Introductory Considerations
1. Has anyone ever deceived you? Has anyone ever pretended to be someone they were not? Has someone told you they would do something when they had no intention of doing so?
2. As pastor I have often felt deceived. By person making vows and promises and with in days or months forgetting their own words. By those who have made confession of faith, promising to live out Christian faith in worship and service. And when I confront them, they somehow don’t understand what is bothering me. Perhaps my pride is hurt. I thought they were sincere. That what they said with their mouth and their outer worship of God came from a faith within them that was real. I may even have given my opinion that their faith was real to the board of elders. Now I feel betrayed and even foolish They stop coming to church, start living with someone, and live a life that does not care about what God says at all - so it seems to me. They pulled the wool over my eyes. I was deceived by them. Their profession of faith seems so false.
Teaching
1. In the first chapter of James he uses the word deceived 3 times. But the deception he is talking about here is much more dangerous than being deceived by others. James warns us not to deceive ourselves. To think we are something we are not. He warns us not to be deceived into thinking we are believers or followers of Jesus Christ. Not to be deceived into thinking we are part of God’s kingdom, that we have been regenerated or converted. That’s scary.
2. We considered this when we looked at the sermon on the mount. To come before God, expecting His arms to be open to receive us. Instead he says "Away from me, I never knew you".
3. Is your faith sincere or will God say "I ever knew you" to you?" Is your religion worthless or is it pure and faultless? James offers us three litmus tests to see if our faith is real. And as we look at these three tests, look at yourself and ask God to convict you if it is not.
4. We may like to pretend all is well but that does little good. Only when we know we are sick, do we take steps to get well.
5. These three tests concern our religion. Our religion means our outer act of worship. We can stand before God and sing praise to Him, we can bow down before Him and we can raise our hands in worship. But is it worthless or is it pure and faultless? In other words is it real?
6. This evening we take the first of these three tests. Next week we take the last two and we see how we are to deal with the results, the marks we give ourselves. But please, do not be deceived.
7. What is important is that we are not just listeners, but doers. That the word of God has touched and changed our hearts in such a way that our lives are changed in such a way that we become doers of the word. And the three tests before us each are concerned about doing.
8. And so the first question or test. Do you keep a tight reign on your tongue?
9. As we go on through James he will talk more about the danger and the power of our tongues. It is so easy to quickly say something and say things that we either should not or wish we wouldn’t.
10. I remember first time I went horse back riding. I was told the importance of the reign. It controls the speed and direction the horse goes. Tighten it and it slows down. Loosen and shake it and the horse speeds up. Pull to side and the horse turns. It seemed very simple. After little while I felt more comfortable. I let horse know I wanted him to speed up. But I wanted it to go from 5 to 10 miles per hour. Th ehorse thought I wanted 25 mph. And as horse sped up I panicked, I felt out of control, and forgot to pull in reign until someone nearby reminded me to pull in the reign.
11. We need to keep control of our tongue. Why? Because the tongue reveals what is really in side of us. The Pharisees worshiped God, they had religion. One day they complained that disciples didn’t wash their hand s before they ate. Jeses answered them, Mat 15:8-11 "’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’" Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ’unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ’unclean.’"
12. What we say makes us unclean? Why? Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
13. The problem is that our words reveal what is really in our heart. If we curse God’s name, if we gossip, if we hurt others with our words, has our heart really be changed by the Holy Spirit. Mat 7:17-18 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
14. As Christians we all fail at times. May want to say things we should not and sometimes we do. But are our tongues out of control. Or are they controlled by Holy Spirit?
15. Is your religion worthless?
16. Lets ask for God’s power to control our tongues.
