Expectations For The Kingdom

Title: Expectations for the Kingdom Scripture: Mt. 5:13-20

Type: Expos. Series Where: GNBC 2-15-26

Intro: In his Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan describes Interpreter’s house, which Pilgrim entered during the course of his journey to the Celestial City. The parlor of the house was completely covered with dust, and when a man took a broom and started to sweep, he and the others in the room began to choke from the great clouds of dust that were stirred up. The more vigorously he swept, the more suffocating the dust became. Then Interpreter ordered a maid to sprinkle the room with water, with which the dust was quickly washed away. Interpreter explained to Pilgrim that the parlor represented the heart of an unsaved man, that the dust was original sin, the man with the broom was the law, and the maid with the water was the gospel. (From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, "Spiritual Warfare: The Flesh vs. The Spirit" 2/15/2009) Christian living, law, gospel and prophets. Christ covers them all in this section of His incredible sermon.

Prop: In Mt. 5:13-20 Christ communicates His Expectations for Christian Living.

BG: 1. Speaking to disciples (broad sense) from hillside.

2. Beatitudes demonstrate clear conflict b/t world and Christ’s Kingdom. Thus, the natural question arising from this: “How should we then live?” That’s what Christ answers in this section of His monumental sermon.

3. In the passage Christ addresses His expectations for Christians to influence society as well as potential misconceptions disciples may have in relation to His Word.

Prop: Mt. 5:13-20

I. How Should Disciples Live in Relation to the World? Vv. 13-16

A. Christ Uses 2 Metaphors to Instruct the Christian in his/her relation to the world.

1. Christ Uses 2 Metaphors in order to Instruct Disciples in their Relation to the World.

a. In this section, Jesus uses two visually distinct metaphors to describe the Christian’s relationship with the world. Now a metaphor is a figure of speech used to make a comparison without using “like or as”. Jesus is NOT saying that His disciple is like salt, but rather, He is in fact saying that His disciple is salt. The verb is an indicative, and not an imperative. Now, what does that mean? When one uses an imperative, it is a command. “You are to be salt.” This, is an indicative, “You are the salt of the earth.”.

b. Now, I know, some of you might be saying to yourself, “So what Chris?” “I didn’t come to church for a grammar lesson, I came to know how I should behave to honor God in my life.” Exactly! We are to be what God has already made and equipped us to be! Illust: Far to many Christians spend time praying something like: “O God, help me to be salt! Or, “Dear Lord, help me to be light…” This passage tells you that you are ALREADY Salt and Light because of your relationship with Jesus Christ, SO ACT LIKE IT! Illust: We homeschooled our children but dual enrolled for various sports, music and some classes. Daughter Katherine came home excited 1st day of XC practice. Was a junior. “How did it go honey?” “I loved it!” “Tom is great!” “Who’s Tom?” “He’s the head coach, you know him, dad.” “Do you mean, Dr. Mittman or Coach Mittman?” “Yeah, Tom.” All the other girls call him “Tom”. “You are not all the other girls. You will refer to (a then)55+ year old man, who is a coach and physician as “Coach or Dr. Mittman.” We had certain expectations in our family that ran in conflict with expectations of other families. The same is true for the disciple of Christ.

2. What are the two figures of comparison Christ makes: Salt and Light.

a. As Pastor Zach so eloquently illustrated last week, the context of what Christ is saying here is the persecution of his disciples. Like salt, Christians may seem small and insignificant, powerless in a power-mad society, yet they have the ability to influence and permeate every strata. Salt is cheap and in some ways insignificant, and yet it has properties that far exceed its perceived value. And so my friend do you!

b. The second metaphor used to inform the Christian of his/her expectations in this world is: “You are the light of the world…” v. 14. Jesus declared Himself to be the light of the world in Jn. 8:12. Christ has come into the world as the great light to all of us who were living in darkness. Col. 1:12-13, tells us that when you and I repent of our sins and we accept by faith His full and finished work of redemption, we are “transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness and into His Kingdom of Light! As a result, we identify with Christ and Christ lives in us so that we too have become light in the Lord, and we are to no longer have anything to do with the deeds of darkness.” (Eph. 5:8-14) In fact, we are to expose the deeds of darkness that our own lives shine around us. Illust: The recent release of at least some of the Epstein files have begun to demonstrate just how filthy and morally bankrupt so many of the elites really are. I also found it interesting that Dr. James Dobson of FoF fame had his name appear in a few of JE emails. Not for any wrong doing, but because JE hated him and his influence in society, and wanted to figure out ways to undermine him. Why? When Christians live holy and pure lives in the midst of a generation of wicked perversion, the consciences of the immoral are troubled and convicted.