I want
to turn to Proverbs in chapter 10.
We have often spoken about the importance of
being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And I believe that most if not all
of us have asked God to fill us
and probably have at some time in the
past experienced being filled with the Holy Spirit
too.
And in my observation of many people in
many churches that emphasize the baptism of the
Holy Spirit is that when you see them
after some time, sometimes even after a year,
they are not filled with the Holy Spirit,
at least there is no evidence of that.
Jesus said, by their fruit you shall know
them.
And there doesn't seem to be much fruit.
And we can imagine that once we were
filled with the Holy Spirit, well that's it.
And forever after, it's like a driving license
I get and renew every five years.
It's not like that.
You can be filled with the Holy Spirit
one day and not be filled the next
day.
You can start backsliding the next day.
It says in Hebrews 3.13 that it
requires only 24 hours to become a backslider.
Encourage one another daily, otherwise you'll be hardened
for the deceitfulness of sin.
So hardening takes only 24 hours.
So anyone who is not walking with the
Lord daily, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4
.16 that the inner man is being renewed
day by day.
You either allow it to be renewed or
to be hardened.
So since the Holy Spirit is pictured by
Jesus as water, it should be gushing out
of our hearts.
We know that water in a vessel can
leak if there's a hole in it.
And that leakage can come through sin,
sin that we're conscious of.
But as I've observed many, many believers and
sought my own heart and searched my own
life, I found that very often that leakage
comes through the tongue, through a careless use
of the tongue or a misuse of the
tongue.
So here it says in Proverbs 10.11,
we have seen what the Bible says about
the righteous shall live by faith.
We've seen the path of the righteous is
something that is to shine more and more
until the perfect day.
Proverbs 4.18, here it says the mouth
of the righteous is to be a fountain
of life.
And the only alternative to that is the
mouth of the wicked, which conceals violence.
You can either have a fountain of life
or, like the message Bible says, the mouth
of the wicked is a dark cave full
of abuse, etc.
So if we don't allow the Holy Spirit
to take complete control of our tongue, not
just when we are going to share the
word, but all the time, there's going to
be leakage.
Particularly when you are with your relatives, unconverted
friends, maybe at home where you feel you
can relax and speak as you like, that's
fine.
But you can speak as you like and
there can be leakage.
And the next time you want to be
used by the Lord, He doesn't use you
because there's no power left.
It's like a petrol tank that's got a
hole in it and it's all leaked out,
even though you filled it up yesterday, it's
all leaked out.
And you wonder where all the petrol went.
There was a hole in the tank and
that hole is in the tongue.
It's through the tongue that the leakage takes
place.
You've seen Jesus said that in Matthew chapter
12.
You know, this is so important that if
you take just this one message seriously, I
believe it can radically change your life.
Anybody, young or old, brother or sister.
In Matthew 12, Jesus says, verse 33 onwards,
Matthew 12, 33, the fruit is what comes
out of the tongue, but he says you
can't make the fruit good unless the tree
is good.
You can't just hang good fruit on a
bad tree.
You can fool people, but it's not really
the fruit of the tree.
So Jesus says you need to make the
tree good.
Then you don't have to worry about always
making sure that the good fruit is hanging
on the branches.
It will only produce good fruit.
And the tree is the heart.
The branches, the branches, the tongue from which
the fruit comes out, the words.
So the tree is the heart.
The tongue is the branch.
The words are our fruit.
So he says you've got to make the
tree good.
Then its fruit will be good.
The tree is bad.
Fruit is bad.
And the tree is known by its fruit.
So the condition of your heart is known
by the words you speak.
That's basically what he's saying in verse 33.
And he turned to these Pharisees and said,
you brood of vipers, how can you, when
your heart is evil, produce what is good
fruit?
You see now where all the anger and
the bitterness and the foul language and the
dirty jokes and the laughing at the dirty
jokes and everything comes from.
It comes from a heart that we're not
allowed the Holy Spirit to deal with.
We can control our tongue.
It's like chopping off the bad fruit.
We can say nice words.
That's like hanging good fruit on a bad
tree.
But Jesus said that's all deception.
It's all hypocrisy.
Deal with the heart and then the branches
and fruit will be okay.
Because the mouth speaks out of that which
fills the heart.
The mouth is like an overflow valve.
So whatever is in the heart spills out
through the mouth, particularly when there's pressure.
It could be the pressure caused by somebody
provoking you.
It could be the pressure caused by somebody
hurting you.
It could be pressure due to any circumstance.
But what fills the heart overflows.
Now, occasionally something very good happens and then
our hearts temporarily filled with some thankfulness to
God and that overflows through our mouth.
Thank you, Lord, for doing that.
Praise the Lord.
But it's only temporary for a short time.
Then that's squeezed out and there's the rest
of the time.
Our heart is filled with all types of
other thoughts about other people.
Whenever you speak about other people, not when
you're guarded.
When you're guarded, be careful.
I'm talking about when you're not guarded.
Usually when you're talking to your wife or
husband at home, you're not usually guarded there.
Or when you're talking with your very close
friends of your own age, you're not usually
guarded there.
There you know what's really in your heart.
Don't examine yourself by the way you speak
to the elders or older brothers because that
could be put on.
But if you really want to know the
condition of your heart, see how you speak
to those who you're closest to on earth.
There we are not guarded.
There we're not clipping off the bad fruit.
We're just saying everything that's in our heart.
There, if you want to discover it, you'll
discover what's in your heart.
And that's why I believe the way you
speak to your husband or wife at home
is a very accurate test of the condition
of your heart.
And it's not how you speak to each
other on Sunday morning at the meeting.
So the mouth is the overflow valve of
the heart.
And the good man, because he's got good
treasure in his heart, it only brings forth
good.
You know like Amy Carmichael said, you carry
a glass of sweet water, no matter how
heavily somebody shakes you, it's only sweet water
that can spill out.
You can't say that man made my heart
bitter.
That is impossible.
He only shakes you by his provocation, irritation.
What spills out is what's in the heart.
That is always there.
Maybe somebody shook you and you discovered it.
You've got to thank him for shaking you
up, because otherwise you may not have discovered
what was in your heart.
I tell you, we really have to thank
God for enemies, for those who provoke us,
those who irritate us, those who make us
angry, because they shake us and we discover
what's inside our jar.
And we've got to be so thankful.
Lord, I never knew it was like this
in my heart.
I'm fooling myself because I speak so nicely
to all the believers.
The good man out of his good treasure
brings forth what is good, and the evil
man brings out his evil treasure, what is
evil.
And listen to this.
These are some very serious words.
I tell you that every careless word that
people speak, words that are spoken to hurt,
to injure, careless words, they'll give an account
in the day of judgment.
My conviction is that perhaps 99% of
believers don't believe that verse.
You know, it's like if I was given,
if I was working in an office here
and they gave me 500,000 rupees in
cash in a box saying, take this in
the train to Delhi and give it in
the office there.
I wouldn't sleep during that two-day journey
because I wouldn't want to lose one rupee
from that box.
While I'm asleep, somebody could steal it.
I'd be so careful because when I go
there, I know they're going to count every
rupee.
Why do I take that seriously?
Because I know I'm accountable for every single
rupee in that box.
Now, why don't we feel like that about
the words we speak?
Because we don't believe that when we reach
the other end, we have to give an
account for every word we speak.
How many of you can honestly say, you've
got to answer this to yourself, that you
really believe that every single word you spoke,
at least from the time you were born
again and understood this verse, every single word,
every single thing you said in secret about
other people, it's going to come up on
the screen and through the loudspeakers on the
Day of Judgment, and the Lord's going to
ask you, why did you say that?
Everybody's going to hear it.
Jesus said that, what you whisper in the
ears will be proclaimed from the housetops in
that day.
He said that.
So, if you really believed it, I know
I've had a hard time believing it for
many years, but I've learned to be very,
very careful.
Jesus said, the Bible says in Isaiah 66,
I will look at the man who trembles
at my word, who sees a word and
says, God, I'm going to tremble at that.
Every single word I speak, I'm going to
give an account in the Day of Judgment.
And then, here is a tougher word than
that, verse 37.
You're going to be justified, not just by
your faith.
You know, James says, faith without works is
dead.
So, he said, that's not real faith.
If you really have faith, he says, it
will be seen in your works.
And Jesus said that first.
He said, you're going to be justified by
your words.
Jesus hardly ever spoke about being justified by
faith.
That's Paul's great theme.
It's true.
But many people have misunderstood faith.
It's a faith which is just in their
head, doesn't seem to change their life in
any way.
And, therefore, it's most probably a dead faith.
So, just like James says in chapter 2,
check up your faith by your works.
Jesus would say, check up your faith by
the words you speak all the time.
And those words will tell you whether you've
got real faith or not and whether you'll
be justified or not in the final day.
And if those words tell you that your
Christianity is a lot of rubbish, it's just
an act put on on Sunday morning, and
you're talking about being filled with a spirit
and maybe some of you even speak in
tongues.
It's just all hot air.
Maybe once upon a time you did have
a genuine experience and perhaps what you received
at that time was a genuine gift.
But Satan got some gifts before he became
the devil.
In fact, all the gifts Satan has today,
God gave it to him before he became
the devil.
And God didn't take it away.
You know, just like you give a birthday
gift to somebody, one day it turns around
and becomes your enemy.
You don't go and ask for your gift
back.
You just let him have it.
So, God also gave gifts to the angel,
the archangel, and when he became the devil,
God didn't ask for the gifts back.
And that's how Satan has all this power.
And a person can have a genuine gift
of the spirit, exercise it, and be lost
eternally.
It's an amazing thing.
I mean, Jesus said things like that.
You will say to me, many will say
to me, Lord, we cast out demons in
your name.
We prophesied in your name.
We did miracles in your name.
And I'll say, I never knew you.
Get away from me.
That's really going to be true.
So, by your words, you'll be justified.
By your words, you'll be condemned.
So, for a moment, let's forget about our
faith and our doctrinal understanding that Christ died
for us.
Let's forget all that.
And let's just think of the words we
have spoken in past years.
Or let's say one year, if you can't
remember everything.
If you take the sum total of those
words that you spoke in the year 2006,
would you be justified in the judgment seat
of Christ?
It's a very important question.
Jesus said it.
Faith without works is dead.
I'm only trying to save people from having
a counterfeit faith.
A faith that doesn't change their life, that
doesn't change their speech.
Now, you know, there were no words like
this in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, they didn't speak much
about the tongue at all.
But something happened on the day of Pentecost.
Why the Old Testament didn't speak about the
tongue?
Because the Holy Spirit was only on the
outside of people in the Old Testament.
In fact, like people wearing a shirt or
a sari covers you, but it's only on
the outside.
And you can take it off.
That's exactly how it was.
Samson would put it on and take it
off, just like you go home and take
off your shirt or sari and put something
else.
Samson would put it on, and then he'd
go to the prostitutes' house and take it
off and wear something else.
And Gideon, it says the Spirit of God
clothed Gideon.
That's how it says in Judges 6.34,
the margin.
He clothed Gideon.
And then you'll read in the next couple
of chapters, he took it off and started
worshiping idols.
The entire Old Testament was like this.
Saul, one day, the Spirit of God upon
him, and he was chained into another man,
we read in 1 Samuel 10.
And then a little later, you read in
Chapter 18, that an evil spirit came on
him.
The Spirit had left him.
The Holy Spirit had left him.
So that's how it was in the Old
Testament.
But Jesus said, now something different is going
to happen.
From the innermost being, this river will start
flowing, John 7.38. So the difference is,
in the New Testament, what happened on the
day of Pentecost, the spirit that for so
many years was only on the outside, and
that could never dwell inside a man because
man's heart was filthy.
And the Spirit of God will never dwell
inside a filthy heart.
And all the blood of bulls and goats
that they sacrificed.
It was only a picture.
That couldn't cleanse anybody's heart.
It was a picture.
They were saying one day we believe the
Messiah will come and die.
But then Jesus came.
He was the first person who walked on
the earth in whom the spirit dwelt because
his heart was pure.
And he told his disciples, the same spirit
is going to dwell in you.
Then you'll have a power which you don't
have right now.
I mean they had power.
Elijah had power to raise the dead.
So the external power, they split the Red
Sea, pulled down the walls of Jericho, they
raised the dead.
Elijah raised a dead person even after he
died.
Have you read that?
Threw somebody into Elijah's grave and the guy
rose up from the dead.
There was more anointing in Elijah's dead bones
than in a lot of living people today.
That's how it was.
But it was only on the outside for
external things.
But Jesus said it's not going to be
like that now.
The Spirit of God is going to come
inside you and he's really going to give
you a power within which you just don't
have up till now.
Any amount of Bible study, any amount of
listening to the greatest preacher on earth, that
was Jesus Christ, for three and a half
years, won't change you.
Imagine listening to the greatest preacher on earth
for three and a half years.
Walking with him, living with him.
His example, his words.
You know every time Jesus spoke it says
that people's hearts were warmed.
Your hearts may be warmed when you hear
something.
It's only temporary.
After some time the stove cools off and
no heat left.
That's how those disciples were.
In the presence of Jesus they'd have some
faith in different things but once he was
away they're back to normal.
But Jesus said it's going to be different
after the day of Pentecost.
You're going to get a power within you
that's really going to change your life.
And those who are hungry for that waited
for that power.
1 Corinthians 15 says that Jesus appeared to
500 people after his resurrection.
500 people saw the risen Lord.
But only 120 of them had a hunger
to wait for this inner power.
That teaches us something that not everybody who
believes has a great hunger for this power.
They think it's too much botheration to wait
on God for a power because they're quite
happy the way they live.
Yeah, well, I lost my temper 20 years
ago.
I'll still lose it.
I presume I'll continue losing it until the
day I die.
I'll keep confessing my hope.
They're not bothered.
Yes, I do speak bad words now and
then but the blood of Jesus cleanses me.
Do you think such people will get power
in 100 years?
No.
Those folks got it in 10 days.
But some folks won't get it in 100
years because there's no thirst.
They're not desperate.
They're happy to live their Christian life, whatever
God's given them.
God's given them this wonderful gospel.
It's like getting a Mercedes Benz car but
you don't put any petrol in it.
You keep pushing it all your life.
A lot of Christians, I really believe, they
go to Mercedes Benz car, the most fantastic
gospel in the whole world and you see
them pushing it and sweating and struggling and
hardly moving at all.
People under the law who didn't have the
car, they walk faster.
These Christians are walking slower because they're pushing
the car.
They're not meant to be like that.
They're supposed to have a power in that
car that drives it to fantastic speed.
They can go 50 times faster than those
people who walk, than the people under the
law.
But it's not like that because they don't
have this terrific hunger for power.
So, in Acts chapter 2 you read that
when this power came upon these people, in
Acts chapter 2, it says there was this
violent, Acts 2 verse 2, there was this
violent rushing wind, you know, symbolizing the Holy
Spirit, coming upon just like a gale or
a tornado that swept into that room where
these 120 people were praying and it filled
the whole house and then immediately after that,
the very first thing you read is before
they spoke in tongues, tongues of fire, you
know, the shape of a tongue, a fire
in the shape of a human tongue rested
on all the 120 people's heads.
What was that message?
You know, I wish the Pentecostals and Charismatics
had spoken more about Acts 2-3 than
about Acts 2-4.
Acts 2-3 is a tongue on fire
of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2-4, after that, is speaking in
tongues.
So what I see from that is that
what the Lord was saying is that once
a spirit comes inside you and gives you
this power that I told you you'll get,
one of the first things he's going to
do is to control your tongue.
Your whole tongue will be under the control
of the fire of the Holy Spirit.
That's what John the Baptist said.
When Jesus comes, he'll baptize you in the
Holy Spirit and fire.
He's going to purify every part of our
body.
He's going to purify the way we look.
We'll overcome lust.
It's going to purify the way we do
things with our hands.
It's going to purify especially our tongues.
That's the meaning.
I mean, the Lord could have put a
hand of fire or an eye of fire
or a leg of fire, all these instruments
God uses in the body, but it was
a tongue.
Please remember this.
It was a tongue set on fire.
And then, after that, they were filled with
the Holy Spirit all simultaneously, and they began
to speak in other languages as the Holy
Spirit gave them utterance.
So that was a gift.
In the day of Pentecost, it was used
to preach the gospel to so many people
who were of different languages over there because
they all heard in their own tongue.
Peter didn't speak all those languages, but they
all heard in their own tongue, it says.
But all the disciples spoke in unknown languages.
It's one of the gifts the Holy Spirit
gives and 1 Corinthians 14 says it's primarily
today for communication with God, to relieve the
pressure from our hearts, to help us to
overcome discouragement, to help us to overcome the
pressures we face from the world around.
We can release our heart in speaking in
unknown languages to God.
It's not primarily for public use.
1 Corinthians 14 makes that clear.
But before that I said this tongue is
of fire.
In other words, the Holy Spirit first wants
to control our mother tongue and then give
us other tongues.
So if you only got the Holy Spirit
giving you other tongues, but he can't control
your mother tongue, you missed the main thing.
You missed the tongues of fire and you
just got the unknown tongues.
That's sad.
It's happened to lots and lots of people.
It's the tongue of fire that came first,
and that's what I want.
And 1 Corinthians 12 says God doesn't give
tongues, unknown languages to everyone.
But the tongue of fire, that's for everyone.
You think God wants even one child of
his not to have his tongue controlled by
the Holy Spirit?
Not even one.
So I want to encourage you.
You may never, God may never, for I
don't know the reasons, but God may not
give the gift of speaking in tongues or
interpreting tongues to everybody.
In fact, 1 Corinthians 12 says do all
speak in tongues?
The answer is no.
Are all apostles?
The answer is no.
Same type of answer.
So just like you all can't be apostles,
all will not speak in tongues, but all
can have a tongue controlled by the Holy
Spirit, the tongue set on fire by the
Spirit of God.
And you must not rest until that is
real in your life because all leakage is
through the tongue.
You can get the greatest man of God
to lay hands on you and pray for
you and you're filled with the Holy Spirit
and in one day it's all gone because
the vessel is leaking.
And before the day is out, it's gone.
We wouldn't go and collect milk in a
vessel that's got a hole in it, not
even one hole.
We'd plug every hole before we even collect
water, which is so cheap.
Why are we careless when it comes to
the river, the living water flowing through us?
I want you to turn with me please
to Ephesians 5.
This is the only place in all the
episodes where we have a direct command to
be filled with the Holy Spirit.
There's no other command like that anywhere from
Romans to Jude.
I mean there are examples of it in
Acts of the Apostles, but as a command,
you must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It's only one place in the episodes, Ephesians
5 verse 18.
And I don't know Greek, but I read
from those who have studied it that the
actual word is continuous tense.
You know, like you say walked, that happened.
Walking means you're still doing it.
So here, the meaning is continuous.
Be being filled with the Holy Spirit all
the time.
That's the meaning of that verse.
That's how you got to read it.
Be being filled all the time.
I can't fill myself.
It doesn't say fill yourself with the Spirit.
No, because how can I do it?
I have to ask the Lord to fill
me with the Holy Spirit.
And he will do that continuously if I
keep the poles plugged.
If I confess sin immediately, as soon as
I'm aware of the sin, if I confess
it, if I always humble myself because water
always flows to the lowest place.
Remember that.
Water always flows to the lowest place first.
So the more you humble yourself, chances are
that you'll be filled with the Spirit sooner
than other people who think too much of
themselves and especially the tongue.
Now the only way to plug the hole
is by immediately, as soon as you're aware
that you've told a lie perhaps, that you
confess it to God and to the person
to whom you told the lie.
And I'll tell you this.
It's easier to confess to God than to
confess to the person to whom you told
the lie because the first requires no humility.
The second requires humility which many people don't
have.
You ask yourself, when you've told somebody a
lie, isn't it easy to go to God
and say, Lord, I'm sorry I told a
lie there?
That doesn't require any humility at all.
But try going to that person two minutes
later and saying, Brother, I'm sorry I told
you a lie two minutes ago.
There's where we see.
Many of us who think we are very
humble can discover in that moment your humility
is pretty close to zero.
You know, these are moments of revelation.
I've gone the same way myself.
When I've hesitated to go and apologize, the
Lord says, Dad, you discover that your humility
is pretty close to zero.
I'm not preaching to you what the Lord
has not shown me myself.
But when I've seen it, I've said, Lord,
thank you for showing me.
I'm not going to fool myself.
Imagine if you fool yourself all your earthly
life thinking you're a very humble brother, very
humble sister, and you stand before the Lord
on the final day and the Lord exposes
you as the proudest of all people.
How will you feel?
And you discover that He couldn't give you
grace because you kept up this impression of
humility.
And when the Lord gave you a revelation,
here is a situation where you're not willing
to go and apologize to that person.
You've tossed it around your mind and after,
I'll tell you what happens.
After two, three days, you forget it.
And you say, oh, it's okay.
It's not okay.
The wound is now festering inside.
The outside is all sealed up.
But now it's festering inside and one day
it'll kill you.
So the best thing is face up to
what God is saying.
And if you spoke a rude word to
somebody, confess it to God, go to that
person and say, I'm sorry I spoke rudely
to you.
As soon as you're aware of it, doesn't
matter who it is, I tell you, believe
me, if you follow my prescription, you will
plug all the holes in your life pretty
quickly.
I know you agree with me.
I don't know whether you'll do it.
You know that verse where Jesus said, it's
easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God.
And we think in terms of money, oh,
well, I don't have money, so I'm okay.
No, hang on.
Riches are not just money.
You can be rich intellectually and look down
on others who are not so smart and
clever as you.
It's difficult for you to go through that
needle's eye.
You can be rich with a sense of
your own importance.
Very difficult for you to go through the
needle's eye.
You may be very poor financially, but very
rich with a sense of how important a
person you are.
You won't stoop to ask forgiveness.
Very difficult to go through the needle's eye.
When Jesus said, the way to life is
narrow.
How narrow is it?
Six inches?
One inch?
One centimeter?
One millimeter?
I think it's pretty close to one millimeter.
A little less than that, actually.
It's because Jesus defined it.
The narrow way is the width of the
hole of the needle's eye.
How wide is that?
It's less than a millimeter, by the way.
It's the thickness of a thin thread.
That's the size of the gate and that's
the size of the way.
Anybody can find it.
Anybody can walk that way.
Anybody can understand.
And if they want to, humble themselves.
That's all that's required.
This big man has to become small and
he'll go through.
A camel finds it difficult.
Even a mouse will find it difficult.
But there are little creatures in the world
called amoebas.
Amoebas is almost the smallest living being.
It's so small, you've got to see it
through a microscope.
And you tell this amoeba, do you find
it difficult to go through the needle's eye?
Oh, he says, not at all.
It's so broad, I can just walk through
it.
I can run through it, he says.
Because it's so small.
It finds the needle's eye so big it
just runs through it.
It's all a question of smallness.
Small people go through the needle's eye very
quickly.
Those that are rich with a sense of
their own importance find it very difficult.
So in the use of the tongue, if
you want to plug the hole, if you're
serious about plugging the hole, Jesus said, the
way to life is narrow and few there
be that find it.
Now there's a difference between understanding it and
finding it.
Many understand it.
I think what I'm saying today is simple
enough for all of you who understand a
little bit of English to understand what I'm
saying.
But it doesn't mean you've found it.
That will be tested in this week.
Whether you've found this way or not.
You understood it?
Oh yeah, sure.
You probably can understand it so well that
you can even explain it to somebody else.
But to find it, Jesus didn't say, few
there be that understand it.
Many there be that understand it, but few
there be that find it.
So Ephesians 5.18 says, Be filled with
the Holy Spirit.
In contrast, don't get drunk with wine.
See, one negative, one positive.
Negatively, don't get drunk with alcohol, but be
filled with the Spirit.
It's like a coin with two sides.
Now what would you think of a brother
who came here to Sunday morning, drunk and
tottering into his seat?
I'm sure you'd all be talking about him
after you go home.
Did you see that brother?
What would you think of a brother who
came here without being filled with the Holy
Spirit?
Nobody would talk about him.
Well, that's okay.
Do you see how we think one is
such a terrible sin to be drunk with
wine?
And the other, oh, it's a sort of
a suggestion.
Is it a suggestion?
Don't get drunk?
It's in the same verse.
Don't get drunk with wine, but be filled
with the Holy Spirit.
Now I apply this to the parable that
Jesus spoke about a man who had a
demon.
Let's say the demon is the demon of
drunkenness.
He's a slave to drunkenness.
His demon is controlling drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk,
drunk.
And one day, Jesus casts out that demon.
Now what did Jesus say?
He leaves his heart empty.
The demon of drink is gone.
What should he do with his heart?
According to this verse, be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
He doesn't do that.
No, that's not important.
I got rid of the demon.
You know what will happen?
What did Jesus say?
Eight of them will come.
That one plus seven more.
A guy will get more drunk.
Now it may not be drunkenness.
It may be something else.
Be not drunk with wine, but be filled
with the Holy Spirit.
And when you're filled with the Holy Spirit,
you know what's going to happen?
The three things mentioned here, all three have
got to do with the tongue.
That's very interesting.
When you're filled with the Spirit, you'll start
speaking.
And you won't be speaking like you used
to speak in the old days.
You'll start speaking in things that glorify God.
That's the main point.
Speaking to one another, songs and hymns, spiritual
songs, singing, and making melody with your heart.
And I told you what's in your heart
will overflow through your mouth.
There'll be a song in your heart.
There'll be joy.
There'll be love.
And that's what's going to come out of
your mouth.
Speaking, singing, and the third thing, giving thanks.
That's also with the tongue.
Speaking, singing, giving thanks for everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there again we see the connection between
being filled with the Holy Spirit and the
tongue.
It's consistent there throughout Scripture.
The day of Pentecost, the only place in
the Epistles where it says be filled with
the Holy Spirit, again the tongue.
I want to show you one more thing.
A couple more verses.
You turn back to chapter 4 of Ephesians.
The opposite of being filled with the Holy
Spirit in relation to the Holy Spirit himself
is verse 30, Ephesians 4.30. Don't grieve
the Holy Spirit of God.
Here it is positively be filled with the
Holy Spirit but before that in Ephesians 4
.30 it says don't grieve, don't make the
Holy Spirit sad.
Don't break his heart.
And how do you grieve the Holy Spirit?
There again it's through the tongue.
See verse 29.
Don't watch the way you talk.
Don't let anything dirty come out of your
mouth.
Say only that which will help others.
According to the need of the moment, each
word should be like a gift that you
give to others.
And then speaking about the use of the
tongue, he says don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
Do you see how being filled with the
Holy Spirit relates to the tongue?
Grieving the Holy Spirit also relates to the
tongue.
And therefore he says if you want to
control this tongue, verse 31, make sure that
there's no bitterness in your heart.
Make sure there's no anger in your heart.
Make sure there's no slander in your heart.
If there's no slander in your heart, how
can slander come from your tongue?
Watch the heart.
Proverbs 4.23 I think says watch your
heart with all diligence because from it are
all the issues of life.
So to me it's been very interesting to
see these things because I have a tremendous
respect for Scripture as the inspired word of
God.
And when I see this consistently the connection
of the Holy Spirit with the tongue I
realize that a lot of people who think
they are filled with the Holy Spirit are
not filled with the Spirit at all.
See 1 Thessalonians in chapter 5.
We're really taking a Bible study through the
New Testament on the use of the tongue
and the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5 we read here.
Again this word.
Verse 19.
Don't quench the Holy Spirit.
See earlier we saw don't grieve the Holy
Spirit.
That means the Holy Spirit is like such
a close friend of yours and don't make
Him sad by the things you speak.
Now the Holy Spirit is pictured like a
fire.
Don't quench it.
That means don't pour water on that fire
and quench the whole thing.
That tongue of fire, don't quench it.
And again He is speaking about speech.
In verse 16 16.
Rejoice always.
Pray without ceasing.
That's our speech.
In everything give thanks.
That's our speech.
Don't quench the Holy Spirit.
Don't despise prophetic utterances.
That's our speech.
You see how the Holy Spirit and our
speech are so closely connected almost everywhere.
He talks about grieving the Spirit or quenching
the Spirit or being filled with the Spirit.
And on the day of Pentecost.
I hope these verses will convince you that
this is the primary source of leakage.
And any amount of praying God fill me
with the Holy Spirit fill me with the
Holy Spirit doesn't solve the problem.
I also believe that not all physical sicknesses
but certainly some physical sicknesses come because we
don't allow the Holy Spirit to take care
of His temple.
We don't allow the Holy Spirit to fill
our body as His temple.
Can you imagine what would happen if you
say Lord this body is the temple of
the Holy Spirit.
You know after we renovated this hall we
keep emphasizing make sure nobody no children going
spoil the walls the curtains don't touch the
curtains with dirty hands.
And this expensive equipment here don't go and
touch it.
But do you know that this is not
the temple of God?
Not at all.
It's only a building.
The real temple is your body.
And I wish we'd be as careful with
that.
Don't touch it with soiled hands.
This is the temple of God.
Don't dirty the walls.
Don't spoil the tongue.
Imagine if we were careful like that.
Like we'd care you'd be careful if you
had painted your house and put new curtains
there and your children don't soil it.
But this is the temple of God.
You know we care more for buildings than
for this body.
And that's why even eating and drinking we
eat and drink a lot of stuff that
destroys this body.
We'd never do that.
We're so careful about the type of paint
we use for walls there's one type of
paint for the exterior and another type of
paint for the interior and oh how careful
we are.
We need to be careful with our bodies
too especially our tongue.
So Romans chapter 3 when he describes the
sin of humanity Romans 3 you know it's
a great chapter describing how it concludes with
all have sinned in Romans 3 23.
All have sinned.
But see how he describes this the sin
of man in verse 10 onwards.
As it is written there is no one
righteous not even one no one who understands
no one who seeks after God all have
turned aside there's no one who does good
there's not even one and shall I tell
you why?
Because of their speech their throat is like
a grave their tongues they use to deceive
it's all tongue.
The poison of asps is under their lips
their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Four sentences all got to do with the
tongue.
Their throat their tongues their lips and their
mouth.
What is this show?
Verse 18 There is no fear of God
before their eyes.
So when the Holy Spirit wants to describe
the sin of humanity he says look at
the way they talk that shows what rotten
sinners they are.
What would the Holy Spirit say about the
way you speak in private?
Snakes look very beautiful I tell you extremely
beautiful such multicolored snakes there's poison underneath.
So also a lot of believers poison of
asps is under their lips.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
They open their mouths and pollute the air.
Do you believe that?
That you pollute the air by the words
you speak.
You know some of these things if we
take seriously I really believe it will change
our whole life.
In James chapter 1 James is a very
practical man.
This is one of the first letters of
the New Testament written by the way.
One of the very first.
In order it comes there but in terms
of time it's one of the first letters
written.
And James was watching Christianity develop for about
20 years before he wrote.
There were no books of the New Testament
written for about 20 years after the day
of Pentecost.
And then as James watched the development of
Christianity over 20 years and he was writing
one of the first books of the New
Testament he speaks about the tongue.
He said that's what I've seen among all
these so called believers who say they are
filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in
tongues.
And so he says in James 1.26
If anybody thinks he is very spiritual he
can't brighten his tongue.
He is deceiving himself.
I want to say that to all of
you in the name of Jesus.
If you think you are very spiritual and
you can't control your tongue in your office
in your home anywhere you can't bridle it
I'm not saying there is no hope for
you but right now you are deceiving yourself.
You are deceiving yourself that you are a
spiritual person.
You are just fooling everybody in the church
but you are not fooling God and you
are certainly not fooling the devil.
He sees through the whole thing.
And why is James saying that?
He says you've got to do something about
it.
He deceives himself and his religion is worth
zero.
That's the Bible.
You present your Christianity to God.
Lord, I went to a thousand meetings.
I know the Bible.
I preached.
I've done this.
I've done that.
I've done the other thing and I've helped
the poor and I've given money for God's
work and I even gave money for the
renovation of the building.
Great.
But I couldn't control my tongue.
How much do I get, Lord?
Zero out of hundred.
Zero?
You mean no marks for all the other?
No.
Everything got cancelled out because of the way
you used your tongue.
I am convinced that most believers don't believe
that.
If they did, they would really take it
seriously.
The condition of our tongue is our spiritual
condition.
In the olden days before doctors had stethoscopes
and other gadgets, 1700s and all, if the
physician came to your house and said you
were sick, he'd say, show me your tongue.
Let me have a look at it.
Even today doctors say that.
Oh, you're sick.
That's what James is saying.
Let me see your tongue.
Not how you use it in the meeting,
how you use it at home, how you
use it in the office, how you use
it in the bus when somebody stamps on
your leg or something.
Bad.
Sick.
How do you use it when only unbelievers
are around you?
My brothers and sisters, let's take this seriously.
In James chapter 3, remember this, one of
the first letters written in the New Testament
and James had this tremendous burden seeing the
condition of Christians around him for 20 years.
He writes a whole chapter on the tongue
and he says it's not just the tongue
of fire set on fire by the Holy
Spirit.
Here he says in verse 6, there's another
type of fire that can set your heart
on, that can set your tongue alight.
James 3, 6, it's a tongue which is
set on fire by the fire of hell.
See the last part of that verse.
There are two fires that can set our
tongue alight.
One is the fire of the Holy Spirit
and here it says the fire of hell
and you have the choice whom you're going
to give your tongue to.
You can give it to God, sure, or
you can give it to the devil.
That's your choice.
God won't force you.
And don't think that you can give it
part of the time to the devil and
part of the time to God.
No.
You can't rent your house six days of
the week to the devil and one day
say, Lord, please come and live here today.
No.
If it's God's, it's his completely.
If it's the devil's, you may put a
whitewash of religion on it on Sunday morning
but it's only a whitewash.
Underneath the house belongs to the devil.
It's serious but tongue is a world of
sin.
We think of the world outside, the world
of sin.
No, it says it's inside your mouth.
See that verse 6.
The very world of sin is right inside
your mouth.
And then he says, you can go to
the zoo and find the animals, the leopards
and the lion and everybody tame but nobody's
been able to tame the tongue.
Verse 8.
It's a restless evil full of deadly poison.
He's writing the believers.
He's writing in verse 1 my brothers.
He's not talking about those ungodly people out
there.
My dear brothers, do you know what's inside
your mouth my dear brothers?
A world of iniquity.
Something full of deadly poison, a restless evil.
With it we bless the Lord and praise
the Lord on Sunday mornings and then go
home and curse men who've been made in
the likeness of God.
Oh my brothers.
He's talking about the believers.
My dear brothers.
It should not be like this.
Can a fountain give fresh water and then
bitter water and fresh water and bitter water?
Something is wrong.
The problem is with the tree.
A fig tree cannot produce some other fruit.
It produces figs.
A wine will produce grapes and so on.
So he says, if you're a wise person
show that by the control of your tongue.
I want you to turn now to Psalm
12.
The Old Testament has also got a psalm,
a chapter on the tongue just like James
3 is a chapter on the tongue of
the New Testament.
It's good to know these chapters.
James 3.
Take time to read it.
And Psalm 12.
What does he say in Psalm 12?
Lord, godly people are not there nowadays.
Faithful people are disappearing.
He's talking about godly men and women.
Faithful men and women.
Why are they not to be found?
And he talks about the tongue.
They tell lies.
They flatter.
They speak with a double heart.
Their tongue, verse 3, speaks great things.
They say, verse 4, with the tongue we
will prevail.
Our lips are our own.
And they devastate people with their tongue.
That's why there are no godly people.
We think godly people is somebody who looks
very holy, comes to the meeting regularly.
No.
Even in the Old Testament the psalmist said,
I've seen godly, rarely seen a godly man
because I hardly find a person who can
control his tongue.
This is Old Testament.
And he says, the words, basically, it's because
of this last part of verse 4.
People say, my lips are my own.
Who in the world is going to control
my tongue?
Not Jesus, nobody.
Not the Holy Spirit, it's me.
My tongue is my own.
My lips are my own.
I open it when I feel like it.
I shut it when I feel like it.
Who's going to be lord over my tongue?
Nobody.
Aha.
Okay.
Well, then you'll be like that.
But in contrast, he says, look at this.
The words of the Lord, verse 6, are
pure words.
A silver tried in a furnace, refined seven
times.
You, Lord, can keep them.
You can preserve them from this generation.
The wicked may strut about on every side,
but the Lord can keep us.
And, I have taken that word seriously, verse
6.
The words of the Lord are pure words,
means, you know, many thoughts come into our
mind.
Some of those thoughts are temptation.
Don't think that every thought that comes into
your mind is sin.
A lot of it is temptation.
If you accept it, it's sin.
That means even if you relish it in
your mind, it's sin.
But temptation comes into the mind, and you'll
be tempted until the end of your life.
Temptation came to Jesus' mind.
When the devil said to Jesus, turn the
stones into bread, it's a thought in his
mind.
He rejected it.
So temptation is not sin.
But there are all types of thoughts come
into our mind to say this and say
this.
And, you've got to be careful.
What is filtered and comes through the mouth,
and what should be thrown out.
You know, like this Aquaguard water filter.
When they demonstrate it, they'll put some dirty
water in here, and clean water comes out
here.
Isn't that wonderful?
God can do something like that through the
Holy Spirit.
All these dirty thoughts coming into our mind,
and it's all filtered, and what comes out
of my mouth is pure.
Because, when I think of saying a word,
I say, hey, that's not the right word
to say.
I throw it back into the furnace, purify
it once.
Then I think of another word, no, not
even that.
Throw it back into the furnace.
Maybe seven times.
That's what it says in verse six.
Then it comes out as pure.
Sometimes you write a letter, and say, I
can't write it like that.
I've written some letters 20 times before I
ever sent it out.
Throw it back, throw it back, throw it
back.
Do you do that?
Do you think about what you say?
Or do you speak without thinking?
In Proverbs it says that a wise person
thinks about what he says.
You can think about that another day.
Let me just say this in closing.
If you turn to the book of Proverbs,
it says in chapter 15, and verse four,
chapter 15 and verse four, a soothing tongue
is a tree of life.
You know that that tree of life in
the Garden of Eden?
The other tree was a tree of knowledge.
You can dish out all the knowledge of
the Bible you have, good and evil, good
and evil.
You can teach people about it, and your
tongue can be a tongue of death, like
that tree of knowledge brought death to Adam.
The other thing it says is your tongue
can be a tree of life.
Your tongue can bring life to other people.
A soothing tongue, a healing tongue, can be
a tree of life.
I don't want a world of iniquity inside
my mouth.
I want a tree of life.
I hope you want it too, and I
hope you will not understand, just understand what
I said, but you'll find this way.
Say, Lord, whatever the cost, I want the
Holy Spirit to control my tongue.
Amen.