Getting saved is not the end of God’s design for our lives; it is a means to an end. The end is to be a functioning member of the Kingdom of God. We must move away from a “Save Me” religion, which is wanting something for me—rather, it should be something that God wants--a kingdom, ruled by His children.
The best definition of the Kingdom is in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy
Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven…” We want
God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. How is God’s will done
in heaven? We have a very beautiful picture in Isaiah 6, where he is
telling us that King Uzziah died. He was a good king, reigned for 52
years, one of the more powerful kings of Judah—the nation did many great things
under him. Isaiah placed great confidence in him. But the king
became very proud, and decided to reach out and become a priest as well
(forbidden in Israeli religion). When he made the offering in the temple,
God struck him with leprosy. And from then to the end of his life, the prophet
Isaiah had to hear this man whom he had admired, shouting repeatedly outside
the congregation “Unclean! Unclean!” That was a warning that he approached. It was
a requirement in their law.
God knew the sadness Isaiah had, but He wanted to teach Isaiah that we
should place limited confidence in Man. Only in God. So He gave Isaiah a
vision—he saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his garment filled
the temple. He made Isaiah see reality--the greatness of God, much more than
the greatness of Uzziah. Then he saw the seraphim—and that’s where we get
a picture of how God’s will is done in heaven. The word seraphim literally
means “burners;” fiery, copper-colored creatures, burning in their zeal to do
whatever God said. They had six wings. Wings were drawn across their
faces, their feet, and there were wings ready to fly. That’s how God’s
will is done in heaven—promptly, with passion, without question—and with
humility. Isaiah then cried, “Woe is me.” Here is probably the
holiest man in Israel saying, “I am nothing.” That’s the attitude that we
need to perform God’s will on earth. In heaven, we’re going to love Him
and develop the same attitude the seraphim had. And Isaiah saw that he
was far from that, as we all are.
Romans 12:3 says we ought to be transformed by the renewing of our
mind. Did you ever notice what is the first evidence of the renewed
mind? Read the following verses carefully:
And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind...for I say through the grace given to me,… not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think.”
That is the first evidence of a Spirit-filled and renewed mind—to have a
proper view of ourselves, unaffected by pride or secrets. We're thinking of our
need to be humble. After all, humility ought to be a prominent theme of
the Lord’s people. Think of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. He
taught us to be humble. We want to have the mind of Christ.
Philippians 2 has more to say on this topic, telling us that we are to have
His mind, then telling us what the mind of Jesus was like. Five things
happened in His Incarnation. (1) He didn’t think it (His
noble position in heaven) was something He had to hang onto,
to be equal with God—although that was the noble position he was used to. He
was willing to step down to reconcile humanity. Mankind thinks the
opposite—once you reach a certain level, you’ll do most anything to at least
hold your position. Jesus was at the very top—and He didn’t find it
necessary to keep that. He stripped Himself of all the privileges and
dignity and deity; “he emptied Himself.” This is before He ever left
heaven. And then (2) He would become God’s servant.
God will give the orders; Jesus was going to fulfill them. Through seven
chapters of John (4 through 10), we have that picture. We have something
in every one of those chapters that says, “I don’t do anything but what my
Father tells me.” This was humility. Before, He and His Father had
always done things together. And now He chooses to become a slave, as it
were. (3) And then He became a man.
I don’t think we can imagine the step down to do that; maybe it would be like
us becoming a mouse. But this was a much bigger step down.
Jesus prayed, As He approached His crucifixion, Hebrews tells us that God would
deliver His soul from death. From the tomb. Why? He had come
to the most dangerous part of His earthly existence—after all this
mistreatment, could He avoid having a bitter thought, or saying an angry
word? If he did, He would have stayed in that grave. He asked God
to give Him victory, to come out of that experience and resurrect His
body. Since He was 100% man (as well as 100% God), since He endured the
temptations that we all face, when He came down to be a man, He took a great
risk. (4) As a man, He renounced His heavenly position.
He didn’t come as a king, or a priest; He was constantly faced with the
accusatory question, “By what authority do you do this?” He came as an
ordinary person. (5) He allowed His creation to kill him.
That wouldn’t have been so bad if it were a heroic death, with at least
"Taps" playing, or his name sketched on a wall, or buried somewhere
special. But it was the death on the cross—the most ignominious death
that anybody could suffer.
So here we have Jesus—who went from the absolute top to the absolute
bottom—by choice. It wasn’t, like, "no way out," it was a
voluntary humbling. He chose this. This is the mind of
Christ. He modeled humility, obedience, and self-humbling. People,
we should always take the “low road” of humility—that’s always the right road.
As Philippians says, because He did this, God highly exalted Him.
Scripture says to us, “he that humbles himself, God will exalt him.”
That’s a promise. God will take care of your reputation--in heaven, where
it counts eternally.
Now let’s move from the mind of Christ to how Jesus acted in His
kingdom. Matthew 5, the Beatitudes, shows how He exemplified the kingdom
in His experience. Many phrases begin with “Blessed.” What does that word
mean; to be envied. God is backing up each of these behaviors with
tremendous promise; and to place yourself in His will, means He will pour out
His promise on us—this is the best place to be.
The first character is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” This means
we desire to learn—able to get down off our high horse, lay aside all
prejudices, all biases, and sit there like a child—and learn. By reading
Scripture with fresh eyes, by meditating on it. Most people can’t do
that. Louis Pasteur discovered the germ theory of disease. They
didn’t even know about germs. Many people died of infection, since
doctors and nurses wouldn’t even wash their hands going to surgery, or they
moved from one patient to another. But despite all his data proving the
lowered mortality where simple washing of hands were done, Dr. Pasteur couldn’t
convince any of them, and he was heartbroken. Going to all the trouble of
washing, washing, washing was stupid, they said. They were educated! You
are only a chemist. “We are doctors! We have been trained—you have
not. You are not going to tell us.” Folks, you won’t get into the kingdom
until that attitude is done. Did you know Jesus was a learner? You
didn’t think He had to learn anything, did you? He had to learn what it felt
like in flesh to obey, when you're tired, when you are in pain. And all
who follow Him are learners, ready to obey—no matter what it costs.
Dismiss your preconceptions. Learn.
“Blessed are they that mourn.” The Bible says that some won’t see the
kingdom of God; but once you want Christ, you get a whole new set of
eyes. You begin to really see the world—and you’re not laughing anymore
at its jokes. You’re not laughing anymore at its sitcoms, which picture
no real family, or stupid fathers (or no fathers, or gay parents), or its
version of hypocritical preachers. That’s how they think of God's
laws. That stuff’s not funny anymore. I heard a sermon that
somebody can tell what you are by seeing what you cry about. Most people
cry about their own problems; you will be crying about the needs of your heart,
and the needs of the world. Sam Hadley was the leader of the Bowery
Mission. He had been a drunk on the street and had been converted and now
was the leader of the Mission. One evening he had Charles Alexander, who
was the singer for Billy Sunday, come to the Mission to sing. After the
meeting, Charles Alexander said, “I would like to see the Bowery.” So Sam
Hadley took him in his car around to all its places. Afterwards, Sam said
goodbye. Charles Alexander walked around the corner. And just as he
got around the corner, he thought he heard somebody cry. As he turned around
and walked back, there was Sam Hadley, leaning against a lamp post, saying “Oh,
God! The sin of this city breaks my heart!” He couldn’t contain his
crying. That’s the attitude you will have toward the world, the broken
world you live in, all its shortcomings. Learn about how people are
treated in countries besides your own. It's an eye-opener. Your
reaction should not be just thanking God you were born in a country that treats
people this way. You would have your own sorrow for your inability to
make many things better immediately. But the Word says you will be
comforted; you will begin to see results—if you respond in that way to your own
sin, and the sins of the world. You’ll see healing, and changes take place.
“Blessed are the meek.” Meek people are gentle. They’re
mild. They’re harmless. The Word says we should be, “wise as serpents,
and harmless as doves.” They’re strong people, but it’s strength under
discipline. They don’t ever lash out, they don’t hurt other people. They
use their strength in other ways. A strong man who sets down beside
that little boy, and teaches him or her with patience; that’s a picture of
meekness. You can afford to be meek, I’ll tell you why. If you’re part of
the Kingdom, the universe is on your side. In the Old Testament, you
remember Sisera? He came charging down over those hills, with his iron
chariots, and there was the Israeli standing army. He thought, “This is a
lead-pipe cinch,” but there was a thunderstorm upstream, and the whole valley
was flooded, and his chariots got stuck, and he got exhausted or chased, ran
into the tent of Jael, went to sleep, and she drove a stake through his
head…and he was dead. You know what the Bible says? “The stars from
their courses fought against Sisera.” (Judges 4:12-23; 5:20). Now,
if you’re against the God who directs the universe, you’re not going to
win. But you can afford to be meek, because the whole universe is behind
you. You will win, because God’s Kingdom will not fail. So you can
afford not to "get even" with people, and manipulate to make your
“program” work. Just let it go. And do what’s right. You’re not a
weakling. But you will not force, you will not hurt, you will not use those
kind of tactics on anybody. Remember the promise for being meek: “And
they shall inherit the earth.” After Christ, slavery disappeared in the
Roman Empire; and all the Christians did was obey the Gospel. It was done
without any violence.
Next. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” We’re
talking about being right. You will be blessed because that is what you were
made for. You are not constitutionally made, or physically made to hate,
or have anger, or revenge. You were made to love. What is it to be
merciful? To feel pain when others have pain. The word for
compassion literally means, the spleen. If you have a deep deep concern
for someone who is in trouble, your digestive system will tell you about it.
“Blessed are the pure in heart.” Those who are sold out for God; their
heart of desire has nothing else in it--just desire for God. This person
will see God. They will really learn to know who God is. There are
lots of people who have real problems with God—but if they purify their hearts,
they can really know Him and His love. He is benevolent, gracious,
extravagant.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” To be just like God. He is a
peacemaker. Think of Ephesians 1:10: “that in the dispensation of
the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” If there is any place
that you experience a problem, you will have a passion to reconcile.
And finally, “Blessed are the persecuted.” That is where the greatest
power that is ever on this earth is released—when a person suffers for
Christ. Martyrs often rejoiced at death's door, for they understood
something we don’t understand. When the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of
the world clashes, something supernatural is going to happen.
May God help us to develop these characters, truly following our Savior—and
helping to build His Kingdom.
Acknowledgement: This is a Summary of speech from John M. Martin, the
Anabaptist Identity Conference, 2010, Florida
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