JESUS’ TONGUE, YOUR

TONGUE

JAMES 3:1-121 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

JAMES 3:1-123 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

JAMES 3:1-125 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

JAMES 3:1-127 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

JAMES 3:1-129 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

JAMES 3:1-1211 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

TAMING THE TONGUE

TEACHERS WILL BE JUDGED WITH GREATER

STRICTNESS

THE MOUTH IS A

REVELATION OF THE HEART

One of the ways that we get insight to our heart—the seat, the sum, the center of who we are—is by hearing our words and letting others speak our words back

to us because sometimes we don’t understand what we’re saying, or how we’re saying it, or how devastating it

might be.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THOSE CALLED TO BE TEACHERS

4

BE MORE PATIENT

1

BE A DEVOTED STUDENT

2

KNOW THAT TEACHERS ARE JUDGED MORE STRICTLY BY GOD

3

KNOW THAT TEACHERS ARE JUDGED MORE STRICTLY BY PEOPLE

4

Check your motives. Check your heart.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HEARERS

3

KNOW THAT WE ALL STUMBLE

1

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A CRITIC AND BEING A COACH

2

The difference is time and tone. When do you say it? How do you say it? A critic: public, not private because the

goal is to crush you, not build you. A critic will wait until you’re vulnerable.

A coach will wait until you’re teachable.

A critic’s intent is to make sure that everyone is invited to join them in the

criticism, and a coach is trying to protect you from the criticism to help

you learn and grow.

KNOW THAT WE ALL HAVE OUR BEST AND WORST DAYS

3

If we love someone, we present them on their best day. If we hate someone, we

present them on their worst day. The truth is that we’ve all got our best day, we’ve all got our worst day, and it

really reveals your heart how you present them.

BIG THINGS HAVE LITTLE

POWER

His point is this: little things have big power. Little things have big power.

Your tongue is a little thing, but it has big power.

Just like the tongue in your mouth, it’s akin to a bit in the mouth of a horse.

THE BIT OF A HORSE

A SHIP & ITS RUDDER

Again, his analogy is, the tongue is very small, but in the scheme of things, its

impact is very big.

You can feel like your life is like this: big, strong, forceful, successful,

impenetrable, but your tongue is the vulnerable point,

and it can become the one thing that undermines everything.

FOREST FIRES

Once a fire gets going, it’s hard to know where it started because it moves so

quickly and so fiercely. And our tongue is a spark.

It can unleash hell.

WITH IT, WE BLESS AND CURSE

JAMES 3:1-129 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

JAMES 3:1-1211 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

God doesn’t want to condemn you, He wants to convict you.

He wants you to see it so that we can change.

GETTING TO THE SOURCE (JESUS TONGUE)

Its where Proverbs says, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth

speaks,” right? That’s why the heart is the wellspring of life. That’s why Jesus

says that our words come out of our heart.

WHOM DO I IDOLIZE?

The great American theologian, Jonathan Edwards—said that

if we idolize, we demonize.

Don’t idolize anyone. If you idolize them, you’ll demonize them. If you set them up, it’s only so that eventually you can

set them on fire. And don’t allow yourself to be idolized. It only works

until it doesn’t work, and then it doesn’t work at all.

WHAT DO I COVET?

You can’t rejoice with those who rejoice. You can’t celebrate God’s grace.

You’re angry at it. You’re covetous of it. And that affects your heart and that

comes out in your speech.

WHAT LIES DO I

PERPETUATE?

We’ve heard something that we’re sharing. We don’t know if it’s true or not. Or we heard something, we know it’s not true, but we’re going to let it go because

it benefits me.

WHAT GOSSIP DO I ENJOY?

This is Matthew 18. If somebody sins against you, go talk to them, don’t talk

about them. That’s gossip.

WHO ARE WE BITTER

AGAINST?

You’ve got two options: bitterness or forgiveness.

Jesus is in a moment of weeping. Bitterness is the enemy of forgiveness.

WHO HAS HURT ME?

Hurt people tend to hurt people.

HOW DO I LIKE TO PLAY

GOD?

Jesus is the only person who’s ever lived that never stumbled in any way.

Everything he always said was the right thing, at the right time, in the right way,

perfectly.

Here’s the good news, because right now, we’re probably all feeling pretty

convicted. Jesus gets the last word. He who does not stumble in any way goes

to the cross to suffer and die for we who have stumbled in many ways.

Here’s the good news: we’re all guilty. Everybody today, put your rock down.

And if you belong to Jesus, you’re forgiven. He knows that we all stumble

in many ways. He forgives us. He alone should sit in the saddle.

We all need a bit in our mouth. Otherwise, we run wild and out of

control, like an animal. We drift into danger, and devastation, and death like a

ship that is out of control. And we set people, people we love, on fire with the

flames of hell.

FAITHWORKS CHRISTIAN CHURCH GLOBAL

Presented By:Ptr. Vetty GutierrezFCC Main, San Mateo Rizal, PH

10:00AM Morning ServiceMay 1, 2016

Website: faithworkschristianchurch.comFacebook: Faithworks Christian Church GlobalTwitter: @fccphilippinesInstagram: fccphilippines