DEATH & LIFE ARE IN THE TONGUE! (Video + Notes)

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Teacher: Brother Elijah
Church: Israel, The Church of Jesus
PDF VERSION: DEATH & LIFE ARE IN THE TONGUE

 

 

Many people think they can say whatever they want. But we all will reap the fruit of what comes out of our mouths. The Lord will judge all accordingly. This is a very serious matter:

 

 

Proverbs 18:21
King James Version (KJV)

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

 

 

Your mouth will determine where you spend eternity. If you speak wisely you will get eternal life but if you speak wickedly, you will get eternal destruction. We need to pay attention to what we say:

 

 

Proverbs 13:3
King James Version (KJV)

3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.

 

 

The tongue carries a lot of weight in God’s sight because you can use your tongue like a gun or sword and do damage to people. If you are wise, you will help people, tell them the truth, and say kind things:

 

 

 

 

Proverbs 12:18
King James Version (KJV)

18 There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

The mouth is very deceptive and dangerous because you can act like you aren’t doing anything (at work or at home or on the Internet) but be stabbing (mauling) someone to death with your tongue. Falsely accusing people is one example of this:

 

Proverbs 25:18
King James Version (KJV)

18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

 

“It’s better not to say something when you should, than to say something when you shouldn’t” (Bro. Elijah) Because once you say words that you shouldn’t say, you cannot bring them back. Controlling your tongue is just as serious as killing, stealing, and honoring your parents.

 

Most of the commandments takes a lot of action but committing sin with our tongue is effortless which is why we need to be careful:

 

 

Exodus 20:12-16
King James Version (KJV)

12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

13 Thou shalt not kill.

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15 Thou shalt not steal.

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

 

 

Nothing about the severity of the tongue has changed in the New Testament. The tongue is one of the smallest members but can cause the greatest damage, strife, and destruction. Your tongue will boast, say things unnecessarily, and lie for no reason.

If you can tame your tongue you can get your whole life in order. That should be our first priority because it is hard to do.

It is most likely harder to stop lying than to stop stealing or killing because you can more easily lie and say the wrong things under cover. However, the Lord see’s all. Even when someone does us wrong, it does not give us the right to say hurtful and spiteful things to someone because we are servants of God.

We must be extra-careful!

 

 

James 3:1-12
King James Version (KJV)

1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

 

 

Do not speak evil amongst people, even when they do you wrong. This can happen even amongst the saints. We do not have the right to act like we have never made a mistake or feel that we have the right to condemn others because we are not Judges.

A lot of the times we condemn others because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Jesus is the only Judge. If someone has done us wrong or have a problem, all we should do is look for the solution because that is what the wise (Proverbs 12:18) will do.

Talking against others and lying is not the only way that our mouth can get us in trouble. Another way is boasting and prideful talk. Boasting about future plans is evil because only God knows the future.

 

 

James 4:11-17
King James Version (KJV)

11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

 

 

The account of the war between Israel and the Philistines led by King Saul. Saul and his three sons, including Jonathan. King Saul was shot and then committed suicide.

 

 

1 Samuel 31:1-6
King James Version (KJV)

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons.

3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.

 

 

The Amalekite lies by saying he killed Saul by trying to enhance his own well-being and impress David. He ended up getting killed via the orders of King David.

 

2 Samuel 1:1-16
King James Version (KJV)

1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;

2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?

6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.

8 And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.

10 So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:

12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

13 And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.

14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?

15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.

16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed.

 

 

Jesus sharply rebukes Peter for assuming. It is possible to have good intentions and still say something contrary to God’s will i.e. influenced by Satan. It is also possible to think we are right and be confident in a fallacy. Even when we think we are right it is best to not say anything and do our due diligence to ensure what we think is the truth.

 

Matthew 16:21-23
King James Version (KJV)

21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

 

 

Israel (Negroes) has a zeal of God but no knowledge. This goes to show why many of them and many people in general argue with us (Bible Christians) about the Truth even when they have no clue what they are talking about.

If Peter was called Satan by Jesus for denying one truth concerning Jesus, then the people who reject ALL truth about Jesus are completely deceived by Satan and need to be warned and rebuked.

Israel has no knowledge, are disobedient, and they speak against the truth (gain saying)! It is very dangerous to gainsay and it is harder to accept truth and obey it because after gainsaying one doesn’t want to admit they were wrong due to pride.

Thus, a gainsaying person can easily become reprobate and live a lie (even if they don’t believe the lie). False prophets are a great example of this. But people in the truth can gainsay too.

 

Romans 10:1-2
King James Version (KJV)

1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

 

 

It is possible to have knowledge and not use it righteously. If someone says something that is wrong, all we need to do is show them and warn them in meekness. We should not beat them over the head because we don’t want to voluntarily offend people as that it is wrong. We need to know when to give folks room to repent.

If we do not know what to say in a situation it is best to not say anything (like Job’s friends did for one week). Once they started to speak, they put their foot in their mouth because they assumed and spoke against what the Lord did.

However, what they were saying was true in general but it did not apply to the situation which is equally as harmful as a lie and gainsaying. Zophar puffed himself up and called Job a liar and a babbler…

 

Job 11:1-3
King James Version (KJV)

1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

 

 

Job defends himself. Because what his friends said, although right (who knoweth not such things as these), was not applicable to Job’s case.

 

 

Job 12:1-3
King James Version (KJV)

1 And Job answered and said,

2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

 

 

Job continues to inform his friends that they are not above them. In fact, the situation went above their heads because they did not understand that God was doing something greater than what they fathomed. Job called his friends liars (and they called him a liar prior to this but someone has to be wrong and they were wrong for speaking).

Physicians of no value – the physician is supposed to heal. The tongue can also be used for healing but if we are not using it wisely, then we should not speak. This is exactly why Job told them that the best thing they could do was shut up.

(When it was all said and done the Lord told Job’s three friends that he was not going to listen to them but that he would listen to Job and that they needed to humble themselves to Job, apologize and have Job offer up a burnt offering for them lest the Lord from dealing with them for their folly. All they did was talk!!)

 

 

Job 13:1-5
King James Version (KJV)

13 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

2 What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

4 But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

 

 

When you have knowledge, you know that there is a time and place for everything and you can discern when to speak and how much to say in a situation.

You can be a fool and people will not know it until you open your mouth. Therefore, when you don’t know something, it is best to be quiet!

Do not speak in vain and seek understanding before speaking. Overall, the world teaches that the more you know, and the wiser you are, the more you should speak and the more right you have to speak, but that is not the wisdom of God.

 

 

Proverbs 17:27-28
King James Version (KJV)

27 He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

 

 

We are supposed to love one another but sometimes our mouth can hinder that! Thus, we are to increase in love through wisdom and understanding. A way to do that is learning how to LISTEN and BE QUIET! Because we can be too busy thinking of that we are going to say to the point where we do not hear the other person and that is selfish and unjust.

Some people have to do more learning/studying than others on a certain topic in order to heal themselves. If you are naturally quiet, you are ahead of the game in this regard.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:9-11
King James Version (KJV)

9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

 

If you cannot tame your tongue, your Christianity is in vain and you will not make the Kingdom. We must be adamant and careful to listen, not hasty to speak (think before you speak) and slow to wrath because anger rests in the bosom of fools. Many times, we do the opposite and it leads to strife and vexation.

If we are quick to speak, we can say something foolish/get angry and end up condemning ourselves. Even when someone makes a mistake, we are quick to get mad but by doing that we forget that a soft word turns away wrath and a soft answer is like breaking a bone due to the wisdom of God.

However, not saying anything can prevent the wrath in the first place. We must not be like the world!

 

James 1:19-20, 26-27
King James Version (KJV)

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

 

Christians must be compassionate, meek, and merciful. Do not be like the world and render evil for evil because that will get us into trouble with God and it is not wise. The world feels entitled to render evil for evil and will blame another person to justify their evil words and actions but that is wrong and ungodly.

If someone rails on you or tells you that you are wrong, listen carefully and be slow to speak because you could be wrong. But even if we are right, we must remember not to act/speak foolishly because God see’s the righteous and wicked and will revenge us for doing right or punish us for disobedience.

Therefore, we must seek peace because God will bless us for it, it reproved the wicked, and shows others the light of Christ.

 

1 Peter 3:8-12
King James Version (KJV)

8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

 

 

When we think evil, it is high time to be quiet. Meditate on what is good, and do that. If someone cannot bridle their tongue then they are wicked. We will have to give an account for everything that we say at judgement. We will be justified by speaking right and condemned by speaking evil. Be careful!

 

 

Matthew 12:35-37
King James Version (KJV)

35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.