Episode Transcript
Proverbs chapter 12 verse 18, the title of the message is "The Tongue of the Wise."
"The Tongue of the Wise."
And it begins by saying, "There is."
"There is."
And we don't need to overlook this poignant combination of words.
"There is."
Not "There was."
Not "There shall be."
Not "There could be."
But "There is."
And so these words, "There is," they signify an ever-present condition in this world.
"There was," when Solomon said it.
"There was," before Solomon said it.
"There is today," and "There will be," tomorrow.
There is an ever-present condition in this world.
There is a lot of sorrow in this world.
There is a lot of pain and heartache in this world.
There is a majority of unbelievers in this world.
There is a constant struggle between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light in this world.
"There is."
There are some things that won't change in this world until this world changes hands and is ruled by God's Son.
So Solomon is talking tonight about one of those ever-present conditions in this world that we're just going to have to deal with until Jesus comes again and deals with it for good.
Namely, Solomon said, "There is," look back in your text, "that speaketh."
There is that speaketh.
And the Hebrew word translated "speaketh" here, it's not just the idea of communication, but it's the idea of an unkind person with a loud mouth.
An unkind person with a loud mouth.
There is a lot of belligerent, hateful, unkind, and destructive speaking in this world.
It is one of those sad, ever-present conditions that we live in, and we must suffer this ever-present condition until Jesus comes.
After Jesus makes this world new, there will never be another unkind word spoken for all eternity.
Man, when I wrote that note down, I just paused and meditated.
What would that be like?
We're so used to looking at comments in social media, so used to hearing people's repulsive responses to things, and their foul mouths and everything, and their hatefulness.
But when Jesus makes this world new, not another unkind word spoken for all eternity.
It's hard to imagine a world so pristine and wonderful as that.
Could you imagine what it would be like today?
Not after Jesus comes, but today, before Jesus comes.
Could you imagine what it would be like if suddenly, no unkind word was ever spoken to anyone in this world?
It just stopped.
Could you imagine the impact that would have on society?
Could you imagine the psychological impact that would have on people?
Could you imagine the impact that would have on people's health and well-being?
The economic, political, and sociological effect that it would have across the world.
There is that type of speaking now, the unkind speaking.
But one day, there will no longer be.
Solomon said, "There is that speaketh," look back in your text now, "like the piercings of a sword."
Like the piercings of a sword.
Underscore the word "piercings" please.
Piercings.
What happens when a woman gets her ear pierced?
A sharp object punctures that epidermis, that outer layer, enters into that ear, right?
It punctures and it enters.
That's what it means to pierce something.
To pierce something means to puncture and enter inside it.
To pierce a person, therefore, means to puncture that person and enter inside that person.
That's what this type of speaking is doing.
There's the type of speaking in our world today, this ever-present condition of speaking, and this speaking, one of its attributes is it pierces the person and it enters inside that person.
Solomon is saying that's what this speaking does.
It punctures and enters the person the words are spoken to.
Not too long ago, one of my loved ones had a serious surgery, and we were very thankful that that knife was able to pierce and enter in and correct the bodily damage, but that's not the type of entering in that Solomon is speaking about here because these words aren't talking about healing.
They enter into steal, to kill, and to destroy the people that they're spoken to.
They enter like the piercings, and that word "piercings" there literally means the stabbings.
Stabbing.
No one that has any kind of illness is going to want someone to come at them with a knife and say, "Here, let me help you with that."
You know, that doesn't happen.
These are stabbings that we're talking about, or with a sword, you know, stabbing straight out or like this.
That's the kind of stabbings we're talking about with words.
When I grew up, there was a rhyme that we were taught to say when people said cruel things to us.
I don't know if the Jeremenes have had the privilege of learning this.
It's a powerful concoction of words.
Most of you remember it.
"Sticks and stones."
You ever heard it, Abigail?
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
And that's a bunch of malarkey.
We all know that's not true because words can hurt far worse than sticks and stones.
And we're learning about the characteristic of words, an attribute of words tonight, and that is they have the ability to pierce and enter inside somebody.
The reason words can hurt worse than sticks and stones is because sticks and stones hurt on the outside, while words can hurt us on the inside, and that's where it really counts.
That's where the damage really gets done sometimes.
You can heal up from a bruise or a broken bone.
Boy, it's hard to heal up from a broken heart.
That's caused by unkind words.
"There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword."
Once again, not just the piercings of a scapel, but the piercings of a sword, the stabbings, the stabbings of a sword, not the kind, gentle cutting of a surgical scapel, but the stabbings of a sword.
Words pierce and enter inside people.
If you were to take a bucket of water and you were to throw it on me, you'd get my outside wet, but you wouldn't get my inside wet.
God designed us to repel water, but He designed us to receive words.
He made us porous.
We're not porous as far as physical things.
You throw dirt on me, you throw a stone on me, you hit me with a stick, or what have you.
Even germs get on me.
I'm not porous to those things.
I've got a shield on those things.
But words, God gave them the ability to come right into the innermost part of who I am, and He made you the same way.
Here's a kingdom truth.
God ordained words to enter the human heart.
God ordained words to enter the human heart.
God's Word, if you haven't forgotten, it's a sword too.
It's a sword too.
And it doesn't go around puncturing and stabbing and stuff like that, except for to its enemy.
But God's Word's a sword too.
Nothing enters into the heart of man deeper than the Word of God.
But it shows you, it doesn't matter if it's the enemy's words or if it's God's words.
God designed words to, He ordained them to enter into the human heart.
Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, "For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword."
What's that next word?
Piercing.
So you see the characteristics of words.
Words pierce and enter into the human heart.
Thank God for that.
It's a wonderful thing because when we really need healing, when it hurts the worst, where we have the most damage, man, I've talked to a lot of people.
First of all, I've lived life just like you have.
Second of all, I've talked to a lot of people with a lot of hurts.
And when they go to the doctor, they go, "Oh."
When they come to me, it's, "Oh."
It's all inside.
It's all inside.
And thank God, He made His words have the ability to pierce us and to enter in where they need to do the good.
Piercing even, "To the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
As far as your body goes, you don't get any deeper than the joints and the marrow.
You're going to get down into that skeleton, the very center of that bone, down to the very joining of the soul and the spirit.
That's where God's words reach.
You know why they give us IVs?
To get the medicine on the inside where it's needed.
Why they give us injections?
All it is is piercings.
Get us on the inside where it's needed.
You know why we swallow pills?
To get it on the inside where it's needed.
And when we receive God's Word, we get it on the inside where it's needed.
The problem is Satan knows that God ordained words to enter the human heart.
And knowing this, Satan takes what God meant to nourish us on the inside and he uses it to damage us on the inside.
He's a clever enemy.
He takes what God meant to enlighten us on the inside and he uses it to darken us on the inside.
You can use James Johnson, think about him driving a truck.
You can... remember Timothy McVeigh?
You can use a truck to haul groceries, to haul goods, or to haul explosives.
They weren't designed to haul explosives.
But the enemy can take what was meant for good and use it to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
Satan takes words, and he takes the design of the human heart that God made to receive those words.
And he fills them with explosives, so to speak.
And he gets them on the inside, he gets his lies on the inside, and by getting it on the inside, you can pop a pill and call it medicine, you can pop a pill and call it poison.
It just all depends on what pill you're popping.
And Satan knows that.
Speaking of those who believe the devil's lies in the Bible, the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 1, verse 21, "Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, they rejected the word of God, that is, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."
They received the lie of the devil, and it darkened their heart.
It was the wrong cargo in the truck.
It should have been filled with God's word, and it would have enlightened their heart, because God's word is light.
But Satan shipped them darkness.
False teaching consists of words that enter the human heart like the piercings of a sword.
They go in and they don't heal the heart, they don't set it free.
They don't give it light, they go in and damage, damage, damage.
Hateful and unkind words are the same way.
God meant for words to convey light, God meant for words to convey love.
And Satan says, "Well, here, let me ship you some darkness with my lie, and let me ship you some hate as well."
That comes with that lie.
And hateful and unkind words enter the human heart just like the piercings of a sword, and they damage people who hear and believe those unkind words.
The thief comes not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy, and he does so with words.
You know what the first words were that were the, like the piercings of a sword?
"Yea, hath God said."
Those were the first words.
And had they not believed them, had they not received those words, they could have denied that cargo, but they didn't.
Jesus said in John 10.10, "The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
How does the devil steal, kill, and destroy?
By giving us lies with words.
How does Jesus give us life?
Well, now, he provides us life by dying in our place, and by rising from the dead.
But he gives us life by telling us about it with words.
Do you understand?
He provides us life through his death and resurrection, but he gives us life by telling us about it with words.
Here's a kingdom truth.
The death and resurrection of Christ accomplished our salvation.
The gospel of Christ gives us that salvation.
The death and resurrection of Christ accomplished our salvation, but the gospel of Christ, it gives us that salvation.
It's what takes the salvation off the cross, and delivers it in the truck to the human heart, where it can be received by believing the word of what Christ has done.
And that is given to us by the tongue of the wise.
Solomon said, look back in your text, "But the tongue of the wise, not the tongue that sends the devil's lies, not the tongue that sends the unkind words, but the tongue that sends the words of grace and love from God."
The tongue of the wise is what?
Is health.
Man, this is so rich to me.
It's health.
Underscore the word health, and in your margin of your Bible, write down the word curative.
Curative.
C-U-R-A-T-I-V-E.
Curative.
Literally in the Hebrew, that's what it means.
It's not saying it's healthy.
It's saying it's curative.
The tongue of the wise has the ability to cure that sick heart, to cure that punctured heart that's been damaged and stabbed with the piercings of unkind words and the lies of the devil.
You got a cut up bleeding heart?
The tongue of the wise can cure it.
You got a darkened heart?
The tongue of the wise can cure it.
You got an aching heart?
The tongue of the wise can cure it.
King David said that God restores his soul.
It's restorative.
Here's a kingdom truth, and I want you to write this down.
I want you to hide this in your heart, and the next time you have an aching heart, you remember this kingdom truth.
Where God's word is applied, God's people are restored.
Where God's word is applied, God's people are restored.
Wherever a lie has harmed you, whatever area of your life is in, that a lie has harmed you, psychologically, sexually, in any kind of way whatsoever, that a lie has entered in and damaged your heart.
Wherever a lie has harmed you, the word of God can cure you.
It's health.
It's curative.
This is why it is so important for us to meditate on God's word.
I'm telling you, you take a lie, let's just say that this is the human heart.
You take a lie, and that lie reached the human heart.
Abigail?
Oh, well no wonder she's laughing.
You take a lie, and you let that reach the human heart.
You're going to have damage.
Do you know what you do to the damage?
You don't treat the damage.
You treat the lie.
If that damage was caused by a lie, the truth will heal it every time.
The truth will heal whatever damage a lie gives.
Do you know how the world's going to be made new?
With the truth.
That's it.
People applied a lie, and the world went crazy.
God's going to send Jesus back.
He's going to apply the truth.
It's all going to be fixed again.
So whatever area of your heart and your life a lie has damaged, all you've got to do is recognize the lie, and then apply the truth.
Apply the truth to that spot in your heart, and God will heal it.
He'll heal it.
Man, he's healed mine.
There was a man that worked for DPS, where me and Brother Shepard used to work.
He had gotten in a struggle with a man, and he had to kill that man.
I was listening to him talk about it one day, and he said, "You know, after I shot him and killed him, he said, 'I just, um, he said, 'I struggled a long time with guilt, a long, long time with guilt,' and it was very hard for him.
He didn't want to kill anybody."
And, well, DPS had counselors down at the headquarters, and I don't know if they had one at the time when he had, it was involved in the shooting, but he eventually went to one of those counselors, and thank God it was a good one.
And he said he went to that counselor, and he told him, you know, he said, "I don't believe in killing people, and I end up having to kill this man."
And he said, "The man used the Bible and explained in the Ten Commandments that thou shalt not kill meant thou shalt not murder, and explained how in the Bible that people had to kill.
In fact, they were required by God to kill in just circumstances, but never to murder."
And he explained to him, "You didn't murder that man."
You know, and he said, "You were defending yourself and the life of others."
And when he said, "Thou shalt not murder," he said instantly, "My guilt was gone, and that heavy load just came right off my shoulders."
Isn't that amazing?
Because the truth had been placed where a lie had been, where a misunderstanding had been that entire time, and it healed his heart.
There are people in relationships, they get involved in relationships that are bad relationships, and they get damaged deeply psychologically.
Whether it's a marital relationship, whether it's a family relationship, sometimes it's relationships at church, and they get damaged deeply.
And then, when God brings them out of that, and he allows them to learn truth about themselves, truth about God, truth about the way a family structure is supposed to be.
When I was a brand new believer, I was in a church that, as y'all know, having read my book, "Those You Who Have," I was in a church where the pastor was quite abusive from the pulpit.
And he would get on to you, and everyone would know who he was talking about.
And I remember when, after he asked me to leave, or told me to leave the church from everybody, I remember when I finally found another church to go to.
I remember sitting in the pew that Sunday morning, and the whole time I was sitting in the pew, I was just like this right here, just all tensed up, waiting to get jumped on by the preacher.
I saw that experience for years, just waiting to get jumped on, waiting to get skinned alive.
And you know what?
It never came.
And you know what happened after a while?
I learned the truth was, that's not the preacher's job.
The preacher's job is to get up there and teach the Bible.
The preacher's job is to feed the sheep, not get up there and shear the sheep.
And I got in there, and all that preacher did was just teach the Bible.
Next thing you know, I would...
I'd sit in that pew, and instead of doing this, I'd do this with my Bible open, and a smile on my face.
You know what happened?
Truth hits that heart.
Truth gets applied where a lie had been applied.
And it healed it.
It's curative.
The tongue of the wise is curative.
Piercing words produce stress, and stress affects our health.
Restorative words produce peace and joy, and peace and joy affect our health.
The tongue of the wise is health to our body, and it's health to our souls.
We need to understand, when we're at the house with our spouses, and when we're at church, and when we're in the workplaces, if our words are piercing like the piercings of a sword, they're stabbing like the piercings of a sword, man, you can just wear your spouse out.
You can wear your co-workers out.
You can wear your loved ones out.
You can wear your family out.
And they've been so used to you doing this, and this, and this, and this.
And you've been so used to approaching them like this, and this, and this, because this is, "I want to get what I need," and this is how you go about doing it.
And you're damaging the people who love you, and you're affecting their health.
You can drive your loved ones to an early grave doing that.
But restorative words, words of truth, words of grace, words of love, words of support, words of affirmation, that will be health to our bodies and our souls.
So the next time we speak, let's ask ourselves, "Will my words that I'm about to say, will they be healthy, or will they be harmful?
Will they be healthy, or will they be harmful?
What kind of pill am I getting this person to swallow?"
If they're harmful, they can be guaranteed of this.
They're not coming from the tongue of the wise.
Tongue of the wise doesn't have the piercings of the sword.
Do you know what that means?
That means if your words are piercing like this, you're not wise.
It's a fool talking.
A fool's doing the talking.
But that will go ahead and stop.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Oh God, thank you for your word.
Never does it come in.
Oh, it may cut our heart, Father.
It may judge our heart, Lord, but only in the sense, Lord, that it smites it because it gives us the truth, and it makes us face the truth.
But Lord, after our heart is smitten with the truth, if we receive that truth, it's curative.
It is healing to us.
And we thank you for that, Lord, for always, always giving us words that are for our good.
Never have you said anything in your word, Lord, that's harmful to us.
Thank you so much for loving us.
And may you give each and every one of us tonight the tongue of the wise.
In Jesus' precious name,Amen.
