Chapter 56
GOD’S WAY OR MAN’S WAY
Matthew 15:13-14
We begin our study with the following prayer,
Dear Heavenly Father, Almighty God,
We come before You in the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Father we ask You to please open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts so we can truly see, hear, and receive Your instruction. Holy Father please do not allow us to be only hearers of Your Word but please move upon us and cause us to be doers of Your Word. We ask this so that Your light, the light of the Holy Spirit, will shine through us and thus bring glory and honor to Your holy Name.
Amen
INTRODUCTION
We begin our study by reading the following verse from the theme of this chapter. Specifically, let us read from,
Matthew 15:13
[13] But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
To better understand the meaning and depth of what Jesus said in the above verse, it is best that we first review the context or setting under which He gave it. To accomplish this, we will briefly review what was covered in the previous two chapters, which are chapters 54 and 55. To do this, we will review two observations Jesus made concerning the teaching and attitude of the Pharisees and Scribes.
First, Jesus told the Pharisees and the scribes that by teaching the people to first obligate their finances for the support of the Temple and its ministers, they in effect were teaching them to transgress God’s commandment to honor their father and mother. To refresh our memories let us read from,
Matthew 15:1-6
[1] Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, [2] “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” [3] He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? [4] For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.” [5] But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— [6] then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
After pointing out that this manmade law and tradition violated God’s command to honor their father and mother, Jesus pointed out that their actions and state of their hearts were previously foretold through the prophet Isaiah. To read what Jesus quoted to them we go to,
Matthew 15:7-9
[7] “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: [8] ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. [9] And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Jesus’ second observation was made after He finished quoting Isaiah to the scribes and Pharisees. This time He addressed the issue of eating with unwashed hands. To read what He said we go to,
Matthew 15:10-11
[10] When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: [11] Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Upon hearing all what Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes, His disciples told Jesus that these elders were offended by His accusations. To read what His disciples said and Jesus response, we go to,
Matthew 15:12-13
[12] Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”[13] But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.”
Thus, Jesus is teaching us that whatever was or is not of God will eventually be rooted up and destroyed. To expand upon this a bit more we will,
1. Review two Old Testament examples of what God did to root out that which was not planted by Him.
2. Review the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
3. Review two New Testament exhortations.
With the above introduction in mind let us now begin by reviewing,
TWO OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES
To do this, we will review the following examples of: (1) The use of unauthorized fire for the burning of incense, and (2) The defilement of the Old Testament Temple with foreign and/or strange gods.
We begin with the example of,
UNAUTHORIZED FIRE
When God instituted the Ceremonial Law, He gave very specific instructions, and commands on how the Israelites were to implement and perform the various sacrifices, festivals and Temple activities. In addition, He gave instruction for the fire that was to be used for the Table of Incense and the burnt offerings. To see this, let us first read how the Table of Incense was to be built and where it was to be placed. To do we go to the
Construction of the Table of Incense
To do this let us read from,
Exodus 30:1-6
[1] “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. [2] A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. [3] And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. [4] Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. [5] You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. [6] And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
The Table of Incense was to be set before the veil that was in front of the Ark of the Covenant. On top of the Ark of the Covenant was the Mercy Seat. This is where God would meet them. This is also recorded in,
Exodus 25:22
[22] And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
In the New Testament we discover that the burning of incense was symbolic of the people’s prayers to God. This is recorded in,
Revelation 5:8
[8] Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Thus, the picture we have before us is that the Table of Incense was placed inside the Holy Temple right in front of the veil or curtain. Behind the veil/curtain, on top of the Ark of the Covenant and Mercy Seat, was the place where the Presence of God resided. The incense, symbolic of the people’s prayers, was offered to God upon this table/altar.
With this in mind, let us now read God’s specific instruction for the,
Use of the Table of Incense
To do this we return to Exodus and read from,
Exodus 30:7-10
[7] “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it.[8] And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. [9] You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. [10] And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
Let us notice the following verses,
7 … Each morning Aaron or his successor of the High Priesthood was to burn the incense, which represented the prayers of the people of Israel.
8 … Aaron or his successor was also instructed to burn incense at twilight. Thus, the incense was to be burning throughout the day and night.
9 … The incense was to be a specific blend of spices (Exodus 30:34-38).
10 … Once each year, atonement was to be made to purify the table.
Let us now read God’s command for the,
Burnt Offerings
For this study we will limit our reading to,
Leviticus 6:8-13
[8] Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, [9] “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. [10] And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. [11] Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. [12] And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. [13] A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
Notice that throughout the above set of Scriptures the Lord repeats over and over again that the fire was not to burn out. Specifically, the priests were to be sure to always keep the fire on the altar burning.
In reflecting upon the fact that God instructed the priests to not offer strange fire upon the altar of incense and that the fire on the altar of burnt offering was never to be extinguished, the question arises as to; “Why not let it go out?” The answer is that the fire to be used on the Table of Incense and the Table of the Burnt Offering was the fire God sent down from Heaven.
To see this, let us recall that after the Temple or Tent of Meeting, along with all of its furnishings was built, Moses consecrated Aaron and his sons to be priests for God. Immediately after their consecration, Aaron and his sons offered the required offerings for the people. When they completed this task, God sent fire down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. This incredible event is recorded for us in,
Leviticus 9:24
[24] and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
This was the authorized fire to be used for the Table of Incense and for the Table of the Burnt Offering. Specifically, no other fire was to be used for the burning of incense or the burnt offerings. Consequently, the fires on both tables were never allowed to be extinguished.
Unfortunately, it was not very long after this event that Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, decided to take matter into their own hands and use ordinary fire in their incense lamps. To read this and what happened we go to,
Leviticus 10:1-3
[1] Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. [2] So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. [3] And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’”
So Aaron held his peace.
Let us notice the following verses,
1 … Nadab and Abihu completely disregarded God’s specific commands. Instead, they did not offer the incense on the Table of Incense nor did they use authorized fire. In other words, they did it their own way; not God’s way.
2 … Consequently, God rooted out the fire and those who were attempting to establish their own way of worshipping Him.
3 … God must be recognized and regarded as holy and be glorified.
Our second Old Testament example is that of,
FOREIGN OR STRANGE GODS
God made it very clear that we are not to worship or follow strange gods.
To read what He said let us go to,
Exodus 20:1-6
[1] And God spoke all these words, saying: [2] “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [3] “You shall have no other gods before Me. [4] “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; [5] you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, [6] but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Unfortunately, it was not too long after God gave these commandments that the nation of Israel began to slip away from their pure and undivided worship of God and fell into idolatry. They even polluted the Temple with many handmade idols or statues that were fashioned to represent various gods to venerate. Finally, God anointed Jehu, the son of the Jehoshaphat, to be king over Israel. God also commanded Jehu to root out the evil. We find this in,
2 Kings 9:1-8a
[1] And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Get yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead. [2] Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among his associates, and take him to an inner room. [3] Then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and flee, and do not delay.” [4] So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. [5] And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.” Jehu said, “For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, Commander.” [6] Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. [7] You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. [8a] For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; …]
In 2 Kings 10:1-30, we find that Jehu was obedient to God’s command and wiped out King Ahab, Jezebel, their sons and all the followers of Baal and other false gods. In other words, God, through Jehu, rooted out all those who were attempting to replace Him with man’s false gods and forms of worship.
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
With the above Old Testament examples in mind, we now come to read the message and warning for us. Before we explore this, let us remember Jesus Christ came to extend to us God’s Grace and Truth. Thus, we are no longer under the Old Testament covenant of sacrifices, feasts, and Temple services. This is recorded in the following excerpt from the Gospel according to John.
John 1:14-17
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. [15] John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” [16] And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
To expand upon this new covenant let us read the following Scriptures,
Titus 3:3-6
[3] For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. [4] But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, [5] not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Let us notice the following verses,
3 …All of us, at one time or another, followed and obeyed our own selfish desires and foolishness.
4-6 … God the Son, Jesus Christ, came to save us from our sins and foolishness. He came not because of any acts or works of righteousness we may have performed. No, God our Savior came because of His love for us.
So our sins would be forgiven, Jesus was crucified, died, buried, and rose again to life. Thus, Jesus Christ made atonement between us and God the Father. In addition, to those who believe and accept this, He also sent God the Holy Spirit to live and dwell within us. It is the Holy Spirit who washes us and renews us to a new life in Jesus Christ.
Let us move on and read from,
Titus 3:7-9
[7] that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [8] This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. [9] But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
Let us now review the following verses,
7 … Now that we are justified or made righteous by God’s Grace, we became heirs of eternal life with Him.
8 … Consequently, we are to be careful to maintain doing good works.
To expand upon this we go to,
Romans 6:13-14
[13] And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. [14] For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
We now move on to the issue of those who teach and accept a manmade version of the Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, we will now explore,
TWO EXHORTATIONS TO REMAIN FAITHFUL TO GOD
The first exhortation concerns the issue of,
A FALSE GOSPEL
In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit condemns those who teach others a different or non-Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ. This may include but certainly not be limited to a teaching that insists that to be saved, we must follow the law and its demands, such as the Law of Foods, circumcision, observe holy days, etc. To receive a flavor of how God views this type of teaching, let us read what the Holy Spirit wrote, through the hand of Paul, to the church in Galatia. To do this, we go to,
Galatians 1:6-9
[6] I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, [7] which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. [9] As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Let us notice the following verses,
6 … The Apostle Paul was stunned at how quickly some people in the church of Galatia were turning away from the pure and simple faith in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for them upon the cross. As we will see later in the letter to the Colossians, some of these people were including in their worship and teachings various works of law and methods to try and justify themselves before God. In essence, this type of teaching and action attempts to take away the glory God has in extending to us His Grace and Mercy. To see this let us consider what the Apostle Paul said with respect to his teaching and behavior. To do that let us read from,
Galatians 2:21
[21] I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Let us now return to chapter 1 of Galatians and review verses,
8-9 … God the Holy Spirit specifically said that those who teach and/or accept a false gospel, will be accursed, which is the rooting out. This false teaching or doctrine is so serious that it is repeated it two times.
With the above condemnation in mind let us read the following exhortation to remain steadfast in our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:16-19
[16] So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, [17] which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. [18] Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, [19] and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
Let us notice the following verses,
16-17 … We are not to be enticed into serving or complying with the Old Testament Ceremonial Laws that were shadows or a foreshadowing that pointed to the arrival of Jesus Christ.
18a … Let us be careful to not be enticed to try and make ourselves holy by pretending to be humble. We must never forget that we are sinners and it is only through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit are we made truly humble.
18b-19 … Even though we may not feel worthy to worship and pray directly to God, we are not to worship or pray to angels or other entities, such as people who have passed away.
Let us not forget that only Jesus Christ is our mediator or High Priest between us and God the Father. Consequently, in prayer and worship we, in Jesus’ name, are to come directly to God the Father. It is noted that by trying to go to God the Father through any other person or being is not only an insult to Jesus Christ and the sufferings He went through for our sake, but it is also a rejection of God’s commands and ways.
We now move on and read from,
Colossians 2:20-23
[20] Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— [21] “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” [22] which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? [23] These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Let us notice the following verses,
20-22 … In other words, now that we have been born again in the Holy Spirit, “Are we still trying to justify ourselves by complying with worldly or earthly traditions, such as do not touch, do not taste or do not handle?” Remember, these things are all according to the elementary teachings, traditions and doctrines imposed by man.
23 … We must never forget that all these manmade traditions are of no value or have power to prevent us from sinning.
Let us now continue our reading in Paul’s letter to the Colossians and read what we are to do and the promised reward. It is given in,
Colossians 3:1-4
[1] If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. [2] Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. [3] For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Let us now move on to the issue of,
A COUNTERFEIT JESUS
To read what the Holy Spirit has to say to those who attempt to bring into the church a false or a counterfeit Jesus, we go to,
2 John 7-11
[7] For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. [8] Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. [9] Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. [10] If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; [11] for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
Let us notice the following verses,
7 … Anyone who denies the fact that God the Son, Jesus Christ, came in the body of a man is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8-9a … Whoever does not remain faithful to the Bible’s teaching about Jesus Christ, that is who He truly is and what He has done for us, does not have God.
9b … He who remains faithful to the Biblical doctrine of Christ, has both the Father and the Son.
10-11 … The Holy Spirit tells us to not receive, into our home that is to accept, teachings contrary to the Biblical teaching of who Jesus Christ really is. This does not mean we are to avoid associations with non-believers. But, it does mean we are not to accept their non-Biblical views, teachings or philosophies of who Jesus Christ is.
SUMMARY
Just as God sent Jehu to root out or destroy those who basically destroyed the Old Testament Temple of God and the people who worshiped false gods, He will also destroy those who try to defile the New Testament Temple of God, which are the born-again believers in Jesus Christ.
To see this let us read from,
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
[16] Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? [17] If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
CLOSING
After reflecting upon what we have covered, the question arises as to: “Is there anything or any action we should take against those who are teaching a false gospel or a counterfeit Jesus?”
Jesus gave us the answer to this question when He spoke to His disciples about the issue of the washing of hands. His instruction for them and now for us is provided in,
Matthew 15:14
[14] Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
This does not mean we should not pray for them. To see this, we go to,
1 Timothy 2:1-4
[1] Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, [2] for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. [3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It also does not mean that when asked, we are not to share the reason for our faith. To see this let us read from,
1 Peter 3:15-16
[15] But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; [16] having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
Shall We Pray?