Adulterers Are Not Righteous

Matthew 5:27-30

 

As you know, we are presently in the middle of our study of

The Sermon on the Mount.

 

And as I told you at the very onset of this sermon,

The main point of the sermon is RIGHTEOUSNESS.

 

Jesus is confronting a people

Who have about a twisted a view of righteousness as you can have.

• Their righteousness was all external.

• Their righteousness was based on ignorance not truth.

• Their righteousness glorified self not God.

• Their righteousness was used to destroy others.

 

They had basically taken all that God had taught about righteousness

And messed it all up.

 

We learned last Sunday night about how false prophets come

And malign the way of the truth.

 

No doubt Israel was a victim.

They may have known that righteousness was important,

But it is obvious they no longer had a clue as to what righteousness was.

 

We certainly can sympathize with them today.

 

Few people today even agree that only the righteous go to heaven.

Even fewer agree as to what true righteousness actually is.

 

But God has always been honest.

Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”

 

Now granted that verse does not tell us exactly what true holiness is,

Except that it reveals that God is holy.

Whatever God is, that is holy, and that is what we are to be.

 

Other passages explain it a little better.

Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

 

Obviously we see that the only type of person that is allowed

To dwell with God for all eternity is a perfect person.

 

Psalms 24:3-6 “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face — even Jacob.”

 

And there it is again.

Only the perfect person gets to God.

 

Isaiah 33:14-16 “Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the impregnable rock; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.”

 

And of course the point that we make is that

Throughout Scripture God has not only defined righteousness,

But has also stated that only the truly righteous

Will be allowed to dwell with Him in heaven.

 

Those who are wicked…

Those who are sinful…

Those who are rebellious…

Are not allowed to dwell with God.

 

This is precisely what Jesus is trying to point out through this sermon.

He is revealing what God’s true and perfect righteousness looks like

So that you can see where you stand before Him.

 

And if we are honest thus far

We must all admit that we have failing grades.

• We have seen 8 qualities that we do not possess.

• We have seen 2 expectations that we do not fulfill.

• And we have learned that our standard by which we measure ourselves may not be the actual standard.

 

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

It has grown increasingly clear that we do not measure up

To the standard God demands of us.

 

But in case that was not enough Jesus started getting specific.

 

Last week we began looking at the “You have heard…but I say” sermons.

 

And Jesus introduced to us what true murder is.

Jesus said, “that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court”

• He didn’t say everyone who tries to murder them…

• He didn’t say everyone who wishes they could murder them…

• He didn’t even say everyone who HATES his brother…

If said, if you’ve ever been angry, then you are a murderer in heart.

 

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

 

And the point of Jesus is that

He was living in a world of tremendous self-justification.

 

People who were not humble, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who didn’t hate sin, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were not submissive, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who didn’t hunger for righteousness, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were not pure in heart but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were not merciful, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were not peacemakers, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were not persecuted, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who did not shine their light, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were tasteless salt, but thought they were headed to heaven.

People who were murderers, but thought they were headed to heaven.

 

And as you can see they were self-deceived.

Well, it doesn’t get any better this morning

As Jesus cuts to the heart again.

 

As we look at the second “You have heard…but I say” sermon.

 

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:27

 

There again we see the observation of Jesus

As He recognizes what they have been taught.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;”

 

And there again, we know this to be true.

 

This is the 7th commandment

And it’s not like those commandments are any kind of a secret.

 

And as we said with murder, this is also a commandment

That Scripture speaks fairly forcefully about.

 

Leviticus 20:10 “’If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

 

Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.”

Proverbs 6:20-35 “My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother; Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life To keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids. For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Men do not despise a thief if he steals To satisfy himself when he is hungry; But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house. The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, And his reproach will not be blotted out. For jealousy enrages a man, And he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not accept any ransom, Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts.”

 

In other words adultery is very DUMB and it is WRONG.

 

I titled this sermon – “Adulterers Are Not Righteous”

I think we can all agree upon that.

 

Those who have a sexual relationship with someone who is not their spouse are not considered righteous before God.

 

Furthermore Scripture unequivocally states

That those people will not go to heaven.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

 

Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

 

“Immoral” translates PORNOS

 

Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

 

And so we are all clear on the fate of those who commit adultery.

They are not righteous and they will not go to heaven.

 

Now, it is important to note that the issue here is not sex,

Just as the issue with murder is not killing a person.

 

And Scripture has also made it extremely clear that sex was created by God and is intended by God to be an important part of the marriage.

 

You only have to read 1 Corinthians 7 to hear Paul actually command

Husbands and wives to “stop depriving one another”.

 

And so sex is not the problem,

It is sex with someone who is not your spouse that is the problem,

And those who do it will not go to heaven.

 

But that is not new knowledge.

In fact, “You have heard” that before.

 

And that was Jesus’ observation.

#2 THE EXPLANATION

Matthew 5:28

 

Just as Jesus did with murder, here He internalizes it.

“but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

 

Now we are not just talking about a man

Who sleeps with a woman he is not married to.

 

Now we are talking about something

That seems much more innocent than that.

“everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her”

 

And when we read that, we understand

That we are talking about a sin that occurs

Before anything physical has ever happened.

 

 

But we really need to clarify it even more than that.

• Because most of us read that statement and think of some guy who is going around undressing women with his eyes.

• Or we think of someone who has a subscription to some pornographic magazine.

• Or we think of some perverted person who is doing everything he can to get women into bed.

 

But Jesus isn’t just speaking of that person.

 

When most hear the word “lust”

They immediately think about it in a sexual connotation.

 

But the word Jesus uses here

Doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with sex.

 

Most would think the word in the Greek is PORNOS, or PORNEIA, or some other form of that word used to describe sexual immorality. But it isn’t.

 

“lust” translates EPITUMEO

And it simply means to “desire or to covet or to crave or to lust”

 

And so let me help you understand that a little better.

Jesus is saying if you look at a woman

And want her for any reason that is adultery.

 

Do you realize that most affairs don’t begin with two people desiring to have sex with each other?

 

Most affairs begin much more innocently than that.

 

With sentiments like:

I wish my wife was as friendly as ___________”

I wish my husband was as attentive as _________________”

I wish my wife was as graceful as _______________”

I wish my husband listened to me like ______________”

 

It has nothing to do with sex.

It has nothing to do with a physical affair.

 

Yet it is to crave or want that person for any reason at all

And Jesus says that is adultery.

 

Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

 

Ever wish you had a wife like so and so does?

Ever wish your husband was more like so and so?

You are committing adultery.

 

NOW PREACHER, DOESN’T THAT SEEM AWFUL PETTY?

 

Not to God, because full blown sexual adultery

And simply desiring another person are the exact same sin in the heart.

And the heart is what God looks at.

 

In fact Jesus says:

“everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has ALREADY committed adultery with her in his heart.”

 

DID YOU CATCH THAT “ALREADY”?

That means that the heart even precedes the eyes.

 

Many today want to blame their adultery or lustful thoughts

On the environment around them.

 

“Well, if she wouldn’t wear that low-cut top I wouldn’t be looking.”

And so we assume that sin hits the eyes and then moves to the heart.

WRONG

 

If it wasn’t in the heart, it would have never affected the eyes.

 

NOW THAT IS NOT TO EXCUSE A SEDUCTIVE WOMAN

 

And by the way ladies don’t suppose you are innocent

Just because you are not visually attracted to men.

 

The way women dress in our society is an outrage.

It makes them nothing short of a seductress

And one who is leading others into sin.

 

And just let me tell you about people who lead other people into sin.

Luke 17:1-2 “He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

 

The point is don’t suppose God would condemn a man

For looking at your body and then hold you innocent

For trying to show it to him.

 

Proverbs 11:22 “As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.”

 

1 Timothy 2:9-10 “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

 

And so I would definitely say that a seductive lady is guilty before God.

 

BUT EVEN AT THAT, A MAN CANNOT BLAME HIS SIN UPON HER.

 

For if that man was not an adulterer in heart

Her body would not have appealed to him.

 

I mean honestly, do you suppose Jesus

Would have difficulty with lust in our society?

 

The visual images we see would not have enticed Him,

They would have nauseated Him, grieved Him, angered Him,

And would have broken His heart.

 

The point is:

Men, if you look at a woman and want her;

(Not just sex, but anything about her) it indicates that you have a corrupt heart and you are an adulterer before God.

 

Women, if you look at a man and want him;

(Not just sex, but anything about him) it indicates that you have a corrupt heart and you are an adulterer before God.

 

And we all already settled where adulterers are headed

Because adulterers are not righteous.

 

Forget the fact that you’ve never touched the person,

God is looking at the heart and He sees the blemish present.

 

That is Jesus’ explanation of the 7th commandment.

 

The Observation The Explanation

#3 THE APPLICATION

Matthew 5:29-30

 

Now admittedly, you read that and it is sort of hard to swallow.

 

IS JESUS ACTUALLY ADVOCATING SELF-MUTILATION?

I can confidently answer “No”

Even though His speech is pretty straight forward.

 

The reason I can answer “No” is because of what He just said.

 

If you truly wanted to get the sin out of your life,

Cutting off your hand or gouging out your eye would not work.

WHY?

 

Because the sin resides in your heart.

 

So technically if you were going to try to remove the sin from your life,

You would have to cut open your chest and remove your carnal heart.

 

The hand or the eye wouldn’t stop it.

 

SO WHY DOES JESUS GIVE THIS GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION?

 

Because He is trying to make sure that you don’t

Just pass your guilt as an adulterer off as no big deal.

 

You see in one sense the way Jesus preached on adultery

It is a whole lot more convicting.

(BECAUSE IT CONVICTS US ALL)

 

But that also creates a bit of a problem.

 

Since we are all guilty, it tends to make some think

That it might not be as big of a deal.

 

You could take a man in here who is presently in a full blown sexual affair,

Who is now saying, “Well heck, I don’t feel so bad about that affair

Now that I know everyone is an adulterer.”

 

Jesus knows that is a possible response to what He just said.

 

So in order to make sure that you don’t minimize your guilt

He uses this analogy to remind you that sin is no laughing matter.

 

In fact, your guilt (all be it common to all) is still enough

To send you to hell for eternity

And you ought to do anything you can to avoid that.

 

WHAT SHOULD I DO TO AVOID HELL?

 

The answer Jesus is pushing for:

WHATEVER IT TAKES

 

• None of us in this place could fathom going home and gouging out one of our eyes.

• None of us in this place could fathom going home and cutting off a hand.

 

Jesus shocked us with that on purpose.

To show us that even that would be better than going to hell.

 

Suppose you could talk to someone killed in the great flood.

That person has been in hell for something like 6 or 7 thousand years.

 

And suppose you told them that they could leave hell

If they would gouge out one of their eyes.

 

They would have their eyeball in their hand

Before you could finish the offer.

 

And that is Jesus’ point.

DON’T BE TEMPTED TO TREAT ADULTERY LIKE IT IS NO BIG DEAL.

 

The sin of adultery sends people to hell,

And you do not want to go to hell.

 

It’s like what Jesus said about murder earlier:

Matthew 5:25-26 “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. “Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.”

 

In other words, don’t just be willing to hang on to your sin

And spend eternity in hell for it.

 

DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO AVOID THAT HORRIBLE PLACE.

And at this point, now that you and I have realized not only are we murderers, but we are also adulterers, it ought to send us screaming:

 

WHAT SHALL I DO?

 

Peter answered a question just like that one day.

Acts 2:36-42 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

 

Peter didn’t tell them to start a pile of eyeballs over here

And a pile of hands over there.

Peter said – RUN TO JESUS

 

WHY JESUS?

Because He is the only one capable of fixing the heart.

 

You see many at this point find frustration.

“I can keep from touching a woman, but how can I keep from wanting to?”

 

You can’t – not with that old sinful heart.

“With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”

 

You need someone to change your heart

And that is something only Christ can do.

 

He came and lived a sinless life and then used that spotless unblemished blood as payment for the sins of His people.

 

He made a way for sinful man to be justified in the sight of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

And that isn’t all that He did.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

 

You see not only does Jesus forgive your sin,

But He comes and gives you a new heart.

 

A heart not filled with anger and a heart not filled with lust.

And that is why I have told you that once you come to Christ

We no longer call ourselves sinners, but now we are called saints.

 

It is because Christ changed us.

 

This whole sermon I have been telling you that you are an adulterer,

But if you have given your life to Christ, that is no longer true.

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

 

That is the beauty of trusting Jesus.

So if you are saved, rejoice in what Jesus has done for you,

And strive daily to walk in His righteousness, not like the old man.

 

But if you have never submitted your life Christ,

Then realize what you are and why you need Him and give Him your life.

 

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

Get honest with God about the condition of your heart

And find the only answer in Jesus.

 

• He is the only One who can make you righteous in the sight of God.

• He is the only One who can allow you to escape the sentence of hell.

• He is the only One who can grant your entrance into heaven.

 

Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

 

“Murderers Are Not Righteous”

Matthew 5:21-26

 

As you know, we are studying through the Sermon on the Mount.

 

It is a sermon meant to expose faulty righteousness,

And by now I think we can all agree that

This sermon accomplishes it’s goal.

 

Jesus first revealed to us 8 qualities of a righteous man.

(The Beatitudes)

He then revealed to us 2 expectations of a righteous man.

(Salt & Light)

 

And as we said, if we are honest with ourselves

We don’t measure up to any of them.

 

But at that point we did still held out hope.

Our hope was that He would say, “But don’t worry about all that, because I’m about to get rid of the Law anyway. It was too rigid, it was too difficult, and so I’m gonna narrow it down.”

 

If that was your hope (as it was much of Israel)

Jesus crushed your hope last week by revealing a startling truth.

“I did not come to abolish the Law or the prophets.”

 

The Law cannot be Abolished

The Law cannot be Annulled

The Law cannot be Avoided

You must measure up to it all.

 

And then came perhaps the most startling statement of all.

 

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

That was a very shocking statement by Jesus

The Pharisees, and scribes,

Looked like the most righteous people in the land.

 

In fact, there was a saying, “that if only two people went to heaven, one would be a scribe, and the other a Pharisee.”

 

And because you have spent time studying the word of God,

You know why they were not acceptable.

 

THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS ALL FOR SHOW.

Matthew 23:1-7 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”

 

Furthermore, THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS ALL EXTERNAL.

Matthew 23:25-26 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”

 

And we know that with God, this does not cut it.

 

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

 

What that means, is God isn’t looking at the action.

Now if you break the Law in action, obviously you are a Law breaker,

But God doesn’t look at the action. God looks at the heart.

 

If God sees a heart that wants to break the Law,

Then He sees a Law breaker.

 

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

 

By human standards, a man is not a murderer, until he commits a murder,

By God’s standards, he is a murderer rather he commits the crime or not.

 

We’ve talked about this before.

Stealing doesn’t make you a thief, a thief steals because he is a thief.

Killing doesn’t make you a murderer, a man kills because he is a murderer.

 

The action doesn’t make the man, the heart makes the man,

Actions are only pictures of what is in that man’s heart.

 

And because the Pharisees were only clean on the outside, but not the inside, they did not measure up to God’s righteous standard.

 

So Jesus said, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

And that means neither the righteousness they PERFORM,

Nor the righteousness they PREACH is acceptable to God.

 

And this prompts perhaps

The most famous section of the Sermon on the Mount.

 

The “You have heard…but I say” sermons.

And the first one Jesus deals with is Murder.

 

Now, I titled this sermon “Murderer’s are not Righteous”

CAN WE ALL AGREE WITH THAT?

 

I mean, it is one of the Big 10.

If you murder someone, then you have failed to meet God’s standard.

 

Certainly we all agree, and since we do,

We may all be in for a rude awakening.

 

Let’s see what Jesus has to say about the issue.

 

4 points

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:21

 

You will notice the observation that Jesus makes.

“You have heard”

 

In our introductory sermon to the Sermon on the Mount,

I told you that one of the problems of Israel is that they were ignorant.

 

Because they had bad teachers they had bad theology.

And their bad theology left them at odds with God.

 

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

 

This was certainly the case in Jesus day.

 

And here He begins His list

Of exposing the bad theology they have been taught.

 

“You have heard that the ancients were told “You shall not commit murder” and “Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.”

 

Now first, let me just point out that

There was nothing wrong with this command in and of itself.

 

Obviously Jesus is referring to the 6th commandment

 

And that is not all that Scripture has to say on the subject.

Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.”

 

Leviticus 24:17 “If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.”

Numbers 35:30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.”

 

And so obviously as far as that command is concerned,

They were taught correctly.

 

And because Jesus did not come to abolish the Law,

He is not here to tell them that those commands do not exist.

 

He just merely makes an observation as to what they have been taught.

 

Then comes the second part.

#2 THE EXPLANATION

Matthew 5:22

 

So Jesus first analyzed what they have been taught,

And then He explains what they should have been taught.

 

And the first thing we notice is that Jesus internalized it.

 

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court;”

 

And all of a sudden that command just got a whole lot more convicting.

• You see, I might be able to resist actually killing a person, but how can I resist being angry at them?

 

In fact our culture puts temporal punishments

That help us protect ourselves from irrational behavior,

But our culture puts no limits on what we feel inside.

 

For Example: You get a ticket for speeding in your car,

But there is no punishment for wanting to.

 

Yet we are dealing with God “who looks at the heart”

And all of a sudden we realize that the Law which Moses gave

Looked much deeper than our action, straight into our desires.

 

Isn’t that true of God’s Word?

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

 

God’s Word is not simply interested in what you do,

God’s word is interested in who you are.

 

And if you’ve read the Old Testament then you know

The issue was NEVER whether or not you killed someone,

But was always about the condition of your heart.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE TEACHINGS ABOUT THE CITIES OF REFUGE?

TURN TO: NUMBERS 35:9-25

 

And so we see that the issue was always the heart.

The wrong action with the right heart was defended by God.

Yet the right action with the wrong heart was condemned by Him.

 

And that is what Jesus reminds of here.

 

The Law came to examine your heart.

And so it’s really not about murder, it goes much deeper than that.

 

“everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court;”

 

Jesus says if you even have anger for your brother,

Then you are a murderer in God’s sight.

 

WHY?

Because murder and anger are the exact same sin.

(granted one is carried to a fuller extent, but they are the same sin)

 

And Jesus reveals that if you have anger “you shall be guilty before the court”

 

NOW TO BE FAIR.

What about these passages?

Ephesians 4:26 “BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

 

Psalms 7:11 “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.”

 

Or what about these?

Matthew 17:17 “And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

 

Or what about those passages where Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites or brood of vipers or declared their condemnation?

 

Or what about when Jesus cleared the temple?

 

AREN’T ALL THOSE INSTANCES OF ANGER?

So how is it condemned?

 

There are at least two differences between the righteous anger of Jesus and the condemned anger that is mentioned here.

 

1) Jesus anger was targeted at the sin and not the sinner.

 

Proven by His willingness to die for those same men

He pronounced condemnation upon.

2) Jesus anger was initiated because of the wrong suffered by others, not because of wrongs that He suffered.

 

When Jesus suffered He did not revile.

When Jesus suffered He was like a lamb led to slaughter.

When they accused Jesus He never became forceful.

 

It was when Jesus saw the sheep being oppressed that His anger arose.

 

And so we understand that the anger Jesus refers to here

Is an anger that arises out of selfishness

And one that is targeted at another person.

 

When you have that, you have just committed murder in God’s sight,

And you are guilty.

 

But obviously that is not all, for Jesus continues.

“and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court;”

 

This takes the sin the next step further.

Now the sin has moved from the heart to the lips.

(Might I point out that eventually it moves from the lips to the hands,

And that is why anger and murder are the same sin)

 

But now there is not just anger, but there is SLANDER

 

“good-for-nothing” transates RHAKA

It is a word of Aramaic origin and it simply means “empty”

 

It was to call someone a “brainless idiot” or “worthless fellow”

Today they might be called “a moron”

 

And the point is that there is an anger and animosity in your heart

That eventually comes out of your mouth.

 

Matthew 12:34 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”

 

We are talking about verbalized anger.

 

David spoke of them:

Psalms 140:3 “They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips.”

And this is precisely the same thing as murder,

For this person is “guilty before the supreme court”

 

This was actually the court that tried the more serious cases.

(Obviously Jesus is placing a heavier emphasis on this

Than was ever seen before.)

And Jesus doesn’t stop there.

“and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

 

It all started with anger.

Eventually that anger is revealed through slander.

And here we learn the desire of that anger.

 

To call a person a fool was to do more than call them stupid,

It was also to call them godless.

 

Psalms 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.”

 

There are obviously fools on the earth,

And making them aware of that is not the problem.

The problem is wishing that upon someone.

 

If you want the translation of today it is to say to someone,

“You go to hell”.

 

It is far more than anger expressed,

It goes to the point of revealing the desire of that anger.

 

And according to Jesus this is also judged.

The person who does this “shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

 

And so I hope you get the point.

They all understood that murder was wrong.

 

What Jesus wants them to understand is that

Murder is a sin that begins long before the deed takes place.

 

Now human nature is to try and justify ourselves

So we say:

• I’ve never killed anyone

• I’ve never told anyone to “Go to hell”

• I’ve never even slandered anyone and called them a “blockhead”

 

BUT HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ANGRY?

• Then you are a murderer in God’s sight.

• You are filled with a wicked sinful nature.

• You have fallen short of the glory of God.

• God will judged you for eternity in hell.

 

God looks at the heart, and it is there

That He determines what you are, regardless of what you do.

 

That is the explanation.

The Observation, The Explanation

#3 THE APPLICATION

Matthew 5:23-24

 

Now if you aren’t paying attention here,

Jesus can kind of be like a horse that all ducks out from under you.

 

Because He went in verse 22 to talking about

You having something against your brother

 

To here in verse 23 where He is talking about

Your brother having something against you.

 

“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you”

 

So it appears we are dealing with the other side of the coin.

 

And here Jesus says if you are there giving your offering and realize that there is enmity between you and your brother, “leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”

 

And all of a sudden Jesus took this command to an even deeper level.

 

Now it is not just that I should not be angry at my brother,

But that I should also do everything in my power

To make sure my brother has no grounds to be angry at me.

 

You see the law forbids murder,

And that means that in order to keep the law,

We do everything in our power to keep it from happening.

We are talking about honoring God’s desire for brotherly unity.

 

AND DID YOU CATCH HOW IMPORTANT THAT IS?

 

God would rather have that than your sacrifice,

Or your outward worship.

 

1 Samuel 15:22 “Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”

 

Even if you have done nothing wrong.

Even if you are an innocent victim.

But if your brother is angry at you, God would rather have you fix that, than for you to bring an offering to Him.

 

AND ALL AT ONCE THE APPLICATION GETS CLEAR.

(This heart-murder thing is important to God)

You see the Jews always put the cart before the horse.

 

Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

 

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

 

The Jews always tried to live however they wanted

And then to appease God with their religion.

 

Jesus says, you’ve got it all wrong.

GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RIGHTEOUS IN YOUR HEART

And that is more important than your outward religion.

 

And so don’t make their mistake.

 

DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN

TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT ANGRY AT YOUR BROTHER AND

TO MAKE SURE YOUR BROTHER HAS NO REASON TO BE ANGRY AT YOU.

 

Romans 12:18 ”If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

 

And so if there is some forgiveness that needs to take place in your life, Give it.

If there is some forgiveness that needs to be sought in your life,

Seek it.

 

THAT MATTERS MORE TO GOD THAN YOU SITTING IN THESE PEWS.

 

The application is that the heart matters more to God than your religion,

So make sure your heart is right before God.

 

The Observation, The Explanation, The Application

#4 THE ILLUSTRATION

Matthew 5:25-26

 

Jesus gives us here an illustration in our own worldly terms,

That will help us understand exactly how we are to handle this situation.

 

Jesus clearly teaches us that the time to make restitution is NOW.

 

When you have a problem and you are on the way to see the judge,

Now is the time to settle out of court, and fix the grievance.

 

 

But the real question is:

WHO ARE WE TALKING TO?

 

Because now it looks like Jesus is saying,

You had better go make peace with your brother,

Because if you don’t, then you will go to court and you will be judged.

 

That actually sounds opposite of what Jesus just taught.

Earlier it was the angry one who is guilty,

And here it sounds like it is the angry one who does the condemning.

 

WHICH ONE IS HE TALKING TO?

NEITHER

Now he is talking to you.

 

This parable is not about the discrepancy between two men.

This parable is about the discrepancy between you and God.

 

Jesus just said that if you are angry you are guilty.

And now He is saying you had better do something about that

Before you go stand before the Judge.

 

BECAUSE MURDERER’S AREN’T RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD

AND GOD WILL JUDGE THEM ETERNALLY IN HELL.

 

“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.”

 

The whole point here is that because of your heart murder

You are guilty, and you are on your way to see the judge.

 

You had better do something to settle out of court.

 

HOW DO I DO THAT?

 

Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

Again we look back to that One who fulfilled the Law.

Again we look back to that One who perfectly kept every command.

Again we look back to that One who satisfied the wrath of God.

Again we look back to that One who said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

 

This morning see the need and run to Jesus!

 

Romans 10:13 “ for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

 

Reaffirming the Law

Matthew 5:17-19

 

As you know we are studying through the Sermon on the Mount,

And by now we should have all come to agreement

THAT THIS SERMON IS VERY CONVICTING.

 

Jesus first revealed to us 8 qualities that we do not possess.

Then Jesus revealed to us 2 expectations that we do not fulfill.

 

And when you read through those qualities with an honest heart,

We realize that we have a problem.

 

And if you have studied the Bible much at all in your life,

You know that the problem we find ourselves in here

Is the same problem we find when we study the Old Testament.

 

I do not measure up.

“It’s impossible to keep all those commandments”

 

You may remember that when there arose an argument in the early church About whether or not the Gentiles had to be circumcised

The early church leaders made this statement.

 

Acts 15:10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”

 

They understood that no one

Was able to strictly obey the Old Testament Law.

 

The Law was the explanation and expectation of God’s righteousness.

This was what He ordained as the way of life

In order to be righteous in His sight.

 

The Law did not make a person righteous,

But the Law did outline what righteousness was

And revealed those who were not.

 

Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

 

The Law did not come to impart righteousness to people.

The Law simply arrived as an unbiased observer,

Strictly spelling out the difference between the righteous and the wicked.

 

The problem was that the righteousness the law revealed

Was so perfect that no man ever measured up to it.

 

And therefore instead of being a beacon of light leading us to God,

The Law actually became a barricade that kept us away from Him.

 

And over time, this fact

Changed the way that people began to look at the Law.

 

No longer was the Law viewed as a good thing, but as a negative thing.

(Perhaps you’ve even seen that view in the church today)

 

That view is certainly alive in Israel today.

 

I witnessed to a Jewish man who only reads the first 5 books

and doesn’t believe them.

 

If they read the whole thing, or believed any of it,

All they would find is condemnation.

They view the Law as a negative thing.

 

And sadly, so do many even in the church.

Treating the Law like it is some sort of evil list of rules

Or some sort of negative problem that Jesus finally got rid of.

 

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE.

 

What did Paul say about the Law?

Romans 7:7-12 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

 

The Law is not the problem.

 

Yet, because sinful man has never been able to fulfill it,

The Law has always been looked upon as some sort of negative list

That had to be removed if people were ever going to get to God.

 

And perhaps as we study the first parts of the Sermon on the Mount you’ve had similar thoughts.

 

I mean, if I’m going to go to heaven,

Then God is going to have to lighten up on some of those requirements.

 

God is either going to have to let more people in than just the humble,

Or just the mourners, or just the hungry, or else I’m stuck.

No doubt this was part of the cry of Israel

As Jesus preached this sermon.

 

Their desire was to justify themselves by reducing the requirements.

If they could succeed in lowering the standard,

Then salvation would be more accessible.

 

And without a doubt this is what they expected

The Messiah to come and help them with.

 

They just knew that when Messiah came

He would help them by clarifying which commandments really mattered

And which ones didn’t.

 

Remember the woman at the well?

John 4:20 “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

 

And then moments later said:

John 4:25 “The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”

 

She was looking for the one who would explain

What really mattered and what didn’t.

 

This was also the attitude of the Rich Young Ruler.

Matthew 19:16-18a “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?”

 

He was looking for the Messiah to narrow down

Which commandments mattered and which ones didn’t.

 

They both thought (as do many today) that

If salvation was to be obtained then

God was going to have to compromise and learn to give a little.

 

God would have to be willing to overlook a few commands

And just enforce a few.

 

I remember a movie Carrie and I watched in which a lady said, “Nothing is certain until your dead, and even then I’m sure God negotiates.”

 

That is what many people count on.

That God will give in and compromise and reduce the standard.

 

Friend, if that is what you are hoping for,

I have some bad news.

 

For in Jesus sermon here,

He addresses that very issue, and His verdict is severe.

 

THE LAW STANDS

 

In fact in our text this morning Jesus gives 3 things

THAT CANNOT HAPPEN TO GOD’S LAW.

#1 IT CANNOT BE ABOLISHED

Matthew 5:17-18

 

“Do not think”

It indicates to us that Jesus is confronting a common mindset of the day,

And one that is obviously wrong.

 

It was commonly accepted that in order for salvation to be achieved

Then the Law was going to have to be removed.

 

Jesus said, “Do not think” that.

 

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;”

 

In other words, if you are looking for Jesus to be a Liberal,

You are barking up the wrong tree.

 

No one was ever more committed to the whole of Scripture than Jesus.

• No one read it closer…

• No one understood it better…

• No one obeyed it more…

• No one preached it harder…

• No one explained it deeper…

• No one loved it more…

 

And so He said, “Do not think that I came to abolish” it.

 

“abolish” translates KATALUO

“to reduce to inactivity” or “to destroy” or “to overthrow”

 

It is the same word Jesus used in regard to the temple of His body.

Matthew 26:61 “and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.'”

 

It meant to completely remove it and take it out of the way.

To strip it of power and push it aside.

 

And many people expected Jesus to do this to the Law.

Many in the church assume that is what Jesus did to the Law.

 

And yet nothing could be further from the truth.

He did not come to reduce, tear down, or overthrow, or destroy the Law.

And of course the reason is because the Law cannot be destroyed.

 

(18) “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

 

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

 

It is not just that Jesus would not abolish the Law,

It is that He could not abolish the Law.

The Law cannot be removed.

 

Jesus said, “until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stoke shall pass from the Law”

 

“letter” translates IOTA

It corresponds to the name of the smallest Hebrew letter YOD

 

Ever hear the term “I don’t give one iota”

 

“stroke” translates KERAIA

“a little horn”

 

It refers to a stroke that makes up part of a letter.

It is like the difference between a capital “P” and a capital “R”

 

And Jesus here says that neither will ever pass away from the Law.

 

And so if your plan for entering heaven

Requires the bending of the Law at any point,

Then you have a bad plan, because it will not happen.

 

The Law is here to stay, and it will be there even until the day of judgment.

 

It is the standard, it is the plum line,

And men will be judged according to it, both now and forever.

 

The Law is not going anywhere.

• It is still in effect.

• It still matters.

• You still have to obey it.

• You will still be measured by it.

 

If someone ever came and told you that the Law was gone,

They lied to you. It is still there.

 

The Law cannot be abolished.

 

#2 IT CANNOT BE ANNULLED

Matthew 5:19

 

Some people want to simply remove the Law altogether.

They try to pretend like it doesn’t matter, and they simply throw it aside.

 

Others are much more diplomatic about it.

They don’t want to remove the whole Law,

They just want to remove the parts that offend them.

 

These are the people who sell those Big Black Bible Blotters

That you can use to mark out the verses of Scripture you don’t agree with.

 

They just try to annul part of the Bible.

 

“annuls” translates LUO

(It is actually a less intense form of the same word translated “abolish”)

It means “to loosen, especially by way of deliverance”

 

This is what the liberal preacher loves to do.

 

He sees people living in sin,

And rather than take the Scriptures and confront their life,

He just reassures the people that their sin is no big deal.

 

He just “loosens” or “delivers” them from that specific command.

Don’t like verses on adultery – no problem we won’t preach them

Don’t like verses on greed – no problem we’ll overlook them

Don’t like verses on gossip – I’m sure God understands and it’s OK

 

Their favorite phrase is “That doesn’t apply today”

 

They are those who love to let people off the hook,

As though they have the authority to do so.

They annul the commands of God.

 

But Jesus says, you can’t do that either.

“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;”

 

ARE SOME COMMANDS GREATER THAN OTHERS?

Mark 12:28-31 “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Jesus also said to the Pharisees

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

 

Jesus insinuated that some commands weighed more than others.

 

We tend to do the same today.

We obviously rank commands concerning murder and adultery

As weightier than commands about being faithful to attend church.

 

But please notice the point Jesus made.

While some are more important than others, none can be annulled.

 

“Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments…”

 

That person is called “least in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

In other words, even if it is a true Christian

Who tells you that certain commands don’t matter,

Rest assured they may be saved, but they don’t hold much clout.

 

They are the lowest of the lot.

 

On the flip side:

“whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

And the point of Jesus is crystal clear.

 

You cannot abolish the Law and you cannot annul it either.

 

You are not allowed to go through the Scriptures and pick and choose

Which commands you like and which ones you don’t and go from there.

 

You are not allowed to only apply what makes you look good

And remove what makes you look bad.

 

YET THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE LOVE TO DO.

Some even find teachers to do it for them.

 

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

 

Jesus said it doesn’t work that way.

You can’t destroy God’s Law

And you can’t just pick and choose what you want.

The Law stands – ALL OF IT

And you must obey it all.

 

It Can’t Be Abolished, It Can’t Be Annulled

#3 IT CAN’T BE AVOIDED

Matthew 5:20

 

Here is one of the key and most convicting passages of the entire sermon

And of all of Scripture.

 

“unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Jesus revealed a common misconception of the day.

 

The Jewish people had actually started

To replace God’s Law with a new standard.

 

They replaced God’s Law with

The standard of “the scribes and Pharisees”

 

They had written so many commentaries and books of on the Law

That most Jews followed those books instead of the Law itself anyway.

 

And the result was that instead of studying the Law

And seeking to be like God.

The Jewish people studied the writings of the Pharisees

And sought to be like them.

 

They had replaced God’s divine and holy standard with a man-made one.

 

• On one hand this was actually more difficult as the Pharisees had added to many laws, actually making them much more labor intensive than God ever intended.

 

• But on the other hand, since they were human in origin and not divine, they were actually attainable by human standards.

 

They had re-written a code that better suited the abilities of man,

And were using this code as a means of

Declaring themselves righteous or not.

 

This concept is what spurs the entire “You have heard…but I say”

Portion of The Sermon on the Mount.

 

The people were actually avoiding God’s Law

By seeking to fulfill a different standard.

 

AND PEOPLE DO THIS TODAY

One preacher is actually quoted as saying:

“The one thing I’ve learned is that when you get into the pulpit you’ve got to somehow communicate without using the Bible, because the Bible turns people off. I’ve spent a long time developing the ability to communicate to people without ever using the Bible. I started out in my ministry saying this verse says this and this verse says that, and I finally realized that wouldn’t get me anywhere. Now I say it in my own way and people will accept it.”

(MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series; Matthew 1-7, pg. 264. Moody Press, 1985)

 

That is exactly what the Pharisees were doing.

They avoided God’s word, in order to replace it with their own.

 

BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THAT.

IT WON’T WORK

 

Because in the end, regardless of whether or not you studied it,

God will use His book as the standard.

 

And God’s book has a much higher standard.

 

And that is why Jesus says:

“unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

In other words you can be what every man thinks you should be,

And it won’t matter a hill of beans at the judgment.

 

You will not be measured by the standard of men.

You will be measured by the standard of God.

Isaiah 28:16-17 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”

 

When you stand before God, He will not drop a Pharisee down beside you.

When you stand before God, He will not prop you up next to a scribe.

 

God will measure you by the perfect standard of His holy Law.

And you do not fulfill that Law, you will be judged forever in hell.

 

You cannot remove the Law, annul the Law, or ignore the Law.

It stands forever, All of it, and only it.

 

If you don’t fully obey the whole Law of God you will not enter heaven.

James 2:10-11 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

 

SO WHAT DO WE DO?

I hope you noticed, that earlier we skipped a pivotal phrase in this text.

 

Look back at verse 17.

“I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

 

• The requirement of the Law has not been removed.

• The commands of the Law have not been annulled.

• The standards of the Law have not been replaced.

 

Jesus did not come and lower the bar

To make it easier for you to get into heaven.

Jesus came and made a way for you to get over the bar.

 

He didn’t abolish the Law, He fulfilled it.

 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

I mean He perfectly kept every command

And perfectly fulfilled every intention of the Law.

 

If you were to break down the Law,

You could break it down into three categories.

 

THE MORAL LAW – “thou shalt nots”

THE JUDICIAL LAW – command to be separate people

THE SACRIFICIAL LAW – sacrifices for forgiveness.

 

Jesus Fulfilled it.

 

The Moral Law – by fully obeying every single command.

The Judicial Law – by truly being set apart and different.

The Sacrificial Law – by laying His life down as an offering for sin.

 

Furthermore He fulfilled the prophets

By being everything that the prophets said Israel should be.

 

He didn’t remove the standard, He made a way for us to achieve it.

 

That way is Himself.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

 

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible says

That His perfect righteousness is credited to our account.

 

That means that God looks at our account

He sees the perfection of Jesus Christ

and we are stamped “Requirement Fulfilled”.

 

Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

 

You see when people seek to get rid of the Law,

All they are really doing is trying to get rid of their need for Jesus.

 

Because if the Law doesn’t matter then Jesus isn’t needed.

 

But if the Law is still in full effect,

Then everyone in this place needs the righteousness

That only He can provide.

 

And friend I am here to tell you that you need it.

 

If you have never died with Christ and been raised with Him

Then you had better check out that Old Testament,

And you had better make sure you never break a command,

For that Law explains the righteousness that God requires

And He will require it of you.

 

Or, you can place your faith in the only One

Who ever did fulfill it and allow Him to pick you up over the bar.

 

That is the emphasis of Christ

And that is the message of the Sermon on the Mount.

 

The Law still stands.

It can never be removed.

 

But Jesus Christ has made a way for you and I to fulfill it.

 

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

Salt & Light

Matthew 5:13-16

 

As you know, we are presently

Studying through the Sermon on the Mount.

 

And last week we finished a most penetrating portion of that sermon.

They are called the Beatitudes.

 

They describe in some detail the nature of a truly righteous person.

Namely they are the description of Jesus.

 

The tragedy we found is that none of us measure up to them.

Not one of us accurately portrays any of them.

 

And therefore we are driven to Jesus,

Who is the only one who can cause us to fulfill such lofty requirements.

 

And this morning we move on the next section.

 

The beatitudes gave the description of the righteous man.

This next section gives the EXPECTATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN.

 

It actually looks at the righteous man from two directions.

 

The first analogy is a negative one.

As Jesus warns of the danger of being tasteless salt.

 

The second analogy is a positive one.

As Jesus speaks of the expectation of being a shining light.

 

But both in their simplest form

Describe the expectation of a righteous man.

 

Let’s look at these two analogies.

 

#1 YOU ARE SALT

Matthew 5:13

 

Jesus said very clearly, “You are the salt of the earth…”

 

The first question we have to ask is “Who is ‘You’”?

For some reason everyone applies this to the church.

 

But Jesus wasn’t talking to the church.

 

Who was Jesus talking to here?

And the answer in a physical sense is obviously

Those Jewish disciples who had gathered around Him.

 

The answer in a spiritual sense is all those who fulfill the beatitudes.

 

Jesus is speaking to all those who are righteous,

And I suppose we could even say He is speaking to those

Who perceive themselves to be.

 

And He says, “You are the salt of the earth;”

 

So next, WHAT IS “SALT”?

 

There are obviously many comparisons that could be made

The most popular is that of salt as a PRESERVATIVE.

 

And therefore views the righteous man

As a preservative to the world who keeps it from decay.

 

But this obviously has some problems.

• For every righteous man in the Old Testament only saw the world around him decay, not preserved.

• Furthermore when Jesus walked this earth, the world continued to decay, not to be preserved.

• And finally, even with the presence of the redeemed church, the world still continues to decay,

 

Scripture even promises as much.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”

 

Even John said,

1 John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

 

The fact is that this world is rotting, and will continue to rot.

The righteous man has never prevented that.

Even Jesus didn’t do that.

 

SO WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SALT THAT JESUS HERE ALLUDES TO?

 

He tips us off to what He was thinking

By showing us the effects of salt that doesn’t do its job.

 

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless…”

 

He didn’t say, “but if the salt quits preserving”

He said, “if the salt becomes tasteless”

 

WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF SALT?

To add flavor.

 

And here Jesus says that is precisely the role of the righteous man.

 

PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR WHAT MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING.

 

They season their lives with

Money, fame, toys, and pleasure,

But nothing can seem to make life taste any better.

 

Jesus explained them like this.

Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

 

And we know why they are like that.

This world, and the god of this world have kicked them in the teeth.

 

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

 

The world lives out their lives in spiritual poverty,

In spiritual death, and headed towards spiritual destruction.

They have no idea what makes life worth living.

 

That is why Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”

 

A righteous man then is one who continually offers the world

What makes life worth living.

 

They are not part of the world.

They are not seeking fulfillment where the world seeks it.

 

Remember their hunger is for righteousness.

Their desire is for purity of heart.

Instead they are out showing mercy and offering peace with God.

 

They are meeting the needs of others giving people true life.

 

This is what a righteous man does.

 

And a man who does not do this

Cannot lay claim to righteousness.

 

Listen to what Jesus said next.

“but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

 

And here is the negative aspect.

 

If you are not adding flavor,

If you are not showing others why life is worth living,

Then you are useless to God and the world.

 

Those of you who have been coming on and studying 2 Peter,

You know that Peter gave a list of 7 qualities and then a challenge.

 

2 Peter 1:5-8 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Peter was telling us how not to be useless.

 

And here Jesus says that salt without flavor is useless.

 

Now in a real sense, salt cannot become flavorless.

So we are not actually talking about flavorless salt, but rather fake salt.

 

We are talking about something that looks like salt,

But in reality is not because it has no flavor.

 

And this flavorless rock is useless.

 

SO WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE SALT AND TASTELESS SALT?

 

TURN TO: LUKE 14:25-35

 

There Jesus implies that a disciple of Jesus who will not

Count the cost and follow anyway is a tasteless disciple.

 

If they won’t count the cost they are prone to shock & betrayal. (Rocky Soil)

If they won’t pay the cost they never follow to begin with. (Weedy Soil)

 

And that helps us understand the analogy here.

 

A righteous man is one who truly has found fulfillment in God

And who does not need the world.

And he is one who willingly forsakes this world

In order to offer true life to those who don’t have it

 

But those who will not are useless and will be thrown out.

 

 

Question # 1 Am I tasted or tossed?

 

A righteous man is salt to the world, are you?

 

And I must say that we are again

Condemned by the Sermon on the Mount.

 

Again we realize that if this is what a righteous man does

Then my righteousness is in serious question.

 

For while I may offer salt at some times, and while at times I offer flavor.

• There are also plenty of times when I am a lemon.

• There are times when instead of flavor I add bitterness.

• There are times when I want the things of the world instead of the things of God.

 

And Jesus is here calling that man out.

 

If you are righteous as the beatitudes explained,

Then you also never fail to be salt.

 

If you do fail to be salty, then despite what you think of yourself,

You are of no use to man or God.

 

Your only purpose is “to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

 

Then comes the next analogy.

#2 YOU ARE LIGHT

Matthew 5:14-16

 

I don’t know about you, but this one is a little perplexing.

 

Here Jesus says we are light, but I thought was His distinction?

 

John 1:4-5 “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

 

John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

 

I mean even John the Baptist did not claim to be the light.

John 1:6-8 “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.”

 

In fact Jesus had a different analogy for him.

John 5:33-35 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. “

Jesus didn’t say John was the light,

Jesus said John was a lamp that shines the light.

 

So how can it be that Jesus would now say “You are the Light of the world”?

 

Because Jesus is talking to the righteous man

Who fulfills all of those beatitudes.

 

A man that is righteous like that really is the light.

He really does know the way.

 

And that man is extremely valuable to the world.

 

THIS WORLD IS COVERED IN DARKNESS.

 

And they need a light to show them the way out.

They need someone who will truly show them what God looks like.

 

Isn’t that what Jesus did?

Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES — “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,

UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

 

Jesus came and was righteousness incarnate and He shined the light.

This is what a righteous man does.

 

And let me inform you of something else.

TRUE LIGHT ALWAYS SHINES.

 

There is no such thing as light that does not shine.

 

Notice what Jesus says:

“A city on a hill cannot be hidden,

 

That means even if you wanted to take the light from a righteous man

You could not do it.

 

Then Jesus goes on to say that true light will not be hidden.

 

“nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”

 

The insinuation is that truly righteous people

Really do shine their light all the time.

In fact Mark and Luke both credit Jesus to quoting this analogy

Directly after preaching the parable of the soils.

 

Let’s look at Luke’s analogy.

TURN TO: LUKE 8:11-18

 

The implication there is that if you are not shining light

Then you obviously did not hear the truth correctly

And must have a bad heart.

 

Because there is no such thing as a light that cannot shine

Or as a light that will not shine.

 

WELL WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SHINE?

 

Look at verse 16.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

 

You may remember that the Jews had tremendous difficulty here.

 

Some didn’t try to shine a light at all.

Others shined a light but it was pointed at themselves.

 

• Gave when the trumpet sounded…

• Prayed on the street corner…

• Fasted with dirty faces…

 

The point was they were shining a light

But it was glorifying themselves, and not God.

 

Paul told them that instead of glorifying God, they were blaspheming God.

 

Romans 2:21-24 “you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.”

 

SO HOW DOES A PERSON SHINE A LIGHT ON GOD?

 

When you walk in true righteousness.

 

WALK IN THOSE BEATITUDES

A person living there is a person who is truly glorifying God.

 

BECAUSE A PERSON LIVING LIKE THIS IS LIVING LIKE GOD.

 

And when you walk in them, you are a light to the world.

If you don’t, the insinuation is that you are not truly righteous,

Because the light of a righteous man cannot and would not be hidden.

 

And that leads to the next question.

Question #2 Am I Helpful of Hidden?

 

And again if any of us will be truly honest with ourselves

We have to see that there are hundreds of times

In which I fail to shine the light.

 

How many times have I seen someone I failed to share with?

How many times have I failed to illumine the way to God?

 

And all along we just pretend like we are

Exactly what Jesus said would not happen.

 

We convince ourselves that we have the light

But we just temporarily refused to shine it.

 

And Jesus just said THAT NEVER HAPPENS

 

And so, if I am not shining the light,

The only thing I can deduce is that I am not a righteous person.

 

YOU SEE WE COMMONLY QUOTE THESE PASSAGES OUT OF CONTEXT.

(I’ve even been guilty)

 

We quote them here with a missionary flavor

And puff ourselves up as salt and light.

 

But look at the context of this sermon.

 

• Jesus just listed 8 qualities that if you are honest you must admit that you do not have.

• Now Jesus lists two roles that if you are honest you do not fulfill.

 

The entire implication is to prove to you that you are not righteous.

 

And the entire point is to now push you to the only One who is.

 

That is why in the very next verse Jesus says this:

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

 

You see the point is to prove to you that you do not measure up

So that you will look to the only one who does.

 

 

When we read these passages and then twist them

To pretend like we fulfill them

We do the same thing the self-righteous Jews were trying to do.

 

Jesus didn’t preach this passage to show you how good you are.

Jesus preached this passage to show you how bad you are.

 

SO THAT YOU WILL RUN TO HIM.

 

A truly righteous man is ALWAYS salt.

A truly righteous man is ALWAYS light.

If that is not you then rest assured you are not a righteous man.

 

And then run to the only Man who really was salt all the time.

And run to the only Man who really was the light of the world.

 

And let Him make you righteous in God’s sight.

 

And then, as He begins to work His work in you,

Slowly but surely you will become salt and light in this world.

 

On your own, it is obvious you do not measure up, but in Him you can finally become the righteous man God desires.

 

Paul said it like this.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

That is the offer to you

And that is the intention of the Sermon on the Mount.

 

1. See what a righteous man is.

2. See that you are not.

3. See the only man who was.

4. And give your life to Him.

 

If you want His righteousness

All you have to do is listen to the invitation He gives in this sermon

 

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

 

If you read that same passage in Luke’s gospel it says this:

Luke 11:9-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

 

Jesus isn’t talking about asking for anything at all.

• He is referring to asking for salvation.

• He is talking about asking to be Holy.

• He is talking about asking to be righteous.

 

And if you realize you are not, but you ask Him to make you that way,

Then He will credit His righteousness to your account

And make you righteous before God.

 

Furthermore He will begin to work a change in your life

And start making you more and more like Him.

 

This morning will you ask Him to work that change in you?

 

Realize what you are and run to Jesus.

 

The Beatitudes – part 3

Matthew 5:1-12

 

As you know we are presently studying the Sermon on the Mount

And we are still in the beginning phases of that sermon.

 

Jesus is giving us The Beatitudes.

They are in fact the description of a truly righteous person.

 

A truly righteous person exemplifies all of these attributes all the time.

 

This list is not like a list of spiritual gifts in which we may say,

“I am gifted with mercy, but not with teaching”

Or “I am gifted with giving, but not with leadership”.

 

We cannot look at this list and say, “Blessed are the gentle” that is me,

But those others don’t describe me too well.

 

They must ALL be yours.

 

And I realize that this may cause great difficulty for some of us.

 

For these beatitudes are not the natural inclination of man.

And by studying them it does more convicting than it does reaffirming.

 

I TOLD YOU THIS IS A PENETRATING SERMON.

 

D. Martin Lloyd Jones said:

“These Beatitudes crush me to the ground. They show me my utter helplessness. Were it not for the new birth, I am undone. Read and study it, face yourself in the light of it. It will drive you to see your ultimate need of the rebirth and the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing that so leads to the gospel and its grace as the Sermon on the Mount.”

(Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1985 pg. 18)

 

And of course that is what we have said

Each time we approached this sermon.

 

Jesus exposes the counterfeit righteousness of man

So that he will seek the credited righteousness of the Savior.

 

He will cut you to the quick and throw you to the ground

He will terrify you with the reality of eternal torment,

Until (with your face in the dirt) you lift your hand

And beg for mercy from the only One who can deliver you.

 

Is it painful?

Absolutely.

 

But, “the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

And we are those who think it better to suffer conviction here

That we may be led to the Savior,

Than to miss the savior and suffer condemnation for all eternity.

 

So this may in reality be a difficult sermon,

But it is without a doubt a tremendously valuable one.

 

And it begins with these beatitudes.

 

Over the last two weeks we have studied the first four beatitudes.

 

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

IT IS EXTREME HUMILITY

 

A man who sees he has no worth before God.

He is a beggar.

And he is the only man who will inherit heaven.

 

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

 

Jesus then gave the logical next step.

 

Because he is so poor, he hates the sin that made him that way.

He doesn’t love sin

He doesn’t desire sin

He mourns over it

 

And our great God is moved to comfort those who mourn.

 

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

Because he is so poor and hates his sin so much

He will do anything that is asked of him

In order to attain mercy and righteousness.

 

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

 

And finally, this man who hates sin, wants only one thing.

(not more sin, or a license to do so)

 

HE ONLY WANTS RIGHTEOUSNESS

 

And God delights in feeding the hungry.

 

This man is blessed because it is only this type who will trust in Jesus.

This is the only type of man who will forsake all and follow Him.

 

People never go through the narrow gate or down the narrow path

Unless they come to the conclusion

That the narrow path is their only hope.

 

And so, as I told you last week, those first four beatitudes seem to explain

How a man becomes righteous before God.

 

The last four seem to take on a slightly different look.

These seem to indicate more so what a righteous life looks like.

 

I suppose you can say that these four occurring in your life

Depends upon whether or not the first four ever occurred.

 

They are fruit related.

• They are the attitudes of a poor man made rich.

• They are the attitudes of a mourner who has been comforted.

• They are the attitudes of a gentle man who has been promoted.

• They are the attitudes of a hungry man who has been fed.

 

And so lets look at these last four beatitudes this morning.

#5 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

Matthew 5:7

 

Now it is obvious that we have undergone a slight change

In the type of beatitude we are dealing with.

 

This is not a man who is on SEEKING end of righteousness,

This is a man who is on the SHOWING end of righteousness.

 

This is a man who is putting Godly righteousness on display.

 

And according to Jesus that man is “merciful”.

 

We have often heard of God’s mercy defined as

Man not getting what he deserves.

 

And I suppose that is a good place to begin

As we talk about being a merciful person.

 

This life is filled with people who annoy you.

This life is filled with people who inconvenience you.

This life is filled with people who disappoint you.

This life is even filled with people who legitimately wrong you.

 

And the expectation of one who is righteous is that he will be “merciful”.

 

And so obviously we talk about the issue of forgiveness here.

And we dare not underestimate it.

Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

 

Matthew 18:21-35 “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

 

Mercy involves forgiving those who wrong you.

 

The Righteous man bears no grudge.

The Righteous man seeks no vengeance.

The Righteous man does not rejoice when bad things happen to his enemy.

HE IS MERCIFUL

 

BUT IS THAT ALL THAT MERCY ENTAILS?

Obviously not.

 

Mercy is a mindset.

Mercy is a lens through which we view the world.

Mercy entails how we look at others.

 

• When you see a malnourished child… (obviously)

• When you see your enemy suffer…

• When you see a muslim…

• When you see a drunk or a drug addict or a prostitute…

 

DO YOU FEEL PITY OR SCORN?

Do you want to see him suffer,

Or do you want to save him from his suffering?

 

That was the type of mercy God showed in sending His Son to this earth.

 

And that is the type of mercy that our Lord showed.

Luke 23:34 “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.”

Mercy is to see those in this world

As those ensnared to sin and headed to hell.

 

And Jesus says that a person who shows that type of mercy is “Blessed”.

 

WHY?

“for they shall receive mercy.”

 

Now certainly we have to be careful with such a statement.

 

WE DO NOT EARN MERCY BY BEING MERCIFUL

 

If that were the actual standard

Then no one would ever be forgiven enough to enter heaven.

 

None of us will ever offer as much mercy as we need to use.

 

The statement reveals that it is the man who has received God’s mercy who will in fact be the most merciful.

 

This man does not see himself above other wicked men.

(His pride was shot back in the first beatitude)

 

Therefore he is no position

To determine who is worthy of mercy and who is not.

 

Instead his attitude is that “If a sinner like me could find mercy,

Then certainly no one is beyond its reach.”

 

HE IS MERCIFUL BECAUSE HE HAS RECEIVED MERCY

 

And it is the “merciful” who are truly blessed.

 

#6 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

Matthew 5:8

 

And here is a difficult beatitude to swallow.

 

Jesus calls them the “pure in heart”.

 

First of all, what does it mean to be “pure”?

 

It is a Greek word that means

“To be pure by cleansing from dirt or filth.”

 

It was a word Greeks used of putting metal through the fire

In order to purify it or remove all impurities.

 

 

The same word is used in Revelation

Revelation 21:18 “The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.”

 

NOT the word “pure” there,

But the word “clear” is the same word Jesus uses here.

 

Jesus is saying “blessed are the clear in heart”

 

Remember Jesus parable of the soils,

And the problem we find with the weedy soil?

 

Matthew 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

 

We have often called that man “half-hearted”

Because only part of his heart was given to God.

The other part was given to the world.

 

His heart wasn’t clear.

His heart wasn’t pure.

 

This is why David prayed:

Psalms 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

 

This is a person who is totally pure in motive,

Without a single other desire.

 

What is the “heart”?

 

In our day, the heart represents the seat of our emotions.

Conversely we see the mind as the seat of reason.

 

But in Jesus day the term “heart” represented all of the above.

It was more than just the emotions, it represented all of the person.

 

Hence the greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:37 “And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’”

 

Jesus is referring to the person who is unmixed

And unified in their entire being to seek God.

 

And they are the only ones who “shall see God.”

 

Didn’t Jeremiah say:

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Only the pure in heart will see God.

Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

 

Psalms 24:1-6 “The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face — even Jacob.”

 

This is what Jesus is saying.

 

The person who will see God is the person who only wants God.

The truly righteous person doesn’t want anything else.

 

• He is through with the sin that made him wretched in God’s sight.

• He is through with the world that stained him in sin.

• His only hunger is for righteousness, and he is pure in that hunger.

 

They are not the hypocrites who clean only the outside of the dish,

 

They are “pure in heart”

And they alone are “blessed” for they alone “shall see God.”

 

#7 BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

Matthew 5:9

 

For some reason people tend to read this one,

“Blessed are the peacekeepers”

 

And they think it means

“Blessed are the wishy-washy” “Blessed are the spineless”

“Blessed are the compromisers” “Blessed are the tolerant”

 

And some spineless claiming Christian

Will overlook, condone, and accept all manners of heresy

And then determine to look the other way in order to keep the peace.

 

Furthermore they pat themselves on the back for such a stance

Supposing that by keeping the peace they are somehow like God.

 

Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

We are talking about those who MAKE peace, not those KEEP peace.

 

And we must understand the type of peace we are dealing with here.

IT IS PEACE BETWEEN MAN AND GOD.

 

Natural man is not at peace with God.

 

Isaiah 48:22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the LORD.”

 

Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

 

That doesn’t mean their lives are filled with anxiety and worry.

(For indeed the wicked often live care free lives)

 

It means that despite what they may feel they are not at peace with God.

 

And this is where every sinner once dwelled.

Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

 

Every many was an object of God’s wrath.

 

But it was the righteous man who recognized his great offence to God

And who hated the sin that made him that way.

He begged for mercy and hungered for righteousness.

AND HE FOUND PEACE WITH GOD

 

And after he received it,

His desire was then to help others find that same peace.

 

He is not one who could condone sin.

He is not one who could sweep iniquity under the rug.

 

He confronts sinners…

He calls for repentance…

He instructs in righteousness…

 

Because this is the pathway to God’s peace

And he wants other men to have it.

And Jesus says people like that are “blessed”

 

“for they shall be called sons of God.”

 

Was it not the Son of God who did this very thing?

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

 

Colossians 1:19-20 “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

 

He made peace by appeasing the wrath of God on sinful man.

 

And we are called “sons of God”

When we lead others into that same peace.

 

Quote the Great Commission all you like,

But evangelism and missions starts here.

 

The Missionary heart is that of a righteous man who makes peace.

He confronts with a heart of mercy

Begging others to find the same peace he found.

 

He is blessed.

#8 BLESSED ARE THE PERSECUTED

Matthew 5:10-12

 

The longest beatitude

(It was shocking, so Jesus explains it)

 

He begins by saying “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

• You see the first 4 beatitudes spoke of achieving righteousness.

• The next 3 spoke of manifesting that righteousness.

 

This last one is the unavoidable consequence

Of doing the first 7 correctly.

 

People who have never been persecuted for being righteous

Have reason to question if they have ever truly demonstrated it.

 

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

 

Satan is the god of this world, and the world is in his power.

 

Satan hates God, Satan hates Jesus, Satan hates righteousness,

And he never overlooks any of them.

 

If you have never suffered his wrath,

It is apparent you have never irritated him.

 

That is why Jesus uses persecution

As the final evidence of the righteous life.

And that is why He says “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

They alone go to heaven because they alone are truly righteous.

 

And in case we don’t understand what He means, He clarifies it.

 

(11-12) “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

Let me simply show you the main point.

 

When we open the Bible

It is obvious to us how the world treats righteous people.

 

Show me one righteous person in Scripture who wasn’t persecuted for it.

• Noah was mocked by the crowds

• Abraham was unwelcome to many of his neighbors

• Jacob was harassed by Laban

• Joseph was sold into slavery

• Moses was spoken against by everyone from Pharaoh to the Israelites, even by his own brother and sister.

• David was persecuted by Saul

• Stephen was stoned

• All of the disciples were martyred except John who was in prison

• Paul was beheaded, as was John the Baptist

• Timothy was imprisoned

 

Opposition is a fool proof sign of righteousness.

 

And Jesus says if it happens to you then rejoice, be happy,

Because it puts you in the elite class of those who are righteous.

 

PERSECUTION IS THE RESULT OF LIVING ALL THE BEATITUDES

 

You see we when we read these beatitudes

We are not breaking them down into individual characteristics

For you to pick which one best describes you.

IT IS AN ALL OR NONE DEAL.

 

If you fail to demonstrate any one of the beatitudes

Then your righteousness is in serious question.

 

WHY?

Because those are not simply the attitudes of a righteous person;

THOSE ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS

 

• He was humble (“The Son can do nothing of His own initiative”)

• He hated sin (“Go and sin no more”)

• He was meek and submissive (“Not My will, but Yours be done”)

• He hungered for the will of God (“My food is to…”)

• He was merciful (“Moved with compassion”)

• He was pure in heart (“Tempted in all things, yet without sin”)

• He was the ultimate peacemaker (“He Himself is our peace”)

• He was persecuted (“crucified by the hands of wicked men”)

 

He was righteousness exemplified.

And if you are not as righteous as He,

Then you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

And I hope this morning as we complete that study

You were honest with yourself and realized that on your own,

YOU ARE NONE OF THOSE THINGS.

 

• Are you really humble all the time?

• Do you really hate sin all the time?

• Are you really submissive to God all the time?

• Are you truly merciful to all people all the time?

• Is your heart truly pure and you want no other thing?

• Is your sole passion to make peace between man and God?

• Are you daily persecuted for your efforts?

 

Forget about doing them all,

When we get honest we don’t do any of them.

 

And that means

• You can’t go to heaven

• You can’t be comforted

• You can’t inherit the earth

• You can’t be satisfied with righteousness

• You can’t receive mercy

• You can’t see God

• You won’t be called sons of God

• You’ll get no reward in heaven

 

Because we are not righteous.

 

And now you understand what Paul meant when he said:

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

 

But in case you didn’t know it, Paul did not stop there.

 

Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

 

You see no one on this earth can ever claim

To be righteous in the site of God.

But because Jesus poured out His life on the cross

As an offering to God for sin.

We can claim to be justified in the sight of God.

 

 

If you are trying to live this life apart from faith in Jesus,

Let me take you to the beatitudes

And show you that you are failing miserably.

 

And let me ask you to lift your hand to Jesus

And ask for His righteousness to be credited to your account,

And instantly you will be made right in the sight of God.

 

And when Christ gets inside of you,

You will begin to take on His characteristics,

And while you will not immediately be perfect,

It will eventually occur.

 

One day in glory you will stand before God having become just like Jesus.

 

 

 

These beatitudes are meant to drive you to Jesus,

So trust your life to Him.

 

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”