A World of Iniquity 

Scripture Reading: James 3:1-12.

Memory Verse: "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man" (Matthew 15:18).

Introduction: There is a story in the Jewish Talmud about a king who sent two jesters on an errand with instructions for one to bring back the best thing in the world, and the other to bring back the worst thing.
  After a short time, each returned carrying a package. The first jester, who had found the best thing in the world, opened his package revealing a tongue. The second jester quickly unwrapped his package presenting the worst thing in the world--another tongue!
  Though small, the tongue is a powerful instrument. When tempered with logic and feeling it can say timely and eloquent things. But when led by selfish desires it, like the actions of our life, can bring destruction. If we track the problem to its source, we'll find it isn't the tongue or our actions that is the real guilty party. In fact, they are only accessories to the crime.
  The real criminal is the 'attitude-swaying, mood-changing' heart, referring not to the chest muscle that pumps blood to the body, but to the "inner man." Otherwise known as the "spirit," the "heart," or the "true self," the inner man is so quickly diverted from feeling to feeling and notion to notion, that we often wonder that man possesses any stability at all. The serious problem is that, "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
  Therefore, it should be plain that if a man can constantly direct his inner self in the proper channel of following after Christ, bringing his thoughts into absolute surrender to the lordship of Jesus, it is possible to control the tongue and the actions of our lives.

Lesson Questions:

1. What warning does James give those who would thrust themselves into a teaching ministry to which they are not called nor qualified to fill? James 3:1; Ezekiel 33:6; 34:2,3; Hebrews 13:17; John 10:12; Jeremiah 23:2.
Note: The word rendered "masters" in the King James Version should have been rendered "teachers." The terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament.

2. What type of man does James assert would be qualified to teach? James 3:2; Proverbs 16:32; 25:28; 1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Peter 3:14.

3. Discuss the comparisons made in James 3:3,4 with the power of the tongue in verse 5.

4. What trouble is the tongue capable of producing? James 3:6; 4:11; Proverbs 10:19; 14:23; Ecclesiastes 10:11-14; Titus 1:10-14.

5. What further illustrative comparison is given to show man's inability to govern his tongue? James 3:7,8; Psalm 8:6; Genesis 1:26; 9:2;
Romans 3:10-18.

6. Examine the inconsistency of speech which proceeds from our mouths. James 3:9,10; 1 John 1:6-10; 2:4; Matthew 5:33-37.

7. What type of fruit will a man produce? James 3:11,12; Matthew 7:15-20.

8. What will happen to those who are unfruitful? Luke 13:6-9; John 15:1-5.