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Tom Harding

Christ Is Our Exceeding Righteousness

Matthew 5:17-20
Tom Harding June, 4 2023 Audio
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Matthew 5:17-20
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 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.
19 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.
20 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.

The sermon titled "Christ Is Our Exceeding Righteousness," preached by Tom Harding, emphasizes the necessity of imputed righteousness through Christ as the only means of salvation. Harding argues that mere external adherence to the law, as exemplified by the Pharisees, is insufficient to meet God's standard for righteousness. He supports his points with a plethora of Scripture references, particularly Matthew 5:17-20, where Jesus declares the need for a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees, as well as Romans 3 and 4, which articulate the concept of justification by faith. The practical significance of this sermon lies in the assertion that all believers are justified not by their own deeds but by the perfect righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to them through faith, thereby fulfilling the law's demands and securing eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Key Quotes

“The righteousness that God demands is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.”

“Self-righteousness will never and can never fulfill the holy demands of God's law.”

“In Adam, all died; in Christ, we’re made alive.”

“We come into God’s glorious salvation by the merits of Christ. Thy blood and thy righteousness is all our hope, all our salvation.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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Okay then, this morning we're
looking at Matthew chapter 5. I'm taking the title from verse
20 of Matthew chapter 5. For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the best righteousness known
in that day. The scribes and the Pharisees were considered
the most pious, self-righteous, outwardly morals, as Saul of
Tarsus said, no man could charge me with a violation of the law.
Except you have a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees and
the scribes, you shall in no way, no case, no way, enter into
eternal life, the kingdom of heaven. So the title taken from
that verse, Christ alone is our exceeding and only righteousness
before God. How righteous do I need to be
to stand before God as righteous as God? And that's only found
in Christ, who is our righteousness. Now, the scribes and Pharisees
were considered in their day the most pious, religious, moral,
and upright. Remember in Luke 18, the Pharisee
prayed. You remember how he prayed? God,
I thank you. I'm not like all these other
fellows over here. I pray, I tithe, I do all these
things. I do all these things and the
Lord said of that man who bragged on himself and justified himself,
he said that man went to his house condemned. And there's
this old publican who condemned himself, said, God, I'm a sinner.
And the Lord said of that man, he went down to his house just
to find. The Jews of old had a saying in their day, if only
two men went to heaven, one would be a scribe, those who copied
out the letter of the law, and the other would be a Pharisee.
Yet the Lord boldly declares, in verse 20, that their righteousness,
produced by their doing, would not allow them to enter into
heaven by their merit, by their work. Now hold your place here
in Matthew 5, and turn over to Luke, the book of Luke, chapter
16. Luke 16. Verse 15 of Luke 16, you or they
would justify yourselves before men. Talking about the Pharisees,
they justified themselves before men, but God knows your hearts
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God. If you look carefully at Matthew
23, the Lord had the strongest rebuke for those Pharisees who
cleaned up the outward part, but within they were full of
dead men's bones. And God looks on the heart. God
looks on the heart. Sinners must have a much better
righteousness, a justifying righteousness, than that of the scribes and
Pharisees. That righteousness that God demands is only found
in Now, I can't overemphasize this. The righteousness that
God demands is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
He is of every righteousness of God that's revealed in the
gospel. We read Romans chapter 1 a moment
ago where Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
It's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe
it, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Who is that? The righteousness that's revealed
is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called in Scripture in
Jeremiah 23 verse 6, He is the Lord our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. That
which God demands, He supplies for us in Christ. Now, we continue
with the Lord's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. where he clearly says that salvation
is in him and by him and through him. If you look over here at
chapter 7 as he concludes his sermon, the Sermon on the Mount,
chapter 7, look at verse 21. Not everyone who saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Now what
is the will of the Father? bow and submit to the Lord Jesus
Christ. For many will say to me in that
day, Lord, we prophesied in your name, and in your name we've
cast out the devils, and in our name we've done all these wonderful
works. Surely that merits an entrance
into the kingdom of heaven. We've done wonderful works, and
we've done all these things in your name. Look at verse 23,
Then I will profess unto them, I never knew you, I never loved
you, depart from me, And everything they did that they thought recommended
them to God, He said, it is iniquity. So I must have a righteousness
that exceeds theirs. And that's only found in Christ.
Now look at verse 17, and we'll work our way down to verse 20
again. Think not, think not, that I come to destroy, that
I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, for I am not
come to destroy, The Lord came to fulfill the law of God for
us. Now, those first two words caught my attention. Think not.
Think not. Everything we think naturally
about God is wrong. Everything natural we think about
ourselves is also wrong. Everything we think about salvation,
how God saved sinners, everything we think left to ourselves is
wrong. We need to be taught. We need
our thoughts changed. Think not. The Lord Jesus Christ
must correct our thinking for all of our thoughts about Him
and the way of salvation are all wrong. The carnal mind in
enmity against God is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be, so then they who are in the flesh cannot please God.
The natural man will not receive the things of the Spirit of God.
He must be taught of God. Think not. Isaiah, we read in
Isaiah 55 verse 8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. The Lord Jesus
Christ plainly said that He did not come to destroy the law of
God, or what the prophets of the past had said concerning
the way of salvation, but rather He came to fulfill all types,
shadows, pictures, prophecy, and promises in the Scripture.
Now, we saw a good example of that. Turn back to Matthew chapter
1. You remember when the messenger
was dispatched to Joseph, and he was instructed to call his
name, his wife, Mary, shall bring forth a son, verse 21, and thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. All this was done that it might
be fulfilled. which was spoken by the prophets.
of the Lord by the prophets. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted as God with
us." Everything the Lord Jesus Christ did was fulfilling everything
that was written of Him. Every promise, every type, every
shadow, He fulfilled all those things for us. To Him give all
the prophets witness. Turn over to Luke chapter 24.
You remember these words here? the risen Lord as He appeared
to those disciples who were so fearful and so afraid and so
confused and didn't really understand. In Luke 24, the risen and exalted
Lord said to them in Luke 24, verse 44, and these are the words
which I speak unto you, While I was yet with you that all things
must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me, then he opened their understanding
that they might understand the scripture. And said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer,
rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
All these things must be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
come to destroy the law or the prophets. He came to establish
the law. Paul asked that question. Don't
turn with me, but remember the last verse in Romans 3. Do we make void the law through
faith? God forbid we establish the law. How do we establish the law?
How do we fulfill the law? In Christ, looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the glorious good news
of the Gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill every
precept of the law by His faithful obedience unto death. He came
to fulfill all righteousness. Now remember from our verse 15
in Matthew chapter 3. Turn back over there. Our Lord,
when He came to John the Baptist to be baptized of him, John said,
Forbid, saying, I need to be baptized of thee, comeest thou
to me? Matthew 3 verse 15. Look at this carefully. And Jesus
answered unto him, And suffer it to be so, for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. He fulfilled righteousness for
us. And when he was baptized, he went straight up out of the
water. And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from
heaven sang, This is my beloved Son. I am well pleased in him. He's well pleased with his righteousness,
with his obedience unto death. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
fulfill all the precepts of the law. In Isaiah 42, the Lord says
of him, He is well pleased for His righteousness sake, for He
will magnify the law and make it honorable. That's what Christ
did for us. He didn't come to destroy the
law. He came to fulfill the law of God for us. Not only every
precept of the law, He came to fulfill the penalty of the law.
The law of God demands that the guilty must die. Our Lord did
that by the sacrifice of Himself. That's why He died, to satisfy
the penalty of that law for us. the just one suffering for the
unjust that he might bring us unto God. By his life and by
his death, our Lord brought in for us and bought for us everlasting
righteousness and freely imputes that unto us by his grace. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. Remember our study in Galatians
3 verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us, or as written,
curses everyone that hangeth on a tree. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ, having fulfilled all the law of God, established
a justifying righteousness for us that he freely gives unto
us by his grace. That's the good news of the gospel.
That's why Paul, when he writes in Romans 10 about those Jews,
he said, they're ignorant of God's righteousness, His holy
character, and they have not submitted unto the righteousness
of God revealed in the Gospel. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He's the end,
the goal, the fulfillment. Now look at verse 18, Matthew
5 verse 18, For verily I say unto you, Now, it's interesting,
that word, verily, it's the first time that we read about it in
Scripture, right here, the first time. Now, many times we read,
verily, verily, I say unto you. And if you look the word up,
you know what the word is? Amen. The word right there is
amen. So, he's saying this, I didn't
come to destroy the law and the prophets, I came to establish
the law, to fulfill the law, to bring in everlasting righteousness,
amen. You see what he's saying there?
Amen. Remember in our study in the
book of Revelation, In chapter 3, unto the angel of the church
of Laodiceans write, these things saith the Amen. That's his name. He is the Amen. He's a faithful
and true witness to beginning, the end, Alpha, Omega, the beginning
and the end of all things. All things are of God. Heaven
and earth will pass away, but his word, his decrees, his gospel
will never pass away. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, And it is passing. It will pass away. You'll make a new heaven and
a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Not one jot, not
even one little jot, one little iota of every letter of the law
or every tittle, and the smallest letter or accent in the Hebrew
law, not one least of God's word will pass till all be fulfilled. How is it fulfilled? In the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. He said, I've spoken it, I bring
it to pass. Look over here in Matthew 24,
35. Matthew 24, 35. He said, heaven and earth. Matthew 24,
35. Heaven and earth shall pass away. It shall pass away, right? Matthew 24, 35. But my word,
my decrees, that will never pass away. Everything God has spoken
will come to pass. Now look at verse 19, back in
Matthew 5. Whosoever therefore shall break
one of the least of God's commandment, and shall teach men so, shall
teach men that you don't really need to honor the law of God.
He shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever
shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great, great
in the kingdom of heaven." Now here's a strong warning, followed
by a strong promise. Those who would make light of
the law of God, and disregard or would be indifferent to what
the Word of God teaches about the way of salvation in Christ,
about the law of God being honored and fulfilled by the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, to offend in one point
of the law, just one infraction of the law, is to be guilty of
all the law of God. And we've not kept one commandment
one time. We're all, that's what we read
in Romans 3, let every mouth be stopped, and all the world,
guilty, guilty, guilty before God. That man who does not honor
the law of God and fulfill the law of God, that man shall have
no part in the gospel of the kingdom of Christ now or forever. But those who believe the gospel
and preach the gospel of God concerning Christ and the way
of salvation accomplished by Christ Righteousness established
by Christ shall be great, being one with Christ and being found
in Him. Now, He shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, verse 19, but whosoever shall do them and
teach them shall be great. Now, who is the only man who
kept the law of God perfectly? No man has ever No man has ever
kept the law of God. The only one who has kept the
law of God perfectly, word, thought, deed, motive, is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He shall be called and He is
great in the kingdom of heaven. And we come into God's glorious
salvation by the merits of Christ. Thy blood and thy righteousness,
we sang a moment ago, is all our hope, all our salvation. Okay, look at verse 20 now. Well,
I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed that
of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no way enter into
the kingdom of heaven. The door is shut. What does God
require to enter into the kingdom of heaven? Perfection. Where
is that perfection found? Only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord, except we have an exceeding great
righteousness, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Our
Lord gives us four ultimatums we read about in the Word of
God, using that word, except. In John chapter 3, He says, except
you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Except
you're born again by the Spirit of God, you cannot enter into
the kingdom of God, right? That's except. You're born of
God. You have to be quickened or we're
dead. The second one we read of in Luke 13, verse 1-5, where
our Lord said, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Remember what the Lord preached
in Matthew 4, verse 17. From that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Our Lord said, except you repent, you'll perish. Repentance is
the gift of God. Lord, give me that gift. Give
me that gift. And then he says over in Matthew
18. Turn over to Matthew 18. I quoted
some of this in the Bible study this morning. Matthew 18, look
at verse 1. Here's another, except the Lord
gives an ultimatum. Matthew 18, verse 1, At the same
time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? And the Lord called a little
child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said,
Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become
as a little child, you are not going to enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Now a little child is totally
dependent upon who? A little child is totally dependent
on his mom and dad to care for him. Sinners are totally dependent
upon the Lord Jesus Christ for everything in salvation. So except
you be converted and become as a little child in humility and
dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot enter into
the kingdom of heaven. And the fourth one he gives right
here in Matthew chapter 5 verse 20. Except your righteousness
exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. You must have and
we all must have an exceeding righteousness that's pleasing
to God or we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Self-righteousness
will never and can never fulfill the holy demands of God's law.
Never. No man ever kept the holy law
of God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. God says
our best deeds, the best workings we have, our best morality, and
our best point. Now I'm all in on morality, but
morality is not righteousness. Our best righteousness in God's
sight is filthy, filthy rags in His sight. Man at his best
state is altogether vanity. We read a moment ago in Romans
3 that there's none righteous, no, not one. Not one. Not one of us. We have all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Now, I want to look at four
things about this righteousness. First of all, I want to consider
righteousness lost. Righteousness lost. Now, where
did we lose righteousness? In Adam, all died. In Adam, all sinned. God just
created one man. We were all created in Him, upright
and without sin. When He stood, we stood. When
He fell, we fell. You remember Romans 5.12, For
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sin. What Adam did, we did. Where
he went when God put him out of the garden, we were put out
of the garden. What he did, we did. Where he
went, we went. Now I illustrate that by personal
illustration. My mother, Immigrated to this
country in 1948. 1948. I wasn't born in Europe. I was born in Gooding, Idaho,
four years later. But where she went, I went. What
she did, I did because I was in her. When she left Europe,
I left Europe too. And I came here because I was
in her. So what I'm saying is this, using
that homely illustration, what Adam did, we did. When God put
him out, he put us out. You see, in Adam, all died. In
Romans 5, we read, by one man's disobedience, many were made
sinners. The law declares everybody guilty
before God. In Adam, we lost life, right? He brought in death to the whole
human race. God said, the day you eat of
that tree, you'll die. And he did, spiritually and physically
as well. In Adam, we lost that righteous
nature. Instead of Adam and his fallen
nature when he fell and sinned against God, instead of worshiping
God, remember what he did? He blamed God. It's the woman
you gave me. She caused me to eat the fruit.
No, Adam, you're the problem. In Adam, we lost life. He brought
in death and destruction. In Adam, we lost our righteous
nature. In Adam, we lost our legal standing. Now we're lost without God, without
hope, and without Christ. In Adam, we lost all understanding
of who God is and who we are. Righteousness lost in Adam. Second point is this. Righteousness
required. God is not going to lower His
standard. He can't be God. Righteousness required. How good
and righteous does a sinner have to be to enter into the Kingdom
of God? Well, I've answered it several
times. As good and righteous and holy as God. Well, you say,
that's impossible. With men it is, but not with
God. But with God, all things are
possible. You remember the psalmist asked
that question. Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who
shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. We can only ascend to the hill
of the Lord in Christ. That's a description of Him.
Clean hands and a pure heart. That's Him. He is the Lord of
hosts. We enter in in Him. God demands
perfect, total holiness. And you know what? You can't
produce it. You can't produce it. I can't either. No man can.
If righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead and
vain. If I can produce a righteousness by my doing, then no need for
Christ to die. God demands holiness and we cannot
produce it. There is a holy law I cannot
keep. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. There
is a righteousness God demands that I cannot produce. All I
can do, all I can produce is sin. There's a life of sin I
cannot erase. I cannot make atonement for my
sin, past or present or future. And I can't escape judgment.
There's a judgment I must face. He's appointed unto me and wants
to die, and after that, the judgment. The whole purpose of God giving
us the holy law of God is to show us and to convince us that
we are sinners. Now turn back to Romans 3. Romans 3. Verse 19, now we know that what
things whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified, for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. The law of God doesn't remove
sin, it exposes our guilt. The law of God was not given
to remove guilt or to remove sin, it was given to drive us
to the Lord Jesus Christ. seeking salvation in Him. The
third point this morning is this. Righteousness established. Righteousness
established and accomplished by His perfect obedience under
the law in Christ, Him crucified as our substitute. Now back in
Romans 3, still over there in Romans 3, hold your Bible open
there, in Romans 3, verse 21. But now, oh but now, right now,
the righteousness of God. Now, would you like to have a
perfect righteousness of God? That's what we have in Christ. Without the law, it's manifested
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. All the law and
the prophets all pointed to Christ and Him crucified as the fulfillment
of that. Even, verse 22, the righteousness
of God, which is by my faithfulness. Did I misread that? I did. You know, that's what most people
think. That's what most people think.
But even now, the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, there's
no difference. There's no difference. Now, you
stay right there and let me read you this verse over here in Galatians
chapter 2. Verse 16, knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by
the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. That's the whole message in the
book of Romans, in the book of Relations. And that's the whole
message of the gospel. Guilty in Adam, in Adam we died,
in Christ we're made alive. By one man's disobedience shall
many be made sinners, so by the obedience of another shall many
be made righteous. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He established a perfect, justifying
righteousness for us God said, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. We're justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
whom God set forth to be the propitiation to sacrifice for
our sin through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, Romans 3, 26, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness,
that He might be just and the justifier of those who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only just God and Savior
we have in Christ. He had no sin and did no sin. He lived a life I could not live.
He died a death I could not die. He paid the debt I could not
pay. In Christ, aren't you thankful you have a substitute, a Redeemer
who accomplished all our salvation? Righteousness lost, righteousness
demanded, righteousness provided, and in closing, the righteousness
of Christ imputed. Now you have Romans chapter 3,
look at verse 6 in chapter 4, Romans chapter
4. Let's go back to verse 1. Righteousness
of God imputed to God's covenant children received by faith. What
shall we say then? This is Romans 4 verse 1. What
shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham was justified
by works, he hath wear up the glory, but not before God. God
said Abraham was justified 430 years before the law was ever
given. God said he's a righteous man.
before he was ever circumcised. God said of Abraham, he's a righteous
man. For what sayeth the scripture, Romans 4 verse 3, Abraham believed
God and was counted unto him for righteousness. What did he
do? He believed God. Where did he get that faith?
It was a gift of God. Now to him that worketh is a
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David, describing the
blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness. Now,
God imputed righteousness. Underscore those words. God imputed
righteousness. God charged righteousness to
our account. To whom God imputes righteousness
without works. Without works. Without the deeds
of the law. Saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin." That's the blessed man. So, righteousness
of Christ imputed to God's covenant children. Stay right here in
the book of Romans. Turn one page to Romans chapter
5. I'm almost through. Give me a
few minutes. Romans chapter 5, look at verse 19. Romans 5, 19. I've quoted this twice, for as
many, for as by one man disobedient, Romans 5, 19, many were made
sinners. Now who is that one man? Adam,
and Adam all sinned. So by the obedience of one, shall
many be made righteous. Now who is that man? You see,
God's going to deal with all men in these two federal heads.
In Adam we died, in Christ we're made alive in Him. Moreover,
look at verse 20, Romans 5, moreover the law entered that the offense
might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
does much more abound. Now watch it, verse 21, that
as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life. Grace reigns through righteousness. unto eternal life by Jesus Christ."
Now, whose righteousness is he talking about here? Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ. Grace reigns through righteousness
in Him. Exactly the same way we were
ruined in Adam is the same way we're raised up in Christ in
a representative man. In Adam all died, in Christ all
are made alive. All are made alive. Now, turn
to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 1. Romans 10,
verse 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Talking
about his kinfolk, his family. They were Jews, but they were
lost. For I bear them record they have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge, not right knowledge. Romans 10, verse
3. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, God's holy character, Therefore, they're going about
to establish their righteousness. Therefore, they're going about
to establish their own righteousness. That's what self-righteousness
does. And have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. Now, what is that? That's Christ. That's the gospel. We're in the
righteousness of God revealed. Now, look at verse 4. For Christ
is the end of the law. for righteousness to everyone
that believes. He didn't come to destroy the
law. He came to honor the law of God. Now please turn with
me to, this will be the last reading, turn with me to Philippians
chapter 3. I think this is the best example.
There was a man who was a very strict Pharisee. His name was
Saul of Tarsus. He was so full of self-righteousness,
So full of self-righteousness. Philippians chapter 3, we begin
at verse 1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same thing to you, to me indeed, is
not grievous, but for you it's safe. Beware of dogs. Talking
about two-legged dogs. Evil workers. False preachers,
beware of the mutilators of the flesh, of the concision. For we are the true circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. Now, read on. Verse 4,
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man
thinketh that he have whereof, he might glory in the flesh,
trust in the flesh. He said, I've got more reason.
This Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, later the Apostle Paul, after
he met the Lord Jesus Christ, circumcised the eighth day, the
most valid circumcision, of the stock of Israel, the tribe of
Benjamin, Jacob's favorite son, a Hebrew of Hebrews, his mama
and daddy, he was full-blooded Hebrew Jew, touching the law,
a Pharisee, Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching
the righteousness which is in the law, he said, I was blameless. You see how self-righteous he
is? But what things would gain to me those I count lost for
Christ? Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things. All those
things he mentioned, now he counts them nothing but a pile of manure.
Dumb. Dumb. That I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Look at verse 9 carefully. Be
found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. That's it. Oh, we count everything
else lost, dung, and ruined that we may win Christ. Win Christ. Be found in Him. Be found in
Him.
Tom Harding
About Tom Harding
Tom Harding is pastor of Zebulon Grace Church located at 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky 41501. You may also contact him by telephone at (606) 631-9053, or e-mail taharding@mikrotec.com. The website address is www.henrytmahan.com.

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