When I read this text yesterday,
preparing the message for you tonight, and I read the words of these
religious leaders, these Pharisees dressed in their garments of
religion, with their robes, their enlarged borders, carrying about
their scrolls with a very pious religious look on their faces.
And they came to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in verse 2 they began
to find fault with his disciples, because they were eating without
washing their hands. For the Pharisees and all the
Jews, verse 3 of Mark 7, except they washed their hands often,
they eat not, holding the traditions of the elders. And when these
men came from the market, they don't eat unless they wash. Many
other ceremonies, such as the washing of pots and cups and
brazen vessels and tables. And I think how weary, how weary
the Lord Jesus must have been at these trifling traditions.
listening to the prattle of these religious leaders as they talk
about their washings and their ceremonies and their traditions,
following in the steps of the fathers. And as I read this,
I thought it's much like a true physician, a man who is a specialist,
a man who knows internal diseases. And he knows the serious nature
of a patient's illness. He's there by the bed. And here's
a patient with a serious, serious internal disease. And this qualified
physician, this specialist, this internist, knows the problem.
And yet all around the bed are these witch doctors and quacks. And they're talking about dances. and painting the patient's face
and going through all manner of signs and all manner of ceremonies. And this physician, this man
who knows his business, as he looks at the poor patient who's
dying of internal disease and listening to these men talk about
their ceremonies and what they're going to wear and what the different
dances they're going through and the signs that they're going
to make over the patient and make him well. The physician
must stand there and shake his head in amazement. These men
are fools. These men are quacks. These men
are ignorant. They can't heal that patient
by their signs and washings and ceremonies and religious rites
and so forth. They can't heal the man at all.
And the same thing is true today. The discussions of garments and
the cups of religion, when to bow, and when to kneel, and when
not to bow, and when not to kneel, and when to put on a robe, and
when to take it off, and when to put a scarf on, and when to
take it off, and when to make a cross, and when not to make
a cross, and when to bow your head, and when not to bow your
head. And the chantings, and the empty words, and the sprinkling
of water, The Lord Jesus stood and listened to these Pharisees,
these religious leaders, and I'm sure that he must have become
very weary with these things they were talking about. Why
don't your disciples wash their hands? Why don't you wash the
pots and the cups and the platters and all these things, the brazen
vessels? Why don't your disciples keep
the Sabbath day. Why don't your disciples do this?
Why do you heal people on the Sabbath day? Why don't you walk
a certain distance as we do on the Sabbath day?" And Christ
listens to them. Men are diseased in heart, and
men are ready to die, and men have to stand before God in the
judgment, and men are going to hear Him pronounce condemnation
and cry, Men are on the edge of eternity. They're meeting God in the judgment,
and their teachers go about all of these outward ceremonies of
religion. Well, the master made short work
of their human traditions, and the master made short work of
their human ceremony. He waves them away with the motion
of his hand, and he says in verse 14, You listen to me, every one
of you. You listen to me now, every one
of you. I'm not just speaking to the
Pharisees, I'm speaking to every one of you. You listen to me,
hearken to me, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Every
one of you listen to me. There's nothing from without
a man, washing or unwashing hands. There's nothing from without
a man, the ceremonies, the meat sacrificed to idols or not sacrificed
to idols, there's nothing without a man that entering into him
can defile him. Not meats, not drinks, and not
to eat with unwashing hands, and not anything to do with your
ceremonies, nothing that a man puts in his mouth and swallows
him can defile him. But the things which come out
of him, Those are they that defile him." Now, if you've got ears,
Christ said, you'd better hear that. You'd better hear it. That's the whole conflict that
the Master had with these Pharisees, with these phony religious leaders
and with their traditions and their ceremonies. This is the
basis of it, this is the heart of it, this is the very foundation
of it. If you can't hear this, if you
don't understand this, you don't yet know the gospel. And his
disciples came to him in the house and they said, Declare
unto us this parable. And the Master said, Are you
without understanding also? Don't you know that whatsoever
entereth into the man from without cannot defile him? Because it
doesn't go into his heart, it goes into his belly, and from
there it goes out into the draft. But he says in verse 20, now
here's the first point, He says in verse 20, that which comes
out of a man, that defileth the man. Did you ever disturb a wasp
nest? I don't know why over at my house
we don't have them like we used to when I lived in Alabama, down
in the country. We used to find these great big
wasp nests around the barn or around the house, up under the
eaves or somewhere. Brother, I'll tell you, you can
take a stick and poke that wasp nest. Leave them alone and they'll
just stay there. These great big ones, big as a football nearly. If you leave them alone, they'll
stay there. But you take a stick to them and all those wasps just
fly out of that nest and just buzz everywhere. You've disturbed
them. Or a hornet's nest. That's something
you don't want to tackle. These stinging, fearful creatures
are let loose and just swarm down upon you. Well, the Master
here lets a swarm of sins loose in verse 21 through verse 23. Listen to it. He said, I'll tell
you what defiles a man, it's that which comes out of his heart.
That's what defiles him. Now, I know today they pass around
temperance cards and everybody sign them because you drink a
glass of beer, you go to hell. Just like the Pharisees who,
if you'd eat with unwashing hands, you'd go to hell. And they'd
pass around all these different things that you can do and you
can't do, you'd go to hell. That's the same thing these Pharisees
had right here. They had all of these outward
ceremonies, and Christ said, it's not that which you're putting
in your mouth that's sending you to hell, it's that which's
coming out of your heart that's sending you to hell. That's your
problem, it's not hand trouble, it's not head trouble, it's heart
trouble. And then he lets loose this swarm of evil, stinging,
fearful beasts. He says, part from within, out
of the heart comes evil thoughts. Now, who in the world would have
ever thought to start a catalog of sin with evil thoughts? Isn't
that amazing? Listen to it. Out of the heart
comes evil thoughts, for adulterous, fornication, murders. There are
13 of them, 13 evil beasts. Fierce, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. But he starts out with evil thoughts. The Pharisees were standing around
here finding fault with the disciples because they didn't keep the
tradition of the elders. They didn't follow the tradition
laid down by the elders. And Christ said, it's not what's
going in your mouth that's defiling you, it's that which is coming
out of your heart. That's what is defiling you. That is what is depraved about
you. That's what the wrath of God
is upon in you is that which comes out of you, for out of
the heart proceeds evil thoughts." Now, if you were to be asked
to name sins that displeased God, if you were given a piece
of paper and told to sit down and make a list of sins that
defile a man, which one would you put first? I'll bet you, like the fellow
used to say, a dollar and a half and a can of cash, you wouldn't
have put evil thoughts first, would you? Why, you'd have probably
put down there, the worst sin is adultery. or the next worst
sin is murder, or the next worst sin is getting drunk, or the
next worst sin is something else. But our Lord Jesus Christ comes
here with evil thoughts. That's what defiles a man, evil
thoughts. David said, I hate vain thoughts. Turn to Psalms 94, verse 11. Now, I know that This sin right
here is lightly regarded in this day. There are not too many folks
that think very much about evil thoughts, does it? Not very many.
Not many people think evil thoughts will send them to hell. But when
our Lord made the catalog of vicious sins, when our Lord made
the catalog of evil beasts of hell, the first one he named
was evil thoughts. Evil thoughts. In Psalms 94 verse
11, the scripture says the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that
they are vanity. And Genesis chapter 6 verse 5,
the scripture says the Lord God of heaven says in Genesis 6 verse
5, every imagination of the thoughts of his heart, man's heart, is
evil continually. evil thoughts are the root of
all sin. Evil thoughts are the granddaddy
of all sin. Evil thoughts sire all sin. That's where it starts. And you
know something? That awful list goes on. Evil
thoughts, adulteries, and notice they're all in the plural, these
first five or six. He named evil thoughts adulteries. fornications, murders, thefts. Why are they in the plural? Because
every one of them contained a variety of sins. Every one of them contained
a variety of evil. Every one of them can branch
out just like a tree with many limbs and with many branches
and many leaves, and every one of them give birth to some different
type of sin under that heady. There are evil thoughts and there
are adulteries and there are fornications and there are murders
and there are thefts. These things are plural. And
Christ goes on and he winds up with foolishness. These 13 deadly
beasts, these 13 deadly sins that come out of the heart, start
off with evil thinking and end up with no thinking. There's no defense for any of
them. Christ says they are defiling, Christ says they are deadly,
and Christ said this is man's problem. These are the things
that defile. These are the things that corrupt.
These are the things against which God's anger is turned. These are the things. Now, where
do they come from? If you'll go with me to look
for the den where these evil beasts are hiding and where these
evil beasts live, if you'll go with me and hunt this hornet's
nest out of which has come all of these stinging, fearful beasts
of hell, we don't have to go very far. In fact, you won't
even have to leave your pew. In fact, you won't even have
to take a step. All you've got to do to find
the den where these beasts of hell live and the hornet's nest
out of which they fly is to reach right here and put your hand
on your own heart. There, that's where they live.
Our Lord says here, that which cometh, verse 20, out of the
man. Our problem's not how far to
walk on Sunday, not whether to play basketball on Sunday. Our
problem's not whether to do this, that, and the other that's been
hollered at and preached about from all the pulpits in the world.
Our problem is right here, here, here, right here. for out of
here, out of this nest, out of this den, out of this hornet's
nest, out of this place right here that nobody can see, out
of here is coming the whole problem. The whole defilement, the whole
corruption, the whole problem is right here, right here. Christ said, out of the heart.
That's where these things come from, these 13 deadly beasts,
these 13 fearful, flying, stinging insects. These things that defile
a man come out of his heart. That's where they come from.
Don't you understand that, Christ said to his disciples? Are you
without understanding? Are you like these religious
leaders without understanding, too? I was listening to the radio
yesterday afternoon, sitting in there by my desk, getting
this message, and I was listening to some fellow sing and play
the piano and try to do a little preaching. And he was singing
and playing on the piano, and he said, Now I want to send this
little song here out to Brother and Sister Douglas somebody.
I didn't catch the last name. He said, They ain't saved, but
they're mighty fine folks. Mighty fine. He said, they don't
know the Lord, but they sure are good people. What an awful
lie. You know, that's like a fellow
saying, well, I went to the well and drew me up a bucket of water,
and the water in the bucket was dirty and black and filthy, but
the well's clean. That's like a fellow saying,
I went to the grapevine and I picked me some grapes and they were
sour and they were poisoned, but the vine is good and pure
and sweet. That's not so. You get dirty,
black water in the bucket because the well's dirty and black. And
you get sour, rotten grapes because the vine is sour and rotten.
Out of the heart proceeds those things. You know what that preacher
meant? I know exactly what he meant. He meant that that man
and woman had a home, and they had some children, and that man
worked probably at the mill, went to work, got up, minding
his own business every morning at six o'clock, and clocked into
the mill on time, and he paid his bills, and he didn't drink
liquor, and he didn't run around on his wife, and he stayed at
home, and he was a pretty nice fellow morally and outwardly,
and so he says he's not saved, but he's a good man. He's a good
man, he doesn't need to be saved. What does he need to be saved
from? Our Lord said, it's not these things that you're preaching
against, it's not these traditions that you're hearthing upon, it's
not these ceremonies that you're talking about, it's not that
which goes in a man, it's that which comes out of his heart.
That's where his problem is, evil thoughts. Sin is a heart
disease. What is the heart? What is the heart? I don't want
us to become confused. In here in our children's Sunday
school room, there's a picture on the wall of a heart, and in
that heart are some words out of the heart. I forget what
the words are, but every time I walk by that picture, I think,
well, it's a good illustration, but yet it's not. It's good and
yet it's not good. For this reason, I don't want
our young people, or you either one, to think that this thing
in your chest that's about that big, that that's where your problem
is. That's not the heart I'm talking
about. That's the organ that pumps blood. But that's not the
problem. When we talk about the heart,
we're not talking about this organ that pumps blood, though
it's illustrated that way. We're talking about the real
you. We're talking about the real
you. We're not talking about your kidneys, and we're not talking
about your brain, and we're not talking about your heart, and
we're not talking about your lungs, we're talking about you.
You. And they could cut that heart
out of you and give you Jim Spence's heart and you'd still be just
as rotten. That's right. They could take that one out
and put another one in there and you'd still think the same
thoughts. You wouldn't think Jim's thoughts, you'd think your
thoughts. So it's not that instrument here that we're talking about.
When Christ said, out of the heart proceeds these things,
he's talking about this is the real self, this is the real man. The essence of sin lies in the
man's soul. That's what we're talking about.
His soul is defiled, his personality is defiled, his will is defiled,
his affections are defiled, everything about him is defiled, and he
can't even go to church without sinning. You could put a man or a woman,
I'm talking about you ladies here too, I forget, women live
now, you're supposed to say chairman and chairwoman. And when I talk
about a woman, a man, I'm supposed to say women too, because I don't
want to leave you out. You can put a man or a woman
alone in a secluded spot, and it's still sin against God. You
could put that person, shut them up in a narrow cell in a monastery
with no one to talk to and nothing to read and nothing to do, and
they'd sit there and sin their way to hell. Because sin before God is not
that which goes into the mouth and that which the hands perform.
Sin before God is that which the heart originates. And that
which the heart thinks upon, and that which the heart pents
after, and that which the heart desires, and that's what the
man wants to do and would do if he could do it, that's sin. That's sin. That's what Christ
is talking about there. And he said these things, these
evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murder, these thefts, this covetousness,
unsatisfied, this wickedness, this deceit, this lasciviousness,
this evil eye, this blasphemy, this pride, this foolishness. These things defile a man. Now
brethren, these things defile a man before I know most folks don't think
much of this right here, but that just shows the hardness
of the human heart. About the only time they think
God's angry with them is when they do something outwardly wrong.
They don't remember this scripture over here in 1 Samuel. Turn to
1 Samuel 16. In 1 Samuel 16, verse 7, listen
to this. You know Samuel went down there
to Jesse's home to anoint a king over Israel. And Jesse brought
his sons out there. He sent David off to the hill
somewhere to take care of the sheep. He figured the Lord wouldn't
want David. He was just a small lad. The
rest of them were big, grown boys. So he brought the boys
down there, and Samuel thought the same thing. And he tried
to anoint the tallest, strongest, best-looking, oldest boy, and
God said, That's not my king. He went right down the line trying
to anoint each of them, make him king, and finally he came
to the last one, God said, that's not my king, verse 7. The Lord
said, Samuel, look not on his countenance or on the height
of his stature. I've refused him. And I'm afraid there are a lot
of religious folks that are going to hear God say that someday. Everybody looked on your outward
countenance and watched your outward behavior and looked at
your outward religion, and they said, isn't he good? Isn't he
a fine Christian? If he's not a Christian, nobody
is. You got them fooled, didn't you, huh? You fooled everybody
but the one that counted. You couldn't fool God. You fooled
every one of them. And God said, listen, I've refused
him, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, Man looketh on the
outward appearance. Man listens to the long prayers. Man watches all the religious
outward appearance. And he said, Isn't he good? You
got him fooled. But God says, The Lord looketh
on the heart. And under God what did he see?
What did he see? Oh, he saw what they didn't see. And your heart defiled you before
God. He saw the envy. He saw the evil
thoughts, he saw the deceit, he saw the pride, he saw the
foolishness, he saw the hatred, he saw the lust, he saw all those
things, and you fooled the crowd, but you didn't fool God. And you know something? Christ
said these things defile a man. They defile a man before God,
and they defile the man himself. Back yonder in Old Testament
days, a defiled priest, that is, a priest who didn't have
on the clean linen garment and who didn't go through the washings.
Yes, the washings were true, they weren't required, but they
weren't the main thing. And this priest, if he was defiled,
Almighty God wouldn't let him go about the sacrifice. God wouldn't
receive him. Everything that the defiled priest
touched was defiled. And everything that that man
with a defiled heart touches, he defiles it. His hymns, no
matter how sweetly he sings, are defiled. His prayers, no
matter how articulately he prays, are defiled. His good deeds,
no matter how many and how generous, they're defiled. And his religion,
no matter how sincere, it's all defiled. God says, from within,
from the heart, from within, proceeds those things that defile,
that stinging, fearful horrible insects of hell that come out
of the heart. God looks not on the outward
countenance. God is not fooled by your possessions
of religion. God is not fooled by your professions
of faith. God is not fooled by all your
ceremonies and rituals. God looks on the heart, and your
heart, he says, has defiled you. Now what's the cure? Well, Brother Mahan, from now
on, from this day forward, I'm not going to think any more evil
thoughts, and I'm not in my heart going to commit any more adulteries
or fornications. I'm not going to grow angry with
anybody else ever again. I'm not going to take anything
that's not mine, even in thoughts. I'm not going to be dissatisfied
or unhappy with any place God puts me. I'm not going to be
covetous. I'm not going to think anything wickedly or any deceit. I'm not going to exaggerate or
deceive anybody in any way. I'm not going to have, every
time I use the name of the Lord, it's going to be to bring glory
to His name. I'm not going to have any pride.
I'm not going to indulge in any food." I tell you, you start now across
the Pacific in a canoe. You couldn't row down the Ohio
River in one, let alone go across the Pacific. Paul says in Romans
chapter 7, here's what the Apostle said, that which I desire not. Verse 15, Romans 7, that which
I do I desire not, and what I would, that do I not, but what I hate,
that's what I wind up doing. Oh, he says as he goes on, verse
18, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. To will is present with me. How to perform that which is
good I find not, for the good that I would I don't do it, but
the evil I would not. And we're talking about thoughts
now. We're talking about those things that come out of the heart. The
things I would not, that's what I do. I find in a law that when
I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. I love God's law. I love holiness. I love righteousness. I want
to be holy. But I'll tell you this thing
of conquering the human heart and conquering the thoughts and
conquering those stinging, fearful beasts of hell that come out
of the heart, that's a job that you can't tackle. You're not
strong enough. Paul couldn't do it. All right,
religion won't do it. Let's turn to Matthew 23. Resolution
wouldn't do it. He resolved, and he resolved. And then when he got on his knees
to thank God for the victory, he sinned against the Lord. Thank
God for the victory. And he found out that the battle
wasn't even started yet. He hadn't won any victory. He
just wasn't on the battlefield yet. And in Matthew 23, religion
won't do it. Christ said in verse 25, Warned
thee, ye scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, ye make clean the
outside of the cup. That's what religion does. It
dresses you up real neat on the outside, and you comb your hair
real good, and you get a good fresh shave, and you put on a
little cologne, and you go down to the church and you look real
pious, and you open the hymn book, and you turn your eyes
toward the heaven, you know, and you just sing so pretty.
But on the inside, listen to it, on the inside you're full
of extortion and excess. He says, verse 26, You cleanse
first that which is within the cup, and the outside will be
okay. But you scribes and Pharisees,
you're like whited grave markers. You appear beautiful on the outside,
but on the inside you're full of dead men's bones. Look at verse 28, "...you appear
righteous outwardly unto men, but within, O under God within."
And that's where the test is, that's where the trial is, that's
where the trouble is, it's inside. And resolutions won't touch it,
and religion won't touch it, and vows won't conquer it. I've
got to have something else. Christ can do it. In Hebrews
chapter 9, listen to this, in Hebrews 9, who can put away my
guilt? Who can put away the stain? Who
can put away these fearful creatures, this condemnation? It says in
verse 26 of Hebrews 9, the last line, once in the end of the
world hath he appeared. Christ hath appeared, he left
heaven's glory. And came down here, he who knew
no sin, became sin for us, was made sin for us, took on himself
the likeness of sinful flesh, and he put away sin. Resolution won't put away sin.
Religion won't put away sin. Death won't put away sin. Hell
won't put away sin. But Christ's precious blood can
put away sin. Look at 1 John 1. Listen to this. 1 John, chapter 1. It says here in verse 7, If we
walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and thank God the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. The blood of Christ reaches deeper
than the waters of baptism. The waters of baptism may cleanse
the flesh, but Christ cleanses the heart. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth's not in us. But if we confess
our sins, Oh God, the hornet's nest is there. Oh God, the wasp's
nest is there. Oh God, the evil beasts of hell
are there. I confess them, I own them. Do
something about them. Cleanse them. Purify me. Create in me. Listen to David
in Psalms 51. This is what he's talking about.
Verse 3, I acknowledge my transgression. You can't deal with a problem
if you don't face it. You've got to find out what the
real problem is. And when you find out what the real problem
is, and where the real problem is, and against whom the problem
is, and who can do something about it, then something can
be done. And my problem is an inward problem. My problem is
a heart problem. My problem is a sin problem before
a holy God, and He's the only one. I can't do anything about
it. Religion can't do anything about it. The ceremonies of religion
can't do anything about it, but He can. And David cries for mercy. He says, verse 1, Have mercy,
O God, according to thy lovingkindness. Not justice, mercy. According
to the multitude of thy tender mercy, blot out my transgressions,
wash me throughly. from mine iniquity, cleanse me
from my sin. I acknowledge my transgression.
My sin is ever before me against thee, and thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest. Behold, I
was shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Thou desirest truth in the inward
parts." Even back in the Old Testament, that's what God said.
That's where God deals with a man. That's where God judges a man.
That's where God redeems a man. In the hidden part, thou shalt
make me to know wisdom. O God, purge me, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than the snow. Verse 10, Creating me a clean
heart. O God, and renew a right spirit
within me. That's our trouble, a bad spirit
and an evil heart. Turn to Ezekiel 36. God's going
to do something for those that want him to do something for
them. He says in Ezekiel 36, verse 25, I'll sprinkle clean
water on you And you'll be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I'll take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart of
flesh. And I'll put my spirit within you, and I'll cause you
to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do
them. That's what Christ said to Nicodemus.
He said, Nicodemus, you must be born again. The ceremonies
of religion can't help you, Nicodemus. You must be born again. Born
of the Spirit, born of the water, born of the blood, born from
above, born of God. There's got to be something that
takes place in here. Regeneration. Recreation. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. God creates him all over again. God gives him life all over again. God redeems him and makes him
all over a new creature. Our Father, pierce these hearts
with the sword of the Word, break them open, and reveal the demons
of hell that lurk within, these sins against thy law and against
thy holiness. Let us see ourselves as we are,
guilty, filthy, hell-deserving creatures, and bring us to our
knees and help us to cry in sincerity, O God, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Wash me, truly cleanse me from
my iniquities. Give me a clean heart and a right
spirit. I don't want to appear righteous
unto men. and then be sent to hell when
God judges my heart. Grant, O Lord, that I shall stand
before Thee as I am, with a broken heart, and plead only the blood
of Christ, only the merit of Christ, only the sacrifice and
offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, to purge me and to wash me and
to cleanse me for my good and for His glory. and for Thy everlasting
praise. In Christ's name we pray and
for His sake. Amen.