Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to Proverbs 20, verse 20. Proverbs 20, 20. Solomon
wrote these words. Whoso curseth his father or mother,
his lamp or his candle shall be put out in obscure darkness." That verse of scripture that
the Spirit of God moved upon Solomon to write was actually
set forth in the law. Exodus 21 verse 17, and he that
curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Now, from that passage of scripture,
we behold God's demand for respect and obedience to parents. those that are in authority over
the children. As long as they're alive, after
they're gone, we remember them with respect. Those who were
the means, God's means, of bringing us into this world. And who,
by divine authority, were the ones that taught us, were the
ordained preservers of us in our youth. Now, to curse father
or mother, what does that mean? It doesn't mean just by filthy,
you know, talking to them, which obviously would be included,
but to curse father or mother, it means to show disrespect to
make light of, to bring into contempt, or to lightly esteem,
is, according to God's Word, worthy of being put to death.
Now, you know, we just don't, you know, today, we don't think
like that. You know, we just say, well,
you know, it's just, you know, it's my mom or my dad, what do
they, you know. No. Almighty God has put such
demand upon respect of persons, whatever man has to say today,
this is the Word of God. Now in light of that passage
of Scripture, I want us to consider that verse of Scripture In a
passage of scripture over in Matthew chapter 15, you just
turn over there because that's where we're going to be. Matthew
15. What I just gave us as the meaning
of God's demand for respect of our parents is just, it's God's
Word. That's the Word of God. They
are to be taken care of in their age, and to be respected, to
be spoken well of and well to, because God Almighty says we
are. That's the way it is. Now, in
Matthew chapter 15, and I'm going to be looking at the first nine
verses here for just a few moments. But in Matthew 15, our Lord quoted
that verse of Scripture. And what I wanted to do this
morning, I'm preaching out of Proverbs. Proverbs quotes Exodus
31. And what I want to do is I want
to take what the Lord said concerning that verse of Scripture. And
that's where I'm going to stay this morning. The Lord used that
verse of Scripture. And if the Lord was pleased to
use that verse of Scripture, I think that that gives us all
authority to be able to consider what the Lord said concerning
that passage of Scripture. Here's what He said in Matthew
15, verse 4. For God commanded, saying, Honor
thy father and mother, and he that curseth father or mother,
let him die the death. That was one of the Ten Commandments. Honor your father and your mother. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians
chapter 6 was moved by God's Spirit to speak on that passage
right there and he said this in Ephesians chapter 6 verses
1, 2, 3. Children, now listen to me. I want all
you children, all you children, your mom and daddy is here, your
mama or your daddy is here, you listen to what I'm saying. I'm
talking to you and all of us adults, we can listen in on this. Children, obey your parents in
the Lord. In the Lord. Not if your parents
tell you to do something that is contrary, to God's Word. You're not obligated to obey
Him doing something unlawful or immoral or something. But children, you are to obey
your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment, with promise. And what is the
promise? Now listen, listen. that it may
be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Now,
children, you listen to what your mom and dad says. And you
parents, when you instruct your children, you instruct them in
the Lord, what God has to say. This verse, that the Lord quoted
in Matthew 15. He quoted that in the midst of
a conversation that he was having with some scribes and some Pharisees. A conversation that at first,
it may seem as though that it may have just a little significance
for us today, but the principles of this conversation And what
the principles are will be brought out here in just a moment. These
principles of this are needful to be brought out again because
of the hypocrisy that we have in this world today. In just
man's thinking, in man's ways, in man's religion. That disrespect
for what God has to say is totally disregarded today by the carnal
man, by the carnal mind. We all have the propensity to
just be like this, to disregard what God has to say. So let's
see what was happening in this passage of Scripture. Scripture,
Matthew 15, 1 and 2. Then came to Jesus scribes and
Pharisees. who were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
For they wash not their hands when they eat bread." Scribes,
they were the ones that wrote the scriptures. All the scriptures back then,
they were written by hand. They didn't have printing presses.
They would write them. And the Pharisees, they saw themselves,
they were the interpreters. We'll interpret for you what
it is. And this group of scribes and Pharisees
who the Lord called them in verse 7 actually hypocrites, what they
were doing, they came from Jerusalem. They then came to Jesus, scribes
and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem. They came to where
He was, and what they were going to do, they were going to be
taking the Lord to task on something that they considered to be worthy
of condemnation. They wanted to take the Lord's
disciples. to task over something. And what the disciples were doing,
it wasn't something that they were found to be open to breaking
God's law, you know, or something, but they were chargeable as far
as the scribes and Pharisees were concerned with something
that they needed to straighten up. And here's what it was. They were transgressing the tradition
of the elders, which was what? They didn't wash their hands
before they ate bread. That was the issue. Why do your
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they don't
wash their hands. They were offended because the
Lord's disciple disciples did not observe some man-made rule. A rule that the Jews considered
necessary to worship God. Now that was the issue. What they were saying is the
traditions of the elders, which was actually in their opinion
the way that God's worshipped, was the whole rub right here. It was a rule that they observed
totally out of tradition. Just because some man said it
and the reason that a man said it originally was to be seen
of men. Now the washing of hands Now
that was first mentioned, turn to Exodus 30, what they were
doing is they actually got this tradition from, it started in
the scriptures. which is where they normally,
Neil, get their foundation for it, you know. They start with
the Scripture, but they rest, they twist the Scriptures. They
get them all bent out of shape, and they start taking what they've
bent out of shape to become the new rule, is what they're doing.
So here's where the washing of hands actually started. Look
in Exodus chapter 30, verse 19. to 21. Okay, Exodus 30, 19. For Aaron and his sons shall
wash their hands and their feet thereat. Now, first of all, who
are Aaron and his sons? They're priests. They're going
to minister in the tabernacle. And what they're doing is this,
when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, They shall
wash with water that they die not, or when they come near to
the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the
Lord. So they shall wash their hands
and their feet that they die not, and it shall be a statute
forever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their
generations." Now, here's what was going on. The priests They
were pictures of Christ. Their ministry was a picture
setting forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they
went in and washed their hands and their feet, what that was
picturing was the purity of Christ, the cleanness of Christ who ministers
before God on behalf of His people. One who ever liveth to make intercession
for His people, the One that came into this world and walked
on this world, who knew no sin, who was never convinced of sin
by anyone, no one ever proved Him. The Father said of Him,
this is My beloved Son, whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him,
I'm well pleased with Him. The Lord said, I do only, always,
those things that please the Father. So he never, in word
or thought or deed, he never disobeyed. Pure, holy, harmless
Lamb of God. And when the priests would go
in, when they washed their hands, that was a ceremony. It was a
picture, it was a type of the purity of Christ. Well, it just
kind of went on down through time here and then somebody one
day decided to say, I'll tell you what, if you're going to
really approach God, you need to be washing your hands. You
know, if you don't wash your hands, then I'm telling you,
you're not worshipping God. All they did was they took the
truth of God's Word and they distorted it. God never said
that. They said that. What they were attempting to
do was to add their traditions to the Word of God. Let me ask
you something. Where did invitations start? We're going to give an invitation.
Show me in the Scriptures where they ever gave an invitation.
Show me in the Scriptures where anybody ever walked an aisle.
You know why we do that? Because that's what we've always
done. Because somebody started that. Well, we need to come to the
altar. Who started that? It's not in the Scriptures. Christ
is our altar. We come by faith to Him who is
our altar. But we don't walk down here.
I told you before, there ain't nothing down here that's any
different from where you are. I just happen to be standing
here in this spot where I can see you and you can see me. Rededication. Rededication. I'm going to come
down on rededication. Basically what you're saying
is I've lost, I've lost my salvation. I've lost my sanctification.
I heard somebody make that statement. I'd never heard of that statement
before. Now rededication, yeah I have. You know, I grew up,
when I grew up, Eating meat on Friday was a mortal sin, wasn't
it Mark? Eating meat on Friday. Where
did that come from? And if you die with a mortal,
that's a mortal sin. There's a difference between
a mortal sin and a venial sin. A mortal sin is bad. If you die with a
mortal sin on your soul, you know, you didn't go to confession
and confess your sin to some man, and you died with a mortal sin,
you're going to hell. Where is that in scripture? If you die
with a venial sin, I think you just go to purgatory for a while,
don't you Mark, I think. Where'd you get that? I'll tell
you something that is truly, truly, I mean this gets real
touchy with people. Whenever we go out to eat, we
all sit around, we'll go to a big Sometimes we'll go out to eat
and there may be 8, 10, 12, 15 of us out there. And we don't
hold hands and make a big show of asking the blessing. Can't
you ask the blessing in your heart? Oh, I think we ought to
be a witness before men. The scriptures says when you
pray, when you pray. Don't be like the Pharisees are.
Don't be like the hypocrites are. Why? Because they love to
stand on the corners and make a big show out of it. To be seen
of men. And they've got their reward.
Now, you know, don't you think that if the Lord said that, that
that right there already ended? Somebody said, well, I think
we ought to... Don't drink, don't dance, and
don't smoke, and don't go to picture shows, don't go to girls
that do all that stuff. These traditions, look at Colossians
2.20. I'll tell you what these traditions
are. It's the attempt by man to override
the Word of God. Colossians 2, verses 20-23. Wherefore, if you be dead with
Christ from the rudiments, or the elements, of the world, why? What he's saying is, if the world's
material ways of doing things, you know, if you've died with
Christ, if you're a believer, and you believe that The only
kind of worship that you have is that external. You know, wherefore
if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, you
don't go around trying to wear your religion on your shoulders
and making a big show. I mean, God's people walk with
consistency. But they don't override the Word
of God to do tradition to make themselves worshipers of God.
If you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are you subject to the ordinances,
touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish
with the using, after the commandments and doctrines of men, which things
have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship and humility,
and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh. What he's saying is, why, if
you'd be dead with Christ, why are you trying to make the traditions
of men? If you're going to do something,
if you're going to find fault with something, you better make
sure that you can find it in the Scriptures. Because if it's
just traditions of men, And that's the beef the Lord told them. He said it came to them and they
said, why are you, you know, why are you, your disciples,
you're transgressing tradition. They don't wash their hands when
they eat bread. Now, I probably wash my hands,
I probably I probably have a fetish about it, I'm sure. I'll probably
wash my hands 25 times a day. Why? I want to. I want to. Before I eat, I'm going to wash
my hands. Why? Well, I don't want to pick up
some germs or something. That's, I mean, that's fine.
But don't make it an issue of worship before God. If you want
to wash your hands, if you don't want to wash your hands, that's
fine. You don't have to. But don't make something an issue
of worship when it's nothing more than a tradition. You know,
the Lord told in Matthew 23, 23, Woe unto your scribes and
your Pharisees, you hypocrites, you paid tithe and mint and anise
and cumin, you've omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment and mercy and faith. These things ought ye to have
done and not left the other undone. They came to Him and they said,
Why are you disciples? You are transgressing tradition. And the Lord, in verses 3 to
6, answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the
commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor
thy father and mother, and he that curseth father and mother,
let him die the death. But you say, Whosoever shall
say to his father or his mother, It's a gift, but whatsoever you
mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother,
he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition." Now what was he saying?
Right here, the Lord struck at the heart of man's attempt to
add anything to God's perfect Word as needful for salvation
or true worship. That's what He's getting at.
He said, you've made this thing an article of worship. And all
it is, He said, it's a tradition that you're holding to. The believer's
rule of faith and practice, now you listen to me, is the Word
of God. The Word of God. And it doesn't
matter how zealous or sincere a practice is, if it is not based
on biblical authority, it's nothing but hypocrisy. That's what the
Lord, He said, you hypocrites. God had commanded the fathers
and mothers were to be honored. Those who could not provide for
themselves were to be kept in the day of their need. My mama, right now, is in a rehabilitation
place. Now, I want to go over there. I want to help. I want to do
what I can. But I'm going to tell you something. I'm commanded
to do it. I'm commanded to do it. You honor
your father and your mother. She can't do some stuff. Well,
I better do what I can. God had commanded it, and they
were to be respected as those deserving of respect. And these
self-righteous religionists, when they were asking the question
about transgressing the elders' tradition, the Lord took a passage
of Scripture that God had set forth in His law and exposed
them for their foolishness and their selfish observance of man-made
rules. That's all they were doing. They
were holding on to their refusal to obey what God had commanded. Now, what were they doing? Well,
they were telling those who were commanded of God to provide for
their poor parents. You see, you've got somebody
who's got some parents, and they're poor, or they're helpless, or
they're feeble, or whatever. And he said, you're holding to
traditions. And God said, you honor your
father and your mother. And he that curseth them, it
doesn't give them the respect that is due, let him die the
death. And he said, what you say? And here it is, he said,
you're just going to traditions, that's all you're doing. You
say, whosoever shall say to his father or mother, it's a gift.
What do you mean? Well, they're saying that, look,
these scribes and Pharisees were saying, if you've got some money
and you want to dedicate that to the Lord, Corban is what it
is over Mark, it says, well, it's a gift. I've dedicated this
money that I'd set aside to take care of you. I've dedicated that to the Lord.
And that's a gift. I've given that to the Lord.
And I can't go back on that. That's the Lord. It's a gift.
By whatsoever you might have been profited by me, what I had, I've given that to God. It amazes
me how many times I have watched and I just get mad when I do
it. And Glenda will tell me, you know, she said, Marvin, why
do you watch that? You're just going to get mad. And I said,
I know. And I do. But hucksters will stand on television
and tell men, send your money to God and we'll give their address. The Lord says, what you're doing
is you're telling people the funds by which you might have
taken care of your parents. He said, you're telling them,
if y'all give this money, to the church. Give this money to
us." And see, they profited from that. They got the proceeds from
that. How convenient. He said, if you
give that to us, he said, it's a gift by what you would have
been profited by. And you honor not your father
and your mother. that you'll be free. What you're
telling them is if you give this as a gift to God, you're free
from the commandment of God to honor your father and mother.
That's what they were telling them. Thus have you made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition. You've superseded
or you're trying to supersede God's Word by a tradition. And then he told them in verses
7 to 9, you hypocrites, you two-faced, you're hypocrites. Well did Isaiah
prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth not unto me with
their mouth, and they honoureth me with their lips. But their
heart is far from me, but in vain do they worship me, teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men. The Holy Spirit moved
upon Solomon to pin in verse 20, Proverbs 20, 20, what God
Almighty had said back in Exodus 31. Cursed is every man that doesn't
honor his father and mother. You'll die the death. To curse
your mom or dad, not take care of them. is disobedience and
disrespect. And man by nature will make these
great glowing announcements concerning his love and his devotion for
God without a new heart for that devotion. Worship is of the heart. God's people want to hear what
God has to say. And anytime that anybody tries
to supersede by tradition what God has to say, the Lord has
revealed them to be hypocritical. May the Lord cause us this day
to hear what the Lord has to say, what God has to say. and where the heart has been
made tender to the hearing of God's Word, one that is truly
a heart to obey God, I'll tell you what you'll do. You won't
have to tell a man to love his wife, he'll love her. Husbands, love your wife as Christ
loved the church. Wives, submit or adapt yourself. to your husband. The husband
is ahead of the wife. I know what the world has to
say. I understand all that. But listen,
this is the rule. Children, obey your parents and
the Lord. Parents, if your children disobey,
spank them. I know what the world says. But
I'm telling you, Holding to the traditions of
men and despising what God has to say, God's going to deal with
us on it. May the Lord bless the Word to
our hearts and cause us to look to Him. What does He have to
say for Christ's sake? Amen.