Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 5:17-20 “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.”

Context for Sermon on the Mount

Beatitudes

Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven

Salt and Light

Go and be the a citizen of Heaven in the world

Purpose of the Prophets

The primary purpose of the Prophets is to point to Jesus.

The OT points to Jesus in so many ways we could never come close to covering them in one sitting.

In Acts 7:1-50 Stephen goes through the entire history of Israel in one of the best gospel presentations ever.

His ending remarks are:

Acts 7:51-53 “51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.

As your fathers did, so do you.

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.””

He explains that the goal of the Prophets was not to keep the Israelites in check but to point them to the coming Messiah.

They had completely misunderstood Jesus and killed him.

Purpose of the Law

The primary purpose of the Law was to point to Jesus.

The NT is covered with explanations and discussions of the Law and it’s importance.

We have a tendency to dismiss the Law as OT and irrelevant but that is not the case.

The Law had a very specific purpose.

Galatians 3:21-26 “21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not!

For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

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, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

The purpose of the law was to serve as a guardian for God’s people.

Those that would obey the Law were only doing so in effort to show faithfulness to God.

The Law was never intended to be a pathway to righteousness.

God credited Abraham with righteousness prior to any law being given.

Clearly the law was never the means of righteousness but only served as a sign of the coming righteousness: Jesus!

Paul completely destroyed the Jewish view of the Law.

Jews certainly would have had pride in the Law and the “righteousness” (self-righteousness) that came because of it.

After he explains that circumcision is a matter of the heart and not physical he says:

Romans 3:1-8 “1 Then what advantage has the Jew?

Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way.

To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful?

Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means!

Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means!

For then how could God judge the world?

7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying.

Their condemnation is just.”

Paul knew that the Jews would try to argue that if the Law is a heart matter then following it never mattered.

If it was only to show sin then how would God hold people accountable?

He makes it clear that following the Law perfectly was essential to show, not earn, righteousness.

Romans 3:9-26 “9 What then?

Are we Jews any better off?

No, not at all.

For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

All are held accountable to the righteousness of the Law and all have sinned.

Israel ended up believing that righteousness was found in the Law.

They replaced God with his own Law!

The Law became the goal which never addressed the desires of the heart.

It never addressed their person.

It only made a checklist.

Righteousness is the goal!

Romans 9:30-10:4 “30 What shall we say, then?

That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.

32 Why?

Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.

They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Paul’s told the Philippians church that it’s all about Jesus.

and his grace.

Paul had done everything needed to “earn” righteousness yet left it all behind.

He knew the righteousness found in Jesus surpassed that of the Pharisees!

Philippians 3:3-14 “3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The Law of Today

We desire the Law.

Slaves to sins, we look for the easy way out.

None of us attempt to uphold the Law of Moses or look to Leviticus to guide our lives.

We create our own law.

We do everything we can to find righteousness in anything but Jesus.

We look for the approval of others, set boundaries with our boyfriend/girlfriend, attend church, don’t say bad words, and whatever else we can come up with.