The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-26

0uUJcCt. lut IOWeT Ol tuc lOuSue.
James 3:1-12- Golden Text,
Prov. 21:23-Commit Verses s.
1O-Commentary on Lesson.
TIME.--A. D. 60. PLACE
Jerusalem.
EXPOSITION.-I. Be Not Many
Teachers, is. James does not say
that no Christian should be a teach
er, but that the body of believers
should not be a multitude Of teach
scs, every n desiring to teach 9th.
ers and nc M willing to learn from
Others. On the contrary every mar
should be swift to hear, slow to
speak (ch. 1910. God sets teachers
n the church q Cor. 1929. Teach
ers are one Of the gifts of the ascend.
ed Christ to His church (Eph. AID.
The Holy Spirit bestows the gift. OF
teaching upon whomsoever He will
Il Cor. 12:S-11). The position Of
the teacher is one no man has a right
to take upon himself. If the Holy
Spirit bestows that gift upon us we
are to exercise it., but even then In
all humility, and be more swift to
learn from others than to instruct
others. The true church of Christ
will be a multitude of learners dds
ciples) rather than a multitude of
teachers, ready, it Is true, to share
with others what they have them
selves been taught of God, but even
more eager in all teachableness to
learn from others what God has
taught them (Phil. 2:3). There was
perhaps never a day in the history of
the church when this word of James
was more needed than to-day. This
man, according to tradition, was one
who. spent so much time in prayer
that his knees were found to be cal.
loused like those of a camel by his
much kneeling, yet this God-taught
and holy man puts himself right
alongside the rest of US and says, I'm
many things we all stumble" How
unlike the utterances of many to-
day who call themselves holy" but
who, while they are quite ready to
maintain that the most of believers
stumble g%rievously, are not willing
to confess that they themselves STUN
Bile In anything much less Sin many
things" They do stumble all the
same-"we all" do (cf. 1 Kings s:
as; Rom. $40; 1 John 2:10). This,
however, is not saying that it is nee
essary for US to go on day after day
SHINING, in the sense of consciously
doing that which we know when do
Ing 1t to be contrary to- the will of
God. This none of us need do and
none born of God will do Il John 8:
81. The tongue is the hardest part
Of the body to bring under control
and the last to yield to the con-
stra1ning grace of God. When that
member Is brought into complete &C.
cord with the will of God we may
rest assured that the grace OF God
has finished it's work. A mans
words, not merely his set speeches,
but his unprecedented u%tterances as
we'll, show what he Is in his inmost
soul (Matt. 1884.
II. The Tongue is q Fire, q World
of Iniquity, 6-12. The tongue is in
deed a fire. 1t inflames anger. and
families and societies and nations are
set In a confagration in
OF an untimely word (see Prov. Is:
l; Judges 12:1-6; 2 Sam. 1913; 20!
z; z Chron. ~10:13-16; CT. 1910.
The tongue infames lust and withers
the purity of the maiden and con.
sumes the strong man physically,
mentally and morally prov. 7:21-
80. The tongue in1ames jealousy
n destroys the beautiful tie that
binds together mar and wife and
leaves the home in ruins. The
tongue kindles unbelfef Git. I'LL;
Gen. 3:1-6), and thus burns away
the foundations Of individual charac-
ter, OF commercial integrity, of social
purity and Of national security. The
tongue indeed is a fire, "a world of
1nlqulty among our members" There
is nothing mischievous and vile that
the tongue cannot do. A little fire
Will k1ndle a vast amount Of wood.
A little fire In a broken lamp set all
Chicago ablaze and left 1t in ruins.
A little word has set many a home.
city and nation ab1aze, and often
times that fire will burn on through
all eternity. The fires of hell are
k1ndled by the idle words that set
pen thinking wrong about God and
Christ and sin and the Bible. The
destructive critics to-day by their
professediy scholarly but really per-
verse and subversive words are kind
ling fires Of unbelief and sin. Men
are usually careful how they handle
fire, but most Of us are careless about
how we use our tongues. James tells
US plainly the origin Of this fire. It
Is set ION fire of hell" Whence
come the words that inflame the i'm
agination and passions, from French
literature? No, hell. Whence come
the words that are undermining the
faith in the credibility Of the Bible
narratives, of those who do rot think
for themselves, but bow at the shrine
OF culture, from German scholarship?
No, hell. If any one questions
James statement that the tongue
can no man tame" he has evidently
never tried it himself. But while no
man can tame the tongue, God can.
The best thing any of US can do with
his W tongue is to bring it to God
n surrender its control to Him.
How James heaps up illustrations to
show the misunderstanding power Of
the tongue ". g., R. W. But is
there any doubt that he IS right?
Has not a sharp tongue poisoned the
life of many a husband, wife or
child? Has not the obscene tongue
poisoned the imagination of many a
boy and man? Has not the infidel
tongue poisoned the waters of life?
st deficit the whole body"