Morning journal and courier., 1884-03-17
First M. E. Church.

the COurse-Subject. "Ad1e WOrds
 At the First M E. church last evening Rev. 0. H. Buck preashed on ''Idle Words. " He took for his text the 36th verse of the 12th chapter of Matthew. s'But I say unto you
 that every idle word that men shall speak
 they shall give account thereof in the day of
 judgment
 The Bible, said MT. Buck, not only recog-
 nizes, but seeks to control the strange, mighty
 power of the tongue It's precepts concern
 ing it's use are frequent and pointed. Of
 the ten mandates of the decalogue two
 have reference to words. David enjoins
 us to tskesp the tongue from evil
 and the lips from speaking guile.''
 Solomon says, "Whso keepeth his mouth and
 his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles'
 Paul says, "Let no corrupt communication
 proceed out of your mouth." James speaks
 of the perverse tongue as "fire, :" ''a world
 of iniquity,' an unruly evil s'full of
 deadly poison.'' A greater than all these
 declared t'every idle word that men shall
 speak, they shall give account thereof in the
 day of judgment" What are idle words?
 The literal meaning of the word translated
 idle is not working. It must refer. then, to
 words that are useless, that subserve none of
 the purposes for which words should be
 used. Those purposes may be said to be
 fourfold. First, to praise and glorify God.
 'sTherewith bless we God, even the fathea. "
 2. To disseminate ideas. He who conveys 9 noble truth to another, or imparts useful knowledge, fullflls one of the objects of lan- gusge.
 B. To carry on the business of life. Life
 would be at a standstilI without words. So- ciety could not exist and civilization would
 be destroyed.
 4. To give innocent amusement and rec- reation. Words are the instruments of refreshment as we'll as of instruction, of recreation as well as of business. By spright- ly repartee, playful humor and sparkling wit "a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend;" refreshes his mind and gives buo- ancy to his spirits. The words then which do not subserve any wise purpose; do not moral improvement, to the prosecution of necessary business, or to innocent amuse- ment are idle words.
 Unkind words are idle words. Kind words give hope and gladness, but words of malice,
 sarcasm and ridicule give pain. They hurt hearts. They are contrary to the spirit of Christ and the law of Christian love. All
 false words are idle words. Lying words are an abomination to the Lord" The law against lying is violated In many ways. So-
 cial life is full of falsities. Men who abhor
 bold, open lie are frequently untruthful and insincere. By hollow fatteries and false compliments they are guilty of falsehood. False words are sometimes spoken in the
 church. Even professedIy good men some times pretend to be better than they really are. If a man were to stand in public place and boast that he was worth one han dred thousand dollars when he was not worth ten cents he would be called liar. What shall ~A nf nf okko ments in Christian character which he doeg not possess? On the other hand there are those who use much self-depreciating cants They pretend to be wiser than they are and confess themselves to be miserable sin ners' to get credit for humility. Such con- fessions are insincere and all insincerity
 whether in parlor or church is false- hood.
 Profane words are idle words Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God l in vain'. This command is violated not only by ill bred people who use coarse profanity, but by all who interlard their conversation with foolish irreverent exclamations. Many who would not swear by the name of Jeho- yah will swear by Jupiter. There are also some good people who are guilty of flip pant profanity. They will not deliberately swear like common rowdies, but they will tell anecdotes, the point of which is their irrev- erence and interlarded oaths. To amuse they will irreverently use the ineffabie name In no connection and under no circumstances is that name fit subject for testing. Jocose allusions to Gods words, all wit ticisms on it's language are .profane. They may make laugh, yes, but what is 8 laugh when you think that your wittiscism has debased heavenly truth irrevocably connected holy passage with ir- reverent associations and thus robbed it of its sanctity and spiritual power. Spare that witticisn it is profanity of the worst kind Impure words idle words. Immodest stories, obscene inuendos, filthy jssts are of- fensive to all goodness. The dialect of i'm purity the dialect of hell. Slanderous words are idle words. There are persons who would not for the world steal dollar, who will by detractive islander rob 8 man of what is more precious than dollars, peace and good name. Some never islander in a
 brave, open way. They will 'fcut mems
 throats by whisperings." They will murder by insinuations. Such words are harmful
 harmful to those who utter them and to those who hear. They have a tremendous
 influence. They have wrought more evil than plague or battle They are a moral pestilence they tain. the souls of men with the venom of death. They will condemn at the judgment of the last day. Every word that drops from your lips sounds on forever It echoes from the dome of heaven. It has
 in it for you life or death. It sends it's lines of influence on to the decisions of the eter- nal judgment. 'By thy words shalt thou be
 justified and by thy words shalt thou be con- demned."