Pastor’s Thoughts – 04-19-2026

In the Gospel of Matthew Christ says something that is of supreme importance for every person to consider. He says, “I tell you that for every careless word that people speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36). This statement is in the context of the Pharisee’s accusing Christ of doing His wonderful deeds by the power of Satan. This was the highest form of blasphemy coming from those who knew better by the very experience of having both God’s Word and the Messiah in their midst. Christ uses this occasion to address all of us concerning the reality that what we say serves as a measure of who we are before God. He goes further in His explanation, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). This may seem strange to many that Jesus declares that our eternal destiny is directly related to our words. This does not mean we are not saved by grace through faith. Nor can we contribute anything to our justification by what we do, but this does inform us that God uses our speech as evidence either for or against us in judgment. This is so because our words are reflective of our position in justification, or to the contrary our position in condemnation.

In the context these blaspheming religious leaders saw how the people were amazed by Christ and knew the reasoning that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. These serving as spiritual guides were threatened by the Lord’s reality and thereby publicly declared that what our Lord did was by the power of Satan. These were the most dishonest words that could fall from human lips. They called Jesus Christ satanic, and instead of attributing His righteous deeds to God, they instead attributed them to Satan. Thus, they blasphemed the Lord and the Holy Spirit who worked through Him and they committed a crime unequaled in human history. They were condemned by their words because they reflected their evil condition made evident by what they said. Their terrible rejection of the Messiah came from within them. Their words revealed the corruption of their own hearts. That is the substance of this passage to us.

As a result of this situation, our Lord addresses to all of us the importance of what we say from our mouths. He begins in Matthew 12:33-37 with a parable of a tree. He says of the tree, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for a tree is known by its fruit.” He is addressing a measurable reality. He uses the obvious situation of a tree applied to humanity. He does the same in His Sermon on the Mount; “Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18): And then in verse 20 He says, “So then you will know them by their fruits.” This consistent theme is presented in many other texts. As an example, Christ also said, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me” (John 10:37). So we see our Lord makes such an emphatic statement of this reality that it also applies to Himself because what we say and do reveals who every person is in their heart. Therefore, our Lord makes a black and white determination of eternal issues based on the unquestionable evidence of our speech which comes from our hearts.

In this continued context are the most condemning words of our Lord, “You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart” (Matt. 12:34). Our Lord expresses no soft tones to those speaking evil but compares them to poisonous snakes. This not only relates back to the original snake in the garden that led to our sinful condition and Satan himself, but it addresses the serious nature of our speech as it reflects our condition. People don’t just do evil but are evil by nature, and this is the reason this world is full of corrupt activity of every sort. Our character will be on display in this vile world as seen by our mouth when we face the issues of life. Whatever is in the heart of a person is going to come to the surface through our words. We don’t have to listen to someone talk long to know whether their heart is right, it always comes to the surface. This is not a matter of speech perfection, but the trend of our speech which is directly connected to our hearts.

This brings us to the bottom-line theme as Christ goes on to say, “The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things” (Matt. 12:35). This is why Christ will then say, “Every careless word man speaks he will give an account of on the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36). My prayer is that we will see this theme clearly, and that by seeing we will not only be careful in what we say, but cognizant of our hearts. If our heart is not right, we need to come to Christ, as He alone can change our corruption. If we are allowing our mouths to speak something we know is inconsistent with our God and biblical truth, and we are convicted that our speech is displeasing to our Lord, then we need to repent and prayerfully seek God’s strength to set us on His course. So beloved, when we speak today under the difficulties that come our way, let us listen to ourselves with godly ears and seriously consider what we are saying. What does it tell us about who we really are and what is most important in our hearts? Our speech is before others, ourselves, and most importantly before God. It is a barometer of our condition before Him and the wise person will take it to heart.