June 22, 2025 • 48 mins
Jesus challenges every checklist we’ve ever used to grade ourselves. In Matthew 5:17-48 He insists that real righteousness reaches far beneath behavior to the motives that fuel it. Pastor Mark Medley unpacks this mind-bending section of the Sermon on the Mount by comparing it to international travel: you won’t get far in Ireland if you drive on the American side of the road, and you’ll overpay in France if you keep thinking in dollars instead of euros.
Likewise, God’s kingdom operates on its own measurements. Mark walks through five areas where Jesus resets the scale:
- Anger & Murder – Hatred incubates homicide. Deal with the heart first.
- Lust & Adultery – Imagination steers action; protect the inner life.
- Oaths & Integrity – Let “yes” mean “yes” without legal loopholes.
- Retaliation & Mercy – Drop the scoreboard and absorb the hit.
- Enemies & Love – Pray blessing on the very people who wound you.
Each raises the standard beyond human reach (“Be perfect as your Father is perfect”) and sends us back to the opening Beatitude—poverty of spirit. That honest acknowledgment opens the door for a miracle Ezekiel predicted: God replaces stone hearts with living ones and powers obedience from the inside out.
Mark also exposes the trap of religious rule-keeping. Sadducees, Pharisees, and Zealots all had lists, but none could convert God’s currency of love. Rules alone breed division (“my list versus yours”) and miss the Law’s true intent. Jesus fulfills the Law, then writes it on our hearts through the Holy Spirit so we can carry kingdom culture into everyday life—marriage, parenting, offices, and neighborhoods.
Ready to rethink success? Hit play and let the red letters re-measure everything. Then share the message so friends can discover the freedom of living by heaven’s standards instead of earth’s scorecards.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mark Medley (00:03):
So Amy and I just returned from Europe, and it was
a great trip.
Except, when you go to anothercountry, you know you have to
get used to some things, right?
Like you have to think aboutthe way they think, because
they're not like us.
Have you noticed?
Other places aren't always likeyou, right?
(00:24):
You have to think about the waythey measure too.
And you have to think about theway they measure too, and you
have to think about the way theydrive in the other countries.
So you have to enter theirculture, and a culture can be
defined as the way we do thingsaround here.
That's just a simple way to doit, the way we do things.
And so you have to deal withbeing in a metric country with a
(00:45):
standard brain.
Okay, because you, you dorealize that the United States
is one of only three nations inthe entire world that that
measures things the way we do,right?
Two of the other ones are thirdworld nations.
We're just proud, that's all.
We're just not going to change.
That's the way that is.
And then you have to get usedto driving on the opposite.
(01:05):
I drove for one week on theopposite side of the road, which
is not right.
I mean it's literally not right, it's left, it's not right at
all.
Well, the steering wheel's onthe right, the car is on the
left, and so it took two of usto drive.
Actually, it's like okay, left,left, left, left, left all the
time.
And we met our friends there.
(01:28):
Actually, amy's best friend andher husband were there.
It happened to be in Ireland.
It was a really providentialmeeting, and he had been driving
for two weeks on the wrong sideof the road, and so what he
told me was a good day in thisis in Ireland.
A good day in Ireland is anyday when the airbag does not
(01:50):
deploy, and I said that's great,that's what we're praying for,
and no deployment of airbagsPraise God for that.
But you have to do things theway they do things, or else it
can be really dangerous.
It could be even fatal.
Right, and I've encounteredother.
Have you ever been to a placethat is not like you?
(02:12):
They just do things reallydifferently.
I've encountered other places,other important rules that can
make or break your connectionwith people or your ability to
minister to people in differentcultures.
For example, if you're in someHindu and some Muslim cultures,
it's really, really rude, it'slike an insult to show the
(02:32):
bottoms of your feet so youcan't cross your feet when
you're sitting like this.
You can't do that.
So a lot of times I'm like Iforget and I remember it's like,
okay, wait a minute, you got tosit like this.
I forget and I remember it'slike okay, wait a minute, you've
got to sit like this.
And one time I was taken in tovisit an African chief in a
village and I was debriefed, notdebriefed, pre-briefed.
(02:56):
Is that a thing?
Pre-briefed as to how youactually approach the chief.
You don't make eye contact atall, you look at the ground.
You don't make eye contactuntil you're spoken to, you're
addressed, and then you can makeeye contact.
In Bulgaria, especially theolder people in Bulgaria, the
(03:19):
way they say yes is they shaketheir heads.
So you can be talking tosomebody and they're doing this
and you, and especially whenyou're preaching and you're like
half the congregation is going.
So please don't do that thismorning.
It does throw you off a littlebit and it's like you feel like
(03:41):
I'm making a really importantpoint.
It's like and they're reallygoing, but you don't know that.
It's just very strange.
The point is and also if youmake a mistake in understanding
which kind of money, whichcurrency, they're talking about.
It can cost you a lot of money.
So the point is you have toknow something about the culture
(04:02):
, how they do things aroundthere, of any country if you
want to function in that countryor a region of a country.
I just met this week Kelsey andRyan who moved here from
California, which is verydifferent than East Tennessee,
and so that's part of part ofthat.
Is like getting used to gettingused to the culture, right, but
companies have culture.
Families have culture is likegetting used to the culture,
(04:24):
right, but companies haveculture, families have culture.
There's a way you do things inyour household.
Churches have culture.
So you have to think about andeven adapt to a culture, right?
So there's two important thingsyou have to do.
When you travel to anothercountry, you have to convert to
their currency.
My dollars are no good there.
They're no good at all.
You have to do.
When you travel to anothercountry, you have to convert to
(04:44):
their currency.
My dollars are no good there.
They're no good at all.
You have to convert.
And the second thing is youhave to adapt to their culture,
especially the way they measurethings, how you pay for things,
how you measure things.
It's important.
So in the Sermon on the Mountseries that we're talking about,
this is what Jesus is doing.
Jesus is introducing us to aculture that we may be
(05:08):
unfamiliar with, that we'relearning to assimilate into.
He's teaching us the currencyof heaven and the culture and
the way they do things, the waythey measure things in heaven.
So there are things that aretold to us by our culture and
even our religious backgroundsthat may be opposite of the way
that God thinks.
(05:29):
So here's what I want you toknow this morning is, if we are
going to follow Jesus, we haveto learn to distinguish the
voices of our culture from theeternal truth of God's word.
We have to convert our thinkingto this new kingdom or else
we're not going to function init.
(05:49):
So that's the idea.
So the questions we have to askourselves this morning is in
what ways are our thoughts andour ways of living different
than the kingdom of heaven thatJesus is speaking about in the
Sermon on the Mount?
So that's what we're talkingabout this morning.
What is the currency of heavenand how does heaven measure
(06:10):
things?
How does heaven measure what'simportant?
So Tyler, a couple of weeks agolaid a great foundation, and he
was talking about thedifference between the kingdom
of the world and the kingdom ofheaven.
Kelly challenged us last week,too, to basically step up and be
what Jesus said we already are,which is salt and light.
(06:32):
And so I want to go through therest of chapter five this
morning, and there are so manythings.
Jesus covered so many importantthings in the rest of chapter
five, but I want to get to theintent of what he was teaching
here by following his line ofthought through here.
He has a phrase that he usesthrough the whole rest of the
(06:53):
chapter about changing the waywe measure things, and measuring
is really important, right?
One thing my dad taught me.
My dad was like he could doalmost anything.
He could build things, he couldconceive things and build them,
and one of the things hedrilled into my head was measure
(07:14):
twice, cut once, right, right,Right, andy, because if you
measure once, you might have tocut twice, and you might
actually Three or four times.
That's really good, thank you.
Of course, you wouldn't knowthat.
You're not old enough yet.
So measure real good, that'sthe point, right, and then you
(07:38):
can make the cut right.
How do we measure things theway heaven does?
I'm going to actually take therest of chapter five, not read
the whole rest of chapter five.
I want to take some of thosestatements that Jesus made that
are like changing the way youmeasure things.
And so we're going to skip alittle bit through here, Not
(07:59):
because the rest of it isn'timportant, because it's really
important, but to get his lineof thinking through here.
So we're going to start withverse 17.
And Jesus said this do notthink that I've come to abolish
the law or prophets.
I've not come to abolish them,but to fulfill them.
And then, in verse 20, I tellyou that unless your
(08:23):
righteousness exceeds that ofthe scribes and Pharisees,
you'll never enter the kingdomof heaven.
And if we go on down to verse21, you heard it was said to the
people long ago do not murder,and anyone who murders will be
subject to judgment.
But I tell you that anyone whois angry with his brother will
(08:45):
be subject to judgment.
And then, further down, he saysyou've heard it said do not
commit adultery.
But I tell you that anyone wholooks at a woman lustfully has
already committed adultery withher in his heart.
And then Matthew 5, verse 33again, you've heard it said to
(09:07):
the people long ago do not breakyour oath, but keep oaths that
you've made to the Lord.
But I tell you, do not swear atall.
Simply let your yes be yes andyour no no.
In verse 43, you've heard it wassaid love your neighbor and
hate your enemy, but I tell you,love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you that youmay be sons of your Father in
(09:30):
heaven.
And verse 48, therefore, youtherefore must be perfect, as
your heavenly Father is perfect.
Well, father, we thank you forthe words of Jesus, we value the
words of Jesus and we want tobe a part of your kingdom
(09:53):
culture, lord, and we do realizethat we think in ways that are
different than your ways, andyour ways are not our ways.
Your thoughts are not ourthoughts.
But, Lord, you did say come,let's reason together, says the
Lord, and you did say, thoughour sins are as scarlet, they'll
(10:14):
be white like snow.
Lord, we ask you that you wouldopen our eyes to see this
morning what we need to see fromyour word.
We welcome your Holy Spirit toenlighten us in Jesus' name,
amen.
So Jesus is showing the cultureof the kingdom of God.
He's also changing the unit ofmeasurement here, right?
So this sermon, I think he'stelling us that you can have the
(10:34):
wrong unit of measurement andit can be disastrous, like
eternally disastrous.
I mean, if you miscalculatebecause of the currency, you
might lose a little money, oryou might be embarrassed if you
do some social faux pas in adifferent country.
But it's a whole differentthing to make a mistake when
(10:57):
heaven and hell are at stake,right?
This is really important.
We need to understand this.
When Jesus said, do not thinkthat I've come to abolish the
law and prophets.
I've not come to abolish them,but to fulfill them.
What he was saying was Ihaven't come to do away with the
things that you've known of,but I've come to show you the
(11:18):
actual intent of it.
I've come to show you what itreally means, what it really
points to, and it's refocusingus on the things that are most
important and where those thingscome from.
There's a proverb in Proverbs 4,verse 23.
It says keep your heart withall vigilance, watch over your
(11:40):
heart, be careful about yourheart, because for it flows the
springs of life.
Everything comes from yourheart.
And this is what heart, becausefor it flows the springs of
life.
Everything comes from yourheart and this is what Jesus was
getting at right.
In fact, jesus said somethingreally similar.
He said a good man from thegood treasure of a good heart
brings forth good things, andthe evil man, from the evil
(12:00):
treasure of an evil heart bringsforth evil things.
What is in your heart is whatcomes out, so outside is just
the fruit of the root.
And Jesus is saying you'veheard it said fruit things, but
I tell you root things.
This is what he's talking about.
(12:22):
He's getting down to the verythoughts and intents of the
heart, because out of your heartflows everything.
And I think okay.
So if you just take a pause, asecond and think about this with
me, think about the most holyperson that you can think of,
either that you know personallyor that you've heard of even in
(12:44):
history, someone who is theclosest to God, living the most
godly lifestyle, the picture ofright living or holy living to
you.
Think of it, the closest personto God that you know of.
Get that person in your heartand keep that guy or that woman
in your heart.
That guy or that woman in yourheart.
People, the people that Jesuswas speaking to that day, the
(13:07):
most holy people that they knew.
All had something in common, itall.
They're all tied to the law ofGod.
So the law is important, it'sgot a part to play.
The prophets are important.
They foretold of Jesus, butJesus came into a scene, a
(13:31):
religious scene that had muddiedthe water so much for the
common people, and so itcomplicated things when it came
to how people thought of God,for example.
So you had these people in afirst century Israel area.
You had the Sadducees, right.
The Sadducees were thesepolitical priests basically.
So they are wealthy people.
(13:51):
They were tied into the secularpowers as well, so they were
like the power moguls of thetemple.
They were the people who werein power.
Then you had the Zealots.
They're these politicalrevolutionaries right, kind of
the suicide bombers of their day.
Basically, they were that kindof thinking.
They were ready to fight anddid fight, wanted to fight Rome,
(14:15):
wanted to bring Rome down in amilitary fashion so that the
kingdom of God could come by thestrength of their own hand.
That's the Zealots.
Then you have the Essenes, andthey were these radical
separatists that literally saideverybody's lukewarm, we're
going to the caves.
And they went to the caves andthey were like these doomsday.
Doomsday I wasn't going to saypreppers, but you said preppers,
(14:40):
whoever that was.
I didn't say it, but you saidit.
There was sort of like preppers.
I mean, they were likeeverything.
They were looking for someapocalyptic event that was going
to come right and they wereseparate.
Now those are the people whoalso copied scripture, and
that's where we got the Qumranscriptures right, so Dead Sea
(15:02):
Scrolls right.
So they thought everybody elsewas lukewarm.
So you have these groups.
They're fighting.
And then you have the groupsthat Jesus was speaking of here
scribes and Pharisees.
So the Pharisees were these.
The word literally meansseparated ones or separate ones.
So they were like the ones thatwe're not you, we're separating
from you.
We are actually living instrict adherence to the laws and
(15:27):
the traditions which were notin the laws.
And the scribes were thosepeople of that group that were
scholars and teachers.
Okay, so the most holy peoplethat the people Jesus was
talking to of that day wereprobably scribes and Pharisees.
And then Jesus says unless yourrighteousness exceeds the
(15:51):
righteousness of the scribes andPharisees, you can't enter into
the kingdom.
What if that person you have inyour mind about the most holy
person that you can think of.
Unless your righteousnessexceeds their righteousness, you
can't.
You can't know the kingdom ofheaven.
That's where Jesus starts, okay, he starts there.
(16:12):
Okay.
How could this be?
These groups were thought to becloser to God than anybody else,
but they were misrepresentingGod to the people because they
weren't measuring correctly,they hadn't converted their
currency, they weren't in thekingdom of God.
Their thoughts of God wereinaccurate.
(16:32):
They all had a list of rules,and you know, honestly, we all
have a list of rules too, don'twe, don't we?
We have a list of rules, thingsthat we think are right and
wrong, and the problem with alist of rules is that my list
may be different than your list,and we're both trying to make
each other adhere to our lists,right?
(16:54):
So who?
Where does this list even comefrom?
What are they even talkingabout?
Well, for the Pharisees and thescribes, their list came from
the 613 laws in the Pentateuch,the first five books of the Old
Testament.
They also added thesetraditions along with that, but
there's 613 of them.
(17:15):
That's a lot of laws.
So there's 248 of them that aremaybe you could say they're
positive laws or they'reaffirmative commands.
Do this, for example you shallhonor your father and mother.
That's an affirmative command.
Do this.
Then there's 365 of them thatare negative commands.
(17:36):
Do not do this.
Thou shalt not steal those kindof things, right?
365 do nots, so one do not forevery day of the year, if you're
counting.
If you want to just focus onone every day, you could do that
, but could you actually do that?
(17:56):
And the problem is then youhave so many laws.
They divided them, they rankedthem, they argued over how to
interpret them, and when youonly ever look at the law, what
you have is a list of do-nots toargue over, and that's a lot of
(18:17):
what religion is is arguingover do-nots.
So many laws means there's anendless number of ways to
interpret them, to argue overthem, to separate over them, and
we see that in religion today.
Right, we probably have been apart of that, most of us.
Jesus wants his followers toknow the difference between the
(18:39):
letter of the law and the spiritof the law.
This is really what's happeninghere.
Okay, there's a differencebetween letter of the law and
the spirit of the law.
So this gets to the heart ofeverything else the heart, the
motivations, the intentions fromwhich everything else flows.
This gets to the root thatproduces the fruit.
(19:00):
So let's look a minute at thedifference between letter of the
law and the spirit of the law.
So a letter of the lawemphasizes the exact wording of
a rule or a law.
It focuses on the literalmeaning, without considering the
context or the intent of thatlaw, and it can be rigid and
(19:22):
inflexible, leading to outcomesthat aren't fair or aren't
reasonable.
That's the letter of the law.
Spirit of the law focuses onthe intention of the law, not
just the words, the exactwording, the exact words, but
the intention of the law.
It considers the context, thecircumstances and the overall
(19:45):
goal of the law, and it allowsfor flexibility and
interpretation to achievejustice and fairness.
In fact, that chief I told youabout in that African village
that I went to, he, after westarted our conversation, he
gave us.
He sat with us over an hour andgave us 800 years of history of
(20:07):
his people.
It was fascinating.
Years of history of his people.
It was fascinating.
But one of the things that hesaid was our laws have always
been passed down orally.
Nobody's ever written them down.
We've never codified our laws.
So I came to our elders.
This is the chief we weretalking to and he said I came to
our elders and said why don'twe write them down, so we know
(20:29):
them, so they're clear?
And he said my elders of thisvillage said no, we won't do
that.
Well, why would you not writeyour laws down?
They said we're not writing thelaws down.
You might look only at the law,without taking into account the
(20:51):
community, the context, therelationships, the way things
are really going.
It's really pretty wise.
It's really wise.
They do have the laws, but theytry to keep to the spirit of
the law, not just to the letterof the law.
So let's make this practicalwith the the story let's just
(21:11):
say a child comes home fromschool and is told by his mother
do not watch tv until youfinish your homework.
There's a law, right.
A few minutes later his motherfinds him watching.
Oh uh, he's watching cartoonson his tablet Some of you are
(21:37):
already Not the TV, but on histablet.
His homework is untouched, butthe child protests that his mom
only told him not to watch theTV.
She didn't say anything aboutthe tablet.
In this example, the child haskept the letter of the law but
has not kept the spirit of thelaw, right?
What if the mother had saidfinish your homework before you
(21:59):
watch cartoons?
And then perhaps the childwould have watched a baseball
game instead of the cartoons?
Once again, he kept the letterof the law, right.
I did what you told me.
Is he right with his mom?
Okay, good, good answer, he'snot.
She could have been even morespecific Do not watch any kind
(22:22):
of show on any electronic deviceuntil you finish your homework.
But then the child might decideto go outside and play, leaving
his homework untouched.
She didn't say don't go outsideand play, she just said don't
watch any show on electronic.
Okay, is he right with his mom?
No, is he violating the spiritof the law?
(22:46):
Yeah, so the frustrated momcould have said don't do
anything until you finish yourhomework.
And then the child, taking itliterally, could then claim to
be unable to finish his homeworkbecause he can't open his book
bag, because you told me not todo anything, not to do anything.
(23:17):
Some of you know people likethis, right, some of you maybe
are people like this, I don'tknow.
Clearly, you can see thatfocusing on the letter of law
can be a tactic to avoid thereal spirit of law right, yeah,
where's your heart?
Does this not reveal your heart?
I'm not going to do what youwant.
I'm not going to do it.
I'm going to do what I want,but I'm going to follow the
letter of the law and do what Iwant.
(23:39):
That's the kind of thing thatwas happening among the most
religious leaders that thesepeople Jesus was speaking to
knew, the ones that wereperceived to be the most holy in
the culture.
So no wonder things werefrustrating to the common people
.
And in this context, jesus saysdo not think that I've come to
(24:00):
abolish the law or prophets.
I've come not to abolish thembut to fulfill them.
I've come to point you to andremind you of the true intention
, the things that truly matter.
He's changing the unit ofmeasurement.
It's not outside, it's inside.
It's inside so that the spiritof a law can be understood.
(24:23):
That's what he's doing.
You've heard it said.
But I tell you, because wheredoes murder come from Hatred in
your heart?
Where does adul murder comefrom Hatred in your heart?
Where does adultery come fromLust in your heart?
You see, you've heard it saidthis.
You've heard it said follow thelaw.
But I'm telling you no, no, no,no.
It's actually in the heart.
(24:43):
The heart is the issue, theheart's the issue.
So sin is not merely aboutoutward actions, but the state
and intentions of my heart,which is the seedbed of all
those actions.
Anger is not necessarily wrong.
There is a righteous form ofanger.
(25:04):
The scripture says be angry butsin not.
So it's possible.
Anger toward unrighteousness isnot wrong.
Sexual desire toward yourmarriage partner is holy, it's
not wrong.
Holy imagination is what setshumans apart from animals, but
unholy imagination is the fodderfor hurtful actions toward
(25:27):
others.
Lust and hatred evolve intoactions, you see.
So doesn't it make sense tofind out what is on God's list?
And try to do that.
Try to measure it that way.
How many things have we heardit said one way but it's
actually a different way?
How many things?
(25:47):
There are lies that we hear fromour secular culture and lies
that we hear from our religiousculture.
But it's just as wrong and itcould even be more dangerous
when our religious culture tellsus something that is anti-truth
as when our secular culturetells us something that's
anti-truth.
I mean, I think it's prettyeasy to see biological women
(26:11):
can't be men, right?
That is an obvious lie to us.
Men can't be married to men.
Those are lies that tear at thevery fabric of God's creation
and intention, and the end of itis stealing, killing and
destroying.
That's it.
It steals, kills and destroyingthat's it.
It steals, kills and destroys.
But there are religiousuntruths that misrepresent God
(26:36):
as well.
Love your neighbor and hate yourenemy.
That's what he said.
You've heard it said love yourneighbor and hate your enemy.
Who said that to them?
This was the righteousness ofthe scribes and Pharisees that
needed to be exceeded.
Who said that to them?
This was the righteousness ofthe scribes and Pharisees that
needed to be exceeded.
Who said that to them?
(26:58):
It's just as wrong as the lies.
Our secular culture tells us so.
But what does it really meanfor us today?
How can we apply this?
We've got an opportunity, dayby day, to convert our currency,
to make a change and try tounderstand the way things are
measured in heaven, in ourpersonal lives, our families,
(27:22):
our churches, our businesses.
So let's think about it in theculture of my own heart, because
this is where everything starts.
So let's start here.
When we say your kingdom come,your will be done On earth as it
is in heaven.
Well, how about this part ofearth right here?
How about the part of earththat God scooped up and breathed
(27:43):
into and made a living soul us?
What if we said your kingdom,come right here, in this little
piece of earth, right here, lord?
I am convinced that one of theprayers that God loves to hear
the most is the prayer of David,psalm 139.
Search me, o God, and know myheart, try me and know my
(28:07):
thoughts and see if there's anywicked way in me and lead me in
the way everlasting.
That's a beautiful prayerbecause it's humble.
Honestly, most of us think thatwhat we think is right, isn't it
right, isn't it true?
And if everybody thought likeus, everything would be okay.
(28:30):
What's wrong with those people?
But what if we began changingthe culture in our heart?
What if we began each day witha teachable spirit Search me, oh
God.
I know I don't think the wayyou think.
Exactly Whatever there is in me.
Lead me in the way everlasting.
I long to think like you, god.
(28:53):
How would things be differentin our lives if we did that?
What if we developed a cultureof humility and teachableness in
our own heart?
Because God resists the proud,but he pours this grace out on
the humble.
And you know, what I have seenis that when you're humble, it
not only makes it better withGod, it makes it better with
people, because people resistthe proud too, because when
(29:17):
you're proud, when you'rearrogant and unteachable, not a
lot of people want to read yourposts or hang with you, not for
long anyway.
Let's let this revolution, thischanging culture, start with us
first, and then maybe itfilters over, it ripples over
(29:39):
into our church.
I can think of some things in myreligious culture that I've
been taught, that I learned werenot exactly the ways of God.
For example, you've heard itsaid being right with God equals
following a list of rules.
Maybe Jesus would say.
But I say unto you, it's aboutrelationship, it's actually
(30:00):
about love.
Because Jesus was asked onetime which is the greatest law?
All those 613.
Okay, that's a lot to choosefrom.
Pick the one that's greatest.
And Jesus said okay, here's theone Love the Lord, your God,
with all of your heart and yoursoul and your mind and strength.
(30:21):
And the second one is, like it,love your neighbor as yourself.
It's love and love.
It's vertical and horizontallove.
It's love.
Maybe love is the currency ofthe kingdom, maybe love that is
combined with truth, becausetruth and love have to go
together.
(30:41):
Right, you have to speak truthin love and love tells truth.
But maybe that's the culture ofthe kingdom, jesus said.
He boiled it all 613 down totwo.
He distilled it to two of them.
If I love you, I won't murderyou, right?
(31:02):
I won't commit adultery againstyou.
I won't hate you if I love you.
Here's another one.
You've heard it said theminister is the one in the
pulpit.
But I say unto you that there'sa body of Christ and all of you
have been given gifts.
But I say unto you that there'sa body of Christ and all of you
have been given gifts.
(31:23):
All of you have something togive to profit the rest of the
body and you work together inthe common good.
And I think this is soimportant because it was never
God's plan to do this all withone person up front.
It never has been.
It was never His plan tocontain the light to one person.
(31:46):
His method of reaching theworld is not just through
bringing people to advance sothey can hear somebody talk.
That's a way.
I'm glad you're here listeningto me talk.
Don't get me wrong, it's a way.
But really his goal is toinfuse his life into our hearts
(32:06):
so that from our hearts we candiffuse it out to other people
and dispense it throughrelationships.
You know you're the best entrypoint into the kingdom of God.
You know you're the best entrypoint into the kingdom of God.
You are Still.
Even though it's the age ofwebsites and people find
(32:27):
churches on websites, still,vast majority of people come to
church with a friend.
That's the way it happens, soit's not just the person up
front who's the minister.
There's probably a lot of thingswe can say that we have learned
in our religious culture thatare measured differently in
heaven, but let's talk about thefamily just for a minute.
(32:47):
What does it mean to have theculture of heaven in your family
?
That's just a great prayer toask the Lord what is different
about your kingdom and myhousehold today, this morning
getting ready for church?
What if you, in your marriage,played the Jesus role?
(33:08):
Letting go of your rights,humbling yourself, becoming a
servant giving yourself,becoming a servant giving
yourself, so that we is moreimportant than me?
What if that happened?
What kind of a change wouldthat make?
What if we had an honestdiscussion about how we do
(33:33):
things in our household in termsof volume level.
You know you can determine thevolume level of your house.
It's not thrust upon you.
You can actually change it.
You can change the thermostat,you can dial it back the way
that you say things and theintensity and the volume level.
(33:57):
There's a thing called the fruitof the Spirit.
It's called self-control.
It's right up there with loveand joy.
Volume level there's a thingcalled the fruit of the Spirit.
It's called self-control.
It's right up there with loveand joy and peace.
Self-control, gentleness andself-control are fruits of the
Spirit, but not with athree-year-old.
Even more, even more with athree-year-old.
(34:19):
I think what if we let's talkabout the three-year-old?
I think, what if we let's talkabout the three-year-old?
But okay, what is it?
What if we only what if weworked on not only suppressing
the action but elevating theprinciple.
Not only suppressing the evilbut elevating the good.
What if we worked?
I know this is a hard work,this is not something that's
easy to do.
(34:40):
But elevating the good, what ifwe worked?
I know this is hard work, thisis not something that's easy to
do.
But not only tell the kids whatnot to do, but give them the
moral reason why you're notdoing that thing.
So you're building into them acode, a culture of heaven.
No, honey, we don't hit oursister with our baseball bat,
(35:01):
because she's precious to Jesusand we love as we want to be
loved.
There's a reason we give them amoral reason why because our
aim is not only getting theright behavior from them, but
getting the hearts that love Godand love good and love their
sister or brother.
This is hard work, but it doesreap rewards.
(35:25):
What does it look like to be?
This is what we talked about inour family.
What does it look like to be amedley?
We are the medleys.
Who are we?
This is great.
We follow Jesus.
We happen to be musical.
We are hospitable, we open ourhouse.
You know, we honor each other.
This is what we do.
This is like.
If you don't establish a familyidentity, if you don't work
(35:49):
toward that, then what cultureis going to be in your family?
Well, there's cultures at worktoo.
What about a culture at yourwork where I'm characterized by
loving actions and a heart ofservice?
What if I were an advocate forpeople and a modeled honesty and
a modeled fairness?
What if I were a carrier of thekingdom of God in my workplace
(36:15):
and in my community and myregion and my nation.
This is how salt and light work.
This is how yeast this is wherethe kingdom of God is, like a
piece of yeast in a dough thatspreads and affects everything,
right?
Okay, so you get what I'msaying.
Jesus is changing the way wemeasure right living before God.
(36:37):
He's requiring us to reevaluatehow we think and live
concerning the law, about beingright with God, the things that
make you angry, the things thatstir your sexual passion, the
things concerning livinghonestly with your words,
approaching your enemies.
There's even a requirement ofperfection.
(37:00):
I mean, what is our teacherasking us to do?
Is it even doable?
I mean, we probably can allagree this is the way things
should be, but is it evenpossible?
What does it mean?
That our righteousness mustexceed the righteousness of
scribes and Pharisees, and Iknow there are some of you out
(37:22):
there who are very confident andyou think you're doing well
enough to say I'm probably atleast right up there with the
holiest person I know, and Imight be a little bit better.
I think I'm there.
I think I'm there.
I think I have exceeded, Ithink I've exceeded the
(37:43):
righteousness of the scribes andPharisees, I think I'm good,
and then that's all fine, you'rewrong, but it's fine.
And then Jesus says okay, let'sraise the bar.
You must be perfect, as yourheavenly father is perfect, okay
, okay, there's no hope.
(38:06):
How can I enter the kingdomwithout being perfect?
And surely we all know thatwe're not perfect?
Our teacher is making animpossible demand.
If this is the standard,there's no hope for us entering
this kingdom.
(38:26):
But now, now we're back fullcircle to the very first thing
he said in this sermon.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
God.
When you know your need, youhave everything you need.
The whole kingdom belongs toyou.
(38:48):
The only way to see the kingdomand have its currency and live
in its culture is to know ourneed.
And when we understand our need, the kingdom belongs to us.
So Jesus said to one religiousseeker, a really devoted man who
wanted God unless a man is bornagain, he cannot even see the
(39:10):
kingdom of God.
We can't fulfill the law withinourselves, but Jesus came to
fulfill it on our behalf.
Look at what Paul said inRomans, chapter eight, to finish
this up.
There is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, who do not walkaccording to the flesh but
(39:32):
according to the spirit, for thelaw of the spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me freefrom the law of sin and death.
How Well, for what the lawcould not do.
How did Jesus fulfill the lawand prophets what the law could
not do, in that it was weak,through the flesh.
(39:52):
God did by sending his own sonin the likeness of sinful flesh
on account of sin and hecondemned sin in the flesh that
the righteous requirement of thelaw might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to theflesh but according to the
(40:13):
spirit.
This is good news.
This is good news.
We can't be right with God bystruggling to obey the laws, all
613 of them.
However, you're going tointerpret all of those.
How are you ever going to dothat?
But the great thing is, we'renot even required to do that.
This is not a requirement underthe new covenant.
(40:36):
We're required to believe inwhat God has already done in us
through the work of Christ onthe cross, as we walk in the
spirit.
Jesus said when he was askedwhat shall we do that we might
work the works of God.
Jesus said the work of God isto believe on him, whom God has
(40:59):
sent.
He changed everything.
What I couldn't do, god did bysending his son.
And that's why, in this passage,jesus goes back from the
outward behavior down to thehearts of the people.
Because the Ten Commandmentscan't perfectly.
(41:22):
They show us a need for God, awork, a need that he fulfilled
in the work, the finished workof Jesus on the cross.
So listen to what the OldTestament prophet says as he
explains this beautiful promiseof how God will give us what we
need in this new covenant, andlet's think of this in light of
(41:45):
what Jesus is saying.
Ezekiel says and I will giveyou a new heart, speaking about
the new covenant God was goingto bring.
And I will give you a new heart, a new spirit.
I will put within you and Iwill remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you aheart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit withinyou and cause you to walk in my
(42:07):
statutes and be careful to obeymy rules.
God gives us what we have tohave to fulfill his requirements
.
This is the gospel.
So we're talking here thismorning to believers and we're
talking to unbelievers as well.
(42:28):
This is the case for all of us,all of us.
The point is not outward.
The outward is the fruit, theroot is the issue.
The point is, how do you get aroot that produces good fruit,
and it's called a hearttransplant.
(42:48):
I take away a heart of stone.
Heart of stone can't beat atall, it can't pump blood, it
can't give life.
I'll put in you a heart offlesh that can pump blood, that
can bring life, and I will putmy spirit in you and cause you
(43:08):
to follow, because there's a newheart.
I'll cause you to be able tofollow all the things that I've
asked you to do.
So the point is it takes a newheart to live a new life in a
new kingdom, a new heart.
Maybe the currency of thekingdom is love, because that's
(43:30):
the root of where this all flowsfrom.
Maybe the culture of thekingdom, or the unit of
measurement of the kingdom, isthe motivation of your heart,
because that's the unit ofmeasurement Jesus used the
motivation of your heart.
How does that change?
It changes through the newcovenant.
How can we be perfect, as ourFather in heaven is perfect?
(43:52):
Only through Jesus, onlythrough Jesus.
So I want to encourage you today.
God has given you what you needto be able to do what he's
asked you to do.
And I especially want toencourage people today who don't
know Jesus, who have neverunderstood what it means to be
(44:12):
born again.
But you have something in yourheart that longs for a culture
that's different than whatyou're seeing, and longs for
something more than this worldthat you're looking at, the
world that you look at, and yousee that there's not much hope
(44:33):
here.
Maybe you look in your ownheart and you see there's not
much hope here, but God hascalled us to a living hope
through Jesus Christ.
There is hope.
There's hope in being connectedwith God, back to your maker.
That's what you're feeling.
You're feeling this draw backto your maker, and he's the one
(44:54):
drawing you.
It's not coming from you, it'scoming from him, but he wants
you to respond this morning.
So let's stand together andlet's pray.
Father, I just want to say thatI'm first among all of us, lord,
(45:16):
with the need of having a newheart, day by day, and the need
of having a heart that followsafter you.
I need so much, lord, to knowyour ways.
I need so much to understandyour kingdom and your culture
and have your currency, lord.
I want to spend your currency,lord.
I want to know what's reallyimportant to you.
(45:38):
I want to live in this kingdomof yours, lord.
So would you search me, wouldyou search us, lord?
Oh God, and know our hearts andtry us, lord, and know our
thoughts and see if there's anywicked way in us and lead us in
your way.
That is everlasting Lord.
This is our prayer this morning, lord, and I want to pray,
(45:59):
father, for anyone here whoyou're calling to yourself that
hears a call.
There's something beyond thisworld and something beyond what
I've been living in.
Lord, I pray by your spirit youwould draw each of them whose
(46:20):
prayers like that, lord, youwould draw them into you, draw
them to the truth of your word,draw them to Jesus and if that's
you, this is not difficult.
It's not difficult.
God did not make it difficult.
You don't have to jump throughhoops and you don't have to
(46:40):
clean yourself up before youcome.
You come first and he does thecleaning and he does it from the
inside out.
He does it so everything insideis changed, so that the outward
performance is affected and thesimplicity of it is God.
I need you.
I know that my sins haveseparated you and me.
(47:05):
I know that my sins haveseparated you and me.
I believe Jesus died to takethe punishment of my sins so
that the righteous requirementof the law could be fulfilled.
Even in me who trust in him, Ibelieve that and I receive him
as my Savior.
It's as simple as that.
And if that's what your heartis saying now, I'm asking you to
(47:29):
come up and see me or one ofthe prayer team.
It'll be up front here later aswe dismiss and let's talk.
Let us pray for you.
So, lord, thank you so much forthe hope that we have in Jesus.
Thank you for the beauty of anew heart.
Thank you that we have a newplace to live out of God.
It's not just like a newturning over a new leaf, lord.
(47:52):
This is like a total transplant, and thank you that you've done
in us, through Christ, what wecouldn't do.
So, lord, help us not only towalk in it and live in it and
believe it more day by day, butto hold it out to others.
Help us to hold this hope outto other people, lord.
Oh, that people could come toknow you through us, lord.
(48:16):
This would be beautiful and,lord, I pray your blessing on
these people, that you wouldbless them and you would keep
them, you would make yourbeautiful face shine upon them
and be gracious to them, thatyou lift up your countenance
unto them, lord, and you wouldgive them peace.
(48:38):
In the name of Jesus, amen.
So Amy and I just returned from Europe, and it was
a great trip.
Except, when you go to anothercountry, you know you have to
get used to some things, right?
Like you have to think aboutthe way they think, because
they're not like us.
Have you noticed?
Other places aren't always likeyou, right?
(00:24):
You have to think about the waythey measure too.
And you have to think about theway they measure too, and you
have to think about the way theydrive in the other countries.
So you have to enter theirculture, and a culture can be
defined as the way we do thingsaround here.
That's just a simple way to doit, the way we do things.
And so you have to deal withbeing in a metric country with a
(00:45):
standard brain.
Okay, because you, you dorealize that the United States
is one of only three nations inthe entire world that that
measures things the way we do,right?
Two of the other ones are thirdworld nations.
We're just proud, that's all.
We're just not going to change.
That's the way that is.
And then you have to get usedto driving on the opposite.
(01:05):
I drove for one week on theopposite side of the road, which
is not right.
I mean it's literally not right, it's left, it's not right at
all.
Well, the steering wheel's onthe right, the car is on the
left, and so it took two of usto drive.
Actually, it's like okay, left,left, left, left, left all the
time.
And we met our friends there.
(01:28):
Actually, amy's best friend andher husband were there.
It happened to be in Ireland.
It was a really providentialmeeting, and he had been driving
for two weeks on the wrong sideof the road, and so what he
told me was a good day in thisis in Ireland.
A good day in Ireland is anyday when the airbag does not
(01:50):
deploy, and I said that's great,that's what we're praying for,
and no deployment of airbagsPraise God for that.
But you have to do things theway they do things, or else it
can be really dangerous.
It could be even fatal.
Right, and I've encounteredother.
Have you ever been to a placethat is not like you?
(02:12):
They just do things reallydifferently.
I've encountered other places,other important rules that can
make or break your connectionwith people or your ability to
minister to people in differentcultures.
For example, if you're in someHindu and some Muslim cultures,
it's really, really rude, it'slike an insult to show the
(02:32):
bottoms of your feet so youcan't cross your feet when
you're sitting like this.
You can't do that.
So a lot of times I'm like Iforget and I remember it's like,
okay, wait a minute, you got tosit like this.
I forget and I remember it'slike okay, wait a minute, you've
got to sit like this.
And one time I was taken in tovisit an African chief in a
village and I was debriefed, notdebriefed, pre-briefed.
(02:56):
Is that a thing?
Pre-briefed as to how youactually approach the chief.
You don't make eye contact atall, you look at the ground.
You don't make eye contactuntil you're spoken to, you're
addressed, and then you can makeeye contact.
In Bulgaria, especially theolder people in Bulgaria, the
(03:19):
way they say yes is they shaketheir heads.
So you can be talking tosomebody and they're doing this
and you, and especially whenyou're preaching and you're like
half the congregation is going.
So please don't do that thismorning.
It does throw you off a littlebit and it's like you feel like
(03:41):
I'm making a really importantpoint.
It's like and they're reallygoing, but you don't know that.
It's just very strange.
The point is and also if youmake a mistake in understanding
which kind of money, whichcurrency, they're talking about.
It can cost you a lot of money.
So the point is you have toknow something about the culture
(04:02):
, how they do things aroundthere, of any country if you
want to function in that countryor a region of a country.
I just met this week Kelsey andRyan who moved here from
California, which is verydifferent than East Tennessee,
and so that's part of part ofthat.
Is like getting used to gettingused to the culture, right, but
companies have culture.
Families have culture is likegetting used to the culture,
(04:24):
right, but companies haveculture, families have culture.
There's a way you do things inyour household.
Churches have culture.
So you have to think about andeven adapt to a culture, right?
So there's two important thingsyou have to do.
When you travel to anothercountry, you have to convert to
their currency.
My dollars are no good there.
They're no good at all.
You have to do.
When you travel to anothercountry, you have to convert to
(04:44):
their currency.
My dollars are no good there.
They're no good at all.
You have to convert.
And the second thing is youhave to adapt to their culture,
especially the way they measurethings, how you pay for things,
how you measure things.
It's important.
So in the Sermon on the Mountseries that we're talking about,
this is what Jesus is doing.
Jesus is introducing us to aculture that we may be
(05:08):
unfamiliar with, that we'relearning to assimilate into.
He's teaching us the currencyof heaven and the culture and
the way they do things, the waythey measure things in heaven.
So there are things that aretold to us by our culture and
even our religious backgroundsthat may be opposite of the way
that God thinks.
(05:29):
So here's what I want you toknow this morning is, if we are
going to follow Jesus, we haveto learn to distinguish the
voices of our culture from theeternal truth of God's word.
We have to convert our thinkingto this new kingdom or else
we're not going to function init.
(05:49):
So that's the idea.
So the questions we have to askourselves this morning is in
what ways are our thoughts andour ways of living different
than the kingdom of heaven thatJesus is speaking about in the
Sermon on the Mount?
So that's what we're talkingabout this morning.
What is the currency of heavenand how does heaven measure
(06:10):
things?
How does heaven measure what'simportant?
So Tyler, a couple of weeks agolaid a great foundation, and he
was talking about thedifference between the kingdom
of the world and the kingdom ofheaven.
Kelly challenged us last week,too, to basically step up and be
what Jesus said we already are,which is salt and light.
(06:32):
And so I want to go through therest of chapter five this
morning, and there are so manythings.
Jesus covered so many importantthings in the rest of chapter
five, but I want to get to theintent of what he was teaching
here by following his line ofthought through here.
He has a phrase that he usesthrough the whole rest of the
(06:53):
chapter about changing the waywe measure things, and measuring
is really important, right?
One thing my dad taught me.
My dad was like he could doalmost anything.
He could build things, he couldconceive things and build them,
and one of the things hedrilled into my head was measure
(07:14):
twice, cut once, right, right,Right, andy, because if you
measure once, you might have tocut twice, and you might
actually Three or four times.
That's really good, thank you.
Of course, you wouldn't knowthat.
You're not old enough yet.
So measure real good, that'sthe point, right, and then you
(07:38):
can make the cut right.
How do we measure things theway heaven does?
I'm going to actually take therest of chapter five, not read
the whole rest of chapter five.
I want to take some of thosestatements that Jesus made that
are like changing the way youmeasure things.
And so we're going to skip alittle bit through here, Not
(07:59):
because the rest of it isn'timportant, because it's really
important, but to get his lineof thinking through here.
So we're going to start withverse 17.
And Jesus said this do notthink that I've come to abolish
the law or prophets.
I've not come to abolish them,but to fulfill them.
And then, in verse 20, I tellyou that unless your
(08:23):
righteousness exceeds that ofthe scribes and Pharisees,
you'll never enter the kingdomof heaven.
And if we go on down to verse21, you heard it was said to the
people long ago do not murder,and anyone who murders will be
subject to judgment.
But I tell you that anyone whois angry with his brother will
(08:45):
be subject to judgment.
And then, further down, he saysyou've heard it said do not
commit adultery.
But I tell you that anyone wholooks at a woman lustfully has
already committed adultery withher in his heart.
And then Matthew 5, verse 33again, you've heard it said to
(09:07):
the people long ago do not breakyour oath, but keep oaths that
you've made to the Lord.
But I tell you, do not swear atall.
Simply let your yes be yes andyour no no.
In verse 43, you've heard it wassaid love your neighbor and
hate your enemy, but I tell you,love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you that youmay be sons of your Father in
(09:30):
heaven.
And verse 48, therefore, youtherefore must be perfect, as
your heavenly Father is perfect.
Well, father, we thank you forthe words of Jesus, we value the
words of Jesus and we want tobe a part of your kingdom
(09:53):
culture, lord, and we do realizethat we think in ways that are
different than your ways, andyour ways are not our ways.
Your thoughts are not ourthoughts.
But, Lord, you did say come,let's reason together, says the
Lord, and you did say, thoughour sins are as scarlet, they'll
(10:14):
be white like snow.
Lord, we ask you that you wouldopen our eyes to see this
morning what we need to see fromyour word.
We welcome your Holy Spirit toenlighten us in Jesus' name,
amen.
So Jesus is showing the cultureof the kingdom of God.
He's also changing the unit ofmeasurement here, right?
So this sermon, I think he'stelling us that you can have the
(10:34):
wrong unit of measurement andit can be disastrous, like
eternally disastrous.
I mean, if you miscalculatebecause of the currency, you
might lose a little money, oryou might be embarrassed if you
do some social faux pas in adifferent country.
But it's a whole differentthing to make a mistake when
(10:57):
heaven and hell are at stake,right?
This is really important.
We need to understand this.
When Jesus said, do not thinkthat I've come to abolish the
law and prophets.
I've not come to abolish them,but to fulfill them.
What he was saying was Ihaven't come to do away with the
things that you've known of,but I've come to show you the
(11:18):
actual intent of it.
I've come to show you what itreally means, what it really
points to, and it's refocusingus on the things that are most
important and where those thingscome from.
There's a proverb in Proverbs 4,verse 23.
It says keep your heart withall vigilance, watch over your
(11:40):
heart, be careful about yourheart, because for it flows the
springs of life.
Everything comes from yourheart.
And this is what heart, becausefor it flows the springs of
life.
Everything comes from yourheart and this is what Jesus was
getting at right.
In fact, jesus said somethingreally similar.
He said a good man from thegood treasure of a good heart
brings forth good things, andthe evil man, from the evil
(12:00):
treasure of an evil heart bringsforth evil things.
What is in your heart is whatcomes out, so outside is just
the fruit of the root.
And Jesus is saying you'veheard it said fruit things, but
I tell you root things.
This is what he's talking about.
(12:22):
He's getting down to the verythoughts and intents of the
heart, because out of your heartflows everything.
And I think okay.
So if you just take a pause, asecond and think about this with
me, think about the most holyperson that you can think of,
either that you know personallyor that you've heard of even in
(12:44):
history, someone who is theclosest to God, living the most
godly lifestyle, the picture ofright living or holy living to
you.
Think of it, the closest personto God that you know of.
Get that person in your heartand keep that guy or that woman
in your heart.
That guy or that woman in yourheart.
People, the people that Jesuswas speaking to that day, the
(13:07):
most holy people that they knew.
All had something in common, itall.
They're all tied to the law ofGod.
So the law is important, it'sgot a part to play.
The prophets are important.
They foretold of Jesus, butJesus came into a scene, a
(13:31):
religious scene that had muddiedthe water so much for the
common people, and so itcomplicated things when it came
to how people thought of God,for example.
So you had these people in afirst century Israel area.
You had the Sadducees, right.
The Sadducees were thesepolitical priests basically.
So they are wealthy people.
(13:51):
They were tied into the secularpowers as well, so they were
like the power moguls of thetemple.
They were the people who werein power.
Then you had the Zealots.
They're these politicalrevolutionaries right, kind of
the suicide bombers of their day.
Basically, they were that kindof thinking.
They were ready to fight anddid fight, wanted to fight Rome,
(14:15):
wanted to bring Rome down in amilitary fashion so that the
kingdom of God could come by thestrength of their own hand.
That's the Zealots.
Then you have the Essenes, andthey were these radical
separatists that literally saideverybody's lukewarm, we're
going to the caves.
And they went to the caves andthey were like these doomsday.
Doomsday I wasn't going to saypreppers, but you said preppers,
(14:40):
whoever that was.
I didn't say it, but you saidit.
There was sort of like preppers.
I mean, they were likeeverything.
They were looking for someapocalyptic event that was going
to come right and they wereseparate.
Now those are the people whoalso copied scripture, and
that's where we got the Qumranscriptures right, so Dead Sea
(15:02):
Scrolls right.
So they thought everybody elsewas lukewarm.
So you have these groups.
They're fighting.
And then you have the groupsthat Jesus was speaking of here
scribes and Pharisees.
So the Pharisees were these.
The word literally meansseparated ones or separate ones.
So they were like the ones thatwe're not you, we're separating
from you.
We are actually living instrict adherence to the laws and
(15:27):
the traditions which were notin the laws.
And the scribes were thosepeople of that group that were
scholars and teachers.
Okay, so the most holy peoplethat the people Jesus was
talking to of that day wereprobably scribes and Pharisees.
And then Jesus says unless yourrighteousness exceeds the
(15:51):
righteousness of the scribes andPharisees, you can't enter into
the kingdom.
What if that person you have inyour mind about the most holy
person that you can think of.
Unless your righteousnessexceeds their righteousness, you
can't.
You can't know the kingdom ofheaven.
That's where Jesus starts, okay, he starts there.
(16:12):
Okay.
How could this be?
These groups were thought to becloser to God than anybody else,
but they were misrepresentingGod to the people because they
weren't measuring correctly,they hadn't converted their
currency, they weren't in thekingdom of God.
Their thoughts of God wereinaccurate.
(16:32):
They all had a list of rules,and you know, honestly, we all
have a list of rules too, don'twe, don't we?
We have a list of rules, thingsthat we think are right and
wrong, and the problem with alist of rules is that my list
may be different than your list,and we're both trying to make
each other adhere to our lists,right?
(16:54):
So who?
Where does this list even comefrom?
What are they even talkingabout?
Well, for the Pharisees and thescribes, their list came from
the 613 laws in the Pentateuch,the first five books of the Old
Testament.
They also added thesetraditions along with that, but
there's 613 of them.
(17:15):
That's a lot of laws.
So there's 248 of them that aremaybe you could say they're
positive laws or they'reaffirmative commands.
Do this, for example you shallhonor your father and mother.
That's an affirmative command.
Do this.
Then there's 365 of them thatare negative commands.
(17:36):
Do not do this.
Thou shalt not steal those kindof things, right?
365 do nots, so one do not forevery day of the year, if you're
counting.
If you want to just focus onone every day, you could do that
, but could you actually do that?
(17:56):
And the problem is then youhave so many laws.
They divided them, they rankedthem, they argued over how to
interpret them, and when youonly ever look at the law, what
you have is a list of do-nots toargue over, and that's a lot of
(18:17):
what religion is is arguingover do-nots.
So many laws means there's anendless number of ways to
interpret them, to argue overthem, to separate over them, and
we see that in religion today.
Right, we probably have been apart of that, most of us.
Jesus wants his followers toknow the difference between the
(18:39):
letter of the law and the spiritof the law.
This is really what's happeninghere.
Okay, there's a differencebetween letter of the law and
the spirit of the law.
So this gets to the heart ofeverything else the heart, the
motivations, the intentions fromwhich everything else flows.
This gets to the root thatproduces the fruit.
(19:00):
So let's look a minute at thedifference between letter of the
law and the spirit of the law.
So a letter of the lawemphasizes the exact wording of
a rule or a law.
It focuses on the literalmeaning, without considering the
context or the intent of thatlaw, and it can be rigid and
(19:22):
inflexible, leading to outcomesthat aren't fair or aren't
reasonable.
That's the letter of the law.
Spirit of the law focuses onthe intention of the law, not
just the words, the exactwording, the exact words, but
the intention of the law.
It considers the context, thecircumstances and the overall
(19:45):
goal of the law, and it allowsfor flexibility and
interpretation to achievejustice and fairness.
In fact, that chief I told youabout in that African village
that I went to, he, after westarted our conversation, he
gave us.
He sat with us over an hour andgave us 800 years of history of
(20:07):
his people.
It was fascinating.
Years of history of his people.
It was fascinating.
But one of the things that hesaid was our laws have always
been passed down orally.
Nobody's ever written them down.
We've never codified our laws.
So I came to our elders.
This is the chief we weretalking to and he said I came to
our elders and said why don'twe write them down, so we know
(20:29):
them, so they're clear?
And he said my elders of thisvillage said no, we won't do
that.
Well, why would you not writeyour laws down?
They said we're not writing thelaws down.
You might look only at the law,without taking into account the
(20:51):
community, the context, therelationships, the way things
are really going.
It's really pretty wise.
It's really wise.
They do have the laws, but theytry to keep to the spirit of
the law, not just to the letterof the law.
So let's make this practicalwith the the story let's just
(21:11):
say a child comes home fromschool and is told by his mother
do not watch tv until youfinish your homework.
There's a law, right.
A few minutes later his motherfinds him watching.
Oh uh, he's watching cartoonson his tablet Some of you are
(21:37):
already Not the TV, but on histablet.
His homework is untouched, butthe child protests that his mom
only told him not to watch theTV.
She didn't say anything aboutthe tablet.
In this example, the child haskept the letter of the law but
has not kept the spirit of thelaw, right?
What if the mother had saidfinish your homework before you
(21:59):
watch cartoons?
And then perhaps the childwould have watched a baseball
game instead of the cartoons?
Once again, he kept the letterof the law, right.
I did what you told me.
Is he right with his mom?
Okay, good, good answer, he'snot.
She could have been even morespecific Do not watch any kind
(22:22):
of show on any electronic deviceuntil you finish your homework.
But then the child might decideto go outside and play, leaving
his homework untouched.
She didn't say don't go outsideand play, she just said don't
watch any show on electronic.
Okay, is he right with his mom?
No, is he violating the spiritof the law?
(22:46):
Yeah, so the frustrated momcould have said don't do
anything until you finish yourhomework.
And then the child, taking itliterally, could then claim to
be unable to finish his homeworkbecause he can't open his book
bag, because you told me not todo anything, not to do anything.
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Some of you know people likethis, right, some of you maybe
are people like this, I don'tknow.
Clearly, you can see thatfocusing on the letter of law
can be a tactic to avoid thereal spirit of law right, yeah,
where's your heart?
Does this not reveal your heart?
I'm not going to do what youwant.
I'm not going to do it.
I'm going to do what I want,but I'm going to follow the
letter of the law and do what Iwant.
(23:39):
That's the kind of thing thatwas happening among the most
religious leaders that thesepeople Jesus was speaking to
knew, the ones that wereperceived to be the most holy in
the culture.
So no wonder things werefrustrating to the common people
.
And in this context, jesus saysdo not think that I've come to
(24:00):
abolish the law or prophets.
I've come not to abolish thembut to fulfill them.
I've come to point you to andremind you of the true intention
, the things that truly matter.
He's changing the unit ofmeasurement.
It's not outside, it's inside.
It's inside so that the spiritof a law can be understood.
(24:23):
That's what he's doing.
You've heard it said.
But I tell you, because wheredoes murder come from Hatred in
your heart?
Where does adul murder comefrom Hatred in your heart?
Where does adultery come fromLust in your heart?
You see, you've heard it saidthis.
You've heard it said follow thelaw.
But I'm telling you no, no, no,no.
It's actually in the heart.
(24:43):
The heart is the issue, theheart's the issue.
So sin is not merely aboutoutward actions, but the state
and intentions of my heart,which is the seedbed of all
those actions.
Anger is not necessarily wrong.
There is a righteous form ofanger.
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The scripture says be angry butsin not.
So it's possible.
Anger toward unrighteousness isnot wrong.
Sexual desire toward yourmarriage partner is holy, it's
not wrong.
Holy imagination is what setshumans apart from animals, but
unholy imagination is the fodderfor hurtful actions toward
(25:27):
others.
Lust and hatred evolve intoactions, you see.
So doesn't it make sense tofind out what is on God's list?
And try to do that.
Try to measure it that way.
How many things have we heardit said one way but it's
actually a different way?
How many things?
(25:47):
There are lies that we hear fromour secular culture and lies
that we hear from our religiousculture.
But it's just as wrong and itcould even be more dangerous
when our religious culture tellsus something that is anti-truth
as when our secular culturetells us something that's
anti-truth.
I mean, I think it's prettyeasy to see biological women
(26:11):
can't be men, right?
That is an obvious lie to us.
Men can't be married to men.
Those are lies that tear at thevery fabric of God's creation
and intention, and the end of itis stealing, killing and
destroying.
That's it.
It steals, kills and destroyingthat's it.
It steals, kills and destroys.
But there are religiousuntruths that misrepresent God
(26:36):
as well.
Love your neighbor and hate yourenemy.
That's what he said.
You've heard it said love yourneighbor and hate your enemy.
Who said that to them?
This was the righteousness ofthe scribes and Pharisees that
needed to be exceeded.
Who said that to them?
This was the righteousness ofthe scribes and Pharisees that
needed to be exceeded.
Who said that to them?
(26:58):
It's just as wrong as the lies.
Our secular culture tells us so.
But what does it really meanfor us today?
How can we apply this?
We've got an opportunity, dayby day, to convert our currency,
to make a change and try tounderstand the way things are
measured in heaven, in ourpersonal lives, our families,
(27:22):
our churches, our businesses.
So let's think about it in theculture of my own heart, because
this is where everything starts.
So let's start here.
When we say your kingdom come,your will be done On earth as it
is in heaven.
Well, how about this part ofearth right here?
How about the part of earththat God scooped up and breathed
(27:43):
into and made a living soul us?
What if we said your kingdom,come right here, in this little
piece of earth, right here, lord?
I am convinced that one of theprayers that God loves to hear
the most is the prayer of David,psalm 139.
Search me, o God, and know myheart, try me and know my
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thoughts and see if there's anywicked way in me and lead me in
the way everlasting.
That's a beautiful prayerbecause it's humble.
Honestly, most of us think thatwhat we think is right, isn't it
right, isn't it true?
And if everybody thought likeus, everything would be okay.
(28:30):
What's wrong with those people?
But what if we began changingthe culture in our heart?
What if we began each day witha teachable spirit Search me, oh
God.
I know I don't think the wayyou think.
Exactly Whatever there is in me.
Lead me in the way everlasting.
I long to think like you, god.
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How would things be differentin our lives if we did that?
What if we developed a cultureof humility and teachableness in
our own heart?
Because God resists the proud,but he pours this grace out on
the humble.
And you know, what I have seenis that when you're humble, it
not only makes it better withGod, it makes it better with
people, because people resistthe proud too, because when
(29:17):
you're proud, when you'rearrogant and unteachable, not a
lot of people want to read yourposts or hang with you, not for
long anyway.
Let's let this revolution, thischanging culture, start with us
first, and then maybe itfilters over, it ripples over
(29:39):
into our church.
I can think of some things in myreligious culture that I've
been taught, that I learned werenot exactly the ways of God.
For example, you've heard itsaid being right with God equals
following a list of rules.
Maybe Jesus would say.
But I say unto you, it's aboutrelationship, it's actually
(30:00):
about love.
Because Jesus was asked onetime which is the greatest law?
All those 613.
Okay, that's a lot to choosefrom.
Pick the one that's greatest.
And Jesus said okay, here's theone Love the Lord, your God,
with all of your heart and yoursoul and your mind and strength.
(30:21):
And the second one is, like it,love your neighbor as yourself.
It's love and love.
It's vertical and horizontallove.
It's love.
Maybe love is the currency ofthe kingdom, maybe love that is
combined with truth, becausetruth and love have to go
together.
(30:41):
Right, you have to speak truthin love and love tells truth.
But maybe that's the culture ofthe kingdom, jesus said.
He boiled it all 613 down totwo.
He distilled it to two of them.
If I love you, I won't murderyou, right?
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I won't commit adultery againstyou.
I won't hate you if I love you.
Here's another one.
You've heard it said theminister is the one in the
pulpit.
But I say unto you that there'sa body of Christ and all of you
have been given gifts.
But I say unto you that there'sa body of Christ and all of you
have been given gifts.
(31:23):
All of you have something togive to profit the rest of the
body and you work together inthe common good.
And I think this is soimportant because it was never
God's plan to do this all withone person up front.
It never has been.
It was never His plan tocontain the light to one person.
(31:46):
His method of reaching theworld is not just through
bringing people to advance sothey can hear somebody talk.
That's a way.
I'm glad you're here listeningto me talk.
Don't get me wrong, it's a way.
But really his goal is toinfuse his life into our hearts
(32:06):
so that from our hearts we candiffuse it out to other people
and dispense it throughrelationships.
You know you're the best entrypoint into the kingdom of God.
You know you're the best entrypoint into the kingdom of God.
You are Still.
Even though it's the age ofwebsites and people find
(32:27):
churches on websites, still,vast majority of people come to
church with a friend.
That's the way it happens, soit's not just the person up
front who's the minister.
There's probably a lot of thingswe can say that we have learned
in our religious culture thatare measured differently in
heaven, but let's talk about thefamily just for a minute.
(32:47):
What does it mean to have theculture of heaven in your family
?
That's just a great prayer toask the Lord what is different
about your kingdom and myhousehold today, this morning
getting ready for church?
What if you, in your marriage,played the Jesus role?
(33:08):
Letting go of your rights,humbling yourself, becoming a
servant giving yourself,becoming a servant giving
yourself, so that we is moreimportant than me?
What if that happened?
What kind of a change wouldthat make?
What if we had an honestdiscussion about how we do
(33:33):
things in our household in termsof volume level.
You know you can determine thevolume level of your house.
It's not thrust upon you.
You can actually change it.
You can change the thermostat,you can dial it back the way
that you say things and theintensity and the volume level.
(33:57):
There's a thing called the fruitof the Spirit.
It's called self-control.
It's right up there with loveand joy.
Volume level there's a thingcalled the fruit of the Spirit.
It's called self-control.
It's right up there with loveand joy and peace.
Self-control, gentleness andself-control are fruits of the
Spirit, but not with athree-year-old.
Even more, even more with athree-year-old.
(34:19):
I think what if we let's talkabout the three-year-old?
I think, what if we let's talkabout the three-year-old?
But okay, what is it?
What if we only what if weworked on not only suppressing
the action but elevating theprinciple.
Not only suppressing the evilbut elevating the good.
What if we worked?
I know this is a hard work,this is not something that's
easy to do.
(34:40):
But elevating the good, what ifwe worked?
I know this is hard work, thisis not something that's easy to
do.
But not only tell the kids whatnot to do, but give them the
moral reason why you're notdoing that thing.
So you're building into them acode, a culture of heaven.
No, honey, we don't hit oursister with our baseball bat,
(35:01):
because she's precious to Jesusand we love as we want to be
loved.
There's a reason we give them amoral reason why because our
aim is not only getting theright behavior from them, but
getting the hearts that love Godand love good and love their
sister or brother.
This is hard work, but it doesreap rewards.
(35:25):
What does it look like to be?
This is what we talked about inour family.
What does it look like to be amedley?
We are the medleys.
Who are we?
This is great.
We follow Jesus.
We happen to be musical.
We are hospitable, we open ourhouse.
You know, we honor each other.
This is what we do.
This is like.
If you don't establish a familyidentity, if you don't work
(35:49):
toward that, then what cultureis going to be in your family?
Well, there's cultures at worktoo.
What about a culture at yourwork where I'm characterized by
loving actions and a heart ofservice?
What if I were an advocate forpeople and a modeled honesty and
a modeled fairness?
What if I were a carrier of thekingdom of God in my workplace
(36:15):
and in my community and myregion and my nation.
This is how salt and light work.
This is how yeast this is wherethe kingdom of God is, like a
piece of yeast in a dough thatspreads and affects everything,
right?
Okay, so you get what I'msaying.
Jesus is changing the way wemeasure right living before God.
(36:37):
He's requiring us to reevaluatehow we think and live
concerning the law, about beingright with God, the things that
make you angry, the things thatstir your sexual passion, the
things concerning livinghonestly with your words,
approaching your enemies.
There's even a requirement ofperfection.
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I mean, what is our teacherasking us to do?
Is it even doable?
I mean, we probably can allagree this is the way things
should be, but is it evenpossible?
What does it mean?
That our righteousness mustexceed the righteousness of
scribes and Pharisees, and Iknow there are some of you out
(37:22):
there who are very confident andyou think you're doing well
enough to say I'm probably atleast right up there with the
holiest person I know, and Imight be a little bit better.
I think I'm there.
I think I'm there.
I think I have exceeded, Ithink I've exceeded the
(37:43):
righteousness of the scribes andPharisees, I think I'm good,
and then that's all fine, you'rewrong, but it's fine.
And then Jesus says okay, let'sraise the bar.
You must be perfect, as yourheavenly father is perfect, okay
, okay, there's no hope.
(38:06):
How can I enter the kingdomwithout being perfect?
And surely we all know thatwe're not perfect?
Our teacher is making animpossible demand.
If this is the standard,there's no hope for us entering
this kingdom.
(38:26):
But now, now we're back fullcircle to the very first thing
he said in this sermon.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
God.
When you know your need, youhave everything you need.
The whole kingdom belongs toyou.
(38:48):
The only way to see the kingdomand have its currency and live
in its culture is to know ourneed.
And when we understand our need, the kingdom belongs to us.
So Jesus said to one religiousseeker, a really devoted man who
wanted God unless a man is bornagain, he cannot even see the
(39:10):
kingdom of God.
We can't fulfill the law withinourselves, but Jesus came to
fulfill it on our behalf.
Look at what Paul said inRomans, chapter eight, to finish
this up.
There is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, who do not walkaccording to the flesh but
(39:32):
according to the spirit, for thelaw of the spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me freefrom the law of sin and death.
How Well, for what the lawcould not do.
How did Jesus fulfill the lawand prophets what the law could
not do, in that it was weak,through the flesh.
(39:52):
God did by sending his own sonin the likeness of sinful flesh
on account of sin and hecondemned sin in the flesh that
the righteous requirement of thelaw might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to theflesh but according to the
(40:13):
spirit.
This is good news.
This is good news.
We can't be right with God bystruggling to obey the laws, all
613 of them.
However, you're going tointerpret all of those.
How are you ever going to dothat?
But the great thing is, we'renot even required to do that.
This is not a requirement underthe new covenant.
(40:36):
We're required to believe inwhat God has already done in us
through the work of Christ onthe cross, as we walk in the
spirit.
Jesus said when he was askedwhat shall we do that we might
work the works of God.
Jesus said the work of God isto believe on him, whom God has
(40:59):
sent.
He changed everything.
What I couldn't do, god did bysending his son.
And that's why, in this passage,jesus goes back from the
outward behavior down to thehearts of the people.
Because the Ten Commandmentscan't perfectly.
(41:22):
They show us a need for God, awork, a need that he fulfilled
in the work, the finished workof Jesus on the cross.
So listen to what the OldTestament prophet says as he
explains this beautiful promiseof how God will give us what we
need in this new covenant, andlet's think of this in light of
(41:45):
what Jesus is saying.
Ezekiel says and I will giveyou a new heart, speaking about
the new covenant God was goingto bring.
And I will give you a new heart, a new spirit.
I will put within you and Iwill remove the heart of stone
from your flesh and give you aheart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit withinyou and cause you to walk in my
(42:07):
statutes and be careful to obeymy rules.
God gives us what we have tohave to fulfill his requirements
.
This is the gospel.
So we're talking here thismorning to believers and we're
talking to unbelievers as well.
(42:28):
This is the case for all of us,all of us.
The point is not outward.
The outward is the fruit, theroot is the issue.
The point is, how do you get aroot that produces good fruit,
and it's called a hearttransplant.
(42:48):
I take away a heart of stone.
Heart of stone can't beat atall, it can't pump blood, it
can't give life.
I'll put in you a heart offlesh that can pump blood, that
can bring life, and I will putmy spirit in you and cause you
(43:08):
to follow, because there's a newheart.
I'll cause you to be able tofollow all the things that I've
asked you to do.
So the point is it takes a newheart to live a new life in a
new kingdom, a new heart.
Maybe the currency of thekingdom is love, because that's
(43:30):
the root of where this all flowsfrom.
Maybe the culture of thekingdom, or the unit of
measurement of the kingdom, isthe motivation of your heart,
because that's the unit ofmeasurement Jesus used the
motivation of your heart.
How does that change?
It changes through the newcovenant.
How can we be perfect, as ourFather in heaven is perfect?
(43:52):
Only through Jesus, onlythrough Jesus.
So I want to encourage you today.
God has given you what you needto be able to do what he's
asked you to do.
And I especially want toencourage people today who don't
know Jesus, who have neverunderstood what it means to be
(44:12):
born again.
But you have something in yourheart that longs for a culture
that's different than whatyou're seeing, and longs for
something more than this worldthat you're looking at, the
world that you look at, and yousee that there's not much hope
(44:33):
here.
Maybe you look in your ownheart and you see there's not
much hope here, but God hascalled us to a living hope
through Jesus Christ.
There is hope.
There's hope in being connectedwith God, back to your maker.
That's what you're feeling.
You're feeling this draw backto your maker, and he's the one
(44:54):
drawing you.
It's not coming from you, it'scoming from him, but he wants
you to respond this morning.
So let's stand together andlet's pray.
Father, I just want to say thatI'm first among all of us, lord,
(45:16):
with the need of having a newheart, day by day, and the need
of having a heart that followsafter you.
I need so much, lord, to knowyour ways.
I need so much to understandyour kingdom and your culture
and have your currency, lord.
I want to spend your currency,lord.
I want to know what's reallyimportant to you.
(45:38):
I want to live in this kingdomof yours, lord.
So would you search me, wouldyou search us, lord?
Oh God, and know our hearts andtry us, lord, and know our
thoughts and see if there's anywicked way in us and lead us in
your way.
That is everlasting Lord.
This is our prayer this morning, lord, and I want to pray,
(45:59):
father, for anyone here whoyou're calling to yourself that
hears a call.
There's something beyond thisworld and something beyond what
I've been living in.
Lord, I pray by your spirit youwould draw each of them whose
(46:20):
prayers like that, lord, youwould draw them into you, draw
them to the truth of your word,draw them to Jesus and if that's
you, this is not difficult.
It's not difficult.
God did not make it difficult.
You don't have to jump throughhoops and you don't have to
(46:40):
clean yourself up before youcome.
You come first and he does thecleaning and he does it from the
inside out.
He does it so everything insideis changed, so that the outward
performance is affected and thesimplicity of it is God.
I need you.
I know that my sins haveseparated you and me.
(47:05):
I know that my sins haveseparated you and me.
I believe Jesus died to takethe punishment of my sins so
that the righteous requirementof the law could be fulfilled.
Even in me who trust in him, Ibelieve that and I receive him
as my Savior.
It's as simple as that.
And if that's what your heartis saying now, I'm asking you to
(47:29):
come up and see me or one ofthe prayer team.
It'll be up front here later aswe dismiss and let's talk.
Let us pray for you.
So, lord, thank you so much forthe hope that we have in Jesus.
Thank you for the beauty of anew heart.
Thank you that we have a newplace to live out of God.
It's not just like a newturning over a new leaf, lord.
(47:52):
This is like a total transplant, and thank you that you've done
in us, through Christ, what wecouldn't do.
So, lord, help us not only towalk in it and live in it and
believe it more day by day, butto hold it out to others.
Help us to hold this hope outto other people, lord.
Oh, that people could come toknow you through us, lord.
(48:16):
This would be beautiful and,lord, I pray your blessing on
these people, that you wouldbless them and you would keep
them, you would make yourbeautiful face shine upon them
and be gracious to them, thatyou lift up your countenance
unto them, lord, and you wouldgive them peace.
(48:38):
In the name of Jesus, amen.
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