Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1911
“And He said, That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within and defile the man.” Mark 7:20-23.
How weary the Savior must have been of the idle prattle of the scribes and Pharisees! They are forever talking about washing hands before meals and washing pots and cups—and He is all the while occupied with the great griefs and sins of men and how He can save them from the wrath to come. He must have felt as some true physician feels who looks upon a patient, marks the serious nature of the sickness and plans a remedy—while some quack is boasting his nostrums or performing ridiculous signs and passes over the dying man. To serious compassion, imposture is provoking and sincere truthfulness is grieved by the mockeries of pretense. The dear Savior, knowing the Truth about the whole thing and solemnly concerned about it, is pained with the talk of these pretenders of learning and religion who, knowing nothing at all about the real mischief, professed to purge away defilement by the washing of water and outward ceremonies! Truly, I think every spiritual man must have a feeling of disgust, every now and then, as in these days he reads dissertations upon the cut of a priestly garment or the positioning of an altar!
Have you ever read what is to be done if a little wine is spilt upon the cloth of the holy table, or how the cup used in the “mass” is to be rinsed again and again, and carefully drained by the person ministering? Have you ever heard of arguments concerning the fate of a mouse which was so irreverent as to eat the holy wafer? What trifling it all seems—this serious discussion of garments and vessels with strange names, this exact directory as to when to bow and when to kneel, when to put on a robe and when to take it off! What a waste of time, of learning and of thought! What exaltation of trifles and forgetfulness of serious realities! Men are diseased to the heart with sin and ready to die and pass before the Judgment Seat to receive the condemnation which must lie upon those who continue in sin—and meantime, the teachers of the people are either busy with vain ceremonies or dreaming over equally vain philosophies!
Behold, a pretender to profound thought informs us that Moses was in error and Paul scarcely knew what he wrote about! These philosophic amenders of the Gospel are as arrant triflers as the superstitious posture makers at whom they sneer! The Savior makes short work of human traditions and authorities! Your meats and your drinks, your fasting thrice in the week, your paying of the tithe of mint, anise and cummin, your broad phylacteries and fringes—He waves them all away with one motion of His hand—and He comes straight to the real point. He deals with the heart and with the sins which come out of it! He draws up a diagnosis of the disease with fearless truthfulness and declares that meats do not defile men! He states that true religion is not a matter of observation or non-observation of washing and outward rites, but that the whole matter is spiritual and has to do with man’s inmost self, with the understanding, the will, the emotions, the conscience and all else which makes up the heart of man. He tells us that defilement is caused by that which comes out of the man, not by that which goes into him! Defilement is of the heart—not of the hands!
To this teaching our Savior calls particular attention. Observe that He spoke it to the whole of the people and not to the scribes and Pharisees, only. It is necessary for every man to know this Truth of God and to lay it to heart. When He spoke, He added these words—“Hearken unto Me, every one of you, and understand.” And then He said more—“If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” If a man fails to understand more deep and mysterious Truths, yet let him understand this—for an error here is an error upon a vital point and may lead to most serious damage, if not to eternal ruin! We are,
all of us, called upon, therefore, to hear and to understand this day what the Savior says in the words of the text! Let me read them again, that they may sink into your minds. “And He said, That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetous-ness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
I. First, this morning, think, dear Brothers and Sisters, with deep self-abasement, of THE SWARM OF SINS. I seem to have broken open a wasp’s nest and the stinging creatures fly out in number, numberless! Here are 13 words, each one of them teeming with all manner of evils. Matthew, when he condenses the Savior’s utterances, mentions seven of these horrible things, one of which is omitted here, but Mark is more full in this instance and mentions 13 items of abomination. I am struck with the legion of foul spirits which are here set free, as if the door of the Bottomless Pit had been opened! As armies of locusts, or as swarms of the flies of Egypt, so are sins! As the wilderness was full of fiery serpents and scorpions, so is this world full of iniquities. The very names of them are a pain to the ears! Let us bow our heads in sorrow as we read the muster-roll of this legion of terror—“Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covet-ousness, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.”