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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, as we continue 
to work our way through the first gospel. This morning, our focus 
will be on verses 1 to 9. But I do want to read chapter 
15, verses 1 to 20, as that is one unit. There are three subsections 
in verses 1 to 20. As I mentioned, we'll take up 
the first this morning. beginning in 15-1, then the scribes 
and Pharisees, who were from Jerusalem, came to Jesus saying, 
Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? 
For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. He answered 
and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment 
of God because of your tradition? For God commanded saying, Honor 
your father and your mother. and he who curses father or mother, 
let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to 
his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received 
from me is a gift to God, then he need not honor his father 
or mother. Thus, you have made the commandment 
of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy 
about you saying, these people draw near to me with their mouth 
and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments 
of men. When he had called the multitude 
to himself, he said to them, hear and understand, not what 
goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, 
this defiles a man. Then his disciples came and said 
to him, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when 
they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every 
plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 
Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the 
blind. And if the blind leads the blind, 
both will fall into a ditch. Then Peter answered and said 
to him, Explain this parable to us. So Jesus said, Are you 
also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that 
whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed 
out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed 
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, 
blasphemies. These are the things which defile 
a man. But to eat with unwashed hands 
does not defile a man." Well, let us pray. Our God and our 
Father, we thank You for the Holy Scriptures and we pray now 
for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that He would illumine 
our minds and our hearts and cause us to receive with thanksgiving 
and with gladness Your Word. We ask that You would forgive 
us for all of our sins and transgressions. As we come here this morning, 
as we sing these Psalms and hymns to You, we consider your majesty 
and your holiness and your glory, we see ourselves in relation 
to you. We see that our conduct has not 
been worthy of the gospel, that we have transgressed your holy 
law, and we confess those sins even now and pray for forgiveness 
in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that the 
psalmist said, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, 
who could stand? But there is forgiveness with 
you that you may be feared. And even now, God, put the fear 
of the Lord in our hearts and in our minds, and as well flood 
us with joy and with thanksgiving. And for any and all who have 
come here this morning outside of Christ, we pray that today 
would be the day of salvation. We know that You are sovereign, 
that You are all-powerful, that You are able to make men willing 
in the day of Your power. So we ask that through Your Word 
and by the power of Your Holy Spirit, You would save to the 
uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
And it's in His most blessed name that we pray. Amen. Well, 
as I said, chapter 15, verses 1 to 20 is one particular unit, 
but it breaks down into three subsections. First, in verses 
1 to 9, we have the dispute with the religious leaders, or confrontation, 
concerning authority, the issue that Jesus takes up with the 
scribes and the Pharisees is not eating with unwashed hands. Rather it is the fundamental 
issue concerning authority. They are operating according 
to the traditions of the elders rather than according to the 
commandment of God. Then Jesus addresses the multitude 
in verses 10 and 11 concerning defilement. And then he gives 
instruction to his disciples in verses 12 to 20, and we see 
links from the first section into the third section, and it 
is, as I said, one unit, but to divide it up, I think, will 
be helpful for us to understand and gain what Christ would have 
for his church in this particular period. So we'll look at verses 
1 to 9 this morning with three considerations. First, the complaint 
of the scribes and the Pharisees in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, 
the counter-attack by our Lord Jesus in verses 3 to 6. You'll notice they ask Him a 
question. He doesn't answer the question, 
but rather He goes on the offensive, and then He asks them a question. 
We've got the complaint, the counter-attack, and then thirdly, 
the condemnation of the scribes and the Pharisees in verses 7 
to 9. So let's look first of all at 
the complaint, verses 1 and 2. Then the scribes and the Pharisees, 
or the Pharisees and the scribes, who were from Jerusalem came 
to Jesus saying. So this as well links to what 
has preceded. Remember that Jesus has been 
out among the multitudes and this bothered or could potentially 
bother religious leaders. They as a rule didn't go out 
among the multitudes lest they would become ceremonially defiled. And as well it links to the rest 
of chapter 15 because I think we're going to start seeing the 
extension of God's kingdom. After this teaching with reference 
to defilement, Jesus then heals this Canaanite woman's daughter, 
and then he feeds the multitudes, and the commentator suggests 
that in that feeding it is primarily a Gentile audience. And then 
we see confrontation building with the religious leaders in 
Jerusalem, and of course it will be Jerusalem where Jesus ultimately 
is crucified. So the scribes and the Pharisees 
who are from Jerusalem They go north, they go into Galilee, 
where Jesus is presently located, and they come to check him out, 
essentially. It was probably either a formal 
or a semi-formal delegation, man tasked with surveying this 
particular rabbi. Remember that his fame was going 
out. The people in the north, in Galilee, had come in great 
multitudes to be healed by Him. Certainly that word would make 
its way back down to Jerusalem. And so headquarters, if you will, 
dispatches this delegation to check out the Lord Jesus Christ 
and to determine if He is a law keeper and to determine whether 
He is in fact faithful to the Word of the Living God. And, 
as we notice in their complaint, to the tradition of the elders. 
Now note that, their accusation level. In verse 2, why do your 
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not 
wash their hands when they eat bread. This is the issue for 
these particular men. Note first that they address 
his disciples. They do this in chapter 9 and 
they do this as well in chapter 12. The implication is clear. If the disciples are out of line, 
then the master gets blamed for it. Just like you parents, when 
your kid in a restaurant jumps up and down, and he swings off 
of the light fixtures, and he throws his food against the wall, 
the people at that establishment probably look pretty rough at 
you. You are the responsible agent 
for the misdeeds or misconduct of your children. And that's 
a good way to look. If your kids do that in a regular 
way, you need to deal with that. You need to discipline that. 
It's an aside. They come and they ask, why do 
your disciples eat with unwashed hands? What's their problem? What's your problem? Why do you 
let your disciples do this? Notice as well the absolute lack 
of courtesy, decency, and respect. There's no, how are you today, 
good teacher? There is nothing of an affirmation 
that we've heard a lot about you. So we've come to investigate 
and just see and make sure that you are doing those things which 
are requisite by the law. No, they get right to it. This 
is typical of the Pharisaic spirit. There's no first saying, we appreciate 
you, we love you, we esteem you, and what we're about to tell 
you is for your good and for your benefit. You see, the Pharisaic 
spirit really doesn't care about the good and the benefit of others. 
The Pharisaic spirit cares about the Pharisee. That's it. And 
then notice as well. The specific accusation is why 
do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? 
Because this is a passage that has such applicability to our 
modern setting, we're going to spend some time with verse 2. 
Some sermons that pastors preach, they realize that this is a particular 
sin or a particular temptation or a particular issue that not 
everybody in the congregation struggles with. In other words, 
if there was a passage that dealt with unjust scales, not everybody 
that is in a local church is in a position of responsibility 
over scales. Now, there are certainly some 
other implications that we can make from that. You preach against 
sexual sin. That's one of those ones that's 
pretty prevalent. You preach against pride, that's 
one that's pretty prevalent. You preach against Phariseeism, 
that is very prevalent. I'm sure right now you could 
name five to ten Pharisees that you've dealt with in your life. 
My purpose is not to condemn those five or ten Pharisees, 
but to simply ask you to look inside with me for just a moment. Note what these men say to Jesus. Why do your disciples transgress 
the tradition of the elders? Now, tradition is used in the 
New Testament. And it is used negatively, but 
it's also used positively. So again, we're going to survey 
some of these passages. You can turn to Galatians chapter 
1, just to see a few negative uses of this idea of tradition. Galatians 1.14, the Apostle Paul 
says, and I advanced in Judaism because many, or beyond many 
of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly 
zealous for the traditions of my fathers." That is the Jewish 
fathers. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 
8, probably not necessarily Jewish traditions, could have been pagan 
traditions here, but in 2.8 of Colossians, beware, lest anyone 
cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to 
the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the 
world, and not according to Christ. And then again in 1st Peter chapter 
1 and verse 18. 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse 
18, knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible things 
like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition 
from your father. So I think you would all agree, 
and especially when we look at Matthew 15 too, there is a bad 
sense by which we can assume the traditions of men. But that's 
not always the case. A tradition can be a good tradition 
if it is founded squarely and firmly upon the Word of God. Paul uses it this way. 1 Corinthians 
chapter 11 and verse 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and 
verse 2. He says, Now I praise you, brethren, 
that you remember me in all things and Keep the traditions just 
as I delivered them to you. And when we get to chapter 11 
at verse 23, though he doesn't use the word tradition, it certainly 
seems that that's the idea. For I receive from the Lord that 
which I also delivered to you. that the Lord Jesus, on the same 
night in which He was betrayed, took bread. So He receives this 
tradition concerning the Lord's Supper, and that's what He communicates 
to the Corinthians to combat their false understanding. And 
then notice over in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 
2. Again, just wanting to establish 
the fact that tradition in and of itself isn't necessarily an 
evil thing. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 
15. Therefore brethren, stand fast 
and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word 
or our epistle." And then in 2 Thessalonians 3, 6, "...but 
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly 
and not according to the tradition which he received from us." You 
see, there's a negative sense and there's a positive sense. 
And as confessional Christians, we need to understand that. We 
hold to a document, not that it's authoritative or infallible, 
but a document that we believe summarizes accurately the doctrines 
of the scripture. So tradition isn't bad. But this tradition is not biblical 
in 15.2. They say, why do your disciples 
transgress the tradition of the elders. This was oral commentary 
on the Old Testament law that had developed over the years. 
And the Pharisees and the scribes put it on par with the scripture 
itself. That body of oral commentary 
came to be written down and codified in what is called the Mishnah. 
In the years A.D. 90 to about A.D. 200, the Mishnah was collected. And again, what that is, is commentary 
on the Old Testament Scripture. Now, anybody who's ever worked 
with commentary realizes that sometimes it's right and sometimes 
it's wrong. You take an Arminian on Romans 
chapter 9 verse 16, he's probably going to be wrong. It's just 
the way it is. Commentary in and of itself is 
not authoritative Word of God. It is the tradition of elders 
that these men have brought before the Lord Jesus Christ in an accusatory 
manner. And you've got to note the contrast 
and why I suggest that the controversy here, at least with the scribes 
and the Pharisees, isn't over hand-washing. It's over the authority 
by which men rule their lives. The tradition of the elders is 
in stark contrast to verse 3. Why do you also transgress the 
commandment of God? This is an issue of hermeneutics. 
This is an issue of commitment. This is an issue of fundamental 
presupposition that these men are challenging Jesus with. Notice 
the traditions that were given here were designed to protect 
the law. These often are the most scary 
types of traditions. This tradition rose with at least 
an admitted idea to protect the law. We don't want persons to 
violate the law, so we'll put a fence around it so that they 
can't even get close to it. Does everybody understand? The 
Old Testament specified that when somebody came into contact 
with something unclean, they need to dewash themselves. There 
needed to be a ceremonial purification. But that wasn't the case for 
every time you sat down with a hamburger. And notice here, 
kids, he's not talking about don't wash your hands before 
you eat. Of course, wash your hands before 
you eat. If you're outside playing with 
worms and you come in to eat your soup or your cheese sandwich, 
please wash your hands. They are attaching religious 
significance to this hand washing. You may say, what does this have 
to do with me? How many things do you attach 
religious significance to that you judge your brothers and sisters 
with? How many Pharisaic shibboleths 
do you walk around with in your heart and you write off those 
who transgress your tradition? You won't have fellowship with 
that person because they do this. You won't have fellowship with 
those people because they don't do this. If they are violating 
the law of God, man up and go to them and call them to repentance. 
But if they are violating your shibboleth, then bury it. The traditions were designed 
to protect the law by keeping people from breaking the law 
itself. Over time, however, what happens? 
The tradition takes over for the law. Calvin says it this 
way, those who occupy places of authority bring forward their 
inventions for this purpose, as if they were in possession 
of something more perfect than the word of the Lord. He says, 
this is followed by the slow growth of tyranny. For when men 
have once assumed to themselves the right to issue commands, 
they demand a rigid adherence to their laws and do not allow 
the smallest iota to be left out, either through contempt 
or through forgetfulness. That is germane to this discussion. There's become this tyranny of 
imposition by the Pharisees, according to the tradition of 
elders, that if you don't wash your hands before you have your 
lunch, then you have violated God's holy law. Wait a minute. It may not be the wisest or most 
prudent thing to come out of the field and eat my food without 
washing my hands, but to say I violated the law of God? That 
I am liable to punishment? That I stand under his curse? 
You simply cannot assert such a thing. J.C. Ryle says it this 
way, whenever a man takes upon him to make additions to the 
Scriptures, he is likely to end with valuing his own additions 
above Scripture itself. Just read that again. I want 
everybody to understand what we're talking about. Whenever 
a man takes upon him to make additions to the Scriptures, 
he is likely to end with valuing his own additions above Scripture 
itself. As I said, let's just suppose 
for a moment that the motive is pure. We want to protect the 
law of God. We want to set a hedge around 
the law of God. God is infinitely wise. The psalmist says in Psalm 19.7 
that his law is perfect. He doesn't need our help. He 
doesn't need our assistance. He didn't call the elders on 
the phone and say, how can we best protect ceremonial impurity? The Lord God Most High is the 
only lawgiver according to the scripture. If you note the flow 
of our confession of faith in chapter 21, it deals with liberty 
of conscience. Now today, liberty of conscience 
is taken out of its context and meant, or taught to mean, that 
we can have a beer with our dinner. That wasn't an issue for those 
brothers. What they wanted was for Rome to not encroach upon 
the liberty that God has given to his worshipers. It shouldn't 
be the case that we have to wave incense in the place or in the 
house of God. It shouldn't be the place that 
we have to pay for indulgences. It shouldn't be the case that 
we have to pursue the traditions of elders in order to worship 
our God. The Confession says, "...God 
alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the 
doctrines and commandments of men, which in anything contrary 
to His word are not contained in it." Christ is the lawgiver, 
not the tradition of elders. Your preferences cannot be elevated 
to the place of God's law. We all have preferences. We all 
have certain things that are unique about the way we do things. I happen to prefer a long shoehorn 
near the place where I put my shoes on. I happen to visit many 
homes and I notice that they don't have long shoehorns in 
the place where they put their shoes on. Do they have an axe 
to grind with those people? Are they religiously inept? Have 
they fallen short of the glory of God because they haven't realized 
the best way to apply one's shoe? I know it's humorous, and I purposefully 
use that because we do that very thing. It's my way. It's my type of 
clothes. It's my approach to God. It's 
my understanding of Scripture. It's my tradition. It's my elders. It's my duty to command you. And if I'm not going to man up 
and at least come out and tell you, I'm going to treat you differently 
because you don't cross your T's and dot your I's the way 
that I do. Why do your disciples transgress 
the tradition of the elders? Notice the specific violation. He says, for they do not wash 
their hands when they eat bread. Again, the Holiness Code stipulated 
that contact with something unclean demanded washing. The laws concerning 
the priesthood demanded purity and lots of washing. The Pharisees 
were probably thinking, hey, we've got the priesthood of all 
believers, so they all must function in the same way. If a priest 
has to wash himself before he goes into the house of God, then 
certainly the non-priest being in their home, that's a good 
principle. We ought to have to wash ourselves before we engage 
in table fellowship. But you see, God didn't command 
that. God didn't specify that. God 
didn't stipulate that. And who do you think you are 
to append, to add to, or to supplement the very law of God? You can't 
do that. Spurgeon says it this way with 
reference to washing of the hands. He says, it's a thing proper 
enough. One could wish it were oftener 
practiced. But to exact it into a religious 
right is a folly and a sin. And then the good Baptist brother 
goes on to say, no man has any more right to institute a new 
duty than to neglect an old one. You don't have that right, my 
brothers and sisters. You don't have that prerogative. 
You don't have to share every single thing that works for you 
to everybody else with the added edge that you better do it my 
way or you just don't measure up. Have you ever been around 
these types of people? You just know that you don't 
measure up. You just know that you aren't dotting the I's or 
crossing the T's in a way that is satisfactory to them. Praise 
God that He is gracious. Praise God that He is kind. And 
praise God that He has provided for us a law in its totality 
which brings the needed guards, parameters, and hedges without 
all of the additions and supplementation given by a Protestant Mishnah 
that we put into practice willy-nilly. Calvin says, these, the washing 
of hands, they were secondary laws invented by the curiosity 
of men as if the plain command of God were not enough. You see, 
that's the assertion. That's what we're suggesting, 
that you need to do it my way. That says that God didn't speak 
fully to this particular event, situation. God didn't address 
it to my satisfaction. Do you realize what that's like? James says there's one lawgiver. And may I just break it to you, 
you're not it. Give it up, you're not good at 
it. The Lord God Most High has perfected it. This is serious 
business. The church is filled with people 
who have their preferences. And preferences aren't bad. I'm 
not here to tell you go home today or go home tomorrow and 
buy yourself a shoe horn and put it next to your shoe. I could 
care less. What works for you, praise God. Beautiful, wonderful. What if 
a pastor stood up in the pulpit and said, every morning at 6 
a.m., you better be doing your devotions. 6 a.m., every morning, 
you better spend some time in prayer and reading. And that 
time in prayer and reading ought to be, you know, a good amount. 
I mean, it just can't get done in 30 seconds. I mean, you're 
addressing God. What if some poor soul says, 
I can't keep my eyes open at 6? Now, 6 p.m. works, we feed the kids and they 
run outside to blow off a little steam, and I've got some moments 
there to enjoy my Bible reading and pray. Praise God! From whom 
all blessings flow. You see, when we get these convictions, 
When we get these preferences and when we figure out a way 
to do something that is beneficial to us, that's great. You don't 
need to necessarily blog about it. You don't even need to make 
a Facebook status. You don't need to Twitter it. 
You don't need to write a book about it. Just do what works 
for you and serve the Lord God most high. Scribes and the Pharisees 
who were from Jerusalem come to Jesus saying, why do your 
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? That's a serious 
charge, isn't it? Jesus is standing there ministering 
among the people. He's just healed multitudes. 
And these men come to him and say, why do your disciples transgress 
the tradition of the elders? For they eat with unwashed hands. Everything's epic for the Pharisee, 
isn't it? They eat with unwashed hands. Everything is monumental for 
the Pharisee. Spurgeon says, let this be the 
kind of sin that people can charge us with. Would to God that that's 
the only thing someone could pin on us. I didn't see him wash 
his hands before he ate. That's it? That's what you got? Just kidding. Now note the Lord's response, 
verses 3 to 6. I probably would have cried if 
these guys came to me and said, why do your disciples transgress 
the tradition of the elders? I'm like, whoa, wait a minute. 
These are religious leaders. They're from Jerusalem. They've 
come up to ascertain and determine and vet out the teacher in this 
instance. What does Jesus do? He turns 
it right back on them. Verse 3, He answered and said 
to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because 
of your tradition? This is the indictment. He doesn't 
answer their question, He asks them a question. He goes on the 
counterattack in order to highlight the great disparity that exists 
between them and Him. They are committed to the traditions 
of elders, even if those traditions of elders have provided a loophole 
to disobey the very law of God. The Lord Christ says, why do 
you violate the commandment? Why do you usurp the authority 
of God Most High? Why do you engage in such wickedness? And it's an intriguing thing, 
isn't it? If I asked you to do a word association, I said, Pharisee. A Pharisee. You would say, legalist. 
Right? Aren't they the paradigmatic 
or pattern type of legalism in the Scripture? Isn't that how 
we refer to them? Isn't that what we think? But 
it's quite intriguing. They're both legalistic and antinomial. They break the commandment of 
God. That's not legalism. That's antinomianism. That is 
against the law-ism. And I suggest that the Pharisee 
sort of represents every single one of us. We have operative 
in our hearts, at the same time, both the legalist and the licentious 
person. We want to impose strict standards 
upon others, what they can and can't do, and then we'll go off 
and sit. Little bit of advice. Do never 
stipulate what someone must do or mustn't do, and then go off 
and sin. We have legalism and licentiousness 
in our hearts at both of the time. And both of these two systems, 
legalism and antinomianism, are very closely knit together. They 
look like they're on opposite ends of the spectrum, but you 
know how they're bound together? They have a common enemy. They 
hate God's law. The legalist says, oh, those 
wretched antinomians. The antinomian says, oh, those 
wretched legalists. But you know who they both find 
displeasing? God's holy law. I mean, they 
don't admit it, but when an antinomian holds in open disregard the law 
of God, what's he saying? I don't want it. I won't do it. 
It's not for me. When the legalist adds to God's 
word, what is he doing? He's holding it in open contempt. 
We ask the question, what identifies these men? They have operative 
in their hearts at one and the same time, legalism and antinomianism. This is what our Lord says. Why 
do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? That's the indictment. Now notice 
the illustration that he gives. See, Jesus doesn't just make 
this arbitrary assertion. Jesus doesn't just condemn without 
proving. Jesus does this in accordance 
with the very Bible itself. He not only levels the accusation, 
he furnishes the illustration, and then he pulls Isaiah out 
to be a second witness to make the case that these men are in 
fact lawless men. Note the illustration in verses 
4 to 6a. For God commanded, saying, Honor 
your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, 
let him be put to death. But you say, Whoever says to 
his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received 
from me is a gift of God, then he need not honor his father 
or mother. Now, if you compare Mark's gospel 
here, Mark amplifies a little bit where Matthew doesn't. Matthew's 
writing to a Jewish audience. They would have understood the 
Pharisaic commitment to washing everything for ceremonial cleanliness. Mark also adds for us that this 
is called Corbin. Corbin. I'll explain this in 
just a moment. You've got to note the contrast. 
Why do you transgress the commandment of God? Because of your tradition. Verse 4, then is the standard. For God commanded. The word or the fifth word in 
the Decalogue is the particular law that the scribes and the 
Pharisees transgress. He goes to Exodus chapter 20 
and verse 12. Which is also Deuteronomy chapter 
5 and verse 16. He also cites Exodus 21 and verse 
17 to show the seriousness of the offense. Now remember, Jesus 
is illustrating a particular problem that the Pharisees have 
with God's law. I suppose there were other violations, 
I suppose there were other illustrations that our Lord could have gone 
to. Probably this one, with reference to the fifth commandment, particularly 
angered Him. When you have set up a situation 
where you can circumvent obedience to God's law and steal from your 
own parents, don't come preaching to me about transgressing the 
tradition of elders. The penal sanction is attached 
in this citation, again, to highlight the seriousness and the gravity 
of the offense. See the contrast? See the issue? Why do your disciples transgress 
the tradition of the elders? For they eat with unwashed hands. You can almost see them now, 
shaking in indignation. Why do you transgress the commandment 
of God and despise your parents? In the grand scheme of things, 
what do you think God frowns on more? Somebody who didn't 
wash their hands before they had their grilled cheese sandwich? 
Or somebody who has found a loophole in the system created by the 
rabbis so that they could fraud their parents? This is what Jesus 
is saying. Note. He gives the standard, 
God commanded saying, honor your father and your mother, and he 
who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. We have 
seen in our studies in the pastoral epistles, honor not only means 
to esteem, honor not only means to respect, honor not only means 
to treat them with kindness, but it also means to financially 
compensate them. to provide for them. 1 Timothy 
5.3, honor widows who are really widows. 1 Timothy 5.17, the elders 
who rule well, honor them with double honor. What does he mean 
there? He means pay them. What's the emphasis or the implication 
of the text? That obedience to the fifth commandment 
doesn't end on your 18th birthday. Obedience to the fifth commandment 
continues through your life, when your parents are aging, 
when they can no longer work, and they can no longer make money 
on their own. Who do they have recourse to? 
According to the Scripture, it isn't first and foremost the 
state. It isn't first and foremost the church. It is the family. This is implicit in the commandment 
itself. Now, note how these men got around 
this. For God commanded, verse 4, saying, 
honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father and 
mother, let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to 
his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received 
from me is a gift to God. In the Greek, it's doron. In 
the Arabic, it is korban. Korban almost took on an oath-likeness 
to the word. Korban, strictly defined, means 
gift. But it came to be identified 
with something dedicated to the Lord. Korban. And when you invoke korban, as 
I said, it was almost like an oath. I dedicate this to God. Now, scholars and commentators 
are a bit perplexed. Most suggest, however, that when 
that money was gifted to God, the gifter still had access to 
it. In other words, your father or 
your mother come home and they've got a big bag of Purina Cat Chow. And instead of you giving them 
money, you say, The money that I have to donate to your well-being 
and buy you SpaghettiOs rather than cat chow is given to God. It seems pious, doesn't it? It 
seems holy, doesn't it? It seems righteous. Some of them 
suggest that that money would have not been available for the 
treasury, for the temple, until the death of that particular 
child, so that he would have had access to that loot prior 
to his departure. Davies and Allison make this 
statement referring to the Mishnah. The Mishnah plainly reveals how 
common it was, at least at the time of its composition, to pronounce 
a Corban vow for the purpose of not sharing property with 
others. And it contains texts in which 
the vow deprives one's relatives. Is everybody with me? God and 
His law says honor your father and your mother. Father and mother 
need money, they need property, they need food, they need help. 
But you say to them, whoever says to his father or mother, 
whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to 
God. Dear mommy, dear daddy, As much 
as I love you, as much as I esteem you, and as much as I hold you 
in regard according to God's fifth word, I have more nobler 
purposes for my money. It's going to go to God. Again, 
isn't that the Pharisaic way? It sounds holy, doesn't it? It 
sounds pious, doesn't it? It sounds almost good. Because 
doesn't Jesus himself teach in Matthew 10.37 that we must love 
God over parents? Doesn't the structure of the 
Decalogue itself indicate that God comes first? Commandments 
1 to 4, our duty to God. Commandment 5, our duty to our 
parents. That's not what's going on here. It was a means for a greedy child, 
and by child I don't mean a five-year-old, but a 25-year-old, a 30-year-old, 
a 40-year-old, to bypass obedience to the fifth commandment and 
keep the money where he really wants it, in his own pocket. It is the practice of greedy 
children who do not want to part with money or property in order 
to fulfill their duty to parents. More than that, do you know what 
is specifically condemned in the passage? That it was occurring 
in Israel is terrible. that there was a 30-year-old 
man and woman in Israel who said, you know, our folks need this 
money. Yes, but if we just say that 
it's Corbin, we can use it and spend it and bypass obedience 
to them. That it was going on is terrible. But that the rabbis had created 
a way to justify the practice, that's what Christ is condemning. That the followers do it is bad, 
but that the leaders teach it and have created a category wherein 
men can lawfully disobey is just wretched. That's why in 1514, 
notice who's in the crosshairs. Let them alone. They are blind 
leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, 
both will fall into a ditch. Calvin says, whenever holiness 
is made to consist in anything else than in observing the law 
of God, men are led to believe that the law may be violated 
without danger. Note verse 5. You say, whoever 
says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have 
received from me is a gift to God, verse 6, then he need not 
honor his father or his mother. That's the point. That's the 
issue. That's the reality. That's the 
practice. That was what was going on. And 
these guys have the gall to come along and say, why do your disciples 
transgress the tradition of the elders, for they do not wash, 
or they do not eat, or they eat without washing their hands first. 
I said, wait a minute. Why do you transgress the commandment 
of God? You know the fifth commandment. 
You know the stipulation. You know the ordinance. You know 
the statute. You men have memorized this over 
and over again, and yet you have found a loophole. You have worked 
something into the system so that men could defraud their 
parents and look good doing it. I got to tell you, if you do 
not provide for your elderly parents in the name of giving 
more to gospel missions, God is not pleased with you. Do you 
know what pleases God? Obedience to His law. Do you 
know what honors the Lord? When you honor His commandments. 
This was a pious loophole for greedy people who didn't care 
about defrauding their parents. But notice, the Pharisees have 
to come and correct the lawgiver himself on how to live their 
lives. Note the implication in 6b. Then, I'm sorry, thus you have 
made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 
You've nullified it. Chamberlain makes this perceptive 
comment, Jesus does not charge that the champions of the oral 
law have supplemented revelation with tradition, or that they 
have elevated tradition above revelation, but that they have 
supplanted revelation with tradition. You see, this wasn't just a helpful 
additive. It wasn't just a supplement to 
make things go smoothly. They supplanted the fifth commandment 
itself with this Corbin principle. Thus, you have made the commandment 
of God of no effect by your tradition." Now that brings us thirdly and 
finally to the condemnation of the scribes and the Pharisees 
in verses 7 to 9. Note the particular sin, hypocrites. It's the first time in Matthew's 
Gospel that Jesus has specifically called these men hypocrites. 
It won't be the last, but it's certainly the first. He's referred 
to hypocrites in Matthew 6, those who do their religious deeds 
in order to be seen by men. But notice how Christ addresses 
these men. Hypocrites. Do not come unto me with the 
guise of being law keepers and be law breakers. This is the 
fundamental issue of hypocrisy. It is pretending, it is wearing 
the mask of one thing and all the while being the other thing. 
You've probably heard people say, oh, you're a big fat hypocrite. 
You know what? Hypocrisy is pretending to be 
something you're not. Garden variety sin isn't necessarily 
hypocrisy. You come to somebody and say, 
look, I think you're a hypocrite. You don't know that they've been 
crying out for deliverance from that particular sin in their 
closets. You don't know that they're memorizing scripture 
so they can put them into practice. They don't want to be a hypocrite. 
They don't want to wear the mask over here and live this way. 
But these guys, in all of their assertions to being the lawful 
ones in Israel, have transgressed the commandment of God, and the 
shoe fits. Hypocrites. Spurgeon, they were 
agitated about hands unwashed and yet laid their foul hands 
upon God's most holy law. Hypocrites! That is the particular 
sin. Now note the prophetic confirmation 
or testimony in verse 7. Well did Isaiah prophesy about 
you, saying, These people draw near to me with their mouth, 
and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, 
and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments 
of men. Now, the Pharisees and the scribes 
paraded themselves around in Israel as being those consistent 
with the prophets. You've got to understand how 
Jesus is dealing here. Jesus would probably be commented 
on if he was blogging. Well, that wasn't very nice. 
That wasn't very kind. In fact, don't the disciples 
come to him a few verses away and say, do you know that the 
Pharisees were offended when you said that? The Pharisees saw themselves 
in cahoots with Isaiah. Jesus says, you're the ones that 
Isaiah prophesied against. There's probably typology at 
work. In the 8th century B.C., the 
prophet Isaiah faced people that were living the way these scribes 
and the Pharisees were living. So what they dealt with in the 
8th century B.C. is the same sort of thing that 
Jesus deals with in the 1st century A.D. That's why he's able to 
say, well, did Isaiah prophesy about you saying? Carson says, 
the Jews of Jesus' day thought of themselves as preserving ancient 
traditions, but Jesus said that what they were actually preserving 
was the spirit of those whom Isaiah criticized long before. Now you can see why the disciples 
come and they say, Lord, you offended them. Does Jesus say, 
oh, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I know we 
live in a social structure where to offend anyone is the highest 
form of demerit. To ever say anything untoward 
about anyone is the kind of thing that ought to land someone in 
prison. That's not what he does. He answered and said, every plant 
which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 
Let them alone. Let them whine. Let them grumble. Let them be offended. Why do 
we care more for the person that transgresses the commandment 
of God, that twists it to serve their own diabolical ends, than 
we do for the truth? Pastor Kim read a psalm at the 
outset of worship that no doubt offends some in the modern church. 
Do I not hate those who hate thee, O Lord? I hate them with 
a perfect hatred. Oh, you can't say that. What, are we supposed to celebrate 
the lawless? Are we supposed to give parties 
in their honor? Are we supposed to esteem them 
and welcome them in as brethren? People that murder, people that 
cheat, people that take the gift of sex and misuse it and distort 
it and twist it and abuse it. Are we supposed to say of the 
abortionist, oh, how I love you? What does Jesus say? Do you know 
that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? 
But he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly Father 
has not planted will be uprooted. You want to talk about Calvinism? 
You want to talk about sovereignty? You want to talk about what Jesus 
attributes all of this to? It's the plan and the planting 
of God Most High. Let him alone. Now Jesus is God, 
the second person of the triune God. We can't willy-nilly go 
out and say, let everybody alone. We certainly do not know where 
men are. We do not know if they've crossed 
a threshold. Our task is to be faithful and 
to preach the Word. Our task is to responsibly function 
in a world that is undone with sin. Now, our task is not to 
put ourselves in compromising situations and positions, and 
there is a time where we do enact what Jesus says in Matthew's 
Gospel. Do not throw your pearls before 
swine. Do not give what is holy to the 
dogs. You see, there has to be a place 
in the Christian Church for those passages today. There has to 
be a place in the Christian Church for us to refuse, refute, and 
reject the diabolical doctrines of men. There has to be the courage 
in the stand to say, look, we are not going to acquiesce in 
this society. We will draw the line. Here we 
stand. We can do no other. The truth 
is more important than the delicate sensitivities of poor Pharisees 
who transgress the commandment of God and who, by so doing, 
render people that have the lawfulness to expect care from their children 
end up in straits. We have coddled the lawless for 
way too long. Jesus didn't do that. So the 
prophetic testimony, hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about 
you saying, notice, they drew near to God with their mouth 
and they honored God with their lips. We know this terminology, 
we call it lip service. You know when you've told your 
child something and they've given you lip service. I want you to 
go in. I want you to clean the garage. 
And when I come out to inspect it in four hours, it better look 
like this. You go out to inspect it in four 
hours and it doesn't look like this. What do you conclude? They 
paid lip service. They honored me with their mouth. 
They said they were going to do it. Isaiah faced these same 
sorts of people. These people draw near to me 
with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips, but their 
heart is far from me. Isn't it interesting, in the 
next section, heart and mouth. It's not what goes into the mouth, 
it's what comes from the heart. It's not what goes into the yap, 
it's what comes out of the heart. What's the point? What do Pharisees 
care about more? They care about what goes in 
the mouth. They care about washing their hands. They care about 
what they say. They care about what they voice. They care about 
what people think. Notice, they neglect the place 
of the heart and the very worship of God itself. You see that in 
the prophet Isaiah. You see it in the prophet Malachi. You see it throughout the Old 
Testament history. You see it in the New Covenant 
era. You see people come to church 
on Sundays. They profess saving faith in Jesus Christ. But instead 
of using the Sabbath day, like we just sang, as a Pisgah, to 
look upon the promised land, it's just lip service. Isn't 
that a beautiful stanza in 321? The Sabbath day functions as 
Pisgah. What was Pisgah? Moses, you're not going into 
the promised land, but you can shimmy on up Pisgah. And he was 
an old man at that time. The fact that he shimmied up 
there was great. And what did he do when he stood up there? 
He beheld the promised land. Do you look at the Lord's day 
that way? We're beholding the promised land. This is a foretaste 
of heaven itself. This is the marketplace for the 
soul. This is good. What do we pay 
at lip service? Yeah, I got to go to church. 
I got to do my thing. I got to throw God his bone. 
I got to engage in the obligation. I got to get that out of the 
way. And then I can go do what I want to do. We all know what 
lip service is. And they were doing it in the 
prophet Isaiah's day. They're doing it in the first 
century as well. Notice. They engaged in vanity 
rather than worship by teaching as doctrines the commandments 
of men. Verse 9, and in vain they worship me, teaching as 
doctrines the commandments of men. What they did was not worship. What they did by perverting the 
word itself was vanity. What they did by twisting the 
law to serve themselves could never be deemed or termed as 
worship to the living God. It's like Paul when he comes 
to deal with the Corinthians. When you gather together in one 
place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. Do not think for a moment 
that while the haves are eating and drinking to the point of 
gluttony and drunkenness, and the have-nots are over there 
licking their lips, looking at you, wishing you'd throw them 
a sandwich. Do not think that you are eating 
the Lord's Supper. You cannot begin to fabricate 
in your mind the thought that you're actually worshipping God. 
You come before the Lord God Most High with enmity in your 
heart, with hardness of heart. When you come to the Lord God 
Most High and your mind is a thousand miles elsewhere, or you're still 
thinking about that argument with your wife, your husband, 
that you had this morning, when I get home I'm going to say this, 
because I'm going to best her, I'm going to best him. And I'm 
going to win the argument. If that's what's flooding your 
mind in the worship of God, or if it's the pot roast, or if 
it's the work situation tomorrow, or if it's the Wednesday meeting 
with whoever, if that's what is infected your mind rather 
than the pure word of God Most High, then let's just be honest 
and call it what it is. It's vanity. It's not worship. See, what are we supposed to 
do according to John 4? Who is the Lord God seeking? 
God is spirit. Who does He seek to worship Him? 
Those who worship in spirit and truth. That's why the church in so many 
respects have got it wrong. We just need to engage our affections. No, we need to engage our minds. 
We just need to sing and dance. No, we need to come rally around 
the Word of God. Boehner makes this excellent 
observation. We often think of worship as 
what we do toward God. But our text teaches that the 
fundamental component of worship is teaching from God to us. The word from God is the core 
of worship. When we think worship, we often 
think in the wrong direction. From us to God. Jesus thinks 
from God to us. And in vain they worship me, 
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Bit of a different interpretation 
from the LXX or the Septuagint in 2913, but it gives the sense. 
Jesus indicts them. Well, what do we learn? We learn 
that we better go soon because we got to wash our hands and 
eat lunch, right? Is that what we got? Is that 
what we've been instructed in this morning? First, the question 
of religious authority. You can see the two places. Very 
evident and very clearly displayed between Pharisaic religion and 
the religion of the Bible. The Pharisees are consumed with 
the traditions of the elders. The Pharisees hold in contempt 
anyone who will not wash his or her hands before he eats lunch. 
The Pharisees will hold and content the very fifth commandment itself 
by building in a loophole so that they can disobey, so that 
they can justify disobedience, so that they can navigate their 
way through a situation where they really don't want to give 
their money to their father and mother. So let's just invoke 
God and then we can do whatever we want. I mean, sin in and of 
itself is bad. But sin that employs God to give 
it validation is terrible. Secondly, we have seen, I hope, 
the hypocrisy of Pharisaic religion. They supplanted the Word of God 
with their tradition. Again, they didn't supplement, 
they didn't elevate, they supplanted. That means they took the Word 
of God, supplant, listen children, I actually looked this up so 
that I could define it properly. They took the Word of God and 
put it over here and put their commandment and made people responsible 
to that. That's what it means to supplant. They devised a means of circumventing 
obedience to the law with an appearance of piety. Again, that's got to be the most 
disgusting thing in the world. There's something appreciable 
about an honest sinner. He knows what he's about, he 
knows what he is, he knows where he's from, he knows what he's 
guilty of, and what you see is what you get. It's when we put 
on the mask and we try to be holy and we try to be pious and 
we try to be godly and we try to look like something that we 
know in our heart of hearts we're not. They paid lip service to 
God and did not worship Him. They despised the law of God 
and they gave abundant manifestation, abundant evidence of that by 
the way they treated that law. Ryle says, hypocrites generally 
attach great importance to mere outward things in religion. As 
long as you wash your hands before you eat your lunch, it doesn't 
matter that you defraud your parents. That's bad, isn't it? Those Pharisees, they're evil. 
They're horrible. They're terrible. They're nasty 
men. We're thankful that they're not 
in the church today. Oh, wait a minute. We do have 
to know five or ten people that we could lump into that category. 
Ask yourself with me. J. Adams disagrees with this 
type of preaching. J. Adams says that when a preacher 
preaches, he uses you. You, you, you, you. But I got 
to admit, the Pharisee is strong with me. So I'm going to put 
this in the we form. Do we supplant the Word of God 
with our tradition? Do we supplant, remove, get away 
from the Word of God with our tradition? Again, I've said traditions 
aren't in and of themselves evil. But when our traditions take 
on the power of God's law, there's a problem. Secondly, do we devise 
ways of circumventing obedience to the law while giving an appearance 
of piety? Have you ever wondered what the 
psalmist meant when he says they devise wickedness on their beds? I think he's saying that sinners 
as a category are pretty ingenious. I've often thought if we just 
spent time doing what God says, instead of trying to figure out 
ways of not doing what God says, we'd be a happier lot. Maybe 
you've met that with your kids. You know, if you just did what 
I told you, instead of trying to find 15 ways not to, you would 
have been done three hours ago, and everybody would have been 
happy. Yeah, but that wouldn't have been as fun. I just don't 
get it. Sin. It's terrible. Devising 
iniquity. Do you have those things in your 
life that you're justifying? Do you have those things in your 
life that you're practicing? Do you have those things which 
are genuinely a matter of Christian liberty, but perhaps you abuse 
them? Do you have those things in your 
life that have crossed the line at some point or another, and 
in your desire to stick it to the Pharisees, you're going to 
maintain your course in liberty? Liberty and license aren't far 
apart. We need to be very careful in 
the means by which we apply these things. Do we pay lip service 
to God and neglect his worship? Listen, why? I know, we're over 
1230. People are going, he's going long, he's going long. 
Got to get out of here, that pot roast is going to burn. My 
burrito needs me, whatever it may be. Do you know we get one crack 
at the can each week on the Sabbath day? Let's make the most of it. Maybe age and maturity and time 
in the Christian life helps you to appreciate how wonderful God's 
gift of Sabbath is. How wonderful God's gift of church 
is. How wonderful God's gift of the 
means are. He gives these things because 
He knows our frame. He pities us and He knows that 
we're dust. He knows we need to be washed. 
He knows we need to be fed. He knows we need to be nurtured. 
He knows we need a day to come in out of the world. He knows 
what is best for us. And He gives us those things. 
Do we pay lip service to God and neglect His worship? And 
do we And all of our cunning actually despise the law of God. Do we actually disdain it? You see, Paul, dealing with Corinthians, 
Paul dealing, in a sense, with Romans, says, do not offend a 
brother for whom Christ died with your meat. Don't do it. He doesn't say, go throw out 
your meat. He says, don't offend your brother. There's something 
bigger about this whole thing. There's something more important 
about this world. There's something more glorious 
about the church than our expressing ourselves. It is obedience to 
God's revealed law through his word. And that brings us to consider 
finally the absolute necessity of God's holy word. You have 
to notice something unique here. When Jesus levels an accusation 
against the Pharisees and the scribes, he proves it. Jesus 
is the man who is lawful. He doesn't just say, are you 
hypocrites? You better be able to put up, or you need to shut 
up. This happens a lot in the Christian 
church today. This happens a lot when we battle 
with brothers and sisters. We accuse them of things and 
we don't substantiate it. That's wicked. That's wrong. What's the biblical principle? 
Do not receive an accusation or do not go to somebody without 
witnesses. Jesus says to them, you transgress 
the commandment of God. And here is how. The fifth commandment 
has abiding perpetuity in the New Covenant era. The law of 
God is the standard by which all controversies of men and 
religion are to be judged. It is the standard for ethics. 
It is the standard by which we judge men. John chapter 7 at 
verse 24, Jesus cautioned his audience there, do not judge 
according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. 
So that whole idea of judge not lest you be judged, of course 
you're going to judge. Don't you remember in 1 Timothy 
5 we looked at about two weeks ago? What do you have to do to 
make sure that a woman over 60 is eligible for the list? There's 
like five things she has to have done. That's judging. That's 
discrimination. That is looking at a person, 
not based on our own whim, not based on our own preferences, 
but based on the revealed will of God. Of course we are to judge. Of course we are to exercise 
discernment. Of course we are to discriminate 
according to the law of God. We've already highlighted the 
centrality of the Word of God in the worship of God. They worship 
me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Perhaps 
you've visited a church before, or you know of a church, where 
they sort of make this dichotomy. The 30 minutes before the preaching 
is worship. And then once that 30 minutes 
is over, we're done with worship. And whatever transpires in the 
next hour and seven minutes isn't worship. Jesus doesn't make that 
separation. Jesus says that what's happening 
now is worship. And what's happening now must 
function according to the Word of God. Or it's going to be vanity 
instead of worship. We need to understand the primacy 
of God's Word. It speaks to the way we approach 
Him, the manner by which we approach Him, and it protects us from 
those who would seek to bind our consciences with man-made 
laws like these Pharisees put into practice, and like Rome 
has perpetuated, and like all kinds of people within Protestantism 
have manufactured as well. Our minds are subject to God 
the Lord, who alone is Lord of the conscience. It's a beautiful 
thing. And then finally, the absolute necessity of the Word 
of God with reference to the Gospel. It is Christ who saves 
us from lawlessness, it is Christ who saves us from legalism, and 
it is Christ who saves us from the pride that is in the hearts 
of probably every single one of us. that would look down upon 
others who do not do things the way we do them. Praise God for 
our Lord Jesus Christ. As we were singing a bit of Psalm 
119, just prior to the preaching, you must remember that the Psalter 
in the first instance is the prayers of Christ. It is He that 
can pray. It is He that can sing. It is 
He that says, I delight in your law in my inner man. Praise Him 
that He came, that He lived in obedience to that law, that He 
died as a substitute in our stead to satisfy divine justice for 
all those whom the Father had given. He was buried, He rose 
again on the third day, and He is ascended into heaven. And the Lord Christ is there 
for all legalists, the Lord Christ is there for all antinomians, 
the Lord Christ is there for all men, who by the grace of 
God, the enabling Spirit of God, call upon Him. Believe on Him, 
and you will be saved. And if you are in Him, pray, 
God keep me from this pharisaic religion that is diabolical in 
its essence. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and we thank you for our Lord Jesus 
Christ and the salvation that we have in him. I pray that you 
would guard our hearts and our minds as we consider passages 
like these. Certainly, God, we could probably 
all make a list of things that we demand from others or we demand 
from ourselves. Help us to see your law as sufficient, 
to see your law as efficient, and to see it as that standard 
and that reflection. of your holiness and of your 
righteous character and of your will for us in this world. Go 
with us now, we pray, and God have mercy upon those outside 
of Christ, those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. 
Enact that resurrection power that only you can do and bring 
them out of darkness into marvelous light. And we pray this through 
Christ our Lord. Amen.