Taming the Untameable Tongue: Part 5

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The Greatness of Jesus Christ: Part 6

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But we continue the series here on taming the untameable tongue and we found out, as Scripture says, no man can tame the tongue, so we surely need the power of the
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Holy Spirit to help. So turn with me to James chapter 3, please. James chapter 3, as we look into our study, and this will be a part 5, and I'm going to do my utmost, by God's help, to conclude this series today on this.
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And we're looking, as a whole, He speaks from verse 1 in chapter 3 to verse 12 on the tongue, but today
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I'd like for us to look at its primitiveness and its intrinsic evil, get my words right here, to combat and its profanity to compromise.
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The text in chapter 3, we're going to pretty much look at verse 7 to the end of the chapter.
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Verse 7, beginning with verse 7 through verse 12. Hear the word of the living
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God, for every species of beast and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
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But no one can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
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Verse 9, he says, with it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God.
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Verse 10, from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, aren't you glad he says my brethren?
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My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
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Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives? Or a vine produce figs?
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Nor can salt water produce fresh. Let's pray. Father, we, only you can take your words from our ears to our hearts this day.
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Lord we're so limited. Lord, this burden's upon me to minister this word and Lord I would pray that you would help all of us today to receive it.
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Lord, it steps on my toes, it steps on all of our toes, it pierces our heart. Your word is like a sharp two -edged sword.
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So we pray, Father, come Holy Spirit, may
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Jesus Christ be glorified. Teach us, Holy Spirit, the things of Christ to us this morning.
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And we would pray with the psalmist in Psalm 119, deal bountifully with your servant,
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O Lord, that I may live and keep your word. Help us to keep it,
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Lord. Help us not just to be hearers, but to be doers of your words. So Father, open our eyes that we may behold wonderful things from your law.
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I would pray today, challenge us, mold us, break us, change us, and Father, in the end, use us for your glory.
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I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Verse 7 and 8,
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James, through the Holy Spirit says, For every species of beast and birds and reptiles and creatures of the sea is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race, but no one can tame the tongue.
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He gets right to the point, doesn't he? It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
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That's the point that James is making, really, in these two verses. Simply, that the human tongue is innately uncontrollable and untameable.
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It cannot be tamed. Why? Why? Well, number one, because it's wild. That's what he's saying.
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It's wild. Secondly, it's undisciplined. Third, it's irresponsible.
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Fourth, it's irrepressible. And to say the least, it's extremely savage.
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It's like Brother Keith chose that picture. I think you chose it, didn't you, Brother Keith? Okay, good one.
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That lion can be tamed. That's a pretty strong beast, isn't it? Bring a lion in here, he'd tear us apart.
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He wasn't tamed. But think about the tongue. You can't tame it.
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It's undisciplined. In what might be called its primitive or intrinsic evil, it combats every effort to control and to direct it.
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So James gives us a very vivid picture here, doesn't he? He gives almost like word pictures, very practical and very clear and very vivid to our mind's eye of the tongue and how savage it really is.
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And it's very serious. In verse 5b and verse 6, he says the tongue is like a fire.
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We looked at that last Lord's Day. And in verse 6, he says it's an entire world of a world of iniquity.
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A whole world of iniquity. Think of that. It is said among our members as that which defiles the entire body.
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It's small, but it's deadly. It acts like an untamed beast.
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In verse 8, it is like a restless evil, he says. It acts like deadly poison.
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Beloved, here is an imagery here for the whole lifetime for us for self -examination.
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We could take a whole lifetime to examine our own hearts on just this one area, the tongue.
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And we do need to take inventory, don't we, this morning. We do need to take it all to heart of the seriousness of what
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James says about the tongue. So the tongue can be very, very dangerous. That's what he's saying.
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Now James gives to us in these verses really an alarming conclusion of what he's saying everything previously.
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He concludes it. In verse 7 and 8, every kind of beast and bird, reptile and sea creature, notice he goes to nature.
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He goes to the creation, the wildness of nature.
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And he says, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no one can tame the tongue.
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It's amazing, isn't it? Creatures, great and small on this planet, this little planet
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Earth, gentle and wild, fast and slow, here have been tamed, but yet the tongue no one has tamed.
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Untameable. And as I said before, only God can help us tame the tongue. So what's the evidence?
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What's the evidence? That's a question I'd like to set before you here. What's the evidence? He gives us the evidence. The evidence is found really in the deep contradictions in what we say.
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What do you mean, Pastor David, in the deep contradictions? Well, it says here that we bless
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God the Father, but we curse people made in the image of God. That's a contradiction.
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And by the way, a contradiction is this is not found in nature. The contradiction is not found in fig trees, nor in grape vines, nor in salt ponds.
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They do not bear olives or figs or provide fresh water. Notice in verse 11 and 12, verse 11 and 12, does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
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What a question. Then he gives another question on top of a question. Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives or vine produce figs?
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Very strong questions. Don't you love that kind of wisdom that just puts the question right in front of you and it makes you think?
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And, of course, there's an answer. Of course, obviously, no. So you think of it,
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Isaiah the prophet realized this as we looked at the conclusion, and I think
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I brought a conclusion to it two times, Isaiah chapter 6, as Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and His train filled the temple, and Isaiah saw his own sinfulness, and he said, woe is me for I'm ruined,
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I'm undone, and he needed a cleansing of his tongue.
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He said, woe is me. I was looking at the previous chapter of Isaiah 6.
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Go with me very quickly to Isaiah chapter 5, and I'd like for you to just see this. Before he saw in chapter 6 the
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Lord high and lifted up in the year that King Uzziah died, and then
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God met him, and he saw this great vision of God. But I want you to notice some verses in chapter 5 of Isaiah, and Isaiah the prophet was a very godly, holy man, a very righteous man in his day that pronounced woes upon in the name of God.
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And by the way, that was a very holy calling upon a prophet to speak for God, if you think of that.
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It was a place of suffering. He pronounces six woes.
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It's interesting. He pronounces six woes here. Look at chapter 5. Look at verse 8. Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until there's no more room so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land.
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That's the first woe he pronounces. And look at verse 11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them.
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He pronounces a woe upon them. Look at verse 18. Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood and sin as if with the cart ropes.
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Look at verse 20. I'm just pointing you out to the woes he gives here. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil and to substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
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Then he says in verse 21, Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Look at verse 22.
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Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, valiant men in mixing strong drink.
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Those are the woes he gave. Keep in mind, a woe is like a curse upon them.
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A curse. But what happens when he sees God high and lifted up? This holy prophet pronounces a curse upon himself.
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And that's the seventh woe. It's almost like a final climatic.
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Seventh woe against himself. In verse 5 of chapter 6, notice that.
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Woe is me for I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips.
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That's what we're talking about right there. This holy prophet recognized his lips were unclean and I live among a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the
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King, the Lord of hosts. And after he saw the holiness of God, he pronounces this woe upon himself.
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He recognizes his own sin and that's the place we need to be. It's really a good place because there's hope for us.
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When we see our own sin, God has a healing balm. And of course, look what
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God does in verse 6. The seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand.
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Burning, live coal. Think of that. Hot, which he had taken from the altar with the tongues.
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He touched my mouth, the most sensitive part in the body, with it and said,
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Behold, this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven. God cleanses him.
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Well, that's good news. That's good news. There's hope for us. There's hope for us.
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We can be cleansed. So after he saw the Lord of glory, the
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Lord of hosts, he discovered his own sinfulness. I'd like to ask you a question. Have we ever reached this conclusion about ourselves?
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Have you reached this conclusion about yourself? Well, back to James. Notice that in James, verse 10, he says,
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He says, These things ought not to be so. While this is so true universally by definition, what is sinful and evil ought not to be.
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It should not be. It is particularly true for the
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Christian as well. Just not everybody else, but particularly true for the Christian. For we bear the name of God.
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This is to whom James is addressing is the brethren, is the church. And he draws special attention to this.
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And this is great love that God would be loving enough to point this out to us in this pampered world in which we live today and of course within the church, even in the church.
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Sad to say, you preach a message like this and you look down as scolding them or being harsh, but it's really great love that would point out this.
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And James does this by the Holy Spirit. Every word of God is pure, isn't it? And from the same mouth, he says,
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From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
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What a warning. Now, let me give a question around here. Why should they not be that way?
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Well, that's a good question, really. Why? Mainly, I would think, it ought not to be this way because the first impact, the gospel of the
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Lord Jesus Christ has upon our souls is an exposure of our own sinfulness.
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Remember when Jesus first came up to Peter or should I say the first time
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Peter saw the Lord, he said, Depart from me for I am a wicked man. I'm thinking
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Jesus didn't say anything to him. He just walked up to him. And Peter recognized right away the holiness of Christ.
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Peter says, Depart from me. You know, it's really a good question. The first evidence upon our own souls as born -again believers is that the gospel exposes our own sinful hearts.
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Why? In order, as Isaiah, to cleanse us and to renew us.
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That's what God wants to do. He's in the business of cleansing us. And that's why we need continued cleansing, don't we, even as Christians?
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Because there's not a total perfection, or a sinless perfection. You notice we live in a dirty world and sometimes it rubs off on us and things happen.
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And it's still down deep in our heart. And what comes out of our mouth, I think every time something wrong comes out of my mouth,
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I say, something's wrong with my heart. Something is still down in there. There's roots.
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But God is in the business of cleansing us and renewing our hearts. By the way, He wants to silence boasting.
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I want to look at this very quickly. Silence boasting of ourselves so that we may boast only in the cross of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. We should not boast of ourselves. You notice in the world in which we live, people want to boast about themselves.
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God is in the business of humbling us. But what does He say? He says, He that humbles himself shall exalt himself, and he that exalts himself shall be humbled.
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That's the way it works in God's economy. So in this connection, we need to remember
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Paul's most basic and powerful presentation of our need for the Gospel. And here you have it.
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The need of the Gospel. And Paul says this in Romans 3. Go with me very quickly to Romans 3.
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Look at one verse. Well, maybe two verses. Look at verse 19.
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I'm going to kind of connect a little bit here with what James is speaking. Paul the
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Apostle says this. And you know Romans. It's one of the greatest theological books ever written.
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But first of all, he gives the good news in chapter 1, in the beginning of chapter 1, verse 16.
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For I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but it is the power of God unto salvation. He goes on and he gives the
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Gospel first and then he gives the bad news about the wrath of God. You don't hear that much today, do you?
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But we do need to hear it. But notice in verse 19 of chapter 3, whatever the law says,
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Paul says, it speaks to those who are under the law. Whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.
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Notice what he says. So that every mouth, every mouth may be stopped or may be closed.
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There's another translation. And all the world may become accountable to God. That's a strong verse, isn't it?
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That the whole world may become accountable to God. Now I want to give you something that I love
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D. Martyn Lloyd -Jones. He was a wonderful expositor of England years ago.
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Great, great preacher of the Gospel. And his book, when he did an exposition on Romans, which is remarkable, that and also he did others, the
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Sermon on the Mountain and then the Gospels, but the book of Romans is incredibly good. But this is what he says about this verse in Romans.
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Listen to what he says. Paul now points out, this is Lloyd -Jones, that when you realize what the law is truly saying to you, the result is that every mouth shall be stopped.
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He goes on to say, you are rendered speechless. You are not a
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Christian unless you have been made speechless. How do you know whether you're a
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Christian or not? It is that you stop talking. The trouble with the non -Christian is that he goes on talking.
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And then he says this, how do you know whether a man is a Christian? Once again, he brings that question to the forefront.
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He says this, the answer is that his mouth is shut. And then he goes on to say,
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I like this fourth rightness of the Gospel. People need to have their mouths shut.
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Stopped. You do not begin to be a Christian until your mouth is shut, is stopped, and you are speechless and have nothing to say.
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How right is he? This is what happens when we are truly converted to Jesus Christ.
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Dr. Martin Lloyd -Jones, they called him the doctor because that was his profession until God called him to the ministry.
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They still called him the doctor. He was doing spiritual surgery rather than physical surgery.
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But the good doctor is so right, isn't he? Surely he put his finger right on the very essence of everything right there from what
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Paul says in the law about the Gospel. And our tongues are so often the very motive ungodly drive that proceeds from the center of our being, isn't it?
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And what's the center of our being? Our heart. The heart is the real you.
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The heart, and we're not talking about the physical pumping machine within us here. We're talking about your soul. We're talking about who you are.
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Me. You. Your very essence. I got another good quote here.
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I think you'll like it. Sinclair Ferguson says this in his commentary on James. I could not hold back from putting this down.
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He says this about the tongue. But the slaying of the inner pride and the illumination of our minds in regeneration create a new disposition and affection and the true convert will have a
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Jacob -like limp in his speech as well as in his walk.
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Because in the spiritual autonomy as distinct from the physical autonomy the heart and the tongue are directly connected to each other.
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And then he goes on to say this. This is good. The subduing of the heart leads to the silencing of the tongue.
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Humility within leads to humility expressed and only when we have been thus silenced are we in any position to begin to speak.
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And when we do, by God's grace, we speak as those who have first been silenced.
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Amen. That is good, isn't it? I love these men. They know how to put it right down to the nitty -gritty and to the point.
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And it's convicting. But I say, Lord, this is what I need. So there is a deeply truthful statement there.
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So it's a deadly inconsistency that plagues the tongue, isn't it? The tongue is so inconsistent.
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Well, you know it as well as I do. We can be blessing God, Father, one minute and the next thing you know, we've been cursing men.
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Let's be honest. We've all done it. I have. I did it this past week.
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So as James probes deeper and deeper, almost like with a surgical knife, he goes deeper and deeper and draws attention to a fourth characteristic as an analysis.
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He analyzes now the rise that rises, I'm sorry, to a crescendo in a sense of what is,
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I would say, an exposure of who we really are because of what we say. And you see that in verse 12.
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But see, last week we looked at the tongue and notice the little tongue being such a small member is like a fire, like a fire.
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And he says it's set on fire from hell itself, from Gehenna. Wow, that's scary.
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It shows you how the heart really is. But it's also like a dangerous animal.
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It's restless. Isn't it incredible the word pictures he gives? Like a small fire and then next thing you know it's blazing and causing destruction abroad everywhere.
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Now he speaks to us and it's like a dangerous animal. It's restless. It's a word that translates the same word rendered unstable.
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It's unstable. And you see this in James 1 .8. Unstable man is what?
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A double -minded man, that's right. He's unstable in all his ways. Very unstable. Restless.
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That's the same word here. It reminds me of a, I think when I was studying about this
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I was thinking about the old cowboy Indian movies. You know as well as I do, the
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Indians got did in pretty wrong when the white guys came over here and just took over their land.
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I think the worst thing about it was the politics that was involved and still you see a lot of this today. The corruption in politics.
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You know the old Davy Crockett pictures and you see the government supposedly and the way the
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Indians looked at it. These are the white men making promises and they don't live up to the promises. And you remember what the
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Indian always said? The white men speak with a forked tongue. Yeah. That tongue's forked, isn't it?
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It was meant as really a damning indignant, really. That's what
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I think of. But here James has shared that perspective really but brought forth in a more profound analysis.
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The forked tongue is connected actually with a forked heart. Such speech is marked with a double -minded man and unstable in all of his ways.
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So the tongue is restless and cannot be ruled and it seeks its prey like a wild beast and it pounces and it kills and it devours.
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It's deadly, isn't it? It's terrible. I was listening to David Wilkerson this morning and he was talking about the tongue and he said, you know, actually, we asked for forgiveness about the tongue and you know what he said?
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And he said, so right. Once you say it, it's out there. It's gone. You can't take it back.
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That's scary. Oh how we need to ponder and watch what we say and be wise in these things.
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It's restless. It cannot be ruled. It seeks its prey like a wild animal and it kills animals.
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There are some animals that are poisonous. Notice what he talks about. He talks about poison here. There's poison.
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Scriptures are very clear about that. So some tongues spread poison.
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It kills. It's deadly. And if you think about it, the deceptiveness thing, the deceptive thing about poison, and I got to think about it.
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What's so deceptive about poison? It works and kills slowly but secretly and then it eventually takes its victim.
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That's what he says. That's what the tongue is. It's deadly. It works secretly. It works slowly. It kills.
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How many times has some malicious, I should say, person has injected a bit of poison into a conversation that you might have had and hoping it would spread and finally get to the person he or she wanted to hurt?
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How many times have we done that? What James reminds us that here animals can be tamed and for that matter fire can be tamed, but we could tame an animal.
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You can get a worker, like in the picture this morning, to tame that animal.
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You get a worker instead of a destroyer, right? You control a fire by generating power.
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You can control fire in a sense. Can I say the positive side before I give any more negatives about the tongue?
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The tongue cannot be tamed by man, but it can be tamed by God. Now how do we know this?
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Well, you look at Scriptures. Rather than it being set on fire from hell, from James 3 .6, I like what the apostles did at Pentecost and they were set on fire from heaven.
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Tongues of fire and the Holy Spirit came in its power. They spoke the praises of God and they preached the
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Gospel. We read it just a minute ago, Charles Wesley talking about oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great
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Redeemer's praise. We need to be praising God with our tongues, right? We need to be speaking good things from our heart.
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If God lights the fire and controls it, then the tongue could be a mighty tool. But God's got to light it.
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It could be used for evangelism, for the good of winning the laws of Jesus Christ and building up and edifying the church.
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An important thing to remember, of course, is the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,
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Jesus said. That's what's so convicting, isn't it? So if the heart is filled with hate,
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Satan will light that fire. But if the heart's filled with the love of God, then God's going to light it.
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Can two be together? Well, we're going to look at that. Well, verses 9 through 12, finally the tongue is characterized by what is called, it's perfectly, it's profanity,
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I should say. It's profanity to compromise. Well, look at that word profanity. I borrowed that word from MacArthur's commentary.
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He used it. But I looked it up and it says this. It refers to a deliberate breach. Profanity. You don't hear that word often, do you?
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It means a deliberate breach or a trust or a treachery. Treacherous.
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That's another word. And the unbridled tongue is a frequently guilty of such evil that we see this.
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The tongue is not just wild and raging like an animal and full of deadly poison, but clever, plotting.
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That's treacherous. It's clever. It plots. It is subtle.
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It's deceptive. I think that describes the tongue perfectly. In other words, it's hypocritical.
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Eagerly willing to deceive in order to achieve its own advantage. And how do we know this truth?
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Because of the Scriptures, right? The Scriptures, the Word of God gives light to sin and how sin really is.
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People don't want to hear this. That's why people want to get, don't tell me the truth. I want to do what I want to do. I want to love my sin.
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Why? Because the truth exposes the darkness within the quarters of the heart.
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With the same mouth, James says, we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse men.
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I don't know about you. That's convicting. And man has been made in the likeness of God.
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So notice what he says. We bless. We curse. Isn't it amazing that the
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Apostle includes himself here? I think he's probably slipped up. Of course, he's human.
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I think everybody in the whole entire human race has failed right here except for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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James gives to us in verse 11 and 12 these three illustrations from nature that demonstrate the sinfulness of cursing.
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And the genuine believer will not contradict his profession of faith by regular use of the wholesome words.
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With the same tongue, we bless God. Then James says, we curse men. Have been made in the likeness of God.
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That is perfidious. It's treacherous. It's hypocrisy from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing.
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Every believer, if we are honest, has been guilty of that hypocrisy to some extent.
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Like I said, I confess, I did this last week. I think somebody cut in front of me or something while I was on the road and little
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Felicity was right there in the back. And I said, that clown. I kept it clean, actually.
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And she said, Peepaw, why did you say clown? That's not a clown. I think she was looking for a clown.
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I said, oh, lawyers are listening. Wow, Peepaw's not being a good example.
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It's convicting, isn't it? I've gotten pretty mad before.
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I've had truck drivers ride on my bumper, a milk truck, and thinking how dangerous they drive.
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And this guy was literally pushing me off the road. And I took a turn as slow as I could because I couldn't take it quick because all my milk would spill.
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And next thing I knew, the guy was just, he just laid on the horn. I'm thinking, you know what
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I mean. There's some crazy drivers. My real test, my sanctification, brothers and sisters, is on the road.
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But that's where you see a lot of road rage, don't you? Why should we act like the rest of them? We need to be
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Christ -like, even on the road. That's what he's talking about. We need to watch our tongue. You know, if it comes out of my mouth and I notice
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I say something, I'm saying, this is coming out of here. This is still in here. It's in my heart.
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It has roots. Well, here's some examples from Scripture. I gave a personal example.
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I think the best example is from Scripture. I think Ms. Lillian would amen that, right?
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It was not only the wicked scribes and the Pharisees who claimed to bless God and yet demanded that the crucifixion of the
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Son of God, accusing Him of blasphemy, but remember Peter? What about Peter?
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He was the head apostle. He confessed with his mouth that Jesus in Matthew 16, 16, listen to what he says, and of course,
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Jesus says, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, my Father in heaven, but he confessed it with his mouth and he said,
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Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. What a confession! But while his
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Lord was on trial before the high priest in Matthew 26, verse 74 through 75, notice what it says.
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The Word of God says, he began, speaking of Peter, began to curse and swear.
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And what else did he say? I do not know the man. He cursed.
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He was swearing. This was the same apostle that said, thou art the Christ, the
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Son of the living God. And there at the most important time in history, Jesus was about to go to the cross and be crucified and Peter denies
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Him. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times, and he went out and wept bitterly.
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In Acts 23, 3, on one occasion, even the apostle Paul, the greatest theologian that ever lived, the greatest
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Christian that ever lived, the great man of God, the greatest missionary, Paul's tongue even slipped and he called the high priest a whitewashed wall.
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You whitewashed wall. Now listen, even though he did not realize he was speaking to the high priest in verse 5, he uttered the words that are not fitting in the mouth of a servant of the living
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God. You know, that's a great example, isn't it, from Scripture. Therefore James, he says, my brethren, my brethren, to the church and employees these
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Jews, these Jewish Christians here, these things ought not to be this way. Now I want you to notice these two words, ought not.
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Ought not is a strong negative. It's used here only in the New Testament. That's pretty interesting.
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It's only used here in a strong negative in a certain way in the New Testament, all of the New Testament. The idea is that there should be no place in a
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Christian's life with this kind of speech. That's what he's saying. No place whatsoever. There is no acceptable reason.
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It is unacceptable, it's intolerable, compromise of righteous and holy living and we are all guilty.
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And in the same way, why is it not to be tolerated before God? That would be a question.
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First of all, it is, as Jesus said, it's careless speech. Careless speech.
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I don't know about you, that's still some of the strongest words that Jesus has ever spoken about careless speech.
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Every word that you speak is being recorded. And think of it, it's in the presence of God.
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It's before men, lost men. It's made in the image of God. And James explains this truth using three illustrations.
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First of all, he asked, notice closely here in this verse, does a fountain, that would be verse 11, send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
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Well, obviously the answer is no. Does the same spring, a fountain, does it issue two vastly different kinds of water?
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Well, no. The fountain, of course, provides cool water. Man needs to stay alive. Water is very, very symbolic of something important here.
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Proverbs 18 .4 says this, the words of a man's mouth are as deep waters and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
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Proverbs 10 .11 says, the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. Proverbs 13 .14,
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the law of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death.
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Now, think of that. These verses parallel what James has already written. They underscore the importance of our words.
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Our words are important. How important are they? Proverbs 18 .21,
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this is how important words are. Say, they are so important that death and life are in the power of the tongue.
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That's powerful. Death and life is in the power of your tongue today.
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And Jesus our Lord says in Matthew 12, and I've already quoted this many times, but I think it's worth repeating again, verse 36 and 37, that every careless word, every idle word, some translations use, careless word that people speak, they shall give on accounting for it in the day of judgment, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.
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That is so convicting, isn't it? Every single word, every thought, every motive, oh wow.
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I don't know about you, this keeps me really, really on my face before God. It makes me tremble.
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Because I don't trust myself, I don't trust my tongue, I don't trust my heart. Second, the next illustration
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James gives is the fig tree, right? The fig tree. The tongue is also like a tree. That's interesting, a tree.
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What way is he talking about, is it like a tree? But James says, can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives or a vine produce figs?
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Now what do you think he's alluding to? I think he's alluding to the Lord's words in Matthew 7, 16 when Jesus asks this question on the
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Sermon on the Mount. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles are they?
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You know Jesus renders people speechless when He asks questions, doesn't He? He shuts them up.
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Notice, the words of truth just shuts people up. And it shuts us up. And of course, again, the answer is no.
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You can't. Such a thing is utterly and completely contrary to nature and it cannot happen.
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Most important thing about a tree is this, it's its root system. You and I know this, when strong rains come, the strongest trees stand when all the water goes down and softens the ground, but the trees that have the deepest roots are the ones that are still standing.
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The ones that have shallow roots come down and fall. Well, the most important thing about the tree is its root system.
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If the roots do not go down deep, the tree will not grow in a healthy manner. So if we
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Christians are rooted and grounded in the love of God, in the things of God, in the Word of God, the truth of God, then our words will be the fruit of our fellowship.
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When we are like that, that blessed man in Psalm 1 that produces good fruit will be like him in due season.
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Fruit will come because his roots go deep. And one of the very reasons our
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Lord Jesus was able to say the right things and the right words at the right time is why? Because He communed with His Heavenly Father.
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And I don't know about you, if you go to the Gospel and you see Jesus, He's constantly pulling away from people.
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He ministers to people. He gives the truth, but He's constantly breaking away, getting time with God the
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Father. And He sacrificed His time for that. And you and I must do the same thing. In this old world we live in, that's not an easy thing, is it?
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It's a hard thing because our flesh does not want to go there.
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We've got to beat that old flesh down, don't we? Well, Jesus had that communion with God.
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Isaiah 50 verse 4 speaks of this, about the Lord Jesus. The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.
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He knew how to speak a good word to those who are weary and minister to them because He stayed in communion with God the
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Father. Why? And it says here, He waketh morning by morning. It just wasn't one morning.
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It was morning by morning by morning because He loved to stay in communion with His Father. He waketh my ear to hear as the learned.
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How do we know this? Now that's a prophecy from Isaiah. But if you go to Mark chapter 1 verse 35, it says this,
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And in the morning, Mark records this, rising up a great while before day,
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He went out, departed into a solitary place. And Scripture says it clearly, and there prayed.
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That's the secret of us controlling our tongue, is having that blessed communion with our Father. Likewise, you and I, if we're going to have tongues that delight in our
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God and bless our God and not curse man, then we must meet with our Lord each day in a blessed sweet communion and learn from Him.
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And we must get our spiritual roots deep into His Word and praying and communion with God and meditating with God and meditating on His truth and loving the truth and spending time with God and seeking
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God with all of our hearts with His love and being loving in His presence as Mary said at the feet of Jesus.
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Beloved, I'm telling you, that's the secret right there. A fountain cannot give forth two kinds of water, can it?
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A tree cannot bear two different kinds of fruit. We expect the fountain to flow with sweet water at all times and we expect the fig tree to bear fig trees.
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It's that obvious. The olive tree to bear olive trees. Nature reproduces after its kind.
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That's what James is saying. And he alludes to the Lord. This is where he got this. I like what
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MacArthur says. Everything that you read in the epistles is commentary of what Jesus says.
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Everything. His point is in this text. And that's what he says. If the tongue is inconsistent, there's something wrong.
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There's something wrong. And there's something wrong with us. Something radically wrong with the heart.
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The tongue that blesses the Father then turns around and curses men in God's image is in desperate need of spiritual medicine.
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And believe me, here's the medicine right here. Well, we need that strong medicine.
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How easy it is to sing the hymns during worship service and then after the services, as we go home in our cars, we could be fighting or fussing toward one another or someone pulls in front of us.
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Like I mentioned earlier, you get really ugly. And the next thing you know, it spouts out of your mouth some kind of word.
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Every time that happens, check yourself and take inventory. This came from my heart. I need some spiritual inventory.
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I need some cleansing right here. Well, if you can't say amen, say oh me. I know you're still alive out there.
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It's oh me. It's me, oh Lord, that stands in the need of prayer.
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So what's the problem? The problem is the tongue? No, the problem is what's connected to the tongue.
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It's the heart. So how do we know this? James 3 .14,
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bitter envy and strife. Bitter envy and strife. And by the way, that bitter jealousy or strife was used as an undrinkable water.
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When combined with jealousy, it defines a harsh, resentful attitude toward others. Selfish ambition.
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Sometimes translated as strife. And it refers to self -seeking. Boy, don't we live in an age of self -seeking.
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We all do it. Self has to be crucified. It has to be put to death.
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So the word, the Greek word here came to describe anyone who entered really politics or for selfish reasons sought to achieve his agenda at any cost.
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Bitter jealousy. Well, carrying on, bitter envy and strife in our hearts.
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Jesus said this in Matthew 15 .18, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart.
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And what did He say? He says that defiles the man. That's what defiles us.
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Proverbs 4 .23, keep your heart, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it is the issues of life.
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The issues of life. As we fill our hearts with God's Word and yield in loving obedience to the
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Holy Spirit, we can use our tongues and our hearts and our lives to bring delight to God and others that will be like refreshing fountains of trees.
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I don't know about you, that's the way I want to be. Well, let me say this in closing here.
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A hateful heart cannot produce loving words or works. Or an unrighteous heart cannot produce righteous words or works.
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You see, it just doesn't happen that way. That's what Jesus said. In Matthew 7 .18, I'm quoting Jesus exactly what
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He says. He says, and notice He makes it so simple even a child can understand this.
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A good tree cannot produce bad fruit.
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In verse 20, He says, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
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It's that simple. A farmer can tell you that. So then, you will know them.
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You will know them. Now actually, what is He talking about? In context, when He says, know them,
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He's talking about false teachers. He's talking about those who come about, they may be able to preach a good sermon, but Jesus says, take note the way they live.
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Take note the way they talk. Take note the way they walk. They're fruit.
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That's the fruit. Who are they? It's not how good they preach.
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It's not how well they can flatter people. Actually, the Scripture warns us against flattery.
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But Jesus says, you will know them by their fruits. Wow. I like what
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John MacArthur says in the commentary on James. Listen to what he says. Quote, there is almost a constant tension in the book of James between what is and what ought to be.
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At one point, he says, this is how it will be if you are a true believer.
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And at another point, he says, that is also how it ought to be if you are a true believer.
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Notice what he says. In other words, it's black and white with God. Notice how we kind of gray everything.
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And with gray comes compromise. But there's no gray with God.
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I like what Sproul says. When God says it, the argument's over. That's so true.
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Hey, God's in silencing the whole world. He shuts us up.
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MacArthur says, because we have been made righteous by Jesus Christ, we ought to live righteously.
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And speak righteously according to His will and by His power, end quote. In closing,
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I want to give you something to take home. I hope I can get through all these scriptures in James, but I'm taking the 20 resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, the great
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Puritan. And if you know anything about Jonathan Edwards, I'm telling you, this man was incredible.
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He was a great husband. He was a great preacher. This man was a real deal. God used him in the
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Great Awakening years ago. You just look up his biography. It's incredible.
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He was not only a powerful preacher. This man was a godly man at home. And that tells you a lot about him right there.
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I'm going to give you his 20 resolutions of the use of the tongue. He made 20 resolutions about the tongue.
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And then I'm going to tie it in to verses in James. Listen to this. Oh, to be like Jesus.
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Amen. That's what we want. We want to be like Jesus. This man right here nails it.
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Resolution number one, resolved. And you can write these down if you'd like to. I think it would pay if you can.
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Resolved. To ask God for wisdom to speak and to do so with a single mind.
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To ask God for wisdom and to speak and do so with a single mind. And you can read that in chapter 1 of James, verses 5 through 8.
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What does it say? But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach.
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It will be given to him, but he must ask in faith, without doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, and driven and tossed by the wind.
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For a man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double -minded man, unstable in all his ways.
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Resolution number two. Jonathan Edwards says this, resolved.
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To boast only in my exaltation in Christ or my humiliation in the world.
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To boast only in my exaltation in Christ and my humiliation in the world.
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James 1, 9 through 10. But the brother of humble circumstances is the glory of his high position, and the rich man is the glory in his humiliation.
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Notice how biblically minded this man is. Because like the flowering of the grass, he will pass away.
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For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass, and its flower falls off and its beauty and appearance is destroyed.
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So too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Now, the third resolution, he says, is resolved.
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I like this. It's just right to the point. To set a watch over my mouth.
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To set a watch over my mouth. Chapter and verse. Yes, sir? James 1, 13.
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Let no one say when he's tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil.
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And he himself does not tempt anyone. Notice he says, don't say it. The third resolution.
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Did I say fourth? I'm sorry. Thank you. The fourth resolution is this. Resolved to be constantly quick to hear and slow to speak.
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Resolved to be constantly. I like that. Constantly quick to hear and slow to speak.
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James 1, 19. This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
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Why? Verse 20. For the angry man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Fifth resolution.
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To learn the gospel way of speaking to the poor and the rich. To learn the gospel way.
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I like that. The gospel way of speaking to the poor and the rich. And you see this in chapter 2, verses 1 through 4.
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My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus with an attitude of personal favoritism.
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For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes and say, you sit in a good place over here, and you say to the poor man, you stand over here and sit down by my footstool.
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No personal favoritism. Sixth resolution. To speak in the consciousness of the final judgment.
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To speak in the consciousness of the final judgment. That's what Jesus said, right? But James 2, verse 12 says this.
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So speak. Notice what he says. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
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The seventh resolution. Resolved to never stand on anyone's face with words.
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Listen to the way he uses his language. Never to stand on anyone's face with words that demean, despise, or cause despair.
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James 2, 15 and 16. He says this. If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and be filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
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Even so faith, it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Next resolution.
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Resolved, number eight. Resolved to never claim a reality I do not experience.
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To never claim a reality I do not experience. Chapter and verse, yes sir?
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James 3, 14. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
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Resolution number nine. Resolved to resist quarrelsome words as marks of a bad heart.
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To resist quarrelsome words as marks of a bad heart. James 4, 1.
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What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is it not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
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Then he says in verse two, you lust and do not have so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel.
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You do not have because you do not ask. Tenth. Resolved to never speak evil of another.
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Resolved to never speak evil of another. James 4, 11. Do not speak against one another, brethren.
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He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. Resolution number 11.
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Resolved to never boast in what I will accomplish.
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To never boast in what I will accomplish. James 4, 13. Come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business or make a profit.
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Yet you do not know what is your life will be like tomorrow.
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You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Resolution number 12.
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Resolved always to speak as one who is subject to the providence of God.
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Verse 15. He says this. Instead you ought to say if the
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Lord wills. We will live and also do this or that. We're not in charge, right?
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God is. The 13th resolution he says, Edward says, resolved to never grumble.
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Wow, ouch. To never grumble knowing that the judge is at the door.
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James 5, 9. Do not complain, brethren, against one another so that you yourselves may not be judged.
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Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. You notice Edwards everything he's saying is right to the scripture?
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What a godly man. The next resolution, number 14.
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Is that right, number 14? Resolved to never allow anything but total integrity in my speech.
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Never allow anything but total integrity in my speech. James 5, 12. But above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth with any oath or any other oath.
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But let your yes is to be yes and your no, no.
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So that you may not fall under judgment. Number 15.
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Resolved to speak to God in prayer whatever I suffer. Wow.
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Talking about dying to self. But that's the right thing to do, right? To speak to God in prayer whatever
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I suffer. James 5, 13. Is anyone among you suffering?
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Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. That's actually the next resolution.
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Resolved, number 16. Resolved to sing praises to God whenever I'm cheerful.
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James 5, 13. Am I going too fast? Is everybody okay?
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Resolution number 17. Resolved to ask for the prayers of others when
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I'm sick. That's humbling, but that's the right thing to do. Resolved to ask for the prayers of others when
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I'm sick. James 5, 14. Is any among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
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Lord. Okay, next one. Number 18, is that right?
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Resolution 18. To confess it whenever I have failed.
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Whenever I've sinned, whenever I've failed, is to confess it. Is that chapter and verse? Absolutely. James 5, 16.
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Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
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Healing comes from that. Then it says the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
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Resolution number 19. Number 19, almost there. To pray for one another when
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I'm together with others in need. We do that, don't we? James 5, 16.
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Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.
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Once again, same scripture. And, resolution number 20.
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Resolved to speak words of restoration when I see another wonder.
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To speak words of restoration when I see another wonder. James 5, chapter 19,
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I'm sorry, verses 19 through 20. My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
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That's love. Well, there's some good resolutions to set before you and take home.
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Remember these. And I promise you, they're based upon scripture. Let's practice them.
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Be a doer of the Word, amen? And just not a hearer of the Word. May we be so resolved as Jonathan Edwards made those resolutions before God with all of our hearts as he did so that our works and our words will be wholesome and pleasing to God.
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May it be so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this good
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Word today. It's strong medicine, Lord, to our souls, but we owe how we need this today in our personal life.
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Lord, we know we cannot do it within our own power. It's not by might nor by power but by your Holy Spirit.
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Father, set our tongues aflame from above. Father, may we speak wholesome words.
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May it be pleasing to you, and may we realize every time we speak it's rooted in our heart.
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Lord, this is so convicting, but it helps us deal with it.
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It helps us see as we truly are, as looking ourselves into a mirror. So, Father, may we not be deceived, just going away and not doing anything about this.
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May we truly be doers of the Word and be obedient, for obedience is better than sacrifice. So, Father, we know that we are helpless in this.
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We cannot do it within our own. We need the mighty power of your Holy Spirit. Because without Jesus, we're nothing.
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Without your Son, without the power of the Spirit of God, we cannot do not one of these resolutions.
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That's based upon the Word of God. So, Father, we want to be so full of your Word and truth to be like Jesus.
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Lord, that's what we desire. Just not here in church, but Lord, Monday through Saturday.
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Lord, help us. Lord, help us. In our walk, in our talk, in all that we are.
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Because in Him we live and move and have our being. So, Father, we thank you. May our lives be truly pleasing to you, in Jesus' name.