The following sermon was delivered
on Sunday morning, January 19, 2003, at Trinity Baptist Church
in Montville, New Jersey. Second only to the sins of the
mind and of the thoughts, no sins are easier to commit than
are the sins of the tongue. You hear me? Second only to the
sins of the mind and of the thoughts, some of which have been committed
right here in this place in the past 50 minutes since we began
our worship. Second only to such sins. No
sins are easier to commit than are the sins of the tongue. And yet, perhaps no category
of sin is indulged with less concern, less sense of guilt,
less sense of shame, than are the sins of the tongue. However, over against this careless
attitude to the sins of the tongue stand the changeless, sobering
words of our Lord Jesus. Every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment,
for by your words you shall be justified, and by your words
you shall be condemned. And it is in the light of these
realities and my pastoral burden that we might align our thinking
and our feeling and our speaking with them, that I've been preaching
a series of sermons entitled, Now Concerning the Use of Our
Tongues. And for our deaf friends, it
would be entitled, Now Concerning the Use of Our Hands When They
Function in Place of Our Tongues. And in dealing with this subject,
I began by setting before you five distinct categories of biblical
truth, all of which underscore the crucial importance of this
issue of the use of our tongues. I then proceeded to address some
of the major sins of the tongue as they are identified in the
Word of God, namely the sin of lying, the sin of corrupt speech,
the sin of abusive speech, and the sin of gossipy, intrusive,
and meddlesome speech. And this was not in any way meant
to be an exhaustive identification of the sins identified in scripture,
but merely selective and suggestive. We then proceeded to take up
the question, how can we overcome the sins of the tongue? That
is, what is the biblical antidote to this horrible plague of a
sinning tongue? And in answering that question,
I began with taking up with you what I called the essential prerequisite
for overcoming the sins of the tongue. And with Matthew 12,
34 to 36 as our major point of reference and exposition, we
saw that the essential prerequisite for overcoming the sins of the
tongue is nothing less than the gracious, supernatural work of
regenerating, renewing grace That work which in the language
of that passage changes the evil tree or corrupt tree into a good
tree so that it may bring forth the good fruit of good words.
Or in the second analogy used by our Lord, that the evil treasure
of the heart will become a good treasure out of which will come
good things, that is, good words. But then last Lord's Day, we
took up the question, does this real, supernatural, radical transformation
of heart, one of the great blessings of the New Covenant, does it
automatically work itself out in our speech patterns? Do we
just sit back, shift into neutral, take our hands off the oars and
say, well, the tree has been made a good tree, I'll just watch
it bear good fruit. The treasure has been made a
good treasure. I'll just watch the good things
spill out. And the answer to that question
is no. The God who transforms us is
the God who tells us that we are responsible to work out our
own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is He who is at work in
us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And so
I began to set before you what I called additional directives
for overcoming the sins of the tongue. And we had time to consider
three such biblical directives, and they were these. Number one,
We ought to engage in consistent, earnest prayer that God will
guard the use of our tongues. And we considered especially
Psalm 141 in verse 3, where the psalmist, using military imagery,
asked God to set up a garrison of soldiers before his mouth,
and to guard the door of his mouth. And taking that imagery,
I set before you that rather Bunyanesque perspective of those
four captains who have a key in their hands, and they must
put the key into the lock and retract the deadbolt until the
door can open in a righteous way. Captain Sanctity, Captain
Love, Captain Necessity, and Captain Propriety. And then secondly,
we saw that if we are to overcome the sins of the tongue, we ought
to engage in a conscious and constant effort to bridle our
tongues. And we looked at two major texts,
Psalm 39.1 and James 1.26. And then thirdly, I set before you the fact that
we ought to engage in a continuous biblical response to our union
with Christ as it applies to the use of our tongues. Romans
6 and in particular verses 11 to 14. Now we come this morning
to take up several more biblical directives for overcoming the
sins of the tongue. Directives that do not appear
immediately on the surface. of the text that we're going
to consider, but which I trust, after examining the text with
me, will persuade you that these are indeed essential, vital,
necessary biblical directives if we are to make continual progress
in overcoming the sins of the tongue. So here's directive number
four. We ought to engage in a continuous
honing, h-o-n-i-n-g, honing of our consciences by the many scriptures
which address the issue of the use of our tongues. I'm asserting
that according to the Bible, if you and I would make progress
in overcoming the sins of our tongues, we ought to engage in
a continuous honing of our consciences by the many scriptures which
address the issue of the use of our tongues. Now, by using
the word honing, I hope you understand what I mean. If you were to go
into a butcher shop and watch an expert butcher work, you would
notice that next to his knives there would be a whetstone. And
every so often he pauses in his cutting up of the meat to take
his knife and to run it over the whetstone. He is honing the
edge of his knife which becomes dull as it cuts through the meat
and touches bone. And if he is to cut and do his
work efficiently as a butcher, he must keep a keen edge upon
his knife. And the only way to do it is
by continual honing because they are influences upon the edge
of that knife as he does his work as a butcher that continually
take the edge off his knife. And I am saying that in a similar
way our conscience is that internal moral monitor that says to us
when we're about to speak, yes, that's righteous, no, that's
sinful, or having spoken, gives us approval or condemns us for
what we have said or the manner in which we have said it, that
there are continual influences to take the edge off our consciences. the influence of our remaining
sin, the influence of the world with its horrible indifference
to the sins of the tongue. And unless we are continually
honing the edge of our consciences by the word of God, we will make
little or no progress in overcoming the sins of the tongue. We will
be permitting in ourselves and endorsing from others things
that God identifies as sin, but which we will not have the moral
sensitivity to recognize as sin. Now this, of course, brings us
immediately into this category of the place of the Word of God
in our ongoing sanctification, generically. And the Bible is
clear that if you and I are to make progress in the life of
holiness, there must be continuous, constant, vital interaction of
our minds and hearts with our Bibles. Psalm 1. How is the blessed
man or woman described? described not only negatively
as the one who does not walk in the counsel of ungodly, sit
in the seat of scoffers, etc., but he delights in the law of
God, and on that law he meditates day and night. He is continually
bringing mind and soul, perspectives on all things, into direct contact
with his Bible. Or Joshua 1.9, this book of the
law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate
therein day and night, for so you will make your way prosperous
and have good success. or the prayer of our Lord Jesus
in John 17, 17. Father, sanctify them in the
truth. Your Word is truth. Our Lord Jesus recognizes that
His purpose that His people be sanctified will be realized only
so far as the truth is continually exerting its influence upon them. And then another passage you
may want to look up at your leisure is Proverbs 4 20-23 in which
the father exhorts his son to keep in constant contact with
his words and thereby he will be enabled to guard his heart
above all that he guards for out of it are the issues of life. So then, I'm asserting that if
you're serious, if I'm serious about making progress in overcoming
the sins of the tongue, we ought to engage in this continuous
honing of our consciences by the many scriptures which address
the issue of the use of our tongues. And therefore I would urge you
to go over periodically the major texts that I used in those five
categories of the opening message showing how vital this is. Matthew
12, James 1, James 3, the Ten Commandments. But especially
I would urge you to be reading regularly in the book of Proverbs.
And I'm going to do something this morning I've never done
in 40 years of preaching here. So I still learn new tricks.
I'm not in a rut. I'm in a rut with my blue Oxford
shirts, I know that, and my wingtips. But if I got out of that rut,
some of you would think the world was coming to an end. So I say
sartorially predictable, all right? But with respect to how
we handle the Word of God, there are no artificial rules. And
I want you to turn to the book of Proverbs. Tighten your seatbelt.
and I want us to do together what I'm urging you to do periodically
and I'm only going to do it with the first half of the book of
Proverbs and I'm only being selective with the verses in the first
half of the book of Proverbs now you're ready to take your
conscience regarding your tongue and put it on the whetstone and
have it dragged over and back and forth All right, here we
go. We're going to equip our consciences
by the Word of God. Proverbs, we start in chapter
4. And I'm going to read these verses
without comment. Now some of you sit there and
say, huh, I bet you can't. The very fact you're thinking
it makes the stubborn streak in me say, I'll prove you wrong.
All right? Proverbs, chapter 4. Verse 24,
put away from you a wayward mouth and perverse lips put far from
you. Chapter 6 and verse 12, a worthless
person, a man of iniquity is he that walks with a perverse
mouth. Chapter 6, verse 16, there are
six things that the Lord hates, yea, seven that are an abomination
unto him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, verse 19, a false witness
that utters lies, and he that sows discord among brethren. Chapter 8, verses 6 to 8, wisdom
personified speech. Chapter 8, verses 6 to 8, Hear,
for I will speak excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall
be right things, for my mouth shall utter truth, and wickedness
is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are
in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverse
in them. Chapter 10, verse 11, The mouth
of the righteous is a fountain of life, But violence covers
the mouth of the wicked. Chapter 10 verses 19 to 21. In the multitude of words there
lacks not transgression, but he that refrains his lips does
wisely. The tongue of the righteous is
as choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of
little worth. The lips of the righteous feed
many, but the foolish die. for lack of understanding. Chapter 11, verse 13, He that
goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets, but he that is of a
faithful spirit conceals a matter. Chapter 12, verses 17 to 19,
He that utters truths shows forth righteousness, but a false witness
deceit. There is that speaks rashly like
the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise is health. The lip of truth shall be established
forever, but a lying tongue is bought for a moment. Verse 22,
lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but they that deal
truly are his delight. Chapter 13, verse 3, he that
guards his mouth keeps his life. But he that opens wide his lips
shall have destruction. A righteous man hates lying,
but a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame. In the mouth of the foolish is
a rod for his pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve
them. A faithful witness will not lie. But a false witness utters lies. Verse 25 of the same chapter.
A true witness delivers souls, but he that utters lies causes
deceit. Chapter 15, verses 1 and 2. A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a grievous word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise
utters knowledge aright, but the mouth of fools pours out
folly. Verse 4. A gentle tongue is a
tree of life, but perverseness therein is a breaking of the
spirit. Verse 7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but
the heart of the foolish does not so. Verse 23 A man hath joy
in the answer of his mouth, and a word in due season. How good
it is! Verse 26 Evil devices are an
abomination to the Lord, Pleasant words are pure, verse 28, the
heart of the righteous studies to answer, but the mouth of the
wicked pours out evil things. Now I did it. No comment. I just ran your content back
and forth. over the whetstone of selected
verses from one half of the book of Proverbs and some of the most
penetrating, convicting, instructing, encouraging words and the use
of the tongue are found in the last half. You say, you sure? Yes. How do you know? Because
I read it. Now you do the same. Now this is what I'm talking
about. If Jesus is praying, Father, sanctify them in the truth. Your
Word is truth. It will not do to moan and groan
and mourn the fact that you're always flapping your lips, and
you're running off at the mouth, and you're speaking cutting words,
and you're making no progress. Get in touch with your Bible. Get your conscience honed by
your Bible. frequent, prayerful, earnest
contact with the Word of the Living God. Now what I plan to do to help
you, I've spoken to Harry about this, I'm going to make a tape
and a CD in which I'm simply going to read, as I did this
morning without comment, major passages from the Old and the
New Testament that deal with the use of the tongue. Probably
come out, I guess, to about maybe half an hour of pure Bible. I'm
going to try to read it thoughtfully, prayerfully, meaningfully, with
emphasis, as I did this morning, and make that available to you.
Periodically, stick that tape in. Periodically, stick that
CD in. Shut off that rotten hell music
in your ears, and get the music of heaven in your ears. And if
you so, Until these verses, when you're tempted to speak, Captain
Sanctity will be there, armed with all these verses." And he
said, no, no, no, no way I'm going to stick my key in that
door. Captain Love and all of those other guards upon the door
of our mouths. I discovered something a few
weeks ago when I began this series. And I've been haunted by it.
And I said, that's what we're talking about. This is the kind
of seriousness. A number of years ago, there
was a dear sister in this assembly that became aware of the fact
that she had flapping lips. She talked too much. And the
Spirit of God dealt with her. And she had dealings with God.
And whether it began with the series on the bridal tongue and
the subsequent series I preached at a conference similar to that,
I don't know. But this dear sister told me
that what she did after God dealt with her, every six months she
listened to those two series of sermons to do what? To get
her conscience honed afresh about this matter of the use of her
tongue. And all of us who know that sister will testify that
we have seen and heard her progress in the sanctification of her
tongue. Because she's bringing it in
constant contact with the Word of God that addresses the issue
of the tongue. Are you that serious? If you
aren't, then why go moaning and groaning and repenting and going
back and moaning and groaning and repenting? You're really
not serious about dealing with your sin. This is God's means
that He has put in our hands. And so my fourth directive from
the Bible to overcome the sins of the tongue is this. You ought
to engage in a continuous honing of your conscience by the many
scriptures which address the issue of the use of your tongue. All right? Directive number five.
And it is this, you must seek to be continually filled with
the Holy Spirit, or, to state it in another way, that perhaps
doesn't carry the baggage of false associations with that
term, you must maintain vigorous, general spiritual health. You and I will not make progress
in overcoming the sins of the tongue, if that is one of our
besetting sins, unless we are committed to the maintenance
of overall vigorous spiritual health. And here I ask you to
turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5. This will be our primary text. Ephesians chapter 5. Just a word about the context
of verses 18 to 21. From chapter 4 and verse 17 onward,
Paul is describing the alternative lifestyle to which all true believers
are called. This I say, therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk. This is what he's saying. You're
no longer to walk as your former pagan associates walk. You're
to walk in the newness of life that is yours in union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. So from 417 onward we have various
descriptions of this alternative lifestyle to which the people
of God are called in Jesus Christ. And no little part of that lifestyle
touches the use of our tongues. Look at verse 25. Wherefore,
putting away falsehood, speak truth, each one with his neighbor. And then furthermore, verse 29,
we are told, Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but
such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may
give grace to them that hear. Verse 31, Let all bitterness,
wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, abusive speech be
put away from you with all malice. Chapter 5 and verse 4, neither
filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not befitting
but rather giving of thanks. In other words, As Paul envisions
those Ephesian believers living out by the grace of God in union
with Christ this alternative Christian lifestyle in the midst
of their pagan associates, he has in mind an alternative lifestyle
that will very practically and pervasively influence what comes
out of their mouths. And he's described those things
primarily in negative terms, not exclusively, as we'll see
tonight. In tonight's message, there is a very positive nuance
in one of these texts. I'm not going to tell you which
one and preempt myself. But for the most part, it's in
terms of negatives. Not this, not this, not this.
No lying, no bitterness, no anger, no railing, no clamor, etc. But
now, how is this to be done? Well, when Paul comes to chapter
5 to summarize the exhortations, notice what he says in verse
15. Look, therefore, carefully how you walk, not as unwise,
but as wise. In other words, you and I are
to have a conscious concern about the manner in which we walk.
That is, whether or not, by the grace of God, we are living out
this alternative lifestyle in union with Christ that is in
marked contrast to the Gentiles, to the pagans, to the unconverted
around us. Look, therefore, carefully how
you walk. Not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming
the time, buying up the opportunity, because the days are evil. Wherefore,
do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Understand what God's will for you is. God's will for you in
living out this alternative lifestyle in every department of your life. without exception. Everywhere
I am, everything I do, everything I say is to manifest I am new
man, new woman in union with Jesus Christ. Everything about
me is to bear witness to that reality. Now he comes in verse
18, And do not be drunk with wine wherein is riot, but be
being filled with the Spirit. Be continually under the control
and domination of the Spirit's influence. Be continually filled
with the Spirit. That's the imperative. And then
he gives five participles that I like to consider as the conduits
that flow out of the Spirit-filled heart. Where you find a man,
where you find a woman, a boy or girl who is continually being
filled with the Spirit, What will the manifestation of that
be? Will it be that they bark like
dogs and jump like animals doing speed, as some people up in Toronto
and other places say, or fall back down dead? No, no! Will
they jump and scream and break out into gibberish and call it
speaking? No, no, no, no. Paul said, listen
to me. Be continually filled with the
Spirit and hear the conduits that flow out of the Spirit-filled
heart into life and into other relationships. Here they are.
speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, giving
thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ to God, even the Father, submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of Christ. Five participles that describe
the conduits that flow out of the Spirit-filled heart in life,
and three of them have to do with this member. Right here. Three of them. Three of the five.
Look at them. Be being filled with the Spirit,
speaking, singing, giving thanks. All of those are things you do
with your tongue. In other words, Paul says, the
most effective way to have the tongue controlled and not to
sin, and to be an instrument of praise to God, edification
to your brethren, a tongue that is a fountain of life, is to
be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is to maintain vigorous
general spiritual health. You see that? Do you see that in the passage?
Do you see that in your Bibles? So that if you and I want to
make progress in overcoming the sins of the tongue, we must seek
to be continually filled with the Spirit. That is, we must
maintain vigorous, general spiritual health. And you see, this leads
us into one of the most vital principles of the Christian life.
And it's very powerfully and clearly articulated By John Owen,
as so often in matters of the spiritual life, John Owen says
it, and when he is done saying it, once you work through the
long sentences and the clauses and the rest, you say, ah, that's
it. Listen to what Owen said. It is utterly impossible to keep
the heart in a prevailing holy frame in any specific duty, unless
it be so in and unto all and every duty. If sin entanglements
get hold in any one thing, they will put themselves upon the
soul in every thing. A constant, even frame and temper
in all duties, in all ways, is the only preservative for any
one way. Let not him who is negligent
in public duties persuade himself that all will be clear and easy
in private duties. In other words, the man who's
careless about the instituted means of grace within the church,
let him not think he's going to have fruitful times alone
with God. If he thinks he is, he's self-deceived. And let not
him who is careless in private means think he will prosper by
public means. Owen says no. There is a harmony
in obedience. Break but one part and you interrupt
the whole. Our wounds in particular arise
generally from negligence as to the whole course. That's what
David understood when he said, then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect unto all your commandments. A universal respect
to all of God's commandments is the only preservative from
shame. And nothing have we more reason
to be ashamed of than the shameful miscarriages of our hearts in
specific points of duty. which come from our violation
of this principle. You see what Owen is saying?
You want to make progress in this matter of controlling your
tongue and the sins of your tongue? Then you must be committed to
being continually filled with the Spirit, with a view that
in all duties and in all relationships, you will be manifesting the grace
and power of Christ. That's the point. You can't be
careless and sloppy and lazy regarding the maintenance of
your general spiritual state and expect progress in overcoming
the sins of your tongue or any other specific besetting sin. All right, then we come to biblical
directive number six. Would we make progress in overcoming
the sins of the tongue? Here's directive number six.
You must exercise discretion in the choice of your friends
and in your voluntary social associations. Now hear me carefully. You must exercise discretion
in the choice of your friends and your voluntary social associations. Now, voluntary social associations,
I mean those social associations where you have a choice as to
who you'll associate with. In your place of work, there
are some people you have to associate with. It's not your choice. It
was your employer's choice. He hired them. And you happen
to be under the same roof, in the same cubicle, in the same
part of the wing of the office. I'm talking about those social
associations where you have a choice as to whether or not you will
enter them or not enter them. All right? Now what I'm saying
is this, the Bible teaches if you and I would make progress
in overcoming the sins of the tongue, we must exercise discretion
in the choice of our friends and our voluntary social associations. The Bible is abundantly clear
in teaching that there is a moral and ethical contagion by association. Where does it teach that? Well,
it works in two ways. Turn to Proverbs 13 and verse
20. It works both positively and
negatively. Proverbs 13 and verse 20. Walk with wise men and you shall
be wise. In other words, when you voluntarily
choose to come into close friendships with men and women of wisdom,
their wisdom will rub off on you. As you listen, as you observe,
as you interact, there will be a kind of spiritual osmosis in
which their wisdom becomes yours by association. Walk with wise
men and you shall be wise. There's the positive, but look
at the negative. But the companion of fools shall smart for it. You choose to be with fools,
and remember, fools in the book of Proverbs especially are not
people with limited IQ, who only get 700 on their SATs. No, no. Fools are morally perverse
people, whose moral perversity comes out in their tongues. Solomon
is saying, and if you choose to be a companion of fools, you'll
smart for it. There will be a negative contagion
of their spiritual folly. It will get into your spiritual
pores and into your system, and it will be coming out in many
ways, not the least of which will be your mouth. And surely,
this is what Paul meant when he said in 1 Corinthians 15.22,
don't be deceived. Don't be deceived, evil companions corrupt good
morals. Oh, but I'm so strong they want
to die. No, no, get off that stuff. Who
so trusts in his own heart is a fool, the Bible says. Oh, I'm
so strong. No, no, you're a fool. If you
think you're the exception to this, you're a fool, God says.
Don't be a fool, young people. You're a fool if you trust your
own heart. I'll overturn this. I can walk
with fools and not smart for it. You're a fool. That's what God calls you. No,
be not deceived. Evil companions corrupts good
morals. What's the first thing Solomon
warns his son about in Proverbs chapter 1? After setting out
the purpose of these Proverbs, And after entreating him to listen
to his counsel, what's the first thing he warns him about, starting
in verse 10? You know? If you don't know,
you ought to turn there. The first thing he warns him
about. Look at it. Proverbs 1, after
verse 8, hear the instruction of your father, forsake not the
law of your mother, The blessings that will come, verse 10, my
son, if sinners entice you, don't consent if they say, come with
us! Come with us! They know, they're
smarter than he is. They know if they can get him
into intimate social contact, they'll get him into their moral
perversity. And the Father says, son, don't
do it. Don't do it! Don't do it. Here we have a problem. We're
struggling with this matter of controlling our tongue. And we've
got some close friends. And lo and behold, they've got
the same problem. They've got flappy lips too. They smart mouth
their mums and dads. Like you are tempted to do. They
use corrupt speech. They use locker room talk like
you're tempted to do. They tell borderline dirty jokes
like you're tempted to do. They lie and brag about it like
you're tempted to do. Now what are you going to do? If you don't exercise discretion,
and the determination to break off those friendships, you're
a fool. And you do not have any grounds
to believe you're serious about overcoming the sins of your tongue. In a less gross manifestation,
some of you have friends when you get on the phone. Those friends
gossip. Did you hear? Did you know? You're
tempted to gossip. The fundamental difference is
you're waging all-out warfare and they aren't. They're no help to you. They
cause you to stumble and sin again and again and again. What
are you to do? Alright, let's look at the explicit
directives of the book of Proverbs and the book of 2 Thessalonians.
Proverbs 20 and verse 19. Don't take Pastor Martin's word
for it by inference. Listen to the explicit directive
of the Word of God. Proverbs 20 in verse 19. He that
goes about as a tailbearer reveals secrets. Therefore, do not keep
company with him that opens wide his lips. See what God is saying? You got someone that opens wide
their lips? Telling their tales, speaking where they ought not.
God says, bug off, back out, get away. Oh, but they're my
friends. Who's your friend more? The Christ
who redeemed you by his precious blood to give you a holy tongue?
Or your friend who provokes you to sin? Who do you love more? Who do you love more? Yeah, but
if that's so, then I'll be left all alone. Alone with who? Alone with your Savior, whose
fellowship will be precious in your social loneliness, if that's
the price you pay to do it, it says. The text could not be more
explicit. Company not with Him that opens
wide His lips. Bub off! Back off! Get away! Have the moral discernment
and courage to say, you are no help to me in overcoming the
sins of my tongue. Either change your ways or our
friendship is over. I said, Pastor, you're serious.
You bet your boots I'm serious. Because that's what my Bible
says. Couldn't be clearer. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. What does Paul say the church
members are to do with this person walking in a disorderly way?
He says, we command you, verse 6, we command you, 2 Thessalonians
3, 6, we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus,
withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly.
And there were two manifestations of the disorderliness. The prominent
was, they were lazy, they wouldn't work. And Paul goes on to explain
that. He says, if a man won't work,
let him not eat. Withdraw from him, that he'll
feel the pressure of that social ostracization, and perhaps come
to repentance. But there was a second manifestation
of that disorderliness. And notice what it was. 2 Thessalonians
3 and verse 12. Now verse 11, we hear that some
walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, primary manifestation,
but are busybodies. They don't work with their hands,
but they're constantly flapping their tongues. And he said, withdraw
yourself from them. Break off the social interaction. Break it off to what end? that
they might feel the pressure, that they might feel the pressure
of being cut off from the people of God, and if they're true saints,
that kills them. True saints can't live in isolation
with delight! And they'll change their ways
by the grace of God. Let me use a very silly illustration. Here's a man that reads Prevention
Magazine's article next month. And this lead article is on the
overwhelming evidence of the benefits of garlic to reduce
cholesterol and to give you a healthy heart. And this guy says, well,
I want to reduce my cholesterol and I want to have a healthy
heart. And he doesn't take the time to do his research. Prevention
is the last word on things. And I know people like that.
If it's in prevention, that's gospel. Whether there have been
double blind studies, whether there have been controlled studies,
it doesn't matter. Prevention says it, that's gospel.
So he's one of these prevention nuts. His prevention magazine
is his bible. He's going to have a healthy
heart. I mean, he's going to get his cholesterol down to 14. I mean, whoa, he's
going to do it. So he tells his wife, now honey,
I want you every week, I want you to pick me up a whole bunch
of nice fresh garlic. Because I've read in prevention
that just getting the garlic pills, get in isolation, nice
coated pill, there's certain matters, ingredients in the natural
garlic that help to be the catalyst to get the benefit of it. And
so he determines that every morning he's going to put down four whole
garlic cloves. I mean four. So he strips the
husk off them and every morning, just before he goes out, he pops
in his four cloves of garlic and he chews them and swallows
them down. He goes bouncing off to work. I'm the most healthy-hearted
guy in the world! But what happens? Coffee break comes and he sits
down with his associates. and starts to talk, one by one. This one has to go to the bathroom,
and this one has to go back to the office soon, and lo and behold,
he's left all alone drinking his coffee. So he goes back the
next day, and the same thing happens. And he says, you know,
what's wrong with me? Well, one day, one of his associates
has the decency and the courage to take him aside and put the
shoulder and say, John, I don't know what's happened to you,
but I tell you, Your breath has literally been curling my beard.
I go home and someone else comes to me the next day and says,
John, I don't know what's happened to you, but you know, my olfactory
nerves are getting singed. So I go home and I can't smell
anything in the house. And so his friends gather around
him and tell him, John, if you want our company, cut out the
garlic. Okay? Another one of those stupid,
silly Pastor Martin illustrations. Did you see the application?
If you've got garlic breath, if your mouth is garlic breath,
alright, you gossip, you're a busybody, you're intrusive, abusive, all
of those areas of sin, And the people of God smell your breath
and do what God says. You see what will happen to that
person? Sooner or later you say, what's wrong? Nobody seems to
be close to me. And they say, John, you've got
spiritual garlic breath. My Bible says I'm not to company
with those that are tail bearers. My Bible says I'm to withdraw
myself from busybodies. And John, you're a tail-bearer
and a busybody. You speak negatively of brothers
and sisters. You speak with words that are
unkind and ungracious. And John, the Bible says we're
not to keep company with you. Well, one of two things is going
to happen. He's going to say, well, I'm determined to have
a good, healthy heart and low cholesterol, phooey on the rest
of the world. Or he's going to find another
way to get his cholesterol down and have a healthy heart. And
if he longs for social intercourse, he's going to deal with his bad
garlic breath. Now that's what Paul says should happen when
believers withdraw. He says, to the end that he may
be ashamed. Change his ways. And we need
to have the kind of godly principle of love that will work like that
in this assembly. so that flapping lips get isolated
with a view to getting rid of the garlic. Now for you who like
your garlic, and I love garlic, but you know what? I don't even
take my garlic pills Sunday mornings. Even though it says no odor,
once in a while my wife will say, honey, I'm not so sure. So Sunday morning, I wouldn't
impose a garlic smell on any of you at the door. I figure
one day out of seven I can give up my healthy heart and try to
get my cholesterol down. You got the point? If we're serious,
if we're serious, we must exercise discretion in the choice of our
friends and our voluntary social associations. But now I want
to say another word. You know what some of our other
voluntary social associations are? Not living people. the flesh
and blood that sit next to us, the social associations of the
kind of music we listen to. All music is either expressive
or impressive. And when you open up your soul
to the association of musical expressions, particularly with
lyrics, that association is either righteous or unrighteous. It's either going to cultivate
in you whatsoever things are pure, lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy,
Philippians 4.8, or that which moves in another direction. The
movies you listen to, the kind of books you read. I get sick
when I look at some of the books written for today's Christian
youth. and there's no sense of the dignity
of language and they use all this I'm gonna and I wanna W-A-N-N-A
and G-U-N-N-A and dear young people is that what you want
to make impressions upon your mind and your soul so you talk
like people out of the ghetto? This tongue will be influenced
by your voluntary social associations. Some of us have found in situations
where they weren't voluntary social associations, I did laboring
work in construction to put myself through college. People in the
construction fields are notorious for their blue language. And
sometimes to this day, Language that came in my ears and made
an impression in the tablets of my soul will seek to leap
out of my mouth fifty years after the fact. Don't think you're an exception. You're a fool if you do. Don't
be deceived. Evil companions corrupt. good
morals and then we come seventh and finally seventh and finally
would you make progress in overcoming the sins of the tongue then you
must you must be more faithful in obeying the manifold imperatives
concerning the giving and receiving of mutual rebuke, admonition
exhortation and instruction concerning the use of our tongues. I know
it's a Martin mouthful, but I don't know how else to reduce the biblical
principles but to state them that way. You and I must be more
faithful in obeying the manifold imperatives, many and their commands,
manifold, many, Imperatives, they are commands concerning
the giving and the receiving of mutual rebuke, admonition,
exhortation, and instruction with respect to the use of our
tongues. Now follow me closely. The New
Testament nowhere envisions your progress in sanctification in
any area or mine. in an atomistic, individualistic
way. The picture of the New Testament
is that everyone who is brought into Christ is brought into his
church. And that it is in the fellowship
of the church that we make progress as individual believers. Now
this is taught everywhere in the New Testament, perhaps nowhere
more succinctly and yet comprehensively in one passage than in Ephesians
chapter 4. where Paul envisions the growth
of every individual believer in the context of the body of
Christ, with pastors and teachers given for the perfecting of the
saints unto works of service. A situation in which every member
of the body speaking to one another in love, through that which every
joint supplies, makes increase of the body of itself in love,
growing up into the fullness of the stature of Christ. That's
the biblical vision of individual sanctification in the context
of the body of Christ, and therefore we need within the body both
to give and to receive admonition when we drift into speech that
violates the norms that we have articulated from the word of
God. And the Apostle Paul in Romans 15, I've just given you
a kind of a brief distillation of Ephesians 4, I commended to
you for your more careful study, but in the interest of time,
I want you to look at Romans 15 in verse 14, where Paul envisions
one of the cardinal marks of spiritual maturity within any
congregation that there is this free, loving exchange of mutual
admonition and exhortation among the people of God. Romans 15
and verse 14. And I myself am persuaded of
you, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness." In other
words, he is confident that they are a people in whom the Spirit
of God is bringing a rich harvest of the fruit of love and of gentleness
and of meekness. I'm quoting from Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, Peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith or faithfulness,
meekness. And Paul says, I'm persuaded
you are a people filled with the Spirit, and the manifold
fruit of the Spirit causing you to be filled with goodness, not
meanness, not I'm going to pick on you-ism. He said, I'm persuaded
you're full of goodness, filled with all knowledge. You're not
a bunch of neophytes running around and just chopping off
heads because you've got a half a verse here and a half a verse
there and you put them together in some distorted way. No, no.
You have an accurate grasp upon the gospel and the implications
of the gospel. And what does he expect from
people full of moral goodness by the Spirit, full of an integrated,
sound biblical knowledge of the ways and Word of God? What does
he expect of them? Look at the text. I am persuaded
of you, my brethren, you are full of goodness, filled with
knowledge, able also to admonish one another." This goodness and
this knowledge flow into this ability to admonish one another. Now you know what that word,
nuthateo, means? To admonish? It means to point
out error and fault and to call someone to account for it, and
to seek to help them to see the way out of that error. That's
what This admonition is, and he says, when you've got a congregation
full of the fruit of the Spirit that is described in a generic
way as goodness, well instructed in the Word of God, the manifestation
of that, among other things, should be there is a free flow
of admonition. people seeing in their brothers
and sisters that which needs to be pointed out at fault, and
the one in whom it is pointed out receiving the benefit of
the admonition, and in turn, that one, by God's grace, being
able to give admonition. This is not, this is not, I say,
an evidence of a mean-spirited, unloving congregation. Some have
the idea, oh, we need to just be one big tub full of love,
where I tolerate everything in you, and you tolerate everything
in me, and where our unwritten code of interaction is, you don't
point out my faults, I don't point out yours, and we will
all be happy, making no progress in grace. Brethren, so often
we're blind to our own sins, and the thing to which we're
blind is very evident to another. And Paul is saying, if I'm filled
with goodness and knowledge, it will be manifested in loving,
gracious, mutual admonition of one another. And by means of
this, We make progress in grace. Many other passages, let me just
quote a few of them randomly almost. Hebrews 3.13. Exhort
one another. There the word is not admonished,
but encouraged. Seek to motivate in a given direction. Exhort one another while it is
called today, lest any of you be heartened through the deceitfulness
of sin. I may be deceived, thinking my
tongue is a tongue of healing in life, when in reality it's
cutting, and it's hurting, and it's wounding. And we need to
love one another, to admonish one another, Galatians 6, 1 and
2. If any one of you be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual,
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself,
lest you also be tempted, brother. I've got all kinds of sins of
the tongue. I have to confess to God, to
my wife, to my fellow elders, to the people of God publicly.
Brother, I don't come to you as a sinless man. But do you
realize when you say, thus and thus and thus, what it appears
like, my brother, is this? You're kidding. No, I'm not kidding.
I never thought of that. Brother, thank you. Thank you. You see the Lord Jesus isn't
going to step down from heaven and do for us what he's told
us to do for one another. He's told us to do that. Restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness. Several texts out of Proverbs,
Proverbs 9 and verse 8 pointing in the same direction. Proverbs
9 and verse 8. Reprove not a scoffer, lest he
hate you. Reprove a wise man, he will love
you. If we're full of knowledge and
we are wise, we're going to love to be reproved. You come to me
and help me to see my sin. I say, you're my friend. Bristle
and say, who are you to talk to me? Brethren, no, no, a wise
man recognizes, I don't see all my sins. My brothers and sisters
may see things I don't. A wise man, he'll love you. Thank you, brother. I want my
tongue to be more and more an instrument of life. Chapter 15,
verses 31 and 32, similar emphasis. The ear that hearkens to the
reproof of life shall abide among the wise. He that refuses correction
despises his own soul. But he that hearkens to reproof
gets understanding. And all through Proverbs that
emphasis is there. Let me give you again a personal
illustration. It stuck with me. We're talking
about something that happened 50 years ago. Think of it, five
decades ago. That's half a century. I was
alive then. I was in college then. That's
right, Brandon. You find that hard to believe,
aren't you? Your eyes are hanging out on your cheeks there. But
that's the truth. And I had developed a close relationship with a dear
missionary who was home on furlough. He was a missionary in Africa.
And we developed a good relationship. His name was Dr. Thompson. And
he held to some views that were not exactly the party line in
that particular Christian college. And one day in chapel, the president
of the college said things that, in my judgment sitting there,
were just a dig at my dear friend. Dr. Thompson. So I went to his
office sometime shortly thereafter, and thinking I would be his friend
and draw near to him, I said, Doc, I said, they really gave
it to you from the chapel platform this morning, didn't they? In
other words, I was seeking to strengthen my friendship. I said,
hey, I'm your buddy, and I want you to know I don't like that
they gave it to you. You know how he answered me? 50 years
ago, and the words are right there as though he'd said them
to me between Sunday school and church today. He said, Albert,
the chapel speaker will give account of himself to God. I
will give account of myself to God. And you will give account
of yourself to God. You talk about an 18 year old
kid withering. End of discussion. What was he doing? He was being
a wise reprover. And I thank God upon an obedient
ear. I wanted to please Christ, but
in my youthful enthusiasm I thought I was going to be his friend. I was going to be his champion.
I was going to stand by him when he got lampooned. But he had
grace to know no good would come. from discussing that issue. And
how many times in 50 years has God brought that scene before
my mind and my mouth has been sealed.
It's kept me from a ton of sin. He loved me enough to reprove
me. Oh, dear people, is there anybody
in this congregation that this morning could look around and
say, that one, that one, this one loved me enough to reprove
me, to admonish me about my tongue? Is there anyone that can say,
I admonish so-and-so sitting here? And they received me with
such grace and gratitude. They've made it easy for me to
feel I could go again. That's the climate we must cultivate
in this place. What would you say, pastor, there'll
be someone who thinks he's the Lord's chief high executioner?
He'll go around admonishing everything that lives and breathes and walks?
We'll take care of him. Alright? We have those once in
a while. And then we take him aside and
say, look my brother, the Lord didn't appoint you as his chief
high executioner. And then we just gently tow him
in. But for the most part, far more harm has come to this congregation
by sinful silence among people full of goodness and full of
knowledge who were silent than among the young wild Turks who
went around chopping off heads. May God help us. Well, I've given
you these seven what I believe are biblical directives. If we're
serious about making progress and controlling the sins of the
tongue, engaging in earnest prayer that God will set a watch, conscious
effort to bridle our tongues, engage in biblical responses
to our union with Christ, continue to hone our consciences, seek
to be filled with the Spirit, exercise discretion in the choice
of our friends, and be more faithful in our mutual admonition. And
I can hear an objection. Oh, that's a lot to do. God is. But remember, he that seems to
be religious and bridles not his tongue deceives his own heart,
his religion is vain. Someone says, but pastor, am
I supposed to do that all at once? No. May I encourage you
to take just one of those principles a week for the next seven weeks
and pray them in. Say, Lord, this week help me
to concentrate on this principle. on this weaponry, in dealing
with my tongue, pray it in, work it out, until these things become,
as it were, second nature and part of the whole complex of
your inner life. If you're not a Christian, you
sit here this morning and say, man, oh man, if this is what
it is to be a Christian, to be so persnickety about what you
say and what you don't say, man, I'm not sure I want that. My
friend, if you don't want that, you don't want Christ, you don't
want heaven. because Christ came to save us from our sins, not
in them. He died on the cross to have a people we'll see next
week in Titus 2, zealous for good works, zealous to have a
godly tongue. May God grant that if this is
not your passion, you'll see that your words will condemn
you in the day of judgment and you need to go to the Christ
who alone can forgive you and transform you and give you a
heart that longs to have a holy tongue. Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful that
your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. We
never cease to marvel at its richness, and we pray that you
would help us in the light of the things we've contemplated
today to become a people more and more whose tongues are indeed
instruments of life and grace, and not instruments of death
and of harm to others. Seal then your word to our hearts,
for your glory and for our good we pray, Amen.