Controlling the Tongue (James 3:1-12)

Welcome

Hey, good morning guys; thanks for joining me on Facebook Live as we continue in our series on James. I know some of you live in areas of the country that are starting to reopen, so I want to take a moment to let you know what my plans are with these live videos: (1) Pennsylvania is still quarantined, (2) the county that we live in is about to switch to the governor’s yellow phase, which is essentially a “soft” opening of the county. In this yellow stage, churches are still unable to meet, so my plan is to continue the videos until the county that we currently reside in enters into the “green” phase, which will mean that our churches can reopen.

I know some of you that have been watching the videos are from SC, TX, LA, and FL, which means that your quarantine orders are probably different and your churches might start reopening before us or after us, so for those of you that are already starting church again, but would still like to listen to the messages, they are available online—both on Facebook and on my website, you are more than welcome to listen to any of them at your own convenience. More than likely, once our county in Central Pennsylvania is reopened, I will stop doing Sunday morning and Wednesday evening livestreams, but if there’s enough of a demand, I will continue posting recordings of recent sermons on my website if the churches that I’m preaching at allow me access to the recordings.

Before we do anything else this morning, I’d like to take some time to read a passage of Scripture. It is probably familiar to some, at the very least, you might recognize it as a song, but Psalm 103.

Scripture Reading (Psalm 103)

Psalm 103 ESV

Of David. 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. 17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! 21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! 22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Prayer

Pray for those that are ill

Pray for the families of those who have passed

Pray for the reopening of our country

And pray for this morning’s message.

Sermon

Introduction

This morning, we’re looking at a topic that I guarantee every person listening to this recording has struggled with at some point in their lives. And I know that not only because the passage itself tells me that, but because I struggle with it just as much as every other person struggles with it. It is a part of our lives that reveals our hearts and it is a part of our lives that tests our self-control and the Bible has a lot to say about it. This morning, we’re talking about our tongues, what we say and even how we say what we say. We’re studying about the tongues through what James has to say about the topic and let me assure you, James has pretty strong statements to say about the whole issue and if you’re honest with me, I’m sure you recognize why his statements are probably so strong.

If you have a Bible with you this morning, turn to James 3:1-12 and while you’re turning there, let me take a moment to catch those of you who may have missed a message or two on where we’re at in the book of James. We’ve been studying James for a few weeks now, and we’ve worked our way through the first two chapters, and James has made his way from talking about trials and temptations and our need to recognize that God utilizes trials and not temptations to mature us as believers. We spent some time talking about how God doesn’t tempt us to do evil things, but rather our temptation to do evil comes from within. We spent some time studying James 1:19-27 and the necessity for us to not only hear the word of God through preaching, teaching, and personal studying of Scripture, but the need for us to do the word of God—that our knowledge through the study of God’s word has to lead us to action.

Last Sunday, we spent the whole message talking about a particular sin that I feel most of us have struggled with at some point in our lives and that is the sin of partiality. It is the sin of treating people different based on their socio-economic status, their skin color, or really for anything concerning someone’s outward appearance. We learned that the Bible says that when we make distinctions among people based on these outward appearance issues, we’ve made ourselves judges with evil thoughts. And we learned that the Bible is fairly clear, that if we really fulfill the royal law according to Scripture, which is to love our neighbors as ourselves, we’re doing well, but if we’re guilty of any part of the law, which in this case would be the sin of partiality, we’re guilty of the full law; but our hope is in Jesus Christ who has given us mercy despite how unworthy we are of mercy.

This past Wednesday, which was the most recent lesson that we’ve learned from James, we focused on the idea of faith and works. I expressed that there tends to be a misunderstanding with James’ writings, in that people assume that he’s contradicting Paul in saying that faith without works is dead. However, I pointed out that James isn’t talking about works being necessary for salvation; James is actually stating that a true faith in Jesus Christ will result in good works. In other words, you don’t do good works to be saved; you do good works because you’ve experienced the grace and mercy of God; you do good works because you’ve been saved. And James’ argument is really that if you claim to believe in Jesus Christ and you don’t have good works to back it up, then you probably aren’t actually saved; and you need to repent and turn to Jesus.

All of that is leading up to today’s message, which then starts talking about this sin issue concerning the tongue, because understand me when I say this, what James is talking about towards the end of this paragraph about the tongue—the blessing and cursing from the same mouth, is sin. And James is taking this time to confront issues of speech as a whole.

Let’s read James 3:1-12, after which, we’ll pray and I’ll start breaking the passage down:

James 3:1–12 ESV

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are 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 spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Let’s Pray.

We’re going to look at this passage in three sections: Vs. 1, is the thesis for this entire section, the whole section despite the emphasis on the tongue, is really about teachers of the Bible, Vs. 2-6, gives his first reason as to why not many should be teachers, as well as some examples of the power of the tongue, Vs. 7-12, gives us the second reason why not many should become teachers by expounding on the tongue and that the tongue cannot be tamed by mankind and then we’ll close out the paragraph by posing the question, should our mouths speak cursings and blessings?

Teachers under greater judgment (1)

James starts off this passage with a statement of warning. He states, “Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

The whole premise of what he’s about to say, lies on this one sentence, so let’s take a few minutes to really understand what he’s saying.

In this particular passage, when James talks about people becoming teachers, he’s referring to people within the church and he’s really warning about people becoming teachers of the church and the implication is that they’re becoming teachers for the wrong reasons.

In a society in which most people are illiterate, in order for people to hear and know the word of God, they would have to find someone knowledgable of the Scriptures.

And so teachers in the early church, played an important part of the life and ministry of that church. So much so, that Paul points out teachers when he speaks about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:28, that “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, [and] third teachers.” Even Paul considered teachers of special importance to the church and it really is not surprise why teachers are important in the church, because teachers are entrusted with the task of transmitting doctrine.

In other words, teachers are important because they pass along what the Word of God says and people rely on teachers for their own understanding of the Bible.

For some people, the fact that people rely on them, is enticing and there’s a certain amount of authority and prestige that comes when someone is involved in teaching ministry.

So it is easy to understand why people enter into a teaching ministry for the wrong reasons and even in our modern era, there are plenty people who enter into ministry and are currently in ministry for the wrong reasons, but that’s a topic for a different time.

James is making the statement here that not many people should become teachers

And his whole reasoning for this statement involves this phrase, “For you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness,” which is a direct statement about the next life, in particular about the rewards that God gives those who believe (we spoke about some of these rewards when we studied James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life.”

In other words, James is making the statement that those who teach the church will be scrutinized to a more severe degree than those who do not teach the church. And again, this is a warning not to dissuade those who are called and gifted to teach, but more of a warning of the seriousness of the ministry.

James is trying to get these believers to recognize the seriousness of the teaching ministry in the church and if you want a prime example of how much more scrutiny teachers are under, take a look at Malachi. In the book of Malachi, God tells Israel that he loves them and yet they reject him with polluted offerings, by profaning the covenant, and stealing from the Lord. And all of Israel is responsible for their sins, but if you read closely, you’ll see in Malachi 1-2 a rebuke of the priests. God tells the priests that “if [they] will not listen, if [they] will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.” “I will rebuke your offspring” and then God explains why he is cursing the priests and not all of Israel, “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouths for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

God has always held the leadership of Israel and now of the church under higher scrutiny because the leadership is responsible in teaching and leading the people to follow God. If the teachers don’t do their best to get it right, they not only lead themselves astray, but they lead all the people astray.

And God takes that seriously.

So James says, not many should become teachers because those who teach will be judged with greater strictness after which, he jumps straight into talking about the tongue.

Douglas Moo, “The implication being that the teacher places himself in greater danger of judgment because the main tool of the teaching ministry is also the part of the body that is most difficult to control.” (TNTC, 124)

But before you say, “well since this is about teachers and how they should have control over their tongues,” let me remind you that the Bible elsewhere talks about controlling our tongues, particular in Proverbs:

Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 13:3 - Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin

Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Even Jesus in Matthew 12:36-37 says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak”

So, while the primary warning here has to do with teachers, don’t think that it doesn’t apply to everyone.

James says not many should become teachers because teachers will be judged with greater strictness, and then he says this in Vs. 2-6.

Effects of the Mouth (2-6)

James 3:2–6 ESV

2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Vs, 2 makes James reasoning for his concern clear, “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

James starts by keeping things fairly general. “We all stumble in many ways”

And in this stumbling, he’s talking about sin that we struggle with. And this general statement is literally, all of us stumble on sin in many ways

Meaning we all struggle with many different sins—its part of living in a sin-cursed world. We shouldn’t hide our sins, we shouldn’t necessarily be proud of our sins, but we should at least be able and willing to talk to people about our sin issues. If we simply cover up our sins, we’re not actually repenting from those sins, we’re hiding them.

James starts off fairly general and then he says, “And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man”

The statement is clear, we all struggle with a variety of sins, and in the first phrase, his meaning is essentially that the sin that you struggle with, I might not struggle with and the sin that I struggle with might not be an issue to you

But all of us stumble in what we say. We all struggle with sins concerning our language, our voice, our tongue.

And we cannot deny this fact, because the Bible tells us that if we don’t struggle with our tongue, we’re already perfect and we’re able to control ourselves. We all struggle with our tongues otherwise we would be perfect and we wouldn’t struggle with anything

And then James utilizes a series of illustrations in order for us to truly understand the power and danger of the tongue

James uses three illustrations:

Vs. 3 — “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well” Vs. 4-5a — “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.”

Both of these examples are illustrations of small pieces being utilized to control comparatively large objects. The bit is small enough to fit in the mouth of a horse and yet the use of the bit allows the rider to control the horse. Ships are rather large objects that get pushed back and forth by wind and yet a skilled pilot can direct the direction that the ship turns by utilizing a small rudder.

Now, the illustration breaks down a little bit, because apparently you can ride a horse without a bit, but assuming that James isn’t thinking that intensely about riding a horse or utilizing a bit, his point is that Without the bit of a horse or without a rudder, you actually have no way of keeping the horse or the ship on course. The horse would not listen to the rider and the ship would just be tossed and driven about, but with a small little bit or a small little rudder, the direction of the horse and the direction of the ship is controllable.

In both illustrations, the bit and the rudder are not the pieces that actually control the horse and the ship, either the rider or the pilot is the one actually controlling the objects. And the idea is that the tongue is like the bit or the tongue is like the rudder, so what is controlling the tongue that turns the body to the left and the right? Matthews 12:34 tells us that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”

In other words, the tongue is controlled by the heart—which until we come to Jesus Christ and we allow God to start transforming us, our hearts are deceitfully wicked above all things and are utterly untrustworthy

And until we come to Jesus Christ and we’re being transformed and our hearts are treasuring good things, we can expect our tongues to reflect sinful thinking, sinful desire, and sinful action.

It is through our faith in Jesus Christ and what Jesus does for us through sanctification that we are able to slowly control our tongues because what we treasure in our heart changes and the abundance of our heart changes and what we speak from out mouth will change.

James makes the statement that the tongue, despite being a rather small piece of the body, wields great power and great influence in what it can do.

The third illustration that James uses, speaks of the destructive nature of the tongue. Vs. 5b-6 — “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”

Whereas Vs. 3-4, it comparing the tongue to a rudder or comparing the tongue to a bit; Vs. 5-6, specifically calls the tongue a fire and it makes this statement about “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” Which calls our attention to the massive damage the tongue can cause, but not only that; James gives us three results that can be produced by the tongue:

“The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body” — the tongue can corrupt the whole person.

The tongue can pervert the whole body of the person when it is bent towards evil.

And in case you’re unsure, we’re told by the Bible that the heart which directs the tongue is deceitfully wicked above all things. Which gives a very staunch impression that until salvation, the tongue is bent towards evil.

Kurt Richardson, “True religion keeps ‘oneself from being polluted by the world’, but evil speech makes this impossible. For each person the evil of the world has its motive force in the tongue. The evil spreads, however, to all of a person’s outward relations.” (NAC, 153)

Corrupt speech spawns corruption of the body; the corrupted body sets in motion the evil course of an entire life

The tongue is able to “[set] on fire the entire course of life”

Since the tongue sets on fire the entire course of life, the tongue is a world of evil

The person of perverse speech fails to distinguish between confessing faith and hypocrisy, respect and flattery, blessing and cursing.

And when we fail in this way concerning our speech, we will definitely fail in our action.

And the tongue is “set on fire by hell”

Which implies pretty heavily, that the evil, destructive nature of our speech is partially derived from a demonic and evil source

Don’t get me wrong, the tongue itself is a source of its own evil, but in addition to its own evil, the tongue is also influenced heavily by Satan himself.

Kurt Richardson again says, “This connection [between our evil speech and hell] should not be surprising since in the previous chapters to promote a profession of faith while rejecting active faith is comparable to the ‘faith’ of demons. The destructive, lying ways of the devil were well known to the biblical writers. The truth for James was that in the destructiveness of evil speech, the destructive end of that evil was present from the beginning. The destructive force of evil speaking is comparable to the destructive force of hell.” (NAC, 154)

And in all of this stumbling in what we say and the fact that our hearts control our tongues and our tongues drag us deeper into evil destructiveness, the Bible tells us something that actually should concern us. It should cause us to think about all this evilness that our mouths speak and it should cause us to want to repent.

The Inability to Control our Tongues Apart from God (7-12)

James 3:7–12 ESV

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are 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 spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

James closes off this paragraph by doing two things: (1) he tells us that we as human beings cannot control the tongue and he seems to sort of leave it at that; we cannot control it and that’s all there is to it and then (2) he explains to us that this issue of where we can bless and curse from the same mouth is not the way it’s supposed to be. Despite the fact that humans can’t control the tongue, we should shouldn’t allow our speech to be filled with both blessing and cursing. What exactly is James trying to say here?

Vs. 7-9, James says, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”

He starts off by contrasting the ability of mankind to control wild animals to the ability of mankind to control the tongue. And in this contrast, he makes it clear that mankind has been able to tame different kinds of animals

And just in case you’re wondering, “But we can’t tame lions and we don’t tame alligators,” that isn’t actually the purpose of what James is trying to say. James isn’t trying to make the point that mankind can tame every animal, he’s simply utilizing our ability to tame most animal kind to show that while we have the ability to tame animals

We can’t control our tongues whatsoever, and in a sense, there is a bit of irony in this statement. We can control elephants, we can control charmed snakes, we can control horses; and yet, in all of this, we cannot control the small bit of flesh in between our lips.

We have so little control of it that it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison

And in our lack of ability to control our tongue, we do what we should in that we bless our Lord and Father—which is a direct statement to the fact that we still utilize our tongue to worship God, which is good

But then the next day, maybe in the same hour, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God, which is in contrast to how James has already explained to us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves because each person is made in the image of God.

The contrast betwen blessing God and cursing man is so drastic

The utilization of our tongues to bless God, is the highest function of human speech. We were created in proclaim the praise of Jesus Christ, much like Psalm 103:1-5, “bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”

And the utilization of our tongues to curse man, is one of the lowest functions of human speech. Cursing refers to personal verbal abuse. It also involves angry wishes on enemies. And it includes speech which is insulting and profane

Vs. 10, showcases the inconsistency of what is occuring within these verses. “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

Thomas Lea, makes this statement about this verse, “Verse 10 spotlights the inconsistency of this action. We are sinfully inconsistent when we bless God and then curse those made in God’s likeness. When we curse those whom God has made, we are effectively cursing God. He is the object of both expression. Such a double standard is outrageous.”

The contrast between blessing and cursing should be so outrageous to us that we shouldn’t even consider blessing God and cursing mankind.

Douglas Moo makes this statement about this verse, “Christians who have been transformed by the Spirit of God should manifest the wholeness and purity of the heart in consistency and purity in speech.”

And then James closes, with Vs. 11-12, “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”

He’s utilizing three more examples for the express purpose of illustrating how absurd it is that out of the same mouth comes blessings and cursings.

Does a spring pour forth fresh and salt water?

Does a fig tree grow olives or does a grapevine produce figs?

Does a salt pond yield fresh water?

And James is utilizing these examples to really drive home his point that bad things don’t produce good things and good things don’t produce bad things. So a person who is not right with God and walking daily in his presence cannot consistently speak pure and helpful words. One who is inconsistent with the things of God in his heart will be double-minded and inconsistent with his speech.

James makes all of these comparisons and contrasts to drive home a specific point, that Only a renewed heart can produce pure speech; and consistently pure speech is the product of a renewed heart.

As we start to wrap everything up, let’s look at some application:

Application

James starts this entire paragraph with the phrase, “Not many of you should become teachers, for teachers will be judged with greater strictness” (1)

And let me start by reminding you that this isn’t James’ way of deterring people from entering into a teaching ministry in a church setting, he’s actually encouraging and warning that those who do teach in a church setting, to take the role of teaching seriously because you are responsible for teaching people how to follow God; how to love Jesus; and how to be disciples of Jesus Christ

So if you are considering being a part of a teaching ministry in a church, don’t let James stop you from doing so. Rather, let James explain to you the seriousness of the teaching role.

Which means, that every opportunity that you get to teach in a church setting, is an opportunity to do your best to learn God’s word, explain God’s word, and preach God’s word

And if you aren’t doing your best to learn God’s word, explain God’s word, and preach God’s word; you shouldn’t be teaching because you’ll be judged with greater strictness than those who don’t teach God’s word.

For those of you that don’t plan on teaching God’s word in an official capacity, this does still apply to you as well, though in different ways:

Take the word of God seriously—Understand that the only reason the teachers are going to be held accountable for what they teach is due to the importance of the book that they teach from and the eternal consequences of souls should they teach that book incorrectly. If they should take the word of God that seriously, so should you. It is the word of God and if you truly believe that, then you would do your very best to understand it the way God intended us to understand it

In the process of taking God’s word seriously, you might find yourself reading through difficult passages—you might not understand what the Bible is saying or you might not understand what the purpose of that particular passage is; let me encourage you don’t just turn the next page and pretend everything is ok; actually study the word of God and actually learn what the author meant when he wrote what he did. Find commentaries (I can recommend some) or utilize study Bibles (again, I can recommend some), but don’t just skim over something that doesn’t make sense; seek to know what it says.

And if the commentaries and study Bibles don’t really help; find some help from a trusted pastor or a teacher. Someone who takes God’s word seriously. Occasionally, universities like DTS and SBTS will offer free courses on biblical hermeneutics; take them up on it, because it will help you to understand what God is trying to say to you.

Effects of the Mouth (2-6)

Vs. 2-6, talks about the power of the tongue; that despite being small like a horse’s bit or a ship’s rudder, it can still move the body. I explained that the tongue is controlled by the heart and the heart shows what we truly treasure

So, my question is, what do you truly treasure? Do you treasure the things of God and of goodness or do you treasure sinful desire?

If you treasure the things of God and of goodness your mouth will reflect that by what you say. If you treasure sinful desire, your mouth will reflect that by what you say.

Take account of what you say—if your mouth is filled with blessing God, praising Jesus, building other people up, and loving other people through your speech, you probably treasure the things of God and of goodness. You reflect someone who is being transformed by Jesus Christ and the renewing of your mind that only he can accomplish.

Keep allowing God to work in your life and keep treasuring the things of God including his word, his people, and his love for you.

Allow the word of God to continue transforming your life through the study of his word, continue to reject sin and continue seeking Jesus.

If your mouth is filled with cursing God, cursing other people, praising yourself, tearing people down, and hatred of other people, you probably don’t treasure the things of God and of goodness. And your heart through your mouth is reflecting someone who is filled with wickedness and sin.

And these things ought not be so—so if you are a believer in Jesus Christ and you find yourself cursing people, praising yourself, tearing people down, and hating other people you need to repent, because all of the wicked speech that you’re exhibiting is a symptom of sin within your heart.

Repent and turn back to Jesus, study his word and allow his word to transform the way you think so you are no longer filled with evil thoughts the spill out of your mouth, but you radiate good treasure out of the goodness of your heart.

If you aren’t a believer, there is nothing you can do to fix up your speech and redeem your own heart. James is clear that no human being can tame the tongue and simply cleaning up your language does not fix the sin issue underneath.

In the the Inability to Control our Mouths James makes it clear that apart from God we cannot control our mouths, because our hearts are still desiring evil things. (7-12)

As an unbeliever, there is no way for you to “clean up your own” heart or “clean up your own” language and you can try with all your might to do those things, but until you turn away from your sinful life and come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, there is simply no way for your heart to be cleaned or your tongue to be controlled

Without Jesus, there simply is no hope for redemption and until you turn to Jesus Christ your mouth will continue to betray your heart and your heart will continue to seek and desire wickedness because you are still enslaved to sin.

My hope and prayer for you, is for you to repent of sinfulness and turn to Jesus Christ. Repent from sin, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved.

If you do this, and you repent, believe, and confess then Jesus will work in your life on this process of sanctification that includes the need to control your tongue. And as you continuously grow spiritually by the transforming of your mind through the study of God’s word, you will become more Christ-like and eventually, after this life, you will be perfected, matured, complete in Jesus Christ; but you cannot do this apart from God. It simply will not work.

So this morning, our application is quite simple: (1) take the word of God seriously because the word of God has eternal ramifications, (2) check what you say, if you’re a believer your mouth should be blessing God and building others up and not cursing man, if you are cursing man then repent from your sin and go back to blessing God with your mouth, and (3) treasure the things of God and love the things of God, the people of God, the word of God, and God himself, because what you treasure in your heart will eventually come out of your mouth. Your mouth will betray what is in your heart.

Closing

Thanks again for joining me this morning. On Wednesday night at 7pm, if your church isn’t livestreaming anything, I’d love to see you on Zoom for a Bible Study and Prayer time. Again, that’s at 7pm, if you can’t utilize Zoom you can also catch the livestream on Facebook that evening as well as we continue in the book of James with James 3:13-18.

Let’s close in prayer.