Offspring of vipers! how can ye speak good things, being wicked? For of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
The Pharisees had just credited the Lord's power over demons to Satan. Here He turns from their charge to the source that produced it. His answer moves from fruit back to tree, from speech back to the heart. Can anyone speak good words while the inner spring stays bad?
The Lord had just told them to make the tree good and its fruit good, or the tree bad and its fruit bad. Here He goes behind the sin they had committed to what produced it.
The Lord now turns from the sin these Pharisees were doing, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, to its cause, the spring from which the evil comes... The Searcher of hearts, He who understands the thoughts from far off, uncovers the real condition of these men and the condition of man in general. The tree is bad, the fruit must be bad. The tree must be made good, and that denotes a change, and the fruit will be good.
The name He gives them is not random abuse. It points to poison, and John had already used the same word for the same people.
All we learn from the passages that speak of the viper is that its bite was poisonous... John the Baptist called the crowd who came to be baptised "a brood of vipers." The Lord uses the same name for the scribes and Pharisees. It shows how deadly their opposition was.
The question "how can you speak good?" is not a call to try harder. The mouth can only pass on what the heart holds — and this is true of religious people too.
If the heart did not contain these evils the mouth could never give them forth. Here then we have an insight into the human heart. Notice also that this terrible quotation comes in the apostle's description of religious Jews, not in his account of pagan Gentiles... Yet it is one of the hardest lessons of all to learn that the heart of every man is wicked beyond cure.
Fine language is no evidence of a good heart:
The language of the cultured, religious, unsaved man may be fine and polished, sweet and pleasant. But it comes from an evil heart, so it can never please God.
If speech comes out of what fills the heart, then speech becomes evidence. Small, unguarded words tell more than big, controlled actions.
"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." An impatient word betrays the heart. A blow I may restrain and yet utter the word.
The test also works in reverse. What you talk about most shows what has your heart.
When we find people taken up with one thing more than another, we may be sure that that object has the heart. We are always marked by what we seek. And so our words matter.
The Lord goes on to say that people will answer for every careless word. Read in context, the words in question are words about Him.
These idle words betray the heart's rejection of Jesus, and they slight the Holy Spirit's testimony to Him. "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." It is with the mouth that a person makes the confession that leads to salvation. Words that leave out Jesus prove that the heart prefers its sin to Him.
Since the mouth only reports, guarding the lips alone will never work. The remedy is to change what the heart is full of.
Again and again He warned those around Him of the danger of uncontrolled speech, and Scripture repeats the warning everywhere... The way to reach this goal is for Christ and His things to fill our hearts. Then our talk will flow out of what fills us.
And the test is not the hour when we are trying to sound spiritual:
"In word." This is a very big test for each of us, for "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." Whatever sits on the throne in our hearts will surely govern our speech. The question is not how we speak about divine things for one short hour in a Bible reading. The question is what our talk is like at home, at work, among our friends, in company, and at all times.
- Root — the Lord traces their blasphemy back to its spring. The fruit was bad because the tree was bad. Only a changed tree bears good fruit.
- Poison — "Brood of vipers" is the name John used first. It marks how deadly their opposition was, not just bad manners.
- Impossible — the mouth only gives out what the heart holds. An evil heart cannot produce good words, however polished the language.
- Evidence — words are the index of the heart. An impatient word betrays what a restrained hand hides. What we talk about most shows what owns us.
- Verdict — words that leave out Jesus prove the heart prefers its sin to Him. The cure is a heart filled with Christ — tested at home and at work, not for one religious hour.
The good man out of the good treasure brings forth good things; and the wicked man out of the wicked treasure brings forth wicked things.
The Pharisees had just called the Lord's power satanic, and He answers by exposing them: speech is the overflow of a hidden store. The verse asks what a person keeps inside, how anything good gets there, and why God judges us by what comes out.
The charge against Jesus was not a slip. It came from a settled hostility, and He treats their words as evidence of it.
Speaking against Christ in blindness could be pardoned. But to admit the power was real and still call the Holy Spirit Satan was unpardonable. It was open hostility to divine power that nobody denied. The Lord shows the folly of it — Satan destroying Satan's kingdom. It was the fruit of what filled their heart — a deliberate hatred of God even when He was acting in goodness. Every word they spoke showed what was inside, and men would be judged by such words.
"Treasure" is the store a person draws from. The mouth does not create; it spends what is already kept.
Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life... So we can judge what is in the heart by what comes out of the mouth. The tongue is the organ of the heart — the organ of the man... When the word of God truly governs the heart, the whole character shows the blessed result. It must be so, since the heart is the mainspring of our entire moral condition.
This makes concealment temporary. A person can guard a sentence, but not a lifetime of them.
What is really filling my heart will come off my tongue. And so you can always tell what occupies my heart, because I have a tongue. I cannot deceive you for long.
The verse assumes two kinds of people. The good treasure has to get into the heart from somewhere, because it does not grow there naturally.
In these verses the Lord is striking at people's pretence of goodness. Their hearts are untouched by His grace, not born again, and so still under sin. A good person is one whose heart is purified by faith in the Son of God, for by nature "no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:12). Only the grace of God can make a difference in the person. In this case grace plants a "good treasure" in his heart. It is the treasure of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, given to "jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:6-7). Only good can come from this, however weak the vessel may be. Without this good treasure a person has only "an evil treasure" in his heart, and his mouth soon expresses it, for whatever rules the heart is what the mouth will speak.
That raises a question. If only God is good, how can the Lord call anyone good?
Our Lord Jesus used the word "good" in a relative sense. He said, "The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good." Yet He also said, speaking in an absolute sense and not a relative one, "No one is good except God alone" (Matt. 19:17).
Because speech reports on the heart, it counts as evidence. Commentators tie this to what a person has done with Christ.
What God insists on is testimony to Jesus. These idle words betray the heart's rejection of Jesus and brush aside the Holy Spirit's testimony to Him... It is with the mouth that one confesses and is saved, and words that leave out Jesus prove that the heart prefers its sin to Him. The words of the mouth are evidence of the state of the heart. They are the outward expression of the feelings, and they show a man in one way as much as his conduct does in another.
Commentators differ on how far to press the judgment that follows. Some read it as the standard for every person's words. Others say it is aimed at the self-righteous, who rest on their own record.
If they relied on their works as a means of their justification and salvation, they have to expect a judgment accordingly.
On that reading, the account for the believer concerns rewards, not salvation.
If the mouth only spends, the practical work is on the supply.
Again and again the Lord warned those around Him about the danger of uncontrolled speech. Every part of Scripture repeats the warning... The way to guard the lips is to let Christ and the things of Christ fill our hearts. Then our conversation will flow out of what occupies us.
- Stored. The heart is a store, and speech spends what is already kept there — the tongue is the organ of the man.
- Received. Nobody has a good treasure by nature; grace implants it, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Relative. "Good" describes a person changed by that gift; measured absolutely, God alone is good.
- Revealed. What fills the heart comes off the tongue, so no one hides it for long; the Pharisees' words exposed a settled enmity.
- Reckoned. Words are evidence, so fill the heart with Christ and the conversation takes care of itself.
But I say unto you, that every idle word which men shall say, they shall render an account of it in judgment-day
The Pharisees have just accused Jesus of casting out demons by Satan's power. He answers by tracing words back to the heart behind them, and then warns of the day of judgment — which raises two questions: what makes a word "careless," and who must answer for it?
The Greek word behind "careless" (older translations read "idle") is not a neutral term for small talk. It carries blame with it.
The Greek word argos (perhaps from a word meaning "not working") applies to things as well as to people, and it involves blame. In Matthew 12:36, men will have to give account for "every 'idle' word" they speak. It is translated "idle" in Matthew 20:3, 6 and 1 Timothy 5:13.
In this setting the word cuts deeper. These men had just insulted the Holy Spirit's witness to Jesus.
By "every idle word" I understand everything that betrays contempt for God… What God insists on is testimony to Jesus. These idle words betray the heart's rejection of Jesus, and slight the Holy Spirit's testimony to Him.
God does not judge speech as an isolated act. He treats it as evidence of what a person really is.
Words that leave Jesus out prove that the heart prefers its sin to Him. The words of the mouth show the state of the heart. They are the outward expression of the feelings, and they show a man in one way as much as his conduct does in another. If the heart is evil, the words are evil, the conduct is evil: all therefore comes into judgment.
Human courts treat speech very differently from God.
Men will be called to account in the day of judgment even for idle words — that is, worthless or unfruitful ones. How much more when the words are openly wicked!… The world's government does not work on this principle. Freedom of speech allows a shameful flood of evil words. People are sometimes sued for libel against others, but the vilest language against God is treated as nothing.
Careless words are not lost. Even what we say behind someone's back counts.
Let us never forget one thing. Everything we say and do about people we dislike, and hope they will never hear, is seen and recorded by the all-seeing God.
This completeness is what makes the judgment seat trustworthy.
If a man has to meet judgment at all, he must give account for every idle word. What a solemn thought! There is no escaping it. If a single idle word could be let pass, it would dishonour the judgment seat. It would be a sign of weakness and incompetence which is utterly impossible.
Commentators differ on how far this verse reaches. One writer answered a troubled woman by pointing to the gap between two kinds of people.
The Lord enabled this lady to see the huge contrast. Men who have rejected mercy must give account in the day of judgment. Those who have heard the word of Christ now, and believe on God who sent Him, have everlasting life and will not come into judgment.
Another writer aims the verse at self-righteous religion, and sets the believer's review apart from it.
These words have been misunderstood and much misapplied, by wrenching them out of their connection… These Pharisees were proud of their works and self-righteous. If they rely on their works to justify and save them, they must expect a judgment to match. Every idle word is to be judged, and that means utter, absolute condemnation… Salvation is by grace, and by that salvation a man receives a good treasure and brings out good things… Believers should keep in mind that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That is not to decide eternal salvation — that was settled when the believer trusted in Christ — but for rewards.
Keeping this truth in view changes how we speak today.
Every word that leaves our lips is fully known by Him who said, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned"… If we keep this in mind, it will keep us from much evil.
- Idle — the word means worthless and unfruitful, and it carries blame. Here it covers whatever betrays contempt for God.
- Index — words are weighed because they reveal the heart. Evil words and evil conduct grow from the same root.
- Recorded — what we say about others, even privately, is observed by God and will be brought up.
- Complete — a judgment that let one idle word pass would dishonour the judgment seat. So anyone standing there on his own record is condemned.
- Contrast — commentators differ in emphasis. Both agree that the believer's salvation is settled by grace, and not by a verdict still hanging on his speech.
for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
The Pharisees had just accused the Lord of casting out demons by Satan's power. He turns from the deed to the speaker, and makes a man's words the evidence in God's courtroom.
Words come out of what a person already is. One writer shows what the mouth reveals:
What God insists on is testimony to Jesus. These idle words betray the heart's rejection of Jesus and slight the Holy Spirit's testimony to Him... The words of the mouth show the state of the heart. They are the outward expression of the feelings, and they show a man in one way as much as his conduct does in another. If the heart is evil, the words are evil, the conduct is evil: all therefore comes into judgment.
The verse just before this one warns about every careless word — older translations call it an "idle" word. The Greek term behind it means more than "unimportant":
The Greek word argos (perhaps from a, meaning "not," and ergon, meaning "work")... is used of things as well as of people, and it carries blame. In Matthew 12:36, every "idle" word that people speak will have to be accounted for.
Another writer gives the word a second sense. It is empty as well as blameworthy:
the word "idle" means useless, barren. All that a man speaks out of himself is barren and useless. The believer, however, living after the Spirit, will not utter useless words, but that which is in honour of the Son of God.
The sentence lands first on the men in front of Him, and leaves them one way out:
That generation had proved its condition; the tree was known by its fruit. It was a viper's brood, from which no good thing could be expected any longer... So an idle word might prove a man's condition. In the day of judgment God would take all such words into account — by his words a man is justified or condemned. How impossible, then, for any to escape who has not found his shelter in Him whom Israel here refuses!
The verse has two halves, and the first is not a threat. One writer ties it to the confession of Christ:
This verse also points to the familiar passage in Romans 10: "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." And wherever there is no such confession springing from the belief of the heart, there is condemnation.
People often pull these words out of their setting. They make them teach that God decides salvation by weighing everyone's speech at the last day. One writer replies that the Lord is answering self-righteous men on their own terms, and points the believer to a different meeting:
These Pharisees were proud of their works and were self-righteous. If they relied on their works to justify and save them, they have to expect a judgment on that basis. God will judge every idle word, and that means utter, absolute condemnation... Salvation is by grace, and by that salvation a man receives a good treasure and brings forth good things... As believers, we should keep in mind that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That is not for a decision about eternal salvation — that was settled when the believer trusted in Christ — but for rewards. Then our deeds, our works and our words will be either approved or disapproved.
Does the verse still press on a believer who will not face that sentence? One writer asks the same question:
the believer is taken completely off the ground of judgment, since Christ was judged in his place... Is all this precious grace intended to make us lax and careless? May we speak idle words because we are not to be judged? Far be the horrible thought! No, dear friend. We believe that Jesus was judged in our place, and that we shall never come into judgment. That is exactly why we judge ourselves day by day and refuse to justify in ourselves a single sinful thought.
That self-judgment is meant to go deeper than the spoken word:
as far as words are concerned, if we say anything wrong we should judge it. But the intention comes before the word, and it is better to judge intentions than words. The thought comes before the intention, and it is better still to judge the thought in the light of the word of God.
- Root — the heart is the treasure. Words spill over from it, so speech shows the man as clearly as his conduct does.
- Fruit — an "idle" word is blameworthy and barren. Everything a man says out of himself is useless.
- Verdict — the Pharisees' own words condemned them. Anyone who stands on his own record must expect the same.
- Refuge — the other half of the verse is confession. Faith in the heart, spoken out with the mouth, saves; where that confession is missing, there is condemnation.
- Response — Christ was judged in the believer's place, so the believer never comes into judgment. He answers that grace by judging his own thoughts, not just his words.