GUEST ARTICLE

PROFANITY:

Swearing, Jesting and Joking

The Bible says: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:45).

The use of profane words is very prevalent in many places and is looked upon as being up to date in many present day societies where the most Important thing—salvation—is neglected. Webster associates profanity with: Not sacred or holy, irreverent toward God and man, contempt for holy things, blasphemy and serving to defile that which is holy. Also not possessing expert knowledge.

Generally it is not understood what a person does when using profane language. This is especially true of children. Can any one realize the doom he pronounces to a soul that never dies? In James 3:6 we read: "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 meaning of some of the curse words is that God should curse instead of forgive, put in prison instead of set free, cast away instead of deliver; that God would use His power to punish instead of bless or have mercy, to be guilty instead of pardoned, deprived of all happiness of both body and soul in this world and in eternity, shut out of heaven and cast into hell. The horrible condemnation man can pronounce upon himself is indescribable, and can only be continued when one is sold to and is under the control of Satan. When one gets enlightened on the subject, it becomes obnoxious. "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest" (Psalm 51:4). "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

Dear Friend, surely the Lord "...is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

Today there is still pardon for our sins if we come to the Lord Jesus who made an atonement for our sins through His shed blood. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness, and true holiness." "Let no corrupt communication proceed our of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:24,29).

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:3,4 to the professing Christian: "Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient..." as being such as should not once be heard "or named among you as becometh saints." The tongue, unless the heart of man is cleansed by the Holy Spirit, remains an unruly evil in one way or another, even though man may possibly cease and refrain from grosser sins such as profanity and kindred evils: nevertheless, out of the heart the mouth speaketh. "Let you speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt..." (Colossians 4:6).

The Lord has been longsuffering and we are still in the day of grace when we can prepare to meet our God. He will deliver us from every sin, if we will let Him. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, [if we are saved] but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ!" (2 Corinthians 10:4.5). "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; [Jesus] because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18).

YOU TELL ON YOURSELF

You tell on yourself

By the words you speak, by the friends you seek,

By the way you employ your leisure time,

By the use you make of your dollar and dime,

You tell what you are by the things you wear,

By the spirit you, your burdens bear,

By the kind of things at which you laugh,

By the songs you sing, just a paragraph,

You tell what you are by the way you walk,

By the things of which you delight to talk,

By the manner in which you bear defeat,

By so simple a thing as the way you eat,

By the books you choose from the well filled shelf,

In these things and more - you tell on yourself -.

"Let not SIN, [unrighteous thoughts, words or deeds] therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof (Romans 6:12).

--Author unknown

http://e-menno.org/profanity.htm