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33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. ~ Matthew 12:33-37
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 12 where we have learned that the unforgivable sin is resisting to respond properly to the wooing of the Holy Spirit to believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, it is then that the Holy Spirit quickens and awakens our spirit to God. In John 3, the Lord Jesus referred to this moment as being "born again." When sin entered this world through the rebellion of Adam and Eve, mankind's spirit was made dead to God and alive to the devil. The moment Adam and Eve ignored God’s law, "Their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked." For the first time, mankind tasted rebellion and was awakened to the difference between good and evil. To that point in time, they had experienced no evil, no shame, and no guilt. But, with one forbidden bite, their spirits became dead to God and their souls and bodies began to die.
In v.33 of today's passage we read, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit."
The moment sin entered the human existence, mankind died to God spiritually. That means man's spirit was no longer able to communicate with God properly. In fact, when man sinned in the Garden of Eden, his proclivity to relate to God was taken from him. The degeneration of man was caused by the serpent who was present in the Garden with Adam and Eve. According to Revelation 12, we find that the serpent, also known as the devil is none other than the dragon who was cast out of heaven. He was cast out of heaven because pride was found in him and he defined his life for himself. The rejection of God and His definition of all things is what the Bible calls sin which is what made everyone born since Adam and Eve sinful and therefore dead to God.
Humanly speaking there is no one good. It is not until we believe in the Lord Jesus that we are born again and therefore made good. We become good because God's presence is found to be in us and if we are being defined by Him as evidenced in our obedience to Him, we will be known as good. But, even though we may be born again, if we are defined by sin we will be known as bad. We sin because we are sinners. We are not sinners because we sin. Sin is not something we become, rather it is a state of being that we are born into. This is why we must be born again.
In v.34-35 of today's passage we read, "34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."
The Lord Jesus referred to the religious leaders as a "Brood of vipers." Given Lucifer is referred to as the serpent throughout the Bible, the Lord Jesus used this term to describe the Jewish religious leaders as sons of the devil. In Matthew 23:33, we read "You brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?" In those days farmers burn the stubble of their fields to get the land ready for the next planting season. As the fires near the snake dens, the snakes slither away from the flames, but they often do not escape being consumed. Snakes fleeing the fire was a common sight in the days of the Bible. The designation of "brood of vipers" was meant to make the religious leaders aware of their own wickedness and then to call them to repent of the self-life. The ultimate message here is this: No one will escape the fire of God’s judgment by relying on their own works.
In v.36-37 of today's passage we read, "36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
The word "speak" is repeated three times in today's passage. What we say reveals the content of our heart. The word "words" go hand in hand with the word "speak." The Lord Jesus had just delivered a man from demonic possession and the crowd who witnessed it asked if the Lord Jesus were the long-awaited Messiah. He of whom they asked was the Word who spoke the worlds into existence. Then the religious leaders of Israel accused the Lord Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan. To their erroneous accusation the Lord Jesus responded with one of His most forceful rebukes He ever gave while on this earth. He turned the religious leaders' words back on them to expose the evil power that was defining them. The Pharisees were so blinded by their own evil pursuits that they didn’t recognize the spiritual danger they were in at that moment. They spoke words out of the abundance of the evil in their hearts.
On the other hand, the Lord Jesus has been speaking to us since creation. The freedom the Lord Jesus offers enables us to embrace vulnerability with God. The Word of God is one of two primary means by which God deepens our personal relationship with Him. The other is the Holy Spirit. God uses His Word to pierce down to the inner most part of our souls in order to free us from the awful effect of sin on our psyche. The Word of God will always be faithful to diagnose the condition of our hearts and our souls. It is the knife God uses to penetrate the most vulnerable parts in our innermost being and lays bare our truest thoughts and intentions.
Since the Word of God is powerful, by it all created things are made naked to God. This means all our disguises are exposed by the Lord. God always sees us as we are. No one can run from the omniscient God of the Bible. For everyone who has ever lived and ever will live, there comes a time when God confronts our lost condition. This is why I believe no one can ever say everybody has not heard the gospel. When we respond positively to God's Word, we will be defined by Him. And, when we are being defined by Him, we will most fulfilled. This is why the Lord Jesus said earlier in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied."
