"Your Cheating Heart"

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Mark 7:1-23

Introduction: (What?)

The heart is often described as the seat of the emotions. We have sayings such as, “I love you with all of my heart” or we tell people to “follow their heart” when making a life decision. In Biblical times the seat of the emotions was thought to be the kidney or the liver. Can you imagine telling your spouse, “I love you with all my liver?” Yuck! Country music icon Hand Williams was the first to record “Your Cheating Heart”. Today we will look at what the HCSB calls Jesus’ longest “conflict speech” in the Gospel of Mark

The truth of the matter regarding the heart was written by the prophet Jeremiah in 17:9 when he said, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable---who can understand it?” In today’s message we will find Jesus expanding on that thought.

Explanation: (Why?)

1. Hand washing and Sanitizing Before the Pandemic (vv 1-5)

Although you probably washed your hands before eating prior to the pandemic, the practice has now become almost an obsession. Not only do you wash them, but you either count to 20 or sing “Happy Birthday” while you wash them. Medical personnel tell us that incidences of cold or flu are fewer this year most likely due to hand washing, wearing masks and social distancing. Currently we have very specific reasons for hand washing, however the day might come when we continue the practice but forget why we do it. We may also look down on those who do not wash their hands before meals. At this point it becomes legalism.

Mark 7:1-5 describes such a situation with the Pharisees, who were making a list and checking it twice of the “sins” of Jesus & His disciples. “The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Him. They observed some of His disciples were eating bread with unclean---that is, unwashed---hands. (for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles and dining couches.) So the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, ‘Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean hands?’” This ceremonial washing had nothing to do with cleaning dirty hands. The ceremony involved someone pouring water out of a jar onto another’s hands, whose fingers must be pointing up. As long as the water dripped off at the wrist, the person could proceed to the next step which was pouring water over both hands with the fingers pointing down. Then each hand was to be rubbed with the fist of the other hand. (McArthur Study Bible) Illustrations: (cutting off the ends off a ham; Choir marching down center aisle with a cross before them singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”)

Many churches have traditions that have been passed down through the years that have been elevated to the level of scripture, although they are not in scripture. Some of these might be an unwritten dress code, standing for the first and last hymns, having Communion every month, etc. In some instances a church’s Constitution and By-laws are so restrictive that it is hard to let the Holy Spirit lead. Anytime we make extra-scriptural practices mandatory, we are bordering on being Pharisaical. We are constantly on the watch for someone who violates our “traditions” and thus are to be considered as sinners.

2. More rules than the CDC (vv 6-13)

The Jews were so afraid of violating the Laws of God that they created what is called “a hedge around the Law”. From Genesis through Deuteronomy there are 613 laws which the Jews added. For example, since a 24 hour period was considered sacred in keeping the Sabbath, the Jews required 25 hours so that no one got too close to the line. We still have that sort of thinking today. Hypocrisy is rampant. An example is the current boycott of the state of Georgia by ML Baseball. Because they are opposed to the new election law enacted by the state, they have chosen to pull some of their events out of Georgia and move them to Colorado, which has more restrictive voting laws than the new Georgia law. And BTW, the Commissioner of MLB still has a membership at Augusta National Golf Club and has not announced any plans to relinquish his membership. Also, MLB still has operations in China and Cuba, both of which suppress individual freedoms. These operations are lucrative so they will not touch them.

Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in vv 6-13. “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. Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.’ He also said to them, ‘You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and ‘Whoever speaks evil of father of mother must be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother; ‘Whatever benefit you might have received from me is corban’ (that is, an offering devoted to God), you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.’”

No one hates hypocrisy more than Jesus does. He always looks on the heart rather than on the activities. You can attend every service of the church, teach in the SS, sing in the choir, tithe, visit the sick and even stand in the pulpit and preach and STILL BE LOST if you have never surrendered to God and received Jesus as LORD. Good works will never save you. However, after you are saved, God has some specific good works (according to your giftedness) for you to do as a result of your salvation. (Eph. 2:10)

3. The heart of the problem is the heart (vv 14-23)

At this point in His message Jesus turned to the crowd. He was no longer just addressing the Pharisees and Scribes, but everyone.

Vv 14-15 “Summoning the crowd again, He told them, ‘Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.’” To the Jews, who had many dietary laws and were prohibited from eating certain foods, this was a bombshell. Even Jesus’ closest followers had a problem with this declaration of Jesus. In vv 17-23 they raised their questions and Jesus gave answers that are extremely relevant to us to day.

“When He went into the house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? For it doesn’t do into his heart, but into his stomach and is eliminated’ (thus He declared all foods clean). And He said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.’”

There is an old computer acronym called GIGO. That stands for “garbage in, garbage out”. When we allow garbage to enter our ear gates, our eye gates, and our other senses, we clutter our hearts with garbage. Most of the time we can control it and not let the garbage seep out. However, in times of stress, anxiety or anger, our guard is down and what is inside comes out. I’ve heard of people who were very pious who after a stroke become very profane, spouting out profanities. In the passage we just read Jesus listed 13 moral problems. The first 7 are plural and indicate repeated acts (or habits). The last 6 are singular, indicating attitudes.The writer of Proverbs, in 4:23 said, “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” The gospel writer Luke said “A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” Lk. 6:45. Luke was quoting Jesus from His Sermon on the Mount.

God’s command and promise to Joshua in Joshua 1:8 still applies to all believers. “This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe (obey)everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.”

Application: (How does this message impact my life today?)

When Samuel was a Jesse’s house looking for the next King of Israel, he started out looking at the outside of the sons of Jesse. He saw several that He thought would make good kings. But God said to him, “Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart.” When God looks at your heart, what does He see? Does He see a self-righteous legalist trusting in what “I do” or a humble sinner trusting only in what Jesus has done?

If you have never done so, today is the day to surrender to Christ. You can pray “Lord Jesus, I give you my heart.” When you do, He will cleanse it of all sin and make it a brand new heart.

If you have surrendered to Christ, but you find that some of the things Jesus mentioned becoming part of your life, today is the day to confess your sins to Him and let Him cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

If you need to be surrounded by a group of people who will love you, pray for you and encourage you in your Christ-life, I invite you to become a part of Faith Baptist Church. We aren’t perfect, we’re just forgiven, and we understand where you’re coming from.