James 3:1-2

So let me invite you to take out your copy of God's Word and turn to James chapter 3.

James 3 · chapter mention

Here at the beginning of chapter 3, James begins his most significant treatment of the great need to bridle or bring under control our tongues.

This, however, is not the first time he has done so and it will not be the last.

This picks up thematically in this letter.

I amused this week about why this particular topic may have been so prominent in James' mind as he penned this letter.

And while I cannot know with certainty why, perhaps it was because he was keenly aware of his own failure in this matter.

He writes in verse 2 of chapter 3, our text today,

For we all stumble in many ways.

Recall that this James is Jesus' half-brother, the firstborn likely to Mary and Joseph.

So he's most likely the next eldest brother to Jesus.

As when Jesus' brother's names are listed, James is always listed first.

This would have been their tradition.

So he would have grown up underneath his perfect older half-brother.

And with the absence of Jesus, he would have given leadership in their family.

We can read in one occasion in Mark chapter 3, verse 20 and following.

Mark 3:20

It says,

Then he, Jesus, went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat.

And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying,

He is out of his mind.

Likely, this type of speech is being led by James, the very James that calls Jesus his Lord.

What an astounding picture of God's grace in his life.

Further, he would have grown up under this perfect older brother, Jesus.

Jesus' language would have always been perfect.

He would have spoken when he was meant to speak, and his words would have been timely and true.

He would have been silent when he should have been silent.

He never erred in this way.

Their whole household would have been familiar with Proverbs, like Proverbs 13, verse 2 and 3.

Proverbs 13:2

From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life.

He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Jesus would have been the only one to actually abide by this proverb.

James must have been painfully aware of this.

And so he brings a corrective exhortation to the readers of this letter.

He desires that we would grow up into maturity.

And for the first part of chapter 3, he places the use of our tongues center stage in this process of growing into maturity in Christ.

And so we're going to look at the first 12 verses of James chapter 3 over the next two weeks.

James 3 · chapter mention

For today, we're just going to look at the first two verses.

And Lord willing, Zach Skilling is going to preach those last verses next week.

But I want to read the entirety of verses 1 through 12 for our benefit this morning.

Before I read, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.

James chapter 3, beginning in verse 1.

James 3 · chapter mention

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers.

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.

It 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, these things ought not be so.

Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?

Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?

Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

I think this is the most concentrated place in the scripture that the tongue is talked about.

Although it is talked about all throughout the Holy Writ.

There's much to be said about how we should and shouldn't use our speech.

The tongue, James tells us, undoubtedly has great power.

Its power is disproportionate to its size.

And some people are given more opportunity to wield this disproportionate power.

To make this point, allow me to highlight for you a great teacher.

One of my favorites, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Spurgeon is considered by many to be one of the greatest preachers since the days of the apostles.

He had preached over 600 times before he was 20 years old.

He has an exceptional mind.

In those pre-radio, pre-television, pre-internet days,

his sermons sold about 20,000 copies a week being translated into 20 languages.

The collected sermons fill 63 volumes,

equivalent to the 27-volume 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

It takes up a massive amount of space on a shelf

and stands as the largest set of books by a single author in the history of Christianity.

On average, Spurgeon preached 13 times a week.

I have a hard time pulling off one a week.

The Lord blessed his mind and his ability.

There were no microphones in his day,

so at the Metropolitan Tamarackal, where he most regularly preached,

he projected his voice so that 5,000 people could hear him week in and week out.

In his work called Preaching and Preachers,

sorry, not Preaching and Preachers,

a lecture to my students that was written to students of their pastor school,

he said,

we need not thin-chested fops.

This is why.

We need to be able to project our voices.

You can look up what the word fop means later.

He oversaw the training of 863 pastors

and aided in the planting of 200 churches in Britain alone,

and many, many missionaries went to the ends of the earth, right?

A man who had great influence as a teacher, right?

Who used the ability to speak,

to do wonderful things for the glory of God.

In juxtaposition, the world's had many terrible,

although influential leaders.

Men like Jim Jones,

who in the 70s founded the People's Temple.

In an effort to start a utopian society,

the People's Temple purchased land in Jonestown, Guyana.

But this effort ended in the coerced and forced suicidal deaths

of 909 members, right?

He did this with words.

This is how this came to pass.

And just as an interesting note,

this incident is where the phrase,

don't drink the Kool-Aid, comes from.

But they bought an off-brand called Flavor Aid.

It wasn't actually Kool-Aid at all.

All of this accomplished with the tongue, right?

Great good in the case of Spurgeon.

Great evil in the case of Jones.

And we could spend our day giving examples

of those who have spoken for the glory of God

and the good of people,

and those who have spoken for their glory

and the degradation of people.

This goes on to our day.

So let's consider James 3, verse 1 and 2

James 3:1

in a simple two-point outline.

Number one, the caution.

And number two, the reasons, plural,

the reasons for the caution.

So firstly, see a caution.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers.

You may recall that James is writing

to Jewish followers of Jesus Christ.

As Jews, they would have inherited a high view

of gathered worship and rabbinical teaching.

This is what would have happened weekly in the synagogue.

In fact, the title rabbi means my great one.

Kent Hughes, in his commentary on this text, writes,

rabbis were accorded the greatest respect.

One's duty to help a rabbi exceeded even their duty

to help their parents.

In fact, should a rabbi and one's father and mother

be captured by an enemy,

duty demanded that the rabbi be ransomed first.

It was considered meritorious to take a rabbi in

and provide for all of his needs.

They would have inherited this type of thinking.

In Matthew 23, verse 5 and following,

Matthew 23:5

Jesus rebukes the rabbis for seeking this kind of praise.

He says,

they do all their deeds to be seen by others.

For they make their phylacteries broad

and their fringes long religious garb.

And they love the place of honor at feasts

and the best seats in the synagogues

and greetings in the marketplaces

and being called rabbi by others.

And the problem seems to be

that much of this acclaim granting to teachers

had made its way into the Christian church.

Now take a look back at chapter 1 with me

just briefly, beginning in verse 16.

Here James writes, beginning in 16,

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

It's from God coming down from the Father of lights

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, right?

So there's this theme being picked up here

of us being saved by God's word.

And then he says, verse 19,

Know this, my beloved brothers,

let every person be quick to hear,

slow to speak, slow to anger.

For the anger of man does not produce

the righteousness of God.

Therefore put away all filthiness

and rampant wickedness

and receive with meekness the implanted word,

which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word

and not hearers only,

deceiving yourselves, right?

And he goes on to expound upon that

faith without works in chapter 2, right?

So notice in the middle of that,

this exhortation to be quick to hear,

slow to speak, slow to anger

is set between this idea being presented

that we are saved by the word

and that we are to continue by the word.

So it seems that something was happening

in the life of these churches

that he's writing to.

And I would suggest to you

that they were jockeying for position, right?

That they were trying to be heard

and that they weren't listening.

That they were becoming angry as a result.

So some of the reason that he continues

to pick up this theme throughout this letter

to guard our tongues

becomes a bit more apparent.

And this problem has persisted

in the church to our day.

Many men seeking platforms

for their glory,

not for the glory of God

and the good of the church.

An example,

this is not a thing new to our day.

Richard Baxter was a Puritan.

This is on your bulletin.

He said,

of all the preaching in the world

that speaks not stark lies,

I hate that preaching

with tended to make the hearers laugh

or to move their mind

with tickling levity

and affect them as stage players used to do

instead of affecting them

with a holy reverence

of the name of God.

Right?

Baxter is noticing in his day

that there's a type of preaching

that brings praise to men

and not praise to our great God.

And I think this is what James

is warning against in chapter one.

And then we pick that up again

at the beginning of chapter three.

So I do believe that James

is trying to dramatically limit

how many teachers we have in the church.

I don't think he's working

to cut the number way down.

In fact, I would say

the church needs more teachers.

We need men who will faithfully

handle the word of God

for the glory of God

and the good of his people.

Right?

We need to contend for the faith

once for all delivered to the saints

and we need to do it together.

Right?

We need more of this.

It is a great effort

of the ministry of any faithful church

to train up teachers

both to stay

and then continue that ministry

to the very ends of the earth.

Paul encourages

in 1 Timothy chapter three

and verse one,

the saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires

to the office of overseer,

reading their elder or pastor,

he desires a noble task.

Many have used this passage

in James chapter three

to make a case

for the solo pastor, right?

The extremely educated,

extremely gifted.

But we believe

that the faithful church

will have plurality leadership

or at very worst

be striving for

a group of men

that can faithfully

teach the word.

We believe this

because we see

the titles given

for the teachers

of the churches

of the New Testament

given in plural.

I would encourage you

if you're not so sure

about this plurality leadership thing

to search the New Testament

and look for all the places

that these titles are given.

They are given in plural.

One example,

Titus 1.5,

Paul writes to Titus,

this is why I left you in Crete

so that you might put

what remained into order

and appoint elders

in every town

as I directed you.

These churches

needed elders still

and Titus is to go about

this work

of finding these men

qualified by God.

Today,

we are installing

a new teacher

for our congregation,

T.J. Fisher,

who, to be clear,

has been serving you

as an elder

for quite some time,

but we like to do

these formal things

where we recognize

these individuals formally.

It's an installation.

Some people might call it

an ordination.

The caution for T.J.

in this text

is not

to be a teacher

for fame.

That's the caution here.

T.J. ought not be hearing this

and going,

I think I need to

jump out a window.

But that he would come

with the proper attitude

to the work.

To not seek a platform

for the sake of his own name,

but rather for the sake

of the name

of Jesus Christ.

To recognize

that we will be judged

for everything that we say

and that the teacher

is given

more opportunity

to say things

that will be heard

and heeded.

And this is James

caution

that we approach

the task

with humility,

with great care.

Jesus died

for the church.

You are precious

and need to be cared for

with the teaching

that is provided.

So that's

the caution,

right?

I don't want you

to hear James saying

this church needs

to get massive

and I'm going to be

the only person

who teaches.

Praise the Lord.

That is not

the case.

What he's saying

is that there's a way

in which we ought

to approach the task

of teaching,

but to be clear-minded

about what it means

for us to be teachers.

And so,

secondly,

he gives three reasons

for the caution.

Three reasons

for the caution.

first,

divine judgment.

It says in the last part

of verse one,

for you know

that we who teach

will be judged

with greater strictness.

Why might a teacher

be judged

with greater strictness?

Because the teacher

has been entrusted

with this role

of teaching,

right?

It's a valuable,

it's a precious task

to take up.

Jesus says in Luke 12,

48,

the last part of it,

everyone to whom

much was given

of him,

much will be

required.

And from him

to whom they entrusted

much,

they will demand

the more.

So,

we'll be judged

with a greater strictness,

but this judgment

is not an absolute

and eternal judgment.

Praise be to God

that teachers also find

their acceptance

before him

and the person

and work

of Jesus Christ.

I'm thankful

that the eternal state

of my soul

depends not on

my success

or failure

as a teacher,

but on the completed,

perfect,

sufficient work

of Jesus Christ.

But,

we will give

an account

for everything

that we do

and everything

that we say,

just like

everyone

will.

But in this case,

the place

that's given

to us

is to affect

others,

to bring about

change for

good

or possibly

for evil.

people.

So,

we ought to be

careful

with our words,

whether in public

or in private,

whether we're

carrying out

a teaching task

or talking

in between.

We ought to be

humble

and quick

to repent

if we err,

always valuing

the truth.

I have said

many times

that I desire

to be true

and consistent.

I really want

to be both.

I want to be

true all the time.

Right?

But if I ever

have to choose

one,

I will choose

the truth.

Right?

I'm not going to

double down

on a falsehood.

Just admit

that I'm wrong

and keep us

moving together

in the right

direction.

It is a fearful

thing to open

up God's word.

Many of you

do this

in various ways,

week in

and week out

and we ought

to always

approach it

with a sense

of trembling.

I have said

that the Sunday

that I stop

trembling

to open up

God's word

will be the last

Sunday I preach

God's word.

Right?

May God always

work in those

who teach his word

a humility,

a reverence

for the task

that we have

before us

because we

will be

judged.

James says

the greater

strictness

because it

has an

effect

on God's

people,

the people

that Jesus

bought

with his

blood.

The second

reason for

the caution

is our

proclivity

to sin.

He says

in the beginning

of verse 2,

for we all

stumble

in many

ways.

As I mentioned,

James seems

to be aware

of his

own

proclivity

to sin

and we

should not

think

ourselves

above this.

We are

in our

flesh

naturally

inclined

towards sin

and not

away

from it.

If we

ever do

anything

of any

merit

whatsoever,

it is a

great work

of the

grace of

God

in our

hearts.

If we

do

anything

that will

be

acceptable

before him

it's

because

he has

worked

in

us

and so

we

ought

not

arrogantly

aspire

to

position

of

teacher.

You

ought

not

think

so

much

of

yourself

that

you

think

you

ought

to

be

leading

others.

It is a

prerequisite

to become

an elder

in this

church

that you're

humble.

If I

were to

ask

a man

in our

church

to consider

the task

of being

an elder

and he

said

yeah

great

I'd

love

to

do

that

I'd

go

well

maybe

not

stop

for a

moment

and

think

I

want

men

who

go

oh

I

don't

know

because

I'm

very

aware

of

the

fickle

nature

of

my

heart

and

I

want

to

be

the

one

that

comes

to

them

and

says

no

but

you

are

doing

this

you're

already

eldering

you

lead

people

in

the

truth

and

we

want

you

good

those

who

teach

God's

word

are

to

be

surgeons

carefully

employing

it

to

expose

sin

and

to

bring

about

change

we

are

disqualified

from

doing

so

if

we

are

proud

Jesus

in

the

Sermon

on

the

Mount

Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter

7

beginning

in

verse

3

said

why

do

you

see

the

speck

that

is

in

your

brother's

eye

but

do

not

notice

the

log

that

is

in

your

own

eye

or

how

can

you

say

to

your

brother

let

me

take

the

speck

out

of

your

own

eye

when

there

is

the

log

in

your

own

eye

you

hypocrite

first

take

the

log

out

of

your

own

eye

and

then

you

will

see

clearly

to

take

the

speck

out

of

your

brother's

eye

a

proud

man

cannot

get up

and teach

God's

word

in a

way

that

removes

the

speck

from

others

eyes

the

perspective

that

Paul

had

Jesus

Christ

came

into

the

world

to

save

sinners

of

whom

I

am

foremost

somebody

comes

to

open

the

word

of

God

to

you

their

teaching

ought

to

be

characterized

by

humility

if it

weren't

for the

grace

of

God

I

would

be

the

greatest

of

sinners

it

is

God

who

has

graciously

worked

in my

heart

he

has

rescued

me

from

myself

and

as

that

position

that

we

come

to

the

word

of

God

with

study

it

carefully

we

ask

you

to

open

it

up

with

us

and

explain

it

to

you

that

it

might

have

the

same

humbling

gracious

effect

in

your

lives

so

we

ought

to

be

careful

about

becoming

teachers

because

we

all

have

a

proclivity

to

sin

and

then

the

last

reason

that

teaching

creates

opportunity

to

sin

he

says

in

the

last

part

of

verse

two

if

anyone

does

not

stumble

in

what

he

says

he

is

a

perfect

man

able

also

to

bridle

his

whole

body

I

have

a

feeling

that

that

idea

is

going

to

get

picked

up

a

bit

more

next

week

hint

Zach

throughout

his

letter

James

is

aiming

us

at

Christian

maturity

and

he

makes

that

point

here

if

your

speech

is

perfect

then

you

will

be

perfect

we

are

to

be

careful

what

we

say

we

to

be

careful

when

we

speak

we

are

not

doing

that

this

side

of

glory

we

will

fail

in

what

we

speak

he's

not

suggesting

that

this

side

of

glory

we

are

going

to

be

perfect

but

that

we

must

strive

in

that

direction

the

necessity

of

teaching

God's

people

lays

bare

the

heart

of

the

one

who

teaches

it

communicates

what

they

believe

to

be

true

so

it

is

a

task

not

to

be

taken

up

lightly

I

pray

this

prayer

of

David

found

in

Psalm

19

often

when

I

prepare

to

teach

this

is

verse

14

but

the

words

of

my

mouth

and

the

meditation

of

my

heart

be

acceptable

in

your

sight

O

Lord

my

rock

and

my

redeemer

you

see

I

need

to

be

reminded

that

my

words

will

be

judged

but

more

than

that

I

need

to

be

reminded

that

ultimately

I

find

my

security

and

I

find

my

redemption

in

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and

so

it

is

with

great

humility

the

task

is

taken

up

now

I

know

that

we

have

a

lot

of

young

men

in

the

room

who

are

considering

becoming

ministers

of

God's

word

full

time

even

perhaps

and

we

are

grateful

for

this

I'm

so

glad

for

the

people

the

Lord

has

brought

us

across

the

years

he's

brought

us

many

gifted

!

teachers

he's

brought

us

many

who

have

been

trained

and

have

become

gifted

!

Teachers

!

It's

a

wonderful

grace

for

our

church

I

tell

other

pastors

that

we

have

a

deep

preaching

bench

I'm

glad

for

that

but

I

just

want

to

say

to

you

carefully

consider

whether

or not

you

ought

to

become

a

teacher

at

the

same

time

I

would

say

the

church

needs

teachers

but

recognize

that

it

is

a

weighty

task

that

you

take

up

if

you

find

yourself

able

to

do

other

things

then

open

up

the

word

good

and

true

and

beautiful

then

perhaps

you

should

do

those

other

things

if

you

find

in

yourself

the

inclination

to

want

to

teach

for

your

namesake

and

not

the

sake

of

our

risen

savior

and

lord

perhaps

you

should

do

something

else

pray

that

God

would

work

that

desire

out

of

you

let me

give

a

couple

of

further

closing

applications

number

one

to

everybody

consider

carefully

what

you

say

and

why

you

say

it

and

I'm

sure

again

next

week

we'll

think

together

more

about

this

at

the

age

of

19

and

across

some

time

a

young

follower

of

Jesus

Christ

by the

name

of

Jonathan

Edwards

penned

70

resolutions

there

were

promises

aimed

at

God's

glory

and

his

good

many

of

these

resolutions

concerned

Edwards

use

of

his

tongue

and

I

would

like

to

read

you

just

one

of

them

this

is

resolution

31

he

wrote

resolved

never

to say

anything

at all

against

anybody

but

when

it

is

perfectly

agreeable

to the

highest

degree

of

Christian

honor

and

of

love

to

mankind

agreeable

to

the

lowest

humility

and

sense

of

my

own

faults

and

failings

and

agreeable

to

the

golden

rule

I

just

want

to

take

that

filter

of

Edwards

resolution

and

hold

it

up

to

the

pastor

twitter

verse

he

says

when

I

have

said

anything

against

anyone

to

bring

it

to

and

try

it

strictly

by

the

test

of

this

resolution

is

this

the

way

that

we

tend

to

speak

seasoned

with

salt

for

the

good

of

others

so

consider

carefully

what

you

say

and

why

you

say

it

consider

if

you

ought

to

speak

at

all

sometimes

we

just

need

to

keep

our

mouths

shut

secondly

consider

carefully

as I

said

before

any

aspiration

to

become

a

teacher

I

love

to

speak

with

you

if

you

have

any

desire

to

do

so

and

thirdly

pray

for

your

teachers

it

is a

big

it

is a

weighty

task

it

is

good

for

you

to

recognize

church

that

some

men

step

into

this

fray

they

do

it

willingly

recognizing

that

they'll

be

judged

with

a

greater

strictness

go

to

the

word

of

God

trembling

!

before

it

and

we

don't

do

it

with

perfection

but

I

want

you

to

know

that

there

is

not

a

person

that

steps

on

this

stage

that

doesn't

love

you

dearly

that

doesn't

honor

and

worship

God

and

doesn't

want

good

for

you

so

pray

for

your

teachers

and

let's

pray

together