"See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 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 both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. 11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh."
Good Morning my beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's day! Let us rejoice for another day to worship and praise Him. We're so glad to have you here with us today. Please know, that we continue to lift all of you up in our prayers. We would ask that you would do the same for us. We would also appreciate if you would share our website with all of your family and
friends.
Taste your words before you spit them out. Nothing is opened by mistake more often than the mouth.
In
Matthew 12:36-37, Jesus said "
But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
And Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
Scripture repeatedly tells us that our tongues are troublesome. Therefore, we must acknowledge that our speech is
often the source of great heartache, both to us others and to God. The tongue, uncontrolled by the Holy Spirit, is an affront to God. Though the pen is mightier than the sword, the tongue is mightier even still.
Unfortunately, today, our society seems not to draw a line between what is acceptable and unacceptable speech. Hate speech, evil speech, foul language have become the cultural "norm." In my days of growing up, ungracious, unkind, speech that was considered inappropriate or not respectable, simply was not tolerated. I believe it is because of that, I have absolutely no tolerance for that language today. I believe that may be in part that I had my mouth washed out with soap on several occasions. But also as it relates to my theology. I believe that if James were alive today, he would emphasize the necessity of people washing their mouths out spiritually, if not literally.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You again for Your Word to us. today. Lord, grant us the power to control the tongue, to speak gracious words that build one another up, we pray that it be that every time we open our mouth.
May people know know that we are Yours not only by what we do but what we say. We thank You for not only giving us a new heart, and with it, a new tongue, may we minister grace to the hearers. May we use it to heal, bless You and glorify Your name.
We pray in Jesus' name
Amen
Today's Message: Taming The Tongue Part II
There are Christian families today whose homes are filled with constant
bickering, yelling parents, fussing children and husbands
and wives arguing, criticizing and nagging each other. But have you ever noticed how easy it is for your mouth to "switch gears" on Sunday morning as you walk into church?
According to findings by several leading neurosurgeons, the speech center in the
brain has total dominion over all the other nerves in the body. If that is true, than the words that we speak can greatly affect our actions, our entire body, and can determine the course of our lives. In other words, if you continually speak negative words of fear, doubt and
discouragement, you are setting the course of your life to live in
discouragement and defeat. If you constantly talk about your
problems, your sickness, lack of finances...you will continue to live in them. And, in contrast, if you will take control over your tongue, fill your mouth with
faith-filled words and the powerful Word of God and begin to speak it
forth, you will be setting the course of your life to live in victory.
Since, as Christians, our actions are based upon the infallible Word of God and not upon
man's wisdom, let's compare these findings with the Word of God. Open your Bibles with me to the third chapter of the book of James. I imagine that our message was a little too convicting last time. James is again telling us that rue believers will have a sanctified tongues!
I invite you to follow along with me as I read our text, to set it well in our minds as we prepare our hearts for what the Spirit is saying to us.
James 3:5b-12.
"See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh."
As Christians, we are to speak differently than other people, not perfect mind you, but certainly differently. In Ephesians 4:29, the Apostle Paul says "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." In other words unless your salvation manifests itself in the way you speak, your salvation is nothing more than self-deception. If we’re truly new in Christ, we will have a pure speech. That doesn't mean our speech is perfect, but we will take the responsibility to ensure that we have a pure speech. In other words, whatever God says will be true of you, must be true of you, if you are truly in Christ. God will produce them in us, however, He will only produce them in us through our commitment to them.
So when James speaks of the tongue, he speaks of the truth that the tongue will reveal the heart condition, and at the same time, he calls us to do everything we can to see to it that it does. Verse 5b, he says "See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!" The contrast here is staggering. Fire has such an amazing capacity to destroy. With a single match, you can destroy an entire forest or city, because fire has a way of multiplying. James says the tongue, it is like fire; because what is says can set an entire forest ablaze.
Interestingly enough, water cannot multiply itself. If you have a cup of water and you pour it out, it will not become a flood. I believe that the imagery James uses here is very vivid.
Verse 6, "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell." Many scholars debate as to how to translate this verse, yet, however you do it, the message is clear. The tongue is a deadly, powerful source of evil that contaminates every part of
our being. Therefore, if we do not exercise great caution, when we use our tongues, we are spiritual arsonists, carelessly igniting fires that are certain to cause widespread
destruction.
Proverbs 26:20 says it this way, "
For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down." The image here is that the talebearer, a gossip, one who passes on the evil report of the slander, which is like the wood that fuels the fire. The tongue is a fire that kindles and burns. As Christians, we should never be the fuel that keeps anybody’s fire going.
Are your words filled with grace, encouragement, love, and praise? Or, are they filled with negativity, discouragement, and criticism?
Notice verse 6 again, "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness," that
is certainly one the strongest statements ever made on the danger of the mouth. The word James uses for world, is the word "kosmos." And the word "adikía," A world system of inequity. James is saying that the tongue is the system of evil. An unrighteous potential evil that falls short of God’s standard. In other words, a microcosm of evil among our members. That statement is so strong! No other bodily part has such far reaching potential for disaster as the tongue. In the tongue is a system of evil, which defiles the whole body.
He goes on to say "and is set on fire by hell." The word hell is a translation of the Greek word gehenna,
which described a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem, south-southwest of Jerusalem in fact, is where all the city’s
waste was taken to be burned. Originally, it was a place where
sacrifices were made, literally human sacrifices. They were worshiping this false idol by to the god Molech, by offering their children in a fire to be burned. It was a place of burning flesh of little children. It was the combination of garbage and burning flesh, and became known as "Gehenna of Fire," because the fire never went out.
It eventually it became a
perpetually burning heap of rubbish, which was filled with worms and all
sorts of vermin that feasted on the rubbish. Gehenna is the Valley of Hinnom. Jesus used the place as an
illustration of hell, and James picks up on that usage here to
illustrate that a hateful, destructive tongue is satanic at root. That's very vivid imagery. When our lips are unclean we speak for Satan!
Then, in verse 7 he says "For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race." In Genesis chapter 1, God gave Noah the power to control the animals to make sure they got in there two by two. And today, man still dominates; man still is able to tame animals.
Here, James teaches that the problem of speech is easier to tame a tiger than the tongue. In other words, our self-will is insufficient as a tamer of the tongue. The tongue resists even our best efforts to bring it under control. God has given man the ability to tame even the most wild of animals, however, yet, has not the ability to tame his own tongue.
In verse 8, "But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison." If the tongue is satanic in nature, it is sure to be filled with the poison of the serpent. He is saying the tongue is uncivilized, undisciplined, humanly untameable; and that’s why it’s so dangerous.
There is only One who can tame the tongue, and that it is the very Person who created the tongue. God Himself. Although the tongue cannot be tamed by our best human efforts, it does not however, negate our responsibility to attempt to control it. Therefore, we must learn to think before we speak. I have learned that the longer I wait to speak, the less reactionary I am, and the less I am prone to use words in ways that are unpleasing to God. Ultimately, everyone is better off. The self-righteous response to which we are so very prone, is far more likely to be from Satan than from God!
One of the greatest hindrances keeping many Christians from putting into
practice and applying what they have learned in their lives, is the words
they are speaking. Instead of speaking out the powerful,
faith building Word of God, their words are filled with negativity, criticism and
ultimately, defeat. They spend most of their time talking about their problems.
As part of the family of God, God wants you speak His Word with power
and authority to meet the needs in your life, and to bring healing and
deliverance to those around you. Before this truth can become a reality and begin to work in your life,
you must however, have a revelation of the tremendous power that is in God's
Word.
Genesis chapter 1, "
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created
the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which
the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its
kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule 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.” 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 rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."
Beloved, God's Word has not changed! That creative force is the same today as it was in Genesis chapter1. God's Word is eternal. It is alive. And, it is powerful. As you speak the Word of Faith, you are releasing that same creative power.
Verses 9 and 10, "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way." Here, James is pointing out, that the tongue is inconsistent in what it proclaims. How easily our tongues drift swiftly from blessing to blasphemy, from doxology to damnation! When we speak evil of others, we blaspheme them, for they are made in the image of God. God has given us tongues to declare His praise, and when we
simultaneously declare blessing and cursing we are in essence denying
the gospel. The most beautiful function of the tongue is to bless God.
The same mouths of the Pharisees blessed God in one breath and cursed Christ with another. From out of the mouths of all of us, comes both blessing and cursing. James tells us "My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way." That's a strong negative, by the way. James is saying "It's not right! God saved us, He transformed us, and when He transformed us, He gave us a capacity for new speech, and He expects us to speak that way. "
In verse 11, he demonstrates the obvious with three illustrations. "Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" "Does a fountain send out," He uses the Greek word "bruó," meaning to be full to bursting, to gush with, "from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" Of course not, it’s impossible. He is saying, that we profess that our roots are deep in the well, and yet the water we bring forth is brackish. Brackish water, sometimes referred to as brack water, is water
occurring in a natural environment having more salinity than freshwater,
but not as much as seawater. If the water from the well is brackish then we need to search deep for the problem. Let nature teach you that obvious, you can’t have sweet and bitter water coming out of the same fountain
Now, in verse 12, he says you cannot have olives on a fig tree, and you can’t have figs on a vine. "Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh." Surely not one of us can read these words and remain unscathed by them. We are
all inconsistent in what we proclaim and what we profess. At the end of verse 12, Nor can salt water produce fresh." That's the conclusion. True believers will be revealed in their speech. He’s right back to where he started. If you are a true believer, it should be able to be seen in your speech. If you have truly been transformed by Christ, your speech will show it. That's what he is saying.
In Closing..
Someone was said, I believe it may have been Groucho Marx, "Speak When You’re Angry and You’ll Make the Best Speech You’ll Ever Regret."
As we each reflect honestly on these words, may we experience an "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" moment. May we then confess our sin and turn from it.
Humbling ourselves under the
mighty hand of God, for He will indeed lift us up. May we never excuse
the sins of our tongue while simultaneously condemning the
sins of the body. We must remember what the holy Scripture teaches, that the tongue is clearly the
most destructive member of the body, but let us also remember that
forgiveness of the sins of the tongue is available just as surely as
forgiveness of any other sin we commit.
May we use our tongues to proclaim the good news to the lost and praise God for His amazing
grace!May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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