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Kingdom Principles for Kingdom Living (Matthew 5:7-12): True Spiritual Righteousness

Pr Josephine Lu

17-01-2021


Matthew 5:7-12

New International Version

Blessed are the merciful,
    
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Jesus wanted His disciples to know about the Scriptures and to live them out as life principles.

 

Matthew 7:24-27

New International Version

The Wise and Foolish Builders

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

 

These life principles have to be put into practice. It is the very foundation that is built in us that causes us to be strong in times of shakings shakings, through the storms of life, challenges and difficulties that we are facing and will face in the future. This foundation that we’ve built by practising and living these principles will cause us to remain steadfast in our faith so that ultimately we can inherit the blessings that He has prepared for us.

 

Jesus was trying to emphasise how important these teachings. He drew away from the multitude to go up to the mountainside where He sat down and the disciples came to Him. It showed the seriousness of what He was about to share.

 

Jesus was communicating who He was through the Sermon on the Mount. He was letting them know who He was through His teaching. He was imparting His very life which was shown in the way He lived and He expected His disciples to emulate.  When we disciple someone, we are actually imparting life to them, not just mere words. Our lives speak louder than words.

 

Elder Saw also shared that the Sermon on the Mount was a clear direction on how we should live as His children; not legalistic observation of the law but the spirit of the law, that is what is in the heart of God. These kingdom principles are lived out as we choose to repent from the religious systems or worldly systems that have influenced our lives.

 

Matthew 5:7

New International Version

Blessed are the merciful,
    
for they will be shown mercy.

 

Whenever Jesus showed His attributes, there was always the opposite attributes shown by the Pharisees that was totally opposite of who He was. For example, He demonstrated mercy in the way He acted with the woman caught in adultery. (John 7:53-8:11) The Pharisees said those caught in adultery must be stoned according to the law of Moses. But Jesus told her to leave her life of sin for He does not condemn her. He showed that He truly had come to save the sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes—people deserving of condemnation but He came to seek them out. His love and mercy draws people into His kingdom. People would disregard them and look down on them but the heart of Jesus was to reach out to these people.

 

Matthew 9:12-13

New International Version

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

How do we react towards those who are under privileged, the prisoners and the prostitutes? Do we despise them in our hearts and say they are beyond redemption?  Have we spent time praying for them? They are in the midst of this darkness and how much time have we actually spent praying for them? Jesus came for them. He showed how much he loved them.

 

Matthew 20:30-34

New International Version

30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

 

 

Don’t underestimate the power of one encounter with the living God. People are in need of God’s love and mercy. When they experience His mercy through us, just one encounter can cause them to follow Him. Miracles and healings are often linked to a heart of mercy and compassion. Are we too busy to hear the cries of the needy, the destitute and the outcast of society?

 

In the midst of the crowds, He heard the blind men, He called them and He healed them. This is the heart of Jesus. 

 

In what circumstance can we be merciful to others that will ultimately portray Christlikeness in us.  When we have been wronged, are we able to forgive easily or do we feel we have the right to hold that offense, and bear grudges and unforgiveness in our hearts?

 

Mercy matters because we all need forgiveness. We are not perfect. We sin against others and others sin against us and there is always a need to forgive.

 

Christ’s mercy is His total favour given gladly to the undeserving heart.

 

He will never keep a record of our sins or failings.

 

Lamentations 3:22-23

New International Version

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

 

We can really depend on God’s mercy and His forgiveness. Through all our shortcomings, God is still doing a refining work in us. This attribute of mercy that we give to others depicts His heart that we are willing to humble ourselves and say that we forgive in spite of what’s been done against us and this will actually touch the hearts of the people and this will liberate them to know that they are forgiven.

 

His mercy can never be properly explained. It is experienced. The only way we can explain mercy is by being merciful ourselves.

 

Remember the story of the unmerciful servant? (Matthew 18:21-35) He had his own debt wiped away but refuses to forgive another servant who owed him a few cents.

 

Whenever we find it hard to forgive, remember how much we have been forgiven and release our hearts to forgive those who have wronged us.

 

We need to show forth God’s mercy.

 

Matthew 5:8

New International Version

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    
for they will see God.

 

Jeremiah 17:9-10

New International Version

The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

 

Sin separates us from a close and intimate relationship with God. David’s cry in Psalm 51 was:

 

Psalm 51:10

New International Version

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

 

David was one who knew the presence of God. He always longed to be in His presence. But when he sinned against God when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he wanted to come back to that place of abiding again.

 

Psalm 51:11

New International Version

11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.

 

David came back to the presence of God by confessing His sins. Whenever we have sins that are not confessed before God, it becomes a place that blocks us from the fullness of His presence. The joy and gladness seems to be stolen away from us, we suffer guilt, shame and heaviness. We thank God, that through Jesus Christ, we are able to confess our sins and come back to a close relationship with God the Father.

 

The prime target of the enemy is to defile our hearts with bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, resentment, lust and the love for the world. Instead of being pure, our hearts are defiled. This area of defilement hinders us from coming to and enjoying the very presence of God.

 

This “seeing God” is not only in the future when we enter the eternal kingdom but it is also present.

 

When we have these things that defile us inside of us, we can’t see God in the Scriptures. The Word of God does not speak to us anymore and we have doubt and unbelief. It hinders us from seeing God in our everyday life where God is showing us His protection and His provisions because we are blinded because of the conditions of our hearts.

 

Sin separates us from God. That’s why we need to purify our hearts.

 

Through the cross of Calvary, we have direct access to the very presence of our Lord. The more we have of Him in us, the more of His presence is over us. The more of the Word of God that we read, the more it cleanses us from within and purifies us. God puts us through tests to see what is really inside of us. And when these things surface, it is time for us to tell the Lord honestly and repent before Him and confess that we still have anger, impatience and lack of self-control and ask God to purify that things that defile our hearts

 

Having a pure heart is a divine work of the Holy Spirit. We need the outpouring of His presence and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in us to bring restoration to our hearts and to bring wholeness and healing and to make it pure once again.

 

Discipling others is really imparting the life of Christ to others. Out of the purity of our hearts, we will rightly portray who Christ is to the fallen world.

 

Psalm 51:17

New International Version

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

 

God will not despise us when we come before Him with a contrite heart to tell Him of our sins, brokenness and mistakes. God really wants to restore us. He really wants to do that work of building us up, that we are able to be strengthened to face challenges and to be able to impart life to others.

 

There is so much fear in the hearts of the people and we need to come back to that place of abiding in God and let our hearts to be filled with peace and allow our hearts to be strengthened to face a new day again.

 

Matthew 5:10-12

New International Version

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

2 Timothy 3:10-13

New International Version

A Final Charge to Timothy

10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

 

Paul was imparting to Timothy “my way of life” which included persecutions and sufferings, and how he had to endure it. He warned Timothy that all who live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted.

 

Whenever you make a stand for God, whenever you do not compromise in a situation, whenever the world says to do this and you say no, you will be persecuted.

 

God promises us that there will be eternal blessings or rewards when we stand firm upon His Word and let our light shine in the midst of being tempted to compromise

 

Actually we should ask ourselves why we are not experiencing persecution.  Maybe we are so much a part of the world system and not standing for righteousness? Maybe we are afraid to make a stand for the Lord? Maybe some of us do not even share the gospel?

 

We need to check ourselves. Is there a fear of being rejected by the people? Is there a fear of being alone? This silence speaks a lot in God’s eyes.

 

When we disciple someone, we need to share with them that in walking with Christ, we need to forgive our persecutors and to humble ourselves to go through persecution and say what Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

 

We have not come to the point of being persecuted to the point of suffering. But let’s prepare ourselves to be strong enough in our hearts that we will not let go of our faith and that we will continue to remain faithful to the Lord. It is something that we need to really pray for ourselves and for our church to remain faithful to the end.

 

We are fighting a battle in the heavenlies as well. Satan tempted Jesus to give him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, if He would bow down to worship Him. (Matthew 4:8-9). Each kingdom has their own principles, code of ethics and standards. Which kingdom do we belong to?

 

That’s why when Jesus came, he first preached on repentance.  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17) Repentance is a turning away from the kingdom of the world and entering into His kingdom by being born again.

 

We thank God that we are translated from a kingdom of darkness to a kingdom of light but do not forget that Satan is there to tempt us to compromise and to follow his principles through compromises in our lives by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. In the process, we lose the effectiveness of shining for the Lord and our testimony is marred because we choose to compromise, our strength is weakened because we give in to sin. So we need to strengthen what is within us through the Word of God through practising what the Lord has told us to do. It is not head knowledge but rather, a life that lives out God’s kingdom principles.

 

Jesus has promised us an eternal kingdom that will never fade away. While on earth, let us be trained in godliness and live out the kingdom principles that will influence the people to come to Him. Let us build a strong foundation by living out these principles that we will be able to be his disciples that remain strong in trying times and one day, we will rule and reign with Christ.

 

Let us be thankful for the heart of Jesus for drawing us away from the crowd and wanting us to come to that place of quietness where He will begin to search our hearts and speak to us. Let us humble ourselves before God and live out the principles by His grace and by the help of the Holy Spirit.


RELATED:

Keys to the Kingdom (Matthew 5:1-6): Towards Spiritual Understanding 


Kingdom Principles for Kingdom Living (Matthew 5:7-12): True Spiritual Righteousness


Salt, Light and the Law (Matthew 5:13-20) 


The Spirit of the Law 1: Anger and Reconciliation (Matthew 5:21-26)


The Spirit of the Law 2: Man must be Righteous at Heart (Matthew 5:27-37)

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