Verse by Verse Matthew 12:30-35

[0:00] Young people, you may take off to your class. And the rest of us, please get your Bibles open to the Gospel of Matthew.

[0:20] And we're in chapter number 12. All right, we got, let's see, we got into 29, 29, 30, somewhere around there.

[0:48] We'll pick it up in verse number 30, closing this. Well, not quite closing it, I guess. So Matthew 12, verse 30, we'll begin in a moment.

[0:59] Let's pray together before we open up this Sunday school. Father, thank you for this morning, for each person that chose to get up and come to church in this early Sunday school hour.

[1:10] I pray, God, that it would be worth it, that we'd understand some truth from your word, and that we'd all grow in our knowledge of the word of God and of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And God, just please bless our time together, especially with the young people, help them to learn and to grow.

[1:26] And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, verse 30. He that is not with me is against me. So he's responding to this attack from these Pharisees and others that, well, the Pharisees from verse 24, that he's casting out devils by the devil, by the prince of the devil, Beelzebub.

[1:47] And so as he responds to them and makes them look foolish in their statement, realizing they hadn't thought this thing through, in verse 26, if Satan cast out Satan, he's divided against himself.

[1:58] How shall his kingdom stand? That's not going to stand. And so as he continues the thought, he says, he that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

[2:10] And so there's nobody neutral in this. You're either with him or you're against him. And if you're not gathering with him, he says, then you're scattering abroad.

[2:23] And I know that we don't think that way. We feel like, well, if maybe I'm not winning souls and I'm not gathering, so to speak, with him. Well, I'm still, I'm not doing anything wrong.

[2:34] I'm not. Christ says, you're either with me and you're gathering or you're pushing them away. And there's so much truth in that, that we probably don't consider ourselves to realize that God has us placed in this life and where we are to do something for him.

[2:50] As Wednesday night, we studied to shine a light for the Lord Jesus Christ in this perverse world, this dark, this crooked generation. And if you're not shining that light, if you're not gathering with the Lord Jesus Christ and being vocal and being outwardly a born again believer, then you're pushing them away, whether you realize it or not.

[3:09] You're telling the world you can do whatever you want. You can tell the world that what you're doing is not wrong. It's fine because you're not reproving them by your good life. And that's kind of really jumping right back into Wednesday night's thoughts from Ephesians chapter five.

[3:24] But he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. And so nobody's neutral in this thing. You're either pushing folks further away from Christ and you say, well, I'm not because I'm not teaching them how to sin.

[3:37] Well, if you're not bringing them in, you're just, you're allowing them. Their natural course is to hell. And so you're just allowing them to go further when Christ may have put you in a place to bring them closer.

[3:50] Now moving into verse 31 and let's get ready because this is a, this is a topic that's pretty well misunderstood. I believe we're going to do our best with it this morning.

[4:00] Matthew chapter 12, verse 31. 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.

[4:14] And whosoever speaketh the 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.

[4:26] So this has become the term, the unpardonable sin by many. And it's been discussed and talked about and covered. And, and there's, there's several different takes on it. Um, the Roman Catholic church assumes that you can have sin forgiven after this life.

[4:44] After you die, you can have sins forgiven. And what they believe is that that means the world to come. Meaning when you die in eternity, you can have, they use this as a text.

[4:54] It's a terrible thought. And we're going to try to study from the Bible why that's not a good interpretation. It's just foolish reasoning. Um, what we need to understand, let's kind of take this in segments.

[5:05] We're going to go to the end first is what he says at the end. It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Now we've already run these references, but this will help you to get your bearings again.

[5:17] Let's go to Mark chapter 10 to start. Mark chapter 10. What is that world to come? Is it the afterlife as the Catholic church will suggest? Mark chapter 10.

[5:35] And here's a statement to his disciples, to Peter specifically, wondering what he's going to get for serving God.

[5:49] Mark chapter 10. Notice verse 28. And Peter began to say unto him, lo, we have left all and have followed thee. And it's kind of an open-ended, like, what are we going to get? And so in verse 29, Jesus answered and said, verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels.

[6:09] But he shall receive an hundredfold. Now in this time, houses, brethren, sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and the world to come eternal life. Now we need to understand, of course, I'm not going to take all the time with this, but this is still in the gospels.

[6:25] This is still Peter and Jesus Christ. This is disciple and master. This is him teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and spreading this good news to Israel. And Peter wants to know what he's going to get.

[6:36] If we study this out a little more thoroughly, what he gets is a place in the kingdom and he gets a throne to sit on judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And he's going to get a whole lot in the world to come.

[6:47] Now go on further to Hebrews. These are the verses we ran several weeks ago back in Matthew 10 when we were looking at the signs and the gifts that Christ gave his disciples power for.

[7:00] Hebrews chapter 2. And these signs were given to him, given to them as a preview of the coming kingdom. Hebrews chapter 2.

[7:17] And verse number 5 is where the phrase pops up. Hebrews 2 verse 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

[7:31] Now he's speaking, he's referring to the millennium. Notice verse 4. Whereof we speak is connected back to the salvation of verse 3 that Jesus Christ spoke of.

[7:43] Began to be spoken by the Lord. Confirmed unto us, verse 3, by them that heard him. That's his apostles. Verse 4. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.

[7:56] And he's speaking, he says, in verse 5 of the world to come. And the signs and the wonders that the apostles had from Matthew 10, as we covered it back there, they were a preview of the kingdom and the powers, and that is the world to come.

[8:10] They was in subjection to them. And as he says in verse 5, unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, but to you men. And they understood the kingdom language that he spoke of, because that's all they knew at the time.

[8:23] They knew Old Testament Moses, and then Jesus Christ shows up and gives us powers. They didn't know this church age, future things breaking and coming and going. Look at chapter 6 of Hebrews.

[8:37] The signs and the wonders that the apostles wrought were evidence or signs connected to the kingdom or the world to come. Hebrews chapter 6, and the phrase is again in verse number 5.

[8:53] And have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. So again, these powers are connected with the future or the kingdom.

[9:03] It's easy to put that together when it's studied like this. And so when Christ speaks in Matthew chapter 12 of the world to come, that sin will not be forgiven to men in this world, present tense, neither in the future in the world to come.

[9:19] That's a reference to the second advent. That's a reference to the return of Christ and the established kingdom. And notice both places here. This world, Jesus Christ is standing there speaking to them.

[9:31] World to come, Jesus Christ will be on earth standing there. And so that's what we need to get our bearings first of all. That when he's speaking of a place where this sin can be committed, it's when he's on the planet.

[9:44] The world to come after the return of Jesus Christ. So this world, as he says in verse number 32, neither in this world, that world is the world where Christ is there with his apostles and it's a preview of the kingdom.

[10:00] And he's presenting it, offering it to them with proofs that this is legitimate because of the signs and wonders. And the world to come, all that stuff is going to be alive and God is going to be rescinding the curse upon this planet and healings and everything's going to be back the way it should be.

[10:18] That's the world to come. Now, what does it mean though? What is this sin? All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

[10:30] What is that sin to blaspheme the Holy Ghost? Christ. Well, some people say this. Some people say that it's, this is crazy, but they say suicide. They find a way to make suicide the unpardonable sin, a sin that hath never forgiveness.

[10:48] I don't, there's no way you're going to pull that out of this chapter or out of this text ever. You won't find it anywhere in the chapters to and from either way. But some say suicide is unforgivable by God.

[11:01] And if you take your life, then you're sealing your fate. You're forfeiting heaven. And you can't prove that with the Bible. You really can't even teach that with the Bible. And we're not even going to spend time with that today.

[11:14] Others, others, I've read this. Others have said divorce. Certain, there's a certain fundamentalist segment that really feels like divorce is the worst sin that a man could commit.

[11:26] I mean, they preach against it. That and ladies wearing long dresses is, is like, they're two things. And I never got that a day in my life. And you won't find that from the scripture either, that it hath never forgiveness or it's unpardonable or it will not be forgiven unto men.

[11:41] And I don't see how you can, you have to really like pull this verse here, pull this thought here. Say that being joined to the Lord is one spirit to say that this is blaspheming the Holy Ghost.

[11:52] You really have to do some stretching to say that divorce and another one's murder because you go back under the law and find out that there was no sacrifice for the adultery and murder.

[12:04] But you can't apply that here. It just doesn't add up. Another suggestion is, and this is a common one, that it is the quote, final rejection of the Holy Spirit's conviction about your soul and your sin and judgment to come.

[12:19] And the very last time that you say no to, to the Holy Ghost convicting you that you need Christ and salvation, that's the unpardonable sin because that's the one that sends you to hell.

[12:30] The first rejection, according to them, is forgivable. The second and third is forgivable. If God deals with your soul 30 times in your life, then it's the 30th one where you say no, that will not be forgiven.

[12:44] And the logic makes sense to think that, okay, you go to hell and God won't forgive you for that one, the last one. So it's just man's way of trying to make this passage match today's doctrine of believing on Jesus Christ.

[13:01] And that's a problem. It's a problem trying to make this passage or most of these passages we study that has to do with the world to come or when Jesus Christ is training his apostles to spread the gospel of the kingdom.

[13:14] Well, we try to make these things fit into Paul's doctrine and to the way things are today, then you really have to finagle the scriptures to do it or you just have to ignore them. So that one's not a good suggestion either for what this sin is, saying it's the final rejection of the Holy Spirit.

[13:32] Notice specifically in a passage, notice in verse 32, it says, whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not.

[13:48] So this is a sin that's spoken from the text. This is not rejecting in your heart or just turning away from God's conviction for your sin.

[14:00] Others fear that it has something to do with the Holy Ghost and they try to use this passage against charismatics and it still just doesn't add up.

[14:15] Here's a, I wanted to print this off. I read several people's takes on this and I thought I'll just give you their mindset a little bit further. This is just one of about 50. And somebody asked the question, so this guy's going to handle it and teach the Bible, I guess he thinks, about what is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

[14:35] What is it? And is it possible for this unforgivable sin to be committed today? And if so, can Christians commit it? This is common. People don't know their Bible well enough or just not comfortable with the scriptures.

[14:48] They come up with, they read that, then they get scared. Or really it's the devil that puts the thoughts in them. So he goes on to talk about the disciples and the Pharisees.

[14:58] And he says that the Pharisees, their hearts were so hardened that even knowing the miracle was of the Holy God, this casting out devils before, they ascribe it to the evil one, knowing that it was true what happened.

[15:14] But nevertheless, they insisted it was false, that it wasn't from God. And he says, this is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, willfully and intentionally refusing to submit to God and his word. Now that's just a sorry way to take something true.

[15:30] They saw this with their eyes and then they were confronted that this doesn't make sense if it was of Satan to cast out Satan. So they're left with one possibility and that it was God.

[15:42] And they reject it. So the guy's right all the way up to there. And then he just turns and opens this whole thing up because he wants to make it match today. And so he says, the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is willfully and intentionally refusing to submit to God and to his word.

[15:57] I mean, that just totally is a separate thing from what we're reading in the passage. So he wants to make this thing incredibly broad. Can this sin be committed today?

[16:08] I think the answer is surely yes. People blaspheme against the Holy Spirit when persuaded by the Holy Spirit's power of the truth of the gospel and Christ claimed to be God's son and the savior, they reject it.

[16:20] So there it is, rejecting the Holy Spirit's illuminating you to Christ and the gospel, the cross. And they say that that is the sin that hath never forgiven us. Thoughtfully, willfully, self-consciously rejecting the work of the Spirit.

[16:35] Their blasphemy is to deny the Spirit's testimony and to knowingly ascribe it to some other source. He asks this question, or he says this, what makes this sin unforgivable is the offender's unwillingness to repent and believe.

[16:53] And then he says, Jesus's words on this matter assure us that such intentional and blasphemous rejection of the gospel can render the heart no longer capable of repentance and leaves the sinners like these Pharisees beyond forgiveness.

[17:06] Now, these statements may sound good, and they'd sound good to a lot of Christians who don't study the word of God. But they don't match the context, the passage. They have nothing to do with what Jesus Christ is saying and who he's saying it to, and to who, just to his face, blasphemed the Holy Ghost.

[17:23] He says this is a rejection of the gospel, which you can't find the gospel of Jesus Christ anywhere near this passage. So he asks the question then, should Christians fear that they have or may have yet commit the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Spirit?

[17:40] And he says this answer in so many words, no, because no true Christian should ever have to fear it. Because if you're a true Christian, then you've already received it, as in received Christ, and you have not rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[18:00] He tries to make this all fit today. And I can't go on and on and on about this too much more, but there's a whole lot more to say about it, even with modern versions, how they twist some wording in this, and you can open it up to teach other doctrines with it.

[18:18] Let's just cover what this is, all right? So blasphemy. What is to blaspheme in the, it's a verb, to blaspheme. And what would it be?

[18:28] What is the actual act or the speech? Look at John chapter 10. I have a concept here this morning. We're going to look at the Bible and see if this book has the ability to define and teach itself on this matter.

[18:44] If not, then we'll just, we'll just make something else up that we feel comfortable with. That seems to be the way of others.

[18:55] John chapter 10. All right. Verse 32, or verse, I'll go to verse 30. He says, I and my father are one. That's Christ speaking of himself and the father.

[19:07] We are one. The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Why would they do that? Jesus answered them. Many good works have I showed you from my father. For which of those works do you stone me?

[19:18] The Jews answered him saying, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy. Because that thou being a man makest thyself God. There's blasphemy.

[19:29] A man or anything that is lower than God and his holiness, trying to bring it up to and equating itself with a holy God.

[19:40] Look at Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26, verse 60.

[19:51] I'll start in verse 63. Christ is before the high priest. The night he's crucified.

[20:03] One of these illegal trials is getting tossed back and forth between the Gentiles and the Jews. Matthew 26, 63. But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

[20:20] And Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said. Nevertheless, I say unto thee, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.

[20:31] Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, he hath spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

[20:43] What think ye the answer and said, he's guilty of death. So this is a speech, correct? Speaking blasphemy. And what it is, and we'll go back to the Old Testament here, go back to 2 Kings with me, chapter 18.

[20:57] Equating something profane as if it is holy or even taking something that is holy and profaning it to say that it is unclean.

[21:11] 2 Kings chapter 18. Here's a case where the king of Assyria has got Israel or Jerusalem under siege.

[21:24] Hezekiah is the king. And he comes with his army. He comes and the man speaks some words against God and against Israel.

[21:35] Chapter 18. Notice verse 30. Or verse 29. Then thus saith the king, let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, the Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

[21:52] So he's saying, don't believe anything. Don't let him try to tell you that his God's going to do something about this. All right, verse 33. Hath any of the gods, small g, of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

[22:08] And he asks of some gods in verse 34. Did they do it? Verse 35. Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered out of the country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

[22:19] So you see his attitude. Now come to the next chapter. Hezekiah in chapter 19. He hears it. He rents his clothes, covers himself with sackcloth, and he sends for Isaiah the prophet.

[22:37] And in verse 3, he said, they said unto him, thus saith Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and blasphemy. Why is it blasphemy? Because of what he's saying against God. He's equating God to just being like one of these other gods of the land.

[22:49] That's blasphemy against God. For the children are come to birth and are not strength to bring forth. And he says, you've heard his words. You know what he's saying. Come to verse 15. Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwelleth between the cherubims, thou art the God.

[23:05] Even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear and hear. Open, Lord, thine eyes and see. And hear the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God.

[23:17] Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands and have cast down their gods into fire, for they were no gods. But the work of men's hands, wood and stone, were if they have destroyed them.

[23:28] And you see his plea to God, like you're the true God. But what was the blasphemy? It was Sennacherib just thinking God's just like one of the other ones. Just like one of those idols, wood, stone.

[23:39] And I'm going to wipe you out just like I wiped them out. What are you guys doing? Don't believe the king if he tells you that he can stand against me. All right, go to Revelation 13.

[23:54] So blasphemy in the scriptures here is equating a holy God with a man-made God or material.

[24:07] That's blaspheming God. Now, on the other side of that, here's just a... I'm just going to read a few verses quick, not really comment on them. But Revelation 13, verse 1.

[24:20] I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. And upon his horns, ten crowns. And upon his heads, the name of blasphemy.

[24:32] Chapter 13, verse number 6. He opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell therein. Or dwell in heaven.

[24:43] And so he's saying God's nothing, but I am God. And what is that? That's blasphemy. In the scriptures, he sits in his temple in 2 Thessalonians 2, showing himself, the man, the Antichrist, that he is God.

[24:57] And he's got signs and wonders to do it. But there's another one I had about the names. 17, verse 3. It says, He carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, having a fool of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten...

[25:15] And we're not going to go through this stuff, but the future, the Antichrist, and the system going on there is all pretending to be God. And deceiving the whole world, saying this is God.

[25:27] Those names are names of blasphemy. Claiming to be holy. Claiming to be Jehovah. And so you've got guys today going around claiming to be Jehovah's witnesses. And they blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ, by the way.

[25:41] The one who is God in the flesh. And they say, He's a lesser God. He's not the true God. He's not Jehovah. Oh, yes, He is. And I can prove it to you from the scriptures that He's Jehovah.

[25:51] He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament that shows up in the flesh and proves it. They blaspheme Him. The Roman Catholic Church blasphemes God by saying that Mary is the mother of God.

[26:05] And if you know the term, the Immaculate Conception, that doesn't have to do with Jesus Christ being immaculately conceived in the womb of Mary. That teaching is that Mary was immaculately, miraculously conceived.

[26:18] That Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost in her mother's womb so that she could be a holy, pure woman from God to bring forth Jesus Christ into the world.

[26:30] That's a blasphemous teaching. And it is. And calling Mary the mother of God. That's blasphemy left and right. So, what about the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost?

[26:43] I knew this was going to take a while. So be it. What is it? Come to Mark chapter 3. This is important. Mark chapter 3. C.I. Schofield has a note saying that it's ascribing to Satan the works of the Spirit.

[27:06] And I can't agree with that. Ascribing to Satan the works of the Spirit. As if it's just the works that the issue is.

[27:17] It's something more than that. And the Bible tells us what it is right here in Mark. Mark adds a little something that Matthew didn't give us. Verse 28. Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men.

[27:29] And blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. Mark 3.29. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness. But is in danger of eternal damnation.

[27:41] Verse 30. Because they said, he. Jesus Christ. They said, he hath an unclean spirit. That's their spoken blasphemy.

[27:53] Is saying that Jesus Christ hath an unclean spirit. They say it again in John chapter 8. Saying thou hast a devil. Claiming that Jesus Christ.

[28:05] Hath an unclean spirit. It's a damnable sin. Because it's taking Jesus Christ. God in the flesh. God in the flesh.

[28:17] And one that he says. In verse 28. If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God. Then the kingdom of God has come unto you. And they look at that.

[28:27] And they see that. And they say with their mouths. That that is not God in the flesh. And that is not the Spirit of God. That is the devil. You have a devil.

[28:38] You are the devil. Is the Pharisees. Blaspheming the Holy Ghost. It's a grave sin. In this case.

[28:49] And it will be in the future as well. When Jesus Christ comes back. For a man to say that he's the devil. To say that Jesus Christ in the flesh. God in all of his power and glory.

[28:59] To declare that he is filled with the devil's spirit. And not God's. Saying that the spirit inside of you is unclean. And equating the Holy Ghost with the devil. Not equating his works to the devil.

[29:12] Or giving it. But equating him with the devil. Saying he's the devil. There's no forgiveness for that. You can't get away. With that kind of speech. In the face of Jesus Christ.

[29:23] Notice verse 32. Back in Matthew 12. That there are other words that will be forgiven men. In verse 32 he says. Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man.

[29:33] It shall be forgiven him. So what does that mean? Well notice he doesn't call himself the Son of God there. The Son of Man. And whosoever speaks against the Son of Man.

[29:45] It shall be forgiven him. That's the human side of him. There's the Son of David. The Messiah. There's the Son of God. God. Deity. There's the Son of Man. His humanity.

[29:57] And you can speak against the Son of Man. And he's not going to get offended by that. You call him. You say that he's short. Or he's ugly. Or say you don't like his hair color.

[30:07] Or make fun of something that he does. He trips and falls. He's like. That'll be forgiven you. You can make fun of his mother. That'll be forgiven you. But you're not going to blaspheme the Holy Ghost.

[30:22] Because there's deity involved. And not now. And not when I come back. In the world to come. And so I hope that clears it up a little bit. It's not a super, super clear subject.

[30:35] And it is one. Obviously. That's why it becomes so obscure to others. And just goes off the deep end. You go ahead and look it up. And you'll find there's some things that people say. And believe and teach about it.

[30:46] That they just have no clue. And they're trying to. For the most part. They're trying to take this statement. Outside of its context. Which we can never do. And then apply it to.

[30:58] Our context of today. And our doctrine for today. And that's just a bad thing. So keep it where it is. Keep it with the kingdom. Keep it with the second coming. And the time here. That he's speaking.

[31:09] This world. People want to say. This world means. Well I'm living in this world. So it applies to me. That's not the case. And both cases. This world. The world to come. Is when Jesus Christ is here.

[31:20] And it's plain and marked. That when they said. He hath an unclean spirit. That's what the spoken blasphemy was. All right. Moving on. And we're running out of time here. Verse 33. Either make the tree good.

[31:33] And his fruit good. Or else make the tree corrupt. And his fruit corrupt. For the tree is known. By his fruit. So there must be a balance here. And the evidence. That this is connected with.

[31:45] Is the devils are cast out. They're gone out of the man. And you cannot deny that. Now that's a good thing. Right. That's good fruit.

[31:55] Casting out the devils. Now how can you claim that. To an evil tree. To saying that it's Satan. And so he's all. He's still chopping down. Their theory. And their blasphemy. And showing them.

[32:06] Their folly. 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. On one hand.

[32:17] They accuse him. Of violating the Sabbath. Earlier in the chapter. They accuse. His. His disciples. Of the same thing. And now they're.

[32:27] Foolishly. Accusing him. Of having a devil. And blaspheming. The Holy Ghost. And so the. The teaching is pretty plain. You guys haven't thought it through. That Satan is bad.

[32:38] If he casts out devils. That's good. And. The analogy just works. And these guys look like fools. I'm sure they're just. Speechless there. However.

[32:48] When they do open their mouths back up. In verse 38. Notice what they say. And certain of the scribes. And the Pharisees answered. Saying. Master. They just called him the devil.

[33:02] They got put in their place. Realized how stupid they were. And then. Oh. How fake are they? Hypocrites. Master. We would see a sign from thee.

[33:13] We would believe you. If you just show us a sign. I mean. I just cast the devils out. But no. No. No. No. No. If you would just show us a sign. Then we believe. That's all it is. It's not our fault.

[33:24] I mean. Moses did signs. The prophets did signs. You got to just give us a bone here. Right? How blind. How foolish. So this is.

[33:35] You know what he calls them? Verse 34. O generation of vipers. That's what he calls them. Look at chapter 23 as well. Matthew 23.

[33:51] Verse 33. Ye serpents. He's talking to the same group of people.

[34:03] Ye serpents. Ye generation of vipers. How can ye escape the damnation of hell? You know what they accused him of? Having a devil.

[34:14] And he in John 8 said. Ye are of your father the devil. And that's what this language is saying. Ye generation of vipers. Ye serpents. They know that from Genesis 3.

[34:24] They know who the serpent is. They know that he's Satan. They know the statement. They know what he's calling them. Ye generation of vipers. Matthew 12. 34. O generation of vipers.

[34:35] Question. How can ye being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things.

[34:47] And an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. This is a powerful statement in the scripture. And one of the reasons you ought to stay in this book and read and study your Bible is because you'll learn about yourself.

[35:02] And you'll come to understand what God thinks of you. Or what he rather declares about you. And he's going to show you that number one you're going to be give account for the words that you speak.

[35:14] But the things that come out of you is coming out of your heart. And inside that heart is filthiness and wickedness. Is it chapter 15? Yeah, look at Matthew 15.

[35:29] This is not something that man would write if he wrote the Bible. If somebody likes to use that argument, it's because they haven't read the Bible. Matthew chapter 15 and verse number 18.

[35:44] But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart. And notice this. Not just that they're connected, but they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

[36:00] These are the things which defile the man. And inside of your heart is every single one of those. You say, no, not me. I've never done those things. That doesn't mean they're not in your heart.

[36:12] What's Jeremiah say about your heart? Your heart is deceitful above all things. All things and desperately wicked.

[36:23] Desperately wicked. And when I read that book and I see what God says about my heart, I take heed and think, oh dear. So that's in me.

[36:35] Thank you God for showing me and for keeping me from my heart deceiving me because it's deceitful above all things. And telling me you're not that bad.

[36:46] You're not that guy. That's not you. You've made better choices than that. Those people, they're wicked. But not you.

[36:58] You know what comes out of me though? You know, you just test somebody a little bit. Just push them a little bit. And I'm not suggesting you do this. But maybe I should say when someone is pushed a little bit.

[37:08] When you are pushed a little bit further than you'd like to be pushed. What comes out of you? What's inside starts to show up so fast? And if you didn't have the grace of God, and if you didn't have the spirit of God inside of you trying to suppress that and push that down, and the scriptures that have made an attempt to clean and sanctify you up, if you didn't have any of that, you know what would be coming out of you?

[37:34] Quick fast. Quick fast. Boy, people would hate your guts more than they do. People would know who you really are more than they do. And we'd be a pathetic, pathetic people.

[37:47] And you'd find out that everything that men is capable of, you are capable of. You say, no, I'd never do that.

[37:58] I mean, you can think of the vilest of vile things and say it's not in you. And I'm telling you, it's in you. It's in you. And I believe there's a reason why it's in you, because somebody that can be in you or put it in you.

[38:10] But that stuff is in your heart. That's where it comes out of. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. Now, for us, to apply this to us in a doctrinal sense, that's the new man of Matthew 12, verse 35, the new man.

[38:24] But the old man, the evil man, out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And so we can make that application to us, and we understand that, because this wasn't something that existed before the church age and the apostle Paul's doctrine as he spoke and taught.

[38:41] Putting off the old man, putting on a new man. But that's how that works for us, and if we have an understanding of that, boy, we get it. And when I walk in the flesh, what comes out is evil thoughts, is the list of sins that the Bible brings out.

[38:59] They're called the works of the flesh, and that's evil fruit. And it's coming out of an evil tree that, God willing, I want to get rid of. Look at Romans chapter 8, we'll close with this.

[39:11] Romans chapter 8. Let me back up to chapter 7, actually. And when Paul talks about his flesh, he talks about the things that are in there, verse number 17, Romans 7, 17.

[39:29] He says, And if we want to keep the analogy, then there's an evil tree of sin that's dwelling inside, and it's bringing forth fruit.

[39:40] And that fruit needs to be cut off, and the tree needs to be cut down, and doesn't need to be watered. It needs to be destroyed. And Paul says in verse 18, And he says in verse 19, And he says in verse 19, Now if I do that, I would not.

[40:03] It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. His statement is in verse 24, So I echo those sentiments and those words.

[40:18] And I know when there's times where I fail the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm convicted about it, and those words come to my mind as I pray and say, Oh, wretched man that I am. God, I just want to be out of this flesh.

[40:31] I want to be done with it. Because I don't want to live this way. I don't want to disappoint you. I don't want to choose against you and choose me. And there's that will that's present with me too.

[40:43] But sometimes how to perform that, I find not. Now chapter 8, and notice that we want to be out of this thing. I hope you feel this.

[40:54] If you're walking in the Spirit and trying to live for Jesus Christ, these sentiments will resonate with you. You'll know the feeling. Verse 20 says, The creature was made subject to vanity.

[41:09] Not willingly. That's you inside of your body. In your flesh. But by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

[41:24] No more sin. No more flesh. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruit to the Spirit.

[41:37] Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to it, the redemption of our body. Now that's the day that ought to be inside of you that you're longing for, even on a daily basis, as you confront your flesh and the world and sin around you.

[41:55] And if this is like, if this is off your radar completely, then something's wrong with you, Christian. You're not in the book. You're not feeding your spirit. You're not striving to walk according to truth and righteousness.

[42:08] And if you're not, you're just living in the flesh, and it's just spinning you around. But when you walk in Christ Jesus, and as verse 1 says of chapter 8, who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, when you walk in the Spirit and mind the things of the Spirit, you're going to see that that old guy, that corrupt tree and that evil fruit, I just want, I disdain it.

[42:33] I want rid of it. I can't wait till it's gone. We got to close. I'm going over time. So it's a powerful statement there to think about those two trees and what comes out of you.

[42:46] And we'll dismiss there and pick it up next week with the idle words that we speak. Father, please bless our time today, and thank you for the Scriptures. Help us to take heed to it, not soon forget it as we leave.

[42:57] And Lord, whatever you impress on our hearts, help us to be obedient, to correct it, and to feed on it, and to get it inside of us, to study it out, and to make it real in our lives.

[43:07] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.