James chapter 3. Now last week
we looked at the first two verses in this wonderful little book
and we saw a warning from our dear brother James for us not
to lord over the brethren. Not to lord over the brethren.
And to beware of those who seek standing in the church. Beware
those who seek a position in the church. Now God is the one
who promotes. God is the one who puts his leaders,
his preachers in the positions they are. And so we're to be
aware of someone who seeks standing, someone who seeks authority,
and seeks the Lord over the brethren. And that's what we looked at
last week. And we also looked at how we
can offend others. We do not seek to offend others.
but we can offend others with our words sometimes. Now, James
is going to bring before us here, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, the fact that the tongue is the smallest member in the
body, but it can produce sometimes amazing, astounding, but sometimes
disastrous results. It can produce amazing results,
astounding results, It can bring words of comfort, but it also
can be disastrous. And James will bring forth that
he or she who can rule the tongue rules their whole body. By three illustrations, first
of an unruly horse, which, yet, wild as they are, are bought
into subjection by a bit in a bridle. and can be easily managed. And
this brings forth that if a man or woman's tongue be well governed,
then the rest of that man or woman will be under control,
will be governed. Let's look at these three illustrations
set before us. We're going to read verses 1
to 12 in James chapter 3, and we're going to see here three
illustrations. Now the three illustrations are
found in verses 3 to 5, but we're going to read verses 1 to 12
to get the context of these verses here. My brethren, be not many
masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man, and also enable also to brattle
the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses'
mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Behold also the ships, which
though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet
they are turned about with a very small helm. Whithersoever the
governor listeth, even so the tongue is a little member, and
boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a
little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
that it defiled the whole body, and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is
tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind. But the tongue can no
man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the simitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeded
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth the
same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren,
bear all of berries, either of vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield
salt water and fresh. Now our context, or our verses
will be found in verses three to five here. And we will look
at verse six, too. Behold, we put bits in the horses'
mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great,
are driven of fierce winds. Yet they are turned about with
a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so
the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold,
how great a matter a little fire kindleth. My, oh, my. First we see here, the first
illustration is found in verse three. Behold, behold, we put
bits in the horse's mouth that they may obey us, and we turn
about their whole body. Now the horse's bit is not very
big, right? But the horse is big. When we
were on Mackinac, we saw these heavy horses, big horses, and
they had little bits in their mouth. And they were controlled. They were controlled by the driver. And he just moved the reins,
which is connected to the bit, and that horse went however he
wanted that horse to go. Some of them were, you know,
started doing this, and he'd just say a word, and they'd just
calm right down. Or he'd pull on the reins, and
they'd calm right down. But this very small bit in their
mouth, and they can control wherever the body goes, wherever the body
goes. And up there in Mackinac Island,
many of you have been there, everything is moved about, and
everyone is moved about, unless you're walking, is moved about
by horses. There's no automobiles at all.
So I had an illustration right there before me before we got
to this text, which is so neat how the Lord does that. And so
this text for me has come alive because I saw this happen, how
these little bits would control these huge horses. And that driver,
that driver, whenever he wanted that horse to go, he just used
the reins to turn him wherever he willed. Now, the horse is
a big, strong animal, isn't it? Wild by nature. Horses are wild
by nature. When we lived out in Oregon,
and sometimes we'd head up through California, because it was below
us, or we'd go down to California. And Northern California has Mustangs
and stuff like that. Wild Mustangs still. And so we'd
see sometimes these horses just out and about. And they were
wild Mustangs. They were wild. So that's what they are by nature.
By nature, they're a wild animal. Self-willed. Self-will. But by placing a very small bit
in the mouth of a horse, you can turn that horse's whole body.
However way you want. In whatever direction you want.
And so too, the man or woman who can control the tongue. If
we can govern the smallest member of our body, and it's hard to
do. It's hard to do, isn't it? But if we can govern this smallest
member in our body, It'll govern our whole body. We can have control
over our body. Now, I'll tell you what. I was
talking to a dear brother yesterday, and we are both admitting that
the hardest thing for us is the flesh. We are our own worst enemy. Is it so for you? We are, aren't
we? No one has to tear us up. We
can tear ourselves up, can't we? Can't we? We can just, next thing you know,
we're having a pity party, right? God's so good to us, and we'll
be just, oh, we'll be like Elijah, I'm the only one left, Lord! No, you're not. And don't forget
this, too, the things that we go through, and they are real
for us, right? But there are some things that
are self-inflicted, isn't there? I'm not talking about the things
that we go through that bring heartache and so on. I'm talking about
things that we self-inflict upon ourselves that bring us heartache,
or bring us anxiety, or bring us depression. Those are self-inflicted
on us. We don't need that. We don't
need that, beloved. So think this too. Think of this,
how the restraining grace of God keeps us in check. How would we be without the restraining
grace of God? Oh my goodness, well we'd be
just like everybody else in the world then, wouldn't we? Without
the restraining grace of God. Because we're naturally self-willed,
like the wild horse, aren't we? We're naturally wild, like a
horse. That's us in our natural state,
but God the Holy Spirit has regenerated us and he's restrained us. And
praise God for restraining grace. Because again, by nature we're
self-willed. We're wild by nature. We're self-willed
by nature. But we've been bridled by the
restraining grace of God, haven't we? We have been. We've been bridled by the restraining
grace of God. And we're grateful for it, aren't we? I am. I'm
grateful that the Lord restrains me. He doesn't let me go and
do whatever my body wants to do or whatever my mind wants
to do. Oh, praise God. He restrains us. He restrains
us. It's called keeping grace, isn't
it? Oh, He's so good. You know what would happen to
us if He just let us go? We'd ruin ourselves, wouldn't
we? We would. We'd totally ruin ourselves.
We'd ruin ourselves. If God didn't restrain us, we'd
ruin ourselves. But we who are believers, we're redeemed by
the precious blood of the Lamb. And He's got a hold of us, beloved.
And He keeps us. We're His. He's got a grip on
us that can never be let go. Never. You ever see people in
the movies and they're reaching out to rescue someone and they
just get their fingertips and they slide out and they go off?
That'll never happen with God. He's got a grip on us. It's not about us holding on
to him, it's about him holding on to us, isn't it? That's what
it's about. You say, well, I'm just holding
on to Jesus. Well, praise God, he's holding on to me. Right? I am clinging to him, but praise
God, he's got me in his everlasting arms. Oh, my. Oh, we who have been redeemed
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need restraining grace,
don't we? We need it. We need it. So James
here, again, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, brings
forth instruction here for us, for us to bridle our tongues,
for us to bridle our tongues. Again, remember the context.
It's the context of it. I know we read that and we see
that, we're immediately convicted, right? Immediately, oh my tongue. But the context of this verse,
we have to look at the context, is not lording over God's people. Now should we restrain our tongue?
Yes, as much as we can. But the context of this verse,
is about not lording over God's people, not being caustic to
God's people, not seeking standing in the church. You ever been
around someone and you feel like you're walking on crushed glass
all the time when you're around them? You're just waiting for
you to do something wrong and they're gonna blast off at you?
That's not good. That should never be in the church,
beloved, never. And by God's grace, it won't
be. If we can restrain our tongue
or restrain ourselves from reacting to a situation. You know, I always
look at it this way. For me, anyways, I'm not perfect,
and I never will be. So I don't expect anybody else
to be either. Right? We're all going to make mistakes.
But I like what my wife says. Is that a hill you want to die
on, Wayne? No, not really. No, not really. So when we consider
things like that, but the context of here, the tongue, because
like I say, immediately we all get convicted right away. We
all, because we all, I was putting this together and I got so convicted
about my tongue. But then I had to remind myself
too, and that's good though, that's good to get convicted
about that. But I had to remind myself of the context of the
verse too, is not lording over God's people. And horses are
without understanding, aren't they? They have brains, but they're
without understanding, and they need direction. Otherwise, they
just run wild, right? See, the bit gives them direction
to where they're supposed to be. What are we in our natural
state? Well, we just run wild, don't
we? Do we have any understanding of God? No. Turn, if you would,
to Romans chapter 3, and we'll see the state of natural man.
So the horses, without understanding any direction in which path to
go, they're strong, right? And they would be truly ungovernable
unless bits and bridles were put into their mouths. You know
what that's a picture of? That's a picture of us in our
natural state. We're wild in our natural state. We have no direction in our natural
state. Whatever the flesh wants to do, we go and do. What a picture is being brought
forth here of the people of God in our natural state. Do you
know we're without understanding in our natural state? So when we're talking to folks
too, out in the world, just realize they have no understanding of
the things of God. None. So what you're presenting
to them when you talk to them is absolutely foreign to them. It's like we're speaking a different
language. But if God saves them, I'll tell you why. If God saves
them, they're going to understand what you're saying to them. If
God opens their ears, they're going to understand what you're
saying. And that's why we just keep talking to them, don't we?
As the Lord opens the door, we just keep telling the great things that
God has done for us. Look at this in Romans chapter
3. We're without understanding,
unruly, unrighteous, just as the scriptures declare here.
Romans chapter 3, verses 10 to 12. There is none righteous. No, not one. That means none. None there means none. In our
natural state, no one is righteous. We're all unrighteous in the
sight of God. There's none that understand it. We're without
understanding of the things of God in our natural state. Think
of what you know now by the grace of God, right, and by the mercy
of God. Think of what you know now about God. It's incredible,
isn't it? And we're in awe just a little
bit, we know. It just, it leaves us speechless. It's incredible. But at one time
we were without understanding. And then look at this, there's
none that seeketh after God. You mean there's none that just
by their own will will make a decision for Jesus? That's what the scripture
says. That's not my opinion, is it? There are none that seeketh
after God. Now if you're made willing by
the Holy Spirit of God, I'll tell you what, you're gonna run
as fast as you can to Christ. But the scripture says here,
there's none that seeketh after God. Oh, look at, why? Because they're all gone out
of the way. They all become unprofitable. There's none that do it good?
No, not one. We're all sinners? I'll tell you what. People say,
well, that person, they're a great sinner. Every one of us is. We're
sinners from the top here to the bottom of our feet. Every one of us. Every one of
us. Every one of us has committed
enough sin to go to hell a billion times probably. to be sent there,
but in light of that, think of how much we're forgiven as believers.
Oh my, it's incredible, isn't it? Think of all our sins blotted
out, blotted out. God remembers them no more. Praise
be to God, the blood of Christ. He blotted them all out. Wonderful. Now look what Paul says here
about the tongue, because we're on the topic of the tongue. Look
what he says in verses 13 and 14. Their throat is an open sepulchre,
a grave. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of asp is under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Look at that. Oh my. Proud, unruly rebels we are by
nature. That's what we are by nature. We have in our heart, in our
natural state, we may not cry out that we deny God and hate
God, but you know what we say in our natural state? We're not
have this man rule over us. That's what we say in our natural
state. Now what do we say now? Oh, Lord, you're king of kings
and Lord of lords. What a change! That's a change
wrought by God, isn't it? By the power and might of God
the Holy Spirit, rebels who say, we're not half this man reign
over us now say, praise our mighty name, praise the name of Jesus.
And I'll tell you, it's real, isn't it? It's from our heart.
Because he's changed us. We're new creatures now in Christ.
Now we praise the name of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and praise God for restraining subduing grace, subduing grace, which has been shown to we who
are sinners in Christ Jesus. And what do we say? We say, praise
His mighty name, praise the glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the only Savior of sinners, and He saved my soul. How can
our lips not be filled with praise over that, right? How can our
tongues not shout out in praise to our great God for what He's
done? He's wonderful. He's marvelous. He saved my eternal soul. My,
what a Savior. And if you're a believer, He
saved your soul, too. Now, there's a lesson here, too,
for us in our everyday life, isn't there? Oh, if I could just
brattle my tongue more. Because once I say words, I can't
take them back. But oh, if I could just brattle
my tongue. Oh, if I could just brattle my tongue. Tongue gets
us in trouble, doesn't it? It does. It can get us in trouble
with friends and family. It can. Sometimes we say the
wrong thing, we feel terrible. especially now as believers,
especially now. We get convicted over some of
the things we say, don't we? Didn't before, stuff just flowed
out like it was nothing. Now, oh my, Lord, restrain my
tongue. That's our prayer, isn't it?
Lord, restrain my tongue. May my tongue give glory to you
for the wonderful things you've done for me. And we have to pray,
God, give me grace and mercy to do so, don't we? Give me grace
and mercy to do so. Never forget the power of words.
Never forget the power of words. Words can harm, words can injure
without leaving scars. My dad was verbally abusive to
my mom. And she had scars that didn't
show. And it was awful. And so words can scar. Words can hurt. Words can injure. And you know what else can happen?
And I admit, I've struggled with this through my life, different
things that were said to me when I was a kid. Words are like,
words can be like, a seed planted in our brain. And then the tree starts to grow. And you start to believe what
the person was saying about you, even though it's not true. See,
words can be damaging. Words can carry long-term damage. even into our adult life, where
even as we as adults can still remember things that were said
to us as a child sometimes. But we can learn from those things,
can't we? And say, I'm not going to repeat that same mistake with
my kids. I'm not going to repeat that
same mistake with other people. I just won't do it. The cycle's
going to stop right here. And that's by the grace of God,
right? That's by the grace of God. And remember, when those
thoughts start rolling around in my head, the things that I
was told about myself, or things that were said about me, you
know what I think of? I think of what we looked at
with Brother Richard's funeral. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. That means valuable. You and
I as God's people are valuable to God. In that Hebrew word,
that means as valuable as precious stones. Valuable as precious stones,
beloved. Just remember that when those
thoughts start rolling in your head. I don't know if it does,
but for me, I just have to remember that. I'm precious in the eyes
of the Lord. That stuff was just lies. I'm talking about when someone,
maybe someone when you were younger called you stupid or something
like that. That happened to me. I vowed to never, ever call my
kids stupid. Never. Because that's derogatory,
right? That's hurtful. And then those
things start playing in your mind of things that people who
loved you said these things to you. Don't, just let them go. Look to Christ and say, I'm valuable
in Christ, hallelujah. That's what matters the most,
right? That's what matters the most, beloved. Oh my, God's so
good to us. He's so good to us. So never
forget the power of words. They can harm and injure. Sometimes,
again, words are planted in the brain like vines, and they grow
in the memory as the years go past. We need to take an axe
to them, right? We need to take the axe of free grace. Right? Oh, I'm precious in God's sight.
Praise be to God. I may not feel it, but I am,
and so are you if you're one of his people. So that's the
lesson for us, to remember things that were said to us, just let
them go. Just let them go. Live for today.
I was talking to a brother yesterday, and we were talking about how
Paul said, I forget about the things in the past. I'm gonna
press on. I'm gonna press on. And I think that's what we've
done as a church this last year. We just pressed on, haven't we?
And the Lord's blessed us. Bless the work. We'll just press
on. We're gonna forget the things
in the past. We're gonna just move forward, beloved, to the
glory of God and for the glory of God. It's incredible. So we've seen here that James
brings forth an illustration about controlling the tongue
by bringing before us how bits control horses. Next we see he
brings another illustration about controlling the tong and the
helm of a ship. And how the helm of a ship controls
the whole ship. No matter what the size of the
ship is, that whole big ship is controlled by a helm and a
rudder. Helm being a rudder. Big ships, little ships, sailing
ships even, ones that can't even, when the wind power dies and
they have to turn the engine on, they're still controlled
by that rudder. What direction they want to go? Let's look at
verse 4. It says here, behold also the ships, which though
they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they
turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor
listeth. Look at that. Turned about by
a helm or a rudder, however the governor listeth. That's the
driver of the ship. They called them governors back
in those days. So the second comparison or illustration here
before us about bridling the tongue is in the helm of a ship. So the helm is a complete steering
gear of a ship, including the wheel or tiller and the rudder. It's a very small portion of
the ship and yet it controls the whole ship. It controls the whole ship. No
matter how vast, it could be one of them big tankers we see,
or those big iron oars. units that we see, those big
huge ships, they're all, there's a rudder that steers them wherever
they want that ship to go. There's a wheelman that turns
that wheel. Big ocean liners, same thing,
all the way down to a little boat. What do you got? You got
a motor in the back, you turn it however you want to go, don't
you? Oh my. I remember riding with
my dad and he He'd be in the, would be in that aluminum boat.
He'd have that little 10 horse cooking and he'd just turn that
thing wherever we wanted to go and it was so fun. But that, he, it was all steered
by that engine in the back. My oh my. So the rudder of a ship guides
a large vessel and small vessels and it also, The rudder can overcome
the suddenness of winds. Remember back in the days when
this was written too, they had sailing ships? And so there'd
be huge winds that would come upon them and they'd either turn
into the waves or turn out of the waves. But that rudder would
be what would give them direction. That helm would be what gives
them direction. And the governor or the steersman,
they called the steersman, guided the ship by that little rudder.
And behold, though the tongue be a small member, it's the smallest
member in the body. And yet, it factors in much in
regulating the life of a man or a woman. Even so, the tongue
governs the whole man or woman. Small things may be of great
use, and so our tongues must be managed. They must be managed. Because they are like, even though
they're a little member, they're capable of great, either great things, or they're capable
of great destruction, aren't they, isn't it? We can cause
a lot of destruction with our tongue. Again, we can cause destruction
that's not even seen. Well, it's my oh my. That tongue, I'll tell you what. Be careful, you can't eat your
words. Well, the common saying is, you have to eat those words,
right? We've all heard that. Oh, they're gonna have to eat
those words. You know, there's a story about the king of Denmark.
He was offended by a book that he read, a king of old of Denmark. He was offended by a book that
someone had written. So he gave the man the choice
of eating this book or being executed. Well, you know what
the man did? He broke that book up into little pieces and he
put it in his soup and he ate the book. Oh, my. But we don't we don't
we don't have that luxury. Men and women who die in their
sins will be judged by the words. By their words, beloved, turn,
if you would, to Matthew, Chapter 12, or see that here, they'll
be judged by the words. Their words go forth as part
of the eternal record that will condemn them. And think of this.
Praise be to God that we as believers, our words don't condemn us. Because if it were not for the
blood of Christ, not for the grace and mercy of Christ, we'd
be in the same position as these folks we're going to read about,
if not for the mercy of God. Look at this, Matthew 12, verses
36 and 37. All these words will come meet
them at the judgment. But I say unto you that every
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof
in the day of judgment. Think of all the people who,
think of the people you witness to or you talk to about Christ
and they just blow you off or cuss your name and cuss you.
They're going to be accountable for all them words. Think about just idle words people
say. They're going to be accountable for those words. Think about
how people just use our Lord's name in vain, like byword. They're gonna be accountable
for all those words. Look at this. For by thy words thou shalt
be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. My oh
my. Words as well as actions, also
thoughts. You know what, you know words
are just, words and actions, we're birthed in the thoughts.
Our thoughts are the birthplace for our words and actions. That's where they come from.
They've been birthed in our thoughts. Our actions and our words, they've
been birthed there. And they manifest our heart, don't they? They manifest whether one is
renewed by grace or whether one remains in an old state of unrenewed
nature. In the idle sinful discourse
of the unawakened sinner, for who our Lord was speaking to
about there, daily testifies that they are in a state of deadness.
Their words testify against them. And we were there. Our words
before grace, before the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit,
testified that we were dead in trespasses and sins. Our thoughts,
our actions testified of that. So we see then that a ship's
rudder, though small, can move the vast, bulky and heavy ship
to and fro. Then the third illustration,
I'll have to hurry here, third illustration is that of a fire.
Look at James chapter 3 verse 6. And the tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that
it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature, and is set on fire of hell. Now the tongue sets on
fire the course of nature we see here. It's set on fire of
hell. So the tongue can do the purpose
of the devil. The tongue can do the purpose of the devil.
Consider here a small fire, just a match. A match, just a small
match can start a fire. A little wee fire, right, a little
spark. My, can destroy a home, can destroy a forest, can destroy
a city. Chicago had that huge fire back
in the 1800s, wasn't it? Destroyed a large part of Chicago.
And like the horse's bit and the rudder, the match, the tongue
is a very small thing, and yet it can do great and mighty things.
The tongue, well-ordered and sanctified, can preach the gospel,
can bring comfort, can bring happiness, can build friendship,
can unite people. But the tongue can also do great
harm. Now we see here in the tongue is a fire, a world of
iniquity. Notice the words, the tongue
is a fire, a world of iniquity. Some may say, well, what does
that mean? Well the meaning is quite plain. Word here signifies
a mass, a great collection and abundance. We use the term in
the same way we say, that person's in a world of trouble. You ever
hear people say that? Yeah, they're in a world of hurt.
They're in a world of trouble. They have a world of toil. And
we can have a world of anxiety, a world of great troubles or
oppressive trials. So the tongue then we can conclude
is a deluge of wickedness. Oh my, a vast sea of troubles,
and it can bring about a vast fire. You ever hear people say, I'm
putting out fires? It has meaning, doesn't it? I'm putting out fires. What are you doing? I'm putting
out fires! Okay. A fire can start out small and
consume vast swaths of land, beloved. And the tongue, when
it's moved by anger, Envy, jealousy, ambition, and like passions is
destructive, spreading like fire. And it destroys without partiality,
oh my, or pity. It's like a fire from the heat
of it. It's an instrument of wrath that
stirs passions like boiling water. It's like a fire and the danger
of it. No one in its path is safe. And if great fire comes,
you gotta get out of the way. You're not safe. It can turn
a happy home or church into a barren wilderness. It's like a fire
and the duration of it. A fire out of control is hard
to stop. And words spoken in anger live on and on. And this
small member can destroy friendships that have stood for years. It
can destroy homes and churches that have been happy and content.
It can destroy reputations. It can destroy characters. It
can plant suspicion and doubt. It can turn man from the truth
to error. this little tongue, this little member. And we see
here it defiled the whole body. The tongue can cause contention,
strife, division, confusion within the church by sowing discord
and flaming animosities, dividing people and spreading errors and
heresies where the church of God is then defiled. So we see
here that it can defile a man or a woman and can bring upon
them the blot of reproach. A lion tongue can cause a forest
fire of iniquity. And then it says, and setteth
on the fire the whole coarse nature and set on fire a hell. The damage that the tongue can
do, oh my. But you who are the children
of God, because of a miracle of grace, you're a child of God.
Remember that. Because of a miracle of grace,
you're a child of God. You're a child of God by a miracle
of grace. Born again, blood washed. Now we praise God with our tongue.
Now we praise his name. Now we pray, by a miracle of
grace, you now give glory and honor and praise to the one who's
redeemed you with his precious, precious blood. You now give
glory and honor and praise to the one who purchased your eternal
soul on Calvary's cross. the spotless, sinless Lamb of
God who died in our room and place, so rejoice. Let us use
our tongue to rejoice, beloved. Rejoice at the great things that
God has done for us. Christ has redeemed us. Christ
has saved us.