← ArchiveJamesWatch Yo MoufDateMarch 1, 2020SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextJamesPassages in this sermonJames 32:01Genesis 3:1225:26Revelation 1929:27John 1931:37Genesis 332:08Acts 233:10Romans 1033:42TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you so much for joining us. Okay, the book of James, chapter 3, again.0:30We are bold enough as a church to believe what Jesus said, that he is the way, the truth, and the life. And so we believe that faith in Jesus Christ works. It's not just one day we hope we'll get to heaven because of faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that abundant life begins the moment you make Jesus your Lord and Savior.0:54So we're looking at the book of James. One of the reasons that I believe Jesus is the Son of God, because he convinced his half-brother that he was God. That doesn't happen. I have a brother. That doesn't happen unless you are God. That you can say to your brother, your family, that I am the Son of Man, and that James, who did not believe until the resurrection,1:22one day writes a book in the New Testament showing how this Jesus who grew up in Nazareth is who he says he is. We should not discount that. And today we're going to look at a topic that affects every single person in this room. Your mouth. My mouth. So I've affectionately called today's message, Watch Yo Mouth.1:50Watch Yo Mouth. James chapter 3, if you have one of our pew Bibles, it's page 1072. I think that'll get you close. So James is in the New Testament about 80% of the way through the New Testament or more. So the average person, as you find your way there to the book of James, the average person spends one-fifth or 20% of their life speaking.2:19Now, I know what you're thinking right now. You're looking to your left and thinking, you spend more time. Don't do that. This average one day's worth of your words is equal to a 50-page book. And you could write 130 or more books a year. In a lifetime, are you ready for this? You will, I don't know who counts this,2:49but you will have spoken, on average, 860,341,500 words. Let me put all that in perspective for you. You speak enough in your lifetime to write the entire 20-volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary 14.5 times over.3:08I don't know about me, but you guys speak a lot. And our words mean something. Your words matter. And this is where James enters into our faith. James is reminding the church, listen, your words are either for health or for harm.3:36And don't forget, the Bible says that we will one day be held, account for every idle word that we speak. So really, nothing you say in life is idle or useless. It is either for building up the kingdom or it is for tearing down the kingdom. And James enters into this conversation.4:05And if James could write today, we know the word is living and active, he would include social media in this. That not only what you speak, but what you type and what you share and what you like. Those are modes of communication. And James says this about our words in verse 1 of chapter 3. It says, Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.4:33For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, also able to control the entire, the whole body. Verse 3 of James 3. Now, if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole bodies.5:03And consider ships. Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder. Wherever the will of the pilot directs. So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest.5:29And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the members. It stains the whole body. It sets the course of life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and even fish, is tamed and has been tamed by humankind.5:53But no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue, we curse people who are made in God's likeness. And we have already blessed our Lord and Father. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be.6:22Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? Can a fig tree produce olives? My brothers and sisters, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water. Wow. James, tell us how you really feel.6:51Let's pray. Father, right now, we know that your word is living and it is active. It penetrates a division of the marrow and the joints of our bodies, the soul, and our spirit. Father, we need this truth more than any point in history. Oh, that your people, we would watch and control our tongue.7:21Lord, we have no hope to do this. Apart from your spirit controlling us. So, right now, Lord, forgive us where we have failed. Strengthen us so that we can pursue righteousness with our mouths. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name.7:48Amen. Well, first, a good word. A good word. James says, Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment. So, good luck for us ever finding Sunday school life group teachers again after this. Hey, anyone who want to teach today? By the way, you're going to be held in stricter judgment by God.8:17But what is James telling us? He's saying that the very ones who use words to communicate the gospel, the teachers in the church, should be careful with what they say. Because we know that the word works through the words of others. The leader of the church, James, is saying to the leaders of the church, hey, your words matter.8:41You have impact. You have kingdom investment. And it's possible that the early church was struggling with this because teachers in the ancient world were held into higher esteem. So, it's possible that those who had low positions in life were striving to be teachers because they wanted to elevate their social status. And James is saying, be careful what you ask for.9:11Because don't you know that God will hold them into higher standard? Teachers of the word. You see, James' good word is be content with your position. Be content with your position. I have people, not a lot anymore, but I've had people in my lifetime say, pastor, you know what? You need to do this. And I gently say, okay, just know that God's going to hold me in one day eternally accountable for the decision that I made.9:39If you want to switch positions with me, I will gladly give up that mantle. And usually when I say that, the person says, okay, pastor, you make the decision. Because I believe what the word says, that teachers and leaders are held in strict judgment based on what we say and what we do.10:04Why is this so? Because nothing is more damaging to the kingdom than leaders who are careless with their words. And many of you have been hurt by people in the church, maybe this church or another church, who have spoken careless words to you.10:24And that has penetrated your heart. Nothing is more damaging to the kingdom than bickering or mutual verbal abuse. One of the greatest joys that I have as a pastor is to nominate deacons to any church, men who are faithfully serving the kingdom.10:46After they have been tested, after they have been prayed over by deacons currently and their pastors, and then the church has given a voice in this. And you vote and you say, we have seen God working after we have examined their lives. Because we believe what James says. Not many of you should be teachers, brothers.11:15What a great joy it is to serve with brothers and sisters at this church. But this is what James is reminding us of this morning. That your tongue, your thumbs, has a vital place in holiness, in righteousness. He says very clearly, if you don't stumble in what you say in verse 2, you are mature. But we all stumble in many ways, do we not?11:47So remember that your tongue holds a key place in your holy living. You know, I believe we've all had moments where right as we're closing our mouths, that word escapes. And once it does, we cannot take it back. James is reminding us that sticks and stones will break your bones. And words will hurt.12:15Be careful. Little children, what you say. Your mouth, your tweets, your Facebook, your social media has a vital role in your spiritual development. This is a good word. As I was praying over this, this week I was reminded of this truth. I didn't want to hear it because, you know, as I'm thinking through and praying through scripture, what you hear on Sunday, I have to hear seven days a week.12:41So normally when I preach, I just want to get it out. Lord, I'm tired of hearing it. Give it to them. But the Holy Spirit was a pressing on my heart. Lord, if you were only held accountable by what you said this week, would you have built up the kingdom or would you have torn down the kingdom? And I said, I don't want to hear that.13:12And God said, okay, let me try it again. Pastor, if what you said this week was all that you were judged in your life, what would you say before the throne? And I said, God, I'm not listening to that. God said, one more time. Josh, if all that you were judged in your life was this week, and I finally had to examine my life and say, God, have I been careless with my words?13:35God, have I been careless with my tweets? God, I haven't cursed anyone. Have I? But have I been careless? Did I miss an opportunity to build up someone, to encourage someone? And instead of building up, I was idle.14:03You see, Satan wants us to talk about the weather and about our culture and about politics and about sports. And God says, no, elevate the gospel. Speak words of truth and love and encouragement. This is our good word. And then James gives a clear warning to us. He says, if anyone does not stumble on what he says, he is completely mature.14:32So James says, consider the power of your tongue. So the good word is be cautious. The warning is consider the power of your mouth. James gives us three reminders. He said, one, that your mouth is almost like a bit in a horse. Through a bit, you can control a horse. I don't have a picture of a bit, but I do have pictures.15:01Consider a camel. Consider a camel. I think we have some pictures. This is a camel. With a harness, with a bit, in the ancient world, they could control an entire camel. Now, I think I have people who are controlling the camel that you might recognize. So that's Susie. And I think in the background, there's Ron and Teresa. They are here today enjoying their camel ride. We also have Stuart and Teresa.15:31I have their permission. There's Bob posing on the camel. And there I am, hanging tin on my camel. And I remember thinking, this camel could send me over to my death if he wanted to. But it was the bridle. It was the bit. It was the harness that controlled that animal.15:59And in the same ways, our tongue has that power in our life. And James says, if you still don't get it, well, then consider another source. Consider the rudder of a ship. One ship, called the CSCL Globe, has a gross tonnage of 186,000 gross tons. And did you know the rudder, small rudder, controls that entire ship?16:24James says, consider your mouth. It has the same power in your life. And he says, consider a spark. That sets an entire forest ablaze. One forest fire called the Black Friday Bushfire in Australia. At one point destroyed 5 million acres. Your tongue has the same power.16:55This is the warning from James. How is that possible? Well, do we not know that the pilots who control the steering wheel, which controls the rudder, controls the ship? If we lose control of the wheel, we lose control of the ship. James is saying it this way. An uncontrolled tongue is an uncontrolled life. An uncontrolled tongue, an uncontrolled tweet, uncontrolled thumbs are evidence of an uncontrolled life.17:26And are we not all guilty of letting that word slip? And some of you think, well, I've never said a curse word in my life. Yeah, but have you downplayed someone? Have you shamed them? Have you harassed them? James is saying, don't you understand the power of your tongue?17:56I was reminded of this when our daughter was younger. She's our sensitive child. Our oldest one has no sense. Emotional. Takes after his dad. And our youngest daughter, who's now 5, she is completely ungracious. She's the one to fall. She's the one to spill something. And I think we had told her, make sure your bowl is at the table. And we had left, and I heard a crash.18:24And I turned the corner, and before I could even look at what she did, I said, how could you do that? We just told you. That was all it took for her to lose her mind. And this week, I had already written that illustration. The next day, she spilled all of her cereal on the floor. And we had dinner at a friend's house.18:55And as soon as she put her lemonade on the table, it was on the floor. But I remember several years ago thinking, my words were too harsh for her. Did she deserve it? She wasn't doing what we had asked. But my words in that moment had the power to destroy her soul or to be the lifter of her head. And I chose otherwise.19:26And now, every time I hear a bowl hit the floor, I have to say, Lord, give me the peace to control that tongue. Because when that word exits your mouth, it's too late. It's too late. And so, we must think about the power of our words. Every word you speak has meaning and impact because your words have power.19:52Man, what a strong truth from the word of God. Some of you are thinking, well, okay, I control my tongue. I'm better than you, pastor. That's probably true. But even James says about you, he says, your tongue is wild. We are foolish if we think we can control our tongue by our own power.20:17Look at what he says in verse 6. He says, the tongue is fire. It sets the whole course of life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, fish, is tamed and has been tamed by humankind. But no man, no one can contain and tame the tongue.20:41Your tongue is wild. Now, I don't know if you can tame fish, but apparently some have tried. James is saying no one can tame animals. And what was going on in the ancient world, the taming of an animal, the domestication of an animal, was a sense of pride for the Greeks, a sense of pride for the ancient culture.21:10Look at how much strength we have. That camel obeys us. Look at the strength that we have. That horse, that fish, that reptile obeys us. I can't even get our pug to obey me at home. But it's a sense of this pride of the culture. And the Greeks especially valued domestication even above speed or intellect. And James is saying, okay, church, you think you're powerful and strong.21:41Okay, let's scroll through your Facebook feed this week. Can you imagine if God put your Facebook feed up here? Let's just take the last week. What have you liked? What have you shared? What have you been looking at? James is saying consider how wild it is. Being tame means not dangerous or frightened of people.22:06And I remember thinking as I reflected back on several years ago, my tongue being sharp and too dangerous, I remember thinking I don't want my daughter, I don't want my family frightened of my tongue. I want them to be respectful of my voice. They need to honor me and have a healthy fear of me as their dad.22:32But I don't want them to be so worried that when I speak, they tremble because of the harshness of my words. Tame the tongue. Tame your tongue. And if we're honest, even if you say, well, my tongue is tame, you cannot rest. Because it is like a wildfire. It will run rampant in this church.23:01It will run rampant in your house. It will run rampant at your work. It will run rampant on social media. Be cautious. This is a very clear warning. Why? Because in verse six, he says the tongue is a thermometer to your soul. He says this in verse six, your tongue is a fire. Your tongue. There's a world of unrighteousness.23:29Consider how small the tongue is and it is set ablaze and it sets the whole course of your life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. The word hell literally means Gehenna in Aramaic. It's the Gehenna Valley, which is south of Jerusalem. It was a place where in the past they had sacrificed children to the god Molech.23:57It's a place where they really believed was the gates of hell because of the evil. It was also the trash dump and they would throw trash there and because of the compost, there was a continually smoldering effect in that valley. You know what James says about your tongue and mine? He says your tongue is hellish. So if you came in here today thinking good about yourself, James says you have the gate of hell in your mouth.24:25If that doesn't wake us up to the power of our tongues, nothing will. Your tongue reveals your core spiritual temperature. You might fool us, but James says your tongue is not fooling anyone. It is a window. It's a door to your soul. And it's possible that the very first sin,24:54the outworking of that very first sin led to the sin of speech. Do you remember what Adam said? When Eve sins, he was there, by the way, not leading his family. He was there in passivity. But when God asked Adam to give account for the sin of not following what was good and righteous and life-giving,25:23do you know what Adam said in Genesis 3.12? The man replied, right? I love this. He's speaking to God, by the way. The woman you, you, God, the woman you gave to be with me, yeah, she gave me some fruit and it jumped in my mouth and I had no choice but to eat.25:55You see, from the very beginning of time, we have sinned with our mouths. I don't believe it's an accident that the first sin, they ate of the tree with their mouth. And then he spoke words of slander and accusation against God. The very first feature of the tongue is that it is anti-God. And the very final feature of your tongue is that it is pro-Satan. That's exactly what James says.26:25With our mouths, he says in verse 9, we bless God. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord. How majestic is your name. And with the same tongue, we do what? We curse people. You see, cursing in the ancient world was to call upon God to cut someone off from any possible blessing and to consign26:55that person to hell. It's the same curse that we often hear even today in modern language, right? Well, you can go to Gehenna. You can go to hell. I can't think of anything worse to say to someone than to say, I hope you never experience relationship with God. What a horrible place27:22to be with our words. Think of the gravity of this curse. From the beginning of time, we need to recognize that our tongue is a spotlight into our hearts and our souls. Your tongue has power. Wake up. Wake up to the reality that most of the youth, most of the students today, 20% said that they had been bullied in some way. that someone has used their feed27:52or their mouth to bully them, to talk down about them, to disrupt the image of God within their life. And bullying can lead to worsening feelings of isolation and rejection, exclusion, and despair, as well as depression and anxiety, which can contribute to suicidal behaviors. This is the power of the tongue. You see,28:23You see, bullying is a curse of the mouth. Bitter, it's going to come out in your mouth. Angry heart, it's going to come out in your mouth. Bullying mentalities, it's going to come out in your mouth. And James is simply saying, wake up, brother, sister, your words make a difference. And may we have no part of what the world has part in. I wish there was hope here,28:53but James is pretty difficult on our mouth. He says, some of you have bad breath, and it's not because of what you ate last night, it's because your tongue's hellish. Pastor, you curse people and bitterness and anger comes out. But, so listen, there is a better way. So let's end there. There is a better way. So what is our hope? As much as James warns us about the danger of our tongue29:22and words, there is something else. And so we're going to look at Revelation 19 really quick. Yes, I'm preaching in Revelation. Because James, at the end of all of the Bible gives us a beautiful picture of what happens one day. James looks at the heavens and he sees in Revelation 19, 15, he sees this person riding a white horse and his name29:52is the faithful and the true. And the one riding this horse, he judges and he makes war with justice. His eyes are like a fire and flame and there are many crowns on his head. There is a name written that no one knows except himself. His robe is dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on the white horses wearing pure and white linen and a sharp sword.30:21Don't miss this. A sharp sword emanates from his mouth. Not the holster, not his horse. This sword is coming from his mouth. Why does it do that? See, the armies have already gathered but the people of God30:49aren't fighting. The war has been won and the war is won by the testimony of Jesus Christ. You see, is there a better way? Yes, it is life abundant in Jesus. Is there hope for your mouth? Absolutely. His name is Jesus. James says you can't tame your tongue on your own. It is like the gates of hell. It smolders31:19It smolders and it burns and it sets things on fire but one day ultimate victory for your life and for the world will be found in the testimony of Jesus Christ. The same mouth that exclaimed on the cross in John chapter 19 it is finished is the same mouth that the sword of victory comes from. that is our hope.31:49That is our life. You see, from the very beginning Satan has used words to destroy and to question our faithfulness and to question the faithfulness of God on our behalf. You remember what Satan said in Genesis 3 to Adam and Eve? Yeah, you're with God and you're perfect but you know that whole tree of life and good and evil thing? did God32:19did God really say that you can't eat from any tree in the garden? From the very beginning Satan is using words to distort our understanding of God's faithfulness. that's why when Jesus returns his name on this white horse is what? The faithful and the true. God is telling us32:49there has never been anyone in the world that is as faithful as Jesus. You can trust the word of the Savior. It's the faithful and the true word of Jesus Christ that makes everything right. it's no accident that when the Holy Spirit falls in the upper room in Acts chapter 2 that the image we have is that the Spirit falls like fire and they see what?33:18what? they see tongues of fire. You see everything Satan tries for harm and hurt in your life God makes for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes. What is our only hope with our mouths? I love what Paul says in Romans chapter 10. He says this if you confess33:47confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. You see that mouth that you've hurt so many people with Jesus can redeem that if you follow him if you seek him do you understand the weight34:17the weight of your words? With our mouths we boast James says in chapter 3 and verse 5 for our parents there is no greater influence than to speak the word of God into your family's life. What power you have when you speak into them for Jesus Christ. That's a beautiful picture of what God is doing. And what would34:48it look like if the world looks at the church and says you have mastery over your mouth. We want that. We desire that. Maybe today you're carrying wounds where you've been hurt by words. and maybe the response to this message that you for the first time ask God to bring healing in your life. Maybe you35:19Maybe you have hurt someone in this room with your words and during the time of response you need to get up where you are not come to the altar but you need to go to that person and say will you forgive me? Sorry when I was careless but I want my mouth to bless God and not curse him. If you have never confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior I want you to know that you're here today for that reason. God has brought35:49you here to hear his word to know that there is a better way. You can't do it on your own. You have no hope to tame your tongue by yourself but the Holy Spirit working through you you can. Know that God sent his only son to live a sinless life to live a life that you could not live to die on the cross for your sins he rose again and that whoever believes in him will not perish36:16but have everlasting life. Maybe today for the first time you with your mouth need to confess and say Jesus you are my Lord. What a beautiful day of salvation that would be for you. How do we respond to such a difficult truth? Think several ways. One when was the last time36:45you audibly thanked God? That when you used your mouth and said God thank you for this I'm going to ask in a moment when we have our time response that if you don't sing you just spend time blessing God. You say God thank you for this and I don't care if my neighbors hear it they need to hear it. When was the last time you encouraged someone? When was the last time you woke up37:15in the morning and said God I need supernatural strength to tame this beast? God give me strength. When's the last time you prayed for someone out loud? So here's what I'm going to ask us to do in our time of response. What would it look like if every single person left here today prayed for and encouraged? What would that look like?37:46How would my life be different if someone just put their hand on my shirt and said Josh I want you to know I'm thankful for this. So during our time of response I'm going to ask you whoever you're sitting next to either you huddle up and you pray or you look at them and you say I am thankful for you because this. Because the world uses their mouths for harm but we're going to use our mouths today for the gospel for help. Would you join me38:18in that? You're sitting next to someone because God wanted you to sit next to them and as we spend time praying and seeking I'm going to ask that you turn to someone and maybe you need to get up and you need to walk across the church and you need to look at someone and you say I want to pray with you I want to encourage you or I just want to thank God in your presence but Lord we're tired of using our mouths for harm it ends today if you need to confess Jesus Christ as Lord we have prayer partners38:48prayer partners that would love to encourage you to do that and to celebrate with you the day of your salvation church let's go to the Lord in prayer← Previous in JamesGrace is Opposed to Earning Not EffortNext in James →The Humble Man Wins the WarMore sermons on James →
