41 Preaching and Teaching: Mark 7-Relationship > Relationship

His Crumbs Satisfy

Relationship > Religion

Intro:

Confessions of a Love Expert Growing Up. I listened to Delilah. Does anyone know who Delilah is-Explain Delilah? I was sitting there in HS listening to Delilah, but there was a problem: I had never even dated a girl, much less talked to a girl. So, how could I be an expert in a relationship with a girl? I was a wannabe love expert.

Then I found myself in a marriage, coming off our honeymoon, so-called honeymoon, and our first fight as a married couple happened. I learned more about relationships in my first week of marriage than listening to Delilah for years.

I learned in a second that knowing about marriage and being married are two completely different things. Marriage is all about relationships.

In the same way Christianity is all about our relationship with God!

Can't we do this in our relationship with God?

We can know a lot about God, but we can miss him completely.

One of our values at RCC is that we value relationships over religion.

Has following Jesus been about a relationship (Knowing God) with you, or have you made it about religion (Knowing about God)?

Religion tells us that we cannot come to church or God unless we are good enough

Religion tells us that some people are too dirty to ever come to God

Religion tells us that we have to earn the love of God

Religion tells us that we are a mistake

Religion tells us that it is okay to live in shame

God wants us to really know him.

There is a difference between knowing about war and experiencing war

There is a difference between knowing about the NBA and playing in the NBA

There is a difference between knowing about parenting and being a parent

There is a difference between knowing about marriage and experiencing marriage

There is a difference between knowing about God and REALLY KNOWING HIM

John 17:3 ““This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

In the same way today, God wants us to experience him through an intimate relationship.

Today I want to give us some truths we must embrace so we can not just KNOW ABOUT GOD but KNOW GOD!

Truth #1

Because KNOWING GOD > Religion we must:

identify legalism (1-13).

Mark 7:1–2 NASB95

The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.

Background-These leaders came all the way down from Jerusalem (90 MI) (No airplanes or cars)-Why is it because they did not like that the disciples did not wash their hands, no it was because they did not like or believe in Jesus as the messiah, they hated his message. Remember the claim he maid in Mark 1:14-15-They wanted to shut this man down.

How to identify Legalism:

a. It adds to what God has already said (3-4)

Mark 7:3–4 NASB95

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)

What is legalism-It is when we add onto the Bible.

Another way of saying it: is when we add onto the finished work of Jesus.

*Funny Picture these disciples just pigging out! What was going on these disciples were acting like typical guys in a locker room, they were eating like slobs.

Exposition-

What God said = If a priest was going to go into the Holy of Holies- They had to wash, like really wash, like a Dr. who is going into a surgery. This priest was going to encounter God and then share the message with everyone. That is what God said.

What the leaders said = Everyone had to wash their hands and everything before they ate and even the utensils. Notice this is not what the Bible said.

There are 613 commandments in the Bible and they wanted to add more.

But not only were they were they adding to what God said they were missing the point of the Law.

Examples of legalism that I have seen:

If you are super old school-You have to be at church every Sunday and Wednesday

You can't dance and be a Christian-When I read that at JBU before I became Christian I thought that was the strangest thing I had ever heard

GOSPEL-WE are not saved by grace alone-even in churches we can teach a false message or imply a false message.

Legalism is all about making ourselves look good in front of others instead of making God look great.

Legalism can keep us from knowing God, what are some ways you are adding onto what God has already said?

How to identify Legalism:

b. When we justify our disobedience to God (8-13).

Mark 7:8–13 ““Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.””

Exposition-They made disobedience sound like it was okay. The people were supposed to honor their father and their mother. That is in the ten commandments.

What are some ways you are disobeying God and you are okay with it?

Maybe it is not spending time with HIm

Maybe it is a secret sin that you have not confessed before God and others

Maybe there is somehting you know God is calling you to and you are just being stubborn and want take that courageous step of faith

one of my gifting is evangelism, that is one of the reasons I have planted this church, but I have not felt like I have just been stepping out courageously, so this last week I started carrying this bridge card. It went awesome: Shared with Danny

Let’s keep it simple, God wants us to love him, love others and make disciples.

Are there some areas of legalism in your life right now that are keeping you from knowing God in a real way?

Truth #2

Because KNOWING GOD > Religion, we must:

Deal with our hearts.

It's funny because you read this passage and can be like Get them, Jesus. Those leaders are way off. And yes, that is true, but now he wants to show us what keeps us from our relationship. We all have a problem.

The leaders had a heart problem (6-7)

Mark 7:6–7 “And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

Isn’t it crazy to thing that the people who knew God’s word were worshipping him in vain.

How to deal with our heart:

We have to stop playing religion (14-19)

Mark 7:14–16 “After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.””

Exposition-Jesus explains the folly in their thinking. Eating and the dietary Law are super important in the Jewish culture. There was a vast difference between Jews and Gentiles.

What you eat does not defile you, the evil that comes out of your heart is what defiles you.

But Jesus is coming to bring his love not just to Jews, not just to Gentiles, but to the world. These leaders were playing games. They were playing religion.

Remember that these leaders were the people the disciples most likely looked to until Jesus; they were the leaders of the Jewish society.

Mark 7:17–18 (NASB95)

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.

And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

I love the question he asks

Are you so Dull? (18)

Are you stupid,

Do you not get it

I AM HERE

There are 613 laws in the Bible!

The rules and laws were not meant to point us away from Jesus but towards him.

The Law's whole intention was to lead us to point us to Jesus.

The whole purpose of the Law was to show us how desperate and sick we are without Jesus.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law-

Jesus fulfilled what we could not.

Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

These leaders were playing games with God.

This had to be hard for Jewish people. A practicing Jewish diet is essential. But these Jews were missing the big picture,

Their diet had become more important than Jesus himself.

What has become more important than Jesus in your life?

The disciples were in danger of being hard-hearted to Jesus as well

Are we not also in danger?

How are you playing games with God?

What areas of your life do you need to take ownership and accountability in?

You know what the worst sin is: a hard heart towards God.

How to deal with our heart:

(21-23)-Don’t run from our problem.

Mark 7:21–23 NASB95

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

The Bible teaches that we are hopeless and helpless to earn the love of God.

This means there is no deed you can do, no service you can perform, and no money you can give that will put you in a better standing with God, making God love you more.

Even though the leaders have a heart problem, we all have a heart problem.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Like these leaders, our sins and struggles keep us from Jesus.

When you read that list, where is your heart struggling?

What hidden sins keep you from the relationship (Knowing God) you were created for?

Mark 1, tells us Jesus came to bring us good news.

"The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."-Tim Keller

Truth #3 Because KNOWING GOD > Religion we must:

never forget His crumbs satisfy (24-30).

Mark 7:24–30 “Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.”

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

Josephus described the people of this region as follows:

“… they are known to have born [sic] the greatest ill will toward us [Jews] …”

Just read this passage observations:

God has always had a heart for the world (He was in Gentile territory) (26)

Lessons from a Gentile in Faith-

She knew their was a problem-Her d

She believed without a doubt that Jesus was the solution for the problem to the point she thougth a little of Jesus was better than a lot of everything else.

Funny Dialogue-

The ironic part is a Gentile is the one who is teaching the established religious people of what it looks like to have faith in Jesus.

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

She implied that the Gentiles need not wait to receive Jesus’ blessings until a later time. They could feed when the children (the Jews) did, namely, during Jesus’ ministry. A little Gentile blessing would not deprive the Jews of what God wanted them to have.

Church today I want us to embrace that our relationship with God > Religion.

The last time I heard Delilah was when I was driving back from seminary with a friend-

I don’t want to know about loving my wife, I want to love her until death do us part.

In the same way let us not be a people that knows about God, let’s be like this Gentile woman who knows God and can point to all the great things God has done, and that God is going to do.

We have Easter coming up..

We talked about three facts we have to embrace if we want to really know God:

Identify Legalism

Deal with our hearts

We have to know his crumbs satisfy