Just a moment. Second Timothy…[Blank space on tape—Ed.] We get together. Maybe you won’t agree with what I said. Take you home…Then, you’ll go home and study real much, and then that’ll help you get spiritual. All right, Second Timothy 2 and 16 reads like this: But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. Yes. All right, you want to know what the “profane babbling” is. “Profane…shun profane babbling, for they will increase.”

Now, the first thing is a “profane babbling, for they shall increase.” Now, anything that’s just an old…just keeps babbling. The Bible said, Jesus said, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no,’ for anything more than this will come to sin.” You’re not supposed even to joke and cut up with one another. God will make you give an account for every idle word that you speak. You know that? The Bible said that you’ll have to give an account for every idle word. So what kind of a people ought we to be? People that’s frank, stern, loving, kind, and never a bunch of nonsense, always going along…

Look. You take a fellow that’ll start today…I’ve noticed it on myself, and being of my own nature, an Irishman; I’ve always a lot of wind about me anyhow, to cut up and carry on. And every—every so often even my wife say, “Now, Bill…!” I say, “That’s right, Honey.” She’ll say, I jostling the kids…I say…Cut up with them or something, say, “Well now, you know, there was three great men come out of Kentucky.” “Who was that?” “Well, Abraham Lincoln.” “Yeah.” “Daniel Boone.” “Uh huh.” “And your father.” Something like that.

And she’ll say, “Now, Bill, there you go again.” And I have to go off in the closet somewhere, and say, “Lord, forgive me, I didn’t mean to say it. Do something to me; make me quit that.” See?

And every day I…if I do that…Now, we was talking on the word backsliding this morning. When you do that you’re backslid. Yes, sir! You got to repent. Is that right? Now, I don’t mean to say you went out in the world and you did this and that, but you done something. You’ve got to repent and die daily to live in Jesus Christ. So every, daily, every day, you’ve got to die every day to live in Christ Jesus.

When I do something…Many times I do things that’s wrong. I’ll be out, and somebody will say something or other, I may say a little joke about it. Somebody say…Not a bad one; now, I don’t believe Christians tells dirty jokes. No, sir! No, sir! That’s not even becoming Christians, the Bible said. It said refuse old profane things like that, and jokes, and joshing, and things like that. No, Christians don’t tell those things; Christians has pure thoughts.

But if you don’t watch, once in a while you’ll have a man…He’ll tell a little joke today. And well, he kind of thought it was all right, and he’ll just let it go by, and not think no more about it. The next day you tell two little jokes. See? And the next thing you know, you’re doing something else. And the first thing you know, it leads right back to that old same system again. Is that right? Stay away from the thing. Shun it! And shun that profane babbling.

You heard somebody come over…I’ll just give you a little example. “Mrs. Doe, do you know what? I seen your husband. And I tell you what. And he is a deacon.” See? And… Now, just the thing, say, “I don’t want to hear it!” That’s right, and walk on. Won’t take much of that, and they’ll cut it out. That’s right.

“Oh, you know what, Sister? I’ll tell you what happened to Brother.” Not only sister, but brother too. See? “Brother, I’ll tell you what happened. You know if we could just get rid of this preacher, if we could do this, or get rid of this deacon, or if we could do this.” Oh, oh! Just—just just shun that thing.

I think a good little thing you ought to set around on your desk, it’s a little thing I seen down in Florida not long ago. It was three little monkeys; and one of them had his hands over his eyes, and said, “See no evil”; and the other one had his fingers in his ears, said, “Hear no evil”; and the other one had his hand over his mouth, he said, “Speak no evil.” I think that’s a good thing, don’t you? Yes, sir! Oh, my! That’s a very good thing.

Just keep your mind pure and on Christ. You can’t just say, “Well, now…” Now see, if you don’t watch, you’ll get yourself over into a place, if you keep on thinking that…And don’t—and don’t think that you have…You can’t live so perfect till you don’t make that mistake now. Now, don’t you think you’ll ever get that way, ’cause you won’t. No, sir! You’re not sinless, and you’ll certainly get off on their track, on this side and on that side.

But a man that’s once knocked down, if he’s a real soldier he’ll rise up again. “Lord, let me rise and try it again.” But a coward, as soon as he sees he makes his first little mistake, just like I said this morning: the bug and the waterspider will crawl right back in the water again. See? He just can’t stand it.

So refuse all the old—that profane babbling and carrying on, talking. Babbling means “confusion.” And the Bible said, “Mark those who cause contentions among you.”

If somebody says, “Uh huh! Uh huh,” now just—just say, “How do you do? I’m glad to see you again. Thank you.” And just keep on going. That’s the best thing. Don’t shun them, but just mark them. Don’t pay any attention, ’cause you see what it leads to.

Questions and Answers #2, 1954-01-03, Jeffersonville, IN, §135