(part 2) THE AUTHENTIC DISCIPLE AND HIS TONGUE Psalms 19:14 “Let the WORDS OF MY MOUTH and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, oh Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.” The present and practical condition of your walk with the Lord Jesus is clearly and constantly revealed by the manifestation of your words. I fully understand that every authentic disciple is “positionally righteous”, in union with the Lord Jesus, Who is our righteousness! But you can also identify the current, factual and functional state of a true disciple, by observing the flow and flavor of their speech; especially during their unguarded moments. It would have been wonderful, if our conversion would have graced us with an “entirely perfect” manner of speaking; but this is not reality! Yes, a genuine disciple is a new creation in Christ. Yes, all of our sins has been imputed to Jesus’ account and Jesus’ perfect righteousness has been imputed to our account! But the disciple is still incarcerated in this “unredeemed flesh”, in which dwells no good thing! One of the major battlegrounds in this warfare with our wicked flesh is this area of the tongue! Proverbs 4:23 command us to, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life.” But the Lord Jesus tells us, in Luke 6:45, “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”. I am saying that every disciple is carrying around a ‘concealed weapon’ in his mouth. And all we have to do is carelessly open our mouth, and suddenly that concealed weapon can be revealed; and cause great damage and devastation! James has been teaching, on multiple occasions, that the tongue is the monitor of the realistic condition of our walk with Jesus. Righteous words will be the indication of a life which is being “moved along by the Holy Spirit”. But unrighteous words evidence a disciple’s life which is in need of God’s correction! James is also reminding us that authentic discipleship is far more than “only having all of your doctrinal ducks in a row”. And it is also much more than “only being involved in a lot of religious activity”. You recall in Isaiah 5, that the prophet of God was calling down “woes” on a nation that had wickedly departed from the Lord. But when Isaiah experienced a personal encounter with the “sovereignty of the Lord” and “the holiness of God”, he then realized his own personal iniquities. Isaiah wailed, under profound conviction and contrition, “I am a man of unclean LIPS...” The hebrew word that is translated word ‘unclean’ was the same word that a leper was required to use, if you come to close to him. It was mandatory for that leper to scream out, “UNCLEAN”! When this prophet saw the Lord God as He is; then he saw himself as he truly was. And he too cried out, “I am a man with LEPROUS LIPS!” And friends, those leprous lips were flowing from a “leprous heart”! Proverbs 18:21 tells us that, “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” God is simply saying that our words can have a tremendous influence for either good or evil, in the lives of others. Our words have the potential for either a positive or negative impact, on those within our sphere of influence. Our tongue can bring forth words of life, blessing and encouragement to others; or they can be words which can poison, division and devastation to others! A disciple can employ his tongue for spiritual and eternal purposes, which magnify Jesus; or he can use his tongue for carnal and useless purposes; ruin his testimony; and rob God of the glory that is due to Him! (more tomorrow- Lord willing)
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 02:32:54 +0000
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