and we'll be looking at verses 3 through 12, that's James chapter 3 verses 3 through 12. And it reads as follows, if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ship 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 also the tongue 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, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members straight or 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 or reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come boasting or blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be. Does the spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and sought water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives or grapevine produce figs? Neither can a sought pond yield fresh water. They got richly blessed both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. Last week we looked at James' warning, beginning in the first two verses. And in that warning he gives it in a sense he deals with the corruption of human speech and human speech as it extends even to the people that shouldn't be, that have been given the responsibility of ministering the word of God. And so the warning that he gives is that everyone should not be quick to teach. The reason that he gives he says is because the position of a teacher of God's word is a serious responsibility. And with that responsibility there will be a stricter judgment. But in addressing that James is addressing indirectly in those first two verses, the problem of the corrupt tongue of fallen humanity. Now what we'll see in our verses that are before us, verses three through twelve, is he dies deeper into that problem, the problem of our speech. And so there are five areas that we want to focus on, but before we do that there are some preliminary thoughts that we want to lay out as it relates to human speech. The first thing is this, that in the bulk of this message will be focusing on what we say or words that we don't say. But understand, given the technological world in which we live, everything that is said about our active use of the mouth should extend to the thumbs. In other words, it extends to our cyber communication as well. Not just what we say verbally face to face, but it's also what we put into space as representing our words. And so if our tongue is corrupt, then so is the tendency of our texting, emailing, and everything else. So all of the warnings that go to the tongue should also be extended to our use of other forms of communication. Here's the other thing, that when we talk about the gift of speech, we've mentioned that we addressed it last week, that one of the most powerful expressions of our being created in the image of God is our use of speech because God is a verbal God. We spoke in the beginning so no other creature has he given the gift of speech. There are other creatures that can be taught how to talk, but they can't create words. They don't speak in the way that we speak. So it's one of the highlights of our being created in the image of God. Now, conversely, because it is such a significant part of our being created in the image of God, our corrupt speech is one of the worst things about us. In other words, if it's one of the highest forms of our creation, it represents our use of speech and misuse of speech, represents one of the most horrible aspects of our fall. I think most of us would say, well, what if you were to survey most people that you know, what is the most evidence aspect of our fall in nature? And we would look at our perversities in a lot of areas, our violence, man's violence against man. We'll look at even the pollution sum of the created order, some would look at the breakdown of the family. We would look at our sexual promiscuity and we'll look at all of these things and say, that is the most visible sign of our fallenness. But brothers and sisters, if speech, the gift of speech, is one of the highest expressions of our being created in the image of God, then one of the most vile aspects of our fallenness is in our speech. If most of us were present, when someone was about to do something that we knew to be real bad, we would not be comfortable with it. If we were present, you're just having a nice social gathering and someone pulls out a needle and gets ready to shoot up a heroin into their vein. We would get uncomfortable and leave. But here's how dastardly our corrupt speech has become. We can be in the very room with someone slandering a brother who's not present and we sit comfortably by. See, that's how vile we are. We have made a cottage industry of gossip. We talk about gossip columnists, gossip magazines, as if it's okay. So here's the thing. If the gift of speech is one of the highest forms of our being created in the image of God, then one of the lowest things that a human being created in the image of God can do is to use that gift of speech incorrectly. Here's the third thing, preliminary. Good speech can't save anyone and bad speech does not cast us out of heaven. We want to look at this in light of law, how we ought to speak and gospel what we've been given in Christ. Now with those preliminaries, let's delve. The first thing I want to do is lay out the basics of the issues here which is set forth really in verse 9. In verse 9, we actually have the crux and the linchpin of the whole discussion on proper verses in proper speech because there are three things that are found in verse 9 that James eludes to to whatever degree. That we can attract from his words here that really get to the heart of the matter of human speech, its problems, and its beauty. Let's look at verse 9. In verse 9, he says, with it, speaking of the tongue, we bless our God and Father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. We can extract three things from that. Number one, the primary purpose of human speech is to bless or glorify God. Primary purpose of human speech is to bless or glorify God. I've said in the past that when we speak of human speech with speech, we are both supposed to represent God. That's why when God creates Adam, first thing that he does, that everything that God has already created, he brings them before Adam and he gives Adam a speech assignment named them. Because with speech, we represent God. Remember what he told him later, he says, I have given you dominion. And before said, the dominion or authority of God as represented in human beings consists of speech. Adam didn't need a two by four to get the mule to do what he wanted him to do. All he had to do was speak. Because speech has been given to us as a means by which we represent God in the created order. But not only does God give us speech to represent him in creation. God gives us the gift of speech to reflect him in creation. We represent him by speaking truth and we reflect him by speaking truly. In other words, God gives us the authority of words but he also gives us the ability to reflect his holiness in words. We are supposed to represent him and we are supposed to reflect him. So speech that glorifies God when James says here that with our tongues, we bless God. He's not just talking about when we stand up and say, phrase the Lord. But with our speech, we are intended to glorify God. And of course, as we know from the Westminster Confession, that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And one of the ways in which we are to glorify God or to bless him is to use the gift of speech as an extension of God's own power and authority in the created realm. We are to speak. We are to use our speech as a representative of the God who gave us that gift. We are also supposed to use that gift of speech to reflect him. God is a God of speech and he's given us the gift of speech to talk about him and to speak rightly about him but to just speak. Birds can't look at the sky and say, wow, this is a beautiful sky and a beautiful day to fly. Only man can stand back and glorify the creator by expanding the beauty of the creation. It was Joyce Kilmer that put it beautifully and talks about how we reflect the creator in a very simple poem. He says, poems are made by fools like you and me but only God can make a tree. And it's only man that can look at the tree that's been made by God and speak of its beauty and of its depth because birds only sit in trees. Men are able to contemplate them and look at the treeness of the tree. Only man can see the stars and contemplate from that that there's a star maker. God has given us the gift of speech to reflect him and to reflect upon him and to represent him in the created order. That's how we bless God with one of the ways in which we bless God with our speech but James touches on a second thing here. Blessing God or glorifying God with our speech as it is with all of our vertical duties and affections. In other words, as all of our vertical duties and when I say vertical duties and affections, I mean all of our duties that are due unto God and all of our affections that are extended to God are manifest horizontally. In other words, this is what Jesus says is the essence of the two tables of the law. To love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, with all of our soul, with all of our strength, with all of our understanding and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Basically what he's saying is your vertical love for God is manifest in your dealings with your neighbors. So no one can claim to love God and have a disregard for his neighbor. And in the same regard, notice what James says here that are with the tongue. We are supposed to bless God. But notice again he says in our horizontal he's showing a disconnect and he's making an assumption or an implication about blessing God with our tongues because he speaks of those of our communication with those who are made in the image of God. He says with our tongue we bless God, but we also curse our neighbors or our fellow human beings who are created in the image of God. And the implication there in fact he goes on to make this case and we'll talk about it in a moment is that no you shouldn't bless God and then first man. And the implication is to bless God with your tongue is also to use your speech in a proper way towards your image bearers, your fellow image bearers. Those that we manifest or we glorify God with our speech by also speaking properly to the image bearers of God. So on the one hand the purpose of human speech is to glorify God but to glorify God in our speech includes speaking properly or using the gift of speech properly when it comes to our fellow image bearers. But here's the third thing that's implied in verse 9. This verse also articulates the contradiction that our corruption allows us to be comfortable with. Here's the contradiction we've already looked at it how do we glorify God with our speech by blessing him and not cursing our neighbor. But here's the contradiction that we've become comfortable with, that we've learned how to live with, that we can bless God with our speech, but we can also curse those who are made in the likeness of God. And we've learned to be content with that. Last week I referenced an article by Keith Matheson online table talk. And in the article Keith Matheson suggests like you know how would what would it be like if you were taken someone secretly recorded your messages or what you said when you got in the car leaving church. And played it back to a whole year of what you said about church or what you said about discernment what you said about brothers and sisters. Most of us probably wouldn't want to hear that play back but I would extend it a little bit further than that. What if we were recorded all of the things that we have either said or we have allowed to be said in our presence not for a year but for a week. We who are so squeamish that when we see blood on television we don't want to see it. There's something that we rather have warnings for before we see it. And yet here's the contradiction that we've become comfortable with. A brother or sister we're not even talking about just neighbors but a brother or sister. Their very character can be slandered in our midst and we are content with it. That's a contradiction that we've learned how to get along with. Jesus says if you are angry with your brother without a cause then you are guilty of murder. And most of us we've seen the video of George Floyd and I know people who can't even stand to look at it because looking at it is uncomfortable to us. The brothers and sisters are the same kind of discomfort that we have when we see people shot down physically with bullets. You ought to be at discomfort. When we're sitting around and some brother or some sister who is not present and their character is grown or dragged and assassinated. Let's take it how many times the Bible speaks of backbiders, slanderers and gossipers. Doesn't speak of it as just oh everybody's prone to it doesn't say oh that's just what little old women do when they get together. No old women, old men, young men, young women. Part of the nastiness of our fallenness is that we're too comfortable. When another image bearer of God is being torn asunder by the careless words of someone who has been created to heal rather than hurt with the words that are spoken. There's nine that addresses three things, what humans speak ought to be towards God and the fact that if we are to bless God then we also have an obligation to bless God by speaking properly to his fellow to our fellow image bearers. And the fact that we don't is contradictory. I think that's that's safe to say that we have learned to live with this discomfort. Well that brings us to a second thing with those three attractions from verse nine with those things in mind and verses 10 through 12. James argues conclusively and definitively that the contradiction that we have become comfortable with is unnatural and not only is it unnatural, it's illogical and not only is it illogical but it is absurd. It's the way he explains it. It's just words, no that's why I said last week, don't teach your children that words can't hurt you, no words matter. The illogic of people who say they bless God and yet are so easy to slander and gossip and hurt their brothers with the things that they said. This is 10 through 12. James puts it this way he says from the same mouth comes blessings and curse my brothers. This ought not be. He speaks very profoundly and directly to the problem. I know that it exists but it ought not be. And look at the way he illustrates that truth, why it should not be. He says listen, these things ought not be so. Does a spring bring forth from the same opening? Both fresh and saltwater? And then he goes on to say listen and can a fig tree? In case you don't live around water and you don't understand that and he's helpful for us, he says okay then let me put it another way. Should a fig tree bear olives? I mean should you listen, I know here in South Florida a lot of people have mango trees because we get them in mango season. And how many of you, what would you say one morning when you go out to get your mangoes hanging on that mango tree, there's a limit. One of my favorite cartoons and I love newspaper cartoons back in the day and I don't know if any of you remember tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds was the old western, they had these stick characters and they always had these strange expressions on their face but one of my favorite ones I remember over the years. The first frame shows a man with a cow and he has a rope around the cow and he's leading him through town and actually it's a bull. He's running the second frame, he encounters one of his buddies and the buddy says hey where you headed and the man stands with the wilderness look on his face. And then the third frame says it shows the bull and the bull says meow and in the fourth frame it shows the man who owns the bull saying I don't know. I don't know whether to go to a circus or to a veterinarian because in the point being he knew he had something unnatural when he went out to his bull and his bull says meow and wait a minute now something is wrong but as he's thinking about well it might be wrong but it could be profitable. Brothers and sisters James is saying that when you go out to your mango tree and you pull a lemon from it it might be amusing and you might even put it on social media but something has got to be in your mind that this is not something is wrong here. And his point is for us to be comfortable and to be content and to be complacent with people opening their mouths and speaking curses to their neighbors and then you go and have no problem with singing. Oh I just sing hallelujah to the Lord and curses to my neighbor we've gotten comfortable with that gotten comfortable and coming into the sanctuary and lifting holy hands and saying oh I love you Lord Jesus I love you more than life and getting in our cars and saying did you see what sister so and so had on. Brothers and sisters James says that illogical it's absurd it's as absurd as it is getting salt water from a fresh water source and he simply says it ought not be from the same mouth blessings and curses. These things ought not be and we should never be comfortable with it or I don't remember which show it was but remember watching it was a film I think it was and young man was dating or they were adults dating a woman and she just says some vile stuff and he looked at her and he says do you kiss your mother with that mouth. Brothers and sisters let us never we have to own it's when we speak out of place and I love the fact that in our church covenant the old Baptist church covenant it has this that we will it says we will guard one another's reputation not needlessly exposing their infirmities I pray that we reach a point that when we are in those settings. And someone who is not present is being drug over the colds that we would be involved enough to say whether we agree with what the assessment is or not and that's what ends up getting lost people say well but it's the truth no that's not the issue and we'll address that in a moment but that truth spoken in this context is not a fine. I pray that we would be emboldened to speak up and not only speak up but to walk out because these things as James says are not to be. This is the third thing in verse six James uses graphic and sobering imagery to explain that the fact of our tongue problem is really at the core of it a heart problem so if you go back to verse six notice what he says here. He says in verse six and the tongue is a fire it is a world of unrighteousness the tongue is set among our members staining the whole body setting on fire the entire course of life and it is set on fire by hell. That's James using vivid language and imagery to make the point that our tongue problem is really a heart problem. Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17 he says that the heart is deceitful and wicked above all things and then Jesus in Luke 645 says this that the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good but the evil person out of his heart out of his evil treasure produces evil for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Brothers and sisters the reason we have a tongue problem is because we have a heart problem. Now by the way we should not don't misunderstand what Jesus is saying in Luke's passage where he says the good person speaks out of the treasure of their goodness out of their good heart. Here's my question because that is absolutely true and you know who the good person is is the one who's telling us that. In other words it's a yeah but my heart and I try not to be Mr. correct or too much in some situations but every time I hear people say at least my heart is in the right place. No no no you don't get it so it's your heart that is the problem and everything else is flowing out of your corrupt crooked heart. Yeah I didn't I know I didn't say the right thing but my heart was in the right place no your corrupt heart made you shut up and not say the right thing your corrupt heart made you comfortable in not saying the right thing. Give too much credit to a heart that is nothing but dead and sin. See the heart left to itself is exactly what it was when you came forth from your mother's womb. So in verse 6 James uses illustrations to indicate that your tongue is a problem because your heart is a problem. And the tongue is simply the mouthpiece for the corruption that is native to us in our fallen state. That brings us to a fourth thing in verse 8 James gives a statement that is profound. It's necessary for us to hear but it's also humbling in verse 8 James I'm just going to take the statement from him he says no human being. Can tame the tongue. That's true. No human being can tame the tongue. Now hold in mind the connection that he makes between the corrupt heart and the corrupt tongue. So if there is a connection if the corruption of the tongue is the byproduct of the corruption of the heart then the reason we can't tame the tongue is because we can't change our own hearts. Now that's necessary for us to hear. It's necessary for us to hear because it brings us to the end of our ability. It brings us to the end of the rope of our ability. We can no more change our heart than a leopard can change its spots. We can't change our hearts and that's the whole point. That's the whole point that we need to see that we don't have the ability to change our hearts. And really truth be told unless we are brought under conviction we don't want to. We can neither change our heart nor can we tame our tongue. And the reason we can't tame our heart or tongue is because we can't change our hearts. James is very definitive in making that statement. No one he says and look at what he says he says oh look there's no animal there's no reptile there's no flying thing no bird that can't be tamed by mankind. You remember sick freedom Roy and they'd be in the case of course every now and then the cats get a little restless and they say well you can tame us a little bit but you know we still you know we're letting you tame us. And every now and then they will speak out the sick freedom Roy made a living going in amongst wild animals taming them. We think about it and I remember our first safari went on and towards the end of the safari we had we seen almost all of the big five that they say but we hadn't seen a lion. And as we were leaving the preserve all of a sudden here comes a lion a big male lion with his two women. And he stood in the middle of the road he didn't roar he just stood and he stood there looking at everyone with cameras as his females safely crossed the street and the lion was kind of like try me try me. I wish he had roared I wanted to hear him roar but he didn't roar but he didn't need to. And when his two women were on the other side he looked at us again and then he just slowly walked to the other side I said now that that is why that made me not want to see another lion in a zoo for the rest of my life. Here's what James is saying we have learned the key to taming lions and we contain elephants but no man no one man. Contain the tongue that brings us to a fifth and final thought what is impossible for man to do in terms of either the heart or the tongue only God can do. And he does it by the agency of the Holy Spirit through the means of his appointed word it is through spirits and word that we are born again and it is through spirit and word that God has taken the heart of stone out of us. And he's placed in us a heart of flesh and everywhere there is a heart of flesh as created by God therein is the ability to start taming the tongue. There are three things that I want to urge here for those of you who have been recreated reborn by the spirit through the word for those of you who are in dwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead who dwelt in you by faith. There are three things that I would urge number one I urge you to take inventory of your speech. If you were in flesh if you were just in Adam and you didn't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit I will correct you and keep on moving tell you what you need to do but for you you are not just any garden variety center. I urge you who have praying Christ by faith to take inventory of your speech. Paul says it this way in Ephesians 429 and please hear this through through the spirit here what he says let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth but only such as is good for building up as fits for the occasion. That it may give grace to those who hear I urge you you can't do it by yourself but I urge you to take inventory look look over your speech not just the speech not just the words that you say or have said but look over the speech that you become comfortable with I urge you to do that. We don't grow in things until we grow out of something so look at your speech look at what you brought to that conversation look at what you brought to that argument look at how you conducted yourself I will often said this about churches. We're so sanctified when we come into the sanctuary that we want even the sinners to come in but I think the way we speak ought to be as such in our business meetings that visitors should be able to sit in and it's amazing we can be as stupid and as hellish as if we just came fresh from the womb when it comes to doing the business of God's house. Take inventory of your speech what you're comfortable with saying what you're comfortable with hearing not because it'll save you not because not doing so we'll lose your seat in hell because if you're not in well by the spirit you haven't lost anything anyway you're ready a child of wrath and if your faith is in Christ not even your stupid careless speech will keep you from what God has given you. I urge you to take inventory of your speech secondly if you are in do out by the spirit I urge you to be vigilant in the power of the spirit to put to death ungodly speech. Don't listen to the pundits don't listen to the people that as you want as you take inventory of your speech and you see that which is good and godly and you see that which is not then don't just be content and say oh I just messed up no be vigilant be vigilant and be willing to put it to death in Colossians chapter three verses one through three. Paul talks about those who have died and have been raised with Christ and how our affections and how our mindset ought to be tuned to where Christ is and then he makes a statement in verse three and he says remember for you died in your life is hidden in Christ and then in verse five he says in light of the fact that you have died in Christ and your life is hidden in Christ therefore put to death. Your members which remain on the earth sanctification is a bloody hard issue it's not about just reading a book it's not about journaling it's not about listen sanctification thank God that we have the death the bloody death of Christ on the cross that empowers us in the bloody process of sanctification because putting off that which is is resident to the old man is violent and vicious and so in verse five he says put to death the deeds of the flesh but then he goes on and he reasons in verse nine and he includes this as being part of the flesh that needs to be put to death says but now you must put them all away anger and wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and you have put on the new self which is being renewed in the knowledge or in knowledge after the image of its creator if you are in dwelt by the spirit not only take inventory of your speech but be vigilant don't just be comfortable in your sinful speech patterns and I think this is critical especially in couples I see people that just practice the same mistakes communication mistakes over and over again and at some point someone's got to say but you know what I was wrong or you've got to say and don't say it necessarily to the other person because you've got to recognize it within you you won't say that it's wrong to someone else until you see that it's wrong to you and what James what Paul was saying here is this is part of your union with Christ so that you would hear your speech not according to the standards of the day but according to the standards of the one to whom you are tethered which brings us to the third and final thing here I urge you in the power of the spirit to be intentional in filtering your speech through the grace by which you've been saved listen I was on the phone with the friend going through a lesson from from what we see in in Paul's or the Luke the gospel of Luke the Luke 17 and first Jesus says in that setting he says he says listen temptation is is basically unavoidable but then he goes on to say but will one to you by whom by through whom temptation comes and then I think it's in verse three when he tells them he says now take heed to yourself that if a brother sins you review him and if he repents and returns to you that you forgive him now here's what what stuck with me two things here because on the on the body of the spirit because on the on the bottom of it then he he flashes that out even further and he says and if a brother sins against you 70 times in a day and he is repented and returns to you forgive him and here's what caught me when he says before he talks about someone sinning against you and how you handle it he says first you take heed to yourself in other words you need to be careful of how you handle being sinned against and then when he goes on to say you know it becomes 70 times in a day that you're still supposed to respond to him I love what what follows the disciples saying you don't need to give us some more faith on that one. Give us some more faith because basically what they're saying is I got enough faith maybe to forgive him once or twice but 70 and then Jesus makes it clear now you got enough faith because it's not about how much faith it's really the object of your faith and if the object of your faith is the finished work of Christ if the object of your faith is the wounds of the Savior presently enthroned at the right hand of the Father you have the right object you just don't see it clear enough brothers and sisters I urge you filter your language through the grace that you have received let me close with this in Colossians 4 6 at the end of the letter. After telling them to put to death the deeds of the flesh and to put on the new man Paul says this he goes on to say let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt so that you would know how you ought to answer each person we have gotten comfortable with blessing God and cursing the image bears of God with the same tongue but brothers and sisters if you're in Christ you're in dwelt by a spirit who is greater than even you don't be comfortable with corrupt speech don't be comfortable in failing to glorify God not just in the sanctuary sanctuary when you pray and praise and worship understand that when you look in the face of another image bearer of God you have a responsibility to glorify that same God by using that same gift I remember what we said in the preliminary observations this includes cyber communication you see every conversation don't fool yourself just because you're online just because it's through social media and you made a good point that doesn't mean you're engaged in a productive conversation or discourse and when people are egging you on because of what they liked or staring you up because of what they don't like fill to your communication through the grace that has saved you because here's what ought to be we ought to be using our gift of speech even in a fallen world to glorify the one who created us in his image and recreated us in the image of his son let's pray.