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The Tongue - The Fig and The Olive - James 3 · Mount Eaton Church

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Turn to James 3, please. James 3. This is really
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a carryover from what Lanny spoke of last week
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a little bit, and that the people of God, because
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chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians folds, is really kind
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of like the capstone of what we're going to be
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talking about over these next three weeks. This
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next two weeks, okay? So what happens is the
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people of God are complaining and they end up
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not getting blessed by God and God honoring them
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because they are busy talking too much. And so
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it is a detrimental thing to the people of God
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when God's people don't honor him in their language,
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okay? So... What's very important as we get into
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James 3, and I would tell you every church and
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every single human being on the planet deals
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with this problem. This is a major problem in
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every sphere. Very important, okay? And we have
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to be mindful. And the difference between us
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and those who don't know Christ is we have the
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wisdom of God. We have the mind of God. Let's
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read James 3. And as we get into James 3, we'll
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go in and I'll give you a principle, a supporting
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verse. And explain a little bit. As we usually
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do. Father I want to thank you so much for your
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word. Help us to rightly divide your word for
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your glory. That the full counsel of your word
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is spoken. And we would really grasp the importance.
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Of how we talk. Especially with each other. And
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about you. And I pray that you are honored and
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glorified. In Jesus name. Amen. Not many of you
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should become teachers, my brothers, for you
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know that we who teach will be judged with greater
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strictness, for we all stumble in many ways.
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And if anyone does not stumble in what he says,
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he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his
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whole body. If we put bits Into the mouths of
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horses. So that they obey us. We guide their
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whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also,
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though they are so large and are driven by strong
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winds, they are guided by a very small rudder,
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whatever the will of the pilot directs. So also
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the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of
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great things. How great a forest is set ablaze
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by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire,
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a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set
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among our members. staining the whole body, setting
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on fire the entire course of life and set on
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fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird,
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of reptile, sea creature can be tamed. And has
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been tamed by mankind, but no human being can
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tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full
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of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and
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Father, and with it we curse people who are made
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in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come
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blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things
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ought not be so. Does a spring... pour forth
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from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
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Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or
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a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt
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pond yield fresh water. Who is wise and understanding
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among you? By his good conduct let him show his
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works in the meekness of wisdom. If you have
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bitter jealousy, selfish ambition in your hearts,
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do not boast and be false to the truth. This
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is not the wisdom that comes down from above,
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but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where
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jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there will
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be dishonor and every vile practice. But the
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wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,
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gentle. open to reason, full of mercy and good
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fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest
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of righteousness is sown in peace by those who
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make peace. It's a very important chapter. And
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it really does support very clearly what we're
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going to read next week in 1 Corinthians 3. So
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principle number one, what do we notice here?
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Bit for horses. Rudder for ships and the tongue
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for the mouth. Only one is a restless evil by
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which man cannot tame. It does not matter what
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you think. You cannot tame your own tongue. Okay?
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I want you to think about that. Because what
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James gives us in this discussion here in this
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chapter 3 is how the tongue is tamed and who
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tames the tongue. Okay? Proverbs 13, 3, 3. Whoever
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guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens
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wide his lips comes to ruin. If you can close
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your mouth, you're going to be good. But if you
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open it wide, please know something will come
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out. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth
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speaks. Jesus makes this very clear. Okay. James
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3, 1 through 5 says it this way. Not many of
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you should become teachers, my brothers, for
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you know that we who teach will be judged with
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greater strictness. It's one of the reasons why
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we as pastors and teachers must be very careful
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what we say. And even in the midst of that, even
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I am going to make mistakes. Okay. And he makes
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this clear because no one Can avoid that. But
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God will hold me. To higher accountability than
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you. For speaking. Because I teach the truth.
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My responsibility. For we all stumble in many
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ways. That's what he's saying. All of us do.
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Now understand that James is Jesus' brother.
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And his other brother is Jude. And so James is
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saying. We all stumble. If anyone does not stumble
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in what he says, he's a perfect man, able also
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to bridle his whole body. And what James is saying
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is no one can do that. But someone can for you.
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If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that
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they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as
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well. So there has to be something to intervene
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in order to control the horse. It's the bit.
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It's the bit. And the bit is the one that controls
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the horse. And what we're going to start to learn
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is there's something controlling our lives. Apart
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from Christ, this one muscle controls and guides
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our life. And that God has to be the bit. Okay?
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Now, look at ships also. Though they are also
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large and are driven by strong winds, they are
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guided by a very small rudder. wherever the will
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of the pilot directs. So in the same way that
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a rudder moves a ship wherever you want the ship
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to go, there is one who drives the ship. In the
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same way that there's one who controls the bit.
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But either way, if there is not one to control
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the bit or drive the ship, guess who's controlling
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your rudder? You are. We're not very good pilots,
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is the idea. So also the tongue is a small member,
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yet it boasts of great things. It boasts of great
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things. It loves to talk. It loves to talk. Second
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principle. The tongue is a matchstick. One wrong
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word can ignite an entire city on fire. One wrong
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word can ignite an entire city on fire. Proverbs
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18 .4. The words of a man's mouth are deep waters.
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The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. What
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is the fountain of wisdom? Christ. The word incarnate.
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God's wisdom is a bubbling brook. But our mouths
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are deep. Deep. In James 3, 5 through 6. How
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great a forest is set ablaze by such a small
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fire. And the tongue is a fire. You hear that?
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The tongue is a matchstick. It is a fire. A world
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of unrighteousness. That's cool how he uses this
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term. It's a world, it's a cosmos of unrighteousness.
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Like, think about that. It's like its own little
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world. And I'll be like, yeah? You need to be
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quiet. It's like its own little thing. It's just
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quiet. But it's a world, a cosmos of unrighteousness.
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The tongue is set among our members. Now get
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that. This little muscle that we talk with, that
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we taste with, we get to enjoy food with, that
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God had created for his own glory, is set among
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our members. And because of sin, stains the whole
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body. Setting on fire the entire course of life.
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And is set on fire by hell. That without Christ,
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our tongue is a representative of a very dark
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place. Now, number three. God designed the tongue
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to speak truth in life. God designed the tongue
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to speak truth in life. But by the corruption
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of sin, it can be used as a weapon of mass destruction.
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The tongue was designed to speak truth and life.
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Not my truth, his truth. But what happened? Sin
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happened. Adam sinned. And as a result, everything
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becomes corrupt. Everything becomes corrupt.
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Proverbs 18, 21. Death and life are in the power
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of the tongue. And those who love it will eat
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its fruits. Those who love it will eat its fruits.
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You will produce what you speak. In James 3,
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7 through 12, for every kind of beast and bird,
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reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has
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been tamed by mankind. You're like, yeah, really?
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Yes. Think of the shark, right? Great white shark.
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You ever been to an aquarium? You ever see a
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great white shark or sharks in the aquarium?
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Would you think that we can tame a shark? You
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would think no. But guess what we do? Because
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as soon as you got that little fish and you're
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in the shark tank, you just go like this. They
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come walking or swimming. Not really walking.
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That'd be kind of scary. If they're walking,
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I'm out. What do they do? You just got that thing
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and they're like, yo, let's go. That's taming
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them. They know daddy got food or mommy, depending
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who's diving. They got food. They just bring
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it. But they can smell it. It doesn't matter.
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They know. You're going to feed them. That's
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a definitive. Sharks. But no human being can
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tame the tongue. Okay? That's a definitive. No
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one can tame the tongue. It is a restless. evil,
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full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our
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Lord and Father. And with it, we curse people
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who are made in the likeness of God. From the
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same mouth come blessing and cursing. And my
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brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does
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a spring pour forth out of the same opening fresh
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water and salt water? Can you get salt water
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from a freshwater pond? Can a fig tree, my brothers,
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bear olives? Can a sweet fruit tree bear bitter
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fruit? That's the idea here, isn't it? Why does
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he compare figs and olives? Sweet and bitter.
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And they're very similar when you look at the
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picture on your bulletin. That's one of the things
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that I was like, whoa, they are very similar
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looking. One's bigger than the other, but either
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way. Or can a grapevine produce figs? Can a grapevine
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produce a cluster of figs? No. Neither can a
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salt pond yield fresh water. What does he mean
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here? You are what you are. You are what you
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are. Either God will make you a new creature
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or you're not going to be a new creature. And
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the creature will produce what they are. Look
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what it says here. Those who claim the name of
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Christ must speak life and healing and are quick
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to avoid speaking evil. People who claim to be
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believers are quick to avoid evil and speaking
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evil. They speak life and healing. That doesn't
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mean they can't rebuke lovingly. Okay? But either
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way, their hope is through that process you go
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through the healing and then life becomes evident.
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Okay? Proverbs 10, 11 through 12. The mouth of
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the righteous is a fountain of life. Did you
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hear that? But the mouth of the wicked conceals
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violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers
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all offenses. James 3, 13 through 18. He who
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is wise. Or who is wise and understanding among
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you? Here's the answer. You want the answer on
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how the tongue is tamed? The wisdom of God. Who
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is wise and understanding among you? God is.
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And who of God's people are understanding among
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you? Those who are God's people. Look what it
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says. By his conduct, let him show his works
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in the meekness of wisdom. There's the answer.
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In other words, if I am a believer, then my conduct
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and my speech are going to show the truth of
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the fruit of that wisdom. What is the fruit of
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the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
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goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self -control.
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Verse 14, but if you have bitter jealousy or
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selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast.
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If you are a believer, then be true to the truth.
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Walk in the wisdom of God. Live upright before
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him and before others. Look what it says in verse
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15. This is not the wisdom that comes down from
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above. This type of lack of... of learning the
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wisdom of God, changing the mind so that what
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we think is what he wants us to think, you will
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only do what you believe and you will speak what
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is in the abundance of your heart. And the only
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way to change the abundance of your heart is
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for your mind to be changed. And the only way
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for your mind to be changed is to be a believer
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in Christ. There has to be a change to the creature.
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The creature must be changed because we learn,
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can a fig tree bear olives? No, it has to be
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an olive tree. So, look what it says. But this
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is earthly. This is worldly, is the idea here.
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This is how the world behaves in Acts. It's unspiritual,
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meaning it's not only corrupt, but it's carnal.
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It's different than the spiritual things. Set
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your mind on things above where Christ is seated.
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And it's demonic. What James is saying is not
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that you are being possessed by a demon, but
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it resembles evil and it's demon -like. This
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is what fallen angels do. For where jealousy
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and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder
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and every vile practice. In other words, you
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will see from the individual the fruit of that
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life. That's what he's saying here. But the wisdom
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from above, do you hear that? The wisdom from
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above is first pure, meaning immaculate. Then
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peaceable, meaning loving peace. Gentle, meaning
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fair and mild. Open to reason, meaning easily
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obeys and is compliant to the word of God. It
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is full of mercy, meaning kindness and goodwill.
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It's good fruits, meaning acts or works that
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come from the Spirit. It is impartial, meaning
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free from prejudice. And it is sincere, meaning
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genuine, no hypocrisy, of good character, no
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pretense or pride. Why? When a man is controlled
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by the wisdom of God, his tongue is tamed by
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the truth of the Scripture. And the harvest of
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righteousness is sown in peace. It is sown in
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the family and in the life of others. You make
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peace, harmony, tranquility among the brethren,
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especially the brethren. By those who make peace.
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As it depends upon you, be at peace with all
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men, the Bible says. Now, what should we do when
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we learn? The truths of the tongue and how we,
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how God manages and tames our tongue for us.
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He is the pilot to his word, his wisdom. Look
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what it says in James 4, 17. We'll start off
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in verse 16. You boast in your arrogance. All
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such boasting is evil. so whoever knows the right
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thing to do and fails to do it for him it is
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sin the scripture is clear on how we should behave
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and how we should love one another and how we
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should walk with one another very important because
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the reality is the world is watching and its
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perception of the church is how its people love
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and treat one another so I want to thank you.
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Think about it. Go home. We're going to be doing
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1 Corinthians 3 next week. And kind of capstone
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this whole thing. Because it's part of the problem
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in Corinth. I follow Paul. I follow Paulos. And
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Paul's like, just keep your mouth shut. You're
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getting yourself in trouble. So we'll talk a
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little bit about that, okay? Father, I want to
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thank you so much for your goodness and faithfulness.
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Thank you, Lord, for your word. Lord, I pray
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that you are honored and glorified. Help us to
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look and reflect through the word as we depend
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upon you to use our tongue for your glory and
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that you tame our tongue through your wisdom
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and that the words of God, the words of Christ
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be richly on our lips. To you be honor and glory
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forever. In Jesus' name, amen.