Pastor Jack Hibbs brings a riveting sermon that challenges our perception and use of words. From the worldly influences that taint our speech to the dangerous origins of harmful words, he offers both a warning and a lesson in contrast. In this message, listeners are encouraged to assess their communication and recognize the spiritual implications of their speech. Join Pastor Jack as he guides us in understanding the power of our words and offers insights into transforming our tongue with divine intervention, so that it may become a tool of grace and truth.
A fig tree can’t produce grapes. Neither can a foul mouth bring praise to God. We need our hearts changed so that out of the abundance of the heart, our mouth might praise the Lord and bless our neighbors.
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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. Looking for a proven way to cultivate trust, motivation, and growth in your team? Well, Dr. Kevin Lehman’s The Way of the Shepherd is Pastor Jack’s featured resource of the month. Through easy-to-apply insights and real-life examples, you’ll discover how a shepherd’s heart can transform the way you lead. Uncover the power of genuine care, clear boundaries, and consistent accountability to unlock your team’s potential. Whether you’re guiding a corporation, a church ministry, or your own household, these time-tested principles help create an environment where people flourish. If you want to build a team culture of mutual respect and genuine commitment, these seven secrets will guide you step-by-step. Ready to elevate your leadership? Well, The Way of the Shepherd is available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Don’t wait to explore these seven secrets and learn how to truly connect with and inspire those around you. Grab your copy today. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called The Book of James with a message titled Six Dangers of the Tongue. Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter sent to the Jews who chose to follow Christ. And as new believers, James tells them that no one can tame the tongue without help from the Lord. Now, this little member of our bodies called the tongue can pray and sing to the Lord one minute and then curse the next. It can boast great things and yet start a war with just a few little words. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that the tongue can boast both good and evil. It can speak iniquity and with its poison can defile the whole body. But in contrast, our tongue can be healed when we keep an abundance of good things in our hearts. Now, with his message called Six Dangers of the Tongue, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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The second danger that we see out of the six dangers of the tongue, the second danger is found in verse 5 as well, and that’s the danger of its boasting. It boasts. It says, and it boasts great things. This is an amazing little statement. It boasts great things. And the word in Greek is neutral. It can go boasting for good, and it can go boasting for evil. Watch this. The word boast means to, this is kind of funny. It’s a little word with a huge meaning. It means to tip the neck back and to cock the head up. In other words, to look upward. To tilt the neck back, cock the head up. And it means to make a radical and unbelievable expression. To cut the head back and say something that’s radical about one of two things. It only has two definitions in its direction that it can go. Of self, who we are, or of, who do you think? God, isn’t that amazing? It boasts great things. Well, what kind of great things? Either the wonderful works of God or the wonderful works of self. Oh, look at me. And it’s funny how the Greek word is to cock the neck back and to tip up the head because don’t you see people walking around town like that? Well, yes, it’s me. And their head’s in the position of boasting great things of itself. Or the Christian puts his head back and says, Lord, you are awesome and you are great. It’s interesting. You can only go one of two ways. It’s like what Jesus said about money or about God. You can only serve God or you can only serve money. One of two things. The danger of its boasting. He says here concerning its boasting, he says, see how great a forest, a little fire kindles, or the NIV puts it, I think, better. He says, see how a little spark can consume an entire forest. Isn’t that how fires begin in the first place, with a little spark? It seems like every year in Chino Hills we’ll have a fire. We haven’t had one yet this year, but… And, you know, one will come somehow. They always seem to come. And before it gets near the homes and before it destroys the oak trees and everything else that it does, how did it first begin? With some lunatic either trying to set it or some careless motorist or whatever the case might be. A little spark. It boasts great things. A little spark of praise and worship unto God can influence an entire body. Knowing the message, I was back near the sound booth before the teaching began, and we were all worshiping the Lord. And it’s interesting. When the worship group comes up, they start, and look, it’s first service. By the way, we love you guys at first service. You guys are really special. Don’t tell second or third or Saturday night this, and I mean it. They get all bent out of shape. carnal people that they are. The spiritual ones are up at first service, aren’t they? You’ve been up all night waiting for church to start. You guys just, you sing. And when I say, why don’t you turn and greet each other, you guys are just, hey, how are you? It’s just great. Well, when the music begins, you know, we’re singing. And then the music leads us further into the presence of the Lord, doesn’t it? And then some of you, a hand goes up. Yes, Lord. And that means in Christian worship and in the scriptures as it’s written, that we’re making this song a prayer. The Bible says we lift our hands in prayer to him and to worship. And then a couple more hands go up. Have you noticed how that happens? And it’s not because, oh, his hand’s up. I guess I’m going to put mine up too. No, it’s a spiritual event. It’s happening. Amen. And if your hands don’t go up, it doesn’t mean you’re not worshiping. It’s just we’re worshiping. And it begins to spread. It usually starts near the front because there’s less distractions, quite honestly, near the front. It begins to go to the back. You begin to be affected by the praise. Now watch this. We’re singing praise unto God. He immediately responds by praise. exposing his presence into hearts. And the worship begins to be kindled. And it starts with maybe one song or a few words to a praise song or maybe a repeated chorus or holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. And we sing it over and over again. And then you, yes, holy, holy. It starts with a spark. And then the whole body’s consumed with worship. The forest is burned down to the ground with one little spark. The head cocked back making a boast unto the Lord can do a great thing. The head cocked back and boasting about self can destroy everyone around. See, James is teaching by contrast here. Very powerful. So the second danger, verse 5, is that it boasts. Psalm 150, verses one through six. Listen to this great boast in David’s own words. Praise the Lord, he says. Praise him in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty firmament. Praise him for his mighty acts and praise him according to his excellent greatness. That’s that word to make a great exclamation of God’s greatness, to boast greatly. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. And he gives a long list of great instruments that were to use to praise the Lord. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 26. And Isaiah’s own words. Isaiah says, lift up your eyes on high and see who has created the heavens, who brings them out by number, the stars. Isn’t that beautiful? He calls them by name. God knows the name of every star. He calls them by name and by the greatness, that is the mighty boasting of God, by his greatness, his might, and his strength, and his power. is seen by all, not one is missing. In Paul’s own words, Paul says in Ephesians 1.17, he says in his prayer that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding, that they might be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of our calling, that is as Christians, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward those who love him. That’s pushing back the neck, tilting up the head, and making a great exclamation regarding God’s wonderful, wonderful power. That’s boasting in the Lord. The Bible tells us in Psalm 34 verse 2, my soul shall make its boast in the Lord. See, it’s okay to boast as long as you do it in the Lord. That’s one of the greatest turnoffs for people to boast about themselves. Doesn’t that just kind of just make you kind of ill? By the way, people who boast about themselves over and over again, don’t despise them and don’t hate them and don’t neglect them. The fact of the matter is that when people boast, or they always have to be the center of the conversation or right in the middle of the group, they have to have it. In all honesty, I’m not saying this to be mean, you know what, love them. Actually encourage them, not in what they’re doing, but the reason why they’re boasting is because they’re severely insecure. They’re very insecure and they’re very fearful. They may put on a whole different show. But the fact that the matter is boasting speaks of a very self-centered heart, very selfish heart. Psalm 44, verse 8. In God we boast all day long and praise His name forever. I wish I could say that. Don’t you wish you could say that? I boast in the Lord all day long. I’d love to be able to say that, but my tongue… can waver to and fro during the course of the day. I don’t like it. In 1 Corinthians 1.31, the Bible says, let him who glories glory or boast in the Lord. The third danger we see is that it says a fire. The tongue is like a fire, verse 6. Number three, the third danger found in verse 6, the tongue is like a fire. He says the tongue is a fire. It’s a fire. It’s combustible. It’s a flame. It’s something that burns. It’s something that’s dangerous. The tongue is as a fire. It can scorch and can burn. It can afflict. It can kill.
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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
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The fourth evil of the tongue, the fourth great danger is that it’s worldly. Look what he says here. It is a world of iniquity. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs that with many words that are spoken, sin is sure to be present. Jesus gave a little quicker version of it. Jesus simply said, let your yes be yes. and your no be no. Why? Have you noticed this? When someone says, and you should ask somebody, were you there 8 o’clock Tuesday night? You know, attorneys in the courtroom, they watch for this. Were you there at 8 o’clock on Tuesday night? You should say yes or no. You know what happens? Yes, and the reason why is and the attorney, the courtroom, the jury, they’re listening. And with every bit of yapping that goes on, inevitably, we will indict ourselves. It’s kind of sad, I think. This happens to me more often than not, and it’s this. Someone will come up to me, and they’ll say, Pastor Jack, you know, I think I better tell you something. And they go on to confess something. And so, you probably heard about it by now. And I’m sitting there like this. And they get all done. And I say, actually, I didn’t hear about it at all. And they go, oh. And chances are, I probably wouldn’t hear about it. but they wind up coming and indicting themselves. And out of guilt or out of concern or even out of self-defense, someone might say, well, you know, and and it’s not even necessary. The tongue is like a fire. It spreads into places that’s not necessary. Now, in the wintertime, I love a good fireplace. Aren’t they great? They just absolutely alter my, I mean, I’m a weirdo, major weirdo, because I can be in the most sleepiest mood or the worst mood or a work mood or any kind of a mood, but if there’s a fire in the fireplace, I just kind of start to drool. I just mellow out, and it’s like… And it just grabs me. It arrests me. You ever walk into a restaurant? There’s some restaurants, the fireplaces go in there in the restaurant, and I just stand in front of it. And it’s captivating. It’s beautiful. I don’t know, what is it, the crackling sound? The look of the fire just as it dances there in the wood? It’s incredible. I love it, especially when it’s cool outside. Just knowing it’s cool and it’s warm in here. It’s just like, it feels like you’re cheating. Like you’re, I’ve got something nobody else has. Oh, this is great. Until an ember flies out of the chimney and lands in the field next door to your house and burns down the whole city. Did you know how the Great Chicago Fire was started? It killed 272 people, by the way. By a cow kicking over a lantern in Mrs. O’Leary’s It burned three square miles of Chicago. 15,000 to 17,000 buildings were burned and over 270 people killed. By the way, from that fire, Dwight L. Moody had preached a message that morning on that Sunday morning and did not give an altar call at a crusade. And Dwight L. Moody said, I will forever give an altar call with every message I preach because of those who could have made decisions earlier that morning. Wow, it’s a fire. The fifth evil, the fifth danger of the tongue is that it’s a poison. Verse six says that it is so set among our members. Actually, I skipped one, didn’t I? The worldliness. Number four was the worldliness of the tongue. That’s the fourth danger. The fifth danger is the poison of the tongue. It says here that the tongue is so set among the members that it defiles. That’s the word poison. It can poison the entire body. And by the way, the word here used is about our body, physically, our body. Our tongue can be used in such a way that it results in our bodies being destroyed or or greatly poisoned because of the use of our tongue. Physical sickness or physical harm. You can say something to somebody and they can punch you out. So put that tongue back in the mouth and your cheeks and your eyes and your nose and your teeth will be very happy that you kept it there. It can damage the whole body, poison us. But I find it interesting because the word here of ownership, it’s my tongue. It’s my tongue that defiles my life as well. I just don’t open my mouth and it is limited to just me only. It can defile myself and others. And so here the sixth and final danger is in verse six of the dangers of the tongue. It says that it sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire by hell. That’s the sixth and final thing is the danger of its origin. Literally, people, in fact, I’m going to ask you not to believe what I’m going to tell you because it’s so true that it’s shocking, and you and I are going to want to try to prove this wrong. What James is saying in the sixth great danger of the tongue is that it is something that is literally connected to hell itself, literally the hell of Satan’s domain. our tongue can be immediately influenced. Though we’re a saved, born-again Christian going to heaven, our tongue can be immediately influenced by literally hell itself, its very power. That is shocking, and that’s exactly what James is saying. Very, very quickly, verses 7 through 12 now, and this is just his illustrations and his warnings. He says, every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. That is amazing truth. You ever been to SeaWorld? That little girl walks out there with her little wetsuit on, and she goes, and Shamu, all 20 tons of her, comes up and jumps over the rope. That girl says something, blows a whistle, waves her hand in the air, you know, and Shamu goes up and squirts us all with water. This massive thing. How does that happen? Can you imagine walking into your house? Are you walking into the company? People look at you. What’s your problem? That girl can be at SeaWorld, snap her fingers, and that great behemoth jumps out of the water, and she can go home to her 13-year-old, because I have one. And you go, and they go, what? I can do that. I can do that. No respect. Why? Because the human tongue cannot be controlled. We cannot control it. We can control animals. We can train elephants. We can train whales. I’ve seen a trained insect. How do you train an insect? You can’t give him a biscuit when he jumps over the thimble. You can’t give him a treat. But I’ve seen them. How do you train an insect to obey? I don’t understand it. But it happens. But the tongue, who can train the thing? The Bible, James, God is saying you can’t train the tongue. It’s impossible for us to try. Well, I’m just not going to. This message really inspired me to keep my mouth shut because I’m quite the gossip. So I’m going to really stop gossiping. You can’t do it without a heart change by God. It’s impossible. He’s going to tell us this. Can’t do it. Why? Verse 8 says, no man can tame it. It’s an unruly evil. It’s full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse men who have been made in the image of God. Similitude, likeness. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessings and cursings. My brethren, Christians, this can’t be. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter at the same time? Impossible. Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives? It’s impossible. Can a grapevine produce figs? No. Thus, no spring can yield both fresh water and salt water at the same time. It’s impossible. It’s totally impossible. Six great dangers of the tongue. We need to watch out for its danger. We need to see how it’s controlled, and that is by the power of God himself. God has got to have access to our tongue. And then he shows us, by this great contrast, a fig tree can’t produce grapes. Neither can a foul mouth bring praise to God. We need our hearts changed so that out of the abundance of the heart, our mouth might praise the Lord and bless our neighbors. So important. Let’s pray. Lord, we do come before you this morning and we ask of you, Lord, that you might receive our confession this morning. Every one of us would be absolutely silly to think that none of us need healing in this area. Your Bible tells us that every one of us have a problem with our tongue. So, Lord, we ask you that you might exercise your kingship and your lordship, your sovereignty over our tongue. Lord, if it’s gossip, convict us and set a watch upon our mouth. If it’s lying or boasting or speaking evil, if it’s the devouring of others, putting them down and cutting them in pieces and talking down to people in mean tones, Lord, forgive us and Renew us regarding our intended created state that we might bring praise to you and bless the men and women, the boys and girls that come in contact with our lives via our tongues and what we say. In Jesus’ name we pray.
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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Six Dangers of the Tongue. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you’d like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com slash know God. That’s K-N-O-W, God. And there you’ll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you’ll find in knowing God. Don’t miss out. That’s the Know God tab at jackhibbs.com.
SPEAKER 02 :
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