Mark Chapter 7 Verses 14 – 16

• There are verses in the Bible that are more abused than others. What do you mean abused? Like excessive spanking? No no no…what I mean by that is that they are used as shields of unrighteousness…"Hey man, I don’t think you should be doing that, smoking that, snorting that, watching that…" "Dude, come on man, it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him…" That is a ridiculous sinful shield…

 

 

• Understand here Jesus is speaking specifically about food. Not about drugs. You or I or anyone has no right to link this scripture to using drugs man…believe me I used to do this. Contextually this has nothing to do with anything except for food. We can know that for sure because later in the scriptures when Paul is speaking about a bunch of things including food he would say, "I will not be brought under the power of anything…" (1 Corinthians 6)

 

 

• We also fail miserably if we link this scripture to wretched movies with nudity and ridiculous content, even porn…hey I’ve heard it happen. "This movie though, the plot is so good…I just fast forward through the nekedness…," bro, really?! You just revealed your defilement! Your soul craves purity and without purity there is no power! Jesus Himself said in Matthew 6, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness."

 

 

• So what is Jesus doing? What IS He saying? Is he negating Matthew 6 and 1 Corinthians 6? Shaaaa, I don’t think so! Not hardly! He is talking about cheeseburgers! Ah ha! It’s so simple! It becomes so clear once we stop trying to make it about us! He is looking forward to Acts 10:15 when ALL FOOD is declared Kosher! Turn and look with me real quick at Peter’s dream and God’s declaration…

 

 

• You see God has cleansed you believer and if He has cleansed you then walk in that! Don’t justify sin with singular, out-of-context, scriptures, in fact don’t justify sin with God’s WORD! How crazy is that!! Picking up and wielding your shield of unrighteousness…no, we are to take up the shield of faith man…to quench the fiery arrows of the devil, not to hide them…that just, in the end, will burn…

 

 

• You know what Jesus is saying here…now that we’ve studied this verse in context…"Yes Matt He’s talking about food, got it…move on…" HA. Wait though. Now that we’ve gotten past the ridiculousness of the argument some make to justify their sin…why on earth is He saying this to them? Can you imagine their gasp? The Pharisees and the scribes, they are still standing there…you see, He is showing that the law goes so much deeper than the physical…do not murder, do not commit adultery…you’ve heard it said Jesus would teach…BUT I say whoever looks at a woman with lust in his heart…

 

 

• You see Jesus is revealing that sin is not what we do…it’s who we are man…our hearts are black with the disease of death and He has come to not tell us to be good, we wouldn’t be…but to make us good! It’s not what goes in us that causes the root of defilement…that’s already there…THAT is the message He is giving to them and to us if ANYONE has ears to hear…!

 

 

• Foot stomp here, cool scene next, as soon as the disciples get alone with Jesus, He gives them the low down…and that is always the case man…we will talk about some cool truths and the scriptures will come alive to us while we are together but when it’s just you and Jesus…that which no other can teach you is learned…revelation of truth, not just the processing of knowledge…relational learning man…

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verses 17 – 19

• What is this scripture about? FOOD!

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verse 20

• What comes out of a man, Jesus says here, is what is in him already. Here is the condition of the fallen heart…

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verse 21

• Oh man, evil thoughts!? That means my mind is a slave to what? My heart! Interesting! Yet, take every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ we read in 1 Corinthians 10 and therefore we have an ah ha moment…the mind is a slave to the heart, yet the heart is a slave to the will! Therefore, "I can’t help myself" is a lie! You just don’t want to stop whatever it is that’s messing everything all up…

 

 

 

• I just can’t stop, I can’t stop hating her, I can’t stop thinking poorly about him, I can’t stop seeing the bad in them, I can’t stop being bitter, I can’t stop getting high, I can’t stop getting drunk, I can’t stop sleeping with him or her…total, complete, absolute, outright…LIE! You just refuse to make the choice to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…and to love others as yourself! The truth is, the hard truth, unfaithfulness is the path that you have willfully chosen…so…fight back! Use that will man…for righteousness!!!! Look at this…the list of 13 dark heart compartments continues…

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verses 21 – 23

• Might depress you to hear this list. I know that I am all these things man. All of these things dwell and dance and dally around in my heart all the time but the truth of salvation, sanctification, justification…Jesus has clothed me in His righteousness man…Check this out, let me bring you back up since we’re all thoroughly depressed now…

 

 

• Back in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 again, this time verses 9 through 11….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, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 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.

 

 

 

• All of those terrible things that dwell in the heart of man…that dwell in my heart, in years past…flew right by my will man, high fiving along the way…as the Spirit of God was grieved because even as an unsaved young man, I knew right from wrong, wanted to be right, found no strength to do so…but then I was washed…washing implies water…water is a type in the Bible of the Word of God…the Word of God was allowed in…I actually listened, I actually called upon the name of Jesus to give me the power to be not only a hearer, but also a doer and so the work of the Word of God in my heart ignited faith!!!

 

 

 

• Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Romans 10:17 tells us and so faith ignited…but you were washed…you were sanctified…come away Jesus called to me and worked in my heart…be separated for My glory! Do the thing man!! Eternity time NOW. Life and life abundant…but you were sanctified...but you were justified…and then…just as if I’d never sinned. The weight gone. The condemnation gone. My life haunted by the guilt of my sin…removed as Jesus came into my life…but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God…

 

 

• All those evil things that come from within and defile a man…The Pharisees and the scribes so very careful to ceremonially wash their hands and their robes and their couches and yet Jesus makes it clear that the real dirt is not external but internal…it is from within that we are defiled…yet a greater One now dwells within and therefore…defiled is not my title…my title is redeemed man…alive!

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verses 24

• Truth there. If Jesus is in your house, in your life, in your heart…He cannot be hidden. If you are doing a good job about hiding your faith…then I would take a good hard look at that faith because the real deal cannot be hidden…it’s like an atomic bomb man…it’s like a stereo with 15" subs and only one volume setting…blast! Some folks groove as you roll by…others absolutely hate it…at any rate…Jesus entered, keeping Him hidden…impossible!

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verses 25 – 27

 

• Dag that’s harsh man…not so much. First Jesus doesn’t called her a dog which in that culture is a severe insult…He calls here a little puppy…like those little pups in the window of the pet store in the mall…it’s actually a term of endearment…and yet still may seem harsh…but you gotta notice, you gotta see this, what He says incites humility, ignites faith…what He says to her, actually kindles a right relationship with Him…I believe He is dealing with her heart and teaches us through this scene…look how she responds…

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verse 28

 

• How dare you talk to me like that? Nope. Jesus why have you not heeded my call? Nope. Answer me! Nope. Humility. Yes Lord I am only a little pup and I will gladly set myself under the children…speaking of the Jews…I will gladly lower myself…to simply hear from You…bingo. Her heart is now healed and has come into right relationship with God…watch Jesus’ response…

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verse 29

• Notice He says for this saying which implies action…faith has entered…humility has found a home in you daughter…and that faith has been met with…action…for this saying…Jesus answers and grants her intercessory desire…and then the result…

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verse 30

• A good gut check for me as to how I am approaching and speaking to God…Look as this last scene as we close…

 

 

Mark Chapter 7 Verses 31 – 37

• Notice first, this one could not listen, nor could he speak…which is always the case…if we first are unwilling to listen then when we speak…oh the mess…

 

 

• So check the scene…Jesus takes Him aside…one on one…does something that we’ve never seen Jesus do before…speaks words we’ve never heard Him speak before and as He does it…He sighs…an expression of compassion and compatriotism. Odd word, I wanted a better one…but the point…Jesus went right to where the man was and entered into his grief with him…thus the sigh.

 

 

• He touched him in a specific, individual, peculiar way…and the man is made well…to the point that the multitudes were astonished…now Jesus says not to make it known because no doubt He wanted to avoid the circus of the crowds man but that’s not the point…the point is…link the scenes man…why has Mark given these scenes to us and not others? There were many others, of that you can be sure…

 

 

• But the picture of the inward heart of a man, all men, you and I, our hearts…defiled with darkness…our mind and will slaves to that darkness, which is backwards…wrapped in chains man…at the humble and faithful and action filled call to Jesus…it is us who He will touch…individually, particularly…He will reach right into our pain and free us…the entire scene is powerful…if you have eyes to see…