Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / James 3:1-12 - The Tongue is a Destructive Fire
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Life Audio.
- 0:10Speaker 2: How doy and good morning friends and faithful listeners you've
- 0:12Speaker 2: tuned into the Bible Explain podcasts On this lovely, lovely
- 0:16Speaker 2: Tuesday morning. You know, the trees are just so lovely
- 0:19Speaker 2: and the sky has been nice.
- 0:21Speaker 1: And blue recently.
- 0:21Speaker 2: And I went berry picking the other day because blueberries
- 0:25Speaker 2: are in season where I live, and that was very nice.
- 0:28Speaker 2: Got I think eleven pounds of blueberries and made a
- 0:32Speaker 2: ton of blueberry jam. And I also got some currants.
- 0:36Speaker 2: I love currants, so I got some and unfortunately they
- 0:39Speaker 2: were at the end of their season, so they were
- 0:41Speaker 2: kind of like soggy when I bought them. And then
- 0:44Speaker 2: the next morning, I waited overnight to make the jam,
- 0:48Speaker 2: and the next morning they tasted and smelled alcoholic, and
- 0:51Speaker 2: I'm like, oh man, I still made them into jam,
- 0:55Speaker 2: but I'm a little bit scared to eat it, if
- 0:59Speaker 2: I'm being honest, So it's sitting in my fridge untouched.
- 1:03Speaker 2: We'll see if I ever am brave enough to try it,
- 1:06Speaker 2: because I know you're supposed to use fresh berries when
- 1:08Speaker 2: you make jam. But anyway, that's beside the point. I'd
- 1:11Speaker 2: love to hear about all of you guys and what
- 1:13Speaker 2: you all have been up to during this gorgeous summer.
- 1:16Speaker 2: Tell me if you enjoy berry picking, and also what
- 1:18Speaker 2: type of berries you like to pick, and also tell
- 1:21Speaker 2: me if you garden. I did not do a garden
- 1:24Speaker 2: this year.
- 1:25Speaker 1: Usually I do.
- 1:25Speaker 2: This was the first year I have not done one
- 1:27Speaker 2: in years, and I regret it, if I'm being honest,
- 1:31Speaker 2: Especially now with this parasite that's on all of the veggies.
- 1:36Speaker 2: It's like great year to not grow your own homemade vegetables,
- 1:41Speaker 2: you know. Oh well, let's go ahead and move to
- 1:44Speaker 2: a sponsored ad break, and after that we're going to
- 1:46Speaker 2: move into James chapter three, where we're going to talk
- 1:48Speaker 2: about how we need to control our tongues. I think
- 1:51Speaker 2: it's a really important message for all of us to hear.
- 1:54Speaker 2: But first, before we get into that, please listen to
- 1:56Speaker 2: this message from one of my sponsors. Okay, Like I said,
- 2:01Speaker 2: we're going to be talking about the tongue and the
- 2:03Speaker 2: damage that our words can do, and how I'm sure
- 2:06Speaker 2: many of you faithful listeners know how words can destroy lives.
- 2:10Speaker 2: Maybe somebody has said something behind your back before that
- 2:13Speaker 2: has ruined your reputation, or maybe somebody was lying about
- 2:16Speaker 2: you or gossiping about you, or you know, even saying
- 2:20Speaker 2: something to your face that it's just cruel and discourages you.
- 2:23Speaker 2: So probably all of you, faithful listeners, know how damaging
- 2:27Speaker 2: our words can be. And that is what this portion
- 2:29Speaker 2: of James is going to talk about today. So let's
- 2:31Speaker 2: read James three one through twelve. As usual, I'll be
- 2:35Speaker 2: reading from the web. So grab your Bible and your
- 2:37Speaker 2: cup of coffee or your cup of tea, and let's
- 2:39Speaker 2: read this together. Let not many of you be teachers,
- 2:44Speaker 2: my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment, for
- 2:47Speaker 2: we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn't stumble
- 2:51Speaker 2: in word is a perfect person able to bridle the
- 2:54Speaker 2: whole body. Also, indeed, we put bits into the horse's
- 2:57Speaker 2: mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide.
- 2:59Speaker 1: Their whole body.
- 3:01Speaker 2: Behold the ships, also, though they are so big and
- 3:03Speaker 2: are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a
- 3:06Speaker 2: very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. So the tongue
- 3:10Speaker 2: is also a little member and boasts great things. See
- 3:14Speaker 2: how a small fire can spread to a large forest,
- 3:17Speaker 2: and the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity
- 3:20Speaker 2: among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole
- 3:23Speaker 2: body and sets on fire the course of nature, and
- 3:26Speaker 2: is set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of animal, bird,
- 3:30Speaker 2: creeping thing, and sea creature is tamed and has been
- 3:32Speaker 2: tamed by mankind. But nobody can tame the tongue. It
- 3:36Speaker 2: is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it
- 3:39Speaker 2: we bless our God and Father, And with it we
- 3:42Speaker 2: curse men who are made in the image of God.
- 3:45Speaker 2: Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing my brothers.
- 3:49Speaker 2: These things ought not to be. So does a spring
- 3:51Speaker 2: send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?
- 3:54Speaker 2: Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives or a
- 3:57Speaker 2: vine figs? Thus, no spring yields both saltwater and fresh water.
- 4:04Speaker 2: One thing I've learned reading through the Book of James,
- 4:06Speaker 2: or something that I've picked up recently, is how much
- 4:08Speaker 2: James the author enjoys allegories. He really enjoys painting a
- 4:13Speaker 2: picture for the people, And he does so I don't
- 4:16Speaker 2: know six times in this passage, if I were to
- 4:19Speaker 2: estimate without counting, And so he starts in verse one,
- 4:22Speaker 2: Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing
- 4:25Speaker 2: that we will receive heavier judgment, for we all stumble
- 4:28Speaker 2: in many things, and anyone who doesn't stumble in word
- 4:31Speaker 2: is a perfect person able to bridle the whole body. Also,
- 4:35Speaker 2: so essentially, because nobody is perfect, we or the church
- 4:40Speaker 2: should not have many teachers because James says right here
- 4:44Speaker 2: that teachers are going to receive a heavier judgment. So
- 4:48Speaker 2: there shouldn't be a ton of teachers out there. And
- 4:51Speaker 2: I'm not talking about like school teachers or you know,
- 4:54Speaker 2: professors or anything like that. I'm talking about Bible teachers,
- 4:58Speaker 2: not evangelists, which is a different thing, but Bible teachers,
- 5:01Speaker 2: people who study it to present it to other people.
- 5:04Speaker 2: James says, don't let many of you be teachers, because
- 5:08Speaker 2: you're going to receive a harsher penalty. And nobody is perfect.
- 5:12Speaker 2: There is only one person, one perfect Bible teacher that
- 5:16Speaker 2: ever existed, and that is Jesus himself. He was perfect.
- 5:19Speaker 2: He never said anything wrong, not in the entirety of
- 5:23Speaker 2: his existence. Nothing that was written down about him was
- 5:26Speaker 2: wrong in what he said. He followed the Old Testament
- 5:29Speaker 2: laws to a tea. He explained the Old Testament laws,
- 5:31Speaker 2: he never went against them.
- 5:33Speaker 1: He was perfect. In every single way.
- 5:34Speaker 2: So he was really the only teacher that is one
- 5:36Speaker 2: hundred percent qualified, even Bible teachers like Paul, who was
- 5:42Speaker 2: appointed for the Gospel to the Gentiles. Even Paul said
- 5:46Speaker 2: in Philippians, I have not achieved perfection. There is no
- 5:49Speaker 2: person on earth other than Jesus himself who is able
- 5:53Speaker 2: to achieve perfection. We can't do it. Every one of
- 5:56Speaker 2: us are sinners. And so James here is actually trying
- 5:59Speaker 2: to protect people by telling them don't become teachers, because someday,
- 6:03Speaker 2: when you stand before Jesus at his throne and you
- 6:06Speaker 2: have to give an account of your life, you are
- 6:08Speaker 2: going to be judged more harshly because you are a teacher.
- 6:11Speaker 2: And this is my own speculation, but I would guess
- 6:13Speaker 2: that Jesus is going to judge how you live your life,
- 6:17Speaker 2: not just the things that you teach necessarily, but the
- 6:21Speaker 2: example you're setting for people in the way that you live.
- 6:25Speaker 2: And one Timothy five says something similar in verse twenty two.
- 6:28Speaker 2: It says lay hands hastily on no one. And what
- 6:31Speaker 2: that means is that the church elders are not supposed
- 6:33Speaker 2: to give anyone who wants it a position of leadership
- 6:36Speaker 2: they're supposed to vet these people first.
- 6:38Speaker 1: They're supposed to make sure that.
- 6:39Speaker 2: These people are, you know, living a gospel centered life
- 6:42Speaker 2: before you know, throwing them at the head of a ministry.
- 6:45Speaker 2: And unfortunately, lots of churches don't do this. They don't
- 6:48Speaker 2: vet their people first, and so people who should not
- 6:51Speaker 2: be at the head of ministries end up being at
- 6:53Speaker 2: the head of ministries, and then that ministry a lot
- 6:55Speaker 2: of times will collapse or there's going to be church
- 6:59Speaker 2: hert there's going to be problems that are associated with
- 7:01Speaker 2: it because that person was not prepared to properly lead,
- 7:04Speaker 2: either because they didn't know the Bible well enough, or
- 7:07Speaker 2: they had some sort of issue or unresolved sin that
- 7:11Speaker 2: ended up hurting other people. So you have to be
- 7:13Speaker 2: really careful about this. And so James is kind of
- 7:16Speaker 2: talking about this. He's saying, don't be many teachers because
- 7:20Speaker 2: it's going to be better for the individual people. Now,
- 7:23Speaker 2: granted I am a teacher, I would consider myself teaching
- 7:27Speaker 2: the Bible to you guys right now. And I remember
- 7:30Speaker 2: when I first started this podcast, my mom was not
- 7:32Speaker 2: happy with me. She wasn't because she was like, Jen,
- 7:35Speaker 2: you're not supposed to be many teachers, and she was
- 7:37Speaker 2: very hesitant about it for obvious reasons. But again, you know,
- 7:40Speaker 2: my mom was trying to protect me. She wasn't saying
- 7:42Speaker 2: I can't do it. She was trying to tell me
- 7:45Speaker 2: this for my own benefit, because there really is a
- 7:49Speaker 2: burden to teaching the Bible effectively. There should be a
- 7:53Speaker 2: burden honestly with it. It's not something where you just
- 7:56Speaker 2: sit down and start pontificating. You're supposed to truly do
- 8:00Speaker 2: due diligence with it and make sure that you're teaching accurately,
- 8:04Speaker 2: doing your research on different topics and cross referencing the Bible.
- 8:08Speaker 2: And there is a burden to all of that. Knowing
- 8:10Speaker 2: that God is watching me, knowing that God is going
- 8:14Speaker 2: to judge me harsher than he is other Christians, and
- 8:18Speaker 2: that truly is a scary thing. But a lot of times,
- 8:22Speaker 2: you know, young teachers or young aspiring teachers of the
- 8:25Speaker 2: Bible get really excited and don't think about the eternal
- 8:29Speaker 2: ramifications I suppose of teaching. And there is a warning
- 8:32Speaker 2: in place for this for a reason. So if any
- 8:36Speaker 2: of you are aspiring Bible teachers, just keep this in mind.
- 8:39Speaker 2: You know it's there is a burden when it comes
- 8:42Speaker 2: to teaching the Bible. It is not just all fun
- 8:45Speaker 2: and games, and it is certainly not supposed to be
- 8:47Speaker 2: for your own glory. It is for the glory of
- 8:50Speaker 2: God that you teach these things and you help people
- 8:53Speaker 2: to understand, and you have to come to that place
- 8:55Speaker 2: of humility knowing that God is watching you at all times.
- 9:00Speaker 2: And I'm not necessarily trying to discourage you if you
- 9:04Speaker 2: have been called to be a Bible teacher, but I
- 9:06Speaker 2: am trying to discourage those who haven't been called and
- 9:09Speaker 2: think that they are called. Make sure you pray a lot,
- 9:12Speaker 2: make sure you understand that if you become a Bible teacher,
- 9:15Speaker 2: it is not about yourself. It is not about what
- 9:18Speaker 2: you can gain from it. It is about Jesus and
- 9:21Speaker 2: the Bible and that alone, and that you're not really
- 9:24Speaker 2: going to gain a lot when you become a Bible teacher.
- 9:28Speaker 1: I can promise you that.
- 9:29Speaker 2: And I really don't mean to complain here on the podcast,
- 9:32Speaker 2: but more so, this is just in line with the
- 9:34Speaker 2: topic that I'm discussing right now. When I first began
- 9:37Speaker 2: this podcast, my husband had the correct idea that the
- 9:41Speaker 2: you know, the world was turning to podcasts, and if
- 9:43Speaker 2: you really want to get the message of the Bible
- 9:45Speaker 2: out there to more people, you kind of got to
- 9:46Speaker 2: do where the audience is, essentially, and at the time
- 9:50Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, it was podcasts, which is why I
- 9:53Speaker 2: started the podcast. And back then I was so naive.
- 9:56Speaker 2: I was like, Oh, I'll just talk about the Bible
- 9:58Speaker 2: for you know, five minutes a day. It'll be easy, peasy,
- 10:00Speaker 2: lemon squeeze. Nope. I was humbled very quickly, very early on.
- 10:06Speaker 2: I was like, oh, my goodness, this is a lot
- 10:09Speaker 2: of work. You know, I grew up in the Bible.
- 10:12Speaker 2: I grew up in a Christian home, and I grew
- 10:14Speaker 2: up with a mom that knows a lot about the Bible.
- 10:16Speaker 2: She's like a walking Bible encyclopedia. So I had a
- 10:21Speaker 2: very good foundation, honestly to begin teaching the Bible, and
- 10:24Speaker 2: God opened up many doors for me to do this.
- 10:27Speaker 2: So I do think it was within God's will for
- 10:29Speaker 2: me to begin this podcast and hopefully finish it out
- 10:32Speaker 2: to the end. And I've been going strong for what
- 10:35Speaker 2: is this my sixth or seventh year. Now I'm going
- 10:37Speaker 2: into my seventh year actually next month. But I can
- 10:40Speaker 2: tell you, guys, honestly that it is not an easy
- 10:42Speaker 2: road and you gain very little for yourself. It is
- 10:45Speaker 2: not for you, It is for something actually way greater
- 10:48Speaker 2: than yourself. It is for Jesus alone. And honestly, Jesus
- 10:53Speaker 2: sees the hard work of all of you Bible teachers
- 10:56Speaker 2: out there. He sees it, and he knows how much
- 10:58Speaker 2: work goes into it because us what Jesus himself was
- 11:02Speaker 2: a Bible teacher, and Jesus himself gained nothing from it.
- 11:05Speaker 2: In fact, he gained nothing but insults for himself. So
- 11:09Speaker 2: as teachers, keep in mind, if you're going to be
- 11:12Speaker 2: teaching it the right way, you're going to be going
- 11:14Speaker 2: down the same path that Jesus took, which is not
- 11:17Speaker 2: an easy road to take. And this is something that
- 11:20Speaker 2: I've had to learn throughout the years because when I
- 11:22Speaker 2: first started this podcast, I was not a humble person.
- 11:25Speaker 2: In fact, I'm still not a humble person. I'm working
- 11:27Speaker 2: towards it every single day and trying to keep my
- 11:29Speaker 2: eyes on Jesus. But when you become a teacher, you
- 11:33Speaker 2: know it can get to your head. It really can,
- 11:36Speaker 2: because you know people come to you with questions and
- 11:39Speaker 2: treat you as an authority. And you will be judged
- 11:42Speaker 2: by the praise that you receive. That's actually a verse
- 11:44Speaker 2: I believe in Proverbs. I did not look it up,
- 11:47Speaker 2: so I apologize for that. But there's a verse that
- 11:49Speaker 2: says you're going to be known by how you respond
- 11:52Speaker 2: to the praise that you receive. And I think that's
- 11:55Speaker 2: one of the reasons why many people want to become
- 11:57Speaker 2: Bible teachers, because it's a quick way to gain authority
- 12:00Speaker 2: in people's minds, which is why James, in a way
- 12:03Speaker 2: right here is almost trying to discourage people by saying,
- 12:07Speaker 2: make sure you really are in this for the right reasons,
- 12:09Speaker 2: not for yourself, but for truly teaching the Gospel to
- 12:13Speaker 2: others and doing it for Jesus, because if you're not,
- 12:16Speaker 2: you're going to have a harsher judgment than just the
- 12:21Speaker 2: average church goer that reads the Bible and helps out
- 12:25Speaker 2: in their various ministries but doesn't necessarily lead or teach anything.
- 12:29Speaker 2: But for those of you who are called to be
- 12:31Speaker 2: Bible teachers, God is going to open doors for you,
- 12:33Speaker 2: and he will supply everything that you need as you're
- 12:36Speaker 2: going down the path of being a teacher. But going
- 12:39Speaker 2: back to James Chapter three, verse one. Yes, we are
- 12:42Speaker 2: still only on verse one, he says, be not many teachers,
- 12:47Speaker 2: knowing that we will receive heavier judgment, for we all
- 12:51Speaker 2: stumble in many things.
- 12:52Speaker 1: Verse two.
- 12:53Speaker 2: Anyone who doesn't stumble in word is a perfect person
- 12:56Speaker 2: able to bridle the whole body. Also, basically, everybody stumbles
- 13:02Speaker 2: in many things. And if you are able to control
- 13:04Speaker 2: your tongue perfectly, James says, then you become kind of
- 13:09Speaker 2: a perfect person. In fact, the NIV version with all
- 13:12Speaker 2: of this says, anyone who is never at fault in
- 13:16Speaker 2: what they say is perfect able to keep their entire
- 13:19Speaker 2: body in check. So there's only one person who has
- 13:22Speaker 2: ever achieved that who was never at fault with anything
- 13:25Speaker 2: that he said, and that was Jesus himself, of course.
- 13:29Speaker 2: But the rest of us we have certainly been at
- 13:31Speaker 2: fault in what we say. We have certainly said things
- 13:34Speaker 2: out of anger or out of gossip. Every single one
- 13:37Speaker 2: of us has done something like that. Even when you're
- 13:39Speaker 2: a more mature Christian, we all stumble with the things
- 13:42Speaker 2: that we say. In fact, even mature Christians can become
- 13:45Speaker 2: angry at God and sin with what they say to
- 13:48Speaker 2: God himself. You know, I'm ashamed to admit that I
- 13:50Speaker 2: do that far too often. When I am angry at God,
- 13:53Speaker 2: I say things to him that I probably should never say.
- 13:56Speaker 2: And I mean, that is how we sin with our mouths.
- 14:00Speaker 2: And so now in verse three, James goes into his
- 14:02Speaker 2: first allegory with all of this. He says, indeed, we
- 14:06Speaker 2: put bits into the horse's mouths so that they may
- 14:08Speaker 2: obey us, and we guide their whole body. Behold the
- 14:11Speaker 2: ships also, though they are so big and are driven
- 14:13Speaker 2: by fierce winds, yet they are guided by a very
- 14:16Speaker 2: small rudder wherever the pilot desires. So the tongue is
- 14:19Speaker 2: also a little member and boasts great things. So basically,
- 14:23Speaker 2: the tongue is kind of like these two pictures that
- 14:26Speaker 2: James brings for the first one is the bit inside
- 14:28Speaker 2: of the horse's mouth. You know, this giant creature. I
- 14:32Speaker 2: don't know if you guys have ever seen like a
- 14:34Speaker 2: really big horse up close. At my local fair, I
- 14:38Speaker 2: always like to go into the horse barns for whatever reason,
- 14:40Speaker 2: because these horses are massive.
- 14:42Speaker 1: They're amazing creatures.
- 14:43Speaker 2: You know. Some of these horses stand like eight feet tall.
- 14:45Speaker 2: They're gigantic, you know, and I love looking at them
- 14:49Speaker 2: because they're so docile. You know that thing could kill
- 14:52Speaker 2: me in five seconds, and yet it's just standing there
- 14:55Speaker 2: staring at me like it doesn't have a thought in
- 14:57Speaker 2: its head. I love those horses, and all you have
- 14:59Speaker 2: to to control that horse is you put a bit
- 15:02Speaker 2: in its mouth and the entire body is guided by
- 15:05Speaker 2: that little tiny bit. You know, it's amazing to think about.
- 15:08Speaker 2: Same goes for this ship. A giant ship which is
- 15:11Speaker 2: tossed about by the wind in the waves, is controlled
- 15:14Speaker 2: by a tiny little rudder, and then the pilot just
- 15:17Speaker 2: moves the boat wherever it's supposed to go. And so
- 15:21Speaker 2: the tongue is like these two things. If you can
- 15:23Speaker 2: learn to control it, kind of like the bit in
- 15:25Speaker 2: the horse's mouth and the rudder on the ship, then
- 15:29Speaker 2: you can control your entire body essentially, specifically when it
- 15:33Speaker 2: comes to the sin that we commit. The majority of
- 15:36Speaker 2: our sins have words associated with them, have communication associated
- 15:42Speaker 2: with them. James is making the argument, if you can
- 15:45Speaker 2: learn to control your tongue, then you can learn to
- 15:49Speaker 2: control any other sin essentially. In fact, Jesus talks about
- 15:53Speaker 2: this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five,
- 15:57Speaker 2: verse twenty one and twenty two it says, you've heard
- 16:00Speaker 2: that it was said to the ancient ones, you shall
- 16:01Speaker 2: not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of
- 16:04Speaker 2: the judgment. But I tell you that everyone who is
- 16:07Speaker 2: angry with his brother without a cause will be in
- 16:09Speaker 2: danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother Raca
- 16:12Speaker 2: will be in danger of the council. Whoever says you
- 16:15Speaker 2: fool will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
- 16:18Speaker 2: Jesus basically tells the audience that their words are the
- 16:22Speaker 2: same kind of sin as murdering somebody, Like if you
- 16:25Speaker 2: are angry with somebody without a cause, they are in
- 16:29Speaker 2: danger of the judgment. If they say insults to their
- 16:32Speaker 2: brother like Rayca, which is an Aramaic insult, they will
- 16:35Speaker 2: be in danger of the council. If they say you fool,
- 16:38Speaker 2: they'll be in danger of the fires of Gehenna. Because
- 16:41Speaker 2: if you can't control your tongue, you can't control other
- 16:44Speaker 2: sins in your life either. So we have to learn
- 16:47Speaker 2: to control our tongues, is what James is telling us.
- 16:51Speaker 2: He says in verse five, see how a small fire
- 16:53Speaker 2: can spread to a large forest verse six, And the
- 16:56Speaker 2: tongue is a fire. The word of iniquity among our
- 16:59Speaker 2: members is the tongue which defiles the whole body and
- 17:03Speaker 2: sets on fire the course of nature, and is set
- 17:06Speaker 2: on fire by Gehennah. So what I think James is
- 17:09Speaker 2: saying there is that our words a lot of times
- 17:11Speaker 2: can be influenced by Satan because our words hurt. Our
- 17:15Speaker 2: words can cause damaging fires, is what it says. We
- 17:19Speaker 2: can destroy people with the words that we say. That
- 17:23Speaker 2: was why in the Old Testament God told people to
- 17:26Speaker 2: stone false witnesses, because if they went up there lying
- 17:30Speaker 2: with their words against somebody who is innocent and caused
- 17:34Speaker 2: that person's life to be destroyed out of hatred or
- 17:37Speaker 2: jealousy or whatever, then that false witness deserved the death
- 17:41Speaker 2: penalty because their words can destroy lives. And I mean,
- 17:45Speaker 2: look at Jesus. We see first hand what words can
- 17:48Speaker 2: do to somebody. Jesus was standing there with poncious Pilot,
- 17:53Speaker 2: and ponchious Pilot tells the audience, who do you want
- 17:55Speaker 2: me to crucify Jesus or this barabus guy? And the
- 17:58Speaker 2: entire audience says, we want to crucify Jesus, and Pilots like,
- 18:02Speaker 2: why what did he do? And the audience even louder
- 18:05Speaker 2: are like, no, crucify Jesus, And of course Pilot goes
- 18:09Speaker 2: and crucifies Jesus. And you can see what our words
- 18:13Speaker 2: can do. They can cause actual death if we allow
- 18:16Speaker 2: them to.
- 18:17Speaker 1: That's why, you know.
- 18:18Speaker 2: It says right here that our words can be set
- 18:22Speaker 2: on fire by Gehenna. Hell itself can influence the things
- 18:28Speaker 2: that we say, and I believe that means demonic influences Satan.
- 18:33Speaker 2: Quite honestly, it says in verse seven here that every
- 18:36Speaker 2: kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature is
- 18:39Speaker 2: tamed and has been tamed by maned kind, but nobody
- 18:44Speaker 2: can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full
- 18:46Speaker 2: of deadly poison. So, by the way, that's not to
- 18:49Speaker 2: say that every single animal on the face of the
- 18:52Speaker 2: earth has been tamed, but all kinds but humans cannot
- 18:56Speaker 2: tame the tongue. So we can tame other animals better
- 19:00Speaker 2: than we can tame our own tongues. So does this
- 19:04Speaker 2: mean is James suggesting that none of us can control
- 19:07Speaker 2: our words? Well, absolutely not. I think what James is
- 19:10Speaker 2: suggesting there is that we can't control our tongues, not
- 19:15Speaker 2: in our own power especially, but the Holy Spirit can
- 19:18Speaker 2: certainly help us control our tongues. And maybe many of
- 19:21Speaker 2: you faithful listeners tuning in today can see this in
- 19:25Speaker 2: your own lives. After you became a Christian, it was
- 19:27Speaker 2: just a little bit easier for you to not engage
- 19:30Speaker 2: in gossip or you know, lustful talk, or any other
- 19:33Speaker 2: kind of untoward speech because the Holy Spirit was helping
- 19:38Speaker 2: you control your tongue. So we cannot tame our own tongues.
- 19:42Speaker 2: But the Holy Spirit can certainly help us tame our tongues,
- 19:45Speaker 2: and it gets a little bit easier. I believe after
- 19:48Speaker 2: you become a Christian. This does not mean you're going
- 19:51Speaker 2: to be perfect. You know, as I said at the
- 19:53Speaker 2: beginning of this episode, nobody can be perfect. We're all
- 19:57Speaker 2: going to in moments of all in this say something
- 20:01Speaker 2: that we should not say in the moment. But the
- 20:03Speaker 2: Holy Spirit will help us a little bit more in
- 20:06Speaker 2: the times when we are actually listening to him and
- 20:09Speaker 2: not listening to our own fleshly desires or potentially what
- 20:13Speaker 2: Satan is whispering in our ear. From Gehenna, it says
- 20:17Speaker 2: in verse eight that nobody can tame the tongue. It
- 20:19Speaker 2: is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it
- 20:22Speaker 2: we bless our God and Father, and with it we
- 20:25Speaker 2: curse men who are made in the image of God.
- 20:27Speaker 2: Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing, and
- 20:30Speaker 2: James says, my brothers, these things ought not to be.
- 20:33Speaker 2: So does a spring send out from the same opening
- 20:36Speaker 2: fresh and bitter water. Can a fig tree, my brothers,
- 20:39Speaker 2: yield olives or vine figs. Thus, no spring yields both
- 20:43Speaker 2: saltwater and fresh water. James is telling us that as Christians,
- 20:48Speaker 2: you know, we should not be saying one thing out
- 20:50Speaker 2: of one side of our mouths to somebody and then
- 20:53Speaker 2: saying something completely opposite to somebody else in our lives. Instead,
- 20:58Speaker 2: we are supposed to be consistent with how we speak.
- 21:01Speaker 2: And we're also supposed to not curse people one minute
- 21:05Speaker 2: and then the next minute start praising God and singing
- 21:08Speaker 2: worship songs to him, because that's just hypocritical. At a
- 21:12Speaker 2: certain point, if this keeps on happening, you know, James
- 21:16Speaker 2: says right here that a spring cannot produce both fresh
- 21:19Speaker 2: and salty water. Either you have the fresh watered spring
- 21:22Speaker 2: or the salty watered spring that you can't drink from.
- 21:25Speaker 2: The same goes for a tree. You can't have a
- 21:27Speaker 2: tree produced both olives and figs at the exact same time.
- 21:31Speaker 2: You know, olives are really savory and bitter, and figs,
- 21:34Speaker 2: in my opinion, are disgustingly sweet. You can't have both
- 21:37Speaker 2: at the same time. You got one or the other.
- 21:39Speaker 2: And as Christians, we should hopefully be trending towards good speech,
- 21:44Speaker 2: towards godly conduct with the way that we speak and
- 21:47Speaker 2: talk to other people, not cursing our fellow brother and
- 21:52Speaker 2: sister in Christ one second and then singing God's praises
- 21:55Speaker 2: the next second. Instead, we should be blessing our brothers
- 21:58Speaker 2: and sisters in Christ and then all singing God's praises.
- 22:02Speaker 1: And if you guys want.
- 22:03Speaker 2: More information about controlling the tongue, the Book of Proverbs
- 22:08Speaker 2: speaks on it in almost every chapter, starting in Proverbs
- 22:11Speaker 2: ten all the way to Proverbs thirty one, you're going
- 22:14Speaker 2: to find at least one verse, likely more in every
- 22:18Speaker 2: single chapter talking about our communication and choosing our words wisely.
- 22:22Speaker 2: So I highly recommend going through the Book of Proverbs
- 22:25Speaker 2: if you want more information on the topic of how
- 22:29Speaker 2: we should control our tongues and our speech. But faithful listeners,
- 22:32Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Before I end the podcast,
- 22:36Speaker 2: please listen to one more sponsor for today. Well, faithful listeners,
- 22:40Speaker 2: I hope that this episode encouraged you, and I also
- 22:43Speaker 2: hope you're having a wonderful summer.
- 22:46Speaker 1: It's just been so so beautiful.
- 22:47Speaker 2: I've really been enjoying the summer days, and I hope
- 22:51Speaker 2: you guys have been as well.
- 22:52Speaker 1: You can contact me and tell me everything.
- 22:54Speaker 2: About yourself, about the weather, where you live, how you
- 22:58Speaker 2: found the podcast, and also any kind of prayer request
- 23:01Speaker 2: that you might have. You will find my contact information
- 23:04Speaker 2: listed in the description of this episode, and if you
- 23:06Speaker 2: send me a prayer request, I will read it and
- 23:08Speaker 2: write you down in my prayer journal and I will
- 23:10Speaker 2: pray for you for the week. But faithful listeners, I
- 23:13Speaker 2: hope you all have a fantastic and wonderful, wonderful rest
- 23:16Speaker 2: of your Tuesday. I'll see you guys tomorrow as we
- 23:19Speaker 2: continue through the Book of Namiyah and just the second
- 23:21Speaker 2: half of that beautiful psalm we talked about yesterday, which
- 23:24Speaker 2: interestingly enough, really tied in actually to James and everything
- 23:28Speaker 2: we talked about on Thursday with how faith without works
- 23:31Speaker 2: is dead, because yesterday we talked about God's immense love
- 23:35Speaker 2: for people who just refused him time and time again,
- 23:38Speaker 2: and how God himself did the work on our behalf
- 23:42Speaker 2: and loves us even when we fall astray, even when
- 23:45Speaker 2: we are not faithful, God is faithful. So I recommend
- 23:48Speaker 2: listening to yesterday's episode if you didn't get a chance to,
- 23:51Speaker 2: and also I recommend tuning in tomorrow for the Old
- 23:54Speaker 2: Testament side of stuff as we finish out to the
- 23:56Speaker 2: psalm found smack dab in the middle of Namiyah. Faithful listeners,
- 24:00Speaker 2: have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your Tuesdays until
- 24:04Speaker 2: tomorrow morning, happy listening, and God bless you all. I
- 24:12Speaker 2: just want to take a second to thank the team
- 24:14Speaker 2: at Life Audio for their partnership with me on the
- 24:16Speaker 2: Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to lifeaudio
- 24:19Speaker 2: dot com you'll find dozens of other faith centered podcasts
- 24:22Speaker 2: in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting,
- 24:26Speaker 2: and more.