Background
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my nd
God tells us “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” in Proverbs 23:7. In other words you are what you think. If the meditations of your heart are not acceptable to God, then your life will not be acceptable to God. The way to transform your life is simple. Think new thoughts. If your thoughts are always acceptable to God, then your life will be acceptable to God. This is the 3rd principle of the 11 steps of sin: the 1st two steps of sin being listening to and watching sinful things.
The 4th step of sin is talking about evil things and using evil language. If we listen to cursing, vulgarity, and obscenity, then, eventually, those concepts and words will express themselves in our communication. Bottom line, if you are sure that the words that come from your mouth would not in like manner come from the mouth of Jesus, then your language is sinful.
Also, this verse speaks about the Lord being our redeemer. A redeemer is someone who delivers us by paying the required price. Jesus our LORD is our redeemer, because He delivered us from the payment for our sin by paying the wages of our sin, which is death. God the Father came to earth in the flesh, then He took all of our sin onto Himself and died to pay the wages of sin. The only thing He requires of us is we must trust what He promised concerning eternal life. What did He promise? He promised that, when we come to Him in faith, He will never cast us out for any reason (“Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37), and He will never lose us (“This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,”) because He is keeping us by His omnipotent power unto salvation, (“You, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. I Peter 1:4-“5). If you believe those things, then you can know you are going to heaven. God says is I John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” Dr. Jerry Lloyd
Introduction
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” In Psalm 19:14
In the eleven steps of sin, the fourth step of sin is a talking about evil. Each of the eleven steps of sin are steps downward away from God for the Christian. Once a person begins the descent away from God down the eleven steps of sin, every step becomes harder and harder to implement the solution to defeat sin or have victory over sin. It is easy in the beginning. If we simply begin with hearing. Do not listen to the wrong things. The next step is also somewhat easy. The second step of sin is seeing the wrong things. Do not watch or look at the wrong things.
It begins to become problematic when we watch and listen to the wrong things, then we begin to think about the wrong things. At that point you enter into reaping the results of feeding the flesh, and that involves more than simply ceasing from hearing and seeing sin. After you begin thinking about sin, you must actively renew your mind by thinking Godly thoughts.
When we think about sin, the next of sin is simply to start talking about sin.
Talking About Evil
The fourth step of sin, which comes after thinking about evil, is talking about evil. According to Psalm 19:14 ““Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” In Psalm 19:14 If we have the right meditations (thoughts), then the words that come out of our mouth will become acceptable to God.
There is an example of this in Proverbs 7:10-13: “Behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot.” In this verse we see the beginning of this young man’s downfall. He saw how this woman was dressed. She had on the attire of an harlot. What does that tell us? An immoral person dresses a certain way to advertise her morals.
Some years ago I taught in a Christian school that had school uniforms. In the young men’s Bible class I referred to this verse and mentioned that the reason an harlot would dress a certain way was to advertise “their wares.” So I asked, “Here in a Christian school where the young ladies are wearing a school uniforms, are there those who dress in such a way as to show that they are immoral? How would they advertise since they were wearing school uniforms? The students surprised me by the answers the young men gave. First of all, there was no question in their minds that some the ladies definitely did demonstrate the fact that they were immoral by the way they dressed, and the second thing that surprised me was the ways the fellows interpreted the intentions of the way the ladies dressed. The things they mentioned were common ways some of the girls dressed in this Christian school.
The way we dress is important, and we have to be careful what kind of thoughts we allow ourselves to think when we observe the way the opposite sex is dressed and the way they act, because many times the way they arouse the attentions of the opposite sex is “subtil of heart.”
In verse 13 God says, “So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent (without any fear of consequence) face said unto him, ‘I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.’”
She assures him that she with right with God.
When I was in Bible college there were several men there that were on fire for the Lord with a desire to go into the ministry. So they looked for as girl that they thought, also, wanted to go into the ministry. So they got married only to find out that the girl was immoral. They eventually, had to abandon their dream of going into Christian work, because of the girl they married. It is surprising how many of my former classmates are now divorced.
Of course, that was not all the fault of the ladies, but that is what it is talking about in the context.
I praise God, what He gave me. I praise God who He gave me. He gave me an help meet for me and the ministry into which God called me. In fact she out works me in the ministry every day. Praise God I got a good woman and, therefore, I am still in the ministry.
That was the subtle charade that the woman in this passage was using. “I have peace offerings with me. This day have I payed my vows.”
When a person paid their vows, that meant that they had given money to the temple. This woman could have been considered a good church goer, except for the fact that she did not dress the part.
You see, they did not tithe to the temple back then. They tithed to the priests, and the priest then would take 10% of what they would receive from the people and give that to the temple. The priests were supported by the tithe, and the temple was supported by freewill offerings above the tithe, the tithe which the priests gave, and by vows. Whenever a person would make a vow, then they would give money to the temple. That is what this harlot did. She had made some kind of vow. She passed herself off as a big supporter of the temple, and she had peace offerings with her.
“Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.”
She was saying, “You are just the kind of man I have been praying for. You are just the kind of person I have been searching for.”
Then she makes the proposition. “I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.”
She has it all worked out. She has planned so that they can be safely alone. At least that is what she tells him. “We can go to my place so we can be alone. My dad is not in town.”
“With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.”
We are talking about words that have force. He was not just deceived. He was not just enticed, but He was forced. He ignored the way she dressed, and the way she acted, and fell prey to her words. So what is a fellow to do when he is forced to do something? Do not listen! How can you keep from listening to her? Do not be around her! Separate yourself from these things. Do not allow yourself to be exposed to that kind of talk. God is not saying that you are forced by what you hear, and therefore that gives you an excuse. God is saying that you are responsible for what you listen to and hear.
It is really amazing, for example, how many of the secular “love songs” really seem to be songs promoting or trying to lead the person about whom the song is written into immorality.
So you are not only responsible for your actions, but you are also responsible for the morality of you conversations. In fact you are not only responsible for your thoughts, but you are also responsible for your dreams. In Ecclesiastes 5:3 God says, “A dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” So you dream about what you have been thinking about and been busy doing in the day time, and foolish actions are a result of foolish talk. You are going to dream about what you see, hear, think, and talk about. So you are responsible for your thoughts, talk, dreams, and actions.
So be careful little eyes what you see. Be careful little ears what you hear, and be careful little brain what you think and dream.
Now we learn to be careful little mouth what you say.
“He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks.” Proverbs 7:22. Stocks are the chains that are around you in the dungeon.
We are talking about the force or power in words. So that also means we need to be careful what we say.
“Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life,” verse 23.
So we jeopardize our life by the things we talk about and those to which we listen.
This subject of talking about evil, does not simply refer to listening to evil talk of others, but also participating in our own evil talk.
In proverbs 18:6-8 God says, “A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”
We think as we read this, “Man! Do I ever know that to be true! Truer words have never been spoken.”
When we use words incorrectly, they wound people. “They go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”
Don Francisco wrote these words to one of his songs:
“I went to church one day last month, and the preacher, he preached real good. He talked about true commitment, New Testament brotherhood. He talked about watching the things we say-lies that can wound and slay. I sure wish Joe would have been there that day, because he really needed to hear it. Anybody else, but me. Anybody else, but me. He was talking about those people back in Galilee. Anybody else, but me.”
However, what this verse is really talking about, or at least includes is the wounds of a talebearer wound his own soul. Consider the context. “A fool’s mouth is HIS destruction.” His mouth is his own destruction! “And his lips are the snare of his soul.” His own lips are what snared him. So the wounds of the talebearer are self-inflicted. These wounds may include ulcers, or intestinal problems, but the maladies of the talebearer are self-inflicted, because of the things about which he or she talks.
James 5:15-16 tells us: ”The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” When you have become a tale bearer, then your own guilt can cause your own sickness. So what must you do? “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”
Proverbs 26:18-19 says, “As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death…” As a madman! We are talking about a psychopath. We are talking about a sociopath. What is the description of this kind of person? In the same way that a madman demonstrates his madness by casting firebrands arrows and death “So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?” That is the kind of man that deceives his neighbor, and when he is confronted about it he says, “I was just kidding,” or “Psych!”
God does not excuse lying to someone when it is done for sport. He says that is the characteristic of a madman. God does not overlook a lie just because you say it is a joke.
Verses 20-22 say, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
The words of a talebearer are as wounds…” We have already found out about these wounds. These wounds are self-inflicted. The “words of a tale bearer are as wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of (his own) belly. Burning lips and a wicked heart…” The third step of sin is the wicked heart which is often followed by burning lips.
In Ephesians 4:29 God commands “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying.” This verse tells about two kinds of words. There are corrupt words, and there are edifying words. Corrupt words are not necessarily curse words or dirty talk, although those would most certainly be corrupt communication, but corruption is really talking about words that cause things to age, get sick, die, and rot. So when we focus on speaking about evil things, then that will cause us to get sick, age, die and rot. Edification, on the other hand, means to build us up or strengthen us. Flattery and complimenting people is not necessarily edifying. Remember, that is what the harlot used to force the young man in Proverbs. So we need to at least be honest about what we talk about “…that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” So the subject matter of our communication with others ought to minister grace rather than corruption.
So we need to keep eternal things in mind as we talk to people. Now you can talk about the weather, stocks and bonds, and who won the game and who got beat; and you can use those things to lead up to a time that you can talk about the Lord. You have a more important purpose than simply talking about that which is not going to last for eternity.
I like to talk about the games. I am not saying that talking about such things is sinful, but the subject matter that we ought to keep in mind is salvation and things of eternal value and edify others. The goal of our communication is to build people up spiritually. Our conversations ought to minister grace unto the hearers.
What Is Grace?
What is grace? In Titus 2:11 God tells us, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” What is the purpose of grace? “The grace of God that (your purpose word) bringeth salvation.” The purpose of grace is to bring salvation. If a person does not get salvation, then he has frustrated the grace of God according to Galatians 2:21. “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” How does a person frustrate grace? “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” If we can do something such as keeping the law to save us or keep us saved, then Christ did not have to die. When we think that we must do something of our own works or goodness to obtain the righteousness required to get to heaven, then we frustrate God’s grace, because the purpose of God’s grace is to bring us salvation.
How does that frustrate grace? Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us what grace does. It says, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This verse gives us the test of grace. It tells us that we are saved by grace. Grace is the means of salvation. Grace brings salvation. The meaning of grace , if you were to look it up, is undeserved mercy or unmerited favor. Grace is not a work that you must do for God.
Romans 11:6 gives us the Biblical definition of grace. “If by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” In other words grace and works are diametrically opposed. They are not the same thing. If you add works to salvation, then you have taken grace out of the picture completely. That is what Romans 11:6 is saying.
In Ephesians 2:8-9 we see a similar thing. Ephesians 2:8-9 is the test of grace. “By grace are ye saved…” The purpose of the grace of God is to b ring us salvation. The next word is “through.” That tells us our part. “Through faith.” Our part in salvation is to have faith. We need to believe it. What do we need to believe? We need to believe that we are saved by grace through faith.
I have heard some people use this verse to redefine what faith is. I have heard it taught, “Faith is a commitment,” or “Faith is a turning around.”
What is faith? Faith is believing something. It is trusting something. That is what faith is. Or as the Bible defines faith in Romans 4:21 “Being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” In other words faith in Christ is believing that what He has promised He will do.”
The Test of Grace
Back in Ephesians 2:8 in the next phrase we see the test of grace: “That not of yourselves.” Is grace a commitment? Whose commitment? If it is your commitment, then it is not by grace, because your commitment is of yourself. But if you are trusting in the commitment that God made in His promise that He would save you and keep you by His power, and He will never cast you out or lose you, that is His promise. We believe John 6:37: That He has promised that He will never cast us out. John 6:39: He will never lose us, and I Peter 1:5 that He will keep us by His power through faith. Those are His promises concerning salvation, so that is what we must believe. Those promises are His commitment to us. We must believe that we are kept by His power, and not by our power or works.
So the test of grace is “Is it of yourselves?”
Do you have to join the church? Joining the church is something you do. Jesus does not join the church to save you. So if church membership is required for salvation, and salvation by grace through faith is not of yourselves, then Jesus would have to join the church for us to get saved.
Do you have to make a public confession? Public confession is something you do, and it is not of yourselve. Salvation is by what Jesus did.
What about water baptism? Water baptism is something you do, so it is not of grace.
All of these things are good to do. All of these things are right. All of these things are required. They are not required for you to get to heaven, but they are required to be obedient to Christ.
“By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The Solution
Ephesians 5:11-12 says this: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” Here God warns us not to speak about evil things. How do you keep from talking about the evil they do? “: “Have no fellowship” with them. Then you are not going to be talking about their sin. That does not give us the right to be mean to those who are living in sin. We should not bar them from church services. That is the very kind of people that needs the church. They need the church as bad as we do.
Next God says, “But rather reprove them.” We should welcome those who are living an ungodly lifestyle so that we can reprove them. If we are accepting of their sin, then our severing of fellowship must be complete, but if we welcome them into our assembly, then we also must reprove them.
Fruitbearing
Look at Matthew 12:33-37 “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?” Get your life straightened out, then you are going to be talking about Godly things. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” We need to get our thoughts straightened out, then our conversation will be honoring to God.
“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: (what he speaks) and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth (when he speaks) evil things.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Interesting enough, Jesus did not say every sinful word. He said every “idle” word. That is scary! What in the world is He talking about? HE IS TALKING ABOUT WORDS THAT WORK something. When you are idle, you are not working toward anything. Everything that you speak should bring forth fruit.
When you are working in a factory, not everything that you do causes the product to come out at the end, but they help toward that end. There are steps toward the product. That is what God means by idle words. A person’s language may not be vulgar or hurtful to others, but if they are not working toward the end product, then they are idle. A person in an assembly line that is standing by the water cooler talking when he is supposed to be assembling parts on the line is idle. If the boss catches him being idle, it may affect his pay or even his job. We are expected to be productive.
Now what is the purpose of our productivity?
Look at James 3:2- “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.” In the Bible someone who is perfect refers to someone who is mature or complete. A mature Christian who has grown in the Lord is referred to as perfect man in the Bible.
None of us is perfect in present day vernacular, and very few are perfect in the Biblical sense of the word of being mature or complete. What is the characteristic of a mature Christian?
Verse 3-“Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.” A mature Christian is able to bridle the tongue, and if you can bridle your tongue, you can bridle the whole body. Whatever you talk about, you will, eventually, act upon. If you stop talking about the wrong things, you will stop doing the wrong things, because bridling the tongue will turn about the whole body.
Verse 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.
Judgment by Fire
Verse 5-Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” What did we see burning in Proverbs? We saw burning lips. We saw the burning coals of the tale bearer.
Verse 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.” Is this literal or figuratively? In Luke 16 in the example of the rich man and Lazarus, for what did the rich man plead? He pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue, because he was tormented in the flame. He did not want his hands cooled with which he counted his money, or his feet cooled, or his scalp cooled. He wanted his tongue cooled.
Here in James 2 God says that the tongue is set on fire of hell.
Taming the Tongue
Verse 7-8-“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: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
The tongue can no man tame. So why are we talking about it, if no man can tame it? Because God can. However, if you are going to allow God to tame your tongue, you have got to do it God’s way.
If you do it your way by listening to the wrong things, looking at the wrong things, and thinking the wrong things, then you are going to end up talking about the wrong things. God has given you instructions about how to have victory in each of those steps, but if you ignore God’s instructions, then you are not going to be able to tame your tongue, because you do not do it God’s way.
What is God’s way? Talk about the right things.
Changing the Subject
Verse 9-10-“Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
The words that come out of our mouth ought to be words of edification or blessing.
Ephesians 4:15 tells us about what we should talk. “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
The first thing we ought to do is make sure that we speak the truth. What is the truth we need to speak? In John 17:17 Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” So we need to talk about the Word of God. Jesus also said in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” So we need to talk about Jesus. Let us speak the Word. Let us speak about Jesus.
I realize that we cannot only talk about Jesus and the Bible. I don’t, anyway. However, even when we are talking about the weather and who won the game and who got beat, we ought to be laying the groundwork and looking for an opportunity to talk to them about the Lord.
How to Speak the Truth
The second aspect of Ephesians 4:15 is we ought to be speaking the truth in love. We ought to be loving in what and how we speak to people.
It may be the truth when we point out the sinfulness of the a person, and they are on their way to hell, but it may not be loving.
In James 3:2 God says that if we offend not, then we are mature. What we say to the lost, we should say in love.
Condition of Spiritual Growth
So we should be speaking on love, and we should be speaking the truth about Jesus Christ and His Word. If we do that what will happen? We “May grow up.” That is how we grow up spiritually. We become spiritually mature. “Grow up into Him in all things which is the head even Christ.”
Pleasant Speach
Look at Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
What we need to do is have the right answer when people ask us.
It seems like the world is more interested in giving a smart mouth answer, or some kind of cut down, or cutting remark. That is exactly opposite of what God has commanded us to do.
Purpose of Grace
To have the right answer, God says that our answer should always be with grace. Ephesian 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith. We are saved by grace through faith and Titus 2:11 tells us that it is the grace of God that brings salvation. So our answers should always have grace in mind. But Titus 2:12 tells us what else grace does. God says that grace is: “Teaching us.” What is grace teaching us? It is teaching us, “That, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
The grace of God is not only appearing to all men, but it is teaching us how to live.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Verse 10 continues telling us what grace is teaching us after it has brought us salvation. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that weshould…” There is that word again. God did not say that we would walk in them walk in them, nor did God say that we must walk in them. He said, “that we should walk in them.”
We are supposed to walk in good works. Walking in good works would be kind of like “sanctifying the Lord God in your hearts.” Your heart is single minded to do the right thing.
The Answer
I Peter 3:15 puts it this way: “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:” That means you set Him apart. That means you put Him up on a pedestal. That means that He is the only thing that you are concerned about worshipping and obeying. When you have done that, then what? “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” So we are to give an answer to every man. What kind of answer?
Colossians 4:6 tells us: “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
What does it mean to be seasoned with salt? If something is seasoned with salt, what does that do? It creates thirst. Your conversations ought to create thirst for the grace of God.
Salt also makes things taste better. It makes things palatable.
If I say that if you do not trust Christ as Savior you will go to hell when you die. That is true. However, that may not make the gospel palatable. Rather than talking about the sinfulness of man, and the depravity of man, and the wrath of God against sin, maybe we should consider talking more about the grace of God.
Salt also preserves. If a person accepts the grace of God, then they will be preserved. You see, we do not believe in the perseverance of the saints, because the saints do not persevere, no do they have to. We believe in the preservation of the saints. God keeps us saved by His power, therefore, we are persevered to salvation by God.
So we are to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. That is the solution to the third step in sin. Then we are to use our mouth to give an answer of grace to every man. That is the solution to the fourth step of sin which is speaking about evil.
The Subject
So what are we to talk about? We are to talk about things that will bring the grace of God to the lost, and then teach them the way of salvation. After that, continue to talk about the grace of God by teaching them the way of the Christian life. Teach them that they should deny ungodliness and worldly lust and live soberly, righteously, honestly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
In view of that, what should be our conclusion? We must be careful what we say, because the tongue can be a world of iniquity.
How to Get to Heaven
If you have never trusted Christ to save you, why not trust Him now? There is nothing required of you except to trust what Jesus has already done to get you to heaven. Believe that He came and took your sin upon Himself. Then He died and paid for all your sin. All He requires of us is that we trust what He did. If you will trust Him, then you can know that you have eternal life. God says in I John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” He says that you can know that you have eternal life. You do not have to hope. You do not have to “maybe.” You do not have to wish or guess.
Who can know it? “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
We can also know that we “have eternal life.” You do not have to wait until you die to get it, because you have it now, if you have trusted Christ for it.
And it is eternal life, so you can never lose it. If it were only life until you lose it, or committed some unpardonable sin, ten it would not be eternal life. All we have to do is believe on His name.
Believing ion His name is believing that Jesus is God the father who came to earth. Believe He took our sins upon Himself, then He died to pay for all of our sins. That is, actually, what His name means. If you have never trusted Jesus, I exhort you to do so now. Dr. Jerry Lloyd
Memory Verse
“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.” James 3:2
What is the sign of a perfect man?
“If any man offend not in__________, the same is a perfect man.”
The word “perfect” in the Bible does not refer to being without sin. Nobody is perfect in that respect. That concept is expressed in the Bible as “righteousness.” To get to heaven, we must be completely righteous. However, nobody is perfectly righteous. We have all sinned. The righteousness required for us to go to heaven is given to us by Jesus Christ as a free gift. Now, just because it is free, does not mean that it was cheap. It cost Jesus His life when He shed His blood on the cross to pay for sin, because the wages of sin is death. Consequently, there is nothing we can do to get ourselves to heaven. That is why Jesus did everything to get us to heaven for us. All we must do is believe that He is the one who has justified the ungodly, then He gives us the righteousness required to get to heaven.
In this verse, perfection is not talking about going to heaven. It is talking about living a mature Christian life after we have obtained eternal life by believing.
So, after 1st-listening to sinful things, 2nd –Watching sinful things, and 3rd-thinking about sinful things (all three of which are sins in themselves), the 4th step of sin is talking about sinful things.
If a person can bridle his tongue, what else can he bridle?
“Able also to bridle the whole _________________ .”
Notice the inseparable relationship between what you talk about, and what you do in your body. So, we need to see the truth and agree with the instruction of the children’s song: “Be careful little mouth what we say.”
Dr. Jerry Lloyd
Memory Verse
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Proverb 18:8
With what are the words of a talebearer compared?
“The words of a talebearer are as _______________ .”
In the song by Don Francisco, “Everybody Else but Me,” he sings the lines: “He talked about watching the things we say, Gossip that can wound and slay.”
However, when we look at the previous verse, we get a little different spin on the above verse:
“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.” Proverb 18:7
The wounds God is talking about are, actually, self-inflicted. The mouth is his own destruction of the talebearer, and his lips are the snare of his own soul. So, it appears that the words of the talebearer go down into the innermost parts of his own belly causing stomach disease.
_______________________________________________
Memory Verse
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36
What will we be required to give in the day of judgment?
“They shall give ________ thereof in the day of judgment.”
The idea or giving an account at the day of judgment gives the idea of an accountant balancing his ledger. God has placed at least five things in our stewardship to use to further His kingdom. They are material goods (money and material things), talents, energy, opportunity, and time.
How many times do we have an opportunity to speak to someone about the plan of salvation, and instead we simply “talk about the weather” or “who won the game and who got beat?” Instead we use idle words that accomplish no work for the kingdom of God.
Memory Verse
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29
What must we not let proceed out of our mouth?
“Let no ________ __________ proceed out of your mouth.”
What should our words do instead?
“That which is good to the use of _______________ .”
What aspect of the ministry is this?
“That it may minister _______________ unto the hearers.”
What will grace do for them?
“By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8
Memory Verse
“For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” Ephesians 5:12
What does God have to say about talking about secret sins?
“It is a _________________ even to speak of those things
which are done of them in secret.”
You may have heard it said, “If you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
That reminds me of the lady that said, “I don’t say anything about anyone unless it is good, and believe me this is really good!”
Then a fellow said this about that lady, “That was no lady.
That was my wife.”
Memory Verse
“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Ephesians 4:15
What two qualities are required for a believer to grow up spiritually?
“But _____________ the ____________ in __________ .”
The question naturally arises, “What truth are we supposed to speak?” The answer is really clear. We are commanded to share the truth of the gospel. It is our duty to share the truth that God the Father came to earth to die and pay for all of our sins. We have all sinned, and the payment for all sin is death. Therefore, there is nothing we can do to solve the sin problem. However, Jesus took all of our sin onto Himself. Then He died to pay for all of our sin. The only thing that He requires of us is that we believe His promise concerning eternal life. We must believe who He is and what He did. By dying on the cross God the Father did everything necessary to save us and keep us saved.
Memory Verse
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6
What should always be the subject of our speech?
“Let your speech be alway with _______________ .”
According to Titus 2:11-12, the grace of God does 2 things. It brings salvation, and it teaches us how to live the Christian life.
According to Ephesians 2:8-10 grace brings the grace that saves us when we believe without any work, commitment, promise, sorrow, turning, confession, following or anything of ourselves other than faith alone in Christ alone for salvation.
However, grace teaches us that after we are saved we should do all of those things to grow as a Christian.