It is important that we recognize that music in the church is not to fill time, it teaches us, it admonishes us in the things of God. And I hope that you have been singing from your heart truths that you mean, that you deeply understand and believe. And because of that, then we can truly say that God is all that we need. He meets our need. He satisfies our heart. And I hope this song will encourage us tonight that He is the only one that we need. For your goodness and your grace, I thank you. For your wondrous gift of love, I give you praise. Great and mighty is your glory. Holy are all your ways. You sacrifice your life, the spotless lamb. Then broke the chains of death, the great I Am. You are the bread of life, the living Word. My Redeemer, my Savior, my Lord, you are all. You are life and breath to me. You are my shelter, my comfort, my friend. And on your love I can depend. You're my hope, my joy, my peace. My praise to you will never cease. I will follow where you lead, for you are all that I need. ♪ My Jesus, I love Thee ♪ ♪ I know Thou art mine ♪ ♪ For Thee, all the pleasures of sin I resign ♪ ♪ My gracious Redeemer, Thou art mine ♪ my savior is now that I need. You are life and breath to me. You are my shelter, my comfort, my friend, and on your love I can depend. You're my hope, my joy, my peace. My praise to you will never cease. I will follow where you lead, for you are all that I need. All that I need. Well, I hope that is true about you tonight, that he satisfies your heart. And you know, sometimes it's hard to see that when you're going through difficulties, when you're going through the valleys of life. But God is still in control. God is on the throne. He meets our need. He comforts us. He's our hope. He's our friend. He's our joy. He's our peace. And I hope tonight that we, as his people, would rejoice. That we are his creatures and he is the creator and we ought to let him be god. We ought to let him do as he will with his creation And we can trust him. Let's dismiss the kids. They're going to go to our children's service and they're having a great time They're actually learning this week the story of pilgrims progress along with Bible lessons and games and great activities. They're having a good time. I know that your kids are gonna have so much fun that if you don't bring them tomorrow night, they're gonna grab the car keys and drive themselves. And that would be very dangerous. So we need you all to bring your kids again tomorrow night. I find that this is a great help and an encouragement to parents, and I hope that you will come and just know to yourself, know in your heart that my kids will be taken care of during the preaching time. We can enjoy sitting and hearing the message. Come on out tomorrow night. How many of you are planning on being here tomorrow night? You're planning on coming back tomorrow night? Great. We'll look forward to seeing you. This is a good attendance on Monday night. You know, Mondays typically aren't our favorite day, right? You probably did not wake up today and say TGIM. Thank goodness it's Monday, right? No, we're probably already wishing for Friday, but not this week. Amen? Because we have services every night this week and we want you to be here. And we ought to redeem the time because the days are evil. And this is an opportunity for us to seize the moment. Take advantage of what is going on at our local church, at your local church, and tell others about it. Really, I think everybody in this town of Taylorville ought to know there's something happening at Grace Baptist Church. So let's talk about it. Let's tell people about it, about the meetings that we're having this week. Take your Bibles this evening and turn to James chapter 3. James chapter 3. We've been talking about God's sovereign control. We've been singing about it. We've been we've been bringing it to our attention tonight But the fact of the matter is lots of things don't go our way, right? Lots of things don't happen the way we think they ought to happen lots of people mistreat us and I think one of the things that typically evidences The fact that we are not trusting in the sovereign hand of God is that we get out of control with the words that we speak. And sometimes those words are complaining, griping, murmuring words. Sometimes those words are contentious, gossip, slandering words, but ultimately it is rooted and grounded most often in a lack of trust that God is doing what he wants to do in our lives. And actually bitterness and complaining and anger is actually the result or the fruit of the wrong words many times that come out of our mouth. And so James chapter 3 is a very important text in the Bible. You know, I didn't used to preach this message at revival meetings, but then I started to hear stories from pastors. I started to hear all kinds of situations that churches were going through, and I believe this is actually one of the biggest problems in many churches. That is an out-of-control mouth. You know, they used to say, loose lips, say it with me, sink ships. It was said that because when they would go into the restaurants in England, the soldiers sometimes would be careless in how they were talking. And they would talk about some of the strategy. They would talk about some of the placement. They would talk about some of the things that were going on in the war that was going on. And if they weren't careful, there might be somebody sitting very close who actually was a spy. Loose lips sink ships. You know what I think, folks? Loose lips destroy churches. Loose lips wreck lives. Loose lips hurt families and relationships. And so we're going to talk tonight about this very important matter that James Chapter 3 reveals to us. Now, before we read James Chapter 3, let's just review the book of James, okay? Not the entire book. Don't worry, okay? But let's just summarize some of the things that are significant in this book. First of all, what is the theme of the book of James? I believe the theme would be this, spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity. You know what? It is time that we as God's people grow up and stop being baby Christians, but grow in maturity to be more like Jesus Christ. I think the spiritual maturity theme is seen as he talks about many different, very significant issues. First of all, in James chapter 1, he deals with the subject of difficulties and trials. Do you realize that we evidence our maturity, our Christian growth by the way we respond to difficulties? Because those who are grown-ups, those who are spiritually mature and complete in Christ understand that the trying of our faith, as James 1 says, works patience, so let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. You see, when we grow up and we are spiritually mature, we understand that trials Equal or trials plus patience equals Christ likeness and Christ likeness is very very good Wouldn't you agree with me? And this is why we can truly say, and we know that all things work together for what? For good. Because God is always growing us and shaping us to be more like Jesus Christ, to be conformed to the image of Christ. And a spiritually mature person understands how to handle trials. They don't get bitter and angry and grumble and gripe and complain. They actually say, thank you, Lord, for giving the trial that makes me more like Jesus Christ. That's a significant issue, isn't it? Because there are people in this auditorium and maybe right now you're facing something and you are evidencing that you are not growing in Christ because of your anger and your bitterness and your resentment even towards God for what is happening in your life. This is why we've been singing these songs tonight about God's control. about God's sovereignty in our lives. That's a significant issue. Well, we could talk about other things in James chapter 1, but let's just talk about something from James chapter 2, because I'm trying to show you these are significant issues of spiritual maturity. And I do believe we have a lot of churches that are full of Christians that just need to grow, grow in Christ. We need to be more like Christ. And in James chapter two, he tells us that a spiritually mature person loves people without respect of persons. He uses the illustration in James chapter 2 and he says, if a person comes into the auditorium of a church and they are a person of status, a person of wealth, a person that everybody wants to see in the church, then we bring that person to the front of the auditorium and we hope everybody notices that that person goes to our church. But if somebody comes in and they don't have any wealth and they don't have any status, maybe we can even say they were homeless. We take that person and we sit them at the back of the auditorium and we just kind of hope that nobody notices. And God says, if that's the way we treat people, that is spiritually immature. We ought to treat people the way God treats us. He loves us with an unconditional sacrificial love, doesn't he? And that's the way we ought to love people. And I think that is exactly what this church is trying to do in this community, to love people, no matter who they are, love people, help people, give hope and give guidance to people's lives. But that's not just for your church, that's for you. Spiritually mature people love people without respective persons. Also in James chapter 2, he teaches us that spiritually mature people understand that it's not enough to just say that you have faith. Faith proves itself by the works that we produce. Faith without works is dead. Spiritually immature people think this, well, I've already been saved. I can live however I want. No, actually the Bible says if you're a genuine Christian you will be working out your salvation with fear and trembling. Now we're talking about James Chapter 1 and James Chapter 2, working our way to James Chapter 3 because I'm just trying to show you that these are very significant issues of spirituality. So why is it that we come to James chapter 3 and we think to ourselves? Well, it's just a few words It's really not that big of a deal. Is it if I just said those words or said that about that person actually? Here's why it's a big deal the words we speak testify of the maturity of our life Spiritually mature people comprehend and control their tongue Notice James chapter 3 starting in verse 1. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Talking specifically to those who are teachers, there's great condemnation for those who are teaching the Word of God. Maybe we could say it this way, don't be so anxious to be the lecturer, be a listener. Don't be just the lecturer, be a listener, because there's great accountability, especially for those who teach the Word of God. And by the way, that's why your pastor is very careful with the words he speaks, he's very careful with who he allows behind this pulpit, because there is great accountability, especially for a preacher. That we would say the right words, that we would be biblical, that we would be scriptural, that we would apply it appropriately, and that we'd be very careful. He goes on in verse 2 and he says this, For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, The same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasted great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. We will continue reading this this chapter more of these verses in just a moment But I want to preach a message tonight entitled the power of the tongue the power of the tongue Several years ago. There was a man pitching for the Atlanta Braves. His name was John rocker Does anybody remember hearing about John rocker? John rocker was a fantastic closing pitcher he He would come in the eighth or ninth inning. He would sprint in from the bullpen. He did all kinds of crazy things with his hat and with his face. He would rub his face with his glove. He would grab his hat like this. He was an amazing guy to watch. He had great energy, great enthusiasm. But John Rocker could not control his mouth. One day, John Rocker went into a Sports Illustrated interview. His career was climbing, so Sports Illustrated wanted to interview him as one of the greatest closing pitchers of their day. And so he went into this interview, and they kind of set him up with some questions, and he made some incredibly foolish comments about people from other countries, immigrants, people from other races, people from New York City. That's not smart. Especially when you're going to New York every year to play. He made all kinds of derogatory statements. And you know what? The media never publishes the nice things you say. They always publish the nasty things you say. And so immediately it was published all over the world what John Rocker said. And I'm not kidding you. Because of a few words, John Rocker's career was pretty much over. You don't really hear about him much anymore. Of course, he's a little bit older now, but for several years he was in the minor leagues and he was still running his mouth in the minor leagues. He lost his position at the Atlanta Braves. He was being booed and hissed out of every stadium, all because of a few words. Don't you see, folks, the power of our words? Spiritually mature people comprehend and control the power of the tongue. So let's talk tonight about four powers that the tongue possesses. If we're going to comprehend and control this power, we need to know what the power is. First of all, the Bible teaches us in James chapter 3 that our tongue has the power to direct. Our tongue has the power to direct. We read already several illustrations. First of all, the illustration that our tongue is like a bit. How many of you have ever been horseback riding? It's pretty cool, isn't it? Pretty fun. Isn't it amazing? You can sit on that giant beast that weighs a whole lot more than you do and you can control the entirety of that animal. All because of one small piece of equipment, piece of metal that is called the bit which lies on the horse's tongue and literally control of the tongue is control of the entire animal. And that's exactly what he says in verse 2, for in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bribe over whole body. Isn't this amazing? You know what I think verse 2 teaches us? If we are out of control with our words, then we are probably out of control in other areas of our life. Because if you are allowing the Spirit of God to control your tongue, then you're probably allowing the Spirit of God to control your attitude and your emotions. Maybe your other senses, not just your tongue, but your eyes and your ears and the things you do and the places you go. And the point is this, if you are out of control with your speech, you are probably a person that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit. But if you are able to control your tongue by God's help, bridle your tongue, you are literally bridling the whole body. It's just like the bit in the horse's mouth. What you say is what you are. What you say is what you are. In other words, you are showing to the world the direction of your life. He says another direction in verse 4. He tells us that our tongue is like the rudder on the back of a ship. He says, I'm sure many of you have been on a vessel. You've been on a boat like that. Maybe you've been on a cruise ship. This giant vessel on the, this giant city on the water. The back of that boat, there is a small piece of equipment called the rudder. In comparison to the size of the ship, it is very small. And yet it is controlled by the captain. It is controlled by the governor according to this verse. And whichever way the governor turns that rudder is where the ship goes. Now this is a powerful illustration who is the only person that should be controlling our vessel That would be God and specifically the Holy Spirit Do you realize that the words that you speak testify whether the Spirit is controlling you or your flesh is controlling you? Maybe you've heard somebody say this and maybe you've said this whoops. I didn't mean to say that I Have you ever said that, or have you ever heard somebody say that? Actually, I know what people mean when they say that. I know that that's really kind of an excuse for something that came out, but the fact of the matter is, it's really not true. We did mean to say it, didn't we? Nobody else forced us to say those words. We chose to say those words on our own. So actually, we shouldn't make an excuse for the words that we speak. We should maybe say, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, instead of saying, whoops, I didn't mean to say that. We really did mean to say it. We are the ones that let it out. I've heard it said this way, the tongue is the dipstick for your heart. Even the ladies know what a dipstick is, right? It's not the person sitting next to you, okay? A dipstick is what you pull out of the engine, right? And you find out how the oil is. And you know what we learn? The dipstick doesn't lie. Your tongue does not lie about the way you are. Luke 6 verse 45 says, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Can I ask you a question? What kind of direction are you showing to your family members? with your words. What kind of direction are you showing to your co-workers? To the people you work with every day? What kind of direction are you showing with your words to your neighbors, to your friends, to people around you every day? You see the Bible says we can show several different directions. Proverbs 18 verse 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue, two different directions. Proverbs 13 verse 3, He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life, but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. Two different directions. Matthew 12 verse 37, For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Don't you see how we need to grow up and be spiritually mature people? Because we are testifying what is in our heart by the words that we speak. Words show the direction of our life words are powerful. They have the power to direct Look back at James chapter 3 and let's notice a second power that our tongue possesses Number one our tongue possesses the power to direct number two. Our tongue possesses the power to defile spiritually mature people comprehend this and they control it with God's help and the power of the tongue to defile. As we see starting in verse 5, our tongue is a fire. Look at verse 5, ìEven so the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth.î Notice how many times he says our tongue is like a fire. Verse six, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body. There's the key word, it defileth the whole body and set it on fire, the course of nature. And it is set on fire of hell. Several times here, he tells us that our tongue is like a fire. Wouldn't you agree with me that fire defiles everything? The heat of the fire, the flame of the fire, the smoke of the fire, everything about it defiles everything around it. On October 8th of 1871, Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern. started what we know is the Great Chicago Fire. Before it could be contained, over 17,000 buildings were destroyed, 300 people lost their lives, and over 125,000 people were left homeless as a result of a fire, a small spark in a barn that didn't get put out, and it spread and spread and spread and spread. You see fire defiles and it starts small but if you don't put it out it will get out of control. You know I think this is exactly the way our tongue is. Maybe a few years ago you started saying a few things and that was the little spark that started the fire. And you started to say a few wicked things. You started to say a few profane things. And over time, it's just gotten worse and worse and worse. And now you feel like it is totally out of control. That's what our tongue is like. Our tongue is like a fire. He says, it is a world of iniquity. This phrase literally means this, that our tongue has the ability to breed and vent every sort of wicked passion available. If you're wondering what it means to have a tongue that is a world of iniquity, just turn on the television during prime time TV and just listen to the way they talk. The tongue is a world of iniquity. We can live in the deep, dark places of sin with just the words that we speak. And so we need to be careful that we are spiritually mature and that we comprehend and control this incredible power. Our tongue has the power to take us into sin. Our tongue has the power to defile us. How are Christians defiling themselves? I believe there are several ways that many Christians are defiling themselves with their tongue. One of the things that is a shame that we even have to talk about in the church is one of the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus chapter 20 tells us this is God's command. And we ought to honor the name of God because the name of God represents the attributes of God and the attributes of God are who He is. So we honor his name. And if there's anybody that ought to honor the name of God, it's Christians. It's at his name that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And yet it is shocking how many Christians are using God's name in vain. When something happens, sometimes they don't even know they're using it. And that's exactly the point. You're using the holy God of heaven's name and you don't even know it. When we say, oh my, and we put God's name in there, or we use euphemisms of God's name, like gosh, and other words that are derivatives of the name of God. Look it up in the dictionary. The dictionary tells us those words are derivatives of the name of God. What I think is we as believers ought to steer clear from anything close to using God's name in vain. Let's get it out of our vocabulary. Let's not live and blasphemy with our tongue. Can I ask you a question? If we're using God's name in vain, what does that say about our heart? That says there's really no fear of God. That says there's really a blasphemous heart. You see, the tongue displays what's in the heart. And if you're going to use God's name in an empty way like everybody in the world does, use it like a curse word, use it like an expression, then you are basically testifying there is no fear of God. There's no honor of God in your heart. Let's remove that from our vocabulary, and let's not allow these sins to defile us. Maybe it's not just taking God's name in vain, but what about profanity? You say, well, Brother Mark, this is a Baptist church. Everybody knows that Baptists don't curse. Well, I hope so. I hope that's the case. But maybe when you're not around the church people, and maybe when you get a little bit ticked off, Something starts spewing out maybe those words that you used to say before you got saved and you start saying those things again And maybe you just mutter them under your breath and maybe Or maybe you're even saying them out loud. And these are profane words. These are dirty words double-talk innuendos the talk of the world Ephesians chapter 4 says, verse 29 says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good is the use of edifying. Can I just say one sure way to ruin your testimony in this lost and dying world, people that you're witnessing to, people that you're telling them you're a Christian, one sure way to ruin your testimony is curse in front of them. And they'll walk away and what will they say? Well, there's another one of those hypocrites. They say they're a Christian but they talk just like I do. And whenever that does happen, we ought to confess it. We ought to get it right with those people. But we ought to be careful that we're not using any of that kind of language. That's the talk of the world. That's a talk of profane people that don't love the Lord. Profanity. What about lying lips? Proverbs 12 verse 22 says, lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. Maybe you don't tell the big whopper lies, but you just deceive people with little white lies. Maybe you're not lying with your lips, but you're lying with your life. Both are equally wrong. We ought to be sincere and without offense until the day of Jesus Christ. What you see is what you get, what we say is what we mean. And let's be honest, let's be truth tellers. How about angry words? Ecclesiastes 7 verse 9 says, Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Proverbs 14 verse 17, He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly. Now this is going to tell you where I kind of live these days, but every once in a while when I'm at the McDonald's Playland, I hear some incredibly angry words. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to get kids out of the playland? And especially when they don't care to honor what their parents say, they don't respond in obedience the first time their parents call. And I have literally watched the anger and the rage just well up in parents as little Johnny or little Susie is up there in the playland. And they are down below and they're not about ready to climb up there and they are screaming and yelling get down here now I'm leaving and I literally have watched people parents walk out into the parking lot get ready to get in their car and Johnny's still up there playing and They're yelling and screaming at their children. I've heard it in the Walmart line sit down Keep your mouth shut Parents yelling and screaming and getting angry with their children. Listen, I think there is a time when we ought to have righteous indignation, but there is never a time in the home that we ought to have angry words. Angry parents raise angry children. And I want to encourage you as parents, if you're feeling that intensity and you're feeling that rage on the inside, towards your children, that you would go to a quiet place and before you deal with your children, you deal with the anger of your heart. You deal with that before you hurt your child, before you hurt them with those words, angry words. I think a lot of times angry words are happening in lots of homes to the people we love the most. We ought to speak kindly and graciously. These are some of the ways that we can defile with our tongue. Our tongue has the power to direct. Our tongue has the power to defile. And what I'm saying tonight is we need to grow up and be spiritually mature. And let's not just run our mouths. Let's not just say whatever comes to our minds. Let's not just respond with great emotion and pride and anger. Let's bring our tongue under control by the Spirit's power. Notice number three, let's talk about this. The tongue has the power to direct. The tongue has the power to defile. Number three, our tongue has the power to destroy. Our tongue has the power to destroy. Look at verse seven. The Bible says this, for every kind of beast, and of birds and of serpents and of things, and the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind." And when we go to the zoo and we go to the dolphin show and we go to these reptile houses, it's pretty amazing, isn't it? When you see a circus and they have these very dangerous animals that they've been tamed, they've been trained, these people walk right into the ring with them. And I know sometimes that comes back to bite people, pardon the pun there, okay? But sometimes that does happen. But most often, we see these animals that are just dangerous animals, deadly animals, and they are trained by humans. And yet he says, the tongue, no one can tame. This is amazing. You can tame a deadly serpent, but you cannot tame your own tongue. Who is the only person that can tame our tongue? That's God, and specifically the Holy Spirit needs to be in control of our tongue. He says in verse 8, but the tongue can no man tame, watch this, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Now this is a significant statement that in our mouths we are full of deadly poison. In other words, if you let your mouth do what is normal and natural and sinful, when somebody hurts you, you'll hurt them. When somebody gets angry with you, you'll get angry with them. And somebody you don't like, somebody that mistreats you, you'll just lash out at them because your tongue is full of it. Your tongue is full of poison. Poison is deadly. Poison is hurtful. Let's take our Bibles and turn back to Psalm 52, to the Old Testament. And there are so many verses about the tongue. We are hitting a lot of them. We're not hitting all of them tonight. Psalm 52, and I want you to notice what the Bible says that our tongue is like. Not only is our tongue like a serpent full of deadly poison, talking about the way we mistreat other people with the words that we say. This would be things like gossip and slander and cutting and criticizing and saying unkind things about other people. So full of deadly poison. Notice what he says in Psalm 52, the writer says this in verse two. Thy tongue diviseth mischiefs like a sharp razor. Would you say that's pretty destructive? A sharp razor? Yes. He says, a sharp razor working deceitfully, thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness, thou lovest all devouring words. O thou deceitful tongue. That's a pretty good description of our tongue, isn't it? You know, it just seems like sometimes we get together with friends and even Christians and it's almost like we don't have anything else better to do except talk about people. Let's just talk about people. Let's just say what we think about them. You know what? We ought to be very careful that we do not use our tongue to slice up like a sharp razor would slice up another person. Look at Psalm 64. Psalm 64, verse two. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity who wet their tongue like a sword. I think a sword is pretty destructive hurtful deadly and they bend their bows to shoot their arrows. Even bitter words, that's a significant statement because almost all gossip and slander is rooted in bitterness. And it's like we're drawing the bow and every arrow we fire is one of our words towards that other person that we don't like. You know folks, this is a serious problem in a lot of people's lives. You just can't say nice things about people that have hurt them or people that have offended them. I want to encourage you tonight to think about several things. The Bible says we ought to think before we speak. Psalm 101 verse 5 says, Him will I cut off. God does not look kindly upon this. When we use our tongue to slice up, to stab other people, to shoot arrows, shoot bitter words at other people. Proverbs 10 verse 18, He that uttereth slander is a fool. And so we need to be careful that we're not gossiping and slandering. And so the question is, What do we think about when we are getting ready to say anything about someone else? There are conversations that we have to speak about other people. There are conversations where we even have to talk about problems. But what I'm saying is we need to be spiritually mature people that understand the very danger that we are walking into when we start to get emotional, we start to let that anger come out of our heart and through our mouth, and we start cutting that other person down to make them look terrible, make us look better. What do we think about before we speak? Think about these four questions. Number one, is it true? is what you're saying true. And there's one sure way to find out if what you're saying about another person is true. Ask them. The Bible says if you have a problem with someone or you know they have a problem with you, Matthew 18 says you ought to go to them and go to them alone. It doesn't say share it to the church. Tell everybody that you've got a problem with them. You know what? I'm just trying to help you tonight and I'm trying to be as clear and convicting as I possibly can with these truths. If you do not have the courage to go talk to that person alone, then by all means, don't talk to anyone else until you've talked to that person. By the way, if somebody starts gossiping to you and you're a listener of the gossip, Here's what you ought to say to them. Have you talked to that person? You know as well as I do, most often when somebody's slandering another person, they have never even talked to them. And if they say no to that, you ought to say, you know what, if you haven't talked to that other person, then I don't want to hear about it. Go talk to them, not me. So we need to find out, is it true? And one good way to do that is talk to the other person involved. And you know what you'll find out? A lot of these things can be solved if we will just communicate and do what God says. It takes courage and we need to have God's will behind us. We need to be following God's word. Is it true? You say, well, I've got you on this one, Brother Mark, because I know that everything I say is true. Well, there's several more questions to think about. Are you listening? Just because you know information doesn't mean you ought to share the information. Just because it's true doesn't mean you ought to say it. Here's the second question. Is it necessary? Now be honest tonight. How many of you would admit to me tonight that there are some things about your life that are not necessary for everybody in the church to know about? Oh good, I'm glad somebody else is raising their hand, okay, because I am so thankful my wife is not a gossip. She knows things about me. She really does. I know things about her too, okay. But I'm not going to tell you and you're not going to hear her tell you about me. Why? My wife and I have a great relationship. We love each other and the Bible says love covers a multitude of sins and we're not talking about sweeping problems under the rug. We're talking about don't talk about things if they're not necessary. It doesn't build up, it doesn't edify it, it tears down that other person. And I think we are very unloving people when we use our words to say things about other people that that person that's listening has no business even knowing. It's not necessary. We need to be very cautious. This takes a lot of spiritual maturity. That's what I'm talking about. We need to grow up. We can't just run our mouths and get all excited because we have information we got to tell somebody. No, just because it's true doesn't mean it's necessary. Number three, here's the third question. Is it beneficial? Does it help anybody? Well, gossip doesn't help the person being gossiped about, it doesn't help the person gossiping, and it doesn't help the person listening to the gossip. There's absolutely no benefit when we say hurtful, unkind things about other people. Then the last question is this, is my motive pure? Is my motive pure? Am I saying it out of a right heart? And usually it's not pure. Usually it's pride, anger, bitterness that results in a gossiping tongue. All I'm saying is we need to say, Lord set a watch before my lips. Keep the door of my mouth. Psalm 141 verse three. This is the attitude we ought to have. Why? Because our words can be destructive. Can I just say, if you become known as someone who runs your mouth, if you become known as somebody who is a gossip, before long, no one will trust you. No one will want to talk to you and share anything with you, because always in the back of their mind, what are they thinking? They're going to go tell everybody. They're going to let it out. They're not going to keep confidence. They're not going to help me out here. So you'll stop getting any information. You'll stop being trusted. Do not become a gossip. A gossiping person can really wreak havoc in a church. And I would just encourage you, if you are typically a person that loves to share everything about everybody else, you need to be very careful that you think through these questions. Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it beneficial? Is my motive pure? Because our tongue has the power to destroy. It has the power to direct. It has the power to defile. It has the power to destroy. But praise the Lord, back in James chapter 3, if you're not there, turn back there, James chapter 3, we find that there's actually hope for us. Isn't it wonderful to know that through the blood of Jesus Christ and the grace of Jesus Christ there is hope for our mouth. If you are an unsaved person here tonight, I promise you there is no control of your tongue until you have the Spirit of God living in you and that comes at salvation. But for those of us that are saved, we have hope. And the hope is this, we can allow God to take a critical, complaining, gossiping tongue and turn it into an edifying, lifting up, gracious tongue. And so here's the fourth power that our tongue possesses revealed in James chapter 3. Number 4, our tongue has the power to delight. Our tongue has the power to delight. Look how he shows us this in verse 9. Therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God, out of the same mouth proceeded blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. He says, listen, one day you're blessing people. Maybe we could think in our minds, we're coming to church, we're shaking hands. Hey, God bless you, amen to that. We're saying nice things to people. And the very next day, we're being a gossip. or we're cursing, or we're saying unkind things. One day we're blessing, and the next day we're cursing. And according to what he says here, that ought not be. These things ought not so to be. And what's the point? The point is, for a Christian, someone whose spirits are mature, they should always have sweet words. There should always be gracious, kind words. coming out of our mouths. We know that that is the case because he uses an illustration that draws us into that. Look at verse 11. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? And the answer is no, unless there's a serious problem in Taylorville's water system. You know that when you go to the water fountain, I know that's not the same fountain he's talking about here, okay? But this is the idea that comes to our mind. When you go to the water fountain, you push that button, you know you're gonna get good water. Every time. That's the way a Christian ought to be. No matter what happens, no matter how you're treated, no matter who offends you, whenever you are spewing out words, there ought to be a sweet fountain. There ought to be sweet, gracious words. You know, the scripture tells us a lot about this. Proverbs 10, verse 11, the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. That's really good. We can bless other people with our tongue. Proverbs 12 verse 18, there is a speaketh like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise is health. You can be healthy. You can help people. with your words. Proverbs 15 verse 4, a wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in the tongue is a breach in the spirit. Same chapter, Proverbs 15 verse 23, a man hath joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word fitly spoken in due season. How good is it? It's real good, isn't it? Have you ever had somebody encourage you? Have you ever had someone say kind words to you? It lifts your spirit. Proverbs 25 verse 11, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. And what I'm saying tonight is if we would understand this powerful teaching in the book of James, that we would stop using our tongue to defile and show a bad direction and to destroy other people, and instead we would allow God through His Son, the Lord Jesus, to change our tongue. God could take us from a criticizing, complaining person and make us an edifying, building, gracious person. That's the power of the gospel, right? God can transform the way that we talk. Wouldn't this be great if instead of coming to church and looking for all the people that have offended us and talking about them, we would come to church and look for all the people who need to be encouraged? And that would be the spirit of our heart, that we would find people to lift up, that we would say kind words to other people. I know many of you are trying to actively do this, but this is a danger for any of us, isn't it? That we would get something down deep in our heart that is getting ready to spew out of our mouth. The power of the tongue. You know, it's pretty amazing that we're in this political cycle again. The presidential election is coming around. Can you believe all the talk about politics these days? They have all these different debates. They have all these people that get interviewed. And isn't it amazing how politicians understand the power of their words? They can't get away with saying anything without the media slicing and dicing it and parsing it and making it exactly the way the media wants to make it. You know, if politicians understand this as they do, then they're very cautious in how they talk. They're cautious in how they speak, or at least some of them are, okay? The smart ones, the wise ones are careful with the way they speak because they know that what they say is going to be replayed and replayed again and replayed again. And President Obama himself would even tell you that he wishes he wouldn't have said some of those things that he said that had been replayed and replayed and replayed and replayed. There's power in our words. Whether you're a pitcher in baseball like John Rocker or whether you're the president or a politician. We ought to believe it, not because of those people, we ought to believe it because it's the truth. The truth of the Bible is spiritually mature people comprehend and control the power of their words. And so let's grow up and be spiritually mature. So I need to conclude by saying this, the real issue tonight is not just our language, it's not just our words, the real issue tonight is, do we want to be spiritually mature believers? Complete in Christ, comprehending and controlling the power of our tongue. Listen, if God has convicted you tonight about a sin of your mouth, about the destruction of another person, about some defilement that is in your life because of your tongue. I would encourage you to confess that to the Lord tonight and ask for His forgiveness and His grace to change you. And God can tame our tongue. and he's the only one that can. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Father, I pray tonight that you would help us to make good decisions that would change our lives. Lord, I believe there are probably some situations in homes, in marriages, in relationships, where the tongue is totally out of control. The words that we speak, we're not really thinking about. And Lord, maybe even in this church there are things happening and things talked about behind the scenes that should not be talked about, and gossips and slanderers that are wreaking havoc in the church. Lord, I pray that you would convict us tonight of our spiritual immaturity. Help us to grow up and be complete, mature believers who comprehend and control the power of our tongue. Lord, do your work in our hearts tonight. Help us to confess our sin and ask you to change us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen, would you stand please and if God has spoken to your heart tonight? We're just gonna have a brief time of response if you'd like to come and pray If you'd like to come and talk to the Lord about some sin that you need to confess tonight Or maybe just in general you need to ask God to give you the grace to Control your words. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight Psalm 1914