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TITLE: Worms in the Apple
TEXT: Mark 7:14-23
PROPOSITION: Many sins begin on the inside.
QUESTION: Which?
KEY WORD: Sins
READING: Same

INTRODUCTION:

1. We often excuse sin - someone else led me astray, tempted me, etc.
   
2. Jesus is teaching that many sins (not all) begin on the inside and travel out
   
3. Read attached article - how a worm gets in an apple. (see below)
   

Public teaching (14-16)

1. Nothing from the outside defiles us
   
2. Not what goes in harms us, what comes out harms us
   
3. External things can harm us - alcohol, drugs - but started inside with desire
   

Private explanation (17-20)

1. Our body takes care of dirt from the outside
   
2. It is the dirt inside that harms us
   
3. NOT: out of our body systems
   
4. BUT: out of our heart (mind, soul, desires, will, emotions)
   
5. James 1:13-15 - Not from God, Process = Lust > Sin > Death
   

Jesus' list (21-23)

1. Sexual - Adultery, Fornication, Evil thoughts (lust), Lasciviousness
   
2. Property - Theft, Covetousness, Wickedness (bad, mean)
   
3. Inter-personal - Murder, Deceit, Blasphemy (hurtful speech), Evil eye
   
4. Personal - Pride, Foolishness
   

A Worm In An Apple

How does a worm get inside an apple? Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from the outside. No, scientists have discovered that the worm comes from the inside. But, how does he get in there? Simple. An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out.

Sin, like the worm, begins in the heart and works out through the person's thoughts, words and actions.

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