The Body of Christ Part One: The Mouth

Mention the surveillance team meeting following the service.

I want to start off this morning by reading to you several passages of scripture so as to make a simple and profound statement about the truth of who and what we are, as Christians.

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Romans 12:5 ESV

so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:5 NLT

so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

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1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

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Ephesians 1:22–23 ESV

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

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Ephesians 5:23 ESV

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

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Colossians 1:24 ESV

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

From reading each of these passages, what simple truth about the “church” can we see? That is, what is the church (the ekklasia), a type or a representation of in the New Testament?

The church is depicted as the living, breathing body of Christ, right?!

And with this sound Biblical understanding that we are individual parts, that make up the whole body of Christ, what is Jesus, Himself, looked upon as, with regard to this body?

Yeah, Jesus Christ is the HEAD of the body.

That is, He is the control center for the body, just as the brain is the control center for our natural bodies, right?

And through Jesus, Himself, the whole church body is held together and has its function and being.

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Ephesians 4:15–16 NLT

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

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Colossians 1:17–18 NLT

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.

We are ALL uniquely created and brought into Christ’s body, by His shed blood on the cross of Calvary and the redemption that it brings us, which comes from the grace of God, and through our faith and belief in Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Savior!

And once we are a part of His body, we each have unique and special roles that we are to all serve in.

There are no parts of the body that are of more importance than others, as Paul so stated in , where he used the analogy that the eye can’t say to the hand, “I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.”

Regardless of how small you may think yourself to be, according to the Bible, God has placed great honor upon you and your role is of equal importance to the body of Christ, for it to work effectively!

And why does God do so? Listen closely as to why He places such honor on the seemingly insignificant parts of the Body of Christ. (For those of you who are in our new Wednesday evening prayer meetings write this verse down in your prayer journals that we gave out, as a notation under the UNITY tab, , where Paul says, “that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.”

God, in His infinite wisdom, has made sure that whether you are a “D.L. Moody”, a Billy Graham, or a volunteer who cleans the bathrooms at your local church, you are equally honored and counted as significant in the Body, as long as you are serving the Lord and doing everything that you do, for His glory and for His honor!

In other words, you may think yourself to be insignificant in the church, but God has placed a great value upon you and even greater in some cases, than the more visible and notable parts of the body!

Think of it this way, there are some men who are massive hulks to behold, whose biceps are bigger than my waist and they could probably bench press my little Honda that I drive!

And as great and as powerful as these men may be and as much as they may choose to think about themselves and their great strength and size; all of their profound strength and body mass and definition, can be completely eradicated, if one simple little TINY and seemingly unnoticed chromosome is missing, or messes up.

In other words, a 245 pound tank of a man, can be brought to nothing in size and strength, if something that is like 1,000 times smaller than a millimeter, goes rogue, or goes missing in the body!

So, EVERY part of the body is of great importance, in terms of function!

Everyone say, “I am important in the Body of Christ”!

Now turn and look at someone and say, “You are important in the Body of Christ!”

What is our commissioning that we have ALL recieved from Jesus, before He ascended back to heaven?

We were commissioned to go and to take the gospel message to the everyone, everywhere; into all nations and to all peoples, right?

So, the head of the body, (Jesus), might say to you, (through His Holy Spirit), something like, “I want you to go across the street to your neighbor’s house and help them rake the leaves in their yard and while you are doing so, share with them the good news of My gospel message!”

So, your legs and your feet would carry you across the street to them; your hands and arms would greet and serve by raking and bagging the leaves, BUT, it is the mouth of the body that delivers the payload of the mission, which is the TRUTH of the gospel message!

Since we are the representative parts of the body of Christ, then we literally become His hands and His feet and most definitely, we become His MOUTH, to the world around us, so that we can serve and do our part of the Great Commission!

Well, this morning, I want to focus on our being the “mouth” of the body of Christ.

Don’t you find it interesting that on the human body, there is ONE orifice, one opening, through which we receive the nutrition that is used to feed our natural/physical body and sustain life. Yet, there are 4x as many openings, through which we feed our minds, our souls and our spirits and with which we sustain our spiritual health?

In other words, it is through your 2 eyes and your 2 ears that you allow information to enter into your head, where your brain assimilates the information and stores it and retrieves it and it’s this information with which you are feeding your mind and your spirit.

So, that should tell us that by design we were made to take in a lot of “nutrition” that feeds and strengthens our minds and our spirits!

Much in the same way as you put food into your mouth and chew and swallow it and then your digestive system breaks down the food and stores it and appropriates the nutrients to the various places that they are needed for you body’s health.

What you take into your mouth for nutrition, is a good predictor of your health status.

So, to coin a phrase, physically, “you are what you eat”.

Everyone here probably knows that phrase and what it means, right?

If you feed your system McDonald's and Burger King every day, then let’s just say your health insurance premiums are going to be a little bit more costly and every cardiac surgeon on the east coast is going to want you to have their business card!

And the Bible has much to say about the mouth and our use of it. The mentioning of the mouth and/or the tongue and how and why we use them and what we use them for, is unmistakably talked about and discussed within the Word of God!

And in the past, I have covered messages about the tongue and the power of it and what the Bible has to say about the use of our tongue.

Passages like, , which says,

Ephesians 4:29 NLT

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

And please allow me to dispel a myth that some people teach about what the Bible means when it says, “foul or abusive” language.

I have sat and listened to “Christians” mention before that this is really a cultural thing and that if you are raised with people using certain words and these words are accepted as normal, everyday words and more or less, just slang terminologies, then they are not counted as “cuss” words.

The word that the Bible uses, in the Greek, for “foul or abusive language”, has the meaning of, “bad, rotten, decayed; having no value; harmful, unwholesome”.

And in , where Paul says, “But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language”, he uses another word here for “dirty language” and this word means, [obscene, shameful speech involving culturally disapproved themes—‘vulgar speech, obscene speech, dirty talk!]

Here’s the thing, even the corrupt and liberal film association recognizes these certain, “cultural” words as harsh and obscene, and because of this, they label movies and TV shows as “mature”, or “PG/PG -13”, due to the severity of these words!

If you are still using words in your vocabulary that are labeled and rated as “PG and PG-13” by the secular professional crowds and you are doing so under the proclivity of, “they are not the really bad words and my family always used them” and you claim to be a Christian, let me warn you about this little area that many call a GRAY area.

It’s not GRAY, it’s black and white. They are words that you know, or should know are harsh and profane and rotten and have no value to them.

It is the very reason that you do not use them around other professing believers, because you KNOW that they are inappropriate, “foul and abusive words”!

If you are using them in your normal vocabulary and you are professing Christ in your life and as your Lord and Savior, then I want to personally ask you to do one of two things this morning:

Either repent to the Lord for allowing your mouth and your vocabulary to emulate the WORLD around you and succumbing to its standard , OR

Please just STOP claiming Christ as the Lord of your life before others, while you’re going around using the language that the rest of the world uses and all the while tarnishing the name of Jesus by your lifestyle and in your vocabulary!

It’s pretty cut and dry. You are not fooling anyone, God or man.

You are either going to be HOT or COLD, one or the other.

Lukewarm is not accepted in the Kingdom of God!

There is no GRAY area in Christ! You are either His, or you or you’re not!

I know that people teach and try to moderately tone down the full measure of a Christian lifestyle for the more “modern Christians” and of how we are to accept and adapt to the changing of the times and shifting of the cultural view.

BUT, the Word of God and the Lord God Himself, DO NOT CHANGE!

They are the same yesterday, today and forever and if Jesus said 2,000 years ago, to DENY yourself and take up your cross and follow Him, then that it EXACTLY what He meant for the people then and for us today and for those of the generation tomorrow and nothing else will do!

Just a few more passages that specifically mention the use of our mouths/our tongues:

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Psalm 19:14 ESV

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Jesus, Himself, said this, in ,

Matthew 12:36–37 ESV

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.”

Matthew 12:36 ESV

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

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Proverbs 18:21 ESV

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

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James 1:26 ESV

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

And my personal favorite and the verse that goes back to what I just said about what you feed yourself, determines your level of health, , where the Son of God said,

Matthew 15:11 ESV

it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

I just mentioned a couple of minutes ago, that what you are allowing into your mouth on a daily basis, is a good predictor of your overall physical health, well, what you are allowing into your eyes and your ears on a daily basis, are good predictors of your SPIRITUAL health!

For this reason, Jesus said in last the passage that I read in , that “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

If you are allowing foul, filthy language to enter into your head, (whether from the things that you read, or the things that you listen to: social media, movies and TV shows, music,video games, etc), then you are FEEDING your mind and your spirit a healthy diet of spiritual JUNK FOOD!

And once this is in your system, it will eventually manifest in your thoughts and ultimately in your language!

It’s not an issue of “mind over matter” and your ability to use your will power to stop such things from creeping in to your thoughts. It is a spiritual issue and it is a matter of who and what you are giving LEGAL access to in your life!

This is why Paul told the church at Thessalonica to, “Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.”

And why he also told Timothy to “avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.”

16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

So, what Jesus is basically saying to us, is that what comes out of your mouth is a telltale sign of what is truly inside of your heart and in your mind.

And it does not matter whether or not you are always in front of other people, when you say these certain foul and perverse things.

You and I are ALWAYS standing before and in the presence of God and He is watching and listening to every idle word that seeps through our teeth.

When that person cuts you off in traffic and you almost wreck your vehicle and you begin to let your steering wheel know exactly what kind of “blankety-blank” person he/she was, remember this.

You are NOT the only person in your car and even if that person that cut you off drives away with no knowledge of your thoughts and your verbalized opinion of them, someone else was there with you, who witnessed every thought that you had and every word that you used about that other person!

And although you will never be held accountable to that person, or to anyone else in this world for your words that you allow to come out, you will be held accountable for EVERY IDLE WORD that you allow to come out of your mouth one day, when you stand before the righteous judge of heaven and earth.......Jesus the Christ!

And when you try to start justifying what you did and your actions and that some of those harsh, foul words were accidents, and that you were provoked by the situations that you were in, and then Jesus shows you all of the things that you were allowing into your heart and mind, on a continual basis, you will be found WITHOUT excuse and you will be held accountable for the way that you represented Him to the world around you!

Listen to what James tells us about this issue in ,

James 3:7–12 ESV

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. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

In other words, the bi-product that comes out, is a direct reflection of the source that is comes from: the bi-product of a grape vine is.....grapes. The bi-product of fresh water spring is.........fresh water.

And the bi-product of a mind that is full of course, foul language, is............!

And James tells us that “no human being can tame the tongue”.

And that is because the tongue is simply showing the true fruit of the source that feeds it. Your mind is the source that feeds the tongue.

BUT, according to , we do not have to present our bodies before the Lord, tarnished and stained with the fruit of a corrupt mind.

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It says that we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds!

Renewing literally means to be made NEW and DIFFERENT!

It is only by the Word of God feeding our minds and our spirits AND with the empowering presence of God’s Holy Spirit living actively within us, that we can ever have our minds made new and thus tame the tongue!

No human, on their own, can tame the tongue, but that is because the issue is not a physical issue, it’s a spiritual issue!

So, if you want to fix a spiritual problem, you have to go to one who created these spirit infused vessels, the Lord Himself!

And when you and I go to God, through Jesus the Christ, and we confess and repent of our sins and we turn away from our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

As we stand more and more in the glorious presence of the Lord God and further and further away from presence of the god of this world, we become transformed more and more into the glorious image of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ! And this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit!

We become FREE from the raging fire of the tongue and the bitterness and the hate and the mockery that it spews, because of the Lord who is the Spirit that empowers us and frees us!

Because the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! Hallelujah!

And here is where I want to finish this message today about our being the MOUTH of the Body of Christ to the world around us.

We were called to be His mouth and to declare the glorious truth of His gospel message to the world around us. We are not be a vessel that releases and spews obscenities and harsh words and curses to the world around us, right?

The enemy of our souls, the devil, loves to use others to taunt us and to provoke us into a fit of anger and rage, because if he can do so, then he knows that there is a good chance that we will release the Kraken..........and our tongues begin to wreak havoc on the other person.

And in doing so, the whole time that we are spouting off at the mouth and showing our tongues, we are glorifying the devil and destroying our witness to others of Christ!

What was Goliath the giant doing, day after day, for forty days to the Israelite army?

He was coming out and TAUNTING them with his tongue! That is what the enemy does, taunt and provoke until you snap.

How did David handle the situation? He brought God into the situation and gave Him the glory and the victory, before the fight ever started!

My point being, if you want to cut off the giant’s head in your life and stop being provoked and using your mouth/tongue to glorify the enemy, then start bringing God into the situation and let Him fight for you!

As soon as you and I begin to SHOUT praises to God and glorify His name when the enemy of our souls attacks us, the anger and the rage shifts and it turns into sweet victory over the ALREADY DEFEATED ENEMY!!!!!

Do you understand that? The devil is already defeated. When we whine and moan about the attacks of the enemy in our lives, do you understand what you are really doing?

You are verbally acknowledging that an already whipped and defeated enemy is stronger than the one you claim to to follow and be empowered by!!!

Stop giving any glory to the enemy through your mouth and start giving GOD ALL OF THE GLORY through your mouth, as you begin to SHOUT praise and worship to His mighty name!

Listen to what the Bible says about this:

“May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners!”

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.”

“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.”

“Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore.”

“O clap your hands, all ye people; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”

O clap your hands, all ye people; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

How did Israel take down the walls of Jericho? With a mighty SHOUT unto God. How did Gideon and his 300 men defeat the Midianite army? With a mighty shout to God!

Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

When Paul and Silas were in prison after being severely beaten and chained up, how did they gain victory and have the chains fall from their bodies? By praying aloud and praising God aloud!

When you SHOUT unto God and praise His name, instead of shouting off words of shame, the devil turns tail and runs like a whipped puppy!

“Clap your hands, all ye people; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.