VIDEO RECORDING OF THIS SERMON
AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS SERMON
The tongue is a very powerful member of your body. In Jas 3:4-5, as ships are turned with a very small helm, so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things.
Fruit is in the power of the tongue – Prov 18:20 – “a man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth.” Prov 12:14, “a man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth.” Prov 13:2, “a man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth.”
We all depend on our mouth for food to eat. Consider job interviews, sales, politics, customer service, peace officers, professors, preachers, lawyers, and on and on. All of these depend on your ability to speak well. Yet, it’s not enough just to talk. Prov 14:23 “the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” You have to labor, too. In 1 Thes 4:11 you study to be quiet, do your own business, and work with your own hands. In 2 Thes 3:11-12, some were working not at all, busybodies, and they needed to learn that with quietness they work.
Because a man knows that fruit is in the power of the tongue, he’s careful with his mouth if what he says could cost him a client or his job. Many politicians are great orators and with their mouths they feed their families. But they are very careful with what they say. They never let you know where they really stand or what they really think or believe if what they believe would cost them an election. They say what yields the most support and votes.
According to 1 Cor 9:14 preachers that preach the gospel shall eat of the gospel. However, if his god is his belly, Phil 3:18-19, he won’t hesitate to lie. Rom 16:17-18, “they serve their belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Prov 23:6-7 instructs us to “eat not bread of him that hath an evil eye… eat and drink saith he, but his heart is not with thee.”
Death is in the power of the tongue – Prov 18:21 – according to Jas 3:8 no man can tame that unruly evil it’s full of deadly poison. However, according to Ps 55:21, a man can polish up that wicked member with words smoother than butter, and disguise the war that’s in his heart. In Dan 11:27 “both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table.” The trouble for those who believe the lies of these deadly tongues is that, “a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin,” Prov 26:28.
Before the end they will SAY Peace and Safety, 1 Thes 5:3. Then sudden destruction cometh upon them. As long as people feel like they are in prosperity, peace and safety they will gladly walk into the cage and stay there, like animals. To Samson, the men of Judah said, “Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us?” They were complacent to let someone else rule over them. I feel for the blacks who buy the lie of BLM. They will cast their weight behind socialists. Once the socialists are in power, they will not need those who helped them get into power anymore. In Ps 74:21 They will still be poor, needy and oppressed, if they are still alive. In Rev 18:12-13, which is still in the future, the merchants will be still trading in slaves, and the souls of men. Nothing that the politicians promise to relieve the oppressed will be enacted.
Read about Abimelech and Shechem in Judges 9. He used them to get power and then destroyed them, Jud 9:1-3, 45-49. Those who are crying to defund the police don’t realize that they will get federal police, in their place. If you don’t like what you got, you’re going to hate what you get. Don’t buy the lie.
Life is in the power of the tongue – Prov 18:21 – Jesus said in Jn 6:63 “the words that I speak, they are spirit and they are life.” Peter said, “thou hast the words of eternal life.” Jn 6:68. In Acts 5:19-20 the angel said to Peter, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” Paul said how shall they hear without a preacher. Paul said, “Preach the word,” 2 Tim 4:2. In Jn 5:24, “he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life and… is passed from death unto life.”
Conclusion: You and I have the words of life. It is by speaking these words that others will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We must speak these words. Life is in the power of the tongue. Never quit speaking them no matter what.