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Targeting Sin’s Power (Mark 7.1-30 July 26, 2015)

If only dealing with sin were as easy as washing the dirt from your hands. It sounds ridiculous but the Jews in the days of Jesus actually believed this was one way to deal with sin … but before we laugh too hard … in some respects many of us try to deal with sin in a similar way – and have about as much success as the Jews did. This morning Jesus makes it clear – if you really want to fight sin – you have to target the right problem – and there is only one weapon that hits this target. The issue highlighted in our passage is that too many times we focus on external uncleanness as the real problem more than internal uncleanness. Let me give you just one example. Most Christian parents have a fear that their children might one day veer away from the path of God’s truth into sin. Quite rightly, most take steps to try and prevent this. But many focus their efforts much more on the external than the internal. Over the years, I have seen various attempts to keep the corruption that is out there in the world from coming into the home. Homeschooling, no TV, no internet, restricting friends, even withdrawing to a Christian commune – you name it. I don’t want to say that these things no place place in preventing sin, but I want to suggest that by themselves – they are woefully inadequate. By themselves they simply don’t deal with the real issue. You probably saw the headlines a few weeks back about the Duggar family in the US. They are fundamentalist Christian reality TV stars on the show 19 Kids and Counting. The Duggars have 9 daughters and 10 sons all of whose names begin with the letter “J”.

Targeting Sin’s Power

Mark 7:1-30

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They are devout Independent Baptists who talk openly about what they do to keep the world at bay. Homeschooling, chaperoned courtship, severely limited TV and Internet. They avoid beaches, public pools, worldly entertainment and anything that can stir up “desires that cannot be righteously fulfilled.” So for many, it was a shock when it came to light that their oldest son – Josh – had dealt inappropriately with four of his sisters and a family babysitter over a two year period. They had worked hard to keep the defilement at bay – but it still came in. Michelle Duggar – the mother – said she questioned whether they had failed as parents. I don’t want to be critical of that family. It sounds like they did many things right in raising their children. But like many of us, they may have focussed more on the external corruption than the internal. You can never completely stop the world coming in – but with Jesus’ help – you can deal with a sinful heart. But, if you want to deal with the enormous problem of sin – then you have to attack the root issue – not peripheral issues. It has been a few months since we were last in Mark, so let me remind you that we are working our way together through this Gospel. We have seen that this book presents:

Jesus: The God who came to save We also saw that the book divides up like this:

The beginning of the gospel 1:1-15 The heart of the gospel 1:16-10:52 The climax of the gospel 11:1-16:8

JESUS: THE GOD

WHO CAME TO SAVE

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We are in the midst of the long section which reveals: The heart of the gospel 1:16-10:52 What we have seen is that the heart of the gospel revolves around the question of who Jesus is. Mark tells us: Jesus is Lord Jesus is God Jesus is Saviour We left off a few months back in the midst of the section that teaches that: Jesus is God 3:7-8:30 By explicit teachings and demonstrations of power – Jesus was declaring His deity – the fact He is God. And no one can come to salvation without accepting this truth. In our passage this morning Jesus shows He is God by revealing that He is the One who can do what only God can do – deal with our sin. He tells us that:

The real power of sin lies within so our only hope is a new heart. To see this, turn to – or turn on – your Bibles and look at Mark 7:1. First, Jesus highlights the: False understanding of defilement Too many of us have a false understanding of sin. Look at verses 1-5:

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with

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The real power of sin lies within so our only hope is

a new heart

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hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

The Pharisees got one thing right that – defilement – corruption – sin – was the problem. However, they had a false view of what caused defilement. The problem with the Pharisees and with many of us – is a wrong understanding leads us to target the wrong problem. While we might all agree that sin is the issue – there are two main views as to what caused us to become sinful – and therefore what we need to do to deal with sin.

The Pharisees and many others hold to a view that suggests that we are born good – with a pure heart. Then somewhere in our lives we encounter something which defiles us.

Bad parents. Bad friends. Porn on the internet. Drugs. Immorality. Something outside of us defiles us.

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Then that defilement then seeps its way into our heart.

Our heart becomes corrupt. In this worldview – the cause of the defilement was something external, so what we need to do is to remove the worldly defilement.

Then once the defilement is gone – our heart will return to its natural state of purity.

I am sure that you are aware that this is a very common view even in Christianity. This view that we are born good – and bad stuff corrupts us – is so pervasive. And on one level you can understand why.

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We look at our children and they seem so innocent, so clean, so pure. Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. If they go off the rails – it must be because the big, bad world corrupted the purity of our little angels. This was roughly how the Pharisees understood defilement. It is the world that corrupts so remove the worldly corruption. If lust is an issue – don’t go to the beach. If greed is an issue – don’t go to the mall. Don’t get me wrong – I want to be the first to say we absolutely must limit worldliness. The corruption of the world is a huge issue. But today’s point is that in itself, this will never be enough. Monastics lived on top of poles – they still struggled with greed. Origen struggled with lust so much he had himself emasculated – he still lusted. I have dealt with guys struggling with porn who get rid of their computer and TV, never go to the beach or even the mall – and still burn. The reason is that the main problem – the real issue – is not the world outside. But the way the Pharisees read the Law led them to believe that it was. When you read through the Old Testament Law – one of the major concepts it speaks of is clean and unclean. Leviticus alone outlines almost one hundred things that are unclean. And touching those things is said to make a person unclean. Dead bodies, menstruating women, lepers, pigs – touch these and you are unclean. The Law also outlines how you could make yourself clean again. I don’t want to say that the Jews are the only ones who are concerned with cleanliness and hand washing.

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Cornerstone meets in a high school and these signs are everywhere. But, we care about hand washing for health reasons. For the Jews it was far more. The Jews actually believed that the Law was given to show us that we can make ourselves clean. And when we are clean – we are right before God and saved. This led to the thought that salvation comes from doing the things that make you ceremonially clean. Listen to this incredible quote by Rabbi Tahaneth:

Whoever has his abode in the land of Israel and eats his food with washed hands may rest assured that he shall receive eternal life.

Wow!!! Wash your hands and receive eternal life!!! Ceremonial cleanliness guarantees salvation. This is astounding stuff. How does a thinking person get to this point? Here is their understanding.

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We are born clean – our hearts are clean. But there are things in this world that are unclean. If we touch them our hands become unclean. Then if we eat with unclean hands we contaminate our mouths. And when we swallow any food our unclean hands touched – that contamination enters our bodies and hearts and defiles them. For a Jew – Cleanliness was not next to godliness – Ceremonial cleanliness was godliness.

Whoever … eats his food with washed hands may rest assured that he shall receive eternal life.

So, if you let uncleanness into your heart – it took sacrifices and rituals and penance and washings to get clean again – so better not to let the uncleanness in. If you are meticulous and manage this – then salvation is yours. Just think for a minute what this meant for the way a Jew lived. You spend your day in fear of doing something or touching something that will make you unclean. You do your cleansings when you wake in case you defiled yourself or a demon defiled you in the night. You clean the stuff you make and eat breakfast with. You are paranoid about what you touch or who you touch in case they are unclean. Markets were filthy places, filled with Gentiles and unclean foods. Therefore, if you visited the markets, it wasn’t enough to just wash your hands, you had to bathe your whole body in an elaborate ceremony. This is not just OCD – for them this was eternal life or damnation. But it was so consuming. You are walking down the street and you stumble. A man reaches out to steady you – but horrors – he is a filthy Gentile – a dog!! You just went from clean to unclean – saved to unsaved. If you die there and then – you are lost.

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Now you urgently need to get to a priest and do the required washings and sacrifices to get your cleanness back. This is such a horrible way to live. Something you encounter can make you unclean and thus outside the sphere of salvation. It made the Jews obsessive about cleanliness. The Mishnah is the written record of all the traditions of the Rabbis. Over ¼ of the Mishnah is devoted to teaching on washings! ¼! That is how pervasive and intrusive this idea was. And because it is not just hands that can be defiled – the things you cook with – pots, pans, spoons – the things you eat and drink with – plates, cups, utensils – they can be defiled and defile you – the Mishnah has over 30 pages on how to clean pots before you can cook with them or eat from them. It probably took longer to cleanse a pot than to cook the meal. Now – into this cauldron of paranoia walks Jesus. He touches lepers and menstruating women and Gentiles and tax collectors and then He eats – and perhaps worse – He encourages His disciples to do the same! No wonder the Pharisees were shocked. “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” Here is someone who claims to be the way of salvation – yet He defiles Himself and encourages everyone to do as He does. Everything about this seemed wrong. As a doctor, before we do surgery we have to perform a surgical scrub. Brushes and nail tools to get every trace of dirt off. Five minutes of Betadine solution scrub. Sterile gowning and double gloving. Sterile prepping and draping. We are meticulous about sterility. Imagine being wheeled into theatre as a patient and there is your surgeon – filthy, covered in pussy sores which he is scratching, picking his nose, instruments on the floor, blood on his clothes – the place reeks of infection. That is when you leap off the gurney and run.

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That is how the Pharisees viewed Jesus – except they weren’t just worried about their physical bodies – they were worried about their souls. Listen to Jesus’ response. Verses 6-13:

And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Jesus’ response is to say – your false understanding of defilement comes from a false understanding of the Word of God. Your problem is that you don’t know what is crucial and what is trivial. He gives some examples.

First, they took a minor teaching and twisted it and declared it crucial.

Notice the Pharisees did not turn up and say that Jesus was violating the Scriptures. There is no Scripture commanding the washing of hands before meals. In fact there is only one verse in the whole Old Testament dealing with the washing of hands for those who are not priests. Leviticus 15:11:

Anyone whom the one with the [unclean] discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

Based only on this verse, this whole hand washing rigmarole started with the Pharisees shortly before the time of Christ and took on a life of its own. They took something clearly minor and made it major. This verse spawned a doctrine on which salvation itself was now at stake.

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We see the same thing today among many false teachers. Here is a rule of thumb. If a church or cult or group – including Grace Bible Church – ever promotes a teaching that they say is central to salvation – but it is based on some obscure text or tradition – Beware! Get off the gurney and run! It happens all the time. The Mormons take Paul’s reference to baptism for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15 and turned it into a major teaching about how you can gain salvation for your dead loved ones. But that is not all these false teachers did.

Second, they took a major teaching and twisted it and declared it trivial.

Not only do they major on a minor – they minor on the majors. They managed to ignore the clear commands of God. Jesus gives an example. Although nowhere is it commanded to wash your hands to stop defilement – the command to honour your mother and father is one of the ten commandments. It’s a biggie. But the Pharisees were happy to turn a blind eye to this crystal clear command for their own gain. Jesus referred to a scheme known as Corban. This is the Hebrew word for a gift vowed to God as a dedication. If you declared something Corban – it was earmarked for sacred purposes. You could not use that gift could for any other purpose. The problem came when it was used as a selfish loophole. Jewish children had a right and a duty to care for their parents. There was no social security in Israel – if their aging parents needed help, they were to provide it. But, many Jews didn’t want to be supporting the oldies – they wanted to be supporting themselves. So a scheme was hatched. Lets say all of their assets are worth 1,000 denarii. They would declare to a Priest, a Pharisee – that their 1,000 denarii of assets were Corban – dedicated to God. Now this didn’t mean they gave it to God there and then.

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It meant it was theirs to use and spend and do with – until they died – then anything that was left of their assets went to the religious leaders – to the Temple. This scheme is win, win for the children and for the Pharisees – lose, lose for the parents. This practice fed the greed of the children and the religious leaders at the expense of the parents and the express command of God. If Dad and Mum asked for help, the son would just say, “Sorry, you taught me too well to love God. All of the resources with which I could possibly have helped you have been dedicated to God. I know you wouldn’t want me to break a vow. Wish I could, but you know I can’t.” The man made tradition of Corban caused the Jews to violate the God given command to honour their parents. The result in verse 13 is that they have caused the crystal clear Word of God to be invalidated. Brothers and sisters – it is not just the Scribes and Pharisees that twist Scripture for their own purposes. We all do it. We find reasons to ignore the clear commands of God. Its not greed – I just want more so I can give more. I was bullied as a child – so I don’t have to forgive. I am sharing prayer requests – not gossiping. It is so easy to be blind to what is clearly before us. I have had many people sit in front of me and I ask them to read a Scripture – and then ask what does it mean? They simply refuse to answer. The text is so clear – but they don’t want to obey it – so they find a way to get around it – by ignoring it – or justifying their actions. Having shown that the Pharisees view of defilement was based on a false understanding of Scripture – Jesus moves on to the:

True understanding of defilement Look at verses 14-23:

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what

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defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Yes you are defiled – but you weren’t defiled by something outside of you – you were born defiled. Many will say that watching porn defiles you. Jesus would say – no – you watch porn because you are defiled. Do you see the difference? Remember that the Pharisees taught that it is the world that defiles you. Something out there corrupts your innocent heart. However, Jesus teaches another view of corruption – and in very stark terms. Here is what Jesus – and indeed the whole Bible teaches.

From the moment Adam sinned – everyone is born with a corrupt heart. Your heart didn’t become corrupt – it was always corrupt. I got a new car recently. Some time later – I noticed a scratch on it. I know my car was perfect when I got it – I had a good look over it at the dealer’s – it got messed up after I got it. Not so children. They come out of the womb corrupt.

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As David said in Psalm 51 – I was brought forth in iniquity – in sin did my mother conceive me. We are born sinful. We don’t like this. Who likes looking at their precious baby – they look so pure – and thinking – you are one minute old – but you are already corrupt? Yet – if we are honest – we know that they are born messed up. From the day they are born they know how to manipulate you and get their own way. No one has to teach a child to say no. No one has to teach a child how to lie, be selfish or fight. Yes the world has defilements.

But, the defilements of the world did not corrupt our heart – they were already corrupt. The world just makes our corruption come to the surface a little more easily. What this means is that even if we clean up the things of the world that defile:

Our hearts remain defiled. Why is this so important?

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If you want to deal with sin – you have to target the real problem. Cleaning up the defilements of the world won’t deal with sin. So in this section Jesus focuses us on the real problem by telling us these truths:

The sin without is not the main problem I do a lot of counselling and many of those struggling with their Christian walk tend to put much of the blame on outside factors. It is like when Adam said – the woman You gave me – she is what messed me up. Have you heard this before? I am messed up because:

I had a messed up childhood. I was tormented at school. My husband is selfish and cruel.

Look – I don’t want to suggest these things are not contributing factors – but I do want to say that they aren’t the main issue. It is not that you were once pure and something messed you up. We might feel good blaming someone or something for our problems – but it won’t help deal with the root problem. Dealing with the external factors alone is never enough. The sin without is a problem – it is just that it is not the main problem. So what is?

The sin within is the main problem You will never have victory over sin by blaming others or limiting the world. We have to deal with the root issue – and that is our sinful hearts. Jesus makes it clear that defilement comes from within:

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In the form of sin such as evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. Jesus is merely stating the obvious.

Garbage Within, Garbage Without Because there is garbage within us – garbage comes out of us. These defilements didn’t come from outside in – they are inside us and come out of us. Our root problem is not that we touch something unclean or watch something unclean – our problem is that we have unclean hearts. Yes, certain things could make a man ‘ceremonially unclean,’ but that was not what made him ‘morally unclean.’ It can’t! What enters the body cannot defile the inner man because it doesn’t stay within. You chew it and swallow it. It goes into the stomach and intestines and then it passes out of the body. Note the little editorial note that Mark adds. “Thus, he declared all foods clean.”

WITHIN WITHOUT

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Praise the Lord for this. Recently a friend who is a pastor took me out for a meal and we both chose the slow roasted pork belly. Not only was it great – but it is moral. I left with a clear conscience. I can enjoy my pork and prawns because at the coming of Jesus – all foods were made clean. But this was huge for a Jew. To them – it is almost as if Jesus said – you don’t have to keep any of the Ten Commandments. What is going on here? Why did the Old Testament have all these teachings on clean and unclean? Why were some foods like pork and prawns unclean? Jesus is telling them that the clean/unclean distinction was never meant to be a checklist to save anyone. Eat lamb and veges and get to heaven. Eat pork and go to hell. No. It was meant to teach us that in order to be saved you do have to be clean and holy like God. But because we live in a fallen world we can’t be clean. We are surrounded by uncleanness. We can wash all day long and never be clean. We can eat tofu all day long and never be clean. They were meant to realize the clean/unclean laws could never make us clean. We need something more. What we need is the God who came to save. You can’t deal with your sin yourself. Only Jesus can deal with it. So much of the Law is meant to point to Jesus – the One who will save – and these signs ceased at the coming of Jesus – the Sabbaths, the sacrifices – and the food laws. The One they pointed to had come. And – He can do what no Law – no washing – no ceremony can do – He can actually clean us. Now we come to the heart of this message. Every person here has battled with sin. Enslaving, degrading, defiling sin. We have tried so many things to deal with it – but there is only one way to deal with sin.

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Now in in verses 24-30 we find the:

Only solution for defilement Verses 24-30:

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

On first glance you wonder what this passage is doing here – what it has to do with sin and defilement. But many times in the Gospels – we find Jesus performing a miracle that illustrates what He is teaching. In fact next week we will see Jesus heal a deaf man and a blind man to illustrate that He can heal our spiritual deafness and blindness. Here Jesus meets a woman who has a daughter who has an unclean spirit in her – and no one had been able to remove it. But Jesus removes the unclean spirit – as a demonstration that He can remove the uncleanness that defiles you and me. Jesus – God Himself – does what only God can do. This miracle is a picture that Jesus came to work the greatest miracle in history – a divine heart transplant.

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Jesus withdraws from the multitude – this time to a Gentile region – Tyre and Sidon. But even there Jesus could find no rest. A woman comes to Him. She is a Gentile, a Syrophonecian and her daughter has an unclean spirit. She has tried everything. She is desperate. The Jews would say – her daughter – a Gentile – could never become clean. She was a dog – inherently unclean. This woman comes – falls at Jesus’ feet and begs Him to cleanse her beloved daughter. But the response is not one we expect. Jesus says, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” You have to think that this seems a little insensitive and harsh – not to mention politically incorrect. If this happened today – we could only imagine the headlines:

Self-proclaimed religious teacher calls ethnic woman a dog and refuses to help her!

But we need to realise there is more going on here. In the parallel passage in Matthew 15:21–26, this Gentile woman comes and calls Him Lord and addresses Him by His Jewish title – Son of David. She is so persistent the disciples beseech Jesus to send her away. But she is desperate – and she knows Jesus is her only hope. Only Jesus can cleanse. Jesus tells her – “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Wednesday, Nissan 9, 0029Est. 012 Price 1 Mite

SELF-PROCLAIMED RELIGIOUS

TEACHER CALLS ETHNIC WOMAN A DOG AND REFUSES

TO HELP HER!

ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

THE JERUSALEM TIMES

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Jesus is not saying He only came to save Jews. He is saying that the plan was for Him to come to the chosen people – the Jews first. Then a group of them would come to know Him as Messiah and then they would take the gospel to the world. She is a Gentile – a dog – not one of the children. But notice the shrewd answer this woman gives. “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” I know I am a dog – I am not a Jew – I don’t deserve anything. I do understand your plan. But that does not mean some crumbs can’t come my way now. Dogs get the bits that fall off – please let a little fall my way? This is faith. She knows that the only One who can help her daughter is Jesus and she will not leave till He cleans her. Jesus honours this faith. He heals her daughter – He removes the unclean spirit within her. He deals with the real problem. This is an awesome picture of faith and cleansing. What is the point for us? Every person here struggles with sin. For some it is an entangling devastating struggle. Some here have despaired of ever being victorious. Our instinct is to just work on removing temptation and the opportunity for sin. That is fine – but inadequate. You will only be able to battle sin if you have a new heart and Jesus strengthens that new heart. Listen to Ezekiel 36:25–27:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses. … And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will

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put within you. … And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

There is only one way to be clean:

Jesus has to take the defiled heart we were born with – and give us a new one. Consider the way Paul describes it in Titus 3:5:

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus does what we cannot. But the question that thinking Christians ask is this. If we are Christians – and Jesus has sprinkled us with clean water and washed us and given us a new heart – then why do I still sin? Why is this world still such a struggle? The answer is that our new heart is not perfect yet – but one day it will be. The final cleansing has not occurred. This only happens in heaven. There is still some sin lurking within. But that sin no longer condemns us because Jesus has promised to pay the penalty for every sin – past, present and future. Yes, the hearts we now have are not what they were. Jesus has begun the task of cleansing them. And He provides His people with the tools to resist the corruption of the world. So in the time before heaven – how do we target sin? First, make sure you have a new heart.

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Make sure you have come to Jesus in humble repentance and accepted His grace. Second, realize that sin is a powerful enemy. You can’t battle it by inadequate means – like washing hands – or only removing worldliness. Make sure you draw near to Jesus and follow the lead of the Syrophoenician woman and beg Jesus for the cleansing only He can give. Draw near to Him and let Him cleanse your heart and strengthen your heart. Make sure the focus in your life and in your home is not only on keeping the world out but inviting Christ in. Shepherding your heart. True purity ultimately comes from within. When Jesus deals with your heart – there is no impurity to come out. I speak to so many men and women who battle against sin – and they are losing. But most of their fight is against worldliness. They don’t spend enough time on their heart. And we wonder why we struggle. We need to target the real problem – our sinful hearts. Draw near to Jesus in prayer, the Word, fellowship, obedience. If Jesus is strengthening your heart – you will have victory in the fight. Yes you will lose some battles – but the victory will finally be His. We need to target the right battle. We need to pray the prayer of David in Psalm 51:10–12:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

And then – our great and gracious God will work a miracle. He will strengthen the new hearts He gave us to stand against sin and rejoice in His ways. And we will long for the day when our hearts will be pure – never to be defiled again. How awesome is that? How great is our God!

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Targeting Sin’s Power (Mark 7.1-30 July 26, 2015)

Main Point: The real power of sin lies within so our only hope is a new heart. Read: Mark 7:1-30 � What are the two views about how our hearts became corrupt? � Which one is biblical and why?

� Why does it matter? � What is the place of limiting the effect of the world on our hearts? Why is

this inadequate on its own? � Why is it hard to see our children as born corrupted? What does it mean

that we are born corrupted? � Why can a focus on limiting worldliness become legalistic and consuming? � How do false teachers take a minor teaching and twist it and declare it

crucial and take a major teaching and twist it and declare it trivial? � Are there areas you find ways to justify avoiding the commands of God? � What is the ultimate solution for the sin within? � Why do Christians still struggle with sin after coming to Christ? � As Christians how do we focus on our hearts? � As parents how do we shepherd our children’s hearts? � What are you most looking forward to about the day your heart is finally

pure?