Biblical Discipleship Pt. 8 Discipleship Involves God Governing Our Tongue.

In our last post, we learned that discipleship involves confronting sin or error with the powerful Word of God. Jesus taught the disciples not to shy away when someone is sinning. He was accused of not following man made rules by the Pharisees but He exposed their evil deeds that broke the fifth commandment of God.  

This text picks up right where we left off in the previous post.

Discipleship is exercising care in what we say. 

Matthew 15:10-11  And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11)  Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 

Jesus called the multitude which would include the scribes and Pharisees, along with His disciples. He told them to hear and understand what He was going to say because it had direct application to the Pharisees treatment of the fifth commandment. 

What normally goes into our mouth is food or drink. They accused the disciples of not following a man made rule that forbid eating with unwashed hands. Jesus authoritatively said what goes into the mouth does not normally defile a man and this contradicted the Pharisees regulation about hand washing. 

The word "defile" means to make unclean or profane and the word "understand" means to mentally comprehend or to think about with the mind. 

Instead, it is what comes out of our mouths that can defile a man. Physically, it could be vomiting, sneezing or coughing, but spiritually it is words that we speak which can defile us. Thus, He condemned the Pharisees for perpetuating false teaching about hand washing with words that came out from their mouths and into their followers ears. 

Discipleship means knowing how the tongue can defile us. 

James 3:5-6  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6) And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 

The apostle James wrote a great deal about the tongue. This text seems particularly appropriate concerning Jesus teaching about defiling things coming out of our mouths. Our tongue is small but the words that come out can start a verbal firestorm. 

Often our tongue speaks fiery, iniquitous words that defile our body and stoke the flames of hell. Many of our leaders and politicians need to be reminded of this important truth, because words have meaning and consequences attached to them. 

Discipleship is sharing truth that may offend some people. 

Matthew 15:12-14  Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13)  But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14) Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 

Jesus' disciples came to Him and asked if He knew that His teaching offended the Pharisees. Jesus answered by reminding them that every plant not planted by the heavenly Father will be rooted up and burned. This is a clear reference to the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13. 

Thus, the Pharisees were correctly compared to  deceitful tares which look just like good wheat until the time of harvest. At that time, the tare's head turns black and its seeds are poisonous. Certainly it is a vivid picture of people planted in churches by the Devil seeking to disrupt or cause division in the church. 

Jesus said to ignore the offended Pharisees because they were blinded to spiritual realities and were leading their blind followers into a ditch. Unless they heeded Christ's call to repentant faith, the religious leaders were doomed to Hell.

Discipleship means communicating God's truth carefully and accurately.

Matthew 15:15-17  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16)  And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17)  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 

Peter asked for more clarity regarding Jesus' parable but our Lord asked Peter is he also lacked understanding. Christ's response shows that the meaning of this parable within the context of confrontation with Pharisees, was plain and obvious to all. 

It seems that Peter lacked an intelligent comprehension of what Jesus just taught. Remember, that the disciples had been with Jesus for an extended period of time and they had seen His mighty works and heard His marvelous teaching. 

This is a good reminder that most often the Bible is an open book of communication from God to mankind.

Jesus gave us the simple explanation. Food and drink go into our mouths and they are processed by our bodily functions. Then, passes out of our bodies by normal functions.  God designed these natural digestive processes into each one of us. 

Thus, eating with dirty hands does not defile a person, because the food or drink is consumed, used by the body and then expelled from the body. 

Discipleship means learning how our mouth is connected to our heart. 

Matthew 15:18-20  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19) For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:   20) These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. 

The things that come out of our mouths are a different story. The words that we speak come from our heart and if we are not born again, we have a wicked heart. A wicked heart that will speak defiling words. What we see is a connection between what we say and what is in our heart. 

When we refer to our "heart" we are referring to our mind because it is the center of our emotions and cognitive abilities. What we think about the most is what we will dedicate our time and resources to pursuing. This is why we are taught to be spiritually minded people and not carnally minded (Romans 8:1-7). 

Satan wants to capture our minds so that we think wrongly about all things but Christ tells us through Paul to have our minds renewed and our way of thinking brought into alignment with scripture. 

Proverbs 30:32  If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth. 

Proverbs 13:3  He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. 

King Solomon shared his God given wisdom with us in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. He addressed the subject of our tongue many times. In this text, notice that we are warned against speaking if we have pride in our heart or have been thinking evil thoughts. 

Jesus taught us that defiling thoughts originate in our heart and they shape our words and actions. The tongue is connected to the heart and this is why our tongue can defile us with sin. In our natural state we are sinners who have corrupt hearts. 

The Pharisees were very good at maintaining an outward appearance of piety and godliness. However, they ignored the truth of scripture that tells us about our sin cursed hearts. 

Discipleship means calling for repentance so people might be born again.

Ezekiel 18:30-32  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31) Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32) For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. 

A New Heart and a New Spirit will be given.

Ezekiel 36:26-27  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27) And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 

Discipleship means putting our opinions and personal views aside, in favor of letting the Word of God speak for us. This applies to Pastors, parishioners, parents, teachers and lay leaders. We must dedicate ourselves to saying only what God says and strive for accuracy as we rely upon the Spirit of God to do the work that needs to be done in the hearts of sinners. 

Jehovah commands those who hear His Word to repent, by confessing and forsaking their sins to the God whom we have sinned against. Ezekiel tells us that all who continue in the path of sin will experience ruined lives. "Turn away from transgression" the prophet declares and "cast away" your sins."

What will Jehovah do? He will make a new heart in each person who believes and make them spiritually alive by sending His Holy Spirit to live in us. God gives six imperatives that describe His saving work in us in Ezekiel 36. Six times God says "I will" do these various things for you.

Discipleship is praying for God to guard our mouth.

Psalm 141:1-3 LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 2) Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. 3) Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 

King David wrote this Psalm and his prayer is worth reflecting upon for all Pastors, parents, parishioners, and lay leaders. Often, circumstances cause us to respond to another person with a harsh word or saying something that is not edifying. 

David prayed for Jehovah to set a watch before his mouth. He wanted God to guard his lips so that he did not speak any words that would be an offense to our God. 

Do not allow any corrupt communication in us. 

Ephesians 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Paul reminded us in our recent studies through Ephesians that a believer is not to allow any corrupt communication go forth our of our mouth. Instead, we are instructed to to speak words that are good by God's standard and that are edifying to all who hear us speak. Words from our mouth should be words that minister grace to all who hear them. This means saying what God says and speaking His words of life into a dying world.

Thoughts to Ponder...

Again, our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated true discipleship for us to seek. His gracious words will strengthen our faith and prepare us for the spiritual warfare we will face. We must learn the lessons from Jesus about our tongue and heart. 

First, Jesus taught us that we must be careful about what words come out of out mouth. It seems like everyone around us today has an opinion about everything and a ill advised compulsion to share what they think they know! Since a belief in absolute truth has all but disappeared from our culture, most people think they are experts. 

Words spoken by Pastors, parents, parishioners should not be communicating the same foolish things that so many people are ceaselessly blaring out today. We must say what God says in His Word, for this is what God uses to save souls and change people's lives through the new birth. 

Second, Jesus taught us that sharing truth from God will offend some people who hear. Pastors, parents, and parishioners must not shy away from our duty to preach the word whether from the pulpit at church, from the supper table at home, or in the break room at work. God gave us the mission to share His Word.

Jesus did not teach His disciples these painful truths about our tongue and heart just to bash people over the head with their sin. No, He taught this truth because He came to this world to deal with our sin and to offer eternal life. He came to save all who will believe and to each believer, Christ came to give a new spirit and a new heart. This is what we need and this is what God provided in the Works, Words and Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

May the Spirit of the Living God help us learn these wonderful truths and may we each one go forth serving Christ in whatever place He has put us, and in whatever capacity He has given to us. Lord, help us live for your glory, that we may be faithful witnesses for you.

Bob