Matthew 15:15-18..Working

Matthew 15:15-18..Working

15:15  Peter said Explain the parable to us. 16  “Are you still so  dull?” (The reason they were slow to understand, is not that they were country pumpkins who just didn’t get it. After all they wrote most of the New Testament. But rather it contradicted their strongly held beliefs and all they were taught.-(New) Jesus asked them. 17″Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach (digestive system-(New) and then out of the body? (Cast out in the drought?-K.J.V.) 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make a man ‘unclean’.

Extended Sermon Notes

“Teaches how sin doesn’t start on the outside, it begins in the heart.” (Get your heart right, you get your life right) ⇒ Sin starts on the inside and works its way out, not the other way around. Not tithing is not a money issue, it’s a heart issue. Being worldly is not a behavior problem, it’s a heart problem. Sin is not a splash of mud upon man’s exterior, it is a filth generated within himself. Sin is not like a cloud hanging over you. Its’ a Well that bubbles up from inside our polluted hearts.  It’s a part of us! It’s like the saying “What’s in the Well, comes up in the bucket”. When it comes to sin, it’s not like trying to clean a landfill by picking up the litter and moving it to the next town over.  Your not even addressing the problem. Your not even in the neighborhood.

“Gives comfort in knowing when we’re slow to understand stuff in the bible, Jesus’ own disciples didn’t get it right away either.” ⇒ Think about it, these disciples were the real deal. They have been following Jesus for a bit now at this time. They’d seen Him do some things that only God can do. Heal the sick, feed the masses, calm storms, cast out demons, and forgive sins. Yet they were still growing spiritually. They’d hadn’t arrived, they we’re still in need of hearing, understanding, and trusting in Christ. So again, this is something that should be encouraging to us. We’re not going to get all at once either, that there’s still a lot of growing, and that’s okay. There’s room for mistakes and room for growing in our life’s as well.

“Teaches the need for dogged devotion in going deeper into God’s Word. (It’s in the wrestling, struggling and trying where grace and learning occurs.)” ⇒ Whatever missteps the disciples make in their journey to understand Jesus’ teaching, their dogged determination and devotion to Him is something we should all emulate. Going to church and hearing the preaching with the “crowd” is a good starting point, but church attendance doesn’t make a disciple. We need quieter settings and smaller groups to really understand God’s Word. That may include a Bible study, a private meeting with the pastor, or individual study time with prayer and a commentary such as “Matthew Life Application Commentary”. (Much of what you’re doing right now!)

“Teaches the reason we sin is because were sinners at heart. (We do bad things because we have bad hearts.)” ⇒ Rather than focus on behavior mortifications we need to prioritize the heart. Maybe instead of trying to stop doing sinful things, we need to ask what’s leading us to those things in the first place. Evaluate what’s going on the inside before you start addressing what’s happening on the outside.

Additional Notes & Applications 

Teaches how we can always go to God for further clarification for the things we don’t understand. When we come up against the hard parts of God’s word the first place we need to go to is the Lord to help make it clear to us. (This does not mean were to be anti-teacher or anti-study, but were to look to God first for insight and understanding)

Teaches those who seek truth and greater understanding know the One whom they should ask! (You can always go to Jesus for answers!)

Because of the inability of the disciples to understand this, shows the power of legalistic teaching. It can become so ingrained in people, that only Jesus can  correct it.

Teaches how often times when it comes to God’s word, it’s not because we don’t understand, but because we’re unwilling to heed it.

Teaches how things can’t change our core character or effect us spiritually or positionally with God. Where sinned abound, grace abound even more.

Warns against thinking we can avoid sin by setting up boarders and boundaries without dealing with the heart first. This is why if we’re struggling with pornography issues with content filters and accountability partners are not enough. This is why external solutions do not work without heart change. The reason we continue to struggle with certain sins, even though we may change the external circumstances, is because the problem is inside of us. The issue is a heart issue. This is also why fixing the externals is not what God is looking for. The external acts are not the problem but symptoms of a deeper issue. The problem comes from the heart.

Teaches how the real purpose of ministry is to effect the heart, not the just the hands. As ministers of the gospel we aren’t just getting people baptised, were not trying to make immoral people moral people, were not trying to make dirty people clean people, or bad people good people. We are trying to make lost people Saved people, sinful people, righteous people. Were to go after the heart, because God is after the heart.

Jesus is not talking about what is healthy and unhealthy for you. Or saying that cholesterol, trans fats, and junk foods aren’t bad for you or effect your body.

Jesus is not saying you can sin whenever you want without consequences. that it’s O.K. to start smoking, drinking, and using recreational drugs. But rather is simply teaching that the source of sin lies in our hearts.

Peter’s struggle on this issue of clean and unclean will continue years later. We learn in Acts how God had to tell Peter three times in a vision to eat what Jewish tradition said was unclean. And three times Peter said “No Lord I have never eaten anything impure or unclean”(Acts 10:9-16) The issue wasn’t about food. The vision was about the inclusion of the Gentiles into God’s plan of Salvation.