WEBVTT 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:42.320 The book of Psalms 34 13 Your tongue Your tongue evil And I'll be reading from Matthew seven fifteen through twenty Watch out for false prophets They come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are a ferocious wolf by their fruit you will recognize them. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:48.479 Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.000 Likewise, every good tree bears. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:59.359 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:06.799 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:11.040 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:12.879 Thank you all. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.400 I think just out of habit, I was I was highlighting things. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:24.879 Ooh, this will be good for us to read aloud together. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:25.920 Sorry, darling. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:28.159 Thank you for being a good sport. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:34.319 Oh, will you stand with me as we read from James chapter three? 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.439 We're going to read verses five and six and nine and ten. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:42.159 There will be a couple of yellow words that you will read with us. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:50.159 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:55.599 Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:02.640 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:11.840 It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:22.319 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.319 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:30.159 Brothers and sisters, this should not happen. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:32.080 Will you pray with me? 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:44.879 Lord, there are many things that I I want to say, and this passage is so rich. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:56.000 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.960 May your word speak to us. 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:04.479 Jesus, may you be present with us as we hear from your God in your name. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:05.280 Amen. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:07.280 You can sit. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:09.439 I am Victoria. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:14.159 I am the interim children's and families director here at First Baptist. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:18.800 Pastor Mike is out of town today and next Sunday. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:26.319 So I'm preaching this week, and then we'll have our friend Skip Wallace come and share with us next week, which will be wonderful. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:38.879 When our family first moved to Virginia in 2010, my parents rented this little apartment on North Jefferson Street, which is just two blocks up. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.039 My brother and I had never lived in an apartment before. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:50.560 And we pulled in front of this great yellow house just to realize that we were only living on the top floor. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:55.680 And my mom, even on Facebook, she said, Hey, we're going, we're moving to this house. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:57.360 Don't get too excited. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.599 We're just living on the second floor. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:12.400 How thin plywood panels were the only insulation between the upstairs unit and the downstairs unit, which became very apparent from the beginning. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:18.639 Our downstairs neighbor, Ray, had a smoking habit of something other than cigarettes. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:23.600 And the smoke would float upstairs and linger in our living space. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:29.199 And my dad, my dad would say, Hey man, uh, we can smell what's going on downstairs. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:37.040 And our neighbor, he was really kind and he would apologize and he would burn incense or a candle, but we would still smell it. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:44.079 And we lived in this apartment for two years before we moved down three blocks to St. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:50.720 Clair Street, then up two blocks to Fayette, and then about a mile to Fraser. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:55.199 But I loved my experience on North Jefferson Street. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.600 This is my brother and me back in 2010. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.480 This was the first time we got to experience snow. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.199 We were desert kids from Las Vegas. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:08.480 Uh, I loved living in this split house. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:19.360 And if you notice, this house is actually where we met Jesse, who read today's Old Testament passage, and his brother, our backyards shared the same fence. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:31.439 As an adult, I think about this first apartment a lot because two very different families, tenants, shared one house and one yard. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:38.720 At a basic level, the outside of that great yellow house looked unified, but we weren't. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:47.519 The upstairs and downstairs housed very different people, and the smoke floated upwards and outside. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.279 Many of us in this room are still tenants. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:58.720 We still share apartment buildings or split houses with neighbors who might be quite different from us. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:04.160 And we understand the troubles that can arise from this living situation. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:13.439 And what James is addressing in chapter three is that the human body was not made to be an apartment building. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:19.680 It was not created to contain different types of characters in the same body. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:24.000 It was not made to praise and curse. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:42.720 What we've learned about James, who you may remember is Jesus' younger half-brother, is that he argues that to follow Jesus is to practice what you preach, to become someone who praises God and blesses others. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:47.120 James is incredibly invested in his community's faith. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:55.040 He's been saying to them, look, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you, let me see it. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:56.319 Where's the evidence? 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.319 Let me see the Spirit. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.120 Now, how is James expecting to see it? 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.160 Here are a couple of the ways we've we've learned so far. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:13.040 One, by the community's care for the most vulnerable, for the poor, the widow, and the orphan in their community. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.480 Two, by the community's response to God's word. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:22.959 They aren't supposed to just be hearers of the word, but doers, doers of God's word. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:32.560 Three, by the community's ability to walk through tests and trials, how well they can withstand suffering. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:41.519 Four, which we'll talk about today, by the community's speech about fellow image bearers. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.639 James will continue to address our behaviors and our actions. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:08:04.319 Which makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable because we've been told and we read in the Bible that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.199 If you call upon the name of the Lord, you will be saved. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:08.399 And that is true. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.160 And James affirms that. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.800 And he says, there should be some change within you. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:22.000 When you make such an audacious claim that Jesus is Lord, that should change everything about you. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.639 He spurs us to be completely single-minded. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:31.199 He wants what's on the inside and on the outside to align. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.679 He doesn't want compartmentalized followers of Jesus. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:50.240 He wants what David prays in Psalm 19, what I prayed, that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart would be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:09:02.879 The problem and what we have heard in our scripture readings earlier is that our tongues, when they are left to our own devices, they will stir up all sorts of trouble. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:10.399 They require us to actively monitor them, or as Jesse read, keep them from telling lies. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:16.240 Did anyone ever receive a bar of soap in their mouth for saying a cuss word? 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:21.600 Or maybe hot sauce on your tongue for saying something, for telling a lie? 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:23.200 Uh, okay. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:32.960 When I was about eight years old, I repeated a terrible, terrible word to my friends at school that I had heard from a neighbor. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:37.759 And my friend told her mom, and her mom called my mom. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:49.840 And I ended up with a bar of dial soap in my mouth for five minutes, which that I mean, that also feels like the appropriate story to share when my parents aren't in the room. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:57.120 But don't give them a hard time because you had better better believe that I didn't say that word again. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:04.320 But I have said other words that don't count as cuss words, and I wish I could take them back. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:14.080 Our tongues remain an untamable creature, a fire starter with a 100% success rate. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.200 You know, we've experienced the power of wildfire this week. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:32.320 Roughly 1,000 miles north of us in northern Ontario, Canada, there are over 900 active wildfires that are burning out of control right now. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:38.080 What's incredible to me is that's a thousand miles away, yet we were impacted by it. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.000 Our air quality changed. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:44.960 We saw, we smelled, we breathed in the smoke in the air. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:51.519 Think about the scale of these fires to know that we are being affected by them here. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:53.519 That is incredible. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.919 That is what James says our tongues are capable of. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:00.720 The tongue is a fire. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:25.919 Within the Christian family, the tongue has the power to hurt an individual and to keep spreading destruction, setting whole communities ablaze, and its impact can permeate not only our immediate church, not just the local church, but the surrounding churches, a denomination, an entire country. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:36.000 The way that we Christians speak about each other matters just as much as the way that we speak about God. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:41.279 It requires action on our part to control our tongues. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:46.559 Remember, only you can prevent destructive speech. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:51.840 I felt that Smoky Vera was the right mascot for this morning. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:04.320 If we move back to the Old Testament, so we're in the New Testament in James, but if we move back to the Old Testament, there are many warnings about the words that we speak. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:10.399 Throughout the book of Proverbs, a wise king warns his son of the dangers of his words. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:15.840 There are at least 90 explicit statements about wisdom and words. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.120 I pulled just a couple for us to chew on this morning. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:27.679 Psalm 18.2, fools find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinions. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:41.279 The next one, Proverbs 26, 23, like a coating of silver dross on earth and wear, like a silver coating on a wooden bowl, are fervent lips with an evil heart. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.159 The next one, Proverbs 17, 5. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.559 Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their maker. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.399 Whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:58.240 And this last one is probably a familiar one to most of us in the room, Proverbs 18.21. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:06.399 Life and death, or death and life, are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:15.519 So if we just stayed with Proverbs, we would we would walk away saying, Oh, okay, maybe I need to be careful about the words that I say. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:17.120 Or the words that I say matter. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.320 The way that I talk about people and to people matter. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.879 But it's not just about our words. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:31.600 And if we look at how Jesus addresses the tongue, we'll notice he's getting at a deeper root, a deeper issue. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:38.639 Because what the Proverbs hint at and what James is primarily concerned with is the heart. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:43.120 Jesus will speak to the point of being mismatched. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:49.679 Outside's not matching the inside, especially to the religious leaders around him. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.759 So one passage we'll look at, Matthew 15, 7 through 9. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:55.519 Oh, he starts off strong. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:00.480 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:05.200 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.279 They worship me in vain. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.879 Their teachings are merely human rules. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.720 And again, in Matthew 23, I don't have this one on the screen. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:20.879 Uh Jesus calls out the religiously teachers for their mismatch inside and outside. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:27.279 He says, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:38.799 You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:49.039 In the same way, on the outside, you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:59.840 All right, let's return to James 3, because we're getting we're getting to the root, we're getting to the main problem that James has. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:07.200 In verse 8, chapter 3, verse 8, James says, No human being can tame the tongue. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.440 It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.679 And here is the core of James's frustrations, what we read earlier. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:26.240 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:34.480 My brothers and sisters, this should not happen. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:49.840 Theologian Martha Moorke notes that this is the only New Testament affirmation that people, all people, are made in the image or likeness of God. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:55.600 Do you know the other time where people are told that they are made in the image of God? 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:03.279 In Genesis, Genesis chapter one, uh, that we will make mankind in our image. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:11.759 James says, you claim to praise the Creator, but you cannot even speak well about the created ones. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.879 The ones who bear the image of our God, you curse. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.279 How is this possible? 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:32.240 The Bible translation that we typically use here at First Baptist is the NIV, but I I really I appreciate the King James Version here, which some of you may still be carrying with you. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:45.919 It says, therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude, that similarity, the likeness of God. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.360 What does it mean to bless God? 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.000 What does it mean to bless others? 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:58.080 And this blessing and cursing, these are being uh contrasted with one another. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:03.039 There are a series of blessings and curses throughout scripture. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.200 Can you think of any off the top of your head where God blesses? 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:11.599 Can you think of a scenario in the Old Testament where God blesses? 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.680 Abraham, yes. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:19.839 God says, I will make you into a great nation. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:26.079 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:33.279 Uh, God blesses the women, or the man and the woman in the garden, he says, to be fruitful and multiply. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:39.519 Uh Jesus says in the New Testament in Luke, bless those who curse you. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:45.119 Now, can you think of any scenarios where God curses? 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:51.440 The serpent, yes, yes. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:52.960 Uh what did you say, Duane? 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:56.240 He does, yes. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:03.359 Now, I I do I want to make clear that God does not curse the man and the woman for their sin. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.000 There is a consequence for their sin, for their actions. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:09.519 It is not a curse. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:21.359 The only ones that God curses are the serpent and the ground, which means that a curse is different than giving someone a consequence for their actions. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.039 It has to be different. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:36.720 A curse, uh a curse, to put it succinctly, is to slander, judge, dismiss, and doom someone with one blow. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:43.599 And to bless someone is to will for someone's good. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:55.759 That means even if it puts you at a disadvantage, I think when someone blesses you financially, even if they say, oh, it's not that big of a deal, they are giving of themselves to you. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:00.559 They are putting themselves at a disadvantage to care for you. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.759 And that's just one way that we bless people. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:16.400 Uh for James' listeners, this blessing and cursing would have reminded these Jewish followers of Jesus of that original covenant God had with Abraham. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:22.799 That God said, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:32.799 Now, for us to bless God is for us to sacrifice ourselves, to lower ourselves before Him and praise Him. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:44.880 But for us to curse our fellow image bearers, that is the equivalent of us crushing the head of the serpent under our heel. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:20:01.519 To do that to our fellow image bearers, the only one who can hold blessing and cursing is the Lord who can hold both together at the same time as an impartial judge. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:07.519 This isn't a matter of teachers speaking before they think. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:18.640 This is thinking that there is any part of me that does not need to be under the reign of the Spirit of God, that I have the authority and power to curse someone else. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.400 My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.519 Okay, now might be the time you're wondering, well, then what am I supposed to do? 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:32.880 Because sometimes people's actions and their words, they elicit a response out of us. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:37.839 What how am I supposed to handle someone's unjust actions? 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:42.559 Or how am I supposed to speak against someone who is speaking ill of the Lord? 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.680 Uh am I supposed to say anything? 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.960 And maybe I know how to bless if I'm in this room. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:55.039 Maybe I know how to bless God, but what do I do for the rest of the week when I'm not sitting in this sanctuary? 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:56.400 What do I say? 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.279 How do I speak when I leave this place? 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:06.079 Well, we might conclude from James's warnings that we should avoid talking altogether. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.000 And maybe some of us need to take a break from talking sometimes. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:17.200 At the beginning of chapter three, James says, not many of you should become teachers. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:22.480 He's not making a strong case for teaching the gospel or for preaching it. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:28.640 In fact, he seems to be saying that the tongue itself deserves to be burned in hell. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:35.920 So if your conclusion is that we should stop talking, I would be inclined to agree with you based on this passage. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:47.359 If our tongues can and have caused damage throughout the centuries of the church, should we try keeping to ourselves? 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:52.319 Should we try not talking to people outside of our church? 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:59.599 And maybe, maybe all I do is I just talk to God and I don't talk to anyone else around me because this has a capacity. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.839 For too much destruction. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:18.400 But remember, James is speaking to the teachers of this community whose actions are not matching up with their words, and whose words are being used to harm the vulnerable in their community. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:28.240 So when James said earlier, don't show favoritism, his intent isn't for us to conclude, don't show any special attention to the poor. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:35.119 When James says, out of the same mouth come praise and cursing, my brothers and sisters, this should not be so. 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:40.400 James isn't apply implying that we should stop speaking altogether. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:45.599 And he certainly isn't implying that we should just resort to cursing. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:55.759 He's saying that this double-mindedness is going to tear us apart, that it will burn us and those around us if we're not careful. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:00.160 So what should we say instead? 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:05.680 I'm glad that you asked because I have three things that are not original to me. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:08.000 Probably that's for the best. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:09.039 Here they are. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.720 Number one, the Lord bless you. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.839 Number two, Lord have mercy. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:19.599 Number three, Jesus is Lord. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:24.319 Number one, the Lord bless you. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:27.759 This comes from Numbers chapter six. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.599 There's a blessing that God tells Moses to tell Aaron to tell to the Israelites. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:42.240 He says, When you are going to bless the Israelites, here's what you say: You say, The Lord bless you, the Lord keep you. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:47.440 The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.799 The Lord lift up his countenance to you and give you peace. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.920 Those should be our first words to bless one another. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:01.359 It's why we start our mornings off with a grace and peace. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.559 Those aren't just silly, flowery, light words. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:13.599 If we believe that our words matter, we say grace and peace because we want to extend the blessing that God has shown to us to one another. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:21.200 According to that covenant that God made with Abraham, that blessing wasn't meant to stay with Abraham. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:26.400 It's meant to bless the nations, that through you all peoples would be blessed. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:28.880 The blessing isn't meant to stick with us. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.039 We're meant to extend it. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:32.400 It's not our blessing. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:34.079 The Lord bless you. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.279 Number two, Lord have mercy. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:51.279 We hear this phrase throughout the Bible, but especially in the New Testament, when people are calling out to Jesus as he walks past, they say, Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:57.759 When they desire for healing, it humbles us. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:11.680 And sometimes when the right response is not to bless someone for something that doesn't deserve blessing, maybe the proper response is to say, Lord, have mercy on them. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:13.200 Bless you, Seth. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:16.480 Lord, have mercy. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:21.599 Because not every action deserves a blessing. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.759 Lord, have mercy on them. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:29.839 And that last phrase, that's for our own hearts. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:32.319 Jesus is Lord. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:42.720 These are the weightiest words that we can speak to declare that Jesus is Lord over everything and everyone. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.799 There is nothing he does not see. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:50.640 There is no injustice he is not aware of. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.759 There is no cry that he does not hear. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:26:06.960 We trust that Jesus Christ has undone the curse of evil by the work on the cross, and he is making all things new today and into eternity. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:17.440 So when all other words fail, when we don't know what we're supposed to say, we can say Jesus is Lord. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:22.160 I don't think there's a limit to how many times we can say that. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:30.559 Okay, there's one other passage that I want to highlight where there are fiery tongues. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:32.559 It's actually a positive thing. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:35.759 And maybe you've been thinking about this as I've been talking. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:45.200 If you can remember back to our series on the book of Acts, the earliest followers of Jesus have just witnessed Jesus leaving. 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:47.200 This is right at the beginning of the book. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:56.079 But Jesus promises them that he will send the gift of the Father, that they would become baptized with the Holy Spirit. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:06.720 And we read in Acts 2 that on the day of Pentecost, this was this great festival for the Jewish people, the followers of Jesus are all gathered in one place. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:15.599 And suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:23.440 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:33.039 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other tongues, other languages, as the Spirit enabled them. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:38.000 This is an uncontrollable good fire. 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:41.200 These are uncontrollable good words. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:44.319 This is what surrender to the Holy Spirit. 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:50.559 When we surrender our tongues, our words, our minds to the Holy Spirit, this is what can happen. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:58.799 And when people begin to question what the followers of Jesus are saying, Peter says, okay, this isn't foolishness. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:01.680 We're not drunk because it's only nine in the morning. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.160 This is the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:09.200 He says, this was already told to us by the prophet Joel hundreds of years ago. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:11.200 And we'll read this together. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:16.799 In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.079 Your sons and daughters will prophesy. 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:22.240 Your young men will see visions. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:24.880 Your old men will dream dreams. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:31.920 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:34.160 They will use their tongues for good. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:39.440 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:08.240 Both that they themselves may burn with loving, and that by preaching they may set others on fire with fiery tongues, as it were. 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:18.640 Jesus said that by our love for one another, people would know that we are his disciples. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:36.880 By our intentional blessing, by willing for our neighbors' good, by seeking the benefit of those around us, even when it's to our disadvantage, even when it means I need to hold my tongue, we do it. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:38.480 Why? 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:43.039 Because this blesses God, this praises God. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:50.559 This is the greatest witness to the power and the presence of Jesus in us. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:52.880 Will you pray with me? 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:07.920 Lord, when we do not know the words to say, we cry out to you. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:10.720 We say, Lord, have mercy. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:22.720 For the times that we have used our tongues for evil, for the words we have said to tear other people down or to cause division. 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:24.799 Lord have mercy. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:31.839 And we confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:36.240 We bless your name. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:47.119 And we thank you that you do not curse us, that you desire to bless us and bless those around us. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:54.400 Thank you for your words that have the power of life in them. 00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:58.400 May we surrender to you in Jesus' name.