Impurity Comes From Inside You
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Intro
Intro
Cake decorating (Sweet on the outside, dry on the inside)
Cake decorating party—the cake was crumbling and I was getting chocolate crumbs on the outside. But, as I layered on more and more buttercream, it started to look a lot better and eventually looked pretty good. But, when I went to eat it later, it was like 1/2 frosting and the cake inside was still dry and crumbly—the same old cake.
Explain story (brief)
Scribes and Pharisees questioned Jesus because His disciples were eating food without doing a special ceremonial washing—law of the Pharisees not a law of God in the Bible.
In common form, Jesus didn’t answer their question, but instead quoted the prophet Isaiah.
He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.
Their problem was that they ignored God’s actual law and enforced man-made laws in God’s name, that God didn’t even command. That’s why Jesus said:
You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”
Then Jesus taught the crowds who gathered saying,
Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
Implications:
The scribes and Pharisees wanted to believe that they were basically good people and deserving of God’s favor—they looked good enough on the outside.
We do this too — i.e. funerals, politicians, actors & musicians, etc.
Make the point that we are sinful by nature, from conception.
Theologically, we are born without the faculty to do truly righteous deeds with no other motive than to honor God. — not wired that way
Neuroscience, in a sense, affirms this reality.
A baby cries, it gets fed.
That forms very real cognitive correlations in the new human being. — physical changes occur in the brain.
We call this a habit.
As parents we have no choice, but to reinforce the habit. We call it nurturing.
We reinforce the habit until the kid starts to speak and inevitably one of their first words are always, ‘mine.’
On a neuroscientific level, the child who demands, ‘MINE!’ of another child’s toy is no different than the adult who robs a gas station to get a few dollars to have fun for the weekend, or the promiscuous college student who is just trying to have a little fun while they are young, or the addict who just wants to take one more hit.
It’s just that , at every stage of life, everyone gets their kicks a little different…
…and for the scribes and Pharisees, they got their kicks by showing everyone around them how well they could keep the law.
Instead of ‘MINE!’ it’s, “I’m better than you.”
But, Jesus says, no. You’re no better than anyone else.
They were sweet on the outside, but dry and impure on the inside.
There is a problem in the heart of all people.
Body
Body
We value people because of their accomplishments.
Body
Body
So, let’s talk about…
Fixing the Heart
Fixing the Heart
We are willing to overlook flaws if someone has an accomplishment in order to sufficiently shadow over the flaws. (addicts who we say are good people; good actors who do immoral things; politicians who have made great accomplishments in spite of moral failures).
…because something has to be done to fix the heart if there is going to be anything in us that can actually come out as true, unadulterated righteousness.
Intro key passage: “things that come out”
Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
Connect Mark to Matthew re: heart.
“Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.
(CSB)
17 “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.
What is the heart (and mind)? — get some terminology strait
CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY (Conscious vs. Subconscious mind)
Conscious
Voluntary actions
Reason and analysis (thoughts)
“The gate keeper” of belief — you have to decide to believe something before it can penetrate to the subconscious.
Subconscious
Involuntary actions
Emotions
Personality
Beliefs
Habits and Beliefs
ANCIENT PSYCHOLOGY
Conscious Thought
Voluntary actions
Reason and analysis (thoughts)
“The gate keeper” of belief
Subconscious
Gut
Involuntary actions
Emotions
personality
Heart
Heart
Personality
Habits and Beliefs
Voluntary actions
Reason and analysis (thoughts)
“The gate keeper” of belief
Ancient psychology took the subconscious functions of the mind and attributed them to other body parts for purpose of analogy.
Pathway of belief is through the reasoning of the mind, into the patterned belief of the heart.
PROBLEM: You are not defiled by what goes into your body (i.e. what traditions you keep—what you eat and so forth), but from what the heart produces; that is, your personality, habits, and beliefs are what defile you.
That’s a hard pill to swallow, because, even when people come to believe in Jesus, they are usually not interested in a change of personality, they are perfectly content with most of their habits and rhythms. And where people will add Jesus to their existing beliefs, rarely are people interested in giving up false beliefs to adopt the full scope of Christian dogma.
A new heart, new creation, etc. Doctrine of regeneration.
(i.e. Hindu gods in India).
WHAT WE NEED: A new heart (), to be a new creation ().
This is called the Doctrine of regeneration.
The late pastor R.C. Sproul said that explaining the doctrine of regeneration is like trying to explain a rainbow to a blind man.
If you haven’t experienced regeneration, it’s hard to grasp exactly what it is.
() Synopsize story of Nicodemus
Born again -> happen again -> generated again -> regenerated
The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Just like the wind blows where it wants and we have no explanation for it, when we are regenerated, born again, we begin to have new desires. We don’t have any explanation for where the new desires come from, because they are coming from the heart, just like our desires always have, but now these are new, redeemed desires.
But, it’s not as though your heart, being made new, is no longer your own heart (part of the mystery). It is still infected with many false beliefs, habits, and even personality traits that are sinful, defiling, and damaging to you as a person and damaging to your relationship with God.
So, you must be regenerated, born again, but then the heart must also be trained.
Training the Heart
Training the Heart
The heart wars with the flesh.
Significance of mind for training the heart: If you are conscious to control your mouth with your mind, your subconscious will be retrained and will produce the righteousness you seek with your mind.
ILL: Cursing
Significance of mind… -> If you are conscious to control your mouth with your mind, your subconscious will be retrained and will produce the righteousness you seek with your mind.
This is a continual washing of the inside of the cup and a continual cleansing of the outside.
This is a continual washing of the inside of the cup and a continual cleansing of the outside.
Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
Strategies for purifying the heart:
Meditation (passage kings were supposed to memorize and meditate on).
Reinforce: If you don’t believe in Jesus, then this doesn’t work.
You can only produce what is inside of you already, so if you don’t have anything good, then you can’t produce anything good. The Spirit of God has to regenerate you first so you have something in there to work with.
(1) Reading (cf. public reading of scripture above)
ILL: Ezra the priests read the Torah to the people of Israel when they returned from exile.
EXH: Read (and listen) to the scriptures — 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week and you finish the Bible every year, easy. (72 hours total to read—out-loud—or listen to the whole Bible). THE WORD OF GOD TRAINS THE MIND IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
(2) Listen to Teaching
How do you know what to fill your heart with?
Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
(A) Paul tells Timothy not to neglect the ministries of the public reading of scripture, the teaching, and the exhortation.
This is why we preach on Sunday’s (MYTH: The early church didn’t preach like we do.)
Expository: we read the scripture (cf. synagogue system) and then teach its meaning.
Exhortation: We tell you what to believe and how to live because of it.
(B) Paul tells Timothy to pay close attention to how he lives and what he teaches.
What you say and do are an example to those around you of how they are to live.
The mind is the gatekeeper of belief: People will reject your words and deeds, but without the words and deeds, they can’t even reject it. And others will accept it and come to believe.
(3) Meditation (intentional clearing of things you don’t want in your mind and the intentional filling of the thoughts you do want.)
Intellectual focus that trains the heart and motivates the habits and practices.
Example to kings re: the law
Deu 17.19
It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.
Read it -> Intellectual focus (starts in the mind) — all the time!
Learn to fear -> habit, belief, personality (moves to the heart)
observe instruction and do statutes -> practices of the body
NOTE: No difference between Eastern meditation and biblical meditation except for the thing you are focussing on.
Concern about opening yourself up to evil spirits vs. opening yourself up to be formed by the Spirit of God
This is cognitive reprogramming, in either case
!!! When a preacher says you need to read your Bible, this is what he is really talking about. Letting the Word of God saturate your thinking so that it gets written on your heart.
ISSUE: You clear your mind, but then what do you fill it with? Things of God, things of the devil, or things of your own desires?
How do you know what to fill your heart with?
Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
(A) Paul tells Timothy not to neglect the ministries of the public reading of scripture, the teaching, and the exhortation.
This is why we preach on Sunday’s (MYTH: The early church didn’t preach like we do.)
Expository: we read the scripture (cf. synagogue system) and then teach its meaning.
Exhortation: We tell you what to believe and how to live because of it.
(B) Paul tells Timothy to pay close attention to how he lives and what he teaches.
What you say and do are an example to those around you of how they are to live.
The mind is the gatekeeper of belief: People will reject your words and deeds, but without the words and deeds, they can’t even reject it. And others will accept it and come to believe.
ILL: Ezra the priests read the Torah to the people of Israel when they returned from exile.
EXH: Read (and listen) to the scriptures — 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week and you finish the Bible every year, easy. (72 hours total to read—out-loud—or listen to the whole Bible). THE WORD OF GOD TRAINS THE MIND IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
WARNING: If what you do with your mouth and mind is not positive, it continues to reinforce the negative patterns of the subconscious.
Training the Body
Training the Body
By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Muscle Memory
By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
Physical practice forms habits in the same way as mental practice
Righteous habits give us a sense of purpose
(It’s easy to become complacent about our faith and feel as though there is no point, no purpose in it. — coming to church, loving our brothers and sisters in the church, caring for the needy in your circle or community, etc.)
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ILL:
2 peter
—look for a xref, maybe Peter?
Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
Progression from inward things—knowledge and goodness—to outward demonstrations of our faith—self-control, endurance, godliness, affection, love.
and have embraced the new nature, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created it,
These qualities keep you from being useless. They give you a sense of purpose in your faith.
NOTE: The person who trains the mind, but not the body can have knowledge. But, his knowledge is unfruitful. Don’t let your faith be about knowledge of Jesus and never get around to living as Jesus lived.
Forming habits is hard!
Forming habits is hard!
EXH:
EXH:
People want to be magically changed to be like Jesus, but that’s not how it works.
God does the work of regeneration by placing His Spirit in you when you believe.
But, then you have to fill your mind with the things of God and fill your life with the works of Jesus. You have to be intentional to speak the words of God.
Then throughout your life, you will begin to love thing things that God loves and desire the things that God desires for you.
It’s a circular pattern of speaking and doing to form righteous habits.... SAY THIS BETTER
True happiness, joy, peace, and satisfaction is not found in getting what your heart desires;
it is found in training your heart to desire what God gives you.
We tend to follow people if we agree with what they say, regardless of what they actually do.
But, Jesus says, it is what is in a man that defiles him.
Defilement is an issue of ritual purity, not sin.
Do we make a mistake when we say it was a sin for Jews to eat shellfish?
Is this passage about being in the presence of God more than righteous living? Maybe the application is about feeling the presence of God?
BODY
BODY
The food
The pharisees
Is a bad prioritization of time today the same as the Corban issue of the Pharisees—taking care of ministry, but not family; or taking care of family, but not ministry? If so, what human tradition steels away from ministry time?
Ultimately the principle at work is that the outward persona is intended to overshadow the spiritual deficit within.
It seems based on the end of the passage, however, that sin is what keeps us from God’s presence, so maybe under the NC, it is sin, exclusively, that makes us impure, or impurity that is sinful.
The disciples
What does this mean for Jesus’s disciples?
Where did they fail?
What does this mean for us?
Talk about the church today.
What is the tradition of men?
What is the the scriptures?
DIAGRAM
From the heart the mouth speaks (and the hands work)
The heart is desperately wicked
Regeneration is necesary to change the heart
Regeneration is necesary to change the heart
The heart is the well of the soul; you must fill the well.
What tools are available are all you can use. You cannot speak or do good things you do not have inside of you.
How does God change the heart?
- by the hearing (comprehension and rehearsal) of the truth (trains neuropathways [reprogramming]).
- by the enacting of the truth (“muscle memory” — trains your subconscious to respond in particular ways according to your circumstances).
As sanctification occurs, you must be conscious to rehearse and perform the sanctified acts of the Spirit rather than the defiled acts of the flesh.
THE PEOPLE HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS: The danger here is that we might learn to speak in such a way as to make our lives more comfortable, but with no actual heart change.