Shabbat Shalom, everyone. It's good to be here together under the sound of the Word. The Lord is really good to us and we are very thankful to Him. And so, this Shabbat meeting, we are going to continue in our Bible study. And the ministry meeting that we have been taking over in the last weeks is the study of the book of Yaakov. In English, it's called James. So, I want to continue today in the study of the book of Yaakov, the book of James. And we are going to move into the third chapter. So, I would like you, please, to open your Bibles to the book of James.

And let's read this chapter, James, Yaakov, chapter 3, verses 1 to 18. So, I'm reading. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth, that they may obey us, and we turn about the whole body. Behold also the ships, which, though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.

Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith, bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing.

My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine fix? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter, envying, and strife in your hearts, glowy not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace. Now I'm going to stop here in the reading of this third chapter, the 18 verses that are found here in James chapter 3. So here let me remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, all of us that can hear me at this ministry meeting. Yaakov, a half-brother of Yeshua, our Mashiach, who became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah after Yeshua rose from among the dead. While he was here alive, he did not believe on him.

But after his resurrection, Yaakov, James, have accepted him as the Messiah, recognizing that he was the promised Mashiach of Israel. Then this same James, Yaakov, became a pillar among the local assembly in Jerusalem. And he had a burden to share and encourage the message of the word of God with his Jewish brethren who were scattered abroad. And as we began this letter, he wrote to the twelve tribes which were scattered abroad, greeting chapter 1 and verse 1. He was writing to Jewish believers, to Israeli believers, to Hebrew believers who were scattered abroad. They have accepted the Messiah, but they have been scattered abroad, the nations of the world.

And you notice that he wrote to the twelve tribes because there was not one tribe missing. All those twelve tribes were known to God and obviously they were known to Yaakov, to James. So there is no such a thing as the lost ten tribes. All are intact. God knows his own, even though you and I do not know who are they who are part of the nation of Israel. Well, in the first two chapters, Yaakov, James, dealt with a few issues. In chapter 1, he dealt with trials and with temptation. There is no such a thing that a believer who believes in Yeshua, the Messiah, is not going to go through trials.

And that he will not be tempted. We are going through trials and we are going to be tempted. And we need to trust the Lord to help us as we go through these. Then in chapter 2, in the whole chapter, he dealt with the behavior of the believer, in connection with the true faith. True faith in the Messiah will change the behavior of the believer in Yeshua. If we really believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, and we really mean it, and it's a real genuine salvation that we have through faith in Yeshua, the Messiah, it will produce works. It will be evident in the life of the believer.

Well, now in chapter 3, dear beloved brothers and sisters, Yaakov, that is James, he's zeroing in in something that we all know that we have a problem with. Apparently, those believers among the 12 tribes scattered abroad, Jewish believers, they apparently had a problem just the same like you and I have a problem. You know, many times we say words that we wish we have never said them before. We wish later on that it never have gone out of our mouth. We later on regret, why have I said those words to this person? But we cannot take them back. We cannot reverse what we say. And that's why really the third chapter is really dealing with the importance of gaining wisdom from heaven, from above.

And it's going to reflect in the way we speak, in how we say things, and what we say. And you notice the whole chapter, James is dealing with the tongue. The tongue, if I will give a title to this chapter, is found really in this verse 8. Look at this. The tongue can no man tame. If we're going to tag a title to this chapter, it's simply this. This little member of our body that we call it lashon in Hebrew, the tongue, which the Lord uses to enable us to speak. This little member, no man can tame or control. That word for tame is really the word for control.

And that word for no man simply means no human being can tame this member, this small member that we all have called the lashon, the tongue in English. The lashon is in Hebrew. The only one who can really control our lashon, our tongue, is God himself. No one is able to control, not even ourselves, without the help of the Lord. God is the only one who is able to help us to control our tongue. So in the book of James, in the third chapter, really, Yaakov exhorts believers in the assemblies in the worldwide, Jewish believers in the worldwide, and of course it is you and I, who desire to be teachers and speakers that they need to have wisdom that comes from God.

And that wisdom they can only glean as they are submitting to the Lord and trusting in Him. It is not enough to say words with our tongues, but we need spiritual wisdom that comes from God. And if you will notice, the end of the chapter deals with wisdom. It says in verse 13, "Who is a wise man that endued with knowledge among you?" And so, really, the thought and the theme is the necessity to gain wisdom from God. But before he arrived to those last verses of this chapter, he gives an exhortation and then he gives an illustration and eventually lead to the application in the life of the people of God.

So, he gives an exhortation, James chapter 3, verses 1 and 2. Then he gives some illustrations, James chapter 3, verses 3 to 12. And finally, he makes the application in James chapter 3, verses 13 to 18. So let's look over, beloved brothers and sisters, over these interesting verses. And I want to begin, first of all, in verses 1 and 2, we have the exhortation. You know, so beautiful, Yaakov. He exhorted the brethren. And I want you to notice how he began this chapter. Again, as he continued in the ministry to his own brethren. He called them my brethren. Achim in Hebrew. My brethren. This is a common Hebraic throughout the history of our people. But of course now, because we are all believers in Yeshua the Messiah, Jew and Gentile, united together in the Messiah Yeshua.

We are all brethren. By the way, the only title that God had given His people in the Bible is brethren. Achim. All those names that we have today, this church called this, and this church group called this, and this church have this name. Really, it is not found in scripture. The only biblical name that you and I have really is Meshichim, Christian, Messiah followers, who are brethren. We don't need a quotation mark. Simply Achim. Brethren. Brothers and sisters in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Jew and Gentile. And he is saying to them, my brethren. And notice what he says in the exhortation verses 1 and 2. My brethren, be not many masters.

Why? Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. And so, in the first verse, beloved brothers and sisters, the apostle or Yaakov, James, is appealing to the Achim, to the brethren, not to be many of them masters. Now, the Greek word for masters is didaskalos, which simply means teachers. Perhaps in the local assemblies of those believers, everybody wanted to be a teacher. Everybody has something to say. Everybody has a word from the Lord, apparently. And he said to them, you know, brethren, don't be many of you teachers. Because there is a privilege, but there is also responsibility. Just the same like every Bible teacher today have to realize, all of us have to realize in the responsibility of teaching the word of God that we are accountable to the Lord.

What we say. What we teach. How we teach. And so on. And often time, we have to admit that our lives many times do not match what we say as we stand behind the pulpit. And that's why there is accountability for those who teach the word. That's why he's saying to them, my brethren, be not many teachers. Why? Why, Yaakov? Why shouldn't many of us be teachers? Why? Because, he says in verse 1b, because knowing that we will receive a greater condemnation. What does that mean? The greater responsibility one has, the greater condemnation one will receive if he or she in their responsibility will do things in a way that is not pleasing to the Lord.

There is accountability. There is greater condemnation. By the way, we learn from this text that even in judgment, there are lesser condemnation and there is greater condemnation. Just the same like there are greater privileges and rewards and there are lesser rewards. It is very much the same. There is a greater condemnation, there is a lesser condemnation. Lesser condemnation. Well, the teachers, those who teach the word of God because they are responsible how they teach, what they teach, who they teach, and the way they teach. God is going to hold them, hold us responsible. That's why there is a greater judgment upon those who teach false doctrine.

And you notice, brothers and sisters, you notice that thought of greater condemnation, how many times many people have been led astray by those who claim to teach the word of God. And they teach false doctrine, false teaching, because they are accountable to the Lord. And if they teach false teaching, God is going to hold them accountable, even though here things seem to be fine. But in due time, God is going to deal with everyone who claim to teach his word. And so we know for many, many other passages. Turn with me to Romans chapter 2 for a moment. I want you to see there is a greater expectation in Romans chapter 2 and verse 21.

We read, "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself." Paul is saying. You see, it is very easy to teach someone and yet not to appropriate it to oneself. We know that. Those of us who teach in some small way. We know how often we don't live up to what we teach others. And that's why he's saying you are responsible because if you expect to teach others, don't you think that you need to teach yourself as well? Look at another verse in 1st Timothy chapter 1. Just turn there for a second. There is a danger in influencing others. In 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verses 6 and 7 we read.

Now the end of the commandment, verse 5, is love. Verse 6. "From which some having swerved, have turned aside into vain juggling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm." Some have desire to be teachers and they don't even yet understand what God is teaching in his word. And you notice what it says here in that verse, especially verse 6. "Some having swerved away, turning aside unto vain juggling." Because some have been swaying others in their teaching. And it is amazing of the responsibility that the teacher has. And Yaakov saying to these brothers and brothers, "Do not be many of you teachers because you are going to have greater condemnation.

God is going to hold you accountable if you, especially if you teach things that are not sound and are not found in the word of God." Well, then he says, you notice immediately in the exhortation. He says, "Look, in many things we all offend." You know, we all offend. It says in verse 2 of our chapter, "For in many things we offend all." Actually, the word "all" should be before the word "offend." It doesn't mean that we offend everybody. Maybe some of us manage to offend everyone. But it doesn't mean that we offend everyone. But what it means that we are all of us, at some point of time, have been successful in offending people by the way we spoke.

By the words we say. Sometimes we don't say kind words. We don't say the right words in the right time. The manner in which we say things is not pleasing to the Lord. And therefore, we have to be very careful because all, naturally, we manage to offend. All of us manage to offend. Why? We are sinners. We are failing people. And as I mentioned earlier, sometimes we wish that we did not say what we say to a brother, to a friend, maybe to our husbands, or to our wives, or to our children, or to our family members. We wish we could take back the words that we have said.

But it's too late. They have already gone out. And we regret the day that we have said certain words that we shouldn't have said that. Well, you know, many years ago, King Solomon, the king of Israel, Shlomo HaMelech, he said in Proverbs, chapter 18 and verse 21. Look what he said. The king of Israel, the one that God had given him so much wisdom. Of course, he failed in his life at the end of his life. But look what he said. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." You know this amazing statement Shlomo, Solomon have said.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue." What do you mean, Shlomo, tongue? Well, you know what? When we say things in a wrong way, we can change ways of life of people. We can affect people's life. One of the things we have to watch so much is watching over gossiping, speaking wrong about other people, running people down, and hurting people when they are not even there to listen to what we say. We often use the telephone. We often run down people and death and life is in the power in the hand of the tongue. And how careful one has to be in the way in which we use our tongue.

And Yaakov said, you know what? One way or another, for in many things we all manage to offend. We all have been successful in offending one or the other. But the believers who walk with Yeshua the Messiah have to have a change in his or her life. Because the Lord is impacting our life and we need to trust Him to help us to have a change in our life. David said, "Keep the door of my lips." Sometimes we need to close our lips. It's better to pray than to say anything. Because often times we fail the Lord and death and life is in the power of the tongue.

And Yaakov is saying to those brethren. You see, they were his brethren. He called them my Achim, my brethren. They were his brethren. They were believers in Yeshua the Messiah. He's not talking to the unbelieving world. He's talking to us. He doesn't talk to the unbelievers. They first of all need to accept Yeshua as their Messiah. They need to be saved. But he's talking to us. He's talking to his own brethren. He says, "My brethren, don't be many of your teachers. Because we all will receive a greater condemnation. But brethren," he said, "in many things all of us offend others. And therefore keep a watch over your tongue." Sometimes it's better not to say something than to say it and harm and hurt.

And never be able to change things to restore them to the way they used to be before. You know, sometimes, brothers and sisters, we say things that I'm speaking for myself. Say things that I didn't mean any harm in them. But the very fact that I said them, someone was hurt. And I wished I wouldn't have said them. But I said them. Because we are all human beings. We all fail. But a wise man or wise woman, a wise sister or brother. Grow and keep a watch over our lips and our tongues and our mouth. And using it to build up the people of God.

To edify the body of the Messiah. To help others to grow spiritually. To honor the Lord and to be a blessing to our brothers and sisters. And you know, really, what we say comes actually from what we think in our own heart. Yeshua the Messiah said in Matthew chapter 12, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." In other words, what we say did not just come because this little member said something. It comes because it really is something that we think in our hearts. As a man is, or as a man thinks, so he is. So he gave an exhortation. And I guess we all need to take this exhortation to our own lives.

We need to have the Lord to help us to put a watch over what we say. So if we say things, we will say things that will be pleasing to the Lord and a blessing to our brothers and sisters. So they will be edified and built up and grow spiritually. Really, after all, brothers and sisters, we are part of the family of God. And we are part of the body of Messiah. And we belong to the Lord. Don't we need to somehow learn from our Lord? Learn of me, he said in Matthew 11. Don't you think you and I need to learn of him? We sure do need to learn of him.

And if we have not learned and haven't put a check over our mouth, we are only the losers. We are not building the body. We are harming the body. We are not even edifying ourselves because we feel awful later on, realizing, Lord, I cannot say that I pleased you at all. And that's why it is so important when Yaakov straight, he's telling them as it is. He loved the brethren. He's not priding himself, thinking that he's better, but he's telling them the condition that they need to change. Because the Lord one day will judge his very own people at the judgment seat of the Messiah.

We all have to appear one day and he will have to ask us, how did you behave and how did you even speak words out of your mouth? And so this is applied to all of us. He's not centering one person or zeroing on one person. It speaks to all the believers. My brethren, Echai, my brethren. Well, he gave the exhortation in verses 1 and 2. Then he now gives us illustrations in verses 3 to 12. And these verses are extremely important because what he does here, what Yaakov does, he uses six things to illustrate the tongue. You will notice that. He used bits, as it says here in the next verses, which has to do with covering the mouth.

He used helm or rudder. He used fire. He used beasts, animals that are being tamed. He used fountains of water and he used the fig tree or the vine tree or both together. He used six pictures to illustrate the tongue. Let me go over with you, please. Bear with me. Those six things. First of all, in verse 3, he illustrates the illustration of the bits or we can call it the bridles. And in connection with the horses. You know, those of you who know, who have been beside horses. Well, if you are going to control the horse, you have to put a bridle over his face, over his mouth.

And then the rider controlled the horse using this bridle that had been placed upon the horse. So he's saying in verse 3, behold, we put bits in the horse's mouth that they may obey us and we turn about the whole body. You know, these bits that have been placed on the mouth of the horse can control the horse by pulling to the right or pulling back or pulling both of those leather straps so he will stop. We can control this big animal, the horse, by simply putting these bits upon their mouth. And this is interesting because the bridle managed to allow the rider to control the way in which the horse will run.

Well, it's exactly like David says in Psalm 32. David said to our people, of all the people of Israel, Psalm 32:9. He says, "Don't be like the horse." Apparently, Yaakov took this text from the Psalms. The horse need to have a bit upon his face in order to be able to be controlled. Well, Israel, the nation, needed to be controlled because otherwise they are carrying on doing their own things. They are on their own. And then the Lord is saying to them through David, He said, "Be not like the horse that need to be controlled." You need to be put this bridle upon their mouth and so on.

So a horse is controlled. We need to keep our mouth with a bridle just the same like the horse needs this bridle because otherwise things are going out of control. We cannot say what we want, when we want, as we want. If we are going to please the Lord, at times we need to simply bridle our tongue and not say it and bite our tongue even if we think that we ought to do so and ought to say it. Why? Because what we say can never come back. And if we say it in a wrong way, we are going to end up harming people and we can end up, as we read in the book of Proverbs, life and death is in the power of the tongue.

We can harm people and live a damage into people's life if we are not watching the way we speak. So he uses the illustration of the bridles. In Hebrew, the word resen. Lerasen. It's another word. Control. Bridal your tongue. Bridal what you say. Bridal your mouth. Then in verses four and five, he uses another illustration. And this is an illustration of a helm or a rudder that controls a huge boat, a huge ship. Look at this. And I'm reading verse four and five. Behold also the ships. Though they be so great and are driven in fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small rudder or helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

Even so, the tongue is a little member and he bows great things. So you notice what he's really now speaking. He's speaking about this little rudder. You know, I used to build boats many years ago as a carpenter in the area where we live. I used to build boats and I'll never forget when we finished to build the boat. We put it in the water and the rudder was, the helm was in the back, a small helm. The boat was about 60, 70 feet long. And when you control this huge boat, a little rudder, when you turn the wheel, control where it's going to the right or go to the left.

It is amazing. And of course, here he's not speaking about a 70 foot long boat. He's speaking about a huge ship. This huge ship that is on the seas and experiencing the waves and the winds and the desire to push it one way or another. The helm in the back is controlling the whole direction of that huge ship. Well, he's saying to us that a small rudder control a large ship and a small member of the body. This is our tongue is so great that boasts so much and have its own way in pride, like controlling everything. You know, with this tongue, we manage to control so many things.

It could be in a right way, but most of the time when we are not checking ourselves, our tongue is being used in a wrong way. That it is not right with the Lord. And so he is illustrating that rudder, that helm that is controlling a huge ship. That's how our tongue are controlling things. Do you know, you don't have to know much. Just listen to the news. You can listen to the news and you can see how people are swayed by words of some leaders. Thousands are following. By the way, do you know that at the end of the millennial age, when Satan is going to be loose for a moment, for a season, he's going to sway again the world of that time, the unbelieving world of that time, to go against the holy city of Jerusalem and against the people of God.

How is Abel? Well, he's managing to sway nations, to sway people. That's the way it is. This little member of ours, this lashon in Hebrew, the tongue. When it speaks, when it's being used in a wrong way, it's able to sway many one way or another. Well, may the Lord help us to use our tongues and to sway people, but to sway them to the Lord, our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, in a way that will be a blessing to them and a joy to the heart of God himself. So, he used the bridles, the bits in verse 3. He used the rudder, the helm in verses 4 and 5.

In Hebrew, the word rudder is mashot. And now in verse 5b and 6, the third illustration concerning the tongue is the illustration of fire. And all we know this very well, beloved brothers and sisters. Look at verse 5b and verse 6. He says, "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature. And it is set on fire of hell." Wow, you can just imagine. You know, a little fire. You know very well if you live in various areas where there is a forest, a large forest, and all what someone has to do is just to light a little fire.

It happened just recently when I was in Israel, and many of the trees in the various areas have been burned. And why? They were searching to find out what was the cause that many trees have been burned. And in Israel, the forest is very small. We need the trees in the land. And you know, a young boy, a few kids, just made a little fire. And instead of making sure that the fire had ended when they left, they have left it running. And a little fire burned hundreds and thousands of trees. A little fire. And our tongue is like a fire. You notice that? Again, I want you to mention, "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." In verse 5b and verse 6, "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.

So is the tongue among our members that it defiles the whole body, and set us on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell." That's what happens when we use our tongue in a wrong way. To run people down. To curse other people. To do things, to say things that are not right. Even if they are right, it's better sometimes to know how to control. To say it in the right way. To the right person. And not to spread. You know how great we are. To spread gossip. Unfortunately, sad to say. We can speak to the one about the other, and we don't realize that we are really harming people by the way we say things, and when we say things, and what we say.

And that's why it's so important to learn to control this little member. But really, as we have said, according to what Yeshua said in Matthew 12:34, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouths speak." And we need to put a check upon our hearts and upon our mouths by the grace of God. I want you to notice the three things in verse 6 that Yaakov is saying to these brethren. Three things that the mouth does and that the tongue does. It's a fire. It defiles the whole body. Do you know really? When we speak wrong, we not only defile the tongue, we defile the whole body.

That's what happens. We are hurting ourselves. Then secondly, it setteth on fire the course of nature. When we say, when we use our tongue in a wrong way, it changes directions of people's lives. People can be harmed by the way we say things. And thirdly, it says, "It is set on fire of hell." Really, we do the work of Satan and not the work of God. We are really not leading people in heaven bound, but hell bound. That's what we really do. That's what Yaakov James is saying in connection with fire. You remember, we sometimes sing that song, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going." And we mean it in the right way.

It takes a little spark that we will stir up the hearts of a brother and a sister so we can get a fire for the Lord going. That's the right way in using the tongue. But the wrong way is using the tongue as a way in which that defile the body, set on fire the course of nature, and set on fire of hell. That it is not the work of God, it's the work of Satan. And that's what Satan does very well. He deceives God's people. So instead of they are occupied with the Lord and learning from the Lord, they end up to learn from Him and do that which is not pleasing to the Lord.

So we talked about Esh, fire. We talked about Mashot, rudder. We talked about Resen, bridle. Now let's look at verses 7 and 8. And I want you to notice the illustration of tamed beasts. And you know, brothers and sisters, what we learn here is that every kind of beasts and of birds and of serpents and of the things of the sea is tamed. And has been tamed of mankind. But here's the main verse of this chapter. The tongue can no human tame, can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Now you notice, by the way, that he says in verse 7, he used these four kind of animals, you might say, that God had created according to Genesis chapter 9, where he gave all the animals for men to rule over them.

And he used the animals, the beasts. Notice in verse 7, the beasts. These are those behemot. These are those beasts that walk upon the ground. Then he used the birds. The birds are those that fly in the air. And then he used the serpents. The serpents are those who crawl on the ground. And finally, he used the things which are in the sea. These are all the fish of the sea. In other words, God had placed men to be a ruler of the old animal kingdom. And that's why he says in verse 7, Every kind of beasts have been tamed by mankind. You can even go today to the zoo.

And you can see someone standing by a lion. You can see another one riding on an elephant. You can see another one is sending the birds and having them coming back. You can see even some who can tame a serpent. All around his body or her body that not harming them. Men have been able to control the human, the animal kingdom. But men cannot control his or her own tongue. Lashon. Lashon. That's why he says, look. He says in verse 8, the tongue can no... The word for men here, it should be human. The tongue can no human tame or control. What is it? It says here in verse 8b, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.

What a sad description of the tongue of the human race. Now, turn with me to a verse or two. First of all, in Psalm 140, verse 1. David, David is speaking and praying and saying, "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil men. Preserve me from the violent men, which imagine mischief in their hearts. Continually are they gathering together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Adder's poison is under their lips. Selah." David, David is praying to God. He says, "God, preserve me from those that desire mischief against me." Because God, look, they have sharpened their tongues like a knife, like a serpent. And like others, poison is under their lips.

"God, preserve me from those who speak against me." And sharpening their tongues to only cut and cut like this serpent, that poison. And this is amazing how it speaks to us. How sometimes we are so careless in a way in which we say things, and we bite people, and we hurt people. And we don't realize that we only harm the work of the Lord. We actually harm ourselves. We don't build ourselves. Neither we build the body of the Messiah. And we read in other passages that we can read. But how can someone might ask, "Who, if men cannot tame the tongue, this member, the lashon, who can help us?

Who can control us? Who can help us to be careful in what we say and how we say?" Well, the only one who can help us is God Himself. The Holy Spirit of God can speak to us. Look at the verse. I want to mention that in Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah is speaking when he saw the glory of the Lord. I want to read in this chapter how really Isaiah looked at himself. Because he says in the year of King Uzziah, chapter 6, verse 1, that the King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up. He saw the Lord in all His glory.

And when he saw him, he actually saw himself. And that's why when he heard the cry, where it says in verse 3, one cried to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Adonai Tseva'o, the Lord of hosts." The whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah. Isaiah, when he saw that, when he heard that, and he saw the glory of the Lord, he said in verse 5, "Woe is me." He realized, here's a kadosh, a holy Lord, and here's a sinful man speaking about himself. And then he says, notice what he says, "Woe is me," verse 5, "For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips." "And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Notice, he was a Jewish Israeli Hebrew man, dwelling among his own people, the people of Israel, and he was confessing the condition of the whole nation of Israel.

Just the same like you and I need to confess the whole condition of the human race, the body, the believers in Yeshua and the Messiah. This is the sinful condition that we have. And then notice, when he said that, when God was willing to provide him with assistance. And so we read, he said in verse 6, "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live call in his hand." You know, this live call came from the altar. On the altar you had the sacrifice. The animals that have died. It speaks of the Messiah that have died on the tree on the cross. Who paid a penalty for sin.

That's why that live call came from the altar. And then it says in verse 6b, "Having a live call in his hand, which he had taken with the tongue from off the altar, and he laid it upon my mouth. And then he said, "Lord, this has touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged." You see what happened? In a way that Isaiah can have a clean lips, you might say. A clean life, you might say. A forgiveness from God was on the basis of the call that came from the altar upon which the animal died and shed its blood, which speaks to us about the death of our Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

He died for us, so he can cleanse us, not only positionally, he can only also help us practically to have a change in our lives. And so we read that Isaiah was cleansed. This have touched thy lips. Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged. And now you can use your words for the glory of God. And that's why in the next verses, verse 8 says, the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And then Isaiah said, "Here I am, send me." In other words, Isaiah was saying, "I'm willing to use my lips now for the glory of the Lord, for the blessing of the people of God.

I will use the words that needed to be said in order to edify and to build the people of God." That's what we learn here from this verse. So what we really hear here in connection with He says, He says, "He is not the same beasts." Beasts can be tamed, but the tongue, no man can except God Himself. So, the word for beasts tame, "chayot, nich beshot" is in the Hebrew, verses 7 and 8. Verses 9 to 12. He uses additional two illustrations, the fountain and the fig tree or the vine. This is another fifth and sixth illustration in connection with the tongue to illustrate the tongue and its ways.

And so we read now in verses 9 and 10. And that's why He is now saying, "No man can tame the tongue." But look what it says in verse 9 and 10. He says, "With this tongue, we bless God, even the Father, and therewith, with this tongue, we curse men, which are made after the similitude of God." It's impossible. He's saying to the brothers and sisters, "Look, one day you come and you say, "God, I bless you." And then we turn around and we see someone or we say to someone we don't like, "Curse you." From the same tongue, the same mouth that says, "God, I bless you." We turn around and we curse somebody else who is made in the image and the likeness of God.

That's how we are, brothers and sisters. That's the human heart that is not judged. That is the human tongue that is not guarded by the Spirit of God. Look at verse 10, "Out of the same mouth proceeded blessing and cursing." And he says, "My brethren." Again, look at Yaakov. "My brethren." "Achim sheli." "My brethren, these things are not to be so. It should not be so." He's saying to the brethren, to the Achim. You cannot go and praise God in one statement and then go around and curse somebody else. It's not right before the Lord. It's not edifying for the people of God. That's why he's challenging the brethren.

And you notice, he doesn't only call them brethren, he calls them my brethren. You are my brothers and sisters. I love you. I'm not telling you this in order to put you down. I'm telling you this because I care for you and that in order that you will grow spiritually and be used by the Lord for the glory of God and for the blessing of the people of God. He's saying to them, "These things are not to be this way." And if it is in our lives, the losers, brothers and sisters, is not someone else. We are the losers. We will never please the Lord if we have a heart that is not checked and lips that are not controlled.

We are only going to produce harm to ourselves and to the people of God and we'll never give glory to our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. That's what Yaakov James is saying. And now he's moving on in verses 11 and 12 and he's using those two additional illustrations to conclude those six pictures to illustrate the tongue and then he's using the fountain and using the fig tree. And look what he says in verse 11. "Doth a fountain send forth out of the same place water that are sweet and water that is or bitter?" Is it possible? How can, if you're going to go to a fountain, and you know what is a fountain?

A fountain in Hebrew it's really ma'ayan. Ma'ayan means the place where you come and you take water out. And water in the Bible speaks of refreshment. We want to be a refreshment to the people of God. When Yeshua the Messiah washed the feet of the disciples with water from the fountain you might say to refresh the disciples. This is a ministry. How can, out of the fountain will come sweet water and then bitter water? It's not possible. It's not normal. You know, there was a time in the history of our people in Exodus chapter 15 where God specifically brought them into a place that there is a bitter water.

Purposely, he led them in this way that they will turn to him to receive some refreshment. And they drank the water that was bitter. So you know what he told Moshe when Israel complained? He says, Moses, take a tree, piece of wood, throw it into the water and the water will turn sweet. It speaks to us of our Lord Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah. The wood speaks of the tree in which he died on that cross where he shed his precious blood for our sins. And now we can enjoy the sweetness of our relationship with him because he paid the price for our sin and our sins.

Can a fountain bring sweet and bitter? No. It's not possible. And if we want to do the ministry of the Lord and to refresh our brothers and our sisters, as Yaakov, James is saying to the brethren, he says, brethren, those things are not to be so. Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? The answer is not at all. If you and I are going to refresh the people of God, we better use our tongues for edification and building up. Sometimes we might need to say something that will harm or will touch the heart of our brother for correction. Yes.

We don't need to just sweet our words for nothing. We need to correct our brothers and sisters at the time, but to correct them for the purpose of edifying them and building them and not cutting them down. Especially not to do all the gossiping and talking behind and all these things. You know, no wonder the church is in this state today. Our spiritual condition is so low that we cannot bring anybody higher than where we are ourselves. And that's why we need the grace of God to help us to be those that are builders and edifiers of the body of the Messiah. And the Lord is able to help us with this.

And finally, he's using the last illustration. And this time, look at this. This is the illustration of the fig tree. It says here in verse 12, "Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine can bear figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh water." In other words, what he's really saying, do you look at the trees? If you're going to go, those of us who are farmers know very well when you are planted a fig tree, you're not expecting from that a tree to bring forth olives. It's not possible. Fig tree will bring figs, olive tree will bring olives.

Well, if our mouth is not being used for the glory of the Lord, we are hurting ourselves and there is no fruit for the Lord. And that's the point that he's mentioning here in this chapter clearly. And again, as I mentioned earlier, this is not applied to somebody else. It's applied to us individually. All of us have to search our hearts. The brethren there needed to search their hearts to whom James Yaakov wrote years ago. They needed to learn this for themselves, that they needed to apply this to themselves. Apparently they had those problems because James Yaakov would not write these words unless they had these problems in their own local assembly.

Turn to Matthew for a moment. Go back to Matthew 7:15. Look at the words of Yeshua on the Sermon on the Mount. Yeshua said, "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Now we do not know, brothers and sisters, the hearts of everyone, but we know the fruits.

We are called to be fruit inspectors. We do not call to be hearts inspectors. We do not know the hearts of any one of us, and therefore we cannot judge the motive, but we can examine the fruits. Yeshua twice said in these verses. Verse 15, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." Verse 20, "By their fruits ye shall know them." That's how we know. We have good fruit. It's evident that it's coming out of a good spiritual condition. And therefore he said it's not possible that a good tree will bring evil fruit. And an evil tree will bring forth good fruit. It's not possible. That's what Yaakov, by the way Yaakov is following what Yeshua have taught in his life.

James following and instructing those Hebrew believers of first century to whom he wrote. He's instructing them out of what Yeshua himself spoke at the Sermon on the Mount. And so in verses 1 and 2 we have the exaltation. In verses 3 to 12 we have six illustrations. We have the bits. We have the rudder, the helm. We have the fire. We have the beasts which are tame. We have the fountain of water. We have the fig trees and the vines. Those things that we have here before us. Well, we have the illustrations now in verses 3 to 12. And now please let's look at the last verses of this chapter. Verses 13 to verse 18.

And in these verses, really, this is the conclusion of the whole reason why Yaakov used the tongue. He really leads them to desire to have wisdom that is from heaven. Wisdom that comes from above. You know, to be a wise brother or wise sister walking here upon the face of this world is very important. And how we can gain wisdom unless we are leaning on the Lord, staying close to him and learning from him, as he said in Matthew 11, learn of me. And so now in verse 13, Yaakov asks a question. And he's asking you and I, just the same like he asked his Hebrew brethren.

In verse 13, Yaakov says, Who is a wise man? Let me even change it all as well. Who is a wise woman? Or a wise person? That's what he's saying. Who of you is wise? You know why he said that? Because according to Proverbs 4, in verse 7, the king of Israel, Solomon, said to our people, Seek wisdom. Look for wisdom. Desire wisdom. It is important for you to desire wisdom. And you notice, among the people of Israel, there is a desire for learning, for wisdom among our Jewish people. Solomon says, Proverbs chapter 4, notice verse 7, he says, Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. And with all thy getting, get understanding.

In other words, you glean wisdom, yet understanding. And you remember, Solomon was the wisest man upon the face of this earth. God gave him this wisdom. While when he neglected God, he lost the wisdom, and he ended up falling into the condition in which he found himself at the end of his life. So he asked a question, Yaakov in James chapter 3, and verse 13, he asked, Who is a wise person in our midst? And then he said, And endued with knowledge among you. Let him show out of a good manner of life, good conversation, his works with meekness of wisdom. Here he is saying in verse 13, Are you wise?

He is saying to the brethren, and he is saying to you and I, You are really wise? How do you look at yourself? You want to be wise? Otherwise? Well, It ought to be manifest in the way you live. And therefore he says, Let him show it. Notice verse 13. Let him show it out of a good conversation. This is another word to say, Let him show it out of a good behavior. Good conduct. Good words that we say. Let him show it out of a good behavior. His works with meekness of wisdom. The need of humility. The need of humbleness before the Lord. Then in verses 14, 15, and 16, he shows us what is human and earthly wisdom in contrast to the divine wisdom in verses 17 and 18.

And look what he says. Look at the human wisdom or the earthly wisdom of man in contrast to the divine wisdom that comes from above. Look, it says in verse 14. And I'm going to just highlight this. In verse 14, Human wisdom bring us into envy, strife, boasting, and deceit. This is the human wisdom. Look at it. Verse 14. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. Verse 15. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. He's saying, really? Look at the wisdom of man. This word. You know, all the wisdom of man, the human brightness, you might say, that is not from God.

What does it lead to? Verse 14a, envy. Verse 14b, strife. Verse 14c, boasting. Verse 14d, deceit and lies. That is the human wisdom. You know, one lady used to tell me, because half of the world cheated the other half of the world. That's the way it's happening here in this world. Man is deceitful, envy, strife, boasting, and lying. That is the wisdom of this world. And that's why James is saying to them, why is it? Why is it? If you have bitter envying among you, if you have strife among you and in your own hearts, and you, you ought not to glory and to boast, because you lie against the truth.

That is not from God. That is not divine wisdom. And you know, brothers and sisters, every time we have in our own midst strifes, it's not from God. Every time a local assembly, local church divide, it's not from God. Most of the division that occur among the people of God does not occur because of doctrine. It occurs because the people of God haven't been gracious and patient with each other. They seek vain glory. They cause strife. They boast and say things about each other produce a division among the people of God. That's the truth. Look on the other hand, beloved brothers and sisters. Let me read first of all verse 16.

For where there is envying, where there is strife, there is confusion in every evil walk. Wherever you see divisions and envying and strife, this is not from the Lord. It is from the devil and from the flesh. It is not from the wisdom that comes from above. But look at the other side. Look at the wisdom that is from above. It's mentioned in verse 17 and 18. And I want you to notice this is beautiful. First of all, just to highlight verse 13, it says at the end, the conversation of his works with meekness and wisdom. The wisdom that is from above began with meekness. Yesterday we had in our Bible class, Moses, Moshe Rabbeinu, the meekest man on earth.

That when his own sister and brother rose up against him, instead of fighting for himself, he committed this to the Lord and left it at the hand of God. Because God heard it. And he judged those, his own sister that was against him, by leprosy. He was the meekest man on earth. Meekness is essential in order for us to have this divine wisdom. Notice in verse 17, look at it says, the wisdom that is from above. Number one is pure. Number two is peaceable, shalom, making peace. Number three, gentle. Number four, easy to be entreated. Number five, full of mercy. Number six, good fruits. Number seven, without partiality.

And number eight, without hypocrisy. That's what he's saying to the brethren. You won't have wisdom that will enable you to control your tongue in what you say, how you say. You glean wisdom that come from heaven, from God. Don't look for the wisdom of this world. You know that man by human wisdom rejected the Messiah, Yeshua, and placed him on the cross. And by human wisdom, despise God and God's ways. That's why they will have to one day stand before God and face the judgment of God. But the believers, you and I, looking for a different wisdom, the wisdom that is coming from above. And he concludes this chapter by saying in verse 18, And the fruit of righteousness is sown in shalom, in peace, for them that make shalom and make peace.

That's how he concludes this. The wisdom that is from above will produce fruit for the Lord, righteousness. And then it is going to be placed and sown in peace, in shalom. And ultimately it will give shalom and peace to the brothers and sisters that belong to our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. Brothers and sisters, what a challenging chapter. You know, when I think about this chapter, I'm saying how it is applied to me, to us. And how we need the grace of God to put those, you might say, those bits, those bridles upon our mouths. So we will use the words to share with others in order to build others up and to edify the body of Messiah.

And ultimately, really, before we can even talk, use our mouths, we have to really search our hearts. And ask the Lord to help us that our hearts will be tuned with him and that our hearts will please him. Because out of the abundance of the hearts, the mouth is speaking. So may the Lord help us and lead us to live a life and use words that will be pleasing unto him and a blessing to our brothers and sisters.