Strong as the language of our book is upon the subject, it is not possible to bring out in mere proverbial sayings the eternal necessity of this great truth. Goodness and blessedness are actually identical, the reverse and the obverse sides of the same coin. If a man is made good he is made blessed; but if he is made blessed to all appearance, and not good, the blessedness proves to be an illusion. It could not possibly avail to be justified by faith, unless we were made just by faith; a sore body is not healed by covering it up, a dead man is not quickened by a smiling mask. There have been many people who counted themselves the elect, and made no question that they were saved, though they remained all the time inwardly wicked; they were miserable, sour, discontented, censorious, a burden to themselves, an eyesore to others; they were persuaded that they would be happy in heaven, and they supposed that their constant wretchedness was due to their being pilgrims in a strange land; but the fact was they would be more wretched still in heaven, for nowhere is evil such a curse as in a place where good prevails; their misery arose from their own wicked hearts, and in the next world, their hearts still being wicked, their misery must continue and increase.
May God grant us a clear vision in this matter, that we may see the due relation of things! Goodness is the principal thing—for it faith itself and all religion exists. God is goodness—man is evil; what God means by saving us is to make us good like Himself. That we must be saved by faith means that we must be made good by faith, not that we must take faith in place of goodness. That righteousness is imputed to us by the goodness of God means that the goodness of Christ is reckoned as ours for the purpose of making us good, not in order to spare us the necessity of being good. And in this way, and this only, we must estimate one another. What a man believes in his heart we can never fully know; but whether he is good or not is a matter plain as the day. It is easy to bandy words of reproach, to call men unbelievers, sceptics, atheists; but there is only one wise way of speaking and thinking. If we see goodness, let us thank God, for there, be sure, His Spirit is;[279] if we see the lovely graces which shine in our Lord Jesus Christ gleaming, however fitfully, in our fellow-men, let us recognise Christ there. And where we see wickedness, let no consideration of outward Christian profession or orthodoxy of belief restrain us from fully recognising that it is evil, or from courageously contending against it.
[XII.]
THE TONGUE.
"A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the doings of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him."—Prov. xii. 14.
"In the transgression of the lips is a snare to an evil man: but the righteous shall come out of trouble."—Prov. xii. 13.
"A fool's vexation is presently known: but a prudent man concealeth shame."—Prov. xii. 16.
"He that uttereth truth showeth forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit."—Prov. xii. 17.
"The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment."—Prov. xii. 19.
"Lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord: but they that deal truly are His delight."—Prov. xii. 22.
"There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health."—Prov. xii. 18.
"A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness."—Prov. xii. 23.
"The words of the wicked are a lying in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them."—Prov. xii. 6.
"Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop; but a good word maketh it glad."—Prov. xii. 25.
There is nothing which seems more insubstantial than speech, a mere vibration in the atmosphere which touches the nerves of hearing and then dies away. There is no organ which seems smaller and less considerable than the tongue; a little member which is not even seen, and, physically speaking, soft and weak. But the word which issues out of the lips is the greatest power in human life. That "soft tongue breaketh the bone."[280] Words will change the currents of life: look for instance at a great orator addressing his audience; how miraculous must it seem to a deaf man watching the speaker that the quiet opening of a mouth should be able to produce such powerful effects upon the faces, the movements, the conduct of the listeners!
We are coming to consider the importance of this diminutive organ, the ill uses and the good uses to which it may be turned, and the consequent necessity of fitly directly and restraining it.
On the use of the tongue depend the issues of a man's own life. It may be regarded as a tree which bears fruits of different kinds, and such fruits as his tongue bears a man must eat. If his words have been good, then he shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth.[281] "A man's belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth, with the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied."[282] The fruits which grow on this tongue-tree are death and life—the tongue produces them—and he that loves the tree shall according to his love eat the one fruit or the other; if he loves death-bearing speech he shall eat death; if he loves life-bearing speech he shall eat life.[283] So deadly may be the fruit of the tongue that the mouth of the fool is regarded as a present destruction.[284] So wholesome may be the fruit of the tongue that the tongue of the wise may be actually denominated health.[285]