Filthy Talk

Filthy talk is the pollution from a mind on fire. It's the foul aroma of the incense of decaying thoughts. Gehenna was the dump in Jerusalem where the garbage was burned. The aroma of that filth was putrid.  Filthy talk is the second-hand smoke of those whose minds process garbage! Gehenna still is symbolic of hell - disregarding the heresies taught by Universalists and Witnesses. The filthy minds are the minds of the sons of perdition, and likewise the daughters.

2 Thessalonians 17:12 refers to the coming of "the son of perdition". Perdition means "utter destruction", and is a obvious synonym for hell. The son of perdition would be Satan himself, but since he is the father of sinners, the unrighteous are sons of perdition -  or if you prefer, children of hell!

Filthy talk is an outward manifestation of an inner condition. Before the inner corruption can be corrected, the outer expression of it must be reigned in! Sure, filthy talk is a remnant of the flesh, but it's a metric which makes one wonder if the changed person actually exists. Being born-again is the sacrifice the former self to god, and transforming into a new you - cleansed and acceptable to God. The newborn person is to be the most robust and healthy of the flock, and if we present a dirty sheep to God as we purport to sacrifice ourselves, He's insulted by the inferior sacrifice. In effect, those born-again whose sacrifice is minimal are symbolic Cain's, and they are driven far away from the Garden.

Colossians 3:8 "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

Filthy communication is the smoke of Gehenna. It's aroma poisons the atmosphere of love where Christians are to abide. Rather than abiding in the kingdom of God, those with filthy talk are much more like the garbage trucks which bring their odor to otherwise clean communities!

The easy commands are those which are require outward obedience. It's actually easy to have clean communication compared to loving one's enemies! If we're not clean on the outside, how could we possibly be on the inside?

Communication is brought to you by the tongue, among other members.

Romans 3:12 "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:"

If it was just the tongue the offense would not be as great, but the master of the tongue is the mind! It only obeys what the heart tells it. When filth is spoken, it is a choice -  the mind chooses to speak evil rather than goodness. Since God is good and Satan is evil, filthy talk is at the command of Satan's angels -  it's doing thy will, not God's will, because filthy talkers are sons of perdition.

We all have filthy thoughts which cross or minds. Don't even deny it. The media and the world places those thoughts there. However, it is by our own volition that we turn thoughts into words or even actions. Our tongues are obedient servants -  they do exactly what the mind wills them to do!

Asps are vipers whose venom is poisonous. They are the snake-god of Egypt which always represent sin in scripture.  Think of the tongue as that viper which has the power to kill! Unfortunately, a filthy tongue only maims others but can be deadly to those whose venom is filth!

With the same tongue men both curse and praise God. Filthy lucre are the words Paul used to describe an unclean tongue. Lucre means distasteful, and it is not only filth which comes from speaking, but irreverence! 

In a church I visited this week, I saw hands held high and words of praise. The tongue did good right then, but preceding the praise was an exclamation of God's name in vain by one. Sure, it was thoughtless, but that's what vanity is! Those who casually disrespect God without aforethought aren't thinking of God. Remember your tongue as you praise God. Does it need washed before it offers praises? Praise is the offering of sacrifice - it's ourselves. That sacrifice must be holy and acceptable to the Lord. Christians who sin must have their sheep washed before it's presented to God. God does the washing with repentance, but we must present the sheep to God.

God helped me with my own tongue. He can help with yours as well. I depend on him to continually circumcise my heart but my tongue as been offered to his divine blade. If our hearts are pure, so will be our mouths!

I confess that I need divine help with off-color stories at time - even innuendo, and they are the same as off-color words, even though filthy words are not used in those stories. Sin is forgiven it forgiveness is sought. We must be willing to seek change. I am willing to do that -  my spirit is, but my flesh is weak. Rather than depend on the self (our flesh), it is on God who has the power to change. I must use the same metric on myself as I do others. That I am willing to do!