That Which Defiles
PPT 1 Message title (That which defiles, - that which corrupts the heart)
PPT 2-6 text
Mark 7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
Mark 7:15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
Mark 7:16 [["If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."]]
Mark 7:17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.
Mark 7:18 And He *said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,
Mark 7:19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)
Mark 7:20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
Mark 7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
Mark 7:22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
Mark 7:23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
Jesus tells us what really defiles a person. We will examine defilement in 3 ways, what is defilement, what causes defilement, then finally we will discuss in a specific area, how some things that enter us, do in fact defile us.
First up, what does in mean in the bible when it says a person is defiled? Unclean is a word that is used interchangeably with defiled. That should help your understanding.
In the OT, defiled meant you were spiritually unclean or impure. It rendered you unfit for divine service, as in a priest could not serve while he was defiled, or as a regular person you would not be able to go to the temple, until you were cleansed.
To the Jews of Jesus day if you ate without washing your hands, or ate certain foods, touched a dead person touched a leper, and many other things you would be defiled and would need to go through a cleansing ritual, and abstain from attendance at the temple for a fixed amount of time before you could be right in God’s eyes again, and return to temple. What is so bad about touching a dead person? If you did for 7 Days you would not be able to go to the temple. That is serious. God never explained it, I think it has to do with symbolism, the OT is about types and shadows, so I think God is trying to teach about things that if we get involved with that can lead to spiritual death, but I’m not not sure.
In speaking specifically about eating certain things (here in Mark), and eating with unwashed hands (Mt 15) Jesus flips the narrative on what the ot law said, and says those things don’t make you defiled. How could Jesus do that? How could He change the law given by God? A. eating with unwashed hands was not a biblical law, but a tradition of the fathers, and B. He could change the law, because He was the God who made the laws. More on that later.
Now to the issue of do foods defile.
PPT 7 text
Mark 7:18 And He *said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,
Mark 7:19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)
First notice, that Jesus makes clear that defilement is a matter of the heart and not the stomach. Every now and then I run into someone who is obsessed that Christians are not supposed to eat pork. When I talk with them there is a part of me that wants to say, “leave my bacon alone!” But, it is important we deal with their faulty theology. Just bc you like bacon doesn’t give you the right to eat it, if God says we shouldn’t, then we shouldn’t. And, in the OT God had said we shouldn’t. How do we resolve this issue? So here is why you can eat pork.
Jesus declared all foods clean. All versions have that last clause except the KJV, but the NKJV has it. It is very important you catch what is going on here, Jesus is turning certain parts of the OT law on its head. Not the moral laws but the ceremonial laws. How could He do that? Because as the scripture says of Him, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
It is interesting to note:
6x’s in the sermon on the mount Jesus overruled Moses, and the OT laws which God had given. He did it with this basic formulae Moses said, but I say; here are two examples:
PPT 8-9 text
Matthew 5:33 "Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’
Matthew 5:34 "But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
Matthew 5:35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.
Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’
Matthew 5:39 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Getting back to bacon. How in the world do people come up with these you can’t eat pork rules? They ignore what Jesus said, and go by the OT and try to get you to do the same. The error is actually worse that that. It’s an ancient error, they are trying to be holy by following rules. Illus: I am part of a facebook group that is for Pentecostals. All kinds. Almost everyday someone from the “holiness,” camp is lamenting about the lack of holiness in the church, and people getting tatoo’s or piercings, their idea of holiness is related to behavior. That is the same error the Jews struggled with.
Let me show you the biblical standard of holiness:
PPT 10 text
Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
There is no way we will ever meet that standard. That is why Paul in Galations 3:24 says:
The Law was our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ. The law existed to prove that we needed salvation outside of the law. We needed Jesus! Some never learn the lesson. Paul speaking of this error stated that the religious Jews stumbled with says:
PPT 11 text
Romans 10:3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
In Romans 5:17 Paul speaks of the gift of righteousness, this is what they never understood. The only way to true holiness is to get it as a gift.
Amy Grant, the singer, perhaps with this thought in mind, had a song with these lyrics in it:
“Being good is just a fable, I know I can’t, cause I’m not able, I’m going to leave it to the Lord.” That is realizing the folly of trying to create your own righteousness, instead of accepting the gift of it from God.
However, there is an error that can arise out of that view. Since I can’t do it, I won’t worry if I sin. No, the bible says to take up your cross and deny yourself. Try as hard as you can to live for God, not to get righteousness, but because you have received the gift of righteousness. Live as best you can because that is what God has called you to do. Willful sin can bring on serious discipline from God.
Moving on, Jesus said, “It’s not what goes in that makes you defiled, but what comes out.” What exactly does that mean?
The idea appears to be that evil is in our hearts, and our fleshly nature, and it will bubble up with thoughts and ideas, it defiles us when we don’t shut those ideas down, but give them implied permission to remain, and will ultimately result in acts that are sinful. We become defiled at the point we let those thoughts out of the cage so to speak, and open the door for it them operate in our minds and hearts. They are always trying to bubble up to the surface of our thoughts. We are defiled when we entertain those thoughts and allow them into the home of our mind. Thought ultimately will give birth to actions, yet Jesus says that entertaining those thoughts is of itself something that defiles us. It doesn’t mean you won’t go to heaven, but it may result in limited use for the kingdom. It doesn’t mean you have lost your salvation, but to use an analogy from Jesus, John 13:10 Jesus *said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean… Saved people can be completely clean and yet need their washed.
We become defiled when we in our hearts and minds give space for sinful thoughts, instead of shutting them down.
Now I want to move in one final area, not denying what Jesus said, but pulling from other scriptures talk about things that can enter us and defile us. Pornography is one example. But that is not what I feel led to talk about today. Let’s go to John 21:
PPT 12 text
John 21:21 So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?"
John 21:22 Jesus *said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"
In other words Jesus said, mind your own business. Let’s talk about how, when we don’t mind our own business, that causes us and others to be defiled.
Look at these two scriptures:
PPT 13 text:
Revelation 10:9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."
In the passage in Revelation, the apostle John is told to eat some words (the book), they will be sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. With that in mind, look at our next verse:
Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. (KJV)
Gossip is something that is attractive to our sinful human nature, it is likened to how we view sweets, or more exactly dainty morsels. Our flesh desires to gobble it usp. Just saying that phrase “dainty morsels,” makes me want a dainty morsel. Gossip creates itchy ears, until you realize what it does to you and others.
Proverbs 18:8 tells us that gossip is something that can get deep inside us, and they wound us, like Revelation they become bitter in our stomach. I think gossip defiles us by putting dirt into our spirit. One of my commentaries says gossip wounds in 3 ways:
PPT 14 3 ways gossip wounds
It wounds the credit and reputation of whom the tale is told.
It wounds the person to whom it is told and destroys their love and affection to their friend.
In the telling of them they wound, it hurts, and ruins the talebearer himself/herself.
With that in mind, I have one final quote, and we will wrap things up:
PPT 15 Spurgeon quote
When a man carries a keg of gunpowder in his hands, he should take care that he does not go near a candle;
If you realize that gossip is a dainty morsel that your fleshly nature is prone to like, avoid people and conversations that will try to light your gunpowder. In the same way, men in general, have spiritual gunpowder that can destroy their walk in the Lord. I am speaking of fleshly lust, all who carry that gunpowder in them should go near and website, or video that would like to ignite that gunpowder.
Summary: Eat bacon, watch what thoughts are trying to bubble up inside you. Don’t let things in or out that will defile you.
Close: If you want to get to heaven you need to be perfect even as God is. Being good is just a fable, you need to leave it to the Lord. Is your prayer: I want to be clean, I want to be cleansed from any defilement in me. I want the gift of righteousness, because I know I can never be good enough to have it on my own.
