28 October 07
1. Introduction:
· Joshua 3:5 - “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you”.
· People of God positioned to receive their promised inheritance.
· God requires hem “sanctify yourselves” – prepare heart/life so positioned to receive.
· Sanctify = 6942 = to prepare, dedicate, set apart.
· One area must face: Tongue – negativity.
· Ephesians 4:29 - No corrupt communication – do not grieve the Holy Spirit.
· Corrupt = 4550 = rotten, corrupted by age, no longer fit for use.
· Words we speak impact relationships and impact presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
· Grieve = 3076 = to make sorrowful, affect with sadness, put into sorrow.
2. The Power of your Words:
· The words we agree with in our heart and the words we speak shape our present and create our future.
· Proverbs 18:21 – “Death and life are in the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit”.
· Words we speak can impart death to ourselves and others or impart life.
· Words we speak:
i) Reveal who we are - Matthew 12:34
ii) Flow out from what is in the heart - Matthew 12:30
iii) Shape and create our environment - Proverbs 18:21
- atmosphere
- relationships
· Words have a ‘spirit quality’ that shapes our world.
- ‘Angry words’ – fill the atmosphere with ‘tension’ – the demonic present.
- ‘Encouraging words’ impart life to ourselves and others.
· “Fruit” = the consequence of the “word seeds” we have sown.
3. Bible Pictures of Negative Words:
i) Words are like cancer/gangrene:
· 2 Timothy 2:17 - “…their word does eat like a cancer…”
· Cancer is like a deadly cell that spreads and invades the body destroying it.
· Gangrene – dead flesh that spreads and kills without amputation.
ii) Words are like rust:
· James 3:8 - “ The tongue no man can tame – it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison”.
· Poison = 2447 = Rust
· Words can eat out and destroy relationships like rust eats out metal.
iii) Words are like snake venom:
· James 3:8 - “But the tongue no man can tame, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison”.
· Poison = 2447 = snake venom.
· Snake venom:
i) Paralyses the nervous system leading to suffocation.
ii) Kills tissue and spreads through the body like gangrene.
· Deadly = 2287 = deathbearing.
iv) Words are like fire:
· James 3:5-6 - “…the tongue is a fire …and it is set on fire by hell”.
· A very small fire can cause destruction of unstable areas of property, endanger and destroys lives.
· The tongue sets on fire “the course of nature” i.e. an career, life course.
· The tongue is set on fire by hell = a spiritual power.
v) Words are like arrows:
· Psalm 64:3 - “… their tongues like a sword and bend their bows and shoot their arrows, even bitter words”.
· Arrows penetrate a person’s body destroying organs, poisoning.
· Words spoken can penetrate and wound like an arrow.
· Even words spoken in humor can be like arrows – Proverbs 26:18.
vi) Words are like wounds:
· Proverbs 18:8 - “The words of a tale bearer are as wounds, they go into the innermost parts of the belly”.
· Words spoken can deeply wound people – impact their spirit.
· Wound = 3859 = to burn, cause bitter irritation.
Root – Latin = little snake, festering sore.
4. Words Shape and Create our Destiny:
· James 3:3-5 - “the tongue – like a horses bridle , a ships rudder.
- the tongue can direct life like a horse’s bridle or a ship’s rudder.
- By agreeing and speaking we release:
i) Spirit of God
ii) Demons
a) Agreement:
· Agree = to give consent to, harmonize with, come into one mind with.
· E.g. Genesis 3:1-5 - “Eve came into agreement with devils words.
· E.g. 2 Samuel 15:3-4/11 - People came into agreement with Absolom’s words.
· The words they agreed with => actions => destiny.
· What words are you coming into agreement with?
· E.g. Words of rejection / shame / fear / self-pity / unbelief?
E.g. Words of criticism / gossip?
b) Speaking:
· To utter aloud what is in our heart.
· Numbers 13:30-32 - Israel / Caleb spoke words.
· Numbers 14:26-28 - The words they spoke determines their future.
· Genesis 17:5 - Abraham – ‘Your name shall be Abraham’, father of nations.
God put before Abraham a vision of his descendants – sand, stars.
Everybody spoke his name, they spoke his destiny.
· The words we agree with and speak shape or present and determine our future.