Acts of Righteousness

Well, it is a privilege to be here. Uh Ramona has uh my wife right here and she has said that's been on her bucket list to make it to Hawaii and so we have finally done it. We had to get our son into the military and then get him stationed over here to have that happen. And so we're we're grateful for that. Um we are missionaries in uh Germany. We started off in Eastern Germany. We were there for 3 years and uh had uh was there for language uh language training and then we were helping out in a a Baptist church with a missionary there and then uh we also uh went to the city of Vittenberg which was about um about 2 hours away hour and a half and it was the city where Martin Luther nailed a 95 thesis on the church door and we were filling in for missionary as they went on furlow.

So we were there for eight months and then we were helping out another missionary uh in the city of Leipig um for probably about four months and then we moved in 2003 and we started the Fry Baptist mind and we've been uh in the same location since then. So 23 years Fry Baptist Baptisting 26 years total in Germany and so it's been a great privilege and we're excited about what the Lord is doing. And as I mentioned this morning in Sunday school that um uh as of uh the December 14th of 2025 um I was voted in to be pastor of American Military Church. So now we have two ministries that we are juggling and Lord is blessing.

We're really excited. We've had baptisms. We've had church uh members join or members joining to be uh people joining to be members. There we go. Uh so we're we're excited about what the Lord has for us in the future and we are extremely busy, but we are very thankful to be able to take the time out to be here. Uh we got our youngest daughter to college in Pensacola. That was what precipitated the trip to the states and then we just continued the the journey on here. So we're just very grateful. uh I talked about uh in Sunday school about uh what is the great need and that is the gospel of the kingdom and why it is so important and want to look again uh at Matthew chapter 5 and we're going to look at getting along with people uh in uh being righteous amongst unrighteous people and the the Lord made a statement um in John the Gospel of John, he said that by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, that ye have love one for another.

And it is a a command that Jesus has given us that we are to love one another. And if that is going to be the way that people know that we are his disciples, that we have love one for another, you would think that that would be uh an easy thing to do. But the sad reality is that the probably one of the biggest reasons why people don't get saved is because of Christians not loving one another. Uh Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as making the statement whether it's true or not I don't know but he said that he would become a Christian because he likes the message that Jesus gave but the reason he doesn't become a Christian is because of Christians.

And as you look through the New Testament, you find uh many people falling away. And even the apostle John when he was trying to come and make a visit, he says desires a preeminence and would not allow the apostle John of all people to come and be a part of a church service. And so we see here there is a an element in our Christianity that we need to work on and that is loving other people. And one of the greatest challenges we have as people is to love people. And there's a reason why the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 5 or chapter 6 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. People are not our enemy.

And though but though people are the ones that cause us a lot of grief, they're not the enemy. And as you look here in in Matthew chapter 5, the sermon on the mount and just to preface it, we look at chapter 4 and we look at verse 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He underlined that the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom, and healed all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went out throughout all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people, and were taken with diseases and torments, and those that were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had pauses.

And he healed them. And there followed him a great multitude of people from Galilee, from Decapus, from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. We see that Jesus is starting his ministry and he's going out into the synagogues into the regions around and about and people saw in him something that resonated with them. And as he started talking about the good news of the kingdom, he's talking about the gospel of the kingdom. There was this anticipation that the people had that maybe this is the Messiah, the one that would come and deliver us from the oppression that we are experiencing and re-establish the kingdom to Israel.

There was the prophecies that the divinic line would endure forever. And so they were anticipating that the Messiah would come reestablish the kingdom. And you see throughout his ministry, people were following him and anticipating is this now the hour? Is this now the time? And as he was approaching Jerusalem, the people were gathering this anticipation. And as he entered in riding on the f of an ass and he's fulfilling the prophecy and people were calling out, "Hosana, hosana to God to the highest." They saw the fulfillment of the prophecy that the king would be riding in on a donkey. And so they saw him as the king.

So there's this anticipation. So now they're gathered together and they're going to listen to what he has to say. And then he starts to speak and we see in verse one of chapter 5 and seeing the multitude he went up into the mountain and when he was said his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and he taught them. And he starts out with this very first verse he says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Then if you look at verse 10 it says uh blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then we see in verse six, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

There is this kingdom that Jesus alludes to throughout his ministry. And we tend to think about the kingdom in our day and hour as the kingdom is when Christ returns to establish the millennial kingdom. We refer to that as the kingdom and that's what our anticipation is. But here Jesus is talking about the kingdom is is everpresent. Then John the Baptist said, "Behold, the kingdom is near. Repent, therefore." And so we see he's talking about this kingdom and then he articulates what the characteristics of those that are in the kingdom are. They're poor in spirit. They're persecuted for righteousness sake and they hunger and thirst after righteousness.

So we look and we see that this righteousness that he talks about. And then if you look in verse 17, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. So Jesus here is talking to the multitudes. He's talking about the kingdom. And he says, here's the characteristics of those that are in the kingdom. And that they are thirsting and and hungry after righteousness. And he said that the poor in spirit are the ones that inherit the kingdom. And then he's talking about uh hungering and thirsty and those that are persecuted for righteousness sake. So he emphasizes this righteousness.

If you look at what the definition of righteousness is, it's the state of him who is as he ought to be righteous. The condition acceptable to God. There is a sense of justice, integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling and acting. So this righteousness is very integral into being a part of the kingdom. And then so we see here that Jesus then says he has come to fulfill the law not to destroy it. So now he's bridging the old testament with the new testament says I am not destroying anything that the prophets have laid down. Nothing that Moses has laid down. Everything that is in the Torah of the first five books of penetuk and all the prophets I'm come to fulfill not to destroy.

And he says this for a very specific reason because there's a group of people that are surrounding Jesus and watching him. And those are the scribes and the Pharisees. And they're watching to see what is he going to say? How is he going to act? And what is he going to present to the people and what they really were anticipating that the Messiah would come from their ranks that one of them would be the Messiah. And so we see here he says, "Now listen, I am not come to destroy the law to fulfill it." And then he says here in verse 18, "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot and one tit 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." Notice how he says, "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." So now he's laying this groundwork for what he's about to launch into. And he's saying that you're you you he's not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And if there's anyone that teaches the law and breaks it, he's going to be least in the kingdom. But if you teach it and you and you abide by it, you'll be considered great in the kingdom.

And so then he says here in verse 20, for I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no wise in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. So now he's saying that your righteousness has to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. Except your righteousness exceed that you shall not enter into the kingdom. And the scribes and the Pharisees, a very interesting group of people. And I want you to look in Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 2 23. We're going to come back here to to Matthew 5. But Matthew chapter 23, he he says to the multitude, "Unless your righteousness exceed that is of the scribes and the Pharisee, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven."

Now, I want to make clear, he's not talking about entering into heaven as we uh think of heaven as we are saved. We have uh repented of our sins. We've accepted Jesus as our savior. And as pastor mentioned this morning, it's a relationship with him and that he may be your savior, but is he your lord? And this is what Jesus is talking about. You you can be saved, but not in the kingdom in an active sense. And so he says here to the scribes and the Pharisees is unless your righteousness exceeds them, you shall not enter into the kingdom. Now, we're not talking about heaven because there's nothing that you can do to earn your way into heaven.

That is a gift of God. It's not because of anything that we've done. Jesus paid the price on the cross. He's made the way available. He invites us into a relationship with him so that we can be with him for all eternity. So, we look at this kingdom idea and we say, "Well, what is he talking about? He's talking about you are in a relationship with Christ that is so intimate that you are as if you are in heaven and you're living experiencing that that life that Jesus says that he came to give and to give in abundance. And then he says to come and follow him and that he will give us life. And so if you look at Matthew chap 23 and we see then Jesus spake to the multitudes in verse one and said to his disciples saying he's talking to his disciples and he says the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do but do not after the works for they say and do not.

And then he goes down and lists what they do. They put heavy burdens and grievous to be born upon the people. They desire the the highest places in the synagogues. They enjoy the greetings in the marketplace. So you you can get the idea. They were the preeminent in society. In Jewish society, they were it. They were the ones that knew the law. They ones that had the connections, the political connections. They were ones that were adjudicating people's problems. And so they were part of the Sanhedrin, the part of this the ruling body in Jerusalem. So they had power. They had influence. They had prestige and they marveled with it.

And it and it reminded me of as you mentioned this morning about about the king and and how he did what was right, but his heart was not right with God. So, he's ticking off the boxes. I'm going to do what I'm required to do, but he's not in a relationship with God. And so, we see the same thing with the Pharisees. And so, then we look down and what he begins to say in verse 13. and talking about the scribes and the Pharisees. And this is what he says in verse 13. He says, "But woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For neither go ye in yourselves, neither suff them that are entering to go in."

So he's not talking about your salvation. He's talking about this intimate relationship with God that you can enjoy. You can have those those benefits of God working on your behalf. [snorts] But he says here, "Woe unto you because you're hypocrites, you shut up the kingdom of heaven." There are many people that will that will promise you the rainbow. They will promise you fortune. And as you start getting pulled in, they will start moving the goalpost. Well, okay, that was good. I'm glad you got in, but now you're going to have to do a little bit more. Now you have to do even more. And and and you see this.

He said, "Well, I'm not getting anything." And people then get discouraged and they leave. And and how many times have you heard people say, "Well, come to church and all your problems will go away. All you need to do is get saved and then all your problems are taken care of." And people will say, "Okay, this is I want all my problems to be taken care of." And so they enter into into the program and they still have problems. Well, you're not committed enough. You're not giving enough. You're not devoted enough. They said, "Well, how much is it going to take?" And so he says, "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourself, neither suffer ye them to go in who want to go in." So here they are the gatekeepers. They know the law. They know the scriptures. In fact, when the wise men came at the birth of Christ after he was born and they were inquiring, where is the newborn king of the Jews? They went to the priests. They went to the the the Levites. They went to the scribes. They went to the Pharisees. And what sayeth the scriptures? He says, "Well, in Bethlehem of Judea. That's where he's going to be born." So, they knew the ins and outs, but they themselves did not enter into that relationship.

He calls them hypocrites. He says, "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees." Verse 14, "For you devour widows, houses, and pretense make long prayers. Therefore, ye shall receive the greater damnation." He keeps going down. Woe unto you scribes and verse 16. Woe unto you you blind guides. Then uh then he goes down uh even further he says woe unto you in verse 23 scribes and Pharisee hypocrites for you pay tithe of might and anus and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law judgment mercy and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone. So he goes down through this list and he says that you have shut up the kingdom of heaven.

You devour widow's houses. You make procelites twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. He says, you twist the law and you omit judgment, mercy, and faith. And if you look further in verse 23, in verse 24, he say, "Blind guides you strained a knat and swallow a camel. And woe unto you scribes and Pharisees in verse 25, hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortions and excess. Thou blind Pharisees, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like unto whited supplers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are full of dead man bones and of all uncleanness.

He goes through and he calls them hypocrites. And yet at the beginning of this chapter in verse one, he tells his disciples they sit in Moses's seat. They have a legitimate spot. They do know the word of God. They are there because of the need of the culture. And so he says they have a place of respect. So as they give out the word of God, you are to take it and act upon it, but not the way that they do because they themselves are hypocrites. That now there is a there is a commandment that ye shall shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And we tend to think that means in the way we speak.

Don't speak in a way that would be dishonoring to God to take his name and and use it in a unsavory way. But how many of us claim the name of Christ and then act in an unrighteous way? We are taking the name of the Lord in vain. Because as believers, we have the name of Christ. We are part of his family. We bear the name of Christ. And if we take that name with us and we go and do things that are not righteous, we are then hypocrites and we take the name of the Lord in vain. And here we are trying to be light in a world of darkness. And if our light is darkness, how dark is that? And so he says that we are to not omit the judgment, the mercy and faith.

Not to strain at a dinat and swallow a camel, and not to be beautiful outward, but be filled with dead men bones, but we are to be cleansed through and through. And this brings us back to Matthew chapter 5. Go back to Matthew chapter 5. So now we've seen the criticism against the scribes and the Pharisees and Jesus says unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. So here is this invitation that Jesus is giving to the people to the multitude and he gives to us as we go through the word of God. We see that we have this privilege of to be able to be dependent upon him to have and meet our needs.

And as wonderful as it was illustrated this morning as Hezekiah laid out the needs of the of the kingdom and said, "God, this is the demands that is being placed upon us and we can't we can't meet this. We need your intervention." And as you receive notes and you receive you look at the the needs that you have and the burdens that you have and you lay it out before the Lord and and we have that privilege of being able to trust in him and have him to meet our daily needs. And so we have to have this righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees if we're going to have that intimate relationship that is so close that as Jesus says in Matthew chapter uh in John chapter 14 that if we obey his commandments and keep his commandments and love him he will love us and manifest himself to us.

And that manifestation of God in our lives is that outworking of God's love through us and to others. and that by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another. And so we look at this in Matthew chapter 5 once again in verse 20. He says, "For I say unto you, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisee, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Then he sets off to list, ye have heard, but I say unto you, this is the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees that we have to exceed. And he begins by talking about our relationship with other people.

And he does this in a general sense. And then he starts narrowing it down and then in getting it even down into the marital relationship, our relationship with each other in a family sense. And if we understand that we are created in the image of God and we're supposed to be getting along with each other, especially as believers, a household of faith, and that people when they enter into this place, and we have experienced it this morning, that there's a love for each other and a love for your community, a love for your pastor, a love for your church. And people should see this not only here on Sunday, but they should see it on Monday, on Tuesday.

It should be that when people encounter you and they talk to you and they see that you are also faced with problems and and burdens and challenges, but they should be able to walk away from it and say, "Wow, you handle that so well." You must belong to Ohana Baptist Church because everybody that I know that goes there is like this. A sense of love, a sense of of of community, a sense of of dependency upon God. And so he says in verse 28, "Ye have heard that it has been said of them of old time that thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment." So these are the acts of righteousness ye have heard, thou shalt not kill.

Then as you go down through this list, in verse 27, ye have heard that is said of them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. In verse 33 again, ye have heard it said of them of old time, thou shalt not foresear thyself. In verse 38, and ye have heard that it had been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. And in all these, he then says, but I say unto you, in verse 43, you have heard that it has been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you, Jesus said, I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And he takes the law and he says, this is how the scribes and Pharisees have twisted it and use it to their own advantage to control and manipulate the people.

But I say unto you, this is how you are to respond and to interact with each other. the acts of righteousness. But I say unto you in verse 22, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother Raqqa, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. He lays out a very strong admonition to us not to be angry. It's easy for us to get triggered, to get angry. And he says, don't get angry without a cause. Now, there are times that we do get angry. We get upset. We get angry at sin.

We get angry at the sinful nature of of humanity. But and there's a cause, but it's not for us to take out the judgment. God is the judge and God is the executioner of that judgment. So what he says not to be angry without a cause. And if we are, we are in danger of the judgment. We will stand before God to give an account of why we acted the way we did. I have dealt with people who have reacted to a situation in such a way that they are now guilty of violating the law. And they tried to justify. I said, "But you don't know what they did to me." And I have to tell them, it says, "It doesn't matter what they did to you.

You are to respond in the way that is appropriate for a Christian to respond to people." And we think about how did Jesus respond to those that reviled him. As he hung on the cross, he made the statement, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Forgiveness is what Jesus exhibited to those who are crying for his crucifixion. And he said, "Father, forgive them." He says, "Be not angry without a cause." And then he says, "Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raqqa shall be in danger." It's like saying, "You are a senseless and empty-headed person." He says, "You'll be in danger of the council.

You'll be called into account for this the attitude that you have towards other people, especially to your brother, your brother and sister in Christ." and you're going to come to them and say, "What are you, a fool?" Not exhibiting that love that you're supposed to have for each other. And then he goes on to say this in a generality, don't be angry without a cause. And then he says, uh, "Don't call your brother a fool." That and then he says in relationship to the fool, but whoever shall say, "Thou fool shall be in danger of hellfire." a specific judgment that will be brought upon someone who is discounting a brother in Christ.

So what are we supposed to do in verse 23? Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest thou that thy brother have ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." So he's saying be reconciled. The acts of righteousness that we're supposed to be exhibiting that will set us apart from the world and how the world responds to injustice is that we seek reconciliation. If I have a a brother that's offended because of something that I have done and I know it, I'm not going to hold that prideful spirit and say, "Well, they're just going to have to get over it."

You're going to have to deal with it. I've done nothing wrong. You have offended somebody whether intentional or unintentional and now you're wanting to come and present an offering to God and say listen I want this ministry to thrive and to be successful but you have people that are angry at you or upset at you have been offended and you know that and many times ministries flounder or they stall because they may have a good intention but they're not in right standing with their fellow believers. So he says, "Leave the gift there." And he says to go be reconciled to thy brother. That's your brother.

Be reconciled with them. And then he goes on to say in verse 25, "Agree with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison." Agree with thy adversary. someone who's outside of the church, a non-believer who has a grievance against you, and it could be a legitimate grievance, or maybe it's not legitimate, but he's taking you to a court of law. He said, "Listen, we can remedy this. What is the problem? And let's make it right. There's no need to go to the judge because a judge may rule against you by worldly standards.

And it says that we should suffer offense. And if they call for us to give a shirt, do we give them our coat, too? If he calls for us to go a mile, we go two miles. Because it's not about us. It's about God. It's about loving people and reaching and serving others. So he says, "Don't be angry. Don't seek revenge. Don't seek retribution, but be reconciled to each other. Because he says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, that ye have love one for another." Acts of righteousness goes a long way in reaching people for the kingdom. And as the people see that we are seeking to reconcile, to make things right.

And it's not about me being right. It's about me loving other people and making sure that we're not offending our brothers and sisters and not taking advantage of others, not using our liberty in Christ to take advantage of that liberty, be reconciled. And what Jesus does for us, he says, "The injustice that you suffered, I will make up for that." And he does in marvelous ways. You let God be the judge. You act greater than the Pharisees. And to say, "It's not about me having privilege. It's not about me having status. It's not about me having influence. It's about me doing what God has called me to do." acts of righteousness. We can do them and we can win the lost as they see how we interact and how we love one another.