Introduction

Review of last week

1.      Can a man have faith & not do good works?

Can faith without good works save a man?

2.      He claims faith, yet reduces to help the needy

Conclusion: His faith without works is dead

3.      One claims faith; another claims works

Conclusion: works shows One’s faith

4.      He believes in one God, but the devils also believe & tremble

Conclusion: Faith without works is an empty faith

5.      He offered up Isaac

6.      His faith & works were interactive

7.      His faith fulfilled Scripture

Conclusion: His faith & works justified him

8.      She proved her faith by receiving the messengers

Conclusion: A body without the Spirit is dead; so faith without works is dead

This week James wants to address the temptation of…

MISUSING THE TONGUE, 3:1-12

Introduction

We have seen in this epistle that God tests faith in many ways.  Here God tests our faith by our tongue

James has already indicated that he was going to come to this subject 1:19; 1:26

It takes a baby two years to learn how to talk & fifty years to learn to keep it shut

James has explained to us two characteristics of the mature Christian.

1.      He is patient in trouble (chapter 1)

2.      He practices the truth (chapter 2)

3.      In this section he has power over the tongue (chapter 3)

4.      James also had to address their speech in 4:1,11-12

Illustration:

The story of a man who went out fishing, caught a fish, a woman said, “aren’t you ashamed of yourself for cruelly catching this poor little fish?”  The man replied, “Maybe your right, but if the fish had kept his mouth shut he wouldn’t have been caught.”

Read Verse 1-12

Verse 1

I.                   Not Many of You Should Become Teachers, for Teachers Shall Face A Stricter Judgment

A.       A Teacher is responsible for the lives and spiritual growth of those under him or her. 

1.      A person should commit his or her life to teach only if he cannot keep from teaching.

2.      Teaching is a high calling and great responsibility before God.

3.      God will judge us for the way in which we teach His Word, For God hold’s His Word higher than His own name (Psalm 138:2).

4.      Teacher’s will give an account of their ministry in the future (Hebrews 13:17).

5.      All of you sitting here tonight are teachers in some capacity (Matthew 28:19).

6.      All of us teach with our actions, we must practice what we teach Romans 2:1,2 quote “You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day…”

B.       A teachers main tool for the work is speech or the tongue.

There are four things about the tongue that believers must know, but especially teachers.

Verse 2

II.                The tongue stumbles & sins often

A.       Is our tongue always showing that we are…

1.      Patient & longsuffering, kind, do we rejoice in the truth or get angry, do we brag or boast, are we rude, do we get provoked easily?

B.       Stumble is the same word used in 2:10

C.       Perfect means – he is a full-grown Christian, as he should be-just as a baby grows up, becomes a little child and matures to adulthood James 1:4

D.       Your words usually lead to action – words back and forth between two people can lead to a fight!

E.        Our tongue gives us away –

1.      Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Peter, when he denied the Lord Jesus, his speech (language) gave him away (Matthew 26:69-74).  H e could not deny that he was from Galilee

2.      Hey dude; or Spanish, English, or any other type of language.

3.      Your speech tells you who you are & it gives you away – ignorant or educated, cultured or crude, clean or unclean, vulgar or refined, believer or blasphemer, Christian or non-Christian, guilty or not guilty.

Verse’s 3-5

III.             The tongue is a little member boasting great things.

A.       Two illustrations: horses & ships

B.       The point: Control the tongue & the whole body is controlled

Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.

1.      Describe what a bit does

2.      Death and life are in the power of the tongue Solomon warned in Proverbs 18:21

3.      No wonder David said in Psalm 141:3-4, Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.   Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

4.      David knew that the heart is the key to right speech.

1.      David also said in Psalm 39:1, I said, "I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, While the wicked are before me."

2.      David wanted to give the right kind of testimony, so he would put a bridle on his mouth.

Illustration – a runaway horse and buggy, can turn over a buggy and bring death & destruction to a family.

Whatever is in the heart determines speech content and attitude (Matthew 12:34).

If there is genuine saving faith in the heart then the accompanying works will be both appropriate speech and conduct. 

My Speech was very vulgar before I came to the Lord, this is the first thing God worked in me!

Verse 4

Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.

1.      Just as a rudder changes the course of a ship, so can our tongues change the course of our lives and the lives of others.

2.      A judge says “Guilty” or “Not Guilty” and those words affect the destiny of the prisoner, his family and his friends.

3.      The President of the United States speaks a few words and signs some papers and the nation is at war.

Sin on the inside (1:14) and pressure on the outside (1:2-4) seeks to get control of the tongue.

The point of the illustration is this…

1.      No matter how adverse the circumstances, if the rudder can be controlled by the pilot, the entire ship can be controlled. 

2.      If a believer can maintain control of his tongue in adverse circumstances, he can maintain control over his entire being

3.      If not  a hot head and a hot heart can lead to burning words that later we will regret because, our words can start fires.

Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.   As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. (Proverbs 26:20-21 NKJV) 

4.      No wonder Solomon wrote, He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. (Proverbs 17:27 NKJV); & He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly. (Proverbs 14:29 NKJV)

Verses’ 5-6

IV.             The tongue is a fire a world of iniquity

Boast great things haughty or great achievements

1.      If you want to boast, boast in this…

Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;  But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24 NKJV)

Verse 6

Defiles the whole body Jesus said, its "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." (Matthew 15:11 NKJV)

1.      Garbage in—garbage out. 

2.      If you fill your heart and mind with trash it will come out eventually.

The course of nature the wheel of existence

1.      James suggests that all of life is connected like a wheel, and therefore we cannot keep things from spreading.  A persons entire life can be injured or destroyed by the tongue.  Time does not correct the sins of the tongue.

2.      We may confess our sins of speech, but the fire keeps on spreading, illust. Of man picking up feathers.

Set on fire by Hell – gehenna, refers to the Valley of Himmom where the fire never went out.

1.      Jesus used this as a figure of Hell (Matthew 5:22-29; 10:28)

2.      If God lights the fire and controls it, then the tongue can be a mighty tool for the winning of the lost and the building of the church.

3.      But the important thing is the heart for, “out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” (matt. 12:34).

4.      If the heart is filled with hatred and anger, Satan will light the fire because unrighteous speech has its origin from Satan (cf. Mark 8:33).

5.      This person demonstrates a hellish, Satanic heart and not the heart of Christ

THE DESTRUCTIFE POTENTIAL OF THE TONGUE

1.      Fire, when it is under control warms our bodies, cooks our food, and it generates power to turn the wheels of industry

2.      When it is out of control it is very destructive.  It can take days to even get a fire under control before it can even be put out.  After it has been put out, there is very costly damage and there are those things that can never be replaced. 

3.      No wonder our speech must “be always full of grace, seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6).

Verse’s 7-8

A.       God gave to mankind dominion over the animal world at creation (Gen. 1:26,28; cf. Philo On the Special Laws 4.110–16); but dominion over the tongue has been much more difficult to attain (vv. 7–8).

1.      It is interesting that man has been able to tame all kind of creatures.

a.       Lions, birds, can be trained to talk and say phrases.

b.      Even serpents can be trained and you see in India the guy with his flute and his cobra dancing.

c.       Marineland, how they've tamed the whales and dolphins.

d.      One thing man hasn't been able to tame; his own tongue.

Unruly evil like a wild animal wanting to make an attack; like an enemy who cannot be contained by military force.

1.      The untamed tongue prefers speaking evil rather than good You love all devouring words, You deceitful tongue. (Psalms 52:4 NKJV)

2.      It prefers destroying rather than helping – you can either be a demolition or a paramedic

Verse’s 9-10

A.       James is dealing with the inconsistency of the tongue, first blessing God, then cursing man.

1.      Blessing God is the highest function of the tongue (Psalm 33:1; 147:1)

2.      When a man can come into church on Sunday and praise God with his voice like an angel, and then talk like a demon during the week, he is a hypocrite.

B.       The tongue and the heart must be in tune.

1.      Confessing the Lord Jesus as Savior (Romans 10:9)

2.      Whatever is in the heart will come out of the mouth (Matthew 12:34).  Whatever is in the well of the heart will come out through the bucket of the mouth. Whatever is in your heart you will say sooner or later.

3.      If God has truly touched your life then he has touch your mouth, because He has touched your heart.

4.      Believers should not only refrain from cursing but also bless those who curse and persecute them (Luke 6:28; Romans 12:14).

Why?  Because man has been…

Made in the likeness of God to curse God is to curse the likeness of God in man

1.      The tongue is capable of both good and evil expressions (Proverbs 18:21).

2.      James says these things ought not  to be so!!!!!!!!!!!!

Verse’s 11-12

A.       The tongue reveals genuine faith in Christ, because it is with the mouth confession is made of that which is in the heart

1.      These verse paralell with what james is saying:

The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook. (Proverbs 18:4 NKJV)

The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, (Proverbs 10:11 NKJV)

The law of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death. (Proverbs 13:14 NKJV)

2.      Water is life giving & our words can give life, if water is not controlled it can bring death & destruction  a flood.

Jesus said "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63 NKJV)

3.      When we let the words of Christ dwell richly in us & then share His words with others, we feed them and encourage them along the way.

Verse 12

A.       Just as it is not the nature of the fig tree to bear olive, nor of the vine to bear figs, it is not the nature of a genuine Christian to speak evil (New Creation in Christ).

B.       If the tongue is inconsistent then there is something radically wrong with the heart

C.       God wants to touch your heart tonight!