The Sin of Profanity
E.A. Johnston passionately warns against the sin of profanity, emphasizing the biblical call to control our speech as a reflection of holiness and reverence for God.
In this topical sermon, E.A. Johnston addresses the pervasive sin of profanity in modern society and the church. Drawing from Scripture, he highlights the destructive power of the tongue and calls believers to holiness in their speech. Johnston challenges both the cultural acceptance of foul language and the church's failure to confront this sin, urging a return to biblical standards of communication.
Full Transcript
We are on our sermon series on sin, friends, and our subject today is the sin of profanity. I never forget the elder in the church who, when he was called upon to pray in the sanctuary, could pray with the lips of an angel. But when I visited him at his workplace, I wanted to put my thumbs in my ears because he used the most disgusting and offensive profanity every time he opened his mouth.
And I'll never forget the family who went to our church and who came over to our house for dinner one time and their little girl said the F word and their parents just seemed a little embarrassed and they laughed it off and they didn't even correct her because they spoke like that all the time in their house. So the little girl just picked it up. Swearing was not a big deal to them, but it was a big deal to me and I didn't want their potty-mouthed daughter corrupting my daughter.
The apostle James had dire warnings about the failure to control the tongue. He said, 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 a fire of hell for every kind of beast 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. I will stop there, friends. America has become a cussing, cursing, foul-mouthed nation of individuals who damn God and use the F-word every time they open their mouth.
Even the media today has slackened its moral restraints and will print news articles with the F-word running through it. It's like society has become an open sewer where profanity spills out naturally all over the land. That's how degenerate our society has become.
I was driving through a town in the state of Illinois and I had to stop to get gas. And at the gas station, every single person gassing up their vehicle was cussing and cursing and damning men and God with loud angry voices. I couldn't believe all the profanity.
I thought I'd entered the borders of hell. And I was hearing all this on a Sunday. And as I drove away, a woman in a van gave me the finger.
What's happened to the moral fabric of our society? Why is everybody so angry at one another? There's no moral compass anymore in the people or in the nation. But I don't blame the White House. And I don't blame the courthouse.
But I do blame the church house in their massive failure to preach against sin. The Word of God is clear on the sin of profanity. In Ephesians 4.29 we read, 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.
And in Colossians, Paul writes to let no filthy communication out of your mouth. Yet many deacons can't wait to corner you in a church hallway to tell you their latest dirty joke just to get a laugh. The sin of profanity has so permeated society.
And people swear and cuss so profusely your ears sting every time you go out in public just to the grocery store. Movies and television and even sports programming are full of bad language and profanity-laced comments. And we as a nation are so desensitized to sin it doesn't bother us anymore.
We even have swearing, potty-mouthed pastors out there today. It's shameful and it's a tainting sin because it taints all within the sound of that cussing. But God declares in His holy word, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Sermon Outline
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I
- Introduction to the sin of profanity
- Personal anecdotes illustrating the prevalence of profanity
- The contrast between public holiness and private speech
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II
- Biblical warnings about the tongue from James
- The destructive power of uncontrolled speech
- The impossibility of taming the tongue without God's help
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III
- The cultural decline in moral speech standards
- Examples of profanity in society and media
- The church’s failure to address the sin of profanity
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IV
- Scriptural commands against corrupt and filthy speech
- The seriousness of taking God's name in vain
- A call to holiness in speech for believers
Key Quotes
“The apostle James had dire warnings about the failure to control the tongue: 'And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity... Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing.'” — E.A. Johnston
“America has become a cussing, cursing, foul-mouthed nation of individuals who damn God and use the F-word every time they open their mouth.” — E.A. Johnston
“The Word of God is clear on the sin of profanity: 'Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying.'” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Be vigilant in controlling your speech to avoid corrupt or profane language.
- Encourage and model edifying and grace-filled communication within your community.
- Hold the church accountable to preach against all forms of sinful speech.