The Power of the Tongue part 2 The Power to Destroy

Now as we continue in these verses we're going to be looking at the power of the tongue For two more messages now last week It was the power of the tongue and we saw the power to control that was part one But this morning we're going to look at the power to control and we're going to look at part to the power to destroy part to the power to destroy Now this morning I want to speak about a church problem or a church leadership problem that I referenced are mentioned last week I mentioned a pastor on the west coast I mentioned a pastor in the city of Seattle Seattle, Washington some of you who are familiar with this individual his name is Mark Driscoll He is the pastor of what's called Mars Hill Church now before I continue I want to give you my position on this particular individual and this particular church I do not agree with much of what he teaches.

I would not put myself in his camp I would not identify myself with him. What I'm simply doing is using this set of circumstances this individual As a teaching tool. This is on the horizon in quote-unquote Christian in church circles Matter of fact this kind of burst on the scene nationally I think it was brother Keith this morning that was saying to me that it was even on the front page of the USA today But what I want us to do is I want us to look at a church problem I want us to look at a church leadership problem in this Individuals life and in the life there of the church that he pastors Now Mark Driscoll is embroiled in a scandal that has involved many accusations of ungodly behavior Behavior such as very crude speech and slander against certain individuals He has been accused of plagiarism and even stealing people's information and putting in his books He has been accused of unbiblical treatment of peoples in the life of the church He has been accused of refusing to be corrected by church leaders and even respected national Christian leaders in our country what I'm showing you is this is a bitter church scandal But it happens to be on a very large scale Now in doing a little reading About what's been going on.

I ran across what's called an open letter I don't know if you wouldn't know what an open letter is an open letter is written to an individual But yet it is written for quote unquote all to see all to read This was a letter that was posted by an individual's personal website and his name is Ron Wheeler Jr His association with Mark Driscoll is like this.

He was in the very beginnings of Mark Driscoll's work at Mars Hill He was as a matter of fact the first pastor of the first church plant that they went out and executed And yet he went through a difficult time and he wrote an open letter to his former friend and former pastor Mark Driscoll, I'm not going to read all of it I'm gonna do my best to put it in a little small package and help you get the gist of what he's writing The title of his letter is this I am NOT anonymous He says dear Mark Driscoll.

You were once one of my closest friends You were once my trusted benefactor and mentor You were once someone who preached the gospel with a fierce and captivating passion and purity You were the one who inspired me to be a preacher and a church planter now Ron Wheeler goes on to describe his ministry endeavors how he was a missionary and he came to be a part of Mars Hill and then he goes on to describe the Attraction that he had to this Mark Driscoll in the church And he goes on to say as he describes all that had gone on he says many of us bought in eyeball in and then he changes from a positive tone to a bad or negative tone He says this also remember when my brother-in-law Brian went through the process of becoming an elder Brian known to me as one of the most faithful loving gracious godly men I know and yet I believed your lies and how you characterized him He was unjustly removed and the way that the Kirkman family was treated foreshadowed the shunnings That would occur with the Petrie's and the Myers and others I have since gone to Brian and others and confessed my simplicity as to how they were treated he Goes on to talk about how he was involved in traveling with Mark Driscoll how he was involved in leadership on a national level and he goes on to say that there were a lot of Positive things that were going on in what is called this emergent church movement But he goes on to say it was also dangerous And some of it started to wonder from historical Orthodox Christian belief in practice He continues with the negative and he says but then I listened as you Slandered and you malign the men and women we work with behind their backs who though we didn't agree with some of them Theologically were wonderful people and never deserved to be spoken of or treated the way you did People who I know would have considered you a friend and they had no idea how you really felt about them I have personally tried to go back and apologize to the people who were and he hasn't quotations kicked to the curb This gentleman Ron Wheeler goes on To describe how he lost his ministry.

He lost his family He lost his marriage and how really he describes it in his own words how all hell broke loose in his own life and Then as he sought help from this Mark Driscoll He says it like this and to add to all of that Some significant personal weaknesses and sins of my own and we the church and I needed serious help I ask you for that help and in a customary fashion You drop the hammer with all of your recommendations on discipline want were not followed you came Unglued you cursed me up one side and down the other you threatened and you berated me I never I have never been spoken to to that way Before nor after it was it was vicious and startling I was reeling and I was devastated from what I had just gone through with my family and my close friend and he goes on to Describe how he ran reckless through his eldership and through the church problems that he was facing Then if you progress through the letter he goes on to say and let your and yet your words Rarely matched up to how you lived.

He says This to mark Driscoll you can't preach Jesus and curse people you can't preach Jesus and threaten people You can't preach Jesus and be sexually vulgar you can't preach Jesus and denigrate women You can't preach Jesus and shun people you can't preach Jesus and give rich people special privileges You can't preach Jesus and steal people's material and the list goes on and on And there towards the end he says it is really like this. It's simple to preach Jesus you have to be like Jesus Now I'm not going to continue through the letter. It's a lot of the same, but what am I trying to show you?

The power to destroy I Said earlier, I don't agree with mark Driscoll I don't know all of the ins and outs of the scandal But it is obvious as I have kept up with it from the distance and Keith has and some other church friends of mine that I respect How what we see is we see years of actions We see years of influence and we see years of speech how those people who were once close to him have come out and Explain the real man that is behind the ministry and what we are saying is the power to destroy and That's what we're looking at in James this morning I've already given you the title of the message the power of the tongue part to the power to Destroy we're gonna be in verses 5 through 8 and the main truths that we're gonna look at are on the screen for you To jot down or write down, but let's look at the text together Let's see what Jane says He says so also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boasts of great things behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire the very world of iniquity the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body and Sets on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell first verse seven for every species of beasts and birds of reptiles and creatures of the sea is tamed and Has been tamed by the human race, but no one can tame the tongue It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison What we're seeing here in James is he's describing to us the power of the tongue but yet the power to Destroy and we're gonna look at three main truths this morning right out of the verses first the tongue is so small Second the tongue it is a fire Third the tongue it is untamable You can abbreviate those main truths by saying it is small it is a fire and it is untamable So let's dive right into these verses and let's see what James is trying to teach us More about this thing called the tongue and this thing called speech So Roman numeral one or no more number one.

I want us to see the tongue. It is small the tongue It is small go back to the first portion of verse 5 He says so also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boasts of great things now verse 5 is really a continuation of verse 3 through 4 James is teaching in verses 3 through 4 that such small objects like bits and rudders can control Remember his illustration of the horse and the ship now as I mentioned last week verses 1 through 12 are Really one message all together.

We're breaking them down to help us digest them But verse 5 is really connected to these previous verses that we looked at last week But with this small portion of verse 5 I want us to see some truth first First I want us to notice we see its size We see its size now. This is a simple observation But it is also that we something that we need to be reminded of what does he say?

The tongue is a small part of the body We need to be reminded of the size of the tongue Second I want us to see its capability Go back to the verse So also the tongue it's a small part of the body and now here's the capability and yet it boasts of great things James does not list the great things that the tongue can boast about James is saying that man's natural tendency in speech is to be boastful It is to be prideful. It is to be self-centered.

It is to be terribly evil So he does not give us a list But he's speaking in general terms So also the tongue is a small part of the body But yet it boasts of so many great things so many evil things John MacArthur says of this verse whenever and however the tongue boasts it leaves a wake of destruction It tears down others it destroys churches families marriages and personal relationships It can even lead to murder and war That's what James is communicating this very small portion of the body But yet it has great capability of evil great capability of destruction great capability of boasting and leading and destroying I Think we can say that James is showing us the potential of the tongue It is small in size, but yet it has great possibilities.

It has great potential. I Thought about it like this. I don't really know where this came from other than my imagination But I think it helps us get our mind around what James is saying. I Guess it's like this. I Cannot run into a crowded theater and yell fire Because if I were to yell into a crowded theater with one word what would happen we would have Pandemonium we would have action we would have sheer destruction probably of people's lives and property With one word with one utterance of the tongue I could influence people But yet what James is showing us that there is an a an immense evil that can come from this thing called the tongue I Thought about the tongue and its capability in three arenas first of all in our homes Think about the environment of our home of the environment of your home.

How do you talk to your wife? How do you talk to your children? How do you talk to your husband? how do you how do you talk in your home and yet just the simplest the very a handful of words has the great capability To do so much damage in the home behind closed doors when no one is there a Man can speak to his wife just with a few words just with a handful of words But yet the capability the potential of destruction is so great.

I Thought about the arena of work How do our co-workers see us as Christians by our speech You know we can say one thing we can talk of Christ and talk of church and talk of godly things But yet in the right set of circumstances all the wrong set of circumstances at work we can Undo all of those things we could take years of witness Years of positive speech and yet in five minutes in in three minutes in two sentences in three words It could be all unknown.

I Thought about the arena of the church I've been in meetings where men berated other men I've been in meetings where men criticized other men and me and chopped other men down and I've seen what speech does Behind closed doors under the umbrella of church leadership. I've seen what it does to them What am I showing you? The tongue yet. It is so small it has great potential great potential to destroy Read the verse again. So also the tongue is a small part of the body and yet it boasts of great things Let's move on Let's look at Roman numeral to our number two.

I want us to see the tongue is a fire The tongue it is a fire now This is a rather lengthy portion of text that I want us to look at but it's the last portion of verse 5 and verse 6 Notice what it says Behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire the very world of iniquity the tongue is set among our members as That which defiles the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell itself Excuse me James again uses illustrations, but I want us to notice that he changes in his illustrations Previously last week's message we saw that he used the horse and he used the bit and the bridle He used the ship and he used the rudder But now he changes to the illustration of fire James is teaching the great capacity for evil James is teaching the great capacity for corruption and destruction which is in the tongue in speech James is teaching that the tongue left unto itself.

It is a great defilement that leads to destruction Now I want us to see in these verses that James is directing his speech What I mean by that is this word behold go back to that second portion of verse 5 Behold how great a forest? How great a forest is set aflame by such a fire this word behold it is also used in the King James In its construction it is forceful. It is almost a command What we see in that is James is calling for special attention to what he is going to say With using this word he's saying to the people now listen up.

I really want you to listen So in these verses I want us to notice some truth First I want us to notice the description of the defilement the description of the defilement go back behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire and The tongue is now notice. Here's the description. It is a fire the very world of Iniquity what we see here James is describing the defilement that destroys Now this word world it does not refer to the creation or the people now those of us who have a good memory We can remember our study through first John where G John says do not love the world now this word world Refers to three things in scripture it refers to the creation it refers to people and it refers to the world System that is around us that is anti-god anti-christ anti-bible anti-man anti-christian James is not talking about the creation or people James is talking about this world system that is around us that is anti-christ and anti-god When you turn on the news and you see murder and when you see immorality When you see anything that is anti-bible anti-god anti-christ and anti-man That is from the world that is this world system that is speedily running against God so this word world refers to this system around us let me go back and read it and The tongue is a fire the very world of Iniquity now notice this word iniquity This word iniquity means rebellion it means lawlessness it means sheer evil It's see with this description of the defilement that destroys James is describing the tongues actions as rebellious Lawless and evil even anti-christ and anti-god and it is like a fire that spreads The tongue spreads evil the stuck tongue spreads rebellion and the tongue spreads lawlessness Which is a nicquet is an anti-god and anti-christ?

Notice the description This is a description that of the defilement that destroys Second I want you to notice the depth of the defilement the depth of the defilement and The tongue is a fire the very world of iniquity the tongue is set among our members now here it is as That which defiles the entire? body James is showing us the depth of the defilement that destroys It is a small part of the body, but through its worldly and iniquitous actions notice it defiles the entire body That's what James is saying the speech that is worldly That is anti-god that is sinful it goes on to defile the entire body That's the depth of the defilement that destroys I Thought about it like this.

This is a good example I don't know if you've ever been in a home where someone has smoked for years Someone can smoke in a home for five ten twenty years and although they might be gone for years That home has been permeated by what smoke? The smell is in the carpets the smell is in the furniture the smell is in the walls The smell is in the paint the smell is in the closets and there must be drastic actions to get rid of that and That's what James is saying this tongue that is small it is a small part of the body Because it is worldly it is anti-god anti-christ and it is iniquitous utterly evil in its actions Left uncontrolled what does it do it defiles?

In destroys the entire body. That's the depth of the defilement that destroys Second I want us to see the direction of the defilement The direction and the tongue is a fire the very world of iniquity That's the description the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body That's the depth and notice and sets on fire the course of our life This is the direction of the defilement that destroys Not only does the defilement of the tongue infect the entire body But now James shows us that the direction of the entire body and life is changed Notice he says the course of your life the new American standard that I'm reading from the English Standard Version Says the course of your life the King James says the course of nature That communicates the same thing James is teaching that the entire direction of life can be determined by what this? defiled Productive speech and where does it come from it comes from the world and it comes from an iniquitous heart This is the direction of the defilement that destroys But fourth I want us to see the source of the defilement that destroys the source of the defilement that destroys go back to the verse and the tongue is a fire the very world of iniquity That's a description and the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body That's the depth and sets on fire the course of our life That's the direction and is set on fire by what by hell That's the source of the defilement that destroys now this word set on fire by This word set on fire.

It is a verb That means it's action But not only is it a verb it is in the present active form that means that it is in a Continuing state it is ongoing and it is active It's not just one time folks what he's saying is he's saying it is set on fire And it is continuously set on fire it is ongoing in its action But also I want you to see the word hell Now the word hell right here is only used by Jesus in the synoptic Gospels nowhere else is it used in the New Testament Now literally it means Valley of Hinnom Which was the city garbage dump outside Jerusalem you might say what's the big deal?

Now this Valley this garbage dump that was outside of Jerusalem back in Canaanite times It was where they were sacrificed babies to their gods And it was considered defiled by the Jews so therefore it became the garbage dump It was where they took dead bodies It was where they took animals and it was where they took the city garbage And it was literally a place where there was a fire that burned continuously That's why when it's referred to it's talked about the fire that is never quench where the worm never dies There was always the stench of burning garbage There was always the stench of rotting into king flesh whether it was human or whether it was animal This is a description of the garbage dump that is outside of Jerusalem But Jesus he used this word to speak of another place an everlasting place That place called hell James is saying that the tongue is set on fire listen not by the garbage dump of hell But by the very hell itself Indicating what the satanic influence on the tongue What James is saying is the source of this is?

Satanic it's demonic. It's right out of the pit of hell and See the source of the defilement leads to destruction and you see the tongue it is a fire That's just not a descriptive tongue Descriptive verse what he's saying is he describes it He shows the depth of it He shows the direction of it and the source of it James is showing how destructive the tongue can be and how Defiled it is the tongue is defiled and it is destructive and ultimately it destroys the whole body and the whole destruction of life You might say preacher I didn't know speech could do that Remember our example mr.

Mark Driscoll Many people called him the shock preacher he was noted for using pretty rough language in the pulpit But you know as I read and I studied about this individual There was a day when he was very revered And considered godly Many people Aspired to be like him to follow him. But what I saw was a progression a progression of a defiled mouth a defiled tongue But yet we learn last week from verse 2 and that is a defiled tongue comes from a defiled heart an unsanctified heart James says in verse 2 that we saw last week that if the heart is mature if the heart is sanctified Then the speech will follow and so what we see is these verses fleshed out in this example We see that with looking at the example of Mark Driscoll We see that his speech did what it defiled his whole body and it defiled the direction of his life His ministry is in shambles his testimony is ruined People are running from him like flies What we see the Description the depth direction the source and what do we see this great defilement and this destruction look of his life's direction There been other people that we've seen high-profile people just like this there's a long list But you know it's not enough for us to mention someone like this who's very much in the public arena What about us what about you How is your speech See if your speech is not Christ like in the home If your speech is not Christ like to your wife to your husband to your children If your speech is not Christ like to those who work under you to your co-workers If your speech is not Christ like according to James We see a description of it We see the depth of it.

We see the direction of it and the source of it And I say to you based on what I see in James. It will destroy you if it If it's not already destroyed you The tongue it is small, but yet it has a great propensity for great defilement and great destruction Let's move on. I want us to look at truth number three or Roman numeral three. I want us to see the tongue It is untameable the tongue it is untameable look at verses seven through eight with me James says for every species of beasts and birds of reptiles and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by the human race But no one can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison Now James is changing illustrations again Is he not James switches from the fire to animals and wild animals at that now his readers? Would have been familiar with wild animals What I mean is the Roman world the Romans were very attracted to wild animals They used wild animals in their colosseums they used wild animals in their Entertainments as a matter of fact defenseless prisoners many times were attacked in these colosseums by what wild animals As a matter of fact they would be gladiators who would fight wild animals in the colosseums They were used as side shows and they were trained for the public to see as a matter of fact some of the reading I did said that there were animals in the region that went extinct because of how much that the Romans used the wild animals So what we see here is a changing illustration and James is teaching that the tongue it is untameable two truths first or notice animals can be tamed by man I Think we understand that in our culture most of us are familiar with the circus It might be a three-ring circus or a half ring circus, but we're familiar with wild animals being tamed They've been tamed for centuries and what James says is that wild animals can be tamed But second I want us to see he says that the tongue cannot be tamed not by man For every verse seven for every species of beasts and birds of reptiles and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by man by the human race But verse eight no one can tame the tongue He says that no one no man can take can contain the tongue now I want us to notice a few truths in this verse eight because he goes on to say it is a restless evil and full Of deadly poison.

I want you to notice it is restless The New American Standard and the English Standard version they read restless evil the King James reads Unruly evil in the original the word restless means untameable It is the very picture of a wild animal fighting against capture and restraint That's what James is saying James is saying that the tongue is restless it fights against capture and restraint But then he goes on to say that it is full of poison James is teaching that just as a snake has poison and it can kill so the tongue has poison and It can kill go back to the verse, but no one can tame the tongue It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

I Could not help but think of my upbringing I had a grandfather that was slightly unique in many ways, but one of his habits was he always had wild animals He had a cat when I was a kid that had a habit of catching chipmunks So he would always rescue the chipmunks and he always had a cage full of chipmunks If he happened to set a steel trap for something that was getting his chickens and he and he called a crow He would he would hold on to that crow. He always had wild animals. I Never forget. He had a deer in a pen a matter of fact.

It was a pretty nice buck deer It lived to be about 11 or 12 years old and everybody in the county everybody around would come to see my granddad's deer He could walk out in that backyard and call that deer up like a dog. All he had to do was have food in the basket But you know there was another thing that my granddad always had especially when I was younger He always seemed to have a caged live rattlesnake He wouldn't let one get away from him for anything he always wore lace-up red wing boots And he would take that string out of one of those boots And he would find him a stick we would call it something like a tomato stick And he would catch that rattlesnake and he would put it in a pen and he would feed that rattlesnake And the crazy thing about it is he always kept them in the basement of the house I'll never forget one time He had a nice size rattlesnake and he caught a nice size rat out of the barn and he put that rat in that cage And he didn't realize it was a little too cool for that snake and the rat killed a snake He was kind of mad But he always had what the wild animals some were tamed some were not I've gone up to that wild Yet tamed deer a mini a day and scratched his neck and grabbed his horns We are familiar with this image of a wild animal being tamed But you know You can tame an animal you can even train an animal but outside of Christ you cannot tame your tongue And I want to ask you How many times have you tried now listen close?

How many times have you tried to tame your tongue on your own? You've tried to tame your tongue in your home when the door is closed and no one's around you have tried one day It is an unleashed animal It is full of deadly poison and yet because of a fight with your wife or because of shame in your own heart Or the conscious that bothers you you try to tame that tongue for a little while Maybe there's a revival service it gets you to start up, but you can't control that tongue You can't control that deadly poison that's in that tongue why because it's like an animal You've tried to control that tongue at work you've tried to control that tongue on vacation You've made empty promises you said I'll never speak like that again But let me tell you something according to the word of God and what Jane says it is an untameable animal Outside of Christ Now as we move away from the text this pastor that is well known Seems to have been in a pattern of defilement and destruction for years It started behind closed doors.

It started with just a few But see because of the way it works James has described it it should not surprise us what we have seen is This is a defilement that leads to destruction and it was untamed and he let it run loose like a wild animal And now we see this defilement and then this destruction over years has come out into the public arena Elders and church leaders lives have been destroyed church members lives have been destroyed the testimony of Ministry has been destroyed the church and Christ Jesus Reputations have been maligned all by the tongue all by speech This defilement that leads to destruction Now as I move to close I'll do like I did last week I'll mention our three main truths The cut tongue is is oh so small I Think James mentions that because if we're not careful we will skip over that I Think if we're not careful we won't mention what the tongue can do as far as damage will mention maybe what the hand can do The tongue is oh so small But yet it is capable of oh so much evil the tongue is a fire We see James gives a description of this that this this this this destruction He gives the depth of this destruction the the direction and the source and we see that this fire can spread to consume so much And we see the tongue is is untable There is no hope But yet verse 2 gives us hope Because in verse 2 James alludes to the fact that there is one Who can perfect his life that word perfection doesn't mean perfection like Christ.

No, it's a completeness completeness It is a maturity. It is a level of sanctification That is the man who has grown to the point in Christ Jesus where yes His tongue can be controlled because he has been bought with a price Christ Jesus lives within him and it is the Spirit of God and the Word of God and God the Father Who does work who enables him to do what to tame that restless evil?

But outside of Christ there is no hope Outside of Christ it will never be tamed and it will only be a vicious destructive defiled wild animal Title of the message this morning is the power of the tongue part one or excuse me part two the power to destroy Let's buy our heads Let's close our eyes There are two ways of application to this message first of all for those of us who are Christian Should cause us to examine our speech We should see This reversed in our lives as we grow in Christ We should see the ability to control it