We are encouraged to "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt .5:16)

Since God is "Light"(1 John 1:5) Family resemblance necessitates that  as Pilgrim Christians and Children of God, that we imitate our Father in a worthy walk "In the light" as "children of light" We are to separate ourselves from the fruitless works of darkness, living wisely and exemplarily, taking every opportunity to do well (Col.4:5)

The True Possession of the

Citizens of the Kingdom (v3-12)

In the Sermon on the Mount the principle and the rule of the kingdom are in view, It describes the character of those who would inherit the Kingdom.

 

Those who really truly repent  

( blessed are the poor in spirit)

Those who would be salt of the earth  

Those who would be as the light of the  world You are “salt and light”

The Sermon on the Mount is rightly  accorded a chief place in the teaching of our Lord. It carries the weight  of authority.It reveals to us the heights and depth of the perfect life which is no where surpassed in the gospels.

These verses describe the “Epitome of Christianity” But it also warns against a view all too commonly  prevailing concerning the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount..

Many people in the matter  of religious belief, who scorn  every  hard and fast rule of faith and practice, but will always fall back upon some choice portion of the gospel, to justify their  bonds of faith, the Sermon on the Mount is such portion.

They will cling to it as to the last remaining shreds of the  garment of creed, barely sufficient to cover the nakedness of  their subjective faith. Thus the Sermon on the Mount has become the creed of the creed less.

But in doing so it affords a driving force for such people, by taking for granted that he needs no more than the presentation of this high idea, and that Jesus does him the honor of thinking him capable of realizing it by his own natural goodness. They congratulate themselves upon  their part that  they can play in attempting to  reach God’s standard.

These three verses show us the moral nature of the Kingdom. Notice the progression first there is a consciousness of ones moral poverty, then that should lead to an awareness of sin and thirdly a change of heart and life.

The new birth is an absolute necessity for entrance into the Kingdom. The new man having become a partaker of the divine nature and life. The new man is Christ "formed" in the Christian  Col 1:13-22

The Sermon related to the Disciples and consequently to us, Is a  hole rich relationship of saving and responsive faith, of repentance, pardon, and acceptance of God’s divine grace

It’s  the“True possession of the Citizen of Heaven of  following Jesus our Saviour

.The True Profession of the

Citizen of the  Kingdom.

We called to be People who would  who would be as the light of the  world  

The world in which we are to shine as lights is vastly different to  the virtues seen  in the Beatitudes . A fairly accurate description of the human race might be furnished  by taking the Beatitudes, turning them wrong side out and saying,

"Here is your human race."

For the exact opposite of the virtues in the Beatitudes are the very qualities which distinguish human life and conduct.In the world of men we find nothing approaching the virtues of which Jesus spoke in the opening words of  Sermon on the Mount.

Instead of pov­erty of spirit we find the rankest kind of pride;

instead of mourners we find pleasure seekers; instead of meek­ness, arrogance;

instead of hunger after righteousness we hear men saying, "I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing";

instead of mercy we find cruelty; instead of purity of heart, corrupt imaginings;

instead of peacemakers we find men quarrelsome and resentful; instead of rejoicing in mistreatment we find them fighting back with every weapon at their command.

And this is the more to be wondered at seeing that these are the evils, which make life the bitter struggle it is for all of us. All our heartaches and a great many of our physical ills spring directly out of our sins. Pride, arrogance, resentfulness, evil imaginings, malice, greed: these are the sources of more human pain than all the diseases that ever afflicted mortal flesh.

 It is into this world where not only are we to shine as torch bearers but also to be  “The salt of the earth, to impart a Spiritual morality

Part 2 in this series is given in Page 3

Dealing  with the  the Salt of the earth

The True  Citizens of the Kingdom of God

“The Christian Pilgrim is encouraged to be a torch bearer”, to be the light of the world, to walk as children of light. To live in the  "Light of the Gospel Message". We are called to  live lives that make a difference to our society.To bring His kingdom and His will into our part of our being

Studies on  the Sermon on the Mount in Matt.Ch.5

Concerning the true Possession and Profession of the Citizen of the Kingdom of God

And yet the Sermon on the Mount is the complete opposite, because it brings to the forefront  the “perfect law”  only  one man could fully meet.  

The Messiah King fulfilled the law, confirming and emphasizing its deeper meaning, by doing so He condemned every natural, spiritually un- renewed man. Speaking of the helplessness of sin, of man’s utter condemnation in the sight of God. It also speaks upon the insistence upon the necessary of the cross

The King showed also that the Kingdom of heaven will be established only through a King who must also become the Savior of those who will be its citizens.Only then will they enjoy such righteousness, love, and perfection. That day will be fully realized at His Second Advent  “when His Kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as in heaven”. Matt .6 v16)

Till that day we are called to be lights of the world. To  live lives that make a difference to our society.To bring His kingdom and His will into our part of our being

“The beatific character and attitude described by our Lord in v3 to 12 are unattainable by self effort, but are wrought in the Christian by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Gal ch5 v22-26)

In Gal. Ch.5 the Christian character is described as the fruit of the Spirit, verse 22-23 list the qualities of that fruit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It is these characteristics that are brought forth in these verses in Matt. Ch.5

verse 3 says Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven

         

"The poor in Spirit" is consciousness of moral poverty

verse 4  Blessed are "they that mourn" for they will be comforted

The they that mourn are grieved because of their own sinfulness

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

"Blessed are the pure in heart" the purified in heart that is those who have received a new moral nature in regeneration.

The new birth is an absolute necessity for entrance into the Kingdom.