When Rite Is Wrong

Mark 7:1-23

Larry Cline - Hardin Valley Church Of Christ - 2/15/2015

Masquerade MASQUERADE

Mark 7

…“why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6and he said to them, “rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. 7But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts

of men.’ 8Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”…

… 13invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that. 14After He called the crowd to Him again, He [began] saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes

into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16[“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”] 17When he had left

the crowd [and] entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable”…

…19because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” ([Thus

He] declared all foods clean.) 20And He was saying, that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts,

fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22deeds of coveting [and] wickedness, [as well] [as]

deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride [and] foolishness. 23All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

…

Two divergent views of sin and holiness (cleanliness)

1. The Jew’s View

They said that eating with clean hands and eating clean foods from clean pots is not just good manners or personal hygiene, it is in fact our way of displaying our distinctiveness as the people of God.

Mark 7:18-19a

18And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,19because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach”…

10 YEARS LATER Acts 10:13-14

13A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”

2. Jesus’ View Only people can be defiled and

what defiles a person are the thoughts and actions that originate in his heart.

He says sin and uncleanness are not related to what goes into the stomach but what

comes out of the heart.

The real question is how is your heart toward God,

and toward your neighbor?

The real message of this story…two implications:

1. Godliness is necessary for true cleanliness.

• External cleanliness is absolutely irrelevant if the heart is polluted!

We need to remember that the one who made the outside

made the inside too…

You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make

the inside also? (Luke 11:40)

“The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

I Samuel 16:7

2. Rebirth is necessary for true godliness.

If the real issue is the state of our hearts then we are all in trouble.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick;

who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

GET YOUR HEART RIGHT!

How about a transplant… a new heart.

Nicodemus – “You must be born again.”

No insightful, sincere, religious person should be surprised when

a preacher says mere external religion is not enough.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;

and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give

you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

What happens when you’re born again?

Two wonderful things:

1. Your sins are forgiven.

You are actually cleansed.

2. You get a new life!

What is the difference in the old life and the new one?

The Holy Spirit indwells the new one and a new list of things come out of the heart… love, joy, peace,…

(Galatians 5:22-23)

In short purity, holiness, cleanliness… a life that is pleasing to God.

The new birth is a profound inward change, the gift of a new heart.

Rite is wrong…

1. When it displaces the scripture.

2. When it disgraces the needy.

3. When it dismisses the heart.