The Treacherous Tongue, A Double Edged Sword

Most people like to talk. Usually we talk about what we know. If we spend our time watching sports, we'll talk about sports. The same is true for politics, or foreign films, or history, or almost any topic. And then there are people who act as if they had full knowledge of all topics, but they are usually lying. What we say reveals who we are. This is something that a lot of people know, but don't really understand, except on a very basic level. And it is not just a universal truth: it's a very well covered Biblical teaching. Our tongues can deliver us out of tricky situations, and they can draw us into traps of our own making. The tongue has the power to bless, curse, praise and blaspheme. And the less we control it, the more damage it will do. Proverbs 17:27-28 says,

"He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive."

James 3 discusses the Treacherous Tongue; starting off with a warning that there shouldn't be many who strive to be teachers (official talkers), because teachers are held to a higher scrutiny. It is much easier to have the ambition to teach than it is to have the discipline, understanding and discernment to do it well. The words of all spiritual teachers are under the spotlight, in heaven and on Earth, and that is how it should be. But there are some "teachers" who are oblivious to that reality, and speak from the hip, letting their stronger emotions determine what they say. Many of these teachers are also in the habit of listening to their "students" only enough to begin formulating their own brilliant response. They love to talk, but don't value listening. Because the flow of communication is disrupted, they soon have almost nothing of substance to say, becoming a dead sea of words.

Wise teachers are aware of the higher standard, yet by faith they proceed, and pray that they might be up to the challenge. They speak carefully, disciplining their tongues. They speak as often as they need to, and listen as much as they can.

Jesus Christ issued his strongest warning, when talking about the tongue. You'll find in Matthew 12:30-37 Jesus:

1. reveals that the only unpardonable sin has to do with speaking
2. says "out of the mouth comes the abundance of what's in the heart"
3. and he also warns that everyone will be held accountable for every careless word we speak (which is a great reason to speak thoughtfully and carefully).
   

A disciplined tongue is capable of sharing wonderful depths of wisdom, if it is connected to a heart that loves truth, and mercy; and loves God, and Neighbor. The fruit of our words, whether they be healthy or sour, are nourished by the root of our soul. Once we stop excusing ourselves, and really examine what we say, we can see how true these teachings of Jesus are, and we will certainly begin to watch what we say.

Jesus had an uncanny ability to read between the lines with people. Sometimes he overheard whisperings from among the disciples, sometimes he even read people's minds, but mostly he just listened to what was being said to him. He also told us, "These things I do, you will do, and even greater things than these!" That is quite a promise for his followers. I follow Jesus fiercely, and have for most of my life. Out of all the people I've ever known or read about, Jesus always seemed to make the most sense to me. I have been blessed with the faith to believe his Word more than anything else. I believe him more than I believe myself. He speaks the purest truth the world has ever known. Universal truth. So I believe him when he says we can do what he did. And Jesus was very, very good at accurately figuring people out.

How did Jesus figure people out so well? He did it by listening to people. It's amazing how often we don't listen when we are in a conversation. M. Scott. Peck, in his fantastic book, The Road Less Traveled and Beyond goes into great depth about listening, and thinking, and communication. Listening takes effort, but it's well worth the price. Listening is an act of love. It is an ongoing effort (not a passive "skill"). But if you get into the habit of actually listening and absorbing what is being said to you, by you, around you, it may be that you will come to realize how much we all expose our true selves by the words we speak. If we speak in ways that lead to peace, and freedom, and love, and joy, and faith, and understanding and encouragement...our words are good. On the other hand, if we speak in ways that lead to envy, hatred, greed, pride, misery, hopelessness, and confusion...our words are bad. We are what we speak.

James 3:

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

The Resurrection of the Body of Christ

The Apostles Creed is a summary of the common beliefs held by all Christians, of all denominations, and was written during the time of the apostles (while miraculous power still defined the baby church) . One of the beliefs listed in this creed is "The resurrection of the body". While many assume that this refers to our physical bodies, we should remember that in the New Testament, "body" is a metaphor for the church itself. I believe that the "ressurection of the body" is referring to a new spiritual life that will come into the church in the days leading up to the return of Christ. If you read the New Testament, you'll see that the promises, callings and definitions of our faith stretch very far above and beyond the experience of most. The Holy Spirit empowered believers when the church was first forming, and I believe that Spiritual anointing was a "first fruit", or a taste of what was certain to come at God's appointed time. I believe that God is powerful, purposeful and patient, and that all things he has promised will certainly come true.

I also believe that the timing for this "resurrection of the body" is now. Because "1000 years is as a day to the Lord and a day is as 1000 years", Jesus was resurrected "in the early hours of the third day", and he also claimed that he would be "perfected in the third day". Have no doubt, by considering that this Resurrection of the Body applies to the church, I am also saying that the Body of Christ has been "dead" for almost all of the past 2000 years. This is a very humbling and frightening concept for church-goers who don't want to rock the boat. However, if you are familiar with Church History and become willing to question the foundation of your doctrines, traditions etc, you will clearly see how this applies.

The deceptiveness of Lucifer is uncanny. The truth of this is not something that people can be convinced of by others. To see it, you have to look for the signs of deception for yourself. You have to plead with God to help you in discerning truth. You have to be willing to always reexamine the ground on which you stand.

In 325 A.D., by order of Roman Emperor Constantine, the church became the official religion of Rome and was organized by the Nicene Counsel. This counsel created it's own creed which is very similar to the Apostles Creed, but rephrases the "resurrection of the body" to the "resurrection of the dead". That subtle difference is very significant. My mentor, PeterZ taught, "I personally believe that the council was a grave stone to the Church because it went from being an organism to an organization. It set the cannon but it also made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and now had the authority of the State rather than the anointing of God." Since then, numerous atrocities have been carried out by the church, in the name of Christ, and have caused many non-believers to dismiss Christianity as a hypocritical, judgmental and violent religion. Fortunately, the teachings of Christ and the Apostles have little if anything to do with the horrors of the post-Nicene church. It is undeniable that scriptures have been plucked up and twisted to help the accuser to cast millions of Christians back into darkness. Lucifer prefers disguising himself as an angel of light because he once was an angel of light. Our only hope in this battle is to be vigilant: by keeping our assumptions to a minimum, by studying the scriptures in context, and by praying fervently for God to provide understanding.

Even though the church has fallen away, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Gospel is truly good news, not just some verbal formula of "accepting Jesus into our hearts". Righteousness is a life of actions that testify of the love that springs from within us. God's love for us is unconditional (agape), not "tough love", and so we should strive to love one another in the same way...without judgment. After all, God has cast the sins of those he loves into the sea of his forgetfulness. The freedom of grace seems to be lost in translation. It's not a "get out of jail free" card, so much as it is the definition of unconditional love.

Many believers came to the church in the first place because they didn't want to go to hell when they died. Messages of Hellfire and Brimstone are terrific motivators, and successful evangelists have been using that angle to beef up their recruitment numbers for many generations. And while it's true that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom", I can tell you for certain that the fear of the Lord and the fear of Hell are two entirely different things. Throughout most of the church age, Fear of personal destruction has been used to control people, to keep them submissive and obedient to their worldly authorities. But God did not sacrifice his only begotten son so that we would be scared into submission...He did it because He "so loved the world". To fear the Lord is to acknowledge that he knows everything about us all. That he sees into our hearts, he knows our secrets, and he isn't fooled by lies (even if we persuade ourselves to believe pleasurable lies...such as condemning a group of people and calling that condemnation "love"). To fear the Lord is to follow Him, to serve him, even if your own life is threatened because of that dedication. If you have the fear of the Lord it means you are willing to stand alone, against the crowd, despite great objection because you don't care about the judgment of people so much as you care about the judgment of God. Many people who belong to the church institution aren't willing to stand out of the crowd. They follow the rest of the herd, instead of the good Shepherd. They lack the "Fear of the Lord", and therefore lack wisdom.

Growing up, I would recite the Apostles Creed at its designated time every Sunday morning church service, along with the rest of the "flock". It always struck me as strange that people in my church could recite such a radical list of beliefs with little to no emotion. It was as though people were embarrassed, and competing with each other to see who could sound the least sincere or interested. But at the same time, these same people were too afraid or self conscious to do anything but recite it, on command, every week. Lots of things about the church always puzzled me. The history, the routines, the traditions, the repetition and the methods of recruitment. What we were reading from, learning about, and claiming to believe was much more urgent, inspired and extreme than what we were in the habit of doing. It all seemed so very wrong. But it was easier for me back then to believe that there was something wrong with my perception, instead of something wrong with the entire church.

When the church was young, it was full of life, energy, love and joy...then very quickly after it's birth, it began to die. The Official Catholic Church introduced a heavy system of rules and traditions that Jesus never spoke of (but the old pagan Roman religion practiced)....and for almost the entirety of these past twenty centuries, the power, life, love, faith, and hope of the church has died...but even that was a part of God's greater plan.

The faith of Christ's disciples was shaken when he died. For two days, they remained hidden from the outside world. The rug was pulled out from under their feet. The 11 remaining Disciples, and numerous other men and women had dedicated their lives to following a man who was supposed to deliver Israel...and he died. For two days (the day it happened, and the day after) there was nothing...the future looked very grim for Christ's followers. But then on the third day he rose again: and all doubt, discouragement and uncertainty was put to rest. Followers of Christ are in a similar predicament today, but resurrection is coming. When it does, everything will change.

That's the reason why the global elite have been scrambling to establish their New World Order: Lucifer (who rules them) knows that his time is short; he knows that the resurrection is coming, and he is in a race against time to establish his rule before he is overthrown and put in chains.

Also, Jesus knew that there would be atrocities carried out in his name. As a prophet, he saw not just this point in history, but across the entire landscape of the past 2000 years. It has been marked by misinterpretation and the spiritual death of his teaching. His teachings and spirit have been rejected by the established authority. Throughout the ages, a remnant has survived, and has been blessed with an understanding of Christ's spirit. But it has only been a remnant. And here is hope: despite knowing what would happen under the banner of Christianity between then and now, Jesus also knew what would happen in our future. And the final judgment of Father and Son is that Christianity was worth the price. We haven't seen anything yet when it comes to the Glory that has been promised to the Son, and his bride. He will return to rule the world, along with his saints who will rule under his authority. The seventh "Day of Rest", the third "Day of Resurrection" and the 1000 years reign of Christ in Revelation 20 are prophecies of the same exact promise. So as bad as everything may seem to us, we must rest assured that the King of kings will be given his throne very soon, and what happens then will be more wonderful than anything we can imagine.

Romans 8:18-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.