Hi, I'm David Bercot, and tonight we're going to be talking about the Five Laws of the Kingdom Life. Several decades ago, Campus Crusade came out with a pamphlet called The Four Spiritual Laws. It concerns man's need for salvation and why we can't save ourselves. That pamphlet has been used very effectively in evangelism. But tonight we're going to be talking about something entirely different. We're going to be talking about the Five Spiritual Laws of Kingdom Life.
These are the laws you come under once you have been saved, once you're a branch on the vine of Christ, once you've become a citizen of God's kingdom. Actually, there should be no need for anyone to deliver a message about these Five Laws. That's because they're so obvious to anyone who reads the words of Jesus. Yet nearly all of these laws are either denied or they're minimized by various churches and theologians. In fact, some churches even say that there are no laws once you get saved.
Even Christians who acknowledge all or some of these Five Laws often come up with ingenious ways to get around most of them, or at least some of them. Now, these laws may be something totally new to you, and that is very likely the case if you've come to Christ indirectly. That is, if you've come to Christ through the writings of Paul rather than through the teachings of Jesus himself. Now, in reality, there is no contradiction between Paul and Jesus.
However, theologians have taken Paul's words totally out of context and have created a type of Christianity in which the teachings of Jesus are essentially heretical. Of course, no one's going to go out and say, "Oh, Jesus was a heretic," so they just simply ignore his teachings. But really, what they say compared to what Jesus said is either he's a heretic or they're a heretic. And I don't mean that in a judgmental way.
Or some people get around these laws by saying that Jesus' teachings apply to a different dispensation, either one in the future in the Kingdom Age or one that existed before the Church Age. But there's a reason why Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. The early Christians testify that it was the first of the four Gospels to be written. In fact, it was probably the first New Testament book to be written.
Not only that, it's the most important New Testament book because it contains more of the direct teachings of Jesus than any other New Testament book. So, as I said, there's a reason why historically it has always been placed at the very beginning of the New Testament. Now, Luther would have certainly placed it somewhere else if he could have had his way. He actually even disparaged the book of Matthew. But in doing that, he was going against 1,500 years of Christian history.
Matthew is the place to start if you want to learn what Christianity is really all about. It's particularly the place to go if you want to learn about the Kingdom of God. And I think one of the reasons why so many Christians today know nothing about the Kingdom of God is because they start in Romans rather than in Matthew. Anyway, assuming you start with the book of Matthew, the Five Laws of the Kingdom that Jesus taught will be very clear to you.
So let me list these Five Laws first, and then we'll go back and talk about each one of them in more detail. The first law of life in the kingdom is you must obey Jesus' commandments. They aren't optional. They're not suggestions. Furthermore, don't take away from what Jesus has commanded. Okay, law number two. Don't add to Jesus' laws. If he had wanted us to be under additional laws, he would have given us additional laws.
Number three, Jesus' commandments and New Testament commandments are not all on the same level. Make certain that you focus on the weightier commandments, such as practicing love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness. Now, these first three laws I've mentioned, these laws of the kingdom, are the same laws that all governments have. No government allows citizens to individually add their own laws to the government's laws. And in every government, all laws are not on the same level.
Driving with a burned-out taillight is not on the same level as murder. So we shouldn't be surprised to find these same laws in the Kingdom of God because God's kingdom is a real government, a real nation. All right, law number four. If you're doing well with those first three laws, don't develop spiritual pride. Don't start judging others. Worry about your failings, your relationship with Jesus Christ, not about the shortcomings of everyone else. And number five, Kingdom Life is not supposed to be a picnic.
It will normally bring upon you conflicts, criticism, persecution, stress, and maybe even torture and death. So don't be surprised, don't be stumbled when these things happen. Those are the Five Laws of life in God's kingdom. Since the Kingdom of God is a real government like other governments, you might say that these Five Laws make up the core of the constitution of the Kingdom of God. I wouldn't call them the whole constitution of the kingdom, but they are at the center of it.
Now let's look at each one in more detail. So let's begin with law number one. Jesus requires us to obey his commandments. Now, that should go without even having to say it. I mean, what government is there on the earth that doesn't expect people to obey its laws? Now, the central thing that Jesus is looking for is that he wants to know who really loves him and who doesn't. And if we don't keep his commandments, we don't love him. He says that. That's not me saying it.
Turn with me to John 15, and we're going to look at verses 1 through 17. You probably heard me read this passage before. To me, this is a passage that should be almost learned by memory along with the Sermon on the Mount. It explains so much of what the Kingdom Life is all about. Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. Jesus continues, "As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.
This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. These things I command you that you love one another." So Jesus' commandments are not optional. He said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." He reiterates that in John chapter 14. I would recommend that you read that entire chapter. Now, he explains that this fruit we bear is a result of abiding in him.
The power comes from him. This is not something he asks us to do in our own strength. It's not something we're able to do in our own strength. At the same time, we are not just pieces of wood that he does everything. Otherwise, we would all bear fruit, wouldn't we? This is an exhortation for us to bear fruit, and we bear fruit by loving him, abiding in his love, and we abide in his love by obeying his commandments. I describe this as an obedient love-faith relationship between us and Jesus.
This is what salvation is all about. Now, the book of John doesn't contain as many of Jesus' commandments as some of the other Gospels, such as Matthew and Luke. Now, Matthew is central because it contains the Sermon on the Mount, which sets forth Jesus' laws of the kingdom, what the Kingdom Life is all about, what he requires of us.
And at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7, verses 21 through 27, Jesus says this: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you.
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.' Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall." Now, to me, that passage is so crystal clear that it is not optional that we obey Jesus' commandments, that our saying, "Lord, Lord," our saying, "We love you, Jesus," praising Jesus' name, whatever you do, none of that is going to matter if you're not obeying his commandments. You are building on the sand. And yet, theologians try to turn this passage into an issue of theology.
They say, "Well, he said, 'I never knew you.'" That expression, "I never knew you," or "I don't know you," is used in several of Jesus' teachings and was obviously an idiom or a common expression in his day, not meant to be taken literally. For example, in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, when the foolish virgins arrive late, the bridegroom says, "He doesn't know them." Well, obviously, he wouldn't have invited them to be bridesmaids if he literally didn't know them.
A very similar message is presented in Luke 13, verses 24 through 27, where Jesus said, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and he will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you.
Where are you from?' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know you. Where are you from? Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.'" So in this other parable, it comes back again. He doesn't know them because of what they are doing, their works, workers of iniquity. I mean, that's a Semitic expression. It doesn't mean, "I haven't met you before." It's a way of saying, "You are so far removed from me.
You're a stranger to me." And what makes them strangers? Well, see the theologians say, "Well, see they never invited Jesus in their heart. They never got saved in the first place." But Jesus doesn't say that. He doesn't say, "Depart from me, you who never got saved, you who never invited me into your heart, you who thought you were saved by works, not by grace," etc. No, he said, "Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." It's something you're doing, something you're practicing. And what were they practicing?
Lawlessness. Lawlessness is saying, "There is no law," or it's saying, "Even if there is a law, I'm not going to follow it." And see, that's what the theologians are teaching is lawlessness. You do not have to obey Jesus' law. So do not be misled. Jesus ended his Sermon on the Mount with this exhortation so we wouldn't be misled. And if the problem was theological, then he would say, "You need to go and invite me into your heart. You need to get your theology straight." But that's not what he says.
He says, "You need to build your house by hearing my commandments and doing them." In his introduction to the New Testament, Martin Luther declared that he was putting forewords to all of the various New Testament books so that Bible readers wouldn't be looking for commandments where they should be looking for grace. Rather strange, since Jesus talks so much about commandments. And it's again why Martin Luther didn't want people focusing on the book of Matthew because they're going to see many commandments there.
No, not some huge law code, but there are commandments. And Luther gave Christians the idea that there are no commandments in the New Covenant. I mean, there are suggestions, there are teachings, but no commandments, no laws. But notice what God himself said about his New Covenant when he first spoke of it, and that was through the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 33 and 34, he said this, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.
I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." He didn't say, "There will be no laws." He said, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." So the difference isn't that the Old Covenant had laws, the New Covenant doesn't. The difference is that when we abide with Jesus as branches on his vine, his laws are written on our hearts and in our minds.
I mean, that doesn't mean we don't have to read the New Testament to see what these commandments are, but there's no lengthy code of laws. Jesus' laws are few enough that we can easily remember them. The issue isn't going to be not knowing them. That is, if we've read the Bible and we haven't let preachers and theologians convince us that we can't believe what we've just read in the Bible. The problem is having enough love for Jesus and for our fellow man that we obey his commandments.
It's a matter of having enough faith that his laws have our best interests in mind. And that's why we should keep them, or that's one reason we should keep them. Now, in contrast, human governments, they have so many laws that we have to have attorneys. I mean, a business person couldn't operate a very large business without attorneys just because there are so many laws. It's hard to know them all. In fact, attorneys don't know all of the laws. We don't know even a fraction of them.
As you may know, I'm an attorney by profession. And that's why when somebody hires us, we have to do research on matters to know what the law is. It's something you do on a daily basis when you're representing clients. It's not that way in the kingdom. They're written on our hearts and minds. They're never going to change. Jesus says, or rather, Hebrews says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change. His laws of the New Covenant don't change.
Not only that, when we abide on this vine, as I spoke of it, it involves a relationship, an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. So we don't have to turn to each other and say, "Know the Lord," because the other fellow citizens of God's kingdom are also branches on this vine. It doesn't mean that we don't exhort and encourage and teach one another. He's not saying that.
But his kingdom is not made up by a bunch of nominal people who maybe know a few doctrinal statements but don't really have any personal acquaintance with Jesus himself. Now, his citizens know him. They abide in his love. They interact with him on a daily basis. For 1500 years, virtually all Christians understood the things that I'm telling you. Things didn't change until Luther misused Paul's epistles to convince Christians that we really don't have laws in the kingdom of God.
We have teachings, but they're no longer laws. And to do this, he had to misuse what Paul said. He had to take Paul's words out of context. You see, throughout his entire ministry, Paul had to struggle with the Judaizers who demanded that the Gentile Christians had to live by the Mosaic law, particularly the requirement of circumcision. I mean, every epistle he talks about that, or just about every epistle in the book of Acts, it makes it very clear that that was the issue he was repeatedly dealing with.
And so he addresses that issue in nearly all of his epistles. He tells us we're not saved by keeping the Mosaic law. That law was nailed to the cross. There is no distinction any longer between Jew and Gentile as there had been under the Mosaic law. He points out that God didn't choose the Jews as his people because of their righteousness. And that's obvious to anyone who reads the books of Genesis and Exodus, or in fact, the whole Old Testament. No, he chose them because of his grace.
And by that same grace, he has now included the Gentiles in his plan of salvation and in his kingdom. Now, although it isn't the issue that Paul is directly addressing, there is an important principle we can glean from his epistles, and that is none of us earn our salvation because of following Jesus' commandments. That's because none of us follow them perfectly. We had to earn our salvation. We would all lose. None of us would be saved. We all fall short.
Without God's grace, none of us would be on the vine in the first place, and none of us would remain on that vine. But Paul, at the same time, makes it clear over and over again that if we go on living in sin after we are saved, that we will not inherit the kingdom of God. And he doesn't say it's because we were never saved in the first place. He never brings that up as the problem. It's that we are going to be cut off the vine, as Jesus said we would, if we're not producing fruit.
And when we disobey Christ, we show we don't love him. We're not producing the fruit of love. As Paul told the Corinthians, it's 1 Corinthians 7:19, "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. But keeping the commandments of God is what matters." Okay, one last thing before we go to the second law of the kingdom. When I say that we must obey Jesus' commandments, it obviously means that we can't take away from them. No real government would allow you to do that.
No one can say, "Look, I'm going to obey all of the laws except the ones dealing with taxes or embezzlement," etc. It would be no excuse if you got brought to court for armed robbery and said, "Hey, wait a minute now. I don't drive over the speed limit. I pay my taxes, you know, blah, blah, blah. I've kept all of these other laws. Surely I have the right to throw one of them out." No, it doesn't work that way in a real government. And God's kingdom is a real government.
Yet in every age since the days of Constantine, theologians and preachers have convinced Christians that one or more of Jesus' teachings are no longer applicable or that they can't be taken too seriously. For example, what he taught in the Sermon on the Mount on war and on swearing. During the Middle Ages and up until very recent times, the church said, "Hey, torture is okay." Now, there's no law that Jesus specifically gave against torture, but it obviously violates almost everything that he taught.
Now, today we'd say, "Oh, yes, torture is wrong." But today we say, "Hey, divorce is okay. We don't have to obey what Jesus taught about divorce." And some churches are saying, "Hey, what was taught about homosexuality no longer is relevant. It no longer applies." That's being said in the liberal churches. Perhaps in my lifetime, I'll see it being said in even the so-called conservative churches. But that's not how things work. We are not allowed to take away any of Jesus' commandments.
Okay, law number two on life in the kingdom of God, and that is don't add to God's commandments. It's sort of like medication. You know, some people think, "Well, if a little bit is good for me, then a whole bunch of it must be even better." No, it doesn't work that way. In fact, with nearly all medication, an overdose is harmful. In fact, it can even kill you. Well, it works the same way with the laws of the kingdom. Adding to God's commandments is always harmful, and it can end up killing you spiritually.
Now, once again, in mentioning this law of the kingdom, it's no different than the way it works with a human government. I know of no human governments that, unless they're extremely corrupt or something, that allow people to just add to the laws of the government. Let me give you an illustration.
Perhaps in your town, there's a school, and most likely there will be a sign on either side of the school, some distance apart, that during school hours, the speed limit is greatly lowered, maybe down to 15 miles an hour or 20, something like that. But usually it'll say during school hours between such and such a time, between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM maybe, or something like that, Monday through Friday. The wording varies between different towns and different states.
All right, let's say you have a zealous police officer, and someone goes through the school zone on Saturday, and they're going 30 miles an hour, which is the speed limit. And he stops and gives them a ticket, and they say, "Wait a minute. The sign says that it's only during school hours, and it's only Monday through Friday." Well, he says, "The reason I'm giving you a ticket is that I think the safest thing is for people to follow it seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Otherwise, you get into the habit of going by the school 30 miles an hour. So by giving you a ticket on Saturday, it's going to help you remember on Monday during school hours to slow down." Well, now, do you think that would be okay with the city government? Well, of course not. I mean, the officer would be reprimanded, and if he did it more than once, he'd probably be removed from office. Jesus made it clear when he was here on the earth that he does not want us adding to his commandments.
He said this about the scribes and Pharisees. This is in Mark 7, verses 3 through 9. The passage says, "For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.
And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches." Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, this is Jesus, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" He continued, "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do." He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition." So there were two problems with the Pharisees. One was they're adding to God's commandment, and the other was they neglected some of his actual commandments.
And some of their additions actually made it difficult to obey the actual commandment. And in the discussion in Matthew, he gives the illustration of the commandment about honoring our mothers and fathers, but the tradition of the Pharisees basically nullified that.
When he was denouncing the scribes and Pharisees in the 23rd chapter of Matthew, he said, "For they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." So we're not doing God a favor by adding to his commandments, even though we think we may be. And the Pharisees thought they were doing God a favor. Now, there are two important exceptions to this general law about do not add to Jesus' commandments.
One is we are all welcome to voluntarily live an extra disciplined life. In fact, it is normally a praiseworthy thing. In the Old Testament, God specifically made a provision for the Nazarites. These were people who took a voluntary vow to live a more restricted life than the rest of the Jews. They couldn't drink wine. They couldn't touch a dead body. There were a number of laws on them that were not on the rest of the Jews. And occasionally, someone would be dedicated as a Nazarite from birth.
Samson was, and John the Baptist was in the New Testament. But normally, it was something that that person voluntarily undertook, and normally it was for only a period of time, but a person was free to do that their entire life. Another example of voluntarily living a more disciplined life than God requires is Jesus lived his entire life on earth, or at least after he started his ministry, as a homeless person. He never owned a home, never had a rented home, a place that he could call home. This is where I go.
This is my home. Now, perhaps that's something that the Father required of him, although there's no mention of that in the scripture. I think it's just something Jesus, in order to accomplish God's will more fully, decided he would not take on a home, that he would spend his entire life on the road. And Jesus mentioned in Matthew 19:12, he said, "There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.
He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." There he was talking about Christians who would voluntarily live a celibate life so that they could do more for the kingdom of God. Paul would be an example of this. And he recommends it to others to not marry so that you can do more for the kingdom. Again, it's not a law. There's nothing wrong with marriage. And in many instances, it is going to be the best thing, the right thing to do.
But Jesus said, "If you can make room for it, then it's praiseworthy to live a celibate life if you're doing it for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." And ever since the days of Jesus, there have been Christians who have voluntarily lived a single life or a more restricted life than Jesus requires. Sometimes they've done this just as individuals. Other times they've done this in groups, and probably that's how most often it's been done, in groups because each one then helps the other.
The Methodist Society would be a perfect example of this. It was a voluntary group. You did not have to become a member of the Methodist Society. Membership wasn't entirely voluntary. They did not think you had to be a member in order to be a Christian or in order to be saved. But if you became a member, they had rules that you had to live by that were stricter or at least more specific than what the New Testament lays out. And enormously good things were done for the kingdom by members of the Methodist Society.
Likewise, the Moravians here in the New World had communal groups such as the one at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. And again, they did enormous things for the kingdom. There were different brethren groups that that way, and the Anabaptists. But the key is that this must be voluntary. And you know, the line there can get rather tricky. What starts off as being a voluntary thing can sometimes change and become, if you don't do this, then you are not a Christian. And now you've ended up adding to God's commandments.
I mean, after all, the scribes and Pharisees were both voluntary groups. Nobody made you become a Pharisee. But what had started off as a voluntary thing, over time, pretty soon the Pharisees applied their extra voluntary rules to everybody else and condemned people who didn't live by their traditions. Now, the other exception to this law of the kingdom that we don't add to Jesus' commandments is when a church makes an application of a New Testament principle.
And by principle, I'm meaning a fundamental or general law whose application isn't spelled out in the scriptures. An example would be Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor. In fact, it's the second greatest commandment. But he didn't spell that out specifically exactly how we are to love our neighbor, what all this encompasses. He did give some examples. Matthew 25, he said on Judgment Day, he's going to ask, "Did we feed the hungry?
Did we visit the ones who were sick or in prison?" These are ways that we can love our neighbor. Did we clothe the needy? Things like that. But those aren't the entire boundaries of showing love to your neighbor. I mentioned earlier that during the Middle Ages, they thought it was fine to torture people. Well, there's no law in the New Testament that says you can't. But I think most of us would say you're hardly loving somebody if you torture them. In fact, I think all churches would see that today.
Now, I think we're safest when we make applications of these general laws in the New Testament. When we look at what the historic pattern was of the early Christians, the ones who received the traditions of the apostles, how did they apply that? Not to turn their writings or their example into a second canon of scripture, but I think we're on safe ground if we follow their example. By way of illustration, they clearly saw that you're not loving people if you torture them.
That's one reason why they would not serve as a soldier or a prison guard or something like that, where normally you were required to torture people in order to get information from them. Another New Testament principle, it tells us to dress modestly. But it doesn't explain exactly what is modest. I mean, Peter gives a few things that he names as being immodest, but those aren't the limit surely of that. Well, again, a church has a responsibility to make an application of this law. It is a law.
It's not a suggestion, but it's not entirely specific. In fact, every church makes some application. I doubt there is a church on earth, not a legitimate church anyway, that would allow people to come to church in their underwear, for example. No, they would say that's immodest, that's indecent. I mean, every church, I think, draws the line somewhere. But again, I think we're wise if we look at, okay, where did they draw the line back in the days of the apostles and in the generation right after the apostles?
Not that we have to do the same thing that they did, and certainly we don't have to wear the same style of clothing, but I think we can learn from how they followed what they learned from the apostles. But again, there's a warning here. What can start off as just applying a New Testament principle can suddenly get turned into a law, into adding to the commandments of Jesus Christ. I mean, after all, the Pharisees thought that all they were doing was making an application of laws given by God.
For example, God had said that we are not to work on the Sabbath. He had given that law to the Jews. But God only gave a couple of examples of what it means to work on the Sabbath. Surely other things are included besides kindling a fire or going out and gathering wood, two of the things that are specifically talked about. And so the Pharisees made these applications. But Jesus condemned them for doing it because they added such a heavy burden.
They went beyond what would be reasonable inferences to things that were just minute and picky and actually absurd. So again, we're on tricky ground here, dangerous ground either way. If we ignore Bible principles and treat them as suggestions, then we are guilty of violating that first principle that we talked about of the kingdom, the first law of the kingdom. And that is we follow all of the commandments given to us by Jesus or through his apostles.
On the other hand, if we're not careful in applying, in making an application of a Bible principle, we can end up adding to the New Testament. We can end up putting burdens on people that Jesus doesn't want there. And again, I'm not going to try to define exactly where the line is drawn in that matter, only that each church has to be very careful and should examine itself in that regard. Okay, law number three of kingdom living. That law is not all commandments are equal.
Love, justice, mercy, and faith are the most important commandments. I mentioned earlier that the laws human governments pass are not considered of equal importance. Getting a speeding ticket, for example, isn't considered the same as committing a burglary. In fact, our governments normally divide crimes into two broad classes. There are felonies and then there are misdemeanors, with felonies being the more serious crimes.
Well, then in turn, felonies are further ranked in importance of severity, such as a first-degree felony, a second-degree felony. And likewise, misdemeanors are further classified as a class one misdemeanor or a class two misdemeanor, etc. Well, it's no different in the kingdom of God. Now, we don't have those specific categories and classes of commandments, but Jesus himself tells us that not all of his commandments stand at the same level.
For example, in Matthew chapter 23, verses 23 and 24, Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. Blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel." You know, I often hear Christians say that, well, sin is sin. All sins are equal. But that's not what Jesus said.
He said that some of his laws are weightier. He mentions their justice, mercy, and faith. Again, at Matthew 22, verses 35 through 40, it says this: "Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, him being Jesus, testing him and saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'" Now, did you notice Jesus didn't reply, "What do you mean? What is the great commandment? Don't you know that all commandments are the same?" No, he said that loving God is the greatest commandment, and the next greatest is loving your neighbor as yourself. So again, not all sins are the same. Not all commandments are equally important.
Yet that doesn't mean that all commandments don't need to be obeyed. Now, there is one sense, and only one sense, in which we might say that all sins are equal. And it's in this situation. Even a little sin would disqualify us from eternal life if there were no grace. So regardless of the number or the weight of our sins, we can only be saved through Jesus Christ. But once we become a branch on the vine, all sins are not equal. Now, that's Jesus saying that, not David Bercot saying it.
Likewise, in his epistles, Paul mentions a number of times certain sins that those who commit them will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's assuming, of course, that they don't repent, that they remain in that state of sin. So again, even the epistles show that not all sins are equal. Now, another thing we need to be aware of, still part of this law number three of life in the kingdom, is that concerning the weight of various commandments, what's on the inside usually matters more than what's on the outside.
Jesus, again, talking to the scribes and Pharisees, condemning them, he said this: it's at Matthew 23, verses 25 through 28, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." So don't imagine that because you fulfill the outward commandments of Jesus, that you are necessarily living the kingdom life.
What makes someone a kingdom Christian is that first they focus on the weightier commandments, such as love and mercy, justice and forgiveness. Having done that, well, then we obey Jesus's outward commandments as well. We don't pick and choose. We obey all of his commandments, but we don't forget that some are much more important than the others. If we're going to fail, we need to fail on the little ones, not the big ones. Now, there are several observations I've made in life concerning this particular topic.
One is that churches that don't teach obedience to Jesus's commandments will often focus more on the internal than the external. They will also emphasize the weightier commandments over the lesser ones. And that in itself is very commendable. Unfortunately, my observation is that that's often used as a cover-up for disobedience to Jesus's other commandments. In other words, I will take oaths, even though he told us not to swear.
But the important thing is that we always tell the truth, and I always tell the truth, so I'm doing what the important thing is. And to be sure, it's far worse to refuse to take oaths and then be a liar than to take oaths, and yet you always tell the truth. But for a kingdom Christian, see, it's not a matter of choosing. You obey all of his commandments to the extent that you have the power and grace to do so.
Furthermore, I've noticed that churches that talk more about love and justice and mercy often don't have any better record in those areas than kingdom churches that teach obedience to all of Jesus's commandments. Now, another observation I've noticed about kingdom churches is that even though we teach obedience to all of Jesus's commandments, sometimes we do focus more on the external than we do on the internal. And that's not good.
It's an area where we need to keep examining ourselves and making certain that our biggest focus is on the inner person and the weightier commandments, while at the same time not neglecting the other ones. Law number four of life in the kingdom. Even if by the grace of God you live by the first three laws that we've been discussing, don't develop spiritual pride or start judging others. Once again, Jesus' words in Matthew, Matthew 7:1 through 5, he said, "Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' and look, a plank is in your own eye?
Hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." I think some translations use the word beam instead of plank. This fourth law makes me think of a game I used to play when I was a little boy called Chutes and Ladders, or sometimes it was called Snakes and Ladders, depending on the company. But it was a game where you rolled the dice, you were going up a board, and the first one to the end would win.
But if you landed on a square where there was the bottom of a ladder, then you got to go up that ladder and skip maybe several lines and get close to the top. On the other hand, if you landed on a square that was at the top of a chute or the top of a snake, then you slid down that chute to where it would take you. And the board I played with, about two spaces from the very end, you were just about finished. You had gone through this whole maze, missing chutes and making ladders and all of that. You're almost there.
And then there was this long chute that if you landed on that square just so close to the end, you would go back down to the second row out of about maybe 12 or 14 rows, something like that. And I always hated that particular chute because it could get you at the end. You'd be in first place, and suddenly you'd end up in the last place. Well, this law number four is sort of like that. In other words, you make a commitment to live by Jesus's commandments. You develop an obedient, love, faith relationship with him.
You neither take away from his commandments nor do you add new ones. You focus on the weightier matters, not on the smaller commandments. Everything is great, but now you feel superior to everyone else. Now you feel like you're in a position to start judging who is a Christian and who isn't. You become very critical of other people who aren't living up to the standard that you live, or at least how you view yourself as living.
And if you do that, you're going to end up wiping out everything you've gained up to that point. The close standing you think you have with Jesus, you're going to find isn't there because he detests that kind of person. And it's amazing that he tells us we're going to get to draw up our own measure on how he's going to measure us, our own standard of judgment, how he's going to judge us. We get to decide that, which is remarkable, but it's based on what we do to others.
If we judge others harshly, if we're very critical where others fall short, that's the measure that's going to be used against us. And yet, as clear as that passage is, my experience is that Christians who are inclined to be judgmental, inclined to be fault finders, always find a way around this.
And it's usually they say, "Well, you don't notice what Jesus said at the end." He said, "First remove the plank or the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." And then they all have an explanation of what that means, taking the plank out of your own eye. And they're satisfied, "Okay, I've removed the beam from my own eye. Now I have the right to go around and do this." That's not what Jesus is saying.
I mean, every time I hear that, I think to myself, "Don't you get it? He's saying all of us, all of us have a beam in our own eye. There are none of us who are exempt from that." It's not that he's saying, "Get the beam out of your own eye and then go around and be judgmental." He's saying, "You're always going to have that beam, so quit being a fault finder with other people." Now, maybe a misunderstanding comes in here because of the terminology he uses that is often ignored.
He talks about looking at the speck in your brother's eye. He's not talking about the beam in your brother's eye. I mean, what he says here in Matthew 7 doesn't contradict what he later says in Matthew 18, that if your brother sins, go and talk to him alone. But if you follow through what he says in Matthew 18, he's not talking about specks in your brother's eye.
He's talking about a sin that is so serious that if this person does not listen, it's not just a matter between you and that person or a matter of personal opinion. It's something that you're going to bring the church leadership, the entire church in on. And if this person won't listen to the entire church, then they are put out of the congregation. They're excommunicated. So this isn't some little sin. This is something that could have you put out of the church for doing.
So the balance is, don't be a fault finder. Don't look for the imperfections in others. On the other hand, love your brother enough that if he's in a sin that is going to likely cost him his eternal life, or it's serious enough that it's affecting other people, that you should have enough love to talk to him about it. And if you're coming from love, it's not usually going to be a very fun thing to do.
I mean, I've had to do this a few times in people's lives where they were making a terrible mistake that I felt would have eternal consequences. And I guarantee you, I hated every minute of it. I would have loved to not have had that sense of responsibility that I should say something. And usually what you do is not even appreciated, but at least then you can go home with a clear conscience that you tried to warn the person.
Now, you may be thinking, "Well, where does grace come to play in all of this?" Where it comes to play is this. Any Christian who makes a serious commitment to live by those first three laws of the kingdom is invariably going to fall short. If his heart is in the right condition, when he gets to law number four, he's not standing there looking down on everyone else. He's thinking, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner." I truly believe that no one understands grace as much as a kingdom Christian.
No one understands it as well as a person who strives to enter through the narrow gate. And that's Jesus's expression, not mine. Because he daily sees his need for forgiveness. He realizes through experience why none of us deserve salvation, why it's a gift. Living by the laws of the kingdom don't cause you to throw out grace. It causes you to cherish grace. In contrast, Christians who only talk about grace and downplay obedience, they end up treating grace as though it's a cheap thing.
We come now to our final law, law number five. And it's this: Kingdom life will normally bring upon you conflicts, criticism, persecution, stress, and maybe even torture and death. Originally, when I was planning this message, I was going to talk about only those first four laws of the kingdom. But throughout my life, I have seen so many Christians who become disillusioned with churches and leaders they once looked up to. And as a result, they get discouraged and give up on Christ.
And that's why I feel it's essential to include this fifth law. When things get rough, don't give up. Don't blame Jesus. Be encouraged that things are actually happening just the way Jesus said they would. Let me turn your attention to Matthew chapter 10, beginning with verse 17. We're going to go all the way to verse 39, but I'm not going to read every verse there. I'm going to just take the core of it. But I encourage you to go back and read the entire chapter.
Here, Jesus said this: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. Now, brother will deliver up brother to death, and father his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household? Do not think I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
And a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." So living in the kingdom is not supposed to be a picnic. I think most kingdom Christians find it a joy to live in the kingdom.
And Jesus said that would be true as well. There's a paradox that we're going to be persecuted, and yet in the end, we're going to find more joy in Christ than we would have had otherwise, despite the persecution that comes with it. But what is hard for many Christians to accept is that for most of us in North America, our conflicts, our tests, our disappointments come from other professing Christians, not from the world.
I mean, the world hasn't done anything to me, but the closest thing I could name would be during the Vietnam War that I was called up for the draft, but nothing ever went further than that. So there was a potential there for persecution, but that's it as far as anything the world has done to me. Any other conflicts and stress and criticism, everything else I've experienced in my life has come from other Christians. That's not just true of me.
I think that would be the same experience of probably most Christians here in the United States or in Canada. But this stumbles a lot of Christians when it happens. Yet it's important that we remember that virtually all of the conflicts and persecution that Jesus suffered when he was on earth was also from his fellow so-called believers. It wasn't the Gentiles who made life hard on him. He wasn't daily being criticized by the Gentiles. It was by his fellow believing Jews or professed believers, I should say.
The Romans put him to death, but that was only because the Jews insisted on it. Pontius Pilate did not want to do anything to him. He wanted to let him go without any punishment. He even tried to bargain with the crowd, but they were insistent. No, they wanted him crucified. And the same was initially true for the apostles. Their persecution came from their fellow believing Jews, that is, believers in one God. They weren't believing in Jesus Christ.
Later on, it was the Gentile world that became the big persecutor of Christians, but that wasn't until near the end of the first century. That was after most of the apostles had died. So don't be surprised by the fact that we receive trials and tribulations from other professing Christians. And I don't mean to imply that just because we receive a trial or criticism or whatever from somebody else who's a Christian, I'm not saying they're not a true Christian just because they do that.
They may sincerely make our life miserable, but they think they're doing us a favor. And what Jesus calls on us to do is to forgive them. So Jesus told us in advance to expect this, that it would be a rough road so that we wouldn't get discouraged and give up when it happens. And the same thing is true of stumbling blocks. Luke 17, verses 1 and 2 says, "Then he," Jesus, said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come. But woe to him through whom they do come.
It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones." Some translations there say stumbling blocks and stumbling little ones. Now, Jesus did not say it's okay to let yourself be stumbled. He merely said, "Woe for those who do it." But the truth is, it's woe for you as well.
If you lose your faith in Christ because of something that somebody else did, because some Christian you looked up to turned out to be a total hypocrite, if you give up on living the kingdom life, it will be no excuse on judgment day that so-and-so let you down. No, we have to be prepared for this. We have to keep our eyes focused on Christ and keep going. In conclusion, let's review these five laws of the kingdom life. The first law is you must obey Jesus's commandments.
They're not optional and don't take away from what he has commanded. Number two, don't add to Jesus's laws. Now, it's okay to voluntarily live a more restricted life than he commanded so long as we don't condemn other Christians who choose not to live by such extra restrictions. Number three, Jesus's commandments are not all on the same level. Make certain you focus on the weightier commandments, such as practicing love, mercy, justice, and forgiveness.
Number four, if you're doing well with those first three laws, don't develop spiritual pride. Don't start judging and criticizing others. Worry about your failings and not the little shortcomings of everyone else. Finally, number five, kingdom life is not supposed to be easy. It will normally bring upon you conflicts, criticism, stress, and persecution. Now, if you're new to the kingdom life, these five laws, or at least some of them, might sound strange to you.
However, I can assure you that what I've described is the historic Christian faith that was practiced by virtually all Christians everywhere during the first three centuries of Christianity. If you have any doubts about that, I'd like to encourage you to temporarily set aside all of the teachings you've been indoctrinated with and just sit down at Jesus's feet. You can do this by picking up your Bible and prayerfully reading the four Gospels, beginning with Matthew.
You know, you just might end up discovering that the kind of Christianity you've been taught was not at all the religion of Jesus Christ.