WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.339 So, last week, none of the kids are in here, but we talked about in Luke 2, we heard that when John the Baptist was finally named and his father's tongue was suddenly loosed, it said that all who saw it, all who heard them laid them up in their hearts. 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:34.700 So, fear of them came upon their neighbors, and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, what then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord is on him. 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:51.679 So, I want you to have that in your minds, laying things up in your heart. This morning, we heard about Mary, and after these shepherds came and told them about the angelic visit, so it's happened to other people, it's not just her and Joseph. 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:59.020 There's a whole heavenly host singing, and all these shepherds come running, sprinting, out of breath, and they're wanting to see the baby king. 00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:11.200 And it says, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them, but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her hearts. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:19.280 Okay? So, there's a pondering, there's a treasuring up in the heart that I want to look at, and we'll get to this in James. 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:30.920 Okay? But I got a passage from Luke 6, 43, that I also want to touch on before we get to that. 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:38.060 So, James is going to be talking about the power of the tongue, both to build up and to tear down. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:39.780 So, there's tremendous power. 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:47.120 And I want to hear what Jesus, how Jesus framed that as well. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:54.480 So, Luke 6, 43, Jesus teaches, 00:01:54.939 --> 00:02:00.780 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. 00:02:01.380 --> 00:02:04.320 For each tree is known by its own fruit. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:10.560 For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.219 And here's the thing I want to emphasize. 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:19.340 The good person, out of the good treasure of his heart, produces good. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.520 And the evil person, out of his evil treasure, produces evil. 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:29.319 For, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:35.500 So, there's a vital connection between what we've treasured up in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths. 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:37.699 I don't want to talk about that this morning. 00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:44.179 There's a parallel passage in Matthew 12, verses 36 and 37. 00:02:44.419 --> 00:02:48.759 It kind of has that same passage, but he's talking to the scribes specifically in that passage. 00:02:49.339 --> 00:02:50.299 And Pharisees. 00:02:50.579 --> 00:02:51.000 And he says, 00:02:51.099 --> 00:02:55.719 I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. 00:02:56.259 --> 00:03:00.659 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:01.679 Okay? 00:03:02.019 --> 00:03:07.339 So, God really cares about words and how we speak to each other and what comes out of our mouths. 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:09.859 He's not just concerned about the fruit. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.819 He's not just a fruit inspector, making sure that everybody's behaving. 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:16.000 He cares about what's inside, what's producing that fruit. 00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:18.500 What's the root on the inside? 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:20.039 What's the treasure laid up? 00:03:20.179 --> 00:03:23.459 Out of that good, treasure comes forth good. 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:27.280 Out of that evil treasure that we've stored up, can come forth evil. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.640 So, I want to talk about that this morning. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:33.840 And that's what we have under view in James 3. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:39.319 So, last week, or maybe it was two weeks ago, that Seth preached. 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:42.580 And he was talking about faith and works. 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:47.080 And he was making the point that faith, it's invisible. 00:03:47.420 --> 00:03:48.280 James was making that point. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:50.180 You say you have faith? 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:50.599 Great. 00:03:51.259 --> 00:03:53.120 I'll show you my faith by my works. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:54.939 You show me your faith without your works. 00:03:55.359 --> 00:03:56.319 What does it even look like? 00:03:56.460 --> 00:03:57.939 Does it look like anything? 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:01.319 Are we talking about a dead faith? 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:03.099 Or are we talking about a faith that actually works? 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:04.560 Like a working faith? 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:05.759 Or a dead faith? 00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:06.560 Or a demon faith? 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:11.139 You've got all these different categories of faith that weren't faith at all. 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:11.919 It didn't do anything. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:12.599 It didn't work. 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:18.319 And I think a lot of these guys might have even been wanting to preach. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:24.420 You know, they might have been wanting to take the reins, you know, of this new Jeebus movement that was happening. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.219 And James has some cautions for them. 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:44.800 And so in the same way that faith shows itself by its works, what is invisible makes itself visible, shows itself, works its way out from the inside, works its way out from the invisible to the visible. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:05:01.019 So what's that secret treasure of our heart, what we've laid up, the good treasure that we've stored up, that we've pondered on and laid up for ourselves, that also comes out the mouth, whether it be good or evil. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:11.600 And James will have stuff to say about if there's a mixture there, too, and what happens when it's bitter water and sweet water coming from the same opening. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:13.939 Like, what happens then? 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:24.819 So, and I got one more proverb that I want to share just as a framing device as we look into this passage. 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:27.439 So Proverbs 18.1 says, 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:33.780 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. 00:05:34.780 --> 00:05:37.460 So that's pretty important. 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:41.259 Let's read this passage through once. 00:05:41.259 --> 00:05:47.099 Let's read this passage through once, and then we'll go through it bit by bit. 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:49.240 James 3.1 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:57.040 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:06.100 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. 00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:12.360 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:13.360 Look at the ships. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:13.939 Look at the ships. 00:06:14.580 --> 00:06:22.360 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. 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:29.980 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:34.680 How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:38.540 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:46.879 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. 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:56.879 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. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.379 It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:07.100 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.680 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.379 My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 00:07:14.379 --> 00:07:19.779 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and salt water? 00:07:20.420 --> 00:07:25.100 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:28.700 Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 00:07:30.460 --> 00:07:31.020 Okay. 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:35.220 So, verse 1, we're talking about, 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:39.980 Not many of you should presume or should become teachers, my brothers. 00:07:40.780 --> 00:07:43.760 For you know that we who teach, he's putting himself in this category, 00:07:43.900 --> 00:07:46.900 we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 00:07:46.899 --> 00:07:56.079 So, God's jealous that his people, and that those who represent him to his people, 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:05.139 would have an inner consistency, and not have this divided heart that we see later in this chapter. 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:09.379 And there's something about the law of Genesis. 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:12.240 Remember when we were going through Genesis 1, 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:16.159 kept saying, and things produced after their kind. 00:08:16.300 --> 00:08:19.000 Like, that's kind of a law of creation of nature. 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:20.919 Like, God's created order. 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:23.099 That things produce after their kind. 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:27.020 And this works on the biogenesis scale. 00:08:27.260 --> 00:08:34.019 Like, we don't get clams from kittens, or, you know, it doesn't work that way. 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:39.379 You know, the macroevolution that came from single-celled organisms, 00:08:39.620 --> 00:08:42.060 and that that somehow happened out of nowhere, 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:44.540 doesn't hold a lot of water. 00:08:44.680 --> 00:08:45.820 There's a lot of missing links. 00:08:47.019 --> 00:08:49.120 Things produce after their kind. 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:50.840 Because God made it that way. 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:55.080 And it's a law of his created order. 00:08:55.639 --> 00:08:59.280 And it's not only a natural law in the physical world, 00:08:59.420 --> 00:09:01.680 but it happens in the family, too. 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:02.560 It happens in hearts. 00:09:02.680 --> 00:09:03.800 It happens in relationships. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.060 It happens in leadership. 00:09:06.280 --> 00:09:09.080 So, louder. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:09.460 Okay. 00:09:10.680 --> 00:09:11.519 Take a drink. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:21.659 So, the law of Genesis says that things produce after their kind. 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:27.059 That's why he's so invested in those who would presume to teach or to lead in the church, 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:30.879 that they would have a single-hearted devotion, single-minded devotion. 00:09:30.939 --> 00:09:32.159 We talked about this in James 1. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:36.639 And the dangers of the double-minded man who's unstable in all his way. 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:38.360 Literally, it meant two-souled. 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:40.419 You know, like this totally divided self. 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:45.679 And how dangerous and wicked and unnatural that is. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:49.199 And he's wanting us to be one. 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:50.379 He's wanting us to be singular. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:51.979 Single-hearted devotion. 00:09:53.479 --> 00:09:55.299 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers. 00:09:55.459 --> 00:09:59.339 For you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 00:09:59.939 --> 00:10:02.019 For we all stumble in many ways. 00:10:02.719 --> 00:10:06.859 And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man. 00:10:07.859 --> 00:10:10.019 Able also to bridle his whole body. 00:10:10.599 --> 00:10:12.259 So, who is the perfect man? 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:20.159 Which of us would raise our hand if I called for a show of perfect men who are able to bridle their tongue perfectly? 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.340 Yeah, we need another's perfection. 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:35.620 We need the supply of God himself to work anything in us that's going to approach perfection. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:40.240 And it won't be until the other side that we reach it when we're fully known. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:42.220 We see him as he is. 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:44.639 And know him even as we are fully known. 00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:47.480 Then we'll get that perfection. 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:51.100 But until then, we wait on him who is perfect. 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:57.379 And we look to him to be that perfect speech. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:03.100 That perfect way of relating to our spouses or our roommates or our friends or our coworkers. 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:06.139 We need that help. 00:11:06.139 --> 00:11:10.100 And he does work in us to unify our hearts. 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:16.379 To bring us into one person whom he created us to be. 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:28.200 So, if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:34.220 So, we've seen this word translated as perfect in James already three times. 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:40.399 So, we saw it in verse 4 of chapter 1. 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:46.420 And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 00:11:47.300 --> 00:11:50.399 So, there's a category of you being perfect. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:57.379 And the word that we brought out that time when I preached was telos or teleos. 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.360 And it was the seeing the end goal. 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.019 Seeing at a distance what's way off. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.319 And seeing it as up real close. 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:06.740 Like the telescope, you know. 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:10.659 Seeing planets that are so far away. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:13.120 That are so much bigger than you can even imagine. 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:17.279 But seeing them as though they're very close. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.980 So, it's making them seem closer to as big as they are. 00:12:22.079 --> 00:12:24.819 And I think there's an element of that here as well. 00:12:26.339 --> 00:12:30.360 Let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 00:12:31.179 --> 00:12:34.740 Letting us see the end from where we are right now. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:37.319 And then, where's the other one? 00:12:37.699 --> 00:12:41.720 Oh, verse 25 of chapter 1. 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:51.620 But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:56.139 And then it also shows up in chapter 2, verse 22. 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:58.820 You see that faith was active along with his works. 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:03.820 And faith was completed, or some translations say perfected, by his works. 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:10.660 So, it's this summing up, this maturing and arriving at the end for which one was created. 00:13:10.940 --> 00:13:15.660 So, it's something that's resonating with the nature that we were created for. 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:19.840 So, that's the idea of perfection in this context. 00:13:20.560 --> 00:13:24.520 I don't think he's talking about moral perfection as much. 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:29.279 And so, anyone does not stumble in what he says. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.539 He is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:39.480 So, bridling your whole body, what would that take? 00:13:39.899 --> 00:13:44.059 Like, what, how much self-control would that take? 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:46.399 Where would that self-control come from? 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:53.159 So, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. 00:13:53.699 --> 00:13:54.679 It's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:56.899 We don't have that without the Spirit. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.819 So, you can look at some Buddhist monk who maybe looks tremendously disciplined, you know. 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:03.559 But he doesn't have the Holy Spirit. 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.860 So, that's going to come up, come out somewhere else. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:09.919 And he's going to find himself worshiping demons. 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:12.840 So, I feel like there's trade-offs, you know. 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:18.160 Like, if you grow real strong in one discipline or seeming fruit, you know. 00:14:18.280 --> 00:14:21.840 Like, it's going to, the sin's going to pop up somewhere else stronger. 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:31.580 And you can't make real, lasting, sad, holistic fruit growing without the Holy Spirit. 00:14:33.060 --> 00:14:34.280 It just doesn't work. 00:14:34.420 --> 00:14:37.379 You're going to miscarry somewhere along the way. 00:14:37.379 --> 00:14:37.460 Okay. 00:14:39.059 --> 00:14:47.179 So, this able to bridle our whole body requires the Holy Spirit to do it in us. 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:52.320 And that's one of the fruit that he does provide when he comes into a man to live in him. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.179 And it'll show itself in the way that we speak. 00:14:56.340 --> 00:14:59.939 So, the invisible will show itself visibly and audibly. 00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:04.799 The silent heart will make itself known through the mouth. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:09.620 And so, that's why it's a really helpful barometer to have the way that we speak. 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:12.179 All right. 00:15:12.699 --> 00:15:14.099 James 1.26. 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:16.559 The man without the bridled tongue. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:17.000 Yeah. 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:19.120 James 1.26 said, 00:15:19.219 --> 00:15:24.519 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, 00:15:25.079 --> 00:15:27.639 this person's religion is worthless. 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:37.419 So, we're seeing the discontinuity, the mismatch between somebody thinking that they're religious 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:41.980 and not bridling their tongue, having no control over how they speak, 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:46.639 and saying, this man's religion is useless. 00:15:46.819 --> 00:15:49.340 He's deceiving himself, deceiving his own heart. 00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:55.040 And now we look at horses. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:57.800 So, we've talked about bridles for humans, for their tongues. 00:15:58.800 --> 00:15:59.080 It says, 00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:02.860 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:05.200 we guide their whole bodies as well. 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:12.060 So, James has a few different pictures of what it looks like for small things 00:16:12.059 --> 00:16:16.299 to govern great things and add up to great things. 00:16:18.699 --> 00:16:22.079 Like, what is a minute made of? 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:23.419 Seconds. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:24.819 Like, what is a second made of? 00:16:25.219 --> 00:16:25.619 Moments. 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:27.179 And they all add up. 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:29.979 Hours are made of minutes, you know. 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:31.419 Days are made of hours. 00:16:32.119 --> 00:16:33.399 Weeks are made of days, you know. 00:16:33.479 --> 00:16:33.959 Months. 00:16:34.339 --> 00:16:34.779 Decades. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:35.959 Lifetimes. 00:16:36.219 --> 00:16:38.459 And they're all made of moments. 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:42.960 And these small things that we tend to think aren't that important. 00:16:44.139 --> 00:16:47.620 There's a little, the moments where we could be on our phone, 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.379 or we could be listening to our kid, you know. 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:51.840 Like, or could be paying attention to our wives. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.600 Or could be digging into the word, you know. 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.480 Like, there's moments make up a whole lifetime. 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:01.900 And we tend to, when we think about it as only a moment, 00:17:01.900 --> 00:17:04.579 and not as the building block of who we are, 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:08.420 it's easy to waste them. 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:13.519 It's easy not to, not to think about it and hold it as weighty. 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:15.259 What I do right now. 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:16.480 I'll get to it, you know. 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:19.840 But, we have right now. 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:22.860 And our whole life is made of right nows. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:25.200 And we only have control over right now. 00:17:27.340 --> 00:17:33.680 In a similar way, words make up your whole thought life. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:34.579 Your whole world. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:35.680 Your whole world view. 00:17:35.980 --> 00:17:37.340 The way that you relate to everything. 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:39.519 They're made up of small ideas. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:40.480 Small words. 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:41.240 Small things. 00:17:41.639 --> 00:17:43.799 That we think are pretty insignificant. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.819 And when you think of people's impressions. 00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:51.199 You know, like sometimes it's, it's little things. 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:55.559 That make, give you the impression about what's really happening under the surface with somebody. 00:17:55.559 --> 00:18:01.859 And lives are made up of what we say. 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:05.039 And that's how we communicate what's on the inside. 00:18:06.179 --> 00:18:09.679 Out of the good, the good person out of the good treasure brings forth good. 00:18:10.339 --> 00:18:13.379 And the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth evil. 00:18:13.380 --> 00:18:17.260 So, yeah. 00:18:17.260 --> 00:18:20.740 We communicate what's on the inside when we, when we speak. 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:22.820 And words have tremendous power. 00:18:23.780 --> 00:18:25.060 And they all add up. 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:31.200 And even small things have inordinately outsized effects. 00:18:31.639 --> 00:18:36.079 So, if you think of things that have really landed on you and impacted you. 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:40.599 So, like, I remember John Piper, he talked about how it's not books that change your mind. 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:43.039 It's often sentences, you know, or paragraphs. 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:48.539 It's like little things, you know, can have just these totally outsized impacts. 00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:56.659 And just in the same way, like, if we're a small word, like, you could, you could damage your whole testimony. 00:18:56.940 --> 00:19:09.779 You could, you know, disqualify yourself from ambassadorship for, for eternity, you know, with a wrongly placed word, you know, undisciplined way of relating to somebody in public. 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:15.200 You can, you can do tremendous damage with just small things. 00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:17.980 Small things make up big things. 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:19.440 Namely, your whole life. 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:21.360 Your whole character. 00:19:22.620 --> 00:19:22.940 All right. 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:27.240 So, we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they obey us. 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:29.420 And we guide their whole bodies as well. 00:19:30.120 --> 00:19:40.400 And that whole bodies can possibly have a reference to the teaching and being judged with greater strictness. 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:46.140 Because that's a way of steering whole body, body of Christ. 00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:50.020 So, like, that kind of raises the stakes on that, too. 00:19:50.019 --> 00:19:58.539 But horses back in the day would have been a technological advance over walking. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.879 You know, they didn't have bicycles. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:01.299 They didn't have automobiles. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:02.160 They didn't have railroads. 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:03.359 They didn't have anything. 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:04.039 They had horses. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.980 And they had ships, which we'll get to. 00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:23.599 But to turn a horse, to rein it in and to take control over it and subject it to the will of the steersman, the one who's steering, the reinsman, was a feat. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.039 Like, a lot of people didn't have that. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.679 There were a lot of cultures that didn't master the horse. 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:33.599 And then the ones that did could just decimate in battle. 00:20:33.959 --> 00:20:34.359 Cavalry. 00:20:34.959 --> 00:20:39.679 When that was a new invention, just made it a powerhouse. 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:41.179 It was a force multiplier. 00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:47.360 Because of these small little pieces of metal that they put into the bits that they put into the mouths of horses. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:49.660 And they could steer them wherever the will of the pilot desired. 00:20:51.560 --> 00:20:53.500 And then look also at ships. 00:20:54.060 --> 00:20:55.100 Look at the ships also. 00:20:55.640 --> 00:21:04.320 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. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:19.200 So, yeah, this helmsman, the steersman, the captain, the governor of the ship, can turn the whole vessel and everybody aboard. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:21.700 Like, that was a technological advance. 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:23.019 Unparalleled. 00:21:23.779 --> 00:21:25.439 To unlock the seas. 00:21:26.639 --> 00:21:30.099 And they had big, I think, even like grain ships that they had back then. 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:36.079 Huge triremes, which couldn't have even been imagined, you know, centuries before. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:38.980 Look at the ships. 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:45.099 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. 00:21:46.219 --> 00:21:47.679 So also the tongue. 00:21:47.740 --> 00:21:48.939 So he's making the connection here now. 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:54.059 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. 00:21:54.059 --> 00:22:00.279 How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:05.000 And do you think it's for forests that God's really concerned? 00:22:05.139 --> 00:22:08.559 Or is he using that as a picture to show us something else? 00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:15.299 There's a quote that I like by Jack Handy. 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:23.379 He said, it's sad that whole families can be torn apart by something as simple as a wild pack of dogs. 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:25.240 It's a joke. 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:33.240 But the idea of the, that we, we get to the end of that joke and we laugh. 00:22:33.660 --> 00:22:34.079 Okay. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.920 You expect it to be something else. 00:22:37.259 --> 00:22:47.420 But a wild pack of dogs is even less scary than the way that a tongue can destroy whole families. 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:50.460 You know, like it has the power to destroy. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:55.060 And later we'll hear it called full of deadly poison set on fire by hell. 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:56.120 You know, force of nature. 00:22:57.700 --> 00:23:09.360 And so also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things and have outsized impact. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:09.799 Okay. 00:23:10.699 --> 00:23:17.159 Matthew 15, 11 talks about what comes out of a man's mouth. 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:18.500 Okay. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.319 It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person. 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:22.219 This is Jesus speaking. 00:23:22.879 --> 00:23:25.359 But what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person. 00:23:26.479 --> 00:23:32.240 And then the disciples came to him and talked about how the Pharisees were offended at that saying. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:40.039 And then later he, because they saw his disciples eating grain without washing their hands, being ceremonially cleansed. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.160 And they were giving Jesus a hard time about it. 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:44.599 And Jesus again doubles down. 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:48.400 He said, but what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:50.500 And this defiles a person. 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:59.259 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:01.440 These are what defile a person. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.019 But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:11.660 So Jesus is caring about the heart and what proceeds from the heart. 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:16.660 And that's why he cares about what comes out of a man's mouth. 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:19.640 Because it's telegraphing what's inside. 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:24.759 And there's a natural connection that just comes out. 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:28.740 And you might be able to keep it in polite company. 00:24:28.740 --> 00:24:34.599 You know, but if you got somebody that you're around all the time, it's going to come out, you know, with your roommate. 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:36.839 It's going to come out with your wife or your husband. 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:39.740 Like, if it's in there, it's going to come out. 00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:46.519 And it's a grace that it comes out so that we can see, oh, there's something poison inside. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.740 I need the Lord to deliver me from this body of death. 00:24:50.740 --> 00:24:56.000 How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. 00:24:56.700 --> 00:25:00.559 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. 00:25:01.120 --> 00:25:09.539 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. 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:13.720 So, that's a lot. 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:17.180 That sounds kind of hopeless. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:18.779 What are we going to do? 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:21.159 So, yeah. 00:25:21.639 --> 00:25:22.579 How do we say it? 00:25:24.879 --> 00:25:26.299 No man can tame the tongue? 00:25:26.639 --> 00:25:28.099 Okay, how am I going to tame the tongue? 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.079 Like, what are we going to do? 00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:33.700 It's a world of unrighteousness. 00:25:33.700 --> 00:25:43.120 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 itself. 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:44.500 Wow. 00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:47.180 Who's going to deliver me from this body of death? 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:49.680 But, thanks be to God. 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:58.460 So, Romans 7, you know, Paul paints this just terrible picture of him wanting to do what he can't do, and he can't do what he wants to do. 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:04.620 And there's two things happening in himself, and he's at war against his own body that he lives in. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:08.500 He says, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:11.600 Then he says, ah, but thanks be to God through Christ Jesus. 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:16.759 The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death. 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.420 And so we look to him. 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:24.559 And it is hopeless without him. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:35.019 Like, there is no way of getting victory over your tongue without the Holy Spirit, without God's life himself. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:37.339 And so that casts us on him. 00:26:37.779 --> 00:26:39.119 It's a good place to be cast. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:46.279 It's not hopeless when he's given his own son, when Christmas has happened. 00:26:46.279 --> 00:27:01.259 He sent himself into the world to redeem the world, to save his people from their sins, from their sins, which produce sinful tongues, which produce the arrows that we shoot and the poison that just pours. 00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:03.740 He didn't leave us there. 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:05.180 He came to rescue us. 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.139 He came to save us. 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:10.119 And so we look to him, and we are thankful this Christmas season. 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:10.519 Okay. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:14.559 For every kind. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:16.699 So you've got a couple more pictures here. 00:27:16.839 --> 00:27:23.500 He says, for every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:27.000 But no human being can tame the tongue. 00:27:27.679 --> 00:27:31.359 It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:32.479 Okay. 00:27:33.019 --> 00:27:44.000 So he's talking about the nature of animals and the dominion that mankind was given over the animals means that we can tame them. 00:27:44.219 --> 00:27:47.559 We can tame, what's Shamu? 00:27:47.879 --> 00:27:50.359 It's like a killer whale. 00:27:51.099 --> 00:27:56.459 We can tame killer whales to do tricks, to do, I mean, that's incredible. 00:27:56.460 --> 00:28:04.000 We can tame seals and walruses and all sorts of things, you know, but we can't tame the tongue. 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:08.200 Like, we can subdue nature to our own will. 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.220 We can't even subdue our own nature to our own will. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.340 Like, we need help. 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:16.319 We need the Lord to come and do this. 00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:20.860 And it's a huge problem, but we have a great solution. 00:28:21.100 --> 00:28:24.680 We've got a great supply for our great need. 00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:28.900 No human being can tame the tongue. 00:28:29.620 --> 00:28:32.460 It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 00:28:33.380 --> 00:28:39.400 With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who have been made in the likeness of God. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:40.519 Okay. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.080 This is unthinkable to James here. 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:49.900 He's got this picture of people blessing God. 00:28:50.019 --> 00:28:50.940 Oh, bless you, Lord. 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:51.680 We love you, Lord. 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:52.279 So good. 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:56.339 And then turning around to his body that we can see. 00:28:56.660 --> 00:28:58.920 We're so good with this God who we can't see. 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:00.519 We're sweet. 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:01.440 Just me and Jesus. 00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:02.139 He's my homeboy. 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:06.680 And then we look to who we actually can see, who we actually have to deal with. 00:29:06.740 --> 00:29:09.660 We look at his body, and we got grumble. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:11.359 We got verses, you know. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:13.519 We slander them. 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:14.679 We speak against them. 00:29:14.779 --> 00:29:15.719 We're sharp with them. 00:29:15.819 --> 00:29:16.899 We're not generous. 00:29:17.139 --> 00:29:20.519 We're dismissive. 00:29:20.679 --> 00:29:23.740 We're not giving them the benefit of the doubt. 00:29:23.899 --> 00:29:29.240 There's just all these ways that we can sin against people with thoughts and words, you know. 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:34.559 And he's saying, man, this is not fitting. 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:37.819 This is, these things ought not to be so. 00:29:37.819 --> 00:29:45.460 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 00:29:45.460 --> 00:29:48.400 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:50.840 My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:57.259 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:02.059 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives or a grapevine produce figs? 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:03.700 These are things that you see all the time. 00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:04.920 Like, it's never going to happen. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:07.960 Like, things produce after their kind. 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:13.039 You got this evil poison pouring out of your mouth. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:15.700 Like, check your spring. 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.480 Check the spring. 00:30:16.659 --> 00:30:19.180 Check the treasure that you've stored up there. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:25.159 Yeah, these are just things that don't happen in nature, but they happen in us. 00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:27.220 Because we exist with divided natures. 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:31.519 We exist with divided souls. 00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:33.000 You know, two souls. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:36.960 One, the good that I want to do. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.099 And the good that I, evil that I don't want to do. 00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:43.159 You know, like, there's two things happening. 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:47.119 And God came to make us one person. 00:30:47.419 --> 00:30:48.699 To unify us. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:50.799 To bring us into his son. 00:30:51.059 --> 00:30:55.039 And there's no room for two people to be in Christ. 00:30:55.199 --> 00:30:58.819 He only takes, he makes you into his image. 00:30:59.639 --> 00:31:03.179 He conforms you and transforms you by the renewing of your mind. 00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:06.380 And that will have its effect on the way that you speak. 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:07.980 And on the words that come out of your mouth. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:10.799 And it's a tremendous promise. 00:31:11.940 --> 00:31:13.880 So, these unthinkable. 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.920 I mean, like, think about a spring that has bitter water and sweet water. 00:31:18.140 --> 00:31:21.600 Like, does the amount of sweet water really matter? 00:31:22.340 --> 00:31:24.259 You know, in a poison well. 00:31:24.560 --> 00:31:27.940 Like, oh, no, but I poured 40 gallons of fresh water in there. 00:31:28.060 --> 00:31:29.259 You know, it's clear. 00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:30.019 It appears to me. 00:31:30.019 --> 00:31:33.160 No, it doesn't matter. 00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:34.400 There's a dead raccoon in there. 00:31:34.579 --> 00:31:37.400 Like, it doesn't matter how much good you put in there. 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:40.720 Like, it's defiled. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:48.220 And so, like, this too-souled, too-divided will just doesn't work. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:54.359 And it's, you don't get credit for the good that you put on, you know, in front of other people. 00:31:54.359 --> 00:31:57.659 When there's rot, you know, happening on the inside. 00:31:57.779 --> 00:31:59.500 And it's lashing out in secret. 00:31:59.639 --> 00:32:01.399 Even if it's just in your own head, you know. 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:02.599 Like, some of us are really good. 00:32:02.659 --> 00:32:04.459 We can keep it rained away. 00:32:04.719 --> 00:32:07.619 And we're just, you know, seething, you know. 00:32:07.699 --> 00:32:11.839 And letting things, conversations happen in our own minds, you know. 00:32:11.919 --> 00:32:14.959 And letting people have it in our own imagination. 00:32:15.319 --> 00:32:17.079 Like, that's just as poisonous. 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:18.359 And it's going to poison you. 00:32:18.359 --> 00:32:25.199 So, does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 00:32:25.419 --> 00:32:26.099 It doesn't. 00:32:26.879 --> 00:32:32.339 And even if there were two sources, you know, like the bitter water would contaminate the sweet. 00:32:33.419 --> 00:32:36.199 And neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. 00:32:36.379 --> 00:32:37.279 That very last verse. 00:32:39.179 --> 00:32:39.699 Okay. 00:32:40.059 --> 00:32:43.319 So, that's a lot of bad news. 00:32:43.899 --> 00:32:45.979 But there's good news in the bad news. 00:32:45.979 --> 00:32:47.579 He doesn't leave us there. 00:32:47.579 --> 00:32:50.000 He didn't leave us to our own supply. 00:32:50.819 --> 00:32:52.960 And he actually doesn't even expect us. 00:32:53.399 --> 00:32:55.839 Though he does require us to be perfect. 00:32:55.980 --> 00:32:57.359 He doesn't expect us to be perfect. 00:32:57.399 --> 00:33:03.740 He's not sitting up there, like, offended that Michael didn't live up to perfection today. 00:33:03.919 --> 00:33:04.539 Like, it's not. 00:33:06.859 --> 00:33:08.199 He knows our frame. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:11.939 But he does require us to be perfect. 00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:13.220 So, we have a problem. 00:33:13.220 --> 00:33:21.140 But he's provided the solution to that problem in his son that he sent to earth to live the perfect life that Adam could never live. 00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:23.000 That Carrie could never live. 00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:25.539 That none of us could ever live. 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:27.799 But that we are required to live. 00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:29.859 And so, what do we do? 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:30.799 We look to him. 00:33:31.879 --> 00:33:34.259 We cast ourselves on him. 00:33:34.619 --> 00:33:38.500 We say, Lord Jesus, you live your perfect life in me. 00:33:39.159 --> 00:33:39.859 I need you. 00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:40.980 I don't want to. 00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:42.720 I can't stand on my own two feet. 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:45.480 I can't even do it. 00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:46.180 But I need you. 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:46.740 I need you. 00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:47.799 I need to be in you. 00:33:48.420 --> 00:33:50.100 Would you give me your righteousness? 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:57.180 Would you let your perfect record be accounted to my account as I look to you in faith? 00:33:57.299 --> 00:33:57.920 Would you help me? 00:33:58.220 --> 00:33:58.600 I believe. 00:33:58.700 --> 00:33:59.480 Help my unbelief. 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:01.440 Would you save me? 00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:06.440 And so, I mean, the tongue is a hard thing. 00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:09.240 It's an unruly evil full of deadly poison. 00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:14.179 But he's given us requirements. 00:34:14.879 --> 00:34:17.279 And this should cast us on him. 00:34:17.459 --> 00:34:18.879 Say, Lord, I need you. 00:34:19.339 --> 00:34:25.119 Whatever I've been saved from, if you haven't been saved from this, you need to get saved from this. 00:34:25.479 --> 00:34:26.199 Ask him to save you. 00:34:26.259 --> 00:34:26.759 He's willing. 00:34:27.019 --> 00:34:28.399 He paid for it. 00:34:28.699 --> 00:34:29.779 He paid for your speech. 00:34:29.959 --> 00:34:31.199 He paid for the way that you speak. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:35.799 And he paid for that treasure to not be evil. 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:38.299 So, ask him to give me a heart transplant. 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:41.680 I want a good treasure out of which I can draw forth good. 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:49.980 I don't want this divided, double-minded, two-souled division reality in my heart. 00:34:50.080 --> 00:34:51.440 I want to be single-hearted. 00:34:51.600 --> 00:34:53.640 I want to be singly devoted to you, Lord. 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:54.500 I need your help. 00:34:55.140 --> 00:34:59.660 He is ready and willing to provide that, to give that to you. 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:00.940 And he paid for it. 00:35:01.019 --> 00:35:05.860 Paid for it with his own precious blood that all who look to him could have it for their own.