Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

This evenings sermon is incredibly relevant today.

Andy Stanley, a pastor from Alpharetta, Georgia, stirred a hornets nest several weeks ago when he said in the third installment of a sermon series that we must unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament.

His proof text was .

He said that Peter, James, John and Paul’s messages were aimed at removing the Jewish worldview, value system, OT regulations etc. from the church (His view of the church is universal; this is an incorrect view of the church.

The church is local, visible, called and assembly of like-minded believers).

Further, he said, we cannot go to the Old Testament regarding behaviour for the church.

In this sermon, he made three points:

You do not see much grace in the Old Testament - Just the opposite is true:

Adam and Eve had grace

Noah had grace

Abraham had grace

Ruth had grace

Nineveh had grace

Every single sacrifice pointed to grace.

The Old Testament is not about Jesus

The Old Testament makes it difficult to have faith in Christ

We cannot have saving faith in Christ without the Old Testament

b.

Many of the faith stories I use in sermons come from the Old Testament

Andy Stanley is not alone.

More and more pastors are dismissing the value and importance of the Old Testament for the local church age.

However, how does this view compare with Jesus’ words?

FULFILLMENT V.17

NOT DESTROYED

There is an important aspect of the law that must be discussed.

The law is broken into two categories:

The Ceremonial law - Sacrifices

The Moral law - Ten Commandments

It seems that Jesus is inclusive when referring to the law.

Meaning that He lumps in both aspects of the law in this portion of the sermon.

The word “destroy” in our text means:

To loosen down - By implication demolish

To halt for the night - To stop the progress

Jesus did not come to do either parts to the law.

He did not come to demolish the law; nor did He come to halt or slow down the law of God.

If He did not come to destroy the law then why did He come?

SATISFY

The word “fulfill” has as an concept “to satisfy.”

Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the law but live by the law.

To satisfy the demands of the law.

The aspect of the law that would be in mind here is the moral law.

Jesus Christ kept every aspect of the moral law of God.

At no point in time, did He ever rebel against the law of God.

He fulfilled the demands of the law of God perfectly.

Never think for a moment that we have liberty in Christ Jesus to sin or rebel against the moral law of God.

Jesus did not come to give us liberty from the moral law of God but to free us to the moral law of God.

When we were lost and undone, we could never keep the moral law of God; nor, in our fallen state, did we desire to keep the moral law of God (for the right reasons).

But now we are made alive through the Holy Spirit and our desires and abilities have changed.

Now we have joy in keeping the moral law of God and with the Holy Spirit’s help, the ability to live by the moral law of God.

The essence of the moral law of God hangs on two wonderful truths:

The Law’s essence is twofold:

Love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul and mind.

Love our neighbor as ourselves.

A lost person cannot live this out.

They may be like the Jews and keep many aspects of the moral law of God but their essence is corrupt.

Only a saved person can live the essence of the law!

We cannot have the essence of the law, without the law.

The one produces the other.

This means:

We cannot in love serve one another if we are lying, stealing, murdering, coveting, committing adultery, anger, hatred or bitterness in our heart.

FINISH

Another aspect of the word “fulfill” is “to finish.”

Jesus Christ came to finish the ceremonial aspects of the law.

The ceremonial aspect of the law was symbolic of Jesus Christ.

He came to fulfill those sacrifices in His life, death and resurrection.

If we truly want to understand the intensity of the cross, all we need to do is read the first half of Leviticus.

We cannot fully appreciate to destruction of the cross without the description of destruction of the animals during the sacrifice.

Further, the ceremonial law paints an awful picture of us.

Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelations 13:8).

He fulfilled all those different sacrifices; yet, never forget who He is fulfilling them for.

They are us!

He is taking our corruption and punishment.

It is easy to generalize and make generic , but we cannot do the same for the burnt, peace, sin and trespass offerings.

They speak of our dire situation created by our sin.

Praise God Jesus came to fulfill and not do away with!

PLAN V.18

God’s plan for the law:

Verily - This is important

Extent - How much of the law of God is relevant and will be preserved?

Jot - an apostrophe, comma or the least letter in the Hebrew alphabet

Tittle - the smallest distinguishing mark between two Hebrew letters

Regardless of the attempts or effort from the world, they will never be able to remove any aspect of God’s law.

Pass - The word “pass” means “to perish or neglect.”

None of God’s law will perish or be neglected.

By whom?

By God!

Time - Until all is fulfilled - The Great White Throne Judgement.

For those in Christ, Jesus has fulfilled all aspects of the Law of God - both ceremonial and moral.

But for those outside of Christ, the fulfilment of the law will take place at the Great White Throne Judgement.

Warning v.19-20

Jesus sums up the position the law has in the New Covenant

All commands of God are equal.

With God there is not great commands or small commands.

Remember, Adam and Eve plunged humanity into sin by eating of the forbidden fruit, not murder, theft, vandalism, assault etc.

The commands of the Old Testament are not inferior to the commands of the New Testament.

Today, as I mentioned earlier, Andy Stanley and others are diminishing the commands of the Old Testament.

They view them as small or insignificant to the perfect law of liberty.

Joseph Prince wrote:

What laws was God referring to when He said, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts”?