No More Junk Food! (Mark 7 pt. 2)

Growing up at a Christian camp my parents allowed me and my siblings to have 2 free items from the snack shop each day. I would even go around to the other tables that the camp staff and church sponsors for the week ate at and would eat the leftover dessert.

I ate so much “junk food” growing up. Humorously, my parents look back and laugh and question their parenting choice on that now.

Junk food carries no nutritional value to our bodies. We eat it because we like the way it tastes.

We live in a world where our mind and heart eat too much junk food. We live in a world that tries to sell to us food that they declare is healthy and nutritional but when you truly look at the ingredients it truly is junk food in a nice wrapper.

The world does this on a spiritual level as well. The world we live in and unfortunately as Christians we have fallen prey to the dirtiness of unholiness. We as the world are often more concerned with our public testimony than the condition of the heart that drives the testimony.

On the heels of Jesus calling out the Pharisees for pushing their legalistic oral tradition and elevating it to the level of God and his Word, Jesus explains that we can live as “righteous and holy” on the outside but it wont last. The outside veneer is not what is the quality of a person, the heart of a person, the core of who they are. It is the inside, it is the heart that dictates the level of holiness and righteousness one is living.

Our passage this morning is dealing with the importance of understanding the filthiness of of a person’s heart regardless of how outwardly they conform to the “rules and standards” of the Christian life. Nothing you or I do apart from Christ will produce a heart of Christlikeness.

Our main truth: Invest your energy in relishing Christ and not relishing public perception.

So how does this main idea resonate with our text? The big idea is that of our inner man apart of God’s saving grace commits sin that defiles him. So as this is true, our energy in life needs to be as Matthew states in Matthew 6:21

Matthew 6:21 NASB95

21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

where Jesus is preaching and responding to the hypocrites who fast and pray for the wrong reasons. He tells the listeners to not worry about tomorrow but to trust in God.

I. Our outward actions reveal our inward reality.

Two weeks ago we looked at the truth that man all too often places an overemphasis on the do’s and do not’s of living righteously that they over-apply biblical text, construe the text, perhaps fail to properly understand the effect of living in a predominantly outward manner.

Jesus explicitly states in Mark 7:14-15

Mark 7:14–15 NASB95

14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.

that the outward actions of a man are driven from the inward truth about their heart.

The disciples who are hearing all this and still do not understand, ask God to better explain what he just taught them.

An example in Peter

For the Jews of that day, this was incredible. The Apostle Peter heard Jesus say this with his own ears. Yet, some time later, after Pentecost, when Peter was well-experienced with preaching the gospel, he still had trouble with thinking he could be defiled by what went in. So acute was his problem that while he was praying on a rooftop in Joppa,

He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. (Acts 10:10–16)

The vision prompted Peter’s ministry to the “unclean” Gentiles. But it was also revelatory of his Hebrew psyche.

(R. Kent Hughes, Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, vol. 1, Preaching the Word (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989), 166–167.)

Jesus than agrees to once again explain the parable. He confronts them first for not understanding and then second for not realizing the specific manner in which man is defiled.

How does Jesus describe defilement? Jesus gives 13 avenues by which our hearts are defiled. We are going to take a few moments to look at how Jesus tells us we defile ourselves before him. When Jesus states the truth of how what flows out of us defiles, our minds need to race to spiritual evaluation mode. How do any of these manifest themselves in a Christian? IF we are to answer this lets evaluate these actions and attitudes.

Apart from God this is what people are like. Christ is being direct in speaking to the depravity of every living person. It is these desires and patterns of life that Paul discusses we are justified and redeemed from in his letter to the Romans. In his letter to the Ephesians he describes someone whose life is characterized by these traits as dead spiritually. In Ephesians 2 and in Romans 8 Paul shares the truth that through Christ those who repent from their sin and choose Christ in repentance and faith are given victory (Gal 5:16; Romans 8:1) over the power of sin.

So in this light, we as Christians still struggle with sin, we struggle with emphasizing the outward when the inward is waht matters. Let’s take a few minutes and evaluate our hearts and see this morning where we are living more like our depraved flesh than our sovereign Savior!

These 13 characteristics of sinful living as has been done by some commentators be summarized as such:

Evil Thoughts - Evil devising and schemes. They set the stage for what follows.

Sexual Immorality (porneia) - General word identifying any and all sexual sins contrary to God’s will. It includes premarital, extramarital, and unnatural sexual behavior.

Theft - Stealing. Taking from another what is not yours. The eighth commandment (Exod 20:15; Deut 5:19).

Murder - Taking an innocent life. The sixth commandment (Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17).

Adultery - Violating the marriage covenant by engaging in sexual behavior mentally (Matt 5:28) or physically with someone you are not married to. The seventh commandment (Exod 20:14; Deut 5:18).

Greed - Coveting, a desire for more at the expense or exploitation of another. The tenth commandment (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21).

Maliciousness/Wickedness/Evil Actions - Behavior that is bad, wicked; deliberate malice.

Deceit - Deception, dishonesty, cunning treachery.

Sensuality/Licentiousness/Promiscuity - Unbridled, shameless living that is lacking in moral discernment or restraint.

Stinginess/Envy (lit. “an evil eye”) - Figure of speech for envy, jealousy, rooted in unbelief. It believes God is withholding His best from you. A heart ailment that has the seeds of its own destruction sown within. It is never satisfied! It always wants more.

Blasphemy - Slander; defaming; speaking evil of man or God.

Pride - Arrogance, haughtiness.

Foolishness - Senselessness; spiritual insensitivity.

(Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 156.)

The World does not like Jesus’ assessment of where life receives its problems and defilement. The world begins with the idea that man is basically good. They use all sorts of tactics to brush aside absolute truth and what truly is the truth—man is depraved! In fact this is in essence what the Pharisees and religious leaders did with elevating the Mishnah to the level of God’s truth! They did things backwards. They set up fence after fence and if they could have they would have electrified the fence in order to keep people from going against God’s truth. They so emphasized the oral tradition that they did not agree with what God was saying. In fact in this conversation they were trying to trip Jesus into saying something wrong.

Jesus’ response was magnificent. He just again pointed out their sinfulness and the true defilement of the person is the heart behind the actions.

1 Samuel 16:7 resonates this same truth only thousands of years earlier. God sees the heart!

1 Samuel 16:7 NASB95

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

As we have seen the truth that our heart defiles us. It is our heart from which flow our desires, thoughts, actions, and words.

Our second point this morning is simply putting this into chewable bites so that we would respond with the heart of David and the desire of Paul. A man or woman after God’s own heart desperately yearning to be with God for eternity.

II. Our inward reality must be founded on biblical truth. Joshua 1:8 ; Matthew 4:4 ; Proverbs 4:23 .

Joshua 1:8 NASB95

8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Matthew 4:4 NASB95

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Proverbs 4:23 NASB95

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Here in our primary text of Mark 7:14-23 Jesus does not take the time to share the positive commands of what to do and how to act. He rather states the fact, the truth that what is in our inner man defiles us not the physical actions we take day to day.

If an action is sinful it is a result of the heart and attitude behind it being sinful. To see this in action let’s look again at the list Jesus enumerates for us in Mark 7:21-22 .

Mark 7:21–22 NASB95

21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.

Evil Thoughts - heart to desire to get what you want through evil scheming and planning to get it.

Sexual Immorality (porneia) - my sexual desires in life are not fulfilled so I need to scheme a way to get what I want

Theft - Stealing. I do not have the money for it but I still want and deserve it.

Murder - Taking an innocent life. The attitude behind murder is often an extreme version of self-deserving, covetous, greedy and jealous mindset.

Adultery - Discontent with the marraige God has given to you. Violating the marriage covenant by engaging in sexual behavior mentally (Matt 5:28) or physically with someone you are not married to. The seventh commandment (Exod 20:14; Deut 5:18).

Greed - Coveting, a desire for more at the expense or exploitation of another. The tenth commandment (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21).

Maliciousness/Wickedness/Evil Actions - Behavior that is bad, wicked; deliberate malice. Going out of your way to hurt someone else to better you in some fashion.

Deceit - Deception, dishonesty, cunning treachery.

Sensuality/Licentiousness/Promiscuity - Unbridled, shameless living that is lacking in moral discernment or restraint. Living like the prodigal son.

Blasphemy - Slander; defaming; speaking evil of man or God.

Pride - Arrogance, haughtiness.

Foolishness - Senselessness; spiritual insensitivity.

Let’s put this all together. Two weeks ago we looked at the idea of tradition and elevating elements of the Christian life and application of truth to equal or higher level than the Word of God.

Jesus repudiates the Pharisees by declaring to them and the disciples that not washing your hands or doing work on the Sabbath does not constitute breaking God’s law. It does not constitute sinning before God.

Our heart is what matters. Our core inner man is what matters as we saw last week as we looked into how God is at work in our messy lives. We need God’s power and love. We need to be seeking it and understanding it.

The Pharisees and others were rejecting the law in practice as they elevated their own oral tradition. They were living in ardent pride before God because they thought their actions existed to put a fence around the law and help people fulfill and obey the law.

We as Christians place such a premium on our outward testimony that we skew the inner reality of our lives and in practice begin to elevate the practice of scripture over the text of scripture. The practice becomes scripture in many ways. Jesus repudiates this way of living by declaring what truly defiles us.

So what are you allowing into your life that is sinful and you are using incorrect application and/or interpretation to cover your sin and elevate your public standing?

Where in your life are you merely living externally rather than internally letting the grace and mercy of God shape you?

If we are going to live out the internal reality that God desires and demands, we have got to be in God’s Word. Three passages of scripture among many in scripture encourage us to do just this. We are going to look at each of these to help support our walk with Christ. We need God’s Word to not live like the Pharisees in this passage. We need God’s Word to not live elevating the practice of scripture or the arena of practicing scripture to the level of practicing scripture.

Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on Mark provided this comparison of the big idea of our text:

Man’s traditions

Outward forms—bondage

Trifling rules

Outward piety

Neglect, replace the Word

God’s truth

Inward faith—liberty

Fundamental principles

True inward holiness

Exalts the Word of God

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 135.

Support Verse #1:

Joshua 1:8 NASB95

Joshua is given the command to not let the law, God’s Words and commands to depart from you mouth. This is interesting language. It has the idea of talking scripture to yourself. Joshua needed to know God’s law so well that he would be able to consistently teach himself and others what God says and how he says to live. As he was not to let it depart but rather constantly meditate each day on God’s Word! The idea of day and night is not speaking to specific times but emphasizing the daily consistency we are to live. God’s Word God tells Joshua here the importance of meditation is that he would know how to live and how to be watchful to live according to God’s Word, not outside or alongside, but only God’s Word. It is only by living according to God’s Word that we can live where our inner man is not defiling us but proving and growing us.

Support Verse #2

Matthew 4:4 NASB95

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

As Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness He answers Satan’s temptations with the Word of God.

What the Pharisees did and what we have done and still do by holding tradition and rituals at the same pedestal as God’s Word is not letting God’s Word drive our actions just as Jesus illustrated when facing temptation. Tradition and ritual will not defeat temptation but God’s Word will. I have brought our attention to this passage for the purpose of the primacy of God’s Word in our lives.

Another text that helps to support the truth of God’s Word being primary is found in the OT in the collection of Proverbs.

Support Verse #3

Proverbs 4:23 NASB95

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

The word used here “watch” is being used imperatively. It is a command for us to watch over, guard, or fortify our heart. We are to do this guarding with earnest. It is the idea of bringing your heart into custody. When someone is in custody they are being protected. The reason we are to be so determined in our guardianship of our heart is because it is the very center of all that we are.

Jesus tells us in his sermon on the mount from Matthew 6:21

Matthew 6:21 NASB95

21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

that our heart reveals our treasure. He tells us in Luke 6 that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

The truth that the Pharisees like us often fail to guard our hearts and we think we are guarding them. If we are like the Pharisees we come up with a list of regulations and traditions to fence in our heart thinking that it will keep us from sinning.

I have seen too many examples of men and women who sought to live righteously but ,seemingly to us, all of a sudden they make a life altering sin choice. They most likely had fences and maybe even more of a wall set up and for a portion of time it worked to deter them until the fence of man-made bricks were destroyed by the evil things that defile us.

Jesus’ big message through Mark 7:1-23 truly is that truth, His truth, matters over man’s tradition!

Man’s tradition is laced with inconsistencies and false piety that only neglects and potentially replaces God’s Word. God’s truth, on the other hand, truly sets the Christian free and provides life altering principles to glorify God with a true inward holiness that exalts the Word of God!

Conclusion

So what about you? What is your inward reality? How intertwined is God’s Word in your life? Are you guarding your heart? We guard our heart with God’s Word!

We are not intrinsically good like the Pharisees portrayed or how our world even espouses today!

We need to live remembering that apart from God’s saving grace our hearts can deceive us. The heart is desperately wicked and defiled and we need God’s grace and mercy! We need God’s power and love to guard our hearts!

With this said we do not live without license and law. Paul states in Romans 6:1

Romans 6:1 NASB95

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

that we do not live without restraint but that our heart is shaped by God’s grace that teaches us to live seriously and righteously and godly in this world. Tradition and excessive application and laws will not teach our hearts. It is God’s grace using God’s Word illuminated by God’s Spirit with God’s power because of God’s Son that we can and ought to be guarding our hearts!

We need to humble ourselves and admit where we have allowed tradition to drive our personal and ecclesiastical ministry and service to God. We need to admit where we have become blinded by evaluating serving God on what we have always done and get busy evaluating our relationship and serving God by what God’s Word says. God desires our heart to be right with him. If our heart is not right than any traditions or stipulations we place on the Christian life will only be defiling us because our heart and that which proceeds from it defile us.

If God’s Word is not the sole authority but has been joined by something else than we have entered pride and self-indulgence into the scene.

We must be living in a way that seeks to root out the defilement in our lives. We need to be living with God’s Word permeating our lives.

We need our inward reality to reflect God’s Word as God’s Word is the foundation to a heart that seeks after God.

For as we contemplate the heart of the matter, how people view us outwardly is not as important as to the condition of our inward reality!

Invest your energy in relishing Christ and not relishing public perception.

because relishing Christ will produce a proper public perception that will be hated by the wicked and encouraging to the righteous.

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