Good morning and welcome in. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from the book of James.
James 3:5-6 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 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.
The tongue is a very small part of the human body in comparison to the rest. The one thing that sets it apart from the rest of your members is that it’s capable of speech. The tongue is very similar to a small matchstick. How much does it take to start a fire? Think about driving down the highway on a very dry fall afternoon and you take a match and you throw it out the window of the car. What do you think is going to be the result? What do you think is going to happen next? First it’s going to start small and ignite the dry leaves. Then it will ignite the birch bark and the dry brush and small trees nearby. It will grow until you have a huge fire that’s raging out of control. The tongue is a very small match but it needs to be kept in your pocket. It needs to be kept in the matchbox and put away in a safe place. Once you pull it out to light it, there are all kinds of things that can result because of it.
In the summertime a lot of you like to go camping. Many people will buy one of those butane lighters with a small flame on the end to ignite their campfires and before you know it, you have a raging fire on your hands. So even though it’s a tiny little flame it can cause great damage.
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Up here in northern Minnesota the DNR will put out warnings about extremely dry weather for this very reason. It only takes one little flame to start a fire. Someone might leave one hot coal in a campfire and then all of a sudden it starts everything else on fire around it. Those who profess to be Christian need to be in control of their tongue, otherwise problems can and will result.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:
The tongue is very small but it can defile the entire body. One little thing amongst all the rest of your members can ruin everything, just like one bad apple can spoil a barrel full. A woman in a kitchen might cook a meal from a recipe card with 20 ingredients, but if she adds just one wrong thing, it spoils the entire meal and she has to throw it away. It doesn’t take very much to wreck everything else. Your tongue can do a lot of damage if it’s not restrained, if it’s not kept in check.
James 3:2 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.
Controlling speech is the mark of perfection. If you can control your tongue you can control everything else. Control means to have power and authority over something.
Andrew and I like to do a lot of sailing in our down time. On a sailboat you have a small little rudder that steers the entire body of the catamaran but someone needs to be in control of the rudder. If you control the rudder you control the direction of the boat. If you control your tongue you can control the rest of your body. The tongue is a little member of your body but it can produce huge sins. When you use your tongue improperly it can really hurt other people. You can sin against others in your unbridled speech towards them. You can speak evil about other people. You can falsely accuse other people. These are all kinds of sins that can happen simply because you open your mouth.
Matthew 15:17-20 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
In fact, when Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, he marveled that he kept so quiet.
Matthew 27:12-14 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
A man is considered to be wise if he doesn’t say anything, so controlling the tongue is wisdom. When the mouth is open wide a lot can come pouring out of it. Just imagine if you were to open up the floodgates on a dam what’s going to happen? All kinds of water comes rushing out of it. They usually will let a little trickle out at a time. This is the same way that your mouth should be.
It’s a very small member of your body. It’s a tiny little match but it can turn into a blowtorch that can ignite a fire around you destroying and hurting the lives of other people around you as much as a gun.
It can hurt your family.
It can hurt your spouse.
It can hurt your friends.
It can hurt your relatives.
It can wreck people’s relationships.
It can be used for all the wrong reasons.
The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
James 3:7-8 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: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
I don’t know how to tame a lion but a lion tamer does. A man cannot tame his tongue, it takes the Holy Spirit to tame it. It takes faith in Christ to tame the tongue, and that’s where perfection comes from. By itself, it is unruly and full of deadly poison.
So the next time that you go camping or start a fire in your barbecue grill, remember what happens next. It grows into a giant fire, and that is what the tongue can do if it is not kept under control. Controlling the usage of your tongue shows wisdom and God’s strength through the Holy Spirit so keep your tongue from evil. Be very careful because you can start a really big fire, and it only takes,…
……..One Little Matchstick
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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