Fulfilled

Introduction

Over the last two weeks, we finished our study on the Beatitudes by looking at the effect that we should have on the world around us. Letting the Holy Spirit develop in us a poor spirit, a mournful attitude toward sin, a meek character, a hunger and thirst after righteousness, mercy toward others, purity of heart, a desire and willingness to make peace with others, and a willingness to suffer through all of this brings real, deep-seated happiness and makes us salt and light in our community.

We should be bringing about a flavor in people's lives; our presence should cause a controlling to the effects of sin around us. Our Christlike character will be a softening agent for the hearts that are hardened against the Gospel.

Meanwhile, we will be a light to those around us as well as we not only have a right heart and right attitude, but as we do and say things that bring honor and glory to the Father. Our good works should show forth the praise of God.

This, in turn, gives us opportunities to share the life changing power of the gospel, the good news Jesus' life, death, burial, and resurrection.

Christians are to be salt and light in their communities.

But we did not only see the effects that the Beatitudes have individually, we also saw the effects of living out the Beatitudes does for us as a church. When we gather here, it is like a bunch of individual lights gathering together in one place, but this is like a bonfire, one one large light. This is a gathering where our light can and does show forth the praises of Jesus Christ. We sing together, learn together, and grow together here.

But the biggest impact the church should have is when we leave the congregation of fellow members. When we go to our homes, we become these lights in a dark environment. We become the lights of a city set up on a hill that cannot be hidden. These individual lights, as candles set high on candlesticks, cast a light to the darkened areas in which they live so that all might see Jesus.

The only thing that can stop that effect from happening is when individual Christians put their light under a bushel. When individual Christians hide the light of Jesus that they carry by not living out the Beatitudes, by not following the greatest commandments - love God and love others - then they cease to be godly influences in this dark world we all live in. This is when a church becomes ineffective - when its individual members are not salt and light.

We studied about being salt and light in the context of the Beatitudes, and those verses, from 13-16, are generally regarded as the epilogue to the Beatitudes, the Beatitudes themselves being the introduction to The Sermon on the Mount.

Now we move into the meat of the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, this is still all Christianity 101. All this that we will be covering will concern every single Christian throughout all ages. This is the base of our understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Today, we begin a deep see diving journey. I enjoy snorkeling. One of the things about going on a snorkeling trip is that the guides take you to some beautiful locations with fish that you can see there that maybe you can't see more commonly in other locations. Though I enjoy it, I have only been snorkeling on a handful of occasions.

One thing that I would like to do that I have never had an opportunity to do is go scuba diving. I would love to be able to reach deeper levels and see other things that I have never been able to see.

And that is what we are going to do today in our sermon. Today, we are going to dive deeper than what is normal, to get a sense of some of the foundations of our faith. This dive will be led by Jesus himself.

We often see and discuss things like the law, grace, mercy, Jesus' crucifixion, and things like this, but there are some things under what is readily visible above the surface that we often do not think about or even know about.

Today, we are going on a dive to observe some of these principles. This is a single observation, however, and by that I do not mean that we will never again observe these things or study these things. What I do mean is that I am not starting a series at this time that takes a prolonged look into the details of the fundamentals of Christian faith in who the person of Jesus is.

What we will be doing this morning is taking a dive into some deep waters, showing that there are some pillars on which our faith stands, especially on what we believe about Jesus Christ.

So if we were to look at a picture of deep sea oil platform, the part above the surface of the water represents what we normally hear and study. We assume, and rightfully so, that this platform is not just free-floating, it is attached to the bottom of the ocean by something, though we may not exactly know how.

What we are about to do today is take a look under the water, so to speak, and in so doing we will be able to see that there are attachments and foundations to this structure. We will not be inspecting every nut, bolt, and rivet, just observing the bigger picture of the trusses and pillars holding up our faith.

Principle Before Practice

Our text today takes us to Matthew 5:17-20. We will be studying this passage over the next two weeks, and the message today serves the same principle as the message of the Beatitudes.

We studied the Beatitudes that tell us what kind of character Christians posses through the Holy Spirit, and then we learned about the influence that character has on the world as we studied about being salt and light.

Starting in verse 21 of Matthew 5, Jesus begins teaching detailed things about Christian behavior, our relationship to others, and our relationship to the law. He begins to teach how to live a life of righteousness.

But before he gets into specifics about living righteously, Jesus begins by laying down certain general principles. It is always a good thing to start with principles before talking about practice.

So Jesus begins by talking about his relationship to the law and the prophets, his relationship to the Old Testament.

So let's begin today by going over what Jesus says about his relationship to the Old Testament.

Matthew 5:17-18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Whit this statement, Jesus has declared that everything that he is about to teach is going to be in harmony with the Old Testament, with the Law and the Prophets.

In Verses 19-20, Jesus makes another statement: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The statement Jesus makes in these two verses is that His teachings about the Old Testament are in absolute disharmony with and in complete contradiction to the teachings of the Scribes and the Pharisees.

Notice that Jesus was not content in just stating his doctrine, he also criticized other doctrines, other teachings that were false, and he did so frequently.

This introduction that Jesus gives to the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is vital, because without understanding it, we could easily misunderstand Jesus' words and meanings. In fact, there are many official doctrines of different religions that claim to be Christian that do not take into account the principles that Jesus outlines about Himself and his followers and their relation to the Old Testament. Because of this, there are many very false doctrines being taught, and the sad thing is, some interpret things to mean something very different than the interpretations that others hold.

This is easily remedied by knowing first the principles before the practices.

Today we look at some foundational principles that Jesus taught here in these four verses.

Jesus' Stance on the Old Testament

One of the big questions of Jesus' day was "What is he teaching? What angle does Jesus have?"

There were so many unusual things about Jesus. He was not a Pharisee, had not been to the customary religious schools, nor had he become a teacher through the traditional routes of studying under a rabbi. And yet, Jesus taught with authority and made dogmatic, authoritative statements.

Not only that, but Jesus also criticized the Pharisees and the Scribes and their teachings. These men were leaders and acknowledged religious teachers; everyone was ready to follow anything they said. And suddenly, along comes this Man denouncing all that they were teaching.

Jesus preached grace and the love of God. He hung around publicans and sinners. He didn't observe all the traditions that had been laid out by the Pharisees, and it looked like he was deliberately trying to break them all.

Jesus' words criticized the teachings of the Pharisees, but his practices did as well.

So obviously, there were questions. Questions like, "Does this new teacher believe the Scriptures? The Scribes and Pharisees claim to believe and expound the law and the prophets, so does Jesus not believe it since he is rebuking them? Did Jesus come to do away with it all and try to institute a new way?"

So Jesus addresses these questions very succinctly by saying, "I am not here to destroy the law, but to fulfill it."

Now Jesus, after telling his disciples in general what they should be like and the kind of righteousness they were to show forth, wants them to understand his relationship with the law before getting into detailed issues of righteous conduct.

This is important because without knowing Jesus relationship with the law, Christians tend to fall into one of two camps:

Those that think that Jesus simply continued to teach the law. These people think that Jesus set forth a standard of obedience to the law in order to merit, payback, or somehow deserve salvation. Also within this camp are those that believe that salvation is by faith in Jesus and through His grace, but to garner God's favor and love, we must follow strict adherence to the law.

Then there is another camp that is completely opposite of these. This way of thinking claims that Jesus introduced grace in place of the Law of Moses and therefore we need not pay attention to any of the commandments whatsoever for we now live under grace and not under the law. This last phrase is misrepresented and misinterpreted because those that hold to these things do not grasp Jesus' relationship to the law.

So what is Jesus' stance on the law and the prophets? Let us first define these things.

The law consisted of three different parts. Moral law, judicial law, and ceremonial law.

Moral law consisted of the Ten Commandments and the great moral principals that were laid down once and forever.

Judicial law is the legislative law that was given to the nation of Israel in it's specific circumstances at specific times. These indicated how they were to behave differently from other nations in the things that they could and could not do.

Ceremonial law was concerned with the different offerings and sacrifices that were made in connection with the temple and with their worship to the Lord.

This is a general explanation of the law. Within the law, especially the ceremonial law, there are many, many types of Jesus. Much of the ceremonial law was prophetic in the sense that it referred to what the Messiah, the Savior would go through to pay for the sins of the world.

I know that the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and parts of Exodus can be considered boring by some, but if you take the time to understand why God gave so much detail in the ceremonial law, you begin to understand more greatly what Jesus did to ultimately pay for the sins of the world.

So as Jesus speaks concerning his fulfilment of the law, he is speaking of fulfilling these three aspects of the law, even though from verse 21 and on He only concerns himself with teaching about moral law.

But there is one more term we must define. The term prophets. Clearly, this is meant to refer to all the prophetic books of the Old Testament and other writings, such as the psalms, that include prophecies as well.

So what is Jesus' relationship to the Old Testimony? He loves it, believes in it, and by no means wishes it to be destroyed. In verse 17-18 Jesus puts his seal of approval and his authority upon the Old Testament.

When you study Jesus' ministry, you see that Jesus quoted almost every part of the Old Testament and did so as if he were quoting truth. What did Jesus think of the Old Testament? According to Jesus, the OT is the Word of God, and it will stand until all has been fulfilled down to the smallest detail imaginable (jot and tittle - the smallest letter in the Hebrew and the smallest pen-stroke used in writing the Hebrew language.)

Jesus is what brings the Old Testament and the New Testament together.

Jesus' Fulfillment of Law and Prophets

So Jesus continues to claim that he is here to fulfill the law. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Corinth, also backs that up.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

This verse is saying that all the promises that God made in the Old Testament are fulfilled in Jesus. Another word for these promises would be prophesies. They are all fulfilled in Jesus. In him they are all 'yes' and 'amen' (it is done, or so shall it be done).

Jesus fulfilled these prophesies, over 100 of them, so perfectly, it is mind boggling to think that the Jews would ever have stumbled because of Jesus. However, we clearly see the principle that too often, despite what is right in front of their faces, people see what they want to see or what they expect to see.

They wanted Jesus as a worldly king, and since he did not present himself as such, they could not see him for the Messiah he is.

So complete is the fulfillment of the prophesies in Jesus that you can preach the saving gospel out of the New Testament almost as easily as out of the New Testament.

Jesus brings together these two Testaments in his own self perfectly. There are those that preach that the Old Testament is not necessary, but it is nearly impossible to understand anything in the book of Hebrews without first knowing what has gone on in the Old Testament.

Now let us see how Jesus fulfills the Law, and as we see this, I hope it brings you to a point of wonderful worship to him who is the only one that has ever accomplished such a thing.

The first way that Jesus fulfills the law is that he was 'made under the law.' Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

'Made under the law' is one of those things that can be hard to grasp for us. Though Jesus is eternally above the law, as the Son of God, He came and was made under the law. God showed his absolute and unchanging character by placing his own Son under the law so that he could fulfill it. As we continue through the Gospels, we will see how Jesus was careful to observe the law. He taught others to love the law, and commanded that they also obey the law.

At the end of his life, there was none that could find any wrong in him. No one was able to bring any charge against him. So carefully had he observed it that the Pharisees who wanted him dead had to bribe people to lie about him.

Speaking of Jesus' death, this central pillar of our whole faith, we cannot begin to understand the cross without understanding the law first.

The essence of the Gospel is not only to talk about the cross, but also to proclaim its true teachings. Many Christians, new and old alike, that have disregarded the study of the Old Testament because of a misguided belief that it is less important, see the cross as we would see the top of an offshore oil platform, but have no idea how it is held in place.

The cross does not serve as merely a general display of God's love, the purpose of the cross is ultimately understood only in terms of the law. Jesus, the Son of God, was enduring in his own body the penalty for sin that was prescribed by the law.

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death... The law condemns and the sentence that it brings is death. According to the law, death is the fair sentence on all who have sinned and broken God's holy law.

So one of the ways that Jesus fulfilled the law, carried out the law, was that he died upon the cross having the sentence of the law brought down upon him after he became sin for us.

Could God have just forgiven the sins of the world without the sacrifice of His own Son? No! Because God's laws are immovable. It would be against the law to not hold mankind accountable for sin and not to demand the proper payment, so Jesus took upon himself a payment he never needed to pay. The only reason that you and I can be forgiven today is that the punishment that would have satisfied my sin debt was taken already by Jesus.

This is what the ceremonial law was all about. The blood of the lambs and sheep and goats and rams, these were all types of Jesus, the Lamb of God who would come to take away the sins of the world. The burnt offerings that were consumed completely was a type of Jesus being offered completely for our sins. And though the sacrifice of lambs would cover sins for a period of time, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross would satisfy the sin debt of all mankind forever.

Hebrews 10:10-14 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Jesus offered himself once for all the sins of all mankind. In His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension Jesus fulfilled all of the ceremonial law. In confirmation to that, when while he was dying, the veil of the temple was ripped in two, signifying that there was no longer a separation between God and man; Jesus had bridged the gap with His sacrifice.

What about the Judicial Law? The judicial law was given primarily and especially for the nation of Israel, as God's theocracy, a nation ruled by God. Israel is no longer a theocratic nation. One of the most important things that Jesus said regarding this is found in Matthew 21:43 Jesus says, Therefore... The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

The Apostle Peter then makes it clear in 1 Peter 2:9-10 that the church is this new nation, the Kingdom of God. 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

This word "people" in verse 10 means tribe. So when Peter says, "but you are now the people of God," he is in essence saying you are now the tribe of God or the Kingdom of God.

So then, since there is no longer a theocratic nation of Israel, the judicial law has been fulfilled, and Jesus followed that Judicial law to the letter as well.

This brings us to the moral law. When God laid down the moral law, he laid down something that was permanent. The relationship with God and man subsists on this moral law. We know this because the greatest of all the commandments is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind."

The second command, in order of importance, is the command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

These commands are not for the theocratic nations only, these commands were for all mankind. This is not ceremonial law either, it is a permanent condition of our relationship with God.

So the moral law, as interpreted by the New Testament, stands now just as strongly as it ever has. We are not free from this law in the sense that we do not have to abide by it. The Apostle John makes it very clear in his epistles to the churches - 1 John 3:4 that when we sin, we also transgress the law. This was written after Jesus' death and burial and resurrection and ascension. We still have a relationship with the law, and sin is a transgression of that law.

When I sin, I break the law even though I have never been a Jew. So we see that the moral law still applies to us. This become ever more clear when we continue past these verses as Jesus reaffirms the law and his expectations of Christians and how we are supposed to follow it.

The Christian's Relationship to the Law

To put it simply, it is this:

The Christian is no longer under the law in a sense that the law is a covenant of works. Our salvation does not depend on us keeping it.

This is the whole premise of Galatians chapter 3. We are free from the curse of the law, because in his death upon the cross, Jesus not only took the punishment for sin, he took the curse of the law as well. However, this does not mean I am release from the law as a rule for life.

"The whole trouble," explains D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, "tends to arise because we become confused... as to the relationship between the law and grace."

Too many times we view God's grace as something in direct opposition of the Law, but it is not.

The Law was never meant to save man, because it could not. God did not say to Israel, "I am giving you this law now. Keep it, and it will save you." That would be ridiculous because as we can also know by Scripture, salvation is not attained by the deeds of the law. So what was the purpose of the law?

In Romans 7:7 Paul writes I would not have known sin was sin if it hadn't been for the law.

In Galatians 3:24 he writes the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The purpose of the law, all aspects of it (judicial, ceremonial, and moral) was to show us indeed how sinful we were and to bring us to faith in Jesus who fulfilled the law, judicially, ceremonially, and morally so that we would believe in him for the forgiveness of sins.

One of the graces of salvation is that it makes us completely new creatures. It gives us a love for God and a love for the things of God, this includes the love for His law. It creates in us a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. That righteousness is reflected in keeping the law. Not so that we gain salvation or additional love from God, but because we are loved by Him, we love Him, and we wish to walk with Him.

If I love God, I long to keep his commandments. Jesus said it later to his disciples, "He that has my commandments and keeps them, the same is he that loves me."

This brings us to the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word Testament means covenant. A sacred agreement.

In the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, we find the law given to Moses, written upon tablets of stone. Judicial laws that would make Israel be very different than the pagan nations around them. Moral Laws that would show them just how sinful they were, and Ceremonial laws that would point them to a Messiah that would one day come to free all mankind from the curse of sin.

These laws came with a curse for all that could not follow them completely, and with the breaking of these laws came a strained relationship between God and man.

But look what God tells Jeremiah 31:31-33 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,

that I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers

in the day that I took them by the hand

to bring them out of the land of Egypt;

which my covenant they brake,

although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;

After those days, saith the LORD,

I will put my law in their inward parts,

and write it in their hearts;

and will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

The covenant under Moses and the Law was a covenant that would change behavior, but would not and could not change the heart. This new covenant that God announces here is going to be different.

"There will come a time," God is saying here, "that I will no longer have a covenant of laws written on tablets of stone that will change your behavior, but I will make a covenant with man that will change their heart. In fact, the covenant will be written upon the hearts of my people."

Warren Wiersbe explains it this way: "The emphasis is personal rather than national, with each person putting faith in the Lord and receiving a “new heart” and with it a new disposition toward godliness. The Old covenant tried to control conduct, but the new covenant changes character so that people can love the Lord and one another and want to obey God’s will."

This, then, is our relationship with the law. And in a couple of weeks as we study Jesus' exposition of the moral law and how it applies to us, we must each look inward and contemplate, "Do I have a desire for God's righteousness? Do I have a desire to fulfill God's law?"

I'll close with a reading from Psalm 119:97-104

O how love I thy law!

it is my meditation all the day.

98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies:

for they are ever with me.

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers:

for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients,

because I keep thy precepts.

101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way,

that I might keep thy word.

102 I have not departed from thy judgments:

for thou hast taught me.

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste!

yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding:

therefore I hate every false way.

Can you say with the psalmist, "Oh how I love thy law"?

Invitation

Life Groups

Why is it a good practice to lay down principles before instituting a practice? How much good would it have done us to be told that we must be the salt of the earth and the light of the world without knowing the Beatitudes?

Before knowing the principles, everybody would be able to interpret 'be salt and be light' to their own liking. But understanding the principles of who we are first (the Beatitudes), we were then able to correctly apply the command to be salt and be light.

The Pharisees understood practices, down to the minute detail, without understanding their principles, otherwise they would have readily seen that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the law.

What are the three parts of the law? Ceremonial, Judicial, Moral

According to your understanding, how did Jesus fulfill the different aspects of the law?

What does it mean for mankind that Jesus fulfilled (carried out and satisfied) the law? It means that through him, we are not under the curse or condemnation of the law anymore. However, not accepting him, we are already condemned (John 3:18).

Are Christians bound by ceremonial law? Judicial law? Moral law? Why or why not?

What effect does grace have on our relationship with the law? God's saving grace creates in us a new heart. With that new heart comes a love for God and a desire to keep his law.

How are we supposed to view the law? We should love it and want to keep it. We keep it, not because of our desire for it to save us or keep us saved, but we keep it because in the keeping of the law, we walk in step with God. This close relationship-based following is what we are created for.

Not following the law puts us at odds with God and prevents us from following closely.

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