Having the Right Priority

Jesus says that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. What they mean by that Renewing Your Mind with RC Sproul's next we read that statement in Matthew's Gospel and the first thing that comes to my mind is I thought Jesus was critical of the Pharisees certainly didn't mince words when he confronted them for their unbelief. So what are we to make of this puzzling statement by our Savior. Let's find out as RC continues a series keeping in step with the Spirit as we are studying how we can facilitate our growth in the Christian life in the developed a genuine Christian character of the mirrors and reflects the image of Christ as we seek to grow up into maturity in the fullness in Christ.

We've looked at some of the obstacles that stand in our way and we focused our attention on our ultimate goal, which is holiness, and in our last session, we considered one of the hard sayings of Jesus where he makes the statement in Matthew five that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees. We will in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. And we explore different possibilities for what Jesus possibly had interviews there and what I want to do in this session is to ask this question. What was the level of righteousness that had been achieved by the scribes and the Pharisees recall that I said the last time that we have a tendency to take this statement lightly because we know that the Pharisees were the archenemies of Jesus in the New Testament and the New Testament portrait of scribes and Pharisees, is one that is somewhat grim. The harshest rebukes that come from the lips of Jesus particularly is recorded later in Matthew's gospel are directed against the scribes and the Pharisees. It's against the scribes and the Pharisees that Jesus utters his most strident criticisms. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you go over land and sea to make one convert once you make it make him twice. The child of hell than you are yourself. That was not a very complementary thing to say to these people. Jesus literally called the Pharisees children of Satan. Children of hell, and so on and so we take comfort in answer for half the only thing I have to do is have more righteousness and those guys that's not a difficult task.

But even though Jesus is severely denigrates the scribes and the Pharisees. There are other times when he gives them high praise and compliments for certain enterprise and those of the things I want to look at. Now keep in mind that you don't read anything about Pharisees in the Old Testament there weren't any Pharisees in the Old Testament the whole group known as the Pharisees was a group that emerged in the inner test of metal. Between the close of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament that period of 400 year and the context for the origin of this group of people called Pharisees was that during that period of time.

The Jewish people became more and more and more secularized adopted more and more practices from neighboring pagan people so that the corruption of the church of Israel was profile and people have forgotten the covenant and they had neglected the laws of Moses and of the Old Testament and never a group of Puritans or reformers who were conservatives. The evangelicals of Israel who covenanted among themselves to dedicate themselves completely and fully to obeying the law of God, and they set apart their entire lives to pursue righteousness with all of their strength, their singular purpose was the pursuit of righteousness when other people were busily engaged in pursuing commerce and fame and fortune, and so on. This group of people had a singular devotion toward obedience towards godliness towards righteousness and they called themselves the set apart or the separated one in a very similar vein to that movement that happened in England and America called the Puritan movement. If you read the literature of the Puritans you will read some of the most lofty highest works of devotion to God that you will ever find written in human history. Because these people were seeking the purity of the faith and that's what the Pharisees were doing and they were most scrupulous about it now, obviously, between the time that the pharisaic movement began in the time Jesus appeared on the scene.

A lot had happened in the pharisaical movement had become institutionalized and it the movement itself had degenerated into many serious weaknesses. The greatest of which, perhaps was hypocrisy. The Pharisees became preoccupied with externals with outward displays of righteousness, but were neglecting radically the state of the heart than the state of the soul, but let's look for a moment at the compliments that Jesus gave towards the Ferris on one occasion he in the middle of a rebuke said to them. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you tithe your mint and your common but you omit the weightier matters of the law. Now what was the purpose of that review. Jesus was saying your pet Dan take your scrupulous in the details, but your negligent on the big matters you major in minors and minor in majors. You don't understand the priority that God puts to love and justice those of the greater weightier matters of the law and your being all concerned about tithing, your mint and your common, but what does it mean that they tied their mint in there, and the ties the law of the times in the Old Testament required that the members of the house of God would bring their firstfruits to the Levites for use in the temple and for the training of the people in godliness and that would mean 10% of the increase in their flocks or their livestock or 10% of the increase in their produce. Now suppose you have a bumper crop of wheat and you have a thousand bushels of wheat. While the law would require that you would take 100 of those bushels and ties it to the work of God, not everybody did that. In fact, the violation of the tides was a widespread sin in Israel but the Pharisees were tithers. They were so scrupulous about tithing and about bringing their offerings to God that not only would they bring that hundred bushels of wheat, but if they walked on the field and they found some wild mint growing 10% of the mint was turned in to the house of God.

It would be like this. You figure out your income at the end of the year and use figure that you made so many thousands of dollars and then you figure 10% of that and you give it to the work of God, and so on and then on the way to work your walking down the sidewalk and you see a dime and you pick it up and put it in your pocket. Do you remember then to report that on your income tax statement that's income that's revenue. And do you take a penny of that dime and put it in the plate on Sunday morning. Who does that. And nobody does that. The Pharisees did it. They were so scrupulous that to the minutest detail they made absolutely certain that they high the least exactly what was required. The 10% in the latest study I saw not of the church in general but in churches that are designated as so-called evangelical churches, conservative churches, Bible believing churches or whatever the latest figure I saw red that 4% of members of evangelical churches ties. I don't mean only 4% give something to the church I'm talking about really give 10% of their increased 10% of their income to God for percent, which means what it means that 96% of professing evangelical Christians systematically rob God in their ties and in their offer is also significant to me that Jesus saw the ties is certainly part of the law, but it didn't regarded as the weightiest matter of the law said the Pharisees. They so scrupulous they tied their mint and their common but them at the weightier matters of law. So, obviously, for Jesus, justice and mercy are more important than tithing, but that doesn't mean that we can stand before God on the judgment day and say God I know I robbed you in the ties in the offerings that I didn't give 10% to you, but that's because I was concerned with greater things. I was more involved in the working for justice and showing mercy and being loving that I just happened overlook this particular obligation. None on an enough when Jesus speaks of weightier matters of the law and lesser matters of the law. That doesn't mean that the lesser matter of law is optional. The whole point is these Pharisees who were rebuked for being so sinful, at least, they at least did something that 96% of people who claim to be regenerative Christians do not do. They exceeded you if you're in that 96% in righteousness on that point.the your righteousness in terms of robbing God doesn't even reach the level of the Pharisee see what this verse is starting to scare me.

What else did the Pharisees do well as we've already seen one of the rebukes was that Jesus said you go over land and sea to make one convert and when you make and you make him twice.

The child of hell than you are, yourselves.

I get invitations to speak all over the world literally and I have to be honest with you if I got invited to go to India tomorrow afternoon to do evangelism and they said there's only to be one person here to be your audience. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't go. I want to know if I have a reasonable use of my time to make a trip like that Pharisees with over land and sea not flying jet planes or ocean liners.

Modern conveyances but were travel was exceedingly difficult, expensive, and dangerous, they would not hesitate to carry on the work of missions for the sake of one person. One of the hardest programs we have two support in any church and even in the evangelical church is the mission program of the church.

It's the part of the budget. That almost always suffers the most were not even willing to send our money over land and sea to help people hear the good news to see that in their commitment to missionary enterprise and to evangelism in their contacts. The Pharisees had an extremely high commitment. What else you do search the Scriptures thinking that in them you will find eternal life of Jesus again rebuked them for their external surface commitment to the study of the word of God and to the study of the deep things of God. They certainly did not grasp the meat of the gospel they missed the message of Scripture that they were searching diligently to find but at least they search the Scripture. At least they were diligent in studying the word of God.

I would say as a rule exceedingly more diligent in studying the Scriptures than we are now you may say well yes, but they did it for the wrong motive and I was so you're probably right.

But what right motives do we have for not doing that at all. They did the right thing for the wrong motive. We do the wrong thing for the wrong motive, it would seem to pay for a farm. Jorge teaches at this point than we are and you know how strongly vehemently Jesus denounced them for their public displays of piety for parading their fasting and parading their prayer life there always praying in public and wanted people to see them praying in public and whenever they would fast they would walk around with this sour look on their face and it was so it's a massive follow on fasting and Jesus rebuked him for that external display of piety and said if you're going to pray pray in your closet, pray to your father in secret and if you fast, don't make it a public matter and anoint your head with oil.

Wash your face. This is something that you do before God, not before men, and so on and so we look at this verse and say look at how awful they were going around with all this phony outward manifestation of piety was so much better than their we never pray like that in public as we don't pray we don't ever make an external ostentatious display of our fasting because we don't fast. Are you getting the point. All of these rigorous disciplines of the pursuit of righteousness in which the Pharisees were engaged intensely and passionately are almost totally absent from our midst and we may say will that's why there absent because we know those things will end up in the same kind of hypocrisy not when Jesus says our righteousness is to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

He's not saying to us keep the spirit of the law and forget the letter he saying that authentic righteousness does all these things authentic righteousness does what is right and it is right to pay your time. It is right to be involved in evangelism. It is right to be involved in mission. It is right to pray. It is right to fast. It is right to search the Scriptures. All of these things are important ingredients of righteousness Jesus point was simply this, you can do all of these things and if your heart isn't right, then your external works are not considered righteous God is concerned both with the external and with the intern and it's a copout to say, although I don't ties in letter by doing spirit no that's double hypocrisy when we try to say to God, will God. Maybe we don't do it outwardly, but we do all these things inwardly know we don't were not studying the Bible and private anymore they were doing in public and were not praying anymore and private different company in public and Jesus is talking about the real fruit of real righteousness. People who are seeking righteousness are trying to do what is right now in the moments I have left to make this. One other observation. I have students in the seminary have been teaching seminary for long time who are percent with difficult theological questions and they can't wait to corner the professor and say Prof. what about this problem and what about that question. How can you help me with is always asking questions.

There's no end to their question and that's fine and I've had them asked me very practical questions. How can I be a more effective speaker. How can I be a more effective communicator.

I had the mass be spiritual questions. How can I have a stronger spiritual life. How can I have a higher ethical standard. All these questions I hear all the time. You know the question of never heard ever once this may reflect more on me than on the fact that people don't ask me on the people that I've never had somebody come up to me and say RC how can I be a righteous person never had investment again. Maybe because I don't see any sign of righteousness in me and they say why should I ask him about righteousness when he doesn't have any to begin with.

Maybe that's it. But I don't think that's the only reason people done asking the question. I think the reason they don't ask his cousin uninterested.

We want to be pious, we want to be spiritual. We want all of these things that reflect a religious culture.

But what is the purpose of spirituality. What is the purpose of piety other than righteousness. The goal of the Christian life is righteousness. That's what were supposed to be seeking again spirituality is only a means to the end of righteousness, because unless our spirits are nourished, unless our spirits are fed will never bring forth the fruit of righteousness but were satisfied if we can say we spend so much time in the bottle studying so much time praying so much time going to church and so much time doing all the external thing.

But the question is 30 righteousness here and part of the reason we don't like that word is that we also know that self-righteousness is a sin that is to think that we can be righteous in and of ourselves, but we think that because self-righteousness is some kind of wickedness that therefore righteousness is for all God for bid. That's what were called to do and to be what does Jesus say was the top priority. Seek first the kingdom of God and his wife righteousness and all these things shall be added on the Pharisees made it a priority and they didn't make it. We don't make it a priority and were not making that's what scares me is a sober reminder.

Indeed, as James tells us in his epistle in chapter 2, verse 26 faith apart from works is dead. You just heard our founder Dr. RC Sproul from the second part of his message.

Doing the right thing. This is from his series keeping in step with the Spirit, then we been featuring it all week here on Renewing Your Mind. We are grateful that you've joined us, we'd like to offer you the full 20 part series for your gift of any amount, including several other resources that we believe will help your study, recalling at the fruit of the spirit USB drive and it contains the audio files of five teaching series including the series on joy and love by Dr. Spruill. You'll also find five digital issues of table talk magazine and to e-books. Let me tell you how you can reach is to make your request and give your gift you can find us online@renewingyourmind.org you can also call us at 800-435-4343 your ministries began in 1971 when the Dr. RC Sproul established a study center in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, a place work. People could go and get answers to the big questions in life, the kinds of questions. RC addresses in the series.

By God's grace. The ministry is expanded incredibly over the last five decades, but we are still here to help you address the big questions about God, the Bible and theology, and because of the amazing technology available to us now.

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Simply go to ask.Liggett here.org and click on the green chat icon at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen when were well trained team members will be standing by ready to provide a clear, concise, and trustworthy answer to your biblical and theological questions before we go today. Here's RC with a final thought force.

Are you concerned about righteousness, that is, do you want to be a righteous person will again as I mentioned the primary basic meaning of righteousness has to do with behavior. It means doing what is right or doing the right thing that has to be the controlling motivation of the Christian life. Not consequences not expediency, not profit and loss joy or sorrow. But what is the right thing to do.

Understanding what God requires of us is one of the ways we keep in step with the spirit will continue this series by Dr. school tomorrow with a message titled, being sure of salvation. We hope to see you right back here Thursday for Renewing Your Mind