All right, let's look at Matthew
15. The title of the message is Truth or Traditions? And the reason I put the question
mark there is that's what we're gonna consider. What do we want
when we enter in to a relationship, religion, what we call it, and
we know that salvation is not just religion, You know, most
religion is false and it's of man, but there is true religion. And so when we seek the Lord,
when we seek salvation, what is our goal? Is it the traditions
of men or is it truth? And we want the truth. So much
of religion that surrounds us is nothing more than the traditions
of men and not the word of God. And what happens is if you don't
know the truth of the gospel of salvation totally and freely
and fully by God's grace through the blood and righteousness of
Christ alone, the religion that you're engulfed in is nothing
more than self-righteousness and self-righteousness breeds
in the traditions of men. And it's like, you know, salvation
conditioned on sinners. Well, what are those conditions?
Well, here we see the Pharisee, the scribes and the Pharisees
confronting the Lord over the issue of the washing of hands. What was that all about? Well,
look at verse one. It says, then came Jesus to Jesus,
scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem. Now you know
the scribes and the Pharisees, you know who they were. They
were the very religious, the most sincere but self-righteous
people. The scribes were the interpreters
and the commentators of the law. And they were concerned about
what was going on in their day because Jesus of Nazareth, he
was gaining more and more in popularity with the multitudes. He had multitudes following him.
And they saw their power and their influence waning, going
by the wayside, and people following him. And of course that raised
their jealousy because they wanted to be the number one, they wanted
to be the center of attention. That's what religion does for
you. And the message that Christ preached was diametrically opposed
to their message. And we see that. You know, Paul,
I love where you find in Scripture summaries of things that just
tips you off to what's really being said. For example, if you
want to know the message of the Pharisees and the unbelieving
Jews, look at Romans chapter 9. And this is a summary of everything
that they were teaching. in their view of the scriptures,
which was not a right view, and in their traditions. They put
all their view of the scripture, which was wrong, and their traditions
together, and this is what they followed. So if you look at Romans
chapter nine, look at verse 31. This is a good summary of their
religion, and it's really a good summary of every false religion.
in one way or another, to one degree or another, where it says,
but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, they
looked at the law and they saw that as their standard of righteousness,
but because of their blindness and because of their traditions,
they lowered the standard. Now, they didn't do that knowingly.
They thought they were keeping the standard. We keep the law,
we follow Moses, they would say. But they had lowered that standard
because the standard of righteousness in God's eyes is perfection that
can only be found in Christ. You can't find it in yourself.
You can't find it in your works. But it says they followed after
the law of righteousness, but they did not attain, hath not
attained, verse 31, to the law of righteousness. They didn't
make it. They fell short, as we all do. That's why we need
grace. But it says, verse 32, wherefore,
or why did they fall short? Because they sought it not by
faith. Now to seek it by faith is to seek righteousness in Christ. Now understand that. It's not
that my believing, which is a gift of God, is my righteousness. My act of believing is not my
righteousness before God. Christ is. And God gives me faith
to lay hold of him, to believe in him and to rest in him. But
they didn't seek it in Christ. They didn't seek it from God,
the righteousness of God, but as it were by the works of the
law, their works. And understand their works of
the law included their traditions too. Not just what the law said,
but their interpretation of it and traditions. And we'll see
an example of that in just a moment. For they stumbled at the stumbling
stone. Now this is referring back to
a prophecy of Isaiah of Christ. The stumbling stone here is Christ.
He came along and he told them. He said, listen, think about
this. except your righteousness exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall
in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. What was he saying
there? He's saying, you're not gonna
make it if you follow them, and they're not gonna make it either. And so it says in verse 33, as
it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a
rock of offense, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
That's Christ. And then he said in verse one
of chapter 10, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them record. They
have a zeal of God. Now they were zealous in their
religion. They were serious about it. I've heard people say, well,
they were playing church. Oh no, they weren't. They weren't
just playing games. They were serious. They were
sincere. They had a zeal of God, but not
according to knowledge. They did it in ignorance, for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness, God's standard,
God's requirement, they thought they kept the law as best they
could and that was enough. People think the same thing today.
He says, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God, for
Christ is the end of the law. The word end there means the
finishing, the fulfillment, the completion, the perfection of
the law, for righteousness to everyone that believe it. And
then he goes on to say, Moses described the righteousness of
the law. Well, back here in Matthew 15, These scribes and Pharisees
had perverted the law, and they added their traditions, and Christ
told them that that was sinful and evil and wicked, and they
hated him for it. And they came out against him,
and they set their sights on having him executed. And when
they did execute him, Unbeknownst to them, they fulfilled the will
of God. Isn't that amazing? And how many times we see that
in scripture? Peter at Pentecost, you did it by wicked hands. We
did it by wicked hands. But God meant it for good. It
was only, it was according to the foreknowledge, the determination
of God Almighty. And he used these unbelievers
as unwitting instruments to execute the Lord Jesus Christ. But his
execution was a redemption for his people. That was the very
establishment of the righteousness which we have as God has charged
it to our account. And by which we, through the
knowledge of it, receive it by faith. Just the knowledge of
it. But that's what it was. The lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Now one other thing
I've got in your lesson here is this. Understand that the
popularity of Christ among the masses was not because they believed
on him to be the Messiah. Now there were a few who did
believe on him to be the Messiah, the savior of sinners. There
were a few who God brought to recognize that this person, this
Jesus of Nazareth, is my salvation, my redemption, my righteousness,
that answers the question of questions, how God can be both
a just God and a savior. There were a few, a remnant,
who saw that and recognized that, but on the whole, the masses
followed him for what? For the miracles. He fed 5,000. I'm hungry, I want food, I'm
gonna go to him, see what I'm saying? They weren't talking
about spiritual food now. He's our spiritual bread. Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. But they
were hungry for food, and he healed people. I'm sick, I need
healing. And so they followed him for
that reason. And you know, the Bible says
that he healed them all. So to them, it's like people
today, you know, false preachers today, they'll tell people that
Christ is the answer to all your problems here on this world and
in the next. Whatever problem you have, he
can fix it. Whether it's a family problem,
a marriage problem, a money problem, a health problem. But there's
no such promises in the word of God. Now God may be pleased
to make you rich, to make you healthy. He may be pleased to
give you an easier life on earth than he does some others. But
that has nothing to do with salvation. We all are spiritually poor and
spiritually sick and dead. And we need life from the dead.
We need the riches of Christ spiritually. when these false
preachers tell people, you know, they'll go to passages like Isaiah
53, by his stripes you were healed, and they'll say, well now, that'll
heal you of cancer, of diabetes, of what, that's not what that
passage is talking about. That's talking about spiritual
healing. Christ, the great physician, who heals me of the sin sickness
and depravity and spiritual death that plagues me by nature. and
all by the grace of God. Christ is the answer to all my
problems as far as salvation and eternal life and a right
relationship with God. But on this earth, he said, you're
gonna have problems. In the world, you'll have tribulation,
trouble, but be of good cheer. He said, I've overcome that.
And you know, whatever we go through in this life, sickness
or whatever, when we die and go to be with Christ, it'll all
be over then, won't it? But we may suffer some hard things
while we're in this life. And it's all, we know that even
those things work together for good, spiritual and eternal good
for the people of God, whatever we go through. So understand
that. The masses, they weren't looking
for salvation from sin. They were looking for salvation
from their problems on earth. And that's why we see that the
multitude left him. The Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the scribes, the masses, they didn't understand the law. Think
about it. They didn't understand, and I
put several things in your list, they did not see in Christ the
answer to that question, how should man be just with God?
Do you know, I grew up in religion and went to seminary, and I didn't
even realize the importance of that question. In fact, I'll
go as far to say, if I ever read that question, it didn't mean
anything to me. And here it is, the question
of all questions. The very heart of the gospel,
how can a sinful person be justified with God? Nobody ever posed that question
to me. It's kind of like what we've
talked about, Randy. You say, well, I just didn't consider that.
Well, that's right. We're walking in darkness. Ignorance. How can a sinner be forgiven
of all his sins by God? And God still be just
to do that? How can I be declared righteous?
And then it said, I put here, they did not see Jesus, the savior
of souls held captive by sin, Satan and the world. They did
not see the one who could put away their sins and work righteousness
and bring them to God by the sacrifice of himself. as the
surety, the substitute, the redeemer of his people. They did not see
their need of him as the only way to God. I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. They didn't see that. They missed that. Well, look
at verse two. He says, why do thy disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders? Why do they transgress
the tradition of, you see what they're concerned with? They're
not concerned with the reality of the law. They're not concerned
with righteousness, forgiveness. They're concerned with this,
why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
Because to them, that was just as important as the law. And
it says, for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. Now,
what are they concerned with? You think they're concerned with
hygiene, They're not concerned with hygiene at all. I've heard
preachers preach it like that. I mean, I'm not gonna eat with
filthy hands, are you? I hope you won't. Do you make
your children wash their hands before they eat? Well, sure you
do. Is that what these Pharisees are taught? No. What this comes
from, and I believe this is the best answer that I've read from
commentators on this, They had, and you know, there were ceremonial
washings under the law of Moses. Like the priest, you remember,
before they went into the, the priest, before he went into the
holiest of all, he had to wash himself. And that was all ceremonial,
symbolic of the cleansing that we have by the blood of Christ.
But this, not washing their hands when they eat bread, it says,
Verse three, but he answered and said, why do you also transgress
the commandment of God by your tradition? Well, what was that
all about? Well, the best answer I've heard
on that subject is this. They had added to the law things
like this. If a Jew touches a Gentile, or
if a Jew gets close to a Gentile, then he has to wash himself clean
from that defilement. And that's what they're talking
about here. I'm convinced of it. They had all kinds of things,
and maybe not just that alone. They had all kinds of things
that you could do. And I know if you go back to
Leviticus and all that, you'll see some things listed there.
But they had added to it. And they had made it a point
of salvation and righteousness. that you have to do this, and
Christ had already taught that salvation is for both Jew and
Gentile. And he taught this, and next
week's lesson he goes into this. It's not what you touch, it's
not what you eat that defiles you, it's what comes out of the
heart. The defilement's in the heart.
And you see in this transitional period how that's being taught
and they didn't like it because you're aiming at our religion.
And so one of their traditions and all of this had nothing to
do with salvation in the minds of true believers, but in their
minds it did. So if you touched a Gentile,
or you touch something a Gentile touched, then you're to wash
your hands, cleanse you from that defilement. They didn't
understand that the defilement of sin is within the heart. Sin's a heart problem. It's not
what you taste and touch and handle. You remember Paul dealt
with that in Colossians, that taste not touch not handle not
religion, that people think makes them pure. makes them holy, makes
them righteous, measuring righteous by what you don't do, that kind
of thing. And you know what Paul said?
He said, that's acting like the world in Colossians. Now, does that mean that we're
to throw caution to the wind and where there's nothing that's
prohibited? No. Are there things that I shouldn't
touch and taste? And I'm sure there are, but that's
not my holiness. That's not my righteousness before
God. That's not even keeping the law.
And so we understand that. So he says, so Christ, what happens
here? He begins to expose their own
hypocrisy here. And their inconsistency in their
self-proclaimed law keeping. And he goes to one of the many
examples of their law breaking. Now there were many examples,
and he used several throughout the New Testament Gospels. But
here's one example, and he just picks one example out. And he
says in verse three, but he answered and said unto them, why do you
also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? In
other words, your tradition is causing you to break the law
that you claim to keep. that you invoke as your righteousness
and you're breaking it. Well, what was it? Verse four,
for God commanded, saying, honor thy father and mother, and he
that curseth father and mother, let him die the death. But you
say, now that's what, you know what the law says, honor your
father and your mother. And especially when they're old,
take care of them. You know, we go through that.
Some of you are going through that now. But look at verse five,
he says, but you say, whosoever shall say to his father or his
mother, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou 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 you all, you may recall over
in Matthew chapter seven, where he dealt with this, and the word
Corbyn is used there, C-O-R-B-I-N. And what that means is it is
a gift. And here's what it was about.
In other words, when their parents, their mother, father, when they
became elderly and it was impending upon them to take care of them
and even spend money on them, They had a tradition that you
could get away with that, do away with that, if you said Corban,
meaning it is a gift offered to God. In other words, I'm gonna
give this to God. Now that may sound weird to you,
but that's the way they did it. In other words, this money, I'm
gonna give it to God. And somehow, one commentator
said, somehow they'd say, I'm gonna give it to God, but they
would keep it. And it's kinda like these preachers,
you know, they say, Send your money to God, but make the check
out to me. That kind of thing. You know, you have that. What it was, it was finagling.
To get away with the solemn duty of taking care of your parents.
You say, well, how could people do that? Well, you'd be amazed
what people do in the name of religion and greed and all of
that. But Christ showed them. You're
breaking the law. You're not keeping the law, you're
breaking it. We can show people that too by their traditions
and all that, but look at what he says. Verse seven, you hypocrites,
well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh
unto me with their mouth. Oh, they speak highly of God
and they talk about their religion and how great it is, how sincere
they are. and they honor me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me. The natural man, the heart of
sin. What does the Bible tell us about
the heart? Natural heart, desperately wicked,
deceitful. Above all things, Jeremiah 17
says, who can know it? You don't even know your own
hearts. And how did he expose this? Look at verse nine. But
in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men. Now that's the key. Teaching
for doctrines, claiming that this is God's word, but it's
the commandments of men. And that, my friend, is vain,
empty, worthless worship. You know, I know people get caught
up in their religious traditions, especially seasonal, you know. And of course, I know that people,
you know, they'll jump on us, you know, if we do anything seasonally,
you know, when Christmas, Easter, all that. And we don't look at
it that way, though. I mean, we don't look at it as
the unbelieving world looks at it and follow it. their traditions. But if you don't know Christ,
here's the point, if you don't know Christ in the glory of his
person and the power of his finished work, it's all worthless. In fact, it's worse than that.
I'm going to deal with that in the main message and especially
next week, too, in the message from Revelation 16. It's worse
than that. It's idolatry. Did you know that? Because my friend, if you don't
know God, the true and living God, what God are you worshiping? And that's where this issue of
repentance comes in. Remember John the Baptist looked
at the scribes and the Pharisees and he said, bring forth fruits,
meat for repentance. You need to repent. Well, what
is he telling them? You need to change God. You need
to change your mind of who God is. You need to go to the scriptures.
and understand and learn who the true and living God is and
how he saves sinners and what he accepts and what he will not
accept. Because any person who approaches
God, whatever God they have in their mind, on any other ground
or basis than the righteousness of God in Christ, his righteousness
imputed, his blood alone, that's an idolater. You understand that? Because the God who they're approaching,
who accepts what they have to offer, is not the God of the
Bible. This is how serious this is.
And of course, when Christ brought that out to the Pharisees, they
hated him. But he exposed them for what they were, the hypocrites.
You remember he said, indeed you appear righteous outwardly,
but inwardly you're full of, you're like an open grave. Only
the Lord can set our minds and our hearts straight to the true
and living God. Okay.