What Was Revealed By The Law

Transcript

GRM 1029
5/10/2009
What Was Revealed by the Law
Matthew 5:17-20
Gil Rugh


We're studying the Sermon on the Mount together and I want to continue that study with you today, so turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5. Jesus Christ came as King of the Jews, He came in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would come to restore the nation Israel, to establish a kingdom with Israel as the central nation, with Jerusalem as the capital of the world. He came and was preceded by John the Baptist who called people to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then Jesus came and continued that proclamation, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When you come to chapter 5 Jesus sits down on a mountain so we call it the Sermon on the Mount or the mountain and explains to His disciples and the crowds that have gathered what will be true of those who will be going into His kingdom. He describes their character and conduct, so it's descriptive of these Jews who will be privileged to go into the kingdom when the Messiah establishes it. It's really a description of those who have experienced God's salvation, describes their character. We saw that in the beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, we noted that was talking to their poverty of spirit, they recognize their unworthiness. Blessed are those who mourn, they not only recognize their spiritual poverty, but they are grieved over sin and so on, describing those who have truly come to God's salvation. They are living now humbly before Him, awaiting the Messiah's coming.

This will bring persecution to those identified with the Messiah. This has been the characteristic in Israel's history. The prophets who came and clearly condemned sin and promised the coming Messiah who would judge sin and establish righteousness, they were all persecuted. And Jesus reminds them that one of the marks of the genuine believer is persecution for righteousness. That was verse 10, blessed are those who have been persecuted; blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and so on. Verse 12, that's the way they treated the genuine prophets that have gone before. And those reminders. He reminded them that true believers are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. We are here in the world, we are not entangled with the world but we are in the world and we are giving off the knowledge of God in Christ to those who are in darkness.

Now with that as a background Jesus moves the discussion on beginning with verse 17. Remember at the heart of this discussion or this teaching is verse 20, I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Reminder, you need a greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees if you are going to be able to go into the kingdom when the Messiah establishes it. This is a shocking concept for the Jews as a general group because the scribes and the Pharisees were the most meticulous in trying to keep the Old Testament law.

Two major parties in Israel at this time—the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the much larger party, they were committed to the Old Testament. Within the party of the Pharisees you have a smaller group called the scribes. Most of the scribes were Pharisees. They, too, are committed to the Law and they are the experts in the Old Testament Law. Sometimes our English versions call them the lawyers. They are the experts in the details of the Mosaic Law. The other major party in contrast to the Pharisees were the Sadducees. They are much smaller, more powerful. The chief priest in Israel is a Sadducee. They are the liberals in that they deny the supernatural. They didn't believe in a resurrection of the dead, they are the liberal party. They don't get as much attention in the gospels, mostly Jesus focuses on the scribes and Pharisees who claim to believe and be carrying out the Old Testament Law. The problem was they weren't.

So picking up with verse 17 He's not changing subjects, He's drawing it to the point. He has described the character of believers and what they do. Now He is preparing for the opposition that will come from the scribes and Pharisees. They are going to accuse Him of abolishing the Law, doing away with it. So Jesus says in verse 17, do not think I came to abolish the Law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. You know all these controversies come down to the bottom line. How is a person saved? How can you come into right relationship with the living God? The Pharisees and scribes were convinced by keeping the Ten Commandments, by obeying the Mosaic Law. And the more scrupulous you are in keeping the Mosaic Law, of which the Ten Commandments are a part (there are 613 commandments in the Mosaic Law). The more scrupulous you are, the more careful you are in keeping the Law, the more acceptable you are to God, the more righteous you are, and of course the more assured you are that you will have a prominent place in the kingdom when it is established.

Now while we are not Jews the principles established here are applicable to us because the description of a believer doesn't change. What God does in our lives in making us new is the same. His salvation is a requirement, whether we are talking about the Jews in anticipating the kingdom or the church as we are today, redeemed by God. And sadly in the church, as we have mentioned before, there still are some people who think they are saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, which is the whole point Jesus is making here. You can't be saved by keeping the Law or the Ten Commandments.

I want you to understand, though, Jesus says, I did not come to abolish the Law. I'm not here now saying the Law is canceled, it is nullified, it is over, I'm here, it's done. I didn't come to abolish the Law, I came to fulfill the Law. When He puts together the Law and the prophets, that was a way the Jews had to summarize the whole Old Testament. They would say the Law and prophets, sometimes they added a third group—the writings. But the Law and the prophets summarized the Old Testament. I didn't come to abolish the Old Testament, any part of the Old Testament. _________________ intend to go on to focus in the Law because that is where the real issue comes for the Jews, and particularly the scribes and the Pharisees.

I came to fulfill it. Now what does He mean to fulfill it? At least three ways Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. 1. He obeyed the Law perfectly, the only person who ever did that. Later in His earthly ministry He will ask the question, which of you convicts Me of sin? He was sinless, He perfectly kept the Law in every way. That's one way He fulfills the Law. 2. Secondly, He fulfilled the types and prophecies contained in the Law and the rest of the Old Testament. For example, the Old Testament sacrifices, they were a type or a picture, a foreshadowing as we'll read in a moment of the coming of a Messiah who would Himself be the sacrifice for sin because animal sacrifices could never take away sin. All they did was remind people that they were sinners, they were guilty. When they placed their hand on the head of that animal that was now about to be slain they were being reminded that I'm a sinner, the penalty for my sin is death. This animal is acting as a substitute for me even though it won't be able to take away my sin. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that picture. All the prophecies regarding the coming Messiah, they find their fulfillment in Him. That's another way He fulfills the Old Testament. 3. The third and most important way that Christ fulfills the Old Testament and particularly the Law is by paying the penalty for sin by dying on the cross for sin. That ties to fulfilling the types and the pictures of the animal sacrifices. But specifically it took His death. For the wages for sin is death, and Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect sinless life, suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin.

Turn over to Romans 8. It's the constant tendency for human beings to try to become acceptable to God by their own works and efforts. For the Jews it was trying to keep the Law and of course that was the greatest attempt because God Himself had given the Law. And so you would think that if you would be able to try to keep the Law, that would be the greatest thing you could do to become acceptable to God. But that was to fail to understand the purpose of the Mosaic Law. It never was a way of salvation. No one ever has been or ever will be saved by their good works. The Jews and their relationship to the Mosaic Law are evidence of that.

Now there is nothing wrong with the Law. In Romans 7:12, so then the Law is holy, the commandment is holy and righteous and good. There is nothing wrong with the Law. When we talk about the Law now, we're specifically talking about the Mosaic Law that was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is nothing wrong with the Law, it was holy, it was a reflection of God's character and God's will for His people, Israel. But you come down to chapter 8. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life, that's a new law, different from the Mosaic Law, has set us free from the law of sin and death. The Mosaic Law was a law of sin and death. It could only remind you of the penalty for your sin, only remind you of your failure to be holy as God is holy, only remind you that the penalty for your sin is death. So what the Law could not do, verse 3, weak as it was through the flesh God did. See the problem with the Mosaic Law was not with the Mosaic Law, the problem was with the people. They were sinners. The Mosaic Law came and said, God said you shall be holy for I am holy, you must be perfectly righteous. And yet we're told in the Old Testament there is not a just man upon the earth who always does good and never sins. The Old Testament tells us that God looked down on mankind and there was no one who was righteous. And yet the Law required righteousness. So it became a law of sin and death. All it did was expose what they really were, sinners; what they really deserved, death. So God intervened to do what the Law could not do. He sent His own Son, verse 3, in the likeness of sinful flesh 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 what has to happen? The requirement of the Law has to be fulfilled, God is a holy and righteous God. He cannot just say look, I am loving, I am kind, I am merciful so you are forgiven. Come on into the kingdom. No, He is just, He is holy. You can have a kind, merciful judge, but if you have a man who has clearly been demonstrated to be a horrible criminal, mass murderer, the judge says I am merciful, I am kind, I am loving. Go free. You say, no, that's not justice. You are not being just, you're not being righteous. But people all the time think that's what God is going to do. He is loving, He is kind, He is merciful. He is all those things. Therefore He is just going to tell me, it's okay, I know you did your best as though He could stop being righteous Himself and just set a person free.

Back up to Romans 3. This balance is of utmost importance. Verse 20 tells us that by the works of the Law, talking about the Mosaic Law here, no flesh will be justified in His sight. To be justified means to be declared righteous. It comes from the same basic word as the word righteous. For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin, but now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the prophets. The Law and the prophets didn't provide righteousness, but it testified to the need for righteousness and the provision of righteousness by faith. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believer. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And so we can be justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. This comes through His death, a propitiation, a satisfaction in His blood through.

Why did God do it this way? Verse 26, for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time so that He would be just, righteous, and the justifier, the One who declares righteous, of the one who has faith in Jesus. You see He must both be just and the justifier. God must maintain His righteousness, not sacrifice what justice requires, but He also intends to be the justifier, provide righteousness for sinful people. But not at the expense of being righteous Himself. He cannot do that, He is God. So He had His Son come and fulfill the requirements of a holy God, fulfill what the Law of God requires, that the penalty for sin be paid with death. So the Son of God became man, suffered and died so that now all who believe in Him can be declared righteous. How can God be just and declare sinful people righteous? Well their penalty has been paid. The penalty is death, Jesus Christ stepped into my place, bore my sins in His body on the cross. When I believed in Him His death was credited to my account, the penalty was paid. Just like when a person has their penalty paid. You are freed. That's what happened with Christ.

The Law couldn't do that. The Law could tell me I must be righteous, the Law could challenge you that the penalty for sin is death so you better be righteous or you must die. The problem was, _____ was a sinner. That was the weakness, the sin of the Jew. That's our weakness today and becoming acceptable to God. We are already sinners. But I'm doing my best, I'm trying my hardest. So were the scribes and Pharisees. Paul was a Pharisee before he was converted and came to believe in Christ. He said I did as good a job of keeping the Law as anyone could do, but I was hopelessly lost.

Come over to Hebrews 10:1, for the Law since it only has a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things. There you see it could anticipate, be a type, a shadow. But the substance is not there because, he's going on to explain. It can never by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered. You know what? The fact that there was a whole list of sacrifices and they were regularly offered is a reminder that that one sacrifice you took this year on this day didn't take care of sin permanently. Verse 3, in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. But God's plan was, He prepared a body for Christ, the Son of God who left heaven, came down, was born into the human race. So through His death, verse 10, by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Under the Law the priests offered multiple sacrifices day after day. But verse 12, He, Christ, offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. And that's when the kingdom will be established. It is yet future.

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Those who have come to believe in Christ are set apart by God for Himself and experience His cleansing, there is one sacrifice. There is no repeating of the sacrifice, there were no other sacrifices to offer. So people trying to show that Christians aren't consistent because we don't do everything the Bible tells us to do because the Bible says in the Old Testament we are to offer sacrifices and we don't offer sacrifices. No, because you have to understand that was fulfilled. We don't just cancel it out, it was fulfilled. That was a shadow, it was anticipating the coming of Christ. You understand no one has ever been saved by keeping laws. How were Old Testament people saved? Go back to Abraham in Genesis 15:6, Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness. That's the same thing as declaring him righteous. Genesis 15:6. You understand that was 500 years before God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. How was Abraham saved? By faith in Christ. How was Moses saved? By faith in the revelation God had given. He didn't have a full revelation of what Christ would do and a full understanding of that, but they believed God. Abraham believed God, God credited it to him as righteousness. Anyone who has ever been saved has been saved by faith.

What was the Mosaic Law to do? It was to be a reflection, a manifestation of a heart that had believed in God for salvation and now was committed to live a life of obedience to God. It never was a way of salvation. It was to be a reflection in obedience of the faith that they had in God and His promises.

Come back to Galatians 2. The Apostle Paul showing that you can't be saved by keeping the Law. Verse 15, we are Jews by nature. Paul was a Jew, he identified himself with other Jews. We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles. In other words the Jews understood why the Gentiles would need to be saved. They were dirty, defiled people. They wouldn't even eat with Gentiles. But they thought as Jews that being a Jews, being a born a Jew, being raised with the Mosaic Law assured that you would be saved. You can see how the pattern becomes the same. What do many Gentiles think today? I was born a Roman Catholic, I was baptized, I was raised in the church; I was born a Lutheran, I was confirmed, I've been raised in the church; I was fill in the blank. We always want to go to the externals, the physical. You know what? No Jew was ever saved by being born into a Jewish family, a Jewish boy being circumcised the eighth day, trying to keep the Law from the youngest to the oldest age died and went to hell because no one is ever saved by keeping the Law.

Look at verse 15, we are Jews by nature, not sinners from among the Gentiles. Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, we Jews had to believe in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not be works of the Law, since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified. No human being could every be saved by keeping the Law. Isn't it sad that there are people today......... Do you think you're going to heaven when you die? Yes. Why? I try to keep the Ten Commandments. Do you understand the Ten Commandments are a part of the Mosaic Law? What did Moses carry down with him when he came down from Mt. Sinai? A summary, the ten words in tablets of stone representing all 613 commandments of the Law. You know what? No one was ever saved, from that point when Moses received them on Mt. Sinai down to this day no one has ever been saved anywhere in the world by trying to keep the Ten Commandments, by trying to keep any of the Law or commandments.

It ought to be clear. God says, by works of the Law no flesh will be justified. How can you be justified? Verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Now note this. I do not nullify the grace of God. If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. If you could be saved by keeping certain laws then it was worthless that Christ died. We say, well I think He died and it is a combination of His death and my keeping the Law that will save me. That's the whole argument of the book of Galatians. You nullify the grace of God when you say that part of your salvation is your work, your effort. That would nullify the grace of God and say the death of Christ was worthless. So keeping the Law is not part of God's plan of salvation. Never was.

So you come back to Matthew 5. Do not think I came to abolish the Law or the prophets, I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. Understand what we are talking about now. In the completeness of that fulfilling, everything it requires, everything it demanded. 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. You may ____________ until heaven and earth pass away. When we get to Revelation 21 we'll find a new heavens and a new earth. You understand even that won't nullify the Law. The Law can't be nullified, it can only be fulfilled. Because not the smallest part of the Mosaic Law could just go out of existence. It has to be fulfilled. Strong statement on the Word of God. We are not free to bring our own interpretation and our own understanding to God's Word. We study God's Word to see what He has said, to understand what He means when He says something. Some people think the Bible is a book that everybody is free to have their own ideas. They think they escape when you want to share something from the Bible with them, they say, well everybody has their own interpretation. Well that would mean everybody is wrong because it only means what God meant it to mean. I mean, it's just a rule of interpretation. You give instructions to your kids, they walk out and you say, what did he say? I don't know, it could have meant anything you want it to mean. No. Because what would God do? He is communicating to man verbally and He did it in such a blundering way that everybody understands it differently and so it means nothing. Of course I understand what He says in verse 18, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Every little detail of what God has said in the Law will be fulfilled. That's pretty simple. You don't need a doctorate in theology to understand it. And if every little detail, the smallest part of the Law has to be fulfilled, obviously everything larger than that will be fulfilled. The point is nothing that God has said can be altered, changed or annulled. You understand here this means we are expected to understand it properly.

Verse 19, whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever keeps and teaches them shall be call great in the kingdom of heaven. Important verse for us as believers by application. He is telling these Jews that even as believing Jews, because remember in Matthew 5:1, when He saw the crowds He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him and He opened His mouth and began to teach them. The disciples are a key part of this teaching. Now they are not the only ones because there are crowds there. Go to Matthew 7:28, this is the end of the Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus had finished these words the crowds were amazed at His teaching. So you see His disciples are there and He is instructing them, but the crowds are there as well hearing this teaching.

Now what He says in verse 19 is a word of warning, even to His disciples. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches other to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. You may be a believer, but you better handle the Word of God correctly down into the details because if you in your teaching you annul, you cancel out one of the least of the teachings of the Law, that will impact your position in the kingdom when I establish it. But if you teach even the least then you will be viewed as greater in the kingdom.

This is parallel to what James said when cautioned, do not let many of you be teachers, knowing that teachers will incur a stricter judgment. I have to be very careful. We don't just give the gist of what the Bible says. Why? Because I'm going to be accountable as a teacher. The details are important. One of the traps of the devil is to give the idea that the details aren't important. We can disagree on all these details as long as you have the major things. Jesus said to these Jews who would be believers going into the kingdom, His disciples, you be careful. You don't annul, cancel out, with your teaching any of the least of these. That will influence your position in the kingdom. God is serious about His Word. He didn't give it just because He didn't have something else to do, He gave it so that we would know what He wanted. You know what? We expect today, if somebody gives instructions, they give clear instructions, understandable instructions that we can be expected to follow. Would you not think that God would do the same? And He has.

So a word of warning there. Then He tells them in verse 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. You need a greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees have. For the Jews this seems like an insurmountable obstacle. How could I have a greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees? I mean, the scribes are the experts in the Law, the Pharisees are the guardians of the Law with the scribes. I mean, the people who devote their lives to keeping the Law. And yet you need a greater righteousness to get into the kingdom. They are not saved people.

Remember Nicodemus? He is described in John 3 as the teacher in Israel. He apparently has a very prominent key role as a teacher among the Jews. You know what Jesus said to him? Nicodemus, unless you are born again you'll never see the kingdom. Nicodemus, you're not on the way to the kingdom. You are the teacher in Israel, you're instructing people on the Law and you are on your way to hell. You're not going to the kingdom unless you are born again, born from above.

You know the Law always required a new heart, a change within. And what Jesus is going to do now beginning with verse 21 and from verse 21 through the rest of chapter 5 and through verse 48, He gives six examples or illustrations of what He means in having a greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees. He's not changing the Law, He's not giving a new dimension to the Law, He is just clarifying for these people what the Law always required. Let me note these six things for you, we're just going to make some comments about them and then we'll be looking at them in our coming studies.

The pattern here, verse 21, you have heard; verse 22, but I say to you. So it's that comparison here. You have heard, but I say to you. That's the first illustration or example. The second one is in verses 27-28. Now they go further but you see the contrast. Verse 27, you have heard; verse 28, but I say to you. That's the second. Now in verse 31, it was said; verse 32, but I say to you. Verse 33, you have heard; verse 34, but I say to you. The fifth one is verse 38, you have heard; verse 39, but I say to you. And the sixth verse 43, you have heard; verse 44, but I say to you. And He is giving clarity. Now within this there will be direct references to the Old Testament Law and also what the Jews had done as happens when we depart from the Word of God and its truth and its meaning, we add the traditions and practices of men. And the Jews have added commandments upon commandments to clarify the Mosaic Law. And they ended up, Jesus said, adding burdens. They were burdening the burdened. People couldn't keep the 613 commandments of the Law, then the Jews added hundreds and thousands of their own elaboration. Because the further you move away from what God has revealed, the more we become entangled in man's rules and regulations.

So Jesus is going to clarify here. And what He's going to clarify is what the Law always required. The Law never did require just obedience to certain commandments. These commandments were given so that people who had hearts changed could now demonstrate their faith in the living God by obeying what He told them to do.

Turn over to Matthew 15. The issue is the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who can know it? Verse 10, I the Lord search the hearts, I try the motives. We want to do it as external. People go to church today. Why? Because it's what you do. I mean, I'm saved and I go to church and besides I was baptized and besides I took communion and besides I ........... Why is that different from the Jews and the Law? I went to the temple today, I offered a sacrifice today, I'm on my way to hell. That's the conclusion.

Look at Matthew 15. Jesus is making clear and you'll note the people addressed. Verse 1, some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said. The scribes and Pharisees, the experts in the Law. People always set them up, they are the authorities and they replace the Word of God. But Jesus said in verse 3, why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. Verse 6, by this you invalidated the Word of God for the sake of your tradition. There are multiplied evidences of this even today—our tradition. You have to have your child baptized, if they are not baptized their original sin won't be washed away. They have to take communion, we withhold communion from you and you'll go to hell. These people have just replaced the scribes and Pharisees for all intents and purposes. The same kind of error. And in our position we have the authority and they invalidate the Word of God.

Isaiah prophesied, he gets right to the point, you hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, this people honors Me with their lips but their heart is far away from Me. This is the problem. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. And these men claim authority for themselves so their doctrine must be true. You see what God calls it. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.

Come down to verse 18. All these external things, Jesus said, are not the issue, they cannot bring you salvation. Verse 18, the things that proceed out of the heart come from the heart. Those defile the man, for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man. It's the heart that is the problem, the Jeremiah 17:9 heart, the heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked. Now keep this in mind when we look at the illustrations and examples in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. We'll see things like murders, adulteries, fornications, false witness and slanders. What's the problem? The Jews thought as long as you kept that external righteousness you were all right. The problem is God is looking at the heart. Jeremiah 17:9-10, who can understand the heart, who can know the heart? I the Lord search the heart. And He looks into my heart and He sees sin. I walk around being righteous, looking like I'm a righteous person, I'm a priest, I'm a preacher, I'm a good person. And God is looking at my heart and says you are a liar, you are not good. There is none good, there is none righteous, no not one. So we have to deal with the heart.

This is not new. Turn back to Deuteronomy 30. And this is in the context of blessings and curses for keeping the Law. But keeping the Law only mattered when it came from a heart that had been changed. So look at what God says in verse 6, moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants. He'll remove the sinful depravity. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul so that you may live. You see that's what it takes. Then when the sin of the heart has been removed, you've been cleansed, then you can love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your heart. Then you may live. You have life now from God. Now that life is to be lived in obedience to Him.

So Jesus is not changing the Law, the Law always did require a change of heart. And then out of that changed heart there was to be changed living. So keeping the Law was simply a manifestation that I have placed my faith in God and the revelation He has given of Himself and I am committed now to obey Him. That's what was required of Israel.

Turn over to Jeremiah 31. Constant problem for Israel and the Jews, they constantly wanted to move to the externals and they move away from an understanding of God's plan of salvation and the need for inner cleansing by faith alone. But they focus on the externals. That's true today. People going to church today don't have any idea of what really is required, that they recognize they are sinners, they are lost and without hope, they are under God's condemnation, they are on their way to hell. In fact they go to church and they don't want to hear that. But there is no salvation without that as a starting point. And to understand I can do nothing to save myself. I cast myself on the mercy of God believing that His Son died to pay the penalty for my sin. I am trusting Him alone. God can cleanse me and He does. Now He requires me to obey His Word.

Look in Jeremiah 31:31, behold days are coming declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This contrasts with the Mosaic covenant, verse 32, that He gave to them after He brought them out of Egypt. Verse 33, this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. You understand that's what was required, always has been required. That's what we read in Deuteronomy 30:6, a new heart, a circumcised heart with the sin removed, a heart that would totally love God with all our heart, all our soul. That's what God intends, that's what He provided in the new covenant.

What did Jesus say on that last night as He had the last meal with His disciples? He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. That's what was required. Then no one was saved until Christ came? No, Abraham was declared righteous in Genesis 15, 2000 years before Christ was born. How did God forgive him? He forgave him on the basis of the fact that Abraham believed God. Yes, but the penalty for sin has to be paid. That's right because God's eternal plan included the death of His Son. So on the basis of the fact that in 2000 years His Son would die on the cross and His Son's death could have an infinite effect, because He is not only man but God, God could declare Abraham righteous 2000 years ago because Abraham believed God. And God who is righteous would provide a Savior whose death could take care of the penalty for Abraham. That's God's plan, that's what God said He would do here. You need a new heart.

Isn't it sad that thousands and millions of people are going to church or going through religious activities today thinking by going through those religious activities it will help them get to heaven. God has already said none of that will do anything for you. You must hear My word and believe it, hear the truth now concerning My Son. That's why He started out with the beatitudes—blessed are the poor in spirit. It's hard to be saved. Do you know why? It's hard to be humbled. I don't see myself as poor in spirit, I see myself as a pretty good person. It may say I'm not righteous, but I think I'm pretty righteous. I've been a good mother, a good father, a good wife, good husband. I've been faithful in the church. You don't know all the good I have done. But you know what? This is what God says. Isn't that why we come to God's Word to find out what God says? How am I as a preacher going to tell you how to get to heaven if I don't have the Word of God to tell me? Why do people go to men as though these men know something by virtue of the fact they went to school? Going to school doesn't help, you need a message from heaven, you need the Word of God. And that's what we have.

Now come back to Matthew 5 and just a quick observation of where we will start next time. You see what Christ has done here in verse 21. He says, you heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. He’s saying here people who do these things will be in danger of a fiery hell. You see what He has done, He has gone to the heart. Remember Matthew 15? Out of the heart proceed murders. So He says you have to go back to the heart. You hate your brother, you have the same kind of heart as a murderer. The murderer had just gone one step further, he has expressed what is in his heart. How often do people say, if I could have I would have killed him. Coward, you didn't do it. But your heart wanted to, right? You hated them enough that it is scary. ____________ ______________ happened? You are a murderer in the heart, that's what God is looking at.

That's the point in the rest of this chapter. We have to look and see what the condition of the heart is because that's what God has always done. And obedience to the Law was just to be a reflection of those who had truly believed and now were obeying the Law that God had given to the nation Israel. We're the same, here we are sitting in church. Why are you here today? Good people go to church. I went to church before I was ever saved, my parents went to church before they were ever saved. My dad had a whole list of awards for not missing a Sunday year after year, going to church on his way to hell. Didn't help a bit. We think if we go through the externals we're pretty good people. We don't do all those dirty, vile things that other people do. But the problem is the heart. God is looking at my heart and He says it is deceitful, it is desperately wicked. You really don't understand how sinful you are. You have to learn it from Me, God says. That's the whole point here. For these Jews who is going to go into the kingdom when Messiah establishes it on earth? Those who have a changed heart. That's what God has always required, that's what He requires today. So if you join this church, get baptized, sign up to give your money that will make you acceptable to God. It would help our church attendance maybe, but it would be a lie. None of these things can do it.

How am I going to get to heaven? How many people are religious and don't think about that. I was reading the wife of a prominent politician whose husband was unfaithful. Now she is dying of cancer, they are interviewing her and she says, what I really hope is there is life after death where we see our friends. I hope, I hope, I hope. What an empty hope. There has to be more than that. I hope, I hope, I hope. Somebody ought to tell her God has spoken, there is hope. But it's not just in your mind saying, I hope, I hope, I hope. There is a Savior, you must come by Him. He died so you can be saved, so you can have a true hope, a living hope, a real hope when you pass through death. It will change you on the inside, make you clean, bring you into right relationship with God, bring His righteousness to you and give you hope for eternity.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for the grace that had your Son come to this earth and suffer and die to pay the penalty for sin. Lord, your Word is clear. You are the sovereign God and it's only your Word that matters. We bow poor in spirit before you acknowledging our unworthiness, our guilt, our sin. We are grieved by our sins but Lord our hope is that you are the God who does what you promise. You promise to save those who turn from their sin and place their faith in your Son, His death and resurrection. Lord, that has brought us cleansing and that gives us a real living hope for time and eternity. And we give you praise. In Christ's name, amen.