It wasn't so much the words of the song, it's actually the preparation for the sermon tonight,
and then just thinking about the fact that we're singing praises to the Lord God.
Because one of the main topics of James 3 is about a tongue. You know, the words we speak,
what comes out of our mouth, how we can sometimes bless the Lord but we can curse man.
And if we start there in verse number six, look at James 3 verse number six, it says
and the tongue is a fire. The title for the sermon tonight is the tongue is a fire, the tongue.
We've all got one, we've all got one of these tongues. The Bible says your tongue is like a fire.
Now listen, if you control a fire, it can be very beneficial, can't it? It can give light,
it can give warmth, it can cook a meal over a nice fire, right? But what happens if a fire gets out
of control? It causes a lot of damage, cause a lot of damage, destroys people's homes, destroys
lives, can take a life, etc, etc. You know, our tongue is a fire and we need to remind ourselves
just how dangerous our tongue can be. You know, I don't care how meek and mild you are,
you know, if that tongue is not in control, you can cause a lot of damage. So let's start there
in verse number one, James 3 verse number one. The Bible reads, my brethren, be not many masters,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Now let's just start with that
thought in verse number one, be not many masters. You know, James is basically telling us, you know,
don't desire, brethren, to, you know, take on the most prominent, the highest positions,
the highest authorities in the land. You know, it's, you know, many of us are masters, you know,
for everyone that is a husband, you are a master, you are the head of your wife. And if you're a
mother and you've got children, you're a master as well, you know, you've got children under that
authority. You know, as a pastor in this church, in a sense, I'm a master over this church, the
word master just means authority. You've got authority over that, right? I've taught a lot
about authority and one of the sermons that I preached through when I was going through the
Perfect Man series was everything in its proper place. And when you've got authority, when you've
got a master, of course, the fact that you're referring to as a master, you've got servants,
you've got people that are under you, etc. And you know, you might be a supervisor, you might be a
boss, and you've got employees under you, you're the master over those servants that are serving
you in the workplace. Now, just before I keep going on there, I just want to quickly just bring
to a thought, you know, when we think about the term master, I think this verse comes to a lot of
people's minds. It's the words of Jesus in Matthew 23, verse 10. I'll just read it to you. It says,
Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest
among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that
shall humble himself shall be exalted. You know, Jesus Christ is a different philosophy. You know,
the Bible teaches us something different. Instead of desiring to be someone prominent and highly and
lifted up, you know, just lower yourself as a servant. And then Jesus Christ says,
if you lower yourself, if you humble yourself, then the Lord God will lift you up. It's the
Lord that gives the promotions, you know, the way we're promoted in life as a Christian is contrary
to the world, you know, the world seeks promotion, they seek the masterhood by stepping on other
people's toes, you know, by, you know, it's a doggy dog, you know, you know, office environment
in many places, you know, when it comes to being a Christian, we're just to humble ourselves,
lower ourselves, be a servant, and it's the Lord God that lifts us up.
Now that passage about Christ, it doesn't say, you know, there's something, you know,
never be a master. It's just don't be called master, right? Like, you know, I'm pastor Kevin
to pull over of this church. Like if I said to you, hey, you know what, guys, you need to call
me master when we're in church. That would be contrary to God's word. Okay, there's nothing
wrong with authority of self. But you know, Christ does not want us to that title, you know, just,
I'm your master, you call me master. And, and because it plays to the ego, it plays to pride,
and it lifts you above other people when the Lord God really wants us to be servants
one toward another. You know, even though in a sense, I have masterhood, in a sense, you know,
I've got authority in the church, even though, you know, I'm still minister, I'm still serving,
I'm here to serve you. I'm serving you right now, you know, feeding you God's word. I'm giving you
spiritual meat to help you in your Christian life. But look at verse number one there in
James 3 verse one, be my brethren, be not many masters. Why? Knowing that we shall receive the
greater condemnation. You know, when a master fails when he goes against God's word, God's
gonna hold to a greater standard, you know, a higher account, a greater judgment. And you know,
if you or I, you know, let's say you as a regular church member, if you and I commit the exact same
sin, okay, the exact same sin, you know, when God looks down upon us and brings his hand of
chastisement and judges us, it's not gonna be equal. You know, if you've got authority,
he's going to treat you much harsher than someone that is under the authority of someone that is a
master, okay? So this is why, you know, we should, oh man, I can't wait to get a high prominent
position. Are you ready for that? Because there's a greater condemnation if you mess things up.
You know, many times when pastors don't do things in accordance to God's rule and God's word,
how many pastors have we seen already just crash and burn? Why? Because they've got the greater
condemnation. And they mess things up. Yeah, Bible speaks about a pastor, a good pastor having double
honour, but a good pastor should also, you know, a pastor that messes up should also have double
shame. You know, he should be called out when he commits grievous sins. And so be mindful, you know,
be thankful if you don't have any authority, because, you know, God's going to go a little
bit easier with you, you know, as we go about life and we know that we sin every day. Okay,
let's keep going to verse number two. Now, when we read verse number two, sometimes we read verse
two all by itself, we forget verse one. Okay, we need to keep things, that's why I love the
chapter by chapter, verse by verse studies in the Bible, because we just keep it within the context.
We don't just take that one verse and pluck it out and apply it, you know, however we see fit.
Let's keep it within this context here. Verse number two, four, so four is a conjunction,
talking about the fact that people are masters, be not many masters, right? For in many things,
we offend all. Okay, so masters, because you've got authority, because you're barking down
instructions, because you're leading, because you're directing, because sometimes you're,
you know, chasing yourself or, you know, you're rebuking others, because of that, we offend.
You know, if you've got authority, you're going to offend more people than someone that is just
of an equal level, one toward another, we offend all. But here's the thing, we shouldn't just be
at this point with, you know, I'm going to offend anybody, everybody anyway, so I'm not even going
to try to, you know, stop that in my life. No, because it says there, if any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man. That's why we're doing the perfect man series, okay, and able also
to bridle the whole body. All right, so we can offend people with our words, can't we? All right,
and, you know, if you learn to bridle yourself, if you learn self-control, if you learn to control
your mouth, you know, how you speak to people, the same is a perfect man, okay? Now, we are always,
you can't help it, you're going to offend people from time to time, but listen, we should learn to
control our mouths, we should learn how to speak to people that are under us, okay? This is why I
said to you, don't detach it from verse number one, because it's the master, okay, who offends
in all. It's the master who speaks to his servant, leads his servant, and because he might step on
his servant's toes, he may cause offence, okay? I know we take this, and we think, you know,
we can just, and of course we can take any passage of the Bible and apply it in many scenarios,
but again, I just want you to keep it within that context, because there's one verse that I just
want to quickly read to you, in Romans 14 verse four, it says, who art thou that judgest another
man's servant? To his own master, he standeth or faleth, yea, he shall be holding up, for God is
able to make him stand. So brethren, who are you to judge another man's servant? Listen, if you've
got some words to say, you've got some harsh reality, some truth that you just got to, you
take somebody down with, you know, this person needs to hear this solid and harsh truth from
my mouth. My question for you, number one is, are you his master? And if you're not his master,
walk away. You've got nothing to do with that situation, okay? When it comes to dealing with
church discipline or things within the church environment, brethren, I've got that authority.
God's given me that authority. If I have to deal with someone within the church, it's going to come
from me. I'm not going to utilise a second person to give someone feedback that comes from me,
okay? No, everyone stands and falls by their own masters. When it comes to children,
it's the parent's responsibility to teach and direct the children. It's not up to everybody
in the church, well, I'm an adult in the church, I can tell other kids what to do. That's wrong,
okay? You are not that child's master, okay? God has given us authority structures. This is why,
when we get to chapter one, it starts with the masters, okay? Don't be someone that steps out
of line, okay? Because if you're not doing it, you're not bridling your tongue. You're seeking
to offend rather than being someone that is helping another get things together and push
forward, alright? So, when it says in verse number two, for in many things we offend all,
if any man offend any word, the same is a perfect man. The word perfect again means to be complete
or mature, okay? So, the complete man, the perfect man is someone that can give harsh truths,
someone that can rebuke, someone that can correct and chastise but without the offence. He's able
to communicate the same message and get the same response to give someone sometimes a kick on the
backside but you don't do it out of, you know, in the sense of offending someone. You've got to be
mindful with how you speak to one another. This is why we have a passage in the bible like Colossians
4, 6 which says, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how
you ought to answer every man. Brethren, if you've got authority over somebody, you know, you're a
father or you're a mother over a child and you've got to give some harsh truths, you've got an
employee that works under your authority and you've got to give them some harsh truths, Brethren,
go with them and season your speech with salt, okay? Now Brethren, I like salt. I don't know,
I don't know about you, I, you know, if someone's going to offer me a steak, I don't want to just,
without any seasoning, I want a bit of salt. Why do we add salt? It's a little bit tastier,
you know, it's easier to eat, isn't it? It's more enjoyable, okay? Hey, you still get the meats,
don't you? I mean, if you ate a steak without salt, without any seasoning, just like that,
or you eat it with seasoning, you're still going to receive the meat, aren't you? You're still
going to get that nourishment that you needed to receive but if you season it with salt, it makes
it a lot more enjoyable. It's a lot more easier to receive and Brethren, when you need to give
someone a harsh truth, you need to figure out how can I make it easier for this person to receive
this truth, okay? This is not saying sugarcoat your message. That's not what it's saying. Don't
sugar, don't add sugar to it, add some salt, okay? We're not here trying to sweeten and look,
if someone needs correction, you know, we're not trying to make it a light situation but what
we're trying to achieve is making it more digestible, easier to receive so there's not
that level of offense that comes with it, okay? Again, who is it that is to correct others? The
person that has authority, the person that is the master, okay? The master over that individual.
Let's keep going to verse number three. It now gives us some illustrative things to go with this.
Verse number three, behold, we put bits in the horse's mouths that they may obey us and we turn
about their whole body, okay? So, hey, we can ride horses, we can tame horses and, you know,
we put, what do we put over them? We put, what's the thing that goes over their heads? Who knows,
you know, horses, what are they called, huh? A bridle, that's it, the bridle and we've got
the reins to go the bridle and we can control horses. Now, when you think about a horse,
it's a massive creature, isn't it? I mean, a full, you know, grown adult horse, it's massive,
you know, they're powerful creatures. You know, if a horse just wanted to attack you and destroy,
it can, it'll destroy you, it'll kill you. I mean, there are several people that have, you know,
fallen down and been trotted on a horse and have been killed that way. You know, these, I mean,
these are powerful creatures. There's a reason why in the ancient days they would take a horse
to battle, okay? And yet we can tame them, we can control them with the bridle and with the reins,
okay? And that's the thought there, you know, a horse is so much greater, can achieve so much
more but hey, you know, we can control it and again, this has to do with our tongue, okay?
So, if we can, if we can control a horse, what advantages are there? We can use a horse for
transportation and like I said, you can use a horse or in the days of the Bible to go to war,
you know, you can use a horse just for recreation. There's a lot of enjoyment if you're able to tame
and control a horse but what if a horse loses control? What if you can't manage a horse? It can
destroy you, it can kill you and I remember a time when I was in Chile, I was probably
10 years old, I think, 12 years old, 10 or 12 years old roughly around that age and I was on
a horse, I was putting a horse on the family's farm and, you know, they taught me how to control
it and I was kind of doing all right with it for a while and then after a while the horse just went
its own way, you know, and there was nothing that I could do, you know, there's nothing that I could
direct. I had, you know, just sitting there, I was scared. I was thinking, man, where's this horse
going? I can't see my family, they're gone. Okay, it's a big, you know, big farm and where's this
horse going, right? And I remember just that's one of the moments in my life that I was just
most fearful and I looked at the ground, I thought, can I jump it? You know, I'm a bit high here
because I'm still a kid, right? I'm thinking, man, that's pretty high, I could hurt myself. What if
I get trampled by the horse and I start yelling out, horse, stop, stop, stop, horse! Of course,
the horse is used to Spanish, it doesn't understand what stop means, okay, in English and eventually
one of my, I think it was my, one of my cousins found me and he said, oh, look, the horse just
went back home, you know, I kind of stopped listening to you and when it's on way, yeah,
I mean, it was a scary time. I was a little child, where's this horse taking me? You know,
but this is the thought here, you know, if we can control a horse, there's a lot of advantages,
but if horse loses control, it's pretty scary, it can be pretty scary because it is a massive
creature. All right, what else, what other thought do we have there? Verse number four,
behold also the ships, which though they be so great and are driven by fierce winds,
yet are they turned about with a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. All right,
so we have a ship on the sea and we know that, yeah, if there's storms and great winds,
that ship can lose control, you know, there can be a shipwreck, you know, people can lose
their lives when it's out of control, but at the same time, the ship can be controlled by just the
helm, by the governor, that's like the captain or the, or the helmsman, the person that's,
that's steering the ship, you know, that, that, that helm is attached to the rudder of the ship,
you know, something just small and just by directing the ship, you know, you can actually
control it, but at the same time, you can lose control of a great ship, you know, if there's
storms and winds, et cetera and again, it's this idea where, where things can be in control and
it's very profitable or it can be out of control and cause a lot of damage, that's your tongue,
by the way, okay, these are just illustrations of what your tongue can achieve, okay, let's
keep going there in verse number five, even so, the tongue, there it is, even so, just like we're
just, okay, in the same way, even so, the tongue is a little member, it's so, it is little, isn't
it, when you compare it to the rest of your body, you know what I mean, it's, it's a small thing,
it's a little member, all right, and boasts of great things, oh man, that tongue, it likes to
boast, it likes to talk about its achievements, it likes to boast of man, doesn't it, boasts of
great things, behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth, yeah, behold how great a matter a
little fire kindleth, I remember one time, I was with a friend, I don't know, this friend was a
little bit out of control but he lit a little fire, okay, we went to this place and he lit a
little fire and then we had, there was some dry grass and that fire just all of a sudden started
to grow, he's panicking, I think, I think from memory, he's just throwing his clothes at it,
stamping it down, it starts to lose, get out of control, I can't even remember exactly how we got
control of that fire but I'm glad we did, otherwise my parents would have found out and we
would have been in a lot of trouble, okay, but yeah, you know, you can start something small,
you can play with fire, just play, just a match, you know, and it can cause, of course, I mean,
this is where it starts, this is where, where bushfire starts, you know, it just could be a
campfire that loses control, you know, some of the, some of the fire escapes the, you know,
the campfire, the wind blows it and it can start a massive bushfire, so yeah, you know, our tongue
can do the exact same thing, it's a little member, it's a little fire but it can cause a lot of
damage, okay, now I don't care how, again, how mature of a Christian you are, you know, this
tongue likes to boast, this tongue, it's very easy to lose control over it, you know, and so,
you know, I've taught not longer about self-control, it's so important that we control
this little member that is in our mouths and so we learn a few things before we keep going to the
rest of the chapter, we learn a few things about how we can control this tongue, number one,
before you speak out and give someone some harsh truths, ask yourself the question, am I his
master? Do I have authority over this person? And if I don't, don't go there, control your little
member, okay, number two, if you are the master of that person, you are in the position to give
this person some correction or whatever it is, then the next thing is, how are you going to pass
on that message? The Bible tells us to season it with salt, you know, don't be seeking to just
offend for the sake of offense, your goal is for that person to receive the truth, for the person
to receive correction, how can I make sure that he receives it well? How can I make sure that it
doesn't go out of control and cause a great fire? These are two things so far that we can think
about, how do I control my tongue? Look, if it's got nothing to do with you, don't get involved,
okay, and again, if it does have something to do with you, season it with salt, okay, otherwise
it's going to cause conflicts, it's going to cause offenses and a little fire will soon become a
major bushfire. Verse number six, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue
among our members that defileth the whole body and seteth on fire the course of nature and it is set
on fire of hell. Reverend, we're not talking about the non-believers here, forget the non-believers,
it started with brethren, it's all about church members, our brothers and sisters in the Lord,
we can kindle fires out of our mouths even though we're saved, we can cause a lot of destruction out
of this mouth, okay, it defiles the whole body, you know, you may have, you know, gone for the
week and, you know, lived a decent life and, you know, not got him into too many sins and you've
kept this body as clean as you can but that little tongue, if it just goes out of control,
it's destroyed your whole body, it's destroyed all the efforts you've made trying to live that clean
and holy life. When it says and set on fire the course of nature, it's that idea of, you know,
it's like that bushfire idea, right, it starts, once you start that fire, it's got a course,
it's going to keep burning, it's going to keep burning and burning and burning, it's going to
get out of control, you know, it can consume everything that goes around it, I'm sure we've
all experienced that where maybe something has been said, maybe you've said something,
maybe someone has been said something to you or you've just observed people talking one to
another and it's no big deal really, you look at it and it's a little fire, how did it get out of
control? We call it sometimes a storm in a tea cup, okay, it's a massive storm but, you know,
it all started this little thing, you know, it seems crazy sometimes, right, you see these major
blow-ups, you see these church divisions, you've seen people get kicked out of church over such a
tiny matter to begin with but because people can't control their tongues, they can't bridle it,
they've caused massive destruction, not only does it run a course where it can cause major
destruction, it says and is set on fire of hell, the pain, the destruction, the hurt that your
little tongue can cause is similar to the fires of hell, you know, the torture that goes with
hellfire is something that can start with your little tongue, your little member of your body,
keep your finger there and please turn to Colossians chapter 3,
Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 5, Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 5,
Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 5, so how do I control this thing? It's the same teaching,
it's the same core teaching that we receive generally when we preach against sin,
when we preach about living our holy life, you know, we've got Colossians chapter 3 verse number
5, it says, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, we think of our members,
we think of our flesh, you know, our body, our sinful nature that we have but don't forget,
what is a tongue? A little member, it's part of that same sinful nature, okay, that tongue is part
of that same sinful nature as the rest of this flesh, okay, mortify therefore your members which
are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and
covetousness which is idolatry and for which things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the
children of disobedience in the which you also walked some time when you lived in them,
look at verse number 8, but now you also put off all these anger, wrath, malice,
then it's got blasphemy, what is blasphemy? You know, it's speaking out against the Lord God,
right, it's using this little member to be used against God, blasphemy, then it says
filthy communication out of your mouth, filthy jokes, dirty jokes, you know, laughing at things
that are totally inappropriate that you know that God would not be happy with, filthy communication,
you know, and then it says verse number 9, lie not one to another, lies, lying is a sin, you know,
we use this little member, this little thing can lie to our brethren, seen that ye have put off
the old man with his deeds, so like I said to you, what is this tongue? It's part of that old man,
it's part of that sinful flesh, okay, this is why you can do your best, you know, I've not given
into my temptations, I'm trying to live a holy life and then there goes your tongue, one of the
hardest things to control, lights up the fires, I've had holy living, it defiles the whole body,
it affects you, you know, you haven't won the battle against the old man, okay, you haven't won
the battle, look at verse number 10, and have put on the new man, so that's the solution,
that's the answer, put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him, so brethren don't forget you've got the new man, you've got the old man, the tongue
is part of the old man, okay, we've got to put on the new man, we've got to be walking in the
spirit, we need to teach this body, we need to teach our members, we need to teach our tongues
to be submissive to the spirit of God, okay, back to James chapter three, verse number seven,
James chapter three, verse number seven, verse number seven, it says for every kind of beasts
and of birds and of serpents and of things in the sea is tamed and have been tamed of mankind,
yeah, you know, when we had lockdown, I'll show you some images of my kids getting blue tongues,
getting, you know, rainbow lorikeets and they've tamed them all, whatever they capture,
there's been other creatures they've captured, okay, we just haven't taken pictures, forget what
they all are and they've learned it, you know, yeah, that's it, you know, even wild animals
can be tamed, what about the tongue though, okay, what does it say here, verse number eight,
but the tongue can no man tame, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison, man, think about the
most wild animals, they're the animals that are probably the hardest to tame, your tongue's even
harder to tame, that's what the Bible's saying, that's crazy, that's crazy, okay, but that's what
we've got right here, we've got so much damage that can come out of this mouth if we're not
careful and, you know, it's not saying here in verse number eight, but the man, but the tongue
can no man tame in the sense that, well, don't even try, you can't tame it anyway, like don't
use that excuse, it's not saying, you know, you know what, it's not about you taming, okay, when
we talk about being in the new man, we're talking about being in Christ Jesus, we're talking about
working and walking through the power of God, okay, it's God that helps us tame the tongue,
it's the Holy Spirit of God that helps us overcome the sins and temptations
that come from our members, you know, if you just try, you know, to self renovate your life
without God, you're going to fail, you're going to just go back to your old sins, you may even
turn out worse, okay, we need God's help, we need God's help, he's the only one who is able to tame
this tongue, it is truly full of deadly poison. Now, when we get to James chapter three, okay,
one thing I want you to understand, James chapter one, James chapter two, and James chapter three,
it's just all a continuation of the same things that are being repeated, I just want to prove this
here, just go back to James chapter one, go to James chapter one, verse number 26, James chapter
one, verse number 26, because this idea of controlling our tongue has already been covered
in verse, chapter one, sorry, James chapter one, verse number 26, it says, if any man among you
seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but the seed of his own heart, this man's religion
is vain, this man's religion is vain, think about it, so our service for God, our service for our,
you know, our brethren, we love our brothers and sisters in the Lord, our service to the house of
God, you know, the religious, and you know, the religious acts that we see here is visiting the
fatherless, and the widows, and keeping yourself unspotted from the world, well you know what,
Bible says here, if you don't bridle your tongue, it's in vain, you know, it's empty, like it didn't
mean anything, and as I was preparing this chap, you know, sermon for this chapel, thinking man,
how much of my service has actually been vain, you know, how much of my service to God, and even,
you know, singing praises, and this is where I got emotional, you know, singing hymns, I'm using my
tongue, and I'm praising God, but have I been controlling my tongue, have I caused some damage
with my tongue, because if I have, if I've not been bridling that tongue, then it's all in vain,
like all the service that I thought was being received by God, it just, I realized it became,
that's why I got emotional, I'm thinking man, I want these songs, I want my praises to account
for something to God, and I love my Lord God, he deserves my praise, you know, he deserves my tongue
to be bridled, to be under control, and as we keep going there, in verse number nine, you know,
the next words for me, very profound, very profound words, definitely challenging, and maybe
even sobering for a lot of us, you know, sometimes we read our Bible, we just read these verses,
right, we read them, you know, what we're getting through our chapter, we don't sometimes stop and
think about what is being said here, look at verse number nine, therewith bless we God, even the
Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God, this is saying that
we come, we come to church, we bless God, we sing in praises, more love to thee oh Christ, you know,
we're singing praises to the Lord God, but did we curse man, have we been cursing man at the same
time, sometimes we do, the Bible says men are made after the similitude of God, this is of course
harkening back to, you know, Genesis chapter one and verse number 27, so God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them, man is not God, okay,
but there is a similitude, there are similarities, you know, there are, there's a nature of God that
he's put into, into man, there is those emotions, those feelings, and, and, you know, just the
general things that are attributed to God, that God has given man, and you know, this goes for even
the unsaved, you know, you might say well the unsaved, they got nothing to do with God, they
might have nothing to do with God, but they're still a creation of God, and sometimes we curse
out man, and then we go and bless God with our lips, you know, maybe, maybe on the way to church,
oh I've used the example before, you know, on our way to church, maybe you've been cut off into
traffic, and you've, you've just, that road rage, that, you know, you've cursed out the driver, I
don't know, maybe, I hope no one does that, right, you've cursed out the driver, ah, but I've got to
get to church and sing praises to God, wait a minute, what is this teaching us here, well,
what are we doing, I mean, we'd forget, don't we, don't we forget, we forget that, right,
you know, when I think about this, you know, this is why, you know, I don't like it when we,
when people mock others, I'm not saying, look, I'm not saying there's never a time to mock a
false prophet, or wicked reprobate, or anything like that, like, I'm not talking about their
wickedness, and accepting their wickedness, and being just fine with the wickedness of the world,
I'm not talking about that, there are certain things about people, you know, we all have
different personality, you know, that, you know, we can work on our character, but you can't change
your personality, it's who you are, God's given you that personality, you know, we shouldn't mock
people's personalities, we shouldn't mock people's appearances, God's created us the way we are,
you can't change what you look like, you can't change your height, you can't change the colour
of your hair, okay, now, I mean, you can put a whole bunch of metal in your face, and tattoos
all over your body, and, okay, I'll mock that, because that's not a creation of God, okay,
but I'm just talking about in general, like, people's appearances, we ought not to mock
those things, you know, this is God's creation, okay, it's God's handiwork, we shouldn't mock,
you know, people's voices, or their accents, and again, I'm not talking about the lisp of
a homosexual, I'll mock that, that's not of God, okay, but, you know, we've all got different
voices, we all have different accents, we've grown up with different languages, languages are from
God as well, we should not mock these things, I think these things are outside of the control
of individuals, aren't they, and this is part of God's creation, God's handiwork, the similitude
of God, and we should be careful when we mock, you know, look, there's a time to mock the false
prophet, don't get me wrong, it's not a time for that sermon today, okay, but let's not be people
that take what is God's, you know, man, after the similitude of God, creating the image of God,
and just curse that man out, and then just, oh, but I've got to go to church and sing some praises
to God, and I just thought about this, and I thought, man, how many times have I done this
wrong here, I don't know, you know, it's something that I don't tend to think about, right, I mean,
sometimes there are so many commandments in God's Word, you know, none of us are perfect,
we're all trying to clean up and be more Christ-like and improve ourselves, and I just
thought, man, how many times have I come to church as praising God, and I don't even know, what did
I do with my tongue before that, I'm not even sure, okay, because look at verse number 10, James
3, verse number 10, it says, out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing, my brethren,
these things ought not so to be, it ought not to be this way, you cut off, someone cuts you off
in traffic, you curse the man, you come to God and sing your praises, this ought not to be,
this ought not to be, and, you know, here we are in church, maybe singing, holy, holy, holy,
Lord God almighty, and what came out of your tongue just half an hour ago, one hour ago,
are you sure you want to praise God and sing him praises with the same mouth that said who knows
what, you know, like earlier in that day, so we got to be careful, I think, I know, just thinking
about myself, I'm thinking, man, I don't really pay attention to this part of my life, I'm not
someone that's, you know, out there cursing people out in general, I'm just saying, like, how many
times have I just forgotten about this simple truth, that my tongue can cause a lot of damage,
you know, set the fires of hell even, verse number 11, you say, well, God will still receive
our praises, you know, after we've cursed out man, after we've offended and caused damage with
our mouth, God will still receive our praises, isn't that true, Pastor Kevin, well, look at verse
number 11, doth a fountain send forth at the same place, sweet water and bitter, can you go to a
place of water, fountain of water, and get both sweet and bitter at the same time, of course, no,
verse number 12, can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, you know, if you want olive,
olives, would you go to the fig tree and get olives, no, okay, either a vine, figs, you want
figs, you know, you're going to go to the grapevine, you're not going to get the figs at
the grapevine, right, then it says this, so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh,
that's interesting, okay, you want, listen, for example, I've got two cups here, let's pretend
this cup here on my right, on your left, my right, represents our fresh water, okay, fresh water,
drinkable water, and this one, I went to Golden Beach and got some sea water, some salty water,
okay, some ocean water, all right, so of course, I want to drink from the fresh water, because that's
not going to help me, it's not going to satisfy my thirst, it's going to make me more thirsty, that one,
okay, this one's going to satisfy my thirst, you know, I'd say, you know what, this one has salty
water, maybe what I'll do to make that one drinkable, I'll get the fresh water and pour
it in there, now this one's drinkable, yeah, now this one's all fresh, no, it's still salty, right,
say, well, hold on, how can I fix this, well, maybe, okay, this fresh water here,
maybe if I get the salty water and pour it into the fresh water, that'll sort it out,
now I can drink from that one, still salty, okay, what is it saying, that if we go out cursing man,
causing offence, causing conflicts and then half an hour later, we come to church singing praises
to God, blessing God, you know what, it's either going to be salt water or it's going to be fresh
water and brethren, if you've had a bit of both, it's always going to be salty water, it's not
going to be received by God, you know, you've corrupted your mouth, now of course, I'm not
saying that you couldn't have cursed out somebody half an hour ago, okay, and come to church and
not had God receive your praises, this is why I've taught many times and I'll teach it again,
when you come to church, ask for forgiveness, confess your sins, say God, I'm not, I've made
mistakes, if you remember what they are, name them and there'll be sins that we've done that we don't
remember, so once you've named the ones you know, that you know you're battling with the most, just
say God, if there's any others that I just bring to my recollection or please forgive me Lord, those
sins of ignorance that I've committed and I want to come to church and I want you to receive my
praise, I want to come to church and be a clean vessel for you, where the Holy Spirit can touch
my heart and I can hear the words of God and learn some great truth from you Lord, I want you to
receive my praise and of course, when we come with that broken humble spirit, God will forgive us,
amen and then we can sing in praises, even though we may have cursed out a man half an hour ago,
okay, so please remember this, you know and I kind of forgot, this is an area of my life where I
mean, I can't remember the last time, I may have cursed someone out but I'm sure it's happened,
okay, I'm sure it's happened and I may not even have gone to the Lord for forgiveness and who knows,
who knows how much of my service and worship toward God has been in vain and brethren, we don't
want our service, we spend, you know, midweek service, it's not many people like going to church
in the midweek and I'm very thankful for you that are here, you make the travel out here, you know,
some of you travel far to get to, you know, you're rushing from work and you've had a quick
dinner, you come to the house of God, I want to make sure that all our service, all our time is
received by God, that we receive the greatest blessings and the great treasures that God has
for us when we get to heaven, so brethren, please be careful with your mouth, let's keep going there,
verse number 13, James chapter 3, verse number 13 says, who is a wise man and endured with knowledge
among you, so this tells us how do you know amongst your church who is wise, what's the
opposite of wisdom, foolishness, this all tells you who's foolish as well, okay, but who's wise,
you know, among you, let him, look, who are they, let him show out of a good conversation that
remember it's his lifestyle, his behavior, a good conversation, his works with meekness and wisdom,
the Bible says you can't be a wise man without the meekness, you have to have the meekness because,
you know, we've got to control this tongue, we've got to be careful about what we say
to others, we've got to come and speak meekly to one another, be careful about stepping on
someone's toes, especially if you've got no authority over that individual, but this is
why I'm saying to you, you know, chapter, James chapter 3 kind of summarizes, it starts to bring
to conclusion all the things that we've already learned from James chapter 1 and James chapter 2
and what we've also learned in James chapter 3 because it says, who is a wise man and do
with knowledge among you, let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness and
wisdom, we've seen the works, you know, mentioned quite a few times in James chapter 2, but the
works that we've looked at so far in these three chapters, number one was, you know, that when
you're facing trials and tribulations that you learn to rejoice in those tribulations, that you
remain patient and remain faithful to the Lord God during that time of tribulation and that's a work,
being slow to wrath for something else we've seen, being a doer of the word, not just a listener,
you know, to visit those that are fatherless and the widows, to keep yourself unspotted from the
world, not to be a respecter of persons, not to show favoritism one toward another and to show
mercy and give to the brethren who are going out without the bare necessities, showing your works
this way, you know what, when your lifestyle represents those things that we've seen so far
in James chapter 1, James chapter 2, James chapter 3 and also keeping that tongue in check as well,
you know, that's a big part of what we've seen there, well that is the wise man who is endured
with knowledge among you, so brethren if you're failing in some of these areas, you're lacking
the wisdom, okay, you're actually reflecting foolishness, okay, the opposite of the wisdom
that is coming from God here, look at verse number 14, but so this is contrary to what we just read,
but if you have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth,
okay, look if your life, if you're like this bitter person, envy and you look at upon others
and you, you know, it bothers you what others have and you, you know, you kind of wish, why does that
person have that or I wish I had what, you know, so and so has and that causes that bitterness,
strife in your hearts, you know, you're always in contention, you're always in conflicts,
doesn't matter who you deal with, you know, I mean I can think of people in my life that,
you know, just they're just constantly in conflict, you know, they come to church,
they're in conflict at church, they get, they spend time with their family, they're in conflict
with their family, they go to work, they're in conflict at work, they're with their spouse,
they're fine with their spouse, they go to another church, they fight with that pastor,
they go to another church, they fight with that pastor, you know, that they, whatever, whatever
friend, it's just constant conflict, you know, when that happens it's you, what does it say,
glory not and lie not against the truth, you're the problem, that's what the Bible's saying,
you're the problem if you're just in constant conflict, okay, now look we are, we are always
going to get into conflicts, we're always going to have arguments and little, little things and
look it's going to happen but if, if that just seems your life just oh everywhere you go,
everyone you know, just this constant issues and battles, brethren, stop lying to yourself,
okay, glory not, you're not this, this wise truth warrior, okay, you're actually the opposite of
what we're seeing there, you're, you're a foolish man, okay, you've got envy and you've got
bitterness, you've got strife in your hearts, you know, don't think you're something great,
you know, it's contrary to what we're reading here in James 3, look at verse number 15,
this wisdom, you know, thinking that look at me, I'm in all these battles, I'm constantly
conflict and fights, this wisdom because they're, they think they're wise, these people that are
constantly in conflicts with one another, right, oh this person's wrong, this person's wrong,
this person wrong, I know better, you know, for this wisdom, descendeth not from above,
doesn't come from God but is earthly, sensual, devilish, okay, that's, that's crazy, okay,
get earthly, you know, we can all be earthly to some extent, we're stuck here, you know,
we're made of this earth, we know our flesh desires this earth, I understand sensual,
you know, we have, we have lusts and we have things that we desire that can be contrary to God's,
God's word and God's will, then devilish, the devil, this is the wisdom of the devil,
you know, when you're constantly striving and bitterness and argumentative and arguing and
your tongue's out of control and you're, you're lying fires everywhere, brethren, it's devilish,
it's of the devil, the devil's got a hold of you if you're this person, when I think about that,
that idea because, you know, glory not, lying not against the truth, you've deceived yourself,
it reminds me of Romans chapter 1 verse 22 which is professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, okay and we've got to be careful, now this tongue's out of control,
causing a lot of fires all over the place, you know what, you're professing yourself to be
wise but really you're showing your foolishness. Look at verse number 16, James chapter 3 verse 16,
for where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work, if that's you, if you're
just constantly in strife and confusion and problems and arguments, brethren, it's evil work,
every evil work, you know, you're being consumed by the wrong things, all right, you know, again,
envy and strife, the envy again is looking upon others, you know, getting involved in other
people's issues that have nothing to do with you, that's why we started the masters, you know,
you're the one that should be dealing with your servants, don't look at other people,
you've got nothing to do with them, you know, and I've got to settle this business, even though
it's got nothing to do with you, you know, envy and looking upon others, this leads to strife
and yeah, you know, your life will be categorised by this, by confusion and every evil work,
let's keep going, verse number 17, so instead of that wisdom, we want verse number 17 wisdom,
but the wisdom that is from above, that comes from God is first pure, that's like holy, separated,
undefiled, then peaceable, okay, God's wisdom leads to peace, not strife, okay, it leads to peace
amongst the brethren, we are to love one another, okay, peace, gentle, that's like being careful,
that's the same idea with the season with salt, when we're trying to communicate something,
you know, they might not like what I have to say, but I'm going to make sure that I speak to them
in a gentle way, that they still receive what I wanted to give them, but you know, it's season
with salt, it's gentle, it's more, and the next thing that gets said, and easy to be entreated,
the idea, it's easy to be accepted, easy to be accepted, you know, full of mercy and good fruits,
we know what mercy is, good fruits, profitable, you know, you're coming and you have some harsh
words to say to brother so and so, or to sister so and so, the idea that if you have the wisdom
that comes from above, that it becomes fruitful, it becomes profitable, it actually helps them,
it doesn't destroy them, it doesn't make them worse, it actually benefits them, okay, without
partiality, again, that idea of the respect of persons, right, you know, God's wisdom is the same
for each one of us, you know, sometimes I get contacted by people, they say, but God understands
my situation, and therefore it's different for me, it's not different for you, it's without
partiality, okay, God is not a respecter of persons, God's commandments are the same for
everybody, you know, it doesn't matter who you are, God wants us to control our tongues, okay,
and then, what's that issue that some people have where they, it's not Tourette's, or is it Tourette's,
where people lose control, it is Tourette's, and they just swear, and they just, I just can't
control it, well, you know, God understands my situation, no, the reason you're swearing is
because you're a sinner, okay, and you've got to learn control, you've got to control that tongue,
it doesn't matter if you have Tourette's or not, you know, God's not a respecter of persons,
it's not about partiality, you know, control your tongue, but if you've got Tourette's, then it's
fine for you to just swear like a crazy whatever, you know, no, God understands my situation,
God understands, yeah, God understands your situation, which is why he gave you his word,
which is applicable to all of us, equal to all of us, and if it's good for me, it's good for you,
you know, if God wants me to behave a certain way at church, that's how God wants you to behave in
church as well, and it's not, I'm different, no, we're all the same, we're all human beings,
we're all creations of God, then it says without hypocrisy, you know, where you, like we said,
where you bless God and you curse man, that's hypocrisy, what are you using your tongue for,
you know, you're showing the hypocrisy with what God has given us, the members of our,
the member of our mouth, and then we get verse number 18, the last one,
and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace, okay, the fruit of
righteousness is what we just looked at with the wisdom, okay, so if we live a righteous life,
we try to live a life that pleases the Lord, we put into practice, we're a doer of God's word,
and we're walking those paths of righteousness, one of the fruits of righteousness will be wisdom,
you know, God's going to increase your understanding, the wisdom that is from above,
not the wisdom that is earthly, it's a byproduct of righteousness, and that wisdom is what leads
to peace, okay, so if the wisdom you hold leads to envy and strife, then you know it's earthly,
sensual and devilish, all right, God wants us to have the right kind of wisdom, and look,
if you're someone that finds, you know, you're just constantly in arguments and constantly in
conflicts and constantly with problems with other people, then the solution is right there,
presented in verse number 18, okay, we want the right wisdom that comes from above,
that brings peace, but this is a fruit or a byproduct of righteousness, okay, you need to
fix up your life, you want to bridle that tongue, you want to have peace amongst the brethren, then
you need to start walking in the paths of righteousness, learn what God wants you to do,
God's given us his word, right, it's a doer of his word, not just a hero, this is why it all
plays into, you know, the first few chapters there of James chapter one, all right brethren,
the tongue is a fire, what are you going to use it for, you know, fires are great, you know,
you can cook food, like I said, go camping, keep yourself warm, give you lights, but it can also
be very destructive, so destructive that God uses fire to torment the non-believers that rejected
his son for all eternity, you know, what are you going to use your tongue for, and I hope it's to
bless God, to bless God, and to give him service, okay, let's pray.