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What goes in must come out! – SERMON SUMMARY – Lorna Laister 16/07/2017
Scripture reading Proverbs 4:23
Kagiso Rabada is a South African international cricketer. Rabada was found guilty of bad language and got a one-Test ban.
In the bible, the heart is the centre of the physical, mental, and spiritual life of humans. So, it Is the affections –emotions, the thoughts and the will of humans. Modern language calls this the “mind emotions and will”. So, we find that heart = affections = thoughts.
What you know affects
What you believe, and what you believe affects
Your actions
Our text for today is Matthew 15:1-20
Jesus is attacking the teaching of the ancestors and the traditions of the Pharisees.
He shows up the Pharisees and their religion by putting His finger on the source of all our sinful behaviours. It is not what goes into a person that defiles him. It is what comes out of him
The text is divided into 2 parts. Verses 1-9 and then 10-20. The first half is about ritual washing and the teaching of the ancestors; and the second part is how Jesus responds in teaching the disciples about the real meaning.
Matthew 15: 19–20 READ
- The Pharisees elevated traditions to the level of scripture
- Secondly, traditions make a man blind to truth
- Thirdly, tradition makes worship of God a vain act
They said, The traditions of the elders. (vs.2)
Jesus said, the commandments of God. (vs.3)
Matthew 15:10-20 READ
To the Pharisees, the externals were the issue. To God – to Jesus – it was the internals that were the issue. The externals were merely the sign of what was going on inside of a person.
Jesus is telling His disciples to “Forget what you have heard from the Pharisees these many years. They do not know what they are talking about. They are far from the heart of God and they will lead you away from God instead of to Him…..”
In verse 19 we read of “evil thoughts.” The motivations of our heart are what give rise to our thinking. If there is evil in our hearts, then our thinking will be inclined that way also. And it all begins in our minds.
He is not simply speaking of physically taking the life of another. Remember that Jesus has very clearly taught us that that level of murder begins with hatred and animosity toward someone else.
The presenting problem is not the problem
What we see are the symptoms of a deeper problem. What we see is not the problem. The problem is in the heart.
The problem is often anger because we cannot have what we want. Or fear because we don’t want to lose something
HURTING PEOPLE HURT OTHERS
How do the bad thoughts get in there?
Three enemies that attempt to take hold of a person's thoughts including;
a person's past; Satan; and the world's system.
- The first battle in your mind is with your old self nature, it's the source of all bad habits…
If we think of how the disciples reacted to Jesus’ teaching we can see how they were trapped by their past understandings of being Jewish. So, they had to RE-LEARN what it meant to be a disciple.
- Satan. We know that Satan is like a roaring Lion – seeking to devour us. I wonder sometimes if we don’t realise how subtle and clever he is. His mission in life is to destroy. And he does it with? THE LIE. Words again. He will lie to you about anything. We need to be vigilant
- The world’s system. You know. It looks good. So why can’t I do it; have it; enjoy it? After all I worked hard for it. TV – the culture
- We absorb information through our senses. We take in information through our eyes and ears Primarily.
- From the airwaves. Radio, TV internet – we can see the possibilities of how information can get into our minds. Films. Some songs have bad language AND wrong concepts
- The worlds system or culture
We absorb through our senses. We take in information through our eyes and ears Primarily.
SO HOW DO WE RISE ABOVE ALL THIS? How do we get control of our minds?
SLIDE Romans 12 – discuss this scripture
READ; Philippians 4:8: Gal. 6:7-8
First “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)
Second “Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
Third “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)
Fourth “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindsets as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
Right well that’s easy, isn’t it? NO, IT’S NOT!! So why is it so HARD to renew our minds?
I think that we often don’t want to let go. It’s as if we like the naughty step! And we think “Oh I’ll deal with it tomorrow” We don’t want to go to God and hand over everything. And so, we remain envious; hurtful
We really do have to want to change
Well I think there is another vital step
We need each other in order to grow, change,
To sum up
So what have we learned?
The Pharisees were bullies and Jesus didn’t mind upsetting them in order to teach his disciples
He attacked the principle of ritual washing of hands because Jesus said that to eat without washing hands doesn’t make us unclean
We must guard out hearts
We should hear what is coming out of our mouths and realise that something is going on behind these words. –
Mind emotion and will; Our very soul and being
These need to be healthy; Only the Trinity can make us healthy; With scripture, lots of prayer and community
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