Lies Concerning Words - Pastor Kenneth Woolf

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New Life COTR Sunday June 3, 2007
THE POWER OF YOR WORDS
“Lies Concerning Words”

INTRODUCTION: We discovered last week that our words are powerful. Words actually connect us with other people and more importantly connect us with God.
My tongue, your tongue is a loaded weapon that carries the very power of life and death to relationships, our lives and our future.
Proverbs 18:21- “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it, will eat its fruit.”
YOUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL, THERE IS POWER IN YOUR WORDS
Our words connect or disconnect us from God.
Psalm 100- “….I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart and into His courts with praise.”
Ephesians 6:18- “pray in the Spirit always.”
1Thessalonains 5:17- “Pray without ceasing.”
PRAYER AND PRAISE CONNECT US WITH GOD! You can stay connected to God all day long. Simply by the words coming out of your mouth.
God bridged the gap between Himself and mankind through the Word.
John 1: 1,14- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..”
****another great example of how our words connect us with God.******
Romans 10:5-13 Turn and Read
YOUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL, THERE IS POWER IN YOUR WORDS
TRANSITION: In this series you’re going to learn how to use the power of your words to change your life.

BECAUSE YOU REALLY DO MEAN WHAT YOU SAY!
Matthew 12:34- “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Dorothy Nevill- “The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
CAN I SPEAK FREELY?
Have you ever heard anyone use this phrase? Usually when someone asks this their wanting to set aside all tact and diplomacy and be brutally honest.
And what their asking is that their words NOT COST ANYTHING. CAN I SPEAK FREELY?
Can I say some words that I really want to say and them not cost me or you something?
Matthew 12:36,37- “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
SO, ARE ANY OF OUR WORDS REALLY FREE?
Or can it be that when we use our words carelessly or recklessly they can be turned around and used against us by the enemy?
TRANSITION: Today I want to point out three lies that Satan hopes every Christian will believe.
1Corinthians 9:24-27- “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” Everyone who competes in the games go into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Folks, we must learn to control our tongue! Exposing the lies of the enemy.

I. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH
Now I realize where I’m standing. I’m an American too! The First Amendment of the Constitution does guarantee every US citizen the right of free speech. And I’m glad it does!
THOSE FREEDOMS ARE WON AND HAVE BEEN DEFENDED AT ENORMOUS SACRIFICE!
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes famously declared that our right to free speech doesn’t give us the right to yell “Fire” in the middle of a crowded theater.
YOUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL; THERE IS POWER IN YOUR WORDS.
We as Christian’s carry a duel citizenship. We are not only citizens of the United States of America but we are more importantly citizens of the Kingdom of God!
When it comes to the laws of the Kingdom of God there is no such thing as “FREE” speech! Words matter. They carry spiritual weight.
Satan wants us to believe that words just go out into the atmosphere and just disappear.
How many have heard of a man named Howard Stern? After being continually fined by the FCC for his vulgar sex-obsessed talk show he finally moved to satellite video so he would not have to be accountable for his words.
What he doesn’t know is that one day he’s going to answer to a higher power than the FCC who has been recording every word that is not covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.
YOU SIMPLY CANNOT SAY ANYTHING YOU WANT!
Psalm 141:3- “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.”
Anytime you begin a conversation with the words, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” it’s a good indication you shouldn’t be having that conversation.
Be like King David in the Bible.
Psalm 39:1- “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle.”
PUT A MUZZLE ON IT!
TRANSITION: The first lie of the Satan, 1. You have the right of Free Speech.

II. IF YOUR’E JUST KIDDING IT DOESN’T COUNT
Hey, I was just kidding! What’s the matter, you can’t take a joke? Hey, I was just joking! Come on where’s your sense of humor? Gee, you’re so sensitive!
These are phrases commonly used by those who are trying to get off the hook after saying something mean, insensitive, manipulative or insulting.
Proverbs 26:18,19- “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, “I was only joking.”
To use words recklessly or dishonestly and then appeal to the I was just kidding defense is like throwing re-hot iron, shooting arrows and flinging death at others.
What if Jay Butts burst into your home with his hunting bow and shot an arrow into your leg and said “hey I was just kidding, you can’t take a joke?” C’mon, where’s your sense of humor!
HURTFUL WORDS PEIRCE PEOPLE AND GO DEEP INTO THEIR SOULS. YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF IT BY SAYING YOU WERE JUST JOKING!
TRANSITION: Lies of the enemy. 1. You have the right of free speech. 2. If you’re just kidding it doesn’t count.

III. ONCE YOUR WORDS ARE FORGOTTEN THERE INFLUENCE IS GONE.
Words echo through eternity and have lasting repercussions.
So much so that we’re going to give an account of our words one day.
James 3:5,6- “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire…”
TRANSITION: Exposing the lies of the enemy concerning words.
1. You have the right of free speech.
2. If you’re just kidding it doesn’t count.
3. Once your words are forgotten, their influence is gone.
HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS. Bad words last, but good words last longer.

*****Share the story of Tennessee Governor Ben Hooper*****

CONCLUSION: The Power of Words! What that pastor spoke to that little boy who would eventually become a state governor changed his life!
Here’s the truth about words, straight from the scriptures: We don’t have the right to speak “freely at all times; we cannot claim that we’re just kidding when we break hearts and spirits with our words; and we are deceived if we believe that our negative words evaporate into thin air and are quickly forgotten.
BUT POSITIVE WORDS CAN BRING HEALING, AND THEY HAVE A SHELF LIFE WITH NO EXPIRATION DATE.
Proverbs 15:4- “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue is a tree of life.”
YOUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL, THERE IS POWER IN YOUR WORDS