Conduct, What Does Your's Say About You?

The Sermon on the Mount can be divided into three major divisions: the Christian’s character (the Beatitudes), the Christian’s influence (salt and light), and the Christian’s conduct (Matt. 5:17 – 7:12).

The teenager lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found. Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the lens in her hand. "I really looked hard for that, Mom," said the youth. "How'd you manage to find it?"
"We weren't looking for the same thing," she replied. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150."

Our text for this message points to the inner motivation for Christian conduct. It illustrates ways in which our Lord “internalizes” the external demands of the scribes and Pharisees.

Matt 5:17-19
17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

I. Christ Jesus fills the law full of meaning.

1. Many have the wrong impression of the relationship of law to grace. Christ Jesus’ disciples had lived under the law of Moses and the Prophets.

1. Both called for obedience to God’s commands. What now? Are Christians released from these commands?

2. Christ Jesus emphatically said that He did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to “fulfill” them.

2. Christ Jesus fills the Law full of meaning by emphasizing the inner motivation rather than the overt act.

1. He gives no license to sin because we Christian lives under grace. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” (Rom. 6:15). Like Paul, Christ Jesus asserted the validity of the Old Testament’s ethical code.

3. God makes no fewer demands under grace than He did under law. The very coming of Christ Jesus binds people closer to the law.

1. “One jot or one tittle [one Greek iota or one breathing mark] shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

1. How long will the law last? “Till heaven and earth pass.” Peter speaks of “a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

2. H.H. Hobbs said of the law’s permanency: “The law will then pass into nonexistence as it gives way to its goal, the righteousness of God. Even then the ‘law’ will not be repealed. It will simply find its full realization as it passes from word to spirit, from demand to acceptance as the full and glorious will of God” (The Beam, September 1961, 28).

II. Christ Jesus demands a righteousness of heart.

1. The new birth is indicated through the remaining verses in Matthew 5. As Martin Luther said, “Good pious works do not produce good pious men, but good pious men produce good pious works.”

2. Sin is basically a disease of the heart. All sin begins in the heart and works out into one's life.

1. Christ Jesus fills the law with meaning by treating the “germs” that cause sin rather than the symptoms that indicate sin.

1. Anger leads to murder (5:21 – 22).

2. Lust leads to adultery (5:27 – 28).

3. Adultery leads to divorce (5:31 – 32).

4. The lying heart leads to profane oaths (5:33 – 37).

5. Personal regard leads to retaliation (5:38 – 40).

6. Self-love leads to hateful actions (5:43 – 48).

In “The Taste of New Wine”, Keith Miller presents a gripping account of how he struggled to find new life only to realize the new life comes with new birth. After an interesting account of his conversion experience, he says: “But something came into my life that day which has never left. . . . God, I realized, doesn’t want your time. He wants your will, and if you give Him your will, He’ll begin to show you life as you’ve never really seen it before” (Keith Miller, The Taste of New Wine [Waco, Tex.: Word, 1966], 39).

III. Christ Jesus properly relates character and conduct.

1. Character is not the result of conduct, but conduct is the result of character. Christ Jesus dealt with the Christian’s character in the Beatitudes before He even mentioned the Christian’s conduct.

1. When one controls anger, they will not murder.

2. When one controls lust, they will not commit adultery.

3. When one keeps the marriage vow, they will not seek a divorce.

4. When one controls the desire to lie, they will not use oaths to cover up falsehood.

5. When one controls the selfish desire to get what they feel is coming to them, they will not seek revenge.

6. When one crucifies self, they can love even their enemies.

Conclusion

A beautiful tree that had stood for years at the corner of a house suddenly fell across the street. There was no wind that day. The tree had given every indication of life. Its leaves were green, and its limbs were healthy. A city employee was called to the scene to investigate and make arrangements for the tree to be removed from the street. He found that the tree had been sabotaged by parasites that had eaten out its inside and severed its roots. Outwardly, it was beautiful. Within, it was corrupt. 

When it comes to Christian conduct, Christ Jesus deals first with the inner person.