TOPIC: SMALL BUT POWERFUL
Text: James 3:1-12
Introduction:
Ano Ang pinakamabigat na tinapay? Hopia! Ano ang isa sa pinakamakamandag na hayop? (ILL. Most Potent Venom – A scientist has found out that poison from the skin of a tiny South American tree frog is far more toxic than any other known venom. The poison dart frog, also poison arrow frog, The frogs are widely called poison arrow frogs or poison dart frogs, reflecting the widespread notion that the frogs are used by South American tribes in the manufacture of poison that is spread on arrows or blow-gun darts. Dart frogs are not poisonous in captivity. Scientists believe that this is due to the fact that they do not receive alkaloids as food because they are fed with cultured insects. These frogs are some of the world’s most poisonous living organisms; one drop of poison could be powerful enough to kill 80 people. Rain forest Indians use the venom from the skin of the kokoi frog to poison their blowgun arrows. )
But there is a poison even more deadly than this - the poison from an evil tongue. "The tongue is a fire, a word of iniquity." "With their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" (James 3:6); Romans 3:13-14, “Their words are like an open pit, and their tongues are good only for telling lies. Each word is as deadly as the fangs of a snake, and they say nothing but bitter curses”.
Let’s open our Bible in James 3:1-12. We’ll be talking today about a small part of our body but powerful enough to build or to destroy. (Read James 3:1-12). Let’s pray first.
James started this part of his letter by reminding those who teach and those who wants to become teacher. When we say teacher here this includes pastors, church leaders, missionaries, preachers of the Word of God or anyone who gives instruction to someone, to a group, or a congregation. And here James wants us to understand that no one has a more solemn responsibility than those who teach the Word of God. In the future judgment, Christian teachers will be judge more strictly than other believers. And here in v. 2 James tries to tell us that all of us including him also make a mistake James 2:10. That is why whenever a pastor speaks and we think that he is talking about us, no! Its not, because even us before we teach or preach we are the first one being convicted by the truth from God’s Word. The right thing to do is to listen to His Word and change if there is something in us that we need to change. Now after James make this point then he relate this thing to one part of our body that we always use when it comes to teaching, to preaching, to sharing, it’s our TONGUE! (ILL. Tongue Control – Once a young man came to that great philosopher Socrates to be instructed in oratory. The moment the young man was introduced he began to talk, and there was an incessant stream for some time. When Socrates could get in a word, he said, "Young man, I will have to charge you a double fee." "A double fee, why is that?" The old sage replied, "I will have to teach you two lessons. First, how to hold your tongue, and then how to use it." What an art for all of us to learn, especially for Christians.)
And this morning not Socrates but James from God’s Word will teach us these lessons about our tongue. And we can see from this following verse how James explains the power of our tongue in spite of its smallness. I would like to point out two comparisons that James use on what our tongue can do. Our tongue can:
1. BUILDS OR CRUSH (vv. 3-6)
Our tongue, I believe is not just created in us without a purpose, and that is to build someone, a family, a nation but it can also cause a grave damage. It is also true with some of our tools, for example a hammer was made to use to build, isn’t it? (ILL. Doesn’t mean that you are holding a hammer you can already build a house, you can also use it to tear down and to destroy a house if you don’t know how to use it and don’t know how to control it.)
It is said that our tongue is the strongest part of our body maybe because our tongue is all muscle, though it’s smalll but it is powerful, but most probably because of what a tongue can do, that is why it is called the strongest part of the body. It has power to either build or destroy! Our tongue can build or destroy life, family, church, and nation! James compares tongue to very familiar things to us; one he compares it to bits (bokado o siya) of a horse and to a rudder (timon) of a ship, a spark of fire and a deadly poison Are you a Christian, able to control your tongue? If so, you are a mature Christian. "For in many things we offend all. If any man offends not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2).) The illustration that James used here; Bits in horse, Rudder in Ship, Spark of Fire and Deadly Poison. All these pictures can either:
A. It can Build
B. It can Crush (ILL. # 5 – Steps and Stops) or (ILL. # 3 – A Lie is Forever)
The truth is that bits, rudder, fire and poison can either build or destroy, it can be use for good or bad! And it is true with our tongue, it can either build or destroy someone, a family, a group, a church, an organization and even a nation.(ILL. Misplaced Values – An English nobleman once visited Josiah Wedgwood to see how he made his legendary china and pottery. A young apprentice was instructed to give the nobleman a tour of the factory. The nobleman did not believe in God and was sacrilegious, foul-mouthed, and consistently ridiculed the Bible during the tour. At first the young apprentice was shocked but after a while he began to laugh when the man made his cynical remarks. Josiah Wedgwood was greatly disturbed by this, especially when he saw how his young apprentice was being influenced by this wealthy nobleman. Later the atheist asked if he could purchase a particularly expensive vase. As he handed it to the nobleman, Wedgwood deliberately let it crash to the floor. With a vile oath the nobleman angrily said, "That is the one I really wanted and now it is shattered by your carelessness." Josiah Wedgwood replied, "Sir, there are things more precious than any vase-things that can never be restored once they are ruined. I can make another vase, but you can never give back to my helper the pure heart you have defiled by your vile language and sacrilegious talk!")
2. BLESS OR CURSE (vv. 9-12)
(ILL. The Tongue-The Best and Worst -- Xanthus, the philosopher, once told his servant that the next day he was going to have some friends for dinner and that he should get the best thing he could find in the market. The philosopher and his guests sat down the next day at the table. They had nothing but tongue-four or five courses of tongue-tongue cooked in this way, and tongue cooked in that way. The philosopher finally lost his patience and said to his servant, "Didn’t I tell you to get the best thing in the market?" The servant said, "I did get the best thing in the market. Isn’t the tongue the organ of sociability, the organ of eloquence, the organ of kindness, the organ of worship?" Then Xanthus the philosopher said, "Tomorrow I want you to get the worst thing in the market." And on the morrow the philosopher sat at the table, and there was nothing there but tongue-four or five courses of tongue-tongue in this shape and tongue in that shape. The philosopher again lost his patience and said, "Didn’t I tell you to get the worst thing in the market?" The servant replied, "I did; for isn’t the tongue the organ of blasphemy, the organ of defamation, the organ of lying?" Well done, servant; you certainly taught the philosopher a lesson, the same lesson the Apostle James wants to teach us in the third chapter. The tongue can do great good, and it can do great evil.) It is the best but it is also the worst part of our body.
A. It can Bless – Praising our God (ILL. # 9 – Squeezing Toothpaste)
B. It can Curse –Others
A wildfire, also known as a wild land fire, forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire. The modern usage may have arisen in part from people misunderstanding the expression "spread like wildfire".
(ILL. Undoing Gossip’s Harm – There was a peasant with a troubled conscience who went to a monk for advice. He said that he had circulated a vile story about a friend, only to find out the story was not true. "If you want to make peace with your conscience," said the monk, "you must fill a bag with chicken feathers, go to every dooryard in the village, and drop at each of them one fluffy feather." The peasant did as he was told. Then he returned to the monk and announced he had done penance for his folly. "Not yet," replied the monk, "Take your bag, make the rounds again and gather up every feather that you have dropped." "But the wind must have blown them all away," said the peasant. Words are easily dropped, but no matter how hard you try, you can never get them back again.) It spread quickly and will be difficult to gather it back again, as fire does to the property it consumes.
James said here in 3:10 that this should not be happening for it is not the way it is, it is not natural. We can see here the “sowing and reaping” principles. That if you plant a mango tree, you will reap a mango it is not natural that you plant mango and reap papaya from it. That is why James said this. If we are saying that we are Christians then from inside us will flow praises and blessings and not cursing for others, because it is not natural and it should not be that way.
How do we use our tongue, is it for building or destroying or is it for blessing or for cursing?
CONCLUSION:
vv. 7 –The key here is how we tamed; control our tongue under the power of the Holy Spirit.
(ILL. Someone said that our tongue was created by God with two gates that need to open first in order for it to come out. The first gate is our lips and the second gate is our teeth.) The key here is “to tame” the tongue, “to control” it, to not letting it go unguarded. Psalm 39:1, I will keep my mouth with a bridle (or, I will bridle my mouth) while the wicked is before me. Mature believers keep their tongues under control by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, taking “captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:15). Because of the tendency to sin with the tongue, James exhorts every person to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).
God created it for the purpose of bringing glory to our God. It is also created to taste what is good and what is not good, then by this truth our tongue should not let the bad things come out from it, but only the good things from God. It was created to build and not to destroy, to bless and not to curse, to strengthen and not to judge, to encourage and not to tear down.
(ILL. A Tongue’s Soliloquy – I am your tongue! I am an important fellow. The Bible mentions me about 215 times (Pro_18:21; Pro_21:23, etc.). When I speak kind, thoughtful and true words, there is happiness; when I speak mean, untrue, angry or complaining words, there is trouble.)
