02.03. Chapter 3 - Verse 06
James 3:6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among the members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Here he applieth the similitude of a little fire to an evil tongue: ‘And the tongue is a fire,’ &c. I shall open the phrases that are most difficult. A world of iniquity.—Things that are exuberant and abounding are expressed by this proverbial speech, ‘a world.’ It implieth that the force and power of the tongue to hurt is very great; as the world is full of all kind of things, so the tongue of all kind of sin. So is the tongue among the members; that is, of so great regard; it is but one, and that a small member among the rest, and yet of such a cursed influence, that it often draweth guilt upon all the rest of the members. That it defileth the whole body.—Ephraim Syrus understandeth this clause without a figure; he thinketh it is an allusion to the punishment of leprosy with which Miriam and Aaron were smitten for the abuse of their tongues. But that agreeth not with this place. The meaning is, therefore, it blotteth and infecteth the whole man with sin and guilt, and so possibly there may be an allusion to what is said, Ecclesiastes 5:6, ‘Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin;’ where by flesh is meant the whole man; as also here by body: which term the apostle used before, James 3:3, and with good advice. (1.) Because he speaketh of the tongue, which is a member of the body, and so the rather carrieth the expression in terms suitable. (2.) Because sin, though it beginneth in the soul, is executed and accomplished by the body; and it is some grace, when we cannot stop it in the concupiscible, to stop it in the locomotive power; if not in the lust, yet in the members. Or (3.) Body, because of that resemblance the scriptures make between the sins of all the members and a body; and therefore the course of our actions, whether good or bad, are expressed by this term; as Matthew 6:22, ‘The light of the body is the eye and therefore if the eye be single, the whole body is full of light,’ &c.; where body is put for all the actions of the soul: if the understanding and aim be rightly directed, all the motions are right. Now the tongue defileth this whole body, as it persuadeth to sin, or else uttereth and bewrayeth sin, and so showeth the whole man to be defiled. It also engageth to sin: the tongue often engageth the hand to smite with the fist of wickedness, and by its brawling and contention other members are involved in sin and inconveniences. So also for other sins, men speak evil, and then commit it; one member infected maketh way for the corruption and defilement of another; and the tongue being of so sovereign an influence, tainteth all. And setteth on fire.—He showeth the further efficacy of this tongue-fire; it doth not only black and sully, but it devoureth and destroyeth. He expresseth it by this phrase, ‘setteth on fire,’ because of the comparison foregoing; and it is very proper, partly in regard of the effects of the tongue, which are usually false heats, passion, wrath, raging, violence, contrary to which is that ‘cool spirit’ which Solomon saith is in the prudent man; partly in regard of the tongue’s manner of working in contentions. It is rapid and violent; men are by the tongue transported and heated into inconveniences; and it is also disorderly, like raging fire, causing great confusions; and therefore in any heat we had need look to the rise and quality of it: be sure to watch over your spirit when it beginneth to grow furious and inflamed. The whole course of nature.—In the original it is Τὸν τρόχον τῆς γενέσεως, which some render, ‘the wheel of our nativity,’ by which he intendeth the whole course of our lives; there is no action, no age, no estate privileged from the influence of it. The Syriac interpreter hath, ‘all our generations,’ as if the sense were, that all ages of the world are conscious to the evils of the tongue, and can produce instances and experiences of it. But the word rather signifieth our natural course, or the wheel of human conversation. And it is set on fire of hell.—He showeth whence the tongue hath all this malice and mischief; from hell, that is, from the devil, who is the father of lies, the author of malice and virulency, and doth by the tongue, as a dexterous instrument or fit servant, transmit lies, and slanders, and strifes, for inflaming and enkindling the world. Some read, φλογισομένη, ‘it shall be set on fire of hell,’ as implying the punishment; but in all approved copies it is φλογιζομένη, ‘is set on fire,’ as noting the original. The points observable are these:—
Obs. 1. There is a resemblance between an evil tongue and fire:—(1.) For the heat of it. It is the instrument of wrath and contention, which is the heat of a man—a boiling of the blood about the heart. Solomon saith, ‘A man of understanding is of a cool spirit,’ Proverbs 17:27. Hot water boileth over, so do passions in the heart boil out in the words. Of the ungodly man it is said, Proverbs 16:27, ‘In his lips there is a burning fire.’ (2.) For the danger of it. It kindleth a great burning. The tongue is a powerful means to kindle divisions and strifes. You know we had need look to fire. It is a bad master, and a good servant. Where it prevaileth, it soon turneth houses into a wilderness; and you have as much need to watch the tongue. Solomon saith, Proverbs 26:18-19, ‘The fool casteth firebrands, and saith, Am I not in sport?’ We throw fire abroad, scalding words, and do not think of the danger of them. (3.) For the scorching. Reproaches penetrate like fire. David compareth them to ‘coals of juniper,’ Psalms 120:4, which burn hottest and longest; they may be kept a whole year. The Septuagint have τοῖς ἀνθράξι τοῖς ἐρημικοῖς, ‘desolating coals.’ Fire is a most active element, and leaveth a great sense and pain. So do reproaches, like the living coals of juniper. (4.) It is kindled from hell, as in the close of the verse. Zeal is a holy fire that cometh from heaven, this from hell. Isaiah’s lips were ‘touched with a coal from the altar,’ Isaiah 6:6-7; and the Holy Ghost descended in cloven tongues of fire, Acts 2:1-47. But this is fire from beneath, of an infernal original. Oh! labour then for a cool spirit. A tongue that is set on fire from hell shall be set on fire in hell. You know who wished for a drop to cool his tongue. The hot words of wrath, strife, and censure come from Satan, and lead to Satan.1 When you feel this heat upon your spirit, remember from what hearth these coals were gathered. God’s word was as fire in Jeremiah’s bones, so is wrath many times in ours; yet though wrath boil, keep anger from being a scorching fire in your tongues. See Psalms 39:3, &c.
1 ‘Illic incipit, et illuc rapit.’
Obs. 2. There is a world of sin in the tongue. It is an instrument of many sins. By it we induce ourselves to evil, by it we seduce others. Some sins are formal and proper to this member, others flow from it. It acteth in some sins, as lying, railing, swearing, &c. It concurreth to others, by commanding, counselling, persuading, seducing, &c. It is made the pander to lust and sin. Oh! how vile are we if there be a world of sin in the tongue—in one member! Some2 have reckoned as many sins in the tongue as there are letters in the alphabet. Where shall we find a rule and account to number up the sins of every member? ‘All the imaginations are evil,’ Genesis 6:5. As there is saltness in every drop of the sea, and bitterness in every branch of wormwood, there is an ‘overspreading of abominations’ throughout the whole man, Daniel 9:27. Again, we may consider the ingratitude of man. Our tongue is our glory;3 it is the member by which we discover and show forth our reason; it fitteth us for commerce. Speech maketh man a sociable creature;4 yet there is a world of iniquity in the tongue.
2 Laurent, in loc.
3 Psalms 108:1, and Psalms 16:9, compared with Acts 2:26.
4 ‘Ἄνθρωπος ἐν φύσει ζῶον πολίτικον.’—Arist. Pol., lib. 1. cap. 2.
Obs. 3. From that and defileth. Sin is a defilement and a blot. We hear of ‘filthy communication,’ ‘filthy lucre,’ and ‘filthy lusts,’ The very show of sin is called ‘filthiness of the flesh,’ 2 Corinthians 7:1. Scandalous sinners are the stain of their society: ‘These are spots in your love feasts.’ It will be your own disgrace. When, you give up yourselves to the practice of sin, you get to yourselves a blot: Deuteronomy 32:5, ‘Their spot is not as the spot of God’s people,’ And it will be your eternal disadvantage: Revelation 21:27, ‘And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth.’ In short, sin is such a filthiness that it is ashamed of itself. It seeketh to hide itself from those that most love it, and goeth shrouded under the disguise of virtue. There needeth no other argument to make it odious than to see it in its own colours.
Obs. 4. Tongue sins do much defile. They defile others. We communicate evil to others, either by carnal suggestions, or provoke them to evil by our passion. They defile ourselves. By speaking evil of them we contract guilt upon ourselves. Either they deserve it not, and so it is a lie, which is a great blot, or if the crime imposed be true, their sin is made ours by an undue speaking of it.5 5 ‘Peccatum quod alter incurrit operando, tuum facis obloquendo.’
Obs. 5. From that the whole body. An evil tongue hath a great influence upon other members. When a man speaketh evil, he will commit it. When the tongue hath the boldness to talk of sin, the rest of the members have the boldness to act it: 1 Corinthians 15:33, ‘Evil words corrupt good manners.’ First we think, then speak, and then do. Men will say it is but talk. Be not deceived; a pestilent tongue will infect other members.
Obs. 6. From that the course, or wheel, of our nativity. Man’s life is like a wheel. It is always in motion; we are always turning and rolling to our graves: Psalms 90:3, ‘Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men.’ The meaning is, they are turned into the world, and returned to the grave. It noteth also the uncertainty of any worldly state; the spokes are now up, and now down, sometimes in the dirt, and sometimes out. The bishops of Mentz give a wheel for their arms; it is but the emblem of our lives, and the inconstancy of every condition of life; when you see the wheel, improve the occasion to some good meditation. There is a story of Bajazet, as also of another taken by an ancient king of France, when they saw the wheel of the conqueror’s chariot, they smiled, saying, ‘The upper spokes will come down again.’ Here we are always moving, sometimes up, sometimes down, but still towards the grave.
Obs. 7. The evils of the tongue are of a large and universal influence, diffuse themselves into all conditions and states of life. There is no faculty which the tongue doth not poison, from the understanding to he locomotive; it violently stirreth up the will and affections, maketh the hands and the feet ‘swift to shed blood,’ Romans 3:14-15. There is no action which it doth not reach; not only those of ordinary conversation, by lying, swearing, censuring, &c., but holy duties, as prayer, and those direct and higher addresses to God, by foolish babbling, and carnal requests; we would have God revenge our private quarrel. Pulpits are made stages and cockpits, on which men play their prizes and masteries, and set on private passions. There is no age exempted; it is not only found in young men, that are of eager and fervorous spirits, but in those whom age and experience hath more matured and ripened. Other sins decay with age, this many times increaseth; and we grow more forward and pettish as natural strength decayeth, and ‘the days come on in which is no pleasure.’ I say, when other sins lose their vigour, as being tamed and subdued by the infirmities of old age, we see the spirit groweth more tart, nature being drawn down to the dregs, and the expressions more passionate. No calling is exempted. The tradesman in his shop abuseth his tongue for gain: Proverbs 21:6, ‘The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that love death;’ the woman at home, in idle tattling, and vain censures. Ministers in the pulpit often prostitute the sacredness of their function to the corruption of the tongue, by preaching for gain, by being ‘rash with their mouths to utter anything before God,’ Ecclesiastes 5:2; by being furiously passionate, &c. There is no temper so meek and humble but may be perverted. Holy Moses, the meekest man upon earth, was angry at the waters of strife, and brake out into passion: Psalms 106:33, ‘He spake unadvisedly with his lips.’ Meek Christians in a disease, how froward are they! injurious even to God himself. David well prayeth in a great cross, ‘Lord, keep the door of my lips,’ Psalms 141:3. Well, then, none of us should think these exhortations unnecessary. It is a vain scoff, and it argueth horrible slightness of spirit, to charge this only upon the female sex: through the strength and pregnancy of imagination or fancy, they may be given to talk; but you see men, the best and highest, are apt to offend. The apostle saith, ‘It setteth on fire the whole course of nature.’ No part of man so noxious and hurtful; no part of a man more fierce and unbridled; no part more easy and apt to err.
Obs. 8. A wicked tongue is of an infernal original. The prophets’ fires, as I told you, were kindled from heaven; like the chaste fires of the Roman vestals, which, if let out, were to be rekindled by a sun beam. In all heats it is good to see whence they come; heat in good matters out of a selfish aim, is a coal fetched not from the altar, but the kitchen. Calumnies and reproaches are a fire blown up by the breath of hell. The devil hath been ‘a liar from the beginning,’ John 8:44, and an accuser of the brethren, and he loveth to make others like himself. Learn, then, to abhor revilings, contentions, and reproaches, as you would hell flames; these are but the eruptions of an infernal fire; slanderers are the devil’s slaves and instruments. Again, if blasted with contumely, learn to slight it; who would care for the suggestions of the father of lies? The murderer is a liar. In short, that which cometh from hell will go thither again: Matthew 5:22, ‘Who soever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.’ Wrath being expressed in a word of reproach, you see how deadly and grievous it is. By nourishing an evil tongue, you do nourish and keep in hell flame, which hereafter will break out to your destruction.