James - James 3:1-12 - Part 1

James tells us that if we are able to control the tongue, then we are able to control the whole body. That’s interesting. A person who can control his speech is exercising wonderful discipline. 

Gracious Father in heaven, thank You for the wonderful gift of speech. Oh Lord, so often our Christianity is only words. We talk, we don’t really act. Forgive us when we have hurt others by what we have said or the way we have said it, or perhaps by not saying anything when we should have spoken. As we study this important subject, give us the guidance of Your Holy Spirit, I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

There is, as you know, a great deal of difference between age and maturity; not everybody who grows old grows up. And James is concerned about maturity. He wants our faith to be perfected. He wants us to be made perfect, to be complete. This is why he says in James 3:1, "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we—that is, we teachers—shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body." 

He’s talking about the perfect man; not the sinless person, obviously, but the one who is complete, who is well-rounded, who is mature. In chapter 1 he tells us that the mature Christian is patient in trials, does not fall apart when things become difficult—patient in trials. In chapter 2, the mature Christian practices the truth. His faith is a working faith. His faith is a faith that is manifested not just by words, but by deeds, by works. He knows that faith without works is dead. He doesn’t want dead faith; he has dynamic faith—faith that results in works. 

Now, the third characteristic of the mature Christian is given in chapter 3; in fact, the whole chapter is given to the subject. He has power over his tongue. Now you know that little children love to talk. They talk about anything; they say things they don’t mean. They’re learning to control that little muscle called the tongue. And James tells us that those who know Jesus as their Savior and those who are maturing in their faith will have power over their tongue.

As you read the epistle of James, you discover that the people he was writing to had real problems with their speech. Look at James 1:19. He had to admonish them: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." You can just see people talking in the church, and somebody doesn’t want to hear; he wants to talk. A boring person is somebody who’s talking when you want to talk. And so often this is the case. You’ll recall in the Corinthian church that people were jumping up in the meetings and interrupting one another. Well, he says the mature person doesn’t do that. He’s swift to hear; he knows how to listen. We have one tongue and two ears; we ought to be listening twice as much as we are talking. Slow to speak. Be very careful what you say and how you say it, and don't get angry. Why? For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. These would be good verses to read before the committee meeting or before the business meeting. 

James 1:26: "If anyone among you thinks he is religious"—there are some people who said, "You know, we are very spiritual people"—"and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless"—vain, futile. Here’s a man who’s deceiving himself. He thinks that because he goes around saying, "I am spiritual, I have done this, and I have done that," that he really is a religious person. But if he doesn’t bridle his tongue, he doesn’t take care of his speech, James says he’s proving he doesn’t have any true religion at all. So often those who talk the most about themselves will say the worst about others.

James 4:11-12. You have another evidence that they had tongue trouble in their assembly. James 4:11: "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren." They were going around talking about one another. Speak evil means to speak down on. They were downing one another; they were putting one another down; they were criticizing each other. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. Don’t go around like a prosecuting attorney. God’s called us to be witnesses, not prosecuting attorneys. 

James 5:9: "Do not grumble against one another, brethren." That’s an interesting statement. Literally, the word is groan. "Do not groan against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned"—lest you be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door. Going around complaining one to another. The Jewish people in the Old Testament were very good at that; forever complaining about something. Moses had to put up with that for forty years in the wilderness—complain, complain. We go to church and complain because the sermon is too long, or maybe the sermon is too short, or the choir sang off-key, or the temperature wasn't right. I have a friend who was in evangelism. He tells about an evangelist who put up thermostats in his tent—the tent where he was holding the meetings—on several of the poles he put up thermostats. They weren't connected to anything, but they were there. And people would get up and adjust the thermostat and go sit down and feel so much better. Well, they hadn't changed a thing except their own inner psychology. James is saying: don’t go around complaining. 

Tongue trouble. James 2:12. They had the problem of speaking but not doing. "So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty." How easy it is in church to talk, talk, talk about the unsaved, and talk about missions, and talk about tithing, but not do anything. We Christians are great for substituting speaking for acting. 1 John 1—you find John three times writing, "If we say, if we say, if we say." And we do say. Oh, we say that we’re spiritual, we say that we’re concerned, we say that we love the Lord. Well, are we talking or are we walking?

Now, in James 3:1, one of their big problems was competition. They all wanted to be teachers. "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers"—that means teachers of the Word of God—"knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." God has ordained that there shall be teachers in the church. Ephesians 4:11 talks about pastor-teachers, those who shepherd the flock of God. And we have Sunday school teachers, we have teaching elders, we have those who are teaching the Word of God. And we need this. Whether I get teaching in person, whether I get teaching through the radio or television, whether I get teaching through reading a book or a magazine, I need the teaching of the Word of God. Now, the problem was, so many people in these assemblies to which James writes wanted to be teachers. By the way, all of us should strive to be able to share the Word of God with others. Hebrews 5:12—he sort of chides them for not growing: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God." God wants His children to grow. One of the evidences of maturity is the ability to teach others, to disciple others.

Now, in chapter 3, James is emphasizing the importance of speech; not just speech in the pulpit, not just speech in the Sunday school class—all speech. Speech at the breakfast table, speech as you’re driving down the highway, speech over the telephone, speech as you write a letter. He’s saying words are important. Never underestimate the importance of words, of speech. And James gives to us three warnings to help us guard our speech.

Thanks for joining us today on Back to the Bible. Earlier in our study of James, Warren Wiersbe hinted at three warnings that help us guard our tongue. Now let's find out what they are and how we should respond. 

Warning number one is in verse 1: our words will be judged. "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we—we teachers—shall receive a stricter judgment." Now, of course, this applies to all believers. All believers will have their words and their works judged. Matthew 12:36-37: "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Now he’s not saying here we’re saved by saying the right words. What he’s saying is this: that if our idle words, our casual words, are going to be judged, how much more our deliberate words? If what I say over a cup of coffee when I’m chatting with a friend is going to be judged, how much more what I say in a radio message or in a pulpit message? All believers will have their words judged. And if our idle words are going to be judged, how much more our deliberate words? Why? Well, because what we say comes from the heart. Jesus made this very clear, didn't He? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. James applies this especially to spiritual leaders. The higher you are in responsibility and privilege, the greater the judgment.

The everyday Jew could get away with things that Moses couldn't get away with. In fact, in Numbers 20, you’ll recall that Moses disobeyed God. He became angry, and he smote the rock instead of speaking to the rock. He said, "Must we bring water for you rebels?" Psalm 106:32-33 puts it this way—well, let’s start with verse 32: "They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them." Here is God’s servant suffering because of God’s people. "Because they rebelled against his spirit, so that he"—Moses—"spoke rashly with his lips." That’s Psalm 106:32-33. Moses spoke rashly with his lips, and you know what happened? He didn't get to go into the Promised Land. He was chastened; he was punished because he spoke rashly. Why? He was the leader. Now, if any everyday foot soldier had said what Moses said, it wouldn't have done too much damage; but Moses was the leader. In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron, Moses' sister and brother, spoke rashly with their lips, and Miriam became a leper. You see, all of us who are in places of responsibility are going to have the greater judgment, and we must be mature in our use of words. Be very careful. Don’t rush into some kind of spiritual office. Don’t rush into teaching that Sunday school class unless you are ready to have your lesson judged before the throne of God.

Now, in verse 2, he gives us a second warning. Not only that our words will be judged, but our words reveal our character. "For we all stumble in many things"—and we can all say amen to that. "If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man"—a mature man, a complete man—"able also to bridle the whole body." That’s an interesting statement. You see, sins of the tongue often become sins of the body. You start talking about something you shouldn't be talking about, and before long you are doing something you should not do. And this is dangerous. Thoughts lead to words, and then words lead to actions, and of course actions lead to character. James is warning us here that our words reveal our character.

Now, the Lord Jesus made that clear. I’ve already referred to the verse in Matthew 12, where He says in verse 33: "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruits. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things." You see, it’s not just words; it’s what we have in our hearts. 

Book of Proverbs makes this so obvious. Throughout the book of Proverbs, there are so many warnings about the tongue. Proverbs 10:19: "In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise." That’s what James is talking about, isn't he? Having control of your tongue. Proverbs 32:10: "The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse." Proverbs 13:3: "He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips"—a big mouth, in other words—"shall have destruction." Proverbs 15:1: "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness." Proverbs 15:4: "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." Down in verse 28: "The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil."

You see, sins of speech are terrible sins. We’re going to see in our next study what damage can be done by the tongue. Our words reveal our character. A man was on the job and something went wrong on the job. This man was a professed Christian, and he let out a flow of language that was not too spiritual. And then he stopped and said, "Well, I’m sorry about that; that really isn’t in me." And his friend said, "If it wasn't in you, how could it come out of you?" Our Lord was right: out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So James is saying: you’re going to be a teacher? All right. We’re going to listen to what you say, because what you say reveals your character; how you say it. Sins of the tongue begin in childhood; they last the longest. Oh, there are people who are elderly who still have problems controlling the tongue. Sins of the tongue can affect the most people. Sins of the tongue can spread so rapidly. Sins of the tongue are the hardest thing to deal with; the tongue is the hardest part of the body to control and discipline. And I think many of us have many regrets because of sins of the tongue.

Now, sins of the tongue reveal character. James tells us that if we are able to control the tongue, then we are able to control the whole body. That’s interesting. A person who can control his speech is exercising wonderful discipline. Day after day, you and I are provoked to say things. We hear ignorant statements made, or hateful statements. Things are said that we don’t agree with, and we are provoked into saying something. And then we check ourselves. The Holy Spirit of God gives us self-control. Oh, how we need the Spirit of God to control our tongues. Perhaps the prayer that we need is the prayer that is prayed in Psalm 141:3: "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart"—there you are, the heart—"Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works." Oh God, set a watch over our lips, and may our speech be used to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Interview:]

You’re listening to a study on the book of James with Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe. Up next, Warren talks with Arnie Cole, CEO of Back to the Bible International.

Warren, can you tell us a little about the background of James, like who was James, what was James writing to, and why did he even write this letter?

Well, James was one of the family of Mary and Joseph. He was a—I’d say a half-brother to Jesus. And I’ve often thought, how did his brothers respond to Him? During His earthly ministry, our Lord did not see them saved. But apparently the resurrection made the difference, because Jesus appeared to some of those, and James was saved. So here is James; he’s now a Christian, he’s leading the Jerusalem church. But there had been a movement of God’s people. They were dispersed like seeds. The Lord didn’t want them to stay in Jerusalem. He said, "Get out there, plant the seed, witness for Me, tell them about Jesus." And they were going through some troubles. So James had a pastor’s heart; he knew just what to write, and he wrote this marvelous book. And so the basic theme of James is just grow up. Be patient. Children who haven't grown up, children are impatient. You know, "Are we there yet?" "No." You’ve been through that; I’ve been through that. Then he says, look, practice what you’ve learned. Don’t just study it and argue about it; practice it. And he said, please, control your tongue. One of the marks of maturity is a controlled tongue. That’s right. If you’ve ever been to some board meetings, you know something about that. Then he said, look, be a peacemaker, don’t be a troublemaker. And then he said, finally, you want to change things? Pray. So those five marks of a mature Christian are the theme there in the book of James.