James – The Power of Speech

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason Burns and Access Church in Lakeland, Florida.

For more information, visit Access.tv.

So we're going to jump in.

We're going to fly right through this.

Man, I'm excited.

This is part three of a series that we've entitled James.

You've been to church.

I'm so glad.

We've been titled James each and every week.

We've been walking through this book, and it's a power-packed book.

I read one theologian simply said this that James is a gut punch to the Christian.

In other words, James would say, if you're going to be a Christian, be a real one.

If you're going to do this, do it all the way, 100%.

And so we're going to jump into week three of this.

I love this.

If you've missed any of the weeks, you can go back to our Facebook, to our YouTube, and watch those weeks.

Pastor Jason had an incredible message last week that we should operate in dynamic faith.

That means our belief meets our behavior and it turns into action.

So we don't just want to talk about it, but we want to be about it.

So let's do this.

Let's pray and then we're going to make it happen.

Let's do it.

Lord, we love you.

Thank you for today.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Short, sweet to the point.

We're on it this morning.

Church family, I gotta be honest with you.

Um, I brought something to church.

I brought something to church, and it's actually something super, super important.

It's critical to living each and every day.

It's very important.

I brought it uh to church today, and and and I need you to know that this thing, uh, with it, I can I can lift people up.

And man, I can inspire people.

I can man, I can do all sorts of things.

Depending on the platform I have, the stage I have, man, I can lift people up.

I can change a whole nation, a whole people group.

Man, I can give hope and life to people.

With this thing I brought today, man, I can turn somebody's whole day around.

I'm sure with this thing that I brought today, I can turn somebody's whole life around.

But here's the crazy thing, I was thinking about it, and also with this thing I brought to church, I could destroy somebody's life.

I could take somebody's hope and their life right out in one split second.

I can do that.

I brought, I'll say it this way, I brought a weapon to church.

Uh, I snuck it right past our security.

I love them, they're awesome, but I walked right past them.

I felt a little bad about that because I did bring a weapon to church, but then I got to thinking, you brought a weapon to church as well.

Oh, with it, you can inspire people, you can lift people up, you can encourage people, but you also have the power to absolutely destroy.

In this moment, I brought a weapon, so I'm covering my tracks, and so I want to show you what I brought to church.

You want to see what I brought to church today?

I'm gonna show you what I brought to church.

You ready for this?

I brought, here it is, I brought a tongue.

I brought a tongue.

Now, this is a a beef tongue, and and anybody like beef tongue in here?

I don't know if anybody, okay, a couple of us.

I don't.

This feels gross, but uh this is yeah, it does something.

I don't do that.

Okay, anyway, but I brought a tongue to church.

And today, this is a beef tongue.

I don't want to talk about a beef tongue, but I do want to talk about your tongue.

Now we've landed in James chapter three.

I'm putting this away.

I'm done with this.

This is horrendous.

I can't do this anymore.

All right, but I wanted you to see it, thank you, sir.

I wanted you to see it because today we're gonna talk about the tongue.

If you look at James chapter three, there's really two headings.

One is taming the tongue.

The second one says two different kinds of wisdom.

There's 18 verses that make up James chapter three.

In 12 of those verses, the majority, he talks about the tongue and its power.

And we're gonna talk a little bit about that today.

I want to focus really on those first 12 verses because I think uh they're powerful.

Now, the last six I don't want to neglect.

He talks about a couple different types of wisdom.

And here's the connection, I think, that between the two.

The connection is that that worldly wisdom looks like a tongue that's infused with bitterness and bragging and it doesn't has no regard for the truth.

But a godly, uh godly wisdom represents itself in a tongue that is that is full full of pure speech, it's sincere, it's it's genuine.

So I think that's the connection.

But these first 12 verses, I think we need to talk uh today about these things.

I'm gonna be honest with you too.

I I think this message, if it's not for anybody else, it's for me.

Taming our tongue, keeping a tight rein on our tongue.

I think this one is for me.

Now, you need to know this.

So a long time ago, when I when I started uh full-time ministry, I set out a goal.

I said, man, every time I'm given an opportunity uh to speak, to preach, it doesn't matter if there's five people or five hundred people in the room, it doesn't matter if people are watching online or watching in person.

I set out a goal that, man, I wanted to be the best communicator of God's gospel that I could.

I wanted to be the best.

And so I began to look up what makes great communicators great.

And what I found out is this I found out uh that one of the things that makes great communicators great is that when they set foot on the stage and they begin to communicate, everything that they're communicating is for the betterment, for the for the benefit of those that are listening.

And so they're not using the stage to be self-promoting or or or anything like that.

And and I learned that, and I think that's there's so much importance, but I'm gonna be honest, I'm breaking that rule today.

This is not for you, this is for me.

Okay, like I'm breaking that rule today.

This message, I think, today is for me.

Matter of fact, this message is for anybody that can talk, who can type, who can text, who can communicate.

If you can do any of that, I think this message is for you.

James chapter three.

Here's my whole hope.

My goal for us today is that we would use God's wisdom.

Come on, to govern the words spoken from the tongue.

Oh, we need this message.

You need this message.

Some of us, 2:30, 3 a.m., when we can't sleep, we're looking at the ceiling, and all that we can replay in our mind is the words that have been spoken over us.

And so we need God's wisdom to govern the words spoken from our tongue.

So here's what I want to do to kick us off.

I want to talk just for a moment about acronyms.

And so you know what an acronym is it's like it's a word, and each letter of the word uh spells out another word, and usually it's a catchy phrase or something like that.

So let me show you.

Here's an example Bible.

Everybody say Bible.

Yeah, Bible.

So I've always been taught that an acronym that can be used for this is basic instructions before leaving earth.

So you know that as well.

And and is the Bible that?

Absolutely.

Is that all it is?

Maybe not, but but but but this is this is a good way to remember Bible.

Here's another one, Ford.

I've always been taught that this means found on the road dead.

Now, I don't know.

I'm not cured aside.

If you work for four, if you drive, I'm not shooting shots at you.

I'm just saying that's what I've always heard, okay?

So hug me after service.

I love you.

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just saying that's found on the road, not alive, but dead.

Okay, anyway, so there's there's that.

Here it is, here's the next one.

I I've always been taught, my mom always says this, that when you're facing a complicated moment or you're you're trying to decide between things, she says, you know, a good rule of thumb is to keep it simple, sweetie.

And I love this.

This is keep it simple, sweetie.

It's kiss.

Now, as I was studying this week and preparing for this, you know, there's another word that I that I that I caught, and I thought, man, I need to share this.

I think this is gonna get us headed in the right direction.

And it's the simple word, the, the article the.

What I think this represents for James and James specifically chapter three is this the T is tongue, the H is heart, the E is everything.

So, in other words, as I was reading, what I felt was like, man, everything begins with the tongue.

One theologian said it like this that there is no sin that can be committed that hasn't, that doesn't have something to do with the tongue.

The words you say, something, the tongue was involved somewhere in that.

And I thought, man, that's that's a beautiful relationship.

The tongue says what's in the heart, and we know this.

Jesus said it like this that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

And so we know this.

We know that the tongue is powerful, and and and then we get to the H, which is the heart.

And we know this, the heart affects everything else.

Proverbs 4.23 says this above all else, guard your yeah, you gotta guard your heart because everything that you do flows from it.

Jesus said this about everything.

He says in Matthew, it's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you.

You are defiled, you are tainted, you are contaminated by the words that come out of your mouth.

In its context, people were talking about Jesus, what food is clean, what food is unclean, what should we eat, what should we not eat, when should we eat it?

When should we eat it?

And Jesus says it's not really about that.

What's the bigger question is this what's the words that you're saying?

What are the words that are coming out of your mouth?

Now, James chapter three, it's a great chapter.

And what Paul's do, uh James, excuse me, what James is doing is he's expounding upon some subjects that he's already talked about in chapter one.

Remember, chapter one, he tells us that every person should be quick to listen, but slow to speak.

And so now, chapter three, he's gonna give us a little bit more of that.

And so here's what I want to do in just the next few minutes that we have together.

I want to give you four powers of the tongue, and coupled with each one, I want to give you the solution to it.

How many know power is not bad?

There's nothing wrong with power, it just needs to be kept in check.

And so I want to give you four powers of the tongue that I see in James chapter three.

You ready for the first one?

Here's the ready for the first one.

The first one is your tongue has the power to condemn.

Oh man, your tongue has the power to condemn.

So we begin in James chapter three.

He says this that not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

So he begins at the top talking to all of those that teach.

And when he says people that teach, that's those that do this for a living, like what we do, or it's even people that you remember Sunday school, raise your hand.

You remember Sunday school, going to Sunday school, and be it's people like that that maybe they're volunteering their time, but they're taking time to open up God's word.

It may be you, if you're leading an access group, you are uh teaching God's word.

Dare I say you are speaking on behalf of God.

And so he said he starts with all the teachers.

In a moment, he'll turn and talk to everybody, but beginning um with the teachers, this is where he starts.

Why?

We know this everything rises and falls on leadership.

And so James says, first, I'm gonna deal with you teachers, you guys need to know, listen, we're at another level of accountability.

And so you don't just rush, you don't just rush into teaching because your tongue has the power to condemn.

And this is big for communicators uh that we take this thing very, very seriously.

And so I just want you to say, I just want you to know this that your tongue has condemning power.

I grew up in uh a church, and uh, in the church that I grew up in, it was it was normal for people to say things like, Oh, uh, Isaiah, I got a word from God for you.

Like you grew up in a church like this.

Anybody grew up in the church and somebody was, hey man, I got a word for I think God told me to tell you that tomorrow is Monday, and I think that you should be blessed by that.

And it was like, sometimes it's like, okay, like, is this from God or or is this not?

And I always grew up thinking, like, man, like, like, I don't want to confuse people.

And so I came to this realization that that man, I have to be uh a person that, man, when I speak, and if I say it's from God, then it better be from God.

That my tongue has the power to condemn me.

Jesus said it like this.

Let's look at Matthew chapter 12.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

He said this that I tell you, everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.

It's by your words that you'll be acquitted, but also by your words you'll be condemned.

Now, this this is big.

In other words, what I learned is that God is recording every conversation that I have.

He's recording every conversation that you have.

That this is God is listening and he sees, and one day we're gonna have to answer.

And to me, that's that is a sobering reality, not to take this sacred space and this sacred moment that we have each and every Sunday.

This is this is a big deal.

And so, so I'm not trying to scare you, I'm not trying to tell you not to be a teacher.

If you feel God's call to teach and to to maybe help somebody else out in their faith, uh faith journey, do it.

Absolutely.

You just need to know that you need to do it with a certain level of respect because the accountability is just a little bit higher.

Write this down in your notes that the the tongue has condemning power.

It absolutely does, it has condemning power.

Now, here's the loot solution because it can feel dark and it can feel kind of heavy.

But I tell you, James is like that.

He just hits you in the gut with some truth.

But but here's the solution: don't run away from teaching, don't run away from helping somebody else out, but just consider it an honor to teach, doing it with reverence and respect.

In other words, every time you do it, just do it with that level of respect that you are communicating, dare I say, on behalf of God.

And so treat this moment as if it was sacred because it is.

And he starts here, and I love that.

And you and I need to know that man, our tongue has condemning power.

Our tongue can be used to get us in trouble, especially if we teach, because the possibilities, the potential is so much greater.

That's the first one.

I love that one.

I love this one.

Your tongue number two has the power to control.

Your tongue has the power to control.

Now, James is gonna give us some word pictures to really look at.

And he says this when we put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.

Everyone say the whole thing.

He says, We can turn the whole thing.

Or take ships as an example.

Although they are so large and driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.

So what he's saying is that that a horse is strong and powerful.

And I don't know if you've been around horses, and I certainly didn't grow up around horses.

I mean, look at me, I'm like, I am not a horseman, I'm not a, I don't even know what you're a jockey or I don't know.

What's that movie?

There was the Toby, it doesn't matter.

I don't even, I don't know that.

But one thing I do know is if you get kicked by a horse, it's gonna hurt, right?

They're powerful, and so, but they're controlled by the small bit that's in their mouth.

Ships are so large and they can navigate all of the seas and they can do so much, so much power is behind them.

Yet they're controlled by just a small rudder.

Your tongue is somewhere between three to four inches.

It's comprised of eight muscles.

It's as unique as your fingerprint, and yet it controls your whole body.

Most of us, the things that we do, or the things that we will do, or the things that we have done, uh we manifest that by by what we say.

We usually talk about the stuff that we do, right?

And so you need to know this.

It's plain and simple that the tongue has controlling power.

You gotta know that that your tongue controls so much.

Here's what I figured out that a ship that's out of control is dangerous.

That uh that a horse that is untamed that is out of control is dangerous, and so too, our tongue that is not controlled, our words that are not controlled is dangerous.

So here's the solution.

Are you ready?

And now I'm gonna say this with a smile because I love you, and this message is for me too.

So when I say this, I'm talking about all of us.

We need to learn to close our mouths.

I love you, I really do, and I love me, but but but there's this real aspect.

Your tongue has a lot of power to control some stuff, but we have to learn to control our mouth, to close our mouth.

I really wanted to tell you to shut your mouth, but I wasn't gonna do that.

I wasn't trying to be rude this morning, but we have to learn that this is the solution that we ought to close our mouth.

Let me make it real plain for you.

Let me make it um, yeah, real plain for you.

Okay, so who has a raise your hand?

You've been in a situation that you didn't like, and your mouth got you in that situation.

Raise your hand.

Come on, this is me.

I'm telling you, this is me as well.

Okay, so many of us, right?

Have you ever been in a situation that you didn't like because someone else said something?

Come on, raise your hand.

You have that friend.

We all have that friend, right?

We all have that friend.

Maybe you're online with us.

You have that friend that you're like, man, I'm getting in a fight, defending them, and I didn't even say anything.

Like, this is crazy, right?

I grew up playing basketball, I love basketball, and some of the times, uh, some of the places that I would play basketball in, and some of the times they weren't even the best type of places.

And and I'm good with a little trash talk here and there.

But then there would always be a couple times, you know, when you're playing, and maybe it's not in the best part of town, but but some of your teammates start to say things, and you know, there's an imaginary line.

It's like, okay, you don't talk about somebody's mom, like you just, you know, or their girl, or what y'all did.

You know, there's just some things that you just really don't talk about.

But sometimes I would be like scared because I'm like, man, he's popping off at the mouth.

He's about to get us uh in a fight, we might get shot.

Like, this is horrible, right?

Like, we've all been in those situations because our tongue has this power to control us, and so we have to learn how to shut our mouths.

You want to get in less trouble in your in life?

Learn to zip it.

Because you don't have to explain something you never said, okay, everybody.

Like, if you just learn to zip it, this will cause this will help you so much.

I love this.

Proverbs talks to us.

This book, excuse me, book of wisdom says this those who control their tongue will have a long life.

Opening your mouth can ruin everything.

So there are so many problems and so many situations that I can avoid if I just learn how to shut my mouth.

Now, this is the part where I'm not just talking about our audible words, I'm talking about the words that we text and the words that we type because we live in 2024.

James didn't live in 2024, so he's talking about the words that we say, but in 2024, man, how good would this be for us if online we learned how to close our digital mouths?

Like, if we learn to just like, I'm not gonna say, well, Pastor Isaiah, they need to know.

And they're wrong.

Well, Pastor Isaiah, somebody's got to tell them, so I'll be the person.

Maybe, but maybe not, right?

What we say week one, knowledge is knowing what to say, but wisdom is whether you say it or not.

And James is saying in chapter three, what he's already been trying to tell us in chapter one, that yo, you need to learn how to close your mouth.

Let me land on this.

I love this that even a fish wouldn't get in trouble if he kept his mouth shut.

Come on, that's worth a laugh right there.

If you don't get it right now, you'll get it on Tuesday at lunch.

But but even a fish, man, a fish, they'll be all right.

They'll be all good if they learn how to close their.

This is the essence of what James is trying to say.

He's trying to say this is important that we use wisdom because your tongue is so powerful.

It may be small in relation to your whole body, but it is a powerful, powerful tool.

Proverbs says that the power of life and death is in the tongue.

Some of us are still battling with things that people have said.

This is a big deal.

I hate that phrase.

Uh, you know, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never that's not true.

Because all of us have that.

Whether someone verbally said it, or maybe they wrote something about you, maybe they sent you an email, maybe they sent you an angry text.

We all deal with this, but man, if we're gonna use God's wisdom to govern our words, we have to know this is the power of the tongue.

Here's the third one it's the power to corrupt.

Your tongue has the power to condemn, to control, but also to corrupt.

I love this.

James says this.

This is verses five and eight.

He says, likewise, the tongue, it's a small part of your body, but it makes great boast.

In other words, it says a lot of big things, some of which we can come through on, some of which we can't, but this is the power of the tongue.

And he says this consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

Oh, this is big.

You know, now he's painting another picture.

And some of us we know we've been around or we've seen on the news, or maybe our house has been caught on fire, or something like that.

We know the devastation that can be caused by a fire.

Now he's drawing this parallel, and he wants you to see like this is a big deal.

And it all starts with just a small spark.

The tongue also, it's a fire, it's a world of evil among the parts of the body.

Watch this word.

It corrupts, contaminates, corrodes, it corrupts the whole body.

Sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and it itself is on fire by hell.

So he says, listen, your tongue is from hell.

I love it.

Keep reading it.

He says this that all kinds of animals and birds, reptiles, sea creatures are tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.

Hold it here.

What he's saying is, y'all seen blackfish on Netflix.

Like, y'all saw this.

Like you guys grew up going to the circus.

You see what we can do with animals.

I was at SeaWorld a couple weeks ago, and the way they can tame all of these animals and these orcas and these dolphins, he's saying, like, look, we've done all of this as mankind.

Like, we know all the stuff, but your tongue is a little different.

Without God's help, you cannot tame your tongue.

That's what he's saying.

It's a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

In other words, what he's saying, you know, poison.

It gets into something, and sometimes you may not even know what's in there.

Slowly but surely you figure out there's some poison in this, you figure out when it's when it's too late.

So he's drawing this picture.

He wants us to see that listen, like you can't, your tongue is full of evil.

Apart from God's health, it is full of evil.

So write this in your notes.

The tongue, oh man, it has a corrupting power.

It can contaminate some things, get into some things, and mess some things up if you're not careful.

If I'm not careful, this is this is our tongue.

And I know this is this can this is hard, man.

This is a hard message.

So is the whole book of James.

I mean, he is letting us know what is real and what we need to follow if we're really gonna practice this thing called Christianity.

He's all about a faith that is actually applied, and it it's here, it's important, and it begins with our tongue.

All right, so I really wanted to make this this part.

Really come alive to you.

And so here's the deal.

We always say this term around here at Access Church, and we say life-giving.

Like we want to be a life-giving church.

And man, did you hear all the stuff that we're doing and all of that?

That's incredible.

That's amazing.

All the stuff through legacy, and we love it.

Again, Pastor Jason said it's not for our glory, but it's for God's glory.

But but I love all the stuff that we're doing because this is our goal, man.

We want to be a life-giving church.

We want you to know God through our weekend services.

Man, we want you to grow deep roots with the Lord.

We love that.

And we want that each and every Sunday that we gather together.

But here's the question: Is your speech life-giving or is it life-corrupting?

This is what we strive for at the church, and this is an honest question that we have to ask ourselves.

I have to ask, is my speech life-giving or life corrupting?

I've heard it said often that you'll know you've seen a great movie.

Because when you leave the movie theater, you feel something.

Now, that something might be anger, it might be a joy, it might be gladness, it might be pride uh in something, and whatever it is, you'll feel something.

Now, here's my question.

Our tongue has this corrupting power.

So here's my question.

When people leave your presence, what do they feel?

After you've had a conversation with somebody, how how do they feel?

Do they feel manipulated, bitter, do they feel more angry, and uh, do they feel beat up, or or do they feel picked up?

Are we life-giving or are we life-corrupting?

With our tongue, man, we can do both, and the choice is all ours.

So here's the solution.

The solution is to let the Lord guard your mouth.

James is saying, like, listen, man, your tongue can do so, it can corrupt so much.

Some of us may have been touched by by friendships and relationships that have been corroded and corrupted and contaminated because of things that people have said.

But here's the here's the deal: the solution is this we ought to let the Lord guard your mouth.

I love what David said in Psalm 141 set a guard over my mouth, Lord.

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Some of you, I'm gonna stand aside, you need to take a picture of this.

And this needs to be your verse of the week.

That God would come into your life and he would do something so cool so as to set a guard over your mouth.

And he would keep watch over the door of your lips, so that what you say is life-giving.

It's not life-corrupting.

It's not taking away value from someone, but it's adding value to them.

Are you understanding this morning?

That what I'm saying is only good.

It's only for God's glory, it's only to lift somebody up and pick somebody up.

That's the third power that I see out of this text of our tongue.

Here's the fourth one right here.

It's the power to contradict.

Oh, you gotta know this.

That that your power, that your tongue, man, it has power to condemn, to control, to corrupt, but but also to contradict.

Now look what he says.

I love this.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father.

We praise you, we do all of that.

And with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's enemy.

So, in other words, I'm singing praise.

I'm sorry, I can't sing, but but but you know, you're we're singing praise the Lord, and then we get on the Pope Parkway and we cut somebody out.

Come on, I know this is stuff.

We come here and we sing all Hell King Jesus, but when I get on I-4 going to Orlando, talk to me.

He says, This is crazy.

With our tongue, we contradict.

We curse human beings.

When someone doesn't treat us right, they cut us off, they did us dirty, they talk behind my back.

I praise on Sunday, but on Monday, you're gonna get where you're from and where you need to go to.

Come on, this is crazy.

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

Now, watch what he does here.

He's gonna point to nature to show us this doesn't work anywhere else in nature, but for some weird reason, this works with our tongue.

He says, This, my brothers and sisters.

In other words, he's saying church family, church family, this should not be.

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

My brothers and sisters, church family, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs?

Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

In other words, what he's saying, there is no situation in nature in our world where the same source has opposite results.

But yet, for some reason, it is with our tongue.

The tongue has contradicting power.

It really does.

It has contradict if we're not careful, we will contradict, we will say things that that betray our faith.

And if James is about anything, he's about a faith that's actually real.

So he says it starts with the stuff that you talk about, how you talk about people, your tone, your pitch, your your inflection, all of it matters.

There's a contradicting power.

This week, I'll I'll be done just a sec.

But this this week, I um uh I had a conversation with a guy and I was catching up with him, and I knew he had started a new job uh a little bit ago, and I said, Hey man, how was the new job?

And he said, Man, the the new job is is actually really good.

And um he said, but I'll be honest, actually, the the worst part of the job that I'm at is that I work with people who say they're Christians, but Isaiah, if I'm honest, the stuff that spews out of their mouth is crazy.

And he said, honestly, if that was a negative, if there was a negative, then that would be it.

He was like, Isaiah, I can deal with like with people who don't say they're Christians, I can deal with all that.

That's fine because it's like I understand it's expected, but there are people that really profess they're in church, they love God, but the stuff they talk about, the stuff they say is crazy.

And I thought to myself, man, God let that not be me.

Man, I hope when I leave conversations, people aren't questioning, yo, is he a Christian or not?

I don't think James is not saying that we can't joke and have good conversation and have fun and all that.

I don't think he's saying that.

I think he's just saying, hey, watch it.

Because if we're not careful, the words we say will contradict the faith we profess.

And we have to be careful in this.

So, what's the solution, Pastor Isaiah?

I'm glad you asked.

It's to use my words to praise, encourage, lift, inspire, advise.

There's nothing wrong with hard conversations, and sometimes you gotta do that.

And so we gotta use it to advise, to guide, to love, to comfort, to bless, and to affirm.

Do you use your words like this?

This is the heart.

Godly wisdom shows up like this.

This is the heart of James chapter three.

And so here's why I want to close this morning.

I'm telling you, this is so much for me.

I know I need to watch my words so many times.

Sometimes I wish I was somebody else because the way I talk, I'm like, man, where's this coming from?

But here's the deal.

Here's what I want to do.

I want to close with a with a challenge and then a prayer that you can pray yourself.

I think when you speak this week, you'll you'll talk a lot this week, you'll text, you'll type, you'll communicate, all of that.

And I think what it what would be good is before this week, before I say something, let me run it through this threefold test.

Is it true?

Is what I'm about to say true?

Okay, is it kind?

Bible says, be kind to one another, tender hearted.

And so, is what I'm about to say, is it kind?

Here's the third one.

Is it necessary?

Oh, Pastor Isaiah, they need to hear it.

Well, maybe.

Maybe not from you.

Is it true?

Is it kind?

Is everything that you say?

This is a message I love because it's so practical.

I give I can use it today.

Is what I'm about to say, is what's about to come out of my mouth.

Is it true?

Is it kind?

Is it necessary?

That's the challenge this week.

Before you talk, run it through that filter and let God use your conversations.

Here's the prayer I want you to pray every day.

I'm gonna pray it with you.

Heavenly Father, today, allow me to say some worthwhile stuff.

Oh, give me some good conversations, but God, I ask, nudge me when I've said enough.

God, when I'm about to condemn myself, tell me, hey, buddy, it's time.

Cut it.

God, when I'm about to say something that's gonna control a situation that I don't need to control and it's gonna get out of control if I keep nudge me and tell me, hey, you're done.

God, when I'm about to contradict myself, if I'm about to contaminate somebody or or corrupt somebody, tell me, hey, you're done.

And then God give me the wisdom to follow that voice.

You get what I'm saying this morning?

This is big time for James.

What we say actually matters all over this room.

Let's bow our heads and I want to pray over us, and we'll be done in just a second.

But Lord, I pray that you would help us in this area.

This isn't necessarily the easiest thing to talk about because man, we're all guilty.

But you can help us.

Apart from you, we can't do anything, but with you, man, we can learn to control the words that Lord set a guard over each and every one of our mouths this week.

Help us in this area that we might glorify you, that we would become mature, as James would say, perfect, able to do what we need to do.

Help us in that, I pray.

Right now, if you're in this room and I want to just extend an opportunity, maybe you say, Listen, I've heard this, this sounds great, but I'll be honest, God's not even where he needs to be in my life.

He's not number one.

And I can't say that my life is characterized by a relationship with him.

If that's you, the good news is Romans 10 and 9 says this if you confess with your mouth, remember the tongue can corrupt, but also the tongue, Jesus said, it can also equate you.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you can be saved.

So if that's you, you say, Man, I need a fresh start today.

I need to put God number one, I want to start or restart a relationship with you, with him.

Would you raise your hand?

I just want to pray with you in this moment, all over the room.

You can raise your hand.

Absolutely.

I see those hands.

I see those hands online.

I see you.

If you're raising your hand, I see you, God sees you.

Pray something like this in your own heart.

Jesus, with my tongue, with my words, with my speech right now, I accept what you've done for me on the cross.

Man, I invite you into my light.

Today I'm starting or restarting a relationship with you.

That means you're number one.

That means I'm gonna follow you, be the Lord and the leader of my life.

I'm saying from this day forward, I am never the same.

I love you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Come on, church, family.

We just have people accept the Lord.

What a good day.