Thoughts from the Sermon on the Mount …
I grew up with Joe. We went to the same church and were involved in the same activities. We had the same children’s Bible Club leaders, the same Sunday School teachers, and the same youth leaders. But as we went through high school, something changed. Joe’s parents stopped making him go to church, so he stopped coming. Joe went on with his life, but Christianity was a thing of the past for him.
Laura was an active member of our college fellowship group. She was energetic, outgoing, and always telling everyone about Jesus. I lost touch with Laura after graduation and it was not until many years later that I found her on social media. She was no longer interested in the things of God and had chosen instead to live a lifestyle of active rebellion against Him.
Craig was a nice guy. We would see Craig and his family at church regularly and he always knew the right words to challenge and encourage you. But it was not until his marriage started to fall apart that we realized that it was all an act. Craig knew how to act one way at church on Sundays and another way with his family and friends.
We encounter people like Joe, Laura, and Craig all the time. We may be like them ourselves. We may be like Joe, where Christianity has been forced on us and we have no desire to know God for ourselves. We may be like Laura, full of excitement for God but lacking in enough depth to weather great temptations in her life. Or finally, we may be like Craig, where Christianity has become a comfortable lifestyle, but there is no desire to obey God if things do not go our way.
What does Jesus have to say to people like these? What does He have to say to people like us, when we only let Him in on our surface and refuse for Him to change our hearts?
Jesus concludes His great Sermon on the Mount with a call for action. He has been showing His disciples what it means to truly follow Him, and to be part of the Kingdom of God! He has shown that our happiness is not in what we have but in how poor we are in His sight (see here). He has shown what it really means to keep the law on God’s terms (see here). He has shown God’s true standards for anger, purity, marriage, honesty, and revenge. He has shown what true worship looks like (with good deeds and prayer) and what it means to really trust Him with both our valuables and our anxiety. He has shown how we need to confront each other and yet guard ourselves (see here).
But it is one thing to talk like you are part of God’s kingdom, it is another thing to act like you are part of the God’s kingdom. It is the difference between a true disciple of Jesus Christ and one who only pretends to be His disciple. And it is the difference between life and death.
Jesus ends with warnings. Beware!
Beware the easy way that leads to death!
Beware the false teachers who would mislead you!
Beware of fooling yourself, and not knowing Him!
Beware of the destruction that will come if you refuse to obey Him!
Matthew 7:13-27
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Sapphire Sky 