Let us turn this morning to James, excuse me, James chapter 3. The title of the message is A Little Member, A Little Member, James chapter 3, and reading verses 1 through 8. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to brattle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in a horse's mouth, 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 boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Once again, as I've said for the last two weeks, it's easy for us to see the subject of these verses that we have read. The tongue is a little member among the many members of our bodies. It may serve men in a beneficial way or a detrimental way. The Psalms give many examples of both, both detrimental and beneficial, how the tongue may serve. Two examples, in a beneficial way, in Psalm 71 and verse 24, my tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long. Now the tongue that does that is certainly serving in a beneficial way. Speaking of God's righteousness all the day long. Not speaking of our righteousness, for we have none. And our righteousnesses, the scripture says, are as filthy rags. But speaking of the righteousness of Christ. The tongue in that instance serves in a very beneficial way. But then also in a detrimental way in Psalm 64 and verse 3, and there are many examples, many examples I could have chosen, but this one is, who wet, that is they sharpen their tongue, who wet, W-H-E-T, who wet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot arrows, even bitter words. So the tongue may be used to cut, to destroy. to poison. But I want us to look at these verses today under four headings. And I trust the Lord will bless this Word to all of us here today. First, the first thing I want us to think about is that James cautions those who use their tongue in their calling. You know, all of us have different callings. Some of you are called to work in one field, some in another. And many of you, you could do your work excellently and never use your tongue. But there are some calling, some men and women, not women but men, let me correct myself as you'll see in just a moment. But some men are called to do a work in which they will use their tongue very much of the time. James says, beginning, My brethren, be not many masters. Now what does the word master mean? Well, this same word is translated both as master and as teacher. I want us to look at three examples where the same Greek word that is here translated masters, as James says, My brethren, be not many masters. I believe that every translation that I checked, and I checked several translations of the Scripture, and the King James Version is the only one that used the word masters. Every other translation I checked, I looked at, had the word teacher. And I believe that's the way it should be translated here. My brethren, be not many teachers. Now let's look at three examples where this same word is translated by the word teacher. If you will, let's begin in Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13 and verse 1. Here's a church, the church at Antioch, and they were blessed. They were blessed. by the number of prophets and teachers that they had in this church. The Scripture here says, Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers. That's the same word that is translated masters in our text today. My brethren, be not many masters. My brethren, be not many teachers. And then, if you will, in Ephesians chapter 4, this verse is a very familiar verse of Scripture because it speaks to us of Christ as He is the ascended Lord and He has given gifts unto men. And a pastor is a gift. A pastor is a gift. And you may not think of a pastor like that, but if you were in a church without a pastor, a church seeking a pastor, especially in these days, you would recognize what a gift a pastor is. And notice in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11, the Scripture says, And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. The same office. Because a pastor, one of the qualifications is that he be apt to teach. So a pastor is a teacher, but the point is this is the same word. My brethren, be not many teachers. And then, if you will, one other place in 2nd Timothy, 2nd letter of Timothy chapter 4 and verse 3, the apostle writes, Well, let's read verse 2. Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, masters, same word, having itching ears. In each of these verses, the word is translated teacher, and I believe that's the way we should understand it here in James chapter 3. My brethren, be not many teachers. Now, on this subject, among the qualifications, I've already mentioned one that the Apostle Paul gave in I Timothy 3 for a pastor or teacher he must be apt to teach. But another qualification that he gives is, he says, do not ordain, lay not hands suddenly, not on a novice, not a novice. Well, I looked that word novice up this past week, and the word literally means newly planted, newly planted. You know, several times in the Gospels, believers, God's children, are referred to as plants. We remember our Lord's parable of the sower. The sower went forth to sow. And the seed, he explained, is the Word of God. Paul said to Timothy, preach the Word. Of his own will hath he begotten us with the Word of truth. Preach the Word, Timothy. Our Lord tells in his parable of a sower who goes forth and he sows the seed, and then when he explained the parable to his disciples, he said, the sower is the Son of Man, that is Christ Himself, and the seed is the Word of God. And then he gave examples of four types of soil, or places that the seed fell. And you know there was some ground which was good ground. Now you know from the Word of God that no man by nature is good ground. No man. All of us, we come into this world dead in trespasses and sins. But God prepares the heart. God gives a new heart, good ground to receive the Word of God. And then the plant that springs up brings forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundred and twentyfold. And the fruit is, of course, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, faith, all of those things that are mentioned by the Apostle Paul. But the point is, Paul told Timothy, don't ordain a man, and this is the reason I corrected myself a minute ago, we never ordain a woman to be a pastor. Because that is prohibited by the Word of God. A woman is not to teach nor usurp authority over the man. Now, I know today we live in a time when that's not politically correct. And people don't like to hear that in some places. But the Word of God is God's Word. And God doesn't change. And God's Word doesn't change. And if a man will be faithful, As a pastor, he must preach the Word of God, whether anyone receives it or not. That's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to preach the Word. Now, Paul tells Timothy, don't ordain, don't lay hands upon a man who is newly planted. In other words, a person who has newly or recently come to profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me give you another example where believers are spoken of as plants. One day our Lord was speaking and He said some things that offended some people. Can you believe that? Can you believe that the Holy Son of God, who speaks the truth and speaks to sinners, could possibly not say some things that offend men? And you know who he offended on this particular occasion were the religious crowd. And his disciples said to him something like this, Master, those words that you spoke, those offended the Pharisees. You know, these people here, they're somebody. These are people who can really help us get this kingdom message out and get this started here in this world. And do you know that you offended them by what you said? And our Lord said, Let him alone. And then he said this, Every plant, every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Believers are referred to as plants. And so James cautions here. cautions those who by their calling as a teacher, as a pastor, will use their tongue, be not many teachers. For those who are newly planted, let me just say this, for those who are newly planted, who have just come to profess faith in Christ, it might be better for a while to use your ears rather than your tongue, because after all, God gave us two ears and only one tongue. Now, the very last thing I want to do, in the words that I've just spoken, the very last thing that I want to do is to discourage anyone from witnessing, from being a witness and testifying of your faith in Christ. But this verse is speaking of those who would seek the office of a pastor teacher. My brethren, be not many masters. And James says here, because knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Those who teach the Word of God are judged by a higher standard. Now that's just so. Things that some people could do and no one would think anything about. But you let a pastor do the very same thing and he's criticized. He's held to a higher standard. And he should be, really and truthfully. He should be. When we hear on the news of one of these men who claims to be a pastor and we find out he's been stealing money and, you know, he's living some lavish lifestyle and living in a mansion and all the time he's on television he's begging people for money and has a ministry, you know, that God's called him to, but you need to help him. What do we think? And rightly so. We hold that person to a higher standard if he's a preacher. He might be an athlete, he might be a politician or something like that, and do the very same thing as far as begging for money, asking for donations, and we just accept that. But not a preacher. No, he's held to a higher standard. And that's what I believe James is telling us here in this verse. My brethren, Be not many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. And I would just say this as well, every pastor one day will give an account unto God for those to whom he has preached. And that's serious business. That's serious business. Now, since I'm on this subject, I want to say a word about what a church should do when its pastor is removed. What a church should do when its pastor is removed. And I'm saying the same thing I said almost 30 years ago, so don't read anything into this. What a church should do when their pastor is removed. Number one, pray. That should be first and foremost. Pray and ask the Lord to fulfill His promise that He gave in the book of Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 15 when He said, I will give you pastors after mine own heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Now that's number one, pray. Number two, look within the congregation. And I said this, as I said 30-some years ago, look within the congregation and see if God is raising up someone in the midst of God's people to be the honored shepherd. Before you start looking out somewhere else, look within God's church. And I trust that God has raised up a man. Now, that's not always the case. I understand that. But I'm just saying what I believe a church should do when they find themselves without a pastor. And number three, when you find the pastor, esteem him highly for his work's sake. Now how do you esteem a pastor? Well, the best way, and this was brought out last Sunday morning in the Sunday school lesson, you faithfully attend upon his ministry. Nothing discourages a pastor any more than unfaithful church members. And at the same time, nothing encourages a pastor more than faithful members of the congregation. Now, here's the second heading of my message. So first of all, first of all, James cautions those whose calling would involve the use of the tongue. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Number two, James reminds us of a universal truth. He reminds us of a universal truth. Verse 2, For in many things we offend all, or we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect, mature man, able also to bridle the whole body. You notice the apostle James, and if you've studied any or very much about these early apostles, you know that this James, There were several James, but this James, we believe, was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. And he was especially known, now this is tradition, but he was especially known as a man of prayer, a man of holiness. But notice he says we. He doesn't say you. He says we. For in many things we all offend. I said, James reminds us of a universal truth. That is, we all slip and fall. That's the way some translate this. We all slip and fall. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, There is no man that sinneth not. And in the law that God gave through Moses, One part of that says, If a soul commit a trespass and sin through ignorance. You say, Preacher, can you sin through ignorance? Absolutely. Absolutely. If he sinned through ignorance in the holy things. Now listen. If a soul commit a trespass and sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord. In other words, the priest. as they were going about their service there in the tabernacle, as God had ordained. But it was still possible, yea, more than possible, that one of them could sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord. Well, then what was he to do? He shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of his flocks. And that ram, of course, was then offered as a sacrifice to atone for that man's sin which he had committed, even though he was performing the work of the holy things in the tabernacle and in the temple. Now, look over just a few pages to 1 John chapter 2. And remember, what we're seeing here is that in many things we all offend. First John chapter 2, my little children, these things write unto you that you sin not. Now that's the goal, isn't it? That's the ideal for every believer, every child of God. Don't sin. Don't sin. And please, don't sin presumptuously. You know what a presumptuous sin is? It's when a person says, Well, I know it's wrong, but I'm going to do it anyway. I know it's a sin, but I'm still going to do it. John said, These things write we unto you, little children, that you sin not. But then notice he says, And if any man sin, and sins, we might say, and sins, we will sin. I want you to know this. You didn't lose your salvation. You don't have to start all over again. No, no. If any man sin, please know, recognize, we have an advocate with the Father who is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Jesus Christ the righteous. There's only one propitiation. There's only one sacrifice. It doesn't matter where in this world a person lives. There's only one way to the Father. There's only one sacrifice that puts away sin. And when a believer sins, it's still sin. Even though he's a believer, if he disobeys God, People don't say, well, it's not a sin since he's a believer. No, it's still a sin. If it's a sin for a non-believer, it's a sin for a believer. But we have an advocate with the Father, and He does not deny the guilt of our sin, no. But He pleads His person and His work, His sacrifice. His propitiation, His atonement, and thus we are forgiven. If we walk in the light above this, John said, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of His Son, the blood of Jesus Christ, cleanseth us from all iniquity. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity. A universal truth, yes. And when James here says, if a man does not offend in word the same as a perfect man, the word perfect should be understood as mature, as a mature Now, here's the third heading. James gives three examples, three examples of how the tongue, though a small member, may be very useful. He begins with the horse in verse 3. He says, Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth, that they may obey us. and we turn about their whole body. Now, when James wrote this, I don't know if the term horse power had been invented or not, but truly they knew something about horse power. When James wrote this, horses were very useful, very useful. They transported people. They could turn a mill. They were useful in so many different ways. They could pull a plow. but not without a very small instrument, a bit. Now, I've seen people ride horses without halter, without bits. I understand that, that some horses have been trained and they're given their guiding signals by the legs on the horse. I know that. But most of the time, most horses, as beneficial and as useful, and they are a big animal, aren't they? And do you know what God says about the horse? God says it doesn't have any understanding. I know we live in a time when people like to think these animals are equal to men and This is what God says in the Psalms concerning the horse. He tells men, don't be like the horse. He's speaking to you. He's speaking to me. Don't be like a horse or the mule. Let me read the Scripture. Be you not as the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle. Now this horse is a powerful animal, very useful, but he has to be controlled. And it takes a very small instrument, a very small member, a bit, to control him. The tongue is a small member, but it must be controlled. It may be very useful. It may preach the gospel. a leading praise of the Lord. It may be used in a number of ways to be very useful. And then it comes to the ship. And I could not help but think, when James wrote this about 2,000 years ago, how large a ship do you think he had ever heard of? If he could somehow have seen these big container ships that men have today, these tankers, these aircraft carriers, what would he have thought? A ship of his day. But in comparison, the truth is still the same. In comparison to that big old ship. Some of those cruise ships that we see sometimes. I was one time in Progreso, Mexico, and one of those docked, and I couldn't believe how big that ship was. But do you know, in proportion, it still is turned by very little member. That is the rudder or the helm. And the tongue, it's a small member, but it must be controlled. It may comfort. Think of how beneficial it is when God said, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. When you take the Word of God, maybe you visit someone in the hospital or someone who's in grief, and you take God's Word and you just open up the Bible and read God's Word with your tongue. What a blessing. What a comfort. And then James uses a fire. Now, a fire serves men in so many different ways, doesn't it? But it can cause a lot of harm as well. Very beneficial. We'd hate to live here in Houston. It doesn't get real cold here, but I'd hate to be here if we didn't have any fire, wouldn't you? Oh, I would. Thirty-five's cold for me. 35 degrees. I want the heater on. What if we didn't have any fire? Oh, it can be very, very useful. And to cook our food? But a fire can be very detrimental as well. It can do a lot of good. It can cause a lot of harm, a lot of destruction. One spark, one tiny match that size, can set a forest on fire and destroy acres and acres of land. And you notice that James tells us that the tongue is like a fire. Verse 6, he says, and the tongue not is a fire, the tongue is like a fire. The tongue isn't a fire. The same thing when our Lord took that bread and said, ìThis is my body.î He was not saying that that bread became His body. Or when He took the cup, He was not saying that this wine became His body. No, it represented. It was like. And that's what James is saying here. The tongue is like a fire. It may be very useful. We've already pointed that out. But it also may cause a great deal of damage. When God created Adam, the first man, we don't know, we don't know how long before he fell. But can you imagine for whatever length of time it was? I know this when he saw Eve. Whoa, man! When he saw the helpmate that God had made him, he used his tongue to thank God, to praise God. And I can just see him there in that garden. and the beautiful garden that it was, all the beautiful flowers. Sometimes we actually go and visit gardens, don't we, that are so well manicured and beautiful, all the different flowers and the fragrance that must have come from that garden in which he was placed. And he had a tongue, and surely when he looked around and when he saw everything that God had made, he used his tongue and he said, Praise the Lord! He knew! He knew who had created all this, and he gave him praise. Oh, the tongue. It's the man of all of God's creatures, only The tongue is able to speak. Man's tongue is able to speak, to articulate. All of the animals praise God. I realize that. They do. They serve as God has created them to serve. But man, only man has the ability to say, Praise God. Bless the Lord. Thank you, Lord. We're the only ones who are able to do that. But then he disobeyed God. And his tongue, as James says, was set on fire of hell. Notice that. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. What does that mean? Well, our Lord said this about the devil. He said he was a liar, and he was a murderer from the beginning. Now, when James tells us that man's tongue was set on fire of hell, hell was made for the devil. That's his home. That's his place of residence, my friends. And when man fell, then his tongue was set on fire. In other words, from that fallen nature that he now had, he began to lie, the tongue now, before it could only be used to praise God. It may be used to lie, to slander, to criticize, to curse, to use profanity, to gossip, all of these various things. Note that he began to boast. It says here, the tongue boasteth big things or great things. I'm sure just as soon as man fell, his tongue began to boast of his free will. I've got a free will. Who said that? Man did. I'm sure he began to boast. Boasted great things. I don't need God. I can do all right on my own. I'm a self-made man. Began to boast great things of his free will, of his independence of God. There's no need for a sacrifice. Oh, that may be all right for you folks, for the weak and for the old. You know, religion's good for them. But I'm a young person. I don't need that. I don't need that. The tongue began to boast of great things. Let me say this, in a family, in a church, a tongue, though it is very small, it can and it may cause a lot of damage. For instance, between a husband and a wife, in a fit of passion, of anger, a husband may say something, a wife may say something, and they may make up. But let me tell you something, those words are not forgotten. When I was a child, we learned some kind of saying that went like this, sticks and stones may break my bones, but was it words or names, I forget which, will never hurt me. But that's not true. That's not true. Words may hurt. They may hurt children, parents. in anger, may say things that they forget, but the child may carry with them the rest of their lives. I'm just saying this morning that the tongue is a small member, and it may be a very useful member, but it also may cause a lot of damage, a lot of hurt. And here's the last James gives a fact that tongue can no man tame, verses 7 and 8, where he said, Every kind of beast we see lines in the circus We see birds that men used to hunt with. We see serpents. People can charm those serpents and they come out, you know. And animals in the sea. Whales. Can you imagine that? You go to Sea World and you see a whale perform or something like that. Men have the ability to train animals. Yes, every kind of animal, but not the tongue. But the tongue can no man tame. Now that's just a fact. That's just so. The tongue can no man tame. There's only been one man, thank God for this man, there's only been one man who has ever walked on the face of God's earth who never, never offended with his tongue. And that is the sinless Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's only one great power that can change this small member from an instrument of evil to an instrument of good, and that is the grace of God, the grace of God in Christ. And so I would remind us of what Paul In Romans chapter 6, wrote to believers. He said, neither yield you, your members, as instruments unto sin. Don't yield your tongue. He's talking to believers here. Don't yield your members as instruments unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God. What a blessing it is this morning here, our tongues praising God, right? What a blessing. Here we are singing, singing His praises, praying, blessing His name. We're yielding our members unto righteousness. But don't yield, Paul said, don't yield your members unto sin, instruments unto sin. But yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members And you remember the tongue as an instrument of righteousness unto God. A universal truth, a fact, the tongue no man can tame. The only thing that may tame our tongue is the grace of God in Christ Jesus. May the Lord bless His Word to all of us. We're going to sing hymn number 281. I'm going to ask you, David, to change that hymn. Let's sing that hymn, oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, blessed be the name of the Lord. See if we can find that.