HoHum:
Isn't this a beautiful apple? The skin is so red and shiny. Just look how smooth it is. It has a beautiful shape and I don't see any spots that look like the bugs or worms have eaten into it. Yes, this is a really good apple.
Oh, you might be thinking, "You can't tell if an apple is good by looking at the outside. You have to look on the inside to know if it is a good apple. Well, perhaps you are right.
One day, while walking through an orchard, a man stopped under an apple tree. It was loaded with big beautiful apples just waiting to be eaten. The man picked what he thought looked like the best apple on the tree. He couldn't wait to eat it. He took out his pocket knife and cut it open for a taste. To his surprise, the apple was rotten to the core.
Unfortunately it is sometimes the same with people. Some people go to church every Sunday. They carry their Bibles, they bring their offering, they sing every hymn, they listen to every word the preacher says, but it doesn't change anything in their heart. They look good on the outside, but their goodness is only skin deep. This isn't anything new. Jesus faced the same problem.
WBTU:
Read 1 Corinthians 4:3-7
What does Paul know about this issue, going beyond what is written? Before Paul became a Christian, “according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.” Acts 26:5.
Jesus often had run ins with the Pharisees over this particular issue. This problem is so prevalent in the gospels. God knew that all Christians in all times would face this. God allowed Jesus to confront it and respond to it to learn how to face it in our day.
The Pharisees were known for their zeal for God and devotion to His law. They were highly respected members of society, considered by most to be the “really committed Christians.”
But Robert Coleman talks about where they went wrong: “The Pharisees had so much respect for the original set of scriptures and wanted to protect them so desperately that they started adding to them. Then, after a while, it not only seemed helpful to make additions but absolutely essential. For instance, if God said we could not work on the Sabbath, then don’t even pick grain to eat, just to play it safe. Don’t even heal people because that might be a borderline case. These traditions and additions accumulated into hundreds over the years. Soon it became apparent that they far from optional. These laws became every inch as important as the scriptural laws and in some instances more crucial. The Pharisees also saw their mission as creating new laws as the times changed. If they felt the Scriptures contained no moral laws to control something modern, then they would manufacture a law and announce that it was binding on man and God. New situations could not be ignored, and if there were gaps in the Scriptures, someone had to fill them. Jesus found it very difficult to appreciate anyone changing God’s laws. For him, it was fine if the Pharisees wanted to fast twice a week. They could go to it with great pleasure. The flak came when they said, “We instituted this new law, and God expects you to keep it.” At this point Jesus balked and told them to back off.”
Thesis: From Mark 7:1-23 we are going to talk about hypocrisy, neglect of the Word, and false spirituality
For instances:
Hypocrisy
Read vs. 1-4. This is a tradition not Scripture.
Read vs. 5-7
Jesus clearly is saying that this is going beyond what is written. “Their teachings are but rules taught by men.” The result of going beyond what is written is hypocrisy. ““Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1, NIV.
Going beyond what is written cultivates hypocrisy, because people learn to keep the external, man made rules, without being changed in their hearts. They also learn to live a life of deceit, in which the way they look to others is more important than how they look to God.
The Gospel- WE need to be concerned with being good instead of looking good.
Now people can do this with the pure Bible as well. But one of the reasons that extra biblical “fences” cultivate this is by providing a way for people to think that they are righteous when they are really not. Many rules but no real power to keep the rules, so they learn to fake it. They can’t let themselves or anyone else think that they are not right with God, so they deceive themselves and others into thinking that they are by these extra biblical rules.
““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Matthew 23:25-28, NIV.
Why was Jesus so harsh and use such strong language with them? Because much of what they were doing was against why he came. Cannot earn or deserve salvation. This is against the gospel of grace. The Pharisees did not understand and accept God’s grace.
Neglect of the Word
Go back to Mark 7:8-9.
Adding to the Word of God actually subtracts from it. We cannot go beyond what is written without in some way detracting from the purity and power of the Scriptures.
One of the most obvious ways this is done if when we do not search the Scriptures ourselves for guidance. We just follow our traditions and extra biblical rules without searching the Scriptures to see what the Bible has to say. We don’t need to search the Bible when some else has settled the issue for us. We just need to follow our church’s rules or our preacher’s teachings, who cares about searching the Bible for ourselves.
A well known Bible teacher gives this insight: “Someone on our staff informed me several months ago that a woman had called the ministry office to find out what my “official position” was on a biblically gray area. When she was told that it’s not my policy to make “official” public statements on such issues, she was bewildered, actually, a little irritated. She asked, “How are we to know what to decide on this issue if you don’t tell us?” Some may find her amusing. Frankly, I find it frightening. I thought, “Have we created that kind of Christian, where the minister must make statements in areas that are a matter of personal preference?” There is a fine line between responsible leadership and dogmatic control. Yes, people need to be informed, but then released to come to their own convictions based upon the Word. Why must a minister constantly issue public edits and decrees? Seems awfully popelike to me. You will never grow up so long as you form most of your opinions from me or some other Christian leader.”
Are we dependent upon what people have told us or upon the Word?
Mark 7:10-13. “Corban” was a tradition of the Jews (not in OT) by which a man would commit a portion of his wealth to support the temple and priesthood. He would have to hold to this commitment, even if his parents became sick and needed that money to survive. This extra biblical rule prevented people from obeying a clear teaching of the Bible, honoring father and mother. Neglecting the clear teaching of the Word for something extra biblical.
False Spirituality
Mark 7:14-16: Hinted at this under the first two but overemphasis on the external, to the exclusion of the internal.
Mark 7:17-23: Repeats this idea in an expanded form.
Why does He take so much time and effort to make this point. Need to understand that extra biblical rules many times are intended to keep sin away from us, or to keep us away from sin, but they fail to address the sin that we carry with us at all times inside our hearts.
It is easier to stay away from the movie theater than it is to have a transformed heart that loves good and hates evil when we see it. It is easier to follow someone’s rules about parenting than it is to genuinely love and fervently pray for our children.
Carl Henry wrote, “One who abstains from going to hotbeds of iniquity may be every bit as carnal as one who goes to them. Arbitrary rules is a poor substitute for inner morality. Not only this, but going beyond what is written emphasizes the less important issues in life, and ignores or excuses the weightier matters of the Law.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” Matthew 23:23, 24.
People who go beyond what is written tend to be characterized by a preoccupation with relatively insignificant issues, while some of the more important aspects of Christian living are sadly neglected. “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Colossians 2:23, NIV.
This approach to spirituality simply does not make us more godly- even though we appear to be- because it does not change our heart. The Gospel- WE need to be concerned with being good instead of looking good.
