James 3:3-6
~ 18 min read
💭 Consider this: How might you have been a spiritual arsonist? How can you control your tongue and prevent the spread of such fires?
TRANSCRIPT
I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The tongue can be used to say words of blessings as well as words of cursing; words of encouragement as well as words of discouragement; words to build up as well as words to tear down. The tongue was of such great concern to James that it was mentioned in almost every chapter of his letter, especially here in James 3:1-12, where he devoted this entire section to deal with the tongue. We are all prone to sin with our tongues.
In our previous message, we have learned from verses 1 and 2 that to sin with our tongue when we are alone or with one or two other persons is bad enough, but to sin with our tongues in public, especially when we are teachers of God's Word, the damage is immensely worse. The bigger the class, the group, or the congregation, the greater the damage will be.
Speaking for God as a teacher is a privilege, but it comes with a huge responsibility and accountability. So, we must not presume to be teachers if we are not called by God, if we do not have the spiritual gifts to teach, if we are not equipped with the knowledge of God's Word, if we do not have the right motivation to teach, and if we are not filled with the Spirit of God, because we shall receive the greater judgment as the Bible tells us. Then James moved on to speak about “The Power of the Tongue”, which is the title of our message this morning. We will only consider James 3:3-6.
I. Its Power Is Unique
The first thing we can learn about the power of the tongue is that its power is unique. Let us begin with verse 3, "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body".
Here, James used two illustrations to describe the uniqueness of the tongue. The first illustration was the horse. The horse is an amazingly powerful animal. It can easily carry two full-grown men and yet be able to run 100 metres in under 7 seconds, quicker than the fastest man in the world. On the level road, the horse can pull an eight-ton wagon. In fact, it is so powerful that the power of an engine is measured in terms of horsepower.
Despite its immense power, if we put a bit in the horse's mouth, we can make it obey us. We can control its whole body. The bit is a small instrument, only about 5 inches. It is placed on the top of the horse's tongue with both sides attached to reins. Using the reins, the rider can easily control the horse's mouth, and by controlling the horse's mouth, he can control the head, which in turn controls the whole body.
The second illustration was the ship. Look at verse 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". "Listeth" means ‘desires’. The word "helm" was the rudder, and the word "governor" was the pilot of the ship.
During the time of James, the largest ships were small in comparison with the gigantic ocean liners or aircraft carriers we have in our modern times. Nevertheless, they were still big enough to carry about 276 passengers on board, as recorded for us in Acts 27:37 when the Apostle Paul travelled on such a vessel from Asia Minor to Rome. In any case, whether it was an aircraft carrier or a vessel carrying 276 passengers, compared to its overall size, the rudder was very small, yet it was able to control the entire vessel according to wherever the pilot desired to go.
What was James' point in using these two illustrations? They were used to illustrate the uniqueness of the believer's tongue. The tongue is so small. It is just a little piece of flesh without bones in between our jaws, yet it can do great things.
Look at the first part of verse 5, " Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things". To boast great things can be good or bad, but here the context is a reference to bad things because James was speaking about controlling the tongue. Just like the horse, if it was not controlled, it would run wild and trample upon the people. And the ship, if it was not controlled, it would be driven in all directions and suffer shipwreck.
Likewise, the tongue, if it was not controlled, could boast of great things, evil and wicked things, which would destroy and tear others down. That is how many churches, families, and relationships are broken, all because of the tongue. It can lead to murder and war. So, in the same way the rider needs to control the powerful horse by restraining the bits in its mouth, and the pilot needs to control the ship by directing its rudder, the believer needs to control his tongue. And if he is able to control his tongue, then everything else will follow in submission.
In other words, the tongue needs to be controlled, restrained, and mastered. But the tongue is connected to the heart. As the Bible says, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). So, you cannot master the tongue unless you first master the heart. And this mastering of the heart and the tongue is a spiritual work. It is the work of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus Christ is the Lord of our hearts, He is also the Lord of our tongues. And the Holy Spirit, who is able to transform our hearts, is also able to transform our tongues as well. So, just as the horse yields itself to the rider and the ship yields itself to the pilot, the believer, you and I, must yield ourselves to the Spirit of God to control, restrain, and master our tongues so that we will not speak things that are sinful, evil, and wicked.
This transformation of our speech does not happen automatically at the point of our conversion. The moment we are believers, all of a sudden, like magic, all of us would speak things that are wonderful, good, and edifying? No, but that is the starting point. And the more we yield ourselves to the Spirit's control, the more the Spirit will transform our hearts and our speech.
That is why we often see this gradual change in the way the believer speaks. Initially, he may still say some things that may not be edifying. He may still have the language of the world. Then slowly, all those things seem to go away, and then he will say things that are edifying, godly, and righteous. If the person is a true believer, then it is inevitable that there will be a change, there will be a transformation, because he has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the restrainer, and he has the Word of God to teach him what to say and what not to say.
On the other hand, when we see a person who professes to be a believer, and yet there is no change in the way he speaks, even from the first day he professed to be a believer until now, there seems to be no change, there are only two possibilities: one, he may not be a true believer, that is why there is no transforming power; secondly, he may be a disobedient believer who refuses to yield himself to the Spirit's control. But even then, there is no excuse.
Dear friend, as a believer, have you ever experienced when you want to say something and you know that the thing you are about to say is not edifying, it is hurtful, and it can cause much harm, and there is something inside your heart that restrains you from saying it? Have you ever experienced saying something that is wrong and sinful, and you felt so grieved and vexed in your heart? We take comfort that this is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, and we must let the Spirit continue this sanctifying work in our hearts, to let the Spirit continue to control, restrain, and master our tongues.
II. Its Power Is Destructive
But what if you refuse to let the Spirit control, restrain, and master your tongue? Well, the result will be disastrous. This brings us to our second point: its power is destructive. Look at the second part of verse 5, "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" It can be translated as: ‘how great a forest is set aflame by a little fire.’ All it takes is a little matchstick or a little spark, and it can potentially destroy thousands of acres of forest, killing and destroying countless human lives, animals, and properties.
Do you realise that there's a major difference between fire and water? Water cannot multiply. When it is poured out, no matter where you pour it, it never expands into a flood; it cannot multiply. Fire is different because it has the capacity to reproduce itself in an almost unlimited way. As long as you have sufficient flammable materials and enough oxygen to sustain it, it will burn on indefinitely.
Take, for example, the Black Saturday bushfire in Australia, which happened in 2009. 173 lives were lost, 414 were injured, more than a million animals were killed, and 450,000 hectares of land were burned. The worst bushfire in the history of Australia. Thank God for the firefighters who did a good job to control the fire, to stop the fire. Can you imagine if nothing was done? What would happen? The destruction would be unimaginable.
The same goes with the tongue. If the tongue is not controlled, if it is not stopped, consider the gossip, lies, rumours, slanders, hurtful words, criticism, and so forth – how it would spread. And then consider the damage that it would create. Just take the example of rumours. Once, there was a patient who visited a particular clinic, and he was unhappy with the medical consultation he received from the doctor. He decided to destroy the doctor's reputation by spreading rumours. He started to tell everyone that the doctor had wrongly diagnosed several patients, which resulted in their deaths.
Several years later, he regretted what he had said. He had a change of heart. He asked the doctor to forgive him. The doctor forgave him, but there was no way to stop the rumours. The damage was done, and it continued to spread. Fewer and fewer patients visited the clinic, and even when they did come to the clinic, the doctor was always wondering if they had heard the false rumours, if they had believed in the false rumours. It affected him so much so that he could not continue working in that clinic nor anywhere else. Finally, he gave up practising medicine altogether.
What about lies? There was a woman who liked a married man, and she tried to seduce him. But he was like Joseph in the Bible, and he resisted her advances. She was angry and spread all kinds of lies about him, that he was immoral, unfaithful, and they had an affair. That lie spread like wildfire. The whole church came to know about it. The man was confronted by the church leaders. Even though it was proven that it was a lie, the damage was already done.
All the church members started to look at him with a critical eye. His wife also heard about it. Although she did not believe in the lie, the whole family, including the children, were affected, and they stopped attending the church. They went church-hopping for a while, and when they could not settle in any church, they stopped attending church altogether. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, they were devastated. Both husband and wife fell into depression. They ended up in divorce, and the children were left in the care of the relatives. How tragic! These were two real stories, and it all started with the tongue – just one rumour and one lie. Before they knew it, it spread, and the damage was unimaginable.
Some of the things we had said in the past might have caused certain damages. Our words might have hurt, discouraged, and devastated some people. Our words might have troubled and afflicted the church. The damage could not be undone. We must pray, repent, and ask the Lord to forgive us.
However, the lesson we ought to learn is that our words can be most destructive, and they can destroy the lives of people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Therefore, you and I must nip it in the bud, not to let such words come out from our mouths in the first place. So, we must ask the Spirit of God to guard our mouths, and we must let the Word of God be our guide, never to say things that are contrary to what we learn from the Holy Scriptures.
What do you call a person who deliberately starts a fire? You call that arson. What do you call a person who starts a gossip, lie, slander? It is spiritual arson. One day, you and I will have to give an account for all the words we have spoken, whether they be true or false, whether they be encouraging or discouraging, whether they will build up or tear down or destroy. Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned". We must be careful with the words we speak.
Let us move on to verse 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". Here James gave four aspects of the danger of the tongue. Firstly, it is a world of iniquity. The original word for world is ‘cosmos’, and it can mean several things depending on the context. It can mean the physical world or the Earth; it can mean the world of humanity, as in human beings; it can mean the unbelieving world, as in the unbelievers; or it can mean the evil world system where Satan is the prince.
Here, it is a reference to the evil world system because of the word “iniquity” or sin. As 1 John 2:16 tells us, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world". The tongue is able to contain and convey all the world systems of evil, wickedness, and rebellion.
Consider the potential capacity of the tongue to sin. Remember what we had learned in our previous message that every one of us is prone to sin, but there are some sins that an individual may not be able to commit simply because he does not have the opportunity. For example, the bedridden person may be restricted from committing the physical act of adultery, or the person living in an isolated place may not be able to commit the sin of drinking alcohol or drug consumption because you cannot find those things in such places, or the person who is imprisoned may not be out there to engage in those sinful criminal activities.
But there are no limits to what an individual can say with his or her tongue. All the person needs to do is just open his mouth, and out of the mouth, all kinds of things can come out anytime and anywhere: things that are wicked, perverse, deceitful, immoral, corrupt, foolish, slanderous, blasphemous, full of hatred, full of anger, and so forth. There are no restrictions, no boundaries, no limitations. That is what it means – the tongue is a world of iniquity.
Secondly, it is capable of contaminating the whole body – “so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body”. If the tongue is a fire, then whatever it touches will be burned, right? And whatever will not be burned, the smoke of the fire will permeate and ruin it. Have you ever been to an open-air eatery or a barbecue, or you are in a room full of smokers, and when you return home, your whole body and clothes smell of smoke? That is an illustration of how the filth and the defiled tongue can stain and contaminate the whole person.
At first glance, the natural reading of the phrase "the whole body" refers to the person himself, but in a spiritual sense, it also contaminates the whole body as in the church, the body of believers. Isn't it true that what we say not only will affect us alone, but it will also affect the people around us, our families, and especially our church? If you are a person who always speaks words of gossip, lies, rumours, and slanders, the people around you will also be affected, and they in turn will also speak words of gossip, lies, rumours, and slanders.
Remember, 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners". In other words, if you are engaged in evil conversations, evil associations, it will eventually corrupt your good behaviour. This is the warning to all of us. We must be wise to discern what kind of conversation will corrupt us, will contaminate us, and what kind of conversations will help us, edify us. And if a person is a gossiper and is always saying things that are not edifying, things that are hurtful and sinful, and we still want to associate with that person, it is a matter of time we will be just like them. The Bible says, "Be not deceived" – do not deceive yourself into believing that you will not. You will.
Thirdly, the tongue can affect the course of our lives. Look at the second part of verse 6, "and setteth on fire the course of nature". The original Greek word for nature is ‘genesis’, which means the origin, or the generation, or the life. In other words, like physical fire, the destructive power of our tongues not only can contaminate us, it can influence and change the course of our lives. If you want to know who a person really is, you spend enough time listening to what he says, you will have a pretty good idea of who he really is.
This principle applies to good things as well as sinful things. If you are a person who always speaks words of love, comfort, peace, and righteousness, you will be known as a godly person. If you are a person who always speaks words of malice, evil, wickedness, and filthiness, you'll be known as an ungodly person.
In a sense, we are known by the way we talk. The way we speak can lead us into the path of godliness and righteousness, or into the path of ungodliness and unrighteousness. If we continue in that path, we will be perceived as such a person, whether godly or ungodly. We will be fixed in that course, that path. It will affect our testimony in the family, in the church, in the workplace, in the school, and in the community. In that sense, it can change and influence the course of our lives. That is why we must be careful with the way we speak.
Dear friend, how do people perceive you by the way you speak: godly or ungodly? We profess to be believers. As believers, we ought to be the light of this world and the salt of this earth, including our words. We ought to be a living testimony of the saving faith that we profess to have. Some of you like to put on perfume. When you enter into a room, the people can smell the aroma of your perfume. And even after you leave the room, the smell still lingers for quite some time.
What about the aroma of Christ? When people communicate with us, when we are engaged in conversations, can the people experience the aroma of Jesus Christ in the way we speak? And even after we leave them, can they still savour the aroma of Christ, remembering those things we have said? May the Lord help us. We ought always to have this aroma of Christ wherever we go, whatever we say, whatever things we do, including the thoughts we have in our minds. God knows.
Fourthly, and most horribly, the tongue can “set on fire of hell” (James 3:6). The word "hell", ‘gehenna’, is a very interesting word. It was used only in the Gospels, and each time it was only used by our Lord Jesus Christ. The literal meaning of this word "gehenna" is the valley of Hinnom, which is located on the southwest of Jerusalem. It was a deep valley. It was a place where trash, garbage, bodies of dead animals, and executed criminals were dumped and continually burned.
Originally, it was the place where the Canaanites would sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to their pagan gods. So, this was a place that was considered unfit, unclean for any decent usage except for garbage to be thrown in and to be burned. Since the fire was always burning all the time and there were always maggots lingering around, our Lord Jesus used this word "gehenna" or the valley of Hinnom to represent the eternal hell where the fire never stops burning and the worm never dies.
Hell is the place where Satan and his demons will be sent to. It is a place prepared for them. Therefore, to set on fire of hell is to allow the tongue to be used as Satan's instrument to fulfil the purpose of hell: to corrupt and destroy. That is exactly what some people would do. They would allow their tongues to be used as Satan's instrument. They would cause believers to be stumbled, churches to be divided, the gospel to cease, ministries to be affected, souls to be destroyed by their words. God forbid that we allow our tongues to do that. We must never let our tongues be “set on fire of hell”, to be used as Satan's instruments.
Someone once said almost 90% of the troubles we face in the church, and almost 90% of the troubles we face in life is due to words. I do not know whether it is accurate or not. I do not think we should put a percentage or a number to it, but all of us can safely say that the majority of our troubles, whether it be in the church, in our families, in our lives, are due to words; whether it be the words of others or it be our own words.
Indeed, the tongue is a very small member, yet it is so unique. It can bring with it great blessings; at the same time, it can bring with it great cursing as well. It can be a world of iniquity. It can contaminate our whole body. It can contaminate the church and your family. It can change the course of our lives so much so that it is as if we are fixed. People look at us and say, ‘That person is ungodly.’ It’s fixed. It can be used as Satan's instrument.
We cannot control what other people say. It is not our business to do that as well, but we can control what we say. And the only way we can do that is to let the Spirit of God control, restrain, and master our tongues and let the Word of God teach us what we ought to say and what we ought not to say.
May our tongues be used for the glory of God. May our tongues be used for the edification of the saints and for the saving of souls so that one day, when we stand before God, instead of being judged for the foolish things we have said, sinful things we have said, we will be praised – God will say to us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:21). Let us be careful of what we say.
Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this portion of Scriptures. Indeed, there are so many wonderful lessons we can learn from Thy precious Word. Thou hast taught us this morning about the power of the tongue. Help us, O Lord, that we will always be reminded that it is important for us to control, restrain, and master our tongues.
And the only way we can do that is through the work of the Holy Spirit, because our tongues are connected with our hearts, and the mastering of our hearts and our tongues is a spiritual work. It is the work of Thy Spirit. May Thy Spirit continue to do His sanctifying work in our hearts and in the things we say, so that out of our mouths will come blessings, will come words of encouragements, words of edification, words that will build up and not destroy, to the glory of Thy precious name. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF JAMESFacing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]James 1:1-4
Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]James 1:1-4
The Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialThe Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialJames 1:5-8
Trial Is No Respecter Of PersonsTrial Is No Respecter Of PersonsJames 1:9-12
How To Deal With TemptationHow To Deal With TemptationJames 1:13-15
Remember Who God Is And Who We AreRemember Who God Is And Who We AreJames 1:16-18
Be Receptive To The Word Of GodBe Receptive To The Word Of GodJames 1:19-21
Doers of the WordDoers of the WordJames 1:21-25
Be Responsive To The Word Of GodBe Responsive To The Word Of GodJames 1:22-25
Are You Transformed By The Word?Are You Transformed By The Word?James 1:26-27
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]James 2:1-4
The Sin of PartialityThe Sin of PartialityJames 2:1-13
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]James 2:5-13
Show Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineShow Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineJames 2:14-20
Faith In ActionFaith In ActionJames 2:21-26
A Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherA Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherJames 3:1-2
Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)James 3:1-13
The Power Of The TongueThe Power Of The TongueJames 3:3-6
The Taming Of The TongueThe Taming Of The TongueJames 3:7-12
The Danger Of False WisdomThe Danger Of False WisdomJames 3:13-16
The Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomThe Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomJames 3:17-18
Dealing With Conflict In The ChurchDealing With Conflict In The ChurchJames 4:1-6
What Constitutes True SalvationWhat Constitutes True SalvationJames 4:7-10
Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilJames 4:11-12
God’s Plan Or My Plan?God’s Plan Or My Plan?James 4:13-17
Physically Rich But Spiritually PoorPhysically Rich But Spiritually PoorJames 5:1-6
How To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleHow To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleJames 5:7-11
Simply Speak The TruthSimply Speak The TruthJames 5:12; Matthew 5:33-37
What To Do When It HurtsWhat To Do When It HurtsJames 5:13-18
The Value Of The SoulThe Value Of The SoulJames 5:19-20
