Latest / CCC West Covina / The Law of God, Part 3

Transcript

The Law of God, Part 3 · CCC West Covina

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Lord, thank you for tonight. We are grateful for a chance to
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be here. Thank you for your word.
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Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity we have to study it
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together. We are a blessed people and so
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we just pray that you'd open our hearts and minds tonight to see
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the beauty of our Lord in Jesus name, Amen.
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All right, if you get your Bible, Matthew chapter 5,
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Matthew chapter 5, and we are looking at what Christ's view of
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Scripture and the law really is. So I'm going to begin this way.
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Whatever Christ says about the law, whatever His view on the
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law is, should be the same as our view on the law.
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We don't want to have an opposing view of the law that
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opposes Christ's view of the law that He gave.
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And so Matthew 5 verses 17 to 20 gives us His view on the law.
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Now this is very important. Why?
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Because Christ, whatever you understand about verses 17 to
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20, will set the tone for the rest of the sermon.
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So if you miss what happens here and what he says here, you'll
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play catch up throughout the rest of the sermon because
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everything about what Christ believes concerning the word of
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God, He's going to tell us. We've already looked at the
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brilliance of the law. We spent time in Psalm 19, Psalm
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119, looking at the excellence and the magnificence of the law.
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But tonight we're going to look at the importance of the law,
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the endurance of the law, and then the relevance of the law.
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Let me read it to you, Matthew 5, verse 17.
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Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets.
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I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
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For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not
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the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law, until
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all is accomplished. Whoever then knows one of the
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least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same,
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shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
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But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great
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in the Kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless
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your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and
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Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven on Sunday.
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I quoted to you Proverbs 29 verse #18 which says that
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without a vision the people perish.
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The literal translation is that without a revelation, the people
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are unrestrained. They're out of control.
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In other words, vision comes from the revelation of God.
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What does God say that gives you an accurate view of life?
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But without the revelation of God, the people are
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unrestrained, because the revelation of God is filled with
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nothing but absolutes. It's the truth.
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It's the only truth. And without that truth you don't
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have parameters. Without that truth, you have no
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guidelines. Without that truth, you have no
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direction. Without that truth, you really
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have nothing. So Solomon makes it very clear
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that without a revelation the people are out of control.
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They don't know what to say, they don't know what to do, they
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don't know where to go. And then he says, But happy is
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the man who keeps the law. The blessed man is the one who
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keeps the law, who practices the law, who lives the law.
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Now, having said that, turn to Proverbs chapter 13.
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Proverbs 13 verse #13 Solomon says this.
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The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, but the
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one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
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This verse is a summation of Matthew 517 to 20.
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This verse is very, very important.
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Psalmist says he who despises the word, he who looks down upon
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the word, he who has nothing but disgust or disregard or who
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wants to disobey the word, will be in debt to it, will be held
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accountable to it, will be destroyed or disciplined by it.
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So if you despise the word of God, if you look down upon the
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word of God, treat it as if it means nothing, you will be
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disciplined by the word of God, because you are in debt to the
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authority of the truth of the revelation of God.
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But then he says, But the one who fears the commandment, that
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man will be rewarded. The one who reveres the
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commandment, the one who respects the commandment,
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receives the reward. But the one who despises the
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commandment, who disregards the commandment, will be disciplined
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or destroyed by that word. Having said that, Solomon says
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in Proverbs 29 verse #1 these words, A man who hardens his
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neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond
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remedy. He hards his neck after much
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reproof. How does one receive reproof?
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Well, the Bible says that all Scripture is inspired by God and
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it's profitable for doctrine and reproof.
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In other words, Scripture is that which reproves you.
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Scripture is that which turns your life around, that calls you
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into account. But he who hardens his neck, who
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stiffens his neck, who becomes very calloused and cold in heart
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after much reproof, will be broken beyond remedy.
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Let me illustrate that for you by having you turn to the last
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book of the Hebrew Bible. That's not Malachi.
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The last book of the Hebrew Bible is the book of Second
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Chronicles. So turn to second chronicles
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chapter 36. The Hebrew Bible ends with the
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destruction of the temple on the temple mount.
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So in the Hebrew Bible second chronicles 36 is the last book,
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the last chapter in their Bible. OK, this is the illustration of
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Proverbs 1313 and Proverbs 29 verse #1 The one who would
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despise the word of God, the one who would disregard the word of
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God, after much reproof will be broken beyond the remedy.
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Bible says the verse 11, The Second Chronicles 36.
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Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned
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11 years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the
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Lord his God. He did not humble himself before
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Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord.
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He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him
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swear allegiance by God, but he stiffened his neck and he
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hardened his heart. That's Proverbs 29 verse #1
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against turning to the Lord God of Israel.
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Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people
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were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the
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nations, and they defiled the House of the Lord, which He had
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sanctified in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their
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Father, sent word to them again and again by His messengers,
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because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling
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place. But they continually mocked the
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messengers of God and despised His Word.
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The one who despises the Word Proverbs 13 will be in debt to
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it. And they scoffed at His prophets
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until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until
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there was no remedy. Proverbs 29 verse #1 So there
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was this constant compassion by God to send forth his
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messengers, to send forth his prophets, to speak the truth, to
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speak the Word, to give the revelation of God, so that man
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would turn from his sin. But Zedekiah and others stiffen,
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their neck harden. Their hearts became very
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calloused to the revelation of God, so much so they would
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despise the Word of God. Thus they became indebted to the
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Word of God and therefore were broken beyond remedy.
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It is so important to realize that God's Word is everything.
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God's Word is absolute truth and our response to that is crucial.
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Your response to that is crucial.
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My response to that is crucial. When you hear it preached, when
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you hear it taught, when you hear it given to you, what is
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your response? Do you Revere it?
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Do you respect it? Because if you do, Solomon says
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you will be rewarded. But but if you despise it, if
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you disregard it, you will be in debt to it, you will be
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disciplined by it, you will be destroyed by it.
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So the question comes, what is your response to the word of
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God, especially when you recognize and understand what
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Christ says about his very own words?
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What is Christ's view of his law?
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That should be our view of the law.
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What is Christ's view of his word?
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How does he see it? So last week we talked to you
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about the brilliance of the law that for for two weeks we talked
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about that, but we just scratched the surface, the tip
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of the iceberg when it comes to the magnificence and the
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excellence and the brilliance of the law of God, because it's
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everything. It is your life.
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Tonight we want to move on to the importance of that law, the
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endurance of that law, and the relevance of that law.
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So let's begin with the importance in Matthew 5 verse
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#17 which says these words do not think, stop right there, do
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not think doesn't mean you're not supposed to think.
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But he says, do not think that I came to abolish the law of the
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prophets. Why would he say that?
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Because that's what they were thinking.
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That's what they were thinking. Don't you think God knows what
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you're thinking? Of course he does.
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I love that because I don't need to know what you're thinking.
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But God already knows what you're thinking at this very
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moment. He knows that some of you are
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thinking about what's for dinner after Bible study.
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Some of you are already thinking about tomorrow when the Bible
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says take no thought about tomorrow, but you're thinking
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about it anyway. But God knows that, right?
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God knows everything. And so he knows they're thinking
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about what he has just said and what he's going to say.
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Why would they be thinking that? Because never a man spoke like
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this man spoke. Here is Jesus, and Jesus never
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once quoted A rabbi, never once quoted A scribe.
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He would speak as if he was the authoritative one, which of
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course he is. And they didn't know what he
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believed about the law. They didn't know if he was anti
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law, anti Moses. They didn't know if he was anti
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Israel. They didn't know what kind of
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prophet he was, because when he spoke, he didn't speak like
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anybody else spoke. In fact, he was a different kind
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of man all together. He didn't even hang out with the
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religious establishment. He hung out with the riffraff,
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hung out with the prostitutes, tax gatherers, sinners.
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So he didn't even hang out with the religious elite, the
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Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees.
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He was a different kind of man altogether.
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So he comes and he begins to preach on the north slopes of
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the Sea of Galilee. And as he's preaching, he's
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saying he's saying things they've never heard before.
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He begins with blessing, and they all want to be blessed, but
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the way he says it and how he couches blessing is completely
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different than what they've ever heard before.
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So they're thinking, who is this guy?
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Where is he from? Does he really believe in the in
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the law of the Old Testament? Because all they had was the Old
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Testament. They didn't have a New
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Testament, wasn't written yet. So all they had was the 39 books
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of the Old Testament. So they're thinking what, what
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does he think about the law? What's he think about Moses?
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What's he think about the Pentateuch?
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Because when he speaks, he speaks completely different than
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anybody they've ever heard before.
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So he's already gone through the Beatitudes.
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He's talked to them about salt and light.
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And before he gets into really him hammering them about what
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they think they believe as opposed to what God says they
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should believe, He wants to let them know that I didn't come to
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abolish the law of the Prophets. No, no, I've come to fulfill
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everything. Now in His fulfilling
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everything, He is the embodiment of the Old Testament.
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Sometimes we forget this. Did he fulfill it by what He
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said? Yes.
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Did he fulfill it prophetically? Yes.
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Did he fulfill the promises? Yes.
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But He is the fulfillment of everything in the Old Testament.
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So the the importance of the law is seen.
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Number one is that it was established by God himself.
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Remember back in in the Exodus chapter 20, when he gave the 10
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commandments, it says then God spoke all these words.
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The law of God is established by God.
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These are his words. This is what he wants to
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communicate. So when he talks about
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fulfilling the law, he he is not talking about the rabbinical
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tradition, he's not talking about the the oral scribal
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tradition. He is speaking about his very
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words in fact, over in in Matthew chapter 15 he says this
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verse 3. Why do you yourselves transgress
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the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition.
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You see the the Pharisees and the scribes realize that they
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were unable to keep the law of God.
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So they they came up with man made traditions and man made
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rituals and man made commandments that would allow
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them to keep certain portions of the law.
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That made them feel good about themselves because they could
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dilute the law and make it applicable to their own lives so
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that they would feel good about themselves.
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And Christ always condemned them for that.
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Christ would speak against them because they had devalued His
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word. In fact, as Proverbs 1313 says,
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they despise the word. They disregarded the word.
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Now they are in debt to that word.
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They will be disciplined and destroyed by that word because
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they have degraded the authority of the law of God.
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But the man who fears the commandment, Oh no, he'll be
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rewarded. He'll be rewarded greatly.
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And so he addresses that and says, I'm not talking about the
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traditions of men. I'm talking about the law that I
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have authored. Now he says the law of the
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prophets, That phrase is used 12 times in the New Testament, and
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every time it's used, it refers to the Scriptures.
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It's a synonym for the Scriptures, a synonym for the
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word of God, a synonym for the law of God.
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In other words, he's speaking about the whole Testament, not
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just portions of the Old Testament, but the whole Old
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Testament. In fact, in the book of
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Deuteronomy, Let's do what Moses says.
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Moses says in chapter 30 verse #15 of Deuteronomy.
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See, I have set before you today life and prosperity and death
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and adversity, and that I command you today to love the
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Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His
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commandments and the statutes and His judgments, that you may
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live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in
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the land where you are entering to possess it.
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But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn
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away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you
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today that you shall surely perish.
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You will not prolong your days in the land where you are
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crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.
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I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I
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have set before you life and death, the blessing and the
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curse. So choose life in order that you
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may live, you and your descendants.
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How? By loving the Lord your God, by
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obeying his voice and by holding fast to him.
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For this is your life and the length of your days that you may
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live in the land which the Lord swore to your father's to
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Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them.
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So Moses is saying, look, these words that I have written, these
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words that I've spoken, these words that God's given to us,
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the, the first five books of the law, the Pentateuch, because
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that's what he had, he had written, says you, you keep
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these, you will live. If you disobey them, then you'll
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be destroyed, you'll perish again.
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Proverbs 1313, The one who despises the word will be in
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debt to it, but the one who who fears the commandment, who
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respects it and reveres it, they will be rewarded.
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So Solomon sums up in one word what Moses says in Deuteronomy
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30, what Christ says in Matthew chapter 5.
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Because everything is about the law of the living God.
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Remember the rich man in Lazarus, rich man was in Hades
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and he wanted someone to dip their finger in cold water just
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to touch his tongue because he was he was burning up, right?
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And he says, he says, send someone back to tell my
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brothers, because if someone comes back from the dead, my
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brothers will believe. And Abraham said they have Moses
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and the prophets. If they don't believe them, they
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will not believe the one be raised from the dead.
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No miracle ever saved anybody. It's only the message of the
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truth, the message of the revelation of God.
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It speaks to the power of the Word of God.
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If they don't believe what Moses said, if they don't believe what
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the law says, if they don't believe what the prophets have
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already said, if they don't believe that, then someone being
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raised from the dead makes no difference whatsoever, because
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the proof is in the authority and revelation of the law of
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God. Very, very important.
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And so this law was established by God himself.
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Now understand this, that there are three categories of the law
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in the Old Testament. There is the judicial law, the
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moral law, and the ceremonial law.
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So let me explain to you very simply how you distinguish
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between them all, OK. The judicial law deals with the
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identity of God's people. The moral law, the 10
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commandments deal with the purity of God's people, and the
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ceremonial law deals with the priority of God's people because
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that was how they were to worship.
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Make sense? The judicial law was given to
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define the identity of God's people.
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He gave them laws about what to wear.
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He gave them laws about what to eat.
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He gave them laws and how to cook what they eat.
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What? Because Israel was to be
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uniquely and distinctly separate from the world, and therefore He
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gave them they the judicial law or the civil laws.
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Then He gave them ceremonial laws to govern how they
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worshipped right? This was their priority.
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Their priority was always to worship their God.
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They should have no other gods before them.
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They were always one that when you go into the land, you don't
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worship their gods, you don't serve their gods, you serve your
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God. This is your priority.
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Then he gave them the moral law, the 10 Commandments, because
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that was the focus of their purity, their holiness.
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Why? Because the 10 Commandments are
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the reflection of the personality and the purity and
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the holiness of God. They are, and so He wants them
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to be as holy as He Himself is holy.
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So the moral law identifies the purity of the people of God.
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Now listen, the moral law was the backing behind the judicial
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law and the ceremonial law. Because the moral law defined
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for us the character of God, and the judicial law was given and
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the ceremonial law was given to keep and to help Israel stay
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focused on the moral law. Because he is so pure and so
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holy, I want to worship only him, honor only Him.
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Because he is so pure and so holy, I want to only identify
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with him and no one else. That makes sense.
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So Christ says don't think, because I know you're thinking
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this, don't think that I came to abolish the law of the prophets.
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Oh no, On the contrary, I came to fulfill all of that.
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I came to fulfill the judicial law, the ceremonial law.
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I came to fulfill the moral law. And he did, because everything
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about the Old Testament is all about Christ the Redeemer, the
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Deliverer. And so not only was was the law
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established by God, but it was enforced by the prophets.
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They were always calling the people back to God.
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They were always telling them, listen, you got to live a holy
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life. Listen, you got to worship the
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the one true God. You have to identify with the
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one true God. And so the prophets were always
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given, like we read in Second Chronicles 36, God's compassion
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sent messenger, sent prophet after prophet, messenger after
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messenger to say, listen, you need to turn back to God because
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that's what the prophets did. They called people to repentance
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and they would tell them if you obey, you will live.
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If you disobey, you will die. In fact, listen to what Isaiah
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says. Isaiah chapter one verse #18
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Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.
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Though your sins are a scarlet, they will be as white as snow.
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Though they are red like Crimson, they will be like wool.
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If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land.
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But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.
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Proverbs 1313 If you despise the word, you'll be destroyed by it.
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But if you fear the commandment and respect it, you'll be
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rewarded. And then he says, Truly the
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mouth of the Lord has spoken. That's why the prophets would
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say, Thus sayeth the Lord, The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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The word of the Lord came to me and said, Why?
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Because they were the mouthpiece of God to the people.
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And so that which was established by God was enforced
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by the prophets, and that which was enforced by the prophets was
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endorsed by Christ. I came to fulfill the law five
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times in the New Testament. It speaks of Christ's fulfilment
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of the Law, because the Law was all about Him.
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Remember we read this last week over in Luke's Gospel, the 24th
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chapter. Christ says, O foolish men, and
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slow of heart, to believe in all, not some all that the
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prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the
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Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory?
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Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he
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explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the
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Scripture. Not some of the Scripture, but
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all the Scripture He reiterates in verse 44.
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He says, These are my words which I spoke to you while I was
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still with you, that all things which are written about me in
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the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be
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fulfilled. All that was written about me.
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Why? Because everything in the Old
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Testament was all about the Christ.
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That's why in John 5 verse #39 and we'll get there in a couple
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of months. But in John chapter 5 verse #39
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he says what you search the Scriptures for, and then you
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think you have eternal life. But these are they which speak
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of me. In other words, here you are
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students of the Bible, and you're looking to find eternal
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life, and yet you miss me. How do you miss me?
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The author of life? But they did, you see, they
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missed the Messiah. They missed the Christ because
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He is everything. There was an anonymous poem
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which was written years ago about how Jesus Christ is the
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theme of the Bible. This is what it says.
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I find my Lord in the Bible wherever I chance to look.
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He is the name of the Bible, the center and heart of the Book.
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He is the Rose of Sharon. He is the Lily Fair.
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Wherever I open my Bible, the Lord of the Book is there.
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He, at the books beginning, gave to the earth its form.
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He is the ark of shelter, bearing the brunt of the storm,
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the burning Bush of the desert, the budding of Aaron's rod.
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Wherever I look in the Bible, I see the Son of God, the ram upon
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Mount Moriah, the ladder from earth to sky, the scarlet cord
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in the window and the serpent lifted high, the smitten rocked
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in the desert, the shepherd with staff and crook.
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The face of my Lord, I discover wherever I open the book.
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He is a seat of the woman, the Savior, Virgin born.
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He is a son of David, who men rejected with scorn his garments
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of grace and a beauty, the stately Aaron Deck.
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Yet he is a priest forever, for he is Melchizedek, Lord of
30:22
eternal glory, whom John the Apostle saw light of the golden
30:26
city. Lamb without spot or flaw.
30:30
Bridegroom coming to midnight, for whom the virgins look.
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Wherever I open my Bible, I find my Lord in the book.
30:44
I wonder what you find when you open your Bible?
30:49
You see, because it's all about the Christ.
30:53
It's all about the Lord. He wants you to know Him.
30:57
In fact, He wants you to know Him so, so strongly that He put
31:03
into print His very words that describe Him completely.
31:11
And yet. And yet, we find ourselves so
31:14
busy doing other things, so occupied with frivolous things,
31:22
so preoccupied with things that really don't even matter,
31:27
instead of spending time studying the truth of the Word
31:33
of God. And then we wonder why our lives
31:36
are so meaningless. We wonder why our lives are so
31:40
fruitless. We wonder why our lives are just
31:44
as depressed and discouraged as possible, why our lives do not
31:48
flourish. It's because we don't know our
31:52
God. Because Daniel said in Daniel
31:56
1132 that those who know their God display strength and take
32:05
and do great exploits. Those who know their God display
32:11
strength and do great exploits, meaning that those who don't
32:18
know their God are unable to display any kind of strength,
32:24
nor are they able to do great exploits for God.
32:28
Very, very important to understand that.
32:31
So Christ says this is the importance of the law.
32:36
Don't think that I can do abolish it, throw it away,
32:39
nullify it, treat it as if it doesn't matter.
32:42
Oh, no, Oh no, I wrote it. I established the law of God.
32:49
The prophets endorsed the law of God or enforced it.
32:54
I'm here to endorse it. I'm here to fulfill it in every
32:59
single detail. And he did.
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And when the and when the ceremonial law was fulfilled,
33:04
the the veil in the temple was torn in two, because access to
33:07
the holy of Holies was now, was now given to all men.
33:10
And all the all the rituals and all the ceremonies and all the
33:14
the symbols and all the pictures were all fulfilled in who
33:18
Christ, right? And now we have actual access
33:23
into his presence that had been barred from common man for
33:28
centuries. He abolished, he abolished
33:34
death. He abolished Satan's power over
33:39
you. But he didn't abolish the law.
33:43
He came to fulfill the law. He came to show that I am the
33:48
fulfillment of all that was said.
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Every prophecy, every promise is rooted and Sinner than me.
33:56
I've come to fulfill all that. That's why he can speak with
33:59
such great authority, because he embodied the law.
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Now think about this for a second.
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Even though Christ fulfilled ceremonial law, which was a
34:16
priority of God's people, note that the priority of God's
34:22
people today is still to worship God and why we don't OfferUp the
34:28
blood of bulls and goats for sacrifice.
34:33
We present our bodies a living sacrifice, which is your
34:39
reasonable worship, your logical form of worship.
34:46
So even though he came to fulfill all ceremonial law,
34:52
don't think that we are not to worship by presenting our bodies
34:57
of living sacrifices to our God, because we want to worship Him
35:03
for who he is. And even though he came to
35:06
fulfill all judicial law, which were the guidelines and
35:11
governances by which Israel would would dress and diet and
35:15
and act and live to identify them as the people of God.
35:20
It doesn't mean it doesn't mean that we don't have certain
35:25
aspects about our lives as Christians that identify us as
35:29
the people of God. For even though he's not giving
35:31
us any rules on our dress or diet, he says this in 1st
35:35
Corinthians 1031. Whatever you do, whether you eat
35:39
or whether you drink, you do all to the glory of God.
35:43
Now he gave us no law on how to eat or what to drink, but he
35:48
says that when you do eat and you do drink, picking the most
35:51
mundane thing that we can ever do, eating and drinking, do all
35:56
to the glory of God. Why?
35:57
Because you need to identify yourself as the people of God.
36:02
Israel was God's chosen nation. We now as a church are God's
36:06
chosen people. We are a holy nation.
36:09
We are a royal priesthood, and therefore our identity is
36:14
wrapped up in our relationship with the living God.
36:17
Our priority is wrapped up in our relationship with the living
36:20
God because our purity and holiness is wrapped up in our
36:24
relationship with the living God.
36:26
He embodied the moral law of God.
36:29
He lived a perfect, sinless life.
36:33
So Christ says, don't even begin to think that I've come to
36:40
abolish the law. On the contrary, I've come to
36:44
raise the standard of the law. Because you see, you have
36:47
despised the law so much, you have downgraded the law so much.
36:51
You have, you have treated it as if it means nothing by
36:55
developing your own laws, thinking that you can keep them
36:59
and earn your way to heaven. Can't do that.
37:03
So I've come to lift the standard of the law.
37:05
That's why he would go into the next phrase.
37:07
You have heard that it was said by the ages of old you shall not
37:11
murder. And everybody in the crowd would
37:14
say Amen to that. We don't murder anybody.
37:17
Then Christ says, But I say unto you, if you hate your brother,
37:23
you are a murderer in your heart.
37:27
And they would be taken back. And then he would say, Oh, you
37:31
have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
37:35
And they would all say Amen to that.
37:37
We know we shouldn't be sleeping with somebody else's wife.
37:41
But then he says, But I say unto you, I say unto you, that if you
37:48
lust after a woman in your heart, you have already
37:54
committed adultery there, and they'd be taken back.
38:02
See, because the law of God is internal, not external, they had
38:10
relegated the law of God to everything on the external.
38:13
That's something they could do right, that everybody could see
38:19
and they could gain acceptance in everybody's eyes because they
38:21
could see them doing things. But the law of God is in the
38:24
heart of man that motivates him from the inside out to live for
38:28
the glory and honor of God. So Christ attacks the heart of a
38:32
man because he says, unless your righteousness succeeds, that of
38:37
the scribes of Pharisees, you're never going to enter the Kingdom
38:41
of heaven. Very, very important.
38:45
So Christ talks about the importance of the law.
38:50
They talk about the endurance of the law, the endurance of the
38:54
law. He says this in verse #18 For
38:58
truly I say to you, this is the statement, Until heaven and
39:01
earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall
39:04
pass in the law until all is accomplished.
39:07
Truly, truly I say unto you, Amen.
39:09
Amen. Absolutely, I say unto you.
39:13
Now that phrase is used 76 times at the beginning of a sentence
39:17
and 48 times at the end of a sentence.
39:22
All 76 times it's used at the beginning of the sentence.
39:26
It's Christ who is speaking. The other 48 times it's used at
39:31
the end of a sentence, it's not Christ who is speaking.
39:34
It's managed responding to what Christ has already said.
39:38
Very important to realize that. Why?
39:40
Because Christ says truly, truly, I say unto you,
39:43
absolutely, truly, I give to you.
39:46
I want you to know that at the very outset this is absolute
39:49
truth. He says very clearly these words
40:00
until heaven and earth. Pass away.
40:04
Not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law.
40:12
The span of time is until heaven on earth pass away.
40:14
Meaning they are going to pass away.
40:16
They do. They'll all be destroyed, every
40:19
one of them, all of them, all the heavens, the earth will all
40:24
pass away in a brief moment. Read about the second Peter
40:28
chapter 3, Revelation chapter 6, Revelation chapter 21 and 22.
40:33
There'll be a new heaven and a new earth, right?
40:36
But until that day, not one jot, not one title shall pass away,
40:41
not the smallest stroke of the pin.
40:43
He is going down to the finest detail of of the Hebrew letters.
40:50
OK, not one jot, not the smallest letter like an
40:54
apostrophe, not one tiddle. What's a tiddle?
40:57
A tiddle is is that 1 little aspect that that distinguishes
41:01
an H from an N or an E from an FF has 2 lines.
41:07
E has three lines, an H has a longer extended line, and an N
41:13
has a a smaller line. Not, not one of those will pass
41:17
away. Every jot, every title, the
41:19
smallest letter, the smallest little squiggly mark, all of it
41:25
is offered by me and it's all perfect.
41:29
And it will not pass away until heaven and earth passes away.
41:39
When that happens, you won't need the Word of God anymore,
41:42
because you will have a perfect life in a perfect place called
41:46
heaven, worshipping the perfect God of the universe.
41:50
But to that time, my Word stands as the absolute authority,
41:55
without error, without any kind of discrepancy, because I
42:00
authored it and the prophets enforced it.
42:05
When I came, I fulfilled it. I endorsed it all.
42:09
This is God's view of Scripture. And then he moves from that just
42:14
the importance of law and the endurance of law, but to the
42:16
relevance of the law. Listen to what he says.
42:19
This is so good. Verse 19.
42:22
Whoever then knows one of the least of these commandments and
42:25
teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the
42:28
Kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches
42:31
them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.
42:35
Wow, He gives us the guiding principle of Christian conduct.
42:45
It's the word of God, the truth. Now he who a knows, or he who
42:51
nullifies. Or take Proverbs 1313, he who
42:55
despises the word of the Lord, right and teaches others to
43:03
despise the word of the Lord or to a know the word of the Lord
43:07
shall be leased in the Kingdom of heaven.
43:11
Doesn't mean you're going to be ousted out of the Kingdom of
43:13
heaven. Not at all because you're in the
43:16
Kingdom of heaven verses verse 20, which talks about getting
43:22
into the Kingdom, but we'll get to that in a second.
43:25
But he says, look, you can't look at the word of God and say
43:31
this. This doesn't apply to me.
43:33
This is not for me, treating it as if it's not important for you
43:38
to live by. And certainly you can't teach
43:41
other people that. That's why James 31 is so
43:44
important, right? Don't many of you seek to be
43:46
teachers? For with it comes a stricter
43:50
condemnation, right? If you could do anything in the
43:54
church, rather than teach, do that because it doesn't come
43:59
with a strict condemnation. You got to realize that when you
44:02
begin to open the Word of God and teach people the truth of
44:04
the Word of God, there comes a high accountability.
44:10
It doesn't mean though, that you should not teach the Word of God
44:13
as a father to your children or as a mother to your children,
44:17
because you should. But it also comes with high
44:21
accountability. You should teach them the truth
44:24
of the Word of God. Why?
44:27
Because if you're not doing that, you are the least in the
44:31
Kingdom, you're the least blessed in the Kingdom, You are
44:36
used the less in the Kingdom. But if you teach and keep the
44:41
word of God and teach others to do the same, you're the greatest
44:45
in the Kingdom, you're the highest in the Kingdom, you are
44:48
the most blessed in the Kingdom. Because you have feared the
44:51
commandment, you have revered the commandment, you have
44:54
respected the commandment, and you will be rewarded.
44:56
Proverbs 1313 And God will reward you tremendously because
45:02
you've highly valued his law, his revelation, so much so that
45:09
you want to impart it to other people.
45:11
Whether you're proclaiming the gospel, whether you're growing
45:14
someone in their walk with the Lord, you're helping to follow
45:18
Christ. You've taken His word, held at
45:21
high value. Thy Word, O Lord, is magnified
45:24
even as Thy very name. Psalm 138 verse #2 You are
45:27
lifting His name on high by lifting His Word on high.
45:30
And when you do that, it says that God Himself is honored.
45:34
And he who wants me, I will honor.
45:37
There was a great reward for those who are the greatest in
45:39
God's Kingdom because they teach and keep the Word of God.
45:45
So the relevance of the Word of God is simply, it is the guiding
45:48
principle for Christian conduct, but also it's the glorious
45:53
prelude to Christian conversion. Look what he says in verse 20,
46:00
For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses
46:03
that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter
46:07
the Kingdom of heaven. In verse 19, he's talking about
46:10
people in the Kingdom. Now he's talking about people
46:14
that are outside the Kingdom. And this is a marvelous
46:19
statement. It is the theme verse of the
46:21
Sermon on the Mount. Everything centers around this
46:25
verse unless your righteousness exceeds that.
46:31
It describes the Pharisees and the people on the on the North
46:33
Shore of the Sea of Galilee are sitting there thinking, wait a
46:35
minute, how how's that ever going to happen?
46:37
They are the most holiest people we've ever met and they've told
46:42
us so and we believe them. How can we have a righteousness
46:47
that exceeds their righteousness?
46:49
They are the ones who are close to God.
46:51
They are the ones who interpret the word of God.
46:53
Those are the ones who have to show us God.
46:58
But their righteousness was one of self righteousness.
47:03
It wasn't God, Christ righteousness, the righteousness
47:08
was was a self-serving works based system.
47:15
In fact, remember over in Luke chapter 18 when it says this the
47:20
first number nine. He also told this parable to
47:22
some people who trusted in themselves that they were
47:25
righteous. That's the Pharisees and viewed
47:30
others with contempt. And he contrasts a a Pharisee
47:34
with with a tax collector. And it says that in verse 11,
47:40
the Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, wasn't
47:46
praying to God. He was praying thus to himself
47:51
because he was self-righteous. Whereas the tax gatherer
47:55
wouldn't Even so much as look up because he was so convicted of
48:03
his sinfulness. You see, we forget that the law
48:10
of God as stated by Paul in the book of Galatians, the law was
48:17
our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ that we might be
48:22
justified by faith. The law was never meant to show
48:29
you that you are righteous. The law was meant to show you
48:35
that you have no righteousness. You have no right to heaven.
48:41
It shows you your sin, how sinful you are.
48:46
That's why Christ goes on in verses 21 of following.
48:49
You have heard that it was said, but I say unto you, You've heard
48:51
that it was said, but I say unto you, I know that this is what
48:55
you've been taught, but you've been taught wrong.
48:57
I'm going to teach you that which is right and deals with
49:02
the heart of every individual there listening to the Sermon on
49:07
the Sermon on the Mount. How can one's righteousness
49:12
exceed that of the scribes and and Pharisees?
49:17
Paul said in Galatians chapter 2 verse #16 Knowing that a man is
49:21
not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in
49:24
Christ Jesus. Even we have believed in Christ
49:27
Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and
49:30
not by works of the law, since by the works of the law no flesh
49:34
will be justified. Other words, they were doing all
49:39
these things as Pharisees, were they?
49:41
They had minimized the commands of God and maximized the
49:45
tradition of man so they could do something that would please
49:49
themselves, make them feel good about themselves, that somehow
49:52
this will get me into heaven. It's the workspace system.
49:57
It's what every religious system is based on, human achievement
50:02
that somehow I can earn my way to heaven, that somehow God will
50:05
be pleased with the way I I behave and the way I speak and
50:08
the things I do. But Christ's righteousness is
50:15
accomplished by Christ. He does all the work.
50:20
You're justified by faith. You you believe in what he says.
50:25
Christ is that unless your righteousness exceeds that of
50:30
the self-righteous Pharisee, the works based Pharisee, you will
50:35
never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
50:38
It must be a righteousness not of your own doing.
50:42
It must be my righteousness. That's why he knew no sin became
50:46
sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in
50:51
him. It's Christ who did it, and so
50:55
he's presenting the gospel by helping them understand that you
50:58
can't get to heaven. You can't earn your way there.
51:01
You can't make it on your own. You can't devalue the word of
51:04
God and think that it's going to get you in heaven because you
51:08
can do enough good things, because you can't.
51:12
The standard is Matthew 548 be ye perfect for your Father in
51:17
heaven is perfect. That's the standard.
51:20
Nobody reaches that standard. You can't for all of sin and
51:25
fall short of the standard of God, the glory of God, the
51:29
perfection of God, the righteousness of God, all of
51:33
sinned and fallen short of that. But they refused to believe
51:38
that. And even when it was all said
51:42
and done, and Christ would show them their unrighteousness as
51:48
opposed to His righteousness, when Jesus had finished these
51:52
words, Matthew 728, the crowds were amazed at His teaching.
51:59
Amazed at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one having
52:03
authority and not as their scribes.
52:05
They were amazed, but nobody was converted, nobody came to saving
52:12
faith. Nobody believed the greatest
52:17
sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher.
52:19
Whoever lived saw zero converts. Wow.
52:29
Oh, they were amazed, but they were not convicted of their sin.
52:37
That astonishes me because when I read this, I am extremely
52:42
convicted about my sin. But I also realize that God's
52:50
law is everything. It's that which makes the man
52:57
who he needs to be. It's the inspired word of God.
53:02
My challenge to you and to me is that the book we hold in our
53:06
hand, we call the Bible, These 66 books, this law will never
53:12
pass away until heaven on earth pass away.
53:16
That's down the road a little bit, but to that time,
53:20
everything in this book speaks to us about the Christ,
53:27
identifies him to us, explains him to us, shows us that he is
53:33
the fulfilment of everything spoken in the Old Testament now
53:37
made manifest in the New Testament.
53:40
He is the God of truth, the God of the Book.
53:44
He can be counted on. He is faithful, He is true.
53:49
And I challenge those of you tonight who do not know the Lord
53:55
that there's no way you're going to make it to heaven on your
53:57
own. Can't do it.
53:59
It's not by works of righteousness, which we have
54:02
done. It's by the washing of
54:04
regeneration, by the renewing of the Spirit of God.
54:07
It's for a grace you save through faith that not of
54:09
yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of
54:12
works, lest any man should boast.
54:17
And so if you've never given your life to Christ, don't
54:21
despise His Word any longer. Don't disregard His Word any
54:26
longer. Don't disrespect His Word any
54:31
longer. Don't become disgusted with His
54:33
Word any longer because you will be in debt to that Word because
54:39
God has given Him the Word to judge every single man and woman
54:44
who lives. Instead, Revere the commandment,
54:50
respect the commandment, and you will be rewarded.
54:55
Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for
54:57
tonight. Thank you for this opportunity.
55:00
Lord, I pray that your word would speak to all of us and
55:05
that Lord, you would really challenge every one of us to
55:07
live for the glory of your name. Thank you for Your word.
55:11
Thank you for your view on the Word of God.
55:15
May we have that same view that we might truly follow and serve
55:20
the true and living God. We thank you Lord, in Jesus
55:23
name, Amen.