vipers – Praying Pint

35.r. “What have you done?”

Genesis 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

1 John 3:12-15   We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.  Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Jude 1:11    Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain

Mat 23:33-35   You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Malice in the heart ends in murder by the hands. Cain slew Abel, his own brother, his own mother’s son, whom he ought to have loved; his younger brother, whom he ought to have protected; a good brother, who had never done him any wrong. What fatal effects were these of our first parents’ sin, and how must their hearts have been filled with anguish! Observe the pride, unbelief, and impenitence of Cain. He denies the crime, as if he could conceal it from God. He tries to cover a deliberate murder with a deliberate lie. Murder is a crying sin. Blood calls for blood, the blood of the murdered for the blood of the murderer. Who knows the extent and weight of a Divine curse, how far it reaches, how deep it pierces? Only in Christ are believers saved from it, and inherit the blessing. Cain was cursed from the earth. He found his punishment there where he chose his portion, and set his heart. Every creature is to us what God makes it, a comfort or a cross, a blessing or a curse. The wickedness of the wicked brings a curse upon all they do, and all they have. Cain complains not of his sin, but of his punishment. It shows great hardness of heart to be more concerned about our sufferings than our sins. God has wise and holy ends in prolonging the lives even of very wicked men. It is in vain to inquire what was the mark set upon Cain. It was doubtless known, both as a brand of infamy on Cain, and a token from God that they should not kill him. Abel, being dead, yet speaketh. He tells the heinous guilt of murder, and warns us to stifle the first risings of wrath, and teaches us that persecution must be expected by the righteous. Also, that there is a future state, and an eternal recompence to be enjoyed, through faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice. And he tells us the excellency of faith in the atoning sacrifice and blood of the Lamb of God. Cain slew his brother, because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous, 1Jo 3:12. In consequence of the enmity put between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the war broke out, which has been waged ever since. In this war we are all concerned, none are neuter; our Captain has declared, He that is not with me is against me. Let us decidedly, yet in meekness, support the cause of truth and righteousness against Satan (Henry)

Cain, therefore, attempts to parry the question, apparently on the vain supposition that no eye, not even that of the All-seeing, was present to witness the deed. “I know not.” In the madness of his confusion he goes further. He disputes the right of the Almighty to make the demand. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Barnes)

Is there anything we do, (good or bad) that is hidden from God? Do we think we can keep our bad hidden from God by casting it from our thoughts? If per chance we hear the whispers for the Holy Spirit convicting us, do we deafen our ears and discard it from our minds? Do we try to argue it away by cunning logic of what our culture or society approves? Oh, that our hearts and minds were as Davids. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way”

32.t. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Matthew 12:33 “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. 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 account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Luke 11:39   And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

Isaiah 32:6   For the fool speaks folly, and his heart is busy with iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the LORD, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

Romans 3:10-14  as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;  no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

James 4:8   Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Ephesians 4:29   Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Ecclesiastes 12:14    For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Certainly it is important to know what kind of fruit we are producing in our lives. Are you producing good fruit or bad fruit? What determines good or bad fruit in a person’s life? How can a person know? Sometimes we can see and know;

People who do bad things
People who say bad things
People who are arrogant, proud, and boastful
People who are greedy, lacking compassion, not generous
People who deny and reject Jesus Christ
People who neglect God’s Word and are complacent toward Jesus Christ

Their fruits in life are easy enough to recognize. The seeds that root in the heart of these people produce bad fruit because they have chosen to follow their natural self-centered, self-worthy, and self-reliant inclinations (inherent sinful nature). They reject doing good. They reject God in any part of their lives. They are ever searching and never finding satisfaction for their soul.

There are others we cannot assess their fruit either good or bad. The outward appearance of their words or actions may look good. What they do and say to others may be good. Only God has the ability to discern good or bad fruit in these people. God knows every thought and word before it is spoken. He knows the intent of every word and action. He knows the heart of everyone. We will never know the heart that produce this fruit. The root of good or bad fruit produced stems from the heart. What is in the heart will produce either. The heart of each person can be surrendered over to self and selfish desires or surrendered to Jesus Christ.

It is through he grace of God and God’s Word that our heart is revealed to us. There is a great void, darkness, and shallowness in a person’s heart who does not spend time in God’s Word and meditate on it. How can we water the seeds of God’s Word in our lives and hope to produce good fruit if we are reading it. Giving time to God’s Word only on Sunday mornings will produce little to any good fruit. Paul said people like this are still on baby food when they should be on solid food. A person on baby food will produce baby-like fruit if any at all. Jesus said people like this are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold. This should never be said of any born again person.

It is when the seed, deep within our heart, mind, and soul, we seek, desire, and purpose to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do, that the fruit of our lives will be good. Plant this seed, water it, cultivate it, and commit to producing fruit worthy of Jesus Christ and for His honor and glory alone.

27.y. “On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak”

Ephesians 5:4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Proverbs 12:23   A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

Proverbs 15:2    The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

Jude 1:10   But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively

Colossians 3:8   But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Matthew 12:34-37   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 account for every careless word they speak,  for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Romans 1:28    And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Paul’s appeal to the Ephesians was to be ever mindful of who they were in Christ and as such there ought to be a difference in how they speak and act even if the rest of the culture approves. They ought to know what is right, pure, and God honoring in their speech and actions. They ought to weigh every word in the light of God-honoring speech. As men, don’t have to spend much time outside our homes before we are bombarded with course language, filthy jokes, or other meaningless talk that adds nothing of value to our soul and certainly not toward God. We need to recognize and be able to discern what is right, honorable, and pleasing to God. The problem is we don’t recognize it as wrong or we shrug it off as fitting in. This problem has many roots that are anchored to our heart, mind, and soul. Neglect, complacency, remaining an infant in things of God, busyness, a lack of desire to honor and glorify God, wanting to fit in, shallow and stagnate knowledge of God’s Word, no hunger or thirst for His leading, and unwilling to fully commit to the will of God.

Psalms says: Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— the LORD—knows the thoughts of man

14.n. “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters”

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Psalms 5:9     For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

Psalms 73:7-9     Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.  They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.

Psalms 52:2   Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

Matthew 12:34-37    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 account for every careless word they speak,  for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Jude 1:13-16    These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Proverbs 10:31-32    The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

Free speech does not give the right, in the sight of God, to say or speak every thought that comes to our mind. Lying to influence or appeal to people is wrong. The intent, purpose, ambition, object, plan, scheme, and target are all wrong. The same can be said about deception where it might not be an outright lie but the expected truth is far away from what this deceiver is saying. We hear it from politicians, businesses, celebrities, news outlets, strangers, friends, family, etc….. The human heart, apart from Jesus Christ, has a way of making deceit right in its own eyes. Their heart is hardened like stone and they believe they are not going to be held accountable by God. They have no fear of Him. Lies, boasts, and arrogance flows from their mouths like a river. In a nation that has Free Speech we may be free to say what we want but what we say can have consequences both now and in the future and for sure at the Judgement Seat of Jesus Christ.

If we want to apply Free Speech let us do it in the way Jesus Christ intended. Do not be confused by what the culture determines is right and true. Let the Word of God be your guide. We are to speak truthfully, build others up, and use our speech to praise, honor, worship, and glorify Jesus Christ. Put your thoughts and words you are about to speak through the strainer of God’s Word. If it is not the truth, or building someone up, or to the honor, praise, glory, or worship of Jesus Christ keep it to yourself.

Who Understands?

Psalms 53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Psalms 92:6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;

Psalms 10:4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Psalms 10:6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

Psalms 10:13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Ezekiel 16:47 Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Ephesians 5:12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

Romans 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

For sure scripture is clear that mankind has a natural heart deep track away from God and if left unchecked and not acknowledged tracks further and further away. With this is the natural bend of our heart we have to be mindful of it, confess it, train it, replace it by the renewing of our heart and mind with His word. What we put into our mind and heart is what comes out of our mouth. We are bombarded constantly by our culture with things that are approved by man but far from what God desires. If we use this culture for our christian expectation gauge we will not be on a path following God. We fool ourselves if we think we can stay close to Him without daily feeding our heart, mind and soul with His word and desiring to be a humble servant that honors, follows and obeys Him. We need to encourage each other to stay in His word and speak hope into the lives of those without it. Our heart, mind and soul desire for Him needs to be one of single purpose. There is so much out there that will invade, overtake, and replace humbly serving Him.

What’s in your heart?

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,”

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”

Psalms 14:1
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD? There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:22
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 13:19
A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Revelation 21:8
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Matthew 12:34
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

Romans 1:21-32
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

At times I wonder what is worse, those who claim there is no God and live like it, or those who claim there is a God but don’t live like it. For although they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him. A good way to determine where God is in your life is to listen to what comes out of your mouth – “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”