WATCH YOUR MOUTH

WATCH YOUR MOUTH

                “But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus, “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN? (That is to bring Christ down), or “WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (That is to bring Christ up from the dead) But what does it say” “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” That is the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation. Romans 10:6-11.

                As we approach the time of the great harvest and we pray for an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in unprecedented power, we need to become aware of our words. We are carrying a loaded gun.

                In Ephesians chapter 4 where it talks about the five- fold ministry that isprovided to build up the Body of Christ “until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ;” (Eph. 4:13)we are also instructed saying: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth but only such a word as is good for the edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:29-30.

                All of these thoughts are interrelated… growing up in maturity into the fullness of Christ…speaking only words that edify… not grieving the Holy Spirit by which we have been sealed…if we begin to think of ourselves as a living temple of the Holy Spirit, then of course, the words that come forth from our hearts and from our mouths are a direct reflection upon who is enthroned within us.

                If we claim to have Jesus on board and yet our mouths are given to course gesturing, or abusive language, or frivolous nonsense, then we are in effect dragging Jesus through the mud.

                Those Christians who are aware of being born again and Spirit filled, must also be aware that all of life has become holy. It is not just 2 hours at church. All of life has become holy and sanctified and indeed empowered by the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. Christianity is not a part-time job.

                James says in speaking of our mouth: “With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; my brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?” James 3:9-11.

                Jesus Himself said in Mark 11:22b-24: “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they shall be granted.”

                We are told in the book of Revelation that every mountain will be moved out of its place and I would like to think, that God is finally answering the prayers of all those people who actually dared to pray mountain moving prayers.

                But this brings up a point. Imagine Jesus pouring out His latter rain power upon immature and unsanctified people who would misuse and abuse God’s power for their own purposes. It would be a disaster.

                We really need to begin now, choosing our words wisely as if our words are a loaded gun that will either send out bullets of healing and reconciliation, and grace, or will send out mayhem, chaos and destruction. This is much truer than we realize. Words can kill. Words can encourage. Words can build up or tear down. Words can divide a church, or bring unity. Words can bless or curse.

                Nowhere will this be truer than in the harvest when God has poured out upon His Remnant people the same power that Jesus operated by. As Jesus promised, the same works that He did and even greater works shall we do because He has gone to the Father….and what did He do when He went to the Father? He sent down His Holy Spirit to empower us to do what He did. And with that power, the early church turned the whole world upside down and they took the Gospel of the Kingdom to the whole then known world.

                And yet Paul said: “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. 2 Cor. 1: 21-22

                “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.” 2 Cor. 5:5

                “In Him, you also after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance…” Ephesians 1:13-14

                Two things are established in these above texts:

1.       The Seal of God is the Holy Spirit

2.       Since Pentecost we have been living with a mere down payment of the Holy Spirit. It is otherwise described as a pledge or an earnest and in our modern language we better understand the word “Down payment.”

                When you put a down payment on a house of 20% you are pledging to pay the rest of the loan as well, and the rest of the payment may be 5 or ten times the amount of the down payment, maybe even more.

                So if Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to us as a pledge, earnest or down payment of our inheritance, then we can expect at some point in time to receive the rest of that inheritance. It is said that the final harvest outpouring will include both the early rain and the latter rain together and the latter rain in Israel, was seven times greater than the spring rains. The latter rain came to bring the crop to maturity.

                But we, who have the first fruits, or the earnest of His Holy Spirit, need to come into a greater awareness of exactly what that means. We often live far below our potential simply because we do not understand the power of our words. We spend much of our time either cursing ourselves or others and much time using idle words that make no use of the power whatsoever.

                When your car is idling, it is burning gas, but it is going nowhere. So is it true of idle words. They are not mixed with the power of the Holy Spirit because we do not understand the mission of our words, or the power they carry.

                Jesus said it most directly saying: “And I say to you that every careless (idle) word that men shall speak, they shall render account for in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.” Mt. 12:36, 37.

                Words are like spiritual seeds. We broadcast them and they take root and grow up and we reap the harvest according to the seeds we have planted. (Gal. 6:7) And it is not a victimless crime, for often times, other people are the soil into which our words are planted and our words will either curse them or bless them.

                How many people are sitting on the psychiatrist couch today simply because unkind or hateful words stunted them and abused them and placed a curse on their lives?

                Therefore we who carry this treasure in earthen vessels, must learn how to operate in that power… how to bless and not to curse, for our words carry much more impact than we think, and in the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit, our words will literally have the power to kill or to raise from the dead. It is time to sanctify our speech… for out of the heart the mouth speaketh.