Our Words Speak Louder Than We Think

We’re all familiar with the common sayings. “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Or, “It’s not whats on the outside, but on the inside that counts.”

The desire, or really the necessity, of being able to see inside something is common, because those sayings are often very true. Often what is on the outside of something doesn’t give the whole picture of what is going on inside.

If you’ve ever had a car, you know that it can be shiny and slick and waxed up and polished, seats shampooed, carpets vacuumed, dash wiped down, but if it won’t start, run, and drive, all the exterior glory of your motorized horse and buggy won’t do you much good.

This is especially true in the medical world. The ability to see inside a person without actually going inside a person has revolutionized medical care and saved millions of lives.

Over the past couple of months, as Doctors worked to try to diagnose what was the matter with my eyes, I became acquainted for the first time with many of these tools. I had EKG, MRI, CT, Ultrasound, X-Rays, and all kinds of Retinal Imaging - all because what looked fine on the outside was, in fact, not fine at all.

We want that kind of precise, exacting science to be able to help us determine what is wrong, at least, when we know and can admit that something is wrong.

However, sometimes those same tools reveal to us that something is wrong when we didn’t expect it, or when we didn’t want to admit it.

In our short passage today, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees about the revealing and diagnostic properties of our words.

Last week, we looked at the teaching on the unpardonable sin - blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Now, if you remember, I said very carefully that it is very unlikely that you have commited the unpardonable sin - especially if you are concerned before the Lord that you might have!

However, we did also say that while you most likely haven’t commited the unpardonable sin, you and I most definitely have commited a host of other sins, and for those we need help and forgiveness.

Those two things come together in these five verses this morning, because we are dealing with two things - words, and the issue of the heart, or what is inside. The Pharisees were dangerously close to committing the unpardonable sin because of what they had said - because of their words.

Jesus goes on to tell us that our words don’t just come out of nowhere. They aren’t abstract or potential realities, rather our speech is an action that bubbles up out of our inner being - from our heart.

Now, if you remember way back to when we were in the Beatitudes in Matthew, you will recall Matthew 5:8 which says this.

Matthew 5:8 ESV

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

When we studied that, this was the big idea and the conclusion that we came to:

The pure in heart have a singular, overarching desire for God and His ways – they are blessed, because their desire will be met in seeing God.

We did a lot of legwork in that study, looking at the way the Bible uses the word heart, and uncovering some of the treasures of that picturesque term, but to summarize we could say this:

The heart, in the bible, is the seat of our lives. It is the inner-being. Our thoughts, emotions, desires, volition, all flow from the heart. Our life flows from our heart. What we do flows from out heart. What we want flows from our heart. How we respond flows from our heart. What we say flows from our heart.

The heart, or the inner man, is critically important because, at the end of the day, it is who we truly are. So much like a mechanic may use a scanner to see what’s wrong with your engine, and much like an MRI technician uses magnets and dye to see what’s going on with your brain, Jesus gives a diagnostic tool in this passage as well.

By teaching us about the revealing nature of our words, Jesus gives us a barometer of our hearts. How are your words, and how is your heart?

1. Jesus’ Teaching On Words

Let’s start this morning by just walking through this short passage.

Matthew 12:33 ESV

“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.

Jesus, again, still on the topic of forgiveness because of the evil words that the Pharisees had just spoken, begins with an illustration from agriculture.

I’m no gardener, that is Lizzy’s department in our house. But this spring I did venture out and plant 5 blueberry bushes. What I have learned about blueberries is that they require much more than meets the eye.

The soil has to be just right - sandy and loose enough to drain, but not drain too quickly. They need a high-PH content or else the leaves will yellow and the berries won’t turn blue. They need to be watered, but not too much or the shallow roots will rot. They need lots and lots of sun, but if its too hot they can burn. They’re pretty picky little things, and there are a lot of details that go into determining whether you will actually get blue-berries, or any berries at all, from the blueberry bushes.

“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.”

Jesus says that the fruit tells something about the reality of the tree. If the blueberries are not edible, something us unhealthy with the bush. If apples don’t grow on your apple tree, something is wrong with the tree.

Much like trees and bushes, our lives can be characterized by fruit. And when we read on, we find that Jesus’ is making a supreme judgment about the fruit that the Pharisees are producing.

Matthew 12:34 ESV

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

These are sharp words - brood of vipers. Literally, the “generation” or “children of vipers.” This is the second time we have seen this term used in Matthew, and both times it has been about the Pharisees. The first time was by John the Baptist, and now Jesus confirms that diagnosis and uses it again.

“How can you speak good, when you are evil?” Jesus makes the judgment call, the determination that only he can make, that the Pharisees were not righteous as they claimed and even at times looked to be - but rather they were evil, right to the very core.

Jesus states that in two ways - the first being the “brood of vipers” comment. Israelites, and especially the Pharisees, preferred to be known as sons of Abraham - the Father of the Faithful. But Jesus rather claims that their heritage is better described as poisonous snakes.

The second is with the comment at the end of the verse - “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Here is where we begin to see the main idea in these verses. Our words say something - that may seem obvious, but they say more than we really know. Our words reveal something about us, and not just a little something, but they take a core sample right down to our very heart, our inner being.

Jesus is essentially saying that the reason the Pharisees speak evil words against Him is because their hearts are evil - he makes no two ways about it.

Matthew 12:35 (ESV)

The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

Jesus refers to the inner being as a treasury.

If you go to Ft. Knox Kentucky, you will find close by the United States Bullion Depository, where roughly half of the US Treasury’s Gold Bullion is safely kept. Its a fortress so impenetrable that Ft. Knox is used as a description of anything particularly hard to get into.

Some of you may consider your inner being to be locked up tighter than Ft. Knox. That is, you might deem yourself hard to read. You might think that your inner battles, inner struggles, inner tendencies and emotions and passions and cares are inaccessible to the outside world.

Well, What Jesus says here makes it clear that sometime, in some way, you are going to have to speak - and when you speak, what you say is one of the most telling images of the treasury of your own heart.

That is a picturesque description, isn’t it? The heart as a treasury.

The heart is a treasury of what you are and what you desire.

Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In that passage, Jesus warned us not to “treasure treasures,” but rather to treasure heavenly things - to treasure God and His Kingdom. Where our treasure is says much about our heart.

But also, what we “treasure” says a lot about our heart. We could ask the question, if we opened up your heart, what treasure would you find there?

If we opened up your bank statement, what treasure would we discover that you value most?

If we opened up your mind, what would your inner thoughts display of your values?

Well, I cannot open your heart, your mind, or your bank statements - but you can, and the Lord Jesus certainly can, and he gives a great tool for that purpose, at least for the heart, in paying attention to our words.

Our words are one of the best indicators of treasure, because we speak from the overflow of our treasure.

If the heart is a treasure trove of our values and desires, then eventually that treasure - what we treasure, is going to show up somewhere and somehow - and there is a good chance it will show up in what we say.

We have all had a moment - we say something. Something rude, something scathing, something unkind, something untrue, something hurtful or damaging or critical or imprudent - and in the next moment, we wish we could retract our words.

We may say something like, “I didn’t mean that!” or “You know I was just joking!” But in that moment, we have a little x-ray machine available to us, because we know the reality behind those words.

It has been said somewhat jokingly and lightly that a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts. Well, we could modify that a bit and say that an Angry man’s words are a calm man’s thoughts. A bitter man’s words are a kind man’s thoughts. An abusive man’s words are a gentle man’s thoughts.

In the heat of the moment, when push comes to shove, when things boil up to the surface, what we say reveals something about who we are inside.

Now, I want to be careful here - because there are obviously times when words can be unclear. for instance, you can say something and be misunderstood, or misheard, or misinterpreted. You can genuinely misspeak and use the wrong word or term.

Jesus is not necessarily saying that we should go around and analyze everyone else’s words and then make a judgment call about their heart.

However, we certainly should analyze our own words, because while others may misunderstand or mishear us, we never will. We know where the words came from, and we know the validity behind them.

There may not be a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, but there is a treasure trove in our heart behind every string of words, behind every phrase or sentence - and if Jesus’ teaching is true here, which it is, we ought to be diligent students, following our own verbal trail of breadcrumbs back to the very source.

If we treasure ourselves, our words will reveal self-preservation.

If we treasure our belongings, our words will boast or dwell on them.

If we treasure pride or identity, our words will be quick to defend us.

If we treasure secrecy and hiding, our words will be quick to deceive or conceal.

If we treasure impressions or other’s opinions, our words will be quick to please others or inflate our own image.

If we treasure safety, our words will be quick to be weapons to keep others away.

If we treasure evil, our words will be evil.

But if we treasure heavenly treasure, if we treasure God and seek Him with a pure heart, then our words will take on the shape of righteousness and the emphasis of His Kingdom.

Matthew 12:36–37 (ESV)

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.”

Here is Jesus’ conclusion. Every word we speak means something, and says something about us.

Jesus takes our words beyond the moment, beyond the conversation, and extends them all the way to the judgment. We will have to give account of everything we say. Think about that for a moment.

Every “idle” word. Idle can be taken two ways, and I think both are applicable.

First, we could read it as “every casual, thoughtless word.”

We have all said things jokingly, half-seriously, or made passing comments that we didn’t put much thought into. Well, Jesus has just told us that our words don’t primarily flow from our minds, but from our hearts - so even our casual, thoughtless words say something about us.

“Our words speak louder than we think.” And sometimes we do speak without thinking, but those words, again, don’t materialize out of thin air - and there is always some reality behind our words.

Second, we could read it as “every empty word.”

If we read it like this, it has much to do with our promises. We have all made promises to do something for someone, to be somewhere, to accomplish a task, and fell short of our promise.

Sometimes circumstances arise and we are providentially hindered - but often, we make promises without counting the cost, seriously considering whether we will be able to keep them - and in those cases, our words are empty. Jesus says we will give account for every one of those words.

Finally, Jesus says that by our words we will be justified, and by our words we will be condemend.

Now, First we must note that Jesus isn’t saying “Only” by our words we will be justified, as if nothing else we do matters.

Speaking is action, and we also have many other actions that don’t require speaking - and everything we do flows from the heart. Jesus isn’t minimizing the rest of our actions, but he is making it clear that our words are not less important simply because they don’t have mass and dimension.

The word “Justify” is used a couple ways in the Bible. In the Epistles, like Paul’s letters, it is a legal term that means to “declare righteous.” However, in the Gospels, it usually has a simpler meaning, that is to “show righteous.”

In this case, our words will either show us righteous or show us condemned. They are an outward tool, a scope, that will either vindicate us or indemnify us.

Words are not meaningless, words are not “free,” words are not insignificant. Words are powerful, and that power lies in the fact that they reveal something about us.

2. A Survey of Scripture on Words

I want to take a few minutes and look at some other scriptures on words, Because while Jesus speaks authoritatively as the Son of God here, he doesn’t speak in contradiction with the rest of scripture. Our words matter.

Consider the 10 commandments - at least 3 of the 10 have to do with our words.

Deuteronomy 5:11 (ESV)

“ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Deuteronomy 5:16 (ESV)

“ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:20 (ESV)

“ ‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

But it really goes back further than that. From the very story of the fall, we find that words are incredibly important.

Genesis 3:1–5 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

There from the very beginning of human history, words of deceit from the Devil himself show us the revealing nature of our speech, of our thoughts, of our intentions.

One of the treasure troves of scripture on the importance of words is in the book of Proverbs. Consider these.

Proverbs 10:19 (ESV)

When words are many, transgression is not lacking,

but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Proverbs 12:18 (ESV)

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 13:3 (ESV)

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;

he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Proverbs 15:1–2 (ESV)

A soft answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

Proverbs 15:28 (ESV)

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

Proverbs 16:23 (ESV)

The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious

and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

We could go on and on in the proverbs, but Do you see those themes? Words matter, they can be righteous or unrighteous, and they are tied to the heart.

Romans 3:13 (ESV)

“Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

Psalm 140:3 (ESV)

They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,

and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah

That brings some light to Jesus’ calling the pharisees the generation of vipers. That is the sharpness, the severity, and the seriousness of our words.

James 1:19 (ESV)

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

James 3:1 (ESV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

James 3:4–5 (ESV)

Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

James 3:9–10 ESV

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 5:4 (ESV)

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Our words matter, what we say matters.

Fathers and husbands, what you say to your children and wife matters. What you speak in a moment of anger to them says something about you, and says something about your heart.

Mothers and wives, what you say to, or about, your children and husband matters - even if it is said in private, in secret, it says something louder than you think.

Church member, what you say to your brothers and sisters in Christ matter. Words of slander, gossip, they say something about your heart. Words of deceit, arrogance, or hate? They say something about who you truly are.

The things we say about others often say more about us than them, and they reveal intentions that we otherwise may have hidden.

And again, we cannot analyze every word someone else says - but we can analyze our own.

And if you do, you may find your words lacking. You may find them more significant than you did before.

I hope you at least find that they matter. They cannot be retracted. Words can cast a permanent shadow of the inner man.

3. What We Need

Remember where Jesus started

Matthew 12:33 (ESV)

“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.

What we need is not a vocabulary change, but a heart change. You can’t change the heart by changing the words. And in fact, it is very difficult - even impossible - to simple change our words and control our tongue.

James 3:7–8 ESV

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

But, even if we could totally tame our tongue - our words are not our only action. Even if we cut out tongues out so that we could never speak, we still have our thoughts and our attitudes.

Words reveal heart tendencies - they don’t create them. We need heart change, and then we will have word change.

Matthew 5:8 (ESV)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Do you long for a pure heart, or would you cling to lesser treasure? Do your words show that your desire is God-ward and heavenly, or do you treasure your own things, your own benefit?

Our words matter, because our hearts matter.

Psalm 19:14 ESV

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Our words and our heart acceptable before God.

What that means for you will vary depending on the person.

You may be a believer, a Christian, who sometimes struggles with your words. Does that mean you are wholly unrighteous and evil? No, it is that struggle with the “Old Man” - that battle that we will fight until the day we die.

You can pray that prayer, O Lord, make my words and my heart acceptable before you. Not just what I say, but what I think. Not just what I do, but what I am. Cleanse me, purify me, sanctify me day by day.

On the other hand, your words may reveal to you that you have no walk with the Lord. They may reveal to you that your life is totally self-focused, and without Christ.

You need a heart-change. A change that Christ can provide - that he does provide.

The call to all of us is to consider our words. Not just for the sake of our words, but for the sake of what they say to us. Jesus has given us a very practical grace here - a tool to look into our own hearts, and he also gives his amazing grace - the grace that can change our heart, and our words.