VAIN WORSHIP: THEY REVERENCE HUMAN TRADITIONS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Vain Worship
Isaiah 29:13
"...these people draw near to me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, yet have removed their hearts far from me. Moreover, their worship toward me is the doctrines of men."
a) Even by the time the Messiah had come, many religious leaders were false in their worship. God was honored in words, but insulted in practice. A stark example of this is the second occasion on which Jesus cleansed the temple by driving out those who were desecrating it. He said, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer' but you have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:12-13, Isaiah 56:7).
b) There were two occasions on which Jesus drove people from the temple. The first is recorded in John 2:13-22, the second in Matthew 21:12-13.
c) Jesus showed great concern for the digression of his people from true worship and service to God into the hypocrisy and vanity of the religion they practiced. When he quotes Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15:7-9 he uses the translation, "In vain do they worship me..." When we look at Isaiah 29:13 we can identify three elements of the worship that made it vain.
2. They Reverence Human Traditions
a) There are those who love and follow their own tradition rather than the word of God. When they do this, their worship and service is vain. It is vain in both senses of the word.
b) Vain because it is presumptuous. People who think they should replace the word of God with their own inventions and traditions are suffering from vanity and pride.
c) Vain because it is empty. Men are not able to invent a religion of any substance. Religion must come from God, not from the devising of humanity (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
The End ...
1. Vain WorshipIsaiah 29:13
"...these people draw near to me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, yet have removed their hearts far from me. Moreover, their worship toward me is the doctrines of men."
a) Even by the time the Messiah had come, many religious leaders were false in their worship. God was honored in words, but insulted in practice. A stark example of this is the second occasion on which Jesus cleansed the temple by driving out those who were desecrating it. He said, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer' but you have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:12-13, Isaiah 56:7).
b) There were two occasions on which Jesus drove people from the temple. The first is recorded in John 2:13-22, the second in Matthew 21:12-13.
c) Jesus showed great concern for the digression of his people from true worship and service to God into the hypocrisy and vanity of the religion they practiced. When he quotes Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15:7-9 he uses the translation, "In vain do they worship me..." When we look at Isaiah 29:13 we can identify three elements of the worship that made it vain.
2. They Reverence Human Traditions
a) There are those who love and follow their own tradition rather than the word of God. When they do this, their worship and service is vain. It is vain in both senses of the word.
b) Vain because it is presumptuous. People who think they should replace the word of God with their own inventions and traditions are suffering from vanity and pride.
c) Vain because it is empty. Men are not able to invent a religion of any substance. Religion must come from God, not from the devising of humanity (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
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