The Life of a Disciple (Luke 6:37–45) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

At various periods Christianity has gained popularity with the masses to the point that people find it welcoming to call themselves Christians. I’ve witnessed this in high school, in college, and in a few stages of pastoral ministry. A Christian song catches on, a famous preacher gains a hearing, celebrities make professions of Christ, a Christian book or movie gets celebrated, and before you know it, Christianity seems popular.

But that generally doesn’t last, especially when people start taking a look at what Jesus demands from His followers. It’s not that people don’t like the benefits of being Christians. Who doesn’t want to be loved by God, adopted into His family, and received into heaven? They just don’t like the life of the disciple that Jesus calls for. So they naturally steer toward teaching that has no moorings in the gospel of the crucified and resurrected Christ, who calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). They avoid the demands of Christ while insisting that Jesus just teaches love­—and they define what love means. They neglect self-examination, refuse to acknowledge sin, and choose to believe what makes them comfortable rather than what leads them to be holy.

Maybe some of those same kinds of people were in the crowd eavesdropping on Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, as He spoke to His disciples about the kingdom joy of following Him. We could divide this sermon of Jesus into four parts: kingdom joy, vv. 20–26; kingdom love, vv. 27–36; kingdom life, vv. 37–45; and kingdom foundation, vv. 46–49. Jesus didn’t offer a cafeteria selection—pick which you prefer—but He lays down the kind of realities that characterize His followers: our joy, love, life, and foundation.

Our attention in this passage focuses on kingdom life. Jesus calls us to a life that mirrors Him and counters human nature. Following Him doesn’t mean that we’ve arrived or always make the right decisions or always treat people the way that we should, but it does mean that we’re moving in that direction. We’re never satisfied with just living life as people without Christ normally do. We want Jesus to be evident in us. But what does that look like? Here’s where Jesus explains how the life of a disciple will be evident. We’ll consider four aspects of this kingdom life addressed in our text.

1. The life of a disciple is evident in his love and mercy.

In the previous message, Matt unpacked for us what it means to love our enemies, to do the unexpected by doing good to those that hate us, blessing those cursing us, and praying for those that mistreat us. He told us, “God’s people are distinct from the world, not by how they treat those who love them, but by how they treat their enemy.” Kingdom love, as we grow in Christ, creates in us more desire to love as Christ loves, to show mercy as the Father has shown mercy to us. And not just to those who are easy to love. It’s particularly evident that Jesus rules our hearts when we love and show mercy to those unloving and unmerciful in their actions. That’s love and mercy that doesn’t originate from human nature but from hearts regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

That practice of love and mercy moves naturally to one of the most quoted verses in Scripture. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” How often, when calling attention to sin, injustice, and mistreatment of others, someone cites this verse to put a stop to any correction. Of course, they quote the KJV: “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt 7:1). But something is missing in the translation. “And do not judge, and you will not be judged.” The conjunction shows that Jesus expands application on kingdom love and kingdom mercy in Luke’s rendering. We can love our enemies from a distance and feel good about ourselves. Yet Jesus calls for love and mercy whether up close or far away. The attitude of our hearts, the multiplication of our words, and the det[...]