Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Spiritual pollution, spiritual contamination is not an external problem. But there's a internal problem. It's a problem. of the heart.
Contamination is not what is outside coming in, it's what is inside. going out Welcome to The Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. In our culture, appearances and perceptions are often valued far more than the inward reality. Many people focus on the outward appearances and traditions of religion instead of pursuing a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
So, today on the verdict, we're learning how to experience true spiritual cleansing. Let's join Pastor John Monroe with his message titled Avoiding Contamination. All of us want to avoid contamination and pollution. During COVID-19, many of us wore masks. And we are increasingly concerned with the pollutants in our food and air.
But we saw last time That there is a deeper contamination, that is the defilement of the mind, the heart, and the soul. Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. It's entirely possible to go through various religious observances and appear to be very spiritual on the outside. but still have a dirty and contaminated heart. Jesus is first concerned with our hearts, the inner reality.
Let's learn more about this contamination and the power of the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us. I want us to learn, first of all. that religion cannot erase personal contamination. Religion We could describe religion in many ways, but religion is always man-made and man-centered. And here in this passage, as we read, the Pharisees and the scribes are emphasizing their traditions Do they deny the word of God, their scripture, the Torah?
Of course not. They uphold the scriptures. But as their interpretations And the rules and the regulations have developed down through the centuries. At the time of Jesus, their traditions and the word of God are almost of equal authority.
Now we read here in verse 1 that the Pharisees and the scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem. And they come and they criticize the disciples of Jesus. They say there's a breach of our religious traditions. Ceremonial washing. Verse 2, why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
for they do not wash their hands when they eat. We can say in this context, religion can cleanse your. hands but it can never ever ever Cleanse your heart. And that, of course, can never, ever, ever deal with your personal. contamination.
Thank you.
Now, personal contamination, secondly, comes from within, not from without. Let me read what Jesus says. Matthew fifteen verse ten He called the people to himself and said, Hear and understand. Are you hearing? Are you understanding?
Here it is. It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person. Do you get that? Then the disciples came to him and said, Do you not know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? Understatement, right?
You say, John, today someone's going to be offended. Should you say these things? Yes, people are offended. We don't stop preaching because someone's offended. Thank you for your Emails which will follow.
Do you not do you know? Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? He answered them. Notice this. Every plant that my Heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.
Let them alone. They are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. A warning against the false teacher. A warning against the false religion.
But Peter said to him, explain the parable to us. And he said. Are you also still without? Understanding, have you not yet got the point? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. And this defiles a person. For out of the heart come Evil thoughts. Murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander, these are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.
Anyone?
Well What an incredible teacher was our Lord Jesus, wasn't he? Don't you love. His teaching, although this is terribly convicting, isn't it? Basic point: the externals do not contaminate us. Failure to adhere to religious traditions, such as eating with ceremonially unwashed hands, doesn't result in spiritual pollution.
Spiritual pollution, spiritual contamination is not an external problem. But there's a internal problem. So of the heart. Contamination is not what is outside coming in, it's what is inside. going out.
There's Eleven. It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person.
Now this is this is a very very important passage for all kinds of of reasons. Understand this. Your basic problem And my basic problem It's not the family you came from. You may have come from a dysfunctional family. You may have had a ris uh a horrific past.
Your basic problem is not that. Your basic problem is not your lack of self-esteem. as we're told today. And your basic problem is not your unhappiness or your unfulfilled dreams. Your basic problem, I'm talking to you, each one of you.
Your basic problem is the defilement. of your heart. Oh, I hope you recognize that. You have a heart. Problem.
Jeremiah in the Old Testament said in chapter 17, verse 9: The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Your heart. is desperately Wicked. And Jesus In verse 19, gives a list of things which defile us. I'm going to go through it.
This is very, very convicting. This is going to hit every single one of us, I guarantee it.
So as I go through the list, I'm asking you, yes you. I'm asking you. to pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal where you are spiritually contaminated. W will you do that? What's the first one?
Verse 19. For out of the heart come evil Thoughts. Evil thoughts. You see, the outward act is preceded by an inward Thoughts?
So What what what do you think about? What do you daydream about? What do you fantasize about? What do you think about? Your You're exercising in the in the gym.
as you're driving. as you're about to go to sleep. In your free time. Where does your mind Go. Evil So any evil thoughts that you have?
There you go. Paul tells us in Philippians 4, verse 8, he says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true. Whatever is honorable. Whatever is just, whatever is Pure. Whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Are your thoughts pure? Are your thoughts lovely? Are your thoughts honorable? Jesus said, this is a problem. Out of the heart come Evil.
Thoughts. Here's the second one, murder. You say, Well, I'm okay with that. I haven't taken any innocent lives. Where there is a taking of innocent lives.
Well, have you forgotten the teaching of Jesus? In Matthew 5, let me remind you. Matthew 5. Verse twenty-one You've heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be liable to judgment.
Back to the Ten Commandments. You shall not murder. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.
Oh my. Angered? And my heart, yeah, it leads to. Leads to murder, doesn't it? The murders in Atlanta and the murders in Colorado.
What did they begin with? They begin with hate. in the shooter's heart. Anger. Regarding people as fools.
Rage. There's so many people angry, aren't they? Rage. No, you may not actually go out and commit murder. You may not actually take innocent life.
But there is anger. in your heart. What's the next one? Adultery. Adultery begins.
Not with love. People say, well, I love that person. Oh, I never experienced such love. Uh until I met so-and-so. No, no, no.
Adultery didn't begin with love. Adultery begins. With lust, Lust in the harves. Listen again to Jesus. In Matthew five.
On this very subject, Matthew 5:27. You've heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her. In his heart. Jesus saying, that's the problem.
Before there is the outward act of physical adultery, there is adultery in the heart. Anyone?
Guilty of that? What your heart? Adultery. In the heart? What's the next one?
Matthew chapter 19, I'm still in five there, Matthew 19. The next one? Matthew 15, rather, verse 19: For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality. There's a lot of that in our society, isn't it? This is a translation of the Greek word pornea.
Translated here in the English Standard Version as sexual immorality. Purnea. We've all heard of pornography. It comes from this word. This word purnea is a general term for all sexual activity outside of marriage.
That begins, says Jesus, again, not with the act. It begins in the heart. It begins in the inner heart, immorality, sexual. Immorality. Any of that in your heart?
This is why Please hear me. Pornography is so deadly. It's an epidemic, we are told, in our society. Why is it so deadly? People say it's harmless.
There is no victim to it. If I want to look at certain pictures on my computer, I can do it. There's nothing wrong with it. There is everything wrong with it. It is inner pollution.
of the heart. It is a sin. of the heart. It leads to lust, it leads to immorality. It is Ponea sexual Immorality.
Now, scriptures tell us that women are to dress modestly, but men. Don't blame how women dress for your own sin. I've heard men. Blaming women. You know, the real problem isn't out there, the real problem is in your heart.
It is true. Women are to dress modestly. But the main problem then is in your Heart, sexual Immorality. Here is Another one. Theft.
You say, Well, I wouldn't steal something from a shop, a store.
Well, I've known Christians. Who who who have? I've known a pastor. We stole from Astore, unbelievable, isn't it? Dishonesty, the desire for something which doesn't belong to you.
Any dishonesty? In your heart. Do that. That greed. That covetousness Then Results.
in action. How about at work not working the hours for which you're paid? What about thinking of how you can swindle people. I've heard Christians brag how they were able to swindle someone in some negotiation, in some business transaction. Don't do that.
It is theft and it begins in the heart. Here's another one. False. Witness. Lying.
Giving false testimony, perjury is giving is lying under oath. Cheating. Lying. You cheat, lying. You're thinking how you can Get better grades at school by cheating.
You're thinking how you can work that business deal. Deal with that customer. But you have to bear false witness, you've got to lie about something material, and it's in the heart, isn't it? And you wonder, how is God going to bless you when there is this evil in your heart? Here's the final one: slander.
Abusive speech, defamation. All speech which harms others. Doesn't begin with the mouth, it comes out of the mouth. but it begins in the heart. You see, your heart is your basic problem.
Sin pollutes, it corrupts, it defiles, sin contaminates us. And we think we can contain our sin. we can contain the sin in our mind. No, what is in the mind is going to come out. That's what Jesus is saying.
You have to deal with the root of the problem. The problem isn't out there, the problem is in here. You say, well, how can I deal? with this spiritual contamination. Only Jesus Christ can cleanse your heart.
This is the good news of the gospel. This is incredible news. You can go through religion. You can go through all of the trappings of religion, but that will never ever cleanse your heart. Only Jesus Christ can cleanse and change your heart.
Religion is powerless to cleanse your heart. Legalism is powerless to cleanse your heart. Ritualism is powerless to cleanse your heart. They deal with the externals. But we're saying The the real problem is internal.
You see, before there's going to be cleansing, there's got to be an admission by you. that you have spiritual contamination. Will you admit that? You see, God sees your heart. And unless you realize before God that your heart is defiled, and unless you confess that sin, you will never know the cleansing power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
David. was a king who sinned very, very badly. But he was a man after God's own heart. Listen to what he says regarding his sin in Psalm 51. He begins it by saying, have mercy on me, O God.
That's it. That's it. Mercy. You need grace. You need mercy.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love that God loves you in spite of this sin. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. for I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. David realizes he's a sinful heart, which has manifested itself in very sinful deeds.
And now he's asking God in this great prayer of repentance and restoration for God to have mercy on him. And God's grace to be on him. He doesn't deserve it, and he wants God to blot out his sin and to cleanse him from his transgressions. That's it. That's it.
See, how is it? How is a holy God? And we began by singing of the holiness of God. How is it that a holy God who dwells in light. Who hates the darkness?
How can this God who knows my heart? How can this God cleanse me so that I can walk out of church this morning, totally cleansed, totally. Forgive him. Listen to the words of Jesus. Or the words of John regarding Jesus First John.
1 John 1. Verse seven, this is the gospel. Listen to it. These are wonderful words. If we say we have no sin.
we deceive ourselves. You're saying, well, there's no defilement in my heart. You're deceiving yourself. Your heart's so hardened. You don't realize it.
You don't realize how dirty you are. You deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse 9, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That the power of Jesus Christ The blood of Jesus Christ is so powerful that, however deep your sin and however far you have strayed, that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which flowed from the cross, that blood is so powerful that it can forgive your sins and cleanse you from all universal righteousness. Isn't that beautiful?
to be cleansed. to be forgiven. I have to have a humble heart. have to come to Christ.
Some of you are followers of Christ, but You've allowed that evil to be in your heart as we've gone through that list. Uh you've said Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that's me. I've been dishonest. I've had immoral thoughts. I've had evil thoughts.
I've had angry, slanderous. Thoughts about a brother, a sister, about someone, perhaps a neighbour. That has to be confessed. And as we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive you. Of all of your transgressions, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
Here is Isaiah the prophet. Chapter 1. Come now, he says. Quoting the words of the Lord, Come now and reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Is that your sin? It's as red as scarlet. If you come to Christ, He'll wash you. And you'll be as white as snow.
Though your sins be red like crimson, they shall be. As Well we sometimes sing Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it. How did you wash it? White.
As no. I'm saying to you the very center Of our being, of our heart, there is this spiritual contamination, this defilement which only the blood of Jesus can cleanse. Religion cannot do it. And the stain and the guilt of our sin was taken by our Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for our sin. He took our guilt, He took our shame.
He took our defilement on himself. He, the sinless Christ. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Therefore, come to Christ. Therefore, kneel at the foot of the cross and confess your sin and experience that forgiveness.
So that you can leave totally Close. Will you come to Jesus? for cleansing. and restoration. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity.
Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website.
Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? The psalmist said that those who ascend the hill of the Lord must have clean hands and a pure heart. Spiritually speaking. Are your hands clean? Do you have a clean heart?
Isn't it wonderful that in the grace of God there is total forgiveness? Total cleansing. Total transformation through the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter what you've done or thought or said, We can be clean through the blood of Jesus Christ. Make sure.
that you've received this cleansing. and don't focus purely on the outward. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
