Are You Standing for the Truth?

(Matthew 5:17-48)



I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.

In our passage, Jesus begins by laying down a basic fact:

Gods Moral Law has not changed

His standard is still the same as its always been.


He didnt come to do away with the Old Testament, but to fulfill it:

To fulfill the prophecies,

To fulfill Gods promises,

So that He might become your Savior.


The way He did it was by fulfilling the Law.

The Ceremonial Law through His sacrifice on the cross which is why you no
longer need to bring a sacrificial animal to worship.

And the Moral Law through His personal obedience which is why you no longer
need to keep it to save yourself.

Only His death can take away your sin once and for all,

And only His perfect obedience can provide you with the righteousness which
alone God will accept.

Thats why Jesus is the only Savior.


And yet, Jesus tells you that you still need to keep the Moral Law.

He came to free you from the curse of the Law

From Gods just judgment for your sins

But He didnt come to free you from obedience to the Law

Instead, He came to give you the power to keep it:

To put His Law in your mind and to write it on your heart.

This is the blessing of the New Covenant

Not to free you from obedience,

But to free you from disobedience.


Jesus then goes on to show us something else about the Law: His very high regard
for it.

After saying the standard hasnt changed,

He then corrects the ways the teachers of Israel had corrupted it.

When He said, You have heard that the ancients were told (v. 21), or You have
heard that it was said (v. 27),

He wasnt so much quoting Moses or Scripture,

He was quoting the Rabbinic tradition,

He was repeating what their teachers had taught them.


And when He says, But I say to you (v. 22, 28, etc.),

He wasnt changing what Moses wrote, or what Scripture said,

He was correcting that tradition

Telling them what Scripture really meant,

Because the Law hadnt changed.


B. Preview.

This shouldnt surprise us,

After all, Jesus is the Word (John 1:1).

It was His Spirit who inspired the writers of Scripture (1 Pet. 1:11).

If anyone was going to correct these mistakes,

If anyone was going to stand up for the truth,

It would be Him.


My point this morning is this:

If you know Jesus, if you are becoming like Him,

You will also have a high regard for His truth and stand up for it as well.


Lets consider three things:

First, that not all divine truths are equally important.

Second, that even though thats true, all of them are important.

Finally, since they are important, you should be willing to stand up for them as
Jesus did.

II. Sermon.
A. First, lets consider that not all truths are equally important

At least with regard to your salvation,

They are all important to God and so should be important to you.

If I were to ask you, which is more central to the Christian faith:

Who God is that He is one God who exists eternally as three persons

Or when Jesus is coming again before or after the millennium


Or how you are justified by grace through faith alone

Or what form of church government is biblical Independent, Presbyterian,
Episcopal

What would you say?

You can see immediately,

That the doctrines/teachings of the Trinity

And salvation by grace through faith alone

Are both far more important than when Jesus returns

Or what form of church government is biblical.


Everything He tells us about salvation is more important

At least to you personally

If you get these wrong,

And if you dont respond to them in faith and repentance,

You wont see heaven.


What are these truths?

1. That the Bible is Gods infallible Word the only true source of information
regarding salvation.

2. That there is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and
Spirit.

3. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God (fully God) who became man (fully man) by
being conceived and born of a virgin; that He lived a perfect life, died on the
cross for sin, rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven.

4. That salvation is by Gods grace alone, and that it might be by grace alone, is
received by faith alone, and that for faith to be genuine, it must be accompanied
by repentance from sin.

5. And that Jesus is coming again to raise the dead, gather the living, and judge all
mankind.

These are the fundamentals of the Christian faith:

If you want to be saved, this is what you must believe.

If you want others to be saved,

This is the message you need to share.


B. Since these are the only teachings that are necessary for your salvation,

Does that mean the others arent important? No.

All of Gods truth are important.

Theyre important for two reasons: Gods glory and your wellbeing.

For example, youll notice Gods absolute sovereignty in salvation wasnt included
in the list

The issue that divides Calvinists and Arminians.

What difference does it make whether you believe you had the ability to trust Jesus
apart from His grace

As Arminians think

Or whether you believe God had to make you alive before you could trust Jesus

As Calvinists think

As long as you both believe youre saved by grace through faith alone

That is, by Christ alone?


Of course, theres the matter of what the Bible actually teaches.

Only one of these is what God actually did.


But theres also the matter of Gods glory.

Which gives Him greater glory?

That you trusted Jesus when He was offered to you

Because you had a remnant of goodness left over from the Fall?

Or that God overcame your sinful heart by His Spirit

And gave you the ability to trust in His Son?

The more God does, the more glory He gets,

And He tells us He has done it all.

Augustus Toplady wasnt angry with John Wesley merely because he disagreed
with him on what the Bible teaches,

He was angry because what Wesley taught robbed God of some of His glory.


How are these other truths important for your wellbeing?

Anything that we get wrong regarding what the Bible teaches

Is going to steer us in the wrong direction.


For example, its true that your view of when Jesus is coming

Doesnt bear directly on your salvation, but its still important.

If you believe His Second Coming is near,

Youre going to choose certain paths;

If far, you may choose other paths.


In my earlier days as a believer, I was taught Jesus could come at any time

Basically, that He could have any time from the time He ascended,

But particularly at that time because of the time frames.

I graduated High School in 1976

And was being taught that Jesus was coming in 1981

Israel regained their land in 1948,

That generation would not pass away until everything Jesus said about the
Tribulation was fulfilled,

A generation was 40 years,

Jesus was coming the second time in 1988,

But you needed to back up 7 years for the Tribulation 1981.

If you believed that you only had less than five years remaining,

Would you spend four of them in college?

Would you get married and have children?

Would you be looking at the long run or the short haul?


What you believe regarding anything the Bible teaches

Is going to affect your life in some way.

Why was Jesus so careful to raise the Law back up to its rightful place?

Because to misunderstand it would not only cause you to dishonor God in some
way,

But in doing so, it would cause you to harm yourself and likely others.


All of His truth is important for His glory, your wellbeing, and that of others.


C. Finally, since there are truths that are essential for your salvation, and those that
are essential for Gods glory, your wellbeing and that of others, you need to be
willing to stand up for the truth, as Jesus did.

First, you want to make sure you get it right that you believe the truth,

So that you might be saved,

That you might live the truth,

So that you might honor God and promote your own wellbeing.

The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind,
soul, and strength.

You cant do this unless you know the truth.


But second, youll want to make sure you get it right

So that you can be a real source of salvation and encouragement to those who dont
know it.

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.


What should you do if you come across someone who doesnt believe something
foundational to the Christian faith

Such as a Mormon, who believes there are many gods and aspires to godhood;


Or a Jehovahs Witness, who believes Jesus is merely a creature and not God,

And who thinks theyll see either heaven or paradise because of their works;


Or an Atheist, who denies the existence of God altogether;


Or the average person who believes theyre going to heaven

Because their good works will outweigh their bad?


You need to love them enough to tell them the truth.

You were once ignorant without the Gospel and without God.

God had mercy on you and brought you His truth.


You need to evangelize them.

Like Jesus did, when He went throughout Israel preaching the Gospel.

You need to keep telling them the truth until they either trust Christ,

Or become hostile to the truth

Jesus tells us not to cast pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6).


God has entrusted you with a great treasure

The only message He uses to save

You need to give it away to as many as you can.


What should you do when you come across a brother or sister in Christ

Who believes the fundamentals of the Christian faith,

But also things that either rob God of His glory

Or will hurt them or others in the end:

Like the Arminian, who believes he choose God in his own strength

And so doesnt give Him the full credit for his salvation

And that all men can choose Christ in their own strength

And so doesnt rely on Gods Spirit to convert them as he should


Or the antinomian, who believes obedience is optional -

Who uses that as an excuse not to obey,

And tells others they can go to heaven without obeying either?


What should you do?

First of all, if they believe the Gospel and are trusting Jesus

You should embrace them as brothers and sisters in Christian love.

You shouldnt write them out of the kingdom because they disagree with you.


Second, you should seek to convince them of the truth

By showing them the truth from Scripture.

Dont ask them to take your word for it

Show them what God says in His Word.


But thirdly, do this with a great deal of love and patience.

Youve undoubtedly heard that there are two things you should never talk about:

Religion and politics,

Because people can have very strong opinions about both.

Jesus shows you through His own example

That you need to talk about His truth.

If you dont, no one will be saved.

If you dont, your brothers and sisters in Christ wont be able to honor God as they
should,

They might get hurt, and they might hurt others.

Jesus shows you that you need to love God enough

And be concerned about others enough to stand up for His truth,

But you must do it without violating the Law of love.

Thats what Jesus did, and if you know Him,

Thats what you will do as well. Amen.


http://www.graceopcmodesto.org