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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, I'll pick 
up reading at verse 1, we'll read to verse 20, and then our 
focus this morning will be on verses 10 to 20. Then the scribes 
and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, Why do 
your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For 
they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. He answered 
and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment 
of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor 
your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, 
let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to 
his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received 
from me as a gift to God, then he need not honor his father 
or mother. Thus, you have made the commandment of God of no 
effect by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy 
about you saying, these people draw near to me with their mouth 
and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments 
of men. When he had called the multitudes 
to himself, he said to them, Hear and understand. Not what 
goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, 
this defiles a man. Then his disciples came and said 
to him, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when 
they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every 
plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 
Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the 
blind. And if the blind leads the blind, 
both will fall into a ditch. Then Peter answered and said 
to him, Explain this parable to us. So Jesus said, Are you 
still without understanding? 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. For out of the heart proceed 
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, 
blasphemies. These are the things which defile 
a man. But to eat with unwashed hands 
does not defile a man." Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank 
You for Your Word, and we pray now that You would forgive us 
for all of our sins as we come to study Scripture. We know that 
sin casts a darkening influence over our minds and our hearts, 
and we truly do want to hear, and we want to understand, and 
we want to take to heart the things taught to us by the Lord 
of Glory. We ask that You would send forth 
Your Holy Spirit, that He would guide us and instruct us and 
lead us in all truth, that He would illuminate our minds and 
our hearts, that we may receive with great joy and gladness the 
Word of God Most High. We pray as well for any and all 
who have come here this morning outside of Christ. Our genuine 
desire is that they, by your grace and for your glory, would 
hear and understand. We pray that you would give ears 
and you would give hearts and you would give faith and repentance 
and all things necessary for the right reception of the Word 
of God. We pray that today would be the day of salvation. We pray 
that today would be the day when sinners are reconciled unto you 
in this place and throughout this earth. We pray that the 
gospel would be proclaimed and that your word would run swiftly 
and be glorified, that Christ would see the travail of his 
soul and be satisfied. And we pray this in his most 
blessed name. Amen. Well, remember last week 
in the first section here in chapter 15 verses 1 to 9, we 
have some men from Jerusalem described as scribes and Pharisees. 
They are the religious leaders. They come and without any greeting, 
without any acknowledgement whatsoever of our Lord and His ministry, 
they get right to the point in verse 2. He says, they say, why 
do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders and 
the specific reason for they do not wash their hands when 
they eat bread? Now remember kids, this is not 
a discouragement against washing your hands. When you come in 
from playing, wash your hands for physical hygiene, and because 
you don't want to eat germs, you don't want to ingest things 
that will make you sick. But what had developed alongside 
of the scripture was a bunch of tradition. And if the priests 
were told to wash in these particular circumstances, and others were 
told to wash in these circumstances, Well, then this oral tradition 
came along and said everybody ought to always wash in every 
circumstance. Not for personal hygiene, not 
to reduce germs, but rather to commend oneself unto God, to 
be ceremonially right, to be ceremonially pure, to be ceremonially 
clean. And as we saw last week, the 
primary emphasis in this confrontation between the Pharisees and Christ 
is one concerning authority. In our text this morning, he'll 
take up defilement, but in the first section, in verses 1 to 
9, it is about authority. He highlights, or he makes this 
contrast between the traditions of the elders and the commandment 
of God. Verse 3, he answered and said 
to them, why do you also transgress the commandment of God because 
of your tradition? And then he gives a specific 
illustration. The fifth commandment and its 
penal sanctions demand that people honor their parents. But this 
oral tradition had risen up alongside of the Word of God, and it created 
a loophole, so that somebody could say Corbin, or they could 
say that the money that they had was now devoted to God, and 
as a result, they wouldn't have to support their parents. Jesus 
says this is wrong, and this calls forth his identification 
of them in verse 7 as hypocrites. And then he says that the prophet 
Isaiah wrote about you, not that you were the faithful, not that 
you were the godly, not that you were the righteous, but that 
you were the ones that draw near with your mouth, but your hearts 
are far from me. So he deals with the scribes 
and Pharisees in verses 1 to 9, and now this morning we'll 
look at 10 to 20. First, the explanation given 
to the multitudes in verses 10 and 11, and then secondly, the 
exposition given to the disciples. So he explains that basic reality 
about defilement to the multitudes, and then he expounds on that 
for the disciples. Following the pattern, by the 
way, that we saw in Matthew chapter 13. Remember when the disciple 
says, why do you speak to them in parables? He says, to you 
it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. Jesus 
explains in further detail to the disciples, and that pattern 
is true in this particular section. He makes an explanation in terms 
of defilement, verse 11, to the multitudes, but when the disciples 
want further information, He gives them that specifically 
in verses 17 to 20. So let's look first at the explanation 
given to the multitudes in verses 10 and 11, when he had called 
the multitudes to himself. They had no doubt heard what 
he said to the Pharisees. When the Pharisees said, why 
is it that your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, 
and they furnish us this particular proof, for they eat with unwashed 
hands, and then Jesus combats that in verse 3, the multitudes 
are probably perplexed. They had listened to the teaching 
of the Pharisees. They had been followers of their 
leadership. They were wondering, they were 
curious. Jesus has said something absolutely, 
completely contrary to what the tradition of the elders maintains. 
And now their curiosity is no doubt peaked. And so the Lord 
Christ exhorts them. Notice in verse 10, He said to 
them, hear and understand. Again, there's the background 
of chapter 13 and the parables. What's the purpose of God's Word? It is that we hear it and it 
is that we understand it so that we might be saved. If you are 
here this morning, there is a lot of material and a lot of information 
in chapter 15 verses 10 to 20 that you ought to hear and you 
ought to understand. You ought to pay attention to 
what Christ teaches here with reference to defilement. Because 
while they're talking about unwashed hands, they've neglected the 
true source of defilement, which is an unwashed heart. You see, 
the legalist and the Pharisee and the scribe worries about 
the hands. He gives no thought or no concern 
whatsoever to the wretchedness of his heart. The least of your 
problems this morning, if you're outside of Christ, is that you 
have not washed your hands to be ritually pure before the Lord 
God Most High. Christ says your problem is far 
greater than you could ever imagine. Your problem is far more systemic 
than you ever knew. Your problem is one of the heart. So hear and understand. Pay attention to the Word of 
the Living God. This is the most important thing 
that you will hear today and probably all week. There's a 
lot going on in the Middle East. There's a lot happening now in 
Iraq. There's a lot happening in Syria. There's places all 
over this earth that demand our attention in terms of being able 
to pray on behalf of our brothers and sisters and on behalf of 
that Lord's prayer petition, may your will be done on earth 
as it is in heaven. Those are important realities. 
What Christ says in this passage demands your careful attention. Notice. Osborne makes this very 
perceptive statement. If all they do is listen, this 
multitude, they will remain the crowd. But when they understand 
and respond, they will become disciples. And at this particular 
juncture, Christ's beef is with the religious leaders. It will 
develop as Matthew's Gospel proceeds to the point in 21-43 where the 
Kingdom of God is taken from you, the nation of Israel as 
a whole, and given to a nation bearing fruits consistent with 
it. But at this particular point, Christ's beef isn't with the 
multitudes. It is clearly with the Pharisees 
that had messed up the Word of God itself. Now notice his statement 
concerning defilement in verse 11. He says, not what goes into 
the mouth defiles a man. Now we've got to make the basic 
qualification here. Drunkenness, defiles. Bluttony, 
defiles. Putting a crack pipe in your 
mouth, defiles. Certainly, with that qualification 
in mind, we have to understand what he's addressing in the immediate 
context. They are subscribing to the tradition 
of elders that indicates that you must wash your hands before 
you participate in food so that you will be ritually pure before 
God Most High. Isn't this typical of the legalist? What consumes him and what concerns 
him is his hands and their cleanliness. He doesn't think twice about 
his heart. He doesn't think about the murders. 
He doesn't think about the adulteries. He doesn't think about the fornication. 
He doesn't think about the theft. He doesn't think about the false 
witness. He certainly doesn't think about the blasphemies. 
What is most important to that man is the dirt on his hands. Now the immediate context, as 
I said, addresses this issue of ritual purity with reference 
to the tradition of the elders. But if we look at the larger 
context in the rest of the Bible, Jesus is making a pretty shocking 
statement in a Jewish context. It's not what goes into the mouth 
that files a man. What about Leviticus 11? What 
about the holiness code? What about the food laws? What 
about shrimp? What about pork? What about bacon? What about all those things? 
Lord, doesn't that defile a man? Those are things that need to 
be dealt with. But again, the immediate context 
here that Christ is refuting is this idea that is the tradition 
of elders. Now, the later church would have 
to reckon with this whole issue of the cessation of the food 
laws, and certainly this passage would come to bear on it at that 
point. In fact, in Mark's parallel account, 
it's better to read 7.19 the way the ESV has it. That it's 
Mark's commentary on Jesus' statement that, thus, he purified all foods. But back to this particular instance. Your problem isn't what goes 
into the mouth. Your problem isn't your unwashed 
hands. Your problem is much deeper and 
that's what he says in verse 11. He says, it's not what goes 
into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, 
this defiles a man. So if you've come here this morning 
and you're thinking in your head, you know, I need to get better 
at life. I've been living in a very wicked sort of way. I know that I'm not living the 
life I ought to live. I need to clean some things up. 
I need to stop going to the bars. I need to stop smoking pot. I 
need to stop looking at porn. I need to stop doing those things 
so that I'll be ripe and ready for God Most High. May I say 
to you that your problem is a lot deeper than those particular 
symptoms. It's not the unwashed hands. that are going to damn you for 
eternity, it is the unwashed heart. That's Christ's point. These men come to Him fastidious, 
scrupulous, polished, prioritized. Why is it that your disciples 
eat with unwashed hands? He says to the crowd, let me 
tell you, it's not what goes in, it's what comes out. Now 
notice, second broad category, the exposition given to the disciples. 
He makes that statement to the multitudes. He'll expound on 
it later for the disciples. Notice in verse 12, The disciples 
have a question about two particulars. First, the condition of the Pharisees, 
and secondly, the cause of defilement. And notice, what Christ has said 
is directly contrary to the Pharisees. Look at Peter's response in verse 
12, or the disciples' response. Verse 15 identifies Peter specifically. Note verse 12. Then his disciples 
came and said to him, do you know that the Pharisees were 
offended when they heard this saying? They'd fit in today to 
the current religious and political climate. Christ wouldn't. See, today the biggest offense, 
the biggest scandal, that's the word that's employed there, is 
actually suggesting that someone else might be wrong. The disciples 
say to him, do you not know, do you not realize that by what 
you've said, you've offended, the word is scandalized, the 
Pharisees? Now, why would the disciples 
be concerned about this? Again, the Pharisees are the 
religious leaders. The Pharisees are the men of 
God. The Pharisees are the ones that 
walk around town, praying aloud, going to the synagogue, and conducting 
themselves not like other men. They are the benchmark of piety 
in Israel society in the first century. So the disciples come 
to Christ and they ask this question. They say, do you know that the 
Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? Are you 
going to apologize? Are you going to say sorry? Are 
you going to do penance? Are you going to go grovel at 
their feet? Are you going to go deal with 
them in a way that affords them the respect and the dignity and 
the honor that is due to them? That's the emphasis of the disciples' 
response at this particular juncture. Now, note what our Lord does 
with reference to this particular concern. First of all, the Lord 
Jesus is not surprised that they are offended. He doesn't say, 
heavens, I didn't understand that I might possibly offend 
them. He's not surprised. Why? Because He set up the contrast 
concerning authority Himself. They are plugging along with 
the traditions of the elders while violating the commandments 
of God. What matters to Christ is the 
commandment of God. He's not surprised. He's not 
taken aback. He isn't shaken. Are you surprised 
in our current context that people don't like Christianity? Yeah, 
I just can't believe it. Why not? Are you preaching it 
faithfully? Are you teaching it accurately? Like I told the brothers yesterday, 
if you can present the truth of justification by faith alone 
and not be accused of antinomianism, the issue is you probably haven't 
preached it properly. If you maintain an insistence 
upon the sovereignty of God, and you've never heard anybody 
say, with Paul's objectors, well, why does he still find fault 
with us? Then you've probably never preached sovereignty the 
way it is in the Bible. What happened when the prophets 
preached? Did everybody just say, oh, you're wonderful, and 
we love you, and you're awesome? What happens when Jesus preaches? Does everybody just say, we love 
you, and you're wonderful, and you're awesome? We see in the 
synagogue in chapter 12, he heals the man with the withered hand, 
and the Pharisees rage against him and plot how they might destroy 
him. You know, brethren, we ought 
not to be surprised that our message is counter-cultural. We ought not to be surprised 
when the godlessness of men and the mutiny of the nations that 
Pastor Cam read about in Psalm 2 is evident before our eyes. It ought to shock us more if 
we don't notice such things. It ought to shock us more if 
we've made peace with such things, if we've become like the Judahites 
of Judges chapter 15. We've assimilated the culture 
so much so, that we do not see or care about the gross violations 
of God's holy law, and we, just like everybody else, are carried 
along in the fray. Jesus isn't surprised. Notice 
as well, the Lord Jesus isn't bothered by it. You see, for Christ, their delicate 
sensitivities did not matter as much as God's truth. For Christ, 
their reputations did not matter, but the souls that they were 
leading into the ditch matter. Calvin says it this way, as the 
scribes were presumptuous and rebellious, Christ did not take 
great pains to pacify them, but satisfied himself with repelling 
their hypocrisy and pride. What happens today if you do 
something like this? You're a hater! You're evil! You're bad! You're mean! You're 
vicious! You're vile! Or if you happen 
to dare to be a Samson and go kill you some Philistines, and 
I'm not advocating you actually go out and do this, but in the 
context of Judges 15, Samson begins to deliver Israel from 
oppression from the Philistines. What happens when Judah gets 
wind of this? Who do they side with? Do they 
stand behind Samson? Do they take up arms? Do they 
say, we'll march with you, we will go against the Philistines? 
No. They send a dispatch of 3,000 
men to go to Samson and they say, why are you doing this to 
us? That's the context I think we 
live in today. So much so that we look at Judges 
15 and we say, wow, this Samson, what an odd character, taking 
the fresh jawbone of a donkey and killing 1,000 men in battle. Boy, that's strange. No, what's 
strange in Judges 15 is that a tribe of Israel that had initiated 
the very book itself by going on the conquest that God commanded 
is now arresting Samson. They are delivering the deliverer 
up to the enemy. That's what's shocking in Judges 
15. Christ is not concerned. He is not bothered. He is not 
put out. He does not have to go do penance. 
He does not have to alleviate their delicate sensitivities. He doesn't have to go plead for 
their forgiveness. He doesn't have to beg for their 
mercy. No, He's not bothered by it. Now notice what He goes 
on to say. The Lord then acknowledges that 
these religious leaders are not even God's people. Look at verse 
13. He answered and said, every plant 
which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Now that's a statement concerning 
God's sovereignty, isn't it? Isn't that? How do you escape 
the sovereignty of God in light of Jesus' statement here in verse 
13? Who plants God's people? God. If you're not planted by 
God, guess what? You're not God's people. Calvin, 
commenting on this passage, said, Christ might have said that it 
is right that those should perish who disdainfully reject salvation. But he rises higher and asserts 
that no man will remain steadfast unless his salvation be secure 
by the election of God. By these words, he expressly 
declares that the first origin of our salvation flows from that 
grace by which God elected us to be His children before we 
were created. So Calvin recognizes, and I hope 
and trust you all do too as well, in verse 13, the high emphasis 
on God's sovereignty. But there's something else at 
work here that we ought to consider. If you go back to the Psalter, 
in Psalm 80 for instance, you'll see that Israel is God's plant. You go to the prophet Isaiah, 
specifically chapter 60 and verse 21, and Isaiah 61 and verse 3, 
you'll see that Israel is God's plant. He plants them in the 
land. He tends to them. In fact, the 
prophets can even use this against Israel as Isaiah does in chapter 
5. You're the Lord's vineyard, but 
you haven't conducted yourself in a consistent manner. What's 
Jesus saying about these religious leaders in Israel? He's saying 
what Paul will later say in Romans chapter 9 and verse 6. They are 
not all Israel who are descended from Israel. He says essentially 
what Paul will say in Romans chapter 2. Circumcision, or being 
a Jew, isn't about being circumcised in the outward man, but it's 
about being circumcised in the inward man. And in this context, 
brethren, for him to say this concerning the religious leaders 
probably had a much bigger impact on them than it does on us. Every plant which my Heavenly 
Father has not planted will be uprooted." This is a theme that 
will become prominent throughout the remainder of Matthew's Gospel. 
So much so that Jesus takes Isaiah's parable concerning the vineyard 
in chapter 21 and he reuses it. He reworks it, he re-engineers 
it, and he uses the same emphasis to the same apostasy that the 
same sort of thing that Isaiah saw in his day. And when Jesus 
makes that statement, He tells them, therefore, the kingdom 
is being taken from you and given to a different nation. As the 
New Testament proceeds, we see that nation is the church made 
up of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. It is 
a vast multitude of peoples from every part of the world that 
God is saving by His grace and assembling together to be the 
true Israel of God. So when Christ says to them, 
every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be 
uprooted, they are not being encouraged that their concern 
is legit. If you said to me, you know that 
when you said that you offended so-and-so, I'd probably say, 
well, I'm sorry, let's go make it right. And you'd be happy, 
right? That's probably what they were 
seeking in verse 12. We don't want a rift with the 
Pharisees. We don't want a problem with 
these men. Do you know that you offended them when you said what 
you had to say? Every plant which my Father has 
not planted will be uprooted. And for devotees of Matthew's 
gospel, the same language is employed in the parable of the 
wheat and the tares. What is Christ saying? The Pharisees, offended by the 
Messiah, show themselves not to be God's own. Hence, they 
will be uprooted at the final judgment, as Davies and Allison. Notice, Christ doesn't stop there. 
He now issues a warning to the disciples. Verse 13, every plant 
which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 
Now notice verse 14, let them alone. This is a warning to the 
disciples. Leave them alone. Don't waste 
your time with them. Don't expend so much energy with 
them. Don't be consumed and concerned 
with what they think. Brethren, I'm all for apologetics 
and defending the faith, but there is an instance and there 
is a season and there is an occasion where Matthew 6 has to actually 
apply. Do not cast your pearls before 
swine. Do not give what is holy to the 
dogs. Christ says don't bother with 
them anymore. That's heavy, isn't it? They 
come with a concern. Do you know that they're offended? 
He says, leave them alone. How is this for not offending 
people? Wow! How is this for seeking to ameliorate 
every difficulty and trial and problem somebody has? Jesus, 
as I said, is more concerned with the truth of God's Word 
than He is with the psyche of these men. Jesus is more concerned 
with the people that are being led into destruction than He 
is about these men's reputations. And this is what He says. Notice 
what he goes on to say in verse 14. and if the blind leads the blind, 
both will fall into a ditch." It's interesting, when the Apostle 
Paul comes to set forth the reality that all men everywhere are liable 
to God's just punishment because of their sin. He does this in 
Romans chapter 1. If you've ever thought through 
this, you'll see that the bad news precedes the good news for 
Paul. Paul doesn't start with, God 
loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. He starts 
with, God is angry with you and has a miserable plan for your 
life unless you repent and believe on His Son. But in chapters 118 
to 320, the Apostle summarizes that all men everywhere are under 
sin. You know what he does when he 
addresses the Jewish audience? He acknowledges that they had 
received the oracles of God. He acknowledges that they had 
been the special people of God in the Old Covenant situation. 
He acknowledges something that they had identified about themselves 
probably in light of Deuteronomy 4. Remember, God takes Israel 
to plant them in the land so that they can be a light unto 
the nations. They can mediate God's blessing to the peoples 
around them. And so they had developed this 
mindset or this attitude that Paul speaks of in Romans 2.19. 
He says, they viewed themselves that they were confident that 
you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are 
in darkness. See what Jesus is doing? Not 
only are they not a part of God's people, but they are certainly 
not true teachers of doctrine. This is something, again, that 
is somewhat counter-cultural today. You can't ever say anything 
about somebody's doctrine without being tarred and feathered as 
the enemy of all that is good and holy. If I say this particular 
person is wrong on a particular doctrine, I'm not making a moral 
judgment. I'm not putting him in hell. 
I don't have the power to do that. But if I want to caution 
people against false doctrine and believing a lie and ending 
up in the pit, I think it's love, and I think it's commitment to 
truth, and I think ultimately it's a love to that opponent 
that you point these things out. Christ says that these are blind 
leaders of the blind. Do you see that in your mind, 
I hope? What are the things that indicate 
that somebody's blind for you? when they wear dark sunglasses. 
That's not a dead giveaway because a lot of people wear sunglasses 
when it's sunny out. So that's not a dead giveaway. 
But if they have a cane with the orange tip at the end, that's 
a good indicator that they are blind. Well, what's the one that 
absolutely puts it to rest? It's when they got a nice-looking 
German shepherd on a harness that leads them from place to 
place because they're blind. Do you see what Jesus is saying 
to these men? Do you see what He's cautioning 
His disciples? Do not be concerned about them. 
Do not be upset that they've been violated. Do not be upset 
that they're scandalized, which indicates that the Pharisees 
either did something or looked a particular way, so that the 
disciples knew this. They didn't hide it well. Are 
you like me when your wife says, is anything wrong? No. You got this glum look on your 
face. She's able to spot it a mile 
away. No, I'm fine. No, you're not 
fine. Just be honest. It seems to be 
the case that these Pharisees, at least verbally or by their 
actions, were able to indicate to the disciples that they were 
upset about this man's teaching. Christ says, not only should 
you not be concerned about them, you need to realize that they're 
not a part of our people, or of God's people, and they are 
certainly not what they claim to be in terms of being religious 
teachers. Are you going to follow a man, 
let's say, down into the very bottom of the Grand Canyon who's 
got the glasses, who's got the cane, and he's got the dog. He 
may be the nicest man in the world in a whole host of other 
ways, but you're certainly not going to follow him down into 
that big hole. And yet today, how many people 
follow men that are blind, leaders of the blind, because the follower 
is too lazy to check it for himself? Notice this in this passage. 
The blind leaders of the blind. What's the disposition of both 
parties? They both fall into the ditch. You see, on the day of judgment, 
it will never be a legitimate response for you to say, but 
I didn't know. I wasn't sure. This is what he said. This is 
what Benny Hinn taught me. This is what Joel Osteen preached. This is what Americans or Canadians 
liked. These were the books that sold. 
These were the churches that were big. These were the places 
that seemed alive. Not like those places where they 
were engaged in dead orthodoxy and everybody looked drying and 
decaying and old and stuffy. If a blind leader leads a blind 
man, the both of them will fall into a ditch. You see how important 
it is that you make sure that you have safe guides? You make 
sure that if you are going to shimmy down to the bottom of 
the Grand Canyon, do an eye vision test on that particular man. 
Can you see this E? If so, then I'll follow you. 
People join churches for all the wrong reasons. E's have nothing 
to do with it. What do you have for my kids? 
What do you do for my fun? How do you entertain me? Brethren, may I suggest the church 
needs to get back to making sure its leaders can read the chart. You don't need movers and shakers 
and shuckers and jivers. You need men of God who spend 
time in the Word of God in prayer and who preach the truth. See, 
Jesus had no truck with false teachers. He didn't play games. Leave them alone. They are blind 
leaders of the blind. If the blind leads the blind, 
both will fall into a ditch. That's the condition of the Pharisees. Now note, finally, the cause 
of defilement, verses 15 to 20. Then Peter answered and said 
to him, explain this parable to us. He's not talking about 
13 and 14. He is not talking about the plant 
imagery. He is not talking about the blind 
leading the blind. The disciples got that. When He says, explain this parable, 
He means verse 11. Because that's what Jesus explains 
in verses 17 to 20. When you compare the parallel 
in Mark's gospel, you'll see it even clearer. The parable, 
the dark saying, the mysterious word, the analogy that Peter 
wants additional explanation concerning has to do with the 
cause of defilement. We're back to square one. If, 
Lord Jesus, you condemn these men as not being of the people 
of God, and if, Lord Jesus, you condemn these men as not being 
true teachers in Israel, then please explain for us what you 
mean, because we've been living under the assumption that we 
have to wash our hands before we eat in order to commend ourselves 
before God. You see, there's something big 
going on with these disciples, and they want to have understanding, 
and they want to have an appreciation of these truths, and then that 
brings us into Christ's response. Notice in verses 16 and 17. Christ says, you should have 
known this. You should have understood this. 
Are you still or are you also still without understanding? 
You don't get this? You don't understand yet? It's 
not unwashed hands that keep you from God. It's an unwashed 
heart. It's not washed hands that commend 
you to God. It's a washed heart. There's 
instances where Jesus says, if I've been with you this long 
and you still don't get it, What can we at least survey from the 
side with reference to this? There ought to be growth and 
understanding. There ought to be maturation. If you at 22 still live like 
you're two, there's something wrong there. And I'm sure all 
your parents would say, that's exactly what they do. They need 
more hands-on attention at 18 than they did at eight. That's 
pretty typical. Did you see the analogy? Why 
is it that somebody can be a Christian for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 
years, and still not get some of the basics? It's because we're 
not valuing and prizing this book, and we're not hearing and 
understanding. The most fundamental level in 
this passage, Jesus wants you to hear and understand. And then 
the disciples say, can you explain this to us? We don't get it. 
Are you still without understanding? Remember in chapter 13, they 
come, they want explanation for the parable of the wheat and 
tares, and Jesus gives them that. In 13, 51 and 52, they affirm 
that they understand the things that He has been speaking, and 
He commends them for that. 13, 10 to 17, those to whom it 
is given to know the mysteries of God, those are the blessed 
ones. And here, a couple chapters later, 
they're still struggling with this whole idea of what commends 
me to God. Is it unwashed hands, or do unwashed 
hands keep me from God? So you see something of our Lord's 
rebuke to them. Again, it's sinless. It is holy. He doesn't do it the way I might 
do it. He does it with love and grace 
and kindness, but with a severity and a firmness to underscore 
to them, you need to know these things. If in your 20th year 
of being a Christian, you really still don't get justification, 
you really should spend some time with the doctrine. If in 
your 20th year of walking with Christ you don't have a basic 
understanding of the Trinity, you need to read more. You say, well, I don't have time. 
You have time. I know you have time. Everybody 
here has time. We have a lot of time, if we're 
willing to make some sacrifices and do what it takes so that 
we can hear and understand. See, we'll do those things that 
are important to us. We will pursue those things which 
mean much to us. We will make sure we're where 
we want to be when it's something that is interesting to us. How 
is the Word of God and its glorious doctrines not interesting to 
the Church of Christ? Great are the works of the Lord, 
the psalmist said. They are studied by all who have 
pleasure in them. You take pleasure in the cross? 
You take pleasure in Colossians 1.20. Take pleasure in the person 
and the work of the Lord Jesus and spend some time working through 
it. Spend some time internalizing. 
Spend some time soaking it in. Be under preaching. Sometimes 
people say going to church doesn't make you a Christian. Yeah, there's 
more to being a Christian than going to church. But at a bare 
minimum, going to church is part and parcel of it. To avail yourself 
of the opportunity to hear and understand. And if you have men 
that are not false guides, men that are not blind guides, men 
that are shimmying down the Grand Canyon with their glasses and 
their canes. And I'm not speaking ill of the blind. I'm just suggesting 
they're not the best ones to follow on a particular mission 
like that. If you have a man that can see his way down, praise 
God. You ought to want to be there. 
You ought to enjoy it. You ought to thank the Lord. Notice, Jesus goes on to explain. Verse 17. Do you not yet understand 
that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is 
eliminated? You don't have to be a doctor 
to get this, do you? The smallest child here knows this. They may 
not be able to elucidate and explain all the inner workings 
of the gastrointestinal system, but they know this, that when 
they put something in their mouth, in the space of however many 
hours, however fast your system works, you will have to eliminate 
it. It's just the way it is. God 
designed the body in a marvelous way. We don't get bored down 
with all this waste product. There is a means by which it 
is eliminated. And that's what he's talking 
about. The verb actually means, it goes into the latrine. What comes into the mouth, goes 
into the stomach, and then goes into the latrine. For those of 
you who are in the military, you'll know that that's what 
they called the toilet. You say, ooh, that's icky. It's 
God's glory making us in such a way that we can eat and eliminate, 
eat and eliminate, eat and eliminate. It's a wonderful thing. Now notice, but those things 
which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart. So here's 
the rub, here's the issue, here's where he's going. The problem 
is not unwashed hands, the problem is an unwashed heart. You see, when you put that food 
in, it's eliminated, it goes into the latrine. That's just 
the way it is. It works beautifully. God's made 
it, orchestrated it such. There's something more foul. 
There's something more gross. There's something more disgusting 
than what goes into the toilet. We don't think that way, do we? 
We look at sin as if it's something we can get right up on, get right 
close to, sometimes entertain it for a moment or a time or 
a season, play with it and put it back and then confess it to 
God. Jesus is teaching us in 17 and 18, there's something 
more disgusting, something more vile, something more smelly, 
something more odious than what goes into your toilet. He says it's what comes out of 
the heart. It's the fact that you're an Adam. It's the fact 
of sin. It's the reality of depravity 
and inability. Notice, those things, verse 18, 
which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they 
defile a man. He gives specific examples. He 
says, for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. It's almost like 
this is the fountainhead for everything that flows. You ever 
think of the Psalter when it speaks of that man who devises 
wickedness on his bed? There's plotting, there's cutting, 
there's ingenuity, there's time management, there's effort. How am I going to do the things 
that I want to do? And then notice what Jesus says 
flows from these evil thoughts. Murders! You think your unwashed 
hands are the problem? No, it's the fact that you either 
actually stopped a man's heart, or that you hate a brother in 
your heart. That's your problem. That's the issue. That's what's 
keeping you from your God. Adulteries? Do you think for 
a moment that as long as you go to church, because Pastor 
Butler said that's a good thing to do, as long as you occasionally 
read your Bible, as long as you do those things which at least 
render you externally pure to the onlookers, you can harbor 
adulterous thoughts? You can look at porn? You can 
flirt with people? You can do that which God in 
the seventh word says, you shall not. fornications. Again, do you think just by washing 
your hands, by making sure you have the external T's crossed 
and the external I's dotted, you can play with that garbage? You say, well, sexual sin isn't 
my issue and I don't murder people. What about theft? And note, incidentally, 
which has abiding ethical validity for our Lord Jesus Christ. It's 
the second table of the Law of God, and Matthew even gets the 
order. Murder, adultery, theft. 6, 7, and 8. Coupled with his 
use of the fifth as he delivers his first blow to the scribes 
and the Pharisees, I think there is a larger theological construct 
here that the moral law is abiding. The ceremonies pass away. You can eat pork chops in the 
New Covenant, but that decalogue remains. Trans-covenantally, 
whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you are, you are 
not to be a thief. You are not to steal people's 
property. You're not to steal from your employer. And then 
notice, he goes on. He's relentless when it comes 
to the application of the Law of God. False witness. False witness. Do you think it's 
okay, as long as you're ceremonially pure, you're doing your religious 
thing, you're engaged in the externals, to be a gossip? To 
be a slanderer? To be a liar about other person's 
reputations? Brethren, this is probably one 
that finds us out very, very pointedly. We all get information, 
especially through Facebook and Twitter and just conversing. I mean, it's going to get to 
the point we don't even talk anymore. We'll all just be on, 
you know, texting each other. Why open our mouths when all 
we can do is this? We know everything about everybody 
and all the time. Why do we think we have liberty 
to continue to repeat it? When has God ever said that in 
the New Covenant era the ninth commandment is no longer binding? 
Jesus says your problem isn't that you eat pork with unwashed 
hands. Your problem is that heart that 
you carry around. And then blasphemy is to round 
it off. blasphemies, to round it off. You say, he doesn't follow 
the Decalogue exactly. No, he alludes to it as so many 
in the New Testament do, to show us its abiding validity and its 
utility for the New Covenant Christian. So I think you all 
get the point at this particular point. It is the violation of 
God's moral law which originates in the heart. Those are the things 
that defile a man. Whether you eat with washed or 
unwashed hands, that's not your problem. That's not your issue. That's not what's going to keep 
you out of heaven. It's not those tradition of elders 
that you need to be concerned with. It is the commandments 
of God Most High that you need to take into consideration. Well, 
let's conclude with a few observations, and then we'll close. First, 
and these are things we've already touched on, but I think need 
to be re-emphasized, the need to hear and understand. The scribes 
and the Pharisees didn't hear and understand, did they? What 
happened when the scribes and the Pharisees didn't hear and 
understand? They were offended. See, this 
happens sometimes when people go to churches, and they hear 
preaching, and they hear sermons, or when you witness to them, 
and you testify to them. Instead of them hearing and understanding 
and seeking to deal with the root problem, they get offended. They say things like, well, he 
said this, and he said it in this way, and it really didn't 
please me, and it didn't make me happy, and I'm not going to 
put up with that anymore. Isn't that what the scribes and 
the Pharisees do? We're the people that get up 10 minutes into the 
service and walk out and say, we're not going to listen to 
him. We don't like what he has to say. And we certainly don't 
like his manner, because he offended us. May I suggest, if you're 
an unbeliever here, get over your offense and go to the cross. Get over your delicate sensitivities 
and having somebody possibly suggest that you're missing the 
mark and flee to the one who actually saves to the uttermost. 
That's more of the concern that you ought to have. The multitude 
is told to hear and to understand so that they would have an accurate 
understanding of what is defiling and ultimately what is its remedy. 
You see, this is the beginning of the healing process when we 
identify that our issue is evil thoughts, and murders, and adulteries, 
and fornications, and thefts, and false witness, and blasphemies. 
When we see what the malady is, we will hopefully cry out for 
the remedy. And the scripture everywhere 
testifies the only hope, the only salvation, the only remedy 
there possibly is for such a wicked situation is in and through the 
Lord Jesus Christ. who walked about on this earth 
never with murder in his heart, never with adultery in his heart, 
never with fornication in his heart, never with theft, never 
with false witness, and never with blasphemies. The scripture 
says he obeyed the law perfectly, he died as a sacrifice and a 
substitute, he rose again so that lawbreakers like you and 
I can look to him and live. It's a beautiful thing. And then 
working on this theme of hearing and understanding. Verse 11 is 
very clear, isn't it? Verse 11, especially with its 
amplification in verses 17 and following, is very clear. Not 
what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of 
the mouth, this defiles a man. If this is so crystal clear, 
why is it that so often in our practice we betray it? We have concocted our traditions 
of elders, and we have attached them to the law of God. And if 
someone doesn't do it the way I do it, if someone doesn't think 
it the way I think it, if someone doesn't engage in it the way 
I think it ought to be engaged in, they can't be right for God, 
and they certainly can't be right for my fellowship. Hear and understand 
Do you ever realize, my dear brothers and sisters, that every 
single one of us is at a different place on the road called progressive 
sanctification? Stuff that may be a no-brainer 
to you in terms of how to live the Christian life might be something 
a brother or a sister needs to pray about, to consider, to think 
through, and to learn of. We cannot propagate, promulgate 
our shibboleths upon every passerby and multiply our preferences. What is it, my dear brothers 
and sisters, that commend you to God? It's not the way you 
rule your home. It's not the way you come to 
church. It's not the manner in which 
you read your Bible. It's the blood. It's Colossians 
1.20. He made peace through the blood 
of his cross. Do you see how contrary those 
two concepts are? Cross meant execution. Cross meant capital punishment. If you've seen the news in the 
last several months, you'll see that somebody twitched when they 
were lethally injected. And so now they're saying it's 
too painful. And in one of the states, they 
broke out the electric chair. When you see that electric chair, 
do you know what it means? It means death. It means capital 
punishment. It means a way of exiting this 
world that only criminals go through. That's what cross conjured 
up. And yet Paul says, peace through 
the blood of His cross. It's not your washed hands that 
are going to get you into the marriage supper of the Lamb. 
It's not your washed hands that are going to secure your place 
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's not your washed hands that 
give you a foot over a brother or sister in terms of being a 
holier individual. It's the blood washing that Christ 
gives us in his gospel that secures our place at the marriage supper 
of the Lamb. So we ought to stop living as 
if our shibboleths somehow have the power to commend us to God. Secondly, we see in this passage 
the wretchedness of man. Just yesterday, sitting, typing 
up notes, looking on the news, Planned Parenthood should not 
be. That they're funded with tax 
dollars is repulsive. A group snuck a camera into a 
meeting between a 15-year-old and one of the counselors at 
Planned Parenthood. Let me tell you, this counselor 
had absolutely no regard whatsoever for the Seventh Commandment. You thought I was going sixth, 
didn't you? Because Planned Parenthood butchers 
babies. but they also counsel young people 
in how to have unlawful, unfettered, unbridled sexual relationships. How do we explain such a thing? 
Man and his evolutionary development just took a wrong turn? No. God made man upright, but they 
sought out many devices. And the problem on the papers 
or in the newspapers today, the problem in the White House, the 
problem in Ottawa, the problem in your own house is right here 
in Matthew chapter 15. It is the heart. This is why we preach the gospel, 
because only the gospel brings healing to the heart. It's not 
moral reform, it's not good advice, it's good news concerning the 
doing and the dying and the rising of Christ for all sinners who 
come. I alluded to this quote earlier, 
but a man said, the filth of the toilet is not so great as 
that of a human heart not yet cleansed. Who thoroughly weighs 
this? Who is striving for real purity? Is man basically good and trying 
his best to do all that he can to actualize his potential Not 
according to Jesus. What would Jesus say? Jesus would 
say, your hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked. Who can understand it? The Lord 
Jesus demonstrates that man, unaided by grace, shall never 
have eternal life. Jesus underscores the necessity 
in this passage of the new birth. You see, if 18 and 19 are true 
as they are, your situation and predicament is a whole lot worse 
than you've ever even imagined. I think at times with young people 
especially, I'm not picking on you, but I know because I was 
young, I still think I am young, but I was young thinking, oh, 
I'll just make my peace with God when I get older. Religion's 
for old people. Christianity's for old people. 
I want to go do what I want to do, and then I'll make my peace 
with God. First of all, you don't make 
your peace with God. God makes peace with you through 
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You are at His mercy, you are 
at His disposal, and you ought to flee to Him. And then the Lord Jesus underscores 
the necessity of Proverbs 4.23 for the believer. Can we say 
as Christians that verse 19 is never true of us? Does regeneration absolutely 
obliterate all desires that are wicked? We are washed, we are 
cleansed, we are justified freely by His grace. But as Paul deals 
with in Romans 7 and Galatians 5, there is this remaining corruption. And if as believers we understand 
what Jesus says, hopefully Solomon's words in Proverbs 4.23 become 
more lively, more real, and more of a desire for us to pursue. 
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues 
of life. You're not out of the woods yet, 
believer. I have yet to meet the believer 
who says, I've made it, I've arrived, I don't have any murderous 
thoughts, I certainly don't have any adulterous thoughts, I certainly 
don't have any fornication thoughts, I certainly don't thieve, I certainly 
don't false witness, I never gossip, I never slander, I'm 
just so humble and so godly and so wonderful, the Lord ought 
to just translate me now, because heaven is waiting for me. That 
person I've yet to meet. Though I think in some respects, 
some of us commend ourselves that way. For the most part, 
we have a bit more of a realistic appreciation. Proverbs 4.23, 
Ryle says, let it be a settled resolution with us to keep our 
hearts with all diligence all the days of our lives. Even after 
renewal, I love this, they are weak. They're weak. On your best day, 
You're weak, aren't you? Not me, brother. Yeah, probably 
you are. He says, even after putting on 
the new man, they are deceitful. Let us never forget that our 
chief danger is from within. That's good counsel. Have you ever pictured that in 
Pilgrim's Progress at the very end when he's swimming across 
the River Jordan? Apollyon's not with him. The 
world's on the other side. But what's still there? Him. Right? This is why monkery doesn't 
work. Go join a monastery to cleanse 
yourself and purify yourself from all things that defile. 
You bring the most foul and defiling thing right into your room with 
you. It's in your chest cavity. He says, the world and the devil 
combined cannot do so much harm as our own hearts will if we 
do not watch and pray. Happy is he who remembers daily 
the words of Solomon, one who trusts in himself is a fool. That would be happy counsel for 
each and every one of us to receive. And then, finally, if you have 
not got it yet, I will say it once again. If you are outside 
of Christ this morning, verse 19 is probably the best description 
of what's going on inside of you than anywhere else you will 
find. I mean, other places in the Bible. 
You try to read a psychology book, what's my issues? What's 
my problems? You go to a counselor, what's 
my issues, what's my problems? You go to your parents, what's 
my issues, what's my problems? You go to a spouse, what's my 
issues, what's my problems? Christ nails it right here in 
verse 19. Your problem is far worse than 
you've ever imagined. Your problem is far more odious 
and wretched than you've ever begun to think. And the only 
remedy is through our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible says, the 
one who comes to Him, He will not cast out. Believe on Him. Take your sin, take your vileness, 
take the toilet of your heart to Christ. And He, and He alone 
will heal. the glory of our gospel. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word and we thank You for its clarity and we thank You 
for our Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect instruction concerning 
man's imperfections and man's need for sovereign grace and 
power and man's need for gospel. We pray, Father, that You'd give 
all of us ears to hear and hearts to understand. I pray that your 
people would take seriously Proverbs 4, 23. I pray that we take seriously 
this need to see what ultimately commends us to God, to make much 
of the gospel, to make much of the cross. And Father, for those 
outside of Christ, may you do that work which is impossible 
with men. May you open hearts, and may 
you give understanding, and may you give faith and repentance. 
Do this for your glory. Do this for the good of souls, 
that they may not wander and fall into the ditch. And we pray 
this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.