20. Dividing Practices. The first, The Practice of the Tongue. The second, Needless Disputes.
Chapter Twenty Dividing Practices. The first, The Practice of the Tongue. The second, Needless Disputes.
P rovoking bitter language is a great divider: An evil tongue in Scripture is compared to swords, arrows, razors, the poison of asps, fire, even to the fire of hell which sets all the world on fire, to wild beasts; it is an unruly member that cannot be tamed. When a philosopher saw two women of ill fame talking together, he said that by this speech the asp takes in poison from the viper, which it seems was a proverbial speech in Tertullian's time; he inveighing against Marcion the heretic said, Let the heretic cease borrowing poison from the Jew according to the proverb: the asp from the viper.
Many men of moderate spirits, if left alone yet meeting with men who tell them stories and speak ill of those men that previously they had a good opinion of, now before they have examined what the truth is there is venom got into their spirits before they are aware; their hearts begin to be hot and to rise against those men they hear such things of; their thoughts are altered concerning them; their spirits alienated; breaches are made; and men who are innocent wonder from whence all comes. O take heed of these men of
evil tongues especially at your tables for while you are warm with mirth and good cheer you are in greater danger to take down the discourse of such as are at table with you; some poison may get into your spirits and you not think of it.
Saint Augustine could not endure such guests at his table; he caused therefore these two verses to be written over his table; it were well they were over some of yours:
Quisquis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam,Hanc mensam vetitam noverit ipse sibi.To speak ill of the absent forbear,Or else sit not at table here.
But if men of evil tongues do so much hurt to men of moderate spirits what hurt do they do one to another? When two or three or more of them meet together having all of them bitter spirits and evil tongues what hot burning venom do they infuse one into another inflaming one another with malice? That proverbial speech ὁφις ἣ μὴ φαγη ὀφιν δράκων οὐ γξνήσεται is true of these men; if one serpent did not eat another there would be no dragon; by taking in one another's poison they grow to be fiery dragons flying up and down from place to place with their fiery stings.
Destroy O Lord and divide their tongues for I have seen violence and strife in the city Psal. 45:9. The same letters in the Hebrew word that signify verbum (a word) also signify pestis (the plague); an evil tongue has the pestilence in it.
The whisperings of an evil tongue cause divisions Rom. 1:29. Full of envy debate malignity whisperers. 2 Cor. 12:20. Debates envyings wraths strifes whisperings. Many with sidling paltry dispositions go up and down whispering; they speak very secretly to you; you must tell nobody by any means yet themselves tell it to a second a third a tenth and anyone they
meet with whom they desire to ingratiate themselves; and to everybody they speak yet still they must tell nobody; they do not love to be brought forth as the authors; they tell you as a friend what they hear; and thus carrying tales up and down in a secret way they do what in them lies to blast the names of their brethren; jealousies suspicions envyings displeasure anger is raised and the parties against whom all this is wonder what is the matter they being no ways conscious to themselves of any misconduct towards such from whom they find such strange carriage; at last some nibbling whispering mouse is found to be the cause of all.
These whispering tale-bearers have such an art as to cause what they speak in secret to sink very deeply into men's hearts. They profess themselves very sorry for what they tell you, but it is too true, and with a deep sigh, they harm their neighbor; "Et sic cum vultu mæsto procedit maledictio," Bern. But let men take heed of them, for they strike and wound as much, if not more, than they do those against whom they speak, for the latter know nothing of it. Though they suffer, yet they do not sin; but you may not only be troubled, and that causelessly (it may be), and for nothing lose the sweetness of your love to your friend and the enjoyment of his to you; but withal, you may entertain sin into your heart and so be wounded.
Proverbs 18:8: "The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." Beware therefore of such.
Proverbs 20:19: "He that goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore meddle not with him that flatters with his lips." He may come flattering, fawning, and smiling to you as if he considered you a special friend and therefore would not tell everybody; but meddle not with him. If you shall hug and embrace him, you have received a wound even in the
innermost parts of the belly. Proverbs 26:20: "Where no wood is, there the fire goes out; so where there is no tale-bearer, the strife ceases."
Proverbs 16:28: "A whisperer separates chief friends." Those who have lived in entire friendship for many years sometimes have their hearts very much estranged by some whispering woman, the beauty of their friendship darkened, and the sweetness of it almost lost. Whispering tale-bearing tongues are the cause of strife; take heed of it.
And so is a censuring tongue: I can compare this to nothing better than to a candle whose tallow is mixed with brine. As soon as you light it, it spits up and down the room. Thus many have salt brine in their spirits, which when they get a little knowledge, they spit here and there in hard and bitter censures, which are exceedingly provoking to the spirits of men. Though the censures should prove true, yet the mixture of so much salt brine in them cannot but exasperate and cause men's hearts to fret; but much more if they prove to be mere slanderers.
Jeremiah 9:4: "Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother, for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders." And Jeremiah 6:28: "They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders; they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters." And yet more, if this be a raging tongue: Hosea 7:16: "Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue." Discontents rise high, first by too much liberty of the tongue, then higher by the bitterness of it; but when it comes to the rage of it, by this many times they rise so high that great men, yea princes, come to fall by the sword.
There is a story in the Tripartite History of a Christian who professed he had been thirty-seven years learning that lesson from Psalm 39:1: "I said I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not in my tongue," and yet had not
learned it. I fear there are many amongst us who have been professors these thirty-seven years and yet have not learned this lesson; notwithstanding the Scripture says, "If a man bridles not his tongue, he deceives his own heart; this man's religion is in vain," James 1:26.
The Second Dividing Practice: Needless Disputes When men have got a little knowledge, they think it a fine thing to be arguing and disputing in matters of religion. Unnecessary disputes become their necessary practice, for otherwise they shall be accounted as nobody if they have not something to object against almost everything. But in this way of theirs, they shall be accounted knowing men, men who have an insight into things, who understand more than ordinary men do. Hence they turn all their religion into disputes, and by them, they grow giddy.
Wine is good when it goes to the heart to cheer it, but when it fumes all up into the head, it makes it giddy. Knowledge is good when the strength of it gets to the heart to comfort it, there to breed good spirits for strengthening it in the ways of holiness; but when it flies up all into the head, it fills it with thousands of fantasies; it causes pride and giddiness. Disputes draw the best spirits from the heart, by which it weakens it.
It is a very ill sign in a man to have a contradicting spirit, to get into a vein of disputing against anything, though it be good. I have read of Gregory Nazianzen that he told his friends Julian would prove to be a notoriously wicked man; he gave this reason: because he took such delight in disputing against that which was good.
Disputes are seldom without much heart-distemper; if they continue long, they cause snarling one at another; and no marvel though those who snarl so often do bite at last. A man shows most parts in the matter of truth but most grace in the manner of handling it with reverence, holiness, and modesty.
Romans 14:1: "Receive not the weak in faith to doubtful disputations."
Here is a direct injunction against those disputes I am speaking of. Let no man say every truth is precious; the least truth is more worth than our lives; we must contend for every truth.
Answer: The least truth is so precious that we must rather lose our lives than deny it; you must do and suffer much to maintain truth, but this in an orderly way.
First, you must be grounded in the main fundamentals of religion; you must be strong in the faith, and after that, labor to edify yourselves in all the truths of God, so that one may be helpful to another. It is not for everyone who has but little time, little knowledge, little means, little strength, to tire out themselves and others in doubtful disputes. The Scripture is so much against this as nothing can be more. 1 Tim. 1:4: "Which minister questions rather than edifying."
To ask and discuss questions about the great things that concern your soul, your eternal estate, and how you may live further to the honor of God is good when you meet together. To confer with one another about what God has done for your souls, to tell each other the experiences of your own hearts and God's dealings with you, what temptations you meet with, and how God helps you against them—such things as these would edify.
But when your questions are about things that you are never likely to understand, and if you did understand, they would concern you little and would not be helpful to you at all in the ways of godliness, these are the things the Holy Ghost would not have you spend your time on. Eccles.
7:29: "Man was made upright, and he has found out many inventions."
Miscuerit se infinitis quæstionibus, so the old Latin reads it: he has mingled himself in infinite questions.
If we had more of that great question among us, "What shall we do to be saved?" it would cause many unprofitable questions to vanish. Never did such ignorance come upon the Christian world as in that age when the Schoolmen were in the highest esteem; all religion then was turned into questions, and both the mystery and the power of godliness were lost. The things of religion are rather to be believed than disputed. "We believe fishermen, not logicians," says Ambrose.
The Devil today seeks to darken the glory of religion this way; he sees that because so much light has broken forth, he cannot get men off it by profanity. Therefore, he labors to eat out the strength of it by busying them and getting them to delight in multitudes of questions about things of lesser concernment. 1 Tim. 6:4: "He is proud and knows nothing but doting about questions and strife of words, whereof comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmises, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth." These men conceive they have more knowledge than other men, but the Holy Ghost says they know nothing; they cry out much for the truth and contend for the truth, but the Holy Ghost says they are destitute of the truth.
2 Tim. 2:22-23: "Follow charity, peace, but foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes; but the servant of the Lord must not strive." And Titus 3:8-9: "This is a faithful saying, these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works; these things are good and profitable unto men, but avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain."
The question about the law—whether a man is justified by it or by free grace in Christ—is not one of those foolish questions and needless strivings; this is a great question we are to contend for; our life is in it. But
there are other questions about the law which cause striving rather than edifying, such as whether the law is a rule for our lives as it was given by Moses. That we are bound to do what is required in the law—such as loving
God and not worshipping images—is generally acknowledged. But whether we are bound to do it as it was delivered by Moses upon Mount Sinai troubles many men's heads.
That we are bound to do the same things as they are delivered by Christ in the hand of that Mediator is acknowledged by anyone who understands themselves in any measure. Now then let these two things be granted about the law: First, that we are not justified by it but by the free grace of God in Christ; secondly, that what duties of holiness are set down in the law, we are bound to them by the most strong obligations. What need do we have to contend further about the law? Let us be established in these two, and it will be sufficient for our edifying.
It is likely when Paul wrote this epistle to Titus that people's heads were troubled about some such kind of questions about the law as are among us; therefore he says, "Avoid foolish questions and strivings about the law." But now the questions about the law are driven on to such a dangerous issue that we have cause not only to be careful to avoid them but even to tremble at the thought of them.
It is now considered a legal thing against the grace of the Gospel to confess sin, to be humbled for sin, to make conscience of duty, or to be troubled in conscience for neglecting it. No, they thank God they are delivered from such things; in respect of God, whether they sin or not is all one. Yea, these things prevail with those who have been forward in profession of religion who seemed to walk strictly but now have grown
loose. That faith is easily wrought which teaches men to believe well of themselves though their lives be ill.
There is a mighty change in men's spirits now from what was before; times have been when any opinion that tended to looseness was immediately distasteful as unsavory and rejected by those who made a profession of religion.
Sleidan, in the tenth book of his Commentaries, says, the Devil that sought to do mischief at Munster was not a skillful Devil, but rude and simple, because he sought to prevail by tempting men to looseness.
Whereas, he says, if he had been a cunning Devil, he would rather have deceived by abstaining from flesh, by abhorring matrimony, by shows of wonderful lowliness of mind, etc. He might sooner have taken men this way.
But truly now the most cunning Devils see it to be the best way to attain their ends, to raise up and foment opinions that tend to the liberty of the flesh, so long as they can carry them on under the guise of magnifying free grace. They find that these things are exceedingly suitable to men's spirits in these times, that they are taken in by such who formerly appeared so conscientious that he feared he should never have been able to prevail with them. He never found a way like this to prevail with such men; indeed, never a way like this to choke the Word when it first begins to work upon the heart. He has blasted more young seeming converts this way than ever he did by any other since he was a Devil.
Heretofore, the way was to stir up others to deride them for following the Word and for praying; now he has a way worth two of that, to make them deride others for their conscientiousness in following the Word and praying.
This is strengthened with a high persuasion that hereby they are the great
magnifiers of the free grace of God in the Gospel, the only men who understand the Gospel way. This Devil now looks upon himself and his fellows as simple and foolish in all their former devices. Here is an experiment beyond them all; seeing this Christ must needs be magnified, he will magnify him too. Seeing the Gospel must go on, he will put it on too.
He will find out a device here to strike at the practice, power, and life of godliness in a more secret and prevailing way than ever was done before.
It is likely in this generation that the former principles of godliness will not be eradicated; but if this way prevails still in proportion to what it has done, in a generation or two it is likely to bring general profaneness and licentiousness upon the face of the Christian world more than any way of Satan ever did since the world began. For here is a way to be loose and profane and to satisfy conscience too.