THE WORDS WE SPEAK : IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH
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OUTLINE
1. YOUR WORDS DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY
2. THE WORD OF GOD HAS CREATIVE POWER
3. WE MUST BOLDLY SPEAK THE PROMISES OF GOD BY FAITH
4. POSITIVE WORDS BRING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS
5. PARENTS HAVE AUTHORITY TO BLESS OR CURSE THEIR CHILDREN
6. WHY DO CURSES COME UPON OUR LIVES AND HOW CAN WE BREAK FREE
7. WE MUST AVOID SPEAKING EVIL WORDS
THE MESSAGE
THE WORDS WE SPEAK :IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH
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1. YOUR WORDS DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY
The words we speak is a matter of life and death . We can experience blessings in our life by the words that we speak. but we can also experience destruction in our lives if we speak words that cause destruction. We can control our whole life if we control our tongue. like a rudder which can steer a big ship , our words can determine the direction of our lives. We have to give an account before god on the day of judgement for every careless word that we speak. Therefore we must be very careful over every word that we speak . We must have a good heart and speak good words out of the overflow of the good treasure of our heart.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PROVERBS 18:21
" The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
MATTHEW 12:34-37
" 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."
PROVERBS 6:2
" You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth."
JAMES 3:1-10
" Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.
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, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."
2 .THE WORD OF GOD HAS CREATIVE POWER
Our hearts must be filled with the word of God. there is enormous power in the word of God. God created the universe by the words that He spoke .When we speak the word of God , the power of God will be released to accomplish the purpose for which it is sent. The word of God gives us faith and knowledge for salvation. We must continually hear the word of god in order to fill our hearts with faith. We must not listen to the words of fear and unbelief .
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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ROMANS 10:17
" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
ROMANS 10:6-10
" But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, ’Who will ascend into heaven?’" (that is, to bring Christ down)
"or ’Who will descend into the deep?’" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
II TIMOTHY 3:15
" and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. "
GENESIS 1:1-3
" In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. "
ISAIAH 55:10-11
" As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. "
MATTHEW 24:35
" Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. "
MATTHEW 8:8-10
" The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ’Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ’Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ’Do this,’ and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. "
3. WE MUST BOLDLY SPEAK THE PROMISES OF GOD BY FAITH.
We must speak the word of God by faith . Faith gives us the assurance of the promise even before we see the fulfillment. We must speak the promises of God over every situation we face . The word of God is the sword of the Spirit that we can use against the enemy. Abraham , David , Joshua and Caleb spoke words of faith in times of trial . The Lord wants us to be strong in faith even in the midst of storms. We must speak in faith against the mountains that we face claiming the promises of God. We must boldly proclaim our faith in God and speak the praises of God . We must not speak words of fear and doubt and unbelief. We must not murmur and complain against God .Instead our hearts and mouth must be filled with the praises of God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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HEBREWS 11:1
" Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. "
ROMANS 8:24-25
" For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. "
HEBREWS 10:23
" Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
II CORINTHIANS 4:13
" It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,"
JOHN 20:26-29
"A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
EPHESIANS 6:17
" Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
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ROMANS 4:17-21
" As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. "
THE FAITH OF JOSHUA AND CALEB
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NUMBERS 13: 26-33
" They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are."
And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
THE FAITH OF DAVID
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I SAMUEL 17 :45-47
" David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."
THE UNBELIEF OF THE DISCIPLES
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MARK 4:35-41
" That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
MARK 11:20-24
" In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.
Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"
"Have faith in God," Jesus answered.
"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ’Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
ZECHARIAH 4:6-7
" So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
"What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ’God bless it! God bless it!’ "
HEBREWS 13:5-6
" Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
PSALMS 34:1
" I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. "
MATTHEW 10:32-33
" Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. "
4. POSITIVE WORDS BRING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS
Good words bring joy and healing. Words of hope and encouragement are a great blessing to others. We must receive grace from God to speak such gracious words which would bring healing and happiness . Cruel words can wound others deeply and we must avoid speaking such destructive words.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PROVERBS 16:24
" Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
PROVERBS 25:11
" A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. "
PROVERBS 15:23
" A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word! "
PROVERBS 12:25
" An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. "
PROVERBS 15:4
" The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. "
PROVERBS 15:30
" A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. "
PROVERBS 25:25
" Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. "
PROVERBS 12:18
" Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. "
5. PARENTS HAVE AUTHORITY TO BLESS OR CURSE THEIR CHILDREN
Parents have the God given authority to bless their children or curse them . Isaac and Jacob used their authority to bless their children. Noah blessed the sons who honoured him , but he cursed the son who dishonoured him . Children must be careful to honour their parents in order the receive the blessings of their parents. Parents must be careful about the words they speak over their children as it will seriously affect their lives. Parents should use their authority to bless their children daily with the blessings of God so that their children can live a blessed life. Parents who live a life of obedience to God leave behind an inheritance of God’s blessings on their descendants for a thousand generations. But parents who live a life of sin and disobedience to God will a leave behind a curse of God’s judgement on their descendants to the third and fourth generations.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 49:1
" Then Jacob called for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come."
GENESIS 27:26-29
" Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me."
So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.
May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."
GENESIS 9:24-27
" When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him,
he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers."
He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
May God extend the territory of Japheth ; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."
EPHESIANS 6:1-3
" Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise—
that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
NUMBERS 6:22-26
" The LORD said to Moses,
"Tell Aaron and his sons, ’This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
" ’ "The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." ’
DEUTERONOMY 5:9-10
" You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. "
6. WHY DO CURSES COME UPON OUR LIVES AND HOW CAN WE BREAK FREE
Curses come upon our lives due to sin and disobedience . We must live a holy life .we must be faithful in giving to God and serve him faithfully . We must be careful about the words we speak over our own lives .Otherwise we can bring a curse upon ourselves like the jews who brought a curse on themselves when they told Pilate that they are willing to take the guilt of the blood of Jesus upon themselves. We can break free from curses by repenting of our sins and receiving forgiveness from God. We must trust the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross where he became a curse for us. Through Christ we can be delivered from all curses and enter into the blessings of God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PROVERBS 26:2
" Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. "
DEUTERNOMY 27:14-26
" The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:
"Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol—a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the craftsman’s hands—and sets it up in secret." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who leads the blind astray on the road." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who has sexual relations with any animal." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his mother-in-law." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who kills his neighbor secretly." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
"Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
DEUTERONOMY 28:15
" However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: "
MALACHI 3:8-12
" Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’ "In tithes and offerings.
You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.
"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. "
JEREMIAH 48:10
"A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD’s work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed! "
MATHEW 27:24-25
" When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
GALATIANS 3:13-14
" Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
7. WE MUST AVOID SPEAKING EVIL WORDS
We should not speak evil words and words that slander others . Our words must be a blessing to others . Our words must be truthful and humble . Our words must be free from bitterness and anger.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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EPHESIANS 4:29
" Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. "
TITUS 3:2
" to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. "
JAMES 4:11
" Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it."
ROMANS 1:29-30
" They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;"
EPHESIANS 4: 25,31
" Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."
" Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. "
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