James 3:1-12
Getting One Thing Right
I am going to speak to myself tonight, but you can stay and listen.
The message I am going to preach to myself is one of those "getting
back to the basics messages." Let’s look at that text with several
thoughts.
I. \\#1-2\\ Don’t Over Reach.
A. It is interesting what most people think about verses 1-2.
B. Most seem to think that James was telling his readers NOT
to become a teacher of the Word of God.
1. They get that thought from putting the emphasis of the
verse on the word "master."
a. In the academia world, when a person learns a lot
about a particular field, they are called a "master."
b. If they learn more than that, they are called a
"doctor."
c. We still use the term when we speak of a person
getting a "master’s" or "doctor’s" degree.
d. So a person who was very educated, very learned, a
supposed expert on a subject, would be called a
master.
e. This title is used often (69x) in the New Testament.
2. So what some seem to think James was saying was don’t
become a "master" or a teacher or an instructor in the
Bible.
a. That seems to be the equivalent of saying, "Don’t get
to learned in the Word of God."
b. Frankly, I cannot imagine James or anyone else telling
Christians not to strive to learn and to share the
Word of God with others, but that is what some think
James was saying.
3. They go on to explain why James would not want some
Christians to become teachers of the Word.
James 3:1 "they will receive the greater
condemnation."
a. In short what they say is, "Don’t share the Word of
God because the more you share it, the greater your
risk of teaching something wrong will be.
b. I have to admit that is true, but not sharing the Word
of God increases EVERYONE ELSE’S risk of
condemnation.
c. The heart of the teacher, preacher, evangelist, soul
winner—and whoever will share the Word—is to help
save others.
d. For that reason, they do risk teaching the Bible and
getting something wrong for which they will have to
answer when they stand before God—but that risk is
better than the alternative.
4. The bottom line is I don’t see this interpretation working
at all.
5. What is James saying?
C. I believe verses 1-2 go with verses 3-12 and they are
emphasizing the importance of getting at least one thing
right—the tongue.
1. James’ emphasis was not on the word "master" but on the
word "many."
2. James’ exhortation is don’t try to "master" too many
things at once while failing at getting any of them
right.
3. James isn’t telling us not to become masters or experts,
but not try to master everything at the same time.
4. His counsel is that we should concentrate on getting ONE
thing right.
5. Then James goes on to suggest a good first thing for us to
get right, the tongue.
6. So if you (or ME) is looking for an area in which we can
improve ourselves in 2019, why don’t we focus where James
focused.
a. Let’s get our mouth’s right.
b. I know some of us would like to get our weight right,
or our spending right, or our interaction with others
right, or our ministry right—all of those are good
things to get right, but let’s start James suggested.
II. \\#3-12\\ Get the Mouth Right - James tells us (me) some
important truths about the tongue, some truths that I need to
be reminded of.
A. The Tongue Is A Danger
1. \\#3-4\\ Notice its dynamics. It is very powerful.
a. \\#3\\ It is like a bit in a horse’s mouth.
b. \\#4\\ It is a like a rudder on a ship.
c. Both of these things are great, if you know how to
control a horse or to steer a ship; but if you don’t,
you’ve got access to great power with no knowledge.
d. Social media has released the tongue.
(1) Today, anybody can say anything about anyone and
be heard by hundreds, by thousands, and by
millions of people.
(2) Things that people would have never said face to
face, they will now broadcast from the safety
of their lavatory.
(3) And the reason they would not have dared to say
it face to face is because they know they would
have been called down or punched out for what
they said.
e. I understand something about this kind of power
because I have a pulpit.
(1) I can and have said some things which I deeply
regret saying.
(2) I am a very slow learner but I have learned that
with great power comes great responsibility.
(3) We have to be careful about
(a) WHAT we say.
(b) HOW we say it.
(c) WHEN we say it.
(d) WHY we say it.
(e) To WHOM we say it.
(4) If we are not…
2. Notice its dangers.
a. \\#5\\ The tongue can kindle a GREAT FIRE.
(1) There are two things about a fire:
(a) It can destroy a lot of things.
(b) It can get out of control quickly and
easily.
(2) So can the tongue.
b. \\#6\\ The tongue can defile the whole body.
(1) That means my tongue can ruin everything.
(2) It can ruin relationships, marriages, careers,
ministries, testimonies.
(3) It can ruin yours too.
B. The Tongue Has A Driving Force.
James 3:6 …it is set on fire of hell.
1. There are two ways that the tongue can do damage. Both
can be severe.
a. Intentional - We can lie and provoke people.
b. Unintentional - We can be trying to communicate with
someone and their ear does not hear what we meant our
words to say.
2. The Bible is saying there is a force behind both of these
tongue incidents, it is the devil.
3. The Bible describes Satan as a roaring lion, stalking and
waiting for a chance to devour someone. Why wouldn’t he
us our words?
a. People have gotten offended and left the church over
something someone said.
b. I’ve attempted to settle issues where something that
in my eyes was relatively small and unimportant was
of critical importance to someone else.
c. I think the devil us using our words to create
divisions and problems where none really should exist
or at least should not exist like they do.
d. We need to break out the old poem, "Bricks and stones
may break my bones but words will never hurt me."
C. \\#8\\ The Tongue Has A Difficulty
James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is
an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
1. The tongue cannot be tamed. It cannot be defeated. It
cannot be broken.
2. That is not the same as saying the tongue cannot be
controlled.
a. Somebody might read that and think, "What’s the use
then?"
b. The thought of being tamed is the thought of taking
the nature from the wild animal.
c. You can’t take away the cat’s tendency to claw or the
dog’s tendency to bite.
(1) Animals do what animals do.
(2) However, you can teach them control.
(3) Dogs don’t have to bite people and cats don’t
have to claw up the furniture.
4. In 2003, Barnum and Bailey headlined their now defunct
circus with Siegfried & Roy, animal trainers who
"tamed" lions and tigers. These men were
internationally known. I suppose they raised and
trained the lions and tigers from cubs. The animals
were trained to stand on stools, jump through hoops,
and more, but one day the tame tiger turned on Roy,
almost killing him. Wild animals are always going to
be wild animals
3. We cannot stop the tongue from being the tongue.
a. It is wild.
b. The tongue will always have to a watch set on it for
it will always want to speak before the brain has
time to speak or lash out when its user has been
offended.
c. But we can and should control it.
III. \\#9-14\\ Set the Boundaries Tight - James gave us two specific
areas to work on without tongue.
A. \\#9-12\\ Corruption should not flow from a pure spring.
1. Throughout our nation, the rivers, lakes, and streams are
monitored for sewage and toxins. Our fresh water is
continuously being checked, either my automatic or human
samples. Every test starts with the assumption that
fresh water should be pure. From that assumption, they
measure for contaminates.
2. If anything should be pure, it is the stream that flows
from the Christian's mouth.
3. We should not have a mixed fountain:
a. \\#9-10\\ The mouth that blesses God should not curse
men.
b. \\#11\\ The mouth that has sweetness should not speak
bitterness.
c. \\#12\\ The mouth that speaks refreshing words should
not speak salty words.
4. That means that some things should never come out of our
mouths.
a. Lying
b. Profanity
c. Negativity
d. Provocation
e. Ingratitude
f. Boasting
g. And I am sure the list could continue.
5. The best we (I) can, we (I) should seek to uplift, edify,
and encourage.
B. \\#14\\ James specifically mentioned three things that do not
flow from a pure stream.
1. Bitterness - comes from unresolved grudge
2. Envying - comes from an unsatisfied longing
3. Strife - comes from an unsettled argument
C. The lesson here is not to learn to keep your mouth shut, but
rather learn how to settle problems.
1. God made a depository to hold precious gifts: love, joy,
peace, and others.
2. Too many have become a trash bin to hold the unresolved
grudges, unsatisfied longings, and unsettled arguments.
3. The only way to resolve and settle things is to resolve
settle them.
4. Just like you can’t have Jesus inside of you and He not
come out, neither can you have garbage inside of you and
it not come out.
5. If we can get rid of the garbage, we will get rid of the
words.
Matthew 12:34 …out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh.
I realize this may seem like a simple message—and it is; however,
James devoted almost, if not all, of an entire chapter to this topic.
Why? Because it does not matter how many things you try to master,
It matters how many things you do master. Let’s get this one right.
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