Matthew 5:17-20
It is always good to be back on Friday to post the Weekend Sermon. This is the best part of the week because I feel that I am in some way fulfilling God's call on my life to share His word with others. I hope that those who read this blog will learn more about the Lord and grow in their walk with Him. My greatest desire is that someone will accept Christ as Savior and Lord through God's use of one of these messages.
Before I get into the message this week, I have to get something off my chest. This week, I heard a prominent American minister say that people's pets do not go to Heaven. The way that he talked about the matter was very hurtful and denigrating.
I totally disagree with this. I know without a doubt that my friend Toby is waiting for me in Heaven. I'm glad to know that one of my heroes of the faith, John Wesley, believed that animals go to Heaven. I urge people to find a copy of Wesley's sermon "The General Deliverance" to read more on this matter. Billy Graham has also written on this matter, and he believes that people's pets will be in Heaven with them.
While not a theologian, my favorite author, James Herriot certainly handled a question on this matter much better than the minster I heard. In one of his books, Herriot wrote about on old woman in failing health who asked him the question about her pets going to Heaven. Mr. Herriot reassured this woman that her pets would certainly be with her in the life to come. He knew that people asking this question are those whose pets have been special companions who have stuck with them even when many people have forgotten about them. To these people, questions on this matter are not a joke or something to be laughed at.
I could say much more about all of this, but then we'd never get to the next part of the Sermon on the Mount.
Last week, I wrote about Jesus' teaching on salt and light. Christians are called by the Lord to stand against societal decay and stand for the moral light of God. We are to do good works as a light in the darkness of the world.
In today's passage, Jesus begins by saying, "Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." Many of the religious leaders of Jesus' day objected to Jesus' healing on the Sabbath. They accused Jesus of breaking the law of Moses. In this passage, Jesus is clearly stating that He is in no way intending or wants to violate the law that has been revealed in the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus goes on to say that not even the smallest stroke of the pen within the law will pass away before all is accomplished.
What did Jesus mean that He came to fulfill the law and the prophets? Jesus' life and ministry are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
Jesus is the only person who lived a life in accordance with every single commandment revealed in the law. Jesus never committed any sins. He never broke the law.
Because Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law, He could become our perfect sacrifice. He was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. By taking our sins upon Himself while He was on the cross, and through His death, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial types.
On the day of atonement, the high priest was to choose a lamb without spot or blemish. He was to place his hands on the animal symbolically imputing the sins of the people into the spotless lamb. While this was a symbol, Jesus fulfilled this in reality. Jesus took our sin and died. However, Jesus rose again conquering death and hell.
In addition to this, Jesus is the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah. If you will take the time to read through the entire Gospel of Matthew, you will see that Matthew makes a point of pointing out the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during His time on earth.
There is something else I need to point out though. Jesus goes on in this passage to make sure that people realize that they were still supposed to follow the law. Those who do not follow the law will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus completely fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah and the sacrificial types in the Old Testament. However, Jesus never says that His followers are not to follow God's law. In fact, as we go through the Sermon on the Mount, we will see that Jesus reiterates many of the commandments of the Old Testament.
Many Christian teachers like to say that we are not under the law we are under grace. That is true. No one is saved by good works because no one is able to live a sinless life. We are saved by grace through faith. We are saved because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Those who have truly placed their faith and trust in Christ will follow the teachings and commandments of Scripture. It is a sign that we have a true possession of faith and not just an empty profession. This is what James is speaking of in his epistle when he says, "faith without works is dead."
When we get to Heaven, we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. There we will receive our reward for the life we lived for the Lord while we were here on earth.
As Jesus makes clear, some will be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. They are saved, but they have no reward. Others who faithfully follow the teachings and commandments of God will be rewarded in the world to come. Jesus also speaks about this principle in His parable of the talents that I urge everyone to read.
I may write more about this next week. I am considering putting a chapter a week of a book I wrote on the blog each Wednesday. It is a book I wrote about Toby several years ago.. Two chapters of the book were published , but the entire book was never published. I will probably start either this Wednesday or next Wednesday with this, Lord willing. May God bless you all. Amen.
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