I am currently reading Thomas Watson’s The Great Gain of Godliness. He reasons for those in Christ to behave Godly in the midst of those who say “it is vain to serve God.” Chapter 7 talks about Godly speech.
He draws up indictments on 5 types pf people:
Such as are silent in matters of religion
Had they any love for God, or had they ever tasted how sweet the Lord is, their mouth would ‘talk of His righteousness’. Friends, what should concern us but salvation? What are the things of this world? They are neither real or lasting… Let this cause blushing among Christians, that their meetings are so unprofitable, because they leave God out of their discourse… Silence in religion is a loud sin!
Such as have idle, frothy discourse
If Christ should ask some today, as he did the two disciples going to Emmaus, what manner of communications they have as they walk, they could not answer as those did, ‘Concerning Jesus of Nazareth’.
Such as talks of nothing but the world
Such as talk to each other, but in a bad sense.
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- Hasty words
- Cursing in their anger
- Complaining and murmuring
- Filthy Language
- Swears and oaths
Such as speak to another in censuring and slander.
What then should we talk about?
- The promises of God
- The preciousness of Christ
- Sin
- Holiness
- Your souls
- Eternity
- The times
By the words we judge the heart. We will be accountable for our speech. Thomas points out that good discourse brings Christ into our company, while evil discourse brings Satan into our company. This chapter has been particularly convicting. Remember Christ and His afflictions, and honour him by Godly speaking.
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August 29, 2008 at 12:19 pm
jenna sais qua(nn)
These last two days I’ve been focusing on Ephesians 5:1-10. So this is very good to read. The part of the passage that gets me is the word “fitting”. If it doesn’t befit Christ, then it doesn’t befit us. What we speak is all about who we are… and oh how we need to change.