Sermon Tone Analysis

“Wisdom for Your Words”

Budget: Family forum (Questions) – Ask a deacon or elder if you can’t be there!

Leadership Nomination – Matt Hausman video

Preaching Planning/Prayer:

August Sermon Series: Over the next four weeks we’re going to dig into the book of Proverbs in a new series entitled “Walking in Wisdom.”

Each week we’re going to examine how we can apply God’s wisdom in four key areas of life: Our Words, Our Pride, Our Wallet, and our Plans.

Did you know the book of Proverbs provides divine wisdom for some of the most critical areas of your life?

May God have His way with us as we walk through this mini-series in Proverbs.

Introduction

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Tongue Twisters

Sally sells seashells by the seashore.

Sally sells seashells by the seashore!

Battle – Two volunteers and two tongue twisters!

Great job!

Tongue twisters can be troublesome, the twisting of our tongue as we try to pronounce the words is a real struggle, but an even greater struggle in our lives is the taming of our tongue.

Every day we face the struggle of taming our tongues.

How many of you said something you wished you wouldn’t have said this week?

How many of you said more than you should of said this week (talked too much)?

How many of you hurt someone with your words this week?

How many of your burned someone with your words or were burned by someone?

The struggle to tame our tongue is real.

In James we see a vivid description of the tongue—it’s a small part of the body that has the power to control the direction of our lives, our tongue is a “fire” (burn), our tongue is restless evil full of deadly poison (kill)—and the tongue is untamable by mere human strength.

Ben Franklin

Need

All of us in this room have struggled to tame our time at some time in our lives.

All of us have said something we shouldn’t have said—a harsh word, a cutting comment, a sarcastic suggestion, a profane putdown, or word of condemnation—words spoken out of anger, frustration, hurt, or retaliation.

Often we regret the words we speak and wish we could take them back.

The words we speak have a profound impact on our lives and the lives of others.

The use of our tongue is a serious matter.

We spend the majority of our day communicating with words.

Everyday each of us say thousands of words.

According to statistics and stereotypes women say more words each day than men—at one time studies declared that women say 20,000 a day while men only say 7,000 words a day (“The Female Brain” by LouAnn Brezendine)—but guys before you give a gal next you you the old “applicational elbow” (or whisper to your wife or daughter “you talk too much”) in a recent study done by an “electronic activated recorder (EAR) on average women speak 16,215 words a day and men 15,669 words a day so it seems the difference is as great as once thought.

Regardless of the stereotype, some people talk way more than others—you know who you are—and yet all of us need divine wisdom to guide us in the use of our words.

Today we kick-off a new four week series in Proverbs—gleaning wisdom for several key areas of our lives—today we begin with God’s wisdom for our words.

God’s Word (OT & NT) has a great deal to say about the tongue.

Proverbs has much wisdom about the use of our tongue.

Before we dig let me give you a brief overview (primer) on the book of Proverbs.

Introduction

Open your Bible to the book of Proverbs.

If you didn’t bring a bible there is one in the pew rack in front of you, feel free to grab one and follow along.

Today is a good day to review the basic structure of the Bible.

OT (39) & NT (27) – Old Testament recording God’s dealing with the nation of Israael that foreshadowed the coming of Jesus Christ and the NT recording the coming of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to sinful humanity.

The OT was originally written in Hebrew and the NT in common Greek.

OT Divisions: The Law/Torah/Pentateuch (first 5 books), History (12), Poetry (5), and Prophets (12) The book of Proverbs is one of the books of Hebrew Poetry (along with Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Solomon)

PROVERBS

Penman: King Solomon, Agur, & King Lemuel (Collections of Sayings)

Meaning: “A pithy saying, a statement that seeks to reveal the true nature of one thing by comparing it to another (Bullock); short maxims that reveal practical wisdom for life.

Purpose: “to initiate the reader into wisdom and instruction “(Bullock) – very practical book!

Summary: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (1:7) – the fundamental nature of wisdom is theological; the underlying basis of life is one’s relationship with God and out of that relationship comes wisdom for one’s relation to God, other human beings, and the natural world.

Structure: We find two-line, four-line, six-line, and an occasional eight-line proverb.

Hebrew Poetry: Since Proverbs is Hebrew poetry it can be difficult to understand.

When you read and study Proverbs you must remember that it’s Hebrew poetry—it’s filled with lots of poetic expressions; figures of speech, similes and metaphors.

One of the main features of Hebrew Poetry is parallelism.

This is what makes Hebrew poetry different from English poetry.

English poetry is characterized by rhyme and meter—the words rhyme and it has a distinct rhythm and meter—which helps it flow.

That’s not the case with Hebrew poetry.

Parallelism in Hebrew poetry is more than style but it’s the cornerstone of how to find the meaning of the Proverb.

Synonomous parallelism—each line are synono ous or say the same thing ().

Anitthetical parallelism where the lines contrast or our opposite of one another to make a point () Synthetic parallelism where the second (subsequent lines) reinforce or amplies the first line ()

Principles not Promises: We must read and interpret Proverbs as divine wisdom principles and not divine promises.

It’s inappropriate to claim the Proverbs as a book of promises—“Train up a child in a way that he should go and in the end will not depart from it” (22:6) is not a promise from God your children will always walk in the way of wisdom/follow Jesus all the days of their lives—it’s a principle about a parent’s commitment to instruct their child in the way wisdom, and generally speaking when a child is instructed in the way of wisdom from an early age, he or she will persist in that way.” (Bullock) More often than not a child instructed in wisdom will walk in wisdom but not a guarantee!

Practical: Proverbs give us divine wisdom for practical issues of life.

Proverbs is best studied by topic/themes like friendship, parenting, money, speech, sex, work, etc. (Kidner quote & themes)

Proverbs point us to Jesus – Proverbs are more than moralistic teachings—they are more than wisdom principles declaring “do this” and “don’t do that”—they are more than statements to help us become better people (good).

The divine wisdom principles in Proverbs anticipates and point us to Jesus “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:30.

Our search for wisdom can begin in Proverbs but ultimately ends in Jesus!

Jesus didn’t come to make us a moral person—He came to give us life and make us more like Him—He came to transform our lives from the inside out and we can live out the wisdom principles by abiding in Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We can’t and won’t walk in wisdom apart from Jesus!

Consider Colin Hansen’s summary statement that highlights Proverbs ultimate connection to Jesus.

Colin Hansen - For our own good and the glory of God, the book of Proverbs invites and instructs God’s covenant people—especially young men—to embrace wisdom.

For Christians, such wisdom comes through fearing God’s beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ (), and walking in his wisdom.

I don’t want you to walk away from this series with the mindset—“Try harder to live better” or “I’m a horrible person and I will try harder to better” – I want you to walk away with a conviction that God cares about how you talk and through abiding in Christ and the power of the HS the use of your tongue can be transformed for His glory.

Preview

With that as a giant backdrop, let’s consider “Wisdom for our Words” from Proverbs.

The book of Proverbs has a great deal of divine wisdom about our speech, the words we say, and guidelines for how we use our tongue.

The use of our tongue is one of the most repeated subjects in the book of Proverbs.

Now there is no way that I can teach you all that the book of Proverbs says about your tongue.

I don’t have time to back up the dump truck and unload all of God’s wisdom for your words from the book of Proverbs.

But I do have a little summary that I can send you via email or get you a copy if you want to read and study more about this topic.

Today we’re going to discover three wisdom principles for our words as we strive to follow Jesus.

I) God’s Wisdom for Your Words

One of the most critical areas of our life is communication.

There is non-verbal communication (examples) and there is verbal communication.

This is one of the most important areas of our lives—what we say and how we say it—and therefore it’s vital that we discover God’s wisdom regarding our speech.

The book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about your words.

Oswald Chambers - “The great test of a man’s character is his tongue.”

This is important stuff.

And this book is filled with divine wisdom that addresses your tongue, your lips, your mouth, your words, etc.

We begin in .

Take your Bible and turn to . .

Notice the progression of this Proverb—“a call to guard the heart above all else because from it springs the issues life—followed by several specific commands moving from the mouth, to the eyes, and ending with the feet.

Gordon Wenham calls this “The anatomy of discipleship.”

Everything flows from our hearts—the words we speak, what we fix our eyes upon, and where our feet will go.

What you say originates from your heart.

Everything you say originates from your heart.

Jesus taught this connection as well.

- The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

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Words of encouragement flow from a transformed heart of love, compassion, and kindness.