Skip to content Dynamite In Your Dentures Oct 14 · 47 min ...more
October 14, 2022 · 47 min · Say What?
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
665K followers
Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.
665K followers
0:01 It was in 18 66 that a man named Alfred Nobel invented dynamite.0:15 He discovered that if you took nitroglycerin and surrounded it with the right kind of material, put it in a stick form,0:27 that it could bring great benefit to mankind. Because when he invented dynamite in 18 66, patenting it in 18 67,0:42 they began to use dynamite to clear roads so that more road could be built and roads could be expanded. They would blow up mountains so that0:54 trains could go through the mountain because dynamite would would open up places for the train tracks. In fact, they would clear roads so1:06 that more tracks could be laid. They would blow up spaces so that buildings could be constructed. It was a great1:18 discovery about the power of dynamite and its ability to improve the convenience, the progress, and the livelihood of mankind.1:31 But it wasn't too long after that that nations discovered we can use this for war. That the same1:43 dynamite that was created to build life and to build society could be used to destroy life and to bomb an enemy.1:56 And so dynamite became now used for military purposes and military operations in conflicts. So on the 1 hand, it2:08 could improve life, but on the other hand, it could destroy life. So negatively impacted with Alfred Nobel about the2:20 negative use of dynamite that before he died, he bequeathed his vast fortune for the establishment of the Nobel Peace Prize.2:33 The Nobel Peace Prize was established because when Alfred Nobel saw that dynamite could be used to hurt, he wanted to leave his legacy of the money he got2:45 from creating dynamite for peace. And so the Nobel Peace Prize was established to award those men and women who had done unique things to bring people together2:57 and not blow folk up. Dynamite is very powerful. It can help you and make life better. It can hurt you and ruin your3:08 life. You and I have dynamite, and it's in your dentures. Everyone in3:20 here has access to dynamite, explosive power that can destroy or that can construct.3:34 It's dynamite in your dentures. Your greatest enemy is not in your home. Your greatest enemy is not on your3:46 job. Your greatest enemy is in your mouth. Because when you discover about the power and the use3:58 and nonuse of the tongue, You'll have a whole different view of the muscle in your mouth. Let let me write that down. I can make that a title.4:12 A 3 inch muscle in your mouth is dynamite in your dentures. In this series, we want4:24 to look at something that my mother would tell me and many of your mothers told you, boy, you better watch your mouth. You better watch your mouth.4:36 Sometimes she'd tell me to wash my mouth out with soap because there was something about what I was saying or how I was saying it that was4:47 unacceptable. Some of us are where we are today because somebody spoke life into4:59 us. Some of us are where we are today because somebody has spoken death to us. There are some here today who have not yet recovered5:12 from the dynamite blast you were hit with as a child. You're still trying to rebuild what was torn down because of what somebody said.5:25 There are others of us who've had new roads, new opportunities because somebody believed in us enough to speak life into our existence. What you have in your mouth5:37 is no small thing. It can blow up for good or it can blow up for bad. There are couples here who have gotten divorced or who are contemplating divorce because5:49 every day, all day, you're throwing bombs, sticks of dynamite that is blowing up the relationship6:00 because of a word said. Some of us here have not recovered from what mother said, dad said, uncle said, brother said, sister said, and you still carry that in your mind and6:12 say, I'll never forgive you for that. The folks who haven't spoken to loved ones for years because the blast was too big and the pain6:24 was too great. So the apostle James takes the first 12 verses of6:36 his epistle to give the most extensive statement in the bible on the tongue or the speech or the use of words,6:49 what you do with your mouth, you will discover starting today, it is no small thing. He introduces his discussion7:04 by saying, let not many of you become teachers, my brethren. Talking to Christians, so he's talking to us. Knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.7:17 A teacher speaks. He speaks with his mouth. There were many in the church who wanted to speak on behalf of God. He says, if you're gonna talk on behalf of7:29 God, you better watch what you're saying because what you say and what God says better be the same thing because you will incur a greater judgment.7:41 You will have higher accountability because you brought me into the conversation. So if you're gonna bring me up, make sure you straighten what you're saying.7:54 Because if you wanna speak for me about me, then you better make sure it's true to me, for you will receive the stricter judgment.8:06 That leads him to make 3 points that I wanna leave with you today from James chapter 3 about the dynamite in your dentures. How powerful is8:17 your tongue? What can it do? What can it not do? And why does it even matter? The first thing that he wants8:29 you to know is that your mouth has the power to direct the rest of your life. Your mouth has the power to direct the rest of your8:41 life. Verse 2, for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body as well.8:54 Okay. Watch this now. We all stumble, trip up, in many ways. There's not a person in here who's not made their share of mistakes stumble, and we stumble in9:06 all kind of ways. We stumble in doing this. We stumble in doing that. We've got this problem. We had this reaction. We did this act of wrong. We stumble in many ways. We're tripping all all the time9:18 over stuff. We got stuff that we shouldn't have done that we did do things that we did do that we shouldn't have done. We we stumble in many ways. There are a whole lot of issues in this house.9:31 All kind. Many ways. Many failures, many mistakes, many sins. We all stumble. If you've never stumbled, then you're excused from the house.9:42 Because he says we all stumble in many ways. We trip up about things that we have done that are wrong. But Abbie made this broad statement that we all have9:54 failures in our lives, stumbles. He says, but to the person who does not stumble in what he says,10:06 he is a perfect, that is a mature man, a mature Christian, able to bridle the whole body as well. That's deep. He says you trip over that.10:18 Maybe you tripped in handling your money. Maybe you tripped in your relationships. Maybe you you tripped on your job. You you've tripped in many ways. You're trying to fix this problem in your life, fix this problem in10:29 your life, fix that problem in your life. You got all these issues going on in your life because we all stumble in many ways. But then he says, but if I can ever get your tongue right, this this 1 thing,10:42 You will be able to deal with all the other things you're tripping over. He says give me your lips and I'll run your life.10:55 Give me your lips. Give me your mouth, and you will bridle, bring under control the rest of you. So whatever else is wrong in11:07 your life and the many things that are wrong in my life and your life, he says, just give me 1 thing, and I'll cover the rest of you.11:19 You will be a mature man, a perfect man he may says perfect means a mature and adult Christian who's bringing under control. Look at chapter 1 verse11:31 26. If anyone thinks himself to be righteous and yet does not bridle his tongue, same thing, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion11:43 is worthless. He says you can be a worthless Christian. And the proof you're a worthless Christian is you can't control your tongue. So your value to11:55 God or your lack of value to God is in your mouth. It's not in your church attendance. It's not in your spiritual12:07 activity. He says it's all up in your grill, all up in your mouth. For the man who cannot bridle, bring under12:19 control his tongue, he says his religion, going to church, serving, giving is a waste of time. So a lot of folk waste their time12:32 because they'll come to church, but they won't control their mouth. Said that I can't use that kind of religion that can't control your tongue.12:44 Someone has put it this way, the tongue is a wet place and it can slip easily. He then comes with 2 illustrations.12:56 Verse 3 and 4. Now if we put bits in the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also.13:09 Though they are great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. What's13:21 your point? So also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boast of great things. Now watch this. He says, if you wanna get my point, go horseback riding.13:34 Says when you get on a horse, this 1500 pound beast, you can move it to the left, you can move it to the right, you can steal13:45 1500 pounds with a little piece of metal in its mouth. Have you ever seen a wild stallion? That's a horse13:57 that's not under control. It's not bridled. That's a horse that's gonna buck you off. That's a horse that's gonna hurt you. That's a horse out of control.14:09 But when you put that bit in its mouth and bring it under the control of the 1 who's riding it, a 100 pound woman can steer a 1500 pound animal14:21 using a small piece of metal in its mouth. And 1500 pounds will obey a much smaller person because they have control of the bit.14:34 God says, like a person riding a horse that has a bit in its mouth and controls 1500 pounds, while the rest of you is heavier than the14:46 3 inch piece of muscle in your mouth. The 3 inch piece of muscle in your mouth is so powerful that it will turn14:58 whatever other weight you have to carry. Watch this now. The horse is out of control. Have you ever been out of control?15:11 Have you ever lost it? Have you been out of control with maybe addictions, out of control with your anger, out of control with, situations in your15:22 life. You have become out of control. That is you are unbridled. God says, if you ever learn to use the bit in your mouth,15:35 if you ever learn to use the dynamite in your dentures, you will be able to steer the rest of you. Like15:47 a person riding a horse can steer that much bigger beast. Me? We have bigger things going in our lives than this little little piece of muscle15:59 in our mouth. We got problems. We've got finances. We've got families. We've got work. We got all this big stuff. He says, oh, but if I can get that bit right,16:12 then that 1500 pounds that you are carrying can be steered. It can be brought under your control rather than it controlling you,16:24 but you got to learn to watch your mouth. He says, take a cruise ship. Take a big ship. Second illustration. He says,16:36 it's being tossed around by the wind. Now I know a lot of us have been on cruises. They got cruise ships as big as cities. I mean, they got malls on the ship, 3,16:48 4001 of them has 7000 people that can get on the ship. They got all kind of swimming pools, ice skating rinks, movie theaters. They got this is a floating small city.17:01 And when the storm breaks out, comparatively, it's got a little teeny rudder, but that little teeny rudder will steer the ship even17:12 though it's subject to the storm. Anybody in here have a storm in your life? Something that's blowing you back and forth, that's whipping you up and down, that's driving17:24 you crazy. It is a storm, and you're trying to say, ship, settle down. God is saying rudder, go to work. Because he says if17:36 you get the rudder, that is the mouth, the tongue, you get that rudder straight and you can steer the ship of your life even though you're going through the storms of your existence.17:49 He says the power for your life to direct your life like a horse has to be directed to where it needs to go because a wild horse doesn't know where to go. And a ship without18:01 a a rudder is just subject to whichever way the wind is blowing. You ever feel your life is just the wind being blown? You're just being blown about. Situations, people, circumstance, it's just blowing you. You this way18:12 today, that way tomorrow, because you're just being blown about. That's why it's because you're not yet bridled and the bit is not being handled and18:24 therefore things are out of control. Stay with me here. Like a runaway horse, it needs to be brought under18:36 control. Parents have affected the direction of some of their children because of things they've said that they wish they could take back.18:49 Some of us have ruined relationships because of the explosions that came out of our mouths, because there's dynamite in your dentures.19:02 He goes on to the second point. Not only is there power in your mouth to direct your life, there's power in your mouth19:14 to do damage to your life. Look at verse verse 5. So the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts great things. See how great a19:25 forest is set aflame by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity. The tongue is set among our members as that which19:37 defiles the entire body and sets on fire the course of our lives and is set on fire by hell. This is some deep stuff.19:49 He says, your tongue is a match that starts fires. You see these big fires raging in some of the big parks or some of the20:01 big land masses, You see these big fires, and a lot of times, it's discovered that the fire got started by something small, by a20:13 little match, a little fire that was unless addressed, a spark. How could something so little create this much mess?20:26 It takes 11 years. It takes 11 years after a forest fire just to get the land prepared to rebuild. It takes decades for the20:38 forest to get back to where it was and all because of spark. Have you ever lit a fire in your life with just a word, a20:50 sentence, a phrase, a paragraph? It wasn't even a book. You just said 1 word, and now we wanna get a divorce because 1 word turned into a forest21:01 fire. You you forgot what even where the match was because now the whole forest is on fire. You ever been in a fight with somebody that you're related to and you don't even know how it got started?21:14 All you know is we don't like each other anymore and I'm a hurt you. You you don't even remember how did we get here? Because a little match started a forest fire.21:26 A little spark created a conflict and a blaze you were not able to put out. Job 19 verse21:38 2. Job says of his friends who were talking to him, he said, your words are ripping me apart. Your words and these were his friends. These weren't even his enemies. He21:50 says your words are unraveling me, are tearing me apart. He says that the tongue can wipe out a22:02 whole bunch of stuff. Missus O'Leary's cow. You know about missus O'Leary's cow that was, it was October the eighth 1822:13 71 when missus O'Leary's cow in Chicago accidentally knocked over the lantern. The lantern knocked over by missus O'Leary's cow set22:25 the barn on fire. The barn on fire spread. That led to the fire of Chicago in 18 71 when22:37 100000 people were homeless, 7500 buildings were destroyed, 300 people died because a cow knocked over a lantern.22:50 That a little lantern ran crazy through a city. You have 1 black person to say the wrong word to 1 white person, or23:02 1 white person to say the wrong word to 1 black person, or 1 Hispanic person say the wrong word to a policeman, or the policeman say the wrong word to somebody else, and you can wind up with a race23:13 riot because all you got is a match. But now folk are coming from everywhere, all in the streets and buildings are burning and chaos is erupting all because of23:25 a word, 1 word, 1 sentence, 1 phraseology. And all of a sudden, there's cultural chaos because of the tongue.23:39 The president says we're going to war. That's only 1 sentence, but that 1 sentence can cost lives, can split23:50 families, can bring disaster. It's only a phrase, but there's a lot of dynamite in those dentures. Why24:02 can words do all that? Why can we start with 1 little problem and 1 little phrase cause us not to speak to each24:14 other for years? Cause us to downright wind up hating each other, whether it's family or races or whatever it happens to be. How can this move how can my mouth24:26 do that much damage? He tells you. He said because your tongue is a fire, the very world, verse 6, of iniquity. The tongue24:38 is set among our members, our body parts, as that which defiles the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell.24:52 Okay. Let me tell you about hell. Hell is Gehenna. Let me tell you what Gehenna is. Gehenna is the Greek word for the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. Outside of Jerusalem in biblical25:04 days was a garbage dump and was called hell. It's called Gehenna. This garbage dump had trash. It was where people took their trash. It was the dump. The way that25:16 they would get rid of the trash is by, like folk do today, burning it. So gehenna, hell, garbage dump, burned 24 hours a25:27 day because people are always bringing trash and dumping it in the dump. That's called hell. Gehenna. He says the reason why your mouth, your25:39 speech, your words, your tongue can do so much damage is that it's got the influence of hell helping it. So25:51 when you speak, hell is looking for an opportunity to take a spark and create a fire. It's set on fire by hell, and trust me,26:03 hell has a lot of fire to go around. Hell got plenty of fire. Hell's got enough fire for every tongue. And26:15 so if your tongue is already lit and hell is full of fire, hell is gonna loan your tongue some of its fire. So the26:26 fire you start with, because your tongue is a fire, hell's gonna reach in and dump some fuel on the fire so now it becomes bigger than you ever imagined and that26:38 you started with. So your speech is not just your speech. Your speech is your speech helped by hell. So hell will help your26:50 speech. And watch this. It sets in motion the course of your life. Wait a minute, man. I thought you were27:02 talking about my tongue. I am and he is, but he's saying there is an attachment of your tongue to the rest of your life. The word course means a wheel a wheel.27:15 So picture the wheel as your life. It's a circular wheel. Inside the wheel are spokes. Spokes are the various parts of your life like27:27 bicycle spokes on a wheel. So the wheel is your life. You've got these spokes coming up in your life that deal with the different elements of your life. Your work life, your family life, your financial life. You27:39 got all these spokes. A wheel turns. You've seen wheels turning in circle with fire coming out of it and the wheels going real fast in a27:51 circus or something else and the spokes are coming out. He says that your tongue spins the wheel. The wheel is your life. The spokes in the28:02 wheel are the parts of the circle of your life. And he says, when that tongue gets lit and hell throws fuel on the speech, it will send sparks28:14 throughout the rest of your life. That's why when 1 thing goes wrong, it begins to affect other things because it's spinning, but the spokes are attached. And because the28:26 spokes are attached to the wheel, when hell gets the wheel going, it can infiltrate all the spokes so that you wonder why this is wrong, that is wrong, this is wrong, because it's attached to the wheel. The wheel is your28:38 life. Hell, it's exacerbating the wheel that had been struck when you lit the match with your tongue. Because, see, there's dynamite in your28:49 dentures, which is why you gotta watch your mouth. Not only that, but he gives you another illustration. Verse 7. For29:01 every species of beasts and birds of reptiles and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no 1 can tame the tongue. It is a29:13 restless evil and full of deadly poison. He's talking about the damage that the tongue can do. Stay with me because he's he's he's gonna get deep here in a moment.29:28 You've been to the circus and you know what it's like to see tamed animals. It's amazing what men can do with animals. He says, every manner of29:40 animal humans tame. See it all the time at the circus. Whoever thought a man could boss a lion around? Wap, do the whip,29:52 lion go jump up and sit down. Lion could tear that man apart, but it's been tamed. I thought you could tell a tiger what to do. Tiger goes up and30:03 sits down or runs around or jumps through hoops because a man tamed it. How you gonna get a bear to ride a bike?30:15 You go to the zoo and you got a bear riding a bicycle because you didn't tame that animal and you told it to ride. You got elephants standing over people30:27 who put their head on a block. The elephant lifts up his leg, could crush it, but it won't do it because it's under control. It's been tamed. You go to SeaWorld, you30:39 got orchid a killer whale flipping about the water, doing flips, jumping through hoops. This multi ton creature has been tamed,30:52 and the ones we can't tame, we incarcerate. It's called the zoo. We done locked them boys up, cause if you ain't31:04 gonna let me tame you, I ain't gonna let you out of here. So we either gonna control you if you're around humans or we gonna tame you, and that's because men have the31:15 power to do it. They they can they can tame an animal, but animals will also fake you out.31:27 They'll make you think you tamed them until the right set of circumstances show up. Like the woman who the other week who's driving through the game park and31:39 she decides she wants a little closer look at the lion and she rolls down her window thinking she's safe in her car. That dumb lion wasn't that dumb. A dumb lion was that31:51 yeah. Roll it down. Roll it down now. You go ahead and roll it down because I'm a show you a little something up in here. You roll it down. She rolls it down and the the lion leaps in and tears her32:03 apart. He says you you do this with animals, but he said let me tell you about the tongue. No man32:15 can tame it. No man can tame it. How many times have you tried to tame your kids' tongues? How many times did your mother try to32:27 tame your tongue? So here's what we did because I did it too so I know what I'm talking about. Here's what we did. They threatened us with a belt. K? So fear would grip32:38 us so we would pretend like the lion to tame our tongue, but then we walk off to our room, you see see because32:50 it wasn't tamed. It just pretended to be tamed until the opportunity. We even talk to other people or talk to33:02 ourselves in the right time. I'm a tell them what I think. I'm a tell them what I feel about it. I'm a tell them I'm a tell them. He says no man can tame the33:14 tongue. Why? Because it is full of poison. Romans chapter 3 puts it this way.33:28 Romans chapter 3 says this about your tongue and my tongue because it's been contaminated by sin. He says in verse 13, their throat is an open grave. With their tongues,33:40 they keep deceiving. The poison of asp is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Mouth is33:52 full of cursing ability. I'm gonna say something about that in just a moment. But his point here is that this tongue is unruly and it refuses to be tamed. Why does the devil not want you to34:04 tame your tongue? Because if he knows you ever stop him from controlling your tongue, he can no longer control the rest of you. See, that's the point.34:17 You say the devil's got me all over here. No. The devil's got the tongue, and you'll see why in a moment. Because he knows if I get your mouth, I got your body because34:29 I got your bit. And whoever owns the bit controls the beast. The beast is your life. I will control the beast if I can control the bit. Give34:41 me your mouth and I'll control your addictions. Give me your mouth, I'll control your relationships. Give me your mouth and I will put hell inside of it because I'll throw some gasoline34:53 on your lips. This leads him to his third point. And the critical point it is, in your35:05 mouth is the power to direct your life. In your mouth is the power to do damage to your life and the lives of others. And in your mouth is the35:17 power to determine life. Verse 9. With it, with our tongues, we bless our lord and father, and with35:28 it, we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth comes both blessings and cursings. My brethren, these things ought not be35:40 this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, fellow Christians, produce olives or a vine produce35:52 figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. Watch this now. He says, our mouths and our tongues can do what nature can't36:04 even do. We can do stuff outside of the natural order of things. You cannot go to a water fountain and out of that 1 opening get fresh and bitter water. You'll get36:16 fresh or bitter water. You can't do that. You can't go to a grapevine and get figs. You can't go to an apple tree and get oranges because nature doesn't operate that way. You get36:28 whatever it was designed to give. That's all that's the way nature works. He says, but not the tongue. He says the tongue is so unique it can contradict itself.36:41 He says out of the same mouth comes blessings and cursings. That's gonna happen today. It's gonna happen today, this morning. Because a lot of the same folk who were36:53 praising God When you get in that car with your family or somebody cuts you off, you're gonna lose your religion. Wasn't that sermon good?37:05 You blankety blank better get out of my way. You done done both at the same time. He says that that's not how nature works. He puts it in biblical language, this ought37:16 not be, to put it in everyday language, that ain't right. He says that's a that's a contradiction. That's a that's moving 2 ways at the same time.37:29 He says, you bless anchors. Praise God, you son of a gun. I know you thought what I was gonna say.37:41 It says you're going in 2 directions at 1 time. That's called being double tongued, like being double minded. He says these things ought not to be. Why is it that37:53 way? Because hell lights the fuse of the tongue because hell wants to control the life. So if God ever gets to control the tongue, and we're38:05 gonna talk about that, just not today, but when God gets control of the tongue, God will have control of the course, the circle. And when God gets control of the circle, some of the38:16 things that are wrong will disappear because He's controlling the bit in the mouth that controls the life and the 1500 pound beast.38:28 He says the trees will produce what trees are designed to produce. Proverbs 18 4 says the words of a man's mouth are as deep waters because he talks about38:40 bitter and sweet water. Proverbs 10 verse 11 says the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. Why ought it not be this38:52 way? Now here's what you don't want to miss. He says because men have been created in the image of God. Now watch this. When39:03 God created the world, he didn't wave his hand in the air like he just don't care. When God created the world, he didn't nod. No. When God created the world, he spoke.39:16 He said, let there be light. Let the land be separated from the world. All that happened in creation because God was talking. He was using his mouth, not his hands, not his neck, not his head. He39:28 was using his mouth. He said, let there be. When God wanted to explain Jesus to us in John 1 1, he said, in the beginning was the word,39:40 and the word was with God and the word was God. In verse 14, and the word became flesh. When God wanted to describe Jesus, he talked about speech. The word. So watch39:53 this. God created genius is in his speech because 1 of the principles we're gonna teach you is how to speak your way to victory. So when40:04 God wanted to do something big, when God wanted to create something out of nothing ex nilo, he started talking. When he wanted to teach Adam how to live his life, he gave Adam his40:16 word. Why did God give Adam His word? Because Adam was created in the image of God. And since the image of God includes speech, Adam was given speech, somethingShow more
34:53
The Prison of the Past Tony Evans
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.