[0:00] Proverbs chapter number 10, we're going to read that together. As I mentioned when we were in chapter number 9, that things will change in chapter number 10. These are what we think of oftentimes of Proverbs, meaning about two sets of verses on the theme, and then the theme will change, the topic will change.
[0:16] If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll see it here in a second as we read through it together. And so I was curious and looking forward to see how Pastor handles chapter 10 and others, but I'm not going to get to find out.
[0:27] But you're going to find out what I decided we will do with chapter number 10. And this is my Bible study method for chapter 10, my hermeneutic here. As I read until I said, ouch, and when I said, ouch, I stopped and I studied.
[0:40] And I didn't have to get very far. On the topics of your mouth and on words and how to use your tongue is an area that as I read through this, and it showed up over and over again in this chapter.
[0:52] And so I would like to have you help me read some of the verses and maybe circle them as we look at them. But before we read Proverbs 10, I'd heard a quote this week, and I wrote it down.
[1:04] I hope to not forget it. It says, put your strongest soldiers at your weakest gates. Put your strongest soldiers at your weakest gates. Meaning that the areas that you know that you struggle and areas that you would have a temptation, that's where you should focus your attention, the pursuit of holiness and being more like Christ.
[1:21] Psalm chapter number 141 verse 3 says, Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Put strong soldiers over your mouth, over your lips, if you know that is an area in which that you struggle.
[1:36] This proverb certainly has helped me, and I believe it will help you as well. The fighter verse that I've chosen, the verse that I would like for you to memorize from this is verse number 11. It says, The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life.
[1:50] The violence covers the mouth of the wicked. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. We see about 11 different verses in this chapter that speak on that topic of our mouth being a well of life, of our lips either being truthful or being used for the harm of people.
[2:09] And so I want to draw your attention to them, and maybe you could circle those verses when we get to them. But verse 1 says, The Proverbs of Solomon, A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
[2:24] And that verse is maybe a prologue for the next 15 chapters, where it's going to give us a picture of how a wise son is. And you can see a dad looking upon a wise son and the thing that he's doing.
[2:37] My son Carson mowed the yard the other day, and I sat there, and I had a nice smile on my face. All right? I was a very proud dad. I was very glad. Did he do a good job? Good enough.
[2:47] All right? And that's all we need right now. And then also it says that a foolish son is a heaviness to a mother. And what a picture there, right? You've all seen the heaviness. You've seen moms come into this church with the heaviness of the decision of their kids.
[3:00] Maybe you felt it yourself. But Proverbs is going to give us a lot of warnings. This is the way that will bring gladness to people and authority in your life. This is a way of a foolish person that will bring sorrow.
[3:12] And one of those ways has to do regarding our mouth and the use of it. The treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous, the famished, but he catheth the way of the substance of the wicked.
[3:26] He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
[3:37] Because, circle verse 6, Blessed are upon the head of the just, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot.
[3:48] The wise in heart shall receive commandments, but a pradding fool shall fall. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely, but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. He that winketh with the eye causes sorrow, but a pradding fool shall fall.
[4:00] I have a start by verse 11. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. I've circled verse 12. Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all sins.
[4:12] Also circled 13. In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found, but a rod is on the back of him that is void of understanding. I've circled 14. It says, A wise man lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
[4:26] The rich man's wealth is a strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. The labor of the righteous tendeth to life. The fruit of the wicked is the sin. He is the way of life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
[4:39] I circled 18, 19, 20, and 21 as they are on our theme tonight. He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander is a fool. In the multitude of words there wonneth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
[4:54] The tongue of the just is the choice silver. The heart of the wicked is a little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for one of wisdom. The blessing of the Lord is maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
[5:06] It is as a sport to a fool to do mischief, but a man of understanding hath wisdom. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. As the whirlwind passes, so is the wicked no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
[5:20] As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the slugger to them that send him. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
[5:33] The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but instruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. Now once again, circle 31 and 32.
[5:45] The mouth of the just shall bring forth wisdom, but the froward tongues shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
[5:56] This afternoon, Stephanie and I were on a Zoom call, and we were getting advice concerning something to do with foster care and a court date that was coming up, and the lady was coaching me.
[6:08] An attorney was coaching me, and she says, these are things you want to say, and these are things that you don't want to say. And as we talked about it, I realized that there's going to come a moment where every word I say in this moment is going to be weighed one way or another, that no word will be neutral, that it's going to have a direction to it.
[6:26] And that was heavy to me to think about. And then she said, why don't you just write out what you're going to say and let me look at it? And I said, that sounds like a great idea. And there's moments in life where you know that your words have real significance and they really matter.
[6:40] But too often, I don't realize that the words I say, they carry a weight to them, and they're not neutral. They're either being used to build up somebody or to tear them down.
[6:51] And this proverb in God's Word reminds us that our words can be used greatly to the glory of God or to the destruction of people. And that's what I found.
[7:01] I pray that you'll find this truth tonight and respond to it. Heavenly Father, I ask that you'll be with us as we look at your Word, Lord, that it will have the desired intent in our heart, which means, Lord, that it will have the intent that you gave it for us.
[7:14] Lord, we want to be wise sons that bring gladness to our fathers and avoid the ways of foolish action that bring sorrow in this world. Lord, you have all rights to my life. I own every possession that I could ever own.
[7:28] My life, my kids, and Lord, you own my mouth and my speech and what I have to say. And Lord, so many times I have taken that for granted.
[7:39] And I thank you for the challenge from your Word to bring us back into alignment with your will. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So I want to look at the magnitude. The mouth of the righteous man is a well of life.
[7:51] This magnitude of our mouth. For Mother's Day, Stephanie and I went to one of those nice places where they cook in front of you. Not Waffle House, which I know Malcolm loves so much. One of those, the Japanese Waffle House, right?
[8:02] A hibachi place. And that's one of the kids' favorite places to go. And Selah has always been afraid of the fire that would start. She did not like it.
[8:14] When she was little, she would get under the table. When it would happen, as she got a little bit older, she would go to the foyer of the restaurant because she got really scared when it happened. So there we were on Sunday afternoon, and I was waiting to see what Selah was going to do.
[8:26] And the guy makes the big flame at the very beginning, and Selah is leaning in like she's growling at it. She's just grinning and staring at this fire. And it got done, and I looked at her, and I said, Selah, I thought she was afraid of the fire.
[8:40] What were you doing? Why weren't you afraid? And she looked at me, and she says, because I got saved, Dad. And so Selah got saved last week. And so now she even goes to hibachi restaurants differently than she once did.
[8:53] And I was surprised by this. We weren't, I did, God had been working in her heart, and it's just such a wonderful thing that she got saved. But you know, we're made new creatures, which means that we don't even eat Japanese food like unbelievers.
[9:05] All right, James? Right? There was a way in which we do everything different. When the Bible says that the gospel's made us new creatures, it's touched every area of our life. And my six-year-old daughter knew that.
[9:17] She knew that a decision she had made for Christ is going to change the smallest detail of her life. And so in that being case, it also has, the gospel has its implications upon the way we speak to one another, the way that I speak to people I know, people that I don't know.
[9:33] An understanding of the gospel affects everything. Galatians 2.14, one of my favorite stories that show this, the conversations between Paul and Peter, where Peter is acting in a way that he's distancing himself from a certain group of people, and Paul looks at him, and he says, basically, do you not understand this justification that we're teaching?
[9:52] Galatians 2.14, but when I saw that they walk not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, that there's a way in which you live that shows that you do not understand the gospel. There's a way in which you can speak which would show that you do not understand what God has done in your heart.
[10:08] Because everything in our lives flows from our understanding of who God is. Romans 5.1, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[10:19] So being justified by faith, that therefore, that is there, has so many other implications. Romans 8.1 tells us there's no longer any condemnation because of this.
[10:30] And so it changes my schedule every day. I'm not living trying to remove the guilt and shame of my sin because condemnation has been moved. He gave His Son for us. Romans 8.32, He that spared not His Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
[10:48] And so the resources has changed. The gospel, Jesus has saved me, it's also changed what I have available to me in life because the God who saved me that gave His Son also gave me all these wonderful things and so I should take inventory of that when God calls me to do something.
[11:04] I can't just say I don't have the ability but God has given me His Son, He's given me all things. We're told to flee immorality, 1 Corinthians 6.18, flee fornication every sin that man doeth without the body for he that committeth fornication sineth against his own body.
[11:18] What? Know you not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have God and you are not of your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.
[11:30] My motives have changed because of the gospel. I want to avoid sin not just because it's hazardous for me and not just because it doesn't let me live up to my full potential and all the things that you could say but because I've been bought with a price.
[11:44] even the way we forgive. Ephesians 4.32, Be you kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. The gospel has affected the way that I can forgive other people.
[11:59] Ephesians 5.25, Husbands love your wives even as Christ has loved the church and gave himself for it. the gospel has an implication upon my marriage and Philippians 1.27 and let your conversation your conduct be as it become at the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel that the gospel has implications upon my conduct upon my conversations and upon every word that I say.
[12:33] So today I did not stand before a judge and let her weigh every one of my words to see the direction but I spoke and every word that I said the God of heaven he heard and did it reflect the way that I've been changed by the gospel or did it reflect a misunderstanding of who God is?
[12:52] Is it as Paul said to Peter the way that you're acting does not show your understanding of the gospel. So there's a real magnitude to our words and what we say. The Bible has much to say about what we say.
[13:06] They said the average person speaks 7,000 words a day. How many of you think you've reached your 7,000 words a day? All right 7,000 words and an average 50,000 words a week the size of a short book.
[13:18] How point at somebody that you think spoke more than 7,000 words a day? Would you point at somebody over here? Okay Nobody or such a kind group in here? Okay All right You did? Both of you? You both have together?
[13:29] You know most relationships has one person who talks and one that silenced? Me and Stephanie didn't get that in our marriage all right we just have two people who talk all the time but 7,000 words that's a lot of words and we often don't think about the magnitude of those words.
[13:45] I came to realize how powerful words were as a middle school student. That's the first time that I think about how I decided that I was going to craft my words for a purpose and so the teenagers should know this but when we'd have our break time in middle school we'd all go and stand by this big window and where there was vending machines and so we'd all stand there at this big window with a candy bar and we would stare at something and what we were staring at was my house that I grew up at okay nobody else got the privilege of having all their friends stare at their house the whole time that we had a break so all my friends would stand there and my home was as close to the middle school as our goats Kobe and the other goats out there in that pen are from the church if you're new here we have some goats we'll talk about it later okay but the middle school was really close to where I lived and so we would stand there and middle school kids they would make they would say things about me you know and as they would say things about me I would sit there and I would plan on if one of them said something that insulted my home and my family then how would I respond so a kid would say something like how long are you going to not mow the grass and I say well I mowed the grass the last time coach let you play in the basketball game that's why it's been so long
[14:57] Justin the reason I haven't mowed the yard or you know like something like that like why do you have so many things in your yard or why is this or that and I would say something insulting that I shouldn't have said as a middle schooler and I'm definitely not going to tell you the night in church alright and so as I sit there and they crafted their statements toward me I would meditate and I would think I need to use my words so that if I get hurt I can hurt them back and I knew it was powerful I knew that I couldn't beat up any of those kids but I knew that if I was prepared I could get them to be quiet and not hurt my feelings and say those things it has a power but I'm thankful that they're not only used as a demolition crew but the words can be used to do some wonderful things in this world do we wound or heal people Proverbs 12 18 there is that speaketh like the piercing of a sword and that's what I wanted to do but the tongue of the wise is health and I wish I could go back to middle school I think about how many people were hurting around me and how if I would have yielded myself to God using me how I could have been used to build up some middle schoolers who were hurting and who were insecure do we commend the fear of the Lord or do we pour out folly
[16:07] Proverbs 15 2 the tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness a wise person gives knowledge to the people a foolish person spouts off what they think they know is it refreshing to hear me speak Proverbs 15 4 a wholesome tongue is a tree of life but perverseness there is a breach in the spirit we've all been around people and when we were done we just felt not refreshed we felt tired we felt heavy we felt sorrow and that happens with the words that they chose to use for how little we often think of our words they hold the power of life and death Proverbs 18 21 death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof I don't think I can over emphasize the importance of the choice of our words when we have verses like this in the Bible that say life and death are in the power of the tongue which means that every word we have is a choice and that none of them are neutral every word we use has a direction and it's either going to be good used for his glory and for good or it's going to be used for bad it's going to be good to build up or to tear down and I want you to ask yourself how have you decided that your words are going to be used to either destroy or to help people
[17:22] Miss Susie was my speech teacher all the way to school all the way through school all the way to high school and all of you know which class they took me out of the Gilda Speech class they took me out of English grammar class the Gilda Speech class right and I'll tell you that as my excuse for not knowing my grammar but Miss Susie would use flashcards with me and she would help me but I need the word of God to help me know what to say not how to say it but I need to know what to say because speech is such a wonderful gift that God has given us and so then we see this meaning of the well of life we should pay attention to what comes out of our mouth James chapter number 3 I know spanning the gap is in James chapter number 3 brother Jeff told me this coming Sunday but James 3 7 reminds us that of all the things that can be tamed of every beast and every serpent of the sea that have been tamed the tongue can no man tame it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison but I think we so often try to tame our tongue you can have a jar where you say something wrong you put money into it you can try to bite your tongue when you say something wrong but none of those things are changing right if you just try to change the way you speak by focusing on taming your tongue you know it's never going to change because an untamed soul an untamed heart will never have a tamed tongue if you want to change your tongue then you have to go much deeper than the mouth you have to go to the heart of the issue
[18:47] James 3 10 11 out of the same mouth proceed of blessing and cursing my brother and these things ought not be so though the fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter how is it you can say such wonderful things and such evil things it shouldn't be so and you can't tame your tongue but God can do a work in your heart verse 18 of that same chapter he that hideth hatred with lying lips of Proverbs 10 he that hideth hatred with lying lips and he that uttereth slander is a fool so if you think that you have a hatred for somebody and you think you can hide it with niceties and lying lips and that you're just a fool that you cannot cover up what is in the heart it's going to come out it always does because the mouth is the servant of the heart and so you cannot tame the mouth but you have to go with the heart when a person hates someone but they try not to show it it's often forced into a lie but you have to deal with it on a heart level and so why so much about the heart why so much about the mouth because it's connection to the heart you know the verse well
[19:51] Matthew 15 11 now that which goeth into the mouth not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man but we have a responsibility we cannot just say that we're victims and that we can't stop it this was my upbringing this is how I was the Bible tells us in Ephesians 4 29 with these one word it says let let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth which means that you have a decision to make to either let corrupt communication come out or that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers that your mouth is called to give grace let me remind you what grace is here for a second that redeeming quality of God which saves us seals us sanctify us it was grace that blessed us by his beloved son it's grace that raised him from the dead it was grace that rescued us from our sins it's God's grace which is rich and overflowing and immeasurable and eternity will not exhaust the storehouses of his grace in Ephesians 1 it's that wonderful thing that our mouth gets to be a minister of what an incredible privilege that we can have with it that God would do that that we would not let corrupt communication come out but he can do something so much more than just be neutral that he can be a minister of grace what a great calling in life our mouth has been called to be a minister to grace you have been called to be a minister of grace that you get to apply the greatest thing in all the universe to people and God has called you to do that and he gives you the ability to do that and how are we to do it?
[21:33] out of our abundance we usually look at this verse in a negative sense Matthew 12 34 old generation of vipers how can you bring evil being evil speak good things for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh it is the abundance in which we speak and that's why God must be our fountain of living water and overflowing Jeremiah 2 13 for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hew them of cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water God means to be our abundance he means to be our fountain of life so that out of that abundance we would speak unto the people and then chapter 10 verse 12 hatred stirreth up strife but love covereth all sins it's this abundance of love or this abundance of hate that's going to decide if we let corrupt communication come out or if we're going to be ministers of grace so the tongue projects the thoughts and intentions of our heart and what does that say about our heart and in my case so many times my mouth convicts me of the fact that what is in my heart is not what belongs there that what is in abundance that is there what comes out naturally is what I have stored up in abundance there and so now we have this ministry as a righteous man that we get to do this this ministry that God has called us to be part of remember the fighter verse if you'll read with me in verse number 11 the verse that we're working to memorize together for the mouth of the righteous man is a well of life but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked so this ministry of a righteous man only a righteous man can have this well of life that's what God uses we have been made righteous by Jesus Christ and so we have great potential it's a wonderful thing that you know that God could use you in the darkest hour of somebody's life when people are living and brokenness that you can go and you can sit down beside them and that God through the Holy Spirit inside of you could use you to minister grace to them that's so exciting isn't it that's such a wonderful thing that causes us that's what ought to be and it does propel our missionaries to the field it's not in the belief that they can do anything of themselves but why do they go because they know they can go to a place and that God can use them to minister grace same reason that you ought to decide to go into places when you hear of things you ought to be deciding to be there with people we live in a very thirsty world
[24:03] Jesus speaking to the woman at the will John 7 37 in this last day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink does anybody thirst today you know we're a thirsty people we long to be with him but we most certainly live in a thirsty world is God who has taught us what is acceptable chapter 10 verse 32 one of the verses I encourage you to circle it says the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable but the mouth of the wicked speaketh forwardness our lips know what is acceptable because we have been made righteous by him Jesus doesn't have to have what our soul Jesus doesn't just have what our soul needs but he is what our soul needs 7 38 he that believeth on me John 7 38 he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water so that through us God can use us to bring grace to a thirsty place and so what an incredible ministry that a righteous person can have a person that has put their faith and trust in him and so we should enjoy this fountain of life not just in the ministry that we have but a ministry that other people would have to us
[25:17] I encourage you to circle verse 8 but it says the wise in heart will receive commandments but a pradding fool shall fall receiving has to do with listening that we can listen to God minister to us through other people through the teaching of God's word that we can be ministered to as thirsty people we can get with other people and hear God's word being taught to us 2 Timothy 2 or in Proverbs 10 verse 19 in the multitude of words there one hath not sin but he that refraineth his lips is wise in the multitude of words we should be we speak all the time but sometimes we need to be the ones that are listening verse 13 we said the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found the lips of a righteous man a person that is allowing God to minister through them on that person's lips we are going to find understanding and we're going to find wisdom and we ought to be seeking it out all the time it ought to be part of our daily lives we should be constantly seeking for God's wisdom that he can minister to us through other people
[26:23] I don't know who said it to me when I was younger but I heard it a lot and it was this people who do not talk a lot aren't the only people who don't say much right people who don't talk a lot aren't the only people who don't say much that was my family's way of saying Trent you need to be quiet you don't need to talk so much but just in all this talking the Bible tells in a multitude of words there's often that there often is found problems and so one of the main parts of being able to speak wisdom and to minister to grace the people is being a person who listens who listens to wisdom and to knowledge if you're going to fill your mind with things that aren't godly if you're going to fill your things with the things that aren't the wisdom of God then it's only going to come in and it's going to go back out if you're going to listen to people that babble all the time we should be the Bible calls us to be as deep waters not as babbling 2 Timothy 2.16 but shun profane and vain babblings for they will increase unto more ungodliness and so there is a vain babbling that's always available to us at all times but this should be our testimony
[27:30] Proverbs 18 verse 4 it says the words of a man's mouth are as deep waters and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook the words of a man's mouth as deep waters and the wellspring are wisdom as a flowing brook every one of us in here should want that to be our testimony is that we would speak and it would have some substance to it there would be some significance to it that we have weighed what we have said that we wrote out what we were going to say we let King Jesus the judge look at it and say this is what you ought to say this is what you should edit out this is not what should be said so how should every believer be a fountain of life for us how would this be your ministry here's some Psalms 36 9 for with thee is a fountain of life and thy light shall we see light for with thee is the fountain of life spending time with God changes the way that we speak spending time with God the fountain of life allows us to be that wellspring that he would speak in and through us getting understanding from God
[28:35] Proverbs 16 22 understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it but the instructions of fools is folly we need to get our understanding from God we're people that go to God's word we go to God in prayer and as he gives us answers and we can speak it to other people we should have a holy fear of the Lord Proverbs 14 27 the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life depart from the snares of death if you want to be a person whose words are a fountain of life you need to be a person that has a fear of the Lord Proverbs 13 14 the law of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death a person that knows the commands and the principles of God from his word is a person that can be a fountain of life when we sit down with somebody and they need advice on how to act or what they do and we're able to give them God's word then we are being a fountain of life because it's God's scripture that's going to lead them into life and it's going to be the rejection of scripture that's going to lead them into death and so we have an opportunity there to be a fountain to them so how does this life from others come out as a fountain
[29:42] Proverbs 10 14 wise men lay up knowledge but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction if you want to benefit from this fountain of life you're going to be a person that lays up knowledge that you receive it by the bucket loads right you know the story of the widow when she went there and they said go and get all the buckets that are available there for you it wasn't buckets was it go all the pots and all the vessels that are available for you we should be a person that's constantly finding ways to store God's wisdom and knowledge that's available to us and at any time in history of any group of people as English speaking people in the time we live in you can be filling up your buckets of wisdom all the time there's so many great resources you can't exhaust them we have missionaries that are working Robert with voice in the villages in Africa there's certain languages that have a handful of resources there's some languages that are yet to even have the Bible translated in it but in English you could be listening to the Bible all day long you could be listening to people teach the Bible all day long you can be storing up this knowledge and this wisdom that is here a mouth that is used to deliver God's wisdom 1031 the mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom but the forward tongues shall be cut out that our mouth can be used to bring forth
[30:54] God's wisdom what a great use of it not a middle school kid who's just looking for ways to cut down everybody around them but at the power of your mouth to build people up our words feed people 1021 the lips of the righteous feed many but the full dies for one of wisdom your mouth can be used to feed the people that are around you Jesus says to Peter lovest thou me feed my sheep God wants his children fed and how did Peter feed his sheep he taught the word of God he spoke God's wisdom to other people the fix that our words have on other people Proverbs 12 25 heaviness is in the heart of a man that maketh it stoop but a good word maketh it glad our words can make a burden upon somebody a sorrow upon somebody or it can make their heart light and gladness and it can bring healing as we've read Proverbs 12 18 there is he that speaketh like the piercing of a sword but the tongue of the wise is health our tongue can bring health to other people verse 11 again the mouth of the righteous man is a well of life but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked so before we pray
[32:02] I'll give you a moment to pray there in your seat and to do an inventory and to say God you've given me these 7,000 words today you've given me the ability to communicate and to talk to people you've given me the interacting with people those closest to me people that you work with ask a few questions does your mouth usually feed people with the truth or do they starve people with silence you know your mouth can be used destructively but also sometimes we can sit there quietly that's what Matthew spoke about at the beginning being ashamed of the gospel not being willing to feed those people around us because we sit there quietly does your mouth bring healing or does it hurt people does your mouth protect people or does it attack people something that I had on my whiteboard for a long time partially because I wrote it in a permanent marker as opposed to the right marker alright but it was in 1 Peter 4 11 it says if any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God and if any man minister let him do as it is the ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom we praise and dominion forever and ever amen if any man speak let it be as the oracles of God speaking about in the setting speaking before other believers as we speak we should speak with authority about God's word if a person is going to do that let it be the oracles of God but you know that as I stand here and I speak as the oracle of God just because I take 10 steps away from here
[33:31] I don't have any less responsibility that as he has given me ability my mouth should be surrendered to him and that as I have ability it should be as if God is speaking and bringing life in the people and that when I yield it to him I am giving up one of the greatest resources that God has given me the ability to communicate to somebody and I am handing it over to somebody could you imagine if a person in here we knew they were a billionaire but they gave very little of that to the cause of Christ if a person in here had some incredible resource available to them but they did not yield it over the God and you say you know why didn't you use that why was that available to us but every one of us in here have the ability to speak and to talk to one another and if we don't yield it over the God to build up one another what a real shame because as we've been given ability we should use it for God's glory and for the good so I ask you to put your strongest soldier at your weakest gate and I raise my hand tonight and say it is my weakest gate it is the thing that will destroy me it will destroy my family it will destroy my life if I do not put the strongest soldiers that set watch oh Lord before my mouth and keep the door of my lips and I'd like to ask you
[34:47] Psalm 141 verse 3 I'd like for you to make that your prayer of the night would you set a watch before your mouth to keep the doors of your lips would you say God I have not yielded my mouth over to you but from this day forward Lord I'm asking you that you'll keep this constantly upon my heart that I would never use my mouth or my words to bring destruction but you will use my life to bring life and hope to other people let's pray Heavenly Father Lord we are grateful for an opportunity to speak to you it's one that we do not deserve but Lord you have given it to us but Lord you have also given us the opportunity to speak to other people and we will speak to tens of thousands of people in this coming week and I pray that you use every one of us Lord to be ministers of grace Father you have touched my heart because I know that my mouth has been used to bring blessings and to bring cursing at so many times and as it says in James Lord how is that to be my heart should not be mixed Lord and my words most certainly shouldn't be
[35:49] Lord I want my mouth to be yielded over to you to be a minister of grace and that's my prayer for my brothers and sisters in this room if you're in here the night and you're not a righteous man you've never put your faith in Jesus then changing your words will not change anything it can't work that way it has to start on the heart level I would love to talk to you about the gospel I know all of you who are a good bit tonight but I don't know that the salvation of any of you is you don't know about anybody else don't leave here the night if you don't know where you stand with the Lord but brothers and sisters when you give your mouth unto the Lord don't ever say that you don't have much ability or resource he's giving you words the same and they're going to never be neutral they're going to be used to build up or to tear down make the decision tonight to set a watch upon your lips I'm going to give you a moment to pray there in your seats and I'm going to close this with a word of prayer