1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:08,600 Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Are you guys ready for a fire 2 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:10,960 and drill now? Everybody got that information 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,800 down. Hey, man, thank you, Sister 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,480 Karen and all those who put that together. 5 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,280 Thank you for that. Sister Kerry, thank you so much 6 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,800 for those very exuberant, exciting announcements. 7 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:29,080 A lot's going on Calvary Chapel and we thank God that he's 8 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,360 moving in this house. Going to ask that you would take 9 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,240 your Bibles out. And if you would please turn to 10 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,000 the second, I'm sorry, 3rd chapter of James this morning. 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,200 We're going to cover verses one through 12. 12 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:49,920 And while we're doing that, I would like to welcome everyone 13 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:54,360 that's here this morning, all of you who are have come back to 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,840 worship with us. If you were here recently for 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,200 the first time, we thank you for coming back and worshiping with 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:01,840 us. And, and of course, all of you 17 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,000 who are here for the very first time, it's always a blessing to 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,160 have you guys come in and just see what we're all about here at 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,080 Calvary Chapel. We pray that your worship 20 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,440 experience would be good and we pray that you feel God's love 21 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,280 while you're here and that you feel welcome. 22 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,800 And all those who are listening by way of the radio or listening 23 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:29,400 by way of Grace FM online, those who are behind prison doors, we 24 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,880 want to thank you for always being faithful and coming with 25 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:38,320 us. Just want to say this morning, 26 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:45,800 our brothers, Will and Hillary Thomas have been hit with a loss 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,360 and they are dealing with the loss of Hillary's mother. 28 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,720 They just recently dealt with the loss of her, of her father, 29 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,600 and now they're dealing with the loss of her, of her mother. 30 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,680 So we ask that you would keep Will and Hillary Thomas in your 31 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,200 prayers, please. And hopefully maybe some point 32 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,320 today. Pastor Clark and Cindy and I 33 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:09,759 would like to try to get down there. 34 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:13,320 My wife is under the weather so she won't be able to to come 35 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,320 with us, but we thank God for that, that we'll be able to do 36 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,800 get down and just have her spiritual family and many that 37 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,960 will be going down to have her spiritual family support them in 38 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,800 this time. I would like to thank also 39 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,200 Sister Kerry for letting me know that today was Pastor's 40 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,880 appreciation that I had no idea every now and then someone will 41 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,600 come and tell me, hey, what today is doughnut day, your 42 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,080 doughnut appreciation day or Starbuck coffee appreciation 43 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:47,640 day. And I have no idea when these 44 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:50,040 things happen. They just kind of come up, you 45 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,440 know, today's hamburger day or whatever it is. 46 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,080 You know, I like those kind of holidays though. 47 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,000 But anyway, I want to thank you guys and, and what a just an 48 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:07,040 awesome fellowship this is and just how much love is spreading 49 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,120 around around this house. We always feel your support and 50 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,360 we want to thank all of you on behalf of Clark and myself and 51 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,040 our wives. We want to thank all of you for 52 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,440 your service and your faithfulness to do what God has 53 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,920 called you to do. We wouldn't be able to do what 54 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:26,160 we do if it wasn't for you doing what you do. 55 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,680 And I would like to spend out a send out a special thank you to 56 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:34,160 our wives because without having the women that God has caught 57 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,440 into our lives as helpmets, we will not be able to do this. 58 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:46,200 So we thank God for Terry and, and, and for Cindy in many ways 59 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,800 of supporting us to do what it is that God has called us to do, 60 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,920 which is really important. Just like those of you who are 61 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:58,000 in ministry, your spouses are also associated with that 62 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,960 ministry as well because they help you to do what it is that 63 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,440 God has called you to do. So thank all of you. 64 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,080 OK, having said all that, let's turn to the Word of God. 65 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,200 Amen. OK, as I said, we are going to 66 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,519 be in the 3rd chapter of James and we're going to be looking at 67 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:22,520 verses one through 12. Let's pray and let's get into 68 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:30,320 the Word. Father, once again we come and 69 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,760 we assemble together as per Your command, that we should not 70 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,800 forsake the assembling of ourselves together as some have. 71 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,680 We ask so God, that as we assemble that you be here with 72 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:49,600 us, even as we know that Your promises are yay and Amen. 73 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:54,880 You promised that if two or three of us, whenever we gather 74 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,320 in Your name, that You are here in the midst of us. 75 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,600 And I'm so glad you didn't say I will be there. 76 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,320 You said I am in the midst of you. 77 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,360 So, Father, we thank you for your presence with us this 78 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:14,200 morning. And the topic that we have this 79 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,160 morning, Lord, as you know, is a very tough topic. 80 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,880 It's a topic of dealing with the tongue. 81 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:27,280 But Father, we ask for the grace, we ask for the mercy, we 82 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:31,920 ask for the wisdom, the understanding to rightly divide 83 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:37,040 this word. Father, we need your Holy Spirit 84 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:42,960 to reveal this truth to us. We need your Holy Spirit to help 85 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:49,880 us Lord, to leave here and to be able to be doers of this word 86 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:55,840 that we hear this morning. We ask you for these things in 87 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:57,680 the name of our Savior and our Lord. 88 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:08,440 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. I was told a story recently that 89 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:14,560 said that there was a pastor who have been doing a series of 90 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,360 things and. He came to the end of his sermon 91 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,160 one Sunday morning and he looked out at the congregation. 92 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,320 He said, come back next week because next week we're going to 93 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:31,480 talk about the most troubling or troublesome and the most 94 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:37,560 unsettled, the most evil, the most divisive member of our 95 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:43,000 church. So I don't need to tell you that 96 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:49,240 that next Sunday it was packed. People will wonder if they were 97 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,080 going to, if they were going to be a slideshow on this person. 98 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:52,600 You know me. Who? 99 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,240 Who is it? And then, of course, he went on 100 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:02,280 to talk about the untamable tongue, which is the most unruly 101 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:08,960 member of our church. Throughout this section, James 102 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,560 has been basically letting us know in very practical ways and 103 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:14,520 we keep saying that because it's important. 104 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,560 It's very important for me because he's very, he's very 105 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,960 black and white about the things that he's talking about and very 106 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,000 direct. As we said last week and, and, 107 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,960 and last week, he talked about works and talked about the, the 108 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:33,000 relationship between saving faith and our good works. 109 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,320 Before that he talked about having, as we said, you know, no 110 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:42,800 partiality in our service to the Lord in this week and all those 111 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,560 things that he talked about the last few weeks. 112 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:50,000 It was about the maturity, our spiritual maturity and how you 113 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,320 can tell that one is spiritually mature. 114 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,720 And as he talked about last week, good works is the evidence 115 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,840 of one that is not only spiritually mature, but is the 116 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:04,280 evidence of our saving faith. So is the word, or so are the 117 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,000 words that we speak. So is our speech. 118 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:13,120 How important it is to have speech that that represents and 119 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:17,320 glorifies God. You see, our deeds in our words 120 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:23,160 should reflect our faith in God. Our speech should be evidence of 121 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:28,000 our profession of faith. So what I'm going to do, I'm 122 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,040 going to read this all the way through 1st and then I'm going 123 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,440 to go back and we're going to deal with it. 124 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,240 Amen. So he says this in verse 1 of 125 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,159 chapter 3. He says, my brother, let not 126 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:43,760 many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a 127 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:48,360 stricter judgment, for we all stumble in many ways. 128 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,720 If anyone does not stumble in Word, he's a perfect man, able 129 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,920 also to bridle the whole body. Indeed. 130 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:01,960 And we put bits in horses mouths that they may obey us, and we 131 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,440 turn their whole body. Look also at ships. 132 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,760 Although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they 133 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:15,720 are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot 134 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,320 desires. Even so, the tongue is a little 135 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:25,520 member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little 136 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:31,600 fire Kindles, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. 137 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,600 The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the 138 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:41,040 whole body and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set 139 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,680 on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and 140 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:51,080 bird, of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been 141 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,600 tamed by mankind. But no one can tame the tongue. 142 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,960 It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 143 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,440 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse 144 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,640 men, And we have been who have been made in the similitude of 145 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,280 God. Out of the same mouth proceed 146 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,280 blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought 147 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,480 not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh 148 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,400 water and bitter from the same opening? 149 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:29,080 Can a fig tree my brother and bear olives or a Grapevine bear 150 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:34,640 figs? Thus, no spring yields both salt 151 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:39,160 water and fresh. I don't have to tell you that 152 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,720 throughout our lives, many times we have experienced the 153 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,720 devastation of the power of the tongue. 154 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:53,280 We have experienced the the problems that someone has when 155 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:58,320 they just use their tongue in ways that could be detrimental 156 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:03,040 or ways that can be harmful. We've done it, I've done it. 157 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,240 I've certainly used my tongue in ways that I should not have. 158 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,920 And I'm sure people have used their tongues against me in ways 159 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,560 that they should not have. The tongue is an untamable 160 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,120 member. And when we look at this 161 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:22,200 particular passage, we see that James in talking about the 162 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:27,000 tongue, he starts first of all with the, you know, with, with, 163 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:32,360 with teachers who uses their tongue to communicate God's 164 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,400 word. So he says, he says, my brother, 165 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,360 let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall 166 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,640 receive a stricter judgment. James said, For we all stumble 167 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,200 in many things. If if anyone does not stumble in 168 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,360 Word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 169 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,640 But now when we look at that, he is saying to those, and he must 170 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,040 have been in a place where there were many men who were trying to 171 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:05,000 jockey for position to be teachers who were just motivated 172 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,800 to go and teach. And James is saying to them, oh, 173 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,400 let me slow up a little bit. First of all, you need to 174 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:17,480 understand that teachers will have a stricter judgment. 175 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,120 So before you decide that you want to go and teach the Word of 176 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,120 God, you need to have something settled within yourself. 177 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:31,560 First of all, are you called? As I told you before, my 178 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:36,440 grandmother said that you can know a good preacher because 179 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:40,600 there's some who were sent and there were some who just went 180 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,880 and, and, and, and so we understand here what James is 181 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,600 saying, that first of all, you need to be called. 182 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,160 Were you called? Were you truly called? 183 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,480 Do you have, do you truly have a heart to teach God's word? 184 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,880 Or are you just interested in hearing your own voice? 185 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,920 Or are you just interested in being in a position of 186 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,480 authority, or you just interested in being able to have 187 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,200 some semblance of control over what people are hearing and what 188 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,000 people do? But you have to have a heart for 189 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,200 God and for His word. Are you able to just stand flat 190 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,960 footed and preach the truth regardless of the culture, 191 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,480 regardless of what the, the, the saying is these days or what 192 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,360 people accept these days, regardless of somebody talking 193 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,640 about relative truth, Are you able to give the absolute truth 194 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:39,280 and stand by it and not be swayed by what people think 195 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,920 James is saying you need to slow down a little bit before you be 196 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,720 become a preacher because you're going to be judged according to 197 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,400 those things. You will have the stricter 198 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,520 judgment. Teachers are held to a higher 199 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,280 standard. Not only are they held to what 200 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,200 they teach, we have to rightly divide what we teach. 201 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,280 We have to make sure that there's time that we study and 202 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,840 all of those things, but not only that, but to live what we 203 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,960 teach, which is just as important. 204 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,320 James is saying, are you willing to spend the time that's needed 205 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,000 to rightly divide what you're teaching? 206 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,800 Because there's some teachers enjoying that particular time. 207 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,760 They were dealing with preachers who were teaching heresy that 208 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,760 were leading the people away from Jesus. 209 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,600 They were teaching things that were abominable. 210 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:33,000 And James is saying that you better make sure that you 211 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,040 understand because you're going to be held to a stricter 212 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,480 judgment. And notice he said we will be 213 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,200 held to a stricter judgment. He included himself in that. 214 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,480 Then we go down here to verse 2. He said, for we all stumble in 215 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,680 many things. If anyone does not stumble in 216 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:59,320 Word, he is a perfect man able also to bridle or to control the 217 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,560 whole body. James says here that we all 218 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,640 stumble and I like the fact that he mentioned we in this, he 219 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,520 didn't just say you all stumble. He said we all stumble. 220 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:13,920 Yes, James. And we talked about who James 221 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:15,640 was right? He said, you know, James was 222 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,200 actually had the, the, the, the nickname of being James, the 223 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,680 just He also had a nickname of being old camel knees. 224 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:28,160 We talked about how he he prayed so much and so often that he had 225 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,920 calluses on his knees. James was known to be a 226 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,120 righteous man. James was the half brother of 227 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:39,520 Jesus. Yet he says we all stumble in 228 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:44,320 many things because we do. None of us are perfect and James 229 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,280 realized that that included him as well. 230 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,600 But we should also understand that when he that when he says 231 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,120 that we're not saying he's not talking that, that, that when 232 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,960 you you know, and he said, you know, when he says that we 233 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,560 stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in 234 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,560 Word that he is a perfect man, he's not saying that you're 235 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,920 going to be perfect. He's talking about a mature 236 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,760 Christian. He's talking about being mature, 237 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,560 learning and, and, and becoming more and more like Christ. 238 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:20,000 But if you are able to keep your tongue, if you are able to not 239 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,760 stumble in Word, he says you're a mature man and you're also 240 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:29,120 able to control your whole body. Doesn't mean that when we do 241 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:33,600 stumble that we're not saved. It doesn't mean that we all do 242 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:38,520 have times when we come short of God's glory. 243 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,000 But when we stumble, it reminds us that we all need God's grace. 244 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,840 We all need his mercy. We all need him because we can't 245 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,760 do it in and of ourselves. We all need the Holy Spirit to 246 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,160 help us in this because we're not perfect. 247 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,680 Now, if, if we were perfect, you know, he talked about being 248 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:03,760 perfect. If he was, if we were perfect, 249 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,079 then we would be that person who would never ever have to take 250 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:14,240 anything back that he says. He would never have to take 251 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:16,280 anything back. You know when he, when he says, 252 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,880 you know, he, he don't say words that are hurtful or unkind or 253 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,480 untrue. He doesn't say words that are 254 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:28,000 selfish, proud and rude or, or or have these momentary 255 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,680 outbursts of anger. He doesn't do that. 256 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:36,640 Just if he was a perfect person. Well, that's not me because I 257 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,160 have had all of those things. I have said things that were 258 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,160 hurtful. I have said things that were 259 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,840 unkind, even untrue. I've said things that were 260 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,880 selfish. I've been proud. 261 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,280 I have said things that were rude and I have had outbursts of 262 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,400 anger. So we all deal with these 263 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,280 things. We're not perfect and we all 264 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,560 experience these kind of things, but if this becomes your 265 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:13,320 lifestyle, if this this becomes your, if this categorizes you as 266 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,680 the person, the kind of person you are, if this is your norm 267 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,160 and not just something that you deal with every now and then, 268 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,200 then we have to consider whether or not we have had true 269 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,480 conversion, that we have had that new heart. 270 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,680 Did we have that change that takes place, that transformation 271 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:40,120 that takes place whenever Jesus comes to live in your heart? 272 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,000 But the fact is we're not perfect because if we were, we 273 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,640 could control everything about us. 274 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,320 So in verse three he says when we put bits and horses mouths 275 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:56,800 that they may obey us. I enjoy that because I love 276 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,640 horses. Anybody else out here like 277 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,080 horses? Ah, there you go. 278 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,800 OK, yeah, I love horses. I mean, I in fact, I think I 279 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,200 told you guys before my first date with my wife, I took a 280 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,240 horseback ride. I think that you can tell a lot 281 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:20,120 about a person when you put them on a horse, but I do, I enjoy 282 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:23,200 horseback riding. And it's not only you know, 283 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,160 horseback riding is not only therapeutic. 284 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,600 But it's also peaceful to me, you know, be, I mean, you're, 285 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,040 you're out there in the woods. And I always did like Westerns 286 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,000 when I was young, you know, couldn't wait to have a port. 287 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:35,640 I lived in a project. I used to always tell my mom, 288 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,640 could you, you know, can we get a horse for Christmas? 289 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:40,160 You know, what in the world was I going to keep a horse in the 290 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,160 projects? But I just wanted a horse, you 291 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,440 know, So on Christmas morning sometime, I would go out back 292 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,320 and look and see if there was a horse tied up out there 293 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,720 somewhere. And of course, it never was. 294 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:57,360 That was never going to happen. And then I got older and I 295 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,640 started to, I had a relation, you know, a relationship, a 296 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,560 friendship with this, with this guy who had a stable with new 297 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,000 Alexandra was the first time I found out about where New 298 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:11,840 Alexandra was. And man, he had like about 1213 299 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,080 horses. And, and I would spend a lot of 300 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,840 my days out there and a lot of my weekends, you know, helping 301 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,680 them take, you know, first when I was just out there just riding 302 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,240 and then I started taking rides out for him and just really 303 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,600 getting. Kind of getting into that life, 304 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,440 me and my family, my kids and we kind of got into it and we 305 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,040 started learning a lot about horses. 306 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,520 And I'm so glad that my mother never bought me one because. 307 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,560 Man, it's a ton of work. It's a ton of work. 308 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,120 But I think it's interesting here that James uses that 309 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:45,800 example when he talks about, because he's now moving into 310 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:51,320 talking about how the tongue can be used for control. 311 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:57,040 And, and, and he says that indeed, we put bits in horses 312 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:01,240 mouths that they may obey us and we turn their whole body. 313 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:09,760 So if you think about a 14 or 1800 LB animal being under you, 314 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,520 that you're, that you're, you're sitting on top of this animal. 315 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:17,760 And the only thing that controls this animal is about a, a, a A5 316 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:24,280 and 1/2 inch bit that's in his mouth that you turn to the left, 317 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,760 to the right, or that you pull down and stop him or whatever 318 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,680 you may do or release. So whatever you do, it's a 5 1/2 319 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:37,600 inch bit that small controls the direction and controls this 320 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:44,440 massive animal that is so strong there's no way we could ever be 321 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,480 able to control him without it. You control the mouth. 322 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,480 In other words, what James is saying, if you can control the 323 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,360 mouth, you can control the beast. 324 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,360 If you can control the mouth, you can control the beast. 325 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,440 So James is saying we put these little small bits in the horse's 326 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,200 mouth if we and they control him. 327 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,640 And he also used another example, he said, And, and also 328 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,560 the example of ships, he says although they are large and are 329 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:20,520 driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder 330 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,080 wherever the pilot goes. So he's basically saying that 331 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:30,080 you have this, this, this ship who's large, I mean very large. 332 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,560 And it's, and it's very, another very heavy instrument. 333 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:38,400 And with a small rudder, you can turn these things. 334 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,800 You can direct them, you can guide them, you can steer them. 335 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:43,800 I learned a little bit about ships. 336 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:49,280 I, I, I learned that even today they still use rudders on most 337 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,320 size, most large size ships. Now modern technology has 338 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,560 advanced. So they now use something called 339 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,320 the azimuth Azi myth. I don't even know if I'm am I 340 00:22:58,360 --> 00:22:59,760 pronouncing it? Where's where's my brother? 341 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,240 Am I pronouncing it azimuth. OK. 342 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:07,920 And as in the thruster or pods, a single which is a single 343 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,600 propeller unit. So it's it's like the rudder and 344 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,560 everything together. But typically like your large 345 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,480 ships that has a propeller and it has a separate part that's a 346 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:22,480 rudder, which actually controls the direction of the ship. 347 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:28,160 So you got these large warships and these large cargo ships and 348 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,720 they're being guided by a small rudder. 349 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,200 It's amazing. But there's one other thing I 350 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,840 wanted to tell you I want to share with you about the horse. 351 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:44,240 Even with the bit when you, the more you develop, the more you 352 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,040 develop the relationship with the horse. 353 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,760 The more fellowship you have with this horse, the less 354 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,960 resistance you will. Have in your direction of and 355 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:01,440 when you're trying to guide them, the less resistance. 356 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,120 And it's just like us, the more we have fellowship with the 357 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:09,080 Lord, the more we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, 358 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,840 the less resistance that we give him when He's guiding us. 359 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:24,240 So he talks about these small things that can be used to turn 360 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,720 and guide and control these large animals and or this large 361 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,280 animal and this large ship. So then in verse 5, he says, so 362 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,840 even, you know, Even so the tongue is a little member and it 363 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,360 boasts great things. And this and this boast here 364 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,080 doesn't mean just not talking about bragging about great 365 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:45,920 things. What he's saying is that this 366 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:53,640 small thing, this small a member in our bodies, the tongue, it 367 00:24:53,640 --> 00:25:00,800 says that it is capable of a lot of influence and power and can 368 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:04,320 do massive things. It can accomplish massive 369 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:10,080 things. You see people who can speak and 370 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,360 can move crowds. They can move people to tears. 371 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:16,960 It moves. It can move people to anger. 372 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,440 It can move people to action. It can move people to 373 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:28,400 compassion, the tongue. And this is one of the things 374 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,040 that we that you know, that we talk about, you know, when we 375 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,960 talk about words or speech, you know, it's not just a matter of 376 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,840 just words spoken, but even words written, words sung. 377 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:46,520 When you think about some of the rap music, I used to work with 378 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,480 gang bangers and I used to hear their testimonies and they would 379 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:56,160 tell me before I would go and do a hit, I would go and drink some 380 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,640 alcohol. I would listen to my favorite 381 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,840 rap artist and that would pump me up enough to go out and do a 382 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,920 hit. We're talking about 1415 year 383 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:11,920 old kids moved to violence by words. 384 00:26:17,050 --> 00:26:22,330 What does our words move people to we should be careful about? 385 00:26:22,330 --> 00:26:24,970 What it is that we say out of our mouths because it can have. 386 00:26:24,970 --> 00:26:33,600 Power, it can have influence, it can move people to either 387 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:41,640 compassion or destruction. So then he goes here to verse 388 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,800 verse 6. I'm sorry, let's go to the 389 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,600 bottom of verse 5. He says, see how great a force a 390 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:53,280 little fire Kindles, and the tongue is a fire, a world of 391 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,120 iniquity. So when you think about a lot of 392 00:26:57,120 --> 00:26:59,280 another, in other words, what he's saying here is that the 393 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,600 tongue, even though it's still small, it can, it can, it can 394 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,480 spark. It can spark a small Just a 395 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,720 small spark from your tongue could cause great disaster, 396 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,600 great destruction, just like a fire. 397 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:20,640 You know, a match in someone's camp in the forest. 398 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:24,520 A small match that starts just a little small campfire. 399 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,920 That if out of control, can bring devastation to many, many 400 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:40,680 miles of forest and homes and lives destroyed in their wake 401 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,720 because of a small spark from a match. 402 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,200 And he's saying, James is saying to us, our tongues can be like 403 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:53,600 that. And we can start with one person 404 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:57,640 to say something negative about another person and it can 405 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,520 divide. Eventually it could divide the 406 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:05,160 whole church. It could bring the church down. 407 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:12,240 When I was younger I had a friend who one night his, you 408 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:18,160 know her brother came home from being out late and he decided 409 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,720 that he wanted to boil some hot dogs and go to sleep because 410 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,320 before he was hungry, he was hungry. 411 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,280 So he wanted to just boil some hot dogs and and eat before he 412 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,160 went to bed. Well, while he was waiting for 413 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:36,800 the hot dogs to to boil, he fell asleep and push the pan begin to 414 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,000 burn. And you know, there, there was a 415 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,640 small fire. And because he was sleep, he 416 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,000 didn't know it. No one else recognized it. 417 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,800 I think he was home by himself. Next thing you know there was, 418 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:51,520 I'm sorry, he was not home by himself. 419 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,160 There were other people home, but they were all asleep. 420 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,680 Next thing you know, the whole kitchen was on fire. 421 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,480 And then eventually that fire spread. 422 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,080 By the time he woke up, that fire spread and had destroyed 423 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:08,400 that whole house. So for months a whole family was 424 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:16,000 homeless, separated and homeless from the spark of 1 pot burning 425 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,320 on the stove. And James is saying, you know 426 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,400 what? Our mouths with just one 427 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,360 negative. Evil word that we speak to 428 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:33,520 someone about somebody else can cause a major, major fire that 429 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,800 can destroy a church, destroy families. 430 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:44,480 How many times have we seen families separated, relationship 431 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:48,480 severed because of something someone said? 432 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,160 Maybe it was said with the purpose of hurting, maybe it was 433 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,000 said out of it was taken out of context. 434 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,920 But something that was spoken and it breaks a relationship 435 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,200 with family where people don't speak for years. 436 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:08,840 Sometimes they never speak again. 437 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,760 Marriages have been broken because of an outburst, and 438 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:20,200 someone said something that was so damaging that the other 439 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,680 person just could not forgive it. 440 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:30,000 Marriages end. So he talks about just how this 441 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,440 tongue can be a world of iniquity. 442 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:38,920 And then he says the tongue is so set among our members that it 443 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:44,000 defiles the whole body, and it sets on fire the course of 444 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,720 nature. It defiles the whole body. 445 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,560 A tongue. The words that we speak not only 446 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,720 define, not only our words themselves are defiled, but it 447 00:30:54,720 --> 00:31:00,360 can defile the whole body. We used to hear this saying, and 448 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:02,720 I'm sure you heard it when you were younger, which says sticks 449 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,480 and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me. 450 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:10,080 Remember, that was actually like just, you know, quoted like back 451 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,400 in the the 1800s. And the purpose for quoting, I 452 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,000 mean, it had a good intention. I mean, the reason why someone 453 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,240 made this up is because they were trying to help kids. 454 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,800 They were trying to support kids who were being verbally bullied. 455 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:27,440 So someone said, hey, listen, you know, don't worry about it. 456 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,000 Sticks and stones may hurt, you know, may break your bones, but 457 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,120 words will never hurt you. But that is not true. 458 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,120 That is not true. Words hurt. 459 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,640 I I found a quote and I don't even know who the author of this 460 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,160 is it. It was anonymous, but it says 461 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,320 this. It says the tongue has no bones, 462 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,440 but it's strong enough to break a heart. 463 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:57,720 So be careful with your words because it can break a heart. 464 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:03,000 It can be destructive. And the other thing about words, 465 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,360 you know, sometimes, you know, we say something and we want to 466 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,520 turn around and take it back. You know, I'm so sorry I said 467 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:09,840 that. I didn't mean to say that. 468 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:16,480 But once it's out us out. Once it's out of South, words 469 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,520 like feathers. They're like feathers you. 470 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:23,320 Open up a pillowcase and and you got wind blowing and, and and 471 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:28,560 you release these feathers. You'll never get all those 472 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,400 feathers back. And our words are like that. 473 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,200 We can say things that we can just never take back. 474 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,760 We can never get it back. I found another saying that says 475 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,240 don't mix bad words with your bad mood. 476 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:50,280 You have many opportunities to change your mood, but you'll 477 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:55,800 never, ever get the opportunity to change the words that you 478 00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:02,240 spoke. Never Proverbs 1821 says death 479 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,840 and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it 480 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,680 will eat its fruit. And what that means is that when 481 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:14,800 you have spoken words to a person, whatever you speak to 482 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:16,920 them, that's what you're going to reap from them. 483 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,560 The way that you speak to them is the is what you're going to 484 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:24,200 reap for them. If you speak kindness in life to 485 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,560 them, you're going to get kindness in life back. 486 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,680 But if you speak evil to them, eventually you will turn this 487 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,920 person who may have been sweet at one time, but now you've made 488 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:40,640 them defensive and and now they've become more harsh 489 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,480 because of our tongues. But the good thing about our 490 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:52,040 tongues is that we can confess our weaknesses concerning our 491 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,800 speech, and we can ask for forgiveness from the Lord. 492 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,840 And the Lord over time works on hearts. 493 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,640 So yeah, I may have hurt you. I may have said something to you 494 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:07,560 that you may find hard to get over. 495 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,679 But the Lord, if he, when he doesn't work in me, he can do a 496 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:16,320 work in you too, and begin to soften your heart, just like He 497 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:22,679 softens my heart. And then it says here, the 498 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:25,159 tongue is so set among our members that defiles the whole 499 00:34:25,159 --> 00:34:29,320 body and sets on fire the core and set on fire the course of 500 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:34,280 nature, or the the will of nature sets on fire the will of 501 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:38,440 nature. Our path is set by our tongues, 502 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:42,040 our, our, our, our, our, our will of our, the will of our 503 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,520 life is directed by our tongues. And the one thing we have to 504 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:52,679 understand is that without God doing a work in our hearts, we 505 00:34:52,679 --> 00:34:58,320 can leave one place. That has become a problem 506 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,120 because of words that we spoke, because of things that we may 507 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,600 have said. But if, unless God doesn't work 508 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:07,920 in our hearts, we can go somewhere else. 509 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,640 We can change jobs, we can change locations. 510 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,400 We can do all kinds of things. But unless God does a work in 511 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:19,440 our hearts, we just take that same tongue with us and it 512 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,640 becomes a problem someplace else. 513 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,120 Our ungodly speech comes from an ungodly source. 514 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:30,800 Our uncontrolled tongue defiles or corrupts every part of us. 515 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:37,920 Matthew 1511 says not what goes in to the mouth defiles a man, 516 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:42,160 but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. 517 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,280 So he says it defiles the whole body and sets on on fire the 518 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:54,640 course of nature or the will of life, and it is set on fire by 519 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,120 hell. So what he's saying here is that 520 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,880 all of this, this, this evil speaking, it comes from 521 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:05,880 someplace and we know that it doesn't come from the Lord, it 522 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:07,920 comes from hell. It comes from the evil one. 523 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:14,640 It's being fueled by the evil 1 So it's almost like we, we, we, 524 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,160 we know if we're constantly spewing out evil things and 525 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,200 we're, and if we're we're listening to somebody that's 526 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:25,040 constantly spewing out evil things, we have to understand 527 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:27,160 that's not coming from the Lord. We got to know the source. 528 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,000 We got to understand the source. It's not coming from the Lord. 529 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:36,880 It's coming from an evil place. And then in verse 7, verse 70 530 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:41,440 says every kind of beast and bird of reptile creatures and of 531 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,960 the sea is tamed by the tongue. I mean, it's tamed and has been 532 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:50,160 tamed by mankind, but no one can tame the tongue. 533 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:54,480 It's an unruly evil full of deadly poison. 534 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,080 So this tongue, you know, he's now talking about Genesis, how 535 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:02,680 he puts, he puts us, he put man over and made him dominion over 536 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:06,080 all the, the beast of the field. And also talks about that in 537 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,840 Psalm 8 as well. You know, when he says that he's 538 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,880 put all things under his feet, meaning under the feet of man. 539 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,480 And, and, and we have the dominance over the beast of the 540 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,600 other fields and the birds of the air and the, and the fish 541 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:21,360 that are in the sea. We have dominance over these 542 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:23,760 things. And, and it's amazing how we can 543 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,560 see throughout life that man has been able to tame almost 544 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,200 everything. I mean the most ferocious, the 545 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,720 most, the largest and the most dangerous animals. 546 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,480 We can go to different zoos, I mean not zoos, but the circuses 547 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,760 and to different shows. And we can see these man eating 548 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,040 beasts, you know, under the control of another man, of a 549 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,320 man. And they can control these 550 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,200 things. They can train these things. 551 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,600 I'm not saying they can domesticate them, but they can 552 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,080 train them. They can somewhat tame them. 553 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,160 But James said no one can tame the tongue. 554 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:05,720 No one can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil. 555 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:11,840 The only thing that can tame our tongues is the Holy Spirit is 556 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:17,240 the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the words that I 557 00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:21,600 speak, they are spirit, they are life. 558 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:27,720 The words that I speak, the law of the Lord is perfect. 559 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:34,560 It converts the soul. The Holy Spirit is the only one 560 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:38,600 that can control our tongues and it is like a poison, you know 561 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,360 it. It can strike and do damage like 562 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:45,160 poison and spread just that fast, just like poison. 563 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,080 And it can poison an entire community. 564 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:53,120 It can poison an entire group of people and cause them to all 565 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:57,000 have the same negative concept about a different point. 566 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,280 We see it now all the time when people come up and speak about 567 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,120 political things. They can say one thing and they 568 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:08,600 can have an impact and and and people will will will have a 569 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:15,480 negative a negative perception things because of things that 570 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:20,680 people speak. One of the things that I think 571 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:24,680 is really an issue and and then the church, you know, when when 572 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,480 James talked about everybody shouldn't be be teachers. 573 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:34,760 Anytime a teacher of the word of God begins to call sin. 574 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:41,880 OK, that's a major problem because people here, a pastor 575 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:48,600 say that this sin is OK and they leave their feeling that their 576 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:53,800 sin is OK. I'm sorry. 577 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,360 I don't care what Bible you look in, at least if it's the Holy 578 00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,720 Bible. You will never see where it's OK 579 00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:03,680 to be a homosexual. You will never see where it's OK 580 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,200 to fornicate. You will never see where it's 581 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:10,360 OK. To commit sexual immorality, 582 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:15,280 you'll never see that. It's not OK to be an adulteress. 583 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,720 It's not OK. You'll never see that. 584 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:24,840 So it's the it's the word of God and we have to stand on that. 585 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,800 But if you hear but if they hear that from the pulpit because of 586 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,920 the authority that a teacher has it can cause people to be 587 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:38,920 stumbled. Let's go on verse 9 says with it 588 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:43,200 we bless our our father and with it we curse men who have been 589 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:47,120 made in the similitude of God out of the same mouth proceed 590 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:52,080 blessing and cursing my brother. These things are not to be so I 591 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:57,760 I love the fact that James is saying here that you bless the 592 00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:02,800 Creator, you worship God, you praise him with your lips, you 593 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:06,920 exalt him, you, you, you do all these things with your lips and 594 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:08,600 you and and you worship and praise him. 595 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:12,040 But then out of the same mouth you can turn from him, and out 596 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,560 of your same mouth you'll curse. Your brother or sister. 597 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:20,560 You'll speak harsh to or about your brother and sister after 598 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,640 worshipping the God. Not only do you worship the 599 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,440 creator and then you curse his creation and he says this should 600 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:32,320 not be so. This should not be so. 601 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,520 We can't that that that cannot happen. 602 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:39,200 It's not it's, it's, it's like, it's, it's like Jesus said when 603 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:45,520 he said your, your lips worship me, but your heart is far from 604 00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:48,880 me. That's not the heart of the Lord 605 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:54,360 to do that. And then he makes this and we're 606 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:55,960 going to kind of bring this to an end. 607 00:41:55,960 --> 00:42:03,180 Praise and worship team. You can come forward in verse 608 00:42:03,180 --> 00:42:05,540 11. He says, does a spring send 609 00:42:05,540 --> 00:42:08,940 forth freshwater and bitter out of the same opening? 610 00:42:09,620 --> 00:42:13,740 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives or grapevines or 611 00:42:13,740 --> 00:42:18,560 Grapevine bear figs? Thus, no spring yields both salt 612 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:23,160 water and freshwater. The Lord is, you know, James is 613 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,200 saying here that there's no way that righteousness and 614 00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:28,600 unrighteousness should be coming out of the same source. 615 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:30,400 It doesn't come out of the same source. 616 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:33,360 It just doesn't. It just doesn't. 617 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:37,520 We, you know, when, when you, when you know freshwater and 618 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,400 I've, you know, I've traveled, I'm sure many of you have 619 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:40,840 traveled and been to many things. 620 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:45,400 You've seen many scenic things, but I don't think there's ever a 621 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:51,760 time when I've ever seen a freshwater and bitter water come 622 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:53,680 out of the same source. I've never seen that. 623 00:42:55,640 --> 00:43:01,560 And if I'm at home, if I'm at home, if I turn my water faucet 624 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:06,160 on and there's freshwater or there's good tasting water that 625 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,840 comes out. And then the next time I turn on 626 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:12,440 and it's bitter water that comes out, I'm calling the plumber 627 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,200 because something's wrong. There's something wrong with the 628 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:18,920 source. There's something wrong with 629 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:20,360 what's, you know, with the source. 630 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:22,440 I turn the water on. It's nice and clear. 631 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:23,880 I cut off. I cut it on again. 632 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:26,360 It's brown. Yeah. 633 00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:29,680 I'm calling the plumber. I'm calling the plumber. 634 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:39,600 So we, if we speak words of life, if we speak words of 635 00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:43,920 gentleness and, and words of love and words of kindness and 636 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:48,680 goodness and the next thing out of our mouths, and it's a habit, 637 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:50,320 we're doing this on a regular basis. 638 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,840 Next thing out of our mouths, we're speaking harsh words, 639 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:58,040 we're cursing against our brothers and sisters or we're 640 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:02,120 we're we're we're, we're, you know, we're we're gossiping, 641 00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,800 slandering our brothers and sisters. 642 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:08,120 Then something is wrong and it's wrong. 643 00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:10,000 There's something wrong with the source. 644 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:13,400 There's something wrong with my heart. 645 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:20,000 I need to go to the I need to call Jesus because there's 646 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:30,840 something wrong with my heart. James is saying here, and this 647 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:38,400 is a very, very important passage, passage of Scripture. 648 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,360 And this is something I had to repent of when I was studying 649 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:49,440 this time and time again because even suddenly our words that we 650 00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:53,680 say can be a problem and can hurt someone. 651 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,080 And like we say, you can never get those words back. 652 00:45:02,240 --> 00:45:04,200 Be careful what you say in front of your children. 653 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:07,960 Watch what you say in front of your children. 654 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:13,560 Watch how you speak to them. There are things that your kids 655 00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:14,800 hear. You think they're not even 656 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,120 paying attention, and they'll remember for the rest of their 657 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:25,760 lives. I promise you they will watch. 658 00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:30,680 Who you talk about in front of your kids because you may know 659 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,920 or be able to process those things, but your kids can't. 660 00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:39,000 They start treating people differently based on 661 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:45,880 conversations they have heard. Be careful what we say in front 662 00:45:45,880 --> 00:46:00,800 of our kids. When we talk about being careful 663 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:04,760 about our speech. One of the things that we 664 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:11,440 neglect to practice, that we neglect to do sometimes, is to 665 00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:17,440 practice the holiness of silence, the beauty of silence, 666 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,240 this beauty in silence, being silent. 667 00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:28,240 If you remember Jesus, when he was being threatened, when he 668 00:46:28,240 --> 00:46:34,440 was being verbally abused by his enemies, he would just be 669 00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:39,840 silent. When Pontius Pilate was 670 00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,880 questioning him and was saying all these different things about 671 00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:48,280 him, he would just be silent. And let us not forget King 672 00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:53,960 Hezekiah back in Second Kings 18 and 19 when the Assyrian army 673 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,880 came upon him and they and, and, and they started to threaten 674 00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:00,720 Judah. They started to threaten them 675 00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:03,120 and talk about what they're going to do and how, you know, 676 00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:07,040 we took other people's nations. We took other people's land and, 677 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:09,480 and their gods couldn't do anything about what makes you 678 00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:11,400 think your God is going to do anything about it? 679 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,240 Oh, he could have just ran off. They could have just ran off at 680 00:47:14,240 --> 00:47:16,080 the mouth and just jumped off and just talked about. 681 00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:21,800 He was silent, and he gave commandment to his staff to be. 682 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:25,400 Silent. To just be quiet. 683 00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,040 And they took it before the Lord, and the Lord dealt with 684 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:34,360 them. I'm saying that sometimes we can 685 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:39,080 just be silent when we feel that we're offended, when we feel 686 00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:42,000 that we've been done wrong, when we feel that we've been verbally 687 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:46,120 attacked, when we. Feel that we have the right to 688 00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:50,200 strike out. Sometimes it just be silent. 689 00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:56,120 Allow the Lord to deal with it. Allow the Lord to speak to your 690 00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:59,720 heart. Allow the Lord to tell you what 691 00:47:59,720 --> 00:48:03,120 to say. Be slow to be quick to hear. 692 00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:08,160 Be slow to speak and to be slow to wrath. 693 00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:20,580 I don't know about you, but I know that. 694 00:48:20,620 --> 00:48:33,280 I can be prone to reacting. And responding with my mouth in 695 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:38,000 ways that I shouldn't. And it doesn't have to be foul 696 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,680 language. But you know when your heart, 697 00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:44,640 when you're saying something condescending to somebody, you 698 00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:47,880 know in your heart when you're being what we call passive 699 00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:50,640 aggressive and our response to people. 700 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:56,240 And I know that over the years, I myself have said things to 701 00:48:56,240 --> 00:49:00,600 people that hurt them, just as people have said things to me 702 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:10,560 that has hurt me. And today I want to go to the 703 00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:18,120 source that can help my heart. And I'm asking you if you would 704 00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:24,520 join me, if that's you, If that's you, would you meet me 705 00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:27,760 here? So we together can go before 706 00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:33,640 their Lord Jesus Christ, the source that He can talk and deal 707 00:49:33,640 --> 00:49:38,600 with our hearts so that we don't have to speak in ways that would 708 00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:40,920 be detrimental. We don't have speaking ways that 709 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:44,640 are ungodly. We don't have to speak in ways 710 00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:48,240 that hurt people. Lord, I've done that before, and 711 00:49:48,240 --> 00:49:53,480 I don't want to do that anymore. Will anybody join me here? 712 00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:00,920 You can come on up. Come on up. 713 00:50:12,090 --> 00:50:13,210 I'm going to come down here with you. 714 00:50:15,010 --> 00:50:21,250 Hey, man, we can all need to go to the source, the source of our 715 00:50:21,250 --> 00:50:25,010 hearts. Anybody else? 716 00:50:25,010 --> 00:50:26,290 We'll wait for you. Anybody else want to come? 717 00:50:29,610 --> 00:50:36,440 Anybody else want to come? Jesus hears us. 718 00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:40,680 He responds to us. He can touch our hearts. 719 00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:46,080 Not man, not friends. He can touch our hearts. 720 00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:53,360 Anybody else? You're welcome to come up even 721 00:50:53,360 --> 00:50:56,760 as we're praying. Let's let's grab hands. 722 00:50:56,920 --> 00:51:05,320 Let's come in agreement with him this morning, Father, we're 723 00:51:05,320 --> 00:51:07,960 coming because we realize our weaknesses. 724 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:12,000 We realize our frailties. We realize. 725 00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:17,600 That when we're not under control of the Holy Spirit, that 726 00:51:17,600 --> 00:51:22,360 we are out of control. And when we're out of control, 727 00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:26,040 we become under the control of an evil source. 728 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:29,200 We become under the control of the world. 729 00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:31,800 We become under the control of our flesh. 730 00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:36,800 We become under the control of demonic influence. 731 00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:43,680 Father, we're asking you this morning as we come humble before 732 00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:47,960 you, Lord. Lord, please forgive us of 733 00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:53,000 things that we have spoken, things that we have said that 734 00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:56,680 has come out of a hard heart, that has come out of an angry 735 00:51:56,680 --> 00:52:00,000 heart, maybe even a hateful hearted times. 736 00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:06,720 Father, we ask that you would forgive us of the times that we 737 00:52:06,720 --> 00:52:11,840 weaponized our tongues and slandered or gossiped or said 738 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:15,600 something in in response, Lord, because we know that it will 739 00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:18,400 hurt them worse than what they just hurt us. 740 00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:28,120 Father, we pray today, Lord, as we come before you as a unit in 741 00:52:28,120 --> 00:52:31,080 unity. Father, we together or saying 742 00:52:31,080 --> 00:52:36,560 that we have sinned and have come short of your glory. 743 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:42,400 Father, we ask that you forgive us, that you will wash us, that 744 00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:46,160 you will cleanse us, that you will purify our hearts and 745 00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:53,120 purify our tongues, 'cause us, O God, to be a a a a a, a spring 746 00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:58,240 of life to people. Cause us to be a spring that 747 00:52:58,240 --> 00:53:02,000 speaks kindness and love and faithfulness. 748 00:53:02,720 --> 00:53:06,640 Cause us to be a spring that brings joy to people and that 749 00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:09,200 seeks peace. Lord and, and, and, and have 750 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:15,240 self-control. Father God, we're coming to you, 751 00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:19,560 the only true source for true life. 752 00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:29,200 You are the way, You are the truth, and you are the life. 753 00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:38,480 Lord, open our hearts today, forgive us of our sins, and we 754 00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:41,720 repent, and we ask that you give us the power to turn. 755 00:53:41,720 --> 00:53:46,560 Away from them, Lord, that our words would be words of life. 756 00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:51,520 We ask these things during the name of our Savior and our Lord. 757 00:53:52,160 --> 00:53:55,160 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 758 00:53:56,120 --> 00:53:58,320 Amen. The Lord bless y'all. 759 00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:09,960 Amen. I guess we should do communion, 760 00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:13,600 shouldn't we? I am so sorry. 761 00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:19,360 I am so sorry Clark is back there holding his communion 762 00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:20,840 peace like one of Louis. Where you going? 763 00:54:27,200 --> 00:54:33,560 Is it any wonder that the very one that would talk to us today 764 00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:47,760 about speech is the one who came into nothing and he spoke and 765 00:54:47,760 --> 00:54:52,040 said let there be light, and there was light ever since he 766 00:54:52,040 --> 00:54:56,040 spoke? And there were stars in the sky, 767 00:54:56,040 --> 00:55:00,120 there were a moon and sun. And he spoke and it was 768 00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:04,080 vegetation and there was water that's separated from the land. 769 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:10,160 He spoke. And there was a development of 770 00:55:10,160 --> 00:55:15,200 animals, fishes in the sea and birds of the sky, and four 771 00:55:15,200 --> 00:55:18,080 footed beast that walked along the earth. 772 00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:26,280 He spoke, the Bible says, by the word of his mouth, the word of 773 00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:29,720 his mouth. He held up everything. 774 00:55:33,520 --> 00:55:42,600 And the Bible also says that he put his word above his name. 775 00:55:46,040 --> 00:55:50,880 So would it be any doubt that he has an interest in US speaking 776 00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:53,880 things that are pure, things that are good, things that are 777 00:55:53,880 --> 00:56:00,120 honest, lovely? And not only did he do it from 778 00:56:00,120 --> 00:56:04,960 heaven, but then he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who gave us 779 00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:10,800 the example of one who spoke love and life in unity, 780 00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:17,400 righteousness, goodness, and showed us the way of faith. 781 00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:28,640 And for that He died for us because of our sins. 782 00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:35,160 Father, we thank you that you loved us enough to be our 783 00:56:35,160 --> 00:56:40,480 sacrifice. And this morning, Father, as we 784 00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:44,880 look back on that day in which you were betrayed, and you took 785 00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:49,200 bread, and after you gave thanks, you broke it. 786 00:56:49,640 --> 00:56:53,440 And you said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. 787 00:56:53,920 --> 00:57:01,040 Eat this in remembrance of me, the same manner you also took 788 00:57:01,040 --> 00:57:08,040 the cup. And after you suck, you said, 789 00:57:08,040 --> 00:57:13,320 this cup is the new covenant in my blood. 790 00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:19,200 And he shed His blood for all of us, and also for those who are 791 00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:22,200 to come. And His blood is just as 792 00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:26,080 evicacious today as it was 2000 years ago. 793 00:57:26,440 --> 00:57:30,240 It still cleanses us from all sin. 794 00:57:32,280 --> 00:57:36,440 You said drink this and as often as you drink it, drinking in 795 00:57:36,440 --> 00:57:44,200 remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink 796 00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:46,920 this cup. You do show the Lord's death 797 00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:48,960 till we come. Amen.