September 4, 2022
The Tongue: Pound for Pound–Nothing Like It
James 3:1-12

INTRO

• Title: The Tongue: Pound for Pound–Nothing Like It
• The tongue has the Power to Direct, to Destroy, and of Devotion.
• When we see our speech degrading, James 3 is the tube up chapter.

The words we speak affect the lives of others.

• Wars have been started with words.
• Divorces with words.
• And we don’t get to take back there harm.
• Wiersbe reminds us that even a simple “yes” or “no” from a parent can drastically affect the course of a child’s life. (867)
• James places the strongest weight possible on the tongue.
• The tongue let’s its owner know exactly where their walk with the Lord is.
• In this passage today, we are going to see that the tongue has the Power to Direct, Destroy, and the Power of Devotion. ¹

Power To Direct

• As with the previous two chapters, James introduces his new subject with a command (Constable):
• v 1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers,

First Century Rabbis

• The Rabbi was treated too well. His title means, “My great one” (Thayer) or “master” (LSJ). Everywhere he went he found the highest respect. In the first century, a man had a duty to serve his rabbi before his parents, due to the spiritual nature of his work. (Barclay)
• The services in the synagogues allowed for opportunities for the men in the congregation to rise and address the rest of the assembly (cf. Acts 13:15). The early Christians carried this opportunity over into the meetings of the early church (cf. 1 Cor. 14:26-33).

The consequence of this tradition, and the sinfulness of man, brought the early Church many teachers who were not gifted by God and often aspired to teach for the sake of being publicly esteemed. (Constable)

• We also see in the New Testament, plenty of insight into teachers who were failing miserably. Some with honest motives but plenty more with corrupt it seems.
• There were teachers who tried to synchronize, that is mesh, Christianity with Judaism and the Law. There were and still are teachers who lived out nothing of which they taught (Romans 2:17-29). There were and still are some teachers who tried too early (1 Timothy 1:6-7), and others who were merely crowd pleasures (2 Timothy 4:3). (Barclay)

Despite all of this we know that teachers are an important part of God’s kingdom. In Paul’s list of those who hold greater gifts within the Church, teaching is second to the apostles and prophets. Whereas the apostles and the prophets moved from church to church, by contrast, teachers stayed put and worked within a congregation. (Barclay)

• But James warned people away from teaching for a specific reason here:
• look at v 1b for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
• Instead of a blasé attitude toward the consequences of teaching, James gives the Church a sobering warning to would be teachers: there’s going to be some light shined on them lives!
• judgment = κρίμα = A decision, judgement, resolution, legal decision (LSJ)

Verse 1 James begins with the weightiness of Christian teachers, but James quickly transitions into the everyday reality of every Christian regarding sin. (Utley)

• Look at it in v 2 For we all stumble in many ways.
  • List all the ways we sin.
    • Unloving, impatient, gossiped, judged unbelievers, anxiety, the list is long…
    • Often, everyday we are awake we are stumbling.
• And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
  • Not only does James teach that much of our stumbling comes from our mouths, but here James highlights that our speech really is a gauge of holiness. COMMENT
  • Physical sins vs. sins of the mouth. NO CONTEST!

ILLUSTRATION

• 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

• James illustrates his points here using horses, the most respected animal for war and overland travel and ships, the largest man-made thing for travel across seas.

  • Horses: large animals, small bits control.
  • Ships: large vessels, powerful forces (great winds), small rudder.
  • The Roman world had large ships. In Acts 27:37 we read that, Paul had been aboard a ship which carried 276 passengers plus its cargo. Josephus records that he was that was 180’ by 65’ by 44’. That’s getting close to the deck size of a football field stacked 4 high! (Utley)
  • Both animal and thing controlled by very small items.

• Our tongues? Small member >> great bragging

  • It reminds me of something a grandmother said, “You’re talking out of your britches boy!”

APPLICATION

• OUR SPEECH DIRECTS OUR LIVES AS A RUDDER DIRECTS A SHIP.
• There is power in the words!
• James explains something important: the mouth is the rudder of our lives.
  • It controls the daily course and direction we are taking.
  • James adds however that most of the time our mouths are making great boasts.
  • We must get these points!
  • James is going to help us.

TRANSITION

Now that we have seen James’ warning to the Church regarding becoming teachers and his introductory remarks regarding our tongues, let’s now look at the negative consequences of an out of control tongue.

Power To Destroy

James illustrates the degree. Look at v 5 again, "So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness." 6b The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

• The small things control large things motif continues.
• A forest fire is set ablaze by such a small fire.
  • A campfire that released an unintended spark.
• The tongue is the small fire w/ a world–a kosmos–of unrighteousness.
• Devastating power.
• Is that how we see the mouth in the mirror?
• In v 6b we see the tongue is set among our members and does at least three negative things:
• # 1 - staining the whole body - COMMENT
  • The mouth spills out into the entire life with destruction in its wake.
  • “it reveals the often hidden wickedness of the human heart.” (Utley)
• # 2 - The tongues source of destruction comes from hell.
  • Jesus used this as a name for hell too (cf. Matthew 5:22, et al.)
  • γέεννα is used only here outside of Jesus’ use of it (11x) (cf. Blueletter).
  • Gk. lit.: γέεννα = Hebrew origin for “the valley of Hinnom” (LSJ)
    • the trash dump in southern Jerusalem that was always burning.
  • The wickedness that the tongue is guilty of is demonic and hellish.
  • We as Christians often find ourselves in the wrong huddles playing for the wrong team.
    • This is Christian tongues here folks!
  • Often God used harsh, living illustration to reach His stuborn people and where sin was rampant:
    • Isaiah went around naked and barefoot for three years. (cf. Isaiah 20:1-4)
    • Ezekiel had to lie on one side or the other for 430 days. (cf. Ezekiel 4:4-6)
    • Hosea “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2)
    • We need a shock to our lives! We need a reset on our words.
    • Again, Christian tongues’ source of destruction comes from hell.
• # 3 - setting on fire the entire course of life
  • Not just some of it but all of it. COMMENT
• # 4 - I said at least three things, but there seems to be another in the original: look again … “setting on fire the entire course of life” _{(emphasis mine)}
  • … entire course of life or course of our life (ESV, NASB, CSB)
  • There may be more to it than our life.
  • … course of nature (BLB, KJV, NKJV)
  • … wheel of generation (Hart)
  • Greek = the trock-os = wheel and genesis = beginnings, one’s source and origin, a book of one’s lineage in which his ancestry or progeny are enumerated (LSJ; Thayer)
  • Interpretations:
    • Moo made a case for an antiquity idiom = “ups and downs of life.” (Moo, 159) Modern: “Wheel of Fortune”
      • If this be true, James might have meant that, one would be burning up some of the kingdom changes in life.
    • Thayer saw it as the wheel of human origin which as soon as men are born begins to run (Thayer)
      • If this be true, James might have meant that, one is burning up life from kid to coffin.
    • Utley agreed with Thayer, but added the idea of even the burning up therefore affecting one’s future generations. (It seems Hart might agree here.)
      • If this be true, James might be pointing out that, parent’s mouths are burning up some of their own children’s and grandchildren’s kingdom potential.
  • ALL COULD BE TRUE! ALL ARE TRUE IN LIFE.

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

• Tiger and lion has been tamed; killer whales have been tamed with elephants and the like. >> But the “little killer”–full of deadly poison–resists being tamed.

Quotes:

• Sidney, “No sword bites so fiercely as an evil tongue.” —Philip Sidney
• Unknown, “The tongue weighs practically nothing, But so few people can hold it.” —Unknown
• Irving, “A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.” —Washington Irving
• Adenauer, “All parts of the human body get tired eventually - except the tongue.” —Konrad Adenauer
• Ironside, “If lips and life do not agree, the testimony will not amount to much.” —H. A. Ironside
• Blue, “Nothing seems to trip a believer more than a dangling tongue.” —Ronald J. Blue
• Utley said, “Humans can domesticate and control every animal except themselves.”

APPLICATION

• The American mouth is wholly tolerated in our culture. And far too many of us Christians are a part of this culture.
• Human sinfullness is expressed and accentuated by the tongue.
• Often, we don’t want to bridal our tongue.
  • We allow words of gossip.
  • We allow words of slander.
  • We allow “unallowed”, sinful judgments of others.
  • In the name of humor, we allow piles of sinful words.
  • We allow words of worry and anxiety.
• One word is too many. Confession time!

TRANSITION

Now that we see that James describes our tongues as deadly, let’s look at how we may use them. James uses a contrast to make his point.

Power Of Devotion

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

• Devotion of praise and worship is in our mouths this morning.
• We are blessing God with the mouth.
• With the same mouth we curse those made in the image of God
  • Curse = call down curses upon (LSJ). To wish them ill especially by the hand of God. To wish people doom (Strong). To wish for evil to befall them (Thayer)
• James reminds the Church that people are made in the image of God.
  • Tense is important for the interpretation here: look at the phrase who are made in v 9.
    • PERFECT TENSE
    • In Greek the perfect tense as in English, describes an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated. (Blueletter)
    • Mankind was made in God’s image and likeness and they remain so, even though fallen. (Utley)
    • There are several theories as to the exact components of “being made in the likeness of God.” Some say we are conscious beings, some point to us being rational beings or having a moral consciousness. (Utley)
    • But it is clear that we humans have incredible worth due to our image.
• GOSPEL

ILLUSTRATIONS

11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

• James mixes his metaphors here, but
• The same opening do not provide springs of saltwater and springs of fresh. It’s Unnatural! COMMENT

• [Barclay wrote something very good,] We know only too well from experience that there is a cleavage in human nature. In man there is something of the ape and something of the angel, something of the hero and something of the villain, something of the saint and much of the sinner. It is James’ conviction that nowhere is this contradiction more evident than in the tongue. (Barclay)

• James points to the dualistic nature of Christians’ current state, but it must be consistently overcome. COMMENT

APPLICATION

• We should remember what Tasker wrote, “words are also works.” (Moo, 147)
• Are people evil. Yes. Bless
• Are people obnoxious? Yes. Bless
• We don’t have to right to sin because the world is frustrating.
• This is not our home. We are quickly passing through.
• The tongue is a gauge of where we are at in our walks.
• “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth.”
  • Perfect.
  • We get tired of Jesus’ command, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
• We must press on in the thing.
• As the Jewish Rabbis themselves said, “Not learning but doing is the foundation …” (Sayings of the Fathers 1: 18). (Barclay)
• Proverbs 10:19, "When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise. (BSB)
• We cannot daily accept light and darkness proceeding from our beings. W ARE TO BE THE LIGHT TO THE WORLD.
  • It’s always one of the other.
  • The darkness is vast, but the Light is eternal and … The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)
• In our mouths we have the gospel
• In our mouths we have coarse joking.
• We make the choice everyday: walk in the word or keep our demonic tongues.
• It is the rudder of our life.
• OUR SPEECH IS ABLE TO KEEP OUR WHOLE BODIES IN CHECK. JAMES’ POINT.
• This week, let us pay special attention to our words for they are the rudder of our lives.

Note:

¹ The first two sermon headings are from Wiersbe and the third was derived from his similar one in Warren Wiersbe’s The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. (David C. Cook, 2007).

Bibliography and Works Cited

NOTE: Please see the following web-page for most of the works cited–if not all: https://insidecrosspoint.org/sermons/2022/sept/bibliography.html. Most works cited on that web-page correspond to the verses they are outlined with, or in the case of background information, general references, author information, etc., one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with.

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other Works Cited

Moo, Douglas. The Letter of James. Eerdmans, 2000.