Kingdom Living

I'd ask that you turn once again to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5, verses 1-3, And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed, someone who has been blessed by God. Happiness based on inner reality. This is objective happiness as opposed to a subjective happiness. It's kind of like being loved by someone. You are loved by that person whether you happen to feel like it or not. Objective happiness not based on circumstances. One of the main things that Jesus is teaching us in this chapter is the importance of what a person is like on the inside. And what a person is like on the inside will show itself even though some people are able to or think that they are able to hide it fairly well.

Now this is not to say that what we do on the outside is not important. It's vitally important. What we do or do not do is not all that there is. For example, it's not just important that we do not murder people. It's also important that we do not become so angry with people that we wish that we were in a position to murder them.

Jesus never tells us that the Ten Commandments are not vitally important. They are vitally important. One, the Ten Commandments have been given to us to point us to Jesus and to point others to Jesus. Secondly, the Ten Commandments have been given to us as a measuring stick, a measuring rod, so that we can see how well we are responding to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, the Ten Commandments are a foundation for the laws for any society. The Ten Commandments are vitally important. But being sinners, it's tempting to just look at outward acts without examining our inward desires. Jesus starts looking at the inner life of a Christian as he starts teaching about the Beatitudes in verse 3 of Matthew 5.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This poverty has nothing to do with a person's wealth or the lack thereof. No matter what a person's financial situation is in life, without Jesus Christ, he or she is poverty stricken. The person has nothing. So why is someone who is called poverty stricken also described as being blessed? What we are looking at here is someone who, through the power of the Holy Spirit, recognizes his or her spiritual poverty. Without Jesus, that person is doomed, and that person has come to the conclusion that, spiritually speaking, he or she has absolutely nothing to offer. Nothing. But due to the work of God in that person's life, that person is rich. Theirs is the kingdom of God. These blessed people are truly blessed.

I'd ask that you turn to Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2, verse 8. And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write, these things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. Which was dead and is alive. I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." Now I'd ask you to turn to Revelation 3, which was read this morning, and compare the two. In Revelation 3, verse 14, We read, And unto the angel of the church of Laodicea write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me, to him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in this throne.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. We have one church that looks like they're poor, but they're actually rich, and this church looks like they're rich, but they're really poor. Spiritually speaking, they are hurting, they are poor, they are poverty-stricken, but they don't recognize it. They are not pure in heart. They are not mourning over their sins.

When we look at verse 14, And 15, Jesus ends up saying in 15, I know thy works, that thou art neither hot, cold, nor hot, I would thou work cold or hot. So then in verse 16, so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. This area of Laodicea was an area that had their water pumped in from hot springs. But by the time it got to Laodicea, it wasn't hot anymore. It was now more tepid or lukewarm. And Jesus mentions that thou art neither cold nor hot.

I would thou wert cold or hot, so then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Hot would be a vibrant Christian life. Cold would be somebody who is obviously not a Christian. Warm is, well, might be a Christian, but doesn't seem to be living a Christian life, is not excited about the Christian life. It's lukewarm.

Jesus mentions that I will spew thee out of my mouth. Do you ever end up, you were expecting to eat something that was good, and you put it in your mouth, and you spit it out? Or the first time you give a baby something, whether it's ice cream or whatever, it's a shock to their system, and it's out.

Some years ago, my wife left some soup for me, and I took some what I thought to be cheese and put it in my soup and that soup didn't taste very good. See my wife makes soap and it looked a lot like cheese and I put good soap in my soup and I did not appreciate that a whole lot being in my mouth. I did not finish off that soup. There are some times when something occurs in our mouth and we do not want to swallow it.

We want to put it in the other direction. Jesus mentions, I will spew, I will vomit you out of my mouth, because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

This area of Laodicea was a very rich area. They had done very well and really didn't have a need for anything. They had had an earthquake in that area and Rome was willing to help. We don't need your help. We'll take care of ourselves. And while that can be very commendable, this ties into what the church is feeling. The church has taken upon itself the culture of the area. Instead of being different, they are like its culture.

We don't need anything. But Jesus says, no, it's not that thou wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. They don't recognize their spiritual poverty. They are not mourning over their sins. But spiritually speaking, instead of being rich, they're actually wretched and miserable and poor. And they are blind and naked. In verse 18, I counsel thee to buy me gold tried in the fire. Instead of putting your importance on things, you need to be putting it on Christ Himself. That thou mayest be rich. You think you're rich, but you're not rich.

And white raiment. The area was known for its wool. It was known for being part of the clothing industry. But they needed to be clothed themselves in the correct manner that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. Even Adam and Eve, after they sinned, were ashamed. This church does not seem to show shame. And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. Blessed are the pure in heart that they may see God. This area was known for its eye salve. And yet, spiritually speaking, they could not see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent." Just like we learned about Jesus in the temple. He was zealous for His Father's house. They are to be zealous. for Christianity, for Jesus Christ. But they weren't. They were to be repenting of their sins, but they weren't.

And if all of that is not bad enough, talking to this church, this covenant community, behold, verse 20, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. Big question. Do you know something wrong with this? Why is Jesus on the outside? Why, symbolically, is He on the outside of the church? Where should He be? This is quite an insult that Jesus is giving these people. Very well deserved. Now, you have hope, but the hope is that an individual would then be changed by the Holy Spirit. Or if the person is a Christian, that person would repent. But we don't see repentance. We don't see faith worked out. When we look at the Beatitudes, we see people who have recognized their spiritual poverty and recognized what their sin is in the nostrils of a holy God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The church in Laodicea looked at itself as being rich, and yet they were not rich where it really counted. The church in Smyrna may have looked at themselves as being poor, but in reality they were spiritually rich. There is nothing wrong in and of itself in being financially rich. And there is nothing in and of itself good about being financially poor.

But unless people come to the place where they recognize the spiritual poverty, those people are truly poor. And not only has the Christian come to the place of recognizing his or her poverty, their spiritual poverty, without Jesus. This recognition must never be forgotten, for it never changes. Without Jesus, all people are spiritually poverty-stricken. The question to ask yourself is, do you look at yourself as being in and of yourself, truly helpless? Do you recognize your spiritual poverty without Jesus?

There are many kinds of churches that are available to attend. I'm going to place them this morning into five categories that I made up myself when it comes to how we might look at ourselves. Number one, there's the I'm okay, you're okay church. You are okay. Now, don't you feel so much better about yourself? There's the little engine that could church. You just need a little encouragement to think that you can. And with work and perseverance, you can do whatever you put your mind to.

Notice in these first two, no mention of Jesus. The third is the You need some help, church, which I also would call the touched-by-an-angel church. You need help from a higher power, but you will be just fine. The fourth church is the you-need-a-lot-of-help church. You need a lot of help from Jesus, since you are a sinner. You are sick and need Jesus to help you to become well. You need Jesus to be your co-pilot. Now, number five is the one that's perhaps the least popular of all churches, and that's called the, you may have heard it, the Reformed Church. Its message is one that is not terribly popular.

You are not sick in your sins, you are dead in your sins, and you have nothing at all to offer God. You are totally helpless, and you are totally not okay. Your righteousness is filthy and without God doing it all, you cannot be changed. Without Jesus, you are going to hell. All the good effort in the world and all the positive self-talk in the world will not keep you out of hell. Unless the Holy Spirit changes you, you are doomed. Your effort to get yourself out of this situation results in zero meritorious attainment.

We give the message, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and recognize that your salvation will be 100% God and 0% you. Jesus will not be your co-pilot because you have never been, nor will you ever be issued a pilot's license. Do not insult Jesus by saying that you are his equal in any way, shape, or form. You are not his co-anything.

This kind of church is far from being perfect since it's filled with sinners, but it strives to speak the truth to its people and the world around it. Without Jesus, you are, we are, poverty-stricken. You have no more to offer Jesus as far as salvation is concerned than Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, or any other evil leader of any nation or organization.

But if you are a Christian, you are the privileged recipient of God's favor. You recognize that your sins are a stench in the nostrils of God, and that even your most righteous acts, performed in and of yourself, are like the filthiest of dirty rags. But when God the Father looks at you, if you are a Christian, who does He see? He sees Jesus.

This should lead to an objective happiness that no person or any situation in life shall take away. And we see that Christians, being poor in spirit, are told that the kingdom of heaven is theirs. If you are a Christian, you are part of the kingdom right now and will be part of the kingdom in its improved state forever. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? Think about this. You have nothing to offer the triune God. Your sins are foul and rotten before God, and you are totally without excuse. The triune God saves you. You are presently part of the kingdom, and you will always be part of the kingdom.

Jesus points out time after time, again, the importance of what is going on in the inner man. This blessedness, this inner objective happiness is always there, no matter what the circumstances of the person's life may be, as opposed to the subject of happiness that is so often based on circumstances. So let me ask you a question.

If you are a Christian who recognizes your spiritual poverty without Christ and are truly grateful and happy due to what Christ has done and is doing for you, what should be your emotional state when faced with your sin? Blessed are the poor in spirit might be looked at as being, how should we then think? Blessed are those who mourn might be looked at as being a, how should we then feel? How should we then think? We are spiritually poverty stricken without Jesus. We are poor in spirit. How should we then feel?

We have and are offering the Holy Trinity We are, I'll start this again. We have and are offending a holy trinity with our sins, the holy trinity, and thus we mourn over our sins. Blessed are those who mourn. The way that we think does affect the way that we feel. Once again in Matthew 5 verse 4, blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. If a person has supernaturally come to the recognition of his or her spiritual poverty without Jesus that we have been looking at, it would only seem logical to me that that person, when recognizing how he has offended the Holy Trinity, would internally and perhaps also externally weep due to what has been done or not done by that person.

We are not here, we're not looking here at mourning as being a good thing in and of itself any more than we looked at financial poverty as being a good thing in and of itself. The recognition of inner poverty on the part of the Christian should lead to mourning, not only at the point of salvation, but throughout the Christian's life as well. And this mourning on the part of the Christian is not a hopeless mourning. It's not a Judas Iscariot kind of mourning.

The truly repentant Christian who is mourning over personal sins shall be comforted. This recognition of spiritual poverty and mourning over sin will surely be made manifest, be made known in the lives of Christians who take their sin and confession of sin super seriously. They will not just be going through the motions, but they will be giving proof of their salvation and their positive response to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. This inward life does not just stay inward, but results in a godly life outwardly.

I'd ask that you turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 6. Okay. Chapter 6, verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. And above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings, and twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved. at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

How should we think about our sin and who we are without Jesus? How should we feel about our sin? And not just about our own sins, but the sins of others as well. Let's turn to Psalm 32. Verses 1-6. And this psalm is written by David after he has sinned with Bathsheba, has committed murder, then on top of all of that, has not repented.

And at this point, I guess you would call him lukewarm. You really don't know at this point if you're just an outsider, you don't know really how this story is going to end, you're just looking at it kind of like watching a movie. get the idea that this man may not be a regenerate man. But a friend of his, a prophet, comes to him and tells him an interesting story, and David is enraged at the telling of this story. And then Nathan tells him, Thou art the man, and David repents. This is part of David's response to this situation in life.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Now this does not mean that David didn't pay a big price for this. David paid a big price. Israel paid a big price.

But as far as his relationship, as far as his fellowship with God, it was now restored. He was a godly man, but someone who had sinned in a terrible way, was showing himself to be lukewarm. When he's confronted with his sin, months after that sin, he repents and God forgives him. So it's important for us to remember that God forgives, but at the same time, we often still have to live with the consequences.

David was not just concerned about his own sin and the need for his own true confession here. He was concerned about the sins of others as well. Mourning over our sins is a biblically appropriate correct emotional response to the recognition of who we are in and of ourselves as we stand before a holy God. But it's also important to recognize, to realize, that mourning over the sins of others who stand before a holy God is expected of us as well. We should not just be condemning other people, we also should be feeling great sorrow due to their sin as well, and a desire that they would be saved as well, no matter who they might be. Do not forget that dirty, murderous scoundrel who ended up being saved by the Lord, saved through the work of the Holy Spirit, and now we end up reading a lot of books that he wrote. That being the Apostle Paul. Mourning over our own sins and responding in a biblical manner is important as we witness to others whether they be saved or unsaved. Mourning over our own sins cannot be separated from the gospel.

Have you ever come to the realization that you sinned against someone years ago and that you needed to do something about it? You needed to do the right thing. You needed to do the God-glorifying, gospel-centered right thing. That realization that you need to make things right after all these years can be, speaking from experience, one of the most awful feelings in the whole world.

And since there is no statute of limitations when it comes to people whom we've hurt, we need to do something about it. I know a lot of times people are going to say, ah, that happened years ago, don't worry about it. Well, I don't see any statute of limitations in Scripture for when we've done something, when we've sinned against someone. We need to do the right thing, the God-glorifying, Gospel-centered thing.

And you may be thinking, oh, how I wish that, and you should be thinking that, how I wish that I had not sinned against that person, and in doing so, sinned against God. Recognition of our sin and their emotional response to that recognition, and it can be a lot of spiritual pain. It can be a lot of spiritual mourning. You know that you've asked God for forgiveness. But you know that true repentance involves making things right with the person that you have sinned against. This is not just some sort of easy forgiveness.

If somebody borrows $10,000 from you, or let's say somebody steals $10,000 from you, And then they come up to you a year later and say, will you forgive me? And you say yes, and they walk, thank you, and they walk away. What's missing? The $10,000 is what's missing. There's no true repentance there without restitution, without trying to make things right with that person.

You have to take the next big step, and it can be a huge step. You go to that person, confess, ask for forgiveness, and do all that you can to make things right. And a comforting feeling that is beyond description can come over you. It's one of the best feelings in the entire world. It's wonderful. Comfort for the Christian who truly mourns over his or her sins and lives out that mourning in every area of his or her life. And not only will the Christian be comforted in this world, but will be for eternity as well.

Tears wiped from our eyes by Jesus himself. How should we think about ourselves if we are Christians? Truly knowing that without Jesus we are totally without hope, doomed to eternity in hell, and have nothing to offer as far as salvation is concerned. and recognizing that our sins are a stench in the nostrils of God, and that even our most righteous acts, performed in and of themselves, are like the filthiest of dirty, rotten rags. How should Christians then feel?

Mourning over our sins especially, and the sins of others as well. How we think affects how we feel, and how we feel affects how we act. Now, if we are thinking and feeling about our sins in the way that we should, shouldn't that affect our attitudes towards spreading the good news by both our words and our actions? There's been a great debate in the church throughout the years concerning whether the gospel should be primarily spread by our godly lifestyles or by our godly message of the good news. Let me let you in on something that should not be a secret. The gospel announced and the gospel lived are both required by scripture. God expects both. It's not an either or.

If you are a Christian who recognizes who you are in Jesus, your spiritual poverty without Jesus, and respond in a biblical manner by mourning over your sins internally, and perhaps externally as well, and are biblically concerned about the sins of others, won't you have a love for spreading the gospel, as well as living out the gospel? How we think affects how we feel, and how we feel affects how we act. A Christian's recognition of his or her spiritual poverty leads to his or her mourning over personal sin, which will then lead to action. Biblical thinking, biblical feeling, biblical action, which leads to the spread of the Gospel message throughout the world.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the blessing that we have of being able to read Your Word, and if we are Christians, that we can internalize it in a way that no one else can. We pray, Heavenly Father, that Your Word this morning will be used by Your Holy Spirit to change us so that we will be different when we leave this building. And if there be anyone here who has not been changed, that Your Holy Spirit would change them Take what is dead and give it life. In the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. I've asked that you turn into your Psalter. Psalm 119.

M. And may we remember that God appreciates, requires a warm heart. We are to be keeping the law of God, but we are to be keeping it joyfully. Let's stand as we sing from the word of God.