Integrity: The Mouth

1. Integrity: The Mouth James 3:3-12

2. Story of Two Fires • October 2003, California • Largest fire in California • 280,000 acres burned • 15 people killed • October 2003, East Texas • Gossip firestorm • Church split

3. Controlling the Tongue • James 3:3 Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal. • 4 And consider ships: though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder where ever the will of the pilot directs. • 5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. • 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.

4. Controlling the Tongue • 3:7 For every creature – animal or bird, reptile or fish – is tamed and has been tamed by man, • 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. • 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and will it we curse men who are made in God’s likeness. • 10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things should not be this way. • 11 Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? • 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.

5. James 3:3 Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal.

6. James 3:4 And consider ships: though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

7. James 3:5-6 • 5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. • 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.

8. Scriptures about the mouth • Matt 15:11 “It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” • 15:18 “But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man.” • Prov. 16:27 “A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.” • 10:11 “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” • 10:14 “The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.” • 10:31-32 “The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.”

9. Scriptures about the mouth • 13:3 “The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.” • 15:2 “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness.” • 15:28 “The mind of the righteous person thinks before answering, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil things.” • 18:6 “A fool’s lips lead to strife, and his mouth provokes a beating.” • 18:7 “A fool’s mouth is his devastation, and his lips are a trap for his life.”

10. James 3:7-8 For every creature – animal or bird, reptile or fish – is tamed and has been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

11. James 3:9-12 • 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in God’s likeness. • 10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things should not be this way. • 11 Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening? • 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a saltwater spring yield fresh water.