All righty, we are going to continue
with the book of Matthew, and we're going to pick up a little
bit where we left off last week. Let's begin with the first paragraph
on page one of your handout. We left off last week with these
words, true religion, true Christianity, true worship is a matter of the
heart. It involves knowledge of and
obedience to the truth. True Christianity is spiritual.
It is, in its essence, rejoicing in Christ, believing Him, in
other words, believing who He is. He's the Son of the living
God. He's the creator of all that
is. He is God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Not is a God,
but was God. He is, I and my father are one. We believe him and we love him. I mean, how can you not love
the one who laid down his life and shed his own blood in our
stead? How can you not love the one
who took what we deserve? He took my sin. But he didn't
just take my sin. He took the wrath that I deserve
of God in my stead. He took it for me. He does everything. Folks, salvation is of the Lord. How can we not love Him who first
loved us? And exalting Him, that's exactly
what I'm doing now. I'm exalting Him up on the pedestal
like the brazen serpent. Look to Christ and live. That's
basically what I'm saying. Look to Christ. That's worship. That's true religion, true worship. It is in its essence rejoicing
in Christ, believing in Him, loving Him, exalting Him. It
is a repentance of all confidence in anything performed by or experienced
in the flesh. I don't trust my feelings. I
don't trust my thoughts. I definitely don't let the left
hand trust the right hand. There's only one thing God's
people can trust in, folks, and that is in Christ. And the Lord
looketh on the heart. All acts of worship, whether
in public or in private, are utterly in vain if our hearts
are far from him, Don Fortner. Read with me, if you would, Matthew
chapter 15, beginning at verse 7, and we'll go all the way through
to verse 20. We read 7, 8, and 9, but I want
to continue them in context for tonight's study. Ye hypocrites,
he says, ye hypocrites, speaking to the Pharisees, well did Isaiah
say, as the prophet Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth
me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in
vain they do worship me, teaching for the doctrines, the commandments
of men. Now, pick up in verse 10. And
he called the multitude. So it's almost as if it's saying
he turned from the Sadducees and the Pharisees that he had
been declaring. They spoke with their lips. They were vain. And then he says
to the multitude, hear and understand. Verse 11, not that which goeth
into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of
the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said
unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after
they heard this saying? But he answered and said, every
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. Let them alone. They be blind
leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall in the ditch. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, are
ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand that
whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and
is cast out into the drought? 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, murderers, adulterers,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things
which defile a man, but to eat which with unwashing hands defileth
not a man." All right, so now we're in mid-page. we'll spend
the rest of our time in the handout if you'd like. Mid-page one. In all aspects of worship, faith,
and obedience to God, the most important thing is the attitude
of our hearts. Please understand outward obedience
is of great importance. We must strive not to be Obedient,
we must strive to not, we must strive to be obedient in matters
of worship to our God. I don't know why I put that not
in there, I apologize. We must strive to be obedient in matters
of worship to our God. Public worship, the ordinance
of divine service, the reading of holy scripture, prayer, these
are matters of great importance and must be earnestly observed
in accordance with divine revelation. However, if we observe all things
outwardly and fail to approach God with grace and faith and
love to Christ, the most careful and strict observance of our
duties is nothing more than an abomination. Listen to these
words from Proverbs 15.8, he that killeth an ox is as he slew
a man. You kill an ox, it's just as
if you slew a man. He that sacrificed the land as
if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offered an oblation is
as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense is as
if he witnessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their ways,
and their soul delighteth in their abominations. That's Isaiah
66.3. Or, I'm sorry, I said Proverbs
15.8. This is Proverbs 15.8. The sacrifice of the wicked is
an abomination to the Lord. So without the heart being in
the right place, without being born again with a new heart,
None of our worship is anything but an abomination to God. Our
Savior, last paragraph, page one, turned from the Pharisees,
the false religionists, and called the multitudes, saying this,
hear and understand. Not that which goeth into the
mouth defileth the man, but that which cometh out of the mouth
This defileth the man, page two. The Pharisees, by their religious
traditions, taught that spiritual cleansing came from observing
these traditions. That's why they were mad. That's
why they were angry. That's why they approached the
Lord back there in verse 3 and said, why do you also, or no,
in verse 2, why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the
elders? It was their tradition to wash
their hands, not to keep their hands clean, as we had already
seen, but to show their piety, their religious, their holiness. This is how we show how holy
we are. We wash our hands. They taught that the spiritual
cleansing came from observing these traditions and ceremonies,
such as the ceremonial washing of their hands before they ate
in public. Those who did not observe their
traditions were considered unclean and holy. Our Lord Jesus had
reproved them for their hypocrisy in verses three through nine,
and we read about that. Here, he declares plainly that
we do not defile ourselves by what we eat. All that we are
and do is defiled already by the corruption of our depraved
hearts. Take note again, he was not speaking
to the Pharisees, but to the multitude, to everyone. Yet knowing
that the Pharisees were listening, hoping to catch the word or phrase
that they could use against our Lord, he gave them exactly what
they wanted. Hear and understand to the crowd. He's telling them, you don't
have to wash your hands like these religious folks who are
standing here got your religious leaders. No, that which goeth
into the mouth defileth not. Not that which goeth into the
mouth defileth man, but that which cometh out of the mouth,
this defileth a man. They now had a direct quote from
our master, from his own lips, that they could twist and use
against him to accuse him and to teach against him. Brother
Don Fortner wrote this. He said, this is mid-page two,
he threw the goats a can to chew on, but that which is to the
goats a sharp can is a sweet food for the Lord's sheep. Sheep are not offended by having
their inward depravity exposed. Sheep find in their depravity
reason to look to Christ for mercy. Sheep are never offended
by being told that their religious works are at best filthy rags. Knowing that it be true, they
trust Christ alone for righteousness. But the Pharisees were and still
are in today's world. People think that the Pharisees
were just then. Let me tell you something. Every
one of those people who got up and spoke, those religious folks
at the inauguration, were nothing more than Pharisees. works religionist. A Pharisee is nothing more than
a works religionist. Nobody was more pious than the
Jewish people of that time. And the Pharisees were all full
of their self and religion, dressing up the way they did, praying
in the streets, in the marketplaces, and so on. The Pharisees, and
still are, they're offended by the master's teachings. That's
what the people are so... That was what my aunt You talk
about Pharisees. Remember my aunt, the one who
poked me in the chest and said, you will not take my free will
away from me. Free will, God's sovereignty
offends free will people. And that's exactly what this
is talking about here. They were offended by the master's
teachings. Then came his disciples and said
unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after
they had heard this saying? The disciples knew it. The Lord
knew it, too. They just were questioning him
as to why he was being so mean, why he was being so forward.
That was in verse 12. The disciples were far more concerned
about offending lost religionists than the Lord Jesus was. It is
obvious that our Lord deliberately offended the Pharisees. I'm not
saying that we should go out and be blatant and in your face
with these folks that we know, but we should never be fearful
of offending them whose religion is an offense to our God. Don't be afraid to stand up for
the sovereignty of our Lord. Don't be afraid to say, that's
just not true. That's not according to scriptures.
Spurgeon wrote this. Look at the bottom part there,
page two. They had come to him in a fawning
manner, speaking of the Pharisees, desiring to catch him in his
speech. Oh, they were looking for anything.
They could trip him up. He was disgusted with their hypocrisy,
and by his staggering statement, he unmasked them, and they came
out in their true colors. They could not further conceal
their hate for him. Henceforth, they could not entrap
the disciples by their professions of friendliness. Page three.
The Lord Jesus told the Pharisees and told them plainly that they
transgressed the law of God. Here they were thinking that
they were doing God a favor, and God tells them flat out,
you transgressed the law, which they pretended to honor by their
religious customs, as we read in verse 3, making the commandment
of God of non-effect, as it states in verse 6. He told them that
they were nothing but hypocrites, in verse 7. And he pointedly
told them that Isaiah's damning words were specifically intended
to describe them. That's in verses 8 and 9. Let's
read that in Isaiah. I've got it here in the handout.
Wherefore the Lord said, for as much as this people draw near
me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have
removed their heart far from me. And their fear toward me
is taught by the precept of men. That's in Isaiah 29, 13. And
then when the Savior publicly declared the depravity of their
hearts in verses 9 and 10, that band of lost religious legalists
were obviously offended and provoked anger, so much so that their
disciples were disturbed. They were disturbed by the fact
that they were angered and offended. But not the master. Rather than
retracting what he had said, or explaining his words even,
The Lord declared their condemnation even more forcefully. We read
in verses 13 and 14, but he answered and said, every plant. This is
his answer to the accusations, to their anger. Every plant which
my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up. And they knew that he was talking
to them. They knew in their hearts. I'll
bet you they thought he was pointing his finger right at them. Let
them alone, he says. They be blind, leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. Folks, we should oppose every
doctrine that sets itself in opposition to Christ. But the
destruction of heresy is a matter of God. God's truth shall prevail
upon this rock. I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. When we see the,
you know, Kathy and I were driving up and down 99, and I looked
over, and there was this, it had to be able to seat 5,000
or 6,000 people in it. It's the biggest church I've
ever seen, right there off of 99, outside of Lodi. But our Lord tells us, upon this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail. This is God's truth. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Matthew 16, 18. Well, upon what
rock? Upon the solid rock that is the
Son of the living God. That's what rock. The Lord Jesus
Christ. On Christ, the solid rock, I
stand. all who teach that which is in
opposition to Christ. Listen, folks, all. And that
includes our relatives. That includes our loved ones. We cannot, no matter how much
we love them, pretend that their religion is OK. We cannot. It's damning. Anything, all who
teach that which is opposition to Christ, His gospel and His
glory are to be forsaken by us. His standing command is this,
come out from among them. Without question, those stern
words may be applied to individuals to all who profess faith in Christ
and are numbered with his people in this world. If our religion
is not holy of God, if our faith is not a God-given faith, if
our salvation is not a God-provided salvation, it shall be rooted
up, is what he says. It will come to an end, and that
end will be everlasting destruction. Charles Spurgeon wrote this,
he said, no matter how fair the flower, if the father hath not
planted it, it is doomed. Its doom is sealed. It shall
not be pruned, but rooted up. Page four. It'll be rooted up
by the trials of providence. Listen to these words from Matthew
13, 21. Yet hath he not root in himself,
but dureth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises
because of the word, by and by, he is offended. This is talking
about the parable of the sower. The Lord is explaining the parable
of the sower. Or by the temptations of this world, He also that received
seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the
care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and
he becometh unfruitful. That's Matthew 13, 22. and by the preaching of the truth. It'll be rooted up by the preaching
of the truth. John 6, 66, from that time, many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Why?
Because Christ preached the truth. That's why. Folks, the Lord will
take care of this. He'll take care of these false
religions. Let us not worry about them,
but let us not participate with them in this world as well. Primarily, second paragraph,
page four, primarily though, our Lord is talking about those
who teach and preach another gospel. The disciples were shocked
that the Lord had spoken bluntly to these Pharisees and offended
them, but the Master shows us that he intended to offend them.
He shows us that those who teach for doctrines and commandments
of men are people to whom we are to show no mercy or slack
in the manner towards their false doctrine. It mattered nothing
to him that they were in a high office. If his father had not
planted them, it mattered nothing to him how highly esteemed they
were in their own eyes or in the eyes of men. Those who are
the enemies of the cross are enemies of men's souls. Do you catch that? The only reason
they're enemies against Christ is because he's the savior of
his people. They're enemies against men's
souls. Listen to these words from Philippians 3, 18 and 19. For many walk of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose
God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things. are those who are the enemies
of our God, and those who are the enemies of our God must be
accounted by us as our enemies as well. God commands us to love
our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us, but
we are not to love and pray for His enemy. Do you understand
what I meant by that? I have people who don't like
me, who I could call, who might say I'm their enemy? And I love them. But if they're
enemies against Christ, they're my enemies as well. They're enemies
against God's gospel. They're my enemies as well. We
are not to love and pray for his enemies. Listen to these
words from 2 Chronicles 9, 19, verse 2. Now tell me. You can't. You can't tell me after reading
this that God's enemies are to be hated. Listen to this. And
Jehu, the son of Hanani, the seer, went to meet him and said
to King Jehoshaphat, shouldest thou help the ungodly and love
them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee
from before the Lord. Now if that's not good enough
for you, listen to these words from Psalm 139, 19-22. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked,
O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye
bloody men, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies
take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them? O Lord, that
hate thee, and am I not grieved with those that rise up against
thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. Psalms 139, 19 through 22, page
5. God's servants must expose, denounce,
and condemn false doctrine. Now you can do that without condemning
the person. And here's how. Take them to
the Word of God and show them in the Word of God where our
Lord is sovereign ruler over all that is. God's people must
forsake the teaching of lies. Listen to these words that I've
got here for you. Revelation 18 verse 4, and I
heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sin. This is speaking of the
city of Babylon. And that ye receive not her plagues. Or listen to these words, be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness? What conquered hath Christ with
Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean
thing, for I will receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness
in the fear of God. That's 2 Corinthians 6, 14 through
7, 1. The Master's word is this, let
them alone. If we submit ourselves and our
families to the counsel of the ungodly and the doctrines of
Antichrist, our blood and the blood of our children and all
who are influenced by us will be upon our heads. It is never
right to follow the blind into the ditch. God will overthrow that doctrine
that opposes him. And those who preach it, Babylon
must and shall fall. The sooner, the better. And you
can read about that in Revelation 18. And I've given some verses
there for you to refer to in your own time. By Babylon, the
word of God means religions of this world. Arminian, free will,
works religions. The weapons of our warfare by
which we must oppose Babylon are spiritual, not carnal. We
fight the forces of evil in this world as our Lord did here, not
with a sword or even a ballot box, but with the gospel. For
the weapons of our warfare, it says in 2 Corinthians 10, 4,
and 5, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of the strongholds, casting down
the imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ. You know, Pastor Gene and I were
talking about that today, seeking the will of God. We don't know
what the will of God most of the time is until after it's
over. Being that God is sovereign over all things, we know that
once something is passed, the will of God has been served,
period. He worked it out according to
his counsel and according to his purpose, no matter what it
was. But we can always cry out to the Lord, Lord, show us thy
will. Thy will be done. That's our prayer, isn't it?
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our Lord, top
of page six, our Lord Jesus said this, every plant which my heavenly
father has not planted shall be rooted up. God's elect are
a people loved with an everlasting and unchangeable love. A people
planted in Christ by sovereign distinguishing grace from before
the creation. It is impossible for those who
are planted by the Lord to fall from His grace and be rooted
up. Isn't that what it says in 1
Peter 1, what we just read recently? We are kept by the power of God. Well, if it's God's power that's
keeping us, can we ever be lost? It is impossible for those who
are planted by the Lord to fall from His grace and be rooted
up. And everyone who is not planted in Christ is sure to be rooted
up and fall into everlasting ruin. I put in here what amazing,
what a magnification of His amazing grace. Some will, most won't. Some will never fall, most will."
What a magnification of His amazing grace. Listen to these words
from Robert Hawker, oh the blessedness of the distinguishing grace,
Lord sweetly give grace to the improvement of thy people, that
we may know where we are and to whom we belong, and avert
from thy redeemed false teachers and false guides, that we may
not be in danger of being led by the blind and both fall in
condemnation. Our master teaches us that the
source of all sin and defilement is the heart of man. We read
there in verses 15 through 20, and I put it in our handout,
mid-page six. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, are
ye also without understanding? Do not ye yet understand that
whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly and
is cast out into the drought? 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, murderers, adulterers, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. Everything that comes out of
this heart. That's what our Lord just said. Everything that comes
out of your heart. Everything that comes out of
your mouth comes from your heart, and everything that comes out of that is defiled.
The Pharisees of old, like the religionists of our day, they
taught that holiness, righteousness, and godliness depended on abstaining
from certain meats and drinks and careful observation of religious
ceremonies and washings and purification. Our Savior overthrows their doctrine
by declaring three things. First, it is not what you put
in the body that defiles you, but what comes out of your mouth.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's Romans chapter
14, 17. Material things cannot defile
your soul by using them, and material ceremonies cannot cleanse
your soul from enduring them. Carnal things can neither corrupt
nor cleanse the soul. If we would worship and serve
God, we must have something more than a separated life and form
of godliness. Page 7. We must have a heart
that is clean and upright before God, a clean heart and a right
spirit. Such a heart is the gift of God's
grace and it is the work of his spirit in the new birth. Secondly,
all sin and defilement originates in and springs from the heart.
It is not our environment that corrupts us or our company or
our education but our hearts. Remember I said earlier about
sheep don't mind when you tell them how empty and how depraved
they are? Only self-righteous people don't
like that. God's sheep, we know what we
are. We know our depravity by his
mercy and grace in revealing it to us. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, Murderers, adulteries, fornications, theft, false witness,
blasphemy. What a list. What must that heart
be out of which so many evils pour forth? If those are the
bees, what must the hive be? Evil thoughts, evil devising,
such as the Pharisee displayed, come from the heart. Murderers
begin not with the dagger, but with the malice of the soul.
Adulteries and fornications are committed in the heart before
they are performed by the body. The heart is the cage from which
every unclean bird flies forth into the world. Thefts are born
in covetedness of the heart. No man steals what he does not
first covet. False witnessing, lying, and
slandering is venom in the heart that is spewed out of the mouth.
Blasphemies are the enemy of the heart expressed by the vile
speech of the tongue. All these and all other evils
ooze from the vile cesspool inside of man called the heart." Don
Fortner. These are the things which devile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands
defileth not the man. It is the corruption of the heart
that makes fallen man unfit for communion with God. Not failure
to pour water in your hands before you eat, or failure to observe
religious duties. The heart of man is wicked and
deceitful before God. The evil's gushing from the heart
makes fallen man an abomination before God. And it is only the
blood of Christ that can cleanse us from the pollution and the
guilt of our corrupt hearts and save us from the wrath of God.
Yet those who know nothing of that corruption, the corruption
of their hearts, they know nothing of God's saving grace as well. They know nothing of repentance
and faith in Christ. And they're horrified when they
see one who worships God in spirit and in truth, neglecting their
religious traditions by which their blind leaders lead them
into hell with. Thirdly, God looks on the heart,
but we prefer outward things because we are able to perform
them and they call attention to us. Page eight, few are able
to grasp such elementary, but vile truths, because they are
turned away from the simplicity that is in Christ by self-righteous
works religion. There is a vast difference between
physical and spiritual defilement. What we eat and drink does not
touch the soul. It passes through the body, but
it does not reach our hearts. Material things cannot devour
a person. That which is eaten is material
substance and cannot make anyone spiritually or morally unclean. That fact is so obvious that
no one would ever imagine otherwise were it not for the man-made
doctrines of false religions. Oh, you've got to wash your hands.
Oh, you've got to get in the baptismal. Oh, you've got to
speak in tongues. Oh, you've got to walk down here
to the front and turn yourself over to Christ again. All those
things. Our Lord's doctrine in this passage
and throughout Holy Scripture is this, true religion is more
inward than outward. The state of our hearts before
God is the main thing. My brother, my sister, do not
be content with church attendance. Do not be content with religious
duties or any other outward behavior. Examine yourselves. Make certain
that your heart is right in the sight of God. How can you do
that? Listen to Psalms 5110. Create
in me a clean heart, O God. Cry unto the Lord to create a
clean heart. Cry out to the Lord to wash away
the darkness of that old heart that you were born with and give
you a heart of light that shines the light of Jesus Christ. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Or how about this
from Proverbs 423, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of
it are the issues of life. Or how about this one, thou hast
neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not
right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this thy
wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps The thought of thine
heart may be forgiven of thee. That's Acts 28, 21 through 22. Another one, if you would, Romans
10, 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The Lord
God receives the broken, contrite, and believing heart. Let us never
forget that our greatest enemy is our own heart. The world and
the devil combined are not so dangerous as our own hearts.
So let us keep our hearts with all diligence. The only way to
keep your heart is to keep it full of Christ. Stand fast in
the Lord, it says, my dearly beloved. Verse 1. Rejoice in
the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderations
be known unto all men that the Lord is at hand. Be careful for
nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God. And peace, and the peace of God
which paths us all in understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. That's in Philippians 4, and
that last part was verses 4 through 7. May God graciously keep us. so that we may keep our hearts
for Him. Remember this, Proverbs 28, 26,
he that trusteth in his heart is a fool, but we can trust in
Christ to keep it for His name's sake. In the name of Jesus Christ,
our Savior, amen.