James 3:1-2
~17 min read
SERMON OUTLINE
💠Consider this: You might not be an official teacher of the Bible, but you do have certain spiritual children whom you are influencing for better or for worse. What kind of impact do you think you are having on them?
TRANSCRIPT
I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning's message is taken from James 3: 1-2. Every one of us is prone to sin, but there are some sins that an individual may not be able to commit simply because he does not have the opportunity. For example, the bedridden person may be restricted from committing the physical act of adultery, or the person living in an isolated place may not be able to commit the sin of drinking alcohol or drug consumption, or the person who is in prison may not be out there to engage in all those sinful criminal activities. But there is a sin that everyone is capable of committing anywhere at any time. There are no limits to what an individual can say with his tongue. All a person needs to do is open his mouth, and the tongue is able to say all kinds of things that are wicked, perverse, deceitful, immoral, slanderous, blasphemous, foolish, gossip, lies, things full of hatred and anger, etc. There are no restrictions, no boundaries, or no limitations. The tongue can be used to say words of blessing as well as words of cursing, words of encouragement as well as words of discouragement, words to build up as well as words to tear down.
The tongue was of such great concern to James that it was mentioned in almost every chapter of his letter, especially here in chapter 3:1-2, whereby he devoted this entire section to deal with the tongue. Remember in the previous chapter, James was speaking about true faith and works, where he said, ‘show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith with my works’ (James 2:18). One of the clearest evidences of true saving faith is in the way a person speaks. If a person's inner man, the heart, is truly transformed by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, then his speech will also be transformed. Jesus himself said in Matthew 15:19, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." As one theologian rightly said, ‘a person's speech is a reliable measure of his spiritual temperature. It is the thermometer of his inner human condition’. If you want to know if a person is spiritual or not, hang around him long enough, listen to what he says, and you will be able to know.
Do you realise that the first sin committed after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden is a sin of the tongue? When God questioned Adam about eating the forbidden fruit, what did Adam do? Adam accused God with his tongue. He said God was indirectly responsible for giving him the woman, and it was the woman who gave him the fruit. We are all prone to sin with our tongues. Now take a moment and consider this: to sin with our tongues when we are alone or with one or two other persons is bad enough, but to sin with our tongues in public, especially when we are teachers of God's Word, the damage is immensely worse. The bigger the group, the greater the damage will be. Speaking for God as a teacher is a privilege, but it comes with a huge responsibility and accountability. This was the reason why James began this whole passage about the tongue with the teachers of God's Word. This is what we want to learn from these two verses. The title of our message is ‘A Warning to Want to Be Teachers.’
I. The Command
Our first point is ‘The Command’, beginning with verse one: "My brethren, be not many masters." Remember, James was writing this letter to the Jewish believers who were dispersed throughout the world outside of Palestine. He addressed them as ‘my brethren’ because they were believers. The word ‘masters’ means teachers. The phrase ‘be not many masters’ was a command. Here, James was not speaking about teaching in a general sense, like the believers are called to ‘go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.’ All the believers are to admonish one another, to teach one another, to encourage one another, to build one another up through the Word of God. He was speaking about the office of teachers. This principle may be applied to all those who are called to be teachers, whether it be preaching on the pulpit, to the children in the Sunday school, to the youth ministry, to the elderly ministry, or in a small Bible study group.
Why did James give such a command? Is the church not in need of teachers? Most certainly, the church will always be in need of teachers, but not just any teachers. We want the right teachers. Firstly, this command was given because not everyone is called to be a teacher. The office of teachers is not given to everyone. As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:28, "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers." Then he went on to say, "Are all prophets? Are all apostles? Are all teachers?" The answer is no. Only those whom God has specially called and set aside as teachers, and those whom God has called, He has given them the spiritual gifts of teaching. So, not everyone has the spiritual gift to teach. Those who have been blessed with the spiritual gifts to teach, God will equip them with the knowledge of His Word to preach and teach.
What happens when someone is not called, not blessed with the spiritual gift to teach, and yet still wants to teach? That person will not be used by God. Initially, he may appear to be teaching the truth of God's Word, but sooner or later he will expose himself by the way he lives his life because he will not apply what he teaches. Instead of building up the faith of the people, he will be a stumbling block to their faith. What happens when someone is not equipped with the knowledge of God's Word, and yet he still wants to teach? That person will bring all kinds of false teachings into the church. We see that happening all the time in many churches. The greatest danger is not from outside the church but from within the church, when people who are not called by God, not blessed with the spiritual gifts to teach, not equipped with the knowledge of God's Word, and yet still want to teach. Oftentimes, as teachers, they would have certain influences; people would gravitate toward them, and then they would draw these people away from sound biblical teachings.
Secondly, this command was given because of the wrong motivations to be teachers. The command "be not many masters" (James 3:1) implies that there are people who want to be teachers. But why do they desire to be teachers? You see, the original Greek word for masters or teachers was often used for rabbis. The title ‘rabbi’ means ‘the great one,’ and those people who were appointed that office were accorded the greatest respect. In those days, a person's duty to help the rabbi was considered greater than that to one's parents. It has been said that should a rabbi and one's father and mother be captured by the enemy, his duty was to ransom the rabbi first. It was considered a great charitable act when you host a rabbi and you provide for all his needs. The reason why the rabbis were accorded such great respect, even greater than one's parents, was because the people felt that one's parents only brought him into this world, but the rabbi would bring him into the world to come. In other words, a spiritual father was more important than a physical father.
These rabbis were often invited to teach at the synagogues, where they were given the platform to discuss certain topics, to resolve disputes, to answer difficult questions, to deal with the issues of life. They were known to be wise men. So, with this overwhelming respect attached to teachers, many people desired that office. Therefore, they made it their ambition in life to be teachers. Parents would want their children to be teachers. With this wrong motivation comes pride. They want to impress the people with their knowledge and understanding. Even if they may have the knowledge and understanding, their motivation is not for the edification of the believers or for the glory of God but to bring glory to themselves. They view the ministry as a place of competition. They will be jealous if others are better than them. They will be envious if other people's congregations are bigger than theirs. That is the root cause of strife, disunity, and division in the church. When you have the wrong people with the wrong motivation in the ministry, you have all these problems.
Here, James was not discouraging the people from teaching. If a person is genuinely called by God to teach, then he ought to teach. If a person is blessed with the spiritual gift to teach, then he ought to exercise that gift. If a person is given the talent to teach, he ought not to bury that talent. James was speaking about people who were not called, people who had those fanciful ideas about being teachers. Dear friend, do we have such people today? Most certainly, there are some people who want the respect, the authority, the title, the name to be called teachers, but they do not have a heart to do the Lord's work. We want teachers, but not just any teachers. We want the right teachers—people who are called by God, people who are blessed with the spiritual gifts to teach, people who are equipped with the knowledge of God's Word, people whose motivation is for one sole purpose: for the saving of souls, for the edification of the saints, for the glory of God. If we have that kind of teachers in our church, then Bethel will flourish spiritually. If otherwise, then the church will die.
II. The Reason
Next, James went on to speak about the reason why not everyone should presume to be teachers. Look at the second part of verse one: "Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." Notice James included himself by saying ‘we.’ In other words, even the Apostles were not exempted. Every teacher, without exception, would be subjected to greater condemnation, which means greater judgment.
The original Greek word for judgment is ‘neutral’; it can either be positive or negative depending on the context. But since James was warning the people, this judgment was used in a negative sense. Therefore, the King James Bible translated it rightly as condemnation. As believers, you and I will not stand before the great white throne judgment because all our sins are forgiven and washed away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. But we have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be judged for all our works. As 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
We may not lose our salvation, but the judgment will be great because it will be a great loss. Can you imagine everything we have done, if we have done it wrongly? If we are not called, if we are doing things contrary to God's Word, if our motivations are wrong, then everything we have done will be just like wood, stubble, and hay; they will be burned up. That would be a great loss. As teachers, whatever we say has a powerful spiritual influence on the people we are ministering to. It can affect their spiritual and eternal life, especially children. A word of exhortation to all those who are Sunday school teachers: children listen to you. They take every word you say as true. Everything you say, they take it as gospel truth. You must be careful with what you say and you must always point the children, the little ones, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Never point them to yourself. Remember, we are dealing with the souls of men, whether we are ministering on the pulpit to the congregation, to the elderly, to the youth, or to the children. We are dealing with the souls of men. Do you think God will not hold us accountable? Surely He will.
With responsibility comes accountability, and when the responsibility increases, the accountability also increases. If we teach the wrong thing and refuse to be corrected, if we do not want to learn to equip ourselves and yet we still want to teach, God will judge. God will not only judge what we say but even the motivation behind why we say what we say. If we teach to impress people, if we teach to earn the praises of men, we are men-pleasers. Men will not be able to see our hearts, but God knows our hearts. He will judge. If we do not prayerfully prepare our lessons and just watch television the night before and simply wake up on the Lord's Day and rush through the notes at the last hour, God knows. He will judge. If we just teach and do not apply what we teach into our lives, God will judge.
Recently, I was invited to preach at a church camp. During fellowship time, a visitor from another church shared with me about a particular minister. On the pulpit, he is so eloquent, so articulate with the Word, so knowledgeable. He is able to teach the people what to do, what not to do, how to live their lives. But off the pulpit, he is totally a different person. He does not live out the truth he is preaching. He does not say what he means or mean what he says. He is proud, he is arrogant. If what that person said is true, perhaps not just one person is affected; maybe many others were affected as well. Do you think God will not hold that particular minister, preacher, or teacher responsible for affecting the souls of His children? God will hold him responsible. He will face the greater judgment. As Jesus said, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48).
So to all those believers who desire to be teachers, who want to be teachers, in a sense James was saying, ‘Are you prepared to be strictly judged? Are you prepared to be strictly scrutinised by God? Are you prepared for that?’ Again, James was not discouraging the people from being teachers because the opposite is also true. If there is a greater judgment, there will also be a greater reward. If you are genuinely called and you have faithfully taught the Word of God, then your reward will be great. The New Testament describes our rewards as crowns, different kinds of incorruptible crowns. Incorruptible means it is not liable to death, it is not liable to destruction. Even when our Lord Jesus creates the new heavens and the new earth, it will still be there. It is incorruptible. For those pastors and elders who watch the flock faithfully, according to 1 Peter 5:4, there will be the crown of glory. For those who have true saving faith, according to 2 Timothy 4:8, there will be the crown of righteousness. For those who endure trials and temptations, according to James 1:12, there will be the crown of life. And for those who faithfully declare the Word, the teachers of God's Word, those who faithfully taught the Sunday school, those who faithfully ministered to the youth, those who preach from the pulpit, according to 1 Thessalonians 2:19, there will be the crown of rejoicing.
So perhaps there will be this crown of rejoicing awaiting you, but you must be faithful. All of us must be faithful in order for us to receive this great reward. James went on to say in verse two, "For in many things we offend all," which means we all stumble in many ways. We all sin in many ways. Remember, the context was about the tongue, and as teachers, we have to use our tongues to speak, and if we are not careful, we will easily sin in the things we say.
If any of us feel that he or she never has any issues with the tongue, well, think again. Consider some of the greatest saints in the Bible who have had troubles with their tongues. Allow me to quote some of them. Job was a great man whom God Himself said was blameless and upright. Yet Job said, "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth" (Job 40:4). In other words, ‘I will use my hand to cover my mouth lest I say anything unworthy.’ Isaiah was a faithful prophet of God, and yet he said, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5). Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth, and yet Psalm 106:33 said, ‘Moses spoke rashly with his lips.’ He was not careful with his words. Peter was the strongest of all the disciples, yet he opened his mouth and said things that he did not fulfill. Remember he said to Jesus, ‘Even if everyone were to deny you, I will never deny you.’ But later on, he denied the Lord three times (Matthew 26: 33-75). The list goes on and on. We all have troubles with our tongues. That is a reality.
Look at the second part of verse two: "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." The word ‘perfect’ does not mean sinless perfection. No man can be perfect like the way Jesus is perfect in speech or in any other way. Here, it is about spiritual maturity.
The believer who does not sin in his words gives evidence of a heart that has been transformed. He has been purified and sanctified by the Spirit of God. Such a believer is spiritually mature. That is what it means. A spiritually mature believer is also able to bridle his whole body. The word ‘bridle’ means to control, to restrain, or to keep in check. If he can control his tongue, which is susceptible to sin, which responds readily to sin without limit, then he will be able to control his whole body, everything else in his life. The reason why he is able to do that is because there's an inner transforming power in him. It is the wonder-working of the Holy Spirit.
All of us in this room would admit that it is extremely difficult not to sin with the tongue. Most of us tend to talk too much. Have you ever engaged in a conversation and, as you listen, though you keep quiet, in your heart you want to respond? You want to react, you want to speak your mind, but you know what you're about to say is not edifying. It is offensive, it is negative, it is sinful. In the past, you just spoke your mind. In the past, you couldn't care less. You would not care whether the person was hurt or not. But upon your conversion, all of a sudden, there's something that restrains you, something that stops you, something that keeps you in check and causes you to think, ‘I should not be saying this. It is not edifying, it is offensive, it is sinful. I should not be saying this.’ That is the transforming work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which enables you to know that some things are better off left unsaid. You better hold your tongue. This is the wonder-working of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit who helps us to hold our tongues. He is also helping us in everything else in our lives. That is why the one who is able to control his tongue is also able to control his whole body. Not that he's able, but because of the Holy Spirit. It is about a Spirit-filled believer.
If a teacher of God's Word is not able to control his tongue, he is always saying the wrong things. He is spiritually immature. He is not able to control his life. What does that tell us? He is not filled with the Spirit. He may be a believer indwelled with the Holy Spirit, but he does not yield his life to the Spirit's leading, and that is the reason why he is not filled with the Spirit. Such a person should not be a teacher in the first place. If there's no inner transforming power to control his tongue, there's no telling what he might do with his life, what he might do with his actions, what decisions he might make. That is the reason why we see many believers making foolish decisions, saying foolish things, because they do not yield their lives to the Spirit's leading. Believers must always live their lives yielding to the Holy Spirit's leading, and the Holy Spirit will guide and lead you, control your tongue, and also control everything else in your life.
Dear friend, do we need teachers in the church? Yes, but not just any teachers, the right teachers. Do we want to be teachers? Yes, but we must first be called by God. We must be blessed with the spiritual gifts to teach. We must be equipped with the Word of God so that we are able to encourage and edify. We must have the right motivation for the edification of the saints, for the saving of souls, for the glory of God, and we must be filled with the Spirit. If otherwise, do not be teachers. It will be to our own detriment because the Bible says we shall receive greater condemnation. So may the Lord teach us and help us so that all of us will understand His truth, apply it. It is good to be teachers, but first be called, have the spiritual gifts, be equipped, have the right motivation, be filled with the Spirit. Then we faithfully serve the Lord, the reward will be great. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word that we are able to consider. As the Apostle James warned us about presuming to be teachers, indeed people want to be teachers for the wrong reasons. People who are not called, not blessed with the spiritual gifts to teach, not equipped with the knowledge of Thy Word, and with the wrong motivation and without being filled with Thy Spirit, yet they want to teach. Because of that, churches have been plagued with troubles. Thou hast taught us we need teachers, but not just any teachers. We want the right teachers, teachers whom Thou hast called, blessed with spiritual gifts, willing to be equipped with the knowledge of Thy Word, with the right motivation for Thy glory, and always filled with Thy Spirit. We want such teachers for our church, for this is the only way that Bethel can flourish spiritually. Bless our church with such teachers. This we plead and ask of Thee, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
THE BOOK OF JAMESFacing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]James 1:1-4
Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]James 1:1-4
The Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialThe Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialJames 1:5-8
Trial Is No Respecter Of PersonsTrial Is No Respecter Of PersonsJames 1:9-12
How To Deal With TemptationHow To Deal With TemptationJames 1:13-15
Remember Who God Is And Who We AreRemember Who God Is And Who We AreJames 1:16-18
Be Receptive To The Word Of GodBe Receptive To The Word Of GodJames 1:19-21
Doers of the WordDoers of the WordJames 1:21-25
Be Responsive To The Word Of GodBe Responsive To The Word Of GodJames 1:22-25
Are You Transformed By The Word?Are You Transformed By The Word?James 1:26-27
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]James 2:1-4
The Sin of PartialityThe Sin of PartialityJames 2:1-13
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]James 2:5-13
Show Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineShow Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineJames 2:14-20
Faith In ActionFaith In ActionJames 2:21-26
A Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherA Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherJames 3:1-2
Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)James 3:1-13
The Power Of The TongueThe Power Of The TongueJames 3:3-6
The Taming Of The TongueThe Taming Of The TongueJames 3:7-12
The Danger Of False WisdomThe Danger Of False WisdomJames 3:13-16
The Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomThe Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomJames 3:17-18
Dealing With Conflict In The ChurchDealing With Conflict In The ChurchJames 4:1-6
What Constitutes True SalvationWhat Constitutes True SalvationJames 4:7-10
Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilJames 4:11-12
God’s Plan Or My Plan?God’s Plan Or My Plan?James 4:13-17
Physically Rich But Spiritually PoorPhysically Rich But Spiritually PoorJames 5:1-6
How To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleHow To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleJames 5:7-11
Simply Speak The TruthSimply Speak The TruthJames 5:12; Matthew 5:33-37
