MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS THE HEART OF THE MATTER

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS I. WHAT YOU DON’T WANT TO LOOK LIKE.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS verses 5-11: “So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?" He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips,

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God).”

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS -They majored on the minors -They substituted the teachings of man even though they conflicted with God’s laws. -Their lips honored God, but their hearts were far, far from Him. -Their worship was in VAIN!

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something they are not and something they have no intention of becoming.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS II. WHAT YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS verses “After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'?

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.") He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS What we are talking about here is the difference between REFORMATION and TRANSFORMATION.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS 2 Timothy 3:1-4: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS verse 5 “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” They assume the form of godliness to take away their reproach before mankind, but they will not submit to the power of it to take away their sin before God.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS Galatians 5:22-23-“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS III. WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS The Puritans knew what we need- a heart religion, which is a faith that doesn’t just obey a list of rules, but a faith that has a heart that seeks God and His way based on the motive of love for Him.

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS How do we cultivate the inner person? We cultivate the inner person by nourishing our spirits with the proper food of the Word of God

MARK’S GOSPEL ABOUT JESUS THE PRETENDER?