Let’s ponder on this for a moment before we plunge into today’s Scripture.
1 Samuel 2:2
“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God.”
If you are a son or daughter of God you are one of the most privileged souls in the universe. And, being in that category might cause someone to be prideful or boastful but anyone who is a child of the Holy One knows that it is only because of the mercy and grace of the One and only true God that we have that privilege.
Let’s say 1 Samuel 2:2 together!
James 3:1-12 NIV (the Scriptures are divided up like this for PPT purposes)
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
“We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
“When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
“Or 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. Likewise, 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. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
“Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
The tongue - who’s got your tongue?
Of course we think of the tongue as verbal communication.
Language, the flow of information from one person to another.
These days much person to person communication is done by text using the very same function of language.
There are emails, blogs, vlogs, texting even old fashioned methods like calling on the phone or speaking directly to each other!
In this passage James is warning about the repercussions of an out of control tongue! Or … is he warning about the results if that little flapping piece of flesh is under the control of the wrong spirit?
Look at this little statement …
James 3:8a LEB
“No human being is able to tame the tongue.”
So, what do we think the problem is with an out of control tongue?
Perhaps the question should be, “Who has a hold of your tongue?”
Let’s take a little walk down the avenue of 1 Corinthians 13 and put our tongues or what we say to the test. OK?
Love is not boastful:
Were there boastful people in the Bible? Of course there were. There were people going around preaching and putting down others as if they themselves were superior to the apostles. The apostle Paul was fighting this in his letters to the Corinthians.
So, what is the response of one whose tongue is controlled by the Lord?
Isaiah 45:25 NIV
“But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the Lord and will make their boast in Him.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24 LEB
“The wise man must not boast in his wisdom, and the warrior must not boast in his might, the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
“But only in this must the one who boasts boast, that he has insight, and that he knows Me, that I am Yahweh, showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,’ declares Yahweh.”
Galatians 6:14
“But as for me, may it never be that I boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
When it came to boasting those who failed the test were still living unspiritual lives and the old self-centered nature was controlling their tongues.
While those who were boasting in the Lord were controlled by the Holy Spirit.
You know, we talk about being crucified with Christ and we glibly quote the Scripture but there are Christians in the middle east who are literally being tortured and crucified for Christ right now!
This week I read about Christians who were praying for their captors as they were having their heads cut off! One was looking up to heaven and praying for the person who would soon kill him. They had no boast but Jesus.
Who had control of those with righteous tongues? What say ye?
What other bit from 1 Corinthians 13 might have to do with the tongue?
Love does not delight in evil?
Our old friend gossip!
Illustration:
GO AHEAD AND GOSSIP Harriet, the church gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the church’s morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business.
Several residents 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 and others that everyone seeing it there would know that he was an alcoholic. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and then just 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...
Did you know that gossip can be the truth? What you say in gossip can be completely true! You can even disguise it as a prayer request.
I remember once observing a conversation. There were two married couples sitting at a table, Tom and Mary and Fred and Wilma. Tom and Mary and Fred knew that a former youth pastor of their church had fallen into terrible sin. Of course, all sin is terrible but this sin had a grievous stigma attached to it.
The only one who didn’t know was Wilma.
They were sitting together and all of a sudden you could see Mary’s eyes light up and start into, “Did you hear about …” when Fred stopped her in her tracks and told her that she did not need to tell what she was about to say. Mary protested saying that she was only telling so that we could all pray for him.
Fred’s reasoning was that Wilma didn’t need to know about the sin in particular.
The man had moved far away so there was no danger to the congregation.
There was no danger to the reputation of the church.
We know that God does forgive sin and forgets the sins we have confessed.
We don’t have that same ability to forget. It sticks with us.
Was Mary really sending out a prayer request or was she “delighting in evil” for the sake of gossip. Suppose that man turned away from his sin and came back to the Lord and moved back to the area. Would he be welcomed back into the church with the stigma associated with that sin if everyone knew because it had been passed around as a “prayer request”?
Would it be helpful that everyone had known about and prayed for his specific sin or would it be enough just to know that he was in spiritual trouble?
Never believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; never tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary - and that God is listening while you tell it. - William Penn
Or as Kevin Dunlop once told me, his Grandfather would say, “Just because you know something doesn’t mean you have to say it!”
So, when a person gossips they need to ask, “Who’s got my tongue?”
You see, when we think about the bit in the horse’s mouth being compared to the tongue of a human we need to know who is controlling the reins connected to that bit.
When we think about the rudder of a great ship being compared to the tongue of a human we need to know whose hand is it that is guiding that rudder?
When we think about a small spark setting a forest on fire being compared to the tongue of a human we need to know who is controlling that fire?
When a man is sitting on the saddle of a horse holding onto the reins that are attached to the bit in the horse’s mouth he can decide if the horse will take him to a brothel or a prayer meeting, depending on who controls the man.
Once again let’s look at this segment of a verse
James 3:8a LEB
“No human being is able to tame the tongue.”
That certainly seems hopeless doesn’t it? It’s kind of like the theme of Romans 7 where Paul is telling of the struggle between the desires to obey the laws of God and constantly being conquered by the power of the sinful nature.
Never in that chapter from verse seven onward is God asked for help. It only reveals the failure of a human attempting to live a righteous life before God in their own strength.
But in Romans 6 and 8 and throughout the New Testament where the Holy Spirit is filling the soul of the person there is victory through Jesus Christ.
Praise be to God!!
In the same way a human alone cannot control the tongue because the whole man is controlled by the old sinful nature. The old sinful nature is sitting in the saddle controlling the reins which are attached to the bit.
But when Jesus takes control things change in a big way! PTL!!
Here’s the thing. God gave us tongues and language!
Those of us who are sons and daughters of God are supposed to be becoming more like Jesus all the time.
When that happens our tongues will reflect more and more the likeness of Christ and less and less our old sinful selves.
Acts 15:32 NIV
“Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 LEB
“Finally, brothers, rejoice, be restored, be encouraged, be in agreement, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
1 John 4:14 NIV
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.”
Acts 1:8b LEB
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.”
Matthew 5:44-45 LEB
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good …”
1 Timothy 2:8
“Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and dispute.”
The tongue can wound or heal (like a murderer’s hands or a surgeon’s hands)
What if we imagined our words as hands, would they be punching or helping?
The Lord has wonderful things for us to do with the language He has given to us if only we will allow Him to saturate us with His Holy Spirit and to guide and direct our thoughts and words.
And, one of the most holy things we can share with the lost in this world is the fact that the God who created heaven and earth cares so much about humanity that He sent His one and only Son to be a reconciliation for us. That the sin that separates us could be forgiven and we could once again have a spiritual relationship with the God of heaven.
The plan of Salvation … leading into communion.
