Living In The Kingdom Part 1 Series

Living In The Kingdom Part 1

Scripture: Matthew 5:3-12; First Corinthians 13:6; Psalm 51:1-4

This morning I am starting a series that I’ve titled “Living in the Kingdom.” This series will cover the sermon that Jesus gave on the mountain which is recorded in Matthew chapters five through seven. There is so much that He taught us in that sermon that this will probably be one of the longest series that I have delivered since being a pastor. In His one sermon, Jesus gave us insight into what our lives should be like here on earth after accepting Him as our Savior. Because of the state of our world today, the Spirit impressed upon me to do something that I have never done, cover this entire sermon and do it without rushing through it and minimizing the content. So I ask for your patience as I obey the guidance of the Spirit of God in these messages. I will take breaks during the series so you won’t get too tired of my voice and I am grateful for Pastor Cynthia being available to deliver the messages that God lays on her heart during those breaks.

When you read the book of Matthew, Matthew makes the argument that Jesus is the expected Messiah-King that was foretold to come. When you read what Jesus taught in His “Sermon on the Mount”, you will find that He addressed the lifestyle of those who would submit to Him. He address this as the destined Ruler of all of mankind. In other words, He addressed this from a position a having the authority to do so. We will begin with what is commonly known as the Beatitudes – a series of “blessed are/happy are” statements. In the Beatitudes Jesus explores issues that deal with basic values which we (human beings) adopt and live by. The point that He makes is that the values of this world do not lead to blessings. Instead, blessing, as you heard a couple of weeks ago in my message titled “A Blessed Man”, come through living by the values which the world despises but which God holds dear.

The word “blessed” is used often in both the Old and New Testament. In the Old Testament, especially the Psalms, the “blessed are” statements describe the qualities in a person which brings him or her God’s blessings. Here in the book of Matthew, the Greek word for blessings is makarios, which means “happy.” The word “blessed” describes their inherent state, not to their receiving a gift from God or man. In Matthew chapter five, Jesus focused on the present state of persons who adopt values and attitudes which permits them to know, now, the inner touch of God in their present lives. In other words, Jesus tells us how to live in the kingdom of God right now, here on earth. When the men and women who listened to Jesus as He taught this message, the kingdom concept was new and powerful to them. They were used to looking forward to the future when God would act, but in Jesus’ message they heard that God was already exercising kingly authority here on earth. The kingdom emphasis on an active God underlies the entire message that Jesus delivered on the mountain. As we go through these messages I want you to see that only those who place their full confidence on God as a King who will act on their behalf now can ever truly build up the courage to start living the lifestyle that Jesus lays out for His followers in this sermon. Only those with a true belief and confidence in God can live in His kingdom here on earth.

Jesus said the following in Matthew 6:33, “But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Although I will go much deeper into this verse when we get to that section of Scripture, I wanted to open with this verse because it really tells us what we should be doing as children living in God’s kingdom. Although a multitude of people were present when Jesus delivered the teaching on the mountain, His “students” were His disciples, who were new members to His kingdom. As I have said, in this sermon Jesus was telling them how to live in the kingdom of God while simultaneously living on the earth. He wanted the disciples, and each one of us, to know that we have dual citizenship and we have to understand how to live in each kingdom. As a reminder, dual citizenship refers to the status of an individual who holds the nationality of two different countries at the same time. Individuals with dual citizenship enjoy the same rights and have the same responsibilities as the citizens of both nations.