"Last Sunday evening, I said that
we'd talk about 'the Law' tonight. For some, this has been a confusing
part of Jesus' teachings, because He seems to be saying that all
the old rules given before His coming still apply to Christians.
Look with me at Matthew 5:17-19. He says that He didn't come to
abolish the Law, but to complete it. He says that, as long as
heaven and earth endure, not a letter or stroke of the Law will
disappear. He says that anyone who breaks even the least part
of the Law will have the lowest place in heaven. How do we reconcile
this with all the other scriptures that we Christians love so
much: the ones that talk about the new way of grace, free from
the old laws and rituals?
"The answer comes by reading on,
and discovering what God really meant by 'the Law'. What I think
comes through loud and clear in the rest of Matthew 5 is that
He has made the Law both harder and easier for us. He's made it
harder, because prior to the coming of Christ he was letting us
'get by' on the letter of the Law. Now he's demanding that we
obey not just the letter of the Law, but the spirit of it as well.
But He knows that we can't do that by ourselves - nobody can -
so now we have His salvation and grace and Holy Spirit to make
it possible.
"Let's go on in Matthew 5 and look
at some of Jesus' comparisons of the letter versus the spirit
of the Law. Starting in verse 21, He notes that the Law says not
to commit murder. That's fine, says Jesus, but just as bad as
murder are the feelings that could lead to murder. The letter
says don't murder; the spirit says don't nurse anger against your
brother. Note He didn't say don't get angry; he said don't nurse
anger; take care of it. You can't have really effective contact
with God until you've squared away your personal relationships.
"Look at some of the other ways He
has made it hard for us. Verses 27-28: having adulterous fantasies
(lusting in your heart) is as bad as committing adultery. Verses
31-32: the letter of the Law says don't divorce a woman without
giving her a note of dismissal (a small concession to women, who
had virtually no legal standing at that time); the spirit of the
law says don't divorce at all. Verses 33-34: don't break oaths;
the full Law says don't make oaths! Verses 38-39: eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, becomes turn the other cheek. If someone wants
your shirt, give him your coat, also! And folks, it gets worse
- look down to verse 43. The 'easy' Law says love your neighbor,
but the 'hard' Law says love your enemy, as well as praying for
your persecutors. I love the way Jesus finishes up this section.
He asks what's so great about loving those who love you. Anybody
can do that! The tough thing is to love the unlovely - to fairly
and compassionately deal with people who may not be your cup of
tea. That's what raises you above the masses - that's what separates
Christian from non-Christian. Verse 48 concludes by saying that
there must be no limit to our goodness, just as there is no limit
to God's goodness.
"Did you ever read this before? Is
it in your Bible, too, or did somebody just slip it into mine?
Can Jesus be serious? Why, if we approached the world as he seems
to be suggesting, the world would run roughshod over us!"
"Is it impossible? Without God's
Holy Spirit, I truly believe it is. On our own, we just don't
have enough control. We all know that we don't normally plan to
get angry. And we don't usually think about thinking lustful thoughts
before we actually think them. (Good tongue twister, that!) President
Jimmy Carter publicly admitted to impure thoughts about women,
which got him ridiculed and lost him supporters. But I always
appreciated his candor, because I think he was confessing for
every man and woman in the world. He didn't say he dwelt on those
thoughts, or went out and acted on them. He just said he had them.
In this world, which is still temporarily under the partial control
of Satan, it is impossible not to be afflicted by thoughts of
hate, anger, greed, lust, selfishness - you name it. The important
question is, what do you do with these thoughts?
"Here's where the Christian starts
out with some willpower, and ends up with Holy Spirit power. We
all have a will, remember; we can choose to do things or not do
things. As an example, Jesus said not to commit murder or adultery,
and we can obviously will ourselves not to do either of those
things. The letter of the Law is within our personal control in
virtually all cases. We can go farther with willpower, too, by
using it to keep us out of situations that might lead to worse
events. We might not be able to completely stop the occasional
lustful thoughts that Jimmy Carter confessed to, but we can make
it a lot harder for them. We can avoid pornographic literature,
and we can refuse to listen to or tell obscene jokes. Obviously,
we can stay away from topless bars and adult bookstores. In other
words, there are many ways our own wills can keep our minds from
becoming gardens where weeds of impurity can grow.
"Not all situations are as straightforward
as this one, however. Some get trickier, because we are so used
to living in - and with - the world that we may not be hearing
some of the things that Jesus is saying to us. We may find it
difficult even to acknowledge that Jesus is asking Christians
to be different from non-Christians. And I'm not talking about
lust and crime, now; I'm talking about what we believe and how
we act in all facets of our lives.
"I'm not going to give you a bunch
of answers tonight - I'm not sure I know the answers - but let
me pose some questions for you. For example, Jesus said no more
'eye for eye' judgments; we turn the other cheek, now. What does
that mean to you as a Christian, and what should you and your
willpower be doing about it. How about His direction not to sue,
but to come to terms with people short of a law suit? Are you
following that direction? Jesus said to love your enemies, and
love those who despitefully use you. What does that mean? Are
you doing as much as you can?
"As I said, I don't have answers
for you tonight, but somebody does - God's Holy Spirit. To get
those answers, you need 'the mind of Christ'. To get the 'mind
of Christ', you ask for it through the Holy Spirit. And it is
essential! Folks, you may be reading your Bible, going to church,
and living life the best way you know how. However, if you are
not asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate, interpret, and clarify
what you read, hear, and see, you are not using your resources
to the fullest, to do what Christians should do and to be what
Christians should be. Brothers and sisters, we are called by God
to be different from the rest of the world. Are you different?"
"As I've been talking, I think that
some of you have been remembering scriptures about salvation coming
by grace, not by works, and your minds are rebelling at all this
talk about what you have to do to be Christians. No, you don't
remember it wrong - we are saved by grace through faith. But that
should set off a perpetual motion machine in the individual Christian,
and also in the Christian community. Because we believe, we act.
As we see the fruits of our right actions, others begin to believe.
Their conviction causes us to believe even more strongly, and
on and on it goes. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus tells us to let our
lights shine before men so that they may see our good works -
repeat, works - and so glorify God. In Matthew 16:27, it's recorded
that Jesus said we would be rewarded according to our works. In
James 1:22, we're admonished to be doers of the word, not just
hearers of it. 'James' went so far as to say that faith without
works is dead. I repeat: because we believe, we act!
"It all must seem very difficult,
learning to trust the Holy Spirit for answers, and sometimes even
for the questions. But God is so wonderful, He's given us His
Holy Spirit even to show us how to get in touch with the Holy
Spirit! How's that for magic? No, not magic; just God! In other
words, the Holy Spirit first gives us the hunger to find out how
to live life more fully as Christians, and then is the enabler
to let us actually do it. He reveals 'the Law' to us, and then
makes it possible for us to live under it. No, not just to live
under the Law, but to actually thrive under it.
"God has challenged us to let Him
be God in our lives. Some of us have accepted that challenge.
As I said this morning, this isn't a game; it's a very serious
commitment. It's one we all should make, for the good of the Christian
community, for the 'Body of Christ' of which we are all members.
You can make it. Right now, later tonight, tomorrow - any time
at all - you can accept God's challenge to move beyond the letter
of the Law to the spirit of it. You can be full-time Christians
- fully working parts of the Body of Christ - rather than just
part-time church people. It isn't anything that I or anyone else
can do for you. Just as you had to make your own personal move
to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have to keep taking
your own personal steps to enter into His fullness. I'll pray
with you and for you, but you have to make the choice. I hope
you will, tonight."
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NOTE: This sermon from Pastor Josh Felton is from Chapter 40 of "If God is God." Read more of Josh's lessons, or get the whole book.