Summary: Mouth can Block everything

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

• With the tongue Caesar sent armies to war,

• Adolf Hitler incited mass genocide and cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons sprang up.

• With the tongue Wesley preached to thousands,

• With tongue Winston Churchill inspired a nation to stand firm

• With tongue Billy Graham brought millions to faith.

The power of tongue

• It is one of the smaller organs of the body.

• The weight for a male is about 70 grams, for a female, 60 grams. However, its potential for evil is so great God saw fit to imprison it

Tongue is always behind a double jailer: the teeth and the lips. I am talking about the human tongue.

Recent research has revealed that there are few

places more infested with harmful bacteria than the human mouth.

More than one hundered million microscopic critters live there. Fungus grows in the oral cavity.

The tongue can be an instrument of great peace,

• The tongue can be a great inspiration or great destruction and devastation, on the world stage or in your life.

• That’s why you must learn to master your tongue.

How many times have you said things and regretted it?

• How many times have you spoken out and wished you could take the words back?

• So many people I know, have so many regrets about what they have said

Master your tongue or it will master your life, ruin your reputation, and destroy your relationships.

? If you want to look to master your tongue, we can read nothing better than the passage of James I shared before

I came across a statistic that shocked me. I was not sure I believed it.

? I read that the average person speaks 11 million words a year.

? Do you know how many words that is in a lifetime? At the age of 65 it is seventy-one million, five hundred thousand words. Imagine the magnitude of that many words.

When you see the doctor the first, he is checking is the tongue. He can diagnose the illness only by looking at the tongue. (Mt 12:34). How we speak reveals a lot about usIf you can master your tongue you can master your whole body. However, James points out that the tongue is basically untamable, and that it is itself set on fire by hell.

James 3:6-8 (NIV-WS)

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Tongue is illustrated as :-

• As illustrated by the horse (verse 3)

• As illustrated by ships (verse 4)

• As illustrated by a wildfire (verse 5)

The Greek word for hell here is Gehenna, which is the valley of Hinnom, the garbage dump of Jerusalem, where the fires are never quenched, where they burned everything from garbage to criminal’s bodies. If you stop and listen to the things people say, even things you sometimes say, you will see the stamp of Hell fires upon it.

We tame animals, says James, but we cannot tame this tiny piece of our bodies!

And it’s a poison, a deadly poison! How many relationships have been destroyed by the poison of the tongue?

So let’s have a look at some of the ways your tongue causes destruction if you do not master your tongue…

A TONGUE THAT IS DESTRUCTIVE

1. GOSSIP

? Right at the top of the list of the tongue’s destructive power is gossip. Gossip is what sells magazines.

? Gossip is usually thinly veiled with acceptable phrases like, “Have you heard about…?” or “Did you know that?” or “Keep this to yourself, but I heard…? or “I don’t believe it’s true, but I heard that . . .”

Of course, among Christians the most infamous gossip which says, “I am telling you this so you can pray.”

A pastor in a small town had a notorious gossip in his church, and she turned her gossip on him. One day she felt convicted, so she came and asked the pastor for forgiveness.

“Of course”, he said, but then he asked her to do something strange… “Please take a pillow, cut it open and go to the top of the hill overlooking our town and throw the feathers into the wind.

She thought this strange, but she did it, and the feathers floated across the whole town. Then the pastor said, “One more thing… could you go and pick them all up please.”

Gossip is so destructive, and you can’t take all those words back, and you cannot undo the damage.

Proverbs 16:28

A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends

2. FLATTERY/ADULATION

? Gossip is saying behind a person’s back what you would never say to their face; flattery is saying to a person’s face what you would never say behind their back.

? The Scriptures warn us repeatedly against flatterers, for they are destructive people, who use their tongues to say something nice to get what they want.

Romans 16:18 (ESV Strong’s)

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Beware the flattering tongue!

II. The Tongue Measures Our Maturity 3:2

The Tongue Determines Our Direction 3:3-4

IV. The Tongue Inflames Our Iniquity 3:5-6

V. The Tongue Reveals Our Rebellion 3:7-8

1. The tongue has power to direct.

? In verses 3 and 4 we have the illustration of the bit and the rudder.

? Our words can direct others into the right or the wrong path ?- look up Proverbs 18:21. Beware of the idle word, the questionable story, the half-truth, the deliberate lie.

? All these could change the course of a life and lead it to destruction. On the other hand, the right word may direct someone out of sin and into salvation.

2. The tongue has power to destroy.

? The illustration in verses 5-8 emphasises the fact that the tongue is a small member of the body, but it can cause great destruction.

? What the tongue says comes from the heart ?- look up Matthew 12:34-35.

? A tiny spark can set a whole forest on fire, and the tongue is like a small flame ?-

? look up Proverbs 16:27. An evil tongue can also spread poison.

? On the other hand, a spiritual tongue is medicine ?- look up Proverbs 12:18; it will heal and not hurt.

3. The tongue has power to delight.

? In verses 9-12 we have the illustration of the fountain, or spring;

? it is impossible for a spring to produce both fresh and salt water at the same time.

? In the same way, the tongue cannot speak blessing and cursing (Proverbs 18:4). A tree cannot bear two kinds of fruit (Proverbs 13:2; Proverbs 18:20-21).

1. THE WRONG USE OF THE TONGUE

(1) Blaming God when tempted to do wrong

(James 1:13-14). God never tempts us to sin; temptation arises when a man is lured away by his own lust.

(2) Speaking hypocritically

(James 1:26). It is easy to do this, and what a terrible statement about this very thing is found in Titus 1:16!

(3) Expressing discrimination between rich and poor fellow-believers

(James 2:1-4). Discrimination between people?’s colour, background, race and status in life can be thoroughly un-Christian.

(4) Speaking unsympathetically to those in need

(James 2:15-16). With so much poverty in our world, we need to search our hearts.

(5) Boasting and flattering, thus causing a destructive fire

(James 3:5). Just one word can cause a family upset or division in a church; see James 3:14.

(6) Grumbling against each other

(James 4:12; 5:9). Moffatt renders Romans 14:12-13: “?Each of us will have to answer for himself to God, so stop criticising one another!”?

(7) Swearing or blaspheming (James 5:12). Many non-Christians are careless with their words, even taking the Lord’?s name in vain. How careful we must be as believers ?- 1 Peter 3:10.

2. THE RIGHT USE OF THE TONGUE

Now look at the following references in James to see how the Christian?’s tongue should be used:-

(1) To praise God

(James 3:9), which in one translation reads, “?We use our tongue to praise our Heavenly Father?”. We should be doing this every day ?- read through Psalms 148, 149 and 150!

(2) To pray to God:

1. (1) For wisdom (James 1:5-6).

2. (2) For help for those in trouble (James 5:13-16).

3. (3) For healing (James 5:14-15).

4. (4) For large requests (James 5:17-18).

5. (5) For backsliders to be restored (James 5:19-20).

(3) To sing to the Lord

(James 5:13). Turn to Psalm 51:14 and make the same resolution.

(4) To witness for the Lord. This is not actually mentioned by James, but we must include it ?- look up Psalm 107:2; Acts 1:8.

We have seen that our tongues can be used in many bad ways and in a number of good ways.

How can it be controlled? Only by the Holy Spirit. Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to take control of your tongue?

In Romans 6:13 we are exhorted to offer the parts of our body to God “?as instruments of righteousness”? ?- our hands, eyes, feet?…and our tongue. Have you ever given your tongue to the Lord for Him to control it? Do so now, and as you conclude this study here is:

1. (1) A resolution to make ?- Psalm 17:3; Psalm 39:1.

2. (2) A warning to take note of ?- Matthew 12:34-37.

3. (3) A prayer to pray ?- Psalm 19:14; Psalm 141:3.

A careless word may kindle strife,

A cruel word may wreck a life;

A bitter word may smite and kill,

A brutal word will accomplish nil; but

A gracious word may smooth the way,

A joyous word may brighten a day;

A timely word may lessen stress,

A loving word may heal and bless.

It was said of Jesus in John 7:46, “No man ever spoke like this Man.” As we live in the power of His grace, may it be that others will say the same of us.

We need to think before we speak.

The Bible teaches, "My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man's anger does not accomplish God's righteousness." James 1:19-20 (HCSB)

Guard against engaging the tongue without engaging the mind. Take a moment before you speak. Here's an acrostic to help evaluate whether you are about to say something you perhaps shouldn't. Ask the following questions:

Think

T - is it true?

H - is it helpful?

I - is it inspiring?

N - is it necessary?

K - is it kind?