THE PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM - PART 1 (Matthew 5)

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM - PART 1 (Matthew 5)

H. A. IRONSIDE

IN the so-called “Sermon on the Mount” our Lord was not preaching the Gospel, but He was setting forth the principles of His kingdom, which should guide the lives of all who profess to be His disciples. In other words, this is the law of the kingdom; the observance of which must characterize its loyal subjects as they wait for the day when the King Himself shall be revealed. The Epistle of James answers very closely to the teaching set forth here. He calls it “the perfect law of liberty,” because it is that which is becoming to the new nature received when one is born of God. 

  “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” These are the men and women who recognize the fact that they have no spiritual assets. They confess their lost condition and so rely upon divine grace. 

  “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Purity is singleness of purpose. The pure in heart are those who put God’s glory above all else. To such He reveals Himself. They see His face when others discern only His providential dealings. 

  Savorless salt, like inconsistent Christians, is good for nothing.  

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.” Mere profession is not enough. The life should speak for God. As we live Christ before men, we let our light shine. Thus they recognize our good works and see in them an evidence of sincerity. So they glorify God by recognizing the reality of His work in the souls of those who are faithful in their witness and behavior. 

  “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” This our Lord did in three ways: by His perfect obedience He magnified the law and made it honorable (Isa. 42:21); by His death He met all its claims against the lawbreakers, and so He becomes the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe (Rom. 10:4); by His Spirit He enables believers to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law (Rom. 8:4). 

  To profess to be a worshiper of God while willfully wronging another or cherishing malice in the heart is obnoxious to God. 

  “But I say unto you.” Speaking as the Sent One of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ corrected the faulty position of the rabbis and set forth His perfect law of love, even for one’s enemies. By doing them good and praying for them, we overcome the evil in a Christlike way. No matter how badly others treat us, we are to seek to help them. We are to bless them that curse us, to be kind even though they manifest hatred, to pray for them even when they persecute and seek to injure us. This is the grace of God in action, as seen in the lives of surrendered believers who are dominated by the Spirit of Christ. 

   God’s choicest blessings are for those who manifest the same spirit of reverence for Him, and meekness and compassion for others, which were seen in all their fullness in our blessed Lord, as He walked this earth in the days of His flesh (Heb. 5:7). Thus, and thus only, that which is beyond the reach of the natural man is fulfilled in those who have received a new life and nature through trusting in Christ as their Saviour. No adverse circumstances can disturb the serenity of those who know the Lord and who acknowledge His authority over their lives.