In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the destructive power of one sentence spoken by a carnal Christian. He warns against being a tail bearer or gossip, as revealing secrets can cause great harm. The preacher shares a story about a man who had to learn to be a husband again after being in prison, highlighting the importance of grace and love in marriage. He also emphasizes the need for self-discipline in controlling our words, as the tongue has the power to defile the whole body. The preacher references several Bible verses, including Ecclesiastes 3:1 and James 3, to support his teachings on the importance of silence, self-control, and avoiding sinful speech.

Thank you very much. I am very grateful that the dear Lord allowed me the privilege of being here. And thank you to your pastor for his invitation and for you as a church that invited me to come. I was here many years ago. How many years ago? Ten? So in ten years time they'll trust me again. I'll see you in ten years time. There you are, you'll be a lot older. These little boys who gave me aeroplanes. And Hezekiah, is that his name? Hezekiah, well in our country it's Hezekiah, sorry. Where's Hezekiah? Oh he's in the back, okay. I thought I'd chased everybody away, but they're all in the back. Hello Hezekiah. Okay, he gave me an aeroplane, his brother, what was his brother, Uzziah or something? Uriah, he gave me a work of art. And thank you very much Uriah and Hezekiah, Hezekiah. And for daddy and mommy for wanting to bring you up in the fear of God as much as they do. Thank you. So I also want to thank the dear family I'm staying with. Here they are. You'll see I remembered their name without having to write it down. Randy, Laura, no one could say that on first glance. Kobza, Kobza, okay. What lovely people and what a wonderful privilege it was for me to stay in their home and sense their devotion, their love to Christ and this longing to serve God in every way, even to very unworthy people like me. You did make my stay very, very wonderful. And I was supposed to fast, but it's very difficult if you walk in the house and you smell fish coming through the front door. And then you say, no, I don't want to eat, you know. So they had little meals waiting for me because they knew I wasn't strong enough to walk past the smell. And Ewan was a little bit scared of allowing the tomato sauce, the ketchup you call it, to be on the table because he's never seen anyone apart from himself drown the food as much as what I did. It's wonderful when you see people's eyebrows lifting when they look how much, how you're doing things at the table, okay? Ah, there you are. My father-in-law, when I first sat at their table, and they all know I'm after my, their daughter, longing to get right to court. So I was on tender hooks and in my attention trying to be everything. They had butter from the farm and bread that was baked. And I had butter I loved when I was home. When I was a child, we all ate butter like a little mountain and jam. Oh, and so my father-in-law, he's not used to that. He looked at me sitting at the table and I, in my nervousness, forgot what I was doing. You know, cut it in four pieces, the bread, and put a little bit on the side plate. And so I put a big mountain, not thinking. And I saw my father-in-law, his eye went up like a, you know? So my mother-in-law, my future mother-in-law said, as she saw the judgmental look of all this mountain of butter through nervousness, doing what I used to do as a child, so she looks and she says, oh, he, Yanni, how can you look so judgmentally at Keith? How dare you? She says, Keith, at last I've got someone that can keep me company. I've never known anybody but myself to do that to the bread. So she, give me the butter. She made a big mountain, you know? There you are. So Ewan did the same with the tomato sauce. Okay. I want to thank Ewan and Elena for the piano concerto last night. We had 11 o'clock in the night. Wonderful. I was blessed with a good mother for cooking all the lovely little things we did land up eating. And so thank you for your hospitality. Thank you also, Pastor, for the meal yesterday in the Italian shop. That really is a lovely place. And I was honored and blessed to have fellowship with you and your son. What is your son's name again? Billy, yes. And he needs a wife. Billy, you've got to forget. Give me, but you'll never forget now. I was in a place where they're all worrying about these ATI and all these young people who somehow were keeping their, you know, for a little while for God's service. And then they're not getting married. And so there's all these boys in their 30s and near 40s, some over 40. And these girls, ladies in their 30s, early 40s and some over 40. So there was this expression. So I stood up in this big convention in Missouri with a few hundred people. And I said, listen, there's a bit of a problem. It seems a lot of you are too scared to get married because you've got such a good mommy. And I said, there you are. So we have decided to do something about it today. And so I want every one of you that is over the age of 30 to stand now. So they all stand, you know. There you are. And I said, all right. Now we have decided that we're going to help you because you're not going to help yourself. And I said, now all of the, we're going to have a marriage service here today. So you and you come together, come forward. You should have seen the eyes. There you are. So I said in the end, as they began to laugh and nerves, not knowing whether this was seriously arranged by their daddies and mommy who were despairing to get them out of the house. Uh, anyway, that's what we all say. Good brother. All right. Bless you. Don't worry. Please don't run. We need someone to do the loud speaking system. And my wife has said to me on a few occasions, why do you have to embarrass everyone? I said, don't mean to. All right. Now that's thank you to everyone. I am very grateful to those of you. You couldn't have run away from me because you didn't hear me. But those of you that came on the first night, bless you. I'm very grateful. I'm very honored and very grateful to have been here. Thank you sincerely. Now, can we have a short moment of prayer, please? Father, come in mercy. Come in mercy and speak to our hearts through the sacred word of God. As only the Holy Ghost can quicken it, give life, make it living. And no man can without the Holy Ghost. So please, in thy mercy on all of us. Come protect us under the blood. Rebuke thou thyself, our enemy. And by the Holy Spirit, brood upon all of our hearts. And speak to us in these last moments. In Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1, to everything. Is this loud enough, brother? I think it's softer than what I normally have. To everything. That's better. It's getting better anyway. Don't dare put it softer. To everything, Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1 says, there is a season. And a time. A time. To every purpose under heaven. Verse 7. There is a time to keep silence. And there is a time. To speak. And one of the greatest tragedies that could ever happen in any person's life. Is if they do not swiftly learn. That most occasions, in most circumstances throughout their life. Is a time to keep silent. I want to repeat that. One of the greatest tragedies that could ever happen in any person's life. Is if they do not swiftly learn. That on most occasions, in most circumstances throughout their life. Is a time to keep silent. He that hath knowledge, spareth his words. Proverbs 17 verse 27. The Bible speaks of unprofitable talk. Job 15 verse 3. A fool. A fool is foolish. A fool of words. Ecclesiastes 10 verse 14. A fool uttereth all his mind. Proverbs 29 verse 11. Proverbs 29 verse 20 condemns a man that is hasty in his words. Hasty in his words. A fool's voice. Is known by. Multitude of words. Ecclesiastes 5 verse 3 says. The mouth of fools. Feedeth on foolishness. The mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. Proverbs 15 verse 2. A fool's lips enter into tension. And his mouth calls for strokes. A fool's mouth is his destruction. A fool's mouth is his destruction. And his lips are a snare of his soul. Proverbs 18 verse 6 and 7. Whoso keepeth his mouth. And his tongue. Keepeth his soul from troubles. Proverbs 21 verse 23. He that keepeth his mouth. Keepeth his life. But he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. Proverbs 13 verse 3. Psalm 39 verse 1. I said. I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle. Keep thy tongue from evil. And thy lips from speaking guile. That's rubbish. Psalm 34 verse 13. You can. You can. Oh God wouldn't tell you. It's in your capacity and your choice. Keep thy tongue from evil. Thy lips from speaking guile. Set a watch. Oh Lord. Set a watch oh Lord before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. I don't know how many hundreds of times I've prayed that. My home. My children don't lose respect for me. My enemies. Dangerous circumstances. I have prayed that in conversations before I opened my mouth. Realized I could lose everyone here. Forever. Set a watch oh Lord I pray. Before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Please God especially now. Psalm 141 verse 3. I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Psalm 17 verse 31. If any man among you. Any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue. But deceiveth his own heart. This man's religion is vain. Worthless. James says in chapter 1 verse 26. Any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue. But deceiveth his own heart. This man's religion is vain. Keep thy tongue from evil. And thy lips from speaking guile. Worthless language. Psalm 34 verse 13. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin. But he that refraineth his lips is wise. Shah Proverbs 10 verse 19. What man is he that desireth life. And loveth many days that he may see good. Keep thy tongue from evil. And thy lips from speaking guile. Psalm 34 verse 12 and 13. 1 Peter 3 verse 10. For he that will love life. And see good days. Let him refrain his tongue from evil. And his lips that they speak no guile. A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth. Proverbs 15 verse 23. A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth. When thy lips speak right things. Proverbs 23 verse 16 says. When thy lips, the lips of the righteous. Know what is acceptable. God says in verse 32. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. How forcible are right words. Job 6 verse 25. A word fitly spoken. Proverbs 25 verse 11. Let your speech be always with grace. Let your speech be always with grace. Seasoned with thought. With wisdom attached to what you're about to say. Prayerfully and carefully. That ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. That ye may know how ye ought to answer. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious. But the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. Ecclesiastes 10 verse 12. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness. The end of his talk is madness. This is madness. But he does it thinking he's impressive. He's caught in a state. Wherefore my beloved brethren. Let every man be swift to hear. Slow to speak. And slow to wrath. James 1 verse 19. You will always be swift to wrath if you are not slow to speak in the conversations or answering people who are really trying. That thou mayest regard discretion. And that thy lips may keep knowledge. There's something of discretion that comes when you go through with God. Proverbs 5 verse 2 says. The lips of the righteous feed many. I believe that. Proverbs 10 verse 21. The lips of him that hath understanding. Something so about a man that hath understanding of God's word. Proverbs 10 verse 13. You see a woman that feareth the Lord. She openeth her mouth with wisdom. In her tongue is the law of kindness. She only opens her mouth because of her fear of God. Her walk with God. There's something of a caution to how she answers her husband. Her children. Anyone. There's something about a woman that feareth the Lord. Proverbs 31 verse 30. 31 verse 26. She openeth her mouth with wisdom. You see in the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found. Proverbs 10 verse 13. Thou mayest regard discretion. In every conversation the lips may keep the knowledge that God's given you. It's better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman. If a woman hasn't got godliness, though she professes to, there's just contention and anger. Be swift to talk, be swift to anger, to wrath. Psalm 59 verse 12 speaks of the sin of their mouth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good to the use of edifying that may minister grace to the heroes. Ephesians 4 verse 29. No corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, poor Christ. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. But an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. Of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6 verse 45. Matthew 5 verse 18. Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart. They defile a man. They defile a man. Matthew 15 verse 18. For out of the heart proceed all these things evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, false witness, blasphemy, the most amazing amount, murders. With your mouth you're going to get to there. False witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, Christ said. Romans 6 says, neither yield ye your members, servants of unrighteousness unto sin. That's not only speaking about your hands, but your eyes, your lips. Now giveth thy mouth to evil. Thy tongue frame with deceit. Psalm 50 verse 9. Thane says, you see you can yield your members, servants to unrighteousness. Even the lips. Even the lips. One of the members of your body can cause you to sin. If not the most sin that ever comes in your life starts here. According to James chapter 3. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. Now that's staggering. Get victory here and you have victory everywhere. No victory here, no victory anywhere. This is the tip of the iceberg. An undisciplined mouth. God's word strewn again and again. It causes a loss of control over our sinful nature. You have to discipline yourself with this and you find a discipline somehow because God said it and it's true. The control comes over our sinful nature, victory. Because in the multitude of words they wanted not sin. Sin comes. Proverbs 10 verse 9 says, James 3 says, if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. In God's eyes, in the state he's in, not a perfect ultimately. But in the light you're given, you're living it by the grace of God. He's able also to bridle the whole body. If you don't offend here, you're able to bridle the whole body, James says. Verse 6 shows the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body. It sets us on fire, the course of nature. All the sensualities, all the senses get set on fire if you don't have control. By the grace of God, seek control. You can, you can. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. What a staggering statement. Proverbs 18 verse 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue. A hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor. Who's my neighbor? The condemned heart, it says. A hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Your mouth can destroy your neighbor. That means anyone near you, you take a step into. Proverbs 11 verse 9. You see, James 3 says the tongue is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. That's staggering and that's fearful. When God says death, deadly poison, you can destroy with your mouth. You can destroy people. Proverbs 16 verse 27, an ungodly man diggeth up evil. Now that in its context is speaking about seeks something to destroy a man with. His lips are as a burning fire, just what James 3 verse 6. It's unruly, evil, full of deadly poison. It's like a fire, James says, sets on fire and a terrible damage. He that uttereth a slander is a fool. God says, be careful when you find out something about someone. You are in the test, sir. Not the person you found that you are suddenly in dangerous territory. He that uttereth a slander is a fool. Proverbs 10 verse 18, whoso privily slandereth his neighbor. That means whispering. You know, whispering in a way that everyone will hear. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off, God says in his anger. Psalm 101 verse 5, their tongue is as a sharp sword. Psalm 57 verse 4 says, Psalm 59, 7, swords are in their lips. The words of a tale bearer as wounds. Swords, like a knife, they go down into the innermost part of a belly. You don't have to take a knife and kill a man to kill him. You may lose your testimony doing that. You just have to say one sentence. I've seen men in pulpits, men of God destroyed. Destroyed by one sentence. Some carnal Christian uttered. It's all the devil needs. To find someone to stoop, to be a whisperer loud enough to know that sets it off. Fastest way to get news across your country is not on some TV newscast. Just whisper to a Christian that's carnal. They're everywhere. Just repercussions ripple. Words of a tale bearer as wounds. You don't have to take a gun or a knife to kill a man. You can kill him with one sentence and I can spend an hour here telling you of the godliest across this world who've been destroyed by one sentence. He that goeth about as a tale bearer revealeth secrets. Tale bearer revealeth secrets. But he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. You don't want to destroy anybody when you're right with God. You're careful that nobody else finds out. You just go to prayer and speak to God about it. Proverbs 11 verse 30. Be careful what you do with your lips to destroy someone else, sir. When you find out about their failure, you might think that little story in the Bible of how men took up stones to stone a woman to death. As the Bible commanded in the Old Testament, she was caught in adultery. She was found out. She was exposed. Jesus said something staggering. He among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. And that's something God wrote for us all, not just that record of what happened there. Jesus stooped down and began to write with his finger on the ground. Now I've heard many preachers speak about what did he write? And so they're, you know, trying to think what could be that convicted one by one those that stood with stones ready to condemn and destroy and kill this merciless judgment. They just walked away. Oh, the speculation of what Christ actually wrote on the ground. I never, ever heard a man say what I'm about to say to you now. I personally think something like this. One can't be sure, so don't say I'm being sure yet. What he said, some men's sins are exposed beforehand, like this poor woman. Others at the judgment. But all men will have to give account of their sins. Therefore, judge not, he says in Matthew 7, that he be not judged. With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. You men, these stones in your hands, what measure you meet, what measure you meet, the degree you deal with sin in a person's life will be dealt with you. Be careful now. I'm not saying condone sin, but be careful. You are in the test, in the exams, in the school of God when you find out anything about a man of how you react. And God lied if he doesn't make the same judgment on you, where there's merciless, no compassion, nothing, only to destroy them totally. Don't condone, don't get me wrong, it's repulsive, it's terrifying, we preach his word, but if your harshest word doesn't throb with God's love, you sin worse than the person you're condemning. Leave the pulpit if your harshest word, as you even quote God, where it doesn't throb with God's love and the person that's condemned doesn't know you love them. I've had to walk past men who destroyed others down in their sin and I've had to be the only one, the only one that went up in front of everybody many times and just lifted them up and said, come on, I don't care what everyone's doing for you, I'm going to, I don't condone what you've done, God condemns you. Even if there's one person in the world, I'm going to be that person, I'm going to help you to find a walk with God again and mercy and I'm not going to give up on you in case you don't, in case you want to give up on yourself now, because no one else is going to help you, so I'm going to, and I've sat with men, was that sin, is it condoning sin? No, but be careful, you with the stones in your hands, be careful. I read this in a park in Cyan, Wyoming last year, some flock, how easy the breath that kills a flame, how hard to kindle that light again, cold words kill, kind words kindle, by words of hell dreams may dwindle, some woman's own Walsh Angela, I don't know if she's a Christian, but I thought there's no truth in it, you all sing, if I have wounded any soul today, I have caused one foot to go astray, I have walked in my own willful way, oh Lord forgive, if I have uttered idle words of vain, caught pain, I won't sing the whole song, oh God forgive, oh Lord forgive. Therefore my beloved brethren, James says, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, he that is soon angry, quick-tempered, is a fool. Proverbs 14 verse 17 says, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, he that rules the spirit, self-control, better than him that can take a city, Proverbs 16 verse 30, he that's slow to wrath, is of great understanding, but he that is hasty, impulsive, short-tempered, is a fool. Proverbs 14 verse 29, you see love is not easily provoked, and that love is agape, it's not saying do it in your own strength, to the degree you yield your life to God, to that degree the Holy Spirit takes control, and if you have agape love, which is to the degree, not you doing in your own strength, but the degree you yield it to God, you will find you're not easily provoked. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 5, the discretion of a man deferreth his anger, just stops it, it is glory to pass over a transgression. Proverbs 19 verse 11, I'm not saying don't you ever condone and say fine, we have to deal with it, let's face it, be careful that you're not sending worse than the person you're dealing with. According to about 20 verses, I can quote to you right now from the New Testament, a soft answer turneth away wrath. You can, you can. I remember Richard Virenbrandt, when I was a sage, he just got out of the communist prisons, he hadn't seen his son since his son was a stone, or his wife, not a gray hair, he walks out, his son's a man, his wife is gray, robbed of life, because he was a Christian, tortured for Christ was his book, bones broken so much that he was four inches taller, and the doctors confirmed it, there's no doubt, the bones regrew, and was on record on his documents. There he stood in our country, which flocked to hear him because those days our country feared God, they wouldn't flock to hear him today. Then he said to us when he got out of that prison and all that torture, he saw his wife, his son, he said, you know, I had to learn to be a husband all over again, and he said, you know, marriage is something you've got to really seek grace for, if you love your wife, he said, well, I said to my darling wife, after all those years in the prison, my wife, I have dreamed of your soup, I have literally dreamed, I was eating, please make me soup, just like you made before I went to prison. Okay, so now he's waiting, and the smell is coming, oh, it's the end of a man, so he sits down, he says, and there in this lovely soup that he's all waiting for is a long hair, it's her hair, now he says, you can react differently, you can, you can do what many men do, throw the soup, what's wrong with you, woman, that you, that your hair in the soup, oh, he said, you can do what God wants you to do, you can say, darling, which I, he said, darling, yes, my darling, you know that I love you, oh, yes, I know, you know that I love your soup, yes, I know, darling, even if I love your soup and I love you, you don't have to put your hair in the soup, and so they scream with laughter, you see, it's not necessary for you to put your hair, even though I love every hair on your head, so there you are, you know most arguments, you could laugh over, I've proved this, but most people divorce over, I have sought God that we can sit down in the inn and laugh together, you can, you don't have to fail, you can seek God for grace, you see, in every circumstance, it's amazing, ninety-nine percent, love suffereth long, and it's kind, soft answer turneth away, you see, there's something of a kindness no matter what people do, you can be kind, you can not be easily provoked to the degree you yielded to God and soaked in the word of God and renewed and given strength, time to refrain from speaking, that's something, time to be silent, time to be silent, in Micah 7 verse 5, keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom, goodness me, in this context, that's your wife, be careful, keep the doors of your mouth, why, now in this context, it's quoted four times in the New Testament, this passage is always speaking about a man's enemies, are the members of his own house, why, because you got saved and they're not saved, it's not comfortable, not everybody gets saved just because you got saved, most Christian homes across the world I think really go through something, you find a daughter rising against her mother, enemies, son against a father, father against a son, you don't know what an enemy can do, you don't know how an enemy can hurt until you find an enemy in your own home, you just need to get right to the God and you've got enemies right there, you don't have to go down the whole road to the pub and tell them about God right in your home because every value has changed, everything, they don't feel comfortable that you don't, that you're weeping on your knees because they're watching what you laughed with before, now they say show every heart, now you're a man's enemy, now it's possible that a woman, 1 Peter chapter 3, speaking about unjust man, the insubjection to that man, that means don't fight him, don't fight him, win him, that if any obey not the word, they ought to be without the word, be won by the conversation, by the love of the wife, while they behold your taste, conversation, coupled with fear, you see, this is a dawning of humility, there's a dawning of that Christ gives you, where you don't have to fight back, you don't have to be content, you don't have to win the argument, you can win him by your life, if you keep quiet, by the grace of God, don't defend every single thing that he's doing wrong now and fight against him, keep the doors of your mouth from her, not only an unsaved man, then an unsaved woman, you've got to win them by being silent, don't make everybody in the unsaved state now live your convictions, they have to be saved, that's your life and you're not going to do it by becoming some philistine and pharisee judgmental and coming down and no, keep the door, it's a time to be silent, to win your family and not to lose them forever, you could lose that woman, I've seen men come down so hard that their woman left the house and divorced them because they got saved, children don't want to see them angry and hate them because it was forced on them, yes we do bring our convictions but be careful, be so careful, most of the way God's going to speak through you is when you don't come down on them with a judgmental and hardness that changes everybody before they even have grace to get saved, it's a time we need to speak to God about men and stop speaking to men about God because all we're doing is damaging common sense and discretion will tell you keep the doors of your mouth from her that lieth in your bosom, in its context the exact same verses following what Christ said about men's enemies and believe me it's not only the unsaved, it's many times the saved, don't expect your children to be what God took 40 years to do in your life to happen overnight in their lives, you destroy them, you turn their hearts against you, have as much patience with them as God had with you and that's something to really consider, keep the doors of my mouth when your wife opposes you with your godly convictions, you could lose her, I'm guaranteeing you that, seek grace to be quiet, they know, they know you know it's wrong, you believe it's wrong, they know it's causing you agony, you don't have to keep telling that, you just have to live Christ-likeness, godliness and don't get angry, they don't need any more anger, you don't have to fight, you've been subjection lady to win him, 1 Peter 3 the whole chapter tells you, you have to be very careful in a home, very careful, boys that I know that are so godly now that they probably amongst the godliest that's ever lived in our country and they're very close to wonderful businessmen but they were telling me from when they were younger, when I first met them, their daddy was a preacher but they were wicked like Eli's children, they were so wicked, I don't even want to defile you with the wickedness they went out seeking, fighting, going into pubs and just screaming and starting fights, please what these boys didn't do, they even set a bomb off while I was preaching when they were young, I didn't know it was them and now they've grown up and they love the Lord now and oh my, you know what they said to me, oh their daddy was the one that made them stop, it was so wild, so wicked but his silence ate at their conscience, brokenness in his eyes, dead sons, made them become men of God, not being beaten, there is a place for discipline, yes, when a child of a younger age but be careful as an age, you beat the child, he'll beat you back, but you have to do talking to God, not to, they know it's breaking your heart, we need to learn to be silent when in every circumstance I could think of when witnessing the godliest man I ever knew in my life was Will MacFarlane and he told us as young Christians, most occasions are not the right occasion to witness, most occasions in your life you haven't got the right just because you're saved to stop a waitress and take her that she gets fired because she was had many enough to listen to all your preaching, most occasions at your work you just create anger and hatred against your public, you rebuke people for their vileness of mouth etc, most occasions you'll be silent when witnessing, let your life speak and God will use that, when you witness at school, when you witness at work, when you witness most occasions are not the, you haven't got the right to simply stop the world and expect the whole world, when you have a right quiet time, you walk with God seeking to be used of God, he will tell you and he will orchestrate things and then he'll say to you now, now you can speak to this one, he won't defend himself and feel anger just because he's in front of people and you're embarrassing confronting him, now speak, you can win him, wait for God's voice, most occasions it's time to refrain from speaking, not to speak and there's a time will come, you know Jesus said he, the Bible speaks of Christ in Isaiah 53 verse 7, he was oppressed, he was afflicted but he opened not his mouth, now there's two aspects of the cross, there's the message of the cross and the example of the cross, the whole New Testament points us back to his little statements, 1 Peter 2 19, leaving us an example that he said, follow his steps, when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened, committed himself to him that judged his righteousness, leaving as an example, glory is if it a man buffeted for his foes, but if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is accepted with God, you see we have this whole message of the cross strewn through the New Testament, when he was reviled, reviled not again, that isn't just a statement of Christ, it's an example of when we revive, when we suffer wrongfully, we don't revile back, I've suffered as long as God, your worst enemies that try cruelly to destroy you, the best thing to do is follow that example, open not your mouth, let me tell you something, you're in the test, not their failures are being tested, not to open your mouth, fight back, leave the fighting to God and 90%, 99% of every circumstance where injustice is thrown at you, no matter who you are, even as a preacher, leave the fighting to God, one thing God asks of me and I have sought grace, when I have, when people have tried to destroy me simply because of what I'm preaching and the way I preach, which is unacceptable today, uncompromising truth, throbbing with love, I haven't got the right to preach, but all God said of me as people rose up to destroy me, mostly from the most unexpected sources, he opened it, not his mouth, that's what I require of you now, when you're reviled, when you're shut, yet he opened it, not his mouth, go to the lamb, to the slaughter, when the sheep before a shears is dumb, so he opened it, not his mouth, I want that of you, I'll give you the grace and I've done that and God has dealt with him, I didn't have to do the fighting, leave the fighting to God, leave the judging to God, you don't even know what's in their minds or why they're in that state that they're doing this to you, be careful, if anybody's against you and tries to do damage to you, while you're in the way with them, do everything in your power to look peaceably, because you don't know that the enemy can cause you to be judged one day because you didn't examine, I've stood with men screaming at me, hatred because of what I preach and I ask God for grace to keep quiet, just to say God bless you, that's all I, I didn't know that man was going to fall dead, why was that in the way that you may never have another opportunity with that person to ever prove Christ like this, you may never ever have another circumstance where you could pass the exam, I found that every occasion I tried to defend myself, I did damage, but every occasion, God's grace where I kept quiet, God dealt with those men that they even dropped dead, I didn't want that, I know three men, three preachers in one town who in half an hour dropped stone dead, who were trying to destroy me, the whole town, even the unsaved knew it was God's judgment, I wept, I aged at that heaven, I didn't want it, but I was conscious, you need to love your enemies, to bless them that curse you, do good to them, why, because they're doing, they're fighting God, not you, they're in danger, get on your knees and beg them for their own soul to not, but don't you defend yourself now just out of carnality and pride, in your reaction I shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue, others who, the promises God gave me concerning the tongues, every tongue that shall rise up against the judgment, thou shall condemn, this is a heritage, not just a heritage of other things, yeah, leave it to God, leave the fighting and leave the judging to God and that takes grace, but I tell you it's possible, oh I could go on and on and on, all these lovely, lovely thoughts, this is one thing here, we should mention when things go wrong, it comes out of your mouth, though the fig tree shall not blossom, fruit shall not come in the vines, the olive trees failed, the fields yield no meat, the flock cut off, no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in them, I will joy in the God of my servant, you see to offer the sacrifice of praise and not murmuring, in all these things Job sinned not, no accused God, unwisely, he kept himself from murmuring, you see that's why the book of Job is there, example, it's not there historically just to know about a good man, it's what God expects when things go wrong with everything, everything just seems against you, though he slay me yet will I trust him, in all these things Job sinned not, no charged God, unwise, unadvisable, oh the one man said, submission and affliction, it's a young man in the end who wasn't asked by God for Job to go and make sacrifices, he didn't sin in what he said to Job, he should just have submitted totally and not had any argument, he spake not unadvisably with his lips, all these things, isn't that wonderful that a man did live for such an example to us that it's possible, you and I have never been through what he went through, submission and affliction, turn not to iniquity, for this the iniquity of complaining against God, you've chosen, there's just verses upon verses upon verses here about murmuring, right through the scriptures, I've got about 20, God says don't, it's a grief, offer the sacrifice of praise in these circumstances, for whoso offereth the sacrifice of praise, but it's not easy, God condemns murmurers, Jude verse 16 condemns them, exodus 15, God struck people dead in the masses who murmured, do all things without murmuring, Philippians 240, isn't that something, Deuteronomy 28 verse 47, because thou service not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, with gladness, with the abundance, you forget all the good things God's done, because one thing goes wrong, do you be careful, I've often said to myself, look you have to do this, murmuring isn't going to change a thing, so just do it, seek God for grace to do the toy and he'll give it to you, ah all these wonderful things give me neither poverty nor riches, eat me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, say who is the Lord, lest I be poor and steal and take the name of the Lord in vain, I can profane God's name as a Christian, in financial distress can lead to despair and failure, tragically with my lips and anger against God by resorting to blasphemy and profanity, in the said workbook of the school of God, I will face these exams and I have to cry out in these things though, the fig tree blossoms or every single thing is going wrong, yet will I, praise the Lord, I'm going to pass this exam God, not murmur, oh troubled soul, beneath the rod, my father speaks, be still, be still, learn to be silent unto God, let him mold thee to his will, be still and know that I am God, be silent, the closer you get to those words, silence God says, stop all this, just stop, don't fail me with your lips, I'm God, I've lost control, no, dare I go on, you'll never ask me back if I go on, most people don't need you to speak, they just need someone to listen to, that's not psychology, that's just a fact, one of the great ministries God will ever give you, is just to listen, before you say a word, they respect you a billion times more, if you just didn't give them a chance, and you just wanted to say everything, it's just to hear, slow to speak, slow to rock, God says in that order, well, the one facet, one of the two facets I still want to work on in what I preach this morning, the different facets of what the word of God is, one of them is, this is a mirror, a mirror, you look at yourself and you see yourself, you can be those that walk away, you can be startled by what you see in your own life, by the God's word showing you just what you are lacking, so the mirror of God's word might have spoken to you right now, not any appeal for you to come and pray, from today, to the day you die, be careful, because if you get the grace to keep quiet here, you'll have grace to have victory everywhere, God wills, suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, get victory here, it's the closest you'll get to holiness, and Christ like this, with any man of him not in word the same as a perfect man, unable to bridle the whole body.