Be Careful

BE CAREFUL…

TXT:MT 15:1-10, 15-20

INTRO: Brain-eating amoeba found in water supply of New Orleans suburb

Foxnews September 16, 2013. Scientists have found a rare and deadly amoeba in the water supply of a Louisiana parish where a child died last month from a brain infection caused by the microscopic organism, according to state health officials. Test results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the Naegleria fowleri amoeba was found in four locations of the St. Bernard Parish water system, the state Department of Health and Hospitals announced Thursday. State health officials say the water is safe to drink but can pose a risk of infection if the amoeba enters a person's nose. St. Bernard Parish, a suburb of New Orleans, started flushing its water lines with additional chlorine last week as a precaution after the state linked the amoeba to the encephalitis death of the child, a 4-year-old boy from Mississippi who was visiting a home in the parish. The state says residents also can protect themselves by chlorinating their pools and avoiding getting water in their nose. Earlier tests had confirmed the amoeba was present at the home. Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist, said investigators suspect the boy became infected while playing on a "slip-and-slide."

"It was the only time where he was in contact with some water that could have penetrated all the way up into his nose," Ratard said. The process of flushing the parish's water system with chlorine is expected to continue for several weeks. Ratard said the test results aren't cause for residents to panic. "You just have to be a little more careful," he said.

I. THAT WHICH CORRUPTS

v. 15 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Q: how did that get there?

1. Subtleness of sin

• We are born with sin nature, which is why we need to be made new

• We feed the sin nature when we take in things that are sinful

Illus. – boy playing in water on a slip – n- slide – microscopic organism in water. No warning, no sign it was there

2. As Christians we should not just stand against/be against things.

• We should be known more for what we are for.

• We should be for Jesus. We should be for living in such a way that pleases Him.

3. We should live a consecrated life, not a questionable life.

• This is not easy, but it is possible

• We have to guard ourselves. Filter what we take in

II. CHALLENGE OF CONSECRATION

Illus Child’s song: Be careful: .. little eyes what you see… little ears what you hear…little hands what you touch…little feet where you go

MT 6:22-23 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

1. Issue is not rules & regs. Jesus addressed this very thing

v.3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

v.5-9 Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

• It is more than a matter of looking good outwardly. Pharisees majored on that. They looked good externally but inside their heart told a different story

Mt 23:25-26 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

• Being cleans outwardly is right, but if the inside is filthy it is all for show. Both inside & outside should match

• it is a matter of vigilance & preservation

2. What you see & hear go through the mind & heart – deposited there

• Something happens when there – when you allow things that ought not be there to take up residence – become part of you

• When allowed long enough you defile yourself and those things can become a beach head from which Satan attacks you. Can’t blame the devil for what you did to yourself.

• Eye gate – what you see. [movies, TV, video games]