And so from Matthew chapter 12, beginning at verse 33, Christ speaking, either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. For the tree is known by its fruit you brood of vipers. How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person, out of his evil treasure, brings forth evil. I tell you, on the Day of Judgment, people will give an account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Jesus, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. But he answered them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, Something greater than Solomon is here. Please be seated. Last time we considered the account of Jesus Christ healing of the demon-oppressed man, granting that man to both see and to speak, and doing so by casting out from him the demons that had oppressed him. And we're told there how the crowd were amazed at what they had seen. They were amazed at these works of Jesus, and yet they still doubt Jesus, asking the question, could this be the Son of David? Could this really be Messiah? For while they knew full well that such works as those would accompany Messiah when He came, they just didn't have room in their theology, or their eschatology really, for Messiah as the suffering servant of God. They witnessed Jesus do amazing good, displaying unmatched authority, but they also witnessed Jesus withdrawing from violent opposition, refusing to fight, refusing to take up arms to deliver by force the Jewish people from their Roman oppressors. And as well, they heard Jesus' words. They heard the teaching of Jesus, instructing His disciples on how to turn the other cheek and to... and how to go the extra mile, and how to love their enemies, and how to be salt and light in this world by joyfully, joyfully endearing persecution. And so they doubt that Jesus is truly their Messiah, for He just simply wasn't what they were looking for in a Messiah. Or said another way, they saw Jesus, but they didn't see His glory. They didn't see His glory. They didn't see Jesus as glorious. as the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth, full of steadfast love and faithfulness. Glory as the very Son of God, who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking on the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, humbling Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death. even death on that cursed tree. They saw Jesus, but they did not see Him as glorious. They were amazed by His miraculous works, but they were not drawn to Him, to His person. They followed after Him because they had their fill of the loaves, but they did not recognize Him as the true bread come down from heaven, and thus they would not feed upon Jesus. And in their unbelief, as we will see, the Jews continue to seek after signs then. Unable to behold the glory of Christ's person, they demand more. More miracles, more bread. For Christ himself just wasn't enough. Christ himself really wasn't what they were after. And the Pharisees, of course, as we saw, are even worse off. or they are even worse off as they refuse to even be amazed by the miraculous works of Jesus that are done right before their eyes. They behold this display of authority and grace in Christ casting out of these demons. This is an obvious work of God done through Christ in casting out these demons and and delivering this troubled soul, and yet these Pharisees refuse to see the obvious and instead claim that Jesus is really casting out Satan by the power of Satan. They blaspheme the Holy Spirit. In other words, though the fruit on display here, though the fruit that Christ is displaying here and throughout His ministry was clearly good fruit, these Pharisees nonetheless go about declaring the tree to be a bad tree. And so that brings us to verse 33 then, where Jesus here again seeks to point out the irrational, illogical, and hypocritical stance that these Pharisees are taking with regards to Him, where they are pointing. at this good fruit that Christ is bringing forth, and yet declaring the tree to be bad. And so Christ is here pointing to this common sense principle governing the fruit bearing nature of trees, saying in verse 33, either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit." And I think, given the context here then, that the tree here is first Christ Himself. In other words, Christ is calling the hypocrites out for pointing at good fruit, namely His casting out of Satan and delivering this poor soul from Satan, and yet labeling the tree himself as bad. Pointing at good fruit in order to call the tree bad. Christ is saying to these Pharisees that you cannot have it both ways. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. I, says Jesus, am known by my fruit. And so look to the fruit and reason it out. If the fruit is good, the tree must be good. For it has been made plain to these Pharisees. They have been shown much. They have been shown much more than any others. And Christ urges them then to reason it out. Look at the fruit. If the fruit is good, then the tree must be good. And yet they cannot. They cannot reason it out. They just simply cannot see and receive. They cannot believe. And the question to ask then is why? Why are these Pharisees unable to believe that which is made plain to them here? And not only the Pharisee actually, but the same holds true with the crowds here. They see that the fruit is good. They even marvel at the fruit of this Jesus, and yet they doubt Him. Neither will they receive Him. They too refuse to believe on Him. They refuse to believe Him. Even though all that they need to see is right there in front of them. So why? Why can they not reason it out? Is there some fault here in Christ's logic? Is His reasoning flawed? Or is the evidence of who He is really insufficient here? Do they really need another sign? Well, no way. These Jews saw plenty. They are totally without excuse. They have seen much more than any others. In fact, as Christ has already made clear to them back in chapter 11, Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. No, there has been plenty shown to these Jews here. More than enough has been done before them that they should have been able to reason that this Jesus must be Messiah, and thus to embrace Him as their Messiah. So what is the problem here? Why can't they see that which has been made plain and instead label a truth the lie and attribute the works of the Spirit to Satan? How is it that these Jews can look to the evening sky and see that it is red and know that fair weather is upon them? Reason it out. But when the Son of God stands before them casting out Satan, they can actually deny the obvious, the obvious truth of who He is and claim that He does what He does by the power of Satan. Or how is it that they can look at the morning sky and see that it is red and know that a storm is upon them? But, When the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them, they can refuse to accept the One through whom such works are being done right in front of them, and instead demand from Him a sign." Well, the answer has a lot to do with the fact that understanding and accepting the weather patterns of this earthly realm is not a matter of the heart. But understanding and accepting spiritual things is a matter of the heart. Verse 34, you brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. Jesus has already, in the previous verse, verse 33, called these Jews to apply the principle of the tree and the fruit to Himself. To reason that if the fruit is good, then He must be good. He must be who He says He is. He calls these Pharisees to at least be consistent. If they're going to call the tree bad, then they had better be ready to declare that the fruit is bad as well, for a tree is known by its fruit. And He does this that they might see that they are thinking irrationally, that they might see the insanity of their unbelief. He first calls them to apply this principle in making conclusions about who He is. However, Jesus now calls them to apply it to themselves. He calls them here to self-examination, to apply this principle in making conclusions about just who they are. In other words, to consider what fruit they have been bearing and what it says about what kind of tree that they are. And most pointedly in view here is the fruit of their lips, their words, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, says Jesus. And the hearts of these Jews were rotten. So how could anything come out of their mouths but these lies and blasphemies against Jesus and against the Spirit of God? And we should be careful to note then that the words spoken from the lips of these Jews that are here the object of Christ's correction are those words spoken with regards to Jesus himself, with regards to who he is. Can this be Messiah? No, this man casts out demons by Beelzebul. And so even among the many words that we speak, most pointedly in view here are those words spoken with regards to the Son of Man. In other words, how we speak about Jesus is of the greatest importance. Jesus is effectively asking here, who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am and what does it reveal about the condition of your heart? And the state of your soul? Now Jesus is not here teaching works righteousness, that merely speaking the right words will justify the sinner before God, but rather this principle that how we speak reveals the condition of our heart, and most pointedly again, how we speak about Jesus. What we say about Jesus reveals the condition of our hearts. Who do you say that I am, says our Lord. If, as Tozer said, the most important thing about us is what comes into our minds when we think about God, then I would suggest that the second most important thing about us is what comes off our lips when we speak about God. when we speak about Jesus. Who do you say that Christ is? How do you speak about Jesus? For so many, sadly, even some who might presume to be okay with God, the name of Jesus Christ is no more to them than a curse word. And oh, how their words reveal the condition of their hearts and the state of their souls. But remember, as our Lord declares here, if you are not with Him, then you are against Him. If you do not speak as one who is sold out for Christ, wholly devoted and looking to Christ and Him alone, as one who has come to love Christ, then in the end you are no better off. than the blasphemer. For as Paul declares in Romans 10, the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Again, the point is that there is no neutrality with Jesus Christ. I feel as though I cannot drive this home enough. There is no neutrality with Jesus Christ. His claims, Christ claims Himself to exclusivity, just do not allow for the broadness that is espoused by so many today. And his claims of supremacy will not allow for the nominalism that so many call faith these days. Jesus is no mere tack-on to an already fat and happy life. Nor is he a mere ticket to get out of hell. There is no neutrality when it comes to Jesus. No room for the double-minded in the Christian faith. You cannot have one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. That is to be, by definition, of the world. So my plea is that if you're unsure, then get sure right now. Settle it this day. Do not be found on the fence when Christ returns or you go to meet Him in death. For you will find out very quickly, to your dismay, that that fence that you have been riding is erected by the devil himself and lies well behind the gates of hell. Verse 36, I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Who do you say that Jesus is? Well, these Pharisees over and over again presume with their words to judge Jesus Christ. Verse 24, again, it is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons. But the point that Christ is making here now, to these Pharisees, is that in reality, it is not He who is judged by their words, but they themselves who are judged by their words. And that applies to us as well. All of us are coming to conclusions, making judgment calls with regards to who this Jesus is. And though we presume then to judge Christ with our words, by what we say, or perhaps by what we refuse to confess, we are actually fooling ourselves. For it is actually we who are judged by our words, not Christ. The point of our confessing Christ is not that He would feel accepted, The point of our confessing is not that Christ would somehow be vindicated and justified. No, rather it is in our confessing that the saving faith granted us is made perfect. That we might be judged to be of the faith. Jesus doesn't need your approval or your acceptance to feel good about himself. It is you who are in desperate need to be found in Him, believing on Him, trusting wholly in Him, believing in your hearts and thus confessing with your mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. And as well we might consider these crowds here asking aloud this question, could this be the Son of David? Now surely they thought their words to be doing no real harm. Even to us, their words seem rather benign, particularly when read next to the heinous blasphemies spoken by the Pharisees here. However, On the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak. The careless words here are those words thought to be of no real significance. Insignificant words. And yet they actually reveal a lot. Just as this question, asked in unbelief by the crowds, reveals a lot about their hearts, about the condition of their hearts, and about the state of their souls. Even this question, asked in doubt, judges those who speak it. Not Christ that is judged here, but those who speak this question are judged. They're judged to be yet in darkness, to not be in the Kingdom of Heaven, but yet in the Kingdom of Satan. The most important thing about you is what comes into your mind when you think about God and what comes off of your lips when you speak about Jesus Christ. Sometimes I think about... It's just brought into my remembrance, and sometimes I tremble when I think about it, how in my early college days I used to speak about organized religion and Christianity, questioning even the existence of God. I spoke as one being enlightened, or so I thought, but was a fool of fools. But oh, how those words revealed the true condition of my heart and the state of my soul back then. Who do you say that Jesus is? How do you speak of Jesus? What do you confess about who He is? And let me remind us all of those precious words of Jesus here in this chapter, His words of grace and forgiveness, that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, people. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Oh, praise God that for the repentant sinner, judgment, even for our foolish words spoken, is swallowed up in the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. So again, how could these Jews be privy to so much revelation, and yet not be able to make sense of who this Jesus is? How could I sit on the shores of Lake Superior, surrounded by the majesty of God's creation, and question the very existence of our Creator? Because every son of Adam is born with a heart of stone, which is a heart of sin and idolatry. It is a heart that does not want God, really. It does not want God as He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. It does not want Jesus Christ as He has made Himself known in His Gospel. Jesus was not the Messiah that these Jews were looking for. And they didn't want Him. They wanted power and prestige. They wanted prosperity and whatever they deemed to be their earthly portion. How could they not see what was so plainly put before them? but that they were an evil and adulterous generation. Verse 38, Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Jesus, saying, Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. But Jesus answered them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. There was no sign that would have moved these Pharisees. They are just stalling here. They're just coming up with excuses, trying to create an air of doubt, perhaps asking for a sign as though there was not enough evidence that had been produced already by this Jesus. They ask this question in unbelief, as the scoffers. But why can they not use simple reason to conclude that Jesus is their Messiah and their God? Why can they not to this very day receive Jesus based on the overwhelming witness of who He truly is, but instead ask for more, more miracles, perhaps a prophetic word come true right before their eyes. Whatever it is, they are asking for a sign. And why? Well, Jesus says it is because they are an adulterous generation. An adulterous generation. In other words, because they do not want Christ as Lord and Savior and Bridegroom. They thought that they had done away with all of their idolatry of old, but here Christ comes to them and reveals to them that they are still idolatrous. That treasure hidden in the field is standing right before them. But they want other treasure, earthly treasure. That pearl of inexpressible value has come to them and now offers himself to them freely. But he is worthless in their eyes. For their eyes are fixed upon lesser pearls, even pearls of no value. They want what Vanity Fair has to offer them. And thus they are morally incapable of thinking rationally here, of reasoning things out and coming to the obvious conclusion. They are morally incapable of seeing the glory of Christ, the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, and thus putting their faith in Him, receiving Him, as He has made Himself known. And so it is with every son of Adam. That was their problem, and that was my problem, and if you are still on the fence this day, then that is your problem. An idolatrous heart. An idolatrous heart. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." No sign would move these Pharisees. They ask here for a sign for all the wrong reasons. It is not out of humble desperation or the poverty of spirit that they seek this sign. This is not at all the prayer, I believe, help my unbelief. This is a request made in unbelief by one who is cynical, by the scoffer. And thus no sign will be given them. No sign but the sign of Jonah. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. In other words, Jonah was as good as dead. And yet, Jonah appeared to Nineveh preaching repentance. And I'm left to assume here that Jonah's miraculous deliverance from sheer death was known to the Ninevites. And that was a sign to them. Jonah himself was assigned to the Ninevites. Jonah himself, standing before the Ninevites, alive and well, was assigned to them, that validated the words that he then spoke. So too is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to all who would receive Him and believe in His name. Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven you, says Jesus. And then He went to the cross and to the grave, and on the third day up from the grave He arose, a mighty victor over our foes. He who died for our sins was raised again for our justification. How can you know for sure that by faith in Christ your sins are forgiven you? Because God, having accepted the full payment for your sins, in Christ's blood, raised him up from the grave. And this is a sign to all of us who believe. Amen? But to those Jews who would persist in unbelief, it is no sign at all. but merely the grounds upon which they are judged. And thus it is fulfilled that to that evil and adulterous generation, no sign would be given. No sign would be given. And indeed, one greater than Jonah is here, and one greater than Solomon is here. And so let me urge everyone again to be careful what you do with Jesus Christ. Be careful what you do with this man, this God-man, Christ Jesus, and with the coming of His kingdom. For the men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah. They repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Repent. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent, for one greater than Jonah has come, even the very Son of God become flesh, that we might behold glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and full of truth, full of steadfast love. and faithfulness. Glory as the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep and took it back up again for our justification. Glory. Glory as mighty Jehovah. Mighty Jehovah dying a cursed man's death. on that tree, our death, and raised again from the grave, the captain of our salvation, resurrected by the powerful working of God, who is well pleased with Him. Come, come to the risen Lord Jesus. Receive Him. This day receive Him and believe on Him. Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins. What are you waiting for? Why do you tarry? Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins. Tarry no longer. Today is the day. Today is the day of salvation. May the Lord grant it this day for any who have so tarried. Amen. Before we turn to hymns,