He had mercifully cast a demon out of a blind and mute man-with the result that the man was healed and could now see and speak. The Pharisees had just thrown a dreadful and blasphemous accusation at Jesus. This is demonstrated by the context of this morning's passage. That's why we must, with all diligence, guard the heart! From out of our hearts flows all the issues of life and those issues of life are expressed by what is heard in our mouths. The mouth cannot draw up anything but what is already in the heart. It's not enough to simply 'clean up' the mouth. The heart of a man or woman is a well and the mouth is the bucket that draws from that well. If a man has a hatred for God as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures to be, then he will make irreverent jokes about God or speak against His holy character, or he will profess God to be something that He is not. If a man has no real love for the truth in his heart, he'll speak lies, or will cover up the truth about himself, or will falsely accuse another if it will get him what he wants. If he has theft in his heart, he'll speak about other people's possessions in ways that demonstrate covetousness, or a spirit of materialism. If he entertains adulterous or sexually sinful thoughts in his mind, they'll come out of his mouth in the form of dirty stories or jokes, or in suggestive or flirty comments. If he nurses a murderous hatred in his heart toward another man, for example, it'll reveal itself in the fact that he calls that man a name, or slanders him or gossips about him. When he harbors evil thoughts in his mind, they will eventually expose themselves in what he says. But when a man opens his mouth and sinful things come out, this reveals him to be a sinner from the heart. It makes no difference to his spiritual standing before God whatsoever. 17-20).Ī man can eat with unwashed hands, and it will not make him either holier or more defiled before God. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man” (vv. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. “Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. Later, He explained to His disciples what He meant by “what comes out of the mouth” (Perhaps your momma made you wash your hands before you ate too but this was different! This was a ceremonial washing-a Judaistic tradition that taught that it actually defiled a man before God to eat with unwashed hands.) Jesus responded by turning to the crowd that had gathered and saying, “Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man” (Matthew 15:10b-11). He was confronted by the Pharisees once because His disciples didn't follow the tradition of the Jewish elders by ceremonially washing their hands before they ate. We should expend the greatest possible diligence in protecting and guarding the condition of our own hearts before God because everything that springs forth from our mouths comes from what is in our hearts. So, when I taught my students, this basic command from the Scriptures is the first thing I taught them.īut I also believe it is a very central principle for each one of us as followers of Christ. To try to do otherwise is to be a hypocrite. No preacher can really preach but from what has first been put in him. This is, I believe, a very basic command for preachers because what comes out of a preacher's mouth is inevitably drawn from the well of his heart. It is, I believe, a biblical command that every preacher of God's word should constantly strive to observe: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life.” But I tried to pass on some basic convictions about preaching and one of the most basic was from Proverbs 4:23. Frankly, it was hard to tell how well I taught my preaching students-I couldn't speak their language. Several years ago, it was my privilege to help teach a class on preaching in a foreign country. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.) (Delivered Sunday, Jat Bethany Bible Church. Theme: The condition of our heart is revealed by our words. What Have You Done with Jesus' Great Works? Click here for free, printable Bible Reading and Prayer Journal sheets! The Four Most Important Things We Could Ever TellĮnhance your daily reading of God's word. Heart to Mouth, Matthew 12:34-37: A Sermon Message from Bethany Bible Church
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