a new sound

There are lots of hard verses in the Bible that are difficult to deal

with as followers of Christ. But I believe this verse is not one of

them. This one gets quoted a lot, when talking about our new life

in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a

new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things

are become new.”

That sounds great, doesn’t it? The old life we used to live, that

was leading us on a path to hell, has passed away and now

we are a brand new creation on a path to heaven.

But let me ask a serious question. Do you believe that verse?

Do you really believe that the old you has passed away

completely, and all things about you have become new? Have

all things in your life really become new? If you answer yes,

I’m gonna need you to remember that over the next several

minutes.

Today we will, be talking about the things that come out of our

mouth. Our speech patterns are evidence of our new life in

Christ, and should be a big part of us being a new creation.

Matthew 15:17-19 “17 Do you not see that whatever goes into

the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what

comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this

defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil

thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false

witness, slander.”Your heart is the source of what comes out of your mouth. And

your heart has the potential to have evil thoughts, murder,

adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness and slander. It’s

no wonder that our speech patterns are problematic if our heart

has these tendencies. The Holy Spirit fights against your flesh.

Our old life, living for ourself and doing what pleased our heart, is

what is being described here. That sounds pretty harsh. But it’s

true none the less. What comes out of your mouth can defile

you. God says that, not me.

When we surrender to King Jesus, He puts a new heart in us. It

should be drastically different than the old heart that we used to

have. And it from it should come a drastically new sound.

Matthew 12:34-37 “34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak

good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart

the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure

brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure

brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will

give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by

your words you will be justified, and by your words you will

be condemned.”

If you think that the words you are saying are no big deal, just

take a minute and read those last two verses again. Based on

your current speech patterns, do you believe you are ready to

give an account to God for every careless word you’ve

spoken?

When we are saved, God removes our old speech and puts the

voice of the Holy Spirit into us. Does your current speech pattern

grieve the Holy Spirit? It does, if your heart is giving in to your

old way of thinking and acting. Your heart is the source of your

speech patterns.You remember the old piano we had in the old auditorium? It

was worthless as a piano, so we repurposed it and made it into

a keyboard stand for a modern keyboard system. So now, it is

useful and has a new purpose. But when we started working on

it we discovered that we had to do something extra that I hadn’t

thought about. It still had the old strings and every time it

was touched they resonated and made a terrible sound. So,

we had to remove the old strings so they would no longer be a

problem when using it to produce a beautiful new sound with a

keyboard.

This is the same thing God wants to do to you. He wants to

remove the things in you that are making a terrible sound and

replace them with a new beautiful sound. Three of the things that

God wants to remove from your mouth that are making a terrible

sound to His ear, are lying, gossiping and cussing. But here’s

the challenge…it doesn’t happen over night.

James 3:7-10 “7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and

sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by

mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a

restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and

Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the

likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and

cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

Even though this says that no man can tame the tongue, it still

says that this kind of speech should not be normal. Now clearly,

it was common for believers to be doing this back then, or James

would not have brought it up. It was a problem then, and it’s a

problem now.

You may be thinking that I’ve stopped preaching and started

meddling. But the Word of God most certainly, clearly addresses

these things. So, let’s go over them. We will start with lying.Lying, is it ever OK?

Have you ever lied? Are you lying right now? What causes us to

want to lie? What is the first and most natural response when a

child is caught doing something they were told not to do? “I

didn’t do that.” Excuse me, you’re doing it right now. Kids

don’t have to be taught to lie, it comes naturally. We have to be

taught not to lie.

What about as adults? Is it ever ok to lie? If I ask you, “Does

this jacket make me look fat?” And you respond with, “No, your

fat makes you look fat, the jacket doesn’t have anything to do

with it.” That would be true, but not kind. That’s why I’m not

gonna ask you.

There is a time and a place for truth that may hurt the one who

hears it, but it is beneficial to them. And there is also a time to

hold back some information that is hurtful, but not helpful. When

it comes to lying, the first verse people normally go to is this.

Exodus 20:16 “16 “You shall not bear false witness against your

neighbor.”

The 9th commandment prohibits bearing false witness against

your neighbor. In this context, the passage is talking about

giving a false testimony against someone in a legal sense.

Perjury is basically what this is about. Lying under oath in order

to harm someone. This is clearly wrong.

However, when it comes to saying something to someone that

may not be true, we have to dig a little deeper. And when we do,

we will discover that it is a matter of the heart. It’s a matter of

motivation. Are you lying to cover your tracks, for your own

personal benefit or are you lying to save an innocent life?That was the difference between the lie that Rahab told and the

one that Peter told. Are you a Peter or Rahab?

When Jesus was arrested, Peter lied when he was asked if he

was a disciple of Jesus. He lied to protect himself. This is

condemned in scripture, as he was bitterly sorry for what he had

done.

In the case of Rahab, she lied to the soldiers about the Israelite

spies that she was hiding. She was trying to prevent their

murder. And protect the Israelite battle plan. A lie was used to

enact God’s righteous judgment on those He had already

declared condemned.

Peter lied to save himself from persecution, but Rahab risked her

own life when she lied to save someone’s life. Here is the main

question. When you lie, are you multiplying a sin or trying to

prevent one? Are you lying in order to harm someone or

because you stand to gain something if you do?

Here are some more examples in the Bible where lying was not

condemned.

1 Kings 22:23 “23 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a

lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets;

the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

In the case of the lying spirit sent to Ahab’s prophets, again, a lie

was used to enact God’s righteous judgment on those He had

already declared condemned. Miciah did tell Ahab the truth, but

Ahab chose to believe the lie.

Exodus 1”19-20 “ 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because

the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are

vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes tothem.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people

multiplied and grew very strong.”

In the case when Moses was born. The Hebrew midwives lied to

pharaoh, in order to prevent the murder of all male babies. They

were stopping the evil judgment of a man, over those he wrongly

condemned.

David lied to Ahimeleck the priest about being on a mission

from Saul. He needed food, and all the priest had was bread

from the altar, which was holy.

1 Samuel 21:1-4

“1 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the

priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said

to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David

said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a

matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the

matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged

you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such

and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give

me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest

answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there

is holy bread…”

Nothing David said was true, and yet Jesus uses this story to

correct the Pharisees concerning their rules.

Matthew 12:1-4 “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields

on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to

pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it,

they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not

lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not

read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were

with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the breadof the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for

those who were with him, but only for the priests?”

Man’s rules don’t over ride God’s will. Let’s just say,

Christianity becomes outlawed in the US. If soldiers came to

your door and asked where and when do you gather with other

Christians, in order to arrest them…What would you say? Does

God expect you to reveal everything you know, just because

someone asks you?

Would you tell them that we meet at 10AM on Sundays here in

downtown Simpsonville? Or would you respond like Rahab and

the Hebrew midwives? Does God expect you to be 100%

truthful and tell them everything you know? Or does He want

you to protect your spiritual family?

If the soldiers asked you if you follow Jesus, the answer

would have to be the truth. You can’t deny Jesus to avoid

persecution, the way Peter did. Let’s move on.

Gossip, is it ever OK? Have you ever been in a prayer group

and listened to someone “share” what they heard about

someone else, just so the group could “pray” about it?

1 Timothy 5:13

“13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going

about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips

and busybodies, saying what they should not.”

In this passage, the church leadership are instructed not to put

true widows younger than 60 on the church payroll for full time

support, because with nothing to keep them busy, this is the

result.

Proverbs 20:19

“19 Whoever goes about slandering reveals

secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

”Proverbs 17:9

“9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he

who repeats a matter separates close friends.”

Proverbs has plenty more verses about the dangers of gossip. I

don’t think anyone believes it’s ok to gossip. Gossip hurts the

one who is the topic of the gossip. Clearly, that is no how we are

to treat others. This one is an easy “don’t do it.” Let's move on

to the last one…swearing. Or in the south we say cussing.

Swearing, is it ever OK? For me, this has never been an issue.

I didn’t grow up around it so it’s just not something that I ever got

comfortable doing. However, I came as close to cussing this

week as I ever have. It had to do with the third round of proposal

revisions from the HVAC company we are using for the

renovations in the auditorium. Having to play contractor is

getting to me…ya’ll pray for your pastor.

Now, I’ve heard lots of reasons why people think it’s ok to use

profanity…including construction projects. But it doesn’t really

matter what people think. What matters is this: What does God

think?

Ephesians 5:4

“4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor

crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be

thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:8 “8 But now you must put them all away: anger,

wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.”

This is a pretty straight forward principle in scripture. Profanity

is not Ok with God. He doesn’t just let it slide or look the other

way when you are cussing.Some would say, Well, I’ve always talked like that and I just

can’t stop now…It’s a habit. God understands.

How about we use that same logic on other things and see how

it holds up.

Would it work for a theft? Well, I always steal things, and I just

can’t stop now…it’s a habit. God understands. How about

getting drunk? Well, I always drink too much, and I can’t stop

now…it’s a habit. God understands.

Does He? Does God understand when you disobey His word

and do what you want instead of what He wants? When you use

profanity, you grieve the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:25-30 “25 Therefore, having put away falsehood,

let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we

are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not

let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity

to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him

labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may

have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no

corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is

good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace

to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of

God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

I’ve heard people say that the reason they don’t stop cussing is

because they need to fit in with the guys at work…so they can

witness to them. Oh, you’re witnessing to them alright. The

witness you are providing is one that disregards the direction of

God’s word. The witness you are giving them is that there

does not need to be life change with salvation. You are

misleading them, by living an example of continual selfish sin.The reality is that you want to fit in with the guys at work, so you

don’t get ridiculed for your faith. That would put you in the

category of Peter when he denied he even knew Jesus.

Matthew 26:74

“74 Then began he to curse and to swear,

saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.”

The meaning of the words “curse and swear” are not 100% clear

and while Peter was certainly using strong language, it could

also reference Peter calling down a curse on himself while

swearing that he was telling the truth. But we know he was lying.

Remember, according to the gospel of Matthew, your words can

defile you. Because your words are an indicator of what is in

your heart. Isn’t it worth making the effort to please God with our

speech? Isn’t it worth the effort to not grieve the Holy Spirit?

Are you going to continue to let your heart guide your words into

a speech pattern that disobeys God’s word? Will you continue to

lie, gossip and swear, or will you determine right now that this

kind of behavior will stop? If you’re ready to stop lying,

gossiping or swearing, then you can make this verse your

prayer.

Psalm 19:14

“14 Let the words of my mouth, and the

meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my

strength, and my redeemer.