WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.279 Good morning. It's good to see you all here. Glad you have joined us for worship this morning. 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:17.359 I'm Matt. I'm one of the pastors here. Almost every day, I drive on the Merritt Parkway, 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:25.379 and I have noticed something. People have a hard time keeping the law. You might have noticed it. 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:36.219 But guilty is charged. I cannot say that I also. It's one of those things where you know that 00:00:36.219 --> 00:00:40.219 if you actually go the speed limit, it feels like you're driving dangerously, 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:48.879 and so you feel the conundrum. That's not an amen. We need to find something better to amen than that. 00:00:48.879 --> 00:00:53.840 Come on. At the end of the service, we'll find something better to amen, I think. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:01.780 So, we have lively debates in our car among my children, my wife, about what are we supposed to 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:09.180 do with the law, and this is a question that we not only ask in our civil life, but even more so 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:15.740 in our spiritual lives. We ask ourselves the question, what do we do with God's law 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:25.919 revealed in the Old Testament? How do we respond to it? See, the problem is that our hearts have an 00:01:25.919 --> 00:01:33.840 interesting relationship with law. Some of us love the law and love the legalism that comes with it. 00:01:33.919 --> 00:01:39.419 Why? Because it gives us a checklist that we can check through, and when we're done, we can say, 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:50.219 we are right. We are good, and it feeds our self-righteousness and our ego, and it captures our 00:01:50.219 --> 00:02:01.400 heart. Now, for some of us, we hate the law. We love freedom. We want to be able to do whatever we want. 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:08.340 We are fundamentally selfish, rebellious, independent people, and sometimes, confusingly, we're both at 00:02:08.340 --> 00:02:19.900 the same time. So, what do we think about God's law? Maybe you didn't come in here this morning 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:25.060 asking about this, but we're talking about it because Jesus has things to say 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:33.860 to us about it this morning. If you haven't been here, we are working through Matthew 5 through 7 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:41.719 in the Gospels. This is called the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is proclaiming the nature of 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:48.120 His kingdom, the distinctly Christian nature of the kingdom that He is bringing. And we've read through 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:53.319 this summer the Beatitudes and what it says about the character of those who are in His kingdom. 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:58.859 We talked in the last couple of weeks about salt and light and how that's the nature of those, 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:04.759 the nature and work of those who are in His kingdom. And today, we're going to continue in this series. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:11.900 And we're going to look at Matthew 5, 17 through 20. If you want to turn there in your pew Bibles, 00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:20.659 it's page 760, Matthew 5, 17 through 20. While you're turning there, I want to remind you that 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:29.699 Jesus' audience initially for this sermon was Jewish. And Jesus had come on the scene as this 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:38.199 new preacher preaching the gospel, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And some of those faithful 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:47.060 Jewish people, a part of the nation of Israel that was founded in large part on the law of God 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:53.319 revealed to Moses on the Mount of Sinai after God had delivered them from Egypt, God's instruction to 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:58.860 them about how to live as God's people in the nation of Israel. And they're thinking, Jesus, 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:03.740 you have said all these wonderful things, but you've not said anything about the law. 00:04:04.140 --> 00:04:07.000 How can you be ignoring that? 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:16.939 And so, Jesus comes and talks to us this morning. So, I'm going to read this passage, we're going to pray, 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:23.519 and then we're going to look at it together. Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 through 20. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:31.819 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:38.599 but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:47.439 not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:53.100 least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:58.539 heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:05.240 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:15.100 you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Let's pray together. Oh, Lord, we look at this passage, 00:05:15.320 --> 00:05:25.040 and Lord, you have much to say to us in it, and we ask for your help this morning. Lord, I pray, 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:32.980 Lord, that the meditations of my mouth, or the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart would be 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:42.379 acceptable in your sight. Oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Lord Jesus, we pray that all of us would 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:52.100 sit under your word this morning. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So I want to acknowledge up front, 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:58.800 reading through commentaries. Everyone admits this is a hard passage, and I'm going to take a particular 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:04.040 take at it, and there are godly men and women throughout church history who have probably taken a 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:11.939 slightly different take on this, but I hope to at least inspire you to look carefully at the scriptures 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:17.220 as we look at it this morning for you to think about what it says to us. Because what I want to say to you 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:23.440 this morning is I believe that this text is saying that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in every way 00:06:23.440 --> 00:06:32.120 and calls us to follow Him with obedient devotion. So we're just going to look at that. If you're 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:37.200 making outlines, there are two points. One is Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in every way, and two, 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:43.600 Jesus calls us to follow Him in obedient devotion. So Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in every way, 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:50.460 verses 17 and 18. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have not come 00:06:50.460 --> 00:06:55.540 to abolish them, but to fulfill them. What is he talking about when he's talking about the law and 00:06:55.540 --> 00:07:03.580 the prophets? Well, it's not just the Mosaic law. The law might refer in a narrow sense to just the law 00:07:03.580 --> 00:07:10.879 given to him on Mount Sinai. So Exodus 20 through Leviticus and restated in Deuteronomy. It might just be 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:15.279 that, but because he expands it and says the law and the prophets, and you can look through the Old 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:20.459 Testament and see there are other places where this becomes almost an idiom for all of the Old 00:07:20.459 --> 00:07:28.219 Testament. So all that the Old Testament teaches us about God. And remember, if you don't know this, 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:34.779 the prophets refer not only to the latter prophets, what you think of as Isaiah and Ezekiel and Hosea and 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:40.019 Zechariah, but also the former prophets who are actually the history books. Those are called the 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:47.839 former prophets in classical description of the Bible. So it actually is describing the whole Old 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:55.759 Testament. And Jesus is saying, I haven't come to abolish that, to put it aside, to disregard it, 00:07:56.379 --> 00:08:02.579 but I have come to fulfill it. And what does that mean? Well, some have argued that Jesus is saying, 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:09.399 I have come to obey all of the law, which in fact he did. He did obey all of the law, 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:17.299 but it seems that that's too narrow of definition, and we'll see why as we keep looking. Others argue 00:08:17.299 --> 00:08:22.959 that he came to give true meaning to the law, and we'll see this in the passages that follow right 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:29.060 after this. You've heard it said, but I say to you, where he says, yeah, the law is the law, but there's 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:34.259 something deeper there, and I'm going to sort of expand your understanding of it. And again, this is 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:40.340 true, but I think not sufficient for what Jesus is saying about what it means that he is the 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:49.039 fulfillment of the law. I think what Jesus is saying is, I am the fulfillment of the law because 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:55.519 the whole Old Testament, the revelation from Genesis to… what's the last book of the Bible, 00:08:55.720 --> 00:09:01.580 Old Testament, Zechariah, Micah, whatever it is. I forgot this morning. Whatever it is, 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:06.240 all of those books, they are pointing to me. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:15.320 Why do I say that? Well, there are a couple of things. One is that Scripture tells us in other 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:21.900 places that this is true. Do you remember in Luke, after the resurrection, Jesus is talking to disciples 00:09:21.900 --> 00:09:27.340 walking on the road to Emmaus, and they're talking about Jesus and how he died and how there's a story 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:36.519 of him rising, but they don't know what happened. And he says to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:43.060 to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:50.860 things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:58.139 in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So the resurrected Jesus came to his disciples and 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:08.120 said, hey, all of this, it's all about me. Later in the apostolic witness in 1 Peter, he writes this to 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:13.779 the church in Rome in 1 Peter 1. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the 00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:20.539 grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit 00:10:20.539 --> 00:10:26.319 of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:32.259 So again, there's this indication that the Old Testament writers, even if they didn't know exactly 00:10:32.259 --> 00:10:36.879 what they were writing about, they were looking ahead and they knew that they were writing about 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:44.779 something greater than themselves. And this is what Jesus says. The law and the prophets were great, 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:52.659 but they were given to point to something greater, and that something is me. And so he says the Old 00:10:52.659 --> 00:11:01.019 Testament predicted the coming of Jesus. The Old Testament prepares the world to understand Jesus 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:08.139 in his work of redemption. The Old Testament prefigured the work and person of Jesus in lots of different 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:15.399 ways. And so Jesus is saying, I have not come to set it aside and to say it has no value, but I have 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:24.120 come to fulfill it. That is to say, I am coming to show you all that it points towards. And he goes on 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:32.639 in verse 18, and he says, so this is why I'm not saying I put it aside. All of it is important. Not 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:41.240 one single piece of it, not one part of what God has revealed will pass away until all is accomplished. 00:11:42.500 --> 00:11:51.879 Now, it might seem like the easy way to do that is to say, to understand that is to say, okay, so 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:57.559 what does it mean that all is accomplished? Well, when the law is finally obeyed fully, 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:02.840 that would be a normal understanding. And some people think that's true that it's referring to 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:09.299 Jesus. Some people seem to think that this is a future picture of what God will do when he remakes 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:14.539 the heavens and earth, and in his redemption, he removes sin and evil from the world, and the law 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:25.059 will be perfectly followed because his people will be made new. But I actually think that Jesus is 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:33.740 saying something different. The key here is where Jesus uses the phrase law and the prophets in a 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:41.360 different verse in Matthew 11. He's talking about, in Matthew 11, he's talking about messengers from 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:47.899 John the Baptist and what the relationship is, and they're asking, are you the one, are you the one 00:12:47.899 --> 00:12:57.860 that everyone predicted? And in verse 13 of chapter 11 of Matthew, Jesus says this, for all the prophets 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:06.659 and the law prophesied until John. And if you're willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come, 00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:12.279 but then he goes on and he talks about himself. And he points to himself again. 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:20.360 And this is, I think, the idea. All the prophets prophesied all the way up to John the Baptist, 00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:29.120 and what were they pointing at? Jesus. And when Jesus came, the all that was accomplished that's 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:36.339 referred to in verse 18 is being referred to. Jesus in his life and his death and his resurrection. 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:41.120 And this then means that it's a restatement of verse 17. It says, 00:13:42.339 --> 00:13:50.059 Jesus came to fulfill all that the law was pointing to. Now, one of the things that this 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:56.339 understanding of these passages does is it deals with a problem that every commentator and every 00:13:56.339 --> 00:14:02.299 Christian wrestles with, which is, what am I supposed to do with the law of the Old Testament 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:09.719 as it relates to me? Do I have to obey it? Do I not obey it? What do I think? And it seems like 00:14:09.719 --> 00:14:14.679 the traditional understanding of this passage is often, yeah, you kind of need to obey it, 00:14:14.939 --> 00:14:22.459 but Jesus kind of changes some things, but really you still have to obey it. And if you don't obey it, 00:14:22.479 --> 00:14:25.579 then you just receive forgiveness from Jesus for that, and then you're fine. 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:34.379 And that is understandable, but it's not actually what Jesus does or the New Testament does with the 00:14:34.379 --> 00:14:40.800 law. It's much more complicated than that. Let me give you an example of this. Jesus seems to come, 00:14:41.180 --> 00:14:46.940 let me say this first, Jesus seems to come and he at times changes, at times supersedes, 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:55.020 and at times set asides, and at times affirms the Old Testament law. Okay? Change, supersede, 00:14:55.660 --> 00:15:02.720 set aside, and affirm. He does all of those things. Here's an example. The Sabbath, right? The Sabbath 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:07.380 is one of the Ten Commandments. You must obey the Sabbath. You shall do no work in the Sabbath. The 00:15:07.380 --> 00:15:13.540 law of Moses gave you all sorts of particular laws about how you can do this and not this, and how far 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:19.919 you can walk, and what happens when you're, you know, well, we won't get into details. Anyway, 00:15:20.219 --> 00:15:28.159 it gives you all these details, right? But in Matthew 12, chapter 6, Jesus is confronted because his 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:35.779 disciples picked grain on the Sabbath to eat because they had no food. And Jesus says, 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:46.240 what are you, the law is not, the law doesn't constrain humanity in that way. The law was meant 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:53.639 as a gift to provide. And he goes on in verse 6, and he says, I tell you something greater than the 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:59.539 temple is here, and if you had known what this means, that I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you have 00:15:59.539 --> 00:16:07.319 not condemned the guiltless, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus steps into this situation, 00:16:07.459 --> 00:16:12.759 and he says, these men are not doing any wrong because they are with me, and I am the Lord of 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:19.819 the Sabbath. And it's a radical challenge. And if you keep reading, if you read through the Gospels, 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:24.419 you see how much this is a point of contention. But here's the thing, the New Testament doesn't, 00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:29.360 here Jesus seems to be just setting aside the law. But there's more to it, because when you go to 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:37.080 Hebrews 4, the writer of Hebrews will talk about a Sabbath rest for the people of God, where we rest 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:43.720 from our works of doing the law in order to achieve righteousness and a right standing before God, 00:16:43.860 --> 00:16:52.200 we have a rest from that because Jesus has gone ahead and done what only we, what only He could do 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:59.279 in perfectly obeying the law and then giving Himself as a sacrifice for us so that we can enter into a 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:04.480 rest with God of our spirits. We have a rest with God of our spirits because we no longer have to 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:11.839 strive for our salvation because instead, because of what Jesus done, we receive that. This is the Sabbath 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:21.339 rest of God. And this is what the Sabbath points to then from the Old Testament. Do you see how it's complex? 00:17:21.339 --> 00:17:30.799 And how it can't seem to be that verse 18 of chapter 5 of Matthew is saying, oh, well, you guys just, 00:17:30.899 --> 00:17:37.000 you just need to keep the, you need to continue to keep the Sabbath until some future thing. It seems like 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:40.779 Jesus has already shifted the ground. 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:54.359 There's more. I'm going to just, yeah, I'm going to skip through the next two slides, Josh. In the book of Hebrews, 00:17:54.519 --> 00:18:00.279 it also says, Jesus comes and He says, there's a whole ceremonial law and you know what? There's a priest and there's a 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:06.680 temple and there's a sacrifice and Jesus says, I'm all of those things. I am the priest who offers a 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:12.619 sacrifice. I am the sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. I am the temple. And when this body, 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:18.079 this temple is destroyed, it will be raised up in three days to create a new temple of God 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:26.279 spiritually among the people of God. And so the Old Testament law is fulfilled in a glorious and 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:33.639 beautiful way through Jesus. And so when Jesus says, I've not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill 00:18:33.639 --> 00:18:38.660 it, and none of it will pass away until it's accomplished, Jesus is saying, this is all pointing 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:44.319 to me. And so now when we look back at the Old Testament, we don't look at it as the rules that 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:50.359 we have to follow to be accepted by God, but we look at it through the lens of Jesus so that the whole 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:55.680 Old Testament, one of the major questions we ask is, what does this say about Jesus? 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:02.560 Jesus, and his work of redemption, and how this points us to the work of the cross. 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:13.600 If you're wondering, Pastor Matt, I have no idea how to do that. I have no earthly idea. Let me point 00:19:13.600 --> 00:19:18.980 to you, one of the people who's done great, there's lots of good books on this. One of the persons who's 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:25.039 done great work on this recently is a woman named Nancy Guthrie, who's produced a whole series called 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:32.099 Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. And it's seeing Jesus in David, and seeing Jesus in the Pentateuch, 00:19:32.159 --> 00:19:39.279 and seeing Jesus in the prophets, and it's a great series. She has on her website just a summary. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:45.240 Actually, I found this on an article. I'll send it out in the weekly newsletter next week. An article. 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:52.279 Here are seven ways in which the Old Testament prefigures or points us to Jesus. 00:19:52.279 --> 00:20:02.200 The Old Testament reveals problems that only Christ can solve, like judgment and expulsion from the 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:09.799 Garden of Eden and lack of fellowship with God. The Old Testament gives us a promise that only Christ 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:16.500 can fulfill, like how do we regain the presence of God with us? 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:27.700 The Old Testament tells us about a need that only Christ can meet. How can the blood of goats and bulls 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:37.220 atone for the sin of humanity? They can't. Only Christ can. The Old Testament gives us a pattern or a theme 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:46.000 that only comes to resolution in Christ. The kingdom of God is a mess in the Old Testament. It's never what we 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:52.140 all want it and long for it to be. They knew it as well. Jesus comes and he says, I'm going to bring a 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:59.640 kingdom, and when my kingdom comes, and your will, my will is done on earth as it is in heaven, it will be 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:06.000 all that we long for and all that we know it's supposed to be. The Old Testament is also a story 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:15.920 that comes to its conclusion in Christ. The big picture of the creation, fall, redemption, glory, 00:21:16.059 --> 00:21:21.440 the centerpiece of it is Jesus. He is the Redeemer. He is the one who will bring the glory. 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:23.880 He is the one who was there from the beginning. 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:37.300 The Old Testament shows us people who prefigure an aspect of Christ. So Jesus is the greater king 00:21:37.300 --> 00:21:43.080 from the line of David. He is a greater prophet than the prophet Moses. He is a greater priest than 00:21:43.080 --> 00:21:52.520 the priests of Melchizedek, and so on and so forth. The Old Testament gives us events or symbols that 00:21:52.519 --> 00:22:01.019 picture an aspect of who Christ is. Think of Noah's ark, the boat through which God's people are saved 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:08.660 through the storm of judgment. Or there are times when the Old Testament gives us a revelation of the 00:22:08.660 --> 00:22:13.960 pre-incarnate Christ. Every once in a while, someone shows up, and you think, in the Old Testament, you're 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:21.000 like, who is that? It doesn't seem like an angel. It doesn't seem like a human being. Well, Christ seems to 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:28.240 show up every once in a while in the Old Testament. That was a quick summary of that. 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:36.960 I refer you to the Nancy Guthrie's books and her website for more information on how to start 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:45.579 thinking about how do I read the Old Testament? Because in the end, Jesus gloriously and powerfully 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:52.899 fulfills all of the Old Testament. And He is the center and the lens now through which we read it. 00:22:53.899 --> 00:23:02.359 And it's not that the law doesn't matter at all, right? The law points us to Christ. 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:10.959 But some might be thinking, well, if that's true, so now I have Jesus and I can do whatever I want, 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:16.559 right? So I don't have a law. Isn't that going to lead to Christian antinomianism and just doing 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:23.519 whatever we want? Well, no. Because there's a second part to this passage. Let's keep looking at verses 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.220 19 and 20. Jesus says this, 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:33.599 Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:41.740 will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:48.519 called great in the kingdom of heaven. Now, you may have guessed this already, but when I first read 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:54.000 this and about halfway through my sermon preparation, I thought, oh, this is continuing on. 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:59.700 Okay, so we need to keep the law. We need to do better at keeping the law because that's what it 00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:06.720 says. If we relax the law, then we're no good in the kingdom. But if we keep it, then we're good in 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:12.480 the kingdom, right? But that doesn't seem to make any sense. Even though the ESV rolls it together and 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:16.379 says this is all one paragraph, I actually think there's a transition. 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:24.440 Jesus says, therefore, and I think his transition is to something new. And when he refers to these 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:31.540 commandments, I don't think he's talking about what has gone before, that is verses 17 and 18, 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:37.280 referring to the Old Testament law, but I think he's talking about what comes after. And so verses 00:24:37.280 --> 00:24:44.720 19 and 20 should be seen as the header to the next section of teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:54.380 And what happens there? Jesus says, you have heard it said, but I say to you. 00:24:57.319 --> 00:25:05.799 Not just murder, but anger and hatred. Not just adultery, but lust in your hearts, and so on and so forth. 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:18.559 Jesus comes as a new lawgiver, as a greater lawgiver, the one who has the authority to rule in his 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:25.619 kingdom. And he says, the Old Testament points to me, so now listen to me. 00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:35.579 And I think verse 20 supports this. I don't know if you've thought about this. Verse 20 where it says, 00:25:35.739 --> 00:25:39.739 unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:25:39.959 --> 00:25:46.959 Now, do you know about the Pharisees? They were really good at law keeping. They knew the 248 00:25:46.959 --> 00:25:55.299 commandments and the 365 prohibitions that make up the 613 laws of the Old Testament. And they kept them. 00:25:55.299 --> 00:26:04.799 Jesus himself affirmed this, you tithe mint and dill and cumin. They did all the details of it. They kept 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:10.680 the particulars of the law with zeal. And Jesus says, that's not enough. 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:22.440 John Stott says, the difference of the righteousness of the Pharisees and the Christian is not one of 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:30.940 degree, but one of kind. Pharisees practiced external righteousness, outward conformity to the law. 00:26:31.340 --> 00:26:36.740 But Jesus says that true following of the law is internal as well as external. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:42.859 Jesus is not saying, you have to out-Pharisee the Pharisees. 00:26:45.660 --> 00:26:54.140 It's not about keeping the law better than they are. It's about keeping my words, keeping my commands, 00:26:54.599 --> 00:27:02.700 obeying me. This is the kingdom that I am bringing. And it will have a different character, 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:10.519 a different kind of righteousness. In fact, a greater righteousness. Not merely external righteousness 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:16.220 of conformity to the law, but a whole life transformation. Souls that are made alive, 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:24.660 hearts that are made new. Not freedom from obedience, but obedience that comes from love and devotion 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:31.400 to our Savior. And of course, friends, this is exactly what the Old Testament predicted. 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:37.680 Remember the passage that Tom read earlier in the assurance of pardon. Jeremiah 31. 00:27:38.060 --> 00:27:42.620 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:49.480 I will put my law within them. I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people. 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:57.940 Or think about what he says, what the prophet Ezekiel says in Ezekiel 36, where he says, 00:27:58.140 --> 00:28:02.779 I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses. 00:28:03.120 --> 00:28:10.360 From all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:15.339 And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 00:28:15.339 --> 00:28:25.299 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 00:28:28.980 --> 00:28:34.759 So Jesus says, I have come to fulfill the law. 00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:38.059 It is about me. 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:41.399 And so now what does life in my kingdom look like? 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:46.800 It looks like following and obeying me and my words. 00:28:53.360 --> 00:28:59.140 It raises questions for us as we think about how we relate to Jesus. 00:29:01.360 --> 00:29:07.740 Some of us have that legalistic tendency. 00:29:08.560 --> 00:29:10.040 Jesus, just tell me what to do. 00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:15.980 And he comes back at us with love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:17.339 and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:24.740 And then let the whole New Testament fill out what that love looks like in countercultural ethics 00:29:24.740 --> 00:29:29.379 and in self-sacrificing service to others. 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:33.839 In standing for truth in a gracious way, etc., etc. 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:35.359 So many different ways. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:41.939 Jesus says, I've come to bring a new kingdom to you. 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:49.759 Don't fall back into the legalism of the Pharisees thinking you can justify yourself. 00:29:50.320 --> 00:29:56.299 But also, don't fall into the thing, Jesus loves me, I can do whatever he wants, 00:29:56.380 --> 00:29:58.980 and by the way, because I'm justified by grace, not faith, 00:30:00.100 --> 00:30:02.440 I'm still covered no matter what I do. 00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:07.340 Because here's the thing, that's true and it's not true. 00:30:09.740 --> 00:30:16.000 It is true because only Jesus and the righteousness that he gives us can ever make a standing, 00:30:16.539 --> 00:30:19.960 give a standing before God where we can have the forgiveness of sins 00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:25.320 and the reception of his forgiveness and reconciliation with him 00:30:25.320 --> 00:30:27.360 and a renewal of a relationship with him. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:30.000 And only through Jesus can we have that. 00:30:30.019 --> 00:30:34.479 And there's nothing we can do to earn or to achieve that. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:37.479 But the New Testament says, 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:43.000 those who understand and receive this gracious gift of righteousness 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:47.679 are then set free from the law of sin and death, 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:51.339 from the power and slavery that our hearts are in to sin, 00:30:51.339 --> 00:30:55.799 and we are freed finally to live rightly before God. 00:30:55.799 --> 00:31:00.399 And friends, why would we want to go back and eat in the mud puddle 00:31:00.399 --> 00:31:04.980 when Jesus has given us a banquet of righteousness for us to pursue? 00:31:05.859 --> 00:31:08.519 We don't obey the law because it's the law. 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:14.899 We love Jesus and we follow after him and he shapes and he transforms how we live. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:18.899 And we read the New Testament to give us clarity on that, 00:31:18.899 --> 00:31:21.759 and we read the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.279 to enrich and fulfill our understanding of it. 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:31.700 And so we don't have a law that makes us right with God, 00:31:32.180 --> 00:31:39.859 but we have a Savior and a King and a Lord to follow in every part of our life. 00:31:41.159 --> 00:31:46.319 Friends, do you obey Jesus and all of his commands? 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:54.659 Have you let him be the Lord of every part of your life, even at great cost? 00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:59.779 Have you become comfortable with external religion, 00:32:02.460 --> 00:32:06.480 with a life that's not filled with Jesus? 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:15.599 Have you, out of weariness or selfishness or even despair and self-condemnation, 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:20.980 given up trying to live a life pleasing to God because you see that you fail? 00:32:23.980 --> 00:32:26.079 Friends, Jesus comes and he says, 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:29.379 I am the perfect law keeper. 00:32:29.379 --> 00:32:31.980 I am the perfect sacrifice. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:36.960 I am the deliverer and I am the new law giver. 00:32:38.419 --> 00:32:39.960 Come to me. 00:32:40.779 --> 00:32:43.720 Come to my kingdom and my righteousness. 00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:46.099 Humble your pride. 00:32:48.059 --> 00:32:50.019 Forsake your selfishness. 00:32:50.659 --> 00:32:52.439 And come to me. 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:54.380 And you know what, friends? 00:32:54.920 --> 00:33:00.700 The Bible promises that when we know Jesus more, we will love him more. 00:33:01.059 --> 00:33:04.880 And when we love him more, we will obey him more. 00:33:05.220 --> 00:33:09.360 And when we obey him more, we will become more like him. 00:33:09.500 --> 00:33:15.039 And we will delight then to know and obey and worship Jesus in an increasing fashion. 00:33:16.299 --> 00:33:20.000 And so know that we are a part of his kingdom. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:25.299 Friends, this is distinctive Christian living. 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:30.839 Let's pray. 00:33:38.619 --> 00:33:42.180 Lord, as we have looked at this word, Lord, we are challenged. 00:33:42.180 --> 00:33:51.039 For our hearts are often prone to wander, prone to leave the things that we ought to love, 00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:54.680 to follow others. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:58.200 Oh, Lord, we pray. 00:33:59.220 --> 00:34:06.620 By your spirit, renew in us, Lord, our desire to know you, to follow you. 00:34:06.619 --> 00:34:14.199 Lord, put in us, Lord, a renewed spirit and a new heart. 00:34:16.759 --> 00:34:21.500 Lord, we pray you would help us in these things. 00:34:23.099 --> 00:34:24.719 We pray this in Jesus' name.