July 18, 2010

Week Four – “Faith Exercises Speech Control” James 3:1-12

“1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

Three pastors went to the pastor convention and were all sharing one room. The first pastor said, "Let's confess our secret sins one to another. I'll start - my secret sin is I just love to gamble. When I go out of town, it's cha-ching cha-ching, let the machines ring."

The second pastor said, "My secret sin is that I just hate working. I copy all my sermons from those given by other pastors."

The third pastor said, "My secret sin is gossiping and, oh boy, I just can't wait to get out of this room!"

Your tongue is dangerous and can be hurtful to others and eventually will come back on you.

How many of you remember a hurtful thing said to you 20 years ago or longer?

WHAT JAMES TELLS US ABOUT THE TONGUE

Leaders must have their tongue under control, V. 1

James says don’t try to be a leader if you don’t have your tongue under control. I am going to share some things with you later that will make this even more clear, but there is enough right here to make the point.

Leaders and teachers have significant impact on the hearts and minds and spirits of people under their influence. Because that is true they will be judged severely by God – and for that matter, by man – as that is as it should be!

If you are assuming the role of a leader or a teacher and your life is out of control and your tongue occasionally spews poisons and hurtful stuff you are in a world of hurt and you are creating a world of hurt. Do yourself a favor and do God a favor and do everyone else a favor and step out of leadership until you get it under control.

Controlling the tongue is a test of spiritual maturity, V. 2

Before they speak, spiritually mature people ask themselves:

• T—Is it true?

• H—Is it helpful?
• I—Is it inspiring?
• N—Is it necessary?
• K—Is it kind?

If we can’t answer any of these in the positive, then we should think twice about saying anything.

Controlling the tongue is very difficult, Vv. 3-9

An out of control tongue is very destructive

Like a wild untamed beast

Harriet, the church gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the church’s morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business. Several were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked all afternoon in front of the town’s only bar. She commented to George & others that anyone seeing it there would know that he was an alcoholic. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment & walked away. He said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Harriet’s house and left it there all night.

Like a fire,,,,,

At 9:00 p.m., Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, the great Chicago Fire began on DeKoven street in a barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. The fire would burn for the next two days; before it was finished it would blacken three and one half square miles of the city and destroy over 17,000 buildings before it was checked by gunpowder explosions on the south line of the fire. The fire left over 100,000 people homeless and cost over 300 lives. But, ironically, that was not the greatest inferno in the American Midwest that year. Historians tell us that on the same day that dry autumn a spark ignited a raging fire in the North Woods of Wisconsin which burned for an entire month, taking more lives than the Chicago Fire. A veritable firestorm destroyed billions of cubic yards of precious timber—all from one spark!

Like deadly poison….

Someone has calculated that for every word in Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, 125 lives were lost in World War II. Perhaps our words will not cause wars or wreck cities, but what we say can break the heart of loved ones, ruin reputations and destroy friendships. Worse still is the knowledge that our words can destroy souls, sending them into eternity without Christ. How many people have been turned away from following Christ because of intemperate words of God’s professed people!

Josh McDowell shared, “Before I discovered that my cell phone had a lock screen button I would often accidentally dial the last number in my cell phone’s registry. The biggest problem was that I never realized that it had happened. I would go on with normal life and my cell phone would be on for an extended period of time without my knowing that it was on. When I would discover that it was on… either when I picked it up to make a call or when the person on the other end would hang up, and call me back to laugh at me, I would have this strange fear overcome me. What did I say, when I didn’t know that someone else was listening? Did I gossip? Did I say something evil? Did I make a joke that I would not want the person on the other end to know about? Well that it is how it is with the Holy Spirit all the time! It’s like your cell phone has accidentally called God and you didn’t know it. Would you live your live differently if every conversation and ever thought you ever had was being accidentally broadcast across the cell phone in your pocket to your Pastor? Well it is not being broadcast to your Pastor, but your every thought and the ear of God hears every word!”

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT YOUR TONGUE?

TRY TO MANAGE IT?

LET GOD DEAL WITH IT?

WHAT THE TONGUE TELLS YOU ABOUT YOURSELF

You don’t have a tongue problem - have a heart problem……

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks," states Matthew 12:33.

“But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'9For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean';” Matthew 15:18-20

"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:36-37

Four Fundamental Heart Problems:

Guilty Heart – Guilt says, “I owe you” – (I took something from you)

If I have a guilty heart how does that express itself in my speech?

Guilty Hearts Give Excuses

Guilty Hearts Accuse Others

Angry Heart– Anger says, “you owe me” - (you took something from me)

An angry heart reveals itself through the tongue:

Angry Hearts Are Hurtful – They Blame You

Angry Hearts Are Hateful – They Burn You

Greedy Heart – Greed says, “I owe me” – (I will take something for me)

The greedy heart betrays itself by speaking these ways:

Greedy People Complain

Greedy People Center On Themselves

Jealous Heart – Jealousy says, “God owes me.” – (I missed something)

Jealous hearts express speak like this:

Jealous People Criticize

Jealous People Compare

Jealous People Celebrate

So, what should I do?

Deal with your heart issues! Get your heart right to get your tongue under control.

To Deal With A Guilty Heart – confession (to person offended)

To Deal With An Angry Heart – forgiveness

To Deal With A Greedy Heart – generosity

To Deal With A Jealous Heart - celebration

If you want to tame the tongue – get to the heart of the problem!

Proverbs 18:21 – “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

“Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:10

HERE AT THE END OF THIS ADMOTION ABOUT THE TONGUE JAMES CONCLUDES BY TELLING US WE CAN CHOOSE HOW WE USE OUR TONGUE. IF ENOUGH OF US MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS WE COULD MAKE THIS CHURCH INTO A LIFE-GIVING PLACE – A HOPE-FILLED PLACE….. WHERE DO YOU NEED GIVE PLACE IN YOUR HEART TO GOD?