Sunday’s Sermons

Text: James 3:5-12                                                          8/23/09 p.m.

Thesis: The tongue’s potential for harm cannot be underestimated.

Intro:  This morning we looked at the tongue’s potential for doing good. Though small, the tongue is capable of great good. It’s the master key for maturity.

Like a bit in a horse’s mouth or a rudder on a ship a tongue guides the entire body.

If you can get that tongue under control by aiming at the heart and speaking like Christ then you are a mature man able also to bridle your whole body.

But what if you can’t bridle your tongue? What if you don’t want to bridle your tongue?

Before going after jealousy and selfish ambition in the church James wants us to understand just how harmful an email, a phone call, a word in passing, a conversation, or an angry comment in the heat of the moment can actually be.

If this morning was about the potential good of the tongue then tonight is about the potential harm of the tongue.

Read James 3:1-12

I) The tongue is undoubtedly capable of great harm

a)      Let Smokey the Bear teach you about your tongue

i)        Think about the incredible strength and monumental stature of a great forest.

(1)   Davy Crockett National Forest

ii)      Now think about the incredible strength and minuscule stature of a small fire.

(1)   That hobo’s fire made of scraps

iii)    The original was written in such a way to emphasis the polar opposites of something monumental and something minuscule.

(1)   Repetition of ἡλίκον

iv)    That small, seemingly insignificant fire is capable of torching that strong and mighty forest.

II) The tongue is a fire

a)      Verse 6 gives us some matter of fact descriptions of the tongue

i)        Your tongue is that small fire

(1)   Do not underestimate the potential harm that one small word can cause

(2)   Johnny Cash killed a man in Reno just to watch him die. Our wicked hearts like to set fires just to watch people burn.

(3)   Every small word carries a great potential. Will you trust that a fiery word will do more good than a grace-filled word? What will you say when wronged?

b)      I hope you see in this verse that we are to understand that the tongue is more than a muscle in our mouths but is the teleprompter of the soul.

i)        The tongue is a world of unrighteousness

(1)   Every evil can be found in the tongue

(2)   Think about it…

ii)      The tongue is set among our members

(1)   To set or appoint is to give authority

(2)   The tongue is the top dog in our members

(3)   James 3:2- If you can bridle it you can bridle you whole body.

(4)   Your tongue is not insignificant

iii)    In this place of preeminence the tongue is quite well adapted for staining your whole body

(1)   When I think about something being stained and the terrible effects of it I think of JD Rockwell’s cataract surgery.

(2)   Details and outcome of the stain…

(3)   Your tongue, if left without restraint and given no positive direction will defile all that you are.

(4)   Your tongue will lead you into a heap of trouble. Your tongue will destroy you.

(5)   Your tongue is capable of defiling you

iv)    And your tongue is capable of defiling all that is around you

(1)   Verse 6 says that the tongue sets on fire the entire course of life.

(2)   All the intricate connections that you are involved in are quickly and easily burned to the ground with a word.

(3)   How many of us have blown years of biblical work with one fire-breathing sentence?

(4)   How many times have you said something you wish you could take back? You saw…

c)      But what gives the tongue such terrible potential?

i)        The tongue is set on fire by hell

ii)      The word for hell in this verse is Gehenna it’s the word Jesus used to refer to hell.

iii)    Only Jesus and James use this word to refer to hell. This is just one more of the many connections between the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of James.

iv)    Gehenna was originally a valley used for burning trash and later a place of human sacrifice.

v)      With such a reputation Gehenna become a perfect description of hell, the place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43).

vi)    Think about how harmless and how harmful a match is; the difference rests on the match being set on fire.

vii)  The tongue is harmful precisely because it is set on fire by hell.

viii)            Do you want proof that there is a literal hell? Listen to the way a husband talks to his wife. Listen to the way siblings talk to each other.

ix)    The grace-less hopeless self-centered pain of hell is behind the grace-less hopeless self-centered painful words coming out of your mouth.

x)      Do you see how matter of fact the Holy Spirit is about the tongue?

xi)    Think about that phrase, “I didn’t mean it”.

xii)  That’s what we say after we discover that we hurt someone more than we intended with our words.

xiii)            The tongue is a world of unrighteousness. In it’s place of preeminence it stains the body, destroys relationships, and at the root of these words is a grace-less hell.

xiv)            The tongue is undoubtedly capable of great harm

III) Our next point is humbling. On your own you cannot control the tongue

a)      Every creature can be tamed by man

i)        Read verse 7

ii)      To tame something is to domesticate it. You calm it down. You give it some order. You make useful what was once unruly and of no practical use.

iii)    Man is capable of taming everything in water, on the land, and in the air.

iv)    That’s an amazing feat; something to be celebrated and applauded. That’s a big deal.

b)      But no human being can tame the tongue

i)        You are not capable in and of yourself of ruling the unruly tongue.

ii)      You have better chances domesticating a great white shark than you do domesticating your own tongue.

iii)    But do not despair. This truth is meant to humble us so that we seek the help of God. You can’t do it on your own but you can tame the tongue with God.

iv)    James 4:6 tells us that God gives grace to the humble

v)      Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

vi)    The path to maturity, the goal of a bridled tongue, is never attained by the proud.

vii)  The humble reach maturity because they rely on grace.

c)      The humble are those who admit that the tongue is a restless evil

i)        The double-minded man of chapter 1 verse 8 is unstable in all his ways. He’s going this way then that way. He’s trusting God then he’s trusting himself.

ii)      He wants what God wants then he’s rejecting what God wants. He is all over the place.

iii)    Unstable in 1:8 is the same word translated restless in 3:8.

iv)    The tongue is an evil that never ceases. Are you ready to admit that your tongue is not just full of evil but is in fact evil?

v)      But it’s not just any evil it’s a restless unceasing evil.

d)     The humble admit that the tongue is full of deadly poison

i)        Emphasis. Emphasis. Emphasis.

ii)      The tongue does not just possess poison; that would get the truth across; your tongue is capable of great harm.

iii)    No, it’s more than that. The tongue is full of poison.

iv)    I love listening to Abby learn how to use words and it’s fun to watch her learn how to detect the differences between words.

v)      One funny phrase that has stuck when describing a full cup is “filled to the grim top”…

vi)    Your tongue is filled to the grim top with poison.

vii)  In all humility put your name in verse 8…

IV) The duplicity of the tongue displays its evil

a)      Verses 9-12 teach the unfortunate truth that what is not found in nature is unfortunately found in the tongue

i)        Let’s start with verses 11&12 (read them)

(1)   Pour- gush, abundance

(2)   Fresh or sweet- γλυκύς

(3)   Is it possible for a gushing spring to pour forth good water one minute, bitter water the next minute, and then back to good?

(4)   It is impossible.

(5)   Has anyone ever seen a tree change its very nature in the middle of fruit-bearing season?

(6)   Can the Dead Sea give you fresh water? Every third cup that you dip out of the Salt Sea will it come out sweet and tasty?

(7)   Nature testifies that like produces like and there is no deviation.

ii)      This stability is a testimony to the greatness and stability of God.

(1)   James 1:17 teaches us that God doesn’t change. There is no variation or shadow due to change in our God.

(2)   The stability of a spring, the produce of a tree, and the unchanging saltiness of the sea testify to us every day- God doesn’t change.

b)      The duplicity of our tongues teaches us that we are not God and we are in need of grace.

i)        Read verses 9&10

ii)      Bless- to praise, to say a good word.

iii)    These aren’t just good things said about God these are good things said to God, “we bless our Lord and Father”

iv)    Curse- to cause injury or harm through the things that we say.

v)      What makes blessing God and cursing man so terrible is the truth found in the end of verse 9.

vi)    People are made in the likeness of God.

vii)  How can we say a good thing to God one minute then say a harmful thing to the likeness of God the next?

viii)            How can you sing God’s praises in the sanctuary then the minute you step into the foyer or close the car door you start running down people made in God’s image.

ix)    This displays your depravity. You need God’s forgiving and changing grace.

x)      From the same source come good and bad, blessing and cursing, sweet and bitter, figs and olives, salt water and fresh water.

c)      Do you hear the plea found in the command of verse 10?

i)        My brothers, these things ought not to be

ii)      This is not okay. This must change.

iii)    How can we talk bad about people and complain in Sunday School then gather and worship God?

iv)    How can we angrily pour forth venomous words at our spouses and children until the phone rings and then we answer it with Jesus-filled sweetness?

v)      This ought not to be so.  This must change about you. This must change about me. This must change about Mambrino Baptist Church.

V) Here’s how we change

a)      Read James 4:9&10

i)        It is time to get serious about the sin of your tongue. It’s not funny. It’s not cute. It stinks. It’s proof of hell.

ii)      It is sin. Get honest with God. Humble yourself and admit your need for help in order to change.

b)      Read James 4:8

i)        It’s time to repentant. Getting honest is not repentance. Getting honest is the first step toward repentance.

ii)      This is what I did and I am sorry because it is highly offensive to you God.

iii)    I have set lives on fire instead of building people up.

iv)    I am stained with the sins of my tongue. I am defiled by the fires of hell coming out of my mouth.

v)      This is not Your way, God. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Give me the grace to change.

VI) Tonight I want us to close with a simple but powerful prayer

a)      God show me the sins of my tongue and give me repentance and grace to change.

b)      Where the Spirit speaks make it right with God and man. Listen to Him and do what he says. And listening doesn’t matter if there is no doing.

c)      Mambrino Baptist Church we are doers of the word.