Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

I remember giving a speech years ago in an oral communication class at Arkansas State-Beebe.

My message was an argumentative speech for creationism and against the big bang theory.

In my conclusion, I stated that words were powerful.

Every day we, as humans, speak happiness, joy, strength, anger, worry, confusion into existence in either I lives or the lives of others.

I stated that if we can bring these powerful emotions into existence by speech, then who it to say that one greater than ourselves, a deity, God Himself, could not speak something as great as creation into existence from nothing.

My point this morning is on the power of the tongue.

The revelation of the tongue.

The judgement that is received because of the tongue.

It is through the tongue we find ourselves freed or imprisoned, condemned or justified.

What does your tongue/speech say about you?

As we have been going through this series of messages, A Return to Holiness, we have addressed the areas of sins of thought and sins of attitude.

This morning we addresses the area of sins of speech.

If we are to truly find personal and corporate revival, we must learn to tame the tongue.

Opening Passage

Outline

1.

The tongue reveals the condition of the heart (Matthew 15:11, 18-19)

In Matthew 15, Jesus and his disciples come and begin to eat.

The Pharisees are there and they begin to question Jesus about his disciples eating without washing their hands and feet.

It was the custom of the Jews, that before one ate, they would need to wash their hands and feet.

If you did not do so, you would be breaking custom and it would be considered an insult.

Jesus’ response was one that we must take note of.

He states, It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man (v.11).

Upon reflection of Jesus, we are told a great truth here.

Often we worry too much about what goes in our body and far less about what comes out of our mouth.

Less we find misunderstanding of what Jesus was telling the Pharisees, we must look at Jesus’ explanation to His disciples, But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man (v.18).

Too often we find those even among the church not addressing the tongue.

Not addressing their speech.

We must learn to address our speech.

Truly, we must learn to identify what our speech says about us.

As Jesus said, what we speak, is coming from our heart.

It truly reveals just who we are.

How often do you find your self stating profanities?

How often do you find yourself making derogatory comments?

How often do you find yourself making explicit statements about the opposite sex?

How often do you find yourself using the Lord’s name outside of praise and worship?

How often do you find yourself giving off color jokes, comments, and/or suggestions?

On the flip side, how often do you find yourself singing praises to God? How often do you find yourself giving thanksgiving?

How often do you find yourself discussing the things of God? How often do you find yourself praying?

How often do you find yourself expressing and declaring the Gospel to others?

How often do you find yourself discussing about things above rather than things below?

As Jesus states, For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders, These are the things which defile the man (v.18-19a).

What does my speech say about me?

What does your speech say about you?

What does our speech say about the heart of our church?

For the church is not the building but the people within the building.

We must pay attention and identify what the condition of our heart is individually and corporately, which the tongue gives a good picture of, and repent with humility before the Lord and seek His cleansing, redeeming power.

Not only do we need to identify what our tongue says about the condition of our heart, who we truly are, but we must learn to tame that tongue.

We must learn to be disciplined, spiritually disciplined.

And part of spiritual discipline is taming the tongue.

2. The tongue must be tamed (James 3:2, 5-6)

2. The tongue must be tamed (James 3:2, 5-6)

One of the hardest things to tame is the tongue.

As find written by James, the tongue is a little amber that has been set on fire of hell.

It is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that defileth the whole body.

This is why it is so important to tame the tongue.

It may be small, but even scientifically it is one of the strongest muscles we have in the body.

With the same tongue one minute we find ourselves worship and praying to God and the next were back biting, murmuring, cursing, and gossiping.

As we find written within the Scripture, this ought not be.

Knowing that the tongue defiles the whole body, we should make every effort to tame it.

To change our vocabulary.

To change our habits of tongue and speech.

The body the tongue defiles, I would submit to you is not just the physical body but the spiritual body of the church as much so, if not more, than that of our physical bodies.

It is through the tongue that we find most struggles and troubles within life and especially within the church.

As James writes, and setteth on fire the course of nature.

We must acknowledge and the revelation of our spiritual condition and relationship within the Lord that is exposed by our speech and tongue.

As we realize that there is needed change that must take place, we must actively and daily tame the tongue.

We find within Scripture six specific areas in which we must tame the tongue.

3. We must repent in six areas of speech (the tongue)

While these six areas are not exhaustive, they do reveal six specific areas of speech that quench the Spirit, cause points of dissension, and prove to be areas in which many Christians give the devil a foot hold.

As we find in the Scripture, we are to guard against this.

As Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, Do not give the devil an opportunity (Eph.

4:27 NASB).

We must learn to stop giving the devil an opportunity to grab ahold of us and grab ahold of the church through our speech.

Six areas in which we must repent and take back from the devil are...

A. We must repent of inappropriate speech (Ephesians 4:29; 5:4; Matthew 5:37)

A. We must repent of inappropriate speech (Ephesians 4:29; 5:4; Matthew 5:37)

Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth (Eph.

4:29).

The Gk rendering of “corrupt” is actually defined as profane.

It is the those little four and three letter words that so many use.

They use them in jokes.

They use them in common everyday conversations.

They use them in anger.

They use them.

To say that I have never said one of those words would be a lie.

I’m guilty.

I would testify that they are not part of my everyday conversation and language.

I would states that I fill my mind and life with jokes that carry this type of language in them, but to say that I’ve never stated a profane word in anger, would be a lie.

Every times that has happened, I am convicted by this.

I am broken over this.

I am reminded that I have much to work on in my heart.

Anger does not justify profanity.

It is not an excuse to sin.

Profane langue does nothing to help the listener have a better understanding of what you are stating.

This is why Jesus states to let our yes be yes and our no, no (Matthew 5:37).

All profanity does is destroy and show ignorance.

This is why Paul declares that we are not to let corrupt communication comes out of our mouth.

We are called to build up the church not destroy it.

This is why it is so important to watch the tongue.

Because every word you say whether in jest, in conversation, in joke, every word not only is a representation of who you are, but it represent your Lord and His bride.