"... in many things we offend all ..." The little word "all" in our verse is better placed ahead of "offend." It is not that we offend everyone, but every one of us offends. The Revised Version has "In many things we all stumble." James was no perfectionist. He realized everyone, including himself, stumbled in many things. Not that we offend in a few things only, but "in many things." As we study the Bible we find imperfection in God's choicest saints. None professed sinless perfection the way some may do today. Only the Lord Jesus Christ was sinless in all things.

A perfectionist: The story is told of a man who said: “I haven’t sinned for 17 years.” He was told that he was a better man than Peter or Paul and that Paul withstood Peter to his face because of his sin and Paul himself said, “I have not yet attained.” The man became angry and said: “Why did you tell me that? You've ruined my 17 year record.”

Job's confession: Job was an excellent man. Even the Lord boasted of him to Satan (Job 1:8 and 2:3). Job himself boasted of his righteousness, especially in chapter 29. However, after the Lord speaks to him face to face, Job realizes that he does not amount to so much. He says, "Behold I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth" (Job 40:4).

Daniel's confession: Daniel was a wonderful character. As we read through his book we can hardly find a thing about him with which fault can be found. Yet in chapter 9:5, we hear him confess, "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments."

Peter's denial: Peter was one of the chief apostles. On the night of the Lord's betrayal, He said to His disciples, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night" (Matt. 26:31). Peter said, "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended" (Matt. 26:33). That very night poor Peter denied the Lord three times.

No excuse for sin: There really is no excuse for sin, but sad to say, we all do it. The story is told of a preacher was accused of teaching sinless perfection. He assented to the accusation by saying, “I know, however you will not attain to it.” He got that part right. This is exactly the teaching of the Word of God. It makes no excuse for sin in a Christian, yet expects to find it in him." Paul says, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after" (Phil. 3:12).

All sinners: We read, "For there is no man that sinneth not" (1 Kin. 8:46). "For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Eccl. 7:20). "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Is. 64:6). The New Testament agrees. "There is none righteous, no not one" (Rom. 3:10). "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin" (Gal. 3:22). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). We each know from our own experience, "In many things we all offend."

"... if any man offend not in word ..." The way James states this, it would seem that he did not know of any who never offended in word. Speech is the one thing in which we are most likely to stumble. Because speech is particularly the teacher's sphere, and because it is in this that we are most likely to stumble, we should be careful not to intrude into the teacher's place if not qualified. If we do, remember we will have to answer for it. Even qualified teachers need to be cautious to control the tongue, because failure will bring greater judgment.

"... if any man ..." James is now thinking not only of teachers, but of any man. Is there any man that never sins with his tongue? We surely must all say with Isaiah, "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (Is. 6:5).

Tongue sins: Man uses his tongue to sin against God. Often we hear blasphemous words or words of mockery. These are most serious, and, hopefully, we are not guilty in this way. Perhaps, however, sometimes our tongues sin against our neighbors. Do we ever lie about them or speak some evil of them? These are prevalent sins, and sometimes Christians are guilty. There perhaps are none among us, but who at times speak indiscreetly, or immodestly, or foolishly. We read of Moses, "that he spake unadvisedly with his lips" (Ps. 106:33). Because of this, he was not privileged to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Who knows how often our lips have caused the Lord to turn from blessing us.

Keep your tongue: It is our responsibility to keep our tongues in check. We read in Psalms 34:13 "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile." We will find that to control it will be a real battle. A man reveals himself by his talk; his inner life is often exposed by it. When we are stirred inwardly we need especially to guard our tongues. A wise man sometimes bites it until it bleeds.

Tongue reveals health: A doctor looks at the tongue to judge his patient's health. The tongue is also a guide to one's spiritual health. Often we can tell whether one is a Christian or not by listening to him talk. A Christian's spiritual health can be noted by his talk, too. A carnal Christian soon reveals the fact, as also does a spiritual one.

Above or below animals: Speech is the principal thing that puts man above the animals. They can do most everything that a man can do except talk. This puts man on a higher plane than they. Or does it? It is also the tongue that makes man capable of more sin than the dumb animals.

Hard on self: Man is inclined to be very easy on himself and very hard on others. Before we talk about the failures of others, let us remember our own. Let us learn to be hard on self, but easy on others.

"... the same is a perfect man ..." The word "perfect" here means "mature" or "complete," the same as in 1:4. One who is perfect is no longer a babe or a learner, but a mature, well-rounded Christian. Any man who stumbles not in word is truly a mature Christian. If maturity is to be judged by our speech, perhaps not many of us can claim it. Are we not all guilty of vain and faulty speech at times? If we never sin with our tongue, we may be said to possess a Spirit filled life.

Christ the truly perfect one: The only truly perfect one in this world was our Lord Jesus. He could say, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" He was the only one who could absolutely control His tongue. Nothing but gracious words proceeded out of His mouth (Luke 4:22). Under great provocation, "He opened not his mouth" (Is. 53:7). "Neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again" (1 Pet. 2:22, 23). Oh, that we all were more like Him.

"... and able to bridle the whole body." James says, if we can control the tongue, we can control the whole body. The tongue is the most difficult. If we can control the most difficult, we can control the less difficult. If we can hold the tongue in subjection, we also can control our: hands, feet, brain, heart, and whole body. If we can conquer the word, we can conquer the passion or feeling that is seeking expression in the word. An unbridled tongue is the proof of an unbridled spirit. It might be evidence even of an unsaved spirit. Let's do our utmost to keep this unruly instrument in check always remembering, our every whisper is recorded in heaven.

Scripture Reading: James 3:3 (KJV)

Like the Lord Jesus, James constantly turns to natural objects to illustrate his lessons. In this and the following few verses, he uses four different objects to illustrate the lesson of verse 2. In this verse we have a bit in the horse's mouth controlling the whole horse. In verse 4, we have a helm in the steersman’s hand controlling the whole ship. In verses 5 and 6 we have the case of a little fire uncontrolled kindling a whole forest. In verses 7 and 8, we have the possibility of taming all kinds of animals, but the tongue, a wild animal, remains untamed.

The bit controls the horse: The bit we put into a horse's mouth is but a little thing, but it is absolutely necessary in order to control the horse. To the bit are attached reins by which we hold the horse in check, and guide him in the way we want him to go. The moment we lose our hold on the reins, we lose control of the whole horse.

Horse illustration : William Harrison pointed out that as a young boy he had some experience driving a horse and buggy. Because of sore feet one of the horses was slow and meek in hot weather, but, in cooler weather, especially in winter, he was very spirited and on more than one occasion ran away. Once, as he was stepping out of the wagon, the horse gave a lurch to get away, throwing Harrison to the ground. His father grabbed the reins and held on. This held the horse in check, pulling him to one side, but Harrison slid on his stomach far enough to put holes in his coat, putting rocks and dirt in his clothes for the rest of the day. Once, in the middle of the night, this same horse got out of his stall, and was later found having a great time in a neighbor's garden. It was difficult getting hold of him, and, without his father, Harrison said that he never would have held him, for there was nothing to hold to but his mane. The horse did not want to go back into the barn and he bucked and reared and lifted Harrison off the ground, swinging him around several times, but he hung on to the horse’s mane and finally got him back into his stall. Harrison said that he learned at a very early age that without a bit and bridle, it is hard to control a horse. The tongue must be controlled: In Psalms 32:9 we read, "Be ye not as the horse ... whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle." The horse is literally controlled by his tongue – Just as man is controlled or not controlled regarding whether his tongue is controlled or not. If we check our tongue, we will not find it difficult to check our whole self. A young, spirited, prancing horse, chafing under restriction, is eager to go, he cares not where. He needs checking; he needs guiding and a bit and bridle will do it. Some of us are like that. We need checking and guiding – especially our tongues. Put the bridle in the hands of the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to govern.

A curb on the bit: There are some bits especially made for unruly horses. They are designed to hurt the tongue when he resists the driver's pull on the reins. If we resist the curb the Lord Jesus puts on our tongues, He will see to it that our very tongues will hurt us. An unyielded tongue can and usually does, hurt others, but be sure it will hurt the owner more.

A runaway tongue: The Lord will not spare a run-away tongue, just as an owner will not spare a run-away horse. Watch out for: a temper lashed tongue, an evil speaking tongue, a gossiping tongue, and a lying tongue. A tongue controlled by the Lord can be a great blessing, even as a controlled horse can be a help. But an uncontrolled tongue can do much damage.

Taming a wild tongue: To tame a wild horse is a difficult task, but it can be done. To subdue a wild tongue is a much more difficult task. Only the Lord can do it. Verse 8 says, "The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." Only with the help of the Lord will we be able to tame it in some measure. Even then, as the horse always needs the bit and bridle, so we will constantly need this check on our tongues in order for our whole self to be controlled.

Scripture Reading: James 3:4 (KJV)

This verse is the second illustration of verse 2. Here we have the helm of the ship which, though small, by the hand of the steersman controls the whole ship.

"Behold also the ships ..." A ship is romantic. An old sailor wrote that whenever his work led him to an ocean port, he tried to visit a great ship. The thought of their voyages to strange lands always entranced him. Once, while on the East coast, he was drawn to the fishing docks. These fishing boats, although not so large, appeal to him as extremely romantic. Pictures of his former life on them, out on the deep, still raced through his mind and he could not help but think of the Lord out in similar boats, though smaller, on the Sea of Galilee.

Romance of the sea: That old sailor often spoke of his early days as a boy, and how his mother often entertained him with sea stories about his father’s many experiences such as war and wrecks while serving in the Navy.

"... and are driven of fierce winds ..." The Bible has many fascinating sea stories. More than once we have the Lord Jesus in a boat on the rough Sea of Galilee. In Matthew 8, we have Him asleep in the boat in the midst of a storm. The frightened disciples awoke Him saying, "Lord save us: we perish." He arose and rebuked them for their lack of faith. He also rebuked the wind and the storm, and there was a great calm. How interesting also is the story of how He walked on the water. Then, we have the fascinating story of Paul and the great storm on the Mediterranean Sea as recorded in Acts 27, and the story of Jonah and the great storm in Jonah chapter 1—one of the classic short stories of all time.

Sailing over the sea of time: We are all like vessels sailing over the sea of time. It will not always be smooth sailing. Rough and violent winds are sure to engulf us at times. Satan is sure to tempt us like he did Peter. Will he get us to deny our Lord? Trials and troubles may sweep over us like Job. He stood fast in his integrity and did not charge God foolishly, but he did speak rashly with his lips when he cursed the day he was born. Many things are sure to arise that will provoke us. Will we be able to hold our tongues through all this? If we can control this little member when the winds are strong and the waves are high, then we surely are mature Christians, and we will be spared much trouble in this world.

"... with a very small helm ..." One of the most fascinating things on a ship is the pilot at the wheel steering the ship. The word "helm" refers first of all to the rudder of the ship, but is now generally applied to the whole steering apparatus. How necessary this steering apparatus is. When something goes wrong here the ship surely is in danger, especially if the sea is rough. The ship cannot be guided, nor can it be held in its proper relation to the wind. This was especially serious for old time sail boats. To get into the trough of the waves and to be struck broadside by the wind was dangerous, indeed. Normally though, this little rudder will guide the great ship in the right path even though the winds are fierce.

The little tongue: The little tongue in each of our mouths is as important as the little helm of the ship. If the tongue is controlled our whole path will be controlled as we sail over this sea of time. Sometimes a single word is of momentous importance; A single word "yes" to the claims of the Lord Jesus will altar the whole path of life. This also is true to a lesser degree of the "yes" at the marriage altar. In like manner a single rash word may stop a great blessing or bring untold trouble.

"... the governor ..." The word "governor" is translated "steersman" in the Revised Version. Who is the steersman who has His hand on the helm of our life? Let us ask the Lord Jesus to keep His hand on the wheel, that He may govern our whole life, that He may ever keep the watch over our lips. May we ever say what He would have us say and do what He would have us do.

---

    

Copyright © StudyJesus.com