The Froward Mouth

By Graham Bauer

Proverbs 4 : 20-27 Sermon Series

[1] My Words V20-22
[2] The Issues of Life V23
[3] The Froward Mouth V24
[4] The Eyes V25
[5] The Feet V26-27

Scripture

Proverbs 4:24

Introduction

What you say you get!
What we reap we have sown!

[A] The froward mouth is crooked or distorted

Proverbs 18:20-22
Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
Both verses talk of fruit.

My grandmother always spoke good and never evil against anyone, even family. She lived on a farm away from town. Eventually she died and at her funeral there was standing room only, outside the church, as hundreds of people came to the funeral.
She reaped her fruit of goodness, kindness, love and respect.

V20 says "A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth."
Belly signifies our life or going forth, the flow of life.(living waters)
Mouth signifies that which we have sown with our mouth i.e. the fruit of our words such as ....faith, failure, success, mediocrity, kindness, respect, salvation (Romans 10:9-10) etc.
What we sow [confess with our mouth] we reap [receive the fruit of our words].

What we reap effects our self image and quality of life.
We are what we eat [fruit] - physically and spiritually.
Our flesh needs the right things to combat disease like scurvy.
Our spirit too needs to be fed the right fruit.

Proverbs 21:23 tells us to guard our confession in order to keep us out of trouble.
Proverbs 13:3 tells us to guard our confession in order to keep us out of trouble.

Matthew 12:36-37
We hear about the good treasure of the heart but how do we know what's in there?
We see the fruit ,we hear the fruit [positive or negative people]
What comes out of our mouth is important Matthew 15:10-20
- building atmospheres like smog from cars
- words of love create a lovely atmosphere
We must put the right stuff in [God's Word] to get the right stuff [Blessing] out.
As the computer term says GIGO = Garbage In Garbage Out.
We are justified by our confession - we confess Jesus to the world and He confesses us to our heavenly father.
Malachi 3:16-18 Our good words are recorded.
Revelation 12:10-11 Satan is overcome by...

"The Blood of the Lamb" is spoken forth and applied by faith.
"The word of their testimony" spoken forth in praising God.
Applying the Word of God to ourselves and our circumstances - "Let the weak say they are strong"

[B] Perverse Lips - Lying

James 1:26-27 Self deception.
Don't just talk the talk but walk the walk!

Titus 3:1-4 Be careful what we say or else we entertain things like Matthew 15:18-20.
First a NEGATIVE WORD leading to GOSSIP leading to JUDGING leading to HATE leading to MURDER etc.

James 4:11-12 Judging brothers causes us to judge the law.
We overstep the mark and become a judge - there is only one judge and law giver.
If we see a brother in fault we should help them and not condemn them.

1 Peter 2:1-3 Lay aside evil speakings.
Desire the milk of the Word that we may grow as it nourishes our spirit.

Close

Proverbs 4:24 "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee."

We need to put our brain in gear before we let our mouth run off.
We have to give account of what we say!

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