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The Upside Down Kingdom
2025/7/2
Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life
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Tim Keller
Tim Keller: 我认为《登山宝训》是圣经中了解基督徒生活方式的经典之处。耶稣基督带来的革命是最彻底的，因为他的国度的价值观、模式、力量和产物都截然不同。一个国度有三个要素：价值观模式、实施价值观的力量和最终的产物。只有两个国度，你要么是其中一个的公民。即使你是基督国度的公民，你也可能仍然受到旧国度的影响。理解这两个国度的模式对于在这个世界上以基督徒的身份生活至关重要。我将把旧国度称为“正立的国度”，新国度称为“颠倒的国度”。基督要取代的国度的价值观是：权力、舒适、成功和认可，而这个国度贬低的是：软弱、牺牲、悲伤和排斥。我们称之为“正立的国度”，是因为从我们的角度来看，把这些东西放在首位似乎完全是自然的。这个国度的力量是现在的力量，追求成功、权力、幸福和认可会立即得到回报。但如果你按照这些价值观生活，被现在的力量所驱动，结果是暂时的。如果你把你的生命建立在权力、舒适、成功和认可之上，那么你的饱腹感实际上会变成宇宙的空虚，你的笑声会变成宇宙的悲伤和哭泣。耶稣所说的一切都与我们所相信的背道而驰。耶稣医治病人、使死人复活、喂饱饥饿的人，并死在十字架上，这对于旧国度和旧的方式来说，就是墙上的字迹。耶稣基督以他的生活方式表明了与世界价值观相反的生活。基督徒的标志是价值观的逆转，我们珍视世界认为可怜的东西，怀疑世界认为可取的东西。珍视并不等同于追求，当我们经历软弱、牺牲、悲伤和排斥时，我们认识到它们的价值。颠倒的国度的模式是价值观与世界的逆转，基督徒不再受世界认为重要的事物所控制。基督徒不受权力、成功、舒适或认可的控制，他们不需要这些东西。受旧国度影响的人会为了保住工作而撒谎，但基督徒会坚持真理，因为他们不再受这些东西的束缚。基督徒即使在哭泣时也能感到幸福，因为他们的幸福与环境无关。即使在被排斥的那一天，基督徒也能喜乐，因为他们在天上的赏赐是确定的。基督徒将他们的思想放在上面的事情上，因为他们的生命与基督一同藏在神里面。基督徒不再受世界价值观的控制，他们过着自由的生活。如果我们因为在天上的地位而感到幸福，那么我们就可以为了反对不公正而奋斗，即使失去名誉或生命。耶稣基督的生活是我们应该如何生活的榜样。如果国王的代表都这样生活，那么真正的国王最终来临时会怎么样呢？福音不是让我们看到耶稣与人互换命运的榜样，而是要看到他所做的一切都是为了与你互换命运。我们可以过着与世界价值观相反的生活，因为我们靠着他的逆转而活。只有灵里贫穷的人才能真正接受这种力量。如果你的心是这样，你可能会把耶稣看作一个榜样，但你永远不会把他看作一个真正为你献身的人。基督徒知道自己在天上的地位，所以他们会鲁莽地生活，慷慨地对待金钱和情感。颠倒的国度认为，在软弱和贫穷中，神的国度是临近的。只有在贫穷、悲伤和被排斥的时候，我们才能真正认识自己，与基督相遇，与神建立联系。福音会带领中产阶级的人们，也会带领穷人，并将他们的心转向彼此。如果你真正理解福音，你与谁交往将是一个考验。我们必须问自己，我们是否过着受世界控制的生活，或者我们是否过着像基督一样的生活。除非我们看到基督代替了我们的位置，否则我们无法过上像基督一样的生活。像尼布甲尼撒一样，认识到一切成功都是不应得的恩典，并改变你的生活方式。
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Tim Keller: 'What Jesus Christ brings is a revolutionary that's the most radical because the values and the pattern and the power and the product of his kingdom is utterly different.'
Tim Keller: 'There's really only two. And one thing you've got to keep in mind is is that you're either a citizen of one or the other.'
Tim Keller: 'Even if you are a citizen of Christ's kingdom, we've got a very interesting place in Romans where Paul says, the night is far spent, the day is at hand, live as in the light.'
Tim Keller: 'Understanding not only the fact that there are two kingdoms, but the patterns of the two kingdoms is absolutely critical in for living in this world if you want to live as a Christian, if you want to live in newness of life.'
Tim Keller: 'I'm going to call the old one the right-side-up kingdom and the new one the upside-down kingdom.'
Tim Keller: 'In the kingdom that Christ is replacing, which is outlined there in verses 23 to 24 to 26, here's what we have. What's on top? What are the values? Power, comfort, success, recognition.'
Tim Keller: 'The things that this kingdom puts down, things to avoid, things to stay away from, things we disdain, things we sneer at, are in verses 20 to 23. And what are those things? Basically, weakness, sacrifice, discomfort, grief. Or put it this way, weakness, sacrifice, grief, exclusion.'
Tim Keller: 'The reason we call this the right-side-up kingdom, not from God's point of view, but from our point of view, it's right-side-up because it seems utterly natural to put these things up here.'
Tim Keller: 'The reason is the power of this kingdom is the power of the now...If you basically go for success, if that's your goal, if you basically go for power, if you basically go for happiness and to avoid suffering, if you basically go for recognition, for acclaim, these things pay off. Now. They give you results.'
Tim Keller: 'But what's the product? Now, Jesus says, when you live according to these values, driven by the power of the now, because of results, he says, it's temporary. You will only laugh now, but later you'll weep. It's temporary.'
Tim Keller: 'If you build your life on that, if that's your bottom line, if that's your ultimate value, and this world is not all there is, then of course, he's saying your full stomach is going to actually turn into cosmic emptiness. Your laughter is going to turn into cosmic grief and weeping.'
Tim Keller: 'And so what Jesus is saying goes absolutely against everything we believe.'
Tim Keller: 'And he began to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to feed the hungry, and to die on a cross. That's the handwriting on the wall for the old kingdom and the old ways.'
Tim Keller: 'The whole right side up kingdom that seems absolutely to be the only way to go because Jesus Christ lived the life he lived. Touching the lepers. Giving himself to the poor. Dying on the cross. Coming as a poor man. Coming and riding into town on a borrowed donkey. And eating his last meal in a borrowed room. And being buried in a borrowed tomb. And giving up everything. He comes with power and this power.'
Tim Keller: 'In other words, the mark of what makes you a Christian is a reversal of values. The things that the world puts as pitiable, we prize.'
Tim Keller: 'Prize is not the same thing as seeking...But what we're saying is, prizing means that when it comes, we see its value. When it comes, we understand what it's doing in our lives.'
Tim Keller: 'The pattern of the upside-down kingdom is a reversal of values with regard to the world. In other words, Christians are no longer controlled by the things that the world thinks are so critical.'
Tim Keller: 'But a person who's a Christian, who's living in the upside-down kingdom, isn't controlled by these things. You don't need them.'
Tim Keller: 'When you see a person who's under the influence of the old kingdom, of the right side up kingdom, is going to have to lie...But a Christian says, hey, I have to do whatever I have to do because these things don't bother me anymore.'
Tim Keller: 'Jesus says a Christian is somebody who can weep and still be blessed. A person who lives under the old kingdom, if something, you lose your job, you lose a loved one, you lose reputation, and you see blessedness and laughter go together. Blessedness and weeping can never go together. But in the new kingdom, they do. Because there's a blessedness that has not got to do with circumstances.'
Tim Keller: 'What it says is rejoice in that day. What day? Not the judgment day. In the day that you're excluded...Well, how can you rejoice in that day? Because great is your reward in heaven, not will be.'
Tim Keller: 'A Christian is somebody, according to Colossians 3:1, who says this: "I have set my mind not on things below but on things that are above, for my life is hid with God in Christ."'
Tim Keller: 'And a Christian, because you have that pattern, because you've got that, you therefore are not controlled by the world's values. Those things don't control you anymore. You're living a free life.'
Tim Keller: 'But if I've got a blessedness, if I have relief for joy because of my standing in heaven, now I see my standing in heaven, that means, of course, I can work against injustice, because so what if I lose my reputation? So what if I lose my life?'
Tim Keller: 'Jesus Christ's life is an example of the very way in which we're supposed to live.'
Tim Keller: 'If the representatives of the king live this way, how much the real king, when he finally comes?'
Tim Keller: 'The gospel is not that we look at Jesus reversing his fortunes with people, you see, We don't see him becoming weak to make people strong. We don't see him becoming poor to make people rich. You have to see that everything he did was to reverse fortunes with you.'
Tim Keller: 'Why can he say these things? Why can he say, "You can know that you have this great standing in heaven"? Because you can live in reversal of values because you live by his reversal.'
Tim Keller: 'Basically, the only way for you to actually receive this power is to be poor in spirit.'
Tim Keller: 'If that's your heart, you see Jesus as an example maybe, but you'll never see him as someone who actually substituted himself for you.'
Tim Keller: 'In other words, a Christian who knows where you're standing in heaven is, you live recklessly...It means you're going to be so generous with your money, but it means you're going to be so generous with your heart that sometimes people will exploit you emotionally.'
Tim Keller: 'But Christians know that when you're poor, when you're weeping, when you're empty, the kingdom of God is near.'
Tim Keller: 'When have you really come to know yourself? When have you really come to meet Christ? When have you really come to get connected with God? It's not when you're rich, not when you're happy, not when you're laughing, not when you're included. It's the opposite.'
Tim Keller: 'The gospel will take middle-class people, the gospel will take Christians and turn their hearts toward the poor. Whereas the gospel will take the poor and turn their hearts toward the rest of Christians.'
Tim Keller: 'You have to ask yourself some very, very simple questions. Am I living a life in which I'm controlled by what the world says? Or am I living a life like Christ?'
Tim Keller: 'I can only live a life like Christ if I see that he's come into my place and taken his place for me. Taken my place for me so I can stand in his place.'
Tim Keller: 'But when he woke up, unlike Belshazzar, he realized that he'd been living his life according to the old way of the kingdom. And he got up and he said, everything is a gift of grace.'
Deep Dive
This introduction to the Sermon on the Mount series explores the concept of living a Christian life, contrasting it with worldly values and religious practices. It sets the stage for examining two kingdoms: the old and the new, highlighting the radical difference between them.
- Christianity is radically different from the world and religion.
- The Sermon on the Mount provides insight into living a Christian life.
- There are two kingdoms: the old and the new.
Shownotes Transcript