WEBVTT 00:00:03.825 --> 00:00:07.891 So Amy and I just returned from Europe, and it was a great trip. 00:00:07.891 --> 00:00:15.230 Except, when you go to another country, you know you have to get used to some things, right? 00:00:15.230 --> 00:00:20.992 Like you have to think about the way they think, because they're not like us. 00:00:20.992 --> 00:00:21.681 Have you noticed? 00:00:21.681 --> 00:00:24.309 Other places aren't always like you, right? 00:00:24.309 --> 00:00:25.817 You have to think about the way they measure too. 00:00:25.817 --> 00:00:29.775 And you have to think about the way they measure too, and you have to think about the way they drive in the other countries. 00:00:29.775 --> 00:00:37.712 So you have to enter their culture, and a culture can be defined as the way we do things around here. 00:00:37.712 --> 00:00:40.607 That's just a simple way to do it, the way we do things. 00:00:40.607 --> 00:00:46.311 And so you have to deal with being in a metric country with a standard brain. 00:00:46.311 --> 00:00:55.331 Okay, because you, you do realize that the United States is one of only three nations in the entire world that that measures things the way we do, right? 00:00:55.331 --> 00:00:58.401 Two of the other ones are third world nations. 00:00:58.401 --> 00:01:00.887 We're just proud, that's all. 00:01:00.887 --> 00:01:02.009 We're just not going to change. 00:01:02.009 --> 00:01:03.372 That's the way that is. 00:01:03.372 --> 00:01:05.828 And then you have to get used to driving on the opposite. 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:11.352 I drove for one week on the opposite side of the road, which is not right. 00:01:11.352 --> 00:01:16.805 I mean it's literally not right, it's left, it's not right at all. 00:01:16.805 --> 00:01:22.185 Well, the steering wheel's on the right, the car is on the left, and so it took two of us to drive. 00:01:22.185 --> 00:01:25.712 Actually, it's like okay, left, left, left, left, left all the time. 00:01:25.712 --> 00:01:28.188 And we met our friends there. 00:01:28.188 --> 00:01:32.731 Actually, amy's best friend and her husband were there. 00:01:32.731 --> 00:01:34.105 It happened to be in Ireland. 00:01:34.105 --> 00:01:46.510 It was a really providential meeting, and he had been driving for two weeks on the wrong side of the road, and so what he told me was a good day in this is in Ireland. 00:01:46.510 --> 00:01:59.305 A good day in Ireland is any day when the airbag does not deploy, and I said that's great, that's what we're praying for, and no deployment of airbags Praise God for that. 00:01:59.305 --> 00:02:05.769 But you have to do things the way they do things, or else it can be really dangerous. 00:02:05.769 --> 00:02:06.903 It could be even fatal. 00:02:07.064 --> 00:02:09.286 Right, and I've encountered other. 00:02:09.286 --> 00:02:12.049 Have you ever been to a place that is not like you? 00:02:12.049 --> 00:02:14.347 They just do things really differently. 00:02:14.347 --> 00:02:23.086 I've encountered other places, other important rules that can make or break your connection with people or your ability to minister to people in different cultures. 00:02:23.086 --> 00:02:36.388 For example, if you're in some Hindu and some Muslim cultures, it's really, really rude, it's like an insult to show the bottoms of your feet so you can't cross your feet when you're sitting like this. 00:02:36.388 --> 00:02:36.868 You can't do that. 00:02:36.868 --> 00:02:44.207 So a lot of times I'm like I forget and I remember it's like, okay, wait a minute, you got to sit like this. 00:02:44.207 --> 00:02:49.310 I forget and I remember it's like okay, wait a minute, you've got to sit like this. 00:02:49.330 --> 00:02:56.312 And one time I was taken in to visit an African chief in a village and I was debriefed, not debriefed, pre-briefed. 00:02:56.312 --> 00:02:59.033 Is that a thing? 00:02:59.033 --> 00:03:02.776 Pre-briefed as to how you actually approach the chief. 00:03:02.776 --> 00:03:06.796 You don't make eye contact at all, you look at the ground. 00:03:06.796 --> 00:03:15.110 You don't make eye contact until you're spoken to, you're addressed, and then you can make eye contact. 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:22.990 In Bulgaria, especially the older people in Bulgaria, the way they say yes is they shake their heads. 00:03:22.990 --> 00:03:34.200 So you can be talking to somebody and they're doing this and you, and especially when you're preaching and you're like half the congregation is going. 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:38.549 So please don't do that this morning. 00:03:38.549 --> 00:03:42.402 It does throw you off a little bit and it's like you feel like I'm making a really important point. 00:03:42.402 --> 00:03:47.591 It's like and they're really going, but you don't know that. 00:03:47.591 --> 00:03:48.733 It's just very strange. 00:03:48.993 --> 00:03:57.943 The point is and also if you make a mistake in understanding which kind of money, which currency, they're talking about. 00:03:57.943 --> 00:03:59.810 It can cost you a lot of money. 00:03:59.810 --> 00:04:11.231 So the point is you have to know something about the culture, how they do things around there, of any country if you want to function in that country or a region of a country. 00:04:11.231 --> 00:04:19.940 I just met this week Kelsey and Ryan who moved here from California, which is very different than East Tennessee, and so that's part of part of that. 00:04:19.940 --> 00:04:22.023 Is like getting used to getting used to the culture, right, but companies have culture. 00:04:22.023 --> 00:04:29.048 Families have culture is like getting used to the culture, right, but companies have culture, families have culture. 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:31.451 There's a way you do things in your household. 00:04:31.451 --> 00:04:33.153 Churches have culture. 00:04:33.153 --> 00:04:38.076 So you have to think about and even adapt to a culture, right? 00:04:38.076 --> 00:04:40.285 So there's two important things you have to do. 00:04:40.285 --> 00:04:42.923 When you travel to another country, you have to convert to their currency. 00:04:42.923 --> 00:04:43.446 My dollars are no good there. 00:04:43.446 --> 00:04:43.934 They're no good at all. 00:04:43.934 --> 00:04:44.048 You have to do. 00:04:44.048 --> 00:04:45.185 When you travel to another country, you have to convert to their currency. 00:04:45.185 --> 00:04:45.927 My dollars are no good there. 00:04:45.927 --> 00:04:47.490 They're no good at all. 00:04:47.490 --> 00:04:48.372 You have to convert. 00:04:48.372 --> 00:04:56.021 And the second thing is you have to adapt to their culture, especially the way they measure things, how you pay for things, how you measure things. 00:04:56.021 --> 00:04:57.985 It's important. 00:04:58.125 --> 00:05:03.125 So in the Sermon on the Mount series that we're talking about, this is what Jesus is doing. 00:05:03.125 --> 00:05:12.211 Jesus is introducing us to a culture that we may be unfamiliar with, that we're learning to assimilate into. 00:05:12.211 --> 00:05:20.120 He's teaching us the currency of heaven and the culture and the way they do things, the way they measure things in heaven. 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:29.428 So there are things that are told to us by our culture and even our religious backgrounds that may be opposite of the way that God thinks. 00:05:29.428 --> 00:05:42.649 So here's what I want you to know this morning is, if we are going to follow Jesus, we have to learn to distinguish the voices of our culture from the eternal truth of God's word. 00:05:42.649 --> 00:05:49.470 We have to convert our thinking to this new kingdom or else we're not going to function in it. 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:51.204 So that's the idea. 00:05:51.204 --> 00:06:02.271 So the questions we have to ask ourselves this morning is in what ways are our thoughts and our ways of living different than the kingdom of heaven that Jesus is speaking about in the Sermon on the Mount? 00:06:02.271 --> 00:06:04.300 So that's what we're talking about this morning. 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:11.071 What is the currency of heaven and how does heaven measure things? 00:06:11.071 --> 00:06:14.307 How does heaven measure what's important? 00:06:14.307 --> 00:06:21.247 So Tyler, a couple of weeks ago laid a great foundation, and he was talking about the difference between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of heaven. 00:06:21.247 --> 00:06:30.966 Kelly challenged us last week, too, to basically step up and be what Jesus said we already are, which is salt and light. 00:06:32.228 --> 00:06:38.987 And so I want to go through the rest of chapter five this morning, and there are so many things. 00:06:38.987 --> 00:06:50.170 Jesus covered so many important things in the rest of chapter five, but I want to get to the intent of what he was teaching here by following his line of thought through here. 00:06:50.170 --> 00:07:00.485 He has a phrase that he uses through the whole rest of the chapter about changing the way we measure things, and measuring is really important, right? 00:07:00.485 --> 00:07:01.749 One thing my dad taught me. 00:07:01.749 --> 00:07:04.761 My dad was like he could do almost anything. 00:07:04.761 --> 00:07:26.708 He could build things, he could conceive things and build them, and one of the things he drilled into my head was measure twice, cut once, right, right, Right, andy, because if you measure once, you might have to cut twice, and you might actually Three or four times. 00:07:26.708 --> 00:07:28.072 That's really good, thank you. 00:07:28.072 --> 00:07:29.625 Of course, you wouldn't know that. 00:07:29.625 --> 00:07:30.769 You're not old enough yet. 00:07:30.769 --> 00:07:39.629 So measure real good, that's the point, right, and then you can make the cut right. 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:42.829 How do we measure things the way heaven does? 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:48.773 I'm going to actually take the rest of chapter five, not read the whole rest of chapter five. 00:07:48.773 --> 00:07:56.233 I want to take some of those statements that Jesus made that are like changing the way you measure things. 00:07:56.233 --> 00:08:06.620 And so we're going to skip a little bit through here, Not because the rest of it isn't important, because it's really important, but to get his line of thinking through here. 00:08:06.620 --> 00:08:08.786 So we're going to start with verse 17. 00:08:08.786 --> 00:08:13.685 And Jesus said this do not think that I've come to abolish the law or prophets. 00:08:13.685 --> 00:08:17.213 I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:29.305 And then, in verse 20, I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:08:29.305 --> 00:08:39.561 And if we go on down to verse 21, you heard it was said to the people long ago do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. 00:08:39.561 --> 00:08:46.193 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. 00:08:46.193 --> 00:08:52.491 And then, further down, he says you've heard it said do not commit adultery. 00:08:52.491 --> 00:08:59.573 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 00:08:59.573 --> 00:09:11.725 And then Matthew 5, verse 33 again, you've heard it said to the people long ago do not break your oath, but keep oaths that you've made to the Lord. 00:09:11.725 --> 00:09:14.250 But I tell you, do not swear at all. 00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:18.687 Simply let your yes be yes and your no no. 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:30.899 In verse 43, you've heard it was said love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:42.730 And verse 48, therefore, you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 00:09:42.730 --> 00:10:00.366 Well, father, we thank you for the words of Jesus, we value the words of Jesus and we want to be a part of your kingdom culture, lord, and we do realize that we think in ways that are different than your ways, and your ways are not our ways. 00:10:00.366 --> 00:10:01.846 Your thoughts are not our thoughts. 00:10:01.846 --> 00:10:14.659 But, Lord, you did say come, let's reason together, says the Lord, and you did say, though our sins are as scarlet, they'll be white like snow. 00:10:14.659 --> 00:10:19.384 Lord, we ask you that you would open our eyes to see this morning what we need to see from your word. 00:10:19.384 --> 00:10:22.448 We welcome your Holy Spirit to enlighten us in Jesus' name, amen. 00:10:22.448 --> 00:10:26.140 So Jesus is showing the culture of the kingdom of God. 00:10:26.421 --> 00:10:29.830 He's also changing the unit of measurement here, right? 00:10:29.830 --> 00:10:40.813 So this sermon, I think he's telling us that you can have the wrong unit of measurement and it can be disastrous, like eternally disastrous. 00:10:40.813 --> 00:10:52.212 I mean, if you miscalculate because of the currency, you might lose a little money, or you might be embarrassed if you do some social faux pas in a different country. 00:10:52.212 --> 00:10:59.500 But it's a whole different thing to make a mistake when heaven and hell are at stake, right? 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:00.923 This is really important. 00:11:00.923 --> 00:11:02.326 We need to understand this. 00:11:02.326 --> 00:11:09.491 When Jesus said, do not think that I've come to abolish the law and prophets. 00:11:09.491 --> 00:11:10.639 I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:19.791 What he was saying was I haven't come to do away with the things that you've known of, but I've come to show you the actual intent of it. 00:11:19.791 --> 00:11:31.653 I've come to show you what it really means, what it really points to, and it's refocusing us on the things that are most important and where those things come from. 00:11:33.061 --> 00:11:35.570 There's a proverb in Proverbs 4, verse 23. 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:44.789 It says keep your heart with all vigilance, watch over your heart, be careful about your heart, because for it flows the springs of life. 00:11:44.789 --> 00:11:45.770 Everything comes from your heart. 00:11:45.770 --> 00:11:46.011 And this is what heart, because for it flows the springs of life. 00:11:46.011 --> 00:11:49.673 Everything comes from your heart and this is what Jesus was getting at right. 00:11:49.673 --> 00:11:52.181 In fact, jesus said something really similar. 00:11:52.181 --> 00:12:03.649 He said a good man from the good treasure of a good heart brings forth good things, and the evil man, from the evil treasure of an evil heart brings forth evil things. 00:12:03.649 --> 00:12:11.392 What is in your heart is what comes out, so outside is just the fruit of the root. 00:12:11.392 --> 00:12:19.628 And Jesus is saying you've heard it said fruit things, but I tell you root things. 00:12:19.628 --> 00:12:22.027 This is what he's talking about. 00:12:22.027 --> 00:12:27.370 He's getting down to the very thoughts and intents of the heart, because out of your heart flows everything. 00:12:27.370 --> 00:12:30.008 And I think okay. 00:12:30.109 --> 00:12:52.073 So if you just take a pause, a second and think about this with me, think about the most holy person that you can think of, either that you know personally or that you've heard of even in history, someone who is the closest to God, living the most godly lifestyle, the picture of right living or holy living to you. 00:12:52.073 --> 00:12:55.149 Think of it, the closest person to God that you know of. 00:12:55.149 --> 00:13:01.908 Get that person in your heart and keep that guy or that woman in your heart. 00:13:01.908 --> 00:13:03.743 That guy or that woman in your heart. 00:13:03.743 --> 00:13:10.331 People, the people that Jesus was speaking to that day, the most holy people that they knew. 00:13:10.331 --> 00:13:15.600 All had something in common, it all. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:16.743 They're all tied to the law of God. 00:13:16.743 --> 00:13:21.932 So the law is important, it's got a part to play. 00:13:21.932 --> 00:13:22.933 The prophets are important. 00:13:22.933 --> 00:13:35.379 They foretold of Jesus, but Jesus came into a scene, a religious scene that had muddied the water so much for the common people, and so it complicated things when it came to how people thought of God, for example. 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:41.668 So you had these people in a first century Israel area. 00:13:41.668 --> 00:13:44.010 You had the Sadducees, right. 00:13:44.010 --> 00:13:48.355 The Sadducees were these political priests basically. 00:13:48.355 --> 00:13:51.905 So they are wealthy people. 00:13:51.905 --> 00:13:59.225 They were tied into the secular powers as well, so they were like the power moguls of the temple. 00:13:59.225 --> 00:14:00.428 They were the people who were in power. 00:14:00.428 --> 00:14:01.932 Then you had the Zealots. 00:14:01.932 --> 00:14:06.942 They're these political revolutionaries right, kind of the suicide bombers of their day. 00:14:06.942 --> 00:14:10.551 Basically, they were that kind of thinking. 00:14:10.551 --> 00:14:21.611 They were ready to fight and did fight, wanted to fight Rome, wanted to bring Rome down in a military fashion so that the kingdom of God could come by the strength of their own hand. 00:14:21.611 --> 00:14:22.354 That's the Zealots. 00:14:22.634 --> 00:14:29.482 Then you have the Essenes, and they were these radical separatists that literally said everybody's lukewarm, we're going to the caves. 00:14:29.482 --> 00:14:32.610 And they went to the caves and they were like these doomsday. 00:14:32.610 --> 00:14:40.974 Doomsday I wasn't going to say preppers, but you said preppers, whoever that was. 00:14:40.974 --> 00:14:44.225 I didn't say it, but you said it. 00:14:44.225 --> 00:14:46.370 There was sort of like preppers. 00:14:46.370 --> 00:14:47.442 I mean, they were like everything. 00:14:47.442 --> 00:14:51.864 They were looking for some apocalyptic event that was going to come right and they were separate. 00:14:51.864 --> 00:15:04.410 Now those are the people who also copied scripture, and that's where we got the Qumran scriptures right, so Dead Sea Scrolls right. 00:15:04.410 --> 00:15:08.416 So they thought everybody else was lukewarm. 00:15:08.416 --> 00:15:10.004 So you have these groups. 00:15:10.004 --> 00:15:10.586 They're fighting. 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.230 And then you have the groups that Jesus was speaking of here scribes and Pharisees. 00:15:14.230 --> 00:15:16.043 So the Pharisees were these. 00:15:16.043 --> 00:15:19.352 The word literally means separated ones or separate ones. 00:15:19.352 --> 00:15:22.490 So they were like the ones that we're not you, we're separating from you. 00:15:22.490 --> 00:15:30.033 We are actually living in strict adherence to the laws and the traditions which were not in the laws. 00:15:30.033 --> 00:15:36.072 And the scribes were those people of that group that were scholars and teachers. 00:15:36.072 --> 00:15:45.264 Okay, so the most holy people that the people Jesus was talking to of that day were probably scribes and Pharisees. 00:15:47.541 --> 00:15:54.946 And then Jesus says unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you can't enter into the kingdom. 00:15:54.946 --> 00:15:59.344 What if that person you have in your mind about the most holy person that you can think of. 00:15:59.344 --> 00:16:05.097 Unless your righteousness exceeds their righteousness, you can't. 00:16:05.097 --> 00:16:07.527 You can't know the kingdom of heaven. 00:16:07.527 --> 00:16:12.524 That's where Jesus starts, okay, he starts there. 00:16:12.524 --> 00:16:14.443 Okay. 00:16:14.443 --> 00:16:15.386 How could this be? 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:31.249 These groups were thought to be closer to God than anybody else, but they were misrepresenting God to the people because they weren't measuring correctly, they hadn't converted their currency, they weren't in the kingdom of God. 00:16:31.249 --> 00:16:32.927 Their thoughts of God were inaccurate. 00:16:32.927 --> 00:16:41.753 They all had a list of rules, and you know, honestly, we all have a list of rules too, don't we, don't we? 00:16:41.753 --> 00:16:54.288 We have a list of rules, things that we think are right and wrong, and the problem with a list 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? 00:16:54.288 --> 00:16:55.311 So who? 00:16:55.311 --> 00:16:56.953 Where does this list even come from? 00:16:56.953 --> 00:16:59.043 What are they even talking about? 00:16:59.043 --> 00:17:08.367 Well, for the Pharisees and the scribes, their list came from the 613 laws in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. 00:17:08.367 --> 00:17:13.949 They also added these traditions along with that, but there's 613 of them. 00:17:15.435 --> 00:17:16.180 That's a lot of laws. 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:22.905 So there's 248 of them that are maybe you could say they're positive laws or they're affirmative commands. 00:17:22.905 --> 00:17:28.351 Do this, for example you shall honor your father and mother. 00:17:28.351 --> 00:17:30.487 That's an affirmative command. 00:17:30.487 --> 00:17:31.430 Do this. 00:17:31.430 --> 00:17:36.207 Then there's 365 of them that are negative commands. 00:17:36.207 --> 00:17:37.450 Do not do this. 00:17:37.450 --> 00:17:40.055 Thou shalt not steal those kind of things, right? 00:17:40.055 --> 00:17:48.512 365 do nots, so one do not for every day of the year, if you're counting. 00:17:48.512 --> 00:17:56.384 If you want to just focus on one every day, you could do that, but could you actually do that? 00:17:56.384 --> 00:18:01.253 And the problem is then you have so many laws. 00:18:01.253 --> 00:18:21.329 They divided them, they ranked them, they argued over how to interpret them, and when you only ever look at the law, what you have is a list of do-nots to argue over, and that's a lot of what religion is is arguing over do-nots. 00:18:21.329 --> 00:18:29.309 So many laws means there's an endless number of ways to interpret them, to argue over them, to separate over them, and we see that in religion today. 00:18:29.309 --> 00:18:33.643 Right, we probably have been a part of that, most of us. 00:18:35.405 --> 00:18:41.286 Jesus wants his followers to know the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. 00:18:41.286 --> 00:18:43.453 This is really what's happening here. 00:18:43.453 --> 00:18:48.787 Okay, there's a difference between letter of the law and the spirit of the law. 00:18:48.787 --> 00:18:57.369 So this gets to the heart of everything else the heart, the motivations, the intentions from which everything else flows. 00:18:57.369 --> 00:19:00.805 This gets to the root that produces the fruit. 00:19:00.805 --> 00:19:05.762 So let's look a minute at the difference between letter of the law and the spirit of the law. 00:19:05.762 --> 00:19:12.233 So a letter of the law emphasizes the exact wording of a rule or a law. 00:19:12.233 --> 00:19:28.034 It focuses on the literal meaning, without considering the context or the intent of that law, and it can be rigid and inflexible, leading to outcomes that aren't fair or aren't reasonable. 00:19:28.034 --> 00:19:30.145 That's the letter of the law. 00:19:30.145 --> 00:19:39.653 Spirit of the law focuses on the intention of the law, not just the words, the exact wording, the exact words, but the intention of the law. 00:19:39.653 --> 00:19:52.212 It considers the context, the circumstances and the overall goal of the law, and it allows for flexibility and interpretation to achieve justice and fairness. 00:19:52.900 --> 00:20:03.173 In fact, that chief I told you about in that African village that I went to, he, after we started our conversation, he gave us. 00:20:03.173 --> 00:20:08.391 He sat with us over an hour and gave us 800 years of history of his people. 00:20:08.391 --> 00:20:09.923 It was fascinating. 00:20:09.923 --> 00:20:10.585 Years of history of his people. 00:20:10.585 --> 00:20:10.965 It was fascinating. 00:20:10.965 --> 00:20:19.623 But one of the things that he said was our laws have always been passed down orally. 00:20:19.623 --> 00:20:20.384 Nobody's ever written them down. 00:20:20.384 --> 00:20:21.067 We've never codified our laws. 00:20:21.067 --> 00:20:22.289 So I came to our elders. 00:20:22.289 --> 00:20:30.550 This is the chief we were talking to and he said I came to our elders and said why don't we write them down, so we know them, so they're clear? 00:20:30.550 --> 00:20:37.031 And he said my elders of this village said no, we won't do that. 00:20:37.031 --> 00:20:40.729 Well, why would you not write your laws down? 00:20:40.729 --> 00:20:45.806 They said we're not writing the laws down. 00:20:45.806 --> 00:20:55.945 You might look only at the law, without taking into account the community, the context, the relationships, the way things are really going. 00:20:55.945 --> 00:20:57.107 It's really pretty wise. 00:20:57.107 --> 00:20:59.093 It's really wise. 00:20:59.093 --> 00:21:09.567 They do have the laws, but they try to keep to the spirit of the law, not just to the letter of the law. 00:21:09.606 --> 00:21:19.752 So let's make this practical with the the story let's just say a child comes home from school and is told by his mother do not watch tv until you finish your homework. 00:21:19.752 --> 00:21:21.923 There's a law, right. 00:21:21.923 --> 00:21:26.574 A few minutes later his mother finds him watching. 00:21:26.574 --> 00:21:39.048 Oh uh, he's watching cartoons on his tablet Some of you are already Not the TV, but on his tablet. 00:21:39.048 --> 00:21:46.179 His homework is untouched, but the child protests that his mom only told him not to watch the TV. 00:21:46.179 --> 00:21:47.526 She didn't say anything about the tablet. 00:21:50.641 --> 00:21:54.928 In this example, the child has kept the letter of the law but has not kept the spirit of the law, right? 00:21:54.928 --> 00:22:00.090 What if the mother had said finish your homework before you watch cartoons? 00:22:00.090 --> 00:22:05.371 And then perhaps the child would have watched a baseball game instead of the cartoons? 00:22:05.371 --> 00:22:09.388 Once again, he kept the letter of the law, right. 00:22:09.388 --> 00:22:11.584 I did what you told me. 00:22:11.584 --> 00:22:13.710 Is he right with his mom? 00:22:13.710 --> 00:22:17.586 Okay, good, good answer, he's not. 00:22:17.586 --> 00:22:26.512 She could have been even more specific Do not watch any kind of show on any electronic device until you finish your homework. 00:22:26.512 --> 00:22:34.833 But then the child might decide to go outside and play, leaving his homework untouched. 00:22:34.833 --> 00:22:39.872 She didn't say don't go outside and play, she just said don't watch any show on electronic. 00:22:39.872 --> 00:22:42.402 Okay, is he right with his mom? 00:22:42.402 --> 00:22:46.646 No, is he violating the spirit of the law? 00:22:46.646 --> 00:22:55.241 Yeah, so the frustrated mom could have said don't do anything until you finish your homework. 00:22:55.241 --> 00:23:17.780 And then the child, taking it literally, could then claim to be unable to finish his homework because he can't open his book bag, because you told me not to do anything, not to do anything. 00:23:17.800 --> 00:23:20.106 Some of you know people like this, right, some of you maybe are people like this, I don't know. 00:23:20.106 --> 00:23:29.691 Clearly, you can see that focusing on the letter of law can be a tactic to avoid the real spirit of law right, yeah, where's your heart? 00:23:29.691 --> 00:23:31.034 Does this not reveal your heart? 00:23:31.034 --> 00:23:33.444 I'm not going to do what you want. 00:23:33.444 --> 00:23:34.346 I'm not going to do it. 00:23:34.346 --> 00:23:39.851 I'm going to do what I want, but I'm going to follow the letter of the law and do what I want. 00:23:39.851 --> 00:23:52.133 That's the kind of thing that was happening among the most religious leaders that these people Jesus was speaking to knew, the ones that were perceived to be the most holy in the culture. 00:23:52.133 --> 00:23:55.160 So no wonder things were frustrating to the common people. 00:23:55.160 --> 00:24:02.013 And in this context, jesus says do not think that I've come to abolish the law or prophets. 00:24:02.013 --> 00:24:05.288 I've come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. 00:24:05.288 --> 00:24:14.067 I've come to point you to and remind you of the true intention, the things that truly matter. 00:24:14.067 --> 00:24:15.906 He's changing the unit of measurement. 00:24:15.906 --> 00:24:18.686 It's not outside, it's inside. 00:24:18.686 --> 00:24:23.367 It's inside so that the spirit of a law can be understood. 00:24:23.367 --> 00:24:23.990 That's what he's doing. 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:24.803 You've heard it said. 00:24:24.803 --> 00:24:31.535 But I tell you, because where does murder come from Hatred in your heart? 00:24:31.535 --> 00:24:32.409 Where does adul murder come from Hatred in your heart? 00:24:32.409 --> 00:24:36.090 Where does adultery come from Lust in your heart? 00:24:36.090 --> 00:24:39.147 You see, you've heard it said this. 00:24:39.147 --> 00:24:40.645 You've heard it said follow the law. 00:24:40.645 --> 00:24:42.066 But I'm telling you no, no, no, no. 00:24:42.066 --> 00:24:43.906 It's actually in the heart. 00:24:43.906 --> 00:24:48.025 The heart is the issue, the heart's the issue. 00:24:48.025 --> 00:24:59.048 So sin is not merely about outward actions, but the state and intentions of my heart, which is the seedbed of all those actions. 00:25:01.030 --> 00:25:02.433 Anger is not necessarily wrong. 00:25:02.433 --> 00:25:04.442 There is a righteous form of anger. 00:25:04.442 --> 00:25:06.484 The scripture says be angry but sin not. 00:25:06.484 --> 00:25:08.048 So it's possible. 00:25:08.048 --> 00:25:11.093 Anger toward unrighteousness is not wrong. 00:25:11.093 --> 00:25:17.171 Sexual desire toward your marriage partner is holy, it's not wrong. 00:25:17.171 --> 00:25:27.868 Holy imagination is what sets humans apart from animals, but unholy imagination is the fodder for hurtful actions toward others. 00:25:27.868 --> 00:25:31.233 Lust and hatred evolve into actions, you see. 00:25:31.233 --> 00:25:36.165 So doesn't it make sense to find out what is on God's list? 00:25:36.165 --> 00:25:38.329 And try to do that. 00:25:38.329 --> 00:25:39.813 Try to measure it that way. 00:25:39.813 --> 00:25:44.730 How many things have we heard it said one way but it's actually a different way? 00:25:44.730 --> 00:25:46.876 How many things? 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:52.432 There are lies that we hear from our secular culture and lies that we hear from our religious culture. 00:25:52.432 --> 00:26:04.692 But it's just as wrong and it could even be more dangerous when our religious culture tells us something that is anti-truth as when our secular culture tells us something that's anti-truth. 00:26:04.692 --> 00:26:14.214 I mean, I think it's pretty easy to see biological women can't be men, right? 00:26:14.214 --> 00:26:16.909 That is an obvious lie to us. 00:26:16.909 --> 00:26:19.907 Men can't be married to men. 00:26:19.907 --> 00:26:28.150 Those are lies that tear at the very fabric of God's creation and intention, and the end of it is stealing, killing and destroying. 00:26:28.150 --> 00:26:28.912 That's it. 00:26:28.912 --> 00:26:30.351 It steals, kills and destroying that's it. 00:26:30.351 --> 00:26:30.980 It steals, kills and destroys. 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:36.426 But there are religious untruths that misrepresent God as well. 00:26:39.141 --> 00:26:40.403 Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:26:40.403 --> 00:26:42.509 That's what he said. 00:26:42.509 --> 00:26:44.232 You've heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:26:44.232 --> 00:26:46.185 Who said that to them? 00:26:46.185 --> 00:26:51.828 This was the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees that needed to be exceeded. 00:26:51.828 --> 00:26:52.371 Who said that to them? 00:26:52.371 --> 00:26:54.420 This was the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees that needed to be exceeded. 00:26:54.420 --> 00:26:55.761 Who said that to them? 00:26:58.827 --> 00:27:00.751 It's just as wrong as the lies. 00:27:00.751 --> 00:27:02.500 Our secular culture tells us so. 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:04.482 But what does it really mean for us today? 00:27:04.482 --> 00:27:05.964 How can we apply this? 00:27:05.964 --> 00:27:23.563 We've got an opportunity, day by day, to convert our currency, to make a change and try to understand the way things are measured in heaven, in our personal lives, our families, our churches, our businesses. 00:27:23.563 --> 00:27:28.747 So let's think about it in the culture of my own heart, because this is where everything starts. 00:27:28.747 --> 00:27:30.170 So let's start here. 00:27:30.170 --> 00:27:36.237 When we say your kingdom come, your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 00:27:36.237 --> 00:27:40.500 Well, how about this part of earth right here? 00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:46.583 How about the part of earth that God scooped up and breathed into and made a living soul us? 00:27:46.583 --> 00:27:53.103 What if we said your kingdom, come right here, in this little piece of earth, right here, lord? 00:27:53.103 --> 00:28:01.950 I am convinced that one of the prayers that God loves to hear the most is the prayer of David, psalm 139. 00:28:01.950 --> 00:28:11.978 Search me, o God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there's any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. 00:28:11.978 --> 00:28:17.602 That's a beautiful prayer because it's humble. 00:28:20.450 --> 00:28:26.282 Honestly, most of us think that what we think is right, isn't it right, isn't it true? 00:28:26.282 --> 00:28:30.736 And if everybody thought like us, everything would be okay. 00:28:30.736 --> 00:28:33.536 What's wrong with those people? 00:28:33.536 --> 00:28:37.599 But what if we began changing the culture in our heart? 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.801 What if we began each day with a teachable spirit Search me, oh God. 00:28:41.801 --> 00:28:44.376 I know I don't think the way you think. 00:28:44.376 --> 00:28:47.296 Exactly Whatever there is in me. 00:28:47.296 --> 00:28:49.396 Lead me in the way everlasting. 00:28:49.396 --> 00:28:53.196 I long to think like you, god. 00:28:53.196 --> 00:28:55.137 How would things be different in our lives if we did that? 00:28:55.137 --> 00:29:01.141 What if we developed a culture of humility and teachableness in our own heart? 00:29:01.141 --> 00:29:04.901 Because God resists the proud, but he pours this grace out on the humble. 00:29:04.901 --> 00:29:28.183 And you know, what I have seen is that when you're humble, it not only makes it better with God, it makes it better with people, because people resist the proud too, because when you're proud, when you're arrogant and unteachable, not a lot of people want to read your posts or hang with you, not for long anyway. 00:29:28.183 --> 00:29:40.585 Let's let this revolution, this changing culture, start with us first, and then maybe it filters over, it ripples over into our church. 00:29:41.290 --> 00:29:48.634 I can think of some things in my religious culture that I've been taught, that I learned were not exactly the ways of God. 00:29:48.634 --> 00:29:53.557 For example, you've heard it said being right with God equals following a list of rules. 00:29:53.557 --> 00:29:55.953 Maybe Jesus would say. 00:29:55.953 --> 00:30:01.477 But I say unto you, it's about relationship, it's actually about love. 00:30:01.477 --> 00:30:06.140 Because Jesus was asked one time which is the greatest law? 00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:07.736 All those 613. 00:30:07.736 --> 00:30:09.836 Okay, that's a lot to choose from. 00:30:09.836 --> 00:30:11.816 Pick the one that's greatest. 00:30:11.816 --> 00:30:21.782 And Jesus said okay, here's the one Love the Lord, your God, with all of your heart and your soul and your mind and strength. 00:30:21.782 --> 00:30:26.474 And the second one is, like it, love your neighbor as yourself. 00:30:26.474 --> 00:30:27.839 It's love and love. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:30.097 It's vertical and horizontal love. 00:30:30.097 --> 00:30:32.075 It's love. 00:30:32.075 --> 00:30:41.872 Maybe love is the currency of the kingdom, maybe love that is combined with truth, because truth and love have to go together. 00:30:41.872 --> 00:30:46.563 Right, you have to speak truth in love and love tells truth. 00:30:46.563 --> 00:30:49.816 But maybe that's the culture of the kingdom, jesus said. 00:30:49.816 --> 00:30:52.481 He boiled it all 613 down to two. 00:30:52.481 --> 00:30:57.335 He distilled it to two of them. 00:30:57.335 --> 00:31:02.924 If I love you, I won't murder you, right? 00:31:02.924 --> 00:31:04.977 I won't commit adultery against you. 00:31:04.977 --> 00:31:07.655 I won't hate you if I love you. 00:31:07.655 --> 00:31:10.583 Here's another one. 00:31:10.650 --> 00:31:13.829 You've heard it said the minister is the one in the pulpit. 00:31:13.829 --> 00:31:20.467 But I say unto you that there's a body of Christ and all of you have been given gifts. 00:31:20.467 --> 00:31:23.512 But I say unto you that there's a body of Christ and all of you have been given gifts. 00:31:23.512 --> 00:31:32.183 All of you have something to give to profit the rest of the body and you work together in the common good. 00:31:32.183 --> 00:31:41.009 And I think this is so important because it was never God's plan to do this all with one person up front. 00:31:41.009 --> 00:31:42.753 It never has been. 00:31:42.753 --> 00:31:46.685 It was never His plan to contain the light to one person. 00:31:46.685 --> 00:31:52.301 His method of reaching the world is not just through bringing people to advance so they can hear somebody talk. 00:31:52.301 --> 00:31:54.231 That's a way. 00:31:54.231 --> 00:31:56.537 I'm glad you're here listening to me talk. 00:31:56.537 --> 00:31:59.703 Don't get me wrong, it's a way. 00:31:59.703 --> 00:32:14.160 But really his goal is to infuse his life into our hearts so that from our hearts we can diffuse it out to other people and dispense it through relationships. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:19.621 You know you're the best entry point into the kingdom of God. 00:32:19.621 --> 00:32:21.834 You know you're the best entry point into the kingdom of God. 00:32:21.834 --> 00:32:23.135 You are Still. 00:32:23.135 --> 00:32:33.710 Even though it's the age of websites and people find churches on websites, still, vast majority of people come to church with a friend. 00:32:33.710 --> 00:32:39.737 That's the way it happens, so it's not just the person up front who's the minister. 00:32:39.757 --> 00:32:47.778 There's probably a lot of things we can say that we have learned in our religious culture that are measured differently in heaven, but let's talk about the family just for a minute. 00:32:47.778 --> 00:32:51.839 What does it mean to have the culture of heaven in your family? 00:32:51.839 --> 00:33:03.112 That's just a great prayer to ask the Lord what is different about your kingdom and my household today, this morning getting ready for church? 00:33:03.112 --> 00:33:08.943 What if you, in your marriage, played the Jesus role? 00:33:08.943 --> 00:33:23.364 Letting go of your rights, humbling yourself, becoming a servant giving yourself, becoming a servant giving yourself, so that we is more important than me? 00:33:23.364 --> 00:33:25.392 What if that happened? 00:33:25.392 --> 00:33:26.816 What kind of a change would that make? 00:33:26.816 --> 00:33:36.018 What if we had an honest discussion about how we do things in our household in terms of volume level. 00:33:36.018 --> 00:33:39.743 You know you can determine the volume level of your house. 00:33:39.743 --> 00:33:44.618 It's not thrust upon you. 00:33:44.618 --> 00:33:46.994 You can actually change it. 00:33:46.994 --> 00:33:55.681 You can change the thermostat, you can dial it back the way that you say things and the intensity and the volume level. 00:33:57.349 --> 00:33:58.186 There's a thing called the fruit of the Spirit. 00:33:58.186 --> 00:33:58.842 It's called self-control. 00:33:58.842 --> 00:33:59.259 It's right up there with love and joy. 00:33:59.259 --> 00:33:59.931 Volume level there's a thing called the fruit of the Spirit. 00:33:59.931 --> 00:34:00.325 It's called self-control. 00:34:00.325 --> 00:34:03.758 It's right up there with love and joy and peace. 00:34:03.758 --> 00:34:14.179 Self-control, gentleness and self-control are fruits of the Spirit, but not with a three-year-old. 00:34:14.179 --> 00:34:19.938 Even more, even more with a three-year-old. 00:34:19.958 --> 00:34:21.509 I think what if we let's talk about the three-year-old? 00:34:21.509 --> 00:34:24.414 I think, what if we let's talk about the three-year-old? 00:34:24.414 --> 00:34:27.541 But okay, what is it? 00:34:27.541 --> 00:34:34.117 What if we only what if we worked on not only suppressing the action but elevating the principle. 00:34:34.117 --> 00:34:37.217 Not only suppressing the evil but elevating the good. 00:34:37.217 --> 00:34:38.742 What if we worked? 00:34:38.742 --> 00:34:40.052