As a teenager we would sing a song called “I’ve Been Redeemed.” We made up several verses about how you could and couldn’t get to heaven. For instance:
Oh you can’t get to heaven, in a washing machine.
No, you can’t get to heaven, in a washing machine.
No, you can’t get to heaven, in a washing machine
A washing machine won’t get you that clean.
All my sins are washed away, I’ve been redeemed.
Oh you can’t get to heaven, in a brand new car.
No you can’t get to heaven, in a brand new car.
No you can’t get to heaven, in a brand new car,
A brand new car won’t take you that far.
All my sins are washed away I’ve been redeemed.
We had several other verses; perhaps you have heard some of them. Well I thought of a new verse with a little more theological depth than trying to get to heaven with “a four door Ford,” “a Kleenex box,” “roller skates,” or “a rocket ship.”
Oh you can’t get to heaven, using man made rules.
No you can’t get to heaven, using man made rules.
No you can’t get to heaven, using man made rules,
Dos and Don’ts are the wrong tools.
All my sins are washed away I’ve been redeemed.
Many people today believe they can make it to heaven by following a set of rules. If you live by a moral code of conduct and if you are a good person, then you will make it to heaven. Some people will even use the Bible as their rule book. Pastor, these aren’t man’s rules; they’re God’s rules for getting to heaven. Legalism in any form will not give you a key to heaven or satisfy God’s requirement for justice.
The Bible does show us the way to heaven, but it is not a list of dos and don’ts given by God showing us the way into His kingdom. What is the Bible about? What is the way to heaven? This morning we’re going to let Jesus answer those questions for us.
Matthew 5:17-20 17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, 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. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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. 20For 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. (NIV)
1. What is the Bible about?
In a word the Bible is about Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus identifies Himself with the Old Testament Scriptures. Notice again what Jesus said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them” (NLT). Jesus said He had come to fulfill or complete what the Scriptures spoke about Him
We don’t worship the Bible. However, let me make something very clear. The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments are so connected to Jesus you cannot separate Jesus from the Bible. The Old Testament points to Jesus; the New Testament reveals Jesus and makes Him known. The singular purpose of the Bible is to make God’s plan of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ known. Apart from Jesus the Bible is just another book.
Why is this important? If you begin to undercut the authority of the Bible or question the validity of Scripture, YOU LIKEWISE DEFACE AND DESTROY JESUS CHRIST. All Scripture has one primary theme, JESUS! Scripture finds its meaning in Jesus.
Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, “You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” (John 5:39NLT). If you read the Bible, but miss who Jesus is, then you have missed everything!
• Teachers all use the same basic three steps to teach just about any subject. [1] They tell the students what they will teach, [2] they teach the lesson, and [3] they review or tell the students what they were supposed to have learned.
This is what the Bible does for Jesus. The Old Testament points the way to Jesus. God is letting the world know what to expect, the Messiah—Savior of the world will come. In the New Testament, the Gospels introduce Jesus to us. Jesus’ life, teaching and miracles are made known. Following Christ’s ascension into heaven the rest of the New Testament is God’s way of reminding of what Jesus said and did. The Bible, the Old and New Testaments are all about Jesus!
The Gospel of John portrays this intimate connection between Christ and the Scripture as he introduces Jesus to us as “THE WORD.” The Word of God, spoken and made know to man through the Scriptures finds its fullest expression when the Word became flesh in Jesus Christ.
John 1:1-2 1In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. 2He was in the beginning with God . . . 14So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. (NLT)
We should regard the Bible with the same respect Jesus had for it.
1. The Bible has ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY.
Jesus validated the absolute authority of the scriptures. The scripture is UNCHANGABLE AND CANNOT BE BROKEN. Jesus had not come to abolish or destroy the scriptures; He came to fulfill them. Why? The Bible—God’s written Word has absolute authority even for Jesus!
The Bible is the Supreme Court from which there is no further appeal.
• The US Supreme Court has the authority to rule on the laws governing our nation. If a law is ruled unconstitutional, then the law becomes void and powerless. Lass and decision which are found constitutional are validated and all citizens must submit to its rule or face the consequences. The ruling of the Supreme Court is final with no further appeal.
The Bible is the court whose decisions are already recorded for us. These decisions are binding upon all men everywhere. We all must submit to the verdict written on the pages of Scripture. Failure to yield to the Word of God brings certain and absolute consequences. No other higher authority can reverse what has been written within the pages of the Bible. The Scriptures have ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY.
2. The Bible is inspired IN ITS SMALLEST PARTS.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, 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 NIV). The Bible has absolute authority even in its smallest pieces.
Do you know what that means for you and me? We can’t pick and choose what parts of the Bible we like and don’t like. Either you accept it all or you don’t accept it at all. It’s ALL OR NOTHING!
• We are blessed in America to have the Scriptures available to us in so many different versions. Many of these translations put the Bible in modern language bringing the Scriptures to life for the readers. However, I sometimes tease people and ask if they use the NEB version of the Bible—the New Erasable Bible. This Bible is for everyone who has ever read a verse of scripture and said, “That’s not for me.” Now you can erase all those passages you don’t like and best of all, you never have to read them again! Don’t like “love your enemies,” erase it! Do you have a hard time with “thou shalt not covet?” Gone! “The tongue is set on fire by hell—” you can get rid of that one too. Did you have a hard time with your husband or wife today? Just erase those verses about wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives. Kids have mom and dad got you angry because they told you no? Just erase “Children obey your parents.”
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (NIV)
All means ALL. We aren’t free to pick and choose what we like and don’t like about the Bible. Erasers are not an option for your Bible. Jesus made it plane; “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen” can be erased or changed.
2. CHRIST FULFILLS THE SCRIPTRES.
Jesus made a bold statement. He would fulfill all the Scriptures. He had not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. If Jesus failed to do this, then Jesus and His Word mean nothing. Jesus is just a “want to be Savior” if He did not fulfill the Scriptures.
How did Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
1. Jesus fulfilled the Law through His death on the cross for you and me.
What was the purpose of the Law? Paul said the law was given as our teacher.
Romans 7:7 Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." (NIV)
The Law however not only taught us about sin, THE LAW ALSO TAUGHT US ABOUT THE ANTIDOTE FOR SIN. With the Law God gave the Lamb.
Leviticus 5:6 As a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. (NIV)
God gave the law as a teacher to show us one thing: SIN MEANS DEATH. The only way for our sin to be atoned for, the only way we can be forgiven is for the life of an innocent substitute to be taken.
Hebrews 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (NIV)
Through the Law God wanted us to understand one central truth. CHRIST’S DEATH PAID THE PENALTY FOR OUR SIN. Jesus’ death is the fulfillment and completion of the Law. His death satisfies God’s justice and provides for our forgiveness. Nothing else can or will.
2. Jesus fulfilled the prophets in every detail.
Throughout the Old Testament God gave 456 prophetic statements concerning the coming of the Messiah. God spoke through prophets about the coming of Jesus in great detail. Would anyone like for me to take the time to go through all 456 prophecies and show how they are fulfilled in Jesus? Needless to say we would be here a while!
• A mathematician calculated the odds of any man fulfilling just eight of the prophecies concerning the Messiah contained in the Old Testament.
1. The place of the His birth;
2. being proceeded by a messenger (John the Baptist);
3. how he would enter Jerusalem;
4. being betrayed by a friend;
5. the price of His betrayal being 30 pieces of silver;
6. the money would be thrown back into God’s house;
7. He would be silent before His accusers; and
8. He would be crucified.
The odds of anyone meeting satisfying just these 8 requirements is 1:1017. For those who don’t know what 10 raised to the 17th power means it is the number 1 followed by 17 zeros. Needless to say the odds were stacked against Jesus right from the start.
Now to help you understand just how great these odds are imagine we mark a silver dollar with a red x and toss it on the ground somewhere in Texas. Your job is to find that silver dollar blindfolded. Given enough time you could find the silver dollar. You have one additional problem. Before we let you start looking for the silver dollar with a red x on it we dumped enough silver dollars all over the state two feet deep. Now are you ready to walk across the state of Texas and find the one marked with the red x?
Jesus said He had come to fulfill what the prophets had spoken about Him even with the odds stacked against Him! The Scriptures point to the only one who can give us salvation and forgiveness for our sins—JESUS.
1 Peter 1:10-11 10Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (NIV)
The prophets didn’t understand it all; they wanted to know more about the things God had revealed to them. We are not just looking to see what they saw. We can see the fullness of God’s salvation in His Son Jesus!
3. How do we get to heaven?
In the Beatitudes Jesus laid the foundation of the Sermon on the Mount. He said some thing hard for His listeners to accept. For those who embraced Jesus teaching they would find salvation, while those who hardened their hearts would grow to despise Jesus more and more.
What Jesus said must have been extremely difficult for the Scribes and Pharisees to swallow. Just who does this Jesus think He is anyway? The more they listened to Jesus the more they understood Jesus claim to be God’s promised Messiah, but they could not believe Him. Jesus was not what they expected the Messiah to be.
The Scribes and Pharisees grew to despise Jesus more and more because of the way He would single them out. Jesus did not have good things to say about them. His words cut like a knife. Listen again to what Jesus said.
Matthew 5:19-20 19Trivialize even the smallest item in God’s Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. 20Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom. (MsgB)
If anyone believed they were taking God’s law seriously the Scribes and Pharisees did. They were experts in the Law. How could Jesus say unless your righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the Pharisees you would have no place in heaven?
This was not just hard for the Scribes and Pharisees to accept. It was hard for everyone. Today we look down upon these religious leaders because of the way Jesus spoke about them. But for those living at that time these religious leaders were honored and respected. By all standards the Scribes and Pharisees were the pillars of society!
God sees things differently than we do. His standard for righteousness is not the same as ours.
Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (NIV)
God’s standard of righteousness is very different from the standards of human righteousness. Some might say, “What’s wrong with human righteousness?” Most of the time I am glad people are upright and honest. I would much rather live in a community where people respect one another then where everyone is a devious scoundrel taking advantage of other people at every turn.
Human righteousness is like a bucket with wholes in it. It may carry some water from the well, but it leaks. Actually human righteousness is a bucket with the bottom kicked out; it’s completely useless. So what’s wrong with human righteousness?
Human righteousness is an external righteousness, but God wants a righteousness that flows from the heart. The Bible says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV).
The Scribes and Pharisees were experts at having godly appearances. Unfortunately God was not impressed by how they looked.
Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. (NIV)
We can try to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps. We can work hard to change ourselves and replace all our bad habits with good ones. Unfortunately all we have done is clean the outside, while inside we are still dirty.
Human righteousness is always glorifies self rather than glorifying God. Who will get the praise for how we live our lives? If all the accolades are laid at our feet and we boast of our accomplishments, then like the Pharisees we will be stung by Jesus’ rebuke.
Luke 18:11-14 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ’God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ’God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (NIV)
Jesus has shown us there is only one way to heaven. It is not by our own righteousness. We must have a righteousness that is by faith. Heaven is the gift of God, by faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord
Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (NLT)
