Title: How Small Things Cause Trouble
Text:
James 3:1-4 (ESV)
1 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.
Observation:
Yesterday the pastor used this as the title to his message, " There's a Horse in Your Mouth"; his text was James 1:26.
This morning I opened my bible to the book of James, and the passage that captured my attention is the passage I selected for today's text. Then my eyes parked on this verse.
James 3:3 (ESV)
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
The recipients of the letter from James were having problems with their tongues.
James 1:26 (ESV)
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
James 4:1 (ESV)
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
James 3:11-12 (ESV)
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.
However, the tongue is not the problem; it's the heart. James nails it here.
James 3:14 (ESV)
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
The key to taming the tongue is this, "Who is in control?" The answer lies in our text for today; go back and read it again. Submit to God, and He will control your tongue, and your whole body. Is God in your heart? If so, surrender to the Holy Spirit's control.
If you need help with taming the tongue, ask the Lord to help you. Let this prayer from the Psalmist help you in your talk with the Lord.
Prayer:
Psalm 141:1-4 (ESV)
1
O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
Matthew 4:4 (HCSB)
4 But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Psalm 2:8 (HCSB)
8 Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.
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