What If The Kingdom Of Heaven Flips You

Jesus does not step onto the mountain to offer life hacks. He sits down like a King and speaks words meant to demolish our self-sufficiency and rebuild us as citizens of a different kingdom. We’re kicking off our new series, The Upside Down Kingdom, by opening Matthew 5 and asking a blunt question: what is the Sermon on the Mount really doing, and why does it carry so much weight for Christian discipleship? 

We talk through the setting, the authority, and the storyline echoes that take us back to Moses, Sinai, and God giving his people words that show how to live under his rule. We also name the tension most of us feel but rarely admit: we want a king we can see, manage, and keep in the background. Jesus refuses that arrangement. His kingdom is countercultural by design, challenging our instincts about control, greatness, and “my truth” with the steady claim that truth is not relative and Scripture is not optional. 

The crowd around Jesus looks like every church gathering: disciples who want to follow, religious insiders who want to fit Jesus into their existing life, and seekers who are desperate for light. We lean into how Jesus corrects bad teaching, calls for real heart change, and shows that inward transformation must lead to outward obedience. Then we leave you with one simple challenge for the week: read Matthew 5 every day and let Jesus set the standard. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most.

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Transcript

Launching The Upside Down Kingdom

Josh 0:00

But with that being said, I am super excited to kick off our new series, The Upside Down Kingdom. Okay, I misread the graphic this morning. So that's supposed to say the upside down kingdom, not just the kingdom. So that's a typo on my part. Alright, but we are moving into Matthew chapter 5. And if you are familiar with Matthew chapter 5, it is what we call the Sermon on the Mount. We're gonna start with the Beatitudes. Um not today. Today we're just gonna do an intro into it. Um but we're then we're gonna hit into what we call the Beatitudes, right? Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are um the merciful, like all those blessed are. We call them the Beatitudes. Now Matthew 5 through 7, these three chapters are one long sermon. Okay? It's not a break, it's not like a discussion. This is Jesus preaching a sermon, and there is so much in these next three chapters. Just to give you a heads up, we will be in Matthew chapter five from now until the end of the year. That is how much we need to be able to glean from the very words of Jesus, because everything, everything Jesus wants us to know or has to say about his kingdom is poured out right here. And his kingdom is very different than the kingdom of this world. Now, as far as the upside down kingdom, oh nope, I don't want to jump ahead too far. And I will be very transparent and honest with you this morning. This sermon took me twice as long to write as any of my other typical sermons. I wrestled with how to even preach this sermon because of the great weight and importance the Sermon on the Mount really is. Not diminishing any other sermon, but if we get this right, if we understand everything Jesus is saying throughout the next three chapters, the Bible makes a lot more sense when we can see the totality of it all right here. But if we miss this, we miss the entire point of the Christian life. Jesus is literally about to explain and knock out, hey, if you want to be part of my kingdom, this is what your life will look like. And it's hugely important. I can't underestimate how important that is. So my prayer to this morning isn't that we leave here feeling comfortable or entertained. I'm probably sure there will be jokes because I throw jokes in when I forget what I wrote. That being said, though, my my goal and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit just confronts us. I pray that the Holy Spirit looks into the dark corners of our own hearts, shatters our pride, and convicts us of areas where we are trying to rule our own lives instead of bowing down to the king and submitting to the kingship of Jesus. This isn't going to be a self-help seminar. This is a hopefully going to be a demolition of our self-sufficiency. Because I will tell you right now, the biggest thing that keeps us from submitting to the king is sitting here going, I got this. Everything's good. I'm in control of this. In fact, when we're talking to others about Jesus, one of the biggest barriers to overcome is getting people to understand our need. Our need to have a Savior. Especially in nowadays where we're taught that we are just perfect the way we are, and that everybody else needs to be accepting of where we are. So with all that being said, I'm gonna pray and let's ask the Spirit to do what only the Spirit can do. So, Father, as we work through this this morning, God, I pray that it be your word. I pray, Father, that it be your spirit that speaks to your people. That Father, I am just a vessel that you use this morning, God, to shape our hearts, to prune the things that need to be pruned, to put in the things that need to be put in, so that when we leave this room today, Father, we look more like your Son, that we submit fully to the kingship of Jesus. Father, I ask and I pray that you just move mightily in this room. Father, I pray that we just seek you. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Sermon As Kingdom Blueprint

Josh 5:30

So, Matthew 5, starting in verse 1, it says, Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying. Now we're gonna stop right there, right? We're just gonna look at this because this is the setting of the Sermon on the Mount. And the first most glaring question I want to cover is this what exactly is the Sermon on the Mount? And again, most of us in here should have very quickly been going, well, that's a stupid question. It's a sermon. You've literally said it 15 times since you started talking today. And maybe I did. But see, it's not a sermon in the way most of us think of a sermon. See, we think of a sermon as exactly what is happening right now. Where I'm just gonna stand up here and I'm gonna preach and we're gonna go. This isn't that. This is Jesus literally going, here is my kingdom. And my kingdom looks very different than what you think of when you think of a king. Even if you go all the way back into Samuel. During that period, did Israel have a king? No. We call it the period of judges. Right? They would have judges that would raise up, and judges we could look at more as a governor. It was judges and prophets, and they worked together with each other. So when Israel would need a redeemer, because Israel would fall into sin, they would get trapped in bondage and slavery, and then they would cry out to God because what? They at that point know they need a savior. So then God would raise up a judge. Think Gideon, think Samson, think Deborah, think these people, these are judges that God would raise up to throw off whoever has them in bondage at that time. And then they would be restored to the kingdom of God. And then what would happen? They would get comfortable and they would just do it again. And then the cycle would repeat. Well, at some point, what happens is Israel goes, hey, we're tired of not looking like every other kingdom. We want a king. We want to look like all the other kingdoms. We want a king that's gonna represent us. And Samuel, the prophet of the time, actually goes to the elders of Israel and he goes, That's not what you want, because here is what a king is going to do. He's going to take your daughters, he's going to send your sons off to war. He's going to rule over you. And we already have that. We have king at their time, Yahweh. He is who rules over us. And the people went, no, no, no, I don't care about all that. I can't see him. You go even further back into Exodus. Why did the Israelites, who mind you, just saw all the plagues coming out of Egypt, why is the first thing they do in the wilderness when Moses leaves, build a golden calf? Like, have you ever stopped and went, why would like you literally just saw all the miraculous things that God did to throw off the most powerful country in the history of mankind up until that point. Why on earth would you want to shrink that down to a golden calf? I mean, if you're gonna worship anything, I mean, I would have done like a snook or a redfish or something of that nature. I wouldn't have done a cow. They taste good. Because we want to see our gods. Like if I can't see it, it's not really real to me, right? I remember when Debbie was pregnant with any of our kids. From the time Debbie found out she was pregnant till the time she gave birth, it was real to her, right? Because she could feel the child moving inside. She could feel like I forget which one it was, but one of them like got hiccups at one point. And Debbie could feel the actual hiccups and everything. Now, for all you dads in here, was it real for you? I mean, you saw your wife, I mean, looking radiant and glowing. You saw that there was another life coming forth, right? Like you could see what was happening, but it wasn't real. It wasn't real until the doctor went, hey, this loud child over here, this gift from God, here you hold. And then all of a sudden, it was very real because now you could feel, you could see. And that's the same thing we want when we think of our God and our king. We can't see him, and therefore, he's kind of like this background, ethereal thing. And so Jesus is sitting here and he goes up onto the mount and he gets ready to speak. He's going to preach this sermon that goes, Hey, I'm here, and this is what my kingdom looks like. See, the Sermon on the Mount is the very words of Jesus explaining what his kingdom is and what his sit and who his citizens are. And it is vital for us as followers of Jesus because how are we to know how our lives should be lived? How are we to know what we should be doing? How are we to know how to please our king if our king does not tell us? Guys, think about this. If you go all the way back to Exodus in Exodus 20, we're not there yet, JT, don't put it up yet. But in Exodus 20, God gives Israel the Ten Commandments. And it was their most prized possession. Think about this. If you wrote down rules at your house, right? Like let's let's say you believe in clarity with your children, so you're gonna write down the rules of the house and you're gonna put them up on the wall. Do you think your children are gonna go, thank you, mother and father, for giving me these rules? So why then would this be the most prized possession of Israel? Because Israel is sitting here, like you guys understand, like when they built the Ark of the Covenant, that is where the Ten Commandments went. And the holiest place they could have. Because Israel is sitting here going, This is how we please our king. And what you're gonna hear a lot as I move through this is kingdom. There's a lot of kingdom language that Jesus is about to give us in this sermon because that's what he's explaining. And you're gonna hear that phrase, upside down kingdom, a lot.

Why Jesus Calls It Upside Down

Josh 12:39

Now I'm gonna tell you out the gate, I didn't come up with this phrase. In 1978, this guy named Donald Craybill was leading a Bible study on the Sermon of the Mount. Now he was doing it from Luke's version, not from Matthew's. But one of the students in his Bible study got frustrated because there's a lot of things in here that are very hard and what seem contradictory to what we think. And so he shouted out, man, everything in this kingdom is upside down. And so Donald Craybill wrote this book called The Upside Down Kingdom to show us how backwards we have it in comparison to what Jesus is about to lay out. Because as we dive deeper into this and we really start getting into it, unlike Ricky Bobby, who believes if you ain't first, you're last, Jesus is going to preach, if you want to be first, you must be last. And see, when we hear things like that, we're like, that don't make any sense. Because if I'm the last one in a line, how am I then the first? Like Jesus is gonna preach things like if you want to be the greatest, you must be the least. Well, that doesn't make sense. Because if I don't put myself in a position above you, how can I be greater than you? Right? Like anybody in here, if you're one of those control people, you can't have people above you, can you? Because if they're above you, you can't control them. And that literally does something visceral on the inside, doesn't it? And so when we see what Jesus is about to do, we can understand he is going to challenge each and every person's beliefs about what his kingdom is. As we move through this Sermon on the Mount, some of us we have some very, very big beliefs that we hold very, very dear to ourselves. And here's the thing we need to challenge those things. We need to challenge them against Scripture to see if what we believe is actually what Scripture is saying. Because listen, you've heard the saying before: God will never give you a mountain, you can't climb. 2 Corinthians 1 shows us that that isn't true. Paul sits here and goes, we despised of life itself and we just wanted to die. Think he was standing in front of a mountain he couldn't climb? Any of you, you ever been at that point in your life where like things are just stacking up against you and you're like, I just can't do it anymore? And Paul goes on to show not only will God give you a mountain you can't climb, God does it on purpose because then I become dependent not on myself, but on God. And that's what 2 Corinthians 1 is showing us. And see, and we all have those beliefs that we go, I'm just gonna white knuckle this because this is what I've been taught my entire life. So it must be true. I tell kids a lot of time in class, like just because you saw something on YouTube doesn't make it a fact. Because Owen can go on YouTube and put up any video he wants, and if you're following after Owen, man, you got some wild beliefs coming at you. But see, this is what we do. And we we we decide we're gonna cherry pick. And we go, ooh, I like this, I'm gonna believe that. Ooh, that sounds cool, I'm gonna believe that too. And how many times do we actually challenge what we believe? It was a great conversation this morning. I have no problem starting service late because someone's sitting here going, hey, let's get into this. Because that's what we're supposed to be doing. Because as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. But see, here's the thing, and here's what Jesus is about to show us. Are our beliefs in line with what scripture says? Because if I'm not basing it on scripture, what am I basing it on? Sand. And what does Jesus tell us about the wise man and the fool? The wise man builds his house on what? Rock. Because that way when the storms come, when the waves come, not if, but when they come, my house is still gonna be able to stand. Where if I'm basing it on feeling, what's gonna happen? It's gonna fall. You know how many Christians I've talked to throughout my life who were raised to believe that if you just have enough faith, you can do it. But what happens when they had enough faith? What happens when they were holding on to that word of faith? What happens when they went, nope, I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna fast and I'm gonna do all of the things that you told me if I did, and God still went, but that wasn't my will. What happens to that Christian? What happens to that brother, that sister? Their entire world is rocked now because you gave them a belief that they shouldn't have had to begin with. Because my belief wasn't lining up with what Scripture was saying. See, so many times we believe things that I'm gonna tell you are the opposite of what we see in Scripture. And God is not going to contradict himself. He gave us the Bible for a reason. Jesus is giving this sermon because he knows his message is extremely countercultural to what we believe. There's a book over here on our you can check out thing, which by the way, if you check out a book, make sure you bring it back. Um called Countercultural. It was written by David Platt, and what he is showing throughout the whole book is this the Christian life stands in stark contrast to the worldly life. But how do we know? Well, that's what Jesus is doing here. He's sitting here going, everything is gonna be found right here.

The Mountain Setting And Authority

Josh 19:05

Another thing we need to know about the Sermon on the Mount is found right in its name. The text shows us that Jesus went to teach his message. Where did he go teach it at? On the mountain. He went up on a hillside. Now we don't know the exact mountain that this happened on. There are a lot of people today that believe this happened on the Mount of Olive. However, we don't know. We just know he went up onto a hill to teach this message. Now, why would Matthew include that detail? Like, what difference does it make where the setting is? Go ahead.

unknown 19:44

Moses and Mount Sinai?

Josh 19:46

Because immediately that's where our mind's gonna go. Or it should. Because we're thinking through scripture, right? Because the last time God gave his law, he sent his prophet Moses up to the top of Mount Sinai. In fact, in Exodus 20, 18 and 19, we see this. Now, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled. And they stood far off. And said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen, liars, but do not let God speak to us lest we die. See, Jesus is going, I remember what it was like. Because remember, before Abraham was, I am. So Jesus remembers. Jesus is the very word of God, right? John 1, 1. And Jesus was sitting here going, I remember how you feared and trembled. But this time I come to you on the mount, I'm gonna call you to myself. This time I'm gonna speak directly to you. I'm not gonna speak through my prophet. Jesus is doing it all over again, except this time the king himself is going to speak directly to the people. The king is going to lay out the law, the king is going to give his decree, and the text shows us that Jesus sat down and opened his mouth to teach. And again, this is one of those things that we would just skip right over, right? Because we think through it in our own culture. Because most of us in this room are like, okay, he sat down and started talking. What's the big deal? This is how people talk. Except in their culture, when a king or a rabbi or a priest or anyone who had any kind of authority wanted to make an official statement, the first thing they had to do was sit down. See, we have it backwards in our culture. If you've ever, like if you're a teacher in here, right? Or if you ever went to school, which I'm assuming is most of us. Where did your teacher teach from? The front of the class, right? Standing up. And their culture, the teacher would have sat down and the students would have stood up. And that's how they would have taught. Because when you sat down, that meant it was something serious. In fact, if you were just walking and talking with Jesus, those are considered informal statements. So like when he's serious, he's gonna stop and he's gonna sit down. Because this is serious now. It's the same thing, like with our kids, if they know it's serious, they're gonna hear this. Go to my room. And when they walk through the door, they're gonna hear, shut the door. And at that point, I already know it's gonna click in their head. This is serious. This isn't joke time. This isn't what daddy is about to do right now is going to be serious. And so when we see, and Jesus sat down and opened his mouth to teach, he's sitting here going, This is serious. I'm about to tell you what my kingdom is. I'm about to teach you how my kingdom is. And he's sitting here going, and here's what a citizen of my kingdom will look like, talk like, and act like. Here's what it means to be a citizen of my kingdom. Here's what it means to call yourself a Christian. Here's what Jesus is not doing. All right, because we're gonna get to some things in Matthew that sound like really, really like out there kind of things. And yes, I give a lot of illustrations when I preach, right? Because I'm sitting here going, I'm trying to take something and get you to understand it. So a lot of times we have to use things like parables and illustrations and metaphors because we need to think through something like a different way. So when Jesus is about to say, one of the things he's about to say is this if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Because it is better to enter the kingdom of heaven without an eye and without a hand. Is Jesus being metaphorical with that? Not at all. Are we going to take him seriously on that? Well, I mean, all of us seem to have both of our eyes and both of our hands, so probably not. But Jesus is being dead serious on that. He's sitting here going, this is what my citizens will look like. This is what my citizens will do. These aren't illustrations and metaphors. There's a lot of people that try to teach that the Sermon on the Mount, like especially when we get to the Beatitudes and stuff like that, are just like very gentle suggestions. No, Jesus is sitting here going, this is what my citizens will look like. Period. This is the standard. And I know that's a harsh word in our culture, right? It's really bad in our culture to be able to go, hey, this is right and this is wrong. Because, well, you don't know my truth. First of all, you don't have a truth. Truth by nature cannot be relative, because if truth can change, guess what it's not? Truth. But see, our culture, we look at that very differently. Where I can be whatever I want to be because it's what I feel like being. And what Jesus is about to lay out isn't suggestions, they're not illustrations, they're not metaphors. He is literally sitting here going, here's what my citizens look like. And that leads us to our next question.

Disciples Religious People And Seekers

Josh 25:40

Who is Jesus preaching this sermon to? We know his disciples, right? He sat down, he opened his mouth, began to teach, his disciples came to him. We know his disciples. The verse started with, and seeing the great crowds. Well, who's part of the great crowds? There's gonna be Pharisees and Sadducees, right? The religious leaders, because they go everywhere Jesus goes. And they spend the whole time trying to pick apart what Jesus is saying. And they go, hey, we're gonna debate the very Word of God on the Word of God. Like, think about this. This would be like if you wrote like a story, right? And then like you're reading it to people, and people are like, well, I think this means this. Who gets to decide what that means? The author. We do it all the time, right? This is why sending text messages is so dangerous in our like day. Because like you receive a text and you're reading it, but you're adding your own context to it. Like if like Debbie sent me a text and didn't say, like, love you, baby, at the end of it. I'm gonna be like, oh, she must be mad. What'd I do? Alright, let's try to figure it out. Then I'm gonna like ask all these like guiding questions to go, what I did, I do something. But I'm adding my own context to it, right? I mean, talk to her later and she was like, Oh, I didn't, I'm I'm sorry, I was just it was taught to text, I didn't even think about it, my bad. So when you try to pick a fight and a debate with the very person whose words wrote down scripture, guess what you're not gonna do? Win that argument. But we know the Pharisees and the Sadducees would have been present. They follow Jesus around trying to argue with everything he says. We also know that there would have been this other group, and we're not gonna call them followers, we're gonna call them seekers. These people that are sitting here going, I know this can't be all there is. These people that are sitting here going, I need someone to step into the darkness. I need someone to help me understand this. I need someone to shed light on this. That's why John 1.9, when it's describing Jesus, describes him like this: the true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. See, there's a lot of people even now that are walking around in darkness looking for a light. They're sitting here going, this can't be all there is. They're sitting here going, I see something in the darkness. And I would argue that the vast majority of the great crowds that Jesus saw are these people. Because Jesus does have a limited number of disciples. In fact, when Jesus ascends at the end of his earthly ministry, he has, does anybody know about how many disciples? About 500. So would 500 people be a great crowd? Well, in our context, yes. But when you're talking about thousands and thousands and thousands of people, well, no, you're only a fraction of the people. And at this point, Jesus is just starting his ministry. How many disciples does he have right now? Twelve. And again, there's a finite number of Pharisees and Sadducees. So the vast majority of this crowd must be these people sitting here going, I'm looking, I'm seeking. But the biggest takeaway we can pull from that is this. This crowd probably looked something like every church that ever gathers. Because within a gathering, what do we have? We have disciples, we have followers. We have people that already sit here and go, I know who Jesus is. And we have people that are religious people who go, I'm just gonna go through the motions because I know who Jesus is. And then we have people that are sitting here going, I'm seeking something. Jesus, will you step into my darkness with me? Jesus, can you walk through this with me? See, a religious person is gonna try to fit Jesus into their world. Jesus becomes an add-on. Jesus becomes that thing where it's like, okay, um, well, right here. No, no, no, no, don't worry about my sex life, don't worry about my marriage, don't worry about my job. You just fit right here. That's a religious person. A disciple is gonna see Jesus for who Jesus is and go, how can I more so please the king? And then a seeker is going to sit here and go, I need something, I don't know what it is. And I'm gonna tell you, we all fall into these camps. We all fall into these categories. And this is why the sermon is so important. Because we all bring things with us when we hear Jesus teach. This is why, honestly, my prayer every week, week in and week out, is pretty much the same. My prayer is this: God, don't let it be my words. Listen, my words don't have power. My words are just like anybody else's words. But when the Spirit speaks, something happens inside. When it's actually the words of God, something happens because the words of God never return what? Ever. The words of God are going to strike. When Peter got up and preached the sermon at Pentecost, understand it wasn't this feel-good message. It was this Jesus whom you crucified. How many people came to know Jesus that day? Three thousand. Why? Because Peter is preaching the words of God. And just like the conversation we were having this morning, here's the problem. Like I said, most churches in America look like these crowds, where we have these different people. Jesus understands that too. And so a lot of what he's doing is going, I'm going to correct misunderstandings about my word. And just Matthew chapter 5, in just this one chapter, Jesus is going to say seven times something along the lines of, you have heard it said, but I say to you. And what he's doing with that is he's correcting our misunderstanding of scripture. Because that is a thing. That is a thing that we really need to be checking ourselves on. Because just because a pastor said, myself included, the reason we have a text question slide that comes up all the time is because I'm not infallible. There are things that I may view wrongly, which is why I have no problem when someone comes up to me and goes, hey, I want to talk to you about this. Because I go, that's what we should be doing with each other. Yes, when I preach, understand. I've done hours and hours and hours of research on what I'm saying because I believe James 3:1, when it says that I will be held to a higher accountability. But I also sit here and go, just because a pastor said, does not mean the Bible said. And that is where we have to sit here and go. Jesus is sitting here going, you religious leaders have butchered the spirit and the application of the law. I gave you a law back in Exodus that went, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. You went, well, that means you can't walk more than 21 steps on a Sabbath. Because if you walk more than 21 steps, you have now worked. And now you didn't remember the Sabbath or keep it holy. And Jesus is sitting here going, No, I told you to do that because you need to rest. Because I don't know if anyone in here needs to hear that. The Bible commands you to rest. The Bible commands you to go, yeah, kick your feet up and take a load off. That's not a suggestion. And you know why? Because those of you in here who don't rest, if you twist a rubber band long enough, it's gonna pop. And when you pop in your life, you know who suffers? Everyone around you. It ain't just you you're hurting. It is everyone in your life. Your spouse, your kids, your parents, everyone. Because you go, I need to keep working, I need to keep doing. See, Jesus has given this message to the religious leaders who have butchered the spirit and the application of the law. He's given the message to his disciples. Why? Because who's going to continue Jesus' work after Jesus ascends? His disciples. This is why he says, on this rock, I will build my church. He goes, you guys are the ones that are going to keep this thing going when I go back to the Father. You better know how to keep this thing going. You've ever owned a business, right? I don't think any of us in here are at the point yet where we're about to pass it off to someone else. But are you just grabbing someone off the street and going, okay, go get it? Probably not, right? You've invested time, money, sweat, tears, maybe blood, depending on what kind of business you did. And you've cared for it and you've nurtured it and you've watched it grow. And here's what you're gonna do: I'm gonna bring people in, I'm gonna train them how to do this so that when I step out of this role, they can continue going with it. So that I can continue to get what?

unknown 36:46

A paycheck.

Josh 36:47

A paycheck. Without having to do all the work. See, when Jesus is telling his followers, you're gonna keep this going. And he's preaching this message to everyday people who are looking for everyday answers. In other words, Jesus is going, this high, lofty theological ideas, I want to bring it down to where the everyday person can understand exactly what I'm saying. Because he's gonna take all that information you got all up in your brain, and he's gonna give you real practical application. And this is where we miss the boat a lot. Because we want to argue about the lofty theological things because it's fun to argue about the lofty theological things. But what is the point of arguing about predestination if you don't understand that yes, God can ordain, but understand if he ordains someone to hear the message of the gospel, he also ordains someone, i.e. you, to preach the message of the gospel. Which is why Romans 10 would tell us that how are they to believe in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear if there is no one there to preach? So Jesus is preaching to all of these people.

Heart Change Plus A Simple Challenge

Josh 38:08

He's not giving us illustrations and metaphor, he's not given us a new law to follow. He's sitting here going, This is what my citizens of my kingdom will look like, because Jesus is showing us how the inward change of saying, I follow Jesus produces outward change in behavior. Because Jesus knows that a changed heart will lead to a changed life. In other words, it's impossible to go, I have met Jesus and be exactly the same. It's impossible to go, hey, I know who Jesus is and continuing living the most selfish life you can. It's impossible to go, hey, I believe in Jesus and hold the gospel inside. None of those things can go together. All of them show an impossibility because 2 Corinthians 5.7 says this, therefore, or 5.17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. Does it say the old is passing away? No. It says the old is passed away. The new is already here. So then, if I am in Christ and I am not a new creation, am I in Christ? Either I'm not in Christ or scripture's wrong, but it's got to be one or the other, right? So Jesus is showing all of that, and over the next couple of months, we're gonna cover it. And we're gonna challenge ourselves, and we're gonna sit here and hold up that mirror and go, am I fully submitted to the kingship of Jesus Christ? Or am I just a Christian in word only? Did I really just sit here and go, oh, I believe. Because I was tired of someone telling me I need to? Or am I fully submitted to this? Because fully submitted, I'm gonna tell you, looks different to different people. You've been doing this all your life, and you're not stepping into a leadership role in some way, shape, or form. Listen to me. You are not fully submitted to the kingship of Jesus Christ. I'm just gonna throw that out to you. You're sitting here going, hey, I just found Jesus last year, and your life isn't looking different, you're not fully submitted to the kingship of Jesus Christ. If you're not taking that next step, you are not submitted to the kingship of Jesus Christ. It's one thing to sit here and go, yeah, I believe this is true. It's a whole nother thing to go, hey, I belong to a new kingdom, but I'm not gonna submit to the king. Why do we expect the king to go, hey, you know what? There's an asterisk there. This applies to everyone else except Cala. This doesn't apply to you. Everybody else has to be this way. Why do we expect the Bible to bend to what we want it to say instead of going, no, we need to bend to what Scripture says. Because there's some things we need to change. Because Jesus is preaching this entire sermon to go, this is my kingdom, and this is what my citizens will look like. So this week, I'm gonna tell you right now, our challenge is very, very, very simple. Read Matthew chapter five every day this week. You don't have a Bible? Let me know before you leave. I have plenty of Bibles. All you gotta do is read Matthew chapter 5 every day this week. If you're an average reader in here, it should take you about five minutes to silently read to yourself, maybe a little longer if you read out loud. If you're a slow reader like me, it'll probably take you about 10 minutes to read it. But if you're gonna sit here and go, I don't have 10 minutes in my day to read a chapter of the Bible, I'm gonna call you a liar. Because out of the 24 hours you have in a day, you wasted 10 minutes doing something else. But that's all your challenge is, is every day this week, read Matthew chapter 5. Give that time to read and pray that Jesus show you his words, that we commit the words of Jesus to our hearts so that he can light our way. So at this time we're gonna close. If you need prayer, you need to talk, you need any of that. Last week we looked at healing, right? Not one person in here went, hey, I need prayer for healing. Why? You weren't even in here, so I don't want to hear that. So you interrupted the closing for something you weren't even here to do. Not one person. But yet, did we have prayer requests this morning? We did, right? So if your child asks for prayer because they have a big boo-boo or they have a bump on their neck, guess what your role as their parent is today? Lay hands on your child and pray. Show them that. JT comes in my room at 18 as a grown man and goes, I don't feel good. What's the first thing we do, JT?

unknown 43:50

Prayer.

Josh 43:52

Why? Because I want him to know that there's power in that. Because how is my kid gonna know that if I don't show that? So, Father, I ask and I pray that as we move from this moment, that Father, we just get excited about who you are, that we submit to your kingship, Father. That we sit here and go, I am a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, and therefore I must bend to what the king says. Father, I ask and I pray that if there are areas in our life that we are not bending, that Father, we bend. Because your word tells us we're either gonna bend or we're gonna bend. We're gonna bow or we're gonna bow. Father, I just ask and I pray that throughout this week you give each and every one of us a hunger to read your word. That Father, we just power through Matthew 5 day after day after day, and that Father, you bury these words deep in our heart. Father, I ask and I pray that if there is anyone in here that is hurting right now, that is seeking right now, that Father, you step into that. I pray, God, for each and every disciple of you in this room tonight or today, Father, that you sit here and go, hey, just keep following me. And Father, if any of us are these religious leaders, I pray, Father, that you break our hearts. That we follow after the King. Father, I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.