Taming the Untameable Tongue: Part 4

The Tongue as a Small Fire That Corrupts

I'd like to speak to you about taming the tongue, its propensity to corrupt. Its propensity to corrupt. And I like Brother Keysi's idea here on the orders of worship. If you notice, it's a small fire that kindles such a large flame as well.

A small flame can kindle a large flame and then do so much destruction. It's real good thinking. I don't know how you got that picture, but I love that, Brother Keith. Thank you for your time in putting together the orders of worship there, but I really like that picture.

That gets my attention, is that picture, and that says it all, doesn't it? If you look at that picture, it's just one small flame kindles a large destructive flame, and that's what the tongue is. It's a small member that can do so much damage.

Well, there's nothing more greater than we can see in the Scriptures what is said about the tongue than what the Holy Spirit tells us. Theologians can write books about it, but the greatest teacher is the Holy Spirit.

And out of all the chapters in the Word of God, James does a comprehensive in-depth study on the tongue, the control of the tongue. So, look with me to chapter 3, and I'm going to read verses 1 -12, but we're going to zero in on verse 5 and 6 this morning.

So hear the Word of the Living God. This morning I'm reading from the Old King James to kind of give you a different perspective of translation. Whatever translation you're using this morning, whether it's the New King James, the ESV, the New American Standard.

It's all pretty much the same message. The words are very closely related, so it says the same thing. It's just in a different translation. So hear the Word of the Living God. I'm reading from the Old King James.

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 brattle the whole body.

Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their 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 hem, whithersoever the governor listeneth.

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Again the word, behold, how great a manner a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defileth 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 hath 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 stimulitude of God.

And out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doeth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine, figs?

So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh? Let us go to the Lord in prayer this morning, as we look to our God once again, and this time we'll be praying specifically, Lord, help us hear, help us give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to the church.

Let's pray. Our Father, as your word always goes forth, it does not return unto you void, we are reminded once again, Father, that your word, your word is spirit and life. Father, your word is a sharp two-edged sword.

That means it cuts two ways, it cuts, it has a two-edged sword to it, it's so sharp, it's razor sharp. And Father, help us to see, as these words are spoken to us today, that it is always in your great love to reprove, to rebuke, and to exhort with all longsuffering.

Father, we need your Holy Spirit within this hour to help us, to give us ears to hear what your Holy Spirit says to the church, to the brethren, to the sisters here among us at Redeeming Grace Church.

But Lord, as this letter was written years ago, it was to your people, it was for the good of your people. And help us to remember, Father, it's for the good of us today, it's for the good of our souls that we are reminded of such hard truths.

Father, we see so many hard truths in your word, and Lord, we know it cuts us to the.

Core.

But Lord, there's great healing too. There's a great balm in Gilead, it's always for the good of our soul. Our flesh may want to run from it, but the flesh is vain, the flesh is all worthless, the flesh is not reliable.

There's death in flesh, but Father, in the Spirit of God, in life, your word is life, there's healing. So, Father, we look to you now to help us within this hour, and may your Holy Spirit be the true teacher as to apply your great word to our hearts.

And may Jesus Christ be glorified in all that is said, in His name I pray, Amen. But before our text here, we have a very strong, strong word from the Apostle James, and as I was studying, I found myself cut to the core even more.

Notice, in verse 5,. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. A little fire kindleth. And then he says the tongue is a fire, he gets to the point, he tells us what that fire is, it's the tongue.

And then he gives very pointed, graphic definition to it, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body. And then he says something so strong, and it setteth on fire of the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell itself.

Now notice the Apostle James' next point here, he focuses on the tongue's tremendous potential to corrupt and to destroy, and it has great power to do that. Because, as Jesus says, what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.

And that's really the problem. Whereas the tongue's power to control is neutral, being capable of working either for the good or for the ill, or evil, as we looked at, but his emphasis is entirely negative here.

And there's a reason why it's negative. No specific problem areas are mentioned, but since the tongue is able to talk about any conceivable issue, it is able to talk about any conceivable issue, it has the power to corrupt every conceivable way, every conceivable issue, whatever subject it speaks of, it gives damage and perverts.

It's like there's a bondage to it. That's why he says, no man contained it. None of us contain the tongue, no more than a wild horse contains itself. Verse 5, he says this, and we left there last week,.

Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Notice the word boast. The pride, the pride of life. It's all over the world, but passes away. Well, the design in the text that's before us, the apostle is to illustrate the power and the influence of the tongue.

He gives very practical illustrations, doesn't he? This may be done in many respects, and the apostle James does it by referring to its boasting, also to the effects which it produces, and then also he brings out the illustration that resembles that of fire.

Now we're going to talk about fire. I'd like for you to notice one thing here, that he uses the word behold many times. Notice this word. In verse 3, he says, behold, we put bits in the horse's mouths.

Notice verse 4, behold also the ships. And then in verse 5, after he speaks, even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things, and then he says that word again, behold, behold, how great a manner a little fire kindled.

Now, remember this. Every word of God is pure. Every single word is critical. And I want to show you how critical this is. I went looking at this word behold, and I looked it up in my Greek and Hebrew word study Bible.

This is what it says. Although the verb idion literally means to see. That's what behold means, to see. The imperative mood and middle voice used is idio, idio, I'm probably not pronouncing that right, almost gives it the force of a command.

Now what does that tell us? Consequently, this is a form that's often rendered behold, but it means more than, as I said, to see. It does mean to see, but it also gives the force of a command. So when you hear the word behold, it's commanding, especially in a dramatic narrative, in order to call special, what it means, it's calling special attention to what is about to be said or about to happen.

You see, notice that in verse 3, behold. It's a command word. It means to see it, but in other words, what he's saying, pay special attention to this. That's what he's saying. We put bits in the horse's mouths.

He gives the illustration that they may obey us and we turn about the whole body. He's got something very, very important to say here. Pay very close attention to it. Now I want you to notice this. Every time in the word of God, when that word behold is mentioned, something very important is about to be said.

It's a command. It's a word that we better pay close attention to. In other words, cut your ears on to listen. Examples of this is Matthew 1 .20. While he, speaking of Joseph, he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream.

And in verse 23, behold, a virgin shall be with a child and shall bring forth a son. That's pretty important, isn't it? Matthew 25 .6. And at midnight, Jesus speaking, there was a cry made, behold, the bridegroom cometh.

Go ye out to meet him. There's another one that we're all familiar with, but notice the announcement that John the Baptist makes in John 1 .29. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John 4 .35. Notice the important command word here. Jesus says, say not ye that there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?

Behold.

There it is. Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And there's a lot of them in Revelation. I wrote them down. Revelation 1 .7. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.

Even so, amen. Jesus himself says in Revelation 1 .18, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold. Notice that word, behold. I am alive forevermore.

Amen.

And have the keys of hell and death. Revelation 22 .7. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Verse 12 of chapter 22. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according to his worth shall be.

So, notice the point that James is making. The idea of this word, behold. Pay close attention. What is he saying? And behold, how great a matter, a little fire kindles. You see how important that word is?

It's a command word. Behold, the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell.

So James is, therefore, here calling attention to great destructive power of hateful, false, heretical, gossiping, slanderous words, careless words, as Jesus spoke of, like commercials produced by forestry services.

Today, he calls attention to a well-known truism here, that a great matter, a little fire kindles, or as the New American Standard says, a great forest can be set aflame by a small fire. And think of it as this picture, as Brother Keith has so wonderfully put together on the orders of worship.

The smallest match, or the smallest spark can grow into such a large destructive force of fire, can grow and literally destroy thousands of acres of forest, killing countless animals, killing countless people, destroying human lives and property by the scores, all because of one spark.

That's how the tongue is. There is such an abundance of sin in the tongue, that it may be called, as he said, a world of iniquity. How many defilements does it work? Many. How many dreadful flames does it kindle?

Oh my, it's so destructive. So is the tongue among the members that it defiles the whole entire body. Such a small member, such a deadly, deadly thing is the tongue.

The Tongue as Fire and a World of Iniquity

Fire.

Now let's look at this fire here. Fire has the amazing, virtually unique capacity to reproduce itself in almost unlimited ways as long as it has the fuel to burn it. Like the vast majority of things, water, really water cannot multiply in a sense.

When it is poured out, no matter where or on what, it never expands into a flood. It's just there. It has tremendous force to it, but it really doesn't have the expansion. But fire feeds on itself. Think of that.

If you look at fire versus water. So if there is a significant flammable material and enough oxygen to supply and sustain this combustion, it will burn on indefinitely, won't it? And you know that. Put oxygen to it and to sustain the combustion, the fire will literally grow and expand.

James 3, 5, Even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things.

Behold! Behold!

How great a matter a little fire kindleth. In the Old Testament, Job. You know, the more I look at these references on the tongue, I keep looking. There's more and more. It keeps coming up. I'm thankful I made this into a six-part series because there's no way you can get this all in one sermon.

If someone does it, it's amazing. James 3, 5. According to what James 3, 5, Job. Listen to this. Job 15, 5. Job. One of the oldest books in the Bible. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity. Now think of that.

Thy mouth utters thine iniquity. And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. And then we have Psalms 12, 3. The Lord shall cut off all the flattering lips. And the tongue that speaketh proud things shall be cut off.

Give an illustration here. On October 8th in 1871. 830 in the evening. This is another true story I'd like to give. A little bit shorter than the last one last week. A lantern in Mrs. O 'Leary's barn.

Presumably kicked over by her cow. Anybody heard this story? Ignited the great Chicago fire. Kicked over by a cow. Before it could be contained. This fire contained.

Listen to this.

And this is saying something in 1871. Before it could be contained. 17 ,500 buildings were destroyed. 300 people died in the Chicago fire. And 125 ,000 others were left homeless. It cost the city over.

And this was a lot back then. It cost the city of Chicago over $400 million. In 1903, another illustration. A pan of rice boiled over into a fire. Spreading coals across the room. And started a blaze that eventually consumed a square mile of a Korean city.

Burning some 3 ,000 buildings to the ground. Good illustrations there. True stories. It all started from something small. So the writer of Proverbs observes that the heart of the righteous ponders how to answer.

But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. How close we should guard and put a muzzle over our tongue. He says this also. That a worthless man digs up evil while his words are as a scorching fire.

That's found in Proverbs 16, 27. Worthless man digs up evil while his words are like a scorching fire. And that, like charcoal to a hot embers and wood to fire. So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

That's Proverbs 26, 21. Solomon also observes. He notes that in Proverbs 26, 20. One verse back. For lack of wood the fire goes out. And where there's no whisperer, that means gossiper or slanderer. Contentions quites down.

What does that tell us about the tongue? It says a lot, doesn't it? Like a fire. Like a fire. The tongue can heat things up, so to speak. King David wrote in Psalm 39, 1 and 3. And I've mentioned this already several times.

But I think it's worthy of us to look at these words and ponder them. And take them to our heart. I said I will take ye to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. My heart was not within me while I was musing the fire burned.

Then spake I with my tongue, speaking without thinking. How many of us has done that? I raised both hands. How can we tame this tongue? It's like you do everything you can to watch it, but still it happens.

Of course, we all have, haven't we? Tozer mentioned about a hot head and a hot heart can lead to burning words that later we regret. And I like what he says. Let's have a cool head and a hot heart rather than a hot head and a cold heart.

David had a temper. You look in Scriptures. David had a temper. He had a hard time with his temper. He had to ask God's help in controlling it. No wonder Solomon wrote in Proverbs 17, 27,. He that hath knowledge spareth his words, and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

David lamented over his sins and said this,. My soul is among lions. I must lie among those who breathe forth fire. Like a fire-breathing dragon, in a sense. And then he says this,. Even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows are like the tongue of a sharp sword.

Psalm 57, 4. Isn't it amazing how many verses of Scriptures that God has preserved for us and a lot of it speaks about the evil of the tongue. Because of our iniquity and our heart. Of evil boasting men, he wrote.

Your tongue devises destruction. This is Psalm 52, verses 2 -4. You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. He pinpoints it.

The tongue. And we know what Jesus, Jesus being God in the flesh, took it a level more. As bad as the tongue is, but it reveals what's coming from the heart. So it's who we are. Job asked Bildad, one of his so-called comforters,.

How long will you torment me and crush me with words? Job 19, 2. As the fire spreads, fire destroys. We've got to keep that before us, folks. And the words we speak have the power to destroy. As the Scripture says, in Proverbs 18, 21, I said it last week, I'm going to say it again.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. But you think of this, for every word in Hitler's book of Mann Kampf, 125 lives were lost in World War II.

Our own words may not have caused wars or wrecked cities, but they can break hearts, can't they? And they can ruin reputations if we're not wise in what we watch.

And what we say.

Proverbs 12, 18, There is that that speaketh like the piercings of a sword. And then he says this, But the tongue of the wise is health. Another illustration here. Some years ago, a man by the name of Morgan Blake, a sports writer for the Atlanta Journal, wrote the following satire.

And this is what he said, and it's so true. And by the way, this came from the book of Faith That Works. It was George Sweeting's book he wrote, Moody Press in 1983, page 76 and 77.

This is what he said.

A journalist can tell you something. Listen to what he says. I am more deadly than the screaming shell from a howitzer, a tank. I win without killing. I tear down homes. I break hearts. I wreck lives.

I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me. No purity pure enough to daunt me. I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea and often as innocent.

I never forget and seldom forgive. My name is Gossip.

Ouch.

That's an old me, isn't it? The tongue has such power to hurt. Well, in James 6, the Apostle James gives us what is doubtless one of the strongest statements in Scripture on the danger of the tongue. And this is what he said.

I'm going to say it again. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell.

Now, using the figure of fire, this is overwhelming. This is an overwhelming declaration that presents four major elements of the tongue's danger. And I want to give you basically four elements. And you can write this down.

I think it will take you far in what we see here. And I will try not to spend too much time on it because I kind of dug in on my introduction a great deal. But notice here, number one, these four elements are the tongue's danger.

First, it is the very world of iniquity, James says. It is the very world of iniquity. This word world does not here refer to the earth or the universe, but rather to a system, a scheme, an arrangement.

In this case, it is a system of iniquity. That's what he's talking about. It's not talking about the world itself as cosmos. It is a system of iniquity, a world of iniquity, a evil, a rebellion, a lawlessness, and every other form of sin that it speaks of.

It is the very source of unrighteousness, ungodly behavior within sinful man. John MacArthur in his commentary actually says, it breeds and it gives vent to every sort of sinful passion and desire. One commentator describes it as the microchism of evil amongst our members.

It is a vile, wretched, wicked scheme of fleshly humanness, and no other bodily part has such far-reaching potential for disaster and destruction as the tongue. It is a very world of iniquity. Second, let's look at this.

It is an evil. An evil tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the whole entire body. Let me say that again. I just took these from Scriptures because Scripture says it. An evil tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the whole entire body.

Think of that. Let's look at that for a second. If the system of evil spreads out and contaminates the rest of the body, the whole body is corrupted. And to modify the metaphor somewhat, the destructiveness of the tongue is like smoke that penetrates and permanently contaminates.

So everything that is exposed to it, whatever fire itself cannot destroy, the smoke will permeate and ruin it. Think about that. Because out from the fire comes the smoke. Smoke can be fire's biggest threat.

And by the way, most people die before the flames get to them of suffocation because of the smoke. It's caused by the fire. Most people who perish, like I said, in fires are choked and suffocated by the smoke way before the fire gets to them.

And so in a similar way, I mentioned that, the tongue can stain and damage and can even choke what they do not entirely consume. A filthy and defiled tongue can stain and choke the whole entire person.

It can ruin your life, folks. It can ruin it. I'm telling you. And once it's said, you know, you ask for forgiveness, but it's said. And I do believe there is forgiveness. There is hope there, but what I'm saying is it's already been said and the damage has already been done.

And then a lot of people say, well, there's a problem with trust. And you know what I'm talking about. I know people like this, and you know people like this that's come to us and once they've said something, you know it's come from their heart and we have a hard time trusting them.

We can forgive them, but the damage is already done and we've done the same thing. Well, Jesus said it in Mark 7. And this is powerful here. This is the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 7, verses 20 -23.

That which proceeds out of the man, that which defiles the man. From within, out of the heart of men, now notice Jesus gives a comprehensive list here. He says, what comes out of the heart? Proceeds evil thoughts.

That knocks every one of us out. How many times have we had evil thoughts? Comes out of our heart. Fornication comes out of our heart. Thefts comes out of our heart. Murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

Jesus said this, all these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. Oh, the depravity of the heart. How deceitful, desperately wicked. No wonder God tells us, He puts a piercing point to it.

This is what we've got to deal with.

And He has solutions to it. Aren't you glad? Third, let's go to the third point. The evil tongue sets on fire the course of nature itself. The word nature means life. The evil tongue sets on fire the course of life.

Like the physical fire, the destructive effects of evil speech can expand, not only contaminating ourselves, but also everything that we influence through the course of our life. I wonder why he spends so much, that James puts all this emphasis in God, by the Holy Spirit, in twelve verses in most of this chapter that we would pay close attention, I don't know.

And then directly after this, he talks about true wisdom coming from God. He talks about how we need wisdom. And we're going to be looking at that in verses 13 -18, the rest of the chapter. And then he talks about what is a wise man.

He endures in dues with knowledge among you. Let him show out of a good conversation his life, in other words, his works, with meekness and wisdom. And we're going to look at that. Don't we so desperately need heavenly wisdom from God and how to deal with this tongue?

You know, to a large extent, we're known by the way we talk, aren't we? Over the long haul, really, what we say gives others a pretty good idea of who we are and what we really are. The principle applies to every good thing as well as sinful things.

But James' emphasis is entirely on the negative. And he's not doing it to be harsh or mean. Actually, I believe it's the most loving thing he can do for us. You know, in this world in which we live today, even in the churches, evangelical churches so-called, you know, you preach something like this and you preach about what is said about hell, about the tongue, about iniquity, people do not detune you out.

You're mean. You're a Pharisee. You're condemning me. But beloved, I'm telling you what, it's the most loving person is the person who tells you the truth and warns us. And God is so loving. He says this is what the tongue is.

This is what the truth is. And I tell you what, I find myself on my face after I read these first 12 verses and said, Lord, cut me up. I need to be cut. In order to be healed, I need to see my sin. You know, think of it.

The principle applies to the good things as well as the sinful. And he's speaking of the sinful things. And he talks about... You could break this down and we could have a series of sermons on each one of these things.

Think about gossip.

Just gossip itself.

What about slander? What about falsehood? False accusations? What about lying? How much lying is going on in this world today? Filthy language. He talks about that. Telling stories. People call it white lies.

White lies is no such thing really as a white lie. A lie is a lie. Other sins of the tongue can destroy individual lives. And you know this as well. Families, schools, churches, communities. It's tragic.

Well, the fourth thing is, very quickly, most horribly, the most horribly, the sinful tongue is set on fire of hell. I just took this from Scripture. It's set on fire from hell.

Think of that.

Tongue has the power of hell fire? The present active form of the verb here in the Greek means is set on fire. Indicates a continuing state. That's the original Greek. It's a continuing state of setting on fire.

The idea is reinforced by the term that James uses for hell. And you know what he's referring to? Jesus spoke about it. And you know, by the way, Jesus, when He spoke about Gehenna,.

Fire,.

Jesus took opportunities like no one else could. They call it in the Scriptures the Valley of Hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom.

This was a deep,.

Deep gorge that was southwest of Jerusalem where trash and garbage and even bodies of dead animals and executed criminals were dumped. And as Jesus took this opportunity to speak about fire in the Valley of Hinnom, it was a...

By the way, the combustion from the dead bodies, you've seen it, of animals that's dead on the side of the road, the sun gets to them and the heat hits them and they swell. And you know there's a combustion that comes within and then literally, it explodes with fire.

That's what He's talking about. That kind of fire.

This was a location.

That had originally been used in... I didn't know this, but I wrote this down from a study on this. Used by Canaanite and even some Israelite worshipers that sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to the pagan god Molech.

And when the heinous practice was permanently halted by the godly King Josiah in Judah, and you can read this in 2 Kings 23 .10, the place of Hinnom was considered to be unclean,.

Wholly unfit.

For any decent usage. Now, I want you to think about this. This is what's in James' mind when he's talking about hellfire. If, therefore, it came to be used as a garbage dump, we all, where all the filth of the city of Jerusalem surrounding areas was taken to be burned, because the fire burned.

All the time,.

There was maggots, there was stench, always was present, and the Lord Jesus used Gehenna to represent the eternal, never-ending torment of hell itself. And folks, hell is far worse than that. That was a physical illustration.

But Jesus would take a physical illustration that people would see, and then He would tell them the truth about it, of the eternal truth. The unquenchable fire, Jesus said in Mark 9, 43, 44, Isaiah 66, 24 says too, in Matthew 5, 22, the unquenchable fire where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

It's never quenched. It's eternal. It's an eternal burning. I always wondered about that. We know that Scripture says that God at first, hell was intended for Satan and his fallen angels. God has no pleasure for the death of the wicked.

But I think, Lord, why fire?