Speak Love - James 4:11-12

A message by Tyler Sanborn on James 4:11-12.

South Valley Student Ministry is a ministry of Compass Bible Church South Valley located in Kuna, ID. 

For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, please visit compassbiblesv.org.

Transcript

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Please turn in your Bibles to James chapter 4, and we'll be in two verses this evening. Verses 11 and 12. Early in our study of James, we've discussed the power of the tongue. We've seen that a large forest can be easily set ablaze by such a small fire, that is the tongue. It's a small member of our body, but boasts of many things. In James 3, 5. Like the power of a ship's rudder has the ability to steer us. The tongue is a fire. The tongue can also make judgments, and through the mouth, evil, evil can creep out. This is a great caution for us as we think about ourselves and we look around us. We need to check ourselves because pride is creeping around every corner. Pride says, I know best. Pride says, I can't be told what to do because I already know it. I can't be corrected. It's a rejection of God's rule over our lives. That's what pride is. Pride says, I know better, I know best. You can't tell me what to do, you can't correct me, you can't instruct me. I already know. God's rule in creating us as human beings sets a stage for our dependence on his design. He is the creator. We are the created. Both our physical and spiritual selves depend on God. Now you see how it might seem foolish for us to entertain the idea that God doesn't have any ruling over our lives. Imagine telling your parents how they can or can't provide you an education. Some of you might be thinking, I'd rather be in a private school. I'd rather be in a public school. Mom, I don't want to be at the kitchen table in the office doing my homework. Imagine telling your toothbrush. Imagine your toothbrush telling you rather that it would actually rather be a hairbrush. You're using me wrong. Stop putting me in your mouth. I'm for your head. That's wild. Your toothbrush wouldn't do that. And if it did, you'd be you'd be laughing at it. Like, what are you talking about? Imagine your shoes or your boots telling you, I'm no longer for your feet, because I meant for your hands to keep your hands warm in the snow. No. No. Or the boots telling you, I'm actually for your head. I'm present to keep the sun out of your eyes as you're riding around town. All these examples are ridiculous. And it's just as ridiculous as us thinking that we have any authority to critique, correct, or judge the law of God. Pride. It's what allows us to see with clarity a speck of sawdust in someone else's eye while being unable to see this giant sequoia tree protruding out of your eyeball. Think about that. That's what pride does. It's self-centered, it focuses your attention, your hope, your trust, your passions on you. Rules don't apply to me. I'm above the law. I'm above the rules. And if you're to judge me using any kind of law, I will not adhere, I will not submit, I will not obey. Self-centeredness in this pride makes us hungry for control. And we desire others to see those we speak evil against in a particular way. We are so dangerous. We are so dangerous. And the things that come out of our mouths has great potential to speak evil, and we're going to see that in our text day. It's important. It's important for us to assess and evaluate what our minds are informing our mouths to say, what's coming out from inside of us. It's critical because we might be, in a certain sense, not only participating in friendly fire, but actively going out to pursue and take down those who are on our team. It's important. It's important to consider these things. Look with me to the text. Starting in verse 11. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge. He who is able to save and to destroy. And this is the question for us this evening. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Who are you to judge your neighbor? The title of the sermon is Speak Love. And it's a contrast and an opposite statement to this first verse that we see here. Speaking evil, no, we need to be speaking love. Speak love. When we speak evil against our members and the family of God, what we're actually doing is teaming up, dapping up, linking up, making ourselves an ally, a contractor, an instrument to be played by Satan. Is that you? Is that you when you're looking at your friend, your sibling, your parents? What are we really doing? Speaking evil against the brother or sister is self-centered, self-seeking, self-exulting, and it's a deat match. It's a deat match between us and anyone else that gets in our way, and we're just marching along right through it. We see no problem in it. The irony in this pursuit, what James is speaking to his listeners, is they're seeking to improve their lives. They're seeking to make themselves better. They're seeking to elevate their status, to improve themselves at the expense of the people around them. There's a great irony here. We kill others in order to save or preserve ourselves. We need to be so careful about what is leaving our mouths. Now, what does the Bible say about those who will not inherit the kingdom of God? Those who gratify the desires of the flesh, those who say yes and live out the passions that are going on and raging on within them, which are opposed to God. Now, have you ever seen a fail compilation where people are just trying their hard to accomplish a goal? I'm thinking of like people that are parkouring or people that are on a skateboard or on a bike trying to do a certain jump, a motorcycle or a quad, and they're trying to do something kind of like kind of extreme, and they're just failing to do it. They're crashing, they're falling over, they're they're bailing out. This is what not to do. These videos that we see online, these videos of we see people crashing and falling, what not to do. And this is this is our what not to do from verse one. Stop slandering. Stop using careless speech, saying things without thinking about them, just ripping off a joke to get a laugh from your friend at the expense of your friend without really thinking of what's going to happen after that. Stop putting people down. Stop disrespecting the people around you. That's what this verse is saying. Verse 11. It's the opposite of showing honor. It's the opposite of showing respect. It's the opposite of building one another up. In Romans chapter 12, verses 9 through 3, 13, Paul is saying this: Let your love be genuine. Sometimes we say things, face value out of context. It's like, okay, that's nice. That's building up. But our tone or what's going on in the inside isn't reflected on by what's being said out of our mouths. They don't, they're not parallel, they don't mirror each other, they're opposite of each other. Let it be genuine. Say what you mean, mean what you mean what you say. Let your love be genuine. Abore what is evil. Hate what is evil. Regard evil with disgust. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Don't be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. This is what Paul is saying. Let's be genuine about this. This is how we this is how we uh oppose this desire inside of us, and it's all dependent on God working in us and through us. Consider the ways that you are that you're interacting with those around you. Don't speak evil. Don't team up with the enemy. Don't make an alliance with Satan. Let your love be genuine. We've got to address one another. Have you ever quoted scripture to someone to build them up? It's a challenge for you this week. Here's a challenge for you this week. Ephesians 5, verses 19 to 21. I want you to challenge yourself to live this verse out. Ephesians 5, 19 through 21 says, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Sometimes we do that with our words, but let's see where those words come from. Are we meaning what we say? From the heart. Give thanks always and for everything to God, the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. We're looking around us and thinking, because of what Christ has, what he's done for me, I'm gonna seek to please the Lord. I'm gonna consider the needs of the people around me. I'm gonna team up for the Lord. I'm gonna give thanks for what God is doing in my life, even though it's hard, even though he's calling me to do really challenging things. It's like sometimes you you hear a command in James, and you're like, how can I even accomplish that? It seems like a mountain in front of you, and you're just like, I just got my flip-flops. How am I supposed to hike up this mountain? Impossible. Together, do this together. Address one another with a song, with a psalm, with a spiritual song. That's gonna please the Lord. Encourage one another with scripture. James uh one, back in James 1, we talked about this a handful of weeks ago, but for us that look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who asks, he will be blessed in his doing. There's hearers and there's doers of the law. You could be a hearer of the law out and about. You could see a stop sign and be like, cool story, right through it. That's being a hearer of the law. That's understanding what it means, but ignoring it and actually saying, that's not for me, I'm not gonna do that. That's that's not for me. Oh, school zone 25, that's funny. Here we go, 80. A hearer of the law, but not a doer of the law. Okay? We want to be doers of the law. And we want to, when God calls us to avoid speaking evil against one another, we want to take that seriously. That's like going 80 in a school zone. There's there's incredible damage that can be done. Incredible damage. Avoid it at all cost. Even if it's uncomfortable, even if it puts you in a bad position, even if it means losing friendships. Don't speak evil. Let's write this down for point number one. It's simple. Speak lovingly. Speak with love. Speak with love. And some of you might be saying, well, some sometimes people people need to hear their errors. Sometimes people need to know that they're doing wrong, and I'm gonna be the one to tell them. They're gonna know. They're gonna learn today. Right? They need to hear, and no one else is gonna tell them, it's gonna be me. And we come across in a way that's like maybe accurate, but we're we're beating them down and accusing them and telling other people about the wrongs that they've done. Not going to them and asking, like, hey, like, do you understand what you're doing? When you said that, do you understand? Have you assessed your heart? Did you look inside and see where that bitterness came from, that evil thing that you said? You really hurt their reputation. Is that true? If it is, go talk to them. Go talk to them. Speak lovingly. And this is easy to do, right? Speaking lovingly, it's really easy to do. It's like natural, right? No, it takes work, it takes effort. You're gonna have to filter. You're gonna, God, help me filter out the things that are just so unkind, so harmful, so evil that I'm thinking. Help me, help me to identify them and just stop. Don't let them proceed in my mouth. Don't let them leave. Help me to identify them here before they get to here. And then as a product of that, change this. Change this inside. Change my heart to hate what is evil. Change my heart to run away at all costs, no matter the cost. Galatians 5, 19 through 21 speaks about the works of the flesh. And hate is in there. It's called enmity and strife. How many of you know what that word means? Raise your hand. Strife. You think you have a good understanding? My mom used to tell me, Tyler, stop stirring up strife. Stop stirring up strife with your siblings. You're just looking for a disagreement. You're just looking for something to debate. You're looking for something to argue about. But but there's a word in this definition. It's it's bitterness, bitter disagreements, bitter arguments. You're in it with with malintent, with with a bitterness inside. These are the works of the flesh. Like like acid that eats through through grime or eats through common bonds of love and peace and jealousy. No, we we need we need to run from these things, run from enmity, run from strife, fits of anger, rivalries. Yeah. The games we play, I grew up playing a game called Pokemon. It's on the Game Boy. It wasn't color. You couldn't play it in the dark because it wouldn't light up, you couldn't see. There's this entry scene where you get to pick a Pokemon. It's Bulbasaur, it's Squirtle, and it's Charmander. And you get to pick. You get to pick your Pokemon. Guess who comes after? A rival, it's Gary, and he picks a different Pokemon. And you're just you're from the very beginning, you're just pit against that person. The games that we play, the things that we see on TV would want to encourage us to identify someone to be against. Reject that. If you're if you have that mentality that, like, I need to be against somebody, someone's got to be my op. Someone's got to be my rival, someone's got to be that frenemy across the aisle. No, reject that. Reject that temptation. Rivalries. Get that out of here. We don't need that in the body of Christ. We don't need that in this church. You don't, in this student ministry, if you have someone that you're like, yeah, I can't wait to dunk on them one day. Can't wait to show them. Can't wait to show them who they really are. Can't wait to expose them. No. No. Stop it. Stop it. Give yourself a technical and confess that to somebody. Confess that. Luke chapter 6, verse 45 says this. This is really drilling into the heart here. Let's get into it. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good. The good treasure of his heart. The heart that seeks to please the Lord, the heart that seeks to put others before themselves. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart, this is a regenerate heart, a heart that has been made flesh from stone, a work that God has done, produces good. And the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. What's going on inside, you can contain it, you can mask it. Eventually it's going to come out. Eventually your true intent's going to come out. You're going to expose yourself. Expose him. No, you're going to get you're going to get yourself in trouble. It's going to happen. Just wait. Just wait. It's important for us to assess and evaluate what's going on inside. It's so important to speak lovingly. And when we identify something, someone's telling us, someone's trying to remind us, like, hey, like that was kind of that was sour. That was bitter. That was out of pocket. That was, you sh did you really mean that? That was wrong. That's an opportunity for you to pause, to stop, to assess the intentions inside. Was that was that from the Lord? Or was that something the enemy would want me to say or do? We need to assess ourselves. Yeah. The loving and just judge, and we're speaking about judges in this text. The loving and just judge in this world is not going to let the guilty go free and is not going to condemn the innocent. That would be a just and a right thing for a judge to do. A judge who would first understand the law, would understand the heart behind it, understand the law. You can't make a just judgment if you don't know what the law says, if you don't know what good really is. And when we find ourselves judging others, speaking evilly of others in our hearts, this is against the law of Christ, the law of liberty. James chapter 2, verse 4 reminds us, and it calls people who make themselves judges with evil thoughts, those who make distinctions and those who give preferences to those who are wearing fine clothing. Do you remember that lesson? Where the person who came comes in nice and dressed, they get the preferred seating, the box seats, and then the person that comes in just barely making it, they're they're in their the only clothes they got, they haven't washed in a while, and they get they get the nosebleed seats. They're way out in center field at the very, very top. And when we're making, when we're making judges and distinctions and assessing people in our heart and choosing better treatment, better preference for people that we prefer, that we like, and that might give us more benefit, we treat them differently. We're judging, we're judging them in our hearts. That's something that James is saying to be careful for. In this case, in our text, it's speaking about slander, speaking about putting other people in a position where you're saying things that are untrue in order to achieve a certain goal, to make them look bad, to put them down, to ruin their reputation. There's gonna be times, there's gonna be times when you might be tempted to say something that's not true about your sibling to avoid trouble. There might be a temptation for you to lie in order to maintain the reputation that you think you need, that you think you want. Tell the truth, even if it gets you in trouble. Don't slander, don't speak falsehoods. Even if something is is true about someone, you might know someone is sinning. You might know that there's something going on in their life. It's just not helpful to just say, Did you know what so-and-so is struggling with? Did you know? Are you sure you want to hang out with them? Are you sure it's a good idea to go go kick it with them? Why would you want to do that? That's a it's accomplishing the same goal. You're you might be telling the truth. You might actually know what's actually happening. You're not lying, but you're putting them in such a negative light and you're and you're putting them down. You're not, instead of going to them and saying, hey, like, can I help you fight this sin? Can I help you, can it can I help you attack this? This is this is hurting you right now. This is this is ruining your life, it's ruining your relationships. Have you confessed this to anyone? There's gonna be times that you're gonna have to make a decision in your life. The easy way out is to be like, nope, later I'm out. It's it's harder, it's gonna be much harder to work through this. And I just choose the easy way. I just, you know what? Cancel, we're done, I'm out of here. And the way that you do that is by lying about them, slandering them, disrespecting them, putting them down, and elevating yourself. Avoid that at all costs. The body of Christ needs to be unified. The body of Christ needs to be genuinely and faithfully looking out for each other. Be a faithful friend, not one that puts them down or makes them, makes them feel a certain way about their sin, about something that's going on in their life. No, you want to be someone that builds them up and picks them up. Love your brother, love your sister in Christ. Matthew 18 15 says this if your brother sins against you, go and tell him it's faults in front of everybody on social media, in front of everybody at church, and in front of everybody in your small group. Does it say that? No. Just between you and him alone. Take him aside. Hey. Can we get some coffee sometime? Hey, can we can I go can we go somewhere? Can we go get a donut? Go to Danny's donuts and get some get some coffee. No. Don't blast them. Pull them aside. Pull them aside and have a conversation with them. And the verse continues to say this. If he listens to you, if he receives that correction, if he receives that attention, that love, that care that you're trying to address with him, what's happening? You've gained your brother. You're winning. You're winning. You're losing if you're dividing and separating the body of Christ and saying, Nope, nope, nope, don't care about you, don't care about you. And you got the samurai hands, you're just chopping up relationships like it's a sushi shop. No. Restore, put back together. Don't chop up and discard. Don't chop up and ruin someone's reputation because you're insecure. You're feeling weird about your own self. Being in middle school and high school is such a weird time. Let's just admit it. It's weird. You're growing, your body's changing, your voice is changing, your hair is changing, your face is changing. Everything about you is in motion and it's uncomfortable. I've been there. Don't make the discomfort for other people more intense than it has to be. Seek to love those around you. Speak love. Live a life that would be honoring to Christ. And allow him, allow him to be the judge. Allow him to be the one that is assessing and evaluating your life. Let's write that down for point number two. Allow Jesus to evaluate your life. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. We all fall short of the glory of God. We don't need to act like we're immune from sin. You might be feeling good about yourself, like, ah, I'm doing pretty good. Haven't sinned in a while, but they sure are. I haven't struggled in the way that they are. What's up with that? That's ridiculous. I can't believe they're doing, I can't believe they're falling that way. Pick them up, build them up. Don't be the person that is assessing yourself and assessing the lives around you. Let Jesus do that. Let his law do that. Isaiah 33, verse 22 says, For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. Don't play the judge. The scripture is judged for all of us. And we have his law. We have the directions right before us. It goes on to say, the Lord is our king. He will save us. Sometimes we think we're saving ourselves when we're putting other people down. It feels better. It feels like we're dodging something. It feels like we're, whoo, that was a close one. My reputation, uh, boom. Distraction, they're down. Distraction, they're down. We we need to be thinking about how the Lord is going to evaluate and assess us what we're saying, what we're thinking, what we're doing. Jesus was in a conversation with some religious leaders, some rulers, some lawgivers, some enforcers, and there's this woman who was caught in adultery in John chapter 8. And Jesus is speaking to them and saying, hey, if if you're without sin, if you're gonna judge this woman and put her to death, there's a stone right there. Pick it up. Go ahead. If you're without sin, go lob the first one. I'll watch. No. No one picked up a stone. No one threw a single rock. And he starts writing on the ground. Some commentators might be saying, Oh, their sins are getting exposed. No. One by one, they walk away, one by one, one by one. And Jesus is left with this woman who's caught in adultery. And he says to her, Well, where are they? Who's condemning you? Who's judging you now? No one. No one's judging. The beautiful thing is the judge was standing right before her. And he was saying, No. Go on and sin no more. Stop sinning. Stop it. I'm not going to condemn you. And that's that's a beautiful reminder for us. If you're struggling with sin, you're knowing that you can't keep the law. You got things stacked up against you, and people know about it. We just need to confess those. God offers forgiveness. Jesus died to forgive sins. There's no one who's going to say, well, you're pretty bad. I guess I'll see you in hell. That's your life is pretty messed up. Well, better luck next time. No. There's life in Christ here and now. People are have this temptation to judge you, to put you down, to tell you what your future looks like. Look to the cross, look to Christ, and keep loving him. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's the law that Jesus gave. Let's write this down for point number three. Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. If we're speaking evil, if we're condemning our neighbors, those around us, we're acting as the judge. We're acting as the law. And what, like Michael was saying, the law was delivered to show us our shortcomings. It shows us our need for a savior. It shows us that we need a remedy and we don't have it in ourselves. That's what the law does. And when we're saying to the people left and right of us, you don't stack up. What's up with that? Why are you such a horrible person? You're judging them. You're putting them down, and you're not being a doer of the word. A loving brother or sister would go pull them aside and help. Be someone that's helping. Be someone that's loving your neighbor as you would love yourself. If you were stuck in a tricky situation, you'd want someone to come and help you out. At a certain point, your pride will like deteriorate and fall away, and you're like, actually, I do need help. Actually, I do. Like, no, no, I got this, I got this, I got this. That's only gonna last for so long. That's only gonna ask, that's only gonna last for so long in your life, and you're gonna want, you're gonna want someone to come aside you and help. You're gonna want someone that's gonna say, Hey, I see you're struggling. Like, do you want, do you want to do this together, or are you just gonna keep trying on your own? Stop. Stop doing this on your own. Humble yourself. Ask for help. Be someone that is loving your neighbor. Be someone that's gonna be that neighbor for someone else. There's only one lawgiver and judge. There's only one. He who is able to save and to destroy. So who are we to judge our neighbor? We're not. We're not, we're not the judge. That's not our role. That's not our identity. That's not for us. That's for the Lord to do. That's for the Lord. Another situation where Jesus was speaking with some religious leaders, they're quizzing him and testing him, asking him, What's the most important law? What's the most important commandment of all? And Jesus quotes the Shema. The most important is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all your mind, with all your strength. The second is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. That's a that's a that puts that wall pretty high up. Are you living that out? Are you loving God with everything you got? It's a high standard. With everything, with everything that you got. Every moment of the day, every thought, every word, every action. Could you say that's you? Are you loving your neighbor as yourself? Are you treating them like you'd want other people to treat you? A kind way, a respectful way, a loving way? Gotta wrestle with this. There's only one lawgiver, that's not you. Only one judge, again, not you, not me. It's the Lord. Who are we to judge? We're not. Let's write this down for point number four. We're cruising along. We need to wrestle with the only two outcomes. There's only two outcomes, and we need to come to grips with these. Verse 12. Only one lawgiver and judge, and he, this man, this judge, this lawgiver, is able to save and to destroy. Only two. He's either you're gonna be saved by this lawgiver or you're gonna be destroyed. There's only two options. Matthew chapter 25 speaks about when Jesus returns. He's gonna return in glory. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then you will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats. The sheep and the goats. On one side, you're safe. On another side, you're not safe. Destruction. Safety, shelter, refuge, destruction. Which side are you on this evening? Can you confidently say, I'm safe? No destruction for me. I'm in the safety zone. I've waved the white flag. I've surrendered and submitted to Christ. I've let his law judge my life. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. There's no way about it, there's no way around it. I'm I'm cooked. I need help. I need a savior. Jesus says, He is the remedy. Jesus says, I will save. I will give you life. You don't, you don't need destruction. If you come to me, I will keep you safe. I will save you. Jesus says to his sheep, they know me and they follow me because they know my voice. Do you know the voice of the Savior? Do you know that you will inherit the kingdom of God one day? Are you a sheep or are you a goat? Are you safe or are you headed towards destruction? It's an important thing for us to assess. This judge, this lawgiver, is one that has all the power to save and to destroy. Matthew 10, verses 28 through 33 says this. This is what we really need to be concerned about. Don't fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground without apart from your father? But even the hairs on your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me, this is Jesus is speaking to people, right in front of him. If you're going to acknowledge me here and now before these people, before men, I will acknowledge you before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my father in heaven. Jesus will judge one day. Jesus is given the law. He is the word of God. The law convicts us. The law shows us our position, guilty. So we are in no position to judge others. We are in no position to judge the law because we are the created. We look to the creator, we look to the lawgiver, the judge, the savior, and say, I need your saving hand on my life. I need you to take my place on the cross. I deserve judgment. I have the guilty verdict. I need someone to stand in my place, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Wrestle with that. Wrestle with these two outcomes this evening. One lawgiver, one judge, who's able to save and to destroy. He's able to save and destroy. Let's pray. God, we need your help to listen to this text. We need you to open our eyes to see this text for what it's saying. God, it we don't want to team up with the enemy. We don't want to make an alliance with Satan and tear down the people around us. God, we want to build up and we need your help because all our flesh wants to do is exalt ourselves, to lift up ourselves, to embrace pride and to reject humility. God, we understand that you are the one ultimately that has any evaluative power that can only say, safe or unsafe, guilty or innocent. That's you who judges. It's you who evaluates our life, God. God, help us to love your royal law. Help us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And God, help us to wrestle with this dualistic reality of the future. We're either safe in the arms of Christ, or we're outside and we are heading towards destruction. God, I'm praying for these, I'm praying for these discussion times. Use your word to help them see their need for you. Use your word to help them see their need for a savior. It's only you that can help them see that. God, we ask that you would work in a powerful way this evening in these discussion times. Be honored, be glorified this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.