Doctrine

Taming the Tongue by Scott Bushey
puritan

 

Taming the tongue:

 

We will discuss two ways that the tongue is tamed.

1) Taming the tongue when it is needed

2) Taming the tongue when it should be loosed!

~When it is needed:

3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;
The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah
Proverbs 6:24

18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
Proverbs 12:19

 

2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,
But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
Proverbs 15:4

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 21:6

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
Isaiah 32:4

James 3

The Untamable Tongue
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed,j we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.k

V9 Out of the same mouth we curse and we bless.

Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Mat. 12:34) According to Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

Lets talk about the sins of the tongue:

God made Adam and all was good. The tongue in and of itself was not sinful. At this point, the flesh was holy. There was no real sanctification needed. This always begs the question about the garden. Did anything die, as death is a result of sin. Did fruit degrade after the core was disposed of-did Adam have to move his bowels?

After the fall, the tongue took on a new occupation. The flesh had fallen and out of the mouth came sin.

This week I caught Zoe in a lie. She held on to it until I cornered her verbally. We discussed it; I asked, why is it that you can lie without any remorse or regret? I asked her was she a believer…..

Eph 4:29
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Most all of the sins of the tongue are grounded in either lying or pride. If you dig deep enough, at the base, you will see the lie.

The tongue that lies:
Proverbs 25:18 says, “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Bearing false witness is a break in the 10th commandment. This passage mentions ‘against his neighbor’. The thinker might rationalize this wrongly and say ‘it is ok that I lie to the devil worshipper; when the bible mentions my neighbor it refers to my relationship with other believers only’. Jesus was asked, ‘who is my neighbor?’.

Luke 10:25-37
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

So, we should not bear false witness under any circumstance. Liars will have their portion of the lake of fire!

Proverbs says: 16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood, 
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil, 
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

The flattering tongue: “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.” (Psalm 5:9)

The flattering tongue is just another characteristic of the lying tongue-it is it’s little brother. Generally, at the root of flattery is pride and ulterior motive. Do not confuse this with Christian fellowship and encouragement. They are entirely different. The flattering tongue is as well kissing cousin to what we discussed last week, idol worship. When it comes to people we wrongly emulate, we say things to them that they essentially want to hear. We are so taken back by their personage that we will say almost anything. This has happened to me on occasion.

The tongue of pride: Psalm 12: 3 May the Lord cut off all oflattering lips, 
the tongue that makes qgreat boasts, 
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, 
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

This can be identified when we are self elevating; You are at the epicenter of everything discussed. You could be a believer that struggles with this sin-you waffle back and forth from time to time.  Sanctification is a process-it takes time. John the Baptist said it best, “He must increase, I must decrease”.

Overuse of Gods gift: You talk too much. I have this problem, especially when I am nervous. I don’t believe talking about Christ and His word to be wrong ever; however, you could walk around rebuking people haphazardly for stuff they are working through, showing little patience for even Gods spirit who ultimately is gonna complete the work without you.

I remember a great quote where a professor is in the middle of his lecture and a student rudely interrupts and says, “C’mon man, lets get out there, the fields are white for the harvest yet look at us all cooped up in this classroom-let us hit the streets and help Christ!” The professor replied, “Young man, take your seat, Christ will do just fine without us today!”

Fastest tongue in the west! Ecclesiastes 5:3 says that “a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” Ecclesiastes 5:2 says, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”

How many times have you put your foot in your mouth due to speaking too soon; we need to process our words. The things we say can harm. We need to be gentle-unless of course it is a rebuke, and even then, it should be seasoned w/ grace. James 1:19 warns us to be swift to HEAR and SLOW to speak. Two ears and one mouth-do the math!

You might think continually pontificating makes you look smart, but Gods word says the opposite. We all need to control ourselves-one of the fruits of the spirit is control. Get a grip!

The argumentative tongue:

The cursing tongue:

The contrast

Is your tongue not loosed?

Mark 7 31 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32 Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. 33 And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Is your tongue loosed or are you intent on not letting anyone know you are a believer? Do you resist intentionally?