In this message Pastor Ricky teaches from Mark 7:1-13. We are to love and worship God from our hearts and not merely by outward actions for that can lead to hypocrisy. That is what we explore in this sermon.
Sermon Notes
THE GOSPEL OF MARK
Mark 7:1-13//Lip Service
“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” -Matthew 7:5 (ESV)
“Do not pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.” (Message Translation)
Corban = an offering or gift dedicated to God.
Mark 7:1-13
“Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“’This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God) then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
“Honor your father and mother”, -Exodus 20:12
God judges the condition of our heart. It’s not keeping religious traditions that makes us right with God it’s our heart.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”. -Deuteronomy 6:5
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” -Matthew 22:37-38a
Real love leads to Real Worship.
“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” -1 Sam. 16:7
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So, you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” -Matthew 23:27-28
RELIGIOUS ZEAL LEADS TO MISPLACED WORSHIP
True worship and purity is a matter of inward love and right attitude not just outward actions.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” -Matthew 5:43-44
“It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a solider to fight on a battlefield.” -William B Yates
OUR DEVOTION DICTATES OUR WORSHIP
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
We are to love and worship God from our hearts and not merely by outward actions for that can lead to hypocrisy.
