I invite you to turn with me once again to our Lord's Sermon on the Mount as it is called, Matthew chapter 5. This morning reading, beginning at verse 13, the portion again, talking about the salt and the light. Reading through verse 20, verses 17 through verse 20 for our consideration this morning. Matthew 5, beginning at verse 13, as we hear now the Word of God. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. 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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. May God bless the reading and consideration of His Word and stamp its truths upon our hearts. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, He had finished His introduction to His Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus introduced the kingdom's citizen. And He explained in the Beatitudes, as we know, He explained the heart character of what that heart character of the citizen looks like. And it's clear from our consideration of the Beatitudes, it's clear that one is not a citizen of Christ's kingdom because of their own good character. As Jesus says, they are poor in spirit. God's people understand the truth of themselves all too clearly, having been illumined by the Holy Spirit, understanding that we are absolutely worthless in and of ourselves and worthless in His sight in and of ourselves. One is not a citizen because of their own good character, but one is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven because of God's blessing. Blessed are. Blessed is, as Jesus says. One is a citizen because of God's grace. And our Lord, as we know, had reminded His hearers that kingdom citizens then, that character, will be seen. It is visible. It will be noticed and not always necessarily in a favorable way. Persecution for righteousness' sake, persecution for Jesus' sake may very well come. And Jesus also teaches that the good deeds of God's people are to be seen. In the same way, let your light shine before men and that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Notice that there are to be. There will be good deeds from God's people. And now, our Lord begins the body of His sermon in which Jesus lays out what those good deeds look like as Jesus teaches the standard for kingdom living. The standard for living as a believer. And that standard, very simply, is righteousness. Righteousness that is to be according to the Word of God, according to the law of God. Now the body of this sermon begins in verse 17, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law of the prophets. And that body, we might say, ends in chapter 7, verse 12, So in everything, Jesus says, Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets. The law and the prophets are the bookends for the body of our Lord's Sermon. And notice the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, is governed by the law of God. Yet, before Jesus gives specific examples of how kingdom righteousness looks, how it is to be practiced, before He explains the truth and the substance of that law as He looks at various commandments specifically, before He does that, here in this text, we might say He sets the record straight. He sets the record straight about Himself and the law. And He sets the record straight about the dangerous teaching and practice of the law that the people had been getting. Jesus teaches the standard for kingdom living, first of all, through His harmony with the Old Testament law. Teaching that he was in harmony with that law. Teaching that in the midst of a challenge. Verse 17 begins again, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. Do not conclude that. Do not come to that sense. Now, why would they think that? Why would they come to that conclusion? There was a challenge, you see, we might say, led by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. We know from the teaching of the Gospel writers that there was no loving relationship on the part of the religious leaders of that day toward Jesus. None whatsoever. We know that throughout His ministry, Jesus exposed their hypocrisy. He exposed clearly the sad truth of their hearts on many occasions. A challenge is led by the leaders of the law against Jesus' teaching and practices. He preached the doctrines of grace and the love of God, already seen in the Beatitudes also, which come to expression, we might say, later on with the parable of the prodigal son, for example. Jesus' teaching really was whoever believes, not works, but whoever believes will be saved. Jesus socialized with sinners, with prostitutes and tax collectors. And from what they observed, instead of upholding the law, this man seemed to deliberately break the law through contact with the dead. Yes, he brought them back to life, but yet there was to be no contact with the dead. And his disciples did not fast like the rest of these men did. Or for violating the Sabbath day. Again, the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath day or Jesus healing on the Sabbath day. These are all things we know that took place and caused this confrontation throughout his ministry. And some of these things had already been taking place by this time. And therefore, the logical conclusion on the part of the religious leaders is that this man, even though he speaks as one having authority about God, he's not in our tradition. He is not holding to the Holy Scriptures the way that we understand them. Certainly then, his intention must be to abolish the law and the prophets. Talking about the Old Testament Scriptures. Now, to abolish can mean to destroy, to put an end to. Here, I believe it means to make it invalid. To do away with it. To make it be something that is no longer for us. Yet the truth, as Jesus says, is the very opposite. Jesus teaches the standard for kingdom living by confirming the law's validity. By supporting the law of God and the Old Testament Scriptures. Confirming its validity in Him. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law of the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Now the law includes, it's not limited to, it includes but it's not limited to what we call the moral law, the Ten Commandments. But it is talking here about the entire law of God through Moses, what we call the moral law, the civil law for the nation, as well as the ceremonial law, the laws governing Israel's religious life. And we know as far as the prophets themselves, they taught, they interpreted, and they applied the law of God, and they foretold the coming of the Messiah. But again, here Jesus is talking about the Old Testament Scriptures. He came to fulfill them. And with this word fulfill, we might think that simply that Jesus came to keep the law perfectly in our place, which is absolutely true. And it's absolutely included. But it's much more than that. The idea of fulfill here is to give a vessel, let's say a bucket or even a cup, To give that bucket or cup which is completely or partially empty and to give it its appropriate content. That's what fulfill means here. To give a vessel its appropriate content. The law pointed forward to. It prophesied of Jesus Christ. The one that we needed to fulfill its righteousness. To give full obedience to it. And the One to whom all the sacrifices, all the ceremonies, the entire ceremonial law pointed to who would fulfill their purpose. And the prophets indeed pointed to the Messiah sometimes very specifically. Isaiah speaks of the child to be born, the Son to be given. Another one of the prophets says He's going to come from Bethlehem. Isaiah points out specifically the suffering that He would endure. We see the prophecy of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament. Many of the Psalms pointing to the Messiah. And the bottom line, beloved, is Jesus is saying here, I am the content of the Old Testament. I am the One that the Law and the Prophets was talking about. I am the One that you should be looking for. I am the One. Jesus is the direction to which the Law and the Prophets pointed. These, the Law and the Prophets, very much have a crucial place in Christ's kingdom because if not for the Law and the Prophets pointing forward to the Messiah, if not for Jesus Christ come to fulfill them, He would be nothing more than a liar and we would not be able to be kingdom citizens. We would have no hope. Indeed, He did not come to make them invalid. He does not now say, don't worry about them. They're not for you. Instead, Jesus makes clear that the law's validity extends throughout history. Verse 18, I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. Until heaven and earth disappear. Talking about the end of time as we know it. And we know that there are some who say that the Old Testament is not relevant today. That the Old Testament is not for us today. We live in the New Testament era and we don't have to worry about the Old Testament. In fact, we don't even have to worry about the law of God. Jesus says wrong. In essence, He says, I am the thread. I am the thread that runs throughout the history of Revelation, throughout the Old Testament and the New. I am the one who binds the two together. As one of the early church fathers said, if I can get it right, the new is in the old concealed. The old is in the new revealed. Now we hear this passage and we often hear it as some of the other translations say, not one jot or tittle will disappear. Now a jot, very simply as the NIV translates it, is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The smallest vowel point. We might equate it simply to the dot above our small i. And a tittle, as the NIV translates it, is the smallest stroke of a pen that distinguishes one letter from another. In the Hebrew alphabet, some of the letters look very, very close. In fact, I think in most of your pew Bibles, if you look up Psalm 119, Psalm 119 is divided into sections, you know, and before each section there is a Hebrew letter. Some Bibles just have the transliteration of the sound of that letter. But I notice in the Bible up here in front of me, including my Bible, it has the actual Hebrew letter. And if you have a Bible with those Hebrew letters and you look at the one that's right before verse 9 and compare it with the one right before verse 81, you see how close they look and they're just distinguished by a little stroke of the pen, as we might say. A little tail. A little bit of difference. Or think of our capital P versus our capital R and we might say that the leg coming off of the capital R is that stroke of a pen. Now, this is important, beloved, because even the smallest change in a letter can change an entire word and can change an entire meaning. And Jesus says that will not happen with the Old Testament Scriptures. That will not happen with the Word of God, period. Not any part of it will disappear. Not any of it will be changed. Everything that God had said in the Old Testament, He intended to say. And everything that He has said, He means for this entire age. There is nothing in God's law that is unimportant. There is nothing that has been put there at random. There is nothing new that will be added that Christ has not already fulfilled for your salvation and mine. Nothing new that will need to be added for you and me. And everything that has been foretold in the Old Testament will have been carried out in full when Jesus Christ comes again. We know, beloved, that so much has been fulfilled with Christ's first coming. His incarnation, His crucifixion and death, His work of atonement, His resurrection, His ascension. So much has been fulfilled with Christ's first coming and His fulfilled work will be eternal. There is no expiration date on the effectiveness of His sacrifice of atonement. It is good for all who come to Him in repentance and faith until heaven and earth pass away. Until those things pass away and all is fulfilled. Until God's plan is completely unfolded, Jesus shows His harmony with the Old Testament law also by calling for the law's keeping. Verse 19, Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Not one part of it is unimportant. The scribes and the Pharisees taught that keeping the law of God, obedience to the law of God, was essential. It was necessary. Yet the rabbis debated about which commandment was more important and which was less important. which ones we could slide by if they wanted to. Now really, Jesus agrees with keeping the law of God. That it is essential. That it is necessary. All of it, He says. It is the standard of righteousness. It is the standard for the good works of the kingdom citizen living into the kingdom. and He is preparing to teach its truest and deepest meaning. Yet, why is it essential? Why is it necessary? You see, the truth of the law's necessity in Christ is radically different than its necessity according to the scribes and the Pharisees. The reason for keeping the law of God being obedient to it in Christ is radically different than the reason that the scribes and the Pharisees gave for keeping it. And therefore, Jesus teaches the standard for kingdom living also in the second place through His disharmony with the Old Testament law leaders. They both claim the Old Testament Scriptures. But Jesus makes it very clear there's a disconnect. There's a disharmony. And he shows his disharmony by condemning their righteousness. Verse 20, For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. That unless your righteousness surpasses that, he condemns their righteousness, even though they were in that day a picture of righteousness to the people. These guys were experts in the law. They taught and they showed the people how to live. No one was as good as them. The average man on the street hoped that what was in store for him is what he was sure that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law enjoyed, that certainly they were in the kingdom. But Jesus says some powerful words here. He says they are not in the kingdom. They are not in the kingdom. Because their righteousness is insufficient. Their righteousness is inadequate. Their righteousness leads nowhere. In essence, Jesus says, they are the true abolishers of that very law that they claim to keep. They abolish the law of God by their faulty interpretation. They twisted it. One example is that, you remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple, the Pharisee says, I fast twice a week. Why? The Old Testament didn't call for fasting twice a week. It called for fasting one time per year according to the ceremonial laws. They were changing the jots and the tittles. They abolished the law by adding man-made requests. The rabbis, you see, divided the law into 613 commands. It's quite a checklist. 248 positive, 365 negative. But Jesus says they burdened the people. They put an unbearable yoke upon the people in a way that was not commanded, not intended by God. They abolished the law, beloved, by teaching the people, this is how to get into the kingdom. This is how to get into heaven. This is how to make yourself favorable to God. This is how to get saved. You can earn it. Just obey. They invalidated God's law and made their own. We know that their righteousness was an external righteousness. It was not from the heart. It was not from a transformed heart by the Holy Spirit, a heart filled with true faith. Jesus calls them hypocrites. The outside looked good. The inside was filthy. They desired the praise of men. They wanted to be noticed. They cared only about how they looked on the outside. They decided in debating which laws were more important, less important, They decided which laws they could break in order to fit their advantage. They twisted it to fit their desires according to what would be convenient for them. Today, we might say that they would be those who are first in church because they want to be seen by everybody, but they live with hatred and envy in their heart. They think that God hears them even though they are not willing to speak to a fellow believer. They think that God is pleased with them even though they are not willing to honor their parents. They are those who make sure that they go to church on Sunday morning to check it off my list, but the rest of the day is up to me to do with whatever I want. God has no part of it. They are those who somehow rationalize their sin to their advantage. Again, looking for loopholes in order to justify divorce or to not pay debts or even in our day homosexuality, huh? They are those who are good at seeing the speck in their neighbor's eye, but not the log in their own eye. Very simply, the righteousness of the Pharisees did not include Jesus Christ. It was not from a transformed heart. It did not include faith in Him alone and His saving work, trusting in Him alone for their righteousness before God. It did not include Jesus Christ. This One who shows His disharmony with them by condemning their righteousness, but also by displaying His righteousness. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, we need to understand here, beloved, that Jesus does call for obedience. Throughout this text, He calls for obedience to the law of God, to the Word of God. He calls for righteousness. Just like the Pharisees called for obedience. Only an obedience without the Pharisees' distortion, as we've already talked about. It was to surpass them, to go beyond them. It calls for a heart of faith. It calls for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ who fulfilled the law, as He said, He came to do. He was born under the law. He gave absolute perfect obedience to it. He suffered on the cross the penalty for our breaking of it. On the cross, that cross, beloved, was a demonstration of how serious God takes His law. Of how much God loves His law. Of how serious God takes His Word. Through His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the Old Testament ceremonies and sacrifices. And we too, by faith in Him, He fulfilled the law for us, for you, and for me. He kept it perfectly in our place. And we are credited, as we know, with His perfect obedience. By faith in Jesus Christ alone, we have been made right with God. We have been brought into His kingdom. We have become citizens of that kingdom only by His righteousness. But you see, His grace doesn't end there, praise God. His grace doesn't end there. Those He justifies in His grace, He also sanctifies. He pours out His grace of sanctification. Those to whom He has given a new life by His Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives God's people a love for God's law and a hunger and thirst for righteousness and the power to live by it. The righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law is not a righteousness that is trying to earn God's favor, not in any way. It is obedience from the heart which Jesus is going to explain. By the Holy Spirit, one is brought into a saving relationship with Christ by faith and embraces Jesus Christ and all His benefits, recognizing that nothing in My hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. That righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees flows from love for God and a desire to please Him and enjoying it, loving to do so. The obedience of the scribes and Pharisees was meaningless. It was empty. It was worthless. It was a dead-end road. right to hell. But the obedience of kingdom citizens points to Jesus Christ. It points to His righteousness for me. It imitates Him. Christ's standard for kingdom living is obedience to the law that He fulfilled for you and me. You see, true believers are not legalists. Those who believe that we are saved by keeping the law. nor are true believers antinomians, which simply means no law, living as if the law has no place in our lives. Jesus teaches that proof of having truly received the grace of God in Him is living a righteous life, guided by the law of God. That law is like railroad tracks to guide the believer's life that is empowered by the Holy Spirit through faith. Jesus says, if you love Me, If you have confidence in Me that I am the only Savior sufficient for you, if you believe in Me, you will keep My commandments. Kingdom citizens, beloved, we love God's law because it no longer comes with a curse. But it comes in the context of God's saving grace that points to the One who kept it and guides us our whole life in offering thankful obedience to Him. And therefore, kingdom citizens consciously examine our thoughts and our motives and our actions, always measuring them against the Word of God, those railroad tracks and His law of love. Our eternal hope is in Jesus Christ alone. He fulfilled all of God's requirements for you and me. There's not one left. It's all done. In Him we are and forever will remain kingdom citizens whose delight is in the law of the Lord, which is pleasing to Him. Dear people of God, the Christian life, kingdom life, is a conscious life. A life conscious of Christ's perfect work for me. And a life conscious of my response of a grateful life for Him. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, may we be a people who delight in Your holiness. Who delight in You. Grateful for all that You have done for Your people in Christ Jesus for such a great salvation. Grateful that You care about how we live this life before Your face and before the eyes of a watching world. Grateful, Lord, that You have loved us enough to show us, to lead us, to equip us, to guide us, to empower us to that end. Grateful that You convict us of our sin when we fall short of Your glory. And also grateful of the blessed assurance of Your pardoning grace in Christ Jesus alone. Father, lead us by Your Holy Spirit. Indeed, as the world looks at Your church as Your people, may they see a people loved by God and a people who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear our prayer, Father, for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen.