Introduction
I began writing this series of articles about the Emergent church, and more specifically about a right perspective on the Kingdom of God. I thought I would take the reader through the teaching of the King himself, but I have gotten bogged down along the way. I don't want to take my LORD's words out of context, because I think that too many in our churches have lost the context. I don't know how else to explain the adoption of so much heresy in so-called Christian circles. I find the present state of Christendom disturbing. I thought I should devote some time and effort to pave the way to this junction, but I find myself over-doing the paving. So I think I'd better proceed with this part while I keep laying the King's red carpet.
Promoters of Kingdom Theology, like the Emergers, broadcast the idea that God is just waiting for Christians to start building His kingdom. To hear them talk about working for the kingdom, you might think that Christ will return as soon as we get busy building Him a palace with our good works. Kingdom Theology is an old heresy that was at work among professing Jews in the days of Christ's earthly ministry (Mat. 11:12).
There is a lot of nonsense in Christian circles concerning the Kingdom of God. Nonsense in relation to the things of God is the result of bad theology, which itself is a product of people failing to read the Holy Bible. We need to read all sixty-six books and treat each one as well as all of the others. We have too many pastors in too many churches failing to teach the whole counsel of the word of God. The thirty-nine books that many pastors view as footnote material are just as worthy as the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. They provide context, and they need to be taught in context!
What is the context of which I speak? God's work from Genesis to Revelation. A beloved teacher once said that the Holy Bible is God's picture book for His children. (I don't know about you, but I had to be born-again to be able to enter the Kingdom. I'm growing in Christ as I write this.) It's uses words to paint pictures of righteousness, sin, and judgement. Every picture has a backdrop, and every sketch has a point. The whole thing lays out a panorama of the Kingdom that stretches from Eden to the New Jerusalem. It's wondrous, and we need to step back often to take it all in. Many of us are guilty of taking colors and brushstrokes out of context to paint a different picture. That is what is being done in the organized church today.
The King on a mount
The passage below is taken from the Sermon on the Mount. It is part of the Law of the Kingdom. The Gospel of Matthew is the gospel written specifically for the Jews, who were looking for a king in the line of David. The book of Matthew is a kingdom gospel. It begins with the genealogy of the King in chapter one. Chapter two of Matthew deals with his birth and childhood. We find Jesus being baptized in chapter three. He is tested, calls disciples, heals diseases, casts out demons, and gathers followers in chapter four. He begins to teach on the Kingdom in chapter five of Matthew, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
This Sermon on the Mount is one of the most abused passages of the Bible. Everybody seems to approve of it for some purpose. The enemies of the Church find justification in it for believing that Christ is a myth and Christians are hypocrites. Nominal Christians think that it sets forth rules that they can live by, and it provides a nice detour around the cross. The confused Messianic crowd finds righteousness by works there. And liberal Christianity promotes it as the only essential and palatable part of the Bible for all people, everywhere. Each misunderstanding is built on the notion that we are expected to live up to this ethic. Never they mind verse 5:48 where He says, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." That verse is supposed to take you to the cross, my friend, not give you a pass around it!
The proper context for the Sermon on the Mount is provided by the preceding and following chapters. He is speaking to the Jews. This a picture of the Kingdom that Hannah foresaw. This is for the Church, but it is not to the Church. The Church does not come into existence until the second chapter of Acts, after Christ's crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension. The picture here is that Christ is the King and we can't earn our way into the Kingdom. The Church is not the Kingdom. It is of the Kingdom, but it does not define or represent the Kingdom.
If you read the full sermon, chapters five through seven, you'll see that the Kingdom is not of this present world. Consider the following passage from chapter 6;
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Mat 6:24-34)
Does that fit the present world? No, we live in evil days. Let's give the promoters of Kingdom Theology credit, friends. They recognize that people need to be concerned about worldly goods like food and clothing. They go off the rails, however, when they assert that the King is telling us to establish the kingdom through clothing the naked and feeding the hungry. I agree that the King's people should do these things, but let's be clear that we have to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of righteousness and perfection. Man can't produce righteousness or perfection, but God can. If you read all sixty-six books, friends, you will see where man departed from righteousness and where God will restore it. The former was in the beginning, the later comes at the end. In the meantime Christians have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. God sees us in Christ, but the world doesn't. We still have an old nature, and that is why this world is in a sorry state. That is why the Church appears weak. We can't produce the Kingdom. The King is the only one who can do that. We're told to teach and baptize. Food and clothing may get us in the door where the lost dwell, but teaching (knowledge of Christ) and baptism (identification with Christ) are not to be neglected. Those things are essential to get them into the Gate (Mat 7:13-27) by faith (Rom 10:13-17).
Even then, we are at the mercy of the Spirit of God to accomplish the work. It's His book and His work. It's only by the grace of God if I can say anything here that will be helpful to anyone.
Listen closely to the sermons of the Emergent leaders, friends. They focus on good works and purposely squelch the clear teaching of sin, righteousness and judgement. Their Jesus is a hippie love child, who would never judge anyone. If you read that section in Matthew chapter 7, you'll know better. He says that there will be false teachers who try to enter the Kingdom on good works that they thought were in His name. He says that they will be shut out. Why? Because they despise His atoning work on the cross. They don't want to teach it. It's a message the world does not want to hear.
The Emergers say that "love" isn't love if it comes with an agenda. God has an agenda. He wants to bring you into the Kingdom through the atoning death and justifying resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. His love provided the blood of the Lamb, which was shed so that you might be forgiven (John 3:16-8). You're already condemned without the blood of the Lamb. You must apply His atoning blood to your life by faith. They would know and teach these things if they were indwelt by the Spirit of God and read their Bibles!
He taught with authority
I feel that we should close this portion by considering what the hearers of the Sermon on the Mount said about Jesus.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mat 7:28-29)
The teachers of that day, the scribes, we're known to argue with each other. Read the Talmud sometime to see their method at work. They would start with a doctrine or question and try to out do one another in their explanations and answers. You might say that their method was to settle matters through conversation.
The Emergent church is big on conversation too. So much so that one of their tenants is that all theological suppositions should be questioned. This Sermon on the Mount is not some church focus group at work! Jesus isn't asking the congregation for ideas on how to be 'missional', nor is He teaching that. He is elevating God's commandments to a very high standard. He's telling you and me that we're not going to get away with slapping His name on whatever passes for good works and expect to get into heaven on our own merit. This is not a conversation or an argument. It's a sermon!
Don't miss the context, friends, or you'll probably miss the message.
