God Demands Personal Righteousness...except your righteousness shall exceed e righteousness of e scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into e kingdom of heaven (Matew 5:20) Introduction The greatest need of e day is for God s people to live righteously, separating ourselves from e sinful, wicked ways of e world! Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;... (Exodus 23:2)....be not conformed to is world: but be ye transformed by e renewing of your mind, at ye may prove what is at good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2). Unfortunately, not all Christians have continued in such a separation. This is true even ough God has extended His grace by giving us e opportunity of salvation rough e obedience of His divine wo, and us expects us to be peculiar people. For e grace of God at bringe salvation ha appeared to all men, Teaching us at, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in is present world; Looking for at blessed hope, and e glorious appearing of e great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, at he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14). It is ONLY WHEN we are convinced at ere IS a heaven to gain and a hell to avoid at we WILL live righteously! It is more an simply saying we want to enjoy heaven and avoid hell. We must actually live a life at shows at desire; a life of righteousness! Understanding is, Christ warned,...except your righteousness shall exceed e righteousness of e scribes and e Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into e kingdom of heaven (Matew 5:20). It is important to recognize at His application of is tru is to individuals! Yes, I can influence oers to righteousness, but I can t be righteous in eir stead. Nor can ey be righteous for me! To fully understand what Christ means we must know someing about e scribes and Pharisees. Jewish scribes were,...a class of learned men who made e systematic study of e law and its exposition eir professional occupation. In e NT ey are generally called scribes, corresponding to e Heb. sopherim. They are also called lawyers and doctors of e law (Tenney 761). Pharisees were e most influential of ree prominent societies of Judaism at e time of Christ (ibid. 647). Josephus, a contemporary Jewish historian, aptly describes em as a body of Jews who profess to be more religious an e rest, and to explain e laws more precisely (ibid. 647). They formalized e religion of e Scribes and placed it into practice. This is why e Scribes and Pharisees are often mentioned togeer in e NT (ibid. 647). Bo, e Scribes and e Pharisees bitterly opposed Jesus and His teachings, and He in turn condemned bo eir eology and life of legalism (ibid. 647, 648) Jesus made clear His oughts concerning eir unrighteousness when He declared, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean e outside of e cup and of e platter, but wiin ey are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first at Conditional Christianity 23 Annual Mid-West Lectures Page 1 be be sold. For information contact e 39 Street church of Christ, 15331 East 39 Street, Independence, MO 64055.
which is wiin e cup and platter, at e outside of em may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outwa, but are wiin full of dead men s bones, and of all uncleannesss. Even so ye also outwaly appear righteous unto men, but wiin ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity (Matew 23:25-28). After reading of such scaing rebuke, is ere any wonder as to Christ s disdain of em? There should be no trouble for us to understand why our righteousness must be greater an eirs! As I said earlier, we must do more an talk righteousness, we must show it! For ourselves, for our families, for our nation, yes, even for e world, God demands of YOU, and He demands of ME, personal righteousness! For heaven to be ours in e final day, we must reject at which is unrighteous while embracing e righteous! By doing so, we, our nation, and our world will gain much more an we could ever lose! Righteousness exalte a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). Wi is in mind, let each of us make sure at we are truly letting our Christian lights shine, as we strive to live righteously in an unrighteous society. Let your light so shine before men, at ey may see your good works, and glorify your Faer which is in heaven (Matew 5:16). Do all ings wiout murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, e sons of God, wiout rebuke, in e midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in e world; Holding for e wo of life;... (Philippians 2:14-16 a). As we consider God s demand for personal righteousness, Let Us Learn Some Lessons from Previous Generations From Noah s generation we learn, in part, at God s patience ran out when man continued going deeper and deeper into sin....god saw at e wickedness of man was great in e ear, and at every imagination of e oughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented e Lo at he had made man on e ear, and it grieved him at his heart. And e Lo said, I will destroy man whom I have created from e face of e ear; bo man, and beast, and e creeping ing, and e fowls of e air; for it repente me at I have made em (Genesis 6:5-7). From is example it is crystal clear at ose who reject God s grace will be punished. This tru is made even more clear wi e following verses: Genesis 6:13...God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for e ear is filled wi violence rough em; and, behold, I will destroy em wi e ear. ; Genesis 6:17...behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon e ear, to destroy all flesh, wherein is e brea of life, from under heaven; and every ing at is in e ear shall die. On e oer hand, ose who accept God s grace will be blessed because of eir obedience. But Noah found grace in e eyes of e Lo (Genesis 6:8). But wi ee will I establish my covenant; and ou shalt come into e ark, ou, and y sons, and y wife, and y sons' wives wi ee (Genesis 6:18). God demanded personal righteousness, and it was ose who were righteous at were saved in e ark! From e account of e destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah we learn, in part, at God does not hide from His children what He will do. And e men rose up from ence, and looked towa Sodom: and Abraham went wi em to bring em on e way. And e Lo said, Shall I hide from Abraham at ing which I do (Genesis 18:16, 17)? His messengers told Abraham about e judgment at was about to befall e two cities (v. 20, 21). God will spare cities and nations Conditional Christianity 23 Annual Mid-West Lectures Page 2 be be sold. For information contact e 39 Street church of Christ, 15331 East 39 Street, Independence, MO 64055.
because of e presence of a few righteous people. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt ou also destroy e righteous wi e wicked? Peradventure ere be fifty righteous wiin e city: wilt ou also destroy and not spare e place for e fifty righteous at are erein? That be far from ee to do after is manner, to slay e righteous wi e wicked: and at e righteous should be as e wicked, at be far from ee: shall not e Judge of all e ear do right? And e Lo said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous wiin e city, en I will spare all e place for eir sakes (Genesis 18:23-26). For 45? (v. 28); For 40? (v. 29); For 30? (v. 30); For 20? (v. 31); For 10? (v. 32). THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS YES! However, regaless of His love and patience, ere will come a time when God s patience will run out and e rebellious will be punished! Then e Lo rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from e Lo out of heaven; And he overrew ose cities, and all e plain, and all e inhabitants of e cities, and at which grew upon e ground (Genesis 19:24, 25). The only hope for ose in Sodom and Gomorrah was personal righteousness, but not even ten righteous individuals could be found. It is also my only hope, and your only hope! Nation after nation roughout history have fallen from eir greatness, because of eir rejection of God s trus! The Roman Empire was one of e greatest of history. Yet, she fell! When Gibbons wrote his history of e rise and fall of e Roman Empire, he gave ese factors at contributed to eir fall. (1) Rapid increase of divorce, wi e undermining of e sanctity of e home. (2) The mad craze for pleasure. (3) The decay of religion; fai fading into mere form (Jones). The greatest nation since e Roman Empire has been our own e United States of America. Sadly we are seeing many of e same factors in our beloved country. How can we keep our country from falling? You and I are e keys; we CAN change our nation when WE along wi oer faiful Christians fulfill God s demand of personal righteousness! On e oer hand, if any of us are not faiful to God, we are a big part of e problem! Woe unto em at call evil good, and good evil; at put darkness for light, and light for darkness; at put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20). The question en is, Am I a part of e problem or a part of e solution? God Has Always Given His People a Pattern to Follow! Jesus Christ is e example, e pattern, e answer, for us. God expects us to be...conformed to e image of His Son... (Romans 8:29)....he died for all, at ey which live should not hencefor live unto emselves, but unto him which died for em, and rose again (1 Corinians 5:15). Regaless of e situation we are in, we should always act in such a way at...christ shall be magnified in my body, wheer it be by life, or by dea (Philippians 1:21). We will do so only if we make His mind ours rough e study and application of His wo (Philippians 2:5). By making His mind ours, He will become...our life... and we will us be able to put to dea ose ings in our lives at cause...e wra of God... to come...on e children of disobedience (Colossians 3:4-6). So, let each of us determine above all else, to faifully...follow his steps: Who did not sin, neier was guile found in his mou: (1 Peter 2:21, 22). By Conditional Christianity 23 Annual Mid-West Lectures Page 3 be be sold. For information contact e 39 Street church of Christ, 15331 East 39 Street, Independence, MO 64055.
doing so we will be...partakers of e divine nature, having escaped e corruption at is in e world rough lust (2 Peter 1:4). It is important to know at alough we will rough obedience escape e corruption of e world, when we live like Him, we can expect to be persecuted. Remember e wo at I said unto you, The servant is not greater an his lo. If ey have persecuted me, ey will also persecute you; (John 15:20). As ha as such persecution may be to bear, if we do not live like Him; accoing to His standa of righteousness, we can expect God to reject and punish us. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it (Matew 16:24, 25). So, let us make every effort to use His standa to guide every aspect of our lives, so we will save our lives (and souls) raer an lose em as well as to help oers save eirs and bring our country back from e brink of disaster! As we strive to meet God s demand for personal righteousness, Let Us Ask e Following Questions Before Participating in Any Amusement or Activity. What does e Bible say about is activity? If you don t know e answer, find it. It will be better to miss out on someing at would have been OK, an to lose your soul if it isn t! What did Jesus do? For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched wi e feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet wiout sin (Hebrews 4:15). Would I want to meet my Lo doing is? For yourselves know perfectly at e day of e Lo so come as a ief in e night. For when ey shall say, Peace and safety; en sudden destruction come upon em, as travail upon a woman wi child; and ey shall not escape. But ye, breren, are not in darkness, at at day should overtake you as a ief. Ye are all e children of light, and e children of e day: we are not of e night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do oers; but let us watch and be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6). Will is harm my influence for Christ? Ye are e salt of e ear: but if e salt have lost his savour, wherewi shall it be salted? it is encefor good for noing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men (Matew 5:13). No man, when he ha lighted a candle, putte it in a secret place, neier under a bushel, but on a candlestick, at ey which come in may see e light. The light of e body is e eye: erefore when ine eye is single, y whole body also is full of light; but when ine eye is evil, y body also is full of darkness. Take heed erefore at e light which is in ee be not darkness. If y whole body erefore be full of light, having no part dark, e whole shall be full of light, as when e bright shining of a candle do give ee light (Luke 11:33-36). Will is hurt me spiritually or physically? Will is cause anoer to stumble? Woe unto e world because of offences! for it must needs be at offences come; but woe to at man by whom e offence come! (Matew 18:7). Conditional Christianity 23 Annual Mid-West Lectures Page 4 be be sold. For information contact e 39 Street church of Christ, 15331 East 39 Street, Independence, MO 64055.
Conclusion What e church needs e most is PEOPLE who are CONVINCED at ere is a HEAVEN to gain and a HELL to avoid! What e world needs e most is PEOPLE who are CONVINCED at ere is a HEAVEN to gain and a HELL to avoid! Why? Because ose who do not believe in heaven and hell wheer in or out of e church will not live righteously. Those who so live, hurt not only emselves but all mankind. Let us erefore: (1) Learn e needed lessons from e past. (2) Apply God s pattern to all at we do so at we will meet God s demand for personal righteousness. (3) Ask and answer proper questions about what we support and participate in. By doing so, we can assure ourselves of: (1) The knowledge and ability to live righteously in an unrighteous society! (2) Thus, meeting God s demand for personal righteousness! (3) Therefore, receiving e eternal rewas at God has promised to His righteous children; being able to enter into e kingdom of heaven! On e oer hand, if we do not do so, we will assure ourselves at: (1) We will lack e knowledge and ability to live righteously in an unrighteous society. (2) Thus, we will fail God s demand for personal righteousness. (3) And as a result, fail to receive e eternal rewas at God has promised to His children, because,...except your righteousness shall exceed e righteousness of e scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into e kingdom of heaven (Matew 5:20)! Based upon YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW, which situation are you in? Does YOUR righteousness...exceed e righteousness of e scribes and Pharisees? Will you be able to enter e kingdom of heaven, or will you...in no case enter...? God holds YOU responsible for e answer and e outcome! Works Cited Jones, Rick (no date). Living Righteously In An Unrighteous Society. Sermon Outline obtained from e Polishing The Pulpit preacher s workshop. Tenney, Merrill C. (1967). The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House. Conditional Christianity 23 Annual Mid-West Lectures Page 5 be be sold. For information contact e 39 Street church of Christ, 15331 East 39 Street, Independence, MO 64055.