2. Ephesians 5:1-8

3. Matthew 12:32-37 We will account to God for every idle word we speak!
What we say will either justify or condemn us!
We will not be able to avoid facing our past!
God is omniscient!
Matthew 12:32-37

4. Must Show Respect & Reverence For God
He is Creator and Lord
Must speak of Him respectfully
Ought to hold God in awe
Must be on best behavior
Choose words carefully
Must Show Respect & Reverence For God

5. Disciples To Call God’s Name “Hallowed”
Matthew 6:9
“to hold something as holy, sacred, or revered.”
Israelites warned not to take God’s name in vain- Deuteronomy 5:11
Vain – “to make something useless, such as an idle remark, to bring to ruin.”
How often have you heard someone use God or Jesus’ name as an exclamation?
Are you careless with the name of God?

6. Leviticus 19:12 Do Not Profane the Name Of The Lord
Profane “to wound, defile, or pollute”
Have you hear people invoke name of God in a string of corrupt & disgusting words?
Have you hear God called upon in events that violate the will of God?
God’s name polluted when His people disobey His will- Ezekiel 36:20-23
When we call ourselves Christians & lie, cheat, steal we pollute the name of Christ!

7. CURSING
“to make light of something serious, to bring a serious matter into contempt, to show no respect, evil or wicked talk,”
Mouths full of cursing – Romans 3:14
Under O.T. law cursing mother or father punished by death- Mark 7:10
Solomon warned – Ecclesiastes 10:20
Peter cursed to “prove” he wasn’t a disciple – Matthew 26:73,74

8. CURSING
Consider when a person stubs toe on chair & mutters words condemning the chair to eternal punishment
Does a chair have a soul?
Is hell real?
Can a non-living object spend eternity in hell?
Do you desire to see anyone go to hell?
Doesn’t hell scare you?
“Oh, I didn’t really mean it.” That’s the point!

9. MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT INAPPROPRIATE TALK
1 Timothy 1:9
Profane – “to wound, to defile, or to pollute”
Ephesians 5:1-8 “not to be named”
How do we accomplish this?
Never leave impression we do these things or approve of them

10. MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT INAPPROPRIATE TALK
Filthiness – talk that is obscene or shameful
Foolish talk – talk that is absurd, stupid, or dull of wit
Coarse jesting – vulgar jokes, jokes where sexual matter are the punch line

11. MAYBE YOU’RE CONGRATULATING YOURSELF!
Many Christians engage in this type of language daily & never give it a thought!
“Euphemisms” – where garbage man is a “sanitation engineer”
Euphemisms – non-offending words that are used in substitution for bad words

12. WE MUST BRIDLE OUR TONGUE
James 1:26 NKJV 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.”
James 3:3-6 NKJV “… 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity… sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”
Colossians 4:6 NKJV 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.