BIG IDEA:
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE IS NO SMALL MATTER — BUT IT WILL PREVENT BIG-TIME TROUBLE
I. (:1-2) THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE IS A MEASURE OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY
A. The Responsibility of Teaching Carries with it Greater Accountability
1. Don’t Rush into the Spiritual Spotlight
“Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren”
2. Consider the Greater Accountability
“knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment”
Vaughan: “The office of teacher offered a respect, a prominence, and an authority which made some men hanker after it. Don’t, says James. Think not so much of its outward privileges as of its immense responsibilities under God. Be more concerned about your fitness for teaching than with the external trappings of the office.”
B. There are Many Pitfalls on the Road to Spiritual Maturity
1. Universal Traps
“For we all”
2. Harmful Snares
“stumble”
3. Diverse Obstacles
“in many ways”
We all sin repeatedly in many ways … but especially in the area of our speech.
C. Control of the Tongue is a True Indicator of Overall Self-Control
1. Passing the Test of Taming the Tongue
“If anyone does not stumble in what he says”
2. Grading the Results
“he is a perfect man”
not sinless, but a man of maturity
3. Extrapolating the Same Ability
“able to bridle the whole body as well”
II. (:3-4) TWO ILLUSTRATIONS TO PROVE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TAMING OF THE SMALL TONGUE AND SELF-CONTROL ON A LARGER SCALE
A. (:3) Powerful Horses Can be Controlled by a Small Bit
“Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, we direct their entire body as well”
B. (:4) Large Ships Can be Controlled by a Small Rudder
“Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.”
Wiersbe: “Both the bit and the rudder must overcome contrary forces. The bit must overcome the wild nature of the horse, and the rudder must fight the winds and currents that would drive the ship off its course. The human tongue also must overcome contrary forces. We have an old nature that wants to control us and make us sin.”
III. (:5-8) THE SMALL TONGUE CAN CAUSE BIG-TIME TROUBLE
A. Characterization — Small in Size but Huge in Potential
1. Small in Size
“So also the tongue is a small part of the body”
2. Huge in Potential
“and yet it boasts of great things”
B. Cause and Effect — Illustration of an Innocent Small Match and a Huge Destructive Forest Fire
“Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire”
C. Comparison — The Tongue Compared to a Defiling Fire
(chiastic structure: A B B A)
1. Nature of the tongue
a. “And the tongue is a fire”
Barclay: “wide-ranging and quite uncontrollable”
b. “the very world of iniquity”
2. Function of the tongue
a. “the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body”
Vaughan: “This means that the tongue, wrongly used, pollutes man’s whole personality, soils his whole nature, leaves a deadly stain upon him (cf. Matthew 15:11). It does this by permitting itself to be used as an organ for sin.”
b. “and sets on fire the course of our life”
3. Curse of the tongue — “and is set on fire by hell”
D. Contrast — Man’s Ability to Tame Wild Animals Contrasted with His Inability to Tame His Own Tongue
1. Man’s ability to tame wild animals
“For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race.”
2. Man’s inability to tame his own tongue
“But no one can tame the tongue”
this ability can only come from God
E. Conclusion — The Natural Tongue Reveals our Total Depravity”
1. “it is a restless evil”
2. “and full of deadly poison”
IV. (9-12) USING THE TONGUE FOR BOTH BLESSING AND CURSING IS A CONTRADICTION BY DEFINITION
A. Unnatural by Definition — from Personal Experience
1. Blessing the Creator While Cursing His Creation
“With it we bless our Lord and Father”
“and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God”
2. Using the Same Mouth for Contradictory Actions
“from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing”
3. Unnatural and Just Plain Wrong
“My brethren, these things ought not to be this way”
B. Unnatural by Illustration — from the World of Nature
1. Fountain
“Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?”
2. Fig Tree
“Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives”
3. Vine
“or a vine produce figs?”
4. Salt Water
“Neither can salt water produce fresh”
Mitton: “A fresh water lake can be relied on to contain fresh water, and a salt lake salt water (like the Dead Sea). But with the human tongue, fickle and unreliable, it is now one thing, now another.”