"The Tongue, A Restless Evil"

“The Tongue, A Restless Evil”

 

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.         James 3:9-11

 

In verse six, we are told that the tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the WHOLE body, sets the WHOLE course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 

 

In verse eight, it tells us that, no human being can tame the tongue.  It is a RESTLESS EVIL, full of deadly poison.  And yet we use this RESTLESS EVIL to both PRAISE and CURSE.  We will PRAISE God then turn around and CURSE the Crown of His Creation.  The Apostle James, asks: “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”  Or “can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” 

 

How then can we CONTROL, CORRALL and CLEANSE this little spark that can set the WHOLE body, and the WHOLE course of one’s life on fire, by the flames of hell?”  The tongue MUST NOT be the instrument of inconstancy.  We NEED to allow the Holy Spirit, which indwells us to CONTROL, CORRALL and CLEANSE the tongue.  When we allow the Holy Spirit free reign in our lives, He will be in CONTROL of EVERY PART of us.  It is the Holy Spirit that evokes us to PRAISE God, but it is the sinful nature, which we are born with, that causes us to CURSE our fellow human beings, and when we allow our sinful nature to CONTROL us we are headed for TROUBLE. 

 

James, uses an illustration of nature, with the examples of getting both fresh water and salt water from the same spring, and a fig tree that bears olives or a grapevine that bears figs this cannot be.  Yet we allow PRAISING and CURSING to come from the same place, our mouths, this SHOULD NOT be.  When we do this we are CONTAMINATING our PRAISE, and it is UNACCEPTABLE to God.  We MUST ALLOW the HOLY SPIRIT to be in CONTROL and to CORRALL and CLEANSE OUR TONGUES before we try to offer up our PRAISE to God, the HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, ONE, to whom is WORTHY of ALL PRAISE. 

 

If you have NOT given your HEART and LIFE to God then you are being CONTROLLED by your sinful nature, and are allowing your tongue, the RESTLESS EVIL, to set the WHOLE course of your life on fire, and you are destined to spend ALL eternity in Hell, the place where the flames of torture, torment, pain and agony will NEVER be quenched.  However, you have the opportunity NOW, to come to GOD with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART and CONFESS your sins to Him asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and let His HOLY SPIRIT CONTROL your tongue and to set your WHOLE course of life toward Heaven.  Do it NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!