This neglect is one of the most dangerous things we can do.

The Dangerous Neglect of Recognizing that Our Tongues are Fires--the Very World of Iniquity

James 3:3-12

Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church

Please turn to James 3:3-12. We are in James 3:3-12 this morning. As we are turning there, I want to share some information that I dug up from a government agency. It has to do with the dangers of starting fires and various precautions to take in avoiding them. Evidently there are 4 major reasons why fires break out in residences. The first is from defective electrical items. The second is from discarded cigarettes, (which is probably a figure that will change over the next couple of decades). The third is from cooking activities. The fourth is from candles and other exposed flames. As I read through the information, I noticed that there were tips on how to prevent these fires from starting. As would be expected, the main piece of advice for each one was to be careful and pay attention to what you are doing; pay attention to the items you are doing it with, and pay attention to what you do with those items when you are done. Not surprisingly, personal responsibility in taking the proper precautions for preventing fires from occurring in the first place will virtually guarantee that the four top reasons for fires can be avoided. On the other hand, the top four reasons for fires are the direct consequence of not being careful with items that have the potential of danger. There is an important principle here:

Sources of fires are dangerous when we do not recognize just how serious the danger really is.

But there is another principle. It is also important;

Sources of fires are dangerous when we recognize the danger, but yet we do not do anything to control the sources of danger because of neglect.

This is a hazardous practice that leads to untold numbers of ruined homes and huge amounts of damaged property. It also leads to thousands of deaths each year. It's all because of a dangerous neglect. But think about this for a moment. What if there is a danger that we don't know of, but it is just as serious as the top 4 reasons for fires in the home. If we don't know about it, and we don't recognize it, then we won't take precautions to try and control it. In such a situation, it can easily do its damage. But, let me stretch you a bit more here;

What if there actually is a constant danger in your midst that is just as dangerous as the top 4 reasons for fires in the home, and you carry it with you everywhere you go?

In fact, it's here with you now, and it is very real, and it is extremely damaging in terms of its danger; but here is another important question that I want to ask;

What if you know about this real danger, but you neglect to take it seriously and so you neglect to make every effort to control it?

Remember, I said that you would know the danger is there. So, you would know what it is, but you do not take it seriously enough to control it. The point is that in such a state, it can just as easily do its damage as if you never knew that the danger was there. The reason why I am bringing out all of these illustrations about fire, and danger, and control, is because James is going to urge us to recognize a very real and present danger that we really do carry around with us everywhere we go. We must recognize that it is there, and we can not, and we must not ignore it. Please read our text with me this morning as we listen to the word of God in respect to the danger I am talking about. Starting in 3:1, James says,

1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. 3 Now if we put the bits into the horse's mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. 4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. 5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be this way. 11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. James 3:1-13

Let us prepare our hearts to learn from God's word, in this sermon titled,

The Dangerous Neglect of Recognizing that Our Tongues are Fires--the Very World of Iniquity
[prayer]

We looked at verses 1 and 2 of this same section last week, but it is expedient for us to examine them in light of the overall context of what James is saying about our mouths--more specifically our tongues, or our words, which is our speech in respect to teaching. James starts out this section warning,

"1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

I ask you;

Is there anyone who does not stumble in what he says?

Other than Christ, where is such a person? We know that there is no such person. We know that we all make mistakes in things that we say. We call it putting our foot in our mouth. We call it fumbling over our words. We call it a fopaux, dropping the ball, and so many other expressions. We know this from experience, and more importantly, we know this from God's revelation here in His word. Nobody is perfect. If we were perfect then we could completely control ourselves without any mistakes. We would completely control our minds just like we can control a horse with a bridle, or a car with a steering wheel. Even as a fruit of the Spirit, we recognize that we do not consistently practice the self control, (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). James explains this fact about us. He also includes himself in this same explanation. James knows the reality of the error prone ways of all men who live on earth as the fallen grandchildren of Adam.

James also knows that Christ imputes saving perfection to us in His work on the cross and resurrection. While learning from God about our tongue, we must keep this in mind. We are imperfect, but Christ gives you and me that cherished kind of perfection that comes from Him where He imputes His own righteousness to us. We can easily condemn ourselves because we know that we are not perfect in all we do and say. But God does not want us to condemn ourselves because He does not condemn us, and the reason is because we are perfect in our position and standing before God in His New Covenant. We are known as being perfect in Christ because Christ is perfect in us. This is salvation. But James also knows something else. He knows that God molds us into the image of Christ through the trials of this world, where God perfects us through the use of the trials to produce endurance in us. James started out his epistle teaching this. There is the kind of perfection that is accomplished by being squeezed through the wine press of life to become mature, enduring, seasoned Christians. James says to let the testing of our faith have its perfect (complete) result in 1:4. He means; let it bring maturity in Christ.

In the meantime, you and I have to do some things ourselves. As always, we eventually need to be concerned with the doing side of our Christianity. One thing we need to be very concerned with doing, is that we need to deal with our tongue as part of manifesting maturity in Christ. We know this because we know that our tongue is the thing that is as dangerous as any fire starting item--if not more dangerous. But James tells us something else about our tongue. Our tongue teaches us something about ourselves. In stark terms, James explains to us that our tongue shows us how easy it is for any of us to stumble. What a revelation. Our very own tongues are spotlights of how imperfect we are. So knowing this, we need to think long and hard, and pray long and hard, and be very, very, cautious about becoming teachers. To become a teacher, is to incur stricter judgment. This is how serious our speech is, and by implication, this is how serious the words are that we write in e-mails, that we write on blogs, and in various other kinds of writings that deal with the realm of the doctrines and precepts of the faith. And so James starts out this section with this warning, and then he goes on; and the great mandate to us is that we absolutely must learn to control our words. God is not making a suggestion. He is making a command, where He is telling us that we must bridle our tongues as Christians with the self control that is based upon the word of God in respect to His Spirit and revelation. The reason is because bridling our tongues is the key to so much of living out our Christian lives, especially in the manifestation of the law of love. We remember that James warned of our self assessment, and the need for the bridle back in 1:26, where he said,

"26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, [james is talking about Christian activity] and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless." 1:26

What is important to God is that our religion has value in all aspects. When we think about doing our Christianity, which is to be religious, then we recognize that this is especially pertinent when it comes to what we say. The one with the unbridled tongue may think he is religious, but his religion has no value. James goes on with more illustrative examples of controlling the tongue as Christians, based upon the word of God in respect to His Spirit and revelation. He says,

"3 Now if we put the bits into the horse's mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. 4 Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires." James 3:3-4

The tongue doesn't seem like much to control, does it? But look at how much is accomplished. By controlling one small little area of the horse, the rest of the horse follows the lead. Immediately, this analogy is connected to the fact that if you control your tongue, then you are controlling the rest of your actions that are directed by what has been said. Think about this with me for a moment; If you stir up strife with your tongue, then you reap strife actions in yourself. When you start to fly off and say unrestrained passionate things, you can stir yourself up to do things that are not very Christ like. But this is something that happens on a bigger scale too. If you stir up strife with your little tongue, then you also reap strife actions in the people around you. Our speech is so powerful that we can manipulate people. We can control them by moving their thoughts and passions with just a few little words. Leaders of armies can stir up their soldiers to win battles with the right speech motivating them to exemplary actions. The coaches of sports teams can do the same thing. The words of a coach at the intense moments of a game can be the words that can either discourage the team, or can motivate the team to go on forward in greater heights of achievement. The point is that our words can either discourage us to give up and sit down, or they can encourage us to go on and climb higher. Our words build up, and our words break down. This amazing influence that just one tongue can generate also goes for the body of Christ. One tongue can stir up strife among the body. It can move that whole body to anger, turmoil, dissension, and division; or just one tongue can smooth out and calm down the temperamental body, like the body of a horse that is angry, hurt, or scared, but then it is quieted with the soothing words that smooth out the skittish soul. Look around you right now. What you say to the people around you will influence them in some way, whether in the way of God, or the way of you. This is the power that we posses in that mouth of ours, and God wants all of us to take this power very very seriously and not dangerously neglect it. Your self, the individual Christians, the couples, or the group that is affected, are like ships. Sea faring vessels are huge. Ships are seemingly uncontrollable by us. They weigh tons, and yet they are driven along by strong winds that can easily move them through pounding waves. In comparison, we recognize how small and seemingly insignificant we are against such powerful forces.

I am just a little person in this huge world. I am just little ol' me, sitting here among the body, which is the body of Christ. What can I really do? What am I really doing? What have I really done?

But controlling the great ship, and directing its course, can be done. It is done all the time, and it is accomplished in one small area--in the little rudder. The point that James is making is that our responsibility goes from control to control. What I mean is that when you control the bridle, you control the horse. When you control the rudder then you control the ship. When you control your tongue, you control yourself, and in a very real sense, you control others. Folks, we must get the grave sense of how real this dangerous power is, what it can do, and what it does. James recognizes the magnitude of this power, and so he goes on with more illustration on just how important our words are when it comes to our Christian walk. James says in respect to the large impact of the small directing bridle of a horse, and the small directing rudder of a ship,

"5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity;" James 3:5-6

Actually, the tongue, in vanity concerning itself, does boast in great things, but the boast is not an empty one. James' contextual point here, is that in this respect, the tongue is correct about its boast about itself. In other words, an atomic bomb, for example, is no bigger than the tip of a small missile which can be moved around in the back of a pickup truck. But think about the very potent view of itself that the atomic bomb has. It can boast, because after all, it is the little civilization eraser that will wipe your city off the map once it explodes. How many of us know of someone who has a mouth like that? Maybe I am talking about you. The point is that the tongue is small too, but it can boast of great things, like moving ships, horses, and burning down forests. When I counsel married people, I am always reminded by them concerning how much nuclear energy we have in our little mouths. It is amazing how much damage married couples can do to one another with just a few sentences. It only takes a little fire to cause thousands of acres of marital bliss to burn away in an uncontrollable inferno in just a matter of moments. It doesn't take a fancy speech. It doesn't take great eloquence. It doesn't take a big vocabulary. It doesn't take being an arguing athlete. How many of you know what I mean by an athletic arguer? Some of us are married to one. But then again, some of us are that one. Some of us have a few as children. But, it doesn't take that. It only takes a small little teensy weensy comment to shatter a spouse to pieces. It could be just one well placed word. But, sometimes the word doesn't shatter. Instead of shattering your spouse, your tongue may be the fire that sets them aflame in one big torch of retaliation. Then what has happened? A fire fight has started, and now it's damaging everything pertaining to life and godliness that your marriage, (which is a picture of Christ and the church) should be living by. Folks, the tongue really is the very world of iniquity. Not only can the tongue stir up strife where there previously was peace and harmony, but it can also feed the strife. What I mean is that the little tongue may start the fire, but it also feeds the flames with fuel, and it fans the flame with jabs and negative comments that tear down what God wants built up for His glory. When we are not humble. When we are not peace makers, we either become retreaters, or we become retaliators.

Translated: You either run away, or you rock and roll, and out of the two, retaliation is usually the strategy that is taken.

--Oh, you're going to say that to me!, well my guitar is tuned, so let's rock!, and then there is this big flaming fight of hateful words where one person hurts the other one, and then the other person says something more hurtful, back and forth, and back and forth in one big destructive frenzy. The point is that there are so many ways to retaliate and do battle in this world. There is physical violence. There is brooding and ignoring. These things are ways that people get back at one another in the midst of a fight. But the tongue is the very world of iniquity, and so it can be used as a deadly weapon of retaliation where it hammers and pummels, and it keeps coming and coming with all kinds of put downs; it bites with clever come backs; it points out faults, it snaps out curse words, it accuses, and it both defends, and offends in a blazing battle over and over again. It stings and punches with negative comments that rip down what God wants built up for His glory. Remember, I'm not just talking about the first strike--I'm talking about retaliation.

How many people have spent time after time working and building--(What are they trying to do?); they are trying to live godly. They are trying to build a godly home, a godly business, a godly family, but then in a firestorm of words, they tear down all the work of godliness that God urged them to achieve from his word. Our tongues must be bridled to avoid this no win spiral of immaturity and destruction. James goes on and says,

"the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles [pollutes, stains] the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell."

One problem that does nothing but help to launch our little tongues for destruction is that people think of all the various sins that can be committed, like adultery, or stealing, or being deceitful, or prostitution, or murder, and so forth, and so what they do is they don't look at certain words that they speak as being just as important, bad, and destructive as those kinds of sins. But this is exactly why James is almost overemphasizing this in his epistle. When it comes to sin, in terms of damage, and transgression of the law of love, the tongue that is set on fire by hell is more damaging than most other sins. There have been families, businesses, and ministries that have come to ruin because of the tiny tongues of men and women. No, it is not because the Holy Spirit is not in the ministry, and so that is why the ruin came in. I get so sick and tired of hearing self assured people who are experts in their own eyes, say,

It occurs to me that the reason why that ministry is experiencing so much difficulty is because God isn't in it.

Or,

It occurs to me that the reason why that minister, whether a missionary, pastor, or whatever, is going through so much difficulty is because He is not being led by the Spirit.

It occurs to me that the reasons why he, she, they are having so many problems is because they must be out of God's will, and blah, blah, blah,

when in actuality the ministry itself, or the minister, or the people, have been attacked by others with tongues set on fire by hell, (not by God) and so they are feeling the burn of the pernicious tongues of men and women. Gossip is like this. It is absolutely devastating. It all starts out with the idea that news is being shared. After all, we read the news media; we hear the news media, and so why not make our tongues be the news media!

Let's share some news about someone.

Folks, listen to me, this kind of thinking will get you into the sin of gossip faster than anything. But we want to question everything. We are so smug, and worse, we are so sinful in our self justifications. We want to ask,

Yeah, but what is gossip anyway?

We say,

Aren't we allowed to share what we think and know about others?

After all, it is only communication isn't it?

But in the midst of all the questions, we really know what gossip is, don't we? The Holy Spirit speaks to us with the tongue that commands both angels and us, and convicts us of gossip. Identifying gossip isn't the problem. Ignoring the Holy Spirit is the problem. When you ignore the Holy Spirit, then you ignore THE bridle. Every species of beasts has been tamed by the human race, but the tongue is a restless maverick. Nobody can tame it, but when we ignore God, we are throwing away the bridle. Even if we have become so hardened to the clear understanding that God gives us concerning gossip, the definition is simple, is easy to understand, and is easy to remember;

Gossip is talk where you divulge information, or share opinions about others that slanders and destroys them.

The problem is that it seems like simple conversation while it is going on. But the so called simple, light conversation is burning someone down into smoldering ashes. This is gossip. It's when your tongue tears someone down with juicy stories and opinions. Gossip is a fiery disease. It is like the scarlet fever of the church. Once gossip has been started it spreads from one person to another where it eats up and damages everyone, especially the object of the gossip.

How do you identify gossip in wise assessment? It is really very easy. Ask yourself whether you are about the task that the Holy Spirit is about. Ask yourself; is this talk that is meant to edify?; which means to build up; or is this talk that is meant to tear down. It is really that simple. How many of us realize that nobody gets accused of gossip when they are praising someone else with complements? The point is that we all know what the difference is between building up our brothers and sisters, and tearing them down. Also, gossip is different than strategy for productive and beneficial action, because gossip is the action, and it is destructive. Oftentimes in strategy for productive action, information must be divulged about someone. Opinions must be shared about others that may not be very complimentary. What I mean is that you may have to discuss some negative details, or at least what are negative opinions about someone if you are wishing to help out in some way with strategy for effective edification. This is strategy for ministry, for business, and for correction. But, otherwise you are just tearing down, which means you are not part of the solution to the problem. Rather, you actually are part of the problem. It is an interesting thing to notice that when someone is gossiping, they are not gossiping about themselves being gossips, though in being gossips, they have established themselves as part of the problem. The reason that the gossiper does not identify himself as having the problem tongue which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell, is because the gossiper is so selfish, and the gossip is so interesting to the fascinated, but blinded mind, that those involved are hyper-focused upon the tastiness of the fiery poison that is being shared. It is as the Proverb describes so well,

"The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels; they go down to the inner parts of the body." Proverbs 18:8

Unfortunately, these poisonous treats go down to the inner parts of the body of Christ and create strife, damage, suspicion, and even contempt for the victim of the gossip, and then everyone involved is hurt. The body hurts because it has taken part in unedifying activity. The person gossiped about is hurt because of all the fiery tongues repeating the gossip over and over again.

Take note, because there are three ingredients in the remedy for gossip:

/1/
The first is that you don't do it. Put on the bridle. This reminds me of the poem with the title: Be Careful What You Say. It is so pertinent to this first ingredient of the remedy, where we need to simply refuse to gossip. Listen as I read, and let us all drink in this refreshing advice from H. Lesser;

In the course of your conversation each and every day,
Think twice, try to be careful of what you have to say;
Your remarks may be picked up by someone's listening ear,
You may be surprised at what some people think they hear.
Things that you innocently say, or try to portray,
Can be changed, and greatly exaggerated along the way;
Many stories change for the worse as they are retold
So try to keep any questionable remarks 'on hold.'
May I give all of you some very sound advice?
When you speak of others, say something nice.
Try to say good things, regardless of who is around,
If you have nothing good to say, don't utter a sound.
You may find that an innocent remark, in the end,
May lose you a close and valued friend.--H Lesser

Lesser's poem demonstrates volumes of wisdom, but the most important point for all of us to get for the reason not to gossip, is that God is the one who says that we need to bridle our tongue, and so God is the reason why we ultimately refrain from gossiping. So the first ingredient in the remedy for gossip is just don't do it. I ask you, is this not the immediate word of the Lord to us all this morning from James?

/2/
The second is that you quickly confront someone else who is gossiping. It's easy to do this, by the way. While the gossip is going on, just say something like this,

You know what? I prefer not to gossip because God says that gossip is a sin.

But it is up to us folks. The weight is on our shoulders, because gossip requires a fiery tongue, but it also requires an attentive ear. When you do not lend your ear to gossip, then you have not given yourself over to share in the sin. You can also change the subject. It's easy to do. Or, find something good to say about the one being gossiped about. The point is that you are the one who needs to not participate in the gossip. You are the one who needs to confront it.

/3/
Then there is a third thing we should do. The third is hard. The third is that you refuse to associate with anyone who is a gossip. God's word speaks to this too,

"He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a gossip." Proverbs 20:19

Is it any clearer? Can you imagine what would happen if we all took Proverbs 20:19 to heart and actually put it into practice in the church as a wide scale strategy? Actually, considering the sad state of the church today in respect to our fiery tongues, hardly any of us would have anyone left to associate with, would we?

Those are three remedies for gossip, but I want to point out another way to burn down stability among the saints. It is to use the unbridled tongue to sow seeds of doubt. Such seeds of doubt can be sown by making faith destroying comments about a church, about its leaders, or about someone else that God is using. And though this is a problem, it is not exactly what I mean. What I mean is that negative faithless words kill the good plans of a lot of folks who start out taking a stand on the promises of God in His word. Everything is fine. Belief in the sovereign God, His word, in prayer, and His leading and anointing is a wonderful testimony of standing on His promises. It is a wonderful testimony of enduring through the trials of faith; but, then someone comes along like the serpent who came to Eve in the garden, and what happens is that they dribble out a little depth charge; they say,

Did God really say ...

and they plant the seed of doubt.

Did God really say that you will be blessed in what you do if you abide in walking according to His word?

God does that in James 1:22-25. But notice how quickly the seed of doubt sprouts from just one little sentence;

Are you sure that God really wants you to serve Him that way?

You are experiencing a lack of money, aren't you? This must mean that you are out of God's will.

You're sick again aren't you. Then there must be something wrong with your Christianity.

If God really wanted you to have the career you have, the spouse you have, the life you have, then everything would be going more smoothly in your life.

It's all some kind of strange and foreign theology that has popped up in our generation, where blessing upon the Christian is always associated with having no troubles whatsoever. It's an unbiblical philosophy, but it is a seed that sows a weed of doubt in the minds of others when people speak it. In the meantime, the whole world is beset with difficulties, and the last thing you need to hear are these little seeds of doubt being planted in your mind to turn you away from serving God in reckless abandon of humanism and feel good theology that paralyzes good Christians into doing nothing. There are so many ways that the tongue is set on fire by hell. If that is not an amazing enough description of the tongue, James goes on to explain how the tongue is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

"7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. [ESV--mankind] 8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be this way. 11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh."

Honesty compels us to recognize that the Spirit is compelling us to recognize that it is not alarmist to suggest that we must be more careful with our tongues than what most Christians think. Isn't it a sobering thought to realize that we can put a bridle on our tongue, but even though we put a bridle on it, our tongues are still wild?! This is why the danger never goes away. James is saying that though you bridle your tongue, it still remains untamed. There are wild horses that are that way. You may be able to get a bridle into their mouths, and with effort, you may be able to lead them by the bridle, (It's control); but inside, their heart is still untamed. It is just as wild as it was before--only now you are controlling it to a certain disciplined degree. This is why intentional and purposeful self control that is based upon the word of God in respect to His Spirit is so very important. This is the only sure antidote for the wildness and deadly poison that is in inherent in the tongue.

Let us consider the lost for a moment. Unsaved people are like wild unbridled animals, and so they are expected to act like unsaved people, so whatever they say is just a matter of their wild sin permeated nature. If they say something caustic, then why should we Christians be surprised? If they say something nice and smooth that benefits their own image where they come across as someone who pays good complements, or as someone who is wanting to get something from someone by using nice language to win their favor, then we should not be surprised at their motives. If they say something nice as a social grace that was taught to them as cultural manners and ethics to lead an orderly life in amiable interaction, then we should not be surprised at their motives. They are driven by the spirit of this world, and their hearts are still untamed in sin. But let me ask this question of all of us Christians here: How many times have you, (a child of God) cursed men with your tongue? Before you say never, think about whether you have ever spoken against another Christian. Think about what is really going on when you speak against a brother or sister in Christ. Think about the fact that you are speaking against someone who has been handmade by God as a miracle. You are speaking against someone (like James says) who has been made in the very likeness of God in Christ Jesus. This is so wrong for a Christian to do because we, as God's people, are truly, really, actually so different than the world, that to do so, is to not realize that we are attacking the great work of God in His people. To do so, is to break the royal law of Christ to love God with all of our heart and to love our brothers and sisters the way Christ loves us. Ridiculing, maligning, putting down, and making fun of a brother and sister is not to bless others. Make no mistake about it folks, these are words that curse others. The point is that we are so radically different in Christ, that none of this should be this way. James says that we are God's fruit in 1:18. We are God's fruit meant to produce good fruit from our mouths. You are not like your unsaved family members. You are not like your unsaved neighbors. You are not like the unsaved you work with in the professional world, or those that you associate with, and so why talk like they talk? Whereas they are profane about the things of life, we should be profound about the way, the truth and the life. Whereas they are human oriented in the goal of their speech, we should be God governed in our role when we speak. The point is that a fig tree does not produce olives, and vines do not produce figs. Salt water, James says, does not produce fresh water. But think about the fire. We are the fresh clean pure water of God's glory. We are supernatural beings in Christ. Water can not produce fire, and it is not expected to produce fire, and so that is why we must bridle our tongues with the self control that is based upon the word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is ministry. It is God's will. It is blessing.

This leads me to conclude this morning with the fact that only God can enable us to control our tongues. It is not something that we muster up in our own strength aside from His Spirit, and His word. Paul says that the fruits of the flesh are things like enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, back biting, malicious talk, and gossip in Romans 1, and Galatians 5. On the other hand,

"... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;" Galatians 5:22-23

Self control is what we are talking about because self control for a Christian is equated with the doing side of the word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. People are always talking about being controlled by the Spirit. Well, self control for the Christian, when according to the word of God, is to be controlled by the Spirit that sealed you. It's the fruit. What Spirit do you think you have been sealed with? Self control, when according to the perfect word of truth, certainly is not to be controlled by the devil.

I urge us all to pray daily concerning our tongue. Pray in private and pray out loud in proper use of your tongue. In this way you will be having a relationship with God that He ordains, and demands where He says in His word to pray without ceasing. Pray, because this is the place of relationship where we operate in the Spirit through the word of God in intimate communication with Him. Pray that God will give you the Christlike words to speak that are words that bless. Instead of words that bring humanistic misery, pray for God's words of healing ministry. When we do this, we are bridling our tongue for more than restraint. We are bridling it for action. When we pray, we are using our tongues properly. So pray for yourself, pray this for others in intercession. Paul said,

"2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Colossians 4:2-4

We should all be praying that God will make it clear in the way we ought to speak. Peter said that when we speak, let us speak as if the oracles of God in 1 Peter 4:11. I urge you to earnestly seek biblical ways to speak. Encourage people. Tell them that you are so glad they are a part of the family of God, washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood, as joint heirs with you in Christ Jesus, as we all travel on this earth together. Apologize. We all need to nurture humbleness in real authentic love. Just say you are sorry for the acidic words you have spoken with your unbridled tongue. Speak love for your neighbor according to the royal law by saying that you forgive them of their trespasses against you. Speak love by saying, Do you need anything? Can I help you out with something? Let me help carry your burdens? Let me pray for you. I appreciate you. Do this, and instead of being a burden, you will speak the words that begin to lift the burden. I urge you to look for ministry opportunities for your tongue. Speak Scriptures into people's lives. Serve God with your words, whereby you serve others with His words. Be that man, that woman, that young person in our generation that lives the life of the kingdom of God which is the culture of Christ our Lord. That means that since we are the church, we need to talk like the church. Don't fall into the trap of the dangerous neglect of recognizing that your tongue is a fire--the very world of iniquity. Bridle it, and put it to use as an effective tool for God's glory.