their Bibles to James 1. James 1, I mentioned at the AGM, instead of a strict exposition of the entire book, we're going to look at it thematically. Tonight, our focus specifically is on James 1.26, but I do want to begin reading in James 1.19. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Amen.

Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for the written word. Again, we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to put it into our hearts, our minds, our thoughts. Help us, God, to apply these things in our lives and grant us the grace to truly evidence the saving faith that you have wrought in our hearts.

We pray, God, that you would cause us to realize the necessity to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight. And with reference to the tongue, God, as James describes it, it is a powerful influence in the life of men and women. So grant us grace to bridle it, grant us help and strength to bridle it, so that we may indeed use our mouths, use our words in a way that brings glory to God and edification to the people of God. Again, we pray, forgive us for our sins and for our transgressions, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introduction

Well, as we have seen in our studies in Matthew's gospel, those works that are surveyed by the Lord on the day of judgment give evidence or manifest the reality of the faith present or the faith absent. Those acts of charity reflect those who had indeed believed the gospel, who had indeed come to Christ by grace through faith in Him. So those works follow as a consequence, not as a condition of salvation, but rather as a consequence. They had been saved and therefore they had lived accordingly.

With reference to those who did not have those acts of charity, they didn't visit, they didn't serve, they didn't feed, they didn't clothe, they didn't give drink and all those sorts of things, that was proof that they had no saving faith in their hearts. I've often referred to James in our studies there in Matthew 25. But we do need to appreciate that James does not teach a different way of salvation. Roman Catholicism, for instance, favors the book of James because they think therein is faith plus works in order to be saved.

In fact, the history of interpretation, the history of theological commentary, you see this debate concerning Paul and James and can they be reconciled. Well, certainly they can be, and the Bible that sets forth the reality that we're saved by grace through faith unto good works, that Bible sets it forth through Paul, and it does equally as well through James. Notice in James 1.18. James 1.18, he highlights sovereign grace in the matter of salvation.

He says, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Very similar to Paul in Romans 9.16. It does not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but on God who shows mercy. So it's God who brings us forth, and this is precisely what James says.

James acknowledges the reality of a profession of faith, a confession of faith. Notice in James 2.1, my brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. James' purpose is to come to those who have professed saving faith and yet They have no works demonstrable of that saving faith. In the language of Thomas Manton, he says, in this whole discourse, the apostle's intent is to show not what justifies, but who is justified.

In Paul's sense, a sinner is absolved. In James's sense, a believer is approved. I have cited at least frequently 2nd London Confession of Faith, 11.2. Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not alone in the person justified.

That's James' point. Yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces." In other words, the faith that justifies is the faith that will be demonstrated through sanctification. The confession then goes on with a particular hat tip to James saying, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. So as we focus tonight on verse 26, the necessity to bridle the tongue, we ought to appreciate the larger context it finds itself in.

Notice specifically, James highlights the necessity to receive the Word of God. He does this in verses 21 to 25. He says that we are to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your soul. So we are to receive the Word of God.

This then involves obedience to the Word. How do we know we've received the Word? If we obey the Word. Somebody says, I received the Word, but they don't obey the Word.

They didn't receive the Word. You tell somebody to do a particular task, and they don't do the particular task, you cannot suggest to me that they have received the command. James says, be doers of the Word and not hearers, only deceiving yourselves. He then illustrates this principle with a man who looks into the mirror and then forgets what he looks like.

I mean, simply ludicrous. For someone to, you know, comb their hair, standing in the mirror, walk away, and if somebody says, what do you look like? Well, I don't know. I can't remember.

Well, it's the same sort of thing with somebody who professes saving faith, receives the word, but is not a doer of that word. Note the contrast specifically then set up. There is a man who not only looks into this law of liberty, but he continues in it. Notice in verse 25, but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

So it's evident. James is dealing with persons that profess saving faith in Jesus Christ, but perhaps are not living in a consistent manner with that profession. Now, when we get to verses 26 and 27, essentially what we have are three practical applications to demonstrate what a doer of the Word looks like. In other words, you're supposed to receive the Word, you're supposed to be a doer of the Word. and here in three concrete applications.

It's not exhaustive. Any more than Jesus' statement on the Day of Judgment is exhaustive. There's more to Christianity than just feeding people or clothing people or helping people. Certainly that's a vital component, but there's a whole lot more to it.

These are examples. They're not exhaustive lists. And the same is true here. He gives us three particular applications. with reference to the bridling of the tongue, with reference to pure and undefiled religion in terms of visiting orphans and widows, and with reference to keeping oneself unspotted from the world.

A particular commentator named Dale Allison says that verses 26 and 27 are a succinct threefold characterization of authentic religion. Such religion involves measured speech, requires social action, and entails separation from the world. It is the antithesis of sham religion that fails to control the tongue, shuns unfortunates, and assimilates itself to the world. So that's sort of the backdrop.

James 1:26 — Three Points

Let's look specifically now at verse 26. And I want to do three things tonight. First, note the person identified. Secondly, the problem identified. And then thirdly, the particulars identified.

The Person Identified

In the first place, the person identified. This is a professing Christian. Again, James's point. He's not dealing with pagans.

He's not dealing with heathens. He's not dealing with the Buddhists and the Muslims. He is dealing with those in the midst of God's people who think they are indeed religious. And James' use of religious here is an appropriate use.

Religion has gotten a bad sort of name over the last few years. We hear things like, it's not about a religion, it's about a relationship. It is a religion. Christianity is a religion.

There's nothing wrong with identifying it as one. It's the true religion, and we ought not to shrink back from declaring that. And that's James' point. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, so this man thinks he is a Christian.

He thinks he is a believer. He thinks things are well with his soul. He has made a profession of faith, but as we move through the verse, he doesn't bridle the tongue. Notice, a true Christian is one already described by James.

He receives the word. He's a doer of the word. He's not like that forgetful man that looks in the mirror, walks away and then forgets what he looks like. Rather, he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word.

This one will be blessed in what he does. And this true Christian, this true believer, this one who possesses saving faith will, in fact, bridle his tongue. He will engage in the pure and undefiled religion of verse 27. He'll visit the widows and orphans in their distress, and he will keep himself unspotted from the world.

So we're dealing with a professing Christian in this particular situation.

Why the Tongue?

Now, the relevance to the tongue. Why does he single out the tongue? Why does James revisit the tongue in chapter 3 and in chapter 4? Because it's a vital demonstration of what lay in the heart.

Specifically, Matthew 12, 34, Jesus upbraids the religious leaders of his time, and he says, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So in other words, our tongue is a very good indicator of what lay in our heart. If our tongues are full of gossip and full of slander and full of backbiting and full of profanity and full of vulgarity and all those sorts of things, that's a good indicator that something's not right with our heart. There is a close connection between the heart and the tongue.

Notice the subtlety involved with the tongue. It's an amazing reality that we're quick to condemn those who engage in those sort of more flagrant and open and vile sins, and yet sins of the tongue go grossly undealt with in our own day and age. John Calvin made this observation. It was needful that this vice should be condemned, this misuse of the tongue, when the subject was the keeping of the law.

For they who have put off the grosser vices are especially subject to this disease. He who is neither an adulterer, nor a thief, nor a drunkard, but, on the contrary, seems brilliant with some outward show of sanctity, will set him off by defaming others. and this under the pretense of zeal, but really through the lust of slandering. Now I think as James addresses the tongue here with reference to the church today, there's a peculiar danger involved for us, or a challenge perhaps. The tendency is for most of us to prioritize sins.

You hear it, well I don't commit adultery, I don't commit murder, I don't rob banks, I don't do those nasty sorts of things, but Gossip is somehow okay. Slander is somehow okay. Backbiting is somehow okay. Answering a matter before you hear it is okay.

The first to plead his cause seems right till his neighbor comes and examines him. Just jettisoning that from our very existence is somehow okay. He who answers a matter before he has heard it is hasty and foolish. That's somehow okay.

As long as I'm not committing adultery, as long as I'm not committing murder, as long as I'm not robbing banks or manufacturing methamphetamine or smoking crack, then I'm okay. James says no, he doesn't say here's a concrete practical application in terms of your profession of faith, that you're not out visiting prostitutes, that you're not out robbing banks, that you're not out doing those notoriously sinful things. No, this is a concrete application and a demonstration of genuine faith. Do you or do you not bridle your tongue?

Do you or do you not engage in self-control? Or do, may I say, tongue control? There is a danger here because at times, it seems, we recognize what adultery and what murder are. But the tendency to ignore danger when only gossip and slander are engaged in.

There are two specific commandments in the Decalogue targeting the tongue. The third, you shall not blaspheme the Lord your God. And the ninth, you shall not bear false witness against a neighbor. The same decalogue that condemns murder, that condemns adultery, that condemns theft, that same decalogue that condemns Sabbath-breaking and idolatry, condemns in a two-fold way the misuse of the tongue.

Why in the world do we not deal as strictly with persons who gossip or with backbiters or slanderers as we would with a man who admits to using crack cocaine? It's probably because we have accepted this idea that some sins are specifically bad or worse than others. And because we all sin with the tongue, We don't want to ever bother anyone else with any kind of a meddlesome attitude. So the person identified is a professing Christian.

The particular relevance involved is that the tongue displays what's going on in the heart.

The Problem Identified

Now note the problem. Well, what James highlights, if anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Now, the metaphor employed, this is pretty powerful, isn't it? I'm not an equestrian.

I think that's the proper use of the term. I don't really care about horses. I mean, they're nice, they're majestic, wonderful beasts. But this metaphor, simile rather, you know, speaks multitudes to me.

You don't have to be a horse lover to know what James is talking about here, right? The bit and bridle, we need to harness that power. We need to subdue that power. We need to make it go from that place where it's running around frantically, kicking everything in its way, put the bit and bridle upon it so that we can subdue it and control it.

Now this is a similar situation to what we find in James 3. Notice in verses 2 and 3. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body." The Old Testament background seems to be the Psalter, Psalm 32. Psalm 32, remember James knew the Old Testament better than you and I probably ever will. Psalm 32, specifically in verse 9, do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. And then again in 39, 1 and 2.

Psalm 39, one and two. I said I will guard my ways lest I sin with my tongue. I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me. I was mute with silence.

I held my peace even from good and my sorrow was stirred up. Now it's a very powerful figure of speech that is employed because it's a very powerful organ in the body of a man or a woman that has the potential for doing great harm. So, bit and bridle, harness and muzzle, those are appropriate terms when it comes to conquering this particular foe in our remaining corruption. Now, the obvious point, I don't think James suggests to go down to the local tack shop and actually buy a bridle and somehow fit it to your tongue.

That's not the point. The man who professes faith in Christ must restrain his tongue. He must exercise tongue control. He must discipline his use of the tongue.

You see, self-control, a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, certainly involves the tongue. Alec Mottier, in his commentary on James, makes this observation. James does not call us to a silenced tongue, but to a bridled one. You see, the obvious response could be, I just won't ever say anything.

That's an impossibility if you know how to talk. You ever play the quiet game with your kids? Oh, it lasts about three seconds, right? I don't know what it is.

We as parents think that somehow this quiet game is going to ensure us hours of solitude. They get about three seconds in, and you just realize they were made to talk. That's their job. That's what they do.

They just talk. See, that might be the obvious response to a passage like, well, I just won't say anything. Now, that's not a bad idea. We probably need to talk a whole lot less than we do.

You know, the way that God made the human body reflects that we ought to listen twice as much as we speak. We've got two ears, we've got one mouth. That's the point in verse 19. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Physiologically, nature teaches us we ought to listen twice as much as we actually speak. But the response is not, well, I'll never talk again. Again, that might be an appropriate response, at least in a given scenario or in a given situation, but moter. James does not call us to a silenced tongue, but to a bridled one.

The picture is vivid and realistic in the light of experience. As we shall yet hear James say in greater detail in chapter three, our tongues possess in themselves all the untamed vigor of a wild beast. and left to themselves, all their savage instincts will be given full play. They need, like wild horses, to be broken in and harnessed." That's what James is saying. Now I find it intriguing as well that James is a particularist.

I believe that James was a particularist with reference to the atonement. I believe that James was certainly akin to the reality that Christ died for the elect. So when we use that word particular in Christian circles, we oftentimes refer to the atonement. But here I'm referring to James the particularist with reference to the individual.

Note the text. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle, his tongue. Not everybody else's. You and I are not the tongue police.

We have enough to do to control our own, let alone try to control others. Now, that doesn't mean if your little one spouts out something nasty, you send him to the bathroom with a bar of soap. There's a bit of tongue control that we all ought to practice as parents. You see, James is concerned that we control our tongues, not everybody else's tongue.

I think that this reflects what Solomon says in Proverbs 4. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. We want to keep everybody else's heart. We want to control everybody else's tongue.

We want to fix the world around us, all the while our particular castle is crumbling to pieces. We have a full-time job bridling our tongues. We have a full-time task harnessing our tongues. We have our mission ahead of us, and we are not to be about controlling the tongue of everyone else.

Now, that doesn't mean if your brother sins, you don't reprove him, you don't rebuke him. Certainly, I'm not suggesting that. But in terms of this bridling activity, it begins at home. It begins with the individual.

It begins with each and every one of us.

Sins of the Tongue in Scripture

Now this problem, this situation, underscores a whole host of violation with reference to the tongue. Now obviously the ninth commandment forbids perjury and lying. But turn to the book of Proverbs. I always think Proverbs is a wonderful place to illustrate, especially James, because I think James has Proverbs oftentimes in the back of his mind.

So we, of course, would acknowledge the ninth commandment in the Decalogue condemns perjury and lying, but the Scripture condemns backbiting and slander. Notice Proverbs 10.18. Proverbs 10.18, backbiting and slander. Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

So it condemns backbiting and slander. Notice in 25.23, 25.23, the north wind brings forth rain and a backbiting tongue and angry countenance. Turn to Romans 1. I mentioned earlier that at times we have this hierarchy of sin.

As long as we're not murdering, as long as we're not committing adultery, as long as we're not robbing, everything's okay. But you see, the apostle doesn't do that here in his vice list in Romans chapter 1. Notice in verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder. strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.

You see, Paul doesn't have this hierarchy. Here's the real bad sins of the Gentiles, and here's the not-so-bad sins of the Gentiles. The scripture that forbids perjury and lying, vis-à-vis the ninth word, is the scripture that condemns backbiting and slander. Notice in 1 Corinthians 6.

First Corinthians chapter 6, specifically at verse 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators. We all agree, right?

Nobody stumbles at fornication there because they realize that God demands purity, morality, sexual morality. So, neither fornicators, no surprise, they're idolaters. That's a gross sin against a holy God. He is a jealous God, so we are not surprised to read idolaters, nor adulterers.

Obviously, the seventh word prohibits adultery. So, this is a fitting command or a fitting prohibition with reference to entering the kingdom. Nor homosexuals, nor sodomites. Well, of course, we don't believe they should inherit the kingdom of God.

I mean, come on. And then thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, or extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Notice that word, revilers. It's a sin of the tongue, isn't it?

Couched in between all of these gross acts of immorality, these things that we pray against, these things that we condemn. I mean, when was the last time we made a prayer for our nation with reference to, God, we don't want people to blaspheme anymore. God, we don't want people to slander. We don't want people to backbite.

When was the last time we prayed that for our church or for ourselves? When was the last time we prayed in the tone of Psalm 141? Set a guard over my mouth. You see, I don't think we see how valuable this passage in James 1, 26 is and how difficult it is to maintain purity with reference to the use of the tongue.

So the Scripture condemns perjury and lying, backbiting and slandering, as well gossiping and tailbearing. Go back to Leviticus 19. Gossiping and tail-bearing. When it comes to the whole matter of gossip, that's a good time to say silence is golden.

Silence is best. Silence is the best course to pursue rather than opening my yap and destroying with my tongue one for whom Jesus died. Notice, in Leviticus 19.16, if a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days, gossiping and tale-bearing. Notice in Proverbs 11, Proverbs chapter 11, specifically at verse 13.

A tale bearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. Why in the world would we ever conclude that it's okay to reveal someone else's secrets? Why is that? Why do we play so loose with other people's lives as to reveal their secrets?

It's just simply unconscionable. We would all stand up with a hearty amen to exclude a man from membership who is guilty of adultery. But when it comes to gossip, it's not so bad. Notice Proverbs 18.8.

Proverbs 18.8, the words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles and they go down into the inmost body. That's why. At some level, we want to hear it. At some level, we like to hear it.

At some level, we respond to other people's calamity. That's why the news is so popular and why on the news, they don't advertise things or report things concerning well-adjusted, normal human beings who do what they're supposed to do. That's not exciting. We want to watch news about ill-adjusted, non-normal monsters that go about and do horrific things.

We are given to such, aren't we? Notice Proverbs 20, verse 19. He who goes about as a tail-bearer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips." Solomon telling his sons, here's the end game for the tail-bearer, therefore stay away from them. Proverbs 26.20.

Proverbs 26, 20, where there is no wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no tail-bearer, strife ceases. As charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a tail-bearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body. You see, brethren, these sins are condemned in the Scripture.

The scripture also condemns hypocrisy, which is more often than not manifested in the use of our tongues. While you're in Proverbs, turn back to 11. Proverbs chapter 11, verse 9. The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered." Notice in Matthew 7, Matthew 7, this whole idea of that one who has a plank hanging out of his eye and he goes to correct the speck in the other person's eye, Jesus calls that man a hypocrite.

First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. And in our own passage in James chapter 3, specifically in verse 17. James 3.17, but the wisdom that is from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. So going back to James 1, we've seen the person identified as a professing Christian.

The problem identified is that he has a big mouth. He has an unbridled tongue. He doesn't exercise that mandate to control his tongue. And then James shows the aggravation of this.

Notice, he does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart. You see, if what James is dealing with is a profession of faith, we have here a particular man who thinks all is well. We have here a man who thinks everything is good with his soul. He has made his profession of faith.

He does some outward acts of religion. He engages in some moral sense of reform, but he does not bridle the tongue. He deceives his own heart. A profession of faith without the discipline of the tongue is to operate under the self-deception that one is well. 1 Corinthians 6, we already saw it, do not be deceived.

This idea of deception is a reality within those who profess saving faith. If you profess saving faith in Christ and you are living in known sin, you're not repenting, you're not fighting against it. Now all of us, to one degree or other, have a difficult time bridling our tongue. Are we praying for God?

Help me to put the bitten bridle in. Help me to harness it. Grant me a muzzle, Lord. Cause me to know when to shut my yap.

Or are we just giving full abandon to our tongue and the misuse of it? That's what James is dealing with. He does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart. Again, I think the man who commits adultery, the man who commits murder, the man who commits robbery, I think he can still delude himself into thinking that he's a Christian, but it's going to be a lot more difficult.

Remember I talked about this whole hierarchy approach of sin. Well, I'm not a murderer, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not a robber. I just gossip or tailbear. Well, I think that a man who has that in him can fall prey to the same sort of thing.

He may be an adulterer, he may be a murderer, and he may seek to salve his conscience and think that things are all well, but it's going to be a lot easier with this sin of the tongue. Because after all, we all do it, and it's so difficult. The man or a woman who is a slave to his or her lusts in the use of pornography and or adultery can no doubt deceive themselves that all is still well with their soul, though it's probably more difficult. I don't happen to know offhand any murderers or adulterers that profess faith in Christ.

If I did, I'd ask them, isn't that difficult, to profess faith in Christ, knowing what you're guilty of? But the man or woman who does not bridle the tongue probably has a harder time realizing the nature of his or her self-deception. On the one hand, it's not as bold a sin as the other. I mean, face it, brethren, we all engage in the misuse of the tongue.

We don't all engage in robbery and murder and adultery. We all engage, to at least some degree or other, in an unrighteous use of the tongue. become almost acceptable in the church today. I realize that's debatable and may seem outlandish, but consider Calvin's admonition. We must also close our ears against false and evil speaking.

It's not just a sin of the tongue that's involved, it could be a sin of the ears that's involved. Imagine a man given to pornography and he says, I'm watching some despicable performance on my computer right now, would you like to join me? Of course we'd say no. But the gossip comes along, the tail bearer comes along, the back biter comes along and vomits out that mess into our laps.

How do we respond? Do we shun it with the same sort of abhorrence we would if he was looking at internet porn, or do our ears go out with a degree of receptivity? This is why I suggest that in some sense, it's more acceptable to be a gossip, a backbiter, a tailbearer, and certainly an adulterer or a murderer. Now, notice James' assessment with reference to this particular fellow.

If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. The word translated useless means, get this, useless. You may profess saving faith in Jesus Christ. You may say that you had some experience.

You may say that you were tutored under the feet of Gamaliel. But if you do not bridle your tongue, your religion is useless. The word could also be translated empty, nonproductive, dead, vain. Now it's intriguing that James uses the word vain, which is used in many Old Testament passages with reference to idolatry.

Now just follow the thought here for a moment. In several places with reference to idolatry in the Old Testament, Leviticus 17.7, 1 Chronicles 11.15, Jeremiah 2.5, Jeremiah 8.19, Jeremiah 10.3, Jeremiah 10.15, Ezekiel 8.10, Hosea 5.11, Amos 2.4. The Old Testament translated into Greek was called the Septuagint or the LXX. Now the Greek translation of the Old Testament text at this particular point translates the word vain.

Just like James says here, this one's religion is vain. This one's religion is vanity. This one's religion is empty. This one's religion is useless.

This one's religion is dead. Douglas Mooth comments, the word translates a Greek word that is often used in scripture to characterize idolatry as vain or meaningless. The religion that people who do not control their speech have is no better, James suggests, than idolatry. This man's religion is useless.

The Particulars Identified

So we've seen the person identified, the problem identified, quickly the particulars identified.

The Tongue in James 3–4

We'll jump over to James 3 for this with little to no comment. Note the tongue directs us. Chapter 3, verses 3 to 5. 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. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. You see the potential for evil there, directs us.

Notice the tongue defiles the whole. Verse six, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, that it defiles the whole, I'm sorry, the tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire by hell. Notice that the tongue is an unruly evil in chapter three, verses seven to eight. I love his illustration here. for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

You've seen that, right? You see those crazy people in, say, Florida that, you know, take their heads and put them in, you know, it's alligators in Florida, right? Crocodiles are down under, alligators are in Florida. But whatever they are, they've got these large, gaping jaws that are able to crush things.

And you find that guy that, you know, puts his head in there and realizes that the alligator's not going to slam it. We can tame alligators. We can teach bears to dance at a circus. Persons can cozy up to full-grown lions.

There was a particular job when I was stationed at an Air Force base in England called bird control. Do you know how they controlled birds? With hawks. They would have a hawk on their arm, and that hawk would go out and hunt other birds to keep them off the flight line so those birds wouldn't get sucked up by jet engines and ruin planes.

I mean, we can train a hawk to land on our arm and to go kill other birds, or at least to rid us of them. The point that James is saying, you can train a cat to do things. We can't tame the taunt. That's really scary, isn't it?

I think James 1.26 in this light ought to be received by us in a light that perhaps we haven't looked at before. 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. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Notice as well, the tongue is a two-edged sword.

Chapter 3, verses 9 to 12, with it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude or the likeness of God. You see, that's terrible. We'll stand here and we'll sing our praises to God, And then in the foyer or at the fellowship hall or in the parking lot will rip apart men who have been made in the image of God. James says, out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.

My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

And then notice the tongue asserts itself as a rival lawmaker. Notice in chapter 4, verses 11 and 12, do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

Therefore, there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? Now again, this doesn't keep us from encouragement and from exhortation and from assistance and help. But when we posit ourselves as rival lawmakers to the living God through a judgmental attitude of others, we have put ourselves in a very dangerous predicament because God brooks no rivals.

There is to be no rival lawmaker asserting itself against the living and the true God.

Conclusion

Well, in conclusion, I submit that this is a persistent problem. The church has those in our midst, all of us to some degree or other, who may demonstrate some degree of religious or outer religiosity, but we do not bridle the tongue. This is proof positive of those who have received the word, those who obey the word, vis-a-vis they are doers. They're not like the man who looks in the mirror, walks away and forgets what he looks like, but he looks into the law.

Liberty continues in it. One of the practical concrete applications of that type of faith is the bridling of the tongue.

Ten Practical Helps

Now, some practical helps. I'm always a bit, you know, reticent to do this because it almost sounds guru-ish. You know, follow these 10 easy steps, and there are 10, but it won't take long. Everybody just did a collective sigh, oh, 10 more things.

It'll be quick. We can run through them quickly, but it's not in the spirit of a guru. Do these 10 things, and everything will be okay. You'll be living happily and joyfully ever after.

But I realize that as God's people, it's important for us to try and make some concrete application. In the first place, the necessity of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. In other words, we are never going to bridle the tongue unless we are born again. We're never going to set a muzzle on our mouths unless we have come to the cross.

That is the great teacher. That is the great place, rather, that we learn. When we are saved by God, when we are conquered by God, when we are slaves to Jesus Christ, that means the man in his totality, thoughts, words, deeds, everything. ought to be, or is rather, conquered by our Lord. Secondly, the fear of God.

We ought to be afraid to sin against God in this regard. We ought to tremble in fear at the thought of spreading something about somebody that either A, isn't true, or B, isn't anybody else's business. If it's not someone else's business, then don't include them. If your brother sins against you, go to him, not publicize it in the prayer meeting.

Thirdly, the importance of self-examination. Now, I think it's always a possibility that in sermons like these, husbands might be thinking, well, I'm sure glad my wife's here to hear this. Or ladies will say, well, I'm sure glad my husband is here to hear this. Or somebody in the church, well, we're sure glad they attended the evening service tonight because, boy, They really need to hear this message.

You know, all of us need to hear this message. Again, I'm not up here as a guru who has somehow mastered the tongue, and I'm just dripping wisdom upon all of you. We need to examine ourselves. We need to look at our lives.

We need to ask the hard questions. Am I backbiting? Am I slandering? Am I gossiping?

Am I lying? Am I a hypocrite? Fourth, the necessity of prayer in Scripture. You see, brethren, this can be said in every sermon, but it's something we undervalue.

I suspect we undervalue it by the fact that we don't use the Bible as we ought. We're not reading it daily. We're not praying over its pages daily. We're not attending where the Bible is preached and taught.

You know, we all say, oh, I love God's Word, I love my Bible. Would your Bible testify the same thing? Well, he never picks me up, he never looks at me, he never reads me, he never spends time with me. What about our prayer closets?

If those walls could talk, what would they testify? He never prays, and when he does, he's certainly not praying for the bridle of his own dog. He wants everybody else's tongue to be bridled, to be sure, but with reference to himself, we just don't hear it as walls in a prayer closet. Obviously, walls in prayer closets can't speak, but you get the drift.

Fifth, the necessity of dependence upon God. Go back to James 3.8 for just a moment. Well, verse 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. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.

Now, the point of that passage is not to exasperate the people of God. Look at what he says, verse 8. We might feel a bit exasperated by that passage and say, well then, why should I even try? If James tells me in no uncertain terms, no man can tame the tongue, Next time I, you know, vomit gossip out on somebody and they're honest enough to say, you shouldn't do that, I'll just say, well, nobody can tame the tongue.

It's an unruly evil. It's full of wickedness and depravity. The passage is not intended to exasperate the people of God, but to throw the people of God onto the arms of divine provision. In other words, if I can't tame the tongue, I know a God who can give grace to me to help tame the tongue.

Not to exasperate, not to aggravate, not to make people say, well, I'm not even going to try, but rather to seek that one in whom there is help. See, the pathway to ending gossip, the pathway to ending tailbearing, the pathway to ending perjury or lies or hypocrisy or whatever it is, comes through the power of God. Sixth, we need to recognize the tongue's potential for evil. Back to Proverbs.

The tongue's potential for evil. I'm sure that all of us have been sinned against by somebody in our lives that misused their tongue with reference to us. Let's keep that in mind before we misuse our tongues with reference to others. Proverbs 11.9, the hypocrite with his mouth does what?

Builds up his neighbor and makes him happy? No, he destroys his neighbor. The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor. Notice in Proverbs 12, 17 to 22, he who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit.

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight." Notice in Proverbs 15, 1 and 2. Boy, how many times do we wish we would have heeded Proverbs 15, 1 and 2? Wouldn't it be nice if there were strings on words? I saw recently that Google Mail has a feature that you can send later.

Right? You develop an email, and instead of just sending it, you hit send later. Calm down. Think through it.

Contemplate the implications of that particular email before you send it. I think Google Mail is to be applauded in that. I doubt they're doing it for sanctification purposes. But, It can certainly be used that way, but wouldn't it be nice if words had strings?

How many times have we said something and thought, man, I wish I wouldn't have said that, and we would gladly pull it back, put it in our mouths, and swallow it, never to let it out again? That's Proverbs 15, one and two. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth evil.

Notice Proverbs 17.9, he who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends. I love Bridges' comment here on Proverbs 17.9. Let's just read the passage again. He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.

Bridges says a disciplined tongue is a gracious mercy to the church. Proverbs 18.21, again, the potential for evil in the misuse of the tongue. Proverbs 18.21, death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 25.18, a man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club, a sword and a sharp arrow.

You see, it has an effect for ill. Proverbs 26 and verse 28, A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin." We need to seventhly recognize the tongue's potential for good. Look at Proverbs 12.25. Proverbs 12.25, anxiety in the heart of man causes depression.

A good word makes it glad, you see? It's not only something that we can employ as a club, a sword, and a stick to hurt people, but it's something we can use to encourage. Notice Proverbs 16, 24. Again, the potential for good.

The way of life, I'm sorry, Proverbs 16, 24. I was looking at 15, 24. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 25, 11 and 12.

Proverbs 25, 11 and 12, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and settings of silver, like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear. And Proverbs 31, 26, what's that godly woman in Proverbs 31 identified by? She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness. Eighth, the necessity to bridle your own tongue.

Not everybody else's tongue. Again, help us, courage, reprove, rebuke, all those sorts of things. But the primary emphasis in James is that we bridle our tongue. Manton says, gracious hearts reflect most upon themselves.

They do not seek what to reprove in others, but what to lament in themselves. Ninth, we ought to recognize the close connection between the heart and the tongue. Matthew 12, 34, ought to be etched into our minds, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And then tenth, and finally, the recognition that we will give an account of the way in which we use our tongues.

Matthew 12, 36, but I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account for it or of it in the day of judgment. John Gill's comment here. He says, our Lord's meaning is that not only works and actions, but words of all sorts will come into account in the day of judgment and will be evidences for or against a man to acquit or condemn him. You see, that's the proper interpretation.

We're not saved because we spoke pleasant words. We are saved by grace through faith, and as a consequence, we spoke pleasant words. Ryle says, our words are the evidence of the state of our hearts, as surely as the taste of the water is an evidence of the state of the spring. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The lips only utter what the mind conceives. And John Calvin, I think, is bang on here. with reference to this idea that we will be judged for idle words. He says, first, let us speak of the sacred mysteries of God with the utmost reverence and sobriety. So we're gonna be judged for idle words.

Then he says, let us speak of the sacred mysteries of God with the utmost reverence and sobriety. Secondly, let us abstain from talkativeness, buffoonery, and vain jests, and much more from slanderous attacks. And lastly, let us endeavor to have our speech seasoned with salt. Again, not a guru-ish list, go home and do this and everything will be happy, magic, and wise for you, but just some thoughts to get us focused on what it is to bridle the tongue as James bids us concerning our profession of faith.

We profess to be believers, we profess to those who have been conquered by sovereign grace through faith in Christ. Therefore, practically, we ought to be those who bridle our own tongue, not deceive our own hearts, but rather seek by the grace of God to live consistently with that profession of faith.

Christ, the Perfectly Bridled Tongue

I want to just end with one final thought. The necessity for those who are seeking to bridle the tongue we ought to praise God Almighty for the one of whom it is written, he does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to a neighbor, nor does he take up reproach against his friend. That Psalm 15.3 man is Jesus Christ, and it's because of him, because he never backed He never slandered, he never gossiped, he never tail-bared, he never lied, he never perjured himself. It's because of him that we're going to go to heaven.

It's not because we used our tongues perfectly, it's because he did. In obedience to his father, he fulfilled the law and then he went to the cross to satisfy divine justice on our behalf. So praise God Almighty. This isn't to give us license to go out and sin with our tongues, but to realize our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame or the pleasant words that I may say, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for the clarity of James, and for what he says concerning our profession of faith. And God, I pray that You would help us to apply such passages as these, and help us, God, to bridle the tongue in a way that is well-pleasing in Your sight. We confess it is an unruly evil. It is a difficult thing to tame.

We are easier to teach bearers how to dance than to bridle the tongue. So grant us grace and cause us to acknowledge our utter dependence upon you. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Leviticus 17:7; 19:16
• 1 Chronicles 11:15
• Psalms 15:3; 32:9; 39:1-2; 141
• Proverbs 4; 10:18; 11:9; 11:13; 12:17-22; 12:25; 15:1-2; 16:24; 17:9; 18:8; 18:21; 20:19; 25:11-12; 25:18; 25:23; 26:20; 26:28; 31:26
• Jeremiah 2:5; 8:19; 10:3; 10:15
• Ezekiel 8:10
• Hosea 5:11
• Amos 2:4
• Matthew 7:3-5; 12:34; 12:36; 25
• Romans 1:29; 9:16
• 1 Corinthians 6:9
• Galatians 5
• James 1:18; 1:19; 1:25; 1:26-27; 2:1; 3:2-3; 3:3-5; 3:6; 3:7-8; 3:9-12; 3:17; 4:11-12