Jesus makes an interesting point in this section, and it is rather at odds with some modern thinking. Here he says, “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.” (Vs. 33) The point he is making is that people are either good or bad and you will know them by what they do.
Whatever comes out of a person defines who they are. It is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
As he said elsewhere, “…not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:11) In this case he was using the traditions of the Pharisees concerning the washing of hands before eating. We know there are hygiene issues today, but the Pharisees were teaching this as a doctrine and making it of greater importance than the law of God.
Jesus showed their folly and error and in his teaching made the above point. What goes into the mouth is food and it goes to the stomach and passes on. But what comes out of the mouth are the thoughts of men expressed as words and if these are evil, that is what defiles the man. Eating with unclean hands might make you unwell, but speaking evil will cost you your life into eternity. It is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and shows the heart of the person.
The words we speak and what we do are controlled by our thoughts and the passions of our flesh. These are the fruits of our minds.
Thus a person who does evil bears evil fruits and a person who does good bears good fruit in the words, deeds, and behaviour.
The point Jesus was making is that it is not possible for an evil person to bear good fruit and vice versa. He stated as much in the section about being aware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. (Matthew 7:15-20) In that passage, Jesus also made the point that “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:20) It is by this method we are to test for false teachers and prophets.
So if the abundance of the heart of a person is fundamentally evil, that is what will come out of them in words, deeds, and behaviour. They may be able to act for a time and masquerade as being good, but in time the truth will come out and they will be seen for what they truly are. And that is why it is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
This position is different to much modern thinking. Today we see teachings from eastern religions about “Yin and Yang.” This teaching says that in everything good there is some evil and in everything evil, there is some good.
That is not what Jesus taught. Jesus shows that we are either one or the other. There are no halfway or partway positions. “Either make the tree good and it’s fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad.” (Vs. 33) “Yin and Yang” teachings are positions of compromise, but the word of God is not compromised.
If we accept compromise, how much should we accept before we are totally compromised? Jesus taught about this matter too saying, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23) What he was saying here is that if we take in evil and accept it into our thinking we will be compromised. And if the light of knowledge in us is compromised by some darkness of un-truth or lies, how dark is our understanding and where will it end? The answer is to reject all evil and not seek out the darkness but to seek the knowledge of the truth that comes from Jesus Christ and God alone.
There is a fearful prospect of judgment in this section too, for Jesus shows we will render account for every careless word we utter. If such is the case we must learn to bite our tongues and mind what we say. As James wrote, “Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” (James 1:19) Good advice if we are to avoid this judgment of all that we say.
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Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible both here and on other Christian websites. My goal is to open a deeper understanding of the scriptures for all Christians to help them find what the Bible is really saying in plain English. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
Comments
14 responses to “Out of the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth Speaks”
Amen.
I am so afraid that I have sinned the unforgiving sin.
Hi Jacqueline.
I very much doubt it & I know this is an issue many Christians worry about.
To do this unforgivable sin you first must have had a full & complete understanding of the New Covenant, be well versed in how it works, what it does and have seen the fullness of the goodness of the Lord & all He offers mankind and then and ONLY then rejected, spurned and blasphemed the Holy Spirit.
Many people say things in ignorance but that is not the same as one who rejects the Lord & blasphemes from a position of knowledge. Look at Paul who opposed Jesus Christ to the point of agreeing to Stephen being stoned & throwing many Christians into prison. He did those things in ignorance and not only was he accepted by the Lord, he wrote most of the Bible so we can learn.
Do not fear but look to Jesus in hope & in faith. The mere fact that you are worried about this tells me you probably have not sinned in this way because if you had, you would not be here worrying about it.
God bless,
John
What defiles a man
Hi Ruby,
The Lord said it is what comes out of the hearts of men that defiles them. Evil thoughts, evil desires, covetousness, and so on that are or lead to sin.
All the best & God bless,
John
Honestly I feel real blessed,May God continue to increase u in everything u
need that will aid your ministry.Remain ever blessed.
Thank you for the insight and reestablishment of what Jesus died for, for establishing the Truth that will make us all free. Free from wrong insights and doctrines that assist with feeling good despite being bad
very educative. Iam managed to cleat all the misinterpretation. Be blessed
Thanks for your comment. I hope the post helped. God bless.
Thanks for this article. This article is what I needed with dealing with my dad he always say things that are rude just to see how others react then he reacts with a negative attitude afterwards. I have learned to just be quiet and let him talk. But now I have something he can use to meditate on from the word since he says that he is trying to live right by God. I am constantly correcting the way he talks to strangers and rewinding him that it is not three way God wants us to act.
No problems Kay. Glad you found it useful. One of the greatest challenges we all face is in dealing with those closest to us. The answers are all in the Word of God…all we have to do is to find them and apply them. Please come back any time and let me know how it goes with your Dad. God bless.
An excellent discussion which helps me come a bit closer to being able to confront (in the love of Christ) two persons in my life regarding the foul language that comes out of their mouths from time to time. It is most uncomfortable for me and I am shocked each time I hear what is coming out of their mouths. Neither of them even flinch. One is a Christian? and one is not.
The Yin and Yang vs God regarding compromise will help me deal with other people in my life when their Yin and Yang compromising attitudes (good in evil and evil in good) pop up. God can indeed work good to come out of evil, but it has nothing to do with the good being in the evil…it’s how He ultimately works the circumstances for His own purpose.
Thank you . Really appreciated opening up your site.
No time for editing. Hope what I said makes sense.
DG
Hi Deirdre,
Thanks for the comment and I’m glad the information helped.
As for the two people whose speech gives you grief, it may be that the Lord is working on some other aspect of the Christian person’s life and will deal with their tongue later. The tongue after all is the hardest of all things to tame (James 3:6-12). You may perhaps also quote Colossians 3:8 to your friend where we are told to put away, “…foul talk from your mouth.” If this person is sincere they will listen and heed the word. If not that will show too and as mentioned perhaps the Lord is working with them in other ways at present.
As for the non-Christian, it is the way of the world today to use foul talk in daily speech. It is everywhere so you probably can’t expect anything more. Indeed the Lord says in Revelation 22:11, “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” Unless the Lord convicts this person they may not change.
In the mean time though, pray about the matter and then make your feelings known to them. Tell them you find such speech offensive and that you are upset by it. If they listen and respect you they will change their ways. If they don’t listen and continue to use foul talk, then they do not respect you and you will know where you stand with them. In that case let the Lord deal with it.
All the best,
John
A great message. The full meaning and relevance of these words of THE MASTER must become foundational teaching and daily practice in the church and in the lives of the saved.