Many Christians are ignorant of numerous scriptures which refer to the importance of our everyday speech. In fact, our words are the very means by which our faith is activated. Words also express the treasure of our heart, either good or bad. When our heart and mouth are aligned, faith is activated in a powerful way. A forward tongue is in sharp contrast, is misaligned, tending to speak in opposition to the spiritual laws found in scripture. Join Carl now for a life changing broadcast, if you are willing to implement God’s precepts regarding the spoken word…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
You know, today I’d like to remind you that we’ve established that faith comes by hearing, right? Romans 10:17. I’ve also discussed with you how faith can be shut down by not obeying your conscience. But today I’d like to talk about the importance of words, especially what you say about yourself. Now what we say is very important. What we say about ourselves is arguably even more important because we believe what we say about us more than what anyone else says about us. If you don’t think that what you say over your life is important, let’s check out this verse in the book of James 1:26, It says, “if any man among you seem to be religious and bridles not his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is in vain.”
Notice how important the tongue is in this passage, but also notice that the heart can actually be deceived. If we don’t bridle our tongue, we will deceive our own heart. If our heart is deceived, we will struggle. We will struggle to believe our own words and our religion will be in vain. The word vain here in the Greek is mateos, which means futile, worthless, or useless. The bottom line is that if you think you can let your tongue run riot unrestrained, your Christian Walk will become worthless.
Friend, we don’t want that to happen. We want to be a good witness to other people and let our salt not be trampled underfoot. A tongue that says one thing and does something else is called a froward tongue in the Bible. We need to have a bit of a John Wayne spirit, if you know what I mean. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. We need to be like that. A froward tongue is perverse in the sight of God. Over time, if you keep sowing sarcasm into your spirit, and things you don’t mean into your heart, you will even begin to doubt what you say yourself. There’s a saying, and it’s true, that if you tell a lie long enough, it will become true to you.
Friend, this is evidence of sowing perversion into your own heart, because faith comes by hearing and hearing, whether it’s the word of God or the words of Satan. When you reach out and say, be healed in Jesus’ name, your spirit man on the inside will be like, did he really mean that, or was he just being sarcastic again? Friend, the froward also means unreliable. It’s an unreliable tongue, a tongue that is slippery. It can go both ways. It’s double forked, and no one wants that. A definition of perverse is turned away from that which is right or good.
When your tongue starts to turn away from what it was designed for, which is declaring the truth and speaking God’s word, then you’re turning away from what is right or good. The book of Proverbs has some stern stuff to say about a froward tongue, and many people don’t want to listen to these scriptures because they don’t want to be accountable for what comes out of their mouths, or they like to cut down or criticize other people behind their backs. Let’s read some of these scriptures right now.
Proverbs 10:31 says, “The mouth of the just brings forth wisdom, but the froward tongue shall be cut out.” Wow. Proverbs 17.20 says, “He that has a froward heart finds no good, and that he that has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.” Proverbs 15:4 says, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” Proverbs 12.14, “A man shall be justified with good by the fruit of his mouth.” And finally, Proverbs 13.2 says, “A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth.”
Friend, Jesus’s heart and mouth were in total alignment. Never once did he speak a sarcastic word or exhibit perverse speech. So when he said, rise up and walk, he meant it, and his heart believed it. His words were powerful and impactful because his heart and mouth were in alignment. We’re reminded of the statement by the centurion when he said of Jesus, “No man spake like this man in (John 7:46).” Jesus spoke with authority, but you also have authority. You have authority over sickness, disease, the devil, and demon forces also.
If your tongue is ‘froward,’ then it’s misaligned, and it won’t produce a heart of integrity which will manifest your faith in times when you need it most. I’m reminded of the great Winston Churchill and Prime Minister of Great Britain during the Second World War. Now, during the darkest period of the war, he would personally call up his submarine captains each time they had a special mission, and he would ask them this, Are you going to sink that ship? Well, some would reply that they would do their best or give it their all, but he made it known to them this was not an answer, mere speculation.
He would ask him a second time, Are you going to sink that ship? Yes or no? He knew the power of words and especially a personal commitment to them because once someone had given their word to the Prime Minister, they were doubly committed to do what they said they were going to do. Even the world knows the value of a man or woman who stays true to their word, and they will respect him for it. Let’s look now in more detail at the book of James concerning the power of the tongue.
I’m going to read from James chapter 3, verses 1 through 10, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation, for in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, unable also to bridle the whole body.” Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.
Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the simultitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Although it says in this passage that no man can tame the tongue, friend, it can be tamed by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you.” Amen? Think about that. Those of us who struggle to control our tongue can do so by the help of the Holy Spirit. Heck, I know I’ve struggled down the years with saying some things I shouldn’t have for sure, and I’m sure you can relate. As believers, we are held to a higher standard of what comes out of our mouths, because the words we use as Christians have more authority behind them than others. Once those words are spoken, you can’t take them back. Once that fire is kindled, it can set on fire the whole joint. That’s why we need to guard our tongues. They are literally weapons for good or evil in the sight of God. The tongue is very influential, even though it’s such a small member in relation to our entire body.
In the case of the bridle of the horse and the rudder of the ship, both of them are instruments of guidance. In other words, the tongue sets the course for our entire lives, even though it’s such a small member, and guides us to either smooth waters or dangerous rocks. Friends, chart a good course with your tongue, starting today. Let it guide you in the right places. Remember, the tongue is not meant to be reactive, but proactive. We are to speak blessings over our lives in line with God’s Word in order to see the manifest. Words contain either blessing or cursing. This is a biblical concept. If you saw a captain of a ship standing behind the rudder of a ship, shouting out, we’re gonna hit the harbor, we’re gonna hit the harbor, you would think he was crazy. All he has to do is steer that little rudder in a different direction to avoid the harbor. He’s in control, right? But it’s the same for us. All we’re saying is, I can never get a breakthrough.
I’m always running out of money at the end of the month. I can never get promoted. I always get sick this time of year. Friend, it’s the same craziness. We keep prophesying over ourselves, and the course of our life is going in the direction of our words. Friend, it’s time to change the direction of the rudder, to change the course of the ship. Change what’s coming out of your mouth to set a new course for your life. Words are carriers, friend. Words carry the things that are in our hearts. What is in our heart will come out of our mouth eventually. This is what Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “O generation of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Let me ask you this, where do good things come from? Never Neverland, Disneyland, Lapland. Where do good things come from? The heart. Where do evil things come from? The heart. I’m reading from Matthew chapter 15 verses 17 through 20, “Do you not understand that whatsoever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly and is cast into the draft? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. These are the things which can defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man.”
It also says it in Luke chapter 6 verse 45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil.For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.” Friends, our words can have a major impact on our lives. So much so that if the tongue is unrestrained we can see bad things. But if we start restraining our tongue we can bring forth good things. One time the disciples asked Jesus for more faith and this is how he responded in Luke 17 verses 5 through 6, “And the apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed you would say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea and it will obey you.”
Notice here that Jesus said that an inanimate object would obey you, not Jesus. It would obey you. He said that one of the ways for your faith to grow is to start speaking to the obstacle, to start putting it into practice. Friend, what obstacles do you have in your life right now? Debt, disease, wounding of the heart, bad relationships, sickness, pain? What are the obstacles in your life? Friends, it’s time to take authority over the situation and speak to them and command them to leave. This sounds crazy, pastor. You’re telling me to speak to inanimate objects.
I’m not telling you that, friend. I’m telling you that’s what Jesus did. And then he told the disciples to do the same and we are to follow the pattern that Christ laid down. The truth is that Jesus said obstacles in our path would obey us. Like I said before, the people who don’t want to hear this, that words could actually impact our lives, don’t want to be responsible for what comes out of their mouth. They also like criticizing other people and they don’t want to stop doing that either. But friend, when you do so, you are setting things on fire. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption. The law of sowing and reaping works in every sphere of life, including words. If you want mercy, stop sowing judgment right now with your mouth. If you want mercy, stop sowing judgment. When you start applying these principles of speaking to obstacles in your life, persecution can come. It might seem strange that you’re doing it in the first place, but let me ask you this. What is the alternative friend? You can carry on as you are cursing your own future by using absolutes in your vocabulary. Like I can never get a breakthrough. I always am sick this time of year. I can’t do this. I can’t do that. I will never be able to do et cetera, et cetera. You fill in the blanks, my friend. You know what you’ve spoken to yourself and over yourself in the darkness when no one is watching.
Friend, it’s time to change what you’re saying about yourself and other people and also start speaking to the obstacles that are in your path and they will obey you. Hey, don’t ask me how this works, okay? I’m telling you what the word says. I’m not explaining everything to you of how it works. In fact, Jesus said you should trust him, not understand everything before you start practicing what he said. Friend, this may seem like a tough message, but it’s true. The words you speak are literally going to impact your life. The fiery dots of the enemy spoken of in Ephesians 6 are actually words that are spoken against us. These fiery dots of accusation are things that we are quenching with our shield of faith. Friend, we are a word driven people. We’re motivated by words. Think about it. The oracles of God came down in the form of words placed on tablets of stone and they were shared throughout humanity. Words, my friend, transfer either love or fear. I urge you to proactively use your words in the coming days and weeks and speak God’s truth over your situation and watch those obstacles disappear in your life. Until tomorrow, good night, God bless, and remember to spread the good news.
https://carljosephministries.com/podcast/faith-doubt-unbelief/
https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/faith/kenneth-hagin-faith-lesson-no-10-confession-key-to-unlocking-faith/
Title: Faith and Confession
Related keyword searches:
