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Proverbs 18:14

Proverbs 18:14 Proverbs

Pastor Martin expounds Proverbs 18:14, contrasting the physical pain inflicted by a rod with the deeper, more destructive wound caused by a 'wounded spirit' inflicted by the tongue. He argues that while physical abuse may not break a person's spirit, the tongue can utterly devastate it, making it a more destructive force. Martin then applies this truth to parents, admonishing them to teach their children about the power of the tongue and to faithfully discipline them when they use their words to wound others.

2 illustrations in this sermon

The Resilience of the Spirit Against Physical Harm
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Strap and Rod vs. Spirit

Driving home: Tongue can do what the widest strap and the thickest rod cannot do. A strap and a rod can break a man's skin or a man's bones, but they can't break his spirit.

Martin uses the analogy of a strap and rod breaking skin or bones to show that physical harm cannot break a man's spirit, which can stand tall even in the face of death.

The wounded spirit, who can bear? Tongue can do what the widest strap and the thickest rod cannot do. A strap and a rod can break a man's skin or a man's bones, but they can't break his spirit. There are times when men have been beaten within an inch of their death, and their spirits have stood tall in the saddle and faced their accusers and said, Kill me if you will.

0:00 - 0:32 Read in full sermon
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Stephen's Noble Spirit

Driving home: There's something noble about an upright spirit speaking through a broken, bruised, abused, and almost dead body, a la Stephen.

The martyrdom of Stephen is used as an example of an upright spirit speaking through a broken body, demonstrating the spirit's resilience against physical abuse.

I stand with a good conscience before God. There's something noble about an upright spirit speaking through a broken, bruised, abused, and almost dead body, a la Stephen. When the stones are pummeling down upon them, Lord Jesus, lay not their sin to their charge. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

0:32 - 0:59 Read in full sermon
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