Sunday, February 13, 2011

Just Words

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” This quote is attributed to Albert Einstein and found in an anonymous letter to President Harry Truman, although it may be a variation of what he actually said. The smartest man in the world was responding to the development and the use of atomic weapons in the 1940’s. It is also reported that he wrote to President Roosevelt, Truman’s predecessor, saying “Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in producing an atomic bomb, I would not have lifted a finger.” Einstein feared the prospect of a nuclear future. He believed that once its destructive power was unleashed, the terrible consequences of the atomic bomb in warfare could never be undone. Until the end of his life he lamented and regretted his participation in the process. Humanity’s sorrowful reality can surely be experienced in wars, rumors of wars, and wars of words.
Sticks and stones can be pretty problematic. According to the old adage, they can break your bones but words will never hurt you. Really? Did the writer of these nursery rhyme words live in the same universe where we can destroy and be destroyed in a moment by something that someone has said? We cannot go back to the place before the words were spoken, and cannot undo the damage, no more than Einstein and his colleagues could unsplit the atom. The war of words has been fought longer than any other war. It has affected our ability to bear good fruit from the very beginning. The problem with humanity is that we are not taking what we say as seriously as God does in His universe. And in the war of words, there are far too many casualties in a culture of religion.
The LORD God has been fighting the war of words even before the moment when His word was questioned in the Garden of Eden. When some majestic angelic entity proclaimed that he would make himself like the Most High, the Most High God heard it. During the times of delivering His people from Egypt’s bondage and the establishment of the kingdom of Israel, God had reminded His people through the prophets about the fruitful nature of His word. His word bears good fruit. In the times of Jesus, He confronted religious people in their personal accusations and their use of words. It wasn’t the first time that God’s integrity had been questioned. And it wouldn’t be the last. Let’s turn to the Word of God as we hear the LORD drawing a contrast between fruit bearing disciples of a temple culture and fruit bearing disciples of a kingdom culture. The passage from Matthew 12 comes from one of our daily readings and has grown into the sermon entitled Just Words. Let us hear the word of the LORD:

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, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
(Matthew 12:33-37)


Disciples of a kingdom culture can benefit greatly from learning more about what Jesus said about disciples of a temple culture. People of a religious persuasion that are more concerned about the institutions such as the temple can do great, and sometimes irreparable, damage in the way that they speak. Sometimes they may not realize that the damage is so destructive. And sometimes they don’t care because of personal motive. The problem with this kind of thinking is that the destruction is more self-destructive and self-inflicted than they realize. In fact it can be spiritual suicide.
Jesus responded to the wrongful accusations of the religious practitioners where both He and His disciples were concerned. When the disciples were criticized because they were picking grain on the Sabbath, Jesus not only spoke to the critics about what the Sabbath was all about, but informed them that He was Lord of the Sabbath. He made the astounding claim that something greater than what they valued the most was among them. Something greater than the temple was here. When He performed miracles and cast out demons by the Spirit of God, the criticism was actually more damaging to the critics than they could imagine. Their very souls were at stake as they blasphemed the Spirit of the Living God, giving the glory that rightly belonged to God to Satanic authority. Jesus had something to say about what they had to say. And what He had to say was more about Him than they rightly understood.

I. THE MAKER OF THE BEST TREES KNOWS TREES THE BEST.

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.

Growers of good fruit know the value of good fruit trees. There were two significant trees in the Garden of Eden. And the fruit of only one was forbidden. The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not to be eaten. Their systems could not tolerate what God did not want them to know. The fruit was bad for them because the tree was bad for them. The fruit was corrupted because the tree was corrupted. Rotten trees bear rotten fruit. And once eaten, this rotten fruit bore fruit and men became evil.
Men bear bad fruit and they can do evil all by themselves. A desire for what God had forbidden blinded Man to the other significant tree in the Garden, the Tree of Life. Because of Man’s evil actions, even the best of the trees, the most virtuous tree, the most beautiful tree, the good tree, the Tree of Life became a forbidden tree. God expressed His mercy for sinful man by evicting him from the Garden lest he eat from the Tree of Life in his sinful state and die for all eternity. Eternal life without a heart change is a very bad thing. Contrary to popular thinking today we won’t die once and fade away. It is appointed for man to die and then the judgment. When we die in our sin without a change in our eternal condition, without a change of the heart, we die eternally…and we are continually dying. God is merciful to us in this moment because He invites us to come to Him and surrender our evil hearts to Him…He will change its nature.
Jesus knew the character of the Pharisees because he knew their thoughts. Before a man can speak, the LORD already knows what he thinks. This should cause us to tremble. So just a tree is known by its fruit, a man is known by God from what he thinks. And unless the nature of a man is changed, the eternal fruit will never be changed from bad to good.
Therefore only the activity of Maker of the tree can make the tree good. Only God can change the heart so it bears good fruit. Good fruit is beautiful fruit. Beautiful fruit is fruit that brings glory to the grower. It is virtuous fruit and fruit worth having and cultivating. This passage teaches us that there were some religious people who had never been changed in their nature. They still thought and spoke evil of God and His people. I think it’s safe to say that we live in a day like that. Trees are known by their fruit. Trees are made and known by their Maker.
This passage not only teaches us about the nature of trees but also instructs us about the realities of snakes.

II. THE MOUTH OF THE VIPER IS THE DEADLY END OF THE SNAKE.

You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

People who handle rattlesnakes know that they cannot be distracted and must focus on their heads. I made this observation once while with a friend on a rattlesnake roundup in Texas. There were some people there who bore the scars of times when they weren’t quite focused enough. Some were missing fingers where the snake had injected its poison in an unguarded moment. The head of the snake is the dangerous and deadly end.
Jesus calls these religious people a brood of vipers. This is the same terminology used by John the Baptist when he asks the religious pretenders who warned them to flee from the wrath of God? Vipers are not harmless snakes. The word viper describes a venomous and poisonous snake. The word brood connected with vipers literally means the offspring, produce,or fruit of a poisonous snake. One snake produces a brood. Why would Jesus and John use this descriptive phrase?
In the Garden, there was a poisonous snake. What came from its mouth brought death and corruption to the whole human race. It produced evil and rotten fruit. And it still does. Evil seed bears evil fruit. Evil breeds evil. Evil has infected the heart and people do evil, they speak evil because people are evil. Evil words are not just words but poison to the people of God. Evil people can no more speak good things than worthless trees can bear beautiful fruit. The evil that men do does not make the man evil. The evil man does evil because his heart is evil.
Consider the Lord’s question…How can you, being evil, speak what is good? The human heart is an incubator for evil. The fruit of the human heart is rotten to the core because it is rotten from the core…from the inside out. The heart is a reservoir of evil…a storage place for corruption. An evil man will not have good motives…he cannot speak what is good. The mouth speaks the overflowing overflow of the heart.

III. TREASURE IS KEPT CLOSE TO THE HEART.

The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

Like a locket with a treasured image inside, we keep something highly valued close to our hearts. The good man keeps good treasure in the treasure chest of his heart. Whatever is precious has value to him. Since the heart is where we store up our treasure, what comes out of it is what we value the most. Our fruit as kingdom culture disciples or temple culture disciples will be on display. Our fruit is the produce of the heart.
Good words that speak from godly character are to be treasured because they are highly valued by God and His people. What we love will be kept in the storehouse of our hearts. Good words are treasured and kept close to the heart. But it is clear from this passage that some people speak evil because they love evil. This is a disturbing when I think of people in the religious community of our day. The Lord is not only a Fruit Inspector, He is also an Appraiser of Valuable Things. Some people distribute encouraging and loving words from their heart. And some people store up worthless treasure that they keep trying to give away. But worthless words have no value in God’s kingdom. Worthless words are careless words.

IV. CARELESS WORDS ARE UNFRUITFUL WORDS.

But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.

What Jesus says matters more than what we think about what matters. I have heard some Christians say that the words they spoke didn’t really matter. After all, they say, they’re just words. This is kind of like the sticks and stones proclamation. No matter what we think about what we say, whether we think we meant them or not, Jesus says something entirely different. When He says But I tell you… He says something different about the matter. And what He says is ultimately what will matter.
Every careless word will be held to account. This leads me to believe that Someone is keeping up with how I speak every day for all of my days. Some of my days I just did not know any better. But after my heart was changed I had a different reality. After I began to hear and study the Word of God I began to receive instruction for living. After the heart change, the LORD teaches the believer to be like Him. There will be an accounting for every, each, and all words that are careless spoken out of our mouths. We will tell Him why we said what we said. And we will remember every one. In that day we will remember that He who knows trees the best can read the intention of every man’s heart. There will be total accounting in this day of judgment for every careless word. Are you ready for that accounting session?
Careless words are idle words. These are words that won’t work in God’s kingdom. They are useless words that do not build up but are quick to tear down what God is building. They are worthless words without value or virtue. What we are thinking and what we are saying is what we are living because we live out of our hearts. What we say may be held against us. It is time for Kingdom Culture Disciples to realize the enormity of the sin of our speech and repent from the evil that motivates us to bear worthless and rotten fruit. Recognize it, own it, and repent from it. The words we speak are not just words…or are they???

V. JUST WORDS ARE NOT MERELY WORDS...THEY ARE OUR TESTIMONY.

For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Just words are not insignificant words…they are the words of our testimony. Our words are powerful in the spiritual realm and this is how we relate to God. What we say is carries a lot of weight as to its evidentiary value. What we say can be held against us...or the words we speak can be used to gain a favorable ruling. I’m all in favor of seeking God’s favor.

Consider the person being interrogated and called into account by law enforcement authorities in our culture. In 1966, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of Arizona vs. Miranda. Since that time the law has said that suspected law-breakers or subjects of interest must be advised that they have the “right to remain silent and anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Could it be that Jesus was giving the people of God in His day and in our day the same kind of ruling, that we really do have the right to remain silent? We do not have to say everything we are thinking. Some things we say are not worthy of God’s people. In the day of judgment we will not be able to claim that we didn’t know any better…or we had not been advised of our rights. Some things we need to think about before we speak them out. For when we speak against God and His people we have entered an area of spiritual warfare that we cannot return from and the damage is often irreparable.
The Good News is that with the LORD’s ominous warning comes His encouraging counsel. By our words we will be not only be condemned, but by our words we can be justified. Now this is different from being self-justified. Self-justification is seeking to make excuses for the things we say. Self-justification leads to self-righteousness. And a self-righteous, self-justified person will never be justified before the Living God.
It is critical today for us to respond rightly to what we have heard today. What can we say to bring us justified before the LORD when we stand in His presence in the day of judgment? Who among us can stand in the court of God’s justice? Who can survive when He speaks His just words? What do we do today about what we have heard today? First of all, we must seek the face of the LORD, asking Him to search our hearts while we seek His face. Secondly we must seek His forgiveness for speaking against His plans, His purposes, and His people. We must repent from that mindset, turning from evil words and turning towards good words. By God’s grace and with His help we can be an encouragers, people who speak good to God’s people and about God’s people who are seeking God’s purpose. Lastly, we must realize that we cannot survive thinking the way I have been thinking. We cannot continue to live the way we are living and pretend that we are bearing godly fruit.
Once again I commend to your thinking processes the word THINK to use as an acronym. With God’s help we can train ourselves to pray through what we say before we say it. Use the letters to ask the LORD to help you in the process:

T…Is what I am about to say TRUE?
H…Is what I am about to say HELPFUL?
I… Is what I am about to say INSPIRING?
N…Is what I am about to say NECESSARY?
K…Is what I am about to say KIND?

Words are not just words when they mean insignificant words.
Words are just words when God presents them as the evidence for us to be justified.
Words are just words when God presents them as the evidence for us to be condemned.

When we THINK before we speak, it’s amazing how many things will go unsaid…and God is glorified as we learn to bear an abundance good and godly fruit.

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