[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Hope you're in Matthew chapter number 12. Those that are new to Vision here or joining us online, we are going through books of the Bible together.
[0:12] That's how we do it as a church. And it really helps us with context. Because there are certain verses of the Bible, when they're taken out of context, can really be misleading. And also very hard to understand.
[0:23] This morning in our adult Bible fellowship, we were... My brother-in-law Stephen taught, and he was showing how wives submit yourselves to your husbands. If you take that verse by itself, it can say all kinds of things.
[0:34] But if you look at it in its proper context and the right attitude there, it's so much more powerful and wonderful. And it really demands a lot of us as husbands there. And the same with this.
[0:44] In this passage, there's a couple verses here that would be considered tough passages. But they're not as hard as when you come to it, walking up to it in context, and you keep walking through it.
[0:54] And one being of what is called unpardonable or the unforgivable sin. How many of you have heard that expression at some point, the unpardonable sin in here? And it may be rooting for a team outside the SEC.
[1:06] Some people might say that's unpardonable sin. Or you might have heard all kinds of things. But it ought to grab your attention, right, when we think about a loving and forgiving God. I was speaking with my neighbor yesterday, and I asked him what he thought it was.
[1:19] And I said, I've never heard of that. I've only heard that God is forgiving. And I said, well, I'm glad that you've heard that about our great God, that he is forgiving. Because he is most certainly that.
[1:29] But as we look at it and we see who he is talking to here in Matthew chapter number 12, who Jesus is talking to in the story, I think we're going to get some understanding of the transforming truths that are here.
[1:41] But when you have a passage of Scripture that is so rich with truth and there's so much to cover, you wonder where you should start at first. And many of you may do this at work when you work in the four quadrants.
[1:52] You wake up and you say, what is urgent and important? What is it that I just have to work on this morning and has to be done? And this passage, what is urgent and important is the fact that Jesus is saying that if you reject the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, then there's no other avenue to forgiveness.
[2:10] If you say no to me working in front of you, right here standing in front of you, that I'm not able to draw you to me. And that avenue is shut down. And so I speak to you today in here, not knowing all of you, but if there's an unbeliever in here or watching online or some decade from now, as they're listening to the not MP3 players or iPods or however they listen to something, if they hear this passage this morning, I hope they will hear what's urgent and what's important, first of all, as he pleads with people to recognize him as God and as Savior.
[2:43] So first of all, let me give you a rehearse what happened here in the story. Jesus heals a blind man there, starting in verse number 22. The guy was possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he heals him.
[2:55] And that's how the story ought to continue on. And the people saw it and they were amazed. And they said, is this not the son of David? And this is where all of Israel ought to say, this is the son of David.
[3:07] This is the Messiah. Let's recognize him as the Messiah. Let's repent. Let's fall down. But then religion messes things up in verse number 24. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.
[3:24] Religion can be deceptive and it can deceive. And that's why we often say that we hate religion. Even those are the form of religion that's spoken about in James that is right and proper.
[3:35] But oftentimes there's a form of religion that when Jesus does a healing and it's amazing and everybody is amazed and they ought to call them to worship, then the Pharisees come along and they change the story.
[3:45] And that's what we have here. And then from here down to the end of the verses that we already read earlier, Jesus is dealing with them. And he talks to them about how illogical they are. They're saying, really, you think a kingdom would be able to grow if it fought against itself?
[3:58] That I am fighting against Satan, but I work for Satan? That really makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Also, your sons cast out demons and you don't seem to have a problem with that. Let's call them in to be your judges.
[4:10] And does a tree produce fruit like that? At the end of the day, he says, don't you know what a tree is by what it produces? Don't you know that I am from God because I do the work of God's? And before he gets into that, he talks about how could he not be more powerful than Satan because he first has to come in and bind the strong man before he would even have this power.
[4:30] And systematically, he takes down their argument there and he brings them to a point and he says, you guys are right. I am supernatural. I am not just the man, but you've got to make a decision.
[4:41] Am I God or am I of Satan? And they said he is the son of Beelzebub, the Lord of the flies, that he is not of God. And they get to a point of unbelief that is just horrific and it's tragic.
[4:54] So as we said earlier, that God is a God of forgiveness. So we learn that all throughout the Bible. Those that have come on Sunday night and Thursday nights, we see that so clearly about our God. In Psalms, we're going to see that he's eager to forgive us.
[5:05] Psalms 103 says that he forgives all of our iniquities. Exodus 34, when God is speaking about himself, he preached the message about himself. He says that he's slow to anger and he's forgiving.
[5:17] He's a gracious and he's a merciful God. And then in Luke chapter 23, Jesus is hanging on the cross. And if you were to think about what is the most vile and horrific sin that anybody could commit, it would be the crucified, the son of God, and the stand there and the yell at him and the curse him and the spit upon him.
[5:39] And Jesus standing there upon the cross looks down upon him and says, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they do. And so we know it's not a quality or isn't like a depth of sin that he's not able to forgive.
[5:51] And then we look at the life of the apostle Paul. And then last Thursday, as we look at the life of Levi, we recognize that it's not even the amount of sin that keeps him from being willing to forgive. That deep sin and amount of sin does not keep him from being a forgiving God.
[6:05] And what is said in this passage does not contradict the fact that he is a loving and forgiving God. But now that we see in verses 31 here through 33 that there's a sin and a blasphemy shall be forgiven of men if they speak against Jesus.
[6:22] But if they speak blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven of them. You're either with him or against him, he says in verse number 30. And then in verse number 36, he says, You'll be given an account of this conversation on the day of judgment.
[6:38] When he's looking at them, he says, What you're saying right now, this expression of your heart right now, you're going to give an account for on the day of judgment. And in verse number 32, it says, That you will not be forgiven here on earth, nor will you be forgiven in the world to come.
[6:54] Meaning the decision that you've made right now is going to stay with you for all of eternity. There will be not another chance after your death that your fate will be sealed. Because after death comes the judgment, and for all of eternity you're making a decision right now upon it.
[7:08] So we see this, and this ought to bring our attention. Maybe you're sitting here and saying, Okay, I know that he's a loving, forgiving God, but I do see here that he says that there is a sin which there is not forgiveness. It's unpardonable.
[7:19] And you might ask yourself, Have I committed this? How do I make sure I don't commit this? Or maybe you talk to people and they wonder that. So I hope you'll stay following here. And he is given a clear witness of who he is.
[7:31] In the Old Testament he told them time and time again that he would be the Messiah, but he would be a meek and suffering servant. But as they read through the scripture they didn't find that, because they didn't want to find that.
[7:42] That as they were looking for it they wanted to find a Messiah and a king that would come set up a kingdom and set them on the right and left hand of them that would set up a power. So when he talked about being in Isaiah 53, the lamb that would come and be slain for us, that he would gather a sheep, they didn't see that.
[7:58] They reinterpreted the scripture to make it say what they wanted it to say. As Pastor preached last Sunday, we find that he's the merciful Christ and that there's more mercy in Christ than sin in us as he takes the bruised reed, the instruments that make no more music.
[8:14] And he says, I have use of them. I love those people. Those of them that the world says has no profit and throws out, bring them to me, because I can make great melody with their life, because I can restore them.
[8:24] And we see that about them, and we love that about them, but these Pharisees hated that about them, because they wanted power, and they wanted their will. If you will turn with me over to Romans chapter number 10.
[8:37] Listen to what's said about the children of Israel in Romans chapter number 10, in verse number 15. How shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.
[8:50] But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Let's skip down to verse number 21.
[9:01] It says, But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hand unto the disobedient and gainsaying people. He says, How can they hear unless there's a preacher?
[9:12] I've sent you a preacher. How can they hear unless the preacher proclaims the truth? My preachers proclaim the truth. They came to you. They shared the message. You've heard the good news. And you've even understood it.
[9:24] And then even the Gentiles here, they understood it. And it provoked you the jealousy. The Gentiles would be the students in the classroom that were making D's. And you Jewish people, you're the A plus students.
[9:34] You should understand what I'm saying. But it isn't that they didn't understand. It wasn't that they didn't have a preacher. It wasn't that the preacher didn't preach. But they remained disobedient in spite of all the information that they were given.
[9:48] Isn't that unbelievable? Today we have missionaries around the world that will stand and preach. And they will stand and preach to people that have never had a preacher, that have never heard the truth, that have never understood the truth.
[9:59] And some of those people will respond. And then there will be another group of people that will become like many of us, maybe in this room, or that will listen to this someday. You've had a preacher.
[10:09] You've heard the truth. You've understood the truth. But you've remained disobedient. And you've not responded in faith. And this is the climax of the story and in history where Jesus meets these Pharisees and He says, there's no middle ground anymore.
[10:24] You see what I'm doing. Make a decision. Am I God? And they said, you are of Satan. And He says that if you're going to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, that avenue of forgiveness is not there.
[10:34] I cannot work here in your disbelief. And we find here that religion deceives. The people were amazed, but the Pharisees came. And when we're confronted with His Lordship, our heart pours out into our lives.
[10:51] These Pharisees, they would have been at the food bank with us yesterday and the teenagers. They would be sitting in here with you in church today. They would look the part. But when they're confronted with the fact that Jesus says, I am the King and this is my kingdom and this is how things work, their heart pours out into their speech.
[11:08] And they said, we want nothing to do with this. We want a King that makes us powerful. We want a King that gives us wealth. And so in His Lordship, when He stands there and confronts them, what's in their heart is going to pour out into their lives.
[11:22] And they called the work of the Spirit a sin in the life of the Son of work of Satan. They recognized it as supernatural, but they did not see it as evidence of the Messiah. You know what this is equivalent to?
[11:33] This is like the children of Israel in Numbers that we're looking at right now when God was to speak unto Moses and give the Ten Commandments. The children of Israel standing at the bottom of Mount Sinai and saying, that is not the voice of God, that is the voice of Satan.
[11:49] Can you imagine the audacity of these people, the blasphemy there against God that ascribe what belonged to God on the Satan? It's unbelievable. And that's what's happening here.
[12:00] And He looks at how illogical their arguments were. He says, Your sons do this. They cast out demons. Are they evil? Do you really think a kingdom will fight against itself? And they had an incredible witness given unto them.
[12:14] We'll see this in the weeks to come, but in verses 38 and 39 and 40, it goes on to say, He's speaking about these Pharisees. He says, That the men of Nineveh will someday come to you and say, You had a greater witness than we have.
[12:27] That the queen of Sheba, that she will come to you and she will say that you had a greater witness here. In verse 41, The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with the generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas.
[12:41] And behold, a greater than Jonas is here. And the queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with his generation and shall condemn it for it shall come came from the uttermost parts of the earth. They hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
[12:55] The people of Nineveh, they had Jonah come to them and he spoke before the Lord and they said, You need to repent. And they listened to the message and they repented and they looked forward looking here and they saw the shadow of the cross.
[13:07] The queen of Sheba even farther back. They saw the wisdom there of Solomon and they said, You must worship the one and true God. But now these Pharisees are standing toe to toe with Jesus and he's doing these miracles and he's showing that he's God and they say, You're not the Son of God.
[13:24] You are Satan. And those people would come to them today and say, You had such a clear witness. Do you understand that the time in which we live in, that John the Baptist says, I wish, I look forward to the time that this generation, the church aide, will testify of Jesus.
[13:40] He will come, he will die for their sins, he will be risen again and there will be a group of people, you and I, that will go and give a clear witness of who he is. If that's Queen of Sheba, if that's Nineveh, and if this is the Pharisees, if you're an unbeliever in here, you're standing right here because we've heard the story, we've read the story, the Holy Spirit's on earth today convicting you of your sin and we know that he is God because he died and he rose again.
[14:07] And we know that he loves you because he said it in his word and he sent a preacher and it's in your language and you understand. And the only thing that would keep you from responding today is disobedience and to say no to the Holy Spirit.
[14:21] It appears to be that this unforgivable sin as spoken about in this chapter is something particular to this group of people. But it's true today for us. You do not stand toe to toe with Jesus and you do not call him Satan.
[14:34] But if you say no to the Holy Spirit working in your heart, then there's no other avenue of forgiveness. And so today you need to respond to it because you cannot wait.
[14:46] It's almost blasphemous in a message that I once heard about where a preacher told the congregation, he says that you're about to cross a deadline and I'm going to count down from 10 to 0. And when I get to 0, the Holy Spirit will never work in your heart again.
[15:00] And if they get to 0, then you'll never have a chance to be saved because the Holy Spirit will never bring conviction. No man should ever say that in a pulpit or outside of a pulpit because we do not speak for God except for where the Word of God speaks.
[15:15] And that's not true. I don't know. He loves you. He's long-suffering. And He's going to work in your life. But if you have the idea that you'll wait till your deathbed, you know telling Him no today is going to make telling Him no tomorrow even easier.
[15:28] Do you know that you don't know when that deathbed is coming? And so not to frighten you for no reason, but to create a sense of urgency in here that there comes a time where there's not a chance to call upon Him for forgiveness after death.
[15:41] If you're an unbeliever in here today, don't say no to the Holy Spirit. Recognize what He's saying about you, that you need the Messiah, that you have a witness today that is greater than Jonah, that you have a witness today that the Queen of Sheba had.
[15:54] And not because I'm a good or clear communicator, but because Jesus Christ came and He died, He rose again, and He sent somebody to tell you. And right now you can understand. And if you don't, you'll have an opportunity to raise your hand in a moment and say, I don't understand, but I so desire to know.
[16:12] And somebody's going to take you through the Word of God and they're going to show that to you. So let me continue on here and let me tell you who was it that came and claimed us back. It was a warrior.
[16:23] So first of all, we see here in our passage that crisis is brought on by the witness. And I hope you see that. And maybe as a believer, you're going back and you recognize that crisis in your life.
[16:33] That Jesus is not just one of the figures on the flannel graph if you were saved as a kid. That this message is just not a good message. But you came to a crisis point in your life and you said, I have to recognize that Jesus is the Son of God and He is the King and because He is the King, I should submit my life to Him and I should respond in faith.
[16:52] And we were claimed by a warrior. Verse 25, And Jesus knew their thoughts as He always does. And He said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
[17:05] Jesus understands how war would work and there is a war of two kingdoms. We're taught in Ephesians chapter number 2 that every one of us in here once were captive by that strong man, by Satan.
[17:18] In Ephesians chapter number 2, verse number 2, it said, We were the children of disobedience. Every one of us in here at some point in our lives either are now or were children of disobedience.
[17:29] We fulfilled the desires of our flesh. In verse number 3, we were as puppets on a string. Satan got us to do about whatever he wanted because he would put the desire there and we would follow after it having no power to say no to the flesh.
[17:42] Verse number 3 goes even further to say we were the children of wrath that because of our unforgiven sin and our unwillingness to come to Him and recognize who He was, the wrath of God abided on us that we were just waiting.
[17:55] That there was a countdown clock in our lives and if we had never cried out to God, Psalms through, kissed the sun and recognized who He was that we would go into eternity and the wrath of God would be upon us for all eternity.
[18:07] And we were dead in our sins that we were unable to come to Him and He came to us. And if this is not by Satan, it must be God. So first of all, he's reminding us there was a strong man and then he says if this is not by Satan then it must be by God.
[18:22] This truth is what caused the passage to be this peak in Jewish history. They're now with only one or two options. So there is nothing more damning than the rejection of Jesus but there is nothing more healing than the embrace of Christ.
[18:36] They're at a crossroads. One is damnation and one of them is the embrace of Christ and to be embraced by Christ is the greatest thing in all of the world. The one that is stronger than Satan is here.
[18:48] That's what the Pharisees and the crowd around them should have recognized that there is one that is greater than Satan and he is here. We learn in 1 John verse number 8 we learn what Jesus' purpose was upon the earth.
[19:00] He says, He that committed sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning for the purpose of the Son of God was manifested it was made known that he might destroy the works of the devil.
[19:12] I've joked about it before but if you ran into Jesus and his earthly ministry and you said can I have a business card it would simply say I came here to destroy the works of the devil which he started doing back in Genesis chapter number 315 when all of humanity where Satan said they have fallen they have eaten the tree these are now my people and God says I'm not going to leave it like that I have a plan and Jesus says I'm taking my people back to me and we are reclaimed by a warrior who is powerful and I hope you know that believer because it's going to help you with this next point as we try to fight something in our own lives we need to know who is in our heart and that it is a warrior king that we have been claimed back by a warrior and that neutrality is impossible we saw that in verses 32 and 36 that you have to make a decision there is no middle position because two kingdoms are at war against each other to the triumphant soldier it meant life and victory but to the conquered enemy it meant defeat and death 2 Corinthians chapter number 2 verse 15 draws an incredible picture for us here where it says for we are unto God a sweet savior of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish to the one we are a savior of death savior of death unto death and to the other the savior of life unto life and who is sufficient for these things the picture that's being given here
[20:34] Josh you're going to like it's a man coming in an army coming in taking over a city and the victors are going out and they're having a parade and there's incense that is going and everybody that's on that side smells it and they know this is victory and this is a wonderful thing but to the people that have been conquered it is the smell of death your life which brings a great odor unto God that says I'm pleased and I love you and I love what you're doing and I love to see you that Satan smells it and it smells like death and he hates you and this world hates everything about you because he came and in bringing peace he also brought the sword because right down the middle you have to make a decision and you cannot stand upon that line and so Jesus comes to those Pharisees and they say you can't stand here anymore I am God you know that I'm God so either become part of the kingdom and recognize I am the king or recognize that you are opposed to me recognize that this is a wonderful thing or realize that you're on the losing side of it and I pray that every one of you have decided that you will be on the winning side you go to the end of the book we know who wins this war we know which kingdom triumphs and the day you're given an invitation to join the winning side and then lastly here in verses 33 through 37 it really lays application upon my heart and the heart of every believer in here and the first part we ought to be thinking if you're a believer in here there's a sense of urgency that maybe in the times past you went to a certain church and a preacher said things unnecessarily and not from the word of God to try to scare you and because of that you've taken out the angst or the urgency of your gospel presentation well we can't take it out when we share the gospel we have to let people know that it's a limited time offer that they can only receive the gospel while they're here living upon earth as the Holy Spirit is drawing them because upon death their fate is sealed for all eternity it's not popular
[22:32] I didn't think of that and I often feel uncomfortable when I'm bringing up to other people but it is God's word and the gospel must be presented as so and then we also see we've been reclaimed by a warrior which means inside of our heart we have a power to overcome things that many of us think that we can never overcome you think about all the vices and all the hard things that it's hard to break loose of and it's the tongue that causes the trouble for so many of us verses 33 through 37 either make the tree good and the fruit good or is fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and is fruit corrupt for the tree is known by his fruit so here's a proverb that he's giving to the Pharisees but the truth in it is true regardless of every heart and every mouth that every mouth reveals what's going on in the heart a heart exposed by our words Pharisees looked at the part but their words they looked the part but their words revealed their true heart there is nothing to show us that we have need of grace like the use of our mouth could you say amen to that there's nothing that shows us our need of God's grace than the use of our mouth many of us in here you can look at our track record you can look at our police report and we look like we have not caused much damage and hurt many people but if you would put a monitoring system upon our mouth you would realize that we have used this as a matter of destruction and not as a life giving instrument
[23:54] Jesus goes on to say in verse 35 that our hearts are storehouses of good and evil and we learn who we are and what we think and do by what we say it's not because our actions are the ultimate issue hope you make sure make sure you get this that it's not the actions are the ultimate issue but because they are the key indications of what is going on in our hearts that the mouth is a key indicator of our heart our small talk should reveal to us in the heart areas of our heart what needs to be addressed here with the Pharisees it's not it says that every idle word will be brought before God what they are saying right here will one day bring them into judgment and it's in the context of what they are saying about Christ verse 37 for by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned he's telling these Pharisees you're saying what you're saying right now because your heart is what it is we don't clean up our mouth how many of you when you were growing up had soap put in your mouth at some point okay you know why your parents put soap in your mouth because it would be dangerous to get it all the way to your heart right they took it to the closest thing that they could but what they really needed to do was to scrub on that little bitty heart of yours and say that's what's going to solve the problem that it was only a symptom there
[25:11] Judas versus Peter we see here words seem similar Peter denies Christ there's words that come out of his mouth Judas denies Christ but what do we see in the life of Peter he's vexed and he's grieved and he's gathering and he's saying oh I wish those words would have never come out of my mouth God that does not reflect who I am please forgive me and the God brings forgiveness and he stands at Pentecost and his mouth and his heart is once again in the line and he preaches the gospel and people respond but Judas vomits the evilness in his heart and it comes out and he's upset about the ramifications but he is not upset about the sin in his heart that keeps him disobedient and so we see that there and so you have the ability now to control your tongue by J. Sidlow Baxter says one of the first things that happen when a man is really filled with the Holy Spirit it is not that he speaks in tongues but that he learns to hold the one that he already has I speak to you men in here you can be strong you can be powerful you can overcome so many things but if you cannot control your tongue then we've made very little of our God if we can preach a great God and talk about a great God but that God that warrior inside of our heart that we've given our lives to is not able to control and hold our tongue then what is it that we think he is and we are wrong there we have a power any vice in your life you now have the power to overcome because he has cut loose those chains of sin and bondage and it doesn't happen overnight but you go to him and he shows you the power that you now have that is in him if you think you do not then you need to reconsider the fact that you are redeemed by our warrior king
[26:51] Matthew Henry says men's language discovers what country they are from or in my place it discovers that I am from the country I talk I sound like I am from Kentucky you talk and we can guess maybe where you are from you have no accent at all you are from Ohio it is just plain vanilla not north not south just robotic ok and so you can tell where you are from by the way that you speak and so our language ought to show that we are from another place another citizen of another place called heaven it ought to come out in our speech here as we talk and so believer in here is your mouth a reflection of what your heart is it is the bible says now the question is what do you need to deal with in your heart what is coming out in your mouth that isn't being dealt with in your heart is it anger is it pride is it malice is there something in there that you need to go to God as the great heart surgeon and say remove this from my heart before it comes out into my mouth once again Mindy Bush wrote earlier this week and asked us to pray for a young girl
[27:54] Mira I'll say she says I would like to ask prayer for a little 12 year old girl in Argentina she is dying of a brain tumor the doctors had given her hours to live I talked to her I talked to one of the pastor's wives today and she said that before the little girl slipped into a coma and I remind you here that this is a 12 year old girl that before she slipped into a coma she asked her mom to sing I just keep trusting the Lord to her it's a very sad situation this girl's the girl's whole family was saved in our ministry there except for the dad so pray that God touches his heart during this time a 12 year old girl upon her deathbed because a warrior king has come in and reclaimed her heart and says this belongs to me and she recognizes that he's the king and her heart belongs to the king of kings that what comes out of her mouth is that I want to praise the Lord and an unbelieving dad will hear those words and it will work backwards and let's pray that it brings conviction upon his heart and that he will give his heart to the king of kings and that when he lays upon a deathbed he will talk about being reunited with his 12 year old daughter who has died of this the heart is an amazing indicator our mouth is not called upon in trial but our heart is and our mouth is a key witness in that trial so as you're in here today and you think about this fact is your heart been redeemed by the king look at your mouth what is it talked about are you sharing Christ do you blaspheme him what is coming out of your mouth that's an indicator of what is there our words justify or they condemn us we know that salvation does not come from a magical sentence none of you in here got saved because you put the right series of words together and said them on the God your words and your prayer of the God were an expression of your heart not too long ago earlier this summer
[29:54] I heard my son pray a prayer of confession unto our God asking for forgiveness it was a different wording than I used at the age of nine but it seemed to be the same heart where he called out to them so knowing that there's no magical words that the words are only an expression of the heart knowing this unpardonable unforgivable sin there's no magical curse that you can say but there is a heart so just as there's no magical words to show your belief there's no magical words that put you into unbelief for all of eternity but you must search your heart the tongue is not upon trial but is called to be a key witness of your heart so I ask you today as Kristen will come to play the piano unbeliever here listening someday online in spite of the witness you have received you must be at a crossroads in your life is he God or is he Satan is Jesus God or is he Satan and regardless if you raise your hand in a moment or not you're making a decision and your fate hangs in the balance every unbeliever in here today or every unbeliever that will listen to this portion of scripture is called upon to make a decision and I plead with you to make the right decision to give your life to Jesus to recognize the urgency of the moment and to know that you're with a group of people that would celebrate with you that would answer your questions from the word of God that would not rush you into a decision but would take the time to show you and then believer what is your tongue revealing to you about your heart is it controlled as a person who knows they've been claimed by the stronger man or are you believing the lie that you are powerless to the anger or maybe to the fear your tongue is tied and you can't witness to that person but know that the God in your heart is a warrior and he can untie that heart that tongue and cause you to proclaim his name and so much is being said here today your heart is upon trial and your words are called into a witness this message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings