HF102 - Life in the Kingdom
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Fri Oct 24, 2003
Subject: Bible Study HF102 - Life in the Kingdom
Hebraics,
One of the most inclusive teachings in the gospels on Biblical discipleship is called the Sermon on the Mountain. This teaching is filled with principles for kingdom living. It begins with, "When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them ... " (Matt5:1,2)
The thing to note is that Jesus is essentially teaching His disciples. Thus the sermon is meant for us. The crowd was privileged to listen in.
Jesus is teaching life-principles of His kingdom. When He completes this teaching, He gives an example of the two houses. The disciple who acts on the life-principles of His kingdom, will be able to stand in the midst of stormy trials. The disciple who hears the teachings but does not apply them, his house will be found in disorder, and even crumbling in the stormy trial.
However, for this study there is one statement Jesus makes in the Sermon on the Mount that I want to draw from. Most believers can quote it by heart. The Lord said, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matt6:33)
In this study I'll provide a couple of experiences from my walk with the Lord. It is not my intent to draw attention to myself, but to show how the Lord began sharing with me what it means to be a disciple. (Always feel free to relate to the studies with your own experiences.)
This is Bible study HF102 - Life in the Kingdom.
Sometimes believers struggle over finding a proper balance in their walk with the Lord. This is quite natural. We all begin as 'infants' and have to grow in all areas of our life. But unbalance can become a real problem area after a time. Unbalance can easily lead to extremes.
With regard to the things of life, one extreme says that God is not really concerned about our life in this present world. Therefore money is evil, and the less you have in worldly goods, the more spiritual you are. Of course this isn't correct. The promise of seeking His kingdom and righteousness is that these 'things' will be added. The things have to do with the necessities of life.
The other extreme is just as unbalanced. This is the teaching that we can measure our righteousness by the things we are able to accumulate. Of course this is also non-Biblical. Jesus himself said, "Be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)
So, where is the balance? The balance relates to the Scripture we are using as a backdrop for the study. Jesus gave us a gauge that sets the tone for our walk with Him. It has to do with 'seeking' two things. Seeking His kingdom. Seeking His righteousness. Both these elements are related.
When Jesus spoke of seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, His disciples had a concept of what this meant. They had been taught all their life that Israel was the kingdom of God on earth, and that keeping the Law of Moses was the determining factor of righteous living. What they didn't know was that the spiritual dynamics of the kingdom of God were about to change. Something entirely new and unheard of was coming in place. It would come out of the experience of the cross.
Actually the Lord was preparing the disciples for a different phase of God's kingdom in the earth. This phase would be called 'the kingdom of [the Father's] beloved Son.' (Col1:13) But even this concept of God's kingdom wasn't entirely new. The prophets had long spoken of Messiah's kingdom to come. And the sages knew that Messiah's coming kingdom was linked to Messiah being God's divine Son. (There were various opinions about what this meant.)
It was this very knowledge that the Lord used to cause discomfort with the Jewish religious leaders. The fault was their own. Various groups began throwing questions at Jesus, hoping to trip Him up. The Lord disarmed each question with an answer that could not be refuted. Finally it says, "They did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything." (Luke 20:40)
And this is when the Lord asks them a question. He said, "How is it that they say the Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for Your feet."' Therefore David calls Him 'Lord,' and how is He his son?" (Luke 20:40-44)
How provoking! What caused them concern, however, was that all the people accepted that Psalm 110 was about Messiah. They also knew that Messiah was to be David's son. Yet in this Psalm, David calls the Messiah his Lord. So, how can the Messiah be David's son, and yet also be his Lord? All grew silent. They had nothing to say.
But that isn't all that David said about Christ Jesus. David laid out God's redemption program through His Son in the second Psalm. He writes, "I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You [refers to the resurrection of Christ]. 'Ask of Me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance."
Then He further says, "Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!" [Here David points to the second coming of Christ, i.e., the day of wrath.]
So, when Jesus said, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,' this is another way of saying that a person must be born again. The only way to enter into the kingdom of the beloved Son is to be born into it. In the Son's kingdom there are no racial distinctions. Everyone is given the same nature. This is why Paul later said that we are to recognize no person after the flesh.
But there is something more at hand. Since Jesus is talking to disciples, He is laying out a kingdom principle. In saying to seek first His kingdom, the word for kingdom is 'besileia'. This word translates over into English as royal power, kingship, dominion, rule. He is not speaking of a kingdom that can be recognized by borders. There is no kingdom without a King. Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world. What we are to seek then is the direct rule of the King. This is the essence of kingdom Life.
Paul has this in mind, in saying, "As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." (Col2:6) Here Paul is telling us to live our lives in the sphere of the Lordship of Jesus. This is also where the second 'seeking' comes into place. Jesus said we were to seek not merely His kingdom, but also His 'righteousness.' The issue here is not the righteousness we are given when born again. The issue here is 'pathways.' (Ways of life.)
It matches up with something David said in Psalm 23; 'He [David's Lord and Shepherd] restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." (Psalm 23:3) In this case, our seeking 'His righteousness' means we are to seek the Lord's directives and His will for our lives. And this is what gives distinction to the new covenant.
In the new covenant every person has direct access to the throne of heaven, any time, all the time, wherever and whenever. And if you will notice Jesus places our kingdom-righteous walk in the care of our loving Father. He said, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." The point is that as we seek to live under kingdom rule, that is, by directives from the Lord Jesus, every need in our life will be met. Jesus said, "All these things will be added."
Peter later elaborates on this, when he says, "Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." (2Pet1:3) Note that what we are provided with is everything pertaining to life and godliness.
Paul says much the same; "So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or the world or life or death of things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God." (1Co3:21,23)
Have you ever noticed that as a person begins to serve the Lord, their lot in life begins to improve. This is because the Lord sees both to our spiritual and our temporal needs. You see this on the mission field. You can have two villages within a few miles of one another. The village that turns to the Lord becomes a show place of cleanliness and blessings. The village that remains in darkness has its witness also. (Just the opposite.)
But again the balance must be in place. Paul said, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God WHO RICHLY SUPPLIES US WITH ALL THINGS TO ENJOY." (1Tim6:17 Caps for emphasis only.)
But this means more than having needs met. Seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness means we have an obligation to see where we fit in the Father's business. The most miserable Christian on earth is that one who gets caught up in seeking blessings, but does not seek his or her place of service.
What often happens is that as some seek the Lord's will, their seeking is limited. They do not want their comfort zone to be disturbed. This is why many of God's people never discover the true joy of a Biblical disciple's walk. It is only when we are able to say with Jesus, "Abba! Father! Not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36) Everything in a disciple's life must revolve around applying his or heart to seeking and doing the will of God.
Some many years ago I left the ministry for a season. I had experienced burn out. Over a period of three years I went through a spiritual restructuring of my life. Then the time came when I once again found myself addressing the Lord in one of those prophetic moments. I was able to say, "Lord, I'll go anywhere you want me to go. I'll do anything you want me to do. All I ask is that You tell me Yourself what you want me to do. Don't send someone to tell me." (Pretty close to exact words.)
In a few short weeks the Lord offered me an invitation to walk through what I can only term, 'the gate to miracle land.' It happened Friday, January 19, 1975. That morning I was playing my guitar and singing to the Lord. I heard in my spirit, "Go home!" We were living in South Louisiana and home was Central Louisiana.
I shared with Betty what the Lord said. We took our children out of school and headed north. I kept trying to figure out what the Lord had in store. So I began making plans to visit a number of churches that I had held revivals in. I thought the Lord wanted me to share my testimony. Was I ever wrong. That wasn't what the Lord had in store at all.
We took our children to my sister's home. Across the road from her house was a church I had held my first revival in. The lights were on. I found odd since it wasn't a church night. Cars were everywhere. I thought this must be where I am to begin.
A service was in progress. Betty and I sat quietly in the back. I waited, but the Lord said nothing else. When the minister recognized me, he said, "Brother Martin, do you have anything you would like to share." By that time I didn't know what to say. I simply stood, and said, "Brother, I don't know why the Lord sent me, but I am here."
When I spoke those first words, I heard weeping in the congregation. What I didn't know was they has lost a pastor, and they had been praying for 'their' pastor. At that moment the Lord gave them a witness that their pastor was standing in their midst.
Anyway, that was my initial venture into miracle land. And that was the beginning of my venture into the world of a disciple. I could share story after story of how the Lord provided for us, and especially how He taught us principles of discipleship. It is a never- ending story. But walking through that gate was the best thing that had ever happened to my wife and me. It brought us to where we are today. As for tomorrow, who knows?
Rather than add anything else at this point, let me simply point out once again that the level of our walk with the Lord can always be measured by how we respond to the principles of His kingdom. I only shared one principle. The Sermon on the Mountains is filled with instructions for the disciple.
You may want to read through it once again. Just put your disciple 'glasses' on as you read it this time.
Let's talk about it. The study is open.
Blessings,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)