Tongue: It's "All" There...

TONGUE: IT’S “ALL” THERE…

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

And those who love it will eat its fruit �“Proverbs 18:21

“Sticks can break bones but a lashing tongue can break hearts”, “Beware! Tongue is in a wet place, it can slip easily” are some of the quotable quotes about the human tongue but the Scriptural quote which touches the heart deeply is the one which I have quoted above. To bring in an element of seriousness, let’s look at the translation of the said Scripture in The Living Bible

"Those who love to talk will suffer the consequences. Men have died for saying the wrong thing! "

In this Sermon, I am inspired to look at both the negative and positive aspects of the words emanating from the tongue.

Slaughter…

Consider this Scripture…

“…So forty-two thousand people of Ephraim died there at that time.”- Judges 12:6

The last thing the Nation of Israel wanted after warding off the External Ammonite aggression(Judges 11) was a civil war but it was unfortunately triggered by the rude, crude words of the Ephramites against the God-appointed leader Jephthah (Judges 12:4). The temperamental Ephramites (perhaps priding in the fact that Joshua-the great leader- who conquered the Promised Land belonged to their tribe) had gotten-away with the similar proud demeanour with one of the God-ordained previous Judges (Gideon- Judges 8:1) but not so with Jephthah. Did not somebody say “Do not let your tongue cut-off your head”!!!

Stampede…

“…for the people trampled him to death at the gate!”- 2 Kings 7:20

Who was the person who was trampled at the gate? Let’s hit the re-wind button and visit Prophet Elisha’s home which had an angry visitor (the troubled Israeli King who was at his wit’s end as a consequence of a terrible famine caused by the Syrian forces besieging the Capital city of Samaria).

Look at the Prophet positive outlook borne out of his unshakeable faith in the God of miracles.

“The Lord says that by this time tomorrow two gallons of flour or four gallons of barley grain will be sold in the markets of Samaria for a dollar!”-2 Kings 7:1.

In stark contrast to the words of the Prophet, emanated words of scorn from the King’s assistant belying his lack of faith…

“That couldn’t happen if the Lord made windows in the sky!”- 2 Kings 7:2

The result? The curse of the Prophet came to pass as the guilty one was in no mood to humbly confess of his contemptuous words…” “You will see it happen, but you won’t be able to buy any of it!”

After focusing on the two negative examples of wrong words which caused doom and gloom let’s now reflect on some positive cases of words spoken with positive faith which are worth emulating…

Sacrifice…

“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the young men, “and the lad and I will travel yonder and worship, and THEN COME RIGHT BACK.”- Genesis 22:5

Hey, Abraham was supposed to sacrifice his beloved son Issac on Mount Moriah and come back ALONE. Isn’t it? The faith of the Father of faith on God’s goodness was unshakeable. Let the Scripture take over…

“He believed that if Isaac died God would bring him back to life again; and that is just about what happened, for as far as Abraham was concerned, Isaac was doomed to death, but he came back again alive!” �“ Heb 11:19 (TLB)

Dear Friends, it is one thing to believe that God exists (even demons do that �“James 2:19 ) but it is quite another to believe that God who exists has our best interests in His loving heart (He is LOVE �“ 1 John 4:8). No wonder from the abundance of faith in his heart (Luke 6:45), Abraham spoke the words which would come true. Say Christian are you facing a dicey situation in your life? A major operation when there is still so much of “unfinished business for the Master”…speak these words to your family and the hospital staff…“My God in whom I trust, will bring me safe and sound through this operation”.

Shunemite…

As she approached Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance and said to Gehazi, “Look, that woman from Shunem is coming. Run and meet her and ask her what the trouble is. See if her husband is all right and if the child is well.”

“Yes,” she told Gehazi, “EVERYTHING IS FINE.”-2 Kings 4:25-26

Assuming for a moment my committed Church is already aware of the background, I have no reservation in stating that if you want see the pinnacle of positivity in speech…this is it!!! There she was… the hospitable Shunemite lady carrying a dead son in her hand but firmly believing that God’s miracle is already on the way. She virtually pronounced the power of resurrection on her sun-stroke stricken, dead son.