Purity of Tongue and Life — Hans R. Waldvogel

They also like to know why we therefore let the younger women marry. Isn't that wonderful? And there are so many questions that could be asked. It's like Mark Twain said when somebody asked him about a difficult passage of scripture.

He said, well, the things I don't understand don't bother me. It's the things that I do understand that bother me. And I think that would be the shortcut to the blessing. Let no man despise thy youth.

Purity of Conscience and the Charge to Timothy

That's a mighty good injunction. There's nothing more wonderful in the church or in the world than young people that live like we saw yesterday. The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith on pain.

And surely, as Brother Gardner pointed out, we ought to stay way over on the high side when it comes to a pure conscience and purity of life. And this is the thing that the Apostle Paul is enjoining upon Timothy.

Have you noticed how again and again he charges him in the sight of God? Before Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead and His appearing and His kingdom. What a charge to a young minister.

And he picks out Timothy because he says that all the rest of them seek their own and not the things that are Jesus Christ. And that's true of all of us unless we hew to the line. Unless we do, as he says here, exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

Diligence and Spiritual Exercise

That's an exercise that all of us ought to take upon ourselves. You see, the world is very, very diligent in attaining their objects. Businessmen. I said to some of the boys years ago on Seneca Avenue when we came from a tarry meeting, I think it was about 11 o 'clock.

The Jews downstairs were still pinching the pennies. You could hear the Indians scream. 11 o 'clock they were still working. I said, now look what they're doing. We think we've done well to tarry in the presence of God until so late at night.

But they're still at it and they're going to be at it for a while longer. Now the Apostle Paul tells Timothy something interesting here. Take heed unto thyself and unto the dark and continue in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.

And then the question comes up, did Timothy have to save himself? In another place it says, lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses.

I fear that we treat our great and glorious and majestic, immortal, invisible God very mean when we don't put everything into our service to God that we possibly can. God talks about a reasonable service.

The Body as a Living Sacrifice

The reasonable service consists in yielding our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. God sware to Abraham when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son. And he said, because thou hast done this thing, now I know that thou fearest God.

You remember how Isaac said, Father, here is fire and here is wood, but where is the lamb? Now God could ask the same thing. Here is the cross of Christ that has accomplished everything and here is the fire of the Holy Ghost, but where are the vessels that will dedicate themselves to my service, who will come to me and really serve the living and the true God?

This alone is our reasonable service of God, is by presenting our bodies a living sacrifice. That would solve all the questions of marriage or drinking wine or Coca-Cola or what have you. But that's the thing that bothers me when he says, but thou man of God, let no man despise thy youth.

Godly Witness Before the World

How many times we see young Christians outside the church living like the world. I'm not pointing any fingers at anybody. I'm just saying that that's the place where the youth ought to excel and ought to let their light shine.

It's before the world, in your business, in your shop or wherever men come in contact with you. They ought to be able to see godliness exercise. The Bible talks about women professing godliness. That ought to solve the question of beauty parlors and clothes and everything else.

People have complained when Mrs. Shilley and Elsie were in Rome or rather in Milano, they went into the dome. Mass was going on and the sexton at the door refused to let Elsie into the church. And Mrs. Shilley said, why is it cold in there?

Elsie had bare arms, you know. I respected the Catholic church for not allowing women to enter into a meeting with bare arms in an unseemly dress. Well, is that wrong? Well, godliness, women professing godliness will be exceedingly careful not to stumble anybody.

I used to drink wine. Everybody does in Switzerland. When we had a Sunday school picnic, everybody got a glass of wine. We didn't like it. But one day I drank two glasses in succession. I was thirsty.

And when my mother saw that, she said, that boy is going to be a drunkard. And immediately I stopped. I became, I didn't drink anymore. And when I came to this country, I saw immediately what my drinking would do even just a drop.

If anybody saw me drinking a drop of beer or wine or anything like that, it might stumble him. And God says that person might perish. That's how serious these things are. We are to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his son from heaven.

Being an Example in Speech

And these questions might not to be resolved this morning about drinking wine and about young women marrying. But this is a question that ought to be resolved. Be thou an example of the believers in word.

All the believers to be religious and pride that not his tongue, that man's religion is vain. My goodness, if everybody was locked out of church and not admitted into church fellowship because of his tongue, we'd have very, very few members.

But today we want our churches to be filled with people. And so we open the doors wide and we make it very easy for them. But the one among her came from Yugoslavia and from Hungary. And over there, of course, persecution is ripe and people really suffer to serve God.

They pray day and night. People have been baptized with the Holy Ghost by the hundreds in Yugoslavia. But he says they made a law or an ordinance in the church not to admit any woman. I shine before the world.

We have a report from Moscow, from a Baptist preacher in Moscow, who says that in the last few years, hundreds of thousands of people have been saved. Not old people, but young people. And they're so eager to follow the Lord.

And he said we could baptize a hundred thousand more if we were easy on them. But when anyone gets saved and asked to be baptized, they put them on probation for three or four years. This is not their testimony with their mouth, but they must prove themselves in their daily walk.

Blameless Conduct and Ministerial Testimony

I think that's an excellent ordinance. It's a Bible ordinance to be found blameless unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. And that, of course, applies primarily to workers in the church of God.

Thou shalt both save thyself. Does Timothy have to save himself? Well, look into the ministry today. What an awful, torn down testimony there is. On the radio about divine healing, about how good God is and so on, and how he's going to heal everybody.

And you know that two or three ex-wives are listening to that same preacher. Because he's been divorced and remarried again, we say, my Lord and my God, where are we today? In Germany, I talked about those things, social purity.

One day in church and after the meeting, someone said, you know, there hasn't been a couple in this meeting that hasn't been in the divorce court. I could hardly believe that, but I must have believed it.

The whole world today is saturated with sin. And it's because it started out by yielding here and yielding there just a little bit, just a little bit. All these little sins. I read of a Scotchman whose wife was sick and he had to do the wash.

And when he got through with the wash, he took one linen cloth out of the, from the line and he took it to the son to look at it. He looked at it a long time and his wife saw that from the bed. And she said, hey, honey, if you're not absolutely sure, then that isn't clean.

The Power and Danger of Speech

Our talk that proceeds out of my mouth has the power of life and death in it. And oh, if we as ministers learned that one grand lesson, if any man offend not in word, that man is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

But that's the place where we first begin to let the devil in and where we drive away the Holy Ghost. Never mind drinking a glass of wine isn't near as bad as saying some of the things that you say every day.

They defile your soul. They defile your body. And they drive away the Holies would be much more powerful if we all listen to this injunction and obeyed it from the heart. Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

How do I do that? Well, by wearing a muzzle, spiritually speaking, by watching my words and watching my thoughts. There is not a word in my tongue but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. You'd be surprised what would happen to your life if you would begin to exercise yourself unto godliness with your mouth.

Holiness, Purity, and Seeing God

And we've heard this a thousand times, I know, and we need to hear it a thousand times more. Maybe, unless God can give us a conviction like he gave to Isaiah when he saw the Lord high and lifted up. Why did he see the Lord while all the others didn't?

The temple was filled with worshippers and none of them saw the glory of God. And you and I are not going to see it. It's the pure in heart that shall see God. And it's those who strive after holiness that shall see the Lord.

Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. And God not only demands absolute holiness but he offers it to me. He offers godliness means that I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself up for me.

And so he says, exercise thyself unto godliness and be a believer. Be an example of the believers. He hears sermons and all the sermons he can preach. When I was a little boy in my father's home, my father was a preacher.

Christ Revealed in the Minister

We had visitors, many, many preachers. And as a little, tiny, little boy I saw the difference. I heard the difference. There was a certain minister who was considered a very powerful pulpit orator. And he was a very smart man.

He was very excellent. He was considered one of the best preachers of the Baptist church. But I noticed right away that that man didn't have what my father had. Holiness was lacking. And when that is lacking, God is lacking, everything is lacking.

The glorified God in me, Paul says, fathers whom to reveal Christ his Son in me. That's the ministry. That's the call to the ministry. Jesus Christ revealed in me and revealed by me. And so you must be an example to the believers in word, in conversation, in my conduct with other people.

There ought to be that bearing of gravity and sobriety and of holiness. Do you know what difference that makes? How different that is. When you come into company, not into a meeting like this. We all do tolerably well to appear spiritual.

But when you go somewhere else. Some time ago when in a certain church they had a party. I said, why didn't they invite me? Oh, they didn't want you. You spoiled it for them. Well, that sounds funny, but I tell you that's my experience.

My experience. What effect does your presence have in a party like that? Any party. Any kind of. What effect? Do you draw the attention of people to Jesus? Love talking, love laughing. All these things are exercising flesh and are naturally opening the door to demon powers.

That's what it is. That's the difference. We Pentecostal people are spoiled. We know when Jesus manifests himself. I've gone through the world. I've preached in Bible schools. My heart has been broken sometimes when I come into these Bible schools.

And I hear these students talk about what they're going to do. They're going to be missionaries. And they themselves are not holy. They're not pure. You can see it. I had recently a group before me chewing gum while I was preaching holiness.

And in another place, in another country, after I spoke a while, tears came to the eyes of the students. And God came and settled down upon the meeting like a cloud of holiness. I knew we were having a revival.

I knew these hearts were melting. I knew that God was doing something by his power in these hearts. And then the dean got up and made a few jokes and it all blew away. I said, Lord, my God, what good is a Bible school?

What good is it? Why? It drives men away from God. My Lord and my God. Do you want to know why he tells them to drink a little wine? In work, in conversation, oh, this is such an important matter. I went into a home in Brooklyn.

There were a lot of children and a lot of grown children. And presently, one of the women, and she said, oh, isn't it wonderfully peaceful? And Brother Walpole was around. And I thought, goodness, I wonder what it's like when I'm not around.

Godliness in Women and the Danger of Gossip

But you see what it means to exercise thyself rather unto godliness. Talking again about women professing godliness. Some of you were at that wedding on Long Island. I mentioned that last chapter of Proverbs where a woman professing godliness is mentioned.

And where the prophet who certainly knows what he's talking about says that favor is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord. Talks about women here that have turned aside after Satan.

They will marry. Well, for goodness sake, let them get married and bear the burden of housekeeping. They're already turned aside after Satan because they wander about from house to house. Beloved, we don't have to go very far to find that kind of ungodliness.

Wandering from house to house. I had a conversation with some women, not here, in another place. And I said, my God, how is it possible? There are women professing godliness, but the things that came out of their mouths and backbiting and fault finding.

My God, I said, is it possible? And people like that sing and talk about the rapture. Beloved, we need to exercise. When I was a young fellow, I was sickly. Sickly. And my father took me to a doctor and the doctor advised me to exercise.

Physical Exercise and Spiritual Diligence

And he showed me how. It was a difficult exercise. It took about a half hour a day. But going through it, you know, renewed my whole being. Up to that time, three doctors had pronounced my heart in very, very bad, bad condition.

I asked one of them, I was then about 18, and my parents wanted me to become a preacher. I said, what would you advise me to do? Go to the ministry? He said, by no means. You might be preaching someday and getting excited and it would be just too bad for your heart.

And so, well, it took almost ten years before I got into the ministry. But when I got into the army, they put me into a limited service regiment because of my eyes. But after we were examined physically, I flew right out of that right into Class A1.

The doctors, when I came along, we all had to run the gauntlet. There were five or six doctors, each one examining some part of yourself. And when I came along, they'd smile. They'd say, oh, this is no tin soldier.

My physique was perfect. Exercise, exercise. I found that out in playing the violin. When I got my fiddle, I was so proud because it smelled so good. And, but I found out that I didn't, couldn't take, make a tune out of it.

So I, my father got me a teacher and this teacher was half-deaf and old. Everything was okay. I could smell the strings and everything was okay. After two years, I knew no more than at the beginning.

Then I got a young teacher. He said, come, play for me. Spiel mir mal ein Liedchen vor. Morgen kommt die Tante. So I played a piece for him. He said, that's right. You know, that was the best lesson I had in my life.

And when I began to practice my lessons, two hours a day, I made promises. God says, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Exercise thyself unto Godliness. I was delighted with the testimony yesterday of a young woman that tells how she puts aside the questionable reading matter.

Guarding the Home from Ungodly Influences

Why, that also is worse than drinking wine. I certainly think that drinking wine is taboo for a Christian or anything alcoholic. But these things are worse. Viewing television. Exercise thyself unto Godliness.

I came into the home of a preacher where the television set. Had some lovely children. He said, the Lord gave me that set. I questioned him. After five or six years, I came again and he had thrown it out.

He said, that thing does not belong into the Christian home. But he didn't put it out before his children had gone to the devil. One of them came home with an illegitimately born child. Another one had married a divorced man.

Another one had a look without the permission of her father. Where does that come from? O Beloved, we exercise ourselves unto ungodliness and we do it with a cartro. We do it with a vengeance. Unless exercising myself unto godliness is a marvelous job.

I need the power of the Holy Ghost to make it possible. My thoughts, my words, my feelings, my actions under His control will not allow me one inch of liberty. Your body, a living sacrifice. A dead sacrifice like Abraham was going to make out of Isaac.

What an honor. What a glory. That God gave His body to be His. Christ, God will not be satisfied with any godliness on my part unless it constitutes a wholehearted delivery of myself into His hands. And that requires exercise.

Prayer, Faith, and the Work of the Holy Ghost

As a 15 year old boy, God gave me a book about early Christians. And I woke up for a little while. A little while I saw what it meant to be a Christian. I hadn't seen that in the Baptist church at all.

And now I woke up and I gave myself to prayer. And presently the Bible began to speak to me. And that one verse stood out that made goo-goo eyes at me. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.

In those days I only had the German Bible. Tooth is to mere flies. When I began to do diligence, I spent weeks time, everybody noticed that it was ourselves unto godliness. In word, in conversation, in love.

Love, in spirit. Exercise ourselves in spirit. I give myself to prayer. God gives Himself to me. He helps my infirmity. My prayer will be ineffective unless it is animated and controlled by the Holy Ghost.

And we don't have enough of that. Oh, that groaning that cannot be uttered, beloved. We need to give ourselves to prayer until we pray without ceasing. I mean, until the Holy Ghost does it. Until our very breathing becomes of God.

A union with God. And in faith. What marvelous, spiritual. And you know, Timothy is a marvel. It opens a door wide into the chambers of the King. Into fellowship with the Son of God. And after God brings us into Pentecost, then this wonderful life begins.

Pentecost and Rivers of Living Water

Make no mistake in teaching that Acts 2 .4 is the standard of the baptism. I believe John 7 .38 is ought to be our standard. Rivers of living water issuing forth from within our lives. Weep away all and we need to rest something since coming here.

We've been talking about Christ on our faces in real earnest. We don't know how greatly God has come to us. How greatly He is here now. How greatly He means that we should pay attention to His word and to His will.

And to His counsel. And how greatly He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. That means every one of us. But only as I submit to Him. And exercise myself unto Godliness. Will Jesus Christ take His great power.

And reign supreme over my will. And over my affections. May He be subject to Himself. But what a call. Oh dear Father. Dear Father I know Thy Spirit alone can give us this wisdom. And then He says exercise Thyself in purity.

Christ as the Standard of Holiness

Talked about one of our ministers and said he had a very high standard. There's only one standard. That standard is Jesus Christ. Since He is risen from the dead. He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

He has raised us up together with Him to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our conversation is in heaven. And Paul weepingly writes about those that had started out. But they've backslidden and their God is their belly.

They mind earthly things. Their end is destruction. And there are only two ways. One that leadeth to destruction and the other that leadeth unto life. Let us lay hold.