Dr Greg Bahnsen - Mouth Control: It's All Over Your Mouth (Part 2)

This recording has been released into the public domain by the Bonson Institute, where we aim to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. This morning we're continuing through the Book of Proverbs, picking up on particular themes that are emphasized repeatedly for our spiritual and moral growth. And this morning I'd like us to consider the theme that. It's all over your mouth. Turn with me to Proverbs, the 10th chapter, where we can read verses 6, 11, 13 and 32 to get an idea of the theme for this morning. And I'll continue that reading throughout the Book of Proverbs as I expound this to you. Hear now God's word then at Proverbs, the 10th chapter, verse 6. Blessings are upon the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Verse 11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Verse 13. In the lips of him that hath discernment, wisdom is found. But a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. And verse 32, the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverseness. And thus far, the reading of God's word. What does this expression mean that is repeated twice and which I'm taking as the theme for a whole bunch of other ethical exhortations in the Book of Proverbs. This expression, violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Well, if you stop and think about it, this is probably as down to earth and as idiomatic sort of thing that we should understand as anything else you'll find in the Book of Proverbs. For you see, what we're learning is that a man's mouth is indicative of his character. You all know how it is with a child who wants to sneak a cookie, right? Or maybe a Popsicle, especially a grape Popsicle. You get a child who sneaks a grape popsicle, runs out in the backyard and eats it down and comes back in and tries to play innocent. Not going to work because it's all over his mouth. Try sneaking a cookie and it's all over his mouth. Grown ups have their own version of the same thing. We have people that go to parties. Husband comes back in after being outside for a while and lipsticks found on his mouth. And his. His wife is a bit suspicious, isn't she? Because it's all over his mouth. So we know what it is in the most mundane affairs of life to have our mouth give us away. The Book of Proverbs says it's much broader than that, though it doesn't take a great Popsicle or some surreptitious lover to get you in trouble. Your mouth is going to be indicative of your underlying general, personal character. And so I'd like to go through a series of passages in the book of Proverbs that teaches that lesson to us. And then I'm going to pick up on a particular version of sins of the mouth to look at today, that being the violent sins of the mouth, since this is what we're talking about, violence being all over the mouth, looking at slander and deceit and how God deals with these. But our first point, if you're taking notes, is to see that our mouth is indicative of our character. Proverbs 10:6. We've already said this. Blessings are upon the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. We have the righteous and the wicked contrasted here, head and mouth contrasted, blessings and violence contrasted. So in all three ways, you see, the righteous has a head that is crowned with blessing. God pours on blessing to the righteous. He takes care of the righteous. In our last two weeks, we've looked at the theme of righteousness, how it delivers from death, how righteousness, and only righteousness, brings security and satisfaction in life. And so blessings are upon the head of the righteous. But by contrast, there are those who are not righteous, the wicked in this world whose heads are not crowned, but whose mouths, you see, bespeak the character of their lives, covered like strawberry jam all over their mouths. Violence, abuse and wickedness. Proverbs 10:11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Here we have mouth and mouth contrasted. And in this particular case, if you're a person upon whom the blessings of God has come, if your head is crowned with God's blessings, then what kind of mouth will you have? Not smeared with violence, but rather your mouth will be a fountain of life. Life is going to be the response. Life is going to be the consequence. Life is going to be the result of what you say and the way you use your mouth. And so we need to stop right now and ask ourselves which category we fall into when we use our mouths. Do we communicate life to people? Are the things that we say conducive to life? Do we promote righteousness? And those things that are pleasing to God? Are our mouths a fountain of such things, if they aren't? Proverbs says, you see, the only other category is that violence, then is upon your mouth. There are those who use their mouth to promote good, righteousness and life, and those whose mouths do not. I suppose one of the most important things this congregation could learn this morning is to realize that you can't be neutral with the use of your mouth. See, we'd like to think. Wait a minute. There are. I would like to be like those who are righteous, whose mouths are a fountain of life. That's my goal, that's my ideal. But I don't want to put myself in the category of those who have violence smeared all over their mouths. I'm not a real bad mouth kind of person. And so we'd like to put ourselves somewhere in between. But Proverbs doesn't allow for that, does it? Our mouths are wicked or our mouths are righteous. Our mouths are going to communicate life or they're going to communicate abuse. It's one or the other. Proverbs 10:13. In the lips of him that hath discernment, wisdom is found. And so when you look at yourself in the mirror, when others look at you, and when you look at others, what do you find in their lips? How would you characterize the speaking of yourself or others? Is it wise? If it is, then we have found a person of discernment. The lips of him that has discernment show forth wisdom. But on the other hand, a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. There are those who are not discerning. There are those who are spiritually dull. There are those who are, in the eyes of Proverbs, fools, lacking understanding. And their mouths give them away. And what their mouths do calls for a rod for their back. That's not a very pleasant image. The idea here is, one who takes strokes upon him in punishment because his mouth is not self controlled, because his mouth does not show forth wisdom, because he speaks foolishly and abusively of others. In Proverbs 10:31,32, the mouth of the righteous buddetteth with wisdom. I don't know if your translation will be quite as literal as I've given it, but that's exactly what the Hebrew means, to bud forth. The mouth of the righteous, you see, is always springing forth with wisdom. You want to know a person's character? Look at his or her mouth and ask, how wise are they? Are they always able to bring forth just the right thing to say? Do they always speak a due word, an appropriate word, at the right time and in the right way? Is what they say correct? Is it accurate to the word of God? Do they show forth the fear of God in the way they speak. Are they budding forth wisdom from their lips? The contrast is the perverse tongue. There are those who have lips or mouths that are budding forth wisdom, and then there are those tongues which are perverse. The Hebrew word means twisted, distorted. You have to think, if you will. I think it's a graphic picture that we're supposed to have of a person who has a tongue that's all bent out of shape and distorted. The perverse tongue shall be cut off. I wonder if those who know us best, sometimes behind our backs, it's not appropriate either think or say to one another that the best thing that can be done to us is to have our tongues amputated. The twisted tongue should be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. But the mouth of the wicked either speaketh perverseness. If you provide that verb, I think better. The mouth of the wicked is perverseness. You have the righteous on the one hand who know how to speak acceptably. Part of our problem just at this point is that we don't think that due caution must be exercised in speaking. We don't stop to think before we put our mouths into gear. We don't expect that there should be practice and holiness and growth in righteousness with the use of our mouths. We just figure whatever hits the brain should come out the mouth. And the Bible says that's dead wrong. The righteous know what to say and how to say it. The righteous restrain themselves. They will be cautious in speaking because they know sometimes there's audiences to whom they shouldn't speak. They know sometimes there's a way they shouldn't speak to a particular person. They know that there's some things that are said that never should be said. The righteous take it easy. They step back. They use their mouth cautiously. They know how to speak acceptably. But the mouth of the wicked, it doesn't just tend to perverseness. It is perverseness. The mouth of the wicked is just a distorted part of the body as turned to chapter 12 in Hebrews, verse 17, where there we read, he that uttereth truth, showeth forth righteousness. But a false witness, deceit. You see, the man who speaks truthfully shows something about himself. The man who uses his mouth in that way tells you something of his own character and that's that he's a righteous person. A person who utters truth. Show us righteousness. And I've got to stop you from taking some kind of false surfacey comfort from this because you might say, well, I've spoken the truth sometimes. And I'll bet you have. I don't know there's anybody who has, in every single one of his or her utterances, been a liar. But you see, when Proverbs speaks to someone who speaks the truth, it. It doesn't mean someone who sporadically speaks the truth, someone who occasionally speaks the truth. It's talking categorically of one who can be counted on to speak the truth. Here's the person who unalterably utters what is right. No white lies, no fudging here or there, no exaggeration, no gerrymandering of how much information you'll give to give just the right impression you. You have someone who says, all right, if I'm going to speak, what I say is not going to mislead. It's going to be the truth. And it's always going to be the truth, so help me God. You see, the righteous man is the one who doesn't have to go into court and say that he's the person that doesn't have to back up what he says with oaths, because his yes is yes and his no is no. And everyone who knows him realizes you can count on what he said. Now, that man's mouth shows forth righteousness. Of course, a person who isn't righteous, you're going to suspect him because what comes out of his mouth is deceit. Proverbs 12:23. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness. This language of concealing knowledge mustn't be misunderstood. The concealing knowledge means laid up for its use at the right time. It doesn't mean hiding knowledge, pretending to be stupid. A prudent man holds back knowledge to use it at its appropriate time. What do fools do, though? They're always just vomiting forth their own character. You see, nothing is held back. It's just always flowing out of them. The mouth of fools proclaims foolishness. And so again, remember, when you talk, you're giving yourself away. I remember it so vividly when I was still a student in school that an occasion arose where I had to speak for the sake of someone else, to a psychologist. I wasn't at that point trained in philosophy and psychology and so forth, and I didn't know a whole lot about psychologists, but I thought they were somewhat awesome characters, because whatever I said would kind of be an insight to them. You know, every. You know, they had this kind of Freudian slip mentality. Anything you say is going to be taken as indicative of something very deep and ponderous inside you. And I remember well that when I went into the psychologist office, and we're just having what seemed to be a casual conversation while I was watching, everything I said, lest I be taken as this or taken as that. Well, now, I think that's utterly preposterous. Now that I've learned something about psychology, I don't have a great deal of respect for psychologists. I don't even consider the field scientific. I think it's so poor. But nevertheless, that experience that I had of being cautious about what I said because it might give me away was a good experience, and it's one we all should have. For you see, when you talk, it's all over your mouth. The kind of person you are, you're always giving yourself away. Turn to Proverbs 15:7. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doesn't do so. Again, what kind of lips and mouth do you have budding forth wisdom, dispersing knowledge to people? Positive, building up informative truth? Well, not if you're a foolish and unrighteous person. Not at all. Proverbs 16:27. A worthless man devises mischief, and in his lips there is as a scorching fire. This proverb has another application to the kind of people we are. What kind of plans we have. Are they mischievous plans? Do we like to daydream about doing things that aren't right? But it goes on to say, in the lips of such a worthless man, you're going to find a scorching fire. Again, it's all over your mouth. Is this sinking in yet? I haven't covered all the passages yet. Proverbs really makes a point of this, doesn't it? Your mouth is giving you away. If you're a worthless man, a scorching fire will be found there. If you're a righteous man, wisdom will be found there. Proverbs 19:1 Better is the poor that walks in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool. The person who shows a perverse mouth is just categorized as a fool. Proverbs 19:28. A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity. The idiom here, especially in the original, refers to someone who is just gulping down iniquity. There are those whose mouths rejoice in a distortion, who take great delight in a twisted little story. It is always the case in my life and that of others. But I have just in the last few months in particular Cases of discipline and counseling come to the words not appreciate. But to be more aware of how people can be like that, to really rejoice in telling the story just right, to make themselves look good and to make others look bad. This is what the Book of Proverbs speaks of when it tells us that the mouth of the unrighteous swallows down iniquity. Proverbs 22:11 he that loves pureness of heart, the graciousness of his lips will befriend him to kings. Notice that those who have gracious lips, those who speak in an appropriate and gentle and righteous way show the purity of their heart in so doing. The one who loves purity of heart is going to love gracious speech. And then Proverbs 24:2 for their heart studieth oppression, and their lips talk of mischief. It has begun in verse one to say, don't be envious against evil men, and don't desire to be with them because their hearts are oppressive. But notice, and their lips talk of mischief. Okay, do we get the point now? Over and over and over again, The Book of Proverbs says that our character is being revealed in the way we use our mouth. It's all over our mouths. The Bible tells us the way you speak is indicative of your basic inner character. The second thing we need to learn from the Book of Proverbs this morning is that the use of our mouth, therefore can be positive or negative in its effects. The Bible speaks both ways. In Proverbs 10:20, 21, we see the effects of a positive mouth. Proverbs 10:20, 21. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding. You are worth about as much as your mouth is worth, and so is your tongue choice silver. Or is there of little worth to be found in your speaking? Those who are righteous speak in such a way that it nourishes people and nourishes many people. But you see, the wicked speak in such a way that they can't even be nourished themselves on their own words. They're so void of positive value. Proverbs 12:14. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the doings of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him. If you're a person who speaks well, who speaks righteously, who shows forth wisdom in the way you use your mouth, then you're going to be satisfied with good, because there's going to be Fruit. There's going to be consequences that come from your speaking. Those consequences are either going to be good and so they satisfy you, or on the other hand, a man will have rendered unto him the doings of his hands. So on the positive side, your mouth can bring forth positive fruit. Negatively, the Bible says your mouth can be a very destructive weapon. Proverbs 11:9. With his mouth, the godless man destroys his neighbor. But through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered. With his mouth, the godless man destroys his neighbor. Those are very hard words. How many people have you destroyed with your mouth? We didn't think. I haven't done so bad toward people. I'm not a violent person. I don't go out and beat up people. I haven't ever killed anybody. I haven't run over any children on the street. I'm not so bad. The Bible says, well, you're not looking nearly closely enough at your own character if you think it's only the outward physical things you do that do violence. Violence is over the mouth of the wicked, and with his mouth, the wicked destroys his neighbor. In fact, I dare say that you can do far more damage and bring far more suffering into the life of someone who, with the use of your mouth than you can with a knife. A man can recover or at least, you know, die in peace if he has to, because you attack him with a knife. But you can make his life miserable. You can take away his dignity, you can take away his reputation. You can belittle him and make him live in utter misery because of your mouth so destructive. Is it so? Proverbs 25:18 speaks of mouths. In this way, a man that bears false witness against his neighbor is a maul and a sword and a sharp arrow. A man who has a destructive mouth is caring about a weapon. I remember when we were children, we used to talk about people who knew karate. We used to talk about how they'd have to register their hands as lethal weapons, right? I don't know if that's true. I never found out about that. But I will say this. There are some people who have mouths that could be registered as lethal weapons. And Proverbs backs me up there. Their mouth is a maul and a sword and a very sharp arrow against others. Proverbs 26:28. A lying tongue hates those whom it has wounded. And a flattering mouth works ruin. And so we can put these two together, the positive use and the negative use of your mouth. And two contrasts we find in Proverbs. Proverbs 12:18 puts it this there is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword. But the tongue of the wise is health. Boy, what a test for our righteousness. What a test for our wisdom. What effect is our mouth having on others? Is it piercing them like a sword, or is it bringing health? Does our tongue have a healing effect in the lives of people and in the relationship we have with them? Or does our tongue pierce them repeatedly? Proverbs 18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Death and life in the power of the tongue. It's a lethal weapon. It's also a healing weapon. It can be used very medicinally. It can be used very murderously. And you must choose. What kind of mouth will you have? Will it be an instrument of righteousness, or is it going to be an instrument of destruction? Will it bring life or death to those who hear you? Let's talk thirdly this morning of the multiple sins of the mouth. We've seen that our mouth is indicative of our character, that our mouth can be used for destructive or for positive healing ends. And thirdly, we need to see that there are many ways in which we sin with our mouths. There are a multitude of sins possible with our mouth as we go through the Book of Proverbs. As I continue my series, we are going to have occasion to speak more particularly about, first of all, talking too much and being a talebearer. And I'm not going to let you know when I'm going to give that sermon because I'm afraid some of you won't want to come. We're going to talk about empty speech and insincerity, hypocrisy in what we say. We're going to talk about speaking gently and graciously, something we all really need to learn more about, many ways in which we can sin with our tongues. We're going to use these categories later, but today I want us to focus on the more overt and malicious uses of the tongue. As Proverbs says, the violence that is upon our mouths, the abuse that comes to expression in deception and in slander, both of which are clearly condemned, clearly hated by God. Look at Proverbs 10:18. He that hideth hatred is of lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander is a fool. When you say something to bring down another individual, when you lie to make them look bad, when you slander someone else and you're not even cautious about their reputation, their dignity, when you don't care to be accurate and truthful about them, and this does damage to them. You are a fool. The Bible says, you slander, you're a fool. In Proverbs the 26th chapter, verses 23 to 28, we see that hypocrisy can be used by people to cover hatred. That slander is not found just in the obvious attempt to put someone down, but that hatred can be expressed even in sweet words. Proverbs 26. Let me read for you verses 23. 28. Fervent lips and a wicked heart are like an earthen vessel overlaid with glaze. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, but he layeth up deceit within him. When he speaks fair, don't believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart. Though his hatred covers itself with guile, his wickedness shall be openly shewed before the assembly. Whoso digth a pit shall fall therein. And he that rolleth the stone, it shall return upon him. A lying tongue hates those whom it hath wounded, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. This is a very hard thing. And those of you who have been wounded by people like this know how very devastating it can be. There are those who overlay their hatred with a glaze of flattering lips and sweet words who can smile at you while stabbing you in the back. And the Bible says, God hates such a slander. God hates such hypocrisy. God hates such deceit. Proverbs 13:5. A righteous man hates lying, but a wicked man causes shame and brings reproach. The righteous man doesn't look for an opportunity to put down even his enemies with a lie. You know, we know of some terrible wicked things that have been done in history. Outstanding examples come to mind. Hitler's genocide. Well, it has been a common thing in cases of men like Hitler, IDI Amin, what have you, to exaggerate their wickedness to make the point with people of how bad they are? The Bible says a righteous man hates lies. A righteous man doesn't exaggerate, even against those who deserve to have their reputations tarnished. He won't exaggerate. He won't lie. The truth will be enough to indict. Proverbs 12:17. He that utters truth shows forth righteousness. But a false witness utters deceit. Proverbs 14:5. A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies. He breathes them out, actually. Proverbs 14:25. A true witness delivers souls, but he that utters Lies, causes, deceit, misleads people. Proverbs 24:28 Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause, and deceive not with thy lips. Don't be someone who says things that mislead people, because Proverbs 12:22 tells us of God's attitude toward that. Very simply put, lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah, but they that deal truly are his delight. God rejoices in lips that are truthful. God rejoices in lips that always utter what is right. God rejoices in lips that don't look to slander and put down your neighbor. God rejoices in lips that are accurate and don't distort, exaggerate, or deceive. But those lips that do deceive are an abomination to Him. Now I want you to stop and think about that, because you see, we make quite a point about the abomination of abortion in this congregation. And we should, because murder is abominable in the eyes of God. And we make quite a point of the abomination of homosexuality because sexual perverseness is indeed loathed by God. We should make that point. But do we understand that God loathes our lies as much? Do we understand that he just as much hates the perversity of our lips, that God sees our mouths smeared with violence and he's displeased with us? Do we take seriously the sins of our mouths and not just the sins of other people's hands and genitals? I'm afraid we don't. We downplay it. But God builds it up. You know very well from James, the third chapter. James says if a man can control his mouth, he can control everything else, that the mouth is indicative of the heart. And we mustn't think that our hearts are good when we haven't learned to control our mouths. And so we must go on fourthly then, to see, as Proverbs tells us, a perverse tongue must be punished. If you find that your mouth is smeared with violence, if you use abuse by slandering and lying and deceiving, if even hypocrisy covers the hatred you have for others in the way you speak, if that's your mouth, you need to understand it will be and it must be punished. And I see three ways in which Proverbs speaks of our mouths being punished. First of all, God himself, according to the Bible, is going to overthrow the wicked mouth. God is going to cut our mouths short. Look at Proverbs 10:31. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut off. Proverbs 12:19 explains that even further. I believe when it says, the lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. What does this mean? This means God's going to close our mouths, literally cut off our tongues, make our mouths operate for but a moment, if you will. Just a very short period of time. Relatively speaking, he's going to cut our lives short. Those who have bad mouths are going to see that destruction is visited upon them. God will see the violence that's all over your mouth, and God will be violent to you. Proverbs 22:12. God Himself will intervene in the case of a wicked mouth. The eyes of Jehovah preserve him that hath knowledge, but he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man. God is going to visit your sins upon you. If your mouth is not controlled, God himself will intervene to cut it short and overthrow it. Secondly, the Bible says a false witness must be judicially punished. Not only will God himself intervene in the case of a bad and wicked violent mouth, but God sees to it that he has established authorities in this world who will punish our wicked speaking. A false witness must be judicially punished. Proverbs 19:5. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that uttereth lies shall not escape. Proverbs 19:9. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that uttereth lies shall perish. Proverbs 21:28. A false witness shall perish, but the man that heareth shall speak so as to endure. The Bible says that those who are found guilty of slandering their neighbors and bearing false witness, those who use their tongues for deceit and abuse and violence must be brought to the bar of justice. Indeed, the Bible has some very appropriate things to say about those who lie. Deuteronomy, the 19th chapter. We read that a man who goes into court and tells a lie, the thing that he wished to see visited upon the man he lied about shall be the punishment that comes upon him. You dare not be a perjurer. Moreover, you dare not be one who slanders your neighbor. Because if you slander your neighbor, you will answer for the abuse and the damage you do. One of the ways in which God does that, of course, is he establishes courts of law, civil law, where you can take a libel to court and sue for damages. The Bible tells you, you'd better watch out. You will not go unpunished if you have a wicked, violent mouth against people. Another way in which he does it, I think far more effective actually, is through the kingdom of God in the church. There are courts in the church where when people speak wickedly of one another, there can be resolution brought and justice will be declared. Our own congregation at this very time is facing that situation with a young man who has chosen not to control his mouth, not to speak the truth, but to take those that he disagrees with and to abuse them and to violently misrepresent them. And the Bible says he shall not go unpunished. We should not recoil from that. We should not feel like, oh, we wish we could turn aside from this. The Bible says, no, it is right, and it's just those whose mouths will not be controlled by themselves must be controlled by the courts. And so God will step in to cut short your speaking. And God has established courts that will see to it that you're not unpunished. And then thirdly, in a way which I think is almost delicious in its justice and appropriateness, Proverbs says, your words are going to come back to roost. Your words will catch up with you totally apart from God intervening to cut short your life, or God sending a court of civil or ecclesiastical justice after you, God will see to it that your words come back to haunt you. Proverbs 13:2. A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the treacherous shall eat violence. And so, if violence is all over your mouth, don't be surprised that what God has you swallow back will be violence. Proverbs 14:3. In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. Again, the rod will come down upon you because of the pride of your speaking. Proverbs 18:20. A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied. Don't be deceived. God's not mocked. Whatever you are sowing with your words, God will visit back upon you. Your words will come back to roost. They will catch up with you. And so, as Proverbs 20:17 puts so graphically, bread of falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. You know when you're lying and getting away with it, when you're putting down your neighbor and abusing him, and really coming out looking good because you've made made others look so bad. When you have lied and used deceit and violence, it is so sweet as you're swallowing it. The Bible says, afterwards Your mouth will be filled with gravel. Imagine gravel going down your throat instead of that sweet tasting bread for you see, it looks good to begin with, but it's going to come back to roost. And so the message that we learned from the Book of Proverbs this morning in all these different places is that we can be ruined by our mouths. We can not only ruin others, we can ruin ourselves by our mouths. Proverbs 10:14. Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is a present destruction. 1213 in the transgression of the lips is a snare to the evil man, but the righteous shall come out of trouble. Proverbs 18:6 7. A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for stripes. A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. And therefore, what should you do, knowing of how dangerous it can be to have violence all over your mouth? Guard your words, guard them carefully. Watch how you speak. Pray about how you speak. Learn to speak properly, use restraint, be wise, fear God, respect the dignity of others, and guard your mouth, lest it Destroy you. Proverbs 13:3. He that guards his mouth keeps his life, but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. The one who just says, I'll open my mouth, say whatever I want. Destruction is waiting right around the corner. Guard your mouth, and you'll save your life. In Proverbs 21:23. Whoso keepeth his mouth, and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. Now isn't it about time we took seriously what's all over our mouths? Let's be a little more careful how we eat. I say that to my children sometimes, you know, they have stuff that gets on their mouth or on their clothes and so forth. And so the appropriate thing to say is, watch. You know the way you're eating, be careful, don't make such a mess. And likewise, as a good spiritual father to you, I must say, watch the way you eat. Watch the way you use your mouth. Don't have violence smeared all over your mouth. Guard your words and save your soul from trouble. Prevent destruction from coming upon you. Jesus, put it this way. I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account of in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. Jesus understood the book of Proverbs. He understood it far better than we do. He had this all digested and applied very well. And he puts it just this way. Your character is revealed in the way you speak. And so what you say will justify you or what you say will condemn you. So be very careful. Every idle word you speak is going to be brought up in the Day of Judgment. I sometimes struggle with tape recorders. You've seen that in Bible studies. And other times they don't cooperate. And so not every one of our words, hopefully precious, good teaching words, is being saved on these tapes. But you know, the fearful thing is that God is a tape recorder that never breaks down, that never gets jammed up, that never gets lost. And he says every single word you speak, every idle word, not just the ones where you say, okay, I thought this all through. Now I'm serious, and I'm ready to go on record. There is nothing off the record with God. And every idle word is going to condemn you or justify you. You know, that's not a very good place to end this sermon. As much as the time may be up, the fact of the matter is I'm afraid we all end up pretty well condemned. If that's the message that we're to hear today, we certainly should guard our words. And I don't want to take anything away from the seriousness of guarding your soul from destruction by watching the way you speak. But just because we are so guilty before God, I find great comfort in knowing about one whose mouth was pure and undefiled, whose mouth was not violent, but rather bespoke his own character as the Prince of peace. In 1 Peter 2, we read of Jesus Christ who suffered for you, leaving an example that you should follow in his steps, who did no sin. And now listen. Neither was guile found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously, who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Now, there was no guile and no reviling found in the mouth of Jesus. No violence covered his mouth. And it's by his stripes that we are healed. You see, that's why Jesus must become our spokesman before God. When we speak, God looks at our mouth and he sees violence. And when Jesus speaks for us is his purity and a fountain of life, wisdom and truth. And so we need to pray today not just that God will give us control of our mouths by His Holy Spirit, but that he would also look upon his Son, Jesus Christ, and not upon us. That Christ might be a spokesman whose mouth takes the place of ours because he alone can speak to the Father in a way that we cannot. Let's pray. Our Father, we pray this morning that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts would be acceptable in your sight because you see us in the strength of our Redeemer. We ask that His Spirit might so fill and strengthen and guide us that he would be our example, that we would learn not to revile and not to speak back, not to distort or to hypocritically hate, not to deceive or slander, but to use our mouth for the purposes of peace and righteousness and life. We thank you for the salvation we enjoy in him and ask that that saving strength would come to expression not just in our praise to you, but in the way that we speak about others. For we pray in Jesus name. Amen. This recording has been released into the public domain by the Bonsen Institute. Duplication, sharing and distribution is encouraged. For more information about the life and Ministry of Dr. Greg L. Bonson, visit our website, bonseninstitute.com where we aim to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.