Vain words in this investigative judgment time

“But I say unto you, That every idle^G692 [‘useless’] 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.” (Matt. 12:36,37).

Idle words are useless words because they make no advancement toward holiness and godliness. They are only chit-chat. They only twiddle the thumbs and waste the precious investigative judgment preparation for the executive judgment on the day Jesus returns.

Idle words advance toward the world; they love the things of the world. They they love the prince of this world, are bored with holy things, are interested in the things of Satan, and copy his satanic ways, to whom Christ denounced, “…thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matt. 16:23). That means everything in the carnal heart is only evil continually, as it was in the antediluvian world. The natural heart evades the things of God, “judgment, mercy, and faith.” (Matt. 23:23). Idle words, vacant of glory to the natural man’s Creator, are all that arise in his heart, and thus all that flow out of his mouth. “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 9:24).

“Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. 

They speak vanity^H7723 [‘desolating’, ‘ruin’, ‘guile’, ‘idolatry’, ‘uselessness’] every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. 

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.” (Psa. 12:1-3).

The opening warning of this post from Jesus against idle, vain words come from the context of speaking against conviction of sin.

“Wherefore I say unto you, … the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And … but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” (Matt. 12:31,32).

Christ was a faithful reprover of sin. When sin is lovingly called by its right name, then arises the golden opportunity for sin to become exceedingly sinful, seen as it is—criminal. Then comes the need for an exceeding great Saviour from exceedingly sinful sin, Jesus Christ the righteous one. The glorious result is deep repentance, specific repentance from the sinner, and powerful forgiveness of sin and just justification from the Saviour. Out of the justification comes a new spirit, a new heart, a new creation, reconciliation with God, peace with God, life, the gift of God—a new life!

At first, the conviction of sin is offensive since it is highly damning. But it’s the goodness of God! The scourging of the soul is from His goodness because it leads us to repentance and saves us from self-destruction and from destroying our loved ones and acquaintances. He points out faults to save families from dissolving, society from collapsing, the nation from being brought to nothing. And He is not a respecter of persons—from highest to lowest, top to bottom, rich and poor, elderly and toddler and everyone in between, statesman and citizen—all get His notices of guilt and shame.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:12,13).

And all who humble themselves by acknowledging the Judge’s exceeding guilting and shaming will be lifted up. For the last shall be first, and the humbled shall be exalted!

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: 

For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. 

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? 

But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. 

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Heb. 12:5-11).

In the end, such recipients of God’s grace have been “enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.” (Heb. 6:4,5).

What greater is there for which to ask?

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).

Christ is our Comforter, the “Wonderful, Counselor” (Isa. 6:9) to all generations. It was in love that Jesus convicted them of sin, or sent a spiritual, loving person, like Elihu to Job, or Nathan to David, to bring about the conviction and repentance and peace. Jesus originally set up His kingdom like that. Not out of revenge or bitterness toward the one who is hurting others, himself, and God, but out of mercy he speaks to the erring one.

“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:17,18).

This is what Lord Michael desired from all of Israel. This is how they could remain under His blessings. He would give them a system of self-government. He would have them police each other. With justice and mercy, through the truth as it is in the Lord their God, they would carefully remind each other of His grace and truth.

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1).

And if the trespasser won’t hear his brother or neighbor’s good counsel, then the brother should seek out another spiritual person or two for approaching the erring one, “that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (Matt. 18:16). Not peer pressure or group threat, but the opinion from a quorum may be more believable than from an individual.

“And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 

Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exo. 19:3-6).

But, because the fallen human nature despises having their sin called by its right name, since it hates to be corrected and to repent, and to change long held habits and routines, it seeks out rationalizations for its sins. It looks to a human source of ethics and morality. That source may be another book besides the authoritative word of God. It might rely on the scandalous media, or man’s opinions, his socially accepted/ politically correct notions. It may be a religious leader, clerical or lay leader or a friend. These human counselors, who are accessory to the same crime, will agree with the convicted person regarding his sinful practice. And worse, they will have a humanistic or a theological way of twisting truth. They will flatter the sinner so that the sin no longer is exceeding sinful. His oppression remains, and the oppressed receive no help. The one who was on the verge of receiving heaven’s blessing of eternal life ends up dying in his sins.

Therefore, they receive this warning from the Almighty. “With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver My people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” (Eze. 13:22,23).

It’s from this context that Jesus warned the Pharisees and religious leaders. “Wherefore I say unto you, … the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And … but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. ” (Matt. 12:31,32). There is no forgiveness for anyone who finds anyone who destroys the Law. Suppressing the power of the Law’s convictions is the unpardonable sin.

Vain words, vanity, words that are not pure, “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matt. 12:36). We must be ever engaging our conscience in our every thought and decision, word and action, and seeking to lead others to do the same. God and His kingdom must be in all our thoughts. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matt. 12:34).

“Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. 

They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. 

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: 

Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? 

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. 

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. 

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” (Psa. 12:1-8).

“For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. 

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. 

His ways are always grievous; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. 

He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. 

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. 

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. 

He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. 

He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. 

He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see it.” (Psa. 10:3-11).