Out of the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth Speaks!

In some ways, I appreciated the content of our sermonette today. I think it's going to lead very nicely into the remarks I would like to make. Today we hear an awful lot of angry words. Angry words, destructive words, rebellious words, provocative words, negative words. All of those words have power to them. And we've seen that negative power, a very destructive force in our society. Somebody once wrote, and I've got the quote here, and forgive me, I forgot to take the...

who said this, but it was an interesting quotation. I've used this over the years. And I think it says an awful lot to introduce the material I want to cover with you today. And I quote, soft words sung in a lullaby will put a babe to sleep. Excited words will stir a mob to violence. Elegant words will send armies marching into the face of death. Encouraging words will fan to flame the genius of a Rembrandt or a Lincoln. Powerful words will mold the public mind as a sculptor molds his clay.

Words spoken or written are a dynamic force. Words are the swords we use in our battle for success and happiness. How others react toward us depends in larger measure upon the words we speak to them. Life is like a great whispering gallery that sends back echoes of the words we send out. Our words live beyond us. They go marching through the years in the lives of all those of whom we come into contact. End quote. A lot of truth in that statement.

And the Bible has a great deal to say about how we use our words, how we use our tongue. Let's turn, as we begin the message today, over to James chapter 1 and verse 26. James chapter 1 and verse 26. You know, one of the benefits of having services again is I hear pages turning. And for a guy who has only one ear that works well, that's certainly good to hear.

James chapter 1 and verse 26. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. So God tells us we need to be properly harnessing the power of our tongue. The Bible teaches that our speech reveals who we are in our hearts. Let's turn now to Matthew chapter 12. Those who are in Spokesons Club, ever been in Spokesons Club, you know this particular scripture. I believe by heart. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34. Matthew 12, 34. Brute of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things?

For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So brethren, what does our speech reveal about us? What are the words you and I use reveal about us? Those we come in contact with on a normal basis, without the COVID and all that. But our coworkers, our neighbors, our relatives, as they examine us, and we're always, all of us, under a magnifying glass, what does our speech say about our hearts?

What we say reveals what's in our hearts. In that context, let's turn to Colossians chapter 4. Colossians chapter 4, plus what I read here in Matthew 12, really formed a basis for my comments in the sermon here today. Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Let your speech always be with grace, God's grace, God's power, seasoned with salt, so you know how to answer each one. So today, for those of you who like to take notes and you want a theme for my message today, it would be this.

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Now, before we get into some specifics here, a direction I would like to go in terms of this sermon, let's take a look at the difference our words can make. Think about your own life. Think about your parents. Think about your grandparents. Think about the things they said to you as you were growing and developing. Think about the person, perhaps, who said you were stupid. What did that do to you?

Or the one who told you you could never do anything right. What did that do for you? Or, on the other side of the coin, somebody who told you, you know, you've got a great deal of talent. Or, I really appreciate your character. Or, as a parent or as a grandparent, when you say, I love you. I'm proud of you.

You know, years ago, I pastored an individual. Over the years, I've pastored a number of individuals with what I'm about to say. But one in particular was a lady, and she told me, she said, you know, Mr. D, my mother never told me she loved me. My mother never told me she loved me. And over the years, I had, she came from an abusive background on both sides, mother and father.

But over the years, and working with her and counseling with her, it was very difficult for me. Now, I come from a background where, you know, my mother and father were loving people. They were hands-on parents. They always said, you know, good, encouraging things. Now, they also, when the time was right, they chastised me and disciplined me and so forth. But I never had a lack of somebody, my parents saying they loved me or whatever. But this person never heard that.

And over the years, going away just from that one person, those people who I've known who have been abused, especially by fathers, they had a really hard time in a church thinking that our God, our Father God, was a God of love. Had a really hard time with that. As I, you know, again, as I've sat with people who would just be crying real tears, Mr. D, I just really have a hard time understanding a God of love. So words mean so very much. With our words, we can affirm the positive or dwell on a negative. We can spotlight growth or highlight weakness. We can celebrate victories or rehash failures. We can encourage the word encourage to give courage to another. Or we can discourage, which means to take courage from another. All of that is in our power of the tongue. Our power of the tongue. Now, I was counting them up. When I'm putting together a sermon, I normally want to have so many passages of Scripture. And as I was looking at the Scriptures I have for you today, one-third of the Scriptures, basically 30%, I should say, come from the book of Proverbs. A tremendous storehouse for wisdom when it comes to using the tongue. Scripture teaches us, let's turn to Proverbs 15. The Scripture teaches the tongue, the words that we use can diffuse a conflict or escalate it, depending upon what we do.

The words can either diffuse or escalate a conflict. Words are powerful. And the book of Proverbs reminds us of what words can do. Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 1. A soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger. Today, brethren, are you seeing a lot of harsh words being said in Washington, D.C.? Are you seeing and hearing a lot of harsh words on the nightly news or in print? Our country is being torn apart by the wrong use of the tongue, by a godless use of the tongue. And we certainly, as we heard in today's sermonette, we want to be people of peace. And to bring peace, we've got to use our tongues in the proper manner. Every one of us knows what it's like to say the wrong thing just at the right time.

That causes a lot of damage. We've all done that. We've all been careless with the use of our tongue.

Professionals, and as I was putting together my thoughts for today, thoughts I've had from previous messages, in referring to what some of the professionals say about the way we use our tongue, the way we talk with one another, they are what some would refer to as dark words.

Dark words. These are angry words, sharp words, aggressive words, words that put up barriers and defenses, sarcasm, insults, accusations. They escalate a situation. These kinds of words make us feel that we're being attacked. And when you and I feel we're being attacked, too many times we can default to our human nature. And we certainly don't want to be able to do that or do that. On the other hand, besides dark words, there are words that give light. Words that give light. Soft words, kind words, gentle and understanding words. Those words can diffuse a hostile situation.

Those words convey calm. They convey peace. They can convey concern and love.

These words lead to productive discussions, productive conversations.

Let's go back to the book of Proverbs. Let's go back to Proverbs chapter 11.

Proverbs chapter 11. I've got two Proverbs here close together. Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 9.

Proverbs 11 verse 9.

The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. Notice the hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor. Now we don't want to be there, do we? We don't want to do that with our mouths, do we? We want to make sure that we are doing the things that are pleasing and, as we heard earlier, making for peace. Today we have what's called the cancel culture in our society, where people, their lives, their reputations are being tarnished or being ruined by what people are saying that, in many cases, are untruths.

How many spirits? How many people do you know? And, of course, in my case I would know a number. How many people do you know who have crushed been crushed by commentary from other people?

I've known too many. Too many people who could have accomplished so much, but because of the words that were coming to them, and especially as they were growing, that just really crippled them.

How many people have given up or quit because someone failed to encourage them? You know, there's a good example of this. I'm probably dating myself. Most of you probably have heard of Karen Carpenter, correct? Those people who follow singers, people who are musicians, they would tell you that Karen Carpenter's voice was one of the purest singing voices that we've heard in generations. And, of course, we know that Karen Carpenter had a eating disorder. We know that she was starting to come back from that eating disorder when she had a heart attack that took her life at the age of 32. But what triggered all of that in her life? She had success. She and her brother, they, you know, were always on the pop charts. They were making a good deal of money and so forth. What triggered all of that in Karen Carpenter's life?

USA Today reported that it was, it all started when a reviewer once called her Richard's chubby sister.

And since somebody called her a chubby person, she said, well, I've got to work on that, and went to an extreme. So words can be tremendously damaging. On the other hand, let's look at Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs chapter 12. The Bible shows us both sides of the equation here. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 18. There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.

The tongue of the wise promotes health. Promotes life. Can save people. You know, there's a tremendous example, and every, I've not given a message here on this. I've not heard one since I've been here on this, but the story of Esther. That is a tremendous lesson for us in so many ways. And the overall hero of the book of Esther is God himself. But there are other physical heroes in that book. Mordecai would be one. Esther herself would be one. And of course, as you know, the story, there was a time where all the Jews in the kingdom were going to be murdered.

And Mordecai went to, we believe, his cousin, Esther, and said, look, we can run from this, but maybe because of this day we've been called. Words of that effect. And so that young woman, very brave young woman, intervened to save a people. And she did it by using her tongue.

She did it by using her tongue. Mordecai encouraged her. Mordecai emboldened her by the use of his tongue. So not only can scripture, not only can words destroy, words can give life. It's what we want to do with them. And of course, we're God's people, and we want it to be the kind of people who give work toward peace and work toward life. So we read earlier in Colossians about speaking with grace. How do we do that? Let's look at some practical takeaways and how we can learn to speak with grace. Number one. How do we learn to speak with grace? Number one. We must let Christ's words live in us. We can't do this on our own. We must let Christ's words live in us. Our hearts must be worked with. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3, and I'm going to read this out of God's word translation.

I've got a little bottle of water up here. They asked us not to use the water fountains and so forth. Some might think this is not water since it's a little container, but this is ice mountain water. Colossians chapter 3, verse 16. This is in God's word translation I'm reading. Colossians 3, 16. Let Christ's word, with all of its wisdom and richness, live in you. Use Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs to teach and instruct yourselves about God's kindness. Sing to God in your hearts. But notice that first section of the verse. Let Christ's word, with all of its wisdom and richness, live in you. That's why we enjoy Bible study. To get more of the word of God. To let our minds just soak up what we can and to learn from the pages of this book, which is a very small portion of God's mind in print. This whole book is inspired. It is a portion, you know, God's mind can't be closed in between two leather covers, but all of this is inspired by God. And we can learn so much from what God wanted us to learn. He put everything here we need, by principle. So to have God's Christ's word, God's word, with all of its wisdom and richness, live in us, that means it must dwell in us. It must abide in us. It must make a home in us. And we must make room by getting rid of all the things that shouldn't be in our hearts and minds. You know, Days of Unleavened Bread are so instructive along those lines. We get rid of the leavening. We bring in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We allow our minds to be transformed, correct? We need to have the word of God live in us, and it says, richly, richly, not meagerly, not where Christ comes and visits once every so often, and we don't see Him for great periods of time. We're not studying, we're not praying, we're not fasting, we're not doing the things we should be doing spiritually. We don't just ask Christ to come in as a guest. No, we want Him to be there in us all the time. Richly, not meagerly, the words of Christ must be allowed to furnish us in our hearts with the tools we need to properly live. Remember, Matthew 12, 34, we quoted that earlier, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Now, do a little bit of an inventory here. As I was putting my thoughts together, I had to do a little bit of an inventory. Let's do a bit of an inventory here.

What do we talk about? What's coming out of our hearts? How much do we talk about God? How much do we talk about Jesus Christ? How much do we talk about the kingdom of God? All that God is, He should be our ultimate hero, correct? God the Father, Jesus Christ, our elder brother. How much do we want to talk about them and explore what they've done in our lives?

You know, if somebody saved you from drowning, you'd probably talk about that person.

And yet, God the Father and Jesus Christ give us life. They offer eternal life. They offer us hope. They offer us a future. How much do we talk about that? Do we share the word of Christ with one another as we encourage one another, as we comfort one another? I'm hoping that we're all thinking, boy, you know, I'm doing okay here. I can do better, but I can be doing more.

So the first things we need to do to be people who speak with grace is to experience God's transforming grace ourselves, to know what it is to have God's working in our hearts and minds. A growing relationship with God is a key factor in our relationship with others. I'll repeat that. A growing relationship with God is a key factor in our new relationship with others. Before our speech can be with grace, season, with salt, we need God's dynamic grace working in our hearts and minds. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3 and verse 17.

Colossians chapter 3 and verse 17. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Whatever you do in word, let's focus on that for a second. Whatever you do in word, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. This means that as you and I speak, God would approve of what we're saying. Now, I would have to say, as I take an inventory of my past, I can do a whole lot better with this. Does God approve of everything I say and the tone of what I'm saying, or maybe even the intent of what I'm saying? Would Christ approve of my speech? Those are questions that I need to work on. It's so easy for us today, knowing what the future we have in the kingdom of God, to take a look at the local power structure, the state power structure, the national power structure of people in Washington, D.C. It's so easy for us to launch off into a tirade about the president or those who are running for the presidency or this politician or that politician. You see bumper stickers on cars, you see things in print, you hear things on the news. We too many times tend to parrot some of those things in our own conversations. Does Christ approve of that? You know, when the Bible talks about not speaking evil of dignitaries, are we doing that? Are we using our tongues the way God would have us? Are we doing all in word that He would have us to do? I think not, but that's something we all need in each of our own hearts and minds needed to deal with. So how do we learn to speak with grace? 1. Let Christ's Word live in us and allow that word to change our hearts, God's way. 2. How do we learn to speak with grace? Listen more.

Let's go to James chapter 1. I think you know which scripture I'm going to turn to. James chapter 1.

1. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

You know, as a counselor, these words are very important to me.

Many times when I'm going on a counseling session, all I want to do is just sit and do an awful lot of listening. Maybe add a comment here or there for clarification. But early on, I just want to do an awful lot of listening. James here indicates we should be doing a lot more listening than speaking. If we want to speak words, brethren, that are appropriate to the situation, we need to know and understand what that situation is.

If we want to speak words that are appropriate for a specific situation, we need to know the specifics of that situation. And we get that through listening, not divining. If we take the time to listen, there are so many wonderful benefits that come about. Our learning is broadened.

Our understanding is deepened. And we're not as likely to overreact and jump to conclusions.

If we want to grow, we must listen. So that's point number two.

Point number three, how do we learn to speak with grace?

And with this one, I took a few pages out of the professional ranks. Number three, to speak with grace, control your anger. Control your anger. Let's go back to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 16.

Proverbs 16, verse 32.

Proverbs 16, verse 32.

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. It takes character to do this. It takes a great deal of character to do this. Right now, think about the times you've said things that you wish you can bring back. You can recall those words. Generally speaking, so many times, it's the people we love the most. Could be a husband, could be a wife, could be a child or grandchild.

Somebody who's a good friend, and yet sometimes we can get, you know, angry with somebody.

Our attitude sours. Words come pouring forth, and almost as soon as they're out of our mouth so many times, we wish we can recall those words. More hurtful and harmful words are spoken when we're angry than at other times. And so we've got to be careful about those words when we're angry. What do we do? Well, again, here's some of the tips from the professionals, and I think these all make good biblical sense.

Before we speak, cool down. Cool down. Allow yourself time to think before you just react or I react.

We must remember that if we're not careful, we can default to human nature and respond that way. So we need to cool down. We need to, another area, speak softly.

So many times we get angry, the volume starts rising.

We don't want that to take place. When the volume starts to rise, then things are getting out of control, and we don't want that.

If we're going to attack something, we want to attack the problem and not the people.

We want to attack the problem, not the people. And certainly, brethren, we want to make sure to ask God for help when we are angry.

Because we can be angry without a cause. We can totally misjudge a situation.

We might not have all the proper facts. We can get so upset.

But if we ask God to help us to do some of these things and calm down and get further information, talk with the individual, get more insight, then we can avoid a lot of the things that come due to an uncontrolled anger. So number three was controlling your anger. Number four, how do we learn to speak with grace? Number four, choose your words carefully.

Choose your words carefully. We're in the book of Proverbs. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 21. Proverbs chapter 21.

Here in Proverbs chapter 21 verse 23.

Proverbs 21-23.

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. Proverbs 22-23. Now that scripture could have been used in the previous point under anger. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

Choose your words carefully. You know, so many times people think that because of much speech, if you've gotten much speech, many words, what you say is going to be more weighty.

Remember years ago when the Affordable Care Act came out and they wheeled out the whole bill?

What was it? 10 or 11 feet tall stacks of paper? I mean, literally.

10 or 11 feet tall stack of paper. And yet, probably most of us in this room when we were going through school at some point, we were asked to memorize the Gettysburg Address. Remember doing that? I remember doing that. Gettysburg Address. Very famous, thoughtful, thought-provoking. 266 words. 266 words for the Gettysburg Address versus the Affordable Care Act, 10 feet of paper. Which is going to be remembered more? The 266 words of Abraham Lincoln or the Affordable Care Act. So, point number four is choose your words carefully. Number five, learning how to speak with grace, look to the needs of the other guy.

Look to the needs of the other guy. Let's go to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two verses three and four.

Actually, start in verse two. Philippians chapter two verse two.

Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one of cord of one mind.

Let nothing, and of course that one mind is equal with Jesus Christ. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, where we're thinking about ourselves alone, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

We're looking out for the other guy. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus.

So if we want to speak with grace, we want to think about things like this.

We want to think about things that are affirming and helpful to somebody. When you go up to somebody and you ask, how are they, how are you doing? And they can tell you really mean it.

You're not just saying that because it's the thing to say, it's because you are sincere about that, and they're actually going to listen to you. And you want to listen to them, and they understand, and they appreciate that.

Years ago, I heard a sermon, and I forget who gave the sermon, but the person who gave the sermon, I took notes, and I copied those notes. I've included them here, someplace in probably the worldwide Church of God in years gone by. We've talked about speaking with grace.

Are there tests for gracious speech?

Are there tests for gracious speech? I'm going to letter these. Letter A.

Letter A. If we're going to speak with speech seasoned with salt, letter A is what we're saying true.

Salt was used for preserving and purifying.

Seasoned speech is truthful.

Before we repeat a statement, make sure that it's true.

That we're not just passing information along that is faulty and not proper, because that would be a speech that is not gracious.

Let's go to Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 15.

Ephesians 4, 15.

But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things unto him who is the head Christ. Notice, speaking the truth in love. Is it true?

One of the big tests of gracious speech. Letter B. Do you have the complete story?

Do you have the complete story? It's easy to get half a story, a part of a story, a story that is partially true. Something that's partially true can be misleading.

When you hear part of the facts, you can say, well, this has got to be the result, because this is where these facts lead me. But if you had more facts, you might realize, well, wait a minute. It goes over here. So is what you're hearing complete? Let's again turn back to Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 18.

Proverbs chapter 18.

And verse 13. Proverbs 18, 13.

He who answers a matter before he hears it.

Ford's got all the facts. He's incomplete in what he's understanding. He who answers a matter before he hears it. It's a folly and a shame to him. It's a folly and a shame to him.

Letter C. In terms of tests of gracious speech, letter C. It's what we're about to say necessary.

Maybe true, maybe complete, but isn't necessary.

Just because it's the truth doesn't make it necessary.

You know, we can go up to anybody, we can go probably somebody comes to everybody in this room and say something that would be insulting. They could talk about our appearance, our intelligence, what we're wearing, whatever. And perhaps some of those things would be true, but do we need to say those things? There are times when silence truly is golden.

1 Peter 4 and verse 8. 1 Peter 4 and verse 8.

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

Well, we want people to repent. We don't want people enjoying their sin. But there's a loving way to deal with sin.

There's a loving way to talk with people in a way that will bring about proper repentance, proper sorrow, as Paul talked about in the church there in Corinth.

And lastly, in terms of a test for proper gracious speech, is it kind? Is it kind? Is what you're about to say kind?

Romans chapter 12 and verse 10. Romans chapter 12 and verse 10.

Where it says, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. Be kindly affectionate to one another.

Are we being kind?

I've heard a number of people over the years say, well, I'm being bold. Well, are you being kind?

We can be bold and kind at the same thing. It doesn't mean we've got to be insulting or hurtful or go someplace we don't need to go at that time. Maybe the whole thing is a matter of timing. That's a whole other issue. Paul writes more about this over in the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, very end of the chapter there, verses 31 and 32.

Ephesians chapter 4 verses 31 and 32. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.

Again, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. These are things we don't want in our heart. We don't want them coming out in our speech. Verse 32. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. So, brethren, we're going to end early today, but before we end, I want to quote one last scripture, and I want to give you an action list. Three things. Three things that you can be thinking about as you and I analyze our speech, as you and I analyze the way we use our tongues. An action list. Three points. Number one. If you see the way we use our tongues, if you see you've had a problem with your speaking, analyze your heart spiritually. Where are we?

Spiritually speaking. Are we where we should be as Christians? Where is our heart? If we've got a problem with our speech, if we continually offend people and people don't enjoy coming around us. Number two on your action list. We can ask God to make us more sensitive to those who are around us. Be more sensitive to those who are around us. Pray that we would be able to see others with God's eyes. So many times we can see all the wrong with people. We can see all their faults and weaknesses. We see some of the strengths, but we can ask God to help us see even more of the strengths. Help us understand where the person is coming from. We may not understand that. Maybe we need to do more listening. And lastly, number three, do a study of the book of Proverbs.

Do a study of the book of Proverbs. Write down all the verses that relate to speech or the tongue.

See what God has said. 30% of the scriptures I use today, we were going back to the book of Proverbs.

Wisdom literature is known as wisdom literature. If we don't have wisdom, God gives us a tool to help us. Of course, he gives us his word, which the book of Proverbs was in. He gives us his spirit.

And we can use those tools to grow in wisdom. Final scripture of the day, Matthew 12.

Matthew 12.

A warning. We'll end with a warning. My red letter Bible, all the words here are in red. Matthew 12, verse 36. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in a day of judgment. So, brethren, let's remember that. But let's remember everything else we've talked about today. God is with us. God loves us. God will help us to be more wise in our conversation, more wise in our dealing with one another. As I gave in a sermon some time ago, we talked about sandpaper people, people who rub us the wrong way. Well, maybe we're sandpaper people to somebody else. Maybe we rub somebody the wrong way. We've always got to be cognizant that that can be true in our life. Maybe we're not sandpaper people to everybody, but we can be sandpaper people to some people. And God will hold us accountable for that. Let's remember that. Let's remember that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.