| Mark 6-10 Continued...
Mark 7:1-37
"Turn in your Bibles if you would to Mark
chapter 7. Let's say one more word of prayer as we read God's
Word and look at God's Word together. 'Father we know your
Word goes out and it doesn't return void. So give us hearts
to receive your Word. Give us ears to hear. Give us understanding
God, I pray, in Jesus name. And please speak to us Lord, and
for those that maybe have never heard your voice before, I
pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit that they would
clearly hear you this morning. But Lord, thank you, and just
please Holy Spirit move amongst us, speak to us. We certainly
desperately need you. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.'
I was speaking with a Calvary Chapel pastor recently, and
this particular pastor pastors a large church, and he was
sharing with me just his heart, how he feels so unworthy to
do what he does. Not that being a pastor is necessarily anything
special. But he was just explaining how he feels very unworthy.
And expressing concern with some ministers, at least from
his perspective, but best that he can tell, that they don't
seem to, well they, they seem to think anyway, by the way
they appear, that they deserve the blessing of God and that
they deserve or they've accomplished with their church or
something. And he says, "You know, I feel so unworthy. And
I'm just concerned for these other folks who don't really
seem that way." And you know in my life there's times where
God just reminds me how unworthy I am, just of His love and
of His blessing. I really haven't accomplished anything good
in and of myself. I don't deserve anything. Yet God for some
reason, all because of his love has blessed my life, and certainly
our lives here this morning.
I've been reading through the book of Exodus, and you know,
you come, as you're reading through the book of Exodus, you
come with the Israelites from Egypt and through the Red Sea
and you come into the wilderness. And early on God begins
to set up his methods of dealing with his people. He set these
people apart, the Israelites. And early on in the wilderness,
it's only been a short time, God appears to them in Mount
Sinai and he is showing the people that he is the true and
living God. So he appears, and there is smoke and there's
fire, and there's thundering on top of this Mount Sinai, and
the people are in the wilderness below and they are in great
fear as you remember the story. They even say to Moses, "Hey,
Moses. We don't want to have God speak to us directly, because
it's fearful to even hear his voice. We want you to speak
with him, and we want you to come and tell us all the things
he's told you." We also see there that Moses goes up and spends
some time with God, and God begins to just give him the Law,
and this is right in the very beginning, just a few weeks
out of the Red Sea.
I was reading this last week in the part of the Law, that
first experience with Moses up on Mount Sinai with God where
God even begins to institute the sacrifices, you know, the
sacrifices of the lambs, and the bulls--all these sacrifices,
and even makes a comment that they're going to be a continual
thing forever with his people, of course pointing ultimately
to Jesus Christ. You know, I was reading that, and as you
do sometimes, you like--'man this is gory stuff'--and it seems
kind of bizarre sometimes. You read, you know, here's the
worship of God, and here's all this blood and all these dead
animals. I was thinking about the priests, all they had to
go through, all these days of just going in and taking these
animals and killing them and pulling out their insides as
God had commanded, and taking the fat off from the liver and
fat from different parts and burning it. And I was like, 'That's
just gory, you know.' Maybe you would think the same, I don't
know. Maybe you enjoy that stuff. I thought it was gory. You
know, worship for us is a lot different. On the other side
of the Cross we come and sit comfortably with air conditioning,
bagels and coffee upstairs, and great worship songs to worship
God with. And there's a reason for that. But you know, you
ask, 'Why such the gory scene, why the gory sacrifices?' And
as you think about that and you read that, you're like, 'Wow.'
It really speaks of the holiness of God--how holy God is.
In order for him to set apart these Israelites as his people
it required that all these bulls, all these animals continuously
to be sacrificed because of their sin. God is just so far
above them, he is so holy, yet they're sinners, we are sinners.
And, as you read through that you consider that you're just
like in awe of what was required, fellowshipping with God.
Now when God had communion with the people of Israel, they
still had the veil. You know the last song we sang this morning,
'God, we want to enter the Holy of Holies.' We want to go
right through, past that veil, right to your presence, past
the brazen altar. But you read, with the people of Israel,
they weren't able to do that. Only the priests could do that.
But God was so Holy and he was showing them how Holy he was,
and how far they were from that, just the distance between
God and man, and what was required temporarily, to have that
type of relationship with him, ultimately pointing to the
Cross--and the work that ultimately God had to do for you
and I to have a relationship with him. And, you know, I was
reading that, and I was like, 'Lord, I'm just so unworthy.
I see all the gore, I see all the blood, and I know that's
required for me too, just the blood of your Son because of
who I am and what I've done. You're a Holy God, a Holy and
awesome God.' You know, there's a passage that's repeated
multiple times in the Bible. Whenever something is repeated
multiple times, God is emphasizing a truth he wants us to
know. His truth, of course, is throughout the Bible. But these
specific words are repeated three times, summarized another
time, in Psalm 14, Psalm 53, I don't know if you've noticed--it's
like the same psalm. You're like 'Wait a minute here. Did
someone just copy this Psalm a second time?' Almost verbatim,
I think they are the same Psalm. And then Paul quotes that,
those Psalms written by David. He quotes that in Romans chapter
3, he says, "There is none righteous, no not one. There is
none righteous, not a single one. There is none who understands,
there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside,
they have all together become unprofitable. There is none
who does good, no not one." The Bible says very clearly, there's
not a man or a woman, child that has ever lived that has ever
done good, because of our condition. And you read through
the book of Exodus, and you see the gore and the blood and
that just says that God is Holy, and we are far from that.
We are so unworthy as people. Now I'm not trying to make you
feel guilty. But there is a truth as we go to Mark chapter
seven that we will see. Solomon declared the same. He said
"And there's not a just man on earth who does good and does
not sin." There's not a just man, we are all unworthy before
a Holy and Righteous God. You know, you read through the book
of Exodus, you consider all this, but then you look at America
today [this sermon given 07.11.99], you look even at the church
today in America. It seems there is a very different attitude,
there's a very different understanding. I'm amazed to see
how highly people think of themselves, especially in America
as we stand on our successes and our achievements and our
wealth, as if we've achieved something, as if we have some
kind of favor before God, as if we've something special. I
think we need to consider the Psalmist in Psalm chapter 49.
The Psalmist wrote this. "Those who trust in their wealth
and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can
by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom
for him, for the redemption of the souls is costly." He says,
'You know, the rich, those that have all this accomplishment,
those that trust in their own works, and their accomplishment,
what are they going to do about the grave?'--is what the psalmist
says. What are they going to do to redeem their own soul or
soul of their brother. They can't do anything, because it's
too costly for any man to pay for that, to redeem the soul
from the grave. Today, many people boast of wealth and accomplishment,
but you know, the grave is still right around the corner,
still waiting. Not a whole lot they can do about the grave,
not a whole lot man can do about the grave. "Who can pay the
price to redeem their own soul or their brother's soul?"--the
Psalmist says. He says, "No one, it's too costly." Well then,
the Psalmist goes a little bit further. He says, "This is
the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who
approve their sayings." The N.I.V. says "This is the way of
those that trust in themselves. Like sheep they've laid in
the grave. Death shall feed on them. The upright shall have
dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall
be consumed in the grave far from their dwelling." He says,
'That's where it's going.' All those that trust in themselves
today that look one way, the grave is still there, just waiting,
waiting for them. I was, a couple weeks ago, was in a graveyard,
as I was invited to go to a funeral in New York. And I went
to this funeral service, and this service was in a church
of course. And there was a good crowd of people, and at the
end of that--I had to run to the boys room, and I went to
the boys room--and all of the cars had left to go to the graveside,
you know, the little service there in the cemetery. And because
I had to make that special little trip I was left behind and
I went on my own to go to the cemetery, and got there late.
And you know how cemeteries are, they got the little tote-road
that goes through it, and with all the cars that went, that
little road was backed up for quite a ways. So I had to park
behind a long line of cars quite a ways from the graveside.
And you know funerals, they kind of get you thinking about
things, about the reality of the situation. So I was walking
through this cemetery looking at these tombstones and reading
the names, some of the dates. Some of the dates were old,
some weren't so old. Some had the birth date and didn't have
the death date, evidently because the person hadn't died yet.
And just considering that, and on the way back I was able
to do the same, as they buried this person. As I was walking
I was just thinking, you know, "Lord, this is where I'm going
if Jesus tarries, if he tarries for another X-number of years,
this is where I'm going, as far as life today the way I know
it." I know I have eternal life in Christ. But as far as the
body, this George right here today, this is where I'm going,
I'm returning to dust. I'm going to be seen, basically, if
Jesus tarries, as just a name on a tombstone. In some cases
the tombstones say a little bit more about the individual
and in some cases they don't. And as I was walking and thinking
that, I just said a prayer, a prayer I've said before. I said,
'You know Lord, I don't want to be remembered for something
foolish that I've done, I don't want to be remembered for
worldly achievements. There's only one thing that matters,
and it's serving you, you're the only thing that matters.
This is clear, look at the tombstones. The only thing that
matters in life is God. I want to be remembered as a man--if
anybody does remember me, if there's anything extra on the
tombstone--as a man that walked with you, that was used in
your hand as an instrument.' But that's the reality of the
situation, isn't it? That's where we're all going. Not to
many people have gotten out of that one yet. If Jesus tarries
much longer that's where we all go, every one of us, to the
grave, to the tomb. And what are we gonna live for? What are
we going to do with our lives? What are we going to be remembered
for? You know, time is short, it's so short.
Well, I considered these things, I considered 'Lord, you've
blessed my life so much, I don't deserve a single thing I
have. I am so unworthy. I considered the things that I've
done, the sin that I've committed all through my life, what
I get and I've gotten from you God I just don't deserve. What
I deserve I'm very glad I don't get, that you're not giving
it to me some of the things I deserve for what I've done.'
But I am unworthy. You know, if I got what I deserved, I would
be there in that graveyard in that cemetery that I was in
a couple weeks ago--I would be there in fear, considering
what was ahead of me. But fortunately because of the grace
of God... You know, Psalm 49 that Psalmist continues and I
can shout out with the Psalmist in Psalm 49:15, he says, all
that about those who trust in themselves and then he says,
"But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave...for
he shall receive me." That's what he says. He says, "And God
shall redeem my soul from the power of the grave." And that
is the only way any of us are gonna get beyond the grave,
by the power of God. You look in Exodus, you read about the
sacrifices, you see a Holy God and you see a sinful man. But
the Psalmist cries out, 'Im gonna get past the grave because
of God.' And so, I can say that this morning, and so can many
of us here. You know, we're going to be reminded a little
bit later in Mark chapter 10, verse 45, "For even the Son
of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his
life a ransom for many." You know the Psalmist in Psalm 49
says, you know, 'Who can pay the ransom?' Nobody can pay the
ransom for themselves. But Jesus came and he paid that price
to redeem us. He paid that ransom, we were captive. He came
to set us free, captive to the grave. All that says to you
and I, God is a God of incredible love. The height to God,
the depth to us, the distance between the two is so great.
God is a God of incredible love, incredible compassion, incredible
mercy, incredible grace. Truly understanding his love, truly
understanding that has an effect on our attitude. Understanding
how God loves me, understanding how far he had to go to save
me. And Paul says something about that attitude that you and
I should have in Philippeans chapter 2, he says, "Let nothing
be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness
of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. But
each of you look out not only for his own interests but also
for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God [cf.
John 1:1-11] did not consider it robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of
a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being
found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became
obedient to the death, even the death of the cross."
We're going to see in Mark chapter 7, as we look this week,
and this is kind of the backdrop for these things that I've
talked about. Mark 7:1-24. "Then the Pharisees and
some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from
Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread
with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they
wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of
the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not
eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which
they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers,
copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes
asked Him, 'Why do Your disciples not walk according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?'
He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of
you hypocrites, as it is written:
'This people honors Me with their
lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship
Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
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