In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise, saith Solomon the wise. Tonight, I thought we might indulge in a brief digression from our study in Exodus. Next week, Lord willing, we will come back to the relationship specifically of the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants. But I have seen things yet again this week that have made me think that it's important to address social media. And by that I mean things like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and all things in that family. I'll usually be referring to Facebook because that's what I know best. I think that seems to be the most popular one. But I really mean all of these things. It was strange as I was preparing the sermon. I felt the need to tread very carefully as if I was touching upon the proverbial sacred cow or something in our in our culture. But this is an important thing to address, I think. It has become a large part of daily life for many, many people, both in and out of the church. When you consider how new it is, it's amazing. Hasn't it just been, I don't know how long it's been around, technically speaking, but maybe just in the last five years or so, it's come into this rise in prominence where it's a huge part of daily life for multitudes of people in and out of the church. Indeed for some, you probably have known some, it is consuming the life altogether. And so with such an important thing in our society and being Christian people, how should we then live? How do we live a consistent Christian piety with this new form of communication? I think all of you probably have enough experience to know that this has become a huge part of the life of the church. Somewhat good, but for the most part, ill. My experiences with Facebook in the context of the church have been largely negative. And I think that there are reasons that explain that, where if we took the scriptures seriously, we wouldn't be surprised that that is so. In taking this up, and in fairness, I must confess my own personal bias. I strongly dislike the social media. Strongly. I think for a great many, and I have witnessed it, it is a massive sinkhole of time But as I mentioned, since its rise, it has played a significant part in every church problem that we have faced. And usually not just that it was involved one way or the other, but usually as a precipitating cause in the problems that have come. But in spite of this personal bias, I will labor to be fair and not to overstate the case. And so, in all fairness, I want to start with what's good about it. It does have a proper use. It is not inherently sinful or evil. I don't want you to walk away from here and say that the pastor said that Facebook is a sinful thing. It's not. It is a tool. And like most tools, it is useful for certain jobs. and useless for other things and harmful for other things. But it's just a tool. I don't know if you've ever been working on a car with a limited tool set. and you come and you need a specific tool. Auto manufacturers sometimes will make their own tools and if you don't have their tool you can't work on certain things on your car. Have you ever tried to do a job that might be otherwise a three-minute job with the right tool and labored for a long time with the wrong tools trying to say get a special bolt off or something like that? Facebook is a tool. It's designed to do certain things and some things it does very well. Indeed, there are some things it does better than probably anything else in the history of the world. And I mean that. Namely the dissemination of information very quickly. But there are other things it does very poorly. And some things that they endeavor to make it do that it ought not to do at all. So what is Facebook? It's just one aspect of a broader phenomenon of social media. And what is it except a means of communication, ultimately. It's a means for communicating with other people, larger or smaller groups, depending upon your circle. As soon as we say that it is a means of communication, as Christians, right away we ought to think that all of the scripture rules concerning the use of the tongue immediately are to be brought to bear. When the scripture talks about the tongue, obviously it doesn't mean to exclude writing. These are all just various forms of communication, of communicating the word. It is possible for Facebook to be relatively private if you set it up very carefully. Such a thing is possible. But I'm not sure that I've ever really seen that done. Mostly it is a public forum and one that can be surprisingly large. even beyond your own circle of friends if I understand it and as you all know I don't use it but if I understand it if one of your friends comments on your thing then their friends also can see these things a very large network of communication indeed so for the vast majority I think we should say and this is I'm not going to deal with the private situation because that's a completely different matter if you set it up privately it becomes almost like a sophisticated email and that's a different sort of thing but for most this is a public forum and ought to be thought of and used as a public forum so when we think about a public forum that is useful for communicating with large groups of people and doing it in a hurry And I think Facebook makes this possible with unprecedented ease. When you think about before the printing press, communicating with large groups of people rapidly was very difficult. Very difficult. With the printing press, that took a giant leap forward. But you have to think, in their day, they still had to set all the type by hand. So this was a great improvement. but now you can communicate with thousands in a moment I heard reports when there was such great unrest in the Middle East and in Egypt in particular that some of these revolutionary movements were being organized on Facebook and kept updated real-time on Twitter where they were organizing these things through this social media there's never been a tool quite like it in the history of the world Right away that ought to give us some pause that perhaps we have not yet attained the wisdom on how to use these things properly. It's pretty much brand new in the world. So what are some legitimate uses? I can't be exhaustive with this. And my purpose this morning is not so much to commend Facebook, but to criticize it and its use. But in general, you could say anything. where you might legitimately make use of a public forum, you could also make use of Facebook. So just some illustrations. Advertising, it's a great advertising venue, great way to make public announcements concerning everything from public issues to your family life. You think about how people send out mass mailings of cards giving their family updates or something. Now you can do it for no expense. You can do it with the click of a button and make your public announcements. We're having a wedding. We're having a baby and so on. It's also useful for sharing really any other kind of information that is appropriate for public consumption. But in all of that, I think you see the main point, which is it's a public forum and not to be used as such. It is not private unless you very intentionally set it up to be private. And I would say even secure the cooperation of your friends list to keep it private. because you shouldn't be confused cut and paste is also very easy to do so to take your communication and send it out to a great many others is a very easy thing I wanted to spend the rest of the time on the abuse of social media and begin with what I believe to be the root problem this is a new thing and so reflections on it are relatively new perhaps my thoughts might be superseded later by myself or perhaps by you but it seems at its very root to share in all of the problematic nature of the fallen human tongue and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 10 verse 19 Proverbs 10, 19. In the multitude of words they wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Just a little bit about the structure of the Proverbs and how to read them. It's very common, not all Proverbs do this, but a lot of them do it. Maybe most typically you'll have two halves of a proverb. And people commonly will think that the second half repeats the same thing in other words. That's not quite right. Usually the second half will advance the theme. In other words, take what was said in the first and now build something upon it or add something to it. So it's not usually a simple restatement. What we have here in this particular proverb is not a A simple contrasting, say, in the multitude of words there oneth not sin, in the fewness of words there is less occasion for sin. That's actually only half of it. That contrast is there, but it's implied in the first half. So you do have an implied contrast. In the multitude of words there oneth not sin. What would be the opposite? In the fewness of words there is less occasion for sin. But then the second half advances it. But he that refraineth his lips is wise. And what is the implied contrast? But the man who doesn't refrain and restrain his lips is a fool. So there's an advance. More is being said in the two parts. This proverb is very useful because it gives us the end of the matter. And frequently, you need great wisdom and large experience to see the end of the matter yourself. Happily, we have God's Word, which gives us the end of the matter without having to live through many situations. We are given, children, have you ever had like a math textbook and the answers were in the back of the book? If you ever got stuck, you could flip to the back, look at the answer. and then go back and try to work out the problem. God's Word frequently works like that. We don't have enough life experience to know how these matters are supposed to end up or how they're going to end up. But God's Word provides those answers. We don't have to live it ourselves. Infinite wisdom will tell us how these matters end. And here the scriptures tell us infinite wisdom The Holy One of Israel tells us that the multiplication of words tends very much to sin. Most of you will have lived long enough to have known this in your own experience. How many times in your life have you wished that you could take words back? That you wished that you had said less? How many times have you wished that you said nothing at all? There are probably comparatively few times where you wish, I wish I had said more. And when that happens, it's usually a problem easily remedied. If you think I should have said more, then you go back to the person and you say more. But once the words are out, they can never be brought back. And how many times have we spoken in heat, in anger, in passion? And those words are out. They were hurtful and destructive words, and they can never be recalled. We are certainly wise to recognize this. The multiplication of words tends very much to sin. Solomon could see it and every wise man among us will see the end of the matter. That's where it's going. The multiplication of words is a car on a road and where it's headed is sin. So the wise man is very careful and he's very considerate concerning his speech, what he says. James, which is probably the wisdom book of the New Testament, says, Wherefore, my beloved, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. James doesn't say never speak, but he said if we'd be wise, we would be quick to hear and slow to speak. Once read a Puritan who said, God gave us two ears and only one mouth. We ought to observe the proportion and listen twice as much as we speak. And I think that that is well said. Turn with me to James chapter 3. So if we say that a wise man is considerate in his speech, he's careful and thoughtful. What is it that he is to be considering? James chapter three, beginning in verse eight. 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. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? James uses a natural analogy there. When you have a single fountain, it's not sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter you find a fountain or a spring it's either the one or the other or if it changes at some point in time it stays that but you don't get five minutes of sweet and then five minutes of bitter or some such thing you might think in the scriptures of all of the times when there was a miraculous healing of the bitter waters it was a miracle because the quality of the waters doesn't simply change like that this is what we ought to be considering when we speak is the speech, the contemplated speech is what I'm getting ready to release from my lips sweet water useful for glorifying God and edifying men that is sweet water indeed Or is this speech bitter water? Does this speech in some way rob God of his glory? Obscure the credibility of my own Christian profession? Does it hurt another? The Lord Jesus Christ even goes on to challenge us with respect to our idle words. Words that we don't think very much about. He says every one of those idle words will be called into the judgment and we will render an accounting for them. If we believe that, if we believe that, I think we would certainly talk less. I am responsible for the words that I speak and will be held responsible for my words. So the wise man speaks fewer words necessarily, because with greater care and deliberation, there's a slowing down of the whole process. The whole process of speech slows down as he's trying to think through. And this is part of the act of love and speech. He slows down to think through. whether or not this is glorifying to God and good for men. He considers the frame of his own spirit and soul, the movements of his heart and even the content of the communication that's getting ready to come out. And so in that way, he ends up refraining or restraining his lips. The whole thing gets slowed down. But it is the fool that runs headlong and multiplies words without consideration. You might be thinking, what does all of this have to do with Facebook? Much in every way. I think in Facebook, you'll have to judge for yourself. You have the multiplication of words to an unprecedented extent in the history of the world, where you can communicate with such ease to so many people. You don't even have to walk out your back door and talk over the fence to your neighbor anymore. with a click of a button you can reach thousands there's more total communication more total words and each one of those words is multiplied a thousand fold because now you're not just talking over your fence to your neighbor now you are sending those words to your thousand closest friends And if they're so inclined to acknowledge and comment on these things that that's being sent to their thousand closest friends. And it's all so easy. When is such a thing ever been possible? I racked my brain, I couldn't think of a situation where such a thing has ever been possible. Now, here we must learn to think biblically and like the wise. What end does the proverb lead you to expect? The multiplication of words and the multiplication of sins. Multiplication of sins on every hand. Again, the wise man will note the end of the matter, its tendency, its trajectory. When this whole business lands, where is it going to land? And Solomon says more sin, more words, more sin. We'd also have to say that the ease with which these words are multiplied now is unprecedented. And this makes social media a very dangerous tool. You don't want to think about, when you think about it as a tool, you don't want to liken it unto your little handsaw. You want to liken it unto a heavy-duty buzzsaw. This thing is dangerous. You want to wear your goggles and you don't want to get your hands anywhere near that blade. because it will take your hand off in a blink of an eye. This is heavy duty equipment for and it's dangerous. And because here we've got an ease for the multiplication of words that we've not seen in the history of the world. So the wise man will see the danger, see the ease of the multiplication of his words and put a guard upon his mouth. He will restrain or refrain his lips and think through the use of this dangerous tool very carefully. Again, to use the buzzsaw analogy, in using it you'll find him out there with his goggles on, maybe even a helmet, and some heavy-duty gloves, because he knows the nature of the tool, and he knows that this is a dangerous thing. I wonder, you'll have to judge for yourself, could it be that that Facebook is the greatest loosening of the lips in the whole history of the world. You'll have to think about it. This sound like this sound like grand statements, but I can't I can't think of a way that communication has ever been made so easy. All practical hindrance that has existed For most of the history of the world, all of the practical hindrance in communicating with many, many people, thousands of people, has suddenly been removed. And now you can communicate with untold numbers. And quite literally, untold numbers. It's something to keep in mind. You don't know how many when you send one of these things out into the world. The wise will see the danger in the tool. They see that the tool itself, in some ways, is the very opposite of the refraining of the lips. It is the multiplication of the words. But the fool will not consider the danger. He will multiply words. He will multiply sins. And the end of the matter with sin is always he will multiply harm, misery. Children, when you think about sin, you should always think that. Sin always brings misery. Always. So Solomon the Wise has told us the multiplication of words tends very much to sin, and sin at the end of it is harmful, always brings in its train misery. It's hard to say exactly how many sins result from this great multiplication of words. I suppose probably all sorts. and varieties are the result but certainly an application you don't even need to understand all of the possible particular ends if you understand the dynamic as it is set forth by Solomon the wise it will prevent a great many of these evil consequences simply realizing that general dynamic if I speak too much there's going to be sin and with the multiplication of sins in this regard it's going to be more hurtful We need to consider these things. And I just ask you, I wanted to be careful, I didn't want some sort of wild harangue against Facebook, but is this not a sober and biblical evaluation? This is a new thing, and it's a powerful tool. And have we considered well its implications and the consequences of its use? I would just say with all of that, I said I would try to get to the root matter of why it's so predictably harmful in the church. Predictably harmful. Do you see it now? The multiplication of words, more occasions for sin, more sin, and thus more harm. James likens the tongue to a It's a little member constantly casting out embers. And all it takes is a little kindling for one of those embers to catch in the church. And before you know it, you have a wildfire. But it's the constant casting out of embers. Before you know it, and it's pretty predictable, eventually it's going to catch fire. And there's going to be a blaze. It didn't take much to start it, but it will take all of the might and muscle of the church to bring it under control. to bring these things back back under reins so this is the this is a general view of what I believe to be the root dynamic and problem and how many particular sins arise out of this who could say I wanted to point out just a handful of specific problems ones that I've observed from my relatively limited contact as I've already mentioned Facebook, to me, seems to be a sinkhole of time, a massive waste. In some ways, we recently covered this. Remember, in the qualifications for the officers, we said that a bishop must be of good behavior. He must be cosmion or orderly. And part of that is using his time wisely. And we talked about the virtues of using this limited talent. of time that's been committed to our care and using it in a way that is glorifying to God and good for men. Because we will be called to account for that talent of time that has been committed to us. Just think about Facebook. It's a massive sinkhole of time. And not just posting your stuff, but good manners practically demands that you respond to everybody else's stuff or all of their comments upon your stuff. And you need to frequently check it. Less people get offended. They think you're not talking to them and so on. And before you know it, just hour after hour has plunged down the sinkhole. Now, here's a question, and it's a sobering question. Is this what you want to say to the Lord? on the last day when he now requires of you the talent of time that he committed to your hand and he says how did you use it? is this what you want to say to him? I kept up a very lively and active Facebook correspondence and that's what I have to show for the time that you committed to my hand especially when you consider that most of the communication is Empty. Empty. Socializing. And very empty. There are other problems. We can't get into all of these things. I hope that you will talk about these things in the midst of yourself. But all of the superficial and fictitious friendships that are invented on it and supposedly maintained by it. I admit, I've not seen any substance to any of it yet. I'll come back to that in just a moment. But just think about all of the wasted time and remember that we must give an account. And once you get roped in, good manners practically requires you to respond. People are talking to you. And now you've got to respond. Is it wise to have yourself constantly out in the public forum that way? To where there are constant demands upon your attention? Second, there's the airing of personal things in the public forum it seems to me that there is a very great confusion people type their messages in the privacy and intimacy of their bedrooms and they think that because they were wearing their pajamas when they banged out these messages that the messages are private but your messages are read by hundreds or more Very public. Something for you to consider. The things that you type on Facebook, would you walk out into your front yard and shout them to all of your neighbors? In your front yard, if you were to scream something, you might have 20 witnesses. Would you shout to the neighborhood? all of the things that you post up on Facebook in front of maybe 20 witnesses? Or would that suddenly feel public? Like, maybe I shouldn't be saying that out here. Maybe they don't care what I ate for breakfast. And maybe they don't care that I'm still in my pajamas and so on. But this is a public forum. Probably an even better analogy would be something like this. Before you write something on Facebook, you ought to consider this, because I do think that this is an accurate analogy. Would I climb up on a stage in front of a thousand people and say this? Would I think it's appropriate for public consumption? Would I think that it's worth the time? Because all of the other people need to give an accounting for their time as well. what I think it's worth their time to hold them up for some handful of minutes to make this announcement to them. I think that that's a very good analogy. So it doesn't matter how private it is. It doesn't matter if it's in your private study or even in your bedroom. This is a public forum, perhaps the most public one in the history of the world. When has a common person ever had access to so many people at lightning speed where they can chronicle their mundane, everyday events? There's a great folly in this when we read the scripture. Solomon says a fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. Proverbs 29 11. Solomon says that a foolish man reveals his secret thoughts to others indiscriminately and without careful consideration. That's the conduct of the fool. And this is hurtful in so many ways that it actually defies any sort of itemized presentation. There is a great wisdom in refraining speech and keeping most of your private, secret, internal life to yourself. A great wisdom. Because all of the rubbish going on in your heart as you struggle to go forward in sanctification does not need to be for public consumption. Doesn't need to be for everyone to see. Your private faults and failings do not need to become public knowledge. And that's not just because it's bad for your reputation. It's bad for the people that hear it. Bad for your relationships to them. presents all sorts of temptations to them. Everything from being tempted to imitate you to despising you for doing that. Both of which are temptations. So we need to be very careful about uttering the secret thoughts of our hearts. Let me give you just some problems that have been occasioned in the church. I can't tell you how many times I have seen one individual, or other, I don't have a particular one in mind, but there's a particular individual, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes intentionally, but it's not always purposed. He will reveal his secret thoughts about other people. And people that know certain, say, situations and whatnot, they pick up on it. They see it. And it becomes ruinous to relationships. You should understand that if your indiscreet speech works division in the church, that's blameworthy. That's sin. And it has very significant consequences. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people and a great many times unintentionally. They don't know what they're doing it, but they're, Calvinists don't talk this way, but if they were poker players, they're tipping their cards. And people can see, ah, that's what they think about so and so. And they pick up on it. And it hurts relationships. Solomon says the fool uttereth all his mind. You want to be wise, you'll put a guard upon your lips. A second thing, your private views on a particular issue did not need to become public knowledge. And you would be amazed at how quickly that can bring you into contention with a brother. I can't tell you how many times I have seen brethren come into conflict, say somebody gets on there and says something about what they believe about modesty. This is the revealing of the secret thoughts. But what they said is an implicit accusation against half of the people in their congregation. So the other half of the people begin to respond. They were venting their private views on a subject, and suddenly they set a wildfire in the church. If you love your church officers, please don't. Please don't because the firemen are likely to get killed in this in this wildfire. Another thing to consider your undigested thoughts on biblical doctrine and the interpretation of scripture passages can spread error. I've seen this as well, as people vent their private musings on this thing and that thing, perhaps mostly harmless, if kept within their own bosom, but put out there for the consumption of others. And before you know it, the church is having to grapple seriously with a heresy. We have to be very careful about these things. And finally, you have to be careful about what you reveal about your private life. Facebook has made it so that frequently there's not very much private life left. But it's not necessarily a good thing for us to know what everybody else is doing when they go home to their house. And then you start to get all sorts of things. Do I agree with what my brother does for recreation? Do I agree with what he did with his time from five to six last night? And so on. None of these things ought to ever come within my purview. And so here, by uttering all of our mind, we open up strife. And now suddenly your brother has an opinion about something he should have never known about. And you have a problem that you need to put out. I hope, I'm just giving you a sample. Most of you know Facebook much better than I do. And I would encourage you to think about other ways. that these things become problematic in the church and learn, as you consider these things, to be careful. If we could understand the balance of Solomon and James, they are telling us, be careful with your mouth. Finally, another problem is it seems to me that there is a usurping of public offices Just in general, it used to be that whether it was in the church or the state, but in society, the ability to address the public was something that was reserved for a few that the public deemed, whether that was state or church, to have both the knowledge and the discretion to address the public in a worthwhile manner. So in other words, they've got something to say that's worth everybody hearing. So there's the knowledge that's there, but also the discretion. They're not going to blow us wide apart through unwise, foolish speech. And so the ability to address the public was largely restricted to those that the public deemed worthy of it, capable of doing it and doing it well in a way that was helpful. I want to focus a little bit more narrowly on the church. Recently, we in our development on what it means to have a lawful call, we said that it was necessary to have a lawful call from Jesus Christ mediated through the church for public teaching. And we talked about the danger and the sinfulness of running on in public teaching without being sent. This is dangerous and it is sinful. You remember how Jehovah disowned the false prophets in the time of Jeremiah. He says they run without being sent. So let them declare their visions and their dreams. But you, Jeremiah, let the man of God speak the word of God. So here, Jehovah disowns the false prophets as not speaking for him. More than that, with the public teaching office, there comes a heavy responsibility. James says, My brethren, be not many masters or teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. These are stricter judgments when you make bold to ascend into the pulpit and speak for God. You remember how God treated David. David as king, different capacity, but as king he's supposed to represent God. When he misrepresented God in his public office, God publicly chastened him to clear himself from David's sin. He's no author or approver of that sin. Ministers are treated in very much the same way. If they lead the people down the way of error, or if they are indiscreet and unwise in their speech, God will hold them to that strict accounting. They've misrepresented him. They came to the sacred desk at which they were supposed to declare his word, and they declared the word of a stranger, and he will hold them responsible. Much knowledge much majority and much discretion is required. Is it not so that Facebook is now full of teachers of Christian doctrine without any sort of a lawful call? Just brim full of Christian teachers. Indeed, consider what I say. These Facebook teachers are able to teach more people more frequently than most of the called pastors in the history of the church. More people more frequently than most of the pastors in the history of the church. They can have their little posts and teach people on a daily basis multiple times a day. It's been rare in the history of the church when I say a pastor has had a congregation of a thousand, but they've got a congregation of a thousand or more that's keeping up with them on an almost hourly basis. And they have no call to labor in Christian doctrine in this way. No qualification. And yet they are followed. Let me try to give you an illustration here. I don't have a particular person in mind because I have I've seen this many times. But you can have a very meek, humble, head covered lady who would never dream of standing up in front of a congregation of 30 and teaching them in Christian doctrine, then go home and teach a thousand on the Internet. And you see the disconnect in the mind. You wouldn't stand up and teach this little group, a 30, But you'll go home and you'll teach a thousand. A whole time, maybe you'll give them a great lesson on Titus two or something or the submission of women and just and just teach them by the thousands. This is a problem. I do want to give a balance. I'm not saying that the common Christian cannot share. or bear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is what you need to think about in order to achieve the balance. What would your limitations be in the public assembly? Or in a public situation? Those are the same limitations on Facebook and in these public forums, because they are public forums, probably more public than any other assembly you're likely to meet with in person. in real life, very public. So I'm not saying and please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that Christians cannot share what they're learning with others. And I'm not saying that they cannot bear testimony to Jesus Christ. I'm not trying to shackle you. But what I am trying to say is you need to consider. If this was we were face to face, face to face with all of these people, what would my limitations be? and then observe those on the internet we could go on and on and some of these don't really require any development you know them and you know the evil of them you know the problem when people invent for themselves fictitious public personalities This is also very hurtful to the church. I have dealt with more than one discipline case where the person has developed a public personality. People know the public personality, so they think that they know the person. So when that person ends up getting in trouble, all of the people say, ah, that church court is obviously unjust because I know that person. You don't know that person. Following a Facebook strand doesn't mean that you know anything about anybody. You know what they want you to know. You know the public face. And most of the time to be plain, it's a cartoon character. It's not who they are. The little lady that goes to church, she goes home and she teaches everybody. She doesn't get on there and say, you know, I got home and I was disrespectful to my husband and slapped one of my children and so on. Real life. She gets on there and she says, you know, and I was just floating through life this day, basking in the warmth of the countenance of God and so happy and domestic tranquility and so on. The public persona is a cartoon character. But again, this has created trouble in the church. People get in trouble with the church. Then all these outsiders say that church court's obviously unjust. How could that person get in trouble? There is no that person. Perhaps that person on the Internet couldn't get in trouble. That is not the person we're dealing with in the church. The person we're dealing with in the church is a sinner, not that not that whitewashed person that you saw on the Internet. So these false faces are a problem. The fictitious personalities present a problem. There's all other things that are divisive in the church. How many times have you seen open attacks upon other people in the church or the church's officers without any sort of process? The people of God are not supposed to be receiving accusations against officers in the church apart from two or three witnesses. And yet these things are freely vented and received on the Internet. Do you think that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to suffer his ministers to be slandered. Do you think he'll be silent forever? Or do you think that there will be a time when he'll answer? And he'll arise to defend offended innocency. Probably even more common than open attacks. Haven't you all seen thinly veiled attacks upon others? Also without process? Thinly veiled. Anybody who knows the particular situation in the church will know what it is that they are addressing. People of God, I hope that we never do these things. We should never do these things. If we have a problem with a brother or a sister, there is a process that's given to us in the Word of God. And picking up the buzzsaw of Facebook and hacking them to pieces on Facebook is not the way to treat the brethren. It's not good for you. It's not good for them. And it's not good for the church. You've got a problem with the brother. You go to him. You go with witnesses. You go to the church. And then you leave off. You've done what you can. But I could wish that these things weren't being vented on Facebook as freely as they are. You remember once upon a time, Paul said, Concerning, he said, Christians ought not to be suing one another in the civil courts because it brings a reproach upon Christ. These unbelieving judges look at these Christians quarreling one with another. Well, we can do one better now than in Paul's time. We can do it in front of a thousand and easily and consistently and bring the Christian religion into disrepute. It ought not so to be. And I hope that we'll never find ourselves doing this sort of thing. You got a problem with a brother? It's time to go at it direct and endeavor to handle it directly with the God ordained process for handling these difficulties. As I said, we could go on and on with these things. Just two quick uses. First of all, very easy to remember. Be careful. Be circumspect. Remember the language of refraining. Holding your lips, you're holding your tongue. You're considering very carefully. If you can take that away and make it a rule for all of your speech, you'll be greatly improved in piety and in usefulness. As I was preparing this myself, I was just reminded once again, even after years and years of effort, I still just talk too much. And I would be better and more useful to just talk less. Still too many idle words, still too many hurtful words. Talk less and make sure that when I do talk that it is as Solomon says, apples of gold and pitchers of silver, a lovely thing, useful to glorify God and help brethren. But my second use pertains to Christian conference. I guess at the end here the big confession comes. I don't really know anything about Facebook except observing second hand. Once upon a time I had an account created for me and I learned some of these problems immediately. I could only look at mine about once a month. People were trying to talk to me on Facebook and they were getting offended because I wouldn't respond. Sometimes my wife would alert me, you've got messages, you need to respond. And then I'd go and I couldn't figure out how to respond. And so my solution? Delete the end. You want to communicate with me? Pick up the phone or send me an email. Because I can't afford to be offending people because I can't keep up with the rate of the conversation. So I don't know very much firsthand, but I have seen what it is done in the church. Most of you know Facebook much better than I do. And so I would commend to you Christian conference. I hope that maybe after we're finished here, you will talk amongst yourselves and add to what we have already developed here or corrected if need be. What could be added? What more? You're probably sitting there saying, I wish he would add such and such. For those of you with a lot of experience, what could be added? You should talk amongst yourselves. What are the other dangers? Are there other good uses? But these things need some consideration. Christian conference is something of a lost art. We don't always know how to talk about sermons. But here's a good exercise. The pastor has just preached a long sermon on he knows not what we know more about it than than he does. And so now you have an opportunity to edify. one another and build one another up in the holy faith. This is a very important part of piety. James in chapter three says that no man taints the tongue. But in chapter one, he makes it a hallmark of true religion. True religion has control of the tongue. And if we would have a true, sound, solid faith, We must learn the disciplines that pertain to our speech. I thought that we might conclude with the singing of Psalm 15. Confirming Jane's doctrine Who is the man who's going to abide with God in his tabernacle? Who is going to dwell on his high and holy hill? Who are the men who are on their way to heaven? Verse two. The man that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness, and as he thinketh in his heart, so doth he truth express. Who doth not slander with his tongue? nor to his friend doth hurt, nor yet against his neighbor doth take up an ill report." These are the remarks of the converted soul. So let us examine ourselves and repent as we find sins discovered. Let us sing to our God.