The book of James chapter 10, verse 1 begins, My brethren,
be not many masters or teachers or authorities. knowing that
we shall receive the greater condemnation or judgment. James
chapter 3. It begins by saying, My brethren. The first chapter, verse 1, is
who he addresses this to. He says to the twelve tribes
which are scattered abroad, his Jewish brethren. He says, My
brethren. And he says this all the way
through. He's talking to professing believers, those who believe,
like he said, they believe there's one God. There's one faith. But he warned about that, didn't
he? He said, the devils believe that and tremble. And he is talking to professing
believers, and that's most everyone in this room. Do you think of
James, when you read the book of James, do you think of James
as being perhaps, well, very serious, but rather stern? And it may be hard, do you think
of that? But the fact of the matter is,
we need the reproofs and rebukes of Scripture as much as we need
the comfort. If we're God's children, and
if we know ourselves well, we know that we're We're not the
obedient children that we should be, so we need His rod of correction
as much as His staff of comfort. 1 Peter 4, look at that real
quickly, 1 Peter 4, just over a few pages, it says in verse
17, A serious passage, 1 Peter 4.17,
The time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God.
And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel of God, if the righteous scarcely be
saved? Where shall the ungodly sinner
appear? That's serious. That's who he's addressing this
to. That's the reason the Lord said you go to the Jew first.
and then to the Gentile. And so he says in verse 1 of
chapter 3, My brethren, be not many masters or teachers or authorities
on any subject. Do not think that you know anything. But if any man, Scripture says,
thinks he knows anything, has anything mastered, no matter
how old you get, We still have a lot to learn, don't we? In
fact, we ought to... Well, God's people do know that
the more they know, the more they realize they don't know.
The more they know about the grace of God, the more they realize
they need the grace of God. And be not many masters or teachers
or authorities on any subject. If any man thinks he knows anything,
he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. So he says here, and
he's talking to those that aspire to be preachers and teachers, Do not aspire to that. I mean,
any man desire the office of a bishop, Paul told Timothy,
it's a good thing, but it's not something you apply for. It's
not something you pursue like a vocation. It's a calling. And
he said, don't aspire to this, because if we think we're able
or ought to be teaching other people, We need to begin all over again
to be taught. Because he says in verse 1, knowing
that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Hebrews 13, just
back a few pages, two pages to Hebrews 13. He says we shall
receive the greater condemnation, the master. Our Lord's rebuke
to Nicodemus was, are you a master in Israel and you don't know
this? Hebrews 13 verse 17 is talking
about a people and a pastor. Obey them that have the rule
over you. And God has put under shepherds
over His flock. They don't lord themselves. But
somebody's got to have the oversight, don't then rule and make decisions.
Well, obey them, submit yourselves, but they watch for your souls
as they that must give account. 1 Corinthians 13 is to me, 1
Corinthians 3, is a very frightening chapter that speaks of every
man, that is, every preacher, his work shall be tried what he's doing and how
he does it by fire. It's frightening. But he says
here to all of us who don't aspire to this, verse 2, For in many
things we offend all." I believe he's still talking about himself
as an elder, a teacher, and others, preachers and teachers. In many
ways we offend all, and that applies to all of us, doesn't
it? But, you know, our personality differences are offensive to
one another. Our family traits were raised
differently. We have family traits that are
so different from one another. And since we're full of self
and sin by nature, and we love ourselves and our family and
all that, and we look at others that aren't like us, They aren't
like the mayhem, you know. If only they could be like us,
any of us, the example. If only we could all be like
Christ. But our personalities, our characteristics, our family
traits, in many ways, in all ways, we offend everyone. little
quirks that we all have. We all have them, and it's difficult,
if not impossible, to get rid of them in this life, our family
traits, our personality. And the thing is, if you don't
love that person, those things will be magnified, and they'll
finally be absolutely annoying. It's like marriage. When you
get married, you think, you know, this person has this weirdness
and strangeness and I'll just, I'll straighten this out. And it never can. It just never
leaves. But this is how you know you
love that person. You bear with it. And after a
while, the older you get, finally it kind of gets, it becomes cute. Honestly. That's just the way
he is. That's the way she is. Isn't
that a fact? That's one way you know pastor
to people, too. And you knew what he was when
you called him. And he's pretty much the same
man. You love him anyway. And the
fact that a people can submit to and hear and esteem so highly
a man like that and not be offended, terribly offended, It's a miracle
of God's grace. That's how you know pastor and
people. It's like a marriage. This is who he's talking to in
the beginning here. If any man desires to be a master,
don't desire that. In many things we offend in word. Now, verse 2. In many things
we offend all. In many things. If we offend
not, though, in word, if any man offend not in word, The same
is a perfect, mature, complete Christ-like man. He's able, look
at this, he's able to bridle the whole body. That's amazing. That's an amazing verse to me. That if you can not offend with
your tongue, you are a mature Christ-like person, a man. A man like Christ, you're able
to bridle the whole body. The tongue is so powerful, he
says, if it can be tamed and controlled, it will govern the
actions. That's amazing. And I remind
you of chapter 1, verse 26. It says, Any man among you seem
to be religious and bridleth not his tongue. He's deceiving
his heart. His religion is vain. It's all
talk. This is what James is writing about in this whole book. Religion
is not talk. True religion is not talk. It's
the walk. It's the walk of faith. Yes, it's the testimony of faith. And that testimony reveals itself
in the life. This is what James is talking
about through the whole book. This is why so many of the old
grace, like Martin Luther, didn't have trouble with this book.
But, you know, Martin Luther came out of works religion, Catholic
religion, and it was really hard for him to get out of that. And
anything that even seemed like works to him, I don't want anything
to do with that. I remember when I first heard
the Gospel and laid hold on it, if any man would talk about works, like, you're preaching works.
Well, that salvation is unto good works. And every one of
God's people, that's what they want. Create in me a clean heart,
renew within me a right spirit, wash me throughly, completely,
all over, my hands, my feet. That's what Peter said. He washed
my hands, my feet, my mind, my heart, everything. Make me like
Christ. All right. This is the subject,
the tongue. And oh, what a subject. Verse
3, Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth, that they may
obey us, and we turn about their whole body. We behold the ships. hulk, hulking wooden ships, sailing
ships, tons, even the newer ones today, are controlled by, they're
driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned about with a very small
helm, whithersoever the governor, the one in control, listeth.
The horse is turned about with a little bit in his mouth, and
the great ship is turned about with a little helm, a little
rudder. Oh my! Talking about a ship, or talking
about a horse, a great beast, actually a dangerous beast, a
dangerous animal that can kill you. A horse can kill you if
it's not under control. And it needs to be under control
at all times. And a ship. It can be shipwrecked
if not under control. And oh, the terrible shipwreck
that this tongue can cause. It can wreck relationships, wreck
a home, friendship, a church. Verse 5 says it's a little member.
The tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Oh, behold, how great a matter
What a great fire, what great destruction, a little fire, just
a spark can kindle. He says, this tongue is a little
member, but it boasts a great thing. You know, that's all the
tongue can do, is boast, isn't it? That's all this thing can
do, really, is boast of itself. And we can either boast in ourselves,
And there needs to be some boasting all right. But boasting in ourselves
is excluded. Pride I base, I'm only a sinner
saved by grace. If we're going to use these tongues
to boast in anyone, let our boasting be of who? The Lord. The Lord. Now this little member, that's
pretty much all it's good for though is boasting in it, bragging,
hot air. Hot air. Yet it can cause so
much damage. You wouldn't think that words
could hurt you, would you? Ought not to. We have this old
saying, we have as children, you know, that sticks and stones
may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Actually,
it's the opposite. You can be healed by sticks and
stones and wounds, but when words hurt, they go deep. A brother
offended. is harder won than a city." So this thing is a little thing,
but it's of vital importance that we have it tamed. A little member can start a great
fire, just a spark, just a match can kindle a great uncontrollable
fire. Verse 6 says, "...the tongue
is a fire, a world of iniquity." So is the tongue among our members.
It defileth the whole body. It setteth on fire the course
of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. That's where it originates. The tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity. And Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3
of the last days and perilous times, and he said the way we
will know these perilous last days more than any way is men
shall be boasters, proud, blasphemers, false accusers, fierce. How? With this. Boy, that is our day, isn't it?
The description of our time. Everyone's tongue is wagging.
Everyone's tongue is... everyone's throat, Scripture
says, is like an open sepulcher. David wrote in the Psalms, their
tongue drags through the earth. Filthy speech. I despise these
forums all over the place today. I despise them. How much more does God despise?
He said, God is in heaven, thou art upon the earth, therefore
let your words be few. Everybody's talking. These chat rooms and all this
stuff. Let thy words be few. When the Lord came after Job
and his three friends talked and talked and talked and talked
for forty-some chapters, then God came and the first thing
He said to all of them was, Who is this that darkeneth counsel
with words without knowledge? Who is doing all this talking? And we're going to see in the
Proverbs how talk in a multitude of words
there wanteth not sin. If we keep talking, we're going
to cause some damage. Verse 6, he says, it sets on
fire the course of nature, what's within us, the fire of hell. A little talk can raise the fires
of hell from our human nature. Our human nature, we've got a
hellion in us. That just takes a little suggestive
and filthy remark to just set the passions aflame. A little
innuendo, some suspicions, little remarks here and there just can
raise the fires of anger, wrath, jealousy, suspicion, envy, lust,
bitterness, and it's destructive and a spreading fire that soon
out of control will destroy friendships, homes, churches, people's character,
reputations. It's a dangerous thing. We're going to see how many scriptures,
some of the scriptures, some of the many, that warn us. The tongue can plant suspicions
and doubts and create bitterness and resentment that is humanly
impossible to remove. People, we're just, you know,
we can't judge like God does. God looks on the heart. We can't.
As soon as some suspicion or something, a wrongdoing or gossip
or slander of someone is aroused in our mind, we can't get it
out automatically. And it's going to be a hard matter
to get over that. So he says, put a watch over
this thing. You can destroy people. Who doesn't
need this? Go with me to the book of Proverbs.
You know, there are so many Scriptures. I should have asked you. I had
a quiz. I was going to ask you if you
would go to a Scripture that talked about the tongue more
than any other, where would you go? Well, you ought to know that. The book of Proverbs. You know, the Lord's Word is
called a sword. It's also called arrows. The
arrows of the Lord are sharp in the heart of His enemy. And
I'm going to fire many arrows, hoping that one or two will pierce
our hearts, my heart. Many arrows. I looked at over
50 verses of Scripture and had to just leave some out. But we're
going to just browse through here, okay, and see and hope
what the Lord says to us. Proverbs 4. Proverbs chapter
4. Words of wisdom from our Lord
concerning the tongue. Verse 23. And you'll have to
listen carefully. I'm going to try to turn fast.
Proverbs 4, 23 and 24, keep thy heart with all diligence, for
out of it are the issues of life. Remember, our Lord said, out
of the abundance of the heart, what? The mouth speaketh. So this is where it begins, the
heart. Verse 24, put away from thee a froward mouth, and perversely
put them far from thee. Don't let it happen. Chapter
6, verse 12 and following. Chapter 6, verse 12. A naughty person. A wicked man
walketh with a forward mouth, he winketh with his eyes, he
speaketh with his feet, this is body language, teaches with
his fingers, forwardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief
continually, he soweth discord. His calamity shall come suddenly.
Suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. Six things doth the Lord
hate. And the last one in verse 19
is he that soweth discord. A little innuendo, a little remark,
a little gossip here, a little there. The Lord hates it. He hates it. Criticisms, suggestions. Chapter 8, Proverbs 8, verse
5. Oh, you simple... Now here's
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is wisdom. Alright? This is Him
speaking. Him. Oh, you simple, understand
wisdom, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Hear.
Remember James said, be more ready to hear. Swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to rap. Here, for I will speak, the Lord
says, I will speak. Boy, this is the one that needs
to be speaking. I will speak of excellent things.
The opening of my lips shall be ripe things. My mouth shall
speak truth. Wickedness is an abomination
to my lips. All the words of my mouth are
in righteousness. There's nothing forward or perverse
in them. That's who we need to hear in. And look at verse 18 through
20. Riches and honor are with me.
Durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold.
Yea, fine gold. I'm sorry, verse 13. That was
good. Verse 13. The fear of the Lord
is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy and the evil
way and the forward mouth do I hate. Chapter 10, Proverbs
10. I was getting ahead of myself.
Here it is, Proverbs 10, verse 11. The mouth of a righteous
man is a well of life. But violence covereth the mouth
of the wicked. Hatred stirreth up strife. But love covereth all sins. That is, the mouth won't talk. In the lips of him that hath
understanding, wisdom is found. Look at verse 18. He that hideth
hatred with lying lips, He that uttereth slander is a fool, and
a multitude of words there wanteth not sin. But he that refraineth
his lips is wise. The tongue of the just is his
choice silver." Verse 31, the mouth of the just bringeth forth
wisdom. The forward tongue shall be cut
off. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. The
mouth of the wicked speaketh forward. Shall we go on? Yes. Chapter 11, and this is just
a fraction. How important is it? How dangerous
is it? How revealing is it? Chapter
11, verse 9, an hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor. Verse 13, a tale-bearer revealeth
secrets. He that is of a faithful manner
won't talk about it. There's another proverb that
says, for lack of fuel, a fire will go out. If somebody you
love has to say they have done something wrong, do you want
people talking about it? You want it gone. You want it
covered. Chapter 12, verse 13, the wicked
is snared by the transgression of his lips. Meaning, whatever
a man says, it's going to come back on him. He's going to be
caught up in it himself. Dig a pit, you're going to fall
in it. Speak evil words, it's going
to come back on you. The Lord's going to make sure of it. Pastor
this morning, he that exalted himself shall be abased. Generally,
that's the cause of talking about other people, to make ourselves
look better. The Lord won't have it. Chapter 12, verse 16, a fool's
wrath is presently known by his mouth. Verse 17, he that speaketh
truth Showeth forth righteousness. Verse 18, there is He that speaketh
like the piercings of a sword. The tongue of the wise is health. Words will just cut you like
a knife. Shall we go on? Yes, there's
more. Chapter 14. Chapter 13, verse 3, oh my. Chapter 13, verse 3, He that
keepeth his mouth keepeth his life, but he that openeth wide
his lips shall have destruction. How important is it? Chapter
14, verse 3, In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride,
but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. Chapter 15, does
it go on? It never stops. I told you I
looked at 50 verses and had to quit. I had to choose some of
them. Chapter 15, verse 1, a soft answer
turneth away wrath. Oh Lord, write this on our hearts. Grieve this word, stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth
knowledge of rights. The mouth of fools poureth out
foolishness, and the eyes of the Lord are beholding it." Well,
one more, and there were so many, and there is no scripture of
any more importance than another. So you see how I had trouble
what to leave out. But look at chapter 21, verse
23. Chapter 21, verse 23, "...whoso keepeth his mouth, And his tongue keepeth his soul
from troubles." Isn't that amazing or what? James 3 now. Now it says here
in James 3 verse 7, he said, Every kind of beast and bird
and serpent and things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed
of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. The tongue no man can tame. No man can tame. But is there anybody that can
tame it? Can it be tamed? The title of this message is,
The Tongue Tamed. Is there anyone able? David said,
Lord, put a watch over my lip. Shut my lip. Can the tongue be tamed, folks? The Lord can and He does. led by the Spirit of God. Now,
the Spirit of God and the grace of God and the Word of God slays
the enmity in us, the corruption which is in the heart and comes
out of the tongue. Grace quenches the flames of
hate and jealousy. Grace implants a new nature,
a heart of love which influences the tongue and the actions. Mark it down. Now, there is an
old man in us, a nature within us that sometimes shows itself.
But the Lord, the Spirit of God, will quickly connect and grab
hold of that person, a regenerated man. If not, then they're not
regenerated. If our mouths are full of nothing
but cursing and bitterness, Romans 3 talks about unregenerate people. Any man hath not the Spirit of
God, he's not a head. That's what James goes on to
say in verses 9 through 12. He says, Bless we God, even the
Father, and curse men who are made in His image at the similitude
of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be, that the fountains send forth at the same place
sweet water and bitter. Can the fig tree bear olive berry,
a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield
salt water and bread. Our Lord said this in His Sermon
on the Mount. A good man out of the treasures
of his heart bringeth forth a good thing. An evil man, an evil thing. I don't mean to discourage anyone,
but let me say this. When that old man does rise up,
and he does, and sometimes curses and complains and speaks foolishness,
but the Spirit of God will quickly get a hold of that person and
convict and slay their heart. And then the next thing that
will come out of their mouth is repentance toward God. And
the next thing that will come out of their mouth toward a brother
who they've offended is, I'm sorry, forgive me. May the Lord
never let that happen again. And that person, if they are
led by the Spirit, will say, I forgive you. We'll never bring
it up again. You forgive me because I'm going
to need it real soon. But the fact is, if this is just
nothing but what comes out of a person, that person is not led by God. Let's talk about marriage here.
If two professing believers are married and yet cannot get along,
always quarreling, bickering, and fighting, one of them or
both of them is lost. Isn't that too hard? It's just
so. You know how you know you're
married to someone? You love them and you want to live with
them. And you can't bear to live without
them. That's how you know. And the longer you go married
to that person, the more beautiful that person becomes to you. The
more you love that person, and as we said before, all their
old traits, you may start thinking, I don't
know how she's put up with me all these years. That's what
you start thinking. Instead of, I don't know how
I've put up with her. No, it's the other way around.
It's the other way around. It's called marriage. It's a
union. and you love each other and you
want to live with each other. If you don't want to live with
the person, that person, you're not married. This is Christ and His church,
isn't it? Someone doesn't want to be around Christ and hear
Christ and be with His people, they don't know Christ. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Someone professes they love and yet can't get along. It's a lie. It's a lie. And I didn't say that. It's a lie. He that loveth not
his brother whom he doth see, that's his wife, that's his husband,
her husband, brother, sister, that's what we are more than
anything, brothers and sisters. He that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
John said that. He said it can't be done. We're
fooling ourselves, not fooling God. I asked the Lord this morning,
Lord, let me speak the truth in love. Let me speak the truth. Don't back down. Don't be afraid
to tell the truth. This is the truth. But let me
do it in love, knowing the frailty of our flesh, knowing what we
are. Male and female, boy, they're two different animals. They really
are. And it's a miracle of God's grace
that the two can dwell together. God, this is God. This is what God does. If He
doesn't, salvation's a sham. He's not a Savior. There's no
power. He has no power if He doesn't
actually save His people from their sin. He said, sin shall
not have dominion over you. Hatred, wrath, anger, bitter,
it will not have dominion over you. You're under grace. You've
got a new master. You've got a new leader. It's
not the law. That works wrath. But grace works love and forgiveness
and mercy. It's just a fact, isn't it? Isn't
it a fact? It's a fact. If we feel greatly deficient
in this, cry out to whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord to be saved. From what? Wrath and anger and
malice and bitterness. If a person is full of these
things, you're not with the Lord. You're not with the Lord. Boy, you're trying to make me
a frayed preacher. Yes. Yeah, the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Oh, Lord. Strike fear in our hearts of
Thee. Fear that would cause us to fear opening our mouths. Fear that would cause us to fear
sinning against our brethren. Sowing discord. Fear that would
cause us to fear sowing discord and being cast out. That's fear.
That's proper fear. Don't look to yourself. Examine
yourself whether you be of the faith. Don't look to yourself.
Don't look for assurance there. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. And the more you look to Christ,
the more you look to Him, the more you look like Him. If you
want to be changed in His image, keep beholding Him. Observe Him. And miraculously, you'll be changed
in the same image. And you'll realize, if He could
have such mercy and grace upon me and love me and all my with
all my sin and wretchedness and all that, how could I not love
my brother? How could I not? That's what
Christ did.