JAMES (PART 4 - TALKING FAITH) - Clover...

I’LL SHOW YOU (PART 4 - TALKING FAITH) VISIBLE FAITH IN THE BOOK OF JAMES

OPENING:“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech that you’ll ever regret.”

Have you ever said something that you wish you could take back? Something small like, “I do.”

Maybe someone has said something to you that you’d like to give back, but you can’t

Copyright © 2013 Thor Ramsey www.canyonlakechurch.org

http://www.canyonlakechurch.org


give it back. They’ve put it in your mind like a song that you can’t get out of your head.

“Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” I remember walking to school in the seventh grade. One block behind me were three friends that I normally walked to school with, but had mistimed meeting up with that morning. To get my attention, all three of them yelled together, “Zits!” I had acne as a seventh grader and this was the nickname my friends were trying to give me - Zits. I ignored them until they shouted it three times and that’s when I turned and walked toward them with steam coming from my ears, like a bull with Clearasil in his eyes. “Words will never harm me.” Well, that’s a bunch of bunk. Whoever coined that little phrase was obviously trying to comfort some kid going to public school.

Things people have said to us can plague us for an entire lifetime, especially something said to us by our parents. How many of us have that sentence spoken by a parent that still haunts us? Words can devastate a life. Reputations have been destroyed by mere words. There are press conferences held over single sentences spoken by powerful

politicians, infamous preachers and self-absorbed celebrities.

And that little guiding force that makes the words dance out of your mouth is our subject today -- the tongue.

James 1:2626 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

This is a horse riding metaphor. Your tongue doesn’t need to be an out of control steed. You can harness it, control it, direct it. The second mark of being a Christian is that your new spiritual self can control your tongue.

The idea here is that if you can’t control what you say this is a sign of a heart that is out of control. You might deceive yourself, but your tongue tells the truth about what’s in your heart.

There are many who suppose themselves to be Christians because they aren’t engaged in any kind of gross misbehavior. However, as Richard Owen Roberts points out, “The scriptural focus is not merely on the sinfulness of doing wrong but on the grievous wickedness of failing to do right. God insists that we both cease to do evil and learn to do




good. This is the concept that lies behind John the Baptist’s words, ‘Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance’ (Matt. 3:8). This is what Paul had in mind when he insisted that we ‘should repent and turn to God, p e r f o r m i n g d e e d s a p p r o p r i a t e t o repentance’ (Acts 26:20)” So, here we have James in this early teaching to Christians about what faith looks like in real life. We are saved from every condemnation - “who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died -- more than that -- who was raised...” to life. (Romans 8:31-34) But we’re not just saved from condemnation, we’re saved to “walk in the same way that He walked.” (1 John 2:6)

I believe one of the keys to understanding the Christian life is this: the Bible is full of indicatives and imperatives. It’s full of facts and commands. The facts emphasize God’s sovereign work. The commands emphasize o u r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . I n d i c a t i v e s a n d imperatives. Facts and commands. Let’s look at two Bible verses that embody both of these truths simultaneously.

Colossians 3:1-33 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

“You have been raised with Christ.” This is a fact. In grammatical terms it’s an indicative. This is something that God has done. It’s something you cannot do. “Seek the things that are above” and “set your minds on things that are above” are commands. They are imperatives. This is our responsibility. Now that I have been raised with Christ (by God’s sovereign grace) I can take responsibility and set my mind on things that really matter.

Philippians 2:12-13work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

In one single verse, the Apostle Paul stresses both the sovereign work of God and the responsibility of man.

“Work out your salvation” - that is your part, that is your responsibility. “God works in you in good pleasure” - that is God’s sovereign hand in our lives.




When it comes to the Christian life, there are different mistakes we can make, different errors of emphasis where we lose the biblical balance. Now, I’m going to offend some of you with theological terms, because these are the two most commons errors when it comes to living the Christian life. And each error emphasizes one of these two truths over and against the other.

First, one side particularly emphasizes the area of human responsibility. This error is called Arminianism, which so stresses human responsibility that it makes you the author of your own salvation. It takes the new birth out of God’s hands and puts it in yours. It makes a glaring theological blunder that God is limited by humanity because of free will.

The second error is even worse to me, though . I t so ove r emphas i zes the sovereignty of God that it negates vigorous human effort for the sake of the gospel. This error is called Hyper-Calvinism. It leads to a type of Christian sloth, an unbiblical Christian passivity because “God will do it all.” Now, understand that Hyper-Calvinism is not Calvinism. It is Calvinism run amok.

Both Arminianism and Hyper-Calvinism are errors that lead to defective Christian living. This is the very thing the letter of James is dealing with -- defective Christian living. The point is this -- because God has done a sovereign work of grace in your life by bringing you forth by the gospel, because He has placed His Spirit inside of you and created in you a new spiritual self, your new spiritual self can choose to obey Him. You are now responsible to obey Him, but you still find yourself pulled by temptations and trials and desires that sometimes hinder your Christian life. This is why the Bible uses language about spiritual warfare and athletic competition. So, in keeping with the biblical motif of athletic competition, let me use Tom Brady as an example. Not as a spiritual example, but as an athletic example that illustrates a spiritual truth.

Tom Brady is one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game. He doesn’t need to worry about starting next week. He can be assured that coach Belichick will start him. Yet, Brady said that in college he was never assured of his starting spot, so every week he had to practice hard to earn the starting spot for the weekend’s game. He brought that work ethic into the NFL with him. Now even




though he is assured of his starting spot next week without question, he works during the week like he has to earn it even though he doesn’t have to.

If you are a Christian, you are on God’s team and you are assured of always being on God’s team without question. But if you want to set records, if you want to see spiritual progress, if you want to see the Spirit move, you have to do the work. There is no such thing as “let go and let God.” There is working hard while God works in you. That’s the biblical model.

“Run so as to win the race” has nothing in common with “let go and let God.” God has saved you and now you must take responsibility for that salvation.

Sometimes it’s said of a person, “He’s all talk and no action.” His words have no meaning because of his actions. He doesn’t back up his words with his life, which again makes the point of the power of words.

James 3:1-12Taming the Tongue

3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater

strictness. 2 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. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 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. 5 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! 6 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. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

He’s talking about the source. He is saying that whatever comes out of your mouth will reveal the source. Your words will reveal what is inside of you. If you’re a new creation in Christ, you words will begin to reflect that reality. If not, your words will be set on fire by hell itself.

The Bible mentions many kinds of tongues. •There is a flattering tongue (Psalm 5:9)




•a proud tongue (Psalm 12:3, 73:9) •a lying tongue (Psalm 109:2, Prov. 6:17) •a deceitful tongue (Psalm 120:2) •a perverted tongue (Prov. 10:31, 17:20) •a soothing tongue (Prov 15:4) •a healing tongue (Prov. 12:18) •a destructive tongue (Prov. 17:4) •a mischievous and wicked tongue

(Psalm 10:7) •a soft tongue (Prov. 25:15) •and a backbiting tongue (Prov. 25:23)

Your tongue (what you say) reveals the state of your heart. It’s been put this way, “Your tongue tells on you.”

Proverbs 10:2020 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.

This proverb links the tongue with the heart.

Proverbs 12:1818 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Now, maybe both of the people in this Proverb are Christians, but notice the distinction, the one who doesn’t really think about what they are saying or how they are going to say it or who they are saying it to,

the person who just blurts out whatever they’re thinking is rash. They might be a Christian, but they are not a wise Christian. Rash words are a sign of spiritual immaturity whatever your age.

Proverbs 17:2020 A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

Again, the tongue is connected to the heart. You lips speak out what is in your heart. Eventually. That’s why it’s hard to say, “I didn’t really mean what I just said.” You can say, “I regret what I just said.” But you can’t say you didn’t mean it. If you didn’t mean it you wouldn’t have said it. What we often regret is that our heart has been revealed to us. What state is your heart in? Listen to what comes out of your mouth and it will tell you.

Matthew 15:18-1918 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Leonard Ravenhill told this story once. He said: I helped at a funeral once where there were several teenage children. They sobbed and groaned and carried on as I’d never seen anyone do at a funeral. I said to my senior pastor, "Oh, how much they loved their




mother!" He said, "No, they’re just crying in remorse. They were the most disobedient, backbiting, sarcastic children ever. They always abused their mother with their words. They gave her an awful time. They just cut her to pieces with their tongues." Many of us suddenly feel this same unbearable guilt when someone dies and we can’t take back the words we’ve spoken or heal the wounds we’ve made.

Matthew 12:3636 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

James 3:10-1210 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Again, what James is getting at here is that if you have been born again, God has given you a new heart, placed His Spirit in you. This will change what comes out of your mouth. You will bear a different kind of fruit now because you are a different kind of tree. The Apostle Peter quoting one the David’s Psalms said:

Acts 2:25-26

25 For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.

A new heart produces a new tongue.

Isaiah 53:7-97 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Why was Jesus silent? Sinclair Ferguson answers this way: “My friends, he was silent because of every word that has proceeded from your lips, which would be adequate reason for God to damn you for all eternity, because you have cursed him and his image, and Jesus has come into the world to bear the judgment of God against the sin of our tongues.”

•Frozen pole analogy•Repenting of hurtful words




JAMES (PART 4 - TALKING FAITH) - Clover...

Documents

Transcript of JAMES (PART 4 - TALKING FAITH) - Clover...