From the Heart

Introduction

Last week we saw an occurence where the pharisees and scribes were mad at Jesus and his disciples because they did not wash their hands like the traditions said to. This caused a division between them and it flows right into tonight's lesson because we will see Jesus addressing what is wrong with what they are doing even further.

This lesson covers something that I think every generation deals with and this generation is no different. We think that it is external things that cause all of our issues when it is really internal. It is the heart that defiles us as we will see in the passage.

Lets read this story and then begin to see how it can relate to us today.

Mark 7:14–23 ESV

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Here we see how Jesus yet again turned their world upside down when they thought it was unclean things that they consumed that defiled them but it was really things that come out of their heart that defile them all along. They thought that washing their hands insured that they would never become unclean but even though on the outside they were clean they were still rotten on the inside because they were still sinners.

Tonight we are going to start by looking at what the common belief of the world is and what the truth is. We will then look at how far our sinful tendencies go and our one hope to be free of them.

lets begin tonight with prayer.

The Common Belief

The Common belief of the world is that you need to have yourself put together where everyone sees. I am good on the outside, everyone sees this, there is no problem. The Pharisees and scribes that we looked at last week thought this same way. They had clean hands while they ate and they followed all of the traditions so they were good. The outside of the water bottle is spotless so it must be good to drink out of right?

I’m sure that all of this logic does not add up to you and that is good. This is the way that many people think and I am sure that some of you think this way without even knowing it. You think that the thoughts of your mind are bad but they are just thoughts. You hate someone but they don’t know it and you didn’t kill them. The issue is that Jesus wants us to go further than that. He wants us to be deeper than that. This is where we get to the truth of the matter.

The Truth of the Matter

So what is the truth of the matter? It is right here in our text Mark 7.15 “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”” What Jesus is saying here is that it is not the things that are on your dirty hands or some particular kind of food that defiles you but it is what comes forth from your heart. Our heart is the core issue here. The heart here is not referencing a organ in your body but rather the center of your being, your heart is who you are at your core.

So the common belief is that it is other things that defile us but as we see in this passage it is what comes from our heart that defiles us. How often do you think about the matters of the heart? This is all your thoughts and actions. We are told that our heart is deceitful and that it has evil tendencies. We need to think deeply about this and not listen to it. This can be hard because we are often told to follow our heart but what I am telling you right now is the exact opposite. Do not follow your heart. Following your heart is inviting evil into your life.

Sometimes the truth hurts, especially when it reveals more sin in our lives. The thing with this though is that when we know sin we can correct sin with the help of the Spirit. See we are sinners down to the very center of our being, this is the truth of the matter. We love to play the blame game but we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Our Tendencies

We see the truth of the matter is that we are sinful in more than our actions but down to our very heart. This results in sinful tendencies in our lives. Lets re read Mark 7.21-22 “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

We have these sinful tendencies, they are more than just actions that we do but they are things that come from the heart. I’m sure that one of these stuck out to you and you thought ouch I need to work on that. We know that we tend to go in sinful directions and often we don’t want to yet we still do. These things are what defile us and they come from within, they are not external things that we get wrapped up in but rather they come from us.

We have sinful tendencies, this is because we have a sinful nature. This is because of the sin that Adam had in the garden. Notice that the command was given to Adam then Eve ate the fruit and nothing happened until Adam ate it. Adam was supposed to be in charge but he wasn’t. The first thing he did was blame Eve. This is just how we are and this makes us sinners. I am a sinner, you are a sinner, we are sinners. We do things that go against God. This is where our great issue comes from because the wages of sin is death. Our sinful tendencies, our sinful nature makes us deserving of death. This is the great issue that we have, this is the reason that we need Jesus in the first place. This stuff didn’t start when Jesus showed up and he told them about it, it started with the first sin and Jesus is showing how it goes way deeper than the people ever realized.

Have you ever realized how deep that your sin goes in your life? Have you ever thought that your tendencies are not even good? Have you ever thought of it as a problem? If you have not thought of your sin in this way then I would encourage you to start. Realizing how big of an issue sin is is the first step to realizing your need for a savior. Realizing the size of the issue of sin also helps motivate those that have Christ to obedience. This issue is not without hope though and that is what we will look at next.

Our Hope

So through this we know that the common belief of the world is wrong and the truth is that our tendencies make us have a far greater issue than you may have originally realized. Sin is an issue that goes deep within us. This leaves us with only one hope and that is the forgiveness that comes through Jesus. See the issue with our sin is that it displeases God so we need his forgiveness and that is available to us through Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to this world with the sole intention of dying for our sins and taking our place. He bore the wrath that we deserved and payed the price that we should have payed. It is because of our defilement that we need this great hope. His death made a way for us to be forgiven, all that he requires is that you put your faith in him and turn away from your sins. It is that simple, he doesn’t want to make it so hard that it is impossible. But there is only one way to obtain it.

People often think that doing good will offset the bad that they have done, this is just like washing the outside when the inside is still dirty. There are lots of good people in hell, some of the best and nicest people to live are in hell. This is because all of the stuff that they did didn’t save them, it is only through faith in Jesus that we are saved. Anything else that you do trying to get salvation is just like these guys that think it is what they put in that defiles but it is really what comes out that defiles.

Hope is found in Jesus and the salvation that he offers. Our sin is not just a little problem, it is the biggest problem that we could ever possibly have and without Jesus it will always be a problem.

Conclusion

Mark 7:15 ESV

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Jesus spoke these words as he was criticized for not following the traditions that they had in this time that they held higher than scripture. We must remember that we bring this defilement, this impurity on ourselves not through what goes in but what comes out. What comes out comes from the heart so this even includes our thoughts that come out in our head. This shows us just how deep our sin goes.

We tend to sin because it is our nature. Cows eat grass all day because that is their nature, we sin because that is ours. We are so fallen that there is nothing else that we can do. Thanks be to God that forgiveness is possible through the work of Jesus on the cross. It is through faith and repentance that we are saved. There is nothing that we can do, us trying to earn salvation is just like the guys in the story thinking they become unclean because of what happens on the outside. Salvation is through Jesus Christ and him alone.

If you have not accepted this salvation let tonight be the night. If you have accepted this salvation then you need to realize just how big your forgiveness is and start living to tell everyone about it.