Anatomy of a Man of God: His Mouth

In this part of the sermon: Martin establishes the divine centrality of preaching by examining key New Testament passages. He highlights Peter's testimony in Acts 15:7 that God chose his mouth for Gentiles…

Peter's statement in Acts 15:7, 'by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel,' is contrasted with 'my guitars and drums,' 'my acting troop,' or 'my dancing feet' to highlight that God specifically chose the spoken word for evangelism, not entertainment.

Representatives have come from the church at Antioch, and they are gathering to discuss the whole question of whether or not Gentiles can be brought into the church as full-blown Christians and members of the body of Christ without having to submit to circumcision and becoming ritual or practicing Jews. And Peter is about to stand and declare why it is that he is convinced that God has already answered that question in the conversion of Gentiles, particularly Gentiles of the household of Cornelius. Now, in that context, we read in verse 7 of Acts 15, And when there had been much questioning, P...

10:26 - 11:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If I'm calling my servant to a ministry in which his mouth will be the unique organ that comes into my service, then my cleansing will focus upon that very instrument of his humanity, upon that very faculty of his humani…

An analogy from James 3 is used: a spring that produces both pure, life-giving water and deadly, poisonous water. This illustrates the incongruity of a mouth that blesses God and curses men, emphasizing the need for consistently pure speech from a minister.

these things ought not so to be does the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter and then he changes the imagery can a fig tree my brethren yield olives or a vine figs and then he changes the imagery again neither can salt water yield sweet you see he's underscoring the fact that there should not be the kind of incongruity between our speech which if it occurred in nature would cause us all to wonder if the world was falling to pieces at the seams what would you think if you came to what was reputed to be a fresh spring coming out of the side of a rock that was suppose...

27:29 - 28:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not afford the luxury of a loose and careless tongue; do not dabble in corrupting, abusive, or destructive speech, or borderline pure speech, if you expect God to use your mouth as an instrument of life and salvation.

Another analogy from James 3: a fig tree that yields both figs and olives, or salt water yielding sweet water. This further underscores the unnaturalness and incongruity of contradictory speech from the same source, reinforcing the call for a minister's mouth to be consistently pure.

and began to double over in agony and inside of three minutes was lying right there writhing on the ground and in five minutes lay there dead you say it's impossible how could sweet life-giving poem invigorating song precipitating water in one moment be this and a moment later cause death he said it doesn't happen in nature then he changes the imagery and says do you find a tree that one man comes by and he plucks off some ripened figs and he extols the virtue of the figs and two minutes later someone comes by and plucks off some olives and they're extolling both figs and olives off the same t...

28:58 - 30:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not afford the luxury of a loose and careless tongue; do not dabble in corrupting, abusive, or destructive speech, or borderline pure speech, if you expect God to use your mouth as an instrument of life and salvation.

The sensation of sipping hot coffee or touching hot meat to the lips is used to help the listener imagine the intense pain and purging effect of the white-hot coal touching Isaiah's lips in his vision, emphasizing the severity and necessity of God's purification for ministry.

my � quiere and I dwell in this one spirit and I dwell in him one of the shining ones the burning ones must take tongs and then what did he do with it he took that white hot coal and touched verse 7 his mouth you know what it's like when you just sip a little coffee that's too hot and it touches your lips you place a piece of meat or an instrument that's too hot the lips with all of their sensitivity one can only imagine the shriek of pain in the curl of smoke in the smell of burnt flesh that went up into isaiah's own nostrils in this vision when god touched his lips he burnt and seared his li...

33:26 - 34:47 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Continuing the discussion of a skilled mouth, Martin highlights the need for articulate proclamation. He uses the analogy of an uncertain trumpet from 1 Corinthians 14:8-9 to…

The analogy from 1 Corinthians 14:8-9 of a trumpet giving an uncertain sound, causing soldiers to misunderstand commands (some grabbing mess kits, others heading to parade grounds), illustrates the confusion and ineffectiveness of inarticulate or unclear preaching.

In 1 Corinthians 14, we have perhaps the best biblical statement on the necessity of articulate speech in a man of God. 1 Corinthians 14, verses 9 or 8 and 9. If the trumpet give an uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself for war? Here are all the soldiers in their tents.

41:37 - 42:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray that God will liberate you from false modesty that makes you afraid to spread your heart out over your people, and to speak the truth with soft intensity and entreaty, mirroring Christ.

Winston Churchill's ability to mobilize a nation 'down for the count' with his words during World War II is cited as an example of powerful, persuasive speech, lamenting its scarcity in contemporary society and the church, and urging ministers to cultivate persuasive communication.

you live in the day of cool you see from the tie up to the top of the head and barely the width of the shoulders the prime time newscaster who without any passion or pathos can talk about the weather in the same breath that he talks about 200 people dying in a bus in a flood in the wake of a hurricane he's not seeking to make any direct appeals he's not seeking to entreat he's not seeking to move he's just this marvelously efficient emotionally bland word machine and even at the highest level the epitome of that as some of the very candidates set before us in highest political office and we su...

49:11 - 50:39 Read in full sermon