{"id":18698,"date":"2021-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/james-017-taming-the-tongue-pt-2\/"},"modified":"2021-02-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T06:00:00","slug":"james-017-taming-the-tongue-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/james-017-taming-the-tongue-pt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"James 017 – Taming the Tongue, Pt. 2"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[104],"series_event":[514],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18698","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-james","series_event-james","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"James 017 - Taming the Tongue, Pt. 2","sermon_date":"20210224","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":8863,"sermon_slides":8864,"sermon_mp3":8865,"sermon_id":"22521048441318","series_or_event":514,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":104,"chapter_and_verse":"3:9-12","sermon_transcript":"James:\u00a0 Faith that Works<\/strong>\n\nJames 17<\/u> \u2014 Taming the Tongue Part 2 \u2014 James 3:9-12<\/u><\/strong>\n\nBook of James 3:9<\/u><\/strong>, we weren\u2019t here last week. To reorient us, the book of James<\/u><\/strong> is written by James, the half-brother of Christ from Jerusalem to his scattered flock.\u00a0 He is really writing to them, if you look at numbers 6,7,8 on the slide Answering Eleven Questions<\/u><\/strong>, about practical righteousness.\u00a0 How do we let our practice as Christians catch up with our position?\u00a0 So, it is really a book about living as a believer, and the first half of the book, which I think we will complete tonight, and perhaps even get into the second half, time permitting and Lord willing, is about walking by faith.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t so much talking about faith to get saved; it is assumed that his readers already have that.\u00a0 It is about continuing to trust God through the trials of life.\n\nDuring our prayer time a few moments ago, we went over, by way of prayer, a lot of Christians who we know that are having a hard time.\u00a0 So, if you're a Christian and struggling, the issue is that you don't have to become a Christian again; you already are one; the issue is that we have to learn how to trust God through life\u2019s emergencies, and as we do that, we are beginning to manifest a practice that catches up with our position.\u00a0 He is dealing with that from James 1:1-3:12<\/u><\/strong>.\n\nThat involves:\n
    \n \t
  1. Adopting God's perspective in the midst of suffering James 1:2-18<\/u><\/strong>, which involves rejoicing under trials and not charging God foolishly in the midst of trials.<\/li>\n \t
  2. It also involves not being only a hearer of God's Word but a doer of God's Word James 1:19-27. <\/u><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0How do I become a doer of God's Word rather than just a hearer as a Christian?\n
      \n \t
    1. We need to become slow to speech and anger 1:19-20<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n \t
    2. We need to take in God's Word and obey it 1:21-25<\/u><\/strong><\/li>\n \t
    3. We need to practice true spirituality which involves helping widows and orphans in their distress<\/li>\n \t
    4. Keeping oneself unstained by the world<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n \t
    5. Continuing on in James 2:1-13<\/u><\/strong>, he begins to talk about how to continue trust God through life? Don't show favoritism in the assembly.\u00a0 Don't elevate or show preference to people on the basis of some characteristic such as wealth because when we do, we are operating contrary to God's character and purposes.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t work that way.\u00a0 So, why should we?<\/li>\n \t
    6. We spent a lot of time, 4-5 weeks, on James 2:14-26<\/u><\/strong>, where we allow the faith that is inside of us to begin to manifest itself in good works. At that point our faith does not come into existence; it already exists, now it becomes useful to our fellow man.\u00a0 So, works always accompany a productive and useful faith.\u00a0 We spent a lot of time on that because that is misunderstood by a lot of people, and James gives five illustrations to prove his point.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\u00a0<\/u><\/strong>The chapter division in the Bible is artificial; the Holy Spirit did not put it there.\u00a0 I think the chapter divisions are helpful, but sometimes, they unnaturally bifurcate information in our minds, and I guess what I would like for you to see is how the end of James 2<\/u><\/strong> flows right into James 3<\/u><\/strong>.\n\nAt the end of James 2<\/u><\/strong>, James is dealing with a faith that manifests itself in good works and from that point, James says, \u2018Here is the ultimate good work<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 What is the ultimate good work I can do as a Christian so that my faith is useful?\u00a0 The ultimate good work I can do is to control the 2x2 slab of mucous membrane between the gums called the tongue.\u00a0 If I can accomplish that good work, there isn\u2019t any good work for God that we are unable to do because that is the ultimate good work.\u00a0 That is the good work that we have the most difficulty doing.\n\nSo, James 3:1-12<\/u><\/strong>, is a very convicting passage on taming the tongue, so we started looking at that last time, and made it through 3:8<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 We saw, first, the tongue\u2019s influence, first, in relation to teaching.\u00a0 The tongue is interesting in that it is a small part of the body, yet it wields\u00a0 disproportionate influence, so we can use the tongue in teaching which involves directing the thoughts of people, which is a great privilege, but with the ability to direct the thoughts of people in the right direction, also involves the equal ability to misdirect the thoughts of people.\u00a0 That is why James, as he gets into the subject of the tongue, says, \u2018Let few of you presume to be teachers knowing that the teacher will incur the stricter judgment<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0The gift of teaching is a wonderful thing, but it also goes with tremendous responsibility, as with the power to do good comes the ability to do great evil.\n\nThen in 3:2<\/u><\/strong>, he says that if you can master the tongue, controlling\u00a0 everything else in your life is easy because that is the hardest thing for to master.\u00a0 Then he gives three illustrations to show the power of the tongue relative to its small size.\u00a0 He uses the bit in a horse\u2019s mouth; the rutter of a ship, and a spark that can cause a fire.\u00a0 His whole analogies there are from the lesser to the greater, from the small to the great.\u00a0 So, in the same way, the tongue is a very small part of our total being, yet it wields a disproportionate influence, as do the other things he mentions in those illustrations.\n\nFrom there 3:6-12<\/u><\/strong>, he talks about the tongue\u2019s potential for evil.\u00a0 The tongue in 3:6<\/u><\/strong>, can be used for God but also for satanic purposes.\u00a0 Just talk to Peter about that when you get to heaven, and he will tell you all about it.\u00a0 He says, in 3:7,8<\/u><\/strong> that the tongue is basically untamable when you look at humanity.\u00a0 Humanity has this ability to tame anything right down to putting a man on the moon, so man has this incredible ability to do all of these great things, yet one thing the human race has never been able to do is to control the tongue.\u00a0 He says that it is a restless evil full of poison.\u00a0 Of course, poison kills.\u00a0 That is why the book of Proverbs<\/u><\/strong> says that there is life and death in the power of the tongue.\n\nSo that is what we studied up to last time, and we left off at 3:9,10<\/u><\/strong>, where James now begins to deal with the inconsistency of the tongue.\u00a0 Notice what he says in 3:9,10<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 He makes a point in 3:9,10,<\/u><\/strong> and then in 3:11,12<\/u><\/strong>, he gives three illustrations.\u00a0 What is his point in James 3<\/u><\/strong>, notice verses 9,10<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cWith it [<\/em>the tongue, in other words] 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.\u00a0\u00a0 My brethren <\/em>[those are important words there; it is all important, but notice \u2018My brethren<\/em>\u2019], these things ought not to be this way.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>So, with the tongue, I have this ability to be in church and praise the Lord and to sing hymns, and I have the equal ability on the ride home from church to criticize everything and everyone in the church.\u00a0 I can move from one to the other within the span of only a few minutes.\u00a0 That is the tongue and its inconsistency.\n\nYou will notice here, this very important verse, that \u2018With it, we curse men who have been made in God's likeness<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Notice that human beings are made in the image of God.\u00a0 We know that from Genesis 1:26,27<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 These verses you know really well, 26<\/sup> \u2018Then God said, \u201cLet us make man in Our image, <\/u><\/strong>according to Our likeness<\/u><\/strong>;\u202627 <\/sup>God created man in His own image,<\/u><\/strong> in the image of God<\/u><\/strong> He created him; male and female\u2026\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>Notice that men and women although they play different roles in the church and marriage, they're equal in terms of their value because they both bear God's image.\u00a0 So, it is a lot like the Trinity where God the Son submits to God the Father, but at the same time, God the Son shares in the full essence of deity as does God the Father.\u00a0 So, when the Son submits to the Father, it is a distinction in role, not a distinction in terms of value or worth.\u00a0 That is very important to understand because many people think that as Christians, many think that when it talks about different roles for men and women in the Church, the home, etc, that somehow, we are devaluing women.\u00a0 No, it is not a devaluation in terms of ontology or value or worth, it is simply a distinction in terms of role.\n\nNotice there that men and women both have equal value before God because all of us both genders, bear God's image.\u00a0 Not only are men and women created with the same value, they also will share in the exact same heaven.\u00a0 1 Peter 3:7<\/u><\/strong> explains that the wife is a joint heir of salvation along with the husband.\u00a0 Men and women are both of equal value as image bearers and they're both equal in terms of redemption and salvation because they're joint heirs of salvation.\u00a0 So, it is something special about human beings; this is never said of the animals, to my knowledge it is never even said of the angels.\u00a0 There is something special about humanity because we, male and female, bear God's image.\n\nA lot of people think that because of the fall in Genesis 3<\/u><\/strong>, that somehow, we don't bear God's image and the fact of the matter is that we do still bear God's image after the follow.\u00a0 The image bearing status of humans, post-fall has been effaced but not erased.\u00a0 The vilest sinner on planet earth still has value before God because even in their fallen state, they still bear God's image, and you see that in the New Testament after the fall happened long before.\u00a0 It says in James 3:9<\/u><\/strong>, \u2018We curse men who are made in God's likeness.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>So, the fall, obviously, did not take away from our image bearing status.\u00a0 In Genesis 9:6<\/u><\/strong>, this is post-fall, post-flood, notice that man is still an image bearer of God.\u00a0 That is why God gave the Noahic covenant, which is the institution of human government, that exists to curb and deter violence because if you don't have this government, then humanity will roll back to what it was like prior to the flood where they committed all kinds of crimes with no threat of doing any time.\u00a0 The thing about human government is that if you don't want to do the time, then don't do the crime.\u00a0 Government has an ability to execute murderers, incarcerate criminals and that keeps man from committing violence.\u00a0 God wants our hands stayed or held back from violence because when we are committing violence, we are destroying fellow image bearers.\n\nGenesis 9:6<\/u><\/strong> (and we will catch all of this on a future Sunday as we go through the book of Genesis<\/u><\/strong>), but it says, \u201cWhoever sheds man\u2019s blood,\u00a0 By man<\/u><\/strong> his blood shall be shed, [<\/em>why?] For in the image of God<\/u><\/strong> He made man.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>It is very clear that post-fall, post-flood, the image bearing status in people continues male and female, and that becomes the logic for the institution of human government through the Noahic covenant that God gave to Noah.\n\nThe biblical position on government is not right wing or left wing.\u00a0 If you think about the political spectrum, as you move further and further to the right, what happens is that there is a philosophy of government that becomes lesser and lesser.\u00a0 You move into an almost libertarian philosophy on the extreme right wing.\u00a0 Libertarianism is essentially hands-off in economic matters as well as in abortion or pornography or prosecution of drugs or whatever.\u00a0 So, right wing is actually no government at all.\u00a0 Obviously, this is not the biblical position because God Himself gave the institution of government in the Noahic covenant.\n\nWhen you go to the extreme left wing, they are talking about maximum government that essentially controls everything cradle to grave.\u00a0 As you start moving to the left, you move into socialism and then on the far left is communism.\u00a0 If you properly understand the political spectrum, the left is maximum government, the right is no government.\u00a0 When people call you as a Christian, \u2018a radical right winger<\/em>,\u2019 they don't really understand the political spectrum well.\u00a0 Basically, it goes back to Parliaments where socialists sat on either the right or the left, communists sat on either side, so they began identifying \u2018right or left\u2019<\/em> based on where they sat in Parliament.\u00a0 That isn\u2019t a proper understanding of the political spectrum because the left is total government and right is no government.\n\nThe biblical position on government is basically that you are right in the middle.\u00a0 In other words, you are mainstream as much as they want to call you a radical right winger.\u00a0 Government has a function to restrain evil but there isn\u2019t a lot in the Bible about how the government is supposed to be a safety net for those who can't take of themselves.\u00a0 You would be hard-pressed to find any biblical passage that supports that.\u00a0 That is more the role of charity and the Church.\u00a0 We certainly aren\u2019t on the far left because we don't teach that the Bible promotes maximum government, and we certainly aren\u2019t on the right either where there is no government at all.\u00a0 We believe that government was given by God to restrain evil.\u00a0 Basically, we are in the middle, neither right wing nor left wing.\n\nThe US constitution is basically in the middle.\u00a0 It has a role for government, clearly government powers are enumerated in the US Constitution, but at the same time, as you go through the US Constitution, you would be hard pressed to find anything that says that the role of government is socialism, a safety net, education, healthcare, social security, all these kinds of things the government has taken on today.\u00a0 So, the US Constitution is neither right nor left wing; it is in the middle.\u00a0 The biblical position is neither right nor left wing, it is in the middle, and your views on government, if you're trying to pattern them biblically, is neither right nor left wing, but right there in the middle.\u00a0 That is important because when people use the terms right or left, they don't fully understand how the political spectrum works, they're going by the old model where socialists sat over here, and communists sat over here in Parliament, so there is a lot of confusion on that.\n\nWhy did I go into all of that?\u00a0 I have no idea, it was an ecstatic utterance, I guess, but what I do want you to see is that government came into existence with God\u2019s covenant with Noah because God gave government a function to punish crime.\u00a0 If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime and humans will be held back from crime from fear of punishment.\n\nThe scary thing is when there is a mob-type of situation or power failure; this happened in Los Angeles, I remember with the Rodney King riots where people figured out that they could do whatever they wanted and not be caught.\u00a0 The police couldn\u2019t get into Los Angeles, and we know how that story ended with massive looting and people walked into stores taking whatever they wanted etc.\u00a0 That is what the world would be like with no government.\u00a0 That\u2019s basically what it was like before the flood, and the problem with that is that you have people killing each other and blood spilled of image bearers, and God doesn\u2019t want that because He values human beings, thus his ordinance of human government to protect His image bearer.\u00a0 This is all found in the Noahic covenant, so notice here that man still bears God's image post-fall and post-flood.\n\nAnother verse on this is 1 Corinthians 11:7<\/u><\/strong>, some interesting things on head coverings which we won't get into, but it says here, \u201cFor a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>There it is a third time, Genesis 9:6<\/u><\/strong>, James 3:9, 1 Corinthians 11:7<\/u><\/strong>: human beings post-fall and post-flood, all the way into the New Testament world still bear God's image.\u00a0 So,the fall has effaced our image bearing status, but it has not erased it.\n\nWhen we let loose our tongue on another human being through gossip or slander, malicious talk, defamatory-type statements or antagonism, James wants us to understand that we are attacking someone who bears God's image.\u00a0 That becomes the basis for controlling the tongue.\u00a0 When I vent verbally against someone, I am attacking somebody even if they deserve it in my mind, I am attacking someone who bears God's image.\u00a0 Of course, that becomes the basis for controlling the tongue.\u00a0 Obviously, the theory of evolution has demolished this because according to evolutionary thought, we went for the goo to you by way of the zoo over billions of years, and if you believe that, as this is what is taught around the clock to our youth in the public school system, then what is lost is the dignity of humanity.\u00a0 People are nothing more than naked apes and animals, so if I slander them, so what?\u00a0 That isn\u2019t the way for a Christian to think.\u00a0 A Christian looks at people, even those who aren\u2019t saved and who don't know Jesus, as image bearers of God, so when I understand that, I should think, \u2018Wow, maybe I should rein in my speech as I'm attacking someone who bears God's image.<\/em>\u2019\n\nIt reminds me of 1 John 4:20<\/u><\/strong>, \u201c\u2026for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 How in the world can I say I love God when I'm attacking verbally his children?\u00a0 How can I say I love God who I can't see when I can't even treat with respect, his child that I can see?\u00a0 That is the point James is making with the inconsistency of the tongue.\u00a0 We have this ability to praise the Lord, and then in the next breath, or over lunch, we will have roast church.\u00a0 \u2018I didn\u2019t like the content of the sermon, so we are going to have roast preacher for lunch<\/em>,\u2019 and criticize repeatedly.\u00a0 That was the same tongue that a few hours earlier was singing hymns, so James is pointing out this inconsistency, and when he says, \u2018My brethren<\/em>,\u2019 he is obviously dealing with middle tense salvation.\n\nSo, the lost can't control their tongues, they don't have the Holy Spirit inside of them, but the Christian, who does have the Holy Spirit, and who is growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, must understand, at some point, that God has given us this powerful vehicle called speech that needs to be controlled under God's resources because of its inconsistent nature.\n\nTo get across the point of the inconsistent nature of the tongue, James gives three illustrations in James 3:11,12<\/u><\/strong>; all these illustrations are interesting because they come from nature (see slide on UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS)<\/strong>.\u00a0 I don't know what it was about James, but he was a nature guy.\u00a0 In fact, remember when we introduced this book back in the fall of 2020, I gave you some unique characteristics of the book of James<\/u><\/strong>, and one of the things I mentioned was the third one down on the left (on above referenced slide), illustrations from nature & daily living.\u00a0 That is James; he likes nature; he says, \u2018What is your life, it is like mist that appears for a little while and then it is gone.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 Here he gives three illustrations from nature.\n\nIn the back of your mind, you should have Matthew 16:13-23<\/u><\/strong>, because there, the apostle Peter is a textbook example of someone who was inconsistent in the use of his tongue.\u00a0 I think we talked about this last time, but Peter was taken by the Lord up to a place Caesarea Philippi, which is the far north of the nation of Israel, I have been there myself, and Jesus says, \u2018Who do men say that I am?<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 And Peter coughs up the right answer in Matthew 16:16<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God<\/em>,\u201d 17<\/sup> He said to him, \u201cBlessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Peter had an experience with the Lord where he opened his mouth, and the Lord used his mouth to identify Jesus properly.\n\nThe paragraph does not end there though.\u00a0 Then at that point, Jesus begins to talk about His death and His journey to Jerusalem where He would be mistreated by the Gentiles, and you know the rest of the story.\u00a0 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.\u00a0 You are rebuking the same \u2018Guy\u2019<\/em> that you just acknowledged as God!\u00a0 \u2018Come here, God, I need to have a word with You<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 And he starts to rebuke Jesus because he doesn\u2019t like the idea of a suffering Messiah; Peter liked the idea of a reigning Messiah in a Kingdom.\u00a0 Then you know how that ended, it says, \u2018But He<\/em> [Jesus] turned and said to Peter<\/em>, (Matthew 16:23<\/u><\/strong>), \u201cGet behind me, Satan!\u00a0 You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God\u2019s interests, but man\u2019s<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Now that is the exact same guy who had that great revelation in Matthew 16:17<\/u><\/strong> where the Lord had disclosed to him the proper identity of Christ and Peter verbalized it. \u00a0Just a few verses later, he doesn\u2019t have his mind on the things of God but on the things of man.\u00a0 He opens his mouth a second time, giving satan a platform.\n\nThat is what we are like as fallen human beings; even as Christians walking out the middle tense of our salvation.\u00a0 The sin nature is still inside of us; it will be inside of us until we are out of this body, so we have, at any moment, the capacity to yield to the sin nature or to yield to the new nature.\u00a0 That is why sometimes things that come out of our mouths are very glorifying to the Lord while others are basically devilish, demonic and even satanic.\u00a0 In fact, James will use later, towards the end of this chapter, demonic. In James 3:6<\/u><\/strong> he says that the tongue can be set on fire by the powers of hell, and even satan himself.\n\nTo communicate this inconsistent use of the tongue that we apparently have as Christians, he gives three illustrations from nature.\u00a0 The first is when we use our tongue inconsistently it is like fresh and bitter water<\/u><\/strong> coming from the same source which is unnatural when you think about it.\u00a0 Why would you go to a source and get bitter water from it one second and fresh water from it the next?\u00a0 It is unnatural.\u00a0 That is what we are like \u2014 in this unnatural state.\u00a0 Notice James 2:11,<\/u><\/strong> \u201cDoes a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Illustration #1 concerning the inconsistency of the tongue is fresh and bitter water simultaneously <\/u><\/strong>coming from the same source.\n\nSome of these truths need to be communicated to Christians today because your average Christian thinks that when they join a church that they're joining this sanctified community, and they get very distraught when they see hypocrisy in the Church.\u00a0 As I like to say, to people who say, \u2018I can't join your church, there are too many hypocrites<\/em>,\u2019 we always like to respond, \u2018Well, we always have room for one more hypocrite.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 All of us are like this; we are hypocritical; it isn\u2019t a good thing; it is just the way we are.\u00a0 Just because you join a church, or because you are hanging around with Christians doesn\u2019t mean that somehow the sin nature just disappeared.\n\nNow we have resources to deal with the sin nature that we didn\u2019t have as non-Christians, but the sin nature is there to return to, so when your favorite teacher or pastor or elder or brother or sister in Christ lets you down, don't use that as an excuse to divorce yourself from Christianity.\u00a0 Just use that to say, \u2018Well, there is another illustration of what James is speaking of here, which is why we need to follow the exhortations that James mentions<\/em>.\u2019\n\nThe first illustration is fresh and bitter water<\/u><\/strong> \u2014 James 3:11<\/u><\/strong>\n\nThe second illustration from nature is olives coming from a fig tree<\/u><\/strong> \u2014 James 3:12a,<\/u><\/strong> and in the first part of 3:12<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cCan a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives,<\/em>\u2026.? Now, is that how it works?\u00a0 Can a fig tree produce olives?\u00a0 No, because the book of Genesis<\/u><\/strong> says, \u2018Each produced after its own kind<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 That is the natural order of things.\u00a0 So, when a Christian is using foul speech or has no control over his tongue, it is like an olive coming from a fig tree<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 Something contrary to nature, and the reason is because it isn\u2019t coming from our new nature but from our old nature.\u00a0 That is why the book of James 1:8<\/u><\/strong> tells us about our new nature and spiritual birth.\u00a0 In says, \u201cIn the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.\u201d<\/em>\n\nSo, I have this brand-new nature and when something wrong, sarcastic, hurtful, or derogatory is coming out of my mouth, it is just like an olive coming from a fig tree<\/u><\/strong> because it isn\u2019t coming from my new nature.\u00a0 If it was coming from my new nature, it would be good speech because things produce after their own kind.\u00a0 It is coming from my old nature.\u00a0 In other words, it is a freak of nature is what James is saying.\u00a0 A born-again Christian without control of their tongue is like a freak of nature; they should be speaking out of their new nature, but they keep dialing back into their old nature.\n\nThere it is again, \u2018My brothers<\/em>,\u2019 does it not say that in 3:12<\/u><\/strong>, \u2018Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives<\/em>\u2026\u201d\u00a0 So, again, this is middle tense salvation that Christians wrestle with.\u00a0 If this was addressed to unbelievers, they would be fulfilling their job description.\u00a0 Of course, unbelievers will say perverse things because that is their nature.\u00a0 A Christian ought to be different as we should speak out of our new nature rather than the old nature.\n\nHis third illustration, 3:12, second half of the verse, is like salt water from fresh water<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 So look at 3:12b<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cCan a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs?\u00a0 Nor can salt water produce fresh<\/u><\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>I go to a freshwater hole and salt water comes from it, or I go to a salt body of water and fresh water comes from it; it is a freak of nature because things produce after their own kind going back to Genesis 1<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 This is what we are like when we say things that are wicked; we aren\u2019t bringing forth things that come from the new nature; we are dialing back to the old nature.\n\nLet me show you something; hold your place in James 3<\/u><\/strong> and slip over to Matthew 12<\/u><\/strong> because a lot of people, when they get into this kind of teaching, say, \u2018Okay, Lord give me tongue control; help me to control my tongue<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 When the fact of the matter is that this isn\u2019t the issue.\u00a0 God wants us to use our tongue but to use it in the right way.\u00a0 The issue is not sitting around with a piece of duct tape over our mouths not saying anything.\u00a0 \u2018Lord give me tongue control<\/em>,\u2019 isn\u2019t the issue.\u00a0 The book of Proverbs 4:23<\/u><\/strong> says, \u2018Guard your heart<\/strong> with all diligence for out of i<\/strong>t [<\/em>the heart<\/strong>] spring the issues of life.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>The tongue is nothing more than a window to the heart, so if I have a tongue problem, chances are that I have a heart problem.\u00a0 If, on the other hand, wonderful things come out of my mouth, that means wonderful things are taking place in my heart.\u00a0 The issue here is controlling the heart, not so much the speech because if your heart is under control, then your speech will automatically be under control.\u00a0 Conversely, if your heart is out of control, then your speech will be out of control.\n\nSo, I know that when I am joyful, wanting to praise the Lord, and that\u2019s what's happening in my heart, then those things flow naturally out of my mouth.\u00a0 I know that when I am bitter or angry or worried or anxiety-ridden, and I am not walking moment-by-moment in fellowship with the Lord, then what will come out of my mouth is bitterness, anger, fear, anxiety.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is that you can tell a lot about someone by listening to them talk because the tongue, or the mouth is a window to the heart.\u00a0 What kind of person, character or you dealing with here; what's going in in that person\u2019s heart?\u00a0 Those are the things that naturally come out of their mouth.\n\nThe late Adrian Rodgers had the best statement on it, \u2018What comes up in the bucket was down in the well.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 I throw the bucket in the well and a bunch of mud comes up, that is what was in the well.\u00a0 If I throw the bucket into the well and a lot of water comes up, that is what was in the well, so it is interesting that Adrian Rodgers didn\u2019t originate that; Jesus originated it, that\u2019s why I had you open your Bibles to Matthew 12:34<\/u><\/strong>, He is talking to the Pharisees, \u201cYou brood of vipers<\/em>,\u2026 [no wonder they wanted Jesus dead saying things like that them.\u00a0 They're the religious leaders of the nation, by the way] \u2026 how can you, being evil, speak what is good?\u00a0 For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.\u201d<\/em>\n\nSo, Jesus says that you're speaking evil things because that is your nature.\u00a0 Your tongue is fulfilling the job description of your nature.\u00a0 He is saying that the ultimate problem with the Pharisees isn\u2019t what is coming out of their mouths as the mouth is just a window to the heart; the problem is the heart.\u00a0 You are dealing with unregenerate, unsaved people.\u00a0\u00a0 Then Jesus says this in Matthew 12:36<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cBut I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 I read that and say, \u2018Lord, thank You that I won't be in this judgment;<\/em>\u2019 I won't be in this Great White Throne Judgment that He is speaking of here because I have the alien righteousness of Christ.\u00a0 But for those in that particular judgment, every careless word they speak, they\u2019ll give an accounting for.\u00a0 That is how highly of a premium God places on the tongue or speech or mouth because that is the window to the heart.\u00a0 This is very important in Matthew 12:36<\/u><\/strong>, \u201cI tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting<\/em>\u2026\u201d What does that mean, a careless word?\u00a0 Why is it called a careless word?\u00a0 Why are people judged in the final judgment for a careless word?\u00a0 What is a careless word?\u00a0 It is an unscripted word; a \u00a0word that people speak that is not planned or choreographed.\u00a0 Do not evaluate people by their planned speeches.\u00a0 You should not evaluate my character by my planned sermons that I give you because they aren\u2019t careless words; they are careful words.\u00a0 They are designed words; words that are carefully thought out.\u00a0 In fact, they are so carefully thought out that I could speak them in a way that is inconsistent with what is happening in my heart.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0\u00a0 The careless word is the unscripted word; the word that comes out of a person\u2019s mouth in an impromptu moment.\u00a0 That word is a revelation of their heart because the mouth is the window to the heart.\n\nI remember the European politician, Gordon Brown, being outside of his limousine talking to some elderly lady, and he was telling her all these things, being very nice to her while she was somewhat critical of him.\u00a0 Then he got into his limousine and forgot to turn off his microphone.\u00a0 More political careers have been destroyed by that, by the way.\u00a0 If you are going to run for office, turn the microphone off when off script.\u00a0 He kept running his mouth and it was picked up by the media, and he lost, if I remember correctly, his political position in the next election because of it.\u00a0 So, inside the limousine, driving off, he starts railing against this lady, calling her intolerant, a bigot, etc, what a terrible woman she was; his constituency who he is supposed to be serving \u2014 so, how do you evaluate Gordon Brown?\u00a0 You don't evaluate him by the things he was saying outside of the limousine while he was on-script, on camera, choreographing his statements.\u00a0 You evaluate him by his impromptu statements, that in this case, happened to get picked up by the media, when he didn\u2019t have a chance to choreograph his remarks.\u00a0 That is the careless word that Jesus is dealing with here.\n\nSo, people, on the day of judgment, won't be evaluated by their script or their screenplay or their sermons, but by things that come out of their mouths unscripted because that is the revelation into their hearts more than a choreographed speech.\n\nSo, what comes up in the bucket is down in the well.\u00a0 If we are having a problem with sarcastic, critical, unedifying speech that tears down, anxiety-ridden words, then it is time to go to the Lord, and ask Him, \u2018What is going on in my heart<\/em>? \u00a0Can you help me with my heart<\/em>?\u2019\u00a0 What did David pray?\u00a0 \u2018Create in me a clean heart, O God<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 That is what we need.\u00a0 We need our hearts fixed, and if we are struggling with attitudinal type of sins then we should ask the Lord to help us in the area of the heart.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t a matter of, \u2018Oh, Lord, I'm not going to say anything else.\u00a0\u00a0 Me and my big mouth, I just won't say anything else.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 That won't fix the problem either because the problem is ultimately rooted in the heart, and the heart is a vehicle for the mouth to speak.\u00a0 I think that is why James speaks about sources a lot.\u00a0 What comes out of a source of water, a vine, of our mouths is connected to the heart.\n\nSo, this then becomes an incredible twelve verses on practical righteousness.\u00a0 It strategically follows works accompanying useful faith, and then James with no paragraph break here.\u00a0 I am back in James 3<\/u><\/strong> now, says, no verse division, \u2018Here is the ultimate good work you can do<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 \u2018Lord, what good work should I do to be practically righteous?<\/em> \u2018\u00a0 Here is the greatest one.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, if you can get this one down under God's power, anything else is easy, and that is control of the tongue.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t a membrane issue, it is a heart issue because the gnostics taught that the physical world was evil; the tongue is evil, so I will just cut out my tongue or bite it, a famous saying as it goes.\u00a0 Don't do that too much, it will hurt.\u00a0 \u2018Give me tongue control, and I just won't talk.<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 The problem isn\u2019t the tongue because we aren\u2019t gnostics; we don't believe the physical world is evil by itself.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t anything inherently evil about the tongue.\u00a0 The problem is that the tongue is an, expression of the heart or the soul, with which I can go right or wrong directions.\u00a0 The tongue is merely a manifestation of that.\n\nThe tongue\u2019s influence per James 3:1-5<\/u><\/strong>, in teaching in all of life with three illustrations, and then 3:6-12<\/u><\/strong>, the tongue\u2019s potential for evil; its satanic potential in 3:6<\/u><\/strong>; its un-tamable nature in 3:7,8<\/u><\/strong>, and its basic inconsistency in 3:9-12<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 It is the most inconsistent part of who we are, and that\u2019s why it needs to be reined in according to God's power.\n\nNow, what happens is we move away from faith trusting God as Christians through life into wisdom.\u00a0 He starts a discussion of wisdom in 3:13<\/u><\/strong> all the way to the end of the book of James<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 The first thing he does, in 3:13-18<\/u><\/strong>, is to define wisdom.\u00a0 What is wisdom?\u00a0 After he defines wisdom, he will apply it to every area of life:\n\n-Spirituality \u00a0James 4:1-12:<\/u><\/strong>\n\n-Commerce or business or finance 4:13-17<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 You mean the Bible has something to say about the business I'm trying to run, or my working for someone else?\u00a0 Yes, that is part of wisdom; wisdom is applied not just within the four walls of a church but to your whole life, including your financial life.\n\nUse of wealth 5:1-6<\/u><\/strong>\n\nThen he will apply wisdom, properly defined, to waiting for the Lord\u2019s return 5:7-12<\/u><\/strong>\n\nThen he will apply wisdom to prayer 5:13-18<\/u><\/strong>\n\nThen, what do you do when one of your Christian friends is in sin and they need restoration?\u00a0 That will require some wisdom, won't it?\u00a0 Jesus said that\u2019s like taking a splinter out of someone\u2019s eye.\u00a0 Have you ever tried to take a splinter out of someone\u2019s eye?\u00a0 That is a tough job.\u00a0 Taking a splinter out of someone\u2019s eye requires moving in with tremendous skill and delicacy.\u00a0 That is what it is like when restoring an erring brother or sister.\u00a0 Or maybe one of your kids has wandered off the path and is into sin.\u00a0 James 5:19-20<\/u><\/strong> is for that purpose, too.\n\nSo, notice that wisdom is defined in 3:13-18<\/u><\/strong>, and then is applied to the various areas above.\n\nWisdom is demonstrated by her actions 3:13<\/u><\/strong>, but the good old King James version says in 1 Timothy 6:20<\/u><\/strong>, \u2018there is science falsely called or knowledge called;\u2019 <\/em>not all knowledge is knowledge from God.\u00a0 <\/em>Did you know that?\u00a0 There is knowledge from the earth, so he will explain what earthly wisdom is like, and it isn\u2019t good, 3:14-16<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 But then in contrast to that, he will explain heavenly wisdom, not wisdom from the earth but wisdom from above.\n\nSo, you get a definition of wisdom here where wisdom will be demonstrated by her actions (3:13<\/u><\/strong>), and how to tell, if at any moment in your walk with the Lord, you are dialing from earthly wisdom or heavenly wisdom, because we want the latter.\n\nAfter he straightens us out on that, he then says, \u2018Okay, let's take this out for a test drive; let\u2019s apply it to every area of life<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Spirituality, commerce, wealth, waiting for the Lord\u2019s return, prayer, and restoring the erring brother \u2014 that is the direction that we are moving into next week.\n\nWe will stop here\u2026","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t