So we are continuing our series in James, in which we are talking about how to walk in holiness. Okay. So that is the theme of this series, and we've taken a few selective passages from the book of James, and we are continuing today talking about what makes a good teacher, what makes a good teacher.

But before we begin I need to know who are my YouTubers out there, who loves YouTube? If you open up your guys' YouTube app, what you'll find is you will find a curated selection of videos that are just perfect for you, right?

The AI is sometimes too good and everybody has their own algorithm, right? Everybody has their own curated YouTube videos. For some people it's gym culture. For some people it's hair and makeup. For some people it's prank videos. And for people like me, it's lawn care videos. So for me it's about lawn care.

Okay? I love lawn care videos. This is the Lawn Whisperer. All right? And I have no idea who this is. I just found this picture on the internet, but I love lawn care videos and I'm so intrigued by these guys' ability to transform these just. Nasty yards. And I look at my yard and all its carnage and all of its disgustingness.

And I think maybe one day I can be like those lawn care guys. And so I try to learn from these guys and they usually begin the videos. They explain the biology, they explain, you know, how seeds germinate and all this stuff. And I'm so intrigued, right? But man, I am skipping that video. Unless they show me right?

I am skipping that video. Unless they get out there with their Thatcher or their aerator, which I'm still trying to learn what those words mean. It's all about them showing me how to do it. The YouTuber that's actually good is the one who shows and does what he is teaching. And a good teacher is one who not only teaches well, but lives what he teaches. 

And that's the main idea today in James. James shows us that a good teacher is one who teaches and lives in the truth. Now, the problem with teachers in the church, James explains, is this: he says in James 3:1 and he gives us a warning. He says, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Here we see where Uncle Ben from Spider-Man gets his famous advice. With great power comes great responsibility, right? That's what he's saying. With great power comes great responsibility. If you have the influence and you're leading and guiding people, then you will be judged with greater strictness.

But in a serious note, this is what James is trying to do. He's trying to warn the Jewish Christians to be careful that those who teach. They're gonna be held accountable to God for what they teach. And we can see why this is true, can't we? We can look at influential or gifted speakers and see how they cultivate these audiences and these followings, and they get these large crowds of people listening to what they're saying, and they can either lead them to a holy life, lead them to a life that follows Jesus.

Or they can lead them down a path of destruction. They can lead them down a path that is worldly, that is cultural, rather than is biblical and godly. But I hope that what we can see by the end of today is that there are good teachers out there. There are good teachers out there, and James shows us that a good teacher is one who speaks and lives out the truth.

So in James three, we will see that because God's grace fuels an observable, demonstrable holy life, then teachers should demonstrate God's grace in both their speech and conduct. So we're gonna be looking at these three things today. We're gonna be looking at the danger of the tongue, the incoherency of the tongue, and the duality of wisdom.

So this is why James is making this warning and he goes through these things to help us see that his warning is real. That it's not just something to be taken lightly. Now some background on James chapter three, James chapter two, one of our elders, Mike Beckham, talked about that true faith displays in action, that we can observe what faith looks like by the, the person who abides in Christ that it shows up in their actual lives.

Now, James chapter three is an application or a case study of what that looks like, looks like in the life of a teacher. That true faith displays itself in action. Now, James three, the reason why he's probably addressing this is because he's writing to a group of Jewish Christians. Now, Jewish Christians in their culture or within Judaism, teachers were held in high esteem.

Jesus himself was a rabbi and rabbi, when we translate that word, it actually means: my great one. And so you can understand that there would be an allure to become a teacher because it was held in high esteem. It was held in high honor. But James cautions those people before they jump into teaching that there's some things that they should consider.

So let's read James three and it's entirety, and then we'll walk through and reflect on the passage. Okay. So if you would turn to your Bible, we'll be in James three. We'll start in verse two.

Verse two begins for we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also, though they're so large and driven by strong winds, they're guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things, how great a forest is set Ablazed by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, standing the whole body setting on fire, the entire course of life and set on fire by hell.

For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no human being contain the tongue. It is a restless, evil, full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God from the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers.

These things ought not to be. So does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and saltwater. Can a fig tree, my brothers bear olives or a grapevine, produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water now, who is wise in understanding among you by his good conduct. Let him show his works and the meanness of wisdom.

But if you have better jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes from above, but it is earthly unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vial practice. But the wisdom from above is first, pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is sewn in peace by those who make peace.

Amen. Now the first observation comes from the first section verses 2-8, and this is where James really talks about the danger of the tongue. What does he say in verse two? He says four. We all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man. Able also to bridle his whole body.

So he explains here that every person sins. We know this to be true. Romans 3 23, for all of sin and for the teacher who is speaking. They should be careful using irony. He explains that the one who never stumbles or sins and speech is perfect. Now, you might be thinking there's a host of other sins. Why would he say it like that?

Well, I think for James, what he is trying to help us understand is that the tongue is really the spiritual barometer of a person's life. What we say and what comes out of our mouth, Reflects what is on the inside and the tongue is for James, is this spiritual indicator. It helps us see what we are really like.

In other words, the tongue tells on us. It reveals to those around us where we really are at. It's the member of the body that shows other people what we are really like. Now, we may be able to bridle it, sometimes we may be able to, to keep it, keep it in check sometimes, but he helps us see that not all the time.

He helps us see that there are gonna be times when we slip up. There are gonna be times where we let words slip. There's gonna be times where we say things that we wish we could take back, but once something is said, it cannot be unsaid. Consider any sin. David A. Shroper puts it like this: 

"The tongue to James represents the evil world. The tongue is an evil microcosm. All the wickedness in the entire world finds its expression in the tongue. Malice, greed, anger, lust, hostility, avaris, pride, et cetera. The tongue will suggest it or it will condone it. The tongue tells on us and it reveals to others our spiritual state, and this is the warning James gives because he knows just because something is small doesn't mean it's influences."

He continues in verses three through six, giving us these illustrations. And he says if we put bits into the mouse of horses so that they obey us, we got their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also, though they're so large and are driven by strong winds, they're guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

So also, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things, how great a forest is set abl by such a small fire and the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staying the whole body, setting on fire, the entire course of life and set on fire by hell. So let's take a look and talk about just because something small doesn't mean it has a small influence.

So it talks about a bit. This is the thing that they put into horse's mouth that the rider can basically use to direct the horse. It's only five inches wide. It only weighs a quarter of a pound, but it moves the entire horse. It's eight foot long, anywhere from 1500 to 2200 pounds, depending on how much they're feeding it.

Okay? So a bid is very small, but it has a big influence. The next is a Titanic rudder. So the Titanic, it had a rudder and basically that was the thing at the back of the boat that directed it where it should go. It was huge. It was 78 feet by 15 feet, and it weighed a hundred tons. I'm no mathematician, but that's a lot.

Okay. Titanic itself, the actual boat, 882 feet long, but it weighed 46 to 53,000 tons. That's like 96 million p 92 million pounds. So something that weighed a hundred tons was moving something that was a hundred million pounds. That's crazy. And then lastly, I did some research on Google. A campfire is usually 36 to 48 inches, but if let loose, if not cared for, if not put out properly, it can cause a forest fire.

Over the last five years, the average forest fire has taken away anywhere from three to four acres. That's been the average. So you can see, even though something is small, it can have a big influence. And the main idea that James is trying to get across is that even though it may appear small, even though it may appear like it's not a big deal, even though it's just your tongue, what you say, it can have big influence.

It can cause major damage. It can lead other people astray. It can wreck people's lives. In closing, James seven verse seven through eight. James, he caps off his warning to teachers by telling us that the tongue is uncontrollable. It says, for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

But what about the tongue? No human being contained. The tongue is restless evil, full of deadly poison. Full of deadly poison. Now I want you to notice the subject. What is the subject of verse eight? Look at it for a second. No human being. No human being can control the tongue on his own. It is uncontrollable through grit.

It is uncontrollable through hard work. It is uncontrollable through self-discipline. And I just want you to think for a second on your, in your heart, whatever sin that has captured your heart, if you've ever experienced freedom from that sin, you know that it wasn't through hard work, it wasn't through grit.

And it wasn't through self-discipline, but it was through your faith in Jesus Christ, and it was empowered by the Holy Spirit that gave you that freedom. You know, that freedom from sin is not a hard work experience. It is not a human. I can take this under control experience, but it is a work of the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit and dwelling the believer, we cannot kill sin in our own lives.

So now comes the application. We know the danger of the tongue. What now? What do we do with that? Well, if I were to label this application as 10 steps to tame the tongue, or the secret trick to control your speech, well, I would be placing an emphasis on hard work and I would be missing the beauty of the gospel.

So what should we do in response to knowing the danger of the tongue? Well, I think it should be the application of last week's passage. Last week. Mike was talking about that true faith is demonstrable, that it shows up in action, but how does it show itself up? How does it show up? It comes from abiding in Christ.

Abiding in Christ. And this takes humility. It takes remembering how we were when we first trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. Do you remember the time when you were at the end of your rope, the time where you were totally lost, and totally realizing that your sin had separated from you, from God and there was nothing that you could do to save yourself?

Do you remember your head space? Do you remember how your heart was? That is a moment of desperation, a moment of pure humility. A moment that we could not, we realized we could not save ourselves.

This is not just how we should be when we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sin, but it should be our daily disposition as we walk through life, we should walk with Christ. It takes us getting to the point to realize that Christ was good enough for us that his sacrifice paid our payment and his righteousness was the one that was credited to our account.

Living in that state. Living independence on Christ for our daily salvation and deliverance from sin is what leads us to tame the tongue. It is not hard work. It is not effort. It is dependence upon Christ. This is how Augustine, the church father, he describes it the way to Christ is first through humility, second through humility, and third through humility.

If humility does not proceed in accompany and follow every good work we do, if it is not before us to focus on, if it is not beside us to lead upon, if it is not behind us to fence us, sin, pride will wrench from our hand. Any good deed we do at the very moment we do it.

Living independence of Christ is what leads to any good. Work and taming the tongue is living in daily dependence on Christ. In his finished work on the cross. The danger of tongue is real and it, it's the tongue that tells on us and is the tongue that can cause damage to those around us. But also James tells us that understanding why the tongue, he helps us understand why it's an incoherent member of the body.

So that's our second point today is the incoherency of the tongue. We've learned that the tongue tells on us. But here James reiterates this idea in verses nine through 12. With it the tongue, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God from the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers.

These things ought not to be. So does a spring bring fourth does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and saltwater. Can a fig tree? My brothers bear olives or a grapevine? Produce figs. Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. What's he saying here? James wants us to understand that man alone acts unnaturally using na natural illustrations like a water, spraying like a fig tree.

And upon James helps us see how incoherent and how how unnatural Christians act. Act. Why is this the case? Why does the man act unnaturally? What am I saying? Well, it's because the Christian has two natures. You guys may have heard this before, but the Christian has two natures. Once we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sin, we are given a new nature and nature of the spirit.

Okay, so let's put that, that image on the screen. Here is the struggle. Okay? Why do we act in naturally? Well, we're indwelled with the Holy Spirit. And this Holy Spirit allows us to kill sin to live in ob beans, to God's ways to resist temptation. But there is also another nature on this side of heaven, and that's the nature of the flesh.

Some people call it sin nature. This is how Paul describes the struggle, he says, as it is, it is no longer I, myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Now, how do we reconcile this verse with the verse of, I've been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. But here he says, when he sins, it is sin living in me. There's this dichotomous nature of these, these two natures that are at war with each other of the flesh and the spirit. And the Christian can choose to dwell or abide in their flesh, or they can choose to abide in the spirit.

They can abide in Christ. So I want you to consider what source are you drawing from? If you are a branch, what vine have you been grafted into? Are you abiding in the true vine, Jesus Christ, or are you abiding in the things of this world? Paul explains that the battle between our two natures is something that we can all relate to.

James gives us few illustrations here about, you know, using these natural things. But it's kind of like this, I want you guys to picture this. It's all about the source that we're drawing from, right? So imagine what kind of food you guys have been eating this week, right? It's dead week. I know you guys are struggling.

There's probably been a lot of caffeine. There's probably been a lot of sugar. There's probably been a lot of fast food. There's probably been a lot of late nights. Okay. What is that produced physically? Headaches. Right? Who's been popping ibuprofen this week? Right? Headaches. It's producing a lack of sleep.

You're probably in a horrible mental health condition. You were like, this has been one of the worst weeks of the semester right? Now. Compare that to the Instagram health nut influencer, right? Eating 20 pounds of fiber a day. Drinking 20 gallons of water a day, going to the bathroom every hour on the hour, drinking all this eating all of these fruits and vegetables.

Actual real fruit, not fruit snacks. Okay. There's a difference. Okay, so the health nut influencer, and what does that produce? Well, probably good sleep, right? Probably a lack of headaches, probably feeling pretty good, and in fact, they probably exercise too. Who does that? All right. In each case, The source here was the food, right?

And food either produces good or bad results. And this is so similar to our spiritual experience. When we are abiding in our flesh, it produces sin. And when we abide in Christ, we produce good works. It is all about our source. It is all about living in the realities of grace versus. Putting on the chains of sin again.

So I want you to consider, are you controlled by the Holy Spirit? Pastor Mark talked about in two Corinthians five 14, it says, I'm controlled by the love of Christ. Are you controlled in that way? If you're unsure, I want you to consider what Jesus says in Matthew 12:34. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The tongue is a good measure of someone's spiritual temperature. A commentator on James George Stulock helps us see this idea clearly about the incoherency of the tongue. He says to the person who speaks praise to God in the worship service and then abuses people verbally at home or at where James commands purify your speech through the week with the person who says, oh, I know I talk too much and laughs it off.

James is not amused. He insists. Be quick to listen, slow to speak by the person who boasts. I always speak my mind no matter who gets hurt. James is not impressed. He commands discipline. You're speaking of the person who says, I know gossip. I gossip too much, but I just can't help it. James still requires control.

Your tongue of the person who is in the habit of speaking with insults, ridicule, or sarcasm. James demands change your speech habit. He expects discipline to be happening in the life of, of a Christian, and any Christian can ask for the grace needed for God gives good gifts. He's the father of all lights, father of lights, the giver of all good gifts and gives them generously.

There is then no justification, meaning we cannot justify our bad habits, our corrupt habits of speech in our churches today. Now as I read this quote from George stk, maybe you can picture yourselves in one of these examples. So I want you to ask, what is God showing you? Where can you abide in Christ instead of the flesh?

This week now after warning of the danger and incoherency of the tongue, James continues by comparing earthly and heavenly wisdom to show that a good wisdom to show that a good teacher. Also reflects their teaching and their actions. We know this to be true, so he talked about the duality of wisdom continue.

In verse 13, he says this, verse 13, it says, who is wise and understanding among you by his good conduct? Let him show his works and the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes from above, but it is earthly, unspiritual and demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vial practice, but the wisdom from above is first, pure, then peaceable, gentle, open, a reason full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James makes it clear the wise person, the one who should actually consider becoming a teacher, is the one who by his conduct, Shows his works and the meekness of wisdom, and they explains what kind of wisdom he's talking about, earthly versus heavenly.

Now, I want to admit, preparing this sermon this week has been pretty convicting. It it's really been convicting and I'm, I want to admit to you guys that I am not perfect, that I sin, that sometimes I abide in my flesh, that I am not the example that James James expects of teachers. And I just want to say that I'm sorry when I fail, when I fall short of this calling and if I've ever done anything to hurt you, whether through my words or through my actions, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for not holding up to this calling, and it's been so convicting because I know that I am a sinner and I know that I need God's grace every single day. And so I would just ask of you guys to forgive me. If you can find in your heart, if I've hurt you, if you're sitting there with, man, I can't believe Kevin said this or did this, I'm sorry, because I don't want your faith or your trust in Christ to ever be dependent upon me or upon any teacher, but that would be founded in Christ.

In Christ alone, own. And so where I've fallen short, I apologize. Now, on the flip side, if there has ever been a time where something I've said has encouraged you, Or where something I've done has motivated you to live a holy life or to follow Jesus. I can't take credit for that because that is Christ in me.

That is the word speaking for itself. That is the Holy Spirit convicting you. So I don't want you to ever consider or put your faith in any kind of person or teacher because every good thing comes from Christ, comes from the Father, but we do sin sometimes and we do fall short. So I just want to ask you.

For your forgiveness. Now it is senior Sunday. And with that, I feel like I need to know I want or I want to let you know that wherever you go, wherever God takes you, I hope that you would take his word to be your God. I hope that you would live like the Bes. I was at the C L C conference and they mentioned this, and it's been something I've been thinking about and thinking about, and it's beautiful because you'll hear and see many teachers in your future.

I know that I'm not gonna be the only teacher that you listen to, that Pastor Mark is gonna be the only teacher that you listen to, but you'll have many teachers in the future. But the Bereans, they did something that I think is super interesting. They had a test, they call it the Berean test in kind of evangelical circles.

And essentially it's this in Act 17 this is Paul and Silas. And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Bria, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. And now these Jews were more noble than those in Thek. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so, and many of them therefore believed with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

And so what we see here is that although they had no modern New Testament, they received the message, they examined it among the scriptures. And then they believed, and I hope that you can be like the, the bes in which you hear what you say or hear what is heard. You receive it, you examine it with the word, and then you believe it.

Do not just take what people say to be true, but compare it with the truth of God's word. And this is not to win debates or to be theologically superior. This is not to false. Teacher hunt. But the goal of this exercise is revealed in verse 12. Many of them therefore believed the goal of their exercise was to bring about and strengthen faith, not false teacher hunt or wind debates, or had this theological superiority.

They had no modern Bible, but they had the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified. They had the Old Testament. Now we have both the Bible and the message. Of Jesus Christ and him crucified Griffin Goig. He encourages us in that with this message of Christ and him crucified, that we should seek to find Christ there and thereby be transformed into his image.

It is all about producing and encouraging faith. So you'll hear many teachers, they don't always, but they don't only teach with their words. They teach with their lives as well. Here's some hallmarks of earthly wisdom. Earthly wisdom. It contains jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting being false to the truth.

Earthly wisdom is classified as earthly, unspiritual and demonic, and it leads to disorder and bio practices. On the other hand, hallmarks of heavenly wisdom. It's pure peaceable. Gentle, reasonable, merciful contains good fruits, impartial and sincere. And what does it lead to? A harvest of righteousness. So you can look at what a person's life produce and see if they're a worthy teacher.

So today we've looked at what makes a good teacher, and we have seen that because God's grace fuels an observable holy life, then teachers should demonstrate God's grace in both their speech and their conduct. And we saw this through the danger of the tongue looking at James warning, the incoherency of the tongue and the duality of wisdom.

So, My final charge to you seniors in the room is this. It is this. Listen closely to what you hear. Number two, look to God's word to see if what is being spoken holds up. To be able to do that, that means you must know your Bible. You must know your Bible. Use it as your guide. Let God speak to you through his word.

That's how he speaks to us. And I give this charge each because I love you guys. I love each of you in this room. You are more than students to me. If you've trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, you are classified. You are declared by God as his child. You are valuable, you are important. And because you are valuable, because you are important, because you matter to God, you matter to me.

And I want you guys to follow Jesus the rest of your day. I don't want it to just be something you maybe did in college or something you're considering for the first time in college, but something that you do for the rest of your life. And so you'll hear many teachers listen closely to what you hear.

Look to God's word to compare and know your Bible as children of God. I hope that you can hear your father's words closely, that you would listen to them, that you would let him teach you. Let him grow you and train you into the man or woman of God that you are supposed to be. So I want to end today with a Psalm not a Psalm, a hymn, excuse me.

And I want to read this hymn over you seniors. And I want you to consider what this might look like in your life moving forward. It says, ti so sweet to trust in Jesus and to take him at His word just to rest upon his promise. And to know the sayeth, the Lord Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him over and over Jesus.

Jesus, precious Jesus owe for grace to trust him more. Owe. How sweet to trust in Jesus just to trust his cleansing blood, and in simple faith to plunge me beneath the healing. Cleansing flood. Yes, it's sweet to trust in Jesus just from sin and self to cease just from Jesus, simply taking life and rest and joy and peace.

At this time, I'd like all the seniors to stand. I'm gonna ask all of you in this room to gather around the closest senior and we are gonna pray for them. During this time of prayer we are gonna play the song 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus' and  we want this to be a prayer for you guys.