What Is in the Well, Will Be in the Bucket

"But I say unto you, That every idle word that

men shall speak, they shall give account thereof

in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36

There are many idle talkers. An idle word is a profuse

or needless word, used rashly or unadvisedly, lacking

a reason of just necessity, bringing neither honor to

God nor edification to others, nor conducing to any

profitable end.

And as there are many idle talkers, so there are many

over-talkers; and they are such who spend a hundred

words when ten will serve the turn.

And as there are many over-talkers, so there are many

who are only-talkers, who can do nothing but talk.

And as there are many who are only talkers, so there

are many who are unprofitable talkers. "The beginning

of the words of their mouth is foolishness, and the end of

his talk is mischievous madness," Eccles. 10:13.

And as there are many unprofitable talkers, so there are

many unseasonable talkers, who place one word where

another should stand. "A wise man discerns time and

judgment," Eccles. 8:4.

And as there are many unseasonable talkers, so there are

many rash talkers, who speak first and think afterwards,

Eccles. 5:2.

God has set a double bar about the tongue--the teeth and

the lips--that men should not speak rashly. Words once

spoken cannot return. A man who thinks before he speaks,

seldom repents of what he speaks. Silence is far better

than rash speaking, or than vain speaking, etc.

O sirs, the tongue is the true revealer of the heart. If there

is piety or iniquity at the bottom of your hearts, your tongues

will reveal it. What is in the well, will be in the bucket.

Just so, what is in the heart, will be in the mouth. If there is

anything of God, of Christ, of grace, of heaven, of hell, of sin,

of the world, of self in the bottom of your souls, your tongues

will reveal it.

A man's heart may sometimes be seen at his tongue's end.

Many a man's tongue has cut his throat; that is, it has been his ruin.

The Holy Spirit shows the mischief of the tongue, by the several

characters by which he brands it. He calls it the flattering tongue,

the double tongue, the deceitful tongue, the lying tongue, the

perverse tongue, etc., Psalm 52:2; Proverbs 18:21; Eccles. 10:12;

Psalm 19:4, and 73:9; Mat. 28:13, 15.

The tongue is often like a sharp razor, that, instead of shaving

the hair, cuts the throat. If a man does not look well about him,

he may every day be in danger of dying by his tongue. "Life and

death," says Solomon, "are in the power of the tongue," Prov. 18:21.

Ah, how good had it been for many that they had been born

dumb! The tongue can easily travel all the world over, and wound

men's names and credits in this country; and that in this city and

that in this town, and that in this family, and that in an instant run

from one place to another: here it bites, and there it tears: in

this place it leaves a blot, and in that it gives a wound; and

therefore you have cause to watch your tongues on every day.

O sirs, how many men and women are there who are discriminating

about what they eat, who are not discriminating about what they speak;

who are particular about the food which goes into their mouths, lest it

should hurt or poison them, who are not particular about the words

that go out of their mouths, lest they should hurt or poison others!

Of all the members in the body, there is none so serviceable

to Satan as the tongue.