Amen. Okay, we're in Psalm 141, just want to look at the first three verses again in Psalm 141,
which reads, it's the psalm of David. Lord, I cry unto thee, make haste unto me, give ear unto
my voice when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set before thee as incense, and the lifting
up of my hands is the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door
of my lips. And the title of my sermon this morning is Just Keep Your Mouth Shut. Just keep your mouth
shut. I'm going to pray and then we're going to get going with the message. Father, thank you for
your word, thank you for this teaching, this principle in your word, Lord, and one which is
so needed for so many of us, Lord, at so many times in life, in day-to-day life. Lord,
help us to just, everyone to just pay attention to this, to find a way of applying it to their
lives, Lord, for me to preach in a way that people will be able to apply, Lord, to preach
accurately and full of your spirit, Lord, and in a way that, you know, everyone will be able to
really just take in and listen to what your word's saying, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray all this. Amen.
Okay, so keep your finger here and turn to Proverbs chapter 17. Proverbs 17. So there's a common
theme in the word of God that learn to keep your mouth shut is something to aspire to.
Okay, it's something that we should be a goal of ours to be able to keep our mouth shut. Proverbs
17. You're turning to Proverbs 17 and verse 28 says in Proverbs 17 28,
Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips
is esteemed a man of understanding. So Proverbs 17 28 is saying, even someone that's a fool
that's foolish, when they keep their mouth shut, people think, what a wise person, right? They
think, how clever, you know, you know, people that just sit there with their mouth shut, they
got nothing to say, and people sometimes think that's a wise person, right? And people that
keep them shut, it's not just that they're wise, they think they must understand a lot.
And you know, a lot of the time they actually do. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes people
that don't really have much to say, right? But sometimes it's because they're wise enough,
they're clever enough to keep their mouth shut in many different situations at many different
times. It's an ability that some have more than others for varying reasons, okay? And
there's a few reasons I was thinking of off the top of my head, why some people are able
to keep their mouth shut more than others. For some, like I said, there's just nothing going
on much in their heads, okay? For some, there's not much between the ears, it's just easy to
keep your mouth shut when there's not really nothing, you know, the cogs are turning, the
smoke's coming out the ears, trying to think of how to respond, it's easier just to keep
your mouth shut, right? For others though, there's so much wickedness going on inside their
heads that it's like a defence mechanism. It's like, if I just don't say anything, keep my
mouth zipped shut, don't say much, just generally don't say anything, people won't work
out how wicked I really am, right? That's another reason I think sometimes
people don't say much. For some, maybe they grew up in an abusive home, right? And, you know,
you can think of various different reasons why maybe the safest thing was to just
withdraw, it was like a defence thing, it was a way of just not really getting
themselves into grief, into trouble, maybe a very violent or an aggressive home somewhere where
there was a lot of problems, it was just easier to keep your mouth shut, it was safer to keep
your mouth shut. There are some that find it difficult though, and this can be for varying
reasons. Some just love the sound of their own voices, people out there that just, you know,
when they're talking they're just thinking, I'm just so great, everyone needs to hear me
because I just say some really important interesting things. There are those though that just
like communicating, okay? Some people are communicators, they like chatting, they like joking,
they like socialising, so it's just more natural to talk. Maybe they've grown up in a very
social setting or whatever it is, maybe they've just inherited that sort of thing as well.
Some want to just get on, there are people that are just pleasers, they want to get on
with people, they want to avoid awkward silences, so they're just used to filling gaps
because it can feel a bit awkward, it can feel uncomfortable, it's just easier to talk
when that happens. And then there are those, there are even those and the extreme of those
that have learnt to keep their mouth shut as a way of getting other people to over talk,
okay? And there are people out there like that, I've come across these people before,
where they're just so good at getting you to talk by just keeping quiet, ask a couple of
questions, keep quiet and just let a gap filler talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Okay, so
communication is important though, okay? So God doesn't want or expect us to just live in
near silence, okay? So don't come away from this sermon, never talk to anyone ever again,
and just keep your mouth completely shut in all sorts of situations, okay? But there are times
in life when we all need to learn to just keep our mouth shut. There are many times in
life where you just need to learn to keep your mouth shut. Look down at Psalm 141,
and it said here in verse one, it was the Psalm of David, he said, Lord, I cry unto Thee,
make haste unto me, give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set forth
before Thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch,
O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. So David is saying that he's crying
out to God, okay? He's asking Him to be quick to hear Him, to take pleasure in His prayer,
to have respect unto it. Then he said this in verse three, set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth, keep the door of my lips. So his prayer is for God to guard His mouth, to control what
does and doesn't come out of it. And that's a prayer that we should all probably regularly
make. That's a good prayer to make, isn't it? Just regularly pray to God to just guard your mouth,
help you to say the right things, help for the right things to come out of your mouth.
You can make that as a regular prayer, that could be your morning prayer, that could be
your evening prayer, that could be your daytime prayer, that could be all your prayers,
if you wanted, you could just add that in if maybe it's a problem for you. But you could
also pray that before awkward discussions, you could pray that before awkward situations.
So if you know you're about to go into an awkward kind of situation, maybe with an
awkward person, maybe in an awkward time, that's a good thing you could do is you could
pray to God and say, God, please just guard my mouth, set a watch, oh Lord, before my mouth,
keep the door of my lips. But you could also even pray it during situations. So don't forget
that you can pray, maybe not audibly, okay, if you're in the middle of a conversation with
someone, don't interrupt it with a quick prayer out to God, don't be like the Muslims that need
everyone to hear and listen and watch their prayers. But you could maybe, you could maybe
pray in your head that just help me with what I say right now, just guard my mouth,
Lord, help me with what I'm going to say in this situation. I've done this many
times, I will continue to do that. Sometimes I'm in awkward conversations, awkward situations,
I call out to God in the middle of that, I try not to make it a long prayer, otherwise I'm not
listening to the conversation, but sometimes it's just help me right now, Lord, you know,
guard my mouth, help me to deal with this in the right way, to say the right things.
But it's one thing, okay, to pray to God to guard what comes out of your mouth,
but this is a lot more successful when your default is to keep your mouth shut.
So you could pray to God, but if your default is just to say everything that comes in
your mind and talk all the time, to just, you know, constantly just respond with your words,
then this can be a bit harder to then keep your mouth shut.
Think of it, I was thinking of it like this, think of it like a bag, okay, if your bag is
unzipped and open and it's just full of things regularly coming out of it, whatever bag it
is, whether it's ladies, your handbag, whether it's men, you've got a man bag, maybe it's a
rucksack, all right, maybe it's like one of those bum bag things, whatever, right, if
whatever bag it is, maybe it's a carrier bag, yeah, if things are just constantly coming out of
them, yeah, then you're more likely to drop something, aren't you? You're more likely to
lose something, you're more likely to even have someone take something out of it. If it's
just constantly just full up, things are coming in and out all the time, it's open,
it's being used a lot, okay, but if you've zipped it up and put the luggage lock on it,
okay, now you have the control, you choose what does and doesn't come out of it.
So if your default is just to learn to just be a little bit more guarded, a little bit
clever, a little bit more sensible with your mouth, maybe you're less likely to then have
something come out which is a problem, right? Now it's not a problem if you're somewhere safe
and sound, it shouldn't be, and it's nice sometimes to just be in a safe sound environment,
okay, in your home, around people you trust, but there are times when that bag
needs shutting and there's times when that mouth needs shutting, okay, and if the default is shut,
then like I said, there's more chance then of keeping it shut at those key times. So if the
default is some control, is to be less impulsive with your mouth, you're more likely to be able
to shut it when it's really important, okay, and there are some key times in life when you just
need to keep your mouth shut, okay, there are some key times. So today I want to go through
some of those times that I was thinking of when I made these notes, okay, when you've got to
try even harder, when you've basically got to just try to zip your mouth, you've just got to
zip it, you've just got to shut it, okay, turn to Proverbs chapter 15, the title is
Just Keep Your Mouth Shut, and point number one is just keep your mouth shut when your spouse
is angry, okay, just keep your mouth shut when your spouse is angry. Now this is marriage survival
basics, okay, for everyone out there, and I'm preaching of men and women here, okay,
okay, and don't worry men, you can ask your wives, it's okay to obey men if you like,
okay, but I'm preaching to everyone, all right, okay, this is survival basics,
just keep your mouth shut, okay, husbands and wives, okay, I'm not just talking about women
submitting, I'm also talking about men loving their wives too, okay, because look, you don't
have to necessarily, you don't have to refuse to speak, but less is often better, isn't it,
okay, so in situations, in contentious times, when a spouse is angry, sometimes it is good just to
keep it shut, or at least to say a lot less, and if it's shut, what you do say might be a little
bit more useful, right, look at Proverbs 15 one, it says, a soft answer turneth away wrath,
but grievous words stir up anger, so if you want to help turn away your loved one's wrath,
try a soft answer, unless your goal is to stir up anger, and then that would go for both,
so you could go, oh you see, my wife needs to submit, she, I can't believe it, but
husbands, you love your wives if you're not just giving a soft answer when your wife is angry,
when your wife is wound up about something, a soft answer turneth away wrath, or do we want
our wives to be full of wrath, but wives, do you want your husbands to be full of wrath,
do you want to just provoke them even more and then go, see, you're not loving me,
you know, so look, what's our goal, our goal is to love each other, our goal is to get the best
out of each other, we should, we should try our best and a soft answer, you know when a soft answer
is so much easier, is when that mouth is in a shut position, you have more time to think about,
what am I going to say in this situation, this difficult time to help my wife or to help
my husband in this, you know, at this point in time, now like I said, this, this is obviously
key to spouses, but it applies to all our loved ones really, doesn't it, yeah, you know,
when there's loved ones, when there's people that you care about, a soft answer, in fact,
it should really apply to most people, sometimes we just need to remember, a soft answer turneth away
wrath, and if we're going out, and if we're going out to love other people and try and get them
saved and preach the gospel, sometimes we've got to learn to just give a soft answer when
someone's getting wound up and worked up by us and worked up by us, daring to come with the
gospel to their door, you know, something offensive like that, sometimes the soft answer will turn
away that wrath, won't it, but the grievous words will stir up anger and then they likely get
saved next year, the year after, the year after, and they likely go away and maybe look at that invite,
probably not, so it should be to all our loved ones, but I would say with spouses, this is,
this can be a big problem, okay, but, but ladies, if, if you're wise as well, you're going to
pacify the king of your house, so it's not just for men with wives, if you're wise,
you're going to want to pacify that king, Proverbs 16, you're in Proverbs, look at chapter 16
and verse 14 says, the wrath of a king is as messengers of death, but a wise man will pacify
and look, men, you should be the king of your house, okay, you should be leading your house,
you should be the ruler there, the leader of that household, but a wise, a wise follower,
a wise wife, will try and pacify that king when it's needed, okay, and when it comes to
pacifying them, having some control over your mouth is important, wives, isn't it, being able to
keep your mouth shut, to not say everything you can to upset and needle and hurt and everything
else, because you're now offended, it's good just to keep that mouth shut, pacify that king
when he's starting to get angry, because otherwise it all goes wrong in a household, doesn't it,
often, you know, when the man starts losing it, things go downhill, all right, and the household
can turn into a war zone, all right, okay, so sometimes you know what can be pacifying as well
in life, silence, silence can be pacifying, can't it, you know, some people just crave silence,
and you know what, when someone's wound up, a lot of the time they just need you to be silent,
they need you to be quiet, they need you to just keep your mouth shut,
but this isn't a one-way street, okay, so like I said, if we're loving our wives, should we
should we be stirring up their anger when we can avoid it, I don't think that's loving your wife,
well should we be stirring up their anger while shouting, submit, submit woman, probably
not loving your wife, or maybe telling them how ungodly they are whilst they're wound up,
is that turning away the wrath of that loved one, I'd say no, especially when Proverbs 21,
Proverbs 21 verse 9 tells us that this is not a good place to be, okay, so just for your own good,
even if you're not talking about loving your wife, yeah I don't care about her anyway,
she's going to needle her when she's angry, well you ain't going to have a good time with it,
because Proverbs 21 says it is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a
brawling woman in a white house, so you're better off hidden up there on the roof,
okay, you're better hidden in the corner of the rooftop than you are with your wife
brawling basically, okay, so if your wife's getting wound up, you're best just to keep
your mouth shut, get out of there, escape, okay, have an escape route planned, preparation is
important, Proverbs 21 19 says it is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious
and an angry woman, so now there are a few ways to apply these verses, but one application
is that you'd be better off in the desert than getting your wife to this point, wouldn't you,
you'd be better off staying out living in the desert than getting your wife to the point
where she's contentious and angry, because that's not a good place to be,
that's not a nice situation to have in your household, so you want to try and avoid that
men, and you know what, how often the best way to avoid that is if your wife is wound up
about something, and yeah, shock horror, wives get wound up sometimes, keep your mouth shut,
just keep your mouth shut, let them calm down, deal with it afterwards, okay,
and a good start is that when it comes to either spouse seeing the wrath building,
just keeping it shut, you don't have to have the last word, do you, okay,
that's not the right time to point out each other's failings, okay, so right there,
wound up, time to tell you all about yourself now, oh look at you, you know,
does it ever solve anything, does it ever achieve anything, of course not, it's not the time to
let your fragile little ego get the better of you, it's I will not be spoken to like that,
right, that's it, I can't believe you've looked at me like that, you know, and look, we can all
let our fragile egos get the better of us, very little gets solved sensibly, does it,
when anger kicks in, in reality, when the anger kicks in, when you get wound up,
or when they're wound up, do you just solve things, do you come up with plans that
just change, you know, things for the best, no, okay, most of the time it all goes downhill,
very, very few well thought out plans are made when someone's wrathful, okay, because wrath is
when it's really good, all right, when your spouse is angry, just keep your mouth shut
and deal with the problem when things are calmer, okay, just get that on your mind, keep your
mouth shut, keep your mouth shut, wait till people are calm, that's a good time to discuss
things, isn't it, yeah, hey, how do you keep your mouth shut though, you're going, well this is
easier said than done, because I've got a problem with this past September, how do I keep my mouth
shut, well pray like David did in Psalm 141, he said, set a watch, oh Lord, before my mouth,
keep the door of my lips, he prayed to God to help him with this, didn't he, he said, set a
watch, oh Lord, before my mouth, he said, basically, Lord, just keep an eye on it and keep
that mouth shut, he said, keep the door of my lips, I need you, God, to keep that shut, because
I can't do it on my own, I need you, we need God's help in so many situations, keeping your
mouth shut is something that often you need God's help with, pray it regularly, pray it before
contentious times, when you see them boiling, and pray even during contentious times, yeah,
turn to Colossians chapter three, the title is, just keep your mouth shut, and I want you to
come away from this sermon with that etched in your mind, just keep your mouth shut, yeah, we all
need help with this in many areas, just keep your mouth shut, number one, when your spouse is
angry, number two, just keep your mouth shut when your parents are angry, kids, yeah, kids, you
ain't getting away with this one today, okay, just keep your mouth shut when your parents are
angry, Colossians chapter three and verse 18 says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own
husbands as it is fit in the Lord, yeah, wives, keep your mouth shut, husbands love your wives
and be not bitter against them, husbands, keep your mouth shut too, children, obey your parents
in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord, kids, keeping your mouth shut
is a skill that's much better to learn early, learn it early when life's so much easier and all
you have to do is keep it shut, yeah, simple, he said in Colossians 3 20, to obey them in all
things, and I'll tell you something that's disobedient, okay, whinging, moaning, complaining,
arguing back, talking back, answering back, having to have some little last word, some little comment,
that's not obedience, it's clearly not obedience, it's, do you know what it is, it's the opposite of
obedience, what's the opposite of obedience, rebelliousness, it's rebelliousness, now you
might not be able to physically, you know, to physically basically refuse to do what you've been
told to do by your parents, you're like well they're bigger than me, they're just going to
put me in that place they've told me, or they're going to spank my bottom or something, but you
talking back, you arguing, you saying things, that's rebelliousness, it's rebellion, pure and simple,
just because you, well I can't quite get away with just refusing, you're borderline doing that
with your mouth, keep a finger here and turn to 1 Samuel 15, there's nothing obedient about
some self-important young child, kid or teen, having to have the last word, mouthing off, arguing
with their parents, that's not obeying, pure and simple, clear as day, it's disobedience, in 1 Samuel
15, Samuel said this to Saul, 1 Samuel 15 and verse 22 says, and Samuel said, have the Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord, behold to obey
is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams, let me tell you one of the ways
that you kids obey the voice of the Lord, by obeying your parents like he told you to,
like the Lord told you to, you're disobeying the voice of the Lord, if you're disobeying your
parents, doesn't matter what you think, you're wrong, you're disobeying, you're disobeying God,
because when you don't do that, okay, when you don't do what he tells you to do,
you're not just rebelling against your parents, obviously you're therefore rebelling against the Lord,
and he said in verse 23, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity
and idolatry, because thou has rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected thee
from being king, so kids, listen right, when you disobey your parents, it's as if
you were practicing black magic, it's that serious, when you're disobeying, when you're
having to to disobey with your words, with your mouth, with your voice, it's serious,
it's a big deal, it's not, oh well, never mind, it's, no, don't get me wrong, most kids do it,
most kids, there's some kids, it takes longer to get them out of it, some kids it's shorter,
some kids are a bit more disobedient than others, some kids might seem obedient but instead
they're off just thieving things and getting out of their system in other ways, whatever it is,
okay, when you're disobeying clear commands, it's as the sin of witchcraft,
he's making that clear how serious it is, rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
when you refuse to submit like you're told to, okay, when you want to be stubborn and convince
yourself that you know best kids, it's as iniquity and idolatry, okay, you're putting
yourself above your parents above God, basically, you've, you think that you're more important,
you know best, that, forget what God says, I'm more important, I'm up here, and you know what,
God hates idolatry, God hates idolatry, you know what, he likes to happen to idols,
they get smashed down, you don't want to get smashed down kids, okay, and the thing is,
being a child is so simple, okay, do as you're told and you'll be so much happier,
it really is simple, being a child is quite a simple job, many of us adults, we look back
and go, only I was a child again, because that was a simple life, there was no, there was very
few serious decisions to make, there were very few really difficult things still, yet the time
they feel like that, but when you look back you realise, wow, all I had to do is do as I was told,
and life would have been so much easier, so much simpler, so much more enjoyable if I'd just done
as I was told, and in Colossians 3-20, God said through the Apostle Paul, Colossians 3-20,
children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord,
and that includes, by the way, where maybe you feel like your parents are being irrational
with anger, where maybe the punishment seems a bit harsh to you, all knowing, all seeing children
out there that seem to be so wise sometimes about how your parents should be doing things,
well, you know what, you should just obey them in all things, and that's when you prove whether
you're really obedient is when it's things that you don't agree with, it's easy to obey when
you already agree, yeah, I'm not obeying anything if I'm just doing something that I already
want to do, I'm already happy to do, I already agree with, it's obedience when it's what you don't
agree with, that's when you're obedient is when you say, yeah, I don't agree in my mind, I don't
think maybe that's right, but you know what, God told me, obey my parents in all things,
so I'm just going to do it, and the best thing is that when you get it right,
you said, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord, you're well pleasing unto the Lord,
isn't that something that you aspire to be, kids? That's something that we should all be
aspiring to be well pleasing unto the Lord, so when your parents are angry, just keep your mouth
shut, okay, and show that it's a genuine obedience, that's how you show that your
obedience is genuine, how do you keep your mouth shut? Pray like David did in Psalm 141,
set a watch, oh Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips, that's something else I want
you to memorize by the end of this sermon, it will be this verse, set a watch, oh Lord,
before my mouth, keep the door of my lips, pray it regularly, pray it before, pray it during,
pray it in every day, kids, pray it before awkward situations, when you're about to be
punished, when there's about to be an issue, some contention, and even pray it during when
you're starting to feel that mouth open and that desire to say something, to feel like you're
getting some last word or some sort of way of fighting back or whatever it is. Turn to 1 Peter
chapter 2, the title is just keep your mouth shut, number one, just keep your mouth shut when
your spouse is angry, number two, just keep your mouth shut when your parents are angry, and point
number three, just keep your mouth shut when your boss is angry, just keep your mouth shut when
your boss is angry, okay, in 1 Peter 2, Peter said in verse 18, servants, okay, servants, we would
maybe say employees, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and
gentle, but also to the froward, so he said basically if you're an employee in one way
or another, and if you're self-employed, well, your customer's pretty much your employer,
do as you're told, yeah, within reason, obviously, as a self-employed, okay, but you look, if you've
chosen as someone as a customer self-employed, they've become your boss for a while to some degree
within the parameters of your job, and same with people in the workplace,
within the parameters of your job, within what's in your contract, obviously if you're employed,
don't do that, but within the Lord, he said servants, be subject to your masters with
all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also froward, so he said give your employer
the fear and the respect that you would give God, so if God was here now, if the Lord Jesus
Christ walked in here and said, right guys, everyone here, right, you do this job, you're doing this
job, you do that, you just do as you're told, right, and it's same if he walked into the workplace.
If the Lord Jesus Christ employed you in the workplace and told you to do something, you'd do
it, wouldn't you? I hope you would. We should all want to do that. Well, Colossians 3 23 says
and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, so everything we do we
should be doing is unto the Lord, and that includes in the workplace, right, it's as if you're
working for God, you should be a shining light, you should be an example in the workplace,
you should be doing the best possible job you can, working as unto God, whether your boss is a good
boss or a froward boss, it said here in 1 Peter 2 18. He said not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward, and froward is basically someone unyielding, non-compliant, and
and as we've seen as we've gone through the book of Proverbs, it could even be used to describe
reprobates as well, so even if you've got a reprobate boss, now don't get me wrong, it might be
sensible to look for a new job if you think this isn't workable, this isn't terrible, but while
you're employed, whilst you're being paid to do a job, you're working as unto the Lord, even if your
boss is wicked, you should still be working, no you shouldn't be sinning if he tells you to sin,
you shouldn't be going and doing dishonest things, you shouldn't be choosing to do bad stuff,
however, you should be working as unto the Lord, and this isn't just about when you've been,
you know, when you've done something wrong, okay, when you're being told off for something justified,
going, oh okay, fair enough, he said in verse 19, for this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience
toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, for what glory is it if when you be buffed for
your faults you should take it patiently, but if when you do well and suffer for it, you take
it patiently, this is acceptable with God, he's saying, basically, even when you do well, when you've
done nothing wrong, and you're getting grief in the workplace, maybe your boss is moaning at
you and you've felt like, yeah, I had done a good job though, I did do my best in that job,
just keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth shut, he's your boss, keep your mouth shut, submit to
your boss, don't get into that all, you know, how dare he talk to me like that attitude,
little people get like that, don't they, they forget they're being paid, they forget that he's the
boss, they forget that they're paid to do a job and to submit them to the boss in the workplace,
and then they get all prideful, hey, you know, you better not talk to me like that, why not, he's your boss,
he pays your bills, if you don't like it, get a new job, but carry on working under the law while
you're there, he's the governor, basically, if you start feeling like that, you need to toughen up,
you need to toughen up, stop being a snowflake, stop, I just can't believe someone spoke to me
like that in the workplace, oh, I'm just so, I'm so tough, or I'm so whatever, I'm so much
better than him, how dare he talk to me like that, sort yourself out, right, he's a boss,
he's a boss, treat him like the boss, you're not too special to get a telling off, none of us are,
sometimes we all need a telling off to even get mistreated sometimes, you're not too special for
that, sometimes you're going to get mistreated, sometimes it's going to feel unfair, sometimes it's
going to feel like, I can't believe that happened, but you know what, you're working
under the law, you just do as you're told, you should be submitting even to the forward boss,
he said in verse 21, for even here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that he should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not,
but committed himself to him that judgeth, righteously, the god of this world didn't say,
how dare they talk to me like that, the god of this world, he who created all things,
all things were created by him without him, was not anything made that was made,
yet he just let them, he let them revile him and he didn't revile back,
he, when he suffered, he threatened not, and he did all of that to be an example to all of us,
so we should be able to go into a workplace and have, sometimes feel like, well that was a bit
unfair and not get, you know, our knickers in a twist and start getting in fights and
rows and whatever else, or you know, walking out or, or taking sickies to like get our own back
or anything else, just work us unto the lord, right, when your boss is angry, just keep your mouth shut,
deal with it, as you would if it was god himself. How do you keep your mouth shut? What did David
say in Psalm 141? Said a watch, oh lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. Again,
you can pray it regularly, you can pray it before, and you can pray it during times when
it's hard, just keep your mouth shut. Turn to Numbers chapter 14, the title is just keep your
mouth shut. Point number one, just keep your mouth shut when your spouse is angry. Point number
two, just keep your mouth shut when your parents are angry. Point number three, just keep your
mouth shut when your boss is angry. And point number four, just keep your mouth shut
when you're being tried. Just keep your mouth shut when you're being tried, okay. Now,
when I say when you're being tried, I mean when you're in a trial. But whether it's
chastisement or not, whether it's of god or your own doing, whatever it is, when you're going
through a hard time, when you're going through a trial, just keep your mouth shut. Keep your
mouth shut. Don't complain, don't charge god foolishly, don't murmur. In 1 Corinthians 10,
10, Paul said this, neither murmur yet, some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the
destroyer. That was 1 Corinthians 10, 10, and you know what he's talking about, he's referring
to what happened here in Numbers 14 where you've just heard, where the children of Israel are
murmuring. They're complaining during a trial. They just sent 12 men to spy out the promised
land, okay, and they've come back to cause trouble. 10 of the 12 are basically trying to
put everyone off, okay. They're trying to demoralize the people and this is something
that obviously we need to watch out for in the Christian life, okay. People often will
just try and demoralize you, try and put you up, try and demoralize what we do as a church,
try and demoralize you about soul winning, try and demoralize you about the church,
try and demoralize you about, you know, various aspects of the Christian life,
demoralize you about doing things god's way, and try and make you think that that must have
been the wrong way, there's a problem with that and everything else. You've got to watch
out for demoralizing, okay, and this is what these guys are doing here. 10 out of the 12,
by the way, are guilty of demoralizing out of the 10 men that were chosen to do this.
That's a large amount of people were a problem here, barring Caleb and Joshua.
Said in Numbers 13, 32, just before we go into chapter 14, so it said,
and they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of
Israel, saying, the land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the
inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
Then Numbers 14, we're going to jump forward to Numbers 14, verse 1 says,
and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night.
So they're genuinely upset, aren't they? Yeah, they're genuinely upset, they're emotional,
but does that then make it okay to murmur? Look at verse 2, and all the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them,
would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this
wilderness? Excuse me. So they're complaining about the leadership, okay, that God had given
them, and really, when you're doing that, you're just complaining about God. They're just
saying, would God, they're basically saying, basically, you know, it seems like God,
I think this is what they're saying, it seems like God would have had us die in the land of Egypt.
God would have probably been happy for us to die in this wilderness. They're just complaining
about God, really. They're complaining about what they've been given, what God's given them,
and wherefore have the Lord brought us unto this land to fall by the sword? Now it's
just directly at God, it's the same thing, that our wives and our children should be a
prey. Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? So this is like the Christians
out there complaining about their Christian lives, okay, and they're everywhere, right?
Complaining about serving God, oh, it's just such a hard time, oh, I just can't believe that
I've got to drive 30 minutes to church. It's an hour, it's two hours, I just, it's such a hard
life. I just can't believe, I can't believe that I just can't be back in Egypt, back in all those
past wicked sins that were ruining my life, and so many people, what did so many Christians do?
They put on the rose-tinted glasses, don't they? Suddenly it was all so much better before they
forget all the stuff that happened before, all the wickedness, all the stuff they were dealing
with in their part in the old days, before they were serving God, and then suddenly it
was all so much better, it was all so much rosier. Verse 4 says, and they said one to another,
let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. So they want to return to the bondage
of sin, basically, that's what the picture is, to the bondage of Egypt. They're like, yeah, well,
it's just, you know, it's such hard work, this reading a Bible for like 15, 20, 30 minutes,
whatever it is each day, an hour even, oh, I just can't believe it, it's such hard work,
this going soul-winning once or twice a week for a couple of hours a week, maybe a few hours
a week, I just can't, it's such hard work, going to that church where most of them go
soul-winning, I just can't, I just can't deal with anyone, let's just go back to the pub,
let's just go back to the drugs, let's just go back to the fornication, let's just go back
to all the wickedness of the world, I mean, what on earth, right, but isn't that, isn't that
standard, isn't that what we see out there? So often, right, they said one to another, let us make
a captain and let us return into Egypt. Basically, we're going to stop submitting to God's leadership and
we're going to decide that we know best, make yourself a captain, make whoever it is a captain, and I'm
just going to go back to the world, right, back to the world. Instead, what should they do?
Instead, they just need to keep their mouth shut, keep your mouth shut, it starts with the mouth,
it always starts with the mouth. Proverbs 21 23 says, who so keepeth his mouth and his tongue
keepeth his soul from troubles. If you keep it shut, when you start to feel like that,
when you start to feel to murmur, you start to feel to complain, you start to feel like I
need to get this out, get my, you know, and you start, the tongue starts wanting to work,
and you can feel it all boiling up, just keep it shut. Don't mouth, don't verbalize it, keep it
shut. If they'd kept it shut, it wouldn't have ended up going for them how it does in a minute,
because what was the result of this murmuring against God? Verse 26, jump forward to verse 26
in Numbers 14, it says, and the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying, how long shall I
bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? It's a murmuring. I have heard the
murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, as truly as
I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine, ears so will I do to you. Again,
it's what they're saying, it's what's coming out of their mouth. Look, people have wicked
thoughts. Look, many people, look, when we preach the gospel to people, a lot of people talk
about the thought of foolishness and say, look, we all have bad, we all have foolish thoughts,
but you know what you need to do with them? You just need to squash them, not start letting them
come out your mouth, because the other thing is when you start verbalizing something, I think
often you want to validate it more then, to justify that you verbalized it, so then you
start convincing yourself it's true, whereas when it's a thought, you could just squash it
and remind yourself, yeah, what a load of nonsense, what am I talking about?
Well, like looking back, you know, looking at whatever it is in your past life,
that was wickedness, wasn't it? What a load of filth and everything else, what a load of,
what a load of just God rejecting nonsense, why would I ever want to be back there? You could
just squash that straight away, but when you start to verbalize it, then it starts, you start
to want to support it and validate it and back it up. He said, your carcasses, in verse 29,
shall fall in this wilderness and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number
from 20 years old and upward, which have, which have murmured against me. It's the murmurers.
Doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell
therein, save Caleb the son of Jephthah and Joshua the son of Nun. They were the two that
didn't, but your little ones which she said should be a prey, then will I bring in and
they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for your, as for you, your
carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall wander in the wilderness
40 years and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
After the number of the days in which you search the land, even 40 days, each day for a
year, shall you bear your iniquities even 40 years and you shall know my breach of promise.
The reason they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness was because of murmuring.
It's because they didn't keep their stupid mouth shut. That's what it was about.
So when you're being tried, just keep your mouth shut. Well what are you doing really?
You're just murmuring against God. Whether it's chastisement, whether it's a trial of life,
whether it's some sort of tribulation, whether it's even of your own doing, when you're
complaining and moaning, you're just murmuring against God. Just keep your mouth shut. How
do you keep your mouth shut? Well pray like David did, like we saw in Psalm 141. Set a watch,
oh Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Pray it regularly. Pray it during.
Pray it before. Just pray it. Pray that prayer. Pray that prayer and keep your mouth shut.
Turn to Isaiah 53. The title is just keep your mouth shut. Just keep your mouth shut when
your spouse is angry. Just keep your mouth shut when your parents are angry. Just keep your
mouth shut when your boss is angry. Just keep your mouth shut when you're being tried.
And number five, just keep your mouth shut when you're being persecuted. Just keep your mouth
shut when you're being persecuted. Now persecution is part of the Christian life.
It's a part of the Christian life if you're trying to live the Christian life, okay? It's
just, they go hand in hand. 2 Timothy 3 says, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you're living godly in Christ Jesus, you will suffer persecution.
There's nobody looking at people going through persecution and other things going,
must have brought it on themselves. Well, yeah, I hope they have. I hope they have by living
godly in Christ Jesus, okay? That's just a part of it. You're going to get persecuted
if you're living godly in Christ Jesus. Now it comes in different shapes and sizes, okay?
But a good standard, a good starting point to work from, okay, with when you're going
through persecution is to just keep your mouth shut. Now after that, there are times when
you do need to sometimes answer things, deal with things, deal with things in a wise way.
But if your standard is the mouth is shut, you're going to usually do it in a wiser way,
in a more controlled way, in a better way. In Isaiah 53, okay, he's prophesying of the
coming Savior of the Lord Jesus Christ and Isaiah 53 says it like this, he was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughtering
as a sheep before her shearers is done, so he openeth not his mouth. Now we read earlier,
you don't have to turn there, but in 1 Peter 2 21, for even here unto were you called
because Christ also sufferers, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps.
And part of that was keeping his mouth shut during horrendous persecution, persecution like
none of us have ever been through and the Lord Jesus Christ kept his mouth zipped shut.
He opened not his mouth like a lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before her shearers is done,
so he openeth not his mouth. And there's some steps we should be following, aren't they?
Okay, we should be following those steps of keep your mouth shut, learning to deal with persecution
without having to row and argue and say something back and have the last word and,
you know, and constantly just answering all sorts and all forms of persecution.
When the family, when the workplace, when the old persecution comes, often it's best to just
ignore it, by the way. Sometimes it's just best to ignore it and I kind of learned that
over the years, a lot of the time with persecution it's easier just to just ignore it
and it kind of starts to go, whereas when you think, well, I need to say something, I need to do
something, I need to take this fight on and everything else, a lot of the time it just
becomes a distraction, it becomes a problem, it doesn't suddenly stop. Often it's as if you're
being set up as well. So often persecution, if you've noticed in various areas of your life,
people are trying to get a reaction out of you, okay? The persecution is to get you to respond
and to get you to say something, to get you to do something that's not in the right way,
so then they can accuse you with something more legitimate. Or whether it's legitimate or not,
they just want to accuse you, they want something, they want to get something from you.
When you're soul winning, for example, if someone gives you some mouth, yeah, and it does happen,
doesn't it? Sometimes you're out soul winning and people say things, people do things, people
treat you in a nasty way, you get some form of persecution. Now it's not like Jesus Christ
suffered necessarily, it's not like maybe the apostles suffered, but you know, for us, yeah,
look, it's all kind of relative, it can feel like persecution. Do you know what the answer is?
Most of the time, just keep your mouth shut. Just keep your mouth shut, because does it ever
get solved by us fighting back, saying things back, and maybe plan that soft answer that
turneth away wrath then? If your mouth's automatically shut and you're calm and you're
not just like, ah, say something back, you know, say something cutting, say something that's going
to get some sort of result, then a lot of the time then you're more able to give that
soft answer. And then, but look, sometimes again, sometimes it's not just out soul winning,
sometimes it is, and sometimes it can get to full slander, sometimes it can get to people
just making up full lies about you, and not just for pastors, not just for people in the
ministry, for people in their home lives, for people out, you know, when you're going home,
when you're amongst other people in the workplace, for example, it could just get to that point,
can't it? Where people are literally just lying, they're slandering, they're just trying to
convince people of lies, and sometimes, often, it's best just still to just keep your mouth shut,
just keep your mouth shut. Go back to Psalm 39, sorry, well go to Psalm 39. Now there is a time
sometimes to call out the wicked, okay, so of course there's a time when they need calling out,
we see the examples in the Bible of men of God and even the Lord Jesus Christ himself calling
out wicked people, there's a time as a pastor to protect the sheep, so sometimes people need
naming, they need shaming, there needs to be, or sometimes certain allegations sometimes need
responding too, because you can see people starting to get doubt, or maybe get their heads
turned, things like that, but it's not every time. A lot of the time it's easier, it's better
just to ignore the nonsense, because a lot of the time a lot of attackers are just narcissists
that want a platform, and they want a way of then having some sort of two and five back and forth,
whereas a lot of the time they're just they're just scum, they're scum that don't even warrant
anything like that. James 4 7 says, your turn to Psalm 39, submit yourselves therefore to God,
resist the devil and he will flee from you. And that's something you need to remember in other
areas, in your workplace sometimes, sometimes you might have some persecutor in your workplace,
some reprobate that just is on your case that wants to try and find fault with you,
sometimes just keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth shut, and a lot of the time they'll just
expose themselves. Often the persecution is designed to try to get you to slip, to fall,
and that's so often by what? By what comes out of your mouth. Now obviously some persecutors would
just love you to get physical, they'd love you to get violent, they'd love you to do something
that they can go look at, look at that person now, and they're trying to provoke a lot of the
time of reaction, they're trying to provoke a response, but often it's just by getting you
to say something out of your mouth, no that's not very loving is it? How often do you get
that? How often have you gone out soul witting, someone's antagonized you, antagonized you,
you say something back, so-called man of God. I had a guy do this sodomite a while back,
giving my wife a load of grief and abuse when she was out soul-witting, and then I saw him
pulled up in the van, got out the van to just, you know, tell him he was a low-life scumbag,
and suddenly it's like, oh so-called man of God. It's like you've literally been following
around shouting stuff at them, and because I've got out of hand, suddenly I'm this wicked person
for standing up for my wife, right? And that's, but they just want something don't they?
It's just provoke, provoke, get something, get something back, so then they can accuse you
even more. Psalm 39 said in verse one, to the chief musician, even to Jejethen, the psalm of
David, I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue, I will keep my mouth
with a bridle while the wicked is before me. David said I will keep my mouth with a bridle,
which in a way is like a muzzle isn't it really, while the wicked is before me. And this is one
of the most important times to watch your mouth, okay? Because sometimes, and often the wicked are
just desperate to get something to work with, desperate to get something to misuse, desperate
to get something to accuse you of, some weakness, some half-truth to bend, some bad reaction to the
persecution to then have a more legitimate thing to accuse you with. And that's where you've got
to understand, that's when, so important, keep your mouth shut, just keep your mouth shut,
keep your mouth shut, and keep your back straight, and you can deal with it.
And so often we want to fight back, we want to say something, we don't want to do stuff, and then
it just makes it worse. Revelation 12, 10, that says of the devil, for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. That's exactly what
his children do, they accuse you, they accuse you, they accuse you, they want stuff on you,
they want stuff to accuse you of, and when they're persecuting you, they're just waiting for
more stuff to accuse you of. That's why David said in verse 2 in Psalm 39,
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace even from good, and my sorrow was stirred. And sometimes
it's hard to take, sometimes it takes its toll on you, okay, dealing with this sort of thing.
He said, my heart was hot within me while I was musing, the fire burned, then spake I with my
tongue, but who did he speak to? What did he do? Well, look at verse 4, Lord, make me to know my
end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how frail I am. That's the answer,
he's calling out to God and basically humbling himself saying, God I need you, help me, I'm
going through this, I'm having people saying this stuff, dealing, you know, talking lies about me,
maybe about your family, maybe about, you know, things you've done, things you haven't done,
people are persecuting you in one way or another. And what did he do when he opened his mouth
when he spake this tongue, he called out to God. So when you're being persecuted, just keep your mouth
shut, or you know what happened, you just make things worse, you just make things worse most of the
time. How do you keep your mouth shut? Back to what David said in Psalm 141, set a watch, oh Lord,
before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. Pray it regularly, pray it before, pray it during, yeah,
when you're going through stuff, when you're going through persecution, just keep your mouth shut.
Go back to Psalm 141, the title is just keep your mouth shut. Number one, just keep your mouth shut when
your spouse is angry. Number two, just keep your mouth shut when parents are angry. Number three, just
keep your mouth shut when your boss is angry. Number four, just keep your mouth shut when you're
being tried. Number five, just keep your mouth shut when you're being persecuted. Number six, just
keep your mouth shut when you're being interrogated. Just keep your mouth shut when you're being
interrogated. Now sometimes it's outright persecution, but sometimes it's a lot more subtle.
Psalm 64 says, they search out iniquities, they accomplish a diligent search, the inward thoughts
of every one of them in the heart is deep. Now this is another part of the Christian life,
okay, that you just need to wise up about, okay. People subtly trying to set you up,
people trying, now it's not always outright persecution, it's not always outright slander,
it's just people trying to set you up, trying to find something, trying to get you in some,
to say something, to get something that they can work with, and now that can be, like I said
before, in the workplace. It can be in the church house, and it can also be, like I said, in the
highways and hedges as well. Sometimes when you're out there, you're preaching the Gospel,
suddenly what happens? The family or friend suddenly pipes up with, so what do you think about
sodomites then? But they usually won't say sodomites. What do you think about gay people?
What do you think about the LGBTQ, or something else? So it, you know, really what they're doing,
do they really, do they really just really want, really interested in your opinion about this?
No, they're just trying to set you up, they're just trying to get something to work
with from you, they're just trying to interrogate you. Your co-worker finds out you're a Christian,
you're a Bible-believing Baptist, so then the next question at some point is, well,
what do you think about trans people then? What do you think about women in the workplace?
What do you think, or something else, and it's, do they really care? Do they, are they really
interested because they want to have a nice healthy discussion about it? They're just trying
to set you up, they're just trying to set you up. The so-called Christian, maybe in church or
out of church, that wants to know every single aspect of your life, they're just trying to set
you up. They're just trying to find stuff on you, they're trying to work with stuff.
Sometimes they're just freaky, and they're just literally trying to find stuff to copy,
because there are, there are complete psychos out there that literally want to copy every
aspect of your life. That's freaky to think about, and they're out there, okay?
Believe me. Psalm 141 in verse one is the psalm of David says,
Lord, I cry unto thee, make haste unto me, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee.
Psalm 141, let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense and lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice. Said a watch O Lord before my mouth, keep the door of my lips, incline not
my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their dainties. So he said keep me away from these wicked people,
keep me away from their flattery, from their gifts. He said let the righteous smite me,
it shall be a kindness, and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil which shall not break
my head, for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. That's what preaching is for,
isn't it? That's why, that's why we come to the house of God for the righteous to smite you,
for him to reprove you, okay? That's a good thing, and it seems he's saying that he seems,
he'll return the favor with prayer. He said, for yet my prayer also shall be in their
calamities, okay? We come to be amongst each other, to uplift each other, to sometimes you
need to help each other with gentler proofs, sometimes obviously it will come from the pulpit
as well, sometimes it will be rebuking from the pulpit. He said in verse six,
when their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet.
Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the
earth. So basically saying just about, I think he's just saying that look, we're in a hard
situation, okay? As believers, and nowadays you're in a hard situation, okay? You're
in a situation where you need God, you need the angel of the Lord encapped around you,
because there are wicked people everywhere, trying to destroy your walk, trying to destroy this
church, trying to destroy your family, trying to destroy so many aspects of your Christian life.
He said, but mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord, and thee is my trust,
leave not my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me,
and the jinns of the workers of iniquity. Now, jinns are traps laid for animals.
Dave is asking God to protect him from the snares and traps that the wicked God's enemies lay.
Now everyone, look, this sort of thing, we have to preach regularly. One, because it's
throughout the Bible. You can't preach through the Psalms without preaching through this, for
example, but it's throughout the Bible. And number two, because people just don't get it.
They just don't get the battle. This is what you're dealing with. If you're saved,
you're working for God, you're going to deal with this. It's not just a load of paranoid preachers.
It's not just a load of NIFB Christians that just want to talk about reprobates and the wicked.
No, it's throughout the Bible. Throughout the Bible, and we're constantly being told,
we see this man of God, David, just saying, they're surrounding me. He's saying, keep me
from the snares, they're laying traps for me, the jinns of the works of iniquity,
there's traps, there's snares. And then people are like, yeah, well, you know,
they just go overboard with all that stuff. We should just come and pat each other on the back
and say, you know, I love you, see you later, go back for another week off. You know, that's not
the Christian life. And you know what, people just need to wisen up about this stuff. You know,
wisen up and open your eyes, open your ears and just see the battle that you're in.
You're in a battle. You're in a battle when you're out the church of God, the house God,
sometimes when you're in the house God, it's just a battle. You're in a battle, you're getting
trapped, you're getting snares laid for you, people trying to catch you in your words,
people trying to find ways of destroying you, people trying to accuse you, all of us.
That's the Christian life. And if you're not getting it, you're not living Godly in Christ
Jesus, basically. Or you'll be getting it soon enough anyway. That's just the Christian life.
David, okay, like men, women and children of God here, had multiple people wanting to
trap him, wanting to scare him. You need to wisen up, wisen up in all aspects of your life.
Now you don't have to walk around like a paranoid lunatic, okay? You don't have to,
you know, go around like, you know, with like combing your house for bugs and stuff like that.
Maybe you do, I don't know. Okay, you don't have to go crazy with it. But you know what,
yeah? You need to get wise to it. You need to understand and believe God when he says this is
this is what happens. And not just convince yourself that your whole, the Christian life,
this is fairy tale romance or something. Because that's what people kind of, they just want to
convince themselves that and then they just can't deal with these sorts of truths. So they just
kind of just like, no, no, no, can't, can't, no, no such thing could never be happening.
Well, then you're going to get snared, you're going to get trapped. Because we're constantly
being warned because David's saying, keep me from the snares, which they have laid for me
in the gins for the works of iniquity. So then he prayed in verse, verse 10, let the
wicked fall into their own nets, whilst I with all escape. How do we escape these,
whose thoughts are deep? Who plot and plan? Who are trying to lay snares, lay traps, find ways
of destroying us and stopping us going out? Ultimately, the job is to stop people getting
people saved. Well, verse three is the answer. He says, set a watch, our Lord, before my mouth.
Keep the door on my lips. Just keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth shut. Control your
mouth. When you're being interrogated, just keep your mouth shut or you'll just help them with
their snares. How do you keep your mouth shut? Verse three, said a watch, our Lord,
before a mouth. Pray to God. Keep the door on my lips, God. Help me with this. Help me with
this battle, Lord. Pray it as a regular prayer. Pray it before suspected issues, problems, times,
when you feel like people are just trying to get things out of you. You can pray it when
you're so winning and someone's just trying to get stuff out, trying to get things to accuse you
of, to call you this, to call you that, to just try and find problems. It can be in various areas
of your life. Pray during those times as well. Just pray for God to guide your words, to help
your words. When you put it in God's hands, he wants to help you, right, but he wants you to
put it in his hands. Turn to Proverbs 13. The title was, just keep your mouth shut.
Just keep your mouth shut when your spouse is angry. Just keep your mouth shut when your parents
are angry. Just keep your mouth shut when your boss is angry. Just keep your mouth shut
when you're being tried. Just keep your mouth shut when you're being persecuted. Just
keep your mouth shut when you're being interrogated. Just keep your mouth shut.
We're gonna have a real quiet fellowship time after the service.
You're more like sign language.
But no, seriously though, you know, obviously, obviously you could go overboard with that,
but you need to be wise about it. And Proverbs 13.3 says it like this, to finish up,
He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life, but he that openeth wide his lips shall have
destruction. And that's really what it comes down to, doesn't it? And some, look, some people
need to work on this more than others, but it's something that everyone needs to work on,
okay? We all need to work on it. We all need to be wise with it. We all need to just understand,
you know, this part of the Christian life, and we all need to respond to it.
And on that, we're going to finish in a word of prayer.
Father, thank you for, well, the fact that we have mouths, thank you for communication,
thank you for, you know, the gift of speech and, you know, the beauty of, you know,
so many different languages and, you know, that we can express ourselves in so many different
ways. And we thank you for that fellowship time and the ability to, you know, to have
time together to enjoy each other's talk and chat and, you know, and jokes and thoughts
on things and, Lord, but just help us to be wise with our mouths as well. Help us to be sensible,
help us to, you know, to learn, especially in contentious times, at problem times, where maybe
the alarm bells are ringing in various areas of life, whether it's, you know,
potential contentious times with loved ones, with people in the workplace, or through to, you know,
problem people in different parts of life that maybe want to, want to cause this trouble.
Just help us to be wise, help us to have a default of being a bit more sensible with what we say,
keep our mouths shut when we're unsure, Lord, and not to just, not to just say things for the
sake of it. Help us all with this, Lord, help us to be wise with this, help us to just keep
this etched on our minds, Lord, and help us to be like David who just kept praying to you for
help with that, Lord. We pray that you help us as we go out soul winning, to be wise with
our words, to know when to talk, when not to with people, Lord, to help us to get people
saved this afternoon and to return for this evening's service and the men's preaching night,
and for that to be a great success. In Jesus' name we pray all of this. Amen.