1 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:07,240 Brought your Bible today. Would you please open the 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:14,280 Matthew chapter 5, Matthew 5? We've been walking through 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,640 Matthew's portraits of Jesus. What Matthew is showing us is 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:24,000 that Jesus is the promised king who brings his Kingdom, but he 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,080 brings it not with swords or Thrones of this world. 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,920 It's another worldly throne for sure, but he does bring it with 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,320 authority. He, he brings it with mercy. 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,200 He's going to bring it with perfect righteousness. 9 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,680 And so we're going to learn more about that this morning and the 10 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,600 Sermon on the Mount. So far what we've seen is the 11 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,440 blessed life of the Kingdom citizen, right? 12 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:53,000 He, he, Christ in the opening parts of Matthew 5 mentions 13 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,480 blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who are 14 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,160 merciful, those who are pure in hearts and among other things, 15 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,360 right? We've seen that the chapter, 16 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,000 we've seen what that character produces, right? 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,560 So he was describing the character of Kingdom citizens, 18 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:13,760 and then he describes the fruit of it as he talks about, you 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,560 know, he says you are the salt of the earth. 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,800 You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men 21 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,320 that they might see your Father in heaven and rejoice in him. 22 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:27,360 And so now the question arises, what is Jesus going to do about 23 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,840 Old Testament law? All right, he hasn't got into 24 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,760 that yet. He said he sat down as a teacher 25 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,160 like a rabbi would have in their day. 26 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:41,440 And he's begun to teach and has not yet addressed the law. 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:43,120 So what is Jesus going to do with the law? 28 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,720 Is he going to scrap the law? Is he going to relax the 29 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,040 standards of the law? Or is he going to do something 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,160 far greater? All right, there's your answer. 31 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:57,360 All right, Number C. So today's text answers that 32 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,800 question head on. Jesus speaks directly to any 33 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,800 rumor, any fear that may be, you know, coming to the surface 34 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,160 among the people who are listening about what's going to 35 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:10,800 happen. The law. 36 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:16,000 He's going to let us know that he's not abolishing God's 37 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,200 commands at all, right? He's not tearing them down. 38 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,880 He's, he's going to complete them, right? 39 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,880 He's going to live them perfectly, and what he 40 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,840 completes, his perfect life changes everything for how 41 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,040 Kingdom citizens live in His Kingdom. 42 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:36,160 It changes everything about how we relate to God, about how we 43 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,720 relate to the laws of God. And so we're going to see a lot 44 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,160 about that this morning. If you're able, would you please 45 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,680 stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning? 46 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:52,600 We're going to be reading verses 17 through 2017 through 20. 47 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,520 Jesus is speaking here. He says, do not think that I 48 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,240 have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 49 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,640 I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 50 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,840 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not 51 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,960 an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is 52 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,400 accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one 53 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,600 of the least of these commandments and teaches others 54 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,880 to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. 55 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,920 But whoever does them and teaches them will be called 56 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:34,600 great in the Kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your 57 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:40,680 righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you 58 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,520 will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 59 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,720 This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, let's pray. 60 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,720 Heavenly Father, we come before Your word with humbleness. 61 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,840 This morning we recognize that we are reading the words of your 62 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,800 Son, Jesus. Lord, we ask that You would give 63 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:06,720 us by Your Spirit hearts that are made of fertile soil this 64 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,680 morning, that You would plant Your word deep into our hearts, 65 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,640 that it would bear fruits in the coming days and years of our 66 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,279 lives. Father, we ask that You would 67 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,120 help us to glorify you today as we listen to Your word, as we 68 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:27,640 search our hearts, as we really have Your word read us today. 69 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,280 Oh God, would You help us to glorify you in our response. 70 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,680 May we take Your word to heart. May we believe it with 71 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,880 everything that we have, and may we put it to practice today. 72 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:42,800 Oh, Lord, I thank you for these men and women and these boys and 73 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,520 girls that have gathered today. I ask, Lord, that you would 74 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,440 teach them from your word this morning. 75 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:51,360 It's in the name of Christ, I pray. 76 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:52,960 Amen. Amen. 77 00:04:52,960 --> 00:05:02,650 You may be seated. Imagine with me for a moment a 78 00:05:02,650 --> 00:05:05,250 young boy named Alex. All right. 79 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:10,570 A young boy named Alex. Alex's father is a master 80 00:05:10,570 --> 00:05:16,490 Carpenter, and for years his dad has taught him the family rules 81 00:05:16,490 --> 00:05:20,880 for building, right. You measure twice, you cut once. 82 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,440 You use the right tools, right? A hammer is a hammer. 83 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,720 It's not a screwdriver, right? You use the right tools. 84 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,320 You never shortcut the foundation. 85 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,440 He teaches Alex that these laws are not arbitrary. 86 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,520 These are meaningful. They keep the house from 87 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,720 collapsing. They make something beautiful 88 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,720 and lasting, something that cannot be torn down right now. 89 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,080 One day, Alex's older brother comes back to town after years 90 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,680 of being away. Now Alex's older brother had 91 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,880 learned the family trade. He is a master Carpenter. 92 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,600 He's an expert Craftsman. And everyone wonders, what is 93 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,200 Alex's older brother going to do? 94 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,240 Is he going to tear down the old workshop? 95 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,160 Is he going to start fresh? Will he say something like, 96 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,520 forget Dad's rules, they're outdated, They don't help us 97 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,880 today. But instead, the older brother 98 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,280 steps in. He picks up the same tools. 99 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,720 He builds the most perfect house the town has ever seen, right? 100 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,480 Every he he follows every rule Florida State down to the 101 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,360 tiniest of the measurements. He he doesn't relax a single 102 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,520 standard. He embodies them perfectly. 103 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,880 Then he turns to his younger brother and he says this. 104 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,920 He says, I'm not here to throw out Dad's blueprint. 105 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,520 What he has taught us is good and right. 106 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:47,320 I'm here to complete it, right? Watch me live this out. 107 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,400 Learn from me and I'll show you how to build from the heart, not 108 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,160 just the surface. Together we'll make homes that 109 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,440 stand forever. Right now. 110 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,160 That's what Jesus does with God's law, right? 111 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,720 He, he doesn't scrap it, He doesn't lower the bar of God's 112 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,320 law. He, he steps in as the perfect 113 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,960 fulfillment of the laws of God. He, he lives sinlessly, all 114 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,840 right. He, he lives perfectly. 115 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:16,280 He accomplishes its every demand. 116 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:24,240 And then he invites, he invites people like you and me into his 117 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:29,880 Kingdom to live out God's laws from transformed hearts, which 118 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,280 are deeper than mere external rules. 119 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,880 All right. Now that takes us to what I 120 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,960 think is the main point of the passage today, and that's this, 121 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:43,360 that Jesus fulfills the law to produce heart righteousness in 122 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,080 his Kingdom. Jesus fulfills the law to 123 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,080 produce heart righteousness in his Kingdom. 124 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,240 You're going to see this in three movements across this 125 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,920 passage this morning. First, we'll see that Christ 126 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,080 fulfills rather than abolishes the law. 127 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,280 Second, we'll see that Christ commands faithful obedience and 128 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,800 teaching in his Kingdom. And finally, we'll see Christ 129 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:13,280 requires A righteousness that surpasses externalism, right? 130 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,400 So just like that older brother who steps in to fulfill every 131 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:22,680 rule perfectly, Jesus now shows us how he fulfills God's law. 132 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,520 He doesn't abolish it. And so we're going to see that 133 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,560 in verses 17 and 18. Christ fulfills rather than 134 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,720 abolishes the Law. Look again at verses 17 and 18 135 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:33,960 with me. Do not think that I have come to 136 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,039 abolish the law or the prophets, says our Lord. 137 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,520 I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 138 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,440 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not 139 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:49,160 an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is 140 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,640 accomplished. Now Jesus begins with the 141 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,680 direct, almost defensive command. 142 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:03,360 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 143 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,440 Do not think it all right. Now, why does he say that? 144 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,560 Why does he say, do not think that I've come to do this? 145 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:14,880 Well, everything we've seen so far in the Sermon on the Mount 146 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:20,200 has sounded very radical, very radical, right. 147 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:22,840 Blessed are the poor in spirit, Blessed are the mourners, 148 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,160 Blessed are the meek, Blessed are the merciful. 149 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,200 Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are you when you suffer 150 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,720 for my name's sake, right? He's welcomed also tax 151 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,960 collectors unto himself. He's called them to be his 152 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,080 disciples. He's welcomed fishermen, 153 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:43,240 ordinary men to come to him and and to walk with him, right, to 154 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:48,360 learn from him. He's welcomed sinners to himself 155 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,800 now. This is otherworldly in this day 156 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,920 and time because he hasn't gone yet to the scribes and the 157 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,040 Pharisees. He hasn't gone to the religious 158 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:58,840 elite and said come and follow me. 159 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:00,920 He hasn't gone to the people that everyone around him would 160 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:02,680 be thinking. Those will be the ones he 161 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:05,400 chooses first. Right. 162 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,400 What else has he done? Well, he's healed people of 163 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,560 various diseases. He's cast out demons, right? 164 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:18,760 He's touched those who were unclean, these things touching 165 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,120 someone who was unclean was not allowed in the law. 166 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,120 All right. You were to cast them out. 167 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,520 And yet he goes to them. So whispers might be spreading 168 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,920 among the crowds. Is this teacher, this new man on 169 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,960 the scene? Is he dismantling Moses? 170 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,200 Or is he putting aside everything that we've been 171 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,880 taught from our youth? Is he starting something new 172 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,680 that leaves the old law behind, Right? 173 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,000 And so Jesus shuts that down immediately. 174 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,040 I have not come to abolish the law. 175 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:56,480 I have come to fulfill it, right? 176 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,120 But the word abolish means to tear down. 177 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:07,120 It means to overthrow it. It means to completely destroy 178 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,560 it. I have not come to tear down or 179 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:12,640 to overthrow or to destroy the law, right? 180 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,760 It's the idea of demolishing a building, just blowing it up 181 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,040 always says I, I've come to fulfill. 182 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,920 Now when you talk about fulfill, that carries a very rich 183 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:24,720 meaning. Now we understand what fulfill 184 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,080 means, but but think about it this way. 185 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:31,560 It means to fill up to full measure, right? 186 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,760 It's, it's like pouring liquid into a glass and filling it all 187 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,920 the way up to the very top. It means to complete it. 188 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,960 All of these laws have pointed forward to something and I have 189 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,400 come to complete that it it means to bring it to its 190 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,600 intended goal, right? To accomplish what has been 191 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:59,560 promised since Genesis 315, right? 192 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,960 Well, there's one who's coming who will crush the head of the 193 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,040 serpents. So Jesus isn't scrapping the law 194 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:07,560 at all. He's not destroying the law. 195 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:12,240 He is the laws. Perfect realization, right? 196 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,680 He's the thing the law has been pointing to and so verse 18 197 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,880 really kind of double S down with this solemn authority here 198 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,280 where Jesus says for truly, I say to you, until heaven and 199 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:30,600 earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law 200 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:37,640 until all is accomplished. Now the iota, you know, not 201 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:43,120 really a word we see much right? The iota is the smallest Greek 202 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:48,080 letter, all right. The dot or the title is the tiny 203 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,160 hook or flourish on certain Hebrew letters. 204 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,000 And Gee, say not even the smallest Greek letter, not even 205 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,160 the smallest mark on a Hebrew letter is going to pass away 206 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,640 until this has all been accomplished, right? 207 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,120 Jesus is saying not even the tiniest detail of God's word 208 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,360 will be set aside until every promise, every demand, every 209 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,160 shadow that we see in the Old Testament finds its fulfillment 210 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,640 in Christ. It's pretty impressive. 211 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:28,320 It's pretty amazing that phrase, all is accomplished. 212 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,600 That sounds familiar, right? It points forward to the cross. 213 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,160 What are some of Jesus's last words on the cross before he 214 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:45,680 breathes his last breath? It is finished, right? 215 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,880 We have the moment on the cross. We have the resurrection. 216 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,920 Thereafter we have the outpouring of the Spirit of God 217 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:55,840 in Acts. All of these things were 218 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,400 promised, and yet there's one promise that still remains, 219 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,240 right, Which is the final return of our King, when the entire 220 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,440 redemptive plan will reach its climax in the return of Christ, 221 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,880 right? Not one, not one jot or title 222 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,080 will be abolished from the law until then, right? 223 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,720 Theologically, we have to think about this. 224 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:25,120 Christ's fulfillment of these things operates on different 225 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,080 levels, or multiple levels, I should say, right? 226 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,840 The Scriptures help us to see them really clearly. 227 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,120 One of the first things we see is that Jesus fulfills, and 228 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,400 Matthew's been very strict in his writing to show us this. 229 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:46,880 But Jesus fulfills prophetically and typologically, right? 230 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,400 He. He's fulfilling prophecy, and 231 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,960 He's showing us that He is the fulfillment of all the types and 232 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:59,320 shadows in the Old Testaments. Every Old Test, every Old 233 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,960 Testament shadow, every Old Testament type. 234 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,440 Think of the Passover lamb, the bronze serpents that the 235 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,880 Israelites had to look to to be healed, the temple sacrifices, 236 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,800 the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the the promised new 237 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:20,200 covenant in Jeremiah 31. All of these things find their 238 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:26,000 substance in Christ, right? And there could be sermons 239 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,280 about, there have been and will be sermons about every one of 240 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:34,560 those things. But for the sake of this sermon, 241 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,960 let's keep moving, right? Another thing that he does, he, 242 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:43,960 he fulfills all of these things through active obedience. 243 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:54,320 He actively obeys the Father. He perfectly, perfectly keeps 244 00:15:54,680 --> 00:16:01,560 the moral law in our place, right He he lives with the 245 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:06,960 righteousness that we could never ever attain. 246 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,000 You might remember that your scriptures say that our 247 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,760 righteousness is as filthy rags before the Lord. 248 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:20,960 Whatever righteousness you think you can produce as as holy and 249 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,400 as magnificent as you might think it is, when you present it 250 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:29,040 to God, who is perfectly holy and just and righteous, you 251 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,600 present it to him. It's as a filthy rag before him. 252 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,320 And yet Christ's righteousness is perfect. 253 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,600 Alright, Romans 519 puts it plainly where it says for as by 254 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,320 the one man's disobedience. Now the one man's disobedience, 255 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,040 that's being referred to there as Adam's. 256 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:57,160 For as by Adam's disobedience, the many were made sinners, 257 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,280 meaning all of us became sinners. 258 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:06,040 So by the one man's obedience, Jesus's obedience, the the many 259 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:11,800 will be made righteous. So his sinless life, his atoning 260 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:18,680 death, earns the perfect record that becomes credited to us by 261 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,520 faith in Christ. It's his work. 262 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:28,079 Amen. We also see that He magnifies 263 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:32,360 and internalizes the law. He magnifies it. 264 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,000 He he doesn't diminish it. He doesn't create something new. 265 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:38,280 He he doesn't let it pale in comparison though. 266 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,920 He magnifies the law of God and he internalizes it, right? 267 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:50,480 Isaiah 4221 prophesied this. He makes the law great and 268 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:55,080 glorious and through the Spirit he writes it on believing 269 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,760 hearts. I'll say that Jeremiah 3133, 270 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:04,280 Ezekiel 36 So that what this does is it turns external 271 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,480 commands, these things that are written in the law, these 272 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:13,040 external things, it turns these external commands into inward 273 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,600 delight. They, they, they come out of 274 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,480 Christ because he delights on the Father perfectly. 275 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,360 He delights on the Word perfectly. 276 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:29,000 He he lives and breathes always to fulfill God's Word. 277 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,160 So it's an inward delight for Christ that's searching for us 278 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,920 because often the laws of God are not an inward delight for 279 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,320 me. They're more of an inward 280 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:49,160 conflict. John Calvin captures the heart 281 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,560 of this when he writes, Christ brings the complete fulfillment 282 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:57,560 of the law and the prophets. He only restored it to its 283 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,560 integrity by maintaining and purifying it when it was 284 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,680 obscured by the falsehood and it was defiled by the leaven of the 285 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,120 Pharisees. Charles Spurgeon drives the 286 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:11,000 point home with force when he writes. 287 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,840 The law stands fast and firm, fulfilled, carried to 288 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,160 perfection, filled to the full in Christ, and he goes on. 289 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:24,280 There is no abolition of it. There is no amendment of any of 290 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:26,080 it. All right? 291 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:29,320 He fulfills it perfectly. So the law is not lowered. 292 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:34,360 It's not discarded in Christ. But sometimes we think, and 293 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:35,680 we're going to get into this more. 294 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:37,680 I just want to tease this out a little bit. 295 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:43,960 Sometimes we think that because we are recipients of grace that 296 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,640 the law has no real bearing on us anymore, that that a covenant 297 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,840 of grace totally abolishes this covenant of works we see in the 298 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,560 Old Testament. All right, what Christ is 299 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:00,320 teaching here is going to challenge that a little bit. 300 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,160 What you read in Romans challenges that a lot of bit 301 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:04,000 all. Right. 302 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:05,880 So. So the law is not lowered or 303 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,480 discarded. It stands eternal, it's holy, 304 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,840 it's good. Or one of the law's great 305 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,760 purposes is to be a mirror for us. 306 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:20,560 When you look into the law of God, you shall not covet, you 307 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,560 should not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall 308 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:27,160 honor your father and mother, you shall not murder, you should 309 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,440 not commit adultery, you shall have no other gods before me. 310 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,200 You should keep the Sabbath holy, right? 311 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:39,280 You look into the laws of God and you treat it like a mirror 312 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:44,440 that's reflecting back at you. You see that there is no perfect 313 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,840 reflection there. It reveals our sin. 314 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,160 It shows us where we fall short. But the law does become a tutor 315 00:20:55,160 --> 00:21:02,040 for us that leads us to Christ. And now in the Kingdom age, it 316 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:07,200 becomes a guide for us that we might live grateful, spirit 317 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,640 empowered lives, right? It becomes a guide. 318 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,480 And so we'll see that as we go. But for now, brothers and 319 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,840 sisters, I want you to rest in this truth. 320 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:25,440 Your King Jesus Christ has fulfilled every righteous demand 321 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:30,800 perfectly for you. It is spotless. 322 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,120 Obedience is credited to your account. 323 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:39,680 You stand before God as believers in Christ Jesus, not 324 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,640 on your own faltering efforts, but on the flawless record of 325 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:50,200 Christ our Lord. I want you to let that gospel 326 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:54,080 reality melt away any performance anxiety in you, 327 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,440 right? I want it to free you to love 328 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,600 God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and 329 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,560 all your strength. I want you to let it free you to 330 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,360 love your neighbor from a heart of gratitude and not from a 331 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:16,160 heart of fear, right? Romans 8 teaches this idea. 332 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,600 Paul has walked throughout Romans. 333 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,040 He's walking through salvation by grace, through faith, 334 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,320 essentially. And in 6-7 and eight, he gets to 335 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,920 these ideas of sanctification, all right. 336 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,840 And in Romans 8, he's just building on this idea he 337 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,560 established in six and seven about walking by the Spirit 338 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,240 rather than walking by the flesh, right? 339 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,440 He talks about how your mind has been set free to serve the Lord, 340 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:40,640 but you're still bound to the flesh. 341 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,640 And in chapter 8, he gets to this beautiful line where there 342 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,920 is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ 343 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,480 Jesus. And he begins to explain that we 344 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,440 no longer walk with God in the spirit of fear. 345 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,200 You might think, what does the spirit of fear in walking with 346 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,960 God look like? We'll just recall Genesis 3, 347 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:07,080 would you? Right after the fall, Adam and 348 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,240 Eve notice that they are naked, and so therefore they are 349 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,240 ashamed of their sin, the rebellion against God. 350 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,400 They sow fig leaves together, make clothing for themselves, 351 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:22,160 and they hide in the bushes. And God comes searching. 352 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:28,120 Where are you, Adam? I've hidden from you. 353 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:32,800 Why did you hide from me? He he hid because he was afraid. 354 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,280 The man who once walked with God in the cool of the day is now 355 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,480 hiding from him, cowering from him because of his sin. 356 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,680 And Romans 8 tells us that we no longer walk with God according 357 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:53,680 to a spirit of fear, but we walk in the spirit as those who have 358 00:23:53,680 --> 00:24:03,080 been adopted by God. We can now cry ABBA Father, but 359 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,760 if Jesus raises the bar by fulfilling the law so 360 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,560 completely, what does that mean for how we live and how we teach 361 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,080 in His Kingdom? Well, that's the second point 362 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:19,080 that Christ gets to #2 Christ commands faithful obedience and 363 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,600 teaching of the law in His Kingdom. 364 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,000 Look at verse 19. Therefore, whoever relaxes one 365 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,520 of the least of these commandments and teaches others 366 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:35,760 to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. 367 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:42,800 But whoever does them, whoever walks according to the law and 368 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,360 teaches them, meaning teaches others to do the same, will be 369 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,480 called great in the Kingdom of heaven. 370 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,880 Now you just real quickly think about the end of the gospel that 371 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,600 we're in, right? The end of Matthew Christ 372 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:00,480 appears to his disciples at the end of the book. 373 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,480 He says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 374 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,600 Go and make disciples of all nations. 375 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,280 Teach them to obey everything that I have commanded. 376 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,640 All right, Baptize them by the Father of the Holy Spirit. 377 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,480 Teach them to obey all that I have commanded you. 378 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,200 And lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the 379 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:22,160 age. So we cannot say post 380 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,320 resurrection, post Great Commission, that we should not 381 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,560 be obeying as disciples the laws of God, the teachings of Christ. 382 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,360 We should obey them and we should teach others to obey 383 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:36,800 them. That's what Jesus is getting to 384 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,200 here as he transitions with this therefore, so everything is just 385 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,080 said. I have not come to abolish. 386 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:46,920 I've come to fulfill therefore, which links this verse directly 387 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:54,440 to what he's just said. He says, or what we see is that 388 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,360 since not even the smallest detail passes away until all is 389 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:02,200 accomplished, the commandments remain binding in their true 390 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,960 intent. The the verse addresses 2 391 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:11,480 actions. The first that we see is 392 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:18,840 relaxes. Anyone who relaxes relaxes means 393 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:26,120 to loose it, to untie it. There was a popular preacher 394 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:30,200 some years ago. Now thankfully he's getting less 395 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,120 and less popular. But but he thought it was a good 396 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,680 idea to unhitch the gospel from the Old Testament. 397 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,400 He taught that we should unhitch ourselves from the Old 398 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:48,160 Testament. That's utterly foolish, right? 399 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,040 Christ himself is going to make that case in the next several 400 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:59,080 passages that we'll look at in the coming weeks, right? 401 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,560 Anyone who annulls, anyone who relaxes these things is 402 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,280 annulling them. They're setting them aside. 403 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,360 And he doesn't say just keep the big ones, right? 404 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:10,600 Just pay attention to the big ones. 405 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:16,600 No, He says the least of the commandments if you relax them 406 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,040 and then you teach others to do the same. 407 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,760 Now one quick thought. On least, it doesn't mean 408 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,800 insignificance, right? We might think least means it's 409 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,280 not as significant. But with God's Word there is no 410 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,320 least thing. There are no least things, 411 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,080 right? It's a concession to human 412 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,600 perspective, right? All commandments carry divine 413 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,880 weight because they come from God's mouth, right? 414 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,320 John Calvin notes that this way, and I thought it was good. 415 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:51,120 He says, what sacrilege is it to treat contemptuously anything 416 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,800 which has proceeded from God's sacred mouth? 417 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,360 I wrote different back then, didn't they? 418 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,240 Even commands we might rank as minor, right? 419 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:06,120 Like the small details and the moral law, All of those things 420 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:11,640 matter eternally, and so the consequences are striking, 421 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,160 right? The one who loosens and teaches 422 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,520 loosening will be called least in the Kingdom. 423 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:21,600 But the one who does right, the one who practices, the one who 424 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,920 performs these things, the one who walks in the good works of 425 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,720 the Lord that have been prepared for you beforehand and teaches 426 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,800 others to do the same, will be called great. 427 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,480 All right, so this isn't about entrance into the Kingdom, 428 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:42,040 right? We we've already seen in Matthew 429 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:45,360 that entrance into the Kingdom is by grace through faith, 430 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:47,640 right? So it's not about earning your 431 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,200 way into the Kingdom. I want you to be really sure of 432 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:56,200 that before you leave today. But it's about it's it's about 433 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,040 your status or reward within the Kingdom, right? 434 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,800 The theologians generally understand least and great as 435 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:08,000 degrees of honor or fruitfulness in the eternal Kingdom, not 436 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,280 exclusion from it. Some of them even note this. 437 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,600 The unsaved have no place in the Kingdom at all, right? 438 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,400 So this passage is speaking to believers. 439 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,160 Now, Calvin explains this. He says those who weakens the 440 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:30,320 law's authority are rejected as the lowest of men, and yet the 441 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,920 context implies that they remain in the Kingdom, though 442 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,040 diminished in their usefulness or reward. 443 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:42,400 So the emphasis here is on faithful stewardship of God's 444 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,840 Word, right? We want to be faithful stewards 445 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:52,760 of God's Word which which means we should read it, we should 446 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,840 study it, we should meditate on it. 447 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:03,800 We should beg the Holy Spirit to cause fruitfulness from God's 448 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,400 word in our lives. We should repent where it 449 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:12,040 convicts us all right. We should believe where it urges 450 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:17,640 us to believe something. And as we learn these things, we 451 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,600 ought to teach them. We ought to live them out 452 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,680 faithfully, not perfectly. All right, we, we have a perfect 453 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:27,480 Savior. We'll never have perfect 454 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:31,400 Christians. So we don't we're not looking 455 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,760 for perfection. We're looking for faithfulness. 456 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:46,040 This verse affirms what we might call the third use of the law, 457 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,000 right? The the law has three classic 458 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,200 functions, or maybe you've heard of this, maybe you haven't. 459 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,280 But the the first function of the law is that it restrains sin 460 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,800 in society. It has a civil use. 461 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,920 That's why it's not a terrible thing to grow up in the Bible 462 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,520 Belt where there's at least some instruction from God's word 463 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,200 that's been handed down through the years. 464 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:11,840 That doesn't mean those people are Christians. 465 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,960 That's where the problem, that's where the rub comes as people 466 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,120 think that because they're moral that they are Christians. 467 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:26,320 But what it does create is a society that has some restraint 468 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,400 on sin, right? So it has a civil use. 469 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,000 The second use of the law is that it convicts of sin and 470 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,640 drives us to Christ. So there's a teaching use of the 471 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,960 law, right? It's goods and it's civil 472 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,720 nature, but it becomes really good and it's teaching nature, 473 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,520 right? In Romans we read of Paul 474 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,560 essentially saying, I did not know that I was guilty of 475 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,960 coveting until I read the law that said, thou shalt not covet, 476 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,840 right? It's it exposes, it drives us to 477 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,360 Christ. It teaches us of our need 478 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,360 because of our sin and our failure. 479 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,960 It teaches us of our need for a Savior. 480 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,720 And the third use of the law is that it serves as a rule of life 481 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,800 for believers. What I mean is that it becomes a 482 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:23,960 gracious guide for grateful obedience in the Kingdom age. 483 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:27,960 All right, you might think of Psalm 119, where the psalmist 484 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,840 writes, I've hidden your word in my heart that I would not, that 485 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,760 I might not sin against you. Your word is a lamp unto my 486 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:39,160 feet, a light unto my path. You can read over and over and 487 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:43,160 over again the psalmist just declaring his love, his 488 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,600 devotion, his desire for God's law. 489 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,200 So we're not under the law as a covenant of works for 490 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,000 justification. That would be legalism. 491 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,320 We're not trying to climb a ladder or earn our way to heaven 492 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,040 by keeping the law. That's not what we're saying 493 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:04,040 here. That's not what Christ is 494 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:09,800 teaching. The gospel frees us from the 495 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:15,320 curse of the law, which would be death which Christ incurred on 496 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:20,080 Himself in our place. It frees us from the curse 497 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,080 because He took the curse. And it empowers us by the Spirit 498 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:30,240 to walk in its righteous requirements, Romans 8, three 499 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,760 through 4, in order that the righteous requirement of the law 500 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,120 might be fulfilled in US who walk not according to the flesh, 501 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:41,080 but according to the Spirit. So the law is no longer our 502 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:46,120 Master, but it is our delighted rule, right? 503 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,960 It's written on our heart. Jeremiah 3133 For this is the 504 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,080 covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those 505 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,400 days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, 506 00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:00,240 and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, 507 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:05,880 and they shall be my people. Praise the Lord for this new 508 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:10,280 covenant. For centuries, people have 509 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:14,239 denied this third use of the law. 510 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,880 They've opted for what is called antinomianism. 511 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,480 Right now, that's not just a $10 preacher word, OK? 512 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:28,159 It's an ancient heresy that has stained the church for 513 00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:33,800 centuries. Antinomianism means relaxing or 514 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,360 dismissing altogether God's commands. 515 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:43,800 Now they will do this because of grace, they say, right? 516 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,000 But does Paul not write in Romans 6? 517 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,880 Should we go on sinning so that grace may abound? 518 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,800 By no means or absolutely not, right? 519 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,360 We don't go on sinning so that we get more grace. 520 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:06,000 It's true that there is grace upon grace in Christ, but we 521 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,240 should not be like the Israelites who tested God over 522 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:13,640 and over and over again with their sinfulness. 523 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,880 That that line of thinking, I'll go on sinning because God's 524 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,600 grace abounds. That line of thinking should not 525 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:29,000 find no place to lay its head on the Christian's heart. 526 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:35,960 Jesus warns against it sharply. He he's saying those who do 527 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,920 this, especially teachers, especially the ones who are 528 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:42,880 teaching others to do this, they're diminishing their 529 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:47,600 Kingdom influence and reward. Conversely, though, he says 530 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,200 joyful obedience and faithful teaching bring greatness in the 531 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:56,160 Kingdom, not not for salvation, but for glory to Christ and 532 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,640 eternal commendation. Right. 533 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,240 Well done, good and faithful servants. 534 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,600 John Calvin comments on this verse. 535 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,320 I try not to use long quotes. This was a little lengthier, but 536 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,920 it's really great so I'll try to go slow. 537 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:20,320 Christ here speaks expressly of the commandments of life. 538 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,480 They are false and deceitful teachers who do not restrain 539 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:30,240 their disciples within obedience to the law, and that they are 540 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:34,280 unworthy to occupy a place in the church who weaken in the 541 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,480 slightest degree the authority of the Law. 542 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:43,960 And, on the other hand, that they are honest and faithful 543 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:49,240 ministers of God, who recommend, both by word and example, the 544 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:54,920 keeping of the law. Thomas Watson, one of the great 545 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,840 Puritans, reinforces this third use of the Law when he writes. 546 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:03,920 Though the moral law be thus far abolished as a covenant of life, 547 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,960 it remains A perpetual guide for us. 548 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:13,440 Though it be not a covenant of life, yet it is a rule of life. 549 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,640 Amen. It's a rule of life for us. 550 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:23,000 So all of us, men, women, boys, girls, right, should examine 551 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,800 what we model and what we teach about God's commands. 552 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:36,960 Does my life model one who is seeking to glorify Christ by 553 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:43,640 obeying the commands of God? Not only do I model it, do I 554 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:49,520 teach it? When I teach it, is it 555 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,840 believable because my life models it? 556 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:58,000 Or is it unbelievable because my life looks nothing like what I'm 557 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,640 teaching? And it's not just for preachers, 558 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:08,560 that's for parents. Are we loosening any part of His 559 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:16,640 word in our homes, or are we loosening any part of it in our 560 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:23,480 conversations in our church in order to try to fit a modern 561 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:24,800 preference? Right. 562 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,320 Are we loosening these things? Kingdom greatness isn't about 563 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,360 status seeking, right? Kingdom greatness flows from a 564 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:38,200 humble, joyful obedience that passes that on to others. 565 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,920 So I will encourage you today to strive to be great in the 566 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:48,160 Kingdom of Heaven by doing and teaching the law as the King 567 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:52,160 deepens it, which we'll see more about in the coming weeks, 568 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,680 Right? So obedience and teaching matter 569 00:38:55,880 --> 00:39:01,200 deeply, but Jesus isn't calling for external conformity or rule 570 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:07,240 keeping for its own sake, right? He he demands something far more 571 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:13,160 penetrating. Which gets us to the Third 572 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,720 Point. Christ requires A righteousness 573 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:21,200 that surpasses externalism. Christ requires A righteousness 574 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,240 that surpasses externalism. Look at verse 20. 575 00:39:25,240 --> 00:39:34,360 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of 576 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:40,240 the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of 577 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:45,960 heaven. Shocking. 578 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:53,080 Utterly shocking. Now, this verse serves as like 579 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:57,600 the climactic hinge of the entire passage that we're 580 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:02,360 looking at 17 through 20, and it serves as the launchpad for the 581 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:06,880 six antitheses that will follow in verses 21 through 48. 582 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:09,120 You have heard. But I say to you, all right, 583 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,080 he's going to get into that in the coming weeks. 584 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:16,480 So Jesus has just affirmed the law's permanence. 585 00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:20,440 He, he's demanded faithful obedience in teaching, and now 586 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:24,760 he raises the standard to an astonishing height. 587 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:33,640 He, He doesn't say unless your righteousness looks like that of 588 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,160 the scribes and Pharisees. He doesn't say if your 589 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:40,480 righteousness is on par with the scribes and the Pharisees. 590 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:45,240 No, He, He says, if your righteousness exceeds the 591 00:40:45,240 --> 00:40:47,640 scribes and the Pharisees. Now that word exceeds means to 592 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:51,120 abound. It means to overflow, right? 593 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,320 We talked about fulfilling earlier is to fill the cup all 594 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,880 the way full. Well, exceeding would be to fill 595 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,600 all the way full and then to just keep going until you have a 596 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:10,320 giant mess. It must exceed in quality and 597 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:15,280 quantity, not not just more of the same, but a righteousness of 598 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:18,080 a different kind, a righteousness of a different 599 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,600 depth. Now, I look at my life when I 600 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:27,720 read that, and I think there is no way that you will see Kyle 601 00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:33,440 Jones in the Kingdom of heaven. If that's the standard, there's 602 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,960 no way we should all feel like that. 603 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,960 And I would imagine those listeners in that moment felt 604 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:48,440 the same way. The scribes and the Pharisees 605 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:54,000 were renowned for their meticulous external observance, 606 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:56,400 right? They would, they would tithe 607 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:02,800 mint and dill and cumin. We see that Matthew 23, they 608 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:07,520 would fast twice a week. They would pray long public 609 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,680 prayers, They had wide phylacteries, right, and they 610 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:17,200 had strict Sabbath rules, but they were the gold standard of 611 00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:19,840 Jewish piety in the eyes of the people. 612 00:42:21,240 --> 00:42:27,840 Yet Jesus declares that Kingdom citizens must exceed them, 613 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:33,680 surpass this gold standard that they had in their eyes, or else 614 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:37,400 they will never enter the Kingdom of heaven again. 615 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,320 This is shocking. Enter the Kingdom Here 616 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:46,520 emphasizes both present experience, which is the Kingdom 617 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:53,200 breaking through in Jesus Christ, and future consummation, 618 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,040 which is that eternal inheritance when Christ returns 619 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:03,440 the scribes and the Pharisees. Righteousness was real in its 620 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:07,520 outward vigor. OK, but it. 621 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,440 Was fatally. Deficient inwardly. 622 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:17,040 It it was self generated, it was self focused. 623 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:21,760 It it was external only. It was to be seen and approved 624 00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:25,280 by others. Their their hearts remained 625 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:30,240 unchanged, full. Of hypocrisy. 626 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:37,400 And pride and full of love for the praise of man and Christ. 627 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:38,920 Will later say to them in Matthew 20. 628 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:45,080 Three, that they are whitewashed tombs full of dead man's bones. 629 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,440 This is why it shocks Nicodemus to his core when he comes to 630 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:55,080 Jesus in John chapter 3. He comes at night by the way, 631 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:56,760 because he doesn't want to be seen. 632 00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:59,880 Oddly enough, everything else about his life was meant to be 633 00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:01,560 seen. And this encounter with Christ, 634 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:06,280 he want to make sure no one saw. And he begins to inquire about 635 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:09,480 what it means to enter the Kingdom of heaven. 636 00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:11,920 And Jesus lets him know that you cannot enter the Kingdom of 637 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:13,160 heaven unless you were born again. 638 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:16,400 It's just looked a man. In the eyes who spent? 639 00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:21,080 His whole life living as perfectly as he can, keeping the 640 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:25,240 laws of God as the as best as he can, attending temple 641 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:28,040 sacrifices, teaching in the temple, being a part of the 642 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:30,800 religious elite. He spent his whole life climbing 643 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:34,760 this ladder and Jesus looks at him and says you must be born 644 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:37,120 again. You must live your whole life 645 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:42,360 over essentially and. Nicodemus is shocked by this. 646 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:46,200 Because he thinks that everything he has worked for is 647 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:51,640 going to earn an entrance into the Kingdom of heaven and 648 00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:53,040 Christ. Looks at him and says it's not 649 00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:56,560 about. The external, it's about 650 00:44:56,560 --> 00:45:00,720 regeneration of the heart must be born of the Spirit of God. 651 00:45:01,720 --> 00:45:02,960 We talked about being born of the Spirit. 652 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:06,000 We're thinking Titus 35, right? It's a good summary there, what 653 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,880 it means to be born of the spirit that you, you have been 654 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:11,280 regenerated by the Spirit of God. 655 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:14,200 You've been made new, right? You have a new heart, a new 656 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:16,640 spirit, a right spirit within you. 657 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:20,880 You've been washed in the waters of regeneration. 658 00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:26,000 And so the scribes and Pharisees. 659 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:30,440 Were fatally deficient whitewashed tombs full of dead 660 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:34,520 man's bone, and Jesus exposes this as he's teaching. 661 00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:40,480 The righteousness looked impressive on the surface, but 662 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:42,080 it lacked this. Internal. 663 00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:47,680 Transformation that the law truly demands right when you 664 00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:48,880 read in. Deuteronomy 6. 665 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:52,800 Deuteronomy. 30 We see there that we are commanded to love 666 00:45:52,800 --> 00:46:00,880 God with all the heart. So theologically, we. 667 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:03,960 Have to think about some things here. 668 00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:09,440 This verse demands something that we cannot achieve. 669 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:12,640 We're going to have the. Righteousness that. 670 00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:16,520 Exceeds the Pharisees and I've already. 671 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:19,080 Lived a life that would not. Exceed the heirs. 672 00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:26,480 Then it demands an. Imputed and imparted 673 00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:29,280 righteousness. All right, when we think of 674 00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:30,280 imputed. Righteousness. 675 00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:32,600 This is what we. Mean Christ, perfect 676 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:38,160 righteousness, perfect obedience is credited to us by faith in 677 00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:43,040 Christ alone. All right, Romans. 3 Romans 5. 678 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:47,720 Philippians 3 will tell you this in Philippians. 679 00:46:47,720 --> 00:46:50,560 Three, Paul writes not having a. Righteousness of my own, but 680 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,280 that which comes through faith in Christ. 681 00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:56,880 So this is the. Only way sinners. 682 00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,840 Exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. 683 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:03,320 This is it. It's through an imputed 684 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:07,920 righteousness they receive Christ's spotless record, which 685 00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:11,360 infinitely surpasses any human effort. 686 00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,360 That's it. That's the only way you're going 687 00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,000 to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees is to repent of 688 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:22,160 your sins and place your faith in Jesus Christ. 689 00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:27,280 And then what comes with that is what we. 690 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:31,160 Might call an imparted righteousness right the spirits 691 00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:36,360 work that regeneration of the heart produces real heart change 692 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:40,240 and obedience in believers Kingdom. 693 00:47:40,240 --> 00:47:45,080 Righteousness then exceeds. Pharisaic externalism because it 694 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,240 flows outwardly from a renewed heart. 695 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,920 Your motives have been purified. Your desires align with God's. 696 00:47:55,160 --> 00:47:57,240 There's a love for. God and a love for neighbor. 697 00:47:57,240 --> 00:47:59,480 That's genuine rather than performative. 698 00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:04,160 Calvin observes on this verse he says the. 699 00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:08,240 Scribes pretend that their hostility to Jesus arises from 700 00:48:08,240 --> 00:48:12,680 their strong desire that the law should not be violated, but 701 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:16,960 their life makes it evidence how coldly they observe the law 702 00:48:18,160 --> 00:48:20,080 while they boast. Before men of an. 703 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:23,160 Assumed and hypocritical righteousness. 704 00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:26,880 So there's zeal. The zeal of the scribes and. 705 00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:32,120 The Pharisees was outward and cold, but Kingdom righteousness 706 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:36,480 is inward and worn. Matthew Henry. 707 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:39,320 Adds this, he says the law is. The Christian's rule of duty, 708 00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:43,800 and he delights therein. Christ's righteousness, imputed 709 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:48,480 to us by faith alone, is needed by everyone that enters the 710 00:48:48,480 --> 00:48:52,080 Kingdom, Henry continues. He says. 711 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:55,480 But the new creation of the heart to holiness produces a 712 00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:59,680 thorough change in man's temper and conduct. 713 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,080 That there's fruits. Of righteousness there's. 714 00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:04,960 Fruit in keeping with repentance. 715 00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:11,120 In short, then, what we see is that the Pharisees had quantity 716 00:49:11,680 --> 00:49:14,800 of external acts, but they lacked a quality of heart. 717 00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:19,960 Jesus calls for a righteousness that abounds from the inside 718 00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:22,120 out, a righteousness that's motivated by love. 719 00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:25,560 It's empowered by grace. It's aimed at God's glory, 720 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:30,960 right? I want you to picture this with 721 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,800 me. I'm going to use a simple object 722 00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:36,680 lesson that I just learned last night during our Disciple of 723 00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,000 Nation's family worship time together. 724 00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:44,720 The board was here over the weekend for a board meeting in 725 00:49:44,720 --> 00:49:47,120 person and we gathered for family worship last night. 726 00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:49,960 But I want to show to. You what? 727 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:52,720 Jesus. Means by righteousness that 728 00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:59,160 exceeds the Pharisees. All right, so this weight on my 729 00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:03,320 hand right represents. This crushing. 730 00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,560 Burden of sin that you and I carry, right? 731 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:09,160 If we're here, this is the weight on us. 732 00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:10,760 It's the crushing burden of our sin. 733 00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:15,120 Every failure, every selfish motive, every hidden thought, 734 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:17,440 right? It's what? 735 00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:20,240 Separates us. From God, right? 736 00:50:20,600 --> 00:50:22,520 If God is here, we're here with this burden. 737 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:26,720 We're separated by our sin and it's. 738 00:50:26,720 --> 00:50:31,080 What makes any external? Righteousness like the scribes 739 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:33,640 and the Pharisees, meticulous rule keeping. 740 00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:38,240 It's what makes all of that ultimately worthless before God. 741 00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:42,640 It's meaningless. Their hands looked busy with 742 00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:46,440 good deeds, but the weights of their own sin remained on their 743 00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:50,120 hearts. Now watch all right? 744 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:53,920 You can try to turn your life around all right. 745 00:50:55,560 --> 00:50:57,880 Or you can even try to turn over a new leaf. 746 00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:04,520 But the weight is still there. No, no amount of external effort 747 00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:09,960 removes it. The Pharisees righteousness was 748 00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:14,840 impressive on the outside, but but the heart is unchanged 749 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:17,400 still. But the burden remains. 750 00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:20,640 But but here's the good. News of the Gospel. 751 00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:26,480 Jesus Christ, the God man, the second member of the Trinity, 752 00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:31,480 the Son of God, comes to us, and he doesn't just try. 753 00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:34,040 To lift the weight. Off of us, He doesn't tell us to 754 00:51:34,040 --> 00:51:38,360 lift the weight off ourselves. No, he takes it on himself. 755 00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:43,000 Right. And on the cross. 756 00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:48,240 Jesus Christ bears the full weight of your sin, every bit of 757 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:51,800 a past, present, future, so that the burden is now gone 758 00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:56,360 completely and removed. It's paid in full right now. 759 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,920 My hand is free. My hand is light. 760 00:51:59,920 --> 00:52:02,840 It's unburdened. Because of Christ's perfect 761 00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:06,600 obedience, which has been credited to me by faith alone, 762 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:12,560 that's imputed righteousness. God accepts me fully. 763 00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:17,280 I exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, not by my own 764 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:22,600 efforts, but by receiving the spotless record of Christ 765 00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:25,480 himself. And here's the beauty. 766 00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:30,560 For Kingdom citizens. With the weight gone, the Holy 767 00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:36,120 Spirit comes to live in you and He begins to produce a real 768 00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:38,160 change in you from the inside outs. 769 00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:42,120 Remember when John the Baptist called this bearing fruit in 770 00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:45,560 keeping with repentance? Right there's. 771 00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:49,280 Purified motives. There's confession of sin, 772 00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:52,000 there's a desire to grow in godliness. 773 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:55,000 There's a genuine love for God, a genuine love for your 774 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,400 neighbor. There's obedience that flows 775 00:52:57,400 --> 00:53:00,560 from a heart that's been renewed, a heart that loves the 776 00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:04,600 Lord, that's imparted righteousness. 777 00:53:05,720 --> 00:53:08,000 It's it's not performative externals. 778 00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:11,720 It overflows from a life, a renewed. 779 00:53:11,720 --> 00:53:15,840 Life within and. That surpasses anything that you 780 00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:19,200 could manufacture on your own. So even our good works, brothers 781 00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:22,600 and sisters, we can never pat ourselves on the back and think, 782 00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:25,400 man, I did a really good job there. 783 00:53:26,680 --> 00:53:28,840 All of our good. Works are produced in US. 784 00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:33,320 By a good God, a gracious. God A. 785 00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:36,320 God, who has called us to live not for ourselves any longer, 786 00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:42,680 but to live for his Kingdom. So Jesus isn't calling us to 787 00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:46,560 try. Harder in Matthew 5, with our 788 00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:49,920 own strength. That's the good news of what 789 00:53:49,920 --> 00:53:53,360 we're reading in Matthew 5. He's calling us. 790 00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:58,440 To rest in what? He accomplishes that imputed 791 00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:01,840 righteousness, and then He's calling us to walk in what He is 792 00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:05,040 doing in us that imparted righteousness. 793 00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:10,600 That's the righteousness that enters and thrives in His 794 00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:14,480 Kingdom. This teaching again is going to 795 00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:16,720 launch us into. What might be called the 796 00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:20,920 antifeces, All right, we're going to encounter in the coming 797 00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:24,320 passages, we're going to see things like murder includes 798 00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:28,800 heart anger, adultery includes lust of the heart, lustful 799 00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:31,080 looks. Oaths include simple 800 00:54:31,240 --> 00:54:36,560 truthfulness because the law's true intent targets the heart of 801 00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:39,400 the man, not the external behavior of him. 802 00:54:41,120 --> 00:54:45,400 So this week, would you let? The King's Standard. 803 00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:50,120 Search your heart. Let the King's Standard search 804 00:54:50,120 --> 00:54:54,480 your thoughts. Let it search your words, the 805 00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:57,280 things you say this week. Let it search your 806 00:54:57,280 --> 00:55:00,520 relationships. Are you? 807 00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:02,360 Walking in unity with your brothers and sisters. 808 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:05,160 In Christ, are you reconciled to your spouse? 809 00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:10,240 Are you using your relationships in a way? 810 00:55:10,240 --> 00:55:12,040 Are you walking in your relationships in a way that 811 00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:14,080 would honor and glorify the Lord? 812 00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:17,960 Let the King. Standard search your motives. 813 00:55:17,960 --> 00:55:22,280 Even is your obedience merely external like the Pharisees? 814 00:55:22,920 --> 00:55:25,720 I know I should live this way, so I'm going to try to produce 815 00:55:25,720 --> 00:55:29,120 these things in my life. Or is it heart deep because you 816 00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:33,640 know that Christ died to save you and he loves you greatly and 817 00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:39,960 so in love for Him you desire to obey your desire for. 818 00:55:39,960 --> 00:55:43,520 Obedience flows from. Gratitude for the imputed 819 00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:48,720 righteousness of Christ. And then as you see those dark. 820 00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:54,960 Nasty things in your own heart, You'll find them, we all find 821 00:55:54,960 --> 00:55:59,320 them. And as you see them, ask the 822 00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:08,120 Spirit to expose any hypocrisy. Ask the Spirit to expose any 823 00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:13,680 performance. Re repent where it's needed. 824 00:56:14,600 --> 00:56:16,840 Rejoice. That Jesus. 825 00:56:16,840 --> 00:56:19,920 Has already exceeded every demand of the law. 826 00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:24,400 And then live out the overflowing righteousness that 827 00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:28,440 He produces in you. Remember. 828 00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:30,240 Jesus fulfills the law to produce. 829 00:56:30,240 --> 00:56:32,680 Heart righteousness in His Kingdom. 830 00:56:32,680 --> 00:56:34,560 He didn't. He didn't come to tear down 831 00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:39,200 God's holy standard. He came to fulfill it perfectly, 832 00:56:39,200 --> 00:56:42,160 completely, down to the smallest jot and title. 833 00:56:42,880 --> 00:56:45,840 He lived the righteousness that the Law demanded of us. 834 00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:49,880 He did it in our place. He bore the curse that we owed, 835 00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:53,920 that we should have undergone, because the Law pronounced that 836 00:56:53,920 --> 00:56:57,560 curse on our sin, and He bore it in our place. 837 00:56:58,280 --> 00:57:02,920 And now, having accomplished all, He produces the same 838 00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:08,360 righteousness in His people. Did you behold the glory of 839 00:57:08,360 --> 00:57:12,040 Christ Jesus? You're being transformed. 840 00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:16,040 From 1°. Of glory to another, not as an 841 00:57:16,040 --> 00:57:21,000 external performance for people to clap at, but as heart 842 00:57:21,000 --> 00:57:25,120 righteousness that overflows from a transformed life in His 843 00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:28,840 Kingdom. So because Jesus has fulfilled 844 00:57:28,840 --> 00:57:33,840 the law, there's three things you should know. 845 00:57:33,840 --> 00:57:36,560 We rest in his imputed righteousness. 846 00:57:38,240 --> 00:57:40,040 We rest in. His imputed righteousness, His 847 00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:42,160 perfect. Record credit to us by faith 848 00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:44,360 alone. The wait is gone. 849 00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:48,800 We stand accepted, not because we've exceeded the Pharisees in 850 00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:53,520 our own strength, but because He has exceeded every demand for 851 00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:56,920 us. Secondly, we reject the twin 852 00:57:56,920 --> 00:58:01,840 errors. One antinomianism. 853 00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:06,600 We will not relax God's commands as if grace gives us a license 854 00:58:06,600 --> 00:58:12,400 to sin and two, legalism. We will not settle for Pharisee 855 00:58:12,400 --> 00:58:19,880 level externals that leave the heart unchanged. #3 We pursue 856 00:58:19,880 --> 00:58:23,280 Kingdom. Greatness, we don't climb a. 857 00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:24,960 Ladder of self. Effort. 858 00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:29,160 No. We exceed or we pursue Kingdom 859 00:58:29,160 --> 00:58:35,000 greatness by doing and teaching the law as Jesus deepens it. 860 00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:38,400 Again, you're going to see this further in the Gospel, but this 861 00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:40,840 is the righteousness that abounds from the inside out. 862 00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:44,320 So this week. Take the King's Standard into 863 00:58:44,320 --> 00:58:45,040 your daily. Life. 864 00:58:45,040 --> 00:58:48,280 Take it into your marriage. Does love flow from a heart 865 00:58:48,280 --> 00:58:51,400 renewed by grace, or is it a mere duty? 866 00:58:52,600 --> 00:58:55,600 Take it into your words. Are they truthful and kind from 867 00:58:55,600 --> 00:58:58,920 the inside, or are they just polished? 868 00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:02,200 On the surface. Take it into your thoughts and. 869 00:59:02,200 --> 00:59:05,160 Your motives where? Has performance anxiety or 870 00:59:05,160 --> 00:59:07,880 hidden pride crept in in your life? 871 00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:11,280 Take it into your. Home and into your church. 872 00:59:11,720 --> 00:59:13,320 What? What are you teaching by your 873 00:59:13,320 --> 00:59:18,240 words and your works to the next generation or to those around 874 00:59:18,240 --> 00:59:25,560 you, about God's commands? Brothers, sisters, examine your 875 00:59:25,560 --> 00:59:29,680 hearts. Honestly repent where? 876 00:59:29,680 --> 00:59:32,760 You've relaxed. The law or trusted in externals. 877 00:59:33,560 --> 00:59:37,480 And above all, rejoice because the King has already fulfilled 878 00:59:37,480 --> 00:59:40,520 it all. His Spirit is at work in you. 879 00:59:40,520 --> 00:59:44,920 It's producing the very heart righteousness that pleases the 880 00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:48,520 Father. By his work you are becoming the 881 00:59:48,520 --> 00:59:52,480 salt of the earth, the light of the world, the King. 882 00:59:52,720 --> 00:59:56,760 Did not lower. The bar no he He's raised it to 883 00:59:56,760 --> 01:00:00,080 the level of the heart. He met it perfectly in his own 884 01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:03,280 person, and now he builds his Kingdom with citizens who 885 01:00:03,280 --> 01:00:07,280 reflect his own righteousness from the inside out. 886 01:00:09,920 --> 01:00:12,000 And to all of that we must say to him. 887 01:00:12,200 --> 01:00:18,720 Be the glory great things he has done great things he is doing 888 01:00:18,720 --> 01:00:24,520 great things he will complete and us let's pray Heavenly 889 01:00:24,520 --> 01:00:28,000 Father, we thank you for your word today. 890 01:00:29,560 --> 01:00:31,120 We thank you, Lord. For this word. 891 01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:38,520 On the law, and we thank you for Christ, who has perfectly 892 01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:47,680 fulfilled it in himself, and that by faith in Him we can 893 01:00:47,680 --> 01:00:51,880 receive new life, we can have a new heart, we can have the 894 01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:56,200 righteousness of Christ imputed to us, credited to our account. 895 01:00:57,760 --> 01:01:02,840 He takes our sin on Himself at the cross, and He incurs the 896 01:01:02,840 --> 01:01:07,720 wrath that was rightly ours so that we might have His 897 01:01:08,080 --> 01:01:12,520 righteousness. Lord, would you help us to walk 898 01:01:12,560 --> 01:01:15,280 as men and women and boys and girls who love the Lord? 899 01:01:18,240 --> 01:01:22,760 Help us to walk as those. Who are obedience to Christ 900 01:01:22,760 --> 01:01:29,880 because we love Him so deeply. May we never take for granted 901 01:01:30,040 --> 01:01:33,440 the cross. May we never take righteousness 902 01:01:33,440 --> 01:01:37,600 that's been imputed to us for granted and trample on it by 903 01:01:37,600 --> 01:01:40,000 thinking that we can go on sinning and grace. 904 01:01:40,080 --> 01:01:47,520 We'll just keep abounding. God, would you purify us? 905 01:01:49,160 --> 01:01:51,200 Would you help us to? Be more like Christ. 906 01:01:52,160 --> 01:01:56,120 In the things that we say, the things that we do, the things 907 01:01:56,120 --> 01:02:00,240 that we think God would. You continue your great 908 01:02:00,240 --> 01:02:03,320 transforming. Work in US this week. 909 01:02:06,960 --> 01:02:11,480 And all of it so that. We might give rightful praise 910 01:02:11,480 --> 01:02:15,840 and glory to you. We know that we have been saved 911 01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:19,280 by grace through faith, and none of this is of our own doing. 912 01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:22,480 It's a gift of God so that no one may boast. 913 01:02:23,280 --> 01:02:29,840 So God prevent us from boasting, humble us, Lord, keep us from 914 01:02:29,840 --> 01:02:33,200 pride. Help us to adore the Savior in 915 01:02:33,200 --> 01:02:34,640 new ways each day. I'm. 916 01:02:38,440 --> 01:02:40,520 Going to give you a moment there in your seat. 917 01:02:40,640 --> 01:02:46,680 To reflect on God's Word and the message that you've heard, we're 918 01:02:49,960 --> 01:02:55,680 going to ask you to pray. If there's a false righteousness 919 01:02:55,680 --> 01:02:57,880 that you've been. Trying to create in your life. 920 01:02:57,880 --> 01:03:02,240 I urge you to repent today. I urge you to seek the Lord. 921 01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:12,480 Ask Him to humble you. Ask Him to shape your life, to 922 01:03:12,480 --> 01:03:16,120 form you after His own likeness by His Spirit. 923 01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:23,240 Take a moment just to rejoice. In the work of Christ on your 924 01:03:23,240 --> 01:04:06,850 behalf. Heavenly Father, we thank you 925 01:04:06,850 --> 01:04:11,370 that we can come boldly. Before this throne of grace and 926 01:04:11,370 --> 01:04:13,490 find mercy and grace in our time of need. 927 01:04:14,530 --> 01:04:18,930 We thank you Father, that you are shaping us to be like your 928 01:04:18,930 --> 01:04:21,570 son. You've adopted us as your own 929 01:04:21,570 --> 01:04:25,130 sons and daughters and you've made us Co heirs with. 930 01:04:25,130 --> 01:04:27,770 Christ. You've sealed us with your 931 01:04:27,770 --> 01:04:31,400 spirit, and so we can walk. With you. 932 01:04:32,560 --> 01:04:37,920 We can communicate with you. We can have a deep communion 933 01:04:38,200 --> 01:04:40,560 with you. Father reconciled. 934 01:04:43,760 --> 01:04:45,880 And so, Father, we ask that you help us to honor you. 935 01:04:45,880 --> 01:04:50,160 This week, help us to live for you this week with the lives 936 01:04:50,160 --> 01:04:51,480 that we. Live be worthy of the. 937 01:04:51,480 --> 01:04:55,120 Gospel that we've received. Ask these things in the name of 938 01:04:55,120 --> 01:04:56,960 Christ our Lord, Amen.