out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks nasb

Look right into that mirror and see yourself as God sees you with all your religious activity. Let me suggest to you, if you are in any way religious, that you take time to look in this mirror of the Word of God, there in the first chapter of James, verses 26 and 27. It’s showing practical love to those who are in need, primarily orphans and widows. See, the first positive requirement of pure religion is not church-going, not even Bible reading it’s looking after those who are in need. James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (NIV) Would to God, that all religious people would face up to this issue.Īnd then on the other side, in the next verse, James speaks about the kind of religion that God accepts and requires, and again, it’s pretty different from that of the average church-goer today. It doesn’t matter how religious we may claim to be, how much we may attend church and sing hymns and do all the other things that are required and expected of religious people-and in themselves, all those things are good-but, though we may do all those things, if we do not keep our tongue under control, our religion is worthless. “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (NIV) In verse 26, James speaks about the kind of religion that is not acceptable to God. These remarks are found in James, chapter 1, verses 26 and 27. First, let’s consider some very searching remarks that James makes about the nature of true religion, the kind of religion that God accepts and also the kind that He does not accept. I’m going to turn to the Epistle of James which deals at length with this subject. Today I’m going to show you a Biblical picture of the tongue itself. So, you see both for Christ the Messiah, and for His bride, the Church, the first feature of the grace of God and the spiritual and moral beauty is their lips and their speech. Verse 11: “Your lips, my bride, drip honey honey and milk are under your tongue.” (NASB) The first feature of the Messiah is the grace upon His lips and this is that which brings God’s blessing upon Him.Īnd then Christ’s bride in the Song of Solomon, verse 3: “Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely.” (NASB) Here’s the portrait of Christ in Psalm 45:2: “Thou art fairer than the sons of men grace is poured upon Thy lips therefore God has blessed Thee forever.” (NASB) I also showed you two beautiful Old Testament portraits, the first of Christ, the second of Christ’s bride. If the words of the mouth are bad, then the condition of the heart also is bad. We cannot have bad fruit coming out of a good tree. But if the fruit is bad, then we know the tree is bad.

Jesus also said, “The heart is like a tree the words are like fruit.” If the fruit is good, then we know the tree is good. In other words, when the heart is filled, it overflows through the mouth and the overflow that comes through the mouth tells us the real condition of the heart. In my talk yesterday I explained the direct connection between our heart and our mouth, summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:34: “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” It’s good to be with you again, sharing with you on this week’s important, but challenging theme: Does Your Tongue Need Healing?

Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks nasb