Becoming Kingdom Citizens, Part 3: Hallmarks of Godliness
Notes
Transcript
My first road trip behind the wheel of my own car. I had been looking forward to this for years. My parents sent me to Asheville one afternoon to pick up something and visit some of my mom’s family who live up there. All day long at school I was so excited. I couldn’t focus on anything. I got home from school and after giving my mom a hug and receiving final instructions, I was finally behind the wheel of my own truck. The independence, the freedom - it was all exhilarating.
The trip up to Asheville was uneventful. The trip back, though - not so much. Don’t get me wrong. Nothing happened to me. No one did anything to me. It was rather what I had chosen to do. I grew up in Morganton. Asheville is a straight shot from Morganton, about 50 minutes west on I-40.
But I decided I wanted some adventure. I had done the interstate thing and now I wanted to take the back way. I knew I could get off I-40 in Marion onto 226. And I knew that 226 would then connect me with highway 64. And I knew further that highway 64 would put me onto the road our house was on, only from the back end. So that was my plan. I-40 to Marion. 226 to 64. 64 to our house.
What I did not plan, what I did not anticipate, was that it would take me an extra hour to get home that way. So what was supposed to be a one-hour trip turned into a 90-minute trip.
Now this was before cell phones. And even if there had been cell phones, I couldn’t have gotten reception on these back roads. So I’m watching the clock with this growing panic. I knew I was going to be in trouble. Meanwhile my mom and dadd were watching the clock with panic. My dad actually got so concerned that he got in his truck and jumped on I-40 going westbound to try to find the accident that he though I must have been involved in.
While he was still gone, I got home. My mother did the thing that all teenagers dread: “You’re in a lot of trouble, young man. But we’re not going to discuss this until your dad gets home.”
Well he did get home and there was some discussion, to say the least. I was grounded for at least a month and I deserved every bit of it.
But let’s say that my dad had gotten home and I had said, “Dad, it’s okay. I’m fine. I didn’t wreck my truck. I’m safe and alive. Everything’s okay. You don’t need to ground me. No harm, no foul.”
Do you think that would have made a difference? I know it wouldn’t have made a difference, and here’s why: even though I didn’t hurt anyone with my car, and even though nobody hurt me with theirs, despite the fact that I didn’t have an incident, the fact remains that my character was not yet what it ought to have been. My parents were thrilled that I was okay, for sure; but being accident-free and unharmed was not my parents’ only goal. They also wanted me to become a certain kind of man.
Now we’ve been talking these last few Sundays about the kind of person God wants us to be. Before kingdom citizens are called to do, we are first called to be. God is concerned about what we do, but He is first concerned with the kind of person we are, our moral character, the condition of our hearts.
Becoming Kingdom Citizens, Part 1: Hallmarks of Humility
Humble kingdom citizens:
Are poor in spirit
Mourn over their sin
Are patient & gentle with others
Matt. 5:1-5
The first study of the beatitudes was called “hallmarks of humility.”
Becoming Kingdom Citizens, part 2: Hallmarks of Holiness
Kingdom citizens desire holiness
Kingdom citizens show others mercy
Matt. 5:6-7
Before we pour ourselves out in service to Christ and His kingdom, we must allow God to make us kingdom citizens who possess kingdom character. Having seen then the hallmarks of humility and the hallmarks of holiness, notice now with me two hallmarks of godliness.
Hallmark of godliness #1: kingdom citizens are pure in heart
Hallmark of godliness #1: kingdom citizens are pure in heart
Kingdom citizens are pure in heart (Matt. 5:8)
Kingdom citizens are peacemakers (Matt. 5:9)
Notice with me, first, hallmark of godliness number: kingdom citizens are pure in heart. Purity of heart.
The formula of the beatitudes
1. Pronouncement of blessing (macarism)
2. Description of blessed person
3. The corresponding reward/promise
Now before we get into what that looks like, let’s take a look at the reward that is attached to it. Like with all the beatitudes, Jesus first pronounces a blessing on a certain type of person (called a macarism). Then he describes the kind of person he’s talking about. In this case, that’s the person who is pure in heart. Then Jesus attaches a reward. What is that reward? Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Seeing God is not an every-day experience. In fact, seeing God is not even a once in a lifetime or once in a century event. Seeing God is a once-in-a-never event. “No one has seen God at any time”, declares the apostle John (John 1:18 NASB). Not just that no one has seen Him, but that no one can see Him.
Think of staring at the sun. You can’t do it. One could try, but should one? The sun will blind you. Now think of God’s glory the same way. Millions of times brighter than the sun on the clearest day. Think of God’s holiness, His fiery purity, a million times hotter than the sun, necessarily consuming everything that would dare approach God if He didn’t restrain Himself. No person can see God and live.
But then here’s Jesus saying that it is possible for a person to see God - the only condition is that they be pure in heart. I take that to mean this: if purity of heart means I can see God, then the reverse must be true, too: impurity of heart can hide God from my sight. Like fog.
A few years ago I was flying back from San Diego into Charlotte. We were on the final approach part, you know where they start telling you put your tray tables up and your seat-backs up and they collect all the trash - you know that part. Another characteristic of that part of the flight is that you’re descending to the point where you can see things with clarity on the ground.
Except this time it was foggy. We kept descending and descending and descending, but still nothing outside the windows except for the flashing beacon on the wing illuminating the fog around it. We kept turning and descending, turning and descending. You start to get a little wary at that point, but the pilots know where they are and how high off the ground they are and what their speed is because they’re being helped by their instruments and their computers and the air traffic control people. And eventually the fog cleared, but only when we were about 100 to 200 feet off the ground. The fog cleared and basically immediately the landing gear was touching down on the runway.
If you’ve not been on a plane before, just think of how fog can affect traveling by car.
There are things that can restrict your natural sight; there are obstructions that can cloud your vision. That’s true spiritually, too. There is such a thing as spiritual sight, spiritual perception. It doesn’t involve your physical eyes at all. It involves what the apostle Paul would call “the eyes of your heart”. It’s the ability to have a sense of God’s presence and His closeness, it’s a deepening knowledge of Him, it’s closeness and communion with Him; it’s the ability to perceive and understand spiritual realities. That’s one thing Jesus means when he talks about seeing God.
But sin clouds that vision. Impurity of heart obstructs our spiritual sight. Hence the need to be pure in heart in order to be able to see God. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
This is good news! But if you have a tender conscience or tend to be sort of afraid that you’ve sinned away your day of grace, your thinking right now what I’m telling you is bad news. I’m saying, “Hey, do you want to see God? Do you want to commune with God, fellowship with God? You have to be pure in heart.” Some of you here that and you sink: “I’m not pure in heart.”
Now here’s the thing you have to understand. First of all, if you feel that way, you probably are not the kind of person who needs to worry. I came across this quote this week and I want to share it with you:
“Ah, Christian reader, the truth is, one of the most conclusive evidences that we do possess a pure heart is to be conscious of and burdened with the impurity which still indwells us.” [Arthur Pink, p33]
So being aware of your impurity of heart means you have a tender heart rather than a hard heart and you are probably much closer to this than you think. Those of you who hear Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” and you feel satisfied with yourself - those of you who hear these words and with a smile you dismiss it and say that might apply to other Christians but not to me” - you need to go home and spend like the whole day in prayer. That’s all I’ll say about that.
The second thing to realize is this: You have already been justified. You’re already right with God. Those of you here this morning, if you’ve trusted in Jesus, if you’re leaning on him for salvation, if you’re resting your hope for eternity on what He accomplished for you on the cross, you are already pure in heart. That’s how God sees you.
We know sin separates us from God. But Jesus’ shed blood covers our sin and we are clothed in His own righteousness. It might seem hard to believe, but God has already declared you innocent and when He looks at you, that’s what He sees. Innocence in the place of guilt. Holiness in the place of sin. That is your true identity; that is who you are. Don’t take it from me. Hear what the Bible has to say about it Eph 5:8-10
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.
Did you catch that? “You were once darkness”, Paul says. “Now you are light, whether you feel like it or not, whether you act like it or not: now you are light in the Lord. So, live as children of light.” You are already pure in heart positionally before God. Now it’s just a matter of learning to live like a person who is pure in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
How do you do that? How do you live purity of heart? I mean, it’s a whole lot harder than external purity, right? To be able to see the absolutely holy and pure God, we must be holy and pure ourselves - internally, where no one can see but God, and not just externally. We can come in here on Sunday mornings and say all the right things and give our tithe and do our little serving thing that we do and enjoy Christian fellowship and maybe go out to lunch. I do those things and I look like a pure person. The people around me agree. What a great guy Dustin is.
But the thing is, they’re only seeing the outside of you. God sees the inside of you. And that’s what matters most. So what Jesus is urging us toward here is to strive to live a life that is pure not just on the outside but on the inside. This involves the movies you watch and the thoughts and images that go through your head. This involves the way you talk and treat others and the way you think of them in your heart.
Now there’s another thing Jesus means when he talks about seeing God. There are actually two ways God can be seen by pure in heart.
Now, with the eyes of our heart. It’s partial. It’s imperfect. We just talked about this.
Spiritual sight, not physical (Matt. 16:17)
Granted by the Holy Spirit
Imperfect but getting clearer (2Cor. 3:18, 1Cor. 13:10)
Can be temporarily obscured by sin
So what’s the other one?
I have a word for you, ok? What’s the new word: the beatific vision. I actually had to look up how to pronounce it so don’t feel bad if it’s hard. It’s an old theological word used by some of the early church fathers and some guys in the monasteries and the catholic church
and it’s largely been lost to people like us. That’s unfortunate. What is the beatific vision?
The beatific vision:
What? The clear, direct and uninhibited vision of God in all His glory
When? When we are finally face-to-face with Him
Where? In heaven
Meaning: “the blessed sight of God”
Basically, at the risk of oversimplifying it, the beatific vision is simply the clear, direct, and uninhibited vision of God in all His glory when we are finally face to face with Him in heaven (EDT p146).
It always amazes me the kinds of things people get paid to do. One such thing, apparently, is to hide in public bathrooms and do research on how often people wash their hands. That actually happened.
The American Society for Microbiology studied the handwashing habits of 6,333 men and women in five of the largest cities in the US. Here’s what they found.
For example, at a Braves game in Atlanta, only 64% of people, men and women, washed their hands. At Penn’s Station in NYC, 60% of people, men and women, washed their hands.
When it comes to men vs. women, this is not surprising. 74% of women wash their hands after using the bathroom. Only 61% of men was their hands after using the bathroom. So…I don’t know - maybe you should remember that when you shake hands after church today. [Larson p65]
Clearly Americans are not good personal hygiene. But we’re called to exercise spiritual hygiene. Only the clean-hearted will see God.
And yet that is all-consuming desire of the human heart. The addict is looking to be captivated by the glory of God; he just doesn’t know it. The lonely teenage girl finding her identity in men’s acceptance - she’s looking to be captivated by the glory of God; she just doesn’t know it. Everyone in this room this morning is looking to be captivated by the glory of God - everyone. The only difference is that some of us are consciously seeking it, and others of us unconsciously seeking. It manifests itself as desires run amock.
Church, don’t you want that? Doesn’t something within you rise up in eagerness at the thought? If it doesn’t, but you’re a believer, it’s just been buried under alot of doubt and shame. But it is a coming reality. One day there will no longer be a need for God to shield Himself from us. Because then we will have shed our sin nature completely, so that we are pure. And we will have been glorified, given resurrection bodies. We will see God.
Kingdom citizens seek purity of heart. That’s the first hallmark of godliness. Purity of heart. But kingdom citizens are also called to be peacemakers. And that’s the second hallmark of godliness.
Gauge of Godliness #2: Kingdom citizens are peacemakers
Gauge of Godliness #2: Kingdom citizens are peacemakers
Matt. 5:9
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Kingdom citizens are to be peacemakers.
There’s a story about a man who got on a bus. Riveting, I know. Anyway this man got on this bus. At the next stop, the doors opened and a woman got on. Having nowhere to sit, she stood. The man, having boarded the bus earlier and taken his seat, stood up so she could sit down. She sat down, but then kept moving and passed out due to shock that someone would be so kind to her.
When she finally came to, she thanked the man who stood up so she could sit down. “Thank you so much”, she said. “The bus is always full at this stop. Everyone else is sitting so I have to stand. Thank you for standing so I could sit.” Then that man, the man that was sitting but stood up so she could sit down, fell down and fainted out of shock that someone could be as grateful as she had been. [Evans p144]
Conflict is inevitable in a fallen world. All of us are touched by conflict in some area of our lives. And unfortunately, most of the time, the way we choose to deal with conflict doesn’t help but actually makes it worse. And yet Jesus calls each of us to a ministry of peacemaking. And He says that peacemakers are blessed. Developing kingdom character involves learning to be a peacemaker. Being a citizen of the kingdom of Jesus involves learning to be a peacemaker.
Peacekeeping vs. peacemaking
Peacekeepers avoid conflict to create the appearance of peace
Peacemakers enter conflict to create peace
Now notice it says peacemakers, not peacekeepers. There’s a difference. The chances are high that you know some peacekeepers. What is a peacekeeper? A peacekeeper does just that - they keep the peace. At all costs. A peacekeeper hates conflict so much that they’ll avoid dealing with huge problems if it means they can keep everyone happy. You could also call a peacekeeper and peace-faker, because they may be achieving some stability, but you can be sure there are fault lines just under the surface ready to shift and wreak havoc.
Problem is, it might keep people happy in the short run, but it usually doesn’t in the long run, and it doesn’t help either part grow in the grace of God. That false kind of peace is what Jesus meant when He said “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34 NASB). Jesus did not come to merely keep people at peace with each other. He came to bring real peace, real reconciliation.
And so here’s the thing, and it's the one thing you really need to internalize about peacemaking? Here it is: every single conflict is a God-given opportunity to grow in godliness.
Every single conflict is a God-given opportunity to grow in godliness.
I believe every single conflict is an opportunity to grow in the grace of Jesus. Because conflict involves sin, and sin disrupts relationships. It alienates people from God and from each other. What then is peacemaking? Peacemakers seek to repair those breaches. Peacemakers aren’t satisfied with having everyone happy. Peacemakers want people to be restored to God and to each other. Peacemakers, then, are reconcilers.
2Cor. 5:18-19
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Peacemaking is hard work. Reconciliation takes courage. How about these examples:
Some Christians spend their Saturday afternoon going to a gay pride parade to protest. They hold up their signs and chant. They might put some tracts on the cars of some of the people there. Then they go home satisfied. They’ve done their Christian duty. Have they?
It’s easy to hold up signs and throw out tracts at a gay pride rally. You know what’s harder but more Christlike? Befriending a gay person, showing them Christ’s love, proving to them that you care about them, and then having the guts to lovingly and gently but firmly speak into their lives with the truth of God’s word. That’s harder and scarier. But that’s peacemaking.
Some other Christians spend their Saturday standing outside an abortion clinic. They hold up their signs and throw literature at women walking into the clinic. Now, I am apologetically pro-life. We as as a church are unapologetically pro-life.
But being pro-life does not mean being against abortion only. Because here’s the thing: It might feel courageous to go hold up signs outside an abortion clinic; but the courageous thing to do is to befriend a young girl with an unwanted pregnancy, and come alongside her and love her and support her and encourage her to have that baby and then to promise to be with her every step of the way. And then do for her what we promised to do.
I firmly believe churches have more responsibility than we think when it comes to being pro-life. What if older couples with means and resources and time and space in their homes opened up their homes to a woman with an unwanted pregnancy? Very often there is a reason why they are seeking an abortion. They’re alone. They don’t know how they’re going to make it. The dad is gone, or encouraging her to have the abortion. That’s often why they’re doing it. It’s still wrong, but they’ve been led to believe that there’s not another way out.
Would everybody appreciate it? No. Would the abortion movement suddenly have respect for the pro-life movement? No. Romans 12:18 simply says, “If posssible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (NASB). That means peace won’t always be possible and sometimes it’ll will be enough simply to have done our duty. Why then even try?
2Cor. 5:19
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Matt. 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Now what about the promise? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matt. 5:9 NIV). Do you see, church, why Jesus says peacemakers will be called children of God?
Rev. Dr. John Broadus, a Baptist pastor and scholar, this is how he answered the question:
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Ch. 5:1–12. The Beatitudes)
They shall not only be sons of God, but shall be called such, recognized as such in his kingdom—not merely subjects of the kingdom, but sons of the king. We need not wonder at this exalted promise to peacemakers, for theirs is a very difficult and very noble achievement. They must often be content to bear bitter complaint from both sides, must exercise great self-control, unwearied patience, and loving tact, and must be manifestly impartial and unselfish. There is no more Godlike work to be done in this world than peacemaking.
When you think about, isn’t the cross of Jesus Christ the perfect example of peacemaking?
Think about it. The Father did not sweep sin under the rug. He didn’t avoid the confrontation. He punished sin in the person of His Son who stood willingly in our place. It took courage on the part of the Son as to His human nature. “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but You will’” (Matt. 26:39-40). And it brought about reconciliation between estranged parties - first between us and God, and then as an outworking of that, between us and others.
And this means: Every human conflict, every human argument, every human dispute, every squabble, every disagreement must fall before the cross of Jesus. When we’re at our best, people look at us and can see our Father’s ways mirrored back at them. God is the reconciler, the peacemaker; when we make peace, when we reconcile, we’re showing ourselves to be sons of God. We’re bearing the family resemblance.
That’s kingdom character. Before God calls us to do and act and serve, He calls us to a certain way of being. He calls us to exhibit humility, holiness, and godliness. We do this as we strive for purity of heart and to make peace with others.
Conclusion and call for response
Conclusion and call for response
Before kingdom citizens are called to do something, we are first called to be someone. God is concerned about what we do, but He is first concerned with the kind of person we are, our moral character, the condition of our hearts.
This is hard. Actually, it’s impossible. Because what we’re being urged toward here is nothing short of perfection. Jesus actually says at the end of this chapter:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Can you do that?
You see, Jesus intentionally makes His instructions and standards out of reach. Why? Because He wants us to learn that they’re out of reach, so that we will run to His arms for mercy and forgiveness for falling short, and then rely on His strength in the future.
That implies a relationship with Jesus. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Have you trusted in Him for your salvation? Are you leaning on Him now for your standing before God? Are you banking your hope for eternal life on Him?
If you haven’t, unfortunately nothing I just said about Jesus’ help or His mercy or His strength or His forgiveness - none of that applies to you. Apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ, not only will you not be able to do any of what we’ve been talking about; but you’ll also spend eternity in hell. God doesn’t want that for you any more than you want it for yourself.
And yet He must punish sin. So Jesus came and stood in your place, bore your sin, bore the guilt of your sin. He bore the wrath of God due to you for your sin. And He absorbed all that sin and guilt and wrath and consumed it, so that the Bible can say that there is no condemnation for those who have trusted Christ.
The whole point of the beatitudes, the whole point of the sermon on the mount, in a sense, is that no one can do it! The kind of life Jesus calls us to is so radical and so counter-cultural and so counter-intuitive that you actually can’t do it. Not on your own.
That’s the thing about this whole discipleship thing. The only one who’s ever done it perfectly is Jesus. The only one who will ever be able to help us do it is Jesus.
You and I are branches. Jesus is the vine. Apart from Him we can do nothing. But with Him living in us and then through us, with Him we can do all things.