The spirit of Elijah

John the Baptist was sent by God for a purpose. The angel who appeared to John's father said:

"...And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And it is he who will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:16-17

Elijah was a prophet in a time when Israel had turned to the worship of pagan gods. Ahab's wife Jezebel had killed as many prophets of the Lord as she could find, and supported hundreds of prophets of Baal and of the Asheroth. The people had known the God of Israel; they knew their history. But they had adopted the religions of the peoples around them, religions of prosperity and sexuality.

Elijah called for a famine on the land; for three and a half years no rain fell. Then Elijah told Ahab to gather all of the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, to witness a test between the God of Israel and Baal. Elijah told the people gathered at Mount Carmel:

"...How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him..." I Kings 18:21

After the prophets of Baal had failed to bring fire on their offering, Elijah called the people to watch. He had the offering drenched in water, and then prayed in the hearing of the people.

"Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again." I Kings 18:37

The fire of the Lord fell, consuming the offering, the wood, the stones, and the water in the trench around it.

Then the people fell on their faces, saying:

"The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God." I Kings 18:39

Elijah turned the hearts of the people back to the Lord. This is what John the Baptist did, coming in the spirit and power of Elijah.

But John performed no miracles; no fire fell on any mountain. Yet the hearts of the people were turned back to the Lord.

There had been no famine in Israel in the time of John the Baptist, yet the people were hungry, spiritually hungry. They went out into the wilderness to listen to a strange man from the desert.

No fire fell when John the Baptist preached, yet the people came to him to be baptized, as they confessed their sins.

John the Baptist had come in the spirit and power of Elijah; the same spirit and power was at work in John. Elijah prayed, and it did not rain. In the time of John the Baptist there was a spiritual famine, a hunger for the word of the Lord.

"'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord God,
'When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.'" Amos 8:11

Elijah had prayed for fire to prove that the Lord was God. John the Baptist preached, and men believed that the Lord was God. Elijah called for the people to bring the prophets of Baal down to the river. John the Baptist called for the people to come to the river to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Elijah prayed and the sky poured out rain, and the earth bore fruit. John the Baptist told those he baptized to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.

The spirit and power of Elijah was present in John the Baptist, not in outward ways but in inward ways. This is what was needed to prepare a people for Jesus Christ.

This is what is needed now, a wild man who does not fit into our world.

...A wild man to pray for a spiritual famine in the hearts of men.
...A wild man to bring fire on men's hearts when they preach.
...A wild man to bring men to the river.
...A wild man to pray for spiritual rain to fall on men.

Our tame world does not have many like John the Baptist, but there are a few. We may try to preach like John the Baptist, thinking men will listen, but it is not the same. Men listen because they are hungry; they are hungry because a famine has been sent on them. A famine was sent because someone actively prayed. Someone prayed because he does not live in this tame world.

It is not our events that bring repentance; it is a man with the spirit and power of Elijah.

Make ready the way

John the Baptist came before Jesus; he preaching away from the cities and the synagogues of Israel.

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Matthew 3:1-2

Even though he preached out in the rugged country of Judea, men came to him from Jerusalem, and all of Judea. Men came, listened to him, and were baptized in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

He performed no miracles, yet nearly everyone came out to hear him preach about the kingdom of God. The people listened to his message of repentance, perhaps wanting to see the kingdom of God restored to Israel.

But John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus.

"This is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
'The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!'"
Matthew 3:3

His message was repentance, and the works that come from repentance.

"...And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Luke 3:9

People asked John what they should do.

"And he would answer and say to them, 'Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise."" Luke 3:11

The tax collectors, Jews working for the Romans, asked him what they should do.

"And he said to them, 'Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.'" Luke 3:13

Roman soldiers asked him what they should do.

"...And he said to them, 'Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.'" Luke 3:14

John the Baptist preached that One was coming after him, who will separate the wheat from the chaff.

"As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not even fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:11-12

The message of John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord, to make a roadway through the rough landscape. He called for men to repent openly in baptizism; he told men to walk in genuine works of righteousness. He told men that someone much greater was coming, who would thresh the righteous from the wicked.

John the Baptist prepared men to listen to Jesus Christ.

What prepares us to listen to Jesus Christ?

The Jewish people were already very religious; their culture was centered around the synagogue locally, and the temple in Jerusalem. They had many religious teachers and leaders. Yet God sent John the Baptist to speak to a people who heard the Law and the Prophets read every Sabbath.

We are religious as well. We have our churches, and our leaders. We read the Bible, and listen to Christian music. What more do we need to prepare us to listen to Jesus Christ?

We need to hear the Spirit of God speak through a man; we will know the difference between religion and power. We need to feel the dragnet pushing us in to judgment; we need to repent. We need the kingdom of God to come near, like it came near in John the Baptist.

The kingdom of God comes near in a man. It came near in John the Baptist, and everyone went out to him. The kingdom of God has come near in other places and times. Three thousand men were pierced in their hearts on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached. Ireland turned to Christ at the preaching of St. Patrick. Many in England turned to Christ at the preaching of John Wesley. We can see the effect in history; we can know this in our time.

John the Baptist was sent by God. He was the voice prophesied in Isaiah 40; he was the messenger in Malachi 3:1. Yet John found the kingdom of God in the wilderness, away from men and away from his place as a priest.

"And the child continued to grow, and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel." Luke 1:80

We also need to grow; we cannot give what we do not have. The presence of the kingdom cannot be imitated; it cannot be faked. We can make ready the way of the Lord in men; we can bring a sense of real righteousness. The nearness of the kingdom of God can be felt; it is a dragnet pushing all men toward judgment. But each of us must find this kingdom before we can bring it near to our world.

The kingdom of God was near; when John preached, men repented.

An alternative foundation

The Sermon on the Mount can provide an enduring foundation for our life. An alternative foundation is offered by the devil. Just as the Sermon on the Mount addresses life in three levels, the devil seeks to direct us in three levels as well. The temptation of Jesus illustrates the alternatives.

The devil came to Jesus when He had been fasting for 40 days, and had become hungry. The devil spoke to Jesus about the hunger, suggesting that as the Son of God Jesus could turn the stones into bread in order to meet satisfy His hunger. The temptation was to use the things of this world to satisfy the hunger in the heart. In His reply, Jesus did not address food in terms of the needs of the body, but food to satisfy the needs of the heart. "...Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.."

The second temptation was to test God's faithfuness to provide for our body. The devil used Scripture himself to state that the angels would protect Jesus if He threw Himself off the top of the temple He was standing on. In His reply, Jesus did not disagree with the Scriptures used, but quoted again from Deuteronomy. "...You shall not put the Lord your God to the test..." The rest of the quote says "...as you tested Him at Massah." Israel had demanded that Moses give them water; they were trying to compel God to provide.

The third temptation was to submit to the kingdom of darkness to gain the desires of the soul. The devil showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world, offering to give Jesus authority over them, if Jesus would accept the devil's authority over Him. Jesus again quoted from Deuteronomy in reply "...You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Jesus not only rejected the offer of the devil as wrong, but He did the opposite. Instead of accepting the devil's authority, He took authority over the devil, commanding him to leave.

The same pattern of three points is addressed in the temptation of Jesus as is addressed in the Sermon on the Mount. The devil offers us an alternative foundation for life, either in part or in whole, based on what he offers in these three points.

We are tempted, whether we recognize it or not as temptation, to use the things of this world to satisfy our heart. This is much more a part of our life than we want to acknowledge.

We are tempted, and we do not see it as temptation, to use prayer as a means to force God to provide for the needs of the body. Prayer was not meant to be a means of manipulating God; prayer is meant to be a confession of trust in His faithfulness.

We are tempted, and we certainly do not recognize that this is true, to accept the devil's authority over our life in order to gain the desires of our soul. We do not take authority over the devil, forcing him to leave, at the cost of what he offers our soul.

Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and did not sin. Jesus rejected each temptation. But we have not. We have been tempted and failed. We have built our life on our failures in these three things. We use the things of this world to satisfy our heart. We seek to manipulate God in prayer to meet the needs of our body. We have another master who promises to give us our soul.

We do not come to the Sermon on the Mount as free men; we come to the Sermon on the Mount as those who have been taken captive. We have built our lives on a foundation of the devil's design. We don't know why our house can be swept away in a flood of worthlessness; we don't know why we are bound by failure. And we don't know how to change it.

We need to build on the Rock; we need to first dig deep to find it.

Making disciples

After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples on a mountain in Galilee where He had told them He would meet them after the resurrection. There He gave them the Great Commission.

"...All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

The Great Commission is to make disciples. Just as Jesus made disciples, we are to make disciples. We are to make disciples who are like us.

But this is not part of our culture; western education does not seek to make disciples. We prefer to keep a distance between teacher and student; we also prefer to separate the intellect from behavior. But this is not the paradigm intended by Jesus. Disciples are to become like their teacher; teachers should be good replications of Jesus Christ.

This process is summarized in "teaching them to observe all that I commanded you"; literally this could be stated "causing them to learn to keep all that I told you to do." The teacher is responsible for building a life that can successfully do what Jesus said.

The Sermon on the Mount is what Jesus commanded us to do. The Great Commission is a directive to train people to live out the Sermon on the Mount. He taught a process that He meant to be implemented. What He taught that day, when implemented, becomes a working mechanism that results in an enduring foundation.

The Sermon on the Mount is like a software program inside a nice box. It is just a pretty box until we unwrap it and take it out of the box; when we put the disk in the drive, and let it load, we will see what it can do. It is meant to be executed; the pretty box has little to do with what it really is.

Some of us will have to muddle through this unfamiliar program, trying to learn how to use it. But those who have learned how use it can show others what it can do.

It is worth the effort to learn.

Authority to teach

Jesus taught with an authority that others did not have.

"The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority , and not as their scribes." Matthew 7:28-29

The rabbical schools had developed an extensive written system of interpretations during the time of the exile to Babylon; these traditional interpretations had taken the weight of Scripture by the time of Christ. Those who were educated based what they taught on the traditional interpretations; this is what the people expected a teacher to do.

But Jesus taught as one who Himself had the authority to teach; those who listened were amazed at this. Jesus not only specifically taught what contrasted with their traditional teachings, He also taught in a way that implied that the traditional teachings were of no value.

Jesus did teach based on Scripture, but not in a simple, limited way. He had learned the same Scriptures that the traditions claimed to understand; but He understood them. He taught based on an understanding of Scripture. The Sermon on the Mount came from that understanding. It follows the pattern of Psalm 18, but it includes an understanding of the rest of Scripture. All Scripture is from one Author; it is understood in whole, not in pieces.

We are in a similar religious culture. We are taught our traditional interpretations. Seminaries do this, trying to pass on the orthodoxy of the denomination. Most Christian teaching, whether in church or in popular Christian books, is built on the conclusions of others. What we consider to be the teaching of the Bible is often a historical interpretation that has now taken the weight of Scripture for us. We use proof texts, but not a personal understanding of Scripture.

But we are to teach like Jesus taught; we are to have the authority to teach personally. We need to dig down to bedrock in Scripture; we need to be able to distinguish the rock of Scripture from the overburden of tradition. We must have rock to build on.

"Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock..." Luke 6:47-48

This is personal; we are to teach what we have found. We are to teach what we know will not break.

The kingdom of God gives this authority; it does not come from the traditions of men.

Discipleship

The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5 through 7, was given to disciples, those who were following Jesus.

"And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him." Matthew 5:1

Great crowds from various cities and regions were following Him because of the miracles. But when Jesus wanted to teach, He went up on a mountain, making it more difficult for the crowd to follow. The mountain is not identified, but the region around Galilee has substantial hills that require an effort to climb.

Jesus sat down on the mountain, perhaps the first time He had sat down for a while with so many people pressing to get close to Him. But for the Jews, sitting was also the posture taken by a teacher in the synagogue. Those who had followed Him up the mountain, were the ones who wanted to hear what He had to say. This would have been their first opportunity to sit and listen apart from the crowds as well.

Jesus taught what we have labeled the Sermon on the Mount. However, the label does not carry the right implications. This was not a sermon in our sense; this was not preaching. This was teaching. The Greek word "teach" could be more literally translated as "to cause to learn". Teaching is not just verbalizing information, casting it out like seed. Preaching is more like casting out seed. Teaching is causing to learn. More is involved in teaching than the information.

Jesus picked a location to teach which took His disciples away from the crowd. He lead the way up the mountain; He would have been visible to those who wanted to follow Him. The crowd would have not wanted to follow Him up there. Those who followed would have had to put out an effort to climb the mountain.

Jesus taught those who followed. This is essential in "causing to learn". Teach to those who are willing to put out an effort to come to listen.

Another thing which stands out in what Jesus taught is the difficulty. Jesus taught what was challenging. He did not repeat what they already knew. Those who listened to what Jesus said would need to keeping thinking about what He said, trying to understand what He meant. Jesus did not keep it simple. The language was simple, but the meaning was difficult. Just as they had to climb up a mountain to listen to Him, they would have to work to understand what He meant. Teach what those who are listening do not know.

All three synoptic Gospels indicate that Matthew was called after this time. But it is the Gospel of Matthew which records the Sermon on the Mount with great detail. Only someone who was there would have been able to remember such detail. The structure given in Matthew indicates that this is the complete message given by Jesus; each piece in a highly structured logic was there. Matthew, a Jew serving as an offical tax collector for the Roman Empire, remembered details completely. (Zaccheaeus, a chief tax collector, later could tell Jesus that he would repay four times to any he had defrauded; he remembered the details also.) Matthew was probably there listening. Some time later Jesus walked by Matthew as he sat collecting taxing; all Jesus said was "Follow Me." Matthew rose up, left his office, and followed Jesus. Matthew had thought about what he heard on the mountain; Jesus did not need to say anymore. Teach to make disciples, nothing less.

Cause to learn.

Fulfilling the Law

Jesus came preaching the good news of the kingdom of God; He came healing and performing miracles. All that accompanied Him seemed new; He was a radical departure from the structured religion of the Jews.

An assumption could be made that since the religion of the Jews was based on the Law of Moses, and since Jesus did not take a place within the religious structure, then Jesus was doing away with the Law and the Prophets. But this assumption rests on understanding the purpose of the Law. If the religion of the Jews was an accurate expression of the purpose of the Law, then what Jesus was teaching was abolishing the Law, since He was not building on the traditional Jewish teachings.

But Jesus made a completely different point in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. He was not teaching that the Law and the Prophets were past; instead He said that He was fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. This was in itself a radical departure from Jewish tradition.

Jewish traditional interpretation of the Law and the Prophets sought to "build a fence around the Law". The acknowledged intention in the teachings and traditions of the rabbis and scholars was to attempt to keep the Law by building cultural fences to keep men from breaking the Law. If one was to not boil a kid in its mother's milk, then a careful Jew should have two sets of dishes to keep from the possibility of breaking this particular commandment. The rabbis had constructed an elaborate structure of traditions as a fence around the Law. They themselves would have acknowledged that the fence was not the Law, but was only a means to keep from breaking the Law.

But what Jesus stated was His purpose was to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. His emphasis was on what the intention of the Law was, not on a fence around the Law. To fulfill the intention of the Law, the meaning of the Law must be understood. This is radically different than building a fence around what is not understood.

Jesus did not look at the Law as disposable. He taught that not the smallest letter or stoke of the Law will pass away, until all is formed. The Law was given for a purpose; it is part of what God is doing. The Law was not to be kept by building fences around it; the Law was to be used to build.

The teacher who just loosens the requirements of the Law, thinking that he is doing the right thing, has a very small part in the kingdom of God. He is not getting what God intended in the Law. The teacher who does the Law, fulfilling what the actual intention is, has a significant part in the kingdom of God. Jesus did not use the word "keep", emphasizing not breaking; He used the word "do" or "make", emphasizing that the Law has a constructive purpose.

So the need is not to build fences around the Law in things like having two sets of dishes, one for meat and one for milk. The need is to understand what God meant. As an example, Paul later made a point that the commandment to not muzzle the oxen threshing the grain had to do with letting those who minister to the church receive payment for their work.

Jesus did not accept the traditional teachings as the fulfillment of the intention of the Law. He made the point that no one will enter the kingdom of God unless he does more than what the scribes and Pharisees did. Even the most careful in keeping the Law will not enter the kingdom. Righteousness was meant to be abundant righteousness; righteousness is to fill a life.

We have our traditions as well; we teach what we think "keeps" the Scriptures. We have built fences around what we think is right as well, though we are not as thorough as the rabbis. But we are not oriented toward fulfilling Scripture; we are not usually doers of the Word. Hearing the Word is much easier.

The rabbis heard the commandment about not boiling a lamb in its mother's milk, and could only perceive that God's intention was limited to the outward. Circumcision is required by the Law, yet Moses and the Prophets make it clear that circumcision of the heart is God's desire. The rabbis tried to keep the outward, but could not do anything about the inward. In the same way, we tend to teach righteousness based on outward limitations, not on inward change.

But entering the kingdom of God requires a righteousness built on inward change. Righteousness is to fill; righteousness is to be abundant. We emphasize imputed righteousness, almost to the exclusion of any fulfillment of righteousness. We are stuck at Romans 4:5; we are afraid to work after we have been imputed righteous thinking somehow this is going to damage what God already done. But we are to walk in the newness of life; we are to pursue the things that make peace and build up one another. God has imputed us righteous; He wants to fulfill in our life what He has already accounted to be ours. He wants to bring us into His kingdom, where He reigns, not sin.

What should be taught is not just limitations in the outward, but abundant righteousness coming from what is built by the Word inwardly.

Salt and light

Following the blessings of the Beatitudes, Jesus told His disciples that they were the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. The blessing of God has a consequence in us.

Disciples are different in two ways: they have something valuable in them, and they are able to express the character of God in the world.

Disciples are the salt of the earth because of what is in them. Salt was valuable in their culture, simply for its use. What is now one of the cheapest commodities in a grocery store, was for them of significant value. It is needed for every meal; it is useful in the ordinary tasks of life. One of their sources of salt was a mineral deposit found in that area of the world; we mine salt as well in places. But the salt they mined was not pure NaCl, table salt; it had other minerals. If that salt became moist; the table salt could be leached away, leaving what appeared to look like salt, but without the flavor of salt. This salt of the earth, mineral salt, could lose it favor; it was then worthless. No one would have a reason to keep it; it would just be thrown out in the street. That salt of the earth needed to be kept dry; sealed in a closed container. It could not be left out on the table like our salt shakers.

Disciples have something within them that gives them flavor; this needs to be kept hidden away. Disciples can lose what makes them valuable; this needs to be kept in secret.

Disciples are also the light of the world. The good works that result from the blessings of God are like a light shining in a dark place, or a city set on a hill. It is difficult to hide light in a house; no one would do it anyway. It is difficult to hide a city. In World War II, cities were hidden from bombers by blackout; no lights outside, and all windows carefully covered. Normally, the lights of each house make our cities visible at night from far away.

The good works of disciples of Jesus Christ are a light shining in this world. What comes from the work of blessing within us can be seen by others. But the light needs to come from the glory of God, not from us. The way our good works are done is significant.

Jesus is again giving complementary aspects of one work of God. The Holy Spirit within us works through the body. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But there are two aspects of how He works. He works within us using what is done in secret, away from man. This is like the salt of the earth, which must be kept sealed away from moisture. He also works through us in good works, for men to see. This is the light of the world; this is a lamp filling the house with light or a city set on a hill. These are very different pictures, but both are necessary parts of the work of the Spirit.

The corresponding passage in Psalm 18 speaks of the Lord being his stay, or support, and then speaks of the Lord bringing him into a broad place, having rescued him. The hidden work of the Spirit is a stay in our body; the visible work of the Holy Spirit in our body is deliverance from our enemies. We do not have to be bound by failure, overcome by meaninglessness. The same complementary pieces are in Psalm 18.

Disciples are the salt of the earth; if the hidden life is kept, we will be the light of the world.

Need in every direction

The eight examples of blessing in the Beatitudes provide an illustration of need coming from a number of directions, and in complementary aspects. Not all need is poverty. Need can be for what is necessary to accomplish good things, or to make meaningful change within us.

The first two Beatitudes express need in the direction of provision. Poverty is an emptiness looking forward; mourning is an emptiness looking back. Both address a need for provision in the present. In poverty, He can show Himself faithful to provide for our daily needs outwardly. In mourning, He can give an enduring comfort inwardly.

The second two Beatitudes express need in the direction of actions. Whether we are rich or poor materially, we are in need in what we do. The gentle can act in this world with strength, without using anger. We need what can make us outwardly gentle: strong in action, soft in touch. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness need an inward change; righteousness comes from within.

The third two Beatitudes express need in the direction of the heart. The merciful need mercy to continually flow out of them for the world. Mercy must be renewed day by day; the merciful need a heart of mercy. The pure in heart need a cleansing in their heart to wash away the past. The merciful need a grace for the outward; the pure in heart need grace for the inward.

The fourth two Beatitudes express need in the direction of others. The peacemakers need the wisdom that comes from above to make peace; for them wisdom gives them something for the outward. For the persecuted, they need a wisdom that gives them something for the inward. In the midst of their suffering, they need to grasp their great reward.

Together the Beatitudes illustrate that the God who delivered David in Psalm 18 does the same for us in every direction and in every level of our life. He can deal with the negatives of life; He can also deal with the positives of life. He can provide for us; He can act through us. He can change us; He can help us in this world. In each of these things, the kingdom of God comes near to those who call on Him. Our circumstances and our efforts can be a place to grow as we call on Him.

Blessed are those who need help.

Point of beginning

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. He had a reason to begin at this point. The basic message in the Beatitudes is that we can be something significant in this life. We can be gentle; we can be peacemakers. We can be significant; we can be significantly good.

But our "Christianity" is usually passive; we do not seek to be significant. We do not expect to do anything significantly good. We did not get this from Jesus; He was never passive. But what we accept as normal is a passive approach to life. Our theology reflects this; our mindset reflects this even more. We take the same Scriptures that Jesus held, and come away with our theology, but not His life. We have mega-churches, and mega-ministries, but we still live passive lives. We are fans, going to church to watch our favorite team play. We would rather watch professionals play than try to play ourselves.

We have reduced the work of the Son of God to forgiveness, and eternal life to a distant future. Our "correct" theology is mostly correct, but it is only a part of what He taught. Forgiveness is not the main issue in the first three Gospels; neither is eternal life. The main issue is the kingdom of God is near. But most of us are not looking for deliverance in this life, only for assurance. We want to be assured that we have eternal life without necessarily seeing that we have eternal life.

The Beatitudes have a message for a world like ours; they are in contrast to what we actually think.

The poor are blessed. We can find the provision of God in this life apart from money.

Those who mourn are blessed. We can find profound comfort in loss.

The gentle are blessed. We can deal with others moderately; we can find grace to do this.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed. We can realize righteousness in this life; we can see the workmanship of God in us.

The merciful are blessed. We can share His feelings for man.

The pure in heart are blessed. We can be cleansed in fact not just in theory.

The peacemakers are blessed. We can find His wisdom in this life.

Those who are persecuted are blessed. We can share in the sufferings of Christ for good reason.

We need the message of the Beatitudes. Everything is not just imputed righteousness; everything is not just positional salvation. He is big enough to not only deal with our sins, but also to deal with our sin. He can work in us in this life. We can actually be sons of God in this life; those who have been nurtured by our Father in heaven. He can give what is actually good to weak men; He can give what can actually help them.

This is the point of beginning in the message of the kingdom of God. The working authority of God can come near to us in this life; the good news is that He can actually help us.

Therefore we can choose to act, trusting that the kingdom of God is near. Christianity is meant to be actively expressed; we were meant to look like Christ. But we need to be taught how to do this.

The good news of the kingdom is the point of beginning in the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching is where we find that the kingdom of God is near; we will find no other rock to build on. We can all build something in this life, but only a disciple's house will stand when the floods and winds burst against what he has built.

Passive "Christianity" is right, partially. "Christians" shouldn't try to do big things; they will just fail.

But disciples can build enduring houses.

Significance

Jesus said that the poor in spirit are blessed; He listed seven more characteristics that are blessed. These are very different characteristics; most have nothing to do with poverty. But these characteristics all have to do with need.

The picture in Psalm 18 of distress uses a metaphor of being bound with ropes, and a metaphor of floods of water. Deliverance also uses this picture: He drew me out of many waters. David made a picture of a man bound with cords being carried away in a flood of water. These are the things that David described as his enemies; these are the things that are too strong for him.

But the words of Psalm 18 speak of the cords of death, and the cords of Sheol. What binds man is the fear of death expressed in life; we are afraid of cause and effect. Little children learn that they can get hurt; little children learn to be cautious, one hurt at a time. The daily fear of a soldier in war is of actual death; the daily fear in man is the same internal mechanism, even though no one usually is seeking to actually kill us. The fears of interpersonal conflicts are the same fears as battle, even though no one is carrying automatic weapons. These fears of cause and effect in life bind us internally; we are afraid to act in many things, just as a soldier walks with fear of the next IED or sniper. The words of Psalm 18 also speak of the torrents of ungodliness; this word "ungodliness" is often translated as "worthlessness". The worthless things of life can carry us away like a flood of water. The parallel phrase uses the expression "snares of death"; these are things that can trap us in our life in a cycle of cause and effect. The torrents and snares are real parts of life.

Psalm 18 describes reality for us, using symbolic language. We are bound by our fears of cause and effect. We are carried away by worthless things; what is not evil of itself can become a flood carrying us away from what is significant. We can be trapped by cause and effect; what we did not mean to happen does happen because of a choice. We become insignificant, not because we wanted to, or because we did not try, but because our enemy was too mighty for us. We were afraid because of our fear of cause and effect, and did not try. We tried, but were carried away by the useless things of life. Or we tried, but were trapped unintentionally.

This is life. We need a Deliverer, just as David did. We need the heavens to be bowed down; we need Him to ride on the cherub and come down. We need Him to draw us out of many waters. Our enemies are too mighty for us.

What follows in Psalm 18 is a picture of significance. Using the role of a king, Psalm 18 describes a process that gives victory. Deliverance leads to significance. This is the blessing of the Beatitudes.

The unstated part of the Beatitudes is that anyone who attempts to do something significant will find the cords of death, the torrents of worthlessness, and the snares in his path. But in calling out because of distress, we are delivered from what is too mighty for us. We can do something significant, not because we are strong, but because He will come down to us.

Those who attempt significance are blessed, because He can fulfill significance. God gives a place to grow.

Blessing

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with a series of statements that each contain an apparent contradiction. Those who are poor whether physically or spiritually are in need; they are hungry. Yet Jesus said that they are blessed. He did this for eight characteristics, each of which puts a man in need. What He said appeared to be a contradiction. The one who is hungry is not blessed, is he?

Those who were listening probably had an assumption of what "blessing" should be; it does not include hunger. Aristotle contrasted this Greek word "blessed" in the text with a word meaning "the needy one". The one who is blessed should not be needy. This Greek word for blessing comes from the Greek idea of the state of the gods; the gods, on Olympus, are blessed. Jesus did not intend this Greek meaning of blessing.

The Hebrew word for "blessing" that corresponds to this Greek work is word found in Psalm 1.

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked..."

This word comes from their word for "straight"; it is used in the sense of a straight path, a good path. By extension, it means happy, not from lots of stuff, but from a straight path in life.

This is the sense of the word "blessing" that Jesus used; He used the blessing of the Scriptures, not the blessing of Greek mythology. Those who are blessed are on a straight path; their path is not full of obstacles.

What is not stated at first by Jesus is how the needy are blessed. He did not explain this as He taught. But He did explain this in the last statement; those who are persecuted have a great reward in heaven. The present experience is on a straight path leading to what is good. The same applies to each of the statements. But this blessing is not just in heaven, the straight path begins on earth.

Those in need cry out to God. In this, things change on earth. He bows the heavens; He comes down. He delivers men from their strong enemy. The kingdom of God comes near in this life.

The blessing of the Beatitudes is not an intrinsic quality that accompanies suffering; the blessing of the Beatitudes is in the experience of God coming near in answer to our cries. We have known the cords of death, and the torrents of ungodliness; in our distress we cried out. Each of these eight things is a different experience of need. But for an individual his need is significant; each need can lead a man to cry out.

Blessing is a place to grow. The needs of life can bring us to cry out to the Lord; this is the beginning of growth. But we cannot grow until we are poor in spirit, until we know we need help.

For some, the circumstances of life are the means by which they see their need. For others, the challenges of life are the means by which they see their need. Those who do are blessed.

The blessed are the delivered, not the lucky.

Structure in the Sermon

The Sermon on the Mount ends with a contrast between a house built on a rock and a house built on the sand. This point is the conclusion. Jesus had been addressing stability all along in the Sermon on the Mount; the end is fitting to the whole. What is not easily apparent is the structure of the whole. A pattern of three points addressing a particular issue can be seen; this pattern is helpful to understand how parts of the Sermon on the Mount relate to each other. Seeing that seeking His kingdom is related to fasting helps us understand how to do what He is teaching.

The pattern of three points follows a particular order. The first point addresses the work of the Father in the heart. The second point addresses the work of the Spirit in the body. The third point addresses the work of the Son in the soul. The overall structure of the Sermon on the Mount is Father, Spirit, Son, then Father, Spirit, Son, and then keeps repeating for a total of five times. The overall structure ends with the one point about the house on a rock.

The first part of Matthew 6 addressed three spiritual disciples; each discipline directed at a separate point. The last part of Matthew 6 addressed the effect of these disciplines in us, again using the pattern of three points. The first part of Matthew 7 addressed the challenges of these disciplines, again using the pattern of the three points.

The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 (the word beatitude is from a Latin word for blessing). The Beatitudes give a perspective on what God is doing in our heart. He is bringing a blessing through His work in us. The Father gives good things.

Following the Beatitudes are the passages about salt and light. These passages are about our place in this world. We are salt; we are light. These passages imply that we have been changed. This is what the Spirit does in our body; work of the Spirit results in a bodily change.

After this, Jesus taught about Himself, and entering the kingdom of heaven. He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; He came to fulfill. The righteousness of the Law is more than the outward observances; the kingdom of heaven requires a greater righteousness. This is the work of the Son, to fulfill in us the intent of the Law.

Jesus began with an overview of what God in three Persons is doing. The Father is giving a blessing through life. The Spirit is changing us bodily. The Son is calling us into the kingdom of heaven. These are the first three points; God is doing these things.

The next part of the Sermon on the Mount brings in contrasts. There was no contrast to what God is doing in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount. But when Jesus began explaining the Law, He used contrast to help make it clear. Jesus repeatedly contrasted what men had interpreted the Law to mean, with what fulfills the intent of the Law. Each of the six pieces follows this pattern. But Jesus also gave the pieces in pairs, to illustrate complementary aspects in what He taught.

The first pair is about murder and adultery. The fulfillment of the Law is that we hold no anger against our brother, and that we have hold no lust for a woman. Both concern what is in our heart; the Father judges both.

The second pair is about divorce and vows. The fulfillment of the Law is that we keep our covenant with our wife, and that we make no oaths. Both concern outward sin; the Spirit in hindered by both.

The third pair is about justice and neighbors. The fulfillment of the Law is to entrust justice to God and to accept men as neighbors in the eyes of God. Both concern our soul; the Son calls us to be sons of our Father who is in heaven.

The second part of Matthew 5 is again a set of three points addressing what we are to do. The set of three points, beginning in Matthew 6 on the spiritual disciplines, gives us how we are to do this. The set of three points, beginning in the middle of Matthew 6 tells us why we are to do this. The set of three points beginning in Matthew 7 tells us the problems in doing this. These five sets of three points lead to the conclusion that the word of the Lord is the rock to build our life on.

Jesus based this teaching on Psalm 18. This psalm of David is about the struggles of a man with his enemies. Jesus understood that it is about the kingdom of God; the struggles are spiritual struggles. The process within Psalm 18 reflects the order that Jesus used in His teaching.

The psalm begins with David praising God who is his rock; the psalm begins with David saying that he is blessed. David has been given a place to grow. This is how the Sermon on the Mount begins: God gives blessing, a place to grow.

David described where he had been; he was overcome. But in his distress, he called on the Lord. The Lord came down and delivered him. This is the picture that underlies the Beatitudes. We are not blessed because we are poor; we are blessed because in our poverty we have cried out. We are blessed because the kingdom of God has come near to us.

David described being brought to a broad place; he was set free. We have also been set free; we are examples of deliverance. We are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world.

David related deliverance to righteousness, to keeping the ways of the Lord. David repeatedly brings up reward and recompense. This is what Jesus builds on in the Sermon on the Mount. Righteousness is significant; actions have consequences. The Law reflects the heart of the Father. It is in His eyes that we find reward.

David then turned to the character of God. To the kind, He shows Himself kind. David lists three things, and then gives the contrast. To the crooked, He shows Himself crooked. This is what Jesus builds the three spiritual disciplines on. This is what He also uses to say that the hypocrites receive nothing from God.

David told of God saving an afflicted people, but humbling the proud. Jesus spoke of the treasures that direct our heart.

David told of God lighting his lamp, and giving his body great strength. Jesus spoke of a lamp shining in the body.

David told of a refuge in God. David told of God making his way blameless. Jesus spoke of seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.

David told of how God in His gentleness had made him great. He had made him sure-footed; He had trained him. He had given him a shield; He had upheld him. Jesus spoke of keeping the gentleness of God upon us; we should not judge lest we lose the gentleness of God.

David told of how God enlarged his steps, how God gave him victory over his enemies as he pursued them. Jesus spoke of the prayer of pursuit: asking, seeking, knocking. David's battle became a picture of prayer.

David told of how God had given him opportunity to establish his kingdom in war, and how his enemies pretended obedience to him. Jesus spoke of a small gate, and a difficult way that leads to life. Jesus also spoke of those who pretend obedience to God.

David then concluded with praise for his rock. "The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock". David expressed again that it was the Lord who gave him victory over his enemies, and establishs his kingdom. Jesus concluded with the picture of a house built on a rock, which withstood the storms that burst against it.

Jesus translated the language of a prophecy written by David into a message of the kingdom of God. Jesus taught with an authority that their teachers did not have, and yet He was teaching from the same Book. The structure of the Sermon on the Mount came from Psalm 18, but the message was of the kingdom of God. Jesus was sent to preach the kingdom; He had an anointing to do it.

"The Spirit of Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To bring good news..." Isaiah 61:1

Stability in life

Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount with a picture of two men each building his house.

"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall." Matthew 7:24-27

In each case, the house each man built is assumed to be a solid house. The difference is in the foundations. The man who hears the words of Jesus and does them, has found solid rock to build his life on. What Jesus taught on that hillside was meant to give stability in life.

This is a significant point: what gives stability is not the things we build in life, but on what we build them. We could build a life as part of one culture, and find stability through the challenges of life; we could also build a life as part of another culture, and also find stability through the challenges of life. We could find stability as a Pentecostal, or a Baptist, or an Adventist, or a Catholic. What gives stability is not our culture, but this foundation built on the words of Jesus.

But at the same time, we could be a perfectly good Pentecostal, or Baptist, or Adventist, or Catholic and watch our house collapse in the challenges of life. Our cultures alone cannot give stability in life.

What Jesus taught on that hillside two thousand years ago had a logical structure, though no one would have seen it as they first listened to it. Jesus kept teaching in sets of three; the three things addressed three different levels. But He kept the same order; He kept building on what He had said before.

Jesus kept this order in His teaching: what relates to the Father, what relates to the Spirit, and then what relates to the Son. Giving alms relates to the Father; prayer relates to the Spirit; fasting relates to the Son. Each set of teachings takes an aspect of life, and then expresses what is needed on three levels.

The structure in His teaching emphasizes what is needed for stability. It also suggests why we have trouble finding stability. We tend to emphasize one thing. Some emphasize doing good; some emphasize the life of the Spirit; some emphasize the Lordship of Jesus. But we seldom recognize that we need all three. We seldom take any of them as far as Jesus takes them. But stability requires all three, in the way that Jesus taught.

Doing all three will result in a foundation founded on a rock that will give stability. Without all three we will have sand under our house.

The point that Dallas Willard makes about Jesus is significant. He said that we should think of Jesus as the smartest man who ever lived. He said that because we don't. He said that in that way because we don't even categorize what Jesus said as being relevant to our real life. In our way of thinking, religion is separate from reality. We may agree with what Dallas Willard said, but we still have a problem. The religion we have constructed has left so much out of what Jesus taught that it is not useful for the real issues of life.

More Christians than we know are mentally ill. Religion can be difficult to integrate into life. Our high standards and high expectations can become a rational crisis. Plodders may do fine with religion because they keep their expectations low; but the Bonhoeffer's cannot live with minimal religion.

Many Christians simply quit. They tried it, and failed. Christianity as it has been given to them is not completely functional, at least not for them. There is one universal criteria that religion must meet: it must work. Whether we can figure out why it didn't work or not, we conclude that it didn't work if it doesn't provide stability in the trials of life. Our "Christianity" has not passed this test for many of those around us.

We need something solid to build on. We have in our hands what Jesus says will give a solid rock to build our life on. But it will only work if we do it. This is the problem in front of us: this Sermon on the Mount is not part of the "Christianity" that has been constructed. Everything in it is too difficult, too extreme; who would listen to us if we really taught this.

Isn't the easy way easier?

Which way?

The way that leads away from the gate is difficult. We cannot determine that we are on the right road because of circumstances. Trials are a part of this way. We must walk by faith through our trials.

But we cannot determine that we are on the right road by faith alone. God gives faith; we may have faith even when we are on the wrong road. We cannot determine that we are on the right road by the works of faith that come through faith either.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Matthew 7:21-23

We will not find the way by what we believe alone; believing the right things is not enough. We are justified by faith alone; we are reckoned by God to be righteous by faith alone. But we can only find the way in obedience.

The narrow way is found in doing the will of the Father. The way that leads to the kingdom of God is found in keeping His word. The outward works of faith are not enough; the outworking of the gifts of the Spirit are not enough. If we are walking in lawlessness, He does not know us. We have another master; we do not serve Him. We will not have an inheritance in His visible kingdom.

No one will overcome without Christ being the Shepherd and Guardian of his soul. Without a Shepherd, we will stray. We will get ourselves lost.

The only way we can determine which way is His way is in obedience to His word. His word is a lamp to our feet; the Word lights the way immediately in front of us. If we are lawless, we are not on the right road. We have strayed, just as all sheep do without a shepherd.

Our lawlessness can serve a good purpose, just as the Law was meant to do. We can be calling Him "Lord, Lord"; we can believe that He is our Lord. But if we are lawless, our lawlessness is telling us that we do not have a Shepherd keeping our soul. We need to return to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls; we need to forsake the master that does rule us, denying him obedience. We need to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first. While we may be confused about His kingdom, we are not confused about His righteousness. We have no excuses; our lawlessness is not His righteousness. Even we can tell the difference.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Him. This is not just at the point of justification; this is throughout our life. If we have another master, Jesus is not our way, our truth, or our life. He has been taken away by our neglect. But we cannot come to the Father without the Master we have abandoned.

The Christianity we have built emphasizes the outward. We want to think that the plagues of our soul can be hidden; we want to look at our outward success, not our inward lawlessness. We know what we believe is right; we call Jesus "Lord". But no one asks; no one tells. Lawlessness is the river that flows through our lives, and we pretend it is not carrying away those we love. Yet we are watching our favorite shows while a Category 5 is pounding the levees.

The way to the kingdom of God is found in doing the will of the Father; it is found in obedience in the small things. He who is faithful in little is faithful also in much. We can enter the kingdom of God; the will the Father can be done on earth.

He knows how to take me from here to there; I just need to follow the path that the Word lights for my feet today.

Which gate?

We are to enter by the narrow gate, but which one? Other gates could look right. Who is leading us to the narrow gate?

Jesus immediately warned us about those who mislead others.

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." Matthew 7:15

These false prophets look right; they may have the appearances that we expect. But we cannot see their heart. They know themselves that something is wrong inside; they know they are not what they appear.

Jesus gives a way to distinguish the one who is speaking by the Spirit of God and one who is speaking from himself.

"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:16-19

We cannot distinguish always what is of the Spirit of God, and what is not, by content. God may say what we do not want to hear, or what we do not understand. But we can distinguish the fruit of that spirit in the person's life, whether the fruit is good or bad. We should be able to taste that. Only the starving will be unable to taste the difference.

This a significant point. We do not judge a person in this way. We do not expect perfection out of another believer. But we are not judging the person of the prophet; we are judging the spirit within the prophet. The spirit which gives utterance to this person may be the Spirit of God, or it may be another spirit.

We know that each of us has tares along with the good seed. Each of us must seek for the kingdom of God sown in our heart, knowing that we are also infested with tares. But the prophet claims to have found the kingdom; he claims to speak for God. He is not claiming to be speaking for himself. He has either found his place in the kingdom of God, or he is deceived, or a deceiver, knowingly lying. The issue is the rule of the kingdom in this person.

We can know if the kingdom of God rules in this person, not by what he says, but by what he does. We see this mechanism in Galatians. A person is either walking by the Spirit of God, or he is walking in the strength of his flesh. The one who is walking by the Spirit of God yields the fruit of the Spirit; the one who is walking in his flesh yields the works of the flesh. Our flesh cannot produce the fruits of the Spirit. The two trees produce different fruit.

Paul is writing to believers in Galatian; this is not an issue between unbelievers and believers. It is believers who may turn to walking by the strength of the flesh. This is the whole intent of Galatians, to get believers back on the right path, walking by the Spirit of God.

This is the same mechanism in what Jesus taught. It is an issue of rule. We cannot serve two masters. The prophet who is ruled by another spirit cannot serve Christ. The prophet who is ruled by the Spirit of God will serve Christ his master. This is true for the prophets just as it is true for us.

We may look good, saying the right Christian things, maintaining appearances around other Christians, but know in our heart that the Bridegroom has been taken from us. We know that the Shepherd and Guardian of our soul is not at work in us. We know the plagues of our own heart. Someday, when we are honest with ourselves, we will fast, seeking the kingdom of God first, denying obedience to the things that have mastered us. We need this; the prophets also need this.

But we must sort out now those who speak in the name of God. They are leading others to destruction; they are keeping some from the narrow gate. We are no better than them, but we must determine which spirit is at work in them.

We do not think this way. We look at the outward. If a man speaks what sounds right to our ears, and looks good, we assume he is good. We do not try to look at who he is; we do not make an effort to examine the person. If we have not tasted good fruit, we may not be able to taste the difference. Our leaders are generally only held to the standard of numbers; the successful ones bring in money and bring in nice people. But if a man has been overcome by sin, he will not be able to set others free. He may hold all of the "right" doctrines in our particular denomination; he may play the part well, with all of the "right" mannerisms. He may put on a good show. But he will not make disciples of Jesus Christ; he has another master, whether he admits it to himself or not. He cannot lead others to the narrow gate; it would never occur to him.

It has been two thousand years since Jesus Christ spoke these words on a hillside somewhere. Many men have built on the foundation of Christianity over those years. Some spoke by the Spirit of God; some did not. What we call "Christianity" is the synthesis of two thousand years of teachings. What we think is "the right way" may not be; "the right way" may be culture, not Christ. We know we do little with what Jesus taught. The Gospels do not fit well into our Theologies. Most of us think the narrow gate is the point of becoming a Christian, nothing more.

We do not know which gate is the narrow gate; our prophets do not know either.

Entering His kingdom

Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. In Matthew 7, Jesus described the way.

"Enter by the narrow (stenos) gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small (stenos), and the way is narrow (thlibo) that leads to life, and few are those who find it." Matthew 7:13-14

This is where we will find the kingdom we are seeking. The narrow gate is restrictive (stenos); we cannot carry much through this gate. The way leading away from the gate is difficult (thlibo). The word rendered "narrow (thlibo)" is related to the word that we usually render "tribulations". This is the way that leads to life. Few find this way.

Jesus used contrast to describe this way. The difficult way is contrasted with an easy way. Another way leads to destruction. Its gate is wide, its way is broad. Many people take the other way. Jesus gave contrasting pictures of the two ways; without specifying immediately what is different between them, He makes it clear that they are very different.

This is the point of beginning for entering into the kingdom. The gate is restrictive. Jesus made that clear. For those who were looking for a revival of their nation, and victory over the Romans, this was not what they wanted to hear. For us who want our forms of Christianity to be blessed by God, this is not what we want to hear. The kingdom of God is not the "Easy Button".

This is where we must start: not with a sense of inclusion, but with an attitude of exclusion. We need to clearly say: "No, you cannot bring all of your stuff with you." Multitudes of people were listening to Jesus as He gave the Sermon on the Mount; but Jesus did not give something for a multitude, but something for an individual. He was saying to them, 'If you want to find the kingdom of God, you should understand now that the way is difficult.' This should be our message concerning discipleship. We should not be trying to make discipleship as easy as possible, lowering the bar for every level of effort. Discipleship should be understood to be restrictive and difficult. Fasting is a picture of this; fasting is restrictive and difficult. A disciple fasts; a disciple takes a restrictive and difficult path.

Like Jesus, we should have multitudes coming to see what is going on. But like Jesus also, we should point out to the multitudes the narrow gate. The door of the church should be open wide; the church should be a place where people can sit on the grass and listen to what this unique Man is saying. But we should distinguish between people gathered on a hillside and discipleship. We should feed the thousands gathered, providing for them what they do not have. But this is not discipleship. Those who are gathered to listen should see a small, restrictive door off to the side; it should be made clear that sitting in a padded pew is not discipleship. Discipleship is through that narrow door.

Our concept of discipleship has been conformed to our consumer-oriented world. The third leg of the tripod has been lost. Things are our master; the Bridegroom has been taken away from us. Fasting specifically is about food and drink; but the discipline can be applied to many parts of our world. We could fast for a time from television; this is not a decision that television itself is universally wrong, but that addiction is wrong. We could fast from electronic input. We could fast from our lifestyle. There is value in the disciplines of abstinence. Discipleship is restrictive; it is difficult.

But we need to have something on the other side of that small door, for there will be a few that want to go through. Others may want to later, but some want to go through now. They want significance; they want more than "dress and attend". If we do not have something significant to offer those who want to grow, they will find someone else.

"Beware of the false prophets..." Matthew 7:15

We should be able to put down on paper explicitly what discipleship is. If we cannot do that, then how can we make disciples of Jesus Christ. We should be able to describe the restrictive gate and difficult way without looking for words. A drill instructor in boot camp knows exactly what he is going to train recuits to do; he will do himself everything he orders them to do.

A few want to enter the kingdom; we should at least know where the door is.

Active prayer

Jesus began what He taught on prayer in Matthew 7 with a picture of action, like someone asking for directions to a place, seeking to find that place, and then knocking on the door.

"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened." Matthew 7:1-2

The Greek verbs for "ask", "seek", and "knock" are in a present imperative tense. This tense implies continuing action. "Keep asking..." "Keep seeking..." "Keep knocking..." His words describe an active pursuit, always getting what was prayed for.

And yet this is the problem with prayer. Jesus makes it sound like you get what you pray for; but this is not the experience for most people. We pray for a time; sometimes we get what we want, and other times we just finally give up.

The problem is in our paradigm. For us, prayer is about getting what we want. But this is not the picture in what Jesus said. Prayer begins with asking: asking for wisdom. Wisdom leads us to where we will find what we need. When we find it, we ask to enter. Prayer is not getting God to provide, but bringing us to God's provision.

Prayer is an interactive process. We are changed as we are given wisdom. We begin because of a need, but the wisdom from above gives us a direction that we did not see before. As we search in that place, we find provision for our need that may not be what we were certain we needed. But as we enter into that provision, we find that His provision is far better than what we could ask or think in the beginning.

This is not a Wizard of Oz substitution of cheap trinkets for genuine requests; this is our Father giving the good that only He can give. We would not give our children trinkets; He will not either.

"Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he should ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:9-11

Our Father gives the good; we may need to work through the process in order to receive it. We need to leave the point of beginning. We have a need, but in that need we are to ask for wisdom. In wisdom, we will be led in a direction, perhaps in action, perhaps in thinking. This leading will lead to the provision for our need. Then we knock, asking to enter. But we are not where we were in the beginning. We have come to the place where He will provide.

There is a similar verse in Luke, when Jesus said something similar at another time.

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him."
Luke 11:13

The good that Jesus was referring to in Matthew is pictured by giving the Holy Spirit in Luke. This is the basic process in prayer. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; as we pray, giving the Spirit the opportunity to shine, the light will shine throughout our body. The Holy Spirit can fill the body if He is allowed to be expressed. It is in interactive prayer that the process of giving wisdom, leading, and provision that we will receive the good that our heavenly Father wishes to give. This is not a passive process; we are an active part of prayer. We have an active part in receive the good, the Holy Spirit in our bodies.

"...keep being filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ."
Ephesians 5:18-21

This active pursuit in prayer is not in isolation. He gives wisdom; He may give it through another. He leads; He may lead us into closer fellowship. He gives provision; He may give provision through others. As we keep asking day by day, He may be actively answering us through those who are around us. Our relationships with others are crucial to the process of active prayer. Jesus made that the concluding point.

"Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12

This is logically connected to what Jesus said about prayer, active prayer. Our prayers are to be part of life, coming from the concerns of life, and being shaped by the provisions that we find in life. Prayer is not an experiment in a bell jar, cut off from the world around us. Prayer works through a process that includes those around us. We grow, not in isolation, but in the interactions of a living body.

"...the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." Ephesians 4:15-16

We should pray; we should ask for what we need. But if it is important, we will need to pray actively. The things that mean the most to us are worthy the effort. We are not just dropping coins in a defective vending machine, hoping to get something back. We think we know what we want, but we may find that the good that He wants to give us is far better than the fix that we had in mind. But He gives what is good to those who keep asking. It is in the active process that we will enter into His provision. We just wanted something; He wants to bring us into something greater.

Prayer is not getting God to provide, but bringing us into God's provision.

Judging what to give

Jesus taught about how we are to give in the Sermon on the Mount.

"Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured unto you." Matthew 7:1-2

In particular, Jesus is warning us that in the way we judge others, we will be judged. The measuring cup we use to give to others will be the same measuring cup that is used to give to us. God judges us in the same way we judge others. Luke 6 records a similar teaching.

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; release and you will be released. Give and it will be given back to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." Luke 6:36-38

God is at work in the circumstances of life, not to punish us for our hard heart, but to teach mercy. We are to be merciful, just as He is merciful. We are to be perfect, just as He is perfect. He has a purpose in what He is doing; He is diligent to return our judgments to us in such a way that we recognize that we are receiving something in return for what we have done to others. We are to live by a law of mercy for others.

"So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment." James 2:12-13

Mercy, not judgment, is to guide us in what we give to others.

In mercy, we are to give richly to others. But in this mercy, we need to recognize that we also need help. In giving, we may come to see ourselves as better than those we help.

"And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Matthew 7:3-5

Jesus did not word what He said to imply that sometimes we have a worst problem than those we are helping; He said we will have a worst problem that those we are helping. We would not be noticing the speck if we were not judging; we are assured that we will find a larger problem in ourselves.

Our actual ability to help one another depends on finding what works in us, not what we think should work in them. We are being taught mercy toward one another; we are being taught our need for grace: grace that can help.

In giving, we give with mercy, being careful to not try to fix others. In giving, we are also to give what is wanted, not what we think they should have.

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under your feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." Matthew 7:6

A bucket of pearls may be of great value to us, but to a hungry pig, it is of no value. They are still hungry.

As we give, we are to freely give, without assuming that giving gives us the right to "fix" them, or assuming that those who receive will appreciate our values.

Giving is letting go.

An audience of one

In each of the three spiritual disciplines, Jesus started with a contrast to the religious role-players of that culture. These men practiced their religion to be see by others. The consistent point that Jesus made is that the Father owes them nothing; they have no reward for their efforts. They did give money to feed the poor; they did pray; they did fast, frequently. Yet, there is no return from God for what they have truly done.

This is a serious point. We don't look like the Pharisees, but their failure to find reward is a warning to us. They appeared to be unware of the obvious hypocrisy in their practices. Is it possible that we are sharing the same failure.

The Pharisees played to an obvious audience; they even made certain that enough people were watching. But we may also be playing to an audience, an audience of one. We may be playing a religious part to our self-image.

What we do may not be to please our Father who is in secret. We may be seeking to satisfy a self-image that we have received from our culture. Jesus said that our left hand should not know what our right hand is doing as we give to the poor. This is what is necessary for the alms to be in secret. We cannot even perform for an audience of one; we should not consider what we do to be "spiritual".

This is even more significant in fasting. The very purpose of fasting is to humble our soul. We are very aware of fasting. The distinction in fasting is in what we are seeking. The parable of the Bridegroom makes it clear that we fast because the One we intended to serve has been taken from us. There is no religious self-image to satisfy in this. We have submitted to another master, who has taken the place of the Lord. We are not fasting because we are so spiritual; we are fasting because we are infested with tares. We are seeking to find His kingdom which has been choked with weeds in our heart; we are seeking His righteousness we realized we have lost. Fasting is not about getting our way in something; it is to repent from having taken our way.

There is a focus in fasting; we are seeking what we have lost by our own neglect. We are seeking to return to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.

But we can fast to play a religious role, thinking that God can be moved by our "spirituality". This is seen in Isaiah 59.

"Yet they seek Me day by day, and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness,
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.
Why have we fasted and Thou hast not seen?
Why have we humbled ourselves and Thou dost not notice?
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
Behold you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like this to make your voice heard on high."
Isaiah 59:2-4

Fasting, without recognition of sin, is of no significance to God. Fasting to get our way is not heard on high. Fasting has purpose; fasting is to loosen the bonds of wickedness, beginning in me.

"Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bonds of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free,
And to break every yoke?
Isaiah 59:6

I am bound; I have been captured in wickedness. I am oppressed. I fast first for myself. The Bridegroom has been taken from me by my neglect.

This is where we begin in fasting. Fasting is not enduring the hunger or thirst; fasting is seeking. If we do not have something to seek for, why fast? He would not be impressed anyway.

Fasting is specifically related to what has mastered us; Jesus specifically addressed anxiety for food, drink, and clothing. But in our culture, many things have become masters, taking the place of the Bridegroom. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and media are only a few of what have become master over us; whatever we are unwilling to do without is master for us. Fasting must include these things as well; whatever has mastered us must be denied obedience. We can only serve one master; it only takes one master to keep the Bridegroom from us.

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None of this is within our paradigms. We delight in the nearness of the Lord; how can we possibly think that the Bridegroom has been taken from us. This would imply that we are in serious trouble. We are not prepared theologically or personally to accept this. But we know that things are not quite right; our soul knows that it has not really been kept. We know the tares are crowding in. But the cost is too high; we would have to admit we are holding to another master. We would have to admit that our actions reveal that we despise the Lord.

We know the Psalm: we just don't know what it feels like.

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want."

The Triune God

The three spiritual disciplines that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount reflect the different relationships we have with the Persons of the Triune God.

With the Father, we have a relationship pictured by a father and son. We seek to please Him; we obey Him. We fear Him. This is a heart relationship.

With the Spirit, we have a union with our spirit. From within, the Spirit of God is our Helper. He helps us pray; He helps us speak. The Spirit works in our body, giving it life. Out of our innermost being flow rivers of living water. The Spirit is evident in our body.

With the Son, we have a relationship that deals with our soul. To follow Him we must lose our soul, in that we find it. We come to Him, taking His yoke; He gives rest to our soul. He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our soul.

These are different relationships. We need each of them. We are a trichotomous being; we have been made in His image. Each relationship is good, but none is enough by itself.

Jesus did not just teach noble ethics; He taught pragmatic mechanics. He did not teach spiritual ideals; He taught these spiritual disciplines because they work.

Good works are necessary, not because they obligate God, but because we need to be changed.

Prayer is necessary, not because we get our way through prayer, but because we need to be changed.

Fasting is necessary, not because it makes us master over our body, but because our Master has been taken away from us. We have been serving another master, and we have not recognized that the Bridegroom is gone. We know things are Not Quite Right, but we have never figured out why. We still have the Spirit; we still love the Father. Yet things are NQR. In His way, we need to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, denying obedience to our default master. We need a change.

Which of these is the most important? The answer depends on the person.

I John 2:12-14 indicates that spiritual children need the relationship with the Father, young men need a relationship with the Spirit, and fathers need a relationship with the Son.

As we grow, we will sense a lack; we will sense when things are Not Quite Right. The rich young ruler did; Jesus gave him a straight answer. He can give us a straight anwer; the kingdom of God is near.

Seek first His kingdom, everything else can wait.