Sermon Tone Analysis

! 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.