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The Idolatry of Religious Traditions | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Would you gladly meet me in the Book of Mark in chapter 7?
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  Please Mark chapter 7 together. Mark 7.
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  And let's meet together in verse 1.
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  Now, when the Pharisees gathered to him with some of the scribes
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  who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that, some of his
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  disciples ate with hands. That were defiled.
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  That is unwashed for the Pharisees and all the Jews, do
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  not eat, unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the
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  tradition of the elders, and when they come from the
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  marketplace, they do not eat. Unless they wash.
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  And there are many other Traditions that they observe
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  such as The washing of Cups and pots and copper vessels and
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  dining couches, and the Pharisees and the scribes asked
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  him. Why do your disciples not walk,
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  according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled
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  hands and he said to them, well, did Isaiah prophesy of you
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  Hypocrites, as it is written. This people honors me with their
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  lips, but their heart is far from me.
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  In vain. Do they worship me teaching as
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  doctrines the Commandments of men?
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  Lord. Bless this time, in your word,
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  may be accurate. May be faithful, may you be
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  pleased and made your people be changed in Jesus name.
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  Amen. I love how Jesus in verse 6,
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  says while did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites?
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  When Isaiah spoke this he spoke it 700 years before this time
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  and he had Jesus faithfully and honorably relates this ancient
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  text to his immediate audience and points towards the
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  Pharisees. He says, Isaiah was actually
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  speaking about you. And I find that very encouraging
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  because it shows me how Jesus viewed the scriptures.
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  The scriptures are never out of date.
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  The scriptures are always applicable.
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  The scriptures are continually relevant if they are hundred
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  years old. If there are thousands of years
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  old God, designed the word of God.
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  Yes, for an immediate context, for an immediate audience, but
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  more than that, for all people of all time of all generations,
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  And why bring that up to you is because as we examine Mark,
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  chapter 7, we're not just looking at Jesus discourse and
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  conversation with a group of religious leaders.
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  We are looking at Jesus thoughts, his ideas, his
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  desires, his will for us today. He speaking to you and to me
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  this word is for you. And for me, yes and 2023.
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  And with that being said, today I want to speak to you about
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  something specific, my desire. And speaking to you, is to take
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  this moment and to address the idolatry of religious
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  Traditions, the idolatry of religious Traditions.
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  Now in our culture, today, there are many shapes and forms of
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  idolatry, but I am persuaded that.
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  One of the most suffocating strongholds that keeps people
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  back from experiencing, True freedom is when they are tied to
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  some expression of Faith or worship even though such a
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  custom clearly violates the will of God.
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  And there are many of these kind of rituals and ceremonies and
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  various kind of philosophies that are exercised and various
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  circles today. But the erroneous elevation to
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  and devotion of man-made, Traditions were common during
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  the ministry of the Lord, Jesus Christ as well.
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  Religious Traditions, the masses find false comfort in them.
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  Some Global institutions promote them and unfortunately, many
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  people cannot fully commit to Christ because of them.
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  And this is a conflict that Jesus faced, and that is proven
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  by what we see before us today. Here is Christ confronting a
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  system of ideas that were so elevated and esteemed by certain
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  group of people, in the name of God though, it had absolutely no
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  backing from God. And from this tax, we're not
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  only going to look at what exactly Jesus Took issue with.
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  We're going to see the heart of Christ concerning tradition
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  across the board. And this message is essentially
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  just to prepare you. As an introduction, all we're
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  going to do today is lay a foundation to prepare us to
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  actually address some widely-held philosophies and
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  practices and traditions of our day.
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  And the reason because he is their idea surrounding our
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  faith, that true Christians are either unaware of or unconcerned
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  about and that's concerning to me.
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  The reason why we're going to do this is because if we are not
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  informed, what can happen is, you can have genuine, Believers,
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  confused, and Beyond confusion. What you can have is
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  illegitimate collaboration. And from a little illegitimate
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  collaboration, you can even have conversion.
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  Conversion to false Notions and false beliefs, and misguided
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  Concepts. And that's what we want to avoid
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  in a day of growing deception. Do we not before we move on?
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  Let me clarify something from the start, I'm going to be using
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  the word tradition throughout this message, but I don't want
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  it to be misinterpreted in any way.
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  The general definition of tradition is any long-held
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  belief that has been passed down from generation to generation.
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  It's a transmission of ideas or some kind of custom or ideology
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  that is given over from one person to another or one
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  institution down to a group of people.
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  But that is not what I'm referring to know is it nor is
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  it what the Lord is necessarily concerned about?
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  The tradition that we are speaking of is any concept or
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  practice that is revered or recognized as Divine Authority
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  though? It is absolutely not validated
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  by the scriptures at all. In simple terms what I want to
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  speak to you about is any idea that originated with man?
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  And finds no basis in the complete word of God, but is
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  treated as Doctrine. And anything that fits in that
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  category is not only dangerous for us.
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  It's something that the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Denounces severely tradition itself is not evil.
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  It's actually a neutral conviction.
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  There are some traditions that are harmless.
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  There are some traditions that are even good but the factor
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  that makes all the difference is whether or not such a tradition
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  cooperates with the word of God or challenges it.
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  That's what makes the difference.
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  And what Jesus is facing here is a catalog of teachings that
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  challenged the supreme authority of the written word of God look
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  here at verse 5 with me again, it says you're at the end of
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  verse 5 In the questioning and the fault-finding from the
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  Pharisees they wondered. Why didn't you hold to the
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  tradition of the elders? This was a set of extra biblical
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  teachings, that the Pharisees promoted and regulated by are
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  also observed by a majority of Jews.
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  How do I know that? Look at verse 34, the Pharisees
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  and all the Jews, do not eat, unless they wash their hands
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  properly, holding to the tradition of the elders.
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  And so, this is not only proposed by the Pharisees, it
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  was popular in Jesus day, but I think it's worth asking the
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  question. Well, where did the tradition of
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  the elders begin with? It's clear that it was prominent
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  but what was the Genesis of this?
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  What was the conception of this? And some believe that the
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  tradition of the elders and I need you to lean and because
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  this is going to be more teaching and preaching but it's
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  absolutely essential The tradition of the elders is
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  widely believed to be the oral law among the Jews and two
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  centuries later, right? This oral law.
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  This is the something that was verbally transmitted was
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  officially recorded and compiled and what is known today as the
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  mishnah, right? A collections of commentaries
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  and even commands about and around the word of God and often
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  beyond the word of God, but at this time in Jesus, day, Mark
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  chapter 7, the Tradition of the elders was still verbal.
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  It was not concrete, it was not inscribed anywhere.
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  Again, there was transmitted word by word and we see here
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  that these kind of traditions, actually, in their own tradition
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  explains where they came from, in the talmud, you can look this
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  up yourself It is recorded that these Jews believe that this
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  oral law was given by God at Mount Sinai and downloaded to
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  Moses. And from Moses, he entrusted,
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  Surah Men by teaching these kind of laws and then the cycle
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  started, these men, Faithful Men would then transmitted to the
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  Next Generation and that would happen from generation to
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  generation. And as time went on, this oral
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  law would be expounded upon and X expanded as well.
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  And what's interesting? Is that the oral law, not the
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  same as the written law. Is what you see in the Hebrew
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  scriptures. The oral law was heavily
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  enforced after the Babylonian captivity, so the Jews were
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  taken from their land and brought into Babylon.
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  You remember that? That's in our Bibles when they
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  returned there was such a fear of experiencing God's
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  discipline. Again that the Jews of that
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  time, decided to really implement the oral law and why
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  was that because they wanted Oral law to function as a fence
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  around the Hebrew scriptures, the clear commands of God, given
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  in the word of God, they wanted the cushion to make it that much
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  more difficult for the people to actually violate the word of
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  God. And so, it provided parameters
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  that before you come to the central idea of the word of God
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  and either disobeying it or fulfilling it, you would have to
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  go through all these other hoops and all these other kind of
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  ideas before doing that. And so it seems intelligent, it
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  seems like there's good intentions there, but you can
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  imagine the problems with this and what was the problem with
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  this? That eventually the line between
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  the oral law and the written law of God was blurred It was
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  blurred to the point where the oral not laws, now seen as equal
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  and in some cases, even superseding the written law of
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  God. And now you have people even in
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  Jesus day that are measuring their godliness up to the
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  standard of the tradition of the elders.
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  Instead of the clear revealed will of the Lord. and so, now,
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  everything about their supposed sanctification is about rituals,
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  it's about ceremonies, it's about external formalities,
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  instead of True Heart Devotion to the Lord, The way he designed
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  it to be. And so this is what Jesus was
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  dealing with this kind of a practice.
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  And again, it might have originated with good intentions
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  but it became extremely problematic.
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  You know, you asked some people today, why it is that they do
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  certain things in the name of God or in the name of religion
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  and you've probably heard it. I've heard it many times.
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  Well, this is just what our family has done for Generations.
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  This is what our great-grandfather's have done on
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  both sides of my family. So this is why we attend the
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  church that we attend or this is what our culture is all about.
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  And so our culture has done this for centuries.
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  So why would we break that lineage?
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  We're going to uphold that because this is something that
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  we've known. Since we could even remember.
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  And here's the point that I want to make whenever the word of God
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  is not recognized as sufficient pay attention, I didn't say
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  divinely inspired Note that I say without error, you have
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  people who hold to Traditions that view the word of God as
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  divinely inspired and without error.
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  The problem is, whether or not it is sufficient.
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  And if you do not see the word of God as sufficient, you open
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  yourself up to what you might believe to be compatible
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  authorities. In other words, other ideas or
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  beliefs, or instructions, or teachings, that seemed to work
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  with, in your understanding, the will of God is revealed in the
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  scriptures but what often happens is, whatever you think
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  to be compatible ends, up, conflicting and even
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  contradicting the word of God is saying really.
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  Is that really the case? Yes, it is the case, one of the
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  strongest examples of that is Roman Catholicism.
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  All. Look at all the heads.
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  I just came up. Roman Catholicism doesn't see
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  the scripture as the sole authority of their teaching in
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  faith and practice. They actually have three streams
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  of authority. The first stream is what you and
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  I hold to but we hold to completely and sufficiently
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  that's the Sacred Scriptures but they go beyond that to say that.
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  No no it's not just Sacred Scriptures, you need sacred
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  tradition and what a sacred tradition, sacred tradition is
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  what the Pharisees viewed, as their tradition, the oral law.
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  In other words, what the Catholics would believe the
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  Roman Catholics? Is that what the apostles have
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  taught not necessarily in the word of God?
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  But through their own mouths, that has been transmitted over
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  time to the true church which they believe is their Church.
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  Church. And only the church holds those
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  understandings and are able to present those teachings to the
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  Common People, sacred tradition, you're saying there's more to
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  that. Yes, there's more than that,
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  it's not just sacred scripture is not just sacred tradition.
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  It's the magisterium What's the magisterium?
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  Well, it's their church. And what they believe about the
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  magisterium is that their church and their leadership alone is
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  able to give the proper interpretation of scripture and
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  Beyond, the proper interpretation of scripture.
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  They even have the authority given supposedly by God, to
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  determine what is actually Doctrine, and what is not
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  Doctrine, whether it's found in sacred scripture or not.
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  Singh. Is that real or prepare yourself
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  for the coming weeks? It is very real and one of the
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  recent examples of that you can already feel how that is an
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  issue with one of the recent examples of that is the idea of
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  the Assumption of Mary. What is the belief of the
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  Assumption of Mary that bodily? Mary at the end of her life Rose
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  in to heaven and there's debate, whether she died first or she
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  didn't die first. But what's more important is
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  that this is a teaching that has been established by the Roman
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  Catholic Church as Dogma. What's dogma mean, Dogma means
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  that it is something that was given by God and is binding.
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  It's not optional, it's not secondary.
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  If you claim to be a Christian, you have to believe that
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  Doctrine. You're saying well, okay.
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  But isn't that an ancient thing? No, it was actually established
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  in 1950. So you understand why I'm
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  bringing this up. And I'm going to bring up
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  different examples in the coming weeks, but it's crucially
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  important and Jesus. Shows in this text how this
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  happens. Not just in one kind of
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  Institutions but in many kind of Institutions and it can bleed
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  into what we know as legalism even in an Evangelical churches.
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  But look here with me quickly in verse 8 of Mark chapter 7, you
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  read the first six seven verses, look at verse eight, he
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  addresses the Pharisees and he says, you leave the Commandment
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  of God and hold to the tradition of men.
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  When the nasb uses the word neglect.
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  Instead of the word, leave you neglect.
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  The Commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.
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  See the danger of valuing tradition is that it can easily
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  lead you on the path of ignoring the word of God as your supreme
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  authority because of how much you cherish another ancient or
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  familiar idea. Do that long enough and what
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  tends to happen is that the word no longer becomes the standard
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  by, which you scrutinize any idea or belief concerning faith
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  and practice and for the for some what happens is the
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  scriptures eventually become something, that's totally
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  ignored altogether and not consulted at all concerning
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  certain issues. What happens is, people say well
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  whatever is passed down is more important than whatever is
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  written. And you see what the Pharisees
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  that that's what they do right here.
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  I mean, they approached the disciples and what's their issue
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  with the disciples. At this point.
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  You didn't wash your hands before you ate.
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  This is not a hygiene problem. I advise you to wash your hands
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  before you eat. That's not tradition.
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  That's just good hygiene. Yeah.
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  No. But there's a ritualistic idea
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  behind this that I don't have to break down to you.
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  It's clear enough here. This is more about piety than it
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  is about personal hygiene. And let me put this as a side
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  note. If you're a disciple of Jesus
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  Christ and the only criticism that the enemies of the Gospel
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  have against you, it is concerning futile.
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  Empty spiritual ideas, you're in a really good place.
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  You're in a really good place. Points something in my life that
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  harms or violates the word of God.
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  I'm in trouble pointing to anything else.
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  That doesn't concern God's will. I'm in a good place in my walk
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  with the Lord. So this is what they're doing,
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  is it surprising? It shouldn't be surprising to us
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  and they come and they and they question the disciples, why do
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  your disciples not walk, according to the tradition of
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  the elders and, you know, this perhaps in your walk that you've
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  had similar questions asked of you.
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  Why don't you view again? Mary, the way we view Mary per
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  se or why don't you baptized the way we baptized or?
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  Why don't you seek the intercession of the Saints?
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  And why do you why do you deprive yourself of such a
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  Wonder in such a Grace. And when those questions usually
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  come to me that initial response and I hope it's yours as well as
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  well, because the Bible says Because the Bible says, but what
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  happens is when tradition is so upheld, it begins to outshine
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  scripture and takes primary place.
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  Look at verse 13 Jesus says, thus making void the word of God
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  by your tradition that you have handed down and many such things
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  you. Do you know what making void
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  means to deprive of its force and Authority?
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  Tradition can do that. It can seek to empty the power
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  of God's word in their life or in a Facebook, faith-based
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  institution and how many of us in this place have addressed
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  these issues within within our own families or friends and
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  we've sat with people with with Open Hearts and genuine hearts
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  and trying to convey the truth of the gospel.
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  And when you bring out certain things from the word of God and
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  you confront certain practices that they might hold to, it has
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  no effect on them. In fact, what you learn is that
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  they are More willing to break the word of God, for their
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  tradition and to break their tradition for the word of God.
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  How does that happen? The same way it's happening
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  here? And Paul was like this before
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  his conversion in Galatians 114, he declares, and I was advancing
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  in Judaism Beyond many of my own age among my people.
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  So, extremely zealous. Was I for the traditions of my
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  father's So, extremely zealous, people get very passionate about
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  tradition. To the point where it's more
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  important than anything else, including the word of God?
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  You know what that tells me about Paul.
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  Here's what it tells me, then, when you truly come to Christ,
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  you give up everything including your tradition, no matter how
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  binding it is on you. No matter how binding it is on
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  your family, no matter how binding it is on your culture.
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  When you truly come to Christ, you turn away, not just from
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  your sin. Not just from your belly and not
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  just your sexual morality but even Concepts and beliefs that
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  challenge the word of God. Unfortunately, many people today
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  are like Paul who are like Paul before when he came to Christ.
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  Think that they are honoring Christ at the same time.
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  But Jesus here has a different opinion because when you had
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  that kind of a Zeal, what tends to happen is, there is some kind
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  of form of Abandonment of the word of God.
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  And that's what he shares. He says first you leave the
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  Commandment of God but that's step number one.
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  Step number two is what you find in verse 9.
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  So in verse 8 he says you lead the Commandment of God.
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  And in verse 9 he said to them you have a fine way of rejecting
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  the Commandment of God in order to establish your tradition.
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  It always starts with neglecting, it always starts
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  with ignoring, it always starts with adding thinking that it's
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  compatible and over time, if you're not watchful and will you
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  end up doing what the Pharisee did and that's outright defying.
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  What the word of God is now? Here's what I find interesting,
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  I don't believe the Pharisees would admit that their
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  ideologies, and their Concepts, and their theology rejected.
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  The word of God, no, they praised the prophets, they
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  memorize and esteem the law. They would speak highly of what
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  was delivered by Moses and the psalmist, right?
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  But Jesus, accuses them of rejecting it.
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  Why? Because, in theory, they did
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  that, but in practice, they didn't.
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  In practice, they spurned the Lord and what they were doing
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  and what God clearly laid out in his preserved truth.
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  And that's what many people do today, they claim to honor the
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  Bible. They have beautiful Bibles in
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  their homes. Beautiful Bibles.
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  In their gorgeous artistic buildings.
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  But does it have authority? What's really being taught?
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  What's really being conveyed? What's really being passed down?
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  What's really being delivered? That's the most important
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  question. And Jesus exposes the Pharisees
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  for this by pointing out. One of their misguided practices
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  that they thought and taught as God's will come here to verse
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  10. For Moses said, for Moses said,
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  honor your father, and your mother, and whoever reviles
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  father, or mother must surely die.
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  But you say, if a man tells his father or his mother, whatever
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  you would have gained from me as Corbin, I was given to God then
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  you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or
• 24:06
  mother. Look with me again in verse 10.
• 24:09
  The first two were three words here for Moses said, hold on to
• 24:13
  that. Now, look at verse 11, but you
• 24:17
  say that's the heartbeat of tradition.
• 24:23
  Tradition, the way I gave you. The definition earlier will
• 24:28
  always add or subtract from the word of God.
• 24:32
  Moses said when he says, Moses, he is referring to his
• 24:36
  authorship as given by God Moses said this, but you're saying
• 24:41
  this In Jesus quotes. The fifth commandment as
• 24:48
  inscribed in Exodus 20:12 which deals with honoring your father
• 24:52
  and your mother to remind the Pharisees That it is a lifelong
• 24:57
  call to care for your parents. It's a lifelong responsibility
• 25:03
  for you to look out for those who have taken care of you,
• 25:07
  given birth to you. And even if they didn't
• 25:09
  necessarily treat, you the way you desired to be treated, there
• 25:12
  is still a demand to honor them. And so serious is an Eyes Of God
• 25:17
  that to disobey this kind of a command is worthy of the capital
• 25:20
  punishment. Why is the Lord bringing this
• 25:24
  up? Because one of the traditions of
• 25:25
  the elders is that they would Escape that responsibility by
• 25:30
  claiming that their resources were Corbin.
• 25:36
  Carbon which means as we just heard devoted to God, how would
• 25:39
  this play out? It's very easy.
• 25:40
  Let's say, aged parents needed financial assistance and
• 25:44
  rightfully. So they approach their son or
• 25:46
  their daughter to ask for that kind of an aide.
• 25:50
  If a person wanted to, they could declare that their
• 25:55
  resources have been devoted to God Corbin set apart in
• 26:00
  consecrated. Assuming that it is given over
• 26:03
  to some charitable cause, well, that's a donation to the temple
• 26:06
  or to some local synagogue. The idea here is that because of
• 26:09
  Corbin, you cannot claim this from me even though you're my
• 26:13
  father or my mother. And this is heartbreaking for
• 26:18
  many reasons. And one of the reasons why this
• 26:19
  is a Despicable vow is because although a person would declare
• 26:23
  their finances as korban, there wasn't a requirement for an
• 26:28
  immediate pledge. You didn't have to give that
• 26:32
  money up necessarily to that charitable cause right away.
• 26:34
  You can withhold that money and you can actually do with it as
• 26:38
  you please. The main point of it is that it
• 26:40
  puts a restriction on you of giving up, something that you
• 26:44
  want to hold on for yourself. Even if that something would
• 26:48
  honor God's word and fulfill the fifth commandment and here's
• 26:52
  where it gets extra nasty. Because while you would dedicate
• 26:57
  this, the idea is that you were actually selfishly holding onto
• 27:02
  it while maintaining a form of piety.
• 27:07
  I'm honoring God by doing this. I'm sorry Mom.
• 27:12
  I'm sorry, Dad. I know you're in need, but I'm
• 27:15
  giving what you're asking for to the cause of Yahweh.
• 27:19
  So I cannot help you. Jesus points out this hypocrisy
• 27:25
  and he shows just how deadly tradition can be and that's
• 27:28
  exactly right. You see what tradition does and
• 27:31
  people don't even realize and this is why I'm bringing this to
• 27:34
  you because I want you to feel the heart of Christ here.
• 27:36
  This is not my idea. If you're upset your don't get
• 27:38
  upset with me, get upset with Christ.
• 27:43
  Jesus here, realizes that man. Can so pervert the idea of
• 27:47
  tradition that it literally sucks away, the power of God
• 27:53
  through the word of God, unto salvation and untrue, true,
• 27:56
  sanctification and transformation, that's what
• 27:59
  tradition does. This is why he comes at it with
• 28:03
  such aggression and sternness and Clarity because ultimately
• 28:07
  what it's trying to do is usurp what God had given to us as the
• 28:11
  source of our true godliness. So he deals with it head-on.
• 28:20
  And when you look at the Lord here, you know I realized
• 28:22
  something. So inspiring Do you get any
• 28:26
  impression that Jesus here? Promotes another kind of
• 28:31
  authority apart from the scriptures.
• 28:34
  Do you have any kind of in cleaning, any kind of leaning
• 28:38
  that the Lord is open to the concept that besides scripture,
• 28:42
  you can have a b or c know you don't?
• 28:46
  He keeps eluding to the Commandment of God, he keeps
• 28:48
  pointing back to the word of God.
• 28:49
  And even when they come to their, with their initial
• 28:53
  accusation, Jesus quotes, the word of God when the Sadducees
• 28:56
  approached Jesus about their ideas of the Resurrection.
• 29:00
  And they try to trap Jesus because the Sadducees did not
• 29:02
  hold to an afterlife. You know what Jesus says you
• 29:04
  neither know the scriptures or the power of God.
• 29:08
  It's always the scriptures with Jesus.
• 29:10
  It's always the word of God with the Lord.
• 29:14
  And as a side note may I say this I think it's worth it.
• 29:17
  It may not tie into the theme but it's worth mentioning.
• 29:20
  There's a principle here with the Corbin idea, right?
• 29:22
  We may not use that word korban, but it is a very real Temptation
• 29:26
  for us to dodge our duties to our spouses and to our children.
• 29:31
  In the name of serving, God be careful.
• 29:34
  Be watchful the way that you honor.
• 29:36
  God, one of the strongest ways that you honor, God Is by loving
• 29:40
  your family. Well, loving them very well.
• 29:43
  A lot of people are committing korban.
• 29:44
  Without using the word and their families are starving for love
• 29:47
  and affection and time. And it's all done in the name of
• 29:51
  serving him. But again this is why I'm
• 29:55
  bringing this to you as form of introduction because I want you
• 29:58
  to realize how crucial this is. And you just amended, it's
• 30:03
  clear, right? Jesus, obviously upholds.
• 30:07
  And esteems the scriptures Above All Else, everything else is
• 30:10
  subservient. Everything else surrenders to
• 30:12
  what has been written? That's not how many people feel
• 30:17
  And even in this day the reason why I'm doing this and I and
• 30:19
  that reason why I think it's crucial importance because even
• 30:21
  in our day today there is a great enamel ring with tradition
• 30:25
  these days. You have some people who've come
• 30:28
  from and some of you have come back from a traditional
• 30:31
  background and the Lord, open your eyes to that and you've
• 30:34
  turned away from that. And for some, it's still has a
• 30:37
  clutch on them. And for others especially young
• 30:40
  people today because I believe they're uninformed and they are
• 30:45
  they are lured by a veneer, they are drawn to this concept of
• 30:51
  tradition and what begins to take authority is historicity
• 30:56
  how long something has been going on for and then.
• 31:00
  So you have people turning away from Clear scripture and now
• 31:03
  willing to flirt with Concepts that they think is compatible
• 31:08
  that they think is Is harmless, when in fact is leading you
• 31:11
  down, a path of danger. Great danger.
• 31:14
  And your Doctrine Now, you might not like the direction that
• 31:18
  we're heading into for the next few weeks.
• 31:21
  You might be thinking yourself, brother?
• 31:23
  Why don't you just stick to preaching what we believe why
• 31:26
  touch on what other people believe?
• 31:29
  And I get what you're saying to some degree.
• 31:32
  But can I remind you of the words of Jude?
• 31:35
  Let's turn that before we break bread together.
• 31:37
  Go to Jude chapter Well, there's no chapter Jude 3.
• 31:49
  Jude 3. So pastoral of him, in the first
• 31:58
  word of verse 3, beloved, although I was very eager to
• 32:02
  write to you about our common salvation.
• 32:05
  What does he mean by that? I was, I was looking to
• 32:07
  actually, initially write to you about the elements of the faith
• 32:10
  that you and I share our common salvation.
• 32:13
  What you and I as a Community of Faith whole to as the essentials
• 32:16
  of our faith, I was actually planning to write these things
• 32:19
  to you. And then he goes on to say, I
• 32:22
  found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for
• 32:28
  the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints.
• 32:34
  As a leader Jude felt it necessary to lean into actually
• 32:39
  addressing issues that were challenging the truth.
• 32:43
  And he wanted to train the people to know how to contend
• 32:47
  meaning to defend to fight for. It's a very strong word.
• 32:52
  I want you to know how to contend for the faith and this
• 32:56
  is the part that blessed, blesses me that was once for all
• 32:59
  delivered to the Saints. Once for all it's settled, it's
• 33:04
  done. We're not waiting for extra
• 33:05
  Revelation, we're waiting for God to add to the word of God.
• 33:08
  We're not waiting for God to subtract from, no, no, it's been
• 33:12
  settled and the foundation that concrete is dry.
• 33:17
  Right? The foundation of the Apostles
• 33:19
  and the prophets, according to Ephesians true to, that has been
• 33:22
  determined its once and for all settled.
• 33:27
  But some people don't feel that way.
• 33:30
  They don't feel that way and that's why I'm calling you as
• 33:32
  the Saints of Christchurch to know how to contend and that's
• 33:37
  my intention. I don't know how long we'll stay
• 33:40
  in. This will trust that.
• 33:41
  As God has brought us to Mark chapter 7, he will give us
• 33:45
  exactly what we need for us to be equipped.
• 33:49
  And so as we close, It was very hard for me to give you just a
• 33:55
  brief introduction. You know what a struggle is in
• 33:58
  preaching, at least for me, it's not all.
• 34:00
  How am I going to say this and fill up the time?
• 34:03
  It's how am I going to say this with?
• 34:04
  So little time every week? Pray for me.
• 34:11
  I know maybe there are some questions you have or you feel
• 34:13
  like some things were not complete.
• 34:15
  I'm fully aware of that all I'm doing and all I did it by
• 34:18
  presenting this is to prepare you for where we're headed
• 34:20
  together. Where we're headed together.
• 34:23
  But for now, we turn our attention to the Lord's Supper.
• 34:26
  Not a tradition of man. An ordinance that Jesus Christ
• 34:31
  has given us. That he wants his church to
• 34:34
  honor and honor in a specific way.
• 34:37
  Here's what we're going to do things a little differently.
• 34:39
  Usually we stand we sing. We have you approached the
• 34:43
  table, take the elements, you're seated.
• 34:45
  And then Pastor Daniel Bennett, will provide some meditation
• 34:47
  before we partake, but listen to this order.
• 34:49
  Now we're going to stand, we're going to sing, but then right
• 34:53
  away you're going to be seated, we will have our time of
• 34:56
  meditation and then we will call you for to partake.
• 34:59
  Will give thanks and then we'll eat.
• 35:02
  All right. Let me remind you.
• 35:03
  I'm sure, Daniel. Remind you, that this is an
• 35:05
  ordinance. For the Church of Jesus Christ.
• 35:07
  Those who have given their hearts to the Lord, by faith in
• 35:11
  him. And believing that what he has
• 35:12
  done on the cross is for your salvation, you have repented and
• 35:17
  you have believed And you recognize that this is done in
• 35:21
  remembrance of him. He recognized that it's not by
• 35:23
  your own works. It's not by your own efforts.
• 35:25
  It's not by your own striving that you enter into eternal
• 35:28
  life. But what he has done alone
• 35:29
  through his body, through his blood, if you're a person who
• 35:33
  can't say confidently, that's what I believe in.
• 35:34
  Then we ask you kindly to refrain from participating
• 35:38
  because this is reserved for the children of God, you're more
• 35:41
  than welcome to observe. And as you're observing, I love
• 35:43
  to say this, when you see Christians coming forward to eat
• 35:45
  of this and to partake of this, what you're seeing is people
• 35:48
  walking up up to a revelation and that Revelation is.
• 35:51
  I cannot save myself. What Jesus Christ has done has
• 35:55
  saved me and delivered me. And I am saved based on his
• 35:58
  Merit, not my own and maybe you can come to that realization
• 36:01
  yourself and maybe one day you too can partake of this table
• 36:06
  and so I can invite the pricing to come up at this moment.
• 36:09
  As we prepared to sing, I would like to address the person in
• 36:12
  here who might even in this introduction, who might be
• 36:16
  holding two traditions. Time did not allow me to address
• 36:21
  one of the more popular Traditions that are clearly
• 36:23
  concerning. But what I want to call to you
• 36:27
  to do is ask yourself, what is the authority in my faith?
• 36:31
  What is the authority? Is it the word of God or is it
• 36:35
  the word of God and it can I ask you something?
• 36:38
  Even you Evangelical Believers? Can I ask you something?
• 36:40
  Why is it that you do? What you do?
• 36:42
  Why is it that you believe what you believe?
• 36:46
  Is it because of the word of God is too because it is written.
• 36:49
  Really? What this boils down to is an
• 36:51
  authority issue, and if you think that this is legalistic,
• 36:55
  or if you think that this is nitpicking, or let me give you a
• 36:59
  popular one, if you think that this is divisive, then you think
• 37:02
  Jesus is divisive? Because Jesus cares about the
• 37:07
  truth. And Jesus cares about What
• 37:12
  agrees with the truth and what disagrees with the truth?
• 37:16
  I know it's not popular but I want to please him.
• 37:21
  That's my desire. And if you want to be in the
• 37:23
  truth, if you want to be in the totality of the truth, then
• 37:27
  you'll be concerned about one thing, as you're driving
• 37:30
  motivation. Does this, please my God, Even
• 37:35
  at the expense of offending people that I know even at the
• 37:39
  expense of may be disturbing people that I care about and who
• 37:42
  care about me. You have to determine something.
• 37:46
  Do I want Christ to be, please Above All Else. and if you can
• 37:51
  say yes to this, then you can rejoice in a chapter like, Mark,
• 37:55
  chapter 7, but if you feel offense, they want to ask you to
• 38:01
  step back and wonder why and ask yourself.
• 38:04
  Does my emotional disturbance makes sense according to what
• 38:10
  Christ has said? As we come forward today, as I
• 38:15
  said, it's no mere tradition. It's got inspired.
• 38:20
  Can we stand and sing to the Lord together?