The Slow and Painful Death Caused by Lack of Faith

January 12, 2011 at 12:55 pm (Enlightenment, Sermon Notes)

We as believers don’t often understand the lethalness of our tongues, or rather what rolls off of it. We switch through mediums of positive and negative confessions, grumblings, and unbelief without even recognizing the power that we have unleashed over our lives. We become agitated with people who seem overly optimistic, or always happy. What we should be doing is fellowshipping with those types of individuals to understand the factors that contribute to their positivity. The Bible solidifies the lethalness of our tongues in Proverbs 18:21(NLT) “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences,” Matthew 12:37(NLT) “The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you,” and Proverbs 13:31 (NLT) “Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.”

Children of Israel After crossing the Red Sea and several events of rebellion and complaints against God came forth, the Israelites sent twelve spies into the Promised Land to check out who the enemy was and to develop battle strategies to defeat them. God was going to allow them to go into the Promised Land, but they first had to defeat and drive out some of their enemies in order to conquer and possess the land. When the spies came back, ten of them came back with a bad report. They said their enemies were giants and that their kingdoms were too well fortified and they would not be able to defeat them. Now mind you, God had just got done delivering them out of Egypt with one of the greatest displays of His supernatural power the world has ever seen with Him throwing 10 plagues against the Egyptians and then parting the Red Sea to give them safe passage into the wilderness. When God saw all of their negative attitudes and their lack of faith and belief in Him and His power, He literally threw up His hands and said that was going to be it. At this point, He tells them that all of the men who are 20 years and older would not enter into the Promised Land due to their lack of faith and belief in Him. He said they would all wander in the desert for the next 40 years until they all literally died out in the desert. God says that their carcasses would fall in this wilderness and that their sons would be their shepherds bearing the brunt of their infidelity towards God. The spies that went in to spy out the land did so for 40 days. As a result of this bad report – God pronounces judgment that they should wander in the wilderness for 40 years to match up with the 40 days that they had spied out the land for.

A 40 year Funeral Service

The Israelites had to endure 40 years of funerals, because of their tongues. They literally committed suicide by just speaking. How many times have you spoken death over a situation, but when it turns out the way you said it would you become upset or discouraged? We often say you are what you eat, well I beg to differ you are what you SAY. We walk around with less than average lives, pitiful attitudes, stumbling over what would, could or should have been, when we made the mess that we are in by talking TOO much and not believing in God. We run around our churches, cry, beg, and plead with God, run to altars to drop things, but yet we walk out of service saying, “It won’t happen for me.” How can God move on your behalf when you don’t do YOUR part which is BELIEVING? There is no gray area to believing in God, your either do or you don’t. I listen to people blame others for what didn’t happen, or who held them back. No one can hold what you speak faithfully about. Imagine how you life would be if you would have just spoken over situations, death, sickness, finances, jobs, education, that business and your families, some of us would probably have entered millionaire status, been married, had children, started business, and ministries years ago if we had just believed and spoke over all those things.

Talk Isn’t So Cheap

In my life 2011 has been declared the year of reaping, and the key to reaping the best is sowing the best. That means speaking positive and being that happy, high-strung, over exuberant, always positive individual. Sowing by giving consistently, speaking positively, bearing the infirmities of the weak and speaking the word of Truth. In the words of John Murray, “I shall have what I decree; yes I believe it belongs to ME. So I’m going to SPEAK into the atmosphere.” So are you preparing for your funeral or the BEST days of your life? Let me know and I will buy a Black Suit.

SPEAK IT!

“Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways”:. Job 22:28 KJV

1. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21)
    
2. “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” (Proverbs 12:18)
    
3. “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:13)
    
4. “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, and from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.” (Proverbs 18:20)
    
5. “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.” (Isaiah 50:4)
    
6. “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Colossians 4:5)
    
7. “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.” (Proverbs 10:11)
    
8. “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.” (Proverbs 18:4)
    
9. “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4)
    
10. “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24)
     
11. “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” (Proverbs 12:25)
     
12. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” (Proverbs 15:1)
     
13. “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” (Proverbs 13:3)
     
14. “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.” (Proverbs 21:23)
     
15. “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.” (Proverbs 15:28)
     
16. “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

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