Encountering Opposition: Blasphemy pt 2

INTRO: We live in a world where people often deny the objectivity of gender and sexuality. Asserting that someone is male or female based on biology and anatomy has, in some circles, been labeled as hate speech. However, for those with common sense, the binary reality of sex and gender is clear. There is another area where a binary reality is also evident, yet even those who hold conservative and Christian values struggle to acknowledge its objectivity: the objectivity of our words. Jesus says in our text this morning that it is out of the heart that the mouth speaks.

REASON TO LISTEN: If you ignore the importance of examining your speech, you risk being blind to what your words reveal about your true spiritual state.

PREACHING POINT: You must constantly assess your speech, knowing your words reveal your heart and will testify for or against you on the day of judgment.

TRANSITION:

TEXT: v33 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, (A moderately confusing linguistic phrase, but the concept is, “Your true nature is seen in how you speak and behave”) for the tree is known by its fruit.

· If we are going to heed the words of Jesus, the first thing we need to do is…

POINT 1: Inspect Your Fruit v33

ILLUSTRATE: “A bad apple spoils the bunch.” If the heart is spoiled, it’s bound to touch every other aspect of your life, including your words.

PROVE: James 3:11–12 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

APPLY: If you were to record a catalog of every word you said this week, what would that catalog reveal about the kind of fruit you have and what that fruit says about your heart?

TRANSITION:

TEXT: vv34-35 34 You brood (seed) of vipers! (Jesus makes a qualitative statement about the Pharisee’s identity. Like JB in Matthew 3:7, Jesus calls the Pharisees children of a serpent, ultimately associating the Pharisees with the Devil, the great deceiver and slanderer (which is what the name Devil means. (emphasis on words)) How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure (Treasure is the Greek word thēsauros, which means storehouse, treasury, a place where valuables are stored. This Greek word is where we get the English word thesaurus, a treasury, a storehouse of words.) brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

· The fruit of our lives identifies us with which seed (offspring) we come from. Either we are children of God or children of the slanderer, and out of the treasury of our hearts, we give away our true identity.

· So, beyond inspecting the external fruit, we also need to….

POINT 2: Evaluate Your Storehouse vv34-35

PROVE: Matthew 15:16–20 (ESV) 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

APPLY: It’s not enough to say I need to change my actions; if our actions result from our inner self, we must look outside ourselves for the answer.

· Ask God to give you a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26-27

· Ask God to soften your heart. 2 Chronicles 34:27 (because you hear was tender I heard you)

TRANSITION:

TEXT: vv36-37 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, (the kinds of words described here are worthless, unhelpful, deceptive, manipulative, words without thought of consequence) 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (These two verses use courtroom language. A scene of accounting, justice, and adjudication.)

· Lest we misconstrue what is happening concerning judgment and our words….Jmac says this..

· John MacArthur: Salvation and condemnation are not produced by words or deeds, but they are manifested by them. Words and deeds are objective, observable evidence of a person’s spiritual condition. In the day of judgment, that future time when the Lord evaluates who belongs in and out of His eternal kingdom, the criteria will include the speech of every person. The consistent teaching of both Old and New Testaments is that the only way of salvation is by God’s grace working through man’s faith. Jesus’ point is not that words are the basis of salvation or condemnation but that they are reliable evidence of the reality of salvation. The speech of a redeemed person will be different because it comes from his renewed heart…

· That is precisely why we must, as Christians…

POINT 3: Construct Your Word with Caution vv36-37

PROVE: Proverbs 4:23–27 (ESV) 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

APPLY:

1. Keep a heart inventory

2. Put away crooked speech

3. Stay focused on the path ahead

4. Consider your own ways

5. Keep walking straight

CONCLUSION: