Sunday’s Sermons

Text: James 3:1-5                                                            8/23/09 a.m.

Thesis: The heart guides the tongue and the tongue guides the body.

Intro:  We’ve been talking a great deal lately about God’s judgment of us based upon our works.

Today we transition a bit in order to focus on the importance of our words.  In a sense we are looking at our words which are our works upon which we will be judged.

Jesus connected all of these (words, works, and judgment) when he said, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt 12:36&37)

And the reason so much weight can be placed upon our words is because “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34)

If you are good out of your good treasure you will bring forth good.

If you are evil out of your evil treasure you will bring forth evil.

Your treasure is the storehouse of your heart. The condition of your heart directs the words of the tongue and the words of the tongue set the direction for the entire body.

Because of this connection between the heart and tongue James has already written, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”

Your words are an accurate representation of your heart. As the tongue, so the man; let’s see why this is so important.

Read James 3:1-12

I) Since we will be judged according to our words teachers must be ever vigilant.

a)      Teachers make a life for themselves or at least a name for themselves by their words.

i)        This is because a teacher is responsible for explaining God’s Word to God’s people.

ii)      1 Corinthians 12:29 mentions teaching as one of the spiritual gifts.

iii)    1^st Timothy 3:2 requires that a pastor be able to teach

iv)    Titus 1:9 requires that a pastor be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it.

v)      Titus 2:3 commands the older women in the church to teach the younger women how to live godly lives.

vi)    Those people who faithfully fulfilled the calling to teach God’s word were held in high esteem.

vii)  Those elders who labored in preaching and teaching were to be considered worthy of double honor which certainly included a paycheck (1Cor 9.11; Gal 6.6).

viii)            Being a teacher provided a good reputation and for some it paid the bills.  It was an attractive position.

b)      People were rushing into the office without thought of the coming judgment and were causing problems in the church.

i)        James’s mention of bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, quarrels, and speaking evil against one another betrays illness in the church; teachers would have surely been involved. Tongues were causing problems.

ii)      James addresses these problems in the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4.

iii)    The problems the tongue causes between people will come. Now, in verse 1, James focuses our attention on the problem the tongue causes between a teacher and God.

iv)    Obviously James considers himself to be a teacher. He includes himself in the “we” who will be judged.

v)      He feels the weight of the reality of God’s stringent standard for teachers.

vi)    James 4:12 says, “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.”

Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

vii)   You teachers will be judged with greater strictness.

viii)            Everyone will be judged by God. Everyone will have his deeds exposed and his motives revealed.

ix)    You will have to give an account for everything you did and for every desire that caused you to do what you did.

x)      God is going to judge and he is going to be harder on teachers. God is harder on those who teach others.

xi)    Literally, “they will receive a mega judgment”.

xii)  With great potential comes great responsibility. It is to your own peril if you view the responsibility of teaching as some light or insignificant matter.

xiii)            Not many should become teachers, first, because teachers will come under a mega judgment.

xiv)            The second reason not many should become teachers builds on the first

c)      The danger of the coming judgment is heightened by the fact that, verse 2, we all stumble in many ways.

i)        James was quick to associate himself with those who teach and he was quick to associate himself with those who stumble in many ways.

ii)      Teachers, you are headed toward a judgment day where God will be harder on you than the majority.

iii)    And being a teacher doesn’t give you any immunity from sin. If anything, being a teacher increases your opportunities to stumble because of the greater volume of words related to your duty.

iv)    Every teaching opportunity, every conversation, either stores up treasure in heaven or piles up condemnation.

v)      When I was doing my bible reading this week, I saw example after example of teachers who got it wrong.

vi)    Hananiah taught God’s people to trust a lie and God killed him (Jeremiah 28:15-17).

vii)  The prophets Ahab and Zedekiah would be roasted in the fire for speaking lying words in God’s name (Jeremiah 29:23).

viii)            Shemaiah prophesied when God did not send him making the people believe a lie and so he and his family were cut off from the good (Jeremiah 29:31-32).

ix)    Pray for me. Please pray for me. I want to be an approved workman because I handle God’s word correctly and teach it to you faithfully.

x)      But I stumble in many ways.

xi)    Pray for your Sunday School teacher. Pray for Paul Henebury. Being a teacher is a wonderful calling that must be discharged well. The stakes are incredibly high.

xii)  Now in verse two James begins to expand his subject. Verse 1 was explicitly for teachers. Verse 2 grows to include all of us, teacher and pupil alike, who stumble in many ways.

xiii)            The remainder of verse 2 teaches us that

II) Your tongue broadcasts your spiritual maturity level

a)      Do you see that in verse 2? If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man.

i)        Here as before, perfect or complete carries the idea of mature; one who is declared righteous because his faith directs him toward obedience.

ii)      Can you list some of the marks of maturity that we’ve studied so far? Joyfully meeting trials as you move toward maturity, asking for and possessing wisdom, quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, a doer of the word, cares for the poor, widow, and orphan, possesses a faith that works.

iii)    And now we’re given another marker of maturity: “does not stumble in what he says”.

iv)    This builds on what it is to bridle the tongue in James 1:26.

v)      When you don’t stumble in what you say your tongue doesn’t trip you up. Your tongue doesn’t trip others up.

vi)    Maturity is seen in those whose mouths do not lead into sin. Immaturity is seen in those whose mouths lead into sin.

vii)  James is going to unpack what it looks like for a mouth to lead a person into sin so we’ll camp out there in the next couple of weeks.

viii)            What James is doing here in verse 2 is setting forth the tongue as the master key to maturity.

ix)    Look again at verse 2 and let it sink in. (read it)

x)      If you can master the tongue, keeping it in check, putting a bridle on it and steering it then you are a perfect man, able ALSO to bridle your whole body.

xi)    If I could beat Michael Jordan or Koby Bryant in one on one then the guys down at the gym can be defeated too.

xii)  Beating the master proves your capabilities to beat the lesser. The tongue is the master that must be subdued.

III) Two illustrations prove the importance of the tongue

a)      With a piece of metal we direct an entire horse

i)        Read verse 3

ii)      And that bit doesn’t put itself there. That horse won’t come up and ask for the bit. You’ve got to put the bit in the horse’s mouth.

iii)    Why do we put bits into horses’ mouths? So that they will obey us.

iv)    The goal is to get that horse, his entire body, to go where you want him to go.

v)      Without the bit, without control of the mouth, then it can be difficult to get that horse to obey.

vi)    You’ll struggle to persuade that horse to your side.

vii)  But if you can get the mouth you can guide the whole body as well.

viii)            If you can control your tongue then you’ll be perfect, able also to bridle your whole body.

ix)    Many of your difficulties all throughout your life, the struggles of your whole life, can often be traced back to the fact that you don’t have your tongue under control.

x)      If you can learn to bridle your tongue, to stop stumbling in what you say, then you can guide your entire body.

xi)    With our next illustration we get a little more information to help us control the tongue.

b)      With a very small rudder we guide a ship.

i)        Read verse 4

ii)      Look at the ships also. Look at exhibit B which clearly supports what James is teaching.

iii)    Let’s ask some more questions: What type of boat is this? Is it small or large?

iv)    It’s a large boat. Don’t think of your neighbor’s bass tracker that you wish you had. Think of a large boat with sails able to handle the rough sea.

v)      Because this large boat is, verse 4, driven by strong winds. Not just any winds but strong winds propel this boat and this substantial boat handles the pressure.

vi)    And what guides this large boat which is driven by strong winds? A very small rudder.

vii)  A small, often tongue shaped device, is responsible for guiding this large vessel.

viii)            Your tongue is like that rudder.  Trials are crashing against you and either driving you toward maturity or driving you toward the rocks of despair.

ix)    What crucial member do you need to get under control if the boat of your life is going to make it joyfully to port?

x)      Get that tongue in check.

xi)    Now the end of verse 4 pulls back the curtains so that we can see how to get that tongue in check.

xii)  Who is controlling that rudder on that large boat?

xiii)            The will of the pilot is directing that boat.

xiv)            It is interesting that James didn’t just write, “wherever the pilot directs” but “wherever the will of the pilot directs.”

xv)  The desires of the pilot are the ultimate cause of the angle of the rudder and therefore the entire direction of the boat.

xvi)            The will of the pilot sets the rudder and the rudder directs the entire vessel.

c)      James wants to make the connection clear

i)        Read verse 5

ii)      So also, there is a one for one correlation. Put the boat and the tongue side by side and you will see how similar they are.

iii)    Here’s the connection: the bit is small, the rudder is small, and the tongue is small.

iv)    If we didn’t know better or if we weren’t honest we’d say that the bit and rudder didn’t matter.

v)      If we were foolish we’d say that what we say doesn’t matter.

vi)    But though the tongue is small it boasts of great things.

vii)  Now keep the connection.  Is the boasting of a bit and bridle hollow words or do a bit and bridle actually work to direct a horse? A bit it capable of backing up its boasts.

viii)            Think about a rudder. Is it just empty talk to say that if you turn the rudder you can turn the boat? Is that a myth or is a rudder capable of backing up its boasts?

ix)    A tongue is capable of great things. We’ll talk about the dangers of the tongue tonight but what you need to nail down today is the truth that your tongue is capable of great good and your tongue is capable of great harm.

x)      If your tongue is out of control then you are out of control. If you’ve managed to bridle your tongue then it’s a sure thing that you are headed toward maturity in other areas.

IV) I want to close with some practical helps for controlling your tongue.

a)      First, you’ve got to aim at the heart.

i)        To turn the boat you’ve got to change the will of the pilot.

ii)      You say what you say because of the condition of your heart. Change your heart and your tongue will follow.

iii)    Don’t blame difficult people and hard situations. Other people do not force you to say what you say.

iv)    The condition of your heart, the will of the pilot, is forcing you to say what you say.

v)      So you are angry, hateful, hurtful, and bitter because of some sin in your heart. Some desire has gone haywire.

vi)    Some good thing has become an idol to you and you didn’t get it so now anyone who crosses your path is going to pay. You’re going to rip them to shreds.

vii)  So now that you now the cause of that angry thing, that harmful thing, and that sexually immoral thing stop and repent.

viii)            Ask God to show you your heart. Ask the Spirit to point out the exact unmet desire, the idol,  that caused you to say what you said.

ix)    Get the help of a godly fellow believer. Ask someone who will tell you the truth to help you track down your desires.

x)      Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? God can (Jeremiah 17:9&10). And God is in the business of using his teachers to help his people understand their hearts.

xi)    The key to controlling the tongue is being honest about your desires. You have to aim at the heart.

b)      Finally, make the commitment to talk like Jesus

i)        Ephesians 4:29 sums it up. Memorize it. Write it on a note card and put it in places where you often get angry.

ii)      Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

iii)    You don’t have to speak your mind. Running your mouth and feeling free to say whatever you want are not good things.

iv)    Speaking the word of God at the right time so that every one who hears is challenged to become like Jesus is a good thing.

v)      Speaking the word of God so that the power of Christ is made evident for change is a good thing.

vi)    People need to hear you speak the truth in love. This church needs you to only say what builds up and gives grace.

V) It is time for change.

a)      I wonder if there is a husband here this morning whose desires and words are driving the ship of marriage toward the rocks.

i)        Will you repent today? Will you seek your wife’s forgiveness? Will you root out those selfish motives with the Holy Spirit empowered word? Will you get some godly help?

b)      I wonder if there is a parent or child here this morning whose desires and words are causing nothing but destruction in the family.

i)        Will you repent today? Will you seek your child’s or your parent’s forgiveness? Will you commit to getting to the root of the problem? There is hope for you.

c)      I wonder if there is a church member here this morning whose desires and words are defiling many in this church.

i)        Will you repent today?  Will you seek our forgiveness? Will you turn from your sin and embrace the mission of Christ as you give your life for the good of others?

d)     I stand ready today to help anyone as best as I can. I stand ready today to pray with you. Please get the encouragement and help that you need to be a perfect man.