We chose this topic today because it reflects the delicateness associated with issues of the heart; be it our physical heart, the heart with which we love, or our spiritual heart. Be blessed as we consider some matters of the heart Jesus spoke about.
“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.’” ~ Matthew 15:7-9
My first reaction to this scripture was “Mercy, mercy Lord!” Dearly beloved of God, I believe this is a good time to have a heart check-up. The doctor on duty is Dr Jesus in Matthew 15 and I humbly ask that we all submit to the procedure.
In our current day, it is easy to find many of us like Jesus describes: people who seemingly honour God with our lips, but have our hearts far from Him. Jesus calls us hypocrites and calls our worship vain (empty)!!
2 But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].
2 For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane,
3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good,
4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them. (2 Tim 3:1-5)
- If we claim that we believe in God and we believe in His Word, I pray do tell, why do we not live by it? Why do we choose sections of scripture to obey?
- Why do we not share the Gospel, for instance? Why have we deserted the commission Jesus gave us and held on to selfish gain: “Be happy and have a good life with your small family”?
- Why have we allowed immorality to mix with “Christianity?” When God says amongst us there should not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
- Why do we dress nice and prim for Sunday morning services and are full of rot during the entire week? Where are the Josephs and Daniels, who will not compromise but stand with integrity?
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? (v1-3)
I’ll share just two reasons from the passage because of length. First is the traditions of the elders! Beloved the church of God is a far cry or a phantom (a mirage or a shadow) of what we have been called to be because of traditionalism.
- Once a lady said to me: “My Aunty says I cannot go to a church that I am older than.” How do you choose a fellowship of believers because of age?
- And because of this, some of us have been in some places for ages and have no knowledge of God’s Word for ourselves. We are still shallow and empty, with no solid foundation in God.
- One of my brothers shared with me how he is battling with traditionalism in His church because their leaders cannot embrace the use of spirit-filled worship songs from this generation (eg. You are Alpha and Omega by Israel Houghton).
The second is misplaced priorities. One of the reasons Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites was because they misplaced the priorities God had set in His Word. For instance, they placed priority on tithing rather than justice, mercy and faithfulness (Read Matthew 23:23).
“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others.
One example of this in our day and age: “Seek ye first the kingdom of money and prosperity, and everything else will be added to you.” ~ 21st century believer. Dear friend, what God says is the main thing will always be the main thing no matter what anyone else says. God cares more about our relationship with Him and our character, than our comfort (Matthew 6:33).
For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ~ Matthew 15:4-6
One of the priorities Jesus clearly mentioned is our honour for our fathers and mothers. Many people do not honour their biological parents and their father/mother figures. Because I don’t want this to be so long, I will not expand on this. But please read the verse above and consider it very well.
“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.” ~ Matthew 15:18-19.
Our words and our actions show the state of our hearts. Deception, bitterness, fornication, greed, offence, theft, blasphemy, evil thoughts, gossip, slander, etc., all start in the heart. What have you noticed about your thought patterns?
- If we are honest, we will notice a need for a spiritual open-heart surgery, because our hearts are evil and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9).
- We have opened up our eyes to everything, our ears to everything, our minds to everything the world promotes and celebrates.
- We seem to have forgotten that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4).
Proverbs 4:23, 'Guard your heart, for out of it flows all the issues of life.'
- Guard the kind of music you listen to, guard the movies you watch, guard your speech, guard the friendships…
- Guard your social media accounts (mute & block), guard it dear friend! For this temple is the Lord’s, we should not treat it with contempt and defile it.
Dearly beloved, God is seeking for you and me to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth – no hypocrisy. May great grace and strength from the Holy Spirit be made available to us all to be such. Pray: “Change my heart and make it new, and help me Lord to live for you!” Hey… You’re blessed!
Do share your lessons from Matthew 15 with us. Remember to tag us on 📲:
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