The Tongue

How important are our words?

The words we speak can either bring life or death.  

James 1:2 says if any man offend not in word the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

The perfect man: 

*offends not in word.

*able to bridle the whole body.

Do you offend with your words?  Offend does not mean you are speaking the truth and sinners or those in err are offended.  This offend means to sin, fall, err, trip, stumble with your words.  Take a look at the chapter 3 in James, to see what a great effect the tongue really has.  Your tongue will control your whole body as a boat is directed by the small wheel.  As a car is directed and controlled by the steering wheel, this is the same as our tongue and it's control over our body.  

Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Out of the mouth the heart it is that speaks.  It is not just the words of our mouth that make the impact, because it comes from heart.  It is not just words, it is the heart behind it, and the motive of our words comes the from the state of our heart.  So by our conversation, by our words we can see the heart of the man. 

The Psalmist prays, Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.  (Psalm 141:3) 

Matthew 12:36 and 37 says, But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 

This is how important our words are!  We WILL GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF EVERY IDLE WORD THAT WE HAVE SPOKEN!  Every lazy, useless word.  That is heavy.  How we should take heed to this and let no corrupt word come out of our mouth.  And if there are corrupt words coming, judgmental, offensive words coming out of our mouth, we must examine our heart!  (Ephesians 4:29) For this is where the words are coming from.  Are your words edifying or tearing down a person?  (1 Corinthians 10:23) The Lord's heart, from His Word, shows that He desires we edify and build one another up.  What are our words doing?  Directing people's eyes to Jesus or putting their eyes on things below, vanity?  Things to think about. 

Our words will justify or condemn us.  This is not a light matter, since they do reflect out heart.  Are we complainers, or murmurers?  God smote the Israelites, after He delivered them, who did these things with their mouths, how much more should we fear murmuring and complaining.  If we do these things we are not in the will of God, for the will of God is to give thanks always.  If Christ is in us we will not just have a form of godliness denying the power thereof, we will have power over our tongue.  We can reckon truth of His word only if we are truly His.  If we try to reckon it but we are not truly His then it will never change.  Thus we will see the fruit, the lack of it or the bad fruit.  WE will never change.  

If we can't seem to change, if we continue in grumpiness, in murmuring, in complaining, in grumblings, we are grumbling against the Holy Spirit if we are His.  He will chasten us if we are His children.  But if you can remain in a murmuring spirit, continuing in this, with no chastisement from the Lord, no power to overcome, then we have reason to fear!  If you remain unchanged after you have come to Him, there is something deeply wrong.  If you have come to Him, truly been saved then you cannot remain the same, you are a new creature, not that you will be perfect, but you will have a new nature, the old will pass away.  So if you are the same as before you "received Christ", there is something wrong.  Have you really been born again?  If we have been, Christ says He has overcome and we are in Him, we will have not just a form of godliness but the power thereof is ours in Him.  His promises are ours, His Holy Spirit won't allow us to continue to sin against Him if we are His.  Examine yourself, this is a serious matter.

I look around and see MANY people who claim they are of Christ, yet NOTHING has changed from before to after.  This is not to be so.  But people accept this because they see everyone else around them in the same boat.  So they think they are okay.  When in reality, they may have "received Christ", but Christ has not received them.  If you are one of the many who have been "born again" as your pastors have told you, yet you see no victory in your life, you are not daily being changed, you tend toward the sinful nature, the natural man, instead of the new nature you read in the bible that you have been given, you tend toward gossip, toward murmuring, toward complaining, loving vanity rather than your conservation being in heaven, there is a huge problem here.  Have you had to give up anything to be Christ's?  Take a look at your life, think about before you were saved and after, what did you give up?  He says if you forsake not all your have you cannot be His disciple. 

 Maybe you have said a prayer and started to read your bible, started to pray, started to change your life, God gave you mercy to stop the blatant sin.  He may just have freed you so you can seek Him!  Has Christ received you?  Have you been given a new nature?  Have you counted the costs to follow Him?  Has HE revealed Himself to you personally?  Has HE confirmed you in His word?  Has He confirmed you and out of your belly flows rivers of living water?  He promises this will happen.  Do you have a boldness about you that you did not have before?  This is also promised to you if His Spirit abides within you.  Have you sought the Lord with your whole heart?  Or do you let every little distraction come in and stop you from seeking Him and think this is okay?

Have you ever done this?.......................

Wherefore, 

come out from among them,

and be ye separate,

saith the Lord,

and touch not the unclean thing; 

and I will receive you.

(2 Corinthians 6:17)

Salvation is a free gift, yes, but there is a cost.  We have to come out from among them.  We need to be ye separate, not following the ways of the typical American!  We have to come out and be separate, be holy, be set apart from the world, not following in the same dissipation!  We must not touch the unclean thing!  We must remove ourself from all unrighteousness, all wickedness, remove all wickedness before our eyes, be unspotted from the world, suffer the reproach of Christ going outside the camp as Christ did, to be with Him, to suffer with Him.  THEN HE WILL RECEIVE YOU.   We must forsake all and then He will receive you.

I am sure there was a point where you "received Christ".  Has He received you?  Our receiving of Him, if we are truly born again, was not of the will of the flesh, was not of the will of man, it was the will of God!  Was it a will of the flesh?  Was it a will of man?  Or was it the will of God, to receive Him?  Did He at the same time receive you?  If your heart condemns you not, if the word condemns you not, if you seek Him in the quiet place, the secret place and He shows you you are confirmed and you see the fruits of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life changing you and before Him you have confidence, then praise the Lord.  But if it was by the will of man, you, or someone else, that you received Him, examine your salvation.  Has Christ received you?  Was it His will?  was it Him who gave you the saving faith or was it something you did on your own?

Is your testimony that one day you just decided to follow Christ?  One day you decided to believe?  Or "I have always been a Christian"?   

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Was there never a point where CHRIST RECEIVED YOU, CHRIST SAVED ME, IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ME, it was HIM who granted me faith in Him!  Was there ever a point where your soul was flooded with peace and joy and you were so assured that you were crucified with Him?  That you are risen with Him, it is no longer you who live but Christ lives in you?

Somehow in these posts I come back to the same thing time and time again, I can assure you this is not MY plan.  The Lord leads me and He leads me back to this every time it seems, this is the cry of His heart through me for His purposes.  He desires all come to know Him.  But many will desire to know Him but will not come to know Him. 

Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 

Strive after Him, seek Him for new birth, putting away all your own efforts, all your own accomplishments for Him, all your own will, fall to His feet and seek Him for His assurance of your soul.