What do children learn? Is it what they listen or what they
see? Is it not what they see? Yes, they do learn from their parents, not what
they anxiously say but what they exercise and practice in handling the lives in
the midst of pressures and stresses. Parents do not say something terribly
wrong or harmful but definitely something beneficial and helpful and necessary
for their children. However, we know that we cannot catch up doing everything
what we say. Knowing and saying things good and necessary are right and we
should do it. But faith without deeds is dead, says the Scripture. Saying
without deeds is empty and going nowhere. We know that it is easy to say and
difficult to do. Maybe saying is from brain but doing is from heart. Maybe
saying is from hollow knowledge but doing is from deep understanding on what we
are. The human body is designed and made by the Creator God. It is beyond our
understanding how it is developing and functioning in perfection and harmony. Internal
and external organs are working and operating together, seamlessly supporting
and being supported each other. Apostle James gives insight what to do with our
tongue which is used to say things. It is so significant for teaching preachers
to learn how to use tongue because saying without deeds is empty and dead and
because those who teach will be judged more strictly. It is significant to bear
the good fruits of deeds for all man in Christ because we have been made to
reap the harvest of righteousness.
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow
believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We
all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect,
able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of
horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an
example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are
steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the
tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a
great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a
world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the
whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All
kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have
been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless
evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and
with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the
same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and
sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt
spring produce fresh water.” (James 3:1-12)
How do we not only say but do what we say? If only anyone
who is never at fault in what they say! But words we speak will catch up on us
soon or later that we are at fault. There is one small organ that controls the
whole body. Tongue that is. Humans communicate with language, expressing
emotions, reasons, and thoughts. Strangely enough, all race picks up the bad
language first. Cain expressed his feelings by murdering his brother Abel. No one
taught him to harm, nor to kill. Indeed, humanity is under pressure and stress.
Out of frustration and defeated depression, men express hurts and wounds with
the words of curse. See that what we are saying is coming from what we have in
mind and heart. “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the
heart, and these defile them.” (Matthew 15:18) Our Lord Jesus continues, “For
out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft,
false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with
unwashed hands does not defile them.” (Matthew 15:19-20) What we have inside is
what we say with our tongue.
How can we tame the tongue? Is it possible? The tongue
though it is small cannot be tamed. “It is a fire, a world of evil among the
parts of the body,” says James. “It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole
course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. It is a
restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Something has terribly gone wrong in our
humanity since the fall of Adam. As God said, “when you eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil you will certainly die,” it had exactly happened
to Adam who ate it. He died not physically but spiritually. He was lost and
fallen in relating to God, so he hid himself from God who appeared in the
Garden in the cool of the day. The intimate and holy relationship to God has
been fatally broken in mankind. That is the effect of disobedience, spiritual
death which has been running throughout all humanity. One tragedy after
another, the history stands and testifies. Killing, annihilation, genocide, revenge,
anger, hatred, feud, resentment, exclusion, clique, dissension, abuse are
wildly and widely rampant and found in every corner of human society, even in
the intimate family circles. What has critically gone wrong in our humanity is
called sin, trespass, or failure. Although even the wild animals can be tamed,
the sinful nature of humans cannot be. It is incurable no matter what. No human
efforts like the United Nations are avail when it comes to the proud mind of
man.
It is the reason that God gave the Law through his servant
Moses. The Law truly reveals what we are in truth and reality. The Scripture says,
“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the
law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable
to God.” (Romans 3:19) We are silenced and humbled before the Law of God
because it is exactly what we are. We have nothing to defend ourselves. We are
still being loved and cared by the Creator God and yet failing to meet the law
requirements at all. More profoundly and even unbelievably, we are inherently incapable
of not being deceived by the cunning and crafty evil which has infiltrated into
human race since Adam’s fall. “I found that the very commandment that was
intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity
afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to
death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and
good.” (Romans 7:10-12) We intend to be good and kind in obedience to God, but
we cannot. Seizing the opportunity, the devil provokes our pride deeply hidden
inside, not for the good but for the complete wreckage and defeat. He is a liar
and the father of all lie and murderer from the beginning. As Apostle Paul
cries out, we too cry out.
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body
that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:24)
But that is not the end of story. When we get to the bottom
of what we are, realizing and admitting the fact that we are incapable of doing
good even if desperately wanting to, the true rescuer is in charge and control
and delivers us from the misery and depression. He is our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
is triumphantly relieved by the rescuer and his powerful deliverance. “Thanks
be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in
my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of
sin. Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and
death.” (Romans 7:25-8:2) We do not want to say cursing with the same mouth that
is for saying praise. The good news is that in Christ we have a way to say
praise and not to say cursing. In Christ, we have a way to obey the law wholly
and perfectly. The way our Lord Jesus demonstrated before us is to go through
the cross of Calvary. It is the way of shame, pain, suffering, humiliation,
punishment, and death. There is no reason for the Lord Jesus to die. He died in
our place for our sins and transgressions. He died for the sin of the world as
the ransom sacrifice, so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. Jesus was hurt and wounded for us, so that we may be healed
as Prophet Isaiah foretold. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and
by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) It is the way of living for all
humanity in Christ Jesus the Lord. It is the way of God to bring back his own people
and made and elected before the time began.
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it
by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But
if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast
about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is
earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition,
there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from
heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full
of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap
a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:13-18)
True wisdom and understanding come from heaven, pure, peace-loving,
considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. The
good life can be shown by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. The
humility that bears good fruits is that of Christ. He demonstrated what the
humility is. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being
found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even
death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8) Christ became nothing but a man like us
born of a woman and humbled himself like a criminal and died on a cross in
obedience to the Father whose will was to crush the Son for the salvation of
the world. That is the way to live a fruit-bearing and reaping the harvest of
righteousness. There is no other way. Following the footsteps of our Lord Jesus
Christ is the way now and forever.
“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples
and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up
their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it,
but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good
is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can
anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of
them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels." (Mark
8:34-38)
July 28, 2017
© 2015-2017 David
Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
