Holiness Is A Matter Of The Heart
Text: Eph.6: 6; Mark 7: 18-19a
Intro: It is absolutely impossible to become a Christian without a change of heart. Everything about trusting Christ as ones Savior affects the heart. If there has been no change of heart, there has been no conversion.
Just as one cannot be saved without a change of heart, neither can one live a holy life before God without heart involvement. God is much less concerned with our methods than He is with our motives. I’m not saying that all methods are right. Nor am I saying that they aren’t important to God. But just because someone appears good outwardly doesn’t mean that they are good inwardly. One can perform right actions, but possess wrong attitudes. Their methods may appear spiritual, but their motives may be selfish.
The Pharisees who questioned Jesus in Mark chapter seven had a false concept of what holiness of life was all about. To them, holiness simply had to do with performing the right “spiritual pushups.” They were plugged into religious rituals that were mechanical, done out of habit rather than the heart. They thought if it looked good, it was good. Their brand of holiness was simply sentiment without substance.
Jesus, however, was about to burst their hypocritical bubble. He was about to show them that, as the old adage says, “All that glitters is not gold.” He was about to reveal that holiness was more than simply a matter of clever hypocrisy. It was a matter of the heart.
Theme: We can see the connection between the heart and holiness when we examine:
I. THE RADICAL TROUBLEMAKERS
A. They Possessed A Religion Based On Outward Cleansing.
1. The Pharisees took issue with Jesus over ceremonial washing.
Mark 7: 1 “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.”
NOTE: [1] According to the note in the center column of my Bible, the washing of the hands included not only the washing of one hand with the other, but was to extend up to the elbows.
[2] Keep in mind here that this religious crowd was not rebuking Christ because His disciples had been caught in some moral infraction. They were upset merely because the disciples hadn’t observed the tradition of ceremonially washing their hands before eating. They were more concerned with clean hands than with clean hearts.
2. The Pharisees obsessed over being clean without, instead of being clean within.
Mark 7: 3 “For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.”
B. They Possessed A Religion Based On Old Customs.
Mark 7: 3b “…holding the tradition of the elders.”
Mark 7: 5 “Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hand?”
NOTE: [1] It is extraordinary that these religious leaders had become so sidetracked by tradition that they no longer judged right and wrong by what God said, but by what the elders had said.
The tradition of the elders was the unwritten corpus of commands and teachings of the honored rabbis of the past, a body of 613 rules designed to regulate every aspect of life (Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, Editors, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 1002).
[2] Like the Pharisees, too many Christians make the mistake of making their rules the standard of holiness instead of the Redeemer. One commentator notes that, “For a loyal Jew, to disregard these regulations was a sin; to follow them was the essence of goodness and service to God” (John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament edition, published by Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois; pg. 133).
[3] Folks, let’s be sure we’ve got it straight today. God is not judging our holiness of life by what your friends say; by what you say, or even by what Bro. Donnie says. His standard is based on “thus saith the Lord.” Tradition is fine, in its place. But just because one observes some sort of religious tradition doesn’t make them holy. That’s why traditionalism is so very dangerous. We need to be careful to check out our religious traditions with the Word of God. I like what this man had to say on the subject.
Tradition is the living faith of those now dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living. - Jaroslav Pelikan, The Vindication of Tradition, p. 65.
[4] Like the Pharisees, many folks can be described by Harry Emerson Fosdick’s statement: “Some people have just enough religion to make themselves miserable” –Harry Emerson Fosdick.
II. THEIR RELIGIOUS TRAVESTY
A. Jesus Was Aware Of Their Hypocrisy.
Mark 7: 6 “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
NOTE: Jesus referred to the Pharisees as “hypocrites.” The Greek word from which it is translated makes reference to actors playing a part. They were much like the following story:
Testimony
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”
Source unknown
B. Jesus Was Aware Of Their Heresy.
1. The Pharisees had exchanged God’s standard for their own.
Mark 7: 7b “…teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.”
2. The Pharisees had exchanged God’s commands for their opinion.
Mark 7: 9 “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother (Ex.20: 12); and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death (Ex.21: 17):
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
NOTE: According to scribal tradition, if a man declared the assets that were to be used to support his aging parents as a gift devoted to God (“Corban”), he was no longer expected to care for his parents, in clear violation of a direct command of God to the contrary. In essence, the Pharisees tried to create “loopholes” in God’s Word.
III. THE REAL TRUTH
A. Jesus Addressed The Subject Of Man’s Defilement.
Mark 7: 14 “And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
NOTE: In essence, Jesus said that man’s danger of becoming defiled is not from without, but from within. If man’s heart is unclean, he is defiled; no matter how clean the outside might appear.
B. Jesus Addressed The Source Of Man’s Defilement.
1. Spiritual defilement lies within the heart’s recesses.
Mark 7: 17 “And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.
18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”
2. When the heart is defiled, evil is the result.
Mark 7: 20 “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
NOTE: [1] I think it was Warren Wiersbe who said, “The heart of the problem is the problem in the heart.” He’s absolutely right.
[2] The evil that one practices does not defile them, but is actually the outgrowth of an already existing defilement at the core of their being—their heart.
Heart in Scripture
Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as “the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity,” “the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will,” and “the center of a person. The place to which God turns.”
Fan The Flame, J. Stowell, Moody, 1986, p. 13
Theme: We can see the connection between the heart and holiness when we examine:
I. THE RADICAL TROUBLEMAKERS
II. THEIR RELIGIOUS TRAVESTY
III. THE REAL TRUTH
