So do you know how to juggle? You know, I've tried a number of times but, but things just keep getting out of hand. No, thank you. It took a little longer. You juggling anything right now. Got, got too much on your plate, having a hard time trying to keep up with things. Well, hopefully today will, will help you in a direction that helps with all of the juggling. We begin a new series today called Fresh Air. And what we're going to be doing is focusing for the next five weeks on one of the most important set of muscles that you have. Now, this isn't going to be a sweat until the oldies video. All right, this is going to be very specifically a focus on the group and set of muscles known as the tongue. We're going to be looking in the Bible at James. James chapter three. And what we're going to discover in James chapter three is James is going to be dealing with the concept of taming the tongue and of all the things that you may be juggling in life. There is very little that is more important than the juggling, the need of taming the tongue. What does that even mean? Well, think of it this way. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me. That's right. Of course, that's a lie. Right. I mean, that's, that's not true because words hurt. My guess is all of us have had a moment with a family member or friend. Maybe even a stranger that cut us off in traffic where, where words hurt, words do hurt. Words can even kill. What did the crowds shout that Jesus crucify him. Words can, can kill, they can hurt, they can break, they can break lives, they can hurt and they can hurt for a long time. The air is full of words all around you is full of words, the air around your house, the air around, work the air waves in your car full of words. And where do all those words come from? Will they come from the mouth? And the tongue is that set of muscles that either strikes the teeth or strikes the roof of your mouth to help make sure that those words come out. So what James is going to do is he's going to help us engage with the kind of words that are coming out. What are the, the words that we are using to fill the air around us? And what he's going to do is he's going to help us to engage with this concept of taming the tongue. Because again, one of the most important things that we need to be juggling in life of all the important things we juggle is the taming of the tongue because it is the taming of the tongue that can truly change the air around us. So how can we add some fresh air into the world? Well, let's find out our message today is called perfect words. We're going to be looking in James chapter three beginning in verse one. This is what James says. Verse one, do not become teachers in large numbers. My brothers since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment. In other words, there shouldn't be a lot of teachers generally speaking and, and that's true of, of any church really. There's not going to be a whole lot of Bible. There may be a lot of people who are teaching but, but there's not going to be a whole lot of Bible teachers and James says he goes because the more there are that, that could be a danger zone because you may be having a lot of people that really don't need to be teaching. And the warning here is that there's a stricter judgment for those who will teach. Look, there's a lot of important things that happen in the life, the church. But from Jesus to Paul, to Peter, to the psalmist to James, there is an elevation of teaching when it comes to the most important work in the life of the church. There's something about the truth that comes from God that must be taught consistently. And it is the truth found in the Bible that has to be the primary focus of the teaching ministry of the church. Why when the letter to the Hebrews, it says this Hebrews chapter four verse 12 for the word of God is living and active. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a dead book that we're focusing on today. The word of God is living and active. It goes on to say this sharper than any two edged sword even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. That's, that's a book right there. It's been said that the Bible, unlike any other book in history is the only book that consistently and constantly transcends every border, every language, every culture. Again, contrary to what we hear in, in modern media and modern philosophy, the Bible was extremely relevant 1000 years ago. It's just as irrelevant right now. And if Jesus tear it will be relevant 1000 years from now, the truth contained in the Bible is unlike any other truth, we find anywhere else. Because if you're not a Christian, you need the truth of the Bible to be rescued and saved, saved from sin, saved from being separated from God. In other words, saved from being separated from all that's good and holy. And happy and satisfying forever. And if you are a Christian, you need the truth of the Bible to be renewed and stirred, stirred to be more and more and more like Jesus. We need the truth found in the Bible. We need a focus when it comes to the teaching of the church. The primary resource is the truth that we find in the Bible. From the pulpit to the choir loft, to the nursery, to every life group that meets on Sunday morning or Wednesday night or other times during the week, we need to make sure that the truth of the Bible is of utmost importance. Why? Because it's living and active and if you are a teacher, a preacher or a ministry leader, you really, really, really have to believe this. Why? Well, James says that there is stricter judgment for those who teach. So if we're teaching without the truth of the Bible, that's, that's not a great thing. Ron Daniel said this to teach poorly is to rob God to teach wrongly, is to misrepresent God as a teacher. You are telling God's people what God's word says. And that is a huge responsibility and that's for any teacher. And it is especially true for this guy right here, Jeff Thomas pastored the same church in Wales for more than 50 years. And he said this, the potential for misleading others is far greater from the man in the pulpit than from any in the pew. What happens in the pulpit of, of any church anywhere is extremely important because for a church that claims Jesus Christ, it has to be the truth of God's word. One day Jesus was teaching and, and he said that if you're a preacher or a teacher and you foolishly or casually or purposefully hinder people from hearing the truth of the Bible, you will be held accountable. And the language he uses is you'll be held accountable severely. James says strict judgment that that judgment comes. So if you have responsibility for teaching the Bible is, it's not a guilt trip. It's, it's a, it's an expression of mercy. If you've been given responsibility in a local church of, of teaching the Bible to any group of people, then please take it serious for the good of your own soul. Take it serious for the good of the ears of those who are listening to you. Take it serious. Teachers don't wing it doing it be serious about God's word. But James is just talking about teachers and, and preachers here listen to what he says next in verse two. For we all stumble in many ways. You know what preachers stumble and teachers stumble and, and people in the pew, they stumble and people watching at home, they stumble and doctors stumble and lawyers stumble and politicians stumble, parents stumble, grandparents stumble, James stumbled. We, we all stumble that none of us get a pass. We all stumble. Paul was writing to the church at Rome. And what did he say? He said for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all fall short. We all fail. We all make mistakes and here's the thing. We all fail and make mistakes in almost every area of life. And sometimes we make really big fails and big mistakes. We all stumble. We all struggle. Sometimes we stumble because someone has taught us the wrong thing about God and, and we ran with it. We just assume, hey, you know, he was in the pulpit on Sunday. This is what he said about God. I'm just automatically supposed to believe it. Mm mm No. You, you hold everything up in consistency with the word of God. When it comes to truth that you hear from the pulpit or truth that you hear teaching in a class or anywhere you hear someone speaking about God do not base it on tradition dangerous just because you may have heard it for 50 years. Doesn't mean it's true and don't base it on contemporary thought just because it's catchy and everybody thinks it sounds great, doesn't make it true. The only thing that's true is what is consistent with the word of God. So we continually hold things up, hold things up to the truth that are found in the Bible. So sometimes we stumble because someone teaches us something about God and it's wrong and we run with it. Sometimes we stumble and we don't need anybody's help. Do we? We, we stumble all on our own. We, we got it covered. We know how to stumble and why, why do we stumble? Why do we do this? Well, what's the line from the old famous hymn? John Newton said, what? Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a really, really nice guy like me. Now, he said that saved a wretch like me. You know why we stumble? Because we're scoundrels. All of us, we're, we're scoundrels. We, we're wretches. Now. Some of you just skow prickly with me. Not scoundrel. I'm not rich. I, I honored my parents when I was growing up. I raised my hand at B BS at summer camp. I prayed a prayer. I've been in the church but I, I'm not a scoundrel. Some people think, well, I'm, I'm not that bad of a person. Well, I'm not as bad as the people I saw in my news report last night. But the scripture tells us over and over again that we are sinners, that we are trespassers, that we are scoundrels and wretches and we're in need of being saved. And if you think you're not a sco if you think you're not a wretch, then undoubtedly you never say anything wrong because one of the quickest ways to make yourself or scoundrel or get yourself in trouble is by the words that you say, listen to what James says. Next verse two, if anyone does not stumble on what he says, he is a perfect man able to rein in the whole body as well. So if you don't sin with the words that you say, that means you're a perfect person, so we we'll show hands and by perfect this morning, any takers on that one, there is a little bit of encouragement in this idea of perfection. The original word that James is using for perfect here doesn't mean you never do anything wrong. The word he uses is is for spiritual maturity. So the idea is this, that as you grow in Christ, as you become more spiritually mature, you learn when to speak and when not to speak, you learn when you do speak what to say, like you measure your words a little bit and again, none of us are perfect. But part of spiritual maturity is as we grow closer to Christ, we, we begin to think different, we begin to talk different. So if we use that definition of spiritual maturity, not perfection, like you never do anything wrong. If we use the definition of spiritual maturity, then I can honestly say I've known a few people in my life that, that they're pretty close to perfect that they're the kind of mature Christians, they know when to speak and they know when not to speak, they know when to be silent and they know when not to be silent. They're the kinds of people that are quick to direct people's attention to who God is toward God's ways and, and God's philosophies instead of just spouting off their opinions about everything in the world or, or their philosophies or their criticisms or whatever it may be. They're the kind of people, they use their words to encourage other people that they use their actions to honor other people. If you were here yesterday for Mr John Bird's funeral message, that was pretty consistent thought, right? That Mr John was a man who was an encourager. He used his words to encourage. So if you're professing Christian, here's, here's some words that will move us toward this concept of what it means to speak. Well, what it means to quote unquote, be perfect to be spiritually mature. And it comes from Paul Ephesians chapter four verse 29. This is what he says. Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth again. The the original language here, the word that Paul uses for unwholesome means rotten or decayed. And when you combine that with the tense of the verb in this sentence, what Paul is saying is stop it, stop, stop, stop. If you are going to follow Jesus, stop letting all of those rotten words come out of your mouth. So what's a rotten word? What's an unwholesome word? Here's, here's just some to consider offensive language would be something that's unwholesome, crude jokes would be something that's unwholesome, gossip, slander, grumbling, complaining, whining unnecessary criticism, rude comments about other people, bragging, lying, mocking others, speaking harshly, speaking too quickly and speaking too much. Find anything in your size in that list. I mean, we all have something there, there's something from that list that all of us have jumped into even just this week. The dictionary says the word unwholesome is a word that is detrimental to someone's physical mental and moral well being. So if we're using unwholesome words, we are being detrimental to someone's physical mental and moral well being. So let me just offend all of us and hurt us for a minute, all of us at some time or another. This week, we've used some rotten unwholesome words. You know why? Because we're scoundrels, we're wretches, we're sinful. Now, granted, some of us are saved, scoundrels, right? We're redeemed wretches. We, we've received amazing grace, but, but we're still sinful. And so those rotten words, they, they still come out and Paul saying, stop it, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop letting all those rotten words come out all the time. We, we can't do it perfectly. But, but he says, man, put rein that thing in and, and start talking in a completely different way and what's that different way? Listen, continue in verse 29. But if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, great word edification, it's the opposite of unwholesome edifying words are the kinds of words that instead of being detrimental, they are beneficial for the physical, mental and moral, well being of other people. So if you're a believer, then, then you're going to be an edifying person, your, your words are going to be more edifying than, than unwholesome. It's the very nature of what it means to know Christ. So if we really want to press this a little bit, you may say, well, you know, how do you know if you're a Christian? Well, what kind of words do you use? I mean, again, we're not perfect but, but do you use more rotten words or more redeeming words? Do you use more unwholesome words or, or more edifying words? Do you use more foul words or, or more faith words and to take it just a step farther? What kind of words would your family and friends say that you use? Ouch, right? So it's a, it's a good evaluator to say how, how do I talk? Because Paul says, look, you need to take good words of edification for that moment. And then what do you do with them? Listen to the last part of verse 29? Say that so that it will give grace to those who hear those may be my, my two favorite words in all of the Bible. Say that. Oh, good. Yeah. Say that. Yeah. Did you, did you find a good word? An encouraging word? An affirming word, something that brings grace into someone's life. Yep. Say that, say words of grace. Don't say rotten words. Stop, stop saying the art and words and start saying the redeeming words start saying words of, of grace. Now again, even a mature Christian is not going to do this perfectly but the very nature of what it means to keep following Jesus Christ just as a practical example. So, you know, I've been a Christian now for about 40 years. I should have less rotten words than I did 40 years ago. Now again, I'm a pretty sinful guy. I've had some rotten words this week. Ok. But, but I should have less. It shouldn't be the pattern of my life. You know, if all my friends in high school knew that I was, you know, just a jerk that was always spouting off the rotten words, you know, hopefully 40 years later they wasn't. Yeah, same old down, you know, ho hopefully something's different. The very nature of what it means to, to follow after Christ is, is that our, our words would change. Now, if we're honest, this sounds impossible. Right? And it does, like, in some ways we're almost, it's a little bit of a guilt trip in our mind. Oh, gosh, I gotta start saying the right thing. And then also like, well, I can't do that, forget it. But, but the impossible is, is not impossible and, and you know how things can change, you know, how we can start moving in a different direction by constantly putting our heart before God. No, not our mouth, but our heart. You see whatever the mouth says, whatever the tongue, the set of muscles that make up the tongue or are doing to strike the teeth and the roof of the mouth to get those words out. All of it is coming from the heart. Someone used the, the picture of a, well, to describe this. It'd be like if you went to a well, you got a bucket and you got a rope and you lowered the bucket down to the very bottom of the well, filled the bucket up with water, brought it back up, took a swig of the water and it was bitter. I mean, just gross. And you look at the bucket and the rope and go gosh, y'all terrible. It's all the buckets fault. It's all the ropes fault. I can't believe y'all brought me this, this terrible waters. It's your fault. That'd be foolish, right? Because the bitter water came from the heart of the, well, the bucket and the rope. They, they were just the carriers. They, they were just the messengers. The same is true. Whatever comes out of our mouth, the mouth and the tongue is just a, a carrier. It's just a messenger of what's going on in the heart. So how does that play out? Well, the math is, is not hard, bitter words are coming out of a bitter heart. Angry words are coming out of an angry heart. Impatient words are coming out of an impatient heart. Arrogant words are coming out of an arrogant heart, complaining words are coming out of a complaining heart, the mouth and the tongue. They are the messengers of what's happening in the heart. But the tongue and the mouth will have to be all bad. But they can, they can bring good words too, right? Because kind words come from a kind heart, encouraging words come from an encouraging heart, joyful words come from a joyful heart. Thankful words come from a thankful heart. King Solomon said this in Proverbs 4 23 keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life, the issues of life, they all come from the heart, all the issues of life, whatever issue you want to bring up it, it comes from the heart. So if there's any issue in life, it's coming from the heart comes from the heart of the president of the United States and it comes from your heart. Y'all are no different. We are no different. If there are issues in life, they come from the heart. The issues that are happening in the world are coming from the heart, they're not coming from outside, they're coming from inside Jesus was clear about this on multiple occasions, the whole of the Bible is clear on this. If there are issues in life. They come from the heart. So it is super important that we put our hearts before God. Super important that we watch our hearts because all the issues of life come from there, including our words. Anybody ever had your mouth washed out with soap? Just me. Come on. Are you? Thank you. I need a couple of hands. Thank you. I think maybe two or three times. I mean there may have been more. I don't know. And, and, and why did my mom wash my mouth out with soap? You know why? Because I sing her. Mhm Yeah. And what was she trying to accomplish with that bar of ivory soap? She was trying to teach me one thing. Watch your mouth, watch your mouth. That, that's what Jesus and James and Paul and Peter and, and Solomon and, and so many others that wrote God's Truth down. They're saying the same thing, hey, watch your heart and watch your mouth. They, they're together, they're, they're working together. Watch your heart because it's your heart that will determine the words that you're sharing in the air. What I say matters and what you say matters and you know, we could also say this in this day and age. It's not even what we say that matters. We don't have to say anything and we can still say something, right? You can text and post and comment and repost in such a way that you're, you're saying stuff without using words, but you're using words. So whether you're saying them or texting them, emailing them, posting them, writing them, typing them, whatever our words, matter what we say matters, you know, juggling things involves throwing them up in the air. Right? So what kind of words are you throwing up in the air? Are you throwing up? More rotten words in the air or more redeeming words in the air? I think we can all agree that in this day and age around the world, there's a lot of rotten words in the air. There's a a lot of negative words in there. There's a a cloud covering of unwholesome, rotten negative words. I was reading something last week about how God works in his kingdom through Christians. And it said God very strategically make sure that all of us as Christians are put somewhere where we have a few assignments in a sphere of the world. And among our few assignments in the sphere of the world, we are supposed to use those assignments to bring words of grace into that area of the world. So what are your few assignments? What assignments has God given you? Where are your spheres of influence? And when you consider those things, what what kind of words are you throwing in the air of those areas? John Bloom said this God calls us to live counter to our hair tongue trigger culture in a world where rapid fire information rapid fire commentary, rapid fire counter commentary are continually igniting raging forest fires of words, the sons and daughters of God are called to be fire quenching peacemakers. Now, I will say that does not sound popular in conservative Christian America. Peacemakers does not even seem to be on our radar if you listen to the sound bites and yet the whole of the Bible calls us to be fire quenching. Peacemakers don't be confused, not stupid, silly worldly peace. But the peace that brings hearts into a right relationship with God. The peace that can only come through Jesus Christ. That's a bold message. It's not a fuzzy message. It's, it's a bold message but the sons and daughters of God, we are called to be fire quenching peacemakers. That's not always easy. So, is there something that can help us? Yes, there is. And it all comes from remembering juggling but not our juggling Marvin Olasky for more than 50 years has been a journalist, an editor and author, a teacher and a couple of years ago, he wrote an article titled How To Brave the news, reading headlines through Psalms. And I love what he said in that article. We can read the headlines without spending time dwelling on the details of incidents over which we have no control. By the way, most incidents in the news, we don't have control over. We can read the headlines without spending time dwelling on the details of incidents over which we have no control. Why? Because He says, God keeps an infinite number of balls in the air, but most of us can handle just one or two. We need to concentrate on what we must juggle and not what will cause us to drop our specific responsibilities. So just, just the one or two. What are your one or two assignments from God? What are your one or two spheres that, that God has opened up for you? Where are your one or two places that you can bring words of grace? Can't bring them to 1000 places, but you can bring them to, to one or two places. So what are your assignments? What are your spheres? Where are your places? And how in all of that? Can you not only bring words of grace but how can you be the kind of son and daughter of God that puts out fires with the peace of Christ? Whatever your assignments are where your places are, watch your heart and watch your mouth. Why? Because we are having an influence. We are filling the world with words. We're filling the, the air up with words and no matter what unwholesome, rotten negative words may find it in the air of your house or the air of your church or the air of your work or the air of your school or the air waves in your car, no matter what rotten words you may hear, you can always know this, that God is juggling an infinite number of things because He is the one true, infinite sovereign God. And that's good news because whatever he juggles, he'll never drop, make no mistake. And let your heart know this today, that, that one infinite sovereign God. He's got the whole world in his hands and everything. And everyone will try to convince you that's not true. Every headline, every news report, every pundit commentary will try to convince you that's not true. Every health scare every death. Every argument in your family. Every time your spouse fails you or your kids rebel, those things will, will try to tell you that. That, that isn't true but dear Christian, he's got the whole world in his hands. Say that, say that.