The Manifesto of Our King

of His counter-cultural kingdom.

It's radical.

What Jesus is going to get at is the coming kingdom,

His kingdom, His reign,

goes beyond the world of entertainment.

This manifesto makes a claim on every area of our lives.

And it has eternity in scope.

So, Matthew 5, 6, and 7,

we're going to take our time.

We're just going to soak in it.

I don't want to rush through it.

I want you to kind of enjoy it,

to make sure you're hearing what our King is telling us

about ourselves and how to live.

I need that too.

But before we get into kind of the individual parts

on the Sermon on the Mount,

I mean, really, what does it mean to be poor in spirit?

What does Jesus have to say about divorce?

Really, we'll get there.

But this morning, before we get into the details,

into the parts,

I want you to see it as a whole.

I want you to see the manifesto for what it is.

Our King is making a huge claim on our lives,

of who we are,

and how we are to live for His kingdom on earth.

How to live under His reign.

And so I want to give you an overview

of the Sermon on the Mount this morning.

So we're going to be moving briskly.

But here's where I want to begin.

As a follower of Jesus,

as a Christian,

you are a kingdom citizen.

A citizen of heaven.

You are under Jesus' reign.

And so this Sermon on the Mount,

He is speaking to you.

He has you in mind.

The Sermon on the Mount is living and active for us today.

And so this morning,

I'm going to do my best

to kind of split the Sermon on the Mount

into two parts.

There's two parts to this manifesto.

The first part is the Beatitudes.

Who you are, kingdom citizen.

And the second part is the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.

That's how we are to live.

We live in light of the kingdom.

And what we're going to see is

who we are and how we live,

it's counter-cultural.

You ready to dive in?

Amen.

Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5:3–10

verses 3 through 10.

Who you are, kingdom citizens.

The Beatitudes.

Now, here's a Captain Obvious statement.

The Beatitudes,

blessed be, blessed be, blessed be, blessed be, blessed be, blessed be, blessed be, blessed be, blessed are, are, are.

They don't come at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

But, Jesus starts the manifesto with the Beatitudes.

He starts it with who you are, kingdom citizen.

That's where he starts.

And it's important.

Because that's where the rest of the Bible starts.

All the rest of the other epistles,

they start with who you are,

what has God done in you,

and then the rest is how you live.

And this Sermon on the Mount,

this manifesto,

is the same thing.

It starts with you,

what God has done in you,

and then it goes out to how we are to live.

So, it's like Jesus is saying to us,

this is what marks my people.

This is what is true of those who are citizens of my kingdom.

They have a counter-cultural character.

They stand out in a dark world.

And so, what we have in the Beatitudes

are eight descriptions of the character

of a citizen of heaven.

Poor in spirit.

A kingdom citizen knows they're spiritually bankrupt,

apart from God.

kingdom citizens grieve over their sin against God.

They're meek.

They see themselves as God sees them.

They hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Kingdom citizens crave to do the will of their Father.

They're merciful.

Kingdom citizens have been shown mercy,

and they will be shown mercy,

and they show kindness and forgiveness on earth now.

The pure in heart.

Kingdom citizens have pure motives.

God help me.

Peacemakers.

Kingdom citizens.

They bring shalom to their relationships.

They bring shalom to their worlds.

They're not crazy makers.

They're not chaos makers.

They don't divide people.

They seek to unite people,

just as God and Christ has united us with Him.

Kingdom citizens are persecuted for righteousness' sakes.

We suffer for doing the will of our Father.

Now, in all these eight characteristics,

what I want you to see is that they're all Godward in orientation.

They're all moving towards the Lord.

It's all for Him.

It's God aimed.

These Beatitudes,

well, they're not suggested character traits of a kingdom citizen.

They're required character traits of a kingdom citizen.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that these eight marks of a kingdom citizen

are kind of distributed among us,

like some of us are poor in spirit,

and others of us are meek,

and then we have some over here who are persecuted,

and then some over here who are peacemakers.

That's not how this works.

What Jesus is telling us is that each of us

is to possess all eight of these characteristics in growing measure.

It's true of every Christian.

Now, upon hearing that,

I'm not sure what you're feeling,

but all week long,

here's what I've been feeling.

Jesus is calling me to something

that I know,

in and of myself,

I am incapable of doing.

I don't know about you,

but

in and of myself,

I am blind to my own spiritual bankruptcy.

I don't know about you,

but

in and of myself,

I am not meek.

I think too highly of myself.

I don't know about you,

but

in and of myself,

I would not mourn

over my sin.

I don't know about you,

but

in and of myself,

I can't make my heart pure.

I can't purify my motives.

You feeling what I'm talking about?

This Godward orientation we see in the Beatitudes,

this stuff doesn't come naturally to us.

So from the get-go,

you've got to realize

that

to be a citizen

of Christ's kingdom

is to be a recipient

of God's grace.

Only by God's grace

are we able to see

our spiritual depravity.

Only by grace

would we mourn

over our sin

against God.

Only by God's grace

are we able to see ourselves

as God sees us.

Only by God's grace

would we have

any inclination

to do the will of God.

Have you read

Romans 3,

1 through 10 lately?

There's not one of us

who would see God.

Not one.

It's only by God's grace

that we experience

a purity of heart.

It's a work He does in us.

Do you know what's so beautiful

about the Beatitudes?

You know what's so beautiful about them?

They point us to the beauty

of God's grace

again and again.

He alone can do in us

what we are incapable of.

The kingdom of heaven,

the active reign of Jesus

is a reign

not of terror

but of grace.

He calls us to what is

humanly impossible

but He makes

what is humanly impossible

a reality

through His grace.

He alone can do it.

All those blessed words,

blessed are,

blessed are,

blessed are.

Do you know what blessed means?

happiness?

Happy.

But it's not a circumstantial happiness.

It's not like winning the lottery

and you're happy

and then you've got to pay

half of it to the government

and then you're sad.

I'd still be happy.

Sort of.

To be blessed by God

in this sense

is to have an abiding joy

because you've been graced by God.

He's done something in you.

He's changed you.

He sought you.

He loved you.

He changed you.

Blessed are the poor in spirit

for theirs is the kingdom

of heaven.

Theirs is

the kingdom of heaven.

Kingdom citizens are blessed of God

because they're recipients

of God's grace.

Objects of God's grace.

God did

for us

what we could not do

for ourselves.

He made us alive.

By His grace.

We were born again

unto God.

We are

new creations

in Christ Jesus.

It's all by His grace.

All by His grace.

Not our doing

but His doing.

So Jesus starts out

this manifesto.

This first part

of the manifesto

is all these beatitudes.

All these

blessed R's.

Blessed,

blessed,

blessed.

Blessed by God.

And I just want to see,

help you to see that

the beatitudes

are speaking of people

who have been recipients

of God's grace.

A grace of God

that makes

dead

sinners

alive.

new creations.

A grace of God

that transfers

a sinner

who's been living

in the domain

of darkness

and transfers them

into the kingdom

of the beloved Son.

It's by His grace.

this is who you are.

Brother,

sister in Christ,

fellow

kingdom

citizen,

your citizenship

is yours

by grace.

You didn't earn it.

You've been brought

into the kingdom

by grace,

not by your own merit.

He did a work

in you.

This is what's

to characterize you.

These eight characteristics,

they're counter-cultural.

It's,

they stand out.

It's who you are

and who we are

to continue to be.

These beatitudes

are beautiful

in God's sight.

It's a work

of His grace.

So that's part one.

Who you are.

The beatitudes.

And we're going to

come back to this

over the next few weeks.

We're just going to

take our time

going through

each blessed are.

But the manifesto

begins here.

It doesn't end here.

The Sermon on the Mount

continues.

He moves from saying,

this is who you are,

kingdom citizen,

the one blessed of God,

the one graced.

And then He goes on

to say,

and this is how you live.

Part two of the manifesto.

How kingdom citizens live.

We have a counter-cultural character

born of God's grace

and we live counter-cultural lives

that display His grace.

And so,

let's burn through these.

I want you to get,

acquaint yourself

with the Sermon on the Mount.

So we're just going to

walk through,

follow with me.

I'm going to be kind of a,

I guess,

kind of a tourist host.

Kind of like,

let's go through

these beautiful places.

I'm going to show you.

We're not going to spend

much time,

but we're going to keep

on moving.

Just so you get a sense

of what this sermon

is all about.

how kingdom citizens live.

You've been changed

by God's grace.

And so now we look at

Matthew 5, verse 13.

Matthew 5:13

So,

how kingdom citizens live?

Well,

the first thing you need

to realize is

kingdom citizens live

to influence.

We've been born of God,

recipients of His grace.

We've been blessed.

And now,

we influence

for the kingdom.

And where Jesus goes,

He gives us two pictures.

Salt and light.

Verses 13 and 14

through 16.

Salt and light.

Salt is a preservative.

It keeps meat

from decaying.

And way back in the day,

you didn't put salt

on something

to make it a little bit

more tasty.

You put salt on something

so it didn't decay.

So it would last.

And we're to have

a preservative effect

in the culture

that we live in

as kingdom citizens.

But He doesn't stop there.

He says that we are

to be light

in the world.

So not only

would He have

a preservative effect,

salt,

we're to have

an enlightening effect.

We're to be a city

set on a hill.

We are to light up

the darkness

with our lives,

pointing to Jesus.

We are to expose

the darkness.

We are to make

Christ known.

And so,

not only preservative,

we are an enlightened bunch.

We're lit up

by God's grace

and we shed light

around us.

We influence

for the kingdom.

That's the first thing

that we see

in verses 13 through 16.

The second way

Jesus points to

the way we're supposed

to live,

we see through

chapter 5,

verses 17 through 48,

and this is

a doozy

of a section.

Jesus says

some unbelievable

things here.

Unbelievable.

But if I were

to summarize it,

it's this.

Kingdom citizens

live to fully

obey

the full intent

of God's Word.

Fully.

We're to fully

obey

the full intent

of God's Word.

And so,

if you look at

chapter 5,

verse 17,

I mean,

think about this.

Red ink,

Jesus saying,

do not think

that I have come

to abolish

the law

or the prophets.

I've not come

to abolish them,

but to fulfill them.

Jesus came

to fulfill

the Old Testament.

Not to put it

on the shelf.

He came

to fulfill it.

At a minimum,

what it does

is helps us

to know how

to then read

our Old Testaments

in light of Jesus.

He came

to fulfill it.

It points

to Him.

Not one iota,

not a dot

will pass

from the law

until all

is accomplished.

It's got purpose.

It's aimed.

He didn't come

to relax the law.

He came

to fulfill

the law,

and He came

to redeem

a people

to live

as fulfillers

of the law.

Jesus came

to uphold

and fulfill

all that the law

and prophets

said.

Part of His

fulfilling the law

and prophets

was to bring out

the full intent

of the law.

Not just

external obedience.

The scribes

and the Pharisees

were known

for doing that

very well,

thank you very much.

Jesus went

from external

obedience

to addressing

internal obedience

as well.

And so,

in verses

21-48,

He shows us

how those

who've been

radically changed

by grace

live out

the full intent

of the law.

And so,

in verses

21-22,

there are these

six statements

Jesus makes.

You've heard it said,

but I say.

It's a huge

claim of authority.

Let me just

clarify you

what my word

means.

Here is

God incarnate

correcting

misunderstandings

of His word.

I would have

loved to have

been there.

I love having

this at my hands

and fingertips

now.

This is my king

speaking to me.

This is our king

speaking to us.

And He brings

out the full intent.

So,

you've heard that

this is said,

those who murder,

well,

they're liable

for judgment.

But I say,

if you get angry,

you're liable

for judgment.

He goes from

external to

internal.

Full obedience

to the full

intent of the law.

You've heard it

said that

adultery is not

okay.

Agreed.

but I say,

even someone

who lusts

in their heart

after a woman

commits adultery

in his heart.

Full intent.

Full obedience.

Outer conformity.

Inner conformity.

He goes on to say

some very

strong things.

You've heard that

no default

divorce is okay.

But I say,

do you realize

what you're doing

to people

by doing that?

33 and 34,

you've heard it said,

don't swear falsely.

Then He says,

but I say,

let your yes

be yes

and your no

be no.

Let's dive

into that one

when we come

to it.

38 and 39,

you've heard

that it said,

an eye for an eye

and a tooth

for a tooth.

Lex talionis!

But I say,

do not resist

the one

who is evil.

Wait,

Jesus,

are you telling me,

are you telling me

to enable bad people?

Is that what

you're telling me?

We've got to find out

what He means.

We'll come back to that.

43 through 44,

you've heard that

it said,

love your neighbor

and hate your enemy,

but I say,

love your enemies.

Radical

kingdom

living.

Now,

I'm the first

to admit

there's a lot

to understand here.

I've got a lot

of studying to do.

But what Jesus

is showing us

is that the full

intent of the law

makes a claim

on all

of who we are,

external

and internal.

And we have

a tendency

of not going

deep enough.

Are you ready?

Are you ready

to wrestle

with the words

of our King?

Are you ready

to live for His

kingdom on this planet?

kingdom citizens

live to fully

obey

the full intent

of God's law.

The third thing

that we come across

is in verses,

chapter 6,

verses 1 through 18.

Kingdom citizens

live for God,

not man.

there's a temptation

we all face

is to do

our obedience,

practice our righteousness

for the eyes

of men

to show our

obedience.

And then it

ceases to become

obedience to God.

It becomes

something else.

Jesus says,

no,

don't do that.

Don't give

so other people

can see you.

Don't pray

so others

can hear you.

Don't fast

so that other people

know.

Don't do that.

No,

you won't get

a reward

from your Father

in Heaven

if you do that.

He tells us

to give

and to pray

and to fast

not for public eyes

but for private eyes

which reminds me

of a Hall & Oates song.

Private eyes,

they're watching you.

I used to build

Legos to that.

But the private eyes

that Jesus is

talking about

is not the private eyes

Hall & Oates

we're singing about.

If you look at

chapter 6

verses 3 and 4

we're going to start

seeing a pattern.

But when you give

to the needy

do not let your

left hand know

what your right hand

is doing.

Do it in private

so that your giving

may be in secret

and your Father

who sees in secret

will reward you.

Do it for His eyes.

The audience of one.

Look at verse 6.

But when you pray

go into your room

and shut the door

and pray to your Father

who is in secret

and your Father

who sees in secret

will reward you.

Audience of one.

Look at verses 17 and 18.

But when you fast

anoint your head

and wash your face

that your fasting

may not be seen by others

but by your Father

who is in secret

and your Father

who sees in secret

will reward you.

See a pattern?

See repetition?

Practice your righteousness

for the audience

of one.

Your Father in heaven

not for the eyes of man.

Kingdom citizens

live for God

not for man.

Chapter 6 verses 19-34

Kingdom citizens

live to serve God only

and seek God first.

Kingdom citizens

have been radically changed

and therefore

our priorities

have been radically changed.

And do you see

where Jesus goes

in this section?

Verse 19

Do not lay up yourselves

treasures on earth.

Verse 24

No one can serve

two masters

for either will hate

the one and love the other

or he will be devoted

to the one

and despise the other

and then he brings it home.

You cannot serve

both God

and money.

We've been radically changed

by God's grace

and it radically changes

who we serve.

We don't serve money.

We don't live for money.

We live for our God.

And so

we use money

as a means

to serve Him.

We don't use God

as a way of serving money.

It's called idolatry.

Kingdom citizens

only have one master.

We prioritize God

over money

because God's changed us.

Kingdom citizens

not only serve God

over money

we prioritize God

over our most basic needs.

Don't be anxious.

Anybody anxious in the room?

Anybody anxious about their life?

Anybody anxious

about what they're going to wear

what they're going to eat

where they're going to live?

Anybody.

Anybody.

Don't be anxious.

Seek first

God

in His kingdom

and He

will take care

of the rest.

Trust Him.

He's your heavenly Father.

He knows your needs

before you know your needs.

Kingdom citizens

are not anxious

about their life

because they seek

first their Father

who takes care

of their life.

Man,

you know what I love

about the Sermon on the Mount

and this manifesto?

Jesus gets right at it.

He speaks to us.

He speaks to where we live

now.

Kingdom Christians

live to serve God

over money

and seek God

before themselves.

The fifth thing

I want you to see

is found in verses

1-12 of chapter 7.

Kingdom citizens

live to relate

to others

for the kingdom.

Our relationships

don't exist for us

but ultimately

we leverage

our lives

and our relationships

for the kingdom.

And so in verses 1-5

we're told to

get the log

out of our own eye

before we pull

the speck

out of our

brothers.

When we've been

radically changed

by God's grace

it radically changes

the way we relate

to other people.

And so

instead of saying

right there

I see that

speck

there are

three fingers

pointing right back

at me

saying

there's a gigantic

log in your eye

Salvati!

And what Jesus

is telling us

to do is

humble yourself.

Live out

the blessings.

Be meek.

See yourself

as God sees you.

Get the log

out of your own eye.

And then love you

brother.

In verse 6

kingdom citizens

exercise discernment

with those

who we talk

to about the

kingdom.

Pigs,

swine,

what's he talking

about?

At a minimum

he's calling us

to be discerning

of who we talk

about Jesus

with.

Look at verse 12.

Kingdom citizens

fulfill the law

by living

by the golden rule.

There's the golden rule!

Right there.

So whatever you wish

that others would do

to you

do also to them

for this is the law

and the prophets.

Fulfill the law!

Love everybody!

This is the golden rule!

Jesus,

this is the second

commandment.

Love your neighbor

as yourself.

Did you notice

I skipped over

a spot?

Verses 7

through 11.

It's kind of,

you're kind of like,

what is that

doing there?

I mean,

he goes from

talking about

getting the log

out of your own eye

and the speck

out of your brothers

and he says,

don't throw,

you know,

these wonderful,

valuable things

to pigs and swine

and then he says,

then he goes into

ask,

seek,

and knock

and then he goes

into saying,

live the golden rule

and you're kind of like,

why are you telling me

to pray

in the middle

of being

in these relationships

with other people

and chapter 6

he's already told me

to pray

as the Lord

prays,

the Lord's prayer

so why are we

going back

to prayer here?

here's why,

our relationships

with other people

are governed

by our relationship

with our Father

and so we ask,

seek,

and knock

our Father

for good things

related to our

relationships

with other people

I ask God

to help me

to live out

the golden rule

with this person

and with that person

at a minimum

we're to be asking

our Father

to help

live in relationship

to others

for the glory

of his name

and advancement

of his kingdom

kingdom citizens

live to relate

to others

for the kingdom

the last thing

I want you to see

is chapter 7

verses 13

through 27

this is like

the finale

this is like

Jesus

sits you down

and he's like

alright

sign here please

commit

commit

and so in verses

13 through 27

we

I'd summarize

that kingdom

citizens

live committed

to Christ's

kingdom

we live committed

and in this section

he contrasts

four things

he says

enter the narrow gate

don't go through

the wide gate

enter through

the narrow gate

the narrow gate

is going to lead

to a hard way

with a few people

but it leads

to life

and what Jesus

is calling us to

is

live it

live it out

don't go back

to the wide gate

don't go back

to the easy way

don't go back

to the mob

live for me

live this way

enter the narrow gate

and in 15 through 20

he tells us

commit to me

don't listen

to false prophets

listen to me

he compares

two trees

a healthy tree

and a diseased tree

a healthy tree

bears good fruit

a diseased tree

the ministry

of a false prophet

bears bad fruit

and if you eat

that fruit

not only are you

going to

get sick

it's going to have

an effect

on the body

commit to

discerning truth

from falsehood

commit to

eating

from the ministry

of a healthy tree

verses 21 through 23

oh this is such

a sober one

verse 21

not everyone

who says to me

Lord Lord

will enter the kingdom

of heaven

what

Lord Lord

have you said that

Lord

Lord Lord

Jesus gets at

something

verses 21

through 23

he's like

hey

commitment

doesn't

to me

does not

look like

a profession

and doing

these

awesome works

commitment

commitment

to me

looks like

living out

the will

of my father

day after day

not lip service

but life service

that's sobering

makes you ask

some hard questions

verses 24

through 27

Jesus

shares this

last contrast

last contrast

between foundations

he says

whoever hears

and does

my words

it's like

a wise man

who builds

his house

on a solid

foundation

of rock

build

your

life

on the rock

of Christ

not on the

shifting sands

of other

words

Jesus

Jesus

closes

the

manifesto

with that

called a

commitment

this

manifesto

is broken

into two

parts

who you

are

blessed

are

you

one

graced

by God

and then

he calls

us to

live it

out

in a

certain

way

counter

cultural

character

shows up

in a

counter

cultural

life

and as

we walk

this way

he proves

himself

faithful

can I call

you to

something

this morning

I know

you can't

say no

right now

let's

press

into

who we

are

right

now

let's

live out

what God

has already

called us

to be

kingdom

citizens

citizens

of

his

realm

of

his

reign

let's

live it

out

let's

live it

out

together

and so

I'd

like to

ask you

to start

praying

for

something

praying

for

three

things

in your

private

prayer life

when you

go into

your prayer

closet

to pray

to your

heavenly

father

in secret

would you

start praying

these three

things

something

like this

first

God

I am

totally

dependent

on you

to live

this

life

you have

called

me

to

it's

admitting

your

need

admitting

your

place

exercise

of

humility

I

need

you

I'm

dependent

on

you

second

God

will you

give me

the grace

to be

a faithful

citizen

of your

kingdom

today

give me

what I

need

today

God

help me

to live

this

out

for you

today

I

need

you

and you

have

what I

need

grace

me

and then

third

God

would you

make me

the

countercultural

Christian

you called

me to be

for the

glory

of your

name

would you

begin

praying

that

with me

the

sermon

on the

mount

is a

manifesto

it's a

manifesto

of our

king

to us

his

citizens

to live

for the

kingdom

on this

planet

and we

are to

live it

out in

every area

of our

life

let's pray

God in

heaven

we have

covered a

lot of

ground

here

I pray

that

Lord

you

would

do

a

work

in

us

in

which

we

recognize

that

we

need

you

that

you've

done

a

work

in

us

you've

calling

us

something

beyond

ourselves

and our

natural

abilities

and so

God

would you

grace

us

would you

pour out

your grace

would you

empower us

by your

spirit

would you

compel us

by your

words

God

would you

use

the

relationships

of

people

in this

room

to stir

us

up

to love

and good

deeds

to live

out

kingdom

principles

to live

out who

we are

together

here and

now

in

2016

in

Kenosha

God

would you

make us

salt

would you

make us

light

God

would you

help us

to

live out

fully

the full

intent

of your

word

God

would you

do a

work in

us

we ask

in Jesus

name

Amen