Father, thank you for your implanted word that gave us birth,
that is saving our souls, that is making us the people you want us to be.
Please speak to us today by your spirit.
Would you work deep in our hearts?
Pray that the words I speak, you would make them your words in each of our hearts.
No matter where we're at, no matter what morning we had,
would we hear you speak to each one of us?
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Anastasia.
The scripture reading today comes from the book of James, chapter 3.
Starting in verse 1, we read,
Now many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters,
for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
For we all stumble in many ways,
And if anyone does not stumble in what he says,
he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us,
we guide their whole bodies as well.
Look at the ships also.
Though they are so large and are driven by strong winds,
They are guided by a very small rudder,
Wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So also the tongue is a small member,
Yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
And the tongue is a fire,
A world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members,
Staining the whole body,
Setting on fire the entire course of life,
And set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird,
Of reptile and sea creature,
Can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
But no human being can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil,
Full of deadly poison.
With it, we bless our Lord and Father,
And with it, we curse people
Who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers and sisters,
These things ought not to be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening,
Both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters,
Bear olives?
Or a grapevine produce figs?
Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Who is wise in understanding among you?
By his good conduct,
Let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy
And selfish ambition in your hearts,
Do not boast and be false to the truth.
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above,
But is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
There will be disorder and every vile practice.
But the wisdom from above is first pure,
Then peaceable, gentle,
Open to reason,
Full of mercy and good fruits,
Impartial and sincere.
And a harvest of righteousness
Is sown in peace by those who make peace.
This is the word of God.
Great.
Thank you, Anastasia, for reading.
I forgot to say,
If you're new and you don't know me,
My name is Niels.
I'm part of the staff team.
And yeah, it's a privilege to bring you
God's word today.
But, uh,
Now, a few weeks ago,
We had a typhoon,
And I don't know what it was like for you.
Uh, we live in a bit of a remote area.
And so, of course,
We had some damage from some trees and stuff.
And, uh, sadly,
This is our road.
And it was, uh,
Blocked by a tree.
And, uh,
We had to go somewhere later.
And, uh,
Yeah.
We didn't think the government would be there soon
Because we are such a low-priority road.
And, uh,
So, yeah.
I thought,
I can solve this, right?
I've got a saw.
I just go and solve the branches
And push the tree aside.
I can do that.
That's what I thought.
Except that, uh,
As I was pushing,
Suddenly my back just really started to hurt.
And it,
It hurt the whole rest of the afternoon and evening
Until basically the next morning.
Right?
I couldn't,
I could hardly walk.
Uh,
Sitting down,
Standing up,
Everything just hurt.
And, uh,
Yeah,
I had to go to A&E.
And, uh,
That was all fun.
And now I'm doing some exercises.
It's probably just bad posture.
But, uh,
But the thing is,
Was this something unexpected?
To be honest,
No, not really.
Right?
Because, uh,
In the past few years,
Regularly,
You know,
I would push some heavy furniture.
And actually,
I would feel something.
And sometimes my dear wife would say,
Well, you need to watch your posture.
Uh,
And those kind of things.
But you know what it's like, right?
Uh,
Life is busy.
Got too many things.
I'm sure it will get better.
That kind of stuff.
Uh,
Well,
It didn't get better.
And then I really hurt myself.
That's the thing, right?
Sometimes it's,
It's good to be warned.
It's good to be told to watch out.
But we don't listen.
Um,
I don't know how you feel this morning.
We're coming to God's Word.
And, uh,
James,
Yeah,
He's writing to his old church.
He's this loving pastor.
Uh,
But he sees some people there.
And, uh,
They're struggling with life.
And he wants to say,
Hey,
Uh,
Watch out.
Hey,
Uh,
I'm concerned about you.
And, uh,
That is what he,
Yeah,
I think God wants to say to us today,
Right?
If that's what he said to them.
It's how he wants to address us.
He wants to,
You know,
You hear James's voice.
My,
My dear brothers and sisters,
I love you guys.
But I want to tell you something.
I want to come alongside you.
And so, uh,
I hope we will listen.
I,
It's a bit like going to the doctor.
I don't know if you've ever done a health check.
And the doctor,
He,
Uh,
Well,
Kind of measures your blood pressure.
And your heart rate.
And your cholesterol.
And he says,
Hey guys,
Uh,
Hey,
Why don't you,
Uh,
Maybe you need to do something about this.
We may not like it,
But,
Uh,
Yeah.
I don't like change certainly.
But it's good for us.
And then what is,
Uh,
Dr.
James looking at?
What is he saying?
Hey guys,
Uh,
This is what I see.
Well,
First of all,
He says,
Listen to your speech.
Guys,
Listen to your speech.
A very famous passage that we read.
I'm sure you've heard it.
But it's,
Uh,
Of course it's about what we say.
Uh,
How does James go into it?
Uh,
Well,
First he says,
Not many of,
Well,
Verse one,
Right?
Not many of you,
My brothers,
Should become teachers.
My brothers,
For you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Hey,
Uh,
I wouldn't encourage many of you to kind of become a pastor or an elder or a church leader.
That wouldn't be good.
Because,
Uh,
Yeah,
Well,
You're going to be judged more strictly.
Uh,
What is he actually saying?
You're going to receive more judgment.
You're going to receive greater judgment.
Uh,
Why is that?
Well,
Verse two,
We all stumble in many ways.
And if,
If anyone does not stumble in what he says,
He's a perfect man,
Able also to bridle his whole body.
The problem is,
Uh,
We all stumble in all kinds of things,
But especially in what we say.
Uh,
And what is the problem?
If you have a job like mine,
You do a lot of speaking.
And the more you talk,
The more you sin,
Basically.
Right?
So,
Maybe,
Uh,
That's not a good job for you.
If you struggle with,
Uh,
What you say.
It's a very scary verse for me.
Right?
If you can control what you say,
Well,
You're,
You're perfect.
But,
Uh,
If you're not,
No,
Maybe setting up chairs,
Counting money,
Maybe that's a better thing to do in church for you.
But that's just his way in,
Right?
He's talking,
Hey,
About what you say.
And then we get this very colorful,
Wonderful passage about the tongue.
We all know it.
It's the,
One of the most famous passages in James,
About our tongue.
Now,
Of course,
You know what a tongue is about.
It's not really about this piece of flesh.
It is about what we say.
Um,
In many languages,
The word for tongue is the same as the word for language.
Like speaking in tongues.
That's not,
Nothing to do with this.
It's speaking in other languages.
Right?
Uh,
That's what it means.
Uh,
But,
Yeah,
You use your tongue to speak.
And of course,
It doesn't just,
I'm going to be mainly talking about speaking.
But,
I guess this,
2023,
Fixing your thumb.
That would be another.
Not just taming your tongue.
Fixing your thumb.
That's what he's talking about.
But,
What is he saying?
Well,
Look at the tongue.
First of all,
You know,
It's so powerful.
Right?
Verse 3,
If we put bits into the mouths of horses,
So that they obey us.
We guide their whole bodies as well.
You know,
You have this huge horse,
And you just put a little bit of metal in its mouth.
And,
That whole horse moves and does whatever you want just from this little thing in its mouth.
Right?
That's,
It's very powerful.
What's it just that this little thing can do.
Or,
Or ships,
Right?
Look at the ships also.
They are so large and are driven by strong winds.
They are guided by a very small rudder.
Wherever the will of the pilot directs.
Directs.
Yeah?
This little flappy thing at the back of the boat can steer this whole thing wherever it wants.
I mean,
You get what he says,
Right?
Here's a very small thing with such a big impact on everything.
And that's your tongue.
Your tongue is,
Is powerful.
What we say is powerful.
You know,
Wars have been started and stopped by means of words.
Right?
Whole economies,
Things in history have been turned around just by what people said.
Words are powerful.
Of course,
The whole universe came through God's words.
Right?
In the whole Bible,
Words are powerful.
Although,
Sometimes it's good,
But usually,
Actually,
The tongue is rather destructive.
Right?
Because that last example in verse 5,
The tongue,
Well,
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
A forest fire.
Right?
Many of you,
I mean,
Sometimes you come from Canada or Australia.
You know about forest fires.
I don't know what the worst one was last summer.
Canada was badly hit,
I think.
You know,
It's the second largest country in the world.
And every single province had forest fires.
I think they burned about 160 times the area of Hong Kong.
But how does a forest fire start?
How does this huge place start?
Maybe just a cigarette.
Right?
Or a barbecue,
And one little coal falls off the barbecue.
And that causes such a huge forest fire.
And so,
One little thing can have such a destructive impact.
And so,
So,
James,
Yeah,
The tongue is,
Your tongue is terrible.
Right?
It's a fire.
A world of unrighteousness.
It's set among our members,
Staining the whole body,
Setting on fire the entire course of life.
It's a restless evil,
Full of deadly poison.
The tongue is terrible.
And I guess we know that,
Right?
Maybe there's something that your parents said,
That you were,
When you were young,
That just affected your whole life.
Maybe that was something good.
But maybe they,
They put you down in a way,
And it's always stayed with you.
Maybe you had a,
A relationship.
There was one thing you said wrong,
And that,
That ruined everything.
Or a friendship,
Where,
Yeah,
Just the things you said,
And,
It's,
It ruined everything.
It's quite common,
Right?
We all know this.
It's a fire.
It's a poison.
And,
And this is basically how we hurt people,
Right?
I,
I thought,
When was the last time that I physically hurt someone?
And,
And not just stepping on their toes or something.
I mean,
I was bullied in primary school.
And,
And I remember one time that,
Yeah,
I really lashed out.
And I,
I actually hit someone in the face.
But,
But that's nearly 40 years ago.
Since then,
That has not happened.
Seriously.
Um,
How often do I,
Hurt people by what I say?
Do I say,
Make some comments?
Well,
It's every week,
Right?
Maybe every day.
It's so common,
Right?
That is basically how we hurt.
None of us really go around hitting people.
But so often what we say,
It hurts,
Right?
You know,
The,
Could be gossip.
But,
Often,
You know,
When you put someone down,
Uh,
You,
Uh,
Say something in a way that,
Uh,
Yeah,
Uh,
Just,
This hurts people.
Hurts their feelings.
You know,
Difficult conversations.
It's,
It's hard.
You know,
It makes me,
You know,
Take three verse one really seriously.
You know it yourself,
Right?
How,
You know,
Last week,
Did you have to apologize to someone for what you said?
Good chance you did,
Right?
Something you regret saying that,
Uh,
In a meeting or at home.
It's so common.
And,
And it seems like we just can't help,
It.
Uh,
Verse nine.
Uh,
With it we bless our Lord and Father,
And with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Uh,
Blessing and cursing.
Uh,
From the same mouth.
That shouldn't be,
Right?
You,
You come here and we sing Jesus Messiah.
And,
And then you go to coffee and then,
You know,
You,
You gossip.
And you,
Uh,
Or you,
Or you talk to someone and you,
You,
You know,
You hurt them by,
You hurt their feelings.
Right?
It's so easy.
And we,
Our tongues just keep doing wrong.
But,
But what is the point that James wants to say?
I mean,
The,
The passage here,
You know,
You have your Bible.
It says,
Taming the tongue.
Now,
That's not from the Bible.
That's what the ESV people put in.
But is that the right title?
Taming the tongue?
I mean,
Many sermons on this,
Uh,
Passage,
They,
They are called like,
Ten tips to tame the tongue.
And those kind of things.
Five ways to tame the tongue.
The thing that surprises me,
Everyone says James is so practical,
Is that there is actually,
Uh,
It's very little.
Right?
I mean,
So,
In a way,
That's what we expect.
Right?
Maybe you don't know the Bible very well,
And you think,
Oh,
The Bible is telling you how to be good.
It's giving you all this advice.
What to do.
James can do that.
In chapter one,
He says,
You know,
Every person should be quick to listen,
Slow to speak,
Slow to become angry.
Yeah?
Very good tips.
You know,
First listen before you speak.
Be very careful and slow in what you say.
But here,
There's nothing.
There isn't a single piece of advice.
Nothing.
The only advice he gives,
Is,
Uh,
Don't do stuff that means you have to speak a lot,
Because you're going to do more damage.
Right?
That's the only thing he says.
No,
He actually,
His point is not,
Here's how you tame your tongue.
He's saying,
Well,
No human being can tame the tongue.
Right?
You can't tame your tongue.
Rather,
What your tongue does,
It exposes you.
That's those last two verses.
Right?
What,
What does he say?
Hey,
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening,
Both fresh and salt water?
Now,
You have a spring.
Uh,
Can you get,
Uh,
You know,
We bless and we curse with the same mouth.
Can you get from the same spring,
Both salt water and fresh water?
Well,
No,
You can't,
Right?
Uh,
If it's a salt pond,
You only get out of one kind of thing.
Uh,
This can't be the case.
Uh,
Can a fig tree,
My brothers,
Bear olives?
Or a grapevine produce figs?
Neither can a salt pond yields fresh water.
Basically,
Things,
You know,
What's inside is what comes out.
Right?
Uh,
A certain tree produces fruit.
And,
Well,
An olive tree produces olives.
And a fig tree produces figs.
And so,
If something produces figs,
Well,
It's a fig tree.
If something produces olives,
It's an olive tree.
And if something produces salt water,
It's not a fresh spring.
It's a salt spring.
And behind it lies,
Uh,
Jesus' famous teaching.
James is full of Jesus' teaching.
I think we know these verses,
But,
Uh,
Jesus says it clearly.
Uh,
Luke 6,
43.
For no good tree bears bad fruit,
Nor again does a bad tree
Bear good fruit.
For each tree is known by its own fruit.
For figs are not gathered from foreign bushes,
Nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good.
And the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.
For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
And Jesus again goes to our speech.
Well,
What comes out of your mouth?
Well,
It's the overflow of your heart.
It's overflow of what's deep inside you.
The control center of who you are.
And as the fruit reveals the tree,
Well,
So your speech reveals your heart.
And if there's something wrong with your speech,
Well,
Maybe there's something wrong with your heart.
To be honest,
Isn't that exactly why we often hurt people?
It's not lies.
It's not things that aren't true.
It's usually,
I hurt people when I say what's deep inside.
Right?
And this is what I'm thinking.
And if I'm good,
And I'm control what I'm,
I don't say what I'm thinking.
And I don't hurt people.
But it's often when I don't pay attention,
And I just speak my mind.
And that is when you do the damage.
Right?
So it shows the inside is the problem.
And in a way,
That means taming the tongue isn't even the issue.
Taming your tongue.
Does that change your heart?
You have a salt spring.
Well,
You put a big concrete over it,
And there's no more salt water coming out.
There's no more salt water.
Does it change the spring?
Is it now a fresh spring?
No,
It's not a fresh spring.
Right?
It's still a salt spring.
That's the thing.
Right?
Actually,
We need something much deeper.
We don't need to learn to tame our tongue.
That's hard enough.
Actually,
We need a change of heart.
And,
Yeah.
Let's think about this week.
You know,
Again,
Have you had to apologize to someone for what you said?
Anything you regret saying?
People who got hurt?
And again,
That's very similar then to the next passage.
Because it's not just our speech.
James also says,
Hey,
Look at your conduct.
Verse 13,
Who is wise and understanding among you?
Who is wise?
You think you're wise.
I don't know what you think.
What is a wise person?
Again,
We often think of knowledge,
Right?
And PhDs.
Well,
In the Bible,
Wisdom is when you walk with God.
And you,
You know,
You live his way.
And it's transformed life.
It's about character.
And that's seen in how you live.
13,
Second half of the verse.
By his good conduct.
Now,
If you're wise,
By your good conduct,
Let him show his works.
In the meekness of wisdom.
Now,
Show it by your life.
If you're,
If you think you're wise,
Well,
Look at your conduct.
Because,
What does that look like?
Verse 17,
Well,
The wisdom from above is,
First pure,
Then peaceable,
Gentle,
Open to reason,
Full of mercy,
And good fruit,
Impartial,
And sincere.
And a harvest of righteousness,
Is sown in peace,
By those who make peace.
I mean,
It's beautiful,
Right?
Peaceable,
Gentle,
Open to reason,
Making peace.
That is what,
Yeah,
A wise person's conduct looks like.
Again,
It's not often what we think.
Just to be clear,
You know,
Maturity is ultimately not about knowledge,
Right?
It's about a changed life.
And so,
Who is wise?
You know,
Who should be a teacher?
We often think,
Well,
Yeah,
Someone with a PhD,
And who knows a lot.
But knowing the Bible doesn't make you mature.
There's plenty of people,
They know the Bible really well.
Their life is not necessarily changed much.
And there's other people,
They're really wonderful,
They just don't know very much.
That's also,
Right?
And so,
If you read the Bible,
Well,
What kind of elders should you need?
Yeah,
They should be able to teach,
And,
You know,
Give instruction in sound doctrine.
But actually,
Most of it is about their character,
Right?
They should be humble,
And sober-minded,
And hospitable,
And not greedy,
And all those things.
It's about character.
But,
Does he think his readers are wise?
I'm not sure,
Because he goes on,
Well,
Show it by your wisdom,
Show it by your conduct,
But verse 14,
But if you have bitter jealousy,
And selfish ambition in your hearts,
Well,
Do not boast,
And be false to the truth,
Right?
Don't,
Don't claim to be wise,
Because this is not from God,
This is not the wisdom,
That comes from down from above,
But it is earthly,
Unspiritual,
Demonic,
And again,
Your conduct,
For where jealousy,
And selfish ambition exist,
There will be disorder,
And every vile practice,
And it's seen in your conduct,
And it's not,
They're not murdering anyone,
But there's disorder,
And all kinds of things,
Caused by jealousy,
And selfish ambition,
And he says,
That that's from the world,
You know,
That that's not wisdom from God,
That's what you see,
Well,
Probably in your workplace,
In your office,
Right?
Maybe it's your family,
But again,
What is James' point?
Is he saying,
Hey,
Let's have good conduct,
Let's,
Let's do this,
I remember our children,
They go to a Christian school,
And in grade two,
They learn this as a memory verse,
And it's very nice,
But what was,
Basically,
The teacher's point,
Well,
Let's do this,
Children,
Let's be merciful,
Let's be gentle,
Let's be peacemakers,
And they are all good things,
But James doesn't say,
Let's do this,
Rather,
He says,
Well,
Hey,
Show me your conduct,
Right?
You think you're wise,
Well,
Show me your conduct,
And if your conduct,
Doesn't measure up,
Well,
Don't boast that you're wise,
Right?
Again,
It's the same thing,
Right?
It's the outside,
And the inside,
Your words,
Reveal your heart,
And your conduct,
Reveals,
Well,
What kind of wisdom,
Is in your,
Right?
Well,
What's governing you,
Is good conduct,
Comes from above,
And bad conduct,
Comes from below,
And what is your conduct?
Look at your conduct,
Because the thing is,
James sees,
Bad conduct,
Right?
We talk about,
A harvest of righteousness,
By those who make peace,
Well,
If you know chapter 4,
That's,
It's not really,
Their church,
Yeah?
Last week,
Hey,
You say you have faith,
But I don't see much change,
In your life,
Now,
Hey,
I'm listening to your speech,
And there's something wrong,
And I'm looking at your conduct,
And,
Hey,
There's something going on,
And,
Yeah,
And so on,
And James is,
Yeah,
He's diagnosing,
And he is,
Well,
Last week,
Kevin mentioned,
Like the doctor taking an x-ray,
Although actually,
Technically,
It's not an x-ray,
Right?
He doesn't need an x-ray,
He just looks at what comes out,
Like the doctor,
Well,
Stick out your tongue,
And then the doctor looks at the tongue,
And he can see what's wrong,
And that's the thing,
Right?
He is looking at you,
And say,
Hey,
Look at your speech,
Listen to your speech,
Look at your conduct,
James isn't here,
Of course,
But the Holy Spirit is,
And I think what he wants,
Is that we,
Well,
That we listen,
And,
You know,
Examine yourself,
You know,
Stick out your tongue,
How are we doing?
Basically,
Hey guys,
Let's take in the diagnosis,
Okay?
This is what the doctor says,
What is the diagnosis?
Now,
It depends a little bit,
On who you are,
Right?
Maybe you're here,
And you're actually,
You wouldn't describe yourself,
As a Christian,
And some of us here,
We're looking into Christianity,
I wonder,
What do we think of our,
Of our tongue?
I mean,
The Bible is,
Is actually maybe,
Some people,
They think the Bible is very sophisticated,
Right?
It just says,
Don't hit other people,
It's actually,
Quite sophisticated,
Right?
It says,
You hurt people by what you say,
And that is,
Actually,
From what comes deep inside,
You know,
Is that something that you recognize?
How many of us recognize,
Is that we,
We tend to hurt people,
By what we say,
That what we say,
Have often,
Yeah,
Problematic consequences,
And James is saying,
We're just not the person,
We thought we are,
We're not the person,
On the inside,
Who we should be,
We're not as good,
As we thought,
And even if you learn,
To control it,
Yeah,
It doesn't change the inside,
And we know this matters,
Right?
Because each of us,
Have been hurt,
Yeah,
We hurt other people,
But people hurt us,
And we know,
What certain words,
Have done for us,
And we feel,
Yeah,
We feel this is wrong,
This shouldn't be the case,
And even though everyone does it,
We know it's wrong,
Well,
Maybe,
Yeah,
Dr. James says,
Hey,
Maybe we should have a look at our heart,
Maybe there is something,
And maybe,
Maybe you need Jesus,
I don't know if you remember,
A year ago,
We baptized Raphael,
He had such a great testimony,
Because everyone was saying to him,
That he was so self-centered,
And everything,
And he always said,
No,
I'm not,
And then one time,
When he lost all his friends,
He read through his old text messages,
And then he could see,
Actually,
Wow,
I have been such a selfish person,
I have been so terrible,
He saw his own words,
And then he knew,
Yeah,
I need Jesus,
Right?
I need forgiveness,
I need a new hope,
I need a new identity,
Man,
Because of what I say,
Although at the same time,
You know,
James is actually,
He's not talking to those outside the church,
Right?
He's talking to Christians,
He's talking to a church,
And I think this is a challenging passage,
Right?
Because it says,
Well,
You're not as mature,
As you think you are,
You're not as humble,
As perfect as you are,
Listen to your speech,
Look at your conduct,
I think we all have things to repent of,
Right?
We all stumble in many ways,
I mean,
You can try to be quick to listen,
And slow to speak,
And they're very good things,
Although when I read this,
I also,
I just want to say,
Very close to Jesus,
To his grace,
To his forgiveness,
Seeking his help,
Because my speech shows,
That actually,
Often there's things in my heart,
Right?
That come out,
I think I should be very quick to apologize,
Quick to repent,
If I see this passage,
I can see that I often hurt people,
And it's very easy to be defensive,
Well,
They've misunderstood me,
They're just too sensitive,
Actually,
Often I'm part of the problem,
Right?
It's probably my heart,
Coming out in my speech,
That has hurt people,
If you know your heart,
And your tongue,
And it's a restless evil,
You'll be very humble,
I don't know,
Tuesday you're going back to work,
You're going in a meeting,
How are you going to go into that meeting?
My guess is,
You're going to pray,
Right?
Lord,
Keep me from hurting people,
By what I say,
Help me to say the right thing,
Help me to be careful,
Help me to listen,
Please help me to trust in you,
Please work in my heart,
Right?
That's how you go in,
And if you say something wrong,
And you see someone,
Wins at what you say,
Be quick to talk,
Be quick to apologize,
Right?
If we really know this,
Although for some of us,
Actually James would say,
Well for some of you,
There's a real problem,
Right?
For some of things,
Well we all have something,
But sometimes it's a bit over the limit,
Because James,
You know,
He's writing to a church,
And they're facing trials,
Right?
They were refugees,
They had to leave their home,
And now they're poor,
And they don't have their home,
They don't have their job,
And they're struggling,
And James wants to say,
Hey,
Yeah,
It's difficult,
But use it for good,
Use it to grow,
In patience,
And in trust,
But instead they are,
They're responding rather badly,
Yeah?
They want to follow Jesus,
But they also want to get rich,
Again,
And they're struggling,
And James says,
Hey,
You're being double-minded,
You're trying to do both,
And you can't,
But that's probably what's happening,
Right?
He sees the church,
And some people are not responding well,
Right?
He hears their tongue,
Salt water coming out of the salt spring,
And he sees their conduct,
And he wants to say,
Hey,
Something's wrong,
And that might be some of us here,
Right?
Maybe something stressful at work,
Or maybe a lack of work,
You don't have a job,
And actually,
Or something in your family,
And it's really affecting you,
Now maybe you think,
You're coping,
Because we often think that we're okay,
And we're coping,
And I'll go over,
Are your,
Are our words causing more hurt than normal?
Or actually,
Do you see,
If you're honest,
That actually,
I'm hurting more people than normal,
I'm having more problems than normal,
Is there more disorder around you,
Than there normally is?
Because maybe what you're going through,
Is infecting you badly,
Right?
What would your spouse say?
What would your CG say?
I think that's helpful,
Because,
You know,
James says,
Maybe there is something wrong deep inside,
Now I don't know,
Each one of us,
You know,
We need the spirit to let,
Uh,
Him speak to our hearts,
But that is what James is saying,
Hey guys,
For some of you,
I'm really worried,
I'm really concerned,
And,
You need something drastic,
And that will be next week,
I mean,
Today's the diagnosis,
Next week's the treatment,
But,
Deep repentance,
Deep,
Humbling yourself,
But if you're not in good shape,
You need to do something,
If the doctor says,
You know,
Your cholesterol is really high,
Do something,
And that is what James,
Is maybe saying to some of us today,
That's a,
Of course you need to know your temperament,
You need to know your personality,
I mean,
When I say this,
I know there's some people,
They're hypochondriacs,
Right?
They are a little bit of pain,
And they think they're dying,
Some people,
They see some sin in their life,
And,
Oh,
Maybe I'm not a Christian,
Maybe,
Right?
And actually,
I see their life,
And I think,
Man,
I wish the whole church was like you,
Maybe,
And so,
Know your personality,
There's other people,
On the other hand,
And there's no fruit in their lives,
And a lot of disorder,
And they say,
Oh,
When I was five,
I prayed a prayer,
I'm okay,
And maybe,
We should be worried about you,
So take this with your personality,
But,
You know,
Let James do the diagnosis,
Hey,
How's your speech,
How's your conduct,
If you produce salt water,
Maybe you're a salt spring,
If you're not producing fresh water,
Maybe you're not a fresh spring,
Right?
If there's not much fruit of the spirit,
Oh,
What's the spirit doing at the moment?
And that's the question,
Because that is where this chapter leaves us,
And,
Yeah,
Let's look at our hearts,
And that feels pretty hopeless sometimes,
In some way,
Although again,
You know,
When it tries to warn us,
It points us to a better way,
Right?
It's not much here,
But,
There is,
Right?
The gospel,
Right?
We can't tame the tongue,
Maybe,
We can't change our hearts,
But,
But who can do it?
Well,
Verse eight,
It says very clearly,
Right?
No human being can tame the tongue,
No human being,
How about someone who is not a human being?
Maybe they can tame your tongue,
Maybe they can change your heart,
You know,
How do you get good conduct?
Well,
If we are earthly,
And unspiritual,
We need wisdom,
From above,
And so,
You know,
If we are struggling,
With our hearts,
Well,
One verse five,
Right?
If anyone lacks wisdom,
Let him ask God,
Who gives generously to all,
Without finding fault,
There is wisdom,
There is hope,
There is change,
If we look to God,
And,
Yeah,
Because that's what he's doing,
Right?
Verses 17 and 18,
Also of chapter one,
You know,
Every good and perfect gift,
Comes from above,
Down from the father of light,
With whom there is no variation,
Or shadow due to change,
Of his own will,
He brought us forth,
By the word of truth,
That we should be a kind of,
First fruits of his creatures,
And this is not just trying to make a,
An olive tree into a fig tree,
This is a new birth,
This is a new creation,
God is the one who can,
You know,
Make a new fig tree,
Where there was an olive tree,
He can do that,
He can change us,
And we can look to him,
Yeah,
But that means humbling yourself,
That means coming to him,
That means depending on him,
That means asking him,
But let's do that today,
All right,
Let's listen to this passage,
Let's be honest,
Let's look at our conduct,
Look at our speech,
And let the Holy Spirit just tell us,
If,
You know,
Are we within range,
Are we over the limit,
How are we doing today?