Series: The Sermon on the Mount
April 25, 2021 - Kenny Welch

Good morning. Let’s pray:

Father in heaven, we just come before you this morning, Lord, as your humble servants. We just have a great desire to hear from you today, Lord, to learn from you. We give you great thanks for all the things you’re doing in our lives, for all the things you’re doing through us, in us and around us. We just ask Holy Spirit that you would come in right now, that you be teaching our hearts, that you would be circumcising our hearts to make us more and more like the character of Jesus Christ. It is in his name that we ask these things. Amen.

So this morning we are going to be talking about the law. And before some of you get up and run, just know that Jesus talked about the Law. So we’re talking about it because Jesus talked about it. And also, if there is one man from the scripture that we would want to grab some advice from in regards to how he felt about the Law, I think it should it be the man who God says was after his own heart. That is King David.

This is what King David had to say about the Law of God. In Psalm 19:7-11, it says:

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
   and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

If we could see and understand this, the world around us would be a far better place. To get our souls revived, to be made wise, to keep the heart rejoicing, to enlighten our eyes, to warn and be rewarded all comes from the law of the Lord. This is what King David had to say.

Now, I know this might raise some questions as we have people in here who like to challenge things a bit. You might be thinking, Well what about all the Levitical laws, and ceremonial laws, and all those things? So, here is what we’re going to do with those concerns. While they will not be addressed right here today, I want you to take all your questions that you have about all those and just flood the inbox of every pastor on campus. Just email everybody all the questions you have in one day. They’ll answer them. Or, if it makes you feel better, you can always come visit me in Belize and we can talk about it. Right? So you choose which one you want to do.

We have before us this morning, as we continue to go through the Sermon on the Mount, we land in Matthew 5:17-20. That’s where we are at this morning. So if you have a Bible, pull it out, if not, put it on your phone, your tablet, whatever it is you have, and open your app to Matthew 5:17-20.

It reads as follows:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now, given the time that we have, I would like to draw your attention here to three important things as stated by Jesus here in this section of scripture. Three important things, and also three groups of people that Jesus is talking about. Our focus this morning, as you hear the words the law of God, I want you to keep in mind that we’re talking about God’s moral law, his standard for morality in our lives and the lives of the people around us. As I said before, the Levitical law, the ceremonial law, the questions you have about those, send it to every pastor and they’ll deal with that. So when you hear law, or God’s Law this morning, think about God’s standard for morality. Right? His moral laws.

Now, Jesus, right off the bat, as soon as he got to this section of scripture, he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” In that, we see Jesus is saying that the Law of God is important. And you and I, for as much as we know that we need to make sure that this sinks in. It is important. The entire scripture as we have it, or as they had it, Jesus talking to his disciples and the other people who were standing around, it is important.

Now we would ask, Why would Jesus be specific about this? Why would he draw their attention to this? As we look at what is going on right here in the surrounding sphere of Jesus. Jesus was very different. He was almost as if a new type of human being to the people around him. He didn’t talk the same as the religious leaders. He didn’t walk the same. He didn’t interact. He didn’t live with people the same way the religious leaders lived with people. He was so different than they all were.

As a result, the people who were around, as they flooded to Jesus, they were probably thinking in their mind, This guy is going to come because he’s so different, so he’s going to come and he’s going to give us new things. He’s going to remove all these old yoke and burden that we have had and he’s going to give us some new things. He’s maybe even going to institute some kind of new commandment for us to live by.

So before they could even get to that, even if it was their expectation, Jesus just kind of popped the brakes on them for a minute. He said, “I’m not here to abolish. I’m not here to dissolve the Law. All the word of the Law that you have, it is God’s Law and it stands. But guess what? I am going to fulfill this Law.”

You see, people back then, just like us, for a long time had been moved from what the true intent of the Law of God was to what their leaders taught it should be. This is why they were always looking to the scribes and the Pharisees to see, you know, what’s next. What should we do in regards to this? In regards to that? How are we supposed to perform? So they were moved from the true intent.

When the scribes and the Pharisees would law on them all these external requirements for the Law, the people were never able to keep them. And so, as a result, they were probably happy that this Jesus guy is now on the scene, who is so different from everybody else, and thinking he is probably going to bring us something new. He’s probably going to give us new instructions.

I mean, not even the scribes and the Pharisees were able to keep the very laws that they had produced to the people. You know? But they presented themselves to the people in such a way that the people looked at them and said, “These guys have it all together. We will never be able to get to where these guys are. But maybe if we follow this Jesus guy, he’s going to give us something more easy to follow, something more easy to live up to.” You know? They were done, sick and tired of the heavy burden that they had, because this old physical image that they constantly had to be putting on was never the true intent of the Law for the people.

As Jesus gets ready to give them what the true intent of the Law was, he’s setting them up to receive his information in a way that is going to help them to understand the Law of God. We are going to see as the Sermon on the Mount continues to go, Jesus in multiple instances he’s going to say it to them, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, but I say to you…” In large degree, as soon as you hear words like that, the first thing that comes to mind is, “Oh, he’s changing it. He’s removing what was said and now he’s giving us something new.” But that is not it at all.

So Jesus starts off by making sure that they understand, “We’re not throwing away these things that were said of old. But what I am doing is I am helping you to understand, because you have drifted so far away from the true intent. I am helping you understand what the true intention was in these things that were said of old.” Right?

So Jesus is getting them ready to receive the information that he’s going to give to them. So we often look at the actions of Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. We look at all the prophecies that he fulfilled and we see that is how he fulfills the law. But we look at the Lamb that was slain, we look at the One who is our true Passover, the One who is the true righteousness, who is the substitute for us. And we can go on and on about all the things that he is, and say that is how he fulfilled it.

For as much as that is true — and that is a huge bulk of the fulfillment of the Law — we need to also see that an important aspect of Jesus fulfilling the Law is Jesus giving you and I in the scripture the true intent of the Law. Not only in what he’s doing, but in what he’s given to us. The true intent of the Law. It is Jesus pointing us and leading us to a place where we understand that in our righteousness is an important, more so than the outward profession of our faith. He’s pointing us to the fact that, if we are righteous, if we become righteous and holy on the inside, then that will lead to an external profession of what true holiness and righteousness is.

Because Jesus is here to fulfill — or we may see it to be the fulfillment of this Law — we need to know that none of us is able to follow the Law as God lays it all for us. None of us is able to follow it in a way that it was intended to be followed apart from Jesus Christ. If we are not in Christ, we will never be able to follow and be obedient to the Law the way God designed for us to be obedient to the Law.

So for those of you who are probably thinking, Yeah, I am more of a New Testament person, you know, so I don’t worry about the Old Testament laws — guess what? Jesus is saying, “Hey, this Law is important. The standard for morality that has been given to you and I from the olden days, it still stands. It is important.”

He said, “For I say to you,” in verse 18, “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Now, the last time I checked, heaven and earth hasn’t passed away yet. At least not in my neck of the woods. I don’t know about around here. Things look weird around here, so this might be new. Right? But it hasn’t. So what Jesus is saying, it still stands, this standard for morality, you know, is given to us for moral living, still stands.

In Galatians, Paul tells us that this Law that is given to you and I, it works. It operates as schoolmaster that drives us to Christ. So if we see it done away with, then what are we going to have to help steer people towards Christ when we minister to them? It’s the purpose of the Law. It’s right here. It’s still useful. Right now. Today. Still useful. Still has its function. Jesus says the Law is important.

The next thing he pointed out to them in verse 19 is that our obedience to the Law and what you and I teaches about the Law is important. So he said in verse 19, “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.”

Now when it comes to the laws, especially the law of the land, I am the guy who likes to say, “I wonder what is going to happen if we do exactly what they tell us not to do.” Right? That’s just how I operate inside. Now you guys can be dishonest and say you don’t think that way. But that’s just me. Right? I am the guy that asks, “I wonder what would happen.”

Just for example, my family and I have been visiting some stores while we’ve been here and, of course, everybody has a big sign that says “Masks are required for entering this store.” And I always go, “What are they going to do if I walk in without a mask?” You know? Like, what’s going to happen.

So we visited the zoo one time back home in Belize, and, you know, nice place, just feels like you’re in the jungle while you’re in the zoo. I met a guy the other night, he said that none of the enclosures seem fit for the animals that they have in the zoo, as if they’re just going to run right out.

So we were walking by where they have these crocodiles, and it’s probably only like a two foot fence or whatever near the kids. Keep in mind these are fourteen- fifteen-foot crocodiles laying around near the pond. And of course there’s a big sign that says, “Don’t play with the animals.” “Don’t poke the animals.” So, being the guy that I am, I go, “I wonder what would happen if I do poke the crocodile.” Right? And — true story, my wife’s right here, I’m not lying — I got a stick and I leaned over. Because, in my mind, I’m thinking, we watch movies all the time. They say that these crocodiles are fast. I don’t believe they are. There is no way something that big can be that fast. Right?

So I got this stick, leaned over, and I poked the crocodile. This is, like, the movies are not real. This thing wasn’t just fast. This thing was lightning fast. There is no way something that big should be able to spin around that fast. I poked the crocodile. It was like, “whap!” Of course I learned my lesson. It just flashed through my mind. Read the headlines. “Pastor got eaten by a crocodile at the zoo.” Right?

But that is just where I am at. I look at rules and laws, especially some of the ridiculous ones they’ve been passing these days. And I go, “I wonder what will happen if I do exactly what they’re saying not to do.” Right?

But thanks be to God, when it come to his Laws, when it comes to what we find in the Bible, I’ve learned to not live my life that way. I’ve learned to not say, “I wonder what will happen if I do exactly what God said I should not do.” Because then that would be bad.

Jesus said because this is the Law of God, which stands forever, if you and I would relax any of it, if you and I would make it as if it is unimportant, if we would treat it like it’s no big deal or, worse yet, if we would be teaching other people to look at his laws that way, you will be least in the kingdom. And for every single person, there is a temptation here that we face to mess around with the moral Laws of God when it suits us best.

Now you might say, “Well, lying isn’t that bad. Don’t beat up yourself about lying. But murdering someone is bad so beat up yourself about that.” Or you might say, “Coveting isn’t that bad. Don’t beat up yourself about that. But if you’re committing adultery, then that’s bad. Beat up yourself about that.” There’s always this temptation for us to mess around with it, for us to kind of, what Jesus said here, relax some of the laws that we feel like, these moral laws that we think it’s not that big a deal. And Jesus said if you do that, or worse yet, if you’re teaching teaching other people to do that as well, you will be called least in the kingdom.

Now, there’s also something interesting in this section of scripture today that we’re going through. Jesus said that you’d be placed in one of two categories. He actually introduced us to three different types of people here. Right? The first two, we can see right here that there’s those who are great in the kingdom and there’s those who are least in the kingdom, which I find weird. Because we’re thinking heaven one big happy family. Everybody’s on the same page. But Jesus seems to be saying something different here. How you interact with the Law and how you teach others to do the same is going to determine whether or not you are great in the kingdom or least in the kingdom.

Now, the least in the kingdom, Jesus said, are those of who like to relax the Law. Those of us who teach other people to relax the Law, who look at certain portions of the moral Law as no big deal. Jesus says, for that you are least. But for the person who obeys the Law, who looks at it as if it is as important as David says it is important, and you teach other people to uphold God’s moral Law as important, Jesus says, you will be great in the kingdom. Now I don’t think this is hard for us to understand, these two sections of people that Jesus puts before us. Right?

It is plain that, of course, Jesus is not celebrating any kind of mediocrity. He’s not telling you and I to settle for any portion of it. He’s not saying, “Oh, be the least if you want to be the least.” No, his desire, his heart is that you and I would be great in the kingdo, is that you and I would not dare to relax any of the Law or dare to teach anyone to relax the Law, but that we would be those who would stand firm, stand steady in the fear. Those who recognize that the Law stands and we surrender to the One who can bring us into the true obedience of the Law. And that is you and I surrendering to Jesus Christ.

Now, the third thing that he points out to us here is that your righteousness is important. Just in case you were thinking, Nah, it’s not that important. Jesus said yes, it is. “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now those are strong words. Sounds like he’s judging you from back then.

Jesus said if your righteousness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom. Now here we have, back in his time, two sets of leaders that the people were looking up to. If there was anyone who could figure it out or get it right, it would be these guys.

We have the scribes. These were those who were the most noted teachers of the Law during Jesus’ time. And then we have the Pharisees, who were said to be the most celebrated professors of the Law during Jesus’ time. So one group was very good at teaching it and thinking it through. And then the other groups was very good at living out for everybody to see. So, between the two of them, you would say we have just what we need in order for us to live a life obedient to the Laws of God.

And Jesus said you have to be more right than these guys if you want to make it in. That’s as plain as he’s saying, “Hey, look, these guys that you have that you uphold so high, these guys that have it all together, they’re not even coming into the kingdom.”

And to this, you might say some of the people were nodding with hopeless, saying, “Well, if these guys who have it all together are not going to get in, what chance do we have? We look to them as though they are the standard for living right and living the way God wants us to live. And if they’re not going to make it in, how are we supposed to make it in?”

See, Jesus looked right at them and said, “Unless you are more right, unless your righteousness exceeds their righteousness, you won’t make it into the kingdom of heaven.” Now, are they doomed or not? We have many people among us that live this way. They needed to realize the same thing that you and I need to realize right now, which is the only way for our righteousness to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is for you and I to be found in Jesus. That is the only way for us to be more righteous than them. Right?

This brings us face to face with the third group of people that Jesus introduces. Those who won’t make it into the kingdom. We have people like this around us on a daily basis. They are people who think that you have to live your live based on, it’s a checklist, you know? We have a heavenly report card and I figure out all the do’s and don’t’s and when I check them off I’m good to go.

We look at the world and we make an honest assessment and we say there are terrible people who we don’t think are going to make it in. There are people whose lives look like they are rejecting Jesus. We don’t think they are going to make it in. But then there are nice people. They have a chance. There are very kind people over here. They might make it in. And guess what? Jesus is saying, “No. No. No.” It is not based solely on what you do. See, this is what the scribes and the Pharisees have turned the people’s attention to. Only external things. Do, do and do. They know Jesus existed, but they had no intentions of getting to know Jesus on a personal level.

And we have people like that among us today. They know about the Savior, but they have no intentions of getting to know the Savior personally. And you might have in your community, you know, your neighborhood, wherever you live, you might have some of the nicest people on earth, but they have no relationship with Jesus whatsoever. And them being such good and great people is not going to get them into the kingdom. But them knowing Jesus is going to get them into the kingdom.

This is where you come in. Helping to carry out this Law that Jesus said is important. As I said before, in Galatians it tells us that the purpose of the Law is to point people towards Christ. You come in to say, “Hey, look. I know you’ve been trying as hard as you can to follow this standard of morality that has been given to you. But the only way for you to accomplish that is if you would surrender to Jesus Christ.”

See, I’ve come to a place where, personally, I’ve seen and understand how important it is to be obedient to the Laws of God. I grew up in a home where I didn’t have a physical dad to teach me obedience to the Law, to teach me obedience to the standard of morality that God has placed for us to follow. But when I got saved, I came to realize that it is only through Jesus and following these instructions we may see that he laid out for us that we can truly, truly be in a place where we feel just like King David. In a place where our souls are revived. In a place where, for as much as I’m a simple person, I’m also wise. In a place where our heart can continually be rejoicing. In a place where our eyes are enlightened. A place where we are warned because we follow the Laws of God, and we will be rewarded one day because we are obedient to it and we teach others to do so.

For as much as the culture right now, and the society that you are in seems completely different to the things that you are called to do, if you really want to know what life is like, feeling revived, being wise, having a heart that’s rejoicing all the time, being enlightened — if you truly want to know what it feels like to be that way, or what it’s like to feel that, however the saying goes, then you need to submit and surrender to Jesus Christ. It is the only way for you to have this true experience. It is the only way for you to continue to delight in this Law of God that he has set over you.

And that’s my encouragement for you this morning. That you would run after Jesus with all that you are. Like David reminded when us he came up today, he said it earlier this week in the staff meeting, that sometimes we might be chasing righteousness over here. We might go chase holiness over here. We seek for peace in that direction. And we’re looking, spreading ourselves thin trying to find all these things. But guess what? If you would only come to Jesus and pursue him, you will have all those things. You won’t need to be searching in multiple directions. You need to come to Jesus. He is the one that has all these things for our lives. Only though him will be able to enjoy following the Law of God. Only through him will we be able to completely be obedient to the Law of God.

Father, we just thank you this morning, Lord, for your words. We thank you, Jesus, for speaking to us about the importance of your Law. We ask Holy Spirit that you would come, in. That you would be stirring our hearts. That you would move us to a place where we would not only see, but also experience the joy that comes from being obedient to the Law of God. The joy that comes from teaching others to be obedient to the Law of God. We ask for your guidance, your blessings, your protection over us. Holy Spirit, go before us as we leave here. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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