WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.960 Let's turn to, there's gonna be a lot of text tonight, but one key text, I'd like 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:19.920 you to bear in mind the whole way through. Proverbs 12 and 18. Proverbs 12, 18. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:26.760 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:39.960 brings healing. Words matter. Your words really matter. We're gonna focus tonight 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:48.079 on the words that we speak in our regular conversations, but I'd also like you to 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:56.280 think about the words that you text and tweet and all the rest of it. Words matter 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:04.560 because when you think about it, so much of what we do is done through words. And 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:12.000 words matter because so much of the witness of our lives, for example in the 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:20.640 workplace, is in our words and in our body language. And words also matter 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:33.280 because they can be so powerful for good or for ill. Proverbs 18, 21. The tongue has 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:42.359 the power of life and death. Seeing we're so near ETS, I thought I should have a 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:52.159 quote from a famous professor. Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most 00:01:52.159 --> 00:02:00.039 inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying 00:02:00.039 --> 00:02:08.199 it. That's Albus Dumbledore and ETS and the Deathly Hallows, at least as in the 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:15.280 movie. Now before we come to two main things I want to look at tonight through 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:21.039 the lens of this text, I want to say two introductory things that I think are very 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:27.159 important as we look at this theme of speech in the light of the whole Bible. 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:38.919 The two things are we begin with God and we look to Jesus. We begin with God because 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:46.560 God speaks. It's true in his own triune life and it's true in his dealings with 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:58.319 us. Imagine if God had never spoken to us. But he has. He spoke to Adam and Eve in 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:05.759 the garden, both before and after the fall. He has spoken to sinners in his word, 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:12.640 the Bible. He has spoken above all in the word made flesh, Jesus, and he still 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:19.359 speaks today by his word and spirit. So our God is the communicating, 00:03:19.359 --> 00:03:27.599 communicative God and our unique capacity for language, our creativity with 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:36.159 words is part of our nobility as image-baiters of this speaking God. We 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:43.079 cannot think about speech and we cannot talk about speech without talking about 00:03:43.079 --> 00:03:51.639 the God who speaks. So we begin with God and we look to Jesus. We sang from Psalm 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:58.680 45 there, the prose version says, I address my verses to the king. My tongue 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:04.039 is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the loveliest of the sons of men. 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:13.840 Grace is poured upon your lips. We sing these words about Jesus and we sing 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:20.599 these words to Jesus whose mouth is full of grace. For one thing from the lips of 00:04:20.599 --> 00:04:28.360 Jesus we hear the only example of sinless human speech in the whole of 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:36.560 history. So the words of Jesus convict us and also from the lips of Jesus we 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:42.480 hear the gospel of grace, forgiveness for our every sin, including every sinful 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:47.960 word we've ever thought or uttered. And when you think about this book of 00:04:47.960 --> 00:04:57.160 Proverbs, Jesus kept every single proverb in this book, including everyone 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:06.320 about speech. And Jesus also died for every failure in this area. Jesus was 00:05:06.320 --> 00:05:14.879 crucified for my every dumb word and your every dumb word. And now Jesus is our 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:22.480 king if we're Christians. So he's the Lord of our speech. So we look to Jesus 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:31.280 because Jesus is the last word. So we begin with God, we look to Jesus. Remember 00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:37.680 that all the way through. Let's come to the first of two main headings tonight. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:46.560 From this text, rash words or reckless words. This will perhaps take up most of 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:57.519 our time. Wreckless words. The first half of the text. Now I want to confess my own 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:08.279 sins in this area. I have often been guilty of unwise words. Kathy sitting at 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:15.120 the back there, our older daughter also here tonight. And they have often heard 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:21.439 me say, even in preaching, I probably shouldn't say this but. And then they 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:28.120 think don't say it. And then I say it. And then I regret saying it. And all through 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:34.959 my life people have said to me, you know, ten years ago you said such and such. And 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:39.920 they say I can't believe you said that. Then I say I was only kidding. And it's 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:45.840 been a sort of rhythm throughout my whole life. So I'm not speaking here from 00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:54.759 any sort of personal model high ground as if I'm an example in this area. It's 00:06:54.759 --> 00:07:04.160 probably why I've never been moderator. I'm sure it is why I've never been 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:12.880 moderator. Wreckless words. This is the NIV or the old NIV. You know when Corey 00:07:12.880 --> 00:07:18.360 preaches he says the original says. When I say the original says I mean the old 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:25.600 NIV. 20th Century NIV. This is it. Wreckless words pierce like a sword. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:32.640 I think that says it. Wreckless words pierce like a sword. In other words words 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:40.759 can really hurt. The imagery here is really visceral. It's saying sometimes 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:47.039 you can feel the impact of words in your gut. And it's saying words can be 00:07:47.039 --> 00:07:56.319 weapons of individual destruction. Words can kill. And in our reading from James 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:03.120 3 it's clear that human words are more likely to demonstrate our depravity than 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:12.399 our nobility. The tongue can be really dangerous. So I want to ask in what ways 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:19.959 can my speech and your speech be rash or reckless according to the book of 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:28.599 Proverbs? In what ways can our speech be foolish according to Proverbs? So we'll 00:08:28.599 --> 00:08:39.679 have a slide now with five headings about rashness. First of all the rashness of 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:47.679 irreverent speech. Why do I say this from Proverbs? Well remember the fundamental 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:56.439 perspective of Proverbs. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of everything. For 00:08:56.439 --> 00:09:05.279 example chapter 1 and verse 7. The fear of the Lord. It's all about respect for 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:13.879 God. Reverence for a Lord whom I love and in whom I find my satisfaction and 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:23.200 whom I want to honor and worship. So it's very important that I speak very 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:32.960 carefully about God and His Word and His cause. We live in a world where we're 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:40.200 surrounded by irreverent speech. And sometimes in a workplace I'm sure you've 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:45.920 had the experience of perhaps taking somebody aside. Being careful when you 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:51.240 say it and how you say it. But just saying to them after a few episodes where 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:57.360 they've taken the name of your Savior in vain. You just say to them I'm a Christian. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:04.480 And that name means so much to me. And as my friend I'd be so grateful if you 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:11.399 could be more careful about the way you speak about Him. Now sometimes Christians 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:17.480 can be careless in the way that we speak about God. I've decided not to 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:24.920 illustrate this because if I illustrate it from very innocent examples you'll say 00:10:24.920 --> 00:10:32.560 what fuss about nothing. But if I illustrate it clearly from examples at 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:38.239 the other extreme you will say well you shouldn't have said that in a public 00:10:38.239 --> 00:10:42.639 forum especially not with children present. So I leave it to you to think 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:50.799 about areas where we sometimes don't speak about God with the reverence that 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.959 we should. Without saying what it is for one example. We can talk about it later 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:05.360 on but there's a conservative evangelical theology sort of biblical 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:11.480 systematic theology that the author decided includes some jokes in it. And 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:18.360 there's I think an extremely blasphemous joke there about the Father and the Son. 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:25.200 In a book published by Zondervan a book of several hundred pages of solid 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:30.840 biblical theology. Why you want to include jokes and why Zondervan let that 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:36.759 particular one through? I don't know. But it's an example of somebody not being 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:41.800 careful in the way they speak about God. Now I'm saying we shouldn't take ourselves 00:11:41.800 --> 00:11:49.120 too seriously and I've often been irreverent about myself or or Derrick or 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:56.919 the church in all kinds of ways with all our failures and foibles. But we avoid 00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:04.399 language about God that in the imagery of this text might pierce another 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:11.200 Christian. We avoid language about God that might in the language of the New 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:21.560 Testament grieve or pierce the Spirit himself. And we avoid language that might 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:29.560 make a non-believer think that we are being flippant about Jesus. So the 00:12:29.560 --> 00:12:38.960 rashness of irreverent speech. Then the rashness of hasty speech. When I give 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:43.120 references they're from Proverbs if I don't say they're from somewhere. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:52.759 29 and 20. Do you see someone who is hasty in their words? There is more hope 00:12:52.759 --> 00:13:00.879 for any fool than for them. Proverbs is saying it's important to think before we 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:09.080 speak. We've all blurted out something without thinking and regretted it 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:17.439 immediately the words left my mouth or my phone. Proverbs is also saying that 00:13:17.439 --> 00:13:26.759 it's important to listen before we answer 18 and 13. The reason NIV. To 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:34.679 answer before listening that is foolishness and shame. We need to listen. 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:40.879 There's a whole sermon on that. And Proverbs is also saying that it's 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:47.919 dangerous to speak in haste when we're angry in the heat of the moment. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:14:00.439 1216. Fools show that annoyance at once but the prudent overlook an insult. I 00:14:00.439 --> 00:14:05.919 read the Scotsman newspaper and following Alexander McCall Smith's 44 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:11.240 Scotland Street recently. I noted that Miss Campbell a primary teacher she gets 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:16.559 very annoyed with some of her charges. All of this particularly annoying but so 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:22.159 also can be tofu and Hiawatha and all the other spectacular named children in 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:27.239 that Steiner school. And when she gets annoyed she counts from one to ten in 00:14:27.239 --> 00:14:33.239 Gallic. Now I don't know Gallic I don't know any other language I've been trying 00:14:33.239 --> 00:14:39.599 to learn Elvanto and I've given up but it might be good to learn one to ten in 00:14:39.599 --> 00:14:46.319 another language because it takes a little more time and concentration. And 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:50.720 I have some friends on social media not that I'm on social media but Kathy 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:55.280 something shows me what my friends say and I think that some of them should 00:14:55.280 --> 00:15:04.520 learn to count from one to hundred in Mandarin backwards. It can be very 00:15:04.520 --> 00:15:12.880 dangerous just suddenly to say anything. And in terms of haste Proverbs is saying 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:21.600 that positively we are called to diffuse situations never to exacerbate them. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:30.159 15 verse 1 in the NIV a gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:37.480 stirs up anger. I think in terms of hasty speech one of the great spiritual 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:44.120 skills to learn is the skill of the quick prayer. I'll come back to that in a few 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:51.000 minutes. Then this is the rational of lying speech. I think this is the category 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:59.279 of foolish speech that Proverbs seems to highlight most often. So no Christian 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:08.000 should be post-truth. No Christian should be casual about fake news. There's been a 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:17.159 lot of it over the last seven weeks in the election campaign. If the newspaper 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:23.879 that I read is to be trusted in Edinburgh itself in the campaign in one 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:30.919 particular constituency someone posted on Twitter that the Lib Dem candidate 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:36.919 Christine Jordan had campaigned after the Manchester bombing when everybody else 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:42.759 had decided to take 24 hours whatever it was 48 hours you know was clear at first 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:49.919 how many but they said she campaigned pretty much the next day and she got 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:58.079 abused circulating online on Twitter and the rest and she's called this evil so 00:16:58.079 --> 00:17:06.279 and so and this someone who deserves to die kind of language. Then eventually 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:11.639 somebody came in on her behalf to say what she'd been doing when she'd been 00:17:11.639 --> 00:17:17.879 seen out smartly dressed in public. She'd been attending her husband's funeral. 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:23.760 I mean you could hardly make it up. I hope the paper is right that I'm not 00:17:23.760 --> 00:17:29.040 recounting fake news to you. That's the kind of thing that happens when people 00:17:29.040 --> 00:17:35.480 just take something immediately and pass it on. It's absolute nonsense and 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:44.120 Proverbs again and again says stuff about lying. 616 to 19 a list of things the 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:50.559 Lord especially hates and among them are a lying tongue and a false witness who 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:56.359 breathed out lies and when wisdom speaks about herself she says I'm marked by 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:02.919 truthfulness 8 6 and following my mouth will utter truth all the words of my 00:18:02.919 --> 00:18:11.000 mouth are righteous that is nothing twisted or crooked in any of them and 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:16.119 if you've your Bible open and you look around this text 12 and 18 look at verse 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:25.039 17 19 22 the text is surrounded by verses about lying in different ways and I 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:33.559 think we all know that to be lied to is a very wounding thing to find you've 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:40.640 been lied to by somebody you trusted pierces to keep using the language of 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:48.880 the text pierces really deeply and the closer the relationship the more 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:59.800 wounding the lie is 15 4 says that a deceitful tongue crushes or breaks the 00:18:59.800 --> 00:19:06.440 spirit so we are not to be liars now I can't hear going to the many 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:15.120 complexities around truth telling talk about Rahab later on but we can be 00:19:15.120 --> 00:19:21.320 resolved tonight to be trustworthy in our relationships we follow Jesus who's 00:19:21.320 --> 00:19:26.200 the truth and in the Sermon of the Mountain chapter 5 Jesus tells his 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:32.200 followers let your yes be yes and let your no be no in other words he's saying 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:39.720 simply tell the truth we will sometimes say of course it's not really a lie 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:46.440 it's just a fib but fibbing can become a habit and then you can forget what 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:53.279 fibs you've told to whom and when about what you get tied in knots because you 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:59.080 haven't been telling the truth about something it's a great thing to be 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:08.879 trusted to be the trustworthy person in a workplace and I learned in St. Andrews 00:20:08.879 --> 00:20:15.559 discussing I was never very good at relationship discussion with young 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:21.720 people in St. Andrews I often predicted things the wrong way but I learned to ask 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:28.039 one question regularly after a bit of experience do you trust him or her it 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:35.079 was a key question number one girl talking to me about her relationship and I 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:39.480 said eventually she'd given all the right answers to everything else I said do 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:48.559 you trust him there was a pause I said do you trust him and she said well he's a 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:58.000 good-looking guy do you trust him well girls like him went on in this vein do 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.559 you trust him well she said I'm sure I've been together for for longer and 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:08.399 longer that you know in our mind she wasn't sure about the way that other 00:21:08.399 --> 00:21:13.319 girls spoke to him and the way that he responded to people flirting with them 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:19.439 and there was a doubt at the heart of that relationship from her side trust is 00:21:19.439 --> 00:21:25.279 a very important thing in any relationship I'm almost tempted to give 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:33.119 you this text to think about in groups of five but I'm not going to 24 and 26 the 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:42.279 NIV an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips discuss the rationalist of lying 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:49.279 speech the rationalist then of gossiping speech a very negative character in 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:56.319 proverbs is the gossip or the whisperer in some translations or the tail bearer 00:21:56.319 --> 00:22:04.839 in the authorized King James version for example 1113 NIV a gossip betrays a 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:13.039 confidence but a trustworthy person keeps a secret some things should just be 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:20.399 kept to myself now some gossip of course is is simply lies so it comes under the 00:22:20.399 --> 00:22:27.879 criticism of lying speech some gossip contains truth but with added speculation 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:38.720 and spin but even if the gossip is absolutely 100% true we ask is it 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:47.880 necessary to pass this on here is it helpful to pass it on is it kind to 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:55.360 pass it on we ask as many questions as we need to till we say no I won't pass it 00:22:55.359 --> 00:23:02.759 on we like gossip a couple of verses is actually same verse repeated in proverbs 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:10.559 in 188 it's repeated in 2622 how contemporary this is the words of a 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:16.679 whisperer a gossip are like delisious delicious morsels they go down into the 00:23:16.679 --> 00:23:24.599 inner parts of the body what's that say that's what we say we savor gossip we 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:33.240 swallow stories and we find gossip juicy that's exactly what proverbs is saying 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:44.079 we like juicy gossip proverbs also says how gossip can fuel trouble 26 and 20 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:52.759 without wood a fire goes out without gossip a quarrel dies down we all know 00:23:52.759 --> 00:24:01.119 gossip can cause havoc that it can destroy people and to gossip feeds on my 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:08.920 pride when you gossip you often perhaps are aware that it's elevating you and 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:18.039 it's lower lowering somebody else and I think I've noticed year on year as I've 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:23.920 learned more is that the spiritually humble don't gossip I notice that with 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:31.399 older Christians because they know their own weakness there but for the grace of 00:24:31.399 --> 00:24:40.119 God go I I thought it recently my mother passed away at the turn of the year and 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:47.639 we were over for her on the islands for her funeral and one elder said to me 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:56.880 very cryptically she never took anything in and she never took anything out and I 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:01.320 wondered what he was talking about and then I realized he just said something 00:25:01.320 --> 00:25:08.680 about her being a district nurse for many years and what he meant was she never 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:13.000 took anything into any home that she visited you know any gossip from anywhere 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:19.400 else and of all the secrets the thousands of secrets she heard in any home 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:24.480 she never took any of that out I thought it was a very attractive if I say 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:32.480 cryptic compliment she never took anything in she never took anything out so I 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:40.920 asked myself am I the person who knows all the latest gossip or am I the person 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:49.080 likely to be trusted to keep a confidence it's a challenging question and 00:25:49.080 --> 00:25:57.400 then the ration is of hurtful speech again the imagery of the text hurtful 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:03.160 words do pierce like a sword we still talk don't we have a sharp tongue of 00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:12.000 words that cut of words that wound we were told nonsense as children about 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:18.040 sticks and stones and the rest of it but names can leave someone scarred for 00:26:18.040 --> 00:26:27.160 life and how often you read about teenage suicides caused by words by 00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:34.720 verbal bullying and online bullying leaving a young life in pieces so we as 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:42.279 Christians should be very careful about the possible impact of our words to hurt 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:50.800 others we're probably not going to get through very much of the second point but 00:26:50.800 --> 00:26:56.440 I think I will tell a little story here when I was a very young minister 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:02.559 obviously a long time ago been a year in the ministry maybe I was asked to go to 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:09.279 take a communion weekend particular congregation and the way that congregation 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:13.720 did the Sunday morning was that the visitor preached but the local minister 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:18.680 I think it happened in more than one congregation in Edinburgh for example 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:22.799 local minister did the the table addresses and the serving of the table 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:27.960 so I did the main sermon and then the local minister did the talks around the 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:37.159 Lord's Supper itself and there was a very senior retired professor formerly of 00:27:37.159 --> 00:27:44.759 the Free Church College who wanted to speak to me afterwards and he just said 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:52.359 all you did was set up the machinery thank goodness Reverend so-and-so was 00:27:52.359 --> 00:28:00.119 there to provide some oil and he turned and walked away now that was meant to 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:06.439 hurt and he said it to one or two others because I think he was quite pleased 00:28:06.439 --> 00:28:12.000 with how he'd expressed it and he was pleased that it had clearly hurt 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:18.639 somebody who was very nervous preaching in a large congregation at probably my 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:24.680 first ever communion weekend then in the evening I preached and he was looking 00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:30.360 for me at the end and he said I don't usually come back at night but I thought 00:28:30.360 --> 00:28:36.400 I'd give you another opportunity I needn't have bothered he said I listen to 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:42.560 you tonight with a growing sense of disbelief you do not belong in a pulpit 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:53.919 you are theologically confused and confusing and I thought I will never do 00:28:53.919 --> 00:28:59.119 that and it was one of the most important lessons I learned in my life I 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:06.039 thought I will never do that to a young minister and for the rest of my career I 00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:12.759 think it's fair to say that I try to encourage any younger person I ever 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:18.879 heard preach so that hurt and it was meant to hurt but even from hurtful 00:29:18.879 --> 00:29:24.879 things you can learn a lesson that will make a positive difference in your own 00:29:24.879 --> 00:29:31.359 life and in your own witness as I think I learned that night so what to do about 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:37.879 my sinful lips and the light of these five areas from Proverbs well I think I 00:29:37.879 --> 00:29:45.159 use my lips to pray two prayers number one we pray for pardon 00:29:45.159 --> 00:29:54.479 memorisea chapter 6 verse 5 I'm a man of unclean lips then in verses 6 to 7 00:29:54.479 --> 00:29:58.599 remember the seraph taking the burning coal from the altar behold this has 00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:05.079 touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for and 00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:11.399 forgiveness is available for us through the sacrifice of Calvary through Jesus 00:30:11.399 --> 00:30:19.719 we come confessing our sins the sins of our lips and Jesus forgives us all of 00:30:19.719 --> 00:30:26.599 them and we keep coming and he keeps forgiving we pray for pardon and we 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:34.839 also pray for help help for my speech in general help for my words on specific 00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:46.480 occasions I really love a little detail in Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 4 and 5 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:53.319 where Nehemiah is asked a question by the king and he replies the king says 00:30:53.319 --> 00:30:58.240 basically what do you want Nehemiah says this is what I want if it please the 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:04.480 king but the Bible in between these two things says the king said what do you 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:12.159 want then I prayed to the God of heaven and I said if it pleases the king and 00:31:12.159 --> 00:31:16.599 gives the answer now if you had been watching you might have noticed a 00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:24.359 flicker of a pause and you'd have think Nehemiah is just drawing breath to answer 00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:28.959 but Nehemiah was praying to the God of heaven I think that's an amazing 00:31:28.959 --> 00:31:35.559 spiritual skill to learn to be able to pray in the moment and ask for help for 00:31:35.559 --> 00:31:43.959 my speech in the moment and pray also to be kept from foolish speech Psalm 141 00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:52.799 and verse 3 set a guard oh Lord over my mouth keep watch over the door of my 00:31:52.799 --> 00:32:00.400 lips well let's turn secondly just for a minute or two to healing words the 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:06.000 second half of the text how then should we speak well obviously the opposite of 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:14.359 what we've just seen speech that is reverent careful truthful discreet and 00:32:14.359 --> 00:32:22.640 kind the ideal of course is to say the right word at the right time 15 and 23 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:31.400 a word in season how good it is the NIV has how good is a timely word so I 00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:36.800 just want to ask you to think for a minute or two about this one image in 00:32:36.800 --> 00:32:41.920 the second half of the text that we find elsewhere in Proverbs about healing 00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:48.960 the tongue of the wise brings healing it's a very positive image for my speech 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:56.600 in 15 for the older NIV says the tongue that brings healing is a tree of life 00:32:56.599 --> 00:33:02.119 that is quite a claim for the tongue the tongue that brings healing is a tree of 00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:09.919 life so let's look at this imagery of health how our words can be instruments 00:33:09.919 --> 00:33:16.039 of healing in the hands of God and a slide with five things we're not going 00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:21.000 to look at them obviously I was going to fill this out from basically the whole 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:28.240 of the New Testament but healing first of all through loving speech here I was 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:34.880 going to go into some of what we read in the epistles about the body and how a 00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:41.960 body the body of the church can be either diseased and dysfunctional in its 00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:47.519 relationships or it can be healthy in its relationships and the key again and 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:56.240 the New Testament epistles is love loving hearts loving relationships loving 00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:03.599 words love is the prescription for health in these passages we can't look at 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:09.440 them healing through loving speech and keeping the fellowship healthy through 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:16.639 speech that really loves one another then healing through evangelistic speech you 00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:21.679 don't need me to tell you often the Bible speaks about our sins as illness 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:28.480 and what Jesus does as the great physician as healing and there's 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:34.679 surely no higher use of the tongue than to speak the healing gospel we have the 00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:40.359 privilege of sharing our faith and offering radical healing where healing 00:34:40.359 --> 00:34:45.879 needs to begin for the most serious of terminal conditions pointing to the 00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:53.119 greatest of physicians we speak the word as we listen to the culture as we 00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:59.960 listen to the individual we try to speak the healing gospel appropriately into 00:34:59.960 --> 00:35:09.480 his or her life then healing through instructive speech as we teach one 00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:15.960 another and build one another up again you might think well what's this going 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:22.360 to do with health well the Bible has a lot to say about teaching in terms of 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:31.199 wholeness and soundness listen to this to Timothy 1 17 about heresy 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:40.359 infecting their teaching will spread like gangrene few verses earlier Paul has 00:35:40.359 --> 00:35:45.599 said to Timothy 1 13 follow the pattern of the sound words you have heard from 00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:52.439 me and the word sound means healthy it's in the NIV it's in the ESV footnote 00:35:52.439 --> 00:36:00.039 follow the pattern of the healthy health-giving words you heard from me and 00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:08.199 that word is actually the word from which we get hygiene hygienic teaching 00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:13.000 that's why we train our ministers so we don't get any church-acquired infections 00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:22.199 it's really important that the truth is sound is healthy so that we might be 00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:27.039 healed by preaching and by each other and that our lives might be healthy and 00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:34.360 wholesome then healing through challenging speech healing words aren't 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:40.800 always easy to to speak or to hear we all know that a doctor may need to probe 00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:46.880 and ask embarrassing questions and the investigations may hurt and the treatment 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:52.300 may be painful but it's all for good it's for healing so as Christians we 00:36:52.300 --> 00:36:58.080 may need to confront one another about some aspect of our lives we're called 00:36:58.080 --> 00:37:04.160 to relationships where we're willing to listen to advice and even rebuke 12 15 00:37:04.160 --> 00:37:09.760 the way of a fool is right in their own eyes but a wise person listens to advice 00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:17.500 1531 the ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise 27 5 00:37:17.500 --> 00:37:23.199 and 6 better is open rebuke than hidden love faithful are the wounds of a friend 00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:29.960 profuse are the kisses of an enemy it's speaking in tough love and then healing 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:35.679 through encouraging speech think we all know that encouraging words are 00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:40.920 emotionally healing and spiritually healing we know the difference they 00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:45.440 make you know when somebody says something to you that encourages you and 00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:50.960 gives you a boost gives you a spring in your step that makes you feel better and 00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:54.920 every one of us is called to the ministry of encouragement through words 00:37:54.920 --> 00:38:02.159 reminding ourselves of things in the gospel or pointing to specific truth to 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:06.079 help or saying something which helps someone take the next step or just 00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:08.599 telling them we're grateful for them we appreciate them 00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:13.320 Hebrews tells us in chapter 3 and courage one another daily as long as 00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:19.800 it's called today and Proverbs tells us to lift each other's spirits 12 25 00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:27.880 anxiety weighs down the heart but a kind word cheers it up 1624 gracious words 00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:33.800 are a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the bones it's a lovely 00:38:33.800 --> 00:38:39.800 verse gracious words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the 00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:45.280 bones to the body and encouraging one another it's important for emotional 00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:54.519 health and spiritual health and maybe even for physical health well the last 00:38:54.519 --> 00:39:01.600 thing I'll say out of one or two final things I did want to say is to 00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:11.319 emphasize one word that we find again and again and again in Proverbs heart 00:39:11.319 --> 00:39:16.719 Proverbs keeps saying that that's where we have the problem the heart of my 00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:22.139 problem in essence is the problem of my heart and Jesus tells us in the 00:39:22.139 --> 00:39:26.920 gospels we have time to look at the passages that our sins of speech come 00:39:26.920 --> 00:39:32.840 from the heart and Proverbs says this again and again specifically about the 00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:38.680 heart 12 23 the heart of fools blurts out folly you might say no their mouths 00:39:38.680 --> 00:39:44.320 blurt out folly the problem says no it's their heart that blurt's out folly 00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:51.800 16 23 a wise person's heart guides their mouth it's the heart that decides what 00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:56.680 will come out of the mouth and Jesus says it again and again out of the 00:39:56.680 --> 00:40:04.240 abundance the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks so it's all about my heart 00:40:04.240 --> 00:40:13.880 in Proverbs I need a new heart from Jesus and then when I have the new heart I 00:40:13.880 --> 00:40:21.480 need the physician to keep looking after my heart and I finished tonight by 00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:29.039 asking myself and yourselves what do our words say about the condition of our 00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:36.240 hearts at the moment what will your words tomorrow in the workplace say to 00:40:36.240 --> 00:40:43.679 others about the spirit condition of your heart now and what do you need to 00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:50.760 ask Jesus the great physician to do in your heart I don't want to take the 00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:59.840 healing thing too far but do you need spiritual statins do you need a spiritual 00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:09.560 stent do you need a spiritual shock what does Dr. Jesus need to do in my 00:41:09.560 --> 00:41:15.840 Christian heart tonight so that that heart out of its abundance will speak 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:24.240 healing words that please Jesus ask the Holy Spirit to keep your heart healthy 00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:45.799 so that your words will be pleasing to him and healing to others. Amen.