OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON THE SCEPTER OF ZION

From Psalm 110;

Your mighty scepter will rule from Zion

By Your great power judge the nations

Arrayed for battle in Holy splendor

Your sons go forth at Your command and conquer   

Psalm 110

1 The Lord says to my lord

Sit at my right hand

    until I make your foes

    a footstool for your feet.

2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,

   "Rule in the midst of your enemies!"

3 Your troops will be willing

    on your day of battle.

Arrayed in holy splendor,

    your young men will come to you

    like dew from the morning's womb. (c. A surprise out of thin air)

4 The Lord has sworn

    and will not change his mind:

"You are a priest forever,

    in the order of Melchizedek."

5 The Lord is at your right hand;

    he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead

    and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.

7 He will drink from a brook along the way,

    and so he will lift his head high. 

(c. Having drank from the cup of death for the sins of all men,

 He can confidently assert authority over the whole earth)

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO FULLFIL THE LAW

Proceeding along with the requirements of entering the kingdom of heaven recorded in the book of Mathew chapter 5 verses 17 - 20,  the Lord Jesus taught His followers that the gravity of the Law of Moses intensified with the onset of His  ministry.

Whereas some may have interpreted the ministry of the Christ to be the abolition of the law, Jesus declared that it was, in fact, the oposite. In the way Jesus lived His life, He fulfilled the law at the highest possible standard that exceeded the standards of the pharisees. 

He accomplished each and every nuance of the law with His perfect righteousness and it was with this perfection that He went to the cross to die for the sins of mankind.

Because our own righteouness does not reach that high standard, our only hope of entering the kingdom of heaven is to have the righteousness of Christ accrued to us which in fact it is when we believe in Jesus and are justified and deemed to be perfect as Romans 5 verse 1 says; "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we a have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..." We therefore depend on Jesus' fulfillment of the perfect standard of the law to enter the kingdom of heaven. The scriptures says it this way;

17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

In qualifying to enter the kingdom of heaven, we are able to claim that our righteousness exceeds that of the pharisees because, by the mechanism of believing in Jesus, we appropriate His righteousness and are justified.

Once justified, we are privileged to enter the kingdom of heaven and it is while we are ensconced in the kingdom that we get to learn to live in the power of His resurection and find that, while still in the body, we are increasingly able to live righteously and to ultimately attain a degee of righteousness that exceeds that of the pharisees.

It is for this reason that Jesus, in verse 19 of our passage, underscores the neccesity of upholding every point of the law.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO IS GLORIFIED BY THE GOOD WORKS OF HIS CHILDREN

Mathew chapter 4 verses 13 - 16 says this;

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

This passage elucidates the effect that believers are expected to have in the world by comparing us to salt and to light.

Salt, with its distinct flavour, is used as a metaphor for the distinction of righteousness that believers should be exhibiting in their lives before non-believers.

If that distinction is lost, believers will become irrelevant in the world and they will be trampled underfoot by men. 

The problem highlighted by the Lord Jesus is that if believers lose their distinct flavor of righteouness, there is no other substance that can be introduced to re-season them with the flavor of righteousness. The lives of believers need to be perpetually seen as a desirable standard to which unbelievers can compare their own lives and seek the remedy of salvation.

With righteousness enmeshed in their lives, Jesus charges believers to be the light of the world and to let the righteouness of God be seen in their lives the way that a light placed on a lampstand illuminates a house.

The good works like hospitality, generosity, gentleness, forgiveness, mercy and faithfulness are ways that God is glorified because people observe how believers take the responsibility to alleviate the difficulties in other people's lives while restoring and sustaining the dignity and intrinsic worth of those around them.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT A SAVIOUR TO TEACH US PART 4

The Lord Jesus, continuing to teach His disciples in Mathew chapter 4 verses 9 - 12 about the categories of people who would be admitted and set into His kingdom now that it had drawn near, mentioned the peacemakers who would gain the title or position of 'sons of God'.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children ( KJV:  sons ) of God.

Peacemakers are those who seek reconciliation between themselves and other parties or endeavour to establish reconciliation between other parties.

Reconciliation is ending of hostilities and the mending of broken communication lines and finally the re-establishment of normal relations. 

In this verse, the Lord Jesus tells His followers that those who preoccupy themselves with reconciling themselves and others to God will be named sons of God. This means that they would be adopted into the family of God and would no longer be slaves or orphans but rather sons who belong to the household of God and if sons, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

So whereas people could believe in the message of the salvation through Christ and be saved, there is  a process of reconciliation with God that must be pursued and those who do so, will be granted the Spirit of Adoption.

In the next verse, the Lord Jesus, speaks of those who are persecuted because of their stand for righteousness.

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

Here, to those who suffer persecution, gain the kingdom of heaven that is also conferred upon those mentioned in the first beatitude (those who are poor in spirit). Additionally, there is another group of people who would gain the kingdom of heaven mentioned separately in Mathew chapter 19 verse 14 which says; but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

So the poor in spirit and those persecuted for righteousness and little children are automatically qualified to be part of the kingdom of heaven.

Having explained to His disciples about the conduits through which other people would be drawn into and placed in His kingdom, the Lord redirected His focus on them directly and said to them that they would be blessed when they undertook their roles in process setting up the kingdom of God because they would suffer greatly from denigration, slander, social and political accusation and harassment. Mathew chapter 4 verses 11 - 12 put it this way;

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.

The Lord encourages his followers to be happy when they are deemed worthy to suffer for His sake because they are assured a great reward in heaven because the suffering they  would endured would be same as the suffering of the historic prophets of God who suffered greatly at the hands of the enemies of God.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT A SAVIOUR TO TEACH US PART 3

We now look at the next set of beatitudes from the fifth to the sixth one.

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

This is a principle of reciprocation related to the conduct shown to other people. It is mirrored in the words of the Lord Jesus in Mathew chapter 6 verse 15 which says; But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. In the inverse sense, the showing mercy to others allows for mercy to be shown to us. This conditional axiom adjures believers to follow the Lord's example of being merciful to others. 

Mathew chapter 18 verse 18 says; “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 

For believers, to be merciful towards someone is to loose  them in the spirit and vice versa. Because these types of obligations cross into the spirit realm, to bind someone with fetters into that realm will cause the retention of any fetters that one may themselves be linked to. Similarly, to sever obligations held over other people will generally sever any obligations or debts against ones' own self.

The next beatitude is fearsome because it suggests that there are ways that a believer can behave that would prevent them from seeing God.

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

The pure in heart are those who are sincere in their disposition towards the Lord. They harbour no concealed agendas and do not present false impressions of themselves to appear pious before men. An example of people who are not pure in heart is mentioned in Mathew 6 verse 6 which says; And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Here, the praying is done in public to enhance their reputations and enhanced reputions will be the full reward for this behaviour while the sincere behaviour is to pray in secret.

The sincerity of private prayer results in intimacy with God and one is brought into the inner circle of the Lord and they will see God.

To try to do spritual practices with motives apart from the pure-hearted love of God will exclude one from direct contact with Him.

Amen.

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SENT A SAVIOUR WHO TEACHES US Part 2

Continuing with the beatitudes that the Lord Jesus was teaching His disciples, we'll examine the second through to the fourth one out of the total of nine.

Mathew chapter 5 verses 4 - 5;

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

The principle touched on here is that those who acknowledge and regret their rebellious nature and mourn over their sins will be comforted and assured of their redemtion from darkness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness as 1 John 1 verse 9 says.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

This principle points to the humble at heart who seek not to offend anyone and who are not offended by anyone. Those who are humble and contrite are given authority over the realms of the earth and this lines up with Luke 9 verse 49 which in part says; "For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

The people described here are those mired in sin but see the high standard of God and genuinely yearn to be righteous. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied because they are desiring to be aligned to the ways of God and they will be marked for justification just as happened to the sinner who went to the temple in Luke 18 verse 13 and 14;

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The man, a sinner, yearned for righteousness and journeyed to the temple but he could not even go near but stood at a distance. The Lord declared that this man was justified. His hunger and thirst for righteousness was filled.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT A SAVIOUR WHO TEACHES US Part 1

Beginning the  series of axiomatic principles related to God's kingdom Jesus taught His followers what are known as 'the Beatitudes', Mathew chapter 5 verses 1 - 3 sets the scene of an informal meeting on the side of a mountain where Jesus and His disciples were sitting on the ground and looking out at the crowd of people below them.

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord began the teaching by listing the primary qualifier needed to be part of the kingdom of heaven and that is to be 'poor in spirit'.

To be poor in spirit means to be bereft of any self-significance and to have no spiritual pride and therefore, to begin ones' journey into the kingdom of heaven, one must be fully pursuaded of ones' own bankruptcy and inability to meet any requirements by ones' own merits.

To be in any condition of self-assuredness or self-confidence would exclude a person from being able to be part of the kingdom. 

Of all the people who had gathered below them, Jesus taught His disciples that only the ones who were there because they knew that they had no reserves left and had exhausted all alternate pathways to redemtion by their own efforts would be permitted to even begin their journey into the kingdom of heaven.

Amen.

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Referenced www.gotquestions.com

OUR FATHER WHO SENT A SAVIOUR WHO HEALED US

After starting to gather disciples who could travel with Him and learn what He was doing, the Lord Jesus began moving around Galilee teaching the good news of the kingdom and he was healing the people of all manner of afflictions and diseases. Mathew chapter 4 verses 23 - 25 describes it this way;

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 

24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Word about Jesus' ministry spread to the surrounding regions and people with intractable and chronic conditions were brought to Him from all directions and He healed them.

Many began to follow him.

Amen.

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