WELCOME
† SCRIPTURE READING
Proverbs 18:21
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..
In fact, there were more backbiting, gossip and lies being told about me since I started preaching than all my years as a Christian before put together.
There are still rumors gossip and lies being spread about me right now.
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.
Try as they may, they can lie all they want, gossip all they want, they can say whatever they want, but because I walk in truth and the Holy Spirit, I have protection.
But to qualify for this protection, 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 the prayer 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.
A spring of living water, flowing from us into this world.
This is how God works in our world today.
Through us!
We are the Kingdom of God!
If you hear people say they just don’t see evidence of God in the world today, it’s because we’re not doing something right.
Rivers of living waters should be flowing from us everyday!
God works through us, His people, to reach the lost of this world.
And this river is the Holy Spirit.
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.
† Matthew 12:33-37
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?
What fruit are you producing in your life?
Is it Holy Fruit?
Or, do you have sewage overflowing?
Remember, the tongue has the power of life and death.
The Lord spoke everything into existence.
And the Lord cursed the fig tree with His mouth for not producing fruit when it was supposed to.
We have the power of God within us in the form of the Holy Spirit.
Are we speaking words of life or death?
The power of life and death are in our tongue.
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, and 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!
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)
Remember what we read a minute ago in verse 36?
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.
† Psalm 39:1-3 (David Speaking)
1 I said, "I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence."
2 But when I was silent and still,
not even saying anything good,
my anguish increased.
3 My heart grew hot within me,
and as I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
David was saying, “if I can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
But he couldn’t continue to keep silent!
When he couldn’t take anymore, he spoke, but GOOD and to God!
That’s what David just told us.
Gossip, backbiting, false witness and lies are snares of the devil.
So what if I slip up…
† James 1:26-27
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
To do good, and keep yourself from being polluted by the world.
How do you know if you’re polluted by the world?
Easy, has your thinking changed since you’ve accepted Christ?
Have your thoughts, or way of thinking changed?
Do you filter what comes into your mind, your house?
Are you filling your heart with God’s word or do you spend all your free time on worldly things?
Is God really number one in your life?
What is the most important thing in your life?
Your job, your retirement, your husband or wife, your children?
If any of those were your answer, you may be headed for disaster.
God HAS to come first!
“You mean even before my husband, wife or kids?”
I mean even before YOURSELF!
What good is a man whose priority is himself?
The most evident proof to see if you are polluted by this world is by your fruit.
† Proverbs 10:11
“ 11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.”
If you are speaking violent, hateful, hurtful, angry, vile, things, then you have the mouth of a wicked person.
You heart is full of the things you speak.
Your fruit shows this.
Why does Jesus tell us this?
So we can recognize where we are, and make it right!
So we can see the evidence of our hearts, and know whether or not we have allowed Christ into our hearts.
So we can see what is filling us.
So we can change it!
God’s word was designed to fill our hearts and from that overflow, be in our mouths.
† Deuteronomy 30:11-18 (The Offer of Life and Death)
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.”
God has set before us Life and Death. And the power is in our tongue!
Judging by the fruits of your mouth, where is your heart today?
Are you choosing life or death?
You can choose life today!
† Romans 10:8-10 tells us that “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has risen Him from the dead, YOU WILL BE SAVED.”
“For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation!”
Confess to the Lord today and choose life
Examine your tongue to see what tree you are from.
Psalm 32:5 says “I confessed my sin to you and you forgave me”
1 John 1:8-10
“8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
† Today you can choose life.
Today you can confess the Lord before man, and Christ will confess you before God in heaven.
Today you can examine your mouth, and know what is truly in your heart.
Today you can confess to the Lord and He can change your life.
And before you know it, you have made God first in your life, and through your study of God’s word, it will fill your heart and overflow through your mouth and you will confess and speak the goodness of the Lord.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you for showing us the power our words have.
You spoke everything that is, into existence.
You have given us the power of life and death in our tongue.
I pray that anyone here today that wants to confess to you Lord, they come forward.
I pray that they recognize that their hearts need to be changed by you Lord.
I pray that they confess you Lord before all, and confess to you so they may be forgiven.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment