Be Perfect In Word

[00:00:00] I greet you this morning in the name of our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ. It's a joy to be here and to be able to share together. Before I get into the message, I think I'm going to just put a word in about this evening and the following evenings on this Anabaptist history. I just want to encourage everyone that can to take these in. [00:00:33] Tonight is going to be sort of an overview. This series was taped about a year ago. And tonight is the, there was one session before the rest of it started that was done at Menehoff. And, uh, uh, Walder kind of gave an overview of the, of the, uh, series, uh, in that. And so that's what we're going to have tonight. And then, uh, Lord willing, the next Sunday night, and starting from there, and, uh, that will be the rest of the series. [00:01:09] Now, I realize there might be times when something else has to happen on a Sunday evening. And, uh, you know, we've made it so that these can be used. They don't have to be a set time, so if something else has to take place on a Sunday evening, we can do that. But I guess I just want to encourage you, I think our Anabaptist history is important for us to know and to understand. And I'm just a firm believer that in order to help us to know where we're going today, we need to know where we've been. [00:01:46] And I think our history really helps us with that, to know where we're headed today. A few weeks ago, as I preached, I preached on the command from Matthew 5, 48, where it said, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect. And as I had studied that, I had realized that the Bible talks a number of places about being perfect. [00:02:25] And I decided to expand that whole area of perfection that God wants for us into these other areas too. I'm not sure just how many I'll be picking up yet. But the last time was being perfect in love. And we looked at that passage there in Matthew chapter 5 of loving not only those that love us, but loving the unlovely. And those that, if we only respond, if we only love those that are able to return to us, then we're no different than anyone else. [00:03:09] But when we love those that can't repay that love, that is God's love. And so that was important that we've seen that. Now, I'd like to turn this morning over to James chapter 3, verse 2. James chapter 3, verse 2. [00:03:43] He says, For in many things we offend all, and if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Alright, so this morning we want to look at, and we're going to be looking mainly here at James chapter 3, we're going to be looking at being perfect in words, being perfect in the words that we speak. And he's saying here, you know, if we can talk in a way not to offend anyone, not to cause anyone else to stumble and so on, he says the same is a perfect man. [00:04:26] So let's look at that, and we want to think about that this morning. Think about words for a little bit. Just think about words. You ever stop and think about words? You know, probably most of us use a lot of words every day, don't we? I don't know. I have no idea what the average amount of words that a person would use every day. But I know it's a lot of them. [00:04:59] And even if we don't speak them, we think. We think words. And so on. So words are very important to us. Words are also special to the heart of God Now think about this Words are special to the heart of God When God created the world You read over there in Genesis chapter 1 [00:05:30] Often times the phrase is repeated And God said And God said, and God said, and God said, God spoke words. He spoke the world and everything into existence. And so words are very important. God continues to speak to man all through the Old Testament He continued to speak to man and His ultimate message [00:06:02] that He came to was found in Jesus now go to Hebrews just back up a little bit from James and go to Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 It says, God, who at sundry times, or different times, that's not a word we often use, but God, who at different times and in different manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. [00:06:44] So this same God and the same words that He used to speak the world into existence also has now spoken unto us by His Son Jesus. So it's no accident that John, the writer, speaks of Jesus as the Word of God. He speaks to him as a word. It's interesting that only John does that. [00:07:18] You find this in the book of John, you find it in 1st John, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd John, one of those. And then you also find it over in Revelation, that Jesus is referred to as the Word of God. Now why does he refer to Jesus as the Word? And I always find this interesting, you know, things are not done just for anyhow. He doesn't just pick out a name and call Jesus the word, but he calls him that for a very good reason. First of all, think a little bit about what words do. [00:07:54] Words are the way that we communicate, isn't it? It would be pretty hard to communicate here this morning at all without using words. And so words are the means of communication that we have. Now, Jesus is the means of communication between God and between man. This is the way, this is the ultimate way that God is communicating between God and us, is through Jesus. [00:08:29] Jesus. And that's why he refers to Jesus as the Word. Also, another thing about words, and that is that words reveal things to us, right? If we understand things and so on through words, it reveals things. If someone comes up here to you here at church and says, how do I get to McDonald's? And you would say, well, you take and you go out here to the stop sign, you turn left and you keep on going, go through two stoplights, you get to the third one, and McDonald's is on your right-hand side. [00:09:07] I think I said that right. But they revealed, you see, it was revealed to this person how you get to McDonald's. And that's what words do for us. Well, that's what Jesus does for us. Jesus reveals to us what God is like. And Jesus said himself, he said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. And so we get a picture of God, the Father, through Jesus. He reveals the Father to us. And that's again, that's why Jesus is called the Word. [00:09:42] Word. Also, words are made up of alphabet, of letters. Here in the English language, we have 26. Other languages would be different. But in the English language, we have 26 letters. And all of our words are made up of those 26 letters. And we have a limitless, I mean an unending supply of words out of those 26 letters. And so words are made up of the alphabet. [00:10:14] It's interesting over in Revelation 1 verse 8 that Jesus said there, He said, I am the Alpha and the Omega. Now He was referring to the Greek alphabet there. The Alpha was the first letter, the Omega was the last letter. In our language, he would say, I am the A and the Z. And I think Jesus is saying, I am the entire alphabet of God. All that is in me. Everything rests in me. [00:10:46] I am his entire alphabet. I make up his entire message. And so therefore, it was another reason why I believe that John referred to him, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John referred to Jesus as the Word. And so, words are very important, and they are very important to God. I believe along with that, our words, our words that we speak are important to God. [00:11:21] How important do you think it is? Go over to Matthew chapter 12 and we get a glimpse here of just how important our words are to God. Matthew chapter 12 verse 36 But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. [00:11:58] For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Are our words important? They're pretty important, aren't they? Just think about that. He says that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment. I would say we need to take our words pretty seriously and be careful of our words. [00:12:34] Now, let's go over to James chapter 3. And I want to, we want to go through this chapter and just see how important and what the things that are necessary for us to be perfect in words. Now, he's speaking here to my brethren. He starts out this chapter by my brethren. And so he's speaking to fellow believers. He's not giving this chapter now to somebody that's out that doesn't know anything about God or that has rejected the Lord, but he's talking here to us, to believers. [00:13:13] And I think he's saying that, you know, as he says these things, he realizes that even as believers, we have areas we need to grow and to change when it comes to our words. He wants us to be perfect in our words. He's saying here now, in verse 1, he says, My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. I think the idea here is, don't be in a hurry to be a teacher. Now, don't really take that too literally when we want Sunday school teachers. [00:13:48] But he's saying here that don't be in a hurry to try to promote yourself into some place that, a place of importance Or a place that, you know, boy if I could just do the teaching, boy that's what we would really need He's saying here that be careful about that Because, he said, when we're in that position, we also have a greater responsibility. [00:14:19] We also have a standard that you might say is higher than others. He says, because we shall receive the greater condemnation, we shall receive the greater responsibility in that. He goes on and says, excuse me, he goes on and says, that in many things we offend all. I think the idea there is that all of us, all of us make mistakes. All of us say things that we shouldn't say. [00:14:51] We all misspeak at times. All of us have probably experienced this, that after we said something, we say, oh, why did I say that? You know, I'd like to take those words back. And we can't do it. They're said. You know, we can apologize and we ask for forgiveness and so on. But, you know, we've all done that. But he says then, if any man offend not in word, if we would always say the perfect thing, the right thing, he said then we would be a perfect man. [00:15:22] And I think that last phrase there is that when we can control our words, when we can control them, I believe we're able then to control the rest of our body. I think if we're not able to control what we say, that's going to carry over into a lot of other areas in our life. And we're going to find an undisciplined life in other areas also. I'd like to go to Proverbs chapter 10, Proverbs 10, verse 19. [00:15:58] Proverbs 10.19 says, In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise. He's saying here that when a person talks a lot, And sometimes people, it seems like thinking and talking is just synonymous to them. [00:16:32] You know? It seems like they can't think without talking. And I think that's a foolish thing to do. Gets us into a lot of trouble. And they said there's no lack of sin when they're in a multitude of words. That's what he's saying here. Over in Ecclesiastes 5.3 it says, A fool's voice is known by a multitude of words. And that's a foolish thing to do is just to be talking all the time and gets us into a lot of trouble. [00:17:11] As I thought about that, I had to think about God himself. Do you ever wish that God would have said a lot more? Remember, you know, really when it comes right down to it, God hasn't spoken a lot of times. God is not given to a multitude of words. You look through history, and there's just been various times when God spoke. But when he spoke, it really meant something. [00:17:43] Now, I have a tendency, I have a tendency when I hear somebody just talking all the time, you kind of tune out. You ever do that? When somebody's just talking, they're just talking all the time. You just kind of half listen. You just kind of half tune them out. But when there's people that don't say a lot, when they talk, I usually listen. Because usually when they talk, they have something to really say. And I think that's the way God is. That when God speaks, maybe we don't hear God a lot, but I believe when we feel God speaking to our heart, listen. Because God is one of few words. But when he speaks, we need to make sure that we listen. [00:18:31] Now, going over to verse 3, there in that chapter, he begins from verses 3 to 12, we see here lessons, he gives a number of lessons from natural things, or from earthly things, that he's giving some lessons here about our speech and our words. He talks about horses. He talks about ships. He talks about fire, animals, and so on. He uses the illustration here of a horse, and he said, you know, he said you could put a bit in a horse's mouth, and that horse can be guided, and that bit is very small in comparison to that horse. [00:19:16] The same way with a ship. You take a large ship and in comparison it has a very small rudder. But depending on where that rudder goes, that ship is the direction that ship goes. And he uses that in comparison as far as size. He uses that in comparison with a tongue. And he's saying that tongue that we have is a very small member of our body. It's very small in comparison. I don't even have no idea what percent of our total body that it would be, but it would be very small. [00:19:53] And yet that little tongue does a lot, and that little tongue can have a lot of influence on us, and we'll see that it's not just the tongue, it's more than that, but we'll see that. But he's using that, he's using that as far as comparison decides of how little things can have a big influence on something. Now he says there in verse 5, he says, [00:20:24] The tongue is a little member, but it boasts great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. Now, boasting is something that is probably more prevalent than we like to think. Usually we think of boasting as a, here's a young boy that's trying to show off his muscles, you know, to the others, and that type of thing. [00:20:57] And it is, that's boasting. But I believe boasting affects us differently depending upon our age. Depending on how old we are. And I think every age, no matter how old, whether we're young or whether we're old, I think we can get into this thing of boasting. And we do it in various ways. You know, girls might have the area of boasting, well, I'm prettier than somebody else. [00:21:28] And boys, you know, I'm stronger than somebody else. When we're teenagers, there's all kinds of areas we might give in to boasting. But we get older, and we may not say a lot of things, but we can also give the idea of boasting. Maybe we can boast because we think I have more money, or I have something about my children are better than your children. Maybe I think I live in a better house or better job. And it all boils down to this thing of having this idea I want to be better than other people [00:22:05] And letting other people know that And he's saying here that that boasting has a way of kindling fires There in verse 5 Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth And I think that boasting leads to fires. What do you mean leads to fires? How does that lead to fires? I think that boasting can produce in other people, and maybe even in ourselves, this whole area of anger. [00:22:43] Remember, I think that anger and jealousy, this boasting can produce in people. And, you know, you hear somebody boast and it can make you angry, can't it? Or it can make you jealous. And it seems like anger and jealousy has a way of growing in our lives. You see, anger don't die out very easy. It has a tendency of getting bigger. It's like a fire. And it gets a little spark of it and it can turn into a raging fire. [00:23:26] Jealousy that same way. And jealousy is something that can get a hold of us and just become, and it gets bigger and bigger in our lives. You know, psychologists tell us that the way to get rid of anger is to take and maybe hang a rug or carpet out on the wash line and take a stick and begin to beat it. And, you know, beat that thing and work out that anger. [00:23:58] Or else take and just really tell somebody off. Just spout off to them and get rid of that anger. But I found that that usually doesn't get rid of it. Usually that has a way of, a tendency of creating more anger within us. The only way we can get rid of that anger and stop that fire is real repentance and a real turning to the Lord and giving that anger over to Him is the way that that is going to take care of that anger and rage. [00:24:32] He goes on then in verses 7 and 8, and he uses the illustration of beasts, of animals. And he said, of every kind of beast and birds and serpents and of things in the sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind. Must be back then they already tamed animals to do different things. We've probably all seen animals that have been trained. He said you can do that with animals, but he says the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. [00:25:07] Now I believe he's talking here about the person that has not put their life under the lordship of Jesus Christ. He's talking here about the person that is not living a victorious Christian life. And one that has not grown in this area. Remember, he's talking to believers here. But he's saying here that that tongue can still be an unruly evil. And one that is full of poison. [00:25:41] And how true that is. of what we can do with our tongues and how that it can cause so much evil and disruption and so on. He says in verse 9, And therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the solemnity of God. You know, he's saying the same tongue that people speak words with, they use that same tongue to curse man and to bless God. [00:26:23] He says, Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. In verse 10, My brethren, these things ought not so to be. And that is so tragic when we use our tongues to curse man. Now did you catch here why we should not curse man? He says because we're made after the solitude of God. We're made in the image of God. [00:26:56] And when you curse somebody, whether it's in your heart or with your mouth, He's saying we don't do that because that person is made in the image of God. Do you ever stop and think that's the same reason that murder is wrong? Same reason murder is wrong. Same reason murder is a sin is because that person is made in the image of God. And we dare not kill someone that is made in the image of God. How easy it is for someone to curse man. [00:27:35] I thought of recently, I was talking to a man that's a minister and another state, and he shared, he said, you know, he said, he's been in the ministry probably for 35 years. And he said, there's something that I have struggled with and struggled with over those 35 years. He said, soon after I was ordained, he said a man came to me from his church. [00:28:08] He said, a man came to me and told me, he said, if I couldn't preach any better than you, I'd quit. And he said, that thing has affected me. And it was just like, you know, it was just like this man cursed him. And, you know, I trust he's finding victory in that now. But I just, you know, I just had to think, what words can do to a person? and how words can affect a person and affect them for years. [00:28:44] So make sure that instead of cursing, we bless people. We bless people. There's a lot of difference. Now there's a place for rebuke. There's a place for giving constructive criticism to someone. But that can still be, even that can be a blessing to a person. And there's a big difference between that and actually cursing somebody. What about when you talk to your children? [00:29:18] Don't ever tell your children, you're never going to amount to anything. Maybe you think you'll somehow get them to do what you want them to do or something like that. Don't tell your children, you'll never amount to anything. I believe that's a curse that we can put on our children. and telling them that. Now, we need to discipline, we need to tell them where they're wrong, we need to rebuke them and so on, but we also need to at the same time bless them and encourage them and compliment the things that they do right. [00:29:55] That is so important that we give blessing instead of cursing. Verse 11, he says, He says, Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Do you go to the well and one day you get salt water and the next day you get fresh water? No. He says, Likewise, that's the way our tongues, our tongues should not be that way. We should not have tongues and words that one day are cursings and the next time they're blessings. [00:30:26] That's not the life of the consistent believer. Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain yield both salt water and fresh. And so those verses he gives us these different illustrations of what our tongues should be. And from natural, just from natural things, we get those ideas. [00:31:00] Now, in verses 13 to 18, he gives us some applications that we can make. How do we apply this? The things that he's been telling us here, how do we apply? Verse 13. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation, good words, good actions, and so on. Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. [00:31:32] I believe he's saying here, who is wise? Who is spiritually perfect that he talked about there in verse 2? Who is that? He said it's going to be the one that shows out from his words. and his works, meekness, do it with meekness and with wisdom. I believe that is where it's going to show up at, in the way we say, in the way that we behave. And then verse 14 really shows where this comes from. [00:32:08] He says, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, There's where the source is, isn't it? There's where it begins. You know, going back to those illustrations of the bits in the horse's mouth and the rudder on the ship, there was something else that controlled that bit, wasn't there? There was a driver of that horse that controlled that bit. There was a pilot on that ship that was controlling where that rudder went to. It wasn't the rudder itself that determined it. [00:32:41] It was, in a sense, it was the bit that did it, but it was who controlled it. And he's saying right down here now, the words that we speak, that tongue, even though the tongue speaks the words, it really comes from the heart. It's where it begins. That's what controls those things, is our heart. And he says, glory not and lie not against the truth. I had to wonder now, what does he mean by that? [00:33:12] You know, we need to face reality. Sometimes we, perhaps something happens to us, or something happens, maybe we hit our thumb or something and perhaps we let go of some words that were not very nice. And we say, oh, I didn't mean that, or I have no idea where that came from. [00:33:46] Is that true? Are we facing the truth when we do that? He says, glory not and lie not against the truth. The truth of it is, those words were in our heart. Did you ever do that and think the words? I have. I've done something to hurt myself or something and some words flash into my mind and I didn't say them, but you know some words popped there that I wish they wouldn't have. [00:34:23] And we have to face the truth that sometimes our hearts are not where they should be. And it's because of our heart is the way that we reacted in the way that we did. And so we need to concentrate on changing our heart and making sure our heart is a place where it needs to be and then our words will be right. Now he says this wisdom, he's talking about this bitter envying and strife that goes on. [00:34:57] He says this wisdom doesn't come from above. But he says, is earthly, sensual, and devilish That's where that wisdom comes from When there's envy and strife Because he goes, verse 16, he sums it up For where envying and strife is There is confusion and every evil work [00:35:27] Now you can just mark it down Where envying and strife is going on. And, you know, the first thing we want to do when that happens is we want to blame somebody. Well, if they wouldn't have said that, I wouldn't have done this, you know. And you have all this bickering and everything else that can go on between people. And he just says, where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. And we have to face the truth and say really those things come right from our hearts and that's where it begins. [00:36:05] And then in the last two verses he goes on and he sums it up then where the other kind of wisdom comes. And I'm so glad this chapter ends with these two verses. It ends on a very positive note here, because he says that the wisdom that is from above, and here is a description of it, and really when we read this description of this, all these things that he says it is really comes out in words, the words that we use. [00:36:44] Think about this. The wisdom that is from above is first pure. How do we tell there's pure wisdom? By the words we use, isn't it? By the words we say. And then it's peaceable. There again, it's the words that we use. Our words can do a lot to make peace between us and people or between other people. Our words can do it. You know, you can see two people kind of on the outs with each other, and you can do one of two things. [00:37:16] You can either feed that and make it worse, or you can speak into it and bring healing. So it's peaceable. That's wisdom is from above. It's gentle. The tone of our voice says a lot, doesn't it? You know, we can say the very same words, and we say them in a harsh way, or we say them in a gentle way. It conveys an entirely different message. [00:37:47] It's gentle. It's easy to be entreated. It's easy for people to let people talk to us. It's easy for people to come and share with us, or even to rebuke us, because it's easy to be entreated. Full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. You know that all boils down to words, isn't it? [00:38:19] Communication between people. That is the wisdom that comes from above. And he says, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Do we like peace? Oh, I trust that peace is something that we really appreciate. True peace. A peace that comes from a heart that is right with God. [00:38:51] and a peace that comes from having this desire to communicate with others, say words that bring peace to them. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. All of these things are accomplished with words. Do we want to be perfect? Be perfect in words. And, you know, it's not just do we want to be, but really it's a command. [00:39:26] The Lord has commanded us to be perfect. And this is one of the ways. First we looked at being perfect in love, but this is now being perfect in our words, mature in our words. I just trust the Lord will help us, that we can have a desire to speak blessings in the lives of people, rather than cursing in the lives of people. and to be perfect in our words. Let's stand for closing prayer. I'd just like to ask, maybe someone would like to have prayer this morning. [00:40:03] Just prayer that the Lord help me with my words, that I can speak words. Thank you. Just raise your hand. Thank you. Yes, I see the hands. The Lord help me to speak the words of blessing. Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning. We thank you so much for the word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. [00:40:36] And Lord, I just pray that each one of us this morning has been reminded of how important our words are. And Father, I just ask that you would give us hearts And help us to desire hearts That will produce words Words of blessing and not cursing Words of fresh water and not salt water Father, I just pray that you would work in each one of our lives [00:41:10] I just pray especially for those that raised their hand this morning Lord, that you would grant them grace Grant them the wisdom that is from above Lord, in all of their life Thank you, Father And Lord, if we have been guilty of that Using that wisdom that is from this world Wisdom that is devilish Lord, I just pray that we would come to you and find forgiveness and healing. [00:41:45] Oh, Father, we just pray for that today. Thank you so much, Lord. We just ask that you would dismiss us with your blessing. Lord, continue to work in us and guide us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let the words of my mind and meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord.