Defilement and Cleansing

Call to Worship

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Message

Matthew 15:10–20 ESV

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

What does it mean for you to be defiled?

Jokingly we may quip that for a person to be a Marshall fan makes someone defiled.

What makes you unclean?

Every culture has cleanliness laws. They conceptualize what makes you clean or unclean.

In a modern/western culture things like…

Defilement through association. We don’t associate with “those people”

Defilement through verbal expressions. Saying the “wrong” words in the wrong crowd will land you in this defilement category.

Defilement through cleanliness.

John Wesley once popularized the idea: “Cleanliness is next to godliness”

Defilement in our modern context has a similar overtone of the religious system of Jesus’ day.

“Defilement comes from outside of me!”

Which the solution becomes…

“Since defilement is outside of me, the solution is external!”

Your heart defiles you, only God in Christ can cleanse you!

Two groups are clearly divided in Matthew 14:34-15:9.

The group of people reaching out to Christ in faith

The group of outwardly religious and unbelieving leaders.

These two groups present a sharp juxtaposition between the two kinds of people Jesus will interact with.

We need to understand that traditions are not bad.

But Jesus gives very clear guardrails for when traditions turn into transgressions.

As Dave pointed out last week.

Confrontation: Elevating tradition over Scripture it is transgression.

When we value the words of men on par with the words of Scripture, we commit the sin of the Pharisee’s.

It’s not wrong to value what men say as long as it is in accord with Scripture.

But when we elevate the words of men above Scripture, we end up in destructive places.

What are the results of valuing tradition over Scripture?

Queen Elizabeth II who was queen in the UK in 1952 came to power and they read the following line at her coronation.

“Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?”

“Will you maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law?”

This land of the United Kingdom which is a secular and unbelieving people at best still professes a sense of “godliness.”

Tradition over Scripture results in hollow worship.

How do we make sense of this?

Those who honor God with their lips while their hearts are cold have fallen into this transgression.

They speak the right words about God, but they are just that: words.

This is not to say that everyone who is an Episcopalian or Anglican is vile and unbelieving.

But it does reveal that just because a person gets their “words” rightly put together, it does not protect them.

How does valuing tradition over Scripture reveal itself?

Tradition over Scripture is observed in the externals.

When man’s words replaces God’s Word, the focus always shifts away to externals.

Remember what the Pharisee’s were complaining to Jesus about.

Matthew 15:2 ESV

2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

Likely after Jesus fed the five thousand, they’re griping that they didn’t wash their hands for dinner.

This kind of transgression is always petty.

It always focuses on the minutiae.

It’s betraying Jesus before an unjust court while being concerned with becoming unclean by entering Pilate’s presence (John 18:28).

Jesus then calls the crowd to Himself…

Matthew 15:10–11 ESV

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

Tradition over Scripture puts man before God.

What were the Pharisee’s concerned with?

On the surface they appear to be concerned with uncleanness.

They tried to solve a problem through human solutions.

“People are defiled, so we should wash in a certain way!”

But as Jesus points out, they’re really concerned about their own authority being challenged.

So it is intriguing that Jesus returns to this topic of cleanliness.

Often we will speak of the OT in a lazy way.

We reason,

“Aw, Jesus has come and we are now made pure in His death and resurrection!”

True enough. But this is actually incomplete.

Jesus doesn’t say that the concept of defilement is done away with, but He reorients where true defilement comes from.

See these men were trying to solve a problem of uncleaness through human means.

Matthew 23:27–28 ESV

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

It’s not that people are no longer clean or unclean, it’s that we rightly see where uncleanness comes from.

Matthew 15:10–11 ESV

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

It’s not what goes into you but what comes out of you that defiles you.

To keep the outside of the cup “clean” while allowing the inside to be defiled is the problem.

What does Jesus mean by defilement?

This term can generally mean to be “common.”

But when applied in Jewish culture it is “profane” or “unclean.”

This concept of “defilement” is similar to how the OT refer to the term “unclean.”

Our words, our actions, our thoughts, and our desires all make us defiled.

When you realize this it truly reshapes your Christian life.

Application to unbelievers

If everyone is focused on things outside of them, it’s easy to control that.

If we can put up high enough walls to keep the “black goo” out.

You can’t build a life clean enough to fix your heart.

If we can create thick enough walls from making us tainted with defilement.

You can’t create enough barriers to protect your heart.

But does it really cleanse you?

But when we redefine uncleaness the way Jesus does it reshapes everything.

There are no walls high enough, thick enough, or strong enough to keep us clean.

There is no water hot enough, pure enough, or strong enough to wash away our defilement.

It’s actually far more discouraging at first because Jesus says that what flows out of our hearts make us unclean.

We don’t become unclean by stepping in a mud puddle, but by opening our mouths.

We become unclean by thinking evil thoughts.

We become unclean by acting according to our evil thoughts.

This is both more depressing and more amazing at the same time.

It’s depressing because our problem with sin is far deeper, stronger, and wider than we ever know.

As we mature in the Christian life we become more fully aware of how unclean we truly are.

Yet the gospel hope is that we’re far more loved, clean, and righteous in Jesus Christ than we ever knew.

If your heart defiles you, then no amount of external change can cleanse you.

Application for us as we engage with the public.

We must help the world around us see what truly brings cleansing to us.

It’s not more church attendance.

It’s Christ.

The world’s conception of cleanliness sounds like,

“If we just go to church enough, then we’ll clean our life up.”

But it’s actually more like,

“If you come to Christ, Only He can cleanse you.”

What happens next is intriguing…

It seems like the setting of the story shift slightly.

Matthew 15:12 ESV

12 Then the disciples came and said to him…

Remember these Jewish religious leaders were respected.

If you were going to depart from them, you’d better be sure why you were departing.

If external religion replaces God’s Word, it doesn’t just mislead—it blinds.

Exposure: This transgression is characteristic of spiritual blindness.

Jesus equates the religious leaders to being spiritually blind.

Spiritual blindness refuses to see Jesus for who He is.

The Truth was standing right in front of them, and they missed Him entirely.

The spiritually blind take offense at truth.

Matthew 15:12 ESV

12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

Jesus is unmoved by the Pharisee’s criticisms.

Jesus’ enemies often describe Him by saying, “you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.” (Matthew 22:16)

The Pharisee’s are offended that Jesus would obliterate the system they took care to build.

Application for everyone.

Know this: those who are offended at truth are often shaken at their traditions.

As we saw, the spiritually blind tend to major on externals.

Colossians 2:21–23 ESV

21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

The spiritually blind always major on things that don’t matter.

And Paul says it looks like wisdom but actually is folly and unable to stop the indulgences of the flesh.

Paul opposes the ascetic practices that hinder and harm the Christian.

These ascetic practices should be labeled as anything that places a new law that is disconnected from the gospel of Christ.

This includes practices which are out of step with the word of God.

God’s word regulates how he desires to be worshiped.

What is the future for false teachers?

The spiritually blind will be uprooted.

Matthew 15:13 ESV

13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

Think of being one of the disciples and hearing this.

Hearing that the religious system that you’ve been exposed to your whole life “will be rooted up.”

Not only will it be rooted up but it was never planted by the Father in the first place.

How should the disciples respond to false teachers?

The spiritually blind must not be followed.

Matthew 15:14 ESV

14 Let them alone…

Notice that Jesus says, “Let them alone!” and a well meaning person would think this means we should never confront them.

The problem with this is Jesus just confronted them.

Why should the disciples leave them alone?

The spiritually blind try to lead the blind.

Where do you typically find the spiritually blind?

Ironically they will often be found trying to lead congregations, podcasts, or other positions of “leadership.”

Matthew 15:14 ESV

14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Jesus picks up on a common maxim of the Jews thinking of themselves as guides to the blind (Romans 2:19) by calling them “blind guides.”

This does not mean we do not engage false teachers, but we engage them by recognizing that they’re blind.

They’re blind because they clearly reject Jesus who has come.

And that blindness exists because they have misunderstood the real problem.

Matthew 15:15–18 ESV

15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

Explanation: Uncleanness proceeds from the heart

Your greatest problem is not outside of you–it’s within you.

Uncleanness comes from within, not without.

The good news is the newly framed form of uncleanness isn’t some black goo that taints us.

External rituals cannot cleanse the heart.

But consider the words of Jesus here…

Matthew 15:19–20 ESV

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Peter especially struggled to grasp this concept in the book of Acts.

Acts 10:13–15 ESV

13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

Peter calls this food “common” because it was outside of the Jewish ceremonial system for clean foods.

It would have consisted of animals which are “unclean” according to Jewish law.

Peter will later understand what God was showing him by sending Cornelius to his house.

God wasn’t mainly talking about food, but about the GENTILES (Acts 10:28)

The dream of the “common” animals was not about food as much as about associating with other nations.

Peter realizes for the first time that the program of salvation that God is bringing will not be divided by nations.

It will NOT be according to ethnicity.

It will NOT be according to outward cleanliness.

It will be according to the cleanness of the regeneration of the Spirit.

Acts 10:44–45 ESV

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

Our sin defiles us before a Holy God.

And now the blood of Christ freshly applied to His people continues to sanctify and set apart a people for Himself.

This is why the Christian needs a new heart at conversion, and continual cleansing throughout the Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Application to unbelievers…

I wonder what you think of this concept of defilement coming from within us?

Maybe you wonder how this could be?

Maybe you think this is just religious ferver?

You need to come to Christ for a definitive cleansing!

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

“Washed” here likely refers to regeneration which is represented through the use of baptism

You and I need NEW hearts.

We don’t need just outward cleaned cups.

We need new hearts!

Application to the public.

Even if every law on the books was thoroughly Christian, and this would be a commendable thing.

It wouldn’t fix our world.

It wouldn’t fix things because defilement comes from within us.

Definitive cleanness means you are fully and finally washed before God through Christ.

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

By definitive means that we have been washed, fully and finally.

We have been called “clean” before God because of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Matthew 15:20 ESV

20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

True cleanness must come from God.

I want you to notice what Jesus says defiles us.

Matthew 15:19 ESV

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

This defilement is not something that used to happen to us.

It still happens to us.

Every day.

Every week.

All the time.

And sin really does make us unclean before a Holy God.

Progressive cleanness means God continues to cleanse you as you walk with Him.

2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV

1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

What are those promises?

2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV

1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Because we have the promises of God made in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20) we should cleanse ourselves before God, from sin that clings so close.

1 John 1:7–9 ESV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Your heart defiles you, only God in Christ can cleanse you!

Benediction