There's a debate raging today, a debate really amongst, I suppose, the educational establishment. There's a debate raging amongst the educational elite. Really it's a debate about the sort of books that I imagine that you and I read at school. So the question's kind of been asked today, of the likes of maybe Steinbeck, the likes of Shakespeare. The question being asked, should these things still be taught in our schools? After all, it is said, the world has moved on. and language about race has moved on, and ideas about gender identity, ideas about gender roles has moved on. Should these classical texts, these ancient books, should they still be taught to our kids in the 21st century world? Well, if that is a debate that is raging within schools, I am pretty sure you see that it is also a debate that rages in the wider contemporary church. Because Christians today have a bit of a problem to deal with, a bit of an issue to deal with, don't we? On one hand, We've got the society that we are trying to reach, don't we? And it is a society that is just rapidly changing and is moving away from what it once was. We've got that on one side. What have we got on the other side? We have got an ancient book. We have got the Bible, an ancient text that flies in the face of so much of what society says. So do you see the problem? Do you see the question that so many Christians are asking? What do we do? What do we do with the Bible? I mean, is some of this just kind of, is it not a little bit outmoded? Is it not a little bit outdated? Certainly out of fashion. Should we therefore ignore some of the Bible? Should we kind of jettison this? And if not, what should our attitude be to this book? Well, this morning, as we continue in the sermon series, what I think the Lord Jesus Christ does is he lays at your feet just now some very, very foundational truths about Christianity. In fact, let me be a little bit more specific than that. What I think we see here in Matthew chapter five is the place of scripture within the kingdom of God, the place of the Bible in God's kingdom. And if you've got your Bible there, open at Matthew 5, there are really, I suppose, three headings, three titles that we will see. And I want to give you the first of these just now. We see here the interpretation of Scripture in the kingdom of God. The interpretation of Scripture in the kingdom of God. Okay, we know how this works. If we are going to understand this section of scripture, what do we have to always remember? What has to go through our mind? We have to remember, right, what's the setting? What's happening in Matthew 5? You've been here, you know the setting, don't you? Where are we? We're kind of almost at the top of a hill. Jesus is at the top of a mountain and he's speaking to a group of people. Now, first thing maybe to think about is who those people are. How would we answer that? We would say they were Jews. Wouldn't we? Jesus is speaking to Jews. Now what does that mean? He is speaking to a group of people that hold Scripture in very high regard, don't they? These people that Jesus is speaking to, they've got a high view of Scripture. And so maybe just now we can recognize the issue that they may be wrestling with just now. Because think about it, what is true of everything Jesus has said up to this point? Isn't it true that it is very much about him? Isn't it? His ministry this far, what he's saying here, the kingdom, it all is about him. He is speaking with his authority and even the Beatitudes, they're not just Beatitudes, they're Beatitudes that revolve around him. Everything is about Jesus. So do you see the question they may be asking? They're asking, how does what this man is saying relate to what has gone before. Like, how does what Jesus is saying to us on this hill and what he is doing in this minute, how does this relate to the Torah? You see the question? I mean, is this a continuance of what has been said in the past? Is this just a continuation? Or is what Jesus is saying something entirely and radically new? You see the issue, do you? Do you? Well, if so, have a look at verse 17. How does Jesus deal with it? Jesus says to these people, do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, the Old Testament Scriptures. Now, everyone in here, get the word that he uses. Look at it. Do not think that I've come to abolish the Old Testament Scriptures, the Law and the Prophets. I've not come to abolish them. What does he say? What's the word? I have come to fulfill them. Now, let me say this to you. If you know Matthew's gospel, and I keep suggesting this and I keep saying this to us in the hope that we might say to ourselves, I'm not sure I do know Matthew's gospel all that well, maybe I should go home and read it. But if you know Matthew's gospel well, what do you know? that this idea here of Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament Scriptures is a very prominent theme in Matthew's Gospel. Okay? Now, I think with this we have a sincere problem, and I want to walk you through it, and I just want to ask you this. See, when I say this to you, that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament Scripture, what springs to mind for you, Christian friend? Jesus fulfills the Old Testament Scripture. What's funny to me, can I tell you what I think about? I usually think about Old Testament predictions. Do you think like this? Old Testament predictions that come to pass in Jesus' life. Is that what you think when Jesus fulfills the Old Testament? Let me give you an example. So, Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament, this is how I often think about it. Old Testament example, Micah predicts what? He predicts that the Savior will come and he'll be born in Bethlehem and then what happens lo and behold Jesus comes and where's he but he's born a bit Do you see it Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament? We think about a prediction don't we we think about prediction that comes to pass in Jesus life Here's the problem ready for the problem In Matthew's gospel, the idea of Jesus fulfilling the law and the prophets is a much bigger and it's a much greater and richer and deeper idea than just a prediction being fulfilled. And I want to walk you through it because it's so wonderful if you see it with me. It really is. See, what does it mean that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament scripture? Are you ready for this? First of all, it means that our Lord has embodied the very history of his people. See, if I was to speak to some of the kids just now, we could put them to the test if we were really cruel and mean, and we could test them about what they know of the history of Israel in the Old Testament. I think the kids would get it though, wouldn't they? If I was to ask the kids, what happened with Israel right at the beginning of the Bible, what would they say? They would say, okay, the people of Israel had to flee to Egypt because of a threat of death. Then what's the trajectory? What would they say then? That God calls his people of Israel? Where? Out of Egypt. The kids would get that. And then if we were to ask the kids, what happens next? What the kids would say? They'd say, oh, the people of Israel had to go to the desert, had to go to the wilderness. And we could keep going on like that, couldn't we? And then think about it though. Think about it. What is the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the trajectory? In his infancy what happens? He is fleeing to Egypt because of a threat of death. Do you see the parallel? Then what happens? God calls him out of Then where does Jesus go? He goes into the wilderness, he goes into the desert, and we could follow the trajectory. Do you see my point that I'm making here? What does it mean that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills the Old Testament Scriptures? It's not just about prediction. It's bigger. Do you see it's bigger? He's actually embodying the history of his people. He's completing their history. He's rerunning their history. But how does he do it? He does it with perfection. Do you see fulfillment is bigger? But it gets, honestly, wait, it gets better. It does, because I want you to also think about the doctrines of the Old Testament. Let me throw this at you, you chew over this, see if you agree with this understanding of you of the Bible. Do you agree with your minister on this? That yes, in the Bible, in the Old Testament scriptures, we see the gospel, but we see it in the shade. Is that your view and understanding of the Bible? You look to Genesis chapter three onwards. What do you see? You see the good news, don't you? And the promise and the goodness of God, but you see it in the shadows. And then what happens with the Lord Jesus Christ? Can I read you a quotation? I read you this. One commentator says that now with Jesus, What was in the bud in the Old Testament in Jesus is now seen in full bloom. And isn't he right with the doctrines of grace? What was in the shade, what was in the darkness, what was in the gloom, what was in the shadows, now through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's in the line. Isn't it? What do we see? We see the good news, but not in the shadows. We see the good news in Christ, and we see it in its splendor, and its glory, and its full magnificence. Do you see what I'm seeing? Christ fulfills the Old Testament. So Old Testament predictions realized and history embodied. Old Testament doctrine in Christ is enhanced. But then the last of these, but it's not the least, you need to think about sin. We need to think about the sacrificial system. I wonder if you were here last Sunday night. Were you here in the church with us as we worship God last Sunday night? Have you been here for the sermon series in Genesis chapter 3? If you have been here, you know this one thing. that the Old Testament demands sacrifice for sin. Don't we know that as the Christian community? We see it in the very garments that Adam wore, the need for sacrifice for sin. We see it with Abraham and Isaac and Isaiah 53 and don't we see it in that temple system and the Levitical code? All that blood All that blood that had to be spilled. You see, the Old Testament is shouting out supreme message. There needs to be sacrifice for sin. And what do we see with the Lord Jesus Christ? You say to me, He came and He lived, yes, but He died. And how did He die? He died as that lamb. He died as a sacrifice. Do you see what I'm saying to you? It's not just about predictions. It's not just about embodied history. It's not just about doctrines. What has Christ done? He has fulfilled even that. Like even that supreme need for a sacrifice has been fulfilled in Christ. Do you see the wonder of this? Do you see the wonder of verse 17? It is true Christ has not come to abolish the law, but in the greatest way imaginable, in a way we have not and do not appreciate, He has fulfilled the law and the prophets in the Old Testament Word. Now, now, Is there relevance and is there application for our lives from this? Well, I think first and foremost, you would surely agree that what we're seeing there, what Jesus said, should lead to praise. Because I'm asking you, Christian friend, what is the good news? Do you know what? The good news is not, the good news is not that Christ Jesus has come to fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures. That's not the good news. You want the good news? Christ Jesus has come to fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures for us. And isn't that wonderful? When you think about the standards of righteousness that the Old Testament cried out for, standards that we could not meet, and that demand for a sacrifice that we could never, never achieve. You see it? He has met it all, and he has achieved it all, he has accomplished it all, he has fulfilled it all, and he has done it for us, out of love, for you. But I do think there is a second and much more practical application. Because I think what we're seeing here should enthuse you, Christian friend, quite simply for reading your Bible. And maybe you see the logic of what I'm saying there. Do you see the logic here? If Christ Jesus has fulfilled, his ministry was all to fulfill the Old Testament scriptures, then what does that say of this book that you have on your lap just now and in your hands? It says, surely, if he came to fulfill this, that this is a book about him. This is a book about the Lord Jesus Christ. So I ask you simply, Christian friends, how is your walk with the Lord today? Is it the case that you're weary spiritually? Is it dry spiritually? Surely you see now what it is that you must do. This week you must turn back to your Bible and you must prayerfully read Holy Scripture because what happens there, if you do that this week, not only, if you go to the depths of the Old Testament, not only are you going to find there truth, what are you going to find? What does your heart need? You will find life-changing truth about your Saviour and your Lord. If we go back to Holy Scripture prayerfully, God speaks. But what does he say to us? He speaks to us of his Son. We see here the interpretation of Scripture in the Kingdom of God. This is a book about the Lord Christ. Now secondly, if we see the interpretation, we also see the inerrancy of Scripture in the Kingdom of God. The inerrancy of Scripture in the Kingdom of God. Okay, right, if we move on in the text, one thing is for sure. That what we come to next is of incredible importance. Now, how can I make that statement? How do we know that what comes next is really, really, really important? Well, because if you notice at the beginning of verse 18, what does Jesus do? He uses that customary expression of emphasis that he has. He says, truly I say to you, so we know if nothing else, what he is about to say, the Lord Christ himself, he declares that this is of infinite importance to his people. So what do you think we should do? I think we should look at it. So maybe if you've got kids round about you, or maybe if somebody's sleeping beside you, Just give them a unity to inflict pain on them, not the kids. Yeah, you get it. Let's look at verse 18, if this is especially pertinent to the people of God. Now, Jesus says this to us, truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not, that's an odd word, isn't it? Not an iota nor a dot will pass away from the law until all is accomplished. Now, let me just turn that to you, now that you're awake. What do you think Jesus is saying there in that verse? Let me read it again. Truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot of the law. Would you agree with me that he is clearly speaking about the enduring authority of the Scriptures. Would we agree with that? The enduring reliability of God's Word? But I think, honestly, there's an issue we have to deal with here, and I have stolen this from somebody else, but we're going to do it, but it involves you. So this is what I want you to do. I want you to pick up your notice sheet. You got it? I want you to turn to the front of the notice sheet, front page in the notice sheet. I want you to look in the top right-hand corner to the word city. Everyone got it? And I want you to zone in on the letter T on the notice sheet. Now, stare at it. What do you see? What do you think about that letter T? What do you notice? You would notice, wouldn't you, that it's just got little embellishments on it at either side of the crossbar of the T. Do you see that? The tiny little... And it's got one at the foot of the letter as well. There's a tiny little mark. Now, let me tell you what you already know, I'm sure, that those tiny, tiny, tiny little marks are called serifs. Okay? Some fonts have these. Some don't, and they're called, of course, sans serifs, without serifs. Tiny, tiny little marks. Why am I... Everyone's thinking I've lost the plot, but don't you see, that's what Jesus has in mind here? Look again at verse 18. Now Jesus speaks of iotas and dots. You realise what those were? I mean, these were the tiny, tiny serif-like marks that were just integral and all over the Hebrew text of the Bible. I mean, there were, and I did not count them, but there are 66, or over 66,000 yods and little, tiny marks. And that's what Jesus is thinking about as he's talking to his people. And when you realize that, Don't you agree with me? Isn't it an incredible message that Jesus has in verse 18? Because what is he saying to us? He's not just talking about the authority of scripture. And he's not just saying that scripture is reliable, and it's grand, and it's great big ideas, and it's vast. What's he saying? He's saying that down to the finest detail Down to the most miniscule element, Scripture, God's Word is reliable. And friend, for you to see how relevant that is to us in the 21st century church, what I want you to do is I want you to come with me back to my seminary classroom about nine, 10 years ago. And I want you to picture it with me. So we're in a classroom in Edinburgh, and there's only maybe 10 of us in that room. And it is, as a classroom only can be, is stuffy, and it's hot. You know, Catherine and I have just at this point, nine or ten years ago, just had our first baby at this point and he screamed the whole time. So I'm in that classroom and it's hot and it's stuffy and I'm tired and it's Edinburgh and you're not going to believe this but it is true that almost always stationed outside the seminary was a bagpiper. busking on the street so it compounds the misery of the picture in the class and all of this and in walks the lecturer and he's got a folder and he unfolds the folder and he stands in front of the class and he says this today we are going to consider the doctrine of scripture the reformed doctrine of scripture and not for the first time I felt like tearing my hair out and not for the first time at some rate thinking, how can this be relevant? I mean, isn't it the case, I thought to myself, that all Christians generally believe the same thing about the Bible? Isn't it the case that all Christians kind of have the same idea about Scripture? And what I know now, What I did not appreciate at the time is how essential this sort of thing is. Because consider your predicament as a Christian. Consider where we stand today. In one corner, we have wider evangelicalism shouting at us. And what do they shout at us? They say, no, no, no, no, some of this book has passed away. Like, some of this Bible is not relevant. You can actually ignore some of this Bible. You don't need all of the Bible. You have that. Then in another corner, who do we have? We have the Catholic Church. And they're screaming at us, aren't they? And screaming, no, no, no, no, to understand this, but you need the magisterium. Like, we have to tell you the true interpretation of this book. And who else do we have today? Such a loud voice. We have the world. And what do they shout at us in here? They say, no, don't get rid of all, it's all nonsense, it's a wicked book, it's an evil book. And where could we find ourselves today? We could find ourselves in here, and we could find ourselves at sea, and we could find ourselves all confused, and now, now do you see why? Because truly I say to you, Do you see the importance of verse 18? Do you see why it is that Jesus Christ underlines it? Because what have you got in your hands? You have the son of God's doctrine of scripture in verse 18. That's what we have here. We have the divine perspective on this book and what is it that Christ Jesus says to his people? He says All of this book, inherent and authoritative, all of it down to its finest little dots, all of it reliable for my church. And I do long for you to see how that should impact the next few days of your life. Because not only should we this week turn back like never before at scripture, and not only will we find there the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. But do you know what can happen this week? You go to Scripture and you can have confidence in the Word of God, confidence in its truth, confidence in its veracity. Listen to me. This is a book breathed out by the Eternal God and not even one solitary seraph will pass away until the Son of Man returns. We see the inerrancy of Scripture. And then we close, third thing, the interpretation of the inerrancy. We see the implications of this for life, for your life, the implications of this for life in the kingdom of God. Now, as we end here, what we see is Jesus move. He moves from his own relationship with the Scriptures to your relationship with the Scriptures. So what Christ is doing is moving from Christ and the Law and the Prophets to now you and a Christian and the Law and the Prophets. And really the obvious thing to say is that Jesus 19-20 calls to you for obedient living. Obedience. But how are we going to approach this? How will we tackle this, friends? Do you know what we could do? We could look and think about the rewards of righteousness. Look with me at verse 19. Verse 19 is a wonderful thing to warm your heart in this cold room. Look at verse 19. So first there's a warning. Jesus whoever relaxes one of these commands will be called least in the kingdom now look at the promise get to the promise Look at it and rest in it, but whoever does these whoever obeys And teaches these things they look at the promise. They will be called great and where They will be called great in the kingdom of God. Isn't that marvellous? I love how Spurgeon talks about that promise. He says that the promise to the people of God is heavenly peerage. Isn't that great? What are the rewards of obedience and righteousness for the people of God? We are going to be called great, great in the kingdom of God if we live out what we learn in Scripture. So we could look at the rewards, but we're not going to. Because instead of the roars, I think you and I, friends, must consider the form of righteousness that Jesus calls for. About 10 days ago, we had a 20s and 30s group gathered here in the church, and I was asked to speak in this, it was a joint meeting of the 20s and 30s, and I was asked to speak about the relationship between the Christian and the eldership of a church. And as part of this talk, I mention my hometown of Inverness and what it used to be like back in the day, the relationship between people in the church and their ministers. Maybe you can imagine what these men were like, can you? Back in the 1950s, let's say, a Presbyterian minister in the Scottish Highlands in the 1950s. What do you think of these men? Black suit, yeah. Dog collar, a stern look maybe. Certainly walking about with purpose in a verness with a Bible under their arm. not only a King James Bible under their arm. Now, here's the thing, we look at that today and we ridicule that idea, don't we? And certainly the media ridicules the idea of a Presbyterian minister, stern and all that sort of... What we always fail to remember and realise is how much, how loved those men were. We look at them as stern and they're lampooned and ridiculed and so forth. But the people respected and revered these men. Now why do I say that? Because the same mistake is made of the people we read about in verse 20. Look. Now who does Jesus mention? He mentions the scribes and then he mentions who? The Pharisees. How do we think? How do you think about the Pharisees when you hear them mention the Pharisees? Rightly. We've got this really negative impression of the Pharisees, don't we? What do we think of them as? Opponents of Jesus, right? We think of them, they're totally legalistic men. But do you see that we're making the same mistake? Because that's not how people in the first century world thought of the Pharisees. A lot of the first century Jews, they looked up to the Pharisees. I mean, after all, these were men who were taking the Scriptures seriously, right? Well, that was the thinking. I mean, the Pharisees were pious men. They were the most pious and respected of religious men. And if you appreciate that, can't you imagine the shock that washed over the people on the top of this hill? Because look at verse 20. What does Jesus say to them? It must have taken their breath away. Because he says, if a person is to even enter into the kingdom of God, what has to happen? Their righteousness needs to, look at the word, it needs to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. Can you imagine the people listening to Christ? Like salt of the earth, we can dig that, and light of the world, fine. To enter into that, to have a relationship with the Lord Christ, to be right. We've got to have a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees. Now, Christian friend, I asked you this morning, how are you interpreting that? What is the Lord Jesus Christ saying there? Like, are you saying, right, okay, so we need to sweat people out there, they need to really go to the Scriptures. This is a works-based obedience, a righteousness-based obedience, yeah? Not a... bit of it. Friends, here, Christ Jesus is revealing that for admission to the kingdom of God, a different form of righteousness to the Pharisees, it must be found. The Pharisees and the scribes relied on external obedience, external righteousness. And what does the very word declare of our God? that he looks not on the external things he looks upon, the heart. How can we possibly be admitted to the kingdom of God? Consider the Beatitudes. We must first recognize our poverty of spirit. that we are bankrupt before God because of our sin and then we must cast ourselves on the righteousness of another. Do you hear the message from the Lord Jesus? For entry into the kingdom, we must first be clothed with the righteousness of the King. And so I'm going to end this morning with one question that I give to you. Every single person in this room, listen to the question. It is a simple question, but the most important question perhaps you will ever consider. This morning, are you clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you resting for your eternal future, your everlasting salvation? Are you resting in Christ alone? If you are, then surely this week out of gratitude and thankfulness to what God has done, you go back to Scripture, don't you? Don't you renew your Bible reading? Don't you desire greatly to live out what Christ calls for? Obedience out of gratitude and thankfulness for what he's done. But if you assess your heart this morning and you say, no, I am not clothed in the righteousness of Christ, I wonder this, I wonder if you see where you are today. It's a terrible thing, one word, if you are not in Christ, you are outside. Isn't that a terrible and fearful thing? Isn't it? You're not in the covenant love of God, not under the protection of His wings. If you're not in Christ, you're outside all of that. So surely you must just now consider what Christ has done in His ministry, that fulfillment of all that you will and cannot fulfill. And you bow, don't you? And you plead with God to forgive your sins. You confess your sins to this holy God. And if you do that, what happens? By the work of Christ and by his grace, you cross the threshold. You enter in the threshold of salvation. You're brought by grace inside the kingdom of God. Let's pray. Lord, as individuals, as a congregation, as your people, we confess our low view of your word. And we confess to you, Lord God, how seldom it is true that in our homes, in our study, our bedroom, our living room, how seldom it is that we are found as we are just now with our Bibles in our laps. How seldom it is that we are reading and studying the Old Testament law and the prophets, learning, learning of Christ. Lord, we confess our sin. We thank you that, Lord, you have provided the righteousness that is required. Lord, we cannot do that. We never could. Such is our sin, but we thank you for your work, your ministry. We thank you that you have fulfilled in such a deep and rich way the Old Testament word, and that life eternal is only found in the Son of God. May it be that you do a work today here in our hearts, and as we move out into London, and all for the glory of Jesus. We pray his name. Amen.