J AS. III. 2. J UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 279
xiii. 3, ' He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life ; but he that openeth wide his Hps, shall have destruction.' He intimateth a simi- litude of a city besieged : to open the gates betra}x^th the safety of it ; all watch and ward is about the gate. So the tongue is the gate or door of the soul, by which it goeth out in converse and communi- cation ; to keep it open or loose-guarded letteth in an enemy, which proveth the death of the soul. So in other places it is made the great argument and sign of spiritual and holy prudence : Prov. x. 19, ' In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin ; but he that refraineth his lips is wise.' Empty vessels are full of sound ; discreet silence, or a wise ordering of speech, is a token of grace. So Prov. xvii. 27, ' He that hath knowledge spareth his words ; and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.' In the original it is ' of a cool spirit,' not rash and hot, ready to pour out his soul in wrath. So David maketh it to be a great argument or sign of our interest in the promises : Ps. xxxiv. 13, ' What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good ? keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile :' that is the first direction. So elsewhere he maketh it the character of a godly man, Ps. xv. 3. I have heaped up these scriptures that the matter of keeping the tongue may not seem light and trivial. The Spirit of God, you see, giveth exhortation upon exhortation, and spendeth many scriptures upon this argument. There were also special reasons why our apostle should be so much in press- ing it. (1.) Because this was the sin of that age, as appeareth by the frequent dissuasions from vain boasting of themselves, and detracting from others, in the 1st and 2d chapters ; and it is a high point of grace not to be snared with the evils of our own times. (2.) It is the best discovery of the heart ; speech is the express image of it : Mat. xii. 34, ' Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' When the heart is full, it overfloweth in speech. The story of hquere ut videam is common : Speak that I may see thee ; so Socrates to a fair boy. We know metals by their tinkling. Ps. xxxvii. 30, ' The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh judg- ment, for the law of the Lord is in his heart.' Good men will be always discovering themselves, and giving vent to the fulness of their hearts. (3.) It is the hypocrites' sin ; they abstain from grosser actions, but usually offend in their words, in boasting professions, and proud censures : see James i. 26. (4.) All of us are apt to offend with the tongue many ways ; most of a man's sins are in his words. One reckoneth up twenty-four several sins of the tongue, and yet the number may be increased — lying, railing, swearing, ribaldry, scoffing, quarrelling, deceiving, boasting, tattling, &c. At first, indeed, there was no other sin in society but lying, but now to how many evils doth this one member subscribe ? It is observable, that when the apostle giveth us the anatomy of wickedness in all the members of the body, he stayeth longest on the organs of speech, and goeth over them all : Eom. iii. 13-15, ' Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues have they used deceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips : whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,' &c. There is much need, you see, of reforming and polishing this member. So Prov. xii. 13, ' The snare of the wicked is the transgression of his lips;' that is, not only
280 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [Jas. III. 2.
by which he tnkoth others, but l)y whicli lie is taken himself, to his own ruin and destruction. (5.) It is a sin into which we usually and easily fall, partly by reason of that quick intercourse that is between the tongue and the heart — we sin in an instant ; and partly because speech is a human act which is performed without labour ; and so we sin that way incogitantly, without noting or judging it : ' Our tongues are our own,' Fs. xii. 4 ; such natural actions are performed without thinking of the weight and consequence of them ; and partly because the evils of the tongue are very pleasing, marvellously com- pliant with nature.
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 ofiend 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. Con- sider— (1.) Your speeches are noted. Xenoi)hon would have all speeches written, to make men more serious. They are recorded, Jaiues 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. Ixiv. 8, ' Their own tongue shall fall ui)on them.' Better a mountain should fall upon you than the Aveight 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 lingua 2^lus jjeccaverat, 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 Avith 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. Ivii. 8. It shouUl not accommodate such vile uses and purposes ; we pervert it from its ])roper 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, there- fore, it was never intended to serve passion and })ride and every idle humour.