Diagnosing Our Hearts

Good morning church family

It is good to be with you on this Palm Sunday

while this is not a Palm Sunday-specific sermon, I do think it is good on Palm Sunday to intentionally reflect on the day when Jesus entered into Jerusalem

[That is what last week’s After Sunday podcast episode was about]

So I would encourage you to go back and listen if you have not yet

But, in a day like ours with so much global unrest, Palm Sunday is not just a time when we remember Jesus coming as a King 2000 years ago

It is a day when we are reminded that Jesus is King over all

And one day, our king will return

And today we will live with the hope that, while many rulers will rise and fall, Jesus reigns forever.

And so we can have peace in a world that is far from it, because our King will return.

Amen? [1:30]

Well… if you are a guest

My name is Stefan and I am the pastor of preaching here at Harvest Bible Church

And we are continuing our series in the Gospel of Matthew

So let’s take out our Bibles and open to the book of Matthew

We have been walking line-by-line through this book

And we have been seeing week after week how the words of Jesus and what it means to belong to his kingdom collides head on with the little kingdoms that you and I try to build each day

And there is nothing that displays this collision more than how we speak

Because the words that we say are symptoms of what is going on in our hearts

And how, so often, our hearts collide with God’s kingdom

If you think about symptoms, especially when it comes to an illness, the symptoms themselves are not the problem, but are a sign of a much deeper problem

And you go to the doctor and tell the doctor all of your symptoms and from the combination of symptoms the doctor is able to diagnose the actual problem

If the doctor simply treated your symptoms, it would not deal with the underlying problem

[Hook/FCF] And I think that too often we treat our words as the problem, rather than seeing them as a symptom to deeper problem

But here is the issue with that - If I just focus on my words, the heart that produced those words is never addressed

If I find myself saying things that are problematic, I need to get at the heart issue that is producing those words

And as my heart changes, so will my words.

And in Matt. 12:22-37, Jesus is going to use our words to “Diagnose our hearts”

That is the title of this morning’s message and we are going to be in Matt. 12:22-37

Over the past couple of weeks, we have referenced Matthew 12:14 in which the Pharisees began to conspire against Jesus “how they might destroy him”

Ruin his ministry

Stop him from doing what he is doing

And in our passage this morning, we are going to see their first attempt to do that.

And Jesus’ confrontation of what they say is a diagnosis of their hearts

And it will be a diagnosis of ours as well

So let’s give these words our full attention [5:00]

Matthew 12:22–37 “Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. 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. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

These are God’s words for us as his people - May we have ears to hear them and hearts to obey them.

Big Idea: Your words about Jesus reveal your heart toward Jesus. [8:00]

What we say is not the only problem - It is the evidence of a deeper problem

Our words are the evidence of our hearts’ disposition toward Jesus

And where we find that our words are not in step with the truth of Jesus, it is revealing that there are things about our hearts that are not in step with Jesus

[Bridge Question] What things in my heart do my words reveal? What issues are going on that my words make visible?

We are going to see in this passage how we can diagnose our hearts at 4 levels

So we are going to walk through the passage and see how Jesus address these 4 levels of the pharisees’ hearts…

… so that we can know what is going on inside of our own hearts and repent where our hearts are out of alignment with God’s kingdom.

Diagnosing My Heart:

Layer 1: My Desires (22-24) [9:00]

Let’s set the scene so that we can appreciate what is going on.

In v. 22 we are told “Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.”

The syntax of this verse is saying that he was blind and mute because of this demon.

And we are told that Jesus heals him so that he can see and speak

That means that the healing was the casting out of the demon

So the scene is someone who is clearly oppressed by a demon, who is then subsequently clearly healed of that demon

The crowds see this - There is no denying that it happened

And you have two different responses:

Many people ask the question in v. 23, “Can this be the Son of David?”

It isn’t obvious in English, but in Greek it is a negative question - It communicates doubt on the part of the people.

Like they are saying to one another, “He couldn’t be the Son of David, could he?”

Now, why would they ask that question?

In 2 Samuel 7, God promises King David that there will be a descendent from his line who will reign as king forever

But every son and grandson and great grandson of David died and their respective reigns did not last forever

And so the people of Israel have been waiting for that king who would reign forever

And they thought that when this king arrived he would reestablish the earthly kingdom of Israel and would reign from an earthly throne.

But this is just a man from Galilee, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, the son of a carpenter…

There is nothing impressive or “kingly” about him

So they are saying, “This guy couldn’t possibly be the son of David, right?”

And then you have the other response by the Pharisees

Matthew 12:24 “But when the Pharisees heard it [that people thought he might be the Son of David], they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.’”

Where the people questioned if Jesus was the coming king, the Pharisees blatantly deny it by falsely attributing his power to Satan.

What we have to see in this passage is there is no belief

They either struggle to believe, in the case of the crowds, or they refuse to believe, as in the case of the Pharisees.

We often assume that if we just present the evidence in the right way that belief will follow

But this passage helps us to see that that is not the case

Right belief does not automatically follow from the evidence

Because we all choose to see the evidence that agrees with what we want to be true and we intentionally avoid the things that disagree with what we want to be true

And the hard reality is that if Jesus isn’t what I want, I won’t believe… even if the evidence is undeniable.

This is why Jesus, in confronting the Pharisees in John 5, says…

John 5:39–40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; yet it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

I’m not what you want, so you refuse to come.

And this diagnoses our hearts because we are far too prone to re-create and reinterpret Jesus into a version that gives us what we want

And this tendency in our hearts is revealed by our words about Jesus

When I am always the exception to the rule, so that Jesus permits the things in my life that Scripture clearly confronts

When I see Jesus as a means of getting the life I want, so I ignore what I truly need, which is the transformation of my heart

So it is worth pausing here and asking:

Where in my life am I trying to fit Jesus into what I want?

And what is that revealing about my heart toward Jesus?

Growing in following Christ means that we are constantly seeing that we are desiring the wrong things

The truth that we need to see in these verses is that when I belong to Jesus, I will ask him to change my desires to match his.

Rather than changing him to match my desires.

So that is the scene and that is the first layer of diagnosing our hearts - that our words reveal our desires.

The second layer of diagnosing our hearts is…

Layer 2: My Allegiance (25-30) [16:00]

Notice first, Jesus hears what they say publicly in v. 24, but in v. 25, it is their thoughts that he knows

The word used here is always used in relation to Jesus’ knowledge about evil intent

As the Son of God in human flesh, he does not do away with his divinity - He can still discern the hearts of people and expose them according to the truth, even when they try to hide it.

And so he hears them attribute his work to Satan and he knows that their motive is in seeking to destroy him

And he responds to them with 5 statements that ultimately expose where their allegiance lies

At first glance, it seems like Jesus says a lot of unrelated things…

but it is actually moving logically from the contradictory nature of their words to the choice that they have to make about him

Matthew 12:25–26 “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”

This is the logical law of non-contradiction

You cannot say that Satan is defeated by the power of Satan

That argument contradicts itself

And because it contradicts itself, their conclusion is absurd

Matthew 12:27 “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.”

This is known as a Reductio ad absurdum

It is an argument that reduces their claim to its absurd conclusion

It is a way of saying “if you say A, then you are required to say B… But B is absurd, so A can’t be true.”

Are you with me? [I know I just used latin in a sermon… but I think we can all understand the meaning…]

Jesus is using deductive reasoning to say, “We know your sons cast out demons too… So does that mean they are using Satan’s power to do it?”

But you would never say that, right?

It would be absurd

So then you can’t say it about me either.

Instead… v. 28

Matthew 12:28 “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

You can’t deny my work and I’ve shown that it is illogical that it is by the powers of evil… Therefore, it must be the power of God

And if God has your allegiance, if you are truly aligned with his kingdom, then you’ll accept it

By nature of the fact that you do not accept it, it proves that your allegiance lies with yourself, not God.

Their words sought to undermine Jesus… instead, all they did was reveal their hearts

Now look at v. 29

Matthew 12:29 “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.”

Jesus is using an illustration to show that he is doing precisely what you would expect of someone who is conquering the kingdom of the world and establishing the kingdom of God

Under God’s sovereign authority, he allowed Satan to have a measure of power in the world, but now Satan is bound by the power of God

So he cannot stop the kingdom from advancing

[Matt. 16 - I will build my church]

So now Jesus is visibly plundering the house of Satan by casting him out

Jesus is saying, “It is not that you are seeing the power of Satan, it is that you are seeing the binding of Satan because the kingdom of God is more powerful”

And because you are seeing the kingdom of God, you are left with a choice:

Matthew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

There is no middle-ground

You are either for Jesus and he has your allegiance

Or you are against him and you are causing people to scatter away from him

Here is the point he is making:

Either your allegiance is with me and so you accept me

Or your allegiance is to yourself, and so you reject me

But if you reject me, it is because you are choosing to believe what is illogical

People often claim that they don’t believe in Jesus because it doesn’t make sense

That is the opposite of the truth

Christianity is the most rational, observable, and practical belief system that exists

Opposition is not because belief is not rational…

Opposition to Jesus is what is irrational

And the reason for it opposition to Jesus is that something else has you heart

So, here is the question for us: What do your words reveal about where your allegiance lies?

Do you explain away the authority of Jesus over your life?

Or do you confess him as Lord and submit to his authority in your life?

There is no middle ground.

Moving on to the third layer…

Layer 3: My Will (31-32) [23:00]

I think a definition of will would be helpful before we move forward

Your will is “the settled direction of your life expressed in the choices you consistently make.”

It is what you choose when confronted with the truth.

In v. 31-32, Jesus diagnoses the difference between a will that is settled toward God and a will that is settled toward self

Matthew 12:31–32 “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Sin is serious and blasphemy is serious

Sin is anything that prioritizes my desires over God’s desires, in word, action, or thought

Blasphemy is saying things about God that are not true.

And Jesus says that both of these will be forgiven, yet if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you will not be forgiven.

What is going on here?… Does this mean that the Holy Spirit is more important than Jesus?

No, in fact, the role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Father and the Son

Not the other way around.

Let’s look at what is actually going on to get an understanding of what Jesus is saying

Jesus does an undeniable miracle that validates that he is administering the very power of God

And the Pharisees are so bothered by him, willing to stop at nothing to destroy him, that they attribute the work of God to Satan.

That is, literally, the most antithetical statement you could possible make.

This isn’t an error… this isn’t a misunderstanding.

This is a choice to be so hardened against the truth of God that you absolutely refuse to accept it.

Blasphemy against Jesus is forgivable because it is wrong doctrine that can be corrected

Blasphemy against the Spirit, a willful rejection of his work, is not forgivable because it is a persistent rejection of undeniable truth that is rooted in pride.

I know the truth, and I refuse to accept it.

And for the person who refuses to repent, there is no forgiveness.

Because that person’s will is settled against God and his purposes.

Jesus is making sure that his audience understands, when you get things wrong, but you repent, you will be forgiven.

When you choose what is wrong because you refuse to repent, you will not be forgiven.

And the diagnosis of your heart involves diagnosing your will.

So, let’s ask the hard question:

Are you in danger of committing the sin that Jesus says is unforgivable?

Well, just ask one other question:

Who’s will have you settled on? God’s will? Or your will?

Now, I want you to notice the key word in that question, “Settled”

I am not saying that if you struggle in your will that you are guilty of what Jesus is saying here

I know very well the ongoing reality of having a conflicted will

“I do desire to submit to the word of God in my life, but I find so often that I’m pulled in the wrong direction and that from time to time I do give in to the wrong things.”

I understand that - I feel that

And if that is you, let me encourage your heart…

That very struggle in your will is evidence that you are not guilty of what the Pharisees are doing here

It is evidence that God’s Spirit is in you, slowly conforming you to the will of God, and he will continue to conform your life to his will

And so, there is forgiveness when our will is out of step with his if we confess it and repent of it

The warning in these verses is for the one who refuses to acknowledge that God’s will is better

The will that says, “I have no conflict in my heart - I am against God’s will.”

“And the sooner that God would get on board, the better off we’d all be.”

And if that is you today, while you might say that you believe in Jesus, if your will is settled against him and in your words you show that you expect him to submit to your will, it is revealing a heart that is against him

And your only hope in this life is learn from the error of the pharisees and Jesus’ rebuke of them, to run to Jesus and embrace his will over your own

These are serious words that we must not write off

We must let them expose our hearts

And when we are tempted to say, “My will be done,” we must repent and say, “Your will be done.”

And that leads us to the final layer…

Layer 4: My Character (33-37) [30:00]

Let’s imagine for a moment that I’m walking with a cup of coffee and someone bumps into me

What is going to happen?

Coffee is going to spill out onto the ground

And I ask, “Why did coffee spill on the ground?”

And the wrong answer would be, “Because that person bumped into you.”

The right answer is “Because there was coffee in the cup when they bumped into you.”

Because what is inside of the cup spills out when the cup is bumped

And there are things that “bump” us in life and what is inside of us spills out in those moments

It isn’t that what we say or how we react is somehow different than who we really are

It is that in those moments the REAL us spills out

Because it was in there all along.

And with the healing of this demon-possessed man in this passage, the Pharisees were bumped and the evil that was inside of them finally comes out

Matthew 12:33–35 “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. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Jesus calls them a “brood of vipers” - Meaning, they are the offspring of poisonous snakes

And that should make us think of a very specific serpent whose words were poison to those who heard him

The serpent in Gen. 3 who deceived the man and the woman so that they would sin against God

And if you remember in Gen. 3, God says that there will be conflict between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent

And Jesus is the offspring of the woman and he is saying that these Pharisees are those offspring of that serpent.

The irony is that they think they are claiming that Jesus is doing the work of Satan, all the while they are the ones doing the work of Satan

How does that happen?

How do you go from a life that is supposed to be oriented toward God to a life that is actually opposed to God?

Look at v. 33

“either make the tree good and it’s fruit good or make the tree bad and it’s fruit bad”

That word “make” is the idea of cultivating something

The ongoing care of a tree that helps it to grow and produce fruit

His point is that the Pharisees, though appearing religious, have been cultivating hearts over time that are producing the very evil that is flowing out of them in this conflict

Here is the reality: Every day of our lives we have innumerable moments in which we are cultivating the soil of our hearts

And that ongoing cultivation is developing in us the character that is revealed in our words and deeds

But the call of Christ is that we would be conformed to his image

That our character would slowly, progressively look more and more like him and less and less like the evil of this world

The diagnostic of our hearts is found in the kind of character we are cultivating in our daily lives

The choices you and I make are cultivating our hearts and our words are simply the fruit of the tree that we have been cultivating.

So just take a moment and look back over the past few days or the past week

What decisions have you been making that are cultivating your heart?

What kind of character are you building?

And how is the fruit of that character playing out in your life?

Whatever kind of character you have been cultivating will be evident by the fruit of your words.

And this is important because Jesus says that it has implications for the day of judgment

Matthew 12:36–37 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The day that you and I stand before God,

we will not answer for if we were better than the next person

We will answer for what our words revealed about whether we belong to Christ or not

Commentator Grant Osborne summarizes these verses well when he writes,

“Our words reflect the true essence of who we are and will provide irrefutable evidence on judgment day.”

Now, this is not to say that salvation rests on making sure our words are right

No, salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ

But Jesus’ point here is that there is no better evidence to reveal if you belong to him or not than the words that you and I say

If you are a Christ-follower and you know that there are things you are doing and saying that do not align with his Kingdom, the response is to repent, ask for forgiveness, and ask God to sanctify your life and your words

Ask him to cultivate Christ-like character in you so that you would speak Christ-like words

But I think there are some in here who have become very crafty with their words, while their hearts are far from Jesus and in the moments where your guard is down, the real you comes out and it reveals what the author of Hebrews calls “an evil and unbelieving heart”

If that is you, turn now and run to Jesus for the salvation of your soul

Otherwise, you will stand before him and the evidence will be undeniable.

[Conclusion] 38:00

The pharisees words revealed that their hearts were out of step with God’s kingdom, even though they should have known better than anyone what the kingdom would look like

But their desires, allegiance, will, and character were revealed to be opposed to Jesus, not for him.

And listen to me church family, we must guard against the assumption that because of what we know, we know better.

These guys knew better than anyone… and that is precisely why their hearts rejected Jesus

Because in spite of their knowledge, their hearts were far from him.

So, we should be a people who are constantly diagnosing our hearts, lest we fall into the same error

And Jesus gives us the layers for diagnosing our hearts:

My desires - What do I want?

My allegiance - Who am I living for?

My will - Do I want my way or God’s way?

My character - What kind of person I am becoming?

May we be a church that is constantly being transformed in these things so that our words and our lives reflect the God whom we serve.

Amen.