Join us as we navigate the turbulent waters of communication, inspired by the teachings of Dr. J. Vernon McGee. With insights from the New Testament, we examine the vast implications of our daily words and tackle the concept of spiritual speech restraint. Hear testimonials from listeners whose lives have been transformed through faith, and gain practical wisdom on how to reign in the mighty force of the tongue.
00:00:01 Introduction and Thoughtful Reflections on Words
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
SPEAKER 04 :
Did you know that the average person speaks between 10 and 30,000 words every day? That’s a lot. Well, Dr. J. Vernon McGee reminds us of this particular fact on Through the Bible and then adds that in a lifetime, you and I could fill a library with the words that we’ve said. What’s more, Dr. McGee says that the tongue is the most dangerous weapon in the world. The nursery rhyme that we heard as children is simply not true. It really should be sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will definitely hurt me. Now, I know you know what I mean. Now, in just a moment, we’re going to travel through the New Testament book of James chapter three. But first, I got a few stories from our fellow listeners to share with you. Here’s a voicemail from a listener who’s getting out the word in his local community.
SPEAKER 03 :
My name is Ralph. I live in Texas. I’m a longtime listener, and I try to never miss a day of hearing Dr. McGee. When I listen to him, I feel like I’m drawing near to God and focusing on his promises. I love the ministry. I love what I’m learning. I love reading through the scripture, and I love to hear the insights. As a part of my personal ministry, I go with invitation to listen cards every to the truck stops that are on the highway near my home. And there I get out of my car, take a handful of cards, go speak to the truck drivers at the fuel pumps and thank them for driving for America. And I invite them to a free Bible study that they can listen to while they’re going down the highway. So it’s part of my great commission ministry to spread the gospel through inviting people to listen to Dr. McGee. So thank you. Keep up the good work. I love through the Bible.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, thanks for sharing, Ralph. And let us know if you need more of those Bible bus passes. And if you loved hearing from Ralph, I know that others would love to hear from you. So call and share your story at 1-800-65-BIBLE. Now, in the options, you’re going to hear one for leaving your Bible bus story, and that’s the one that you want. And from there, it’s just as simple as listening to the prompt and recording your voicemail. The number again, 1-800-652-4253. Next, we got an email from a listener who didn’t leave a name, but who tells us that he’s an Arabic listener living in the United States. He says this, Well, thanks for letting us know that you’re listening, and I pray that God’s blessing is over you and your family. Our final note comes from Kevin, who writes this. In 1981, when I was 18 years old, during my struggles with alcohol and drugs, I found Dr. McGee’s teachings on the radio, and the Lord used them to bring me into a right relationship with him. I’ve now been going to church all but just a few of those years, and the Lord has seen fit to make me into a different kind of a human being. I often share my testimony, and I always include the fact that it was Dr. McGee’s teaching, the gospel over the radio, that brought me to the Lord. I just want to thank you very much for the ministry. I can’t wait to meet you all in heaven. Well, thanks, Kevin. Thanks again, and we’re so glad that you shared your story. Now, what’s God teaching you as we go through the Bible together? You know that we’d love to hear that story, so why don’t you write to us today? The address is Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. Our Canadian listeners can write to Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1, or email us anytime at biblebus at ttb.org. You can also click on the feedback section in our app, or like Ralph, leave us a voicemail at 1-800-65-BIBLE. Now let’s pray. Father, thank you for your word that helps us to draw close to you. Speak to us as we listen, and may we be humble enough to receive your instruction. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. We’re off to James 3 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, we have sent out notes and outlines, as you well know, without any charge. But I have a book. on James, and it’s on this chapter, chapter 3, that we’ve come to. And it has a sensational title. Now, I don’t go in for sensationalism, but my sensationalism is just as large as it is in the Bible. And my title is a Bible title. For chapter 3, I have entitled it, Hell on Fire. And that is the expression we’re going to see that’s used in this particular chapter here to talk about the tongue. Now, we’ve heard a great deal in our day about freedom of speech and freedom of the press. That’s sort of a sacred cow right now, this idea of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Freedom of the press means that they can brainwash you according to the liberal viewpoint. And freedom of speech means that you can use vile language. I’d like for somebody to get freedom of the ears. I only have one mouth and I got two ears. And I think that my ears ought to be protected as well as my mouth also. And therefore, we need freedom of the ears today as well, freedom of speech. But this, by the way, is freedom of speech in God’s university. That is one way that I have labeled this particular chapter here. And I could also put another label on it. God bugs your conversation. Now, there’s been a great question about whether you’ve got a right to bug. Well, God has had that right for a long time, and he’s heard everything that you say. It’s estimated that the average person says about 30,000 words every day. I know two or three that I think say a few more than that. And that’s enough to make a good-sized book. And these folks that I know, they could write a whole series of books on what they say in one day. But you and I in a lifetime could fill up a library with what we say. God has that recorded, by the way, because he bugs your conversation. Now, this present freedom of speech movement, I suppose, began out here on the West Coast at the Berkeley campus. And it was given coverage by all the news media out of all proportion to its importance because it was another attempt at brainwashing. And a great many taxpayers and prominent citizens here in California were evidently concerned that a great university, which their tax money supports, can be shut down and made a ridiculous spectacle by a few, at that time, they were called beatniks, hippies, and punks, for that is exactly what they were. While in that university, the majority of the students were intimidated, the serious students, and it reflected upon their good intentions to get an education. Well, there was a change of administration. It’s better now, but may I say the scars still remain. Now, that problem is not only out yonder in the university and in the news media today, it’s in the church. And the problem there is the problem of gossip. Each one of us who’s a Christian, and that applies to you and applies to me, and that concerns freedom of speech. Now, James here, and as I’ve indicated, he’s like a book of Proverbs and he has a university. And James is the dean of God’s university as we consider this controversial subject. And Dean James has quite a bit to say concerning this matter of the use and abuse of the tongues. And I like to think that we go into the laboratory and that we are now going to make another experiment. You see, we’re in a section where God is testing our faith. And he tests our faith in many different ways. We’ll mention that when we finish this because this will be the last chapter. Now, God tests our faith by our tongues. And so we want to reach upon the shelf and take down an acid. And actually, this acid is more potent than hydrochloric or sulfuric or any other acid that man has concocted. And the label on the bottle here is tongues. And we’re not talking about the chemistry of the tongue, but the theology of the tongue. And he’s already indicated he was going to come to this. He said way back in verse 26 of chapter 1, if any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. And then you remember he said something about to be quick to hear and slow to speak. Because you’ve got two ears. Now, God gave them to you so you could hear probably twice as much as you could say because he only gave you two mouths. I mean one mouth. Some have two, but most normal people have just one mouth. Some are double-tongued, you see. They say one thing on one side of it and something else on the other side of it. Now, let’s come to this tremendous subject because… Actually, the tongue is the most dangerous weapon in the world. It’s more deadly than the atom bomb. And there’s actually no inspection of the tongue. Some wag made the statement that it was a miracle in Balaam’s day for an ass to speak. And today it’s a miracle when they keep quiet. Or somebody’s put it like this. It takes a baby two years to learn to talk and 50 years to learn to keep his mouth shut. There’s a man fishing down near one of the piers here in Southern California and two women walked out. He was out there alone and he had been fishing for several hours, hadn’t caught anything, finally pulled up a fish. It wasn’t a very large one. And these two women took upon themselves to rebuke this man. They said, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? So cruelly catching this poor little fish. And the man, without even looking up, because he was a little discouraged anyway, he says, maybe you’re right, lady. But if the fish had kept his mouth shut, he wouldn’t have been caught. And someone else put it like this. If your lips would keep from slips, five things to observe with care. To whom you speak, of whom you speak, and how, and when, and where. And it has been translated in many different ways. And practically every nation has had something to say about this. I want to take this from Spurgeon Salt Sellers. It’s one of his publications. And pass this on to you. The boneless tongue, so small and weak, can crush and kill, declared the Greek. The tongue destroys a greater horde, the Turk asserts, than does the sword. The Persian proverb wisely saith, a lengthy tongue in early death, or sometimes takes this form instead, don’t let your tongue cut off your head. The tongue can speak a word whose speed, say the Chinese, outstrips the steed. While Arab sages this impart, the tongue’s great storehouse is the heart. From Hebrew wit the maxim sprung, though feet should slip, ne’er let the tongue. The sacred writer crowns the whole, who keeps the tongue doth keep his soul. Now, all of these are very wise and very wonderful, by the way. And I believe today, frankly, that the most dangerous thing in the world, as we’ve said, is the tongue. I think the church is more harmed by the termites within than the woodpeckers on the outside. And someone has put it like this. Thou art master of the unspoken word, but the spoken word is master of you. If you’ve once said it, friends, it’s too bad. And I found being on radio, you sure have to be very careful today because you can be misunderstood and we need to recognize that. Now, will you notice that’s all preliminary as we come now into this chapter here, because I want us to look at it. He says in verse one of chapter three, my brethren. Be not many teachers. Now, you notice, not masters, but teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater judgment. Now, that’s very important, by the way, to note that he’s saying here that the teacher has a greater responsibility. And the reason for that is that there is a grave danger in the mouth of teaching today and teaching the wrong thing. I am absolutely amazed. I’m overwhelmed at the way so many Christian folk are falling for all kinds of teaching that has to do with, well, some have to do with prophecy. They fall for most anything. All you need is a glib tongue. Then there are those that fall for all kinds of methods today and cults and isms. And yet these people are actually, as far as the total word of God is concerned, they are absolutely ignorant. And that’s my reason for saying, and I rejoice in these home Bible classes. I think they have filled a real vacuum that existed today. But I find that some of them are teaching all kinds of vagaries, giving a wrong interpretation. And they need to know more of the Word of God than they seem to have. And it has ministered to a great deal of conceit and pride on the part of many of these teachers. A young fellow that I had the privilege of leading to Christ said, He has gone off on a tangent. I tried to get him to study the word. He did not. Now he started a class, but he’s very glib of tongue. And someone that was in his class went to him and said to him, did you know that what you’ve taught is contrary to most of the Bible teachers and especially the man that led you to the Lord? And he said, who’s that? And then the party told him who it was. And he said, oh. McGee, he said, well, maybe he needs to correct his theology. Well, frankly, I think maybe I do. I’m amazed the more I study the word of God, the thing that discourages me, it reveals my ignorance, not my knowledge. And I want to tell you, I feel like I’ve got a long way to go. But this young man reminds me of what one preacher said about a young one that started out. They said he seems to be very proud. This man said, yes, he thinks he’s the fourth person of the Trinity. Well, I’m afraid it develops that. The tongue is very dangerous because he’s saying here, my brethren, be not many teachers. That is, don’t think that the minute you’re saved that you can start a Bible class and teach the book of Revelation, knowing that we shall receive the greater judgment. Now, I frankly feel like I’m more responsible than some other Christian might be. And I don’t think I’m as responsible as someone else. The more opportunity you have to give out the word of God, the more that you are responsible. Now, will you notice? He says, for in many things we all stumble. And I like that way of translating. And here it means in many ways, in many ways we all stumble. All of us do for that matter. And there’s no exception to that, by the way. And he goes on to say, but if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. And that means he’s a full grown Christian where he should be as any baby growing up. When a baby’s four years old, he’s a little boy or a little girl, as the case may be. And when he’s 21, why, he’s ready to marry. The same as a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body. In other words, if he can control his speech, he can control his entire body. In fact, his life. Now, in many ways, we all stumble. But remember, the tongue actually is the index of our lives. The tongue lifts man from the animal world. It keeps him from being a gibbering ape or an aping parrot. Man’s not an inarticulate animal or a mockingbird. Man can put thought into words. He can express himself. He can understand. He can communicate on the highest level. The tongue is a badge that you and I wear, and it identifies us. It’s the greatest index to life. It’s the table of contents of our life. It’s the fraternity pin of character, and it gives us a way. It tells who we are. Quite a few years ago, I was rushing with my wife and my little girl then. We’d been speaking out in Salt Lake City at a conference, and I was rushing to a conference in the San Francisco Bay Area. And I came over the high Sierras at Donner Pass, and I stopped at the little town there. Don’t even know the name of it. on the side of the road at a filling station. And my wife and daughter got out to go to the comfort station. And I just stepped out of the car. And I said to a young man that came around from the back of the car, I said, fill her up. That’s all I said. And as I looked out at those mountains and that lovely scenery, and there’s still some snow about, I was conscious that he was eyeing me. And finally, I turned to him, looked at him and smiled. He said to me, are you Dr. McGee? And I said, I sure am. Do I know you? And he said, no. I said, do you know me? Well, he says, no, I’ve never seen you before. Well, I said, how in the world did you know me? Well, he says, up here, especially during the wintertime when we’re all snowed in, we listen to you every Sunday night and we’ve been doing it for years. He said, I know that voice anywhere. Well, you see, my tongue gave me away. It still gives me away. I had the experience in the nation Israel in the Dan Carmel Hotel several years ago at Haifa. And a couple, I noticed them eyeing me. I was talking to a friend in the lobby. And finally, they came over and they said the same thing. You got them again? I said, yes. And they said, well, we listened to you on the radio. Way out there, they recognized the speech. And you remember that little maid said to Simon Peter, by speech betrayeth thee. He couldn’t deny where he’d come from at all. And it tells who you are, your speech does. Your tongue gives you a way. It tells where you came from. It tells whether you’re ignorant or educated, cultured or crude, whether you’re clean or unclean, whether you’re vulgar or refined, whether you’re a believer or a blasphemer, whether you’re a Christian or a non-Christian, whether you’re guilty or not guilty. May I say that I’m of the opinion that if we had a tight recorded message of everything you’ve said the past month, My friend, you wouldn’t want the world to hear it. Now, let’s put the acid down on the tongue here, your tongue and mine. And we’re going to find out he mentions here an unbridled and unrestrained tongue. Will you listen to this? Behold, we put bits in the horse’s mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body. Now, this is the horse, by the way. And it was David that said, I’ll take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me. David says, I want to give a right kind of a testimony. Therefore, I want to put a bridle on my mouth. And friends, there are a lot of Christians today that ought to have a bridle put on their mouths. Now, in Psalm 39, one, it says, I said, I’ll take heed to my ways that I send not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me. Now, I want to go down to Psalm 32, verse 9. Be not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. And there are a great many people today, and I’m afraid Christians, that go around with their foot in their mouth all the time. Now, the bridle bits are not impressive in size. If you’ve seen a bridle bit that goes on a horse, but they’ll hold a high-spirited horse in check. Keep him from running away. I think many of us have a faint recollection, that is some of us, of horse and buggy days. And I’ve seen a horse run away, bring death and destruction, turn a buggy over. Now the tongue can run away. Someone has said that, speaking of a certain individual, said, you know, said his mind starts his tongue to wagon and then his mind goes off and leaves it. And a great many go through life like that. And there needs to be a bridle for the tongue. Now, it’s going to change the figure of speech. Behold also the ships, which though they are so great and are driven by fierce winds, yet as they turned about with a very small helm, wherever the pilot will it, they have a rudder on them. And that is the thing that they can be controlled by a little rudder that you don’t even see, my friend. And a fierce storm may drive a ship. A little rudder can control it. The tongue can change the course of our lives. Men have been ruined by the tongue. Many the fair name of a woman has been wrecked by some gossip. The tongue is more dangerous than a runaway horse. It’s a storm at sea. And today, I think that liquor is eating at the vitals of this nation. But did you know that the tongue is condemned more in Scripture than alcohol is condemned? And I think the most dangerous thing today, as dangerous as alcohol is and liquor today, it may bring our nation down. Yet the tongue is even more dangerous than that. And it’s one of the things that God says that he hates. In Proverbs 6, 17, he says, a lying tongue was one of the seven things God hates. We must leave off there until next time. May God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 04 :
Dr. McGee mentioned the booklet Hell on Fire, which we still make available, but under the title Tongues on Fire. Download a free copy at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can help you find it. Now to stay current with your Bible bus journey, download our app and take Through the Bible with you wherever you go. You’ll find it in your favorite app store. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll meet you here next time as we continue to go Through the Bible.
SPEAKER 02 :
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.
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We’re grateful for our committed listening family who faithfully pray and invest in Through the Bible as we together take the whole word to the whole world.
