Fifth, there are those who are intentionally double-tongued. Some are double-tongued in a way that is more serious than others; they are worse than those who are double-tongued through ignorance; they are intentionally double-tongued. Some are double-tongued because they are ignorant. They say one thing at one time and another thing at another time. To them "yes" and "no" mean more or less the same thing. They do not have a sense of right and wrong, and they are completely in the dark. If you ask them if an object is black, they may say yes. If you ask them if the same object is white, they may say yes again. They are not clear about anything. To them black and white are just about the same. They live a sloppy and foolish life. They are ignorantly double-tongued. But with others, there is a conscious effort to be double-tongued. They purposely say something on one occasion and another thing on another occasion. This is not only a weakness in character but a moral corruption. Matthew 21:23-27 records that the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the Lord and asked on whose authority He was acting. He replied with this question: "The baptism of John, from where did it come, from heaven or from men?" They reasoned among themselves: "If we say, From heaven, He will say to us, Why then did you not believe him? But if we say, From men, we fear the crowd, for all hold John as a prophet." They answered the Lord saying, "We do not know." Their answer was a deliberate lie. In Matthew 5:37 the Lord said, "But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no; for anything more than these is of the evil one." If something is yes, we say yes. If it is no, we say no. This is to walk in the light and in honesty. But if we stop to reason about the possible effect of our words on others and consider how we can speak with diplomacy, our motive and attitude are unbecoming of a worker of the Lord. If our words are framed in craftiness, we are making such words instruments of deceit! We would rather follow our Lord's example. When people sought to lay a snare for Him by their questions, He resorted to silence. If we have to say something, we would rather have our words be "Yes, yes; No, no." Anything more than this is of the evil one. A clever person has no place here. Paul exhorted the Corinthians, saying, "If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise" (1 Cor. 3:18). Romans 16:19 says, "I want you to be...guileless as to what is evil." To be wise in these things gets us nowhere in the eyes of God. It is useless for us to maneuver. Our wisdom is in the Lord's hand. We cannot be double-tongued. This is the trouble with many people. Those whose words are untrustworthy have little use to God. If they give themselves to the work, sooner or later they will find themselves in trouble. If a man says one thing at one time and another thing at another time, wavering between right and wrong, yes and no, and vacillating between what can be done and what cannot be done, he is of little use to the work of God. Those with fluctuating and unreliable words are useless in God's work.