(March 30, 2025) Robert McQuillan challenges…

Albert Einstein said, ‘I do not fear the explosive power of the atom bomb. What I fear is the explosive power in the human heart.’

Interesting observation from the famous scientist who revered Almighty God. Einstein was saying that while the atom bomb has the capacity to destroy, the human heart can hold a greater destructive power!

Sadly we‘re living in days when evil hearts can be devastating unfriendly; and our enemy Satan continues to destroy faith in God and righteous living.

Someone even more perceptive than Einstein commented on more than one occasion about the evil in the human heart… Jesus. Boy, did He have a lot to say!

Jesus’ Wise Teachings
What He taught still stands! Here’s just some of the things Jesus had to say to those—

• Religious leaders… who didn’t approve of His ministry and teachings: ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?’ (Matthew 9:4).
• Individuals delighting in evil in the heart… and let it out to hurt others: ‘The evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks’ (Luke 6:45).
• Seeking signs but not Jesus the sign giver… ‘This is an evil generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah’ (Luke11:29).
• Who don’t deal with evil within… ‘A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear my voice and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned’ (John 5:28-29).

Wow! No wonder Jesus told us to pray to be delivered from evil and temptations (Matthew 6:23; Luke 11:4)! No wonder He Himself prayed for His followers in John 17:15 (the real ‘Lord’s Prayer’) that we would be kept safe from evil and the devil.

Quoting Einstein again, ‘Evil is the real problem in the hearts and minds of men. It is not a problem of physics but of ethics. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.’

In his wisdom and clarity of reasoning, he understood what is at the bottom of all the troubles in the world; he understood that when evil in the heart comes out it does it hurts those around and many others as well.

I wonder… did he know about Jesus’ teachings? And do you know that if evil things of the heart that aren’t dealt with, put to death, allowed to be ‘denatured’ they can consume a person robbing them of real peace, strong character, joy and doing good. They scheme and emit evil!

People, who haven’t recognised personal character flaws and haven’t dealt with them, cause all sorts of heartaches in their marriage, family, workplace, relationships, the world— even in their very church! Yes, even Christians can be affected if evils within aren’t brought under the control of the Holy Spirit.

And it’s not just ‘man’ here… everyone even children at some point needs renewal of the heart! The really sad thing is that so many people today, including some Christians, still don’t get it! They don’t recognise evil within and their character flaws, and in not changing, wrongs are perpetuated.

Jesus’ Plain Language
But whoa! Even Jesus’ first disciples who were expected to carry on His mission were also blind to the root of evil. Mark 7:14-15Mge tells that ‘Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you— take this to heart. It’s not what you shallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—  that’s the real pollution.”’ And what was His disciples’ response? ‘We don’t get it. Put it in plain language’(v17).

And Jesus did! Disappointedly He spoke very plainly: ‘Are you being wilfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed … It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness – all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution’(v18-23 emphasises mine).

Boy, that was rough! But then Jesus never beat around the bush! In no uncertain terms here Jesus’ words are warnings for us too that we are to guard our heart from filth, rubbish, evil, and from hurting others by actions that come from an unclean heart and mind. Otherwise our heart is full of vomit and vomit will out!

Evil dwells in the heart and must be dealt with. The fact that Jesus had problems getting this truth across to His first disciples is no an excuse for us today—

• We have God’s word.
• We have the challenging Holy Spirit.
• We should know better!

Unchecked evil grows, and if tolerated poisons the whole system. We have a choice… to deal with it or harbour it. If we harbour evil in our hearts, it’ll fester and ultimately destroy us.

Jesus’ Great Hope
We’re living in days of fear in many hearts—  rising crime rates, machete dangers, even youngsters committing felonies in shopping centres, street brawls, Chinese warships in surrounding Australian waters, middle east troubles, Ukraine and Russia war continuing, earthquakes fires, floodings, sicknesses…

Australia was recently advised by our prime minister that our next Australian government elections will be held May 3. At one point in praising Australia as such a great country, the PM looked beyond our nation and commented that ‘the world today is in an uncertain place.’ True!

Oh yes good things do happen and not everyone is fearful. But one wonders what latest badness each evenings’ TV news will report next! It’s sad that for decades universities and schools haven’t taught students about solid faith in God— and even some churches haven’t highlighted the reality of the devil— and people who are troubled have nothing to fall back on.

We need to take God-given opportunities to give people something powerful to hang onto… hope in Jesus! Tell them about life in Christ— salvation and eternal life!

There is good and evil in the world! Make no mistake about it… there is a devil and he is out to destroy faith in God. Let’s dig in deep with God and His word— and be able to give hope to others. That’s what people need today… a great hope that’s only in Jesus and we have it to offer to them!

There’s a crying out today for justice to be done against the evil of terrorism, murders, daily crime, drug smuggling and distribution even in schools, mistreatment of women, human trafficking, children sold into slavery (Google https://sharedhope.org/ reports and read scriptures such as Psalm 82:3I and Isaiah 1:17. Our God is a just God who seeks justice in humanity— Deuteronomy 32:4).

And what about something closer to home— impurity within our own hearts? We may not be a terrorist, a Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini or Bin Laden, but if we hold onto any evil in our hearts and don’t deal with it, we’re just as bad! Jesus listed bad thoughts along with murder!

How do we battle against evil in our personal lives? Jesus highlighted what makes humans unclean, pointing out that evil thoughts can come from our heart (Mark 7:21-22): that ‘All these evils come from inside and defile a person’(v23). Defile is koinoo: to pollute, make common and profane.

Rotten stuff for those who call themselves Christians— God’s people. We’re meant to enjoy life— but are we compromising our Christianity? Are we being blind to impurity within and that’s why we don’t get all of God’s blessings and we don’t grow in God?

Jesus’ Clear Warnings
‘Thirteen’ has always been considered an unlucky number. In scripture thirteen means rebellion, apostasy, defection, corruption, disintegration, revolution. These are all rebellious sins against God, let alone other human beings!

Interestingly Jesus clearly warned of 13 evils in the heart—
1. Evil thoughts –  kakos/dialogismos: worthless, depraved, injurious discussions and deliberations.
2. Sexual immorality – porneia: idolatry, harlotry, incest, lustful indulgence.
3. Theft – klope: stealing
4. Murder – phonos: to slay.
5. Adultery – moicheia: adultery.
6. Greed – pleonexia: extortion, fraudulence, avarice, desiring more, covetousness.
7. Malice – pomeria: wickedness, depravity especially malice, plots, sins, hurtful influence.
8. Deceit – dolos: trick, wile, decoy, entrap, delude.
9. Lewdness – aslegeia: licentiousness (moral laxity), vices, filth, wantonness, addictions.
10. Envy – ponoros/ophthalmos: evil eye, hurtful, calamitous, viciousness (jealous side glances).
11. Slander – blashemia: vilification especially against God, evil speaking.
12. Arrogance – huperephania: haughtiness, pride, appearing to be above others.
13. Folly – aphrosane: senseless, egotism, recklessness, rash, unbelieving, mindless, ignorant.

An evil out there is bad enough and scary, but an evil within! The very thought that I could be carrying evil intent… ugh!

Jesus’ Rescue Tactics
So, how do we battle this personal evil within? 13 evils call for these 13 winning tactics…

1. Consideration 
We must be open to considering Jesus (Hebrews 3:1) and this major question: ‘Is even one of these 13 evils in my heart?’ Don’t be quick to ‘No way!’ Be honest, is anything lurking there, even under the surface, that hasn’t been dealt with before you took communion last Sunday?

2. Acknowledgement
We must acknowledge Jesus (Matthew 10:32) and mustn’t, as some sects do, deny that evil exists. Acknowledge it and that its force might have a grip on you, and needs dealing with.

3. Understanding
Don’t be foolish— understand that evil exists (Romans 7:19). That ‘evil’ in both Hebrew and Greek means ‘hurtful in effect and influence, bad, grievous, malicious, diseased, calamitous, harm, lewdness, wickedness, pain, toil, anguish, depraved, injurious, affliction, sorrow, wrong, misery, wretchedness, trouble, sore, not pleasing, spoiling, Satan.’ Ugly, isn’t it?

4. Recognition
2Corinthians 11:14-15 warn of Satan’s deceitfulness. Therefore recognise that evil intent and actionscome from the enemy. But don’t always blame the devil… blame yourself. We allow ourselves to sin (yes I regret that I have too!). Slowly but steadily we allow sin to gain control through external influence… media, TV shows, books, magazines, wrong company, false teaching and such.

5. Determination
Swiss theologian Emil Brunner simplified evil: ‘Evil is that which God does not will.’ God certainly doesn’t will any of the 13 evil hearts traits Jesus mentioned! Hold on to them we could destroy others and ultimately ourselves. Scriptures such as Ephesians 4:31NLT stress that we  must determine to get rid of every wrong thought and the very root of them.

6. Choice
Read the like of 2Corinthians 6:17 which encourages us to make a definite, resolute choice that this evil will not defeat you but that you with the Holy Spirit’s will defeat it. You can do it! The right choice is half the battle won!

7. Distancing
You must decide to distance yourself from all that is evil in the heart (James 1:21). Get rid of rubbish! And don’t go backwards like Samson thinking he was bigger than temptation (Judges 16:4-21!). You don’t need to take the lid of your rubbish bin to know there’s foul rotten rubbish inside. ‘For everything in the world— the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life— comes not from the Father but from the world’ (1John 2:16).

8. Purging
So many times in Deuteronomy— 13:5; 17:7; 21:21; 22: 21,22,24; 24:7— you read this command, ’You must purge this evil from among you.’ Purge or ‘put away’ is baar meaning to brutishly consume by fire. In other words we must be brutal in our resolve to be pure with God’s help— (1Corinthians 5:7).

9. Lordship
We must call on Jesus as Lord of our life, as well as Saviour (Philippians 2:11). Christians never grow as overcomers until we acknowledge Jesus as Lord— the boss— and start obeying Him!

10. Submission
Submitting to Jesus (John 14:15) leads to allowing the Holy Spirit to mold our character to that of Jesus— the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24). You just want to ooze Jesus, His love and caring, not evil destructive thoughts and actions. No more rebellion.

11. Commitment
Jesus taught that following Him is a daily commitment: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it’ (Luke 9:23). We have to commit to His ways every day!

12. Cleansing
Even a little leaven (sin) leavens the whole lump! We must allow the Holy Spirit to sift us and cleanse us with the blood of Christ so that we are not a hindrance to all that God wants to do through us! (1John 1:9).

13. Challenge
Some things are never achieved in life, never leave us, until we grasp them firmly and deal with them. This is just not a choice but a challenge— that we would be determined to give an intellectually and spiritually sound powerful hope not only to ourselves, but to others in the world today who are without hope and without Christ. The needs are there, what an opportunity to share our hope in Christ! (1Peter 5:17NLT).

Jesus’ Rescue Mission
Instead of fearing what may or may not happen worldwide, and criticising others and their flaws, it’s time to consider our own hearts and where we stand before a holy God who requires His people to be holy and pure like Himself.

John the Baptist said, ‘The axe is already at the root of the trees’ (Matthew 3:10), and introduced Jesus who attacked evil at its very root. Colossians 2:13-15 confirms our Lord’s calvary mission triumphed over evil!

Let’s be free from every evil of the heart and know the reality of scriptures such as 2Timothy 4:18ESV, ‘The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom.’

As scripture demands, ‘Choose today whom you would really serve— self, the devil, evil or Jesus.’ May Jesus not have repeat how He rebuked His first disciples: ‘Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?’ (Mark 8:17a-18a).

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Dr Robert and Pastor Maureen McQuillan’s links are OnlinerConnect@gmail.com and Facebook Links: Who Wants to be a Millionaire/, Experience New Life, Hope, Restoration/, When God Repeats Himself, We Do Well To Listen/
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