seen one of those signs kind of like this uh but instead of lips on a leash there's a dog on the leash. Have you seen these? Right? Like dogs must be on leash and under control at all times. Well James 4 11 and 12 is telling us that we need to have our lips on leash and under control at all times but here's the reality for a lot of us right? Is this your reality? Like out of control, not on a leash, right? It is so easy, isn't it? It is so easy to sin with your speech, isn't it? Have you gotten the bus with me yet? Have you shown up at this party yet? Do you know what I'm talking about? It is so easy to start to speculate, to start to insinuate, to start to condemn, to start talking about things that we don't actually know what we're talking about. It's so easy. It's so easy to hear a little something and then just keep it going where we work, at school, at home, on the internet. And again, you gotta think deeper than just what I'm saying right now out loud. You gotta think towards the heart and think, man, Jesus said sin starts in the heart. And so I can be guilty of these things without even actually vocalizing anything. I mean, you could be looking at me right now, and you could be picking me apart. You could be, right now, some of you could be looking at me, and seeing my failings, and my shortcomings, and you could be picking me apart, and you're not even saying anything, you're just looking at me and smiling. You could be speaking against me in your own heart right now, without even saying anything. I know I've done that. Listen, I've been guilty of sins of speech countless times. When you come to passage like this, it's just like, I am so glad. I am so glad that my relationship with God is not built upon my performance. I mean, this alone is so condemning, isn't it? I mean, if you had to make it based on how you perform, how you speak, You're cooked! You're toast! There's no way you're gonna make it! Especially when you go beyond what we've already said out loud to what we've said in our hearts. This passage just drives us to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? I mean, you make eye contact with verses like this, and you're like, I am so glad we have a Savior named Jesus, who never spoke wrongly, who never violated God's Word. I'm so glad we have a Savior. I'm so glad Jesus came and died on the cross for my sins of speech. Because there is no way I could stand before a holy God and make it just looking at the things I've said. We are called to have our lips on a leash and under control. Look again with me at verse 11. Watch for the repetition. James is purposefully repetitious here. Look at this. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. Notice again, this is a command. Don't speak against one another, brothers or brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against, there it is again, a brother, again, or judges his brother, again, speaks evil, again, against the law, and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. Speak against, there, it's a broad term. Do you think James reached for that broad term on purpose? You think James, I know your Bible might say slander, but it's actually, it literally just means speak against. That's literally what the word means. Speak against. Broad term. Do you think he chose that broad term on purpose? I think he did. He's writing to people like us who trust in Jesus and he's saying you must stop speaking against one another. And this can include slander, it certainly does. What is slander? It's destroying someone else's reputation. And for some crazy, tragic reason, we love to do that. We love to tear other people down, to destroy other people's reputation. Why is that? Maybe it's because then we feel better about ourselves. If I can trash talk you, if I can ruin your rep, I'm feeling better about me. And I care very much about how I feel about me. I got a whole lot of pride and self living inside of me. And if I can tear you down, destroy you, I feel better about me. And this speaking against includes slander, but it's more than that. It involves, I would put in parentheses, unnecessary criticism, wrongly judging. There is a place for us to judge. But this is wrongly judging, this is condemning, this is insulting. Telling tales, passing on rumors, sowing seeds of suspicion. And James says, this, he either means by the command, this must not happen, don't let this start, but it seems more likely he's saying this has got to stop. You would think by the fact of all the talk he's already made in chapters 1 through 3 about the tongue, this is already going down. He's saying, it's got to stop! You can't let this continue. It's very interesting that the same person called a brother in 4.11 is called a neighbor in 4.12. Look at verse 12. Look at verse 12. James goes on to say, there's only one lawgiver and judge. Who's that? Who's the only, the only lawgiver and judge? Who is that? God, God. Only one lawgiver and judge. He who's able to save and to destroy. But who are you? The NIV, some of you are carrying an NIV. The NIV says, quote, but you, who are you? to judge your neighbor. Notice he says neighbor. Ah, so the same person described as a brother in 411 is described as a neighbor in 412. Did James choose that on purpose? He sure did. He's already talked back in chapter two and verse eight. He says in chapter two, verse eight, if you really fulfill the royal love according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You are doing well. You know, twice, twice, the Apostle Paul, Romans 13, 9, Galatians 5, 14, the Apostle Paul basically says, hey, let me take the whole law of God and just sum it up for you. Let me just boil it all down for you. Love your neighbor as yourself. He says, I'll take the whole shebang, the whole kit and caboodle, and I'll just put it into one succinct statement for you. Love your neighbor as yourself. And James says, you're not loving your neighbor as yourself when you speak against your neighbor. That's what James is saying. Speaking against a fellow believer, a sister or brother in Christ, is the opposite of loving her or him. This is an old school illustration. Words can be like sharp arrows. Words can be like sword thrusts, according to Old Testament poetic language. And when you whisper that little thing, when you sow those little seeds of suspicion, when you slowly are busting in and just doing it, destroy other people, it's like you're firing arrows into their back. It's like you're inserting a sword into their ribs. And that's the opposite of loving your neighbor. If I'm gonna love my neighbor Randy, I'm not gonna take out the bow and arrow and be like, hey! If I'm gonna love my neighbor Randy, I'm not gonna take out the sword and give it to him in the back. And James is saying, when you speak against your neighbor, you're doing the opposite of loving your neighbor. That's what he's saying. Me speaking against a fellow believer is me violating God's law and me usurping God's role. As another pastor said rightly, my role is hearer and doer, not judge. Like, hey, Jay, get in your place. You know, stay in your lane, Jay. You're not the lawgiver. You're not the judge. There's only one and he's God. He's not you. You focus, Jay, on hearing and doing God's law. Again, he says here in verse 12, or transitions in 11, when I speak against a brother, a fellow believer in Jesus, when I do that, I'm not just speaking against her. I'm not just speaking against him. At the same time, I'm speaking against the law, God's law, and judging the law. And if I'm judging the law, I'm not doing the law. I'm a judge of the law. My place, your place, my brother, my sister, when it comes to God's law of love your neighbor as yourself, is to place myself in submission under it, right? To hear that law, that good and wise law, love your neighbor as yourself, and to get under that law, and to be focused on hearing that law and doing that law. But when I speak against you or somebody else, I'm actually stepping away from that. I'm stepping outside of that. It's kind of like this. What would you guys think if I went to Leviticus 19? I went to Leviticus 19. Here's my big black sharpie marker. I went to Leviticus 19 and I read these words. Let's see here. Verse 16. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. And you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother. Does this sound similar to you? You think James was picking up on Leviticus 19? It says, you shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor. Oh, do you see that? Do you see what he just did? Do you see what Moses did? James did what Moses did. Do you see that? The same person described as a brother is described as a neighbor. Huh? Look at that. Look at that. It's right in the text. Read it for yourself. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. What would you guys think? How would you guys feel? How would you respond if I took out my big black Sharpie marker right now and I just went like this? I just started, you know, I don't like that. You know what? I can stand apart from that. I can stand above that. I can still slander my neighbor. I can still speak evil of you. How'd you feel about that? You'd be okay with that? Just scratching that thing out? Because I don't like it. I don't have to, I don't got to obey that one. Would you guys be okay with that? No? No? Well, how about if I did this? What if I went over to Proverbs 6? Proverbs 6. And I read that the God who is our Creator, He actually hates stuff. And one of the things He hates in this list of things He hates, according to Proverbs 6, is a false witness who breathes out lies and one who sows discord among brothers. What if I said, I'm not buying it. God doesn't really care if I drive wedges within our church. If I sow discord, God doesn't really care. Would you guys be okay if I just said, no, I'm not buying it, not gonna live by that. And what if I rip like this? Would that be okay with that? You guys okay with that? Just rip this out, throw it away or recycle it for those of you who want me to recycle it. You okay with that? But here's the deal. You guys aren't cool with me using a Sharpie to scribble out stuff in my Bible, right? You're not okay with me ripping out pages of my Bible and crumpling them up and throwing them away or recycling them. But here's the deal. When we speak against one another, that is in essence what we're doing. We're saying, love your neighbor. Ah. Don't sow discord among brothers. Do you see? In our living, in our talking, when we live like we're outside of God's law, not submitted to it, it's as if we're just scribbling things out in God's word or throwing them away. How about one last one? How about Ephesians 4? Man, Paul just nails it in Ephesians 4, doesn't he? He says in Ephesians 4, Last section there. This is so good. So good. Maybe we should read this before we get on Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, Instabook, whatever we use. Look at this. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you, this is Ephesians 4.25, let each of one of you speak the truth with his Neighbor. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting, guys? Do you see this? Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we're members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. What? The devil can meddle in a church community? Mm-hmm. I mean, the devil doesn't see, oh, I see that's Faith Baptist Church. I'll just keep moving. Oh, no, no. He's happy to come on in, make himself at home. He likes church. He likes to divide. Verse 28, let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor. doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to get to share with anyone in need. And here we go. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths. None. It's a ban. Do you hear that? It's not like, you know, sometimes it's okay. You know, just let your hair down, cut loose, rip somebody to shreds verbally. It's all right. You know, it's a ban. None. No corrupting talk. Wow. It says, no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up. This isn't a call to silence. It's a call to using our tongues, using our words to help other people as it fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Your words can give grace, my sister. Your speech can help somebody, my brother. Verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. That's the way I want to live my life. That's the way I want to operate my mouth. to lie about a brother or to accuse him falsely, as one author put it, is to do the devil's work. Remember what Jesus said? What did Jesus say? The devil is like a liar from the start, right? Remember that? What's the nature of the devil? He's a liar. It's his native tongue. He's fluent. as others have said, in the language of lying. And when we do the same thing, we are entering into his work. We're partnering up with him. Oh, but I'm a Christian. Yeah, but even as Christians, we can partner up with the devil unconsciously, not knowing it. This includes passing on rumors we've heard. Careful before you click send or share. in person or online. We don't have to start the lie to be satanic in our speech. We can do so by just keeping it going. Have you heard? Oh, she's sad. This is not to rule out the practice of discernment, the labeling of sin as sin, constructive criticism, or loving rebuke. As an author put it, instead it's to root out the harsh, unkind, critical spirit that continually finds fault with others. Have you been there? Done that? Got the t-shirt? I have. I'm sorry. There's someone in this room that I went to a while back, and I said, please forgive me. I've been a sin sniffer. It's like a dog on the hunt, trying to find sin in your life. Fault finder. That's what we're not allowed to do. I love what one author put here. He says, let us not attempt to judge a man's motives. You know the things you can't see? The things you don't know, but you think you know? Oh, I know why he did that. Oh, I know why she said that. Oh, you do? This author says, we cannot look into his heart. Let us take the most charitable view possible and give others the benefit of the doubt. If the facts are not clear or the details are lacking, let us refuse to judge our brother. For us to think that we can discern or judge the thoughts and intentions of a brother or sister's heart reveals just how arrogant we can be. For in that moment, we are thinking that we can do what only God can do. You might think yourself an expert on human nature. You might think you know how to read people really well. But you're not God, and neither am I. Oh, and this is convicting, isn't it? Check this out. Proverbs 17, 4. An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to mischievous tongue. Wow. So I can be guilty By just continuing to let you talk to me in a way that is wicked. By letting you keep having my ear when you keep using your tongue mischievously. Somehow, as awkward as that might be, as weird and uncomfortable as that might be, I have to shut that thing down. What do you do? Someone approaches you, starts talking like this, speaking against someone. Maybe you know that person, maybe you don't. What do you do? Walk away? Redirect the conversation? Say, hey, how can we pray? I don't know. But we can't just keep listening. Like that. Can't. So here's what needs to happen, and it can happen by the grace of God, because there's a Savior for sinners like us. Lips must be on a leash and under control at all times. And when we keep our lips on a leash, here's what we're doing. We're obeying God's law, we are loving our neighbor, and we're staying in our proper place in the universe. You want to stay in your lane spiritually? Don't speak against others. Don't speak against your brothers or sisters. You want to keep your proper place in the universe? Remember who's God and who isn't? You want to love your neighbor as yourself? You want to obey God's law? Keep those lips on a leash. Keep that mouth muzzled. Be careful. Remember in a previous message from James, we said we need to have fast ears, slow lips, long nose. Remember? I was standing in the kitchen just last night and I asked a woman next to me a question. And there was kind of like this long pause. And she finally just said, I'm just thinking about what you asked me. I just want you to know, you know, she wasn't like hair trigger response. I'm just thinking before I respond to you. We need to speak. We need to speak. We need to love each other with our words. But we gotta be careful how we do that. We need the grace of God to do that. So let me ask you, I've already done this, but how you doing? How you been doing with this? Does your situation look more like this? or like it should. One author put it this way, let us remember that this is not really a problem of the mouth, it's not a problem of vocabulary, it's not a problem of communication technique, it's a problem of the heart. Yesterday morning, Um, my wife and my son and I, can I, can I tell them this? Is this okay? We were laying in bed at like eight something in the morning. I know some of you guys were up at like five o'clock. You got up at like four o'clock in the morning. You're already at work. You're like, man, I was, I worked for like three hours before you rolled out of bed. Okay. You're right. Okay. I got to sleep in on Saturday morning. It was like eight o'clock in the morning, you know, and Noah comes bounding into the room and jumps on the bed and, and, uh, and, you know, mom and, you know, mama bear and daddy bear kind of waking up and, you know, and before we moved out of the bed, I got my phone out and I pulled up kids for truth devotional for February 4th, 2023. And that, that devotional took me to Genesis 50. And I went to Genesis 50, and here's what I found after we listened to the devotional. I actually went and read a little bit more. Check this out. How sweet is this, y'all? Check this out. Genesis 50, verse 19 through verse 21. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, They said, it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him. They're scared. Dad's dead. We done wrong. Joseph's coming for us, right? Or he might, right? That's the thought process. It's expressed, it's written down here. Verse 16, so they had a strategy. We'll do this. They sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave the command before he died, say to Joseph, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you. And now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph's next move is what? He wept. Joseph wept, he's crying, he's weeping, when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before Joseph and said, behold, we are your servants. But Joseph said to them, oh, wow, do not fear. What's his question? What was Joseph's question to his brothers? What was Joseph's question? Do not fear. Am I, what, in the place of God? See, Joseph stayed in his place. Say, hey, don't worry, guys. Am I in the place? I'm not in the place of God. Wow, look at that. Am I in the place of God? For am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. But it doesn't stop there, y'all. A lot of times, you know, that's when we close our Bible. Like, see? God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves. See, God takes the evil and brings about good. But there's another verse. Oh man, look at this. Or listen to this. Joseph, it says, Goes on. That's actually not the end of the quotation. Verse 21. So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. He's talking to his brothers. Yeah, family, flesh and blood brothers. But he says, hey, I'm not in God's place. I know my place in the universe. Don't worry. And I'm going to provide for you, your little ones. Thus, Moses says, he comforted them. And how does it finish? Spoke kindly to them. Wow. Do you see that? He did not blast his brothers. He didn't say, all right, dad's dead. Now I'm going to let you have it. I'm gonna give you what you got coming to you. You did me wrong, I'll show you. There's not a whiff of vengeance here, is there? He comforted them. He spoke kindly to them. He did not speak against them. He spoke kindly to them. How did he do that? He saw God in the picture. and he kept in his proper place. So may God help us to do what Joseph did, y'all. Obey God's law, love our neighbor, stay in our proper place, keep those lips on a leash. Let us look to the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, to rescue us from us and to give us the power, the grace to keep our lips on a leash. Amen? Amen. How about you turn in your Bible now to Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20. Hope your Bible's still open. Or in hand. Proverbs 20. This is what people call a rhetorical question. The answer is assumed. Proverbs 20, verse nine. Who can say, I have made my heart pure? I am clean from my sin. What's the expected answer? Who can say that? Honestly, no one, that's right, nobody. Why don't we stand up? Why don't we sing that scripture back to God? Who can say?