Introduction

Good morning to you all. It is good to be back, after a very terrible week!

But I think one of the good things that I want to share with you that came out of this past week, which I hope would encourage some of you, is that truly, truly, our God lives. He’s not a figment of our imagination.

And I say this because when the news came of my sister’s passing, I knew that I was going to need help at home, family issues. And the first thing that I did was to ask the Lord to help me, to provide me with wisdom, to be able to handle days of our lives bold in a beautiful kind of issue.

But also, patience, which most of you will know, is not my best friend, gentleness, and also helps in the sense of things that need to be done.

And what happened throughout the week reminded me of us as a church. Lucille will remember there was a time when there were like, what, 10, 12 people in the church. Our roof was doing all sorts of things. And at that moment, I think we had in the bank about 250,000, more or less – it was clearly not enough to fix it! And then the Lord at that point, brought someone that we totally needed, Bernard. He was very good with construction and everything else. And by the time we finished fixing everything, we still had 250,000. Even today, maybe Lucille can explain it, but I don’t know what happened. But then fast forward, then we ran into issues of constitution and legal issues and stuff, and guess who popped up? The Lord brought Frank, and our issues were sorted.

 

We are recently dealing with issues of subdivisions and all of that and guess who the Lord brought- Mandre he knows about it! He knows what goes on. So, the letter is consistent. God brings people that we need. So, you are not here, every single one of you, because the Lord was bored and he needed to send you something.

You are here, every single one of you, because this church needs you. It needs your gifts. It needs what God has given you. He wants you to come and apply here. So, you are not just a number. You are not just a brother and sister, but you are a gift to them. And we thank the new gifts that have come in and the ones that will come. But remember that you are not here by mistake. You are here because the Lord knows the gifts, he’s given you that are needed here.

But going back to the same thing that happened – Everything I needed was provided. I needed people to help. The Lord brought them in abundance. Lots and lots of youngsters, who for some reason all of a sudden decided to behave, to listen, to follow instructions. I needed a cow and all of a sudden, I had all sorts of information from everywhere. I needed people to help with the preparation. Those people were there. I ended up with me. The thing that I did was sit down and direct.

That’s all I did. Sit down and direct. He provided in abundance what I needed. And I could see it.

I could feel it. I could use it. And it’s undeniable what has happened. From people I do not know at all that decided to come and help. And what’s worse, on Friday night it rained. Who works in the rain?

But the people that my wife found and the people that were surrounding me. We stayed in the rain. None of them left. None of them even thought of it.

If this is not a true testimony that our God is not someone in the Bahamas and letting us feel that he’s here with us. And when we ask for help, if he’s according to his will, he will provide. And yes, sometimes the answer is no, but even then, we praise him because he…And then I thought I could…My sister was not a church person. So, I thought I could handle the funeral. But I was actually crazy. But eventually we found someone who could do the funeral. And in the end of his sermon, He obviously started saying to people, if you need marriage, raise your hand. If you need work, raise your hand. Here’s marriage for you. Here’s work for you.

Now, you guys know me very well. I was taken aback by that, but I couldn’t do anything. But there are people who left there that day, believing that the words that were spoken by that pastor were true! That some frog is going to jump in front of them, they’re going to kiss that frog, and this beautiful male handsome man is going to pop up, and they’re going to live happily ever after. And some CV will be answered that they’ve dropped some because of what he said. And if that does not happen.

Unfortunately, most people don’t come back and say to that, pastor, “You lied! “They say God cannot be trusted. Because God promised me a marriage that day. God promised me a wedding, a job that day, and God did not. They don’t blame the person.

Brothers and sisters, what we say with our mouths has a significant impact on people. And once the words have left a mouth, you can’t select them and press delete. They are there. They are out there. And they are going to achieve what was intended. If it’s pain, they will cause pain. If it’s to build someone up, they’ll build them. But at this point, I want to clarify one important fact.

And this is a verse in the scripture that says, the tongue has the power of life and I know a lot of people believe that statement very little. And today, as we speak about the tongue, I will explain and get into deeper discussion about what that verse actually meant.

James is writing to people who are persecuted, who are socially sidelined, that have left Jerusalem in the rush, and they have nothing. They are poor and he’s encouraging them, because his concern was that they were drifting away from what the Lord has taught them, because of this persecution, because of this pressure, because of the things that were happening to them – and they were becoming more like the world.

So, he’s writing to them to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You are not handling trials well, you are not handling temptations well. You are not living according to the word. You are saying things, but you are living something else.

And then we come to James chapter 3, where he zooms in on something that is already mentioned in chapter 1 as it was.

So, take your Bibles with me and turn to James chapter 3… Jacobus, hoofstuk 3!

Is it? I’m right.

James chapter 3, and we’ll be looking at verses 1 to 12.

And the title of this sermon Is The Significance, The Importance of a Controlled Speech.

The Significance of The Importance of a Controlled Speech.

And I’ll give you 3 reasons why you need to have listened to your mom when he said, touch what you say…. Three reasons why you need to control what you say.

Three reasons why you need to think twice before what comes out of your mouth actually comes out.

Prayer

But before we do that, let’s pray…

Father God, I thank you once more for this privilege and honor to come and just listen to your Word. Father God can only achieve things in our life, renew us, only if you have prepared our hearts. So that we are able to accept this Word, we are able to understand this Word, we are able to live out this Word.

And as Bongani said, we are able to teach Your way, Father God, may they…these words that come out of my mouth not be mine, but be yours.

And my brothers and sisters do not see me but see you and hear you speak to them.

In Jesus’ name.

LSB Explanation

I will read from James chapter 3 from verse 1 to 12. I’m reading from the LSB.

Now again, let me clarify.

I see you.

I was also reading from the LSB and ESV. We did in the past, say that the English Standard Version is the sort of the go-to Bible that the church, we are still saying that.

However, the LSB came and it was much, much, much, much better than any other translation we think of. It took us time, me and Karl, to come to this conclusion that the LSB is actually a better, much simpler translation to understand.

However, if you have the ESV, it’s fine. Don’t go and buy another one.

If you have the new American Standard Bible, you’re still fine.

If you have the new King James, you’re still fine.

If you can read the old King James, you’re still fine as well.

So, you don’t have to go and buy another translation.

Translations are simply a different view of translating the same text and there’s reasons why they translate.

Please do not go and translation simply because we are reading from the Legacy Standard.

I hope that clears up the difference.

 

Reading

Okay, let’s read. James chapter 3 from verse 1-12.

Do not many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways.

If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he’s the perfect man, able to brittle the entire body as well.

Now if you put the bits into the horse’s mouth so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

Look at the ships also. Though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot wills.

So also, the tongue. It’s a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.

Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the cost of our existence, and is set on fire by hell.

For every kind of beast and bears, reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

But no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessings and cursing.

My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a fountain pour forth from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

Can a fig tree, mother, produce olives or a vine produce figs?

Nor can saltwater produce fresh water.

 

Proposition

I’ve divided this into 3 main points which give us three reasons why we need to control our time or what we say.

• The first one is if we can control what we say, we can control the rest of our body.
• What we say has the power to destroy.
• And thirdly, what we say must be consistent with what we possess.

I’ll give you just a minute, write that down.

 

Sermon

1^st Point

Okay, let’s look at the first one.

If we can control what we say, we can control the rest of our body.

That is from verses one to the first part.

And it reads, do not many of you become teachers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he’s a perfect man, able to bridle the entire body as well. Now, if you put bits into the horse’s mouth so that they will obey us, we direct the entire body as well.

Look at the ships also. Though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot wills. So also, the tongue is a small part of the boat, and yet it boasts of great things. That’s just the first part I want us to do.

 

Now, just as a bit of a background,

Remember James chapter 1, verse 26. Don’t turn there. It will be up there.

James said this. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, while not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Just as a reminder, in this verse, because we’ve gone through this, but in this verse, James is speaking about someone who says, I live in obedience to Christ but lives in sin. I live in obedience to Christ, I’m a Christian, but his life does not reflect it.

James uses an example of this person who says, I live in obedience to Christ, but cannot control his tongue, cannot control what he says, cannot control his speech. The things that come out of their mouth are evil and foul language.

“Oh, dis net n grap!”… Just a joke.

That’s what you hear normally.

Oh, I know what I’m about to say is wrong, but…Why do you say that?

What comes out of their mouth is not peace.

It’s not kind.

It’s not gentle.

It’s not love.

It’s a pattern of life.

James says this person’s religion is worthless. If he thinks he’s a Christian, he’s deceiving himself.

How can a person who claim to be living a life pleasing to God, but only speaks evil and foul?

Hy vloek almal!

 

Clearly then this person is deceiving themselves. James is just using speech or what we say as an example of the contradiction between the claim and the life.

Now in chapter 3, this very point of what we say, James expands. Now there are some words that we need to understand that will help us understand this passage.

And the first one is the word brethren in verse two.

And that means to hold in, check or to put under control. To hold in check or to put under control.

And a bit – You’ll see there in that verse it says bits; it’s a curb or a restraint put into the mouths of horses to restrain them.

I’ve got a picture of that…That thing there that you put into the mouth of the horse…. That’s a bit.

That’s what you use to control the horse. Not that I know anything about that.

I’ve seen YouTube!

So, you put those things in the mouth, and the horse goes where you say. I also have a picture of a rudder…

I think it’s the next one…. There.

Now on a massive ship, apparently that’s what controls the direction, the speed. As small as it is. If you think of the Titanic or the MSC cruise, that small little thing the pilot uses to control that.

So now that we’ve got a picture, and I have, well, this was mainly for me, quite honestly, to have this picture of what James is doing.

Well, in the past, when James was writing, they were not as fancy, but they had a similar function.

Now, let’s look at James 3, chapter 1.

It says, do not many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment. Focusing on do not many of you become teachers. James is not saying that none of us must become.

Let’s just start.

James is not forbidding people to become teachers. The Lord knows how much we need more elders. So, James is not prohibiting more elders. That’s not what he’s saying. But what James is saying is that not everyone must want to become a teacher. It shouldn’t be something that everyone wants- Why?

As you can understand that then and even now, there is a temptation to want to become a teacher because of the importance placed on it. Rabbis were almost worshipped. They had high places in society. Now a teacher would be on the same level as a rabbi. Now if you were that, obviously it came with all the perks.

James is saying, it is becoming a teacher based on this ambition or status that James is cautioning. Don’t become a teacher simply because you want the status that comes with it. And I can assure you, there is none.

But if you think they, and you want to become a teacher because of them, James is saying, no – and you will see why.

Then he says, “Do not many of you become teachers, my brothers?

That’s very important because this word, my brothers, indicates that James is not speaking to some false Christians or false pastors or false teachers. This is not about false teaching.

He’s speaking to his fellow brothers and sisters, those whom he recognizes as being slaves of Christ. And then he moves on.

He says, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment. The reason James is cautioning this ambition or desire to become a teacher based on status is that those who are teachers will receive a stricter or greater judgment or condemnation. Notice that James uses the first-person plural, we. For the first time he identifies himself as a teacher. And this caution also goes to him.

James is simply saying that teachers have been given much responsibility and from them, much accountability will be demanded. Too much is given, to whom much is given is mature.

Those who are given this position to teach the word of God will be held strictly accountable for how they use their words, specifically in the context of teaching. Now, Zod, I practice pronouncing, Zod, I give up…. Z-O-D-H-I-T-S.

It’s the person quoted as having said the following.

If we teach because of the desire to show off without leaving Christ before we preach him, the judgment of God will be a severe condemnation. But if our teaching is motivated by a sincere and honest love for the Lord and the edification of those who hear us, then we can welcome this judgment, for it will mean great.

Verse 1, therefore, is simply a warning to all not to want to become a teacher, because of the status, rather it must be that they love the Lord, His word. This extends to any position in the church. Your motive for saving, as an elder, as a deacon, as an administrator, in hospitality, anywhere, in maintenance, it must not be because you want people to lose. It must not be because I need to notice, or I need to know. It’s because you love him. And you want him to notice. It has nothing to do with me. I’m not the judge. I’m not going to stand in the judgment seat and give you the reward. The person you need to impress is him. So, this extends to that, only about teaching and you don’t have to be an elder or a pastor.to teach. He’s teaching at home.

Teaching amongst women alone when you have your ladies meeting. That teaching. All teaching positions in the church needs to be done for the love of God – not for the state.

And then verse 2 gives a reason for what James is saying in verse one. And it reads, for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he’s a perfect man, able to bridle their entire body as well. To stumble means to tap or to do a wrong thing.

James makes an argument that all of us will agree with, and that is we all sin in many different ways. think the best scenario of those who have cars is that if you meet the taxi driver in front of you, you are bound to sin. Either in thought or even in words. Hopefully not in action that I normally see people do on them. But we sin in many ways. We are not always gentle, are we?

We are not always loving, are we? We are not always obedient.

So, we sin in many ways. None of us are immune to sin.

First John chapter 1 verse 10 says the following. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar. And his word is not in us. Take note that John says in us, including himself- he’s an apostle.

Romans 3 verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 3, 9 to 11, what then?

Are we better? Not at all.

For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one.

There is none who understand and there is none who seek God.

Brothers and sisters, we all sin, including the apostles.

James is saying that none of us are immune to sin, and we should be careful in simply wanting to become teachers based on state, because we will be charged.

Note again, the first person to have pronoun, we, which shows that James does not exclude himself from sin. He also sinned.

How many times have you seen that you came to me and said, “Did you really say that after I’ve stopped preaching?

You see here in WBC we hold whoever is behind each and every one of them holds whoever is preaching accountable. You don’t get to come here and tell everyone that God has a friend…. Wonderful.

The minute I walk here, Brenda will never allow me to pass. She’s going to say to me, what on earth?

And she knows she can do it because we hold each other accountable.

But that’s only us. It’s not only us. God will hold. And then he continues, says, if anyone does not stumble, he’s a perfect man, able to the entire body as well.

Now, the if conditional clause, this is for everyone, the if conditional clause used here by James is a first-class condition, meaning that James is saying, let us say for the sake of argument that there are some of you who don’t sin. I’m not saying it’s true, but that’s for the argument’s sake.

Let’s say that some of you really do not sin. Then you who do not sin would be a perfect man, or a perfect man. If you do not sin, he is perfect. If anyone does not sin ever in what he says, then that person, perfect, being able to control his body.

Perfect does not mean in this context that the individual is sinless, a goal that we, neither of us, can reach. The adjective rather describes as having attained the goal of spiritual maturity.in the achievement of full self-control.

Our speech, or what we say, is the most difficult thing to control. And if we can control that, we should be able to have reached such a Christian maturity that we can control our bodies as well.

And James says, if you are at that stage, you are perfect. Not that you are sinless.

By controlling our bodies, this means that we are able to restrain our bodies or prevent our bodies from sinning, as well as to guide our bodies to do what is pleasing to God.

But remember that James said, if there are people like that who can control what they say, those are perfect. None of us.

Now I’m going to copy what that pastor. Anyone here who knows exactly what they say every time, never regrets it. Please raise your hand.

There are things I’ve said to my wife that sometimes I say to her, you’re crazy. Still be. And some of you, of course, also remember something you’ve said.

Some things I’ve said still, you can remember things that you said to each other, husband and wife, your colleagues, friends, things that you wish you never said, but you said. I met just on the side.

I met a person who works with my younger sister, the one who’s still alive. And she’s been saying to my sister, younger sister, that she knows me. Now, finally, after about four or five years, I’ve met this person.

And she said this to me, and I told my wife, “You promised me marriage. When did I do that? In middle school?

. Why did I even know what marriage is in middle school?

But I did…. Apparently, I did. Those words came out of my mouth!

I regret them now. Too late!

Oops!

But she was very genuine that I promised her marriage. I didn’t even know what my name was. I was still young, in middle school. But I said those words.

So, we are not perfect. – and I lied!

Obviously.

I didn’t marry her.

None of us have reached such spiritual maturity that we can always control what we say. We say hateful, evil, unkind things to others. We lie, and so forth.

So, if you’re going to be a teacher, take note that your job requires speaking all the time. And the chances of sinning through speech equally increases. And the more sin, the more accountability.

So do not want to become a teacher simply because of faith, but think carefully of what the job requires and do it for the love. This may apply to teachers, but it also applies to each and every one. We also sin from time to time. Therefore, we are not perfect.

So, we must put an effort by the grace of God, because there’s no way that we will be able to do this. It’s by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit; we must strive to control what we say every time. Because if you can master this, we would have reached the maturity spiritually that would allow us too also.

What comes out of our mouth reflects the level of spirituality. Matthews 12.37 says the following.

For by your words, you will be justified. And by your words, you will be gone.

That should really wake all of us.

James 1 to 6, I’ve already read it. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, while not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. If what comes out of your mouth does not reflect God.

You may not be a Christian. You may be deceiving yourself.

Matthew 7:21 might be awaiting you, where Jesus said, I never knew you.

Now, in the next two verses, James gives 2 illustrations of his point.in relation to what we say or our speech.

The first illustration in verse three is about how we use bits. Remember bits – to control a horse?

We put bits in the mouth of the horse, and we are able to control the entire body.

The mouth is this small, but when we tell it or turn it or push it, I don’t know what you do there, the whole body follows. There are people who can even make it jump. I don’t know how they do.

The second illustration in verse 4 is about a ship. It’s a very small component of a ship, but despite stones, this rudder is used by the captain to control the direction of the ocean, 1000 times its size.

And then James applied this to the destination. He says, so also, the tongue is a small part of the boat and yet boasts of grain.

In the application of this point, James says in verse 5 that the tongue may be a very small part of the body, and it is, the mouth, very small. But it boasts of many things.

What we say, although through a small part of the body, has the power to cause harm. Wars have been stuttered through what people say.

The killings in ?? is what people say. What comes out of our mouth can land us in jail or in the grave. Jail or grave. Anything, it can cause pain.

It can cause divorces. It can cause wars.

Now there’s a story of a father who repeatedly told his son that you would never amount to anything. Have you heard of that?

That is not so useless as your power. The powers that are always useless. You will never amount to anything. Burdened by this…label.

The son struggled and eventually made choices that fulfilled his father’s prophecy. Years later, the father realized the damage he had done and tried to apologize. But the scars remained.

Proverbs 18:21, the tongue has the power of life and death. We need to choose our words wisely to build others up.

Now, when the Bible says the tongue has a powerful life, it does not mean that I can say to Bongani, die, or leave and dead people. No, it simply says that the tongue, through what you say, has the power to lift.

Reflect on a pastor who once shared a hateful comment made during a sermon about a struggling parish. Although unintentional, the words led to deep things of unworthiness.

After realizing the damage done, the pastor publicly acknowledged his mistake, showing how important it is to our brief. Think of when you were criticized heavily, harshly. How did it affect you?

Like mending shattered glass, it takes immense effort to rebuild confidence and trust afterwards of words of harshness. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, which includes choosing and encouraging.

One thing that I have learned as I grew in this is that there’s always another way of saying something. I think me and Bongani, that’s the lesson that we are going, because we are very blunt. Very blunt.

I never saw the reason why I should call a spade a garden tool. It’s a spade. But sometimes, saying it’s a garden tool serves to uplift your brother or your sister.

You don’t have to be harsh all the time.

You don’t have to be blunt all the time.

You still have to tell the truth in love.

The words from Lucille one day, she said to me, it’s not how you say it. It’s how I receive it.

What do we stop? The tongue is a very small part of it. But through the tongue, we can say things that can destroy people’s lives. It is very important that we control what we say, because it can cause untold pain and destruction, as we will now see.

2^nd Point

What we see as the power to destroy, point #2 gets shorter.

James 3:5-8 reads, so also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold how great a forest is set aflame by a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, the whole world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body and sets on fire the cause of wisdom and is set on fire by hell.

For every kind of beast and birds of reptiles and creatures is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

Let’s look at that first part.

Behold how great a forest is that are flamed by, such as small fires. And the town is a fire.

Now, in the second part of verse 5, James compares the destructive power of a small fire in a forest.

And you guys know this. If you’ve seen Cape Town fires or Australian fires, it’s 9 out of 10 someone just smoking and throwing the but outside the car. And the whole mountain, houses and everything gets destroyed by that small.

But James says that destructive power of that small fire, the tongue has the same destructive power, although it’s small.

As destructive as a small fire is in a forest, so is the tongue in a peasant’s life. A small fire can destroy the whole forest. Likewise, what we say can destroy not only our lives, but the lives of us.

Proverbs 16: 27, a vile man digs up, and the words on his lips are like scorching fire.

So, in our words, what he says is compared to the destructive nature of fire. He destroys by what he says.

Psalm 120 verse 2, O Yahweh, deliver my soul from a lying lip, from a deceitful tongue. Deliver me from saying things that are not pleasing to you.

 

And then James continues. He says, the tongue, the very world of unrighteousness.

Now, I like how Alistair Begg explains this way, and thank you for ever introducing me to Alistair Begg.

I love him. I love him very much. In preparation of Sermons, I always listen to him laugh. See how far I have.

He’s very good. And I would encourage everyone. The very world of unrest is a very difficult phrase in the Greek. Everyone goes all over the place.

But Alistair Begg explains this phrase this way. He says that this verse means, or this phrase, means that every evil in the world finds its ally at the top. Every evil in the world began with what was said, or is associated, or is supported, or is encouraged by what is said.

How did we justify homosexuality? It’s a loving relationship with people.

How do we justify abortion?

Well, if the mom is not ready, then he shouldn’t have to be a child.

Or you can justify any evil. It is the very world of anxiousness. It is where it finds its ally. Then he continues to describe the tongue. He says, the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body.

Guess who supports James? Jesus himself.

Matthew 15:11.Jesus said, it is not what enters the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth.

Matthew 15:18, but the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and those defile a man.

Proverbs 18:3, the one who guards his mouth keeps his soul. The one who opens wide his lips comes to what you say what you say reflects what you say reflects your level of spiritual maturity and what you say reflects even whether you are safe if I walked in here and every second word, blip. When you watch a movie and the swear words, the people speak and you hear blip, blip, blip, blip, blip.

And then you watch this movie that took me out of Disney Channel forever. I can’t remember. There were so many blips in that thing you wouldn’t believe. I think there were more blips than we.

Now, if I walked in here and ever had to bleep every second word, I say, would you still believe I’m a boss?

No ways! No ways!

If my wife walked in here, crying every now and then, Brenda, please pray for me. My husband is just harsh with his words.

He’s not loving.

And it’s a daily pattern.

At some point Brenda is going to call me and say, brother, we need to talk. What you say reflects who you are.

The words that come out to your wife, out of your mouth, to your wife, to your husband, to your mom, to your parents, reflect who you are.

If you lie, you are a liar….If you lie, you are a liar!

If you steal, you are a thief!

If you are unfaithful, you are an adulterer! There is no middle ground.

What you say, what you condone through your mouth reflects what.

Romans 10 verse 9 says, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. It takes you confessing with your mouth.

We believe you! Every single person that has stood here, including my fellow brother and sister, Karl asked them, do you profess Jesus as Lord?

And they said, “Yes.”

And because of what they say, we accept that they are Christians.

But again, if what comes out of your mouth does not reflect what God wants, then maybe you are not, or you are very, very immature Christian.

And then James says the following and sets on fire the cause of our existence.

This simply, in a simple term, it just brings other.in our lives. I remember this blunder, one of the places I worked at. And I was in charge of compliance, safety, and all of that. And we had this contractor who was doing very well, very, very well. I never even have to worry about it. And one day they had a flash. Engineers and electrical people here will go when you work inside a panel, electrical panel. Sometimes things go wrong and things explode.

And this young man’s face was burnt. And at that moment, I mean, at that moment, you can understand that everyone is sad, fearful. They just need encouraging ways. And I came to that CEO of that company and I said, you better get a good one. That was true.

It was at the right time. That man needed my support. He needed to assure it that I would be there for him. And I told him to be there. Where is he?

And from then on, my relationship with that company just soured. I couldn’t get it back. It doesn’t matter what I did. Because that person could not trust me. They could not. They could not rely on me. In that time, I was not a Christian. My response was, I could care less. I’ll just get on with that. But the bottom line is, I said things to that person I shouldn’t have.

Even if it was true. It doesn’t matter. My relationship for the rest of that

This can happen in our families. What you say, let us. And that was not a grap, sometimes it does not help.

It was just a joke; it did not help. You said those words; they are out there.

And James continues. And he set on fire. Now you want to know the source of all this evil in our tongues.

He’s Satan himself.

He’s the one. You know, I always say this to my wife. This is how the devil functions. And he did this to you. He comes to you, and he looks at you and he zooms into your pride. He doesn’t find anything in your pride. Maybe let’s say that you’ll come here and say to me, you know what’s happening?

Why are you letting that go?

Or the wife is not here. She’ll never know. She said to Eve, you’ll be like God if you eat. So, she will use…the pride, the lust, the desires. And he will put all the reasons in front of you why you should do it. And once you do it, he stands back and lets you suffer. That’s how he works.

That is the reason why that man, that angel, whatever he is, he’s the most evil being ever created. Because you see people now realizing what they’ve done or what they’ve said in tears, families falling apart, children not even parents. And he’s standing there saying grave here.

When you wanted to do this, you just saw it’s so nice that you should raise your hand against your wife. Why?

Because she spoke to you and affected your pride. And you just want to strangle her. And now when she’s dead, oops, all of a sudden that desire doesn’t make sense.

So next time someone hurts you, really hurts you, and you feel like giving it to them through what you say, think about this. The source behind that.

Who do you serve?

Are you going to do his will?

Because what you say reflects who you are saving. That’s a story that I always give.

A man who wanted to divorce his wife came to the pastor and said, I don’t love my wife anymore. I want her gone.

And the pastor said, well, the Bible says, you cannot love her as your wife. You will love her as Jesus loved you. No, I can’t even do that. Well, you will love her as your neighbour – not even that!

Well, you will love her as your enemy. Love, you will love her. The word of God has standard that you love.

That man has no choice but to love. We have no choice but to serve God in what we say.

We cannot even for a minute entertain the devil in what we say. Think about the harm that you bring to people by what comes up.

Think about it.

And James says, this tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. The tongue being restless means it is unstable, cannot be trusted. It’s notoriously unreliable, constantly prone to saying things that are not supposed. The deadly poison simply compares it to the deadly fact of a snake’s poison. What we say is as dangerously poisonous as a black mamba biting.

We need to…. We need to.

Through what we say, we have the power to destroy lives. We have the power to uplift people.

We have the power to bring life into people’s lives, or death into people in the metaphorical sense. What are we going to choose to do?

And in verse 7 and 8, James says, For every kind of beasts and birds of reptiles and creatures of earth is tamed and has been tamed.

Look at verse 8, but no one, without the help of the Holy Spirit, without the grace of God, we simply do not have the ability to control. We are bound to stumble; we are bound to say things that are. The only way is to repent of Christ who in turn will give you the ability to control and it will be a gradual. You’re not going to be perfect overnight, but you’ll be perfect and reach full perfection in his heart. Without Jesus in control of our lives, we can accept that we’ll simply never be able to control.

3^rd Point

And the last point, very short, James only makes one point.

What we say must be consistent. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessings and cursings. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a fountain pour forth from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

Can a fig tree of my brothers produce olives of wine or just figs? Nor can salt pond yield fresh water.

That’s really one point. Please be consistent.

If you are a Christian, let Christian needs come. Speak loudly. That pleases God. Sometimes you want to get back. You can just see Lucille saying, I want to get back at you.

Or maybe Juna saying, Frank, today I’ve had it with you. And I’m going to say something to Frank that I know will hurt him. I know…Not because it’s a mistake. I have planned this. I know this is something I saw in Frank’s life and I’m going to say it and I’m going to rub it in his face because I want to get back at it. And that day, Franks loses it, goes to the bar, drinks himself, gets an accident…Well done….

I always say this, when you come home, you’ve probably met all sorts of people. All you want is to come home to a wife, you come home from work, you’ve been meeting people who say all these things. When you come home to your husband, you want to hear, I’m here.

Or you can hear, you deserved it. Even if you did, it’s not what you say. It’s how you say it and when you say it. Think about it.

When I leave you with this story, I think I have said it, that the woman went to a sample and said that my husband beats me up every day when he comes home. What do you do?

No, nothing.

He comes home and all of a sudden, he’s the punching bag. He said, wait a minute, I’m coming back. So, the sangoma goes behind, takes a bottle, puts water inside and stuff, gives him the woman.

Let’s go home.

Every time your husband walks through the gate, and stuff don’t swallow in the mouth. And she did that the first day. The husband came, no fight….

Second day, no fight….

After a month, he goes back to the sangoma.

Thank you. It’s been a month.

And he says, you did that every day.

He says, yes.

Good.

Now, take that water, throw it out. Just keep quiet.

I hope it sends a message. Please don’t get me wrong. There is nothing that justifies me. But the words that you say can trigger weak men. Watch what you say.

Build your husband.

Be a Proverbs 31.

Build your wife.

Build your children.

Don’t let them down.

Yes, they are “stout” – just like this one! But if I run him down, I destroy him forever. And he’ll never wake up.

I hope James’ message came. Control what you say. You destroy him.

Closing Prayer

Let us pray…

Father God,

It’s hard to hear some of these words, especially knowing that I myself, gentleness, not very strong point.

So, it speaks to me first.

Words that come out of our mouth, no matter how true they are, no matter how just, we still need to control.

But we can only do this to your grace, to your help.

And I pray this morning for all of us that you give us the ability to be kind in our way, to be gentle, to build up, knowing that in the end, we will have to account for what came up.

In Jesus name.