A Messiah Who Reads the Heart
Text: Matt. 12:33-37
Introduction
1. Illustration: My wife Tina is an internal auditor for T. Marzetti. When she walks into a plant to do an audit she can tell a lot about that plant by what she sees. If she finds that the financials, employment records, inventory, and quality control aspects of the plant are good it is an indication to her that the plant is doing well. If she finds that all these aspects are not in order it is an indication to her that the plant is doing poorly. A plant cannot produce a good product if the internal running’s of the plant are not functioning properly.
2. This is also true of people. What we see on the outside is an indication of what is going on inside.
3. There is no greater indication of what a person is like on the inside then by what comes out of their mouths.
a. Words Are a Heart Issue
b. Words Are an Overflow Issue
c. Words Are an Accountability Issue
4. Read Matt. 12:33-37
Proposition: Our words are a litmus test of the condition of our hearts.
Transition: According to Jesus...
I. Words Are A Heart Issue (33).
A. A Tree Is Identified By Its Fruit
1. One thing that is certain about Jesus is that he can read people.
a. He could look into a person’s inner being unlike anyone who has ever lived.
b. He could by simple observation tell you exactly what a person was like on the inside by what he saw on the outside.
2. Another thing that we know about Jesus is that he explained spiritual truths in was that people could relate to.
a. Because he lived in a society that was a strongly agricultural he often used agricultural terms to explain spiritual realities.
b. He took common everyday things that people understood to illustrate what they didn't understand.
3. He puts both of these things together when he says, “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad."
a. He says that a tree cannot produce fruit contrary to its nature (an apple tree cannot produce bananas).
b. A person’s true nature is perceived by how they behave and what they say (France, 485).
c. Therefore, a person’s words are a reflection of what is in their heart and nature.
4. In this context Jesus had a general point and a specific point.
a. Jesus' general point was: "Either I am evil and do evil work, or else I am good and do good work.
b. I cannot be evil and do good work or be good and do evil work" (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
c. You cannot be on opposite teams in the same game!
d. If you recall, that's what the Pharisees were accusing Jesus of in our last message from Matthew's gospel. They said he was casting out demons by the power of Satan.
e. That simply doesn't work!
5. However, Jesus also had a specific point.
a. His specific point is that their talking against him is a natural result of what is in their hearts.
b. If we look at the rest of the context what Jesus is really talking about is their words.
c. What he is saying is that their words reflect what is in their hearts.
d. Their accusing him of casting out demons by the power of Satan stems from the fact that their hearts were evil, and their own words prove that fact.
B. Condition of the Heart
1. Illustration: The second most deadly instrument is a loaded gun. The first is the human tongue. The gun merely kills bodies. The tongue kills reputations and oftentimes ruins character.
2. People can tell a lot about you by the words you say.
a. James 3:12 (NLT)
Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.
b. You cannot tell the spiritual condition of someone's heart by the clothes they wear.
c. You cannot tell the spiritual condition of someone's heart by how they wear their hair.
d. You cannot tell the spiritual condition of someone's heart by the car they drive.
e. But you can tell the spiritual condition of someone's heart by listening to the words they speak.
3. People listen to the words you say.
a. Proverbs 10:19 (NIV)
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
b. What you say is a reflection upon you.
c. What you say is a reflection upon God.
d. What you say is a reflection upon your church.
4. A good heart and a bad mouth are a contradiction in terms.
a. James 3:8-10 (NLT)
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.
10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
b. You cannot tell someone about the love of Jesus and then cuss like a sailor.
c. You cannot witness to someone one minute and then ruin your witness by spewing out garbage out of your mouth.
Transition: Because words are a heart issue, they are also...
II. Words Are An Overflow Issue (34-35).
A. From the Treasury
1. Jesus tells them just how wicked their hearts are when he says, "You brood of snakes!"
a. This is a serious indictment on these religious rulers.
b. Jesus uses this same term, "brood of snakes," two other times in Matthew (3:7; 23:33).
c. It is a general term of abuse, but it is significant that each time it in reference to the Pharisees (France, 485).
d. Calling the Pharisees a brood of snakes was a fierce denunciation that everyone understood.
e. There were a variety of poisonous snakes common to Palestine and the Mediterranean area.
f. They were not only are deadly but deceptive. Because most of them blend into surrounding rocks or sticks, they can often attack their victims with total surprise, as the one on Malta did Paul.
g. The mother viper normally lays a large number of eggs, and when they hatch, the brood of little potential killers scurry around like insects (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
2. Jesus then returns to the central issue: the heart and the mouth. He says, "How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say."
a. Jesus makes it clear that the evil and hypocritical things that they were saying about him came from wicked hearts.
b. The heart is a reservoir for our thoughts, and our words come from the reservoir (Horton, 247).
c. "Words follow the disposition of the soul" (Theodore of Mopsuestia, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, vol. Ia, p. 253).
d. Jesus did not shy away from condemning men to their faces, especially when their sin was cruel, hypocritical, self-righteous, or blasphemous.
e. He came to save people from their sin, not help confirm them in it by underplaying its seriousness or their guilt.
f. It is never to God's glory or to man's good to encourage in any way those who do evil or to minimize their sin (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
3. Jesus goes on to talk about where words actually orginiate. He said, "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart."
a. He goes back to the whole idea that a good tree cannot produce bad fruit.
b. The idea being expressed here is again what is on the inside of a person. Our words and deeds reveal what we are really like on the inside.
c. The word translated "treasury," comes from a Greek noun which means great abundance, fullness, or overflow.
d. It carries the idea of excess, which, in the terms of Jesus' figure, spills over from the heart and out of the mouth in the form of words.
e. What the heart is full of, will overflow out of the mouth (The - MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
f. It is the mouth that reveals what is in the heart.
g. How, then, can those who are evil say anything good? What is needed is a change of heart (Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM).
B. Overflow of the Heart
1. Illustration: Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as "the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity," "the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will," and "the center of a person" (J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, 13).
2. If our words need to change it is an indication that our hearts need to change.
a. Proverbs 15:28 (NLT)
The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking; the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.
b. Just watching what you say is not enough.
c. Just holding our tongue is not enough.
d. If our words are bad it is because our hearts are bad.
e. What we need is not a new vocabulary; what we need is a new heart.
3. The way our hearts change is by daily yielding to the Holy Spirit.
a. Psalms 51:10 (NLT)
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
b. As we yield to the Holy Spirit he changes us from the inside out.
c. As we yield to the Holy Spirit not only will our words become better, but our hearts will become better.
d. As we yield to the Holy Spirit not only will our words change, but our desire to do what is right will change.
Transition: Our words will also our evidence of a changed heart.
III. Words Are An Accountability Issue (36-37).
A. Every Idle Word
1. Jesus now deals with the reality of our words: we will have to answer for them.
2. He says, "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak."
a. The phrase "I tell you" identifies this saying as a warning to be take seriously, and speaks of ultimate judgment (France, 485).
b. You see the thing that we must understand and come to grips with is that not only do people listen to our words, but the Lord listens to them and we will have to answer to him for every word we speak.
c. The word "idle" can mean "worthless or useless" as compared to "useful." However, the problem is still in the heart (Horton, 247).
d. The point here is not the casualness of the words, such as in a joke, but in the lack of intent to follow through with what we say.
e. The Pharisees words against Jesus were just such words. They claimed to be in defense of God's truth, but in reality there were working against His purpose (France, 486).
f. James 5:12 (NLT)
But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.
g. Not only should our words be wholesome, clean, and glorifying to God, but they must also be sincere.
h. Like the old saying goes, "Let your word be your bond."
3. It is by our words that we will be judged. Jesus said, "The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”
• The courtroom language here fits with the judgement theme in the previous verse.
• Jesus here indicates that even the most careless words spoken without thought will testify concerning one's character in the judgment day.
• God does not listen only to what we say during Sunday-morning church services (Keener, 233).
• We will answer to him for our words on the day of judgment.
B. Answering For Our Words
1. Illustration: Aesop, the ancient storyteller, told this fable: Once upon a time, a donkey found a lion's skin. He tried it on, strutted around, and frightened many animals. Soon a fox came along, and the donkey tried to scare him, too. But the fox, hearing the donkey's voice, said, "If you want to terrify me, you'll have to disguise your bray." Aesop's moral: Clothes may disguise a fool, but his words will give him away.
2. Even if we think no one else hears what we say, God hears everything.
a. Romans 2:16 (NLT)
And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.
b. You can hide it from family.
c. You can hide it from friends.
d. You can hide it from co-workers.
e. But you will not hide it from God.
3. We will all have to answer for what we say.
a. Romans 14:12 (NLT)
Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.
b. We will answer for words that hurt God.
c. We will answer for words that hurt others.
d. We will answer for words that keep people from knowing the truth.
4. Ask God to guard your words.
a. Psalms 141:3 (NLT)
Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.
b. Ask him to keep you from taking his name in vain.
c. Ask him to keep your from wounding others with your words.
d. Ask him to keep you from destroying your witness because of your words.
Transition: Oh Lord, let our words be pleasing in your sight and give you glory!
Conclusion
1. Our words are a:
a. Heart Issue
b. Overflow Issue
c. Accountability Issue
2. The next time you speak ask yourself...
a. Is God going to be glorified in what I am about to say?
b. Is God going to be pleased in what I am about to say?
c. Is what I am about to say going to draw those who hear closer to God or drive them farther away?
