In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of taming one's tongue and the dangers of speaking evil. He compares the tongue to a treasure that can bring forth either good or evil. The preacher shares his personal conviction to be cautious with his words and to examine his own heart for any root of jealousy, envy, or covetousness. He also references the book of James, specifically James 3:11, which warns against the inconsistency of a fountain producing both sweet and bitter water. The sermon concludes with a call to control and tame the tongue, recognizing that every word spoken will be accounted for before the Lord.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, Post Office Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, or by calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. The chapter of James. Hallelujah. It's cold outside, but it's nice in here. Amen. Praise the Lord. Lord of God. I'll tell you what. Some of you are not ready to hear this at all. I want you to turn and smile down anybody you see with a frown, please. Right now, smile them down. Amen. Shake hands and say, Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive and well here this morning. Amen. My message this morning, tame your tongue. I wonder if you were looking at somebody when you said that. Your tongue. James 3.8. But the tongue can no man tame. But it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. The tongue can no man tame. You can no more tame your tongue than a wild horse could tame itself. It has to have a trainer. We're going to talk about it. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Holy Spirit, you really burned this into my heart. You emblazoned it in my spirit and my mind. Lord, you told me that this is a message that comes right from the throne of God. It's so important to the heavenly kingdom and to everyone in this place this morning. I pray for the anointing you've promised me, the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Lord, pierce our hearts. Pierce everyone in the balcony in here, around me, Lord, as you pierced my heart with this word. God, don't let anybody go out of here without determination to tame their tongue by the power of the Holy Ghost. Lord, you're going to do something about our tongue and our lips and our mouth today. You're going to sanctify it. In Jesus' name, amen. James says our tongue is an unruly evil full of deadly, deadly, deadly poison. Now, he's talking about the tongues of Christians, believers. He's not talking about tongues outside this church. He's talking about the body of Christ. And this epistle of James, especially the third chapter, is a call to God's people to tame their tongues. Now, how serious is this matter of taming your tongue? Is an unruly tongue that major of a sin? Is it that wicked that we should talk about it this morning? You know, there's so many of you here this morning that are engaged in a battle with some big sin. I mean, you have come out of drugs or alcohol. You have come out of a situation that was lust involved. It could have been an adulterous affair, whatever it may be. And here you sit this morning, and you could say, I could almost hear somebody say, Wait a minute, Brother Dave, I am fighting the biggest battle of my life. I am trying to win this battle over all the temptations of drugs and alcohol in my past. And you come along, and you're going to add another burden on me? How can that compare with my battle? This great temptation I'm fighting, how does my tongue compare? How does what I say, how do you measure that in comparison to the kind of battle that I'm already facing? But I'm telling you, an untamed tongue is the world's deadliest weapon. An unsanctified, careless tongue is more wicked than drugs or alcohol, promiscuous sex, whatever you can name. An unsanctified, gossiping, vicious tongue is worse than all those sins combined. The Bible said there's hell and fire in it. The Bible says it defiles the whole body of Jesus Christ. Deadly, deadly poison. The Bible said it's a world of iniquity, it defiles a multitude, and there's a taste of hell on earth through its power. I want to take you into the Scripture this morning and show you how dangerous and damning an unruly tongue can be. And I'll tell you, the Lord has shaken me up by it. And I want you to hear me well. I'm going to take you into the Word of God, and I want you to see it. And I want you to go to James 1 and verse 26. Let me make a statement. Give me your good ear. An unruly, careless tongue negates everything spiritual in your life. It renders all religion as worthless. It makes every spiritual activity in vain. Everything you do for God is in vain if your tongue is not under control. I'm going to read it to you. Verse 26, James 1. 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. The word vain is absolutely worthless. Now, folks, listen to it again. James is speaking to a group within the body. He's not talking about sinners because he's saying among you. He's speaking to the church. It's among you. These tongues among you. And he's zeroing in on someone who appears apparently to be pious and holy, and in many ways kind, perhaps, and sweet, and no other kind of wickedness about them. They're not drug addicts. They're not alcoholics now. They're in the body of Jesus Christ. And they appear to be pious and religious. But they have tongues that are out of control, unbridled. And the Bible says all their religion, all their show of spirituality, everything is absolutely, totally in vain. They go about the church or on the job with acid tongues. They're always hearing and telling morsels of gossip. They think nothing of murmuring and complaining. They think nothing of touching God's anointed. They just blink it off. I know of at least three women in this church, and I'm going to say it lovingly as a pastor, at least three women in this church who have gone about, and maybe they've been to you, they may be here this morning. And I hope, sisters, that you hear what I'm going to say, how serious this is. Because these three ladies are among those who worship with us as loud as anybody, faithful to this church coming, and they're very kind usually, and they'll do anything for anybody. But they have come to one or two of the pastors with the burden, and because they felt we didn't give them enough time, or that we did not give them the answer, they thought we talked too harshly. They have gone out of here and said, our pastors have no time for us. They're too busy. And I have picked it up four or five times, and I know where those sisters sit. And you know, it doesn't hurt me as a pastor. What I'm concerned about is what James is saying. I have to say this as a pastor lovingly, to these three sisters who are here, and for that matter, anyone who would choose to gossip about leadership, or about one another in the body, or the choir, or anything else. The Bible says, everything you do that has been spiritual, all your spiritual activity, all your worship, all your praise, everything you've done. You can come and wrap packages for the children. You can be busy on the food truck. You can do all these things that the Bible says. If your tongue is not under control, you touch God's anointed, everything is in vain. Absolutely in vain. You stand before God and say, well Lord, I worshipped you, I praised you, I did all these things. He said, I don't know people who have a divided tongue, a divided heart, and a divided mind. I never knew you because if you were intimate with me, you would have understood my word, you would have allowed the Holy Spirit to deal with you, and this would have not been an issue. Now folks, this scares me. This frightens me, that the possibility that someday I could stand before the judgment seat of Christ, I could stand as a minister of the gospel, and my tongue was not under control, that I just nonchalantly repeated things about other people or other ministers, and that I could stand before the Lord and hear Jesus say to me, David, you helped establish a drug ministry around the world, home for women and men, and all of these centers that have sprung up around the world, you were evangelists, you traveled the world, and you preached to thousands, you were used of God in so many ways, there were so many sweet things that came out, edifying words that came out, but there were also words that came out of you that were bitter, and the same fountain cannot put out sweet and bitter at the same time. There was something there, there was something wrong, and the Lord can say, he's going to say, I never knew you, I never knew you, and all these things you did, the Bible said he's deceived his own heart, and his religion is in vain, his spirituality does not count. Now look at it, take a good look, read it, please, look at it. Now folks, I want to tell you something, a true pastor, now you say, Brother Wilkinson, is there a lot of gossip in this church? No, I'm not aware of that, I'm speaking something from the throne of God, something I got from heaven, something the Holy Ghost told me we all need, the choir needs it, orchestra needs it, pastors, we all need it, I need it. Now if you want something sweet and syrupy, a true pastor is going to tell you the truth and he's going to hurt you, but he'll heal you. Now I may sound serious, but I'm not mad at anybody, and not a person here I couldn't hug and tell you I love you. But I want you to hear from the heart of Jesus this morning, how damning this sin is, how dangerous it is to have a tongue that is out of control, or a tongue that gossips or slanders, a tongue that touches God's anointed. These three sisters that I speak of, I tell you with all love and compassion, everything I see you do, everything I see you do is in vain, until you make that right, not only with pastors, but with those that you speak about, or spread this poison about. Sometimes it has to do with just the activities of the church, or other people, or you pick up a little morsel here, did you hear? I've always said it takes a big ear to hear a big mouth. Oh, it's going to get real quiet I'm afraid here in just a bit. Think of all the loving, kind things you've done in your walk with Jesus, all the tears you've shed for others, and the compassion you've shown, all the caring things that you've done, how willing you were to even lay down your life for others, and the Bible says all in vain, because you've been spewing out careless words. Some may be inclined to say, surely God's not so unloving as to overlook and discount all that I've done, because I'm not careful with my tongue. Surely God would not discount all of that. Go to 1 Corinthians with me please. Turn left and go to 1 Corinthians, the 13th chapter. 1 Corinthians, the 13th chapter. You say, I speak uncharitable words at times. Yes, I acknowledge sometimes I've said things that are uncharitable. 1 Corinthians, 13th chapter, verses 1 through 3. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity or love, I'm become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and I have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me what? Nothing. Can you imagine someone dying for Jesus, being burned at the stake? He's given every dollar he has to feed the poor. He's given everything in his life. And it's all in vain. He's not going to get a martyr's reward. He's going to stand before God. And the Lord said, You did this with the wrong motive. You didn't have love in your heart. You had bitterness in your heart. And it came out your mouth. You were not a charitable one. Your tongue was not charitable. It was not loving. It was bitter. It was unkind. It was acid. It profiteth you nothing. Now, folks, when I stand before you, and this hits me that I could stand before God. Yes, I'm minister. I am not immune. Pastor Don is not immune. None of us are immune. None of us are immune. It profits you nothing. All your spirituality is in vain. All right? All your spirituality, all your sacrifice is worthless because of an uncharitable, untamed tongue. Secondly, what you speak with your tongue reflects what is in your heart. I want you to go Matthew 12. Turn left again. Matthew 12. And, brother, sister, I tell you, when this hit me, I don't think I'll ever be the same because I've seen it many times, but now the Holy Spirit made it real. Matthew 12, verse 34, beginning to read. Matthew 12, verse 34. Jesus is speaking. Oh, generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart... What? The mouth speaks. Your tongue reflects only what is in your heart. What is in your heart will be reflected by the words you speak. Now, these are the words from Jesus Christ himself. And he's saying, loose, careless, evil talk pours out of an evil, unclean heart. Now, my mother, when I was a boy, used to wash my mouth out with soap when I said something naughty. And in those days, the soap was, what, Lysol? And I don't know. It was horrible. But you see, that wasn't getting the real issue. Not the tongue that needs washed, it's the heart. It's the heart that needs to be cleaned. First of all, if my tongue speaks carelessly, if I speak with evil malice, it discounts all my spirituality. And now, secondly, it makes me face an indisputable fact that my heart must be unclean, my heart must be defiled, there's some kind of hellfire in my heart, or I wouldn't talk like I'm talking. I wouldn't speak the things that I speak. I've got to look in and examine my heart. Where does this come from? If I hear sensual, lustful words coming out of my mouth, if I'm speaking any filthy gossip, if I tell a dirty joke, if I hear myself running somebody down, if I speak unkindly or jealously about another, if I raise my voice and scream at my family, if I start calling people names and that name calling pours out of my lips, if I am tattling on somebody, if I curse even a single word, if a stream of angry words pour out of my mouth, then I've got to ask myself the question, what kind of unclean, filthy, junk, still is treasured up somewhere hidden in my heart? There's something there never dealt with, or I wouldn't be saying these things, I wouldn't be doing these things, it wouldn't come out of me, it's down there, it's not been dealt with. Beloved, careless, unruly talk is not just a flaw, it's not just a weakness, it's not just a habit we fall into occasionally. You can't say of somebody, well, usually he or she is very lovely, they are just wonderful people. Occasionally, yeah, they'll gossip, occasionally they'll say things that cut. No. No, you see, all their spirituality is discounted, and more than that, that person has an unclean, evil heart. There's something there. If you are sitting at a table or you're walking through this church and somebody comes to you in the corner and says, did you hear? Did you hear what I heard? You can mark it down, no matter how pious they appear, no matter how they may dance in church or how much they talk in tongues, there's something evil in the heart. There's something wrong. There's something that's not been dealt with by the Holy Spirit. What did Jesus say? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of a good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. An evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. There's a treasure in there, just as a snake has a little poison bag right under his mouth. There's something, any kind of deadly poison, it's because the bag hasn't been drained. The bag of poison's never been removed, it's still there. It's not a flaw. The Scripture says, Did the fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? That's verse 11 in James 3. I tell you what, this warning has been so serious to me and the Lord has so implanted the fear of God in my heart about this that I just have to pursue it. I know now that even as a pastor, if I allow a morsel of gossip to come out of my lips, I'm going to stop and say, Master, what kind of root is there in me? What kind of jealousy is there in me? What kind of envy? What kind of covetousness? What is it that's not yet been rooted out of my heart? You know, a young convert in this church was overheard recently speaking to someone about a friend who was living in adultery. A young man who was living in adultery. He said, No big deal because the blood covers everything. He's covered. It was one of our young Timothy House boys. And I said, Young man, you got it all wrong. The blood of Jesus Christ never excuses or covers sin that's not totally repented and forsaken. It's not covered. It's not covered until it's totally repented and there's a desire in the heart to be saved. Same with the tongue. Same with the tongue. You say, Well, Brother Wilkson, I know I'm saved. I know I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. You see, we have a lot of people who do not come to grips with this matter of the danger of the tongue and the taming of the tongue. And they'll lay down before they go to bed and they'll think about it. They say, Well, yeah, I guess I did say something that was not kind. It was not, doesn't line up with the spirit of Jesus. And yes, I shouldn't have repeated it, but Lord, cover me with the blood. And they go to sleep and get up and do the same thing again. You see, the blood of Jesus doesn't cover those hidden things. The Holy Ghost comes and he digs out those things. God doesn't want to cover it. He wants to remove it. He wants to remove the cause of it. He wants us to be healed. And the trouble is, we've been claiming the covering of the blood. We've never truly repented. We've never gotten to the root. And the root is still there. And we think that this blood covering is going to cover it. And folks, I know, I know in my heart, I said something about a pastor to a dear friend. And it was true what I said. In fact, his name came up. And that's why I repeated it. And I said, well, I wouldn't trust that pastor because I had some dealings with him. And I knew the Holy Ghost said, stop right there. Nobody needs to know. Don't tell your friend anymore because there's no purpose to it and it's just gossip. Even though it's true, don't repeat it because you could hurt his character. And I just blurted it out. And it was an ugly, terrible thing that the man did. And I had to deal with him. It had to do with morals and an incredible kind of immorality. And I repeated it. And immediately as soon as I said it, I was convicted and condemned and everything else. The Spirit of God said, you shouldn't have said that. I prayed about it and I called my friend up. I said, look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. And my friend said, look, I don't know who he is and I don't repeat things that I hear. And I went home and I said, that did it. Thank you, Jesus. I stopped it. No, I didn't stop it because when you plant something in somebody's mind, you can't pull it out of their mind. You know what the Scripture says? How great a matter a little fire kindles. I had kindled a little spark because the spark comes out of the tongue and it has to do with this very thing I'm talking about. Just don't drop something about somebody. And it affects their character. It affects their very spirit and nature. And I knew it and I said, oh God, what do I do? And the Lord said, I'm interested in changing you so that you don't do it anymore. It's not just dealing with this one thing. There's something down in your heart. And I looked at it and I said, oh God, there's got to be. I must be jealous of that man. There's a little something in there that almost I wanted to say that there was something that came out of my mouth that should have been shut. And I repented and the Lord forgave me. And that's why anymore I begin to say something against somebody and the Holy Ghost will say, stop. And brother, sister, if he tells you that, stop in the middle of the sentence and say, I can't go on. This is gossip. Stop it. Right there and then you'll become very sensitive to the Holy Ghost and from then on he'll be there all the time to remind you and he'll keep you clean and pure. You can't tame it yourself but the Holy Ghost can through total repentance. Look at verse 37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned by your words. It doesn't say smoking cigarettes, drugs, alcohol. Those are all ugly sins. Yes, there's judgment but he said you're going to be judged for your words. You're going to be judged by what you said. The Greek word here I've gotten ahead of it. I just want to stick with this right here. Here is why I have the fear of God on me. Because I read this verse and the Holy Spirit made it so real to me that I stand before a judgment seat and I give an account. So I've got to lay down at night and recall my words and I've got to take inventory and I've got to pray, Oh God, dig into my heart. What's wrong inside of me? Folks, we need a heart examination. We need to look inside and from now on God will help you. He will deliver you if you realize it's not just I don't gossip. It's not just something comes off the top of your head. It's not just something that's suddenly there and out. No, it has roots. It's from your heart. So the heart needs to be cleansed. The heart needs to be cleansed. We need to go to Jesus and say Lord, I'm guilty. I'm guilty. Help me. Send the Holy Ghost. Convict me. You'll never go for healing unless you believe you're guilty. Probably half of this congregation is going to slough it off and say that's not me. I've got a nice clean tongue. Are you one who blesses with your tongue or one who curses? Look back to James 3 and keep your hand on Matthew 12. Let's start reading James 3. Let's start reading with verse 8 again. But the tongue can no man tame. It's an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after this similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing my brethren. Now see, he's talking to brethren again. These things should not be happening. These things ought not to be so. So to be. The Greek word here for curse is to tear down, to bring one down, and to denounce someone as evil. It's this tearing down of people. It's tearing down of pastors. Tearing down of others in the ministry. Tearing down brothers and sisters. He said with your mouth you bless God and then you go out and tear somebody down. That's what the cursing here means. It doesn't mean a voodoo curse. Doesn't mean somebody sticking pins in a doll. No, this is just somebody saying things about people and others and it's tearing them down. It's tearing down the body of Christ. Now I ask you, what comes out of your lips? Out of your tongue? Are you a blessed one who blesses people? One who just delights in encouraging people? Or are you one of those who tears down? Now I want you to stop for just a minute. First of all, if our tongue is unruly, it's not under the command of the Holy Spirit, it renders all of our spirituality its vein. Secondly, and I just went over it right now, it proves an evil heart. And now, something worse. We're going to stand before the judgment and answer. We are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and answer for every careless word. Go back to Matthew, the twelfth chapter. I want you to read with me verse 36 and 37 again. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. How many words? Every idle word. That word idle is careless and vain. It's a careless vanity. It's a word that cuts. It's a word that curses. It's a word that destroys. For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. But I only told one friend and she promised me she'd never tell anybody else. But every word that you said was recorded, taken down by angelic hands, recorded in God's eternal books. See, our words don't fall to the ground and die. Not a word you and I speak falls to the ground and dies. It doesn't just go into the air and vanish into thin air. No, every word is recorded. Every single word is recorded. That is so convicting to me. I'll just stop and think about it a minute. Everything you've said. You say, well, can't I just make one blanket prayer and say, Jesus, everything I did, just forgive me. Blot it all out. Not if you're not going to deal with it. Not if the roots are still there. You see, some people don't speak their mind. They speak one thing and think another. Don't turn there, but Psalm 62, 4. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. You know, it goes something like this. A sister who's got an unruly tongue and she's got an evil heart. There's just something. She doesn't like this other sister and she goes up. She can't help shaking hands because she bumps right into her. And it goes something like this. Wow, you're looking so sweet. You look so good. I swear you're looking younger every day. God must be blessing you. And inside she's saying, you big old hypocrite, you phony. Then she walks down the hall, bumps into other sisters. Do you see how much weight she's losing? She looks anorexic. Do you see her eyes? I've seen it and heard it in this church. Don't you love it when somebody comes up to you with that big Colgate grin? And you know they'd like to put a knife in your back? That's a shame. Those things shouldn't even be mentioned in the house of God. There should not be a Christian anywhere with that kind of attitude. Because that says that that person who says one thing and thinks another, there's something very, very wrong in the spirit. There are roots of bitterness and rebellion. There's something so wrong in the heart. A true believer of Jesus, a true saint of God who walks with the Lord faithfully, couldn't even conceive of that kind of thing. Is there anybody anywhere, anyone in this church, is there anyone anywhere that you can't go honestly to and tell them what is in your heart? Can you honestly look at everybody that you know that loves Jesus? How in the world are you going to spend eternity with them if you can't get along with them in Times Square Church? Come on now. You're going to try to bypass them in heaven? Here at Times Square Church you see one come down here, you go way over here around and you watch the scene, you won't bump into them? Is there anybody you're afraid to bump into? Now I don't mean this way, I mean accidentally. I'm not trying to be facetious. I'm telling you, brother and sister, these things ought not to be. That's what the Scripture says. And we're going to give an account, and we're going to stand before the judgment day, and we have got to give an account. The Scripture says, For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The Bible says there are some that flatter with their tongues, but their throat is an open grave. The Bible says, Charity thinketh no evil. You show me a person that's a suspicious nature, always suspecting things. I tell you, that comes from a legalistic spirit. It comes from a spirit that's never been yielded to Jesus Christ fully. It comes from a stubborn nature. It's always out of stubbornness. It's always somebody expressing suspicion on somebody else that reflects their own fears. If you hear somebody say, You know, we've got to pray for someone. I think they're going to commit adultery. It's because this person has fear of adultery themselves. They express their own fears, and they dump it on other people as suspicion. How great a matter a little fire kindles. Now, here's the dangerous part. Here's somebody in the house of God who says, Well, look, yeah, but I really didn't mean anything by it. I don't want to hurt anybody. God knows my heart. I don't want to hurt anybody. And your motive is not wrong, but you speak it. You become careless, folks. It's because we don't take inventory of what we say. We don't think before we speak. We blurt it out. And when we blurt these things out, and I want you to hear it well, you say, Well, I really didn't mean it. I'm not that kind of person. But if you said it, and it has an effect on somebody, and it's done its damage, what matters, what motive is? You already started a fire, and it's out of control. I don't care what the motive was. You may not be that kind of a person. You may not be a gossiper. You may be one of the most spiritual persons in this church. But it doesn't matter. You have to take inventory and think before you speak. That spark starts a fire, and it's out of control, and you didn't mean it, and it still did all the damage. Okay, now, you know we never speak in this pulpit without showing you the good part. How do you get control of this deadly weapon? This thing in my mouth, you know, God had to put two white picket fences to fence it in. God wants us to have control. Now, you cannot control your own tongue. God has to do it. But the tongue can no man tame. It's an unruly evil full of deadly poison. You say, well, Brother Wilkinson, if I can't tame it, why are you telling me how to tame it? If no man can tame it. Well, the Scripture says, with man that is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Hallelujah. The prophet Isaiah tells us how to get control of our tongues. Three simple steps, and then I'm going to close. How many of you are beginning to see how serious it is, this matter of controlling, taming the tongue? All right. Praise the Lord. Nobody mad at me yet? Nobody sticking their tongue out? All right. I want control of my tongue. I don't want to speak evil of anybody. Because this book is full of the dangers of it. And I'll tell you, whether God judges it any more than what I've told you now, the worst judgment I can think about that all my spirituality would be in vain. The worst judgment I can think about is that I go through life with a heart that's not been dealt with. Something hidden in my heart that makes it evil. Nothing could be more dangerous to me or more judgment than to know that I have to stand before the Lord and answer for every word. How do we get control? You don't have to turn there, but Isaiah, the sixth chapter. Isaiah cries out eventually, Oh God, I'm a man of unclean lips. How did he come to this place? And how did God clean up his lips and his tongue? First of all, he drew near to the Lord and he prayed for a vision of the holiness of God. He drew near to the Lord. In fact, I'm going to turn to Isaiah, the sixth chapter, and if you want to follow me, that's fine. It's so clear how this dear man of God, and who could be more pious and righteous than Isaiah, this dear prophet. No man spoke of Jesus more powerfully and lovingly than Isaiah. He said, verse one, In the year the king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Verse three, And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Look at me, please. You show me a Christian. You show me a man or woman who really wants control, who really wants to live a life pleasing to the Lord, and I'll show you someone that says, Lord, I know that you're dealing with me and I'm not going to go on like this. I hear your word this morning and I want victory. That person is going to go into the presence of the Lord. You're going to keep going there in the presence of the Lord until we get a vision of his holiness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, because sin only becomes sinful in the presence of Jesus. It only becomes, you only hate your sin. You can only hate what you've been saying with your tongue by getting so close to Jesus and seeing his holiness and getting this picture of him high and lifted up on his throne and having absolute intimacy with Jesus and allowing him to speak into your heart. And when you begin to see his holiness and his righteousness as did the prophet Isaiah, then you can cry out as he did. Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Where did he get the vision of the ugliness of his mouth and his tongue? Why did he cry out, woe is me, because I'm a man of unclean lips? He said, because mine eyes have seen the King. Mine eyes have seen the King. He's talking about Jesus. I've seen Jesus. I've seen the Lord of hosts. I've seen him in my mind. I've seen the glory of his holiness. And I know he is not put up with this. And in the closeness to Jesus, folks, we've said it over and over again, the secret to victorious life, whether it's drugs, alcohol, or an uncontrollable tongue, it's closeness to Jesus. It's intimacy. It's knowing him and letting him talk to you. And he will not come and condemn you. He will not come and threaten judgment to you. The Holy Ghost will be there. Look at what happens when he acknowledges, I'm a man of unclean lips. He's got a vision of Jesus now. The Scripture says, Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he'd taken from the tongues from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, and he said, Lo, this has touched thy lips. Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. It was a live coal from the fire of God's altar. Now listen, the word of God is this coal. Now that coal can be dead. The letter can kill. It's just a dead piece of coal, but the Holy Ghost comes and puts fire. The Holy Ghost is a burning fire. And this very word that I give you now, this message that you're hearing right now is a live coal. It's been touched by the Holy Ghost. And God wants to put this on your lips right now, and he wants to sanctify your lips. He can do it right now if you take the Holy Ghost word right now that's being preached. Let it convict you. Let it show you that you are guilty and then cry out, Oh God, woe is me. I've spoken with unclean lips. My tongue needs to be sanctified. Let the word, the Holy Ghost word that's anointed, the Holy Ghost is anointing his word right now. It is burning with Holy Ghost fire. Let it purge you. Let it go into your heart. Say, It's me, Lord. I'll not pass it by to anybody else. Let this living word come and touch your tongue, your mouth. And I promise you, you reach out, the Holy Ghost will come. He'll burn that out. He will cleanse it. He will tame it. You can't do it yourself. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. Our part is to confess it. Our part is to say, like Isaiah, woe is me. I am unclean. Please don't sit here this morning and say, I am not guilty. There's not a person in this place who's not guilty. Not one. Not one. You say, Lord, I'm guilty. He'll show you things that you may not even consider to be careless. And he'll remind you that having reminded you, you go to him in faith and say, Jesus, I believe you can cleanse me. Cleanse my heart. Go down deep in me. Pluck this up by its roots. And now the live coal, the word of the Lord, anointed by the Holy Ghost, burning with the flame of God, transforms you. Now folks, here's what I've asked God to do for me. I've mentioned it in the course of my message in closing. Now I want to mention it to you. Listen to it, please. I've asked the Holy Ghost to be my helper on this matter. I've asked him to send such conviction on me that as soon as I open my mouth and I begin to say one word that is careless and unthinking and unkind, I want the Holy Ghost to raise a flag and wave it at me. And I want him to whisper loud and clear in my heart, Hush. Stop. And he'll do it. Oh, he's an inner cop. He's an inner policeman. Yes, he is. He's a policeman right here. And I told Jesus, Come on my beat. Walk through my streets in my heart. And when you see something coming up and go down, turn the searchlight on and get down in there and dig all the garbage out of my heart. Lord, do a house cleaning. I want a clean heart. Pure hands. Clean heart. And I want a pure tongue. Sanctified. I want that live coal burning out everything unlike Jesus. Will you stand, please. Hallelujah. Glory to Jesus. Lord, I didn't expect people to be shouting down the aisle today. But I did expect, and I believe you're doing it now just as you promised, that you would change this. That we'll never be the same. That we'll never talk again. We'll never speak again until this is out. Lord, there are some people that need to go to their pastors and make confession. There are some people that need to go to somebody on the staff and make confession. There are people that need to go to someone else and make confession. And say, I am sorry. I am sorry. I repent. Some wives need to go to their husbands and husbands to their wives because of that yelling and that screaming and that anger. Lord, that's so unlike you. That's not the spirit of Christ. That means there's something in the heart that's not been right. God, make our hearts pure. Cleanse us and sanctify us. Hallelujah. Lord Jesus, for those that have been hearing or telling dirty jokes. Those, oh Lord, have just been speaking foolishly. Foolishly. They're just idle chatter and they don't even think about what they're saying. Oh God, help us to realize we will be judged. Now Lord, you will cleanse us. You will wipe away the past. You will make it new. If we would just humble ourselves before you. You can remove all the things that have been unlike you and make us right. Make us clean. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Bless you, Jesus. Now I'm going to do something different this morning. Listen, I'm not going to ask anybody to come down who the Holy Ghost is dealing with about your tongue alone. I want to find out how many there are. There may only be five or ten. I don't know. But if you're here this morning and your back's slidding in your heart, you're not right with Jesus. It's not just your tongue. It's your whole lifestyle. You're out of control. The enemy has come and taken a hold of you and he's been driving you and you're facing your sins this morning and the Lord wants to set you free. I want you to come back. Come back to the Lord. If you've never been right with Jesus or if you're backslidden, I want you, out of the balcony, go to either stairs and come down the aisles and you here on the main floor just step out and I want to pray with you. I believe there are a number here that need to walk down this aisle and say, Brother Dave, I came this morning and I have to tell you I'm compromising my life. I'm not living victorious for Jesus and I want to. I want him to set me free. I want to be delivered this morning. Get out of your seat and come and meet me here and I'll pray with you this morning. Then I'm going to pray with the whole congregation about this matter of the tongue in just a moment. Let's sing a chorus here and you come. Balcony, the main floor. I know there's some need to come here and stand. Right now, we're not trying to bloat these altars or count heads. We're going to find everybody that's hungry, everybody that's needed this morning and say, I've got to get some things right with the Lord. Standing in the front, let me pray with you right now. Let me assure you. Listen to me close now. Let me assure you, Jesus loves you with everything in his being. He loves you this morning and he's reaching out to you by his Holy Spirit. The reason you came, something stirred inside. That's the Holy Ghost moving inside your heart, stirring you. That's good. That's a good sign that you're open to him. He didn't have to knock you down. He didn't have to allow you to go to a hospital and get your attention. He got your attention through his word. That's good. You're responding. I want you to pray this prayer with me right now. Jesus, in my heart, I want to serve you with all my heart. Come, Jesus, and cleanse my heart. Go deep in me. Pluck out all my sins by the roots and set me free. I love you, Jesus, and I came forward today to surrender my heart. I'm coming back. I'm coming home to you, Jesus, and I love you, and I need you. I trust you, and I give you my heart and my body and my very life. Now, let me pray for you. Jesus, this is so important. It really doesn't take long when our hearts are open and when we're ready because you said you're ready to forgive. You've always been ready to forgive and to heal. Now, come, Lord Jesus, and give a blessed assurance. Give a blessed assurance that our confession for sin is heard and that we are forgiven, and now, Lord, help us to recognize our sins, acknowledge them, and turn to you, Jesus, and say, take them, Lord. Pluck them out. Give me power to live for you. Amen. Look at me, please. Look this way. How many of you that came forward or up here for the first time? You've never come forward in this church before. Raise your hand, please. Yes. Would you follow us, please, right this way? You don't enjoy anything. We want to talk to you for five minutes. Come this way. We'll pray with you also right backstage and down in the prayer room. All those who've come forward for the first time, will you follow our people right this way? God bless you. It's going to be a good moment for you. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape.