Sermon Central
-
Words Are Full Of Power
Contributed by James Dina on Oct 4, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: When you speak, heaven begins to work because there is power in the words you declare. Every word that comes out of your mouth should be a word of life, to edify, motivate, and bring comfort.
WORDS ARE FULL OF POWER
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." (Proverbs 18:21)
“.....The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life..” (John 6:63)
Words are full of power, both to wound and to heal, to break and to bind up, to grieve and to comfort. Words have the power to make or break relationships. As the word of God has an Almighty power to break the heart, so the word of man has a mighty power to do it. Some are more troubled with what is said to them, than with anything that is done to them: unfriendly and reproachful speeches have lain upon them, than the heaviest of other pressures.
David had many hands against him, but he was most afflicted with the tongues which were against him; "As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproached me while they say daily unto me, where is your God" (Psalm 42:10).
God works on man's heart with two kinds of words:
1. SOFT WORDS - These are His Promises.
"Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you, say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake" (Matthew 5:10-11). The blessing is promised not only to those who suffer evil done to them, but to those who suffer evil spoken against them.
2. HARD WORDS - These are His threatening.
Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, "and the Lord spoke unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me and if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your borders with frogs: and the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and upon your bed, and into the house of your servants, and upon your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. And the frogs shall come up both on you, and upon your people, and upon all your servants" ( Exodus 8:1-4).
"Be warned, O Jerusalem, or I shall be alienated from you, and make you a desolation, A land not inhabited.” (Jeremiah 6:8)
While God definitely warns people that the judicial sentence of suffering awaits them if they spurn Him as their treasure, He does not lead with warning but with wooing. And this is more than a matter of sequence. It has to do with the very essence of what He demands.
3. HARD WORDS from His Servants -
"Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple." (Micah 1:2). The people of God committed the sin of Idolatry, Prophet Micah had to warn them of God's judgment. The people began valuing creation, especially the creations of their own hands above the Creator. This led to them covet what others had (Micah 2:1-2) to the point of laying in bed figuring out ways to get more things, even if it included fraud and violence.
Seeing these people, whom God chose as His special nation dive headlong into these sins, without care, remorse or repentance broke Micah’s heart (Micah 1:8-9). He saw the damage their actions were causing in their own lives and in the lives of others, and so he spoke out against them, warning them that their actions would bring judgment from God.
Do you know how the people reacted? They demanded that Micah stop preaching. They didn’t what to hear the truth, they didn’t believe that their actions would have any real consequences, and they certainly didn’t want to change. (Micah 2:6)
Idolatry is not just carving a god out of stone or wood and bowing down to it. We don’t do this. Instead we carve our gods out of thoughts and ideas. Maybe we worship our time, our intellectual abilities, our moral standing, or our material possessions.
Idolatry is a dethroning of God and, often, we try to place ourselves on that throne. Any time we sin we place ourselves and our desires above God, His word, and His ways. This is idolatry and this deserves judgment.
But like the people of Israel during the time of Micah, we don’t want to hear this message, do we?
What are some of your idols? Is it collecting degrees or accolades in order to hear the praise of men? Is it filling your head with knowledge so you can feel superior to others? What takes the place of worship? What keeps you from praying and studying your Bible regularly? What do you spend your money on and why?
