The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-02-28
A VERY UNRULY MEMBER
ELOQUENT SEEM0N ON "TONG UES
 THAT SHOULD BE BRIDLED."

byth 0 Church Choir.
 "Tongues that Should be Bridled" was the subject of Rev. pr. Watson L. Phillips sermon at the Church of the Redeemer last night. A special mu- sical programme was rendered as fol- lows:
 Prelude-Berceuse in F flat. Cui Chant Grant, we beseech thee." Hymn 30--Congregation
 Gloria Patri-In A. Holden Jesus, My Strength" "..... ..................... ...... Shepard Offertory There's a Beautiful Land on hlgh .............'. ....... .Iaylor Anthem-"Ado and be Still" .Gounod Postlude-'''Be Not Afraid" (Elijah).. ........ ........ ,......... .Mendelssohn There was large audience present. The text was:
 James 3:2 For in many things we all stumble. If any man stumble not in words, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also."
 He said in part:
 "Plutarch relates that Amasis a king of Egypt sent a sacrifice to Bias, one of the wise men of Greece, with the re- quest that he send back the worst and the best part of it; he returned the tongue. St. James, the apostle of good works, who always preached and wrote a practical gospel, seems to have entertained much the same estimate; in connection with many pointed and pertinent injunctions touching the pro- q ...t. |. makes much of the uses and the of l lenses of the tongue. This portion of | his letter is a plain-spoken caution | against that fanatical activity in | teaching, arising from faith without | knowledge or obedience, which leads many persons to carelessly assume the | functions of teachers and thus endan- ger the soundness and peace of the | Christian community.
 | References to the tongue are frequent | in the letter, but this chapter is entire I ly devoted to it. The apostle speaks l of the power of the tongue of it's de- pravity, untameableness and duplicity, and of the contrast between wise and unwise speech as made apparent in | their opposite operations. He gives it some strong and suggestive titles; boaster, a fire, full of poison, world
 of iniquity, the def1ier, the instrument of blessing and of cursing.
 1 The statement of the text seems very | broad and sweeping. The idea is that l the tongue is the member over which it
 is most difficult for one to gain control;
 he therefore who does not offend either | by hasty or foolish utterance, who has
 mastered his tongue, has mastery over
 his whole body, for the greater includes
 the less.
 One need make no apology for intro- | ducing such a theme as this, for it is
 certain that considerable portion of l the evil that affiicts the world is | wrought by the tongue This evil does l not consist in false and pernicious ut-
 terances and books, nor in untruth and
 uncleanness alone, but in careless,
 thoughtless, flippant and harsh speech,
 and in that lanugage which spreads
 misrepresentation and causes misun- derstanding and heartburning. | What are some of the marks of the
 man who has mastered his tongue?
 He will not speak idle words" having
 always in mind that solemn injunction
 of our Lord: And say unto you that l every lult WOIQ lllcI HIGH SlIdll Sptdh,
 they shall give account thereof in the
 day of Judgment. For by thy words
 thou shalt be justified, and by thy
 words thou shalt be condemned" But
 this word idle" is to be understood as
 referring to the worthless and un- | worthy, not to what is simply unim-
 portant and Insignificant; it is the
 word having in 1t some positive evil.
 It does not condemn the prattle of a
 mother to her child nor that of chill dren among themselves; it has no quarrel with social pleasantries, with repartee, witty and sparkling small | talk, or entertaining anecdote when
 nothing unwholesome is hidden under the syllables; it bids us regulate our
 talk by good-sense, decency and mode
 ration. The law of Christian charity
 will regulate criticism and sarcasm.
 The law of Christian reverence will
 regulate joking and so-called humor. | Along this last line, however, lies one
 of the dangers of the age. Slang, the
 joke, the pun and the anecdote are
 rampant. Every newspaper has it's
 funny column, comic opera and comic illustrated papers flourish, in all of
 which there is much that borders on
 the f1ippant the indecent and the irrev
 erent. Nothing seems to be sacred any
 more, the weakness of men, personal l traits and peculiarities, the forms of
 the church, and often even the teach
 ing and language of the scriptures are
 deemed legitimate game for the joker.
 The law of Christian manliness will Il save the right-spirited man from being
 fretful, irritable, nasty and fault find-
 ing. The law of Christian honesty will
 save him from brusqueness on the one
 side and from insincerity on the other.
 There are men who pride themselves
 on their bluntness, the plainness with
 which they say just what they think"
 which Is well if they are careful to
 think no evil, but this profession of
 superior honesty Is often only the poor cover of a disposition to wound and an
 essentially brutal spirit. There are | others who cultivate a suave and gra- | cious manner, their talk is loaded l down with insincere compliments and fiatteries. They are too solicitous; you feel that they cannot have the interest
 in you which they profess to have,
 that they are patronizing you and
 playing on your vanity, and you hate | yourself for being pleased by their
 empty sentences. Kind words spring | ;,,ey = {ra hoo n