Jesus Calls Us to a Life in the Spirit

Jesus Call us to a Life in the Spirit

 

Today we are continuing our study of Jesus’ words on how to live our lives.  He preached about this in His famous “Sermon on the Mount” found in Matthew 5,6and 7 of our Bibles.  Jesus is calling out a people to reject the world’s ways of doing things and live their lives completely trusting their heavenly Father.  As children of God, Jesus calls us to a new way of living, and He gives us His Spirit to help us walk in this new way.  Jesus gives His followers many different commands in this sermon.  Without His Spirit to help us keep these commands we would not be able to obey any of them on our own.

 

We have covered much of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” already in previous blogs.  But today we will continue as He has many commands for His followers.  And some of Jesus’ commands go against worldly wisdom and upsets our sense of pride.  Here is one that I struggle with.  Jesus asks us to go the second mile.  Here is what He said: “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’.  But I tell you not to resist an evil person.  Whoever slaps you on one cheek, turn the other.  And if anyone sues you and takes away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow, do not turn away.”  (Matthew 5:38-42)

 

Jesus has a great deal to say about humility.  And no wonder, since it was pride that first caused mans’ downfall into sin when Adam and Eve felt that their own way was better than God’s way.  Now restored godliness requires that we humans do the opposite and humble ourselves before God’s will.  Perhaps here in Jesus’ command to go the second mile and turn the other cheek, He is calling His followers to renounce any form of pride and retaliation against those who treat us badly and leave all vengeance to God.  Obedience is the response of faith to Jesus’ commands. 

 

We are to let mistreatment by others remind us to overcome their evil through love.  Our heavenly Father will take care of us and be our shield and defense.  Even when our enemy kills our bodies, we will be taken to heaven and will be made whole.  In these situations, we are promised that “not a hair of our heads will be harmed!”  (Luke 21:18) But of course, this promise in Scripture must have a spiritual meaning. There is nothing that our enemies can do to harm us that our heavenly Father cannot take care of, even if we don’t see the reward until we reach heaven. 

 

Jesus gives more commands concerning how we are to live our lives in His “Sermon on the Mount.”  He says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. … No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else be loyal to one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and money.”  (Matthew 6:19-21 and 24)

 

There is a common thread throughout all of Jesus’ commands.  That we should be like little children, trusting our heavenly Father with our lives.  And that we are to “travel light” and not be anxious or worried about grasping for more and more money and coveting more earthly stuff.  And we must not put all of our efforts on becoming wealthy and make that the goal of our lives.  Worldly riches can be stolen or lose their value in a falling stock market.  But our heavenly inheritance is incorruptible.

 

This earth is not our home, we’re just passing through.  Our citizenship is in heaven and our lives should be different because of that.  Scripture always warns about the love of money taking away our love for God.  Jesus reminds us that we cannot put God first and also put the pursuit of wealth first. Jesus isn’t warning us against working to earn money to provide for our families.  Scripture doesn’t say that money is the root of evil.  It says that “the “Love” of money is the root of all evil.”  (1 Timothy 6:10)

 

Lastly, Jesus warns His followers of false teachers that will come in our churches and pretend to be good Christians – or the sheep of God’s pasture.  But really, they are there as ravenous wolves to destroy your church.  Here is what Jesus said: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do people gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistle bushes?  Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not (Matthew 7:15-20) 

 

False teachers have been there to ravage and destroy the Church from the very beginning.  They plant seeds of unbelief and rebellion wherever they go.  They pretend to be religious and good, but they hate Jesus Christ and they deny that He died for our sins and that He is the Son of God and Savior.  That He came in the flesh and that He is the only Way, Truth and Life. Over my lifetime I have seen many of these false prophets come in and tear apart the Church.  We have been warned by Jesus.  And throughout Scripture there are stark warnings. 

 

And Jesus closes His Sermon by giving the parable of the wise and the foolish builders.  (Matthew 8:24-28)  One person builds his house on the Rock and the other person builds his house on the sand.  When the storms come, the wind and rain are too much for the house with no foundation that is built on the sand.  And it falls down and is destroyed.  But the house with its foundation built firmly on the Rock withstood the storm.  The Rock is Jesus Christ and the sand is everything else that we can build our lives on.  This parable shows the necessity of doing the will of God. 

 

After Jesus finished his Sermon to the crowd that was gathered, He began healing all those in the crowd.  And He spent the next couple of years going through the countryside with His disciples and healing the sick.  He made the lame to walk and the blind to see.  He cured leprosy and He even raised the dead.  Jesus healed everyone who came to Him.  And He sent His disciples out and many were healed when they prayed for the sick.  When Jesus rose from the dead and went back to heaven, He left His Spirit to empower each of His followers, so He could work through them. The early Church grew and was persecuted because the Holy Spirit power flowed through their lives.  And they loved one another, and miracles and healings occurred wherever they went.    

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