Matthew chapter 5. As Frank taught the lesson, it
just jumped out at me how Paul's message matched exactly what
our Lord teaches here in Matthew chapter 5, which is evident that
Paul got his message directly from the Lord. That's what Paul
said. He said, I didn't receive my
gospel, the gospel that I preach, from men. He said, I got it directly
from the Lord. And as we go through this, you're
going to see, as we heard this morning out of Romans, how Paul
got his message from the Lord Jesus Christ. It matches. It
matches. Our message had better match
the Scriptures. It had better match the teaching
of our Lord. So let's look this morning here,
back here in Matthew. Chapter 5. I'll pick up on verse
21, but let me say a few things about verse 17 here, 18, 19,
and 20. Now, we know that our Lord did
not come into this world to destroy the law. That's what He said.
Think not that I have come to destroy the law. What I'm teaching,
He's teaching here on the mount. This is not against the law.
This is not destroying the law. This is not changing the precepts
or principles of the law. I didn't come to do that. He
said, I came to fulfill. Scripture says, love thy neighbor
as thyself. Have any of us done that? He
did. He fulfilled that. Love God with
all your heart, mind, soul and body. Have we done that? He did. He fulfilled that perfectly. He fulfilled every command, every
precept that the law required. He fulfilled it perfectly as
a man, as the God-man, but a man. A man kept the law perfectly.
He came to magnify and honor the law by his obedience. We dishonored it, but he honored
it. He came not to destroy. He came to save. One time the disciples wanted
to call fire down out of heaven to destroy some men. That's like
us, isn't it? There we are. There's a picture
of us. Let's just call fire down from heaven. Let's burn these
guys up. Let's just do away with all these
TV preachers and all these jokers. He said, I didn't come to destroy
men's lives. I came to save them. I came to
save them. Man was destroyed. His life was
destroyed by one act of disobedience, Adam's. Man's life was destroyed. He said, I didn't come to destroy.
It's already destroyed. Man is under condemnation now.
He's just waiting for execution day. He's under condemnation. The wrath of God abideth on him,
it says. It abides on him. But I thank
God. I thank God there is a Savior
from the wrath to come. There is a Savior from condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation to them. I thank
God we have a Savior, and by His obedience, Sinners are saved. Sinners are saved from the wrath
to come. He says, think not that I came to destroy the law for
the prophets. I didn't do that. I came to fulfill. And he said, for verily I say
unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one John or Tittle, shall
in no wise pass from the law, shall all be fulfilled. He came
to honor it. Those Pharisees and scribes,
they thought he was dishonoring the law. No, he said, I came
to honor it. He came to honor the law he gave. He's the lawgiver. I titled this message, The Lawgiver
Interprets the Law. He came to honor his law he gave. It's not going to dishonor it.
He said, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, He's talking to this
crowd now, and these scribes and Pharisees are mixed in this
crowd. He's going to be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
He won't be there. That's why he's saying it. He won't be there.
But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, and here's
a profound statement that he's making to this crowd. Accept
your righteousness. Shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees. He shall in no case enter the
kingdom of heaven. If you do not come up with a
better righteousness than what the Scribes and Pharisees had,
you're going to perish. You know they had to go, where
can we get that kind of righteousness? Well, in the gospel that's revealed.
We know where we can get it. From Christ. Now, he interprets here in verse
21. He interprets the spirituality
of the law. He gives the true meaning of
the law. The gospel does not lower the
standards of God's law, does it? It fulfills it. It fulfills
it. Through the obedience of Christ,
the law of God is honored. religious lost men have added
their interpretations to it. You'll see as we go down through
here how that these scribes and Pharisees down through the time
had added to it. You know, we have the Constitution
of the United States where they're making amendments here and tweaking
it there. Now, God's law doesn't need tweaked.
It doesn't need amendments. It is as it is. It is as it is. And our Lord came to fulfill
it just as it is. Now, He said, Ye have heard that
it was said by them of old times, back in antiquity. Here's what
you heard. It's amazing. It is amazing how
things change as time goes by. You tell something, and then
by the time it gets around the room, you wonder, you don't even
recognize it. He said, you've heard this. This is what you've
heard by them of old times. They put their own twist on it.
Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of judgment. Well, if you turn back here to.
Let me see. So thank. Exodus. Exodus 20. In verse 13, I'll read this to
you. Exodus 20. In verse 15, here's what it says. I mean, verse 13, sorry, verse
13, thou shalt not kill. They added to it, didn't they?
Isn't that just like me? They added to it. They said,
well, here, let's clarify this. Do you have to clarify thou shalt
not kill? And when they clarified it, they
completely missed it. And that's what happened when
we tried to interpret Scripture, when man began to interpret Scripture
instead of proclaiming it and preaching it, they twisted. They
twisted. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of judgment. And what they're saying, what
the scribes and Pharisees were saying, they shall be in danger
of the Sanhedrin court. We're going to pull you into
court. And if you're found guilty, we'll stone you. We'll put you
to death. But I say to you, here's the lawgiver. Here's the
true meaning. The lawgiver gives the true meaning
of what the law says. The true interpreter of Scripture
is Christ Himself. And I want you to notice how
broad the scope of the law is. He said, I say to you, this is
how it is. Whoever's angry. This is how broad the scope of
the law is. Who's ever angry? You ever been
angry with somebody without a just cause? You ever been angry enough
to slap somebody without a just cause? After I read this for the last
several days, and I went down and I read this and I read this
and I thought every one of us is guilty. Every last one of
us are guilty of what our Lord speaks of here. That makes you so thankful for
Christ. Whosoever angry, anger is a heart
problem. Anger starts in the heart. With
his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger of God's judgment.
Forget the Sanhedrin. He can be in danger of God's
judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, wrecker, vain fellow. You worthless, vain fellow. That shows what you think of
your brother. That doesn't sound like love,
does it? Right there. Vain fellows shall be in danger
of counsel. But whosoever shall say thou
fool. You know what that means? Thou moron, you graceless moron. That's what he means. That doesn't sound like a loving
heart, does it? That doesn't sound like a renewed heart. Not
at all. But he's saying here, this is
where the law reaches. The law reaches right into where
you live. The law reaches to who you are. It reaches right into the heart.
They thought because they did not actually commit an outward
act of killing someone, they were not guilty. And the Lord
shows them by a true interpretation of the law, That they are murderers. You're murderers. You're murderers
at heart. The law reaches past the actions
and enters the heart. It reaches to the heart of why
you do what you do. Why you say what you say. That's
what the law reaches to. That's how penetrating God's
law is. Many are going to stand in judgment
guilty of a lot of things they didn't commit outwardly. God
looks on the heart. God judges a man by his heart.
The only reason the act was not committed was this. God did not allow it. That's called sovereign constraint. Henry said one time in a message
a long time ago, and I've never forgotten it, Don't confuse personal
holiness with sovereign constraint. That's a powerful statement.
Don't confuse personal holiness with sovereign constraint. The
reason there's not more murder, the reason you and I, let's take
this home, the reason you and I have not literally killed someone
is God didn't allow it. He didn't allow the heart to
get to that point. He didn't allow it. He stopped it. Took
away the opportunity, but he stopped it. Well, I read that
and I thought, guilty! Guilty! No, I've been angry before. Without a cause. Without a just
cause. Now he says here, in the next
verse, Remember, he said here in verse 21, you've heard it
was said by them of old times, I shall not kill, whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of judgment. But I say to you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
the judgment. And then he says here, therefore. Therefore. Seeing that it reaches to the
heart. Seeing that the law reaches in there to the heart and the
motor. Seeing this is the true interpretation of this. If thou
bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy
brother hath ought against thee, you've said thou fool, you've
had some words with each other. That's why you say you've had
some words, you've had some disagreements, you're at odds with each other.
Don't come and try to worship. God cannot be worshipped with
malice in the heart toward a brother. He knew the heart of those Pharisees.
No Sadducees. He called them, he said, you're
full of dead men's bones. You're a bunch of hypocrites.
That's what he called them. He called them vipers. Poisonous
snakes. And they had a lot of disagreements
with each other. They was always calling each other names. At
odds with each other. He said here, God cannot be worshipped
with malice in the heart toward a brother. Don't cover up a bad
spirit. and attitude towards your brother
with pretense to worship God. God sees the heart. Oh, I can't
stand him. But then we come in here and
worship. It's like we're going to worship God? He said God's
not going to be worshiped. Not like that. There's no good
word. There will not be any worship
in it. Not in that heart. Not in that heart. Don't cover
that up. Men look at the gift. God looks at the heart. Malice. Unjust anger is not permitted
in the worship of God. It's not permitted. No matter
how great the gift, God can't be bought. He says, you go straighten
this matter up before you come in and worship. Or you're not
going to worship. God's not going to have it. He's
not going to have it. Leave there thy gift before the
altar before you go any further with this. He says, stop. And you go reconcile to your
brother. You go get this matter taken
care of. That's what he's telling them. You go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother.
And then come and offer the gift. Then come and worship. Then come
and worship. Oh, I tell you, there's nothing
like worshiping God with a pure heart. Blessed are the pure in
spirit. Pure in heart. First be reconciled. Then worship. Didn't worship. We can't even worship God until
we're reconciled to Him through Christ, can we? Be you reconciled
to God. You'll never worship God until
you're reconciled to Him in Christ. And he's saying here, if you're
at odds with your brother, he says you go and be reconciled. Get this matter taken care of.
Be a peacemaker. Remember, blessed are what? The
peacemakers. It's a sign of sonship. Well, he's reaching to the heart
here, isn't he? I'm telling you, he's just reaching in. The law
giver. He is the law. He's reaching
right into the heart and he's saying, this is it. This is it. This is what you say it is. No,
this is what it is. This is what it is. Agree with
thine adversary quickly. Be quick to make peace. Be quick
to be reconciled. Don't build walls. We're not
wall builders. We're not wall builders. Be quick to make peace. Agree with thine adversary quickly
while thou art in the way with him, while the opportunity is
there. And before this thing festers
and grows, he says, make peace with him. Be quick to make peace.
Forfeit your so-called rights, if necessary, in order to make
peace. Because if your adversary takes
you to court, it will probably be a lot more costly. A lot more
costly. Lest at any time the adversary
Deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer, and thou be cast into prison. You know, this has a
special, and I don't have time to go and look at all these verses,
but this has a special application to the gospel. A sinner, a sinner should agree
with God quickly. When you hear the gospel, And
just what our Lord is saying here, yes, Lord, this is right. I'm guilty of this. I'm guilty. A sinner should be quick to agree
with God's judgment on him while he's near, while the gospel
is being preached. Today is the day of salvation.
Now is the accepted time. Agree with him quickly. If not, he says, he'll cast you
into hell. Verily I say unto thee, thou
shalt by no means come out tense, till thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing. He said, be quick to make peace. Be quick to be reconciled. And
here's the second interpretation of the law. Ye have heard that
it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery.
Adultery is never accepted of God. Never. Everyone is guilty of this. Everyone is guilty. I read this
from Dr. Fortner, something he had written
once. He said there's more pornography that goes on in our hearts than
on the internet. Everyone, and that's why I said
I read this. I read it the first time when
I was studying to bring the message. The second and third time, it
started hitting home. I thought, we are guilty of this. Many of you haven't, all of you
maybe, I don't know, haven't committed it outwardly, but what
we sure have in the heart. I know we've lusted after things
we should not have lusted after. I know we have. And he says here,
you have heard it was said by them of old times, thou shalt
not commit adultery. But here's the true interpretation.
But I say to you, His word is law. I say to you that whosoever,
it doesn't matter who he is. It doesn't matter. Whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart. You know, there's life in a look.
Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. For
I am God and there is none else. But there is also death in the
look. Eve looked at that tree and she saw that it was the desire
to make one wise. She looked and she looked and
she looked until she took. Achan. I'm going to make reference
to this Wednesday night, Lord willing, on the pattern of a
fall. Achan, back over in Joshua. He
looked at that wedge of gold. They were commanded not to take
it. He said by his own admission, I saw, I coveted, I took. The pattern of a fall. That's
what it is. And our Lord says here, He that
looketh, that means continually. You're continually looking, looking.
It's one thing to look. It's one thing to recognize whether
it's landscape or a person. It's one thing to recognize it,
but it's another thing when you look, and you look, and you look,
and you begin to lust, and you begin to long after it. All who are not in Christ are
going to stand in judgment guilty of adultery in the heart. And
all who are in Christ have been cleared of all charges. Oh, how
important He is to us. Cleared of all these heart sins. And then He gives us a course
of action to correct the problem. And He starts with the I, get
it? The look. He just says, He that looketh
on a woman's lust after her. Now He says here in verse 29,
And if thy right eye Thy best eye, thy 20-20 eye that's got
20-20 vision in it. If it offend thee, if it's causing
the problem, pluck it out. Well, you say that's pretty severe. Hell is more severe. It's more
severe. But he's not saying literally
pluck out the eye You've still got the sinful nature that's
causing the problem. He's making a point here. Pluck it out and
cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one
of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should
be cast into hell. That which enters the eye gate
enters the intellect, the mind. You see, you begin to lust after
it. What do you think all this marketing
is about? Why do you think on TV that every 15 minutes, they
got a commercial. They're working on your mind.
They're working on that eye gate. You see it, and you see that
car, and you see that car, and if you see it about 50 times,
you think, I think I'll stop by there and look at that. They
got you. Got you. Marketing knows human
nature. Anybody that's good at it. Anybody
that's good at marketing, markets to human nature. And he says here, if it offends
you, cut it out. That which is the cause, and
here's what I say, that which is the cause is to be given up
quickly. Quickly. Quit looking. Anything
that causes me to think or feel wrong is to be gotten rid of. Shun it. The scripture says,
shun all appearance of evil, doesn't it? Don't be like the
bug that flies into the light and gets zapped. Avoid it. Shun it. You still have a nature
that old Satan knows how to draw on. And sin can draw on. It's far better to get rid of
an offense than a parish in hell. Now he spoke here of the look. Now he's going to talk about
the action. See, he talked about the thought, the look on a woman,
the lust after her, the thought. Now he's going to talk about
the action. If thy right hand, a hand is something you work
with, you do something with your hands. If it offend thee, cut it off,
and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell. The first is the thought, which
is where sin is conceived, and then it breaks into action. And it breaks into action, the
hand. Our hands are to be employed in serving God and serving one
another. It is not to be employed in serving
the sinful passions of this flesh. Not at all. Don't let your thoughts
break out into action. See, our Lord is reaching to
the heart. He's talking about what's going on in the heart.
He's talking about what's going on in you. And he says, don't
let that break out into action. Get rid of that offense. Get
rid of that which offends. Cut off the problem at its source.
Put off the old man with his deeds. And put on the new man
which is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now as I said,
he's not literally saying cut off your hand or pluck out your
eye because that wouldn't solve the problem. Not physically.
Take a physical eye out wouldn't solve the problem. But he's saying
get rid of the offense. Get rid of those things, stay away from
those things that causes these problems. You shouldn't be around
them, as I say. And then he gives a third interpretation
of the law. It has been said, whosoever shall
put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.
Now, you know that that writing of divorcement was allowed. It
was allowed of God. But he says here in verse 32,
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving
or except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery,
and whosoever shall marry her, that is, divorce, commits adultery.
A writing of divorcement, listen, was allowed. This is why I say
it was allowed. But it was never approved of
God. It was allowed, Paul, Scripture said, because of the hardness
of your heart. It keeps you from killing each other. Really. That's
what it came to. So God allowed it, but never
approved it. Never approved it. Remember this, wrong is wrong,
right is right, and never the two shall meet. Never the two
shall meet. Then he speaks here of the tongue. He spoke of the eye, the hand. He has spoken of the heart, anger. I'm speaking here of the tongue.
Again, you've heard that it has been said by them of old times,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord
thine oath. But I say to you, here's the true interpretation. I say to you, swear not at all.
Swear not at all. Neither by heaven, it's God's
throne. That's God's throne. Don't swear by something that's
His. It's His throne. He rules and reigns on the throne.
You don't have command of that throne, He does. It's His throne. Nor by the earth, it's His footstool.
Everything belongs to God. The earth is the Lord's, the
fullest thereof, and they who dwell therein. Don't swear by
things that's not yours. Swear by the throne's not yours,
it's His. The earth's not yours, it's His.
Neither by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great King. It
belongs to Him. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head." The
Jews used to swear by their own head. He said, you can't make
one hair white or black. You're swearing about things
you can't make happen. You can't make it come to pass.
I swear I'll be there at one o'clock. You can't make that
come to pass. You hope you'll be there at one
o'clock. You'll try to be there at one o'clock, but I guarantee
you cannot swear and promise you'll be there at one o'clock.
You may have a wreck on the way, or who knows what will come up. If the Lord will, I'll be there
at one o'clock. I'm not going to swear. He said, let your communication
be yea, yea, and nay, nay. Yes, if the Lord will, I will.
For whatsoever is more than these comes of evil. You know, our
court systems use the Bible. They say, raise your right hand,
put your hand up, I swear, tell the truth. You know we shouldn't
do that. That really shouldn't be done.
Because he said, don't swear at all. Even though they use the Bible
to swear on, it's not to be done. And I tell you what, that's the
first thing that goes out the door, usually, is the truth. They play with the law, just
like the Pharisees. See, the Pharisees and scribes,
they played with the law. They put, tagged on to it, amendments
and things that they wanted on to it. And it was, I was reading
this morning, where the Sanhedrin could change the law except for
idolatry. They would take and change parts of the law to fit
whatever the situation they needed. You can't do that. You can't
change God's law. You can't change God's Word.
And our Lord is giving the true interpretation of the law. And it reaches to the heart.
See, this is a court. This is a court you don't want
to have to stand in. Because it's going to go all
the way to the heart. You see, I can go to court and I can hate
you. But they're not going to charge me with murder. They're
not going to put me in jail for murder for 20 years because I
can't stand you. Well, you can't stand me. But
God's going to put people in hell for that, for eternity.
That's how serious His law is. That's how far-reaching His law
is. And we don't oblige God to act
on our behalf by swearing. God's not obliged to, if I swear
to something, that He's got to fulfill it. No, God, He's going
to do as He will. He's going to do right. Now the
Lord says, don't swear at all. Don't do that. Because you can't
make one hair white or black. You have no control over anything.
Now he reaches into our conduct with each other. And Frank so
ably covered that this morning. But you have heard that it has
been said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. See, the
law owes no mercy. The Pharisees liked this one.
Religious people. Self-righteous people like I
for an I, two for two. They like that. It's get even
type of stuff. But the law knows no mercies.
That's why you want to agree with your adversary while you're
in the way. That's why you want to reconcile. Because you go
to law, if it's a just law, it knows no mercies. But I say to
you, I like the way he says that.
I suggest to you nothing. This is my interpretation? No.
I say to you, this is how it is. I'm the law giver. I am the
law. The law is now speaking. When he spoke to them, I say
to you, the law was speaking. I say to you, resist not evil,
don't fight with evil. Don't fight with evil. It's like
mudslinging. You're going to get it on yourself
first. If you're going to sling mud, you're going to get it on
yourself first. But he says here, that you resist not evil. And
he's not saying here that you resist not the evil one, because
we're told to do that. If someone's opposing the gospel,
we resist that. But he's talking about here a
brother and a brother. He's talking about the way we deal with each other.
That you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on
thy right cheek, be willing to forgive him. Have a forgiving
spirit. You ever slapped anybody? I bet
you have with your tongue. That old tongue is longer than
your arm. We'll see that in James. It's
set on fire at hell. It's a little member. He said,
but it's set on fire at hell. We've slapped more people with
our tongues than we ever have our hand. He said, just turn
the other cheek. God give us the grace. And it
takes grace to do this. It takes grace to turn the other
cheek. Our Lord did. He was slapped. They plucked
out the hair. And you said it, Father, forgive
them. No, they don't know what they're doing. And you know what?
He has. He's forgiven. Look at the people
here. He's forgiven. He has. When our Lord asks for something,
He gets it. He's forgiven every one of his
children for slapping him. Every one of them. And if any man will sue thee
at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also. You're not going to take it with
you, are you? You know, I'm telling you, there's
more here than I can tell you. I'm struggling here to try to
tell you a little bit here. But he's saying here, don't resort
to the law to settle disputes. We live in a day of lawsuits,
my goodness. Sue, sue, sue, sue. He says don't
resort to the principles of the world. Don't be like what I just
saved you from. Don't be like that. Don't deal
with the world on its own principles. We have principles of grace.
Let them shine. Let them shine. Deal with others
as God has dealt with you. Oh, he says deal with these things. Deal with these troubles and
problems in a gracious manner. And don't resort to going to
court before men, a bunch of ungodly men to settle matters.
Settle them. And if you have to take the wrong,
take it. He did. He did. And if whosoever, and
boy, he puts that whosoever in there. He didn't just put particular
names or particular magistrates. No, he said whosoever. If it's
someone beneath you think. If it's someone you think beneath
you. Those Pharisees had a lot of people they thought was beneath
them. The whole crowd there. Whosoever shall compel thee.
That word compel means force. Force. Whosoever shall force
you to go a mile, go with him too. Go with him too. Be willing to do more than force
to. I thought about this last night. Don't just do what you
have to, do what you can do. Do what you can do. Grace goes
beyond the call of duty. Grace will lead a believer to
go beyond the call of duty. Give to him that asked thee,
from him that would borrow of thee, turn not away. And use
wisdom here. We have to use wisdom here. Because
I'm telling you, if someone thinks they can fleece you, they'll
fleece you. They'll fleece the sheep for sure. And you have
to use wisdom here. Be of a giving spirit. Be of
a giving and kind and gentle spirit. Just like sheep. You'd be surprised how this works.
You know why? Because God makes it work. He's
the one who rules and overrules all things. Now you have heard
that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine
enemy? See, they added that. God didn't say hate your enemy.
He said love your neighbor. Look over in Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 19, I think. Let's see if I've got it. Let me see. Well, let's see here. I may not
have wrote that down, really. Well, I did write it down. Is
it 18? There it is. 19, 18. I'm going to look in verse 20. I'm in Exodus. No wonder I can't
find it. I was in Exodus. I thought, I know we have the
same one here. Leviticus 19, 18. Thou shalt
not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people.
But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. He
didn't say hate your enemy, did he? They said that. You see,
the Sanhedrin changed it. They gave themselves an excuse
to hate you, the Gentiles. They hated, despised us. But
the law said love your neighbor. Well, some Gentiles live next
door over there. And they said, well, we've got to add something.
We've got to justify, we have to justify our actions here.
So we're going to add to it. I'd say if anybody adds to the
words of this book, his name is going to be taken out of the
book of life. So they added, take that in your face. How convenient. How convenient to be able to
add something and then say God said it. Years roll by and all
of a sudden it becomes the law. And they say, well this is what
God said. No, here's what God said, love your neighbor. Here's
what you said, hate your enemy. That's for men. But I say to you, love your enemies.
Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you.
And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. I say, it's always better than
you've heard what they said. I say love your enemies. I say
pray for them. Did he not pray for his enemies?
Does he not make intercession for us? At one time we were enemies
in our minds by wicked works. Scripture says. The universal law in the kingdom
of Christ is love. It's a mark of sonship. You show
me someone that has a Difficult time. Or they just can't love
other races? Difficult time loving people
of different class? I'll show you a lost man. A man that's never tasted of
the love of God. Once you've tasted it, it's not hard to give
it out. It just won't ooze out of you.
Now, he says here, in verse 45, that you may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven. For He maketh His Son to rise
on the evil and on the good. He sends rain on the just and
the unjust. Look how merciful your Father is. Your heavenly
Father, look how merciful He is. And He feeds them that hate
Him every day. He fed me for a lot of years.
I had nothing to do with the gospel. I had nothing to do with
religion, gospel, or anything. Buddy, I ate well. I ate well. You should have seen the garden
we grew when I was growing up. He fed us. He fed us. If he only rained and blessed
your garden, the world would starve to death. Now, he points out here, I titled
this one, Who Maketh Thee to Differ? Who Maketh Thee to Differ? For if you love them which love
you, what reward have you? What grace have you? What difference
is there? Do not even the publicans the
same? And if you salute your brethren
only, if you're kind to them only, if you're generous to them
only, then what more do you do others? Not even the publicans,
they do the same thing. What's the difference? If you're
just like them, what's the difference? If you only salute those who
you know, your best friends, and you just ignore everybody
else, where are you any different? The only difference is, the only
difference between the believer and the unbeliever is the grace
of God in Christ to them. And that makes you gracious,
loving, kind, generous. It makes you different. You're
different. And here's the ultimate goal
of this. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect. Here is our ultimate goal. To
be like our Heavenly Father. To be like our Father. I tell you what, to be like Him
is enough. It's enough motivation for His children. Everything
our Lord said is contrary here to human nature. It is. That's
why men change the law to fit their own standards. But to the
child of God, He wants to be like His Heavenly
Father. He wants to be like Him. And
to be with Him. And is in full agreement with
the Word of God. The Law of God. Paul said the
Law is good. Thou shalt not kill. That's good.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul,
mind and body. That's good. That's good. Perfect. Thank God we have one who kept
it. Now what have we learned? And I'll close. What have we
learned? We've learned this, the strict holiness and justice
of God to a right interpretation of the law. Christ gave the true
interpretation if it reaches the heart. Anger is the same
as murder. That's the strict interpretation
of the law. And we've learned this, the Lord looks on the heart,
not the outward countenance. He looks on the heart. And we've
learned that God requires truth in the inward part. That's where God does business,
is in the heart. He requires truth in the inward parts. We've
learned the total ignorance of man concerning the law and the
spiritual matters of the heart. They didn't know. Those Pharisees
and Sadducees that everybody looked up to were totally ignorant
of the law of God. Every man by nature is totally
ignorant of the spirituality of the law until God reveals
Christ to him. And he learns something about
the law of God, the strictness of it, the holiness of it. Until then, he's just ignorant
of it. And then we've learned, most
of all, the absolute necessity of Jesus Christ, of Him as our
mediator. We need someone to stand between
us and God, don't we? How could you read this? and not say, Lord, stand between
me and God. They said to Moses, don't let
him speak to us, lest we die. When he gave them the law, the
children of Israel, in Exodus 20, said, don't let him speak
to us. And they stood afar off. But
you know what? We, through the blood of Christ, are made near
to God. It says they stood afar off.
We don't stand afar off now. We've been made near. We need
Jesus Christ as our Mediator, our Advocate, our High Priest,
our Sacrifice, our Substitute. We need Him. The Lawgiver. The Lawkeeper. The Savior of
sinners. We need Him. That's what we've
learned. We've learned that we need His
righteousness. Except your righteousness exceeds
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no
way enter the kingdom of heaven. Where am I going to get such
a righteousness? Him. I'm going to get it from Him,
in Him, through Him. Him. And we've learned this,
that Jesus Christ is all we need. In Him you are complete. He kept the law perfectly. He's
seated at God's right hand making intercession for the transgressors.
His blood is the blood of atonement. We need no more than Him.