So if people are talking to you, and they've got poison in their mouth, and they're talking negative, shut it down. Don't let them keep talking arrows, because some of them are going to get in there, and once you agree with them, you'll find they start to grow in you, and then you're talking the same stuff. Whoa! What are we coming into agreement with? What are we listening to? What are we welcoming into our inner world, that then is beginning to express through the outer world, of our language and words?
Proverbs 18, Verse 18 describes the tongue as causing wounds. The words of a tale bearer are like wounds that go right down into the inner most parts. That word wound again is the same kind of thing. Imagine that. That's a whole heap of descriptions of words. I wonder if anyone - now of course we won't just make it personal. We'll just keep it away from you, because you might feel uncomfortable for the moment - but I wonder if any one of you have been exposed to, or could think of someone, as you were listening to them talk, their words are like a deadly poison. It affects people. How many have been in homes been ripped apart by words? How many of you have been there, and it's like a rust? You know what I'm talking about, talking about rust just eating the thing out. You've seen whole families eaten out by bitterness, fighting. It always is expressed through words, always through words.
So words have tremendous power. That's why the Bible gives us these pictures of things that we can recognise, so we'll hate it. If you saw a snake, I know you'd jump out of the way, but if you see someone or hear someone talking, and they've got bitterness in their heart, you need to do something. A serpent is about to bite you. How does it bite you? First you've got to agree with what's being said. You've got to listen and agree with what's being said, and once you agree with what's being said, those words then begin to find a place in you to grow as a wound, a sore, rust, a fire, cancer or whatever. Then they will find expression through you, and will begin to start to impact others.
Let me just give you - we won't look them up just in the interest of time, but let me just give you some examples in the Bible of this kind of thing. First of all agreeing with words; now there are lots of ways we can agree with words. In Numbers, Chapter 13 and 14, it tells us in Numbers, Chapter 13, that 12 people went into the Promised Land, and God showed them some wonderful things. God showed them many, many wonderful things but what happened was, 10 of them came back, and they came back, and what was in their hearts was negativity, and it flowed out. They began to say things - we can't do it! We can't, it's too hard. There's giants, and they build big walls. Yeah, I know God's good, but this is too big for Him even. And this is what God said; the very words you spoke, determine your future. You won't be able, and you won't enter. See how important it is?
God said, I've heard what you spoke, and I agree with you, so it's not going to happen. Isn't that a shocking thing? Caleb said, our God is mighty! If He is with us, we are well able. Joshua said, I've brought word, as was in my heart. You see, one group of people looked at the circumstances, and doubt and fear and negativity and feeling sorry for themselves - all of those things arose, and they agreed with it. Once they agreed with it, they spoke it, and that was their destiny. Joshua and Caleb, the Bible says, they agreed with the Lord. He said, I brought word as was in my heart. What was in his heart? Our God is with us, we're well able. See, what gets in your heart, is what finds expression through your mouth. Hence the heart has to be cleansed, because that's the source of the trouble with the tongue. You can stop talking, but in the end, you've still got stuff in the heart, see?