James 3:1-12 Power of the Tongue

Intro: Has something you said ever gotten you in trouble?

or somthing your thought about someone changed how you treated them?

Power of The Tongue

James 3:1–12

[1] Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.

[2] For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the entire body as well.

[3] Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

[4] Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot wills.

[5] So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!

[6] And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our existence, and is set on fire by hell.

[7] For every kind of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

[8] But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

[9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.

[10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

[11] Does a fountain pour forth from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

[12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can saltwater produce fresh.

MAIN IDEA: Our tongue is powerful; it speaks blessings or curses that produce maturity or wickedness.

BIG QUESTION: How so we have a mature tongue that resembles Christ?

4 Keys to have Christ-like Speech

Be Slow to Assume Authority

Know your Tongue controls your body

Understand the Power of the Tongue

Choose whether Your Tongue Wil Pour out Blessings or Curses

Be Slow to Assume Authority

[1] Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.

Not everyone should aspire to the office of overseer

Why: because you will be under much more scrutiny,

Every word you say will be analyzed and even used against you at times

Your words can lead people astray

external call and internal call

We need to be slow because;

[2a] For we all stumble in many ways.

And if we become teachers too soon, we can lead others in our stumbling.

[2b] If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the entire body as well.

NO MAN is or was perfect outside of Christ, but one of the ways Jesus was perfect was by his speech.

Christ's tongue always was true

If you have the power to bridle your tongue, you have the power to control your physical body and your flesh

If you have a sin in your life that you can not overcome, begin with your tongue.

Martin Luther (Founder of the German Reformation)

A Christian is never in a state of completion but always in a process of becoming.

Many sins we have in our lives are there because, if we are honest, we like the sin.

And how we speak of something can often tell us how we feel about it.

Parent training: change how you speak about and to your kids.

James goes on to give 2 illustrations that describe the power of the tongue.

Know your Tongue controls your body

[3] Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

think of the cartoon of a bone in front of a dog, and being able to control it.

Your speech is like this.

It can direct your steps in morality or into destruction.

He gives another illustration to drive home the same point

[4] Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot wills.

I believe James is making the point that when we see a sailboat, we might point to the wind, the sails, or the hull of the boat, but his point is that the small, unseen thing is what truly turns the boat.

This is true of our lives.

We might say this is going this way because of our circumstances, our gifting, which there is truth in that the wind does matter, the hull matters, but you know what matters more, your speech.

Are you speaking life or death? (This is not manifesting our destiny)

Philippians 4:8–9 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

[5a] So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. (boast greatly)

Let's talk about what James is referring to when he says tongue.

Matthew 15:11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

Matthew 15:18–20 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

I believe what's on James mind is the heart of man.

We can look back to

James 1:13–15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death.”

J. Sidlow Baxter

One of the first things that happens when a man is really filled with the Spirit is not that he speaks with tongues, but that he learns to hold the one tongue he already has.

Understand the Power of the Tongue

[5b] Behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire(spark)!

[6] And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our existence, and is set on fire by hell(Gehennna).

Corupts ones entire life

Thomas Manton

A tongue that is set on fire from hell shall be set on fire in hell.

Psalms of Solomon 12; By Solomon in the tongue of the lawless

[1] Lord, deliver my soul from a lawbreaking and wicked man, from a tongue that breaks the law and whispers and speaks false and deceitful things.

[2] The words of the tongue of an evil man are in diversity of twisting. Just like a fire lighting up its beauty among a people

[3] is its exile, to fill houses with a lying tongue, for lawbreakers to cut down trees of burning cheer,

[4] to demolish lawbreaking houses in battle with whispering lips. May God remove the lips of lawbreakers from the innocent inperplexity, and may the bones of the whisperers be scattered by those who fear the Lord;

[5] May a slanderous tongue be destroyed by the holy ones with the fire of flame.

[6] May the Lord guard the quiet soul that hates the unrighteous, and may the Lord guide the man who makes peace in the house.

[7] The Lord’s salvation be on Israel his servant for eternity,

[8] and may sinners be destroyed from the face of the Lord at once, and may the holy ones of the Lord inherit the promises.”

[7] For every kind of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

[8] But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

Genesis 1:26–28 “Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.”

We were created to do good with our tongue

to rule over God’s creation

But in our corruption, our tongues turned into poison.

But God, sent his son to cleanse our tongues

Choose whether Your Tongue Wil Pour out Blessings or Curses

[9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.

[10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

Do not be like satan who speaks with a forked tongue.

You praise the lord and speak ill of your brother

you are kind to someone's face while being slandering them and gossiping about them begind there back.

James goes on to give another illustration

[11] Does a fountain pour forth from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

[12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can saltwater produce fresh.

If you have wickedness coming out of your heart, do not expect your praise to be pure.

Do not expect happiness.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

The more we live and try to practice the Sermon on the Mount, the more shall we shall experience blessing.

Conclusion: What does God want you to know

God wants you to step into authority in his timing, but that takes submission to him and people he has placed above you.

Jui jit su

God needs you to submit to his authority so he can prepare you for what he is calling you to.

God wants you to watch your tongue because it reveals your heart

When a doctor sees symptoms, he treats the disease

God wants you to do the same

God wants you to know your speech can create life

in the way God created life through his speech at creation

He wants you to speak life, through encouragement, praise, correction, and sharing the gospel.

Lastly, God wants you to know he wants you to be blessed and be a blessing. God wants you to be happy and to lead others into happiness in Christ Jesus

You have to first rid yourself of inpure speak.

Lord Supper

Live Oak, once you have spent some time reflecting on God’s commandments and examining your heart before God, you can come forward and receive the “bread” and “fruit of the vine.”

As a reminder:

If you are not a baptized believer, a member of this local church, or another church, please refrain from taking communion this morning. However, please do not leave before speaking with one of the pastors here to discuss this further.

“GOD OF ALL GOOD,

We bless you for the means of grace; teach us to see in them your loving purposes and the joy and strength of our souls. You have prepared for us a feast, and though we are unworthy to sit down as guests, We wholly rest on the merits of Jesus and hide ourselves beneath his righteousness. When we hear his tender invitation and see his wondrous grace.

May we ponder why Jesus died, and hear him say, ‘I gave my life to purchase yours, presented myself as an offering to atone for your sin, shed my blood to blot out your guilt, opened my side to make you clean, endured your curses to set you free, bore your condemnation to satisfy divine justice.’ Oh, may we rightly grasp the breadth and length of this design.

Oh God, please forgive us for our sins

In the supper, we remember God’s eternal love, boundless grace, infinite compassion, agony, the cross, redemption, and receive assurance of pardon, adoption, life, and glory.

As the outward elements nourish our bodies, so may your indwelling Spirit invigorate our souls, until that day when we hunger and thirst no more, and sit with Jesus at his heavenly feast.

Amen”

Live Oak Church

We eat the bread in remembrance of his body being broken for us!

We drink in remembrance of his blood being shed for us!