WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.160 We are working our way through the Ten Commandments. 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:08.919 We're on the penultimate Commandments night, number nine, and it's about our words, about 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:10.919 our speech. 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:15.720 Let me read to you a couple more verses from Proverbs, Proverbs 6. 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:22.280 This is the famous place in the book of Proverbs where God lists seven things that he hates, 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.400 the seven deadly sins as he actually recorded them. 00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:26.400 And this is what they are. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:34.159 It says, the Lord hates, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, devising 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:39.200 wicked plans, feet that run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, one who says 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:41.119 discord among the brothers. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:45.879 Now at least three of these in some commentators say four. 00:00:45.879 --> 00:00:50.200 Four of the seven are about speech, about words. 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:56.039 So he mentions a lying tongue, a false witness, and one who says discord with their words 00:00:56.039 --> 00:01:00.119 amongst a group of people, amongst a church, for example. 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.960 Three out of the seven, maybe four out of the seven, that's 40 to 60 percent. 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:04.959 That's a lot. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:05.959 Why? 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:11.959 Why is it that the seven things listed that God says he hates, he fights against are about 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:15.960 the way we speak, our words, sins of speech. 00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:22.359 We've looked at the past couple of weeks at Thou Shall Not Murder, and there's so much 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:28.560 depth in that command, but most of us are not struggling day to day with acts of violence. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:33.359 Most of us, most of us are not getting in fistfights regularly. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:36.799 We looked last time at Thou Shall Not Still, and most of us today, we went to lunch maybe 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:43.460 with our friend here, our neighbor, did not walk away with the silver spoon, right? 00:01:43.460 --> 00:01:49.599 But all of us struggle to leave the house of our neighbor and not say something critical 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.679 about them, gossip about them. 00:01:52.679 --> 00:01:58.479 See three or four out of the seven, and it's because we all struggle with our words at 00:01:58.479 --> 00:02:04.399 a rate, a rate so much greater than any of the rest of the issues that we face probably. 00:02:04.399 --> 00:02:08.680 And when we believe the gospel, when you come, when Jesus comes into your life and you're 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.840 changed, he says that out of the heart the mouth speaks. 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:18.280 And so he's signaling there that the gospel comes and changes all of who you are, but 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:19.359 it begins with the heart. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.720 It starts in the inside and flows outward. 00:02:22.720 --> 00:02:26.800 And yet, despite believing the gospel, we struggle. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.280 We struggle with the sins of speech. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:31.480 How can we change? 00:02:31.480 --> 00:02:32.480 Is that fireworks? 00:02:32.480 --> 00:02:34.480 I think so. 00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:36.840 How can we change? 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:37.840 We struggle so much. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:44.040 A wise friend once told me that you can see how much the gospel has affected a person's 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:49.479 heart in the way that they speak to the waiter at the restaurant. 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.799 You can measure a person's character by the way. 00:02:51.799 --> 00:02:53.799 They speak to the wait staff when they go to the restaurant. 00:02:53.799 --> 00:02:56.519 I think that's probably true. 00:02:56.519 --> 00:02:57.519 Why haven't we changed? 00:02:57.519 --> 00:03:00.919 How can we change when it comes to our words? 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:02.319 Let's think about it. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.599 First, what is forbidden in this commandment? 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:09.840 Secondly, why are words so important? 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.359 And then finally, what is required of us from this commandment? 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:14.600 Okay, so first, what's forbidden in this commandment? 00:03:14.600 --> 00:03:17.800 Thou shall not bear false witness. 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:18.800 What's forbidden? 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.360 Well, do not bear false witness. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:28.480 And what is in view here in the word witness is a judicial setting. 00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:32.960 So this command is all about the judicial setting, the setting of the courtroom. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:35.040 That's the most surface level reading of it. 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:37.640 It's exactly what the words mean. 00:03:37.640 --> 00:03:38.640 It's a judicial language. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.599 So it's saying, don't bear false witness in the midst of the courtroom, and you have 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:48.519 places like Proverbs 25 or 18 that says a false witness in court in particular is a 00:03:48.519 --> 00:03:51.879 swinging sword, a brutal club. 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:55.279 False witness in court is like a swinging sword everywhere. 00:03:55.279 --> 00:03:59.319 Somebody's going to get cut, meaning there's going to be an injustice that takes place 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:04.119 because of witnessing in the wrong way in the midst of the court, telling lies in the 00:04:04.119 --> 00:04:05.599 midst of the courtroom. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:11.199 A lie, it's saying that the command is saying can bring about a great injustice. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:13.319 And so tell the truth, be a truthful person. 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:14.319 That's the idea. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:19.680 Now, that's why we read so many other passages because you've got to get beyond the ninth 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.639 commandment to really understand the ninth commandment. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:27.120 And the ninth commandment has so much more depth that the reference on the surface to 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:33.759 just the judicial courtroom setting is commanding, calling on us to become people of the truth 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.120 in general at a broad level. 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:41.879 And so when you read the Westminster Confessions, larger catechism on this, they, in every single 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:47.319 one of the commands in the 17th century, tried to make a list of all the ways you could keep 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:49.519 the command or break the command. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:54.159 And by far, the longest section is on the ninth commandment. 00:04:54.159 --> 00:04:58.120 And they went to all these other places across the Bible to see all the different ways that 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:01.240 you can keep the commandment or break this commandment. 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:06.840 Here's one of the things they say, they say, we're being called here to, we're being warrant 00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:11.000 here not to, I should say, speak the truth unseasonably. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.600 That is, don't speak the truth at the wrong time unnecessarily. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.480 They say we're being called here to never maliciously speak the truth. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:23.280 So speaking the truth with the wrong motivation. 00:05:23.280 --> 00:05:28.639 We're being called here to never pervert the truth, to twist it into the wrong meaning, 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.960 to misrepresent the truth. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:34.239 So they're saying this commandment means more than just tell the truth all the time. 00:05:34.239 --> 00:05:40.399 It's saying actually being a truthful person means knowing when to tell the truth, how 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.879 to tell the truth, and all because you know why you're telling the truth. 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:47.240 It goes all the way to the bottom of the human heart. 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:51.959 And so the biggest emphasis you see in the way these Westminster theologians talked about 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:54.519 it is they said, don't damage. 00:05:54.519 --> 00:06:00.439 They said the ninth commandment teaches do not damage anybody's name or reputation unnecessarily. 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:02.079 You see what they were saying? 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:06.120 They were saying actually becoming a truth telling person means knowing when not to tell 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:08.079 the truth about somebody. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:13.480 Means not, in other words, they were saying no when the gossip should just stop with you. 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:16.079 Don't damage other people's reputation unnecessarily. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:19.600 They said it's the biggest takeaway from the ninth commandment. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:25.399 They said that if you know something less than flattering about somebody in your life, 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:30.240 here's the quote, sorrow over it and cover their infirmity. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.480 Do everything you can to be broken by it with them and to cover it. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:39.680 In other words, to walk alongside them, but to never extend the gossip. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:40.680 You see how they took it? 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:46.400 Martin Luther said the ninth commandment means always try to give the benefit of the doubt 00:06:46.400 --> 00:06:48.280 to somebody else. 00:06:48.280 --> 00:06:50.560 Now here's the point. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:55.879 That means that the ninth commandment is so important being a truthful person who knows 00:06:55.879 --> 00:07:01.800 why they're telling the truth, who knows the wisdom of when to tell the truth, who knows 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:05.560 the wisdom of protecting the truth. 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:10.439 Because we all know that a healthy society and a healthy life and a prospering and a 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:15.719 flourishing life and a life of peace and a nation of peace and a society of peace depends 00:07:15.719 --> 00:07:16.719 on all of that. 00:07:16.719 --> 00:07:19.000 It depends on truth telling. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.480 It's words that start wars. 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:25.040 It's telling the truth at the wrong time in the wrong ways that can begin a war, that 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.160 can begin a great conflict. 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:32.800 And so there's so much depth here, I should say, about being truthful. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:34.439 This is a short sentence. 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:38.160 And so you've got to get into other places in Scripture to really mine the depths of 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:39.160 it. 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:41.520 Now let me do that by going to Proverbs and James. 00:07:41.520 --> 00:07:45.480 We read from those two places, Proverbs and James. 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:50.120 And when you do that, when you look at what Proverbs and James says about our speech, 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:54.640 the big thing that comes out of it is that God wants us to know across the Bible that 00:07:54.639 --> 00:08:00.039 He wants us to see the power in our words, in our speech. 00:08:00.039 --> 00:08:04.120 So let me remind you of Proverbs 12, 17. 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:05.120 We read it just a moment ago. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:12.159 It says, speaking rashly is like a sword thrust, like a death wound, like a dagger. 00:08:12.159 --> 00:08:18.079 But speaking truth, on the other hand, is like a healing balm or a medicine. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:30.240 Now do you have a memory in your life of that time that that person said that thing to you? 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:33.000 And you've never forgotten it. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.720 A time where you were struggling and you were suffering and you were low and that person 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:39.600 came and gave the death blow. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.759 Proverbs 12 says a rash word is like a dagger wound. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:46.879 You know, saying something that's true but that's motivated in the wrong ways at the 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.799 wrong time can be the final wound that cuts somebody down. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:55.639 Do you have a memory like that or do you have a memory on the other side that you've never 00:08:55.639 --> 00:09:00.679 forgotten that person said the kindest word to you when you were at your lowest? 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:03.439 Where they said that one thing that brought you back to life when you were in the midst 00:09:03.439 --> 00:09:05.679 of feeling the pangs of death. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:11.000 And Proverbs 12 says a kind word is like medicine applied to a great wound. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.600 In other words, it's saying words are like knives. 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:21.040 Words are knives and you can use your words to cut like a dagger blow. 00:09:21.040 --> 00:09:25.120 You can bring death into somebody's life with your words or you can use your words like 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.920 the surgeon's scalpel where you slice them in just the right way in order to heal them 00:09:29.920 --> 00:09:30.920 again. 00:09:30.920 --> 00:09:32.240 They go either direction. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:38.480 You say your words have the power of death or the power of life built right into them. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:43.519 Now James chapter 3, we read that verses 2 to 10. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.799 The idea there is what can our words do? 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:48.519 And James gives us all these metaphors, illustrations. 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:53.399 He says verse 3 to 5, your tongue is small but it can do great things. 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:54.399 See that emphasis? 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:55.600 Power. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:57.319 Your speech has so much power. 00:09:57.319 --> 00:09:59.319 Here's the three metaphors he gives us. 00:09:59.319 --> 00:10:01.480 Your mouth is like the rudder of a ship. 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:06.519 You know, a rudder of a ship is so small but the person driving the ship can turn a massive 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.519 ocean liner with just a small rudder. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:10.519 Great power, you see. 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:13.720 It's like the bit and bridle of a horse. 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:16.360 You can have a horse sitting at 16, 18 hands. 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:18.759 That's a very big horse. 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:23.279 And you can turn it with just a little bitty piece of metal in its mouth. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:30.360 Or my favorite one, your tongue is like a campfire, a small fire, it says. 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:34.720 And you know, when you go camping, when we go camping, we bought a, here we bought a 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.639 little V shape fire pit to take camping. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:39.759 It folds flat. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:40.759 You can take it anywhere. 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:42.759 You can hike to the top of Monroe with it. 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:43.960 It's so light. 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:44.960 It's wonderful. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:45.960 But why? 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:47.120 Why do you buy something like that? 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:51.200 Because you know that when you go out into the wilderness and the conditions are dry, 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:57.879 if you do not have that fire protected, put in exactly the place you need it to be, it 00:10:57.879 --> 00:10:59.759 can become death. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:00.759 It can spread. 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:05.159 You know, a little campfire can become a forest fire and a city fire and a nation fire 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:08.120 and you can burn the world down, right? 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:10.519 And that's exactly what Proverbs 12 is saying. 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:16.720 That's exactly what James 3 is getting at, that in your speech, your speech is a campfire. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:21.919 You know, and when you have a campfire, exactly where it should be, you can roast marshmallows 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:22.919 over it. 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:23.919 It can be a wonderful night. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:27.960 You know, you can bring healing, good things, sweet things into people's lives. 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:33.200 But if you let it get out of control, if it's not bounded, if the motivations of the heart 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:39.200 are not in the right place, then it can destroy, it can bring death to so many people. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:44.480 It even goes, James goes so far as to say, our words can set hellfire. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:46.440 That's what he says, go henna fire. 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:47.920 They're that serious. 00:11:47.920 --> 00:11:51.920 Now here's the important text and we'll move on to the second thing. 00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:55.120 Proverbs 18, 21 summarizes it all for us. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:00.000 It says, our words have the power of life and death. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.480 So there it is all very clearly forced. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.360 Do you know that tonight? 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:12.680 That your speech, your words have the power of life and death in this world. 00:12:12.680 --> 00:12:16.120 Have the power of life and death in people's lives all around you. 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:21.639 Every single day, every single moment, your ability to speak and communicate wields such 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:25.800 power in the midst of this world. 00:12:25.800 --> 00:12:28.519 How do you minister to others? 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:32.799 What are you ministering to others with your words in your day to day life? 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:41.600 James 3 verse 8 says, no human being can tame the tongue. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:42.600 Do you hear that? 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:45.679 Nobody can, what are you ministering with your words? 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.319 And James comes and says, death. 00:12:48.319 --> 00:12:49.759 Nobody can tame the tongue. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:54.639 He says, it is a deadly poison in the midst of human hands as a human instrument. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.799 He says, oh boy, what are we to do? 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.199 He says, there's no help for us. 00:12:59.199 --> 00:13:01.199 Our tongues are deadly, he says. 00:13:01.199 --> 00:13:07.519 And Jesus comes in Matthew 12, 36 and says, I tell you on the day of judgment, every single 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:12.599 one of you will give an account for every careless word you've ever spoken. 00:13:12.599 --> 00:13:18.120 For by your words, you will be justified and by your words, you will be condemned. 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:23.679 We will all give an account before the King of Kings of every careless word that we ever 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.399 spoke. 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:31.439 Now, secondly, why, there's good news coming. 00:13:31.439 --> 00:13:34.319 Why are our words so powerful? 00:13:34.319 --> 00:13:40.039 Why is it that, before we get to the good news, why is it that our tongues, our speech 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:42.199 has the power of life and death? 00:13:42.199 --> 00:13:43.679 Why are they so serious? 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.399 All right, stick with me. 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:49.799 I know the fireworks are there. 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:50.799 Keep going. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.879 We're getting there. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.600 Why are our words so powerful? 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:56.600 Hear that? 00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:57.600 It stopped. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:02.720 James chapter three, verse nine tells us, here's why our words are so powerful. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:03.720 We have a little hint. 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:08.879 James chapter three, verse nine, with our words, we bless God, James says, and then we 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.519 curse people who are made in the image of God. 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:16.200 And he says, brothers and sisters, that ought not be so. 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:22.000 So he's saying here that we come to worship and we bless God's name and then we leave 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:27.080 and we curse people, human beings made in the likeness or the image of God. 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:28.639 Now he's trying to do something there. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:32.679 He's trying to take us all the way back to Genesis chapter one and say, here's the reason 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:35.279 why your words are so powerful. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.600 He says, we curse people made in the image of God. 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:40.240 And there's the idea. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:43.320 Our words are so powerful because we were made in the image of God. 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.960 Genesis one, 26 to 28 tells us that. 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:49.360 And that means that when you read Genesis one, you're supposed to think about something 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:55.840 very specific, James three says, and that's that when God created the world, he did it 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.120 with words. 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:02.480 God made the world in the beginning and he spoke the world into existence. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:07.360 And so the very word of God, the words of God's voice come out of his mouth and through 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.200 that he gives us the instrument of life itself. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:16.200 God can speak and make nothing become something. 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:19.560 And then he turns and says, now I'm making all of you in my image. 00:15:19.560 --> 00:15:24.440 And that means I'm giving you the possibility of communication, of speech. 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:28.000 And so one of the first things we should think about the image of God, what does the image 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.160 of God means? 00:15:29.160 --> 00:15:33.440 It means that you are a speaker, a communicator. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.560 God spoke in the beginning and you can speak. 00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:40.240 It differentiates you from the animal kingdom in a significant way. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.920 It's one of the most fundamental aspects of who we are as being made in the image of 00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:44.920 God. 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:50.439 And you, when you speak, you are being like God. 00:15:50.439 --> 00:15:54.479 And when you speak words of medicine, words of life to people, you are really being like 00:15:54.479 --> 00:15:55.799 God. 00:15:55.799 --> 00:16:00.399 Your words are being used as an instrument of life, like God used them to create the whole 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:01.519 world. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.719 That's what it means to be made in the image of God. 00:16:03.719 --> 00:16:10.679 Now that means in the 10 commandments, remember you can blaspheme God, you can bear God's 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:14.799 name the wrong way by speaking curses against God. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.359 You can blaspheme the name of God. 00:16:17.359 --> 00:16:21.479 And then in the 9th commandment we learn that means you can also blaspheme the image of 00:16:21.479 --> 00:16:24.079 God by cursing the image of God. 00:16:24.079 --> 00:16:25.079 You can do both. 00:16:25.079 --> 00:16:27.079 You can blaspheme people and you can blaspheme God. 00:16:27.079 --> 00:16:31.039 You can blaspheme people because they're made in the image of God. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:32.039 They're like God. 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:33.559 You can do both with your mouth. 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:38.319 You can bless God and bless people or curse God and curse the image of God at the same 00:16:38.319 --> 00:16:39.319 time. 00:16:39.319 --> 00:16:44.399 Now there's a very helpful illustration of this in the Old Testament. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:51.399 In the original form of the Old Testament it had three sections and one of those sections 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:53.480 is called the writings. 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:57.919 And in the writings we have what we today now call the wisdom literature. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:06.920 And there were four books in the writings all grouped together, Job, Esther, Daniel, and 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:08.079 Ruth. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.920 And the reason for that is that when you read in the wisdom literature about what it means 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:17.519 to be wise, the Bible gives you four illustrations of wisdom. 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:19.640 Two men, two women. 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:25.200 Job and Daniel illustrate for the men, illustrate for all of us, but for men what it means to 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:26.400 be a wise man. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.920 And then Ruth and Esther give you the two illustrations of the wise woman. 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:31.920 They go together like that. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:35.600 Now one of those four is the book of Daniel. 00:17:35.600 --> 00:17:40.279 And in it we have probably the greatest illustration of the damage that can be done in using our 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.559 speech in the wrong way. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:48.399 Nebuchadnezzar is the king and he walks out in Daniel chapter four onto his porch and 00:17:48.399 --> 00:17:56.319 he says, is this not Babylon the great which I myself have built as a royal residence by 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.519 the might of my power and for my glory and for my majesty? 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:05.440 And then the text says, and at the words of his mouth, when the words of his mouth, the 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:10.279 words of pride and the words of curse against God, that's how Daniel reads it. 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.600 A blasphemy against God came out of his mouth. 00:18:12.600 --> 00:18:17.519 It says he was driven away from humankind to dwell with the beast, to eat grass like 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:24.200 the cattle, to grow hair like a bird, to grow nails as long as birds' claws. 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:33.759 Now James chapter three says, we contain every single beast of the earth except the tongue. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:38.240 We can control every animal that God has ever made we human beings, but we cannot control 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.279 the beast that is our speech. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:47.920 And you see as soon as Nebuchadnezzar spoke words of blasphemy, building himself up over 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:52.000 God himself, words of blasphemy, words of curse against the living God, what happened? 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.879 He became a beast. 00:18:53.879 --> 00:18:57.480 God sent him into the wilderness and he became beastly. 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:02.279 And James is putting something together between Genesis one and Daniel four and then James 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:07.559 chapter three and saying when we use our words to speak ill of others, to curse or blaspheme 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:12.319 God or other people, we become beastly. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:16.559 In other words, he's saying that sinful speech dehumanizes. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:22.119 Sinful speech dehumanizes the speaker and the person spoken about. 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.279 It undercuts the image of God. 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:28.599 The image of God, that's what it means to be human, but when we curse the image of God, 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:30.240 we dehumanize. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.960 We try to take away the image of God from somebody else and so it's saying our sinful 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:39.319 speech ultimately dehumanizes ourselves and other people as soon as we do it. 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:47.079 Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you. 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:50.759 Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can kill your soul. 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:52.559 Words can destroy you. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.920 Words are so much more powerful than sticks and stones. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.300 You can go to the doctor for the sticks and stones, but not what do you do with the words? 00:20:00.300 --> 00:20:04.480 The words that curse you, the words of pain, the words that you've never forgotten that 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:09.480 that person said to you at that time, in that place, in that year. 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:11.800 Words are so much more powerful than sticks and stones. 00:20:11.800 --> 00:20:19.680 Friends, have you made mistakes with your words today? 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:24.039 Have you made mistakes with your speech this past week? 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:29.720 Have you said something in the past month that you say, man, I wish I could take that 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:31.519 back? 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.920 Have you ever said anything in your entire life where you say, if only I could, if I 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:41.240 could bring those words back and hold and change my motivations and change the words 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:42.440 I chose to speak? 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.079 Is that you? 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.720 Is that you tonight? 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:51.159 On the one hand, Jesus Christ says, we will stand before Him and account for every careless 00:20:51.159 --> 00:20:52.599 word we ever spoke. 00:20:52.599 --> 00:21:01.199 On the other hand, John's Gospel says, Jesus Christ is the Word who became flesh and dwelt 00:21:01.199 --> 00:21:03.199 among us. 00:21:03.199 --> 00:21:11.359 Now that means that in John's Gospel, God is telling us that Jesus Christ is the very 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.959 speech of God the Father. 00:21:14.959 --> 00:21:19.480 We speak and have the power to give medicine, instruments of life, but Jesus Christ, you 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:22.759 see what He's saying, He is the very instrument of life. 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:25.440 He is the speech of God the Father. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.200 He is the Word, John tells us. 00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:31.319 And the Word became flesh and has come down and dwelt among us. 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.240 And what does God's Word say? 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:39.319 In other words, He's saying, look at Jesus and you can see what God is saying to you 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:41.240 about your words. 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:43.599 And what does it say when you look at Jesus? 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:45.519 Here's what God says. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:52.559 God says of Jesus in Isaiah 53, and Isaiah 53, this is what God says of Jesus, that He 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:58.839 is the one from whom we had to turn our faces away. 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:07.240 And you see, it's saying in Isaiah 53 that He would be like a sheep led to the slaughter. 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:10.480 And when that happens, you would have to turn your face away. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:12.599 You couldn't look. 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:14.160 You see, you couldn't look. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:15.160 You couldn't look at what? 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:20.640 You couldn't look at the fact that He came to be dehumanized. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:23.360 Jesus Christ came to be treated like a beast. 00:22:23.360 --> 00:22:24.840 He came to be dehumanized. 00:22:24.840 --> 00:22:30.880 You see, every single careless word we've ever spoken dehumanizes. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:34.040 And Jesus says, you're going to have to be held to account for that. 00:22:34.040 --> 00:22:37.960 And then Jesus Christ came to be ultimately dehumanized. 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:41.640 He came to go to the cross to be treated like a beast for every careless word we've ever 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:43.040 spoken. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:48.759 That means that He's saying that at the cross, when the Son of God was dehumanized, He got 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:51.279 what our sinful speech deserves. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:54.039 He took it into Himself. 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:58.240 The cross tells you what every careless word deserves. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.740 That's what we see when Jesus goes to the cross. 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:07.839 It tells you what God gave in love to overcome the pain of your sinful speech. 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:10.359 Today is the day. 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:14.839 Night is the night, I should say, to mourn your sinful speech, but to look and lift up 00:23:14.839 --> 00:23:16.000 your head and look at the cross. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:23.079 Now listen, let me ask you a few application questions about this. 00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:26.199 Can you say tonight, do you know tonight? 00:23:26.199 --> 00:23:31.399 Do you look to Jesus tonight and know that every single sinful word and thought really 00:23:31.399 --> 00:23:35.639 did die with Him when He died? 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:42.160 So if you think back to that thing you said at that time and it still breaks your heart, 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:46.080 do you know tonight, do you rest tonight in the fact that every single careless word 00:23:46.080 --> 00:23:51.240 you've ever spoken, today, yesterday, this month, last year, and for your entire life, 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:55.440 really did die when Jesus died? 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:56.920 It went to death. 00:23:56.920 --> 00:23:58.600 It's gone forever. 00:23:58.600 --> 00:24:00.280 God has forgiven you. 00:24:00.280 --> 00:24:01.280 It's over with. 00:24:01.280 --> 00:24:04.240 Now let me take this a step further. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:05.620 Jesus Christ was forsaken. 00:24:05.620 --> 00:24:11.960 He heard silence from God the Father so you could hear a word of peace. 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:20.920 Some of us come tonight not just struggling over the speech we've said and the need we 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:24.200 have of forgiveness for that. 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:27.319 For the things we've said, the things we never said, maybe. 00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:29.720 There's forgiveness in Jesus for all of it. 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:36.240 And some of us tonight also come struggling because we have years and years of speech 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:41.920 that have been hurled at us. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:46.839 Years and years of being made fun of, years and years of being cut down, years and years 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:50.480 of being told something very damaging to our hearts. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.360 So some of us come tonight and we carry that. 00:24:53.360 --> 00:24:57.799 And it's not only that we're sinners with our speeches that we've been sinned at many, 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:00.480 many times by other people's speech. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:02.960 And let me just say this. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:10.680 If God the Father would go to the length of giving his son to death, utter dehumanization 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:17.759 for you, do you not know tonight that God says a different story about you that God 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:19.159 sings over you? 00:25:19.159 --> 00:25:23.559 You know, all the things that that person said to you that hurt you and broke you and 00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:24.559 destroyed your heart. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:28.759 Do you know tonight that God the Father sings words of delight over you? 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:31.759 That's what the cross says, that he joys. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:37.119 He gave his only begotten son so that he could sing over you. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:42.159 If you've been named son or daughter by God himself, then you're okay. 00:25:42.159 --> 00:25:43.159 You're okay. 00:25:43.159 --> 00:25:45.599 Now those things are so painful. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:46.599 So painful. 00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:48.960 But God the Father, tonight he sings for you. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:50.359 He sings words of delight over you. 00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:54.519 He says, my son, my daughter, did you endure years of silence? 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:59.480 Does it that there are things in the past that somebody never said that they should have 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:01.400 said? 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:03.879 Words never spoken that should have been. 00:26:03.879 --> 00:26:07.160 You never heard, I love you. 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:09.160 And you should have. 00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:13.279 And tonight the Father says, I love you. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:14.440 I love you. 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:17.920 Now let me close with this. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:21.279 What is required of us in just a couple of minutes and we'll be done. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:27.480 What is required of us tonight is to go forward now and grow in wiser speech. 00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:31.319 So just a few things and I'm just going to list them here and we'll be finished. 00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:32.440 Here's the first thing. 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:37.240 First, remember tonight your words can be forgiven. 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:42.279 And if you look to Jesus tonight for hope of forgiveness for your careless speech, that 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:46.639 means that we've got to go from this place and be willing to forgive other people for 00:26:46.639 --> 00:26:47.639 their careless speech. 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:53.160 You know, if we say, I've been forgiven so much for all that I've said, I've got to be 00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:56.840 ready to forgive what other people have said to mean about me. 00:26:56.840 --> 00:27:02.040 So the Lord's prayer, remember it says that we go forward, forgive us our debts, O Lord, 00:27:02.040 --> 00:27:03.120 as we are forgiving. 00:27:03.120 --> 00:27:07.120 All right, so we have to go forward being willing to forgive other people. 00:27:07.120 --> 00:27:12.600 Secondly, at the same time, we've got to go forward from here knowing all our words, words 00:27:12.600 --> 00:27:15.680 also at the same time are irrevocable. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.120 And they can't be taken back. 00:27:18.120 --> 00:27:22.720 And so every single thing that we ever do with our speech that is simple can be forgiven. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:28.360 Yet there's a stickiness in our speech. 00:27:28.360 --> 00:27:34.039 And we really can minister death or life to people with our words. 00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:36.799 And whatever we do with our words, we can't get it back. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:39.799 Once they've gone out, they never can come back in. 00:27:39.799 --> 00:27:44.279 And so though words can be forgiven, there's still our consequences. 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.879 And so that's a call and an invitation to say tonight I just want to be renewed and 00:27:47.879 --> 00:27:53.920 being more serious about the things I say, more serious, meaning I think about it more 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:54.920 carefully. 00:27:54.920 --> 00:27:55.920 Okay, how? 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.119 Third, third, very simple. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:05.119 There actually has to be a moment of decision, which is to say, I want to tonight, tomorrow 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:12.440 morning, I want to use my words today to speak life to people, to be medicine. 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.480 So in some sense in your morning communion with God, you've got to have a time where 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:21.759 you say, I want today, Lord, my words to go forth and heal. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:24.360 Because our hearts are still sinful. 00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:28.880 And so if we don't do that, then the natural disposition of the heart will be to default, 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:32.920 to the sins of speech that we normally struggle with. 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:37.720 Now all of us then need to say, I need to actually identify the sins of speech that 00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:40.759 are most common patterns in my life. 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:46.319 So we could say all sorts of things, speaking the truth unseasonably in the wrong time with 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:51.839 the wrong mode of selfish ambition and words that come from that flattery gossip, little 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:53.319 lies that have become big lies. 00:28:53.319 --> 00:28:57.839 It could be anything identifying and deciding I'm putting this away. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:02.680 I want to pursue words that heal, not destroy forth. 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:06.519 Finally, there is a paradigm in the Bible. 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:10.319 There's a paradigm in the Bible for why speech and growing in why speech. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:15.879 And it's found in Ephesians 4, 1 John 1, John 14 to 17. 00:29:15.879 --> 00:29:23.480 And it's simply this, good speech, good words always combine together truth and love. 00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:28.879 So the only way to speak good words is to speak words of truth for the motivation or 00:29:28.879 --> 00:29:33.559 reason of love. 00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:40.559 In other words, the point is that speaking the truth in the Bible is not just an issue 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:45.559 of accuracy, of saying the accurate thing. 00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:50.200 It's actually an issue of saying the right thing at the right time to the right person 00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:52.639 for the right reason. 00:29:52.639 --> 00:29:55.519 And so we have one example here. 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:59.759 I can just give one and I have to close from Proverbs 27 verse 6. 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:06.640 Wounds from a friend are faithful, but an enemy multiplies kisses. 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:09.039 Wounds from a friend are faithful, but an enemy multiplies kisses. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:11.799 You see it's talking about the issue of truth and love. 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:17.440 Wounds from a friend are faithful, meaning when a friend loves you enough to tell you 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.799 the truth, it's like a surgeon's scalpel. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:22.960 The wound of a friend is faithful. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:24.680 They love you so much that they tell you the truth. 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:25.680 I'm worried about you. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:26.680 You're running away. 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:28.200 You're doing this damaging thing in your life. 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:29.640 They come and tell you the truth. 00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:32.520 They confront because they love you. 00:30:32.520 --> 00:30:35.560 But then it says, but an enemy multiplies kisses. 00:30:35.560 --> 00:30:39.000 You know you have an enemy in your life when they're always flattering you. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:41.840 You see that's love without truth. 00:30:41.840 --> 00:30:43.280 Truth and love always go together. 00:30:43.280 --> 00:30:56.720 That's why speech, the final word, patterns of sinful speech have to be conquered by recognizing 00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:06.160 that they are just that patterns, patterns, meaning if you give in to gossip, gossip 00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:09.279 gets a little bit easier the next time. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:15.160 And if you give in to unhealthy criticism, a critical attitude unnecessarily, criticism 00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:17.680 becomes easier next time. 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:25.319 And if you lie in small ways, then lying in big ways becomes easier and easier and easier 00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:27.200 the next time. 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:33.960 And that means that the final word is that to conquer these habits and these patterns, 00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:36.480 we need one big thing. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:46.319 And that is to bathe, to swim, to wash ourselves in the counter habits, the counter habit of 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:50.679 actually bathing and swimming in good speech. 00:31:50.679 --> 00:31:52.480 And where do we find that? 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:54.159 The word of God. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:32:02.040 Come to the word of God and read it and learn how to speak well. 00:32:02.040 --> 00:32:05.080 Truth and love. 00:32:05.080 --> 00:32:12.800 Look if your words have the power to give life or death, how much more does reading God's 00:32:12.800 --> 00:32:17.960 word have the power to change your heart? 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:21.120 Have the power of life in the midst of your heart? 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:27.199 Just pray now and ask God to change us when it comes to our words. 00:32:27.199 --> 00:32:34.039 Lord, we come tonight and ask that you would teach us to speak wisdom, truth and love. 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:42.119 And we do come tonight hoping in the fact that Jesus Christ became someone we couldn't 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:47.159 even look at at the cross because of our sinful speech. 00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:51.400 And without that, what hope could we possibly have when we really think about what we've 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.360 done with our words and our lives? 00:32:54.360 --> 00:33:01.080 And Lord, some of us come tonight too needing deep healing because of things that have been 00:33:01.080 --> 00:33:03.920 said to us. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:08.200 And so we come long for that, God. 00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:13.640 Would you use the power of the gospel and the power that you, O Father, have spoken words 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:21.520 of joy over us and acceptance to be the healing balm that puts away the ways we were made 00:33:21.520 --> 00:33:29.800 fun of, we were jabbed at in ways that actually were deeply harmful, the silence that was 00:33:29.800 --> 00:33:30.960 always so painful. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.560 Lord, you have spoken. 00:33:33.560 --> 00:33:36.120 Your word is bigger than everything. 00:33:36.120 --> 00:33:37.440 So we come and rest on that tonight. 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:44.440 In Christ's name, amen.