Thomas Manton · 36 of 60

A Practical Commentary, or an Exposition with Notes on the Epistle of James. · Chapter III. · Part 2

Well, then, take care, not only of your actions, but your speeches: Ps. xxxix. 1, `I said I would take heed to my ways, lest I offend with my tongue., He would take heed to the whole course of his life, but chiefly watch his tongue; iniquity and offence was likely to shoot forth soonest that way. Next to keeping our hearts, Solomon biddeth us to keep our tongues: Prov. iv. 23, 24, `Keep thy heart with all diligence;, then, `Put away a froward mouth and perverse lips., First the heart, then the tongue, then the foot, ver. 26. Consider—(1.) Your speeches are noted. Xenophon would have all speeches written, to make men more serious. They are recorded, James ii. 12. Every idle word is brought into judgment, Mat. xii. 36: light words weigh heavy in God's balance. (2.) They are punished: Ps. lxiv. 8, `Their own tongue shall fall upon them., Better a mountain should fall upon you than the weight of your own tongue. Origen observeth out of that expression which intimateth that the rich man desired a drop to cool his tongue, Luke xvi. 24, that his tongue was punished quia linguâ plus peccaverat, because he had sinned most with his tongue: but the expression there intendeth only ease and comfort. Other places are more clear: see Prov. xiv. 3, `In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve them., We boast and insult; God will make it a rod to scourge us. It is not a sword, but a rod; because God will punish contempt with contempt, both in this life and that to come. (3.) Consider what a vile thing it is to abuse the tongue to strife, censure, or insultation. The tongue is called the glory of man in the Psalms: `Awake, my glory, Ps. lvii. 8. It should not accommodate such vile uses and purposes; we pervert it from its proper use. God made it to celebrate his own praise, to convey the holy conceptions of the soul to others. Man's excellency should not be thus debased; better be dumb than of a wicked tongue. (4.) It is not of small regard that God in nature would show that he hath set bounds to the tongue: he hath hedged it in with a row of teeth. Other organs are double; we have two eyes, two ears, but one tongue. Children have not a use of their tongue naturally till they have a use of reason; certainly, therefore, it was never intended to serve passion and pride and every idle humour.

For apt remedies—(1.) Get a pure heart; there is the tongue's treasury and storehouse. A good man is always ready to discourse, not forced by the company, but because the law of God is in his heart: Prov. xv. 7, `The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish is not so., By virtue of the opposition it should be `the tongue of the foolish, but whatever is in the tongue cometh from the heart; his heart doth not incline his tongue. A stream riseth not above the fountain. Out of the heart come blasphemies and evil speakings, Mat. xv. 19. (2.) Watch and guard speech: Ps. xxxix. 1, `I said, I will take heed to my tongue;, I said, that is, penitus decrevi, I took up such a resolution. Nay, he saith, he would `keep his mouth as with a bridle, especially when the wicked were before him., The tongue had need be restrained with force and watchfulness, for it is quick and ready to bring forth every wicked conception. You must not only watch over it, but bridle it; it is good to break the force of these constraints within us, and to suffocate and choke them in the first conception. David, though enraged, would keep in his spirit as with a bridle. Pambus in the Tripartite History was long in learning of this lesson. So, see Prov. xxx. 32, `If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or hast thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth;, that is, to bridle and stifle those thoughts of anger, revenge, or any other ill design; do not deal too softly with unruly evils, but strongly resist and compress them. This rule should chiefly be observed in worship: Eccles. v. 1, `Be not rash with thy mouth., Our words should be more advised; a hasty carelessness engageth to sin: `The preacher sought out words., Certainly in worship we should see our thoughts ere they escape from us. (3.) All our endeavours are nothing. Go to God: Ps. cxli. 3, `Set a watch, O Lord, before my month; keep the door of my lips., He desireth God to keep him from speaking amiss when he was in deep afflictions. It is God alone that can tame the tongue; desire the custody of his spirit: Prov. xvi. 1, `The answer of the tongue is from the Lord., When the heart is prepared the tongue may falter. In preaching and praying we are sometimes stopped in the midst of the work though the matter be meditated. The saints sometimes desire God to open their mouth, Eph. vi. 19; Ps. l. 15; sometimes to shut it; he doth all in this matter. (4.) That you may not offend in your words, let them be oftener employed about holy uses. It is not enough to abstain from evil-speaking: Eph. iv. 29, `Let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying., So Eph. v. 4, `Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, but rather giving of thanks , εὐχάριστια, that is, thankfully remembering your sweet experiences. You may have joy, if Christians, in other things; you may communicate to one another your experiences of God, and that is better mirth than foolish jesting. As we must then avoid the evil of the tongue, so we must commune one with another more fruitfully, quickening one another to a sweet apprehension of the benefits of God. The spouse's lips `dropped honeycombs, Cant. iv. Many possibly avoid conferences grossly evil; but how slow are we to good! Solomon, that describeth the sad effects of an evil tongue, doth also everywhere discover the fruits of a good tongue. For a taste take these places:—Prov. x. 20, `The tongue of the just is as choice silver;, not only as it is purged from the dross of vanity, and lies, and filthy speaking, but because of the worth and benefits of it. In another place he saith it is the `tree of life, Prov. xi. 30, whose leaves are medicinable. And Prov. xii. 18, `The tongue of .the wise is health., All which should shame us, because we are so backward in holy discourse, to refresh and heal one another. And out of the whole we may learn that Christianity doth not take away the use of speech, but rule it; and doth not make us dumb in converse, but gracious.

Ver. 3, 4. Behold, we put bits into horses, mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole bodies. Behold also the ships, which, though they be great, and driven of fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

These two verses being spent in comparisons and similitudes, need the less of comment and illustration. The drift of them is to show that little things are able to guide great bodies, as a bridle and a rudder; and so the guiding of the tongue, a little member, may be of as great use and consequence in moral matters. By the bridle we keep the horse from stumbling, and by the rudder the ship from rocks. So answerably Solomon saith, Prov. xxi. 23, `Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles.,

Out of these verses observe:—

Obs. 1. That it is good to illustrate divine things by similitudes taken from earthly. (1.) Our knowledge is by sense; by things known we the better apprehend those that are unknown: and by an earthly matter, with which we are acquainted, we conceive of the sweetness and worth of that which is heavenly and spiritual. (2.) In a similitude the thing is doubly represented, and with a sweet variety; though we know the man, we delight to view the picture Christians should use their parts more this way; there is much benefit in it; fancy is polished: we are more fit for occasional meditation, and we apprehend spiritual things with more clearness and affection.

Obs. 2. Nature, art, and religion show that the smallest things, wisely ordered, may be of great use. Neglect not small things; we are often snared by saying, `Is it not a little one?, Gen. xix. 20. And we lose much advantage by `despising the day of small things, Zech. iv. 10.

Obs. 3. God's wisdom is much seen by endowing man with an ability of contrivance and rare invention; that so fierce and wild a creature as the horse should be tamed with a bridle, that things of so great a bulk as ships should be turned about, and that against the violence of boisterous winds, with a small helm: Aristotle proposeth it as a worthy matter of consideration. These crafts are all from the Lord: Isa. liv. 16, `Behold, I create the smith that bloweth in the coals in the fire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work., He left these inventions to human industry, but he giveth the wit and abilities. The heathens had a several god for every several craft, as the Papists have now a tutelar saint; but the Lord giveth wisdom. As for embroidery: Exod. xxxi. 3, `Bezaleel was filled with the Spirit of God, &c. Every art is a common gift of the Spirit. So for husbandry, see Isa. xxviii. 24-26. So for war, Ps. cxliv. 1. Well, then, bless God for the various dispensations of his gifts for the good of mankind, and wait upon him, that you may understand the matter of your callings, and find good in them: Prov. xvi. 20, `He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good; and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he., You must wait upon the Lord for skill and for success; he teacheth to tame the horse, to steer the ship.

Obs. 4. From the first similitude you may observe, that men, for their natural fierceness and wantonness, are like wild beasts. Man affected to be God, but became like `the beasts that perish, Ps. xlix. 12. The psalmist saith, Ps. xxxii. 19, `Be not like horse and mule, whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle, lest they come near thee., To keep them from doing harm, they must be held in with bit and bridle. So there is a wantonness by which we are apt to kick with the heel against God's precepts, Deut. xxxii. 15. It is God's mercy that we are restrained. This natural fierceness may be discerned to be abated by the guidance of the tongue.

Ver. 5. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things: behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

Even so the tongue is a little member.—Here is the reddition of the similitude; the tongue is a bridle and rudder, small in bulk, and yet of great use. The apostle's word is μεγαλαυχεῖ, `boasteth great things;, this indeed is the proper signification of the word. By the force of the context James should have said, `doth great things;, for the thing to be proved was, that he that can govern his tongue is able to govern his whole body. To take off the prejudice that might arise against such a proposition, he produceth two similitudes, wherein he would insinuate that things little by good management may be of great use; and thereupon, in the accommodation of the similitudes to the present purpose, he should have inferred that the little member the tongue, well ordered, can do great things; that is, the government of it is of singular use in man's life. But he rather, and that according to the use of the apostles, repeateth the main proposition in such terms as imply another argument. `And boasteth great things:, as if he had said, The tongue witnesseth for itself; for by it men^ trumpet out their confidences and presumptions, and boast they can bring great things to pass. And he instanceth in boasting, not only as most accommodate to his matter, but—(1.) Because it is the usual sin of the tongue; this is a member that most of all serveth pride, a sin from whence most of the errors and miscarriages of the tongue proceed. (2.) Because this is usually the sin of those that have no command of their spirits and actions. Hypocrites and vain men are proud boasters. `Flattering lips, and `the tongue that speaketh proud things, are joined together, Ps. xii. 3. So Prov. xiv. 3, `In the mouth of the foolish is the rod of pride., True grace humbleth, false puffeth up.

Behold how great a matter a, little fire kindleth.—Another similitude, to show that great inconveniences come from the abuse of so small a member. A man would think that words, that pass away with the breath in which they are uttered, had not such a weight and deadly influence; but, saith the apostle, a little fire kindleth much wood. Small things are not to be neglected in nature, art, religion, or providence. In nature, matters of moment grow up from small beginnings. Nature loveth to have the cause and seed of everything small: a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump; thin exhalations descend in great showers; small breaches in a sea-bank let in great inundations, &c.

Notes out of this verse are these:—

Obs. I. A usual sin of the tongue is boasting. Sometimes the pride of the heart shooteth out by the eyes; therefore we read of `haughty eyes, and `a proud look, Prov. vi. 17; but usually it is displayed in our speech. The tongue trumpeteth it out—(1.) In bold vaunts. Rabshakeh threatened he would make them `eat their own dung, and drink their own piss., So Isa. xiv. 13, `I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of the congregation, on the sides of the north., He threateneth battle against God himself, and then against his people. See Hannah's dissuasion, 1 Sam. ii. 3, `Talk no more exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth, &c. (2.) In a proud ostentation of our own worth and excellency: `Is not this great Babel, which I have built?, First we entertain our spirits with whispers of vanity and suppositions of applause; and then the rage of vainglory is so great, that we trumpet out our own shame. It is against reason that a man should be judge in his own cause. In the Olympic Games the wrestlers did not put the crowns upon their own heads; that which is lawful praise in another's lips, in our own is but boasting. (3.) In contemptuous challenges of God and man. Of God: `Who is the God of the Hebrews, that I should let you go?, and Ps. xii. 4, `Our tongues are our own; who is lord over us?, Of man: Daring, provoking speeches are recorded in the word. Solomon saith, Prov. xviii. 6, `A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes., Cartwright on that place instanceth in those forms of irritation or provocation, Do an, thou durst, and, Thou sordid fellow; which he saith are as the alarum of war, and as drums to beat up to the battle. (4.) Bragging promises, as if they could achieve and accomplish great matters above the reach of their gifts and strength: `I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, &c., Exod. xv.

Obs. 2. Small things are to be regarded; and we must not consider matters in their beginning only, but progress, and ultimate issue. A little sin doth a great deal of mischief, and a little grace is of great efficacy: Eccles. x. 13, `The beginning of a foolish man's speech is foolishness, but the latter end is foolish madness., At first men toy, wrangle, for sport and pastime, but afterward, break out into furious passion, and so from folly go on to madness. Contention at first is but as a spark, but afterwards it being fomented and blown up by unsober spirits, it `devoureth the great deep, Amos vii. 4, putteth whole kingdoms into combustion: Prov. xvii. 14, `The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water , it is easy to open the sluices and let it out, but who can call the floods back again? Strife is sometimes compared to fire, sometimes to water; they are both unmerciful elements when once they are let loose: Prov. xxvi. 21, `A man given to strife is as fire to the coals:, when the burning is once begun, it is easily propagated and continued. So heresy at first is inconsiderable, but it creepeth like a gangrene from one place to another, till it hath destroyed the whole body. Arius, a small Alexandrian spark, enkindled all the world in a flame. So also providence beginneth great matters upon small occasions. Luther's reformation was occasioned by opposing pardoners. Men begin to quarrel one with another about trifles; and God inferreth great mutations and changes of states and kingdoms. The young men's playing may prove bitterness in the issue, 2 Sam. ii. 26. Christ's kingdom at first was despised, a poor tender branch, a little stone crumbled from the mountains; but afterwards it `filled the whole earth, Dan. ii. 37. Well, then, out of all this—(1.) Learn not to neglect evils that are small in their rise and original; resist sin betimes, Eph. iv. 27; give no place to Satan. You know not the utmost issue of Satan's tyranny and encroachment. So for contention, neither meddle with it at all, or leave off betime. So for heresy;, take the little foxes, Cant. ii. 15. Watch over the first and most modest appearances of error: `I did not give place, not for an hour, saith the apostle, Gal. ii. 5. (2.) Learn not to despise the low beginnings of providence and deliverance: there is a `day of small things, Zech. iv. 10. God useth to go on when he hath begun a good work. Philpot said, The martyrs had kindled such a light in England as should not easily go out.

Ver. 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 infected the whole man with sin and guilt, and so possibly there may be an allusion to what is said, Eccles, v. 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, ver. 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 Mat. vi. 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, Prov. xvii. 27. Hot water boileth over, so do passions in the heart boil out in the words. Of the ungodly man it is said, Prov. xvi. 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, Prov. xxvi. 18, `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, Ps. cxx. 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, Isa. vi. 6; and the Holy Ghost descended in cloven tongues of fire, Acts ii. 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. 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 Ps. xxxix. 3, &c.

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! Some 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, Gen. vi. 3. 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, Dan. ix. 27. Again, we may consider the ingratitude of man. Our tongue is our glory; it is the member by which we discover and show forth our reason; it fitteth us for commerce. Speech maketh man a sociable creature; yet there is a world of iniquity in the tongue.

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 Cor. vii. 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: Deut. xxxii. 5, `Their spot is not as the spot of God's people., And it will be your eternal disadvantage: Rev. xxi. 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.

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 Cor. xv. 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: Ps. xc. 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.