Worshipping God in Vain, By the Traditions of Men
By Walter Schwartz
Text Matt 15 Verse 9
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”
The world that you and I live in is filled with worship to many gods, and mankind must worship something or someone. The world is filled with houses of worship of all kinds and types. The great question is why does man need to worship someone or something?
In our recent days, the TV has been saturated with the death of the pope or the head of the Catholic Church. There have been those on TV who have said that they were praying for the pope, but now are praying to the world leader and could give no reason for this type of thinking. It amazes me how the world will glorify a religious leader after his death. As you study the bible and read of Moses’ death, and how the Lord himself buried the body of Moses so that no one could find his body and worship it. Deut 34 Verse 6 “And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Bethpeor, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.” In the book of Jude you have an incident where Satan is fighting over the body of Moses and lends credence to the truthfulness of this scripture. Here, Satan is fighting or disputing with Michael the Archangel over Moses’ body, Jude 1 Verse 9.
When men have a choice between tradition and the authority of God’s holy word, the choice will be the tradition of the church or the denomination they belong to. Tradition is not all bad if it is supported by the scriptures themselves. As you study the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, over and over again you have these words, “Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me,” John Chapter 5 Verse 39. In Luke 24 Verse 27 we have these words spoken by the Lord Jesus himself as he appeared to the two Jewish disciples in his glorified body after his resurrection from the dead, and these are the words of the god man who conquered death itself: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” How tragic that millions of people will follow the teachings of their parents, but never examine these traditions or doctrines to see if they are supported by the word of God. The Lord Jesus had this to say in the Gospels, “The blind lead the blind and both will fall into the ditch.” Matt 15 Verse 14.
The age that you and I live in is the age of deception and many in this life are being led astray by the enemy of our souls and his name is Satan or the devil. And the devil has done a good job of blinding the minds of so many that he does not exist or it is foolishness to believe that he is the great enemy of men’s souls. What is the answer to all the deception that is taking place in our world and how can we know what is truth and what is false. The answer is found in a book called the bible which is the word of the living God and can lead us to know error from truth. How well did the Lord Jesus Christ say I am the way the truth and the life. Jesus is not only the incarnate God, but he is incarnate truth and whenever he speaks it is always truth and never a lie. If you have never read God’s word then I would suggest that you start.
In the Gospel of John and read the words of Jesus himself who said, “He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out,” “And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” I leave you with these words; whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” His name is Jesus. Romans Chapter 10 Verse 13