Kingdom Part 2
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Update on current plans
neladean Friday Aug 27th
Recap where we’ve been in Matthew
Now we will focus on kingdom
pray
Flow:
Flow:
Story of Mt Sinai
Here we see God speak again from a mountain a new law
Not law as in rules
New O. S. for life (apple)
So Jesus begins with this new operating system
It’s an upside down OS (kingdom)
Gary explained last week a lot about this so I won’t go into a ton of detail about how each one contradicts culture
But on Mt Sinai we saw 10 commandments
Here we see 8 beatitudes or blessings
And what I want us to see is that religion would teach us a list of don’ts
Dont cuss
dont drink
dont do drugs
don’t do anything bad that other people can see
If you dont do those things than you are good
But what kingdom is, is a law to do, not a list of don’ts
Kingdom teaches us to be poor in Spirit
To mourn
be meek
hunger and thirst for righteousness
be merciful
be pure in heart
create peace
be ready for persecution
It’s a law to do
What Jesus is doing from the very beginning of His message is genius
He is teaching kingdom, preaching gospel, setting expectations, condemning culture all in these first 8 beatitudes
It’s like a picture of a tree. He uses the first 4 to show us the roots and the last 4 to show us the fruits
I believe what Jesus is doing is showing us both justification in the first 4 and sanctification in the last 4.
He’s showing us what the gospel does in our life, what the kingdom does.
Let me show you what I mean
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The first step in the kingdom progression is realizing that your way of life has not gotten you the things you desire. Chasing after the things of this world in the end leave you empty.
They leave you poor in spirit (this realization that you can not fulfill your inner most desires on your own, you need a Savior)
Culture would teach you, no you need to be strong, you need to fight for you, go get what you want and is rightfully yours
Kingdom teaches to be poor in spirit and when you are you are promised access into the kingdom of heaven
Step 1. then step 2
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
The second step is realizing your sin and mourning over it
This is not necessarily a verse for mourning over a loved one or something gone wrong in your life
There are other verses that speak to that but this isn’t one
This is a mourning over your sins
Culture would look at that and say it sounds miserable
Kingdom teaches us that when we do it that we are comforted. How? By the Holy Spirit and the gospel.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Then we must recognize that God’s way is the only way.
We have to be meek. Submissive to the plans and purposes of God. Realizing that our way is not the best way but that the King knows best.
Culture would teach us to go out and get what’s yours
Kingdom teaches us to be meek and submit the Lord and we will inherit the earth
What does that mean? I think it means that when we are meek and truly submit to the Lord we are content.
It’s upside down. Culture would teach us that meekness is weakness.
Kingdom teaches us that meekness is strength controlled.
Jesus is the most powerful being ever and yet He is the most meek
It’s strength and power under control
Domineering is not a Christian virtue, meekness is
And when we are meek we inherit the earth
Yes I believe this has eschatological implications but I also believes that when we do this we experience the world in a whole new way
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
So the Gospel causes us to realize we are not enough, mourn over our sins, submit to God and then what is the next step? To hunger and thirst for righteousness.
To crave and desire that which is right
Culture would teach us to be full all the time
Kingdom will teach us to always hunger for more righteousness
And what’s the promise? You will be filled.
We hunger for God’s Word, we hunger to put it to action, and when we do we are fulfilled. That’s the promise
Then we move into the last 4, sanctification or the fruits of the kingdom
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
When you’ve experienced that gospel in the way the first 4 describe what should be a natural result?
A person of mercy
A person’s ability to show mercy to someone, demonstrates their ability to understand the mercy they’ve been given
If you struggle with showing mercy then I would say you struggle understanding the mercy God has shown you
When we grasp the mercy of God we begin to become people of mercy
Culture would teach us to be slit throat. Show no mercy. Scratch and claw your way to success.
Kingdom teaches us to be merciful
For we have been shown mercy, are being shown mercy, and will be shown mercy.
This is a fruit of the kingdom
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Another thing that happens to us over time is that we begin to desire things out of a pure heart
We desire kingdom things not for earthly gain
Culture would teach us to do anything at all costs to gain earthly desires
kingdom teaches to do all things with a pure heart and kingdom motives
And when we do, we are able to see God at work
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Kingdom people are peacemakers
This was such a slap in the face of what the messianic expectations were.
They thought Jesus came to declare war
But instead He comes as the Prince of Peace
Culture teaches to cause a scene to get what we want
Pitch a fit, fight, make your opinion known over and over until they give in
Kingdom teaches to bring peace. Gentleness, self-control, love
And you will be called children of God
The greatest title you can obtain
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Notice a few things here. The same thing is said twice with small but impactful changes
When something is repeated in Scripture you really want to pay attention
He starts with a general statement and moves to a personal one
Jesus is setting the expectations
He’s shepherding His flock
Taking the girls into Target
Here Jesus is setting clear expectations
You will be persecuted
Culture would teach us to avoid pain at all costs
Kingdom teaches us to expect it and rejoice and be glad for it because our reward is great in Heaven.
So we see Justification and sanctification
Roots and Fruits
Then Jesus will continue
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Kingdom people are like salt and light
When we think of salt we think “yes give me some more, not too much cause it can be bad for my health but load it up on my fries”
But salt during this time worked a little differently
It was a very precious commodity and in some instances and places people would actually be paid in salt
It was primarily used as a preservative and healing agent
They would use it to preserve food, which would have been a massive deal because they didn’t have the fridge and freezer to throw things into
And it was used to prevent infections from spreading in a wound
Ever heard the phrase “throwing salt on an open wound”
Well they would literally do that and it stung but it was affective
Jesus uses this analogy to paint a picture of what Kingdom people do and who they are
They preserve righteousness and they prevent the decay of sin from spreading
If the world is constantly pursuing their own idea of what is right we are called to pursue only what is truly right, declared so by God.
We are preservators of righteousness
We also are called to stunt the growth of sin
Sin is prevalent, it’s everywhere. But imagine how bad it would be if the church didn’t exist. If all believers just vanished.
I would imagine things would get exponentially worse
And it’s because we are called to stunt the growth of sin
And let me add here that this often stings
walking people through their sin, out of their sin, away from their sin, usually stings. It doesn’t feel good but it’s necessary to prevent it from taking over
We are called to preserve righteousness and prevent the growth of sin
We are also called to be light
There are all sorts of theological implications here that we carry with us from Genesis into the NT
What light is and darkness is and what they represent
I would just add that light does two primary things: It reveals what is hidden and it causes growth
What happens when you pick something up off the ground and there are bugs and insects underneath
They go scattering. They’ve been there the whole time but now that they been exposed to the light they go running.
What do plants primarily need for growth?
Water and light
They can’t grow without it
Kingdom people expose what is hidden and cause growth
Here’s what I mean. I don’t mean that Kingdom people are constantly looking for people that they can expose their sins to the world.
What I do mean is that when you are living in the kingdom and you get around people who are not they recognize it.
Here’s what will happen, they will either want to change or they will not want to be around you.
It’s what the light of the kingdom does
The light also promotes growth
Here’s where I would plug groups
Kingdom people cause other kingdom people to want to grow
Have you ever gotten around someone who just really loves Jesus and you go man I’ve got some work to do
That’s kingdom light causing growth
You need people in your life that cause you to want to grow and cause you to grow
Now let me get really practical here for a few minutes and then we will wrap up
Right now, I would argue maybe more than ever, our community needs people who are salt and light for the kingdom of God
It doesn’t need people who need to be right
It doesn’t need people who need to be domineering
It doesn’t need people who cause more chaos
It doesn’t need more fear
It doesn’t need more fighting
It needs salt and light
It needs people who can navigate conversations with not a need to dominate the conversation and need to be right, whether that conversation is happening face to face or on social media.
Our community needs people who are able to speak with the motive to bring peace
I’m not saying don’t speak
I’m merely asking the question: What is your motive?
Our community needs people who navigate the troubles of this current time in a way that would shine light.
What if this virus is bring to light in people what has been hidden?
Do we trust God or not?
I’m not saying be stupid and do nothing but at the end of the day, no matter the outcome, do we trust God?
What if during this time we are encouraging others to grasp a hold of the gospel in a way you never have? What if their could be growth even during a time like this?
And here is what I will end with, it’s not necessarily hand in hand with this message but it’s been on my heart.
The church has to be united.
Can you imagine the joy of the enemy when he sees how much division a virus is causing?
And I’m not talking about in the world I’m talking about in the church
Did you know we can disagree and still love?
Did you know that we can disagree on something like this but still be united?
You can be full fledged pro vaccination and can be completely anti vaccination and still be united if their is love
Don’t allow something so silly to cause division. You have a right to choose for you how you handle this going forward. What’s best for you and your family.
And I get it, I hear it, I see it. They are taking my rights. They are taking my freedom.
I would first say that the freedoms and rights that you and I have, they can never take away
I love America but if all of our freedoms were stripped away, the freedom we have in Christ can never be taken
The rights as Sons and Daughters of the king of the World can not be stripped from us
All I’m saying is that we can’t let our light be put under a bowl because then we are no better off than the darkness around us
What is your SM post causing?
Do you think the President is going to look at your post and go “you know what he is right, let’s change everything?”
No he won’t. But john down the road who’s been hurt by church over and over will look at it and go “there’s another church person fighting and complaining”
If you are children of God in the kingdom of God you have no choice but to approach every conversation and every opportunity with love.
If you are really struggling with some of this stuff, come talk to us
Better yet, talk about it in your group. Have healthy conversations about
Go into it not trying to be right. Not trying to dominate the conversation.
Go into it to bring peace to learn to be united