Taming the Tongue

1. Taming the Tongue Text: James 3:1-12 April 27, 2014

2. James 3:1-12 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

3. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

4. Two weeks ago: A living, genuine faith will lead to a life of obedience. Faith works! • The big idea:Control of the tongue is evidence of a transformed heart. • Outline 1. Small things cause great results (1-5a) 2. The tongue has power to destroy (5b-12)

5. 1. Small Things Cause Great Results • A Warning “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers The problem: Selfish ambition! Matt 23:5-7 - They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. Right motives flow from a right heart.

6. The reasons (3:1b-2) for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. • Divine judgment • Teachers are sinners, too • The act of teaching imperils the tongue Point? Is is so hard NOT to sin with the tongue.

7. The Power of the Tongue (vv. 3-5a) 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

8. 2. The Tongue has the Power to Destroy (5b-12) A. The destructive power of the tongue (vv. 5b-6) How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. The tongue, being the most difficult part of the body to control, becomes the conduit by which all of the evil of the world around us comes to expression in us.

9. The uncontrolled power of the tongue 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Human beings may subdue animals, but the tongue no one can tame. • It is a restless evil – “always liable to break out” • Full of deadly poison (Psalm 140:3)

10. The revealing power of the tongue (vv. 9-12) 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. As Christians who have been transformed by the Spirit of God, we should display a wholeness and consistency of heart in what we say. Only a renewed heart can produce pure speech; and consistently pure speech is to be the product of a renewed and transformed heart.

11. “If your strength lies only in yourself it may soon be cut off. If your strength is in God, you will hold your ground.” William Gurnall Gaining victory over angeris one of the biggest issues with the tongue: “You want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible that you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way? It is the only way in which I can ever kill it, I must go to the cross with it and say to Jesus, “Lord, I trust Thee to deliver me from it.” This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Charles Spurgeon

12. May the Mind of Christ My Savior May the mind of Christ my Savior Live in me from day to day. By HISlove and pow’r controlling All I do and Say.