Matthew 12:30-37

And yet God allows us to sometimes to fall. And

I think he does it so to keep us humble and we

certainly want to honor him in all things. Whether

the scripture is being read or being preached

or being sung or being seen at the table. So

we're going to look this morning. In Matthew

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, this is a very sobering passage.

It's remarkably sobering in what Jesus said.

We'll begin in verse 30. Jesus says, or Matthew

writing here, He who is not with me is against

me, and he who does not gather with me scatters

abroad. Therefore I say to you that every sin,

And blasphemy will be forgiven men. But the blasphemy

against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

Anyone who 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 age to come. 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. Now he's speaking to the

Pharisees. Brood of vipers. How can you, being

evil, speak good things? And the implication

is you can't. For out of the abundance of the

heart the mouth speaks. 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. But I say to you that

for every idle word men may speak, they will

give account of it in the day of judgment. For

by your words you will be justified, and by your

words you will be condemned. And this is from

the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Let's

pray. Our Father, help us this morning. Lord

God, help us to understand. Lord God, we have

gathered as your people. called out by your grace,

separated unto Christ in baptism. Lord God, we

desire to hear from heaven. Lord God, we want

the word of God to rule over us. One of the problems

with the old covenant people was, Lord God, that

they would continuously go astray in their hearts.

They would hear the word of God and it would

not obey it. Father, help us, Lord, to see their

example and not to follow that. Lord, speak to

us, Lord. Father, we pray for the help of the

Holy Spirit of God. Lord, open our hearts to

truth this morning. You must do that. And as

you're opening our hearts to truth, Lord God,

open our minds to the beauty and the glory and

the majesty that is found uniquely in Christ.

For it's in his name we pray. Amen. Our text

today says there is a stern warning that's given.

about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This sin

is known as the unpardonable sin or the unforgivable

sin. Now this particular passage has troubled

many believers and struck fear in many hearts.

And we've got to not soften the message. The

warning is sobering. But Jesus did not give this

warning to cause anxiety. Rather, it is given

to awaken people to truth. And here's the truth.

That what we say reveals our hearts, and our

hearts reveal who we truly are, and all that

one day is going to be brought into judgment

before God. So now in context, this warning was

given to the religious leaders, to the Pharisees,

who had said that Jesus was working his signs

and miracles by the power of Satan. Now we know

the Pharisees are an influential religious group.

You have the scribes, you have the Pharisees

together. They're making up the Sanhedrin, which

is a ruling body at that time. And the Pharisees

loved to look righteous. They had a veneer of

righteousness, but it was only just that. It

was a veneer. There was no real substance, and

the Lord Jesus knew that. And what they said

about Jesus revealed their hearts. For the Lord

Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart,

the mouth speaks. That means this morning that

your words and mine are a window into our soul.

The condition of your heart is revealed through

the content of your speech. So that means your

words are never just mere words. They are evidence

of who you truly are. Now this morning we're

in Matthew 12. Jesus is teaching us this truth

that the words are the fruit of our soul. And

he said these words will ultimately one day,

they're either going to stand there to justify

us or they'll be brought as a witness against

us to condemn us on that final day of judgment.

Now what's the context? Because there's a lot

going on here. Matthew is writing this gospel

as an apologetic. He's writing to convince the

readers, primarily Jewish at this time, that

Jesus of Nazareth, the one born in Bethlehem,

is the king of Israel. He wants to convince them,

the Jewish reader, that Jesus is the Christ and

that they might believe and find eternal life

in him. So if you look at it, it's really a masterful

text. In chapters 1 and 2, he gives you the genealogical

record and proof that Jesus is the Christ. He

shows you that Jesus is both son of David, who

would rule forever on his father David's throne,

But he's also, Jesus is also the son of Abraham,

that promise given in Genesis 15, that in Abraham,

in his seed, all the world is going to be blessed.

That's Christ. In chapters 3 and 4, Matthew calls

three witnesses to give an account as well. The

first witness was that old covenant prophet,

John the Baptist. John the Baptist looks upon

Jesus and he says, Behold, the Lamb of God, which

takes away the sin of the world. The second witness

that was called was God the Father. God the Father's

voice was heard as Jesus was being baptized.

The Father is looking over a son and saying,

Behold, the Son in whom I delight. The Father

is giving witness. The third witness was also

the Spirit of God. It also took place at Jesus'

baptism. Remember, the Spirit of God, like a

dove, it doesn't say a dove, but like a dove,

descended upon Christ. Now that's an important

sign because John the Baptist was told, here's

how you're going to recognize the Messiah. The

Messiah will be the one upon whom the Spirit

of God will descend, which will be the sign that

this man is sent by God. The implication is clear.

Jesus is the Christ. Then in Matthew 5, 6, and

7, Matthew records that wonderful sermon known

as the Sermon on the Mount, and in it we see

that Jesus had a unique authority. Not one time

do you find Jesus quoting other notable figures

or other famous or influential rabbis. That would

have been the custom. You wanted to give credence

and authority to your own voice, so you would

have quoted someone who agreed with you. Jesus

didn't. Instead, he simply said, I say to you.

His voice was authoritative, and in fact, he

said that his voice was authoritative and was

able to give the true meaning of the law that

was given to Moses by God. The implication is

Jesus is the voice of God. In chapters 8 and

9, Matthew lists a series of about nine miracles

giving proof Jesus is the Messiah. Then there's

some opposition in chapters 10 and 11, but now

we're back in chapter 12. And once again, we

see the witness of God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,

who is empowering the Lord Jesus Christ to do

some miraculous signs and wonders before the

people. This chapter starts off with Jesus healing

a man with a withered hand. Later on, which we

looked at last week, there's a blind, mute man

who also was demon -possessed who was instantaneously

and miraculously healed by Christ. Matthew's

message is unmistakable. Jesus is the Christ,

the one sent by God. Bottom line is, he is the

king of Israel that God had sent. to rescue his

people. But not everyone who witnessed these

events agreed with that assessment. The Pharisees,

you remember them? The religious ones. They blasphemously

claimed that Jesus was able to do his signs and

wonders because he was empowered by Satan. They

blasphemed that holy name. They could not deny

that a miraculous event had taken place. There

were large crowds there. All of them had seen

what had taken place. Instead of falling on their

knees, they instead attributed the source of

that miracle to Satan. And we looked at that

back in verse 24 two weeks ago. When the Pharisees

heard it, they said, This fellow, Jesus, this

man, he does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub,

the ruler of the demons, which is shorthand for

Satan. So the Pharisees saw firsthand. eyewitnesses

of all that had taken place. And then they came

to the conclusion that Jesus was somehow in league

with Satan. In spite of all the abundant and

incontrovertible evidence, the Pharisees, and

here's the word, chose not to believe the truth.

There's no excuse for their unbelief. These men

are not ignorant men. In fact, They were experts

in the law of Moses. They fastidiously followed

the law of Moses. They knew what the scriptures

had said about the Messiah. They knew the prophecies

as well as the mighty works that the Messiah

would do when he came. And here's Jesus standing

in front of them doing miracle after miracle

right in front of their eyes and they look at

that and they reject it. They attributed the

clear work of God's Spirit to Satan himself.

And the Lord Jesus had something to say about

it. Excuse me, I've got something on my throat.

Verses 31 and 32. I didn't put that on the screen,

but it's in the text. That's when Jesus said,

every blasphemy, every sin will be forgiven.

But if you blaspheme against God's Spirit, there

is no forgiveness. Not either in this life or

in the life to come. So Jesus is speaking about

a sin. That's never going to be forgiven. Not

in this age or in the age to come. Now that's

a terribly frightening word. It's intentionally

frightening. It's meant to be frightening because

it was meant to grab attention. In context, it

was meant to grab the Pharisees' attention. Now

as the church has gathered this morning, most

of us have heard about the unpardonable sin.

And many Christians have wondered, Even if they

had been guilty of committing it. Let me start

with this. The very fact that you may fear having

committed the unpardonable sin is evidence that

you haven't committed the unpardonable sin. Because

those who have committed this sin, they're blinded

to the truth. They're hardened in the truth.

They never questioned if they committed this.

They're not wondering at night, have I committed

this unpardonable sin? It's not who they are.

They assume they're on the right side of history.

Now, I want to start with what the unpardonable

sin is not. It, first of all, is not a careless

word that was spoken. That doesn't excuse careless

words, but that's not what this sin is. It's

not a moment of doubt or even a season, a prolonged

doubt. When a Christian goes through deep suffering,

what... some writers have referred to as the

dark night of the soul, there may be seasons

of real wrestling, questioning, doubting everything,

including God himself. That's not the unpardonable

sin. To that brother or to that sister, I would

say, don't worry, Christian. God is holding on

to you. He has you in his grip. He's not going

to let you go. The one who started a good work

in you will be faithful to perform it until the

day of Jesus Christ. You are safe in your Father's

grip. Because let's not pretend that everything

is so easy to endure in this life. It's not the

unpardonable sin then. So what is it then? It

is a deliberate and willful rejection of the

work of God's Spirit. I don't have time, but

I think this is what the writer of Hebrews is

referring to in Hebrews 6 as well. deliberate

and willful are the key words. This is when someone

comes to truly understand, and listen to my words

carefully, truly understand that Jesus is the

Christ, but they still deny him and even blaspheme

him. In this case, it is the Pharisees. They

were attributing the irrefutable work of God's

Spirit to Satan. Now I want you to notice that

Jesus makes a distinction about blaspheming him,

the Son of Man, versus blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

He says anyone who speaks a word against the

Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. History

is full of many people who began, who started

out as enemies of Christ. There have been many

people who began hating Jesus and yet later were

gloriously converted. The Apostle Paul is the

chief example given in the Scriptures. He once

persecuted the church. He even sought to kill

Christians and consented to their death. And

yet later, he becomes the chief spokesman for

the Christian faith. Paul would willingly go

to his death by the hands of an executioner's

sword, declaring that Jesus is Lord. Paul thought

he was doing God's work. He thought this was

pleasing to God to persecute the church, acted

in ignorance. And there's the difference. The

Pharisees are not ignorant. They were there.

They see Jesus. They see the work of God's Spirit.

They can see that it is a work that can only

be done by God. It's only capable of being done

by God. And they chose to blaspheme what took

place. This is why Jesus said that if anyone

speaks against the Holy Spirit, he cannot ever

be forgiven in this life or in the one to come.

Now, he said, you can blaspheme me. It's not

that Jesus is somehow less important than the

Holy Spirit. It's not what he's saying at all.

Don Carson, in his commentary, says it this way.

Within the context of the larger argument, the

first sin is the rejection of the truth of the

gospel. That's where Paul was. He did not believe

the gospel. He wasn't convinced of it. Whereas

the second sin, what we're talking about today,

it's rejection of that same truth, the gospel,

but in full awareness that that is exactly what

you're doing. Thoughtfully, willfully, and self

-consciously rejecting the work of the Spirit.

Now you're saying, but why is that particular

sin unforgivable? Follow what the scripture says.

In John 16, 8, we read that the Spirit will convict

the world of sin and of righteousness and of

judgment. That's what he does. It is the Holy

Spirit's job to convict the sinner of his sin

and lead him to the Lord Jesus Christ. So if

someone permanently and decisively rejects the

work of the Spirit of God, you are rejecting

the only means by which forgiveness can come

to you. The Spirit of God is the only one who

can convict of sin and grant new life. No one

else can do that. So the sin is unforgivable

not because God is unwilling to forgive, rather

because this person has shut himself off from

the only avenue that God has provided to be forgiven.

It can't happen anymore. That's exactly what

happened with the Pharisees. See, you continue

to reject truth, reject truth, reject truth,

your heart becomes hardened to truth, and you

cannot repent. The Pharisees were hardened in

their rejection of Christ. Here's the thing.

If you see it, you can look at the flow of the

argument here. The Pharisees had decided previously,

they had already decided Jesus is not the Christ,

despite all the evidence to the contrary. It's

not like they're wondering and they're doubting.

No, they had already decided this man is not.

So they blinded themselves. They were willfully

blind to the truth. And that's the worst blindness

of all. Willful blindness is when you refuse.

You choose not to see what is overwhelmingly

clear. Theologians refer to this as vencible

versus invincible ignorance. You don't see it

because you don't want to see it. It makes you

uncomfortable. I'm not going to believe that.

No matter what, I'm not going to believe that.

So here's the thing. After witnessing Jesus and

his mighty signs and wonders. I mean, Jesus did

everything. He's healed lepers and blind men

and deaf men and mute men. He has multiplied

fish and bread. He has walked on water. He is

calm to see by his own voice. He has made the

winds to stop. Stop? He's even raised the dead.

What more do you want from him? The evidence

is overwhelmingly clear, but they would not see

it. They should have fallen on their faces in

repentance before the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead,

they convened an assembly and said he must die.

This guy's got to go. He's got to be killed.

Again, I want to quote Don Carson here. Jesus

charges that those who perceive that his ministry

is empowered by the Spirit, they understand that,

they perceive it. And then for whatever reason,

whether it's spite, jealousy, or arrogance, they

then ascribe it to Satan, they have put themselves

beyond the pale, for them there is no forgiveness.

There's no turning back. That's why Hebrews 6

says, the one who's been enlightened, tasted

of the heavenly gift of God, if he falls away,

it's impossible to renew him to repentance. He

has shut himself off from the only avenue of

salvation. See, time will always call for a response

from every one of us. You're going to have to

make a decision. Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver

or he's the son of David. You're going to say

he's either the Messiah or he's an imposter.

You cannot remain neutral. And the Pharisees,

the ones who should have been leading the charge

toward Christ, they looked at all the evidence

and then they decided consciously he's an imposter

worthy of death. It's not ignorance. In fact,

the Bible teaches that sins of ignorance, you're

able to be forgiven for sins of ignorance. But

blasphemy against the Spirit of God, that's not

a sin of ignorance. It's a deliberate act that

will never be pardoned. Not my words. The theologian

Burkhauer said, what the Pharisees did, and I

love how he worded this, it was a conscious disputing

of the indisputable. What's indisputably clear,

they're consciously disputing it. Which is foolish,

isn't it? So you have to understand, if a person

experiences all the evidence for Christ, they

feel the weight of it, they know the truth of

it, and they spurn it, it's impossible to repent

after that. Because there is no other avenue.

The Spirit has already done His job. He's convicted

them of sin. He's shown them the glory of Christ.

They understand it, and they consciously and

deliberately, I don't want anything to do with

it. How is it? How can one, how can the Pharisees,

who know the law well, how can they see Jesus,

see his signs, see the miracles, and conclude

he's an emissary of Satan? It's easy. Verses

33 -35 explain it. That's what Jesus is saying.

Now, this is Jesus' argument. You either make

the tree good and its fruit good, or else make

the tree bad and the fruit bad, because the tree

is known by its fruit. Now he turns to the Pharisees.

You brood of vipers. You venomous snakes. How

can you being evil, being evil, speak good things?

Pride of the abundance of the heart, the mouth

speaks. The Pharisees are bad trees. They're

evil. They looked righteous outwardly. Of course

they did. There's no spiritual life. There's

no life pulsating with the breath and life of

God. They're hypocrites. They wore masks in order

to save the people. They wanted you to think

that they're righteous. They loved being thought

of as pious, which is why Jesus condemns them

in Matthew 23, 11 chapters later. Woe to you,

and when Jesus says woe, you listen up. Woe to

you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you

are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear

beautiful outwardly, but inside you're just full

of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even

so, you outwardly appear righteous to men. That's

what you do. You look good to them. But here's

what God sees. But inside, you are full of hypocrisy

and lawlessness. Think about it. They saw a blind

man, who was also mute, who had been taken captive

by a demon. They immediately saw that by the

power of God, this man was set free. And they

said, nope. He did it by Satan's power. Because

they're rotten trees with rotten fruit. Their

hearts are corrupt. And they could not see the

truth. Who you truly are in here will determine

what you say here and what you do out here. Your

heart's controlling it all. It's the processing

center. So the Pharisees, he said, you're a brood

of vipers. You're just a bunch of poisonous snakes.

That's why you don't see the truth. That's why

you don't understand who I am. Their blasphemous

words were symptomatic of their blasphemous hearts.

Which is why Jesus asked them a question. How

can you being evil speak anything good? Oh, falsely

good, yeah. They knew the scriptures. But he

says, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth

speaks. What had they just said? Jesus did his

works by Satan. So they were evil. They could

not speak good things. They could not recognize

the good, the true, and the beautiful that was

in Christ. They're blind, but they blinded themselves.

It was a willful blindness. And so they are speaking

according to their corrupt nature, which is a

corrupt fruit. Out of the abundance of the heart,

the mouth speaks. Listen, friends. The occasion

for you to say what you said just is the occasion

to reveal what was already there. Your words

reveal your heart. Now we tend to equate, oh,

I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to say I wasn't

thinking. We equate what we say with what we

think, but that's not the Bible. The Bible connects

our words, our speech to our hearts, not our

intellect. The heart, that's your core. It's

the core of your being. It's who you are at your

deepest level. And so what we speak is tied to

who we fundamentally are. Which is why our words

are a good window into our soul. That's why they're

going to be brought in the day of judgment. See,

the Pharisees' evil character was revealed by

the evil words they had spoken. Their hearts

were overflowing with contempt for Christ. And

the blasphemous words they spoke revealed it.

It's just what was already there. It wasn't put

there. It was there by nature. The evil man From

his evil heart brings forth evil things. That's

verse 35. But a good man, out of the good treasure

of his heart, brings forth good things. So don't

you notice something? Both the good man and the

evil man both have a treasure. Every one of us

have a treasure. Your treasure was simply what

you value. And what determines the quality of

that treasure is the condition of your heart.

Leon Morris in his commentary says, what the

good man produces is what he values. And it comes

from the center of his being, his heart. So with

the evil man, in both cases, what one brings

forth proceeds from what one is at the core of

one's being. Let's simplify it. Your treasure

flows from your heart. Matthew 6, Jesus in the

great sermon on the mount, for where your treasure

is, there your heart will be also. You say, well,

how do I know what my treasure is? It's easy,

easy, easy to diagnose. Look at where you spend

your time and what you spend your money on. It's

your treasure. You can mouth a lot of things.

You can say Jesus is your treasure. Time and

money will reveal what it really is. Because

that's the true litmus test. Where you spend

your money and where you spend your time will

tell you what's ultimately important to you.

Because this is ultimately what you value, which

is ultimately what you worship. What did the

Pharisees treasure? They would have said, we

worship God. No, they didn't. They worshipped

the applause and praise of men. They craved public

recognition and honor. They loved being held

in high esteem and getting important VIP backstage

passes. They loved being regarded as important

in the eyes of the public. Which is why they

hated Jesus. Because he came on the scene and

began to publicly expose them as hypocrites.

They want him dead. He's messing with their treasure.

They can't allow that, because what they ultimately

value is this public recognition, and Jesus is

making it look bad in the eyes of the public,

so their evil hearts will lead them to murder

their Messiah. That's what happens. There they

decided, he's got to go. They saw how they might

destroy him, they said. Their evil hearts lead

to murder of the Messiah. And Jesus closed this

very important section of Scripture with another

stern warning. And it's another warning of impending

judgment. Verses 36 and 37. But I say to you

that for every idle word that men may speak,

they will, not might, they will give account

of it in the day of judgment. And he's not just

speaking of Pharisees. All men. For by your words

you're going to be justified, but by your words

you'll be condemned. The first thing you notice

is that Jesus affirmed a final day of judgment.

You don't hear a lot about it. You used to, you

would hear a lot of preaching on the day of judgment.

You don't. You hear a lot of TED Talks today.

But Jesus affirmed this. And on this day of judgment,

Jesus said, all men will give an account because

we have been created by God and for God. You're

going to give an account to God for every idle

word that we've ever spoken, and that terrifies

me. Idle is the word argos in Greek. Idle is

a good translation. Unemployed, literally, because

a is the negation, like an atheist, a theos,

a ergon, no work. So it's an unemployed word.

I know that makes no sense, but for those of

you who are word nerds, that's where it comes

from. So it's idle. It is useless, empty, careless,

we could use a lazy word. These words are not

necessarily evil words. That's the point. They're

not necessarily evil. They're words that we would

deem insignificant, or we might even say, well,

that's just not important. It's just a word.

And the Lord said, every word spoken like that,

insignificantly, unimportantly, carelessly, that's

going to be brought into evidence on Judgment

Day. That's a frightening thing. So these careless

words are more important than we think because

they reveal something about us. Your words have

immoral significance. Words that are carelessly

spoken are important because these words reveal

your heart. I hope you're seeing that. That's

the whole point. And it's sobering for me. It's

sobering to think one day these people, these

Pharisees, will be brought before the judge with

Almighty God, and they're going to give an account

for those blasphemous words that they spoke against

God's Son. And they will not be forgiven. And

they will never be forgiven. For them, it's too

late. This is what's going to happen. They will

be condemned by their very words that they spoke.

Again, Leon Morris said, what Jesus is saying

is that at the judgment, what we are is what

matters. And our words, especially to those which

we give no particular thought, They reveal what

we are. God will use your words, their words,

my words against us as evidence on the day of

judgment. So now the point you're like, oh, I

have to be more careful with my words. You're

missing the point. The point is the emphasis

is to watch over the condition of your heart.

So you can get legalistic and you can say, the

Pharisees were not cursing. They were very orthodox

in their beliefs. What they would have been leading

people in prayers. But the Bible says, guard

your heart or keep your heart with all diligence.

Why? Why guard your heart? For out of it, the

heart, flow the issues of life. The problem's

not your mouth, the problem's your heart. And

they're just, the words are the overflow. By

your words, now verse 37 says, by your words

you'll be justified, and by your words you'll

be condemned. Now let me just say, Matthew is

not saying that you can be justified before God

by speaking correctly or the right use of words.

The word justified in this case, because it can

mean different things, like in James 2, your

faith is justified. It's vindicated. Vindicated

would be a very good word. Diakosune is the Greek

word. Sometimes it's used in legal matters, sometimes

it's not. So in the final day of judgment, your

words are going to be evidence. They're either

going to show you to be righteous, you're a good

tree, or corrupt. And how are they going to know

that? Like you said, well, I'm going to say I'm

a good tree. I am good. I am righteous. Your

words will be brought in as evidence, and they're

either going to vindicate you on that day, or

they will serve to condemn you. They're either

going to serve to vindicate you and say, yes,

you're righteous, and yes, you belong to Christ.

The work of the Spirit's obvious. Or else all

that's lacking, and they'll condemn you. Now

the sinner is justified, that is, before God,

He is declared righteous by grace alone, through

faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of

God alone. We receive, Paul says in Romans 3,

a gift. It's the gift of righteousness. We receive

it. It's imputed to us when we come to Christ

in faith. But the tenor of the scripture says,

genuine faith... It's never alone. Saved by faith

alone or saved through faith alone, but a faith

that saves is never alone. Living faith, James

2, produces a good fruit. And your words are

part of that fruit. When we are saved, you do

not just receive a justified status before God,

although you do receive that. You also get a

new nature. That's the born again part, right?

A new nature. This new nature now delights in

honoring and obeying God. And your speech bears

witness of your nature. Your speech will be a

witness. It will either say, your speech bears

witness of your old nature in Adam, or your speech

will bear witness of your new nature in Christ.

Your words reveal whether or not you are truly

aligned with Jesus. So let's go two -minute drill.

What are the takeaways? If you're here today,

I want you to understand something. If you're

here today apart from Christ, you cannot remain

neutral about him. He doesn't give you that option.

He said in verse 30, he that is not with me is

against me. So there can be no middle ground

when it comes to Christ. You're either with Jesus

or you're against him. There is no net neutrality

here. Now, let me say this. It is fine to take

your time to investigate his claims. You can

understand the terms that he lays down for discipleship.

But once... That truth has become clear to you.

You must not hesitate. You must yield to the

work of God's spirit by repenting of your sin.

And believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Calling

upon him to save you. And then you rise up as

disciples and we follow him. And your life must

reflect the work of God's spirit that he's doing

in your heart. Secondly though. To the church

and to me. These words of Jesus ought to make

us uncomfortable. For he does say, you are going

to be judged by your words. He does not judge

us on our knowledge of theology, how much you

know about the Bible. He does not judge you,

how many church services you attended. It is

our words that will be brought to bear against

us. Why? Why so much importance on these words?

Because they're the fruit of our hearts. The

mouth speaks. What your heart is full of. And

I just want to say this. That level of scrutiny

would crush us all. None of us can claim innocence

here. You know where this is really tested for

me? When I'm driving. I have said, oh my goodness,

what an idiot. Far too many times. Because my

heart is self -centered. You get in front of

me and slow down? Well, how dare you slow me

down? And that's so, I see this and I'm like,

Lord, I would be crushed by this. But there's

hope. There's hope because the one who will judge

us has also assured us, he said, every sin and

blasphemy will be forgiven. Not blasphemy of

the Holy Spirit. What that means, and this we

cannot miss. The door of grace, this age, this

dawn of salvation, or the age of salvation is

dawned. The door of grace is wide open except

to the one who slams it shut. Our hope and our

joy is that the one who's going to judge us,

oh, this is beautiful, friends, is the same one

who invites us to his table over here and shows

us how he has redeemed us. This table, the table

of the Lord, friends, it is not for people who

have mastered the control of their tongue. It's

an unruly evil, no man can tame it. It is for

sinners who know you need mercy. And once again,

we cast ourselves upon the mercy of God. To his

people with whom he is in covenant, Jesus does

not speak words of condemnation. Rather, he speaks

words of forgiveness that is found. By and through

his sacrifice for us. It's a beautiful thing.

Friends, commune with Christ. Fellowship with

the one who has bought you today. The one who

has borne your judgment. This is the message

of Matthew 12. The day of grace is here. Today

is the day of salvation. Cast yourself upon the

mercy of God. Call upon him once you see that

he is glorious and majestic and beautiful. You

follow. You rise up and follow him. But as believers,

we have the glorious privilege of participating

in his death and his resurrection at the table

of the Lord. Deacons, if you would come and prepare

the table.