Len Richardson - The Manifesto of the King - Class 1 - Citizens of the Kingdom

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Len Richardson Hereford opening the study of the manifesto of the King, studied in the Sermon on the Mount and our particular study today is citizens of the Kingdom.

2. 0:18

   When Jack Bolton said he’d rather listen to Len Richardson and look at him, he didn’t know what Len Richardson voice was going to be. Live.

3. 0:29

   Let me hasten to assure you that there’s nothing wrong with my voice as you’re here. I don’t want you to worry about me, because I should probably be like this all the week. I’ve got South Africa Bump and it’s gone to my lyrics at the moment. It moves about me from place to place and with God’s help, up to now I’ve managed to do everything that’s been asked of me and I believe that He will help me to do what I’ve got to do.

4. 1:17

   And it may even help you to concentrate rather on the message than the man, if you don’t have a melodious voice like Leslie Johnson. And I have to put up with that fellow from Hereford. But I don’t want you to be all the time thinking what’s the matter with the man? You know, there’s nothing wrong, actually.

5. 1:43

   It’s just a larynx trouble. And you’ll be interested to know that it does gradually improve as I go on. After the 1st 2 1/2 hours, not too bad.

6. 2:00

   Our reading is from Matthew’s Gospel chapter 5, the 1st 16 verses here at Fred. Brethren, sisters, my brethren, speaking on the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, that Jesus went about everywhere teaching the Kingdom of God as though he went about giving Christadelphia lectures on the Kingdom of God. And when we come to read the gospel, we’re surprised sometimes to find that he didn’t seem to say the same kind of things that we do in our lectures about the Kingdom of God. That is to say, when we are preaching the Kingdom of God, we are paid to talk about the promises to Abraham and the covenant to David help be fulfilled in what we call, quite rightly, a divine political Kingdom soon to be established from the earth.

7. 3:04

   But when we read the Gospels and we find Jesus preaching the Kingdom of God, he doesn’t seem to deal with those aspects of it. He seems to be more concerned with human behavior. He speaks of the Kingdom of God in a different sense to this. Now of course, it is perfectly correct to say that the Kingdom of God is a divine political Kingdom. It may even be correct to say it soon to be established on the earth.

8. 3:38

   And the soon is not our province to say. But it seems probable that it will soon be established on the earth. But when Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, all this was underlying message. This was something that was there at the background of it. The Jews themselves perfectly understood the divine political Kingdom aspect of it. That was all they did think it was. And they were expecting a great Messiah to arise who would establish this Kingdom, and they would have the preeminent places in it, and their enemies would be trotted on their fingers. So when Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, his understanding of the Kingdom in its political sense. But he read into what he said.

9. 4:32

   But what even more concern was what I’ve called in my title, the citizens of the Kingdom, the kind of people God wanted for His Kingdom. In a sense he was saying to Mr. Patriot Jude, it’s all very well to be so wrapped up in the idea of the establishment of Israel as the Kingdom of God and the restoration of the throne of David.

10. 4:59

    But unless you change your ways, you won’t be there except you be converted and become as little children. You cannot see of the Kingdom of God like that. You receive the Kingdom of God. There’s this way in which he uses the term except you receive the Kingdom of God, of the little child, you shall in no wise enter there into there is this idea of receiving the sovereignty now in Slough becoming subjects of God and of God’s Kingdom, beginning to live in a sense, beginning to live in the very spirit of the Kingdom now in order that you might inherit it then to live like the sky and heritage. You do know perfectly well all about the covenants to Abraham and David, and expected that it was all being set up in store for them.

11. 6:09

    Must have received the rebuke of Jesus. You will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of God, and you yourself thrusted, unless you change your ways.

12. 6:23

    John the Baptist, the great creature. There has never been a greater than John the Baptist. The Lord and the prophet were and killed John. Since then the Kingdom of God and all men press into it. Here was the proclamation Kingdom of God in a moral sense, to be received now by men and women, prepared to become citizens of the future Kingdom, to be established.

13. 6:55

    So when he wanted to give descriptions of the Kingdom of God, he didn’t in fact go back and start talking as we do about the abolition of war and the doing the way of sickness. And the eyes of the blind should be open, and the ears of the deaf shall be under all that is perfectly true.

14. 7:17

    It’s all part of the proclamation of the message. But when Jesus said and what is the Kingdom of heaven like? And with a comparison shall we compare it? Isn’t it like a man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he has found one Pearl of great pride, no even said it all he had that he might possess it? Or a man who finds treasure hid in a field? Or a woman who hides how many measures of leaven in three measures of flour?

15. 7:58

    I’ve forgotten the my computer, but you know the idea. This was what Jesus was concerned with, the of people called to the king, the kind of people God was looking for, for his Kingdom. That’s what Jesus was concerned with. And all the way through the Gospel, all the way through the gospel. This is what the preaching of Jesus about the Kingdom of God was, I know, called when he spoke to his disciples privately on the Mount of Olives, he gave a more detail what we might call political interpretation of of what was to take place.

16. 8:41

    But when he was preaching to the people, his emphasis all the time was on the quality of its citizens, the kind of people God was looking for to be heirs of Kingdom when at last it should be established upon them. And when he’s thinking of second coming, in order that the Son of Man in the fullness of time might sit on the throne of His glory daily, always the preparation of the hearts of His disciples to be ready against that day. The servants serving their Master in His absence, those who did what they could for His brethren while He was away from them.

17. 9:28

    These are the principles of the Kingdom that Jesus preached because he was concerned that people should not just have a surface understanding of the divine political Kingdom, the politics of it, probably of it if you like, but that they should have an understanding of the moral content of those who were to be heirs of the Kingdom of God.

18. 10:02

    So the manifesto of the King was the sermon on the mouth, almost certainly early in his ministry when as it were proclaimed, two men and women everywhere into the Jesus special, the terms on which God would be prepared to receive into his Kingdom of love. The kind of people God was looking for a citizen. And the Beatitudes we’ve just read in the 5th chapter of Matthew are really a description of a man of God. This is the kind of purse that God is looking for and preparing for his ultimate Kingdom, the beatitude, the blessing. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the pure in heart, and so on them all together.

19. 11:09

    And you have a portrait of Jesus in it, the King of the Kingdom. Here he is. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about. When God’s glory, God’s will, is established on earth over all the world, these kind of people will be there to live with Jesus everlasting in his eternal Kingdom. Not only a portrait of Jesus, of course, but a portrait of the complete Christian character as well, living in the world but not belonging to it.

20. 12:00

    I want to begin by looking at these a little more closely called in what’s left of the time. Go into each one indeed, and I want to look at them a little more closely now. I want you to notice how that

21. 12:21

    these qualities are Christianity give an unnatural religion. That is to say, there’s nobody naturally like this. You must be born again, Jesus said. You’re not born like this. You may be born with a quiet disposition. There aren’t many people with a much quieter, quieter disposition than Len Richardson. There are a lot of quite a lot of our brother and sisters who are nice, quiet, humble. No, not, you know, not natural.

22. 13:02

    Nobody’s naturally humble. What is naturally humble? It may be naturally a little bit timid, or they may be naturally a little less aggressive. Their dreams may have been ordered in their structure a little differently to mine so that they’re less aggressive than I am and and more ready to give way than some of us are. But humility is a spiritual quality. You must be born again into these. These are qualities that Jesus says belong to discipleship and they have only been produced by the work of the Spirit in our lives.

23. 13:50

    William Paley in his famous book, he may have, I don’t know whether you can remember. Let’s start that sentence again. William Paley wrote a book which used to be famous in Christadelphian circles, even though it wasn’t written by Christadelphian, and that was some testimonial for it and it was born evidences of Christianity.

24. 14:14

    Some of the older brethren here and nodding their heads, of course they read it. How many of you have read it? Hands up those who have read it? Not many. Well, I’ll tell you what it’s all about. It was a very good book and if you get the chance, 2.7 if you get the truck, pick it up on the bookstore, grab it.

25. 14:37

    It’s very good and it is to me one of the classic defences of the Scriptures and of the Christian musician. It’s called quail, evidences of the truth of the Christian religion. And one of his evidences is that the qualities inculcated by Jesus Christ are so unnatural,

26. 15:05

    and that means to say they’ve come from heaven, they belong to God by a divine property. He divides virtue into two. He says there are what I call what he talks heroic virtues,

27. 15:21

    and there are the patients and the two classifications. No, he says. You know, strength, patriotism, selflessness, courage, these sorts of things. There are very great men in the world. There are very great people who have done great things, things that make us almost feel ashamed of ourselves. Look, they, they are so great, but they’re only natural.

28. 15:56

    They are natural qualities. Some men are naturally more courageous and they do great things and they get factory stood up to them in the marketplace. These are the natural thing, the heroic quality. But the fish, these are the mark of divinity in the Bible and in the Christian brain, because Jesus Christ talks about me.

29. 16:26

    Purity of heart, voice of spirit, gentlemen. Now he said these are not things that naturally you think are important. We admire naturally the Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Of course he doesn’t mean poor spirits, he means those who are humble and Contra in spirit.

30. 17:07

    In the 51st Psalm we come urine God to forgive him very seal. He was so abused he has to say that himself. He was pouring broken in half over his sin. Jesus says that’s the man God for the man, the woman who is humble enough to recognize their deficiencies, their frailties great man David courageous, but his greatness in God’s sight was a humble and the contrite heart. O God, thou wilt bested obey that maul. No special blessing in being bereaved of your loved ones and and weeping for their laughs.

31. 18:13

    It’s not that kind of mourning Jesus thinking of sober people who mourn for their sins and perhaps for the sins of others. There’s so much to mall about in our world.

32. 18:33

    The name of God being despised is something to mall about man in humanity. To man the oceans of suffering in the world is something to mall about.

33. 18:50

    My own sin is something to mourn about. Christianity is a joyous religion, but it’s not jolly. There’s a tendency for men to make it into a rather jolly thing. You know, as long as you’re all happy and jolly, you’re a good chap. That means a good Christian. But Christianity isn’t jolly. In fact, it’s rather sad. It looks on the reality of things, and it’s those that more, Jesus says, who are truly blessed. Of course he doesn’t mean leaving it at mourning, wringing your hands and feeling desperately broken. But seeing the answers well, weeping my end during the evening, the psalmist said.

34. 19:52

    But joy comes in the morning as sure as faithful and life. Those who mourn over the right thing, those whose hearts are quiet and sober before God in the reality of their understanding of their own frailty and sinfulness, and of God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ, will be made happy in the morning. And that is the blessing that he attacks it to those that mourn. The main Jesus was meek but he was never weak. I like to think of this as being the non competitive. About that try to say he said what is meekness? What is meanness marriages was mink wasn’t he one of the the meekest man that ever lived up to his time? Anyway what a mighty man he was.

35. 21:04

    He wasn’t wink. I think the mink man is non competitive and we live in a competitive if we’re honest, you know, we’re all competing all the time, at least if we’re not careful. Trying to be well thought of,

36. 21:29

    trying to make a name from the odds, trying to get somewhere, trying to be recognized. Jesus says it’s not like that at all. It’s not like that self effacement. You’re not in the race, you’re not trying to glorify yourself, you’re not trying to promote an image. You haven’t gotten the image to promote the mate. Those who want God to have all the glory, those who are prepared to go where he wants to go and do what he wants them to do, but not to get anything out of it for themselves. They’re not in the competition with other people. They’re just trying to please God. You shall find rest for your souls. Jesus said, May look at me.

37. 22:32

    Jesus said I am mate and lonely of heart. Follow my example, you know, for yourselves. Up with me and you shall find rest. Now do you know, brothers and sisters, I am absolutely convinced, absolutely convinced that this is something we are all wanting in life. Rest for our thoughts, to be at peace with God, to be at peace with our neighbour, to be at peace with ourselves. Feel that you can have it, but you can only have it my way. Come on to me, all you who are confeted you, all you that labour, that heavy laden, come unto me and I will give you rest.

38. 23:44

    Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of hearts, and you’ll find it. Things you’ve been looking for all your life and you’ve recognized it or not.

39. 24:08

    I give up night race for your souls. Hungering and bursting after righteousness. That’s the crunch, isn’t it? Oh, I think this is wonderful. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst up to righteousness. You really mean what you want. The other life, what are you trying to get? Where are you going? What’s life all about as far as you’re concerned?

40. 24:49

    There’s one thing to be a Christadelphian. It’s one thing to what we call understand the truth, baptize and go to all the meetings. But it’s a different thing to hunger and outer righteousness. I know, I know brethren, that my hunger and bursting half the time 3/4 at the time isn’t really for righteousness. I want so many things.

41. 25:24

    Old as I am, I can say that so many things you hunger for look forward to enjoy Jesus both of the hunger and earth for righteousness. Now do you? Do you really so much long for it, So much that you couldn’t really describe it as hungry and praised for it? Jesus did thou hast love, righteousness, and his iniquity.

42. 26:16

    Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed me with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. I think I will be the king of this everlasting Kingdom. That’s why the Lord has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name, because he who is to judge the world in righteousness and establish God’s will upon the earth over all nations, first received God’s will into his own life. And let God be keen over all his desires. He loved righteousness, hated inequity, and that qualified him to be the head of the Kingdom of God. If you want to prepare, Jesus says you’ve got to learn it. You’ve got to learn to love the things that the Kingdom of God stands for.

43. 27:16

    Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word of God, the merciful. Blessed are the merciful. How shall we vote for mercy giving none? Porsche said, shy Lord, didn’t she have hopefulness? Where would you? If justice be thy, please consider this, that in the course of justice none of us should seek salvation. We do pray for mercy in that same prayer that teaches all the render the deeds of mercy.

44. 27:58

    It means being kind, isn’t it? That’s all time. I think being merciful in this set, being being kind. Kind to other people, kind about other people, kind in your judgments of other people. You want to receive mercy from the Lord? Then be merciful to others given it shall be given unto you. Good measure.

45. 28:37

    Pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men pour into your bosom. He meant just. The merciful shall obtain mercy even in this life. It’s true, you know, the critical carping spirit is usually unhappy, and the generous man received generously from others. Blessed are the merciful. Goodbye reason for say, journey. Blessed are the merciful.

46. 29:20

    Now notice that there’s a pleasant blessing in all these things. It’s a pleasant blessing. It’s just something reserved for the few. One day, if you grit your teeth and carry on, one day you’ll get blessings, tremendous blessing. Now the merciful obtain mercy now and in the world, the heart, by the grace of God, eternal mercy in His everlasting Kingdom.

47. 29:57

    Blessed are the pure in heart. They don’t play in inside. Jesus always insisted on inner cleanliness, didn’t he? Not the outsider, not just scrubbing out outward man trying to put on a good faith to others, but what we are like inside, the motivation of a man. This is what matters. The pure in heart. They shall see God alive.

48. 30:35

    I just I don’t think we can know the fruits of what that expression means. They shall see God, but you’ve got to be pure inside. Jesus is one of the conditions of his Kingdom, that we first cleanse that which is within, that the outside also may be clean also, lest are the pure in heart, for they shall see our God.

49. 31:15

    The secret of the Lord is this. It’s a wonderful phrase, isn’t it? The secret of the Lord is theirs, the pure in heart. Their heart is fight the bow. Blessed are the pennies made, not the pennies.

50. 31:45

    We tend to give so much credit to people who blaze trails and lead things and fire the guns. One of those qualities you think that painting talks about unnatural qualities. Not the arrogant, not the vengeful, not the pride of the peace. The fruit of righteousness is so in peace of them that make pain. And as one dear old brother of Hereford, his daughter’s here tonight, so she anyway said it.

51. 32:32

    George Merritt said that they are buying class ones. You don’t sow seed on the battlefield thought for to die. You don’t sow seed on the battlefield. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that made peace, and the persecuted and the reviled, and there is nothing consumely in shame for the name of the Lord Jesus.

52. 33:04

    He said that they’re the truly happy. It’s a contradiction, isn’t it? Nothing at all like you would imagine. But of course you wouldn’t imagine it because these are not natural faults and these are divine faults. This is God of what makes up the complete man, and those who were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name rejoiced and praised God that they were counted worthy to endure these things for his name’s sake.

53. 33:43

    Now I’ve only very briefly run through these qualities that Jesus said are the first Prince of the Christian life and having described the citizens Kingdom, he now goes on to describe their function. Verse 1316.

54. 34:16

    He uses 2 figures to describe the function of those that belong to the Kingdom. First of all he says you are the salt of the earth and he says you are the life. There are two functions of salt, one is to preserve and the other is to flavour. And there is an implied criticism of the world in the very fact that Jesus says it needs his salt. You are you followers of mine, you believe, oh, the salt of the earth.

55. 34:58

    You see, the world is always tending let themselves society corrupts get a gaggle of people together. They nearly always gradually, increasingly descend in their mode of conversation. Human natures, the world is evil and not good. The constitution of mankind is one that is going wrong. What’s happening in our society? Society is going wrong. It’s flavourless.

56. 35:42

    It’s incipient from God’s point of view. Now, salt is an additive. It’s quite different in time from the material in which it’s plain salt and potato.

57. 36:02

    Potatoes bubbling away in the pot, No salt in them. You know what’s going to happen. They’re going to have no flame. Your guests are going to not enjoy the meal and taste it. Add some salt at the last minute, give them another 5 minutes so the salt can permeate and flame it to the meal.

58. 36:25

    And Jesus says the function of his disciples is to give some kind of flavor of Christ in their society. Even as thou hast sent me into the world, Even so have I sent them into the world. John chapter 17 to preserve me from corruption and to bring the savour of Christ into their environment. So when you go about your daily annotation, when we go about our daily living, think of ourselves as being hailed into the world by Gene.

59. 37:20

    We have tended to withdraw from the world. We’ve been afraid as a community. We’ve had a withdrawal. Come inside, shut the door, put the curtain down and leave them to Stew in their own Jews. These are says I have sent you into the world, not to become like the world, but to change the world if possible to try to bring something of the flavor of Christ into the environment in which you live. If a child, you may be able to save them that believe. Let your speech be always with salt, with grace, seasoned with salt.

60. 38:15

    Salt, you are the salt of the earth. They’re our brother and sisters, of whom it’s true to say they are the very salt of the earth. But in a very special sense, Jesus is saying you have a mission to take me with you into the world and to bring something of the flavor of Christ into the life and environment in which you daily live.

61. 38:53

    And secondly, you’re the light of the world. Salt mixes with and influences its environment, as it were, stealthily taking Christ in our daily life and showing into men. But the light stands up and shines out in the darkness. The clear evangel of the Church is here, proclaims shiny of light in the world, holding forth the word of life.

62. 39:31

    The world is dark, You are its light, Jesus says. The world is invented. You are its hell, the world is in the ship, you are its slave, you are the fault of the earth, you are the light of the world. And then make to the person, not just you conglomerately, but may you individual let your life so shy before me that they may see your good works.

63. 40:14

    And glorify your Father who is in heaven, men and women who have these qualities of life within themselves and who through their daily ministry to others reveal Christ and all that Christ stands for for their fellows. These are men and women who are citizens of the Kingdom of God. And when the day comes for the Kingdom to be worldwide and the name of God to be glorified in all the others.

64. 41:01

    And in some measure began begun the journey now and even now begin to sing the song forever new.