Let us turn this morning to James,
excuse me, James chapter 3. The title of the message is A Little
Member, A Little Member, James chapter 3, and reading verses
1 through 8. 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 able also to brattle the whole
body. Behold, we put bits in a horse's
mouth, 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 are they 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. The tongue is a fire,
a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature, and it 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 of mankind. But the tongue can no
man tame. It is an unruly evil full of
deadly poison. Once again, as I've said for
the last two weeks, it's easy for us to see the subject of
these verses that we have read. The tongue is a little member
among the many members of our bodies. It may serve men in a
beneficial way or a detrimental way. The Psalms give many examples
of both, both detrimental and beneficial, how the tongue may
serve. Two examples, in a beneficial
way, in Psalm 71 and verse 24, my tongue also shall talk of
thy righteousness all the day long. Now the tongue that does
that is certainly serving in a beneficial way. Speaking of
God's righteousness all the day long. Not speaking of our righteousness,
for we have none. And our righteousnesses, the
scripture says, are as filthy rags. But speaking of the righteousness
of Christ. The tongue in that instance serves
in a very beneficial way. But then also in a detrimental
way in Psalm 64 and verse 3, and there are many examples,
many examples I could have chosen, but this one is, who wet, that
is they sharpen their tongue, who wet, W-H-E-T, who wet their
tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot arrows, even
bitter words. So the tongue may be used to
cut, to destroy. to poison. But I want us to look
at these verses today under four headings. And I trust the Lord
will bless this Word to all of us here today. First, the first
thing I want us to think about is that James cautions those
who use their tongue in their calling. You know, all of us
have different callings. Some of you are called to work
in one field, some in another. And many of you, you could do
your work excellently and never use your tongue. But there are
some calling, some men and women, not women but men, let me correct
myself as you'll see in just a moment. But some men are called
to do a work in which they will use their tongue very much of
the time. James says, beginning, My brethren,
be not many masters. Now what does the word master
mean? Well, this same word is translated
both as master and as teacher. I want us to look at three examples
where the same Greek word that is here translated masters, as
James says, My brethren, be not many masters. I believe that
every translation that I checked, and I checked several translations
of the Scripture, and the King James Version is the only one
that used the word masters. Every other translation I checked,
I looked at, had the word teacher. And I believe that's the way
it should be translated here. My brethren, be not many teachers. Now let's look at three examples
where this same word is translated by the word teacher. If you will,
let's begin in Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13 and verse 1. Here's a church, the church at
Antioch, and they were blessed. They were blessed. by the number
of prophets and teachers that they had in this church. The
Scripture here says, Now there were in the church that was at
Antioch certain prophets and teachers. That's the same word
that is translated masters in our text today. My brethren,
be not many masters. My brethren, be not many teachers. And then, if you will, in Ephesians
chapter 4, this verse is a very familiar
verse of Scripture because it speaks to us of Christ as He
is the ascended Lord and He has given gifts unto men. And a pastor
is a gift. A pastor is a gift. And you may
not think of a pastor like that, but if you were in a church without
a pastor, a church seeking a pastor, especially in these days, you
would recognize what a gift a pastor is. And notice in Ephesians chapter
4 and verse 11, the Scripture says, And he gave some apostles,
and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. The same office. Because a pastor,
one of the qualifications is that he be apt to teach. So a
pastor is a teacher, but the point is this is the same word.
My brethren, be not many teachers. And then, if you will, one other
place in 2nd Timothy, 2nd letter of Timothy chapter
4 and verse 3, the apostle writes, Well, let's
read verse 2. Preach the word. Be instant in
season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, masters, same word, having itching
ears. In each of these verses, the
word is translated teacher, and I believe that's the way we should
understand it here in James chapter 3. My brethren, be not many teachers. Now, on this subject, among the
qualifications, I've already mentioned one that the Apostle
Paul gave in I Timothy 3 for a pastor or teacher he must be
apt to teach. But another qualification that
he gives is, he says, do not ordain, lay not hands suddenly,
not on a novice, not a novice. Well, I looked that word novice
up this past week, and the word literally means newly planted,
newly planted. You know, several times in the
Gospels, believers, God's children, are referred to as plants. We remember our Lord's parable
of the sower. The sower went forth to sow. And the seed, he explained, is
the Word of God. Paul said to Timothy, preach
the Word. Of his own will hath he begotten
us with the Word of truth. Preach the Word, Timothy. Our
Lord tells in his parable of a sower who goes forth and he
sows the seed, and then when he explained the parable to his
disciples, he said, the sower is the Son of Man, that is Christ
Himself, and the seed is the Word of God. And then he gave
examples of four types of soil, or places that the seed fell.
And you know there was some ground which was good ground. Now you
know from the Word of God that no man by nature is good ground. No man. All of us, we come into
this world dead in trespasses and sins. But God prepares the
heart. God gives a new heart, good ground
to receive the Word of God. And then the plant that springs
up brings forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundred
and twentyfold. And the fruit is, of course,
the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, faith,
all of those things that are mentioned by the Apostle Paul. But the point is, Paul told Timothy,
don't ordain a man, and this is the reason I corrected myself
a minute ago, we never ordain a woman to be a pastor. Because
that is prohibited by the Word of God. A woman is not to teach
nor usurp authority over the man. Now, I know today we live
in a time when that's not politically correct. And people don't like
to hear that in some places. But the Word of God is God's
Word. And God doesn't change. And God's Word doesn't change.
And if a man will be faithful, As a pastor, he must preach the
Word of God, whether anyone receives it or not. That's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to preach
the Word. Now, Paul tells Timothy, don't
ordain, don't lay hands upon a man who is newly planted. In other words, a person who
has newly or recently come to profess faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And let me give you another example
where believers are spoken of as plants. One day our Lord was
speaking and He said some things that offended some people. Can
you believe that? Can you believe that the Holy
Son of God, who speaks the truth and speaks to sinners, could
possibly not say some things that offend men? And you know
who he offended on this particular occasion were the religious crowd. And his disciples said to him
something like this, Master, those words that you spoke, those
offended the Pharisees. You know, these people here,
they're somebody. These are people who can really
help us get this kingdom message out and get this started here
in this world. And do you know that you offended
them by what you said? And our Lord said, Let him alone.
And then he said this, Every plant, every plant which my heavenly
Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Believers are referred
to as plants. And so James cautions here. cautions those who by their calling
as a teacher, as a pastor, will use their tongue, be not many
teachers. For those who are newly planted,
let me just say this, for those who are newly planted, who have
just come to profess faith in Christ, it might be better for
a while to use your ears rather than your tongue, because after
all, God gave us two ears and only one tongue. Now, the very
last thing I want to do, in the words that I've just spoken,
the very last thing that I want to do is to discourage anyone
from witnessing, from being a witness and testifying of your faith
in Christ. But this verse is speaking of
those who would seek the office of a pastor teacher. My brethren, be not many masters. And James says here, because
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Those
who teach the Word of God are judged by a higher standard. Now that's just so. Things that
some people could do and no one would think anything about. But
you let a pastor do the very same thing and he's criticized. He's held to a higher standard. And he should be, really and
truthfully. He should be. When we hear on
the news of one of these men who claims to be a pastor and
we find out he's been stealing money and, you know, he's living
some lavish lifestyle and living in a mansion and all the time
he's on television he's begging people for money and has a ministry,
you know, that God's called him to, but you need to help him.
What do we think? And rightly so. We hold that
person to a higher standard if he's a preacher. He might be
an athlete, he might be a politician or something like that, and do
the very same thing as far as begging for money, asking for
donations, and we just accept that. But not a preacher. No,
he's held to a higher standard. And that's what I believe James
is telling us here in this verse. My brethren, Be not many teachers,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. And
I would just say this as well, every pastor one day will give
an account unto God for those to whom he has preached. And that's serious business.
That's serious business. Now, since I'm on this subject,
I want to say a word about what a church should do when its pastor
is removed. What a church should do when
its pastor is removed. And I'm saying the same thing
I said almost 30 years ago, so don't read anything into this. What a church should do when
their pastor is removed. Number one, pray. That should be first and foremost. Pray and ask the Lord to fulfill
His promise that He gave in the book of Jeremiah chapter 3 and
verse 15 when He said, I will give you pastors after mine own
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Now that's number one, pray.
Number two, look within the congregation. And I said this, as I said 30-some
years ago, look within the congregation and see if God is raising up
someone in the midst of God's people to be the honored shepherd. Before you start looking out
somewhere else, look within God's church. And I trust that God
has raised up a man. Now, that's not always the case.
I understand that. But I'm just saying what I believe
a church should do when they find themselves without a pastor.
And number three, when you find the pastor, esteem him highly
for his work's sake. Now how do you esteem a pastor?
Well, the best way, and this was brought out last Sunday morning
in the Sunday school lesson, you faithfully attend upon his
ministry. Nothing discourages a pastor
any more than unfaithful church members. And at the same time,
nothing encourages a pastor more than faithful members of the
congregation. Now, here's the second heading
of my message. So first of all, first of all,
James cautions those whose calling would involve the use of the
tongue. My brethren, be not many masters,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Number
two, James reminds us of a universal truth. He reminds us of a universal
truth. Verse 2, For in many things we
offend all, or we all offend. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect, mature man, able also to bridle the
whole body. You notice the apostle James,
and if you've studied any or very much about these early apostles,
you know that this James, There were several James, but this
James, we believe, was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. And he was especially known,
now this is tradition, but he was especially known as a man
of prayer, a man of holiness. But notice he says we. He doesn't
say you. He says we. For in many things
we all offend. I said, James reminds us of a
universal truth. That is, we all slip and fall. That's the way some translate
this. We all slip and fall. In the
book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, There is no man that sinneth
not. And in the law that God gave
through Moses, One part of that says, If a soul commit a trespass
and sin through ignorance. You say, Preacher, can you sin
through ignorance? Absolutely. Absolutely. If he sinned through ignorance in the holy things. Now listen. If a soul commit a trespass and
sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord. In other
words, the priest. as they were going about their
service there in the tabernacle, as God had ordained. But it was
still possible, yea, more than possible, that one of them could
sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord. Well,
then what was he to do? He shall bring for his trespass
unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of his flocks. And that ram,
of course, was then offered as a sacrifice to atone for that
man's sin which he had committed, even though he was performing
the work of the holy things in the tabernacle and in the temple. Now, look over just a few pages
to 1 John chapter 2. And remember, what we're seeing
here is that in many things we all offend. First John chapter
2, my little children, these things write unto you that you
sin not. Now that's the goal, isn't it? That's the ideal for every believer,
every child of God. Don't sin. Don't sin. And please, don't sin presumptuously. You know what a presumptuous
sin is? It's when a person says, Well, I know it's wrong, but
I'm going to do it anyway. I know it's a sin, but I'm still
going to do it. John said, These things write
we unto you, little children, that you sin not. But then notice
he says, And if any man sin, and sins, we might say, and sins,
we will sin. I want you to know this. You
didn't lose your salvation. You don't have to start all over
again. No, no. If any man sin, please know,
recognize, we have an advocate with the Father who is the propitiation
for our sins and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Jesus Christ the righteous. There's
only one propitiation. There's only one sacrifice. It
doesn't matter where in this world a person lives. There's
only one way to the Father. There's only one sacrifice that
puts away sin. And when a believer sins, it's
still sin. Even though he's a believer,
if he disobeys God, People don't say, well, it's not a sin since
he's a believer. No, it's still a sin. If it's
a sin for a non-believer, it's a sin for a believer. But we
have an advocate with the Father, and He does not deny the guilt
of our sin, no. But He pleads His person and
His work, His sacrifice. His propitiation, His atonement,
and thus we are forgiven. If we walk in the light above
this, John said, if we walk in the light as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of His Son, the
blood of Jesus Christ, cleanseth us from all iniquity. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all iniquity. A universal truth, yes. And when James here says, if
a man does not offend in word the same as a perfect man, the
word perfect should be understood as mature, as a mature Now, here's
the third heading. James gives three examples, three
examples of how the tongue, though a small member, may be very useful. He begins with the horse in verse
3. He says, Behold, we put bits
in the horse's mouth, that they may obey us. and we turn about
their whole body. Now, when James wrote this, I
don't know if the term horse power had been invented or not,
but truly they knew something about horse power. When James
wrote this, horses were very useful, very useful. They transported
people. They could turn a mill. They
were useful in so many different ways. They could pull a plow.
but not without a very small instrument, a bit. Now, I've seen people ride horses
without halter, without bits. I understand that, that some
horses have been trained and they're given their guiding signals
by the legs on the horse. I know that. But most of the
time, most horses, as beneficial and as useful, and they are a
big animal, aren't they? And do you know what God says
about the horse? God says it doesn't have any
understanding. I know we live in a time when
people like to think these animals are equal to men and This is what God says in the
Psalms concerning the horse. He tells men, don't be like the
horse. He's speaking to you. He's speaking
to me. Don't be like a horse or the mule. Let me read the
Scripture. Be you not as the horse or the
mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with
bit and bridle. Now this horse is a powerful
animal, very useful, but he has to be controlled. And it takes
a very small instrument, a very small member, a bit, to control
him. The tongue is a small member,
but it must be controlled. It may be very useful. It may
preach the gospel. a leading praise of the Lord. It may be used in a number of
ways to be very useful. And then it comes to the ship.
And I could not help but think, when James wrote this about 2,000
years ago, how large a ship do you think he had ever heard of?
If he could somehow have seen these big container ships that
men have today, these tankers, these aircraft carriers, what
would he have thought? A ship of his day. But in comparison,
the truth is still the same. In comparison to that big old
ship. Some of those cruise ships that we see sometimes. I was one time in Progreso, Mexico,
and one of those docked, and I couldn't believe how big that
ship was. But do you know, in proportion,
it still is turned by very little member. That is the rudder or
the helm. And the tongue, it's a small
member, but it must be controlled. It may comfort. Think of how
beneficial it is when God said, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord. When you take the Word of God,
maybe you visit someone in the hospital or someone who's in
grief, and you take God's Word and you just open up the Bible
and read God's Word with your tongue. What a blessing. What a comfort. And then James
uses a fire. Now, a fire serves men in so
many different ways, doesn't it? But it can cause a lot of
harm as well. Very beneficial. We'd hate to
live here in Houston. It doesn't get real cold here,
but I'd hate to be here if we didn't have any fire, wouldn't
you? Oh, I would. Thirty-five's cold for me. 35
degrees. I want the heater on. What if
we didn't have any fire? Oh, it can be very, very useful.
And to cook our food? But a fire can be very detrimental
as well. It can do a lot of good. It can
cause a lot of harm, a lot of destruction. One spark, one tiny
match that size, can set a forest on fire and destroy acres and
acres of land. And you notice that James tells
us that the tongue is like a fire. Verse 6, he says, and the tongue
not is a fire, the tongue is like a fire. The tongue isn't
a fire. The same thing when our Lord
took that bread and said, ìThis is my body.î He was not saying
that that bread became His body. Or when He took the cup, He was
not saying that this wine became His body. No, it represented.
It was like. And that's what James is saying
here. The tongue is like a fire. It may be very useful. We've
already pointed that out. But it also may cause a great
deal of damage. When God created Adam, the first
man, we don't know, we don't know how long before he fell. But can you imagine for whatever
length of time it was? I know this when he saw Eve.
Whoa, man! When he saw the helpmate that
God had made him, he used his tongue to thank God, to praise
God. And I can just see him there
in that garden. and the beautiful garden that
it was, all the beautiful flowers. Sometimes we actually go and
visit gardens, don't we, that are so well manicured and beautiful,
all the different flowers and the fragrance that must have
come from that garden in which he was placed. And he had a tongue,
and surely when he looked around and when he saw everything that
God had made, he used his tongue and he said, Praise the Lord! He knew! He knew who had created
all this, and he gave him praise. Oh, the tongue. It's the man
of all of God's creatures, only The tongue is able to speak.
Man's tongue is able to speak, to articulate. All of the animals
praise God. I realize that. They do. They
serve as God has created them to serve. But man, only man has
the ability to say, Praise God. Bless the Lord. Thank you, Lord. We're the only ones who are able
to do that. But then he disobeyed God. And
his tongue, as James says, was set on fire of hell. Notice that. 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 it is set on fire of hell. What does that mean? Well, our Lord said this about
the devil. He said he was a liar, and he
was a murderer from the beginning. Now, when James tells us that
man's tongue was set on fire of hell, hell was made for the
devil. That's his home. That's his place
of residence, my friends. And when man fell, then his tongue
was set on fire. In other words, from that fallen
nature that he now had, he began to lie, the tongue now, before
it could only be used to praise God. It may be used to lie, to
slander, to criticize, to curse, to use profanity, to gossip,
all of these various things. Note that he began to boast.
It says here, the tongue boasteth big things or great things. I'm sure just as soon as man
fell, his tongue began to boast of his free will. I've got a
free will. Who said that? Man did. I'm sure he began to boast. Boasted
great things. I don't need God. I can do all
right on my own. I'm a self-made man. Began to
boast great things of his free will, of his independence of
God. There's no need for a sacrifice. Oh, that may be all right for
you folks, for the weak and for the old. You know, religion's
good for them. But I'm a young person. I don't
need that. I don't need that. The tongue
began to boast of great things. Let me say this, in a family,
in a church, a tongue, though it is very small, it can and
it may cause a lot of damage. For instance, between a husband
and a wife, in a fit of passion, of anger, a husband may say something,
a wife may say something, and they may make up. But let me
tell you something, those words are not forgotten. When I was
a child, we learned some kind of saying that went like this,
sticks and stones may break my bones, but was it words or names,
I forget which, will never hurt me. But that's not true. That's not true. Words may hurt. They may hurt children, parents. in anger, may say things that
they forget, but the child may carry with them the rest of their
lives. I'm just saying this morning
that the tongue is a small member, and it may be a very useful member,
but it also may cause a lot of damage, a lot of hurt. And here's
the last James gives a fact that tongue can no man tame, verses
7 and 8, where he said, Every kind of beast we see lines in
the circus We see birds that men used to hunt with. We see
serpents. People can charm those serpents
and they come out, you know. And animals in the sea. Whales. Can you imagine that?
You go to Sea World and you see a whale perform or something
like that. Men have the ability to train
animals. Yes, every kind of animal, but
not the tongue. But the tongue can no man tame. Now that's just a fact. That's
just so. The tongue can no man tame. There's only been one man, thank
God for this man, there's only been one man who has ever walked
on the face of God's earth who never, never offended with his
tongue. And that is the sinless Son of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's only one great power
that can change this small member from an instrument of evil to
an instrument of good, and that is the grace of God, the grace
of God in Christ. And so I would remind us of what
Paul In Romans chapter 6, wrote to believers. He said, neither
yield you, your members, as instruments unto sin. Don't yield your tongue. He's talking to believers here.
Don't yield your members as instruments unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God. What a blessing it is this morning
here, our tongues praising God, right? What a blessing. Here we are singing, singing
His praises, praying, blessing His name. We're yielding our
members unto righteousness. But don't yield, Paul said, don't
yield your members unto sin, instruments unto sin. But yield
yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members And you remember the tongue as an instrument of
righteousness unto God. A universal truth, a fact, the
tongue no man can tame. The only thing that may tame
our tongue is the grace of God in Christ Jesus. May the Lord
bless His Word to all of us. We're going to sing hymn number
281. I'm going to ask you, David,
to change that hymn. Let's sing that hymn, oh, for
a thousand tongues to sing, blessed be the name of the Lord. See
if we can find that.