Nationwide Profanity

PROFANITY! Dear reader, have you ever given this subject a moment’s thought? Strange as it may seem in this Christian land of ours, profanity is nationwide and on the increase. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Gulf to the Great Lakes, God’s pure air vibrates with the vain use of the names of God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, His Son—with curses, oaths, vile language, and unwanted requests. 

If such requests were to be granted, a greater cry than over the slaying of the firstborn of Egypt by the death angel would rise from this land of ours. It is sad that perhaps the majority of those who use profanity are members of some church and know that God’s command to Israel was, “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” (Exo. 20:7). They know that Jesus said, “Swear not at all” (Matt, 5:34); and that James said, “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:10). Perhaps few know, however, that a record is kept of profanity. They don’t know its source or the remedy of those who use the same. 

Its Record, Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, 37, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified. and by thy words thou shalt be condemned,” How awful profanity will seen) to those who use it when, according to Revelation 20:11-15, they stand before God at the great white throne judgment and the books are opened. Every bit of profanity, as well as all other evil deeds, is recorded against them unless they have been redeemed and their sins have been blotted out through Jesus’ blood and their names written in the hook of life instead of in the books.

Its Source. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” What an incubator of vice the wicked, unregenerated heart really is! It is true that the heart is the source of every impulse or feeling that controls one’s life and dominates or rules one’s thoughts. Yes, all evil, even to the outburst of profanity, has its beginning or origin in the heart.
Its Remedy. The remedy is well presented in the words of the hymn writer. “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” Are you guilty? Come to Jesus! “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Then you can say with Philip in John 1:45, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets. did write, Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus, the sinner’s Savior, friend, is your real remedy. Come and see what He can and will do for you, and you will find that your heart will be cleansed and that profanity will no longer taint your lips. Through grace they will he filled with the worthy praises of Jesus, coming from the depths of your heart.

This tract is available in print from:
Osterhus Publishing House, 4500W. Broadway, Minneapolis, MN 55422