Walking through James (7)

Who can tame our tongues?

A gentleman decided to withdraw from society and its busyness. He joined a monastery and took a vow of silence.At the end of each year he could say two words.

At the end of the first year of absolute silence, he met with his supervising monk and was given the opportunity to say two words. With his two words said, "Bed hard."

Another whole year of silence followed.

At end of a second year without any words, he met with his supervising monk and with his precious two words said, "Food cold."

Another year of silence followed.

At the end of the third wordless year he meets with his supervising monk and says, "I quit".

The monk says, You might as well; all you've done is complain. (Fred W. Penney)

Tonight, I’d like to start out by saying that our words are powerful, and we need to chose them wisely. Our words can make or break us.

Proverbs 18:21 NLT

21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Our tongues can get us into trouble. You’ve maybe said it or definitely heard it, “I wish that I would have thought before I spoke.” The problem isn’t that we didn’t think, it’s that we didn’t think through what the fall out or consequences would be.

The book of James probably gives the clearest picture of how our tongues direct our lives.

Let’s read for James 3.

James 3:1–12 NLT

1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. 3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. 7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

There’s a lot here. Let’s break it down into a few parts so that we can digest it.

Not many of you should become teachers.

This is obviously speaking about the church, and the reasoning behind this is that those of us who are teachers will be judged more strictly. We will be held to a different standard. We, who teach, need to make sure that what we say is in agreement with the word of God.

We can teach all kinds of things. We can promise the sun, the moon, and the stars, but if what we are teaching is not what God’s word says, we will be held accountable to what we say, and we will be held accountable for leading people into error.

James says, “We all make many mistakes...”

Isn’t that the truth. Truly, we are all works in progress. God is still working on us.

Philippians 3:13–14 NIV

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

James says that if we could only control our tongues, we would be perfect and would be able to control ourselves in every way.

Next, James uses imagery that we can all picture: a large horse, a small rudder, and a small spark.

Let’s start with

A large horse

Personally, I’m not a huge horse enthusiast, but I‘m amazed how some people have a keen sense and ability to make a thousand or 1200 pound horse do whatever they want. Barrel racing, calf roping, gymkhana, or other things. A horse is a majestic animal that can be reigned in by a small bit, and can be very useful for work or pleasure.

It’s amazing that something so small can turn such a large horse.

What about

A small rudder...

Just a guess, but I suppose that most of us, don’t know too much about large ships, and the ships are much larger today than they were a couple of thousand years ago. In the summer of 2022, our family had the privilege of staying on a sail boat over night, and then going sailing. I don’t claim to know anything about a sail boat, but I found it quite interesting how the boat could turn and move by the direction of the sail and of the rudder as the steering wheel turned.

In his book, “The power of the Tongue”, Tim George talked about two naval ships.

This is what he said, “The USS Nimitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower each weigh about 91,000 tons. They are over 1,000 feet long and can travel over 30 knots per hour, powered by engines that can generate 280,000 horsepower. Each of those carriers is manned by a crew of 6,100. But as big as these ships are, they are both turned by one man steering a rudder 1/1000th the size of the ship. A tiny rudder can change the direction of those great ships.” (SC)

Our tongues will only speak what we are thinking. James also compares our tongues to

a fire

James 3:5–6 NIV

5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Around here, we might see house fires. We might even see a field that has been set on fire from a spark, or maybe even a fire that is started by a spark from a train. We don’t see forest fires, but when the fires are very aggressive, we can smell the smoke, find it hard to breathe, and see the hazy skies. Sometimes these fires are started by lightning, but often they are caused by careless sparks from a cigarette or a camp fire that wasn’t put out properly.

We see the devastation. Many families are affected. Homes are lost, and many times everything that people have are lost as well, including their lives.

The tongue can cause the same amount of damage, but the damage the tongue causes can break relationships, end marriages, and bring much devastation in families, homes, businesses, churches, and the list can go on and on.

It can be evil and is set on fire by hell.

James 3:7–8 NIV

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Even though animals can be tamed and even trained, no human can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

Luke 6:45 NKJV

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

What is in our hearts comes out. God can change our hearts, and He can make something that is beautiful in us as we choose to follow Him and allow Him to work in us.

James closes the last four verses about

Hypocrisy that comes out of our mouths.

or should I say hearts. He asks rhetorical questions that he knows we will know the answer to.

Let’s read verses 9-12

James 3:9–12 NIV

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

How can we guard against having good and evil coming out of our mouths? The answer is simple and yet it is very difficult.

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23 NKJV

23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

If we knew that a thief was going to try to break into our houses and take everything that was valuable to us, we might try to make sure that our house couldn’t be broken into.

Tonight, I want you to know that there is an adversary, an enemy that wants to break through the defenses that you have set up to protect your heart. He wants us to curse people who have been made in God’s image. In fact he wants to sidetrack us to make us think that God doesn’t love us anymore because of some of the things that we have done or said. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

I want to encourage you tonight to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Please don’t allow hurts and offenses to destroy you.

1 Peter 5:7 NLT

7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Many times we worry and we carry things that we have no business carrying. Let’s give it to the Lord.

When somebody says something that hurts. Satan wants to use that to destroy you. Don’t let the sun go down when you are angry. if you do, the devil gets a foothold. Let’s give it to the Lord, and He will sustain us.

You may feel condemned for words that you have spoken. You have asked God to forgive you and you have gone and tried to reconcile. Condemnation doesn’t come from God. The Holy Spirit convicts, but He will not condemn.

If we follow Jesus’ example, when people insulted HIm, He didn’t open His mouth, and when He did, He said, “Father forgive them for them know not what they do.”

Today can be a new beginning, we can make a choice that with God’s help, and as I submit to Him, I can overcome. I can think thoughts that bring glory to God, and I can make a difference with the words that I speak.

Let’s pray.