. It didn't have any effect.
Matthew 5:7 says, "Let your yes be yes and your no be no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one". Speak plain, mean what you say. The small print and the double talk are absolutely ridiculous. If you're speaking so fast that no one knows what you're saying, if you've got to read the fine print to find out what you're saying, then those are idle words. May there be no small print in our lives and aren't you thankful there's no small print in the word of God? Aren't you glad he just wrote this contract out for us nice and plain? You can read every word of it and know what he's saying. When you're talking to your kids, speak plain and make it very clear. As a church, when we're sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, speak plain and make it very clear. When you're dealing with people, speak plain. We should be dealing truthfully, honestly with what we say and do.
We need to control our mouth in regard to gossip. Gossip is one of the most horrible things you could ever have done against you. It hurts and destroys. More people have been killed by character assassination and we need to remember that the power of death is in the tongue. Gossip is a horrible thing. Leviticus 19:16 says, "You shall not go about as a talebearer or a gossip among your people". Proverbs 18:8 says, "The words of a talebearer are as wounds and they go down to the innermost part of the belly". The truth is, gossip hurts not just those who are being talked about but it poisons those who are speaking it and those that are hearing it.
I was thinking about all those newspapers who decided to break the news about Tiger Woods. They didn't care about his wife or his kids. The truth is it's not even our business what he's doing privately. How many know he needs Jesus and we can pray for him? All that was, was gossip, and they didn't want to help his wife or his children. Not one of those reporters went up to them and said, "I'm so sorry this is going on in your life. How can I help you?" Instead they said, "I have the money story to make me look good". How many know gossip is destroying our nation? This is why it's such a powerful thing. May our tongues realize the power to speak life and to build up instead of tearing down. May we always encourage and be that life to others. If something is true about someone, our mouth is not to go around and share all the bad things about that person but to go to them and speak life that they could be helped and encouraged. The power of life and death is in the tongue.
We also need to speak the truth. Proverbs 12:22 says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who deal truthfully are his delight". How many love people who tell the truth? I love when people make a mistake and they own up to it. Lies are not only the opposite of truth but they are a language, a way of speaking, a way of doing things. Satan is the father of lies and he speaks lies and that's all he knows to speak. Just as French and Spanish are a language, lies are a language. People are pretty fluent in some of those languages. The Bible says its an abomination and an abomination is the strongest word that can describe something that God hates.
God calls us to speak the truth and he tells us to do it with love. Sometimes the truth is hard. When is it ok to lie? Never. Lying is used in warfare, it's called deception, but you're not involved in a warfare with other people. This causes us to be at the top of our game with our words and understand the power of words because sometimes people make it hard for us to tell the truth. We need to get more creative and learn to speak tactfully with people. We should be skillful and help people out. Being honest is a good thing but we need to get skillful at it. The truth is we've made lying ok and because of that people keep living the lie. Speak the truth in love.
We must also guard against negative talk. Our words create our life and we have what we say. So we must speak what God says and we must choose our words. We must say what His position is. Our words don't just evaporate. The words we say create the fruit that we have. The fruit of our life is either ripe or in season or it becomes poison. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat of its fruit". Those who love it, cherish it and care for it. If you love something you take good care of it. I love the cars that we have. We were able to trade the van in, it was getting rickety and raggedy. We had driven it for years over dirt roads and potholes when we were living at real Life Childrens Ranch. So we got another van and I've been taking care of it. It shines and it looks good. We should take that kind of care of our tongue so we can have that kind of life. Everywhere we looked we couldn't find the vehicle we wanted and it was getting discouraging, we couldn't find it at the price we wanted to pay. My wife said, "I've got faith for this thing, I know what we need and this is what I'm believing for". Instead of giving in and doubting, she spoke faith and as soon as she did that, the next day we found the exact vehicle we were looking for.
Some of you, if you begin to speak life into your situation and declare the word of God into that, then you will have good fruit. You've just got to believe. Jesus knew that he would eat of the fruit. That's why he walked to the tomb of Lazarus and looked inside and said, "Lazarus, come forth" and that dead man came out of the tomb. How many know the power of death and life are in the tongue?
God had given Israel a promise that they will walk into the promised land and everything is there for them. They sent 12 spies to check out the land and they saw the blessing of God but then they saw these giants in the land. Ten of them went back and said, "You're grasshoppers in this land, you're nothing and there's no way you can go in". They began to spread that poison throughout the nation of Israel. There were only 2 spies that came back who understood the power of death and life and said, "We can go, if God gave us the promise then we can posess the promise". The nation of Israel believed the ten that came back with a negative report and that next generation spent their whole life in the wilderness. Those 2 spies who said to go in may have been held back by what the other people were saying but they still waited on God, waited for the promise. If God has to kill off everybody around you that doubts the word that God has so that you can go in and posess the promise, he'll take care of it. Jacob and Caleb waited and continued to declare the word of God. Instead of looking at the problem they believed the promise and finally even as old men they got to walk right in to the promise of God. The power of life and death is in the tongue.
Life is affected by what we are inside and it eventually comes out. A person's life mostly effects the fruit of their tongue. To speak life is to declare God's perspective on any issue. To speak death is to constantly rehearse life's negatives, to talk defeat and to consistently complain. The truth is many of us end up digging our own graves with our tongue. Speak life. It is ok to acknowledge the facts of a situation but then you have to couch it with what God's word says. I may be sick but God's word says he will heal me. I may be going through a hard financial time but God's word said the righteous will never be forsaken or begging for bread. That's why you have to fill your mouth with the word of God and fill your life with the positive's of God's word. If you do you'll eat of its fruit and God will bless you for it.
Lastly, we need to guard against how quickly we speak. Proverbs 29:20 says, "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him". That statement should cause us to pause and think. Do you speak everything the moment you feel it? Do we tell people things that they really don't need to know? Do we tell people all about our life when we could keep some things private? When our spirit gets provoked and we're angry, do we say the things that come to our mind? Do we spew it out as soon as it comes in? Do we regret a lot of what we say? The Bible says that we know how to bridle a horse so that when it gets moving too fast we can make it slow down. If you put something in someone's mouth and begin to yank on it you're going to be able to control that person. I remember one time I was getting stubborn with my wife and she reached over and put her finger in my mouth and I was going wherever she wanted at that point.
The truth is this, we need to learn to do that to our mouth. Before you comment, slow down. Before you answer a question slow down. One of the keys to success in life and in Christ is to live intentionally and purposely. Words are tools, use them like a precision instrument, intentionally. They are powerful. God says that if we think we're spiritual and mature but we can't bridle our tongue we're not truly developed. James 1:26 says, "If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless".
That mouth that God gave you is powerful: parent to teach your kids; husband to love your wife; wife to love your husband; boss to help develop the people who work for you; employee to help speak and do better; Christian to praise the Lord and to be a witness, to have the life that you always dreamed.
The Lord gave us 3 things that we can do to bridle that tongue. James 1:19 says, "My dear brothers, take note of this, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and and slow to become angry".
Say what? Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Why? Because these are the ways that we mess up most of the time. God says that if you want to use it like a precision instrument be quick to hear what people are saying, not just what their mouth says but what they're expressing. We miss so much by just trying to listen to the words. Be quick to listen to God. be slow to speak and slow to become angry. How many know that we blow it the most when we're angry? How many have said something you wish you could take back when you're driving down the street and someone cuts you off? Be slow to become angry at your spouse and at your children. Be slow to become angry on the job, using wisdom with your life.
I want to challenge you to speak life and eat the fruit that God has for you. Make this your prayer, "Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you". Every word that we say, every thing that we think. When you get to the point when you know that what you're saying and what you're thinking is pleasing to God then you're in the best place you could ever be? How many know that will always be a daily struggle? But with God's help you can do just that.
