The points observable are these : —
Ohs. 1. There is a resemblance between an evil tongue and fire: — (1.) For the heat of it. It is the instrument of wrath and contention, which is the heat of a man — a boiling of the blood about the heart. Solomon saith, ' A man of understanding is of a cool spirit,' Prov. xvii. 27. Hot water boileth over, so do passions in the heart boil out
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in the words. Of the ungodly man it is said, Prov. xvi. 27, ' In his lips there is a burning fire. (2.) For the danger of it. It kindleth a great burning. The tongue is a powerful means to kindle divisions and strifes. You know we had need look to fire. It is a bad master, and a good servant. Where it prevaileth, it soon turneth houses into a wilderness ; and you have as much need to watch the tongue.^ Solo- mon saith, Prov. xxvi. 18, ' The fool casteth firebrands, and saith, Am I not in sport ? ' We throw fire abroad, scalding words, and do not think of the danger of them. (3.) For the scorching. Keproaches penetrate like fire. David compareth them to ' coals of juniper,' Ps. cxx. 4, which burn hottest and longest ; they may be kept a whole year. The Septuagint have rol^ avOpd^c rot? eprjfMiKol^, ' desolating coals.' Fire is a most active element, and leaveth a great sense and pain. So do reproaches, like the living coals of juniper. (4.) It is kindled from hell, as in the close of the verse. Zeal is a holy fire that Cometh from heaven, this from hell. Isaiah's lips were ' touched with a coal from the altar,' Isa. vi. 6 ; and the Holy Ghost descended in cloven tongues of fire. Acts ii. But this is fire from beneath, of an infernal original. Oh ! labour then for a cool spirit. A tongue that is set on fire from hell shall be set on fire in hell. You know who wished for a drop to cool his tongue. The hot words of wrath, strife, and censure come from Satan, and lead to Satan.^ When you feel this heat upon your spirit, remember from what hearth these coals were gathered. God's word was as fire in Jeremiah's bones, so is wrath many times in ours ; yet though wrath boil, keep anger from being a scorching fire in your tongues. See Ps. xxxix. 3, &c.
Obs. 2. There is a world of sin in the tongue. It is an instrument of many sins. By it we induce ourselves to evil, by it we seduce others. Some sins are formal and proper to this member, others flow from it. It actetli in some sins, as lying, railing, swearing, &c. It concurreth to others, by commanding, counselling, persuading, seducing, &c. It is made the pander to lust and sin. Oh ! how vile are we if there be a world of sin in the tongue — in one member ! Some^ have reckoned as many sins in the tongue as there are letters in the alphabet. Where shall we find a rule and account to number up the sins of every member ? ' All the imaginations are evil,' Gen. vi. 3. As there is saltness in every drop of the sea, and bitterness in every branch of wormwood, there is an ' overspreading of abominations' throughout the whole man, Dan. ix. 27. Again, we may consider the ingratitude of man. Our tongue is our glory ;^ it is the member by which we discover and show forth our reason ; it fitteth us for commerce. Speech maketh man a sociable creature ; * yet there is a world of iniquity in the tongue.
Obs. 3. From that and defileth. Sin is a defilement and a blot. We hear of ' filthy communication,' ' filthy lucre,' and ' filthy lusts.' The very show of sin is called ' filthiness of the flesh,' 2 Cor. vii. 1. Scandalous sinners are the stain of their society : ' These are spots in your love feasts.' It will be your own disgrace. When you give up yourselves to the practice of sin, you get to yourselves a blot : Deut. xxxii. 5,
1 ' lUic incipit, et illuc rapit.' - Laurent, in loc.
^ Ps. cviii. 1, and xvi. 9, compared with Acts ii. 26.
* ^'A.v6puwos ev (pOaei i'wov TroXi'rtKOf.' — Arist. Pol., lib. i. cap. 2.
288 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. III. 6.
' Their spot is not as the spot of God's people.' And it will be j'our eternal disadvantage : Rev. xxi. 27, ' And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth.' In short, sin is such a filthiness that it is ashamed of itself. It seeketh to hide itself from those that most love it, and goeth shrouded under the disguise of virtue. There needeth no other argument to make it odious tiian to see it in its own colours.
Ohs. 4. Tongue sins do much defile. They defile others. We com- municate evil to others, either by carnal suggestions, or provoke them to evil by our passion. They defile ourselves. By speaking evil of them we contract guilt upon ourselves. Either they deserve it not, and so it is a lie, which is a great blot, or if the crime imposed be true, their sin is made ours by an undue speaking of it.^