A Matter of the Heart

Matthew 15:1-20

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. [Matthew 15:18]

We have been seeing the different groups that Jesus dealt with during His earthly ministry: His enemies, the multitude, and disciples. All three were highlighted in Matt 14 and we will continue to see how Jesus dealt with each over the next several chapters. There is great application for us because these are the same groups that we deal with today.

This morning we will focus on Jesus enemies, the religious Scribes and Pharisees. It is interesting that sometimes our greatest foes are within religious circles. It is the Wheat and the Tare parable.

These religious leaders accuse Jesus of breaking the tradition of the elders. [v.15:2] Now, it is interesting that they would admit that it was the tradition of the elders and not what is written in the Law of Moses. Back in Chapter 12 they accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath, but remember, it was their added tradition [and faulty interpretation] that He broke.

This, however, underscores the danger of religion when it becomes a list of dos and donts. Sometimes religion can end up being more from the heart of man than the heart of God, which pose problems. Jeremiah warned that The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it. [Jer 17:9]. You know, it never ceases to amaze me the things that come out of a persons mouth and even their texts and emails that they have time to ponder while writing. But Jesus said it clearly, But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Bad words [spoken and written] come from a bad heart and good words come from a good heart. It is a simple principle.

And so, we will continue to see the hearts of these three groups over the next several chapters. The heart of Jesus enemies is to destroy Him; the heart of the multitude is to use Him; and the heart of the disciples is to serve Him.

But we will also see going forward that the focus moves toward teaching His disciples. This is because His disciples would bear spiritual fruit that would continue the message of the Kingdom when He is gone. We must also notice, however, that Jesus still dealt with His enemies and ministered to the needs of the multitude.

These chapters are great lessons on ministry management and how we should be investing our time, energy, and resources in furthering the Kingdom.

Sending the Multitude Away

Matthew 14:13-36

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. [Matthew 14:22]

This verse comes between two great works: Jesus feeding the multitude and Jesus walking on water. These are arguably the most well-known miracles in the Gospels. The former is recorded in all four Gospels, revealing its significance, the latter remembered because Peter walked on water as well, thus giving us great insight into the walk of faith in this life.

Remember that the spiritual precedes the physical and even though the Physical Kingdom will not come until Jesus returns, He has given us a spiritual authority in this life of faith that can render physical results. What is interesting to note, however, is that in this miracle there was no physical healing. Rather it taught a valuable lesson on faith.

What is oftentimes overlooked in these two miracles is v.14 in between: Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.

Notice the urgency, Immediately. Notice, too, that when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. [v.14:23]. Jesus physically left His disciples and directed them away from the crowds and into a storm. And then He went up on the mountain to pray for them.

Is this not the walk of faith today? Is not Jesus at this very moment praying for us from the Mount of God?

This is where leaving the multitude is critical! The majority [the world] walks sight. They are sight-seers. Everything has to be seen, touched, and felt because they are governed by their physical senses. But followers of Christ walk by faith. Because Without faith it is impossible to please God [Heb 11:6], and because the just shall live by faith [Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38].

That is the mature believer. Disciples go on from believing to walking; and the walking is by faith.

Being a part of a multitude exercises little faith. Why? Because they walk by sight; they live by what they see, touch, and feel physically and emotionally. But to grow in faith, we need to be rubbing shoulders with ones that are exercising faith, and that starts by deciding to send the multitudes away, being set apart, and establishing a personal life of prayer and fellowship with Jesus.

Minister to the world but be careful not to fellowship with them!

The Kings Withdrawal

Matthew 13:53-14:12

So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house. [Matthew 13:57]

This verse comes upon the heels of the Matthew 13 parables of the Kingdom. Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them [Matt 13:34]. This set the disciples apart. After the fourth parable Jesus sent the multitude away but His disciples came to Him saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. [Matt 13:36] This was the tipping point toward the Kingdom! Kingdom priorities became more important than all others. The disciples became concerned with the Kingdom of Heaven above miracles and anything else.

Jesus, however, would continue to minister to the multitude. He sowed seed on all soils even though He knew only one would bear fruit [ref. 13:18-23], an interesting detail to ponder. But this brought a distinct marker in Jesus ministry. His enemies continued to try to destroy Him, the multitudes continued to seek miracles, but His disciples began seeking the Kingdom. Jesus started to focus on the last because His disciples would be the ones to carry on the message and work of the Kingdom after He was gone. Wiersbe commented:

Chapters 14-20 I have called The Retirement of the King. During the period of time recorded by Matthew in these chapters, Jesus often withdrew from the crowds and spent time alone with His disciples (see Matt. 14:13; 15:21, 29; 16:13; 17:1-8). There were several reasons for these withdrawals; the growing hostility of His enemies, the need for physical rest, and the need to prepare His disciples for His future death on the cross.

However, we must not think that these withdrawals, or periods of retirement from crowds, were periods of inactivity. Often the crowds followed Jesus and He was unable to remain alone. He would unselfishly minister to their needs in spite of His own need for rest and solitude. In Matthew 14-20, we will see these three groups of people: Christs enemies, the needy multitudes, and the disciples.

What is interesting to observe is that these are the same groups today. Matthew 14 gives us insight into how Jesus interacted with them. He dealt wisely with His enemies, knowing that the time and manner of His death must fulfill all Scripture; He tirelessly served the multitude, knowing they would bare little fruit; and He faithfully poured into His disciples from which would come a harvest. This is the reality of Kingdom dynamics in this life of faith.

The certainty is that there are only so many hours in a day. We must therefore be Spirit-filled judicious on who and how we invest energy, time, and resources. There are times that we, too, need to withdraw, not only from our enemies but also the multitude, to focus on the ones that will further the Kingdom.

Parables and Priorities

Matthew 13:24-52

Jesus sent the multitude away, and His disciples came to Him. What a telling tale of the difference between the two.

The miracles were over for the day, and yet Jesus disciples came to Him for the message. And that is what set them apart. They had different priorities; they had a different heart. They wanted deeper truths of the Kingdom, not just miracles. They were looking to understand and draw closer to Jesus in a deeper way, and Jesus was more than willing to draw near and teach them.

Matthew 13:36 gives us insight into the dynamic of priorities, and how they play out in our decisions. It is the principle of seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness. It is a spiritual work that is ignited and fueled by the Holy Spirit.

You cannot manufacture Kingdom priorities in your heart; and you neither can sustain them by simply trying harder. They are a work of the Spirit that works in the fabric of your soul as you draw near to the Lord. It is not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.

Kingdom priority is a Spirit-filled work that brings a persons life into proper order. It happens when Jesus becomes more important than any other person, place, or thing in this life. And when that happens things fall into place regardless of circumstance.

Seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. It is the these things, however, that challenge us. Because we tend to be more me-centered than God-centered.

Take notice of things [and people] that occupy your time, energy, and money. It is a quick evaluation, but quite insightful to our own hearts. If Jesus is not at the top of our priorities, then we need to re-evaluate our hearts.

How much time are we praying, worshipping, reading Gods word, and serving in fellowship? As the saying goes, the proof in the pudding is in the eating.

You see, priorities are more than a desire. It begins with desire, but it cannot end there. We must go on to walk in the priority of Jesus. ONLY then will we experience a Spirit-filled and orderly life in the here and now.

Parables that Set Us Apart

Matthew 13:1-23

And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying[Matthew 13:2-3]

Matthew 13, the Parables of the Kingdom, brings us to the third discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. As mentioned before, Matthew pivots around five major teachings of Jesus on the Kingdom of Heaven. In Chapter 13 He describes the Kingdom through seven parables.

Why parables? Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. [v.11] The you are disciples [followers], the them are the multitudes.

And so, we see that parables discern disciples from the multitude; they set apart the serious believers from the non-serious ones. They reserve doers of the Word from merely hearers. James said it plainly, Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only [Jms 1:22]; and Faith without works is dead [Jms 2:20]. Now, this does not mean that we are saved by works. That is the sole work of Christs work upon the Cross; only believing by faith in that work saves us. HOWEVER, once we are saved, we will have works. Good works always follow true faith; it is a natural [spiritual] progression.

And that is the message of the first parable of the Sower. The Sower is Jesus. He sows seed on different soils, which are symbolic of different hearts. Only one receives the seed of the Word and yields a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. [v.8] The others, the multitude, have no yield. There is one soil that is set apart to bear fruit.

Now, remember, miracle and message are the familiar rhythm of the Gospel of Matthew. Also remember, that it is the message that is the more important. Miracles might gain a little better way in this life, but believing the message is what brings us into Kingdom life that is eternal. The latter is far more important. But it was the former that was drawing the crowds.

This is where the parables draw the line. It is the serious believer, the one who presses into Jesus, the one who walks the walk; he is the one who partakes of the spiritual food and understands the parables. But to the one seeking only physical miracles, the parables are of no serious study. With parables, Jesus throws alongside illustrations that give depth into the Kingdom, and it is that depth that drives a disciple to higher ground!

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [v.13]

May we be set apart for spiritual food, Gods manna from heaven, and not only on the physical bread and tangible things in this life. May we allow these parables to set us apart.

Water that is Thicker than Blood

Matthew 12:28-50

And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.[Matthew 12:49-50]

You have heard the saying, Blood is thicker than water. We know what that saying means regarding biological family. However, Jesus had a different view. While there is a strong bond between biological family, your spiritual family bond is stronger, or at least it should be. That may be difficult for some to receive, but according to Jesus it is true. Your spiritual family is of the utmost importance in this life of faith, and that is why it is important for you to be in fellowship and involved at a local Church.

Notice the undeniable action, He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Here are My mother and brothers! The exclamation point reveals the emphasis that Jesus spiritual family was His true family.

Also notice these are not ones who simply believe. James said that even the devils believe [ref. Jms 2:19]. True spiritual family are disciples [followers] of Christ, and there is a cost to following Christ [ref. Matt 8:18-22]. That cost is leaving the world behind, and sometimes even biological family.

Now, biological family will always be biological family, but if they are not followers of Christ, they are not spiritual family. What we can observe in our passage is that Jesus places a priority of fellowship with His spiritual family. He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Here are My mother and My brothers!

This is where it gets a bit tricky because we love our physical family. But when they are not walking with Christ there is little common ground. Fellowship with unbelieving family members usually takes on one of two forms; either they are uncomfortable doing things of the Lord with you or you are uncomfortable doing things of the world with them. The biblical term is being unequally yoked. Yes, we can be unequally yoked with our own biological family. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? [Amos 3:3] A profound question indeed!

It is important as Christians that we fellowship with spiritual family, which means getting plugged into a local Church, not just attending, but finding a way to serve. That is how we grow and become protected and covered spiritually. But it is just as important that we do not fellowship with our unsaved biological family. That is how we stray and become unprotected and uncovered.

Fellowship means to share something with another person in a deep way; friendly relation and companionship [The Believer Plugged In]. Do this with other Christians; develop friendships with followers of Christ, your spiritual family, and you will experience protection, covering, and blessing in this life of faith.

Past the Point of no Return

Matthew 12:22-37

Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. [Matthew 12:28]

What is the blasphemy against the Spirit? Is there an unpardonable sin?

What is clear in Scripture is that denying Jesus as Lord after being exposed to Him and the Gospel, is unpardonable. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [John 3:16]

This verse, among others, clearly teach that eternal life is available to whosoever believes in Him. The invitation is all-inclusive, even for the gravest sinner, and yet exclusively around Jesus. Paul is a fitting example, who was the chief of sinners before coming to Christ [ref. 1 Tim 1:15].

So, if you feel too dirty to come to Christ, you are wrong. No sin is greater than Gods forgiveness. But note, it is only through Jesus that forgiveness and eternal life comes. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. [John 14:6] That work of redemption was completed on the Cross of Calvary. We are pardoned if we believe on that work by faith. We are unpardoned if we do not.

But as we delve deeper into our passage this morning, we will see that rejecting Christ is a process. The Scribes and Pharisees are proof of concept examples. After rejecting truth repeatedly, their conscience seared, they were no longer able to receive Christ. God affirmed their hardness of heart, and when He did that, they became past the point of no return. It was, however, a process.

Pharaoh is another example. Notice the digression in Exodus 7-11. Eight times Pharaoh hardened his own heart toward God, but after the seventh time God began to harden Pharaohs heart.

Paul describes the same dynamic. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts [Rom 2:24]. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions [Rom 2:26]. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind. [Rom 2:28] Notice the unrepentant digression. They passed the point of no return.

We can choose to reject Gods Word for only so long. Unrepentant sin devolves into a lifestyle of sin and hardness of heart. And it is in that hardened state that God begins to affirm ones resistance. It is then that a dangerous line is crossed!

BUT GOD is always ready to receive repentance. He desires mercy and His grace is available now! Even if you are deep in the world today, repent, turn away from the world and turn toward Him, and He will receive you as His own.

Jesus is our Sabbath Rest

Matthew 12:1-21

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.- Matthew 11:28

We studied this verse last week. We are going to delve into it further today from the perspective of Sabbath. The context of Sabbath in Matthew 12, right after 11:28, helps us to understand that Jesus is our Sabbath rest.

Sabbath is a day observed by many Jews. Some observe it for religious reasons [religious Jews], and others for cultural reasons [secular Jews]. There are even churches like Seventh Day Adventists that observe the Sabbath.

So, what is Sabbath? What is its purpose? Why was it instituted? Jesus addressed some of these question sin Matthew 12, but remember the immediate context of Matthew 11:28, Come to Meand I will give you rest.

What is interesting to note is that Jesus broke all religious tradition of the Sabbath, which was one of the things that got Him in trouble with the religious leaders. He even called Himself, Lord of the Sabbath [Mark 2:28].

The word Sabbath is derived from the Hebrew Sabbat, which means seventh. Sabbath therefore has less to do with rest and more to do with ceasing from work. Sabbath is a derivative of Sabbat, seventh, that on Sabbat, the seventh day, God ceased from work. The all-powerful God was not tired after six days of creation, He did not need to rest; rather, on the seventh day He ceased from work, to reflect on His creation that was exceedingly good.

Ceased from work [as opposed to rest] provides deeper insight into the meaning of Sabbath, especially for Israel under the Law of Moses. On Sabbat, the seventh day, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, Israel, a theocratic nation, was to nationally cease from work and reflect on Gods work [i.e., worship]. However, did ceasing from work mean not helping someone in need, even saving their life? Did it mean not feeding someone who was hungry [ref. 12:1-8]? Did it mean not helping your sheep if it fell into a pit [ref. Matt 12:11]?

Jesus addressed these kinds of questions on the Sabbath, and every time religious tradition of the day rejected His answers.

The New Testament clearly teaches that Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Hebrews 4 is a powerful commentary on that very point, and provides deeper insight into, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus is our daily Sabbath rest, not just weekly. So how does that work?

You see, rest is not only sitting and sleeping. It includes that but Sabbath Rest is so much more. Sabbath rest means peace with God and resting in that peace, and that comes by way of the Person Jesus Christ.

A crying baby does not rest by law and logic; no, it is when daddy or mommy comes. That is the fundamental dynamic of Sabbath. Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus is our Sabbath rest.

Accountability

Matthew 11:16-30

Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.- Matthew 11:21

Accountability, we are answerable to what we know. This is an important principle in Scripture that Jesus Himself describes.

It is one thing to error without knowledge and quite another to error with. It is the difference between making an illegal U-turn without seeing the sign and making one with. Both break law, however, the latter is intentional. It is like sin and a trespass.

A trespass is when you see that line that you are not supposed to cross, and you cross it anyway. That kind of trespass is intentional and carries more liability in a court of law. That is the principle laid out in Matthew 11:21.

Sin means missing the mark. It is an archers term. The goal is to hit the bulls-eye, and when missed the judge declares sin, youve missed the mark. In the realm of God, the mark is perfect holiness. We have all missed that mark, so we are declared sinners.

The way it works is that God is perfectly righteous; therefore, we must be declared righteous through the Cross to be brought back into fellowship with Him.

Jesus was the only Perfect Man to ever live, He was sinless; and so, at the Cross, His perfect righteousness was imputed to us in exchange for our sin imputed to Him, and then He died in our place. For the wages of sin is death. Therefore, all who have believed on the name of Jesus, and His work on the Cross, are declared righteous and have eternal life.

However, His work on the Cross of Calvary must be received by faith; and we are accountable for that knowledge. We are answer able to the revelation given us.

This is the accountability principle described in our passage. Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. On Judgment Day, the citizens of Chorazin and Bethsaida will be accountable to the testimony of Jesus Himself and the very works that He did in their towns.

The applicable question for us today is how much accountability do we have? We live in a nation where there are churches in every town, and Bibles upon Bibles to read. How much accountability do we have at Calvary Chapel Echo Park where we have exposited every chapter of every book in the Bible twice?

We are accountable for what we know. It is one thing to miss the mark without knowledge and quite another to miss it with.

Faith that Overcomes Question

Matthew 11:1-15

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another? - Matthew 11:2-3

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [Heb 11:1] This is the Biblical description of faith. But notice the question embedded. It is inherent in things hoped for, and things not seen.

Our hope is seeing the Lord face-to-face [ref. Ps 27:8], a God Who is Spirit and cannot be seen. Questions, therefore, are undeniable on this side of heaven. But when faith turns to sight, all questions will be answered [and fully understand], but not until then. The key, until then, is knowing the truth of Gods word, and trusting Him in that word, even if we do not understand everything now.

At the onset of our passage this morning, we see this dynamic playing out in John the Baptist. The last time we saw John, he was full of zeal and without question. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? [Luke 3:7] He said this to the crowds who were filled with religious leaders from Jerusalem. He had no fear!

I baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [Luke 3:16] He had the truth!

So, what happened?

Firstly, notice that John is now in prison awaiting death. There is nothing like persecution and fear that will get you to question your faith. But Johns question was not from fear; it was from a misunderstanding of Gods word. Notice the question, Are You [Jesus] the Coming One, or do we look for another?

You see, John was expecting Messiah to set up Israels physical rule, and he saw Christ as being the one to fulfill that work. Yet, he was in a dungeon awaiting execution. John, along with all Israel, did not understand that there would be Two Comings of Messiah. Johns faith was misdirected by what he did not know [i.e., what he misunderstood], and thus his question, Are You the Coming One?

This has much application today, and throughout history. Many throughout the ages have had a faith; but unfortunately, a misguided one. It was faith not in truth, at least not in the whole truth. But faith not in the whole truth is faith in a lie, which is misguided faith.

That is why it is important that we read the Bible, all the way through, and not just the parts we like. Because it is the fullness of Scripture that gives us the fullness of truth to put our hope and faith in that will overcome question, even amid persecution.