IN these verses Jesus is still speaking to the Pharisees and evaluating them in the light of the words they had spoken accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil. Such words were monstrous, and what Jesus is saying in the verses before us is that their words reveal the condition of their hearts, and that such words will be remembered by God at the judgement as evidence of the condition of their hearts. Jesus spoke so plainly and clearly to them, and this was not only to condemn their words, but give them an opportunity to repent.

Jesus calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers (v.34) and by this he implies that their hearts were evil and full of poison. Outwardly they were upright and religious men, but their words which spoke their opinions and beliefs showed that their hearts were wrong and evil.

Speech in the Pharisees revealed the beliefs and opinions which overflowed from their hearts, and revealed how full of evil their hearts were.

Jesus continues in verse 34 to say that because the hearts of the Pharisees were evil, when it came to the things of God they could speak nothing good.

In meditating on these verses a hymn by Charles Wesley came to mind. He commences this hymn saying “O for a heart to praise my God, a heart from sin set free, a heart that's sprinkled with the blood so freely shed for me.” Here is the crux of the matter. It does not matter very much about our outward behaviour, which may be very upright and righteous. What matters is the state of our heart. The reason why we shall be judged on our words, that is the opinions and beliefs we espouse, and the values and advice we give, is because what we say in this respect is a true mirror of the condition of our heart.

By the heart is meant the inner being of a person. What we are at heart is what we really are. This may not be evident on the surface, but it is the true state of our character and inner being. The heart is the seat of our allegiance, whether we serve God or Satan.

An evil heart is not just a heart that espouses lust and passion and the like, but is a heart that is given to Satan rather than God. This condition is revealed through our speech, because in our speaking we express what motivates us, and what our beliefs are, and what are affections are set on. We may be very upright and charitable like the Pharisees, for they gave much to the poor, but they had no real love for people, and they did not really serve God but, under the guise of serving God, they actually served themselves.

The condition of a preacher's heart can be deduced from his preaching. If his heart is good, a heart that is set free from sin and sprinkled with the blood of Christ, then the words of that person will speak much of Christ and show deep love for Christ, and commend Christ to others. If the preacher,s heart is evil, the preaching will be marked, not only by unbelief in the testimony of the Bible concerning Christ, but much more by a singular lack of speaking about Christ at all.

Jesus urged Nicodemus to be born again. Here is the core of the matter. We are all born with evil hearts and unbelieving hearts, though the expression of this evil differs widely from one to another. This evil heart is revealed by our opinions and speech. We talk about what we are interested in, and what motivates us. The speech of the world ignores Christ and God entirely, or if much is spoken of God the state of the heart is revealed by lack of glorifying Jesus. It is only when we are born again that we can receive a good heart. We are then created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our inner being, our heart, is reborn, and it is a heart that is filled with love divine. Then our conversation will change.

The conversation of the new born soul will be marked by two things. It will be marked by things that are of the Spirit, for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The words may be ordinary and secular but these qualities mark the speech of a new born soul. If the flesh intrudes then there is a reaction of revulsion, and repentance takes place. This may not be at the instance of the lapse, but will be soon after as the lapse in shamefully noted. The other thing that marks a new born soul is that he or she can't help speaking of Jesus and his truth. It springs out from a heart full of love for Jesus.