How to Kill or Heal Your Home
Key Passage: Proverbs 12:18
Date: June 7, 2024
Church wanting to serve God. That’s awesome. I love it. Using their talents for the Lord. That’s just awesome. I love it very, very much.
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs chapter 12 in God’s word this morning. And what a blessing to see young ladies that want to serve God and living for the Lord. That’s just awesome.
Some of those young girls singing this morning, they don’t have to be here in church. They might make them they’re here on their own. They want to be here. And I think all of them be here because they want to be here. But some, they’re here by themselves, but put it that way.
Proverbs chapter 12, Proverbs chapter 12. And we have been doing this series on the whole family in the month of October. This is our fifth Sunday on that.
Would you give me just a touch more, Brother Tim, just a touch more? The first Sunday we talked about God’s advice for a dysfunctional family. And you can go back and watch these on YouTube if you like to. The next Sunday we talked about better for better for worse and how to deal with conflict. Last week, the skunk of selfishness. How to get rid of that skunk of selfishness? How many had a skunk in your house in the last week?
Around your house, I should say. All right, somebody, hopefully not in. A couple of you raised your hand, yeah, we battle, especially when there’s no rain. They come out, you know.
But then today, then today, briefly today, how to kill or heal your home. How to kill or heal your home.
And just a bit this morning, when we read the verses, you’ll know which way we’re going pretty quick into it. You’re in Proverbs 12 this morning? You’re there already? Boy, I’m quiet this morning. You’re in Proverbs 12 this morning? All right. Good deal, good deal.
We’re going to look down verse number 18, would you please? Proverbs 12 and verse number 18. And some are ready to go. Would you stand, please? I’ll read God’s word together. Proverbs 12. We just want to show the word of God respect. Proverbs 12. Look in verse number 18 right there of God’s word. The Bible there says, “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword. But the tongue of the wise is health.”
And it’s interesting, a knife. Just take a knife.
Talking about a sword there at the beginning. Take a knife. You can take a knife and a surgeon will remove cancer. It’ll remove infection. It’ll clear it up. Sometimes, sometimes they’ll take your gallbladder out that’s hurting you. Your appendix. Anybody had their appendix taken out? How many had your appendix taken out? Come on, there’s more people had appendix taken out than that around here. Yeah, come on now, you know. And it’s amazing how much health they can bring with a knife.
Then somebody else, they’ll have that, they could take actually the same knife or a different knife, and they’ll cut, hurt, wound, kill, leave scars. I mean, how many got a scar from a cut that was over 20 years ago? How many got that? Pretty much everybody that’s 20 years or older here, you know. Okay. Some people aren’t there yet. They’re going to be there. How many of you are not 20 but you already got scars? How about that? All right, good deal, good deal. Good, good.
It’s the same knife, same instrument. And we’re going to talk about the instrument here. Look over in chapter number 18. Chapter number 18, look in verse number 21. 18, Proverbs 18. Look in verse number 21, if you would please. There. Proverbs 18:21. There he says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
Kind of goes back over there, you know, to what the verse we just read. There’s that speaketh like the piercings of the tongue. Over here, it says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Boy, I can cut somebody up. I can give somebody a piece of my mind. Boy, they’re going to know it. Be careful, you reap what you sow. I can encourage people. Well, that’d be a good thing to kind of reap.
Just for a bit, just for a bit, how to kill or to heal your home. And you may say, well, I’m single. Maybe I’m a widower, I’ll never be married again. Yeah, but you’ve got friends. You got family. Young people, you say, I’m not married right now, but a young person can really hurt or help a home a whole lot. It is amazing how many times a young person kind of keeps a home’s table. Not the way it really should work, but God uses it sometimes so many times. And just for everybody, just briefly this morning, how to heal or kill a home.
Would you pray with me that God would work in their hearts? Father, we’ve focused on this truth before here in your house. And Lord, would you make it fresh to your people? Would you give them what they need through it, Lord? Father, we do ask, would you let it make a difference? Lord, let it not be just a good speech or something like that, Father. Please take any of that desire away in my heart to do a good speech or preach good. Father, that’s folly. We want you to help somebody, please. Give us wisdom, give us insight into hurting or helping a home and others. And would you give my words life to your people today? And Father, we’ll thank you and praise you for what you do. And we ask for these things, Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
We got this spray bottle. Thank you, Brother Adam, for getting this for me. But we got this spray bottle. We use around the church here sometimes. Typically, typically around here, we put in there something that kills. It’s called Roundup. And you see the grass growing up through the parking lot, you know, and it’s coming over and, you know, and growing up on the parking lot covered it up or through the cracks, you know, or praise the Lord, it’s a lot easier to spray something than pull weeds out of a flowerbed. Somebody say amen right there, you know. And that’s typically what we use. I don’t think of anything. I just want to make sure nothing’s in there, amen. But typically that’s what we use it for. I mean, sometimes or sometimes we’ve even sprayed poison in there for, you know, insecticide for roaches or whatever, you know. We never have those things. They never come to church. Never, ever, ever, right? Well, you know, we do. We are a country church. We do have to take care of things out here in these trailers for sure. But anyway, typically those are the things we spray in here.
But you know, you take the same little spray bottle like this. And you can put what they call Miracle-Gro in there. Anybody ever use Miracle-Gro out there? How about on your maters? They’re not tomatoes, they’re maters. How many use Miracle-Gro on your maters now? You don’t, you don’t talk about, yeah. And you put that in there, and man, it takes those things from little to big, you know. It kind of brings life.
Now, the same instrument here, you can either kill or bring life, if you will. Now, the Bible here is saying the instrument really, specifically in your relationships, the instrument that can be used to either kill or to bring life in your relationships is that thing right there. That little thing right there is so powerful. It can hurt. It can kill a marriage. It can kill self-esteem. It can kill peace. It can kill so much. It can kill or it can bring life. It’s all, really, many, many ways. The key is that thing right there.
I say this often along this line where we’re going on the subject here. You ever see someone maybe at the mall or somewhere, you know, and it’s a pretty lady. She’s a very attractive lady. And very proper. But the guy, you look at the guy she’s with and they’re married, you know. I mean, what do you say? You see a pickup truck riding down the road. And if the husband and wife they’re sitting all the way outside, you say, “Well, they’re married.” They’re sitting beside each other. Well, they’re not married yet, you know. And this couple of them all, they’re married. They’ve been together for a while. You can tell they’ve got the rings and all that. But the lady’s attractive. And you look at the guy and you’re like, “Wow.” He’s ugly enough to make a freight train take a dirt road. Goodness gracious. He fell out of the ugly tree he had ever lived falling down. You know, goodness, gracious. How in the world did that guy get that girl? And they’re happy. She’s happy with that guy. And she’s blind? You know, what’s going on with her, you know? And I guarantee you that man is wise with his words. Your words.
Hey husband, let me say a word to the husband just right off the gate, right out of the gate here. Wives, I think you’ll agree with me here. But husbands, every woman in the world has some, some, some more than others, but they all got some insecurities. Ladies, you agree with me or not?
And husband, your words can either take that insecurity from just mild to huge and kind of, she needs—the thing she needs from you and your love—is security. That’s why the Bible says, hey, us husbands, our job is to love her with agape love. They say that’s like a deep flowing, never-ending, unconditional love. And when she sees and knows you have that, that gives her security, but the way you’re going to show her that unconditional love, that agape love, for the most part, probably in one of the many ways, but in a huge way, is with your words.
That’s why within Ephesians 5, when he says, “Husband, love your wife,” a little bit later on, a couple of verses later, he says, “by the washing of the water, by the word,” all right? Husbands, if you want to give her security, you’re going to do it for the most part, many ways financially, and all these things are very, very important. But your word—you can give her a big old house and a big old car and yet criticize her and browbeat her and tell her everything’s wrong with her, and she’s not going to have security. And then if you go around and complain and say, “Well, why do I have a cold wife and she’s not near and close and she doesn’t love me?” Because your tongue, that’s why. Come on.
Ladies, I know you don’t say amen per se, but you can take a white hanky, ladies, and say, “That’s right,” right there, you know. Or elbow him over there, you know. Pile your elbow, make it real sharp there, you know, and then hit him real quick.
Hey, ladies, let me say this about your husband. This is an honest truth. Some of these days I say so often, but it’s so true. But men, men do not have egos. They are egos. The guy that said, “Well, I don’t have an ego,” he’s saying all that for a reason. Every guy has one. And can I say this? That guy, he might act like the most macho guy in all the world. He’s got an ego. He can get hurt. And you are his rib. God took the rib from Adam and made Eve. Now, a rib, right there, it protects the heart. It’s very near and near. It’s right there, you know. It protects the vital organs. And if a wife, if she is sharp-tongued, and if she’s always kind of being critical and picking on him with her tongue and always criticizing and always interrupting him and always just disrespecting him, he’s going to feel it. He can take it from somebody else, but you’re right by his heart. And he’s very vulnerable to you. And you have the power with this mechanism to bring life or death called the tongue. It’s crucial.
Young people, young people, let me just say a word for the young people. Let me challenge our young people here for a day or so. Do this. Watch your parents. Ali and Gracie, watch your dad and your mom for a couple days straight and just watch, kind of register in your mind, what all they do for you. They get up, they go to Bojangles and work. They go, not just to eat. Oh, Brother Richard’s wife, I’m forgetting her name. She’s the manager at Bojangles, and Brother Richard gets up and goes to work. They do all these things. They wash clothes, they wash dishes, they cook. Just watch for a couple days what all they do for you. Young people, watch a couple days with all your parents, whether it be foster parents, aunt or uncle, grandparents, whoever you live with, watch what all they do for you. And then for maybe 48, 72 hours, watch what all they do for you. And then for just five minutes, use the instrument, your tongue, and give back to them for five minutes. That’s a pretty tough five minutes, but you can do it. And don’t let your parents know what you’re doing, but you just do a little experiment, and for five minutes, give back to them with your tongue. And just see how much life it brings.
There’s so much power with your words, with your tongue. You can bring life or you can kill. It is so very, very vital what you do with your tongue.
Parents, let’s talk to parents for just a second. Every child in the world has got issues, right? Amen. They do. But every child has got a diamond in there. God made them. God created them uniquely. They’re specially designed. They can glorify, praise, and love God. They can kind of cheer you up in the way nobody else can. They’re just unique. They’re a diamond in the rough. And parents, your job, yes, your job is to kind of chisel away on all the bad, okay, and try to get to the diamond. But be careful, sometimes when we’re trying to chisel away, if you will, we really hurt the diamond in there. Yes, your child has problems. You know, you have the neighbor down there and say, “Man, your child works so hard, they’re respectful. They do everything they’re told,” and you’re like, “Are you talking about my child?” Well, it’s like, are you telling you, you know, but they do have—they have good in them.
And here’s the thing: when you’re disciplining your child, it sometimes is easy, just kind of with your tongue—very important when you do it, what your tongue, what you do—it’s very easy to say, “Well, you’re sorry, brat. You’re good for nothing. You’re lazy. You’re never going to amount to two cents,” and all the rest of that. No, don’t do that. So, you know, you’ve got some good things about you, and God’s put some good things in you, but we’re not going to allow lying in this house. And get very direct on that thing. They’re doing wrong. If you have to, if you have to, yes, or you—you understand, canoes are paddled best in the rear. You understand what I’m talking about. If you have to do that, all right, do that, you know. But don’t go on there and say, “Oh, are you sorry, kid?” Don’t go in there and say, “Hey, listen, you’re a good kid sometimes, but we’re not going to allow you to be spoiled here. And we’re going to take care of that right there. And when we tell you to clean your room, you’re going to clean your room,” whatever it may be. But your tongue, your tongue is so very, very vital. You can go in your home, husband, you can go home at nighttime, and you can have Miracle-Gro there and put it all over your home—your wife, your children, whatever. Or you can go home and you can have Roundup in there. And the agent that is used is your words. That’s key.
Now, a couple things about this here real quickly this morning. Would you look over real quickly here? Would you look over to James chapter 1? James chapter 1. I want you to see something here. In order for you to heal and not kill, there’s got to be something that happens with your tongue, all right? You’re going to have to do this. Because the devil is always trying to use your tongue. He knows—the devil knows the Bible—and he knows, hey, there’s life and death in the power of the tongue. The devil knows that, and so he’s trying to use your tongue. And so you’ve got to do something here, found in the book of James, James chapter 1. And would you look down, please, to verse number 26? James 1, and we’ll look at verse number 26 here, please. If you’re there, would you say, “Amen?” Good deal. Look at verse number 26. He says, “If any man”—notice that, if any, it doesn’t matter who it is—“any man among you seem…” It doesn’t say he is, but he seem to be religious. You think, “Well, that’s a religious guy.” Or you may even think, “Well, I’m a religious person,” but he’s seen to be religious. Watch this. And what’s the next four words? You got to do it. Any man, I don’t care who, best Christian, although, or whoever it is. That man is telling a man and lady, but any, any man seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart. That’s interesting, his own heart. And I always—I’m always reminded when I read something like that in the Bible, that verse over there in First John: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in it.” And he says, look, if he seems to be religious, but he doesn’t bridle his tongue, he deceiveth his own heart. Watch this. It’s amazing. This man’s religion is vain. Wow.
We have horses behind our house, two of them. They’re not ours, but one of them’s been there for 21 years, as long as we’ve lived there. And those horses back there, they’re just massive muscles. I mean, just a horse. They’re strong. I mean, powerful. And they run pretty fast. Our dog loves to chase the horses, you know, when she’s off the leash. She’ll chase those horses, and I yell at our dog, “Dixie, get over here!” You know, I think the horses think I’m yelling at them, you know. But anyway, they can run, and they’re powerful and they’re strong. And it’s amazing, though, they’re kind of useless animals unless they put something in their mouth—a bridle. And it… You know, a horse going, “Whew,” he’s flying, and you can pull back on the reins, and it pulls back on that bridle. And if you’ve got a well-trained horse, you know, you don’t have to get to that point, but they started off learning by that right there, you know. But you get a well-trained horse, you can just kind of move, you know, your reins a little bit, and they’ll know. You can pull back a little bit harder, and they’ll go backwards, a good horse. But they have something that’s bridled them a bit. And I think that’s connected—that bit. And the Bible says here, he’s looking, if there’s any man—it doesn’t matter who the man or lady is—but they seem to be religious, but they don’t have a bridle on their tongue. That’s pretty amazing. Then the Bible says the religion is vain.
Let me put it this way. Let me put it this way. Give illustration. They can know their Bible. Man, they’ve got about, you know, a thousand verses memorized. They can go Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, all the way to Revelation. They can go backwards. Anybody know anybody that can say the books of the Bible backwards, you know? I used to be a popular thing for a while there. I can’t do it, but in the past people could do it. And they can do all that. They know their Bible. They go to church every time the doors are open. They pray. They read their Bible. They do all these things. They’re good Christians in some ways, but they have a loose cannon. And they go to work. They’re trying to get their friends to come to church. They’re trying to tell their friends about Jesus Christ. They’re trying to make a difference for the Lord. And according to the Bible, God’s word, if they don’t learn to bridle their tongue, their religion… Well, Joe says, “Yeah, I know what he says. I know he can quote the Bible. I know he wants to come to his church. But I heard when he got mad at so-and-so, what he said. And I heard how he talked about or talked to his wife.” And the Bible says, by the way, praise the Lord, you can go back and apologize. I say, “Hey, I wasn’t right.” And man, that’s wonderful. People are gracious for the most part, even in the home. So I want to make a difference. I want to bring light to my home. I want to bring joy. I want to bring life to my home. Friend, it is so important that I bridle my tongue. It is key.
I remember years ago a wife called me, a lady called me, and she said, “I think maybe I said something that I don’t know if my husband can ever get past it.” He can deeply wound someone. Now, praise the Lord, they’re still together. But it’s so… This bride of God says, if I don’t bridle my own, somebody… Well, I don’t have a filter, you know. Well, I feel sorry for their spouse. Feel sorry for their kids or the parents. No. If I’m going to have religion or Jesus Christ, Christian, if I’m going to have that that is useful and God can use it, I’m going to have to learn to bridle my tongue. Satan loves to have a Christian that’s unbridled. Satan loves that because he can go around just making scars, wounding and hurting and hurting your testimony.
Look at another thing over here. Look over in James. You’re in James. Look at James chapter 3. Look at James chapter 3. Look at verse number five right there. James 3, verse number five of God’s word. James 3, verse number five. There. Look what he says. He says, “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth 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 defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. Wow.
I think a family used to come to church years ago, and they had lived in a house over here in Smyrna, a little bit off of Murfreesboro Road, a just middle-class neighborhood, lived in a… had a little river behind their house there. They lived in that house for about 12 years. Nice, nice house, older house. And 12 years they had spent kind of just keeping that house up and taking care of that house. Imagine 12 years they lived there. And they got a fire. Now the fire started just a little, a little spark. And within two hours, it burnt that house down. Can you imagine that? They had been building, working on that house for 12 long years. And in two hours, burn it down. And as to the Bible, God compares our tongue to that.
And you can build and work, and I’m going to try to win that person, my aunt, my uncle to the Lord, whatever it may be. And yet, if you’re not careful, that tongue can burn out what you’ve been building on for years and years, years. Just the importance of our tongue. I must—I must learn to bridle my tongue or else, especially in the home, by the way. Especially in the home.
By the way, husband, you can love, love, love on that wife and praise the Lord for all that. And you have just a few words, you lose it and go off on your wife. And that will burn down what you’ve been trying to build for days and days and days and days. And vice versa. Especially for kids. You can make that kid just close up and be wounded. Why? Because you’re just loose with your tongue all the time. Or tongue.
But let’s cross over. Number one, we said in order to bring life and help to your home and not kill, you must be able to pull back on your tongue, to bridle it. Then let’s go back over there. Let’s go back over there to Proverbs 12:18. Go back over there, would you please? Proverbs 12 and verse number 18 there. Let’s just look at it again. And you’ve seen it, but I want to just kind of emphasize the positive part of it.
We’re going to be in Proverbs just a little bit here. Proverbs chapter 12, verse number 18. He says, “There is that speaketh like the piercings of the sword, but the tongue of the wise is health.” You can bring healing. You can give health to someone. Health.
Proverbs 18:21. That way we’ve already read it, but you want to look over there again. Proverbs 18:21. Verse number 21. He says, “Death and life…” knows that life are in the power of the tongue. And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Life is interesting. Bible talking about your tongue. It can bring health. It can bring life. Amazing, with your tongue.
You’re in Proverbs. Look over in Proverbs 4. Proverbs chapter 4. Just a little bit about your words or your tongue here. Look at in Proverbs 4 and verse number 20. Proverbs 4 and verse number 20 right there. He says, “My son, attend unto my…” What’s the next word? Words. That’s the subject here. “My son, attend to my words, and incline thine ear to my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are what?” Life. What words? “They are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
Your words. You can bring life to someone. Your words. I never forget when I was just a 12-year-old boy, very quiet, very shy, a longer kind of a guy. And my teacher, just at a Christian school, my teacher looked at me one day—I never dreamed of this, it was far from my mind—and she said, “Paul, you’d make a good preacher one day.” I don’t even know why she said that to this day. But she said that, just that one sentence to me, and that sentence changed my life. That was when God put the dream of this path in my heart to be a preacher, and I was walking home—we lived close to the school—during that time, through a little pine thicket that I walked through, and that was kind of the beginning of my devotion time. And God sealed that in my heart that I was going to be—I knew I was going to be a preacher from 12 years old and all. Where did I come from? From a lady just saying one sentence to me. And it changed my life. I never dreamed of that. But I’m saying your words can add so much to people’s lives. I think of critical times in my life, and I think of just sentences, just a couple words that people have told me. And those words have changed my life.
Your words, friend, the Bible says the lips of the righteous feed many. Think about how much life and how much health you can give to people just with your words. You can go around the workplace, and your neighborhood, and your school, and you can bring life to people. You say, “How can I do that?” With your words. Your words are either killing people or bringing life to them. But friend, wouldn’t you like to go through life and one day look back and say, “Maybe God used my words a little bit to bring life to people?” Your words. Sometimes they say the only thing we can take with us is the things we leave here. You leave your words here with people. Your words. So very, very important. You can add life to people.
I was shocked—I’m very happy about this—but a couple of years back, I told a young preacher, he’s not pastoring a church, but I told him, I said, “Look, if you ever hear somebody that wants to start a church in Nashville, please let me know because I’d love to help them.” And recently he called me. He said, “You said that a couple years ago. I’ve never forgot that. I’m planning on starting a church in Nashville.” I thought, praise the Lord. By the way, Laura Willem, we’re going to have him in our mission conference and help him start that church. But you never know what your words, how, and what kind of effect you’re having with your words. Are you bringing life to people? It’s vital what you’re doing with your words.
This is interesting. Look over in John chapter 6 real quickly here. John chapter 6. And just briefly, I want you to see that’s just your words. John chapter 6. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, chapter 6. It’s somewhere after Genesis, amen. It’s the New Testament, amen. Before Revelation. We got it down path. We got it going here. Look in John. John chapter 6. Look at verse number 63. John 6:63. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
Don’t you like to sing that? “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the words of God.” Ezekiel was reading, God was giving him the words, and when he ate from that book, it brought life to him. Same thing with John the Revelator. The words of God that bring life. When you go out telling people about Jesus Christ, the word of God from the words of God, and you tell someone about Jesus, that can bring everlasting life to them.
Your words are vital, friend, and probably one of the most valuable things you can give to someone is the right, appropriate words. How many people that were at the end of their rope, they were maybe even just walking away from everything, and yet your words can bring help and healing to them. Friend, your words—you’re going out in a sin-hurting, sin-cursed world, and they need Christians that have encouraging, life-giving words speaking to them. It’s what they need. Shame on us sometimes. We’re so down in the dumps and everything’s bad, bad, bad, and they’re about to die, and we’re bringing discouraging words to them. Words. How are you using? What are you doing with your words?
I thought about this. I went to camp several years ago—I don’t know how many years ago—with our teenagers. The person who was going to take them had some change of plans and they couldn’t go. And I didn’t want to go to camp. I’ve been to camp so many times, and I was kind of just worn out. It was kind of a little bit out of my wits. But somebody had to go to camp with the young people. So I went to camp with the young people. And I was just worn slap out. Camp’s great, but you’re not going to get physical rest at camp. Anybody ever been to camp before, even as a teenager, chaperone, you know? I mean, like, you know, you sleep three hours all week long. That’s about it, you know. I mean, you’re up half the night just refereeing wrestling matches. You know what I’m talking about, you know? That’s camp. And in the daytime, you’ve got to get involved with the games, or they think something’s wrong with you, you know. I mean, you’re… You ever play that two-on-two where they have inner tubes down, and you, you know, you’re running down there, and whoever grabs the inner tubes first, you try to get it to your side? It’s just an all-out fight. It’s legalized fighting, camp is. That’s what goes on at camp, you know. There’s no rest. You know, no rest for the weary at camp. You know, I mean, it’s just part of it. And then they want to go swimming, man. You know, that takes more energy out of you, you know. And I went to camp. I was worn out already. I went to camp, and physically, I was busy all week long. But I’ll never forget. I thought, “I’m going to come back. I got to preach Sunday, and I’m not going to have anything for anybody. I’m already kind of a wreck.” I got to go to camp. And I came back from camp so full of life. I thought, “Wow, how’d that happen?” It didn’t happen because they got to rest. It happened because morning, noon, and at night they were giving words of life to me. When I thought I was going for the teenagers to hear the preaching, I needed the preaching all week long. And those preachers were just bringing life to me and life to me and life to me. And I came back, though I hadn’t got much rest physically, I was spiritually just charged and ready to go. I had heard a lot of words of life all week long. That’s why Sunday morning and Sunday night, Wednesday night’s so important—the preaching of God’s word just brings life to you. That’s God’s plan. That’s why Christians need to be in church to get their battery charged up. That way some are just so weak and beggarly and they can’t stand up to the world because of not getting the life given to them. Words. I’m simply saying, friend, God would like to use you to bring life to a whole lot of people.
Hey, how about when you go home? When you go home, do you walk inside those four walls called home and do you kind of suck the life out of home, or do you bring life to home? Your words. By the way, if I’m going to be a good Christian anywhere, I ought to be a good Christian at home. If I should work, and I don’t work out like I ought to—I want to, I try to—but if I try to bring life to anybody, the one I ought to try to do it to more than anybody is my wife, that lady over there. And you ought to work. I want to bring life to my spouse or bring life to my kids. I want to bring life to those people that are called family. Shame on us if I’m out trying to give life to everybody else and I’m not trying to give life to my kids or my wife. I can bring death or life by your words. What are you doing with your words?
Now, I’m going to just mention this real quickly here. A tongue problem is a heart problem. Twice the Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” That’s why James says nobody can tame the tongue because the root problem is your heart, and God’s the one that changes hearts. But your tongue is a good gauge of what’s going on in your heart.
My truck, it had that message on there. Anybody hate it when you have lights or messages on your dash? Anybody just hate that? Anybody want to take a baseball bat to the dash of your vehicle? Anybody want to do that? Yeah, come on now, you know. Now, here’s what happened. I’m going to complain for a second. I’m going to suck the life out of you in my words every second. No. I got this message on my truck. It says, “Washer fluid needed,” right? I stopped yesterday, and I got washer fluid, and I filled that baby up. Put a gallon in there. And that stinking truck still saying, “Your washer fluid is low.” I’m going to kill it. The gauge is not working right. You know, nowadays all these dash—I’ll tell you—“Your left front tire is low.” It’s only got 20 pounds of pressure. All these gauges you’ve got nowadays.
Now, your tongue is a gauge of your heart. And you say, “You know, I’m just hurting people with my tongue.” Get to some closet somewhere real quick and say, “God, do something in my heart. My heart’s not right, Lord. Please, tell me what’s going on. Would you change my heart? Would you create in me a clean heart, O God?”
And here’s the amazing thing: when we accept the words of God—we already mentioned it, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible”—when I accept that, the words of God that He loves you, that He gave His Son to die on the cross. When I accept that, and I accept what the Bible says, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then that brings life eternal. Remember Jesus, He was talking with apostles, and everybody was kind of walking away from Jesus towards the end of His public ministry. And Jesus said, “Will you go away also?” Simon Peter said this: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” You go to Jesus, Jesus, I believe your words that you’ll save me if I ask. You believe the words, and that brings life everlasting.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? You’re there and you say, “Preacher, I want to bring life. I want to bring health. I want the Lord to use my lips to feed many. Preacher, I’m asking the Lord, would you help me to bring life to my marriage specifically, to my home, to my friends? I’m asking the Lord, Lord, use this tongue to bring life to those I’m around.” God spoke to my heart about that right there. If that’s you this morning, you just lift your hand up. “Preacher, I want God to use my tongue to bring life to those I’m around.” That should just lift your hand. I’ll raise my hands with you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. That’s vital. That’s vital. Death and life from the power of the tongue. Maybe you hear this morning… Thank you so much. You can put your hands down.
Maybe you hear this morning you say, “Preacher, I need to bridle my tongue. I need to pull back on it. I need to have control over it. And God spoke to my heart. I don’t want my religion to be in vain. I need to bridle my tongue.” If that’s you this morning, you just lift that hand. “Preacher, that’s me. I need to learn to bridle my tongue.” Oh, all of us are guilty from time to time. Me too. Me too. I got to work at that, preacher. Me too. God will help you. God will help you. God bless you. Oh, God bless you. Thank you so much. Put your hands down.
You hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I need to accept the words of life when it comes to salvation. I’ve been trying to go by my own thinking. I’ve been trying to be good enough to go to heaven, whatever may be. But I need to accept the words of life when the Bible says, ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.’ I need to accept those words of life. I need to put my faith, my belief in Jesus Christ in His words. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ I need to accept the words of Jesus. I need to accept Him as my personal Savior.” Preacher, I need to get saved. If that’s you this morning, just lift your hand and say, “Preacher, I need to get saved.” Anybody like that? I need to accept the words of Jesus that give everlasting life. I need to put my faith in Him and Him alone to be my Savior. Anybody like that? Friends, the greatest thing in all the world, next to the words of Jesus, you’ve got everlasting life. Once you’re His child, He said, “I will in no wise cast them out.” You’re His forever and ever and ever. There’s a lot of peace that comes from the words of Jesus.
Would you please stand right where you are? Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. As soon as I say, “Amen,” if God spoke to your heart, would you come to an old-fashioned altar? Would you do that? I’m going to pray. We won’t be long. Would you come just say, “Hey, Lord, use me to bring life. The lips of the righteous feed many. I would like to be one of those people that feed many.” You let Him know that.
Father, thank you for your words that instructed us this morning. Lord, I pray that you would add life to many people for years because of our tongues. Lord, I pray that some would have eternal life because of our words. Father, give us the boldness to do what you’re tugging at our heartstrings to do right now. And we’ll thank you for what you do in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Would you be obedient to the Lord as our instruments play? Would you come? Just speaking to your heart, would you come? “Lord, use my tongue to feed many.” Let me know that. I like to feed many, Lord, with the tongue. For this morning my words, use my words and bring life.
Let me say a word here. Sometimes, sometimes we get hurt, we get wounded, and we kind of just close down our words. It may be this morning, the Lord is speaking to your heart. You need to talk to your wife more. You need to open up to your grandchild, your grandparents, your aunt. It may be someone you say, “You know, I’ve been withholding my words. I need to open back up, bring life to them.” Friend, it is vital. Husband, can I just encourage you: bring life to your wife continually? I say this often, but if a husband has just a heartfelt compliment for his wife all the time available for her, she’s going to be by sight and glad to be there. Your words bring in life.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - How to Kill or Heal Your Home - Sunday AM 10292023