Week 7: June 30, 2024
Review this week's message
Pastor: Robin Tyner
Series: Uncommon Sense: The Wisdom of Proverbs
Sermon Title: Power of Words
Scripture: Proverbs 18:20-21
Main Point: Even though Proverbs was written 3,000 years ago, it’s still the gold standard for acquiring wisdom
Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue
Our Words Reveal What’s In Our Hearts
Our Words Also Reveal Our Spiritual Health
How Can We Use Our Tongue For Good And Not Evil?
Series: Uncommon Sense: The Wisdom of Proverbs
Sermon Title: Power of Words
Scripture: Proverbs 18:20-21
Main Point: Even though Proverbs was written 3,000 years ago, it’s still the gold standard for acquiring wisdom
Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue
Our Words Reveal What’s In Our Hearts
Our Words Also Reveal Our Spiritual Health
How Can We Use Our Tongue For Good And Not Evil?
- Guard Your Heart And Your Lips
- Fill Your Heart With God’s Word And Gratitude
- Surrender Your Heart To Christ
We were created by God to be in relationships. Horizontally, we relate with people. Vertically, we relate with God. Inwardly, we relate with ourselves
Two questions we need to ask are: What do I want to put into my heart, and what do I want to keep out? If we allow garbage into our heart, garbage will come out of our mouth
Guarding our lips means before any words come out of our mouth they must pass three tests: “Is it true?” Is it kind?” Is it necessary?”
Gratitude can be defined as “expressing appreciation for the benefits we receive from God and others.”
Two questions we need to ask are: What do I want to put into my heart, and what do I want to keep out? If we allow garbage into our heart, garbage will come out of our mouth
Guarding our lips means before any words come out of our mouth they must pass three tests: “Is it true?” Is it kind?” Is it necessary?”
Gratitude can be defined as “expressing appreciation for the benefits we receive from God and others.”
You can afford many wrong choices in life. You can choose the wrong career and survive. The wrong city and survive. The wrong house and survive. But there is one choice that must be made correctly, and that is your eternal destiny. We will never face a decision that requires greater wisdom and carries greater risk, so let’s make our biggest decision in life our best one. It’s the only decision we make that impacts where we will spend eternity.” Max Lucado
“Lord, I pray this day and every day, you will set a guard at my lips. May what I say be good and helpful, encouraging and affirming. May my words be true, kind, and necessary, add value to others and be beneficial. May I listen well, ask good questions, give apt replies, and speak with wisdom, tact, discernment and insight. Amen.” Robin Tyner
Key Scriptures:
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37). ESV
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his (what?) tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is (what?) worthless.” (James 1:26) ESV
James 1:19 says, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37). ESV
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his (what?) tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is (what?) worthless.” (James 1:26) ESV
James 1:19 says, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:1-10) ESV
Talk it Over
The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about what we say. There are over 150 verses devoted to our words; our speech; and our tongue. That means one in every six verses in Proverbs talks about how we talk. In our world today we need lots of help on how we communicate with each other.
The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about what we say. There are over 150 verses devoted to our words; our speech; and our tongue. That means one in every six verses in Proverbs talks about how we talk. In our world today we need lots of help on how we communicate with each other.
- Think of a time when the trajectory of your life was changed because of something you said. When did your life change because of your words?
- Read James 3:1-12 and share your observations about the power of the tongue and the impact it can have on others.
- David gives us a good example to follow in Psalm 141:3 when he prays, "Set a guard over my mouth and keep what over the door of my lips." How can you make that prayer a daily practice?
- Read Matthew 12:33-37. Jesus said the words that come out of our mouth are a perfect reflection of what's in our hearts. What else did he say about our words?
- Read James 1:26. How are our tongues an indicator of our spiritual maturity? Would you agree with the statement, "Our spiritual maturity is evidenced by the use of the tongue"?
