First Timothy, chapter number three, verse 11. I know this message will not make me popular, but you can't preach much of the Bible and be popular. I'm never trying to be popular. I am trying to be faithful to the Bible and help somebody. And the Bible will help you. And tonight I'm preaching on a very unusual, well, not an unusual subject, but an unusual title, Christian Devils. Christian Devils. And I'm sure you'll understand here in just a few moments. But the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3, 11, even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, fateful in all things. And in chapter five, verse 13 says, and with all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house and not only idle, but tacklers also in busy bodies speaking things which they ought not. Christian devils. Here's some old sayings about the tongue. The boneless tongue, so small and weak, can yet crush and kill. The tongue destroys a greater horde than does the sword, a lengthy tongue and early death. How many times and how often the Bible charges you and me to be careful about our words. By nature, the tongue is wild. I don't think any of us have to be shown that or convinced of that. The tongue is wild. It's within the power of the tongue to bless or to curse. As Solomon said, to kill or to make alive. It's amazing to realize that the word slanders in our text here, 1 Timothy 3, 11, slanders, that's the same word as devils. That's the Greek word diabolos, same word as Satan. So a believer who slanders is a Christian devil. A believer who accuses somebody falsely, you're never more like the devil than when you tell a lie, because he is a liar, amen, and the father of it. And the word slanders, diabolos, tells us that when you communicate maliciously, when you accuse somebody falsely, You are actually being a Christian devil. That really came home to my heart with great force when I realized it not many weeks ago. So I just want to warn us tonight about two things and we'll go. I want to warn you about some very evil, wicked practices. Gossip and slander. Gossip and slander. They should never once be named among God's people. Now if you'd lived years ago, IN THIS COUNTRY IF YOU ACCUSE SOMEBODY FALSELY AND IT WAS FOUND OUT SO YOU EITHER WENT TO PRISON OR THEY'D JUST COME TO YOU AND THEY'D PUNCH A HOLE IN YOUR TONGUE WITH A RED HARD IRON AND YOU'D HAVE TO LEAVE THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE THE LIAR WAS NOT CONSIDERED FIT TO LIVE AMONG DECENT FOLK. AMEN? ARE YOU STILL WITH ME? I'M JUST GETTING STARTED. We're living in a day of a lot of slander and a lot of gossip. What's gossip? That's idle chatter that damages somebody else's reputation. It's repeating a story that you're not sure is true or not. I mean, when somebody comes to you and says, let me tell you something, and you say, where'd you get this story? And they said, well, he said, she said, he said, she said, he said, she said. You ought to know immediately, they're not telling you the truth. Y'all know immediately that this is a fabrication or an exaggeration, worse than any fish story you ever heard. There was a company, they had a big piece of earth moving equipment, and they called it Model G. G stood for gossip. They said, just like gossip can move a lot of dirt in a hurry. That's what this machine can do, move a lot of dirt in a hurry. And there's some folks that can do that, Move a lot of dirt in a hurry. I just want to say tonight it's a shame and a disgrace to be known as a gossip. Amen. If some of you need to get right, get right. It is a shame and a disgrace to be a tattler. That's the Bible word to be a busy body. We need to be busy souls, not busy bodies. AMAZING HOW PEOPLE FIND TIME TO MIND EVERYBODY ELSE'S BUSINESS, BUT THEY CAN'T MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS. YEAH. WE DO NEED A SENSE OF HUMOR, BUT WE DON'T NEED A SENSE OF RUMOR. I BELIEVE IN A SENSE OF HUMOR. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN A SENSE OF HUMOR, WATCH KITTENS SOMETIMES AND MONKEYS. THAT'S RIGHT, GOD MUST HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR. But this rumor destroys people's reputations. Rumor cannot be retrieved or undone. No more than you can shoot an arrow and unshoot it. You can't do that. This one preacher got up in front of his congregation. He said, now there's been a story going around. about me that my wife went to a meeting of a cult and that I went to that meeting and that I forcibly went in the house, dragged her out of the house by the hair of the head and brought her home and beat her. And he said, I just want you to know that that's not so, that I did not go to that house and drag her out by the hair of the head. I've never beaten her. She's never been to any cult meetings. And besides that, he said, you know very well, I've never been married. Somebody was starting a rumor. And believe it or not, there's a lot of people quite willing to start a rumor. Gossip's bad, but what I'm talking about's even worse tonight, that's slander. Because when you slander, when you gossip, you might be telling something that's true on somebody, but slander is a lie. Slander is an attack. To slander is to defame somebody, to accuse them. We call the devil the accuser, don't we? The accuser, the slander, that's what he does. And when we slander, we're a Christian devil. When we try to destroy, when we try to deceive, did you know slander is against the law? It is actually illegal, it is punishable as a crime. It's not called slander in courts, it's called liable. It's a crime because you can say something and tear down a man's name and his reputation and injure him beyond repair. It's a crime. It's against the law. I heard one of the, I heard a politician the other day, he's not running for president, but his dad is, but he actually slandered there, I know it was on the radio, maybe television as well, told an outright lie, told that another one of the candidates been bribing people, and I don't think that it'll go to the courts, but he actually slandered and libeled one of the candidates. There was a day when a man would be afraid to tell a lie publicly. He knew he was going to court. And if we took all the liars to court, we'd need a courthouse 50 times bigger. It's not respectable and it's not Christian to act like the devil and go around telling lies. Let me help you right here. You wouldn't want them lying on you, would you? The golden rule, you treat people like you want to be treated. And three people are always killed by slander. The person that tells it, the person that hears it, and the person about whom it's told. to give a bad report, strip a man of his name. And the word slander in the Bible also implies not only lying and accusation, but in the root of the word is the word foot, because it actually implies somebody who is searching for false information. There's some people, they can't go to bed at night till they've told at least one lie. They search. That's what the Bible word means. It's wicked. Peter called it evil speaking, same Greek word there. He said put it away. The word he used there is like, if your coat was on fire, how quickly would you take it off? He said, that's how quickly put away slander, evil speaking, along with envy and hypocrisy. James used the same word, called it evil speaking, said to put it away. Not only that, he said, it is a violation of God's law. In Leviticus, folks, it is against man's law. More than that, it is against God's law. Don't you ever tell a lie about anybody. What a reputation to be a Christian devil. What a sad reputation. When you blemish somebody's reputation, you delight in it, you practice evil reports. You know what you're showing? You're showing your own wicked heart. You're showing the pride of your own heart. You're telling on yourself. God forbid. I knew a preacher years ago. Somebody started a rumor on him. Wasn't true, but people wanted to believe it. He never recovered. He never recovered. You see, you don't have to be guilty, y'all. You have to be charged. Cause a lie will go around the whole world while truth is putting on its boots. And most, I hate to say this, but most people want to believe a lie. They do. I remember I asked Mr. Perkle, he said, he said he used to preach against communism. He said, one day you'll find me. He said, it looked like I had a wreck. Looked like I was drunk and had a wreck. He said, but the communists got to me, and you just need to know that before it happens, that's what's gonna happen. And they orchestrated events. But there was a certain amount of people, they wanted to believe the worst. And that fellow that I just talked about a moment ago, when I saw him, I said to him, I said, I just wanna tell you, brother, that I do not believe all these stories they're telling about you. And I'll tell you one way that he proved himself innocent to me is 30 years after the fact, he's still serving God. Amen. Just outlast him. I mean, some people are good at telling stuff, and some people are gonna believe. I mean, folks, they accused Jesus. And some people believed it. So that's just part of it, sadly. The Bible has strong words. You know what it says about somebody who tells slander? Proverbs 10 says, he that uttereth a slander is a fool. Psalm 50 says of the wicked, they hate instruction, their tongues frame deceit, they speak evil, they slander their own family and friends. Imagine that. Psalm 52 says that further of the wicked, they love evil, they tell lies, their tongues deceitful. And David said, sharp as a razor. Sharp as a razor. Now let me give you a few questions to ask before you tell something. Number one, before you tell something, is it true? Do you know it's true? Is it confidential? Is it kind? Even if it is true, is it kind? Is it necessary? Or are you only telling it, are you only throwing dirt because it makes you feel better? Is it harmful? Is it exaggerated? Is it biased? Is it edifying? You say, Brother Allen, if all my speech had to meet those standards, I'd never get to talk. Well, maybe you don't need to. Maybe you need to ask God to tame your tongue. Maybe you need to come face to face with reality that your reputation is you are a gossip and a liar. If you're not guilty, shout and I'll rest. There's too many Christian devils in our churches. Christian devils. You say, but so-and-so did something. Well, can I tell you what you don't know? The only person who knows 100% about everything is God. You say, but so-and-so fell. But let me tell you something, if you'd been in their shoes, you might have fallen as well. In fact, you might have done worse. And okay, he fell, but you don't know how many times he was tempted and he didn't fall. So all of us, we only know part of the story. And if you gotta talk about somebody, then go to God and talk to God about them. And go tell Jesus on them. And he'll either whoop them, or he'll whoop you. That's right. If you wouldn't write it down, sign it, and put your name on it, you probably shouldn't say it. I'm almost done tonight. But there's no honor among thieves and there's no honor among devils. Did you know this? You know, don't you? That those people that are talking to you about somebody else, hold on. Tomorrow, they're gonna be talking They're talking about you to somebody else. Tomorrow they're gonna talk to you about somebody else. A and B are talking about C. Tomorrow A and C are gonna talk about B. If they would stoop to tell a lie about you to somebody else, then they'll tell a lie to somebody else about you. You know that, don't you? There's no honor among devils. You need to make up your mind not to let your ear be somebody's garbage can. And say, I don't wanna hear it. I don't believe it. And we'll pray for them. I'm not talking about compromise, you know that. I'm talking about gossip and slander. Gossip and slander. refused to be a Christian devil. This little girl said, mama, I've been thinking about stealing and lying, how wrong they are. She said, I've decided I know which one of them's the worst. And she said, honey, which one? She said, lying. She said, because when you steal something, you can take it back, but a lie is forever. I'll tell you something that'll help us. It'll help us. It's to pray some of these Bible prayers. Have you noticed how many times in the Bible it warns us to be careful? How Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Folks, don't say it slipped, it couldn't. If it wasn't in your heart, it couldn't come out. If it's not down in the well, it can't come up in the bucket. How often the psalmist said, Lord, set a watch before my mouth, keep the door of my lips, and Lord, may even the meditations of my heart be acceptable unto you. Talk to God about it, the things that you allow in your heart and your mind, and you won't have to worry about it, thank God. You can have the victory over it. I don't wanna be a Christian devil. Slander. I know some Christian devils. And you know the funny thing, it's not funny, it's sad, but when I say I know some, there are automatically some people come to your mind, because you know some too. You do. Liars. Would druther tell a lie than tell the truth. Would druther tear down. Is that the devil's word? No wonder it's the same word. Folks, I want to be on God's building crew, not the devil's wrecking crew. Amen. Always tell the truth. My mama said, always tell the truth and you won't have to remember it. Tell a lie, you have to tell another lie to back that one up. Amen. Let's help one another and encourage and edify one another and not tear down. Stand with me tonight, please. Thank you for your attention.