James chapter 3, my brethren, verse 1, Be not
many masters. Now, all of the men I have who have written on the book
of James agree that the word masters here is teachers. Be not many teachers. Or he's saying this, my brethren,
do not rush too eagerly forward and aspire to be a teacher of
the scriptures. My brethren, take not the office
of teacher and the responsibility of instructing others in the
Word of God presumptuously upon yourselves. Now we see this done
today especially. So many, many people are preachers
and teachers, Sunday school teachers, call them what you will, but
they're taking on themselves the responsibility of interpreting
and instructing others in the Word of God. They're taking on
themselves the office of the teacher of the Scriptures. I believe that this is partly
responsible for the corrupt doctrines and practices and methods and
traditions which we have in our churches today. We are the victims
of uncalled, unsent unqualified, unadorned teachers of the Scripture
who are speaking for God, and they've never been sent nor inspired. Now God calls all whom he sends
to teach his Word, whether it be a preacher, or whether it
be an elder, or whether it be a teacher of men and women, boys
and girls, young people, even children. God calls them, and
God qualifies them, and God equips them, and God anoints them, and
God sends them. If you'll turn to the book of
Ephesians, chapter 4, we have a word on that. Ephesians, chapter
4, verse 10, talks about our Lord Jesus Christ here in Ephesians
4, 10. He that descended is the same
also that ascendeth up far above all heavens that He might fill
all things, and He gave some apostles and some prophets, some
evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the protecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ, till all, till we all, till all of God's
sheep come in the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect or mature man, under the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ. If you turn to Luke 10, we have
this shown again in the 10th chapter of Luke. I'm saying this,
the Lord Jesus Christ calls those whom he ordains, whom he anoints,
whom he equips, whom he sends as messengers of his to interpret,
to teach his word. In Luke 10 verse 1, after these
things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two
and two before his face into every city and place where he
himself would come. Therefore said he unto them,
The harvest truly is great, laborers a few. Don't stop reading that. I hear people quoting that and
that's where they stop. But pray ye, therefore, the Lord
of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his
harvest. He would send them. And then
in Acts 13, the book of Acts 13, we have an illustration of
this. The 13th chapter of Acts, it talks about those who were
prophets and teachers, such as Barnabas and Simeon. And verse
2, as they ministered to the Lord, And fasted, the Holy Ghost
said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto
I have called him. And when they had prayed, fasted
and prayed, they laid hands on them and sent them away." Now
this thing of teaching the Word of God, whether from here or
from a classroom or wherever you might be teaching the Word
of God, is a responsible work. And it requires not just a fluent
tongue, It requires not just a sharp or trained mind. It requires
not just a knowledge of the scriptures. It requires an anointing of the
Lord. We're not to discourage men from
the office of preaching. We're not to discourage men and
women from the office of teaching. We are to encourage them, but
we are to do it in such a way that we will solemnly pray that
God will make known to them and to us whom he hath appointed,
whom he hath chosen, whom he hath been pleased to see, to
instruct us in the word of God. We would not take our children
to just anybody who called himself a doctor. We would not entrust
our children into the hands for their education of just anyone
who says he or she is a teacher. But we look for qualified doctors
and qualified teachers, men and women who are qualified as best
that men can qualify and equip them. And I think the Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, beginning with the pastor and the elders
and the deacons and the membership, ought to be careful who they
ordain or who they appoint or who they elect to teach their
children and their young people and one another the Word of God.
And here's another reason, James 3 verse 1 says, be not, covet
not to be teachers, knowing that we, the teachers, we, James talking
about himself here, and all who assume this responsibility, we
shall receive the greater condemnation. Knowing that we teachers shall
be judged by a higher standard. That's what he's saying here.
We teachers shall be judged with greater severity than others. Boy, I'll tell you, if we believed
that, teachers wouldn't yank out a quarterly 11.30 on Saturday
night and try to get something to teach on Sunday morning. We
who stand before people and say we sing for God or preach for
God, We would prepare as if we were going to preach on NBC or
CBS, but we were going to sing or perform before the greatest
audience in the world, because when we are performing and singing
and teaching in the name of God, we are performing before heaven's
throne and heaven's host and heaven's angel. That's right.
And we have placed ourselves in a position to be judged by
a higher standard and a more severe condemnation. When we
become teachers of God's Word, we assume a greater accountability. Christ said this in Matthew 5,
19. You turn over there, I'll let you read it with me. In Matthew
5, verse 19. Listen carefully to this. Whosoever,
therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom
of heaven, and teach men so." When Ambrose, that name's not
familiar to you, but he was one of the great old teachers of
Scripture, when he was chosen bishop of my land, When they
came and notified him that he had been elected to be the bishop
over all of my land, he fled from the city. They had to hunt
him. He had to be searched out and
found in his hiding place and brought back. And they brought
him back to assume that terrible position of responsibility, trembling
before God. Paul said that. I came to you
in what? Fear and trembling. You don't
think for a moment Paul was afraid of them, do you? But he trembled
before the awesome responsibility of interpreting and instructing,
interpreting the Word, instructing people in the Word of God, saying,
this is what this means! When John Knox, and you're familiar
with that name, Queen Mary said, I fear John Knox's prayers more
than I fear the armies of Europe. When John Knox was called by
the congregation at St. Andrews to be their pastor, he walked into the pulpit to
address that vast assembly for the first time. And as he started
to speak, he burst into tears, and he stood there and wept.
And then he fled from the pulpit and hid in his bedroom, and nobody
saw him for many days. Wouldn't it be something if people
today who say they speak for God could just enter in somewhat
into that kind of into that kind of realization of what it means
to take the Bible and open it, look people in the eye and say,
this is what God says. This is what God says. Paul said,
who's sufficient for these things? Well, nobody is. But Christ is our sufficiency
and if we don't have his anointing and if we don't have his promise
and if we don't have his approval, we're on our own And what a lonesome
place it is. And then verse 2, he says, for
in many things we offend all, or for we all stumble and fall
and offend in many ways. This is what he's saying, all
of us without exception, preacher and pupil, teacher and taught,
all of us have many infirmities. John says the same thing. If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. There's no perfection
in this body. Some claim this, but Paul never
did. He said, I'm not perfect. I count not myself to have apprehended. In many things we all offend,
but, watch this, if any man offend not in words, the tongue is the major source
of offense. This is what this chapter is
all about. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect or mature man. The man or woman who has
taken upon himself or herself to speak for God, to speak for the Scripture, to
speak for the Church, to establish Church policy, to determine church
direction, that person is in an especially precarious position. And if those people who speak
for God, who speak for the scriptures, who speak for the church, if
those people have learned or can learn when to speak and what
to speak, and can learn to speak for the glory of God, the greater
glory of Jesus Christ, and the good of others. If they can come to that place,
if they can come to the place where they know what to speak
and when to speak, and can speak for the glory of God, that person,
he says, is mature, is a mature person. That person's actions will be
in keeping with his words, and he is able to control the other
aspects of his life and conduct. Read that again. If any man offend
not in words, that is, the tongue is the greatest source of offense. The tongue is a small organ,
but it can produce astounding, amazing results. Now in verse
3, 4, and 5, we have three illustrations of this. Now watch this carefully.
He says in verse 3, Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths,
that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body.
Here's the picture. The horse is a big, strong, wild,
impulsive animal, self-willed. But by placing that little bit
of metal in his mouth, that small horse bit, we can turn that whole
horse's body with just that bit. And then the second illustration,
verse 4, 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 listed." How vast
is a ship! How huge is it! How heavy! And yet just a small
rudder is all that's needed to turn that great ship. All we
need is just that little rudder back there in the back to change
the course of that whole ship. And then verse 5, Even so the
tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold
how great a matter a little fire kindleth. Take a small fire,
just a match, just strike a match, and look at it, a very small
thing. And yet that match can destroy
a house, it can destroy a forest, it can destroy a city. Now the horse bit is tiny, but
that horse bit can turn that ferocious animal anywhere you
want it to go. And a rudder of a ship is a small thing, but
it can change the directions of that ship. And that little
match you strike is a small thing, but it can destroy a whole city. So the tongue, this is what James
is saying, so the tongue is though a little membrane, yet it has
vast and deadly power. Like a fire, it spreads with
fury, destroying without partiality or pity. When the tongue, when
that little member, look at verse 6, the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, it defileth
the whole body, it seteth on fire the course of nature, it
seteth on fire of hell, that one little member, when it's
moved by anger, When it's moved by malice, when it's moved by
jealousy, when it's moved by envy, when it's moved by ambition,
when it's moved by self-righteousness, that small member with just a
word, or not even a word, just a suggestion, that small member
can destroy friendships that have stood for years. That small
member can destroy homes that have been happy and content for
years. That small member can devour
characters and reputations that have been years in building.
That small member can cripple churches, empty the house of
God. That small member can turn whole
communities away from God. Just that one little thing. That's what he's talking about.
If any man offend not in word, he's a mature man. Because the
tongue, though it's a small member, though it's one of the smallest
organs in the body, yet it's the most deadly, and the most
destructive, and the most powerful. And yet what great good that
little member can do. That little member with just
a word of kindness, or just a word of mercy, or just a word of grace,
or just a word of love, God can use it to build a temple for
the glory of his Son, Jesus Christ. verse 7, every kind of beast,
birds, serpents, things in the sea is tamed, hath been tamed
by man, but the tongue can no man tame. Man has succeeded in
taming elephants, tigers, lions. Man has succeeded in training
the eagles, pigeons, wild crows. Man has succeeded in training
serpents, even the fish of the sea, to do his will, but no man's
ever succeeded in taming the tongue. No man can control it,
no man can tame it, no human authority can hold it in check,
no human kindness can stop its bitterness. No man, the tongue
can no man tame. It's an unruly evil, and it's
full of deadly poison. No man can tame it, but God's
grace can. God's grace can. When the grace
of God acts on the heart, the grace of God will subdue the
tongue. Out of the abundance of the heart, the tongue speaks.
And when God does the work of grace on the heart, he's going
to change the way the tongue is used. For when God Almighty,
by his grace, slays the hatred and slays the corruption and
slays the malice in our hearts, then that corruption and that
malice and that hatred which formerly used the tongue as an
outlet won't use it that way anymore. Grace will quench the
flames of jealousy and envy. Grace will quench the flames
of personal ambition which have motivated the tongue, and grace
will implant a new nature of love, and a nature of kindness,
and a nature which desires the glory of God and the good of
all men. And that one great power can
change the tongue and tame it, and make it an instrument of
righteousness instead of an instrument of evil. Every kind of beast, bird, serpent,
things in the sea, man succeeded in taming. But no human being
has ever or will ever succeed in taming this little organ right
here. But God can. The grace of God
can. And when God Almighty is pleased
to change the heart, He'll tame the tongue. When God Almighty
is pleased to put his grace and his love in the heart, the tongue
is going to speak accordingly. All right, verse 9. Therewith bless we God, even
the fathers, with the tongue we praise God. I was thinking
on this point when Mike was up here singing, once our blessed
Christ of beauty. was veiled off from human view. But through suffering, death,
and sorrow, he hath rent the veil in two." How that blessed
me! He did it with his tongue. He
praised the unveiled Christ. His tongue was used to use words
to praise Christ, to bless God, to thank God, to adore to speak
of God's providence and God's mercy and God's goodness. Therewith,
bless we God with the tongue. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Cut my tongue out and I couldn't
say that. I could think it, but I couldn't
say it. I couldn't publicly and openly bless God. My tongue is
blessing God. And therewith, unfortunately,
listen, therewith curse we men. The word curse there is to criticize
and gossip, rail upon those who are created in the image of God,
who are created after the similitude of God. Now some do one and some do the
other. Some praise God. Some use their
tongues to thank God. Some use their tongues to murmur.
Some use their tongues to praise God, some use their tongues to
curse men. Some use their tongues to thank
God, others use their tongues to grumble. Some use their tongues
to bless God, some use their tongues to criticize their neighbors
and their friends. Some do one, some do the other.
Some try to do both. Look at this next line. Out of
the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing, my brethren, these
things ought not to be. Now what James is saying is this,
some try to do both, but they can't do that. You can't do that
anymore, he says, then you can get sweet water and bitter water
out of the same fountain. That's in verse 11. Does a fountain
send forth the same whole sweet water and bitter water? Well,
you know it doesn't. Can you from a fig tree get olives, and
can you from a vine get figs? No fountain can yield salt water
and fresh water. That's an impossibility. You
can't bless God and curse men with the same tongue. You can't
praise God and criticize others with the same tongue. You can't
thank God and murmur against God with the same tongue. That's
not possible. Any more than you can get sweet
water and bitter water from the same fountain. It cannot be done. Verse 13, "...who then is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among
you?" Who are the wise people among you? Who are the people
with knowledge? Now, all of us like to think
we're wise. All of us like to think we're
knowledgeable. Let's get into this right here
now. Let's get right into this. This
will be good for us. We're going to talk in the next
few verses about wisdom that comes from heaven and wisdom
that comes from beneath. It's not from heaven. Wisdom
that's spiritual and wisdom that's sensual and earthy. Now he says,
who is the wise person? We all like to think we're wise.
We like to think we speak and we think and we act with wisdom. Well, we may speak truth. What
you're saying may be so. You may speak from a vast supply
of doctrinal knowledge. What you're saying may be doctrine,
it may be truth. We may be speaking from a vast
supply of knowledge of the facts. We may speak and act according
to natural wisdom and still not be spiritually wise. Look at verse 15. This wisdom
descended not from above, but its earth is sensual and devilish. What kind of wisdom? Let's look
back at verse 14. If you have bitter envying and
strife in your heart, if you have bitter envying and strife,
you can be sure that when your are motivated by envy, are motivated
by strife, or motivated by any other motive than the glory of
Christ and the good of others, you can be sure that you're not
speaking with wisdom which is from above. That's what he's
saying. When we speak from envy and bitter feelings, it is not
wisdom that is from above. He says this wisdom descended
not from above. But it's earthly, and it's sensual,
and it's devilish. Any time that we speak with envy
and strife, and any time that what we say stirs up strife,
we're not speaking from divine wisdom or spiritual wisdom. We're
speaking from wisdom, but it's an earthly wisdom. It's a natural
wisdom. And what are the results? Look
at verse 16. Here are the results. Where envy and strife is, there's
confusion, tumult, unquietness, and every evil word. All right, let's see the wisdom.
But the wisdom, verse 17, that's from above. Now, we're answering
this question, is your pastor a wise person? Are your elders
wise men? Are you men and women who in
this congregation have been here some time, or just a short time.
You young people, are you wise? Are you knowledgeable? And you
may have a wisdom, but it may be an earthly, sensual, devilish
wisdom. You may get a group around in
your home and start talking about what you think the church ought
to do, or the pastor ought to do, or the preacher ought to
say, or the preacher ought not to say, or how the church ought
to be run. You may be speaking from a knowledge, a source of
knowledge. You may be speaking from natural
wisdom. It may be devilish. You may be a tool in the hand
of Satan. It all depends upon what your
motive is, and what it springs from, and whatever it springs
from, it's going to create. That's what he says. If it comes
from strife, if you have that envy and bitterness in your heart,
if you have that strife, he says, where that is, you're going to
create confusion, and you're going to bring to bear upon the
congregation of God's people evil works. Because you're employing
a natural wisdom, this is what I think, this is what I believe.
And you may really think that, you may really believe that,
you may be totally persuaded of that. Now, there is heavenly wisdom
in verse 17, but the wisdom that is from above is first what? What is it first? Pure. out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh. When the heart entertains pure
thoughts of others, when the heart is filled with love for
others, and filled with love for God, and filled with a concern
for the glory of Christ, and filled with an appreciation of
our own insufficiency and inability and unworthiness. I'm the chief
of sinners, preferring others before myself, not wanting to
be seen or wanting to be heard or wanting to be reckoned with
or wanting to be honored, but wanting Christ to be seen and
Christ to be honored. It comes from a pure heart. When
we speak from a pure heart, And that heart is purified by love
for Christ and love for others. That's heavenly wisdom. Blessed
are the pure in heart, they're going to see God. That doesn't
mean they're without sin. That doesn't mean they're without
thoughts of foolishness. That doesn't mean they're without
thoughts of evil. It means that they're speaking
out of a heart that is pure in love for Christ and his glory
and others. They have a good motive. All
right, it's not only pure, but watch this, the wisdom that is
from it, who's wise among you? That wise man among you is the
man that first, he speaks from a pure heart. He doesn't say,
I love you, only in word, he does love you. Secondly, it's
peaceable. Now, if you want peace in your
home, if you want peace in your circle of friends, if you want
peace in this church, If you want that peace, you really want
it, then you'll speak kindly to others, if you really want
it. That's right, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaketh. If my heart really loves a person, I'll speak kindly
of him, I'll speak kindly to him. If I really want peace in
my home, if I really want peace in this church, I shall speak
with that as my motive. That's the opposite of strife
and discord. Listen to this, Proverbs 15,
a soft answer does what? It turns away wrath. A grievous
word, what does it do? It stirs up anger. When people
speak sharply to one another and hateful to one another, They're
not desiring peace. They're not cultivating peace.
They're not trying to establish peace. They don't have peace
as their motive. They don't have peace as their
goal. They don't have peace as their object. They have strife.
They're filled with strife here, and therefore they convey it. That's right. Bitterness is conveyed
with the tongue. That's how it's conveyed. Talking to a dear lady on the
phone yesterday, having all kind of home problems, not a member
of this church. Talked to me about 45 minutes
on the telephone. Finally I asked her, I said, do you once in a while
just hush and not say anything? Maybe it'd help your husband
if you'd just hush. Maybe it would help your children
to just hush, just don't say anything. Just don't yell and
scream and holler at them and fly back and fly off the handle.
Just hush and wear a smile on your face and utter a soft word,
a soft word, peace. How do you reckon the Lord when
he came to his disciples there in the upper room and said, peace
be unto you? How do you reckon he said that?
I believe he said it something like this, peace be unto you. And then wisdom, watch it, it's
gentle. Who's wise among you? Who's knowledgeable? The man who speaks out of pure
motive, with a peaceable intent, and one who's gentle. Now watch
this right here. I'm talking to me, I'm not just
talking to you. What does the word gentle mean? Well, I took
the time to look it up. It means mild, it means kind,
it means courteous. Somehow religious people have
gotten the idea, I've got some preacher friends, they've gotten
the idea that to believe a truth and to believe in righteousness
and to believe in morality and to believe the gospel is to be
harsh. and firm and unbending and demanding,
but this is not true. The old Puritans left us with
that. That's one of the things they
saddled us with and we've been ridden hard ever since. That's
one of the grave clothes they never took off, that hard, unbending,
unsmiling, puritanical, harsh way to deal with people. This
is it. You know, one of the fruits of
the Spirit is gentleness, love, joy, meekness, kindness, gentleness. Turn to 2 Corinthians 10. Gentleness was one of the attributes
of our Lord. 2 Corinthians 10, look at it,
verse 1. Listen to this. Now, I, Paul,
myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. This
was one of the attributes of the Apostle Paul. 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 7 and 8. Listen to this. It's 1 Thessalonians
2, 7 and 8. Listen to this. Now you listen. I want me to listen. You two
listen to this. We were gentle among you, even
as a nurse with her children. Boy, that gentleman, that nurse
picks up that little old six-weeks-old baby and bathes it and puts it
there in the water and washes it and oils it and powders it
and it screams, now honey, don't cry. He picks you to fit, now
sweetheart, don't cry. I'll get you some milk, I'll
get you something else, I'll dry you, I'll change your diaper,
just don't, don't be upset. We religious, shut your mouth!
That's us religious people. with one another. Straighten
up or get out. Paul said we were gentle. That's the man that's wise. We
need to learn this, don't we? Gentle. All right, read on. Now
this is a good one here. Easy to be entreated. What does
that mean? Willing to learn. Doesn't matter
who the teacher is. Doesn't matter how disagreeable
the lesson, we're willing to learn. Easy to be entreated. Easy to teach. I'm going to pay a man a compliment
in this congregation. Oh, a lot of you men and women
too, but one of our senior citizens, Brother Jeff Thornby, I love
to preach to him. He's so easy to preach to. He studied the Bible longer than
I have, nearly as long as I am old. But he's easy to teach. You see
what I'm saying? He's never grown so uppity and
so big that he can't be tall. He's never grown so much that
he can't be... It doesn't matter who the teacher is. I disagree
with the lesson. We're easy to teach. Here's something
else it means. Easy to be entreated. Do you
get your feelings hurt and withdraw and keep a distance? An unrelenting
spirit. Somebody hurts our feelings,
says something we don't like, or does something that we don't
like, and we withdraw. We stay away from the service.
We don't call. We don't encounter them. If we
see them coming, we go out the other door. Or you're easily
entreated. You're easy to forgive, quick
to forgive, ready to pardon, willing to be gracious, can't
stand for something to be between you and your loved one or your
friend. This isn't a weakness. To be
easily entreated is not a weakness, it's a strength. Some of the
things we think are weaknesses, great big strong men, you know,
we think we'll hold our ground, you know, where they can come
to me if they want to, we think that's not strength. That's weakness. Strength is that person, that
show of strength is that person That's easily entreated. He's
easy to win back. I've heard people say, he's just
an old softy. That's a compliment. I've heard
them say of certain people in this congregation, they are soft
touch. That's a compliment. Don't you
let anybody tell you it's not. That's a wise man. Don't you
let anybody tell you it's not. Easy to be entreated, easy to
win back, easy to forgive, quick to forgive, ready to pardon,
waiting to be gracious. But we have this natural wisdom
of ours that says don't surrender your pride, hold your ground,
let them come to you, that's not it. That's not wisdom. That's sensual, that's devilish,
that's of the earth. Watch this, full of mercy and
good fruits. Feed the hungry. Care for the
fatherless and the widows. Disperse your goods to relieve
the distress. Be generous. Cast your bread
on the waters. God owns the cattle on a thousand
hills, the gold and silver that hadn't been mine. Go on, be gracious
and generous. Almighty God can replenish your
storehouse anytime he wants to. I tell you this, you hoard it,
he that saves it, his life will lose it. You hoard it and God
can destroy it anytime he wants to. And do it, look at the next
line there, do it without partiality and without hypocrisy. Without
partiality is a heart that beats for all of us. A heart that beats
for all men. rich and poor, learned and ignorant,
old and young, black and white, then this impartiality is a sincere
impartiality. It's without hypocrisy. It's
genuine. Don't try to feign it. It's got to be sincere. If we
don't have it, let's pray for it. Now, that's two kinds of
wisdom. That's who, verse 13 says, who is a wise man, who
is endued with knowledge among you. There it is, there is the wisdom
from the earth, born of strife and envy. You know what God said
in Proverbs, turn over here to Proverbs 6 a minute, and I want
you to listen carefully to this, because this isn't repeated too
many times in the scripture, but here it is. In Proverbs 6,
verse 17, of verse 16, Proverbs 6, 16, these six things doth
God hate. Seven are abomination to him,
a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked imagination, feet that be swift in running
to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren. And three of the seven have to
do with the tongue. a lying tongue, a false witness,
and he that disturbs brethren, causes discord and division. That's worldly wisdom. Now, verse
18, I close. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. Now, where there's
envy and strife, there's going to be confusion and evil works.
But where this, and if we can learn, if I can learn it, and
you can learn it, we can learn this heavenly wisdom. And we
can begin this moment to employ, to speak when we speak, to speak
with this heavenly wisdom that is with purity and peaceable,
gentle, easy to be entreated, quick to forgive, ready to pardon,
generous, merciful, gracious, without partiality, without hypocrisy. He says that where that is employed,
the fruits of righteousness will be brought forward. God Almighty
will bless you. You know this? Love begets love. He that would have friends must
show himself friendly. And if we can sow with these
tongues, we can sow some seeds of peace and love, we'll reap
a harvest of peace and love. That's what verse 18 says. Let's bow together and pray.