Christ and The Law Part 3

Pastor Michael Huffman

The Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Matthew 5:17–20

0 ratings

· 6 views

Notes

Transcript

Matthew 5:17–20 AV

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. 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. 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.

Introduction:

There is this kind of attitude of our day that has been around for literally millenia, and that is the attitude, “Do your own thing.”

Do whatever makes you happy, satisfied, or content.

Do what you what and do not be concerned with what others think or want from you; be your own person, do your own thing.

Or as I think the young people say it today, “you do you.”

And this kind of an attitude has led to an almost anti-law attitude, which we would call antinomian, or anti-law.

There is this spirit of the day of lawlessness that runs right alongside of the concept of doing your own thing.

Do not let anyone tell you what to do; not God, not the Bible, and not people.

In fact, I had a roommate in college and he told me one day, “Before I was saved, I had just a rebellious attitude.”

He said, “I was so tired of people telling me what to do, that I decided to join the army.”

This kind of antinomian attitude is reminiscent of the times in Biblical history when God’s anger was provoked because, “Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.”

We live in a day when everyone does what is right in his own eyes.

This is nothing more than doing your own things, it is the same idea.

This kind of “do your own thing” attitude has revealed itself in two areas that stretch into many other areas.

First, it has bred sort of a personal existentialism.

Now, existentialism is a philosophy that says, “You have got to fill this moment with everything you want to cram into it. It is all you have got; live for here and now. Forget the sweet by and by, and grab on to the here and now.”

Existentialism says, “Do what you want now. Grab it while you can get it; take advantage of it now.”

And when society has the attitude, “do your own thing,” or “you do you,” it bred this kind of personal existentialism.

The second area, now grab onto this.

When a society has an “you do your own thing” attitude, then they believe that they need to do what is right in their own eyes, do what makes them happy, “you do you.”

The natural next step is that they do not let anyone tell them what is right.

“You do you” (first step), “do not let anyone tell you how to do you” (natural second step).

And in our society we have gone beyond the notion that I need to do what makes me happy, and we have gotten to the point where no one has the right to tell me that I am right or wrong, because it is all about me.

And unfortunately, this attitude is also present in many churches.

There are churches that have been infiltrated by immorality and amorality.

They have become tolerant of immortal sexual activity, and churches are afraid to discipline people in accordance with Matthew 18 becomes they are afraid that it might make waves.

So even in many churches there is this kind of removing of the authority of God’s Word and it is being replaced with “you do you,” kind of an attitude that is rapidly taking place in many churches.

And I would say that another attitude that is taking place in many churches, this same kind of antinomian attitude, is the idea that because we have been justified by grace alone, since we have been made just by God, since He has declared us saved, since the Bible says that we are no longer under the law.

Grace is so magnanimous, so full, and so far-reaching, we can do whatever we want and do not ever have to worry about it.

I read this week of a Church where they are taught from the pulpit that the individual Christian is really two parts.

You are the new creature and the old man.

When you sin, it is the old man.

So you expect that if you have the old man, he is going to sin, so sin is just the old man doing his thing.

It does not really do you any good to discipline the old man, he is rotten anyway, so do not worry about it.

There is no reason to discipline sin, no reason to deal with sin, that just the old man who will be around, doing his thing anyway.

There are always, and will always be those people that want to throw God out; his standards, His Word. and His law.

And it is maddening to me that this has even become a problem in churches.

There are people over the years that have written about grace, about justification, about the magnanimous forgiveness of God, who have traded on the forgiveness and lived dissolute, sinful, evil, vile lives.

Listen, this is not what the Bible teaches.

The Bible never teaches that we are to be lawless.

The Bible never teaches that we are to live against a Divine standard, that grace frees us from responsibility to obey God’s law.

The Bible never teaches that God has altered His moral standards.

This is, in effect, what Jesus is saying in this passage.

So we pose the question, “What is the Christian’s relation to the law of God?”

Now, we have been saved by faith; the Bible talks about being free from the law, but what does it mean when it says that we are still obligated to obey?

What is the believers relationship to the law?

Are we free from it or are we not free from it?

And I believe that verse 19 of our text is an excellent answer.

Matthew 5:19 AV

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.

Let me remind of what our Lord said to this Jews about the law and His relationship to it.

I. The Laws Preeminence (vs. 17)

Matthew 5:17 AV

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Now remember, this Jews thought that this powerful speaking man from Nazareth, who spoke with such authority, thought the Christ came to abolish the law of Moses and to set up His own law.

He did not come to abolish the law because the law of preeminence.

It is preeminent because it was authored by God.

It is preeminent because it was affirmed by the Prophets.

It is preeminent because it was Accomplished in Christ.

He says that I did come to annual it or destroy it, I came to fulfill it.

There Christ give the first answer to the believers relationship to the law of God; he fulfilled it, He did not destroy it.

II. The Laws Perpetuity (vs. 18)

Matthew 5:18 AV

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.

Jesus answers, again, about the relationship of the believer to the law.

It is not going away, it is perpetual.

Jesus said that the smallest letter or the small stroke of the quill will not go away until all be fulfilled.

So, when we ask the question about what is the believers relationship with the law, “It stands.”

III. The Laws Pertinence (vs. 19)

Matthew 5:19 AV

Honestly, this is probably the most basic, definitive studies that a Christian could ever do; to comprehend and understand in your spiritual mind what is your responsibility to God’s law is a critical issue.

Really, based on the words of Jesus Christ, it will determine whether you are the least or the greatest in the Kingdom, whether you come in by the a hair, or whether you are loaded down with rewards.

Jesus warns his listeners about setting aside, or disannulling, even the least of God’s moral standards.

And He gives that warning for several reason that I want you to see.

A. The Character of the Law (vs. 19a)

Matthew 5:19 AV

Now, stop at the word “therefore.”

Now that word takes us back to what has said before.

Since God authored it, and the prophets affirmed it, and the Messiah Accomplished it, it is preeminent.

Because it is preeminent, it is therefore pertinent.

Anything that is preeminent, that is, anything that stands above any other written truth in the history of the world.

Anything that is exalted as the very Word of God.

Anything that is upheld by God’s mouthpiece (the prophets).

Anything that is fulfilled by the very Christ Himself is preeminent.

And because it is preeminent and because it is permanent, therefore it is binding.

God does not put out anything whimsical.

The Word of God does not make suggestions, it gives commands.

There is a big difference.

So we are responsible to listen to the law because of the Laws Character.

B. The Consequences of the Law (vs. 19b)

Now, understand that the consequences of the law depend on a person’s response to it.

If you respond to it positively, you will receive a positive result.

If you respond negatively, you will receive a negative result.

1. The Negative Consequence

Matthew 5:19 AV

Let me try and break down this concept.

The word “break” is “λύω” and is an interesting word.

It is used 42 times in the NT, and it is usually translated loose, break, release.

However, there is also a force behind that word that I want you to see.

This word “λύω” that is in our text, has to do with breaking destructively.

It speaks not only of infringing them, but loosing the force of them, rendering them not binding.

It means to be released, to be unbound, to be broken.

Jesus is saying that this person is someone who makes void God’s law, but loosing themselves from its requirements and standards.

And, listen, I do not want you to miss this.

If you loose yourself or release yourself from an obligation to obey God’s least command, you will be called the least in the Kingdom.

Now, notice this, and I do not want you to miss this.

It is kind of interesting to see the word here because Jesus used the word that went with it earlier in verse 17.

Matthew 5:17 AV

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

When Jesus said “destroy,” that is anther form of the word “λύω” in verse 19.

Jesus said, “I did not come to loose the law, but if you do it, you will consider the least in the Kingdom.”

Only Jesus used a more intense word.

He used the word “λύω” only He put a “kata” in front of it, which intensifies it.

What He is saying is this, and please do not miss this, “I did not come to utterly nullify, I did not come to utterly destroy, I did not come to utterly devastate and abrogate the law. But if you even loosen one little part of it, you will be called least in the Kingdom.”

In other words Jesus did not come to destroy it at all, but the temptation of the believer is going to be to fool around with parts of it, and to set aside what does not accommodate what they want to do.

Jesus said, “if you do that, you will consider the least in the Kingdom.”

It is very interesting and very frightening to realize that a believer, by disobedience, ignorance, misrepresentation, or by manipulation for selfish reasons, to set the law of God aside and just do what we want.

Notice what Jesus said, do not miss this.

Matthew 5:19 AV

If you loose or make void one of the “least of these commandments...”

If you take one of the very minor commandments, the least, and flagrantly and openly set it aside and loose yourself from the obligation to that law, you will be called the least in the Kingdom.

Boy, tough words.

Jesus is saying that He upheld every single part of God’s law in its proper place.

No one has the right at any time to loosen the law of God.

Acts 20:27 AV

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

He declared to the Ephesian believers the whole counsel of God because the whole counsel of God is binding.

That is why I love being a Pastor-Teacher versus an evangelist or some kind of itinerant preacher, because I have a burning desire in my heart to teach people the whole counsel of God.

I do not want to come into a place and give the Church five sermons and then go on; I cannot do that and then just keep moving.

I love the fact that the Lord has allowed me to land in one place and absolutely pour into you the whole counsel of God.

What an Honor, what a humbling honor.

Now, when Jesus spoke about the “least of these commandments,”

Matthew 5:19 NASB95

“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Does that mean that there are those commandments that are more important than others?

Well, let us see if we can get some insight into this; now hold on to this truth, this is great.

In Matthew 22, we must be coming on the tail-end of such discussion as to the lesser or more important commandments.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees were involved here.

Now, the Bible says that this lawyer, one of the Pharisees, came and asked Jesus, testing Him, a question.

He did not really want to know the truth, he was trying to trap Christ, but he got the truth any way.

Matthew 22:35–39 AV

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

There it is folks, the Lord Himself was grading the commandments.

Matthew 22:37 NASB95

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Number one, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind.

Matthew 22:39 AV

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Number two, love your neighbor as yourself.

Number three, four, five, six, seven, and so fourth, come under those.

So even the Lord Himself acknowledged the fact that there was variety of intensity and degree of importance to the various commands.

So it is possible that if there a greater command, then that means that there is a lesser command.

Matthew 23:23 AV

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Yes, because Jesus ministered under the Old Covenant, it was important to tithe to the nation of Israel as recorded in the OT; there were three different OT tithes laid out in the OT that they were responsible to pay to the nation; that equalled about 20-23% of their possessions, but that was Old Covenant and not the point of Christ here at all.

The point here is that you do that, because it is an outward display, but you forget the “weightier matters of the the law.”

In other words, there are parts of the law that are more important than the tithe that you pay, but you tithe because you can do that so that others can see.

The point, that in God’s law, there are degrees.

There were greater commandments and there were lesser ones.

And those things are sort of a footnote to help us understand that it is possible to violate what the Lord would see as a less important command.

But so that you do not feel yourself off the hook for the little ones, Jesus said that if you loose your obligation from the least commandments and teach someone else to so it, you will be called the least in the Kingdom.

I am glad about one thing that it does not say that you are kicked out of the Kingdom, that is not the idea.

What will happen is that you will become a person that God cannot use, bless, or reward.

You may say, “Well, I am just failing now. In the past, boy, I was racking it up. I have been faithful for a long time; this is just a final thing.”

I want you to notice this verse.

2 John 8 AV

Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

Do not spend the first part of your Christian life earning rewards and then the last half of your Christian life giving them back.

2. The Positive Consequences (vs. 19c)

Matthew 5:19 AV

Here, again, we see two aspects: teaching and doing, precept and pattern, life-living and life-teaching, what you are and what you say.

At the time Jesus was talking, Israel was still a nation.

They were still a duly constituted nation and were being offered the Kingdom.

Consequently, they were still under the judicial law, the ceremonial law and the moral law.

And they had to keep every bit of it.

Nothing had changed for them.

Now for us, the civil law had been fulfilled.

The Ceremonial law had been fulfilled.

The only law left for us, then, is the moral law.

Because, remember, the moral law is an extension of God’s character and nature, and is still binding on us.

1 Thessalonians 2:10 AV

Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

1 Thessalonians 4:7 AV

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

Nothing has changed in God’s standard.

Listen, greatness is not determined by gifts, success, popularity, reputation, or size of the ministry, but by a believers view of Scripture as reveled in his life and teaching.

Jesus’ promise is not just to the formidable men like Spurgeon, or Wesley.

His promise applies to to every believer who teaches others to obey God’s Word by faithfully, carefully, and lovingly living by and speaking that Word.

That is what Jesus meant in the last half of verse 19.

Those that are great in the Kingdom will not be those, necessarily, who had erudition (great knowledge or learning), but will be those who will do and teach the commandments.

Notice the words “do” and “teach,” these are subjunctive mood verbs, used in this context to encourage the readers to a particular course of actions.

Jesus encourages his listeners by saying, “you want to be great in the Kingdom? Then obey and teach others to obey even down to the least commandment.”

Conclusion:

What does Jesus say?

Obey the law, do not break it.

Do not break even one of the least of the commandments.

Why?

Because the law is preeminent, the law is perpetual, and the law is pertinent.

May the Lord help us as His children to obey even the least of the commandments and to teach others to do the same in both word and deed, so that we can be called the greatest in the kingdom.

I do not know about you, but I do not want to be the least in the Kingdom.

If I am satisfied at being the least in the Kingdom, just as long as I make it in the kingdom; tell me, what kind of response is that to the one who has given everything for me?

You gave everything for me, but I am satisfied with giving you the least, just as long as I make it in the kingdom…really....what kind of response is that.

Related Media

Related Sermons