This week, Michael writes: In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brought the multitude who came to hear Him a new message about the Kingdom of God. He wrapped up His teaching In Matthew 7 with several illustrations about the way of God’s Kingdom versus the kingdoms of the world.
In order to enter into the Lord’s Kingdom, we must first be broken of our pride and approach His throne of grace with humility and meekness. When we perceive our poverty of spirit, when we mourn over the sin that separated our hearts from God’s heart, then guilt of conscience and conviction in our heart, we plead for the forgiveness of our sins, the salvation of our soul and eternal life by Divine transformation, then He will give us a new heart, regenerate of spirit and give us a sanctifying hunger and thirst after righteousness. This hunger is an acquired taste. It is acquired by following in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, then we will acquire a taste for the word of truth. As the Prophet Jeremiah said, I found thy words and I did eat them. They were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.
The crowds who flocked to hear Jesus’ message thought that He was the Messiah that had come to overthrow the kingdoms of this world, especially the wicked oppressive rulers of the Roman Empire. Many people said to Jesus, we want to make you our king. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. They asked him, then what’s your plan? Jesus pointed to a hated tax collector and some lowly fishermen from Galilee. He said, those guys over there, they are the plan … Redemption Road.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. The Kingdom of God turns the kingdoms of the world upside down because the truth of the Word of God is the opposite of the doctrines of this world. Jesus said in Matthew 7, there is a narrow gate that leads to the narrow way to the Heavenly Father. It starts with turning from self and unto the Lord. The value system of the Kingdom of God is diametrically opposed to the value system of this humanistic secular world. To follow Jesus Christ is to forsake the God-rejecting world. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father except by me. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus … when we fix our eyes steadfast upon Him, the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
Apart from Christ in our heart and the Holy Spirit living in us, we cannot live the Christian life. The godless world system demands that we bow down to unjust worldly ways, worldly secular laws, and worldly leaders that oppose the righteousness of God. Jesus said, when you follow me, the world will hate you because it hated me. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.
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