Jesus
Christ set up His kingdom on planet earth over 2000 years ago at Calvary. But how many people have ever
lived their lives totally committed to the principles laid out in the
constitution that He proposed?
You might
say, “I never heard of any constitution that Jesus proposed?” Well, He did.
It’s found in Matthew chapters 5 thru 7 and it’s been called the Sermon on the
Mount, or The Beatitudes. I’m calling it: The Constitution Of The Kingdom Of
God.
Jesus came
to annihilate every other kingdom on this planet. He came to destroy every
government. He especially wants to destroy the most hideous government there
is—the right for us to rule our own minds!
Jesus
demands full Lordship! He wants to destroy every relationship that exalts
itself above His relationship and Lordship!
Matthew
10:34-39 KJV
34
Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
37 He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross,
and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that
findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall
find it.
Jesus told
us to hate others and our own selves: our right to rule ourselves!
Luke
14:26-27 NIV
26 If anyone comes to me and does not
hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and
sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
In the
time of Christ, people were hung on the cross for opposing the kingdom rule of
the Romans. The only reason the Jews wanted Christ crucified was because He set
up His kingdom by proclaiming He was equal with God! (which was blasphemy to
them).
We must
swear allegiance to the Kingdom of God and no other!
This may
sound incredible to some, that’s my intention. I am proposing a revolution!
Down with any rulership in the minds of humans other than that of Jesus Christ!
Matthew 5 (MSG)
You’re Blessed
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed
a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him.
Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This
is what he said:
You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With
less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear
to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no
more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything
that can‘t be bought.
You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for
God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being
“careful,” you find yourselves cared for.
You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and
heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate
instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and
your place in God's family.
You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes
persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people
put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it
means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.
You can be glad when that happens-—give a cheer, even—for though they don't
like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company.
My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Salt and Light
Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning
that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how
will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the
garbage.
Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light,
bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're
going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you
light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you?
I'm putting you on a lightstand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a
lightstand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up
to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in
heaven.
Completing God's Law
Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the
Scriptures—either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to
complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast
panorama. God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the
ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law
will be alive and working.
Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will
only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others,
and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the
Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won‘t know the first thing about
entering the kingdom.
Murder
You're familiar with the command to the ancients, “Do not
murder.” I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or
sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother “idiot!” and you just
might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell “stupid!” at a sister
and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.
This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these
matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you
suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering,
leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then,
come back and work things out with God.
Or say you're out on the street and an old enemy accosts
you. Don't lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him.
After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you're
likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won't get out
without a stiff fine.
Adultery and Divorce
You know the next commandment pretty well, too: “Don't go
to bed with another's spouse.” But don't think you've preserved your virtue
simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker
than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.
Let's not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you
want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind
your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to
live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off
your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody
stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.
Remember the Scripture that says, “Whoever divorces his
wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights”?
Too many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending
to be righteous just because you are “legal.” Please, no more pretending. If
you divorce your wife, you're responsible for making her an adulteress (unless
she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such
a divorced adulteress, you're automatically an adulterer yourself. You can‘t
use legal cover to mask a moral failure.
Empty Promises
And don‘t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is
embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a
smoke screen of pious talk, saying, “I'll pray for you,” and never doing it, or
saying, “God be with you,” and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true
by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more
religious, it becomes less true. Just say “yes” and “no.” When you manipulate
words to get your own way, you go wrong.
Love Your Enemies
Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: “Eye
for eye, tooth for tooth.” Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I
propose: “Don‘t hit back at all.” If someone strikes you, stand there and take
it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back,
gift-wrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair
advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more
tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
You're familiar with the old written law, “Love your
friend,” and its unwritten companion, “Hate your enemy.” I'm challenging that.
I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not
the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of
prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created
selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain
to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If
all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. lf
you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any
run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom
subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously
and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.
Matthew 6 (MSG)
The World Is Not a Stage
Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so
that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the
God who made you won't be applauding.
When you do something for someone else, don't call
attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—“play actors” I
call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting
compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get
applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think
about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your
God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
Pray with Simplicity
And when you come before God, don't turn that into a
theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of
their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place
so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and
honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will
begin to sense his grace.
The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are
prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling
techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense.
This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you
need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are
set the world right; do what's best—
As above, so below
Keep us alive with three square meals
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes, Yes, Yes
In prayer there is a connection between what God does and
what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also
forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from
God's part.
When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to
better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you
into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you "go into
training” inwardly, act normal outwardly.
Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your
face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you
are doing; he'll reward you well.
A Life of God-Worship
Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths
and corroded by rust or—worse—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven,
where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The
place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up
being.
Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes
wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live
squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the
blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll
end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You
can't worship God and Money both.
If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it
follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at meal times or whether
the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than
the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the
clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied
down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more
to him than birds.
Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten
taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you
think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk
out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but
have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and
women in the country look shabby alongside them.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of
wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to
you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not
be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who
don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both
God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative,
God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday
human concerns will be met.
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will
help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 7 (MSG)
A Simple Guide for Behavior
Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize
their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical
spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's
face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to
say, “Let me wash your face for you,” when your own face is distorted by
contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing
a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer
off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no
honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant,
you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege. Don't bargain with God. Be
direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game
we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he
asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you
are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own
children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even
better?
Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask
yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it
for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Being and Doing
Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with
surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in
your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do.
The way to life—to God—is vigorous and requires total attention. Be wary of
false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are
they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with
charisma; look for character.
Knowing the correct password—saying, “Master, Master,” for
instance—isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious
obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment
thousands strutting up to me and saying, “Master, we preached the Message, we
bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.” And do you
know what I am going to say? “You missed the boat. All you did was use me to
make yourselves important. You don't impress me a bit. You're out of here.”
These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to
your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are
foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your
life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain
poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It
was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't
work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house
on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed
like a house of cards."
When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into
applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was
living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their
religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever
heard.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Constitution of the Kingdom of God is the second in a series of
lectures on our life “In Christ”
It is so important to know who we are “in Christ.” Paul
says, If anyone be “in Christ” they are a new critter! We are brand new
critters never seen before, we are from another planet—Heaven. As disciples of
Christ we are to be ambassadors of our mother country. The problem we face is
the same problem other ambassadors from other countries have faced: that they
become so involved with the affairs of their new country that they become completely
assimilated and incorporated in the country they have been sent to as an
ambassador so as to resemble the natives and forget that they are foreigners
and strangers.
References:
King James Version (KJV)—Public
Domain/ 1604, King James I of England
New International Version
(NIV)—Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
The Message Bible (MSG)—Copyright ©
1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson
