James Expounds on Faith Volume 34

Taming the Tongue 😝 Part 5

James 3:9-10 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

Next the Apostle James points out the contrast of the service of our 😝 tongues in how we use it to sing praises to our Father in Heaven and pray to Him through our Lord Jesus Christ and to declare to Him how much we love 😍 and adore Him, yet we then, when we are angered, agitated, or anguished by another human being made in the very image of the God we bless with our tongues 😝 we forget that immediately and then spew out some venom that is ruinous to our own souls and aimed to hurt the soul or souls we are speaking to or speaking of. as it is written with these words, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." (James 3:9-10) (KJV). So, I remind you reader and I especially remind myself because I am prone to respond the way my 'old man' 👨 would commonly do with words which do not honor my Father in Heaven, so I again want us to read these words from Brother Matthew Henry written long ago before our time here on the earth 🌎 speaking about these same passages of Scripture from the Apostle James, "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."

The desire to honor God with our words has been implanted within us at our 'new birth' (John 3:5), however, as we all know our 'old nature' remains on the inside of us, therefore, we find this desire being overwhelmed, overwritten, and overrun by our 'old nature' many ⌚ times, just as the Apostle Paul spoke concerning himself (and it applies to all of us brothers and sisters 'in Christ') with these words, "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7:14-20) (NKJV). The Apostle Paul goes on in Chapter 8 of Romans to declare how we can only be successful in our not using our 😝 tongues to bless God and then curse other human beings made in His image with these words, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:2-11)(NKJV). So, we see then that we have been given freedom from our enslavement to the sins of the tongue 😝 as well as the sins of drug addiction, pornography, adultery, fornication, and all the others Paul listed in Galatians 5:19 when we yield to the Holy Spirit as He ignites our 'new man' 👨 or 'new nature' which desires to please God and this is only how we can please Him as we walk or live out our pilgrimage home to Heaven. As I said in Volume 33, when we yield we win, when we do not yield we lose. Christ has made us to be winners and not losers, therefore, our responsibility is only to yield and He (Jesus) will do the winning for us. Amen!!!

Here is what Albert Barnes had to say of James 3:9-10, "Therewith bless we God - We men do this; that is, all this is done by the tongue. The Apostle does not mean that the same man does this, but that all this is done by the same organ - the tongue. Even the Father - Who sustains to us the relation of a father. The point in the remark of the Apostle is, the absurdity of employing the tongue in such contradictory uses as to bless one who has to us the relation of a father, and to curse any being, especially those who are made in His image. The word bless here is used in the sense of praise, thank, worship. And therewith curse we men - That is, it is done by the same organ by which God is praised and honored. Which are made after the similitude of God - After His image, Genesis 1:26-27. As we bless God, we ought with the same organ to bless those who are like Him. There is an absurdity in cursing men who are thus made, like what there would be in both blessing and cursing the Creator Himself. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing - The meaning here may be, either that out of the mouth of man two such opposite things proceed, not referring to the same individual, but two different persons; or, out of the mouth of the same individual. Both of these are true; and both are equally incongruous and wrong. No organ should be devoted to uses so unlike, and the mouth should be employed in giving utterance only to that which is just, benevolent, and good. It is true, however, that the mouth is devoted to these opposite employments; and that while one part of the race employ it for purposes of praise, the other employ it in uttering maledictions. It is also true of many individuals that at one time they praise their Maker, and then, with the same organ, calumniaten (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone), and slander, and revile their fellow-men. After an act of solemn devotion in the house of God, the professed worshipper goes forth with the feelings of malice in his heart, and the language of slander, detraction, or even blasphemy on his lips. My brethren, these things ought not so to be - They are as incongruous as it would be for the same fountain to send forth both salt water and fresh; or for the same tree to bear different kinds of fruit."

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…