The Power of the Tongue 4
Notes
Transcript
James did not live in our society and culture
His culture and society was different than ours externally.
People are people wherever you go
Circumstances or the external may change, but the flesh each of us battle deals with pride and sin
The culture in which James was familiar with and wrote to:
Synagogues would have “open platform” policy
Custom that made room for visitors or members of the congregation to speak
Jesus took advantage of this feature:
And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.
And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Paul took advantage of this as well:
And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said,
Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.
Others took this as opportunities to preach Jesus Christ
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Masters - didaskalos - teacher
There were some teachers, like James, Paul, Timothy, and others that taught the truth carefully, but there were others that Paul had to warn Timothy about:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Self-appointed teachers or those who taught with wrongly
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
James understood that every word spoken would be held accountable
He warns the brethren, that it is not wise, to have many teachers teach
This was the cultural thing to do, but James understood that this was not wise
James gives us the standard:
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Offend - stumble or trip
James grew up in a home where he saw perfect speech. It didn’t come from his mother or father, but rather from his older brother, Jesus
Every word Jesus spoke was perfectly placed:
No moments of vitriolic speech after someone mistreated Him
No angry and vain words spewed out
Every thing Jesus said was good
No cursing or swearing
Never did Jesus tell one lie or speak a cross word
Not a suggestive moment or a vulgar joke
He saw Jesus use His words to teach, encourage, debate, rebuke, and warning in perfect wisdom, love, kindness, and truth
James knew that, His perfect brother, His Saviour Jesus controlled His tongue like no one else
Thus the statement - If you can control your tongue, you can bridle (control) every part of the body
James shows us the standard in which all of us are to aim - Christ Jesus our Lord!
Death and life are in the power of the tongue:
And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
The Controlling Power of the Tongue
The Controlling Power of the Tongue
A controlled tongue demonstrates a yielding of self
James 3:3
Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
ILL - Barnabas Beverley, bought and subdued a fierce and ungovernable horse. The horse had just thrown its owner, Captain Slingsby of the guards. In his rage, the bruised and battered captain decided to auction off the intractable steed to the highest bidder. He described it as an ugly, vicious beast that nobody could hope to ride, a regular terror that had already killed one groom and would doubtless kill another. Barnabas bought him.
While Barnabas was settling his accounts, “the great black horse, tired of comparative inaction, began again to snort and rear, and jerk his proud head viciously,” a proceeding that alarmed the two hostlers who were holding it. Having finished his business, Barnabas proposed to ride the black fiend.
“In that moment the powerful animal reared suddenly, broke from the grip of one hostler, and swinging the other aside, stood free, and all was confusion.” A groom sprang for the horse’s head, but Barnabas was ahead of him. He caught the hanging reins and swung himself into the saddle.
“For a moment the horse stood rigid, then reared again, up and up, his teeth bared, his forefeet lashing.” Barnabas brought down the heavy stick he was holding between the flattened ears, once, twice, and brought the animal back to earth again. The struggle for mastery began.
In the end, Barnabas won. He dropped the stick, leaned over, and patted that proud head. Now his hand was gentle. He spoke to the horse softly and eased his tight grip on the reins. He sat back and waited. The battle was over. The horse gave in. Now all that was needed was for Barnabas to indicate his will by means of the bit and bridle.
If man can control a powerful animal like a horse with a simple bit (bridle) in a horses mouth, why cannot we control our tongue?
If a Christian is willing to bridle the tongue, it demonstrates a yielding to the Holy Spirit in life
A controlled tongue navigates life carefully
James 3:4
Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
James knew about the sea - He knew the great ships of crossing the Sea of Galilee were controlled by a simple piece called a governor or rudder
ILL - The battle cruiser Bismarck. She was the pride of the German navy, the newest and most powerful ship afloat. She could make short work of convoys. Britain’s two biggest and fastest luxury liners, the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary, were racing back and forth across the Atlantic, relying on their speed to out sail the U-boats. The Bismarck, however, was faster than they. Moreover, no ship in the British navy could face her alone.
When news was received that the Bismarck was at sea, the Admiralty sent the battleship Hood and the carrier Prince of Wales to intercept and sink her. Hood was England’s largest and most powerful battleship, served by two thousand officers and men, but she was twenty years older than the Bismarck. As for the Prince of Wales, she was brand new and was still not completely finished. Civilian workers still were on board when she put to sea to fight.
The first encounter was disastrous. The Hood was blown up and sunk with all hands, and the Prince of Wales was hit and broke off the engagement. All that the Bismarck suffered was a hit by one shell that damaged a fuel tank and caused the ship to slowly lose oil. She was now footloose and fancy-free. The oceans were before her. She could play havoc with British shipping. The situation was desperate. The sea-lanes were Britain’s lifeline for survival. The war would be over if the Bismarck could sink enough ships.
The British admiralty scraped together a small fleet in hopes of catching the Bismarck before she could get back into port. One of the ships was the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, an experienced ship but ill equipped with only antiquated sword-fish aircraft to send against the powerful foe. The aircraft took off. One came in for the attack, swooping at the stern as she swung low. The wake of a torpedo could be seen. On board the Bismarck, the captain tried to swerve out of the way, but it was too late. The torpedo struck, and the Bismarck’s rudder was jammed.
The Bismarck was now almost within sight of France. A few more leagues, and she would be safe. The Luftwaffe would be able to protect her from her foes. But the Bismarck was doomed. With a jammed rudder, all she could do was steam in a big circle. Admiral Lutjens put a brave face on to his crew. He spoke of the two British ships now closing in. “We can sink the King George V,” he boasted. “We can make the Rodney run away, as we did the Prince of Wales. By noon tomorrow, we’ll be surrounded by U-boats, and then no one will dare attack us.”
Darkness descended, and five British destroyers took up their positions and began to torment the foe. Then the King George V arrived, all thirty-five thousand tons of her, with her massive sixteen-inch guns and her speed of twenty-four knots. She began to fire, and still the Bismarck steamed in her doomed circle on the sea. Shells began to explode as hit after hit was registered. Her hull was reduced to a shapeless ruin, and smoke poured out from everywhere. She became a floating wreck; and then, ships with torpedoes were sent in to finish her off.
All because of the rudder! Once the rudder got out of control, the great ship was lost.
Just as a great ship can be lost by lack of control with the rudder, so can a great ship be safely navigated by the rudder!
If a Christian learns to use the tongue wisely; it can bring life!
A tongue can be controlled
James 3:5a
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
The tongue does not make up a large part of our bodies physically, but it’s power is unmistakable
Boasteth - megalucheo - meg-aw-hhhe-o - Boast - lifting up - literally: to lift up the neck
Boasting
Look what I can do!
Haughty
Don’t you know who I am
Provocative
If you do ____, I will do this to you
Pro 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue:
And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Pride - building up one’s self
Eph 4:29
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Humility - gracefully edifies and builds up others
The Destructive Power of the Tongue
The Destructive Power of the Tongue
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Notice how James begin to show the destruction a tongue can cause:
Great a matter - is referring to that of a forest - a forest that is ignited through the fire of the tongue
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out:
So where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire;
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
Roast marshmallows in front garden of my parents - wasn’t a big fire, but the dry conditions led to the whole field catching fire
3 Ministers fishing
Catholic - drink
Methodist - smoking
Baptist - gossip
The tongue is an arsonist!
Exploring the Epistle of James: An Expository Commentary (b) The Untrammeled Tongue (3:5b–6)
Take, for instance, the history of the Second World War. The Third Reich lasted twelve years and four months, but it caused a holocaust of destruction on this planet more violent and earthshaking than anything that the world had ever experienced. At one point, the Germans reigned supreme from the Atlantic to the Volga, from Norway to the Mediterranean. But then the tide turned, and the German people were thrust down to the uttermost depths of destruction, desolation, and despair. During the days of their power, the Germans instituted a far-flung reign of terror that outdid in savagery all of the oppressions of the past.
By the end of September 1944, the Germans had seven and one-half million slaves to do their will. Most of those people had been dragged from their homes and transported to Germany in boxcars from all over occupied Europe. They were put to work in the factories, the mines, and the fields. They were beaten, starved, and deprived of proper clothes and shelter. Families were savagely broken up as a matter of course. Children were beaten, brutalized, put to work, or killed. Jews and Slavs were looked upon as subhumans who were unfit to live and exterminated by the millions. Prisoners of war, especially Russians, died in captivity in vast numbers. The Germans retaliated for acts of sabotage by freedom fighters. The formula was one hundred to one—one hundred hostages rounded up at random and shot for every German life lost. The fate of Jews was death in the extermination camps. At Auschwitz alone, at the peak of operations, six thousand Jews were gassed every day. The joke among the German exterminators was that Jews came in by way of the gate and left by way of the chimney. Atrocious medical experiments, barbarously conducted with great cruelty, were routine. And millions of people died on the battlefields as a matter of course. The whole world became engulfed in the carnage.
The human cost of Hitler’s attempt to seize world power staggers the imagination. Thirty-five million lives were lost. On the battlefields, one out of every twenty-two Russians was killed, one out of every twenty-five Germans, and one out of every 150 Britons. The toll on the Jews was even higher—two out of every three European Jews perished in Hitler’s attempt to rid Europe of all of its Jews.
This vast conflagration was kindled by one man’s tongue. Adolph Hitler was an orator, a master at whipping his audience into a frenzy. He could mobilize men by the millions at a word. His rages cowed visiting statesmen, and his tirades paralyzed his top generals. And his countrymen, urged on by the lash of his tongue and mesmerized by the power of his words, fought on and on, long after the war was lost, until all of Germany was reduced to rubble.
James was right! How great a forest can be set ablaze by a mere match. Europe was the forest. Hitler was the match.
Creates a framework for unrighteousness and wrongdoing
James 3:6a
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
World - Kosmos - co-sm-os - created and set in order
Iniquity - adikia - ah-dik-key-ah - unrighteousness and wrongdoing
The tongue is as dangerous as fire:
Lies
Filth
Smooth as butter
Sharp as a knife
Curse
Cajole
Criticise
Complain
Yield death
Flourish life
There is no evil to which the unregenerate heart of man is heir that the tongue cannot promote
Sin came into the world:
Gen 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:12-13
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Adam - God’s fault and Eve
Eve - Serpent
Gen 4:8-9
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Lie
Disrespectful
Arrogant
Organised society
Gen 11:3-4
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
World capital was to promote a society that was self-centred and humanistic as they wanted to promote their name above everything else
God’s response was to confound their speech into different languages
Over 5,000 different languages around the world
Saints
Abraham - lied twice about his wife, Sarah
Moses - called God’s people rebels and through his fit of rage smote the rock instead of speaking to it like God instructed - this caused him to never set foot on the Promised Land
David - lied to Ahimelech the priest that would result in the death of Ahimelech
Stains the testimony
James 3:6b
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Defileth - to blemish ⇔ stain v. — to mar or impair with a flaw (as ritual impurity); conceived of as marking or discoloring with foreign matter.
Mat 15:11
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
When someone is caught in a lie, we say they are a liar - Has everything they’ve done been a lie, NO. Is everything about them a lie, NO. However, that lie has stained the testimony.
Woman coming to the Pastor at the end of the service during the appeal - Large church with a large platform and long curved steps stretching for over a hundred meters
I’ve been a gossip and I’d like to lay my tongue at the altar
Pastor looked to his left then to his right from one end of the steps of the altar to the other
Maam our altar isn’t long enough for your tongue
The Persian Gulf War also taught us afresh the risks of fallout. An estimated one million to six million barrels (a barrel equals forty-five gallons) of oil were released into the Gulf (as compared with 250,000 barrels spilled by the tanker Exxon Valdez off the coast of Alaska). At one point, the Iraqis deliberately brought in loaded tankers and dumped their contents into the Gulf. About three hundred miles of the shoreline waters were contaminated, and wildlife was killed in a wide swath along the coastline. Then the Iraqis set fire to more than six hundred Kuwaiti oil wells, sending black plumes of smoke, soot, carbon dioxide, and toxic gases into the air. This pall of doom was carried downwind for some five hundred miles. One estimate was that one hundred thousand tons of carbon, in the form of soot, and fifty thousand tons of sulfur dioxide were released into the air every day by this wholesale act of vandalism. Acid rain was one result. Also, black rain, caused by the enormous amounts of soot in the air, fell.
Destroys the circumstances of life
James 3:6c
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Setteth on fire - set ablaze - Burned up
The course of nature - wheel of life
James pictures here the circumstances of life that revolve around and around - lives moving forward, growing in the Lord, serving Christ, reaching others with the Gospel and then an unruly tongue ignites and disrupts everything!
Tongue can ignite:
Passions of lust
Envy
Hatred
Malice
Murder
Many other evils!
Mom - Pastor Cowgill
Church shut down to nothing!
Fed by the fire of Hell
James 3:6d
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
There was Caiaphas, for instance, Israel’s reigning high priest. When all of his other tricks failed, he wrapped his tongue around the most solemn oath in the Jewish legal code
Mat 26:63
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
As Jesus affirmed His deity, Caiaphas, then used Jesus’ response to sentence Him to death
False witnesses:
Mat 26:59-62
Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
Beat Jesus
Mat 26:68
Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
Herod Antipas
Luke 23:7-11
Wanted to see a miracle, but Jesus would not answer or perform for him
Set Jesus at nought and mocked Him
Chief priests and scribes
Accused Jesus vehemently in Luke 23:10
Persuaded the Jerusalem mob to choose Barabbas over Jesus and demand that Christ be crucified in Mat 27:20-22
Mocked Jesus at Calvary as He hung on the cross:
Matt 27:41-43
Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
These tongues were set on fire from hell! They were devilish in deed and destruction!
A tongue set on fire from hell can destroy lives!
REMEMBER, James is talking to Christians - Some of the most hurtful things that have wounded my heart have not come from the world, but from those that were saved.
The Untameable Nature of the Tongue
The Untameable Nature of the Tongue
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Circus - Elephants, Lions, horses, monkeys
Knowsley Safari Park - Falcons that are trained to fly certain directions - In days past, kings would not be “noble” amongst others if there wasn’t a falcon or eagle that could capture prey to bring back to it’s master
Parrots that are trained to carry on conversations
Snakes are trained to respond to certain musical instruments and notes
Seaworld - Sea lions, dolphins, killer whales
Maple
Sunday morning routine - goes to her area of the sofa and ignores what we are doing knowing that she will be alone for most of the day
Going for a walk - she shakes with excitement barely able to contain the anticipation
She knows where “Go lie down” is and what it means
She knows when someone is going outside that there may be a chance to play
Man knows how to train these great animals, yet the tongue is beyond our natural ability to tame
Even the most seasoned, wise, gracious, kind men have said things that they would like to recall and change.
The fleshly nature of man cannot tame the tongue.
James displays what an untamed tongue exhibits:
Wildly lethal
James 3:8b
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
The best of humanity has tried to bite their tongue from saying what should not be said - without success
The wound inflicted from the tongue has killed trust and wounded with a strike that penetrated deeply the heart.
Apology has been given, but the wound and mistrust are there to be seen.
John Bunyan - Pilgrim’s Progress:
One of those characters was a man named Talkative. Faithful, a brother beloved by Christian, was at first quite taken with the man, but Christian knew Talkative of old. He was a resident of the City of Destruction. He warned his fellow pilgrim, “This man,” he said, “will beguile, with this tongue of his, twenty of them that know him not.” He continued, “He talketh of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth: but he knows only to talk of them.” Christian knew him to have been the ruin, with his tongue, of many. And so Faithful found him to be when he tried to get beyond the man’s talk to his walk.
Alexander Whyte preached a message on this very subject, Talkative. It’s recording in his book, Bunyan’s Characters:
Take detraction, for an example, one of the commonest, and, surely, one of the most detestable of the sins of the tongue. And the etymology here, as in this whole region, is most instructive and most impressive. In detraction you draw away something from your neighbour that is most precious and most dear to him. In detraction you are a thief, and a thief of the falsest and wickedest kind. For your neighbour’s purse is trash, while his good name is far more precious to him than all his gold. Some one praises your neighbour in your hearing, his talents, his performances, his character, his motives, or something else that belongs to your neighbour. Some one does that in your hearing who either does not know you, or who wishes to torture and expose you, and you fall straight into the snare thus set for you, and begin at once to belittle, depreciate, detract from, and run down your neighbour, who has been too much praised for your peace of mind and your self-control. You insinuate something to his disadvantage and dishonour. You quote some authority you have heard to his hurt. And so on past all our power to picture you. For detraction has a thousand devices taught to it by the master of all such devices, wherewith to drag down and defile the great and the good. But with all you can say or do, you cannot for many days get out of your mind the heart-poisoning praise you heard spoken of your envied neighbour.
Never praise any potter’s pots in the hearing of another potter, said the author of the Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle said potters pots, but he really all the time was thinking of a philosopher’s books; only he said potter’s pots to draw off his readers’ attention from himself. Now, always remember that ancient and wise advice. Take care how you praise a potter’s pots, a philosopher’s books, a woman’s beauty, a speaker’s speech, a preacher’s sermon to another potter, philosopher, woman, speaker, or preacher; unless, indeed, you maliciously wish secretly to torture them, or publicly to expose them, or, if their sanctification is begun, to sanctify them to their most inward and spiritual sanctification.
Backbiting, again, would seem at first sight to be a sin of the teeth rather than of the tongue, only, no sharpest tooth can tear you when your back is turned like your neighbour’s evil tongue. Pascal has many dreadful things about the corruption and misery of man, but he has nothing that strikes its terrible barb deeper into all our consciences than this, that if all our friends only knew what we have said about them behind their back, we would not have four friends in all the world. Neither we would. I know I would not have one. How many would you have? And who would they be? You cannot name them. I defy you to name them. They do not exist. The tongue can no man tame.
The tongue looks to strike at that opportune moment inflicting a wound that is lethal in its dosage
Exhibits treachery
James 3:9
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
John Phillips - Those who have attended a Welsh football match, especially a championship game, sometimes tell of having had this experience. While the people wait for the event to begin, they fill the vast stadium with harmonious song. The Welsh love to sing! It is their natural pastime. They instinctively take their parts. The great hymns of the faith come readily to their lips, and their tongues sound out the great anthems of the church. You would think that it was a Billy Graham crusade, not a soccer match, to which the crowds have come. The whole arena rings and rings again with hymn after hymn, all in majestic four-part harmony, and God’s name is exalted in resounding songs of praise.
Then the teams come in, and the fans forget the hymns. They watch each play. Just let a player fumble the ball, the goalie fail to block a play, or an umpire make an unpopular call, and fans will explode with oaths and curses. One would think that the destiny of nations rather than the outcome of a mere game hung in the balance. The same tongues that a short while before sang the praises of the living God now curse the unfortunate player whose mistake cost the Welsh team a goal.
We have experienced this same thing - On our way home from church:
someone cuts in front of us in traffic
child begins to misbehave
queue at the restaurant is too long
James 3:10
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Repeats the the message - the HS uses James to reiterates and emphasise the message - the same person that blesses Gos issues curses to men
My brethren - SAVED
This should not done!
This is a Peter:
Luke 22:31-34
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Luke 22:54-62
Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
Our speech ought not to be treacherous - It ought to be singular and reflective of our Holy God!
The Revealing Finesse of the Tongue
The Revealing Finesse of the Tongue
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
As the tongue begins to move, it reveals what is inside.
And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
It reveals with great finesse what I am focusing on!
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
This applies to everyone - Takes Jesus’ name lightly - beware!
Following the victory over Jericho, Joshua, leading the army of Israel said:
And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
The waters became bitter, unusable, and the ground was barren
And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?
And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
New cruse - Picture of Jesus - nothing that Jericho had would do - it needed a new vessel!
Salt - Cleansing and preserving properties
Just as God healed those bitter waters, God can change our tongue!
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
No good in my flesh
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Bitter water comes from the flesh
Sweet water comes from the Spirit of God