Sermon Central
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Part 4 - The Confessing Pillar Series
Contributed by Pastor Bruce A. Shields on Jan 4, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: In this sermon we examine the confession part of our Christian life and how it fits into the House of Faith.
The House of Faith
Part 4 – The Confession Pillar
† SCRIPTURE READING
21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
PRAYER
† We’ve talked about spiritual warfare. We understand that God hasn’t left us without means here on earth. We know that He has given His Holy armor to protect us and our families.
We are being bombarded daily with attacks from the devil.
Backbiting, gossip, lies, sickness, etc..
But we have the shield of Faith that protects us from these attacks and extinguishes the devils flaming arrows. Through God’s armor, we are capable of withstanding the attacks from the devil.
This is like a roof to our house of faith.
But to qualify, we must be saved. And our house of faith must be established by God.
† The foundation to our house of faith must have Christ as the cornerstone and the teachings of the prophets and apostles (which is the Bible) as the foundation.
Upon receiving Christ and making Him the foundation in our lives, God will grow us through the study of His word.
Our thinking begins to change as we read and study His Holy word.
† As God grows us, we start to filter the things we allow in our minds, we filter the trash from our thinking. We filter the garbage of this world from our sight, ears and thought process.
This is like a pillar set on the firm foundation to hold up our roof on our house of faith.
As we continue to study and build our personal relationship with Christ, (like David prayed) God writes His word upon our hearts.
† His word begins to fill our hearts like a filing cabinet.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of the Lord.
And as we continue to fill our hearts with Him, our filing cabinet, or hearts, begin to overflow, and like we read a few weeks ago, a spring of living water will flow out from us. The Holy Spirit will fill us to a point that He will begin to flow out of us and into this world through us.
Because nothing is possible without the Holy Spirit, and it is through the Holy Spirit in us that we do these good works.
This becomes our second pillar holding up our shield of faith which protects us.
† The Confession pillar is a result of what is overflowing from our hearts.
What we speak is from this overflow.
33“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every idle word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted (forgiven) and by your words you will be condemned.”
An apple is from an apple tree, and an orange is from an orange tree. If I hold up one or the other, you know without seeing the tree itself, which tree the fruit came from. You can tell the tree by the fruit it gives.
Do you have a river of life, living water, Holy Spirit flowing out of you and your mouth?
Or, do you have sewage overflowing?
Remember, the tongue has the power of life and death.
Are you edifying, encouraging, lifting up and growing?
Or are you spewing out filth, cutting down, killing others with your words and foul language.
Are you foul and filthy in one sentence, then praising God in the next? That’s what the bible refers to as double minded. You need to choose the master you are going to serve.
What fruit are you producing with your mouth?
Because this fruit is evidence of what kind of tree you are.
The tongue has the power of life and death!
Whose? Yours!
What is life?
† Matthew 10:32-33(Jesus Speaking)
“Whoever confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father in heaven. (LIFE ETERNAL) 33But whoever denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father in heaven. (DEATH ETERNAL)
36”But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every idle word they have spoken.”
What do you speak in idle?
What is coming out of your mouth?
Remember, Jesus said that it’s what ‘s coming out of your mouth that defiles you.
