0:00 Let's turn to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12, this is a passage that is sometimes difficult for Christians to fathom and I'm not here to say that I have understood it either but I'm going to express the thoughts that the Lord has laid on my heart the best I've understood it through teachings I've been exposed to and with the Lord as I've meditated on it. 0:42 Ask the Lord to show me the meanings of these verses and in a sense it actually sets the context for the message we heard last week from Phil about that sign, the evil and adulterous generation that seeks a sign and the sign that Jesus did give. 0:58 He says you want a sign, here it is, Jonah and the Queen of Sheba. We heard about that last week. So these verses, this is Matthew 12 verses 31 through 37. Let me read verses 31 through, 31 and 32 first of all and then we can look into this a little bit more closely. 1:18 Matthew 12, 31. Therefore I say to you, and again this therefore, first of all you must understand is from a therefore relating to what Jesus has said before and Phil preached on that probably a month ago or so. He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters. 1:37 Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. There is such a thing as God himself saying, yeah I know you asked for it but I can't forgive you. 1:57 Now let me state that again, I don't know that, I guess the essence of what I will communicate this morning is that such a person will likely never actually ask for forgiveness. So let me state that statement again, that there is such a sin that God himself says I will not forgive. 2:15 Because he says blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven and I think it's the passage, the parallel passage in either Mark 2 or in Luke where he says not in this age or in eternity. Not in this age or in eternity. 2:30 So it's a pretty serious thing when God himself says I can't forgive you that, I am not going to forgive you that. It's there in scripture and that's why I said it's a passage that's quite difficult to understand and there are a lot of people that have made theories about it. 2:44 Anyway, let's read verse 32 as well. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. Let's pause there for a moment. So Jesus is drawing a contrast here between himself as the Son of God and the Son of Man. 3:01 He was fully the Son of God, fully the Son of Man throughout his entire life here on this earth. So he says the Son of God, the Son of Man, he draws a distinction between himself as the second person of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. 3:18 Because he says, whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven. But whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Trinity, it shall not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come. 3:34 There's that phrase I was talking about. So, now first of all, the thing I want to point out here that's very interesting to me is that Jesus identifies himself there as the Son of Man, as one, if you were to speak against him. 3:51 He says it will be forgiven. I think there's an example. Jesus was saying that. See, Jesus is part of the Trinity. He's not separated from the Holy Spirit in any way in that sense that he's like, you know, a different God or anything like that. 4:05 They're one, three persons, one God. And yet within this triune God, he says, if you speak against me, the Son of Man, because I am here as the Son of Man, even though I am full of the Holy Spirit of God, and the Spirit within me is the Spirit of God, it's the same Holy Spirit. 4:24 If you speak against me, Jesus, the person of Jesus, while I'm here on this earth, it shall be forgiven you. But if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven you. I think there's a wonderful example there for us. 4:38 What is our attitude, dear brothers and sisters, when people around us blaspheme us for the work we're doing? Do we take this position of, well, we're full of the Spirit of God. You have just blasphemed the Spirit of God in me. 4:54 We could easily take that attitude. And there's a lot of people who claim to be full of the Holy Spirit, who when you speak against them, this is especially common among money-loving people who claim to be full of the Holy Spirit. 5:06 And when you speak against their love of money, even though they claim to be full of the Holy Spirit, when we speak against it, their response is sometimes, you dare not blaspheme the Holy Spirit. And yet what we see in Jesus as the Son of Man, who was full of the Holy Spirit, 5:21 He says, you can speak against me. It'll be forgiven. I'm just one of you. I'm the Son of Man. That Son of Man phrase, I think, is so significant that Jesus identifies Himself as a Son of Man. He says, I'm just here to be an example to you, brothers and sisters. 5:36 He tells us now. And in the same way, when people blaspheme us, what is our response? Is it our response? Have you spoken against me? It's forgiven. Just don't, please don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit. You can speak against me. 5:49 You can speak against my family. You can tarnish my reputation. You can spread these rumors. I'll forgive you. Absolutely, I'll forgive you. But don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit. That's the first thing that the Lord showed me through this passage here. 6:03 That Jesus identified Himself as a Son of Man, opening the door even for these Pharisees to speak against Him. He says, if you've spoken against me, I'll forgive you. It'll be forgiven. And that must be our attitude as well. 6:17 I contrast this, because this is the new covenant, which is the blood of forgiveness. Contrasted with, for example, the blood of Abel. You know what it says about the blood of Abel. It's in Hebrews chapter 10. 6:45 Sorry, Hebrews 12. Verse 24. You remember what God told Cain after Cain had killed Abel. He says, your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground. Your brother's blood is crying out to me. Abel, it's as if the blood in Abel, which had been spilled by his brother Cain doing him wrong, 7:11 was crying out to God and saying, take vengeance on me. And here we find the blood of Jesus, which is described here in the last part of verse 24, as better than the blood of Abel. Better than the blood of Abel. Better than the blood of Abel. 7:25 Have you wondered what does that mean when it says, better than the blood of Abel? Verse 24. He says, you know, he's contrasting again the old covenant and the new covenant. And he says, you haven't come to Mount Sinai, but you've come to Mount Zion. 7:38 To the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels. To the general assembly and the church of the firstborn. This is a new line that is different from the line of Abel, which is also part of Moses and all of that old covenant business. 7:58 He says, here's a completely new line. This is the church of the firstborn, which is Jesus Christ. And to the God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. When you hear God, the judge of all, do you think, okay, now God's going to take vengeance 8:15 on all those people who have hurt me. One day, Lord, I know in eternity, all those secret things that people have done to hurt me, you will reveal it and you'll take vengeance on them. That's the blood of Abel. But you have come not to that blood of Abel. 8:30 You're part of the new covenant. And you have come, verse 24, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. And to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Which says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 8:47 Which speaks, like in our memory verse, that God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, saying, okay, you don't know what you're really doing. I'll overlook it. But now repent. And this is the blood of Jesus that we are partakers of. 9:02 When we drink the cup, when you drink that cup at the Lord's table. Do you know, brothers and sisters, what we're saying? I'm saying, Lord, I give up my right to ever demand vengeance from you on those people who have hurt me. 9:16 Because that's what the blood of Jesus speaks to. We don't drink the blood of Abel in that cup. We don't drink anything off the old covenant in that cup. And maybe you never thought of it before. But I believe that now on, God has overlooked the times of ignorance. 9:32 Now when we take that cup and that bread, we say, Lord, yes. I'm a partaker of a new covenant, a new covenant that speaks better than the blood of Abel that says, Father, forgive them. As Jesus' blood spilled on the ground, what I see is the blood of Jesus from his side saying, 9:49 Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And hearkening back thousands of years earlier to the blood of Abel that says, Father, take vengeance for what he has done, whether he knew about it or not. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 10:03 Take vengeance, Lord. And I find maybe we have become a little bit more religious where we're not going to punch them back. Maybe we have actually refined our behavior to the point where if somebody speaks evil against me, I'm just going to grit my teeth and not speak evil in return. 10:19 But in my heart of hearts, I can't wait for the day when God will avenge this wrong that has been done to me, that man who cheated me of all that money and that person that spoke about all those things about me. One day God's going to take vengeance. 10:34 That's the blood of Abel. It's righteous. It didn't fight back. Abel, if he had fought back against Cain, he would have been unrighteous. But it's a righteousness under the law, under the old covenant. And we are called, my dear brothers and sisters, to a sprinkled blood under the new covenant 10:51 which speaks better than the blood of Abel that says, Father, forgive them. And if I should find out in eternity that God overlooked the times of ignorance on those people who wronged me in some way, that time of ignorance affected me in some way because 11:08 the wrong was done to me, the hurt was spoken about me, and God overlooked it. I was so glad when he overlooked my times of ignorance. Oh, but when it came to him overlooking somebody else's time of ignorance because it affected 11:21 me in some way, ah, I didn't want it so much. And then I saw this call to a higher life, the life of Jesus, the blood of Jesus that speaks better than the blood of Abel that says, Father, forgive them. And if I should, and my dear brothers and sisters, I'm on this journey. 11:39 I'm not there yet, but I'm on this journey and I want, by the grace of God, to be ready to find out in eternity that that wrong that was so hurtful to me, that that brother or that sister or that person in some way apologized to God and God said it right and forgave it 11:58 and nothing was ever done to me. Maybe they didn't have the opportunity or on their deathbed they said it right before God and he says, forgiven. And I think, well, what about me, Lord? Were you ever going to set it right with me? 12:10 And were they, you know, what about me? He says, I called you to the blood of a better covenant that speaks better than the blood of Abel that says, that can rejoice in the forgiveness that God gives to somebody when the consequences 12:25 of the sin affected me. Let me say that again. That can rejoice in the forgiveness that God gives somebody when the consequences of that sin affected me in some way. And so if somebody did something hurtful to me, I'll assume the best of them and say, Lord, 12:39 forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. You deal with them and however you see right. And if in eternity I find out that you just forgave them, I will rejoice with you. Now, God will be an impartial judge. He says in that context that he's a judge who are called to a judge and he will be judged. 12:55 He will judge the wrong. And if there's wrongs that people have done that haven't, they haven't set right with him and with the people who have, they have hurt, they'll have to answer to God. But our response is never one of vengeance because like he says in Romans 12, vengeance is 13:11 mine, says the Lord, I'll decide how to administer that vengeance. You make sure you don't, that you overcome evil with good, with this goodness that says, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. I'll leave it to you to be their judge and I will not judge even the ones who may have 13:26 hurt me in some way. Jesus, I find, identified himself that way. You know, contrast that. Remember Moses when Miriam, his own brother and sister, and Moses didn't fight back, but his own brother and sister spoke against him and says, who made you the only leader? 13:41 Hasn't God called us to? And Miriam was struck with leprosy and God pronounced his judgment on both of them. Moses just kind of stood back. And maybe he forgave them in his heart. We're not here to judge it. But that was life under the old covenant. 13:55 If you spoke against the men of God and those whom God gave authority, you received judgment immediately. Now, what is our attitude when God speaks against us, men and women of God? Is it, Lord, waiting for you to pronounce judgment? 14:08 The other example I have on there is Elisha. They called him a baldy. Go up, baldy. Who are you? And some two bears came out of the jungle and devoured those young people to pieces because they dared to speak against the man of God. 14:22 And then there's Jesus, who's far greater than Elisha, far greater than Moses, and they called him Beelzebul. That's worse than calling him bald head. And what does Jesus say? It's forgiven. You've spoken against me. No bear is going to come out of the jungle and tear you apart. 14:37 It's forgiven, but don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit. And this is the attitude of the new covenant that says forgiven. I'm not expecting with anticipation that somehow they lose their job because they stole that money from me, or somehow their child will get a sickness, or something, some problem will 14:53 come into their family, and I'll think, aha, I know why that's happening to you. You wronged me. And the blood of Jesus says, Father, forgive them. Bless them, Lord. They've cursed me, but bless them. They're persecuting me, but I'm praying for them. 15:07 Like we prayed, Phil, I was so convicted by the prayer, Phil prayed this morning there in the back room, about praying for those who might persecute us, and those who are persecuting others in places and far off countries, that God will use the very witness of that persecution 15:22 that these Christians are suffering under to draw them to Christ. Wouldn't it be a great thing if the very people who are beheading Christians themselves come to see the glory of Jesus Christ? Don't you want them in heaven too? 15:35 The ones who are hurting others in the name of their religion or in the name, to profane the name of Jesus? Saul of Damascus. Saul of Tarsus was one of those. And he became Paul, the mighty apostle. This must be our attitude, the blood of Jesus Christ that speaks louder than the blood of 15:53 Abel. Now let's talk about blasphemy here for a moment. I just want to say this in passing so that it's clear. I have, in my lifetime, which is not much, received a lot of questions from people who said, you know, bro, I feel like I've committed the unforgivable sin because here I am struggling 16:10 with the sin. I never seem to come to victory. I'm defeated. Usually it's sins of addiction of some sort. And they battle and they battle and they battle and says, the reason I'm not coming to victory must be because I have committed the unforgivable sin that Jesus talks about here 16:25 in Matthew 12. And I believe this very simply, very plainly, that Jesus was talking about a blasphemy that's very specific, against the Holy Spirit, where knowing something to be the work of God, I speak against it. When I know something to be a work of God and I consciously speak against it, that's the 16:46 blasphemy that Jesus was talking about. That's why I believe. And this is usually from some sort of personal gain or from legalism or loving my position and my reputation, loving money. These are different things, not loving the truth, essentially, that would cause me to see 17:04 the work of God and know it's the work of God and speak against it. And the people that I think of, two categories of people, especially in this context, are the Pharisees, whom Jesus was addressing, and Judas Iscariot. 17:16 Now, even though Judas Iscariot, it says he wept. You know, we were hearing about Peter. Contrast with Judas Iscariot. Both of them wept bitterly. Judas Iscariot also, you read about it, after he realized what he had done, he wept. 17:30 But there was no forgiveness, there was no repentance in him. Peter had repentance. And Judas didn't have that repentance in a sense. I believe Judas had come to the place where he could not seek for repentance, for forgiveness 17:44 anymore. Esau is described the same way, that even though he longed for it bitterly with tears, he couldn't get to that place. He couldn't get that forgiveness. Judas had reached that place. And so did the Pharisees as well, that Jesus was talking about here. 17:57 Not because they spoke against Jesus as the Son of Man, but because they blasphemed the Holy Spirit. So this is the difference, is that I find essentially, the way I answer this question of whether I have in some way committed that unforgivable sin or have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, the 18:12 proof of that, I believe, is that there's no desire for repentance. There's no desire for true repentance. And so, if I find that the Holy Spirit is still speaking to me, I'm still sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 18:25 I still want to overcome. I still want to follow Jesus. That is a clear proof that I haven't committed that unforgivable sin because the Holy Spirit is still working in my life, still speaking in my life. I don't know if any of you have struggled with that. 18:38 I'll tell you, I have, honestly. There are times in my life where I thought, Lord, perhaps I have been one of those that you're talking about, that it will not be forgiven me. And here I am thinking, I'm asking you for forgiveness. 18:49 And that's why I said that desire to seek for forgiveness and true repentance from God is, I believe, the clearest proof that I haven't committed that unforgivable sin. Because Jesus says, it's not the quantity of time that determines whether you have committed 19:03 the unforgivable sin. Because He Himself said, if you were to commit the same sin 490 times in a day, you must forgive. And here I am, infinite God, you could do it an infinite number of times in the same day, and I would still forgive you. 19:19 So, I hope the devil doesn't hold you in bondage to that any longer. That if you really have a desire for repentance, and I believe that one of those proofs will be that you're sitting here, that you want to receive instruction, you want to receive 19:30 the truth of God, and you love the truth so as to be saved. And if that's there in your heart, my dear brother, dear sister, no matter what your struggle, no matter what burden you're carrying, or how long you've been defeated by a sin, 19:41 ask God for grace, fall on your face and say, Lord, I'm coming back to you like it's for the first time, and I believe you're administering mercies to me today that are brand new as well. I hope that's an encouragement for you. 19:54 Now, there's also something here that we see that a lot of Christians misunderstand or don't want to think about. Most people, most Christians understand this concept of justification by faith. A lot of people say that, and you should know that verse, it's in Romans chapter 5. 20:11 Let's look at that verse very quickly. Romans chapter 5 talks about justification. He sets the context for that in Romans chapter 4, where he talks about forgiveness and faith, uses the example of Abraham, how he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. 20:30 We must understand all of those things. We must understand that justification by faith is not something that I can earn. It's credit, not salary. I didn't get justification by faith as my salary that somehow I repented well enough or my sins 20:47 weren't that bad or I made restitution. All of that is salary-based justification. There's no such thing in God's view. Justification is by faith alone and it's a credit. That means I didn't deserve anything. If you have a credit card, now even a credit card, these days they do a credit check. 21:03 But if you get a credit into your account, in God's case, the justification that he credited to your account was based on nothing except faith. You just believed him. Okay, and it was credited to you as righteousness. In that context, he says, chapter 5, verse 1, 21:20 Therefore, since you have understood that this justification is a gift, it's just given to you, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I think I don't have to belabor that point. 21:35 I think you all understand it. I hope you do. So justification is by faith in Jesus Christ. However, I think you know this as well, that that's not the only place in the New Testament where the word justification appears. 21:48 So justification by faith is like that coming to the start of a race. The right to run this race, the right to be called a child of God is by faith. Read that, John 1, verse 12. To as many as believed, he gave them the right to become children of God. 22:06 If you believe you have the right to be a part of God's family, you can't somehow convince God and twist his arm to let you into his family. You just believe in him and believe in Jesus Christ, and you're a part of his family. 22:20 He gave them the right to be called sons of God, he says in John 1, verse 12. So now you have the right to begin this race, but if you're still sitting there and says, Thank you, Lord, that you put me at the starting place of this race by faith, 22:30 and I'm just sitting here waiting for you to do it all. He says, no, but you haven't read the whole counsel of what I've given you. Turn over to James chapter 2. Having been given this justification by faith as a free gift from God, 22:46 not of myself, but it's the free gift of God. Having been given this gift, now he says in John 2, James, sorry, not John, James. James 2, verse 14. He's talking now, James, he's talking to people who have been justified by faith and have qualified by that credit, 23:08 not of their own working or anything like that, just been credited the right to stand at the starting point of the race. And 10 years later, they're still standing there saying, I'm justified by faith. And others are pursuing after the fullness of God, being more and more conformed to the image of Jesus. 23:23 And they're standing and says, thank you, Lord, you're doing everything for me. You've given me justification by faith. To such people, James says, what use is it? I mean, when James says, what use is it, question mark, it's a pretty sure, 23:35 when the Holy Spirit says, what use is it? It's like, what use is it that I brought you and credited to you this justification by faith and brought you to the starting point if you're still here after 10 years? What use is it, my brethren? 23:49 If a man says he has faith, but he has no works, can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, brother, have justification by faith. 24:04 And here is this brother or sister starving to death without clothes, shivering in the cold. And yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body. What use is that? And then he goes on to say some examples of faith. 24:16 Skip down to verse 24. You see that a man is justified by, Now a lot of people would like to just take out that next word and say justified by faith and be stuck in Romans 5 verse 1. He says, you see, I've taken pains to explain to you that if you've come to know God, 24:38 if you've come to know God as your loving father, and you've come to receive this true faith, the proof of it is that you're not still stuck here at the starting point after some period of time. Yes, I know you, the qualification, the fact that you have a bib, 24:52 which means you can even run in this race, you know, if you run in a race, an official race, you're given a bib. If you don't have a bib, you're not going to be qualified. You're not qualified to run the race. You're just running without aim. 25:02 But the ones who have a bib, you've been given a bib. You didn't do anything to earn it, but it's been given to you by faith because of what Jesus has done. But now that he's given you that right, that justification, what are you doing about it? 25:13 What use is it? So we see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. It couldn't be more plain. Justified by works and not by faith alone. This is that consequence of the justification of faith. And in the same way, he says, you know, he gives the example of Abraham, 25:34 gives the example of Rahab. And he says, just as the body, verse 26, without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. So, again, justification by works of faith. Now, we can dig into that some more. That's probably a message for another time where I decide, 25:53 okay, I'm going to be justified by my works, and so I'm going to do a lot of works and present my filthy rags to God and says, look, justify me now. He says, ah, that's filthy rags. Because they weren't works of faith. They weren't works that came out of the fact that I recognize 26:08 that I'm even in this race because of faith, because of Jesus Christ. I shouldn't even be in this race to begin with. Let me not take any credit for the fact that I'm actually running this race. I'm disqualified from even being in the race, 26:21 if not for the blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, Romans 4, last verse. But having been justified, now I'm going to run and let this faith that is in me manifest itself in works of love, deeds, works of faith. Now, in passing, I also want to say, he clarifies here that that doesn't mean, 26:39 therefore we should go feed the homeless and run a social program and things like that. He says, if your brother or sister, first of all, be very clear about that. Secondly, is in need. He doesn't, he's not talking about a socialist or a communist society 26:53 where everybody has the same amount, where the rich are brought down equal and the poor are brought down, everybody has the same amount in their bank account. That's not what he's talking about. If they're in need, if, he says basic things like, 27:04 what is necessary for their body. And we have that responsibility as a church that if one of us, brother or sister here, is suffering to an extent where they don't, where they lack that which is necessary for their body, 27:17 then we have a responsibility as brothers and sisters to come in and let that faith that is in us manifest itself in works that bless others. And church, you have done that wonderfully. We've seen that all year after year after year 27:33 where you all have stepped in and helped people in need, not just in giving money, but in doing things to help people in their home or when you find out that a family is sick, making a meal for them. These are works of faith. 27:45 Proving that the faith inside of you is alive as much as the proof that my spirit is alive is that my body is functioning in a way that you can discern. He used that example of the body and spirit. Then, back in Matthew chapter 12, 27:59 this third aspect of faith he talks about, again, one that people either love to ignore or are ignorant about, Matthew 12. Let's read verse 36. Matthew 12, verse 36. I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak, 28:21 they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words, by your words you shall be justified. Three aspects of justification that God is going to have us give account for. He's going to say, were you justified by faith? 28:40 Did you even finish this race, start this race? Yes, by faith. Now, was your faith manifest in deeds, in things that you did to others? Okay, you passed that test. What about this third test where, sadly, I think many Christians, 28:53 and I too, have been guilty of falling short. Will I be justified by the fact that there were no careless words in my life? Wow. Every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it 29:14 in the day of judgment. He's not talking about blasphemy now. He's not talking about taking the name of the Lord in vain. He's not talking about swearing and cursing. Let such things never even be found on our lips. But careless words. 29:30 Ah, you know. I'm just going to make fun of that person because they can handle it. They're used to it. They give out, so they ought to be able to take. They dish out, so they ought to be able to take. It's a careless word. 29:40 It's a word that doesn't lift up, doesn't build up, doesn't result in that person drawing closer to Jesus. It somehow puts them down. Now, this is not something for us to, this is not a, well, that particular word is careless 29:54 and that's not. You could make it legalistic, but is the Holy Spirit working in your life, dear brothers and sisters, as He is in mine, to be more careful about these careless words? There wasn't a care in my spirit before I said it. 30:08 It was sort of just a shoot at, you know, off from the hip. Who's the quickest draw? He's the person that impresses people the most. In the olden days, you see, you read Western stories or watch Western movies, you know, 30:19 the one who had the quickest draw was the last man standing. And that mentality can come in in conversations or in relationships. Last man standing. I said, I had the last word. I had the best way of convincing you that I'm right 30:31 and you're wrong. And it's a careless word because there wasn't care involved in it. We talk about care in this church because of 1 Corinthians 12 which says, you're a member of this church if you care for one another. And this is the mark 30:45 of the living church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ that now in our words too there's a care. And before that word comes out, I say, let it be careful. Let me hold back. I know that I used to say that and yeah, you know, 31:00 don't be so touchy man. Why are you so bothered about that? I was just teasing you. But now, it's not whether the other person will get offended or not but the fact that I am going to be justified or condemned by my lack of care 31:12 in my words. God says, yeah, I know, they didn't take offense because they're used to you speaking like that but I did. I'm not used to your speaking like that because I want you to be full of care and I want those words 31:25 to be full of care, infused with care. Justification by words of faith. By your words, you shall be justified and by your words, you shall be condemned. Now, the good part. We can deal this two ways. You can think, oh man, 31:43 I've had so many careless words. What shall I do? First of all, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. It begins by us coming to the Lord and says, Lord, previously, I just wrote it off as my personality. I just wrote it off 31:57 as this, you know, they expect something. Yeah, he just says whatever comes to the top of his mouth. Shoot first, think later. Mentality, we've gotten used to it. It's one of those quirks of being part of the body of Christ. 32:07 I'm not content with that. Now, I want to go before God and say, Lord, I'm not willing. The blood of Jesus Christ does not cleanse me from quirks or personality traits that others have to put up with but he does cleanse me 32:20 from sin and thank you, Lord, that no matter how serious or not, I think the sin is if I call it sin and I come to you and say, Lord Jesus, from today on, I am going to call this sin. I'm going to call it by the worst possible word, 32:34 possible, I'm going to call it murder because it wasn't an uplifting word. It was a careless word that served as a knife or a dagger to hurt somebody. And Jesus says, okay, you called it sin, confess. That's what that means. 32:49 You call it the same as I call it. That's what God says. If you will confess, agree with me that this is a careless word, I call it sin and you confess with me that it is sin, forgiven. And I have experienced the forgiveness 33:04 of Jesus Christ, dear church, I'll be honest with you. I've experienced, I'm experiencing the forgiveness of Jesus Christ for all those careless words that I have said the moment I was willing to call it sin. The moment I was willing 33:20 to say, Lord Jesus, this is the worst possible thing from the pit of hell, from the accuser of the brethren whose tongue is full of deceit and wickedness and I call it what it is and Jesus says, if you confess your sins, 33:33 the blood of Jesus Christ, he is faithful and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness and I've been cleansed from it. I live in victory but there's two ways I can go forward now. Now I can say, well, okay, 33:46 I'm going to be real careful. I'm going to work hard to make sure that, oh, you know, this self-discipline which is a Buddhist or Hindu mentality, it's a self-discipline which says, okay, I'm going to grit my teeth and I'm going to practice 33:59 and, you know, do some meditation and yoga and all these things that says, okay, control your tongue, control your tongue, control your tongue and you work at it, work at it, work at it. You may actually get to the point 34:10 where your speech becomes a little bit more filtered but it's not the words of faith anymore. It is a righteousness, it is a filtering of our words that we have come up with that somehow I've become a little bit more dignified. 34:24 You know how children have a tendency to say whatever just comes out of their mouth or you find sometimes people with mental disabilities often just say whatever. That's one of the things I like about them is you never have to doubt 34:40 what they're thinking. If they don't like you, they'll tell you. Very plain, I don't like you. If they like you, they'll tell you there's no guile there. But we become full of guile as we grow up. Our tendency is to, by guile I mean 34:51 we cover up this just being who I am. You know, it's considered cultured. But I want to tell you that what Jesus is offering us is not just becoming more cultured in our speech where we're more careful and says, okay, yeah, 35:04 I probably shouldn't say that so I'm not going to and I come up with this mantric discipline of controlling my tongue. No, it's simply something completely different. Let's look at that. So he says, when he talks about this justification previously, 35:19 let's go back a few verses and look at 33, 34, and 35. This is how you and I, dear brothers and sisters, in our relationships with one another will come to the place where our speech is full of words of faith. Where our speech 35:33 with our wives and our children is full of words of faith, not that I make it full of faith. There's a big difference. The difference is between the new covenant and the old covenant. The difference is between Jesus and Moses. 35:46 That God wants us to come to the place where these words of faith come out of us, not that I have disciplined my life or disciplined my tongue in some way that I've manufactured it. So let's look at this. He says, verse 33, 36:00 either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. Instead of focusing on the fruit, oh, this bad fruit, this bad fruit, bad fruit, cut that off, put some good fruit. Man, that particular branch 36:14 seems to have bad fruit. Let me make sure I get some good fruit there and I'm looking at the fruit, looking at the fruit, looking at the fruit. He says, no, listen, the problem is the tree. If you find even one bad fruit 36:25 coming out of the tree, the problem is not with that particular area of your life. The problem is with the tree itself. Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good or make the tree bad or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad 36:38 for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you being evil, being evil? He doesn't talk about you speaking evil. He says, how can you being evil speak what is good? So because you are evil, that tree itself 36:58 is still full of that Adamic evil nature. No wonder that the fruit that comes out is evil. How can you being evil speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. So, two ways to deal with this. 37:12 First of all, is the solution to live in constant fear of what words we speak. Oh man, did I say something careless? Lord, I go to bed and I'm thinking, Lord, I'm just self-condemned. Oh, I bet that word was probably careless 37:23 and no, that word, was it careless? And this is just condemnation. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? We heard it already this morning. Because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus 37:37 has set me free from the law of sin and death. I find that there's a law operating within my members now contrary to the law that I saw before that allows me, that causes my words to be full of faith and to be careful. So the solution 37:53 is not that we live in constant fear of what words we speak. Instead, we ensure that our treasure is good. I ensure that that treasure that is inside, that thing which is my treasure, my attitudes, my motives, that which I'm in love with 38:09 is good. Then there will be, I won't even have to worry about the words. This is another way of saying what Jesus said. First clean the inside of the cup and then the outside will become clean. So my dear brother, dear sister, 38:20 if, like me, you have found areas in your life where careless words come out to your husband, your wife, other brothers, sisters, your co-workers, people on the road, maybe even words that didn't actually come out, careless whispers 38:35 we'll call them. Careless whispers, you know, you didn't let it out, you controlled it. Let the tree be good. And then even those whispers, those thoughts that you used to think will become good because you are good on the inside. 38:52 So ensuring that our treasure is good, what is it that you treasure? Do you treasure something on this earth? I'll tell you this, the Lord spoke to me very clearly about this. Every time I find that a careless word comes out of my mouth, 39:06 now I go back to the source and realize, Lord, there is something on this earth that I still treasure. my reputation, maybe money, maybe this or that. There is something in my heart of this earthly treasure still because it is out 39:22 of that treasure on this earth that that word is coming out. Yes, I know I sing to you, you are more precious to me than silver and gold and not will I withhold and, you know, that last verse we sang, love so amazing, so divine, 39:40 demands my soul, my life, my all and I sing and think I've given it all and then later this afternoon a careless word comes out. Now are we willing to say, you know what Lord, I sang, demands my soul, my life, my all but I didn't 39:52 really mean it because deep down you've shown me by the fact that this fruit came out. Instead of getting condemned or getting upset at the person who caused this word to come out of me, I can say, Lord, thank you. By showing me 40:04 this fruit, I realize there is an aspect of treasure deep down inside of me that is still settled here on this earth. Help me to get rid of that treasure, that earthly treasure which is really no treasure at all. Then I know 40:17 if I deal with the treasure, Lord, make me, make it so that you and you alone are my treasure. Send me through the furnace seven times for what? Not to clean the words that come out but to clean my treasure. You know, he says in Psalm 6, 40:34 the words of the Lord are like refined like silver through the fire seven times. What is it that's refining? Is it the words that I speak badly then I send it through, speak badly, send it through, finally the seventh time 40:44 I say the same thing it comes out right? No. But my treasure, my heart, my ambitions, my goals are going through the fire seven times. Seven times and finally what? It's been purified and maybe I made mistakes and I realized 40:58 that was a careless word. Now, Lord, instead of worrying about who heard it and whether my reputation is tarnished, I go back and say, Lord, the treasure is bad. Help me to deal with it. Refine that treasure. Purify my heart. 41:10 Make me like you. Make me like you, oh God, where your nature is that refined treasure. Refine my treasure as it were so that the words that come out are words of life. I'll end with this. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians 3. 41:31 Let's begin reading in verse 5. Colossians 3 verse 5. Consider the members of your earthly body as dead. And here he talks about deeds of unrighteousness or deeds of unfaith, deeds of unbelief. In verse 5. Consider the members 41:50 of your body dead to deeds like immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is an account of these things that the wrath of God will come and in them you also once walked while you were living 42:07 in them. Okay. Then he goes on to say, now words of unbelief, words of unfaith, but now also put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech from your mouth, not lying to one another, verse 9, since you laid aside 42:27 the old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. I think these are verses you know well. Deeds of unbelief and unfaith, 42:39 words of unbelief and unfaith. How shall we put these away? Shall we say, okay Lord, this year I'm going to put them away. The most important word there is the one I didn't read in verse 5, therefore, Colossians 3 verse 5, 42:53 therefore, why is it that we're going to put away these words and these deeds that are full of unbelief and unfaith? Why? Because chapter 3 verse 1, if you have been raised up with Christ, set your treasure there, dear brothers, 43:07 dear sisters. That's what the Holy Spirit tells me. If you deal with the treasure, since you've been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above in your treasure, in your heart, in your affections. Where Christ is seated 43:21 at the right hand of God, set your affection, fall in love with the things above, which is Jesus Christ himself most of all. Not on the things that are on the earth, because you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God 43:36 and when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed as one who was living in the heavenlies all along. Your treasure was there. Where your treasure is there, will your heart be also. When Christ, 43:49 who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. So, therefore, lay aside. Our motivation for laying aside careless words is not now no longer the fact that I will be judged by him. Yes, I'm aware of it, 44:04 that I will be justified by my words or condemned by him, but my motivation for cleaning up my speech is no longer that fear of judgment, but it's this, my affection has been drawn heavenward. My heart is set in heaven and as a result 44:19 of that, what comes out of this treasure are words of life, words of blessing. This is how we build a church. This is prophecy, the testimony of Jesus. Amen. Amen.
