How About Your Heart? (Part 1) Series

HOW ABOUT YOUR HEART?

(Part I)

Mark 7:14-16

- There is an old Hymn that says:

People often see you as you are outside

(But) Jesus really knows you, for He looks inside

How about your heart?

Is it right with God?

That’s the thing that counts today.

“How about your heart?” what a sobering question! In verses 1-13 of this Chapter, there is a discourse between Jesus and some Scribes & Pharisees who had recently arrived from Jerusalem. These religious leaders confronted Jesus and accused His Disciples of eating with “unwashed” or “defiled” hands. Their concern had nothing to do with sanitation; they were offended that the Disciples did not observe a ceremonial cleansing that had been handed down from the elders. Jesus responded by confronting the hypocrisy of the Jews. He pointed out how they elevated their traditions to a level higher than God’s Word. After addressing their inconsistencies, He called the multitude together and began to teach about the importance of having a clean heart. Essentially, Jesus said “you may have clean hands and you may eat foods that are approved but how is your heart?”

In the same way, many people today focus on outward observances while failing to consider the condition of their heart. Perhaps some within our own assembly have this same incorrect focus. For that reason, I would like to walk through this passage and ask the question “How About Your Heart?”

- I would like to begin by examining verses 14-16. There we will see:

I. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION CONCERNING INNER DEFILEMENT

v14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:

After being confronted by the Scribes & Pharisees that had come from Jerusalem, Jesus called the entire multitude unto Himself. He wanted everyone to know that holy living comes from within a man’s heart; not by external observances. Simply put, it is more important to have clean hearts than clean hands.

Our only hope of holiness is to be changed from the inside, and that can only be accomplished by Jesus. No matter how hard we try to “clean ourselves up” we will never succeed. But Jesus has the power to wash our black hearts and make them whiter than snow.

Paul explains this fact in - 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul shares a comprehensive list of the kind of people who will never see God’s Kingdom. But he goes on to paint a picture of the change that Jesus can bring into one’s life. (I Corinthians 6:11 and such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.) Paul tells his readers that they had been delivered from these grave sins. In times past they were sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers and swindlers. But Jesus had done an amazing work in their lives. He washed them, sanctified them and justified them. And He has done the same for each of us who have been born again.

There is great hope found in this passage, it shows us that no one is a lost cause. No matter where you have been and what you have done, Jesus has the power to redeem you! Jesus wanted the people in this multitude to understand that there had to be a change of heart in order for them to be holy. He wants each of us to grasp that exact same truth today.

Jesus further explains the fact that it is not the external things that make one clean, rather it is the condition of one’s heart. (v15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!")

Food is a physical matter; this means that it does not have the ability to defile us spiritually. In verses 21-22 Jesus describes the issues that defile a man, and He points out that these things come from the “heart”. (v21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.)

Understand, when Jesus speaks of the “heart”, this is not a reference to the literal muscle that pumps our blood. In the context, the “heart” refers to the center of one’s being. This is a reference to the mind, the emotions and the will of man. Jesus plainly states that what goes into the mouth cannot defile the heart. This is a contrast between the physical (speaking of food) and the spiritual (referencing the heart). No combination of rituals and ceremonies can cleanse a person. Likewise, physical things (such as unwashed hands and certain types of food) do not have the power to defile someone.