Mark 7:1-13

Amen. Please take out your copy of God's Word. Turn to the Gospel according to Mark chapter 7.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

Amen. It's good to be here with you today, and I'm glad that you're here with us. If you are a guest with us today, we have been preaching, working together through, verse by verse, through the Gospel according to Mark, looking at the life of Christ together.

And we've come now to chapter 7, and I'm going to read to us the first 13 verses.

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 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.

This is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.

We will all do well to listen to it and obey it.

Join me in prayer.

Father, we do praise you this morning for the person and work of Jesus Christ.

We thank you that you are drawing us together even now to hear from your word,

and we praise you for it.

I pray, Father, that it will be powerful this morning in our lives,

in my preaching of it and in the hearing of it and in the application of it throughout this next week.

This is a gift from you.

We cannot accomplish this on our own.

No perfectly put together speech.

No convincing nature of my argument.

Not the best note-taker, best listener in this room can possibly understand and apply your word

unless you work in us to accomplish that by your spirit.

And so we pray that that would be the case this morning,

that none of us would leave here unchanged.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So we have another one of these confrontations on the religious of Jerusalem with Jesus.

Now he's coming to a close of his Galilean ministry.

It's beginning to wind down.

He's just fed the 5,000.

It's the last of the largest groups.

We'll see him feed later 4,000 as the reverb is being worked out of the system right now.

But this is winding down.

When he's going to move from the region of Galilee,

he's going to go to Tyre and Sidon, some other places.

He's primarily going to be focused, through the rest of the Gospel account of Mark,

on teaching the disciples.

And he'll encounter the world, the lost along the way.

And he'll be teaching the disciples things as that happens.

And we kind of see this heightened level of confrontation

as the religious of the day are getting more and more nervous about the things that Jesus is teaching.

And they confront him here.

As he is allowing his disciples to eat with unwashed hands.

And we'll explain that in a bit more degree in just a moment here.

But I want you to focus your attention in on the very beginning of verse 7.

This is the axiom statement.

This is the thing we really need to draw our attention to and really notice.

Everything else in this text builds around this.

This little phrase,

In vain do they worship me.

In vain do they worship me.

It is possible to worship the right God wrongly.

And this is a frightful reality.

That you could worship the God of Moses,

the God of Abraham,

the God of Jesus,

and do it wrongly,

and find yourself outside the faith,

is a frightful reality.

You see,

they thought that they were worshiping God rightly.

In fact,

their lives were devoted to this.

These Pharisees and the scribes.

The scribes would have been the academic elite.

They would have come down from Jerusalem.

You see,

they were probably called as some elites down.

Help us come and confront this Jesus

because he is confounding our accusations at every turn

and we need your expertise

to come down from Jerusalem,

the center of religious learning.

These people devoted themselves

to what they thought was the right worship of God

in their legalism.

And we see that

Mark's parenthetical statement

that it was not just the Pharisees and the scribes,

but that it was all of Israel

at the beginning of verse 3.

The Pharisees and the scribes

and all of Israel

worshipped in this way.

This small group of Judaism,

the Pharisees numbered about 700 in these days,

had so convinced the nation

that they must follow the traditions of the elders

rather than submit themselves

to the Word of God.

Today we see this happening

with either legalism or liberalism,

right?

With good intention,

but that there's a strain

from the teaching of the Word

and a living that is supposed

will bring us into righteousness

by the outworking,

the showing of what we do

rather than the change that happens

in our hearts.

Matthew 23,

Matthew 23:13–15

verse 13-15,

Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees.

He says,

But woe to you,

scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites,

for you shut the kingdom of heaven

in people's faces,

for you neither enter yourselves

nor allow those who would enter

to go in.

Woe to you,

scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites,

for you travel across sea and land

to make a single proselytite.

And when he becomes a proselytite,

you make him twice as much

a child of hell

as yourselves.

You see the good intention here.

They would do all this traveling

to just bring one convert

into Judaism.

All of this work

to see this accomplished.

And yet,

what they're accomplishing

is the opposite

of what they hoped to do.

Well-intentioned,

but wrong.

To quote the great Wes Shelnut,

the song he once wrote,

which he thinks he picked this up

from someplace else,

they were providing

air conditioning

on a train ride to hell.

Air conditioning

on a train ride to hell.

And the issue at hand here,

really,

concerning the worship of God,

is an issue of heart.

God desires heart worship.

Deuteronomy 6, 4 and 5.

God says,

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your might.

And we're speaking here

of the heart

as the center of who we are,

our very being.

Don't misunderstand this

as the beating vessel

that pumps blood to our organs.

This is the center

of who we are.

Religion kills.

Outward trappings,

outward appearance

of righteousness

kills.

Its end is destruction

and death.

But heart worship

gives life.

This is how we find

these Pharisees

and these scribes

coming and bringing

this accusation.

Mark chapter 12,

Mark 12:28–34

verse 28 to 34.

You'd do well to turn there

if you'd like to join me.

Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Here we see

an exception to the dorm.

A scribe who seems

to understand

what Jesus was teaching.

Beginning in verse 28,

and one of the scribes

came up

and heard them

disputing with one another

and seeing that he

answered them well,

asked,

which commandment

is the most important

of all?

Jesus here answers

quotes from Deuteronomy 6,

4 and 5.

The important is,

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

And you shall love

the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind,

and with all your strength.

The second is this,

that you shall love

your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other

commandment greater

than these.

And the scribe said to him,

You are right, teacher.

You have truly said

that he is one

and there is no other

besides him.

And to love him

with all the heart

and with all the understanding

and with all the strength

and to love one's neighbor

as oneself

is much more

than all whole burnt offerings

!

And sacrifices.

And when Jesus saw

that he answered wisely,

he said to him,

You are not far

from the kingdom

of God.

It's an issue of

heart,

right?

We must

be changed

by God,

that we will submit

to his ways.

The things that we do

on the exterior

are the evidences

of a changed heart.

But those evidences

do not change

who we are.

This was not a new issue

just in Jesus' time.

In the past,

this was a problem as well.

It seems to be

kind of knit into

our sinful character

that we would want

to trade the commandments

of God

for the traditions of men.

In the days of Isaiah,

this was true.

Turn to Isaiah 1,

Isaiah 1:11

verse 11.

Get ready to Bible drill

this morning,

or at least jot down

these references.

Isaiah 1,

beginning in verse 11.

What to me is the multitude

of your sacrifices,

your religion,

says the Lord?

I have had enough

of burnt offerings,

of rams,

and the fat

of well-fed beasts.

I do not delight

in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs,

or of goats.

When you come to appear

before me,

who has required of you

this trampling

of my courts?

Now get,

these were prescribed things.

God had asked them

to do these things.

But he says to them,

who has required of you

this trampling

of my courts?

Bring no more

vain offerings.

Verse 13.

Incense is an abomination

to me.

New moon and Sabbath

and the calling

of convocations.

I cannot endure

iniquity and solemn assembly.

The two can't walk

hand in hand.

Your new moons

and your appointed feasts

my soul hates.

They have become

a burden to me.

I am weary

of bearing them.

When you spread out

your hands,

I will hide my eyes

from you.

Even though you make

many prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full

of blood.

Now here's the answer.

Here's the right way

to worship God.

Wash yourselves.

Make yourselves clean.

We do this by the blood

of Christ.

Remove the evil

of your deeds

from before my eyes.

Cease to do evil.

Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Correct oppression.

Bring justice

to the fatherless.

Plead the widow's cause.

These are the evidences

of changed hearts.

Come now.

Let us reason together,

says the Lord.

Though your sins

are like scarlet,

they shall be

as white as snow.

Though they are red

like crimson,

they shall become

like wool.

If you are willing

and obedient,

you shall eat

the good of the land.

But if you refuse

and rebel,

you shall be eaten

by the sword,

for the mouth

of the Lord

has spoken.

This was not a new issue

in Jesus' time.

This was a problem

in the days of Isaiah

as well.

It's also a problem

in the days of Malachi

after Israel's return

from exile.

Malachi chapter 2.

Malachi 2 · chapter mention

This is the prophet

right before Matthew

if you don't know

where that's at.

Just before Matthew,

Malachi chapter 2.

Malachi 2 · chapter mention

After God is commended

by the prophet Malachi

the service of Levi,

the first in the

priestly order,

in verse 8 he says

to the priests of that day,

but you have turned aside

from the way.

You have caused many

to stumble

by your instruction.

You have corrupted

the covenant of Levi,

says the Lord of hosts,

and so I make you

despised and abased

before all the people

inasmuch as you do not

keep my ways,

but show partiality

in your instruction.

So it's happening

after the return

from exile.

After Israel had been

taught a great lesson

at the hands

of their enemies,

and they returned,

they'd been restored

by God,

it was still an issue.

It was an issue

in the days of Peter

and Paul,

after Jesus' death

and his resurrection.

Turn to 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6.

1 Timothy 6.

1 Timothy 6.

1 Timothy 6.

Verses 3 through 5.

If anyone teaches

a different doctrine

and does not agree

with the sound words

of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the teaching

that accords with godliness,

he is puffed up

with conceit

and understands nothing.

He has an unhealthy craving

for controversy

and for quarrels

about words

which produce envy,

dissensions,

slander,

evil suspicions,

and constant friction

among people

who are depraved in mind

and deprived of the truth,

imagining that godliness

is a means of gain.

So men in this day

were already preaching

what we would call

the prosperity gospel.

And the warning to Timothy

is to shut them up.

This is not truth.

Quiet them.

Peter experienced it too.

2 Peter 2.

Verses 1-3.

But false prophets

also arose among the people.

Just as there will be

false teachers among you

who will secretly bring in

destructive heresies,

even denying the master

who bought them,

bringing upon themselves

swift destruction.

And many will follow.

Many will follow

their sensuality.

And because of them

the way of truth

will be blasphemed.

And in their greed

they will exploit you

with false words.

Their condemnation

from long ago

is not idle.

And their destruction

is not asleep.

It was happening there

in this case as well.

And was predicted

that it would happen

both by Peter

in the text we just read

as well as by Paul

in 2 Timothy 4.

Verses 3-4.

Paul stated

this would be the case.

For the time is coming

when people

will not endure

sound teaching

but having itching ears

they will accumulate

for themselves

teachers to suit

their own passions

and will turn away

from listening to the truth

and wander off

into myths.

This is a problem

in our day.

People who have

wandered from

the truth of God.

People who have

wandered away

into myths.

People who have

built religion

which kills

which damns people

rather than

bringing them

to Christ

and having their hearts

be changed.

Now

let's take a look

at our text

and let's see

three ways

that the Pharisees

and all the Jews

worshipped God

in vain.

But don't miss

that this has

application for our day.

Don't put this

off and distant

for the Pharisees

and all the Jews.

This was a problem

for them.

The reason I just read

to you all those texts

was to show you

that this is a sweeping

problem.

It existed

way back then

and it certainly

exists now.

So three ways

that the Pharisees

and all the Jews

worshipped God

in vain.

In vain

do they

worship me.

Number one

by being

hypocritical.

The first part

of verse 6

and he said to them

well did Isaiah

prophesy of you

hypocrites

as it is written.

He constantly

was railing

against them

this accusation

that they were

hypocrites

that they said

one thing

and they did

quite the opposite

that they set

a standard up

for the people

of Israel

to live to

that they themselves

could not keep

and they did this

by mounding laws

that were called

hedge laws

on top of

the law of God.

In order to

prevent people

from breaking

the law of God

they added all

these nuances

all these extra

things

they stacked

them up

they piled it

around

so that no one

could possibly

keep all of them

and they missed

the very point

of the law of God.

The very point

of it being

that we are meant

to live righteous

before him

and we can't

so we need

a savior.

Every road

in the scriptures

leads to

Golgotha.

The law

was meant

to show us

our need

of Christ

but they

became legalists

they began

to add on

extra things

all around

do we not

know people

like that

this day?

Matthew chapter 23

Matthew 23:25–28

verse 25

through 28

Woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees

hypocrites

for you clean

the outside

of the cup

and the plate

but inside

they are full

of greed

and self-indulgence

you blind

Pharisee

first clean

the inside

of the cup

and the plate

that the outside

also may be

clean

clean your heart

so that your actions

will be clean

is what he's saying

to them

verse 27

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 uncleanliness

so you also

outwardly appear

righteous to others

but within

you are full

of hypocrisy

and lawlessness

their hearts

were not changed

they did a lot

of things

that seemed

righteous

on the outside

but they were not

because they were

done for their glory

and not for the glory

of the Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ

John 14

15

Jesus says

if you love me

you will keep

my commandments

so get it right

that if our hearts

are changed

if we have been

compelled by God

to believe in Christ

and our desires

are now being shaped

into his desires

and we love Jesus

for the reality

of the gospel

all these songs

we sing together

that are so gospel

centric

are also Christo

centric

that we might praise

the one who redeemed us

if we love him

we'll keep his commandments

we'll do the things

he told us to do

the commandment keeping

is a result

of the love

of the changed heart

not the other way

around

now at this point

Jesus' statement here

is so scathing

because none of us

can say

that we keep

Jesus' commandments

as perfectly

can we?

I certainly cannot

right?

is that not great evidence

that I don't love him

at all?

1 John chapter 1

1 John 1 · chapter mention

gives us some

better understanding

I think

of this

bring some comfort

to your Christian souls

1 John chapter 1

1 John 1 · chapter mention

beginning of verse 5

this is the message

we have heard from him

and proclaim to you

that God is light

and in him

is no darkness

at all

he is perfect

he is righteous

he is holy

if we say we have

fellowship with him

while we walk

in darkness

we lie

and do not practice

the truth

but if we walk

in the light

as he is in the light

we have fellowship

with one another

and the blood

of Jesus his son

cleanses us

from all sin

now get

he's talking about

habitual practice here

right?

John's talking about

a person who walks

in darkness

it is the characteristic

of their life

they walk in darkness

versus the 1 in verse 7

the characteristic

of their life

is that they walk

in the light

notice the summation

of verse 7

the blood of Jesus

his son

cleanses us

from all sin

verse 8

if we say we have

no sin

you find the Pharisees

would find themselves

this way

the legalists of our day

would find themselves

in this position

if we say we have

no sin

we deceive ourselves

and the truth

is not in us

we don't have

a clear picture

of who we are

we don't know

that we need

a savior

verse 9

if we confess our sins

praise God

he is faithful

and just

to forgive us

our sins

and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness

if we say we have

not sinned

we make him a liar

and his word

is not in us

in some ways

we're all hypocrites

aren't we?

we say one thing

and practice another

it's very often

that we don't

practice what we preach

but the regenerate heart

the one that is

close to God

the person who is pursuing

God knows this

full well

and is humbled by it

throws themselves

on his grace

and mercy

knows that we have

a high standard

that we've been called to

that we cannot keep

apart from his work

in our life

it is true that God

uses crooked sticks

to draw straight lines

the religious elite

of this day

were self-proclaimed

straight sticks

drawing lines

that they supposed

were straight

but they were horribly

mistaken

they thought they were

doing this on their own

under their own

power

yes those of you

who like propaganda

that's where that came from

in vain do they worship me

by being hypocritical

in vain do they worship me

number two

by having their hearts

distant from God

the second part of verse six

this people

honors me with their lips

but their heart

is far

from me

turn to the book of Hosea

chapter six

I hope by the time

you young people

leave Christ family church

you love the Old Testament

and I hope that none of you

only carry a New Testament

with you

to church

that's only a part

of the scriptures

Hosea chapter six

verses one

through six

now there's just been

this accusation made

to the people of Israel

by the prophet Hosea

if you read there

at the end of chapter five

and this is the response

to it

okay now

I want you to

I want you to know

that it's going to sound

really good for the first

three verses

I'm going to tell you

why it's not

verse one

come let us return

to the Lord

for he has torn us

that he may heal us

he has struck us down

and he will bind us up

after two days

he will revive us

on the third day

he will raise us up

that we may live

before him

let us know

let us press on

to know the Lord

his going out

is sure as the dawn

he will come to us

as the showers

as the spring rains

that water

the earth

this is not

true repentance

and God's going to give us

a clue to that

here in a moment

through the

through the prophet Hosea

right

but what they are doing

is expecting something

of God

without first repenting

of their sin

right

they are just saying

yeah

time and time again

God has restored

his people

time and time again

we mess up

God came back

this is a

let's sin so that grace

may abound

type of attitude

which Paul said

of may it never be

emphatically

we cannot go on

living our lives

that way

if we are thankful

for what God

has done for us

we will live

righteously

as a response

to it

right

look at his response

here

verse 4

this is God

speaking to

the people of Israel

because of their response

Hosea chapter 6

Hosea 6:4

verse 4

what should I do

with you

oh Ephraim

what should I do

with you

oh Judah

your love

is like a morning cloud

like the dew

that goes early away

therefore I have

hewn them

by the prophets

I have slain them

by the words

of my mouth

and my judgment

goes forth

as the light

for I desire

steadfast love

and not sacrifice

the knowledge

of God

rather than burnt

offerings

see that steadfast love

that he requires

our hearts

being close

to God

a desire to commune

with him

and meet with him

and live appropriately

in response

to that

Psalm of David

Psalm 28

Psalms 28:7

verse 7

David writes

the Lord is my strength

and my shield

in him

my heart

trusts

and I am helped

my heart exults

and with my song

I give thanks

to him

if our hearts

are thankful

if our hearts

are near to God

our lives

will reflect that

our lives

will be the song

in which we give thanks

to our God

in Hebrews chapter 10

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

first part of verse 22

says

in light of the gospel truth

that the writer of Hebrews

has presented so far

he says

let us draw near

with a true heart

in full assurance

of faith

it's a matter of heart

and these people

these scribes

and these Pharisees

had hearts

that were distant

from God

thirdly

in vain do they worship

me

one by being hypocritical

two by having their hearts

distant from God

three by placing

the tradition of men

above

the commandment

of God

and you see that

in this quote

from Isaiah 29

13

the last half

of verse 7

teaching as doctrines

truths

doctrine not words

simply means truths

the commandments

of men

now they had done

all types of things

as I mentioned previously

and here we actually see

in the rest of our text

we see

Mark's commentary

on that

in the parenthetical

from verse 3

and verse 4

right

they weren't talking

about them eating

with dirty hands

it wasn't that they had

soiled hands

and they just couldn't believe

that they would possibly

do that

because there was

Old Testament commandment

to clean your hands

right

for the sake of staying healthy

and we all know that

they knew it in this day

as well

right

you don't go do something

real nasty

and then go eat

with your hands

right

not a good idea

I hope you all know that

right

not a good idea

this is not what

they're talking about

the disciples weren't

sitting around with

with gross hands

in that way

but they were speaking

of this further tradition

that they had stacked on

just look at his

explanation

and I like to read it

with a bit of

sarcasm

for the Pharisees

and all the Jews

did not eat

unless they washed

their hands

holding the tradition

of the elders

and when they come

from the marketplace

they don't 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

it's like he's marked

going and on and on

and on and on

and on

all these other things

that they do

that's his commentary

there

and then Jesus shows

them another example

another way in which

that they've done this

and remember that he

sums up at the end

of verse 13

and many such

things

you do

this is not the

only two cases

in which they did

this

they did this

in many

many ways

and his summation

is

you leave the command

of God

hold the traditions

of men

and he said to them

you have a fine way

of rejecting the command

of God

in order to establish

your tradition

for Moses said

honor your father

or mother

and whoever reviles

father or mother

must surely die

so Moses gave

by God

a commandment

to honor

your father

and mother

and that if you're

sinful and you don't

the end of that

is death

but you say

these religious elite

you say

if a man tells

his father or mother

whatever you have

gained from me

is Corban

that is

we get the

again Mark's

little commentary

that is

given to God

this was a

common practice

this term

was similar

to a term

that referred

to the

temple treasury

and so it

became a

kind of oath

you could take

monies that you

had

and you could

set it aside

for the expressed

intent of giving

it to the temple

service

whether in your

life or when you

died it would be

set aside

for that purpose

so what this

person would be

doing

saying to his

father or mother

rather than caring

for them

in their older age

when they were no

longer able to

produce for themselves

they didn't have

401ks or any

other types of

retirement investing

in this day

they relied on

the younger

people to take

care of them

so they said

to them

whatever you

would gain

from me

is Corban

I'm not going

to give it

to you

I'm going

to give it

to the temple

service

instead

then you

no longer

verse 12

permit him

do anything

for his

father or

mother

thus making

void the

word of

God

by a tradition

that you've

handed down

and many

such things

you do

so the

explanation

this is the

accusation

that Jesus

makes back

in response

that they

had taken

these teachings

of men

and placed

them above

the word

of God

beloved this

happens so

so much

in our

day

I have

as I

come to

preach the

word of

God

I don't

think I'm

the best

preacher of

the word

of God

there are

many men

more talented

than I am

more full

of the spirit

quite often

than I am

but I gotta tell

you I come to

this thing

fearfully

I do not

want to

say something

that would

cause you

to follow

me and

not follow

our risen

and reigning

Lord

the word

of God

points you

to him

you ever

wonder why

all my

sermons

are so

text heavy

it's because

I just

don't know

what to

say

I just

don't feel

like I

have anything

really good

to say

to you

at all

but the

word

of God

speaks

to our

hearts

and our

lives

this is

why

because I

see this

rampant

in our

culture

I see

pastor

worship

see guys

saying

look like

me

right

that's

that's

hypocrisy

that's

legalism

look like

me

I'm

ahead

of you

watch me

watch what

I do

this is

the way

I treat

my wife

this is

the way

I eat

food

this is

what I

exercise

this is

all the

things

we get

all the

steps

and all

the

processes

for being

more like

the pastor

I don't

want you

to be

like me

I'm a

sinner

I screw

up all

the time

I want

you to

be like

Christ

I don't

want to

help

point

you

to

that

very

thing

this is

why

I mean

literally

I tremble

before I

preach

sometimes

I'm a

type 1

diabetic

I think

I'm low

many of

you have

caught me

drinking grape

juice

in the

back

the juice

we use

for the

Lord's

supper

because I

think

I'm low

and more

often than

not

I'm just

nervous

because it

has such

weight

there's so

much

value

for your

living

in it

I don't

want you

to hear

me

if it

were

possible

for me

to

disappear

from the

stage

and you

guys

just

hear

the

word

of

God

I

would

do

it

I

would

absolutely

do

it

what

the

Bible

is brutal

absolutely

brutal

the book

of Jude

verses 12

and 13

speaking of

false

teachers

says

these are

hidden

reefs

at your

love

feast

as they

feast

with you

without

fear

shepherds

feeding

themselves

waterless

clouds

swept

along

by

winds

fruitless

trees

in late

autumn

twice

dead

uprooted

wild

waves

of the

sea

casting

up the

foam

of their

own

shame

wandering

stars

it's like

he can't

get enough

adjective

to explain

these type

of men

for whom

the gloom

of utter

darkness

has been

reserved

forever

Charles

Spurgeon

said of

this text

if I

must be

lost

let it

be

anyhow

rather

than

as

an apostate

an apostate

is one

who falls

away

from the

truth

who's

walked

away

from the

truth

it's

one

who

teaches

the

traditions

of

men

over

the

commands

of

God

if

there

be

any

distinction

among

the

damned

those

have

it

who

are

wandering

stars

trees

plucked

up

by

the

roots

twice

dead

for whom

Jude

tells

us

is

reserved

the

blackness

of

darkness

forever

reserved

as if

nobody

else

were

qualified

to

occupy

that

place

but

themselves

they

are

to

inhabit

the

darkest

hottest

place

because

they

forsook

the

Lord

in

vain

do

they

worship

me

by

being

hypocritical

by

having

their

hearts

distant

from

God

by

placing

the

tradition

of

men

above

the

commandments

of

God

and so

what

does

this

mean

for

us

today

because

it

does

the

word

of

God

was

written

then

but

it

was

written

for

us

firstly

be

sure

that

you

were

not

apostate

be

sure

that

you're

not

found

outside

the

faith

we

live

in a

Christian

culture

to

be

sure

and

many

of

you

may

come

to

church

thinking

that

that's

what

gains

you

acceptance

to

heaven

thinking

that

if

you

can

just

stack

more

good

things

up

than

bad

things

up

that

God

will

put

that

on

a

scale

and

accept

you

into

heaven

you

must

know

that

apart

from

Christ

you

are

utterly

sinful

everything

you

do

even

the

things

you

may

see

as

good

attending

church

is

evil

apart

from

Christ

it

is

from

Christ

that

we

are

able

to

have

faith

and

anything

not

of

faith

is

sin

you

must

understand

this

you

must

stand

before

God

one

day

and

claim

only

the

excellencies

of

Christ

for

your

admission

!

into

his

kingdom

that's

all

we've

got

that

is

all

we've

got

be

sure

that

you

are

not

apostate

that

you

don't

simply

go

through

motions

thinking

that

it

gains

you

godliness

secondly

correct

the

one

who

is

apostate

correct

the

one

who

is

apostate

we

need

to

learn

something

from

our

Lord

here

and

the