I have a Captain Obvious statement to make this morning.
As you turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5,
we're going to be looking at verses 17-20.
And the Captain Obvious statement is this.
The Sermon on the Mount, it's a sermon.
It's Jesus preaching.
And so as we turn there, listen to the words of Jesus.
Listen to what He's actually saying.
It's phenomenal.
It's extraordinary.
It should blow your mind.
Hear the word of the Lord Jesus.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
He's speaking about the whole Old Testament there.
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 Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
How many sermons have you heard in your life?
I mean, if you've been a Christian for 10 years and you show up to, you know, 48 services, that's 480 sermons.
That's a lot of sermons.
You've probably got by now that there's three basic parts to a sermon.
There's the introduction, which is the hook that raises the need.
And then there's the body, which is the content.
And then there's the clothes, which kind of brings it all together and to bear in our lives.
Well, when you look at the Sermon on the Mount, you see all those elements.
You see the introduction.
Those are the Beatitudes.
Jesus is saying, this is my kingdom people.
This is the character of those who follow me.
And they're going to be salt and light.
And the disciples are wondering, well, then, how do you do that?
So he's hooked them.
And then there's the clothes of the sermon.
Would you flip over in your Bible to Matthew 7 and verse 13?
This is the clothes of the sermon.
And Jesus calls his listeners to make a decision.
And he says, hey, folks, there's two ways to live.
You can either live this way or live this way.
You can go through the narrow gate or through the wide gate.
You can be like a healthy tree or a diseased tree.
You can be one who does the will of the Heavenly Father.
You can be a worker of lawlessness.
Or the final one is, hey, you can be like a wise man who builds his house on the rock.
Or you can be like the fool who builds his house on the sand.
The point is, Jesus is saying, there's two ways to live.
You decide.
That's the clothes.
He calls his listeners to make a decision.
And in between the Beatitudes in those two ways to live is the body of his sermon.
And this morning, we're looking at the very start of the sermon.
This morning, I asked.
We started by opening up the Bible and said, turn your pages to Bibles to Matthew 5.
And then I read from you the passage that I'm going to be preaching on this morning.
Jesus does something very similar.
He calls his disciples to listen to what he's going to expound on from the Scriptures.
Now, let me just tell you something about Christian preaching.
What makes Christian preaching Christian versus Islamic or Jewish?
A Christian preacher is going to preach Jesus Christ from the God-inspired text of the Bible.
That's what makes Christian preaching Christian.
We preach Christ from the Scriptures.
And we see that happening.
This very first sermon of our King, it is distinctly Christian.
Let's ask Jesus a question.
Jesus, as you start the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, what text are you using?
We want to open our Bibles, Jesus.
Would you show us the chapter and verse?
What book should we turn to, Jesus?
You know, if Jesus was here, you know what he'd say to us?
This morning, would you open up your Bibles to the entire Old Testament?
Because I'm going to preach from the Old Testament.
And then he's going to say something like this this morning.
Here's the topic of the entire Old Testament.
It's phenomenal.
It's like, here we are, everybody.
Here's the main point.
The Old Testament is fulfilled in me.
That's where he starts the Sermon on the Mount.
Text for this morning, Old Testament.
Point of this morning's sermon, the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in me.
Only God incarnate can pull that off.
Only God in the flesh can say something like that.
Only God can say, the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in me.
The sermon that Jesus is preaching in the Sermon on the Mount,
it's not the exposition of one verse or a paragraph or a chapter.
It's on the whole Bible of their time.
The Law and the Prophets.
Genesis through Malachi.
And so what this morning, I just want to be very clear,
is that you need to say is that Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment
of all that the Old Testament points to.
It's all about him.
And our response is, who can say something like that but God himself?
So four things I want to help you see.
First is this, how Jesus understood the Old Testament,
his view of the Old Testament.
We'll see that in verse 18.
And then we'll come back to verse 17,
so you can see how Jesus thought about his relationship to the Old Testament.
And then we'll see in verse 19 is a bit of a warning.
And then verse 20, after he lays all this out about his relationship to the Old Testament,
he's going to call us to a kind of righteousness that has yet to be seen on earth.
A righteousness that exceeds that of even the scribes and Pharisees.
So let's look at Jesus' view of the Old Testament.
We're going to look at chapter 5, verse 18.
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.
Up until this point, Jesus has already shown his view of the Scriptures.
Do you remember chapter 4?
Satan comes out in the wilderness.
He squares off on Jesus and tempts Jesus three times.
And Jesus pulls out the shield of faith.
Pew, pew, pew, pew.
Blocks his shots.
Brings down the sword of the Spirit.
And he quotes three times from the book of Deuteronomy.
Jesus had a high view of the Bible.
And it functioned in his life.
You see him battling in chapter 4 with God's Word.
He was already using the Mosaic Law.
He believes in it.
He trusts it.
He's living by it.
And so what Jesus is going to talk to us about this morning
is his relationship to the Old Testament.
And so at the beginning of verse 18, he says,
truly I say to you, for truly I say to you,
and that's his distinct way of saying,
listen to the truth I'm about to say
because you can bank your life on it.
And then he says,
until heaven and earth pass away.
Until heaven and earth pass away.
Not an iota.
Not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
That little phrase,
until heaven and earth pass away,
well it's an expression.
Meaning,
it's timeless.
It's permanent.
It's going to be here for the rest of time.
And then when he starts talking about those,
what is an iota?
What's he talking about that?
An iota?
What's that?
What's a dot?
What's he talking about?
Well he's talking about this.
God has inspired the Old Testament.
It originated in his mind.
And what Jesus is getting here is
the Old Testament's permanent.
It's from God.
And it's all from him.
It's going to be here.
And then he says this.
Just in case you're wondering,
it's not inspired just in idea only.
Every iota,
every little dot
originated in the mind of God.
And what those are,
are the very smallest pen strokes
strokes of the Hebrew alphabet.
They're the tiniest of details
in the Hebrew language.
And what God,
what Jesus is saying is,
it's all from God.
It's permanent.
In the details.
Not just the ideas.
But the very words,
the very strokes themselves,
originated in God's mind
and is for our benefit
now.
And then he says,
this law,
the law and the prophets,
the Old Testament,
hey,
it's not going to pass away
until all
is accomplished.
Well that's getting at the
prophetic nature
of the
Old Testament.
Do you know what a three point
stance is in football?
Guys get down like this.
They're getting ready.
They're like poised to pounce.
The Old Testament is like
a coiled spring
ready to
make known something.
It's prophetic in nature.
All of it.
So whether it's the prophets,
whether it's the judges
or Ruth
or 1 and 2 Samuel,
those narratives,
whether it's wisdom literature
like the Psalms
or Proverbs,
even the Mosaic law itself,
all those regulations,
all of it
is aimed.
All of it
is poised.
All of it
is anticipating something.
It's all prophetic.
It shows up in different ways.
But it's all designed
to point
to something
until all
is accomplished.
accomplished.
The Old Testament
reveals God's plan
for the fullness
of time.
And that plan
comes into clarity
in the New Testament.
So,
the Apostle Paul
talked about it this way
in Ephesians 1.10.
God has this plan
for the fullness
of time
to unite
all things
in
Christ.
the Old Testament
is going to find
its ultimate fulfillment,
its ultimate
yes and amen
in the person
of Jesus Christ.
So,
Jesus' view
of the Old Testament,
it's permanent
all the way down
to the details.
It's prophetic.
It's pointing
at something.
He's going to say
it's pointing
to Himself.
And it's binding.
God's law,
His moral law
is to be obeyed
by all
for all humankind.
And so,
what God outlines
in the Old Testament,
His will
for men and women,
His moral will,
that doesn't change
as culture changes.
It's permanent.
He's always been
a holy God.
And so,
to sum up
Jesus' view
of the Old Testament,
it is
permanent,
it's prophetic,
it's binding.
Why?
Because
the Old Testament,
the words
of the Old Testament
are God's words.
All Scriptures
breathed out
by God,
says Paul.
And he's talking
about the Old Testament.
Now,
if Jesus had
this view
of the Old Testament,
brothers and sisters,
what's your view
of the Old Testament
like?
Is it like,
take it or leave it?
Yeah,
if I had to choose,
I'd just go
with the New Testament.
What Jesus is saying
is that
the Old Testament
is vital
to understanding
who Jesus is.
So,
we've looked at
Jesus' view
of the Old Testament.
It is a high
and wonderful view.
In fact,
it would be
a shared view
with the Pharisees
and scribes
of the time.
Jesus never challenges
on their understanding
of the Old Testament.
The conflict comes over
the application of it.
We'll see that later.
The second thing
I want you to see,
and this is where,
like,
I've just been
so jazzed all week.
I can't believe
I get to proclaim
this to you guys today.
How Jesus viewed
his relationship
to the Old Testament.
So,
look at verse 17.
Knowing what
Jesus' view
of the Old Testament is,
let's go back
to verse 17.
We read this.
Jesus says,
Do not think
that I have come
to abolish the law
or the prophets,
all of the Old Testament.
I didn't come
to put that aside.
I have not come
to abolish them,
but to fulfill them.
I have come
to fulfill them.
I have come
to fulfill
the Old Testament.
Now,
we can ask
a question like this.
Why is even
Jesus talking
about the Old Testament?
And what I've
tried to tell you
up to this point
is, well,
he's starting
a sermon
and he's starting
in his text
and he's saying
his text is
the Old Testament.
Well,
there's another reason
why.
He's already
gone through
the introduction.
He's already
told his disciples
who are there
on the mountainside
listening to him,
you are
citizens of heaven.
blessed are those.
And he goes
from blessed
are those
in the third person
to coming down
into chapter 5
verses 10,
11,
12 to you.
You.
You are my salt.
You are my light.
And then he gets
into 517
and all of a sudden
he's talking about
me.
I.
It's emphatic.
And what Jesus
is saying is this.
Hey guys,
I know you're
wondering,
now that I've
told you
you're my salt
and light,
I know you're
wondering now
how to do that.
What to appeal
to.
What shows you
the way to do
that?
And he also
knows that,
hey,
if you think
I'm the Messiah,
you're probably
wondering what
my relationship
to the Old
Testament is
because the Old
Testament will
show you the
way.
And so
Jesus anticipating
that his disciples
are going to want
to know how to
rightly relate him
to the Old
Testament,
he addresses it
right out of the
gate.
So here's what I
want you to see.
The incarnate
word,
Jesus,
is about to
explain his
relationship to
the written word
of the Old
Testament.
it.
And what you're
going to see is
they're not in
opposition to
each other.
You see,
the written
word of God
points to the
incarnate word
of God,
and there's no
need to put them
at odds.
Jesus did not
come to abolish the
written word.
He came to
fulfill it.
Have you ever
planned a party?
And you're
planning the party
and you're
anticipating all
your friends coming
over and when
they finally get
there, you're
kind of like,
this is awesome.
All my friends
are here.
So your
planning is
the anticipating
and pointing to
the actual
party.
And when the
party happens,
it fulfills
all the
planning.
The Old
Testament is
the planning
of the party.
And when
Jesus is
coming and
walks the
party,
it's all
about Him.
The Old
Testament is
like a
glove.
And Jesus
is the
hand in
the glove.
The Old
Testament
anticipates
Jesus.
If Jesus
didn't come to
negate the
Old Testament,
to minimize
it,
why did
He come?
What's His
relationship to
it?
And it's in
that word
fulfill.
Fulfill.
He didn't
come to
abolish.
He came to
fulfill it.
And that
word simply
means to
bring meaning
and substance
to something.
It has this
prophetic sense
of anticipation,
finding,
satisfaction,
and fulfillment.
And that is
exactly what is
going on here.
Jesus has
talked about this
in other spots
in the Gospels.
John 5,
39.
I started our
service off with
this.
He says,
you look to
the Scriptures
for eternal
life,
but the
Scriptures
actually are
about me.
In whom
is eternal
life?
Luke 24,
44-45,
Jesus is up
in the upper
room after
His resurrection
with His
disciples.
And He
explains to
them how
He fulfilled
Moses and
the prophets
and the
Psalms,
how the
Christ must
suffer.
They're all
pointing to
Him.
That word
fulfill is
key to
understanding
what Jesus
is saying.
And if you
flip back
in Matthew,
this isn't
the first
time Matthew
uses the
word fulfill.
If you look
at chapter
1,
verse 22,
all this
took place
to fulfill
what the
Lord had
spoken by
the prophet.
Behold,
the virgin
shall conceive
and bear a
son,
and they
shall call
His name
Emmanuel.
Who
fulfills
the Old
Testament
prophet?
Jesus.
And then
as you
page through
and look
through chapter
2,
you see
again and
again,
this Jesus
is the
fulfillment
of the
Old
Testament
prophets.
Not the
easiest to
understand,
but it's
there.
Chapter
2,
verse 15,
and He
remained
there until
the death
of Herod.
This was
to fulfill
what the
Lord had
spoken by
the prophet.
Chapter
2,
verse 17,
then was
fulfilled what
was spoken
by the
prophet
Jeremiah.
And then
in verse
23,
and He
went and
lived in
a city
called
Nazareth,
that what
was spoken
by the
prophets
might be
fulfilled.
And so
when we
get here
to chapter
5,
there's no
reason to
think that
Jesus is
talking about
fulfillment
in any
different way
than it's
been used
already in
Matthew.
But Jesus
is saying,
I've come
not just
to fulfill
the prophets,
I've come
to fulfill
the whole
Old Testament.
And so
now the
question I
want to ask
this morning
is,
how does
Jesus
fulfill the
Old Testament?
And there's
a couple
things I can
point to.
This is like
20 sermons
right here.
But let me
give you a
couple things.
Early on
in the
Mosaic Law,
in Genesis,
we hear a
prophecy in
Genesis,
Moses writing,
that there's
going to come
one from
Eve who
will crush
the head
of the
serpent.
That's
Jesus.
Genesis
chapter 12,
God calls
Abram and
He tells
him,
He promises
him,
through his
offspring,
He's going
to bless
all the
nations of
the earth.
And then
Paul in
Galatians 3
says,
Jesus is
that
offspring.
We see
Jesus
fulfilling
Scripture
after Scripture
in a variety
of different
kinds of
Old Testament
literature.
Let me
point you
to a couple
other things.
You know
how in
the book
of Exodus,
God makes
known the
law,
Ten Commandments,
Jesus fulfills
the Ten
Commandments.
This is how.
Every day
that Jesus
walked the
earth,
He went
ten for
ten on
the big
ten.
He went
ten for
ten.
He faithfully
obeyed
every
commandment,
not only the
ten,
but the
hundreds of
commands that
came along
with it.
He perfectly
obeyed and
fulfilled the
Old Testament
law in a way
that we could
never.
Every day of
His life.
So,
is it no wonder
at His
baptism,
God says,
this is my
beloved Son
with whom I'm
well pleased.
He's lived a
perfect life of
righteousness.
And so,
Jesus,
in a very
real way,
fulfills the
Old Testament
moral code
in His
life.
And so,
that's not so
much kind
of a
prophecy from
Isaiah.
It's a
different kind
of speaking
anticipation of
one to come.
But there's
more.
In the book
of Leviticus,
we are told of
all these
different
sacrifices
Jews had to
make because
for their sin,
there needed to
be the shedding
of blood.
God.
And so,
in God's
wisdom,
do you know
what He did?
He wanted to
really press
into His
people a
lesson.
And that is,
sin is real.
And if you're
going to live
with a holy
God,
you've got to
deal with your
sin.
And the way
you deal with
sin is by
the shedding
of blood.
And so,
over and over
and over again
in the Old
Testament,
over and over
and over again,
there is this
repeated offerings
of sacrifices
for the sin
of God's
people.
Over and over
and over again,
sin brings a
penalty against
a holy God.
And that penalty
is paid in
blood.
And that blood
covers the sin
and allows for
relationship with
the living God.
And so,
the sacrificial
system established
under the Mosaic
Law,
it begins to
point to an
ultimate sacrifice.
Jesus.
Whom John
said,
behold,
the Lamb of
God comes to
take away the
sin of the
world.
Jesus fulfills
the Old
Testament sacrificial
system because
His sacrifice
on the cross
was a once
for all
done deal.
The perfect
of all sacrifices.
The perfect
Lamb of God
who shed His
blood to take
away the sins
of a world.
Jesus is the
fulfillment of
that.
And we can go
on and on
and on.
How His
substitutionary
death fulfilled
Isaiah 53.
We can talk about
how Jesus
shedding of
His blood
and what
happened the
night before
at the Last
Supper.
He's inaugurating
the New
Covenant.
He's talking
about the
shedding of
His blood.
He's going to
usher in what
Jeremiah talked
about in
Jeremiah 31
and what
Ezekiel talked
about in
Ezekiel 36
and Jesus
ushered in
the New
Covenant
fullness.
I want to
point you to
one more
thing.
In Deuteronomy
18.18
God is talking
to Moses and
He's saying
there's going
to be a
prophet that
I'm going to
raise up from
the people and
He's going to
speak for me.
And then
Peter in
Acts 3
22 and
23.
Do you know
what He says?
Who this
prophet is?
Jesus!
The ultimate
prophet.
The ultimate
sacrifice.
He is the
fulfillment of
the Old
Testament.
The
anticipation
that the
Old Testament
raises over
the centuries
is found
fulfillment in
Jesus.
Is this
making sense?
You may be
come in here
this morning
and you're
like well I
just thought
the Old
Testament was
about God.
And if Jesus
was here he'd
be like oh
yeah you're
right.
It's about
me.
I fulfilled
it.
So here's
Jesus preaching
this sermon.
His inaugural
sermon and he
starts off saying
okay open up
your Bibles
to the whole
Bible and the
whole Bible is
about me.
I fulfilled
it.
It's all about
him.
He's the yes
and amen.
So this
morning if you
walk away from
here with just
one thing it
would be this.
The Old
Testament points
to Jesus.
And why do we
say that?
Because Jesus
said it.
I came not to
abolish the law
but to fulfill
it.
that's a game
changer.
It changes the
way you look at
your Old
Testament.
Because you
start seeing it
through Jesus.
Now I want you
to see this
warning he gives
in verse 19.
It's just the
first half of it.
Therefore
whoever relaxes
one of the least
of these commandments
and teaches
others to do the
same they'll be
called least in the
kingdom of heaven.
And so he's
trying to do a
corrective here.
And so he's
saying to his
disciples hey
don't misunderstand
what I'm saying.
I came to
fulfill the law
but that doesn't
mean you can
relax the law.
That doesn't
mean you can
kind of minimize
the least of the
commandments.
In that day
they made a
distinction between
the heavier matters
of the law and
the lighter matters
of the law.
And Jesus says
don't minimize
the lighter stuff.
And what we'll
see in the next
couple weeks is
how he corrects
that.
Just look down
to the whole
thing on anger
in verse 21.
You've heard that
it was said from
the Pharisees to
those of old
you shall not
murder.
And then Jesus
says but I say
to you.
Look what he
says.
But I say to
you that everyone
who is angry
with his brother
don't minimize
little stuff.
Don't minimize
that.
It's wrong to
commit adultery
but it's also
wrong to lust.
Don't minimize
that.
See what Jesus
is doing?
Man that guy
is brilliant.
And so what
he's doing here
is don't
mistake this.
My fulfilling
of the law
doesn't mean
it's no longer
binding.
It is.
Don't relax it.
In fact
Jesus is going
to say
I came to
raise the bar.
Now there's
always been a
temptation for
God's people
to make
adjustments
with the law.
One mistake
is this thing
called legalism
and that's the
belief that if
I obey the law
then God will
accept me.
I earn his
love through
performance.
And the
apostle Paul
will say
no, no, no,
no.
There's nothing
that you can do
to earn
acceptance with
God.
That's why
Jesus came.
That's why he
shed his blood.
That's why
in order for you
to be right in
God's eyes
God needs to
impute Christ's
righteousness to
you.
So don't make
that mistake.
But the other
mistake is the
mistake of
lawlessness.
From legalism
to lawlessness.
And what
lawlessness is
is this.
It's thinking
okay, Jesus
came to fulfill
the law and
so he's fulfilled
all of God's
requirements of
me.
Praise the
Lord.
And now he's
just covered
me with grace.
I can't out
sin God's grace.
So what I'm
going to do is
just sin and
sin and sin
and enjoy my
sin because I'm
just going to
be grace and
grace and
graced.
That's the
other mistake.
We can't make
either.
But what Jesus
is worrying about
right here is
don't relax
these commandments
because I've
fulfilled them.
Don't relax
them.
Just because
Jesus fulfilled
all the
commandments of
the Old
Testament and
for us even
that doesn't
mean they no
longer apply.
God is just
as holy now
as he was
then.
And he's
calling us to
a righteousness
that is an
essentially
different kind
of righteousness
that people were
seeing in
Jesus' day.
And so the
warning, don't
relax the law.
And now Jesus
is going to
bring some
action.
Look at the
second half of
19 and 20.
And this is the
last point of
this morning's
sermon.
Jesus calls
his followers
to a new
kind of
righteousness.
A kingdom
righteousness.
He says,
but whoever
does them
and teaches
them the
commandments
will be
called great
in the
kingdom of
heaven.
For I
tell you,
unless your
righteousness
exceeds that
of the
scribes and
Pharisees,
you'll never
enter the
kingdom of
heaven.
He's like,
don't relax
them.
I'm calling
you something
that exceeds
the righteousness
of the
scribes and
Pharisees.
So the
Pharisees were
known to do
things like
this.
They would
have their
cloak and
they would
kind of hold
their cloak
close to
them while
they're walking
through crowds
because they
didn't want to
touch the
rabble.
They didn't
want to be
made impure.
And so when
Jesus is talking
about the
righteousness of
the Pharisees,
his disciples
were like,
what?
More righteous
than them?
And what
Jesus is
actually talking
about is a
new kind of
righteousness.
A new
covenant kind
of righteousness.
An internally
born of the
Holy Spirit
righteousness.
You see,
this righteousness
that Jesus is
getting at is
not an outward
conforming for
the eyes of
man kind of
righteousness which
he rails on
the Pharisees
about.
No, the
righteousness
that Jesus
is calling
his disciples
and us
to is an
inner obedience
born of the
Holy Spirit
that wants to
glorify God
the Father.
That's what
he's doing
in us.
This is the
kind of
righteousness
that exceeds
the Pharisees
and scribes.
It's this
kind of
righteousness
that if you
look ahead
to chapter 5
verse 48,
that's the
perfect.
A
righteousness
within and
without.
Jesus is
raising the
bar of
righteousness.
Better yet,
he's saying
there's a
qualitatively
different kind
of holiness
I'm calling
you to live
by and it
comes through
me, the
fulfiller of
the Old
Testament.
I want to
start wrapping
things up here.
here.
But here's
one of the
things I want
you to see.
Have you
heard of the
Rosetta Stone?
The Rosetta
Stone was
this rock
steel, it's
called, found
in 1799 in
northern Africa.
Found by a
soldier.
Up until this
point, people
didn't know how
to make sense of
Egyptian hieroglyphics.
It was like,
what does that
mean?
We don't know
what it's
saying here.
And then when
this discovery of
the Rosetta Stone
was found, it
unlocked the
language.
Because the
Rosetta Stone
had three
languages on
it.
There was
Egyptian
hieroglyphics
on the top,
and then there
was another
language called
Domotic.
I have no idea
what that is.
And then there's
another language
called Ancient
Greek.
And they
were all
translations of
a decree of a
king from
Egypt from
196 B.C.
They're all
saying the
same thing.
And so that
gave scholars
the key to
understanding
Egyptian
hieroglyphics.
It was the
Rosetta Stone.
It unlocked
the hidden
meaning of
hieroglyphics.
Jesus is our
Rosetta Stone.
He unlocks
for us the
true meaning
intent of the
Old Testament.
Because the
Old Testament is
all about Him.
And now He's
calling us to
live in a way
that is pleasing
to Him.
Jesus is calling
us to a
righteousness
that we can't
produce ourselves.
It's a work of
God in us.
Would you turn
in your Bible
to Romans
chapter 8?
This is what
Jesus is
introducing.
This is the
new covenant
which He's
bringing with
Him.
Romans 8
verse 4.
Let's start
in verse 3.
For God has
done what the
law weakened
by the flesh
could not do
by sending
His own Son
in the likeness
of sinful flesh
and for sin
He condemned
in the flesh
in order that
the righteous
requirement of
the law
might be
fulfilled in
us who
walk,
who obey,
not according
to the flesh
but according
to the
Spirit.
Jesus is the
fulfillment of
the Old Testament
and He brings
with Him a
whole new way
of relating
to God.
A whole new
kind of
righteousness
born of
His Spirit.
What we're
going to be
seeing in the
rest of Jesus'
sermon,
the Sermon on
the Mount,
is how this
righteousness is
lived out.
He's going to
correct us on
some things
and He's going
to direct us
on some things.
But He's
introducing now
that Jesus,
He's the
fulfiller of
the Old Testament.
He's got a
high view of
the Old Testament.
He didn't come
to abolish it
but to fulfill
it.
He warned us
not to relax
it because He's
calling us to
a new kind
of righteousness,
a Spirit-born
Ezekiel 36,
Spirit-within-us
kind of righteousness.
So in order
to close,
let me just
ask this.
Who can say
something like
this?
Who can say
that the Old
Testament's about
me but God
alone?
It's about Him.
All of God's
plan for the
fullness of time
is uniting all
things in Christ.
So two things,
very quick.
because this sets
Jesus apart,
you know what?
You know what we
need to do?
Follow Him
and listen to Him.
He's our
Rosetta Stone.
Let me pray.
God in Heaven,
thank You so much.
Thank You so much
that You,
Jesus,
that You are the
focal point of the
entire Bible.
Thank You,
Jesus,
that You have
provided what we
need in order to
walk in righteousness
now.
You've supplied us
with Your own
righteousness,
and that You've
indwelt us with
Your Spirit so we
can experience it
too.
Lord Jesus,
thank You.
Thank You for Your
words.
In Your name we pray.
Amen.