We turn the page from the Old to the New.

Recap Last Week

How do we value the opportunity to receive new life in Jesus and appreciate the gift of growing in the knowledge of the Bible on the Journey?

We turn pages because we are no longer regarded according to the flesh, the old life is dead, and the new life has now come.

Now we look at what the window of our destination looks like throughout the History of the Old Testament.

Big Idea: The Old Testament opens the window for understanding the New.

INTRODUCTION

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Matthew 5:17-20 look at the beginning of Matthew 5 to find the context of this passage.

Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus opened His mouth and started with what has been called the beatitudes, Blessed are......

vs. 13-16, Jesus reminds us who we are as Christians or Christ's followers. We are a salt and light, declarative statement that there is no such thing as a Christian who is not salt and light.

You are the world's city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Jesus further reinforces the job of a light bearer for Christ in the world.

Up to this point in Jesus sermon he has spoken of the character of a Christian and the influence that he must have in the world and how such character will bear itself out in bearing good fruit.

He explains that the righteousness that he has already mentioned twice as that for which the disciple must hunger and thirst for and on account of which they must be willing to suffer for.

It is such a conformity to the moral law of God one that even surpasses that of the scribes and the pharisees.

Matthew 5:17–20 ESV

17 “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. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17–20)

This paragraph is of great importance not only for its definition of Christian righteousness but also for the light it throws on the following:

Relationship between the New Testament and the Old Testament

Relationship between the Gospel and the Law.

It divides itself into two parts: Christ and the Law (17, 18) and the Christian and the Law (19, 20).

Why must we know about these two relationships as we read the scripture?

Note: Very few Christians know much about the Old Testament. We tend to gravitate towards the New Testament because it has the story of Jesus and His grace and mercy towards us that causes us to be born again.

History Lesson

I want you to put yourself in the place of the Israelites shoes if you had been listening to this sermon.

The beginning part is leading to a new regime in town. One that is full of light, truth, character, morality, where so many people in the nation of Israel had witnessed the perversion of the law and the corrupt nature of the Sanhedrin. They had heard the prophecies and read about them from the moment of their birth. Now Jesus was standing right in front of them and they were ready for a Messianic king to right all the wrongs that had been done to them throughout history.

Jesus turns the page to remind the people that they should not discount the Old Testament Law. If it were not for the Old Testament pointing towards God’s sovereignty and his divine providence you would not have the fulfillment of the law in Jesus Christ.

How do we turn the pages of scripture from the Old to the New?

What is Morality?

"If I steal from the rich and use it to feed the poor, is that good or bad? If I drive over the speed limit to get my sick child to the hospital, is that good or that bad? What is good? And what is bad? What is morality, and do you, as a person, have morals?"

Morality is what society treats as correct and acceptable. They're the standards of thoughts and actions that everyone in a group agrees to follow so they can all live peacefully. Stealing is against the Law. However, a lot of people would consider stealing a piece of bread to save a homeless person from dying of hunger, moral. Driving over the speed limit is a crime, but when it could help save the child's life in the backseat of your car, it becomes the noblest of actions.

As humans evolve and learn new things, our morals change. This is why morality isn’t stagnant. It evolves with time. Think about issues like pre-marital sex, same-sex relationships, abortion, marijuana use. These are all things that were considered immoral long ago. But today, society is beginning to accept all of these as moral. We’ve learned to be tolerant of people regardless of their personal beliefs or preferences. And while not everyone might agree to all of these things or practice it themselves, things seem to have flipped. ...

Society is changing, but in the wrong direction. What was once immoral, is now considered moral as long “as no one is hurt.” But God’s law never changes because it is based on his holy nature. Society can attempt to redefine right and wrong, but that doesn’t change God’s law.

Christ and the Law

Up to this point, Jesus had already disturbed and upset the religious establishment with his seeming attitude toward the Old Testament Law. Controversies had flared up earlier in his minister for Mark, who puts both Sabbath plucking of corn and the sabbath healing of a man's withered hand before even the appointed twelve. Indeed, from the very beginning of His ministry, people had been struck by his authority.

"What is this, a new teaching with authority."

It would have been natural for people to ask what the relationship was between his authority and that of the Law of Moses. Jesus would introduce such a rule by speaking in his name and power, 'truly I say to you.'

The verb Jesus uses 'to fulfill' literally means 'to fill' and indicates an expression that his sayings were no repeal of the former but a drawing out and filling up of them.

Why READ the OLD TESTAMENT

We must read the Old and the New Testaments to Understand two principles.

1. It helps us understand Christ and His Relationship to the Law.

What is at stake here in the relationship of the testaments is the place of the Law in the context of the Gospel and the relation of it to the NT passages that affirm that certain parts of the Law have been done away with.

Mark 7:19 (He declared all food clean)

Acts 10-11 (Peter sent to Cornelius)

This debate continues, especially among Palestinian Jewish Christians, about the continuation of the Law. We must remember that Matthews's writing of Jesus' words must be kept in the context of its immediate relevance to the people.

"Do not Think That."

Jesus begins by setting aside the potential for misunderstandings as to the nature of the kingdom, but neither flow out of an open confrontation on the subject. Matthew has yet to record any accusations that Jesus was breaking the Law.

Note: Many Jews during this time argued that the Law would be set aside and a new law introduced at the Messiah's coming.

We must understand that Old Testament contains various types of reading that we do not have in the New Testament. The relationship of Jesus to these differs but the word 'fulfill' covers them all.

Jesus came into the world on a mission neither to abolish the Law of the prophets, setting them aside or doing away with them, but to fulfill them completely.

How does the Old Help us Understand Christ and his relationship to the Law?

The Torah: Usually translated as the Law, really means 'revealed instruction,' and the Old Testament does indeed instruct us about God and man and salvation, etc.

Jesus was committed to God's word; he came to fulfill the Law and the prophets, establish it, and achieve all that was written about Him in the prophets.

First, the Old Testament contains Doctrinal Teaching.

What are some critical doctrinal Teachings in the Old Testament?

*The Old Testament gives us the Doctrine of Creation

To Be made in the image of God is to be made communal beings.

To Be made in the image of God is to be made moral beings.

To Be made in the image of God is to be made spiritual beings.

To Be made in the image of God is to be made ruling beings.

So, we get from the Old Testament how we are to view our identity in everyday life, this changes how we view justice and mercy in everyday life. We get our sense of sexuality and God’s design for procreation in the Old Testament. (issues of homosexuality, transgenderism, women’s role in the Church)

*The Old Testament gives us the Doctrine of Original Sin

If you do not believe in the tragedy and universality of sin, then you will think that humans can fix themselves.

If you believe that the most profound problem of humanity is sin, then you know that together we cannot fix ourselves.

Understanding original sin begins with understanding the disaster in the garden.

So, we get from the Old Testament a picture of the falsehood platform that sin gives us and the foolish power it has to seduce us. We see in the Old Testament the problem of sin in the world and how the solution is not simply behavior modification. To have a healthy understanding of our heart issue requires that we have a good theology of sin from the beginning.

*The Old Testament gives us the Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God

Understanding why God decrees what He decrees? (Why are things the way they are? Why did this happen? Why would God allow…? How could a good God let this happen?)

Understanding God's providence. He does not simply decree what will happen and passively sit by and watch; he is active in all that happens in His world.

So understanding the sovereignty of God helps us understand what he had called us to do and then the things we should entrust to Him. It also means understanding that we can control very few things. We learn that surrender is our only response to the sovereignty of God.

We understand that God is still surrounded by mystery for “Our thoughts are not His thoughts, and neither are our ways His ways.” (Isaiah 55:8) Living out the sovereignty of God means understanding that God is in control and we are not. Finally we learn to trust in the reliability of His promises.

John Scott

"The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud, and the New Testament is the Gospel in full bloom. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the blade; the New Testament is the Gospel in the full ear."

Second, the Old Testament contains predictive prophecy.

Much of the prophecies in the Old Testament look forward to the Messiah and either foretell him in words or foreshadow him in type. However, this was only in anticipation. Jesus 'fulfilled' it all because what was predicted would pass in him.

Note: Jesus' very words were, 'I Have Come.' Again and again, Jesus claimed that scripture bore witness to Him. Matthew attested to this more than any other gospel writer. 'All of this

How did Jesus fulfill the Law?

The key to the problem is in the word "to fulfill." Jewish followers have taken this verb in Aramaic to mean "to establish," "to validate," or "to confirm.” Therefore, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to confirm it.

He perfectly fulfilled all the hundreds of prophecies about his coming and what He had come to accomplish.

He fulfilled the Law in two ways.

He was a teacher of the Law.

And He obeyed the Law Himself.

He also fulfilled the ceremonial laws, and in fulfilling them, He established the new Law written on man's" heart.

The system established in the Old Testament had a built-in expiration date, whereas the Old Testament had external regulation; the New testament now has a permanent internal and eternal establishment.

The Law was our guardian protecting us from ourselves until Christ came to earth.

Hebrews 9:10 ESV

10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Galatians 3:23–25 ESV

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (1. Christ and the Law (17, 18))

The climax was his death on the cross in which the whole ceremonial system of the Old Testament, both priesthood and sacrifice, found its perfect fulfilment.

Then the ceremonies ceased.

Yet, as Calvin rightly comments, ‘It was only the use of them that was abolished, for their meaning was more fully confirmed.’5 They were but a ‘shadow’ of what was to come; the ‘substance’ belonged to Christ.

Third, the Old Testament gives us Ethical Precepts.

What is a Precept: A commandment, instruction, or order intended as a rule of action or conduct, an applicable law guiding our behavior.

So, Jesus here refers only to the Moral Law of God: the civil and ceremonial laws are indeed abolished, but Jesus confirms the moral Law.

The Moral Law of God

Note: Even though God's moral laws were often misunderstood and even more often disobeyed.

Jesus fulfilled them by obeying them perfectly.

Jesus fills up the Law by providing its whole, intended meaning.

He has in fact nothing to add to the commandments of God,’ wrote Bonhoeffer, ‘except this, that he keeps them.’

He does more than obey them himself; he explains what obedience will involve for his disciples. He rejects the superficial interpretation of the law given by the scribes; he himself supplies the true interpretation.

Jesus' purpose was not to do away with the laws but to give their fuller interpretation. Turning the pages of both the Old and New Testament gives us a fuller understanding of the New Testament and what Jesus came to fulfill.

A Secular attempt to Create a Moral Society

Throughout history, human beings have always attempted to regulate behavior for people in a society to live peacefully and productively. Religious and secular values, societal laws, education, and politics have all been used to motivate people to adopt the better sides of our nature. China's great atheist nation has recently begun implementing a bold new plan to foster a more moral and dynamic society.

The government began a plan in 2020 that all citizens will have a new identification number and social credit record. The communist party has devised a method where trustworthy citizens can roam freely under Heaven, making it hard for the discredited to take a single step. Good behavior is rewarded, while evil is punished. Psychologists want the downside: "People whose futures rest on the score may make calculations about friends to ensure no one becomes a drag on their family's score. And they may decide to go against friending some individuals on the government's naughty list.

Cultural Problem Today

There are those today who seem to embrace a so-called ‘New Morality.’ They declare that the very category of the law is abolished for the Christian (even though Christ said he had not come to abolish it), that no law any longer binds Christian people except the law of love, and in fact that the command to love is the only absolute there is.

We should emphasize here that according to verse 17 the attitude of Jesus to the Old Testament was not one of destruction or being discontinued, but one of organic continuity. He summed it up in a single word, not to abolish but to fulfill.

The Apostle Paul taught the very same truth when he said ‘Christ is the end of the law’ does not mean that we are now free to disobey it, for the opposite is the case. It means that we obedience to the law is through faith in Christ, and that the law itself bears witness to his good news.

Consequences of this Truth in verse 18.

Here is what Jesus has to say about this truth that He has now given them. ‘Till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota (in Greek for yod, the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, almost as small as a comma), not a dot (keria, a horn, referring probably to one of the tiny hooks or projections which distinguish some Hebrew letters from others), will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Jesus reference now is only to the law instead of the law and the prophets, there is no reason to believe that he is purposely omitting the prophets.

The Law was a comprehensive term for the total divine revelation of the Old Testament. None of it will pass away or be discarded, he says, not a single letter or part of a letter, until it has all been fulfilled.

The fulfillment will not be complete until the heaven and the earth themselves pass away. For one day they will pass away in the rebirth of the Universe. Then time as we know it will cease to exist and the written words of God will find their final fulfillment in one new birth. Both will pass away together, Jesus could not have stated more clearly than this his own view on the Old Testament Scriptures.

2. It helps us understand the Christians’ Relationship to the Law

'Therefore'

This now introduces the deduction that Jesus draws for his disciples from the enduring validity of the Law and his attitude.

Therefore, because not a dot or an iota of the Law will pass away, we understand that:

*When we turn the pages from the Old to the New, we see our Relationship to the Law is measured by conformity.

It is true that not all of the commandments carry the same weight. Yet even one of the lest of these commandments, precisely because it is a commandment of God the King, is important. To relax it or loosen its hold on our conscience and its authority in our lives in an offense to the Holiness and perfection of God.

To disregard a ‘least’ commandment in the law (in either obedience or instruction) is to demote oneself into a ‘least’ subject in the kingdom of God. Greatness in the kingdom of God belongs to those who are faithful in doing and teaching the whole counsel of the Moral Law of God.

Someone might protest, were not the scribes and Pharisees famous for their Righteousness about the Law? Was not obedience to the direction the master passion of their lives?

Did they not calculate the law contains 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions, and did they not aspire to keep them all? How can Christian Righteousness exceed the condition for entering God's kingdom? Does this not teach the doctrine of salvation by good works and so contradict the first beatitude, which says the kingdom belongs to 'the poor in spirit' who have nothing, not even Righteousness, to plead?

Our Relationship to the Law will be measured by the kind of Righteousness, not the degree.

This kind of Righteousness which is pleasing to him, is an inward righteousness of mind and motive. For the Lord looks on the heart. The circumcision of the Heart is what Jesus wants to get at here.

It is not that somehow miraculously, Christians can keep all 240-something commandments when the best Pharisees may only have scored a 230. Christian Righteousness is more remarkable because it is a righteousness of the Heart. The concern that Jesus had was for the depth of commitment to morality.

Note: You can read the Bible every day till you are blue in the face and memorize lots of scripture. However, it is not just about reading large sums of scripture and learning text. It's about your heart and communion with the Father.

Jesus teaches that God’s demands for us are far more radical than those of the pharisees. The righteousness that pleases Him is an inward righteousness of mind and motive. For the Lord looks at the heart.

The kind of heart-righteousness that the prophets foretold was one of blessings of the Messianic age. ‘I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts,’ God promised in Jeremiah 31:33. Look what it says in Ezekiel 36:27

Ezekiel 36:27 ESV

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Jesus is contradicting not the Law itself but certain perversions of the Law of which the scribes and Pharisees were guilty. Jesus is endorsing the Law and insisting on its authority in our lives when it is supplied with an accurate pure interpretation that only comes through Jesus.

So the written Law within our hearts and the spirit within us coincide to create the perfect storm of Righteousness. The Pharisees, through external conformity to the Law, were enough.

*When we turn pages from the Old to the New, we realize that we are called to a Radical Kind of Obedience.

This is why entrance into the kingdom of God is impossible without a righteousness greater (i.e., deeper) than that of the Pharisees. It is because such righteousness is evidence of the new birth, and no one enters the kingdom without being born again.

Jesus supplies the scriptures' accurate interpretation of the Law and its ways.

First, Jesus quotes the Mosaic law.

(You shall not kill, commit adultery, love your enemy, and hate your neighbor.)

Second, Jesus introduces the formula for interpreting the Law.

Matthew 5 Jesus gives a picture of a kind of Righteousness greater than the Pharisees.

Anger: vs. 21 "You have heard it said to old people. 'You shall not murder; whoever murders is liable of judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.'

Lust: vs 27 "You have heard it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Divorce: vs. 31 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

Love Your Enemies:" You have heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Jesus' quarrel was not over the Law, for both the Jewish leaders and himself accepted its divine authority but over its proper interpretation. Let the plane thing be the main thing.

Third, there is an immediate context given.

This was fulfillment in His case and 'obedience' in his disciple's case. None of these words would pass away until they reached their complete satisfaction or termination date. The Old sacrificial system had a termination date.

Fourthly, Jesus made his attitude toward the Old Testament clear.

When we read the account of Jesus grueling 40 days of temptation in the Judean desert. Each subtle enticement of the devil was countered by an appropriate quotation from the Old Testament Scripture.

There was really no need for Jesus to debate or argue with the Devil. Each issue was simply settled by turning pages to what was written in scripture. This reverent submission to the incarnate Word to the written word continued throughout his life, not only in his personal behavior but also in his mission. He has resolved to fulfill all that was written about him in the Old Testament.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (2. The Christian and the Law (19, 20))

From these four factors it is evident that the antitheses do not set in opposition to each other Christ and Moses, the New Testament and the Old Testament, the gospel and the law, but rather Christ’s true interpretation of the law and the scribal misinterpretations, and therefore Christian righteousness and pharisaic righteousness, as verse 19 anticipates.

Note: So what were the Pharisees doing? In general they were attempting to reduce the challenge of the law, to ‘relax’ the commandments of God, and so make his moral demands more manageable and less exact.

In fact they found the Torah a yoke and a burden (indeed they called it such)

How they did this varied according to the form that each law took, and in particular whether it was a commandment (either precept or prohibition). Remember a precept is a practical rule or guideline of behavior. All of the “you shall not” statements are prohibition and clear. The fourth and fifth one Jesus mentions dealing with divorce and retribution (and eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth) which were permitted in certain circumstances.

Basically what they were doing, in order to make obedience more readily attainable, was to restrict the commandments and extend the permissions of the law.

They made the Law demands less demanding and its permissions more permissive. Jesus reversed both these tendencies.

How do I relate the Old Testament Precepts and Characters to my life:

Many people feel a disconnect when they read the Old Testament. They see it as dusty, outdated, and often frightening stores that they cannot relate to in real life.

Here is maybe a better way to read the Old Testament with the New:

1. Ask the question? How am I like Moses? How am I like Abraham? How am I like Joseph? How am I like Ruth? How am I like Ester? How am I like King David? All of these figures in the History of the Old Testament are relatable.

2. Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament laws; therefore, we must always read the Old Testament through the lens of the NT. (through Christ’s life and teaching)

3. a critical purpose of the laws and commands was to make people conscious of sin or to show sin as sin. It helps us call out sin for what is a monumental offense to the holiness of God.

4. God did not give the Law to save people. People were not saved in the Old Testament through the Law. (this guards us against legalism in the Church today)

5. God did not intend for His people to follow the Old Testament laws and commands forever like the ancient Hebrews. In Galatians, Paul teaches that the law's validity ceased with the coming of Jesus, Abraham's offspring.

6. An Old Testament command does not need to be followed if the New Testament does not teach its continuation. Things such as Sabbath requirements (Romans 14:5-6) or circumcision (Galatians 6:15) offering sacrifices for sins. An Old Testament command must be followed if it is reaffirmed in the New Testament. For example, Matthew 15:4 and 19:19, both of which reaffirm Exodus 20:12A commands children to honor their parents. The moral laws of the Old are even reinforced and taken to a new level in the New Law's.

Cultural Problem Today:

The idea of a New Morality or situational ethics has invaded the Church today, causing many to do the same thing that the Pharisees were trying to do with the Law.

So, there are no moral absolutes. Everything is taken based on the situation that we face. This is Liberal Theology in our culture today. Everything is up for interpretation and debate. The things clear in scripture are twisted and used for individual gain.

ANSWER:

1) God is the Creator and sustainer of all things

Therefore, whether something is right or wrong, ethical or not, is based not on the situation but on God's command. It is not up for debate.

2) All of God’s Word is true.

To suggest that the Bible advocates situational ethics is Lawimply that there contained in scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16 "God'sGod breathes out all Scripture."

3) Right and Wrong are defined by who God is.

Love is a part of God's nature. He defines what love is and what it is not only by what He does but simply by who He is. Love is selfless and considerate of others, never seeking its glory or pleasure. The Bible is true and authoritative in every situation and cannot contain a system of ethics that goes against the nature of God.

CONCLUSION

Bill Gates Regrets Creating 'Control-Alt-Delete' Function

Bill Gates, the personal computing pioneer and billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, said in an interview recently that he regrets the decision to make the keyboard combination "Control-Alt-Delete" central on Windows computers.

The critical combination served as a command to log in to a computer and felt it quit if it froze. It was a confusing task for first-time users and would require two hands to execute for most people. "If I could make one small edit, I'd make that a single key, "I'd said to Gates at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York. He made a similar statement in 2013 at a Harvard University event. "We could have had designed the IBM keyboard. The IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button." Yet, Gates conceded, "I'm not sure you can go back and change small things in your life without putting the other things at risk."

APPLICATION

Could God have bypassed all the disturbing and many times troubling things that took place in the Old Testament? Could he have bypassed to coin Bill Gates the control-alt-delete key of his operating system?

Yes, he could have done it that way. But we must remember that everything God does is for His Glory alone. The sovereign God of the Universe planned it all the way He did, and I am so happy that He did it that way. God has not nor will he ever second guess His design or plan. The giant picture we get from reading the Old Testament in light of the New is that God never changes. He is always the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Hebrews 13:8 ESV

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

We can be confident as we read the Old Testament through the eyes of the New that He who began a good work in you is using His word in His Spirit to complete you and prepare you for Heaven.