INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• How do many fires start? They usually start with a small flame or a small spark.
• The fires we recently experienced were most likely started by a small spark.
• The one near the fort started from what I was told from a spark from a bulldozer hitting a rock.
• It is amazing the damage just a small spark can do!
• We saw firsthand what kind of damage a small spark can cause with our recent fires.
• Have you noticed that even though the fires are out in our area, we are still suffering from them?
• Since the the fires burned off a lot of vegetation from the mountain, now many are worried about the potential of losing their homes to flood waters.
• A small spark can do damage in the short-term and it can have long-term effects on those who live in the path of the carnage caused by the spark.
• Think about what we say for a minute, do you think we can cause just as much damage in the lives of others by what we say?
• In the context of this passage, James starts out in verse one with a warning about becoming a teacher.
• In the early church, it was an honor to be a teacher, you did not have to beg or cajole people to be teachers, and it was looked upon as a distinct honor to be a teacher.
• James then goes on to explain two reasons for his warning. One is that fact that teachers will be held to a higher level of accountability because of the great responsibilities they have. The second reason is that is explained in verses 2-12 is the fact that what we say has the power to either build or destroy.
• This message in verse 2-12 is not just for teachers, but for all Christians to heed.
• Turn to James 3 with me.
• SLIDE #2
• James 3:2 (ESV) 2 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.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. The art of prevention. (2-5a)
• Would it have better to have been able to prevent the Monument fire than if was to have to put it out after it started?
• There are some reasons for us to work on preventing fires before they start.
• SLIDE #4
A. Understand the blessings of practicing fire prevention. (2)
• In verse two James reminds us that we stumble in many ways, but if we can exert some discipline in what we say, we are a perfect person. The word “perfect” could be better rendered “mature”.
• If we can gain control over our speech, that shows a mark of maturity. In the context of a teacher, it was especially important that one had control of their speech.
• In this whole section, James uses the image of the tongue to represent our speech.
• Notice that in verse two, we are told that if you can exhibit self-control in your speech, then you can control the whole body as well.
• To ‘bridle” the whole body means “to govern or control”
• SLIDE #5
• Proverbs 21:23 (ESV) 23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
• We can keep ourselves out of a lot of trouble by watching what we say!
• Look at the damage that was done by the fires; think about the damage that could be coming from the rains because of the fire.
• Would it not been better to not have had the fire in the first place?
• How many people have been hurt by thoughtlessly carelessly spoken words?
• How many times have you wished you could take something back you have said before?
• Prevention is a blessing! It keeps us from doing a lot of needless damage to others and to ourselves!
• Look at verse 3
• SLIDE #6
• James 3:3 (ESV) 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
• SLIDE #7
B. Exercise the discipline required to prevent fires. (3)
• How do you control a horse that is larger than you so that you can ride them?
• You use a bit. But…
• Interestingly enough, no horse has ever bridled himself. No horse has ever put a bit into his own mouth.
• So, too, we normally don’t bridle ourselves. But, our master trainer Jesus seeks to control our speech with the bit of God’s Word.
• When the trainer wants the horse to stop he pulls back on the reins, the bit then presses against the horse’s tongue causing him to stop.
• We discipline ourselves to bridle the tongue. We have to exercise discipline to control what we say and what we think.
• We also need to allow the bit of God’s Word to control, and bridle what we say, and how we say it.
• SLIDE #8
• Psalm 39:1 (ESV) 1 I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
• SLIDE #9
• James 3:4–5a (ESV) 4 Look at the ships also: 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. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things…
• SLIDE #10
C. Understand the control this discipline affords us. (4-5a)
• Large ships were a common sight in the Mediterranean Sea. James says, “look at the large ships, they are blown by the powerful wind and the waves, yet they are controlled by a small rudder.”
• In this verse, notice that the ship goes wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. The word for ‘will” is the word from which we get “hormone”. Have you ever heard that their hormones drove a person?
• So, we must realize a practical fact, and realize a powerful force, and see that a boat with no rudder is a boat left to the mercy of the wind. It has no direction, and will never reach its’ destination.
• A person who does not exercise control of their speech will be like a ship without a rudder also.
• Verse five points out that the tongue is a small part of the body that can do so much.
• When we are disciplined in life, we can do great things!
• Let’s turn to verse 5b-8
• SLIDE #11
• James 3:5–8 (ESV) 5 …How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
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• 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. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
• SLIDE #12
II. We potentially possess a lot of accelerant! We can do a LOT of damage by what we say! The end of verse 5 reminds us that how great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
• SLIDE #13
A. Our accelerant can be destructive! (5b-6a,
• How does a forest fire usually begin? It usually starts with a spark. When the spark starts, it looks relatively harmless.
• Many times when we say things that at the time seem rather harmless, but our words can kill from long distance. We cannot control our words once they get out.
• Lives have been destroyed countries have gone to war over words. When we come to a situation we can make it much worse by what we say.
• Being such a little member, James informs us to not let its size fool you, for it can do great things.
• No one would ever think that a little match could set an entire forest on fire. But, that is exactly the picture that James is portraying about the tongue. It’s a little member, but it possesses a great potential.
• staining the whole body- To stain means to pollute
• Would you eat bread that came out of a moldy bag?
• SLIDE #14
• Mark 7:15 (ESV) 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
• setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
• Thus, James is saying that the fire that is started with the tongue has hell as its power source.
• Verse 8 is not too complementary concerning the tongue.
• SLIDE #15
B. Controlling our accelerant can be difficult.
• The only way to control or tame the tongue is through the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives to us when we are immersed into Christ.
• SLIDE #16
• James 3:9–12 (ESV) 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
• SLIDE #17
III. The dilemma we face. (9-12)
• We have a dilemma it is this…
• SLIDE #18
A. Our tongue can be a blessing or a curse.
• James tells us that we both bless God and curse man with the same mouth; James tells us that that is not being consistent.
• I stated in the beginning about how quickly we can destroy people with words; well we can just as easily build others up with our words! We can bless God.
• I have seen people built up and destroyed by the words of others.
• So…
• SLIDE #19
B. We must decide how we are going to solve the dilemma.
• So what will you do?
• We are not called to both bless and curse.
• Will we exercise the love and discipline it takes to control our tongue?
• Jesus said…
• SLIDE #20
• Matthew 7:16 (ESV) 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
• SLIDE #21
C. We are called to prevent fires!
• We can make up excuses as to why we tear others down by what we say, but ultimately we are called to prevent fires, we are called to master the art of controlling what we say.
• That starts in the mind, if we think good things, we will say good things!
CONCLUSION
• SLIDE #22
• Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
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