Introduction

James 1:26 ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

• The Title of today’s sermon comes right out of this verse…

• Your Religion May Be Worthless.
  • “When I say “Your” I mean YOU! The people sitting in this room, or watching online… the people who CALL themselves Christians.
    • I am not talking about Muslims, or Hindu’s, or Buddhists… I am talking about YOU. I am talking about ME!I am talking about those of us who consider ourselves Christians.
  • But to prove my point we need to define the word Religion.
• Here in James the word for Religion is thrace’-kos (θρῆσκος) which means to worship, to demonstrate worship, to worship in a ceremonial manner.
  • Now in this sense, are we not a religious people? We worship… we demonstrate worship openly, and we worship in a ceremonial manner… wedding ceremonies, baptism ceremonies… even Sunday service could be considered ceremonial.
  • So I think it is safe to say, from a Biblical standpoint that we are a religious people.
• What is unique about Christianity as a religion is that it is actually TRUE.
  • Jesus really did live 2000 years ago, He really died for our sins, He really rose again, He is really alive and active today.
• Now some people like to say things like “It’s a relationship, not a religion”…
  • But, while I think their heart is write, their words are wrong. It is a religion, we are a religious people, and that is OK.
    • I will talk more about that next week, but for now, know this, the Bible considers Christians a religious people.
    • To call yourself a Christian is to call yourself religious.
• Therefore, we know that this verse is about us, Christians, who worship publicly, demonstratively, and ceremoniously.

James 1:26 ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

• All of us thinks of ourselves as religious if we think of ourselves as Christians…
  • Some of us do not control our tongue.
    • Such people have deceived hearts.
    • Such people have worthless religion.
      • And I don’t know about y’all, but I want my religion to have ETERNAL WORTH!!!!
      • Therefore this is an important sermon, because if my religion is worthless, then I WANT TO KNOW AND I WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Point One – Your Words Are Powerful

James 1:26 ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

• Point one this morning is that your words are powerful.
  • Some of us don’t give enough credit to the power of words.
  • We think “What’s the big deal?! I can say what I want when I want”
    • We remove or refuse to use a filter on what we say, we lack self control.
• And that is problematic when we realize just how powerful words really are.
• How many of y’all know this rhyme:
  • “Sticks and stones can break my bones but… (words can never hurt me).
    • *sniff sniff* is it garbage day? BECAUSE THAT RHYME STINKS!
  • It’s a lie we teach our kids… it’s unbiblical and it is untrue.
    • WORDS DO HURT.
    • Sometimes words hurt much more than sticks or stones.
      • I know people who are fully grown… who have fully grown kids even… and these people are walking around with wounds their Dad gave them.
      • Wounds their ex gave them.
      • Wounds their pastor gave them.
        • Not wounds caused by sticks and stones, but wounds caused by words.
        • Sometimes words cut far deeper than any stick or stone could.
• Now, let’s see what the Bible has to say about the way that we talk:

Ephesians 4:29 ESV Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Psalm 19:14 ESV Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Matthew 12:37 ESV For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Colossians 4:6 ESV Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Proverbs 16:24 ESV Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Proverbs 29:20 ESV Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 13:3 ESV Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Proverbs 18:21 ESV Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

James 3:7-10 ESV  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,  (8)  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  (9)  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.  (10)  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

• So let me ask you, my dear religious friends and family… are your words gracious, do your words give life, do your words build up, and encourage, and love others. Are your words honoring to God?
  • Or are your words corrupted?
  • Will your words condemn you?
  • Are you speaking death?
  • Are you speaking curses?
• Now I know that you will probably answer, while sitting in church, “My words are honoring to God, mostly, I mean I know I have my moments, but who doesn’t? All in all I would say I speak life”
  • That’s a good answer… but what if I asked your kids about how you use your words?
    • What if I asked your parents?
    • Your boss?
    • Your coworkers?
    • Your wife or your husband?
• Because it is easy to speak life when you are in church, everyone is smiling, everyone is having a good day, everyone is excited to see you.
  • But the real test comes when you are tired, and angry, and just two steps past the limit.
    • Then how do you speak?
• One question I ask when marriage counseling is how often do you cuss out your spouse?
  • I don’t ask “Do you fight?” because everyone defines what “fighting” is differently.
  • But I ask, how often do you swear at your spouse? Call them names? Make them feel worthless?
    • YOU WOULD BE SHOCKED HOW MANY PEOPLE CUSS OUT THEIR SPOUSE OFTEN.
      • Like some people do it daily!
      • Well maybe you wouldn’t be shocked… maybe this is what it is like to be married in the world.
      • BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE MARRIED IN THE CHURCH.
      • We control our tongues… we don’t let the flesh run wild, we honor our spouses.
  • When someone tells me “Well, you know, we cuss at each other once a week” I ask them to be specific…
    • “What kinds of words do you use, what kinds of names do you call each other”?
    • Then they squirm… because it’s uncomfortable to face that… why? Why can you just shrug and say “We cuss at each other every once and a while, but who doesn’t?” Why can you say that, but not give specifics?
    • I will tell you why… because your heart is deceived… you have walked in deception so long you think this is ok.

James 1:26a ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart…

• Now after I get out of them all the horrible things they say to their wife, then I ask them this question:
  • What would you do If you walked into a room and I was talking to your wife that way? If I was calling her those names?
    • “Well I would beat the tar out of you!”
    • Darn tootin you would!
    • Now let me ask you this question:
      • Who is supposed to love your wife more? Me or you?!
      • Then why are you not beating the tar out of yourself?!
        • Because you have deceived your heart.
  • You see what I am doing is trying to make them realize that nobody should talk to their wife that way, but especially not the one person who pledged his life and love to her for the rest of his life.
• And the truth is, I don’t let anyone talk to my wife that way.
  • When one of my kids gets mad at Pastor Amanda, and they scream out an insult…
  • I get scary! I grab them by the shoulders, look them in the eye, and say very forcefully “HEY! Nobody talks to my wife that way”.
    • Then I take them to their room and spank their bottom!
• One time a woman in the church started going off on me and Amanda turned into this powerful lioness, she stood up and was like “You never speak to my husband that way again, get out of our house and repent before the wrath of God falls on you!” (I had never been so attracted to her!)
• But consider your life…
  • You better not talk to your kids any worse than you would be ok with me or anyone else talking to them.
  • You shouldn’t be having conversations with your coworkers that you wouldn’t be happy to have in this church with me standing right there.
  • Sometimes people cuss and talk filthy around me, then find out I am a pastor and apologize…
    • And I don’t get it, this is who you are bro, you are a person with an unbridled, uncontrolled tongue… not cussing around me isn’t going to change that.
    • You don’t have to apologize to me, I am not the one facing judgment for those words, I am not the one facing condemnation for those words… you are. You need to apologize to God and repent…
    • Because if you don’t you are going to find out on Judgment day the value of your religion!

Matthew 12:36 ESV I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.

• Now this brings me to point two: Your words reveal the true nature of your heart.

Point Two – Your Words Reveal The True Nature of Your Heart

James 1:26 ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

• I was ministering to a man, we will call him Bob, who was really broken up… (Not Bob Jones, ok, this guy’s name is not Bob I am just calling him Bob to be discrete… follow me here…)
  • Now I was ministering to Bob.
  • And you should know that Bob is a Christian man with a wife and kids, and Bob never missed church on a Sunday.
    • But Bob was really really upset in our meeting… because Bob had just lost his job.
  • He had lost his job because his boss looked into his work email account.
  • And in Bob’s email he found loads of emails between Bob and Bob’s wife.
    • Seems innocent enough, a husband and wife should be able to email each other… right?
  • Problem is, in these emails Bob and Bob’s wife spent a good deal of time bad mouthing and cussing about Bob’s boss.
    • Really horrible things were written about Bob’s boss in these emails.
  • So Bob got fired.
    • Worse yet, Bob’s Boss was his cousin’s husband.
    • Bob’s boss was family!
  • And so now Bob is crazy upset because he lost his job and all his family is shunning him over this.
    • Now where is Bob’s anger pointed? Well at the boss of course!
    • “HOW DARE MY BOSS LOOK INTO MY EMAILS! THIS IS A BREACH OF TRUST! I SHOULD SUE!”
  • I said “Bob, aren’t you a Christian?”
  • “Of course I am a Christian, you think I shouldn’t sue because I am a Christian?”
  • “No, Bob, I think as a Christian you shouldn’t be cussing out your boss!”
  • “BUT IT WAS MY PRIVATE EMAIL”
  • “Oh my mistake Bob, I didn’t realize you were only a Christian when you were in public”.
• You see what Bob, or whatever his name was, did… he had deceived his heart.

James 1:26 ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

• This guy thought that because it was private it was ok to be spiteful, angry, filthy, and unloving…
  • But news flash y’all, God can read your emails!
  • Nothing is hidden from Him!

Hebrews 4:13 NIV  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

• Listen, some of y’all need a little self-judgment.
  • Jesus never said we can’t Judge, but instead He says we need to judge with righteous judgment… and they way we do that, Biblically, is to Judge by the fruit.
    • Basically, you don’t need a PHD in forestry to know what an orange tree looks like… an orange tree is grows oranges… if it has oranges growing from it, it is an orange tree… right?
    • I think this is how we ought to judge ourselves too…
  • A Christian tree produces Christian fruit, amen?
    • Therefore, now follow me, I know this is tough to understand… but if you are a Christian then you should be producing Christian fruit… amen?
  • What is Christian fruit, well we are told:

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  (23)  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

• Do these words describe the way you speak? You know Jesus said that what comes out of your mouth is actually that which is overflowing from your heart.
  • So by judging the fruit of your mouth you can judge the fruit of your heart. And if we know what your heart is producing we know what kind of person you are…
  • A person with religion of eternal worth, or a person with worthless religion… look what Jesus says:

Matthew 12:33-37 ESV  “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.  (34)  You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  (35)  The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.  (36)  I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,  (37)  for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• Now, knowing all of this, look again at Galatians 5:22-23 and ask yourself: “Is my heart producing this kind of fruit, are my words which is the overflow of my heart producing this kind of fruit?

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  (23)  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

• Are your words full of love, or are the full of something else?
  • Are your words joyful or are they spiteful?
  • Do your words bring peace, or do they bring calamity?
  • Is the way you speak patient and kind?
  • Are your words full of goodness?
  • Is your word faithful? Meaning, do you do what you say you are going to do, or is your word worthless?
  • When you speak are you gentle? Do you practice self-control when you speak?
• If so, praise God! Your words match your religion, and your religion is proving to be of eternal value.
• If not, then you have a problem… because your heart is not proving itself to be redeemed by the blood of Christ.
  • Your words are hurting people.
  • Cursing people.
  • Bringing calamity to people.
    • And you can’t be bothered to say “Wait a minute, SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ME”.
    • You have deceived your heart.
    • WELL DON’T BE DECIEVED TODAY!
    • Come out of that deception!
  • Do what Bob did when I called him out on his nonsense… REPENT!
  • Cry out to God “Lord I am sorry, I am sorry for the way I have been using my words. I want my words to be blessings to others, not a curse, I want to speak life over people, I want to bring peace with my words… Lord help me. Help me to control my tongue. Help me to bridal my mouth. I don’t want to be one way in church and another way at work. I don’t want to speak to my family this way anymore. I want to be like you, I want to grow to be more like you, I want my words to reflect you. LORD HELP ME”.
• Then after you pray that kind of pray, begin practicing self control. When you notice your words are out of line, stop, apologize to whoever you are talking about, and then move on with kinder words.
  • It’s not as hard as it sounds, I do it all the time… I wonder how many fights have been avoided in my house because I simply stopped when frustrated and said “I am sorry honey, I didn’t meant to talk down to you, I am just frustrated”.
    • And I say that to my wife just over my tone, I don’t cuss or anything like that… but even still, when my tone is out of line I apologize and move on… that is called humility and self control… it will do wonders for your faith, for your relationships for your religion!

Conclusion

James 1:26 ESV  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

In conclusion let me just say this: Let us be a church who’s religion actually means something… a church who’s religion actually has value. Not just in church on Sundays, but everywhere we go!

• Let us use our words to bless
  • To prophecy
  • To make peace
• Let us be careful to speak truth
  • And to not speak as if we know things that we don’t know.
• Let us be slow to speak and quick to listen.
• Let us speak the truth in love.

Ephesians 4:15 ESV  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

• Gospel Call

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