Living Hope Fellowship Church

YOUR TONGUE (2)

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

YOUR TONGUE (2)

Preface

(use your tongue for righteousness)

          Matthew 12:37 says, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

          As we yield our bodies over to God let the tongue not be last on the list of our member to be yielded to God!  Let it be first, because then the rest of the body will easily follow. 

          Let’s ask God to forgive us of the things we have said.  God has given us power over all the power of the enemy, but we have victory only as we obey God.  We have to go God’s way. 

YOUR TONGUE (2)

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

          James 3:1 says, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.  For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”      

          In the church world there are people who have supposedly made great accomplishments, but they can’t control their mouth! In James the Bible says that person is not perfected yet.  He can have great gifts, talents, abilities, and power, but if a person can’t control their tongue they haven’t accomplished much!

          James 3:3-5 says, “Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” 

          The tongue is just a little member, and it doesn’t even have a bone in it.  Notice the exclamation point at the end of Verse 5!  How great a matter a little fire kindleth!  A smell helm guides a whole ship.  It doesn’t have to be big.  It is all reduced down to a series of gears or hydraulics to the hand of the one who has a hold of it.  No matter what the tonnage is, the whole thing can be turned wheresoever by the one in control. 

          You can turn your whole life around, or you can turn it upside down, or you can turn somebody else’s life upside down.  You may meet somebody who looks like they are stepping on their lower lip, they are so depressed!  Would you come up to them and say, Boy, you really look rotten!  My mama taught me different than that.  She said, If they look bad, don’t tell them how they look.  Encourage them a little bit, so maybe they won’t look so bad.  When a person feels bad they know it, so they don’t need for you to tell them.  Instead, you need to find out what is the matter and ask them if you can help. 

          It is amazing what we can do!  Wars are started and finished with the spoken word.  God created the heavens and the earth with the spoken Word.  God gave us power in our body to speak that which is in the Spirit realm, and it is manifested in this realm.  For example, you can say, I don’t like you, and I’m going to punch your lights out, and there comes the fist!  What you have done is left from the spirit of the soul, and you have busted out into the natural, and then it has become a physical thing. 

          In order to get to know somebody you have conversation with them.  You do not just look at them or shake hands with them.  You have conversation with someone to get to know what they think, what they believe, and what their attitudes about life in general are. 

          You find these things out through someone’s tongue expressing it.  People are able to express themselves even if they have no arms or legs.  Because the tongue is such an important member of your body, and because there is great power in the tongue it must be guarded with all safety. 

          There is power in the tongue to destroy or to bless, to curse or to heal.  We need to watch what our tongue says, because the body follows up with what the tongue speaks.  In order to have a life that is right before the Lord, we are going to have to get control of our tongue.  A lot of people can control horses, but they can’t control their tongue.  A lot of people can control people, but they can’t control their tongue.  Some individuals can control their money, but they can’t control their tongue. 

          We can use our tongue to edify, or we can use our tongue to put down.  Whenever God fills someone with the Holy Ghost, He takes a hold of the tongue first.  It is important, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  The tongue is the member by which the mouth speaks.

          Acts 2:3 says, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”  God baptizes with the Holy Ghost and fire.  We find that there is a fire burning in us.  Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.”  A candle puts out heat and light.  There is something about that fire. 

          There is heat in every human being, and when they die, they get cold.  As long as there is normal life and heat, there is someone at home.  Get somebody mad, and they get real hot!  You see somebody getting nervous, and they start rolling their hands.  Some will start rolling up their sleeves, because they are getting hot.  The fire is stirring.  

          James 3:6 says, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”  This is a harsh statement, but you have to realize that in your head, located between your pallet and lower jaw there is a world of iniquity.  It wasn’t that way in the beginning, but when man fell, he took on the attributes of the devil.

          2 Peter 2:19 says, “. . . of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” Jesus even went a step further, and said in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil. . . .” 

          We have a member in our body that is not very controllable, yet it can be controlled.  The tongue can defile the whole body.  Your tongue can defile you first physically.  I know some very depressed, oppressed people.  By the time they have loaded you down with all the things they don’t believe, their fears and their worries, you are down.  Not only have they defiled their own body, they can defile yours if you listen to them, because there is power of death in the tongue, which we just exemplified.

          Then there is the power of life.  Praise the Lord!  The Word of God is spoken.  Everything we see was spoken into existence by Almighty God.  The instrument of our speaking should be closely guarded!  God has called us to be the salt of the earth.  God has called us to be quickened and to bring life and the truth of the Gospel to the world, but our tongue must first be overcome. 

          The tongue is usually the first course of sin.  As we live for God, generally our tongue is the first thing that gives us trouble.  We say something we should not.  We start, repeat, or add to gossip.  There is a game that illustrates how gossip can spread and change along the way.  You privately tell one person a particular fact that has three or four points of information, and they whisper it to another person.  Several people are in the group and when it gets to the last person, the facts are totally blown out of proportion!  Sometimes people misunderstand or they don’t hear properly.  Sometimes they just like to embellish it, because the tongue is always clamoring.  It is the height of the manifestation of the flesh and carnality. 

          However, the tongue can also be the manifestation of the oracles of God.  Peter said in 1 Peter 4:11, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. . . .”  We can remain in carnality, where everything that we say is wrong, or we can attain to holiness, without which no man can see the Lord. 

          What caused Samson to die blind?  He disobeyed God.  It is because he listened to Delilah’s lying tongue.  It wasn’t the sharp spears or the falling timbers and pillars that killed Samson.  It was the tongue. 

          It took King David’s tongue to inquire about Bathsheba.  The Bible says it was the season that kings went out to war, but David stayed home.  There is a time you need to be seeking God and studying the Word of God instead of gallivanting around.  Matthew 26:41 tells us to, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. .  . .”

          David looked out across that roof and saw Bathsheba taking a bath.  He was loafing, and he inquired who she was.  He had a thought in his heart, and his tongue started something moving. 

          It is sort of like the devil nudging you on the arm and saying, What would you like?  I will get it for you.  Jezebel did it all the time for Ahab.  The Bible says that she stirred up his spirit.  I believe Ahab wouldn’t have been as bad if it had not been for Jezebel’s tongue.  Think about all the wicked people in the world, and think how far they would have gotten without a tongue.  Look, for example, at Hitler’s speeches and the destruction of millions because of a tongue.  It wasn’t because of physical strength or great intellect. 

          The tongue can carry on and on stupidly, and it will denote that.  Someone said, It is best to keep your mouth shut, and have people think that you are a fool, than to open your mouth wide and remove all shadow of doubt!

          Psalm 39:1 says, “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”  He knew that it would defile his whole body and anybody else that he was around.  In other words, he was saying, As long as I’m in this world where the devil is, I’m going to keep my mouth with a bridle.

          Psalm 39:2 says, “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.”  He had something to say, but he held his peace.  It is easier to let our words fly than to bite the tongue, and more fun, but then you have to deal with it.

          There are people who, when thoughts come in the head, out of the mouth it comes.  Then everybody else has to deal with it.  It is like a mud fight when they sling it all over everybody.  It doesn’t make any difference to them, but you have to deal with it. 

          Verse 3 says, “My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,”  In other words he was saying, I won’t say anything this time, but then it is like Popeye comes with his spinach and says, I took all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more!  If you determine in your heart that you are going to hold your peace, the devil will try to see to it that you don’t!  If it takes four licks to get you to speak out, the devil will hit you with five just to make sure that you say what you shouldn’t be saying! 

          In Verse 4 David speaks, “LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.”  Have you ever tried to hold your peace, and then somebody comes up and says, What’s wrong with you?  Have you seen someone posture their body when they are trying to hold their peace?  If they can’t say anything, then they feel like punching you!  We have all been this way, but God says to get control over it!  Give it over to God.

          Psalms 39:5 says, “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.”  

          Isaiah put it as best as anybody when he said in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”  Something has to be placed within us that can control this member that loves and gets a “high” out of expression.  We have all said something that we couldn’t back up, but that crow doesn’t taste good.  When you put it out there, you really can’t take it back, but thank God for forgiveness! 

          We can humble ourselves before God and before the people we have come against, but it is better to get control of the tongue beforehand.  There is something better than deliverance, and that is not needing deliverance.  We need to learn to have holy conversation.  That is hard when you are frustrated, or you want something and can’t get it just right then.  However, James 1:26 says, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.”

          In Proverbs God has an answer for the tongue.  Did you know that there is power over all the power of the enemy (see Luke 10:19)?  Did you also know that God is the God of all flesh?  Jeremiah 32:27 says, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” 

          The tongue is of the flesh!  Therefore, since God is God over all flesh, there is nothing too hard for God!  God can and certainly wants to get control of our tongue.  He also wants to turn it around, because fire can be good.  Hebrews 1:7 says, “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.”  The very same fire can be destructive or it can be beneficial.

          Now, look in Proverbs 16:24 which says, “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  Praise the Lord. 

          Proverbs 4:23-24 says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.  Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”

          Verse 24 also means not to repeat what somebody else says if it was perverse.  I don’t like to go around some people, because all they talk and live is unbelief. 

          Proverbs 16:27 says, “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.”  Some people are like agitators.  Even within the church body there is always somebody whose design in life is to stir up trouble.  They talk to this person or that person, and then they back off and listen to them bicker.  They love to stir up trouble.  The way to react is to pray and believe God, and you will be amazed at the power there is in silence.  When somebody reviles you and persecutes you falsely for Jesus’ sake, God says that you are blessed.  He says to rejoice and not to return railing for railing. 

          Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. . . .”  Romans 12:19 says, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”  So, let’s believe God. 

          When somebody realizes that they can’t get anything back out of you, then you are no fun to play with.  That is why they punched your button anyway.  Everybody has a button, but as we press on with God the button begins to vanish.  Until then they will be pushed!  

          Now, let’s look at Proverbs 21:23.  It says, “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”  It is because the tongue can defile the whole body, and it can make you sick.  Your breath is in the hands of the Lord, so keep your words right.

          Job 13:15 says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. . . .”  When God is still working with me, the devil can’t kill me.  If God is not done with you, all hell can come against you, and it will not prevail.  Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “. . . upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 

          People can talk about anything, but when you get in Jesus, you can talk about the Lord for hours, and the time passes quickly. There is a total difference in the atmosphere around you and in the way you live.  You can walk into somebody’s house, and you can tell if peace is there.  I walked into a house where the strife felt like fog or more like running up against a wall.  It has to do with what is being said and done in that house.  Of course, what is being said there will likely end up being done. 

          You can’t take charge of somebody else’s mouth, but you can take charge of yours.  If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus in everything that you say and do, it will take charge of you. 

          Proverbs 18:20-21 says, “A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.  Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”  There is a certain amount of satisfaction in telling somebody off.  It feels good to this flesh.  Boy, I told him!  I gave him a piece of my mind!  However, Verse 21 tells us we will eat the fruit from what we say, whether it be death or life, and that will be your meal. 

          Revelation 21:7 says, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”  We can choose to use the tongue for righteousness or for wickedness.

          Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and said in Matthew 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.”

          Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  This is not talking yourself into it.  It is where you first believe God, and then begin to speak good things.  It doesn’t work when you speak it first.

          1 Corinthians 3:17 says, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”  People have destroyed their lives with the way they talk.  Some are crazy, some are agitated, nervous wrecks, and some are sick.

          Joshua spoke with his tongue, mouth, and voice when he commanded the moon and the sun to stand still until he had time to defeat his enemies.  God honored what he had to say.  Elisha prayed out loud with his voice in 1 Kings 17:1 which says, “. . . As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”  God honored what he had to say. 

          Matthew 8:13 says, “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”  God honored His words, and He will honor what you have to say.  Mark 11:23-24 says, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

          What we say and the way that we say it can affect us.  Christians believe God, but sometimes we speak our fears.  We know the Word, and we believe God can, but we wonder out loud if God can really do it. God is not the author of confusion.

          James 3:2 says, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”  Jesus commanded that we be perfect.   If your tongue is not godly, God won’t honor your prayer for the sick.  Ask God to forgive you, and be careful how you express yourself.

          Christians must repent of a defiled, carnal mentality.  Revival will occur when someone is sold out to God with their mind, body, soul, spirit, and tongue.  God has given us a tremendous power, and with that power comes tremendous responsibility.

          When the Lord appears He will divide between the righteous and the unrighteous.  As we yield over to God let the tongue be first, because then the rest of the body will easily follow.  God has given us power over all the power of the enemy, but we have victory only as we obey God!

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL  62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail  livinghope@hughes.net

www.livinghopefellowshipchurch.org

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord.  Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.