From the Brunswick Manifesto, to the Declaration of Independence, to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream,” the history of the world has turned upon ideas. 2,000 years ago, Jesus turned the world on its head with His Sermon on the Mount. He proclaimed an upside-down Kingdom so radical, they killed him in an attempt to put an end to His ideas. But even death couldn’t stop the upside-down Way of Jesus.
The Sermon on the Mount is the central, essential message of Jesus. This is the kind of sermon He preached wherever He went “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). It contains His most brilliant, incisive, and challenging teachings. It’s what Jesus most wants us to know and follow. If you want to know what He’s all about, look no further than the Sermon on the Mount.
The Sermon on the Mount is, at its core, about a Kingdom. A Kingdom that turns the world, and our lives, upside-down. Our modern world is dominated by divisive and corrupt political kingdoms seeking to enlist us in the advancement of an earthly agenda. But what if Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world? What if the blessed life is found not in the vision of political kingdoms but in the Kingdom of Heaven? What if the upside-down Way of Jesus is in fact the right-side-up Way of life?
My prayer in this new series is that we would become enraptured by the upside-down Kingdom of Heaven and commit ourselves to living the upside-down Way of Jesus. But let me warn you: to follow the upside-down Way of Jesus means going against the flow. It’s an inverted way of life. It’s cross-grain to almost everything else. Because this world is actually turned upside-down, and Jesus is in the business of setting it right-side-up. To live in the upside-down Kingdom is actually to discover the right-side up Way of life!
So come, let’s sit at the feet of the Master and learn how to really live.
You are loved, more than you know!
Are there any plans to publish Pastor Philips’ messages? or make them into CDs after he has finished a series? His teachings and insights are so fresh and meaningful that it seems to me they should be made available to read and contemplate. The books of Ruth, John and now comes the Sermon on the Mount series. We are homebound and appreciate having his outlines available – I’ve kept them all! – Tho I can barely read my scribbles after the sermons are over. My husband is a retired American Baptist minister and is so appreciative of Pastor Philip’s teachings. Please consider this and we will appreciate your response.