James 3:6

"And the tongue is. fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defies the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell"."the tongue is. fire" -That is, when misused, the tongue is, "his words are as. scorching fire" (Proverbs 16:27; Proverbs 26:18). The misuse of the tongue is like. forest fire. It can cause. tremendous amount of damage in. short period of time, it can start from. very small spark, just. little piece of gossip. And it can very quickly get completely out of control."the very world of iniquity" -"world" in the sense of the widespread power of evil. "proves itself. very world of mischief" (TCNT). 'because of the incalculable harm which it produces; it is utterly impossible to measure, in this life, the harm which grows out of the slander, the profanity, the falsehood, the blasphemy and the scandal of which it is capable" (Woods p. 164). "The world of iniquity" is very expressive. Just as we say, 'There is. world of wisdom in that statement'…It voices every evil feeling and every kind of sinful thought; it sets in motion and gives concreteness to every kind of sinful act" (Roberts p. 129). "With the tongue we can profane, blaspheme, and curse God. With the tongue we can steal, for we can taken from our neighbor reputation and honor. With the tongue we can inflict great injury and suffering on those about us. With our tongue we can reveal infinite passion and lust" (Draper pp. 102-103). "it curses, rails, teaches false doctrine and speaks evil of God and man;….it entices, commands, terrifies and persuades to commit murder, adulteries, and every evil work" (Macknight p. 376). (See Romans 1:32 "but also give hearty approval to those who practice them").

But how often do we try to downplay sins of the tongue? Especially, our own!"the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body" -we can be condemned for the misuse of our tongue (Matthew 12:37; Matthew 15:18). This one member, when abused, is able to bring one's whole being, soul and body into hell. "and sets on fire the course of our life" -"the whole round of human life and activity" (Vine p. 103). "In some way he is saying that everything around man seems affected by the tongue" (Roberts p. 131). The above phrase rendered "course of our life" means literally, "wheel of the existence", which depicts life as. continuous round of activity. Woods notes, "So potent is it in its effects that it can, and often does, influence man's entire round (period) of existence. An inflamed speech, intolerant words,. false rumor may set on fire an individual,. city and even. nation. We recall only too well the rabble-rousing speeches of Hitler, and the overwhelming wave of the war spirit which swept over the German nation as. result" (p. 165).

An uncontrolled tongue can bring misery into every area of our lives. Such can destroy the happiness in our marriages, alienate us from our children, get us fired at work and so on. There is. warning here: An unbridled tongue will wreck havoc in our life. And unless it is brought in subjection to Christ, it will touch every area of our lives. "and is set on fire by hell" -"with. flame fed from hell" (Mof). "continually set on fire by hell" (Woods p. 165).

Points To Note:

1. One explanation could be, "The fire which results from the tongue is comparable only to that which arises in hell" (Woods p. 165). But. believe that much more is being presented here. 2. What is the real source of gossip, slander, blasphemy and other abuses of the tongue? Is such merely. weakness in man? Is it genetic? Are some people just born hotheads? 3. James gets at the root of the problem. When we are exercising an unbridled tongue, we are doing the devil's work. We aren't merely displaying. character flaw, we are now actively promoting the agenda of hell. Unkind words, cutting comments are not simply cruel, but they are the language of hell. The man yelling at his wife isn't merely being insensitive, he is being demonic. Compare with Paul's comments concerning the factious individual (Titus 3:10). Carefully note that James believed that "hell" was. real place.