Study Notes

I.      One of the main ways maturity is measured is by what you say and how you talk

A.    1 Corinthians 13:11-A child talks like a child – When I was a child, I spoke/talked as/like a child

1.      Children-Little child, infant, minor, not of age, childish, untaught, unskilled, immature Christian; Man-Age, to distinguish an adult man from a boy

2.      We need to do away with and put and end to this childish way of talking; (Put away-Put an end to, do away with, cease, severed or separated from) --- CEV-When we grew up we quit our childish ways; NLV-Now I am a man. I do not act like a child anymore. 

B.     James 3:2-We locate your maturity in your mouth

1.      THE SAME – The same guy that doesn’t miss it what he says is a the same guy who is mature; Mouth and Maturity 

2.      Offend-Error, stumble, make a mistake, sin, fall; Word-What someone says, the act of speaking, speech; Perfect-Full grown, adult, of age, mature

3.      CEB-Those who don’t make mistakes with their words have reached full maturity; CEV-If you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body; AMP-If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses

C.    Matthew 12:33-34-Your level of development/maturity inside affects what you say with your mouth 

1.      Your words are coming from somewhere – You speak from your level of faith and maturity on the inside

2.      33-Babies will speak baby words; Mature believers will speak mature words

3.      Heart-Center and seat of spiritual life; The character, the will, thoughts and feelings, the soul or the mind

D.    James 1:26-You can seem to be religious (mature), but the reality is your mouth tells the story

1.      Religious-Demonstrative in worship, fearing, worshipping God, Pious-Reverencing and honoring God in heart and practice; Having affection for God and habitually obeying his commands; Devoted to the service of God; Dictated by reverence to God; Religion-Religious worship, discipline

2.      You can have a semblance of being religious or mature and not be; That means you’re doing some things that give you the appearance of being religious or mature, but the reality is when it comes to maturity your mouth tells the story

3.      Your religious worship (coming to church, singing, serving) doesn’t reveal your maturity because you can seem to be religious and not be – Mature people will do those things, but doing things doesn’t make you mature – You can do all those things but eventually your mouth will tell on you

4.      What’s more important your worship or what you say with your mouth?

5.      ERV-You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself.  Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless; VOICE-If you put yourself on a pedestal, thinking you have become a role model in all things religious, but you can’t control your mouth, then think again.  Your mouth exposes your heart, and your religion is useless.  WE-Some of you think that you are doing what God wants. But you are not careful what you say.  If you are like that, you are fooling yourself. And you are not doing what God wants. 

6.      The level of maturity is on display every time you open your mouth; If you think you are mature, but talk contrary to the Word of God and can’t control your mouth you are deceived

II.     There are things a child says that a man doesn’t say; There’s a way children talk that men don’t talk; How do children talk-How do men talk

A.    A man speaks the words of God-John 3:34-For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God

1.      Heb10:23-Homologeo-Say the same thing, agree with; We are to hold fast to saying the same thing God says, no matter how we feel or what we see

2.      Num13:1;Ex33:1-3vs.Num13:30-14:4,9-They say the opposite of what God’s says b/c of what they see and feel; This is baby stuff-A child talks unbelief

B.     To be mature is to be like God and so a man calls those things that be not as though they are-A child calls it like it is-Romans 4:17 (KJ&AMP)

1.      It takes a man to stand up in the middle of the negative circumstances and things not changing and call things that be not as though they were; Any spiritual infant can sit there and call it like it is

C.    A man doesn’t pick his own words, but rather says only what he hears from the Father to say-John 8:26, John 12:49

1.      I don’t determine what I’m going to say; The words that I am to say have already been chosen for me; I don’t say what I want to say or what I think I should say; Picking my words is above my pay grade

2.      The 1^st step of speaking is hearing; Don’t talk if you haven’t heard; Don’t speak anything out your mouth without something first going into your ear

3.      A child speaks what he hasn’t heard (from the father to say)-Psalm 12:4-Our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

D.    A child is quick to speak-James 1:19-Let every MAN (A human being, with reference to age to distinguish and adult man from a boy)

1.      We need to take the time to carefully chose our words – AMP-Slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words]

2.      We need to be slow to use our tongue – PHIL-Slow to use his tongue

3.      We need to lead with the ears and not our mouth – MSG-Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue

4.      We need to harness our desire to speak – VOICE-Open your hears, harness your desire to speak, and don’t get worked up into rage so easily

5.      We need to be deliberate (measured, slow, cautious) when it comes to speaking (Slow-Not hasty, deliberate, not quick)

a.    Proverbs 10:19 MSG-The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words – Jesus measured his words-John 8:6

b.    Ecclesiastes 5:2-CEV-Don’t talk before you think; EXB-Think before you speak [do not be quick with your mouth], and be careful about what you say [do not let your heart rush to utter a word]; GW-Don’t be in a hurry to talk; ISV-Don’t be impulsive with your mouth; TLB-Keep your ears open and your mouth shut; MSG-Don’t shoot off your mouth or speak before you think; NIRV-Don’t be too quick to speak

6.      This being slow to speak is an issue that should be taken much more seriously than we have been taking it – Proverbs 29:20-KJ-Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him; CEB-Do you see people who are quick to speak. There is more hope for fools than for them; GNT-There is more hope for a stupid fool than for someone who speaks without thinking

a.    If you look up the scriptures in Proverbs about the fool they leave you to believe there’s no hope for a fool and yet there’s more hope for a fool than for a person is hasty in his words

E.     A child talks a lot (EX: I told Amber Grace never shuts up)

1.      Ecclesiastes 5:2-Let your words be few – CJB-A fool when he speaks chatters too much; CEV-Don’t talk too much; GNV-The voice of a fool is in the multitude of words; GW-Limit the number of your words; GNT-Don’t say anything more than you have to; ISV-Keep your speech short; MSG-The less you speak the better; NIRV-Use only a few words when you speak

a.    When you develop in the art of speaking and your words are sincere and honest you’ll be able to get a lot more done with fewer words

2.      Proverbs 10:19-Many words = Much sin (Multitude-Abundance, numerous, many; Refrain-Restrain, hold back, keep in check) --- TLB-Don’t talk so much. You keep putting your foot in your mouth. Be sensible and turn off the flow; VOICE-The more you talk, the more likely you will cross the line and say the wrong thing; but if you are wise you will speak less and with restraint; AMP-When there are many words, transgression and offense are unavoidable; CEB-With lots of words comes wrongdoing; CJB-When words are many, sin is not lacking; CEV-You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much; ERV-A person who talks too much gets in trouble. A wise person learns to be quiet; EXB-If you talk a lot, you are sure to sin

3.      Proverbs 17:27-28-Spare your words, hold your peace; CEV-It makes a lot of sense to be a person of few words and stay calm; DRA-He that sets bounds to his words is knowing and wise; EXB-The wise say very little; MSG-The one who knows much says little; NIV-The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint; NLV-A truly wise person uses few words; VOICE-Those with knowledge know when to be quiet

a.    Hold your peace-Be silent, be speechless, keep quiet, remain silent, hold tongue, speak not a word (You have the right to remain silent); Spare-Hold back, keep back, keep in check, refrain, restrain

b.    When it comes to speaking there should be some stuff that you are holding back, refraining from saying; You shouldn’t be saying everything; You should have moments where something comes up in you and you say, “no, I’m not going to say that.”

F.     A child engages in critical speech

1.      Titus 3:1-3-Could this be true? We are to speak evil of nobody, no saint, no sinner, no politician, no family member, no friend, no church member, no famous person, no rich person, no poor person; We are not supposed to say anything evil about anybody under any circumstance at anytime

2.      Galatians 6:1-MSG-If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself

3.      Matthew 7:1-5-Critical talk is judgmental talk and judgmental talk is the dialect of the hypocrite (Actor, pretender); While you’re coming down on them and being critical of them for the faults they have, you are pretending like you have none; The only way to be critical and judge of someone else is to pretend like you have no faults of your own

G.   A child talks about his feelings and his feelings dictate his talk-Hebrews 4:14-16

1.      Proverbs 29:11-When the spiritually immature talk one of the main things they’ll talk about is how they feel

a.    KJ-A fool utters all his mind (the seat of emotion): but a wise man keeps it till afterwards; CJB-A fool gives vent to all his feelings, but the wise, thinking afterwards, stills them; EXB-Foolish people lose their tempers [or let nothing go unexpressed]; GNV-A fool pours out all his mind; GW-A fool expresses all his emotions, but a wise person controls them; ISV-The fool vents all his feelings, but the wise person keeps them to himself; MSG-A fool lets it all hang out; NOG-A fool expresses all of him emotions, but a wise person controls them

b.    People want to talk to express how they feel, but if the way you feel is not in line with the Word of God, then it doesn’t need to be expressed it needs to be resisted; Babies vent

c.     Dan3,1Sam17,Num13-How did they feel? We can only speculate because they didn’t tell us how they felt, they told us what they believed; You’ll never find a place in the scripture where Jesus say his disciples down and said, “Boys, I just need to vent.”

d.    Proverbs 12:16-A spiritually immature person will let you know how they feel

1)       Wrath-Anger; vexation, grief, sorrow, frustration; Shame-Disgrace, dishonor, confusion, the parts which modesty requires to be covered;

2)       CJB-A fool’s anger is known at once, but a cautious person slighted conceals his feelings; GW-When a stubborn fool is irritated, he shows it immediately; GNT-When a fool is annoyed, he quickly lets it be known; HCSB-A fool’s displeasure is known at once; ICB-A foolish person quickly shows that he is upset

2.      An immature person lets their feelings govern their speech–They say what the feel like saying–Just b/c you feel it doesn’t mean you have to say it

a.    Ecclesiastes 5:2-ERV-Don’t let your feelings cause you to speak too soon

b.    James 1:19-If you’re feelings govern your speech you’re going to say the wrong things 

H.    A child engages in foolish talking and jesting-Ephesians 5:4

1.      Foolish talking is godless talking; (Morologia)-Silly talk, buffoonery, blockheaded, stupid, unwise, without forethought or wisdom, empty

a.    It’s all this grumbling, complaining, being critical, angry talk, biting talk, judgmental talk, filthy talk – It’s unwise and empty

2.      Jesting is this sarcasm, tongue and cheek, insincere talk, saying something and not meaning it

a.    Jesting-Facetiousness-Joking, sarcasm, irreverent; Jester-One given to sarcasm, to say what is not true merely for diversion

b.    Proverbs 26:18-19-Saying something you didn’t mean and then saying you were just joking is dangerous 

1)       CEB-Like a crazy person shooting deadly flaming arrows; GNT-Someone who tricks someone else and then claims he was only joking is like a crazy person playing with a deadly weapon – Firebrands-Missile, flaming arrow, spark; Arrow-Dart, wound; Sport-Laugh, play, mock, jest

c.     Ephesians 5:4-PHIL-The key-note of your conversation should not be nastiness or silliness or flippancy; VOICE-Don’t swear or spurt nonsense. Don’t make harsh jokes or clown around. Make proper use of your words

d.    Convenient-Fitting – This type of talk doesn’t fit the believer

3.      You’ll find thanksgiving on the mouth of a mature believer (Rather than this godless talking and joking and sarcasm and complaining, biting words)

a.    Ephesians 5:4-MSG-Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our lifestyle. Thanksgiving is our dialect

I.      A child lies and doesn’t tell the truth

1.      1 Peter 2:22, John 8:44-45-There was no guile (deceit) found in Jesus’ mouth

J.     When a man talks his words leave others built other people up-Ephesians 4:29

1.      Ephesians 4:29-Our words should build up and minister grace-AMP-Only such speech as is good for building up others; CEV-Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say; ERV-When you talk don’t say anything bad. But say the good things that people need – whatever will help them grow stronger. Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you; PHIL-Let there be no more foul language, but good words instead – words suitable for the occasion, which God can use to help other people; NLT-Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them; WE-Then those who hear will be blessed by what you say

a.    Corrupt-Poor quality, bad, unfit for use, worthless; Edifies-Building up, promoting growth in wisdom, happiness, holiness; Grace-That which give joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, loveliness; that which strengthens faith, knowledge, & affection, that which inspires others to live godly

b.    Not corrupt words, but high-quality words, good words, valuable words, words that can do something useful; Words that build up and make people wiser, make people happier, and cause people to live holier; Words that give joy, pleasure and are delightful to the hearers; Sweet words; Words that make people stronger in faith, stronger in knowledge, stronger in love; Words that inspire others to live godly and right

2.      The more you talk are people better off or worse off? Are your words helping or hurting?

a.    Proverbs 15:4-AMP-A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue [speaking words that overwhelm and depress] crushes the spirit; ERV-Kind words are a life-giving tree; MSG-Kind words heal and help

3.      Proverbs 12:18-Our words will hurt or they can help everybody who is listening

a.    Piercings-Wound, thrust, stab; Health-Remedy, deliverance, cure, medicine, mend, repair, make whole

b.    CEB-Some chatter on like a stabbing sword, but a wise tongue heals; ERV-Speak without thinking, and your words can cut like a knife. Be wise and your words can heal; GNT-Thoughtful words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wise spoken words can heal; VOICE-Thoughtless words cut deeply like a thrusting sword, but the speech of the wise is a healing balm

4.      Proverbs 15:23-We should say the right thing at the time and when we do everybody who hears it will be blessed 

a.    AMPC-How good and delightful is a word spoken at the right moment – how good it is; ERV-There is nothing better than the right word at the right time; EXB-Saying the right thing at the right time is so pleasing; TLB-Everyone enjoys giving good advice, and how wonderful it is to be able to say the right thing at the right time; VOICE-There is great joy in having the right answer, and how sweet is the right word at the right time; MSG-The right word at the right time – beautiful

b.    Proverbs 25:11-Saying the right thing at the right time is precious (CEB-The right word at the right time is life precious gold set in silver)

K.     A man talks to accomplish something – A child just talks – Why are you talking?

1.      A man talks to get something done; His words are sent to accomplish something; God speaks to accomplish something-Isaiah 55:11

a.    So you just said something – What were you trying to accomplish with those words?

b.    We use words to (1) Reveal and release faith-2Cor4:13 (2) Set the direction of our lives-James3:4 (3) To call into being what is not-Rom4:17 (4) To build up and minister grace-Eph4:29 (5) We speak to bless-James 3:10 (6) We speak to communicate, to fellowship to share (What are you sharing, why are you sharing it, should you be sharing it?)-Acts2:42

2.      A child just talks – Children talk to:         

a.    Express their feelings, opinions, and to comment on-Proverbs 18:2-A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion

1)       The problem with expressing feelings, opinions and commenting is that if you’re feelings, opinions and comments don’t agree with the Word they don’t need to be expressed

2)       You have to watch using your words to express your feelings or opinions and commenting (Who cares how you feel about it, who cares what your opinion is, who cares to hear your commentary – What does God say?)

b.    To talk about the problem-Mark 11:23-Jesus didn’t say talk about the mountain, tell other people every detail about it; NO talk to the problem

1)       To communicate the evil report-(Numbers 13:27-29, 32-33-Almost everything they shared was true but called an evil report)

c.     To speak critically of someone else