Live Your Truth?

If you have a Bible, I invite you to find Matthew 5 with me. Matthew 5. And as you’re turning, I want to ask you a question today but don’t answer it too quickly and don’t answer it out loud because I really want you to pause and think about it. Here’s the question. Who is the authority in your life? And I realize, as I asked this question, we all have different authorities in our lives even at different times. So, some kids or teenagers might say my parents or parents are the authority in my life, some of you have teachers who are authorities in your life, some of you have a boss who is an authority in your life. There’s a sense in which the government under which we live is an authority in our lives.

But what I’m asking here is who in practice is the authority in your life? Who is the one who tells you how to live? Who tells you what to think and you actually listen and you think that way? Who tells you what to do and you actually do whatever they say? And I ask this question because we live in a world that says, at every turn, you are the authority in your life. And it’s not just the world who says this to us, from early in our lives, we say this to ourselves. As a dad of a toddler, I can testify that even the sweetest, cutest, most precious two-year-old little girl in the world is hardwired to assert her own authority. So, it’s no wonder that the mantra of our day is to live our truth, to assert our authority to live however we want. An article in Best Self Magazine describes, quote, three ways to be yourself and live your truth, three ways to release you to live your most vibrant and authentic life.

Step one, put aside the noise of what others say and get clear on what feels right and true to you. Step two, overcome any fears in you of living out your true self. And step three, stop caring what others think or say and start living according to what you think and say. This is freedom, this is life and this is the song that, with different tunes, serenades each of us every day in this world. But can I remind us that this is the same siren song that a serpent spoke thousands of years ago to a woman and a man in a garden. Eve, put aside the noise of what God said, you know what you desire. Why would you have a desire that you’re not supposed to fulfill? You know what’s best for you, you define what’s good for you and no one else. This is the way to your most vibrant, authentic life. Live your truth, assert your authority. So, she did and her husband did and the result was the total loss of true life.

Live your truth is not a new slogan, it’s been around since the beginning and live your truth is not the way to life. Throughout human history, it’s been leading people to death. And I want to show you today God’s invitation for you to actually experience true life now and forever ever. I have prayed, my hope is that, the next few minutes, you’ll see and hear what the God who made you says about how you can have true life now and forever. I hope, I pray that you will see and hear how much God loves you and wants you right where you’re sitting to experience true life now and forever. So, I’m going to put a claim up here on the screen about the only place you can find true life and then I want to show you this claim and what’s arguably the most famous sermon in the world, the Sermon on the Mount.

Who is the Authority in your Life?

So, here’s the claim, you will only find true life in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His word and in lovingly leading others to Jesus and His word in the world. Let me say it one more time just to let it soak in, it’s a loaded sentence. You will only find true life in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His word and in lovingly leading others to Jesus and His word in the world. So, here’s the deal, for the last three weeks here, we’ve read through the first 16 verses of this sermon from Jesus where he has defined the good life, the blessed life, the true life in a way that’s very different than we might think. True life, Jesus says, is not what we might think, an easy, carefree life filled with comforts and riches and everything going well for you in this world. No, Jesus says true life is being poor in spirit and mourning over sin and suffering and being meek and hungering and thirsting for righteousness and justice and being merciful and pure in heart in making peace with others and even being persecuted for what is right.

Jesus says this is the kind of life that will lead you to inherit heaven and this earth. Then Jesus says to all of those who live this kind of life, you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world so let your light shine in the world. So, based on the context we’ve read in 16 verses, we know what we’re about to read starting in verse 17 is Jesus talking about true life that brings good to us now and forever and it brings good to the world around us. So, it’s interesting, when you look at what Jesus says, we’re going to read verses 17 through 20, what Jesus says right after those verses, which we’re going to get to in the coming weeks, Lord willing, Jesus says over and over again I have a better way than this world. You’ll see this phrase, you’ve heard this in this world but I tell you something different. You’ve heard it said not to murder, I’m telling you not to even insult anybody. You’ve heard it said to love your friends, I’m telling you to love your enemies. You’ve heard it said to give so that others can notice you, I’m telling you to give in a way that nobody else knows.

This is the better way, this is the true life. And everything that Jesus is about to say in the rest of this chapter hinges on what we’re about to read about true life in verses 17 through 20. So, with that set up, let’s listen to Jesus in this really important passage. He says, starting in verse 17, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

All right, so let me show you this claim in the words that Jesus just spoke, you will only find true life in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His word. Let’s stop there and think about this phrase the authority of Jesus and His word. So, these verses that we just read show us Jesus talking about the word of God. In verse 17, he mentions the law and the prophets which was basically a way of summarizing the whole Old Testament we have in the Bible. Then he mentions the law again in verse 18 and then, in verse 19, he talks about God’s commandments. So, pretty much in every verse here, Jesus is pointing us to the supreme authority of God’s word and he’s saying there is nothing like it in all the world. I see at least three characteristics of God’s word here, if you want to write them down.

God’s Word is Divinely Revealed

One, God’s word is divinely revealed. Jesus is referencing how God revealed His word by giving His law and speaking through prophets, it came from him. So, we’ve talked about this before but, just a refresher, how do we know that the law and the prophets, the Old Testament, and what we’re reading here in the New Testament is actually the word of God. And that’s a bold claim. How is this word authoritative over all kinds of other religious writings in the world? How do we know that Quran is not God’s word or the Hindu Vedas or any other religious or philosophical writings for that matter? And we could talk a long time about this but, to summarize, we know God’s word is divinely revealed because it is supernaturally consistent. The Bible contains 66 books written by over 40 different authors and three different languages over the course of 1,500 years and they altogether tell one story that revolves around God creating men and women, us sinning against God and God making a way for restoration of all things through Jesus.

If you ask 40 people you know to write a book that tells one story about who God is, who we are, what’s wrong in this world and how this world can be made right, there is no chance those 40 people would agree. And those are all people living in the same time and likely speaking the same language. For comparison’s sake, and I say this with respect to anyone from a Muslim background but just to contrast, the Quran was written not by 40 authors in three languages over 1,500 years but by one man, Muhammad, who dictated his visions to his followers, who wrote them down after he died. Those written accounts contained discrepancies so another man went through the writings to determine what he believed was true then he burned any documents that might contradict his conclusions. The point is there is no comparison with this book and no other explanation for this book than it is divinely revealed. And one of Islam’s most prevalent criticisms of the Bible is that it’s been changed but that’s the second reason we actually know this book is divinely revealed because it is faithfully recorded.

We base our knowledge of world history on writings where we have a handful of manuscripts, sometimes a few hundred, but we have over 5,000 full or partial manuscripts of scripture, more manuscripts found every year, none of which have ever resulted in a major revision, just a relative few extremely minor variations making the Bible, by far, the most faithfully recorded book in history just as you would expect the word of God to be.

And it’s filled with history, that’s the third reason, it is historically accurate. Again, in contrast to books like the Quran or many other religious writings, this is a history, the old New Testament of the Bible covering 1,500 years of history and over and over again the Bible has been proven historically, geographically and archeologically accurate. One non-Christian non-Jewish archeologist said it may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference, ever. And it doesn’t just talk about history in the past, the Bible contains thousands of prophecies of the future filled with uncanny precision including 300 specific prophecies in the Old Testament written centuries before Jesus even came about His life, His death and His resurrection which we’ll talk about in a minute. The odds of that happening by chance are less than one in 2,000 zeros. That is unexplainable apart from divine intervention.

God’s Word is Eternally Reliable

Jesus is highlighting here how God’s word came from him, it’s divinely revealed, it’s eternally reliable. So, look at this in verse 18, Jesus says for truly, and that word in the original language is amen. So, just so you know what amen means, it’s a declaration either that something is true or it’s a desire that something will prove true, that something will come about. That’s why we close prayers with the word amen because we either believe what we’re saying is true. God you are love, amen. It’s true, you are love. Or because we desire something to prove true. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name in all the earth, we want that to come about. So, it’s like saying may it be so. And as a side note, all of this is why, when someone is preaching and they say something that is true or that we desire to come about, it is more than appropriate for you to say out loud at any time …

There you go. And feel free to say it out loud, as loud as you would like.

So, there we go. All right, you’re catching on. Because when we’re talking about God’s word, it’s worthy of our amens.

Yes, that’s what I thought. Okay, so just a little side note on truly. And obviously, everything Jesus is saying is true but he’s emphasizing, listen to this, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, that’s basically a reference to the smallest letter punctuation marks in the Bible. Jesus said it’s all going to be accomplished. This word is eternally reliable, this word is more certain than the sun rising tomorrow or stars coming out tonight.

The skies will one day fall, the earth will one day fold, this word will remain.

And as you think about this, in every age in this world, God’s word has been attacked, questioned, criticized, disputed, denied yet here it remains. Remember how the famous French philosopher and atheist Voltaire once claimed, a hundred years from now, the Bible will be a forgotten book. Yet, after he died, in a twist of irony, the house where he lived became a printing press for the distribution of Bibles across the world. God’s word is eternally reliable and it is consistently, continually relevant.

God’s Word is Continually Relevant

So, here’s Jesus talking about God’s word and the law and the prophets revealed centuries before and he is saying you do these things, that is the key, teaching these things to being great in the kingdom of heaven forever. Now, talk about relevant.

Now, people will say today the Bible is antiquated as if that’s a criticism but think about what that means. This book has been around for thousands of years, its truth has persisted from century to century to century throughout the past, it’s true today and it will be true long after you are gone. Where else are you going to go in this world for truth like that? MSNBC? CNN?

No.

Fox News?

No.

Just to cover the whole gamut. Why spend hours there? Why spend hours scrolling through endless posts from celebrities and friends? Are you serious, you’re looking to find life in what this entertainer or that athlete or this friend and one of the most depressed, anxious, suicidal generations in history has to say. No. This is the divinely revealed, eternally reliable, continually relevant word of God, there’s literally no authority like it in the whole world which means then that true life is not found in submission to the thoughts on your social media feed or the thoughts on your chosen news channel or the thoughts in your own mind. Think about it, God, the creator of life, the giver of life now and forever has graciously revealed to us how to have life in this world. Of course, true life is only found in total submission for the loving authority of Jesus and His word.

But now, this claim, you’ll find true life only in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His word. So, how does Jesus relate to the Bible and what Matthew five teaches is stunning. Jesus says all of God’s word, going back for centuries, the law and the prophets, I have come to fulfill all of them. What does that mean, fulfill? And basically what Jesus is saying is all of God’s word is ultimately about Me. That’s a bold claim that is backed up by the entire Bible. So, let’s take a quick tour and. I should add, I’m helped here by a message I heard from J.D. Greear, pastor and friend of mine, at a conference where we were speaking together called Cross that mobilizes 18 to 25-year-olds for mission.

But just think about how Jesus is on every page of this book from the beginning. From Genesis, Jesus is the word of God creating the heavens and the earth, Jesus is the promised seed from woman who would destroy the serpent. From Exodus, Jesus is the Passover lamb who will take away the sins of the whole world. Jesus is the tabernacle, the place where the glory of God dwells. From Leviticus, Jesus is the high priest whose blood alone can atone for our sin. From Numbers, Jesus is the guide who leads us through the wilderness as a cloud by day and fire by night. From Deuteronomy, Jesus is the greater prophet that Moses promised. From Joshua, Jesus is the victorious conqueror who leads us into the promised land. From judges, Jesus is the ultimate rescuer from our sinful rebellion. From Ruth, Jesus is the kinsman redeemer who pays the price to bring us into His family. From First and Second Samuel, Jesus is the shepherd king who fights giants on our behalf.

From First and Second Kings, Jesus is the righteous ruler we long for with whom no leader in any country can ever compare. From First and Second Chronicles, Jesus is the true temple. From Ezra, Jesus is the faithful scribe. From Nehemiah, Jesus is the rebuilder of that which is broken. From Esther, Jesus is the one who risks His life to save us from destruction. From Job, it’s Jesus who’s the sovereign ruler of Satan who will deliver us from suffering. From Psalms, Jesus is the one who holds our tears and hears all our cries. From Proverbs, Jesus is wisdom personified. From Ecclesiastes, Jesus is the meaning in the meaningless. From Song of Solomon, Jesus is the lover of our souls. Isaiah, it’s Jesus who’s Emmanuel, God with us. The child who is born, the son who is given, whose name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. Jesus is the suffering servant who would be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities and, by His stripes, we are healed.

From Jeremiah, Jesus is the new covenant keeper. From Lamentations, Jesus is the faithful one who meets you with new mercy every single morning. From Ezekiel, Jesus is the spirit who gives life to dead, dry bones. From Daniel, Jesus is the ancient of days who is the fourth man in the fire. From Hosea, Jesus is the faithful husband who never gives up on his family. From Joel, Jesus is the only one who can restore the years the locusts have eaten. From Amos, Jesus is our burden bearer. Obadiah, Jesus is our perfect judge. Jonah, Jesus is the Savior from the storm. Micah, Jesus is the ruler promised to be born in Bethlehem. Nahum, Jesus is the avenger for all who trust in God. Habakkuk, Jesus is our joy when our fields are empty. Zephaniah, Jesus is the great redeemer. Haggai, Jesus is the cleansing fountain. Zechariah, Jesus is the humble king riding on a donkey and the pierced one whom every eye will eventually behold. Then from Malachi, Jesus is the son of righteousness risen with healing in His wings. It’s all about Jesus.

All of God’s word is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. That’s why this claim then is about Jesus and His word because all of God’s word is actually about Jesus. And so, it’s a way that the Bible even calls Jesus the word of God, the revelation of God in the flesh. And just as there is nothing like God’s word in the world, there is nothing like, no one like Jesus in the world. There is no one who has lived the life we could not live, a life of no sin, a life totally submissive to the word of God. There is no one who has died to death that we deserve to die. He had no sin for which to die yet he chose to die on a cross for us, for our sin. But that was not the end of the story because there’s no one else on earth who has conquered the enemy. We cannot conquer death itself, Jesus rose from the grave. And why did he do all of this? Because he loves you.

This is the claim that true life is found in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His word. He loves you so much he gave His life so you could have true life through total submission to him and His word and His love for you.

Turn to Jesus’ Authority, Trust him, and Follow His Word

So, how do you do this? How do you submit to Jesus? Here’s how. You turn from your unrighteousness. You confess before God I’ve asserted my authority above yours, I’ve elevated my thoughts above yours, I’ve believed I know better than you what is best for my life and I’ve chosen to live my truth instead of yours, I have sinned against you. And in second, you trust in Jesus’ righteousness. This is key. You don’t turn from your unrighteousness only to try your best to be righteous because you’ll never be righteous enough. That’s what Jesus is saying here in verse 20 about these scribes and Pharisees, they were doing everything they could to keep all of God’s laws, in addition to other laws they put on top of that and Jesus says your righteousness has to exceed theirs which feels impossible.

And then you fast forward to the end of this chapter, Matthew 5:48 and Jesus says you, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly Father, as God is perfect. That is impossible for us to be perfect and that’s the point. We don’t enter the kingdom by trying to be righteous but by trusting in the righteous one, by trusting in Jesus’s life and death and resurrection to save us from our unrighteousness. We enter the kingdom, not by doing work for God, but by trusting God’s work for us.

To submit to Jesus and His word is to turn from your unrighteousness to trust in Jesus and then, out of the overflow, a faith in him to follow Jesus’s word with Jesus’s help to say, Jesus, I’m going to do your commandments from the greatest to the least of them because I know you love me and you want life for me. You and your word are the authority in my life which means, even when I think differently, even when I desire differently, even when it makes no sense to me or to the world around me, I’m going to submit to your thought your authority and follow your word and I can only do this with the help of your Spirit in me.

And not just for my own sake, I want life but this is the last part of the claim here, you will find true life in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His word and in lovingly leading others to Jesus in the world. Jesus says it’s not just about living according to my word, doing what my word says but what did he say? Whoever does these things and teaches them to others so that they might have life which makes sense, doesn’t it? If you know there is no one else in the world like Jesus then you know there’s nothing in the world like this word. And if you love people in this world, then, like salt and light, you’ll lead other people to Jesus and His word. In your home, in singleness in marriage, in parenting, fill your home with Jesus and His word and beyond your home.

This last week at a Tyson’s prayer gathering here, a middle schooler named Connor shared about how he took a Bible to school and he asked a friend if he wanted it thinking his friend would probably say no. His friend said yes and, later in class, he turned around and saw his friend reading the Bible. Some other students saw their friend reading it and asked Connor if they could have a Bible too. By the end of the next week, Connor had given out 10 Bibles to friends. Who in your life can you lead to Jesus and His word in your school, friends, in your workplace? Men and women, if middle schoolers are doing that with their classmates, what can you do with your co-workers? And to do this across our city, lovingly leading others to life, think about what so many of you are stepping into amidst this foster care crisis.

Again, it’s true life so keep pressing in. I know it’s hard, I could see another heartbreaking email I receive this week, this is going to be hard, it’s not going to be easy but it will be worth it, this is life. It’s not just about us experiencing the loving authority of Jesus and His word, it’s about leading others to experience the loving authority of Jesus and His word around the world. In a world where people are suffering and starving in ways we can’t even imagine in North Korea, let’s do all we can to spread the word and the love of Jesus to all the nations. This is what we are here for.

So, as we close, I want to give you a moment alone between you and God. I’m going to put a couple questions on the screen to guide this time. I just want to encourage you to reflect and your life before God. In what specific ways do you need to repent of resisting Jesus’s authority and missing out on true life? Or maybe to put it another way, in what specific ways do you need to grow in trusting Jesus’s authority and experiencing true life? And then to ask in what specific ways can you lead others to Jesus and His word in the world?

What does the passage say?

1) Read Matthew 5:17–20 aloud as a group. Before interpreting or applying the passage, share observations about it.

1. In the preceding context, Jesus defined the good life, the blessed life. Recall this context:
   1. Who was Jesus addressing in this passage? (Matthew 5:1; cf. Matthew 4:18–22, 5:1)
   2. Where did the events of this passage take place? (Matthew 4:12–17)
   3. Overall, what was the core message of Jesus’ preaching? (Matthew 4:17, 23)
   4. Generally, how did Jesus define the blessed person? (Matthew 5:3–11)
   5. What metaphors did Jesus use to describe His listeners? (Matthew 5:13a, 14a)
   6. In light of this context, what command did Jesus issue to His listeners? (Matthew 5:16a)
   7. What was the purpose and possible result of their following His command? (Matthew 5:16b)
2. In today’s passage–
   1. How did Jesus describe His relationship with the Law and the words of the Old Testament Prophets? (Matthew 5:17)
   2. Who did Jesus identify as the least in the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 5:19a)
   3. Who did Jesus identify as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 5:19b)
   4. Who did Jesus identify as those who would never enter the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 5:20)

2) How would you explain or summarize today’s passage in your own words?

What does the passage mean?

1. What stands out to you most as you read and consider today’s passage?
2. Read Matthew 5:17–18 and Luke 16:17. Jesus declared that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. Further, He promised that not one ‘dot’ of the Law would become void. What is the significance of the distinction Jesus made between abolishing (i.e., abrogating, annulling) the Law and Prophets, and His fulfillment (i.e., completion, consummation, perfecting) of them?

How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1. What is true life, eternal life (cf. John 17:3)?
2. What is the Bible? How do you define and describe God’s Word and its narrative?
3. From its beginning to its end, the Scriptures are all about Jesus and ultimately fulfilled in Him. Thus, true life is only found in knowing and surrendering to the Lord about which the Word speaks (cf. Hebrews 1:1–2). How would you describe the strength, depth, and breadth of your relationship with the Lord and His Word? How would you like that to grow?
4. Why can every iota and dot of the Word of God be trusted? Why do you personally trust the Word of God? What aspects of the Word of God are challenging for you to trust and yield to, and why?
5. In what specific ways do you need to repent of resisting Jesus’ authority and missing out on true life?
6. In what specific ways do you need to grow in trusting Jesus’ authority and experiencing true life?
7. In what specific ways can you lead others to Jesus and His Word in the world?

Matthew 5:17-20

Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Sermon Recap

You will only find true life in total submission to the loving authority of Jesus and His Word, and in lovingly leading others to Jesus and His Word in the world. The Bible, God’s Word, is–

• divinely revealed
• supernaturally consistent
• faithfully recorded
• historically accurate
• eternally reliable
• continually relevant

You can have true life through total submission to Him, His Word, His love for you. How?

• Turn from your unrighteousness.
• Trust in His righteousness.
• Follow His Word.