The sermon titled 'Government of the Tongue' by Scott Brown focuses on the importance of using our tongues in a biblically ordered church. It highlights how God creates a culture within the church and the consequences of misusing the tongue. The sermon also provides a recipe for destroying a church through tail-bearing, discusses common excuses for tail-bearing, and offers a life-giving recipe for using the tongue positively. It concludes by providing practical steps to stop the spread of tail-bearing.

Okay, so let's begin this next matter in joined and knit together. As you know, the purpose of these sessions is to help us just reconsider what it means to be a biblically ordered church. And our design is to bring the whole church sort of surrounding these things. We have a lot of new people and a lot of old people, and we want to sort of have us all end up, you know, hearing the same things and dealing with the same things. And we want to have alignment together as a church.

We want to have a sense of the glory of the Church of Jesus Christ to build a culture. One of the things that God does in his churches, he creates a culture in the church. The problem is we mess it up. He's given us all the commands that we needed to build a great culture in the church, but our dark hearts sometimes take it in the wrong direction. And we talked about at the very beginning, the first session was we called a glorious church.

You know, in other words, what is the church? Then the next week we went and we talked about what the church does and then we talked about our life together. We went over our church covenant that explains how we relate together in various ways. We've talked about elder authority, we've talked about the role of deacons. Last week we talked about what it means to be a missionary church because we want to be that.

And now today we're going to speak about the government of the tongue. And I have a six-point outline for you. Now if you want notes on this, I have really good notes on this message, and so I'll send them to you if you'd like them because I'm probably going to go real fast. My desire really is to walk through a pretty broad spectrum of scripture on the government of the tongue. And first of all I want to begin with defining the misuse of the tongue using the language of the Bible.

Then I want to give you a recipe for how to destroy your church. I'm going to give you the recipe. If you want to do it, I'm going to give you the recipe. And then I want to talk about some excuses, bad excuses, for tail-bearing and misuse of the tongue. And then I want to give you how God treats tail-bears.

It's not pretty. And then I also want to give you another recipe. It's a life-giving recipe for how to use your tongue in your church, and in your family, and in your business, because the misuse of the tongue can do a lot of damage in all those places. And then finally, I'm going to give you some practical things you can do when you start hearing tail-bearing. What do you do?

The Bible actually tells you what to do, so I'm going to give you several points on what to do. So that's the deal, that's what we're going to do. Now, you know, what does it mean to misuse our tongues? And I think that's really the big issue here. So I'm going to run over those points.

Now, the government of the Tang and divisions happen to be one of those things that plague Christian organizations and the church. They always have and they always will, and we should always expect that we're vulnerable to it. The Hudson Taylor who founded the China Inland Mission and ran it for many years, he had a successor by the name of D.E. Host And he was responsible for managing over a thousand missionaries at that mission all over China. And as he reflected upon the most troubling issues that the mission faced, here's what he said, Looking back over these 50 years, I really think if I were asked to mention one thing which has done more harm and occasioned more sorrow and division in God's work than anything else, I should say tail-bearing.

Looking back after 50 years, And I think anybody who's been a pastor of a church understands that that can be true of any church. And as it turns out, you know, one of the smallest members of the human body has the ability to unravel the relationships in a church and even a church. It can burn it to the ground. And so it's a very serious matter. So I'd like to define the misuse of the tongue, first of all.

And I want to just begin by saying, you know, tail-bearing is a community sin because it can't happen unless people talk. And there are three parties involved. There's the one who's talking, and then there's the one who's listening, and then there's the one who's being talked about. So it's a community sin. It involves at least three people and it can involve many more.

And you know the tongue can be a love building and it can be a love killing instrument in any in a home or in a church or anything like that. And the Bible actually says that the tongue is a killer, that it has the power of life and death. And you know the English Puritan Richard Alistree wrote a book called The Government of the Tongue, which I have in my library, and he calls the tongue an uncircumcised Philistine. And he says, he says it's such a formidable enemy that the only thing that will knock him out are the stones from the brook of the Word of God. And he says, you throw these rocks at him and he'll topple down.

And so, and what he says is, this book is a call to pull out the stones to kill the Philistine in the room. And so, you know, tail-bearing is on God's hate list. Proverbs 6 says that there are six things which the Lord hates and seven are an abomination and one of them is one who sows discord among brethren and that always happens by the use of the tongue and so it is this community sin And I want to give you a number of facts about tail-bearing. First of all, the Lord does hate it and it is an abomination. Second, it does sow discord among brethren, as as Proverbs 6.19 says.

Proverbs 26 verses 21 and 22, or 20 and 21, says that it kindles and then it sustains strife. So it starts strife, it kindles it, and it keeps strife going. Proverbs 26-22 says that it's a tasty trifle going down into the inmost parts. It's really dangerous Because once you hear it, you're never the same again. It goes down into the inmost being, and you can't change the impact on it.

Once you hear a slanderous or an unflattering or even something true about somebody that's damaging to them, you are never the same. It's a tasty trifle. It goes down. And its impact lingers. And it can't often be corrected.

And in that sense, it's a poison pill because it changes you forever. Also, it involves smooth words and flattering speech, which deceive, in other words, it often comes in a way that you can kind of accept it, you know, it sounds right. And Romans 16, 17 speaks of this, it says, by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. And there the Apostle Paul is speaking to the Roman Church and he's saying take note of those who cause divisions among you. He says mark them and avoid them, but he says in kind of an understanding way, you know, It's almost as if he's admitting that it's easy to hear the words of a tail-bearer because they're smooth.

They have a sense of sensibility about them. And also, tail-bearing goes along with a list of other really gruesome sins. We tend to want to sort of categorize the severity of sins, and I think we can do that. I think the Bible does that. But, you know, in 1 Corinthians 5, 11, The apostle says, I've written to you not to keep company with anything named a brother who is sexually immoral, covetous, or an idolater, and then he says a reviler.

A reviler is someone who has evil things to say about somebody else. It's included in all these other sins that we might think, you know, are more grievous. And I think in many ways they are, but God, when he makes these lists, he's collecting the things that are extremely harmful. It's also equivalent to judging the law as irrelevant. It's equivalent to rejecting the law, and James 4, 11 speaks of this.

Mike covered this briefly when we were in James, where we read, do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. Now, what James is saying is when you speak evil of your brother, you're acting like the law is wrong. You're acting like the law doesn't need to be considered.

Every law of God is a law of love. And so he says if you speak evil of one another, you are judging the law and speaking evil of the law. You're actually standing above the law of God. Here's another one. It really is the opposite of compassion and love and brotherhood and tenderness and courtesy and blessing and we're called to all those things.

In 1st Peter 3 verses 8 and 9 Peter says, finally all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, be tender-hearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. And there are many things that we could say about this, that It's refraining from tail-bearing is a requirement for the pursuit of peace in the church. And you get this from 1 Peter 3, 10 and 11 and 12. It also is very difficult because the Lord actually stands against it.

And there are different places you can go to understand that. The Lord will be against tale bearers and he'll hinder their prayers. So says Psalm 15 verses 1 through 3, when someone takes a reproach against his friend, then God wages war with him. And it's also very clear that the Bible teaches what is the reason for it. It's actually fueled by self-righteousness and arrogance and it ends in separation.

3 John chapter 1 verses 9 through 10 speak of diatrophes, who wants to be first, and his malicious words that he was speaking because he wanted preeminence. And all of this to say that the tongue is, like James said it is, It's a fire, the tongue is a fire. And once that fire is lit, once it's kindled, it's very difficult to stop that firestorm. But it can be stopped, absolutely. And I'll give you some very specific ways the Word of God teaches us to stop the fire when it begins to burn.

You know, James says, see how great a forest a little fire kindles. You know, every person in the church should always be asking, Am I dry wood? Am I wood that can be kindled easy? Or am I not? Am I so filled up with the Word and the love of God that I'm not easily kindled?

Because the tongue is a fire, and it kindles a great fire. So, God uses this imagery of fire to explain it and you know as I come here to the end of sort of defining some of the terms I think you know what I've just read from the Bible makes it makes it clear that it can crush a church. Little words from one person's big mouth can cause a lot of division and broken relationships in a church. And, You know, efforts to evangelize are neutralized. Works of love are hampered because you're spending all your time dealing with divisions in the church.

And it's really tragic when churches get so diverted from the main thing because of tail-bearing. So the second point I want to make is I want to give you a recipe. I want to tell you how to destroy your church. And I'm going to give you the recipe to do it. It's a step-by-step recipe.

I've seen it work. I know pastors who've seen this recipe, you know, just work really well. And first of all, be a whisperer. Be a whisperer. Proverbs 16-28 says, a perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends.

Just whisper whatever bad news you have on anybody. Here's another part of the, another ingredient, a very important ingredient. Allow your tongue and the tongues of your family members to run unbridled. In other words, just say whatever you think, you know. If it's in your mind, say it.

The Bible actually asks us to bridle our tongues, not to say everything we're thinking. And James 3 verses 5 through 8 speak of this. Of course, he says, the tongue is a little member and it boasts of great things, and see how great a forest a little fire kindles." And then he says, he says, "'No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.'" And yet at the same time, we've really been commanded by God to bridle our tongues, to actually put a bridle on our tongues. James says this and that we need a governor over our tongues.

The things that we're thinking in our minds aren't always the things that promote love. And so we should set a bridle over our tongues. The third ingredient in this recipe is hold others to a higher standard than yourself. Hold others to a higher standard than yourself. Proverbs 11, 9 says, the hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor.

The hypocrite is the person who's playing. He's acting like somebody he isn't. He thinks he's better than he is, And so he puts himself above other people and speaks evil of them. Here's the fourth element in the recipe. Assume the worst of others.

In Psalm 41 verse 7, David says, all who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They imagine. Now we know that you know 1st Corinthians 13 says it very clearly, think no evil of one another. In other words, think the best of one another.

You know, usually when you have, you know, discord among brethren, most of the time you'll find that somebody wasn't thinking the best. They presumed. You know, I can give you a few instances where I've presumed the worst about people and things. And I'm thankful that I've been wrong so often. But thinking the best is the best kind of way.

If someone has really felt fallen into sin and they need to be spoken to, please do that. There are many commands about that. Matthew 18 tells us how to deal with personal offenses very, very clearly. Here's another, don't just assume the worst of others, but listen to the rumors against others. Listen to the rumors.

You know, bend your ear. You know, be a listening ear, you know. And Proverbs 17, four says, an evildoer gives heed to false lips. A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue. There's something in our flesh that wants to listen to a spiteful tongue.

We need to recognize where that comes from. Doesn't come from God. So listen to rumors. Sixth, repeat the rumors that you hear. If you want to poison your church, just repeat the rumors that you hear.

Proverbs 17, 9 says, he who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends. Richard Baxter wrote a brilliant treatise on the government of the tongue. And one of the things that he says in there is that tail bearing isn't really just isolated to things that are not true. You can relate things that are true that are unflattering and hurtful to people. Just because it's true doesn't mean you should repeat it.

And I think we need to recognize that. And that's why he says, he who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends. And then seventh, the seventh ingredient, forget that you were forgiven much and demand that you be treated perfectly. Matthew 18 verses 27 and 28 speaks of this unmerciful servant And he says, Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, pay me what you owe.

This was a man that was forgiven of probably what was equivalent of billions of dollars, and he's owed a few hundred dollars and he grabs the guy's throat. So forget that you are forgiven much and demand that you be treated fairly and perfectly. So there's the recipe. Now I want to give you some excuses that often pass our thinking, and maybe even speaking, for tail-bearing. The heart always wants to justify itself and you know as fallen creatures We want to justify our actions and we often Put the wrong names on things we mislabel what we're doing And so I'm going to give you some excuses that we commonly use in our hearts for this sin of tail-bearing that we use to justify the sin by not calling it a sin and thinking of ourselves more righteously than we ought to.

Excuse number one, gossip is disguised as seeking counsel. Seeking counsel. You can say that you're seeking counsel on a matter, but you're simultaneously revealing things that should not be revealed. Here's another excuse. Prayer requests, gossip is often disguised as a prayer request.

You know, it's not always necessary to bring others into prayer for people who are having trouble. Are you praying for them? Are you crying out to God for them? Or are you just passing around this story and causing further damage, maybe to their reputation or exposing them in a way that's inappropriate. You know, our natural tendency is that we would rather talk about other people's failings rather than to pray about them before the Lord.

Excuse number three, bearing one another's burdens. Gossip is often disguised as bearing one another's burdens. We have a problem with someone and it may be appropriate to have someone help bear your burden, but you know only in rare occasions and only within biblical guidelines should this be taking place. Matthew 18 speaks of this. You know the Lord says go to your brother, go to him straight, And then if that doesn't work out, don't have someone else bury your burden.

Bring that other person with you and keep and until the matter is resolved, bring someone. But don't go to them privately and poison them. Bring them. And Matthew 18 just tells us how to do that. It's how we deal with personal offenses.

The next excuse, number four, gossip is often disguised as sharing concern or godly sorrow. Godly sorrow is often the cloak for the slanderer. And gossip is gossip, but it's often cloaked under this. And people think it's their duty to reveal everyone else's sins. And So, you know, the danger of these excuses is that it only causes things to spread that probably shouldn't be spread.

And again, I think you all know well enough that there are things that we should speak to one another about. There are things that we should rebuke one another for. Absolutely. This is not any kind of argument to escape the kind of accountability that we really have with one another. And I hope you recognize I'm reading the words of the Bible here.

These are the things that God would have us do. But once, You know, when we use those excuses and things are let out that shouldn't be let out, even if you repent of the tail-bearing, the damage has really been done. And there's a story that I read one time. It's called The Story of the Woman from the East. And the story is a woman, you know, repeated a piece of gossip about a neighbor.

And then, within a short time, the whole town knew about the story. And the person who was the object of it was very hurt and unhappy but then the lady realized that the the tail she was spreading was not true And it broke her heart that what she had repeated was not true. And so she went to a wise sage in the town to ask him what she should do because she realized she passed on a story that was harmful and completely untrue. And so he listened to her problem and he asked her to go to the marketplace and to purchase a chicken and have it killed. And he told her to on the way home, just drop the feathers on the way home.

And so she went and did that. And she was surprised, you know, at the unusual advice. And then she went to the man the next day and told him that she had done exactly what he had said. And he replied to her, now go and go find those feathers. Go pick them all up and bring them to me.

And the lady followed the same path that she took and she found that the wind, you know, had blown the feathers all over the place and she couldn't find them all. And after searching all day long she only returned with two of the feathers in her hand. And the wise man said, it's easy to drop them, but impossible to bring them all back. You know, it doesn't take much to spread a rumor, but you can never completely undo the wrong. Hence, the strong language, the tongue is a fire.

It's a deadly evil full of poison. So we just have to take this very seriously. We might flatter ourselves with excuses, but we should be very careful that others might suffer the impact and we might suffer the impact as well and being exposed. Now, briefly how God treats talebearers. The next point here, number four, if you turn to Psalm 120, it's really interesting.

This is one of the songs of ascent. And I don't know why the first song of ascent deals with lying lips and slander. It's really interesting. And a deceitful tongue. And in that Psalm, what we learn is that The tail bearer is going to receive sharp arrows with coals of the broom tree.

In other words, will be wounded and burned. That's what happens. That God ends up destroying them. We learn from Romans 1 that God gives them over to their lusts. In Romans 1 we read about those who did not retain the knowledge of God but with a debased mind were filled with unrighteousness and immorality and strife and whisperers and back biters, proud boasters, inventors of evil things.

And what he says there is God will give them over to their lusts. That's how God treats the tail bearer. Also, the tail bearer is deceived. James 1.26 makes this very clear. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, You are deceived when you don't bridle your tongue.

You're not who you think you are, is one thing that he's implying there. In Psalm 34 verses 12 and 13 we learn that the gossips days of life can be cut short. And then that those who are tale bearers actually risk death in Proverbs 10 verse 21, the lips of the righteous feed many but fools die for lack of wisdom. They lose friendships. Proverbs 16 26 makes this clear.

A perverse man sows strife and a whisperer separates the best of friends. And they can cause souls to fall into trouble. Proverbs 21, 23, whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. And most amazingly, being a tailbearer makes your religion useless. James 1, 26 says, if anyone thinks he's religious, his religion is worthless.

So there are some very strong things that the Bible says about this. When you read the things that the Bible says about this. When you read the things that the Bible says about the tongue, it makes you kind of deadly serious in many ways because the things are so so remarkably serious. The ill-governed tongue is set on fire by hell itself, and so it's very dangerous. Okay, let's go to the fifth point, a life-giving recipe.

How to build up your church, how to build up your family, how to build up the people in your business. And this is another step-by-step recipe that I've seen work successfully over and over again throughout the course of my life. And so here's the recipe. First of all, prepare your heart to speak the words of life. Prepare your heart to speak the words of life.

In Psalm 45 verse 1, the psalmist says, My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. And you know, a writer weighs his words. There's thoughtfulness and discretion. It takes work to write, but to turn your tongue into a ready writer that is careful and precise is really important. It takes, it actually takes work to speak well and to be careful.

And I know we've all, and I'm included, you know, have done damage by not being careful with my tongue. And, you know, James says that no one has been able to bridle his tongue. And so it's, but prepare your heart to speak the words of life. Paul spoke of it in Philippians 4, 8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue and if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

Number two, the second element of the recipe, speak the word of God. Speak the word of God. David says in Psalm 37, verse 30, the mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and the tongue talks of justice. Jesus speaks of those who break one of the least of his commandments, but whoever does and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven, teaching the word of God to one another. First Peter 410 says it like this, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, if anyone speaks, Let him speak as of the oracles of God.

Speak the word of God. Speak the oracles of God. You'll be safe when you do that. Thirdly, speak intentionally for edification. Ephesians 429, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

And the next element of the recipe, cover over transgressions of others with your speech. Proverbs 10-12, love covers all offenses. Next, talk of the praises of the Lord. David says in Psalm 35 verse 28, My tongue shall speak of your righteousness and your praise all day long. And then Psalm 126 verse 2 seems to encourage us to speak with laughter.

It says in Psalm 126, 2, that our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was singing. And they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. Now this is the testimony of those who returned from the Babylonian captivity and life was hard when they came back, but their mouths were filled with laughter, and the nations saw how happy they were when they came back from captivity. And then next, speak words of encouragement to the weary. Speak words of encouragement to the weary.

Isaiah 50 verse four, the Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to hear as the learned it." Now this is a prophecy of Jesus Christ. This is a demonstration of what Jesus Christ did morning by morning. He awoke and he listened to the voice of his father with his ear.

Why? Why did he do that? So he would have a word to share with the weary. Now I'm pretty confident your days are like my days And every day you meet somebody who's weary. There's some hurt, there's some disappointment.

You always meet the weary every day. I do. And one of the great motivations that we have to meet the Lord in the morning is to have a word for the weary that you received in the morning. And I've seen that happen many times. I also know, I also feel that many times I've not sought the Lord of the morning and I didn't have words for the weary that I could have had.

And have a word for the weary. And then next major on kindness, words of kindness, Proverbs 31 26. She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness." Of course, this is talking about that great woman in Proverbs 31. The law of kindness is on her lips. She speaks kindness to her children.

She speaks kindness to her husband and the people she's doing business with as well in that remarkable scene of the Proverbs 31 woman. You know, Paul said that we should be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you. So the tongue, you know, can be used as a blessing. And, you know, a church should be very vigilant together to refuse to hear evil speaking, because once it reaches your ears, the damage is rolling. And to do what we ought to do and so I want to turn now to how to respond when you hear it and I'm gonna give you several steps I'm gonna give you six steps first of all carefully and accurately diagnose the situation.

Put the right name on it. We often don't stop gossip because we're not putting the right name on it. You can tell when something is either designed or going to separate you from your brethren. And so, does this have the potential to separate close friends, as Proverbs 16-26 says? You know, gossip or tail-bearing is often characterized by grumbling against one another, which is why James 5-9 says, do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.

Behold, the judge is standing at the door. And there's that picture that actually we received through preaching recently that you have a situation where there are disappointments and hardships in life, and people are grumbling, and they're grumbling against one another. Sometimes when life gets hard, we grumble against one another. But he says, do not grumble against one another. And then, you know, and you might consider the possibility that you may be dealing with a false witness.

It's possible. The next is, drive it away with an angry countenance. Drive it away with an angry countenance. Proverbs 25-23 says, the north wind brings forth rain and a backbiting tongue and angry countenance. John Gill comments that an angry countenance has the effect, has the effect on a backbiting tongue.

He says, driving it away, discouraging it silently. When a man puts on a stern countenance, a frowning and angry look on such who bring him slanderous reports and idle tales of their neighbors and reproach and backbite them. It checks them. It puts a stop to their practices. Whereas listening, and especially with an air of pleasure encourages them in them.

Were they not so, were there not so many that take pleasure in hearing tale bearers and back biters? Were they to more roughly deal with them as the blustering north wind with rain there would not be so much of this evil practiced." So John Gill is interpreting this verse as meaning put up a strong resistance and give it an angry countenance and say stop it okay and then three the third thing you to do is stop the conversation it's a little bit like the previous because the tongue is a fire and Because as Solomon said in Proverbs 26 22 without wood a fire goes out without gossip a coral dies down it remind and You know stop the conversation take away the wood take away the fuel for the fire, and don't let it continue that way. Number four, send the talker to the person about whom he is speaking evil and hold him accountable. When you know we're supposed to actively encourage people to practice Matthew 18, it's one of the greatest hedges against spreading of tales in the church, send them back to that person. Don't listen and send them back.

If they really have a grievance that needs to be resolved, then they can go through the process of Matthew 18, which means you bring a brother with you. But you don't go tell brothers and then just leave them there. If you're going to tell a brother, you should be expected to go and take that person with you. Don't just leave the feather in their minds. Take them with you if it's serious enough.

And then number five, avoid association with the person who bears tales and gossips. Identify and stay away from people who separate brethren. And you know in Proverbs 20 verse 19 he says, he who goes about as a tale bearer reveals secrets. Therefore, do not associate with one who flatters with his lips. And this is especially true of the one who does not respond to the basic things that we've just covered.

Romans 16, 17 makes it very clear where Paul says to the Roman church, Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrite to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple." And what he's basically saying is, don't spend time with people who separate you from your brothers. Don't spend time with them. Don't listen to them. You know, that's part of the discipline of the Lord working in a church.

And then finally, check yourself. It's every person's responsibility to make sure that we're not a church which foments divisions and offenses, which Paul says is contrary to the doctrine that we learn. And you know, did you hear what so-and-so did? You know, have you heard this? Have you heard that?

You know, this is a disastrous kind of culture to have in a church, and the Word of God just speaks about it so clearly. You know, one final thing about the home, gossip in the home, tail-bearing in the home, I think this is a really critical matter. Often you have husbands and wives and children who kind of think their homes are gossip-free zones, like they can say whatever they want. I don't think that's true. I think that the Word of God should govern our tongues, whether we're in our homes or not.

A wife can poison her husband. A husband can poison children. If you have a home where they're always talking about everybody around the dinner table and this person's flaws and that person's flaws, be warned, you're raising up a culture of gossippers in your home. And when they get together, they're going to kind of eat those dainty morsels and they're just going to enjoy talking about other people's flaws and how stupid or goofy other people are. Don't let that happen in your home.

You know, don't have your fellow church members, you know, for lunch. You know, don't have your pastors and your deacons for lunch either. That's not really a very good practice. If you have a problem, go directly to them. But don't think that your home is sort of a gossip-free zone, a tale-bearing free zone.

These things apply to us everywhere we live. You know, Paul says, be of one mind, have compassion for one another. Love as brothers, be tender-hearted, courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from speaking evil and his lips from deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good.

Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Well, you know, it's difficult to review all these things. There are many, many passages of scripture that would help us to understand how to govern our tongues. You know, I've had to deal with tail-bearing personally.

I have spoken ill of others, and I've also suffered somewhat from others tail-bearing and slandering me. And I've seen the harmful effects upon me and on upon others as well. And I'm like the one that, in James, you know, I have not tamed my tongue. And I pray that all of us would continue to learn to tame our tongues. And our only hope in the use of the tongue is God, since no man can tame the tongue.

There really are only two things that we can place our hope in. And the first is God's promise to sanctify. You know, I can trust in God's sanctifying work in my life. He's promised to progressively sanctify me. And He's made many promises.

He does have mercy upon us. But secondly, God's provision is so important to remember, the imputed righteousness of God's Son. And the Bible tells us that Jesus righteousness is the substitute for our unrighteous use of our tongues. You know, he is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and he provided what theologians call substitutionary atonement. And we ought to right any wrongs that we have made with our tongues, if we can remember.

But at the same time, to continue to be sanctified by the Lord, to continue to throw rocks at that uncircumcised Philistine. You know, he needs our firepower against him. And the word of God really does give it. I think, you know, of all things, all the passages of Scripture, you know, I'm so struck by James 411, which I've already read, Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law.

But if you judge the law you are not a doer of the law but a judge. So let's pray that we would we would have the law of God sweetly governing all of our all of our talking and that we would turn to him when we realized when we're misusing our tongues. Would you pray with me? Lord, Lord these things are hard to hear for all of us and Lord we pray that you would help us to use our tongues for your glory, for the promotion of your loving kindness, for encouragement one to another, for the spread of the gospel. Lord, that you would protect our church from dissolving in one division after another because of our misuse of our tongues, Lord.

Pray that you would protect us. In Jesus' name, amen.