The tongue can transmit either a curse or blessing. David described harsh words as ‘sharp swords’ which sought to do him harm. Israel perished in the wilderness because they were reckless with their speech. They were denied access to the promised land because of five distinctive transgressions outlined in 1st Corinthians chapter ten, by the Apostle Paul. Lust, idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ and murmuring are the five-fold sins which prevent Christians fulfilling their full potential, still today. Paul’s warning still holds merit. Join Carl now for the third and final broadcast in the series…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Consider Kadesh Barnea, the defining moment for Israel. They were about to enter the Promised Land, and they gave an evil report, friend, and that evil report is saying what you see, taste, touch, and feel, instead of going by what God said. Friend, the tongue is so powerful.
Now, friend, even though the tongue is powerful and in Numbers chapter 13, the children of Israel were withheld from going into the Promised Land, God, in His grace, in Numbers chapter 32, allowed the children of Reuben and the children of Gad to settle with their cattle east of the River Jordan. This was an act of grace. Now, they approached Moses because they had so much cattle, and they said, look, if we go to war with you, we’d like to settle east of the River Jordan, in this land of Gilead.
And God, in His mercy, said yes, friend. Even though these people failed to get into the Promised Land, later the Lord, in His graciousness, allowed them to settle there. Friend, I’m reminded of the New Testament, the good, perfect, and acceptable will of God. We want what’s perfect. That’s what we want. And our tongue will steer us in that perfect course. But you can settle for second best if you want. You can settle east of the Jordan if you want to. But friend, this is not God’s best.
You need to be in the Promised Land, where there are grapes, and there is a land flowing with milk and honey and pomegranates the size of your face. That is God’s perfect will for your life, friend, and we should seek it out. We should seek His perfect will, not His permissive will. Friend, God will allow us to do some stuff on this earth because He will respect us as free moral agents who can make decisions. But we don’t always make the best decisions. God will let you rob a bank if you want to.
That’s not His perfect will, friend. I’m giving an extreme example there. But in our personal lives, we’ve made some compromises. Seek the Lord today. Ask Him where you’ve made compromises. Are you settling for that which is east of the Jordan, or are you crossing over into the west, where there is the good stuff? Remember James 3. In verse 3 it says, 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 may be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm. Whither-soever the governor listeth, even so the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindles.
Friend, once you start that fire with your tongue, it can light up the whole room. Your tongue can bless a marriage, or it can severely injure a marriage. Your tongue can bless a child, or injure a child, or a friend, or family member, or a colleague. Use your word, friend, to build people up in the spirit of prophecy, to comfort, to edify, and exhort others. That’s what we should be doing, proactively using it. We’ve talked about scientific examples, two in particular, where words were stuck to Petri dishes and test tubes, and then music was sung in the background, whether it was rock music, or whether it was a symphony.
This had an impact on the chemical and physical structure of water. That is a bizarre experiment that I came across, friend, but I wanted to share those findings, because words can kill, and words can bless. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof. Friend, what fruit are you eating? What fruit are you eating today? I urge you to eat of good fruit by saying things that line up with God’s word. Friend, we’re now going to talk about whether or not God cares about our words, the words we say to Him, the words we speak in His ear. Is He even impacted by those? Let’s join me now, live in session.
Does God care about your words? You have wearied the Lord with your words. Wait a minute. I’m talking about what God thinks now of your words. You have wearied me, Malachi 2.17. Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. What has the Lord spoken? And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more, for every man’s words shall be his burden. For you have perverted the words of the living God of the Lord.
None of this is good news, but I’m trying to make a point. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refrains his lips is wise. Friend, if we keep our mouths shut, we can appear smart now and again. Right? The heart of the righteous studies to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. He that has knowledge spares his words. Right? Except for me tonight. I apologize, but I’ll be quieter next week. Does your tongue need healing? Thank you, brother. A sharp tongue can cut your own throat.
I found these on the internet. I thought they were good. The things you say about others say a lot about you. Be careful with your own words. Once they are said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten. Ouch. And I’m belaboring a point here. The people who don’t like the message about the impact of spoken words on other people are often the ones who like to criticize or cut people down. Oh, I don’t believe in that speaking stuff, but anyway, let me tell you about… Okay, so we’re going to cut that person down.
We’re going to criticize them. We’re going to slander them, as the Bible talks about it. You can ruin your neighbor by doing that. Do you remember Kadesh Barnea? No, it is not a foot cream from the pharmacy. Kadesh Barnea is a defining moment for Israel. They got out of Egypt. They went down here, according to most scholars. They went through the wilderness, went through Mount Sinai and all the way up. And for years and years and years they toiled and they got to this place here, Kadesh Barnea, in Numbers chapter 13.
They wanted to make it to the Promised Land. They were going to go this way, into the south entrance of the Promised Land. Here’s the Dead Sea, here’s Jerusalem here. This is where it’s flowing with milk and honey, right? They were about to go in through the good routes, through the southern access point. But what happened? What happened? They sent ten spies into the Promised Land. There were giants in the land. There really were. There really were Nephilim there, by the way, the children of Anak. That’s a whole other teaching.
The Israelite’s came back with an evil report and said they could not take the land. But what is an evil report? An evil report is saying what you see, taste, smell and feel, instead of what God said. Now these people, remember now, they’ve escaped Egypt, ten plagues. They’ve gone through the Red Sea, parting of the Red Sea. They killed all the Egyptians and then all the weapons washed up. Some people believe on the shores, they picked the weapons up and then used them down the road.
Lots of things happened. They were fed supernaturally with manna, right? They saw miracle after miracle. They split the rock, right? Water came out of it. Moses struck the rock. He should have spoke to it. But the water came out. They’ve seen all these miracles, right? They get to the Promised Land and they go, Oh no, we can’t do that, man. Well, hang on a second. Isn’t God with them? Isn’t God with them? He sure is. Joshua and Caleb were of another spirit and said they could take the land. God judged them by their own words, perhaps the saddest day in scripture. And I’ll read it to you.
Numbers 14, 20 through 24. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word, but as you truly live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. Sad.
But my servant Caleb and Joshua will as well. And this is very specific. The Lord says in verse 26, He speaks to Moses and Aaron saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which murmur against me. And this is it. Saying to them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, As you have spoken in my ears, so will I do it to you. Friend, what are we speaking in God’s ears right now? What are we saying about yourself? The defining factor is us.
The defining factor is the rudder of the ship. We can steer it on a good path or a bad path. It’s up to us. Paul further expands upon this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Again, an Old Testament example, but in the New Testament, Paul uses the description of the wilderness wanderings where the people over 20 years of age all had to be killed off for 40 years before they re-entered the promised land after Moses died on Mount Nebo. Once the words were out, it was finished. There’s nothing they could do about it, and that’s very sad. Now, I believe in grace. We’re in the age of grace. We’re in the church age. Amen? If we’ve said some things in the past, we’re going to change them now, and God’s going to forgive us. Right? But in the New Testament, Paul gives five examples of the things that held them back from entering the promised land.
Lust, idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ, and murmuring. It’s the murmuring that was very annoying to God after he’d done so much for them. So, changing the course of our life. If you don’t like the direction your life is going, then change its course by changing your tongue. Choose words that agree with God’s word. God’s word has power, right? Don’t focus on the negative. Stop cutting yourself with your own words. The world has identified this law. It will work for whosoever. Whosoever will say to that obstacle, it will work for them. Beware of absolutes that you believe in. They are fences that you put around yourself. I will never, I always, I can’t. These things you’re putting around yourself and they’re trapping you in from God’s destiny that he has for you. I really believe that.
It’s not just what you say as a joke. It’s what you say and believe. Once those two things come together and you really believe what you’re saying, that’s when you can curse the brain tumor in Jesus’ name. And you can curse the Celiacs in Jesus’ name. And you can curse the Crohn’s disease in Jesus’ name. Those who say they can and those who say they cannot are both right.
Jesus said if you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes. Then he touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, be it unto you. We have a part to play in the outcome. And that’s really the message I’m trying to get across. We have a part to play. And that’s a good thing because we can influence the outcome.
That means we need to use our words carefully. Amen? I think someone approached Brother Hagen years ago and he said, I don’t believe that saying and believing stuff. And he said, oh really? Okay. Yeah, I don’t believe that. He said, so you’ve been saying that for how long? Like five years. And you believe that? Yes, I do. So you’re saying you believe that it doesn’t work and you’ve been saying and believing that for five years. It looks like it’s working. Sounds a bit glib. Sounds a bit quick. But you know, the truth isn’t always easy to hear. I mean, I’ve said some things in my own life I regret.
And it’s things you catch yourself saying. But it’s what you really believe when you’re by yourself in the darkness, when no one else is around. What do you really believe of yourself? Those things can hinder us. They can stop us from going into the promised land that God has for us. Whether that’s, I don’t know, what is your promised land? What has He promised you? There’s some things that you know He’s promised you. And it’s like, how do I get here? Sometimes it can be the words we’re speaking over ourselves and unforgiveness issues also.
Not always. Again, I have to caveat that this word may not apply to some people tonight as much as others. Understood. And next week there may be a word that will apply more to you. But all the word of God is for the counsel of God. Amen? Amen. It’s a counsel that we have to submit ourselves to. It’s the mirror in which we look. And we compare ourselves to this mirror. We don’t judge the mirror and go, I don’t like the look of that mirror, man. Let’s get another one. We look at the mirror and go, yep, that’s exactly what it is and we need to change it.
Friend, that is our third and final session on words. The title of the message was Your Words Justify You. Please remember to use your words carefully. Friend, I will leave you with the words of Frank. His name is Frank Outlaw. Don’t ask me where he comes from, but this is what he said. Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny. Friend, need I say more than that?
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