Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are narrowed in their focus. He desires that his followers be changed from the inside out. Inner transformation leads to external obedience. Jesus chooses to focus on your heart. He also chooses to end his sermon with an appeal to wise faith.
Jesus brings heaven down to earth, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus’ desire is that all of his followers pray for the fullness of God’s kingdom to reign on earth. We pray for God’s will to be done and we seek to do it.
The kingdom of heaven has a narrow path. It requires eyes of faith to see it. And the dexterity of faith to navigate it. Even though few may find it can be found. The mystery of the path has been revealed in Jesus.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” – Colossians 1:27
Jesus has walked the path of life and taking a step further, Jesus is the path of life. When you choose Jesus you choose the path of life. When you choose Jesus you choose to keep in step with his teachings. Focus on the path.
When life seems rocky allow the Lord to guide your steps. What you see is what you get with God. His ways are right and true and he won’t lead you down the wrong path.
There are some who may claim to speak God’s word and His truth but in reality, they have misguided focus and misaligned faith. What they say sounds correct but it is not producing the right fruit. We all can fall prey to this deception.
The right fruit must come from the Spirit anchored in the first fruit, love (Galatians 5:22-23). Love is the “greatest of these” (1 Cor 13:13).
The fruit of the Spirit is produced by a transformed heart. A transformed heart upholds the greatest command as the greatest treasure.
A disciple of Christ is not identified by what they are against, or by what they believe, or the doctrines they adhere, or the traditions they practice on Sunday morning, or religious ordinances they perform; like casting out demons, prophesying in his name, and performing miracles.
For many today it could be that we hold these practices to be above all other practices. When we meet Jesus in his fullness we rest on these practices. “We observed the Lord’s Supper weekly. We sang praises to you. We gave our offerings to you. We baptized in your name. We preached in your name. We did the religious ordinances right!” Right?
Me – “Lord, did I not uphold the laws of this country, in your name?”
Jesus – Yes, but there are unjust laws. Did you desire mercy?
Me – “Lord, did I not advocate for political and social change in your name.”
Jesus – Did you walk humbly? Did you seek justice? How did you choose to treat the least of these among you? How did you choose to be known?
A disciple of Jesus is known by their fruit.
A fruitful person does the will of God. There is warning Jesus gives for not being known by our fruit. If a person is not known by the fruit of God then they may not be known by God.
We all desire to have a real faith with real substance. That kind of faith is built on the real teachings of Jesus. That’s authentic faith. That kind of faith has to be practiced in the company of real people in real places. That is real love. That kind of faith is real strong!
That’s solid rock faith built upon the only son of God.
A faith only built on external religious ordinances will leave you without protection against the hardships of life. But faith in Jesus and putting his words into practice is wise and can stand up to the storms of life. Faith in Jesus is built to last.
That kind of faith has real authority over the evils of this world because it is secured by Jesus. He is the collateral for your faith.
But superficial faith causes collateral damage to others because it is enraged by the wrong things, and gives priority to temporal things and not the most important things that even God himself has named as first priority/the greatest.
Treat people as you want to be treated and love your neighbor as yourself.
Please subscribe, share, and leave a comment below! Thanks for visiting!
Jovan preaches for the Littleton Church of Christ near Denver, Colorado. Visit here to listen to sermons preached at the Littleton Church.