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| Sermon #67 MAT 5:20, "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." For our last four messages on The Sermon on the Mount, we spoke about MAT 5:17-20, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." We have to understand the magnitude and significance of what the Lord Jesus is telling us in these verses. He is hereby setting forth the two tables of the law of love. The Lord Jesus clearly separates the two tables of the law and sets forth the first table of the law as contained in the first four commandments. In V:18-20 Jesus' emphasis is clearly on the first table of the law of love which speaks of Godliness. Godliness loves God with the heart, with the soul, and with all the mind. Ungodliness is any violation of that first table of the law of love. We see this emphasis in the text we have before us for study; the Lord Jesus places great emphasis on the first table of the law of love. Jesus is speaking about Godliness, i.e., to love God with all our heart, our soul and mind. If we slighted and discredited whatever a person says as though it were of no importance, even if he is one whom we esteem as a close friend, would we be showing that we love him with our heart, our soul, and our mind? No, we would not. This is what the Lord Jesus is setting forth in verses 17-20 from the first table of the law. He is teaching us that when we slight the least of His commandments, we not only slight what He tells us, but we are showing disrespect and irreverence for the Lawgiver. FOR OUR FIRST POINT, let's consider the righteousness that excels that of the scribes and Pharisees by walking in the spirit of the law. We cannot understand repentance until we understand the spirit of the law. FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let's consider true contrition, i.e., true godly fear, or a sincere resolution to live in obedience to the divine law in the spirit of the law of love. True godly fear is revealed by contrition, true submission, true subjection, and true holy reverence for the law of love. FIRST, let's consider the righteousness that excels that of the scribes and Pharisees by walking in the spirit of the law. We cannot understand repentance until we understand the spirit of the law. In MAT 5:18-19 we read, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." When we speak about the kingdom of heaven, I want to highlight that we, by nature, are all walking under the kingdom of darkness. We, by nature, are all walking under the kingdom of the prince of this world. This text talks of the kingdom of heaven. How do we separate this from the teaching of repentance? As we read in MAT 4, the gospel began with teaching of repentance. Repentance is a change of attitude, a change of mind, a change from serving self to serving in the kingdom of God, i.e., serving under the Kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. MAT 4:16-17 says, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What does that mean? "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" means it is here now, in this lifetime; it is not something for the future. It is synonymous with HEB 3:7-8, "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness." When we speak of the kingdom of heaven, we are speaking of serving the Lord, walking under the servitude of Christ instead of Satan, walking under the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of our lives. We are learning to know Him as the Lord Jesus Christ. Herein Jesus is teaching that love is the acceptable motive for obedience or righteousness. We must see that the motive of our righteousness or repentance is love. We must not be repentant out of a selfish servitude but instead, a motive of love. I pointed out previously, how the word break used in V:19 is taken from the Greek word Luo. Luo means "to destroy, to dissolve, to loose, to abolish, to relax the meaning of" or to slight the authority of the least of His commandments. There is such a move in society today to abolish the Ten Commandments. Jesus is saying in V:19 that "Whosoever therefore shall [attempt to abolish] one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." In other words, they are not in the servitude of the Lord; they do not understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord. They have not entered the kingdom of heaven; they are not serving Jesus Christ as Lord; they are walking under the kingdom of darkness. Jesus points us to our need for a holy reverence for the authority of the Lawgiver by our delight to do His will. The first table of the law commands a holy reverence for the Lawgiver. We must love Him with all our heart, our soul, and our mind. This teaches a holy reverence for the authority of the Lawgiver. What is the exercise of that love? We see it by our delight to do His will. If we love Him with all our heart, our soul, and our mind, we understand what Scripture says in PSA 40:8; "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." If we are truly godly, if we understand Godliness, if we understand holy reverence for the first table of the law, then it becomes our delight to do His will. The motive is love. The fruit of this love is shown in PSA 37:30-31; "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide." This is such a sure path. None of their steps shall slide. Why? They will not backslide because it is their delight to do that which is pleasing to the Lord. The Apostle Paul showed his reverence for the first table of the law in ROM 7:22; "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man...." The Lord is teaching us in MAT 5:17-18 what Paul teaches in this text: the inner soul of the man delights in the law of God. To slight the least commandment is to slight a sin for which we need Christ's blood to appease the wrath of the Father; this is a violation of the first table of the law. We must understand there are two tables of the law. The first table of law is what Jesus emphasizes here. Slighting the least commandment is slighting the love of the Father in sending His Son to appease His just wrath upon sin. We read in 1JO 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." I want you to see that when we slight the least of the commandments, we are trampling upon the love of the Father. He loved us, and He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. When we slight His least commandment, we're trampling on the blood of the covenant; we are trampling on the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Father in sending His Son. In V:11 we read, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." Look how the Lord is saying in ISA 1:18a, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD." The Lord wants to reason with us. He says, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." The love of the Father should become so precious to us that it motivates us with a whole heart full of love toward our neighbour as well as toward God. The least commandment was given with the same authority as the greatest. If we can slight the least commandment and teach men to do so, we dishonor not only the law but also the Lawgiver. Slighting even the least commandment is trampling on the love of the Father, trampling on the first commandment of love, and trampling on the Word of God. Little sins are outlandish violations of the first table of the law because they are little. The fact that they are small is what makes them a very outlandish violation of the first table of the law. They mean we are showing irreverence for the Lawgiver. Little sins show one's willingness to slight God's authority for some trifling thing without a motive--and without remorse. They show an ungodly spirit. Little sins are committed without any real motive. They are committed in the face of the penalty of death. Would you slight the law of the land which carried a death penalty, especially if you knew the judge who must sentence you watched you do it? We don't realize that the slightest sin requires the death sentence of either you or the Son of God to appease the wrath of God for that very violation. The commitment of little sins produces hardened criminals. We cannot appear before the bar of God's justice as Attorney-Pro- Se. I spent twenty years before the courts as Attorney-Pro-Se, i.e., representing my own case before the court, but we'll never appear before the courts of heaven as Attorney-Pro-Se. We'll never be able to come there and present our own case. I'll tell you why, because all we can plead is guilty, guilty, guilty! Every move, every thought, every word, and every deed in our life is unclean before the courts of heaven. We read in 1JO 2:1, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. [The word "advocate" means a legal representative, i.e., somebody to present your case for you. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes before the court of heaven to present our case, He will have to present it on the basis of His shed blood. We need His blood to appease God's wrath for every small sin. That is what the rest of this verse means.] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." This verse says that we have an advocate with the Father: Jesus Christ His Son. When He comes to present your case or my case before the bar of God's justice, He has to present our name written on the palms of His hands by the nails which nailed Him to the cross. He must present our names on the basis of His own work. The verse says, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin...." In other words we are all tainted with sin. We all sin in many things. As the Apostle Paul said in ROM 7:19, "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." We are talking about holy reverence for the law, the spirit of the law, and loving God according to the first table of the law. Verses 3-6 say, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." The fruit of loving God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind is a holy reverence for His will. To love God in this manner is to do the will of God from a motive of love, not the orders of God in a legal sense. We do His will because we love Him: not out of slavish fear because it is His orders. This love of God flows from a new desire that was born in the heart; it is the new man created in the heart. Our text says, "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." In our last study on the Sermon on The Mount, I dwelt on how the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was obedience to the orders of God, not obedience motivated by love for God. Jesus was clearly dealing with the issue of Godliness, i.e., the first table of the law, in V:18-19, but in V:21-48 He is clearly dealing with the righteousness which excels that of the scribes and Pharisees under the second table of the law. Those verses deal with our attitude toward our neighbour. It is important that we understand that there is not one jot or tittle of the first or second table of the law that can fall to the ground. What Jesus is commanding is so just and so right. In MAT 5:21-22 Jesus begins setting forth the second table of the law by saying, "Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." These verses are dealing with the righteousness that excel that of the scribes and Pharisees under the second table of the law; they are dealing with our love for our neighbour. There are four main distinctions between the righteousness taught by the scribes, as practiced by the Pharisees, and the righteousness taught by Jesus in the gospel. We have to take notice and see these four distinctions in our own heart, in our own Christian attitude.
IN THE FIRST DISTINCTION, the righteousness taught by the Lord Jesus came through fulfilling the intent of the law, i.e., to fulfill the purpose of the creation by glorifying the Father. The purpose and whole motive of the Lord Jesus Christ in coming to fulfill the law was to glorify the Father. We read this in PHI 2:8, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." To the Pharisees, righteousness was centered in Moses in Mount Sinai with a selfish motive. Theirs was a legal religion. Their motivation was selfishness; it was to glorify self, not God. They obeyed God in the letter of the law but not in the spirit of the law.
THE SECOND DISTINCTION, we note that the Lord Jesus promoted the law of God in the spirit in which it was given. In PSA 40:8 we read of the Spirit of Christ in a prophetic way, "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Jesus' heart, His soul, and His mind were set to do the will of the Father, and to glorify the Father from a motive of love. The Pharisees held their traditions above the authority of God's Word. This is the distinction between the righteousness Christ called for by honouring the authority of the Lawgiver with obedience to His law, and the righteousness of the Pharisees who violated both tables of the law by their traditions. In MAR 7:5 we read, "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?" They had their traditions that they held above the law. They thereby violated both tables of the law. They were not showing a holy reverence and respect for God or His will. They were not showing a love for God, neither did they show a love for their fellow man because they bound them with heavy burdens that were grievous to be borne. In V:6 we read, "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." What is in the heart is the distinction between Godliness and ungodliness, between righteousness and unrighteousness.
A THIRD DISTINCTION we find is the fruit of the righteousness of the Pharisees led to hypocrisy, or self-exaltation. They were obedient to the traditions of their elders but this led to a self-exaltation. ISA 65:5 says, "Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day." This verse shows very well the attitude of the Pharisees. The fruit of this type of righteousness is self-exaltation. This spirit of arrogance was revealed against Jesus and His revelation of the true spirit of the law. This holier-than-thou attitude was executed against the Lord Jesus Christ through the self-exaltation of their self-righteousness. In MAT 9:10-11 we read, "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" They came with disdain against the Lord Jesus Christ with an "I holier than thou" attitude. They were so bound by the letter of the law that they came against the law. The fruit of their righteousness was a self-exaltation which disdained the first and the second table of the law. The righteousness taught by Jesus Christ was revealed in the beatitudes. Let's think about the beatitudes. The righteousness taught by the Lord Jesus Christ was the blessedness of the spiritually poor, the spiritual mourner who mourned over sin. It was the blessedness of the spiritually meek, the spiritually hungry and thirsty who sought after the righteousness of Christ. It was the blessedness of the merciful, the spiritually pure in heart, the peace maker, and those who are persecuted for this kind of righteousness. Do you see the distinction between the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees and that taught by the Lord Jesus Christ? For the FOURTH DISTINCTION, we note that the Pharisees' righteousness was to glorify themselves. In LUK 20:45-47 we read, "Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation." The scribes and Pharisees were not concerned with glorifying the Father. Their chief desire was not to do what was pleasing to the Lord. Their chief desire was to receive honor in the audience of the people, have the highest seats, and to be able to come and devour widow's houses. This shows the intent of their heart. It shows that they did not understand mercifulness; it shows that they did not know what it was to mourn over sin. They did not understand that the righteousness which was preached by the Lord Jesus Christ was to glorify the Father. JOH 15:8-10 says, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments [i.e. if you understand the spirit of my commandments; if you understand that love is the motive of keeping my commandments], ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." If we understand the spirit of the commandment in that first table of the law of love, it is out of love that we obey His commandments. Jesus says that then the Father will love us. Our righteousness must be two-fold. We not only need the robe of Christ's righteousness to stand just before the bar of God's justice, but we need the imparted righteousness of Christ in the way of sanctification. Our motivation must be God's glory and not our own selfishness. The Apostle Paul said in PHI 3:3, "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." In other words the circumcision is pointing us to the obedience of Christ. Circumcision, if we rightly understand it, points us to how Christ was circumcised and became a debtor to do the whole law for His church. If we are those who look to the Lord Jesus Christ as our obedience, as our righteousness, we will worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus; we will have no confidence in the flesh. Verses 4-7 say, "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." This is the issue: when we have done God's will, we come before the Lord and lay our crown at His feet and say I am an unprofitable servant. We have to learn to see that our best righteousnesses have no merit; they are yet but filthy rags in His sight. Continuing on with V:8 we read, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." If all this serving is out of love, the Lord is glorified, but no man will ever glorify God if he is serving out of the letter of the law. No man is justified by the works of the law. Paul says with reference to his best works, "I do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." He was a Pharisee of the Pharisee's. In other words, he was blameless as touching the law, but all this he counted as dung and for loss that he might win Christ. In V:9-10 we read, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, [It is so blessed to understand that our faith must have the faith of Christ as its author and its object.] the righteousness which is of God by faith." We need that Spirit of Christ. He was in all points tempted even as we are, yet without sin. Christ is our salvation! He is our sanctification! His faith is the object of our faith. He became our righteousness; Christ became everything. It was that faith of Christ that was pleasing to the Father. When our faith is founded in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are pleasing in the eyes of the Father "...that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." We all have a Pharisee in our hearts who is very much alive. If we have not met with him, if we have not wrestled with those principalities and powers of Satan, we are still strangers to our own heart. If we have never learned to understand the Pharisee that is in our own heart, we are still strangers of the work of grace. When we want to promote ourselves as superior in knowledge or doctrine, we lose sight of why there are four gospels. We see this so much today. Somebody puts another down because they believe they understand the gospel, the doctrine, etc. so much better than the other person. When one does this, they lose sight of why there are four gospels. We want to take notice how Matthew saw Jesus as King; Mark saw Him as the Lowly Servant of the Father. Look at the distinction between those two observations of Christ. One saw Him walking on the earth as a lowly servant; the other saw Him as the King of kings. He was both; He was everything that stood between. If one has an insight into Christ, we cannot put down the insight that another person has. As we see, there is a distinction between the gospels, but does that mean one was more pure? No, it doesn't. What we have to understand is that Pharisee within us has such a tendency to condemn the insight of the other man. It is a good sign when we live a clean life, but this is not a foundation for salvation. The rich young ruler had all this, but he lacked love as the motive for living a clean life. We must live a clean life. Living a clean life is a very, very worthy thing, but is not a foundation for salvation. MAT 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Our motive in what we do must be that the Father might be glorified by the keeping of His law. We must not slight the least of His commandments, not trample on that which is His will, and we must do it for His glory. The glory of the Father which is in heaven must be the source of our motivation. FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let's consider true contrition, i.e., true godly fear, or a sincere resolution to live in obedience to the Divine law in the spirit of the law. True Godly fear is revealed by contrition, true submission, true subjection, and true holy reverence for the law of love. The following Biblical instances show the result of true righteousness that is taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. As we grow in the knowledge of Christ and His righteousness, we grow in the knowledge of ourselves and how short we come. Isaiah the prophet makes this point so clearly. He had seen the Lord; he wrote some of the richest prophesies about the coming of the Messiah. The Lord gave him such beautiful revelations of Christ as the Son of Man in ISA 53:1-10 and as the King of kings in verses 11-12, but look what he says in ISA 6:5, "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." I found this Scripture to be so precious one time in my own life. The more we see of the preciousness of Christ, the more we will abhor ourselves; the more contrition there will be when we see how we have not observed the law with perfection and when we see how far we have come short of the intent, or spirit, of the law. When we see how precious that blessed righteousness of Christ is, we will say with Isaiah, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." When we have received a revelation of the holiness and righteousness of the Lord, we see the wretchedness of our own heart. We see the same thing when The Lord spoke to Job. In JOB 40:3-4 we read, "Then Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth." The Lord had spoken to Job. The Lord had revealed Himself to Job. Job was a righteous man. "And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" JOB 1:8. Job was more righteous than any other man on the earth as far as walking according to the law and that which is pleasing to the Lord in the outward sense. When Job received a revelation of the Lord he said, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes," JOB 42:5-6. When the Lord had spoken to Job, "Then Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further," JOB 40:3-5. Do you know why? The Lord had opened Job's eyes to see the corruption of that fountain of sin that dwells within. This is the result of the law! If the law has done its perfect work, we become guilty before God; then we learn to see who we are. We learn what true repentance is and our need of the Saviour. The Lord Jesus began teaching the distinction between the letter and the spirit of the law where He said in six separate illustrations, MAT 5:21-48, "Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time...But I say unto you..." The Lord Jesus Christ was teaching the spirit of the law. He was teaching how the law exalts and glorifies the Lord, and it abases man. It brings man to see, as we just read from Isaiah and Job, that true repentance is not in the letter of the law, but of the heart. We see this in Job, Isaiah, and in Joshua, the High Priest, when he saw the angel. ZEC 3:3-4 says, "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." Repentance is not in the letter of the law, but it is in a true, Godly reverence for God's will in the heart. ROM 2:29 says, "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." That circumcision of the heart is the symbol of repentance. Circumcision was explained earlier as becoming a debtor to do the whole law, GAL 5:1-11. In other words, we are brought to desire to do the will of God from the heart. The Holy Spirit gives us a new heart which has new desires that are motivated by love to God and our neighbour; this is the spirit of the law! Jesus taught the spirit of the law as we see explained in 2CO 3:6, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." It is the spirit of the law that brings life into the soul. Jesus said in JOH 4:23, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in the Spirit. The desire of the renewed heart is to do that which will honor the Lord, and the motive for obedience is love. In 1CO 8:1-3 we read, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him." Do you see how love is the motive and how knowledge puffeth up? We have to watch that the motive of our righteousness, our motive for serving the Lord is out of love. It is also important to understand that the scribes and Pharisees worshipped God through their traditions, formalities, and their laws, not through the ordained way of God. I have an illustration that will show how and why we must serve and worship the Lord according to His ordained way. God is not pleased with any worship which is not in His ordained way. We read in ISA 1:13, "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." When the heart is not right, the Lord is not pleased with the ritual service. We see this even in the man after God's own heart. God will not accept any worship, which is not in His ordained way. I believe David's heart was right with the Lord. The Lord says he was a man after God's own heart. Yet, he was not serving the Lord in the ordained way, and the Lord put His finger upon him. This is to teach us the lesson so we will understand that the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees and how they served the Lord with their traditions and observances was an abomination to the Lord because it was not according to the Lord's ordained way. David desired with a filial fear to bring the Ark of God into Jerusalem. David desired to glorify God in bringing the Ark of God into Jerusalem; but he failed at first to observe God's ordained way in at least five ways; therefore the Lord was displeased. I want to discuss these five ways because I think there is tremendous instruction in them. They run parallel with the "righteousness that should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees." There was a pharisaical righteousness in David's heart that the Lord put a finger on and dealt with. We must learn to see the Pharisee that dwells in our heart. FIRST, David used human reasoning to decide how to worship the Lord, and he failed to consult the Lord. This was his first mistake. Isn't this a mistake that is so common? Are we not guilty of this in our own lives? How often we see people using human reasoning to decide how they are going to worship or serve the Lord. We read in 1CH 13:1-3, "And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us: And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul." Here David is using human reasoning. He is consulting with all the leaders of the land saying, "If it seem good unto you..." He is reasoning with the flesh; he did not consult the Lord. David was not seeking the Lord's will, but was asking men if they thought it was in the Lord's will. SECOND, they did not cover the ark as the Lord commanded by His servant Moses. David was walking in the consul of the people not in the ordained way of the Lord. He did not follow the Lord's instructions that anytime the Ark was moved it was to be covered as the Lord prescribed. In NUM 4:5-6 we read, "And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it: And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof." This David failed to do. He did not follow the ordained way of the Lord. Why was this important? It was important for the significance that went with it. A tremendous spiritual significance goes along with what the Lord has ordained to do. The spiritual significance of the moving of the Ark was lost. This covering of blue was the symbol of the heavenly nature of the King, which was represented by the Ark of God. When the covering of blue was not on the ark, it lost the significance of the heavenly kingdom. THIRDLY, they did not carry the ark according to the command of the Lord by His servant Moses. The ark was to be carried upon the shoulders of the Levites with staves through the rings at the base of the ark--THUS the ark was carried above the people. This had its purpose. The act of so doing signified that the Ark of God must be exalted. It must be carried upon their shoulders as a symbol of victory. The Lord had a purpose for this; the Ark was the Ark of the Covenant. It was the Ark of God; it represented the King of kings. It was to be carried upon their shoulders as a symbol of victory, as a symbol of leadership. It was to be exalted above the people. In ISA 49:22 we read, "Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders." What does this teach us? Even today you see this in sports; if people feel someone has gained a tremendous victory, they put that person up on their shoulders to exalt the victory. The Ark of God being carried upon the shoulders of the Levites was to denote the victory that would be gained by the Lord Jesus Christ over death, hell, and the grave! That must not be trampled on, but observed. Continuing on with V:23 we read, "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me." This is the victory that is denoted by riding upon the shoulders. The Ark of God was to be carried upon the shoulders of the Levites. When the Philistines had suffered shame before the Ark of the Lord and their idol god had suffered a total defeat, they placed that Ark into a new cart to send it back to the camp of Israel. David built a new cart for the Ark of his God, instead of placing staves through the rings at the base of the ark and exalting the ark by placing it on the shoulders of the Levites. He was walking in the ways of the Philistines. David's human reasoning of putting the Ark of the Lord on a new cart was a heathen abomination to the Lord. We read in 1CH 13:7, "And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart." By placing the Ark of God upon a new cart, they were walking in the abomination of the Philistines. FOURTH, Uzza and Ahio drove the oxen, which were the abomination of the Philistines, before the Ark of God. The Philistines placed the oxen that pulled the cart ahead of the Ark. The Ark was to be upon the shoulders of the Levites, carried in the fore- front of the battle or anytime the Ark was moved. Instead, they had the oxen which were the abomination of the Philistines going before the Ark. When Israel traveled, the Ark of God was to go first. This symbolized Christ, their King, and Israel was to follow in the footsteps of Christ, their King--not in the footsteps of the Philistines. If we understand it, there is such tremendous significance in what took place there. We use human reasoning when we have the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and we do things as we believe they ought to be done. We don't see the spiritual significance of why the Lord has commanded what He has commanded. We don't see why we must follow in the footsteps of Christ and not walk in the footsteps of the Philistines as the Israelites did here. FIFTH, Uzza was struck dead. Why? Even the sons of Kohath, who were sanctified to carry the Ark were not to touch any holy thing. NUM 4:15 says, "And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation." Even those who were sanctified by the Lord and set apart to carry the Ark, may not put a finger on it. They may not touch it! They may not touch that Kingdom of Christ! They may not touch that kingly magnitude that is to be set forward, carried upon the shoulders, and draped in the heavenly color of blue. All this was commanded to teach us of that heavenly kingdom. With the Ark on a new cart which was the abomination of the heathen, Uzza stretched forth his hand and touched the Ark. Why did he do this? I want you to see why, there is a great significance here. The name Uzza means strength. Uzza, as it were by human strength, "Put forth his hand" to hold God in His place. This is what the Pharisees were doing with the law! MAR 7:9 says, "And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." This is what Jesus is teaching us about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees: they were trying to use their human reasoning to hold Jesus in His place. David saw that he had sinned in not following God's ordained way. He said in 1CH 15:13-14, "For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel." David said God made this breach because they did not seek the Lord after the due order--do you see the beauty of that? In effect, David confessed he was reasoning with men; he was reasoning with his elders; he was reasoning with all this human reasoning, but he did not follow the ordained way of the Lord. That's why the Lord put the breach upon Israel. Now David confessed his wrong; David was ready to follow the steps of the law in the way that the Lord would be glorified in His ordained way. As we read in 1CH 1513-15, David now instructs the priests and Levites to carry the Ark upon their shoulders. "For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD." To worship God in the spirit of the law is to fulfill the end, or the intent of the law. The Lord has His purpose; it is to glorify God. The purpose of the law is to glorify the Father which is in heaven. How is He glorified? He is glorified with total contrition, with total submission to His holy will, with total unconditional surrender to the will of the Father. This has to come from the heart. True contrition is a Godly spirit which has love as its motive: to do what is pleasing to the Lord with all its heart, soul and mind. In JOH 4:23 we read, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." We are to worship Him in the spirit and intent of the law, and we are to do His holy will "for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Amen. |
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