SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Hello, very good morning.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of new faces here today, and then some faces I've not seen for a while.
SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna read from Mark's Gospel, chapter seven.
SPEAKER_01: But before I get there, I thought I'll tell you a story here about the Air Force.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody here who is uh Air Force or ex-Air Force?
SPEAKER_01: Anybody?
SPEAKER_01: Ray, and we've got Doug.
SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
SPEAKER_01: I like Cold War stories, and it was in early 1985 that Air Force Major Doug Pearson was tasked with a near-impossible mission.
SPEAKER_01: And he had one chance at hitting the target.
SPEAKER_01: And get this.
SPEAKER_01: His target was in space.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Major Pearson's mission was to launch a missile from his fighter jet and hurl it towards a decommissioned weather satellite floating in space some 2,000 miles away.
SPEAKER_01: That takes some fine planning.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why they did not ask the Army to do it.
SPEAKER_01: But in any case.
SPEAKER_01: On a misty morning over the Pacific.
SPEAKER_01: In 1985, Major Pearson pushed his F-15 Strike Eagle into a near vertical climb at supersonic speeds, and making his final calculations, launched his missile minutes later, ramming it into his target.
SPEAKER_01: He was right on the mark.
SPEAKER_01: And this tipped the scales for the Cold War because now the United States had a strategic advantage.
SPEAKER_01: We have dominance in space.
SPEAKER_01: And that, dear brothers and sisters, I believe, changed the outcome of the Cold War.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the r it took the Russians 20 years to do what Major Doug Pearson accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: However, imagine Major Pearson came within inches of his target.
SPEAKER_01: They'd say he missed it by half an inch.
SPEAKER_01: They would have probably shaken his hand, but he would have had no cigar.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, if Pearson missed the mark, the mission would be worthless.
SPEAKER_01: In Mark chapter 7, Jesus deals with a religion that misses the mark.
SPEAKER_01: If you open your Bible to Mark chapter 7, and Jesus is clearly speaking about legalism.
SPEAKER_01: And how legalism misses the mark.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Jesus is pointing out that the religion of the Jews here comes within inches of the heart, but misses the heart, making it a worthless religion.
SPEAKER_01: The title of my message this morning is Missing the Mark.
SPEAKER_01: Missing the Mark.
SPEAKER_01: And we'll focus here on verses 14 to 23, but I'm gonna try and cover most of the chapter.
SPEAKER_01: You see, legalism is a most often misused term in evangelical vocabulary.
SPEAKER_01: You see, because we are so quick to call something legalism or legalistic when it's not.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, most people think that legalism or being legalistic is the unpardonable sin, and it could.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we often hear people say, I don't want to sound legalistic, but or they say, no, no, no, no, we don't want to become legalistic here, do we?
SPEAKER_01: And and do we really understand what that term is?
SPEAKER_01: You see, it's not uncommon for people to connect legalism with obedience to God's word.
SPEAKER_01: You see, immediately if you talk about obedience and you talk about God's word or his commandments, the first thing that pops up in the back of our minds is, is this not legalism?
SPEAKER_01: And especially when people talk about it, they have this infliction in their voice.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you don't want to be guilty of legalism, do you, right?
SPEAKER_01: But I would rather let us find a definition of legalism as Jesus defines it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's see how Jesus develops this idea of legalism.
SPEAKER_01: And I and I'm gonna scan through the passage because there are many verses here, but I want to show you how Jesus uses the word heart in the one side and how he uses the word tradition on the other side, and how he weaves the two together.
SPEAKER_01: He goes back and forth.
SPEAKER_01: And as we scan through the passage, we will hopefully have an idea how legalistic traditions fail to shape the human heart to be worship and joyfully obedient.
SPEAKER_01: And we will learn something here about legalism in the fine way it goes about to set aside obedience to God's commandments and rather following human wisdom instead.
SPEAKER_01: Let me take you through the passage here.
SPEAKER_01: If you go to Mark chapter 7, verse 3, it says, therefore the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, this observing the traditions of the elders.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7, and in vain do they worship me, meaning a worthless worship.
SPEAKER_01: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 8, neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to what?
SPEAKER_01: The tradition of men.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: He was also saying to them, you are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds like Tavi, right?
SPEAKER_01: Tradition.
SPEAKER_01: Let's skip over uh verses 15 to 18 for the sake of time, but but there at the end of verse 18, that whatever goes into man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into the heart, but into the stomach, and is eliminated.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 20, and he was saying, that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles him.
SPEAKER_01: And then verse 21 is key here to understand.
SPEAKER_01: For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
SPEAKER_01: There you have it.
SPEAKER_01: You have tradition and you have the human heart, and Jesus interweaves these back and forth.
SPEAKER_01: And he's trying to teach us something here about the futility of legalism.
SPEAKER_01: Initially, we can make two observations here.
SPEAKER_01: You look at legalism being any religious activity or action that really misses the heart.
SPEAKER_01: You see, what was happening here was a type of religion that misses the heart but hits the stomach.
SPEAKER_01: Second, as it appears here, legalism is something that skillfully sets aside obedience to God's commandments in exchange for following human traditions.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna define for you what the human art is, what Jesus is talking about here, because it features four times in this passage, and then we're gonna talk about tradition.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna see what Jesus is trying to tell us here about legalism.
SPEAKER_01: In essence, I think we'll walk away here thinking that religion is a religious practice that does not bring to bear God's word upon the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, there is no joyful submission to God's word, but people instead will follow tradition.
SPEAKER_01: Let's see how tradition misses the mark.
SPEAKER_01: Because it misses the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Let's think about the heart, what Jesus is saying.
SPEAKER_01: About the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Look in verse six.
SPEAKER_01: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism always misses the mark of true worship because Jesus says, In vain do they worship me.
SPEAKER_01: Your worship is worthless simply because it fails to engage the heart.
SPEAKER_01: It fails to address the heart.
SPEAKER_01: This people honor me with their lips, but the heart is far away from me.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek word for heart is what?
SPEAKER_01: Cardia.
SPEAKER_01: We get the English word cardiologist based off that Greek word.
SPEAKER_01: But our modern view should not be imposed on the passage because the Bible has a different view of the heart.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we would look at the heart uh as this medically and technically as this blood-pumping organ when it breaks, you call in for the services of the cardiologist.
SPEAKER_01: And our modern understanding of the heart is the place where I treasure either happy or sad feelings.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we would talk about, oh, uh my heart is aching or my heart is broken.
SPEAKER_01: And so we tend to think of the heart as a place where all our emotions churn.
SPEAKER_01: But the Bible has a different understanding of the heart.
SPEAKER_01: The biblical viewpoint of the heart is different than our modern view.
SPEAKER_01: And first, the heart is the source of all life matters.
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's good or bad, it comes from the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 4.23.
SPEAKER_01: Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
SPEAKER_01: The NIV, I think, translates it for from it flows the issues of life.
SPEAKER_01: All issues come from the heart.
SPEAKER_01: It speaks of the heart as the seat of initiative.
SPEAKER_01: And all human thought, all human motivation and reflections flow from the heart like a fountain, whether good or bad.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 12, 35.
SPEAKER_01: Jason touched on that last week.
SPEAKER_01: The good man brings out of his treasure what is good.
SPEAKER_01: And the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
SPEAKER_01: And it essentially speaks about the condition of the human heart, whether good or bad.
SPEAKER_01: The heart, secondly, is the place of human reasoning.
SPEAKER_01: According to the Bible, that is where we reason through moral and spiritual issues.
SPEAKER_01: That's where we calculate our actions.
SPEAKER_01: Our next step.
SPEAKER_01: Luke 5, 22.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, Why are you reasoning in your heart?
SPEAKER_01: You see, that is where people calculate and reason out things in their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: And so you can see that biblical language related to the heart, it never touches this topic of emotions or feelings.
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus is saying to them, your heart is not engaged in worship, he doesn't mean you're not emotional.
SPEAKER_01: He just means whatever religion you are in, it does nothing for your heart, which we will learn a little more about the heart.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the heart will determine one's orientation in life, and one's heart will determine a person's disposition in life.
SPEAKER_01: Ultimately, all behavior stems from the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 23, 7.
SPEAKER_01: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
SPEAKER_01: You do and I do whatever is in our heart.
SPEAKER_01: I find this one commentary fascinating.
SPEAKER_01: This guy writes, he says, according to Jesus and scriptural precedent, the fountainhead of all perverted behavior is the fallen human heart.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, in Scripture, the sanctifying process is more concerned with the attitudes of the heart rather than the actions.
SPEAKER_01: And as Professor Guthrie reiterates, he says that right action will follow from right thinking.
SPEAKER_01: Think right, act right.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the human heart is what drives all human behavior, and some scholars speak about the heart being the locus of human volition and human motivation.
SPEAKER_01: All behaviors originate in the thoughts and the inclination of the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: Jason Sermon, once again, last week touched on if there's bad speech, it's not that we did not mean to say it, it's simply flowing out of what is in the heart.
SPEAKER_01: So, now that we have an idea of the human heart, let's see what Jesus says about the human heart in Mark 7, 21.
SPEAKER_01: For from within out of the heart of men, proceed what?
SPEAKER_01: Bad things.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah 17.9 is unashamedly saying that the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.
SPEAKER_01: Who can understand it?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is consistent here with what Genesis 8.21 says, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth.
SPEAKER_01: Right, Pastor Jeremy?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, he seems to indicate that children are naughty at times because of their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: You see, with the Pharisees and the legalists here in our passage, they muttered worshipful words with their lips, but their hearts were as corrupt as can be.
SPEAKER_01: And whatever they did in their worship, it did nothing for their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: It's so fascinating how people can be engaged in the things of God and they can mutter the most beautiful words.
SPEAKER_01: But oh, the yucky people to be around.
SPEAKER_01: You see, a few years ago, I came across a movement that's pretty popular in Northern California, but there's several chapters of the Hebraic Roots Movement all over this country.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone heard about the Hebrew roots movement?
SPEAKER_01: Very interesting, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: You see, these folks uh go to evangelical churches like us, but the whole form of Judaism.
SPEAKER_01: They would go to church on Sunday, but on Friday night they went to Shabbat.
SPEAKER_01: They observed the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_01: They would not name Jesus, refer to Jesus by name.
SPEAKER_01: They would call him Yeshua, and they will never use the word Yahweh or God in any sentence, because that is taking God's name in vain.
SPEAKER_01: These folk would not eat pork, so if you have a church lunch, they they don't participate in pulled pork sandwiches.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, oh, by the way, they pray after a meal, not before a meal, because after all, Yahshua, when he did the Lord's supper, he prayed after the meal, not before the meal.
SPEAKER_01: But in any case, you and oh, by the way, these guys have a string of other things that they do, and they they also follow rabbinical traditions.
SPEAKER_01: But one way or another, it seems very impressive in asking these guys, why do you do all this stuff?
SPEAKER_01: They say, Because we love Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But if you gracefully challenge some of their thoughts, you will find out that they are most unloving, most uncharitable people.
SPEAKER_01: If you disagree with them, they would pound you with their teachings.
SPEAKER_01: They, in fact, were pretty mean-spirited people and unkind with anyone who differed from them, and which proves the point that a legalist on the outside looks very impressive, but on the inside, rotten to the core, because his religion does nothing for what?
SPEAKER_01: The heart that is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.
SPEAKER_01: And look at chapter 7, verses 1 and 5.
SPEAKER_01: Uh they go after Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You know why you guys not washing your hands, you know, you you horrible people, but but they are horrible people themselves.
SPEAKER_01: They are so unkind.
SPEAKER_01: You see, legalism looks very pious and good on the outside, but it bypasses the heart with an inch and hits the stomach.
SPEAKER_01: It does nothing to root out the evil thoughts of slander and gossip within the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the legalist will seldom pray, God, give me a broken and contrite heart.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 51, 17.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, verse 9 says, they skillfully sidestep those things that deal about the heart in order to follow their own traditions.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says there in verse 19, he says, Whatever you do, whatever you do, and whatever you think, and whatever your religion is about, it misses the heart, bypass it with a few inches, hits your stomach, and then is flushed down the toilet.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Jesus thinks about their religion.
SPEAKER_01: Because it never addresses the real issue, which is the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, they find the source of evil everywhere else except inside here.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we tend to find the problem for our actions and behavior in societal ills.
SPEAKER_01: We see society and our environment is corrupt, and therefore we sin.
SPEAKER_01: But Bishop J.C.
SPEAKER_01: Ryle once said, he says, bad companions are bad companions are a great evil, no doubt, and an evil to be avoided as much as possible.
SPEAKER_01: But no bad companion teaches a young boy or girl half as much of sin as their own hearts would suggest to them.
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
SPEAKER_01: He's nailing it.
SPEAKER_01: He says the problem is not the other kids, it's your kid.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: But you see, legalism just dances around the issue.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism bypasses the heart and forgets about what's going on in the heart and focuses elsewhere.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse three.
SPEAKER_01: They do not eat certain foods, they wash their hands carefully, they observe the traditions.
SPEAKER_01: Verse four.
SPEAKER_01: They cleanse themselves, and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe the traditions.
SPEAKER_01: Like washing cups and pitchers and copper pots.
SPEAKER_01: What's not in the picture here is washing the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Washing the heart is what is of essence.
SPEAKER_01: You see, they're using the wrong tools for the job.
SPEAKER_01: I once had pneumonia.
SPEAKER_01: And I went to the doctor, and the doctor looked at me very unsympathetically, and he said, Well, this could be a viral pneumonia.
SPEAKER_01: Which I said means what?
SPEAKER_01: He says, you just suck it up if it's a viral pneumonia, because antibiotics don't work for a viral pneumonia.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, dude, just give me the antibiotics.
SPEAKER_01: This is will not do anything for the job.
SPEAKER_01: It's a bacteria.
SPEAKER_01: If it's bacterial, then we'll give an antibiotic.
SPEAKER_01: You did give me the antibiotics.
SPEAKER_01: But nevertheless, you see, the uh the legalists of our day and the day of Jesus, they used the wrong tools for the job.
SPEAKER_01: And because they used the wrong tools, they missed the mark.
SPEAKER_01: Mark 7, verses 6 to 8.
SPEAKER_01: Let's uh let's glance uh through that.
SPEAKER_01: Um can you see that?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I even highlighted it for you.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 6, and he said to them, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, This people will honor me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.
SPEAKER_01: But in vain do they worship me.
SPEAKER_01: And this is where he's stepping up this idea of tradition and how tradition interacts with the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: He says, teaching your traditions as if they the doctrines of God.
SPEAKER_01: He says, neglecting the command of God, you hold to the tradition of man.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 13, thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's define what he is talking about here at tradition.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we we cannot just throw out all tradition.
SPEAKER_01: There's good tradition, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh so let's look at a bit of a lexical understanding of tradition.
SPEAKER_01: That Greek word all through this passage here on tradition basically speaks of that which is handed down from one person to another person.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, it is something that that becomes part of religious vernacular and religious practice, but its source is essentially human, not divine.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is how we can understand legalism and how it interacts with tradition.
SPEAKER_01: So not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, 2 Thessalonians 2.15 says, so then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
SPEAKER_01: And so we gotta be careful not to say that all tradition is bad, and not all tradition is legalistic, but let's see what Jesus says here about tradition.
SPEAKER_01: First, the type of tradition they help to supplanted the centrality of God's word in their religion.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's look at verse 7, 8, 9, and 13.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7, you're teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.
SPEAKER_01: You're taking man's views, man's opinions, and you're elevating it to the place of biblical theology.
SPEAKER_01: But then on the other hand, you neglect the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.
SPEAKER_01: And their tradition is used in the sense of human wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Human wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: You see, much of first century Judaism was based on rabbinical and scribal theology.
SPEAKER_01: But as time went by, these scribes and these rabbis started supplanting the centrality of God's word in worship and in practice to make more room for human wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: You see, these traditions at the core were based on human musings, human wisdom, human philosophy.
SPEAKER_01: And at first it seemed very compatible with the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It seems very compatible because he says there you are teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.
SPEAKER_01: You see, as you it appears that you try and strike a good balance here between opinion and biblical theology.
SPEAKER_01: And so these uh the this rabbinical tradition, which was based on human wisdom, began to blur the lines between scripture and opinion, because they were teaching their traditions, their opinions, as if they were the doctrines of God.
SPEAKER_01: And there are many things today that are more and more finding its place central within the church, and it has got nothing to do with this book.
SPEAKER_01: The rabbinical interpretation became the central part of legalism and the religion of the day.
SPEAKER_01: And while many people today would see that obeying the commandments of God is legalism, Jesus would say it is the opposite.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: He says, neglecting the commandment of God.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say you are observing the commandment of God, you say you're neglecting it.
SPEAKER_01: But in fact, you're neglecting it so that you can obey what?
SPEAKER_01: Human wisdom, your traditions.
SPEAKER_01: You see, rabbinical wisdom began to run in parallel with the commandments of God.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're doing this, but we also doing this.
SPEAKER_01: This is what God says, this is what the rabbi says, and all truth is God's truth, right?
SPEAKER_01: But you see, the rabbinical teachings and the teachings of the scribes were done in such a crafty and skillful way that they incorporated and peddled the latest fads of human wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps in one way or another, saying to the people, while you know all truth is God's truth, and therefore rabbinical truth is compatible with God's truth.
SPEAKER_01: And the people go, huh?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, but he's a Pharisee, he's a scribe, he's a rabbi, he probably knows best.
SPEAKER_01: But this is what Jesus says, and I think this is a pretty cutting remark of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying there you have a crafty way to incorporate the coolest, trendiest teachings of the most prevalent and important of rabbis.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever was the flavor of the day, that began to enjoy central place in the pulpit and the pews.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is saying there in another, perhaps in a more simpler way, you have a fine and crafty way of ditching God's commandments in exchange for your feel good fads.
SPEAKER_01: You see, they ditched the commandments of God's word like it was a pair of genes from last season.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus says, not only are you sidestepping God's commandments, you are propagating the latest fads.
SPEAKER_01: And these fads were all based on human opinion.
SPEAKER_01: Colossians 2.8 warns us.
SPEAKER_01: He says, see to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according with human tradition.
SPEAKER_01: Paul warns the people in the church of Colossae that human wisdom and human philosophy is a dangerous tango.
SPEAKER_01: It's deceptive.
SPEAKER_01: It's deceptive for one reason.
SPEAKER_01: It makes you feel good, but it misses the heart.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, your worship will be in vain.
SPEAKER_01: My dear brothers and sisters, we've entered an age in our church where faithful obedience to God's word is often readily labeled as legalism.
SPEAKER_01: But it's very clear that this passage is showing that anybody who incorporates human wisdom and human opinion and peddles it as if it's God's word, that is legalism.
SPEAKER_01: So let's stop using the word legalism or legalistic in the wrong sense.
SPEAKER_01: Now I was trying to think of some human mantras born from the minds of people who think they are theologically on the mark.
SPEAKER_01: How about this one?
SPEAKER_01: Let go and let God trying less and trusting more.
SPEAKER_01: But before you know, the lines are blurred.
SPEAKER_01: Is that in the Bible?
SPEAKER_01: Well, why should we make a fuss about these things?
SPEAKER_01: After all, all truth is God's truth.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, uh, if uh if these teachings of the rabbis are truth, then it must be from God.
SPEAKER_01: Well, this sounds impressive.
SPEAKER_01: Let's think about how benign it might be if we say Junga's truth or Freud's truth is God's truth, and if it is, is it equally worshipful?
SPEAKER_01: Is such truth equally effective in transforming and regenerating the human heart?
SPEAKER_01: Of course not.
SPEAKER_01: But then again, God helps those who help themselves, right?
SPEAKER_01: 3 John 3 12.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the average Jew couldn't tell the difference between human wisdom and God's commandments.
SPEAKER_01: Because their leaders blurred the lines for them.
SPEAKER_01: No different from what many evangelical leaders are doing today.
SPEAKER_01: I remember maybe a decade ago, there were these books on the end times.
SPEAKER_01: Who's read them?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Just burn them.
SPEAKER_01: Uh no.
SPEAKER_01: They they actually were very interesting.
SPEAKER_01: But but my mom was reading that, and I love my mom.
SPEAKER_01: But at some point I said to her, no, that's that's fiction.
SPEAKER_01: No, that's reality.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, no, these guys are blurring the lines here for you.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, my mom's watching this, she's tuning in.
SPEAKER_01: Hi, mom, love you.
SPEAKER_01: Uh my dear brothers and sisters, how helpful and effective is it to incorporate things, even if it sounds great and it seems benign.
SPEAKER_01: If it does nothing for the heart, why bother?
SPEAKER_01: I remember a few years ago I went to, it seems like I all I do is go to the doctor, but but no, I don't.
SPEAKER_01: Um but I was bragging about my high intake of vitamin C and vitamin D.
SPEAKER_01: And and the doctor says, you can quit the vitamin D here in California, but the sun shines like every day.
SPEAKER_01: You're just wasting it.
SPEAKER_01: It just does nothing for you.
SPEAKER_01: And that is human traditions.
SPEAKER_01: You can take it in, but it flushes out.
SPEAKER_01: It flushes out, it does nothing for your for yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: And now you want to ask me, so why are people still incorporating human wisdom?
SPEAKER_01: Why are we so gravitating towards traditions born from the minds of men?
SPEAKER_01: Why were people here so in tuned with their rabbis and their leaders?
SPEAKER_01: Why were there was there just this blind obedience to the things that had no place in Scripture?
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: I think our key is in verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Thus invalidating the word of God by your traditions.
SPEAKER_01: That word invalidating means to strip of its power.
SPEAKER_01: Strip of its power.
SPEAKER_01: It's like taking a cobra and pulling out its teeth, it's stripping it of its potency and power.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the legalist avoids the word of God like the plague because it pierces the heart.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 4.12.
SPEAKER_01: Dear brothers and sisters, you know this.
SPEAKER_01: The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and the spirit of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't sound safe.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: This, this cuts and it will fillet your heart, open it up.
SPEAKER_01: It will cut deeply, and therefore the legalist accepts human wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's more like a powder puff rather than a sharp-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: Human wisdom is far safer in the pulpit than the word of God, because it does not cut into the soul and to the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It never pierces the innermost thoughts and intentions of the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the legalists want a religion and a form of wisdom where the light of the word is dimmed and softened so that it cannot shine into the heart.
SPEAKER_01: The light has come into the world, and the men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And that's what the word of God does.
SPEAKER_01: It shows where dirt is.
SPEAKER_01: But not only does it show where the hurt is or the dirt is, but it also shows where the solution is.
SPEAKER_01: Which is where?
SPEAKER_01: The cross.
SPEAKER_01: However way we want to approach this concept of legalism, we cannot skirt around the fact that it invalidates the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It makes the word of God impotent to do its work of life-saving heart surgery.
SPEAKER_01: Human wisdom can do nothing for the corruption and the defilement in the heart.
SPEAKER_01: And like all legalists, they will never pray like the psalmist.
SPEAKER_01: Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a loyal spirit within me.
SPEAKER_01: Human wisdom and tradition is not about creating a clean heart and loyal and faithful devotion to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's about making me look good and feel good about myself.
SPEAKER_01: What human wisdom can help with the dilemma in verse 21?
SPEAKER_01: For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
SPEAKER_01: All these things proceed from within and defile the man.
SPEAKER_01: Show me any form of human wisdom that can do anything about that.
SPEAKER_01: There's one thing that goes right into the heart.
SPEAKER_01: It's the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: It is the word of God, dear brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_01: Only the word of God can convict and correct and restore the heart with a medicine that makes it new and strong.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Timothy 3.16.
SPEAKER_01: If from within, out of the hearts of men, proceeds all these evils, then we need to do use the right tool for the job.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot use something outside Scripture like washing hands and washing cups and pitchers and copper pots.
SPEAKER_01: There's no written remedy in that.
SPEAKER_01: There's no remedy in eating certain foods that's holier than other foods because it does nothing for corruption and injustice in our culture.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a About washing the hands or the cups, it's about washing the heart.
SPEAKER_01: No bleach, no soap can cleanse in the same way than the word of God, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, Ephesians 5.26 says.
SPEAKER_01: Is there a substitute for the washing by the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_01: What human wisdom can wash and cleanse the way the Holy Spirit does?
SPEAKER_01: Titus 3.5.
SPEAKER_01: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism says, I have no place for the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: I want to look good and be in charge.
SPEAKER_01: Legalism would rather embrace human wisdom and human opinions, but at the same time forfeit the opportunity to be washed by both the Word and the Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's circle back to the issue of obeying the commands of God, because that is the hot button topic.
SPEAKER_01: Anytime, as I said, you make mention of obeying God's commandments, as he is saying here in verse thirteen or verse eight, neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the traditions of men.
SPEAKER_01: You see, you cannot hold the commandments of God.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot observe the commandments of God.
SPEAKER_01: You should say it out loud.
SPEAKER_01: I cannot.
SPEAKER_01: And if I try, I will do it with a long face.
SPEAKER_01: Unless you have what Ezekiel 36, 27 promises.
SPEAKER_01: I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.
SPEAKER_01: You will.
SPEAKER_01: If my spirit indwells you, it will cause you to walk.
SPEAKER_01: It's like I want to go there.
SPEAKER_01: No, you want to do your to walk what?
SPEAKER_01: In my statutes and my ordinances.
SPEAKER_01: That sounds like legalism, Pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 119, verse 14 to 16.
SPEAKER_01: Here is a man who has the Spirit of God in him.
SPEAKER_01: I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches.
SPEAKER_01: I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways.
SPEAKER_01: I shall delight in your statutes.
SPEAKER_01: This is not painful.
SPEAKER_01: This is joyful.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because it's not you who is doing that, but the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Without it, you cannot.
SPEAKER_01: And so, my dear brothers and sisters, it's probably time for me to stop.
SPEAKER_01: May I ask you a few things though?
SPEAKER_01: What are you using every day to wash your heart?
SPEAKER_01: What are you looking to?
SPEAKER_01: What are you reading?
SPEAKER_01: You flip open a little booklet that is mostly based on human wisdom, or do you click on on whatever meme you can find on Facebook or Twitter or whatever?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Or is it the word of God?
SPEAKER_01: If you open this book, it will pierce, it will cut, but it will heal.
SPEAKER_01: Where is the Spirit of God?
SPEAKER_01: Is the Spirit of God not according to John 16?
SPEAKER_01: One who will bring conviction?
SPEAKER_01: One who will bring to mind the words of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Is your religion spirit empowered or self-powered by human wisdom?
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you another thing.
SPEAKER_01: Obedience to the commandments of God, does that bring you joy?
SPEAKER_01: Is that a source of delight if it's not?
SPEAKER_01: Go to Christ, who says He will give His Spirit without measure.
SPEAKER_01: John 3 34.
SPEAKER_01: I pray, O Jesus, that you will give us your spirit without measure, so that our obedience to you and your word may be a sweet joy and a sweet delight.
SPEAKER_01: We receive your spirit not by works of the flesh, but it is a work of God that transforms and renew the heart.
SPEAKER_01: We are in need of new hearts.
SPEAKER_01: Renew our hearts so that it be contrite and humble.
SPEAKER_01: Cleanse our hearts with your word.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, let us not dabble with human opinions and human wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Before we know, these become traditions, and we might even hold on to them as if these are the doctrines of God when they are not.
SPEAKER_01: Give us mercy and grace and wisdom as we face a society that seeks to invalidate your word.
SPEAKER_01: Scholars, leaders, preachers, there are so many who seek to blunt the edges of your word and to break off the tip of the sword.
SPEAKER_01: I pray God that you will have grace upon them, and may we cling dearly unto your word and unto your Son Jesus Christ, who gave us his blood and his life so that we may be declared righteous.
SPEAKER_01: I pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.