1. The first lesson is the presence of the law fulfilled (5:17-18)
2. The second lesson is the consequence of the law fulfilled (5:19)
3. The third lesson is the requirement of the law fulfilled (5:20)
4. The fourth lesson is the impossibility of the law fulfilled (5:48)
Yesterday morning, we went on a Quest for Blessedness as we looked at the Beatitudes. Last night we went on a Quest for Purpose as we looked at Jesus’ role for believers in the world today. For the next two nights Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount takes us into looking at God’s standard. We’ll look at His requirements for us as we go on a Quest for Perfection. We’ll only get to God’s first requirement in our Quest for Perfection tonight as we look at perfection according to the Law. Tonight is going to be difficult. It’s going to be difficult because we’re going to be looking into things that we don’t like to talk about. It would be much easier for me to stand up here and talk about God’s provision and blessing and never get to the difficult things. But if there wasn’t any need to confront the difficult things—the things we can’t fix or don’t want to fix in our lives. If we don’t need to face those things that we can’t deal with on our own, then why did Jesus come? Why did He preach on the difficult things? Why did He deal with the things we’d rather sweep under the rug and not talk about? Why can’t we just forget about God’s law like so many today want to? Look with me in Matthew 5, starting with verse 17 to see what Jesus had to say about it.
MATTHEW 5:17-20, 48
One of the choruses we like to sing says “Lord, You are more precious than silver. Lord, You are more costly than gold. Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares with You.” We sing that about the Lord, but what about His law? Psalm 19:7-12 says:
PSALMS 19:7-12
Cleanse me from secret faults. We, as human beings, have a natural tendency to hide our faults and our flaws. We use make-up and hair dye. I’m sure nobody here uses hair dye, but some other people use hair dye. Men, we’re not off the hook either. Most of the time instead of trying to cover up our flaws, we just ignore them. As soon as I quit exercising and started gaining weight, I quit even acknowledging there is a scale in my house. But ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. They say that one of the first things an alcoholic has to do is admit that he has a problem. And most of the time, the only time he will admit that he has a problem is when he reaches rock bottom. When he begins to see himself as others see him. The thing about sin is that the first thing it affects is our eyesight. It causes us to be blind. It makes it so we can’t see ourselves as God sees us. That’s why God gave us the Law. The Law is like a mirror. Except it’s a perfect mirror that always tells us the truth. Here’s the problem though. It always tells the truth, but we don’t like to hear the truth. So we do like what I’ve done with my bathroom scale. We keep it in a place where we don’t have to look at it. Where it won’t remind us of our problem. But here in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the people He wasn’t going to hide them from the Law. He said that He didn’t come to do away with it, but to fulfill it. He then told them that the law involved even more than they had ever imagined. In fact, the law demands complete and total perfection—an impossible standard. An impossible standard that can only point one place. The need for grace. I want each of here this evening to see ourselves in the perfect mirror of God’s law. And as we see ourselves there, I want us to fully appreciate our need for grace. The grace that only a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will provide. In order to do that, we’re going to look at Jesus’ teaching on the subject. We’re going to look at four lessons Jesus teaches us about the Law fulfilled. The first lesson He teaches is the presence of the law fulfilled. Look with me again to verses 17-18:
MATTHEW 5:17-18
The first lesson is the presence of the Law fulfilled. Have you ever noticed what happens when you see a Wet Paint sign? I don’t know about you, but any time I see a Wet Paint sign it seems like I just have to reach out and see if that paint’s really wet. I saw a story one time about a hotel that overlooked a river. The first story of the hotel was a restaurant with a big, plate-glass window that overlooked the river. There were rooms right above the restaurant. Each room had a balcony and each balcony had a sign that said, “No fishing from the balcony.” Well, every few weeks, the restaurant had to replace their big window because a fishing line with a big, heavy lead sinker would come crashing through. Eventually, they got tired of replacing windows, so, you know what they did to stop the problem? They took down the No Fishing signs from the balconies. The problem wasn’t that people had this overwhelming desire to fish. It wasn’t like they were really hungry and needed food. The problem was that, ever since the fall, people have a natural bent toward rebellion. God put it this way through the prophet Jeremiah: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Jesus says that He didn’t come to appease that wicked and deceitful heart. He didn’t come to give in to it by getting rid of the Law. Jesus didn’t come to take the sign down. Not only did Jesus come to leave the sign up, He came to show us our problem isn’t fishing. Our problem is rebellion against a holy God. First, Jesus tells us how important Scripture is to Him. It is so important that everything we see around us—everything in the sky and on the earth around us will disappear before even the smallest part of the Law is put aside. If Jesus feels that way, then how can we be so bold as to say the Law doesn’t apply to us today? It applies to us today every bit as much as it did when God first spoke it 3400 years ago from the top of Mount Sinai. Every bit of it applies, it’s just that some of it has been fulfilled. Jesus came to fulfill the Law. He fulfilled some of it on the cross. He’ll fulfill the rest at the end of the Millennium when the heaven and earth as we know it passes away. The Law that Jesus has already fulfilled is the Jewish political law, the Jewish ceremonial law, and the Sabbath law. We don’t execute people for adultery because God’s direct government of Israel ended when they rejected Jesus as their Messiah. We don’t follow Jewish dietary laws, because those restrictions applied specifically to the Nation of Israel—to set them aside from the other nations around them and make them different. Those dietary laws were set aside when God put His plan for Israel on hold because they rejected Jesus. The Sabbath laws were fulfilled when Jesus rose victorious from the grave on Sunday morning. The Book of Hebrews tells us that now we find our Sabbath rest in Him. We worship on Sunday, not because it is the Sabbath. But because it is the Lord’s Day—a celebration of His resurrection and our rest in Him. Those are the only parts of the Law that have been fulfilled. Jesus will not fulfill the rest of the Law until He gives us a new heaven and a new earth. When his children are residents of the New Jerusalem. So what does that mean? If Jesus hasn’t done away with the Law and has only so far fulfilled part of it, what does that mean? It means it is still in effect. And if it is still in effect, iolating it will have consequences. So if the first lesson is the presence of the Law fulfilled, the second lesson is the consequence of the Law fulfilled. Look with me to verse 19:
MATTHEW 5:19
The second lesson is the consequence of the law fulfilled. What good is a law with no consequence? Do you ever watch moms with their little kids? The child does something he’s not supposed to and the mom tells him to stop. Of course he ignores her. Then what does she do? She says, “stop or I’m going to spank you.” Now, you can immediately tell a lot about that home by what happens next. If he’s been spanked a couple of times, he knows mom is serious. He might think twice about continuing on in his bad behavior. But here’s what happens most of the time. “I mean it—1…, 2…, I really mean it. You’d better stop. 1…, 2….” And so it goes. The point is, if there is no consequence, the law is worthless. God’s Law—the Law that Jesus came to fulfill—isn’t worthless. As a matter of fact, it is the most valuable law ever given to man. Jesus said that if we break even the least of His commandments, there would be consequences. The word He used for break really has the idea of loosing something. It’s not so much the idea of out and out breaking a commandment. It’s the idea of trying to find a loophole. Trying to find ourselves not guilty because of a technicality. Well, I didn’t technically lie—I just didn’t tell the whole truth. That’s “loosing” one of the commandments. Or saying, “It’s not gossip—it’s just Christian concern.” Did you know that some of the worst gossip sessions in the world start off with, “Not to gossip, but, did you hear…” That’s “loosing” Jesus’ commandments. Not only is it “loosing” His commandments, it’s teaching others to do so. Very seldom do we sin when we’re sitting in a room all by ourselves. We do most of our sinning in public. And when we sin in public, someone’s always watching us. Learning from us. Jesus said that when we break even what we consider to be the smallest, most insignificant commandment and teach others to do the same, He’ll call us the least in the Kingdom. The word “least” there carries the meaning of utter worthlessness. Jesus uses “kingdom of heaven” here just like He does over in Matthew 13 when He talks about the tares and the wheat and the good fish and bad fish being caught in the net. In this visible kingdom, there will be many people who call Jesus Lord, Lord. But He will tell many of them to depart from Him, because He never knew them. So, in this verse, Jesus is telling us the consequences for breaking even the smallest of His commandments. The consequences are that we will be called least. We will be counted with the tares, not the wheat. We will be thrown away with the bad fish that are caught in the kingdom net. And what does Jesus say in Matthew 13:49-50 about these who are called least? He says, “So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” That is the consequence. The consequence for violating even the smallest portion of God’s Law is eternal. It is imminent. It is excruciating. So if the eternal fires of Hell are the consequence for violating Jesus’ Law, what is the requirement? What is the requirement of the Law to keep us from having to endure the consequences? Jesus covers that in His third lesson. Look with me in verse 20:
MATTHEW 5:20
As I said, the Law is a mirror. It shows us what we really look like. It’s a mirror, not a means. It shows us what we look like, but can’t do anything to fix it for us. I’ve heard it put like this: The Law is the light that shows us how dirty the room is. It’s not the broom that sweeps it clean. In this verse and the ones that follow, Jesus is still using the light. As a matter of fact, it’s a very bright light. He shows us how far we really fall short of what God requires. See, we can’t know we need to be saved until we see what we need to be saved from. Jesus didn’t come to provide for our felt needs. He didn’t come to make us healthy and rich. He didn’t come to make our life a bed of roses. He came and shed His blood on the cruel cross of Calvary to save us from our sin. To save us from the sin of not meeting the requirement of the law. Because Jesus said the Law requires that we be more righteous than even the Scribes and Pharisees. You know, the Scribes and the Pharisees get kind of a bad rap. You look at all the children’s pictures of Scribes and Pharisees. They’re all about 150 years old. They’re all bald on top, with long stringy hair on the sides. They’ve got huge hook noses and all look like they’ve eaten a bucket of lemons. They look mean—like somebody you’d want to have nothing to do with. We picture them that way because Jesus told us what their insides looked like. That’s the way their heart looked. But in reality, there’s not a person in here who wouldn’t want a Pharisee for a neighbor. The Law required that they love their neighbor, so they did—right down to the letter. They wouldn’t lie, cheat, steal. If they borrowed your chainsaw, they would clean it before they brought it back. When they mowed their grass, they’d cut yours too—just not on Saturday. In reality, the Scribes and Pharisees were about the most perfect people you could ever meet. They obeyed the letter of everything the Law told them to do. Jesus held up that picture of perfection before the crowd and said, that’s not good enough. It was as if He said, “If you want to avoid the fires of Hell and enter My Kingdom, you have to live a better, more perfect life than Mother Theresa.” If that wasn’t clear enough, He went on, over the next 28 verses to give examples. First, He brought out some examples from the 10 Commandments. In verses 21-26, talked about the sixth commandment—thou shalt not kill. Well, I’ve never killed anyone. I must be OK. Jesus said that if you’ve ever been angry without cause or held a grudge against anyone, you’ve broken the 6th commandment. In verses 27-32, He talked about the 7th commandment—thou shalt not commit adultery. Well, I’ve never cheated on my wife. I must be OK. Jesus said that if you’ve ever looked at a woman in lust. Guys, that’s doing that double-take. If you’ve ever done that, you’ve broken the 7th commandment. In verses 33-37, He talked about the 9th commandment—Thou shalt not bear false witness. Well, I’ve never told a lie—except that one. If your yes hasn’t always meant yes and your no always meant no, you’ve broken the 9th commandment. But Jesus knew that we always look for a loophole. So He didn’t just leave it with the 10 commandments. He moved on to the expanded law. In verses 38-42, He went to the law in Exodus 21:22-25 that says, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It’s a law that says that we have to repay people for any wrong that we’ve done them. Jesus turns it on its head and says that paybacks go both ways. He says for us to repay people double in good for what they’ve done to us in bad. If we’ve ever given somebody their “just deserts”, we’ve broken this law. Finally, Jesus moves into the Levitical law—the law of the priests. In verses 43-47, He went to Leviticus 19:18 which says, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus said we can’t even quote that one right. He said, “It hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.” Jesus said that if we have ever repaid unkindness with unkindness, we’ve broken this law. It isn’t pretty, is it? We’ve broken every example that Jesus has laid before us. He has shined his light and showed us how dirty our rooms are. But just in case there were any doubts as to what He requires, He taught one more lesson. His fourth lesson is the impossibility of the law fulfilled. Look at verse 48:
MATTHEW 5:48
There’re not many ways you can twist that verse around, are there? It’s clear, concise, and to the point. It is a summary of everything we’ve looked at so far tonight. Jesus requires perfection. He requires perfection according to His Law. He said His law is perfect and will not pass away, and He expects us to be in perfect compliance with it. If we don’t, the consequences are dire. If we aren’t perfect according to the unchanging Law of God, we will face the consequences. We will face an eternity in a place of utter torment, emptiness, and pain. When I line my life up against God’s Law. When I look at myself in that mirror that never lies. What I see isn’t pretty. According to Jesus, I’ve broken not one or two of them. I’ve broken every one of them. And not just once. I’m a serial offender. And it’s not like I don’t know better. I can’t count how many times I’ve read or heard the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments and the Law. But I still break it. I still break it just like everybody else. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Jesus knows His Law is an unattainable standard. He knows that you can’t be perfect like His Father in Heaven is perfect. But Jesus loves you anyway. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” He died for you. He knew you couldn’t keep the Law, but loved you enough to shed His blood for you so that you wouldn’t have to. The Law is there to drive us to Jesus. If you find yourself here tonight asking the question, “what must I do to be saved?” There is hope—there is an answer. Romans 10:9 says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” All you have to do is turn from your sin and cry out to Him in faith believing. He has promised that He will save you. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That is a promise. A promise from the creator of the universe. The question is, do you trust Him tonight?
