Kingdom Principles

Good morning church!

It’s so good to see each of you here this morning.

Go ahead and open up your Bibles to Matthew 5. That’s where we will be here shortly.

When I was in high school, we had a kicker on our football team who was from Thailand. Through some conversations with him, I realized he was a Christian. At that time, I was playing guitar and leading the logistics of our youth group worship team. Come to find out, he was a guitar player and he and his sister led worship at their small Thai church every weekend.

One day, he asked me this crazy question! “Will you come play guitar with me sometime?”

I thought this was the craziest question! I had never really been in any other churches at this point, let alone one that spoke a different LANGUAGE! My first thought was, “Man, I don’t know any Thai worship songs!” He laughed at me. Apparently they play the same songs, just sing a different language. Big shocker for the little sheltered kid from North Alabama.

I asked him tons of questions about times, attire, atmosphere, and every other thing I could imagine! I drove him crazy! Flash forward… It went great. I have no idea what they sang, but I sang them in English as they sang in unison in Thai and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of. And they had a potluck meal that day! So I got the good grandma homecooked casserole dish version of Thai food, and it was great!

But, why was I asking so many questions?

I was asked to step into a totally different culture. I wanted to know what to expect, how to act, and fit in.

In the same way, we have been asked to step into a totally different culture: the Kingdom of heaven here on earth. (We know that’s possible because we talked about it last week). We need to know about this new culture, this new KINGDOM. I will argue, that’s what Matthew 5-7 are about. We call this passage Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

However, I read a guy this week that refused that title. He called Matthew 5-7 the Discourse on Discipleship. I agree with him in theory, but I’m still going to call it Sermon on the mount. However, as we go through this study, you should quickly begin to grasp why this is such a good name for it.

I want to begin today with the verses before the section we are tackling today to set the groundwork.

Matthew 4:23–25 CSB

Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And he healed them. Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

PRAY

Verse 23 is one of the verses we focused on last week. Because of Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry during this time, large crowds are developing around Jesus.

Jesus was no doubt proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom when he was in the large groups. He would be inviting them to join him in this kingdom! However, at the beginning of Matthew 5, the setting shifts...

Matthew 5:1–2 CSB

When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them, saying:

You see, Jesus is probably not with the crowds here. He is with his closest disciples. These are the folks we see teaming up with Jesus in chapter 4.

As a Rabbi, (Hebrew for Teacher)Jesus would have been closely followed by his disciples which simply means students. He is teaching the few who are committed. He is teaching those whom he has called to leave their lives behind and follow him. They have a vested interest. They have heard about the kingdom and are figuring out what it looks like to go all in.

So, this is not really an invitation into the kingdom for those that don’t know Jesus as much as it is a description of what the kingdom is like to those that do know Jesus. This is a collection of Jesus’ teaching that all centers around what it looks like for the Kingdom to be evident on earth through humans! It’s the discourse on discipleship!

And Jesus begins his discipleship course with what we call the Beatitudes. Let me read them in their entirety.

Matthew 5:3–10 CSB

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

I’ve seen this week that pastor’s will often preach a message on each of the Beatitudes. That’s not my intent. I want to show you a more broad scope of what’s going on here that we can often miss as we read.

1. This Kingdom is UPSIDE DOWN

No body is hearing Jesus’ message and thinking, well that makes sense! Everything Jesus says here is backwards or UPSIDE DOWN. We will look at plenty of examples in this series. This upside down nature wasn’t just something for this season of Jesus’ ministry though. He says, “If you ain’t first your last!” Wait that’s Rickey Bobby’s dad....

The last shall be first and the first shall be last. You see? It’s upside down.

I can think of at least two ways that these Beatitudes present an upside down kingdom...

Wasn’t what the Jews EXPECTED

The Jews had heard the stories of the great Kingdom of Israel back in the day. Their ancestors had known what a kingdom looked like. And they knew that one day an “anointed one” would restore the kingdom! That’s what the prophets had told them! So when Jesus is declaring that God’s kingdom is here, how are they to interpret that?

They no doubt thought that Jesus had some overthrow plan. Then those that are closest to him, hear him talk about the kingdom and they get, Humility right out of the gate and nothing about sword slinging and kicking the Romans out of their land!

It wasn’t just this that made it upside down...

Wasn’t what the Romans VALUED.

These traits are counter-cultural for the first century Rome. These ideas are not highly accepted by the masses.

But it’s not just the Romans. Do these ideas fit our culture?

GO THROUGH LIST....

When Jesus and his followers speak about the kingdom. they are speaking of an upside down kingdom that is counter-cultural

2. This calling is DIFFICULT

Don’t think of these as a MORAL CODE

3. This God SATISFIES

The main focus seems to be on the promise keeper more so than the human’s actions, don’t you think? Is it the first part of each one or the second part that has the punch?

Walk through each one...

And what is being done in each one!?

God is satisfying a deep rooted desire in humanity with these. More than it tells humans how to live, it assures us of God’s love for us and ability to meet our every need!

Listen to how silly these sound...

Happy are those who mourn.... HUH? How can they be happy or blessed? Only because they are being comforted.

You see? They are more about God than they are us? They show us the kingdom principles and how God is involved in it all!

God is the one who sustains and keeps us!

Explanation of the Gospel.

INVITATION

Salvation (Jesus, the perfect example of the beatitudes.) He lived them on behalf of us. Today, if you’ve never trusted in Jesus, you can today!

Membership - East 101 next Sunday in the second service, BLDG B.

Group - There is no better way to learn how to live in the Kingdom than getting dress rehearsals each week before you face the world.

Or just need prayer to ask God to help you in one of these areas.