INTRODUCTION

Let us freely acknowledge that the Person of Christ is more important than His teachings. If there are people more concerned with His doctrines than with Himself, such people are to be pitied. But having said this, let us also boldly declare that there can be no true worship of the Person of Christ without acceptance of His teachings.

A disciple is by definition a pupil or learner. For a professed follower of Christ to say that he does not enjoy and does not wish to hear much doctrine is simply to confess himself a bad disciple -- or no disciple at all. True love for Christ always causes us to love His words, even if for no other reason than that they are His words.

"If a man love me," said Jesus, "he will keep my words [John 14:33]. If you know Him as your Lord and Savior, put your love for Him to this simple test: How precious are His words to your heart? "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" [I John 5:3].

Our lesson is from three passages in Matthew setting forth some of the teachings of Jesus. Consider the following outline:

1. Faithfulness, Matthew 5:17-20. 
a. Regal reinforcement, 17-18. 
b. Reasonable rewards, 19. 
c. Required righteousness, 20. 

2. Foundations, Matthew 7:24-29. 
a. Observant obedience, 24-25. 
b. Disastrous disobedience, 26-27. 
c. Astonishing authority, 28-29. 

3. Fulfillment, Matthew 13:31-35 
a. Parables presented, 31-34. 
b. Parables prophesied, 35. 

NOTES ON THE TEXT:

FAITHFULNESS, Matthew 5:17-20.

Make no mistake about it: our salvation does not depend upon our faithfulness, but upon the faithfulness of God. Nevertheless we ought to be faithful, because He is faithful. The Bible gives no encouragement to antinomianism, nor does it offer any hope to "ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness" [Jude 4].

So we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ [Ephesians 2:8], but the faith that saves is the faith that works through love [Galatians 5:6], and a faith that will not work is a dead faith that cannot save I James 2:14-16].

Hear then the insistence of Jesus that believers in need to be faithful to Him, obeying all His commandments.

Regal Reinforcement, 17-18.

No matter that the words of Jesus are plain enough for a child to understand, there are still people who say that Jesus did destroy the law and the prophets, while other heretics say that the law is set aside for a time, but is to be observed again in a future age. Such notions were never found in the Scriptures.

Highley Commentary says on verse 17: "There were three basic ways in which Jesus fulfilled the law. First, He was the only One Who was ever able to keep all of the regulations of the law perfectly. Second, He gave reality to all of the types and prophecies found in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. Third, He went to Calvary to pay the penalty of death which the law demanded for sin."

To this summary we may add that through His work of redemption He brought it to pass "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk no after the flesh, but after the Spirit" [Romans 8:4].

King of our heavenly kingdom, Jesus thus gave regal reinforcement to the unchanging Word of God, including the law and the prophets.

Reasonable Rewards, 19.

Unfaithful disciples might obey what they consider to be the most important commandments: the real test of obedience comes on. what seem like the least commandments, to be obeyed merely from a desire to please the King. It is right and reasonable, therefore, that the King should reward His servants who are faithful in small matters with high position in His kingdom.

Certainly this does not mean that we can afford to be pharisaical and neglect weightier matter while attending to trifles [Matthew 23:23]. Rather it means that, while we should put first things first, our obedience should extend even to the least of Godfs commandments. This is the way of greatness in His kingdom.

Required Righteousness, 20.

Entering the kingdom of heaven is impossible without the new birth [Matthew 18:3; John 3:5]. Our own good works are not good enough. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, the righteousness of our own obedience to God's holy law, is not good enough. We must have nothing less than the perfect righteousness of God in Christ, freely imputed to us through faith [Philippians 3:9].

FOUNDATIONS, Matthew 7:24-29.

We often speak of building a life, and Jesus used this common figure to emphasize the importance of heeding His words. Great Teacher that He was, He warned of poor foundations rather than poor structures, knowing that a builder with wisdom to choose a good foundation would also have the wisdom to erect a good structure upon it; while on the other hand the best of buildings would come to ruin if built on a poor foundation.

Observant Obedience, 24-25.

"Rock" here is bedrock in the earth, no part of the wise man's building, but solid rock on which he could build. Spiritually speaking, of course, the rock represents Christ, for "other foundation can no man lay" [I Corinthians 3:11]. The wise man represents the believer who both hears and does what Jesus says. The rain, floods, and winds represent the spiritual trials and judgments of God, before which the believer will not fall, because he stands safe on the merits of Christ his Savior.

Disastrous Disobedience, 26-27.

"Sand" may represent the shifting natural but false hopes and religions of this world. The foolish man represents one who hears the words of Jesus, but continues in unbelief and so fails to do what Jesus says. The building of his life, no matter how good it may look for a while, will fall to utter ruin under the judgments of God.

Astonishing Authority, 28-29.

No mere man could issue such warnings, demanding complete obedience to his words, without being either a fool or a fraud. Jesus was neither, but He was more than a mere man. "The people were astonished at his doctrine" in those days, and they still are today, when anyone bothers to find out what he taught. His authority was the authority of God's Word, the authority of God.

FULFILLMENT, Matthew 13:31-35.

Parables, said Jesus, are designed both to conceal and to reveal "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven." Read verse 10 to 17 of this chapter. We need to beware of preachers and commentators who seek to "prove" strange new doctrines by fantastic interpretations of parables. Let us find our doctrines in the plain statements of Scripture rather than in questionable interpretations.

Remarkably, quite opposite interpretations of the two parables included in this lesson can be justified by "fulfillment" in history.

Parables Presented, 31-34.

Traditionally these two parables, the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven, have been inter- preted as prophesying the phenomenal growth of Christianity, and who can deny that there has been such growth? Yet the parable of the leaven is sometimes misused to teach a gradual "Christianization" of this present world, an idea which is not supported either by the Bible or by history. In fact, the "three measures" of the parable would seem rather to suggest a more limited extent for the leavening influence.

Quite contrary to the traditional interpretations, some writers make the mustard seed represent unnatural and mons- trous growth, and the leaven to be sinful heresies corrupting Christianity. Statistically and materially, Christianity certainly has grown greatly since the first century; we may even say with a great deal of truth that much of that growth has been rather unnatural and monstrous. Moreover, it is certainly true that most of nominal Christianity has become internally corrupted, but whether this is the doctrine of this parable is another question. After all, Jesus did not liken the kingdom of heaven to the meal, but to the leaven.

Parab1es Prophesied, 35.

Regardless of interpretations, we are now plainly told that Jesus' frequent use of parables was itself a fulfillment of prophecy. While the multitudes might not understand the truths concealed in the parables, when they were apart from the crowd Jesus "expounded all things to his disciples" [Mark 4:34].

CONCLUSION [Psalm 25:4]

If and when we are willing to follow His ways, God will show us. "Teach" implies more than "show." The only way we can be taught the paths of God is to have the experience of walking in them.

[From Ashland Avenue Baptist paper, January 3, 1975, 1976, pp. 2-3. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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