Righteousness That Excelles, But At What Cost?

Hello, I have been posting some thoughts about Christmas, but I am continuing with the Sermon on the Mount. I hope the break has not been an inconvenience.

Imagine if you will: You are attending a track meet. The announcer informs all present that the fastest man in the world is to run in the next race. You listen to the names of the other participants. Then your name is called! You are told that you must run in the same race with the champion. Reluctantly, you take your place. But there is more. You must not only keep up with the champion, you must overtake him and win the race. What do you think?

Those who heard the Sermon on the Mount must have felt that way when they heard Christ Jesus say, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. . . .” The scribes and Pharisees were the religious champions of their day. Herein we have a contrast between pseudo and genuine righteousness.

Pseudo - Fake, mock, false, similar; "If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra.

Look at the new $20 bill. We pay for things with money. The color of money used to be green, but the new one has some red and blue in it now. The moneymakers put some things in this bill so you would know it was genuine. One is a magnetic strip, another is the watermark of the person’s face, and another is this two-tone ink on the number twenty. It is green at one angle, and gold at another angle. If you present this as payment, anyone who receives it can tell it is real. Some people try to cheat and make fake money. The money they make on their own is called a counterfeit. That is what psueudo righteousness is.

Matt 5:20
20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

I. Pseudo righteousness is entirely external.

     A. The scribes had expanded the Old Testament law to hundreds of little rules and 
          regulations.

1. For instance, they had formulated over twelve hundred rules from one command, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

                                               a. They defined work as the carrying of a burden. “But what is a 
                                                    burden?” someone would ask. 

                                               b. The scribes decided that a burden was enough food equal to the 
                                                   weight of a dried fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, enough 
                                                   milk for one swallow, enough honey to put on a wound, enough 
                                                   water to moisten an eye salve, enough ink to write two letters of 
                                                   the alphabet, and on and on!

2. They argued over whether one could wear his false teeth on the Sabbath, carry a cane, move a lamp, or travel over a “Sabbath day’s journey.” Someone has aptly said, “They could split a hair in twelve ways and have plenty of hair left.”

3. Did the tailor who accidentally left his shop the day before the Sabbath with a needle in his robe and wore the robe to temple services break the Sabbath? Yes, said the scribe.

4. Should one eat eggs laid on the Sabbath? No. Some even taught that a woman should not look at herself in a mirror on the Sabbath for fear that she might see a gray hair and pluck it out.

2. The Pharisees were dedicated to the task of living by these rules and regulations with no emphasis whatsoever on inner motivation.

1. Visibly, the Pharisees were righteous people.

1. The well-dressed Pharisee wore many different garments of all colors, which were held to his body by an embroidered belt inlaid with precious stones.

2. The inner garment went to the heels, and a blouse or shirt hung over the belt. The more ruffles there were on the blouse, the more righteous the Pharisee.

2. Our Lord spoke of their practice of enlarging “the borders of their garments” (Matt. 23:5). They wore phylacteries [fi-lak-tuh-ree], little boxes of Old Testament Scripture, on the forehead (so that the Word of God would be near the head) and on the left arm (so that the Word of God would be near the heart when the arm was bent).

1. These little boxes gave our Lord the occasion to say, “But all their works they do to be seen of men” (v. 5).

3. They used the Scripture as a teaching aid but not as a guide for their lives (vv. 1 – 4).

1. They did their good works to be seen and praised by others (v. 5).

2. They went to church to parade their piousness (v. 6).

3. They tried to usurp the place of Christ in their teaching (vv. 7 – 12).

4. They used public prayer to cover up private sins (v. 14).

5. They made promises without any intention of keeping them (vv. 16 – 22).

II. Genuine righteousness begins in the heart.

1. It is possible to perform religious acts without one’s heart being right with God?
   And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matt. 15:3).

2. It is possible to serve God with the lips but deny him with the heart?
   'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'" (Matt. 15:8).

3. The heart is the seedbed of sin; "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man...But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." (Matt. 15:11, 18– 20).

                         a. No sin ever came into a person’s life that was not first manufactured in his or 
                             her heart.

4. It is possible to act righteous without being righteous. A young preacher pulled off his new overcoat (the first he had ever owned) and hung it at the back of the rescue mission in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was leading a service one evening. During the invitation at the close of the sermon, a man staggered to the altar, where he went through all of the “proper motions.” He seemed repentant and said the right things, but he was just sizing up the place so that, when the right time occurred, he could make his way to the coat rack at the back, steal the young preacher’s overcoat, and get lost on the crowded street outside.

III. Genuine righteousness is attained through the new birth.

1. Paul taught that “Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4). God bestows genuine righteousness upon one through Christ Jesus.

2. When one believes or commits their life to Christ Jesus in the new birth experience, they experiences true righteousness.

3. Righteousness is external (light of the world and salt of the earth), but it begins as an internal experience of God’s grace; “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8 – 9).

Conclusion: 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. (Matt. 5:20 KJV)

“Except” is the key word in the text for this message. Three other verses in the New Testament are noteworthy at this point:

1. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).

2. “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3).

3. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

4. Except - ean me (eh-an' may) – ean (and) me (if not; unless)