Control Your Speech
Notes
Transcript
James 2:26 “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
We were shown that a living faith produces works, or does action.
It’s not an internal only faith. So let’s bear this in mind as we go on today into chapter 3.
Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
This does link to the verse before this. Keep it in context!
Why would James be warning against wanting to be a teacher of the gospel?
Because it’s easy to view a teacher’s position as a position of power, not a position of servanthood.
And teachers, by nature, speak a LOT, and this section is about the hazards of a spiritually immature tongue causing harm.
Link this with Jesus’s warning to his disciples directly after a heated discussion with the Pharisees…
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
Teachers need to be aware of what they are teaching, and teaching by their lives NOT just their lessons from the pulpit!
We’re people, and struggle like any human. But we are held to a higher standard.
For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.
Imperfect people struggle - aka EVERYONE
Why communication is so important, honesty, and owning mistakes.
Repent, turn around and make amends.
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole bodies. And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things...
James gives common examples for people to understand.
A bit for a horse, THE mode of transportation other than walking.
The rudder of a ship.
So our tongue can lead us to do good or lead us to do bad.
And OTHERS
So how can we control our tongue, like a bit in the mouth?
God’s word? Prayer? Fasting? Follow the Holy Spirit and God’s holy Word.
Our part - focus and be intentional. Think first and think hard!
Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.
...Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Another example that’s easy to understand, a small spark can cause the loss of an entire forest if it’s not taken care of quickly.
Then likens that to our speech.
Beyond our speech, we often want to own and hold on to our direction, rather than make amends!
And when we double down, our actions FOLLOW our speech, because our speech shows our heart, our attitude and beliefs.
Part of our spiritual battle is our spirit fighting against our fleshly desires.
And since our speech is the hardest to control, it can often show where we are struggling.
That’s why James says it “is itself set on fire by hell.” So consider Jesus’s words...
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
This is a warning, that we are still battling sin and the flesh, and James tells us that our mouths show our weaknesses.
No other part of the human body is capable of creating so much havoc throughout the world as that of the tongue.
Pray for unity and understanding, and thank the Lord for forgiveness and being found righteous in Christ.
Sticks and stones....it’s not accurate
Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Here’s a key thing - we can tame animals but not our tongues.
So we should be understanding and forgiving.
But this requires open and honest communication.
It requires repentance, true repentance that demonstrates change.
And our words can be full of deadly poison - be careful.
Remember, to forgive does not mean to forget.
That’s an entire sermon or series all of it’s own.
In short - a biblical “forget” is to actively choose to not act on the forgiven wrong. It is not a literal loss of memory of a person or an event.
With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
A blessing and a curse are to polar opposites! How can we be so divided?
How can we love God and yet curse/hate someone that is made in His image?
Love the sinner, hate the sin...
We won’t always like everyone, just like we’re not always happy with God’s decisions (that’s why He reminds us that His ways are not ours, and they’re higher than ours...)
There’s a difference between not liking, and cursing someone.
And this kind of cursing could be slander, gossip, false testimony. These things hurt people, and James here is telling us it is cursing them.
Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.
James wraps this section up with 4 images of how hypocritical it is to praise and curse, using the natural world as an example.
Starts with bitter and sweet water from on spring.
IF it could happen, no one would dare drink from it.
All of these examples point to a very clear depiction, especially in the context of what he’s been saying about the tongue.
If we belong to God through the blood of Jesus, what comes out of us should come from above, through the HS.
We need to continue to battle our flesh, for…
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
We cannot live in our old selves and claim to be re-born in Christ.
There’s a difference between joking and being mean.
And sanctification takes time.
Don’t be down on yourself, but maturity brings change.
Pray -
Father, today we remember and enter into Holy Week - today being palm Sunday. The day Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem leading up to his sacrifice on our behalf. Thank you so very much for loving us, your creation, so much that you would come and die on the cross to bring us back to you. Thank you for this letter from James that we are studying together, and for reminding us that our tongue, our speech, is very poignant and powerful. God, that it can build up or tear down. And reminding us that what comes out of us should resemble you, as we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Guide us this week, as we are in a world that seems to be against you and your ways. Help us to shine the light of the cross of Jesus to those around us. Help us to be the image of Christ in the world, to those who need it most.
We ask this is Jesus’ name, amen.
