Preached at Riverview Baptist the Evening of April 2, 2017
At 798 Santa Fe Pike, Columbia, Tennessee

Matthew 12:35-37 (KJV)   A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.   [36]   But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.   [37]   For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Words matter. Words always matter.

We think words don’t matter, but words matter more than anything else.

Words can bless, and words can curse.

When the Messiah came, the word that God used to describe Him was “The Word”. You heard me right. Jesus is “The Word”.

John 1:1-2  In the beginning was THE WORD, and THE WORD was with God, and THE WORD was God.  [2]  The same was in the beginning with God.

John 1:14  And THE WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

We communicate by words. We let people know what we want, what we like, how we feel by our words. God wrote the Law through Moses. He spoke through the prophets. But man never truly understood until Christ came. Christ is the Living Word of God, God made flesh. He was no idle Word, but the deliberate Word of God.

The Word Of God Speaks The Love Of God

What do you think God would do when He became flesh? What would God say through His Word? The Word would free man from what binds him. This is what Jesus did. Religion didn’t do this, but God’s Word did. Religion can’t help, but God can. We read:

Matthew 12:22 (KJV) Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb …

A man was brought to Jesus. Three things were diagnosed as being wrong with this man. He was possessed with a devil. Evil had hold of him. When evil gets hold of someone, they can’t hear or speak the things of God.

Sin separates us from God.

Sin separates us from God’s design.

Psalm 66:18 (KJV) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD WILL NOT HEAR ME:

Sin possesses us and covers us so that God cannot hear us.

Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) but your iniquities have MADE A SEPARATION BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Sin hurts. Sin kills. Sin covers, not to bless, but to smother. Those in sexual sin are seeking companionship, yet in sin they find none. They chase, and are possessed not of joy and hope but pain and anguish. This man was possessed of a devil. He was not prospering in possession, but suffering.

He was BLIND. Sin blinds. He was DUMB. Sin makes foolish. He was trapped in the well of sin, unable to climb out. Then THEY, his friends, brought him to Jesus.

Mercy came running

Like a prisoner set free

Past all my failures to the point of my need

When the sin that I carried

Was all I could see

And when I could not reach mercy

Mercy came running to me!

Oh bless the name of God! We read:

Matthew 12:22 … {Jesus} healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

The man was freed from His sin. Whereas he was blind and dumb now he “both spoke and saw”. There is nothing better, no greater high, than to be set free from Satan and be possessed of Christ. What a joy it was the day that I met Jesus! When the people saw this healing we read:

Matthew 12:23 (KJV)  And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

This was a clear sign that the Messiah had come. Here is the Living Word of God, doing what only God can do. Everyone was amazed. Everyone that is, except RELIGION.

Religion Speaks The Broken Word Of Man

Religion, the tool of Satan, looks on and finds fault. Religion is upset because a priest didn’t sacrifice an animal. Religion is upset because a man in a robe didn’t shake a smoking vial over the people. Religion is man made works, dressed up in a fancy suit. Religion – whether it be Catholic or Reformed, Independent or Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian or Baptist, Pentecostal or stoic. Religion wears many names, but man made religion always does the same things.

Religion either speaks NOTHING of Christ,
Or makes Christ NOTHING!

Matthew 12:24 But when the PHARISEES HEARD IT, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Someone came to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did. Some excited party, some new convert, some amazed onlooker ran to the Pharisees and said “Guess what Jesus did!”. The Pharisees weren’t there. They didn’t experience what Jesus did. But the “heard it”. I’ve seen the same things in Churches. Some young person gets saved, is touched by Christ, and is on fire for the Lord. They run to someone they think is an Elder for a little mentoring, just to share their faith. Then that “Elder” says:

“Give it time. You’ll get over this excitement after a while.
Soon you’ll relax and be like me”

God save us from the Pharisees, the critics, the messengers of Satan. These people slandered the Lord. “Jesus casts out demons by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons”. They demonized Christ and His followers before the people – saying what could neither be proven nor was true.

Our Jesus did not attack back, but explained the foolishness of their statement. He said:

Matthew 12:25-28 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

No Kingdom divided against itself can stand. Jesus is the exact opposite of Satan. Satan and his kingdom of darkness have one Word that they speak, whereas Christ and His Kingdom of light have a totally different Word. Jesus was casting out demons and sickness by the Word of God and the Spirit of God. He was not using demons to cast out demons.

Darkness Cannot Cast Out Darkness.

The Flesh Cannot Cast Out The Flesh.

The Devil Cannot Cast Out The Devil.

Religion Cannot Free A Man From Sin.

This is why the Christ Follower is told to turn the other cheek, to reject vengeance, to love at all times.

Romans 12:19-21 (KJV)  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  [20]  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  [21]  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Child of the King relies on the King. The Child of Christ rests on Him. We do not stoop to darkness, but walk His path, with Him. Jesus said:

Matthew 12:30 He that is NOT WITH ME IS AGAINST ME; and he that GATHERETH NOT WITH ME SCATTERETH ABROAD.

You are either WITH Jesus, or you are NOT.

There is no fence sitting with Jesus, no Switzerland in this war between light and darkness. Satan’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of Darkness. Christ’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of Light, a Kingdom that cherishes the Word of God and magnifies the Will of God. Choose Whom you will serve. Get on one side or other other. Straddling the fence will only give you splinters in your gluteus maximus.

Words Can Condemn You

The Pharisees – Rejecting The Word Of Christ – Were Guilty Of The Unpardonable Sin. The Unpardonable Sin Is To Speak Against The Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:31-32 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

The Unpardonable Sin is not a thing you DO, but a thing you SAY.

Jesus Christ is THE Word of God Who cast out demons by the Spirit of God. The Pharisees saw a clear work of God and rather than giving God the glory they gave the glory to Satan. They said that Christ was using demons to cast out demons. When a person’s heart is that hardened then it is too hard to be breached by the Gospel of salvation.

Thew Pharisees got into this predicament and committed this sin by continually speaking that which was not true to God’s Word. They kept saying the wrong thing and kept rejecting Jesus until they could no longer attempt to hear the Gospel of salvation. Their lips spoke poison that cursed them.

God will forgive any sin if it is repented of, but sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. Why? Because the heart of the sinner is hardened – like Pharaoh’s heart – and will not hear nor submit to the Gospel.

The danger of speaking evil is that the lips eventually lead the body to destruction. What is spoken is a reflection of the heart. Jesus said:

Matthew 12:33-35 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

Just as a thermometer in the mouth determines if a person is sick or well, the words a person speaks shows whether that person is saved or lost. Words are the fruit of our lives. If we are saved by hearing the Word of Christ’s Gospel then our hearts are changed. And if our hearts are changed then our words will reflect that.

Jesus called the Pharisees “vipers” because their mouths were filled with poison. Like the serpent of Eden, the Pharisees spoke against the Word of God and against the Spirit of God. “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things”. The saved person is changed inwardly, and that change is both SEEN and HEARD outwardly.

Words Always Matter

The Pharisees attacked Christ and God with their words. Notice how Jesus responds:

Matthew 12:36 But I SAY UNTO YOU..

You said THIS, dear Pharisees, but I SAY THIS. What did Jesus say?

Matthew 12:36-37 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

The word “idle” is the Greek ἀργός argos which means “Lazy, shunning labor”. An idle word is a word without thought behind it. An idle word is NOISE, a NUISANCE. Words matter. By our words we shall be either justified or condemned. Words matter. What we say matters. What Jesus said matters.

At this point the Pharisees did what most people do when losing an argument – they changed the subject. “Well Jesus, show us a sign”. Jesus said:

Matthew 12:39-40 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: 40 For AS JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE WHALE’S BELLY; SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH.

Jesus has given us all the sign we need in His death and resurrection. As Jonah was three DAYS and three NIGHT in the belly of the whale, so JESUS was three DAYS and three NIGHTS in the heart of the earth.. He died for our sins. He was buried for our sins. Three days and three nights later He rose from the grave.

He rose from the heart of the earth so He could redeem the hearts of His people!
Blessed be His Name forever.

Every year about this time people speak of Easter, of “Good Friday”. I don’t believe in “Good Friday”. Why? Because Jesus said:

Matthew 12:40 For As Jonah Was THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE WHALE’S BELLY; SO SHALL THE SON OF MAN BE THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH.

I have read numerous commentaries that said “A part of a day is counted as a whole day when determining the death of Christ”. That may be true. You might be able to get THREE DAYS from Friday to Sunday, but there’s no way you can get THREE NIGHTS from Friday to Sunday. To say that Christ died on Friday just doesn’t fit what He said, so therefore I reject it. Unless Jesus said, I cannot. Our Lord Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He died for our sins, just as He said. Does that matter? I think it does. I think every Word of God matters. I hope you do, too.

Words matter. His Word matters. He died to set us free, and rose again to raise us from the dead. If you have believed on Him then you will be with Him, in agreement with Him, both now and forever.

And that’s a Word that ought to make us all happy.

Arthur Stace is a man I never met who grew up in a place I’ve never been. Arthur lived in Sydney, Australia. He grew up poor. To survive he stole bread and milk, and ate leftover food from garbage bins. By the time he was 12 years old he was made a ward of the state, and worked in a coal mine. He had no education. By the time he was 15 years old he had spent time in jail, and eventually joined the military, but was released on a medical discharge. Arthur was a man possessed by Satan. But on August 6^th, 1930 this recovering alcoholic heard the glorious Gospel of Christ. The Preacher that night said:

“Eternity, Eternity, I wish that I could sound or shout that word to everyone in the streets of Sydney. You’ve got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity?”

Arthur gave his life to the Lord, and wanted to serve Him. God put on his heart to write the word “Eternity”. He said: “Eternity went ringing through my brain and suddenly I began crying and felt a powerful call from the Lord to write Eternity.” Arthur was illiterate, but he found that he could easily write the word “Eternity” though he could barely write his name. He took a piece of chalk and wrote “Eternity” on sidewalks and pavements, where ever he could. When arrested by police he said “I have permission from a higher power”. Over the next 35 years he would write “Eternity” over 500,000 times, so much so that he became a legend in Sydney. No one knew his name until 1956 when a reported from the Sydney Sunday Telegraph saw him write “Eternity” on a footpath. He is now with our Lord in Eternity