SINGLE SERMON SERIES
DR. JIM DIXON
THE DANGER OF THE TONGUE, PART 2
JAMES 3:1-13
AUGUST 11, 1991
The aardvark is a strange animal. It was given its name by Dutch settlers in Southern Africa in the 17th century. The name “aardvark” means “earth pig,” and indeed, the aardvark has a snout that looks like a pig snout. But of course, the aardvark is not a pig. It has ears like a donkey, but of course, the aardvark is not a donkey. In fact, the aardvark is simply an aardvark and weighs about 140 pounds. From the tip of its snout to the tip of its tail, the aardvark is about six feet long. It exists on a diet of ants and termites. Now, it wouldn’t exist at all if it were not for its very unusual 18-inch-long tongue. The tongue is quick and sticky. The aardvark uses its tongue to gather its food, like a frog does or the chameleon or anteater.
There are many animals for which the tongue is a great blessing, but there’s no creature more blessed by the tongue than man. We use our tongue not only to help us chew food and to help us swallow, but we use our tongue to help us speak and sing. Now we’re not all equally gifted in singing or in speaking, but we’re all called to be a blessing. This morning I’d like us to examine three Greek words used in the Bible that relate to how we are meant to use our tongues for blessing.
The first word is the word “theosebis.” It literally means worshiper. As Christians, we are called to worship God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We use our tongues for the praise of God.
Jim Irwin died Thursday afternoon. He was a member of a very exclusive fraternity, one of only 12 men who walked on the surface of the moon. That experience changed Jim Irwin’s life. As he walked on the surface of the moon, he felt the presence of the Creator. He understood what the Bible said, what the Bible meant regarding, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Jim Irwin committed his life to Christ and the kingdom of Christ.
The heavens do declare the glory of God, but the heavens are not the only part of God’s creation that’s meant to declare his glory. People are meant to declare the glory of God. Christians are meant to declare the glory of God. Each and every one of you are meant to declare the glory of God. It’s really only as we give praise to God that we begin to find joy and fulfillment and happiness. We live in a world where a lot of people spend their time praising and giving glory to themself. They live to exalt self.
I think the tragic thing about the great king of the Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, who built the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was the fact that he lived for his own exaltation. He built a statue of himself on the Plain of Dura, 70 feet high.
I think the tragic thing about the life of Antiochus IV who ruled the Seleucid Empire and a great portion of the Greek world was that he lived for his own praise and exaltation. He erected a statue of himself in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple, desecrating the holy place of God. He minted coins with his image on the face of the coin and the words “Theos Epiphanes,” meaning God manifest.
The tragic thing about a man such as Napoleon, and there were many admirable qualities that Napoleon possessed, was that he was preoccupied with self and the promotion, praise, and the exaltation of self. He crowned himself Emperor in the year 1804 in the Notre Dame Cathedral in the city of Paris as he took the crown from the Pope and he placed the crown on his own head. Now we live in a world where there’s a little bit of this in all of us. There’s a little bit of self-exaltation, in each and every one of us. the tragedy is, when we focus on self and when we live for the praise of self and the exaltation of self, it only produces emptiness. It produces despair. It never satisfies and it never fulfills. The amazing truth is it’s only when we begin to praise God, to exalt God, that we come out of ourselves and begin to focus on him. We begin to find joy, meaning, fulfillment and purpose. God doesn’t need our praise. He’s enthroned in glory surrounded by the angelic host.
Now, in a lot of churches, people sing the Doxology. Maybe you grew up in a church where it was sung regularly. That was the case in my life. We sang those words, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly host. Praise Him Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”
In highly liturgical churches, there is the greater Doxology and there is the lesser Doxology. The greater Doxology is Gloria in Excelsis Deo, “Glory to God in the Highest.” The lesser doxology is the Gloria Patri, “Glory be to the Father.” These words are said in unison or sometimes sung. I think for many men and women around this world, when they sing the doxology in a worship service, it can be a moment of great praise to God and that’s great. But the caution that God would give us is this praise of God is not something we just do in rare moments in a worship service. The praise of God is not something we just sing for a few moments; it is meant to characterize the entire life of a Christian. Day by day, moment by moment, hour by hour, we should be praising God.
We praise God because he’s forgiven us by the blood of Christ on the cross of Calvary. We found forgiveness and we found the righteousness of Christ imputed to us in the courtroom of heaven and we praise God for that because the Bible says, Jehovah Tsidkenu. He is the Lord our Righteousness and we praise him.
We give him praise because, as we spend time in his word, and as we spend time in prayer, and fellowship with other Christians, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God begins to transform us and change us. We need that transformation as God begins to make us more like his son. The Bible says, God is Jehovah M’Kaddesh, the “Lord who sanctifies us.” AND we praise him for his sanctification.
We give praise to God because He’s always with us. The Bible says, “Whether I shall flee from his presence, if I take the wings of the morning and dwell on the uttermost parts of the sea, even there he is with me.” God never fails us or forsakes us. So often people come up after church and they say, “We’re moving to Dallas, or Seattle, do you know of another good church?” I’m sure there’s many wonderful churches no matter where you move. But you know, the great thing is God goes with you. He is with you wherever you go. He never leaves us. He is, the Bible says Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord who is present.” And for that we give him praise. He guides us in this crazy, flaky, confused world.
He is Jehovah Rohi, “the Lord our shepherd,” and we give him praise. He protects us. In the midst of tests and trials, he promises victory. We praise him because the Bible says He’s Jehovah Nisi. He’s the Lord our banner, he gives victory. He’s a great God. The Bible says He is Jehovah Jireh the Lord our provider. When we’re inflicted, wounded or feeling sick, He is Jehovah Rophi, the one who heals.
We praise Him because, in the midst of the anxieties of life, he offers a supernatural peace. He is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of Peace. We give him praise and we don’t just give him praise in prayer, but we should be giving him praise daily, constantly. Do you ever, when you’re with friends, just say, “I’m so thankful for God. I’m so thankful for Jesus because he has provided. I’m so thankful because he’s forgiven me or because he’s always with me. This is how we use our tongue to bless. As we begin to feel his presence and the joy of his presence with us, day by day and moment by moment we worship. Worship is meant to pervade our life in all that we do and it produces blessing.
There is a second Greek word I want us to examine this morning. It’s the word “paracletos.” It is used in the Bible to describe Christians, what we’re meant to be. The word paraclete means comforter. Of course, in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is called the paraclete. The Holy Spirit is the comforter and the Lord Jesus Christ is the comforter. But what a lot of Christians don’t realize is that all of us are called to be comforters. We’re all called to comfort one another. It’s in the imperative in the Greek, comfort one another. Christians are meant to be comforters.
On March 17th, 1904, a man named Erich Weisz, who was a Hungarian Jew, born in Budapest, Hungary, but was reared in Appleton, Wisconsin, was in the city of London. He was in London because the London Daily Illustrated Mirror challenged him to free himself from handcuffs. These handcuffs had 6 locks on each cuff, 12 locks in all, and 9 tumblers in each lock, 108 tumblers. These handcuffs were virtually impossible to escape. Londoners gathered on March 17th, 1904, and Erich Weisz was put in this large wooden bin that came up to his waist and the handcuffs were placed on him. He went down on his knees and he was hidden from the people inside that wooden chest. He labored for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, he jumped up with a smile on his face and the people began to break into applause, but when they could see that the cuffs were still on his hand, they stopped.
He went back down into the box and after fifteen minutes he came up a second time with a smile on his face. They all applauded again, but the cuffs were still on his hands. He went down a third time into the box, this time for twenty minutes. Again, after twenty minutes he came up with a smile on his face and there was great applause. But the handcuffs were still on his hands. He went down into the box a fourth time and ten minutes later he came up with a smile on his face. He threw his arms in the air, the cuffs were off, and the applause was thunderous.
They asked Erich Weisz later, “Why did you go down into the box and back up out of the box four different times?” He said, “I just love the applause. I need encouragement just to keep going.”
Now, Erich Weisz received a lot of applause and won the world over because he was a master showman and a mystifying magician. He was unsurpassed as an escapologist. His stage name was Harry Houdini. There’s a sense in which we are all like him. We all need a little applause. We all need encouragement to keep going. God understands that we all need encouragement because while in life, there are many joys, there are also hard times. There’s a lot of anxiety, pressure, failure, frustration, and pain. We need encouragement just to keep going. God knows this.
As Christians, God has given us to one another that we might encourage each other and applaud each other. This word “paracletos” is also translated to mean encourager. We are called to encourage each other and how much we need to encourage each other.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 8, “Outdo one another in giving honor.” Isn’t that a wonderful statement? I need to be more concerned with honoring you than you are with honoring me. That should be my attitude, that I want to honor you more than you’re honoring me. If we all live to honor others, the blessing is going to be unbelievable. If we use our tongue to encourage each other and to comfort, we bless each other. This is the counsel that we have from God in his Word, “paracletos.”
Thirdly, there’s another Greek word, “martas.” This word means witness. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord of life and as Savior from sin is called to be “martas,” a witness. Jesus Christ said to his people, “You shall be my witnesses.” As we use our tongue to witness for Jesus Christ, blessing comes. We are to use our tongue in praise and worship; to comfort and encourage; and to witness.
Of course our word martyr comes from this word “martas” because in the Christian context, a martyr is someone who witnesses Jesus Christ by his or her death. In the Bible, the word “martas” normally refers to someone who has borne witness to Jesus Christ through his or her life. It is used to describe someone who is bearing testimony to Jesus Christ through their life and with their tongue. We use our tongues to witness Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. It’s hard for us to do.
I think an increasing number of Christians are embarrassed by Christ and are ashamed to admit that Christ is part of their life. This is a tragedy because Jesus said, “You shall be my witnesses.” The world doesn’t care what you believe. You can worship anything. You can worship toast if you want to, and the world doesn’t care. The world just wants you to keep quiet about it.
But if you’re a Christian and you really believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord of lord’s King of kings and you believe He is the hope of the world, why wouldn’t you witness? “You shall be my witnesses.”
Do you believe people are lost? The Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There’s none righteous, no, not one. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. There’s salvation under no other name under heaven given among men but Jesus Christ. If you believe that, surely you’re going to want to witness.
You know, oftentimes we say to people, “God bless you.” Particularly when people sneeze, we say, “God bless you.” I never understood that till I read about the latter part of the sixth century. Pope Gregory the Great decreed that all Christians should say God bless you when anyone sneezes. Why did he decree that? Because a great plague was sweeping over Europe and this plague brought death and was characterized by sneezing. As someone sneezed, great fear went into people as they thought “Maybe this person has the plague, maybe they are going to die.” It seemed appropriate to say, “God bless you.”
There was also a belief during that time that when somebody sneezed, their soul temporarily separated from their body and that Satan was lurking to snatch the soul. That is why people said, “God bless you.” Today we are more educated to know better. However, are you concerned about people losing their soul? Do you really care that people be blessed? Do you want to use your tongue to be a blessing? If so you will want to share your love for Christ with a world whose people are dying. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world.
He wants us to be a blessing in this world, light in the darkness and salt on the earth. We’re called to worship and praise God. As we do, we get to be blessed and a blessing, to comfort and to encourage one another. We’re called to be his witnesses that the gospel might go forth over the earth, that lives would be blessed and His kingdom grown. Let’s close with a word of prayer.