By Kevin Harris, pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Wollongong, NSW
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Matthew 5:17-20
Several years ago, my wife and I met with another couple who were having marriage troubles. While our wives were in the kitchen getting some refreshments, the husband observed that I had set my Bible on the carpet. He said, ‘My wife will have a problem with you placing your Bible on the carpet. She feels strongly that this is an act of disrespect.’ Here was a wife who talked of leaving her husband, yet she was going to struggle to take any Biblical counsel from me if I didn’t pick up my Bible from the floor? Talk about straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel!
Similarly, the Pharisees picked on the Lord Jesus’ disciples for violating rules that they had made up (Matthew 15:2). The disciples did not ceremonially wash their hands according to the dictates of the Jewish religious leaders. They felt that this omission polluted the disciples.
Even today, modern Jewish Pharisees won’t operate an elevator/lift on the sabbath but prefer to walk up and down the stairs or get in an automated elevator/lift that stops at all floors. They don’t want to pollute the sabbath.
The Lord Jesus refers to this as ‘the commandments of men’ (Matthew 15:9).
Later the Spirit of God penned these words in James 4:11-12, ‘Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?’ He rebukes those who crafted rules, and then used those rules or laws as the standard to determine whether others had done wrong. Only God can give us laws and judge us by them.
Our text reveals that the real polluter of a man is his heart.
I’m not defiled because I don’t wear a tie to church or set my Bible on the carpet. I’m polluted by what my wicked heart produces.
It’s my heart that needed to be changed. Deep down in my very core I needed a radical transformation which only Christ could give me.
Father, thank You for the new heart You gave to me on the day You saved me. Thank You that this ‘new man’ is modelled after You, ‘created in righteousness and true holiness.’ How I praise You for a new heart that produces beautiful fruit that pleases You. Rather than man-made teachings being my standard of right and wrong, help me to see my corrupt heart, that ‘old man’ in me, as the source of my sins against You. Conquer it. Renew me today with a clean heart that honours You. I ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
This article was written by Kevin Harris Dapto pastor of Illawarra Community Baptist Church.