Honored By Mouth Far By Heart

I. EXORDIUM:

Do you honor GOD with your lips?

Yes. Constantly I offer GOD a sacrifice of praise using my lips in tongues and with my understanding.

Hebrews 13:15 (Amplified Bible)

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.

Ephesians 6:18 (Amplified Bible)

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To prove that JESUS knows the hearts and minds of unbelievers and does not need anyone to tell Him about it.

Matthew 15:11 (Amplified Bible)

It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

Matthew 15:20 (Amplified Bible)

These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean or defile [him].

IV. TEXT:

Matthew 15:8 (Amplified Bible)

These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.

V. THESIS:

Praise, worship and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You are constantly motivating me to bring You sacrifice of praises through the fruit of my lips that acknowledges, confesses and glorify Your Name.

Hebrews 13:15 (Amplified Bible)

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.

VI. TITLE:

Honored by mouth far by heart

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Apostle Matthew

B. Keyword: Fulfilled

C. Emphatic Thought: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy

D. Audience: Jews

E. Apparent Purpose: To show that JESUS of Nazareth was the kingly Messiah of Jewish prophecy.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

Matthew 15:8 (Amplified Bible)

These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.

These are what hypocrites are best known for. Inconsistency with mouth and heart.

That's why when anyone comes to the LORD to become a believer, the LORD will fix his heart and mouth and make it consistent.

Romans 10:9-10 (Amplified Bible)

Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.

A. Unbelievers honor JESUS with mouth and lips

"These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips,"

Isaiah 29:13 (Amplified Bible)

And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning],

Ezekiel 33:31 (Amplified Bible)

And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear the words you say, but they will not do them; for with their mouths they show much love, but their hearts go after and are set on their [idolatrous greed for] gain.

John 1:47 (Amplified Bible)

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said concerning him, See! Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor falsehood nor duplicity!

1 Peter 3:10 (Amplified Bible)

For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit).

B. Unbelievers's hearts are far from JESUS

"but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me"

Proverbs 23:26 (Amplified Bible)

My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe and delight in my ways,

Jeremiah 12:2 (Amplified Bible)

You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouths but far from their hearts.

Acts 8:21 (Amplified Bible)

You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is all wrong in God’s sight [it is not straightforward or right or true before God].