James # 8

“A Living Faith”
James #8
Pastor Ben Fleming
February 15th

We have been studying the book of James. A letter written to God’s people to encourage and equip them to have and experience a living faith. I put this photo up so that you can know right away what we are going to talk about………..The tongue has caused more damage in a church family than any other action. I have thought that I need to give this message again next week, maybe I ought to do it once a month? The tongue has caused more hurt in your marriage and in your relationships in your family than any other action. Words hurt – words injure – words bring pain and discouragement and words bring distance between people. Some of you readily cuss and use ungodly slang words. Some of you yell at your loved ones and some of you raise your voice in a harsh unkind way to those whom you say that you love so much. Some wives communicate disrespect to their husbands by their words and feel justified when they are doing it. Some of you have a loose tongue and say things to people that you have no business opening your mouth about ----- some of you are like me ---- you love to talk. Some of you talk so much that you have bit your tongue while you were eating something and you have scar tissue on your tongue and you know how painful it is when you have a sore on your tongue…… In the past 10 years I have had surgery on my tongue to remove scar tissue twice --- if you do not think your tongue is important and powerful and can be painful to yourself and to others…. just ask me. Some of you are quiet and soft spoken and some of your are loud. Your tongue is you in a unique way. The tongue is a sign of what is going on in your heart.

The bible says that the tongue is wicked – deceitful – perverse – filthy – corrupt – flattering – slanderous – gossiping – blasphemous, foolish – boasting – complaining – cursing – sensual and vile. Is it any wonder that God put the tongue in a cage behind teeth and walled in by a mouth. James is greatly concerned about the tongue in the life of a believer – he addresses it in every chapter of his letter. The tongue only produces what comes out of our hearts.

In Matthew 15 Jesus said “for out of the heart comes evil thoughts – murder – adultery – fornication – theft – false witness and slander.” Scientist have claimed that once a word is spoken – a sound wave is set in motion – it continues on a never ending journey and if we had enough sophisticated equipment – each wave could be captured and reproduced at any time. Every word that you have ever spoken could be reproduced…God does not need that equipment --- in Matthew 12:36 – Jesus said, “every careless word that people speak – they shall give an accounting for those words in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” So these written words that God has captured for us in this letter that James has written…. I believe they ought to move us – teach us – challenge us and convict us as we pursue a living real faith in Jesus Christ.

Your tongue – my tongue – brings words of healing or words of hurt. Your tongue brings words of judgment or words of grace. Your tongue brings words of harshness or words of kindness. Your tongue brings words of criticism or words of encouragement. If Google invented the machine Googlecapture to record all of your words and replay them --- what words would we hear that you have spoken this past week??? Please stand as we read James chapter3

The first sin committed after the fall of Adam and Eve was a sin of the tongue. When God questioned Adam about eating the forbidden fruit – he slandered God by suggesting with his words that God was responsible – (3:12) “the woman whom You (GOD) gave to be with me – she gave me from the tree and I ate”…… He blamed God with his tongue. With our tongue we blame others for our sin. My wife made me do what I did. My boss was unfair and treated me wrongly – My mom and dad are so unreasonable – My teacher did not explain the problem – it is not my fault…… – we are just like Adam. There is nobody in this room who has not been hurt by the words from someone else and there is nobody in this room who has not hurt and sinned against someone else with their words. I do not believe that in the Christian church today we are all that serious as believers about the sanctification of our tongues. It does matter what you say – how you say it and it matters the volume and tone in which you say it and it matters when you say it and it matters even what your facial expressions are. Listen to the words of King Solomon about the tongue.

Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.”…………. Proverbs 16:24 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Have you ever longed for pleasant words to be spoken to you ? When was the last time someone thought of your words like a honeycomb? Proverbs 12:25 “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” I bet there are husbands who long for such words from their wives? Proverbs 15:1 – 4 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life.” Do you want your tongue to be known as a tree of life??? Proverbs 25:11 “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” That is one that you and I ought to memorize. 25:15 “Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone and the last one in chapter 21:23 “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.”

In this section where we read about the tongue today – James gives us 5 reasons why we as believers must maintain – control and pursue the sanctification of our tongues if we are going to walk in and experience a genuine saving faith. Look on your outline:

Why Believers Must Have Sanctified Tongues --- (explain sanctified)

1. Your tongue has the potential to condemn others. (3:1-2) “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways…” James is addressing the church body here and he is specifically addressing those in it who are preaching and teaching. He is addressing the one who stands up front on Sunday to the one who teaches the first graders. Now a word of caution: it is wrong to say to yourself – “if a teacher in a church is going to be judged more strictly – then I am never going to get involved in teaching.” James is simply saying that those who teach need to be extremely cautious and careful how they speak. It takes time to be a Sunday School teacher. A preacher must put in hours and hours of preparation to speak for 45 min. Your words publicly and privately influence others in the family of God. Words can condemn another person. You can loose credibility because of your words… regardless of your intentions. The teaching of erroneous – misleading and confusing theology can lead people away from the truth of the gospel. 900 people followed the teaching of Rev Jim Jones – and they ended up committing suicide with him in November 1978. People followed the teachings of David Koresh and followed him to their death in Texas and the Hale Bop Comet people were later. I wonder how many people are being led away from God even today as a result of false and unsound teaching?

The apostle Paul and Peter wrote:
1 Timothy 1:3 “command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer and then in chp. 6 “if anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree with sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing.” In 2 Peter 2:1 “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be also false teachers among you.” The tongue of a teacher in God’s church can condemn God’s people. Therefore – anyone preaching and teaching must spend time preparing. They must think about – pray about and chose their words very carefully ahead of time. You cannot just say what you want to say……. We know that James is writing about believers in a church family when he uses the word brothers to refer to believers. We all stumble in many ways ---- You might not be a teacher in a church but words can always condemn someone else…….. Husbands and wives condemn each other with their words and parents condemn their children and teens condemn other teens. Believers in a church family condemn other believers. If you do not ask God to control your tongue you are in danger of condemning others with your words. You rob yourself and you rob others. Reason #2

2. Your tongue has the power to control others. (3:2b-5a) “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it boast of great things…”

Every one of us know this: Some of us have been controlled by the words of others and some of us have been guilty of controlling others by our words…James says that if you are never at fault with your words – then you are a perfect man or woman. The idea that James is speaking of here is that when we become more and more spiritually mature we will control our tongues. When your tongue comes under control – you are going to see other areas of your life come under control. If your tongue is coming under control – your anger – your lust – your gluttony – your envy – your laziness and on and on are coming under control. A tongue that is coming under the control of the Holy Spirit is going to affect the rest of that believers life. Jesus Christ demonstrated a controlled tongue.

1 Peter 2:21-23 “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats………” The tongue of Jesus was completely under control. The more you pursue Jesus – the more your tongue will come under control and the rest of your life will follow.

STORY: There was a woman in a church family who was a terrible gossip. One day she said to the pastor, “The Lord has convicted me of my sin of gossip. My tongue is getting me into trouble. He said, “what do you plan to do about it? She replied. I want to put my tongue on the altar”. Now she had said that many times before and never changed. He told her – “There is not an altar big enough.”

--- Well there is an altar big enough --- but this woman was unwilling to pay the price. She loved her gossip more than righteousness. She was unwilling to do what King David wrote in Psalm 39 “ I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle.” Are you willing to do that???? What are you willing to pay to see your tongue come under the control of the Holy Spirit?”

James gives two analogies to show the power of the tongue. (vs.3) When you put a bit into a horses mouth you can control the entire horse. The bit lies on the top of the horses tongue. The bit is used to make the horse obey. Are you allowing God to put a bit in your mouth or do you just simply enjoy controlling others with your words??? The second illustration (vs.4) he used was that of the rudder of a ship. The rudder is a very small part of a ship but it can easily steer the ship where the pilot of the ship wants it to go. Who is the pilot of your ship? Is the rudder in your mouth under the control of the pilot or is it under your control? Reason #3

3. Your tongue has the propensity to be corrupt. (3:5b – 6) “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the whole body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James is writing here to God’s people about the destructive power of the tongue. It can be hateful – it can be false – heretical or even careless words (you hear those spoken even in a church family) – I am not going to give you examples but I will go so far as to say that slang words are careless words. Your words can corrupt others and spread to others --- especially gossip and slander….

On October 8, 1871, a latern in Mrs O’Leary’s barn was knocked over by a cow and it ignited the great Chicago fire. 17,500 buildings were destroyed – 300 people died and 125,000 were left homeless. James says that the tongue is like a fire that corrupts the entire person. If you allow your tongue to be uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit – your entire body will be corrupted by your tongue. On August 5th – 1965 --- my family was sitting upstairs in the kitchen of our split level home – my sister Chris went downstairs to get a coke out of the garage. When she opened the door – fire greeted her. Well – our garage was gutted but every room in our house was touched by the smoke of that fire. My bedroom was down stairs in the basement and when I put on my shirt the next day – I still remember the smell of the smoke on my shirt…………

James says the whole course of our life is set on fire by our tongues and it itself is set on fire by hell. This is the only place outside of the 4 gospels that we find this word that James used. Gehenna or hell. The valley of hinnom was just southwest of the city of Jerusalem – it was a valley that the trash – garbage and bodies of dead animals from the city were thrown – it was the original place where the Cannanites would sacrifice their children to the pagan god Molech.
Your tongue – my tongue has the propensity to be like Gehenna. It needs constant guarding and control.

4. Your tongue has the inability to be controlled. (3:7-8) “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

Think about it ---- we always want to say something. Everybody wants to have the last word --- even the most quietest person opens their mouth with a word when they are upset. James says that the human tongue cannot be controlled – it cannot be tamed. You can tame any animal but the human tongue is an animal that cannot be tamed. A person can try all they want but in their own power a human cannot control their tongue.

Even in a believer who has the Holy Spirit – the tongue can be set loose and do damage. King David knew that and prayed in Psalm 141:3 “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips”. The apostle Paul even confessed, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh, for the willing is present in me, but the doing of good is not.” James says that the tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” I told you last week that I was going to address the tongue. You have heard all of these words from James and yet --- as soon as we say amen and you are dismissed your tongue is going to go back to work. You are going to watch what you say for a time and you are going watch even as you go home or to eat – but I guarantee you – you are going to find your tongue uncontrolled in some way today and this week. You and I need to constantly ask God to set a guard over our mouths.

5. Your tongue has the nature to compromise.
(3:9 -12) “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

Your tongue and my tongue -- its nature is to compromise. It is like a deliberate breech of trust or treachery. It can be like a wild animal – hypocritical and willing to deceive in order to achieve its own advantage. James says that with it we praise our Lord and Father - the Jewish believers identified with this statement ----- they knew this because they were used to at the end of a Jewish service there would be 18 benedictions and they would say “blessed be thou, o God.” Out of that same mouth that said those words could and would come cursing. Seems strange – but the apostle Peter cursed the Lord and Paul let his tongue loose and called the high priest a whitewash wall. Take your pen and underline what James response to that statement is – MY BROTHERS – THIS SHOULD NOT BE. Double minded speech cannot be. You cannot compromise your speech ---- holy speech is part of holy living.
When God transforms you He gives you the capacity to be transformed in your speech.

James then closes this point by three illustrations: Does a fountain send out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening? The answer is no. Can a fig tree produce olives and a vine produce figs – the answer is no and can salt water produce fresh water – no. A hateful heart cannot produce loving words and good works. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit.

Disclaimer: In the book of James and especially this section on the tongue and last weeks on faith and works – there is a tension in this letter between what is and what ought to be. In other words – this is how it will be if you are a true believer and at another point this is how you ought to be if you are a true believer. I have not given some application points in awhile – but this issue of the tongue is so vital to us --- I wrestle with my tongue and I know all of you do. What can you do to gain victory over unrighteous and careless words in your life?

Application:
* Look up verses in the bible about the tongue and your words. Write them out and put them around in your house. Do something tangible to attack old habits.

* Identify words that you speak that are careless – slang words that non believers use around you. Identify the slang words that you use to take the Lord’s name in vain. You and I are so brainwashed that we see nothing wrong with some of the words that we speak.

* Go to anyone that you have spoken words to that have been out of place. You have had no right or credibility to speak them – you have spoken carelessly to them even though you think your intentions were good – ask them to forgive you. Some of us have hurt other people and we do not even know it. When someone comes to you and confronts you --- do not defend yourself and justify and rationalize what you said. 4thly

* Give permission to another believer to get in your face about your tongue. Do not get offended when they point out to you your speech. How do you come across to others? Have you ever been so bold to ask some else if your tone of voice – your volume your facial expressions are offensive and put them on the defensive? That is a believer who is serious about glorifying God with their tongue.
#6

* We are going to have a week of fasting and prayer next month. Make that week a week dedicated to seeing God change your speech and bring your tongue under control. I guarantee you that if you set your mind to fast and pray at least one day you will see God do something in your life for your good.