O God, Please Save Me from Myself

I am presently in the process of working and preaching through Paul’s letter to the Romans. One of the most powerful things about Scripture is how that it speaks to every single aspect of the ancient church and to the modern one as well. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul wrote this epistle around 54-56 AD according to the range that many biblical scholars have placed it. As of this moment (3/4/2026), I have preached twelve messages from this and the scrutiny by which he writes is discovered with every hour of time that I spend praying and studying through the text. While I was thinking, meditating, writing, and even wrestling with the section of Romans 2:12-16 which I called, The Courtroom of the Conscience, a divine laser light began to burn through me in verse 16. It very well needs to be a standalone sermon, but I did not do so. The sharp focus has not left me now almost three days after I have finished preaching it. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ! Let that sink in for a moment!

Preaching and The Conscience

I am preaching a series of messages through the life of Peter at the moment and it has been a blessing to me to dig into the early stages of his interaction with our Lord.  In the second message, I preached about the Lord changing the name of Peter and spent some time preaching about the necessity of the conscience being struck with the Word of God.  A quote that I wove into the message was from a book that Tony Mansinho sent to me a few weeks ago.  It is the biography of Master Robert Bruce—Minister in the Kirk of Edinburgh by D. C. Macnicol.  Bruce was one of the Scottish Puritans and despite some of their flaws, I have been incredibly blessed for close to thirty years by digging into their writings.  Some time was spent by Macnicol exploring the matter of the conscience of Bruce being smitten by God and the Holy Scriptures.  Here is the quote that I used: 

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 4, Day 3

This is Week 4, Day 3 from the devotional Lord, Is It Warfare?  There is something that you will find as you develop a disciplined approach to a daily time in the Word.  Your mind and spirit will be stretched by the Scripture and you will also find a rhythm that as time passes in your devotions that you refuse to allow a rushed attitude to consume your time with the Lord.  (Although today’s entry is relatively short compared to some of the other ones.)  Busyness and hurry are great liabilities to us as we read through the Bible.  The soul is greatly fed as you work slowly through these assignments because overcoming the rush and hurry of devotion moves your thoughts into places that you would not normally be able to go.  That is why I know that the messages that I preach weekly make their most impact when they are “crock-pot” fare versus quick, grab it as you can “microwave” pabulum.

-We all come from Adam no matter what evolutionists and scientists might imply.  We were also created in the image of God. 

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 3, Day 2

Thanks to all who have sent e-mails and other social media messages that have encouraged me that this is helping.  As always, I think that what John Wesley wrote in one of his journals more than a hundred years ago about how that spiritual growth and reading the Bible and devotional material were very closely linked.  Frequently I give great consideration to the blessing that we have for being able to read especially when the statistics note that the majority of the world’s population cannot read and are illiterate.  There is some benefit to writing down lists in your journal of the simple things in life that you can be thankful for.  Such as being able to read, clean water, antibiotics, a functioning city sewage system, a yard that needs mowing, glasses, peanut butter, and a bag of jalapeno flavored kettle chips.  Thank God that you are able to sit up and read a book late at night in a quiet den or living room on a sofa or easy chair.  Gratitude flows when you start writing down your blessings!  Paul encouraged us that in everything we are to give thanks (1 Thess. 5:18). 

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 2, Day 5

Week 2, Day 5 of Lord, Is It Warfare? opens up a huge and somewhat muddy theological answer that has been debated and argued for a long time perhaps even centuries.  The looming question is ‘did God create evil?’  Did he create the devil purposely to trip us up?  Did the devil have a free-will as man did?  Those types of questions can fit into the place that Paul told Timothy to avoid.  He told him that there are questions that simply create and “gender strifes” (2 Tim. 2:23) and he told him to avoid those kinds of things.  It has been my experience that oftentimes some of the foolishness in the name of “academics” that goes on in seminary classrooms do not strengthen faith in the Word or confidence in God.  So this is one of those sorts of questions.  I am aware of one thing in this matter; I have been filled with the Spirit. . . It empowers me. . . but I have an enemy who wants to destroy me!  That is the fact and there will be a struggle between good and evil until God intervenes. 

From the Scriptural passages the devotional brings out, it is noted in John 1:1-3, Nehemiah 9:5-6, and Colossians 1:15-16 that all things were created by God.  I made a connection by reading a little further over in John 3 that men choose darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.  Therefore I would come to a conclusion that at some point apparently the devil possessed a will that moved him toward the trap of pride and he attempted to exalt himself against God. 

The lesson that I need to take away from this would be the fact that I must live out Romans 6 and fight against the tendency for pride to consume me.  The only way to effectively live above and beyond this is for my life to have a complete dependence on the Spirit and walk out Romans 8 so that my mind is Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.  Pride in the heart of the devil is what led to him being expelled from heaven.  Remember that Jesus said it is not what is on the outside that soils a man’s life but rather the things that are stored in his heart (Mark 7:20-23). 

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 2, Day 3 & 4

I am again combining two days of Lord, Is It Warfare? because the length of Day 3 was comparatively short and I chose not to go down a rabbit trail although as you shall see, I did with Day 4.  Day 3 dealt with the Ezekiel 28 passage that describes a lamentation or a funeral dirge of sorts for the king of Tyre.  But as you look at the passage, there are a couple of observations about different words in verse 2 as compared to verse 12.  My primary translation for this devotional study has been the ESV. 

The word “prince” appears in 28:2 and comes from the Hebrew word, NAGID which has the connotation as a ruler, leader, prince, or a captain.  This position would be commonly for a leader in government, religion, or the military.  The word “king” is used in 28:12 which uses the Hebrew word, MELEK.  It is most commonly used for a man who is in a position of control of a city-state, small nation or government.    But there is a further idea that Ezekiel develops when he notes that it is speaking of a cherub.  This reduces the equation to the fact that this king of Tyre was a symbolic figure that could be the role of the devil.  This cherub would have been a dark angel or demon who was in charge of a group of angels.  This would define the role that the devil filled as we remember that Lucifer was one of the archangels.  At this point, the devotional encourages us to make the connection between the Garden of Eden as described in Genesis and the account that is given in Ezekiel 28.  I would think that we could see the very clear connection between the two especially when we look at the symbols and types that are used in other places in Scripture. 

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 2, Day 1

I am going into the second week of the study guide/devotional by Kay Arthur, Lord, Is It Warfare?  Today we come at the concept of spiritual warfare with a bit of a different angle.  The first emphasis that should garner our attention is Jesus Christ.  All spiritual warfare must began with the understanding that the devil has been defeated at Calvary and through the work of the Cross.  The enemy has been defeated at the present moment, he has been allowed to operate on the earth until his appointed time of judgment.  Since one of the primary themes of Ephesians deals with this matter of spiritual warfare, it is clear that Paul came to some conclusions when he wrote Ephesians 1:15-23, in fact there are three truths to understand:

1.      1:18—There is a hope to which we have been called.  That hope helps us to understand that there is a point in the future of which we will have rest from the attack of the enemy.

2.      1:18—The riches of this inheritance or position has been given to us and is clear through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

3.      1:19—There is an immeasurable power given to the saint of God through the resurrection.

Jesus Christ is in a heavenly place.  He has all power, authority, dominion, and rule over the dark world of evil.  However, if this is the case then why is there a conflict that a born-again man has to contend with?  If the Lord has all the power in the in this world and the one we cannot see, then why the seeming triumph of evil right now?  Those are valid questions to consider.  These questions fall into a category called theodicy which basically is an understanding of why God allows evil to exist in our world.  Volumes and volumes have been written on this subject and there is no way to give an explanation in this very brief blog post.  It is perhaps a rabbit trail for another day.

Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 1, Day 1

One of the top ten books for me in the honorable mention category from last year was KayArthur’s book, Lord, Is It Warfare?  I did use it in some of my own personal devotions but as I worked through it, I discovered that as a pastor, this book was a launching pad of sorts to go beyond the exercises that had been given in the book.  Therefore, over the next several weeks, I have intentions of putting some of my scribblings from the book margins and from my own personal journals that I composed.  Obviously the study guide has some areas of personal reflection and evaluation that I will leave out for understandable reasons.  I would encourage you if you are a regular reader of this blog to take some time to consider what will be covered.  Also I would greatly encourage you to get the book, get a journal, and get a pen and write.  For me, it ended up being about an hour time allotment but it will become one of the most eye-opening hours that you will spend during that day.    

Spiritual warfare can be a slippery path that can lean toward fanaticism or formalism.  At the end of the day what we must take into consideration is what Scripture clearly and accurately addresses in this area.  If you have been in Pentecostal circles for any length of time, you have probably heard some very fanciful stories relating to this subject.  I am in that camp!  I have heard some of the most far-fetched stories that as the years have rolled on, I have dismissed them as pure imagination of the teller who had a motive of self-aggrandizement mixed with too much exposure to Hollywood.  On the other hand, because my father-in-law has been a district global missions director for over 30 years, my exposure to missionaries has probably been much higher than that of the average pastor.  Friends, neighbors and all ya’ll in between, when a missionary comes to town, the vast majority of them can tell you some very clear and accurate things concerning the dark side of the spiritual battle.  I would encourage you to spend time with these men and women and listen to what they have to say. 

Top Ten Books of 2013 - #1 - Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy - Steve Gallagher

I come to this last best book slot, being #1, of the books I read in 2013 and have found again it to be a very provoking book.  I have gone back and scanned through and reviewed much of what I wrote in it back in January 2013.  I purchased the book in December 2012 primarily on author recognition.  I read a previous book by Steve Gallagher entitled Intoxicatedwith Babylon and found it to be a very good book.  I guessed that would have a pretty good idea of the content that Gallagher would take up with this book Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy.  This is another book that falls into the category of our personal need for revival and a reawakening of the church to its true purpose.  As I mentioned in a previous post, books on revival and a true need for true repentance and godly conversion was what I spent the most time with last year.     

As a pastor, I often have to deal with very ambivalent emotions concerning the state of the church both locally and nationally.  There are times that I feel the great lift of faith to believe that there is an ardent devotion to the Lord and to His Word among those who follow the Lord.  There are other times when I find myself going into a tailspin at the shallow, uncommitted state that we slop around in.  Perhaps nothing like social media reveals the true nature and direction of where and what we are heading toward.  Jesus noted that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and I think with our modern technological wizardry that now we can discover that the abundance of the heart is revealed through what the keyboard types, what the tweets reveal, and what the Instagram pics expose.  All of this social media exposure can be terribly disheartening when you began to understand the relentless onslaught of the world, the flesh, and the devil on the church.  Visit the profile pages of those who populate Facebook and you see many people who are so immersed in the entertainment venues of Hollywood, the music of Nashville, the insatiable appetite for the fads of Fifth Avenue, and all sorts of troubling distractions that you wonder if there is any hunger for God at all.  Some of what Gallagher addresses in the book relates to this.

Top Ten Books of 2013 - #2 - The Church Awakening - Charles Swindoll

We are at the number two spot in my book reviews of the best books that I read in 2013.  This book is one that published in 2010 and I got around to working with it in 2013.  Chuck Swindoll has been around for a long time and the majority of his books are primarily devotional in nature and it is rare that he would take on a subject like this concerning the need for revival in the church. 

I noticed something about my reading patterns in 2013 and that they were mostly concerned with personal revival and corporate revival among the church.  Anyone who is involved in ministry has to understand the reality that when a church is in a state of revival and devotion that things in churches go much smoother.  Churches that aren’t experiencing a climate of revival often turn inward and over the course of time will ultimately die.  We cannot afford for the local church to collapse even though it is under a very heavy attack both socially and spiritually in our day.  On the other hand, it is clear that when a church has well-defined boundaries and encourages its members to have a high input that the Lord can do great things with it. 

Author:  Charles Swindoll

Title:  The Church Awakening—An Urgent Call forRenewal

Publisher:  Faith Words, 2010

Top Ten Books of 2013--#4 - Follow Me - David Platt

The book coming in at #4 was another one of the $5 books that I purchased at Family Christian back in April.  I love books and I especially love good deals on books.  Since I had previously read David Platt’s book Radical and was very challenged by it, I thought this book would probably do the same thing.  It often does us well to remember the old statement, “You are who you will be now in five years except for the books you read and the people you meet.”  The older that you get and the longer the tenure in ministry there can be a tendency to just settle in and put things on cruise control and just enjoy life.  My brothers, we ought to push against this kind of attitude!  We are here for a purpose and that is to extend the kingdom of God. David Platt’s books can make those who are in cruise control become uncomfortable and even defensive.  That is why we need books like this! 

Platt has a unique way of grabbing you by the throat in the very outset of his books.  He did this in Radical with his account of preaching overseas and they kept asking him to preach to them even when he had gone through his forty-minute little set of notes.  Finally he just opens the Bible and starts working through it.  The outcome was a four hour sermon to these people who were meeting secretly.  He uses the same method in Follow Me.  He opens the book with a story about a Muslim who converted to Christianity and the jeopardy it put her life in because of her conversion.             

Top Ten Books of 2013--# 7--gods At War--Kyle Idleman

Coming in at # 7 is another one of the $5 books that I picked up at Family Christian during our District Board meetings in April 2013.  This is another book written by Kyle Idleman called gods At War.  This book is very similar to a book written by Bob Hostetler entitled American Idols both of which focus in on cultural and societal issues that are facing the American church. 

Both of the KI books are quick reads.  What I mean by that is he writes in such a way that you can move through them fairly rapidly without having to do a lot of stopping, writing, and pondering.  As far as reading goes, I have come to believe that we need to have various streams of depth with our reading.  We should read books such as these that don’t take a lot of thought but they still pack a punch.  Obviously these kinds of books provide various sermon illustrations that will sting when you use them.  On the other hand, I believe that we ought to give our time and attention to reading books that require pausing and thinking and even perhaps writing in a journal/notebook.  Books that would fall into this category are going to be systematic theologies, doctrinal works, and Christian biography.      

Author:  Kyle Idleman

Title:  gods At War

Publisher:  Zondervan, 2013

A Battle with the Superficial

A recent conversation with an evangelist friend of mine has left me greatly grieved at the state of the American church.  So harrowing was his account that last evening I was troubled to an extent that it gave me a bit of insomnia.  He opened up his soul to me as he told me of the superficial spirituality that marks many of our churches these days.  This superficiality is marked with a “hurry up and let’s get this over with” mentality.  Worship is rushed and has little depth because of the desire to hurry and get to the next thing.  There is pressure to hurry and get to the restaurants, the game on television, the shopping excursion or some other endeavor that seeks to satiate the entertainment factor in our soul.

I was appalled when he told me that several of the churches he went to, pastors had informed him before he ever started to preach that they did not care for any sermons on hell, judgment, or any kind of conviction.  One pastor gave the recommendation that he ought to read three or four Scriptures and tell four or five stories and then conclude the sermon.  Another place he went to, he found out that the pastor was opposed to altar services that brought people to the “mourner’s bench” and was marked by tears and confession of sin.  He was told that the people needed to be given a “joyful” and “exciting” worship experience so that they could go home “happy.”  Music has also become a bit of a beast in that he noted that at multiple places, the music would get people whipped into a superficial, psychological frenzy.  The music would go on for a lengthy period of time and the preaching of the Word would be limited to a fifteen to twenty minute time slot. 

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 2 Ken Raggio, Long Winding Road

This book comes in at the Number 2 spot of the books that I read in 2012.  I have known Ken Raggio for close to 20 years now.  My first interaction with him was when we were both on the working staff at the Alabama Crusader Camp many summers ago.  We would sit up long after all the kids had been secured for the night and talk about the Bible, preaching, and various other aspects of the ministry.  Some aspects of this book, I already knew because of our past conversations. 

I would also add that his wife, Dixie, who passed away in 2003 after a prolonged battle with cancer, was one of the noblest Christians that I have ever met.  I don’t know of any lady whose Bible was as well-used as hers was.  When I would go preach in Birmingham, the Saturday nights would often be spent at their kitchen table with Bibles open and discussion would be long into the night.  It was there that I was exposed to her Thompson Chain Reference that had multiple notes in the margins and so forth.    

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 3 David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

This book was one that I read because of several favorable book reviews that were generated from several blogs that I read.  Although I actually read it a couple of years after its initial release (2010) and it is a book that stretches you out of your comfort zone.    

Author:  David Platt

Title:  Radical:  Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Publisher:  Harper One, 2011.

One of the reasons that this book resonated with me was because of another book that I ran across several years ago by Randy Alcorn (SafelyHome).  It was then that I first became acquainted with the house church movement that have become prevalent in countries where there is very limited if any freedom of religion.  They go to great measures often in fear of punishment and incarceration to get to church.  When they get there it is a very subdued and quiet environment because of the fear of discovery. 

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 5 William Greenhill, Stop Loving the World

Moving along to the fifth best book that I read in 2012 is one that is short (73 pgs.) but packs an incredible wallop.  I am certain that the title probably stimulates a strong response that is either positive or negative.  It also is curious to note that this is a single sermon that Greenhill preached to his church.  Speaking of long sermons, this is one.  I doubt Joel Osteen will be preaching anything remotely related to this theme in 2013.  However, we who serve as pastors owe it to ourselves and to those who hear us to preach this kind of content.  I am reminded of what Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Tim. 4:16) and it is sharpened by the Amplified Version:

Look well to yourself (to your own personality), and to [your] teaching; persevere in these things—hold to them; for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 

Author:  William Greenhill

Title:  Stop Loving theWorld

Publisher:  Reformation Heritage Books, 2011.

Top Ten Books of 2012. . . # 8 A. W. Tozer, The Dangers of a Shallow Faith

I am continuing along with the top ten books that I read in 2012.  I purchased this book and several others in this series because of my past familiarity with the writings of A. W. Tozer.  His books are geared toward personal consecration, worship, and with a deep opposition to lukewarmness.    

Author:  A. W. Tozer (Compiled by James L. Snyder).

Title:  The Dangers of aShallow Faith

Publisher:  Regal, 2012.

The book itself is the work of A. W. Tozer but James Snyder was instrumental in compiling some of Tozer’s work after his death.  This book comes from a series of messages that Tozer preached in response to critical developments that he saw within the church.  Perhaps the primary theme of this book is the idea that the world is too much with the church.  He noted that the church is so intertwined with the world that instead of appearing as two, they really are one. 

The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vine - Part 7

Song of Solomon 2:15 KJV  Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

SPIRITUAL APATHY

General Quotes

Anonymous—Apathy is the glove in which evil slips its hand.

Elie Wiesel—The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference and the opposite of life is not death, its indifference.

Martin Niemoller—First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

G. Bowes—One apathetic Christian may do untold harm to a whole church.  Pour a quantity of cool water into a pot that has boiling water and immediately the temperature change of the whole will sink.  Just so the contact of men who are indifferent with those who are fervent, deadens their fervor, and tends to reduce them to the same apathy.

Where Does It Start?   

Another of the little foxes that can spoil the vine is spiritual apathy.  We are all susceptible to this creeping little monster and if it moves into our lives it can be quite destructive.  In fact, if spiritual apathy ever gains a foothold it can spawn multiple other terrible conditions that greatly hinder the vineyard of our soul, our family, and our church.  Spiritual apathy allows our spiritual battles to almost eat us alive.  It opens us up to great feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated.  Spiritual apathy causes us to coast and lean more on natural abilities instead of leaning on the provision of God. 

Spiritual apathy often starts in a subtle manner.  We are converted and it seems like we cannot get enough of the Word, positive spiritual fellowship, and corporate worship at church.  Our life seems to revolve around God and His house.  Our priorities are set according to spiritual events so that growth can take place.  Just being involved with the things of God creates a faithfulness, strength, and passion that open doors to a great walk with God.  We feel the joy of spiritual growth and can sense that the sky is the limit with what God wants to do with us. 

The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vine - Part 6

                

Thirty Sins of the Tongue to Avoid

As a conclusion to this part about the little fox of sinful speech, I discovered the old Puritan Richard Baxter wrote a book that was primarily intended for the people in the church he pastored in Kidderminster in the 1600’s.  He called it A Christian Directory and he noted that there were thirty sins of the tongue to avoid.

Understand and remember what the sins of the tongue to be avoided are.   And they are very many, and many of them very great: the most observable are these:

1. The first among all sins of commission is that of blasphemy, which is the reproaching of God: to speak contemptuously of God, or to vilify him, or dishonor him, by the denying of his perfections, and to debase him, by false titles, doctrines, images, resemblances, as likening him to man in any of our imperfections; anything that is a reproaching of God is blasphemy.

2. Another sin of the tongue is, false doctrine, or teaching things false and dangerous as from God. If any falsely say, he had such or such a point by divine inspiration, vision, or revelation, that makes him a false prophet. But if he only says falsely, that this or that doctrine is contained in the Scripture, or delivered by tradition to the church, this is but to be a false teacher.

3. Another of the sins of the tongue is, an opposing of godliness indirectly, by false application of true doctrine, and an opposing of godly persons for the sake of godliness, and objecting for no good reason against particular truths and duties of religion; or defending those points and practices which would subvert or undermine religion: a secret endeavor to make all serious godliness seem a needless thing. There are many that seem orthodox, that are impious and malicious opposers of that truth in the application, which themselves do notionally hold, and positively profess.

4. Another great sin of the tongue is, the profane deriding of serious godliness, and the mocking, and jesting, and scorning at godly persons as such; or scorning at some of their real or supposed imperfections, for their piety sake, to make them odious, that piety through them might be made odious. When men so speak, that the drift and tendency of their speech is to draw men to a dislike of truth or holiness.

5. Another great sin of the tongue is, unjustly to forbid Christ’s ministers to preach his gospel, or speak in his name; or to stand up against them and contradict, resist, and hinder them in the preaching of the truth; and, as Gamaliel calls it, ” to fight against God,” Acts 5:39.

6. Another sin of the tongue is, profane swearing, either by God or by creatures: and also all light and irreverent use of the name and attributes of God.

7. Much more is perjury or forswearing a most heinous sin, it being an appealing to God, the author and defender of truth, to bear witness to an untruth, and to judge the offender; and so a craving of vengeance from God.

8. Lying also is a great and common sin of the tongue.

9. Another sin of the tongue is, hypocritical dissembling, which is worse than mere lying: when men’s tongues agree not with their hearts, but speak good words in prayer to God, or conference with men, to cover evil intentions or affections, and to represent themselves to the hearers as better than they are.

10. Another is, ostentation or proud boasting, either of men’s wit and learning, or greatness, or riches, or honor, or strength, or beauty, or parts, or piety, or anything that men are  proud of.’ As the faithful “do make their boast in God,” Ps. 34:2; so the “workers of iniquity boast themselves against the righteous, and the proud do triumph and speak hard things,” Ps. 44:2-4. “Even against the Lord,” do they boast, in their boasting against his people, Ezek. 35:13.

11. Another sin of the tongue is, unseasonable speaking of common things when holy things should be preferred; as on the Lord’s day, or at the time of public worship, or when the company, occasion, or opportunity call for holy speeches: worldlings are talking, as Saul, of their asses, when they should talk of a kingdom, 1 Sam. 9:10.

12. Another common sin of the tongue is, a tempting and persuading others to sin, enticing them to gluttony, drunkenness, wantonness, fornication, or any other crime; as men that ”not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them,” Rom. 1:32.

13. Another is, a carnal manner of handling the sacred things of God, as when it is done with lightness, or with unsuitable curiosity of words, or in a ludicrous, playful manner, especially by the preachers of the gospel themselves; and not with a style that is grave and serious, agreeable to the weight and majesty of the truth.

14. Another is, an imprudent, rash, and slovenly handling of holy things; when they are spoken of so ignorantly, unskillfully, disorderly, or passionately, tending to dishonor them, and frustrate the desired good success.

15. Another sin of the tongue is, the reviling or dishonoring of superiors; when children speak irreverently and dishonorably to or of their parents; or subjects of their governors; or servants of their masters, either to their faces, or behind their backs. “They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities”’ 2 Pet. 2:10; Jude 8.

16. Another is, the imperious contempt of inferiors, insulting over them, provoking and discouraging them. Eph. vi. 4, “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.”

17. Another sin of the tongue is, idle talk and multitude of useless words; a babbling loquacity, or unprofitableness of speech; which is speech that does not edify.

18. Another sin is, foolish talk, or jesting in levity and folly, which tends to possess the minds of the hearers “with a disposition of levity and folly like the speakers. Eph. 5:4, “Foolish talking and jesting are things not convenient.” Honest mirth is lawful; and that is the best which is most sanctified, as being from a holy principle, and about a holy matter, or to a holy end: as “rejoicing in the Lord always,” Phil. iv. 4. ” If any be merry let him sing psalms,” James v. 13.

19. Another sin is, “filthy speaking, “Eph. 5:4; obscene and ribald talk; which the apostle calls “corrupt or rotten communication,” Eph. 4:29; when wanton, filthy minds do make themselves merry with wanton, filthy speeches. This is the devil’s preparative to whoredom and all abominable uncleanness; for when the tongue is first taught to make a sport of such filthy sins, and the ear to be delighted in it, or be indifferent to it, there remains but a small step to actual filthiness.

20. Another sin of the tongue is, cursing; when men wish some mischief causelessly or unwarrantably to others. If you speak but in passion or jest, and desire not to them in your hearts the hurt which you name, it is nevertheless a sin of the tongue, as it is to speak blasphemy or treason in a passion or in jest; the tongue must be ruled as well as the heart. But if really you desire the hurt which you wish them, it is so much the worse. But it is worst of all, when passionate, factious men will turn their very prayers into cursings, calling for fire from heaven, and praying for other men’s destruction or hurt; and pretending Scripture examples for it; as if they might do it unwarrantably, which others have done in other cases in a warrantable manner.

21. Slandering is another sin of the tongue; when out of malice and ill will, men speak evil falsely of others to make them odious or do them hurt: or else through uncharitable credulity, do easily believe a false report, and so report it again to others; or through rashness and unruliness of tongue, divulge it, before they try it, or receive either just proof, or any warrantable call to mention it.

22. Another sin is, backbiting and venting ill reports behind men’s backs, without any warrant. Be the matter true or false, as long as you either know it not to be true, or if you do, yet vent it to make the person less respected, or at least without a sufficient cause, it is a sin against God, and a wrong to men.

23. Another sin is, rash censuring, when you speak that evil of another, which you have but an uncharitable surmise of; and take that to be probable which is but possible, or that to be certain which is but probable against another.

24. Another sin is, railing, reviling, or passionate, provoking words, which tend to the diminution of charity, and the breach of peace, and the stirring up of discord, and of a return of railing words from others, contrary to the love, and patience, and meekness, and gentleness which become saints.

25. Another sin is, cheating, deceiving, overreaching words; when men use their tongues to defraud their neighbors, in bargaining for their own gain.

26. Another sin of the tongue is, false witness bearing, and false accusing; a sin which cries to God for vengeance, who is the justifier of the innocent.

27. Another sin of the tongue is, the passing an unrighteous sentence in judgment: when rulers absolve the guilty or condemn the just, and call evil good and good evil, and say to the righteous, “Thou art wicked,” Prov. xxiv. 24.

28. Another sin of the tongue is, flattery; which is the more heinous by how much more hurtful. And it is most hurtful, 1. When it tendeth to delude men in the greatest things, even the state of their souls. 2. Flattering is pernicious when it tendeth to the hurt of many; as when rulers are deceived and perverted by it to the destruction of the people and themselves.’ Prov. 26:28, “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.” See 1 Thess. 2:5; Ezek. 12:24; Ps. 12: 2-3.

29. Another sin is, a jeering, mocking, deriding, or scorning at others, either for their infirmities of body or mind, or for their virtues, or through envy and malice, or pride, or a custom of deriding, scornful speech. Especially when sinners scorn at the reproofs and counsels of the godly, and cast them all back into their faces with contempt; for he that “reproveth a scorner getteth himself a blot,” Prov. 9:7-8- “A scorner loveth not one that reproveth,” Prov. 15:12.

30. Another tongue sin is, idolatry or false worship; the praise of idols, or praying to them, or making songs, or speeches, or disputes for them; as also the false worship of the true God. These among others are the sins of the tongue to be avoided. No wonder if there be yet more, for the ” tongue is a world of iniquity,” James 3:6.