Tounge Trouble
THE TROUBLE MAKING TONGUE
JAMES 3:1-12
Self control is an awesome thing to behold. This Fruit of the Spirit is the most respected fruit listed in Galations 5:22-24. Perhaps this is because so few of us have obtained it. We respect those who demonstrate it.
ILL:Little boy selling a push lawnmower. Baptist preacher come along and wanted to buy it and asked did it run. "Yes sir", said the boy. The preacher pulled and pulled on the rope and said, "Son, this thing won’t start." The boy said, "That’s ‘cause you ‘gotta’ cuss it." The preacher said, "Son, I’m a Baptist preacher, and I haven’t cussed in 18 years." Boy said, "Keep pulling; it’ll come back to you."
The Problem is that some times old habits "Come Back to You". It Takes Self Control to keep it from coming back. Out text recognizes that.
The heart of this mornings text is the attribute of self control. Lets listen and study God’s word to obtain what we long for.
James 3:1-12
1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
2 We 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.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
4 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.
5 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.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of 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.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless , full of ly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring
This morning, I want to take an close look look at this passage. Let’s begin with verse one.
V. 1
James 3:1
1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
The reason for this statement is that many Jews would pursue being a Rabbi for clout it brought them. It made them look good. They were concerned with their position, not the influence they had on those they taught.
For example, a preacher may enjoy the attention he gets as a minister. He may insist on being called “Reverend”. A man with such view of him self shold examine his motives for being in the ministry.
The second part of v1 gives the reason that not many of you should presume to be teachers. Teachers will be judged more strictly. Teachers will incur greater judgment. Because of their influence, the student is at the mercy of the teacher. The teacher will form the students understanding about what he teaches.
A teacher educates students with more than the facts of lessons. The lesson is taught by the teachers’ perception naturally. A teacher’s opinions and observation will be passed on to the students. James tells us that teachers will be held accountable for what the student learns.
In the context of James, he is specifically speaking of controlling the tongue. We will notice the majority of teaching is done by what the teacher says. His words. His tongue teaches. He must control his tongue so that it speaks fact and truth rather than simply opinion.
V. 2
James 3:2
2 We 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.
Anyone who can master the use of his tongue, who doesn’t fall into sin through the use of words, misrepresentation or falsehood shows himself to be mature in spirit. The tongue is usually the hardest member of the body to control The ability to control it shows incredible spiritual maturity and follows Christ’s example who revealed the prophecy in
Isa 53:7
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Many of us face much less than Jesus did and we scream, “Injustice!” “It’s not fair!” We could learn from Jesus example and control our tongue.
Next James gives several examples of how small things make a great difference and are used to control large things
V. 3
James 3:3
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
Here is the example of a bit in a horses mouth. This is a vivid example about control The question is who has it. The bit is small but when placed in the mouth of the horse e can make the animal turn right, left or stop. We have control by manipulating the little bit in the mouth of the horse.
He who has control of our tongue manipulates the direction of our life. If it’s God, then we know what our destination is. Giving God the control enables Him to convict our hearts of the necessity of weekly church attendance, or of avoiding immoral situations.
Our conversation will be controlled without gossip, lies or foul language.
The words that come out of our mouth is an indication of who has authority of our tongue.
Others will notice that.
You may ask, ”What’s wrong with cussing? They are just words.” You may be right they are just words. But words mean something to people when we use foul language. You are giving a clear indication of who has control of your tongue.
The same argument can be given concerning lying and gossiping. Just consider the vices of the tongue. Gossip, lying, cursing, vicious, hurtful criticism. Aren’t these things that we teach our children not to do? None of these characteristics of the tongue is admirable or respectable. We simply must not do it.
V. 4
James 3:4
4 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.
This is another example to illustrate the idea of who has control. Control of our live is two-fold. As a ship is driven by both the wind and its’ rudder. We are also driven by two forces.
Temptation can be counteracted by a very definite act--self control. The Greek meaning of this word is “in strength” and that’s exactly what it is. The double sided coin comes in the entire idea of self control.
Spiritual self control works with both personal initiative and submission to God.
We can’t possibly control our self totally because we would leave God out of the picture. Jesus asserted in
John 15:5
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Lets not assume that we are completely relieved of any responsibility when we submit to the work of Christ. We don’t work alone because with Christ, we are yoked together with Him and then we can say along with Paul
Phil 4:13
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
You see, it’s a measure of self control and a measure of submission that we strive for perfection.
V. 5
James 3:5
5 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 connection being drawn here is between the tongue and these two previous examples of the bit and rudder. The tongue makes great boasts.
Think of what the tongue can physically do to defend it’s self.
Nothing.
If talks big and gets the whole body in trouble. When the tongue lies, cusses, gossips or criticizes, the tongue its self will not reap the penalty that comes from its’ boasting. It’s the face that gets slapped. It’s the gut that gets punched. It’s the heart that suffers the sorrow from broken friendships.
The tongue must be controlled or it will wreck our whole life.
V. 6
Another illustration found in v. 6 describes the destruction it can produce.
James 3:6
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of 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.
Fire is one of our most useful resources. We use it in many ways. When it is controlled, it is very beneficial to us. but out of control, it is a destructive force. You can’t afford to play with fire or you will get burned. Believe me, I know....
(ILL.)
When I was 9 years old, I used to walk home from school since it was only a few blocks away from my home. My instructions were to always come directly home from school.
One day I was walking home with my friend Carlos, and he suggested we stop by his house and play for a while before I went home. We devised a lie to tell my parents. Then we went to Carlos’ house and played. His parents weren’t home so we could do anything we wanted. We watched TV but that got boring. Then we went in the back yard to find something to do. We sat there for a while and then Carlos went over to the grill and opened it up.
“Have you ever seen Ohio Blue Tips?” He said.
“No.” I replied.
“You can strike them about anywhere!” he said.
I was amazed. He lit them on the ground, on his zipper and even on the side of the house. So I tried it. I even struck one on my tooth. It wasn’t long until we got bored with just striking them. We had to build a fire. We stacked up the used matches in a Tee-Pee. And lit it. We added paper, bigger sticks, grass and leaves. We eventually had a pretty good fire going. Then Carlos went to the grill once again and said, “Watch this!”
He took out the charcoal lighter fluid and squirted it on our blaze.
Boof!
I was amazed. Then he did it again. Wow! I had to try it. So I did. Squirt!! Boof!! Cool!! I thought, “If a little squirt could make such a blaze, I wonder what a bigger squirt could do?” So I tried it.
I squirted a stream like you wouldn’t believe. The flame was enormous. But then something happened that I hadn’t counted on. The stream leading from the fire to the can ignited and even before I could think, the can blew up in my face!
My face caught on fire. I dropped the can and began running. I can still hear Carlos pleading, “Stop. Drop. And Roll”
Fine time for him to think of fire safety!. Eventually the fire went out. My skin was not burned thankfully-just the hair on my face--all the hair on my face. And the hair on my head was burned all the way to my forehead.
It looked like I had a receding hair-line. Ash was where my eyebrows were supposed to be. I didn’t know what I would tell my Mom and Dad.
I told them the first thing that I could think of “I fell down in sawdust and it stuck to my face” They weren’t buying that. I wasn’t allowed to play with Carlos anymore.
And I always came straight home from school.
Fire will burn you if you misuse it.
If you misuse your tongue, you will get burned as well. You may only think some one is dumb until he opens his mouth and removes all doubt. What we say has a profound effect on how we are viewed and treated.
It is extremely important for us Christians to do as we are instructed in
Col 4:6
6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
v. 7-8
James 3:7-8
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless , full of ly poison.
Here is the heart of the message. Self control.
At the heart of self control (for the Christian) is a desire to be holy. This is what we strive for in a personal relationship with God. No one can attain any degree of holiness without God. That is why v. 8 says
8 but no man can tame the tongue.
God has made it possible for us to walk in holiness. Yet He has given us the responsibility of doing the walking; We enjoy talking about God’s provision, how he provided for our salvation and has given us the victory.
But we aren’t so ready to talk about our responsibility to walk in holiness. We want to put all responsibility on God. We pray for victory yet we open ourselves up to Satan’s full assault.
If we want to be victorious, there is a need to control ourselves. We put forth the initiative and God gives the power.
It’s like a hydraulic car jack. We do the action of pumping but it’s the jack that lifts the car.
V. 9-12
Sometimes we live as if we have a dual personality. This next passages address that issue.
James 3:9-12
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
We can’t praise and curse. Our trees must produce love, joy, peace, patience not malice and discord. Our talk must be consistent with our walk just as much as our walk should be consistent with our talk.
Our tongue may be tiny but it can get us in a world of trouble. All of us have experienced that a time or two.
It’s time to strive for self control, more specifically, tongue control.
Some of the most beautiful words ever spoken are “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God” They have been repeated millions of time by millions of people and these words still bring Heaven to its’ feet and tears of joy to the eyes of God. Repeat that with me this morning,
“Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”
Maybe today is the first time you said those words. Perhaps you’d like to come forward and stand before this congregation and confess your belief in the one who has the power to change you and wash away your sins in Christian baptism. Perhaps you need to publicly rededicate your life.
Whatever your decision, please come as we stand....
