Out of the Evil Heart

I. INTRODUCTION

A. In the previous lesson, we noticed that a man's heart is like a treasury in which he keeps his most precious things. Jesus invoked this figure in His teaching from Luke 6:43-45:

⁴³"For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. ⁴⁴For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. ⁴⁵The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."

B. Having considered the good things that a man brings forth from the good treasure of his heart, we will now consider the evil things that a man brings from the evil treasure of his heart.

II. AN EVIL HEART PRECEDES EVIL DEEDS

A. Jesus explained that an evil heart defiles a man in Matthew 15:1-20.

1. The Lord's teaching was prompted by the Pharisees, who accused Christ's disciples of breaking the tradition of the elders (vv. 1-9).

a. The disciples were eating bread with unwashed hands, which was a not a violation of God's law, but the elders' tradition considered it to be a cause of defilement.

b. The Lord answered their accusation in verse 3 by asking them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?"

i. In verse 4, the Lord cited the commandments of God from Exodus 20:12 and 21:17 concerning honor for parents.

ii. The Pharisees had effectively negated those commandments with their tradition by allowing a "loophole" by which a Jew could claim his possessions were dedicated to God, withhold provisions for his parents, and thus dishonor them.

c. In verses 7-9, Jesus applied the prophecy of Isaiah to these Pharisees. Notice what the Lord says about their hearts:

⁷"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ⁸'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. ⁹but in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'"

2. Contrary to the Pharisees and the elders' tradition, Jesus taught the multitude, "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man" (v. 11).

3. When Peter asked Jesus to "explain the parable" (v. 15), Christ emphasized the heart's role in defiling a man. Notice verses 16-20:

¹⁶Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? ¹⁸But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

B. To fully demonstrate the meaning of Christ's words, let us examine the evil deeds listed in Matthew 15:19.

1. All evil deeds begin with the evil thoughts that come out of the heart.

a. Scripture tells us that "as he thinks within himself, so he is" (Prov. 23:7). A man who has an evil heart will think evil thoughts, say evil words, and do evil deeds.

b. Notice that God destroyed the world in Noah's time because He "saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). Their evil deeds flowed from their evil hearts and thoughts.

2. Murder is the outpouring of violent anger that arises from an evil heart.

a. The first murder happened when Cain became very angry because God did not accept his sacrifice (Gen. 4:1-8). His anger festered into a violent outburst that killed his brother.

b. Because anger in the heart can progress to violence and murder, Christ addressed the topic of anger and murder in this manner in Matthew 5:21-22:

"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

3. Adultery and fornication are the results of a heart that harbors evil desires for the flesh.

a. These are physical acts, but they begin as desire in the heart.

i. When Jesus taught against adultery, He preempted the commandment against the physical act by first addressing the heart. Notice Matthew 5:27-28:

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

ii. Notice the warning for a man to guard his heart against a tempting adultress in Proverbs 6:25 -- "Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids." Indeed, adultery cannot happen unless a man is first carried away and enticed by the lust of his own heart (Jas. 1:14; see also Job 31:9-12).

b. Notice from Romans 1:24 that the Gentiles were defiled first by the lusts of their hearts before their bodies were defiled -- "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them."

4. Theft is the product of a heart that covets the property of another.

a. The heart of a thief is revealed in Proverbs 1:10-19. Before he steals, his heart first goes through a thought process that leads him to the act of theft. He thinks, "We will find all kinds of precious wealth, we will fill our houses with spoil" (v. 13).

b. Not all thieves steal by violence like those described in Proverbs 1. Many do so by deceit, fraud, extortion, or some other dishonest means. Regardless, it all begins with an evil desire in their hearts for that which they have no right to possess.

5. False witnesses and slanders are words that proceed from a heart that is full of deceit.

a. As we noticed before, Jesus said that "what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man" (Matt 15:11) and that a man's "mouth speaks from that which fills his heart" (Luke 6:45).

b. Words of false testimony, slander, lies, and gossip stand as records of the content of an evil heart. Jesus explained how these words corrupt a person in Matthew 12:34-37:

³⁴"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.³⁵The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. ³⁶But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

6. Notice that this list is not exhaustive, for the Lord merely gave a set of examples to explain His meaning. There are many more evil deeds, all of which are the results of hearts that are evil.

a. Companion lists of such evil deeds are found in Romans 13:13-14, 1Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, and other similar passages.

b. These are all deeds of the flesh, but they proceed from the heart, i.e., the mind. Notice Romans 8:5-8:

⁵For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

III. CONCLUSION

A. When Jesus was teaching these things, He said, "Hear and understand" (Matt. 15:10). Indeed, let us hear and understand that evil in our hearts will corrupt us both spiritually and physically.

B. These last two lessons have demonstrated the truth of Luke 6:44, which is that "each tree is known by its own fruit." What kind of fruit are we bearing?

1. Let us not be so foolish as to believe that we can harbor evil in our hearts and yet bear fruit that is truly good in the sight of God. Remember, "God is not mocked" (Gal. 6:7).

2. Instead, let us resolve to remove all evil from our hearts and fill them will God's own goodness.