Good News
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | Butch Smith
Matthew 5-7
D. Martin Lloyd-Jones casts a powerful vision for revival when he states, “Here is the life to which we are called,” and maintains that if every Christian were living the Sermon on the Mount, “the great revival for which we are praying and longing would already have started.” Well? Does that seem too far-fetched?
The religious leaders certainly thought so. They hated Jesus and His teaching enough to have Him crucified for it.
Jesus sits down to teach His disciples while a crowd gathers and listens. Blessed, happy, fortunate are those changed by the gospel. The Beatitudes show us the childlike, never childish, faith of those who trust in the words of the Father.
In Matthew 5:20, Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
A self-righteous religion of “works” saves no one. Only by trusting in what Jesus has done, in fulfillment of the law, and never in what we do, can we be right with a holy God. By grace through faith, the righteousness of Christ is credited to the believer’s account (2 Corinthians 5:21). A “not guilty” verdict changes our eternity—and our every day.
Practically, Jesus reteaches the way of righteousness and gives us a right understanding of God’s Word. He teaches the right heart of the Law, addressing anger, lust, divorce, oaths, enemies, generosity, prayer, forgiveness, stewardship, worry, judging, the narrow gate, and more. He warns us about bad fruit and false teachers, but perhaps most seriously, He warns against the deception of unbiblical self-righteousness.
Self-deception is the worst.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:21–23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” Many will point to their religious works, only to hear Jesus say, “I never knew you.”
Perhaps revival is closer than we think. According to Jesus, right living follows right belief. His righteousness, received by faith, becomes ours—and that righteousness begins to transform the way we live.
This is good news!