If you want to follow along turn
to the gospel according to Matthew chapter 15 Earl ruined me when it comes
to that title because he said it is Exactly that the gospel
according to Matthew. It is not Matthew's gospel. Yeah Matthew Mark Luke and John do
not have their Gospels. There's one gospel. It is the
gospel according to Matthew The gospel according to Luke now. I know there are those who think
well you're being too picky No, no lies of the truth no matter
what it is No lies of the truth the gospel according to Matthew
chapter 15. I have several verses to read. So let's get started
Matthew 15 and verse 1 Then came to Jesus, scribes and Pharisees,
which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why doth thy disciples transgress
the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands
when they eat bread. But he 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
thy mother, and he that curseth father and mother, let him die
the death. But ye say, whosoever shall say
to his father or his mother, it is a gift by whatsoever thou
mightest be profited by me, and honoreth not his father and his
mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites. And I can almost picture in my
mind, he didn't say, you poor little hypocrites. I can see
him crying out, ye hypocrites. Well did Esaias prophesy of Usain. This people draweth nigh unto
me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude. You see this now? And he called,
now right now he's just talking to the scribes and the Pharisees.
And he called the multitude, there was evidently Mason people
standing around there. So he called this multitude to
gather around. And he called the multitude and
he said unto them, hear and understand, not that which goeth into the
mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth,
this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said
unto him, now something has transpired. There were a few moments here
in between, and words were evidently exchanged. Then came his disciples
and said unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended
after they heard this saying? See, he talks to them, but then
when he exposes them before the multitudes, they get a little
ticked off. They got the jammies up in a
twist. They didn't like what they heard. And the disciples
are taken a little aback by this. You see it? Look at it. Let me find it again. Knowest
thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard that
they were questioning him? Of course he knew. But he answered and said, every
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind, and the blind lead the blind. Both shall fall into the
ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, declare unto us
this parable. Ain't no parable here. There ain't no parable here.
He spoke quite clearly. Peter was looking for the deep.
Wasn't he? This has got to be some parable.
Right? There's got to be some deep thing
here. Can you not see that kind of happening in Peter's mind?
I know I would be prone to respond that way. Then answered Peter
and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said,
Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand that
whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly and
cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man. And now we go all the way back to the beginning. But
to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. Hmm What about that? What about that the Lord of glory? God manifest in the flesh Did
not shy away from calling people what they are He did not say
I perceive there is hypocrisy here I Did he I Detect some hypocrisy
here. No, he said you hypocrites And
people get mad at me the way I preach Call me unkind and unloving
No, no love Here is love incarnate God is love. And here is love being honest
enough and kind enough to tell these men the truth about themselves. That's where real love's at.
That's where real kindness is at. This wishy-washy milk sop,
as Earl used to say, try to bring the truth into the back door,
it won't happen. You can't do it. You can't sneak
the truth in on people. It's best to just tell things
like they are. Call them like they are. Ye hypocrites,
Isaiah spoke about you four, five, 600 years ago. This people draw blind to me
with their mouth and honor of me with their lips. They talk
some talk. Oh, yeah But their hearts are
far from me But in vain they do worship me they worship. Oh,
yeah, they worship me. He said yeah, but in vain But
in vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men Peter did not shy away from admonishing even us Turn
to 1 Peter chapter 2, then I'll finish that statement. First
Peter chapter 2 Peter did not shy away from even admonishing
us as believers to lay aside hypocrisy Did he did not look
at it first Peter 2 wherefore? laying aside all malice and all
guile and Hypocrisies, you know why because it still dwells in
here Now he said all the malice guile hypocrisies envies evil
speakings But I'm looking at hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. Laying it aside. In other words,
Mason, put it down here. Put it down here. Why? Because
it's still in here. We still have to deal with these
evils day after day after day. Christianity is not the absence
of all sin and wrong. No, it's not. It's not when God's
you know you hear these people preaching boy. I used to be this
as if this they're none of that anymore Now there is a sense
of which we used to be But there's still a sense of which all of
those things are still right down in here Christianity is not the absence
of all wrong, but here is what it is it is calling things what
they are Seeing Call seeing what it is
seeing now. I've made statements I preach
from this podium and I make statements and I say this out of all the
love and kindness I can muster and I see faces and I see terror
sometimes I Get up here and I warn people about abandon the assembly
and I see terror. I See faces turn You know why? because some of God's people
do I But here's the point, folks. Call it what it is. Sin. Don't try to justify it. Don't try to somehow placate
it. Don't try to appease your conscience
in it. Call it what it is. Sin. Now the unbeliever says, but
I, it's not. I have reason. I have justification. A Christian calls it what it
is, sin, especially when they're called on it. Nathan said, you're
the man to David. And what did David say? Well,
but I couldn't help it. She just so hot. Well, Lord, you're sovereign
after all. I was here because that was your purpose. Huh? I didn't go out to battle because
you've ordained all things. Huh? No, a believer, when confronted
with the truth of their own rebellion, calls it what it is. I have sinned
against the Lord. Now there is the difference.
It's not that a believer can't do this or that, but a believer
is to acknowledge it for what it is and then do what with it?
Lay it aside. That's what a believer does.
An unbeliever will say, not say, they'll give all the excuses,
all the reasons why this is justifiable. Here's what being a Christian
is, is acknowledging these very things' existence in us. This
is why most people who profess to be Christians are not Christians,
because I used to be a hypocrite, now I'm not. If you've got hypocrisy
in you, what's that make you? Hypocrite. Yes, sir. If I have
hypocrisy in me, what's that make me, Mac? A hypocrite. So I say to us, you hypocrites.
That's right. Does that bother you? It doesn't
when God showed you what you really are. That's right. It
may aggravate you a little. It may hurt your feelings. But
you know, this is what I am in myself. This is what I am in
Adam. All these evil things. And Peter
says lay them aside. Lay them aside. Here's Christianity. It's doing this, laying these
things aside. Laying these things aside to
the honor of Christ with no hope of merit in doing so. You hear what I said? Lay aside
all these things. Hypocrisies, envy, malice, deceit,
all these things. And there's, Joe, the list is
probably a lot longer than just that. I figure Peter knew a little
bit about some of the people he was writing to, so he was
pointing out a few specific things. No, it's to do these things,
it's to lay these things aside, doing so to the honor of Christ.
Go back and read what he says. It's doing so to the honor of
Christ with no hope of merit. It even boils down, I will do
this, by God's grace, I will do this, even if heaven's not
my reward, Mason. That's due to God. Lay those
things aside. If I perish, I'll perish even
doing those things, Joe. So be it. You see what I'm saying?
That's Christianity. Christianity's not being perfect. It's not being sinless, save
in Christ. In ourself, we're vile and corrupt,
but as believers, we acknowledge it for what it is. And we acknowledge
we're supposed to be laying it aside. Laying it aside. Does anybody know what the title
of my message is? Hypocrisy. That was easy enough, wasn't
it? Hypocrisy. But what is that? What is hypocrisy? You see we
often throw these phrases around just like, remember I asked you
the other week about kindness, what was kindness? And I could
see on some of his faces like, I don't think I really can explain
that. Now don't feel bad, I couldn't either. So God Almighty shows
you his truth individually as a believer. We all know this,
hypocrisy is saying and not doing. Right? We know that's hypocrisy. You say something, this ought
to be done, but you don't do it. Joe, that's hypocrisy. Our
Lord told the disciples, what those men in charge, those leaders,
what they say, you do what they say, but don't do what they do,
because they say and do not. So that's hypocrisy. That's the
easiest one to get. You can probably find that in
Webster's Dictionary, right? Here's another one. And we all
know this one. Telling others to do and not doing likewise,
right? Telling others, you ought to
do this, but then not really carrying yourself whether you
do it or not. That's hypocrisy, is it not? That's hypocrisy. No doubt about that. These two things are an affront
to Christ. And don't think I'm lessening
that. Okay? These are an affront to Christ.
That is, saying and not doing. That's speaking with your mouth.
But your heart being far from it. No doubt. It's here. It's in our text. But there's
more than that to this hypocrisy. These are an affront to Christ.
And let us continually be laying aside these things. But it is
not. Now let me give you something
that's not. Hypocrisy is not warning others even when you've
been guilty of something yourself. You hear what I'm saying? That
is not hypocrisy. Now this is the world's tactic.
You warn them about something. This is wrong. That's an affront
to God. It's an affront to his Christ.
It's an affront to his gospel. And they say, what do they say?
I've seen some things you do. That's right. I know some of
the things you've done. Now don't they throw up that
smoke screen? Don't they fortify that castle
wall right in front of you? And usually it almost makes us
want to shut up, don't it? Yeah. Huh? You know why? Because we know we're guilty.
Exactly. Huh? But let me tell you, God's
ordained it so that guilty people are sent to other guilty people
to warn them about their guilt. He doesn't send the angels, the
unfallen angels, the elect angels. He could have, Joe. But he saves
one sinner, and then he'll take that sinner to send that person
to another sinner to tell them of what God done for them. What
God expects, what God demands. You remember Psalm 51. The 51st
Psalm, turn back to it. And I think most are right. Because it actually tells you
in the heading to the chief musician, a Psalm of David, when Nathan
the prophet came unto him after he'd gone in to Bathsheba. David
was caught red-handed. Wasn't he? Caught red-handed. And what's the first thing he
does? He prays concerning himself. He didn't blame Bathsheba. She should have said no even
if he was the king. Huh? Even if he was the king,
she should have said no. He didn't blame God, even though
God was in sovereign control of exactly where David was, and
He didn't give it time, as well as He is in your life and my
life. But was these first words, have mercy upon me, oh God, according
to the love and kindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me, me, me, the problem
is me, right? The problem is me. It wasn't
anything or anybody else. But then what does he say? Look
at it. Go down to verse 10. Create in me a clean heart, oh
God, and renew a right spirit within me. David knew he'd got
all mixed up. Didn't he? His thinking was wrong,
his attitudes had been wrong for at least nine months. You
know how I know that? Well, that's about how long it
took that child to be born. At least close to that. He tried
to hide it for a while, Mason. Tried to get the husband to go
in to his wife, and he said, I won't do it. The armies of
God are out there to battle. I'm not gonna go in and lay with
my wife. Wouldn't do it, would he? Tried to cover his tracks,
and God said, I ain't gonna let you do it. You know why? Because he was a believer. That's
why. That's a glorious thing. That's
a good thing. Because it brought him to what
we see here cried out in Psalm 51, but look. Created me a clean
heart O God and renew a right spirit within me cast me not
away from thy presence and take not thine Holy Spirit from me
restoring to me the joy of thy salvation and hold me with our
free spirit then Do you see it? Then will I teach transgressors
thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee Do you see
the proper way? Don't let them buffalo you if
God Almighty and when God Almighty has bowed you down in the dirt
because of some failure, some envy, some hypocrisy, some failure. Don't let these people out here
buffalo you. Right? Well, I can't say anything. They might point the finger at
me. They're going to point the finger at you anyway. You best
tell the truth of God even if it exposes yourself. Tell the
truth of God even if you're left speechless about yourself other
than if it's not God's mercy, I will perish. Do you see what
I'm saying? Don't let them out there buffalo
you. Because they'll do it. They'll
do it. However, hypocrisy is not limited
to saying and telling others to do and not doing so yourself.
You know why? Because these men were doing
what they were saying to do. They washed their hands before
they ate bread. Didn't they? This was their practice. This
was their tradition. This is what they did from mere
rote tradition. Wash your hands before you eat
bread. Now the amazing thing is we read that and it's almost
to us as if this is inconsequential. Right? Do you not read this and
there's a sense of, is anybody really that dumb? That I have
to follow a tradition of washing my hands before, and they were
literally talking about washing your hands before you ate. However, as I said, hypocrisy
is not limited to saying or telling others to do and then not doing
yourself. The hypocrisy here in our text
is this. It's calling God's name in on
anything we do when what we do is wrong. Do you hear what I said? Here's
the hypocrisy here. Here's where it's hidden down
underneath. The hypocrisy here in our text
is calling God's name in on something, on anything that we do, and yet
what we are doing is wrong. That is hypocrisy. It's hypocrisy
against God, not against your fellow man. It's hypocrisy against
Christ, not against your fellow man. It is hypocrisy against
his gospel, not against your fellow man. And remember the
first, the greatest commandment is what? Love God with all your
heart, mind, soul, and strength. The second's like to it, then
you love your neighbors yourself. If you can't even get to the
first one, there ain't no need worrying about the second one.
But you know the problem is? We can't even get to the first
one. So I hope you see what this is
saying here. These men were doing. They were
washing their hands. They did it habitually. Christ calls to this. He says
it's hypocrisy. He says it's transgression. He
says it's vain worship. They weren't saying don't worship
God. They said you gotta worship God like this and here we show
you how. Right? You gotta worship God like this
and here's how you do it. We wash our hands before we eat.
That's what they were doing. So they were doing, Joe. And
they were insisting from others that they do the same. But there's
still hypocrisy when you call God in on it. Now I'm gonna give you five things and
these things flow. As a building built upon a foundation,
it's built up one right after another. Remember Christ called
it hypocrisy. He called it transgression. Why
do you transgress the commandment of God with your tradition? And
he called it vain worship. Number one, it is not just a
few extra human commands that's the problem here. Do you know
that? Not just a few extra human commands.
What does it really matter if you tell somebody they gotta
wash their hands before they eat to keep from being defiled?
Is that really gonna plunge somebody into the pit of hell forever?
Uh, yes. Uh, yes. It's far more serious than just
washing some dirt off your hands. They called God in on this matter.
They were talking about this as a way of not being defiled
before a holy God. They weren't denying that God
was holy. They just said, here's how you get up close to Him.
Wash your hands before you eat. See, it's not just a few extra
human commands. Human tradition, when used as a means to holiness
and acceptance with God, is damning. I said it's damning. There's
nothing necessarily wrong with human tradition until you make
it as a means of holiness before God and acceptance with God. Why? That's, here's number two.
Here's the why. That's a question. How can you
say it's damning? Who gives you that right? What
Christ said here did. Here's the problem, why? Here's
number two, man's commandments always contradict God's, verses
three through five. If they didn't, why do you need
to give them? Why don't you just give God's commands? You see
what I'm saying? That's what Christ was saying.
You transgress God's commandments by your tradition. Anytime you
set up a tradition as a means of commandment to honor God,
then you're saying God evidently left one out. But it's more than that. Usually
men add their traditions and their commandments to include
something they know they can do. Now how hard it is to wash
your hands before you eat? Unless you're in the desert,
it's probably not very hard at all, is it? Man's number two. Why is it damning? Because men's
commandments always contradict God's. Think about it. Some sins
are now called addictions. Yeah. It's no longer drunkenness,
it's alcoholism, and it's a disease. Right? We call it a disease today. No, it's called drunkenness. It's called loving that bottle
so much you can't stay away from it. That's what it's called. We call adultery stepping out
now. They stepped out on their spouse.
No, they didn't. They committed adultery. You
see what I'm saying? Men add in all of these things
that the Word of God doesn't even deal with, but even the
things they deal with, like these folks. Well, listen, you're supposed
to honor your mother and father, but we'll give you an out. Now,
I can't explain to you what their tradition was concerning mothers
and fathers. You look at the commentaries,
you get all kinds of ideas, but the whole point Christ is making
is this. They gave people an out. Christ said, here's what
the commandment says. Honor your mother and father,
and if you don't, you should die the death. You know what it was
to be stoned to death? That's what the commandment says,
but they say, oh, but there's some exceptions. That's what they were saying.
And this is what men to do today. Well, you love God. You're supposed
to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. But really what
God meant was just give it your best shot. Right? Don't they teach that today? Just put forth your best effort.
God didn't say put forth your best effort to honor your mother
and your father. He said honor your mother and
father, period. And if you don't, what is it?
It ain't just you messed up. It's a capital offense against
God. It's a crime worthy of death. Yeah, some say they're addictions
now. It just boggles my mind. I watch
the TV and see this. Just about everything's an addiction
now. They're getting to the place now where child molestation is
almost called an addiction now. And one of these days, folks,
if we live long enough, I am no prophet, but that's what it'll
come to. It'll all be an addiction now. We'll just give you some
talking to. We'll set you on the couch, talk to you, give
you some pills, and this will help you out. Here's number three. Man's commandments
nullify God's. Verse six. What? What? Oh, that's what Christ
said, didn't he? Now, I'm a good strong Calvinist, Joe. I believe
in the absolute sovereignty of God. How can a man's commandment
nullify God's? Well, one, Christ said it does.
You know what he says? Therefore it's not up to me to
try to justify God's word and try to make it fit into the human
notion of what it ought to be. And not only that, you mean man's
commandments nullify God's? How? We're not saved by the law
anyway, so what does it matter? Right? Are we saved by the law?
No. Nobody's ever been saved by the
law. You can't keep the law and honor it enough for God to accept
you before him. So, Roy Jr., what does it really
matter if I tell somebody to wash their hands before they
eat? Right? Do you not see the common sense
of that? What does it really matter, Mason? Here's number four. Man's commandments
nullify the declaration of our problem. They give us an out. They lessen the real character
of what sin is. That was the problem with, but
ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or mother, it is a
gift, but whatsoever thou mayst be profited by me, I'm doing
something above and beyond what even the law says, and you'll
benefit by what I'm doing. And honor not his father and
his mother, he shall be free. Thus you've made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition. God says honor your
mother and father. If you try to lessen that in
any way, what have you done? Lessened the commandment that
says that is in capital offense against God. You're worthy to
die under the judgment of God. The law entered that defense
might abound, right? But what happens when we try
to give us an out from the law? We're saying it's not really
that bad. Sin's not really that bad after all. That's what Christ
is teaching here. In other words, sin is no longer
exceedingly sinful. In other words, things from the
south, or that's all of our problem, it's all the stuff out there.
That's what defiles us and not our inner corruption. Do you
see it? That's the whole point of man's,
it is under the influence of anti-Christ. And it lessens the
effect of God Almighty's law that says you're a dead, corrupt,
depraved, God-hating rebel. And here's the last one. You
gotta have a Redeemer. Because if all I gotta do is
wash my hands and then do a few other things like that, what
do I need a Redeemer for? Listen, here's number five. No
real inner sin. No real inner sin. All the problem
comes from without. That's the whole crux. Whatever
it is. Everybody's teaching, well, you ought not drink a beer.
That'll defile you. Right? Don't take a chew of tobacco. That'll defile you. Don't go
to the movies. That'll defile you. Isn't that
what they teach? Don't wear the wrong kind of clothes. That'll
defile you. All these things are from where? Without. And
Christ said our problem's not out there. Our problem's in here. Those things wouldn't bother
us if we were right in here. We've got to be able to cleanse
the inside of the cup. Then you can worry about the
outside. The problem is I can't cleanse the inside. I can't do
it. It's what comes out of our evil,
filthy, wicked hearts that defile us. Not what we put in our bodies
or on our bodies or subject our bodies to. No real inner sin means no real
personal need of a Savior now, doesn't it? Here's what it is. It no longer becomes Oh God save
me from myself No, it's God helped me to save myself from things You see what I'm saying, I'm
summing up this whole thing right here it changes The whole outlook,
Joe. When there's no real inner sin,
the defilement is not inward, then there's no real personal
need of a savior. It's no longer God save me from
me, it's God help me save myself from things. And if I can do
that, I won't be defiled. If I can abstain from this, I'll
be okay. If I can do that, I'll be okay. And Christ said it's
damning. He called them hypocrites. So
much so that what this people draw nine to me with their mouth
and honors me with their lips But their hearts are far from
me but in vain Now you think that's gonna get you think vain
worships gonna get anybody anywhere? Hmm but in vain do they worship
me what teaching for doctrines the commandments of men Let me sum this up Man's traditions Man's commandments always exalt
man and it always seeks to dethrone God and His truth. That's the
whole intent of all of it. See, I can do this and God will
honor it. When God actually says, no, here's
what you gotta do to honor me, and you know you really can't.
Remember I told you about the guy that said, the one Democrat
said he loved Donald Trump unconditionally. He's a liar. I bet you Donald's
Trump wife don't love him unconditionally. I bet you there's a couple things
he could do. She'd probably ski that alone down the way. Right? Huh? Away with it. Why? Because we're following,
trying to worship God according to the doctrines and commandments
of men, rather than saying, here's what God's law says to me. And
I can't do it. It's not within my power to do
it. And God demands that it be done. Oh, but somebody came along
who did do it. And he did as did satisfy God's
holiness. Yes, but he also satisfied God's
justice as well Man's traditions man's commandments always exalt
man and they seek to dethrone God in his truth words about
devotion to God Even followed by action are vain if the truth
is not honored You hear what I just said? Yeah, I think that's
pretty profound sir Words about devotion to God, even when followed
by actions, are vain if truth is not honored. What men love
the best, they will defend the most. That's why they defended
their tradition. They loved it best. I can't defend
me. You know why? Because out of
me comes all these things. My only defense, what I love
best, what I love most is my Redeemer. He's my only hope. And that's the whole of this
message. That's what he taught this for. There it is, summed
up in just a few words. Father, oh God, bow us to thy
Son. Remind us, Lord, of what we are
by nature. And set our eyes and our hearts
and our minds on our affections, our devotion, our reverence on
Christ. I ask it in His name. Amen.