Be Careful What You Say While Doing The Work | Pastor Ricky Temple

[Music] welcome to on demand today we're in james chapter three closing out our series getting ready to get to the end of this and i want to summarize a little bit of chapter four and five for you at the end but i just want you to stay with me as we ride through this study you can be strong in life be gifted skilled can turn the world upside down but if your words are wrong your words can set your whole world on fire can mess up everything all you have to do is learn sometimes to control your words this study will help you with that james chapter 3 get ready it's going to be great on demand just for you with me studying the word together stay right there enjoy glad you're back we're really gonna jump into something today that's really exciting i am thrilled this is a sermon uh that will kind of tie up the book now there's a lot about james i could say we can spend a lot of time but chapter four and five i'm going to kind of sandwich together at the end with two or three points that would just summarize those chapters there's more to talk about we can spend a lot of time here but we've got a new study we got to start next week so you don't want to miss that it's going to be like really good so hang with me it's going to be amazing now i want to today uh just pray with you normally you know we kind of pray in the beginning but i want to pray for you now because i know that our country's going through a great season a lot of things are being said a lot of words so let's pray father i lift up before you this nation as i before you this message i pray that what i say brings help healing and wholeness i declare your word over our lives and i pray that what you say today what we study today that you gave us to study will bring life and help to us in jesus name amen words are important words are fundamental in a lot of ways to um the core of our our nation the core of our families words are the thing that gives us life and breath sometimes when you're down somebody's words can just lift you right up but words can also have a very devastating effect or quarreling and arguing and being vicious and mean toward each other can take us down the places we shouldn't should never go and it can cause traumatic things to happen james talks about this and in a way that's really powerful and he gives us a simple summary now so what i'm going to do is go through a few points uh in james chapter 3 about words and then i'm going to give you some essential things you want to keep in mind that james shows us there's seven essentials that we want to keep in mind so get your pen and paper ready or if you want to just download the notes it's a simple way to do it right download the notes and then you can just have it right at your fingertips first of all notice uh what he says in james chapter 3 verse 1 not many of you should become teachers my fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly we will we all stumble in many ways anyone who's never at fault in what they say is perfect boy that's a mature person able to keep their whole body in check there are three things to remember about our words and it starts off with these first observations our words often reveal our level of maturity that's the first thing i want you to remember what you say tells a lot about your maturity our nation right now is showing its level of maturity and there are things we can improve on but our words first of all they they reveal our level of maturity and secondly our words can destroy everything around us our words have the capacity to disrupt everything and destroy everything you can say one thing in a content in a family and destroy everything around it number three our words can send mixed messages we can confuse people if we're not clear about what we say our church has been very clear about for example during the season of challenge that we were going to be operating this way not that way this is important for us to understand this is our direction we're not going in three or four directions we're going in this direction families can learn from that here's what we're going to do with our money sets and stick with the plan is what we're going to do with the way we manage our time stick with the plan being clear and consistent is really important as a father that's been a really important thing for me say what you say to your family and mean it and stick with it consistency changes everything so let me take you through a couple of the text to prove these three points and you'll see how it all fits together james chapter three verse one again not many of you should become teachers he goes on and says anyone who is never at fault in in what he says is perfect our words show our level of maturity a person who can manage their words he says it's perfect or mature there's something about being able to just guard what you say now i i know you want to say what comes to your mind but sometimes when you say what comes to your mind is really challenging and not always true one of the things i like about editing i write a lot and and a lot of the academic work i've done you have to write a lot of papers and especially in your under undergraduate doctoral work and in your master's work but even in undergrad you write a lot but you're out a lot more in your upper upper work and one of the things that happens is you have to go back over it it seems like a thousand times because you find errors you didn't say it right you left the word out you didn't say it right you didn't put the right punctuation this is amazing words are powerful and they and god chose to use the bible as a way to communicate to us do words words reveal a lot about you your interpretation the way you process words and so what what would be true about your level of maturity when it comes to words i'm not talking about having perfect grammar i'm talking about how you communicate words do you find that you only can cuss people out and yell at people and scream at people sometimes i watch parents they yell at their kids because they just aren't mature enough to talk to them let me say it again parents yell because they're not mature enough to talk you can't talk first you can't you strike first because you don't know how to talk you know how to communicate there's something important about developing a mature ability to communicate that's why some marriages don't work because you don't communicate well you you bite you hurt you you scratch your elbow those things don't work and sometimes that's one of the things that hurts you a level of maturity is often revealed not worth number two i said our words can destroy everything around us look at verse three when our uh and he goes to this really long explanation of how words work and how you put bits in a horse's mouth and look what he says verse three we put bits into the mouths of our horses to make them obey us we can turn the whole animal or or take ships as an example although they are so large and are driven by strong winds they are steered by very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go likewise likewise verse 5 now the tongue is a small part of the body it makes great boasts consider what a great forest is set on fire by small spark the tongue also is a fire a world of evil among the parts of the body it corrupts the whole body sets the whole course of one's life on fire and itself on fire but and itself it says set on fire by hell and other words it can set your whole life ablaze one comment one one incensive um approach or a consistent pattern of it can just cause everything around you to fall apart i am so amazed at the profound ability that words have on people when i counsel people one of the things i notice is they are recounting to me words that people say things the father said things the mother said things that a child said and those words literally burn down the whole relationship burn down the entire confidence of the person the person came into the relationship with companies but when they live with you and listen to your constant complaining and your constant condemning and comparing them against others and all the things you do that are unwise it burns up their faith and confidence in themselves and i have to really be careful what words i listen to and who i allow to have access to influence me with their words because words do destroy churches it destroys businesses it can destroy client bases it can destroy everything thirdly our words he says can't send mixed messages look at verse seven all kinds of animals birds reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind but no one no no human being contained the tongue that's powerful it is a restless evil full of deadly poison on its own it gets bad on its own without being controlled without being driven i always tell people you drive your thoughts the way you drive a car you drive your words the same way you have to drive them you have to say no you don't say that no you don't talk to your husband that way no you don't talk to your wife that way you don't say that to your kids no you never say that to your kids you never say that to your boss they're just the way you drive your words can change your life some of you are missing opportunity because you just don't know how to talk to people your whole approach and some of you say that's right tell them stop bothering them i'm talking to you don't you help me out you let them talk for themselves i want you to look at the preacher and hear me today it's about you being clear because some of you you're in the room with people and if you're not careful you start picking on people and you miss the whole point of the message this is about your tongue i want i want to focus on ricky and i want you to focus on you look at verse verse 3 verse 10 out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing my brothers and sisters this should not be can can both fresh water and and salt water flow from the same spring my brothers and sisters can a fig tree can a fig tree bear olives or a grape vine bear figs neither can a salt spring produce fresh water pause and think about that it just doesn't work you can't have healthy and unhealthy communication at the same time you can't have salt water and fresh water flowing in the same river at some point you've got to and there are moments where they do merge i know that in some parts of the world some of you people who know and understand rivers know their seasons and places where that happens but the bottom line is that's not a normal flow and that's what he's saying you cannot do that i think it's essential for you to take a step back and and kind of write down our notes seven essentials that we should remember when we talk when you talk these are seven essential things you don't want to ever forget number one showing wisdom is essential when you speak when you talk you want to be wise he said in verse chapter 3 verse 13 whose wise is an understanding among you let them show it by their good life by deeds done in the in humility that comes from wisdom don't be wise you know and why it's really is is just kind of like smart it's like the it's not just knowledge it's the right application of knowledge so you think about what you're going to say and you say what's the wise thing to say in this moment what's the is it the wise moment to even comment what's why it's not that's what i feel emotionally what's wise to say number two you have to acknowledge our attitude towards temptations when you are talking that's essential he says you need to acknowledge that there are certain things that you're tempted to do and this is this takes us beyond just talking it talks about just our life and as james kind of closes out the book which is a very small book five chapters he basically says i want you i want you to think about for a minute how essential it is for you to make sure you're wise make sure it's essential for you to to be honest about your attitude towards the temptations you're dealing with look at verse 14. if you uh harbor bitter envy and selfish ambitions in your hearts do not boast about it art or deny the truth such wisdom does not come from heaven but it's earthly unspiritual demonic but where you have evil envy rather and selfish ambitions there you find disorder and every evil practice if you're not honest about what's tempting you if you're not honest about the things that have come into your life and they're pulling you away and generally what happens is your words reflect this so your words start becoming more envy driven um denying the truth sounds more self-ambitious boastful all of that flows out of a a real bad perspective on the world and it's what can destroy everything in your world and it's essential that you don't so number one showing wisdom is essential number two acknowledging your attitude towards temptation and saying these are the ways i'm tempted to live and therefore i need to acknowledge them and i need to make sure i don't fall into them that's what james said don't let these be your works i want you to be a confident believer who serves god but i don't want you to do these things and i fight these all the time it's easy for me i'm not careful fall into these traps third thing he says is the ascension that you become a peacemaker that when you speak when you communicate make sure that the goal is to be a peacemaker look what he says in verse 17. but the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure then peace loving of that we need that in these days right consider it need that too submissive we do need that today full of mercy and good fruit impartial need that too and sincere peacemakers who sow in peace reap in reaper harbors of righteousness my words need to be focused on being a peacemaker i need to find a way to come together so you got three so far right wisdom is essential right acknowledging how your attitude towards temptations is essential i'm tempted to be this way be mean be unkind be envious admit that thirdly i need to be a peacemaker i need to admit i'm not my words don't say i'm a peacemaker when i communicate it doesn't come out that way james says that should be your focus number four and these are things i'm going to list i'm not going to read the verses because it gets to be too long but i want you to think with me about these next three four points because these are things that he says as he closes the book you need to make sure you get james has started out his book and i want to go back a little bit and he says in james chapter chapter 1 he talks about the importance of a person not just having faith but having works and not just talking about faith but talking about works works without faith is faith without works brother is dead that's what he says it's important for me to be a person who understands that just because i say i have faith but if i don't have the works to back it up then it doesn't matter and part of the works is march watching my words i need to be wise i need to be honest about my temptations i need to be a peacemaker and then number you ready number three number four rather i need to be humble and submitted humility is important chapter 4 verse 6 through 7 being humble under god's hand and allowing god's grace being teachable that's really important we're becoming a nation of know-it-alls a nation of we got it we figured it out and then he said number five being kind of those you have an advantage over in chapter five he talks about the importance of of being kind and he said that earlier in our study when he says don't show favoritism to people be fair we talked about that then number six he says be patient and truthful that's essential it's essential if you're going to get anywhere you got to be truthful you'll never learn how to watch your words if you don't come to that place where you're truthful you have to say to yourself i am i have a tendency to be this way you may look great you may dress great you may sound great but you have a tendency to be unkind in your words you have to be patient and truthful about that and tell tell the truth and then lastly be committed to praying a fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails up much and in chapter five he talks about that from chapter five verse 515 the importance of of being a praying person that comes to god and admits what you need from god the book of james is about people being honest that's the bottom line honestly looking at their works honestly looking at their behavior honestly looking at their decisions honestly saying here's where i am one of the most important things i think i've ever done in life is have that honest moment with myself and say to myself temple you really really do need to back this train up a little bit and look at what you're doing the whole book of james from chapter 1 to chapter 5 is all about what we're doing it's that great moment where he pulls the believers aside and says okay you want to tell me about your faith you want to tell me about what you believe about jesus you want to tell me all about your church you want to tell me all about this but but what about your works when i zoom in close what about your works here's the greatest lesson we learned in this season in our country we see the works our works reveal a lot about us our words reveal a lot about us our attitude towards others reveals a lot about us the way that we manage each other's failures the way we look the way we manage the poor tells us a lot about us and what we're learning is we still need to make sure that our words line up with what we say we believe faith without works is dead without you having a clear sense of god's call on your life and a clear sense of what how i connect these two you're just like you said in corinthians a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol first corinthians 13 says love is really the key measurement of your faith it's what makes it work and that love must be manifested so are you manifesting in your family on your job in your church and are we manifesting in america are we kind to each other are we considerate of each other are we working together we have to find a way to do that and you have to find a way to do that in your family and if you don't then the sad word is you know just hard to hear but jesus said a house divided can't stand there's something about making a decision to change and that's what we're going to talk about next week the power of a decision making a decision to change is important how do you make a decision i'm going to give you um take you on a journey let me give you a book to read next week and i'm also show you three things that you do it's great author and i'll leave you hanging the next week but i'm going to show you three things you do to help you make decisions and these three steps can change everything and some of us really really have have a a bad tendency to keep making the wrong decisions over and over and over again i'll give you one hint you might like this you're gonna need a map an honest map that you write down the truth about your life an honest map that says this is the truth and then once you put that map down that truth down you then have to predict what's going to happen based on that you make new decisions some of you need to look at the map my marriage is full of strife and tension what's going to happen if we stay on this road what do we predict will be the outcome what decision do we need to make to change this the lord you know gave us some great examples in the bible i love the words of joshua he said as for me and my house we're going to make a new decision we're going to we're going to go this way we're not going that way i pray that you would join me and i pray that you would join me in prayer and ask god to help you be uniquely committed to focusing and doing the right things i am working hard now lord help me make the right decision but it starts with an honest truth an honest map if you ever get lost i've been lost a couple of times if you've been well a couple of times when i was younger and once on a camping trip and part of the issue of finding your way is knowing where you are and then being honest about where you are if you're if you need if you're not honest about where you are you're never going to change anything it's all just a bunch of dreams and thoughts let's pray father i pray for this moment when we hear truth about our life and we know that first of all our words are wrong we're burning down our family burning down our relationship burning up our opportunities because we're angry and saying things we shouldn't say lord we need to come to a place where we focus on what's essential there are certain attitudes and words we need to essentially put into our life facing the truth about our temptations facing the truth about ourselves saying what's right being clear father help us to take these principles and apply them to our lives and may this be the beginning of a new day for us and may we as a people rise to make better decisions so we can have better results and so i thank you and i praise you and i give you glory and honor healing in our nation healing in our hearts healing our families and blessing to our future i declare in jesus name amen well i pray you enjoyed our study in james i hope you learned a lot and i hope you just understand there's a lot more we could say but you just have to jump in and say what you can say within the time you have a lot of it and we did a little bit just to give you a sample of the power of the book bottom line in chapter three was that you need to watch what you say the bottom line in chapter four and five you need to live right so you can receive god's best in your life it's up to you to make the decision he wants to heal the sick he wants to bring life and blessing to all of our lives but if we're not willing to align ourselves then he can't help us so i want you to think about what we said today let me pray for you father let this be a powerful moment of healing and grace may those who've heard it find healing and blessing and we give you all the praise in jesus name amen thanks for joining me on demand see you next time more studies down the road i'll see you then bye-bye

Channel: Overcoming By Faith Ministries

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Length: 23min 23sec (1403 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021