A Life Giving Fountain
First B Jackson
2022-04-19

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

----
Which ones?

Songs are praise the king, resurrection resurrecting, and then Christ is risen.

Okay. K? Perfect.

You're you're in Capo 2?

Yeah. Yes. Capo 2? Yeah.

Alright. Hey. Good evening, everybody. How how are you doing on a Monday, the day after Easter?

Woo hoo.

How was Easter? Sugar coma. Sugar coma. I know it. We hit Easter baskets for our kids, and they're they're all in high school.

They liked it. They it was fun. I wish somebody had used a basketball for me. I'd love it. I I almost don't even wanna say it, but it felt like spring today.

So good. Like, seriously, thank you, Lord. Don't say it tomorrow. Don't don't talk about that. Can we give, so Casey and Blaze and Mike, they're not even in this room right now, but they they helped to to provide the meal.

Thank you guys for for your meal tonight. And I would just like so I don't have like a specific resurrection sermon, but every sermon that we give has to do with the resurrection. Amen. Every single sermon that we do Amen. Including this one.

If we're talking about tonight, we're talking about the the power of the tongue, taming the tongue. That it really we need the resurrection power in our in order to do that. That's that's what's true about it. But I want to, in the spirit of Easter, and resurrection, sing some of these resurrection songs. And let's pay close attention to the lyrics because the lyrics, they tell this story.

So would you guys join join us and and sing in too? Alright. Let's stand together too, if you're able. If you're eating, don't worry about it. Now that is why we're here.

That's why we sing that song because you have defeated death, hell, and the grave, and you give us new life. It all starts by making that step toward you by believing in you. And by believing in you, we have been given the Holy Spirit and your Holy Spirit lives alive in us. That's what does the changing. That's what does the transformation.

So God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would do that. That we would be taking steps for you Amen. Toward you continually.

Yes, Lord.

Thank you for the resurrection. Here's a verse. Just in light of that that that song that we sang, it's first Peter three fifteen and I think this is a one to live by. It says, but in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give you the reason for the hope that you have.

Someone goes, why do you what is this hope that you why? Be prepared, it's saying. And it can be such a simple answer. Jesus, man. And it says this too, and let's hear this, but do so with gentleness and respect.

I think that's so key as well. Let's keep singing.

The tomb where soldiers watched in vain

Ain't that so good? Amen. That tomb that tomb was borrowed tomb. That's one of my favorite parts. But also too, by his spirit, we will rise from the ashes of defeat.

Because we all, at some point or another, we feel defeated. That's right. Know? By our own actions or by something somebody else is doing to us. There's always that.

But this is why the resurrection. This is why our hope in Christ.

Amen.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead is the same spirit that lives in in in us and works in us. How about one more resurrection song? You guys down for it? Christ is risen. Am I singing right?

One. We had

a capo. Was it was it

a capo? I was like, is that me? Carl?

Here's a great verse before we sit down. Acts two, but God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. It was impossible for death to keep its grasp on Jesus. He's alive and well, my friend. And you know what?

One of the greatest ways I see that is in the church. It's in the church. This place was buzzing yesterday. It's buzzing with life tonight, and it's just awesome to see because it's not anything special that I'm saying up here other than it's the word of God. It's the truth about Jesus Christ living, dying, raising, and reigning.

Amen. That's what it's about. So you wanna have a seat? I got a meme to to start things off. Maybe you could relate to this one.

I feel like my greatest accomplishment today has not been saying what I'm thinking out loud. Anybody there? Like, isn't it the truth? For real, do you ever think, I I am so glad I didn't say blah dot dot dot back there. Or on the other hand, you you go, I so wish I hadn't said dot dot dot back there.

Right? Like, it's just like, man, I'm so glad when I can just keep my mouth shut and then there's other times. But, you know, James is talking about controlling the tongue tonight. That's that's James chapter three. Just in a sentence.

Being mindful about our words, about what we say, how we talk. And, he already shared his method for controlling the tongue in chapter one. This was Nick, preached on this one while I was gone. Great job, Nick. And, this is a great method by the way.

Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Can I read that again? I think I need to hear that one. This is for me. This is the bonus for you if you hear it too.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Listen first, speak second. Because careless words can cause a lot of damage and we all know it from experience. Right? From experience.

I know this to be true, which is why I think Proverbs ten eleven is a great reminder for us when it comes to our speech. The words of the godly are a life giving fountain. Consider this for a second. Our words, the things that we say to one another, it can be a life giving fountain. Imagine right now, if you had you you were you're starving or you were let's just say you were thirsty.

You're in the desert and you were you had to get to water. It's like that. A life giving fountain. Giving life to those who hear. James makes a clear case for the evil that the tongue can do in this chapter, but I just I I visit this place in scripture too because it can do a lot of good as well.

It can speak life, and joy, and peace, and comfort, encouragement. This little mouthpiece right here can do a lot of good. James is gonna talk about what it can do in a negative way too. And, we need to hear that. But, I just want you to hear, it can do a lot of good too.

Couple of points from James to consider tonight. First, to recognize this little mouth, this little this little piece of our body, this tongue, has great power. Let's just acknowledge that first. But, second, to be using our tongue to heal. To not to hurt, to build up, not to tear down.

To be a life giving fountain. That's where I'm going with this. So this is coming from James chapter three verses one through 12. Heading my Bible is Controlling Tongue. Words are on the screen, and I wanna just share the scripture, a few thoughts, and then open it up.

If there's there's something in here and you're like, I wanna comment on that. I I've got something I've got something to share. I want you to be able to do that at the end. So here's here's what the scripture says. Lord, help us to retain this.

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should be teachers in the church. For we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes for if we could control our tongues, we'd be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. Verse three, we can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.

Verse five, in the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches, but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire in its it is a whole world of wickedness corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire for it is set on fire by hell itself, James says. People contain all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, fish. No one can tame the tongue.

It's a it's restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right. Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?

Does a fig tree produce olives or a grape vine produce figs? You can't draw fresh water from salty spring. We'll stop there. Let's do verse 12. I would love to pray on it first and then just work our work our way through it.

Lord, may in the light of words, God, may the words of our the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you. In Jesus name, amen. James gets it right, doesn't he? It's it's it's hard to argue with James with with what James is saying. He's a very straight shooter and it can almost come across as like brash or harsh sometimes, but it's it's hard to argue with what he's saying here.

Like, verse one, he starts off by saying, oh, hey, don't be in a rush to be a teacher in the church. And I'd say the same. I would so much rather be out there than up up here right now. For we who teach will be judged more strictly. So in James day, there were many who wanted to be teachers in the church.

Imagine that. Imagine wanting to be up here and speaking in front of it was a thing. People wanted to do that. James felt it was important to address it. He says, hey, we're accountable for what we teach, what we say, our speech.

In fact, we will be judged more strictly because of it. So that being said, that's why we stay as close to this as we possibly can. Because I'm I'm telling you, if this is all if it's just me, I'm going off the rails quick. It's true. It's true.

This is why we stick close to the word. So verse two, indeed we all make many mistakes. Amen. For if we could control our tongues, we'd be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. And here comes the evidence here for the power of the tongue.

Right here in verse three. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. I don't have a lot of experience with this one. So I know that is true, but not by experience. Fact, is anybody ride horses here?

Okay. So you get it. You understand this to be true. Like, I know facts about horses, like the average horse weighs about a thousand pounds, know, give or take. But think about this, like that little bit, and you know from experience, steers it where wherever you wherever you want it to go.

Another another compelling verse here. Proof, I guess. Verse four. A small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. That is also very true.

So, I thought this was kinda interesting. This is one of the largest cruise ships in the world. Has anyone ever been on a cruise before? I can't say that I have, I've not. So I don't know what it's like, but I thought this was interesting.

This is called the Symphony of the Seas, and it can hold 6,680 passengers. Ain't that wild? It's 1,188 feet long. It's over 215 feet wide. It has 22 restaurants, 42 bars and lounges, theaters, an ice rink, and a zip line.

Like, who has an ice rink in a boat? Like, what is that all about? But anyway, just like James said, this like a rudder is small in comparison to the ship. That is huge, but in comparison to the ship, it's small. It's not that big, and it turns that ship wherever the ship needs to go.

And in a similar way, the tongue is just small, just this little part of our our body, but consider what it can do. Verse five. In the same way, the tongue's small and makes grand speeches, but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. Isn't that the truth? And we know it very well living in this region here in the Mountain West, and it becomes become so dry and there are wildfires everywhere.

You know, all it takes is just a small tiny spark. And think about the damage like we were we were down let's see, where we had we were headed toward Pinedale, and as you're going through Pinedale through that canyon, you still see the evidence of a forest fire. How many years ago was that now? That was a while ago. And you're like, that's a lot of damage.

A lot of damage. In the similar way, a small tongue this little thing can do a lot of damage. Like, take gossip for example. Just gossip. And it can seem harmless.

So and so blah blah blah blah blah.

Right? But it's not. Like, it can brand someone for the rest of their life. Because of a little, just a and ruin a reputation. Even if it's not true.

All because of this little, this little thing right right here. Verse verse six, James says, and the tongue is a flame of fire. It's a whole world of wickedness corrupting your entire body. It can set your life on fire for it's set on fire by hell itself. That is that is strong.

That's a strong statement there. People have tamed all kinds of wild animals, but who beside the Lord can tame the tongue? And I'm going back to the resurrection because really, it's resurrection power. The same power that raised Christ from the dead gives life to these mortal bodies including this little mouthpiece right here. Check out nine and ten.

This appeals to our our logic and our reason here. Sometimes it praises God, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. It does. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, brothers, this shouldn't be.

And we all know it. And our and our conscience says so. The Holy Spirit says so. Blessing and cursing shouldn't come out of the same mouth and and and yet it does. Fresh water, fresh and bitter water don't come out of the same well.

They just don't. A fig tree, it doesn't produce olives, it produces figs. A grapevine, it doesn't produce figs, it produces grapes. Our good words, excuse me, good words don't come from an evil heart. I think that's kind of where he's getting at.

Jesus says this in Luke six, a good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. An evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. So, I should be more specific tonight to say, it's not just about this little mouthpiece right here. What we're storing in our hearts is what comes out of our mouth and controls this little mouthpiece.

So it's deeper. The deeper underlying issue is this is a heart issue of what we're storing in our hearts. Because eventually, it's gonna come out. It it it will come out. And it comes out in our actions.

And what we the the things that we say and the things that we do. Which is why I I love verses like this. I think Philippians is a great place to turn to and to meditate on. Paul says, fix your thoughts on what's true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Think about those things because the things that we meditate and think on, they go to our heart. What comes out of our heart, comes out of our actions. So, I would ask us tonight, what are we thinking about? What are we meditating on? What are we taking in?

What are we soaking in? What do we listen to from day to day? I can tell you for me, it makes a profound impact on me. I'm not exempt. I am not exempt.

If I'm listening to things that are negative, awful, rude, dark, it affects me. It just does. And, some things I'm just like, I can't. I just can't. I'm not strong enough.

Proverbs, it says, guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life. Guard that heart. Guard that heart because what you store in there, what we store in there then comes out our mouths and our actions. And, as we yield our will to God, as we yield our will to God, that's where he molds our hearts. He transforms our speech into a life giving fountain.

I like that. So again, this is more than, hey, we should say nicer things to each other. Like, it's it's more than that. It's deeper than that. You know, yes, this is true.

We should be nicer to each other, but it begins with what we store in our hearts because from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And I think an honest prayer is, God, fill this heart with you. Fill this heart up with you. Fill fill with what's true from you, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, and excellent, and worthy of praise because without it, this tongue, it truly is a wildfire. And I know it from experience.

I've said things that I wish deeply I would have never said before. I can't do this without you God. I'm trusting. I'm gonna turn yesterday to the definition of repentance. I think Packer, this is kind of another way of saying to that.

It's turning from all that I know of sin, with all that I know of myself, to all that I know of God. And God can work with a broken spirit and a repentant heart. God works best with a broken spirit and repentant heart. Look at Psalm 51. He won't reject a broken spirit and a repentant heart.

One more verse from Romans eight eleven, as we seek to put this into practice because that's the goal. Right? We wanna practice this. We wanna be doers of the word, not just hearers. And here's let's remember this, the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies, our mortal bodies, including this little mouthpiece right here. So that it can become a life giving fountain. God, the Holy Spirit stands ready to change and transform. He just he does. And, that's what I'm so encouraged about Easter.

It's the same message. The message haven't changed. The characters have not changed. And, it still works. It will always work.

It will always work. It'll work if we work it. So, including our speech. So, those are just a few thoughts tonight from James. So, that being said, I would like to open it up.

Don't be intimidated, there's a microphone just so people can hear that are watching online. But if there was a word of encouragement from James, something that was meaningful to you from this text and you'd like to share it, we've got a microphone that we can pass it around a little bit. And if you don't, that's fine too. You can let it pass. But I'll just give a minute to if there was a word of encouragement from it.

You tell people to be slow to speak, Carl.

True. So do we just sing now? I mean, come on. But really, was there anybody? You've got one?

To

me, the one thing that really stood out is not only what we say, but what we're thinking. And I think you talked about that when you talked about what's what are our words and actions doing because in the in this life and in the chaos that we're in right now Mhmm. It's so easy to pass that judgment and so easy to not have those great thoughts. Don't know for me that's one of my biggest struggles is how do we work through and be loving all the time when things are hard.

It is. I was looking back to see if I could fix your thoughts on what is. Because I I could just put that on the screen. We could look at that all night. Any other thoughts?

Thank you for sharing.

So the fix your minds on these things was from Philippians four?

Yes.

And it was it's right there before I can do all things. Right? We tend to think I can do all things as the power team at some big wrestlers tearing phone books in half that was at least in the nineties that was a big deal. But it's it's really not about being able to do any physical feat. It's about actually if you concentrate and you fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable.

Think about these things that are excellent and worthy of praise. That is immediately preceding the I can do all these things. It's it makes a difference. Input is output. It's it's what you put into your minds.

And I can tell the difference too just like you said, I can tell the difference into what I'm feeding into the system by what starts coming out of my mouth. I've been filling up my mind and my heart and it starts to overflow. And when it overflows and it's something that's vile and I think I don't recognize that, that's not well, I've been listening to it, I've been putting it in. It's a lot harder to be peaceable and to speak peace in life when what you're putting in is angry aggravation news, mayhem all the time. And it just doesn't it doesn't tend to be our first response.

I had something else. Yes, if way it went up, it's not doesn't seem to be coming back either. Does anybody else have anything right here, right now? Yep. Here we go.

Guys are probably like, here she goes again. It reminded me of the book of Matthew. Book of Matthew, let's see. Chapter what? Chapter 26 verse verse 73.

And a little while and a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, you real you really are one of them since you even your accent gives you away. So so Peter was one of his followers. Right? And following Jesus, he talked different. And I can say just for me, when I started to really get into into the book and into the word and really finding out who Jesus was.

I almost felt bad. I didn't wanna curse anymore. It was almost like he was changing who I was. So it just brought me to that. And, also, guilty.

I definitely have said things that I shouldn't have said, and I've said it during a time where I'm angry. Right? When we get angry, of a sudden, we lose track of what it is, and and we can't hold back. And everything that I feel is what I'm gonna say. And even if it hurts your feelings, even the better, you know, which is why I think that we should really calm down slow be slow to speak and really take the time to process that and take a moment for that.

Because if we let our anger get to us, we'll say things that later on we'll be like, was it was that even me? That's bad. And I feel so bad for saying the things that I said. So, yes, guilty could definitely relate. Yeah.

That's it. Yep.

Alan, you got Yes, a

thank you. It's not only what we say, it's what we think and what we watch. And I'm thinking about every time we turn on the television, we are being bombarded by things that are less than worthy and things that are quite harmful even. So we have to control not only our thoughts, but what we let come into our thoughts because it's hard to sit back and watch the news, let's say, and see what's happening without letting it affect us. But we can do that.

We can turn off the TV. We I probably should

agree with you. I am not exempt. Like I Things do affect me. They do. And I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

And there's times where I got to turn it off. Thanks for sharing that. I think that's right. And I think it reminded Ray of something that he was gonna finish.

So it was earlier in the book of James where he talks about a double minded man or double minded person is unstable in all of their ways. And I think this points back to that too is the good and bitter water don't come out of the same well. Well, if they're both coming out of the same well, it's an evidence of your double mindedness and of your instability. And so to find yourself and and recognize that, hey, I am unstable. My rudder is is trying to turn two different directions at once and it's gonna snap.

I've gotta choose this day, right, who I'm gonna serve and I'm gonna what I'm gonna feed and then go after that. So double mindedness. Lord, forgive us when we are trying to think of both at the same time. Selfish, fleshly, carnal thoughts and spiritual, heavenly thoughts of blessing. God, we wanna do the latter, not the former.

Forgive us, Lord, when we fall short. Pray, Lord, in Jesus name and by that same power that raised Jesus from the dead that you can change the way that we think, change the way that we react, and change the way that we speak. May our words draw people into relationship with you. May we be winsome and helpful and godly. In Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen. Amen. Should we sing together? A song about what Jesus does. Turns graves into gardens, bones into armies, seas into highways.

He's the only one who can.

I searched the world, but they couldn't fill me. Bands and some praise And every desire

is now satisfied

here in love. Oh, there's nothing better than I'm not afraid because you're in my weakness, my failures and flaws. Lord, you've seen them all. You still call me friend. Who's the God of my soul?

Who's the God of the valley? You turn on into dancing. You give beauty for I shake. You turn shame into glory for the only one they can. You turn graves into God.

Turn bones you, lord. There's nothing better than you, There's nothing

I have a little closing verse here. If any of you lacks wisdom, we do lack wisdom and God is ready to give it generously to all without finding fault and it will be given. Amen.