Tag: heart

What is the Heart of the Spiritual Life with God?: Jesus’ guidance about what truly defiles

Matt Erickson1 Comment

Jesus takes us beyond outward observation into the very heart of our lives. In Matthew 15, a special envoy of Pharisees from Jerusalem arrives to interrogate Jesus. But it is Jesus who confronts them about their confusion over what defiles and what the heart of true spirituality with God is all about.

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” (Matthew 15:10b-11)

Jesus wants to take His hearers, and us, deeper than mere outward observance. While there is so much more to Jesus’ ministry, there are at least three things we gather that Jesus intends to do through His teaching and ministry here:

  1. to bring us to the end of ourselves and our power where we know we need an intervention from God
  2. to transform us from the inside out through His saving intervention on the Cross 
  3. to grow us in the abundant life with God through obedience as we walk by faith under the influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit

The Pharisees missed the point about what defiles human life. For something to be defiled meant that it was not holy and could not be in God’s presence or that it was displeasing to God. The Pharisees had become so enamored with ritual purity that they thought ritual purity was primarily about what came into a person as the source of defilement. They knew it was not merely food that could defile someone. Skin diseases, bodily fluids, or contact with someone who was unclean also could be sources of defilement. But the principle behind the Pharisees’ approach to living with God was that the external was what defiled. As Jesus says, they are blind guides who will lead others astray into further blindness.

Jesus, however, brings the discussion about defilement to a deeper level. He says it is not what comes into us but what comes out of us that defiles. Our words are one aspect of that, but more deeply it is what comes from our hearts, or our inner life. Look at Jesus’ words again:

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18-19)

We must turn to our hearts. Again and again, Jesus drives toward the human heart. In Matthew 12, He says:

The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. (Matthew 12:34b-35)

Jesus is a spiritual cardiologist of sorts, a spiritual heart doctor, and He is trying to get us back to that place with the living God. So how would Jesus diagnose our hearts? What soul-surgery would He recommend? How might we invite Him to do what’s necessary in the deep places of our lives?

Jesus on Greatness

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This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “Jesus Said What?!” by turning to another important topic: greatness. Will Branch joins us to explore three passages on this topic: Matthew 18:1-6, 10-11; 19:13-15; 20:20-28.

This message is from the eighth part of our longer journey through the Gospel of Matthew, which includes “Family Tree,” “Power in Preparation,” “Becoming Real,” “The Messiah’s Mission,” “Stories of the Kingdom,” “Who Do You Say I Am?“, and “‘Tis the Reason.”

You can find the message video and outline below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

Who is the Greatest?

  • Us: Power
  • The Disciples: Position
  • The Disciples Mom: Prestige

Jesus on Greatness

  • Those accepted into the kingdom
  • Those considered great in the kingdom
  • The pathway to greatness in the kingdom

Jesus’ Warnings

  • Don’t pull them down
  • Don’t get in the way
  • Don’t abuse your authority

Jesus on Divorce and Marriage

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “Jesus Said What?!” by turning to another tough topic: divorce and marriage. But is that really the only point of these passages? We look at two important passages on these topics in Matthew 19:1-12 and Matthew 22:23-33.

This message is from the eighth part of our longer journey through the Gospel of Matthew, which includes “Family Tree,” “Power in Preparation,” “Becoming Real,” “The Messiah’s Mission,” “Stories of the Kingdom,” “Who Do You Say I Am?“, and “‘Tis the Reason.”

You can find the message video and outline below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“Haven’t you read,” Jesus replied, that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5)

The First Test (Matthew 19:1-12)

The hostile question from the Pharisees (19:3)

Background on divorce in Jesus’ day

Starting in the right place:

  • First principles: Genesis 1:27; 2:24 (19:4-6)
  • Second principles: Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (19:7-9)

The disciples’ shock and the invitation to celibacy for the kingdom (19:10-12)

Key points:

  • The issue of divorce
  • The approach to questions
  • The deeper issue of hard hearts

The Second Test (Matthew 22:23-33)

The hostile question and parable from the Sadducees (22:23-28)

Background on levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

Jesus’ first response (22:29-30)

Jesus’ second response (22:31-32)

Key points:

  • The issue of remarriage and resurrection
  • The approach to questions/debates
  • The deeper issue of disregard for Scripture and God’s power

Responding to Jesus

God and Our Relationships

Questions and MotivationsHearts and Minds

Dig Deeper:

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  • Memorize Matthew 19:6 or 22:32
  • Take time alone with God this week to let God search your heart and mind. Like the Pharisees, have you become hard-hearted? Like the Sadducees, are you disregarding God’s Word or power?
  • Pray about relationships this week. If married, pray for God’s grace and power in your marriage. If single, pray you might live for God’s glory in your singleness. If desiring marriage, pray the Lord would provide a spouse who honors Him but also for true contentment. If divorced, pray for healing from the wounds and scars of divorce. Regardless, ask God to minister to our church so that in all our relationships we would seek Him first.

Discovering Treasure?: Finding Out What Has Your Heart

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When Kelly and I were newly married and beginning our life with children we were so financially stretched we didn’t know how we were going to make it every month. We reached out to a pastor friend of ours for help with our finances. He began to help us develop a budget, which we really didn’t have at that time, but he also had us track our expenses for a few months. Everything we spent had to be accounted for; every receipt saved and every online charge written down. At the end of tracking all of that, we had to evaluate where our money was going. It was eye-opening to see where the money really went. It said a lot about us.

I’ve been told that one of the quickest ways to discover someone’s values is not to listen to what they say but to look at how they spend their money. If you can see where someone’s money goes, then you can discover what is really important to them, whether it’s coffee, house expenses, a car, food, retirement, or something else. Where our money goes indicates what is important to us. It reveals what we treasure.

Jesus knows this is true, and that is why in His master sermon on the good life with God in God’s kingdom, He addresses what we treasure. Listen to parts of verses 19 and 20 again:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20)

Now we know a few things about Jesus and the early church that provide perspective on this statement. First, we know that Jesus was supported by some people of wealthy means in His life and ministry. He lived simply but He also depended upon the care and support of others. Second, we know that the early church had both the wealthy and the poor together in the church. There were those with houses and estates who served as gathering places for the early church, as well as those who were very poor as part of the church. This tension is addressed in various places, including the epistle of James and Paul’s epistles, such as 1 Corinthians 11. 

So, money as a resource is not in itself what is at issue here. What is at issue is our “treasure” and our “hearts.” Why? Because what we treasure directs, and often defines, our life.

The importance of the heart is the key to all of this.

The heart is the center of a person’s life; what someone desires on the inside that motivates how they live on the outside.

Jesus is constantly trying to bring us back to the heart because our inner life shapes our outer life. This is why the surpassing righteousness of Christ is an inner transformation that leads to outer transformation of life.

The scary thing is what Jeremiah says about the heart:

The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Jesus has come to bring transformation to our inner person, which Ezekiel described in this way in Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”

We need a heart transplant for God’s kingdom so that we can live our lives in a different way. When we have a heart transplant through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we can live with our hearts set on a different sort of treasure.

What we treasure directs, and often defines, our life.

Are We Brokenhearted for God?

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I still remember the year that I did not make the cut for the little league baseball team when I tried out. I could catch, throw, and run, but, to be honest, my batting skills were not something to marvel at. I wanted so badly to be a part of that team with my friends but it didn’t happen that first year. I was brokenhearted.

It is one thing to be brokenhearted about things we care about, but it is something quite different to be brokenhearted about things God cares about. Nehemiah was a leader of God’s people in the later years of the Old Testament. Years after the people of God went into exile from their homeland in Palestine, Nehemiah rose to the position of cupbearer for King Artaxerxes.

When some friends visit from Jerusalem, Nehemiah becomes brokenhearted when he hears that his homeland is in ruins. He writes: “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept” (Nehemiah 1:4a). Nehemiah is sad because his homeland is devastated and at risk from enemies. Nehemiah is sad because the glorious city of God is just a pale shadow of its former beauty.

But more than just personal sadness is welling up within Nehemiah. He is brokenhearted for God’s glory and God’s purposes to be revealed in real life. He says, “For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” (1:4b). In Nehemiah 1:5-11, Nehemiah then goes on to voice one of the most moving prayers of repentance and intercession in all of Scripture. He is asking God to powerfully help His people. He is asking for God to shine His glory into all the earth through, at that time, restoration for Jerusalem. Then, as a follow-up to that prayer, Nehemiah offers himself in service to God for that end. As you read his story in the book named after him, Nehemiah stands out as one of the most dedicated and capable leaders in the Bible.

It is one thing to be brokenhearted about our own loss, but it is another thing to be brokenhearted about God’s loss and glory. It does something different within us. It turns us back to God, to seek His help and power to be at work. But it also turns us outward to serve God as an answer to our own prayers.

Not too long ago I was at a prayer gathering where someone talked about having our hearts broken for the things that break God’s heart. I always love hearing that sort of prayer. It’s the sort of prayer God loves to answer. As we see with Nehemiah, God loves to have us brokenhearted for Him.