Taming the Tongue

James 3:1–12 KJV 1900

1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 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 helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6 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. 7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

Introduction:

James is such a practical book that touches on a lot of life’s most crucial issues. This week we are going to look at the first 12 verses dealing with our tongue. James has a lot to say about the tongue.

James 1:19 KJV 1900

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

James 1:26 KJV 1900

26 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.

Proverbs 18:21 KJV 1900

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

James starts off by giving a warning to teachers. They will get the greater judgement by what they say. This is a sobering reminder if we teach and preach the Word that we need to be careful how we use our words.

Illustration: Words can breathe life in to someone else or they can cut down and hurt someone.

Thesis:

Overview of Points:

Point 1: Warning to Teachers

Don’t be over anxious to teach, because you know we will have a greater condemnation.

He says in verse 2 that the ability of a believer to control the

tongue is a test of that believer's spiritual maturity.

Sub points:

I read somewhere that the average person in a day's time

will speak about thirty thousand words; now I think I know a few who

exceed that number but that's probably a pretty good average for most

people. Now you think about that. The ability to control what we say

is a pretty good indicator of our maturity in the Lord. Now, you

know, Jesus said that we're to be very careful about our words because

Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

So James uses a series of

illustrations. The first two he uses illustrate the directive nature

of the tongue. For instance in verse 3 he says the tongue is like a

bit in the horses' mouths. Now you know a bit in a horse's mouth is

just a few ounces of steel and yet that small bit, those few ounces of

steel are able to control a half-ton horse. In fact sometimes you can

just see a little child up on top of a huge horse and yet that little

child is able to guide and direct that horse and determine where that

horse is to go because there is a bit in the horse's mouth.

Now James says that the way the tongue is, the tongue can direct

your whole life. And that's certainly true isn't it? Just one word,

just one bit of a word can direct life. Have you ever thought of the

difference that a word can make? I mean here is a man and he is

standing before the judge, anxiously awaiting the word, and the judge

looks at the man and he says, "Guilty," and that one word changes the

direction of that man's life forever. Or here is a young lady on a

moonlit night, it is a romantic night indeed, and she is there and the

young man proposes marriage to her and she says, "Yes", and that one

little word "yes" changes her life and the direction of her life

forever. So, ladies and gentlemen, we ought to be very careful about

our words because our words direct us. Like a bit in a horse's mouth

it directs our whole life. That's why we ought to be very, very

careful about what we say. You know, for most of us, when we were

babies it took us about two years to learn how to use our tongue and

then it's taken us about fifty years to learn how to keep our big

mouth shut. Amen? It's a whole lot easier to learn how to use your

tongue than to learn when not to use your tongue. The Bible says

there is a time to speak and there is a time to keep silence; so we

must be very, very careful about the use of the tongue.

I heard about a guy who was fishing one day and there was a lady

sitting over there by him and she was just yak, yak, yak, yak, yak. I

mean just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk; he could hardly fish for

her, she was just constantly chattering. Well in a little while he

finally, in spite of it, got a fish on the hook and caught the fish

and threw it over on the shore on the side of the bank, and the woman

looked at it and she said, "Poor fish, poor fish." And the man said,

"Well it would have never been caught if it kept it's big mouth shut."

And, you know, there are probably a lot of us who would never have

gotten ourselves entangled in some very bad situations if we had

learned to keep our mouth shut. So the tongue is like a bit in a

horse's mouth, it can direct your life.

But then the second illustration is in verse 4 and he says here

that the tongue is like the rudder of a ship, and he's saying that

just with the rudder of a ship a helmsman, (a governor, the King James

says), with just the touch of a hand can direct that ship. I mean

here is a ship that weighs tons and yet just a relatively small rudder

can guide that ship, direct that ship. You see, the rudder on a ship

can guide that ship to the safety of the shore, or the rudder on that

ship can direct that ship to destruction on the banks, so, you see,

that's the way the tongue is, the tongue has the ability to direct a

person's life. Think about the tongue of a Billy Graham preaching the

unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, the glorious gospel of our

Savior, and by the use of a Spirit-anointed tongue of a Graham can

bring millions to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Or think today

about the tongue of a Saddam Hussein and think of the destructive

power of his tongue, to direct a whole nation into a conflagration of

destruction. Oh, ladies and gentlemen, the directive nature of the

tongue: death and life indeed are in the power of the tongue. So he

says it is just like a rudder that determines life, that directs a

person's life. The directive nature of the tongue.

But then there are two more illustrations after this and in those

illustrations we learn about the destructive nature of the tongue.

For instance, do you see in verse 5 he says the tongue is like a

burning fire, and he says in verse 5 the tongue is a little member and

yet it boasts great things: Behold, how great a matter a little fire

kindleth. And we know that's true don't we? We know that just a

little fire can start a huge forest fire. Sometimes out in California

when the winds begin to blow, just a careless match tossed somewhere,

just a cigarette thrown somewhere, and a fire will begin to burn, and

in California hundreds and hundreds of houses can be destroyed, and it

all starts with just a little fire. Back in 1871 was the famous

Chicago fire and as the story goes Mrs. O'Leary's cow just kicked over

the lantern and it started a fire, and before the fire was stopped

17,500 buildings in Chicago were destroyed, 300 people lost their

lives in that Chicago fire, 100,000 people were left homeless in that

fire: all started by a little lantern in a barn. In 1950 in Korea a

pan of rice boiled over on a charcoal stove, just a pan of rice on a

charcoal stove, and it burned over, and it started a fire and before

it was over, within a mile radius, 3,000 buildings were destroyed.

How great a matter a little fire kindleth. That's what he's saying

about the power of the tongue to destroy, the destructive nature of

the tongue.

Look at verse 6: the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, a

world of sin. Have you ever thought of all of the sins that can be

done with a tongue? Think about that old gossiping tongue; think

about all of the damage that a gossiping tongue can cause. Or thing

about that criticizing tongue; think what a fire a criticizing tongue

can cause. Or think about that old hateful tongue; think of the fire

that a hateful tongue can cause to burn in the heart of an individual.

Think of that lying tongue; think of how many fires a lying tongue has

started. A world of iniquity. In fact he goes on and he says, so is

the tongue among our members, it defiles the whole body, it sets on

fire the course of nature. Literally the course of nature there would

be the wheel of life, and what he's saying is the tongue is like an

axle that spreads its flames through the whole wheel of life. In

other words it just sets everything on fire that burns around it. And

of course that's true isn't it? You know, fire is a good servant but

it's a bad master. You know, fire, under control, can be a good

servant. You can take fire and you can warm a body or you can take

fire and you can prepare a meal. If Janet calls me on the phone one

day this week and says to me there's a fire at our house that could be

good or that could be bad. Now if there's a fire at our house in our

stove that's cooking me some homemade biscuits, that's a good fire.

You see, fire, under control, can be a good servant. But if she calls

me and says there's a fire in our attic then that's bad, you see.

Fire out of control can do a great deal of damage.

You know that's exactly the way words can be in a church? Did

you know that? Just a careless word at church, what a fire it can

start. Just a thoughtless word in a congregation of people, oh, the

damage it can do. It's the same way in a family isn't it? Oh, look

at the damage that's done, look at the burning that's taken place in

families just by hateful, hasty words. You know, I think sometimes

about the damage that parents do to their children with thoughtless

words. "You dummy. You dummy, you, can't you get anything straight?"

And you know, you tell a child that long enough and you just keep

feeding that into a child's computer and that child will grow up

thinking that. And I just wonder how many fires have burned in the

hearts of individuals by abusive parents. I was reading an article in

"Newsweek" magazine giving some of the background of Saddam Hussein

and one of the things the article said is that he was brought up in a

little village and he was abused by a step-father, he received a lot

of abuse by a step-father, and it has built tremendous anger.

And I think about the tremendous anger in the hearts of some boys

and girls and young people because of the fiery words of a

thoughtless, thoughtless parent. "You dummy. Can't you ever do

anything right?" Then I think about words that have burned between

husband and wife and wife and husband. I have a feeling that just

about all of us married folks sitting here have some words we wish we

could recall, have some words we wish we had never said. Oh, the

fires that have burned because of thoughtless words. So he says it

sets on fire the wheel of nature and he says it is set on fire of

hell. Have you ever thought about it? your tongue can become a

furnace kindled by the fires of hell itself that can burn and wreck

and ruin and damage. Oh, let me tell you what, friends, these old

tongues of ours, if we don't get them under control by the power of

Jesus Christ, they can do a great deal of destruction. You see, it's

like a fire.

But then notice he uses another illustration to show the

destructive nature of the tongue. He says in verses 7 and 8 that the

tongue is like a wild animal; he's saying it's like an animal. Now in

verse 7 he makes the statement that man has been able to tame the wild

animals, and that's true. You know, I never cease to be amazed at

these guys who are able to tame lions and tigers. Old Goebbel-

Williams, the guy that traveled with the big circus, man, he'll open

that lion's mouth and stick his head in that lion's mouth, and with

that whip just get those tigers to just all stand up all around the

cage. Man has been able to tame tigers and lions and dolphins. You

go down here to Sea World and those things are almost human, they've

just got them obeying signals and all of that. It's amazing what man

can do with animals. I heard about a guy who claimed that he had a

talking dog. He said, "I've got this talking dog." They said, "I

don't believe that dog can talk." He said, "Well I'll prove it to

you." He said, "All right, dog, what do you put on top of a house to

cover it?" He said, "Roof." They said, "Aw, come on, that's a simple

question, anybody could answer that." And he said, "Okay, I'll prove

it again." He said, "Who was the greatest baseball player that ever

lived?" The dog said, "Rooth." They said, "Aw, go on and get out of

here." And as the guy and his dog walked away the dog looked up at

the owner and said, "Should I have said Hank Aaron?" Listen, man can

tame the animals.

But I want to tell you what, friends, there is one animal that

man has not been able to tame and its den lies right behind man's

teeth: his tongue. And, you know, words can do a lot of damage like

an animal, can't they? Over in Galatians chapter 5, verse 15, Paul

said to those Galatians believers, he said, If ye bite and devour one

another will you not all be consumed one of another? Oh, listen, you

can just rip and destroy and tear up and do damage like a wild animal,

you really can. You can just tear people asunder with your tongue. I

heard about a lady one time just feverishly sitting there writing and

somebody said, "What in the world are you doing?" She said, "I have

been to the doctor and I just found out I've got rabies." They said,

"Well what are you doing?" She said, "I'm writing a list of all of

the people I want to bite." I know some people who claim they're

saved who are just like wild animals, they just bite. Are there some

folks you just don't even want to get around? You know every time you

get around them they're going to say something hateful, going to say

something smart, going to put somebody down, "Yeah, look at you. If

you don't lose some weight you're going to be as big as a blimp."

Well I've never known of anybody being arrested for being overweight.

But there are some people, every time you get around, they've got

something hateful to say, something ugly to say, something unkind to

say. Oh, we ought to ask God to help us not to be so destructive with

our tongue.

In fact he pictures the tongue in verse 8 like a poisonous

serpent, like a poisonous snake. The Greek words that are used here

in the original text are very vivid really; it's a picture of a snake,

a restless, weaving snake that slithers up alongside its victim hardly

noticed, and then just at the appropriate moment that snake strikes

and deposits its venom and then slithers away into the grass and it's

gone. James says that is exactly the destructive power of the tongue.

Some person just kinds of eases into the conversation, just kind of

eases in and just a word and a reputation is ruined, just a little

word of jealousy and a heart is damaged and a life is maimed, and they

deposit their little poison and they're gone. I'll tell you what, you

had just as soon have a cobra in the vestibule and a rattlesnake in

the pews as to have a tongue doing damage.

The directive nature of the tongue, it's like a bit in the

horse's mouth, it's like a rudder of a ship; the destructive nature of

the tongue, it's like fire set on fire of hell, it's like a wild

animal destroying; but then I want you to notice the deceptive nature

of the tongue, and he talks about a fountain of water. You go to a

fountain of water and you take a drink of that water and it's bitter,

you say it's a bitter fountain, if it's sweet you say it is a sweet

fountain. What James is saying is is that there is a consistency in

nature, so he is comparing the consistency of nature with the

inconsistency of a person who says he knows Jesus as his Savior and

his language and his words do not say it and do not indicate it. And

he says, Listen, (he said in verse 9), with the tongue we bless God

and with the tongue we curse men; there's an inconsistency there.

What he's talking about, could I just get very, very practical? Could

I get right down there where we live? What he's saying is, he's

saying there's an inconsistency with a person who with his tongue on

Sunday recites the creed and then on Monday he recites the cruelty.

He says there's an inconsistency with the tongue that on Sunday sings

the praises of Jesus and on Monday curses out the crew of men working

for him. Huh? What he's saying is there's an inconsistency in a

person who on Sunday sings, "Oh, How I Love Jesus", he blesses God,

and then on Monday he blasts his brother. That's an inconsistency.

You see, friends, just like Jesus said, whatever is in the heart,

out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. I heard about a

man one time who lost his temper and when he lost his temper he had

said some pretty hateful and ugly things, and after it was all over he

apologized. You know anybody like that? Boy, they can just say the

ugliest thing in the world, then when it's over they just apologize.

He apologized; he said, "Oh, I didn't mean that." And another man

took a glass of water, put it up on the table, and then he took that

glass of water and he slammed it on the table and when he did water

poured out on the table, and he said to the man, "Sir, nothing comes

out of that glass that wasn't already in that glass when it was

slammed. And, sir, nothing comes out of your mouth that wasn't

already in your heart when you got under pressure." Friend, if you

really want to know what you are, what you are is what you are under

pressure. It's the easiest thing in the world to talk sweet on

Sunday, "God bless you, brother; good to see you today; how you

doing?", but now I'm going to tell you the test is in the morning, how

you talk in the morning, how you going to act tomorrow. And, you see,

folks that have problems with their tongue, it's not basically a

tongue problem it's a heart problem. A guy went to the watch

repairman one time and he said, "I've got a problem with my watch."

He said, "What's the problem?" He said, "There's something wrong with

the hands on my watch. They don't work, they're not working right,

something is wrong with the hands." And the watch repairman said,

"No, sir, the problem is not with the hands on your watch, the problem

is on the inside." So he's talking here about the deceptive nature of

the tongue and he's saying in verse 11, does a fountain send forth at

the same place sweet water and bitter? And he's saying if it does

there's an inconsistency there. And he says in verse 10, these things

ought not so to be.

And then the next illustration is in verse 12 where he talks

about a tree, and what he says here is there's a consistency in

nature. An apple tree gives forth apples, an orange tree produces

oranges, the fruit of the tree is consistent with the nature of the

tree. So, you see, if the fruit of your life, your lips, your words,

are constantly bitter and corrupt it's an indication, friends, that

the basic nature is unchanged. Oh, we ought to be careful what we

say, we ought to be very careful. Oh, we ought to ask God to help us

to be careful what we say. Now I've got to wrap it all up, got to

wrap it all up. I want to say to you today that just like a ship has

a helmsman to guide that ship you and I have a Helmsman who can guide

our life and guard our lips and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ and,

friend, I want to tell you that though no man can tame his tongue God

can tame the tongue of a man. The Lord can help us control these old

tongues of ours. Jesus can do it. So we ought to go to Jesus and

say, Jesus, help my words to be sweet today.

You see, you ought to ask yourself a question every time you get

ready to say something: number one, is it true?; number two, is it

necessary?; number three, is it kind? No man can tame the tongue but

God can tame the tongue. Number three, I want to say to you that

though the tongue may be set on fire of hell it can be set on fire of

heaven. Do you remember on the day of Pentecost and the Bible says

those disciples filled with the Holy Spirit, that tongues like as of

fire set down on each one of them, and that day their tongues were set

on fire of heaven and they became mighty witnesses for the Lord Jesus

Christ and their tongues became a blessing, leading men to Jesus

Christ. Let's pray God will set our tongues on fire all right but not

with the fires of hell but with the fires of heaven. Amen and amen.