Good morning.
Several years ago there was a young woman from Australia who was going to do some medical internship in Manila and she was put in contact with me.
! She was from a church down there and when I picked her up at the airport I will never forget what she told me.
The first thing she said was, Hi James, it is so good to know that I have family here.
And that is how I feel being here with you today.
I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in Manila at our church, Pilgrim Community Church.
They are seven hours ahead of us and so they are well into the Lord's day as we are beginning our time as well.
I would like to read to you again from Matthew chapter 5 and reading verses 17 to 20.
So if you have your Bibles please turn with me in Matthew chapter 5.
And let us listen now to God's word.
Here the Lord Jesus is speaking. He says,
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same,
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever does them and teaches them, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Thus far the reading of God's word.
Let's speak to God.
Not so long ago, in one of our rooms at home, there are only two,
the room where my wife does homeschooling with our daughter,
the light got busted.
So it was one of those donut-like CFL lights, you know, the old style.
And so I had to replace it because they needed it the next day to do homeschooling.
I went to the hardware store, bringing with me that donut light.
And to my surprise, I was told,
Sir, this is already obsolete.
We no longer sell this model.
And so he proposed.
He said, but sir, I can sell you this one.
It's an LED one, which will last you very long.
But you're going to have to do some tinkering to install it.
It's very easy, he said.
Very straightforward.
And I trusted him.
And I bought the lamp.
And I went home.
And I tinkered.
And I connected it.
I screwed it on.
And when I switched the power on again,
behold, darkness.
And so I tried again.
And after a few tries, finally,
to my satisfaction, the light came on.
And so I was in this room.
My wife was in the other room with the kids.
And in my excitement, I called her and I said,
I fixed it.
And it's an LED light.
And so it's going to last forever.
And without skipping a beat,
my six-year-old daughter, who was with her,
hollers back at me and says,
No, Papa.
Only the Word of God lasts forever.
And so I got schooled by a six-year-old that night.
And this morning, I'd like us to hear what the Lord Jesus Christ has to say
about the enduring significance of the Word of God.
Now, this is important because up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew,
so far, he has not said anything about the law.
And in the first century Jewish ear,
this would have seemed very curious indeed.
You see, for the official religious leaders of the day,
the Pharisees and the scribes, the lawyers,
well, the law, or some derivative of it,
was all that they taught.
It was all they could talk about.
And so you have Jesus, this unofficial religious teacher,
teaching, but hadn't mentioned anything about the law.
So him mentioning it here, in this place,
is very significant.
And we need to hear it out.
How did the Lord Jesus view the law?
Could it be that he was a softy on it?
He was quite relaxed about it?
Well, no, not at all.
In fact, Jesus affirmed the lasting significance of the law.
Do not think, he says,
that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have not come to abolish them,
but to fulfill them.
Here in this section,
Jesus teaches the exactness of the law.
It is enduring,
and it is unbending.
And he, he says,
has come to fulfill it.
All of it.
Today the word of God is teaching us
that because Christ has come
to accomplish the law and the prophets,
Christians now have in him
a renewed life and relationship
to God's enduring laws.
I have three points I'd like to consider with you this morning.
And I will tell them to you,
if you're taking notes.
Number one,
accomplished, not abolished.
Okay?
Accomplished, not abolished.
The law is accomplished, not abolished.
Number two,
an unbending code of life.
The law is an unbending code of life.
And number three,
an exceeding righteousness.
Okay?
Now, boys and girls,
you should have been given a sheet
that we use back home.
And I'm very thankful that
your church has agreed to print this.
This is something that we use at home.
So, I have three key words
I'd like you to write down.
Now, those of you who are too young to do that,
mommy and daddy can help you
to write these key words.
And the reason I'm giving you these key words
is so that when you go home,
when you have family worship,
or in the car,
on your way to lunch,
you can ask daddy,
you can ask mommy.
So, daddy,
what did James mean
by these words?
Okay?
So, these are the three words.
Are you ready?
I want you to write them down.
Number one,
the word is fruit.
Okay?
Fruit.
Number two,
this is a really long word,
so I'll just give you the short form.
Three letters.
D and A.
Okay?
D and A.
And then the last word
I want you to write down
is the word extra.
Okay?
So, those are your key words.
You're probably not going to understand
a lot of what I'm going to say today,
but those key words
are going to be your guide
when you go home.
And mommy and daddy,
it's your duty now
to listen carefully.
Because the children
are going to come home
and ask you about this.
Okay?
So, let's look at the point in turn.
Number one,
accomplished,
not abolished.
Now, boys and girls,
the word I gave you
was the word fruit.
A flower that is cut from the plant,
we know,
dries up and dies.
But a flower that blooms
and matures
on the plant
eventually grows
into what it's meant to be.
In most cases,
a fruit.
And Jesus here is saying
that he has not come
to abolish
or to cut down
the law,
but to fulfill it.
In Jesus,
the law finds
its ultimate meaning
and fulfillment.
Have a look with me
in verses 17 and 18.
He says,
the Lord Jesus says,
Do not think that I have come
to abolish the law
or the prophets.
I have not come
to abolish them,
but to fulfill them.
For truly,
I say to you,
until heaven and earth
pass away,
not an iota,
not a dot,
will pass from the law
until all is accomplished.
Friends,
the law and the prophets
here encompass
the whole Old Testament.
When Jesus says,
the law and the prophets,
he's talking about
the whole Old Testament.
The law pertains
to the first five books
written by Moses.
And prophets
is the shorthand
for the rest
of the Old Testament.
And Jesus here
is saying
that he has come
to abolish
none of it.
He has come
to fulfill
all of it.
Notice in verse 18,
he says,
not an iota,
now that's the smallest
letter in Greek,
not a dot,
not even a dot,
will pass away
from the law
until
all is accomplished.
Here,
Jesus was simply saying
that the prophet,
what the prophet
had long ago
affirmed
to be the youth
by date.
Is that correct?
The youth
by date
of the scriptures.
The grass withers,
the flowers fade,
but the word of God
will last forever.
Isaiah 48.
Now,
we are used
to the language
of Jesus
coming to fulfill
the prophets
or prophecy.
Isn't that how
we're taught?
Old Testament,
promise.
New Testament,
fulfillment.
Right?
And so,
we're accustomed
to thinking of
Jesus as fulfilling
prophecy.
2 Corinthians 1.20,
Paul writes,
for all the promises
of God,
find their yes
in Him.
But,
here's the question.
What does it
really mean
that Jesus
had come
not only to
fulfill the prophets,
not only to
fulfill prophecy,
but to fulfill
the law?
That's where I'd like
us to turn
our attention
this morning.
How does Jesus
fulfill the law?
Now,
we already said
that the law
is the first
five books
of the Bible.
But,
more specifically,
the law here
points to
the moral law
as summarily
comprehended
in the Ten Commandments,
Shorter Catechism 41.
We must see here
an important
parallel
between
two public
men,
two Adams,
who each
stand as
representatives
of other men.
Jesus
has come
as the last
Adam
to succeed
where the first
Adam
had failed.
Adam
had disobeyed God.
Adam
has broken
God's law.
And,
Jesus has come,
he says,
to perfectly
obey
and fulfill
the moral law.
Recall with me
Adam
in the garden.
God created
Adam
in his own image
and gave him
two commands.
A positive one
and a negative one.
The positive command
was
be fruitful
and multiply
and subdue
the earth.
Have dominion
over the creatures.
What was that?
Adam was made
in God's image
and God
was essentially
telling Adam,
Adam,
what I want you to do
is to go
out into the ends
of the earth
and fill it
with my image.
Adam
The negative command
was
do not eat
of the fruit
of the tree
of the knowledge
of good and evil.
There will be
a consequence.
For on that day
that you eat
of it
you shall
surely
die.
And we know
how the story
unfolds.
Adam ate
and he died.
And because
he was a public
man,
our catechism
teaches us
that the covenant
being made
with Adam
not only
for himself
but for his
posterity,
his descendants,
all mankind
descending from him
by ordinary
generation,
sinned in him
and fell with him
in his first
transgression.
Shorter Catechism
16.
And this is why
the Bible teaches
that Jesus
had to come
because the first
head,
the first public
man had failed.
Jesus had to
come as the
second Adam,
the head of
a new humanity.
For as by
the one man's
disobedience
the many were
made sinners,
so by the one
man's obedience
the many will
be made righteous.
Romans 5.19
In Jesus
the whole law
is fulfilled.
In Jesus
positively,
Jesus obeys
the law
to the very
last jot
and tittle.
It's interesting,
isn't it?
The way he puts it,
he says,
for I truly,
for truly I say
to you until
heaven and earth
pass away,
not an iota,
not a dot
will pass away
from the law
until all of it
is accomplished.
And that's what
he has come to do.
He has fulfilled
it to the
letter,
to the
dot.
As the
Redeemer,
Jesus had to
obey in three
ways.
I'll give that
to you.
The first way,
he had to
obey his
father's
sending of
him to the
world to
save sinners.
Second,
as a human
being,
he is
truly human.
he had to
obey the
moral law
impressed in
his heart
as the
image of
God.
And thirdly,
as a Jew,
he had to
obey all the
positive commands
and laws
in the
law of
Moses.
This
encompasses
the ceremonial
law as well
as the
civil laws.
And all
this,
he did
perfectly.
but that's
not all.
What does it
mean for
Jesus to
fulfill the
law?
It's not
just for
him to
actively
obey.
Negatively,
Jesus
fulfilled the
law by
suffering the
penalty and
consequences
of the sin
of Adam
and of all
those he
came to
redeem.
2 Corinthians
5.21,
for our
sake,
he made
him to
be sin
who knew
no sin
so that
in him
we might
become the
righteousness
of God.
Returning
to our
text,
we see
then that
Jesus takes
the proper
view of
the law
as God
had intended
it.
Now,
the Pharisees,
they were
very,
how do you
put it,
enterprising
when it
comes to
their
interpretation
of the
law.
Pharisees
created a
whole system
of external
man-made
commands to
interpret the
limits and
the terms of
the law
according to
their
interpretation.
But this
only obscured
the true
meaning,
purpose,
and demands
of the
law.
The law
was,
is,
and will
always be
exact
and
unbending.
It's not
like after
the fall,
Jesus,
you know,
God
curved the
grade.
No,
the standard's
the same.
The law
remains
exacting
and unbending.
And that
brings us to
my second
point.
The law
is an
unbending
code of
life.
Now,
boys and
girls,
the word
I gave
you is
DNA.
That stands
for
deoxyribal
nucleic acid.
I don't want
you to write
that down.
DNA is
basically
the code
of life.
It is
the
smallest
part
that makes
us up.
Makes,
yeah,
makes us up.
And there's
a sense
in which
the law
is the
DNA,
or the
code of
life,
of humans
made in
God's
image.
Obeying
the law
is quite
simply
another way
of expressing
what the
chief end
of mankind
is.
Our
catechism
teaches us
to obey
the law
as we
should
is to
glorify
God
and to
enjoy
him
forever.
Now,
look with
me in
verse 19.
Therefore,
whoever
relaxes
one of
the least
of these
commandments
and teaches
others to
do the
same
will be
called
least
in the
kingdom
of heaven.
Whoever
does
them
and
teaches
them
will be
called
great
in the
kingdom
of
heaven.
The
law
is
an
expression
of the
very
character
and
nature
of
God.
When
God
made
man
in
his
own
image,
this
entailed
man
being,
in a
limited
sense,
like
God,
in
knowledge,
righteousness,
and
holiness.
Adam
was
originally
created
with
obligations
to
God,
simply
because
he was
a
creature,
simply
because
he was
made
in
God's
image
to
reflect
this
image.
The
moral
law
was not
an
add-on
to
his
existence,
but
was
rather
part
of
his
very
DNA.
And
so
with
or
without
positive
commands,
with
or
without
covenant,
Adam
owed
God
worship,
loyalty,
and
obedience.
And
so
do
we.
The
law
was
written
in
Adam's
heart
as an
unbending
code of
life,
as it
is
written
in our
hearts
as an
unbending
code of
life.
The
point of
this is
to say
that
the
law,
being a
reflection
of
God
himself,
could
never
therefore
be
relaxed
or
done
away
with.
We
will
have
to
deal
with
that
reality,
you
and
I,
because
we
are
made
in
God's
image.
God's
law
is
written
in
our
hearts
and
is
exacting
to
us.
It
is
unbending
to
us.
It
tells
us
how
we
ought
to
live.
And
this
is
Paul's
point,
isn't
it,
in
Ephesians
chapter
2.
Recall
the
order
of
things
as
he
expresses
it
in
verses
8
to
10.
He
says,
for
by
grace
you
have
been
saved
through
faith,
and
this
is
not
your
own
doing,
it
is
the
gift
of
God,
not
a
result
of
work,
so
8
and
9,
but
we
leave
out
verse
10,
which
is
so
important.
For
we
are
his
workmanship,
created
in
Christ
Jesus,
what did
he say?
For
good
works,
which
God
prepared
beforehand
that we
should
walk
in
them.
Good
works
then,
is
a
matter
of
God's
design.
God
made
us
to
glorify
him
and
to
enjoy
him
forever.
God
made
us
to
do
good
works.
No
wonder
all
other
religions
they
would
not
deny
doing
good
because
that's
the
impulse
of
our
hearts.
We
were
created
to
do
good
works.
The
problem
is
sin
has
killed
us
so
that
we're
no
longer
able
to
meet
God's
righteous
requirements.
But
we still
want to
try.
We
still
want to
do
it.
Good
works
is a
matter
of
God's
design,
not
of
how to
obtain
rights
standing
with
God.
Paul
is very
clear
about
that.
He
says,
it is
by grace
you've
been
saved
through
faith,
not
by
works.
But
you shouldn't
stop there
because then
you would
fall into
the trap
of
thinking,
oh,
now I'm
saved,
I can
do
whatever
I
want.
No.
By
grace
you've
been
saved
through
faith,
not
by
works.
But
later
he
says,
for
we
are
God's
workmanship,
created
in
Christ
Jesus,
for
good
works.
We're
not
saved
by
good
works,
we're
saved
to
do
good
works.
Good
works
is a
matter
of
proper
function.
Therefore
it
matters
how
we
relate
to
the
law.
It
matters
how
we
teach
the
law.
It
matters
because
while
the
law
is
by
no
means
a
way
to
life
for
the
dead,
it
is
by
all
means
the
way
of
life
for
the
living.
In
Christ
the
believer
is
restored
to
his
or
her
creational
design
so
that
now
by
the
power
of
the
Holy
Spirit
they
can
begin
to
really
obey
the
law
and
to
please
God
to
walk
in
newness
of
life.
Friends,
the
law,
the
moral
law
is
in
our
DNA.
It
speaks
to us
of how
we
ought
to
be.
Sin,
however,
prevents
this
in
us.
And
so
there
lies
the
problem.
God
made us
for
himself.
Our
chief
and
highest
end
is
to
glorify
God
and
fully
to
enjoy
him
forever.
But
as long
as we
remain
outside
of
Christ
and
in
the
Adams
family,
we
will
remain
sin
ruined
monsters
who
have
only
the
penalties
of
the
unbending
and
exacting
law
of
God
to
look
forward
to.
As
little
children
in
Sunday
school
were
made
to
memorize
the
most
popular
verse
in
the
Bible,
John
3,
16.
There's
another
verse
in
John
chapter
3,
I
think
that
it
would
do
us
well
to
teach
our
children
to
memorize
and
that's
verse
36.
Whoever
believes
in
the
Son
has
eternal
life.
Whoever
does
not
believe,
obey
the
Son
shall
not
see
life,
but
the
wrath
of
God
remains
on
him.
We
come
now
to
our
third
point,
an
exceeding
righteousness.
The
key word
I gave
you,
boys and
girls,
is the
word
extra.
What
does
extra
mean?
It
means
something
that is
not part
of
the
package
that
is
additional
or
outside
of
it.
So,
if you
go to
a
chippy
shop
and
order
yourself
a
nice
battered
fish,
that
is
all
that
you're
going
to
get.
You
want
french
fries,
I
mean
chips,
you
would
have
to
order
extra.
It's
not
part
of
the
original
order.
And
Jesus
here
speaks
of
a
righteousness
that
exceeds
that
of the
scribes
and the
Pharisees.
But what
does this
mean?
And can
we
find this
righteousness
in
ourselves?
No.
It is
extra.
It is
outside
of us.
Read with
me
verse
20.
The Lord
Jesus
here says,
For I
tell you,
unless your
righteousness
exceeds
that of
the
scribes
and the
Pharisees,
you
will
never
enter
the
kingdom
of
heaven.
The
law
is
exacting
and
unbending
and all
of
humanity,
O God,
their
perfect
obedience.
I've
been
quoting
from the
Shorter
Catechism.
Let me
quote from
another
catechism,
a newer
one.
In
question
and answer
seven of
the
New
City
Catechism,
it asks,
What does
the law
of God
require?
Answer,
personal,
perfect,
and perpetual
obedience.
That we
love God
with all
our heart,
soul,
mind,
and strength,
and love
our neighbor
as ourselves.
What God
forbids
should never
be done,
and what
God commands
should always
be done.
It's a
pretty heavy
burden,
isn't it?
But remember,
it's DNA.
It's the
code of
life.
It's what
we were
actually
made to
be and
to do.
And so
that's the
standard.
The law
is exacting
and unbending
that nothing
short of
personal,
perfect,
and perpetual
obedience
is what
God
expects
from all
of us.
Unless
our
righteousness
exceeds that
of the
scribes
and Pharisees,
and that's
not saying
much,
really,
we will
never
enter
the
kingdom
of heaven.
Jesus is
not proposing
a new
merit scheme
here,
okay?
He's not
saying,
well,
there's
another way
to get
into the
kingdom of
heaven.
Work
harder
until you
exceed the
righteousness
of the
scribes
and Pharisees.
No.
He is
saying that
the righteousness
of the
scribes
and Pharisees
is actually
the same
righteousness
that you
and I
have.
It is
the
righteousness
of
sinners,
which is
no righteousness
at all
in the
final
analysis.
The
littlest
sin
contaminates
us.
This
week,
I had a
chance to
sample
different
restaurants.
It's
wonderful,
isn't it?
London is
such a
cosmopolitan
city,
and there's
just so
much
internationals
here and
there.
And I
noticed that
in your
establishments
there's this
sticker,
the food
hygiene
sticker
rating.
We don't
have that.
That's why
it's
interesting.
Now,
suppose you
were an
inspector in
that agency
and it
has come
to your
attention
that one
restaurant
in central
London
serves
tap water.
And your
tap water
is good.
It's potable,
right?
Serves tap
water with
one drop
of toilet
water in
each glass.
Just one
drop.
Would you
give them a
pass?
Of course
not.
How about
if they said,
no, no, no,
it's not really
just one drop.
It's in the
whole pitcher.
One liter
full.
toilet
water.
One drop
toilet water
just to
make it
ours.
Would you
give them
a pass?
No.
How about
if they
had huge
five-gallon
water containers?
And let's
change it up
a bit.
They say,
no, okay.
It's not
one drop
from the
toilet paper
anymore,
toilet bowl
anymore.
It's one
drop from
the one
liter with
one drop,
okay?
Further
diluted.
And then
we serve
people water
from that
five-gallon
container.
Will you
give them
a pass?
Absolutely
not.
See,
the whole
five-gallon
container
is now
contaminated.
Even if
I gave
you five
quid,
you wouldn't
drink that
if you knew
what was
in it.
And that's
what we
are before
God.
Each one
of us
contaminated.
It doesn't
matter if
there's a
cup of
toilet water
in you
or just
a drop.
We are
utterly
unacceptable.
acceptable.
The question
for us
then is
where is
your
righteousness?
Have you
any
acceptable
that is
perfect
righteousness
of your
own to
show for?
And if
not,
where can
you find
such
exceeding
righteousness?
righteousness,
the kind
that exceeds
the righteousness
of the
scribes
and the
Pharisees?
I don't
know,
maybe the
Pharisees
are 99%
clean water
and just
one drop
of toilet
water.
Where do you
find that
righteousness?
It's extra.
It's outside
of yourself.
It's not
something we
can muster
through sheer
willpower or
performance.
It is
something that
can only
be found
in the
perfect
righteousness
of Jesus
Christ.
Martin
Luther
called this
an alien
righteousness.
A
perfect
righteousness
that is
extra
alien,
foreign
to us,
that comes
to us
without
our
efforts.
So
what is
Jesus
saying
in
verse
20?
What does
it mean
when he
says,
for I
tell you,
unless
your
righteousness
exceeds
that of
the
scribes
and
Pharisees,
you
will
never
enter
the
kingdom
of
heaven.
If
we
are
all
contaminated
with
sin,
the
toilet
water
of
sin,
where
do we
find
this
righteousness?
let me
suggest
to you
that the
one who
speaks
these
words
speaks
the truth
of the
exactness
of God's
law
so that
hearers
might see
that it
is only
he
who can
completely
fulfill it.
unless
I,
Jesus
as it
were,
is
saying,
unless
I
am
your
righteousness,
you're
doomed
because
of
your
sin,
you
will
never
enter
the
kingdom
of
heaven.
But
the
good
news
for you
and
for me
is
that
he
has
done
it.
You
see,
in the
final
analysis,
God
will
judge
each
person
by
works.
The
question
is,
whose
works
are
you
relying
on?
On
your
own
best
efforts
for
Christ's?
When
the
supreme
judge
and
almighty
maker
of
all
of
reality
asks
you,
what
or
where
is
your
righteousness?
How
will
you
respond?
May
it be
that you
find rest
in the
perfect
righteousness
of
Christ
alone.
No
humble
dress,
no
fervent
prayer,
no
lifted
hands,
no
tearful
song,
no
recitation
of the
truth
can
justify
a
single
wrong.
My
righteousness
is
Jesus'
life.
My
debt
was
paid
by
Jesus'
death.
My
re-reload
was
born
by
Him
and
He
alone
can
give
me
rest.
Let
us
pray.
Thank you.