Introduction:
Why Should the Old Testament Matter to Me? (Matthew 5:17-20)
- Because That's Where We Learn About Jesus. (Matt 5:17)
John 5:39 – You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me...
Luke 24:27 – And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
- Because It's Still Relevant. (Matt 5:18)
- Because You Will Be Evaluated Based On What You Do With It. (Matt 5:19)
Romans 8:2-4 – For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
- Because Your Salvation Depends On It. (Matt 5:20)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:17-20
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Tell of a strange or goofy trend you’ve heard churches being involved in. Why do churches latch on to such things?
What are some things you’ve heard taught about how Christians should regard the Old Testament? How do these compare with what Jesus said?
How do you know what parts of the Old Testament Law were just for Old Testament Israel and what is still relevant for Christians today?
In your own words, explain what Jesus meant in Matt 5:20 about how our righteousness “must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” What results if it doesn’t?
Breakout
Pray for one another.
-
Let's open up those Bibles to Matthew chapter 5.
This past week at Owen's doctor appointment,
Owen's my son for those of you who don't know,
my son's doctor's appointment,
the doctor was talking about how many doctors
try to make a name for themselves
by promoting some new controversial thing.
You know what I'm talking about?
He was saying, you know, if you just practice
straightforward medicine, well, that's not very exciting.
But if you have some controversial angle, you know,
maybe some crazy diet or some supplement
that's going to be the cure-all or some new treatment
that nobody's ever heard of, you know,
you jump on some kind of a fad,
but you've got to have some kind of a twist,
some kind of a gimmick.
That's how a lot of doctors get popular,
because he said the fundamentals just aren't very exciting.
People love the new, trendy thing.
And it makes doctors popular.
And as he was talking about that, I thought, you know what?
That happens in the church, doesn't it?
Just preaching the Bible straightforwardly
isn't exciting enough.
So many preachers try to give some new angle on things,
or they try to make something very controversial, very trendy.
You know what I'm talking about?
There was a wave of evangelicals years ago
that jumped on this trend that there is no hell.
Denying the doctrine of hell, and there
were people that jumped onto that.
And there are some pastors that think
that you're going to be edgy and controversial and popular
if you swear in your sermons.
Or if you are explicit in sexual content in your sermon.
That's trendy, and that's edgy.
And people are going to think I'm cool,
and that's going to make me popular.
Everything from modalism, denying to Trinity,
to some churches that say, hey, we're not just
going to preach the Bible straightforwardly.
Our church is going to have a really strong, patriotic flavor to it.
I saw one recently, Pastor Rich actually sent me this video.
Here's a trend in some churches now.
Roller coasters.
There's a company that makes these little roller coasters.
When I say roller coasters, don't think Cedar Point.
Ah, no, no, no.
This is some little, it's like a kiddie ride that comes out.
And then we get this sermon series called Roller Coaster
because life is a roller coaster.
And in these videos, these pastors
were riding out on these roller coasters that were barely moving
and they're all waving.
[SCREAMING]
And I'm like, never.
But one of the most disturbing new trends
that people were jumping on to because that makes us cool
and popular was when a very popular preacher talked
about unhitching from the Old Testament.
We got to unhitch from the Old Testament.
I mean, Jesus did.
And Peter did.
And Paul and John, they were doing everything they could.
This preacher said to unhitch themselves
from the Old Testament.
Well, that idea is nothing new.
In fact, when we get to this section here in Matthew chapter
5, you see, Jesus knew that that is exactly what the Jews thought
that Jesus was doing.
They thought Jesus was bringing something new and trendy.
They thought Jesus was unhitching from the Old Testament.
And to be fair, I can kind of see why they thought that.
I mean, Jesus didn't subscribe to the form of Judaism
that existed in His day.
We're going to talk about that here in a few minutes.
Jesus didn't keep all of their Sabbath rules.
And I mean, Jesus followers, His disciples, you realize none of them
were rabbis.
And all the biggest thing, though, the biggest thing
that set Jesus apart was His preaching.
Nobody ever preached like this.
This one preached.
So at this point in the Sermon on the Mount,
they've heard the Beatitudes.
They've heard the "you are the salt and the light."
And they've heard this, and the Jews are sitting there going,
this is wild.
But is He anti-Old Testament?
Is He replacing the law and the prophets?
Is Jesus bringing something funky fresh?
Did the kids still say funky fresh?
No.
By the time I learned a new term, it's been outdated by about 12 years.
So it was probably relevant when this was actually said.
But they were like, He's bringing something funky fresh.
Well, Jesus knew what they were thinking.
Is this some radical hippie preacher
trying to give his own little twist on things?
Look at verse 17.
Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish
the law and the prophets."
Now, understand, we're going to be talking about the Old
Testament today.
They did not call it the Old Testament.
To them, it was the Scriptures.
To them, they called it the law and the prophets.
That's what they called what we call the Old Testament.
So let's not get confused.
When we talk about Old Testament, we're talking about the law
and the prophets.
And Jesus says, "Don't think that I've come to destroy
your Old Testament."
He said, "I came to fulfill it."
So this need to unhitch from the Old Testament
seems like a bad idea if we're going to take Jesus seriously.
But listen, I really need you all to dial in here.
Because this topic that we're covering today in God's word
is something that Christians get all mixed up on.
And I know there is a high probability of me being misquoted
or misunderstood as we go through this.
Because Christians are all kinds of mixed up on this issue.
What does the Old Testament have to do with me?
What purpose does it have for me?
Christians get all mixed up about that.
And some say, "Well, you know what?
The Old Testament, it all applies.
And you're commanded to keep everything,
all of the dietary laws and the washings and all of that.
All the rules that we've made up for the Sabbath,
you've got to keep the Sabbath."
And some have that mindset towards the Old Testament.
And on the other hand, there are people that say,
"Well, the Old Testament doesn't apply to me at all."
None of it applies. It doesn't matter.
Look, because of Jesus, I'm a child of God and I'm forgiven.
I am free in Christ and I can do whatever I want.
Maybe you've heard the arguments from the pro-gay crowd.
You know, anytime somebody says something about,
you know, the Bible says homosexuality is a sin,
the response says, "Well, you know, that's in the Old Testament.
But did you know, you know, the Old Testament says
that it's a sin to eat lobster and to get tattoos
and blending certain fabrics and you do those things?"
You heard that argument?
And they say, "No, no, no.
With Jesus it's just about love, right?
That's all it is in the New Testament.
Love is love."
And today I just want us to take a giant step back
and say, "What is the place of the Old Testament for us?
What does it mean to us?"
So I'd like you to bow your heads and I want you to please pray for me to be clear
and accurate in proclaiming this very difficult passage.
And I'm going to pray for you to have a heart open to receive not what you think it says,
but what God actually said.
That's what we're going after here today.
What did Jesus actually say about what we call the Old Testament?
Let's take a moment and pray.
Father in heaven, I pray that our number one concern is just what you said.
Father, you know in my heart, I have this concern.
People are going to walk out of here still convinced of something that's just not true biblically.
And Father, your word changes our minds.
And I pray that we all take a look.
It doesn't matter what our favorite podcast preacher thinks.
And it doesn't even really matter what I think.
What matters is what you said.
And I pray God that that's what we're going after today.
And for those of us that have maybe walked in here today with preconceived notions about the place of the law
in the lives of believers, I pray that you would change your minds today
in a way that greatly glorifies your name.
So that we can be the people that you've called us to be.
We pray in Jesus' name.
And all of God's people said, "Amen."
It's a very, very short sermon today.
But it's a really long introduction.
Alright, so I want you to write some things down.
Why should the Old Testament matter to me?
Again, law and the prophets, that's what they called it.
We call it the Old Testament.
It's the same thing that was their Scriptures in Jesus' day when He spoke these words.
So the question, Christian, what about the Old Testament?
What does it mean to me?
What's its purpose for me?
Why should it matter to me?
Number one, write this down.
Because that's where we learn about Jesus.
Look at verse 17.
Again, Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets."
The Old Testament.
He said, "I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them."
So is Jesus anti-Old Testament?
No, it's actually quite the opposite.
Jesus said, "I came to fulfill them."
What does it mean to fulfill?
Well, some people think that fulfill means complete.
As in, the Old Testament was just putting the ball on the tee,
and Jesus came to hit the ball, and He just came to finish, to complete something.
Now, it's irrelevant.
That's not exactly what it means.
Some people think, well, what He's talking about is how He perfectly obeyed the Old Testament.
Now listen, He did perfectly obey the law.
He did.
But that's not what He meant here.
Well, what did He mean?
Fulfill literally means to carry out what was said.
I'm going to say that again.
Fulfill means to carry out what was said.
What Jesus is saying here is this.
Everything that the Old Testament says, everything written in the law and the prophets,
I will carry it all out.
That is a staggering claim.
What do you mean?
Well, in the book of Genesis, we find that Eve's seed will crush the serpent.
Jesus said, "I did that. We'll do that."
Jesus is the blessing of Abraham.
Jesus did that.
Jesus, in the book of Exodus, is the Passover lamb.
Jesus said, "I'm going to do that."
In the book of Leviticus, we see the sacrifice in the priest.
Jesus says, "I'm going to do that."
In the book of Deuteronomy, there's going to be a prophet raised like Moses.
Jesus said, "I came to do that."
Second Samuel says that there's going to be a king in David's line that will be king forever.
Jesus said, "I came to accomplish that."
The book of Malachi says there's going to be a forerunner for the Messiah.
John the Baptist, Jesus says, "Don, check, did that."
Book of Micah says, "Where the Messiah would be born."
Oh, little town of Bethlehem.
Jesus is like, "Yeah, I did that."
It feels like Christmas, doesn't it?
You know, like it did there for a second.
In the book of Isaiah, the Messiah would be virgin born.
Jesus says, "Check, light to the Gentiles. Check, did that."
The book of Isaiah talks about Jesus' death and resurrection.
Jesus is like, "I came to complete that."
It talks about the kingdom of the Messiah.
Jesus is like, "I came to do that."
Book of Jeremiah talks about Jesus cleansing the temple.
"I came to do that."
Book of Zechariah, "He'd be sold for 30 pieces of silver."
Jesus said, "I came to complete that."
Psalms talks about His suffering.
Psalms talks about His ultimate reigning.
Jesus, and there's so much more,
but Jesus said, "I came to carry all of that out."
And it's a staggering thing because Jesus carried out things
that aren't humanly possible to fulfill.
I've heard these knuckleheads say that Jesus was, you know,
sort of orchestrated His life in such a way that it looked like
He was fulfilling Old Testament prophecies.
But He did things nobody else could ever have any control over,
like where He was born.
Did you control where you were born?
Nobody has control over that.
Born to a virgin. How He was born.
Nobody has control over those things.
This is the claim that Jesus is making.
His death, His betrayal, all these things.
Prophecy in the Old Testament.
This is who the Christ would be.
This is what the Messiah will do.
Jesus is saying here, "I came to do all of that."
You think I came to destroy the law and the prophets?
No. I came to do it.
That's why in John chapter 5, Jesus said to the Jews,
"You search the Scriptures," meaning the Old Testament,
"because you think in them you have eternal life,
and it is they that bear witness about Me."
Jesus said, "You'll find Me on every page of the law and the prophets."
Every page of your Old Testament.
Luke 24-27, post-Resurrection disciples,
"Rodua meias," it says, "In beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."
So wouldn't you have liked to have heard that conversation?
So the Old Testament, long before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written,
we learn about Jesus.
We learn all about Him.
In fact, the Gospels and the Epistles really serve to show us
how Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ that's promised in the Old Testament.
What's more, we cannot understand Jesus,
and we cannot understand His cross, apart from the Old Testament.
You know, just last weekend we celebrated Easter Resurrection Day,
and Good Friday.
And what do we say?
We're like, "Jesus died on the cross! Jesus died on the cross!"
And so what?
Do you know lots of people have died on crosses? Did you know that?
That was a common form of execution.
It wasn't like Jesus was the only one who ever died on a cross.
I mean, countless people did.
So what?
The cross only makes sense in light of what is written in the Old Testament.
The law condemns sin.
The law requires death, and Jesus paid the penalty of sin with His sacrifice.
And if you unhitch yourself from the Old Testament,
do you know what Easter turns into?
Sentimentality. That's all it is.
Oh, the poor innocent man!
He was just doing good and they killed him.
That's so sad.
It is so much more than that.
This is the Lamb of God sacrificed on your behalf.
Sentimentality.
And when we do that, we miss the glory of the cross.
I listened to a sermon a few years ago from a very, very popular preacher.
I'm paraphrasing here, but again, in the name of being edgy and cool,
he said God broke His law because He loved us so much.
And he gave this illustration, "Get your heartstrings ready because they're about to get pulled."
But he says it's like a mom at a playground with her kid,
and her kid falls and gets hurt, and mom throws the kid in the car.
And when she drives to the hospital, she ain't stopping for stop signs or stop lights,
and she's a speeding.
She is breaking the law.
because she loves her kids so much, she will break the law out of love. And that is what
God has done for you. He has broken His law because He loves you. Oh, again, that talked
just to heartstrings, but that is completely false. The glory of the cross is not that
God broke His law because He loves you, the glory of the cross is God fulfilled His law
through the death of His Son on your behalf. That is the glory of the cross. So you want
to learn about Jesus? You want to learn about Jesus? Well, then you get to get in the Old
Testament because He said, "Oh, I didn't come to throw this away. I didn't come literally
to destroy it." That is what abolish means. I didn't come to abolish it. He said, "I came
to carry this out." Alright, so why should it matter to me? Because that's where we learn
about Jesus. Number two, why should the Old Testament matter to me? Because it's so relevant.
You're like, "Says who?" "Says Jesus." Look at verse 18, "For truly I say to you until
heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is
accomplished." Oh, and by the way, heaven and earth will pass away. We talked about that
last week, didn't we? Revelation 21, 2 Peter 3. Yeah, heaven and earth will pass away.
So Jesus says, "Until then, not one part of this law is going to pass until it is all
carried out." Every iota, every dot, that's the smallest letter. That's the smallest stroke
on a letter. What Jesus is saying is this. Jesus is saying, "Look, until the end of the
world, there's not a dot on an i. There's not a cross on a t that is going to be irrelevant."
Jesus is saying every single chapter, every single passage, every single word, every single
letter is going to matter until the end of the world.
Now, we looked at what Jesus did so far. But the Old Testament clearly talks about what
He's going to do in the future. The Old Testament talks about Him coming to destroy His enemies.
The Old Testament tells us about Jesus reigning over all. The Old Testament tells us about
the Millennial Kingdom that we learned so little about it in Revelation 20. Why is there
not much content? Because the Old Testament is full of the content, that's why you want
to know what that kingdom is like, you've got to get in your Old Testament. Jesus here
is saying, "Look, God's law is not going away." God is saying, "This is how it's going to
go down." And here's the thing, that cannot be changed. Not even just it won't change,
that's true, but it can't change. It can't change. You know, sometimes we as people,
as human beings, sometimes we make rules for things that we have to change, don't we?
Sometimes we make rules and we find out that that rule didn't work. We didn't anticipate
a possible exception to the rule. We didn't anticipate a loophole. We're constantly changing
our rules. You know what I'm talking about? Let me give you an example. Years ago, a leading
youth group at another church, I invented a game. I think I invented it. But we call
it the ultimate Frisbee challenge. And what it is, I see Lyric nodding her head. Do you
remember the ultimate Frisbee challenge? Sponsored by Pepsi? It always had a different sponsor.
Some things are just funny for me. But it was a combination of dodgeball and hot potato.
It was every man for himself. But we would have 30 second timed rounds. And the kids
would run around the field and have to hit themselves. We had a little one of them floppy
rubber Frisbees. They'd have to hit somebody with the Frisbee. And if you could hit with
the Frisbee, you were it. And you would hit somebody else with the Frisbee. But when the
30 seconds ran out, whoever was in possession of the Frisbee, you're out. That's last man's
standing. We play that with our youth group here sometimes. You should come and play.
It's a real hoot. But do you know what I found early on? I was constantly tweaking the rules.
You know why? Because I'm like, "We have 30 second rounds. You know what the kids would
do?" They'd sit and count it off. And they would know, "Don't be stuck with the Frisbee.
Okay, we're getting, okay, 25 seconds. All right, don't make sure that I'm not in blasting
range here, right?" So I'm like, "Ah, now we get to change how long each of the rounds
are." So I did that. I'm like, "All right, this is going to be a 15 second round and now
they're still counting it off." I'm like, "Well, that was a dumb rule change. Now they can
still count." So I'm like, "All right, every round is going to have a different amount
of time, but I'm not telling you how much time. I'm just going to call time when the
watch or the phone alarm goes off and whoever has it is done." All right? But then I realized
there was another problem we had regarding the rules, as we didn't have boundaries. So
I'm like, "Maybe we shouldn't be running around on the turnpike." So, all right, new rule.
You have to stay in this area. Don't jump in the cattail garden over here where they
throw the dead pets. All right? There's a story to that. You're like, "What's your point
at all this?" It's a really fun game. That's all. I just want you to come up. No, there's
a point. My point is this. At your workplace, in your church, and sometimes, yes, parents
in your home, sometimes policies and rules get tweaked and added and subtracted. What
Jesus is saying here is that's not the case with an omniscient, perfect God. When God laid
out His law, do you think God is sitting in heaven? Like, you know, I, gosh, I came up
with that, but I'm going to have to change that. That's not really fair. I'm going to
have to change that one. That one's a little too hard. I'm going to have to change that.
That's not really that clear. Do you think God is constantly tweaking what He said? If
He does, that's a problem. Why? Because your faith means nothing. If your faith is based
on something that can change. You know what I mean? It's like, today, welcome to harvest.
Today, Jesus is the fulfillment of God's law, and He's coming again to reign. Believe in
Jesus Christ tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow you're saved by good works. So you better
get out there and hope that your good outweighs the bad, because tomorrow that's the rule.
Good works is the rule. And by Friday, God's like, you know what? Never mind. We're just
going to keep the earth going as it is for all of eternity, and you can all go to hell
for your sin. Do you see the problem if God's constantly changing His rules? That's exactly
what Jesus is saying. When God gave His Word, when God gave us the law and the prophets,
God says, "This is how it is. This is how it's going to be, and nothing is going to change
that." The Word of God is final and authoritative. So, we'll make it easy. We'll just give a
quick test here, according to what Jesus laid out for us here. Did heaven and earth pass
away yet? No. Well then, that means there are still some things written in the Old Testament
that need to be accomplished, according to the words of Jesus. So, it's still relevant.
Alright? So, why should the Old Testament matter to me? Because that's where we learn about
Jesus. Because it's still relevant, number three, because you will be evaluated based
on what you do with it. Look at verse 19. "And every antenna in the room should be up right
now." Look at this verse. Jesus says, "Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven." Look at the first word there in verse 19. "Therefore, therefore, Jesus just stressed
how important the Old Testament is." And Jesus is saying, "Look, I said it's important, so
it should be important for you too." And I think it's very clear here in this verse,
this, this verse 19, this is not a salvation issue here. This is a reward issue. Because
very clearly here Jesus said, "What you do with God's word, specifically the Old Testament,
is tied into your reward." Do you see that? He's not saying, "Not in the kingdom of heaven."
But what you will be called while you're in the kingdom of heaven. Do you see that?
We talk about God's law. There are actually three aspects of God's law. Write these down.
There's judicial, ceremonial, and moral. When you look at God's law in the Old Testament,
that's what you find. All of these laws, given, it falls into one of those categories. It's
judicial, it's ceremonial, or it's moral. Now tune in here. Some light bulbs are going
to go off here in a second. It's judicial. Some of the laws are judicial. What's it
mean? It means to govern a specific nation for a specific season. Like what nation is
that? Old Testament Israel. Some of the laws given in the Old Testament were given for
that specific nation for a period of time. We aren't bound by those laws any more than
you were bound by the national laws of Mexico. That was for a different nation at a different
time. That's judicial. But there's ceremonial laws in the Old Testament that has to do with
the temple, the sacrifices, the priests, all of that, the washings, the blood, the altar,
all of that, the ceremonial stuff. All of those are pictures of Jesus that He fulfilled
through His death and resurrection, and you fulfill those things by believing in Jesus.
I'm going to get to that more in a second. So just put that one on the back burner for
a minute. But in the Old Testament, there's a moral aspect of His law. That's for everyone.
Those are things like, "You shall love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind,
and strength." You're like, "Is that for me as a New Testament Christian?" "Yeah."
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." "Is that for me as a New Testament Christian?"
"Yeah." "Is that for me as a New Testament Christian?" "Yeah." "Is that for me as a New
Testament Christian?" "Yeah." "I have to obey those things?" "Yeah, you do."
Listen very closely. This is a great opportunity to misquote me, so I want you to listen very
closely. Christians live under the New Covenant, meaning we are not under the Old Covenant
Law, meaning that our salvation is not based on us keeping the law. I want to be crystal
clear on that. Your salvation is not based on keeping the law. The law was never meant
to save anyone. In fact, the law could not save anyone. We covered this a few weeks ago.
Everyone saved. Everyone in heaven is there because of Jesus Christ. That's Old Testament
and New Testament and beyond. Everyone walking around heaven right now, and anyone who ever
will walk around heaven is going to say, "I'm here because of Jesus Christ." Not by keeping
the law. Are we clear on that? The law was to show us Jesus and to show us our need for
Jesus. We are saved by grace. Again, we just spent like a whole sermon series talking about
this, but I want to be clear here. The idea that many Christians have is, "Okay, I'm
not under the law. I'm not saved by the law, so I can do whatever I want to do." That
is wrong. That is dead wrong. Under the New Covenant, listen, the law wasn't discarded.
It was written on our hearts. You see the difference? God didn't say, "Ah, we're done with that.
God said, "I'm going to write this on your very heart." We obey God's commands because
we've been born again. He lives within us. We love God, and loving God means wanting
to obey God. Listen, we're going to talk about this over the next few weeks. Jesus didn't
abolish the law. He actually elevated the law. The law says, "Thou shall not murder."
Sixth commandment. Did Jesus come along and say, "You know what? Forget all that. You
want to murder, go ahead. You're a child of God. You're free. You're forgiven. Go murder."
Is that what He said? No. No. Of course not. What did He say? He said, "You've heard and
said, 'Don't murder,' but I'm telling you, if you have hatred in your heart, you've committed
murder in your heart." He elevated the law. He goes, "It's deeper than just what you do.
It's about who you are." He elevated the law. The Old Testament says, "Do not commit adultery."
Seventh commandment. Did Jesus say, "Well, you know what? Now you're under the new covenant.
You're free. You're forgiven. You can just go be with whoever you want, whenever you
want. It doesn't matter because you're free." Of course not. That's foolish thinking, but
there are a lot of Christians who believe that. "I can do whatever I want because I'm
free." Jesus elevated it. Jesus goes, "No, no, no, no. Adultery isn't just an act. Adultery
starts here. It's lost in here. That is committing adultery." He elevated the law. He didn't
abolish it. He said, "It's so much deeper than you think it is." Jesus didn't abolish
the law. He empowers us to keep the law. Here is one of the most profoundest things you'll
ever hear in your life. He said He came to fulfill the law. Jesus is still right now
fulfilling the law through you. This could be a whole other sermon, but we don't have
time for that. I haven't even gotten to today's sermon yet. We're still in the introduction.
Look at what Romans 8. I encourage you to mark this, read this, meditate on this. Look
at what this says. "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from
the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not
do." Meaning we couldn't obey the law because we're sinful people in the flesh. Look at
this. "By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemns sin
in the flesh. In order that, the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." What is that
saying? It's saying, "When by the power of the Holy Spirit you obey God, Jesus is fulfilling
the law through you." So verse 19, remember verse 19? It's a warning and an encouragement.
First of all, the warning Jesus said here in verse 19, "If you're a true believer, but
you're not really serious about obedience, and you're one of those people that goes around,
you believe and you teach, you're free in Christ, it doesn't matter what you do because
you're free, you're a child of God, it doesn't matter what you do. Jesus says if you're that
guy, in heaven you're going to be called the least. But if you seek to obey God and you
teach others to be obedient to the Word of God in heaven, you're going to be called great.
So listen, if you subscribe to these teachers who say obedience isn't really that important,
I'm not judging your salvation, and I'm not judging their salvation either. But Jesus
very clearly right here said in glory, "You will be known as great or least." Which one
do you want? In heaven, for all of eternity, you're going to have a reputation in the eyes
of God, and in the eyes of everyone there. And God is evaluating you based on how you
handle His Word. Pretty sobering, isn't it? One more. Number four, because your salvation
depends on it. Why should the Old Testament matter to me? Because your salvation depends
on it. Like, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're telling me my salvation depends on whether
or not I believe the Old Testament is relevant? Let's see what Jesus said. Look at verse 20.
"Jesus, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Oh, you see, this is a salvation issue here.
It wasn't in verse 19, but very quickly Jesus' teaching turns into a salvation issue in
this aspect. Jesus here very clearly tells us that entering the kingdom requires righteousness.
And He says, "You better be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees." Now, I know
for us, if you're familiar with the Bible at all, you're like scribes and Pharisees,
bad guys. But in Jesus' day, they were looked at as the, like, the holy elite. Those were
the religious people. It's like the feeling people in our culture would get if you saw
some nuns walking down the street. Wow, those are the holy people. Listen, your salvation
depends on this according to Jesus. Here's why. So much talk through this series and
through the Sermon on the Mount on righteousness. Righteousness. You've got to be righteous.
You're righteous. Needs to exceed the scribes and Pharisees. Righteousness. Righteousness.
But what is righteousness? I mean, who determines what's righteousness? Who sets that standard?
Who defines that? Well, you better get it right because entering the kingdom depends on it.
The scribes. Who are the scribes? They were just, they were students of the law. Their
whole existence was in studying the law of God. The Pharisees, they were the religious
elite of Jesus' day. They made six hundred and some man-made laws that you had to keep
in order to keep God's law. A lot of them circled around the Sabbath. They made these
rules. You have to do these things because if you don't, then you have broken the Sabbath
and that's breaking God's law. So they piled on hundreds and hundreds of laws. And you
see the scribes and the Pharisees, they seemed so holy. But they weren't. All of their righteousness
was external. Their teaching was hollow. And you read your Gospels, you see Jesus was constantly
calling out their hypocrisy. Read Matthew chapter twenty-three sometime. See the problem
with the scribes and the Pharisees, their righteous rules, it was about ceremony. Not
about the heart. It was about putting on a show. It wasn't about the heart. It was all
about them and it wasn't really about God at all. Their laws and their rules and their
religion didn't have any love for others at all. They were mainly concerned with actions,
not motives. See their disposition was, "Look at all the stuff that I do. Look at what a
good person I am. Look at how righteous I am because I keep all the rules." And Jesus
here is saying, "R righteousness doesn't work that way." And like the scribes and the
Pharisees, we can fool ourselves into thinking that we're righteous. I have to ask you, do
you do what you do to look good to others? Or because you love God and you want to honor
and obey Him? Which is it? It's the former according to Jesus. You're not in the kingdom.
All right, then, what determines righteousness? What has Jesus been talking about this whole
time? What determines righteousness is found in the Word of God. That is where we get our
definition. Righteousness comes from a faith that is defined in the Word of God. I believe
in Jesus. I believe He is the Messiah. I have received Him. He has changed me from the inside
out, God wants my heart and He has it. Righteousness results in a lifestyle of obedience to God's
Word. All right, that was the introduction. Here's the sermon. You did not have to groan.
So how should I view the Old Testament? I would strongly suggest that you view it the
way Jesus did. All right, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, again, we ask that your
Word changes us, it changes our minds, and when our minds change, our conduct changes.
The Father, I pray that even as born again believers under the new covenant, we would
groan our understanding of the purpose of the law and the prophets. Father, we live
in a day where so many churches and so many pastors and preachers want to just completely
throw it out. And we turn to your Word and we see Jesus Christ with a much different
attitude. So Father, I pray that for this church, and I pray for those that watch this
and listen to this and download these messages, I pray, Father, that we would take the attitude
towards the Old Testament that Jesus had. You've called us to righteousness. Let us
pursue righteousness as it is according to your Word. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.