Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick opens the Mark series message with a story about a ham recipe passed down through generations until someone finally asked why—and learned the original reason was simply a small oven. That story introduces the day's text from Mark 7, where the Pharisees and scribes question Jesus about his disciples eating with unwashed hands. Pastor Keith notes that these were the religious elite of the day, and that Jesus does not debate them but goes to the Scriptures, citing Isaiah to contrast the commandments of God with the traditions of men. The issue, he says, is not hygiene but authority: whether God's word or inherited tradition sets the terms.
Pastor Keith next considers Jesus’ baptism and wilderness temptations. He presents Jesus’ answers from Scripture as a pattern for responding to doubt and accusation. Connecting this with the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6, he emphasizes relying on the Holy Spirit when applying Scripture. He draws on Hebrews 4, 2 Timothy 3, and John 17 to describe Scripture’s ability to expose motives, instruct people, and contribute to God’s continuing work of changing believers.
Pastor Keith says the Bible is for people across ages and occupations. A storm affecting the church building illustrates his discussion of Isaiah 55, where rain provides an image of God accomplishing his purposes through his message. He asks listeners to consider what receives their attention, invites people to surrender to Jesus, and prays for believers to develop a renewed desire for Scripture.
Take this with you
Traditions can quietly displace Scripture
Pastor Keith explains Mark 7 as a conflict over practices that displace God’s instructions. Jesus uses Isaiah to expose the gap between outward religious observance and inward devotion. The pastor urges listeners to examine whether their inherited practices have displaced Scripture.
Jesus answered temptation with Scripture
Pastor Keith reads Matthew 4 as a pattern for responding to temptation. Jesus answers the tempter from Scripture rather than entering a debate. The pastor urges believers to return to what God has said when facing doubt or accusation.
The word has to be known to be used
Pastor Keith emphasizes that Jesus knew the passages he used in the wilderness. He urges believers to learn, trust, and apply Scripture. Drawing on 2 Timothy 2:15, he describes careful Bible engagement as a sustained discipline rather than an instant solution.
What you feed grows
Using Peter’s comparison of spiritual nourishment with an infant’s need for milk, Pastor Keith urges an appetite for Scripture and continued growth in faith. He connects this with considering what receives a person’s attention.
Applying Scripture requires dependence and discipline
Pastor Keith uses Matthew 5 and Luke 6 to discuss the difficulty of responding generously to hostile people. He says obedience requires the Holy Spirit and sustained discipline. He connects careful attention to Scripture with God’s continuing work of changing believers, which he calls sanctification.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] they said there was a newly married couple who decided they were going to make their first big meal together which would lead to their first big fight as the wife was preparing a ham she decided to cut off a good third of the meat and the husband asked her why why
are you cutting off so much of the good meat and she said well my wife my mom always made the best ham and she cut this part of the meat off so that's why i'm doing it i i want to make the best ham and he said but that's a good part of the meat why would you get rid of that and she just said you need to trust me my mom did this and so this is what you do to make a good ham and he wasn't settled with that answer so they they had this conversation that led to her calling up her mom and said mom i need to know why do you cut off a portion of the ham before you made your hand because you always made the best ham and the mom told her well i'll tell you why i cut off part of the ham your grandmother she always made the best ham and she used to cut off a big big part of that ham and and i watched her make that ham and i learned how to make that ham from her and so so she wasn't satisfied she got off the
phone she called her grandmother grandma i need to know why do we cut off so much of the ham and she said oh sweetheart my oven was too small and that was the only way to get the ham in it you see there are some traditions that we do in our lives that sometimes we don't even know why we do them they're passed on generationally sometimes we're doing something in our lives and we don't know exactly why we did them and come to find out we don't even need to do them we all have different traditions some of them are religious rituals some of them are more to do with our hobbies or likes some of them have to do with what we do for a living but we all have them somewhere in our lives and today jesus is going to address
what matters most we turn to a text found in the book of mark chapter 7. we're looking at the life of jesus from the perspective of the author john mark and he lets us know a real and even raw image of jesus and today as we turn to this jesus wants us to draw our hearts to live for the right things to know why we should live what we should do in our lives and how we should receive this message in our lives so mark chapter seven i'm gonna start with verse one and read through verse 13. now when the pharisees gathered to jesus with some of the scribes who'd come from jerusalem we start by saying these are the religious elite of jesus day the pharisees are the conservative religious jewish people of the day they followed all the letter of the law then the
scribes are the ones who would understand the torah the instructions of the scriptures and teach it to others so you have the religious elite they come to jesus and they saw verse two they saw this some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled that is they were unwashed for the pharisees and all the jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly holding to the tradition everyone shout tradition tradition of the elders and when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash and there are many others say with me traditions that they observe such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches
and the pharisees and scribes asked him why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but they eat with defiled hands and jesus said to them well did isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites as it is written this people honors me with their lips but their hearts their hearts their heart is far from me vain do they worship me teaching as the doctrines the commandments of men you leave the commandment of god and hold to the tradition of men and he said to them you have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of god in order to establish
your tradition for moses said honor your father and mother and whoever reviles father mother must surely die but you say if a man tells his father or mother whatever you would have gained from me is corbin that is given to god then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother thus making void everyone shall void void the word of god by your tradition that you have handed down and many such things you do and many such things you do let's understand what's taking place here the issue at hand is the washing of hands might sound silly to us had we not gone through a pandemic for a few years
where we fought over similar issues it wasn't the hand washing it was masks and there are always reasons for such things to start in one case it might be hygiene and then it turns into such a ritual that if you don't do this it's notice in this case john mark the author is writing to a people that are known as gentiles gentile means non-jews and he was specifically writing to the romans to to people that were not familiar with the jewish customs so he explains here what they were doing he explains the burden of this this ritual that was passed on through uh oratory tradition it was passed on from one generation to the next not
necessarily for a hygiene but to set apart you would see if someone was a part of your tribe your clan in fact in verse three he tells us it was the traditions of the elders in verse 4 he says they took it so extreme that they they made this a tradition even in the marketplace anyone have traditions when you go shopping your favorite place to park at target maybe you have your method of how you shop in the store do you start from the back and move your way forward do you have any time of year traditions to shop or maybe the day after thanksgiving you join the millions of other fools to go out and buy stuff you don't need pretending is for other people
we all have traditions in some form or fashion in this case mark 6 verse 4 they would go into the marketplace and they do not eat unless they wash and there are many other traditions that they observe such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and even dining couches if a gentile sat in a sofa a jewish person would not sit on that same reclining sofa where they would eat their meal until it was completely purified and it sounds silly until we see that we all have these things in our lives and jesus cuts to the heart and he doesn't debate these religious leaders he does not argue with them he does not go on to social media and try to win a fight through commenting he doesn't tweet about this occasion but
rather he he goes to the word of god he goes to the holy scriptures he goes into the old testament and pulls out of isaiah chapter 29 verse 13 which reads and the lord said because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men now jesus is not specifically saying isaiah had in mind these pharisees at this exact moment what he's implying is the truth found in the scripture is exactly what's happening on this occasion he's contrasting the commands of god versus the traditions of man he's
letting us know that you can look good on the outside but not be good on the inside as we see they were caring about clean hands but they were not caring about clean hearts and as the scriptures teach us both in the old and new testament that god's not so concerned with the outward appearance as he is with the hearts but the way the jewish tradition worked is that if you looked good on the outside if you followed enough rituals and rules if you did the traditions of man and you look like you are doing good you must be good boy it sounds so similar to what happens today on social media i see people that look so good man those filters help the right angles help that vacation is good i mean i'm just gonna assume you're good if you're
smiling with your entire family i'm gonna assume you took the vacation i want i'm gonna assume all is good except for the fact that sometimes your whole life has fallen apart and so it is a trap of the enemy that we get so busy with the things that really don't matter most and jesus wants us to know there is an authority the word authority comes from the word author if we would go to a book where the author gives us the authority of his word over the traditions of man now many of us do not necessarily carry the the burdens of a jewish traditions for many of us too are gentiles that is non-jews but we have to reconcile in our hearts are there things that we do that just don't matter that we're focusing on other things
rather than the priority of god's word mark 7 verse 13 jesus stresses the power of god's word when he talks about their ability to lose what matters most in their lives making void making void the word of god by your tradition we can actually do things that will cause us to lose the power and authority of the word of god now when i say the word of god i'm referring to the bible there's two different meanings of the word of god one is the scriptures the other is jesus now the bible is god's story and jesus is god so to get to know god you've got to get into the bible so to better understand jesus you've got to better understand the bible so to rightly know god we get into the book
that he's given us and jesus tells us that scripture cannot be broken there are many that would like to say well this this must have heirs because it was written by humans and humans have heirs therefore this book must have heirs well the humans are not the original authors of this book god would use men who have made errors but it's in this book that he would point us to his promise which cannot fail which has no errors so that we would understand who he is and walk in that authority of what his word says as second timothy 3 verse 16 and 17 promises as all scripture is breathed out by god and profitable so this book is profitable for your life in what areas for teaching
for reproof for correction and for training and righteousness he goes on to say that the man of god implied also the woman of god that the man of god may be complete everyone shall complete complete equipped for every good work you are made to be complete that's what god wants for you he doesn't want one area of your life missing he doesn't want holes in your heart he doesn't want you to be dissatisfied in this life god wants you to be complete and it's in this book that you understand how to be complete when god teaches you who he is who you are and how those stories come by and change everything what does it mean for you to be complete in your life i mean to be completely whole many of us don't fully understand this
because we're completely broken like this world is broken we just look at this earth the earth has problems in fact jesus promised us that if you look around the earth and you start seeing problems he's coming soon he told us to look out for these things and sometimes christians get so defensive when the media and the government comes out and says hey the world is falling apart and we get defensive if that's not true no jesus said that's true and we shouldn't treat it foolishly or even casually we should be good stewards of god's creation but we shouldn't let the world dictate this message we should get into god's word jesus said that he's going to make all things new again but it's not just the earth that has problems people have problems we all have problems
we were born in problems the scriptures call it sin every single one of us have fallen short of the glory of god so if god is all glorious great just think about what pure glory is we fall short of that so so we're broken so what does that mean for us to be made right to be whole if you're made in the image of god how do we find that restoration will we find that restoration in jesus so when mark tells us the story of jesus we're only at chapter seven and in the first six chapters we see jesus do what we would call miracles but jesus is actually just making right that which is wrong he's doing what he does best he's restoring back to the original intention the heart of man let's just look at this point in six
chapters we see that jesus has healed many sick so many that we don't even know all the different diseases and sickness that jesus has healed he's fed thousands that's the kind of god i want the kind of god to feed you he brought a dead girl back to life he healed a woman that suffered for 12 years with the issue of blood she she lost all her finances exploited by doctors but in just a moment her whole life was changed by the power of jesus he sets the demon possessed free he calms the storm he has power over nature the very thing he created he healed a man with a withered hand on the wrong day according to the pharisees he heals a paralytic who was no longer a paralytic he picked up his mat and began to walk he heals the leper which is
untouchable jesus is willing to touch him he even healed peter's mom when she had covened they didn't call it that but they didn't have the test back then but she had a fever mark tells us she had a fever jesus did not quarantine for this guy is dangerous he goes into places he shouldn't go and he casts out the fever from peter's mind i want you to see this with jesus that we see these as miracles and many of us today need miracles in our lives and we see this as a breakthrough but for jesus all this is is normal this is we're seeing this as superna jesus sees this is normal because that's who he is he's good in all his ways he created all things to be good he created us to be healthy he created us to be established
in relationships but then something goes away and now we need god to do what only god can do and he's able to and jesus comes to this point in mark chapter seven and it's not an issue of illness it's it's not an issue of weather but rather jesus tells us we've got an issue contradicting those who look like they're righteous versus the one who is truly righteous jesus he wants to compare the traditions of men with the traditions of god he wants us to evaluate how do you spend your time what are you using to fill your life where some are concerned with washing your hands to be made made pure jesus is concerned with washing our hearts to be made pure and he's going to talk about the word of
god being so much more powerful than any tradition of man in matthew chapter 3 the author matthew tells us before jesus really presented himself in ministry he was baptized in matthew chapter 3 verse 16. it's setting the stage in the trajectory of his life and mission and his ministry when jesus was baptized we're told immediately he went up from the water and behold everyone shall behold behold this was no normal baptism the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of god the invisible made himself visible descending like a dove and coming to rest on jesus and behold shalt behold behold a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son
with whom i am well pleased we have one god and three persons not three gods one triune god and he reveals himself perfectly in this moment god the father says i'm so pleased with his son i love him so much god the spirit anoints this day but by the imagery of the the dove which represents this gentleness god shows himself and jesus who gets baptized a picture of what he would do he would die be buried and and be resurrected by the power of the holy spirit a wonderful picture of what he would do and it's in that moment we see who god is he's god the father the son jesus christ and the holy spirit you think all would go really well from this point forward in the story
but in matthew chapter 4 jesus by the holy spirit is led to the wilderness and it's in the wilderness where jesus fasted for 40 days he's shown a complete dependence on the spirit and while he's in the wilderness led by the spirit fasting it's here that the devil goes after jesus may i just tell you today the devil is going after you he wants to destroy all that god is doing in your life the devil wants to deceive you and the number one way the devil does this is through doubt he does not need to convince you there is not a god he just needs to convince you that god is not who you think he is and in matthew chapter four starting with verse three we read and the tempter that's satan that's what he does he tempts what does he tempts he tempts you to do the wrong thing and said the right thing if god is a hundred percent purely
perfectly eternally righteous the devil wants to get you off of the eyes of god he doesn't want you to be right he wants you to do wrong so he tempts you in this case the tempter came to jesus and said if you are the son of god this is what the devil does he comes in and gets jesus to doubt what just happened in the jordan river we know that jesus is the son of god because the father just spoke to the son the holy spirit just anointed the son jesus just looked forward to what he would do and what's the first thing the devil does is gets him to doubt what god just confirmed if you are the son of god if you're the son of god then you wouldn't suffer if you're the son of god and if god is good why would he let you be hungry if you're god why would you be out here in
the wilderness all alone if you are the son of god and you could fill in your own blank if god is good why would he let you go through what you're going through if god is love why would he let you be hurt if god that's what the devil wants to do in your mind is he wants you to take the fast track to instant satisfaction because if you do you'll be tempted not to take the long haul the long road to get what god wants for you which is always a better thing wide is the road to destruction yet narrow is the road that leads to life and the enemy wants you to take the wide road he wants you to take the instant one you're not happy in this relationship find something else you're not satisfied find something that will give you satisfaction oh you've been offended you offend back and so the temptation here is if you are
the son of god command these stones to become loaves of bread if you're the almighty you're eternal you're the creator that all you got to do is say it and it happens come on just turn these rocks into cinnamon rolls i was the son of god that's the first thing i do especially if i've been fasting fasting brings out the worst in people okay maybe i generalize that too much fasting brings out the worst in me now the devil comes and tempts me when i'm hungry and i have the power and authority to do that i'm more than likely going to cave in but what does jesus do jesus did not cave into temptation because he's 100 righteous purely righteous in all his ways he never does something wrong his timing is always
right his will is always right everything he does is right his words always right he doesn't give into the devil he does not debate the devil he doesn't argue with the devil he doesn't go on to twitter or comments and say let's go at it devil here we go this is what he does he goes to the word of god and in verse 4 jesus answered satan it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of god now jesus was not just tempted once not twice but three times he was tempted this is the number of perfection jesus was tempted in every way as we are tempted by the enemy and all three times he used the same tactic which was the word of god he goes to the book of deuteronomy affirming that god's word is
true it can be trusted so that what jesus did you can do as well jesus shows you that you have all authority over the enemy just don't debate the devil quit arguing with the enemy quit trying to come up with reasons why you should win but every single time you should use the same tactic that jesus used and go to the word of god and use those same three words it is written you can prove to the devil who you are by what god has given you which is his word this is the way you have victory in your life over the enemy over every single area you can know that you have victory you can know that you are more than a conqueror in fact when paul was writing to the church in ephesus he tells us that we're in a spiritual
battle your battle is not against flesh and blood your battle is not against another political party your battle is not against your ex or your parent or any other person this is a spiritual battle and what paul tells us in ephesians 6 is we need to stand firm that implies that the devil wants to beat you down and you need to stand firm against the enemy and when you've done everything to stand he tells us that now it's time to armor up it's time for you to take what god has given you ephesians 6 13 therefore take up the whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand in the evil day i hope you agree we're living in evil days all you got to do is look around and notice today these are evil days there's kids getting shot up when they
go to school there's people being shot up when they go to the grocery store people being shot up when they go to their vacation homes that's because these are evil days we don't have to wallow in hopelessness or helplessness we need what god's given us in this case is called the armor of god now if you're new to church in the scriptures this is a metaphoric picture of jesus it's the covering of jesus on your life he goes through you can study this more in ephesians six you have the truth surrounding your life you have righteousness protecting your heart you have salvation protecting your mind your feet are fitted with the gospel of peace gospel means what good news that means wherever you go you bring the good news of jesus with you the the peace of jesus with you and you have the shield of faith which protects you from the fiery darts of the enemy
now the shield of faith is your faith in jesus christ that who jesus is is greater than what the enemies bring in your way now there's one offensive weapon when it comes to this armor and paul tells us what the armor is it's not something you can do it's not your own words but rather he says in verse 17 and and the sword of the what spirit this is capital s god has given you on loan a sword what is that sword it's the word of god so the combination of the power of the holy spirit with the very word of god is the weapon that fends off the enemy now here this is so important for you to know this bible is studied by many people and it has no authority and no power that's because it's not the power of the holy spirit you can study this book your entire life
and not see victory over your life you need the power of god himself the holy spirit when you marry the holy spirit with god's word you have victory in jesus name now you're able to tell the devil the promise of what's written in his word now instead of the devil beating you down you are armored up and you beat the devil down so now when the devil comes and does what he does so best which is to accuse you he's going to remind you of all the things you've done wrong he's going to remind you of what was done to you he's going to try to make you look inside instead of turn to jesus he's going to accuse you but now instead of trying to do things on your own and argue with the enemy all you got to say is three words it is written god's promise says in jesus we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our
trespasses according to the riches of his grace oh you remind the enemy yes i was a sinner yes i've been sinned against but by the blood of jesus christ i am forgiven i've been washed by his blood i've been given the gift of his grace i am no longer who i used to be i am who he says i am oh when the devil tries to remind us of these evil days we turn to his word we keep coming back he tries to tell us you should be hopeless these are evil days no you say it is written i'm going to rejoice in hope i'm going to be patient in tribulation i'm going to be constant in prayer i'm not going to give up because it's hard i'm going to go to god the sword is the weapon on all occasions that we need to use but to use the word of god you've got to know the word of god you've got to allow god's word to penetrate in your heart
the writer of hebrews 4 12 says for the word of god is living and active the bible is the only book ever written that's actually alive there are a lot of good books in this world you can go to the library and find many good books but there's none like the bible this book speaks in fact the writer says not only is it living and active it is sharper than any two-edged sword piercing the division of soul and spirit of joints and marrows and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart you see when you read the bible the bible is actually reading you the bible can go into places that no one else can go more than a parent more than a spouse the bible can do for you what a doctor
can't do a therapist can do for you god can get into your heart in such a way that like a sword it's going to get in there and like a surgeon it's able to remove that what shouldn't be in your heart and then god replaces it with something new this is what's so good about god he doesn't give you a better you he gives you a new you he the bible doesn't say if you believe in jesus you become a better creation the bible says you become a new creation oh you remind the devil i'm no longer who i used to be i've been adopted into the family of god i believe in jesus therefore if i've received him i'm a child of god i'm no longer defined by my bloodline i'm defined by my destiny which is found in jesus christ when we go to this book we see that it's alive but the only way to have victory
in our lives is to study this book allow this book to convince us and then we have to put it to work once the author paul wrote to a church and he put it this way we thank god constantly for this that when you received the word of god which you heard from us you accepted it not as the word of men but as it what it really is the word of god which is at work in you believers you see when you receive god's word it works in you when you believe it when you put it into practice you see change so the question today is do you take god at his word if you take god at his word do you want more of his word will you allow his word to do what only god can do because the word of god heals according to psalm 107
he sent out his word and healed them god's word has the power to heal and he delivered them from their destruction if we would see the power of god's word we would become who god actually intended us to be jesus interceding for us praying to the father in john 17 verse 17 says sanctify them in the truth your word is the truth now the word sanctify is absolutely special you've got to understand this word sanctification happens when you believe in jesus you're forgiven of your sins which means you're justified you're good with god sanctified means god continues that process to make you who you're intended to be he's creating you he's bringing you back to your original purpose your intention so if there's something wrong sanctification is god making it right
he's got a purpose for you how can you be sanctified in the truth how can you know the truth jesus told us how your word is the truth it's god's word that brings us back to our original purpose what god has called us to now the only way to be sanctified is to get into this book to allow it to saturate our lives to make it a priority but the problem is we've got so many voices vying for our attention today in our world we see so many people more concerned with the relationship all over the news what's taking place in the courtroom i just want to know who's going to win this verdict we care more about hollywood movie stars than we do about the ultimate star jesus christ
we care more about gas prices today than we do about the value of who god says we are i just want to tell you i hate the gas prices too i'm complaining as much as you are i'm just here to tell you today that we should value god's word even greater god's word is so much more precious it's more valuable that should be the very thing we want to talk about around the water cooler at work that's what we should want to talk about with our family members and friends but you won't talk about it if you don't know it if it's not taking over your life so many of us want to be blessed and we look to the wrong things to be blessed but jesus said in luke 11 28 blessed rather are those who hear the word of god and keep it you know in the book of ephesians we're told we have every spiritual blessing in
jesus now how do you get that blessing you've got to hear the word of god and then you've got to actually do the word of god and when you hear god's word and you keep god's word you actually get the very blessing that you've been longing for in your heart now this is this is where it actually becomes a challenge go with me here for a moment because it's pretty inspiring to say well god can change things he can bless me he can heal me i can have victory over the devil through god's word but what about those words maybe that are a little more difficult matthew 5 44 but i say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you or how about luke 6 28 bless those who curse you pray for those who abuse you
you see following god's word is not natural would you all admit that it's not easy to pray for those who persecute you come on it's not easy to love your enemy ain't nobody want to bless those who are cursing you so how can we actually keep god's word you need the power of the holy spirit this needs to be the sword of the spirit not the sword of who you are or who someone else is you can't just take a preacher at his word or a parent you've got to let god change your heart and when you get in this book you see who god is and when you see who god is you understand how severe your sin is and when you understand what kind of sinner you are you understand what you're forgiven of and when you understand how forgiven you are and what kind of enemy of god you used to be now you have a different perspective in life now since you've been forgiven you're able to forgive
much now since you've been loved you're able to love much now that god has broken the curses in your life you're going to start blessing people instead of cursing them do you see the potential what happens when you get into the word when you let god change you it shapes you from the inside out an unforgiving heart all of a sudden becomes more like christ there is power in his word but it will require work nothing happens easily that's worth something great we want the quick fix but god teaches us that we must be disciplined second timothy 2 15 do your best to present yourselves to god as one approved a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly handling the word of truth
it takes hard work to get great results no one shouts amen there when you are out of shape it's a lot harder to get in shape when you're financially in debt it's a lot harder to be financially successful you've been through six marriages it's going to be hard on the seventh are you tracking with me here it takes hard work if you haven't been in the word of god it won't take one or two or three readings you've got to value this as something much more than a quick fix you've got to handle god's word you've got to understand god has given our age more ability to get into god's word than any other in history you could download the bible on your phone in like a bazillion languages
the best one is hawaiian pidgin brings god word to life makes you want to move to hawaii and speak god's word let me let me just tell you this you need to handle god's word what are you doing on your screens will you value god's word as much as we value the other things in life because when you do it starts to be your guide your word is a lamp unto my feet it's a light from my path i no longer try to figure out my trajectory and the destiny of god's will for my life he reveals it to me now i no longer want to keep doing what i used to do but rather i store up god's word in my heart therefore i no longer sin because my natural tendency is to sin because i'm tempted by the devil who's really good at what he does so i
keep going back to my old ways but when i have god's word i go a new way and growth happens i'm no longer an infant i'm no longer young i continue to mature in my faith peter put it this way like newborn infants they long for pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the lord is good come on every baby just keeps wanting more milk we've got a formula crisis in our generation we've seen all the crisis toilet paper crises and we've got formula crisis and this is a serious deal when you got little babies because babies crave milk you should be craving god's word and then when you get it you grow in it because a baby shouldn't drink milk the rest of their life
at some point they eat meat unless you're a vegan you eat meat that's plant-based you you keep growing you keep getting nourishment that to feed your your life and so it is with god's word listen to the psalms how it describes god's word oh taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the man who takes refuge in him how sweet are your words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth see when you get into the bible you you start to believe god's promises and you start to understand that god has had a plan for eternity and you're included in that plan and there's no prejudice for whom the word of god is for the bible is for every doctor every nurse
every lawyer see this book is for every teacher this book is for every architect this book is for every child you know the devil does not want a child to get into this book this book is for every teenager teenagers will change the world if they just take god's word serious there's nothing in god's word that says you need to be the right age to do something great do not let anyone look down on you because of your youthfulness but you take god's word seriously and you prove to the world what kind of gods you have when you get into this book this book is for every parent of teenagers
this book is for every single person come on every married person needs this book you need this book you need this book because this book tells us about every area of our life it will tell you about family it will tell you about sexuality it will tell you about finances it will tell you about how we should live peaceably amongst each other this book tells you instead of listening to the government or other world leaders we ought to be looking to the word of god himself so that would dictate what we do with our lives so we would allow that to come in and let god have his way in our lives do you all remember that great big rainstorm just this week
for those watching online central oregon got this rainstorm like it started with a couple big drops but then it didn't stop i started texting my friends who wants to build a boat with me right but then i remember the word of god says he won't do that again but it was messy in in that moment i mean it made a mess of our city all over the world it made a mess of this church we had six big leaks they weren't leaks they were waterfalls i mean waterfalls just coming down we're just grabbing whole big trash bins and throwing it up there i mean waterfalls all over this place god always puts us in the most humble buildings blessed are the humble they'll be lifted up you know what these rainstorms do is they it reveals a lot it reveals where the messes were and then just flushes that mess out you notice that and messes everywhere and we were just
talking this morning about all the fools that try to drive through the the flooded zones you know like under the underpasses at greenwood and franklin all these places if you've lived here for any period of time when it starts raining you never drive under those underpasses someone even went around a police barricade and said i'm just going to try and they got stuck right there right you're thinking i'm not going to listen to you guys i know what i'm doing so listen listen to these words with that in mind with rain in mind with the power of what rain can do it can cause huge crevices that can move mount i mean rain is powerful look what god's word says this is the lord speaking through the prophet isaiah for as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but here's the purpose of rain it's to water the earth that's not just the water the earth and make a mess it's to bring forth and
sprout giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth god says it shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which i purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which i sent it listen god has put it this way just like you can't see the immediate impact of rain it's good you may not see it now but it's good it brings life to the earth so the word of god is like the rain in your soul and for some of us we kind of need a flood of god's word right now to flush out that what shouldn't be there and we need to realize god has a purpose you might be wondering this is i don't
know god this why are you raining on me right now well i'm telling you at the right time a harvest is coming fruit is coming the fruit of the spirit the very thing you were made for love joy peace patience kindness gentleness the hardest one self-control so that when the enemy comes and tempts you you say no no i'm not going to turn those rocks into rolls of bread i'm going to trust in the word of god because something that lasts is greater something that's temporary let's come back to our original text to close you guys remember what book we're in mark thank you mark we're studying the book of mark let me just bring this to a land if you continue to read the text jesus he goes on and says not just the wash in the hands it's not just that tradition some of you have made the tradition of what you eat
and you've made what you eat more important than who god is and you think that if you eat the right foods that you're right with god and jesus says that's not the case look at mark chapter 7 verse 14 and 15. and jesus called the people to him again and said to them hear me all of you everyone shout all all of y'all come on it's not just some of you this is not just the old people this is not just the religious people this is not just some people all of you need to understand this there's nothing on the outside of a person that by going into him can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him now jesus explains it's not food that defiles you when you eat food it comes back out of you great middle school imagery right you eat food comes back out of you food's not what defiles you it's what comes out of you specifically
he's speaking about what you do with your life how you live your life what you use with your time what you say with your words that's what defiles you you put sin into your life guess what comes out of your life sin some of us are so broken we're so depressed and we have no clue how we got to that place what are you watching on tv what are you binge watching what are you looking at what are you reading what are you studying what are you thinking about what are you meditating on and you wonder why is my life a wreck i'm putting a wreck in my life i'm not filling my life with god's word but when you go to god's word it's not going to mess you up psalm 19 7 says the law of the lord is perfect reviving the soul the testimony the lord is sure making wise the simple see the provision of your life is
actually found in god's promise some of you want something so desperately and i'm here to tell you it may not be a quick fix but god's going to show you through the process of getting his word he's going to sanctify you as you let god's word wash over you it starts to change you so that you're more like him so you start to see who you actually are and don't be afraid of it god's not afraid of you he doesn't make mistakes he loves you so much and if you've made mistakes or if something was ever done to you or you find your place where you don't want to be you go to god's word and you can see that he's a powerful god if he can resurrect from the dead and he can be death and he can beat the devil he could do a lot in your life as well [Music] so whether you're suffering right now or whether you're confused right now or whether you're stuck in the in between or if you're not in the place you want
to be my encouragement to you is to go to god so here's the application to our lives what are you putting into your life there's an old adage that goes like this what you feed grows and what you starve dies so what are you feeding your soul what are you feeding your family what are you feeding your life i'm here to say let's let's go to god's word let's get into this bread of life and let's see more clearly who god is see your traditions may not be jewish burdens but it might be the burden of growing up i know we have a lot of recovering catholics here at jordan church we got recovering jehovah's witness
i'm serious we got we got recovering people who didn't grow up with any church well how many never went to church growing up only a few of us see we all started with a clean slate but then that kind of gets messed up because now you don't even know the disciplines see this is a level playing field before god level playing field god doesn't look at some in this room and say wow you're a really bad sinner and you're a pretty good person no such thing you'll never be good enough to get into heaven the standard is way too high i'm trying to be good enough to get into heavens like trying to sail to hawaii in a paper bowl you're not going to make it very far god's going to be able to look at a long list and say what about all these things the way you get into heaven is through jesus christ
because he actually did live a perfect life he was righteous in all his ways and he forgives you and he loves you today so i need to speak to two different people today really it's a level playing field but the first person is the one that needs to surrender the life to jesus for the first time you ended up hearing me today tell you about a god that wants you to know his will for your life and it's a good will doesn't mean you'll have an easy life it means your whole life is worth it the suffering on this side of heaven is so temporary compared to the eternal glory getting to be with a good god forever and if you want that gift of eternal life it's yours in jesus he saves you from your sin he rescues you from hell see hell is the place the devil wants you to go it's eternal separation from god
the lord does not send anyone to hell it's only reserved for those who reject the free gift of grace it's free god wants you to know him to love him because he loves you so i want to ask you if you want jesus today i would love to pray for you and i'm going to do that in just a moment the second person i want to pray for after we pray for those that want to receive salvation in jesus is the person that's already received jesus but you're broken you're not complete you're not where you want to be and i'm here to tell you god does not want to leave you there he does not want to leave you in your past he doesn't want to leave you in your pain he wants to restore all things so today we're going to bring that before him let's start by closing our eyes and i want to ask you if you want to receive jesus today i want to know who i'm praying with i'm
going to ask you to take a a movement on the outside of what's taking place in your heart on the inside if you want to receive jesus christ as your lord and your savior would you just raise your hand up so i can see who i'm praying with today praise god praise god amen praise god i'm so proud of you anyway praise god amen right now in your heart is stirring and that's you saying i want jesus praise god i see amen all that you've been through is not wasted amen praise god [Music] you are never too young you are never too old we've got men and women all over the place praise god it's never too late to surrender to jesus that's you today what we're going to do is pray and prayer is conversation with god
prayer does not need to stop we're going to start praying but when we say amen it's not the end you can pray any time anywhere in your heart you could pray out loud prayer does not need to be eloquent it does not need to be the right words it just needs to be sincere from your heart to god he's great enough to handle all of you so i'm going to pray just a simple prayer but i need you to sincerely pray from your heart and if you are a believer in jesus let's pray with those out loud those who are doing this for the first time just repeat these words after me if you want to receive jesus today if you're uncertain i want you to hear how simple this is yet it changes everything pray these words out loud lord jesus forgive me of my sin i accept the gift of grace i accept eternal life [Music]
help me to know you helping to know your word in jesus name amen and amen my friend if you just made that decision it's the most important decision you can ever make i do not want you to take that lightly we want to know if you made that decision we want to celebrate with you because i'll tell you your father in heaven loves you and is celebrating with you right now you've just begun the greatest journey and it's not going to get easier because the devil hates it but god has equipped you with everything you need to continue to grow in him if you want a bible today we would love to give one to you as a gift we're going to have a prayer team in just a moment right over here to the right that would love to pray with you to celebrate with you that decision you just made and we can give you a bible there as well there's cards in front of you on the seat backs you could fill those out let us know you made that decision today and
put it in a box before you leave today saying i made that decision to follow jesus i told you there's a second person there are many of you in here that believe in jesus but your life is hurting right now i understand it god does not want to leave you there he wants to lead with you jesus will never lead you nor forsake you we're going to sing one last song and this is the moment i want you to apply this to your life i want this to be a prayer i don't want you to think about anybody else around you i don't want you to think about anybody on this platform as amazing as they are i want you to think about one even more amazing a great god that loves you i want you to commit from this day forward to take god seriously through his word if you're able would you stand your feet i want to pray for you lord i lift up your church my brothers and my sisters and i ask in the mighty name of jesus
that god we would be so excited about your word that a revival would happen in our hearts that we like the early church would dwell together in unity that we would devote ourselves to prayer and you would pour out your spirit for such a time as this lord i pray that this young generation would take you seriously i pray the old generation would realize their best days or their last days god i ask that you move us through your word show us your promises may we see them fulfilled in our lifetime we say come lord jesus may we be prepared with our lamps full of oil may we be ready with your word the light under our feet god we want to go where you want us to go your plans are good you're perfect you're holy in all your ways so today i pray the restoration of what you've done that you would seal and sanctify your church for your purpose in
jesus name all god's people said amen
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When tradition crowds out the word
Pastor Keith presents Mark 7 as a conflict over practices that displace God’s instructions. Jesus uses Isaiah to expose the gap between outward religious observance and inward devotion. The pastor urges listeners to examine whether their inherited practices have displaced Scripture.
Mark 7:1-13 · Isaiah 29:13
- Pastor Keith says some traditions are passed on without anyone knowing why. Where do you recognize that pattern in your own life?
- Jesus responds to the leaders by going to Scripture, and Pastor Keith says he does not debate them. What does that show about where Jesus places authority?
- The message says traditions can override God's commands. Where do you see that tension in your own life?
Answering temptation with Scripture
The message moves to the wilderness and the temptations, presenting the devil's primary tactic as doubt about identity and God's goodness. Jesus' answer is consistent—three times, the same response from Scripture. The point drawn is that the weapon is God's word, not argument.
Matthew 3:16-17 · Matthew 4:3-4 · Deuteronomy
- Pastor Keith says the enemy's main move is doubt rather than denial—questioning whether God is who he says he is. Where do you notice that pattern in your own life?
- Jesus had just heard the Father affirm him before the temptation came. How does being grounded in what God has already said change how you face a hard season?
- The message says Jesus did not debate the devil but answered with God's word. What would it look like to stop arguing and return to Scripture instead?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What is the main conflict in Mark 7?+
As Pastor Keith frames it, the issue is not handwashing as hygiene but authority. The Pharisees and scribes were concerned that Jesus' disciples ate with unwashed hands, a practice rooted in the tradition of the elders. Jesus answers by citing Isaiah and by pointing to an example—some were declaring resources devoted to God in a way that let them neglect care for parents. The charge is that a tradition of men was being used to override God's command. The message keeps returning to the question of which authority gets the final word.
Why did Jesus answer the devil with Scripture?+
Pastor Keith places the wilderness temptations after Jesus’ baptism and the Father’s affirmation of him. He interprets the temptation as an attempt to undermine confidence in that identity and in God’s goodness. Jesus responds using Deuteronomy. The pastor urges believers to know Scripture and return to what God has said when facing doubt, relying on the Holy Spirit as they do so.
Pastor Keith says Jesus knew the Scriptures he quoted. How does that connect to his call for believers to know God's word?
What does the sermon mean by the word of God?+
Pastor Keith distinguishes Scripture from Jesus, noting that both can be described using the term word of God. He calls the Bible God’s story and Jesus God himself, explaining that reading Scripture helps people know Jesus. He draws on 2 Timothy 3:16-17 to describe God as the source of Scripture and to explain its role in instructing, correcting, and preparing believers to act.
How does Pastor Keith connect getting into the Bible with coming to know God himself?
Why does the message insist Scripture needs the Holy Spirit to have effect?+
Pastor Keith describes the sword in Ephesians 6 as belonging to the Spirit, not simply to the reader. He argues that many people study the Bible extensively without seeing its power at work, because the book is meant to be joined with the Spirit who gave it. The same emphasis appears with sanctification: truth sets people apart, but it is God who does the setting apart. So the call is not merely to accumulate knowledge but to let the word saturate life, believing and practicing it. Pastor Keith's contention is that information alone does not produce the fruit; the Spirit using the word does.
What does Pastor Keith say happens when a person receives God's word and puts it into practice?
