There once was a man who had a great deal of old discarded wood, so he decided to start a fire and burn it all. With some wood-chips and a few twigs, he started his fire. At first the fire sputtered and smoked, but soon it began to burn, and as the man added wood, the fire grew.
Becoming impatient with the slow rate in which the wood was burning, he added more wood to the fire. Eventually the fire grew to where it was about out of control. Suddenly a breeze sprang up, sparks began to fly and the flames reached up into the trees. The man had now lost control of what began as a small fire.
What lesson is there in this fire that eventually went out of control? As long as the man controlled the fire it served his purpose, but when he lost control, the fire became his deadly enemy.
So also are the words that come from our mouth.
Luke 6:45, Jesus said, “An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
The tongue:
James 3:5-6, “The tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. —-The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; (existence) and it is set on fire of hell.”
With every word that a person speaks, they can do many great things whether good or evil depending on the heart of that person. Greek orators were able with their words to carry large crowds into any mood they were seeking. They could calm a crowd into a peaceful serene mood: or as Adolf Hitler would do, he would carry them into a world of furious excitement, hell bent on conquest and murder. Stalin with his words would sent thousands to their death.
With his tongue a man can fuel the flame of discord; insubordination; resentment; unrest; or create a quite, trusting, confidence of both the body and spirit. The first is a fire out of control the latter is a fire under control!
An one individual’s small personal world is an image of the greater world, and of the universe itself. So our tongue is an image of the three! Any evil, any lie, spoken in the Christian community is the one flame that can consume the whole body. Smoke from the fire will first cloud the vision, the heat will then drive us away and finally the flames consumes that which remains.
James tells us that a lying, boasting, prideful, tongue can sow the flame of discord, unrest, mistrust, confusion, and eventually cause a division among the children of God. He said its, “a world of iniquity.” This term, “a world of iniquity,” is to be understood in the same way we use the terms, “a world of trouble,” or as the great philosopher Mr. T. would say, a “world of hurt.” So this term, means, a greed mass, collection, or abundance.
The tongue can be said to be a “world of words.” It can cause a sea of troubles, just as a great fire can sweep away all that stands before it.
Proverbs 17:4, “A wicked doer = (wicked persons) giveth heed = (listens) to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty (destructive) tongue.”
Varnish will give a glossy shinny finish to a rather dull piece of wood; so also are those with a lying tongue. They gloss themselves over; they give a good external appearance, disguising their true intentions. So the phrase, “a world of iniquity:” The world is the fuel, and the tongue represents a spark that can ignite the fire.
Psalms 120:3, “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?”
Our Creator is saying to the tongue; the rest of the members of your body stand straight and tall, but your tongue is lying down. All the other members of the body are external, your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet, but your tongue is internal, hidden from view.
He asks, Is this enough to be hidden? No! So I have built two walls around you. The first is made of bone, the second is of flesh. So now what shall be given unto you? and what shall be done unto you? Oh you false tongue.
Continually and habitually man’s false lying tongue inflames others. He passes out from himself, his own power, his desires, his lies, inflaming others to do his will, to accomplish his personal agenda. But eventually he will be consumed in the flames of the fire he started.
Adolf Hitler spread his lies of hatred, extermination, superior race and conquest to a once Christian nation. His lies broke down the fabric of law and justice, love, and compassion, until nothing was left but the lie. After his fire had consumed the whole of Europe, it began to spread to the four corners of the earth. Eventually, it would turn back on him, eventually consuming him.
Proverbs 16:27, “An ungodly man digs up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.”
Jesus said in,
Matthew 5:22, “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Ra-ca, (empty head) shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Peter then tells us that man can tame every beast, bird, serpent, and thing in the sea. Yet, Verse 8, “the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
No well planned cunning and crafty speech; or no well intended influence has ever been able to silence the tongue. We can not control our neighbors tongue, not even our own, therefore the truth of verse two, “For in many things we offend all.”
Only three things can control a man’s tongue,
A. The grace of God!
B. Cutting the tongue from a man’s mouth!
C. Death!
So our tongue can become an evil that cannot be restrained, neither can it be brought under control, for it breaks all bounds, and being filled with deadly poison. James refers to a serpent, which injects it’s poison through wounds caused by it’s teeth. As the poison enters its victim, it begins to kill it’s prey in many different ways. James is making reference to those who slander others, false accusers, backbiters, whisperers, talebearers. When no gossiper is present, bickering and strife usually cease.
James 3:9, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are after the similitude = (likeness) of God.” How many pray to the Father for revenge or to destroy those who are objects of their anger?
Though man was made in the likeness of God, he has lost much, yet, some things remain. Enough remains to remind us that we were made in God’s image. And that which does remain will be regenerated, and that which has been lost will be restored.
As children of God, we should hold fast to that which remains, and take seriously the reality of what we shall be in ourselves and in others. As Absolom had fallen from his father David’s favor, the people still recognized Absalom to be the king’s son. So also are the fallen, they are yet identified with God, being made in His image and likeness.
As the Son of God resembles in spirit and deed the Father, so also do we resemble in our humanity the Son of man. This can be seen in the expression of the following verses. Heb.1:3, which speaks of Jesus who is, ” the express image of His (the Father’s) person.”
Genesis 1:26, “and God said, let us = (both Father and Son) make man in our image, after our likeness:”
1 John 4:20, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”
The word “image” in Genesis 1:26, was something both physical and intellectual, in which all men were created, something common to all, and continuing in man after the fall. The word “likeness,” is man’s moral pre-eminence, and is something that we should strive after and eventually attain through Christ Jesus.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good”
Verses from Proverbs 10:
1. “A prating = (babbling) fool shall fall.”
2. “The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life:”
3. “In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found:”
4. “Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.”
5. “He that hides hatred with lying lips, and he that utters a slander, is a fool.”
6. “He that refrains his lips is wise.”
7. “The tongue of the just is as choice silver:”
8. “The lips of the righteous feed many.”
9. “The mouth of the just brings forth wisdom: but the froward = (perverse) tongue shall be cut out.”
10. “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaks frowardness = (perversity.)”
This is the tongue. Use it for good and bring pleasure to many. Use it for evil, and bring the wrath of God upon yourself.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom