A Renewed Mouth

Title: A Renewed Mouth

Topic: New Years Message

A truth worth grasping today is found in Isaiah 53:10. I love the way the New American Standard Bible translates it, “But Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. If He would render Himself as a guilt offering. He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)

Introduction: It is that time of the year when we hear those New Year resolutions. Many proclaiming this or that - but there is one I would like to run by you this new years season. 1 Peter 1:13-16 gives us the perfect New Year resolution, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'” Let us pray!

There are three ways to accomplish holiness to God: 1.) Have a “Undefiled, Mouth, 2.) Have Undefiled Ears and 3.) Have Undefiled Eyes - today we will talk about our mouths.

Propositions: I would like to propose to you that the church that gets used of God to carry the message of Christ on to the next generation has Christians who grasp the powerful truths found in this message.

Christians can experience the same kind of life that the Apostle Paul lived. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

King David foresaw of a time when “…future generations will be told about the Lord.” (Psalm 22:30) A time when people of God would “…proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn…” (Psalm 22:31) The Apostle Peter wrote about the work of Christians in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Transitional Sentence: The first desire of the heart should be to have an undefiled mouth. Listen to what Isaiah wrote about Jesus Christ, “…He had done no violence nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53;9) Jesus never spoke falsely; therefore, what He taught on the matters of what comes from the mouth should be noted.

I am fully convinced that Jesus taught that speech as a whole is a reflection of who a man really is. Jesus taught, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 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." (Matthew 12:33-37)

As he said these words, Jesus’ healing ministry and miracles were spoken of by the Pharisees as acts done through Beelzebub. Our Lord was affirming that what they said was a reflection from what they truly believed in their hearts.

If our speech is predominately true, proper, chaste, instructive, and righteous, then it proves that the heart is right before God. If it is often false, envious, malignant and unrighteous, then it proves that the heart is wrong. The words that we speak as a whole show forth the fruit that is inside our heart, just as we can know the tree by the fruit it bears.

Joseph Stowell spouted off to his teacher at school and told her to shut up, and then he stood up and walked out of the classroom. As he walked down the block to his house he noticed that his mother was working in the yard. He stopped dead in his tracks. He thought “What am I going to tell her?” He considered his options. He could tell his mom the truth or fabricate a lie. From past experiences he knew she would most likely find out the truth eventually. He could spend the rest of the day out in the world—though he deemed it unwise considering where he lived—or he could go back to school and face the teacher.