Are Your Words Testifying Against You?
One of the things that I believe we sometimes forget is that the words that we speak mean a lot more than what we may think. And one of the verses we’re going to look at this morning, and I’ll turn to it. It’s John 6:63. Jesus says,
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
What some people misunderstand or don’t capture in what Jesus said is that every word we speak has spirit. Every word we speak has spirit and every word has life. When we speak our words, are we speaking words that have life in the kingdom of heaven or are we speaking words that bring death from the throne room of hell?
And sometimes, it seems that the things that we say are so innocent. But we have to remember that words have spirit. They carry something with them when you speak.
We’re going to be in 2 Samuel 1. But before we get there, I need to do some summarizing. In 1 Samuel 24, verses one through 12, Saul up to this point has been fighting with David. Not literally fighting but coming against the fact that he knows that David is going to be king of Israel.
In this chapter, Saul is seeking to kill David. Saul wants the throne to pass to his son Jonathan even though years earlier the prophet Samuel had anointed David to be king. When we get to 1 Samuel 24, it has been 10 years since Samuel had anointed David.
But David was not going to dethrone Saul by force. David said that God would dethrone him and it was not his place to do it. David was anointed by Samuel in 1 Samuel 8 just to give you some perspective.
In this 1 Samuel 24, Saul had been pursuing David and decides to stop at a cave and take a bathroom break. So, as he’s taking doing this, David comes behind him and clips off part of his robe to prove to Saul that he could have killed him. As Saul is leaving, David cries out to him “My master, my king. I don’t why you want to kill me because I could have killed you right here.” Then he says “I will not smite the Lord’s anointed.” When the Lord named Saul king, the prophet Samuel poured oil over him as a sign that God had anointed him.
In 1 Samuel 26, Saul is still chasing David to kill him. One night, the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Saul and his men. So David goes into the camp and takes Saul’s spear and water skin or water bottle and leaves the camp. So when Saul and his men wake up David is standing on a cliff and lets him know that he another chance to kill him last and didn’t. And David told Saul, “I didn’t kill you because you are the Lord’s anointed.”
Now let’s read a few verses in 1 Samuel 31 before we go to 2 Samuel 1.
(1) Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
(2) And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his one; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons.
(3) And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
(4) Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his arm our bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it.
(5) And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him.
(6) So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
So here’s the picture. King Saul has been struck with an arrow and is dying. But he doesn’t want the enemy to find him this way because he knows they will finish him off and abuse his body. So, he asks his armourbearer to kill. The armourbearer refuses so Saul falls on his sword and then the armourbearer falls on his sword.
Now, 2 Samuel 1.
(1) Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;
(2) It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
Now, notice before we continue, what it says in verse 1. “David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites.”
(3) And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.
(4) And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of thee people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.
(5) And David said unto he young man that told him, How knoweth thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?
(6) And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear: and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.
(7) And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.
(8) And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.
(9) He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.
(10) So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.
Let’s pause here for a moment. We read in 1 Samuel 31 that Saul fell upon his sword and died. We also read that his armourbearer fell upon his sword and died with Saul. So, what we are seeing is the young man telling a lie to gain favor with David, who he knows is now the king of Israel.
(11) Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him.
(12) And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
(13) And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.
Remember we read in verse one that David had just come from slaughtering the Amalekites. And here is verse 13 an Amalekites says I have killed the king of Israel.
(14) And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?
I can hear David. “Why were you not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed? I have several opportunities to kill him but I didn’t. He was the Lord’s anointed.”
(15) And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
Verse 16 is what we’re after this morning.
(16) And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed.
One of the things, which I mentioned earlier, that I don’t believe we truly understand is that when we speak, it’s either going to be a testimony for or a testimony against who we are as God’s sons and daughters.
For example, when you say I don’t know how I’m going to make it to the end of the month because we had unexpected bills and we didn’t have enough money to cover everything. When you say I don’t know how, your mouth is testifying against you.
Philippians 4:19 says “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Having your needs met is not based on your income. Having your needs met is not based on your paycheck. Having your needs met is based on God’s riches. God will find a way to take care of you if you don’t talk Him out of it!
Whenever you say anything that goes against Scripture, you are testifying against yourself.
We have babies hear this morning. Do you think they care about where their food comes from? Do you think they care about having a bed to sleep in? Do you think they care about where their toys came from? No. And we shouldn’t be stressed out about how our Father is going to take care of us!
Matthew 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
So, if your focus is on serving God, He’s going to make sure your needs are taken care of.
Another example. He hurt me so badly I will never be able to forgive him. How many of you have heard a person say that can’t forgive someone? Look in Mark 11 and we’re going to begin with verses 24 and 25.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Now why did he begin verse 25 with “And?” If we don’t do the “And” we don’t get the “Therefore.” Let that sink in ladies and gentlemen. If you are holding unforgiveness against someone, your prayers are not going to get answered. Now look at verse 26.
“But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Ladies and gentlemen, if you don’t get anything else out of this message, please get this – if you don’t forgive people and your Father doesn’t forgive you, then you are going to spend an eternity in the lake of fire. Do you see how important forgiving people is?
And please, don’t tell me that your have forgiven the person but you haven’t forgotten what they did. There is no forgiving and remembering the wrong. Either you forgive the person or you go to hell. I know that I’m being blunt. And that’s okay. God doesn’t want you to go hell.
Now, let’s look at the impact of unforgiveness. We begin reading verse 24 which begins with “Therefore.” We need to find out why the “Therefore” is there. Let’s go back to verse 22.
(22) And Jesus answered and saith unto them, Have faith in God.
(23) For verily I say unto you , That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
If you are walking in unforgiveness, you are not going to have “whatever you say.” Do you see this? I’m not making this stuff up. We have to remember that the world does not determine the standards by which Christians live. The Bible determines our standards. But most of the Church doesn’t get into the Bible to understand what the standards are.
Now turn with me to Matthew 12. Look at verse 25.
“And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”
Now jump down to verse 35.
(35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth for evil things.
When he says “a good man” and “an evil man” Jesus is not talking about the same person. Even though He has not gone to the cross, Jesus is prophetically talking about a person who is born again when He uses the phrase “a good man.” “An evil man” is the person who has not accepted Jesus.
(36) But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Bro. Barry, what do you mean by “every idle word?” Very simple – every word you speak that is not in agreement with Scripture. If God doesn’t agree with it then it is an idle word.
(37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Do you see this? Let me put your mind at ease. Keep this in context. We’re talking about “a good man” and “an evil man.” The good man will be justified because of what he speaks and the life that lives in him. The evil man will be condemned because of what he speaks and the life that lives in him.
Everyone here this morning, unless I’m wrong, you have already accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Otherwise, why would you give up a Sunday morning to go to church? You are the good man, the good woman and the words you speak come forth out of who you are.
But sometimes we don’t speak words that come out of who we are do we? For example, I can’t forgive this person. Those are words that didn’t come from who you are. They came out of your emotions and we still have to battle our emotions. I don’t want you to think that when you have thoughts like that you are an evil person. You are simply a person who is battling his or her emotions and you have to bring your emotions in line with who you are.
Look in John 6:63. We read this earlier
“It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”
Look in chapter 12.
(47) And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
(48) He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Words are what will judge us in the last day.
Look at John 14:23
“Jesus answered and said unto him,If a man love me, he will keep my words: [If we don’t keep Jesus[‘ words, what are we saying to Him? We are telling Jesus that we really don’t Him.] and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
Last verse. John 15:7.
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, use shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
What is the qualification for having what you ask done? The Word abiding in you. The Word is living in you. Why is the word living in you? Because you love Him. Because you keep His word.
Let this day be the last day that you speak against who you are and that your words are going to line up with who God says you are. Amen!
