October 25 – LD 43, Day 4: The Tongue Devastated by Sin
by Pastor Steven Key
James 3:5b-6: “Behold,
how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the
tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that
it defileth the whole body, and setteth
on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”
The form of the ninth
commandment — “thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour” — indicates that the
tongue has come under the power of our sinful flesh. The ninth commandment,
says our Catechism, requires “that I avoid all sorts of lies and deceit, as the
proper works of the devil, unless I would bring down upon me the heavy wrath of
God.”
Every form of falsehood
is sown by the devil, whose very name means liar. Satan kindled that
fire of the lie when he came as a serpent to Eve and called God a liar! When
Eve responded that if they would eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
they would die as God had said, the devil said, “Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5).
That tells us even more
about the lie. The lie is rooted in wicked pride which seeks to elevate the
creature above the Creator, and which would give the creature the right to
determine the truth. It is a common thought in our day that truth is what we
make it to be. That philosophy goes hand in hand with the rejection of the
Scriptures as the absolute standard of truth and the infallible Word of divine
authority.
From that first lie of
Satan proceeds every form of the lie today and every form of evil speaking. The
power of the tongue has been made a power subject to Satan. As we near the end
of time, Satan is once again given opportunity to develop his power. He will do
so by success of the lie. The book of Revelation reveals that there is given unto
him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he is able to deceive
the nations, as well as the false church. The tongue, when in the service of
Satan, is set on fire of hell. The ninth commandment condemns all forms of
lying and deceit as being “the proper works of the devil.”