Matthew 19: Kingdom Counsel (7)
Pray Psalm 146.1, 2.
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Sing Psalm 146.1, 2, 10.
Hallelujah! What a Savior: Man of Sorrows
Praise the LORD, my soul, give praise! While I live, His Name I’ll raise
and exalt Him all my days—God forever reigns in Zion!
Read and meditate on Matthew 19.1-30.
What part of this chapter spoke to you the most? Give thanks to God for what you’re learning.
Prepare.
1. Who can expect to be in the Kingdom of God, and what should they expect to be doing?
2. What obstacles can keep people from seeking the Kingdom?
Meditate.
Chapter 19 continues to expand our understanding of the difference the Kingdom of God makes in our lives:
- The Kingdom of God shores up important institutions like marriage, helping us get back to God’s original idea about this foundational social bond.
- Devotion to the Kingdom demands chastity of us all—not abstinence, but moral purity at every turn.
- It demands the kind of humility that comes naturally to children.
- As for riches, Jesus helps us to understand that the true riches are Kingdom riches, those gifts, powers, and blessings that flow from the heavenly Father, so that we can live for His glory in every area of our lives. We should desire to be rich, and long for it earnestly, but not in the riches of this world. If such riches do come our way, and to whatever extent they do, focusing on the treasures of heaven will help us make good use of all our material blessings.
We are part of a new community, a new nation; and each of us is set up as a ruler and judge to bring righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit into our sphere. Our mission is to bring the reality of the Kingdom into all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities, beginning among those who share our common calling to the Kingdom and glory of God.
The more we work at nurturing a Kingdom mindset about our lives, the more we’ll be able to see the wisdom and grace in the teaching of Jesus and all Scripture. And the more we will realize the promises and power of the Kingdom for restoring the world and making all things new.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
We current Kingdom-dwellers are much like those of old, who “died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11.13).
Unlike them, however, we have experienced Jesus’ arrival on earth, His glorious life of perfection, His ignominious death for our imperfections, and His victorious conquering of death by resurrection.But they, and we, are all waiting for His return—His second arrival—to take us Home; then on to the new heavens and new earth eternally (Rev. 21.1).
“But now they [and we] desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God [and ours],
for He has prepared a city for them [and us]” (Heb. 11.16).
The major difference between our forebears and us is: Jesus brought the Kingdom of God to earth.
Here and now. We can work His works on earth as they are worked in heaven (Matt. 6.10).
We also have, which they did not have, the promise of the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us for these works (Jn. 16.7, 13, 14; Eph. 2.10).
We, and they, have hope. But we have seen the promised Messiah.
We know, even more than they, God keeps His promises.
When Jesus says to us, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake” (Lk. 8.22) we can launch out in the assurance that He will always go before us to make sure we get there. We have all the resources for success available to us, we need only trust and follow Him wholeheartedly.
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19.26).
When we follow Him,
trustingly as a child trusts his parent (Matt. 19.14),
those in our Personal Mission Field should proclaim
(as those who observed Jesus heal the paralytic):
“We never saw anything like this!” (Mk. 2.12).
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves also with the same mind,
for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men,
but for the will of God” (1 Pet. 4.1, 2).
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD;
be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;
wait, I say, on the LORD! (Ps. 27.13, 14).
This is the promised reality of life in the Kingdom of God—here and now.
Always anticipating, that new Country—there and then.
Reflect.
1. Would you say that you are gaining more of a Kingdom perspective on life? Explain.
2. How can you see this Kingdom perspective beginning to affect the people around you?
3. What skills do you most need to improve in as you are seeking and advancing the Kingdom?
I rather explain regeneration as referring to the first coming of Christ; for then the world began to be renewed, and arose out of the darkness of death into the light of life. And this way of speaking occurs frequently in the Prophets, and is exceedingly adapted to the connection of this passage. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Matthew 19.28
Pray Psalm 146.3-10.
What opportunities for advancing the Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit are before you today? Commit each one to the Lord, with thanksgiving and praise.
Sing Psalm 146.3-10.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!: Man of Sorrows
Trust we not in prince or man, no salvation’s in their hand;
death shall take them, breath and plans—God forever reigns in Zion!
Blessed are they whose hope resides in the LORD, Christ at His side.
By Him heav’n and earth abide—God forever reigns in Zion!
He is faithful evermore; He gives justice to the poor,
feeds the hungry from His store—God forever reigns in Zion!
Jesus sets the pris’ner free, heals blind eyes that they may see,
lifts those burdened painfully—God forever reigns in Zion!
He the righteous loves the best; wand’rers in His grace are blessed;
needy ones in Him find rest—God forever reigns in Zion!
But the wicked who defame His eternal blessèd Name,
them He brings to ruin and shame—God forever reigns in Zion!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast continues readings from the book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column is working through a study of the role of reason in the life of faith. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
