James 3:1-12, What Are You Saying?

Please open your Bible with me to James chapter 3. We'll be reading from verses 1 to 12.

Hear the word of the Lord Not many of you should become teachers my brothers for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness

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 if he puts bits into the mouths

If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us we guide their whole bodies as well

Look at the ships also Though they are so small and are driven by strong word winds

Give me they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs

So also the tongue is a small member yet it boasts of great things How great a fire is set ablaze by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire a world of unrighteousness

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

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 It is a restless evil full of deadly poison with it

We bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God From the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers.

These things ought not to be so Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?

Can a fig tree my brothers bear olives or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water

Made the Lord as blessings to the reading of his Holy Word words words words

It's all it is nothing important, right just words sure, he's

He's he's gruff sure. She erupts and angry insulting words She's always critical and discouraging he says things he doesn't mean he doesn't follow up on but Come on, he has a heart of gold

She means well He's easy to get along with He's great with a small talk

So who cares about words anyway? How important are your words? What you say?

Not what I said is what I meant I'm not good with words some say you know

One of the one of the love languages is to is to give words of affirmation

But I doubt that that's very satisfying if the words aren't followed up by actions, you know

I love you they say but if they are not doing loving things That's kind of meaningless, isn't it?

the natural conclusion then is that You know words don't really matter We could even get that impression from the passage.

We read last week, you know last week the one who says I have faith But has no words

What good is it? What good is what good is his words? Well, then who cares what he says? Does it matter at all?

What we say? It's profanity a real problem. I Mean, it's just words after all

Who's to say which words are forbidden and which aren't? What's it? What's it really matter? You know people who learn

English as a second language often Don't know which words are supposed to be the bad ones and they end up saying some of those and not knowing what they're doing

If kids are raised hearing them enough, they'll think that's the normal way to talk which it might be by their generation and What was in the past?

Considered profanity would now be considered normal So who cares it's just words

That's a big deal about words After all even if you say something wrong something that hurts someone's feelings all you have to do is say, sorry

Right, that's all and it's all over they forgive and forget and everything goes back to normal, right?

The relationship is healed no matter what you say No harm, no foul, right?

Don't we teach our kids that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me words will never hurt

Really so go ahead say whatever you like you do you and If while you're doing you you hurt someone's feelings.

Well first Come on, you really know it's their fault for having such thin skin for being so sensitive and Second, it's nothing in a quick, you know, sorry.

I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It won't solve right How important are how important are words what you say

So all it's just a matter. It's all really a matter of what you do faith without works is

Is dead you could say all the right faith stuff you want But if you don't do it, someone says that they have faith but has no works.

What good is it? Well, you know with with those words and a dollar you can buy a cup of coffee at McDonald's Maybe words don't matter at all

They won't say Jesus is Lord But they'll donate tricycles to the church.

Does that make them Christian? Was Francis of Assisi right to have supposedly said preach the gospel of at all times and if necessary use words

Is that right? No, of course not James has already said in chapter 1 verse 18 that he

God has brought us forth by The word of truth

His word was the means to bring us life now with our words

We bring life or death to others and ourselves

Here we see the power of words and three major parts first the cause second the effect and third the defect versus the cause what's the cause of Life or death of fires or peace of direction or shipwreck of Successfully riding a horse or getting thrown off of maturity or wildness

Amazingly It's words so What are you saying?

First and kind of an opposite style is the Apostle Paul here James begins with James begins what

I think is the application Not many of you should become teachers That's kind of odd here some people think that verse 1 is just all disconnected from what comes after it no, it's not

There's a religion what I call the the old time religion. That's what they call it themselves They even have a song the old time religion.

It's all about talk. It's about rhetoric. It's emotional stirring Sermons claims to believe confessions

Words often if you're reading from the Bible often the words got to be in 16th 17th century English, you know

He's got you to use that translation. It is just just about words not not

Doing works of love or works of faith in that religion Being a teacher or preacher is esteemed.

He's the one who deals with the words he's he's handing them out and so it's a privileged status to be a

Teacher a preacher in the church. They may want some qualifications at least some words only because they love titles

You love you deal with words all the time. You got to let you love titles They want to they want some qualifications be a teacher and so them made by a degree from some unaccredited diploma mill

So they can be called doctor so -and -so in a part of the fundamentalist subculture.

There's a great love for titles. I've noticed Every preacher has got to be called doctor

And of course, they they have something on the wall that where they bought but there's not much interest in the education

That those titles are supposed to represent. Is that bizarre? Is that part of the subculture?

They love to be called doctor, but then they don't want to study to be one many are interested in standing before others and hearing themselves talk being looked up to as the teacher or the preacher

But not many are interested in hours and hours of learning Greek verbs are beating ancient history

Memorizing names and dates names of people they never heard of before Listening to lectures of other great scholars considering doctrines.

They never even thought of men are putting themselves out as preachers particularly in this and culture in the

South Preachers, by the way is interesting. I was called that I just visited another church just this morning

Believe it or not very quickly and in their lobby and someone said you're the preacher that well, okay

Yeah, but preacher is not a title in the Bible. There's no position office of preacher in the

New Testament There's pastor. There's elder. There's not preacher But they want to be many are born to be called putting them many men are putting themselves out as preachers

Bible teachers who don't bother to study first who are often so Often sure of themselves in direct positive proportion to their ignorance religion that is all about words and not actions not reality wants to be seen as Presenting those words, but doesn't care what they mean in my opinion

If a man isn't willing to spend a few years preparing himself to preach normally, I Think you should be you

I think you shouldn't be willing to spend your Sunday mornings listening to him I've sometimes joked that it seems that every other man in Caswell County and some of the women

Are or want to be a preacher? this James chapter 3 verse 1 is one of the most disregarded passages in the

Bible at least around here Not many of us should try to become teachers

But we do it anyway, like we think we're not going to be judged with greater strictness and in this context the greater strictness

I think that the teachers will be judged with greater strictness by God is not only for what they do

If they were doers of the word and not teachers only but also if they are saying the right thing

Their words will be judged with greater strictness What they say is important God will just him for what they say

Good intentions are not enough That's one thing you should spend some time before they start doing it making sure they've thought through their words

Now when I first came here about 11 years ago a little over 11 years ago I attended a funeral just right down the road here.

It's about a quarter mile I attended a funeral in which a preacher like one of those one. I just talked about now

I'm not talking about the pastor there Okay, I'm not making any illusions to anyone there with a gift for the gab But no training gave the eulogy just down just out in the cemetery on the yard there

And he told this touching little story and his eulogy about how an angel came looking for the deceased

But first encountered a sick child and Mike I think they if I remember right the angel asked God Is this the one you want me to take?

No it's not this one and it went on and on until the angel finally came to the now deceased person and the casket line about to be put in the ground and And then escorted this deceased man to his heavenly home well told much better than I just told it right now with emotion and a good solemn pace appropriate for the occasion

Of course, it's nothing but nonsense folk religion Folk religion means kind of the religion common people just assume without thinking it through soothing but empty words

I Think a major reason Irving Kaner was excused for his fictional autobiography was that he told it so well

I mean who cares if it's true. It's such a good story. He left his listeners feeling entertained and uplifted and inspired

True tomato tomato We're not going to be judged on the truth of the words we say are we?

Well, we communicate when we tell made -up stories about angels at funerals or exaggerated testimonies about being raised a terrorist

Just to get the feeling that we want we communicate when we do things like that. We teach

People when we speak like that and what we teach is that what we're talking about Isn't reality

It isn't real. Oh, it may be entertaining. It may be emotionally inspiring.

It may be loved. You may love to listen to it But it's not true It's not the real world

We teach that we teach that this is escapism. It's like going to the movies, you know, you go for an hour or two

To be to feel something that lifts you out of your real life So you can forget about it and and be entertained by something else before having to come back down to earth again

That's what that's what churches do when they just tell made -up stories in place of the Word of God We communicate that that all these words we say

Aren't about real things that our religion is not about real life It's not about visiting orphans and widows and their affliction

It's not about visiting the Perry's that's real life. That's that's really right down the end of County Home Road That's a real people there with real needs

It's not about that It's not about doing the word It's just about feeling

It's not about things that we can be judged for and here James tells us if we communicate that if that's what we're teaching

We will be judged for it No, mr. Seeker friendly preacher. The gospel is not about how much we're worth

There were you know, we were we're just such a treasure that So much so that God the

Father thought it was just a good investment to send the Son to die for us I mean, he just couldn't help himself because we're so great.

I mean, he's got to buy his back You see there's a big difference between saying God so loved the world.

It's love that compelled him his own love big difference was saying that and You're worth so much

God sent his son to get you. No, mr. Old -time preacher, man it's not about how you're supposed to grimly hang on that denying ourselves means we won't be satisfied in God and We've just got to grit our teeth and bear the reality of this dreadful

Christian life We've chosen and to deprive ourselves of all the fun that those sins would have

Oh, man, that would be so much fun if we could do that stuff because it but we if we do it We'll go to hell and we know it

So that's that's that's it We're choosing we're choosing to be sad now, so we won't be sad later that attitude

No, mr. American individualist preacher. The gospel is not about how loved you are all by yourself just you and God in a and here's the made -up term imported into the gospel in a personal relationship

Find that in the New Testament Disconnected from everyone else, you know, you know, there's just two sets of footprints in the sand side -by -side

Just you and God There's no church there. No, there's no one else just you and God poorly presented mangled

Doctrine are like like like botched surgeries. They have a deadly effects

For the church not many should become teachers or preachers because they will be judged strictly

For not knowing how to handle The Word of God correctly for what they say for the confusion

Maybe the disaster they cause because they left people thinking God is all about them all about what they think of as pleasure that he's about fulfilling them by giving them fun and happiness a narcissistic religion that thinks

You know, I'll never have to take up a cross. Why the world is that? So You know, they think

God is like that. He's all about making he's there. He's their entertainment director, you know, they think if this unbeliever

Will make me happy. I according according what I feel now Surely God isn't calling me not to be yoked to him or her

Is he? Are they think you know if I have an orientation toward people of the same sex?

surely God isn't so cruel as to ask that I overcome it or Be celibate surely

Jesus didn't really mean that whoever doesn't hate his Mother or father or wife or husband or children now, however, you want to spin that that means doesn't love them less than him

They cannot be his disciple You know, that's the conclusion that people come to if they are fed on the milk of God is all about me.

He's my entertainment director Or on the other hand you have those fed on the group the the the gruel, you know, what gruel is like this thin broth comes up the gruel of stern

Spartan self -denial For them Christianity is a grim unsatisfying life that you'll just have to bear for now and shut up and stop complaining

About it because that's just the way it is That either puts people off from the gospel

So they don't even consider it or it just drains the joy out of the church

You come, you know come with that too. We're here to get the lashing that we deserve The preaching is no good unless it makes me feel bad.

This is funny So that's the attitude or those fed on the fat of the individualistic gospel think that think you know

They're not connected to anyone Pure religion according to them. Of course, they're the ones to say we don't even need religion

We don't need religion just relationship and what they mean relationship just them and God not not with anyone else

Religion that is pure and undefiled before the father Remember what James says it is in chapter 1

According to them though religion that is pure and undefiled before the father. They think oh man Just have a sweet sweet quiet time in which you know

You know that those times when you see only one set of footprints in the sand is when he was carrying you

Where the rest of the church is for whom God died should be bearing your burdens and you know, they should be there

We're never where they are Never comes into consideration That's how we raise so -called

Christians who think their relationship to the church is entirely optional It amazes it's amazing how mangled we can be by just a few twisted words

Songs Sometimes show the the carelessness with which people can handle words now here I could go on for the next like hour

Song lyrics that are all messed up, but I won't for a long time. I like that. I like the song They'll know we are

Christians by our love Right, we sing it the past two weeks in a row But the third stanza the third stanza that song originally reads and will guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride

So that's why we didn't sing it for like ten years, but Then we got one got to that passage in John, you know

They'll know you're when Jesus says they'll know you're Christians don't know whether he didn't say Christians, but you'll know you're yours by Your love.

I wanted to sing that song and so well, I got this We got the song it fits perfectly the passage, but then there's that third stanza that line

I just didn't like you know, you know guard each man's dignity save each man's pride No, I kind of sympathize with it with the intent of the words

Anyway, because it came out of the civil rights movement, you know where some people were made to feel with that They had no dignity.

They had no Anything to feel good about in their life and that's it was a response to that this is when the civil rights time, but I just didn't like I didn't like us singing about guarding sinners dignity and saving their pride so I changed those words to And we'll guard each one's purity and be each other's guide

I Think we improved the song. I think we made it Suitable for us a more recent song which is not bad here on the radio if you listen to the

Christian stations It's not not bad except for one word Find odd that you put this word in a

Christian song about the love of God. So it celebrates the reckless love of God reckless

Is God's love really reckless Reckless is to be to be rash to be to be careless to be thoughtless of the consequences

To be basically out of control. I do can't you're not thinking about what he's doing just Recklessly loving is the gospel really about how

God recklessly rashly Rashly thoughtlessly couldn't control himself, but he just had to save us

Really Some might think well, I'm okay, you know John you're being too picky. Don't be so picky

You're reading too much into the words after all the song makes us feel good Anyway, it's not as though our words are really that important.

Are they? It's not as though will be judged for every Reckless word we utter is it sure in verse 2 we notice how

James includes himself there We you don't say you well stumble in many ways we all we all stumbled in many ways

Especially in what we say. No one is perfect except for Jesus If you can control your words so that you never stumble in what you say then

You are perfect. If you can bridle your words, you can bridle your whole body your whole being you're perfect But the reality is he says we all stumble in many ways

That's just real life. Okay, he's not talking about preach Just talking now about preachers and teachers and what we sing in church now, he's referring to everything everything we say everywhere at all times

Words are the cause of much of your life. So what are you saying?

What's the cause of your spiritual growth or your decline can you control your words

If you can not stumble in your words You you can bridle your whole body

Like one bridles a horse and verse 3 we put bits into horses mouth, you know to guide the whole body

The little bit and bridle causes us to direct it. So they obey us

Today today we might say if James were writing to us today, you might say well the steering wheel It's not a it's not a big part of a car, right?

It's easy to turn Even much strength at all But if you have power steering to turn the steering wheel and with it you can turn a large vehicle of several tons

Without it, you wouldn't be able to hardly move that car thing How big it is even with all your strength hardly move it at all

But with the steering wheel you can move it pretty easily ships He writes in verse 4 may be large driven along by strong winds

But guided by a relatively small piece of wood the rudder so that it will go wherever the pilot directs it And so he says the tongue though small

Causes us causes our life To go where it directs us where the words take us up or down life or death it boasts

Of great things in verse 5. I think he has a double meaning there with it with the tongue We we with the tongue we literally do boast we boast of what we know

Of knowing what we're going to do in the future I'm going to lunch today at so -and -so when we don't really know who knows what's going to happen

Between now and then and then like the bit and bridle of a rudder It boasts the tongue does of controlling us of being the cause of much of our life it's even a cause a secondary cause but Still a cause

An intermediate cause I guess of our eternal life We must confess

That jesus is lord not only believe in our heart that god raised him from the dead But we use our tongue to say the truth about jesus

If our words are the cause What's the effect They can be life and peace and growth

Or in the middle of verse 5 How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire

Like someone, you know casually flicking a cigarette butt out a car window onto dry brush So a casual reckless word

Can burn down our life Contrary to what we think You know some words

Some people say They have effects they can never take back a simple sorry

Is not going to change it. Maybe the relationship can be healed sort of but it may never be the same some words just reveal

What you think what you who you are and you won't be able to change it

Relationships can be destroyed by a reckless word We can tell ourselves I need to speak my mind. They'll just have to take it

We think we can contain the effect And we can keep the fire confined maybe just on them

But it soon spreads like a wildfire in a brown dry forest

Comes back to burn us Proverbs has a lot to say about our words

Proverbs chapter 11 verse 9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor Chapter 11 verse 12 whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent

Chapter 12 verse 6 the words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them

Chapter 12 verse 18. There's one whose rash words are like sword thrust, but the tongue of the wise brings healing

Chapter 13 verse 3 whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin

Chapter 14 verse 3 By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back

But the lips of the wise will preserve them Chapter 15 verse 1 the soft answer turns away wrath

But a harsh word stirs up anger Chapter 15 verse 4

A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit

Chapter 16 verse 24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb sweetness to the soul and health to the body chapter 18 verse 4

The words of a man's mouth are deep waters The fountain of wisdom Is a bubbling brook chapter 18 verse 21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue And those who love it Will eat its fruit

The effect of our words is either good things life fruit that we enjoy Or a wildfire that burns down everything around us

The tongue in verse six is a fire the the spark that sets the the whole forest ablaze the whole

He says the tongue is a whole world of unrighteousness Of rebellion against god.

In other words, it contains all the varieties of sin Burning down your whole life if you'd let it go staining the whole body he says

And I think another double meaning there with the word body meaning that it stains our entire life the body representing ourselves

And the body of the church remember he begins with teachers Now, I mean he should become teachers because he'll be judged they'll be judged with greater strictness

Their wrong words can stain the entire church the body of christ I've noticed that with that religion that we talked about earlier the old time religion that majors on empty words

There is a tendency to inflammatory Language they almost look up to inflammatory language like that's a

Admirable trait the more stronger you can speak against something you you can't disagree about anything

In that religion without being denounced as an apostate or a heretic or some kind of sinner Or are them throwing some kind of fit?

I once heard a radio preacher denouncing another radio preacher for disagreeing with him about who gog and magog were

Really, I mean is that really something you need to get so upset about? If they don't get their way

They'll attack others verbally for being always stubborn for never doing things the right way for being demented

Leaders that they don't agree with are are tyrants and they'll they'll end up excommunicating the whole church

And leaving a huff they can't disagree without making it a divisive issue without calling down fire on whoever they disagree with If a casual word is a spark

They are flame throwers They can't control their ego or their words and so they'll stain the whole body and they'll think that those kinds of inflammatory fire producing words are signs of zeal for fire in their heart for god for truth when in reality it is this

Disorderly evil that james talks about a fire itself set on fire by hell

That's where its flames come from for Think about it in verse 7 because Think about it

Every kind of beast and bird of reptiles and sea creature can be tamed It has been tamed by mankind or at least

I think he means confined and controlled so that you can you can put Them in zoos, even if maybe you can't make all kinds of animals pets

You can at least put them in zoos and look at them. But in verse 8 no human being contained the tongue

You can't confine it not by yourself with your own power Not with your old heart

It can't be tamed like a dog or even confined and controlled like a lion or a gorilla.

It's a restless evil It's disorderly. It's it's reckless. It's full of deadly poison.

He says We normally think that those kind of words, you know words that are fire poisonous Restless evil we normally think well, he must be referring to inflammatory words harsh hard Unjust words maybe shouting insults, you know, like you idiot or angry criticism

Um, I think that's a lot of what james has in mind here The way we set our world on fire with our words our poison relationships

Can can tear the church the body apart? William norris said If your lips would keep from slips five things observe with care

To whom you speak of whom you speak and how and when?

and where I like that one Yes, we have to be careful about our words

Especially what they do to other people Now i've sometimes opened sermons myself commenting about how our culture of filling kids heads

But you know always telling them how great they are all this flattery that we like to pour out telling you're great You're awesome.

You're terrific. Wow um that that can Uh that can actually set them up for defeat

For for for blaming others because they're told how great they are at everything they do and they go try out basketball they were told they're the

They've been told they're the next lebron james and they go out and get cut from the team and they blame the coach Okay, that's what often happens but People do need to be encouraged

We need sweet words, you know, one of the proverbs has said Gracious words are like a honeycomb.

That's sweet We need to hear that. We're appreciated You could decry that culture of exaggerate exaggerated praise for everything

But if you're not regularly using your words to lift up others then your culture

Needs changing too Washington irving said the tongue is the only tool that grows sharper with constant use

Make sure you aren't always getting sharper at just being critical and cutting

Make sure you're getting sharper at encouraging too But remember the last time james here in this book, you know talking about words when was the last time he specifically used an example of wrong words

It was just a couple of paragraphs earlier in this book this letter Chapter 2 verse 16 remember those words

Go in peace Be warm be filled There's some words that he has in mind some people's weakness for their words isn't

Necessarily spewing insults or profanities or angry outbursts or gossip or just constant criticism

Some people's weakness Is flattery They use their words. They're not cutting

They're massaging Telling you exactly what you want to hear because most of all

The cause in their heart is that they desperately want you to like them

That's what they want and they want to be approved of You know often people Will give you what they want themselves.

They want a flattery. So they'll give you flattery. Dietrich bonhoeffer said in his book life together

Wrote that sensitive irritable people will always become flatters And very soon will come to despise and slander other christians in their community in other words

Because these type of people are they're sensitive about themselves. They're touchy. They're ego driven

Because they're that way they flatter others Most of us assume others are kind of like us

Right if we're touchy we assume others are So we want flattery we assume others do

They praise others even if it's not true Because they crave to be praised their their words

Are not um, at least at first they're not inflammatory So maybe they may read this james passage.

I think it has nothing to do with me Uh, they are their words are music to your ears

They tell you exactly what you want to hear You know the poor hungry person wants to hear that others want to feed and warm him

Assuming that they're actually going to do what they say So the cause for this kind of people is their ego the effect what they produce is flattery

Is pleasing words at least initially pleasing good news

Do you think? Until they walk away and then do differently than they said

They can't control themselves from saying what others want to hear They're people pleasers and so they speak to please not to tell the truth

There there is such a disconnection between what they say and what they do that They don't even remember what they said

They're just kind of saying what they think at the moment you want to hear what will make you happy at the time

Of course when you find out later that they didn't mean it That they're not doers of their own words then

They poison the relationship But you know, you can't trust them anymore you don't take seriously anything they say anymore they've been burned it down They have indeed set that kind of fire that james is talking about if they're in the church.

They've stained the church And they'll end like bonhoeffer said despising and slandering the people

They used to flatter The cause Whether it's an angry ego

Or careless reckless comments Not thinking about the impact of your words on others or the flattery that the touchy person pours out

The cause is a tongue out of control. The effect is a wildfire

Poison relationships a stained maybe split church the defect

Starting at verse 9 Is duplicity? The defect is duplicity

With our tongue we bless our lord and father other we sing praises Then with the same time we curse people who are made in god's image by curse

He doesn't mean I don't think that we we swear at them, you know with profanity Most of us would know better than that or or that we put some magical hex on them, you know

Get a hair of toad or and put it in a stew and say the magic work No, you don't mean that he means that we do the opposite Of what we're doing with god we're praising

Our father in heaven while anti praising our fellow bearers of the image of god

So in verse 10 from the same mouth come blessing and cursing That's the definition of duplicity, you know from the same mouth it comes two different things my brothers

He pleads at the end of that verse these things ought not to be so Oh Now sure there's a time when critical words are necessary james does some of that here in this letter a time to rebuke

But never a time simply to curse to sort of needlessly again recklessly pouring out condemnation

You see all kinds of examples of this when people talk politics, you know the other side Is cursed they're condemned

And if it were their guy doing the exact same thing that they curse Well, they would be defending it tooth and nail

I could give up examples. I better not We have a lot of duplicity in our politics And when churches get divided into factions and start playing politics

The same thing happens this duplicity ought not to be so So we ask rhetorically there's a spring pour forth from the same openings both fresh and salt water.

No, of course not It's not it's not duplicitous Can a fig tree my brothers?

Bare olives No Or a grapevine produce figs

No It can't You know the the cause Is its nature the effect

Is its fruit if it's a fig tree it produces figs because of its nature if it's an olive tree it produces olives, right?

It's not the producing of olives that makes it an olive tree It's not the reading of the bible and praying and going to church and being baptized that makes you a christian

It's being a christian being born again having a new nature a new heart It makes you want to know god's word to to relate to him to be with his people to follow him in baptism

To praise him and hopefully to build up his church with your words

It's not the fruit that makes the tree But the tree that makes the fruit

You can't make an apple tree You know by just kind of taping get some duct tape and tape apples onto it.

Maybe staples have to work and work So you can't make yourself a christian

By just adding good religious works to your life You must be born again the lord jesus said in matthew chapter 7 verse 18 a healthy tree cannot

Bear bad fruit It's just nature here. James says neither can a salt pond

Yield fresh water the pond is full of salt water you draw out a cup. It's not going to be fresh. Sorry You'll produce the fruit you'll produce the effect in your words and your actions

That are caused by your heart What's in your heart will come out in your actions and your words

Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks And then he says

I tell you on the judgment day People will give account for every careless word they speak for by your words

You will be justified and by your words You will be condemned the cause

Is a bad heart the effect is careless reckless words

The defect we have as christians james's brothers and sisters he's pleading with her

Is our duplicity? That we've been made new But we still often act and talk like the old corrupt person still producing

Bad fruit still letting the tongue that restless evil Just run wild That ought not to be

What are you saying? We all stumble in many ways If we could stop stumbling with our speech, we'd be perfect But we're not yet If we're christians, we need to be constantly repenting of our duplicity of how we're talking like the world keep resolving to change and seeking to change like No longer talking like the old nature and cursing and condemning while praising god

Whether we're the kind that maybe just shoots off a few sparks now and then with our reckless words or we

Pour out flames with our inflammatory rhetoric Or maybe our problem is that we're people pleaser

So we flatter and we tell people what they want to hear but we aren't doers of our own words

Whatever the cause we need to turn off the salt water and only produce the fresh if you find you can't

Your tongue is just so out of control Like an untamed horse with no bridle Like a rudderless ship being swept along by the currents

Like a fire engulfing a brown dry forest if you find

That you're a salt pond a poison spring The effect the fruit of your life

Is fire is poison It's restless reckless Destructive words

Your need if that's what you find Your need isn't to add works

Add religion to your life to make it look better. Maybe just resolve I'll speak only

Pious words, you know, i'll keep my language pg rated That's not going to work

That's that's just even if you somehow manage to do that That's just duplicity Your need is to be born again to have a new heart a new nature

So you're a different kind of tree a healthy one You're made a new kind of spring

One that gushes out fresh clean Living water

You must be born again, what are you saying?