We read today Matthew 5, verses 17 to 20. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But he who does them and teaches them shall 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" — the Greek has a double negative — "you will never, never enter the kingdom of heaven."
To enter the kingdom of heaven means, in the Bible, to have eternal life. And so don't say in your heart, "To exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees — that is easy. They are just a bunch of hypocrites. I am no hypocrite. Therefore, my righteousness has already exceeded the Pharisees." The ignorance among Christians today regarding the Pharisees is really quite astonishing. And I am going to show you as we go along that such superficial notions of getting into the kingdom of God is nowhere to be found in the Bible.
I just pointed out an error in the Chinese translation, which incidentally occurs also in the Authorized Version. The RSV rightly translates verse 19, "Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments" — not "whoever cancels" or "abolishes" or "breaks," as the AV has it. No, no. To "relax" means that you do such a thing, but you do it rather sluggishly, in a relaxed fashion. You are not doing it very diligently. It is very important to note these points. In expounding the Word of God, you must have every word accurate, and you must understand that the words are entirely different in the original. But the Chinese translates these two words as though "abolish" in the beginning and the word in verse 19 is the same thing, which it is not.
Now as we look at the words of Jesus, we get a very important message. The Lord Jesus says, "Don't get the notion into your mind that I have come to abolish the law." Now this statement is very essential for today, because the way the Gospels are often preached today, one would have thought that there is no more use for the law. And if there is no use for the law, I don't quite understand why we still want to read the Old Testament. We might as well throw the whole Old Testament out, since it all has to do with the law and the prophets.
The Lord Jesus said, "No, I have not in any way come to abolish the law." Now, it is important to understand this, and I want to emphasize this today, and I have to preach as the Lord Jesus speaks. I am not free to say whatever I like. The words of the Lord Jesus are explicit: "I did not come to abolish the law." Now you don't need to be expert in interpretation to understand words as simple and straightforward as that.
The notion of abolishing the law has come again and again in the history of the Church, and what in theology is called antinomianism. Antinomian is anti-law — people who want to throw the law out. And already in the second century of the Church, we had people who said, "We don't need the Old Testament. We are Christians. We just want the New Testament. The Old Testament is out. The law and the prophets we don't need." Do you know what is the result of this kind of teaching? The standard of righteousness takes a tremendous plunge. What happens is that every kind of sin comes into the Church and is tolerated because there is no law against such sin.
Now I would like you to understand what the Lord Jesus is saying. The Lord Jesus is saying, "Don't ever think that I have come to reduce, to lower the righteous standard, the standard of righteousness that is required of a Christian. Don't imagine for a moment that I have come and said, 'Well now, we are going to have a good time of it. We don't need the law. We can all go and sin, and at the end of the day, we are all going to get into the kingdom of God.'" The Lord Jesus was a friend of publicans and sinners, of tax collectors and sinners. But He did not lower His standard of righteousness to their standards. He came to save them. He came to raise them up to a standard of righteousness far above that of the Pharisees and the scribes.
Now the area of this kind of teaching, of antinomianism, is very apparent in the Chinese churches all too often. The standard of righteousness in the Chinese churches is pathetically low, and it's about time that we put a halt to this. The standard of conduct in Chinese churches is such that it has often been a disgrace. You know that the Chinese have a very high standard of righteousness as taught by Confucius. The Chinese people have been accustomed to expect a high standard of righteousness. And what do they find in Christians? They are not only disappointed but also often disgusted that the Chinese Christians frequently cannot attain to a standard of righteousness equivalent even to that of a Confucianist.
I can see what the Lord Jesus will say. He said, "Don't think that I have come to lower the standard of righteousness. I have come to fulfill it all. And let me tell you this, if you don't fulfill it, you are not even going to see the inside of the kingdom of heaven." Now is this salvation by works? Well, we will consider that in a moment. It depends on what you mean by works. But we must understand that the Lord Jesus has come to save us out of sin, and not to leave us in sin. If Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from sin merely to let us continue in sin — do you remember what Paul's reaction to that was? "Shall we continue in sin?" God forbid! No one ever has suggested such a thing. God forbid that we should suggest that a Christian redeemed by the blood of Jesus shall continue in sin. And yet, look at what Christians are doing. There are things going on in the church that would be disgraceful, as Paul says, even to be mentioned among non-Christians. And Paul carried out the severest discipline against people who committed sin in the church, as you know from 1 Corinthians chapter 5. He committed that man who was guilty of adultery, of incest, to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. He was determined to maintain the standard of righteousness in the church. He was completely at one with the Lord Jesus in this.
Many Christians say, "We are saved by God's grace, so even if we sin it doesn't matter." This kind of teaching — what is the result? We see that in Christianity today, the standard of righteousness, the standard of Christian living, is pitifully low. We Chinese have a very high moral standard. You all know that Confucius gave us a very high moral standard. But what about Christians today? Today's Christians often cannot even measure up to the moral standard of Confucianism. They are casual, thinking, "We are saved by grace, it doesn't matter." I want everyone to understand clearly: the Lord Jesus denies this kind of teaching. He says this kind of teaching is inaccurate, wrong. Because if your standard is lower than the Pharisees, lower than the standard of righteousness in the world, then don't talk about being saved.
Perhaps we can close these windows, please. I don't wish to be forever contending with the noise outside. Mark 12, verses 29 to 31. Here we read this: "Jesus answered" — in verse 28, one of the scribes, that is one of the lawyers, came up and heard them disputing, and he asked this question: "Which is the first commandment?" And the Lord's reply is this. He went on to say, "The first commandment is this, in verse 29: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your strength, all your mind.' And the second is like it." And then he goes on to say that all the commandments are summed up in these words.
Now everywhere I see what the Lord's teaching about the law, I see that He always points out that the law is summed up in these words: to love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. You see that again in Matthew chapter 19, verses 18 and 19. Again in Matthew chapter 22, verses 37 to 40. The Lord Jesus is saying that the law is summed up in these two statements. The whole law is to be understood in terms of its essence: to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.
You see, when you understand the law as the Lord Jesus understood the law — people say, surely that cannot be abolished. Far from being abolished, that is the essence of being a Christian. And that is exactly what the Pharisees sought to do. Notice these words: that is exactly what the Pharisees sought to do. You think that your righteousness can meet that standard? Let me ask you a question. Which of you here will dare to say that you love God with all your heart, all your heart, all your soul, your mind, your strength? And that is required by the law. That is required. The Lord Jesus says that has never been abolished. The Lord Jesus, in fact, made that a central element in His teaching. That is why He said, "I have never come to abolish the law." The law is what? The law means that you shall love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength — everything you've got.
I've mentioned again and again: to be a Christian is to be a total Christian or nothing at all. There is no teaching in the Bible that I know of in which you can be a part of a Christian — that you can be 20% Christian, or 50%, or 80%, or 90%, or even 98% a Christian. God requires all or nothing. That seems drastic teaching, but that is the Bible's teaching. Reverend Chang, Fred Chang, on Friday here — you remember that he expounded to us a passage from Samuel in which he was mentioning the point that the trouble with Christians today is that they are partial Christians. The church is full of partial Christians. And that statement is so true. It is exactly the point that I've been making for a long time. You cannot be a partial Christian. You are either all or nothing.
Saul was partially obedient to God's command, as we saw that day. And what happened to him? Did God commend him? Say, "Okay, you did 80%, 90% of what I commanded. That's still good, let the other 10% pass." Not at all. Because of that 10% that he did not do, the Lord stripped him of his kingship and threw him out. Saul was finished forever. Why so severe? Because being a Christian is total. The demand is absolute. And the reason for our church troubles today is precisely because of this very thing: we are full of Christians who are 80%, 90%. I don't know how to measure them. God is not even going to measure them. He is going to say all or nothing. That is the way it stands with God.
Now you can see how essential it is — the standard of righteousness that the Lord Jesus again and again emphasizes. "I tell you this: I require of you at least what the law requires. And the law already requires everything." And the Lord Jesus always answers the question like this in the same way. When somebody asks Him — you remember the rich young ruler in Matthew 19? Did you ever notice His reply? The rich young ruler said to Jesus, "How can I get eternal life?" You know what Jesus said to him? Read it sometime. He said, "You know the commandments. You know the law. Do it and you shall live." And you know the pathetic thing was, the rich young ruler thought he was doing it. He said, "I've done that all since my youth." He's done that? Jesus said, "Let me tell you what it means. It means: come with me. Leave everything else and come with me." You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Everything. How can you abolish the law? That's what the law taught, Jesus said. "Don't you know what the law says? I haven't come to abolish it. I have come to fulfill it."
You know, this lesson is something that I hope nobody today in this church is going to miss. And we're going to come back to it again and again because it comes back in the Lord's teaching again and again. I would like you therefore, as we were singing this hymn, "Search Me, O Lord, Try My Heart," ask yourself if you are sitting there complacently and comfortably thinking, "I'm a good evangelical Christian." Forget the evangelical bit and ask yourself first: Do I love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength?
Paul taught nothing different. He said nothing different from what the Lord Jesus said. He said, "Let me tell you this in 2 Corinthians 5: Jesus died for all." You know why? So that they can congratulate themselves on being a good evangelical Christian who believes in the cross of Jesus and the blood of Jesus? Not at all. "He died for all, that we who live henceforth no more live for ourselves but for Him who died for us." That's why Jesus died, he said. Do you not understand that? He said to the Corinthians — proud, spiritual Corinthians who thought they were full of spiritual gifts, vaunting themselves in their gift of tongues and all other gifts that they had — he says, "Do you know something? He didn't come just to give you gifts to make you feel good. He died for this specific purpose: that those who live through His death shall live for Him."
The Lord Jesus says, "What does the law mean? The law means that with all our heart, all our strength, all our mind, completely and totally, we love our God, and love our neighbor as ourselves." He says this is the law and the prophets. "Don't you know? The law and the prophets are exactly this: to love our God with all our heart." He says, "I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." What does "fulfill" mean? It means you can attain to what the law requires. The purpose of my coming is to enable you to attain this standard — the standard of loving God with all our heart.
Don't say, "I've been a Christian for many years. I'm a very proper Christian. I'm old school, conservative — whatever you want to call it. I'm a very proper Christian. I haven't missed a Sunday service. Every time the offering plate comes, I put my money in. I'm very proper. My father was an elder, a pastor, everything — I'm very well connected." Don't think about that. The question the Lord Jesus asks is not these questions, but rather: Do you love God with all your heart, all your strength? And do you love your neighbor as yourself? That is the important thing. That is the test of being a Christian. What Paul preached was no different from this — exactly the same.
Many Christians say, "I believe Jesus died for me. I believe all of that." Is that what makes a Christian? That is not a Christian. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:15-17, "He died for all." Why? So we can call ourselves proper Christians? So we can continue living however we please? No. He died so that from now on, those who live would live for Him, not for themselves.
Now, in verse 18, the Lord Jesus says, "I tell you something, that heaven and earth will pass away before the law passes away. Not one dot, not one iota." Iota, of course, is Greek and not a good translation of Hebrew. The word there refers to a yod in the Hebrew — that little thing which is often translated by a "y" or an "i" in English. That is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It is only one little corner. And He says, not one little horn. In English it is translated as a dot. In Hebrew, you know — if you have seen a synagogue, you will have seen that the words are very artistic. The little horn on top is often used as a decoration. But the Lord Jesus says, not the slightest element in the law will pass away before heaven and earth passes away. That is how He emphasized the importance of the law. And He says the same thing again in Luke.
So we see that we must come to understand that the Lord Jesus is not speaking metaphorically or symbolically. He means exactly what He says: the law remains. And remarkably, Paul says exactly the same thing too. What does Paul say about the law? Paul says three things about the law. He says the law is holy (Romans 7:12). He says the law is spiritual (Romans 7:14). And he says the law is good (Romans 7:16). Now, the law is holy, it is spiritual, and it is good. You cannot abolish what is holy and spiritual and good. Paul wouldn't dream of it.
When Paul says that we are no longer under the law, he means the dispensation of the law. We are no longer under the old covenant that was called the law, the dispensation of the law. We are under grace, the dispensation of grace, the new covenant. But that is far from saying that we don't need the law, that we can throw it out the window. And it is very remarkable that on more than one occasion, Paul speaks about the fulfilling of the law. You will see that in Romans, that again and again he speaks about love as the fulfillment of the law. Now, why should he speak about fulfilling the law if the law has passed anyway? We don't have to bother with fulfilling the law. And yet Paul speaks about love as the fulfillment. He says you must love because love is the fulfillment of the law. Well, strange. I thought you said there is no more law. Paul never said that. What Paul did say is that we are not justified by the works of the law. And that is a different matter. Though we are not justified by the works of the law, it does not mean that we don't need the law.
But I want to rush on to the central point of our message today. Before we get to that, we have verse 19, which says, "Whoever relaxes the law" — that is, who performs the law in a slack manner, who says, "I love God with all my heart and my neighbor as myself," but performs this in a rather slack way. Well, you may love God genuinely with all your heart, but there is the diligence aspect in it, the earnestness aspect in it. And verse 19 says you will be the least in the kingdom of God if you do that.
Now all of this means that in the kingdom of God there are different grades. This point is very important for us to understand, also very little understood among Christians. We are going to come to this later on in the Lord's teaching in greater detail. Don't think that everybody in the kingdom of God is going to be the same, that everybody who is saved is the same. In the kingdom of God there is an enormous difference of rank, a difference of greatness and smallness. And Paul aimed for the greatness, not the smallness. Did you know that?
Now it's amazing how many Christians are just content to be saved — assuming they will even get saved. You know, if you aim to pass the pass mark, you might not even make the pass mark. If you aim for 90, you might just make the pass. But so many Christians aim for the lowest level. They think, "I am going to get saved, that's enough." Think of it. In the kingdom of God there is an enormous difference of rank, of greatness. In the kingdom of God there are some who are exceedingly great. They will shine as the stars forever and ever, as Daniel puts it. There are others who are going to be very, very little. "Who cares about great or little, so long as I get there?" You know what motivates people to greatness or littleness in the kingdom of God? It is their love for God which makes the difference.
You think it makes no difference? It makes an awful lot of difference. I aim to love God with all my heart. I aim to be exactly what He wants me to be in order to be pleasing to Him. In other words, it's the motivating factor that is important. I wonder whether you are a Christian with any sort of motivation. The church today is without motivation. That's an amazing thing. You are interested in promotion in your company, are you? You are interested in getting good results. Would you be ashamed to say, "Well, I'm just happy to pass. I'm very modest, you know. I'm not looking for a first-class honors. I'd be content to get a pass." Oh, you say, a very modest man. Do you say that? You say, what kind of a fellow is this? Of course, when you take an exam, you aim for the first. Alright? You might end up with a second. Never mind. But you are still aiming for the first. But would you say a person is modest who is only contenting himself with a pass mark? Would it not be even more modest to say, "Well, I'm not even concerned to pass. I'm ready to fail. I'm very modest. I'm looking for a fail this time"? Because if I say I'm looking for a first, I'm too proud. But what kind of notion is this?
But if your reasoning like this is right, then what makes you think it's proud if you aim to go for the honors in the kingdom of God? What's so proud about that? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9 — did you ever read those words? He said, "There are many people running a race" — very suitable in the Olympics now. He said, "But only one gets the crown." He said, "So run that you will obtain." Like all these athletes — is it modest to say, "Well, I'm content to be the last one. Let the other guy get the crown. I'm going to be very modest"? What kind of modesty is this? You run so that you may obtain. We run so that we may please Jesus.
Somebody asked John Sung once. He said to John Sung, "You are a PhD in chemistry. Why are you preaching the gospel?" He said, "Let me ask you a question. What are you doing here in this university?" He was preaching in a university. "Oh," he says, "I'm doing my degree in chemistry." "What are you studying chemistry for?" "Well," he said, "I want to make a living." He said, "What do you do after you pass your exam and get your degree?" "Well, I look for a job." "What do you do after you get your job?" "Well, I suppose I'll get married." And he said, "What happens after you get married?" "Well, I suppose I'll have some children." He says, "What happens after that?" "Well, after that — well, I suppose I'm going to die one of these days." He said, "What happens after that?" "After that? Nothing." "I know what happens." He said, "My friend, you ask me why I have given up chemistry to preach the gospel. When I look at you, I seem to think that you're quite an intelligent person. You are studying because you are thinking about the future — how to have a good degree, a good job, a good family, a good life, until it all ends in the grave. And beyond that, you haven't thought. I'll tell you why. I am going for the highest. I am preaching the gospel because I am making provision where you have stopped thinking. When you have ended up in the grave, your planning is finished. My planning goes on into eternity. I know that for me, I'm going to end up in the same way as you. I also did chemistry," said John Sung. "I also had these notions of grandeur, of having some good place in the world. Except when I thought that it all ends up in the hole, six foot under the ground. I thought, how am I going to plan a bit further ahead? And so I said to myself, no, I'm going to go for honors — the kind of honors that don't end up in the grave, that go on forever."
You see, the difference between you and me is only the distance of our sight — how far we see. You know, it is amazing that today in the church we have people whose vision stops at the grave, who do not think beyond about the greatness that goes on for eternal life. You are interested only in getting a first class, okay, in your degree. Maybe you don't even have that ambition. You say, "I never make a first anyway. I'll content myself with a second." And then you are going to get yourself a job. I see all Chinese people are very good at reasoning this way: I get a good job and I get a good future. I get a good future and I get a good family. I get a good family and then — and then what? Exactly. And then what?
In the kingdom of God, there is a great deal of difference in rank, a difference of greatness. And your sight is very short. You are very short-sighted if you can't see beyond that. I aim, by the grace of God, to aim for the greatest. And I don't think there is any pride in that. I have spiritual determination. I pray, by the grace of God, that I shall gain a crown, as Paul says, that does not fade away. He says, "You all run for crowns that fade away. Your degree — when you put it on that day, you know." When I went in, I hired one. I didn't have one of my own. I don't know how many people before that wore that stuff, and I don't know how many people afterwards who wear that same hood again. But you know, I can see it now — if I went back and looked at that company and said, "Which was the one you hired to me those years ago?" It probably would be by now in the garbage bin. Faded and gone. You run for that fading crown which will pass away. But Paul says, "I run for that crown that does not fade away."
In verse 19, the Lord Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God — that there are those who are great and those who are small, those who are high and those who are low. Have you ever thought about this? In this world you seek a position, a high position. That is not what matters. The question is: what is your position in the kingdom of God? Do you have a position at all? You may have a position in this world, but in the kingdom of God you may have no position whatsoever. The great politicians of this world are invisible in the kingdom of God. So the Lord Jesus says that the high and low, the great and small in the kingdom of God, depends on how you fulfill and obey the word of God. The more fully you obey the word of God, the higher your position in the kingdom of God. The more casually you carry out God's word, the lower your position in the kingdom of God. This is the word of the Lord Jesus.
You say this is too proud. "I am a very humble person. I don't think like that. If I can just enter the kingdom of God, even with a very small position, that's fine." What kind of humility is that? When you take an exam, are you being humble if someone says, "I'll just be happy with third place. Fifth place is fine too"? Is that humility? When you take an exam, don't you prepare to get first place? If someone says, "I'm preparing to get first place, to do very well," would you say, "That's too proud. You should be more humble. Third or fifth place is fine"? What kind of humility is that? Then wouldn't failing be even more humble? Just don't pass. That's even more humble. What kind of pride is this? In the Olympics they are racing. A runner should aim for first place, shouldn't he? Would you say, "Don't be proud. Never mind, let's just run for fifth place. Let the first place go to the Americans or the Soviets. We'll be humble about it." Then why run at all? You run to achieve the highest. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9: "When you run a race, run to win the crown."
# Surpassing the Pharisees' Righteousness (Part 2) — Matthew 5:17-20
Paul said, "Many run, but only one receives the crown." How should you run? Run so that you may obtain the crown. You say, "You're being proud." What's proud about it? He is doing it for the Lord's glory. In a race, isn't a runner striving for the glory of his country, not merely his own glory? In this race of the Christian life, are we not running so that the Lord may be glorified and we may receive the crown? For the crown we are to receive is an eternal crown. Many run and receive only the crown of this world.
That's what we saw earlier. When John Sung was asked, "You have a PhD in chemistry. Why are you preaching the gospel?" — he was speaking at a university. A student asked him, "What are you studying?" He said, "Chemistry." John Sung said, "I also studied chemistry." He said, "Why are you studying chemistry?" "So I can graduate and get a job." "What happens after you graduate and get a job?" "Well, I can get married." "What happens after you get married?" "I'll have children." "What happens after that?" "After that, well, life goes on. Find a house to live in." "What happens after that?" "After that? I don't know. After that, I suppose I'll die." "What happens after you die?" "Dead is dead. What about you?" "I haven't thought that far." He said, "You seem like quite an intelligent person. But your thinking stops at the grave. You haven't thought far enough." He said, "Let me tell you why I preach the gospel. I preach because you think about the future — just a few years ahead. But I am thinking about eternal life. You haven't thought about that. I was like you. I also studied chemistry. I could have taught, worked, bought a house, married. And then what? After that — finished. All my plans would end up in the grave, rotting away. But the crown I aim to receive is on the other side of eternity. A crown that cannot perish, that cannot rot. An eternal crown. Where is your thinking? You seem intelligent, but you haven't thought far enough."
The Lord Jesus tells us: What kind of person do you want to be in the kingdom of God? A great person or a small one? One who receives God's approval, or one who does not? For greatness or smallness is measured by whether you receive God's approval or not.
Now we come to the central point. Verse 20: "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never, never enter the kingdom of heaven." This is the central point. The righteousness of the Pharisees is like the high jump bar. Unless you get over that, you are not going to get to the victory. You are not going to make it. And I said to you a moment ago, many people think, "Oh, that's easy. Pharisees, they are hypocrites. I'm not a hypocrite." Wait a minute, are you sure you're not? You know, the Pharisees didn't think they were hypocrites either.
Don't think that the Pharisees were people who went around behaving as hypocrites intentionally. The greatest tragedy of the spiritual life is to be a hypocrite without knowing it. Don't think that the Pharisees consciously knew that they were hypocrites. Not at all. That would be a complete misrepresentation of the Pharisees. You've got to know something about the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a group of people — you might call it a sect, an organization. And the very word "Pharisee" meant people who were separated, separated from the crowd. Separated in what way? Separated in their total devotion to the law of God.
The Pharisees' one aim was to do the law of God down to its smallest detail. They committed their entire life to obey God's law. The Pharisees rose at a time when the law was declining, when people were throwing the law away, when Greek culture was invading Palestine, invading Israel. The Pharisees rose up in defense of the law, as the Maccabees had done before them. The Pharisees were people of enormous piety and devotion. You must once and for all get rid of the notion that the Pharisees were a bunch of foolish hypocrites, not worthy of mention. The Pharisees were a highly respected group of people — respected, that is, by the whole people of Israel, for the high standard of their righteousness.
Now let me tell you, the Pharisees often staked their lives in defense of the law. They were fearless in their defense of the law. They practiced the law down to the greatest detail. They fasted — not required by the law — but they went beyond the law. In their devotion to God, they fasted twice a week. Which of you has fasted once a week, once a month, once a year? Any of you dare to raise your hand to say you fasted once a month? The Pharisees fasted twice a week. You say, "Well, that's just works." Wait a minute. What's wrong with works? Works of devotion. Paul says, "You have been ordained to good works." God has saved us and ordained us to good works. What's so shameful about good works?
The Pharisees fasted twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. The whole day they fasted. They gave their tithes of everything — one tenth of everything they had. Do you give a tenth of what you have? Do you really? Would your accounts bear inspection? Would you like to open your accounts for inspection? One tenth of everything they were sure to give, and often they gave more. And that has not yet passed away: the minimum for a Christian is one tenth. When we give one tenth, we give God what is His own. That was required by the law. The Pharisees gave one tenth, and again went beyond the law. They tithed even what was not required by the law. I said fasting was not required by the law, except on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement. But the Pharisees fasted twice a week, voluntarily. The Pharisees gave ten percent of everything they had, and they even tithed what was not required by the law.
You will see that in the words where the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 23:23, in that passage which is very important, and I think we should turn to it, where He condemns them for their hypocrisy. But we will see in a moment what it means. In Matthew 23:23, it says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith." Notice: "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others." You ought — yes, He says, you were right in giving tithe, you were right to fast, He says. You ought to have done this, but you should not have neglected the other. Notice, the Lord Jesus did not say it was unnecessary to do all that. He did not say you should instead have only paid attention to justice and mercy and the love of God. Not at all. He says, you were right in doing this, but that was not enough.
Now, I would like you to understand, to clear away from your mind the old conception of the Pharisees as a bunch of superficial hypocrites. They were nothing of the sort. And in fact, many scholars have rightly protested that the Christian notion of the Pharisees is a complete caricature. Do you know, if I tell you some of the people who were Pharisees — do you know who was a Pharisee? Paul himself was a Pharisee. Would you accuse him of hypocrisy? Paul, three times, declares himself to be a Pharisee. And he declares this with great pride. In fact, in Acts chapter 23, he does not say, "I was a Pharisee," but when defending himself in the council, he said, "I am a Pharisee." Checking the tense in the original, I was impressed that it is certainly in the present tense. So Paul says, for example, in Acts 23:6, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee. With respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead, I am on trial." "I am a Pharisee." So before you start waxing easy, saying, "Oh, Pharisees, the righteousness of the Pharisees is easy to meet" — I challenge you to meet the righteousness of Paul even before he was converted. In Philippians chapter 3, he says again, "I am a Pharisee." And he says, "As to the law, blameless."
You know who else was a Pharisee? Nicodemus was a Pharisee. And he was the one who brought a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes to the grave. He was not afraid to stand up and be counted with the disciples in front of Pilate. You say these are all hypocrites? You know who was another Pharisee? A Pharisee was called Gamaliel, in Acts chapter 5, who defended the apostles when they were being tried before the Sanhedrin. Let us throw away the fallacious notion that Pharisees were all a bunch of silly hypocrites. They were people highly respected in Israel for their enormous standard of godliness. They lived a righteous life at tremendous cost to themselves. And they were not afraid to die for the law, even sometimes misguidedly. For example, under the Romans, the number of Pharisees who died in defense of the law of Israel at the Roman sword was really impressive.
So before you start saying, "Well, Pharisees, easy to meet that" — not at all. And you say, "If that standard is so high to reach, then why does the Lord Jesus call them hypocrites?" Precisely. Why did He call them hypocrites? Because, like so many religious people, they emphasized only the external performance of things.
Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of God." You may think, "The Pharisees are all hypocrites, so it's easy. I can easily surpass their righteousness." This kind of thinking is completely wrong. The righteousness of the Pharisees was very, very high. When we study the Pharisees carefully, because we have many reference books about them, the more you study their history, the more you realize their standard of righteousness was very high. They fasted twice every week, on Mondays and Thursdays. So in the Lord Jesus' parable, you remember the Pharisee saying, "I thank God I am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week." What he said was true — Mondays and Thursdays, they fasted. They gave a tenth of everything as an offering to the Lord. Let me ask you Christians who think you're doing well: have you fasted even once a year? Out of love for the Lord, not out of obligation? You know, the Pharisees were not required by law to fast twice a week. There was no such requirement. It was voluntary. Which Christian voluntarily fasts for a day to pray for China, or for the church? Among you, is there anyone who has fasted once this month? Raise your hand. No? And you say the righteousness of the Pharisees is easy to attain?
The Pharisees tithed a tenth of all their income. But not only what the law required — even what the law did not require, they also tithed. For example, the herbs from their garden — the mint, the dill — they tithed even these. The law didn't require such tithing, but they gave out of their love for the law. But today, how many Christians even give a tenth? I know the church's accounts. I know there is no tenth being given. So how can we so easily surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees? Don't deceive yourself. Never deceive yourself. The righteousness of the Pharisees is not so easy to attain. To what extent did the Pharisees love the law? In the Roman era, they willingly laid down their lives and died for the sake of the law. Do you have such devotion?
So you say, "If that is the case, then why did the Lord Jesus still call them hypocrites?" This is something we must understand clearly.
What is meant by hypocrisy? And when you understand what Jesus meant by hypocrisy, you are not going to be too quick to assume that you are free of hypocrisy. Jesus did not say that they were not pious. Jesus did not say that they were not earnest. Jesus did not say that they were unrighteous. What did He say? He said they were hypocritical. What does hypocritical mean? It means to emphasize the external performance to the neglect of the internal, to the neglect of what relates to the heart. In other words, we can be so taken up with doing things that we forget what we ought to be.
Now you know, this applies every bit to the Christian. There is an awful lot of hypocrisy in the church — hypocrisy in every aspect. You say you love God? I would challenge you every way down the list. You say you love God, that Jesus died for you and you love Him? Hypocrite. Let's see the evidence of your love for Him. Show me the evidence of your love. Take it out and let us see it. That's what James said: "You say you have faith? Take it out and let me have a look at it. Where is your faith?"
The church is full of hypocrites. You love God with all your heart and soul and strength, and the slightest problem comes to you and you blame God for the whole business. You love God, do you? Jesus died for us, that we should live for Him. Where have you lived for Him, brothers and sisters? When have you lived for Him? During the past week — never mind theoreticals. During this past week. Monday, what did you do for Him? Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Name it. Come out with the facts. And stop deceiving yourself. If Jesus were here, I dare you to look in His face when you say, "You love me?" Where is the evidence of that love? You say you are not a hypocrite? "You love me? How much did you offer to the Lord?" Oh, you say, "But I have lots of expenses." Sure. We all have expenses. And therefore we don't have to give anything, because we all have expenses. Which of us are rich? We give out of love for God, not because we have money.
And you love God — when did you fast? When did you last pray? When you prayed for China? Or prayed for Canada? Or prayed for the church? Or prayed for the Lord's servants? When, in your earnestness, did you pray so that you were willing to fast? Oh no. "When you prayed halfway through, your stomach said, 'Excuse me, Lord, wait till I have my lunch. I'll see you afterwards.' But afterwards, of course, you were too busy. Your friend came to call, you had this and that to do. And by nighttime you said, 'Sorry, Lord, I was a bit busy today.'" You see — hypocrite. "Your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees."
Let me tell you something more. The Pharisees prayed three times a day. How many times do you pray a day? Or you don't think it matters whether you pray at all, because you are saved by grace. Pharisees prayed at 9 o'clock in the morning. They prayed at 12 noon. And then they prayed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. What's your prayer life like? Better than the Pharisees, eh? Five minutes in the morning? Two minutes? Two minutes at night? Hypocrite, my friends. And you say you love God in your heart? You say, "The Pharisees only do the outward performance, you know. I love God in my heart. So I don't have to pray at all, because the outward performance doesn't matter." Perfect logic that suits a hypocrite. And you see, "I love God so much that, you know, tithes and offerings — these belong to the law. So since I love God so much, I don't have to give Him a penny." Perfect reasoning of a hypocrite.
And we say we are not hypocrites. We are righteous. Our righteousness has exceeded the Pharisees. We are not hypocrites. Our church is full of hypocrites. It would be enough to make you weep to see the hypocrisy that goes on. You love God. You're going to serve Him. But all you are concerned with is your exam, your future life, how you are going to pass your exams, how you are going to get a good job. God's work doesn't cross your mind except in your spare time. Your leftovers are for God. If you have five minutes to spare, maybe God can have it, if the TV doesn't get it. And your righteousness exceeds the Pharisees.
Don't feel so self-complacent. The one thing God cannot stand is self-complacency. And that is exactly what the Pharisees were. Their hypocrisy lay in their self-righteousness, their self-satisfaction. "I thank God I am not like this man." And that attitude is too common in the churches. "I thank God I am not like that non-Christian. I thank God that I am among the elect of God." That's exactly what the Pharisees thought. And you think exactly the same way. "I thank God I am not like that filthy guy who smokes those dirty cigarettes. I thank God that I don't touch a drop of wine. Wine doesn't touch my lips. I am so self-righteous."
I once went into a pub and a person saw me in the pub and he was shocked. "What are you doing in a pub?" I don't know if you know what a pub is. In England that is what here they call a bar, or a brasserie, or whatever it is. In England it's called a pub — a public house. "What are you doing in a pub?" What's wrong with being in a pub? Publicans and sinners, tax collectors — Jesus mixed with them. As though you go in a pub and you drink a sip of wine — which I didn't drink, incidentally. I only had a soft drink in the pub. But even if you drank a sip of wine, you are finished, my friend. You are heading for hell. You have had it. And you read the Sunday newspaper — you are even going further down into hell, my friend. And you wear mini skirts. You are finished. And you put on lipstick. And in some parts, Christians say if you drank coffee or tea, you are also fit for hell. Such things are not to be drunk by Christians. And you play cards. You don't follow outward behavior. In certain parts, Christians are not supposed to wear nice, shiny dresses, nice clothing, fancy ties — no, no, no. You have to wear black things. That's why you go to Germany and you will find that the perfect Christians wear a black skirt, black jacket, white shirt, black tie. That's the uniform of a good Christian. You wear anything else, you are fit for hell.
So we see that we too are hypocrites. We are very hypocritical. "Search me, O God, and try my heart and know my thoughts." Because what is involved is eternal life. Jesus says, "Unless your righteousness exceeds" — exceeds what? Exceeds the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Unless your Christianity and your faith in God is so much less superficial than theirs. He says, "What do you neglect?" He says, "You neglect justice, you neglect mercy, you neglect faith, the love of God." You neglect these things. Look at the relationship between Christians in the church, and if you say, "I don't neglect mercy, I don't neglect any of these things" — look at the relationships of Christians in the church. How many churches are divided? How many brothers and sisters look at each other and they are not on speaking terms? Hypocrite. You haven't neglected mercy? You love your neighbor as yourself? Oh, brothers and sisters, I plead for honesty, that God may search our hearts and save us from that superficial Christianity of which the Pharisees were guilty.
Superficial religion, outward religion — that being a Christian is not smoking, not drinking, not reading Sunday papers, and not doing this, not doing that, not going to the dance hall, not going to the cinema. What is a Christian supposed to do? I had a friend. He became a Christian. He was once a playboy, a very handsome fellow, a real guy that drove all the girls mad, you know. And he became a Christian, and he stopped going to the dance hall, he stopped smoking, he stopped drinking. And one day we were having a meal together, and one of his friends came and opened a bottle of wine and said, "Come on, have a glass." And he said, "No thanks." The friend said, "You mean to say becoming a Christian is not smoking, not drinking, not going to dance halls? What do you do?" Good question. What does the Christian do? We know what he doesn't do. Maybe we would like to know what he does do. Being a Christian is doing something — is being righteous beyond that standard.
I see the lives of many Christians and I am truly ashamed — they don't even measure up to non-Christians. A little problem and they are chattering away: "Oh, there's this problem, and that problem today." I know many non-Christians who have many troubles in their lives, but they don't complain like this. I know my mother — before she believed, I deeply admired her. I often thought, if we Christians cannot even reach the living standard of a non-Christian, then we might as well not be Christians. I deeply admired my mother. What did she go through? So much suffering. Sick again and again. Pain beyond description. Sometimes she had migraine headaches — for three days the pain was so severe the sweat would pour down. Did she utter a single word of complaint? Did she say any grumbling words? Not a sound. Never a word. Let alone blaming God. She would not say a single word about her pain. Seeing her life, I said, we Christians cannot even match the life of a non-Christian. How can we still call ourselves Christians? It's shameful. We might as well not be Christians — otherwise we just bring disgrace to God. We must stand before the Lord and let each person be searched by God, to see the hypocrisy within our hearts. Because this is a matter of salvation.
It is time for us to close. But we must understand. We must reach the standard of righteousness that Jesus requires. We must go forth into this world, as we saw earlier, as the lights of the world, as the salt of the earth. And the Christians of today can hardly be described as either of these. We must reach the standard that Jesus set for us. And He said, "I send you out as light in the world, salt of the earth, distinct from the multitude." By what? By your light. What is light? Righteousness. What is righteousness? Jesus said it Himself: these are the good works that come by the power of God. Make no excuses for failure. Let God search our hearts and go out and live as He calls us to do.
But one last point, and the point is this: How can I meet such a standard? How can I live at this high calling? How can I be the light of the world? I can't reach it, Lord. And we will be inclined to give up in despair. We will say, "Lord, I can't make it." Let me tell you my experience as I close. I was a Christian for three years or so. And when I came out of China, I had suffered many things. I had learned many things. But I felt that the standard of my Christian life was still too low. I felt that many times I had failed the Lord in my conduct and my thinking. And you know what most Christians do? They go back to God and say, "Lord, forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with the precious blood and help me never do it again." And they do it the next day again. And so the next night they say, "Lord, forgive me," and they start all over again. And I was fed up with doing this kind of thing.
And one day I remember I was in Hong Kong. And I came back from church. I didn't remember a word that was said in church. I was walking along the road and I felt utterly depressed. And I said, "Lord, my Christian life is so poor." I think other people thought I was a wonderful Christian. But I knew my own self. I asked God to search my heart. And there what He showed me was that I had failed Him in every direction. And although everybody else thought I was a wonderful Christian, I knew better. I knew I wasn't. And I was fed up with this hypocrisy. Not that I intentionally wanted to be hypocritical, but that I simply could not attain the standard that Jesus wanted me to live up to.
And I remember that day I came back to the hostel where I was staying in Hong Kong, in Granville Road. I knelt down before God. And I said, "Lord, it's no use. I can't live the Christian life. I give up. I don't want to dishonor Your name anymore. I love You, Lord. And I don't want to dishonor Your name. From henceforth I don't want to call myself a Christian anymore. I don't want to disappoint all those people who thought I was such a good Christian. I just pray that You'll forgive me. I will always love You. But I don't want to take Your name in vain."
And you know, the Lord spoke to me. This is one of several times in which He spoke to me. And He speaks to those who come to Him in an earnest and honest spirit. He said, "I have never asked you to live the Christian life in your own strength. I have never asked you." I said, "Lord, how am I going to live it then?" "In the strength that I have provided. That's why I have given you My Holy Spirit. You have been trying to live in your own strength. That's where you have failed."
That's exactly where the Pharisees failed, you see. They had a high standard, and they tried with all their own strength to live up to that high standard. And outwardly they succeeded. Outwardly I succeeded too. Everybody thought I was a fine Christian, one of the leaders of the young people in the church that I had in Shanghai. And in Hong Kong I was already known by the news that had come ahead of me. But I knew what I really was. I knew that in my heart there was a lot of hypocrisy.
The Lord said, "I haven't asked you to live in your own strength. Live by the power of My Spirit." I said, "Lord, how? How can I live by the power of Your Spirit?" "Stop struggling and let the Spirit take over. Yield yourself to the Holy Spirit's control. Like a car — hand over the steering wheel to Him. He will take over. You've been trying so hard to live the Christian life that you haven't given God a chance to show His power in your life. You have been doing all the striving and all the struggling. And where does God come in? But now you stop, and let God take over your life."
You know, it was a new experience in my life. I knelt down before the Lord again and I said, "Lord, here's all my life. You take over. Full charge. You take over and run my life as You would have me run it. You carry on, and I will just be doing whatever You want me to do. You show me what I should think, what I should feel, what I should do, what I shall say. I shall not just go there and stick out my hand, 'How are you today? Be nice, sir,' and pat him on the back and be a real cheery, rosy Christian. Stop that stuff. Just let God live His life in you. Stop all the acting, and let's just be genuine. Let God live His life right through me, in His power."
You know, that was such an experience for me that it was revolutionary. I wondered why nobody had ever told me about that before. I had tried so hard to live the Christian life, couldn't make it. And God took over. That is why we need the Holy Spirit. How can we exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees? In only two ways. First, of course, we have to hand over our life completely to God — that is when we become regenerate. But we must go beyond that too, with more than just a confession of believing in Jesus in the normal sense, and let Jesus fill our lives with His Holy Spirit. "Be filled with the Spirit."
And because this teaching is not sufficiently understood, there is a great deal of confusion in the churches. The result is that Pentecostals say, "You've got to be filled and so speak in tongues." You know, mighty men of God have been filled but never spoken in tongues. In fact, the Lord Jesus Himself, who had the Spirit without measure — it is never reported that He spoke in any tongue. But it is the importance of being filled with the Spirit.
And you know, for me, that was a transforming experience. A Pentecostal experience, if you like. The whole thing seemed so simple. But when I got up from my knees, having handed the whole control of my life over to God, I became a new person. The Christian life ceased to be a struggle and a battle, and from now on God was in charge. I don't know whether you can follow what I mean, but if you follow those steps, you will enter into a new phase of the Christian life — a Spirit-filled phase of the Christian life. Every Christian must be filled with the Spirit. Otherwise you'll never make it. To be filled with the Spirit is the normal Christian life. It's not some unusual experience. It must be the normal thing in the Christian life. And then God takes over in your life.
You know, many Christians have never taken that step, with the result that they live through all their Christian life in a beggarly state. And if you live without God taking control, let me tell you this: you can never escape from hypocrisy. And the result is, you will always be like the Pharisees. That is why there is so much hypocrisy in the church — because there are too few Spirit-filled Christians.
"Search me, O Lord. Try my heart." And if you find anything wanting there, then say, "Lord, take over my whole life. I have struggled. I have fought. I can't make it." Who asks you to fight and struggle? His power is there. He takes over, and wonderful things happen. You become a channel of His power. So much so that God begins to do things for you. And where He will take you on from there is without limit. You might find that one day you lay hands on the sick and he is healed, as I have found again and again. And you find that you pray for a person and the person is changed. Amazing what is happening. You find that the prayer life is no longer a battle to think of what to pray. You just relax before God and let Him take full control, and He guides you into what to pray. Have you experienced that wonderful time of prayer where you just be quiet before God, and God says, "I want you to pray for this person"? So you pray for that person. You say, "What shall I pray for that person?" He tells you what to pray, and you pray. Then you say, "Who else?" And the Lord leads you on to another person. Or you just spend time worshipping and praising the Lord. Do you know what it means to be filled with the Spirit? If not, it's about time you found out. Because without being filled with the Spirit, you will never exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.
To surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees is not an easy thing. The Pharisees used their own strength to live a holy life. I shared my own experience — after believing in the Lord, I loved Him deeply and tried my best to do what pleased Him. I tried with all my own strength to live a life that glorified God. But I couldn't attain it. I was deeply disappointed. Finally I prayed and said, "Lord, I truly cannot live the life You want me to live. I don't have the ability. I can't do it." So I said, "Lord, I love You, but I cannot live this life. So I no longer want to call myself a Christian. I don't want to be a hypocrite. I will continue to love You, but I won't call myself a Christian anymore." But at that time, the Lord spoke to me with a very precious word. He said, "I never asked you to rely on your own strength to live My life. I gave you the Holy Spirit. Why are you still trying in your own strength? I gave you the Holy Spirit. You don't need to keep striving on your own." I said, "I'm sorry, Lord. I truly didn't see this."
From that time on, I handed my whole life over to the Lord. His power, His Holy Spirit filled me. And I discovered a new experience. After being filled with the Holy Spirit, living a holy life was no longer a battle. Because His power was there, living out that holy life. But today many Christians don't even know what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They think it's something only related to Pentecostals. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a simple biblical teaching — every person must welcome the Holy Spirit into their life. When the Holy Spirit controls your life, He gives you the power you need. Then you enter a new phase. Have you experienced this new phase? This new power at work in your life? Then you discover how great God's power is. Sometimes you pray for a sick person and they are healed. We have often experienced this. Or you pray for someone and their life is changed. It is the Holy Spirit working in your life. You become a new person. But without the Holy Spirit, you will never reach this requirement — to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. They relied on their own effort to achieve God's glory, to reach God's standard of righteousness. It cannot be done. But many Christians are still like this — not filled with the Holy Spirit, not welcoming the Spirit into their lives, still striving on their own. They strive and fail, grow discouraged, and finally say, "I can't do it. I give up. I guess I can't be a Christian." Discouraged to that point. Brothers and sisters, today we must see the Lord Jesus' teaching — to know that surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees is impossible by our own effort. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus came precisely to give us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the very life of the Lord Jesus within us. The Spirit brings the life of the Lord Jesus into our hearts, into our lives. So the Holy Spirit of God is something every Christian must have. Today, examine yourself before God. Ask yourself: Do I have the Holy Spirit?
You know what is one of the fruits of the Spirit? Have you ever thought about it? Self-control. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to run your life and to control yourself. He does not take away your personality. Never think so. When the Apostle Peter received the Holy Spirit, he wasn't less Peter than he was before. No, he was Peter at his perfect best. You see, never think that the Holy Spirit takes away your personality and reduces you to some kind of a robot. God doesn't want to do that. He created us to be what He wants us to be — in the fullness and in the splendor of what we should have been in Christ. And I say this because many Christians are afraid: "Oh no, if the Holy Spirit takes over my life, what am I going to be?" Don't you worry. You will be what you never were before, and in its perfection and beauty. You won't become a robot. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to be what you ought to be, in all the beauty of Christ. But He doesn't take away your character. Don't you worry about that.
Through the Holy Spirit we can have the beauty of Christ in our lives. Thus we can surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. This is the beauty of the life of Christ.
Let us then enter into the beauty, the fullness of the life that God has called us to. The excitement — I should say too, rightly so. What a wonderful life. I don't know why Christians want to live a miserable, defeated, hypocritical life when God has prepared for them a wonderful life in the Spirit. Now let us, in conclusion, sing hymn number 240.