The Tongue and Speech
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Small things can be very powerful.
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand—the heir to the Austrian throne—was riding in an open-top car through Sarajevo.
His motorcade took a wrong turn and it put him on a street where an assassin was waiting.
A 19 year old fired two bullets and killed the Archduke.
Each bullet was about the size of a pencil eraser.
This moment essentially triggers the event that leads to World War I and the loss of 20 million lives.
Two eraser-sized bullets from the gun of a teenager.
This shows you just how powerful and reality-altering small things can be.
Context
Context
This morning we are talking something that is small, but powerful.
We aren’t talking about a pistol that fires bullets, but the tongue—which fires off words
We are continuing in our thematic study of Proverbs 10-29.
Last week —> Pride and Humility
This week —> The Tongue and Speech
Bible commentator Derek Kidner says that apart from wisdom itself, the tongue is the most talked about subject in all of Proverbs
There 915 verses in Proverbs. Around 100 of them directly or indirectly refer to the tongue and speech and words.
So roughly 1 out of every 9 verses touches on the Tongue in some way, shape or form
This means that we should listen to what Proverbs has to say.
Clearly God cares about how you talk and what you talk about
And clearly the Scriptures connect a God-honoring, wise life with a proper understanding and use of the tongue
Big Idea
Big Idea
The wise know when to speak, what to say, how to say it and what is at stake.
The wise know when to speak, what to say, how to say it and what is at stake.
Outline
Outline
1. The tongue reveals the heart.
1. The tongue reveals the heart.
2. The tongue must tell the truth.
2. The tongue must tell the truth.
3. The tongue builds up or tears down.
3. The tongue builds up or tears down.
4. The tongue will answer to the Lord.
4. The tongue will answer to the Lord.
1. The tongue reveals the heart.
1. The tongue reveals the heart.
What we say is never JUST what we say.
Our words always reveal something deeper about us.
For our words do not just reflect what is happening in our hearts—our words are produced from what is in our hearts.
This why we can say that the tongue reveals the heart.
Proverbs 15:28—Heart Ponders/Wicked Pours Out
Proverbs 15:28—Heart Ponders/Wicked Pours Out
The main place we see this is in Proverbs 15:28 (2nd Collection of Solomon’s Proverbs)
In this part of Collection 2, Solomon spends most of his time comparing the wise and wicked
After chapter 15, Solomon shifts to just talking about what is better—less comparison
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
What you see here is the connection between the heart and the mouth on display.
Righteous Man: Thinks before he speaks
He is not rash with his tongue
He takes his time before he responds to a matter
The Wicked Man: Evil just pours out of his mouth
He IS rash with the tongue
He DOES NOT take time before he responds to a matter
He must vent his feelings—even if they are evil
We see the stark difference between the two.
And what can’t be missed is that it is the righteous man’s HEART that ponders how to answer.
He doesn’t spew forth rash, evil words because his heart meditates upon things before speaking
And what is implied in the 2nd half of the Proverb is that the wicked man does not ponder how to answer in his heart—He just speaks...and what comes out is not good.
But in both cases, notice how the heart determines how the mouth speaks.
The righteous man has wisdom in the heart that makes him patient in speech
The wicked man is foolish in the heart and that makes him impatient and evil in his speech
The same idea is conveyed in Proverbs 12:23
A prudent man conceals knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
The folly of the foolish man’s mouth comes from his heart.
Consistent with Christ’s Teaching
Consistent with Christ’s Teaching
This lines up with what Jesus teaches us about speech in Matthew 12.
This comes in a passage of Scripture where the Pharisees have blasphemously claimed that Jesus was possessed by demons.
Christ indicts their tongues—but He also goes deeper than that.
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.
In indicting the tongue, Jesus also indicts the heart.
He says their evil words are just the fruit of their evil hearts.
He illustrates this by calling them a “brood of vipers.”
He isn’t just name-calling here. He is giving a word picture that illustrates his point.
The viper’s bite is not venomous because of the fangs themselves, but because of special glands behind their eyes that produce the venom.
Similarly, these accusations and insults from the Pharisees were not merely from the tongue.
They came from the evil glands within them--their hearts.
Word Problems Are Heart Problems
Word Problems Are Heart Problems
And what was true of the Pharisees is also true of us...
If you have a problem with how you talk...
If it is evil...
If it is crude...
If it is foul...
If it is perverted...
If it harms and tears people down...
...You have much more than just a WORDS problem.
You have a HEART problem.
Biblically, the heart is the core of who you are.
It is where your convictions lie.
It is the seat of your person.
And according to Jesus, what comes from your lips comes from your heart.
He says your speech comes from the abundance or overflow of your heart.
Another way to say this is to say that SPEECH is the natural outpouring of THE HEART.
This keeps us from any sort of mythical thinking that divorces the heart and the tongue.
Well—I know that I cuss a lot and gossip a lot when I am at work, BUT...
God knows my heart!
People justify sinful talk this way all of the time.
But Jesus’ words should protect us from that error.
What Jesus is teaching us is that GOD DOES INDEED KNOW YOUR HEART...
...He knows it perfectly because He has all knowledge
...But He can also see it in HOW YOU TALK.
Your speech tells God and everyone else what is actually happening in the core of your being.
Understanding this—what should we want our tongue to be doing with words?
TRANSITION TO #2
2. The tongue must tell the truth.
2. The tongue must tell the truth.
God Hates Lying
God Hates Lying
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
God hates lying lips.
He hates them so much, that He forbids it in His Law—the Ten Commandments.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
He hates deceit so much that He names two types of lies in the list of the things God calls an abomination in Proverbs 6.
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
A lying tongue would represent the evil of informal lies that we tell in interpersonal relationships in our lives
A false witness is someone lying in an official legal setting
God despises both of these things.
Why God Hates Lying
Why God Hates Lying
Why is it like this? Why does God hate lying so much?
First of all, it goes against His very being.
First of all, it goes against His very being.
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
The Lord is perfect in His holiness.
The Lord is pure in His being.
The Lord is a God of Truth—He is upright in every way.
There is nothing more contrary to God than a lie.
Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments
Secondly, it goes against what God created the tongue for.
Secondly, it goes against what God created the tongue for.
God did not create the tongue for lies and deceit but for truth-telling.
He gave us tongues to tell the truth about Him.
He gave us tongues to tell the truth about Him.
Think about David who had sinned and lied to God and others in Psalm 51.
As he seeks deliverance from sin, listen to his prayer for his mouth:
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
David has used his tongue for evil, but he knows that is not what it is made for. It is made to give God praise.
He gave us tongues to tell the truth to each other.
He gave us tongues to tell the truth to each other.
We are to tell the whole world of God’s truth:
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
And within God’s covenant community, we speak the truth:
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace;
Truth-Telling in the Christian Life
Truth-Telling in the Christian Life
So then, this should be playing out in the Christian life.
The Christian should not be found using their tongue for lies and falsehood.
Instead, they should be using the tongue to praise God in heaven and tell the truth about Him in the world.
Paul captures this in Ephesians 4.
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
If you are here and you are a follower of Christ, there was a time when that was not so.
You had a former manner of life from birth that was corrupt through deceitful desires.
And this is why lying was second nature.
It was just the corrupt fruit coming from our condemned hearts.
But now you are free to put on the new self, which comes to us in our new life with Christ, which is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
And if you have put on the new self, your mouth is going to show it.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
In other words—Christians ought to be Truth-Tellers because the Spirit of Truth has come and freed us from the bondage of falsehood.
Closing the Teaching Point
Closing the Teaching Point
So has your tongue—which was corrupted by sin—been redeemed by Christ?
If so, the way you use it should demonstrate that.
It should be a vehicle for the truth.
In Praise to God.
In Proclamation to others.
The tongue redeemed by Christ gives God glory and gives people the truth.
What is your tongue being purposed for?
Does it line up with God’s design or does it betray it?
Is it edifying or evil?
This brings us to our third Teaching Point.
3. The tongue builds up or tears down.
3. The tongue builds up or tears down.
Your tongue is going to do one or the other in just a bout every situation. Let’s look at the two separately.
The Tongue and Building Up
The Tongue and Building Up
Proverbs
Proverbs
Proverbs gives a handful of ways we can build up with our words. We don’t have time to linger on each one very long.
Answering someone with gentleness
Proverbs 15:1 says that a gentle answer will turn wrath away...
Wise Counsel
Without counsel plans fail,
but with many advisers they succeed.
Giving wise counsel helps bring success to others
Timely Words
Saying the right thing at the right moment builds others up in joy
To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and a word in season, how good it is!
Honest Rebuke
Proverbs 27:6 reminds us that it is far better than to be wounded by an honest rebuke from a friend, than to be flattered by our enemies.
Through the rebuke, we are course-corrected.
God uses wise rebukes to protect us from things that endanger our souls
Commending knowledge
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
We can use our tongues to make knowledge pleasant, so that it is more easily received by the ones who need it
Rest of Scripture
Rest of Scripture
And that is just in Proverbs.
Outside of Proverbs we find all sorts of other directives in Scripture for how we use our tongues to build up and not tear down.
Vertically speaking—
Praising God
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Praying to God
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
Singing to God
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Horizontally-speaking—
The New Testament gives us a number of ways that we use our tongues to build one another up.
We proclaim the Gospel to the world and to one another.
We encourage one another in the Lord.
We confess sins to one another.
We confront sins in one another.
We teach one another.
We bless one another
Ephesians 4:29 summarizes all of this with this overarching statement about the tongue:
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
As those who follow Jesus, our tongues should be used to build up the body of Jesus—His Church.
What we say should minister grace to one another.
The Tongue and Tearing Down
The Tongue and Tearing Down
Proverbs
Proverbs
Proverbs actually gives more examples of how the tongue can do harm than how it can do good.
In Proverbs, we are warned about:
Lying, Deceit and Bearing False Witness
We have already seen Solomon classify falsehood from our lips as something God hates. It is an abomination to Him and harmful to others.
Whether it be in our living room or a court room, God hates lies, which only serve to tear down.
Gossip
Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets;
therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.
The CSB is more straightforward.
Instead of “simple babbler,” it says “big mouth.”
God tells us to have nothing to do with people like that—which should really strike you on the heart if you are a gossiper.
Matthew Mitchell says:
Sinful gossip is bearing bad news behind someone’s back out of a bad heart.
Matthew Mitchell, Resisting Gossip
Gossip will break up friendships.
It will rip a church apart.
God takes it so seriously that He warns those who heed wisdom to simply get away from people who gossip.
Slander
This is gossip’s evil sister.
The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.
Making damaging statements about people behind their backs is the mark of a fool
Slander can tear down a person’s entire life
It is like shooting an arrow at the back of someone’s head with your words.
Flattery
Those who gossip and slander won’t hesitate to flatter either.
Flattery is a form of falsehood.
You are saying things you don’t believe in order to get ahead with someone or manipulate them.
A man who flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet.
The Apostle Paul warns that the flatterer is a divisive person who is not a servant of the Lord:
For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Harsh and rash words
Proverbs 15:1 says that a gentle answer turns away wrath, but it also warns us that an harsh, rash answer will stir up more strife.
Proverbs 12:18 describes a harsh word like a thrust from a sword
Quarreling and Strife
We can make peace with our words or we can cause harm with them.
As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
An argumentative tongue is like wood on the fire when there is conflict
Boasting and Pride
Proverbs 27:2 warns us to let someone else praise us and to keep the praise of ourselves out of our mouths
Belittling Others
Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
Rest of Scripture
Rest of Scripture
Throughout the rest of Scripture we see other admonitions against a destructive use of the tongue.
We should not be found:
Cursing
In Romans 12, Paul tells the Church that they should not even be found cursing their enemies (speaking evil over them)...
Instead, the Church is to bless their enemies
Talking Obscenely
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Complaining and Grumbling
In Numbers 11, complaining and grumbling saw Israel punished with fire and judgment
In Philippians 2:14, Paul calls on the believers at Philippi to do all things without grumbling or complaining
Teaching Falsehood
The tongue is what the false teacher uses to sneak in an pervert good doctrine.
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
The Powerful Tongue
The Powerful Tongue
Considering this survey of how the tongue can be used for good or for evil...
...To build up or tear down...
...To encourage or to discourage...
...To help or to harm...
...To offend God or glorify...
We must agree with the Bible that the tongue is a small but, insanely powerful thing.
James uses a few different metaphors in his NT letter:
He says the tongue is like the bit in a horses mouth.
It is only 5-6 inches wide and yet it can cause a 1100 pound animal to move this way and that way at the rider’s command.
He says it is like the rudder of a ship.
A sailboat has a rudder that is only 3-4 feet long, but it can dictate the direction of a ship that weighs 6000 pounds.
He says it is like a small spark that starts a whole forest fire.
It is like the Chicago Fire of 1871.
It ate up 3 and 1/2 square miles of city, claimed 300 lives and left 100,000 homeless.
But it all started with a small fire in a barn.
James warns us:
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.
It is small, but powerful.
Nearly impossible to tame.
And it will bless or curse...
...Tear down and build up.
Three Directives
Three Directives
Understanding how serious the use of our tongue can be—let me give you three directives before we move on to our final point this morning.
1. Measure your words.
1. Measure your words.
People say that in carpentry you “measure twice” and “cut once.”
It should be a similar thing with our speaking.
We should measure our words. We should not just speak.
When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
With many words comes many opportunities for sin.
With restrained words—or measured words—there is wisdom.
Thomas Watson says God has given you biological reminders about how you should weigh and measure your words.
He says that your tongue has two natural fences in front of it—teeth and lips.
Watson says God placed those there so you would think twice before speaking.
Alternatively, God has put no fences in front of your ears.
This is why we should be slow to speak and quick to listen.
This is how wisdom abounds in our speaking and listening.
This is how we are built up and build others up.
2. Minimize your words.
2. Minimize your words.
Most of us just need to talk less.
Not everyone.
Some of you are already pretty quiet.
But others of us should probably talk far less.
Minimizing your words is closely related to measuring your words.
They will come together.
In seeking to measure out your words, you will find that as you edit yourself—you are just saying less.
You realize that you don’t have as many profitable or helpful things to say as you think.
And this serves as a form of self-preservation.
Less words = Less trouble/Less chance you’ll be tearing down
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
Here is a test for this:
If you often find yourself talking over people and finishing their sentences because you just can’t wait to speak—you probably need to say less.
It will be better for your life and soul in the long run.
3. Maximize your words.
3. Maximize your words.
This may seem like a contradiction of “Minimize your words,” but its not.
They work together.
If you measure your words and minimize your words, you will find that the words you DO speak will be maximized.
The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious
and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
When your words are chosen with discernment, they land with power.
Think of it like a TV in a family room.
If the TV is rarely on, members of the family will stop and go, “What’s this?”
But if the TV is always on, people just walk by. It is just noise they tune out.
We don’t want to talk so much that we are just tuned out.
Our words will build up more if we are choosy about when we give them out.
4. The tongue will answer to the Lord.
4. The tongue will answer to the Lord.
This is where we end this morning.
We acknowledge the eternal ramifications of our speech.
Judgment in Proverbs
Judgment in Proverbs
Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
The lying tongue will be destroyed.
The tongue of falsehood and its deceitful messages will not survive judgment with God.
But the truth endures forever.
And those who speak it will see their lips endure in the House of the Lord forever.
Confirmed by Christ
Confirmed by Christ
The reality of our words and judgment is articulated and confirmed by Christ in Matthew 12:36-37
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.”
In other words—your words will acquit you or condemn you.
And that is a scary prospect for most.
For who is not guilty of careless, empty words—directed at God...
...Directed at others.
Confirmed by Revelation
Confirmed by Revelation
We also see how the words of all will be judged in Revelation 21
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
We Must Be Serious
We Must Be Serious
So then, all of us can see from these verses that while the tongue speaks on earth — it will ultimately be judged at God's throne.
Careless words may come and go without consequence in this life, but they still have consequence with God — even the words we speak in secret.
This reality should cause us to be more serious about how we use our tongues.
We must Fill our hearts with truth.
We must speak carefully from the overflow of our hearts.
We must be Always seeking to tell the truth.
We must be Always seeking to build up and not tear down.
In other words — we must have tongues that are tamed, which bring honor to the One we will answer to.
But that raises the most important question of the morning:
How do we actually TAME the tongue?
How do we actually TAME the tongue?
Conclusion
Conclusion
This is a hard question to answer when you consider that...
James says that NO MAN can tame the tongue (James 3:8)
What does that mean?
It means that you cannot modify your behavior in such a way that you perfect your tongue.
It won’t happen.
Try as you might, left on your own, you will sin with your tongue, even on your best behavior.
But this is where we remember that our salvation is not centered on a man, but a God-Man!
And this God-Man will tame your tongue!
For Jesus Christ came to this world and never once sinned with his words and speech...
And Jesus Christ went to the Cross and died for our empty words and our vain blasphemy...
He suffered for our hurtful gossip and our malicious outbursts...
He laid His life down for liars. For flatterers. For slanderers.
Christ died as your Savior and rose again as the Lord over all.
Have you received Him as Savior and Lord?
Have you put your faith in His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins?
Have you put your life in His hands and declared Him Lord over every detail?
If so, then rest in this Christian—
The same Christ who never, ever sinned with His speech has covered your offense with His love.
No man can tame the tongue, but the God-Man has.
His tongue is perfect.
And from the Cross it uttered these words— It is finished.
And now, His powerful Spirit is at work in you—taming your tongue, degree by degree.
And then one day, when you stand before the throne of Judgment, you will not stand on your words...
But on the Word of Christ—the Tongue-Taming God-Man.
