The Upside Down Kingdom

INTRODUCTION

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: IN HIS BOOK, THE DIVINE CONSPIRACY, DALLAS WILLARD TALKS OF GROWING UP IN RURAL MISSOURI IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY WHERE THEY HAD NO ELECTRICITY AND LIFE WAS MARKED BY ICE BOXES, KEROSENE LAMPS AND LANTERNS. AND THEN ONE DAY IT HAPPENED. THE LOCAL ELECTRIC COMPANY SET UP THEIR POWER LINES, CAME BY AND SAID IN SO MANY WORDS, ‘REPENT, FOR ELECTRICITY IS AT HAND,’ PROMISING THEM A WHOLE NEW REVOLUTIONARY WAY OF DOING THINGS. BUT NOT EVERYONE JUMPED ON BOARD. JUST BECAUSE A NEW WAY OF LIFE WAS OFFERED DOESN’T MEAN EVERYONE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT.

POINT: SO IT IS WITH JESUS. HE CAME INTO A DARK WORLD USED TO THEIR OWN WAY OF DOING THINGS, THINKING IT WAS THE BEST WAY, AND THEN JESUS SHOWS UP OFFERING A WHOLE NEW WAY OF DOING THINGS. HIS PERPETUAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND IS EQUIVALENT TO OFFERING ELECTRICITY TO A WORLD THAT ONLY KNEW ICE BOXES, KEROSENE LAMPS AND LANTERNS.

(WELL WHAT DOES THIS NEW WAY OF LIFE LOOK LIKE? SERMON ON THE MOUNT)

SERMON ON THE MOUNT BRIEF RECAP: LAST WEEK WE BEGAN A SERIES, AND WE SAID ONE OF THE THINGS YOU SHOULD FEEL IS BEING OVERWHELMED. THAT THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY YOU CAN DO THESE THINGS. MURDER/ADULTERY. WHY DOES JESUS OVERWHELM US? TO DRIVE US TO HIMSELF!

“Nevertheless, I insist that if the Sermon on the Mount be construed merely as legal requirement to kingdom entrance, no one shall ever enter: can anyone meditate long on and remain unashamed? The Sermon on the Mount provides us with a crushing blow to self-righteousness and follows it up with an invitation to petition God for favor (7:7-11), without which there can be no admittance to the kingdom. At the same time it sketches in the quality of life of those who do enter, those who petition God, ask for forgiveness, and who by God’s grace discover not only forgiveness but a growing personal conformity to kingdom norms. It is not long before their own lives begin to sum up the law and the prophets”- D.A. Carson, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World.

APPLICATION: SO IF YOU FEEL OVERWHELMED BY LUST, JESUS SAYS DON’T AVOID ME, COME TO ME AND FIND GRACE! SAME WITH ANGER AND UNFORGIVENESS. SAME WITH ENEMIES WHO HAVE WRONGED YOU. COME TO JESUS YOUR ONLY HOPE, THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT SCREAMS!

BEATITUDES OVERVIEW:

THE SERMON BEGINS WITH A LIST OF BEATITUDES. THESE ARE NOT A LIST OF THINGS TO DO IN ORDER TO GET SAVED. THAT WOULD BE WORKS SALVATION. NOR ARE THEY A LIST OF THINGS TO DO TO EARN GOD’S FAVOR. THAT’S MORALISM. INSTEAD THEY ARE TRAITS OF WHAT KINGDOM PEOPLE LOOK LIKE!

JESUS AND THE NEW ADMINISTRATION ILLUSTRATION.

KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD VS. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN:

PRIDE VS. HUMILITY

REVELRY VS. MOURNING

OPPRESSIVE USE OF POWER VS. MEEKNESS

HUNGER FOR PERSONAL GRATIFICATION VS. HUNGER FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

VINDICTIVE VS. MERCIFUL

HIDDEN AGENDAS VS. PURITY OF HEART

DIVISIVE VS. PEACEMAKERS

ACCEPTANCE VS. PERSECUTION

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM

WHICH KINGDOM DO YOU LOOK LIKE?

DRESSED FOR WHERE YOU’RE GOING ILLUSTRATION.

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM

HUMILITY

EXPLANATION: BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT. TO BE POOR…THE GREEK WORD WAS USED NOT JUST OF THE PERSON WHO WAS A BEGGAR, BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY USED OF THEIR POSTURE- HUNCHED OVER. PLEADING EYES. IT SPOKE BOTH TO THEIR DESPERATION AND TO THEIR DISPOSITION. SPIRIT FURTHER ILLUMINES THIS CONCEPT OF DISPOSITION. SO LITERALLY THIS PHRASE MEANS A DISPOSITION OF DESPERATION. IN CONTEXT, JESUS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT OUR FINANCES. HE DOESN’T SAY POOR IN BANK ACCOUNT (SOME OF YOU ARE LIKE I’M REALLY BLESSED THEN!). BUT A POVERTY OF SPIRIT. THE IDEA HERE IS ONE OF COMPLETE HUMILITY AND DEPENDENCE ON JESUS!

ILLUSTRATION: AA’S FIRST OF THEIR TWELVE STEPS. WHEN A PERSON HAS COME TO THE END OF THEMSELVES WHEN IT COMES TO ALCOHOL AND THEY’VE SAID I CAN’T CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH THEY MAY GO TO A PROGRAM LIKE AA. IT’S THERE WHERE THEY WILL ENCOUNTER THE FIRST OF TWELVE STEPS WHICH SAYS, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable”. THIS IS A POVERTY OF SPIRIT THAT SAYS I AM HELPLESS AND COMPLETELY NEEDY!

EXPLANATION OF BLESSED: THIS WORD MEANS SIMPLY THE STATE OF BEING MARKED BY FULLNESS FROM GOD…DON’T YOU SEE THE DICHOTOMY HERE. IT’S WHEN YOU ARE POOR IN SPIRIT, WHEN YOU HAVE A DISPOSITION OF DESPERATION. WHERE YOU SAY I AM COMPLETELY INCAPABLE OF LIVING A LIFE THAT HONORS GOD AND OTHERS ON MY OWN TERMS THAT YOU WILL BE FULL. THIS BEATITUDE SHOWS US THE UPSIDE DOWN NATURE OF THE KINGDOM- THE WAY TO FULLNESS IS EMPTINESS.

APPLICATIONS: THE NATURE OF HUMILITY IS FOUND IN LIVING NOT FOR YOURSELF BUT FOR OTHERS AND THIS IS WHEN THE FULLNESS COMES. THINK OF THOSE MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU’VE BEEN MOST SATISFIED, MOST FULL. MISSION TRIP. SPEAKING YOUR SPOUSES LOVE LANGUAGE. SERVING. TAKING TIME OFF TO VISIT SOMEONE IN THE HOSPITAL. THIS IS WHERE THE FULLNESS COMES.

APPLICATIONS: THE NATURE OF HUMILITY IS FOUND IN LIVING NOT FOR YOURSELF BUT FOR OTHERS AND THIS IS WHEN THE FULLNESS COMES. THINK OF THOSE MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU’VE BEEN MOST SATISFIED, MOST FULL. MISSION TRIP. SPEAKING YOUR SPOUSES LOVE LANGUAGE. SERVING. TAKING TIME OFF TO VISIT SOMEONE IN THE HOSPITAL. THIS IS WHERE THE FULLNESS COMES.

PRIDE

EXPLANATION: THE ENEMY TO VERSE THREE, THE WAY OF THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD IS PRIDE. WHILE HUMILITY IS EMPTINESS, PRIDE IS SELF SUFFICIENCY. WHILE HUMILITY IS DEPENDENCE, PRIDE IS INDEPENDENCE. PRIDE IS WHAT GOT SATAN KICKED OUT OF HEAVEN, AND ADAM AND EVE EVICTED FROM THE GARDEN. PRIDE IS WHAT LEAD JUDAS TO BETRAY JESUS, AND PRIDE IS WHAT ENDS EVERY MARRIAGE, WRECKS EVERY FRIENDSHIP AND STUNTS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. CS LEWIS SAID THE FOUNTAINHEAD TO ALL VICE, TO ALL SIN IS PRIDE. BENEATH EVERY SIN IS THE SIN OF PRIDE.

GK CHESTERTON ILLUSTRATION.

STRONG APPLICATIONS OF HOW PRIDE LURKS BENEATH EVERY SIN...

WE LIVE IN A CULTURE OF PRIDE- DAVID BROOKS.

THREE WAYS PRIDE WREAKS HAVOC:

IT KILLS MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. GOD RESISTS THE PROUD. WHEN I WALK IN INDEPENDENCE AND SAY I’M GOING TO DO THINGS MY WAY…I AM AT ODDS WITH GOD. STRONG APPLICATION HERE- NO, I’M GOING TO SLEEP WITH HIM. NO I’M GOING TO PERPETUATE THIS LIE…NO I’M GOING TO DO WHAT I WANT WITH THIS MONEY. YOU AND GOD AREN’T COOL.

IT KILLS MY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS. . LIFE IN THE FLESH KILLS RELATIONSHIPS- . ADAM AND EVE HIDE FROM EACH OTHER. YOU AND YOUR WIFE ARE AT ODDS…FLESH...

IT WREAKS HAVOC AND DESTROYS YOU. COUNTERINTUITIVE. TRYING TO FIND FULFILLMENT ON YOUR OWN TERMS WITHOUT GOD WILL NOT ONLY LEAD TO YOU NOT FINDING IT, BUT IT WILL ACTUALLY DEPLETE YOU.

CONCLUSION: CULTIVATING HUMILITY

THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL TO ALL OF OUR HEARTS IS AWAY FROM BEING POOR IN SPIRIT AND DRAWN TOWARDS NARCISSISM. SO WE ARE GOING TO BE INTENTIONAL IN LEANING INTO THE SPIRIT TO CULTIVATE THE FLOWER OF HUMILITY IN OUR LIVES. CHRISTIAN LIFE OPPOSED TO EARNING, NOT EFFORT. SO HOW DO WE STIR UP HUMILITY:

MIND. WE DRIFT TOWARDS WHAT WE THINK ABOUT. FACT OF LIFE. DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, IF I AM CONCENTRATING TO THE RIGHT, THE CAR WILL DRIFT RIGHT. FOOD. WHAT YOU WILL EAT TODAY. WELL THINK ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW...IF YOU WANT TO DRIFT AWAY FROM PRIDE AND INTO HUMILITY, CONCENTRATE ON YOURSELVES. - HAVE THIS MIND…THINK ON CHRIST.

FILLING OF THE HS. - BE FILLED. CONTROLLED. I RELEASE CONTROL OF MY LIFE AND DEPEND ON THE HS…WILL WHAT IS THAT, BUT HUMILITY. AND THAT ONE ACT OF HUMILITY WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.

PRAYER. EM BOUNDS- PRAYER IS THE EXPRESSION OF THE SOULS DEPENDENCE ON GOD. YOU KNOW WHAT THE MESSAGE OF PRAYER IS- I NEED YOU. WHICH MEANS ONLY HUMBLE PEOPLE CONSISTENTLY PRAY. . CAN’T DO ANY OF THIS, SO JESUS SAYS ASK! AND IN CONTEXT IT IS THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE.

CLOSING STORY- UNO. YOU WIN THE GAME BY EMPTYING OUT. GAINING BY LOSING.

GOSPEL CONCLUSION: THIS WAS JESUS. THE MOST HUMBLE MAN EVER- . HE COULD’VE GONE THE WAY OF THE WORLD AND CALLED DOWN A LEGION OF ANGELS. BUT HE WAS HUMBLE AND BECAME OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS!