- [Presenter] Proverbs 18:21 says,
"The tongue can bring death or life.
Those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
The right use of the tongue will impart life
and conversely, the wrong use will impart death."
We will be looking at specific diseases
that affect our tongues.
These diseases commonly infect our lives
through the misuse of our tongues
and in some cases can be fatal if left unchecked.
Number one, excessive talking.
This disease is so common that people accept it
as normal when it is not.
Proverbs 10:19,
"We see that too much talk leads to sin.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut."
Another version of the same scripture verse reads,
"When there are many words,
transgression is unavoidable,
but he who restrains his lips is wise."
In other words, if you say too much,
you are bound to say something wrong.
There is no alternative.
We are also warned in the Bible
not to use too many words toward God Himself.
This is a warning that most of us need to hear.
This admonition is found in Ecclesiastes 5:1 and 2:
As you enter the house of God,
keep your ears open and your mouth shut.
It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.
Don't make rash promises
and don't be hasty in bringing matters before God.
After all, God is in heaven and you are here on Earth.
So let your words be few.
If you are not going to give your life to God,
do not tell him that you are surrendering all
because God is going to hold you to account
for the words you speak in his presence.
A little further on in the same chapter,
the Bible indicates that an angel records what we say
when speaking, praying or worshiping.
One day, we will be confronted by that angel
and the record of what we have said.
Then the Bible says it will be too late to say,
"I didn't mean it,"
because we will be held accountable
for all we have said, sung or prayed.
One day, those words are going to be held up before us
and we are going to have to answer for them
if we have been insincere and have not lived
according to the things we have said.
In Ecclesiastes 5:3, we read,
"Too much activity gives you restless dreams.
Too many words make you a fool."
To use too many words is the mark of a fool.
The King James version of Ecclesiastes 5:3 is even blunter,
"For a dream cometh through the multitude of business
and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words."
When you hear a person continually talking,
you need no other evidence.
That person is a fool.
What is the root problem?
I believe it is restlessness.
Compare that to what James said in James 3:8,
"But no one can tame the tongue.
It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison."
People who are always talking are restless.
Excessive talking is a sure indication
of someone whose heart is not at rest.
Number two, idle or careless words.
In Matthew 12:36, Jesus said,
"And I tell you this,
you must give an account on judgment day
for every idle word you speak."
One day, we are going to have to answer
for every word we have spoken.
We are going to have to answer for words
that were idle, insincere, that we did not mean
that we were not prepared to stand behind
or that were not worked out in our lives.
In the sermon on the Mount,
Jesus stated the following in Matthew 5:37,
"Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will'
or 'No, I won't.'
Anything beyond this is from the evil one."
This is an astonishing statement.
If we say more than we mean
than the exaggeration in our speech
comes from the evil one.
Let's sum it up in just one simple word of advice.
If you don't mean it, don't say it.
If you follow that one rule,
I promise you it will change your whole life.
You will be a different and much better person.
Number three, gossip.
Leviticus 19:16 says,
"Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people."
Going about spreading slander, idle,
untrue, exaggerated, malicious talk is gossip.
The very title of Satan in the New Testament,
the word rendered devil means a slanderer in Greek.
That is its root meaning
and the main description of Satan in the Bible.
If you gossip or tell tales,
you are actually doing the devil's work for him.
You are a representative of Satan.
Not only must we be careful not to give out gossip
but we also have a responsibility not to receive gossip.
Proverbs 18:8 says,
"Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one's heart."
How true this is of human nature.
When we hear something about someone that is bad
or shows them in a bad light,
something in the human heart rejoices.
Be careful so that when one of those choice
morsels of gossip is placed in front of you,
you do not swallow it.
They are poisoned.
They taste sweet but they poison us.
And as we receive these morsels of gossip in our hearts,
our lives will become poisoned by them.
Proverbs 20:19 says,
"A gossip goes around telling secrets,
so don't hang around with chatterers."
See how closely these various diseases are related?
If you listen to gossip,
you become an accessory after the fact.
If you receive somebody who has stolen something
and accepts those stolen goods from them,
then in legal terms,
you become an accessory after the fact.
So, if you entertain gossip and listen to their words,
you become an accessory to the gossip.
This is what Psalm 15:1 through 3 says:
Who may worship in your sanctuary Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
There are various requirements for access to God's presence
to dwell on His holy hill.
We must walk with integrity.
We must work righteousness.
We must speak the truth in our hearts.
Then three things we must not do are listed.
We must not slander with our tongues,
we must not do evil to our neighbors.
Also, we must not take up a reproach
or receive a reproach against our friends.
It is not enough that we do not slander.
We must not receive the slanderer.
We must not take up a reproach against someone whom we know.
We must not eat those choice morsels of the gossip
because they are poison and they poison many relationships.
Number four, lying.
We need to be careful that we use the right word
to describe this disease of the tongue.
It is vital that every one of us be very careful
not to be found guilty of lying.
In Proverbs 6:16 through 19,
we see seven things that the Lord hates.
Hate is a very strong word.
This is what it says:
There are six things the Lord hates.
No, seven things He detests.
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.
Out of those seven specific things that the Lord hates,
there are three that are related to the tongue.
First, a lying tongue.
Second, a false witness.
Third, a person who sows discord in a family.
So out of seven things that the Lord hates,
there are three that affect the tongue,
and out of those three,
two are connected explicitly with lying.
This is stated again in Proverbs 12:22,
"The Lord detests lying lips,
but he delights in those who tell the truth."
In this verse, we have two sets of opposites.
We have the word detest, and the word delight.
The Lord detests lying lips.
He delights in those who tell the truth.
There is nothing in between.
Then we have the other two opposites,
lying and truth.
Again, there is nothing in between.
If it is not truthful, it is a lie.
If it is a lie, the Lord detests it.
If it is truthful, the Lord delights in it.
Our problem is that we have so many
gray areas in our thinking,
but I question whether those gray areas
are found in the Bible.
If I traced to its source,
every lie comes from the devil.
That is a frightening thought,
but I will back it up with the words of Jesus Himself.
Speaking to the religious leaders of His day,
Jesus said in John 8:44:
For you are the children of your father, the devil,
and you love to do the evil things he does.
He was a murderer from the beginning.
He has always hated the truth
because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, it is consistent with his character.
For he is a liar and the father of lies.
Every time a lie passes through our lips,
it comes from the devil.
One more significant frightening fact
about the disease of lying
is that unless the disease is arrested and healed,
it is fatal.
Revelation 21:8 says:
But cowards, unbelievers,
the corrupt, murderers, the immoral,
those who practice witchcraft,
idol worshipers, and all liars,
their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death.
Notice the groups of people,
cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt,
murderers, the immoral,
those who practice witchcraft,
idol worshipers, and all liars.
The result of that disease is incurable.
There is no way out.
Their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Once a person is consigned to that second death,
it is ultimate.
I repeat what I said,
unless this disease of lying is arrested and healed,
it is sure to be fatal.
Revelation 22:15 speaks about the city of God.
Outside the city are the dogs,
the sorcerers, the sexually immoral,
the murderers, the idol worshipers,
and all who love to live a lie.
So each of us must determine,
am I willing to be healed of this disease of lying?
Or am I prepared to lose my soul forever?
Unless arrested and healed,
the disease of lying is ultimately fatal.
Number five, flattery.
Psalm 12:1 through 3 says:
Help oh Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing.
The faithful have vanished from the earth.
Neighbors lie to each other
speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
and silence their boastful tongues.
In this scripture,
David was speaking about a state of moral decline
in the human race.
I believe it is not unlike what we see around us today.
Godly men are difficult to find.
The faithful have vanished.
What is the result?
Neighbors lie to each other
speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
This scripture pronounces a judgment of God
upon these flattering lips.
May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
and silence their boastful tongues.
In Proverbs 26:28, we are warned,
"A lying tongue hates its victims
and a flattering words cause ruin."
If we listen and receive flattery,
or if we become flatterers, the end is ruin.
Proverbs 29:5 says,
"To flatter friends is to lay a trap for their feet."
Number six, hastiness of speech.
Proverbs 29:20 says,
"There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who speaks without thinking."
This verse says if we are hasty in our words,
our condition is worse than that of a fool.
This is a solemn statement
because the Bible has nothing good to say about the fool.
There is one example in the Bible of a man
who was hasty in his words just once.
And it tells of the price to cost him.
The man was Moses.
He was told by God to go ahead of the children of Israel,
speak to a rock, and it would bring forth water,
but he was so angry with the children of Israel
that he said to them, "Listen, you rebels."
He shouted, "Must we bring you water from this rock?"
Numbers 20:10,
"Then instead of speaking to the rock, he smote it."
Numbers 20:7 through 12:
That act of disobedience expressed in hasty words
cost him the privilege of leading the children of Israel
into the promised land.
This is described in Psalm 106:32 and 33:
At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord
causing Moses serious trouble.
They made Moses angry and he spoke foolishly.
Notice the diagnosis, a provoked to spirit
causes us to speak unadvisedly with our lips
and these hasty words cost us many privileges and blessings.
If Moses had to pay that price for that one hasty statement,
let us be aware that we do not also say things hastily
that will cost us dearly in the spiritual realm.
Help me grow in my relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus, you promised,
"But the advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the father will send in my name
will teach you all things
and will remind you of everything I have said to you,"
John 14:26.
We thank you for all that you have provided us.
Thank you for remaining faithful to us.
Thank you for the redemption
you gave us to return us to fellowship.
We pray for the forgiveness of every sin
that we have committed.
In Jesus' name, amen.