Philosophy

Except Your Righteousness Exceed That of the Pharisees
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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (Matthew 5:17)”

This verse teaches us that righteousness matters, that obedience to God matters, and that what’s in our hearts matters. Jesus goes on to say, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)”

That’s pretty intimidating, when you consider how religious the Pharisees really were.

If you’ve been around 21st Century Christianity any length of time, you know that Pharisees are often presented in scripture as the bad guys. They hated Jesus because He challenged their pride. They hated poor people because they felt the poor were inferior and not worth their time. They misused and abused people. And their religion was often a show.

The same criticisms, for what it’s worth, have been levelled toward modern churches and Christians. Whether such criticism is warranted or not is a discussion for another day. However, I think we can all agree that Christians have failed from time to time. However, Christianity has done a lot of good in the world.

The same can be said for the Pharisees. Their benevolence (alms) programs raised large amounts of money for the poor. They were very devout in their faith. They prayed constantly and spent their entire lives in the scriptures, and taught others the scriptures.

They desired to strongly adhere to the law of God and to honor Him with their lives. What could be wrong with that?

And it’s that brand of righteousness that Jesus said we must exceed if we want to see the Kingdom of God.

To understand what the Lord was calling us to, we must understand what righteousness is. Thayer’s Bible dictionary defines righteousness (and the Greek word it was translated from) as “the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God.” In other words, righteousness is about gaining God’s approval.

The standard for righteousness, what it takes to earn God’s approval, is the law of God. The law of God is summarized in the 10 Commandments, 10 rules that God gave to Israel telling them what standard of righteousness they must hold in order to enter into His presence. For the sake of this study, we will examine the same two commandments that Jesus referenced in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.

That shalt not kill, and thou shalt not commit adultery. Basically, don’t take anyone’s life, and don’t take anyone’s wife. It seems pretty simple. If you haven’t killed anyone, and you haven’t cheated on your spouse, you are well on your way.

However, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed out that if you have committed these sins in your mind, then you are guilty of them in your heart. Jesus said if you are angry with your brother without cause, you are in danger of the judgment. And, if you have looked upon a woman with lust, you have committed adultery with her in your heart.

In speaking these words, Jesus taught us that righteousness is not just about what you do (or don’t do), but also about what’s in your heart. Therefore, you can do all the right things, but still have the sin in your heart, and still be found unrighteous.

This is a tough truth, because we all have sin in our hearts. That was a problem for the Pharisees too, whom Jesus said were like sepulchres, ornate on the outside, but full of death on the inside.

Romans 7:18 tells us that in our flesh dwells no good thing, and Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

By His teaching in Matthew 5, Jesus has held a spiritual mirror up to our souls to reveal to us our true condition in order to show us the way of salvation, which is through faith in Him.

Galatians 3:24 says the law is our schoolmaster to drive us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Romans 4 tells us that faith is counted as righteousness.

The Pharisees’ faith was in themselves, and their own version of obedience to God. Christ said for true righteousness, one must trust Him. And as Charles Spurgeon said, “Any faith that falls short of the cross will leave you short of Heaven.”

So the way to have the righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees is to trust Jesus for your salvation and righteousness. He will grant you that righteousness if your faith is in Him.

The Hour is Come

In John 17, Jesus is with His disciples in the upper room following their observance of the Passover, and the institution of The Lord’s Supper. Judas has been sent away to betray Christ, and our Lord spent chapters 14-16 preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, and their lives after His ascension into Heaven.

At the conclusion of his discussion with His disciples, Jesus lifts up His eyes to God and says the most epic prayer ever recorded. In opening the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus says, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

This word, “glorify,” is translated from the Greek word doxoza, which means to honor, to make renown, to make to be well-thought of. Basically, to be made famous in a good way for great things you’ve done. It is from this word comes the title of the hymn, “Doxology,” which is simply referred to in many Christian denominations as “The Doxology.”

Indeed, God’s name has been made great throughout all of human history, from the creation, to redeeming Adam and Eve, to His raising up of Israel, to His chastisement of Israel, to His reconstruction of Israel, to bringing forth Jesus, born of a virgin, and giving Him to be the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. God’s glorification continues with the resurrection of Jesus, His victory over sin, and will come to full fruition when He establishes His Kingdom on Earth.

Jesus prays that God would glorify Him, to make Him great and renown, so that Christ, in turn, can do the same for the Father.

But first, He says, “The hour is come.”

The hour is this moment, when Christ would fulfill the Gospel and redeem His people. God’s entire plan with mankind centered around this moment. This is the moment that Jesus Christ would undo the inherent sin and death brought by Satan into the world. He would undo the damage done by Adam and Eve in the garden.

In this hour, Christ would pay for the sins of the world, bringing forgiveness and redemption to mankind, and saving all those who believe to the eternal life God originally intended back in the beginning. For Jesus, it’s time!

In this hour, mankind had a decision to make. In Luke 19:42 Jesus said, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

Jesus had come to Jerusalem to complete God’s plan of salvation, but the Pharisees only saw a threat to their personal prestige, power and desires. So, they had Him crucified, and sealed their judgment. Hence, Jesus says in Luke 22:53, as He was being arrested, “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

To complete the Gospel and pay for the sins of mankind, Christ handed Himself over to sinful man. And man was told He had one hour, to do unto God (who was in the flesh in Jesus) what He wished. Man treated our Lord as shamefully as he could.

No compassion.

No mercy.

The compassion and mercy we desire was denied to Christ, both by man, and by God.

Thus, Isaiah 53:4-6 says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The punishment Christ endured on the cross settled the sin-debt for all mankind. Man’s rebellion against God came to full fruition on Christ as He was beaten and tortured prior to the crucifixion.

And God’s need for justice was satisfied on the cross, as Isaiah 53:11 says, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” 

Now, with the hour of salvation complete, it’s now your hour, and you have the same choice to make.

Will you see Christ as a threat to your happiness, pleasure, fun, prosperity, autonomy over your life. Is He a buzzkill?

Or will you see Him as salvation, the source of life, and the One to whom you will give your faith and trust?

What is your decision?

Having proclaimed that the hour has come, Jesus then prayed that God would glorify Him so that the glory could be returned to God. God answered that prayer by resurrecting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of the resurrection, the Gospel was spread throughout the world, and the name of Jesus Christ has been remembered throughout the centuries.

Because of the resurrection, we have a confident expectation of salvation, of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, and a life without pain, sin or adversity in His Heaven.

Because of the resurrection, we can comfort each other at funerals.

Again, there is a choice to be made here. To believe, or to reject. What is yours?

Praying for Glory, How Jesus Opened the Most Epic Prayer
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As Jesus prepared for His arrest and crucifixion, He lifted up His eyes to God and prayed the most epic prayer. Recorded in John 17, this is often referred to as “The High Priestly Prayer.” In it, Jesus prays for the glorification of God and Himself through the crucifixion, and He prays for His disciples that God would protect and maintain them in His absence.

It is really profound that our Lord, Who was God in flesh, lifted up such a prayer. It teaches us of the role prayer plays in our faith. It is an exercise of faith, and it is an alignment of our thoughts, desires and plans with God’s. To see Christ, Himself, do it is truly powerful.

Jesus opens this prayer in John 17:1 by saying, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

He prays that the plan of salvation, our redemption through the cross, would truly be glorifying to God. And when you discuss the glory of God, truly you must discuss the cross, because it is in the cross that the full righteousness of God is on full display (Romans 1:16-17), and in the cross that God obtains final victory over Satan.

It is in the cross that our hope lies, for without the cross, we have nothing beyond this life to look forward to. Without the cross, we are left as enemies to God, living a life of frustrated divine conflict before a death leading to eternal punishment. However, with the cross, we are redeemed and reconciled to God, made friends of God, blessed to live life in His presence with His provision and guidance, before a death that leads to eternal blessings in His Kingdom.

The glory of the Lord is ubiquitous in scripture, and throughout all of human history. God was glorified in the creation. He was glorified in the creation of man. He was glorified in ejecting Satan from heaven following his revolution there. He was glorified in providing man a way of salvation after man joined Satan in that rebellion. He was glorified in raising up a nation after Himself, then using the enemies of that nation to refine them into the people He intended on them being. He was glorified in how He led them out of Egypt, and how He led them into the promised land.

God was glorified in the birth of Jesus Christ, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His glory is such that, even non-believers have to acknowledge the incredible events that He performed, from the darkness on the earth when Jesus was on the cross, to the resurrection, to the impact Christ had on human history, even from a secular point of view.

And in the Gospel of John, we’ll see that glory come to it’s apex when Jesus pays for our sins on the cross. The glory of the Lord will come full circle when He returns and establishes His Kingdom on earth. This is deliverance for us, which should have us all praying for the glory of God. For it’s only in that glory that we have any hope.

Blessed: What It Means

In His first major sermon to the multitudes, Jesus began with one word… “blessed.”

What followed was a list of people who could consider themselves blessed. “Blessed are the poor in spirit… blessed are they that mourn… blessed are the meek…” and so on. The essence of the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 was that those who know the Lord, who reflect His nature in their very lives, are blessed.

The word blessed is the state of being. Those disciples to whom Jesus preached were not aspiring to being blessed, they already were blessed. The implied promise is that those who know the Lord and live by His Spiritual leadership will be blessed, but what does it mean to be blessed?

The word translated into “blessed” in Matthew 5 means to be happy. That makes sense, until you start to wonder what it means to be happy.

What does it mean to be happy?

Sadly, so many people in our world today struggle because they pursue happiness, but fail to grasp what it really is.

For some, happiness is a state of joy, and to maintain happiness, one must maintain a continual state of joy. This is unsustainable and impossible, and almost always leads to bad choices, sacrificing long-term blessings for short-term pleasures, and warps one’s sense of values.

For some, happiness is a state of accomplishment. The problem with this approach is that the satisfaction of accomplishments is usually short-lived. Ask any Super Bowl winning quarterback, and they’ll tell you.

No, happiness is a state of being confident and secure. To be happy is to realize that all of your needs have been met. To be happy means to have the human needs of love and esteem met. To be happy means to know that you are going to be okay.

With happiness being the confident and secure state, one can experience happiness regardless of emotional state. You can be happy and joyful at the same time. You can also be happy and sad at the same time. You can grieve while feeling confident and secure in God’s grace, so while you are expressing emotions of sadness and angst, you are still happy.

The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America declares that God created man with certain unalienable rights, among which are the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have the God-given right to pursue a state of confidence and security, but where shall we find it?

For some, it’s in the finances. So long as they can accumulate enough wealth to provide for their families indefinitely, they think they will find happiness, that is, confidence and security. The problem with this approach is that those who work, or invest, for money realize how fleeting it is. If your hope for happiness lies in money, you will always fear losing it, thus will never attain to confidence and security, and thus will never be happy.

For others, it’s in relationships. The problem with people is that we each bring our own hang-ups, baggage, traumas and triggers to the table, rendering us incapable of providing confidence and security to others. When others seek to find their happiness in us, they are almost always left disillusioned.

No, happiness can only be found in the Lord. By trusting the Lord, we learn that, not only is our eternal destiny secured, but God has also taken note of our needs in this life, and has committed Himself to providing for those needs. (See Matthew 6).

Therefore, it can be concluded that the more we trust the Lord, the happier we’ll be, even if the emotion of joy eludes us.

May you find God’s blessing today.

Unto us… hope!

In Isaiah 9, God is promising hope to a nation that had been walking in darkness. Their struggles would soon end and a new era of peace and prosperity would ensue.

This new era would be ushered in by the Christ, whom Isaiah 9:6 said would be born, and would rule and reign. Such news was welcome for a nation divided and degraded by sin and evil.

Unto us would be born a child, meaning the Christ would be human like the rest of us. But, He would also be the Son given, that is, the Son of God given for the redemption and deliverance of the nation. This verse speaks to the divinity and the humanity of Christ.

The humanity of Christ allows Him to relate to our struggles, and qualifies Him to take our punishment upon Himself, thus delivering us from condemnation. The divinity of Christ marks Him as sinless, perfect, and righteous. Further, the divinity of Christ gives Him the power and authority to endure the wrath of God before rising from the grave and conquering death.

Therefore, this verse taught Israel that all of their hope, that is, confident expectation of redemption, is completely accessed through Christ. And we know that 2,000 years ago, that Child was born, and God’s Son was given for our redemption.

It’s easy to forget this during our day to day lives, but the season of Advent gives us the opportunity to remember the hope we have in Jesus Christ, and to renew our faith in Him and recenter our lives on Him.

Like Israel during Isaiah’s day, our nation is deeply divided and has been degraded by sin and evil. However, we can experience national healing and revival if we remember our hope, our confident expectation is in Him. Therefore Advent reminds us not only that Christ came, but that He’s coming again. Therefore we should be eagerly looking forward to His return, knowing that His return brings the deliverance, peace and prosperity of His Kingdom, if we know Him as Savior. If we believe.

May the Lord give you peace this season as you remember Him and look forward to His return.

The People that Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light

When Isaiah prophesied the words, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined,” Israel was in a state of continual decline morally, spiritually and nationally as a result of their idolatry and rebellion against God.

God’s people had turned their backs on God, and thus were walking in darkness. This darkness bred evil and cruelty, and the nation was suffering. However, Isaiah prophesied that the people who walked in darkness had seen a great light.

This light, bright and shining with a divine origin, would be the salvation of Israel. This Light is later identified in John 1:4-9 and John 8:12 as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (and Isaiah would go on to prophesy about Him in Isaiah 9:6-7).

Today, many Christians walk in darkness as they have turned away from God and look to their possessions, bank accounts, careers and families to bring them fulfillment. Many Christians have begun living for the best life in this world, and have discarded the idea of Heaven altogether.

This has led to many Christians unwittingly walking in darkness, and suffering as a result.

However, this situation can be remedied through simple repentance and faith in the Lord. If the Christian church will once again place Jesus at the center of its existence, and more importantly the Gospel at the center of its belief system, then we will not only see a revival, but we will also see our hope and peace restored as we look forward to the Lord’s Kingdom.

For more, check out Pastor Leland Acker’s message here: