Sermon Central
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We Are Not A Political Kingdom
Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 15, 2020 (message contributor)
Various groups of people expected the Messiah to come, but they did not anticipate His coming humbly and meekly. Yet those were the very attitudes that Jesus, the one whom John the Baptist had announced as the Messiah, was both teaching and practicing. The idea of a meek Messiah leading meek people was far from any of their concepts of the messianic kingdom. The Jews only understood military power. They even understood the power of compromise, unpopular as it was. But they did not understand the power of meekness. The people as a whole eventually rejected Jesus because He did not fulfill their messianic expectations. This strange preacher could hardly be the Deliverer they were looking for.
In spite of all the miracles of His ministry, the people never really believed in Him as the Messiah, because He failed to act in military or miracle power against Rome. Jesus’ teaching seemed new and unacceptable to most of His hearers simply because the Old Testament was so greatly neglected and misinterpreted. However, they did not recognize the humble and self-denying Jesus as the Messiah because they did not recognize God’s predicted Suffering Servant as the Messiah. That was not the kind of Messiah they wanted. They wanted military and political power to win the day for righteousness.
Even today, there are many in the Church who want to conquer our modern day "Rome", not through the power of prayer, humility, meekness and brokenness. Oh, no.....they are hedging on military power, economic strength and strong, proud leadership to take down those who oppose righteousness and the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately, that is not the way of Jesus as taught in the Beatitudes. How do we apply this to our lives?
Should we fight for what is morally right? Absolutely.
Should we be in involved in the political process of electing godly leaders? We must.
Should we oppose candidates who want to take our nation into moral darkness? We have to stand.
Should we support a strong military to protect our nation? No doubt.
Should we fund organizations that will fight for accountability and respect for the Church? Always.
But, the issue with Jesus in Matthew 5 is simply: what is our main motivation? The answer is this: focus on being the person God has called you to be through the teaching of Scripture above all. Do you walk in the "Beautiful Attitudes" of the Beatitudes that Jesus taught us? Once you are that kind of spiritually mature believer, then do all you can do to support righteousness in our nation, but leave the final results in the hands of a Sovereign God who is much greater than any political party or any political candidate.
Remember that we in the Body of Christ are not trying to win converts to build a political party. We are called to make disciples for an everlasting, spiritual Kingdom. If not, we could win the election, but lose the real battle.
- Quotes from John MacArthur, Precept Austin
- Application from Larry Petton
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