Kingdom Righteousness

I have a Captain Obvious statement to make this morning.

As you turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5,

we're going to be looking at verses 17-20.

And the Captain Obvious statement is this.

The Sermon on the Mount, it's a sermon.

It's Jesus preaching.

And so as we turn there, listen to the words of Jesus.

Listen to what He's actually saying.

It's phenomenal.

It's extraordinary.

It should blow your mind.

Hear the word of the Lord Jesus.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

He's speaking about the whole Old Testament there.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Therefore, whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

How many sermons have you heard in your life?

I mean, if you've been a Christian for 10 years and you show up to, you know, 48 services, that's 480 sermons.

That's a lot of sermons.

You've probably got by now that there's three basic parts to a sermon.

There's the introduction, which is the hook that raises the need.

And then there's the body, which is the content.

And then there's the clothes, which kind of brings it all together and to bear in our lives.

Well, when you look at the Sermon on the Mount, you see all those elements.

You see the introduction.

Those are the Beatitudes.

Jesus is saying, this is my kingdom people.

This is the character of those who follow me.

And they're going to be salt and light.

And the disciples are wondering, well, then, how do you do that?

So he's hooked them.

And then there's the clothes of the sermon.

Would you flip over in your Bible to Matthew 7 and verse 13?

This is the clothes of the sermon.

And Jesus calls his listeners to make a decision.

And he says, hey, folks, there's two ways to live.

You can either live this way or live this way.

You can go through the narrow gate or through the wide gate.

You can be like a healthy tree or a diseased tree.

You can be one who does the will of the Heavenly Father.

You can be a worker of lawlessness.

Or the final one is, hey, you can be like a wise man who builds his house on the rock.

Or you can be like the fool who builds his house on the sand.

The point is, Jesus is saying, there's two ways to live.

You decide.

That's the clothes.

He calls his listeners to make a decision.

And in between the Beatitudes in those two ways to live is the body of his sermon.

And this morning, we're looking at the very start of the sermon.

This morning, I asked.

We started by opening up the Bible and said, turn your pages to Bibles to Matthew 5.

And then I read from you the passage that I'm going to be preaching on this morning.

Jesus does something very similar.

He calls his disciples to listen to what he's going to expound on from the Scriptures.

Now, let me just tell you something about Christian preaching.

What makes Christian preaching Christian versus Islamic or Jewish?

A Christian preacher is going to preach Jesus Christ from the God-inspired text of the Bible.

That's what makes Christian preaching Christian.

We preach Christ from the Scriptures.

And we see that happening.

This very first sermon of our King, it is distinctly Christian.

Let's ask Jesus a question.

Jesus, as you start the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, what text are you using?

We want to open our Bibles, Jesus.

Would you show us the chapter and verse?

What book should we turn to, Jesus?

You know, if Jesus was here, you know what he'd say to us?

This morning, would you open up your Bibles to the entire Old Testament?

Because I'm going to preach from the Old Testament.

And then he's going to say something like this this morning.

Here's the topic of the entire Old Testament.

It's phenomenal.

It's like, here we are, everybody.

Here's the main point.

The Old Testament is fulfilled in me.

That's where he starts the Sermon on the Mount.

Text for this morning, Old Testament.

Point of this morning's sermon, the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in me.

Only God incarnate can pull that off.

Only God in the flesh can say something like that.

Only God can say, the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in me.

The sermon that Jesus is preaching in the Sermon on the Mount,

it's not the exposition of one verse or a paragraph or a chapter.

It's on the whole Bible of their time.

The Law and the Prophets.

Genesis through Malachi.

And so what this morning, I just want to be very clear,

is that you need to say is that Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment

of all that the Old Testament points to.

It's all about him.

And our response is, who can say something like that but God himself?

So four things I want to help you see.

First is this, how Jesus understood the Old Testament,

his view of the Old Testament.

We'll see that in verse 18.

And then we'll come back to verse 17,

so you can see how Jesus thought about his relationship to the Old Testament.

And then we'll see in verse 19 is a bit of a warning.

And then verse 20, after he lays all this out about his relationship to the Old Testament,

he's going to call us to a kind of righteousness that has yet to be seen on earth.

A righteousness that exceeds that of even the scribes and Pharisees.

So let's look at Jesus' view of the Old Testament.

We're going to look at chapter 5, verse 18.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Up until this point, Jesus has already shown his view of the Scriptures.

Do you remember chapter 4?

Satan comes out in the wilderness.

Satan comes out in the wilderness.

He squares off on Jesus and tempts Jesus three times.

And Jesus pulls out the shield of faith.

Pew, pew, pew, pew.

Blocks his shots.

Brings down the sword of the Spirit.

And he quotes three times from the book of Deuteronomy.

Jesus had a high view of the Bible.

And it functioned in his life.

You see him battling in chapter 4 with God's Word.

He was already using the Mosaic Law.

He believes in it.

He trusts it.

He's living by it.

And so what Jesus is going to talk to us about this morning

is his relationship to the Old Testament.

And so at the beginning of verse 18, he says,

truly I say to you, for truly I say to you,

and that's his distinct way of saying,

listen to the truth I'm about to say

because you can bank your life on it.

And then he says,

until heaven and earth pass away.

Until heaven and earth pass away.

Not an iota.

Not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

That little phrase,

until heaven and earth pass away,

well it's an expression.

Meaning,

it's timeless.

It's permanent.

It's going to be here for the rest of time.

And then when he starts talking about those,

what is an iota?

What's he talking about that?

An iota?

What's that?

What's a dot?

What's he talking about?

Well he's talking about this.

God has inspired the Old Testament.

It originated in his mind.

And what Jesus is getting here is

the Old Testament's permanent.

It's from God.

And it's all from him.

It's going to be here.

And then he says this.

Just in case you're wondering,

it's not inspired just in idea only.

Every iota,

every little dot

originated in the mind of God.

And what those are,

are the very smallest pen strokes

strokes of the Hebrew alphabet.

They're the tiniest of details

in the Hebrew language.

And what God,

what Jesus is saying is,

it's all from God.

It's permanent.

In the details.

Not just the ideas.

But the very words,

the very strokes themselves,

originated in God's mind

and is for our benefit

now.

And then he says,

this law,

the law and the prophets,

the Old Testament,

hey,

it's not going to pass away

until all

is accomplished.

Well that's getting at the

prophetic nature

of the

Old Testament.

Do you know what a three point

stance is in football?

Guys get down like this.

They're getting ready.

They're like poised to pounce.

The Old Testament is like

a coiled spring

ready to

make known something.

It's prophetic in nature.

All of it.

So whether it's the prophets,

whether it's the judges

or Ruth

or 1 and 2 Samuel,

those narratives,

whether it's wisdom literature

like the Psalms

or Proverbs,

even the Mosaic law itself,

all those regulations,

all of it

is aimed.

All of it

is poised.

All of it

is anticipating something.

It's all prophetic.

It shows up in different ways.

But it's all designed

to point

to something

until all

is accomplished.

accomplished.

The Old Testament

reveals God's plan

for the fullness

of time.

And that plan

comes into clarity

in the New Testament.

So,

the Apostle Paul

talked about it this way

in Ephesians 1.10.

God has this plan

for the fullness

of time

to unite

all things

in

Christ.

the Old Testament

is going to find

its ultimate fulfillment,

its ultimate

yes and amen

in the person

of Jesus Christ.

So,

Jesus' view

of the Old Testament,

it's permanent

all the way down

to the details.

It's prophetic.

It's pointing

at something.

He's going to say

it's pointing

to Himself.

And it's binding.

God's law,

His moral law

is to be obeyed

by all

for all humankind.

And so,

what God outlines

in the Old Testament,

His will

for men and women,

His moral will,

that doesn't change

as culture changes.

It's permanent.

He's always been

a holy God.

And so,

to sum up

Jesus' view

of the Old Testament,

it is

permanent,

it's prophetic,

it's binding.

Why?

Because

the Old Testament,

the words

of the Old Testament

are God's words.

All Scriptures

breathed out

by God,

says Paul.

And he's talking

about the Old Testament.

Now,

if Jesus had

this view

of the Old Testament,

brothers and sisters,

what's your view

of the Old Testament

like?

Is it like,

take it or leave it?

Yeah,

if I had to choose,

I'd just go

with the New Testament.

What Jesus is saying

is that

the Old Testament

is vital

to understanding

who Jesus is.

So,

we've looked at

Jesus' view

of the Old Testament.

It is a high

and wonderful view.

In fact,

it would be

a shared view

with the Pharisees

and scribes

of the time.

Jesus never challenges

on their understanding

of the Old Testament.

The conflict comes over

the application of it.

We'll see that later.

The second thing

I want you to see,

and this is where,

like,

I've just been

so jazzed all week.

I can't believe

I get to proclaim

this to you guys today.

How Jesus viewed

his relationship

to the Old Testament.

So,

look at verse 17.

Knowing what

Jesus' view

of the Old Testament is,

let's go back

to verse 17.

We read this.

Jesus says,

Do not think

that I have come

to abolish the law

or the prophets,

all of the Old Testament.

I didn't come

to put that aside.

I have not come

to abolish them,

but to fulfill them.

I have come

to fulfill them.

I have come

to fulfill

the Old Testament.

Now,

we can ask

a question like this.

Why is even

Jesus talking

about the Old Testament?

And what I've

tried to tell you

up to this point

is, well,

he's starting

a sermon

and he's starting

in his text

and he's saying

his text is

the Old Testament.

Well,

there's another reason

why.

He's already

gone through

the introduction.

He's already

told his disciples

who are there

on the mountainside

listening to him,

you are

citizens of heaven.

blessed are those.

And he goes

from blessed

are those

in the third person

to coming down

into chapter 5

verses 10,

11,

12 to you.

You.

You are my salt.

You are my light.

And then he gets

into 517

and all of a sudden

he's talking about

me.

I.

It's emphatic.

And what Jesus

is saying is this.

Hey guys,

I know you're

wondering,

now that I've

told you

you're my salt

and light,

I know you're

wondering now

how to do that.

What to appeal

to.

What shows you

the way to do

that?

And he also

knows that,

hey,

if you think

I'm the Messiah,

you're probably

wondering what

my relationship

to the Old

Testament is

because the Old

Testament will

show you the

way.

And so

Jesus anticipating

that his disciples

are going to want

to know how to

rightly relate him

to the Old

Testament,

he addresses it

right out of the

gate.

So here's what I

want you to see.

The incarnate

word,

Jesus,

is about to

explain his

relationship to

the written word

of the Old

Testament.

it.

And what you're

going to see is

they're not in

opposition to

each other.

You see,

the written

word of God

points to the

incarnate word

of God,

and there's no

need to put them

at odds.

Jesus did not

come to abolish the

written word.

He came to

fulfill it.

Have you ever

planned a party?

And you're

planning the party

and you're

anticipating all

your friends coming

over and when

they finally get

there, you're

kind of like,

this is awesome.

All my friends

are here.

So your

planning is

the anticipating

and pointing to

the actual

party.

And when the

party happens,

it fulfills

all the

planning.

The Old

Testament is

the planning

of the party.

And when

Jesus is

coming and

walks the

party,

it's all

about Him.

The Old

Testament is

like a

glove.

And Jesus

is the

hand in

the glove.

The Old

Testament

anticipates

Jesus.

If Jesus

didn't come to

negate the

Old Testament,

to minimize

it,

why did

He come?

What's His

relationship to

it?

And it's in

that word

fulfill.

Fulfill.

He didn't

come to

abolish.

He came to

fulfill it.

And that

word simply

means to

bring meaning

and substance

to something.

It has this

prophetic sense

of anticipation,

finding,

satisfaction,

and fulfillment.

And that is

exactly what is

going on here.

Jesus has

talked about this

in other spots

in the Gospels.

John 5,

39.

I started our

service off with

this.

He says,

you look to

the Scriptures

for eternal

life,

but the

Scriptures

actually are

about me.

In whom

is eternal

life?

Luke 24,

44-45,

Jesus is up

in the upper

room after

His resurrection

with His

disciples.

And He

explains to

them how

He fulfilled

Moses and

the prophets

and the

Psalms,

how the

Christ must

suffer.

They're all

pointing to

Him.

That word

fulfill is

key to

understanding

what Jesus

is saying.

And if you

flip back

in Matthew,

this isn't

the first

time Matthew

uses the

word fulfill.

If you look

at chapter

1,

verse 22,

all this

took place

to fulfill

what the

Lord had

spoken by

the prophet.

Behold,

the virgin

shall conceive

and bear a

son,

and they

shall call

His name

Emmanuel.

Who

fulfills

the Old

Testament

prophet?

Jesus.

And then

as you

page through

and look

through chapter

2,

you see

again and

again,

this Jesus

is the

fulfillment

of the

Old

Testament

prophets.

Not the

easiest to

understand,

but it's

there.

Chapter

2,

verse 15,

and He

remained

there until

the death

of Herod.

This was

to fulfill

what the

Lord had

spoken by

the prophet.

Chapter

2,

verse 17,

then was

fulfilled what

was spoken

by the

prophet

Jeremiah.

And then

in verse

23,

and He

went and

lived in

a city

called

Nazareth,

that what

was spoken

by the

prophets

might be

fulfilled.

And so

when we

get here

to chapter

5,

there's no

reason to

think that

Jesus is

talking about

fulfillment

in any

different way

than it's

been used

already in

Matthew.

But Jesus

is saying,

I've come

not just

to fulfill

the prophets,

I've come

to fulfill

the whole

Old Testament.

And so

now the

question I

want to ask

this morning

is,

how does

Jesus

fulfill the

Old Testament?

And there's

a couple

things I can

point to.

This is like

20 sermons

right here.

But let me

give you a

couple things.

Early on

in the

Mosaic Law,

in Genesis,

we hear a

prophecy in

Genesis,

Moses writing,

that there's

going to come

one from

Eve who

will crush

the head

of the

serpent.

That's

Jesus.

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

God calls

Abram and

He tells

him,

He promises

him,

through his

offspring,

He's going

to bless

all the

nations of

the earth.

And then

Paul in

Galatians 3

says,

Jesus is

that

offspring.

We see

Jesus

fulfilling

Scripture

after Scripture

in a variety

of different

kinds of

Old Testament

literature.

Let me

point you

to a couple

other things.

You know

how in

the book

of Exodus,

God makes

known the

law,

Ten Commandments,

Jesus fulfills

the Ten

Commandments.

This is how.

Every day

that Jesus

walked the

earth,

He went

ten for

ten on

the big

ten.

He went

ten for

ten.

He faithfully

obeyed

every

commandment,

not only the

ten,

but the

hundreds of

commands that

came along

with it.

He perfectly

obeyed and

fulfilled the

Old Testament

law in a way

that we could

never.

Every day of

His life.

So,

is it no wonder

at His

baptism,

God says,

this is my

beloved Son

with whom I'm

well pleased.

He's lived a

perfect life of

righteousness.

And so,

Jesus,

in a very

real way,

fulfills the

Old Testament

moral code

in His

life.

And so,

that's not so

much kind

of a

prophecy from

Isaiah.

It's a

different kind

of speaking

anticipation of

one to come.

But there's

more.

In the book

of Leviticus,

we are told of

all these

different

sacrifices

Jews had to

make because

for their sin,

there needed to

be the shedding

of blood.

God.

And so,

in God's

wisdom,

do you know

what He did?

He wanted to

really press

into His

people a

lesson.

And that is,

sin is real.

And if you're

going to live

with a holy

God,

you've got to

deal with your

sin.

And the way

you deal with

sin is by

the shedding

of blood.

And so,

over and over

and over again

in the Old

Testament,

over and over

and over again,

there is this

repeated offerings

of sacrifices

for the sin

of God's

people.

Over and over

and over again,

sin brings a

penalty against

a holy God.

And that penalty

is paid in

blood.

And that blood

covers the sin

and allows for

relationship with

the living God.

And so,

the sacrificial

system established

under the Mosaic

Law,

it begins to

point to an

ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Whom John

said,

behold,

the Lamb of

God comes to

take away the

sin of the

world.

Jesus fulfills

the Old

Testament sacrificial

system because

His sacrifice

on the cross

was a once

for all

done deal.

The perfect

of all sacrifices.

The perfect

Lamb of God

who shed His

blood to take

away the sins

of a world.

Jesus is the

fulfillment of

that.

And we can go

on and on

and on.

How His

substitutionary

death fulfilled

Isaiah 53.

We can talk about

how Jesus

shedding of

His blood

and what

happened the

night before

at the Last

Supper.

He's inaugurating

the New

Covenant.

He's talking

about the

shedding of

His blood.

He's going to

usher in what

Jeremiah talked

about in

Jeremiah 31

and what

Ezekiel talked

about in

Ezekiel 36

and Jesus

ushered in

the New

Covenant

fullness.

I want to

point you to

one more

thing.

In Deuteronomy

18.18

God is talking

to Moses and

He's saying

there's going

to be a

prophet that

I'm going to

raise up from

the people and

He's going to

speak for me.

And then

Peter in

Acts 3

22 and

23.

Do you know

what He says?

Who this

prophet is?

Jesus!

The ultimate

prophet.

The ultimate

sacrifice.

He is the

fulfillment of

the Old

Testament.

The

anticipation

that the

Old Testament

raises over

the centuries

is found

fulfillment in

Jesus.

Is this

making sense?

You may be

come in here

this morning

and you're

like well I

just thought

the Old

Testament was

about God.

And if Jesus

was here he'd

be like oh

yeah you're

right.

It's about

me.

I fulfilled

it.

So here's

Jesus preaching

this sermon.

His inaugural

sermon and he

starts off saying

okay open up

your Bibles

to the whole

Bible and the

whole Bible is

about me.

I fulfilled

it.

It's all about

him.

He's the yes

and amen.

So this

morning if you

walk away from

here with just

one thing it

would be this.

The Old

Testament points

to Jesus.

And why do we

say that?

Because Jesus

said it.

I came not to

abolish the law

but to fulfill

it.

that's a game

changer.

It changes the

way you look at

your Old

Testament.

Because you

start seeing it

through Jesus.

Now I want you

to see this

warning he gives

in verse 19.

It's just the

first half of it.

Therefore

whoever relaxes

one of the least

of these commandments

and teaches

others to do the

same they'll be

called least in the

kingdom of heaven.

And so he's

trying to do a

corrective here.

And so he's

saying to his

disciples hey

don't misunderstand

what I'm saying.

I came to

fulfill the law

but that doesn't

mean you can

relax the law.

That doesn't

mean you can

kind of minimize

the least of the

commandments.

In that day

they made a

distinction between

the heavier matters

of the law and

the lighter matters

of the law.

And Jesus says

don't minimize

the lighter stuff.

And what we'll

see in the next

couple weeks is

how he corrects

that.

Just look down

to the whole

thing on anger

in verse 21.

You've heard that

it was said from

the Pharisees to

those of old

you shall not

murder.

And then Jesus

says but I say

to you.

Look what he

says.

But I say to

you that everyone

who is angry

with his brother

don't minimize

little stuff.

Don't minimize

that.

It's wrong to

commit adultery

but it's also

wrong to lust.

Don't minimize

that.

See what Jesus

is doing?

Man that guy

is brilliant.

And so what

he's doing here

is don't

mistake this.

My fulfilling

of the law

doesn't mean

it's no longer

binding.

It is.

Don't relax it.

In fact

Jesus is going

to say

I came to

raise the bar.

Now there's

always been a

temptation for

God's people

to make

adjustments

with the law.

One mistake

is this thing

called legalism

and that's the

belief that if

I obey the law

then God will

accept me.

I earn his

love through

performance.

And the

apostle Paul

will say

no, no, no,

no.

There's nothing

that you can do

to earn

acceptance with

God.

That's why

Jesus came.

That's why he

shed his blood.

That's why

in order for you

to be right in

God's eyes

God needs to

impute Christ's

righteousness to

you.

So don't make

that mistake.

But the other

mistake is the

mistake of

lawlessness.

From legalism

to lawlessness.

And what

lawlessness is

is this.

It's thinking

okay, Jesus

came to fulfill

the law and

so he's fulfilled

all of God's

requirements of

me.

Praise the

Lord.

And now he's

just covered

me with grace.

I can't out

sin God's grace.

So what I'm

going to do is

just sin and

sin and sin

and enjoy my

sin because I'm

just going to

be grace and

grace and

graced.

That's the

other mistake.

We can't make

either.

But what Jesus

is worrying about

right here is

don't relax

these commandments

because I've

fulfilled them.

Don't relax

them.

Just because

Jesus fulfilled

all the

commandments of

the Old

Testament and

for us even

that doesn't

mean they no

longer apply.

God is just

as holy now

as he was

then.

And he's

calling us to

a righteousness

that is an

essentially

different kind

of righteousness

that people were

seeing in

Jesus' day.

And so the

warning, don't

relax the law.

And now Jesus

is going to

bring some

action.

Look at the

second half of

19 and 20.

And this is the

last point of

this morning's

sermon.

Jesus calls

his followers

to a new

kind of

righteousness.

A kingdom

righteousness.

He says,

but whoever

does them

and teaches

them the

commandments

will be

called great

in the

kingdom of

heaven.

For I

tell you,

unless your

righteousness

exceeds that

of the

scribes and

Pharisees,

you'll never

enter the

kingdom of

heaven.

He's like,

don't relax

them.

I'm calling

you something

that exceeds

the righteousness

of the

scribes and

Pharisees.

So the

Pharisees were

known to do

things like

this.

They would

have their

cloak and

they would

kind of hold

their cloak

close to

them while

they're walking

through crowds

because they

didn't want to

touch the

rabble.

They didn't

want to be

made impure.

And so when

Jesus is talking

about the

righteousness of

the Pharisees,

his disciples

were like,

what?

More righteous

than them?

And what

Jesus is

actually talking

about is a

new kind of

righteousness.

A new

covenant kind

of righteousness.

An internally

born of the

Holy Spirit

righteousness.

You see,

this righteousness

that Jesus is

getting at is

not an outward

conforming for

the eyes of

man kind of

righteousness which

he rails on

the Pharisees

about.

No, the

righteousness

that Jesus

is calling

his disciples

and us

to is an

inner obedience

born of the

Holy Spirit

that wants to

glorify God

the Father.

That's what

he's doing

in us.

This is the

kind of

righteousness

that exceeds

the Pharisees

and scribes.

It's this

kind of

righteousness

that if you

look ahead

to chapter 5

verse 48,

that's the

perfect.

A

righteousness

within and

without.

Jesus is

raising the

bar of

righteousness.

Better yet,

he's saying

there's a

qualitatively

different kind

of holiness

I'm calling

you to live

by and it

comes through

me, the

fulfiller of

the Old

Testament.

I want to

start wrapping

things up here.

here.

But here's

one of the

things I want

you to see.

Have you

heard of the

Rosetta Stone?

The Rosetta

Stone was

this rock

steel, it's

called, found

in 1799 in

northern Africa.

Found by a

soldier.

Up until this

point, people

didn't know how

to make sense of

Egyptian hieroglyphics.

It was like,

what does that

mean?

We don't know

what it's

saying here.

And then when

this discovery of

the Rosetta Stone

was found, it

unlocked the

language.

Because the

Rosetta Stone

had three

languages on

it.

There was

Egyptian

hieroglyphics

on the top,

and then there

was another

language called

Domotic.

I have no idea

what that is.

And then there's

another language

called Ancient

Greek.

And they

were all

translations of

a decree of a

king from

Egypt from

196 B.C.

They're all

saying the

same thing.

And so that

gave scholars

the key to

understanding

Egyptian

hieroglyphics.

It was the

Rosetta Stone.

It unlocked

the hidden

meaning of

hieroglyphics.

Jesus is our

Rosetta Stone.

He unlocks

for us the

true meaning

intent of the

Old Testament.

Because the

Old Testament is

all about Him.

And now He's

calling us to

live in a way

that is pleasing

to Him.

Jesus is calling

us to a

righteousness

that we can't

produce ourselves.

It's a work of

God in us.

Would you turn

in your Bible

to Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8?

This is what

Jesus is

introducing.

This is the

new covenant

which He's

bringing with

Him.

Romans 8

Romans 8:4

verse 4.

Let's start

in verse 3.

For God has

done what the

law weakened

by the flesh

could not do

by sending

His own Son

in the likeness

of sinful flesh

and for sin

He condemned

in the flesh

in order that

the righteous

requirement of

the law

might be

fulfilled in

us who

walk,

who obey,

not according

to the flesh

but according

to the

Spirit.

Jesus is the

fulfillment of

the Old Testament

and He brings

with Him a

whole new way

of relating

to God.

A whole new

kind of

righteousness

born of

His Spirit.

What we're

going to be

seeing in the

rest of Jesus'

sermon,

the Sermon on

the Mount,

is how this

righteousness is

lived out.

He's going to

correct us on

some things

and He's going

to direct us

on some things.

But He's

introducing now

that Jesus,

He's the

fulfiller of

the Old Testament.

He's got a

high view of

the Old Testament.

He didn't come

to abolish it

but to fulfill

it.

He warned us

not to relax

it because He's

calling us to

a new kind

of righteousness,

a Spirit-born

Ezekiel 36,

Spirit-within-us

kind of righteousness.

So in order

to close,

let me just

ask this.

Who can say

something like

this?

Who can say

that the Old

Testament's about

me but God

alone?

It's about Him.

All of God's

plan for the

fullness of time

is uniting all

things in Christ.

So two things,

very quick.

because this sets

Jesus apart,

you know what?

You know what we

need to do?

Follow Him

and listen to Him.

He's our

Rosetta Stone.

Let me pray.

God in Heaven,

thank You so much.

Thank You so much

that You,

Jesus,

that You are the

focal point of the

entire Bible.

Thank You,

Jesus,

that You have

provided what we

need in order to

walk in righteousness

now.

You've supplied us

with Your own

righteousness,

and that You've

indwelt us with

Your Spirit so we

can experience it

too.

Lord Jesus,

thank You.

Thank You for Your

words.

In Your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.