February 1928
112
B u s i n e s s
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K i n g ’ s
tion never atone for impurities and un holiness in heart and life. One o f the traditions o f the elders to which they pugnaciously held, was that of the washing o f hands and vessels, etc. It was, on this point that they attacked the conduct o f Christ’s disciples. Jesus and His disciples did not conform to the con ventionalities of His day, which had long since been taken out o f the category of customs and had been elevated to a place o f religious sanction. Vs. 3, 4. “ {For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders', and when they come from the marketplace, except they bathe themselves, they eat not; and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings o f cups, and pots, and brasen vessels.)” Unconsciously one accepts the traditions of the past and becomes bound by the same before He realizes his sad condition. Such was the condition of the Jews in the days of Christ. It behooves one, so to speak, to take an inventory not only o f his private devotional life, but also o f his system o f faith or doctrine.
it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts o f men." To gather in an assembly and to engage in certain acts of public worship, while the heart and mind are centered upon things foreign to God’s worship, is an abomination in the sight o f God. God seeks only those to worship Him who will worship in spirit and in truth (Jno. 4: 23, 24). Each worshiper bears a special relationship to God Who knows the thoughts, plans and purposes of the heart. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that each one come with pure heart in full assurance o f faith and with the purest sin cerity when he approaches the Lord in any act of worship; otherwise the worship is; not acceptable. Furthermore,^ worship which is engaged in and which is accord ing to the pursuits and doctrines o f men, is likewise unacceptable to Gpd. There fore, it behooves each one to search for himself in the Word of God what is the ^ truth and to walk humbly in the way as directed in the Word o f God. V. 8 . Sad to say, the Pharisees had ac tually left the commandment of God and were observing the traditions of men. It is quite possible that many are doing the same thing today. V. 9. “And H e said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandntent o f God, that ye may keep your tradition." His critics, instead o f being able to point definitely to an error in Jesus and His disciples, were the ones who were in se rious spiritual danger. They ha.d com pletely rejeçted the Word o f God in order that they might hold to the traditions of the elders. This charge, however, does not imply that they had done so with ma licious intent, but only that they had done it. Vs. 10-13. "For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death : but ye say, I f a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been prof ited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God; ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother; mak ing void the word o f God by your tradi tion, which ye have delivered : and many such like things ye do.” In this quo tation Jesus gave a very forceful ex ample of the charge which He made against them. To honor father and mother is to respect them and give weight and consideration to their wishes and desires as well as to their instruction. The orig inal Hebrew word translated “honor” is thé verb which corresponds to the word that is frequently used to refer to the glory o f God. This command not only means to respect and honor them but also to assist them in a material way when it becomes necessary. In order to avoid this God-imposed responsibility the Pharisees made a law that should one take that with which he should support mother and fa ther and offer it as a gift to God, he would be released from the duty imposed by the command. By this law the Pharisees had made null and void the Word o f God. God prefers obedience to sacrifice (1 Sam. 15). In the modern world in which we are living, this command has grown out of date, unfortunately. The younger genera tion seem to have lost all respect for the authority of parents and seem to feel thai
In some o f the coalmining sections, a little white flower is often found which has a peculiar characteristic. Although coal dust settles upon it continually, it remains perfectly white. It gives off a secretion which causes the dust to slide off as fast as it settles. Thus the soul that is rooted in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, has the power to remain unsullied in the midst o f the blackest sur roundings. ife TF'EEP thy heart with all diligence; for out o f it are the issues o f life" (Prov. 4:23). The thoughts o f one’s' heart express themselves in outward acts of love or hatred, kindness or unkind ness, obedience or d i s o b e d i e nee, etc. First, the thought ap pears in the mind which later expresses itself in action; ac tions develop into habits; habits crystal lize into character; and finally character determines destiny. Jesus, according to Matt. 15:18-20, teaches the same lesson. In keeping with this thought is the prayer of David, Psa. 8 6 : 1 1 : " Unite my name," i.e., assist me in concentrating all o f the powers o f my being upon God so as to worship Him in an acceptable man ner and to walk before Him in a way that will glorify and honor Him. There fore, it is o f the utmost importance that one, by the power o f the Holy Spirit, keep his heart and not allow Satan to cross the sacred threshold o f the same. 7 :l-2. “And there are gathered to gether unto him the Pharisees, and cer tain of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some o f his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands." These verses speak o f the. occurrence which transpired a lit tle after the third Passover in our Lord’s ministry of which one reads in Jno. 6 ; hence it was near the beginning o f the last year o f His personal ministry. The event immediately preceding it was the feeding o f the five thousand on the north eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, after which Jesus returned to the western shore, and upon reaching there He was greeted by a deputation of Scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem. One recalls how, at the beginning o f His personal ministry, Jesus incurred the displeasure of the ruling re ligious leaders at Jerusalem, because the multitudes flocked after Him and disre garded their leadership and instruction. This jealousy, therefore, was of two years’ standing.and seems to have become chron ic; hence they sought every opportunity and never allowed any occasion of op posing Jesus and discrediting Him in the eyes o f the multitudes, to pass. Jealousy makes even good men miserable and wretched and often drives them to do thjngs which otherwise they would never think o f doing. Should jealousy, dear reader, arise in your heart, by the grace of God and by the strength which He sup plies, cast it out. The Pharisees and their scribe's, doc- trinally, were more nearly correct than the Sadducees; and yet they held to many tra ditions of the elders. But purity of doc trine and correctness of theological posi
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Such a survey doubtless will reveal much extraneous matter. It seems to be a weakness of men to elevate externals to the position o f essential and spiritual real ities. The spirit o f le'galism creeps in very subtly before one is aware o f its presence. Each one will do well to take a spiritual inventory o f his life and wor ship. V. 5. “And the Pharisees and the scribes ask Him, Why walk not thy dis ciples according to the tradition o f the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?” Another weakness of humanity is to assume that one is absolutely cor rect while the other one who differs from him in some particular is absolutely wrong. Jesus, realizing this failure, urged each first to cast out the beam of his own eye before attempting to cast the little mote out o f his brother’s eye. It is quite certain that it never dawned on the critics o f Jesus that there was the possibility of their being wrong . 1 May the Lord en able each one to realize, when he at tempts to correct another of some fault, that he likewise is subject to' the same temptation (Gal. 6:1). The eating with defiled, that is, unwashen hands, was a very grave offense in the sight of those possessed with a spirit of “ I am holier than thou.” The quintessence o f religion to them manifested itself in the outward observance o f these man-made rites and ceremonies. Though for sanitary reasons one should wash his hands before eating food, he does not have to wash as a re ligious ordinance or observance. Vs. 6 , 7. “And H e said unto them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as
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