Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions on the Tongue

When Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was a young man he wrote several resolutions that by God's help he would seek to keep for the glory of God. Since I have been preaching on the tongue (from Ephesians 4:29) I thought I would post his resolutions that relate to the tongue: (obviously we talk a bit different than from the 18th Century)

16.Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

31. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.

34. Resolved, in narration's never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity.

36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.

Every Word Matters

Tomorrow I am preaching (Lord willing) on Ephesians 4:29:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Here is a good video by Paul David Tripp from the 2008 Desiring God Conference.

Don't Fasten Foreign Apples on a Bad Tree

Last Sunday I preached on the importance of our words and the nature of the heart.

Here is a helpful picture of the illustration I gave last Sunday. This illustration comes from Paul Tripp. Changing our behavior in regards to our words (or anger, or truth telling...) without getting to the heart that produces sinful words is like a man who thinks he fixed his dying, apple-less apple tree by fastening store-bought apples on it. Mat Adams made me a picture to illustrate this illustration. :)

"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
(Luke 6:43-45)

Loving Each Other Amid Differences

John Piper recently shared six unity-building/love-displaying principles to the pastoral staff at his church. I suggest you read the full article here.


This is great biblical advice we all would be wise to consider.

Driscoll - Why Use Harsh Words?

I have heard many comments on facebook (on both sides)concerning Driscoll's way of using harsh words from the pulpit - especially as he goes after hypocrites. Here is a video where he explains his rationale.



He also seeks to give a biblical defense of using sharp words in a lecture he gave in Minneapolis last September at the Desiring God Conference - "How Sharp the Edge? Christ, Controversy and Cutting Words." I especially enjoyed the last 20 minutes where he exhorts church members to watch how you talk about pastors and pleads with them to pray for us.

I know that many object to Driscoll's reasons for harsh words like - "well, Driscoll is no OT prophet nor is he like Jesus (both used sarcasm and crude words to attack hypocritical religious people)." Douglas Wilson has some good points on this subject in a post called "A Temporizing Baa-Lamb." If you have taken enough time to criticize Driscoll, please take the time to read Wilson and listen to Driscoll's sermon on Words. I do think Driscoll goes to far sometimes, but I am not in his shoes and I am far too often a people pleaser.