James - James 3:1-12 - Part 2

Just as the bit controls the horse, just as the rudder, in spite of the wind, controls the ship, so the Holy Spirit of God can control your tongue, and your tongue, my tongue, has the power to direct, and we can lead others into eternal life.

James is giving to us a series of warnings to help us control our tongues. Some of the people in the assembly to which he had written his letter wanted to become teachers. And James warns them and us in James 3:1, "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we, that is we teachers, shall receive a stricter judgment."

Here is warning number one: our words are going to be judged. We'd better be careful what we say and how we say it. Then James 3:2, our words reveal our character. "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, a mature man, a complete man, able also to bridle the whole body." So often sins of the tongue lead to sins of the body. We say something that we shouldn't say, or we say something at the wrong time in the wrong way, and before long our fists are at work and there's a fight. Sometimes words lead to deeds, and then deeds lead to trial and sorrow and regret.

Now in James 3:3-12, James gives us a third warning. Not only that our words will be judged and our words reveal our character, but our words have serious consequences. I want you to notice that in James 3:3-12, he gives to us six pictures of the tongue. James 3:3, a bit. James 3:4, a rudder. And then James 3:5, a fire, that's carried into James 3:6. James 3:7, animals, reptiles, and various kinds of wild animals. And I notice in James 3:8 that there's also poison involved in those animals. And then down in James 3:9-12, we have a fountain and we have a tree.

Now, here are six pictures of the tongue: the bit, the rudder, the fire, the poisonous animal, the tree, and the fountain. Now, you can put these six pictures into three pairs. What do a bit and rudder have in common? Well, they have the power to control, the power to direct. The bit directs the horse; the rudder directs the big boat. What do the fire and the poisonous animal have in common? Well, obviously, the power to destroy. What do the fountain and the tree have in common? Well, they have the power to delight, to bring blessing. And so James is telling us here that our words have power. Never underestimate the power of words.

Proverbs 18:21 says that "death and life are in the power of the tongue," and that is true. Not only a judge has that power—he can sentence someone to death or life—but you and I have that power. Our tongues can kill. They can kill sensitive feelings. They can kill reputations. With your tongue, you can kill someone's joy, kill someone's opportunity. And at the same time, with your tongue, you can give direction, you can speak words that guide lives.

Let's look now at these three different powers of the tongue, and remember what James is saying: our words have serious consequences. James 3:3-4, "Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires." The tongue has the power to direct.

Now, of itself, the tongue appears to be very small and very weak. It's not quite like your hand or your muscles, but the tongue has the power to direct. When we say something, we can lead someone in the right path or in the wrong path. Words themselves are invisible. I cannot see my words. I can see words on the page of my Bible. I can see words on the page of my outline. But I can't see my words as they go out into the atmosphere. And yet those words can direct people into the path of life, or if I'm not careful, into the wrong path. Words guide. Words have the power to direct.

And oh, how we as parents and pastors and spiritual leaders, how we need to be careful what we say and how we say it. We might send someone down the wrong path. I think in biography of words that have produced tremendous results and guided people. I think of Edward Kimball, who came into that Boston shoe store and spoke words to young D.L. Moody, and D.L. Moody trusted Jesus Christ and became a great evangelist. I was reading one of Mr. Moody's sermons the other day. His words still have the power to direct.

Therefore, our hearts must be guided by the Spirit of the living God. Just as the great big body of the horse is directed by a small bit, just as the great hulk of the ship is directed by a small rudder, so lives can be directed. In fact, whole nations can be directed for good or for ill by the words that are spoken. Now you look at this horse and you realize that he has his own nature. He wants to do what he wants to do. And my nature is this way. Sometimes I'm like the horse and sometimes I'm like the mule. You recall David wrote about that in Psalm 32:9. He said, "Now don't be like the horse or the mule." Well, there are days I'm like the mule and I'm stubborn. There are days I'm like the horse and I am rash and impatient and impulsive, and it shows up in my speech.

And James is saying to me, now look, just as the bit controls the horse, you can have your tongue controlled by the Holy Spirit, and your tongue can help to direct. Likewise, here's the ship. They're big, and these ships are driven by fierce winds. You see, the horse says to me, there's trouble on the inside. The ship says to me, there's trouble on the outside. Sometimes circumstances get us saying things we don't want to say, and we regret it. Moses, you'll recall, went through that experience. James tells us, just as the bit controls the horse, just as the rudder, in spite of the wind, controls the ship, so the Holy Spirit of God can control your tongue, and your tongue, my tongue, has the power to direct, and we can lead others into eternal life.

Now in James 3:5-8, he gives us a second illustration using the fire and the poisonous animal. Our tongues have the power to destroy. The tongue is a fire. James 3:5, "Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!" Somebody throws a cigarette down in the forest or someone doesn't put out a campfire, and before you know it, thousands of acres of valuable timber go up in smoke. Started by what? An atomic bomb? No, just a little spark, a little fire. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, a system of sin. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course, or the wheel, the cycle of nature. Once it starts, it just keeps on going, and it is set on fire by hell.

Let's look at this. The tongue is a fire. Proverbs 16:27 talks about this. Proverbs 16:27, "An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire." You see, fire starts small, but it spreads. Proverbs 26:20 talks about this. Proverbs 26:20, "Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases." That word "talebearer" means a whisperer, a gossip, a slanderer. "As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife."

Here are some home fires we should not keep burning. What keeps the fire burning, you ask? Add fuel to it. Alright, you hear some gossip, you hear some slander, and you add something to it and pass it on, instead of putting it out. Don't add fuel to the fire. The tongue is a fire. A fire starts small, it spreads, people add to it. It produces heat when we ought to be cool in our spirit. It produces defilement. Have you ever been in a house where there's been a fire? We have some friends who had a fire in their basement, and you'd be amazed at what it looked like upstairs. You see, the fire spreads and it defiles and it destroys and it causes things to smell. I don't like the smell of a fire. I preached in a church some time ago that had a fire in the auditorium, and they'd cleaned it up nicely, but there was still an atmosphere that made it very difficult to preach. And by the end of the week, my throat and my sinuses, my mouth, were just affected by that atmosphere.

Now, this can happen spiritually. The tongue has the power to destroy. It's like a burning fire. Never underestimate the power of your tongue. According to Norman Cousins, the most effective book of the 20th century was Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf." Now, by effective, he means it accomplished what the author wanted it to accomplish. Listen to this: Hitler's "Mein Kampf," for every word in that book, 125 lives were lost in World War II. For every page, 4,700 lives. For every chapter, more than 1,200,000 lives were lost in World War II. Because of words. Words are like a fire, and they're like a poisonous animal.

Notice what he says in James 3:7, "For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no man can tame the tongue." Well, God can. We can't, but God can. "It is an unruly," that means restless, unreliable, cannot be ruled, "an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." He said, "Now I'll prove it to you. With it we bless our God." You know, the Jews often would say, "Blessed be God, Blessed be the Lord." Whenever the name of God is mentioned, they would say, "Blessed be He." Well, says James, "With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."

The power to destroy like an animal. Well, you see, if animals are tamed, they're useful. If fire is tamed, it's useful. The poison that's there can be taken out by the Holy Spirit. Our tongues do not have to be set on fire by hell. They can be set on fire by heaven. There were tongues of fire at Pentecost. God can take our tongues and set them on fire when we go out and share the Word of God and bless the Lord. We are lighting, as it were, gospel fires that spread to bring blessing and to glorify God.

Well, our tongues are like a bit and a rudder: they have the power to direct. Our tongues are like a fire and a poisonous animal: they have the power to destroy. And our tongues are like a fountain and a tree: they have the power to delight. James 3:11, "Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?" The answer is no. "Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?" The answer is no. "Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh." What he's saying is that the tongue is like a fountain. Now, this picture is found back in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 13:14, "The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death." A fountain of life. How I thank God for Christians who have spoken the Word of God; it's been a fountain of life to me. People who have written books that have been a blessing to me; it's been a fountain of life. Proverbs 10:11, "The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked." Proverbs 14:27, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to avoid the snares of death." Proverbs 18:4, "The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook." You see, a flowing brook is always the same, but it's always different. There's a difference between a flowing brook and a stagnant pond. Unfortunately, some Christians are drinking at a stagnant pond. They're not learning anything new; they're just traditionally holding onto the old. But the flowing brook, there's a refreshment there. The brook is always the same, but it's always different. You never step into the same brook. And this is what he's comparing our tongue to as we share the truth of God's Word.

Well, back to James 3. Our tongues have the power to delight. Here is a refreshing fountain. Now if you've ever been thirsty, you know you want water. You want clear, pure water. I recall when we were at Masada, down near the Dead Sea, on a tour there. And oh, it was hot, and I was thirsty. And the tour guide said, "Well, as we get down, you will find a very refreshing fountain there." And sure enough, out there in that desert area, there was that refreshing water. Well, the water refreshes. Are you a refreshing Christian? When Paul wrote to Philemon, his friend Philemon, he said, "My soul has been refreshed by you, brother." Now, there are some Christians who, when they speak, it is so refreshing. You just feel like you've had a wonderful bath in clear, wonderful, pure water. Or you've had a deep drink of that pure water from the fountain or from the river. Alas, there are times when our tongues are not like that. Instead of bringing the water of life, we bring poison. We bring death.

Well, this water from the fountain brings life and cleansing and refreshing. Then he talks about the tree. He said, "Now no tree bears two different kinds of fruit." If it's a fig tree, it bears figs. If it's an olive tree, it bears olives. If it's a grapevine, it produces grapes. Those are the three great crops over in the Holy Land. Now, he says, my tongue is like a tree. It can produce beauty. It can produce shade. I can protect with my tongue. It produces fruit. It brings refreshment and joy. Words are like a tree. Here's a little child that is disturbed and worried, and mother speaks the right words, and it's just as though that child gets under a tree, the shade of the tree, and takes a nap. Protected. Provided for.

Oh, how important it is that we maintain a heart that controls the tongue. I think what we have to do is start with our hearts. James 3:14, James says, "If you have bitter envying and self-seeking in your hearts." Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. The prayer in Psalm 141:3 is so important: "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips." And then Psalm 141:4, "Do not incline my heart to any evil thing."

[Interview:]

You're listening to a study on the book of James with Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe. Up next, Warren talks with Arnie Cole, CEO of Back to the Bible International.

Warren, it says in James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." Do you think most people, Christians included, understand the wisdom of God? 

The book of James focuses on maturity. And the book of James wants us to have spiritual wisdom and not just spiritual knowledge. I recall one of the churches I pastored, there was a man in the church who had a very big, thick study Bible, and you'd think he knew all about the Bible. He was one of the hardest men to get along with I ever knew. He never translated it into flesh and blood. James wants us to have wisdom, which simply is the proper use of knowledge. And as I read my Bible, there's a lot of knowledge in there. Wonderful. But God wants to turn that knowledge into wisdom, which means I know how to use this. I used to tell people, 1 Corinthians 13 was not written for weddings. It was written for the meeting of churches. Church business meetings. They ought to read 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, at the beginning of every business meeting. But instead, we read it at funerals and weddings. So James is simply saying to us: move out from knowledge to wisdom. Knowledge says, "I know it." Wisdom says, "I live it." And there's a big difference.