EXCEEDING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE SCRIBES & PHARISIES
Sermon of TBOLF By Br. Philip Eto
Text: Mt 5:17-20; 23:13-29.
Preamble: The ultimate aim and hope of every believer is to be with the Lord in heaven. Anything short of that is hopeless. The scriptures say in 1 Cor 15:19 ‘If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable". The Lord desires for us to make a success of our profession of faith. Consequently He warns us to beware of things which will prevent us from realising "the hope" that is in us. He warns us so that we do not fall into error. He is our best friend who honestly tells us the true state we are in without hiding any consequences. The Lord says "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". Mat 5:20.
A. The points to note in the warning:
I. The One who gives the warning.
The Lord himself gave the warning. He will not trifle with words. It was a serious matter and He had to make it clear enough in order not to admit of any misunderstanding. They were not the words of one of his little known disciples. The warning is from the Lord Himself. It makes the warning very important to consider.
ii.
Those to whom the warning concerned.The warning concerned the Scribes and Pharisees — those eminent scholars who studied the Mosaic Law, developed it to cover fresh cases and taught to disciples. They Pharisees were a law-fulfilling group among the Scribes. They were all members of the synagogue — they were no strangers to religion. In many ways they are not different from "christians" of today. Do we have some religion? We need to consider the warning.
iii. The recipients of the warning.
The disciples of the Lord were in the midst of "the Sermon on the Mount" - that live wire sermon to all believers — when He drops this warning. The disciples needed to know that there was a difference between what He was teaching and what the Scribes and Pharisees were doing. Are you a disciple of the Lord? Then this warning is for you, specially for you.
iv. The consequences of not heeding the warning.
That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven". OhI that we would heed the warning. The consequences are too great to be imagined. If after all our church activities, self-denial, witnessing etc our righteousness does not exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees we are doomed.
B. The manner of life of the Scribes and Pharisees. Luke 18:9-14.
Let us consider the positive side first. The Scribes and Pharisees observed the law faithfully (Luke 18:11), they fasted often, they gave alms, they gave tithes of all their income (Luke 18:12), they prayed regularly, they were regular at the synagogue (Luke 18:10) etc. Measured against them, many of us do not even score a pass mark — we do not fast acceptably, we default in our tithe payment, we are not generous etc. For some of us the only time we have for God is weekly worship service, all other programmes are for "other people". Vet the Lord says "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven
Let us consider in the second place the negative side. The Scribes and Pharisees trusted in their own righteousness (Luke 18:9), they love showmanship (Mat 23:5-7), they were hypocrites (Mt 23:13-16, 23, 25, 27 29), they were proud (Mat 23:12), they despised others (Luke 18:9), they harboured evil in their hearts against their neighbour, they were "accusers" (Jn 8:6-10) etc. It is instructive to note that the Lord of love Himseff pronounced a series of woes on the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and their way of life. Matt 23: 13-29. The question to ask is whether we have not surpassed the Scribes and Pharisees in these vices. Our judgement would not be ant less than theirs if we continue in the same way.
C.
Our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.We must examine ourselves and measure our "performance" with the word of God in every area of our lives. We must go beyond legalistic observance of the law like the Scribes and Pharisees. The spirit of the law is more important than the letter of it. How free are we from idolatry/covetousness? CoI 3:5; Luke 12:15. How truthful are we? Do we exaggerate, do we tell half truths? Can we be believed for every word that we speak? Do we falsify data to gain advantage? We may not steal in the worldly sense of the word, but do we take home for our private use things belonging to our employers? Do we appropriate Company stationery for personal use? Yet our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees otherwise we would not enter the kingdom of God. How about amusements and pleasure? Can we say that all the amusement we get involved in glorifies God? How about music? Perhaps it does not matter what kind of music we listen to. We must be peculiar even in amusement and music. How contented are we? Do we sell things at 150% of cost price in the name of profitable business? How about our dressing? Sensuous and provocative dressing definitely would not pass the acid test of the word of God. Things which we may tag "little" have a way of destroying the very fabric of our faith. They are the things that constitute gray hair on ou heads without our knowledge. Hos 7:8-9. "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers have devoured his
strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not". If we must exceed the Scribes and Pharisees in righteousness, we must shun envy, anger and embrace love (Matt 5: 46-47, Acts 13:43-45). A heart full of love has no room indeed for envy, jealousy and hatred.
D.
What must we do?If the Lord convicts us of living below the standard of the word of God we must ask Him for forgiveness and make restitution wherever applicable.
Conclusion.
The Lord expects us to live holy lives unto him. He warns us that we may be prepared. It is His pleasure to give us the kingdom. May He grant us the grace to attain unto the perfection He has designed for us in this life.