His Mouth

In this part of the sermon: The first characteristic of a man of God's mouth is that it is purified, kept free from corrupting, abusive, and destructive speech, as exemplified by Timothy, Titus, and the…

This analogy from James 3 illustrates the incongruity of a mouth that speaks both blessing and cursing, emphasizing that a minister's speech should be consistently pure and life-giving.

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 supposed to be the purest water in all of the world?

27:50 - 28:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Surely the mouth of a man of God must always be, be a purified mouth. A mouth kept free from the corrupting, abusive and destructive speech.

Another analogy from James 3, this highlights the unnaturalness of contradictory speech from the same source, reinforcing the need for a minister's mouth to produce only good fruit.

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 at 9.05 and he plucks off some ripened figs? And he extols the virtue of the figs.

29:28 - 29:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Surely the mouth of a man of God must always be, be a purified mouth. A mouth kept free from the corrupting, abusive and destructive speech.

This analogy from James 3 further emphasizes the incongruity of impure speech, arguing that just as seawater is unfit for drinking, so corrupt speech is unfit for a minister.

And two minutes later, someone comes by and plucks off some olives. And they're extolling both figs and olives off the same tree. He says, Brethren, it doesn't happen. And likewise, you don't find someone taking a bucket of seawater and then putting, putting it in elegant glasses to serve it to company as their drinking water at a feast or a banquet.

29:42 - 30:05 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.

Martin quotes A.W. Tozer's vivid description of the seraphim using tongs to handle the hot coal that touched Isaiah's lips, underscoring the intensity and pain of divine purification for ministry.

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean hearts, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Verse 6, Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And in the sermon by A.W. Tozer,

33:00 - 33:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And by a skilled mouth, I mean a mouth gifted and trained to proclaim the truth of God in an accurate, articulate, and persuasive manner.

Drawing from 1 Corinthians 14, this analogy illustrates how unclear or inarticulate speech in preaching confuses the hearers, preventing them from knowing how to respond or prepare for spiritual battle.

to speak distinctly. 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?

41:33 - 42:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray God will liberate you from the false modesty that makes you afraid to spread your heart out over your people, and ensure the element of persuasion is present in your preaching.

Martin contrasts the emotionally bland style of modern newscasters and politicians with the persuasive passion needed in preaching, lamenting the lack of such powerful communicators in the church.

That's persuasiveness. And you men in the academy, you face the ministry in our day with a tremendous disadvantage. You live in the day of cool communicators. 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.

49:01 - 49:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray God will liberate you from the false modesty that makes you afraid to spread your heart out over your people, and ensure the element of persuasion is present in your preaching.

Churchill is cited as an example of a secular leader whose persuasive words could mobilize a nation, highlighting the power of persuasive speech that is often missing in contemporary preaching.

And even at the highest level, the epitome of that, as some of the very candidates said, before us in highest political office, and we suffer because in God's common grace, we've not heard a Churchill that could mobilize a whole nation. That was down for the count with the referee having five fingers up on one hand and four on another and under God with words brought a nation off its back to face the Third Reich and bury it. And I can still hear some of Churchill's

49:56 - 50:38 Read in full sermon