| FEATURE ARTICLE |
| A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS! |
| By Matt Ravenhouk |
One of the very first warning signs that a civilization is about to self-destruct, is the debasement of the language used in general
conversation. When the verbal quality of our conversation declines, so also does politeness, courtesy, and moral conduct. The way we
speak to each other is a clear indication of our attitudes toward other people. Jesus stated that to be the case.
"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh." (Matthew 12:34}
Jesus stated in the 24th chapter of Matthew's Gospel that the prevailing conditions in the society of the last days before his return, would
be just as it was in the days of Noah. During those days before the great flood, the Word of God says that the innermost thoughts and
imaginations of man's heart was only evil continually.
"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually.
And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." (Genesis 6:5-6)
Things were so bad during the days of Noah, that God actually was sorry that he had ever created man. It takes an awful lot of
wickedness to grieve Our Creator to the point that he regrets the fact that we were ever born. God is longsuffering, and abounding in
mercy, but there is a limit to his patience. He stated that to be true in that same passage from Genesis, chapter 6:
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man...." (V. 3)
And we who are alive today have pushed God to the limit. The evidence of that fact is revealed in our conversation. Every other word out
of our mouths is a reference to murder, excrement, blasphemy, or sodomy. When an athlete vanquishes his opponent, we say that he killed
him. When we are surprised or shocked, most likely the first words out of our mouths will be Oh S---! or Holy F---!
When we disagree with someone, or if he cuts us off on the freeway, we say F--- You, which is another way of saying "I'm going to
sodomize you!" When we refer to an object, we don't refer to it as that thing, but as that f---ing thing! Someone whom we dislike is not
referred to as a son of belial, but as the son of a female dog, or even worse, one who has sex with his mother. Our attitudes toward God is
revealed in the way we use his Name, and the Name of Jesus as curses, with no fear of God before our eyes.
Our conversation is altogether filthy, and it reflects the condition of our hearts and minds. Our hearts and minds have become decadent,
degenerate, and in many cases altogether reprobate. God is not going to put up with our wickedness much longer. If we do not repent, and
cleanse ourselves from our iniquities, God will destroy us --- And rightly so!
When this writer was a young man, forty or fifty years ago, even the saloons and restaurants of the sleaziest parts of the city had signs
prohibiting the use of profanity. One did not use profanity in the presence of women, and if a slip of the tongue occurred, the speaker was
quick to apologize. The F-word was never used when women were present. If the F-word was used in mixed company, the other men
present would jump all over the offender --- even to the point of physical violence. If the cops were nearby and heard the offending word,
they would haul his carcase off to the judge, who would levy a fine against him. But that all changed around 1966. The sexual revolution of
that era produced the acceptance of foul language in public, as an indication of sincerity on the part of the speaker. What a misdiagnosed
irony that was! No one noticed that the speaker was sincerely wicked! The youths of that generation corrupted the girls, and soon even 11
and 12 year old girls were using the F-word in general conversation: And it remains the case to this very day. Nowadays even executives
and motivational speakers in corporate board rooms use the foulest of language in their prepared speeches. We wonder just what it is that
they are trying to motivate their listeners to do?
The condition whereby this society is defined also existed in ancient Israel during the time of Isaiah the prophet. Even the priests and
prophets of God had corrupted their speech after the manner of the general public. Isaiah became painfully aware of that deplorable
condition when he had a vision of God:
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man,
and the land be utterly desolate," (Isaiah 6:1,5-11)
Before Isaiah could go and preach the Word of God, he had to be purged of his unclean speech. We who live in this day and age, and
call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ are faced with the same dilemma. The apostle James addressed this very issue in the New
Testament epistle that bears his name:
"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.
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with
meekness of wisdom." (James 3:6-13)
We now live in an age where absolute truth has been replaced by Hindu-Buddhist relativism. Sexual promiscuity and perversion are not
only accepted, but actively encouraged in our classrooms. Murder is so commonplace that we hardly even notice it any more.
Gangbangers routinely shoot and stab people in public places and in broad daylight. People with grudges, real or imagined, routinely
shoot up college campuses and places of business, and then commit suicide. There is no fear of God before their eyes! The average
schoolboy or husband or mother now has the very real potential to become a mass murderer. Now they have to kill a whole bunch of
people, not just the one with whom they are angry. Someone in your class bullies you? Kill them all, and let God sort them out! Your wife is
having an affair? Kill her and all the kids, and maybe her parents too: Go out with "style!" You're having regrets about having children who
cramp your style? Drown them all in the bath tub, or strap them in the car seats and drive the car into the lake! End of problem!
All of these attitudes and imaginations of our hearts are reflected in our speech. If our young girls can use the F-word and be accepted,
then they can do the F-word and know that they will still be accepted. If we can threaten one another with violence and get away with it, then
we can go ahead and commit that act of violence, and be assured that we will be thought of as a hero. Those of us who land in jail and say
F--- you to another inmate, know that they can actually go ahead an f--- the other person, and be respected by their peers --- What absolute
insanity!
The Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man, who is mere flesh. He didn't allow such conduct to continue in the days of Noah, or in
the days of Lot in Sodom, neither will he allow this to continue in the present generation either. The apostle Peter warned us of that very
thing in his powerful epistle. Lot was a righteous man living among a people of unclean lips, and it vexed his soul every day. But the people
would not repent: They believed that God did not care what they said. Hear what the apostle Peter has to say on this matter.
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment;
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly;
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample
unto those that after should live ungodly;
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds;)
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be
punished:" (2 Peter 2:4-9)
The great and fearful Day of The Lord is close at hand. We who call ourselves worshippers of Jesus Christ are in dire need of
repentance, lest we be ashamed at Christ's coming. Now is the time to put our fleshy attitudes behind us. Forget the past, and press on to
the upward call of Christ. There's no excuse for ignorance: God's Word tells us plainly what we ought to do. Let's do it!
"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Colossians
4:5-6)
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29)
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in
purity." (1Timothy 4:12)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
(Colossians 3:16-17)
Now personally speaking, I cannot make our readers do anything that they do not want to do. But I know very well what I am going to do:
I am going to repent of my sin and clean up my speech, so that I do not have to be ashamed when I meet Jesus. My God be with you all,
and may none of our readers be ashamed in that Great and Fearful Day of the Lord: Amen.
conversation. When the verbal quality of our conversation declines, so also does politeness, courtesy, and moral conduct. The way we
speak to each other is a clear indication of our attitudes toward other people. Jesus stated that to be the case.
"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh." (Matthew 12:34}
Jesus stated in the 24th chapter of Matthew's Gospel that the prevailing conditions in the society of the last days before his return, would
be just as it was in the days of Noah. During those days before the great flood, the Word of God says that the innermost thoughts and
imaginations of man's heart was only evil continually.
"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually.
And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." (Genesis 6:5-6)
Things were so bad during the days of Noah, that God actually was sorry that he had ever created man. It takes an awful lot of
wickedness to grieve Our Creator to the point that he regrets the fact that we were ever born. God is longsuffering, and abounding in
mercy, but there is a limit to his patience. He stated that to be true in that same passage from Genesis, chapter 6:
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man...." (V. 3)
And we who are alive today have pushed God to the limit. The evidence of that fact is revealed in our conversation. Every other word out
of our mouths is a reference to murder, excrement, blasphemy, or sodomy. When an athlete vanquishes his opponent, we say that he killed
him. When we are surprised or shocked, most likely the first words out of our mouths will be Oh S---! or Holy F---!
When we disagree with someone, or if he cuts us off on the freeway, we say F--- You, which is another way of saying "I'm going to
sodomize you!" When we refer to an object, we don't refer to it as that thing, but as that f---ing thing! Someone whom we dislike is not
referred to as a son of belial, but as the son of a female dog, or even worse, one who has sex with his mother. Our attitudes toward God is
revealed in the way we use his Name, and the Name of Jesus as curses, with no fear of God before our eyes.
Our conversation is altogether filthy, and it reflects the condition of our hearts and minds. Our hearts and minds have become decadent,
degenerate, and in many cases altogether reprobate. God is not going to put up with our wickedness much longer. If we do not repent, and
cleanse ourselves from our iniquities, God will destroy us --- And rightly so!
When this writer was a young man, forty or fifty years ago, even the saloons and restaurants of the sleaziest parts of the city had signs
prohibiting the use of profanity. One did not use profanity in the presence of women, and if a slip of the tongue occurred, the speaker was
quick to apologize. The F-word was never used when women were present. If the F-word was used in mixed company, the other men
present would jump all over the offender --- even to the point of physical violence. If the cops were nearby and heard the offending word,
they would haul his carcase off to the judge, who would levy a fine against him. But that all changed around 1966. The sexual revolution of
that era produced the acceptance of foul language in public, as an indication of sincerity on the part of the speaker. What a misdiagnosed
irony that was! No one noticed that the speaker was sincerely wicked! The youths of that generation corrupted the girls, and soon even 11
and 12 year old girls were using the F-word in general conversation: And it remains the case to this very day. Nowadays even executives
and motivational speakers in corporate board rooms use the foulest of language in their prepared speeches. We wonder just what it is that
they are trying to motivate their listeners to do?
The condition whereby this society is defined also existed in ancient Israel during the time of Isaiah the prophet. Even the priests and
prophets of God had corrupted their speech after the manner of the general public. Isaiah became painfully aware of that deplorable
condition when he had a vision of God:
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man,
and the land be utterly desolate," (Isaiah 6:1,5-11)
Before Isaiah could go and preach the Word of God, he had to be purged of his unclean speech. We who live in this day and age, and
call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ are faced with the same dilemma. The apostle James addressed this very issue in the New
Testament epistle that bears his name:
"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.
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with
meekness of wisdom." (James 3:6-13)
We now live in an age where absolute truth has been replaced by Hindu-Buddhist relativism. Sexual promiscuity and perversion are not
only accepted, but actively encouraged in our classrooms. Murder is so commonplace that we hardly even notice it any more.
Gangbangers routinely shoot and stab people in public places and in broad daylight. People with grudges, real or imagined, routinely
shoot up college campuses and places of business, and then commit suicide. There is no fear of God before their eyes! The average
schoolboy or husband or mother now has the very real potential to become a mass murderer. Now they have to kill a whole bunch of
people, not just the one with whom they are angry. Someone in your class bullies you? Kill them all, and let God sort them out! Your wife is
having an affair? Kill her and all the kids, and maybe her parents too: Go out with "style!" You're having regrets about having children who
cramp your style? Drown them all in the bath tub, or strap them in the car seats and drive the car into the lake! End of problem!
All of these attitudes and imaginations of our hearts are reflected in our speech. If our young girls can use the F-word and be accepted,
then they can do the F-word and know that they will still be accepted. If we can threaten one another with violence and get away with it, then
we can go ahead and commit that act of violence, and be assured that we will be thought of as a hero. Those of us who land in jail and say
F--- you to another inmate, know that they can actually go ahead an f--- the other person, and be respected by their peers --- What absolute
insanity!
The Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man, who is mere flesh. He didn't allow such conduct to continue in the days of Noah, or in
the days of Lot in Sodom, neither will he allow this to continue in the present generation either. The apostle Peter warned us of that very
thing in his powerful epistle. Lot was a righteous man living among a people of unclean lips, and it vexed his soul every day. But the people
would not repent: They believed that God did not care what they said. Hear what the apostle Peter has to say on this matter.
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment;
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly;
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample
unto those that after should live ungodly;
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds;)
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be
punished:" (2 Peter 2:4-9)
The great and fearful Day of The Lord is close at hand. We who call ourselves worshippers of Jesus Christ are in dire need of
repentance, lest we be ashamed at Christ's coming. Now is the time to put our fleshy attitudes behind us. Forget the past, and press on to
the upward call of Christ. There's no excuse for ignorance: God's Word tells us plainly what we ought to do. Let's do it!
"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Colossians
4:5-6)
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29)
"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in
purity." (1Timothy 4:12)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
(Colossians 3:16-17)
Now personally speaking, I cannot make our readers do anything that they do not want to do. But I know very well what I am going to do:
I am going to repent of my sin and clean up my speech, so that I do not have to be ashamed when I meet Jesus. My God be with you all,
and may none of our readers be ashamed in that Great and Fearful Day of the Lord: Amen.