Let us now then return to Matthew chapter 15. The text really will be found in verses one to six, which we shall refer to shortly. We are going through the shorter catechism, and we've reached question three, and I've really used these verses from Matthew verses one to six to illustrate the catechism. The question is, what do the scriptures principally teach? And the answer the catechism gives is, the scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. And the title for our meditation is Trust and Obey. For ultimately, I do believe that is what the catechism is teaching us. I've put trust and obey, but trust is just faith or it is simply belief. That's really what the catechism teaches us. The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. Therefore, I do believe that trust and obey is appropriate to derive from the answer given to question three. The Holy Bible doesn't give us all knowledge. It doesn't tell us about everything. It doesn't provide all the knowledge that we would like to have. It doesn't claim to. It never has. It's not that kind of book. It does not teach us many things that we might like to know. For instance, we might like to know more about the youthful Christ or his home life before his public ministry. The Bible really doesn't tell us much about that at all, which has led some people to fabricate fancical stories concerning the boyhood of the Savior. But there's many, many things that the Bible does not teach us. But someone has said, and there's a lot of truth in it, but it does teach us something about everything. It does teach us something about everything. Now, what's the reason behind saying something like that? Well, the Bible teaches us about God. And in the beginning, there only was God. And in one sense, everything has come from God. And therefore, God has something to say about everything. And we will find that in the Bible, We will get things, we will find things that will help us in our daily life, as we go through our lives in the 21st century, or the 1st century, or right at the very beginning of time. Because the Word of God does teach us something about everything, for everything comes from God. We could illustrate it like this, perhaps. There's someone studying for the medical profession. He's going to be a doctor or a consultant maybe. He believes in God. Well, he'll look at medicine, he'll look at the human body in the light of the fact that that person was created in the image of God. You take another person who's studying for the medical profession, That person doesn't believe in God. He believes in evolution. Well, he'll have a different outlook. He might think to something extreme. He might believe, for instance, that man is progressing. We have come from apes. And therefore, the man that he's studying today maybe wasn't the same kind of man 100 years ago or 1,000 years ago. Why? Because he has taken God out of the situation. And therefore, we do believe ultimately that the Bible does teach us something about everything, because everything ultimately comes from God. Well, what does The Catechism III teaches, the scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. Well, we do believe it will teach us two things principally. It teaches us what we are to believe in order that we might obey, in order that we might be dutiful. in order that we might put into practice the things that we believe, the things that God has revealed to us in his word. And that's why I've entitled it Trust and Obey. In fact, that pattern, as we go through the catechism, is seen. What do I mean? Catechisms 1 to 3 are, or can be regarded as an introduction. They are the introduction. And what we are to believe concerning God is outlined from Catechisms 4 to 38. And then from 39 to the end at 107, what is outlined, but what we are to do. Following what we know about God, following what God has revealed to us in his word, then we are to perform our duty and to put into practice the things that we have learned, the things that we believe in. And of course, when we talk about belief, it's not just simply academic knowledge. It's not simply intellectual knowledge. It's not just knowing some historical facts. That's not what it's talking about. Belief, faith, trust in the biblical sense is actually living out what God has revealed. It's actually is moving us, is motivating us. It is what we believe concerning God. And therefore, these first opening verses in chapter 15 do illustrate, I do believe, this catechism very well. What's happening here? Well, we have scribes and Pharisees. They came from Jerusalem. They came from the very heart of the Jewish religious establishment. It's likely that they were top-notch individuals. They were there to catch out the Lord Jesus Christ. They were there to find fault with him. They weren't local scribes and Pharisees. They were ones of Jerusalem. They were centered around the temple. And what is their problem? Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. Now it's important for us to realize that they are not talking here about washing dirty hands. It would be a good practice if that were the case, that if our hands were dirty, it would be good for us to wash our hands before we eat. That's cleanliness. But they're not talking about that there at all. They're talking about ceremonial cleanliness. Their hands could well be clean. But if their hands were clean or not, they would make sure that the people would eat. The people would wash their hands before they would eat. It was for ceremonial cleanliness. Nothing to do with hygiene whatsoever. And it was a man-made tradition. Why do the disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? And Jesus can see through their hypocrisy because he doesn't really answer their question at all. He answered and said unto them, verse three, why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? They're accusing him of transgressing the traditions of the elders. But the Lord Jesus Christ is putting his finger on the real problem. The real problem is that they are transgressing the commandment of God by your tradition. For God commanded, saying, honor thy father and mother. and he that curses father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Well, he is laying a very serious charge before the Pharisees and the scribes. He accuses them of replacing God's law with their man-made laws. Now, the law of God is quite clear regarding Parents, honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Exodus chapter 20 verse 12, the fifth commandment, honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. A promise, a general promise that if you look after and honor and love and obey your mother and father, you will know long life. And Exodus goes on in chapter 21 at verse 17, and he that curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. And that's talking about not honoring father or mother. They were to be put to death. Therefore, that was God's command. That was God's command to the people of Israel, and it's God's command to all people today. There is no distinction. In contrast, what were the traditions that the scribes and the Pharisees were promoting instead of God's law? What were they saying? Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. And basically what was happening here is If a son or a daughter had the means whereby they might be able to alleviate their parents, father or mother, who are now old and maybe couldn't work and they needed some care and they needed to be looked after, yet the son or the daughter would not provide for them when they were able, instead they would give whatever gift they had, whatever money they had, they would give it to the temple, they would give it to the synagogue, they were devoted to God rather than honor their father and mother and relieve their aging parents. They would say it's a gift, it's a gift that's been donated to God and therefore it cannot be used to alleviate or to help their parents. Now this was pure hypocrisy, because although the gift may well in some sense be given to the temple or the synagogue, there is no actual guarantee that the gift would actually be used at all, and it could be reclaimed at any time. Because they said it's a gift, then somehow the traditions would tell them, well, you are now free from supporting your aging parents who need care, who need something that you can provide. That was the tradition. And that tradition was replacing the law of God. A very, very serious thing. That's what they were teaching. Now, the Jews at this time had something that was called the Talmud. They had two of them. They had the earlier one, which was called the Palestinian or the Jerusalem Talmud. But then during the Babylonian captivity, they enlarged the Talmud, and it became known as the Babylonian Talmud. They kept on adding more and more traditions that supplanted the law of God, more and more of these traditions. And the Talmud says, quote, To be against the words of the scribes is more punishable than to be against the word of the Bible." End quote. So you can see what was happening. The traditions of men were supplanting the word of God, the law of God. And this is what was happening here. And this is what Jesus is highlighting and showing them their error. Now, these people there, well, they knew the commandments. They knew the scriptures. They were able to quote the scriptures. They knew them well. And in one sense, they did believe in them, but they did not live them out. They did not put them into action. Instead, they supplemented the traditions of men over and against the law of God. As we've noticed, as we've gone through the first part of Genesis, adding to God's law always leads to the diminishing of God's law. It takes away from God's law. And it is one thing to break God's law. That's a terrible thing, to break it. But it's altogether a different thing to teach people to break it. And that's what they were doing. They were teaching this. They weren't living out the law of God themselves, and they were teaching others to break the law of God. And what this behavior revealed, it revealed that their hearts were not right before God. And this is what Jesus goes on to talk about, about the heart. Do you not yet understand that whatsoever entereth into the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the draught? Verse 17. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man. And the very fact that they were prepared to cite these traditions and live by these traditions and supplement these traditions over and against the Word of God showed that their hearts were not right. Well, friends, that's why we have the Word of God. And this is what this commandment is teaching us. We are, first of all, to understand who God is and what he requires of us. And then we are to put these things into action. And as someone has said, very apt and appropriate regarding the heart on this matter, what is the first thing we need in order to be Christians? It's a new heart. And this is what these people here did not have. It was an old heart. It was the old man. A new heart. And what is the sacrifice God asks us to bring him? It is a broken and a contrite heart. The hearts of the scribes and the Pharisees were full of their own importance. What is a true circumcision? It is the circumcision of the heart. That's what's required, and that's circumcision that can only be brought about by that great work of the Spirit of God himself. What is genuine obedience? It is to obey from the heart. This is what they were not doing. This is what they were not promoting. And this is how we know that if we're truly Christian, we want to obey the word of God and we want to do it from the heart. We don't want to do it reluctantly. We don't want to do it as we're press ganged into it. No, it's from the heart. We delight to do the law of God. And what is saving faith? To believe with the heart by faith. It's this wonderful transformation that comes on when someone is truly born again by the Spirit of God, when something wonderful happens in the heart and the life of the individual. It manifests itself in the heart by true saving faith. And what is the chief request from that wonderful book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs? What is it? My son, give me thine heart. This is what Christianity is all about. It's about that wonderful change that happens when someone becomes a Christian. It affects the very center, the very core of the individual. He has a new heart, and not only is it new, but it's broken and it's contrite. It has been changed. It has been cut. like the Old Testament rite, what it symbolized. When the organ was cut and when blood flowed, that is pointing to that inward cutting of the heart that the Holy Spirit does when he applies the Word of God to the heart of the individual. An obedience. This is what our catechism teaches us, therefore, in question three. What do the scriptures principally teach? The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe. Some might say, well, surely the law should be first. The law should be first. Is not the law the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, to believe upon him? Well, the catechism puts it slightly different. The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe. The man is to have faith. And this echoes with what the Apostle Paul said to the Philippian jailer. After that experience with the earthquake and the jailer comes in, "'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' What does he say to him? "'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house And this is what we're therefore to realize, and as we go through the Catechism, we will see. First of all, we are to see, principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God. Who God is, what he has done, why the Lord Jesus Christ has come, why did he come, who's he going to save, how can we be saved? all the blessings and all the benefits that come to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, what he has done, all of these things are revealed to us. And then, then our duty, then how we're to live, how we are to live in the light of what we say we believe in. These poor, deeply religious people here, But it's obvious by what they did with the word of God and how they abandoned it and absorbed the traditions of men before the word of God, it revealed that their hearts were not right at all. They didn't truly believe. They may have knowledge, they may have intellectual knowledge, they may be able to understand the scriptures, but they did not believe, they did not walk in the light of the gospel. and what duty God requires of man, not in order to be saved, but because they have been saved. They believe the gospel. They believe in what Jesus Christ has done, what the triune God has achieved through the life and through the death and through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why, friends, I do believe that this third catechism here is telling us to believe, to trust, to have faith, and then to obey, and to live the life of faith. Trust and obey. If I remember rightly, I think the hymn goes on. To trust and obey, there is no other way. And how true that is. Trust and obey. Amen. And may the Lord be pleased to bless unto us his word. Let us pray.