Topic:The Tongue
Text: Proverbs 18:4-13

The tongue can be described as the greatest part of the human body. Your life rises or falls on the type of tongue you have. If your tongue is wholesome, your life will be wholesome. If your tongue is sick, your life will be sickly, disorderly, fragmented and confused. To get to heaven you need a sanctified tongue. Whatever you say with your tongue is part of what will determine whether you will make heaven or not. To become an over-comer, you have to take care of your tongue.In James 1:26, the Bible says, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” If you cannot bridle your tongue, no matter how spiritual you may be, you may end up in hell. In so many ways, Satan uses the human tongue to lead people to hell. We shall look at some of these ways:
(a) Talkativeness: Talkativeness is a sin. The Bible says: “In the multitude of words there wonted not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19, Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” A fool is discerned by a multitude of words. Whosoever God calls a fool will surely fail to make heaven, as there is no place for fools in heaven. Those who are foolish by the virtue of the wrong use of the tongue will be barred from the pearly gates. A talkative has no place but in hell. A true child of God should know how to bridle his or her tongue;
(b) Jests/Idle talks: Generally, we do not regard these as sins. To many, they are just jovial talks. Through jesting, Satan can lead many to hell. Matthew 5:37 says: “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” Something you consider trivial may be evil. Comedians are helping Satan to ensure that their own lives are filled with sorrow. In Matthew 12:36, the Bible says: “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment.”
(c) Backbiting. This is another bait used by Satan to lure people to hell. The Bible tells us clearly that people can be killed through backbiting. Let us look at Proverbs 18:8, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Wounds are received on the battlefields. The word of a talebearer is compared to wounds received in the battle. Jeremiah 18:18 also takes about backbiting: “Then said they, come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, not counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet; come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” Many people, today, are guilty of smiting their neighbours with their tongue. A backbiter is a first class candidate for hell.

If you do not get rid of these sins you will miss heaven. If you can solve the problem of the misuse of the tongue, you will be free from the common sins, which hinder many from making heave,

Memory Verse: Eccl. 5:3 - “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.”