James Expounds on Faith Volume 33

 Taming the Tongue 😝 Part 4

James 3:7-8 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle James now makes the statement that 'mankind' or better quoted 'humanity' has been able to tame or has tamed many of the wild animals placed upon the earth by God. We go back above to the Apostles illustration of the horse 🐴 having a bit placed in their mouths to control them and all of their movements, yet now he reminds us that though humanity has been able to tame certain animals and domesticate them from their wildness into usefulness, the tongue 😝 of mankind is still undomesticated, as he writes these words back then to the twelve tribes of Jewish converts to Christ and ✍ written now to we converts to Christ today and from every era and generation since he first 🖋 penned this letter almost a couple of millenniums ago, "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:7-8) (KJV). Despite our best efforts, that is, humanity, we all have fallen short or sinned mightily with this very small member of the human anatomy. Our Lord Jesus Christ had plenty to say concerning where and why these vile things spring forth from human beings, for this is what he spoke to the Pharisees and Scribes, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:33-37) (NKJV), He also said this, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (Matthew 15:18-19)(NKJV). When our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the 'heart', He speaks of the inner man 👨 or inner woman 👩, which is where the singular unique, that is, the single one of its kind spirit/soul resides inside the human body which makes up a person's will, thoughts, and emotions and therefore, out of the soul (influenced by the old nature passed down by Adam or influenced by the new nature @ regeneration and the new birth through yielding to God the Holy Spirit) the tongue 😝 speaks from where the soul is yielded.

As followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, the battle with this 'old man' still within us will never cease or stop. There is a conflict or fight or struggle or war raging on between the 'old man' and the 'new man' at all ⌚ times, as it is written for us by the Apostle Paul with these words, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." (Galatians 5:16-26) (NKJV). The 'flesh' being our 'old man' and the 'Spirit' being our 'new man' or 'new nature' yielded to the control of the Holy Spirit. We win when we yield and we lose every time we do not yield and this is not a daily battle, this is second by second, minute by minute, and hour by hour battle until we meet our Savior in death or when we are caught up with Him in the air at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of James 3:7-8, "As if the Apostle had said, 'Lions, and the most savage beasts, as well as horses and camels, and creatures of the greatest strength, have been tamed and governed by men: so have birds, notwithstanding their wildness and timorousness, and their wings to bear them up continually out of our reach: even serpents, notwithstanding all their venom and all their cunning, have been made familiar and harmless: and things in the sea have been taken by men, and made serviceable to them. And these creatures have not been subdued nor tamed by miracle only (as the lions crouched to Daniel, instead of devouring him, and ravens fed Elijah, and a whale carried Jonah through the depths of the sea to dry land), but what is here spoken of is something commonly done; not only hath been tamed, but is tamed of mankind. Yet the tongue is worse than these, and cannot be tamed by the power and art which serves to tame these things. No man can tame the tongue without supernatural grace and assistance.' The Apostle does not intend to represent it as a thing impossible, but as a thing extremely difficult, which therefore will require great watchfulness, and pains, and prayer, to keep it in due order. And sometimes all is too little; for it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Brute creatures may be kept within certain bounds, they may be managed by certain rules, and even serpents may be so used as to do not hurt with all their poison; but the tongue is apt to break through all bounds and rules, and to spit out its poison on one occasion or other, notwithstanding the utmost care. So that not only does it need to be watched, and guarded, and governed, as much as an unruly beast, or a hurtful and poisonous creature, but much more care and pains will be needful to prevent the mischievous outbreakings and effects of the tongue."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…