Matthew chapter 5 As we always do, we try to examine
what it's all about, and every true preacher should try to improve
upon his preaching. And my pastor brought up the
question, he said, I wonder where this thing of preachers screaming
started. I wonder where that got started. You know, he used to do it. And
others, he used to, someone told me, they used to feel like that
if you didn't come out of the pulpit hoarse, or you couldn't
hardly talk, then you hadn't done any preaching. About like
they say today, that if you don't preach in this cadence, you know,
you're not preaching. Well, that's a good question.
Where did this thing of screaming and yelling start in preaching? I don't know. But our Lord sure
didn't do that, did he? Oh, he spoke as one having authority,
spoke as no man spake, but he just didn't scream and yell like
that. There's a time when your voice needs to be raised like
he told Isaiah in chapter 40, was it? Lift up your voice, lift
it up, don't be afraid. Get their attention. There's
times when we do need our attention brought to. But look at chapter
five, verse one. It says, seeing the multitudes,
our Lord went up into the mountain. This is his famous so-called
sermon on the mountain. If anybody never brought a sermon,
it was the Lord. He brought a message, didn't
he? A message from God. He spoke. He is God. He was God. He spoke the words of God. He
didn't just preach a sermon, did he? I've done that a whole
lot, talking to Brother Bell on the phone this morning. And
I said, have you got something for today? He said, yeah, I believe
we've got a good message. I'm looking forward to it. I
said, you know, I get so tired of breaking sermons. It is nice
when you feel like you have a message, something to say, to look forward
to it. Well, when the Lord went up into
the mountain to speak to the people and said when he was set,
that doesn't mean he ready, set, go. That means he sat down. He
sat down, and his disciples came unto him, or those who wished
to hear him came unto him, and he opened his mouth, and he screamed,
and hollered, and he talked. That's a good lesson for us in
it, brother. And he is a supreme example in
all things, especially to preachers in this thing of preaching. Charles
Spurgeon wasn't a preacher. I've got news for everybody.
Jesus Christ was a preacher. Okay, so he sat down and he taught the people. And that's what I'm
going to attempt to do this morning. If I raise my voice, you'll understand
that I'm not infallible. Now, look over at Matthew chapter
seven. verse seventeen. Matthew chapter seven no no I'm
sorry I'm sorry I want you to stay there in Matthew five another
verse seventeen Matthew five Matthew five seventeen then we'll
run over to chapter seven now the Lord was accused of being
an antinomian and a lawbreaker wasn't he? He said John came
either eating or drinking he said well he has a devil he's
just madman, and Christ came eating and drinking. They said,
He's a glutton and a winebibber. He breaks the law. He breaks
the Sabbath. He's a lawbreaker. He's a lawless fellow, an antinomian,
so to speak, in modern language. And the Lord quickly dispelled
that. He was accused of being a lawbreaker. He said, I didn't come to break
the law, verse seventeen, destroy the law. I've come to fulfill
it. I've come to honor the law. to
obey it as a man for men and for women. Now, if you'll pay
close attention this morning, this is not just an introduction.
You're going to hear the gospel here. Pay real close attention. The Lord said, I'm giving you
an overview because we're about to finish this. We're about to
get completely finished with our Lord's Sermon here. And he
said, I've not come to destroy this law. I've come to fulfill
it. I've come to honor the law, to obey it as a man, for some
men and women. And Isaiah 42 talks about that
servant, God's elect, in whom he is delighted, which is Christ. He said he'll not only honor
the law, but he'll magnify it. He'll magnify the law and make
it honorable. In other words, Christ will magnify
it. You have a magnifying glass at home? You know, when you use
it, it brings it up bigger and larger. It looms larger than
life, doesn't it? You see it more clearly through
a magnifying glass. And the Lord came to show men
and women what the law really means. OK? He came to show men and women
what the law really means, what a holy God really requires out
of a human being. Are you with me? And Paul said
in one place, he said, those who desire to be under the law,
those who want to be under the Ten Commandments, and you've
heard him say things like, I don't know much about the Bible, but
I know you better keep the Ten Commandments. Well, they don't
know anything about the law. That's what the scribes and the
Pharisees said. That's what religious people say today. You've got
to keep the law. And Paul said those that desire
to be under it, trying to keep it perfectly, to be accepted
by God, they don't hear it. They don't understand it. They
don't understand it because what the law says, the law stops your
mouth. It doesn't open your mouth and
say, well, I've never drank, smoked, cussed, chewed, and the
liquor's never touched these lips, and I'm a saved and sure
friend. It stops your mouth. It doesn't open it to tell you,
tell everybody what a moral man, it stops your mouth realizing
what an immoral man or woman you are. It convicts of sin. It goes down in prick much deeper
than the head, it pricks the heart, and it makes you guilty. A believer should never be able
to look at the law without coming away feeling guilty. That's what
one preacher said one time when he was approached by some legalist.
The fellow said, what's your standing on the law? And this
brother of mine said, guilty. That's a good answer, isn't it?
I love it, I believe it, but I'm guilty. And that's what the
law is designed to do. To drive you to Christ, you better
get to Him. He's the only one that can keep
this thing. Now, don't come to me. Don't come to Mount Sinai.
You'll be consumed. Even touch the bottom of the
mountain, you'll be consumed. Run to Christ. Lay hold on Him. As Maurice said, hug up to Him.
He'll take you up to the top of the mountain to meet God Himself. boldly, without fear. And then Christ begins to get
to the heart of religion through his message here. And in the process, he begins
to expose hypocrisy. Those of you who've been with
us through this study, you see how Christ so clearly exposed
religious hypocrisy, exposing all this hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
And he begins by saying, look at verse 20, he says, now i say
of the year. this is the springboard from
the rest of his message. now i say of the year. now who's
talking here? who's talking here john jason? just another preacher? an apostle? or one of the prophets? he's
that prophet. he is the blessed and only high
potentate. he's the son of god. God in human
flesh is talking here. He said, now I say unto you,
you better sit up and listen to that. I say unto you, except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and the Pharisees, you will in no case, you shall in no case,
no one, no person, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Do you know who the Pharisees,
the scribes and the Pharisees were? They were the best men to live
on the face of the earth. At least outwardly they appeared
to be. They were the most moral. They were the most biblical. They were the most religious.
They were the most devout. They were man at his best state. Weren't they? What does the scripture
say about that? Vanity. But anyway, at any rate,
you ask anybody who would get into heaven, and you know when
that Pharisee and that publican came into the temple, you ask
anybody, just anybody, which one of these fellows is going
to be justified before God, they'd immediately say, well, Pharisee,
look at him, he reads his Bible, he goes to church, he doesn't
drink, and all this, and he's a moral upright man. The Lord
said, unless you're better than the best man who ever walked
on this earth, you're not even going to get to heaven. Does that blame language? That's
blame. Except your righteousness, except
your morality, except your holiness exceed the best man who ever
lived, the most pious, the most religious man who ever walked
upon this earth. Scripture says it shall be perfect
except matter of fact it's got you've got to be exactly as holy
as God don't you? That's how holy. Not only better
than the scribes and Pharisees you've got to be as good as God.
See our generation's missed this. They don't have the foggiest
notion what our Lord's talking about here and I heard some woman
preaching on this one time. You're talking about how you
better be more sincere and better be more religious. That's not
what he's saying here. The principal meaning of this
is, the Lord said, you've got to be as holy as God Almighty
if you're going to get into heaven. How then? How then? How are we going to? Huh? The heart of salvation is found
in that question. How are we going to be holy as
God? God can't have anything to do
with us unless we are. He can. And the scripture says
we're not. Scripture says there's none that
doeth good. I know we like to think we've done some good things,
but we haven't have. None that doeth good. No, not
one. There's none. What is that? There's none righteous. No. Not one. Well, except your righteousness.
But there's none righteous. Well, then. So where are we going
to get this righteousness? Where are we going to get this
holiness? How's God going to have anything to do with me?
He's going to have to do something. I can't make myself holy. I can't
make myself righteous. He can. He can. Jesus Christ is the only righteous
man who ever walked planet Earth. The only holy man who ever walked
on the face of this planet. Only one. Only one that God ever
said, now there's a man that I approve of, and I'm well pleased
with him. And by us coming to him and saying,
Lord, I'm unholy, I'm unacceptable, I'm guilty, I'm unrighteous,
I don't have what God requires of me. Would you give me what
you've got? This is what it is to come to
Christ by faith. I'm trying to make it as simple
so a child can understand. Jesus Christ, you're righteous,
you're holy. You lived that way for thirty-three
years on the earth as a man. God said you were. How can I
get to this holy God and Christ says, through me? Christ says,
you want to get to God? And he takes this righteousness
just like taking off a robe. It's called imputation. Romans
4 talks about it. You all know what that means.
It means to charge something. When your wife goes down, or
when you, sorry to pick on you ladies, but when they get your
credit card, I'll use it as an illustration here, they get your
credit card with your name on it, Joe Park. They're liberated
today and they got their own with their own name on it, you
know. But they go and they take your credit card, say, with your
name on it, and they go down and they charge up, run up a
great big debt. It's got your name on it. That debt is imputed
to you, isn't it? You've got to pay it. You've
got to pay the principal, so to speak. Well, when something's
imputed, when the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, that
means it's charged to our account. It's charged to our account.
We've run up a huge debt of sin against God Almighty, and Christ
says, I'll pay it. I'll pay it all, and you get
debt free. You get to go debt free. I have
to take all your debts and pay for them, every one of them.
Every one of them. And he did. He did. And so he
imputed this perfect holiness to us. Don't let that word throw
you. I'm teaching you here. I'm sitting. If I had a stool, I'd sit down
and teach you. And then he took our sins. They
were laid on him. The full dents of all of God's
people's sin from the beginning of time to the end were laid
on him. And he took them to Calvary and paid every last one of them.
And they go free. There's nothing left to be paid.
Nothing left. And that man or that woman who
appeals to Christ for this, Lord, can I have this? He gave it to
somebody, to a bird there. Can I? You mean anybody can have
this? Christ says, yes. Come to me.
I'll give it to you. So we come to him and we are
made accepted in the beloved. All right? Christ now is also,
he gets to the heart, he magnifies the law, and he's also saying,
in another sense, he is also saying that unless your religion
goes much deeper than outward appearance, like the scribes
and the Pharisees, you're not going to get into heaven either.
All right? That's what he's saying as well,
because he goes on to magnify what the Pharisees were doing.
Oh, they would look good on the outside, but on the inside, what's
God requires? He said, unless your religion
goes much deeper than outward appearances as scribes and Pharisees
and hypocrites, you're not going to get into heaven. You see,
salvation is for true seekers. Salvation is for sincere sinners. I mean sinners, people who really
feel their guilt and see their need of a Savior. It's not for just nominal People
are just slightly interested. No. No. Salvation is for sincere seekers. You say, seeking what? Seeking
what? Sincere seekers seeking what?
Heaven? No. Happiness? No. Only a fool would not want
eternal happiness and bliss. And heaven is pie in the sky
and the sweet by and by, you know, meeting mama again. The
eternal golf course in the sky, you know. Only a fool would not
want that sort of thing. Carnal utopia, mother in heaven. No, that's not what he's talking
about, seeking. No. What he's talking about, well,
he said in Jeremiah, in seeking me, you shall find me when you
search for me with all your heart. Anybody who's really interested
in salvation is seeking Him. Him. Paul said it. Paul said
it. Oh, that I might know Him. Will
Christ be found in Him? I'll be found in heaven someday. Salvation is for those who seek
the Lord. Seek the Lord. Most people now,
most people today, They're religious in order to stay out of hell.
Let's just be honest. Most people are religious today
and stay out of hell, and Jesus is just some insurance policy.
He's just some fire escape, you know. He's just some sugar daddy
to get them what they want. But that's not salvation. Now,
look at the text, Matthew 7, verse 21. Look at this. This is a this is enlightening
this is an eye opener this will this this is going to shake the
very foundations of modern religion first twenty one. This is where
we left off. Now see I gave you a brief overview
of all those things our Lord saying he said no salvation for
true seekers from the heart salvation is in the heart. It's not always
how we show religion that you don't that you see religious
people doing. looking right and talking right,
that's not it. Because look at verse 21, "'Not
every one that 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.'" Well, you say, somebody may say,
well, I thought Romans 10, 13 said, "'Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" Well, you see, religion is quoting
Romans 10, 13 today, but they're not quoting Matthew 7, 21. Are they? It must go much deeper
than just saying the words, mustn't it? Huh? It must go much deeper
than just quoting Romans 10, 13, mustn't it? Let's go over
to Romans 10 and see what he says about this calling upon
the name of the Lord. The verse thirteen's not the
only verse in all of Romans thirteen, is it? I'm not making fun here. I'm
trying to shed some light on this thing. Romans ten, verse
one, Paul said, My brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I want people
to be saved. That's part of the reason we
preach, isn't it? We want people to hear the gospel and the Lord
to save them. We're not going to resort to
all kind of means and trickery and this and that to get them
saved. If the gospel won't save them, I don't want them to make
a professional thing. Right? If the Lord doesn't speak to
them, I don't want them to hear me. My harsh desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. And I bear them
record, verse 2, they have a zeal of God, they're interested in
God, and they're serving a God, they're worshiping, they're going
to church. It's not according to knowledge. You see, knowledge
is important. He said in verse 2, they don't
have the right knowledge. It is important, isn't it? We
don't make it salvation, we don't make a god out of it, but it
is important. You can't be saved without it. Can you? No. Verse 3, they're ignorant
of God's righteousness. Not only the holiness of God
himself, but of what it takes to get to God. That's what Christ
was talking about. He said, you're righteous. You've
got to have righteousness to God. And they're ignorant of
that, aren't they, Joe Parton? Most religionists are ignorant.
Paul said the same thing about men of his day, and they have
not submitted, bowed to, believed in the righteousness of God. Verse four, Christ is the end
of the law. The goal, the purpose of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes Him. It's not the other way around,
is it, John David? The law is the end of Christ
for righteousness. Now, where do you keep the law
and then you believe on Christ as well? No, there's a very reason
for the law in the life of believers to drive you to Christ, to keep
that law for you. It's purpose, the goal is to
convict of sin, to drive to Christ who can put it away. Is that
plain? To everyone that believes Him,
He's the end of the law for righteousness. You don't have to keep the law
to be saved. Believe Christ to be saved. Trust
Christ to be saved. Now, after you trust Christ,
the Lord puts within your heart the desire to keep that law,
but not to be saved. You never take your eyes off
of Christ for that. Verse five, Moses described his
righteousness, which is of the law, the man that doeth these
things shall live by them. Paul said in another place, don't
you hear what it's saying? Oh, my, don't you hear it? Cursed
is everyone that continues not in all things. Have you all ever
picked up sticks on Sabbath Saturday? Have you ever built a fire on
a Saturday, Terry, in January or February for your family to
keep them warm? Because you're guilty of breaking the law about
it. You broke the Sabbath. You've got to die. You've got
to be stoned. Or you'd better go sacrifice
your lamb. Did you sacrifice a lamb after you did that, realizing
what you'd done, did you? Buddy, your guilt is. Oh, get
out. And it goes, it just keeps going. This thing's too big. We'd better
get us out of the Old Testament and start minutely scrutinizing. We're supposed to be scrutinizing
every verse and every word, hadn't we, if we're going to keep the
law to be saved. Moses described it, this do and
live. I can't, I didn't, so I must
die. Christ said, I did, therefore
you'll live. Boy, that's the gospel in very
simple form. But the righteousness which is
of faith, look at this, the righteousness you get, holiness and acceptance
with God, God, the love of God, the good pleasure of God, the
grace of God, which is of faith, this is what you get, this is
how you get it. Don't say, let's go up to heaven,
let's be as moral as we can, let's reach up there, or bring
Christ down. Catholicism's crucifying him
over and over again, bringing him down to a form I don't do
that, or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring up
Christ again from the dead. We don't worship a dead Christ.
What does it say? Well, the word's right in your
mouth. Or is that even in your mouth and in your heart? It's
the word of faith which we preach, that if you shall confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God
has raised him from the dead, you'll be saved because of the
Lord. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. Did you follow along what he
was talking about, this righteousness? With the heart, man believes
Christ is my righteousness. You follow that, don't you, Terry?
With the heart, it's got to start in here, the understanding and
believe down in here with full, firm conviction. I can't keep
the law. I can't be holy and righteous
before God by what I'm doing. My religion stinks. But he has
done, and it's a sweet smelling savor to God Almighty. Christ
was holy. And with the heart you say, I
trust Christ to do everything that I need to have done for
me to get me to God and make me pleasing to God. And with
the heart you believe that. Not just a head and say, I want
to live like a devil. No, that's head knowledge. It
goes down in the heart. You follow Christ. Take up your
cross and follow him. Become like him. and with the
mouth confession is made with the mouth you confess him by
believers baptism and with a heart you believe that God raised him
from the day with a heart man believe with a mouth confession
is made but scripture said whoever whosoever believe upon him shall
not be ashamed shame to what this gospel shamed of him see
I see a great deal in religion today of pride and pride of himself
But, you know, I hear a great deal of talk about their ministry,
this and that and the other, bragging on themselves and glory
to man, and very little real true praise to Christ. It seems
as though they're ashamed of Him, and they would have been
had they been there back in His day. Now, go on reading. Verse 12, there's no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him." That's what he meant by it in
Romans, John 3, 16, when he said, God so loved the world, not just
Jews, Gentiles, the same Lord over all is rich unto everybody
that call, whosoever. That's the reason he uses that
term, whosoever, not just Jews. Jews aren't the people of God. Inwardly, those who are Jews
inwardly, are true Jews, true Israelians, but not of national
people over in that little state over in the middle of the Middle
East. That's not the people of God. They reject Jesus Christ right
now. Who's the people of God? Those that believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 13, But whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. What's the name of the Lord?
Well, He has seven names and other names besides those. But
principally, he has these great and glorious name of Jehovah.
And one of those blessed names is Jehovah Sidkenu, right? Isaiah 45 talks about it, last
couple of verses, doesn't it? It says, Surely, in that day,
surely, shall one say unto me, In the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. Jehovah Sidkenu. There's going
to be a few. in that day call upon the Lord
or Jehovah seek in the Lord my righteousness. And whosoever
shall call upon the name of that Lord shall be saved. Well, how
are they going to? There's the question. Verse fourteen,
how are they going to call on him who they do not believe?
Nobody's going to call on Jehovah, Sidkenu, who doesn't see their
need of his righteousness. All right, turn back to the text.
I hope that, does that clear up some some things for you,
I hope so. I hope so. He said that in verse
twenty-two, verse twenty-one, Lord, not everybody just said
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord is going to be saved.
Didn't he say this, John? Not everyone that sayeth, Lord,
Lord, shall end in it. With the heart you believe, Lord,
my righteousness. Lord, my Savior. Lord, my Lord. The true meaning of the word,
don't you? means King, Master, Sovereign,
Ruler. My only hope, my only help, my
only strength, Lord. We're going to see what that
means in Psalm 18 tonight. Lord, not in name only, but in
truth. Lord, whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord. Not everyone just says, Lord,
Lord. There's a lot of people taking that name in vain. But
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. And
Christ said, this is the work of God. that you believe on him. This is the will of him that
sent me, that everybody that seeeth the Son and believeth
on him will have every less desire. The will of God is, first of
all, that you bow to, submit to, and believe upon his Son,
the sovereign Savior, and worship him, and love the brethren, too. All the law is fulfilled in those
two words, love to Christ and love for the brethren. Verse
twenty-two, he says, Many will say unto me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name
cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? Lord,
we've preached, we've witnessed, we've won souls to Jesus, we've
cast out devils. Thank you.