How Do You Want To Be Known?

Hey, take your device or your Bible. Go to James chapter three. James chapter three. Stand to honor the word of God this morning as we read beginning in verse two from James chapter three. And if you love the word of God, come on, say amen.

Here we go. James chapter three beginning in verse two. If you don't have your Bible or device, we always put the verses on the screen so that you can follow along with us. It says this. Indeed, we all make many mistakes.

Can anybody say Amen to that? But if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. 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. 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 among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. 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. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and fish.

But no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Let's make some declarations. Church, before you're seated. Even those watching us online.

Everybody together. Ready, go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.

And I am confident of this that he who has begun a good work in me will complete it in Jesus name. Hey, do me a favor before you're seated. We have men and women that are incarcerated in prisons all over America that every single week are watching our services on the Pando app. Show them some love. Give it up for all of our friends there on the Pando app.

God bless you guys. Amen. You can be seated. Yeah. We're closing down our series and I've shared with you that I've preached messages.

I've been preaching for over 40 years. I've preached messages on the tongue, but I have never preached an entire series on the tongue until now. And this has been a five week series. This is the week five. We're closing the series out today.

I'm just curious how many of you have been here for all five weeks? All five weeks. Wonderful. We have a free car waiting on you out in the parking lot. For those of you that were here all five weeks, great job for you.

I've had so many people that have talked about what God has done in them as a result of taking these weeks and examining something that is so small but so powerful in our lives. And today, we're going to tackle an issue that has produced wars, confusion, insecurity, anger, fear, divorce, and a plethora of other harmful and destructive issues since the beginning of mankind. It's the issue of taming the tongue. Taming the tongue. This small but very powerful member of our bodies.

Now, throughout the series, we have talked about the dual power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, contained in the power of the tongue. We've talked about how you can use your tongue to hurt or to heal. You can use your tongue to encourage or to discourage.

You can use your tongue to build up or to tear down. You can use the tongue to build hope or to breed despair. Here's the thing that all of us need to be reminded of. We will be forever known by two things, our words and our actions. And it boils down to this one thing.

It's a question I want to ask you this morning. How do you want to be known? How do you want to be remembered? Somebody said, be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can only be forgiven, but not forgotten.

Now, back in the 1800s, there was a little boy born in Sweden. He was one of six. His name will be recognized by most of you. His name is Alfred Noble. Alfred grew up, education was a big part of their family, and Alfred became fluent in five languages.

Alfred's younger brother, Emil, was killed in a factory explosion on September 3, 1864. And because of that tragedy, Alfred threw himself into. Into the study of the safe usage of nitroglycerin. And he would go on to develop over 350 different patents around the world. Two of Alfred's older brothers had become very wealthy in the oil industry.

His brother Ludwig was one of the wealthiest people in the world. And in 1888, Ludwig died. Alfred found out about his brother's death because they didn't live in the same place. But Alfred was actually in Paris, France, visiting. And he picked up a local newspaper.

And in the local newspaper, he saw the obituary, learned of his brother's death through the newspaper. However, the obituary reported the death of the wrong brother.

Alfred read six words that some people say forever changed history. The words were la merchand de la mort est mortgage. Translated, the Merchant of Death is dead. The article went on to say that he had become wealthy by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before. The article was referring to the destructive power of dynamite, which was Alfred's most famous invention.

Now, he had designed it for civilian purposes. He designed it for construction and for mining. But Alfred was appalled. They published the wrong obituary, thinking that Alfred was the one who had died when it was his brother Ludwig. And Alfred decided in that moment, realizing, I'm going to be remembered for my actions and my words.

And Alfred decided, I don't want to be known as the merchant of death, and I've got to do something to change that. And so Alfred set out on a mission to make sure that whenever he died, he would not just be known as the merchant of death, he would be known for something even greater. And so he left 94% of his estate to form the Nobel Foundation. He created five annual prizes, one of which we all know is the Nobel Peace Prize, because Alfred was determined that he would not be known for death and destruction, but rather he would be known for peace. Three simple truths that I want to share with you.

If you're taking notes, and the notes are there on the app. And the first truth. Truth is this, that the tongue unveils the heart. The tongue unveils the heart. And we know that from Scripture, because Luke chapter 6, verse 45 says this.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart. And an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. Watch, for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. So we know whatever is stored up in our heart will eventually make its way to your mouth. And without having a tongue that is tamed, words will flow.

If there's good in your heart, good things will come out of your mouth. But if there's evil stored up in your heart, bad things will be released. That's why Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 23. The wisest man who ever lived wrote these words above all else. Guard your heart, for everything you do flows out of it.

Second truth, simple truth I want to remind you of today is that when your heart is unveiled, your character is revealed. When your heart is unveiled, your character is revealed. Now we know the statement, actions speak louder than words. Yes, but listen to me. Words speak first.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. You've probably heard a salesperson who will lie to you in order to make the sale or to get you to pay more. Is revealing a lack of character on their part. Listen to me, church. Consistency matters.

Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody here in this auditorium and watching online has said things that we regret. But if it's the norm, it says something about your character. If you consistently use your tongue for good, you'll be known as a person of integrity. You'll be known.

Why? Because when the heart is unveiled, your character is revealed. Romans, chapter 5, verse 3 and 4. The apostle Paul writes this. We also have joy with our troubles because we know that these troubles produce patience, and patience produces character, and character produces hope.

That word character in the Greek in the original language of Scripture is the word dokome. And it translates like this. Proof. Proof. Talk is cheap, but listen to me.

Character is proof of who you profess to be.

Character is proof of who you profess to be. I love the quote I ran across from Abraham Lincoln. He said, this character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it. The tree is the real thing.

Here's the third simple truth. The tongue exposes your level of spiritual maturity.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul is calling them. He's calling believers into spiritual maturity in different areas. And he says this in Ephesians 4, 14, 15. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.

We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way, more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Listen to me. You cannot grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord without also growing in your ability to control your tongue.

So let's pause right here for a moment. Let's say you've been serving the Lord for a decade. Hopefully you should have matured from the time and the point of salvation to the point where you are now. And if that's the case, if you've grown as a disciple of Christ, if you've really committed yourself to becoming more and more like Jesus, then that will also mean that you have gained more and more control your tongue, in other words, that you've learned more and more as you've matured in the things of God to tame your tongue, because you cannot grow deeper in your relationship with him without also growing in your ability to control your tongue. Now, let me just hit on something real quick because this is something that frustrates me to no end.

Supposed mature, seasoned believers nowadays think that they're displaying their maturity because of their freedom to use profanity.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Like, we've heard pastors from the pulpit, people on podcasts that are influential, people in the body of Christ that want to display their maturity and show how free they are in the Lord by using profanity. I really think the opposite is true myself. I think they're showing their immaturity, not their maturity when they do that.

Now, if you grew up and foul language was just a part of your household and you developed a habit before you received Jesus, where you were constantly using foul language and you're trying to grow in immaturity and you still have these slip ups where words come out because that's what was stored up for so long in your heart. That's one thing. And there's grace on the Lord's part. He doesn't want you to just say, well, you know, now that I'm saved, I have the liberty to use whatever foul language I want to use. That's not the case.

Paul makes it clear, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth except that which is good for edification and building other people up. He makes that clear. So as you mature in the things of God, that should become less and less, that should not be the norm for you. And if you slipped into the mentality of thinking, well, if I'm really mature in the Lord, then I have the freedom then to use profanity. That's not the case.

You should want to do that less. Now, here's the elephant in the room. We read it earlier in our text, verse 7 and 8. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. How many of you have been to the circus before?

Let me see your hand. Probably the most popular person at a circus, other than the ringmaster, is the lion tamer. And we've all seen where, you know, they would take the king of the beasts and they'd have him jumping through hoops of fire. They would have this gigantic lion with the full mane sitting up on a little stool while the lion tamer is cracking his whip. And, you know, it's pretty impressive.

But Paul says, or pardon me, the writer of James says, we contain wild animals. We contain beasts like the lion. But he makes it clear, nobody can tame the tongue. This little small member of the body that can be so deadly and so dangerous. Paul, the writer of James, says, nobody contained the tongue.

You can watch a dozen TED Talks, you can listen to podcasts from famous preachers. You can read books about self discipline. But the reality is nobody, no one, the new King James version says no man can tame the tongue. So here's the question. Does that just then give us a license to spew our opinions, our emotions, our profanities as freely as we feel to anybody within earshot?

That's what some people would argue. I beg to differ with that because I believe that that verse no one can tame the tongue is not a statement of defe, but it's a statement of dependence. Let me say that again.

The writer of James saying nobody can tame the tongue is not a statement of defeat. It doesn't give us a license to say, well, since nobody can tame the tongue, I give up trying and I can say whatever I want, whenever I want to whomever I want, and it's okay in the eyes of the Lord. No, it's not a statement of defeat. It's a statement of dependence. It's not a license to say whatever.

There's a recognition on our part that we cannot do it. And we have to depend on the person, the helper called the Holy Spirit. Are you with me? So we're going to get really, really practical. I want to give you 10 practical starters, 10 practical steps to taming the tongue to depending on the person of the Holy Spirit.

And I really want to challenge you that this issue of the tongue that we've been talking about now for five weeks is a big deal. And there's some people that are discouraged. They think I'll never break the habit of being critical or of using profanity or, you know, blowing my cool and my temper in front of other people, whatever it might be. So I'll focus on other things in my life. And I just want to remind you, and I want to help you as your pastor that the Holy Spirit can help you.

So don't just be apathetic or despondent or discouraged about the fact that you really struggle in this area. What I want you to do is depend on the Holy Spirit and say, this is a big deal. Because the Bible says that the tongue, this little small 2 ounce thing of tissue in our mouth, can set our whole life on fire. It's full of evil and deadly poison. It can do a lot of damage to ourselves and to the people around us.

Do you realize you can sabotage every relationship you have if you don't focus on taming your tongue? So it is a big deal. But praise God for the person of the Holy Spirit who comes alongside of us to help us and to enable us to do what we can't do on our own. So let me give you some very practical starting points. Number one, surrender daily to the help of the Holy Spirit and develop a relationship with Him.

We talked a few weeks ago. This is week two of this series. You can go back and watch any of these messages, listen to any of them, share them with other people. Week two, we talked about this thing called tongues, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can develop a relationship with him.

And some people think that's just weird. I didn't grow up like that. And I'm okay praying to God. I'm okay praying to Jesus, but praying to the Holy Spirit, that feels weird to me. That feels like I'm disloyal to God if I do that.

No, no, no, no. They are one and the same.

One and the same. You need to develop a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit. Call on him daily. Surrender to him daily and say, I cannot do this on my own and I need your help, Holy Spirit. Here's the second thing.

Fill your heart daily with God's word so that when you are under pressure, his word will flow out of you. I used this illustration some years ago, but if I had a container up here that was full of orange juice and a sponge and I had another container that was full of Dr. Pepper, one of my favorites, and I took a sponge and I dip it into the container of Dr. Pepper. When I squeeze it, milk is not going to come out. When I squeeze that sponge, water's not going to come out. If I dip the sponge in orange juice and I squeeze it, then we're not going to have Dr. Pepper come out.

Whatever you soak up, whatever you fill your life with when you're under pressure, that's what's going to flow out of you. It's the old term we use. It's a computer term. We used it during this series. Gigo.

Garbage in, garbage out, whatever you take in, whatever you fill your spirit with, whenever the pressure is on, that's what's going to flow out of you. Number three, acknowledge bad habits and weaknesses related to your unbridled speech. Let the Holy Spirit be that small bit in the horse's mouth that helps you. But it starts by you saying, man, this is a problem. Like, I've got an issue.

Like, I'm tearing everybody apart around me. Sabotaging relationships, using profanity when I shouldn't, being critical when I shouldn't. Number four, ask people around you to keep you accountable. That's the beauty of the body of Christ. If it's an issue, then go to somebody and say, man, I'm struggling with this.

I'm having a hard time with this. I need some accountability. Number five before speaking, ask yourself if what you're about to say is true, kind, or necessary. True, kind, or necessary. Just pause for a moment before you say what you're about to say and ask yourself those three questions.

Is it true? Is it kind of? Is it necessary? Number six Worship out loud. Worship out loud.

Use your tongue. We talked about the power of the declaration last week. Use your tongue to glorify God and do it out loud. Number seven Be generous with compliments. One word can change somebody's entire day, so just be intentional about that.

Be purposeful about finding reasons to compliment the people around you. Life flowing out of your tongue. Number 8 James 1:19.

It says this Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry. Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry. Number nine. Do more talking with your actions. James 1:14 16 what good is it, dear brothers, if you say that you have faith but don't show it by your actions?

Can that kind of faith save anybody? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing and you say, goodbye and have a good day. Stay warm and eat well. But then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

That's why I say do more talking with your actions. I believe it is true your actions speak louder than your words, even though words speak first. That's why we need to be slow to speak, very careful about what we say. Is it true? Is it necessary?

Is it kind? Let your actions speak. Let your actions reveal the character that's in your heart. Let your actions reveal who you really are. Here's number 10.

Pray daily for the character or the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians, Chapter six. When we see the fruit of the Spirit, that word translates character. What's the character of the Holy Spirit? Pray every day that the character of the Holy Spirit will be developed and evidenced in your words and in your actions.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, self control. Pray that the character of the Holy Spirit will be developed in your life so that it flows out of your mouth. Now, quick review. Quick review. Then we're going to pray.

In this series, I've taught you several things about the tongue. Number one, I've taught you that controlling the tongue begins by consecrating your heart. Controlling the tongue begins by consecrating your heart. Secondly, we talked about the principle of sowing and reaping that. It doesn't just apply to money, it applies to your words.

And I'm a firm believer that if you sow encouragement, you're going to reap that. If you sow kindness, you're going to reap that. If you sow love, you're going to reap that. But I believe the same thing is true. If you sow criticism, you're going to reap that.

If you sow anger, you're going to reap that. I believe the principle of sowing and reaping applies to your words. Number three. There is a heavenly language that is available to all believers. You just have to ask and then receive subsequent to salvation this experience called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I believe every single person here and every person watching online or those watching on the Pando app, I believe you're all candidates for the infilling and the power and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe all you have to do is ask. All you have to do is open yourself up and say, you know, I don't understand it all. Neither do I. I just know I need the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I know that Scripture clearly teaches there's an experience beyond salvation called the baptism of the Holy Spirit for believers.

Acts, chapter 2, Acts, chapter 9, Acts, chapter 10, Acts, chapter 19. All very clear examples of believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit. So I just encourage and challenge you. Ask, as the Bible says, he's a good father. If you ask him for bread, he's not going to give you a rock.

Like if you ask him for the Holy Spirit, his heart, his desire is to fill you. Number four, I've talked about the power of the Father's blessing. Just a couple of weeks ago on Father's Day, what's it mean to encourage? What's it mean to bless? What's it mean to call your kids together no matter what their age?

And to speak blessings over them, to use your tongue to call them into their destiny? Then number five, we taught last week. We handed out 10 daily declarations that I wrote back in 2010 that are available at the info desk. We ran out last week. I think they've ordered more.

If they're not there today, they'll be there next week. But I challenge you, I encourage you. Grab those daily declarations, put them on your bathroom mirror, put them on your dashboard, put them on your refrigerator, and every day make it a habit that out loud you declare the goodness of God, the power of God, who you are in Christ. I am a new creature in Christ, forgiven and free of shame and condemnation, washed by his powerful blood. I live by faith and not by sight or by feelings.

And my faith is rooted in the eternal word of God. And on and on, declaring over your life, over your family, over your business, over your grandkids, declaring the power of God.