Give me a pure tongue!

Photo by William Murphy, some rights reserved

No description of a man’s character can be perfect which does not include his speech. A man who lies, or who talks obscenely or profanely, is a bad man! A man whose words are arrogant and boastful, cruel and slanderous, unreliable and deceptive, unchaste and impure, is no child of God. The grace of God very speedily sweetens a man’s tongue, and if his religion does not operate upon his speech surely it is not the religion of the pure and holy God.

“By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” If the tongue be set on fire of hell the heart is not on fire with grace from heaven. The doctor says, “Put out your tongue,” and he judges the symptoms of health or disease thereby; assuredly, there is no better test of the inward character than the condition of the tongue. “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee” is a fair decision. If, then, our lips do not speak uprightly, that is, speak truthfully and justly, if our tongue is not salted and sanctified by the grace of God, then we cannot claim any of the privileges which are described in our text. God grant that we may prove by our conversation that the Lord has reweaved us in our inner man.

From a sermon entitled "The Rocky Fortress and Its Inhabitant," delivered February 3, 1884.