WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.799 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:06.000 For more information in our church, please visit grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:09.199 I'm going to talk to you about the most sinful part of your body. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:13.039 Open your Bibles, let me tell you all the things you've done wrong since I saw you last. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:17.280 Anyway, the most sinful part of your body. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:32.079 And while you're fighting there, I'm just going to tell you that the most, without a doubt, the most sinful part of your body, the part that's going to give you the most trouble, is not your eyes, it's not your hands, it's not your feet, it's not your mind, it is your tongue. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.920 And James is going to bear that out. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:40.799 But while you're finding James chapter 3, let me just kind of give you a frame of reference what the Bible says about the tongue. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:41.920 And I'll just limit it. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:51.520 There's a lot of things it says, like Matthew chapter 12, verse 37, Jesus says, By your words you'll be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:01:00.399 Proverbs chapter 13, verse 3 says, He that guards his mouth keeps his life, but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:05.680 Proverbs 18, 21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.280 Death and life. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:08.480 Keep that in mind today. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:09.519 We'll come back to that. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.040 Because I don't want you to hear, like, oh, you're preaching about the tongue. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:13.280 Great. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:14.319 I'm glad my wife is here. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:14.799 Uh-huh. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:15.680 Nudge, nudge, baby. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:16.640 We're going to get to CDs. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:18.799 You can listen to it every day this week. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:23.920 Death and life are in the power of the tongue. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:29.920 Lastly, Proverbs 18, verse 6 and 7 says that a fool's lips, if you have children, memorize this verse. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:34.400 A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:41.040 A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:43.840 So clearly, all through the Bible, we're kind of warned. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:49.359 And we are, if you're a guest today, I'm preaching through the book of James, and we're up to chapter 3, verse 1. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:58.079 And this is what James says after he finished chapter 2 by saying, For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.959 And now James, that he says, faith apart from works is dead. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:08.800 He's like, hey, listen, by the way, now that I said that, let me say this because one of the greatest expressions of your faith is what you do with your tongue. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:16.719 Verse 1 of chapter 3, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:25.280 For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:31.599 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:42.560 Look at the ships also, that they are so though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder, wherever the will of the pilot directs. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:51.199 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things, how great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.719 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:03.120 The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:12.879 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.840 It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:21.360 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.240 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.039 My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:31.599 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and salt water? 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:36.479 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.800 Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:47.520 I want to talk to you about the tongue, and uh just a couple of uh I think the passage breaks into a couple of sections. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:04:03.199 First of all, I want to talk to you about the nature of the tongue, and let me just say this while I'm talking in the first half, don't just get despondent and check out like, well, that's me, that's my issue, and I'm boy, I'm just gonna take my whip and because I think the I think the text ends on a good note for us today. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.280 Uh the the first thing that the text points out is he talks about the nature of the tongue. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:12.879 And James uses three analogies, and from verses two to five, he talks about three different ways to describe the tongue. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:17.439 He talks about the bit, he talks about the rudder of a ship, and then he talks about fire. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:18.639 And you say, What do you mean? 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:29.040 Look in in in verse 2, he says, For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man able also to bridle his whole body. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.399 And so he already gives an analogy, kind of talks about a bridle. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:39.040 Then in verse 3 he says, But if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:44.879 Now I've told you this before, but let me reiterate, nothing in the Bible is just there for no reason. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:50.720 So when he talks about these three analogies of the bit and the rudder and the fire, he's saying something to us about the tongue. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.920 Like when he talks about the bit, here's a simple statement James is trying to get about trying to get across. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.079 Our tongue establishes the course for our life. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:03.439 Your tongue establishes the course for your life. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.000 That's why he's talking about, you know, bridling the tongue. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:09.839 He said, We put bits in the horse's mouth so that they will obey us. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.439 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:19.439 You don't understand that unless you've been on the back of a horse that did not have a bit in his mouth and realized you have no control over him. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:27.360 Case in point, I grew up in a small town, was not a believer in high school, and so there's not a lot to do in my town, so we had to kind of come up with fun. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.120 And one of the things we would do is we would get a bunch of firewood, go out on someone's property. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:35.360 We didn't have to own the property, we just kind of knew this is so-and-so's farm, he doesn't care. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:49.360 We pile the wood up in the middle of the pasture, light a fire, about eight feet tall pile of wood, set it on fire, and then people would back their trucks up where they would serve malted beverages out of the back of the truck, out of these big silver barrel things with hoses coming out of them. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:51.839 You've been there too, okay. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:02.879 And so we would be there, and then we would be there, and then we take the girls home and come back because you had to turn in the big silver barrels the next day to get your deposit back, and so you had to drain those things. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.720 It was bad, bad stewardship of your money not to drain them. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:09.040 You with me? 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.360 And so it's about 1.15 in the morning. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.120 We're on someone's property and they didn't care. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.000 It was a small town. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.079 We either knew them or were related somehow. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.800 And somebody looks up in a drunken stupor and says, Hey, there's horses over there. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:24.160 Not a good idea. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:29.680 Because men love to compete, and when men are a little bit inebriated, they love to compete even more. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.560 And so somebody says, I'm gonna ride one of them horses. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:37.120 And so one drunk redneck takes off, and if you had a ticket booth, you could have sold tickets. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:41.680 Because he walks over and he's kind of, I'm like, what are you, like the horse whisperer? 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.519 And the horse comes running up to him, and we were like, he might be. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:54.800 And all of a sudden, my buddy Woody reached up and grabbed a mane handful of mane and slung his leg up over the horse, and all of a sudden that horse took off like he was shot out of a cannon. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:59.120 And then we realized what Woody realized, he had no control. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.759 Because you see, the bridle is that leather strap that attaches to the end of the bit. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.399 The bit, it's got it's not just like a straight thing. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:08.399 It's got like a little curve in the middle. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.120 When you pull on it, it gets on the tongue of the horse. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:12.319 That's how you control him. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:13.759 It is painful. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.160 But you don't have the bit in the horse's mouth. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:18.160 You cannot control where his body goes. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:19.600 That's what James is saying. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:23.120 That's why he's saying the tongue establishes the course of the direction of your life. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:30.959 He says in verse 3, if we put bits into the mouths of the horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:37.040 If you can get control of your tongue, you can kind of set the direction for the rest of your body as well. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:45.040 Because we realize that night that when you get on the back of the horse and you kind of kick the horse and go, Yeah, that horse knows one thing. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:45.680 Go. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.279 And you have no power. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.279 It does not feel the bit in its mouth, but the horse has a plan. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:57.600 Because we're out there and the big bonfires have been burning and it's about burned down, but he's beyond the pale. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:00.000 But we can see that there's a trees everywhere. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:05.920 And when you live on a farm, what you do is you trim the branches up to where you can get around them with a tractor and a bush hog. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:09.279 So the limbs are about six feet off the ground. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:17.920 If you're sitting on the back of a horse and you got it by the mane and you're looking back at your friends, you're about seven and a half feet off the ground, maybe eight. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.639 Out of the darkness, we heard, ugh. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:23.439 And I thought it cut him in half. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.600 The trillium hit him right here. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:29.600 And you would think we like load him up and take him to the hospital and never do that again. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:30.399 Oh no. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.080 Other horses begin running up, and people are like, I can ride that. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.000 Because men love to compete and say, look what I can do that you can't. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:42.080 And so one by one, one guy got on one, it wasn't even a horse, it was a mule. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.440 He's kicking that thing and it ain't moving. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:46.720 I'm like, I'd get off that one. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:49.039 And about that time, the mule knew what to do. 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.440 That mule wared up, and that guy went flying. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.960 I saw his boots up in the air, and I was like, Oh wow, it's Tim McGraw. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:56.879 I went skydiving. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.919 Here's the deal: when you don't have a bit in the mouth, you cannot control the body of the animal. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.720 How do you expect to control the direction and the course of your life, of your physical body? 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:15.679 James says, hey, it all starts with you getting control of your tongue. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:18.240 The second analogy he uses is that of a rudder. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:19.360 Look if you would at verse 4. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:20.960 He says, look at the ships also. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.200 Translation, as if that's not enough. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:24.720 Look at these ships also. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:31.039 Though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they're guided by a very small rudder. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:34.720 Wherever the will of the pilot directs. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:37.759 The rudder tells us this simple statement about our tongue. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.399 I'm responsible for my tongue. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.240 It's that little part that says he acknowledges there are external forces. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.200 It's guided by these, I mean, it's it got these strong winds, James says. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:56.639 He says, look at the ships also, that they are so large that are driven by strong winds, they're guided by a very small rudder. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:02.559 And then this seven words, wherever the will of the pilot directs. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.639 You say, What do you mean? 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.919 We talk about our tongue like it's something we don't have control over. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.519 It's like this external reality. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:22.559 Like recently, a uh a person in this church that uh that used to go here, doesn't go here anymore, sent out some emails that weren't true and said things to me that weren't true, and and things, and I just kind of said, I need to I need to call you on this. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:23.840 This isn't true, okay? 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.200 And you and I both know that. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.720 And the person wrote back and said, Oh, well, you know, I have a problem with my tongue. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:34.240 It's been my struggle my entire life, and anybody that knows me knows about my tongue. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.360 And I just wrote back, the issue is deeper than your tongue. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.240 And why has not anybody told you this your entire life? 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:46.000 Why does everybody who knows you know you have a problem with your tongue and hasn't said anything to you? 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:53.279 And I said, I just want to say again, as a person that loves you and cares about you, the issue is deeper than your tongue. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.919 If you wrote back and said, What do you mean? 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.679 If you're in James, turn to the left to the gospel of Luke. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:02.799 Luke chapter 6. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:14.000 I'll start reading in verse 43 of Luke's gospel. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:15.039 Luke chapter 6. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.039 Luke chapter 6, verse 43. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.120 You feel how quiet it is in here? 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:21.600 Tell her like, I'm glad my wife is here. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.120 She needs this, Pastor. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:24.080 Me too. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:26.000 My wife asked me last night, what are you preaching on? 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.080 I said, the tongue, make sure you're in there. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:34.399 Listen, my wife's constant thing to me is I just don't want to be behind you in the line. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:38.799 And if you're wondering what line, the Bible says you're gonna give an account for every careless word. 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.960 And every once in a while, people come on my TV and they make me say things. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:44.799 It's all their fault. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:45.840 It's not me. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:52.240 I mean, there's a reason your tongue is walled in behind teeth and sealed off by lips, and it still manages to get out. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.000 I see people on TV and I like these people on Wall Street. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.240 Whoo! Let me tell you something. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:04.399 Just because you want to protest and go down there and camp out and they put a microphone in your face and they say, What are you protesting? 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:05.919 Well, they have all the money. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:11.919 Hey, if you started the company and you had all the risk, you get to keep the money. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:17.759 You ain't got to just give it to some idiot that says, Hey, I got a pup tent and a pair of skinny jeans. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.000 See, let me just say this. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:26.080 Talking about the tongue, the Bible's got a bigger agenda than be nice. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:28.320 Say nice things. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.080 No, speak the truth. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.480 I said to this person, hey, it it's deeper than that. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.080 This is what I referenced. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:41.840 Luke chapter 6, verse 43, for no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.320 For each tree is known by its own fruit. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:49.600 For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:53.600 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:13:01.360 And the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:10.000 See, the issue, when I said to my friend, it's deeper than that, it's my point is that it's not your tongue, it's your heart. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:16.399 See, there is no if you believe the Bible, there is no such thing as a slip of the tongue, there's just a revelation of the heart. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.919 Because Jesus said, the good person out of the good treasure. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:21.840 Now stop just for a second. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.000 See, this is not a negative sermon today. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.440 See, there's good treasure in you, and you bring good. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:33.600 If doing good or speaking good is an outer body experience for you, you got even deeper issues. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:40.320 But the evil person out of the evil treasure, they speak out of that place. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:40.799 Why? 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.159 Because out of the mouth comes the confines of the heart. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.480 If you want to listen, if you want to know what's in someone's heart, listen to them talk. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:53.519 And James says, hey, by the way, the rudder reminds us that you're responsible for your tongue. 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.000 It's not this external thing you have no control over. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:57.519 Well, everybody knows how I am. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.879 I just, no, no, repent. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:02.159 Stop that. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:03.600 That's not okay. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:04.320 Why? 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:08.559 Because wherever, let me just read it again from James 3. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:13.360 Wherever the will of the Pilate directs. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:17.519 Third picture that Luke uses is that of fire. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:27.919 He says, Verse 5, so also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things, how great a force is set ablaze by such a small fire. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.679 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:40.320 The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:48.799 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.639 But you'll never go to the zoo and see a tongue on display. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:55.360 It's untamable. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.919 No human being can tame the tongue. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:02.639 It's a restless evil full of deadly poison. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:08.559 James uses the analogy of fire to remind us simply that my tongue has the power to destroy. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.559 My tongue has a power to destroy. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:18.720 If I'm not careful, I can burn down a conversation just like that. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:24.639 Now, we should understand something about that because we've had a little wildfire issue here in Texas this summer. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:30.399 I don't know if you've forgotten already, but let me just, I brought a couple pictures to kind of demonstrate the reality of what I'm talking about. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:41.519 When you meet somebody for lunch at Cafe Express over here where they have the nice little salad, I mean the little bar where you get the long breadsticks, and then you can go get some of the black currant tea, which is really yummy, by the way. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:45.519 I don't know what black currant is, but I feel healthier when I drink it. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:47.600 I just do. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:56.399 But you can get that, and you can order a nice Greek salad with a grilled chicken breast and sit down with one of your church friends, and this is what it looks like when you get up. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:05.840 Because your tongue, the whole world can be set on fire by this little bitty spark that sounds like this. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.600 Did you hear about so-and-so? 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.519 And the reason I talk about Cafe Express is not because I'm down on Cafe Express. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.480 Matter of fact, I love I love me some Cafe Express. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.360 I met somebody for lunch there not long ago. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:23.039 And I'm sitting there in one of the booths, they have these booths, they're kind of like a little V, they're kind of big and kind of plush and comfy. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:27.519 I like to sit back on them and pretend like I'm a mob boss and I'm ordering a hit on somebody. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:30.000 But none of you, of course. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:38.399 Anyway, uh I'm sitting there and right over there is a table of four people, and they are going to town on somebody who's not there. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.799 And I thought about this picture. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:48.080 Because James uses the analogy of fire to remind us that my tongue has the power to destroy. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.200 And also, by the way, it's not confined to that. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:57.600 And this next picture will remind you if you're not careful, this is why James says the whole world is set on fire. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:02.159 The entire course of life is set and is set on fire by hell. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:10.559 If you're not careful, beloved, you go through life making excuses for the fact that you don't watch your tongue. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.039 This is what you'll look back and see. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:17.279 Or this is what God will look back and see, but it doesn't have to be that way. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:19.039 See, that's the nature of the tongue. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.720 Secondly, I want to close this morning by talking to you about the use of your tongue. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.279 That's what James talks about in verses 9 to 12. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:26.240 Are you still with me? 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:28.640 Look at verse 9, what he says. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:30.240 He says, with it we bless. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:37.759 He says, you know, uh, verse 9, with it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.720 From the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.640 Now, by the way, when he says cursing, he's not talking about profanity. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.440 Some of you are like, Whew, thank God. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:49.599 That's next Sunday, okay? 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:51.200 No, I'm just kidding. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.200 He says we bless our Lord and Father. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:55.440 That blesses the Greek word eulageo. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:56.960 It means to speak well of. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.880 It means that you wish to prosper. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:04.000 And when he says we curse people, that means to doom or to wish evil on. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:11.200 That means that you sit around and you talk about people that aren't there in a way that you wish ill of them. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.720 And that's rain, by the way. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.720 That's our rain-making, rain-sending God. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:22.240 Yeah. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.839 It's October. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.279 Somebody told you it was gonna start raining in October. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.680 I don't remember who that was. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:38.400 I'm just saying. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:41.599 God is faithful. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.599 Talked to a lady yesterday at the farmer's market. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:45.680 We have a farmer's market here in Sugarland. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:48.160 Every Saturday from 9 to 1 at the sugar meal. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.440 Talked to a lady yesterday from Round Rock, bought me some Round Rock honey. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.400 If you've never had Round Rock honey, friend, you haven't lived yet. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:57.839 Whew! That'll make your mother-in-law sweet right there. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.079 And this lady said, No comments, please. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.359 This lady said, Well, pray for us because we need some rain. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.519 If we don't get rain, we're gonna close the doors. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.240 And I just smiled inside and was like, Mm-hmm. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.400 You're gonna get some rain, all right. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.920 Anyway, back to the Bible, huh? 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:19.200 Y'all are like, don't let us out now, it's raining. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:24.960 It says, With it, we bless our Lord and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:29.200 And then verse 10, he gives these three impossible possibilities. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:32.160 He says, From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.400 My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.799 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and salt water? 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:46.880 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs, neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:47.839 What is he saying? 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.519 He's saying, hey, not you stink and you should feel bad. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.680 He's saying, hey, your mouth is a well of fresh water. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.519 He's saying, hey, your mouth is a vine. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:01.519 It's not gonna produce figs. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.799 He's coming along and saying, hey, your mouth is a spring. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.279 It's an opening of fresh water. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.839 It's not, it's a grapevine. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:11.599 People don't come looking for figs on this. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.160 And by the way, it's fresh, it's not salt water. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.400 He says, hey, this is a good thing. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:17.519 This is a good ending. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.920 I don't want you to leave and go, golly, I stink. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.000 I know I got to get a handle on this. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:26.160 It's easy when you talk about the nature of the tongue. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:36.400 Don't leave today thinking about what the tongue is by nature, because by nature it is like a bit in a horse's mouth, and it's like the rudder of a ship. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.079 And it is like fire. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:42.160 It can, I mean, you should hear talking heads playing in the background. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.680 Talking heads, anybody burning down the house? 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:47.039 Yes, thank you. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:48.480 All you hippies. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:53.839 But I want to end this morning talking about not what the tongue is by nature, because we've all blown it. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:55.920 We've all walked out of, we've said things. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.079 And by the way, I don't mean just as strangers. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:03.759 I mean, it's not okay, men, that we you're nice to everybody else and you come home and you're a jerk to your wife. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.000 It's not okay. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:11.759 It's not okay that you're nice to everybody at work because they pay your salary, and then you come home and yell at your kids. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.119 It's not okay. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:14.640 Not okay. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:18.400 You can't bless everybody else and come home and curse your family. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:25.839 It's not okay, students, when your parents tell you no when they've always said yes, then you go text your friends, I hate my parents. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:28.000 Not okay. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:32.400 You're burning down the house you're you're trying to live in. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:38.079 See, there's a difference in what the tongue is by nature and what it can be because of grace. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:40.319 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:42.319 I started off with some verses this morning. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:47.359 I want to end with some verses, and I'll give you three questions I want you to in the name of application. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:48.400 I want you to think about. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:50.000 First passage I want you to hear. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:50.720 Don't turn there. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.240 It's Proverbs 26 20. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.960 It says, For lack of wood, the fire goes out. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.160 And where there's no whisper, quarreling ceases. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:21:59.839 For lack of wood. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.319 Lack of wood, the fire goes out. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:05.119 And when there's no whispers, quarreling ceases. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:10.480 The great Los Angeles Times sports writer Jim Murray said of Willie Mays's glove. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:14.720 He said, Willie Mays' glove is where triples go to die. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:22.960 Would you be willing this week to be the person whose mouth is where rumor goes to die? 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.559 See, no one's exempt from the temptation of the tongue. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:40.400 Our Attorney General, Eric Holder, is probably gonna lose his job because something he said that wasn't true. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:43.519 And they've now proven that it wasn't true. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.759 And the great country music icon Hank Williams Jr. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:52.400 has already lost his job because he couldn't control his tongue. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:23:00.799 And would you be willing, and would I be willing this week just to be the person that when someone says something, that your ears is where it just goes to die. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:07.599 Psalm 37, 30 says, the mouth of the righteous utter wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:15.119 Proverbs 12, 17 to 19 says, Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.960 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.680 But the tongue of the wise brings healing. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.079 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.839 Second question I want to give you to think about this week is simply this. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:35.359 Would you be willing to be the person who speaks healing into situations? 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:40.319 The Bible says the tongue of the wise brings healing. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:48.799 If you ever had a bad day and you thought this is a person I can call, and they're not going to fix everything, but somehow they're going to make me feel better about it. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.799 That's what happens when the tongue of the wise brings healing. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:24:04.640 1 Peter 3, verse 8 to 12, Peter says, Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:10.720 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:14.880 For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:22.480 For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:24.799 Let him turn away from evil and do good. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.039 Let him seek peace and pursue it. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:35.759 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:38.640 It's that little phrase in there. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.359 Let him turn away from evil and do good. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:46.559 Would you be willing this week to do good every time you find the opportunity? 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:49.359 Just to do good. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:55.200 It is doing good. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:56.799 Last week I wasn't with you. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:00.960 I had to go to New Mexico and speak to the heatherans at a men's retreat. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:12.079 And uh we I was in Glorieta, which is just north of Santa Fe, and between Santa Fe and Glorieta, it's a little dive on the side of the road that my wife found for me called Harry's Roadhouse Cafe. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:14.160 It's all organic, certified green. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.640 We walk in, there's Gene Hackman by the cash register. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:21.680 You ever try to say, there's like 81 men at this men's retreat, and half of them were there because I talked about the restaurant. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:25.200 You ever try to say to a bunch of men, hey, there's Gene Hackman, don't make a scene. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:25.839 Where? 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:28.079 That was subtle. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:29.039 Redneck. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:31.440 Why don't you just go over and get his autograph? 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:32.400 Really? 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:34.480 No, how about leave him alone? 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.799 How many meals do you think he's eaten? 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.319 Somebody goes, Well, I've never seen him before. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:42.160 Okay, whatever. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:43.599 So we're sitting there. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:51.279 Well, on I I ate their Friday, I ate their Saturday lunch, and I ate their Sunday breakfast because I want to support, I'm trying to jumpstart the local economy. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:56.000 Saturday afternoon, I'm sitting there at lunch and they have indoor seating, they have out in the garden seating. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:58.880 They have this little terrace, and you can have a little round table with an umbrella. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:02.160 If you go at night, they got lights on the trees, very romantic. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:09.599 And I'm sitting out there, being the band, like five guys with swirly haircuts and skinny jeans, and I'm like, I'm not very cool. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:17.359 And our waitress walks up, and her eyes were just so heavy, and I was just like, mm-hmm, okay. 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:18.640 Well, here we go. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:23.519 And we sit there and we get to talking and talking and talking and talking, and she's kind of coming going, Y'all need anything else? 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:25.839 I said, by the way, you're gonna get a big fat tip off this table. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:30.880 Because we've been here long enough to seat two or three parties, so we're gonna give you two or three parties worth of a tip. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:31.920 She goes, How do you know? 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:33.440 I said, Because I'm gonna get the pen. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:35.440 What does that mean? 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.319 That means I'm gonna be the guy filling out the credit card receipt. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:43.920 It's not my credit card, but these guys are talking about social justice and their passion for social justice. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:47.119 Let's let's practice a little wealth redistribution right here. 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:50.240 You're all for that until it involves your money. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:53.200 So when the card came, I got the receipt. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.680 She's down there and I said, By the way, I said, I told you we're gonna bless you, right? 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:00.079 She goes, I don't know what that means. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:04.400 You realize there's people in the world that have no idea what it means to be blessed, don't you? 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:08.559 So I wrote down there what the tip was gonna be. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:09.440 And I said, Is that enough? 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.960