Sermon Tone Analysis

PROVERBS PART 9: WISDOM AND WORDS

announcements

1. Easter Weekend – Reflect on Good Friday, Rest on Holy Saturday, and Rejoice on Resurrection Sunday.

2. Impact 500 community outreach.

Maps available at your Gospel Fellowship this week.

10-12 groups.

3. Missions Trip Final due today

4. Kids’ Grove layout – serving in that ministry is really serving each other.

Vision

1. Pray every day this week for America.

God to set a revival fire in the US.

David and Terrie Azzarello (Church Planters USA) as well as Matt and Anna Williams (Issaquah, WA) as well as Trevor Gartner (campus of Fresno State University).

Baptism - Frederick Smith

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3. Pray for the next 14 consecutive days for your family member, friend, coworker, or neighbor and then invite them to join us on Easter weekend.

Introduction

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INtroduction

A Proverb is a little model of reality, a little verbal representation of some aspect of our daily lives.

A Proverb is a little model of reality, a little verbal representation of some aspect of our daily lives.

A Biblical proverb is like a diamond that has various facets and can be viewed from several angles and sides and look slightly different from each direction.

The world says, “Live and learn” but God says “Learn and Live.”

1903 The Wright brothers made history by inventing, building and successfully flying the first air plane in Kitty Hawk North Carolina.

While it’s no doubt their courage and determination played a large part in their success, but long before they ever took their first flight they knew the plane would take off because they were able to test their method and wing strength in their homemade wind tunnel.

Proverbs are like that.

They give you the opportunity to learn about life before you live it in reality.

Biblical Proverbs and wisdom teach us (positively) what life is really like

Today, we are going to walk through several Proverbs that focus on words.

Words are important.

Language and words matter.

I think that we are becoming less and less aware of this.

God created us to be intelligent beings who use logic and thought to carefully craft language to interact with other human beings.

If we could visit the social landscape of the ancient eras we would find clusters of people having conversations about the things that they were thinking about.

Greek philosophy is constructed on top of thought and logic and debate.

Cultures advance through these conversations.

We live in an age when not only do human beings not read words in books and journals and magazines and newspapers, but human beings (broadly) don’t set their minds on rational, thought provoking words.

Why?

Because we don’t have to.

The enemy of rational thinkers rely on emotions to determine what is right and what is wrong.

I’m not against emotions, they’re God-given and they are good.

But emotions are meant to spur us to action, not determine a course of action.

Do you see the difference?

We love the first amendment, Freedom of Speech, and we should, but what that is so often code for is, I can say whatever I want to say and there shouldn’t be any consequences.

Consequently, when we aren’t forced to think for ourselves, we are emotional reactors.

And when we live this way, we are prone to bad word choices.

Bad word choices wreak havoc.

Words mark us as human, in the image of God.

Like God, we use words to create trust and form relationships and build community.

But unlike God, we use words to destroy trust and break relationships and divide community.

Like God, we use words for one heart to touch another heart at a deep level.

But unlike God, we use words for one heart to break another heart at a deep level.[1]

SO what I intend to do this morning is explain how our words matter to God and how they matter to our fellow brothers and sisters and others in our sphere of influence.

How do my words matter?

Words Reveal the Character of the Heart

(ESV) — 15 There is gold and abundance of costly stones, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

1.

People come from all over the world in to American because literally, there is gold and abundance of costly stones.

In other words: Wealth and riches are everywhere you look.

Even a person who might be considered poor in our sight is still wealthier than the majority of the world.

2. But something that most of the world even American’s will go their entire lives without is precious jewels.

They still lock up the rare jewels at jewelry stores.

Sometimes they won’t even expose publicly the jewels, but will showcase a decoy in case someone ever contrives a plan to heist it.

3.

So what does this have to do with our words?

Well, to put it bluntly, anyone can spout off at the mouth and say a lot of words, but really say nothing at all.

But when someone who crafts their words carefully speaks, they’re a rare find.

4.

And in God’s economy, that’s precious.

When someone takes the time to consider what they’re going to say to another one of his image bearers, he is pleased.

Even if what is being said is hard to hear, the very fact that those words came out with knowledge and not just emotion, means a great deal to God.

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

1.

What are lying lips?

In the Hebrew the word refers most commonly to someone who breaks faith.

Breaking the faith or the trust of someone else doesn’t always happen the way we think about lying.

2. The enemy here is partial disclosure, not only entire falsehoods.

When someone doesn’t want to tell a lie, they usually skirt around the truth without giving false information.

That’s not honest it’s deceitful.

3. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their deception and said that they were of their father the devil and then said this about the him:

(ESV) — 44 …He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

4. Faithful words and actions are so vital in our relationships with each other.

Relationships thrive on trust and we cannot build trust on vague ambiguity.

True and faithful words are the parents of love, trust, and intimacy.

False words and ambiguity are the enemies of God-glorifying community.

5. That’s why, in God’s economy he finds faithful words and actions delightful.

6. Lying lips is a sin.

Breaking faith is sin.

But what about listening to lies and gossip?

It’s funny that we would all agree that lying is a sin, but what about gossip and listening to those things?

(ESV) — 4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

1.

We read that right.

It’s not a mistake that God calls those who listen to “wicked lips” is synonymous with lying.

Why is that?

Because when you lend your ear to those who gossip and speak evil about others you are lying to yourself.

You believe that since you’re not saying it, it’s not sinful.

You’re believing that no one’s really getting hurt by this, but God wants us to know that we are contaminating our minds and our spirit when we listen to gossipers.

2. Now, let me classify this: Jesus just ripped in to the Pharisees calling them children of the devil.

Here is one tiny difference, he said it to their face and it was in defense of the people because they were seeking to convince the people that Jesus was not sent from God.

3.

So often when we want to “call someone out” we’re doing it behind their back, without fact checking, and it’s really never about protecting someone other than ourselves.

That is sin and is abominable in God’s sight.

(ESV) — 8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.