Let's return to the book of Matthew,
if you would. We're in chapter 12. And we'll
begin by reading our text in Matthew chapter 12, verses 22
through 37. And then we'll refer to some
of these verses again as we go through the handout. But let's
begin, if you would, at verse 22. Matthew chapter 12, verse
22. Then was brought unto him the Lord Jesus, one possessed
of the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him insomuch that
the blind and the dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were
amazed and said, is not this the son of David? But when the
Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out
devils, but by Beelzebub. the prince of devils. And Jesus
knew their thoughts and said unto them, every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation. And every city or
house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan
cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then
his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out
devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they
shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is coming to you. Or else,
how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods,
except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his
house? He that is not with me is against
me, and he that gathers not with me scattereth abroad. 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. And whosoever speaketh a 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. 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. O generation of vipers, how can
ye, being evil, speak good of things? For out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of a good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you,
that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Now I want
you to take into consideration this is the Lord's answer, verses
25, the second half of 25, all the way through 37 to those things
that those men said, those religious men, the Pharisees, When they
said that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, everything that
the Lord did there, including the healing of that man over
there in verse 22, is all in answer to what that was said
right there in verse 24. So if you would, go to your handouts.
Let's begin by reading a quote from Don Fortner on this passage.
He writes, The passage we have read contains some things hard
to be understood. The principal thing that is dealt
with in this text is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. This
is a subject about which it must be acknowledged little is known. The best and fullest explanations
of it are in his opinion, Don Fortner's opinion, far from being
exhaustive and satisfactory. He also says he has no delusions
about being able to phantom the depths of this subject himself.
He continues on, we must never be surprised to find things in
the Bible that are simply beyond the reach of our minds. You've
heard me say this much about several points in scripture,
and this absolutely is one of those as well. If it had no deep
places here and there, which no man is capable of understanding,
much less explaining, it would not be the word of the infinite
God. However, Rather than stumbling or falling over the things we
cannot understand, writes Don, we ought to give thanks to God
for those revelations of wisdom and grace which even the simplest
minds are able to grasp. Amen to that, I would say, for
a simple-minded I am. When we find things written in
the Word of God that we do not understand or that appear to
our puny brains to be inconsistent with matters of clear revelation,
let us reverently bow to the Scriptures, knowing that God
is true, praying and waiting for a clear understanding that
only God the Holy Spirit can give. Let us never speculate
about divine truth or offer opinions about things beyond our comprehension. I say amen and amen to that. So I'm going to make a few comments
on these first verses, but our subject tonight will be from
verse 33. For the tree is known by its
fruit. And that's what I meant by when
I said all of that answer that the Lord gave here was an answer
to the Pharisees. Remember, the Pharisees are saying
he's healing by the devil. He's under the influence of the
devil. He's doing the devil's work by doing the healing. They
couldn't comprehend how this one man had the power and the
authority of God to do what he was doing, and so they blamed
all that they could on him for everything else. It says in verse
22, then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind
and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb
both spake and saw. Now whenever we read our Lord's
miracles in healing the bodies of people, we need to understand
them as demonstrations, pictures, types of our Savior's great compassion
upon our immortal souls. Remember, our Lord says His words
are spirit. He speaks of the spirit, spiritual
matters. It is the blind and the dumb
in spirit that He came to deliver that day. These religious Pharisees,
like the religions of the world, lose reason. They lose good sense. They lose civility, even, when
confronted with the truths of the kingdom of God. Our Lord
healed a man of his infirmities. That was all he did. He just
made a man whole. And these men called him of the
devil, rather than praising God. In Matthew 12, 22 through 27,
we see the prejudice of the Pharisees against Christ and his gospel,
and learn that no slanderous speech is too reprehensible for
the lost religious people to use against the gospel of Christ.
And we know this is true. Some of us have experienced it
in our own lives. I've shared with you my very
aunt who said, poked me in the chest and turned into an evil
looking woman and said, you will not take my free will away from
me when I spoke to her about election of God. What does it
say in Romans 8, verses 6 through 7 here in our handout? For to
be carnally minded is death. That's to be worldly mindly.
That means to be of the world thinking is death, but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace. But the carnal mind is
enmity against God. That's what it's talking about,
these Pharisees. They had the carnal mind. They had the mind
of religion, which damns you to self-works, to self-worth,
to self-righteousness. It should not surprise us. This
is mid-page two. By the way, Mike, we're working
on that page thing for you. It might be that it's on your
phone. So I just remembered that. Sorry, folks. When religious
men are determined to reject true doctrine of the gospel,
which they cannot refute, defending their own self-righteousness,
they attempt to defend themselves by blackening the character of
those who preach the free grace of God in Christ. What an honor
it is to God's faithful servants when such men speak evil of them
for proclaiming the gospel of Christ and his truth. The religious
world called Athanasius a devil when he insisted upon the doctrine
of the Holy Trinity. The Pope called Martin Luther
a devil when he proclaimed the doctrine of justification by
faith alone. When our Lord warned his disciples
of their persecution back in chapter 10 of Matthew, he said
this. He said, it is enough for the
disciples that he be as his master and the servant as his Lord.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much
more shall they call them of his household? Verses 28 and
29, they describe the work of Christ as binding of Satan. The Lord Jesus speaks of Satan's
kingdom here. He speaks of the binding of Satan.
The fact that Satan sets up and maintains an empire of sin in
every human heart is a fact that is too obvious to question by
any rational person. And the effects, the terrible
effects of it are too well known to be denied. Here we have that
fact plainly stated. Robert Hawker wrote this. He
says, it was the setting of this kingdom against God and his Christ
for which the devil and his angels are said to have been cast out
of heaven and to have left their own habitation. Listen to these
words. I've got them jumbled together,
so. And there was a war, oh this is the Revelation 12, 7, 12.
And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels and prevailed
not. Neither was their place found
anymore in heaven, and the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world. He was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud
voice saying, in heaven now has come salvation and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For
the accuser of our brethren is cast down. which accused them
before our God day and night, and they overcame him by the
blood of the lamb and by the sword of their testimony, and
they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice,
ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants
of the earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time. And then over in Jude 6 we read
these words, And the angels which kept not their firsts to date,
but left their own habitation, he hath preserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto judgment of the great day. So we see just
in these verses that we've read here, the devil has, he's got
a kingdom and it's the kingdom of this world. It's a kingdom
that he was cast out of heaven into. as we read there in Revelation
12. Mid-page, page 3. It was by Satan's
seduction of Eve that Adam was brought down. And by Adam's transgression,
the whole human race was made a fallen, corrupt, sinful race.
That's what we read in Romans 5.12. Wherefore, by as one man's
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. It is Satan who works
in all the children of disobedience continually. Listen to these
words, Ephesians 2, verses 2 and 3. Where in times past ye walked
according to the course of this world. That was each and every
one of us. According to the prince, here is the devil, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience. This is the kingdom of Satan.
among whom also we all have had our conversation in times past
in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. Because Satan's kingdom of darkness,
deception, and sin, takes in the entire human race, he is
called the prince of this world. That's in John 6, 1611, page
4. Because he seeks to destroy our
souls and seeks to destroy the church and the kingdom of God,
he is called a roaring lion in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8. And he's called the dragon in
Revelation 12, 7, as we read a moment ago. He's called the
devil and Satan. Here he is called the strong
man armed. So powerful is his influence
over the unregenerate that men are taken captive by him at his
will, as we read in 2 Timothy 2, verse 26. And they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive
by him at his will. How happy and thankful we ought
to be for grace. to read in the book of God that
the Son of God was manifest that he might destroy the works of
the devil. That's 1 John 3.8. Shouldn't
we be happy over that? Absolutely. In verse 30, the
Lord Jesus shows us the impossibility of neutrality with regard to
him, his gospel, and his kingdom. Look at verse 30, if you would.
He that is not with me is against me, saith the Lord. And he that
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Back in our handout,
mid-page, page four. Multitudes try to straddle the
fence, halting between two opinions, not wishing to deny Christ altogether,
not wishing to serve him altogether, not wanting to engage in open
rebellion to the Son of God, but also not wanting to engage
in the cause of Christ. I've met several like that. Oh,
I'm religious. I go to church every once in
a while. But I don't want to argue against
it. Such neutrality, folks, is impossible. It's just flat out
impossible. You're either for Christ according
to his word, or you are not. There are, with regard to spiritual
things, only two camps. That's all there is, two. There
are only two sides. Either we are with Christ, committed
to Him and His cause, or we are against Christ, committed to
the world, committed to the flesh, and committed to the devil. We
cannot serve both God and Mammon. Verse 31 and 32 introduce us
to what our Savior calls the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
Now, He warns us against the danger of what He declares is
the only unpardonable sin. Look at verses 31 and 32 again
with me, if you would. Wherefore, I say unto you, all
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. That's
important. But the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men, and whosoever speaketh
a word against the Son of Man. Did you catch this? We'll get
to that in a moment again. Anyone who shall speak a 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. Now there's
a difference there between the Holy Ghost and the Son of God.
And we'll come to that in a moment. So back into your last paragraph
of page four of your handout. Folks, it's not difficult, it's
not difficult at all to show you from scriptures what this
sin is not. The difficulty is showing clearly
what it is. Our Savior clearly declares the
free, full, absolute and everlasting forgiveness of all sin to all
believers. All manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men. if we confess our sins. That's
what we read there in verse 31. No matter what they are, no matter
how vile they are, no matter how many there are, no matter
how old or how new they are, the Lord God is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, all of them, completely and forever. and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
as we read in 1 John 1.9, the blood of Jesus Christ, it says
in 1 John 1.7, God's Son cleanseth us from all sin, page five. Yet the Son of God speaks. about
one particular sin that is unpardonable. It is called the blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost, as we read there in verse 31. What is this blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost? Well, the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost, first off, it does not involve sins of ignorance. The distinction drawn between
speaking against the Son of Man, remember I told you this was
important, And the speaking against blaspheming the Holy Ghost must
not be overlooked. The sin against Christ as the
Son of Man was committed out of ignorance by those who did
not know that He is the Messiah. That's the sin of those who did
not know He was the Messiah when they hung Him on the cross. They
committed it out of ignorance. Therefore, they did not receive
him, they did not believe him, and they did not obey him, but
opposed him. They persecuted, even crucified
him, but they did it ignorantly, and you can read that in 1 Corinthians
2.8. Just as Saul did, and we read
that in 1 Timothy 1, verse 13. This sin and blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit, which our Savior declares is unpardonable, is
committed by men and women who willfully persist in unbelief. I will not believe the Word of
God. I've read it. I've looked at
it. I cannot believe it. That's what this is talking about.
Those who deliberately reject the counsel of God against themselves
and therefore given up to a reprobate mind. Listen to what J.C. Ryle,
he describes it this way. The union of the clearest head
knowledge of the gospel with deliberate rejection of it. Let me tell you who I could list
off that has that painted all over their garbs and all over
the Pope. The pope is more familiar with
the scriptures than any man I can think of. And that man flat out
rejects the truths of God, and that's what this is talking about.
And they do it with a deliberate choice of sin and the world. That doesn't work for me. God's
word doesn't work for me. I like what I like in my world
a lot better. That's what this is talking about.
I spoke to a man the other day who said that he has committed
the ultimate sin, the unforgivable sin. And I told him this, I said,
you know what the unforgivable sin is? It's going through that
doormark death in unbelief. That's what it is. That's the
only sin that God did not pay for, and that's the unbelief
of those who spend their eternity in hell. Other than that, Christ
paid for the sins of all of his people. John Gill wrote it this
way down there mid-page five. It is despiteful usage of the
spirit of grace. in opposing, contradicting, and
denying of the operations wrought or the doctrines revealed by
him against man's own light and conscience out of a willful and
obstinate malice, on purpose to lessen the glory of God and
gratify his own lusts. Such was the sin of the scribes
and the Pharisees. They didn't care what they saw
in Christ. They didn't care that God proved
who he was. Their anger was that Christ was
taking away from them their power, their power of self, their power
of self-works, their power of self-righteousness. The scribes
and Pharisees were doing this very thing, who, though they
knew the miracles of Christ were wrought by the Spirit of God,
yet maliciously and obstinately imputed them to the devil with
a view that obscured the glory of Christ and indulged their
own wicked passions. Does that not describe the religious
of today, those who pretend to be playing church so that they
can gain financially or that they can gain mentally by the
power that they may have over large congregations? Listen to verse 33 and 37 again.
I've got that in our handout. 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. O generations,
the Lord goes on to say, O generation of vipers, how can ye, being
evil, speak good things? How can you? Why should anybody
listen to you? You're evil. How can you speak
anything good? A good man out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you,
saith the Lord, that every idle word that men shall speak..."
Now listen, this is our Lord's warning to us. We're talking
about the fruit. The fruit of the tree is known,
for the tree is known by its fruit. Every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Page 6. Our Lord calls the scribes and
the Pharisees of His day and ours generations, generation
of vipers. The seed of the woman and the
seed of the serpent are identified and defined throughout the Word
of God as being at enmity towards each other. And you can read
about that beginning at Genesis 3.15. On another occasion, our
Savior said this, He said, Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father ye will do. That's in John 8 verse
44. And because they are of their
father the devil, nothing but evil can be expected from such
people. It says, How can ye, being evil,
speak good things? Ye believe not, because ye are
not my sheep, is what it says over in John 10.26 in answering
to that question. Such serpents, such a generation
of vipers, cannot escape the damnation of hell. And I've given
you several verses there between Matthew and John to look at at
your own time. Folks, only by the grace of our
creator Are we not in that very camp that I just mentioned? It
says, a good man out of a good treasure of heart bringeth forth
good things, and an evil man out of an evil treasure bringeth
forth evil things. The scriptures are plain. They
plainly declare there is none good, no, not one. So yet our
Lord, and that's over in Romans 3.10, our Lord here speaks of
a good man. Who's he speaking of? Obviously,
he's distinguishing here his own from the rest of the world.
How are you and I good men and women? Only in our Savior. Our only goodness is in Him and
Him alone. He is our righteousness. God's
people, we know. We have no confidence in the
flesh. There's nothing in us. Last paragraph, page six. All
who are born of God are made good. He who knew no sin was made sin,
that we would be made the righteousness of God in him. All who are born of God are made
good before him by his own work of grace, by the righteousness
of Christ imputed to them in justification, and the righteousness
of Christ imparted to them in regeneration. Listen to 1 Corinthians
6.11, And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God. Or how about these words from
2 Peter 1 verses 3-4, According as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue,
whereby are given unto us exceeding and great precious promises.
that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Here's
another one for you, bottom of page six. And ye know that he
was manifest to take away our sins. And in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doth doeth righteousness
is righteous even as he is righteous. Page 7. He that commiteth sin
is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For
this purpose the Son of God was manifest, that he might destroy
the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children
of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother." 1 John 3, 5 through 10. The good man differs from
the natural man, is what we're talking about here. He is a different
man than he once was, because he is a new creature in Christ. He has a righteous nature imparted
to him by the grace of God out of the good treasure of his heart. By the grace of his Holy Spirit
planted in him, he brings forth the sweet and precious fruit
of the Spirit in his life and in his speech. We read, but the
fruit of the Spirit is love. joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.
That's in Galatians 5, 22 through 23. Or only let your conversation
be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come
and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that
ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together,
for the faith of the gospel. How often have I mentioned to
you the trouble that sin brings to our
lives now where it did not before? Awareness. How often? Mid page 7, the good fruit speaks
of Christ The good fruit speaks of His righteousness, speaks
of His atonement, speaks of His forgiveness, speaks of His grace
declaring what God has done for His soul. Listen to Psalm 66,
16. The psalmist writes this, and does this not fit your soul?
Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what
he hath done for my soul." That's what I was talking about. That's
what that's talking about right there. The good fruit speaks
of Christ. It speaks of his righteousness.
Come and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he
hath done for my soul. In verses 36 and 37, our Savior
shows, this is the last paragraph, 7, The Savior shows us the immense
importance of being careful about our words. He says, for every
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account in
the day of judgment. Then he adds these last comments
to that. He says, by thy words thou shalt
be justified, and by thy word thou shalt be condemned. Folks,
if there were nothing else in the Bible to do so, these statements
of our Lord about the tongue should convince all who read
them that we are all guilty before God. Cannot you and I say that
very thing? We are guilty before God because
of my tongue, because of my thoughts, because of my deeds. And we need the righteousness
of Christ to give us acceptance with Him in the day of judgment.
Listen to these words from Philippians 3.9, and be found in Him. not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Page 8. Our words reveal the state of
our hearts. I want to stop there for just
a moment. When you were possibly younger
in your days before the Lord called you out of darkness. Have
you ever heard the phrase, holier than now? Oh man, you are so
holier than now. I remember those days when I
would think of my family, my mother and my father and all
of my Christian family going to churches on Sundays. You're
so much holier than me. It wasn't until I started coming
to rescue where the Lord called me out of darkness when I started
hearing people say, oh, I am more a sinner than anybody is. I'm a worse sinner than you will
ever be. Instead of pointing their fingers
at me and saying, you're the biggest sinner I've ever seen,
I point my finger at myself. I've never heard that from anyone
other than those who believe the truth of God. Never heard
that from anybody of the religions that I grew up around. I've taught
my children about this. They could never send as much
as their father has ever to me. How about you? Can you say that? Let's go on top of page eight. Our words reveal the state of
our hearts. Words of grace, kindness, goodwill,
and cheer give evidence of a heart renewed by grace. Words of envy,
malice, and slander and gossip, words that are intended to hurt
others, reveal an evil, depraved, unregenerate heart. Listen to
these words from Ephesians 4, verses 30 through 32. And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed into the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven you." Idle words may seem frivolous
to you and I, but they do permanent damage. Our Lord warns of that
in Proverbs 18.21, death and life are in the power of the
tongue. Idle words often stick in minds
of those who hear them long after the one who speaks them is dead.
No member of our bodies is more powerful to do good and to do
evil than our tongues. For in many things we offend
all. If any man offend not in word
the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole
body. Behold, we put bits in the horse's
mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Behold, also the ships, which though they be so great
and are driven by fierce winds, yet are they turned about with
a very small helm. Whithersoever the governor listeth,
even so our tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold, how great a matter a
little fire kindleth, and the tongue is a fire, a world of
iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course
of nature. And it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast, and
of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea is tamed,
and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame.
It is unruly, evil, fully of deadly poison. James 3, verses 2 through 8.
Psalms 14, verse 141, verse 3, set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Colossians 4, 6, let our speech
be always with grace. seasoned with salt, that you
may know how you ought to answer every man." Page 9. We must not
forget that our Savior's words in verses 36 and 37 distinguish
the believer from the unbeliever. Our words as well as our actions
manifest the state of our hearts and reveal whether we are born
again by his grace or are yet lost in our sins. Now I want
to stop there for just a moment. Folks, we all come short of what
I just read for you. We all come short of that. None
of us are perfect in that. Our perfection is in Christ. Do you remember a day when your
words didn't bother you? That's what we're talking about. All of us slip. I'm ashamed to
say that two days ago the truck driver came out at me once again
and I smashed a finger and said a word I don't like to repeat. We all do. Back in page 9, second paragraph,
the idle, sinful words of the unbeliever reveal the fact that
he or she is unregenerate. Likewise, the gracious words
of the believer reveal the work of grace in and upon them. As Abraham and Rahab justified
their professed faith in Christ by their deeds, so too every
believer justifies his professed faith in Christ by his daily
conversation. Our Lord says, In James 2, verses
19 through 26, thou believest that there is one God, thou doest
well. The devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
seeing now how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect, and the scripture was fulfilled, which
saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. He see then
how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only? Likewise
also was not hate Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received
the messenger and had sent them out another way? For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. For the believer there is no
condemnation. That's Romans 8, verse 1. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Those who
are redeemed by Christ shall never be condemned. Thy lips,
O my spouse. This is from the Song of Solomon.
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb. Honey and milk
are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like
the smell of Lebanon. Song of Solomon 411. Or what
about this? Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard
it. And the book of remembrance was written before him for them
that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they
shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I
make my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern
between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth not." Folks, the believers have already
been condemned. Page 10. They've already been
condemned in Christ. Look what we read here. Ephesians
2 verses 4 through 10. But God, this is talking about
those who shall not be condemned for we were already condemned
in Christ. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them." That's the sons of God. That's
the sons and daughters of God that we just read about. But
the unregenerate and the unbelieving, living and dying without Christ,
shall be condemned by their own words.