How NOT to be deceived

If God fully ruled and reigned over the earth, we wouldn't see all the problems that we see today. So the Jews even back then before Jesus came onto the scene recognized that while God's kingdom is here, there it's not fully here and they looked forward to a future unobstructed kingdom of God. Just as we look forward to a future unobstructed kingdom of God. The key difference between what the Jews believed and what Jesus came preach is they believed that an earthly kingly Messiah would come and bring about the kingdom of God through violent force. [00:03:31] (36 seconds)  #AlreadyNotYet

So, if you get too far away from this golden rule or if it starts leading you astray, the golden rule can bring you back. So that no matter what, we follow Jesus. Because obviously, Jesus didn't care if we kept, the law perfectly step for step because he criticized the Pharisees who kept the law perfectly. Everything. They tithed down to the mint and cumin. Like, they were perfect according to the law and yet they they missed it. So what matters is even if we get our theology wrong on certain things, what matters is that we keep being brought back to the golden rule to loving people like Jesus loved them. [00:28:09] (44 seconds)  #ReturnToGoldenRule

So the golden rule, this treat others like you wanna be treated, it is the way of understanding the Sermon on the Mount. But even more than that, it's the way for us to judge whether we are going the wrong direction with scripture. If you read something and your conclusion is that I need to treat people in a way that I would never wanna be treated myself, then that's not love. That's not the way that you want to be loved. Sure, maybe you think you're loving people, but but you're not. So the golden rule becomes this new lens that we can read scripture and look at teachings through. [00:25:18] (41 seconds)  #GoldenRuleLens

So, practicing religion, practicing Christianity, worshiping God, doing all the things is not so you can get kudos on social media. It's not so other people can think you are awesome. And that's that's what was happening. Right? Like, the temple was the social media of the day, and pharisees would come and they would do these outward displays of worship in order to get attention in the most public place they could. And God's saying, no. No. No. Like, in the new kingdom, the new law is humility. [00:10:35] (30 seconds)  #HumilityNotShowmanship

So here's my big burden as as a pastor has been, what do I do about people who are being led astray? Christians who are being led astray by false prophets? Because that's a big problem. It's a perennial problem. It is a big problem nowadays. It's an even bigger problem in the days of social media and news. Because the fact is, pastor Chris, whoever's preaching on the stage, the pastors your pastors at church get 30 with you a week. And then you go home and you watch the news, you listen to podcasters, you watch YouTube, you you're with your friends at work. [00:16:33] (44 seconds)  #GuardAgainstFalseProphets

And if you're doing that, then your your fruit are gonna show. What are the fruit? The fruit are all those things that he mentioned in the sermon on the mount. So you can look at what I just taught you and judge these prophets, these teachers, these speakers against that. The second thing he says is, that I like, you need to so the first thing is, judge them by their fruit. That's the first part of the solution. Jesus gave two parts of the solution. The second part of the solution is, does it golden rule? I know. I I intentionally use bad grammar. Maybe it's a little cringe. Whatever. It's my last week here. [00:23:14] (43 seconds)  #SeekFirstTheKingdom

That's the obvious translation of don't be anxious in anything in the Sermon on the Mount. Seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things. This is tied to anxiety. Don't worry about all the things that you have. Just seek first the kingdom of God. God's gonna take care of all of the other things. Don't judge others. And then ask God for what you need. And Jesus sums this up as saying, basically, the golden rule. Basically, treat others the way that you wanna be treated. And he closes with something powerful. He says, this is the law and the prophets. [00:11:44] (43 seconds)  #RepentForTheKingdom

And it's not until the sermon on the mount. So first, have to repent the kingdom of God is at hand. And then you see Jesus doing all of these signs and wonders as a way of showing the kingdom of God, showing the promise of the kingdom of God, just what the kingdom of God can do for society and for individuals. Repent, signs and wonders. Everyone come to the kingdom. And then, Sermon on the Mount defines the new law. So if we want to follow if we wanna attach ourselves to the kingdom of God, the way he says it is, it's great, obey my commandments. [00:13:43] (38 seconds)  #BewareLegalism