Mark 7:1-16 Then came together to him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.… I. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES WASHING WITH WATER FOR PURITY OF HEART. II. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES THE TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS FOR THE COMMANDS OF GOD. III. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES THE WORSHIP OF THE LIPS FOR THE WORSHIP OF THE HEART. IV. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES A SUBTLE EVASION FOR FILIAL DUTY. V. CEREMONIALISM SUBSTITUTES AVOIDANCE OF UNCLEAN FOOD FOR AVOIDANCE OF IMPURE AND MALICIOUS THOUGHTS. Application: It is possible to be, in a sense, religious, and yet, in a deeper sense, sinful, and out of harmony with the mind and will of God. None is wholly free from the temptation to substitute the external, formal, apparent, for the faith, love, and loyalty of heart required by God. Hence the need of a good heart, which must be a new heart — the gift and creation of God by His Spirit. (J. R. Thomson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.WEB: Then the Pharisees, and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. |
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