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The Tenth Sunday After Trinity
Sermon on the Mount, 5th Sermon
August 4, 2002
 
TEXT: NKJ Matthew 5:20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
 
Again I remind you that this is Jesus’ sermon preached to His disciples—the 12—to prepare them to go out into the world and preach—it is upon the Apostles that Jesus would build His Church
 
NKJ Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
 
We Christians today are included in our Lord’s glorious Church—as we are a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit—the source of our faith—the source of our knowledge—and the source of all truly good works
 
When Jesus stood before His disciples on top of that mountain He wanted to ensure that they—and we today—would properly understand the things of God—He must prepare the Apostles for combat with the devil himself—just as we must be prepared through these precious words of Christ—to fight the devil for every soul we can gain for the kingdom by teaching the truth
 
All Christians must properly understand the things that are God-pleasing—and how it is that we should conduct ourselves in this life—and we have a responsibility to pass the message of salvation to all who will listen and hear
 
To obtain understanding of the message Jesus is teaching us today—we go to the epistles of Paul—a Pharisee who became a believer—a Hebrew’s Hebrew—a man who can provide great insight based on his personal misunderstandings in the past
 
A man with great understanding of the Jews—and a grasp of the misunderstandings that the Jews and others had of spiritual things
 
Misunderstandings that continue to be seen today
 
What does Jesus mean when He says “unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”?
 
Again—we go to Scripture to answer Scripture—Paul wrote the following to the Romans
 
NKJ Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel 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 they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
 
Verse 20—our text—is one of the key verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount—therefore we must develop a clear understanding of this verse as a foundation for understanding Jesus’ message to His disciples and to us
 
We begin by understanding that among the Jews—the scribes and the Pharisees were regarded as those who most perfectly and completely taught and lived up to the will of God as embodied in the Old Testament
 
They were respected and treated with the highest regard—and the scribes and Pharisees were considered the greatest among men
 
If the Jews imitated the scribes and the Pharisees—they thought that they also would achieve greatness in the eyes of God—and they too would obtain salvation
 
They were wrong—of course—the scribes and the Pharisees were not a good model to be followed—and they certainly did not have the inheritance of eternal life and heavenly things
 
They thought they could go to heaven on their own merits—through their own righteousness obtained by following the Law—they even expanded the Law with worldly rules
 
Jesus’ message—“unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Is to His disciples and to believers today
 
The scribes and the Pharisees could not obtain salvation by obedience to the Law—and neither can anyone else
 
NKJ Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
 
The people respected and followed the Pharisees—they thought they taught and practiced the truth
 
The scribes and the Pharisees were very public and formal about the way they worshipped God—but were not knowledgeable concerning the true teachings of His Holy Scriptures
 
Jesus is clear here—perfect obedience to the Law—or you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven—and that perfection is not approached by the best “law followers” in this world
 
This is what Paul said in Romans 10:2 “they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge”
 
I bring up the example of Paul because he understood the passion for God that the Jews had—and he understood how misguided they were regarding the things that truly pleased God
 
Paul knew what zeal was—he burned hot with it—as he murdered Christians—to preserve the ways of God as he understood them
 
He knew that the Jews hated idolatry—they had a fanatical reverence for the Temple—they obeyed the Law in accordance with the rabbinical traditions—and he knew that none of this would get them to heaven—most importantly—Paul knew first hand that Jesus was the Son of God—the Messiah the Jews were still seeking
 
Paul knew the Jews needed a Savior—because zeal and obedience is not enough—not then—not now—not ever!!
 
He repeats the teachings of Jesus—but in his own words—to communicate the same thoughts
 
NKJ Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
 
Let’s examine the inspired words of Paul in verse 4
 
Christ is the end of the Law and the beginning of righteousness—and in our text for last week Jesus says
 
NKJ Matthew 5:17 " Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
 
Christ obtained the righteousness of God for us—and it is ours by faith—He obtained it by atoning for our sins on the cross—He died—He defeated death and was resurrected
 
All who obtain righteousness—obtain it through Christ—this goes all the way back to Abraham
 
NKJ Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
 
And again Paul says it in another way
 
NKJ Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
 
Not even father Abraham could live according to the Law—perfectly—to obtain salvation
 
But we know he is in heaven—because Jesus Himself uses him as an example in the lesson about Lazarus and the rich man
 
NKJ Luke 16:22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'
 
NKJ Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
 
Not by works—or anything Abraham did—but by the same gift of grace that we obtain righteousness today
 
NKJ Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
 
Faith-to-faith—faith in the Old Testament in the Savior promised—and the faith in the New Testament in the Savior who came—and who will come again
 
NKJ Romans 4:13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
 
And all righteousness comes through our Savior
 
NKJ Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
 
We close with Paul’s words—inspired by the Holy Spirit—but delivered in such simple human terms to be understood by believers throughout the years until Judgment Day
 
NKJ Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
 
Our righteousness comes through faith—our faith comes through the Holy Spirit