Okay, let's turn to Acts of the Apostles
in chapter 2 and verse 1 to
4.
And when the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place, and
suddenly there came from heaven a noise like
a violent rushing wind, and it filled the
whole house where they were sitting, and there
appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing
themselves, and they rested on each one of
them, and they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Now we know that when people were filled
with the Holy Spirit or baptized in the
Holy Spirit later in the Acts of the
Apostles, it wasn't exactly like this.
There was no rushing wind, there were no
tongues of fire, and also they did not
speak in languages that were known to all
the audience.
So this was unique.
But I want you to see a principle
here which is very important.
When the whole world was united against God
in Genesis chapter 10, it says God confounded
their tongues, and they could not understand one
another when they were going to build the
Tower of Babel.
And this is the exact opposite of that,
where God made them speak in a language
that everybody could understand.
It was the opposite of the Tower of
Babel.
There they built what we could say was
the beginning of Babylon, where people were capable
themselves to do something, to build something which
they thought would reach heaven and they'd ignore
God.
And the thing that got confused there was
their language.
When they spoke with their tongue, they couldn't
understand one another.
And here was the building of what the
beginning, that was the beginning of the building
of Babylon, and here was the beginning of
the building of what the Bible calls Jerusalem,
the true church.
And again, it was the tongue that was
important.
They spoke with their tongue and everybody understood
the opposite of the Tower of Babel.
Babylon and Jerusalem, which you read at the
end of Revelation, are two types of Christianity,
and in both of them, the tongue is
important.
Keep that in mind.
It says here that tongues of fire, verse
3, rested on each of them.
And that is a picture of a tongue
under the control of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible also speaks about a tongue that
is on fire with another type of fire
in James, in chapter 3.
James chapter 3, it says, it begins by
saying, we need to see the previous verses
to understand the context.
Verse 26 of chapter 2, as the body
without the spirit is dead, so also faith
without works is dead.
And the next verse is, don't become many
teachers, brethren, because we shall incur a stricter
judgment, because we all stumble in many ways.
If anyone doesn't stumble in what he says,
that is with his tongue, he's a perfect
man, able to bridle the whole body as
well.
Now, we have been used in past times
to look at these verses independently.
Chapter 2, verse 26 is one verse.
Chapter 3, verse 1 is another verse.
Chapter 3, verse 2 is another verse, and
we've never seen the connection between the three
verses, because James wasn't writing disconnected verses, just
like when you write a letter, you won't
write disconnected sentences, one sentence flows from the
other.
So he was saying, faith without works is
dead.
So, dear brothers, don't become a teacher, if
you don't have works to back up the
faith you're preaching.
Because if you don't have works to back
up the faith you're preaching, God's going to
judge you so severely for trying to teach
something which you were not practicing.
Do you know that millions of Christians in
the world are going to be judged very
severely because they started teaching?
I have a feeling that some of them
would have gone to heaven if they hadn't
started teaching.
But when they started teaching they became hypocrites.
They began to preach wonderful things which were
not true in their life.
Just like there are great lusts in our
flesh for sex, for money, for comfort, there's
also a great lust in all man's flesh
to teach other people.
Look at the multitudes of people who try
to go around giving advice to people who
don't ask for advice.
I've seen it everywhere.
I don't give advice if people don't want
it.
I would give you that recommendation too.
Unless you have a responsibility for that person,
like your son, somebody who works under you
in an office, a servant who works in
your home, or if you're an elder, the
people in your church.
Otherwise, my recommendation to you is, keep your
big mouth shut.
Otherwise, the judgment will be very severe.
My brethren, don't be many teachers.
Because faith without works is like a body
without a spirit.
You know, a dead body can have all
the parts of the body, and you say
you can have all your right doctrines, but
if you can't control your tongue, don't teach.
That's what he's saying in verse 2.
We stumble in many ways, but if a
man does not stumble in what he speaks,
he's a perfect man.
Earlier on, he had said in James chapter
1 and verse 26, if anyone thinks he's
religious, that he cannot control his tongue.
He is deceiving his own heart.
His whole religion is worth zero.
We have preached this for 25 years, 30
years.
I know there are tapes here we have
upstairs on the control of the tongue, which
are 25 years old, at least.
So it's not a new message.
But I find it's very necessary, because a
lot of people think they are spiritual who
do not control their tongues.
Even though the Bible says your religion, your
whole Christianity is worth zero, no matter how
much doctrine you have, no matter how many
other things you are zealous about, the ultimate
test is control of the tongue.
In the olden days, 100-200 years ago,
when physicians went around looking at patients, the
first thing they would tell the patient was,
show me your tongue.
Stick out your tongue, and I'll tell you
whether you're sick or not.
There's a coating on the tongue when you're
sick, which is not there when you're healthy.
And I would say the same thing spiritually.
Do you want to know whether you're spiritual
or not?
Show me your tongue.
How do you use it every day?
How do you use it at home?
With that tongue, you can build Babylon or
Jerusalem.
The choice is yours.
But it's a very important instrument, and that's
why on top of the heads of those
120 people on the Day of Pentecost, it
was not a hand of fire.
We think the hand is very important, or
an eye of fire.
It was a tongue of fire, meaning that
the most important part of the human body,
which the Holy Spirit was going to use
in this new age, was the tongue.
Do you know that?
Do you know that in all your body,
the most important part which the Holy Spirit
wants to use is your tongue?
And if you don't allow the Holy Spirit
to control that, you'll never be the effective
witness that God wants you to be.
From Adam, we have all acquired an uncontrolled
tongue that speaks whatever we like, whenever we
like, however harsh it may be, and very
often, however untrue the facts may be, we
allow our tongue to let loose.
And we don't realize we're not destroying anybody
else.
We are destroying ourselves, ultimately to the point
where you can even lose your salvation.
I mean, just think of it.
How can you go to heaven if your
Christianity is worth zero on earth?
I mean, that godless nominal Christian, his Christianity
is worth zero.
Some of us think that our Christianity is
worth much more.
We think we'd get at least 90%
from God.
We say, that fellow gets zero, he's not
born again.
I get at least 90%, or at least
80%, or at least 60% I passed
with first class.
But God says, no.
You can't control your tongue, you got zero.
But Lord, I did so many other things.
Lord, I cast out demons in your name.
I did miracles in your name.
I prophesied in your name.
He said, depart from me.
I never knew you, because I saw your
tongue.
I witnessed to so many people, Lord.
I gave so much money for God's work.
I came to so many meetings.
Depart from me.
I don't know you.
The Lord says, because you have a religion
which you got from your own head, your
own understanding of Christianity.
It was not according to the teaching of
my word, the Lord says, which says, if
you cannot control your tongue, your Christianity is
worth zero.
Now I want to tell you that, because
you don't hear much about that in other
places.
In fact, if you come here regularly, you'll
hear a lot of things from the Bible,
which are not preached anywhere else.
And I'll tell you why.
Because many years ago, when the Lord commissioned
me to serve him, he told me to
go through this land and preach what people
are not preaching from the Bible.
That's been my commission, and I've stuck to
it through many years.
There are many things which hundreds of people
are preaching.
I don't usually preach it, because you already
hear it.
I pick out those things in the scriptures
which are not being preached by other people,
particularly in the New Testament.
And that's why you hear something, hey, I
never thought of that before, naturally, because you
never heard it.
Because there are certain things in scripture, you
take the matter of the love of money,
it's almost not at all preached nowadays.
Even repentance is gradually dying out.
Yet it's all some of the major messages
of the New Testament, the control of the
tongue.
And it's not a question of how we
speak when we meet each other in a
church meeting Sunday morning.
It's all the time.
The way we use our tongue in the
church meeting may be an act, like an
actor on the stage.
It's not his real self.
If we want to know our real self,
ask yourself how you speak with people who
are closest to you, or people who are
under you.
If people are above you, you speak respectfully
to people whose opinion we care for, we
are very careful about.
But see how you speak with your husband
or your wife at home every single day.
Evaluate yourself over a period of one month.
If you haven't done it, start from today.
And evaluate yourself over the next four weeks.
And husbands and wives, help one another.
For what?
Help one another to go to heaven.
That's what I mean.
It's serious.
Help one another to have a Christianity which
has at least one mark or two marks
out of a hundred, not zero.
If a man cannot control his tongue, his
Christianity is worth zero.
Believe it or not, it's the word of
God.
It's true.
And that's why he says in chapter 2
James 2 26, the body without the spirit
is dead, so also faith without works is
dead.
And he goes on in the next two
verses to say what I'm talking about is
the tongue.
In fact the whole chapter, chapter 3, he's
talking about the tongue.
But the subject is faith without works is
dead.
Chapter 2 verse 26.
It's unfortunate that the people who divided up
the Bible into chapters and verses put a
division there.
James did not put a division.
I don't believe it was even the next
paragraph.
He's just continuing to write.
And some of these chapter divisions in the
Bible are very unfortunate.
And if you have the habit of reading
the Bible one chapter a day, you can
completely miss it.
So those of you who have a habit
of reading one chapter a day, a very
good habit, let me give you a suggestion.
Next time you start reading your chapter for
the day, start with the previous three verses
of the last chapter, which you read yesterday.
And you'll see some amazing things in the
future which you have never seen before.
Like the connection between Hebrews 11 and Hebrews
12.
Or between James 2 and James 3 and
many, many other places.
Or between John 7 and John 8.
There's some amazing connections there which are completely
lost because you forgot what you read yesterday
and you start a new chapter today.
Here's the subject of this chapter.
Like your body without breath is useless.
It's mud.
It's dust.
So faith without a controlled tongue is worthless.
That's what he's saying.
Faith without a controlled tongue is worthless.
He says, I'll explain what I mean.
He doesn't stop with that verse.
He says, I'll explain what I mean.
Many of you fellas get up and use
your tongue to teach others this and teach
others that about Christianity and about spirituality, about
victory over sin, the new and living way,
and 101 things.
Good.
But I hope you're controlling your tongue.
Otherwise, your judgment will be very, very strict.
We all stumble in many ways.
Okay.
But if you can stop stumbling with your
tongue, then you're a perfect man.
You're able to control the whole body.
In other words, every other part of the
body you'll be able to control if you
can control your tongue.
Isn't that interesting?
Jesus told us to control our eyes and
to control our hands.
But he said, ultimately, if you can control
your tongue, you'll be able to control your
eyes.
Some of you who have a tremendous problem
with lusting your eyes with your eyes.
Think of this verse, that if a man
does not stumble in use of his tongue,
he'll be able to control the whole body
as well.
It's God's word.
So sometimes temptation with the eyes is very
strong.
People who are constantly on the internet find
that.
Magazines, cinema posters.
Shall I give you a suggestion?
Why not begin to control your tongue a
little bit and see what a change comes
in the tremendous problem you have with lusting
with your eyes?
It's true.
God's word is true.
Faith without works is dead.
So he uses two examples.
He says, like these horses.
You know, if you don't put a bit
in the horse's mouth and control it with
reins, that horse is no horse in the
world is going to go in the direction
you want it to go.
No.
If you tell a horse, okay, go from
here to there.
You think it's going to listen?
It'll wander here, there, everywhere and maybe finally
reach there or never reach there at all.
He says, our tongue is like that.
When we open our mouth and start speaking,
we speak about this, that and every other
unedifying thing except what God wants you to
say.
So he says, we put a bit in
the horse's mouth to control it.
So that that horse will obey me.
Even the racehorses.
You can't get a racehorse going without a
horse carriages.
And then we, it says here, when you
put that bit into the horse's mouth, the
whole body of the horse, it says in
verse three, obeys you.
The whole body of that horse moves in
the direction which you have controlled with a
bit in the mouth.
And James says, that's how your tongue is.
If you will allow God to control your
tongue, your whole body, your eyes, your hands
and every other part of your body, which
you're having a problem with, will come under
God's control.
Perhaps we have not concentrated on this area
sufficiently.
One of the first things I sought for
my life was to have joy in my
heart.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Another thing I began to seek God for
very early was control of my tongue.
That no matter what the provocation, I would
not lose control of my tongue in any
matter that concerned me.
At home, in the church, anywhere.
I've slipped up sometimes.
And I have repented so terribly, sometimes it's
taken a whole day for me to get
over my repentance.
I said, Lord, why did that happen?
I'm amazed that people can slip up with
their tongue and just carry on as if
nothing happened.
That shows they don't take God's word seriously.
I've come to see that if you want
victory over sin, one of the first things
you've got to do is to take God's
word seriously.
If you read my book, Secrets of Victory,
one of the first chapters is on taking
God's word seriously.
You'll never get victory if you don't take
God's word seriously.
Many years ago, I took this word seriously,
that if I cannot control my tongue, all
my Christianity is worth zero.
Not one or five or ten, but zero.
And I said, Lord, I don't care what
other people say.
I know there are people, I've heard them
on Christian television justifying their anger.
Well, they can do that and lead themselves
to hell and lead other people to hell.
I don't want to listen to them.
I listen to God's word.
The reason why many of these television evangelists
can fool so many Christians today is because
we've got a generation of people watching these
programs who don't know the Bible.
And so when a man gets up on
television and says, God himself is angry, so
I also get angry.
Or somebody says, well, I lost my temper
at my husband, as if that's a normal
thing.
Gets up in the pulpit and says that.
I think that woman should hang her head
in shame that she says such a thing
and dares to teach other people.
Don't be many teachers.
I don't care how good the teaching is.
I want to know, does that person control
his or her tongue?
If they don't, something is seriously wrong.
They should just sit down and say, let
me control my tongue before I teach anymore.
Yeah, I share your testimony, but don't imagine
that you can be a teacher.
The trouble with Christendom today is that I
have a whole lot of teachers who haven't
got victory over their tongue and who even
talk about it in the pulpit.
And there are dumb, thousands of dumb Christians
who say, oh, well, if that spiritual man
or woman who preaches God's word still loses
their temper, I suppose it's okay.
Boy, what a work the devil has done.
I'm amazed how so many Christians can be
blind to something written so clearly in scripture.
But I'm determined that any soul I'm responsible
for is going to hear the truth.
I can't change them.
They may still go to hell, but at
least they'll go to hell knowing that they
were warned before they went there.
That's all I can say.
I can't stop any of you from going
to hell.
But you'll know the truth, and you'll have
the opportunity to be cured completely.
It's like a scan report that says, this
is your condition.
No scan report can cure your cancer, but
it can tell you the seriousness of your
condition.
And the doctor can say, you can be
cured a hundred percent if you will take
the treatment.
That's the good news of the gospel.
But whether you want to take it or
not, that's another thing.
You can reject it and die next week.
It's up to you.
So, here he says another example.
He says, look at these ships.
I don't know whether you know that, all
of you.
I think most of you would know it,
that a huge, massive ship, hundreds of feet
long, weighing many tons, the whole direction of
that ship is altered by a small little
metal thing at the back of the ship
called a rudder.
Because as the ship moves forward, you just
put that rudder a little that side, the
water hits the rudder and turns the whole
ship.
Or you put the rudder the other side,
the water hits the rudder and turns the
whole ship.
He says, such a small piece of metal
right at the back of the ship, near
the propellers, is what controls the whole body
of the ship.
Now this is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
He says the tongue is like the rudder
of the ship.
The direction you are going to go in
your life is determined not by all the
big resolutions you make, on how serious you
are about controlling your tongue.
You let loose your tongue in one direction,
whether you like it or not, the ship
is going to go in that direction.
You use your tongue in another direction, the
ship is going to go in that direction.
I believe this is the reason why we
have so little of the anointed word of
God in many of our pulpits today.
This is the main reason why we have
boring sermons everywhere, where people speak empty stuff,
correct stuff, but no anointing on it.
If I got up here and said two
ones are two, two twos are four, two
threes are six, two fours are eight, two
fives are ten, and keep on going to
the twelve times multiplication table or the sixteen
times multiplication table, I have spoken the truth.
But how much has that truth blessed you?
How much anointing is there on that truth?
Any atheist can get up and say that.
Don't just say, oh what that brother says
is correct.
What that preacher, man or woman, says is
so right.
Well so is the multiplication table.
That's also right.
But does it lead you to victory?
If I repeat the multiplication table here from
one to a hundred, it won't lead anybody
to victory.
Truth is not enough.
There must be anointing on it.
There must be conviction that comes straight home
to your heart and shows you like a
scanned report your true condition.
That is the purpose of God's word.
But unlike other scanned reports where you can
get a scanned report and get discouraged, here
always the message is you can be cured
completely.
One hundred percent.
I mean if that were not attached to
the bottom of the scanned report, I'd say
that's not from God.
No.
The end of the scanned report is the
last sentence, you can be cured completely.
It's a terrible condition, but you can be
cured completely, if you want to, if you're
willing to pay the price.
And the price is not money.
The price is you must first of all
acknowledge your condition and secondly be willing to
die to yourself.
Acknowledgement, that's a very big step.
For example, if you are a Christian, after
all that I've said so far, how many
of you will honestly acknowledge that your Christianity
is worth zero?
You see how difficult it is?
You see how difficult it is to acknowledge
that all your Christianity is worth zero?
That is the work of deception the devil
has done.
He has made you believe what your head
says, even if it's against the word of
God.
It's amazing.
I tell you a lot of so-called
believers believe the devil's lie more than they
believe the scriptures.
Here is one example.
Your whole Christianity is worth zero if you
cannot control your tongue.
Tell me, how many Christians believe that word
of God and how many Christians believe what
the devil says?
Oh, but your doctrine is so right and
you're such a good person and you've overcome
this and you've overcome that.
And surely you can't be an unbeliever.
Your Christianity can't be worth zero.
Maybe it's not a hundred, but at least
fifty or sixty.
And you say to the devil, I think
you're right.
Maybe God is wrong.
Okay.
I'll tell you something.
Heaven and earth will pass away and you
will pass away before this word passes away.
I have staked my life on this word
for forty-five years and I've never been
disappointed.
What it says is the truth.
The devil's master accomplishment in the Garden of
Eden was to convince Eve that nothing would
happen, even though she violated God's word.
It's true.
And he succeeded.
And he succeeded for six thousand years, not
only with unbelievers, but with believers too.
And I know why the devil hates me.
I know why he's got a whole lot
of people ganging up against me all over.
Because I'm exposing his lies and I'll keep
doing it as long as I live.
But that's our commission, as light to expose
the darkness and the lies of the devil.
So he says further, verse five, James three
five, So also the tongue is a small
part of the body, but what a lot
of things it boasts about.
What a lot of things we say with
our tongue to impress other people that we
are very spiritual when we're not.
Then he says, See how great a forest
is set aflame by a small fire, a
matchstick.
A matchstick is enough to set on fire
a whole forest or a whole building.
Sure, one matchstick is enough to set a
plane on fire or a car on fire.
And so he says the tongue is like
that.
A fire that the tongue is a fire.
Now compare this with what we read in
Acts chapter two.
That was also a fire.
So the Bible speaks about two types of
fires, just like Babylon and Jerusalem.
There are two fires.
Jesus spoke about both fires.
He spoke about the fire of hell where
people would burn forever.
And John the Baptist said that Jesus would
baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire.
The Holy Spirit is a fire.
And Jesus said, I have come to set,
bring fire down on earth, Luke 12, 49.
How I wish that fire were already kindled.
There he was speaking about the fire of
the Holy Spirit.
And he also spoke, you know, about the
fire which never dies in the lake of
fire.
So here is speaking about the opposite of
what we read in Acts chapter two, about
a tongue which is set on fire, a
world of sin.
The world is a big place.
Whoever thought that that whole world of sin
could be seated on my little tongue inside
my mouth.
The tongue is set among our members is
that which defiles the entire body.
It defiles the entire body and sets on
fire the course of our life and is
set on fire by hell.
I want to read from the message translation.
It only takes a spark, remember, to set
off a forest fire, a careless word or
a wrongly placed word out of your mouth
can start a forest fire.
A careless word, a wrongly placed word can
start a forest fire where you are.
By our speech, we can ruin the world.
We can turn harmony into chaos.
You can destroy a whole church with a
word.
You can throw mud on a person's reputation
with one word.
You can set the whole world, you can
send the whole world up in smoke and
you yourself will go up in smoke with
it.
A smoke that's right from the pit of
hell.
All types of animals, verse 7, have been
tamed by the human race, but no one's
ever been able to tame the tongue.
Listen to this.
No one can tame the tongue.
It's a restless evil full of deadly poison.
No one can control it.
Then you say, Lord, what's the answer?
The Holy Spirit can.
The Holy Spirit can make you speak in
another tongue and by that I don't mean
just the gift of speaking in tongues, but
I mean a gracious speech.
Another tongue which your wife will be surprised
to hear, your husband will be surprised to
hear a gracious speech.
A speech that encourages rather than discourages.
A speech that builds up rather than destroys.
No one can control it.
You can make a decision here today.
Oh, I'm going to control my tongue.
Okay.
You can discover after one year that you
couldn't control it.
You might as well recognize it right now
that you cannot control your tongue.
See, in the day of Pentecost, the Bible
says that they spoke in an unknown language
and that was a unique case where people
understood it.
But in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, it
says nobody understands what a person is saying
when God gives us the gift of tongues
today.
Very often through the baptism in the Holy
Spirit, sometimes some people don't have it, but
those who have the gift of tongues, it's
exactly like it says in Acts 2, 4.
They spoke, not the Holy Spirit spoke.
That's a mistake some people make.
They ask God to fill them with the
Holy Spirit and expect the Holy Spirit to
speak.
The Holy Spirit never speaks.
Demons speak.
I've heard demon-possessed people and the demon
is speaking.
They have no control over what they're saying.
The actual demon is controlling their tongue.
I remember here in Bangalore, one lady was
demon-possessed.
I said, will you ask Jesus to come
into your heart?
And the voice from inside said, with the
tongue, tell her to do that.
I don't want to do that.
The demon said, I didn't want to accept
Christ.
The demon was controlling the tongue.
And the demon was cast out.
Then the woman got control of her tongue
again.
But when the Holy Spirit fills us, the
fruit of the Holy Spirit, we read in
Galatians 5, 23, is self-control.
One of the nine fruits of the Spirit
mentioned in Galatians 5, 23, is self-control.
The exact opposite of demon possession.
That's why the Bible never says the spirit
possesses you.
Demons possess you.
The Spirit fills you.
And demons don't fill you, they possess you.
They control your tongue.
There are cases of demon-possessed people who
got automatic handwriting.
They write what they don't want to write.
That's how demons are.
But when the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues
to a person, you speak.
You've got full control over it.
Many people who have never spoken in tongues
wonder about this.
They say, how is it?
You mean you can speak in tongues when
you like?
And stop when you like?
I say, sure.
I say, do you believe I can start
preaching when I like, and stop when I
like?
That's a gift too.
When the Holy Spirit gives us a gift,
it's under our control.
Not under His control.
Acts 2, 4 is clear.
They spoke.
But it was not only them.
As the Spirit gave them utterance.
Take my yoke upon you.
A yoke is upon two bullocks, Jesus and
me.
Is the Holy Spirit plus me, always?
But the point I wanted to say there
is, the Holy Spirit prompted them, and they
spoke it.
So what the Lord was trying to say
on the day of Pentecost was, not just
this language that I give you, this language
of prayer and worship, but even in your
mother tongue, I want you to listen to
the promptings of the Holy Spirit when you
speak.
Don't just speak whatever comes into your mind.
Whatever comes into your mind may not be
from the Holy Spirit.
The vast majority of people whom I have
met who speak in tongues, more than 90
% of them, of those who claim to
be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak
in tongues, they speak in other tongues, but
they have no control over their mother tongue.
And then I say, that can't be the
Holy Spirit.
If you praise God on Sunday morning in
other tongues, and Sunday afternoon you shout at
your wife in the mother tongue, you mean
the Holy Spirit can control the other tongue,
but He cannot control English, or Tamil, or
Malayalam?
Which spirit is that?
Certainly not the Holy Spirit.
The Christian world is under a deception.
I speak in tongues.
I've spoken in tongues for 30 years, and
I thank God for it.
But the thing that happened in my life
when the Holy Spirit filled me was He
began to gradually control my mother tongue.
That's how I know it was the Holy
Spirit.
So, I want to say to you, if
you got the gift of other tongues and
the Holy Spirit is not able to control
the mother tongue, you better check up on
that, which spirit that was.
Sure, there's a tremendous amount of counterfeit.
My conviction is 90% is counterfeit.
There is a 10% that's genuine.
Just like the way to life is narrow
and few there be that find it.
The number of genuine Christians, disciples of Jesus
in the world is very small, I'll tell
you that.
And then among them, the number of people
who are genuinely baptized in the Holy Spirit
and genuinely speak in tongues is also very
small.
You can take it or leave it, but
that's my opinion.
And I, like Paul said, I think I
have the spirit of God when I say
that, even though it's my opinion.
Because what the Holy Spirit says.
Which spirit is it that can give you
some other unknown language but cannot control your
mother tongue?
That is the test, James says.
James must have heard in his time also
a lot of fellows just babbling away in
tongues and they couldn't control their mother tongue.
And to such people, James is saying, what's
the use of all this?
If you can't control your tongue, your whole
Christianity is worth zero, no matter how much
you say you're baptized in the Holy Spirit
and speak in tongues.
How do you speak to your wife?
That's the test.
Further, he says, this is scary.
He says, my brethren, these things ought not
to be this way.
Verse 10, from the same, verse 9, with
it we bless the Lord and Father and
with it we curse men.
That's what I said.
Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon.
And those other people have been made in
the likeness of God.
How many of you, when you come here
to worship God on Sunday morning, think of
cursing God?
You wretched, good for nothing.
Yeah, would you ever think of, I mean,
even a godless person wouldn't say that.
Even the atheist will not say it because
he may think, supposing there is somebody there.
I better not say it.
And then he says, you go home and
you curse somebody who's made in the likeness
of God.
You believe your wife is made in the
likeness of God?
You say, oh no, not my wife.
Really?
Whose likeness was she made in?
Yeah, I know very well.
She's made in the likeness of the devil,
the way she behaves.
That's probably what she thinks about you as
well, by the way.
That's our arrogance.
He's not talking about believers here.
He's talking about human beings.
We curse not believers.
We curse human beings.
It's the only verse in the New Testament
that teaches me that there's something of the
likeness of God in every human being.
If it were not for the verse, I
wouldn't have believed it.
I'd have believed it was all wiped out
on the Garden of Eden.
But this verse teaches me that there's something
of the likeness of God in a human
being.
In other words, it makes him a little
different from an animal.
And I'll prove it to you.
Do you know that even atheists have a
conscience?
I've met atheists who will never cheat, never
steal.
Why is that?
Have you met a dog that will never
bark or bite?
No.
There's something of the likeness of God even
in that atheist, the conscience.
Don't despise it.
I'm not saying that your wife is Christlike
or your husband is Christlike.
But don't forget what the Bible says.
There's something of the likeness of God in
that person.
Don't talk to her or him forgetting that.
In the morning, Sunday morning, you talk to
God, you never say things that curse him.
And you come back home and you look
at somebody who is in the likeness of
God and you start cursing.
Maybe your son, daughter.
We must rebuke and correct.
That is a Godlike thing.
Jesus rebukes and corrects those whom he loves.
But he doesn't call them filthy names.
Jesus will never call you a pig or
a donkey or a dog or a bitch
or any such thing.
No.
Never.
He'll never call you that.
He'll rebuke you pretty strongly.
But it's always to the point.
It's like a doctor says, you've got serious
cancer.
He won't say, you son of a bitch,
you've got cancer.
I mean, that's not a good doctor.
Doctors say, you've got cancer.
He won't call you a name.
Okay.
We are surrounded by people who are weak.
Let's say they've got cancer.
But they are not sons and daughters of
bitches.
I'll tell you that.
They're not idiots and fools.
Jesus said, if you call a person an
idiot or a fool, you're in danger of
hell yourself.
Why did he say that in Matthew chapter
5?
The same thing.
See Matthew chapter 5 and see how important
the tongue is in relation to what Jesus
said.
Matthew's gospel chapter 5.
He said here in verse 22, if
you're angry with your brother, you'll be guilty
before the court.
But if you open your mouth and speak,
now guilty before the court, okay, that's not,
it's an earthly court.
But after that, you allow that thing in
your heart to come up to your mouth
and you speak something.
You say, you good for nothing.
Oh, then you'll be guilty before the Supreme
Court.
And then after some time you go to
him and say, you fool.
You tell that person made in the image
of God, you fool.
It's like telling God, fool, you'll be guilty
enough to go to hell.
You can take it or leave it.
But Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass
away, but my words will never pass away.
My brothers and sisters, we have been fooled
long enough by preachers who have tickled your
ears and made you feel everything is okay
when you got serious cancer of the tongue.
Get treated.
The good news is there is a complete
cure possible.
If you're willing to let the Holy Spirit
grip your life, yield your whole life to
Jesus and say, Lord, I want to be
filled with the Holy Spirit.
The whole secret of the Christian life is
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit, we can never live.
I would drop dead here spiritually if I
didn't have the power of the Holy Spirit.
And yet, supposing one day God took away
the Holy Spirit from the world, from every
believer, do you know that lots of churches
would still continue having their praise and worship
meetings?
Because a lot of praise and worship meetings,
you don't need the Holy Spirit.
You just need a good song leader.
All the musicians are there.
Song leader is there.
Music book is there.
Holy Spirit is not there.
It doesn't matter.
We're going to have praise and worship.
And it'll sound just as good as on
other Sundays to people who are only listening
to the music.
But to a sensitive godly man standing there
Sunday morning, he'll say, hey, music is good
today, but something is missing.
Holy Spirit is missing.
But lots and lots of Christians wouldn't have
a clue that the Holy Spirit is left.
It's true.
Let me show you another verse in Proverbs
in chapter 18.
Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 21.
Death and life are in the power of
the tongue.
Those who love it will eat its fruit.
Or like the Message Bible says, words kill
and words can give life.
Words are either poison or good fruit.
The choice is yours.
It's a poison that'll kill you and can
kill other people.
It's fruit or it can be fruit that
blesses you and blesses other people.
The choice is yours.
Death and life are in the power of
this tongue.
It's with the tongue that the devil does
his work and it's with the tongue that
the Holy Spirit does his work.
And that's why it's so important to make
sure that our tongue belongs to God 100%.
You can't rent out this tongue to the
devil part of the day or part of
the week and then expect God to use
it the rest of the time.
No.
God says, if you give it to me,
it's mine forever.
You can't give it partly to God.
I said the other day how Jesus said
in John 8, 44, the devil is the
father of lies and all our lies come
out of the mouth of the devil.
And no child can be born without a
mother.
And that lie comes out of our tongue
because I have yielded my womb.
The womb is my heart.
Like the womb in a woman's body, spiritually,
the heart is the womb.
And like a woman's womb receives a seed,
good or bad, I can receive in my
heart a seed, good or bad.
And the type of child that is born
through my tongue will depend on the seed
I received.
So I have to say, I'm not going
to receive the seed of the devil.
These thoughts that he puts into my heart,
negative thoughts about other people, angry thoughts, critical
thoughts, proud thoughts, untruthful thoughts, exaggerations,
which is just another decent word for lying,
unbelieving thoughts, which come out of my word,
mouth.
Oh, what to do, brother?
There's no hope.
If you feel like that, at least keep
your mouth shut.
Don't spread that poison to other people.
That fellow had a little hope till he
heard you say, brother, no hope.
Why not keep it to yourself?
Why not just die yourself?
Why kill other people?
You never see God's word saying there's no
hope.
There's always hope.
I'd say that about a person who's in
the coffin after it's been buried.
I'd say, well, now there's no hope for
him.
Because it's appointed unto men amongst to die,
but after this, to judgment.
But otherwise, I hold out hope for everybody
in the world.
The worst criminal in the world, there's hope
for him.
The thief on the cross who was saved
is the proof of that.
Flattering words come from the heart.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
If I flatter this fellow, I can get
something out of him.
It's cunning.
The serpent was more subtle than all the
other animals, it says in Genesis 3.1.
And the devil said, that's the animal I
want.
And the devil looks around at all the
believers sitting somewhere and says, that fellow, or
that woman, he's really shrewd, she's really shrewd
and cunning.
That's the one I want.
The smart one.
Some of these other fellas look smart, but
they're pretty dumb.
I know that.
I'm not going to catch them.
But this other guy, he's clever.
This other woman, she's clever.
She thinks, how can I destroy that person's
reputation?
How can I ruin that person's scheme?
The devil says, that's the one I want.
The serpent was more subtle than all the
other animals, and the devil said, I'll use
that serpent's tongue to speak.
Dear brother, are you subtle?
Are you clever?
Are you cunning?
Are you sharp?
Are you somebody who can grasp things like
that?
Just watch out.
That's the type of person the devil's looking
for.
If you don't give your tongue, but the
Holy Spirit doesn't look out only for such
people.
The Holy Spirit's glad to accept anybody.
A dumb guy like Peter, or a clever
chap like Paul, both are equally acceptable to
the Holy Spirit.
But when the devil uses, he particularly looks
for those who are cunning, sharp, very intelligent,
who top the class, and who are brilliant,
clever.
He says, I've got to work and get
that fellow's tongue, get that sister's tongue.
I can do such a lot of work
through that person.
And if the person claims to be a
believer, boy, there's no end to what I
can do with such a person.
Has the devil made a fool of you
for so many years?
Have you fooled yourself that you're filled with
the Holy Spirit?
Maybe you speak in other tongues, but the
Holy Spirit's still not been able to control
your mother tongue.
I'll tell you what, seek God to be
filled with the Holy Spirit and say to
God, Lord, I won't believe it till you've
given me another tongue in my mother tongue.
Then I'll believe it.
And when my wife testifies that my speech
has changed, when my co-workers testify, hey,
what's happened, man?
Then I'll believe God's done a work.
Till then, just humble yourself.
I remember when I asked God to fill
me with the Holy Spirit, I said, Lord,
I don't care if it takes 10 years.
I want the genuine thing that Peter, James,
and John got on the day of Pentecost.
I don't want anything less than that.
I want that mighty power that was manifested
on the day of Pentecost when the Holy
Spirit came upon people and Peter's tongue, the
Holy Spirit took over that tongue.
This was the tongue which six weeks ago
had denied Jesus saying, I don't know who
you're talking about.
This is wicked tongue.
What a work the Holy Spirit did.
Took that tongue which six weeks ago had
denied the Lord three times.
Took that same tongue and brought 3,000
Jews to Christ ready for baptism and baptized
in the Holy Spirit.
God can do it.
You humble yourself and weep bitterly like Peter.
That was the secret.
You know how Peter prepared himself for Pentecost?
It says in Luke 22, and Jesus looked
at him.
It's a lovely verse.
Just after he denied the Lord three times
and the cock had crowed twice, it says
the Lord turned.
The Lord was standing in the court with
all his fellows accusing him, but his mind
was on Peter and he knew Peter was
there and he turned around and looked at
Peter.
And I think his look said, I remember
seeing a painting of this in a Bible
storybook like this.
The Lord looked at Peter.
I don't think he looked at Peter in
that stern way.
That artist didn't have a clue.
He didn't know God.
I think the Lord looked at Peter with
tremendous compassion.
A look which said, it's all right Peter,
you're forgiven.
I told you this would happen, but you
remember what the other thing I told you?
I'm praying for you right now that even
though you slipped up with your tongue, your
faith that God can change you will not
be lost.
But it took a long time for Peter.
He couldn't believe it.
Then he never saw the Lord again.
So the Lord sent another messenger to him.
It says in Mark chapter 16, after his
resurrection on the first day of the week,
he was risen and this angel was sitting
there.
We read in verse four, there was this
verse five, this young man, an angel sitting
there in a white robe.
And he said, don't be amazed.
Verse six, Mark 16, six, Jesus has risen.
He's not here.
Here's the place where they laid him.
Go and tell his disciples and Peter that
he's going ahead of you.
Why and Peter?
Supposing I say, go and tell all the
men sitting in this room and so-and
-so.
But he's also a man, isn't he included
in that?
Supposing that word phrase and Peter was not
there.
The messengers would have come, gone and said,
you know, Jesus said, go and tell all
his disciples that Jesus is going ahead of
you in Galilee.
Peter would have sat there in the corner
and said, that can't include me.
I was his disciple, not one of his
now.
And the Lord had a special concern.
He knew that Peter felt like that.
And some of you feel like that to
this morning.
Lord, I can't be the one.
I'll never control my tongue.
And so the Lord says, go and tell
his disciples and so-and-so.
Today, I am the angel telling you.
The Lord says, go and tell his disciples
and you.
The Lord's going ahead of you.
That uncontrolled tongue can become a spiritual tongue.
Don't give up hope.
Let's pray.
That includes you, brother, sister.
Nobody is left out.
Go and tell his disciples and you.
The Lord wants to fill you with his
Holy Spirit.
Cry out to him.
Your life will be changed.
Your home life will be changed.
Your home will be like a little heaven
on earth.
I know I've tasted a little bit of
it, and I can say that.
It's your choice whether you want your home
to be a heaven or a hell.
It doesn't matter how much you have failed
in the past.
Are you willing to change today?
Say, Lord, I don't care if it takes
10 years.
I'm going to get there by the grace
of God.
I'm going to be a perfect man, a
perfect woman with my tongue under the control
of the Holy Spirit.
Peter wept bitterly.
Perhaps you need to go somewhere and weep
bitterly sometime.
That was how he was prepared for the
day of Pentecost.
And that's how you and I can be
prepared too.
Heavenly Father, help us that no one goes
away from here discouraged.
There's hope for everyone.
Thank you, Lord.
We praise you for the tremendous possibilities there
are ever since the day of Pentecost.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.