Cornerstone PLUS

Please have a seat. And if you'd like to turn to James chapter 3, so on page 1214, in your Blue church bibles, and then Daryl is going to come and preach the word of god to us from James chapter 3. So Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder. Wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind but no human being contain the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.

With the tongue, we praise our lord and father, and with it, we curse human beings who have been made in god's likeness out of the same mouth, come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, This should not be. Can both freshwater and saltwater flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs, neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Well, good evening.

My name is Daryl, and I'm 1 of the members of this church tonight, we're going to be looking at the first part of James chapter 3, which was just read for us. This year at contagious nano camps. We're gonna be teaching through the book of James. So hopefully this will help us directly tonight. But also should help us to pray for the young people who are gonna be hearing some of these messages over the summer.

So please do keep the Bible open in front of you, and let me pray for us before we begin. Heavenly father your word is powerful and your words is good. Thank you that you are good to us. You are kind and merciful to us. You don't give us the punishment we deserve.

You're gracious to us. You give us wonderful things that we don't deserve. We pray that your powerful word would be at work in us tonight to make us more like Jesus in whose name we pray, amen. Well, perhaps you've seen the stories in the news recently about the Moreland fires in the northwest of England. The fires have been burning for more than 10 days, and fire crews have set up an exclusion zone covering 3 square miles to keep people away.

Firefighters from around the country have been working with soldiers to do what they can to stop the spread. 2 men have been arrested on suspicion of arson But at the moment, we don't know how or what started the fires. And in tonight's reading, James says, consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. Because that's all it takes in this hot weather, isn't it? A tiny spark, a cigarette, a matchstick, maybe a disposable barbecue left behind.

Something tiny. Miles and miles of destruction. Whole ecosystems wiped out. And James says that our words can be a bit like that. It doesn't take much.

Does it? To cause a lot of damage. You don't have to say a lot to really offend someone, do you? Our words are powerful. With just a few well chosen words, you can either make somebody's day or you can ruin it.

Words have great power. And yet there's such small things, really, just a few vibrations in the air, just a few letters on a page. But they can direct the whole course of a nation. Governments can topple over just a few words. And when you mix words with pride, you get a particularly dangerous combination.

I wonder how many wars have been started because 1 king said a few harsh words to another. That king doesn't like it, and the next thing you know all out war. Hundreds of people have been killed. And when you think about it like that, it's a miracle that anybody says anything at all. You'd think we'd be terrified of speaking.

And by the time we're finished reading James 3 tonight, we might well be tempted to leave here thinking, I better work very hard to control my mouth next week. But the passage tonight doesn't actually say that. Instead, James says no human being contain the tongue. You can't do it. There's something wrong.

And I think he wants us to look at our speech this evening. And as we look at it, we'll try to diagnose what's gone wrong with us. He's a bit like 1 of those doctors in the eighties before medical science became advanced. You used to go to the doctor, didn't you? And no matter what was wrong with you, they'd ask you to stick out your tongue and say, And they tell you what was wrong just by looking at your tongue.

Yep. You're gonna need your leg cut off. I can tell that just by looking at your tongue. And that's what we're gonna try and do tonight. Find out what's wrong by looking in your mouth.

Here's the big idea. Our words show us what we're really like. Our words show us what we're really like. We've got 2 points and then a few conclusions. And we're gonna finish slightly earlier tonight so that we can have time to discuss it together afterwards.

But firstly, let's look at the small but powerful words. The small but powerful words versus 1 2 8. Have a look at verse 3. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example.

Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, They're steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts. James gives us 2 illustrations to help us see how a small thing can control such a big thing. First, the horse Now, the world record heaviest shire horse was Samsung from Bedford in 18 46. He weighed over 1 and a half tons and he looked a bit like this.

And James says you can turn Samsung and make him obey you just by putting a small bit of metal in his mouth and pulling on the reins if you're brave enough. The second example James gives us is the ship. Now the heaviest cargo ship I found on Google weighs 600000 tons. And in James Day, they were driven along by strong winds. But even with today's engines, If the pilot wants to turn around, James says these ships can be steered by a very small rudder.

Each time something tiny is in control of something very large. And he says it's just like the tongue. It's physically very small, but what tremendous effects it can boast of? It might be tiny but what great power it has for good or evil. Now have a look at the second half of verse 5.

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire. A world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. The problem is the tongue has great power for destruction.

With just 3 or 4 hurtful words, you can spoil someone's whole week. In the World Cup. If you simply insult the goalkeeper, he punches you, gets sent off, and that's it. His entire countries out of the competition and they'll never let him forget it. It only takes 3 seconds to say something nasty or rude, and we'll replay those same words over and over in our minds for ages.

Relationships break down. And sometimes we never let it go. We never make it right. Or because of a few nasty words. That's how powerful they can be.

James says the tongue is a world of evil. It corrupts the whole body and sets the whole course of one's life on fire. It's like the enemy within. And James says the source of these evil words come straight from hell. But it's not the tongue itself.

That's the problem. It's not like you can cut out your tongue and everything's gonna be fine. Even if you did actually do that, you would still experience the effect of this evil influence in your life. What comes out of our mouths is simply evidence of what is on the inside. Our words show us what we're really like.

It's those attitudes and thoughts that are vocalized by the tongue that corrupt us. It's a bit like what Jesus says in Mark chapter 7 I've put these words on the screen for you. What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within out of a person's heart that evil thoughts come. Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, Greed malice deceit, lewdness, envy slander, arrogance and folly All these evils come from inside and defile a person.

It's very similar to what we see here in James. Out of our mouths come evil words from the heart. And Jesus said that's what defiles us. It's the human condition that every part of our lives is affected by sin. The heart, the mind, and the mouth.

True, we're not as bad as we could be, but there's no part of us that escapes the effects of our broken world. James says this influence on our words comes from hell from the enemy. Now have a look at verse 7 in James chapter 3. He says all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed. And they have been tamed by mankind, but no human being contain the tongue.

It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. It's incredible, isn't it? We can ride elephants. We can farm crocodile. We can go and visit lions and gorillas at Chestington zoo, but we can't keep silent when we might hurt someone we love.

And sometimes the things we say at home in private, we think no 1 will ever know. So why not just go for it? Right? But at the end of May, a family's private conversation was recorded and sent to 1 of their contacts by their Amazon echo device. I love this story.

It was a series of accidental and unfortunate steps that shouldn't have ever happened, but it quickly went out of control. Listen to Amazon's hilarious explanation. Echo, that's the device, woke up due to a word in background conversations sounding like Alexa. Then the subsequent conversation was heard as a send message request. At which point, Alexa said out loud, to whom.

At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customer's contact list. Alexa then asked out loud, contact name. Right? Alexa then interpreted background conversation as, right. As unlikely as this string of events is, we're evaluating options to make this case even less likely.

Now fortunately, the couple recorded were only talking about which kind of hardwood flooring to put in the kitchen. And they weren't discussing the preacher's terrible sermon behind his back, but you can imagine the horror, can't you? You're safe at home, having a good old moan about so and so's problems. You're enjoying telling your wife all about it. Went to your horror, you look down at your smartphone recording the whole thing and sending it off as a voice message to so and so's mobile.

It's such a small thing, but it could cause devastating destruction. Our words show us what we're really like. Now, I don't know. Many of us might think, though, actually, we're not that bad, really, We don't consider ourselves to be gossips, but just imagine they published a book with every word you've ever said and then gave a copy to all your best friends. I'm not sure we'd have any friends left.

Would we? Our words show us. They show people what we really think, and it's not good, is it? We often say things we regret, even Christians. And by looking at the hurt and damage our words have caused, we can see how thoroughly sinful we are on the inside.

Now, this is why James starts his chapter with verse 1. Have a look. He says not many of you should become teachers. My fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways.

Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect able to keep their whole body in check, but none of us can say that we're perfect and none of us can say that we're never at fault in what we say. So not many of us should be teachers. Why? James says we all stumble in many ways, but teachers will be judged more strictly. Will be judged by the people with a greater amount of criticism and will have to give an account to god according to what we know, which if you're a teacher is supposed to be a lot.

Now I'm not sure I even want to finish this sermon after that, but I'm gonna try and keep going. But it's true, isn't it? Leaders do have a greater amount of responsibility, don't they? They really have to watch their words very carefully because everyone is listening. And when everyone is listening, there's a good chance that you're not going to please everyone.

And that's 1 of the reasons that the president of the USA is making such a splash. Everyone is listening to every single word that he says and it's not always popular. See how diplomatic that was? We all stumble in many ways, but when leaders and teachers get something wrong, the consequences can be much more serious. And bible teachers have a great responsibility to speak the truth because they're teaching god's words And they're of much greater importance.

But fortunately god's words are good words. They're always good. Even when they're difficult, like tonight, and they show us our sin. But god's words are not like ours. They're always right and always helpful.

And if it's true that our words show us what we're really like, Then it's also true that god's words show us what he's really like, and they show us that he is gracious and merciful. And the good news is that Jesus came into the world to save sinners like us. He is the only 1 who is never at fault in what he says. They're small, but powerful words in the bible, and they help us to become more like Jesus. Our second point this evening is to look at the praising and cursing mouth.

The the second point, the praising and cursing mouth, verses 9 to 11. And James says there's 2 things that come out of the mouths of Chris people. Have a look at verse 9. With the tongue, we praise our lord and father. And with it, we curse human beings who have been made in god's likeness.

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Come both freshwater and saltwater flow from the same spring. So you get praising and cursing from the same mouth. And James says this should not be, but it is.

It's a bit like when you're having your cup of tea after the service and somebody knocks you as you go by and the tea just sort of splurges out all over the floor. Your arm gets jogged and there it all is just out in the open for everyone to see. In the same way, the mouth is the place where things come out in the open when somebody pushes you. The mouth is the place where the mind comes out in public. For everyone to see our words show us what we're really like.

Our praises to god come out of the mouth, and our curses come out of the same mouth directed towards people made in god's image. And so our praise to god gets devalued by the cursing of god's image bearers. Our words show us how we really feel. And the way we really feel about god is reflected in our attitude towards other people made in his image. And speaking badly of others, dishonors the god who made them.

And James said this shouldn't be but it is because it's another symptom of our double mind, more evidence of the evil inside. So let's draw out some applications from this part of the letter. Firstly, James is not saying that you simply need to try harder to get a grip on our loose tongues. He does make a similar point earlier in chapter 1 where he talks about those who don't keep a tight rein on their tongues. But here, the emphasis is on the fact that you can't.

You can't control what you say. You can't make yourself good. James says nobody can tame the tongue. Now, Having said that, there is a clear warning here about the danger of not restraining your words. But he's not saying that you can make everything right with god simply by shutting up because we can't.

Stop it. Doesn't work. You've gotta remember this problem is on the inside. It's merely expressed through the mouth. There's only 1 thing that can save us and we sang about it this morning.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing. But the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Secondly, there's a word to teachers and leaders here. Think twice before you get involved in a dangerous job that comes with much greater responsibility and scrutiny. It's 1 thing to speak freely in the world. It's another thing to speak responsibly in the church. James says we all stumble in many ways.

So make sure you don't rush into ministry for the wrong reasons. And thirdly, because our words show us what we're really like on the inside, They show us our need for god's forgiveness all the time. We're in constant need of god's mercy and grace towards us every day. We can't tame the time. We can't make ourselves good.

We can't trust our own performance. Any realistic examination of our own performance shows that we're we're terrible. That is not where to find hope. That is not where to place your confidence. And that's what we learned from this section of James Letter.

Instead, hope is found in the good news of god's good words in the Bible. That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinful speakers like us. That idea is right at the heart of the gospel. We need to be rescued from our inability to control what we say. We need to be rescued from the evil heart inside.

And that's exactly what God sent Jesus to do for us on the cross. So a Christian now has no fear of final judgment, even though we often regret our careless choice of words. For Jesus has taken our judgment for us and he's made us acceptable to god. But if you're not a Christian here tonight, James says in chapter 1 and verse 21, get rid of all moral filth and the evil is that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you which can save you. And he means turn away from the influence of the anti god world.

And believe the promises he makes to rescue you in his word. In this life, you'll never be sinless. You'll need god's mercy every day of your life. But as you follow Jesus, his spirit works in us to change us from what we are and slowly we become more and more like him. Now let me pray for us and then we're gonna look at some of these questions together on our tables.

But let's pray. Heavenly father. Help me now to live a life that's dependent on your grace Keep my heart and guard my soul from the evils that I face. You are worthy to be praised with my every thought and deed. Oh, great god of highest heaven, glorify your name through me amen.