Well, I invite you to turn this morning to Matthew chapter 5 and telling you that I came into my study late last night. I don't want you to think that that is normal or that I can write sermons in just a few hours. That's not what happens. It was an extraordinary moment. So I really felt in light of the thought that we have been developing here in Matthew that it's important to continue with this thought the risk is is not is not being able to give full attention to all that is here and to think and meditate on it all week is what is required of writing a sermon but since we've developed it to this point i think you'll see that there's a flow of thought here that is very helpful and you see what jesus is doing after he moves from the beatitudes to describing his people of salt and light to now moving to the law of god the importance of the law of god and that's what we're going to consider today now is this is sort of the pre really the proper body of the sermon on the mount the beginning really of the sermon on the mount sort of proper here at verse 17 through 20 so that's our text this morning let's give our attention to it. 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 nor 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. And there we'll end the reading of God's word well this morning we may come to one of the most important sections of the bible for understanding what james calls true and undefiled religion pure and undefiled religion this is a very helpful section for thinking through that we've given a lot of thought have you given a lot of thought to whether our religion, our practice of the faith is pure and undefiled. That seems so maybe impossible when you hear that. What we have in front of us today is really the heart of the Christian faith. Christ is exposing a sweeping problem in the Gospels. A sort of panoptic view, if you will. A great hindrance to true and sincere religion. What is it? These are the major themes that he's laying out up front here as he's about to unpack in the Sermon on the Mount. So that's why I said this is sort of the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount proper, if you will, in terms of setting the course of what he is now going to do. So it's an introductory themes that are presented to us in verses 17 through 20. And I'm asking the question, what is the greatest hindrance to sincere and true religion? What is the greatest hindrance to being a true follower of Jesus? This is why there was so much conflict in the ministry of Jesus. And Jesus never backed away from it. He's very negative in this section, if you didn't catch that. He had no problem being critical of the Pharisees. He had no problem naming them. He is taking this head on. And I can't underestimate how important this little section is to the whole Sermon on the Mount because Jesus now is setting up the single great theme. It runs through the Gospel of Matthew of this book. But the single great theme in the Sermon on the Mount of what Jesus is addressing, And it is the hypocritical religion of the Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus, at the beginning of this Sermon on the Mount, is explaining for us righteousness. That concept of righteousness that was introduced back in chapter 3. What righteousness means. What is required of us. And that's what I'm considering. taking that major theme of righteousness which Jesus is addressing here and we're looking briefly this morning at three points it is this righteousness explained righteousness wanting and righteousness pursued let's look at that righteousness explained we just left a very important section in the in the beginning of the sermon on the mount where jesus spoke of us as being salt and light it's a beautiful section it's an encouraging section um salt as we looked at prevents the world's decay so when we when we and has sort of that negative function but when we speak the truth and we warn against sin and and we refuse to partake in in sinful actions though the world call that unloving though the world hates us for that you are actually preventing being an agent of preventing the world's decay and then he he described us as light in the world light gives light light light lights up the path that your word gives light to my path it shows people the way it shows people jesus it shows them it gives them the positive answer to the decay of the world it gives us the answer of what we need but in the midst of those two metaphors jesus said something rather shocking didn't he he said salt can lose its flavor and he said it's possible to put a lamp under a bowl who would do that and that's jesus's purpose here in verse 16 when he says what the christian life should be what the christian life should should look like is that that we should pursue and do good works so that our father in heaven might be glorified that's a remarkable statement have you ever read that statement thought yeah i don't see how that could be accomplished. Could really, through my good works in life, people glorify my Father in heaven? It seems like an absolute impossibility. That people are going to see my good works and actually do that? Be led to the Father? Well, the question is, is what is the hindrance to that? And here we have a surprising answer from Jesus this morning. And you want to know what his answer is? How is it accomplished that we are salt and light? How are people going to be led to our Father in heaven so that he is glorified? And Jesus' answer is this. It's accomplished by living a righteous life. How does that make you feel when I say that? It's accomplished by living a righteous life. The issue before us this morning is righteousness. Jesus explains that the way we fulfill our witness and lead people to God so that he may be glorified is by leading a righteous life. so the issue of righteousness is front and center the issue of righteousness and this was important because now we come to this as i said main body of the sermon beginning at verse 17 this section is marked by a major concern that jesus raises jesus knows that there are certain attacks that are about to come upon him he's preemptive here he knows everything that's about to happen he knows everything he's going to have to deal with with in israel with the scribes and the pharisees and he addresses something before it would become fully blown out full exposed in the ministry or fully charged against him in the ministry he confronts it right at the beginning and he sets the trajectory of the sermon on the mount to deal with this big problem that has always been an attack against the true christian faith in verse 17 he raises the issue do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. It's a very important statement. On the one hand, he had just said, the ministry that I am bringing, the ministry that I am bringing forth is in complete continuity with the entire Old Testament. I am in no way abolishing the law and the prophets. that typically gets lost in this he's looking at something much wider than just the law he's looking at the prophets too in fact he says until heaven and earth pass away not one iota or dot that's the smallest letter of the hebrew alphabet or the little stroke in those letters not one of these will pass from the law until all is accomplished what is jesus reacting to it seems to come somewhat out of the blue here well the fight with the religious authority started right away we begin this section as we begin this section what's obvious is that jesus had become in the sanhedrin the sort of bane of their existence because everything he seemed to do in their eyes was to be a lawless disregard of the old testament they must have sat around and had a lot of meetings about this at least as they understood the old testament and he's about to unpack that they don't really understand the righteous requirements of the law that's what is about to follow especially as he addresses the moral implications of the law and what follows everything jesus did was confusing to them he was criticized for not knowing the scriptures but he criticized them for not knowing the scriptures he confronted their doctrine even more troubling to them as that made them furious when he constantly said you err not knowing the scriptures he dined with tax collectors and sinners he freely forgave people their sins son your sins are forgiven you they were appalled at that in the temple when the scroll of isaiah was rolled up and he said all of this is fulfilled in me he then the people marveled at the gracious words jesus spoke to them that that's such an important little phrase in luke you should never miss they marveled at the gracious words jesus spoke to them he gave parables about grace and he he spoke about prodigals who came home who were totally defiled in pigsties understand the offense of that he spoke of grace and mercy to the worst of people, prostitutes. He dined at a tax collector's house, Zacchaeus. He even called one, Matthew himself, into his band of disciples. These were the worst people for the Pharisees. He seemed to disregard the tradition of the elders. And he even defended his disciples when they touched the Sabbath day. plucking food for grain for food. You see, Jesus was being called an antinomian. I think we have to say that very clearly in our terms. Jesus was being called an antinomian. That he was against Old Testament law. Just take the sections that we heard last week. Jesus, Jesus, Moses goes up on a mountain and it's thundering and lightning and brings down the law of God on stones. And it's a scary experience for Israel. There's lightnings and thunderings and no one could get down on the mountain. Jesus goes up on the mountain and begins to pronounce blessings and not curses. Jesus here begins with a shocking statement, doesn't he? He didn't begin by arguing the fine points of the law, which is what the scribes and the pharisees did all day long exciting bunch by the way well rabbi says this and rabbi says this and they memorized 613 of these he does something that would have blown their minds no you're wrong i did not come to abolish this the comparison to abolish is i came to fulfill it all you have to let that set in a minute he didn't just say i came to abolish and therefore i'm going to start keeping the law that's true i came to fulfill all the law and all the prophets what jesus was saying here is what paul will emphasize at the end of romans 10 that that christ is the end of the law for righteousness he's the fulfillment of the law he's not just talking about the moral law here at the beginning of the sermon on the mount he just said he's the fulfillment of everything in the Old Testament the law and the prophets everything that was commanded everything that was promised so that the whole sacrificial system was itself fulfilled in the death of Christ the entire moral law and his obedience was fulfilled all that the prophets talked about in the types and the shadows and in the stories jesus says i fulfill it all i'm here i'm not setting aside any of it i've come to fulfill it it all was about me jesus directly goes after the religious leaders here for they were specifically sitting around constantly talking about what are the weighty commands of the law and what are the lighter commands of the law. And they would spend all their day arguing the weightier commands, the more important commands and the lightier commands. And Jesus says, well, this is where you are missing something very important. Even the least matters. Jot and settle. And they should be taught. Whoever teaches them will be great. whoever relaxes them the least of these will be least now do you see the importance of this so far it's it's throughout the history of the church the question is whether the gracious gospel that jesus was bringing and the disciples would go out and minister to the ends of the earth and the apostles meant that how we live doesn't matter well jesus says it matters greatly because i've come here to fulfill all righteousness of course it matters but i want you to think for a minute what the consequence of that is they're missing the consequence of this great truth you see the great claim means something for us it means something important for us It's intended to be a solution to us being His witnesses in the earth. A solution to us being salt and light in the earth. The fact that He came to fulfill all righteousness. And that's why we have the single great confrontation now that I believe summarizes all the confrontations of Jesus in the Gospels captured here in this little phrase in verse 20 as we deal with the issue of righteousness. It's a shocking statement. Now listen to this carefully. It's a shocking statement. He turns it back on everyone in verse 20. And he begins to explain now the want of righteousness, the lack of righteousness in the Pharisees. Are they keeping the law? Who's the real antinomian? Look carefully at verse 20. for unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God. That is a remarkable verse. The scribes and the Pharisees were the most respected leaders in Israel. So all they did was sit around discussing the law. Their whole life was dedicated and was viewed as being blind, lights to the blind, guides to the blind, helps to those in darkness. Everyone looked up to them. If you looked at them, they came across as pious and devout. The Pharisee, which means a separate one, developed an elaborate system of laws beyond the law of God. So in other words, they set up a wall around the law and the purpose of that was to show how far they were going further in their devotion to God. You know, we're used to beating them up. You know, we like to beat up the Pharisee. It makes us feel good about ourselves. But in our use of hating them, I want you to know this was not how it was viewed very much in the first century. It's not how they looked at Pharisees. It's not how they looked at scribes. They were known as the gatekeepers of true religion. one pastor said they were paragons of virtue. You would have looked at the Pharisee and said, now that guy right there is the man closest to God. For sure. You understand how radical a statement this is in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount as he's training his disciples? Unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, you'll never go to heaven. have you let that set in for a minute he says that's to you today unless your righteousness exceeds theirs you're headed for hell what does he mean what we typically do with this is say this as good reformed folk well we can't do it we can't do it anyway jesus did it all for me jesus was the righteous one and it has nothing really to do with us end of sermon is that what jesus is saying do you think jesus calls us to be salt and light in the earth apart from living a righteous life is that what we think you think that's possible jesus most certainly addressed the concern of antinomianism as he came to say listen you know i did it i fulfilled it but then it did did it didn't fall did it didn't then follow of him saying but you don't have to worry about that my question is is verse 20 speaking of divine righteousness you have to answer that is verse 20 speaking of divine righteousness it says as if jesus said unless my righteousness is given to you which is the only way to exceed the scribes and the pharisees then you'll never go to heaven is that what he said it's true enough but is that what he's saying here sure doesn't sound like it to me unless your righteousness exceeds these guys who you think are so holy you will not make it jesus is talking about your righteousness he's not addressing the doctrine of justification here Don't think I'm jettisoning that. You can come back tonight for Romans to hear all about that. It's great. Paul addresses that everywhere. The Gospel of Matthew is pretty clear on this. He means conformity to what God requires. What are we talking about here? Something very important. What do we constantly see with the Pharisee? I think that's how we get to the answer here. Matthew exposes it everywhere. At one point, the disciples sat down and didn't first wash their hands before eating bread. And they said, what are you guys? Do you see your disciples break the tradition of the elders? Everyone looked at the Pharisees and thought, look how far above and beyond they go in their religion. Remember the parable Jesus told of the Pharisee and the tax collector? Two men went into worship one day. The Pharisee stood thus and said within himself, God, I thank you that I'm not like that guy, this tax collector. I fast twice a week. That was never required in the law, by the way. I give tithes of all that I possess. i put in the 10 the pharisees were fastidious to keep all the ceremonies of the law so they thought the biggest issue was of course the moral issue the sabbath for them remember they were furious at the disciples the disciples were plucking grain on the sabbath and everyone would have said outwardly they're simply not gathering food like exodus 16 when god said don't go gather food. And what was Jesus' assessment of them? You know, I've never been called a whitewashed sepulcher, but it's not a flattering designation. A whitewashed tomb. Everything you do, said Jesus is done for people to see woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees you hypocrites you give a tenth of your spices yet you you you tithe mint deal a dill and cumin but you've neglected the more weightier matters of the law justice mercy and righteousness faithfulness you clean the outside of the cup and dish but inside you're full of all greed and self-indulgence his assessment was this you are those who justify yourselves before men but God knows your hearts what was the issue What was the righteousness of the Pharisees? Merely an external one. Written on stony hearts. The law on stones. They were only concerned about the outside. Never the inside. I think Leon Morris is absolutely right. They looked for strict legal correctness whereas jesus looked for love now do you think in verse 20 jesus is saying oh you get a pass on all this you know i can't do it i can't do it we can't do it is that what is that are we talking about justification here before god no you are not obligated to use those magical words to be released from the obligation of righteousness that is not magic i can't do it jesus did it it's over what are we talking about we do this so much it's not right your righteousness has to exceed that the kind that comes from the heart and you see this gets to the heart of true religion why do I do anything that I do why do I come to church is my religion simply external should God be pleased because I came to church today? Should He be happy with me because I am morally, outwardly living a good life? If I put a tithe in today going beyond the 10 is god pleased with that martin lloyd jones gives this example since sabbath was such a a big thing as they were gatekeepers of the sabbath the command calls for us laying aside the entire day for god here's the intention of sabbath that you set aside the entire day for god you worship him when the saints gather that's his will for you well the goal is that god would be glorified that you would be strengthened that you'd call the sabbath a delight that you'd have internal religion the whole day the pharisee would have said this as long as i'm at church this is lloyd jones at church in the morning i did what i was required to do. But did he? Did he? The Pharisee always found out a way out of doing what the law actually required and setting aside the whole day to God. That's the Pharisee. He was only content to do some form of the external duty. That's why Jesus would come along in Matthew 15 and say, you guys neglect, you come together to worship, but you found a way to break the fifth commandment and not help your parents in old age when they need you. Oh yeah, you got to have a righteousness beyond this. You see? This hypocrisy is actual antinomianism. it's hypocritical religion devoid of the true heart one person to find true religion is that which is what a man does in his private life oh sure it's it matters what he does in his public life but this is why jesus in the sermon on the mount is going to say when you pray go to your closet we'll see what's real what truly fills your mind in your private life and your desires shows who you are you see what jesus is saying he's not after mere outward duty a christian is not defined by just doing not doing some bad things it's what's on the inside when it's on the inside we become salt and light you see when it's on the inside we become genuine now this is why jesus explains what we need and why he came if the pharisees righteousness was in want jesus is not here saying i have come to fulfill righteousness so that righteousness does not matter for you in a justification sense in the sense of justification before your right standing before God. You have everything you need in Christ. That's not what we're talking about here. Righteousness is freely imputed to you. You are covered. You enter the kingdom. We're talking about what does righteousness mean for the Christian in life? To run around saying it doesn't matter is antinomian. And Jesus would not let them do that. You see? No, no, no. You are my salt. You are my light. And that means it means something in the world. I'm after the real thing in you. I'm not interested in that kind of religion. The kind like the Pharisees that pull the wool over people's eyes. Who are mask wearers. Who are white sepulchers. God knows the heart. That's the hypocrisy, beloved, that has killed the church's witness. This is the hypocrisy that has made it. We're all guilty. The hypocrisy that has made the next generation not connect with the church. It was the issue in Israel. It wasn't in the heart of the people. And the next generation saw that. This is what parents do to kill religion in their children. Romans 8 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh why? for what purpose? in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit you see what that means is jesus is after true worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth see what what that means now in this spirit and truth heart sincerity he's after love from a sincere heart. That's the proof that we've been declared righteous. That's the proof that we're sons of the living God. That's the proof that we belong to him in body and soul and life and in death is that our righteousness far exceeds that stuff. Would you expect anything differently from him? Of course our righteousness should exceed that. He changes us from the inside out. Have you figured out who the Pharisee is yet? since we're so critical of him. We beat him up. Listen to what he is. He's the best we can do in this life apart from Christ. You see that? He's the best we can do in this life apart from Christ. And it's not impressive with the one to whom it matters. the best we can do is produce an outward religion. And what's Jesus after in the New Covenant? What must the Pharisee do? He must come to Jesus. He must believe in Jesus. And when he does, he's washed. He's justified. He's cleansed. And he's given a new heart. And what is the promise of the new covenant again? I will put my law in their minds. And I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. They will love me. We move from outward conformity all of our lives to inward, sincere love from a pure heart. Not like the Pharisees who ran around glorifying themselves or looked at disdain on all the bad sinners out there or lived by man-made human rules or just did an external duty. But instead, now love flows from a cleansed heart. Now you can appreciate the Beatitudes. Blessed are my people. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They will be filled. Blessed are the peacemakers. They shall be called sons. See, this is describing the Christian life as salt and light. Yes, by his righteousness we are set free and justified freely by grace through faith. Christ has fulfilled all the law's demands, but his grace does a washing work in the human heart that we might begin in this life, as our Heidelberg says, to do not only some, but all of God's commands. And even if the holiest only make a small beginning, it is a beginning in love. What a wonderful Savior we have. May what is done on the outside of our lives be on the inside of our hearts, in love. That's pure and undefiled religion. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us who are weak. We confess that all of us from the pastor on have had measure of hypocrisy in our lives. We ask, O Lord, that You would cleanse our hearts and our consciences. That love may flow from a sincere heart. And that we, O Lord, may be a people who live righteously in gratitude for so great a salvation. Help us, O Lord. We're that weak. But thank You for Your work and Your commitment to bless Your people this way. We're all recovering Pharisees. Keep us far from that, O Lord. And may true and pure and undefiled religion fill our lives, beginning with giving this whole day to You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.