Our Speech

You know, this is the fifth day of the Days of Unleavened Bread. We've got a big activity plan on Monday, which will be the conclusion. And yet, we're not the one who draws out the plan. You know, God's the one who creates the design. He's the one who celebrates.

Actually, we have an eight-day celebration here in the spring as well as in the fall because, you know, we have the Passover Day that is different from the seven days of Unleavened Bread, but they are all together, an eight-day period of time. And in the peacetime, you know, we have the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Day that come together, you know, in a grouping of eight. And, of course, obviously, during any time of a seven or eight-day period of time, you've got one Sabbath, one weekly Sabbath that's going to occur.

And so that's, you know, kind of where we are today. And so we can just be thankful for God's design. Well, we've been enjoying over the last several days, I've enjoyed eating some Unleavened Crackers each morning. Actually, I eat them throughout the day because what else are you going to eat? You can't eat a hamburger, you can't eat hot dog with a bun or donuts. There are a lot of things that you don't eat during this time. But we've been enjoying actually the wonderful design, the wonderful creation of God as we observe the days of Unleavened Bread.

See, now, you know, all of us are learning, learning about this. Many of us have done it for many years. We're fully aware of what it is that God says and what it is even the symbols mean. And yet, for the most part, most people have never heard of Unleavened Bread.

They would have very little idea figuring out what is an Unleavened product. And yet, ultimately, the whole world will know. Now, I'm not saying that's going to happen soon because until Christ returns, there's not going to be a big turnaround. And then, even beyond that, it's going to take time to educate and even beyond the millennium, time to educate people in a second resurrection, rising in what they would have never have imagined as far as a resurrection to physical life.

They're going to learn about the days of Unleavened Bread. You go in and if you ask the story, well, where's your Unleavened Bread? Look at you like you're funny. You're crazy. That's, you know, actually you might and in some of the stores you even see some designation. Maybe it's a kosher section, maybe it's a Jewish or a Passover section.

Some stores have small small sections of those. And usually, you have to look through all the crackers to try to find some that don't have baking soda or baking powder in them. And yet, for the most part, we kind of know if we've done it several years, you kind of know which ones to look for because they usually kind of perennial candidates, you know, they more than likely are going to be the same year to year. But our eating of Unleavened Bread has a great significance. It focuses our mind. I'm sure God is doing that. I'm sure he's doing that for a reason.

Seven days of focusing our mind on the understanding of our struggle with sin, removing things that we see and identify. We even learn as we go along and identify sins in our lives and then allowing Jesus Christ to live his life in us. You know, that's an incredibly remarkable plan, project. And in our struggle against sin, an area, I think, of primary concern is the area of our tongue, our speech, our communication with one another, with other people.

Now, as I was thinking about that, I see we're only about half here today. It must be that, you know, all the people who are not here didn't really need this sermon. But all of us are going to turn that around and say, oh yeah, that sermon was for you. Because it is important for all of us to think about how it is, you know, that we talk to others, how we talk to each other, how we talk to husband and wife, how we talk all the time, what comes out of our mouth. And that's not an easy job.

That's actually a very, it's a permanent, almost entire life job that we have to be concerned about. And of course, we realize that in today's world people say anything. It didn't quite used to be so bad, but anymore people are angry, people are upset, people demand their own way, they demand their own rights. Like I've said before about almost everything you see on television or even in the internet or in the texting that people do. You certainly can't say that there is great restraint in what people say.

They say anything, anything that happens to come in their head. Or actually it's what is really in their heart, is what is displayed in their speaking. And of course, God tells us now that He doesn't want us to be like that. He doesn't want us to be absorbed by the world.

He wants us to come out of that. I want us to look in James 1. James chapter 1, it tells us in James, we've got a couple of different sections that we're going to go to today, but here in James chapter 1, in verse 27, the last verse of James 1, it says, pure religion, pure religion and being undefiled before God, the Father is its. To care for the Fatherless and the widows and their distress and to keep yourself unspotted from the world. See, we're not supposed to be polluted by the lack of restraint that is just everywhere.

And probably with people we interact with, you know, you know kind of what they're going to say, you know how they're going to act, you know how they're going to represent themselves. And yet we don't want to be adversely affected by that. Let's jump over to chapter 3, because here you have a whole section where James is writing about a directive, a directive to the Christians who were celebrating the days of 11 Brad. So he was writing to members of the church. He was writing to people who should be growing.

And he says in verse 1, not many of you should become teachers, brethren, for you know that those who teach will be judged with greater strictness. And so he was telling them that, well, you know, this is understandable that, you know, teachers are going to be judged by God in a greater level, perhaps. But he says, but all of us in verse 2 make many mistakes. All of us transgress in the area of speech that he's going to be talking about. All of us make many mistakes. And anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is a perfect man. A perfect man being a completely mature person. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.

And as you probably know, we can go ahead and read that he's going to talk about how that horse is brought into subjection with a bit and a bridle. And they can be taught to go forward and stop, I guess, the primary thing that they'd be doing and maybe even back up. Some of them surely could, or they do. And yet he talks about how that just that bridle, that bit, controls the entirety of the horse. And he also then uses an illustration of a big boat, a large, you know, any kind of a big boat. It could be a huge boat no matter how big. Put it in whatever ocean you want. But it's guided by a small, relatively small rudder. And it goes wherever, you know, the pilot decides it wants to go. Whether it's maybe it doesn't go immediately, but it eventually goes in the direction that the pilot is guiding it. So he says in verse 5, so also the tongue is a small member. It's small, like a bit or bridle, or a horse, or a rudder for a boat. It's a small member, yet it boasts great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a very small fire.

And he goes ahead and verse says, and says, your tongue, the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity. It stains the whole body. It sets on fire. A cycle of nature, it itself is itself set on fire by Gehenna. For every species of beast and bird, or reptile, or sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species or mankind. But it says in verse 8, no one, no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.

Now that's why I bring this up during the days of Unleavened Bread, because it's important for us to think about this as a direction about the use of our tongue. And yet, as we think about removing things that are sinful in our lives and trying to increase the righteous action of God in our lives, then certainly the area of speech is going to be one, one of those that needs to be considered, needs to be thought about. And we have to ask ourselves, how well are we doing in this regard? We have to ask ourselves, is our tongue bridled, or is it a fire?

Is your tongue bridled, or is it a fire? Is Jesus really guiding your words?

He goes ahead and talking about the tongue in verse 8, he says, no man can really tame that fully. I mean, we always are going to, potentially, we would hope sometimes there is a loss of speech in our lives, but for the most part we talk all the way up until the end, and we have to be on guard.

But in verse 9 it says, with a tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. Now the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. Brethren, he says in verse 10, this ought not to be. You know, this just shouldn't be the case. He's saying to those who know what God's plan is, what His purpose is, what He desires, what He teaches us about coming out of sin, removing, struggling against sin, and replacing that with the right and righteous words of God. That's what we're in the process of doing. And I think it's good for us to think about. I want to go through several different, actually mostly, Proverbs today, because I'm sure you know, even though there are many other verses, or other verses at least in the New and the Old Testament, that could be applicable to speech. And yet, I want to go through several negative examples, because really there's quite a few of those. And then a positive example, of course, the ones we're trying to get rid of, as opposed to the ones, you know, that we're wanting to encourage. You know, you actually have some positive examples, even here in the book of Proverbs. Now, it's usually described as, and it's not going into such a great description, it's just described as the righteous tongue, or the righteous lips. The righteous are going to speak in this way. That's usually the way it's described. But I want to go through several of these, again, just to bring these to mind, because in our battle against sin, as we struggle, then we're going to need to be on guard about the tongue. The first one, and actually this may seem to be probably at the very highest, what would you say? What would be the highest on the despicable list of speech?

Well, you see numerous different references to the lying tongue. Or it could be described as liar, lying tongue, slanderer. That would be another false and deceptive manner of speaking. Here in Proverbs chapter 6, and we'll mention a number of Proverbs today, and I hope that these can be helpful. Of course, you're familiar with what we'll read here. Chapter 6 verse 16, there are six things the Lord hates. Seven is an abomination to Him. And then in verse 17, He says, haughty eyes, a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil, a lying, verse 19, a lying witness who testifies falsely, and finally, listed here, the one who sows discord among the brethren, one who sows discord among the family. Now, obviously, there's a couple of those that would directly fit into liar and lying. And clearly, we have to think about that because, you know, we know that lying is wrong. We certainly know, you know, that the devil was a liar. He was certainly the one who lied to Eve and Adam in the very beginning. And Jesus said to the Pharisees, He says, you know, he was a liar from the beginning. And he's actually your father. They didn't understand that. They thought, oh, well, Abraham's our father. Well, they didn't understand their spiritual condition. And yet, you see, of course, false witness or lying lips or lying tongue written about in a derogatory way every time here. And we might share, let's see, another verse here would be chapter 12.

Chapter 12, verse 17, whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness speaks deceitfully.

Remember, if we drop down to verse 19, truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only for a moment.

See, truth is going to endure. Truth is going to be, truth has a sense of permanence where lying and falsehood, deceit, deception, corruption in that way, is actually, it's very short-lived. And amazingly, you know, even though most liars don't think about it, the more you lie, the more you have to try to remember what you lie about. You know, because you're trying to cover up something, and you can't remember, and usually they get confused. And, you know, you might say, well, I'm sure that that applies to somebody else. I'm saying that that applies to me. That applies to all of us. We want to be truthful in our statements, and yet there are times when we, out of self-preservation, you know, we kind of shade things a little bit in my favor, or misrepresent things not quite exactly like they were. And see, we want, you know, we want to get away from that. It says in Revelation, all liars are going to end in the second depth, in the Lake of Fire. So, obviously, we want to move away from that. I think it's interesting. The, I'm tying this together with liar and slanderer, hard word to say. Slanderer is a word that you see in the New Testament a couple of times. And I will just point something out to you, and I was surprised when I looked at this the other day, because where slanderer is used, of course, talking in a deceitful and corrupt way about others, whenever that is used, there are the Greek word that is described in a couple of places as slanderer, is used, like I said, two times to describe slanderer. And yet, that same word, that same Greek word, is used about 40 other times, and it is translated differently.

The Greek word that is translated slanderer in two places, that same Greek word is translated about the 40 other times that it's used in a different way. And I'll let you look that up, because it's stunning. It's sad, is what it is. But it's stunning to realize exactly the root and the, you know, the direction of the liar and the slanderer.

The second negative example I'll go to is gossip. Gossip, and the Bible uses the term tail-bearer or a whisperer. This is not the horse whisperers, I guess. But whispering, you know, secretly, stuff that probably should never be said, never be even thought about. But nonetheless, you know, being human, we tend to gravitate to this. It says in chapter 18 here, we're still in Proverbs, most of the time we will be, Proverbs 18, verse 8, it says, The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels.

They go down into the innermost parts of the body.

See, oftentimes gossip is delicious. Hearing something about somebody else, hearing some kind of failing or some kind of distress, or even could even be some kind of joke, it possibly could fit in the category. But it's very easy. It seems delicious, but it corrupts us on the inside. And it's clearly something that we want to avoid, learning about this here during the days of 11 Brett.

Chapter 11. Chapter 11, verse 13, says, A gossip goes about telling secrets, but one who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a confidence.

See, this is something to evaluate because here in chapter 26, chapter 26, in verse 20, it says, For lack of wood, a fire will go out. Now, you pull logs away from the fire, even though you've got it going, you know, you separate them all. They're not able to work together. It kind of goes, it dies down and goes out. For lack of wood, the fire goes out. And where there is no whisperer, all them quarrels, quarreling ceases.

See, we're told in the New Testament not to suffer as a mischief maker. Not to suffer as a gossip or a tale-bearer or a whisperer, because what gossip causes is a great deal of whirling and strife. And, you know, that is not the way of God. That's not the righteous way that God, of course, wants us to live.

I won't go through the ones that regard a flatterer-er. That's another hard word to say. Flatterer-er. I'll give you a couple of them anyway. Here in Proverbs chapter 28, we're already here. Chapter 28, a flatterer-er, is someone who speaks well of others, but who really is not sincere. They're corrupt. They're deceitful. They may be trying to get something. They may be trying to get their own way.

They may be trying to even compliment others.

And yet again, like I said, you know, we're celebrating days of sincerity and truth. And so a flatterer-er, that's still a hard word for me to say. Chapter 28, verse 23, says, whoever rebukes a person will afterward find more favor but than one who flatters with the tongue.

See now, you know, trying to talk to someone, trying to help them, trying to encourage them, trying to even guide them in understanding. You know, that's helping. That's encouraging. That's uplifting. But a flatterer is not that way. Maybe we should back up to chapter 26, verse 28, a lying tongue hates its victims and a flattering mouth works ruin.

So I guess we could say number three would be a flatterer-er. Number four would be an angry, wrathful person. An angry, wrathful tongue is actually deeply, maybe it's closer to the liar level. Let's see, unfortunately, if people don't have a, if they don't rule their own spirit, they become angry, if they get... That's usually when we say things that we thought and knew we shouldn't have said. And so an angry, wrathful person is often out of control. They're not humble. They're not loving. They actually are quite destructive. Here in chapter 29, verse 22, one given to anger, chapter 29, verse 22, one given to anger stirs up strife, and a hothead causes much transgression.

See, that's when often people are really just out of control. They're not only doing things that are wrong, but they're saying things that are wrong. They're saying things they need to repent of.

Chapter 21, verse 19, this is talking about a household. It's better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and angry life. You know, that's because of many of the words that are going to be flying around. In chapter 15, verse 1, in a sense, kind of a remedy to this angry person, the soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word is going to stir up anger. Again, this is the, you know, admonition that we have to move away from the things that we can identify and see as being wrong and move toward proper control and proper speech. We're told in Ephesians 4 to put away bitterness and wrath. Ephesians 4, 31 and 32, to put away bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander with all malice.

Then be kind, be tender-hearted, be forgiving. See, this is a type of transition that God is wanting us to make as we guard our mouth or tongue, or as I was mentioning earlier, bridling our tongue. We can't cut our tongue out. We're going to continue to talk. We're going to continue to be able to articulate the things that in some ways are in our mind and certainly in our heart. And of course, the Bible gives us several different verses that we're not even going to today that show that, you know, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You know, too often, and I know we used to certainly, when we had Spokesman's Club, we would encourage people to learn to speak from the heart. You know, not just rotely speak, but to speak from the heart, to speak from, you know, what's inside of you, and yet, you know, whenever you don't feel or know that what's inside of you is really right. Whenever you're angry, whenever you're upset, you're probably going to say things that you'll end up having to apologize for.

And certainly, you know, whenever it says we're to put away bitterness and wrath and anger, you know, we read this back in James. I'll read that right toward the end. He says, you know, the wrath of man is nothing to do, absolutely nothing to do with the righteousness of God. And so, you know, there's certainly reason to move away from being an angry or wrathful person with an angry or wrathful tongue. Another person that's mentioned is the scoffer, or the last kind of negative one, I guess. Someone who's a scoffer. Now, you find this even in Jesus, the end of his life, you know, there were Roman soldiers, there were other Jewish people who were there, you know. Well, you saved other people, why don't you save yourself? Bring yourself down off of the the cross that you've been crucified on, and the soldiers would mock him by putting a crown on his head and a robe and, oh, here's the king. You know, that was truly ridiculous. And yet, you know, ridicule is another problem of the tongue. Riddiculing others, mocking or scoffing. We go back to Jude chapter 17. You see this written in Peter, but you also see it written in Jude, a little book right before the book of Revelation. Jude is writing about what would be in the end time, and he says in verse 17, that you, beloved, you must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord, for they said to you in the last time there will be scoffers indulging their own ungodly lusts.

It is these upworldly people devoid of the spirit who are causing or who do cause division. But you, beloved, build yourself up on your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit and keep yourself in the love of God. Look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Now, he was giving a warning saying that well in the last time, you know, the world will be in such a such a ridiculous condition that certainly those who try to obey God are going to be scoffed at.

But see, we want to guard our own thoughts, our own mind. We want to guard our own mouth, not mock others. Here in Proverbs 21, Proverbs 21, verse 24, it says, the proud, this actually gives a description of why someone would be a mocker, why someone would ridicule others. It's because of some difficulty in their own mind, in their own heart, in their own life. Chapter 20, 1 verse 24, it says, the proud, haughty person named Scoffer acts with arrogant pride.

The person who mocks others, who ridicules others, who tries to tear others down, who tries to undermine others by their actions, by their words, by their antics. You know, that's a description of the Scoffer.

And another revealing fact about this is in chapter 15. Chapter 15, verse 12, the Scoffer does not like to be rebuked, and they simply will not go to the wise. You know, what's that saying? Well, it's saying someone who is a mocker or Scoffer or someone who likes to ridicule, likes to undermine, you know, they actually, you know, they do that because they know everything. They already know everything, and so why go find out from somebody who might know? Why go find out from the wise? You know, actually, the fact is they can't be taught anything. You can't, you don't want to be a Scoffer, I can tell you that. And even here in chapter 22, chapter 22, verse 10, it says, drive out a Scoffer and strife will go out. Corralling and abuse will cease.

And so there's a lot of descriptions that we find of different people in different mannerisms and different words, different uses of the tongue, you know, that are quite negative and need to be recognized, need to be seen in our lives, and then we need, of course, to look at the unleavened life of the righteous tongue. That's the last one I'll go through, the godly or the virtuous tongue. Here in chapter 10, you see several verses. Proverbs chapter 10, Proverbs 10 verse 11 says, the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, that the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

See, if we want to have, if we represent what we think and say, we edit what we say, then we're going to be a fountain of life. We're going to be an encouragement to others. We're going to be uplifting. We're going to be inspiring and encouraging.

Down in verse 20, it says, when words, or excuse me, verse 20, the tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the mind of the wicked is of little value, little worth, but the tongue of the righteous is greatly valued. And in verse 32, the very end of this chapter 10, the lips of the righteous know what to say. They know what is acceptable. The mouth of the wicked simply is perverse.

See, now, sometimes you might find it hard. Hard to try to teach righteousness, try to teach tactfulness, and sometimes you think, well, people either just have to know or not, but here it defines, well, the more we're seeking a righteousness that comes from God, the better we are going to know what to say. Now, that's not to say we'll always know the right thing to say, or right thing to encourage, but it certainly is going to be much more likely if we're seeking God's help, asking for Christ to live in us, asking for them to put their life, their words, in us. In chapter 12, on over a page, it says in verse 18, now let's back up to verse 17.

It's making several contrasts here. Now, let's just read verse 18. Rache words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

See, that's the type of speaking, the type of interaction, the type of words that we can share. You know, there are many other proverbs that show that, well, if something is within your hand and you can do it to help or encourage others, then do it. Don't hold back. Go ahead and help in that way. So clearly, you know, there are a lot of different verses that could be read that would deal with the righteous or godly mouth.

And yet, here's several other verses as we kind of wrap this up. Several other verses that I think could be helpful. Back up to chapter 10. What can we say? Chapter 10, verse 19.

When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but the prudent are restrained in speech. So what does that say? Well, it says, you know, use our words sparingly. You know, if we just continually talk all day and all night, there's a good chance that we'll offend in words. That's what the first part of that in verse 18. When words are many, verse 19, transgression is not lacking. So we want to learn to use our words sparingly. Chapter 29, verse 20. Do you see someone who is hasty in speech?

Well, there's more hope for a fool than for anyone like that. And so not only do we want to use words sparingly, but we want to think before we speak. If someone is so hasty in speech that they just can't stand that they've got to say whatever, probably it's not well thought out. Chapter 18, verse 13. If one gives an answer before hearing, then that's folly and shame. So not only using words sparingly, thinking before you speak, but listen. Listen before speaking. You learn a lot more by listening than by talking. You know, that's what the Proverbs tell us. And here in chapter 16, chapter 16, verse 21, there are several verses here.

Chapter 16, verse 21.

The wise of heart is called perceptive, and pleasant speech increases persuasiveness. Wisdom is a fountain of life to one who has it, but folly is a punishment of fools. Verse 24, the mind, or excuse me, that's verse 23. The mind of the wise makes their speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to their lips. And pleasant words, in verse 24, are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. You know, that's the type of righteous words, righteous tongue, that we want to be able to share with one another. So I think it's good, during the days of Unleavened Bread, to think about the type of restraint that we should have on our tongue. The many bad examples that you see here in the Bible, as far as poor speech, and certainly the uplifting and positive examples of righteous speech. To conclude here, there's a couple more verses. If we go back to Psalms.

Psalm 141 is the Psalm of David.

Psalm 141, David is praying to God in the evening. He's asking God for help, continued protection throughout the night. He's asking, thanking God, for helping him throughout the day. I call upon you, O Lord, come quickly to me, give ear to my voice. When I call to you, let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and lifting up my hands as an evening sacrifice. See, that was his example of praising God, worshiping God, even in the evening. Often, we probably pray earlier in the day, and that's also good. Well, you have numerous biblical examples of several times a day praying, but in verse 3 he says, set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, and keep watch over the door of my lips.

Don't turn my heart to any evil to busy myself with wicked deeds, in company with those whom are iniquity. Don't let me eat of their delicacies.

See, he says, guard my mouth in verse 3. Set a watch over my lips. See, I think that's, I guess, the sentiment that we, I think we used to even sing a song that had those words, set a guard on our mouth. I don't think it's in our hymnal right now, but we used to have one. I'm sure that came from Psalm 141 because that's that's the sentiment of what it says. But the final verse that I want us to focus on is back again in James. We started there, and it's very clear when you read through James that James wrote this about taming the tongue. He made examples of it. He said in chapter 3 verse 10, from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing brethren that ought not to be. And so we, you know, we want to follow that admonition. We might look back even here in chapter 1. In verse 19 it says, you need to understand this brethren. Let everyone be quick.

This is a pretty good summary of what we're talking about. Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger, the wrath of God, of man, does not produce the righteousness of God.

See, that's what we can ask God to put in our heart and our mind His outlook, His attitude, His righteousness, His concern for us and for each other. And then finally, in verse 26, if any of you think that you're religious and you do not bridle your tongue, but deceive yourself, you deceive your own heart, then your religion is really worthless.

See, if we claim to be Christian and yet bridle not our tongues, then we simply are deceiving ourselves.

So, during the days of Unleavened Bread, as we eat Unleavened Bread, let's think about our words. Think about how we say what we do. Think about what we say. Think about even what the motivation is, because we have been called to celebrate a festival that is based not in deceit, not in lie, not in scoffing or mockery, not in gossip and whispering, but in sincerity and in truth.