The Power and Destruction of our Words

Research has shown that for the average person, not for the extremely talkative person or the extremely shy person,

but the average human being will spend one-fifth of their life talking.

I don't mean one-fifth of life in conversation where you're both talking and listening,

but a fifth of your life is speaking words, whether that's with your mouth or tweeting, texting.

But we're communicating a fifth of our life.

That is, again, researchers, they say, I don't know where they get all this stuff,

but they found that in one year of our life, we will say enough words that it would fill 120, 200-page books of words, just your words.

Which, if you live to be 73 years old and you learn to speak when you were three,

that would mean you'd have said enough words in your life for more than 9,000 books of just you.

And if words are such a part of the human experience of our lives,

it makes sense to us that God has some things to say about how we should speak.

And truly, he does.

This summer, we're spending this whole summer through Proverbs.

We've called it Proverbs, Ancient Wisdom for Postmodern World.

And you'll find that in the book of Proverbs, there's all these various verses,

these pithy sayings that are God's word,

but in each chapter, it deals with a whole bunch of different issues.

But there's this thread you can bring between the various chapters of the various themes that the various chapters address.

And so, instead of doing what we normally do here at Church of the Messiah,

going through a passage and unpacking it from the Bible,

we're going through themes in Proverbs and picking these verses that speak to the same issue throughout the book of Proverbs.

And so, to keep you from having to flip through your Bible back and forth and losing yourself along the way,

we have this insert in your bulletin, and you can follow along.

The verses that I speak from are going to be from here.

They're all from the book of Proverbs.

It would be really helpful for me if you can pull this out now as we dig into this.

The Bible has a lot to say about the words that we speak.

Proverbs 10, verse 11 says,

Proverbs 10:11

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

And at the bottom, on the other side of your insert, you'll see Proverbs 18, verse 21 says,

Proverbs 18:21

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

The words that the scriptures have to say about words can seem so intense that it almost can seem exaggerated,

especially when, as little kids, we may have said, when someone says something mean to us,

the famous saying, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never harm me.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never harm me.

That's one of the most ridiculous things a young child has taught,

because words can have such devastation and have such potential for life.

If you think about it, all that you understand about who you are, the good, the bad,

all that you perceive yourself, last week we talked about how we see ourselves

as we looked at pride and humility, all that we understand about who we are

and in relation to other people and to God, and all of that has been shaped by words.

We understand about our calling, our purpose, our value, all that stuff is by words.

Words shape our lives. Words can also destroy our lives.

I mean, any more evidence of this you can see in the amount of news stories

that have come out in the past few years of young people who have taken their lives,

who have committed suicide because of the relentless bullying.

The bullying was not, normally it was not physical abuse, it was just words.

Words that cut deep. Words that shape us.

And so what we see from the book of Proverbs is that part of what it means to live life

the way God made us to live, to live life the way we were designed to as human beings,

is to be people who use our words with wisdom in righteousness for the glory of God.

Now there's a number of different ways that we can misuse our words,

and three of them, which I heard recently in a pastor's preaching on a similar theme,

actually the exact same theme, I was visiting a church in Toronto,

and he defined, he chalked these three different categories Proverbs deal with

as jabber, lies, and gossip.

And I'm going to borrow the same themes from him.

We're looking today at jabber, lies, and gossip.

So starting with jabber, again, this is the first page of the insert you have.

Jabber is defined as those extra careless words, empty words,

that we don't need to speak, that we speak anyways.

And here's what Proverbs has to say about that.

And this is only a small selection of what the book of Proverbs speaks to regarding jabber.

Proverbs 13, verse 3.

Proverbs 13:3

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life.

He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

And these two verses are addressing not someone speaking filthy words

that would harm people with the content of the words,

but rather it has to do with this image of someone who is just careless with his words,

who speaks a lot.

I don't know if you can see because of the light shining on my face,

but I'm blushing right now because this is one of the many things that I really struggle with.

I told my roommates that I was speaking on this today,

and their response was to laugh heartily, somewhat deridingly,

as they joined me in amusement at, and in my case,

just embarrassment for how I could speak about this.

Because I have been a man who I would define as someone

who has let his lips just open wide.

And what the scriptures are showing us here,

and it was kind of miserable preparing this sermon because,

again, there's a lot more verses than the few that I've chosen for you today,

but in Proverbs again and again and again,

it tells us that even if you're someone who's not putting people down,

even if you're someone who's not speaking death into people's lives,

if you're someone who has no restraint over your lips,

and you just speak,

then you are someone who's going to come to ruin for yourself

and also harm others.

It's not okay.

Now, as we look at this,

I've heard a number of sermons on words and speech throughout my life,

and the way that I often hear it spoken of,

and it's partly because James in the New Testament

speaks about how it's just about impossible to tame the tongue,

to change the way we speak.

And so the way I often hear words preached about is,

here is God's holy standard for words,

and you and I are going to fail at that standard,

therefore we need a Savior.

That's why Jesus died, and then end of sermon.

But the Scriptures, though, it does teach us that,

that we won't obtain the holy standard,

the perfect standard God has for us.

The Scriptures don't simply teach us that we're always going to fail.

The Scriptures also speak into our lives as to how we can actually change,

as how we can actually have our words be words that bring life and only life.

We're not going to be perfect at it.

We'll always need a Savior,

but the Savior not only saves us from the consequences of our sin,

He also saves us from sinning itself.

And so as we continue to live the Christian life and look to God in His Word,

we're actually able to find hope and help to change.

And I'd illustrate that by saying,

if your house is covered in spiderwebs,

you have two options.

You can either always be trying to get rid of spiderwebs,

which is what I've spent the last few decades of my life,

just trying to deal with words and always failing,

because there's always more spiderwebs,

or you can go and get rid of the spiders.

And as you get rid of the spiders,

you can then get rid of the spiderwebs,

and the spiderwebs are gone forever.

I hope you didn't get lost in that.

What I'm trying to say is,

if you find, like me,

that you are ashamed of your words,

but you try and try,

and you can't get rid of your foolish words,

we're going to look at,

how do we actually deal with the things

that are driving those foolish words,

or those lying words,

whatever those words you're struggling with,

what are the things that are driving that?

And as we deal with that,

we'll find actual help to change.

In the Gospel of Luke 6, verse 45,

Luke 6:45

Jesus says,

out of the abundance of the heart,

the mouth speaks.

And so in order for us to change our words,

we need to change our heart.

We need to change the stuff that's in our heart,

and in that we'll find hope.

So we'll continue.

Proverbs 17, verse 27, 28,

Proverbs 17:27

whoever restrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit

is a man of understanding.

Even a fool who keeps silent

is considered wise.

When he closes his lips,

he is deemed intelligent.

Proverbs 29, verse 20,

Proverbs 29:20

do you see a man who is hasty in his words?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Now as we read through these,

and we're seeing in this,

as Proverbs are speaking into

how devastating it is

for someone to just let their words run wild,

sometimes we'll feel guilt about this type of thing,

conviction from God.

There's other times,

at least a lot of my life,

although I'll have a brief moment

of feeling some shame

over how careless I am with my words,

and I just speak so many words.

Other times,

I don't feel any conviction over this.

And I think some of you in the room

could probably relate to me,

that there are certain things

that you read about

how devastating it is

to just let the open wide your lips,

and you're like,

really?

In my life,

I use a lot of words,

and there's a number of my friends

who think it's really funny,

and that's part of why

they think I'm a funny person

because of this.

It can actually,

I'm sure some of my friends

think I'm ridiculous

for how many words they say,

but other people find it funny,

and it's one of those things

that isn't necessarily

something you're going

to feel conviction of.

But what we know

in Psalm 119,

Psalms 119:9

verse 9,

it says,

how can a young man

keep his way pure?

As it says that,

it's not just talking about

how can someone stay away

from sexual impurity.

It means,

no,

how can you walk in life

the way you were made for?

And it says,

by guarding your way

according to God's word.

By guarding our way

according to God's word.

If we're going to base

our morality

morality

and the way we live life,

not on our own feelings

of what is right and wrong,

but on God's word,

then we see very clearly

that jabber

is something that must go.

So how do we change that?

Well,

as I did some research

on why people jabber,

and it's not just Bible scholars

or pastors

who speak about this,

but you'll actually be able

to find a research

from other academics

about why people

just speak and speak and speak.

And there's a few reasons

that I've found.

One of them is that

some people speak a ton

because they don't think

anyone else has anything

to say of value.

They always think

that they have the answer

to everything.

I was at lunch

with a few people,

and there was two people

in particular

who were just talking

the entire time,

whether we were talking

about politics

or church stuff

or sports.

They had every answer.

And there was someone else

there who was a good listener.

They were asking questions,

and they never got

to really say anything.

And it seemed to me,

I'm judging them,

but it seems to me

that it really seems

like they have such confidence

that their answers

are the answer

that they never stopped

to ask this other friend

what he thought about anything

because it didn't seem

like they really cared

what he had to say.

So sometimes we find ourselves

jabbering because we're arrogant.

Others of us

will find ourselves jabbering

in times where we're,

it's not that we're arrogant,

we're actually really insecure,

and we feel really nervous.

And some of us,

our default,

when we're nervous,

is to start speaking

tons and tons of words.

I do that.

It's embarrassing,

but I do.

Others of us

will find ourselves

just speaking foolish words

just because of lack of care.

And I think that might be

one of the issues with me

where you're just used

to just speaking

because you just speak.

You're not really thinking about it.

In every single one

of these three driving forces

for why we speak

so many words,

the antidote to this

is the fear of God.

In the case of these arrogant people,

they're not fearing God.

They're so confident

in themselves

that they let their words be many.

In the case of someone

who's really nervous

and jabbering away

because they're so nervous,

they're fearing people.

They're afraid

of what other people will think.

But in both cases,

as well as in the case

of the one who's just careless

and not thinking about life,

as you turn to God

and you fear God,

all of a sudden,

you'll find that your words

begin to be less.

And so, Andrew,

if you could put up

the first point,

the heart issue

we need to deal with

is that through the power of God,

I become free of being,

I can't really,

of jabbering words

through cultivating a heart

that fears God.

Do you want to say that

out loud with me,

especially because I can't

really see the screen?

Together,

through the power of God,

I become free

of jabbering words

through cultivating a heart

that fears God.

The point is

through the power of God

because you and I can be like,

okay,

we're not just going to deal

with the spider web

of jabbering words,

we're going to deal

with the spider

of lack of fear in God,

so I'm going to really

try to fear God.

But if we try to do it

in our own strength,

we'll find ourselves failing.

We get to cultivate

a heart that fears God.

We're able to have success

in this

through the power of God.

And so,

one of the ways we do that,

obviously,

is through prayer.

We pray,

God,

help me to fear you.

This isn't something

I can do on my own, God.

I know you deserve

all the fear in the world

and the holy fear,

but I'm jabbering right now.

What am I saying?

So,

the point is this,

just pray for the fear of God.

The second thing

is you spend time

in the word.

You spend time thinking

on the greatness

and the power of God.

That helps cultivate

a heart that fears God

as you understand

who this God is

that we're fearing.

It's not a fear

of like just being scared

of him,

but a fear of reverence,

a fear of awe,

and a concern

that you care more

about what he says,

what he thinks,

than what anyone else

says or thinks.

You're concerned

about him

and his evaluation.

And as we cultivate

a heart that is oriented

toward God,

we will find

that are words

that are so many

become much less

and that are words

or words of wisdom.

Now,

the next theme

that Proverbs speaks

of regarding words

is that of lies.

Proverbs 12,

Proverbs 12:19

verse 19,

truthful lips

endure forever,

but a lying tongue

is but for a moment.

Proverbs 12,

22,

lying lips

are an abomination

to the Lord,

but those who act

faithfully

are his delight.

There are times

where lies

seem so innocent,

but Proverbs 12

tells us

that lies

are an abomination.

Those white lies,

we don't see that,

don't trouble

our conscience at all.

God hates them.

They're an abomination.

This word is used

for bringing something

that is unholy

into the temple

and offering

a blaspheming,

unholy sacrifice

in the temple of God.

That is what words

are like

that are lies.

Proverbs 14,

25,

a truthful witness

saves lives,

but one who breathes

out lies

is deceitful.

And then Proverbs 21,

Proverbs 21:6

verse 6,

the getting of treasures

by a lying tongue

is a fleeting vapor

and a snare of death.

The way that I have

sometimes looked at lies,

and I think probably

the way some of you

look at lies,

is that lying

we often think of

as something

where we've said words

that are not true,

a fabrication.

You've said something

that's not true.

And so the way

that some of us

play this game

is that if we can

say something

that the actual words

we say are not lies,

then we think

that we are okay

on this one.

And to illustrate

how that looks

in our lives,

a few years ago,

I think it was

just last summer,

I was with a really

good friend of mine

and we're going

to call him Steve.

And Steve and I

were walking up

the stairs of his house,

the light was off

because we just arrived,

and as we get up,

he was in front of me,

as he gets up

the top of the stairs,

he put his hand

on the little platform

by the stairs,

and we hear crash!

And this beautiful,

exotic vase

that his wife's sister

had bought for her

in like turkey

or something

was now in pieces

irreparable

on the floor.

This, regrettably,

wasn't the only thing

Steve had broken

in their first

seven months of marriage,

so he was frustrated.

He was actually horrified.

No, what am I going to do?

And I, being a clever chap,

I'd like to think of myself,

I pick up the pieces

and I'm like,

Steve, I got your back.

Your wife is going to be

so frustrated with you

because you've broken

a lot of stuff already

and you're married to her

and whatever else,

but I, I'll be easily

forgiven by her wife

because she's like,

oh, that's Daniel,

whatever.

So I'm going to break

this again.

I'm going to smash

it on the floor.

When she comes home,

you can say,

honey, the vase is broken,

and she'll say,

who broke it?

And you can say,

Daniel smashed the vase.

It's a true statement.

He's like,

Daniel, you would do that for me?

I'm like, yeah, man.

Like, I'm a friend

that's closer than a brother.

Let's do this.

So you take the thing

and look at each other

and then smash,

I break it.

I go home,

and I'm like,

yeah, man,

I'm a good friend,

and I'm a truthful friend.

I'm like,

this is going to be

a true thing we say.

So she comes home.

She sees it.

She's devastated.

She loves the vase.

It's irreplaceable.

Her sister's not going back

to Turkey anytime soon,

and she says,

who broke it?

And Steve is like,

I did.

And then I got a text

from him moments later

saying,

pray for me.

My wife is so mad.

And I was just like,

man,

we had a plan.

It was a truthful plan.

And he's just like,

Daniel,

you're actually,

your plan that we made together

was a plan of lies.

I'm like,

but no,

I'm trying to challenge him on it.

Like,

it would have been

a true statement.

He said,

no,

Daniel,

lying is not just fabrication.

Lying is deception.

Lying is deception.

When we are telling,

whether or not

we're fabricating,

we're able to deceive people

intentionally by omission,

by just avoiding

saying a certain thing.

We can lie by exaggeration.

We can lie by

emphasizing something.

So we can lie by

fabrication,

omission,

exaggeration,

or by emphasizing something.

And while we do those things,

if we're doing,

if we're playing word games

in order to

intentionally deceive someone,

it doesn't matter

whether the sentences we say

are actually true sentences,

we're lying.

And to do that

is an abomination

to the Lord.

In the case of

my friend and I,

who we're calling Steve

this morning,

Proverbs 21 says,

the getting of treasures.

And what Steve and I

were trying to do is,

we're trying to get a treasure,

a treasure not of money

in this case,

or of a new vase,

but we're trying to get a treasure

of his wife not hating him.

That's the thing

we were going for.

We're trying to get that.

And we really thought

that if we were able

to play this game,

that we'd get this treasure.

But Proverbs 21 says,

the getting of treasures

by lying tongue

is a fleeting vapor

and a snare of death.

I'm convinced

that if my friend Steve

had said that lie,

which was,

we thought,

if he had gone that route,

it would be the kind of thing

that either

would continue to build

and have to keep lying,

keep lying to safeguard

that thing we were trying to get,

that her not being mad at him.

Or even if he was successful in it,

it would be the kind of thing

that just,

that although he,

although she would not be mad at him

over the broken vase,

it would be the kind of thing

that would,

in the back of his mind,

be plaguing him,

be plaguing him.

And what he thought

he had achieved

through deception

would be something

that would actually be

harming his friendship.

And this isn't just

my analysis of it.

This is from the Bible,

that lying lips

bring death,

that the treasures

we get through lying

is just a fleeting vapor.

It's not something

that can actually last.

So if we're afraid,

if we're afraid of reality

and still we're lying,

the deal that's going on right here

is that we're not entrusting

the one who is truth.

God defines himself,

Jesus says,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

And this is one of the many reasons

that lying is,

that deception is something

that is so abhorrent to God,

is that it is against

his very nature

and his identity.

He is truth.

And in any situation

where you might lie,

whether it is because

you've broken a vase

or because maybe

your child is asking you

if their painting

is a beautiful painting

and it's actually horrendous

or you're trying to get

into a baseball game

and you want to get

a student ticket

and you're not actually a student,

whatever it may be,

whatever the thing

that may be driving your lie,

maybe you're at work

and you're trying to

cover your own back

because you messed up

on something.

In every case,

what we're doing

is that we're not entrusting,

we're not trusting the truth.

We think that the truth

is not a safe place for us

and so we're trying to

look out for ourselves

as we lie

or look out for a buddy

as we lie.

And so how we deal

with the words of lying

is by dealing with the heart

that's not just trusting the truth.

So if you can put up

the second point.

Thank you, Andrew.

Let's read it together.

Through the power of God,

I become free of lying words

as I entrust myself

to the one who is truth.

Through the power of God,

I become free of lying words

as I entrust myself

to the one who is truth.

And so if you find yourself

being someone that lies,

the thing to do

is to go to God,

confess it,

every time confess it,

but go to God

and say,

Lord, don't just change

my words.

Don't just help me

stop lying.

Help me to trust you

who is truth.

Help me to live

in the truth.

As we find that our hearts

begin to trust God

in the truth,

we'll find that we're able

to actually have the courage

to speak the truth.

Jabber,

lies,

are both things

we can overcome

as is gossip.

Proverbs 11, 13 says,

whoever goes about

slandering reveals secrets,

but he who is trustworthy

in spirit keeps the thing covered.

Proverbs 16, verse 28,

Proverbs 16:28

a dishonest man spreads strife

and a whisperer

separates close friends.

Proverbs 17, 9,

whoever covers an offense

seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter

separates close friends.

Again, we see that

that whispering gossip

not only has the power

to keep people

who could have been friends

from being friends,

but it is such a devastating thing,

even though it might feel

so good,

that it has the power

to separate even close friends.

And I know there are people

in this room

who know these words

to be true,

and it's a devastating truth.

Proverbs 18, verse 8,

Proverbs 18:8

the words of a whisperer

are like delicious morsels.

They go down

into the inner parts

of the body.

What this is saying

is that gossiping words

is something that

can be so delightful,

so enjoyable.

It's like delicious morsels,

it says,

that go down

into your body.

It can feel so good.

And truly,

even jabbering

may be something

that just doesn't seem

to bother us,

and lies may be

something we justify,

but gossip is something

that we can so enjoy.

In fact,

if you're a gossiper,

there's a good chance

that some of your friends

actually value you

for that.

You're someone that they,

like,

I've been working

in politics for a while,

and when I talk

to my friends

who are interested

in politics,

they'll ask me,

can you tell us

some stories?

And throughout the years,

I'd have some juicy stories.

There's some hilarious stories

from doing interviews

with politicians

where they act

in such a ridiculous

and foolish manner

in an interview.

They give you

this amazing story

you can tell,

and people will laugh

with you at the story,

and they want more stories,

and I can produce

more stories,

and it actually makes you

someone that people

will actually want

to talk with,

and hear you speak

because you have

these juicy morsels

that are so delicious

to listen to.

Gossip isn't just something

that doesn't convict us.

It's something that actually,

that we can enjoy so much,

and yet,

gossip separates

close friends.

It devastates relationships.

Proverbs 26, verse 20,

Proverbs 26:20

For lack of wood,

the fire goes out,

and where there is

no whisperer,

quarreling ceases.

You'll see that

in Proverbs,

King Solomon

chose to use

the term whispering

for most of his references

to gossip.

The reason I'm so thankful

that he did that

is that when we talk

about gossip,

it's easy for us

to think of gossip

as something that is

motivated by spite,

that is motivated

by a destructive desire,

and so I found it

in my own life

when I chat with my friends

about maybe we should

stop gossiping.

People will often say

things like,

well, no, gossip

is defined by its motivation,

and we're not sharing

this stuff because of an ill,

for ill reasons,

but in Christian circles,

some of the gossip

that we're trying to address

is actually in the form

of prayer requests.

I was trying to say,

hey, I think we've been

sitting by gossip

and sharing these things.

It doesn't feel like

it's gossip if it ends

with, can you pray for them?

That's often the case

in church circles,

but when King Solomon

talks about whispering,

he's saying that

it's not just the motivation

that makes it gossip,

it's the information.

It's the information

that is not yours to tell,

and one of the things

that I noticed just recently,

even as I was preparing

for this,

is that I received a text

from a friend

who said,

hey, I'm going through

some tough stuff.

Can you pray for me?

I wrote back,

hey, do you want

to be specific?

And they said,

no, I don't feel comfortable

sharing what I'm going through,

but can you just pray?

God knows.

And so I prayed for them.

And yet,

at the same time,

I find that we can be,

although so discreet

about our own needs

and our own situations

we're going through,

when it comes to someone else,

it's so easy for us

to just share

all the dirt,

all the confusion,

all the stuff

someone else is going through,

being like,

hey, can you pray for them?

And I know that

a lot of those times

it's motivated by a good thing.

We actually care about that person.

And yet,

for ourselves,

we're discreet.

For someone else,

we're not.

Whoever goes,

Proverbs 11 again,

whoever goes about slandering

reveals secrets,

but he who is trustworthy

in spirit

keeps the thing covered.

Every single one of us,

as we live life,

ends up with information

about other people

that we can choose

to keep covered

or we can choose

to reveal.

The person of God,

the godly person

will finish their life

with a huge reservoir

of things they could have said

about people

and chose not to.

But the person

who is not honoring God

with their lips

because they're gossiping

is someone

who just shares that stuff.

Now,

every single one of us

should have stuff

about people.

Well,

every one of us

will have stuff

that we can share

about other people,

but it'd be gossip.

So if you and I

don't know what it feels like

to want to speak

about someone's stuff

but choose not to,

if you know what it's like

to sometimes

like white bare knuckle

gripping you,

like I will not share

the stuff,

but you have the stuff

to share,

there's a really good chance

you don't feel that

because you're gossiping.

If you don't know

what it's like

to have something

that people would enjoy hearing

but you're choosing

not to say it,

there's a really good chance

it's because you're just

someone who just gives

into that desire

and just gossips.

I've been guilty of it

and I believe many of us

in this room

are guilty of it.

So why do we gossip?

What is it in our hearts

that allows us to gossip

or drives us to gossip?

From the little bit

of research I did,

it seems that a lot of times

we gossip

because of insecurity

in our lives.

Sometimes we'll gossip

because we want to put

someone else down

so that people will think

of us as being

a better person.

Sometimes we gossip

because we're insecure,

we don't have anything

really meaningful to say

and so it's just easy

to revert to gossip.

Again,

it's another type

of insecurity.

And then other times

we can gossip

just because,

again,

it's being motivated

by a concern

to have people

pray for something

but you're just not

truly loving,

caring for that person.

And so,

one of the ways

we're able to deal

with that spider

that's driving gossip

is,

if you can put up

the next point,

that through the power

of God

I become free

of gossiping

as I find my identity

in God.

That the antidote

for insecurity

that would drive gossip

is that we become

more secure

in who we are in God.

So we need to prove

ourselves to people

by putting others down.

So if you'd read it

with me,

through the power

of God

I become free

of gossiping

as I find my identity

in God.

So that's something

to pray for

if you find yourself.

This is something

I've wrestled with

in the past

bunch of years

where I found

in high school

I was incredibly insecure

and it would manifest

itself sometimes

in gossip.

And so in God's grace

by his power

I'd pray that God

would you help me

to see how you see me?

Would you help me

to stop being insecure?

And over time

seeing,

it's still something

a work in progress

but seeing God

actually bring

such security

such freedom

such a sense

of belonging in God

and value in him

and there's freedom

from gossip in that.

And then another thing

to pray

and it's not on the screen

but if you find yourself

that you're praying

for someone gossiping

not motivated

by anything ill

or anything insecure

but actually maybe

motivated by a good thing

you want people

to pray for people's stuff

and you're just careless

and sharing other people's stuff

that's embarrassing for them

or it's just not yours

to share

I'm just praying

God, would you help me

to be someone

who's walking in wisdom?

Would you help me

maybe that first thing

about jabbering

to be someone

who's living

in the fear of you

that as you fear God

you're able to get victory

over this stuff.

Death and life

are in the power

of the tongue

and those who love it

will eat its fruits.

Whether what you and I

are struggling with

is gossip

or jabber

or lies

it can be so difficult

to get victory

on this stuff

and so I hope

that there's encouragement

in the message today

as we look to God

for these various heart issues

that we can find victory

over these things.

But the greatest hope

we'll find

is actually

for me at least

is in the beginning

of the Gospel of John

verse 1

it says these words

in the beginning

was the Word

and the Word

was with God

and the Word

was God

He was in the beginning

with God

all things were made

through Him

and without Him

was not anything

made that was made

in Him

in the Word

was life

and the life

was the light of men

the light shines

in the darkness

and the darkness

has not overcome it.

This word that

the translators

are putting into English

is the Word

is the Greek word

logos

which means

communication

it means

to communicate something

they're translating

as the Word

and as I was preparing

for this message

I was just getting

so discouraged

like man

I've tried to change

my words so many times

and as I stopped

trying to prepare

the message

and started just praying

and asked some friends

for prayer

like I don't deserve

to preach this message

I can't speak

as someone

who has mastery

over all this

I can speak

as someone

who wants mastery

over this

and as I was preparing

this and looking

to what does the Bible

not just Proverbs

what does the Bible

say about words

we see that God

himself is the Word

that God himself

is communication

and so I want to invite you

to join me in praying

to the one who is the Word

that we would have victory

over our words

that we would be people

not only looking to God

for forgiveness

for our wrong words

but that we would be a church

that is looking to God

for our words

to be words

exclusively bringing life

how wonderful would it be

that in every one

of our lives

and as a church

as a church community

church Messiah

would be a people

who use their words

to speak encouragement

sometimes we're necessary

to speak rebuke

that brings life

to be people

who are affirming

and encouraging

and exhorting

each other

walking in truth

walking in restraint

walking in life

and love for each other

and we find that

as we look to him

who is the Word

so if you can put

the final point up

Andrew

read this with me

I receive

the power of God

over my words

and my heart

as I look

to the Word

Jesus

as we speak about

we're able to find

freedom from

bad words

through the power

of God

dealing with our hearts

we receive the power

of God

the true and living

power of God

the power that

spoke the world

into existence

we receive that power

as we look to him

from whom the power

comes to

the Word

Jesus

so let us look to him

now in prayer

would you

bow your hearts

with me

Heavenly Father

I pray that as we

go out from here

today

in a few minutes

that you would

help us not to

just be those

who just try a little

harder to get our

words right

but that you would

help us to be a

people who are

living life by the

power of God

by your power

that you would

help each one of us

deal with the heart

issues that are

driving those

those empty words

those jabbering

or those lying

or gossiping words

Lord I pray that

if the if the heart

issues aren't the

ones we've spoken

about today

but our other

driving forces

for why we're

speaking words of

death

that you would

minister and speak

into our lives

about those things

that you would

make each one of us

as individuals

and as a community

a community

and a people

whose words bring

life

and not death

that you would

help us

without your help

we will not tame

our tongues

we will not have

victory

lasting victory

but Lord

by your power

by you who is

the Word

you can transform

us

so would you

transform us

for your glory

and our good

in Jesus' name

Amen

Amen