The Gospel of
Jesus was never intended to be something that only affected life after death.
His message of
good news is for the life in this world and the life in the eternity.
The Gospel is
about the eternal relationship of human with God that begins right now in this
world itself.
Relationship with God
Relationships are
based on what you have in common with another person.
To find out what
we have common with another, we must understand what the other person values in
his life.
A person is the
sum total of the values he keeps in his life.
Depending on an
agreement and unity with the other, the relationship deepens.
That means, a
deeper and meaningful relationship between two persons depends on what they
hold in common as important and valuable.
This principle of
relationship is true about our relationship with God.
Relationship with
God is based on our adopting His values and removing from our lives those values
that is not important or contrary to God.
The only measure
of Christian growth is Christ-likeness in our life; how much we have become
like Jesus in terms of His of value system.
Therefore, we must
be sure we truly understand what God values.
If we
misunderstand God's value system, then we misunderstand who He is.
If we do not know
what God values, then we cannot be sure that we are even becoming like him.
We fail to
practice the Kingdom values in our life because of an inadequate understanding
of them.
However, a true
understanding of Kingdom values can transform our relationship with God.
Definition
All laws in a
Kingdom are formulated by the king.
Kingdom values are
the King’s laws or King’s Laws are his values.
Values and laws
are one and the same thing in a kingdom.
King’s values give
us a clear understanding of the King Himself, because values are His nature.
Thus all laws of a
king is a revelation of his true nature.
In the Old
Testament, laws seemed to life less and hard edicts of a King.
Jesus always tried
to shift the emphasis from God’s edicts to His character.
For a child all
directions from his parents for a gracious demeanor are hard laws.
But as he grows up
he understands that his parents were trying to train him to live according to
their values of life.
So laws always precede
character development.
The Old Testament
Laws brought man to a point of impossibility.
But Jesus
introduced God’s nature; the values of God to help us to live naturally according
to his laws.
When we become
like Christ, the rules will no longer be necessary.
All rules become
values.
The purpose of the
Sermon on the Mount is to shift the emphasis from obedience to character, from
a list of rules to attitudes.
Jesus knew that
attitudes determine actions.
Changes in
behavior without changing the attitude is temporary and frustrating.
Correct attitude
immediately brings correct behavior.
That is why Jesus
emphasized on the right attitude, more than works.
Why a different value system?
All born again
Christians are born into the Kingdom of God and hence do not belong to the kingdom
of satan, any more.
So, our values and
standards must change to conform to God’s Kingdom.
After few
preaching and miracles Jesus got an audience sufficient to declare the values
of His Kingdom.
On the Sermon on
the Mount, Jesus spoke about the value system of His Kingdom.
The Sermon began
with the Beatitudes which present God’s values.
Jesus did not care
how this world under satan runs; He was concerned about how the Kingdom of God
runs.
Jesus teaches
that, as subjects of God’s kingdom, our value system must align with God’s
rather than the worlds.
All the values
presented in the Beatitudes and in the Sermon that continues demand a life
centered on the Kingdom, ignoring the principles of this world.
That means, Jesus
wished His people to live a spiritual life in this world rather than a worldly
life.
A life focused on
eat, drink and clothe is a worldly life, laying
up eternal treasures is a spiritual life.
Now here comes the
question, how we lay up treasure in the Kingdom of God while we live on this
earth.
Kingdom of God is
a spiritual Kingdom, began, sustained and eternalized by God.
The happy news is
that by living according to the values of the Kingdom, we can lay up treasure
in eternity.
That means, a life
based on the value system of the Kingdom of God itself is an investment in the
Kingdom.
Kingdom Culture
A kingdom is a
fortified belief system.
The Kingdom of God
has a fortified belief system.
Kingdom of God
culture is a war for dominion, kingdom against kingdom, values against values,
truth against lies and light against darkness.
We are in a
spiritual war.
Paul said that the
war not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness in
heavenly places.
These heavenly
places are the dwelling place of demonically influenced rulers reside, govern,
and oversee their agendas.
They have wiles,
seductions, philosophies, beliefs, values, and world views.
They pass these on
to men that pass them on to others.
When men gather
around these demonically inspired teachings, they develop a kingdom.
The spiritual
warfare against the Kingdom of God can be seen in the warfare against Christian
values.
We are not just
waging war against some unseen spirit but “the teachings of these spirits” that
are promoted by people.
In other words,
spirits use people to advance their culture, principles, worldviews, and
values.
These are the
strongholds we are waging warfare against.
Kingdoms are
recognized by culture.
Cultures can
conflict.
The kingdom of
darkness, for example, will conflict with the Kingdom of light.
The Kingdom of God
conflicts with other kingdom for dominion.
The war against Biblical values is a continuous story.
The world and the worldly wise people constantly attack Christian
values.
When someone
attacks us as a Christian, they are, in fact, attacking our values.
If someone attacks
us on skin color, gender, financial position, family name, job, education or
even religion, the world would rise up against it shouting ‘injustice’.
But when we are
attacked because of our Christian values, the world will appreciate the intolerance
calling it, modern civilization, modern culture, refinement etc.
When we are
attacked for the Biblical values we upheld, modern Christian preachers will
justify the intolerance calling it ‘New Testament Teaching’, ‘grace’ etc.
A repeated
question heard against the Christian values we uphold, from the modern
Christian preachers is this: ‘Is it written clearly in the New Testament?’
Our answer should
be: ‘Yes, it is written clearly in the Scripture of God.”
Yes we are in
conflict with the worldly kingdom of satan.
We are in conflict
because the values of our Kingdom is in conflict with the values of the kingdom
of darkness.
Kerux
The word
“preacher” in Greek is kerux. The verb to preach is kerusso.
The Greek word
“kerux” is used by Apostle Paul in the following verse:
2 Timothy 1:11 to
which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. (NKJV)
Historically a
kerux was an official representative of a kingdom sent by a king to convey his
wishes, laws, values, culture and expectations, to the people.
Without the
ministry of a kingdom kerux it was impossible for people to understand how to transform
their lives and society to match that of their king.
So Apostle Paul
described his call as apostle and preacher (kerux), to transform the people to
the values of the King.
Not only Paul, we
are also commissioned by the King to teach as a kerux, the value system of the
Kingdom.
Jesus ministered
as a kerux of the Kingdom of God teaching us the values, culture and
expectations of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Laying up eternal treasures
So, as we have
been discussing, living according to the value system of the Kingdom of God is
laying up treasures in the Kingdom.
Laying up treasure
in this world is not commendable.
Laying up no
treasure in the Kingdom of God is also not commendable.
Laying up treasure
in the Kingdom of God is not merely appreciated but it is a command of our
Lord.
Matthew
6:19-21
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 "but lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 "For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NKJV)
At one occasion,
Jesus spoke a parable to encourage us to lay treasures in the Kingdom.
This is the
parable of a dishonest steward narrated in Luke
16
Jesus is saying
that he is wise because he invested in the
future.
The parable goes
like this:
A rich man had a
steward who wasted his wealth by mismanagement.
So the master
called him and demanded an account of his stewardship of wealth.
So the steward
knew that the master is sure to find out his mismanagement and will dismiss him
from the job.
With a bad
recommendation from his master, he would not get any good job with any other
master.
He could not do
hard manual works and was ashamed to beg.
So he decided to
act wisely to show a low figure of bad loans.
So he called the
debtors and asked them to sign a new agreement showing half of the real debt to
the master.
The steward was
protecting his future by this act expecting that the debtors whose debt was
reduced to half will receive him into their houses.
The master came to
know about this wise action of the steward and the master was impressed by his
wisdom.
Jesus concluded
this parable by exhorting his audience to make friends by the unrighteous
mammon so that “they may receive you into an everlasting
home”.
Jesus is not here
praising the irresponsibility or cunningness of the steward.
The point of the
parable lies in the concluding phrase, “they may
receive you into an everlasting home”.
The parable is
about investing in eternity with earthly wealth.
The Value System of God’s Kingdom
Before we proceed
to learn how we can lay up treasures in the Kingdom, let us look at a list of
values Jesus taught us.
The values of
God’s kingdom are so different than ours, often they are totally
opposite.
That is why the
Kingdom of God is called an “inverted Kingdom”.
Here are a number
of statements gathered from the stories Jesus tells as recorded by Luke in chapters 14,
15 and 16.
These indicate the
difference in the value system of the Kingdom and the world.
Notice how these
counter what we constantly hear in the media and advertisements of our day.
·
When you are
invited to a banquet go and sit in the lowest place, for “everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”(Luke 14:11)
·
“When you give a
feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” You are to invite
them because they cannot repay you, but “you will be repaid at the resurrection
of the just.” (Luke 14:14)
·
“Any one of you
who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)
·
“There will be
more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous
persons who need no repentance.” (15:7)
·
“You cannot serve
God and money.” (16:13)
·
“What is exalted
among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (16:14)
Terms and conditions
For a wise
decision for the best investment, we must know the terms and conditions of the
Kingdom.
Hence we cannot
prolong this discussion beyond a certain time, I am afraid that we cannot
discuss all the terms and conditions of the investment.
Still let us try
to discuss the important values of the Kingdom.
1. Life in this world is an investment
Do not forget this
law throughout this discussion; the topic of our discussion is not investment,
but the value system of the Kingdom.
But it happened
that the value system is the law of the Kingdom and living in this world
according to the value system is an investment in the Kingdom.
In Revelation 14 we
read that human’s works follow them even after their death.
Revelation 14:13 Then I
heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit,
"that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." (NKJV)
And in Revelation
20: 12 and 13, we read the description of the Great White throne of judgment.
This is the final
judgment of all humans.
Here we read about
a judgment according to their works on the earth.
All the dead,
small and great will be resurrected to stand before God; and each one will be
judged according to their works.
Apostle Paul also
spoke about rewards that a believer receives according to his works.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive
the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or
bad. (NKJV)
Matthew chapter 25 concludes Jesus’ prophetical preaching
which He began in the foregoing chapter, concerning His Second Coming to reward
His faithful servants and take vengeance on the faithless.
The parable of the
‘Ten Virgins’ is said from vs. 1 to 13.
The parable of
five talents is described in vs. 14 to 30.
From vs. 31 to 46,
Jesus goes on to speak about the rewards to the righteous and vengeance to the
faithless.
There will come a
day when the Son of Man sit on the throne of His glory.
People from all
nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate them one from another
as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set
the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will
reward those on His right hand with an inheritance to the Kingdom.
The reward is
based on what they have done on earth.
The King says that
he was hungry and they gave Him food; he was thirsty and they gave him drink; He
was a stranger and they took Him into their house; He was naked and they
clothed Him; He was sick and they visited Him; He was in prison and they came
to Him.'
But the righteous
remembers no occasion when they saw the King hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked
and they never saw Him sick, or in prison.
And they have
never served Him in anyway.
Here comes the
twist in the parable:
Matthew 25: 40 "And
the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you
did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
The faithless are
accused and punished for not serving Him by serving the needy around them.
They are punished
for what they have not done, not for the sins they have done.
They failed to
live according to the Kingdom values and that was considered a sin.
So one value in
the Kingdom of God is:
“Life according to
the value system of the King is rewarded and the other will be punished.”
The message is
clear.
A life according
to the values of the Kingdom of God is a service to the Kingdom.
It is a natural
way of investment in the Kingdom of God.
A life according
to the values of the Kingdom is rewarded in the Kingdom.
Our life is an
opportunity to invest in the Kingdom of God.
Be wise to use every
opportunity for a good investment.
2. Giving is blessing
The second value
of the Kingdom is related to the first one.
We have learnt
that life in this world is an investment in the Kingdom.
Every work follows
us into eternity and will be rewarded or punished.
The meaning of the
following verse is better understood in this context:
Acts 20:35 "I
have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the
weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" (NKJV)
These words of
Jesus are nowhere recorded by the gospel writers.
But all the words
and actions of Christ are not recorded in the gospels. (John 21:25)
So many precious
words of Jesus were memorized by people and orally transmitted among the
believers.
From the great
mass of unrecorded words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit choose the above verse to be
recorded in the Bible.
The words express
a value system of the great King and hence it is so precious that His people
should not miss it.
So this is an
important value in the Kingdom of God.
The value system
of this world is receive and hoard up to create wealth.
The value system
of the Kingdom is to give in order to create investment.
Giving is not
losing, but gaining; giving is not throwing away, it is investing.
Giving in this world is receiving in the Kingdom.
And so every
giving is rewarded in the Kingdom.
3. Reward is a chain system
The rewards and
blessings in heaven passes down from person to person in a chain system.
This is a
marvelous truth that we must rejoice.
Matthew 10:41 "He
who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's
reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man
shall receive a righteous man's reward. (NKJV)
A prophet is God’s
special appointee; he bears a special anointing as a prophet.
Think about Elijah
and Elisha.
They travelled
from place to place and accepted the hospitality of people.
People used to
accommodate them in their houses because they were prophets or teachers of God.
For this kind act
of the people, surely there would be a reward in the heavenly Kingdom.
Receiving a
prophet as a prophet is receiving him in the name of a prophet, under the
sacred character of a prophet and teacher.
It is receiving
the prophet for the sake of Christ, and through the love for his Church.
It is considered
as receiving Jesus Himself.
Jesus assures that
the reward for functioning as a prophet of God will be extended to the person
who receive a prophet.
The same reward of
the prophet will be passed on to the receiver.
Jesus at another
occasion assured us that all our works in this world may be rewarded partially here
in this world and also later in the eternity, subjected to the will and
pleasure of God.
Mark
10:29, 30
29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I
say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father
or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's,
30 "who
shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time
- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and
lands, with persecutions - and in the age to come, eternal life. (NKJV)
In the eternity,
each and every one is rewarded according to his own works in this world.
No deeds of his
ancestors and his descendants are considered.
But for a reward
in this world, the value system of the Bible assures us that the physical blessings
will go down to generations in a chain system.
Deuteronomy 7:9 "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God,
the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with
those who love Him and keep His commandments;
(NKJV)
4. Percentage Calculation
All investments we
make by living a Kingdom life in this world is accounted in the heavenly
Kingdom on the basis of a percentage calculation.
One day Jesus was
sitting in the Temple confronting Sadducees and Pharisees.
He has cleaned the
Temple from all kind of business and trade.
It had definitely
affected the income of the Temple.
Then Jesus looked
at people putting money into the Temple treasury or offering box.
A poor widow came
and threw in two mites; a small amount. (Mark
12:41-44)
But it was all
that she had; that means she put 100% of her wealth.
Jesus used this
incident to teach us an important lesson about the value system of the Kingdom
of God.
Jesus called his
disciples and said how the offering of the widow will be accounted in the
heavenly Kingdom.
She has put all
she had into the treasury; that means she has put 100% of her wealth.
Others might have
given bigger amount to the treasury, but that was out of their abundance and
never comes to 100% of their wealth.
So the account
system in the heavenly Kingdom is related to our whole wealth.
Remember, wealth
is whatever God has given us to live a comfortable life in this world and to
support His Kingdom in this world.
It includes our
heath, money and time.
When we give to
the cause of the Kingdom, we are not giving anything from our own.
When God gave rest
to David from all his enemies all around, he wished to build the Temple of God.
But God forbade
him from building the Temple because David had been a man of war and had shed
blood.
And God commanded
that David’s son and the next king to Israel, Solomon would build the Temple.
Still David
decided to give gold, silver, brass, iron precious stones etc. for the
construction of the Temple.
Not only that,
David gave the people an opportunity to offer willingly for the cause of the
construction.
And the people
also offered gold, silver, precious stones etc.
David and the
people rejoiced for that they offered willingly and with a perfect heart.
And David
acknowledged that both riches and honour came from God.
David stated this
mystery behind all our wealth.
1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be
able to offer so willingly as this? For all
things come from You, And of Your own we have given You. (NKJV)
Because all wealth
that we possess belong to and come from God, God accounts what we give back in
terms of percentage of the whole wealth.
It is natural and
justified.
So it is not the
amount of wealth that gives back to God that counts in the Kingdom, it is the
percentage of the whole wealth.
Heaven follows a
percentage calculation.
5. Hidden spirituality is rewarded
Our hidden spirituality is rewarded in the Kingdom.
There is no multiple
reward system in the heavenly Kingdom.
A hidden spirituality is not awarded in this world.
Anything that is done with an intention of a reward or
recognition of this world is not eligible for a reward in the Kingdom, because
it is already rewarded by men.
A good example
for hidden spirituality is prayer.
Prayer is the most
personal expression of spirituality.
The purpose of
prayer is not to gain the praise of men, or to gain a reputation of being
‘spiritual’ or ‘pious’.
Rather, the
purpose of prayer is communion with our heavenly Father.
Jesus emphasized
the superior value of unseen prayer that nobody even knows is occurring.
He also emphasized
the value of quiet, confident prayer that trusts him as a heavenly Father.
Matthew
6:5-7
5 "And when you pray, you shall not be
like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to
you, they have their reward.
6 "But
you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray
to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret
will reward you openly.
7 "And
when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think
that they will be heard for their many words.
(NKJV)
Jesus
here points to the motivation of prayer and the manner of prayer.
We
should not pray to be “seen by men.”
Prayer
is a personal communication with our “Father who sees in secret” and “reward
you openly”.
We
should “not use vain repetitions as the heathen do”.
Jesus speaks of charitable deeds in Matthew 6:1-4.
Charitable deeds should not be done “to be seen by” men;
otherwise we will have no reward in the Kingdom.
When we do a charitable deed, do it secretly, so that
“your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
Jesus is speaking
about a value system in the Kingdom that reckon our attitude when we do a
charitable deed.
Remember attitude
is important; not the place or manner.
Jesus in His Sermon
on the Mount is emphasizing on the right attitude of our mind.
That is, you may
be praying secretly or open; you may be doing a charitable deed in secret or
open.
Or you may be even
repeating the same words in a prayer or same scripture in a prayer.
If your attitude
in doing so is to please God, you will be rewarded openly in this world as well
as in the Kingdom of God.
This is not a multiple
reward; it is the same reward given by God according to His Word.
If our attitude is
to please men, the place and manner would not matter, we will receive reward
and recognition from men and we will not receive any reward in the Kingdom.
Conclusion
The values in the
Kingdom of God is not according to this world; but according to the heavenly
King.
They are for us to
obey and practice in our life.
They are not
impossibilities; they are possibilities.
A life according
to the Kingdom values is an investment in the Kingdom; every good work of man
is rewarded in the Kingdom.
So live according
to the Kingdom values; live a Kingdom life.
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