CLICK TO LISTEN: 063 Careless Words & Carnal Hearts(Matthew 12,33-37)
Careless Words & Carnal Hearts
Matthew 12:33-37
August 28, 2011
Of course we are still in the section
Where Matthew is revealing to us the opposition that Jesus faced.
Jesus has given a wonderful invitation, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
He offered His invitation,
But His people opposed Him.
Matthew is still detailing that opposition.
AND WE HAVE SEEN A GROWTH IN THEIR OPPOSITION.
1) Indifference
2) From Indifference to Aggression
3) From Aggression to Blasphemy
Last week we actually saw the Pharisees
Blaspheme Christ and blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
Jesus then began to confront them in regard to their blasphemy.
This morning He continues with that confrontation.
Last time Jesus confronted them in regard to the Sabbath.
He rebuked them because they didn’t understand God’s Law.
“Have you not heard…”
So last time Jesus confronted their ignorance.
BUT THIS TIME HIS REBUKE IS MUCH DIFFERENT.
This time Jesus doesn’t appeal to their lack of understanding,
This time Jesus gets to the heart of the problem.
He’s not going to reveal HOW they are misinterpreting the Law
He is going to tell them WHY they are misinterpreting the Law.
The Pharisees definitely had IGNORANCE, LEGALISM and HYPOCRISY.
But none of those things were their greatest problem.
In fact those things weren’t even the real problem.
Their real problem was they didn’t know God.
They had no relationship with the Father, they weren’t righteous.
And because of that basic problem, it led them to reject Jesus,
And uphold legalistic, ritual religion.
Jesus is going to point that very fact out to them.
He isn’t going to simply correct their misconceptions,
He is going to reveal why they have those misconceptions.
Jesus is going to reveal the lostness of the Pharisees.
As He does this, we learn something very important,
We talk a lot about examining yourself.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”
1 Corinthians 11:28 “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
But as we say that, what do we mean? How do we do that?
How do we tell if we have a good heart, or a bad heart?
How do we tell if are righteous, or if we are unrighteous?
How do we tell if Jesus has set us free from sin?
Well, that is one of the things we will study this morning.
You may not know it,
Your body is equipped with a gauge that reveals your heart.
If you want to check the oil in your car, you pull the dip-stick,
Because that is the gauge that reveals how much oil you have.
If you want to check your heart, where do you look?
THE TONGUE
Matthew 15:17-20 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
TURN TO: JAMES 3:1-12
(1-2) The Tongue is Dangerous
(3-6) The Tongue is Dominating
(7-8) The Tongue is Defiant
(9-12) The Tongue is Descriptive
Adrian Rogers, “What’s down in the well, comes up in the bucket.”
Your mouth is a very accurate gauge of your heart,
And that is what Jesus will point out here to the Pharisees,
This morning we continue the confrontation of Jesus
As He exposes the Pharisees and reveals to them their true problem.
#1 THEIR PROPOSITION
Matthew 12:33
If you’ll remember the story from last week,
It all started with Jesus casting a demon out of a man.
When the demon left this man could speak and this man could see.
The crowds saw the miracle and understood the point.
(23) “All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David can he?”
And of course when the Pharisees heard this,
They immediately set out to correct the crowd.
(24) “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
They accused Jesus of using Satan’s power to cast out demons.
And in that one statement, not only did they blaspheme Jesus,
But they also blasphemed the Holy Spirit.
Jesus revealed that their argument was CRAZY, (25-26)
Because Satan would cast out Satan,
He revealed that their argument was INCONSISTENT (27a)
Because the Pharisees accepted their pupils who cast out demons,
Jesus told them their argument was CONDEMNING, (27b-30)
Because it revealed their opposition to the work of God.
But the real key came in verse 28 in which Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
And Jesus point was, that the Pharisees could no longer deny.
This was their time of visitation.
It was no longer an issue of understanding.
On this day, the Pharisees could clearly see who Jesus was,
And they must choose whether or not they would follow.
And to further clarify Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Of course the implication is that
The Pharisees did exactly what Jesus warned them against.
He told them they could do nothing, and yet that is what they did.
By their refusal to immediately confess Him,
Jesus knew they were holding their ground in denying Him.
And that led Jesus to make this horrifying statement.
(31-32) “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. “
So Jesus explained that their decision to refuse to confess Him,
But to stick to their accusation against Him
Is an eternally dangerous mistake.
AND HE CONTINUES HERE
Verse 33, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.”
Jesus tells them to give up this double standard,
And make a decision on Jesus and His works.
They knew sickness, disease, demonic possession, and sin came from Satan.
They knew healing, casting out demons, and forgiveness came from God.
They were in a pitiful state,
Jesus was performing good fruit,
But they were claiming that He was a bad tree,
So Jesus tells them to drop the double standard.
They either have to look at the fruit and say it’s good,
And thus admit that the tree is good also,
Or they must determine the tree is bad,
In which case they would have to say the fruit is bad also.
They were in nasty web of deception,
And Jesus says its time to make a decision.
Either I’m good and the fruit is good, or I’m bad and the fruit is bad.
You must determine.
We must all make that decision.
Either Jesus is who He claimed, or He is not.
If He is, then we must follow Him, If He’s not, then don’t worry about Him.
But one thing we can’t do is:
Say He is the Christ, and not follow,
For then we have the same hypocrisy as the Pharisees.
They couldn’t deny the fruit, but they wouldn’t accept the tree.
So Jesus proposition to the Pharisees is our proposition as well.
Determine what to do with Jesus.
Either say that Jesus is the Son of God by reason of His miracles.
Or say that Satan is actually the true god who worked in Him.
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.”
So first, the proposition.
#2 THEIR PROBLEM
Matthew 12:34-35
Jesus just told them to speak up and admit.
But still they refused to say that Jesus Christ was from God.
Even though it was obvious, they still wouldn’t admit it.
Here Jesus reveals why.
WHY WOULD THEY NOT CONFESS JESUS IN LIGHT OF SUCH CONVINCING EVIDENCE?
THEY HAD AN EVIL HEART.
Jesus starts off by calling them the same thing John called them.
“You brood of vipers…”
Young nest of vipers.
They were deadly poisonous,
Just like a baby rattlesnake.
They were promoting a false religion based on legalism and works,
And just as snake’s venom is deadly to the body,
Their religious venom was deadly to the soul.
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
That was the Pharisees in a nutshell they were spreading deadly poison.
They were a “brood of vipers”.
Then Jesus explains their problem to them.
He tells them, and everyone listening
Why the Pharisees can’t bring themselves to confess Jesus as Lord.
And the reason is their heart is bad.
(34) “…how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out that which fills the heart.
Obviously the Pharisees should have spoken what was good
And confessed that Jesus was the Messiah.
But they couldn’t because they were “evil”.
And according to Jesus an evil heart can’t speak of good things.
Nor can a good heart speak of evil things.
It is exactly what James said:
James 3:11-12 “Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. “
A tongue that speaks cursing, and bitterness,
Is from a heart, or thoughts are bitter and full of cursing.
A tongue that speaks hatred, or gossips,
Is from a heart or thoughts that are full of hatred and gossip.
A tongue that lies, or stretches the truth,
Is from a heart or thoughts that are deceptive.
A tongue that blesses, and loves, and encourages,
Is from a heart or thoughts that do those things.
If your mind is constantly full of adultery,
Sooner or later, that will come out your mouth.
If your mind is full of cursing, or bitterness, or hatred, or deception
Sooner or later that will come out of your mouth.
“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”
In other words, you can tell the condition of a person’s heart
By the substance of their speech.
Remember Simon the Magician?
• Here was a man who was said to have “believed.”
• Here was a man who was baptized.
• Here was a man who followed the apostles.
But on the day he saw the Spirit bestowed,
He opened his mouth and his heart was exposed
As he offered the apostles money to have the same ability.
Notice what Peter told him:
Acts 8:20-22 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.”
Peter said, based on your words, I see your heart.
And your heart is not right before God.
His word’s revealed his heart.
And this is why the Pharisees wouldn’t confess Jesus.
THEY HAD A HEART PROBLEM
And this is still the main problem of humanity.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
This is why David prayed:
Psalms 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;”
Man’s problem isn’t
Bad influences, or Bad parents, or Too much temptation.
It isn’t Ignorance, or even Stupidity.
Man’s problem is a carnal heart
That won’t accept God, or the things of God.
Romans 1:18-23 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
The only possible way for man to confess Christ is to have his heart redeemed.
If the heart isn’t right, the confession won’t be either.
In fact, listen to what Paul said about salvation.
Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
A person first believes in their heart,
And then the confession comes out of their mouth.
But the point is that it is the heart that must change.
Last week we read out of Hebrews
About making sure that we don’t fall away from God.
Look again at the specific warning.
Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”
The writer said to make sure you don’t have an “evil, unbelieving heart”
When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, what did He pinpoint as the problem?
The heart
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘ You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Later in Matthew 13 Jesus will reveal the parable of the soils,
Which focuses on 4 types of hearts.
The three bad hearts won’t accept the seed of God’s word,
But the good fertile heart will.
And even later in Matthew’s gospel
When Jesus again confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees,
He doesn’t equate their unbelief to their culture or to their raising or even to their tradition.
Jesus says their unbelief stems from a bad heart.
Matthew 15:7-8 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.”
People today want to blame their sin on their culture:
“He only stole because society made him poor”
People today want to blame their sin on their parents:
“Well he learned that from his dad”
And yet Jesus says that sin can only be blamed on a carnal heart.
People sin because they are sinners.
• Thieves steal because they are thieves.
• Murderers kill because they are murderers.
• Liars lie because they are liars.
And the Pharisees wouldn’t confess Christ
Because they had a wicked carnal heart,
That was not capable of doing so.
(35) “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”
The reason they can’t speak good of Jesus,
Is because their heart isn’t good.
The reason they can only speak evil is because their heart is evil.
Like the rest of humanity, the Pharisees needed repentance.
They didn’t need education.
They didn’t need better role models.
They didn’t need a cleaner culture.
The Pharisees needed to acknowledge that their heart was sinful
And they needed to repent of that and ask Christ for forgiveness.
But the Pharisees would not.
THAT WAS THEIR PROBLEM.
You can’t overcome a carnal heart without repentance before God.
#3 THEIR PUNISHMENT
Matthew 12:36-37
First off here we must notice the seriousness of what Jesus is saying.
(36) “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”
No doubt there are some who think
That there are words which matter and those which do not.
Remember the Pharisees had this mindset in regard to integrity.
Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”
They thought as long as they didn’t swear by certain things,
Then their speech didn’t really matter.
Jesus says, NOT SO.
Even the “careless” words will be counted.
The book of James translates that word “useless”
When talking about faith without works.
And what Jesus reveals is that there are no insignificant words.
There are no meaningless words that come out of a person’s mouth.
Everything they say matters, and everything will be judged.
You see a person can control their mouth at least part of the time,
But eventually what is in the heart will come forth,
And when it does, that person can’t claim
That it was just “careless” talk.
For even the careless words have weight and will be judged.
And that is why Jesus goes on to say:
(37) “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
He is not necessarily saying that you earn eternal life by saying so.
He is indicating is that the words are an accurate measure of the heart,
And therefore will be an accurate standard by which to judge mankind.
If a heart is righteous, it will prove it with righteous words.
If a heart is wicked, it will prove it with wicked words.
And based upon a person’s words,
Their heart is revealed and their judgment is set.
And based upon that truth, the Pharisees stood condemned.
Their words were wicked because their heart was wicked,
And Jesus lets them know that based upon their words,
Their judgment is both certain and just.
This morning we have to bring that home to our own lives.
What does my heart look like?
What does my speech sound like?
What do I focus on?
How is my heart?
If my words indicate a carnal heart, then the only option is to repent
And ask Christ to give me a new heart.
Ask Him to give me a heart that allows me to confess Him
And speak truth and righteousness.
It all starts with the heart, and only Christ can change it.
In short, I need to come to Him.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
