Other than that, I think we're we're going to be today.
We're going to be in a fun one. I think everybody, I was telling
Mark that no worries. I don't know if anybody else is
getting anything out of this, but it beat me up pretty good.
So we'll be in, we'll be in James 3 again or back in James
in chapter 3. And Lord, I just lift up this
time. I lift up everybody here.
Lord, I thank you that I thank you that you do, that you do
show up, Lord that you do give us your words, Lord, that you
can be. We can hear from you because
you're a living God came and came and died, but you rose
again for us, Lord, to work through us, to talk through US.
Lord that we just submit our lives to you.
And Lord that you would use us, use us in this community, use us
in this, in our workplaces, just to minister one another and
minister to the world as a whole.
Pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.
OK so starting in verse one, not many of you should become
teachers my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be
judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways
and if anyone does not stumble in what he says he is perfect.
He is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
If we put bits in the into the mouth of horses so that they
obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
Look at the ships also. Though they are so large and are
driven by strong winds, they are guided by the very by a very
small rudder, wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts great
things. How great a forest fire is set
ablaze by such a small fire, and the tongue is a fire, a world of
unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our
members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire
course of life, and setting on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea
creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no
human being can tame. The tongue is restless evil,
full of deadly poison. With with it we bless our Lord
Father, and with it and with it we curse people who are made in
the likeness of God. From the same mouth comes
blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought
not to be so doing. Our sorry does a spring pour
forth from the same opening, both fresh water and salt water?
Can a big tree, my brothers, bear olives or grape produce
figs? Neither can a salt pond yield
fresh water so lot there. So the name of the the the
title. As I said up this morning, I was
trying to figure out the corniest title I come up with,
but it's think before we send it and sending it is the idea.
If you guys have ever like done extreme sports, you know
somebody will ride a mountain bike and you're just sending it
right? You're just going to go well, a
lot of times when we're communicating, we we act like
that, right? We'll be somebody will send me
an e-mail or something or Facebook post or whatever and I
want to respond and well, that's when you just are going to send
it. You know, whatever is going to
happen, me and Matt can, I'm picking on Matt because he's, he
loves to, he loves to debate and argue, right?
And me and him can have fun. But there are, there are
conversations I have with Matt that we're friends and we know
each other and we can kind of jab at one another and, and have
fun with that, right? But some of those conversations
you want, you don't want to have those with, with, with others,
right, with, with people you're trying to reach.
You want to you want to be soft with your words, but so that's
the the idea of sending it is that when this is going to be a
whole study on on our communication, James calls it
tongues. But you have to remember that in
James's times, there weren't texts, Facebook posts, emails,
Snapchat, Instagram, none of that existed.
So when when he talked about speaking, he was actually
talking about speaking Right now, we have all kinds of other
ways to speak into people and we want to be careful about that.
But where this starts is not many of you should become
teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be
judged with greater strictness. And in in construction, I have a
line that I tell I tell up and comers all the time, if you want
the truck, you aren't ready for the truck.
And what that means is when you get on a construction site, the
boss has a has the company truck and he gets to drive it home or
whatever that is. And guys will get the idea that
they want the truck, they want the cell phone they want, they
want to do what he's doing. And if they want it for the
purpose of having the truck or having the cell phone, they're
not ready for it, right. If the reason you want to get up
in front of people and teaches because you want you think
you're you, you have something to say and you want to be up
there, you're not ready, right? This is and I I say that with
complete humbleness. This is my favorite position in
anybody is being the second guy be be the guy behind right?
This is the that will be judged with greater strictness, right?
I am accountable to everything I say up here.
You know, I'm accountable. I'm accountable when I'm, when
I'm down talking with you guys because of the position I'm in
and I'm accountable for each and everything by God, right?
He put he not because I'm any different or or better than
anybody, but because of of the calling he's put on my life to
be here and to be this and being a pastor is not to be the boss.
It's not about power and prestige.
It's it's about being a shepherd right.
It's about guiding and directing.
But some other warnings that Jesus had about that trying to
be out there was Matthew 616 says Jesus said to them, watch
and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and
the disciples were confused by that because they're disciples
and they listen about as well as we do most of the time.
But you move on to chapter 23, he says about the Pharisees and
the Sadducees. They love the place of honor at
feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greeting in the
micro marketplace and being called rabbi by others.
But you are not to be called rabbi for you have one teacher
and you are all brothers and call no man your Father on
earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven.
Neither be called instructors for you have one instructor.
The Christ, the greatest among you shall be your servant.
And as teachers we are to point to Jesus not think that I, I
have any anything to point out for myself right?
Not I don't offer anything except what's in this book.
My my goal every every time, every Sunday morning, every
conversation I had is that you're left you're left thinking
about what Jesus said, not what Nick said.
And when you when you do that, you don't end up where in
Malachi 2 two. This is another point of priests
and teachers and those that think they have something
missing the mark. And it's if you will not listen,
if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says
the Lord of hosts, then I will send a curse upon you and I will
curse your blessing. Indeed, I have already cursed
them because you do not lay it to heart, right.
So anytime that a teacher gets up and thinks that I have, I
have something new to offer. I, you, you need to listen to
me. I'm the important one in the
room. They're they're in danger,
right? The Pharisees and the priests,
their number one problem is they had, they thought they had
something to offer and, and that they could add to God's word.
And that is, you know, when you look at when you look at the
like the way the Pharisees and the Sadducees talked about the
Sabbath and Jesus explained the Sabbath was made for men, not
men for the Sabbath, which was this.
The point of the Sabbath was not to add a bunch of rules to your
life. The point of the Sabbath was for
you to rest. You know, you were going to have
a day of rest, not a day of work resting and the the Sadducees
and the Pharisees, they, they spent time making rules and
putting putting burdens on people that we're adding to
God's word and we don't want to do that as as a pastor, as a
teacher, my number one job is to serve the Lord and and being a
shepherd. That's that is the the mission
that he's given me in that. But the number one thing is that
I'm submissive to the word when I'm teaching that all scripture,
and this is second Timothy 316. All scripture is breathed out by
God and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction and for training and righteousness.
And and that is when you come to the word of God, when you come
to the word of God, do you look at it and think you have some
something to offer right? That you it's like, well, that
isn't you know, I don't I don't agree with that.
Well, if you don't agree with it, you need to figure out why
you're wrong, right? Because the Bible's right.
And, and it might be when we don't agree with something, it
might be that we don't understand what it's saying and
we need to study more to understand it.
But I guarantee you everything in this book is true.
And so you never want to be as a teacher at any level.
You don't want to be teaching and changing what it says you
want. That is my my biggest
responsibility and a burden on my heart when I'm teaching right
is that I don't get out in front of it and start telling you guys
what I think you need to hear right is I want I want to be in
complete submission to what the what the text we're in says.
My first role is to follow Jesus and by following him, I am able
to lead others to him. This is done by shepherding, not
bossing, right? So is shit, if you think about
has anybody ever, and my, my uncle has sheep, but has anybody
ever tried to push sheep? They, they are not a pushable
animal, right? They will follow you all kinds
of places. But if you decide you're going
to push them, they're going to split in all kinds of
directions. And and that is why as a as a
pastor, as a teacher, the idea is that we lead to where we're
going. And we do that by being in the
word, right, not by letting you follow me.
I watch it. There's, you know, YouTube's got
YouTube and Facebook has some really good.
There are some guys on Facebook that are our pastors and there's
some really good things to say, right?
But I've been watching them and they're not, I mean, they're,
they're just saying really good things, but they're not in that
you. What they aren't doing is
pointing you to Jesus there. And I'm not, I don't want to,
I'm not calling any of them out. I think they have good
ministries. But when you watch them, they're
not they're just they're applying principles, but they're
not putting you back to the word.
And guys, I guarantee there's nothing I'm going to teach you
on a Sunday morning that if you can't find the verse that I,
that I'm talking about, if you can't apply it, it's, it is,
it's, it's hay and stubble, right?
If it, if it isn't something you can like foundation, lock it
down and say this is what the Bible says about that.
John 1226 says if anyone serves me, he must follow me.
And where I am, there will be there will my servant be also.
If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
And that's our job. Everybody here, right?
And that's parents. When you're teaching your kids
right, The goal is, is that we're in Christ and following
him. And by following him we are able
to lead others. And the honor that a follower of
Christ is looking for is, is just simply to reflect Jesus
into this world. That is that is the honor,
right? It's not.
I want to be honored as A and worldly honor.
I want to have the honor to to serve my King, to serve Jesus
and do what he wants us to do. John the Baptist in John 3
really, really sums this up. John, John 3 starting in verse
26 and they came to John and this is John's disciples.
They came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you
across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he is
baptizing and all are going to him.
And John answered, A person cannot receive even one thing
unless it is given to him from heaven.
And then if we skip down to verse 30, it says He must
increase and I must decrease. He who comes from above is above
all, and he who is on the earth belongs to the earth and speaks
in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is
above all. So at no point is a teacher
supposed to guide you and direct you on the ways of the world,
right? I, I, as a, as a teacher, you
need to be in your word. And that's like I said, that's,
that's when you're sharing, when you're sharing with people.
It's not not being anti culture or cultural.
Or there's a pastor in Bangor, Bangor, ME, Pastor Ken, what's
last name Graves, Ken Graves. And he's got a he's got a great
line and he is 10. It's like 75 year old, just a
big mountain of a man. And he has a voice that comes
from his toes. And he says that the church
needs to get rid of the four letter F word.
And F was like, what that's that's feels.
I feel right. I don't feel anything.
Are you led by the spirit or not right?
Our feelings feelings are not what guide us.
Our heart is dreadfully wicked, right?
So we need to be we need to be led by what the word of God says
and bring our our feelings into submission.
His his whole story on that. If you guys want to look him up,
Ken Graves on feelings and it is a funny little.
He is an entertaining guy, but not one of the pastors I was
talking about earlier because he really that's the the funnest
thing about guys that just lean into the word.
And so that's what it says. You know, there's a, there's a
guy that teaches about same sex attraction and he's actually on
the West side, but he's, he's one of the, he's a brother of a
guy that goes to our church in Tri-cities and, and he, he comes
in and, and shares and he says, and, and he's sharing the word
of God And he goes, and I understand that when I'm sharing
that that sucks. That's hard in the world we live
in. When you start sharing what the
Bible says about that, that's hard.
But that's what it says, right? That's, you know, joking before
service is I'm going to say offensive things up here, but
I'm going to say them because that's what they were.
God says I don't have to be offensive.
I don't have to come up with reasons to be offensive.
It's got plenty of minute. And that as if if someone is
offended at any point, and this should be your goal as well.
If if you're offending somebody, they need to be offended by the
God you serve, not by the words that are coming out of your
mouth because you want to win the argument.
And that is our goal. And and as a pastor, that is
truly guys, I don't and this is just this the idea of standing
up here and what is my job as a teacher and being held to a
higher standard. And why, you know, as I was
going through it, it's being it is a it is a humbling thing to
think that that anybody would look at Nick Adams and think I
had anything to offer because I know that the only good thing
about me is Jesus. And I I say that in people, you
know, I got saved 20 years ago, 25 years ago now.
And and people think that. Well, yeah.
But you know, you're you're a Christian, you know, you're this
nice guy. I'm not none of those things
outside of Christ. I am the, I'm the same worthless
guy that was 3030 years old when I got saved.
If I walk away from Jesus, I'm actually worse than that because
I know more. I know I know truth now.
So if I walk away from it, I'm even worse.
And so the only thing I have to offer anybody is the reflection
of Christ in my life. John first, John 17 says, but if
we walk in the light and as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son
cleanses us from all sin. And that's, that's where we all
want to be right in his light. And as a pastor, my job is to
point you to to him, to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit and the
Holy Spirit's voice in your life, not my voice in your life.
You know that, you know when it's when you look in Acts,
there's a couple, a couple of different moments.
So Acts 13 four, it says, so being sent out by the Holy
Spirit, they went down to Cesola and from there they sailed the
Cypress. So they were sent by the Holy
Spirit. And then one of my one of my
favorite ones is Acts 16 six. And it says, and they went
through the region of Fygra and Galatia and having been
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
So they not only were sent by the Holy Spirit at one point,
but at a later point they were forbidden from going somewhere,
right? So the Spirit is speaking to
their hearts. And that's, that is what my
desire for, for us is that we're hearing from the Lord, Not that,
not that on Sunday morning, you guys come in and get a message
from the Lord and you go out and then you wait till next Sunday.
But that each and every one of us in this room are we have that
relationship with the Lord and we're hearing from him.
We're, we're hearing whether we need to take this job or that
job, whether we need to, whether we need to buy this car, that
car, you know, all of those things.
Do I need to go talk to the Do I need to go talk to the homeless
guy in the corner? Do I do I need to does this
cashier have do I have a word for them right.
That's the Holy Spirit working in your heart.
That's what that's what our, our goal is, right, is to walk in
that light and be guided by the Spirit into a, into a deeper
walk with Christ, right, But not just self focused.
As we get into a deeper walk with Christ, we, there's a,
there's a reflection because what does Christ want to want to
do? He isn't willing that any should
perish. So he wants to be out in our
community sharing with people, and he's going to do that
through each and every one of us.
Now, as a, as a pastor, my job is also to protect the body,
right with the elders and, and other other men and women in
leadership to watch over the safety of the body right to
guide and direct. And that includes, that includes
watching for doctrinal issues and that stuff and false
teachers as they as they try to come in.
But it also has to do and what we're going to get into the rest
of it later. But that also has to do watching
for gossip and backbiting and any other threats of the body,
right? Because we're supposed to be
moving in unity, guys. This is when you look at when
you look at how how important it is to be walking in Christ in a
body. If you go back to Acts, Ananias
and Sapphira, when Peter when they walked in and and lied and
Peter said, why are you lying to the Holy Spirit and they fell
down dead. If we lived in that church
today, right, How many of us would have in, you know, in the
last, in the last, we'll just say last 25 years of my life,
would I have lived through it, right?
If I ever have I ever been in church and had a bad motive,
right? And the goal there isn't isn't
that we all walk around perfect. It's that we need to remember
that this isn't a game we play. The Holy Spirit is living in
inside each and every one of us. If we're a believer in here
today and he has a goal for us to reach the community, but he
has a goal to change us from the inside out.
And as a, as a teacher, that's my goal is always to just point
to him and say we need to, we need to listen to what he has to
say. It's why it's why last week I, I
completely can be at peace letting someone else stand up
here and teach because they're just sharing what the word of
God says, right? It's not this is not a we're not
looking for anything except that Jesus gets glorified.
We go back to Malachi 2 and this is this is a guy that did it
right. You know, all through Malachi 2,
the Lord is talking about corrupt priests.
But then he talks about this guy and verse six and seven, it says
true instruction was in his mouth and no wrong was found in
his lips. He walked with me in peace and
uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and
people should seek instruction from his mouth.
For he is a messenger of the Lord of hosts.
And that's for for me, that's that's a verse God gave me when
we came here. But it also is a verse that we
should all strive for that we should be looking to be that
messenger for the Lord by reflecting his light into our
community. And when I, when I came, you
know, I, I was praying about what to do and I watching over
the the community of Sandpoint. Am I supposed to do this?
And and the Lord gave me a vision for grace or for sorry
for bridges. Sandpoint.
Jesus has called us to reflect his light into a Dark World,
causing us to become bridges of light connecting the lost of his
of this world to him. And that's just as, as Jesus
shines light into our lives, our light reflects out onto other
people, right? And that's that connection.
And that's what we're supposed to be doing.
That's when we talk about me standing up here and being a
teacher. You, you guys, you guys teach
the world you're in, whether that I mean, I, I today is just,
I'm going to pick on Matt Day. He's a UPS driver.
How many, how many customers does he see on a regular basis?
And, and I've had both kinds of UPS drivers, right?
I've had the happy guy, which I'm just picturing Matt is the
energetic happy guy dropping off packages or the the grumpy UPS
driver. But the I it makes you ask
questions when you got when you got a guy that it's raining or
whatever. The thing has a bunch of boxes
and he's just he's upbeat and he's happy.
He's like, what's what's going on with that guy?
And that want that, that's teaching people stuff, right?
This world can be a dark and miserable place and we have a
joy because of what the Lord has done in our lives.
And when we share that with the world, we're, we're teaching
them that there's something better.
And so be be about his business. And, and then just to remember
that you may be the the only Christian somebody in your
sphere influence knows. And because of that, you are
teaching what it's like to be a Christian.
So you will be judged with greater strictness as you're, as
you're explaining what that's like, right?
So you don't want to explain what I what you think.
You want to explain what the Lord says, right?
You want to, you want to share with them the words of God.
And to do that, you need to be in those words, right, That you
don't, you don't sleep then you don't have the Bible under your
pillow and learn by osmosis, right?
You need to be in your word. You need to be reading it.
Verse 2 says for we all stumble in many ways and if anyone does
not stumble in what he says he is a perfect man able also to
bridle the whole body and the word perfect there as much as I
wish it could be that if I just keep quiet I can be perfect.
It just means mature or being complete.
Not perfect as in sinless, but mature like ready for solid food
or walking and not crawling right.
If you can, if you can bridle your tongue, if you can, if you
can speak from a position of pointing to Jesus, then you're
ready to for solid food. First Corinthians 32 Paul is is
scolding the Corinthians is that I fed you with milk, not solid
food for you were not ready for it and even now you are not
ready for it and that's you know how long how long have you been
saved? How long have you been walking
with the Lord? And you should be able to master
your tongue, but not because you have the strength, but because
you've given it to the Lord. And that's that's that
communication. Jane, like I said to begin with
is James didn't have text and Facebook and e-mail and
Instagram and Snapchat. He just had talking and maybe
maybe writing a scroll. But we have lots of ways to
communicate and we are held accountable for him.
Guys, do you scroll Facebook or YouTube or Instagram and see
memes you like and and laugh about and do you share them?
So when I say that is so, especially in this role, and I,
I think I've done good with this over the years because my, my
Facebook page has always been connected to a ministry of some
kind. But is I'm accountable when I
hit send. Did you know, especially in this
role when I hit when I, when I decide to post something, a
pastor posted that, which means Jesus stamped that approved.
I know that's not true, right? I know that that Jesus doesn't
approve of everything Nick does, but everybody that looks at my
Facebook doesn't know that, right?
Well, Pastor Nick said that's OK, which that's a weird that
Pastor Nick thing still doesn't roll off my tongue.
But are you that kind of careful with your words, right?
Are you are you thinking that way?
And when I say how, how do you get to be that kind of careful?
And that's Galatians 522 through 23.
But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. Against such there is no law.
So how do I control my tongue to the Spirit, Right.
I have to be, I have to be submitted to him.
I have to, I have to rely on his, his words coming out of my
life. Verse 3, three and four says if
we put bits in the mouth of horses so that they obey us, we
guide their bodies, their whole bodies as well.
Look at the ships also, Though they are so large and are driven
by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever
the will of the pilot directs. So in the title, send it, right
when I decide to just send it and let them have it, it's like
yank in the rein of a horse just puts him in the ditch, right?
And it's that is we don't ever have that We we don't have that
right. I'm just going to I'm just going
to tell that guy what I think of him.
I'm going to tell that girl what I think of him.
They don't have the right to act like, you know, when I do that
I'm in my own flesh. All right, now there is
definitely time that the Lord wants to talk to somebody and
needs to say some abrupt things to them.
But if you're going to be that instrument, you need to be sure
that's coming from Him and not from you.
And because if it's just coming from you, it is, it is wasteful
for you. It is wasteful for them, right?
It's it's not going to do you any good because you're going to
try and do it and you're not going to feel any better because
you know the reason I just got to get this off my chest and
you're not going to feel any better and they're not going to
get any any growth out of it. They're not going to be directed
to the Lord. And that is our goal, right.
Verses 5 through 8 says so. Also, the tongue is, is a small
member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
And the tongue is a fire of of a world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole
body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire
by hell. For every kind of beast and
bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has
been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the
tongue. It is restless, evil and full of
deadly poison. So the only way that you're any
of what I'm about to say you can be successful in not doing is if
you submit to the Lord and you submit to the Holy Spirit in
your life and you say, Lord, I can't.
You need to quiet, quiet my quiet my outside voice until I
have something from you to say. So the Bible has a lot to say
about different, different communications, different
tongues. The lying tongue is Proverbs
12/22. Lying lips are an abomination to
the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
A flattering tongue. A lying tongue hates its
victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
And that's just a manipulator, right?
Manipulating people with what you say.
A proud tongue. Psalms 12/4 Those who say with
our tongues we will prevail. Our lips are with us.
Who is the master over us, right?
Do I have something to say that is not from the Lord?
That but I get the right to say it, you know.
Am I the master of my own words and my own thoughts?
Ecclesiastes 5/2 is an overused tongue.
I'm probably the most guilty at this.
I I talk too much. Be not rash with your mouth, not
let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in
heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
A swift tone, saying things quickly without without having
that pause to let the Lord work through you in it.
And James 119 says, know this my beloved brothers, let every
person be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to get angry.
And then you got the tail bearing tongue, which is a
gossip, right Levi Leviticus, sorry, Leviticus 1916.
You shall not go around as slanders among your people and
you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor.
I am the Lord. So we want gossip is something
that is cancerous, right? When we when when we have a when
we have a problem with a church member.
But if we even even if we have a child problem at work, right?
You should be known at some known as somebody that doesn't
talk about people that you talk to people, right?
If you have a problem with somebody at work, you need to go
to them and talk to them. And that that goes that goes
across the board. That's that's family members,
that's church members, that's work people, right?
If you have a problem, you start that with that person, right?
You have those conversations. And if somebody comes to you
with a problem about somebody, the I think I told you guys
already, Pastor Steve is the tri-cities.
He's he's a big guy and he's a lot of fun in a lot of ways.
And thank goodness I got saved there.
So I, I got trained to this at a young age and didn't have to
experience it the hard way, but is if you came to Steve and said
so and so did this and did this and, and, and this is going on
and you need to take care of this.
And Steve would just look at you and go, well, did you talk to
them? Well, no, I, well, let's go and
talk to him. And so now he's, he's actually
now we're going to get now we're going to go talk to that person,
right. So if they came up and attempted
to like make somebody look bad and maybe they were being
honest, maybe they weren't, but it's the point of that.
We're not going to do that right.
We're we're going to we're going to work this out together,
right. And so having that thought, you
know, my don't know if I told I told this recently.
I don't know if it was here is the other gossip moment was
Pastor Mitch, but you guys heard about a lot.
He's married to Marcy and they were at home and Steve and they
all came from California together to the tri-cities.
And so they're all friends and and stuff.
And and Marcy was mad at Steve about something And Mitch got
home and Marcy's venting about Steve and and Mitch goes, you
need to stop or we're going to need to call Steve.
And a few minutes went by and she didn't stop and he dialed
the phone. He said Steve's here.
So it's that level, right? We don't need to talk about
other people. We need to talk to them because
the whole point is we need, we need a good relationship with
each other, right? And when we talk, when we, when
we, when we're slandering other people, even even in the
relationship of our marriage, we need to hold each other
accountable to not, not allow that to happen, right?
We need to be focused on what the Lord would do in that
matter. Because if, if somebody's doing
something and they're in sin, right?
I need to, I need to address that, not talk about it.
And so and then Psalm one O 916 and 17 the cursing tongue.
For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor
and needy and the broken hearted to put them to death.
He loved to curse and let curses come upon him.
He did not the light and blessing.
May it be far from him so to remember that that God's desire
is that none should perish, right?
So I don't want to be, I don't want to be saying that person is
beyond saving. Now they might be beyond saving,
but I don't want to say that right?
I want, I want to do all I can to save them.
I want to do all I can to shine light into their lives, not not
tell them that they are they are cursed and and be a stumbling
block that they get to look at later on and go, well, I'm not
saved because of that guy, right?
I don't believe in Jesus because of that guy.
I don't want to be that person. So in all of that, it sounds
like it'd be better if I was just a mute.
But at the end, the spirit can redeem even our thoughts, right?
And that is Second Timothy for two says, preach the word, be
ready in season and out of season to reprove, rebuke,
exhort with complete patience and teaching.
So we do have something to offer this world, but what we have to
offer is what the Spirit pours into us, right?
We pour that out into the world, then suddenly, then suddenly the
world has changed. And it's changed because of what
the Spirit's doing through US, right?
So we are to be in the word sharing what Jesus has to say
and sharing it with the heart Jesus has for those you're
speaking to. And that goes back to
Christianity is not a self help book, right?
I'm not at any point telling you to, you know, act like this or
act like that. I'm telling you to get in your
word and follow what he says, be in prayer and listen to the
Lord, right? Because outside of that, you
have no hope. I have no hope out.
If I, if I decide that I'm going to try really, really hard to be
really, really good, I'm really, really going to fail.
But if I decide that Lord, I can't and you need to guide me
and direct me, I have a chance. And Romans 616 says, do you not
know that? If you present yourselves to
anyone as an obedient slave, you are slaves of the one whom you
obey, either to sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which
leads to righteousness. So unless we obey Jesus, I will
obey my selfishness, I will obey the the sin that is inherent in
me, in my flesh. Romans 719.
Paul goes on to say, For I do not do the good I want to, but
the evil I do not want to do is what I keep on doing, and that
is unless Jesus is doing it, I am lost.
Simply put, unless I am in a constant place of peace, relying
on the Spirit to work through me, and being willing to obey
Him at all times, I'll fail. And Romans 6, 17 and 18, it
says, But thanks be to God, that you were once slaves of sin,
having become become obedient from the heart to a standard of
teaching which you will, you were committed.
And having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of
righteousness. And that's the promise, right
when we say, Lord, not my will, but your will.
And Lord, I am not smart, I need you to show me.
He will and he does. Verse 9 of James it says, with
it we will bless our Lord and Father, and with it we will
curse people made in his likeness from the same mouth.
Some bless and some curse. My brothers, these things ought
not be so. Does a spring pour forth from
the same opening fresh in salt water?
Can a fig tree? My brothers bear olives and
grapevines and produce figs. Neither can a salt pond yield
fresh water. Has anybody seen the help the
movie Mississippi Maids? And there's a scene at the end
of the movie that one of the maids that got let go brought
back a peace offering to her her ex boss.
And the peace offering was her chocolate pie.
And the moral of the story is in that chocolate pie with some of
her poop, they never say how much.
They they never say, well, it wasn't a lot.
No, they it just says poop doesn't say how much.
Nobody asked because is there any amount of poop in a pie that
you're going to eat? I mean, and that's, that's it.
It doesn't matter how much chocolate.
It doesn't matter how much goodness is in there.
They're not. I'm good, right, And and that's,
you know, I have a little bit of the spirit.
I gave him a little bit of what the Lord wanted me to tell him,
but I had to tell him something. You know, that's that's wasted,
right? We I add nothing up here and
that that is in in India. I have AI have a friend that is
I've met him in Uganda. He's a Indian guy and he goes to
a church in India and they don't have, they don't have anybody
teaching. They're, they're, they just read
the Bible, right? That is literally the whoever's,
whoever's the guy that day just gets up and reads the Bible.
And that's how they, they learn, right?
Because you can't corrupt that you're just going to read the
word. And, and really at the end of
the day, guys, I want you guys to be in James.
I want you to be looking at it and and listen to what he has to
say, not what I have to say, right.
I'm just trying to point at him at what he said at the Holy
Spirit. Philippians 4 is 8 says finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence in
it, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these
things. So before we send it, well, we
should filter it through. Is it true?
Is it honorable? Is it just, is it pure?
Is it lovely? Is it commendable?
Is it excellent? Is it worthy of praise?
Talk about these things. And the the think acronym that
is you know, is, is it true? Is it helpful?
Is it inspired? Is it necessary?
Is it kind? The lady that actually I didn't
know this lady named Beth Day wrote these three gates, which
is if you are tempted to reveal a tale that someone told you
about another, make it pass before you speak through gates
of gold 3 narrow gates first is it true?
Then ask yourself is it needful? Give honest answers in your
mind. The last and narrowest is is it
kind and if if to reach your lips at last it passes through
these three gateways, then you may tell the tale and not fear
what the outcome of speech may be.
And I would just encourage us all to be to be in prayer about
our our communications with others.
You know that and that's that's at the grocery store at the bank
line UPS driver as he's as he's talking to people.
But we, we all interact with this world and we may be the
only Christian that people know. And you are the light in this
world and you were, you were put here the day you gave your life
to the Lord. The reason we don't vanish is
because you were put here to go and shine that light into the
world. And, and Lord, I just thank you
for everybody here. And I thank you for this time
and thank you that you do speak Lord, that you are living and
you want to work through US Lord, and that you would just
shine light in this community through the body of believers
here Lord, and that we would go out and just reflect you into
the world. And I pray this all in Jesus
name, Amen.