Thoughts and Words Matter

Introduction: (What?) How many times have you harbored secret thoughts about someone, even Jesus or God, and thought that because you didn’t verbalize them, everything was O.K.? This was an on-going problem with the Pharisees, and I fear that it is was some believers today. Even blasphemy can begin in the mind before erupting from the mouth. Words, whether spoken or thought are vastly important.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Your Thoughts aren’t Hidden from Jesus (vv 22-29)

Matt 12:22-29 “Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man could both speak and see. All the crowds were astounded and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”

Even today when people can’t explain the mighty acts of God, they are prone to attribute what happens to someone or some thing else. They know better, but to disclaim God and His power, they declare a lie. Jesus, though He didn’t have to, explained the inanity of their attributing the driving out of demons to the prince of demons. He said, “It makes no sense that Satan would drive out Satan.” Any argument raised against the knowledge of God is laid bare by the truth of God and His activity among us.In 2 Cor 10:3-6 Paul wrote; “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”

The people, upon seeing the power of God demonstrated through Jesus, raised the question “Could this be the Son of David?” They were referring to the Messiah who had been prophesied. The religious establishment of the day, fearing that they would lose power but unable to deny what had just happened, tried to cause doubt among the people as to whose power wrought the miracle they had just seen. Even before they spoke, Jesus, “knowing their thoughts” refuted them. That is why Paul wrote about the necessity of “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”.

When you see a lost person surrender to Christ, the kingdom of God has come upon you. When you see a person in bondage to drugs, alcohol, pornography or any other harmful habit, the kingdom of God has come upon you. To attribute the supernatural to anyone other than God is blasphemy.

2. Blasphemy! (vv 30-32)

Matt 12:30-32 “Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.”

It is the Holy Spirit who causes people to recognize and acknowledge their sin. It is the Holy Spirit who convinces people of the judgment they are under in their un-repentant state. I shudder when I hear someone refer to themselves or someone else as a “soul-winner”. No one can win souls but God. Your call and mine is, as in Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” No power…no Holy Spirit; no Holy Spirit…no salvation. If you are saved, the Holy Spirit resides in you and you have the power necessary to be Christ’s witness. If you are saved you have the same Holy Spirit in you who was in Billy Graham or John Wesley, or Peter, or Paul. He operates no differently in the Christian of today than He did in the Christian in the book of Acts. To say that you are a Christian without the power of the Holy Spirit being active in and through you is very close to blasphemy. To say that you can’t articulate the gospel to anyone because you aren’t very good with words is to call Jesus a liar.

3. Word up! (vv 33-37)

Back in the ‘80s the phrase “word up” became popular. According to the Urban Dictionary, the meaning is “absolutely!, I agree! You are right! That’s the truth.”

Today we hear so many words from the pulpit, on TV or radio or from our friends and neighbors that we often underestimate the power of words. Jesus gave us an idea of the power of words in Matt 12:33-37

“Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

In Hebrews 13:15 “Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

To confess means to acknowledge one's belief or faith in; declare adherence to. This is done verbally. Jesus told us that verbal confession or acknowledgement is essential to our salvation when He said in Matt 10:32 “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” In the very next verse He said, Matt 10:33 “But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.” The interesting thing about those two verses is that you confess Jesus as LORD with your lips and your life, but you can deny Him with your life even though you confess Him with your lips. Words can also be expressed in writing. I know people who will put Godly expressions on FaceBook or Twitter, but I know that their lives are not congruent with their written words. Your words, whether spoken or written, emanate from your heart and reveal the state of your heart. And, according to Jesus, “on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.” I have heard people say, “I didn’t mean to say that, but they make me so mad...” No! Their actions or words merely REVEALED what was in your heart by your reaction to them. When David Wilkerson, a young pentecostal preacher, went from a small town in PA to NYC to reach out to gang members, he would often tell them, “Jesus loves you and I love you” Nicky Cruz, the warlord of the Mau Mau gang once said to him, “If you keep saying that I’m going to cut you into little pieces.” to which David Wilkerson replied, “If you do, every little piece will be saying, ‘Jesus loves you and I love you.’” Nicky said, “I couldn’t get that out of my head, and that is what eventually led me to surrender to Christ.”

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Have you surrendered your life to Christ?

Do your words and deeds testify that Christ is in your heart?

Are there evil, unkind words that you have spoken from which you need to repent?

Is there someone waiting to hear your story as to how you surrendered to Christ?

Peter wrote in 1 Pet 3:15-17 “but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”