What defiles a Man
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
Good Morning
Mullins Association Meeting Next Sunday
Fall Family Fun Night Next Sunday
We have an election coming up in a couple of weeks. Be in prayer for our country and for God’s will to be done in the election.
Where do rainbows go when they have been bad? To prism, so they have time to reflect on what they have done.
This morning we are going to be in Mark 7:14-23. Last week we saw the Pharisees and Scribes were back to trying tip up Jesus. They were asking Him why His disciples don’t follow the traditions of the elders. They were not concerned about the Bible, they had elevated their traditions to the same if not above what God said. Jesus turned it back on them and told them that they were experts at setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep their tradition. The Pharisee’s and Scribes had become masters at finding and making loop holes in God’s commands. They were limited how far they could walk on the Sabath. But they could go farther if they entered a dwelling place of theirs. So they would have people place their tooth brushes under rocks along the path they were taking so that they could say that since their toothbrush was there, it was a dwelling place and could travel farther. Traditions become bad when they are elevated to the same level as God’s Word. We must never replace God’s commands with man’s.
Last week we saw what man thought made us unclean. Today we are going to see what Jesus says makes us unclean. Spoiler alert, they are not the same thing.
Today we are going to look at the heart of man. We are going to see what really defiles a person. We are going that even though the Scribes and Pharisee’s were very religious, they were dead inside. Their hearts were as dead as the unbelievers.
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 person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person.”
17 And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared all foods clean.)20 And He was saying, “That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. 21 For from within, out of the hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, 22 deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”
In verse 14 Jesus called the crowd back to Him. He told them to listen to Him and understand. This was an important command He was giving them. He was telling them that He was about to say something that is very important. He wanted their attention. He wanted them to know that He was about to explain something that they needed to know.
He begins to tell them that it isn’t what they eat or touch that makes them unclean. It is what comes out of them that makes them unclean. He was telling them that touching Gentiles or eating bacon, wasn’t what makes them unclean. This would have been a huge statement! The Jews had lived their whole lives under the ceremonial cleansing laws. Everything they knew was about keeping their outsides clean. Jesus just undid everything they knew with this one statement.
He didn’t give the crowd any explanation.
Verse 16 in my Bible is in brackets, which means that it is not in most of the best manuscripts.
When they had left the crowd and entered the house, the disciples began to question Jesus about the parable He just told the crowd. Remember that Jesus had just made a statement that nothing outside of their bodies can make them unclean. This went against everything that they had been taught their whole lives. They were like, wait what? Jesus was kind of hard on them like He had been other times when they questioned a parable. He asked if they were they as were? He said that the things that enter the body from the outside do not enter the heart, they enter the stomach and then is eliminated. Cleanliness is about the heart, not what we eat or touch. With this statement He make all food clean for them to eat!! Bacon was now on the menu!! I like the note in the ESV Study Bible.
Mark notes that Jesus’ teaching, in essence, declared all foods clean. The Mosaic ceremonial laws distinguished between “clean” and “unclean” foods (see Lev 11:1-47). Their purpose was to instill an awareness of God’s holiness and of the reality of sin as a barrier to fellowship with God. But once defilement of the heart is thoroughly removed and full fellowship with God becomes a reality (through the atoning death of Jesus; see Mark10:45; Romans 14:14; Hebrews 8:6-13; 9:10,14), the ceremonial laws have fulfilled their purpose and are no longer required.
The point is simple: it was always about the heart.
The key to understanding and walking in the understanding of scripture is, it’s all about the heart!
Jesus said that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. What is in our hearts, is what defiles us. It is from our hearts that evil originates. He says that from our hearts come evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. This is the defilement that the law is pointing to, not the outward uncleanness.
Sin’s root in our hearts will inevitable produce sin’s fruit. It is an ugly destructive crop. The root of sin is the most addictive substance the world has ever know. Even though we are given a new heart when we are saved, our flesh is so addicted to sin that we will have a life long battle against it. We will never be free from it until we stand before our King in glory. These evil actions arise from one’s heart, which is the source of sin that condemns.
There are basically only two approaches to religion, each of which can be summed up in a single word: do or done. The world says the problem is out there, and the solution is to answer the question, What can I do? The Bible says the problem is inside of us, and the answer is what Christ has done! You see, in legalism we think better of ourselves than Jesus does. But in salvation we think the same of ourselves as Jesus does: we are hopeless, helpless sinners in desperate need of a Savior!
There is only one way to get a clean heart. That is through the work done by Christ on the cross. Only through Him can we have a new heart. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
When we repent of our evil, sinful heart, and we believe in Jesus Christ, we are given that new heart. A heart that is clean. Not clean in a way that we can make it clean, it is clean by His blood, clean for eternity. It doesn’t mean we won’t sin again, it means that we will not enjoy our sin, we will not live a life marked by sin and evil. When we as believers realize that we have sinned, we will be broken by it and will repent of that sin. We will not continue in it.
There is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God. Our sin has taken us out of fellowship with God. The only way to restore that fellowship is by death. Blood has to be spilled to pay the debt for sin. That is what the Law of the Old Testament was for. It was to show that we can not atone for our sins. No animal can pay the price for our sin. It can only be the sinless Son of God! He willingly came to earth to hang on that cross so that we could have our fellowship with God restored. All we have to do is repent of our sin and believe in Him. Believe that He is who He says He is. The Son of God. Our Savior. It sounds simple because it is. God took all the work for our restoration. We don’t have to do anything but repent and believe. We have to be willing to accept the fact that we can do nothing, it is done. It is finished. His death is for everyone, everyone who will repent and believe. It is the only way to God. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father but through Him. John 3:16-18
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The next time that Jesus comes to this world, He is coming to condemn it. He will come to pass judgement on those who did not believe. It is not to late if you have not repented and believed. We are going to open up the alters as we sing and you come and repent and believe. You can do it right there at you seat if you want to, there is no where in the Bible that says you have to walk the isle of a Baptist church to be saved. All I ask is that if you do repent and believe today, let someone know so that we can celebrate with you and come along side you and help you with this new journey you have begun.
Let’s pray.
