Do Not Even Think It
Matthew 5:17-20
OKAY – let’s do this…
We are in week 18 of our chapter by chapter, verse by verse study of the Gospel of Matthew.
YOU KNOW – I cannot think of a better conversation for us to have, AS WE - gather as a church body, than to talk about Our King and about The Kingdom He established 2000 years ago.
AMEN?!
NOW CURRENTLY – we are unpacking the longest recorded sermon of Jesus… The Sermon on The Mount.
Jesus’ radical, counter-culture manifesto about what life in His Kingdom is all about.
NOW JESUS – begins this sermon by talking about the character of those who live in His Kingdom,
HE - says that they ARE…
The poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful,
AND… those who are persecuted for the life they live and the Lord they love…
AND THEN…
HE - talks about the influence and impact that His followers, will have throughout the centuries because,
THEY ARE… the ‘salt’ of the earth and the ‘light’ of the world.
(just like we in the Welcome to church video earlier)
AND REMEMBER B/S…
Being the ‘salt’ of the earth is about the fruit of the Spirit displaying, noticeably different life that we live…
In our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, in the marketplace… on social media.
AND…
Being the ‘light’ of the world is about ‘the truth’ that we share and ‘The Savior’ we point.
QUESTION – during the last few weeks have strived to be a ‘saltier’ and ‘Lightier’ Jesus-follower?
If so, awesome! If not, there is still time!
Let’s do this Maple Grove!
OKAY – and this brings us to Matthew 5:17-20 and our conversation for this morning… “Do Not Even Think…”
I will read the text and then I will pray us into our time in His Word.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:17-20
Prayer
OKAY – let’s do this.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – Matthew 5:17-20 is an important text for us to dive into… why?
BECAUSE - it answers the question, about what the relationship, BETWEEN…
• the Christian and the law.
• the Christian and the Old Testament,
should be.
LIKE…
• Is the Old Testament binding on the Christian?
• If so how much of it is binding on us?
• Do we have to obey all of the OT laws (613… 365 ‘negative’ command, ‘don’t do this’… 249 ‘positive’ commands, ‘do this’)
• Does the Old Testament any value at all for us, who live under the New Covenant?
UNDERSTAND MGCC - these are important questions,
Ones that Jesus-followers and biblical scholars have wrestled with from the ‘Day of Pentecost’ to this very day.
AND – as I shared a few years back (20180) a very prominent pastor, argued in a sermon that the Christian faith must be "unhitched" from the Old Testament. He claimed that "Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well."
AGAIN – understanding what the relationship should be between a Jesus-follower and the Old Testament (law of Moses) is important.
AND LISTEN – the good news is, that Jesus gives us an answer in Matthew 5:17-20.
AN ANSWER – we can actually understand, as you will see, as dive deeper into the text.
OKAY – here’s the deal…
MANY - Jesus-followers today have a pretty low… have a ‘negative’ opinion of The Old Testament Law, even though they are no longer living under it.
YEAH – many Christians, when they consider ‘the Law’ and ‘the Old Testament’… They feel like and believe that.
• The Law, is bad… and grace is good
• The Law, was a heavy unwanted burden that people had to carry
• The Law, was just a necessary evil until the time of Jesus
“Man, I so glad that those terrible rules and regulations are over and done with forever. Not even sure why God had all those rules to begin with.”
QUESTION… SO – what is your attitude towards the Old Testament and The Law of Moses?
QUESTION…
HAVE YOU - ever wondered how God’s people who actually lived under ‘The Law’ felt about it?
LIKE – did they see it as an unwanted heavy burden?
UNDERSTAND MGCC – you will not find one example in all of the Old Testament of anyone whining and complaining about what a terrible burden it was to be living under ‘the law.’
IN FACT – you will find the exact opposite.
HERE – are just a few verses.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. – Psalm 1:1-3
When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” – Deuteronomy 32:46-48
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. – Joshua 1:8
Psalm 119 – is basically 176 verses declaring the awesomeness of God’s Law.
The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. – Psalm 19:7,8
I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. – Job 23:12
I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. – Psalm 119:14
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. – Psalm 119:92,93
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts… How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. – Psalm 119:97-100,103-105
Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. I wait for your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands. I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. – Psalm 119:164-167
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. – Romans 7:12
UNDERSTAND – if you were to grab some coffee with someone who lived under the OT Law, and ask them how they feel about it, they would say, ‘THE LAW..”
• Is my delight
• Makes me like a tree planted by streams of water
• Is my life
• When I meditate on it and obey it, I am prosperous and successful
• Refreshes my soul, makes me wise, gives joy to my heart and light to my eyes
• Has preserved my life
• Is sweeter than honey to the mouth
• A lamp to my feet, and a light to my path
• Holy, right and good
• I treasure the law more than my daily bread
• I rejoice in the law
• I love the law greatly
UNDERSTAND B/S – we do not have to make the law look bad in order to make Jesus look good.
Amen?!
NOW… let’s begin attacking those 4 verses that make up our text this morning. AND HERE - is how I want us to do that…
BY - unpacking the following statements (one for each verse)
1. Do not even think It
2. Until heaven and earth disappear
3. It all matters
4. It’s always been about the heart
Do Not Even Think It…
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. - Matthew 5:17
NOW – the way this is constructed in the original language carries a much stronger meaning than simply ‘do not think.’
QUESTION – have ever when looking for a parking space come across a sign that said something like, ‘don’t even think of parking here?’
WELL – that’s kind of the idea, that Jesus is wanting to get across…
“Do not even let that kind of thinking enter your mind.”
Do not even think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…
Abolish (katalyo) – destroy, overthrow, tear down, demolish (like a building).
• Matthew 24:2 (destruction of the Temple in 70 AD by the Roman army), ‘not one stone will be left standing, every one, will be thrown down.
• Matthew 27:40, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’
• 2 Corinthians 5:1, For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
Do not even think that I have come to (destroy, overthrow, tear down, demolish) the Law or the Prophets (another way of saying the Old Testament)…
QUESTION… - why would someone would put up a ‘don’t even think about parking here’ sign.
BECAUSE – they know that someone is going to think about parking there, right?
AND LISTEN – that is the very same reason why Jesus says, in Matthew 5:17,
Do not even think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.
BECAUSE – Jesus knows that this is exactly what some people were going to think about Him. And not without reason, UNDERSTAND… after 30 years in relative obscurity, Jesus bursts onto the scene in a powerful way after His baptism in the Jordan River.
• Healing the sick, casting out demons, telling people to repent for the Kingdom of God is here
• Eating with sinners and outcasts, rather than hanging out with the religious elite (the scribes and Pharisees)
• Confronting the religious elite, pointing out their pride, arrogance and hypocrisy.
• Teaching the people the truth of God in a way that they had never heard before..
In fact, Matthew records these words after Jesus concluded the Sermon of the Mount.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
– Matthew 7:28,29
AND SO…
• The People Are Wondering… is Jesus launching some kind of revolution, to bring about a brand new thing?, AND…
• The Religious Are Fearing… that Jesus is not only going to tear down the law of Moses, but the religious system they had built that gave them both their power and position.
AFTER ALL - all that is way of most revolutionary leaders…
THEY - sever all ties to the past, and do everything they can to undo and abolish the traditions that have gone before. (kind of like when a new administration takes over in Washington)…
SO JESUS – in His radical manifesto about Kingdom life, makes it clear that this is not what He is about.
I have not come to destroy or tear down the law or the prophets… I have come to fulfill them
Fulfill – (pleroo… ‘play rah o’)…
to complete, to carry out to the full, to fill to the top, to carry through to the end.
UNDERSTAND – Matthew really likes using this word in reference to Jesus.
IN FACT – He has already used it 6 times in his Gospel.
• 4 times in Matthew 1 and 2, when he declares that the events surrounding Jesus’ birth fulfilled OT prophecy
• Once in Matthew 3 to proclaim when he quotes Jesus saying that His Baptism by John was in order to fulfill al righteousness.
• And then in chapters 4 fulfilled OT prophecy.
YEAH – Matthew loves to use plerro in reference to Jesus. He will go on to use it 9 more time, more than any Gospel writer.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – when Jesus says that He has come to fulfill the law and the prophets, He is saying that…
• He is the ultimate fulfillment of the OT law.
• Everything in the law and the prophets was pointing to Him
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. – John 5:39,40
NOW – in order for us to understand how Jesus fulfilled ‘The Law,’ it is helpful to look at the various types of law that we find in the Old Testament.
4 basic categories of law
1. Dietary Law*
2. Civil Law*
3. Ceremonial Law*
4. Moral Law
*not binding on a Christian
Dietary Law
NOW - these laws (like many of the law in the OT) were about setting Israel (God’s people) apart from the world around them… to show them as a separate and distinct people.
AND - they also had some health and medicinal value as well
OKAY – the law of Moses divided animals in the categories of clean and unclean. Clean you could eat, not clean you had to avoid.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. – Leviticus 11:1-3
To be clean and to be eaten both are required.
Which brings us to this very sad verse in Deuteronomy 14…
The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses. – Deuteronomy 14:8
NOW – I don’t know about you, but I am quite fond of the dead carcass of a pig.
I MEAN - can you say… ‘bacon, ribs, pulled pork BBQ?’
“‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. – Leviticus 11:9,10
YES – that means NO: shrimp, oysters, scallops, crabs steamed with Old Bay Seasoning, Maryland Crab cakes, shrimp boils, or lobster and Alaskan King Crab legs…
UNLESS – it is dipped in melted butter.
OKAY – so how did Jesus fulfill the Jesus OT dietary laws, to by teaching that true cleanliness is about the heart.
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. – Mark 7:18-20
OKAY – so the dietary laws are no longer binding.
NOW – you can kept them if you want to.
Civil Law
NOW – civil laws were just judicial laws that governed the nation of Israel.
UNDERSTAND – all societies need laws.
I MEAN – without laws, with people being able to do whatever they want to do without experiencing any consequences there would be chaos.
LIKE – how would you, like to drive on the road without any driving laws or live in a city without any laws or police to enforce those laws. SO – in the law of Moses we find…
• Laws regarding: murder, kidnapping, injuring another person…
• Laws about what is required if your bull gores a neighbor, or if you dig a pit (and fail to cover it) and your neighbors donkey falls into it
• Laws about the establishment of cities of refuge
OKAY – so how did Jesus fulfilled the Civil Law?
ANSWER - by establishing His Kingdom and a New people…
UNDERSTAND – the OT law and prophets pointed to a time when God would establish a new people, a people who would be governed not by external laws but by their inner spirit.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. – Jeremiah 31:33
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 11:19
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 36:26
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
– 2 Corinthians 3:3
Ceremonial Law
NOW – these laws required…
• Offering various animal sacrifices at the Tabernacle and then later at the Temple, in order to approach God and regain right standing with Him
• Celebrating certain feasts throughout the year (like The Passover)… the purpose of which was so that God’s people would never forgot how HE had moved so powerfully in their nation
• Observing certain meant to distinguish Israelites from their pagan neighbors (regulations about: clothing, hair, beards, tattoos, and other such restrictions)
Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. – Leviticus 19:27
Let you beard grow and don’t shave close to the side of your head. Part of pagan worship involved men shaving the side of their heads… (Hasidic Jews)
UNDERSTAND - Christians are not bound by ceremonial law.
BECAUSE – Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of them.
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. – Colossians 2:16,17
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered?
For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins…
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. – Hebrews 10:1-4, 11-14
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. – Colossians 3:12-14
Moral Law
NOW - Jesus fulfilled the moral law by keeping it perfectly.
HOWEVER – the moral law is still binding, why?
BECAUSE - they are based on the character of God.
OKAY – here’s the deal… God doesn’t want His people to live in a way that violates His character. SO – for example…
• When the Bible talks about, not bearing false witness… in other words don’t lie… It is because God is truthful and He does not lie. So He does not want us to do something that is opposed to His character.
• When He says in Scripture, not to commit adultery, it’s because He is faithful, and He wants us to be faithful
• When He says, don’t murder, it’s because He is the author of life… and he wants us to respect life.
• When He says, don’t be unforgiving, it’s because He is forgiving…. When He says, don’t be unloving, it’s because He is loving… When He says, don’t be unjust, it’s because He is just.
SO – that’s the moral aspect of the law. AGAIN - God’s says here is my character (who I Am) now go out and live in a way that honor it SO WHEN –we live out our lives in a way that dishonors our character… we are violating the moral law.
AND THIS - is why the moral law, is still binding.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. - Matthew 5:17
“Jesus Himself would fulfill God’s Word doctrinally, ethically, prophetically and personally. He would live its laws and interpret its words as God originally intended.”
NOW BEFORE – we move on to verse 18 and the second statement. I want to ‘briefly’ mention the 3 primary purposes of the law.
3 Primary Purposes of the Law
To explain what sin is
Now some things we all (for the most part) know are wrong. LIKE – murder… taking stuff that is not ours.
I MEAN – when a 3 year old steals another kids toys, why does he hide it.
YEAH – some things we know are wrong and some we have to learn.
Paul speaks to this very thing in Romans 7:7…
I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
– Romans 7:7
NOW PAUL – is like admitting that he was going around envying what people had and who people were, but he didn’t even know that it was wrong until the law spelled it out for him.
LIKE – we might know instinctively that it is wrong to murder, by we might not know that as Jesus will say later in Matthew that it is wrong to harbor bitterness, anger and hatred towards another person.
NOW – I don’t know about you, but my first instinct when someone really hurts me… is to want to get even, to want payback… I need to be taught that I need to forgive those who hurt me and pray for my enemies.
SO – one of the primary purposes of the law is to explain what sin is, and second is to..
To expose sin in us
LIKE – when we read the law, it cuts us open.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12
UNDERSTAND – the law is like a thermometer when it comes to spiritual sickness.
A thermometer can only tell us that we are sick, it cannot do anything to heal our sickness.
IN LIKE MANNER - the law cannot cure us, it can only expose that we are sick…
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. – Romans 3:20
SO – the primary purposes of the law are to explain what sin is, to expose sin in us, and 3rd...
To express our need for a Savior
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
– Romans 7:22-25
OKAY – now for Matthew 5:18 and that second statement, and do worry these will be fairly quick…
Until Heaven and Earth Disappear…
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. – Matthew 5:18
Literally – not one iota (the smallest letter in the Greek Alphabet)… or one ‘horn’ (the tiny mark that distinguished one Hebrew letter from another, like a dot over a small i).
Jesus is saying that the law is as enduring as the earth.
That none of it will pass away (not one iota or horn) until they are fulfilled.
"Until everything is accomplished".
Does this mean when Jesus went to the cross or the end of time? I think both are implied.
Jesus came to fulfill the obligations of the law and he accomplished everything requiring payment for sin and fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah.
However, some prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. Therefore, the law and the prophets remain until the end of time when every prophecy will be fulfilled.
Not only that, but the law also remains until the end of time because there are those who are still under the law because they have not come to Christ.
YES – the law is enduring and has value.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16,17
It All Matters…
NOT ONLY – do Christians need to believe in the Bible and stand on it as a matter of principle, they also need to obey it and act on it.
Which is the ultimate test of whether any of us actually believe God’s word or not.
THIS – in what Jesus addresses in Matthew 5:19…
Therefore
Since the law is enduring…
Since every iota and horn will remain until the end of time
Since I came not to admonish, but to fulfill the law,
anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:19
UNDERSTAND – the ‘BL’ (bottom line) of what Jesus is communicating here, is that following ‘all’ of God's commands are important.
IN FACT – in Matthew 28 Jesus told his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the Son and The Holy Spirit… teaching them to obey everything I commanded you.
UNDERSTAND - everything Jesus commanded is important just like everything God commanded is important.
AND - this helps to support Jesus' claim in vs. 17 that He didn't come to do away with ‘any’ of it, but to fulfill ‘all’ of it.
LISTEN - Jesus kept the fullness of the law as God had given it; not as the Scribes and Pharisees who: warped it, added to it and neglected the weightier matters of it.
NOW – Jesus calls them out for this very thing in Matthew 23.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. – Matthew 23:23,24
you have neglected the more important matters of the law
UNDERSTAND - Jesus makes it clear that some commands are more important than others.
However, none are to be neglected.
NOW – we can have a similar problem today.
We might consider some commands to be important while others are trivial.
Do not steal, do not murder, do not commit adultery-big deal. Swearing, lying, coveting, not tithing or serving-not as serious.
UNDERSTAND - we can have the tendency to be obedient to the easier commands, but minimize the importance of the one we find harder to follow.
AND - we like to pick and choose, focusing on the teachings that matter most to us and disregarding the ones we'd rather not deal with.
BUT UNDERSTAND B/S - the bible does not give us that option.
AND – we also have a tendency to teach or want others to value the various commands of God in the same way that we do.
It Has Always Been About The Heart…
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:20
UNDERSTAND – this was completely ‘jaw dropping’ to both the people and to the religious elite.
I MEAN…
• The people are thinking, how can this be… like the Pharisees and Teachers of the law are the best law-keepers ever, and
• The religious elite are thinking… Jesus, how dare you suggest that anyone could be as righteous as we are.
OKAY – so what gives, what is Jesus talking about…
I really like what John Stott writes…
Christian righteousness for surpasses pharisaic righteousness in kind rather than in degree. It is not so much, shall we say, that Christians succeed in keep some 240 commandments when the best Pharisees may have only scored 230.
No. Christian righteousness is greater than pharisaic righteousness because it is deeper, being a righteousness of the heart… Pharisees were content with an external and formal obedience, a rigid conformity to the law… The righteousness that is pleasing to God is an inward righteousness of mind and motive. For the Lord looks at the heart.
It was a new heart-righteousness which the prophets (Jeremiah and Ezekiel) foresaw as one the blessings of the Messianic age… Now, this deep obedience which is a righteousness of the heart is possible only in those whom the Holy Spirit has regenerated and now indwells.
AND LISTEN – for the remainder of chapter 5, Matthew gives six examples of the ‘deeper-righteousness of the heart,’ that
He expects from those love and follow after Him.
NOW – these examples reflect topics that often sparked controversial discussion in Jesus day.
Murder – Adultery – Divorce – Oaths – Retaliation – love
FOR – each of these topics Jesus begins by saying.
You have heard it said… but I say to you.
OKAY… how are you doing?
Let's Pray
