Persecution
Jesus gave us the Sermon on the Mount to show us how to ascend to where He is. We have 70 or 80 years, max, to really press in and spend ourselves on our forever future with Him. Teaching people how to press in by being salt and light, even at the guaranteed cost of persecution, makes a man or woman great forever. Teaching and doing the Sermon on the Mount is "Christianity 101":
Persecution is guaranteed if you actually do the beatitudes
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (11) "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. (12) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Enduring the persecution and seeing it as the success of the upward call of Christ is what makes a person "salt" and "light":
Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. (14) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Works are essential in this process. An outward expression of this fasted lifestyle...this constrained and focused lifestyle...is what it means to do and teach this to others for the sake of Jesus getting a pure and spotless Bride, it will be rewarded forever!!
Matthew 5:17-20 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (19) Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
The opposite is true, as well. Giving others comfort to ignore the Sermon on the Mount...the intentional press to become more like Jesus in fasting, prayer, generosity, forgiveness, and speaking truth in love about the narrow road...that will result in an eternal destiny of least.
I want to press, because I want to draw near to Jesus and make a way for others to draw near. Anyone who tries to talk me out of the press is an enemy of the cross...MY cross. They, whether they realize it or not, are an enemy of my greatness.
Some inadvertently comforting others out of really going hard after Jesus not realizing they are not only stealing from their friends, they are stealing from Jesus, and from themselves. The devil is a liar and a thief. He will couch all of the arguments for NOT doing the Sermon on the Mount in "grace" talk. Grace is the power to do the Sermon on the Mount, not the license to ignore it!
Philippians 3:17-20 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (18) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: (19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. (20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Persecution is guaranteed if you actually do the beatitudes
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (11) "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. (12) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Enduring the persecution and seeing it as the success of the upward call of Christ is what makes a person "salt" and "light":
Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. (14) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Works are essential in this process. An outward expression of this fasted lifestyle...this constrained and focused lifestyle...is what it means to do and teach this to others for the sake of Jesus getting a pure and spotless Bride, it will be rewarded forever!!
Matthew 5:17-20 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (19) Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
The opposite is true, as well. Giving others comfort to ignore the Sermon on the Mount...the intentional press to become more like Jesus in fasting, prayer, generosity, forgiveness, and speaking truth in love about the narrow road...that will result in an eternal destiny of least.
I want to press, because I want to draw near to Jesus and make a way for others to draw near. Anyone who tries to talk me out of the press is an enemy of the cross...MY cross. They, whether they realize it or not, are an enemy of my greatness.
Some inadvertently comforting others out of really going hard after Jesus not realizing they are not only stealing from their friends, they are stealing from Jesus, and from themselves. The devil is a liar and a thief. He will couch all of the arguments for NOT doing the Sermon on the Mount in "grace" talk. Grace is the power to do the Sermon on the Mount, not the license to ignore it!
Philippians 3:17-20 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (18) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: (19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. (20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
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