Fri, Jul 26th - 12:34PM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

The absolute wisdom of God obtainable to His people:

Jas 3: 17But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

We can conclude, brothers and sisters, that there is nothing wishy washy, warm and fuzzy, touchy feely in this chapter. There are no humanistic concepts such as sometimes things have to be messy in the church as a part of our journey on the road to growth. No, dearly beloveds messy and chaotic is always the wrong road for us to be on. There is no need for us to set up recovery groups for the broken with little ability to control their tongues. This is not about self- absorption, but absorbing the truth of God of how we are commanded by Him to understand and apply the word of God in our interactions with one another and in the world. The emphasis here, holy people, is that we know directly from the word,  what God has set as wisdom within the church, and it must always reflect His will and be obedient to His commands as set within and from the standard and boundaries of the inerrant eternal truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, correctly interpreted and lived.

Saints (g40 hagios), although I have used the word ‘choose’ within this study, as mentioned earlier, this chapter reveals that to say we have the choice is too weak of a phrase to use here, because the intent here is clearly that as saved persons we have received the power, and renewed hearts and minds from the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ to be able to trust, obey and carry out all the will of God for us, out of love for Him and His eternal truth. The whole of scriptures backs this up fully and completely.

Genetics is not mentioned here as such, however, those born of faith in Jesus Christ have received His spiritual DNA of salvation, that is eternally,  profoundly fixed and unchangeable to an absolute degree so that the good fruit produced from those indwelt by the Holy Spirit always reflects and replicates and remains true to that of its progenitor Jesus Christ,  without error or reversions. So, brethren, we can easily grasp that it is out of our God given new natures that we more than merely choose to do good, but do good out of redeemed natures made righteous by God. The concept of doing good by personal volition of choice is not once mentioned in the gospels for this reason.

Of course, there are always those who claim man has free will to do either good or evil apart from the will of God. However, brothers and sisters, the presence of moral, civil and criminal law enforcement authorities of some type on the entire planet, with the fact that most people on earth do their utmost to secure their families, homes and valuables at all times would speak to the direction they believe that free will bends and it is highly un likely to be towards good. Lord Jesus Christ declares absolutely: Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Jhn 8:34 - Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

 Rom 1:18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

1Jo 3:10 - In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

No one has authority or approval from God to unrepentantly disrespect Him or His people: 1Co 3:17 - If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

However, brethren, we are not of them that draw back unto perdition, nor are we alone in our works of righteousness for God enables us both to will and to do.( Phl 2:13).

 Therefore, James after teaching us carefully the consequences of the judgement of God against any of us us for being teachers damaging the body of Christ due to not bridling our tongues, leaves us confidently with God’s list of what we can and are commanded to do to sow peace, be wise and perfect amongst ourselves to show evidence to God and the body of Christ that we are godly teachers approved by God and have no need to fear His judgement. These only are the teachers that God approves of in His body.

Wisdom of God is Pure: clean, pure, physically, purified by fire

in a similitude, like a vine cleansed by pruning and so fitted to bear fruit, ethically free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt, free from every admixture of what is false, sincere genuine, blameless, innocent.

Peaceable:  peaceable, pacific, loving peace: James 3:17; bringing peace with it, peaceful, salutary.

Gentle: gentle, patient, moderation.

Easy to be entreated: easily obeying, compliant.

Full of mercy and good fruits: Mat 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.  Luk 6:36 - Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Luk 8:15 - But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Without partiality: without favoritism. 1Ti 5:21 - I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

Without hypocrisy: unfeigned, undisguised, sincere, genuine.

Eph 5:9 - (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

1Pe 3:8 - Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

1Jo 3:18 - My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Holy people let us be fully persuaded, convicted and convinced, to be peace makers sowing peace in the body and reaping the fruit of righteousness amongst ourselves. This we shall surely do by the power of God out of love for the truth, for Him and our brothers and sisters.  

Every teacher/preacher, the church body general is to derive their teachings from scripture. Besides being taught the scriptures, we still need to read it for ourselves, to let it speak the truth to us and to know how to follow and please our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There are many ways to access the Bible and even listen to the Bible. It is also good for us to take time to sit and listen to the Bible with pen and paper in hand to make notes to follow up on when something grabs our attention, as well as to let it teach us directly. God forbids us to receive either teachings or teachers who come with any doctrines not found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

love

serola

Tue, Jul 23rd - 1:53PM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

The wrong kind of wisdom-earthly, sensual, devilish:

Jas 3: 14But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Bitter: bitter, harsh, virulent.

Envying: an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy.

Strife: electioneering or intriguing for office, apparently, in the NT a courting distinction, a desire to put one's self forward, a partisan and fractious spirit which does not disdain low arts, partisanship, fractiousness.

Confusion:  instability, i.e. a state of disorder: —commotion, confusion, tumult, disturbance. 1Co 14:33 - For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

2Co 12:20 KJV - 20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

2Co 5:10 KJV - 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Evil work: foul, evil, wicked deeds, matters generated out of; mean, worthless, of no account, ethically, bad, base, wicked.

Lie not: don’t utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood: —falsely, lie.

Brothers and sisters, when God shows us the truth in His word, we are commanded to obey it. To say we have the choice is too weak of a phrase to use here, because the intent here is clearly that as saved persons we have received the power, and renewed hearts and minds from the Holy Spirit,  through Jesus Christ to be able to trust, obey and carry out all the will of God for us, out of love for Him and His eternal truth. The whole of scriptures backs this up fully and completely. Devilish wisdom has no place in God’s people nor in the body of Christ.

1Jo 2:4 - He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Sensual: the principal of animal life, which men have in common with the brutes, the sensuous nature with its subjection to appetite and passion.

Devilish: resembling or proceeding from an evil spirit, demon-like.

Earthy:  the wisdom of man, liable to error and misleading.

Dearly beloveds, God relentlessly, exclusively, explicitly, exhaustively, takes us to His spiritual bootcamp to give all of us a spiritual crash course in what He commands and enables us to carry out consistently in our everyday conduct amongst one another and in the world.  Saints (G40 hagios)God is not addressing those who are powerless to carry out His will, but those who can through His power given to all believers. Therefore, God absolutely will not justify nor excuse anyone amongst us who resist the truth of God by lying denials or excuses.  

God’s way is the only right way and the only right way is God’s way.  

1Ti 3:15 - But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

The Bible, brethren, again and again, leaves no mystery, excuses, confusion, questions, about how we are to behave ourselves within the household of God, and in the world. Again, holy people,  it is clear that although the psychological processes of the human mind and heart are not so named as such here, they are nevertheless dealt with here in the sense that everything we truly believe in our hearts is understood and encoded in our minds and spoken outwardly to others with our tongues. Our minds and hearts are to be ruled by the standard and boundaries as set in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mar 12:30 - And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Our Lord Jesus declares: Luk 6:45 - A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Note holy people, the strictest of dichotomies here; there is absolutely no duality in the word of God of anyone in Him being a combination of both good and evil.

Love     

serola

Sun, Jul 21st - 9:32AM

BE NOT MANY MASTERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Jas 3: 13Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

Endued with knowledge: intelligent, experienced, one having the knowledge of an expert.

Shew: to show, expose to the eyes, to give evidence or proof of a thing, to show by words or teach.

Good:  beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable, beautiful to look at, shapely, magnificent, good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends, genuine, approved, precious, joined to names of men designated by their office, competent, able, such as one ought to be

praiseworthy, noble, beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, and hence praiseworthy, morally good, noble, honourable, conferring honour, affecting the mind agreeably, comforting and confirming.

Conversation: manner of life, conduct, behavior, deportment.

Work: (to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, an act:—deed, doing, labour, work.

With meekness: mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness.

Earlier, brothers and sisters, we note that the Bible addresses the perfect man, now we see the Bible addressing the wise man. In both cases the Bible is neither addressing or approving of those coming with bells and whistles of pride presenting themselves as the best thing since sliced bread and everybody else is not so much. We are forbidden by God to be like this or to elevate or promote such persons amongst ourselves.

The Bible, saints (G40 hagios), carefully, explicitly, exhaustively defines that only those among us who show consistent evidence of ruling their tongues, and who are truly wise will have the evidence of it shown to all in their consistent actions, behaviors and deeds amongst the brethren. Furthermore, they will come in meekness and in the wisdom derived from the scriptures not in the pride of their personal opinions and extra biblical doctrines.

Mat 7:24 - Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Eph 5:15 - See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

The Bible, holy people, is explicit, exclusive, inerrant, final, eternal and complete. Dearly beloveds, we know that the whole of our lives, manner of living is held eternally within the everlasting truth of the standard and boundaries as set by God in the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, any and all contradictory teachings outside of or mixed in with the gospel is an abomination that is absolutely forbidden by God to be accepted in His body. It cannot be said often enough, we are commanded to practice what we hear in the word of God.

Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Deceiving: to cheat by false reckoning, to deceive by false reasoning, to deceive, delude, circumvent, includes Self- deception.

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Love 

Thu, Jul 18th - 10:38AM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Jas 3: 9Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

Keep: to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard, metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is, to observe, to reserve: to undergo something.

Not grievous: absolutely not burdensome, heavy in weight, metaph. severe, stern, weighty, of great moment, violent, cruel, unsparing.

Look, holy people can we talk? We know the word of God is absolutely clear, and always the truth, we cannot have it both ways, regularly speaking nasty sometimes, and sometimes speaking nice. God will not compromise His commands. We are not to operate out of our old man or old natures: Eph 4:22 - That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Dearly beloveds, God is not addressing rules and regulations that can change over time or even be confusing. He is addressing the truth that the standards and boundaries for our conduct, character, conversation, inner processes of our minds and hearts, along with the use of our time, talents, and treasure are eternally laid out within the framework of the new covenant of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, and fully backed up by scripture as a whole.  

Initially, it takes time to learn what God’s commands are, which we learn from godly preachers, teachers, the body general along with our own Bible study.   But when we learn them, saints (G40 hagios), we are immediately to put them into practice so that they become our way of life, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. Every command that God has given His people, He has also equipped them with the power to do it. God in no wise is addressing the natural man or unbeliever, but those whose faith is in Jesus Christ.

It is a mistake to think that the Bible does not address the subject of our minds, and consciences for it does indeed in too many places to post. But these too, again, brethren, we are to conform to the same pattern that God commands:

 Say these with me brothers and sisters: 1Co 2:14 - But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15- But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 - For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Love

Mon, Jul 15th - 8:55PM

BE NOT MANY MASTERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Brothers and sisters, what a joy it is to meet here with you again in this study as we continue to dig into the word of God to reveal its everlasting treasures for us to understand and apply in practice.

Jas 3: 7For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Tamed: to tame, curb, restrain.

Unruly:  that can not be restrained.

Evil: of a bad nature, not such as it ought to be, of a mode of thinking, feeling, acting, base, wrong, wicked, troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, baneful.

Deadly: death bringing, deadly.

 Poison: poison of asps is under their lips, spoken of men given to reviling and calumniating and thereby injuring others, rust.

Whew!! God is making it clear our words matter to Him and therefore, must absolutely matter to us as well.  Holy people, we know that Christians are hated in the world, and spoken evil against continually, we are forbidden to treat one another hatefully like the world treats us. We are to be a haven of love and blessing to and for one another out of love for God and one another. And this we can and will do by the grace of God.

 Brothers and sisters, is this mankind’s true last frontier the taming of the self? Is there contradiction in mankind being asked to tame the untamable? Is God asking the impossible then of His people? These are questions some might sincerely ask or enquire about. First of all, brethren, mankind has no interest in taming himself, nor has he any ability to do so. So, we see it is not mankind that God is commanding to tame anything about itself of its own free will. The power to appropriate the bridling of the tongue, however is available to everyone who believes obeys and trusts Jesus Christ, and God is no respecter of persons.

Although humanistic doctrines contain some truth, they change with the culture or waves of new think so prevalent in the secular world so that what might be patently evil, becomes acceptable in their doctrines.

Dearly beloveds, this is why we should never bypass the counsel of God, which is unchanging, everlasting, and always for the glory of God and our good. Every and all the doctrines we need, brethren, are carefully laid out within the standards and boundaries of the new covenant of Jesus Christ, and backed up by the Bible in its entirety, for all human conduct and behavior.

This is why we do not have to look for humanistic theories, methodologies, or techniques or wonder how in the world are we to accomplish the power of self -control: 2 Ti 1: 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Sound mind: an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control. self-control, moderation.

This is why we absolutely can trust the unchanging word of God to guide and instruct us to the full in every right way we are commanded to live to be pleasing in His sight out of trust, love and obedience to Him. All who have come to faith in Jesus Christ are endowed with the power of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit to bridle our tongues.

Holy people say these verses with me, then repeat them with personal pronouns and let us mean them in our hearts and minds: Eph 4:29 - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Col 3:8 - But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Love

Fri, Jul 12th - 7:13PM

 BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Brothers and sisters, although James 3 is not a long chapter, we can see that God through James is running at full throttle to convict, convince, and fully persuade us to trust that God always knows what is best for His people, than His people can ever know on their own. Self- control, self- restraint is more than a value but a command of God to the church as a whole

Jas 3:5Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6And the tongue is world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

Defileth: to stain or soil (literally or figuratively).

Lord Jesus teaches us: Mat 15:11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Mar 7:20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

Psychology of the mind, holy people,  is not mentioned here, however it is still clear that the unseen inner processes of people’s deeply held feelings, passions, emotions, opinions, motives, intentions and deeply rooted beliefs that they really hold as true in their hearts and minds are not to be released unfiltered, as intentionally or not they can be unhelpful and injurious to the body of Christ.

Instead,  brethren, God has empowered us to bring these powerful inner processes of the mind and heart under the control of our God given intellectual or rational minds held in check,  and operating by the standards and  boundaries set in the gospel, to filter out that which is hurtful or injurious to the body, and bring forth or release to others that which is God honoring and helpful to build up the body. These mature persons  are the only teachers approved by God in His body.

Brothers and sisters, say it with me: Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psa 49:3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

Love

Thu, Jul 11th - 7:11AM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Brothers and sisters, we get it, God is telling all of us that not only does He forbid absolutely any physical abusers in the church, but He forbids all forms of verbal abusers too in the church. Let us look again at this preamble to James 3: 1My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

Dearly beloveds, we can surely agree by now that James is not condemning teachers as a whole. We can agree and understand that as people although saved we all have the tendency and have demonstrated at some point or another failure to control our tongues, and know that God is going to condemn us for this if we do not repent. None of us gets a pass from God to verbally abuse anybody.

We know that we do not have to fear God condemning us, dearly beloveds, if we are the kind of teachers who consistently shows maturation in controlling our tongues, and therefore being self- disciplined people amongst ourselves.

Perfect, saints (G40 hagios), there is no room for us to walk back from this word, perfect. Perfect is more than a word it is that state of spiritual wholeness, completeness of the whole person in mind and heart in being obedient to the will of God demonstrated in practice by conforming to Him out of love for Him and His eternal truth.

Perfect: brought to its end, finished, Perfect: wanting nothing necessary to completeness, perfect, that which is perfect, consummate human integrity and virtue, full grown, adult, of full age, mature. Godly perfection is achievable and doable for all believers through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who strengthens and endows us with power through the faith of Jesus Christ. Self- control or the ability to restrain the self is not a ministry we have to wait on, nor a gift we have to pray for it is ours to appropriate in obedience and practice.

We can’t control what comes out of other people, dearly beloveds,  but we lie if we say we cannot control what comes out of us, because God told us the truth that we absolutely can.

Bridle: to lead by a bridle, to guide, to bridle, hold in check, restrain.

God is not telling us not to tell people the truth, or not ever be angry or not ever admonish one another, but it cannot be done in an abusive and demeaning way that crushes the spirit and causes more problems than it can ever resolve.

The love of God constrains us brethren: Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Brethren, the point and the power in this message is fully realized  in that a mature man or woman who chooses to practice, check and control what comes out of their mouths has full control of their inner thoughts, emotions and feelings as well, and can use them as instruments of God’s will in their own lives, that of others and the furtherance of building up the church.

Again, saints (G40hagios) the mature teachers, holy people, will never be condemned by God, but receive praise from Him and their hearers as well. Again, and again let it be said continually, brethren, no physical or verbal abuser will ever be praised by God, but instead condemned and must be stopped in the body of Christ.

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Those wild emotional feelings of ill will, meanness and other destructive feelings that can arise from within us, those fierce storms arising from others against us in either case, we have the God given power of self- control so that we do not have to behave or react in destructive ways, but instead by choosing self- control guide ourselves rightly in the sight of God and one another.

COMPARE/CONTRAST

Pro 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

Pro 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

Love

Sun, Jul 7th - 6:36PM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Brothers and sisters, some might think that James did not include women in this chapter 3 of James,  because they

 misinterpret these verses: 1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

1Ti 2:11 - Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 - But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

The role of overseers is limited to men as God commands, but spreading and teaching the gospel is open to all believers among themselves and in the world as we note in the following verses.

Act 18:25 - This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

Phil 4: 3And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Act 2:17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

Act 21:9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

Rom 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

The point here, dearly beloveds, is that God has a place set firmly within His standards and boundaries for everyone in the church. So, we clearly see that we can be sure that James is including women too in the command of controlling their tongues in the church, and there are no contradictions in the cited verses in any way whatsoever. Brothers and sisters, as to how these verses are not a contradiction, is the not the subject of this study. However, holy people, feel free to study this further on your own, because the Bible teaches itself why there is no contradiction in these verses.

Love

Fri, Jul 5th - 10:04PM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Jas 4:11 - Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

Col 3:17 - And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Col 4:6 - Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Tit 2:8 - Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

1Pe 3:10 - For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Brothers and sisters, it is disturbing that this chapter 3 of James continues to in error be used by some commentators to virtually condemn, tar and feather the body of Christ as a whole. Instead what this chapter does among other things is to reveal major problems that we all have in being abusive in our speech towards one another. It teaches us the consequences of this, and the consequences are very severe and damaging, even contagious to the body of Christ: 1Co 15:33 - Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

However, James in no way is trying to tar and feather the body of Christ or to present the church as victims who need a recovery group to try and gain control over their tongues. 

This teaching regarding the command of God to control our tongues is for the whole of the body not just the flock it includes the overseers to the church as well. Ironically, saints (G40 hagios), those who use this chapter to all too eagerly and in error condemn the church as a whole is speaking evil of the church and is doing exactly as God forbids any Christian or anyone else to do: Rom 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, we know that God’s judgement to and for the Christian is an exceedingly good thing for His glory and our good: 1Co 11:32 - But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. We, all Christians as a whole are to monitor and hold one another responsible and accountable for operating within the standards and boundaries that God has set, to encourage and to admonish one another as needed. In this we defend and uphold the purity of the gospel message within our ranks and the world. God Himself can and will directly discipline His people by allowing them to suffer the consequences due to their disobedience.

Raise your hands, brethren, if you know that none of us was born saved, and all of us came to faith with ways of operating that we had yet to learn were not acceptable and even forbidden by God. (I raised mine, holy people). In mining this study we have to start down the right road to arrive at the right place of understanding what God wants us to learn and obey regarding the truth of bridling the tongue as not being a suggestion, but a command that He has given every Christian power to do without exception.

God is not beating us up, brothers and sisters,  He is not condemning us. This is God’s crash course to the body of Christ, to control our tongues it is not a suggestion, He allows no excuses, exceptions, options, plan Bs, AND NO NEED TO WAIT, LET US DO IT NOW WITHOUR ANY FURTHER DELAY.

Brethren, some might say that they have always said anything they wanted any way they wanted to anybody, because that is just the way they are and feel it is wrong to suppress their feelings or right to speak freely. Such persons are deceived and must wake up, because God has given none of us, who claim to be a Christian the authority to operate outside of His eternal standards and boundaries. Christian liberty is never license to operate against the commands of God Almighty. We all have the liberty to use our tongues within the standards and boundaries set by God: Eph 4:15 - But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

He commands us and empowers us to choose to mature and receive all the benefits of it that comes to us as individuals and the church as a whole.

Dearly beloved, the prize that we can all take away from this study is to be fully convicted, convinced and fully persuaded that we can and will boldly take control of our tongues, out of trust, willing obedience, love of God and for God, the brethren and all men.

Love

Tue, Jul 2nd - 6:54AM

BE NOT MANY TEACHERS WITH UNBRIDLED TONGUES

Brothers and sisters, it is heart breaking that this chapter 3 of James is too often used to in error brow beat God’s people and scare them off from even thinking about being teachers. Certainly, a myth a false teaching has arisen from this, that only people who are scholars, degreed or so-called experts should or can teach the Bible.

This fallacy is often reinforced by such teachers, who no matter how sincere, ignorant, or purposefully, post their man- made credentials as the basis for why they should be accepted as trusted teachers. Does this mean that Christians should not have such credentials? We know, holy people, the motives behind these man-made credentials relates more to pleasing men and fulfilling the requirements of man- made doctrines to gain entry into some institution, organization, or denomination, who would let no one in without it, Some might be taught extrabiblical doctrines not found in or approved by scripture. So, these man-made credentials are exclusive to these organizations and not the general body of believers.

It is common to also buy pastoral degrees on line, as well as to be ordained on line for a price. This has been banned only in Tennessee.

 We know, dearly beloveds, this might be difficult for some with man-made credentials to hear, but it is the truth, because some would have never studied the Bible at all except it was required of them to gain entrance, and or to obtain qualification to work within their school or organization etc.

Too often, once the money is paid and man-made credentials are granted, there is nothing in place for follow up, ongoing monitoring, or to hold the receiver accountable for how she or he uses the teachings. There is no way for the grantors to guarantee that the holders of the man-made credentials are actually Christians. The same holds true of their teachers, who may be Christians, or even atheists or agnostics, etc.

God’s standards for the Christian teacher in the body of Christ is higher than man-made standards or credentials.

Dearly beloveds, the true credentials for understanding and teaching the Bible is that one must be saved, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and teaching to please God, not men, by studying the scripture for equipping themselves in works of righteousness, the furtherance of his or her growth in rightly understanding and living the word of God out of love for Him and His eternal truth, and to help others do the same.

No one who has not believed in the Saviour and therefore has not received the indwelling Holy Spirit can absolutely never qualify to be a teacher in any capacity to the body of Christ: for without the Holy Spirit, given through faith in Jesus Christ it is impossible for anyone to live or even understand the Bible.

If anything, James is straight forward warning the church against allowing the proliferation of many unacceptable i.e.-all such teachers who are actually Christians, but who choose to practice speaking unkindly to their brothers and sisters. In fact, James is absolutely declaring that any Christian who operates in this way is not fit to teach any Christian, and is ruled out as a teacher in any way or manner whatsoever to the body of Christ.  Interestingly, secular laws are in place to protect people from slanderous, libelous, and yes hate speech. But James is hitting hard in this third chapter of James, he is addressing all of us brothers and sisters. He is comparing and contrasting the destructive out of control teacher, with the propensity to run their mouths off not caring who will be damaged by what they say, to the mature teacher who chooses to self -filter, his words to build up not destroy the hearer.

 Eph 4:31 - Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Tit 3:2 - To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

Love