{"id":7218,"date":"2020-10-13T02:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T07:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/wp\/?p=7218"},"modified":"2020-10-12T14:53:54","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T19:53:54","slug":"james-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/?p=7218","title":{"rendered":"James 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup>For\u00a0we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says,\u00a0he is a perfect man,\u00a0able also to bridle his whole body.\u00a03\u00a0<\/sup>If we put\u00a0bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to take the position of teacher lightly in the church, without considering its cost in terms of accountability. Jesus warned\u00a0to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much have been committed, of him they will ask the more.<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 12:48<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a04\u00a0<\/sup>Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.\u00a05\u00a0<\/sup>So also the tongue is a small member, yet\u00a0it boasts of great things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup>And\u00a0the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members,\u00a0staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0and set on fire by hell.[b<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0The bit and the rudder are small but extremely important. If they are not controlled the entire horse is out of control and the entire ship is out of control. It is possible for something as small as the tongue is to have tremendous power for either good or evil.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7\u00a0<\/sup>For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,\u00a08\u00a0<\/sup>but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,\u00a0full of deadly poison.\u00a09\u00a0<\/sup>With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people\u00a0who are made in the likeness of God.\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup>From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,[c<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0these things ought not to be so.\u00a011\u00a0<\/sup>Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?\u00a012\u00a0<\/sup>Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James points to the ultimate\u00a0impossibility<\/em>\u00a0of such a contradiction. If bad fruit and bitter water continue to come forth, it means that there is no contradiction. The tree is bad and the spring is bad.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom from Above<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

13\u00a0<\/sup>Who is wise and understanding among you?\u00a0By his good conduct let him show his works\u00a0in the meekness of wisdom.\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>But if you have bitter\u00a0jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.15\u00a0<\/sup>This is not\u00a0the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual,\u00a0demonic.\u00a016\u00a0<\/sup>For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup>But\u00a0the wisdom from above is first pure, then\u00a0peaceable, gentle, open to reason,\u00a0full of mercy and good fruits,\u00a0impartial and\u00a0sincere.\u00a018\u00a0<\/sup>And\u00a0a harvest of righteousness\u00a0is sown in peace by those who make peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wisdom can\u00a0be seen by the fruit it produces<\/em>. It isn\u2019t just the inner power to think and talk about things the right way; it is\u00a0full of\u2026 good fruits.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":1168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-reading"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7219,"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7218\/revisions\/7219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbcnewhaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}