Jesus And The Forbidding Pharisees – Part 4
Matthew 12:22-45
Watch Your Mouth
Matthew 12:33-37
How did you do this week? Were you a gatherer or a scatterer? Did your life focus on loving the unlovable, touching the untouchable, and caring for the throw-aways; or was your life focused on yourself and your wants, your desires?
Jesus warned us in our lesson last time that there is a war that we are involved in, and we are on one side or the other. If we are not helping Him, then we are aiding the enemy.
How about your tongue? Did you hold your tongue or did you let fly with it? Did you bring soothing comfort to others or did they know just where you stood?
Last time we saw that Jesus is pulling no punches when it comes to Pharisees and their two-faced dealings with the world. We need to stand in that floodlight and let the Word of God examine and probe our ways, showing us where we really stand. Do we stand with Jesus, or do we stand with the Pharisees?
Let’s talk about this honestly for a couple of minutes, shall we?
You see, the reason I began our session together this way is two-fold: first is to reinforce the importance of living-out what we learn here. It is not enough just to come, sing a few songs, listen to the Bible being taught, and then leave and go about our life as if everything is the same.
If we are not changed by being in the presence of God, if a transformation does not begin to take place when we have delved deeply into the Word of God, then we are in very real spiritual danger.
The Spirit of God is at work when worship is happening. If we aren’t affected by it, then something is out of order inside of us. It means we have a heart problem and we need to go to the Great Physician and get it fixed.
The second part is to give us a chance as a body to help and encourage one another. If we are making even tentative steps in the right direction, we need to hear from our fellow disciples words of encouragement to continue on.
If we are walking away from our times together and not applying these lessons to our life, then we need to be gently and lovingly admonished by our brethren and encouraged to move in the right direction. If we are getting it wrong, we need to hear the truth in love from those who love the Lord and love us so that we can allow ourselves to change and to be changed.
So, let’s have a few minutes of honest and open discussion, shall we? How did you do? (If no one opens up on their own, pick one of the maturer believers and ask them very pointedly how they fared.)
Even though our study of this passage is broken up into sections from week to week, this entire series we are studying was a single discourse of Christ’s. This all flowed naturally from one point to another, pitting Jesus against the Pharisees, Heaven against the world, and setting a very definitive course toward a final confrontation.
Last time we studied how Jesus very succinctly condemned anyone and everyone who would knowingly and with malice aforethought credited to Satan what was of the Holy Spirit and credited what was of the Holy Spirit to Satan.
In our lesson today, Jesus goes on to lay His adversaries bare before the world. Remember that in verse 30, He said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” That’s why we began our session together the way we did. We need to be looking honestly at ourselves everyday and asking ourselves the question, “Am I for Him or against Him? Am I gathering or scattering?”
We can tell where we stand by the fruit of our life. That is the main thrust of the lesson in today’s passage. Let’s look at it. (Read the passage.)
On a windswept hill in an English country churchyard stands a drab, gray slate tombstone. The old stone bears an epitaph not easily seen unless you stoop over and look very closely. The faint etchings read:
Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
lies Arabella Young,
Who on the twenty-fourth of May,
began to hold her tongue.
There is another very strong warning in our passage today. “Watch your mouth,” is the lesson here. Your mouth tells everyone – including God – what is in your heart. The point is not to change what the outside is, however – the point is to let Him change our heart.
In Matthew 15:15-20 and Mark 7:20-23, we have what I call “Jesus’ Shortlist.” Mark’s is a bit longer and more inclusive, so I usually refer to it. The point is, however, that Jesus is making very clear that evil words are the natural outflowing of an evil heart. And, words flow quite naturally into becoming actions. Our words and our actions are very strong indicators of what our hearts are made of.
That’s where we stand today – looking at our heart condition. See, it’s easy to focus on the big and blatant sins and control those. What we are looking at today are the subtle sins, the seeping sins that flow from a corrupt heart that seeks to camouflage itself as a righteous heart.
Jesus says, “The tree is known by its fruit.” And, He focuses on our words. Words are very powerful things. The Bible has numerous references to the power of the tongue, the power of the spoken word – and we all know the power of His written Word.
I don’t know how often you have read Proverbs, but I think it is important that we do so from time to time. There is so much wisdom there that God has retained for us to glean from. Let’s look for a moment or two at Proverbs. We are going to look at Proverbs 18:21, then at Proverbs 10:11, 13, 14, 20, 21, 31 and 32. I also want to look at Proverbs 13:3, and Proverbs 15:28. Let’s read all of these in this order, then we’ll discuss them for a bit.
These ten verses are not all-inclusive by any means. There are a half-dozen others in Proverbs alone that speak of the tongue and it use.
The first one is very compelling in its conclusion: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
How many times have you been hurt by what someone said or how they said it? How deep and lasting has that hurt been? How has is molded you? How has it shaped your life? Do you realize that your words to others have had the very same impact on them and on their lives?
That’s what God is telling us through Solomon in this proverb. Let’s keep in mind that Solomon could have had anything he wanted from God, and he chose God’s wisdom. These little pearls of wisdom in Proverbs are directly from the mind and heart of God.
We’ve spoken before about gossip and rumor – how they are forms of murder – character assassination, if you recall. The old adage, “Sticks and stone may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” is a lie out of the pit of Hell, and every child told this lie knows it as such.
Words can cause the outbreak of a riot or a war. Words can antagonize and make enemies. Words can alter perceptions and weaken resolve.
Words wound hearts, destroy dreams, assassinate character and shape history as it unfolds.
On the other side, however, words can be soothing, healing and encouraging.
Words can give hope at a time when life seems anything but hopeful. Words can edify a person, giving them a sense of worth where they’ve felt only worthlessness. Words can esteem a person’s character in the eyes of others and ensure them a place of respect with others. Words can strengthen resolve and bring bravery out of fear.
On August 15, 1940, the crisis of the battle of Britain was reached. All the resources of Fighter Command in the South were used. The most difficult and dangerous period of the Battle of Britain was between August 24 and September 6, when the German attack was directed against the R.A.F airfields in the South of England with considerable success.
In his speech given in the House of Commons on August 20th, 1940, Winston Churchill coined the phrase "The Few" to describe the R.A.F fighter-pilots. The phrase stuck. The final sentence of this speech, including the use of the word "benignant," is a good example of Churchill’s choice of unexpected and assertive adjectives to make a phrase memorable.
Here are a couple of excerpts from that moving speech:
“We cannot tell what lies ahead. It may be that even greater ordeals lie before us. We shall face whatever is coming to us. We are sure of ourselves and of our cause and that is the supreme fact which has emerged in these months of trial.
The great air battle which has been in progress over this Island for the last few weeks has recently attained a high intensity. It is too soon to attempt to assign limits either to its scale or to its duration. We must certainly expect that greater efforts will be made by the enemy than any he has so far put forth. Hostile air fields are still being developed in France and the Low Countries, and the movement of squadrons and material for attacking us is still proceeding.
The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
For my own part, looking out upon the future, I do not view the process with any misgivings. I could not stop it if I wished; no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it just keeps rolling along. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader lands and better days.
This and other speeches of this great leader motivated a nation to fight instead of give up; to sacrifice instead of surrender; to unite instead of be every-man-for-himself. As a result, Great Britain has become the number one ally America has had in the past 50 years and has been our most stalwart supporter in our fight against those who would destroy our nation and our way of life.
Words can influence a person’s decisions and set the course they will follow for the rest of their life – for good or for ill. Words can alter history and change the course of a society. There is great power in words.
Think for a moment back to Genesis 3, and the approach of Eve by the serpent. What was the very first thing that the serpent said? “Did God really say…? (Genesis 3:1)” From that point on, a battle over the Word of God ensued and completely altered the course of creation itself. All of history was redirected by that one question and the response of the woman of whom it was asked.
Some claim that the words we use aren’t anywhere near as important as the emotion that they elicit when we use them. My last statement about the “response of the woman” is a case in point. Instead of using the politically correct term, “person”, I used the true and accurate word, “woman”.
Some might have a negative emotional reaction to my choice of that word, believing based on emotion that I was singling out women in general and speaking in a derogatory and deprecating manner about them. Manipulation has taken place and our language has been taken captive by the liar of liars. In the process, he has taken millions captive and made them fearers and despisers of the truth.
What has happened is that more importance has been given to the connotation or emotional association a person has for a word, than its denotation, the real meaning of the word.
Jesus prays for the disciples in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.” Jesus knew well just how important words and the Word of God really are. Don’t forget what He said back in Matthew 5:18: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”
In our text today, Jesus is telling us that the words we choose are so very important that not only will we give an account for every “careless” word that we speak, but that we will “give an accounting” for them, being either “justified” or “condemned”.
Let’s look at those four words: “careless”, “accounting”, “justified” and “condemned”.
First, “careless”. The Greek word is argos, and it literally means, “idle, non-working, inoperative.” An idle word has no legitimate purpose, is morally useless and is not profitable at all. To get an idea of how this word argos is used in other contexts and to get a good idea of the connotation as well as the denotation, let’s examine a few of the other places it is employed in the New Testament.
Argos is also used in Matthew 20:3; 20:6; 1 Timothy 5:13; 2 Peter 1:8; Titus 1:12. Let’s read these and see what we can get from the contexts.
We see that the word is used for “idle, useless, lazy”. So, what do you get from this? What do you think Jesus is telling us about the words we use? Words matter: make them count; don’t just blabber.
A look at Ephesians 5:4 might be helpful here. This word mōrologia, does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament. It means that kind of talk that is insipid, senseless, stupid, or foolish. It refers to talk which is not able to instruct, edify or profit anyone in any real sense. It means the idle “chitchat” that is so common in the world we live in.
The meaning is that we Christians should strive to have our conversation always be sensible, serious and sincere, keeping in mind the words of the Lord in the verse that we are studying.
Does this mean we shouldn’t laugh or joke? No, not at all. But it does mean that our joking or laughing should not be derogatory or demeaning in any way. That’s a pretty tough nut to crack, I do admit, but this is what God is telling us today.
Now we want to take a look at Ephesians 4:29. Here we are confronted with Paul’s understanding of what Jesus was talking about in our passage today. Let’s read it, and let’s do so within its context of verses 29-32.
The word for “unwholesome” is sapros, and it signifies a useless, putrid, unsavory and/or obscene word or conversation; whatever has a tendency to injure the name, fame or interest of another.
Off-color humor, foul language, meanness, ungraciousness, gossip, rumor, slander, cursing, senseless babble – all of these fall under the meaning of this word sapros.
As we read on in this verse, we see that instead of that kind of talk, our words are to be measured and appropriate to the person and the moment. Our words are to be targeted and intended for the building up of others – nothing else.
Paul even gets more specific in Colossians 4:6, when he writes “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
If what you are about to say or are in the midst of saying is not true, not helpful or not needful, then keep quiet. Again the message for today is: “Watch your mouth!”
If we read on to the end of this clause in Ephesians 4:29-32, we find that this could well be the mission statement of any true disciple of Jesus Christ.
Live this, and there will be no mistaking you for anything other than a follower of Jesus Christ. Do not live it, and no will ever mistake you for one of His.
Is this a hard and difficult truth? I know it is – I am not comfortable with it either.
Let’s go on and look at the other words in our target verse from Matthew 12.
Next, we have the word “accounting”. The Greek word is one that we are familiar with, and that is logos. To try to keep this as simple as I can, we need to look at how we apply this Greek word in our language today. Logos in the context we normally use it refers first to Jesus Christ, as in John 1:1. Yet we use a modern rendering of logos in our everyday language.
We have words like technology, theology, archeology, bacteriology, psychology, radiology, terminology and thousands of others. Each one of those has to do with “the study of”. So we can look at the Day of Judgment Jesus speaks of and know that there will one day be a “study of” the words we have employed – be that beneficially or wastefully.
The next word is “justified”. Dikaioō is the Greek, and it means, among other things, “to show to be righteous”. That means that one of the two results from the study of our words is that we will be shown to be righteous, that there will be overwhelming evidence that we are in right standing with God, that our words were known by God and man to be good and right and true and worthwhile.
The last word is “condemned”. We all have a pretty good notion of what it means to be condemned. The Greek here is katadikazō, which means, “pronounced guilty”. Guilty of what? Guilty in general, really. Jesus says that we will stand before God in the Day of Judgment and that there will be a study of our words made and we will give an explanation for every word that we have uttered that has been ungodly and unproductive.
Why? Because our words flow out of our hearts, and it is our hearts that will actually be judged as righteous in God’s sight or judged as guilty before Him. Our words simply serve as the indicator of the true condition of our hearts. Our words are the “evidence” that will one day be used in the court of Heaven – for us or against us.
Words are critical; words are vital. Look at Ephesians 4:11-16, with a special focus on verse 15. This is where this fellowship derives its name. We are commanded to “speak the truth in love”. What we say must be true, or we are not to say it, for it is worthless. What we say must be in love, or it is fruitless.
What if I don’t know for sure that it’s true? Then keep your mouth shut. We will be judged by our words, remember. Does this lesson mean that all idle chatter is supposed to disappear from my life? You are all reasonable, intelligent people. What does the Word of God say? Read it for yourself – pray over it, study it, be transformed by it.
What about that urge to say something mean or unkind or untrue or just to babble? Check your heart…ask your Heavenly Father to search your heart and show you if there is anything there that needs to be changed. There will be – that’s really what the application of our lesson is for today.
It’s about the daily indicators there are in our lives that tell us that we have a heart problem: it’s in our words.
In our text today, Jesus is telling us, “Look, it isn’t your dictionary that gives meaning to what you say; it’s your heart that does so. Be very careful of what you say; words are powerful. Take them very seriously, because one day the words you speak now will either show you as saved or condemned, justified or guilty.”
Today, I want to issue a challenge to each and every one of us. Let’s call it, “The Ephesians 4:29 Challenge”, and make it a 30-day experiment.
We had some special reminder wrist bands made. As you can see, they are of the type that many people are wearing these days to commemorate and memorialize a vast variety of different things. Basically, though, they are to serve as a constant reminder of something in the life of the wearer.
For us – and this is our challenge – take one of these purple wrist bands, commit to wear it for 30-days, not taking it off for anything. If someone asks you what it is for, point out the “Ephesians 4:29-32” engraved on it and explain that it is to remind you to watch your mouth.
See for yourself if what we have studied here today has really made a difference in your life. See if you take to heart what Jesus Christ has to speak into your life, or if it is just so many words, so much information to take in of a Sunday but not let it impact your life and change who you are.
God laid this on my heart several weeks ago, and He has been gently working with me on this. I have noticed a changed in what I say and how I say it. In fact, I don’t talk nearly as much as I did. Hopefully, others will notice a change for the better and be attracted to my Savior.
You see, as always, there are only two things on the menu.
Let’s pray.
