Kingdom Instructions

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Discipleship Instructions

In what is the most well known of Jesus sermon’s; the Sermon on the Mount there are many great discipleship instructions that are given. Tonight as we do the introduction we will see an overview of Matthew chapters 5-7 and what we may hope to glean from it over the following weeks.
The focus of the gospel of Matthew is the teachings of Jesus.
The Sermon on the Mount is the words of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus
The Sermon is about kingdom living
The Sermon is about instructions for kingdom living
While there may be some differing views on the Sermon, is it a sermon, is it a collection of teachings, there is no disagreement, difference that it is written to believers, disciples and is intended teaching for them.
Where Mark focused on the work of Jesus more than the words, Matthew focuses on the words, the teaching, the doctrine of Jesus and kingdom living. The sermon on the Mount may be the best known teaching of Jesus, it is also some of the most mis-understood teaching too. There are some differing views on the it
The sermon is for Christians (church had been born by time written) can be broken into several sections.
A Christian’s Character (Mt5:3-12)
People live Calvin, and W.D. Davies have this view
The beatitudes give a working list of what should be a Christian’s character and the blessings that come with it.
There is no doubt when you read them that it is all about the kingdom and kingdom living
A Christian’s influence (Mt5:13-16)
With Christian character comes Christian influence
We are called to be salt and light, influencing the world by our lifestyle
A Christians’s righteousness (Mt5:17-48)
Character, influence all go hand in hand with our attitude towards God’s moral law.
Apart from the law, the fulfillment is the greatness of God that is greater than the scribes and the Pharisees. God’s moral law trumps that of the Pharisee’s and the scribes. Its a matter of heart, a matter of love and a matter of God’s righteousness.
Now that is just covering chapter 5, and no it is not just 3 sermons with us. Though if Jesus did it as one sermon and you went straight through it could have been done in about 20 minutes or so.
But going on with the divisions of the sermon
A Christian’s piety (Mt6:1-18)
Christians with Christian character and God’s moral law and God’s righteousness will not display the piety of the Pharisee’s that was hypocritical display of religion, nor will it show, display the way of the pagans.
Christian piety is to know and to live in the presence of the King in the kingdom.
A Christian’s ambition (Mt6:19-34)
Where we are in a world where the world thinks of itself and accumulates things for self, a Christian is to have its mind, its ambition set on the kingdom and kingdom living.
Christians are to be free from the self-centered materialistic things of this world that can cause anxiety, instead give ourselves over to God’s rule, God’s reign, God’s righteousness, all for God’s purpose and God’s glory.
A Christian’s relationships (Mt7:1-20)
A Christian’s relationships (Mt7:1-20)
Our world, our life is filled with relationships.
A Christian’s relationships should stem from their relationship to Christ.
We are to have new relationships as a new creation. Previous relationships will change since our view, our direction and our destination have changed.
I know all of that sounds great, maybe even exciting and challenging. Some may say impossible to do, but remember who Jesus intended audience was (the disciples) and this was about the kingdom, preparation for kingdom living when He was no longer with them. It is about their commitment then, and about our commitment now.
A Christian’s commitment (Mt7:21-27)
The ultimate issue brought forth by the sermon is do we believe!
Do we believe in the authority of Jesus
Do we believe in the kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven is living now
Do we believe the teachings are applicable.
The crowds were astonished by the Jesus, by the authority of His teaching.
Matthew 7:28–29 NKJV
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Mt7:28-29
May we be astonished, amazed at the teaching, the doctrine of Jesus we see in the Sermon on the Mount, may we be moved into a stronger, deeper walk with Christ because of the sermon.
There is still much more to get to in our introduction, that was just an overview of the Sermon.
Now I have not used much scripture up to this point, this is all introduction material, and still have more to go in looking at the theme and the content, as well as the concept of the kingdom of heaven.

The Theme

We have already looked at a general layout and overall theme of the Sermon, but now let’s look at the setting for the theme and a phrase used often that makes up the theme.
The theme has not changed in Matthew from that which has already been presented by Matthew.
John the Baptist preached the kingdom of heaven (Mt3:1-3)
Matthew 3:1–2 NASB95
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3:3 NASB95
3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’ ”
John’s preaching was sent to prepare the way for the Lord. He preached the kingdom and repentance, repentance with urgency for the kingdom of heaven was at hand.
Jesus preached the kingdom too (Mt4:17)
Matthew 4:17 NASB95
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
From the time after the temptation, in the beginning of Jesus public ministry He preached the kingdom of heaven and the urgency also, just like John.
John in the wilderness in Judea (Mt3:1); Jesus all throughout Galilee (Mt4:23))
They call
Matthew 4:23 NASB95
23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
Now Jesus in Galilee is preaching the gospel of the kingdom, so that leads us to that phrase that we have seen already a few times. Since the gospel of the kingdom and the kingdom of heaven are linked, let me show you some more
The Kingdom of heaven
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For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt5:3; 5:10)
They shall be called least is the kingdom (Mt5:19) or great in the kingdom (Mt5:19)
They shall be called great in the kingdom (Mt
That we need to seek the kingdom (Mt6:33)
Mt6:10)
For His kingdom to come (Mt6:10) so we may enter the kingdom (Mt7:21)
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For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt5:3; 5:10)
That we need to seek the kingdom (Mt6:33)
For His kingdom to come (Mt6:10) so we may enter the kingdom (Mt7:21)
Matthew 5:3 NASB95
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10 NASB95
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt5:3; 5:10)
They shall be called least is the kingdom (Mt5:19) or great in the kingdom (Mt5:19)
Matthew 5:19 NASB95
19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt5:3; 5:10)
They shall be called least is the kingdom (Mt5:19) or great in the kingdom (Mt5:19)
That we need to seek the kingdom (Mt6:33)
Matthew 6:33 NASB95
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt5:3; 5:10)
They shall be called least is the kingdom (Mt5:19) or great in the kingdom (Mt5:19)
That we need to seek the kingdom (Mt6:33)
For His kingdom to come (Mt6:10) so we may enter the kingdom (Mt7:21)
Matthew 6:10 NASB95
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
We need to seek His kingdom, for not all who say Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom.
Matthew 7:21 NASB95
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
I think it is very clear now that the sermon, the theme of the sermon is about the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. I mentioned that it was written to believers to Christians, but now let’s back that up more.

The Sermon and it’s content

The kingdom and the preaching of the kingdom is for the citizens of the kingdom. Here we look at another breakdown of the kingdom sermon and its division.
The Citizens of the Kingdom
Their character and blessedness (Mt5:3-12)
Their relation to the world (Mt5:13-16)
The righteousness of the Kingdom
Contrast the tradition of the law and the spirit of the law (Mt5:17-48)
Righteousness to man’s relation to God (Mt6:1-33)
Righteousness of man’s relation to man (Mt7:-12)
The exhortation to enter the kingdom of God
The beginning of the way to enter (Mt7:13-14)
The progress along the way of entering (Mt7:15-20)
The end of the way of entering (Mt7:21-27)
Contrast of sayings with doers (Mt7:21-23)
Contrast of hearers and doers (Mt7:24-27)
So, thus far you have a couple of different outlines of the Sermon on the Mount and the magnitude of the teaching of it. Some call it the Magna Carta of His Kingdom, others the manifesto of the King. We are going to use the working of “Kingdom instructions for Kingdom Living.”
So one more thing we need to define is defining the kingdom of heaven.
For His kingdom to come (Mt6:10) so we may enter the kingdom (Mt7:21)

Defining the kingdom of heaven

Kingdom of heaven, Kingdom of God, are they the same?. Is the kingdom now? Is it future? How is it used in the Sermon on the Mount? So let’s look scriptually at this matter and draw some conclusions.
Defining the Kingdom of God.
Comparing Kingdom of heaven and Kingdom of God
Contrast Mt4:17 and Mt1:14-15; Mt5:3 and Lk6:20; Mt13:31 and Mk4:31)
When doing that you see the gospels indicate that the terms refer to the same thing, so they are interchangeable
The writers, Matthew and Luke respectively have different audiences.
Matthew writing to Jews; Jews reluctant to use the name of God, so Matthew uses Kingdom of heaven.
Luke writing to
Jews had a misconception of the kingdom, they were looking for a physical kingdom but in the sermon you see an emphasis on the spiritual kingdom.
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Kingdom of heaven involves 4-inter-related concepts
God’s rule, reign and authority, recognized Sovereignty (Lk17:21; Mt6:10)
The spiritual nature of the kingdom (Jn18:36; Rom14:17)
It’s manifestation today is the Church (Mt16:18; Col1:13; 1The2:12)
It also involves a new heaven and a new earth (; ; ) 2Pt1:10-11 and 2Pt3:10-13)
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Kingdom of heaven involves 4-inter-related concepts
God’s rule, reign and authority, recognized Sovereignty (Lk17:21; Mt6:10)
It’s manifestation today is the Church (Mt16:18; Col1:13; 1The2:12)
It also involves a new heaven and a new earth (; ; ) 2Pt1:10-11 and 2Pt3:10-13)
In the Greek the word for kingdom here is “Basilia”
Luke 17:21 NASB95
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
It is a kingdom that was in place because Jesus was here, and Jesus had all rule, reign and authority as given by the Father and He established the kingdom
Matthew 6:10 NASB95
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
This was the kingdom come on earth, the rule, reign and authority that Jesus brought!
Kingdom of heaven involves 4-inter-related concepts
God’s rule, reign and authority, recognized Sovereignty (Lk17:21; Mt6:10)
The spiritual nature of the kingdom (Jn18:36; Rom14:17)
John 18:36 NASB95
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
Not of this realm, the kingdom was not physical in nature but spiritual in nature.
Romans 14:17 NASB95
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The kingdom is found in the Spirit
It’s manifestation today is the Church (Mt16:18; Col1:13; 1The2:12)
God’s rule, reign and authority, recognized Sovereignty (Lk17:21; Mt6:10)
Matthew 16:18 NASB95
18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
The spiritual nature of the kingdom (Jn18:36; Rom14:17)
And further evidenced by
Colossians 1:13 NASB95
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
It’s manifestation today is the Church (Mt16:18; Col1:13; 1The2:12)
and finally
1 Thessalonians 2:12 NASB95
12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
Kingdom is manifested, physically as the church today; it is the kingdom of the beloved Son in which we were called into it.
Kingdom of heaven involves 4-inter-related concepts
God’s rule, reign and authority, recognized Sovereignty (Lk17:21; Mt6:10)
The spiritual nature of the kingdom (Jn18:36; Rom14:17)
It’s manifestation today is the Church (Mt16:18; Col1:13; 1The2:12)
It also involves a new heaven and a new earth (; ; ) 2Pt1:10-11 and 2Pt3:10-13)
Matthew 24:34 NASB95
34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
The kingdom that was going to be during the generation of the disciples
1 Corinthians 15:40 NASB95
40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
2 Peter 1:10–11 NASB95
10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
The kingdom consists of the heavenly bodies
2 Timothy 4:18 NASB95
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Kingdom that has entrance supplied to you
2 Peter 3:10–11 NASB95
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2 Peter 3:12–13 NASB95
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
2P
Here the kingdom is referred to in a future tense, a prophesy of what was yet to come.
So, is the kingdom now, or is it future? YES
The Kingdom both present and future
In present sense
It is where ever the sovereignty of God is accepted
It is a spiritual kingdom that lives in the heart of man
It is in the Lord’s church
It also involves a new heaven and a new earth (; ; ) 2Pt1:10-11 and 2Pt3:10-13)
It began on Pentecost
In the future sense
It is at the coming of the Lord
It will be the new heavens and new earth as stated by Peter and ohn
It will be experienced by those who are the church (Mt7:21-23; 2Pt3:13-15)
When we understand or grasp the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God a little more then we can appreciate the character, the blessedness of the citizens of the kingdom (Mt5:3-16). As well as the responsibility of righteousness (Mt5:17-7-12) and the encouragement to enter the kingdom (Mt7:13-27) and how to do it.
Lead to encouragement encouragement slide 1 encouragement; when I say let us pray exit slide
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