This Week's Sunday School. "The Authority Of The Word, "5/18/2014

THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD

 

Matthew 15:1-20

 

 

V:1. "Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and

   asked"

 A. When you have a question about scripture, the best person to ask is the author of

       the scripture.

      1. Jesus, the author of the Word, is the expert on the Word.

      2. There is no better teacher than Jesus.

      3. There is a Word from the Lord for every situation that presents itself to you.

 B. The doctrines of the world may fit the present time, but not all times.

     1. The doctrines of the Lord's fit all times.

 C. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law came to see Jesus.

     1. You can never know all scripture.

     2. There will always be a need to go to Jesus to fully understand

         scripture.

     3. Your appetite for knowledge should always be fresh. 

  

V: 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

 A. Your motives for coming to Jesus should be pure.

     1. You should not come to Jesus accusing Him of violating His words.

     2. There is no error in the Word.

     3. All scripture is inspired of God.

 B. Your traditions have no authority over the Word.

     1. If there is a conflict between your traditions and the Word, change your

         traditions.

      2. You should not mix tradition with the Word.

  C. The elders, going back to the time of Moses claimed that there were two sets of

       laws  given to Moses on Mount Sinai: one written and one oral.

      They claimed the oral law was handed down from one generation to

       another.  They considered the oral law more important than the written law.

       The oral law became their traditions.

       1. The washing before eating included hands, pots, pans and tables.

       2. They considered external purity more important than spiritual purity.

       3. Their oral traditions were compiled and put in the Jewish Talmud (300 Ad).

       4. Their oral traditions gave them cause to ignore God's commands. 

   

 V:3. " Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your

  tradition? "

 A. Jesus reminds us that our traditions do not over rule God's commands.

     1. The authority is in the Word, not traditions.

     2. There is no power in our traditions.

     3. There is no life in our traditions.

     4. Our traditions keep us trapped in our past.

     5. Anything oral has a way of being changed, updated and misstated as it goes from

         mouth to mouth.

 B. Our traditions do not give us liberty to be disobedient to God's commands.

     1. The reply of Jesus informs us that He has no respect for our traditions.

     2. Conflicts arise in the Church when we get traditions confused with God's

         commands.

 

V:4. " For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or  mother must be put to death."

 A. Jesus corrects us with the Word of God.

    1. We must governed ourselves according to the Word of God and not what we think

         or feel.

    2. The commands of God are the only guide for our daily living.

        a. Following God's commands lead to proper behavior and actions.

        b. Following God's commands lead to success in life.

 B. One of the first commands God gave the Nation of Israel was to honor their

      mothers and fathers. ( Ex 20:12)

      1. To this, God added that any one who curses his father and mother

           should be put to death.     (Ex 21:17)

      2. No tradition, condition or situation can over rule this command.

 

 V:5. "But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might

  otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God," 6 he is not to 'honor his

  father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. "

  A. The Jews made up traditions to make it legal not to follow God's commands.

       1. The intention of this tradition was to claim that something dedicated to God

            could not be given to their parents as a gift.

            a. The reason is that they wanted to keep the gift for themselves.

        2. Our mothers and our fathers are our first love next to the heavenly Father.

        3. We should always be in the mind set of giving back to our parents

             what they need for their survival when they can't supply for themselves.

            a. God did not make this command conditional on our personal likes or

                dislikes.

         4. The honor of our parents assures our own health and long life.

             a. This command from God came with a promise of His favor towards us.

             b. We should be eager to handle this responsibility.

             c. To disregard this command comes with a curse on our lives.

             d. We should honor this command with fear in our hearts.

 

V:7. " You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

 A.  When we say we are following God, but go against his commands we become

       hypocrites.

      1. A  person without the fear in his heart to follow God cannot be trusted.

         a. A person who will not follow God will do anything to protect his interest

             including the neglect of his parents.

      2. It is not what we say that counts. It is what we do that counts.

  B. Nothing we do surprises God, because He knew us long before we were born.

      1. Many religious folk show up to be counted, but have no intentions of being

          accountable.

      2. One of the great tragedies of Christian life is to willfully disobey God's

         commands  and miss out on the great promises of God.

  C. The worst people are those who pretend to be Christians, whose intentions are to

       destroy or disrupt the teaching of the Word of God.  

       1. The Lord calls them hypocrites whose hearts are far from Him.

       2. If your heart is far from the Lord, then it is close to Satan.

       3. The worst teachers are those who pervert the Word to push their own agendas

            to steal the glory from the Lord. 

 

 V:9. " They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."

   A. Our teaching is to the devil when we teach our own traditions and rules.

       1. Our worship is in vain when the Lord is not the center of our hearts.

       2. They that worship the Lord, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

   B. There is no truth in the hearts of man without the Lord.

       1. What seems right to us may be totally wrong when measured by the

            Word of truth.

       2. We can call the Lord in our worship, but not live in praise and

            worship in our daily activities.

       3. It is easy to say we love the Lord, but it takes time and commitment

           to serve the Lord.

       4. If we live by the world, we cannot worship the Lord.

 

V:10. " Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand."

 A. Those who hate the Word of God will have a crowd following them.

     1. Those who pervert the Word will have a crowd following them.

     2. Our souls are to valuable to be lost to the wise of the Devil.

     3. The Devil came to steal, kill and destroy and always disguises himself

          as an angel of light. 

 B. It is only when we get into the Word when we learn to see the devil when

      he shows up in sheep clothing.

    1. In all our getting, we must get and understanding of God's Word.

    2. We can not understand God's Word unless we listen to God's Word.

    3. We must be careful that it is the Word of God that we are listening to.

    4. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were the wrong voice.

        a. They taught the importance of their traditions and not the importance of the

            Word.

        b. You would have thought they were the right voice.

        c. Anyone who teaches from any book but the Bible is not the right voice.

   

V:11. " What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes
  out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean."

 A. The Jews believed that excessive washing kept them clean.

     1.The Lord is not concerned about how clean we are on the outside, but how clean

         our  hearts are.

     2. What goes into the mouth goes into the digestive system and is eventually

          eliminated.

     3. It is what's in the heart that defiles us.

        a. When we focus on evil, we become defiled.

        b. Gradually, our continued focus on evil will lead to evil actions.

        c. We must guard what our minds are exposed to.

   B. Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.

       1. Focusing on the things of God keeps us in tuned with the Spirit of God.

       2. It is our spiritual cleanliness that the Father is concerned about, not our physical

           cleanliness.

   

 V:12. " Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees
  were  offended when they heard this?"

  A. We must not be concerned about hurting someone's feeling when we speak the

       Word of God.

     1. The Word is designed to convict us of our sins.

     2. Unless the truth is told, there will be no improvement in our spiritual life.

 B. It is better to hurt someone's feelings, than to let them continue down the road of

      destruction.

     1. We can not consider the good of God without considering our sins.

     2. We can not pursue the blessings of God without ridding ourselves of our sins.

     3. If we love someone, we will point out their sins so they can improve.

 

 V:13. " He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be  
   pulled up by the roots."

 A. There are those who know the truth, but will not follow the truth.

      1. There are those who know God's commands, who willfully disobey His

         commands.

      2. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law knew the truth, but they had no

           intentions  of being truthful.

 B. God did not plant the teachers who teach lies and deceptions.

     1. God did not plant the teachers who use the Word to benefit themselves.

     2. God did not plant the teachers, who abuse, misuse and oppress others.

 C. Those who preach a Gospel other than Jesus Christ will be uprooted and thrown

      into the lake of fire.

 

 V:14. " Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will

  fall into a pit."

 A. Those who mislead others are blinded to the truth and blinded by their own  

      disobedience.

   1. We are responsible for being good stewards of the Word of God.

   2. If we are not teaching the Word correctly, we will lead others in the wrong

       direction.

   3. God holds us accountable of how we handle His Word.

 B. Those who don't have an understanding of the Word, need someone who studies

      the  Word to gain an understanding.

    1. Every believer is a minister of God.

    2. Every believer has an obligation and a duty to study God's Word.

 

V:15. " Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."

 A. Those who study the Word need more study time.

     1. We never get to the point where we know everything there is to know about

          God's Word.

     2. No matter how long we study a passage of scripture, there is probably more to be

         learned about that passage.

     3. Continued study brings more questions.

 B. Every believer has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

    1. One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to teach us  the Word of God.

    2. As we study and meditate on God's Word, the Holy Spirit enlightens us to a

       greater  understanding of the Word.

    3. Our study of the Word is not just for us.

        a. The purpose of our study is to help others get an understanding.

        b. Peter asked Jesus to help him and the other disciples to understand His Word.

        c. We have to go in prayer and ask Jesus to explain the Word to us.  

 

 V:16 "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them."

  A. Sometimes we are hard of hearing because we are blinded by our desire to please

       family and friend.

      1. It seems to me that there was a desire to be popular with those who held the local

          authority.

      2. Trying to be popular is a hindrance to preaching the truth.

      3. If we try to structure our teaching so that the crowd will not have their feelings

          hurt, the teaching will be in vain.

  B. Whatever hindrance there is to the study of God's Word must be moved aside,

        otherwise our hearing will be dull.

 

 V:17. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then

    out  of the body?"

  A. Jesus understands that there are some subjects that must be reviewed more to get a

       proper understanding.

      1. Jesus had already considered the subject of spiritual purity verses physical

           purity.

      2. No matter how clean you are on the outside, it does not affect how clean you are

          on the inside.

   B. The Jews practiced physical purity, but were messed up on the inside.

       1. They were dressed up on the outside, but there was nothing of value on the

            inside.

       2. When we eat, the body extracts what it needs and cast out the rest.

   C. The body is so designed that it can handle the dirt that enters  through the mouth.

       1. The body has an active cleansing and immune system that handles outside dirt.

       2. Our Spiritual immune system is our desire to be obedient to God's commands.

           a. When we know the Word, we can filter out the dirt.

           b. When the dirt pop's up in our mind, we can recognize it as dirt and cast it

               out. 

 

 V:18. " But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man  unclean."

 A. It is a heart cleaning that we need.

      1. We have to clean out all the junk that has accumulated in our hearts and replace

          it  with the Word of God.

      2. Out of the heart flows the issues of life.

      3. If there is junk in the heart, that is what will flow out.

      4. If the Word is in the heart, that is what will flow out.

 B. God designed a clean heart for us.

     1. We allow our clean hearts to be made unclean with the world's influence.

     2. The world's influence is all around us.

     3. Our defense to the world's influence is the Word of God.

 

 V:19. " For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,

    theft, false testimony, slander."

  A. These evil thoughts got into the heart because by ourselves we are unable to block

       them out.

      1. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to block out evil thoughts from the

           heart.

      2. We were born in the flesh, born in sin and naturally susceptible to evil thoughts.

 B. God the Father sent His Son  to redeem us from the power of sin.

     1. He is able to create in us a clean heart.

     2. Any man in Christ is a new creation.

         a. This new creation is equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to resist evil

              thoughts.

         b. In Philippians 4:8, God gave us the recipe for a clean heart.

           

            " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

               whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is

               excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. "

         c. It is what you think about and how you think that makes you unclean.

 

V:20. " These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not

  make him unclean."

  A. As God told Peter "What I make clean is clean" (Acts 11:8-9)  God made all the

       foods of the earth for man's consumption. 

     1. It is man that makes up and impose rules that God has not commanded.

     2. It is because of our lack of knowledge of scripture that we are fooled into

         believing that what man said is God's commands.

  B. A clean body will not get you into heaven.

      1. A clean heart will open the door to heaven for you.

      2. It is by the blood of Jesus that we are washed clean to enter into heaven.