The Power of Tongue: James 3:1-12

James 3:1-12. 

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know  that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 

2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is  perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.  

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the  whole animal.  

4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong  winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider  what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the  whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have  been tamed by mankind, 

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings,  who have been made in God’s likeness. 

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this  should not be.  

11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  

Introduction:  

Good morning church hope all of you are doing well, today we have an interesting  topic to meditate together.  

Before I enter my sermon I wanna start with a beautiful story, i hope you all love  story, Once in a small village lion used to attacked villages and eat them, you know  there was one naughty boy, Who like to fool people all the time, one day, he shout  with a loud voice and said, lion is coming to eat all of us, All people were afraid and  they close the door and hide themselves. some big boys came running with gun to  help him but he laugh out and tell them that he was joking. they were all angry of the  little naughty boy. The following week a real blood thirsty lion was coming toward  the small village he shout aloud like last time “Lion is coming, people thought that he  was playing fool again, nobody came to rescue him so he became lion breakfast that  day.  

Moral lesson:  

1. Playing with tongue is dangerous. 

Hope you like the story, today we shall meditate together from James 3:1-12.  i would like to entitle my sermon as “ The power of tongue”  

I will like to give 8 very vital points. 

1.Teachers of word has huge tongue responsibility. (1)  

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know  that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 

James does not mean that nobody should become a teacher. It is a much needed role in the  church, and God empowers specific individuals with teaching gift (1 Corinthians 12:28;  Romans 12:7; Ephesians 4:11). In the church, teachers of words are meant to help people  make the Word of God easier to understand and follow.  

James makes clear, scripture”teacher” is not a role which should be taken lightly. Teachers  will face a stricter judgment. They will be held accountable to live by the truth they teach, as  well as being responsible not to lead people away from God’s Word with their own words.  The more a person claims the authority to teach, the more accountable they will be for how  they lead or mislead other people.  

2.Be mature in using your tongue. (2) 

2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is  perfect (Mature), able to keep their whole body in check. 

This verse makes it clear that James is not requiring perfection at all. Chapter 2 remind us  that genuine Christians will participate in genuine good works in obedience to God. And  yet, James is fully aware that fallible human beings will never do so without stumbling.  James includes himself in this statement: says “we all stumble in many ways”  However, James reveals that our goal is to stop stumbling, but to be in full control of  ourselves at all times. The sign of a believer who has arrived at full-faith maturation is one  who never stumbles in what they say or how they say it. Such a mature believer will never  say anything unkind, hurtful, selfish, proud, rude, or manipulative words. They will only  and ever say words motivated by faith in God and love for each other. Once we learn to  perfectly control our words, we will be in perfect control of every part of ourselves. 

Application: Church lets be mature in our every conversation.  

Colossians 4:6  

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know  how to answer everyone.  

Ephesian 4:29.  

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as  fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 

1 Timothy 4:12. 

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and  purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. 

3. We should control our tongue. (3)  

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the  whole animal. 

Here in verse 3, James points to horses as a natural example. Horses are large, powerful  animals. And yet, they can be controlled with a small piece of metal and a few leather  straps. This is called a bit or bridle: a bar which is placed behind the horse’s teeth, This  gives the rider the ability to create pressure on the animal, and even pain, if used roughly.  With a bit in a horse’s mouth, a rider is able to control the whole animal, to make it obey, to  steer it wherever the rider wants to go.  

In the same way we should control our tongue like how we control horse with bridle.  Control tongue will keep you from falling into sinful trap.  

Control tongue will not let you regret in life.  

Controlling tongue will keep you in peace and harmony with people around.  Controlling tongue will prove that you are wise and mature believer.  

My story: My uncontrol tongue to baby catharine.  

1 Peter 3:10  

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their  lips from deceitful speech. 

Proverb 21:23  

Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity. Psalm 141:3.  

3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. 

4.Tongue can direct our life. (4)  

Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong  winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 

Here in verse 4, James points to huge ships at sea. The power behind those ships in James’s  era was the mighty wind, but nobody can control the wind. Wooden sailing ships full of  cargo could weigh thousands of kgs and yet, a pilot could alter the movement of the most  massive boat using just a relatively small piece of wood: A rudder is the paddle-like plank  used to steer a ship.  

If we learn to control our tongues meaning the words we say,  

we could control what we do with our entire bodies. The one who controls a bit controls the  entire horse. The one who controls the rudder steers control the entire ship. The man who  learns to control his tongue is one who has gained control over his entire self.  

Using our tongue in a right way will determine the direction of your life, a life that pleases  God, a life that glorifying God. 

5.Tongue can destroy our life. (5-6).  

5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider  what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the  whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  

The tongue is a very small organ in the body that boasts of great things.  Our tiny tongues have the capacity to effect massive results.  

The fact that the tongue is powerful doesn’t mean everything it does is positive. To  understand better, James uses a dramatic example. A tiny spark of fire can set a whole forest  ablaze. In this analogy, the fire is not something used to bring control. Instead, it’s a small  thing which impacts others around it. This leads to great chaos and destruction.  

Like the story I narrate earlier, because of his lie he was eaten by lion, likewise if we are not  careful how we use our tongue, our tongue can destroy our life our reputation like fire  destroy the forest.  

James says you have this little muscle that has a huge impact on our lives, this tongue.  # It can make you or break you.  

# It can open doors for you into the future. It can close doors for you.  # It can help other people. It can hurt other people.  

# It will determine the direction of your life. 

6.Remember tongue cannot be tame. (7-8).  

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have  been tamed by mankind, 

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 

James pointed to an amazing human achievement: We can and have tamed every kind of  creature. But we can’t tame the tongue. More specifically, James writes that no human being  can tame his or her own tongue. We can’t control the words that come out of our mouths. It’s  not an ability that human beings possess in our own power. Our tongues are more powerful  than we are. They control us just as a bit guides a horse or a rudder steers a massive ship.  

According to James, the tongue our words and how we use them is not just untamable. It is  a restless evil. The Greek word James uses for “restless” means “unstable,” and is the same  root word used for the “unstable” man in James 1:8. Our tongues, the instrument of our  powerful words, striking without focus or clear intent. And when they strike, they are full of  deadly poison.  

Set your heart right so that graceful, loving words will come out of your heart.  Application: Let us be very careful how we use our tongue. 

7.Use your tongue for the right purpose. (9-10)  

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings,  who have been made in God’s likeness. 

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this  should not be. 

First, we can use our words to bless or praise our Lord and Father. After James’s description  of evil, untamable, unstable tongues up to this point, it’s shocking to imagine such a person  use their words to bless God. 

James continues to make the case that our tongues the words we use which reveal our fallen  hearts are evil and uncontrollable. He wrote that we human beings use our tongues both to  praise God, the Creator, and to curse other people who are created in God’s likeness. It  shouldn’t be that way. Blessing and cursing shouldn’t originate from the same mouth.  

Application:  

Are we using our tongue for the right purpose?  

Psalm 63:3, Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. We are created to praise God, we are created for His glory.  

Let use our tongue to praise God that is the right purpose of tongue, lets use our tongue our  words for His glory.  

8. Our tongue will show who we are. (11-12).  

11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  

James continues making his case that human beings including Christians are not naturally in  control of our tongues. If we were, how would it be possible for us to use our words both to  praise God and to curse people created in His image? James stated what seems obvious to us  now: It shouldn’t be that way.  

It’s not just that we “shouldn’t” use our words for both blessing and evil. It’s that it is  contradictory. It’s a conflict with the nature we’re supposed to be relying on as saved, born again believers. James illustrates this with the example of a spring. Nowhere in nature will  you find bubbling up from the ground a mixture of salt and fresh water. It just doesn’t  happen. Salt water and fresh water come from two completely different sources—just as  words of blessing and words of cursing come from two completely different natures.  

Application question:  

What kind of words are flowing out of your mouth?  

Your choice of words, will show who you are,  

if your hear is full of evil, evil words will come out of your mouth,  

if your heart is unkind, you will speak unkind words.  

Church let kind and blessings words flows out of your mouth which bring joy and healing. 

Conclusion:  

Church we have seen 8 points under the topic “The power of tongue”  1.Teachers of word have huge responsibility. (1)  

2.Be mature in using your tongue. (2)  

3. We should control our tongue. (3)  

4.Tongue can direct our life. (4)  

5.Tongue can destroy our life. (5-6)  

6.Remember tongue cannot be tame. (7-8)  

7.Use your tongue for the right purpose. (9-10)  

8.Our tongue will show who we are. (11-12)  

In our final conclusion i wanna remind with the words of Jesus  

Matthew 15:11,18-19. 

“That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the  mouth, this defiles the man, The things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the  heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders,  adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies” 

Here Jesus address the heart issue.  

How is your heart this morning?  

The most important question to ask when examining the heart is  

What is functionally ruling your heart?  

We know our hearts are always being ruled by someone or something,  and whatever controls our heart will control my responses to people and situations around.  

Would you please check what is controlling or ruling your heart?  

If our heart is not fill with the Spirit of God, If our heart is not control by the Spirit of God.  Nothing good will come out of your mouth, all kind of filthy, bad, dirty words will control  you, evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, false testimony and blasphemies will come out  our mouth, these sins will destroy our life and our reputation.  

Therefore my dear brothers and sisters lets check our heart this morning and Repent and  surrender all our heart idol to God.  

As we have Sang the song  

Change my heart O God, make it ever true, change my heart O God, may I be like you,  You are the potter, I am the clay, mould me and make me this is what I pray. 

Remember who you are in Christ. we are forgiven, Redeemed, adopted, we are the child of  the most high God.  

Romans 6: 12-14.  

12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any  part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves  completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body  as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for  you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of  God’s grace. 

1 Cor 6:19-20.  

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom  you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies. 

Romans 12:1-2.  

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a  living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not  conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then  you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

God Bless all of us 

Amen