Red Letters - New Kingdom, New Culture

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.

We are Trinity Community Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Chapters

• 0:00 Cultural Differences and Adaptations
• 8:08 Understanding Kingdom Culture
• 17:34 The Religious Landscape of Jesus' Time
• 24:16 Letter vs. Spirit of the Law
• 32:42 Changing Our Heart's Culture
• 40:25 Making Our Righteousness Exceed
• 44:52 The New Covenant Heart Transplant

Transcript

Mark Medley: 0:03

So Amy and I just returned from Europe, and it was a great trip. Except, when you go to another country, you know you have to get used to some things, right? Like you have to think about the way they think, because they're not like us. Have you noticed? Other places aren't always like you, right? You have to think about the way they measure too. 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. So you have to enter their culture, and a culture can be defined as the way we do things around here. That's just a simple way to do it, the way we do things. And so you have to deal with being in a metric country with a standard brain. 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? Two of the other ones are third world 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 used to driving on the opposite.

Mark Medley: 1:05

I drove for one week on the opposite 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 on the right, the car is on the left, and so it took two of us to drive. Actually, it's like okay, left, left, left, left, left all the time. And we met our friends there. Actually, amy's best friend and her husband were there. It happened to be in Ireland. 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. 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. But you have to do things the way they do things, or else it can be really dangerous. It could be even fatal.

Mark Medley: 2:07

Right, and I've encountered other. Have you ever been to a place that is not like you? They just do things really differently. 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. 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. You can't do that. 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. I forget and I remember it's like okay, wait a minute, you've got to sit like this.

Mark Medley: 2:49

And one time I was taken in to visit an African chief in a village and I was debriefed, not debriefed, pre-briefed. Is that a thing? Pre-briefed as to how you actually approach the chief. You don't make eye contact at all, you look at the ground. You don't make eye contact until you're spoken to, you're addressed, and then you can make eye contact. In Bulgaria, especially the older people in Bulgaria, the way they say yes is they shake their heads. 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. So please don't do that this morning. It does throw you off a little bit and it's like you feel like I'm making a really important point. It's like and they're really going, but you don't know that. It's just very strange.

Mark Medley: 3:48

The point is and also if you make a mistake in understanding which kind of money, which currency, they're talking about. It can cost you a lot of money. 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. 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. Is like getting used to getting used to the culture, right, but companies have culture. Families have culture is like getting used to the culture, right, but companies have culture, families have culture.

Mark Medley: 4:29

There's a way you do things in your household. Churches have culture. So you have to think about and even adapt to a culture, right? So there's two important things you have to do. When you travel to another country, 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 another country, you have to convert to their currency. My dollars are no good there. They're no good at all. You have to convert. 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. It's important.

Mark Medley: 4:58

So in the Sermon on the Mount series that we're talking about, this is what Jesus is doing. Jesus is introducing us to a culture that we may be unfamiliar with, that we're learning to assimilate into. He's teaching us the currency of heaven and the culture and the way they do things, the way they measure things in heaven. 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. 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. We have to convert our thinking to this new kingdom or else we're not going to function in it. So that's the idea. 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? So that's what we're talking about this morning. What is the currency of heaven and how does heaven measure things? How does heaven measure what's important? 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. Kelly challenged us last week, too, to basically step up and be what Jesus said we already are, which is salt and light.

Mark Medley: 6:32

And so I want to go through the rest of chapter five this morning, and there are so many things. 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. 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? One thing my dad taught me. My dad was like he could do almost anything. 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. That's really good, thank you. Of course, you wouldn't know that. You're not old enough yet. So measure real good, that's the point, right, and then you can make the cut right. How do we measure things the way heaven does?

Mark Medley: 7:44

I'm going to actually take the rest of chapter five, not read the whole rest of chapter five. I want to take some of those statements that Jesus made that are like changing the way you measure things. 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. So we're going to start with verse 17. And Jesus said this do not think that I've come to abolish the law or prophets. I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

Mark Medley: 8:19

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. 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. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And then, further down, he says you've heard it said do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 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. But I tell you, do not swear at all. Simply let your yes be yes and your no no.

Mark Medley: 9:20

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. And verse 48, therefore, you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 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. Your thoughts are not our thoughts. 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. Lord, we ask you that you would open our eyes to see this morning what we need to see from your word. We welcome your Holy Spirit to enlighten us in Jesus' name, amen. So Jesus is showing the culture of the kingdom of God.

Mark Medley: 10:26

He's also changing the unit of measurement here, right? 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. 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. But it's a whole different thing to make a mistake when heaven and hell are at stake, right? This is really important. We need to understand this. When Jesus said, do not think that 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 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. 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.

Mark Medley: 11:33

There's a proverb in Proverbs 4, verse 23. 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. Everything comes from your heart. And this is what heart, because for it flows the springs of life. Everything comes from your heart and this is what Jesus was getting at right. In fact, jesus said something really similar. 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. What is in your heart is what comes out, so outside is just the fruit of the root. And Jesus is saying you've heard it said fruit things, but I tell you root things. This is what he's talking about. He's getting down to the very thoughts and intents of the heart, because out of your heart flows everything. And I think okay.

Mark Medley: 12:30

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. Think of it, the closest person to God that you know of. Get that person in your heart and keep that guy or that woman in your heart. That guy or that woman in your heart. People, the people that Jesus was speaking to that day, the most holy people that they knew. All had something in common, it all. They're all tied to the law of God. So the law is important, it's got a part to play. The prophets are important. 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.

Mark Medley: 13:35

So you had these people in a first century Israel area. You had the Sadducees, right. The Sadducees were these political priests basically. So they are wealthy people. They were tied into the secular powers as well, so they were like the power moguls of the temple. They were the people who were in power. Then you had the Zealots. They're these political revolutionaries right, kind of the suicide bombers of their day. Basically, they were that kind of thinking. 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. That's the Zealots.

Mark Medley: 14:22

Then you have the Essenes, and they were these radical separatists that literally said everybody's lukewarm, we're going to the caves. And they went to the caves and they were like these doomsday. Doomsday I wasn't going to say preppers, but you said preppers, whoever that was. I didn't say it, but you said it. There was sort of like preppers. I mean, they were like everything. They were looking for some apocalyptic event that was going to come right and they were separate. Now those are the people who also copied scripture, and that's where we got the Qumran scriptures right, so Dead Sea Scrolls right. So they thought everybody else was lukewarm. So you have these groups. They're fighting.

Mark Medley: 15:10

And then you have the groups that Jesus was speaking of here scribes and Pharisees. So the Pharisees were these. The word literally means separated ones or separate ones. So they were like the ones that we're not you, we're separating from you. We are actually living in strict adherence to the laws and the traditions which were not in the laws. And the scribes were those people of that group that were scholars and teachers. Okay, so the most holy people that the people Jesus was talking to of that day were probably scribes and Pharisees.

Mark Medley: 15:47

And then Jesus says unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you can't enter into the kingdom. What if that person you have in your mind about the most holy person that you can think of. Unless your righteousness exceeds their righteousness, you can't. You can't know the kingdom of heaven. That's where Jesus starts, okay, he starts there. Okay. How could this be?

Mark Medley: 16:15

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. Their thoughts of God were inaccurate. 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? 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? So who? Where does this list even come from? What are they even talking about? 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. They also added these traditions along with that, but there's 613 of them.

Mark Medley: 17:15

That's a lot of laws. So there's 248 of them that are maybe you could say they're positive laws or they're affirmative commands. Do this, for example you shall honor your father and mother. That's an affirmative command. Do this. Then there's 365 of them that are negative commands. Do not do this. Thou shalt not steal those kind of things, right? 365 do nots, so one do not for every day of the year, if you're counting. If you want to just focus on one every day, you could do that, but could you actually do that? And the problem is then you have so many laws. 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. 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. Right, we probably have been a part of that, most of us.

Mark Medley: 18:35

Jesus wants his followers to know the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. This is really what's happening here. Okay, there's a difference between letter of the law and the spirit of the law. So this gets to the heart of everything else the heart, the motivations, the intentions from which everything else flows. This gets to the root that produces the fruit. So let's look a minute at the difference between letter of the law and the spirit of the law. So a letter of the law emphasizes the exact wording of a rule or a law. 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. That's the letter of the law. 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. 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.

Mark Medley: 19:52

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. He sat with us over an hour and gave us 800 years of history of his people. It was fascinating. Years of history of his people. It was fascinating. But one of the things that he said 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 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? And he said my elders of this village said no, we won't do that. Well, why would you not write your laws down? They said we're not writing the laws down. You might look only at the law, without taking into account the community, the context, the relationships, the way things are really going. It's really pretty wise. It's really wise. They do have the laws, but they try to keep to the spirit of the law, not just to the letter of the law.

Mark Medley: 21:09

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. There's a law, right. A few minutes later his mother finds him watching. Oh uh, he's watching cartoons on his tablet Some of you are already Not the TV, but on his tablet. His homework is untouched, but the child protests that his mom only told him not to watch the TV. She didn't say anything about the tablet.

Mark Medley: 21:50

In this example, the child has kept the letter of the law but has not kept the spirit of the law, right? What if the mother had said finish your homework before you watch cartoons? And then perhaps the child would have watched a baseball game instead of the cartoons? Once again, he kept the letter of the law, right. I did what you told me. Is he right with his mom? Okay, good, good answer, he's not. She could have been even more specific Do not watch any kind of show on any electronic device until you finish your homework. But then the child might decide to go outside and play, leaving his homework untouched. She didn't say don't go outside and play, she just said don't watch any show on electronic. Okay, is he right with his mom? No, is he violating the spirit of the law? Yeah, so the frustrated mom could have said don't do anything until you finish your homework. 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.

Mark Medley: 23:17

Some of you know people like this, right, some of you maybe are people like this, I don't know. 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? Does this not reveal your heart? I'm not going to do what you want. 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 I want. 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. So no wonder things were frustrating to the common people. And in this context, jesus says do not think that I've come to abolish the law or prophets. I've come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I've come to point you to and remind you of the true intention, the things that truly matter. He's changing the unit of measurement. It's not outside, it's inside. It's inside so that the spirit of a law can be understood. That's what he's doing.

Mark Medley: 24:24

You've heard it said. But I tell you, because where does murder come from Hatred in your heart? Where does adul murder come from Hatred in your heart? Where does adultery come from Lust in your heart? You see, you've heard it said this. You've heard it said follow the law. But I'm telling you no, no, no, no. It's actually in the heart. The heart is the issue, the heart's the issue. So sin is not merely about outward actions, but the state and intentions of my heart, which is the seedbed of all those actions.

Mark Medley: 25:01

Anger is not necessarily wrong. There is a righteous form of anger. The scripture says be angry but sin not. So it's possible. Anger toward unrighteousness is not wrong. Sexual desire toward your marriage partner is holy, it's not wrong. Holy imagination is what sets humans apart from animals, but unholy imagination is the fodder for hurtful actions toward others. Lust and hatred evolve into actions, you see. So doesn't it make sense to find out what is on God's list? And try to do that. Try to measure it that way. How many things have we heard it said one way but it's actually a different way? How many things?

Mark Medley: 25:47

There are lies that we hear from our secular culture and lies that we hear from our religious culture. 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. I mean, I think it's pretty easy to see biological women 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 the very fabric of God's creation and intention, and the end of it is stealing, killing and destroying. That's it. It steals, kills and destroying that's it. It steals, kills and destroys. But there are religious untruths that misrepresent God as well.

Mark Medley: 26:39

Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. That's what he said. You've heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Who said that to them? This was the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees that needed to be exceeded. Who said that to them? This was the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees that needed to be exceeded. Who said that to them?

Mark Medley: 26:58

It's just as wrong as the lies. Our secular culture tells us so. But what does it really mean for us today? How can we apply this? 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. So let's think about it in the culture 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 of earth right here? How about the part of earth that God scooped up and breathed 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 the prayers that God loves to hear the most is the prayer of David, psalm 139. 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. That's a beautiful prayer because it's humble.

Mark Medley: 28:20

Honestly, most of us think that what we think is right, isn't it right, isn't it true? And if everybody thought like us, everything would be okay. What's wrong with those people? But what if we began changing the culture in our heart? What if we began each day with a teachable spirit Search me, oh God. I know I don't think the way you think. Exactly Whatever there is in me. Lead me in the way everlasting. I long to think like you, god. How would things be different in our lives if we did that? What if we developed a culture of 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 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. Let's let this revolution, this changing culture, start with us first, and then maybe it filters over, it ripples over into our church.

Mark Medley: 29:41

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. For example, you've heard it said being right with God equals following a list of rules. Maybe Jesus would say. But I say unto you, it's about relationship, it's actually about love. Because Jesus was asked one time which is the greatest law? All those 613. Okay, that's a lot to choose from. Pick the one that's greatest. 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. And the second one is, like it, love your neighbor as yourself. It's love and love. It's vertical and horizontal love. It's love. Maybe love is the currency of the kingdom, maybe love that is combined with truth, because truth and love have to go together. Right, you have to speak truth in love and love tells truth. But maybe that's the culture of the kingdom, jesus said. He boiled it all 613 down to two. He distilled it to two of them. If I love you, I won't murder you, right? I won't commit adultery against you. I won't hate you if I love you. Here's another one.

Mark Medley: 31:10

You've heard it said the minister is the one in the pulpit. But I say unto you that there's a body of Christ and all of you have been given gifts. But I say unto you that there's a body of Christ and all of you have been given gifts. All of you have something to give to profit the rest of the body and you work together in the common good. And I think this is so important because it was never God's plan to do this all with one person up front. It never has been. It was never His plan to contain the light to one person. His method of reaching the world is not just through bringing people to advance so they can hear somebody talk. That's a way. I'm glad you're here listening to me talk. Don't get me wrong, it's a way. 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. You know you're the best entry point into the kingdom of God. You know you're the best entry point into the kingdom of God. You are Still. 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. That's the way it happens, so it's not just the person up front who's the minister.

Mark Medley: 32:39

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. What does it mean to have the culture of heaven in your family? 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? What if you, in your marriage, played the Jesus role? 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? What if that happened? What kind of a change would that make? What if we had an honest discussion about how we do things in our household in terms of volume level. You know you can determine the volume 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 the intensity and the volume level.

Mark Medley: 33:57

There's a thing called the fruit of the Spirit. It's called self-control. It's right up there with love and joy. Volume level there's a thing called the fruit of the Spirit. It's called self-control. It's right up there with love and joy and peace. Self-control, gentleness and self-control are fruits of the Spirit, but not with a three-year-old. Even more, even more with a three-year-old.

Mark Medley: 34:19

I think what if we let's talk about the three-year-old? I think, what if we let's talk about the three-year-old? But okay, what is it? What if we only what if we worked on not only suppressing the action but elevating the principle. Not only suppressing the evil but elevating the good. What if we worked? I know this is a hard work, this is not something that's easy to do. But elevating the good, what if we worked? I know this is hard work, this is not something that's easy to do. But not only tell the kids what not to do, but give them the moral reason why you're not doing that thing. So you're building into them a code, a culture of heaven. No, honey, we don't hit our sister with our baseball bat, because she's precious to Jesus and we love as we want to be loved. There's a reason we give them a moral reason why because our aim is not only getting the right behavior from them, but getting the hearts that love God and love good and love their sister or brother. This is hard work, but it does reap rewards.

Mark Medley: 35:25

What does it look like to be? This is what we talked about in our family. What does it look like to be a medley? We are the medleys. Who are we? This is great. We follow Jesus. We happen to be musical. We are hospitable, we open our house. You know, we honor each other. This is what we do. This is like.

Mark Medley: 35:45

If you don't establish a family identity, if you don't work toward that, then what culture is going to be in your family? Well, there's cultures at work too. What about a culture at your work where I'm characterized by loving actions and a heart of service? What if I were an advocate for people and a modeled honesty and a modeled fairness? What if I were a carrier of the kingdom of God in my workplace and in my community and my region and my nation. This is how salt and light work. This is how yeast this is where the kingdom of God is, like a piece of yeast in a dough that spreads and affects everything, right? Okay, so you get what I'm saying.

Mark Medley: 36:33

Jesus is changing the way we measure right living before God. He's requiring us to reevaluate how we think and live concerning the law, about being right with God, the things that make you angry, the things that stir your sexual passion, the things concerning living honestly with your words, approaching your enemies. There's even a requirement of perfection. I mean, what is our teacher asking us to do? Is it even doable? I mean, we probably can all agree this is the way things should be, but is it even possible? What does it mean? That our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees, and I know there are some of you out there who are very confident and you think you're doing well enough to say I'm probably at least right up there with the holiest person I know, and I might be a little bit better. I think I'm there. I think I'm there. I think I have exceeded, I think I've exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, I think I'm good, and then that's all fine, you're wrong, but it's fine. And then Jesus says okay, let's raise the bar. You must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect, okay, okay, there's no hope. How can I enter the kingdom without being perfect? And surely we all know that we're not perfect? Our teacher is making an impossible demand. If this is the standard, there's no hope for us entering this kingdom.

Mark Medley: 38:26

But now, now we're back full circle 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, you have everything you need. The whole kingdom belongs to you. The only way to see the kingdom and have its currency and live in its culture is to know our need. And when we understand our need, the kingdom belongs to us.

Mark Medley: 39:00

So Jesus said to one religious seeker, a really devoted man who wanted God unless a man is born again, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. We can't fulfill the law within ourselves, but Jesus came to fulfill it on our behalf. Look at what Paul said in Romans, chapter eight, to finish this up. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. How Well, for what the law could not do. How did Jesus fulfill the law and prophets what the law could not do, in that it was weak, through the flesh.

Mark Medley: 39:52

God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin and he condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. This is good news. This is good news. We can't be right with God by struggling to obey the laws, all 613 of them. However, you're going to interpret all of those. How are you ever going to do that? But the great thing is, we're not even required to do that. This is not a requirement under the new covenant. We're required to believe in what God has already done in us through the work of Christ on the cross, as we walk in the spirit. Jesus said when he was asked what shall we do that we might work the works of God. Jesus said the work of God is to believe on him, whom God has sent. He changed everything. What I couldn't do, god did by sending his son.

Mark Medley: 41:13

And that's why, in this passage, jesus goes back from the outward behavior down to the hearts of the people. Because the Ten Commandments can't perfectly. They show us a need for God, a work, a need that he fulfilled in the work, the finished work of Jesus on the cross. So listen to what the Old Testament prophet says as he explains this beautiful promise of how God will give us what we need in this new covenant, and let's think of this in light of what Jesus is saying. Ezekiel says and I will give you a new heart, speaking about the new covenant God was going to bring. And I will give you a new heart, a new spirit. I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. God gives us what we have to have to fulfill his requirements. This is the gospel. So we're talking here this morning to believers and we're talking to unbelievers as well. This is the case for all of us, all of us.

Mark Medley: 42:33

The point is not outward. The outward is the fruit, the root is the issue. The point is, how do you get a root that produces good fruit, and it's called a heart transplant. I take away a heart of stone. Heart of stone can't beat at all, it can't pump blood, it can't give life. I'll put in you a heart of flesh that can pump blood, that can bring life, and I will put my spirit in you and cause you to follow, because there's a new heart. I'll cause you to be able to follow all the things that I've asked you to do.

Mark Medley: 43:15

So the point is it takes a new heart to live a new life in a new kingdom, a new heart. Maybe the currency of the kingdom is love, because that's the root of where this all flows from. Maybe the culture of the kingdom, or the unit of measurement of the kingdom, is the motivation of your heart, because that's the unit of measurement Jesus used the motivation of your heart. How does that change? It changes through the new covenant. How can we be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect? Only through Jesus, only through Jesus.

Mark Medley: 43:56

So I want to encourage you today. God has given you what you need to be able to do what he's asked you to do. And I especially want to encourage people today who don't know Jesus, who have never understood what it means to be born again. But you have something in your heart that longs for a culture that's different than what you're seeing, and longs for something more than this world that you're looking at, the world that you look at, and you see that there's not much hope here. Maybe you look in your own heart and you see there's not much hope here, but God has called us to a living hope through Jesus Christ. There is hope. There's hope in being connected with God, back to your maker. That's what you're feeling. You're feeling this draw back to your maker, and he's the one drawing you. It's not coming from you, it's coming from him, but he wants you to respond this morning. So let's stand together and let's pray.

Mark Medley: 45:13

Father, I just want to say that I'm first among all of us, lord, with the need of having a new heart, day by day, and the need of having a heart that follows after you. I need so much, lord, to know your ways. I need so much to understand your kingdom and your culture and have your currency, lord. I want to spend your currency, lord. I want to know what's really important to you. I want to live in this kingdom of yours, lord. So would you search me, would you search us, lord? Oh God, and know our hearts and try us, lord, and know our thoughts and see if there's any wicked 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, father, for anyone here who you're calling to yourself that hears a call. There's something beyond this world and something beyond what I've been living in.

Mark Medley: 46:13

Lord, I pray by your spirit you would draw each of them whose prayers like that, lord, you would 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 through hoops and you don't have to clean yourself up before you come. You come first and he does the cleaning and he does it from the inside out. He does it so everything inside is changed, so that the outward performance is affected and the simplicity of it is God.

Mark Medley: 46:59

I need you. I know that my sins have separated you and me. I know that my sins have separated you and me. I believe Jesus died to take the punishment of my sins so that the righteous requirement of the law could be fulfilled. Even in me who trust in him, I believe that and I receive him as my Savior. It's as simple as that. And if that's what your heart is saying now, I'm asking you to come up and see me or one of the prayer team. It'll be up front here later as we dismiss and let's talk. Let us pray for you.

Mark Medley: 47:39

So, lord, thank you so much for the hope that we have in Jesus. Thank you for the beauty of a new heart. Thank you that we have a new place to live out of God. It's not just like a new turning over a new leaf, lord. This is like a total transplant, and thank you that you've done in us, through Christ, what we couldn't do. So, lord, help us not only to walk in it and live in it and believe it more day by day, but to hold it out to others. Help us to hold this hope out to other people, lord. Oh, that people could come to know you through us, lord. This would be beautiful and, lord, I pray your blessing on these people, that you would bless them and you would keep them, you would make your beautiful face shine upon them and be gracious to them, that you lift up your countenance unto them, lord, and you would give them peace. In the name of Jesus, amen.