The Kingdom: Demonstration
“The Message of the Kingdom”
Sunday, March 23rd, 2025
The church must have influence in the Mind Molders of the 21st century. Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright said there are seven Mind Molders. Some call these the 7 Mountains of Influence that will shape the thought, paradigms, and thinking of the 21st century.
· Religion
· Family
· Education
· Government and Law
· Media
· Arts and Entertainment
· Business and Finance
The sad commentary is…most folks just want the church to address number 1 and ignore 2-7, but to Influence culture you must address all 7 Mind Molders…
The question is, how do you even begin to gain influence in these arenas as a church…
· The Church needs Revival
· The Seven Mountains Need Reformation
So, the Christians need influence in these areas…not necessary to Lead these areas, but to Influence them.
Matthew 5:1-12 – The Beatitudes
To begin to understand the Sermon on the Mount we must understand the Ministry Style of Jesus!
· To understand Jesus’ Ministry Style & Model we have to look at the proceeding verse.
· Matthew 4:23-25 & Acts 1:1
· Jesus’ Model was To Do a Thing, then Teach! So when we get to the Sermon on the Mount… Jesus is about to teach concerning the Kingdom because the people have been watching the Power of the Kingdom unfold before them!
I. Sat
Matthew 5:1 – “When He had Sat”
· “Sat” is a positional word
· If He is about to speak concerning the Kingdom – “Kings Domain”…He positions himself to do so…In the natural it looks like he is simply taking a seat…in the Spirit, He is taking a Position!
o Now here me that is a message all in itself…
o There are some things you do in the Natural…that you have done today…but we have no true idea what has transpired in the Spirit or the Eternal realm.
· Jesus came to establish His Kingly Domain – Rule, Order, & Governance… 1 Soul 1 person at a time!
o Matthew 8:20 – “birds, foxes, Son of Man”
o Isaiah 6: “Train Filled the Temple” – the expanse of the train determined the expanse of the rule of the King and His Kingdom
o Ephesians 2 says, “We are seated with Christ in Heavenly places…”
· These are verses of Scripture that address our position and Christ’s position in the Kingdom!
II. Beatitudes or Attitudes of Believers in the Kingdom
· “Blessed” means Happy – Jesus is challenging our temporal attitudes concerning our circumstances!
o Look at the Promised result of each new attitude –
§ Receive the Kingdom
§ Being Comforted
§ Obtaining Mercy
§ Inheriting the Earth
§ Seeing God
§ Being Satisfied
§ Being Called His
§ We could go all the way down each of these Beatitudes
o These Beatitudes are not Laws they are Declarations of Grace…
Let me put it this way: “Grace enables what it commands!
Matthew 5:13-16
· These are the two Influences of the Kingdom.
o Salt & Light
· In God’s Kingdom our Influence is like Salt and Light
· Salt means-prevailing influence; to “flavor” that which is around you!
o In cooking you don’t add salt proportionately to the weight of meat.
§ Example: If you have a pound of meat… you wouldn’t add a pound of salt… The salt is too overpowering!
o Jesus says “you and I are Salt”
§ We have more influence than just one to one ratio.
o You as a believer, a Kingdom man or woman work with 100 people that don’t know the Lord… eventually as one “Salty Saint” you will bring the entire group under your influence! They may not all get saved … but your Saltiness will influence those in the stew pot with you!
· The Old Testament is filled with Salty People…even History outside of Scripture has had some Salty Folks
o Who brought people, cities, nations, under their influence for the Glory of God!
· See you and I must be Salt in our homes, our jobs, our extended families; our church must be Salt in this community!
· Some of you find yourself in difficult situations and places and you’re asking God to rescue you out of it and God is saying, “Don’t Get Out… Be Salt.”
· The Lord taught Gideon that “He” the Lord doesn’t need many (300) Salty men that will move forward with Influence!
III. Salt has a couple other purposes other than seasoning.
1. Preserving Power
· God wouldn’t destroy Sodom & Gomorra because there was still preserving Power there in those cities as long as Lot and His family was there!
o That is why when Lot’s wife looked back she turned into a pillar of salt…that is what she was when she was in the city…
o But if salt has lost its saltiness how then can it be re-salted, it is now no good and is used simply to stabilize the ground.
· You want to kill some weeds… put Salt on it.
· You want to preserve some meat put Salt on it.
· You want to change and preserve a family – be Salt in IT.
2. Covenant
· Covenant was entered into by 2 ways
1. A meal offering with Salt
a. Lev 2:13, 13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt ESV
b. Your worship needs to have some salt on it…it can’t be tasteless…
c. You can’t come to the lord with salt-less tears…
d. Our Repentance needs some salt…in other words my repentance must be more than Remorse…it must be Salted.
2. Exchange of Salt
· How binding is the Salt Covenant?
2 Chron 13:5-6, Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? ESV
o it is an everlasting Covenant… so strong and binding that God gave David and His Sons all of Israel through a Salt Covenant.
o Judg 9:45, 45 So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. NKJV
o There are some things in our lives we should put Salt on so it never produces a crop of sin again!
o Later Jeroboam rebuilt this city and it caused God to become angry with him and tell Jeroboam you have done evil in the sight of the Lord…we know through scripture and history that Jeroboam became a very wicked king in Israel’s history and it began by rebuilding where God had placed Salt.
o If God kills an area of your life with Salt and we rebuild that area of sin…we will find it is so much more difficult to kill it a second time.
§ Illustration: There was a gentlemen in Freeport who I prayed for and God delivered him from a 25 year smoking habit instantly…after not smoking for a year…he went through a very stressful time and during that time instead of relying on the Lord, he went back and started smoking to deal with his stress and anxiety…well after the stressful situation was over…he was hooked again on cigarettes…we prayed and prayed and prayed…and he couldn’t get instantly free like before…it took him 4 months to kick the habit of smoking again.
o Don’t rebuild on territory that God has placed Salt on…it may take a long time to tear it down.
o 2 Kings 2:19-22, 19 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke. ESV
o There are some places that when you and I enter with Salty Influence…
§ Healing Begins
§ Barrenness Ceases
§ The water (Word) is purified!
IV. Light – Matthew 5:14-15
Matt 5:14-16, 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. NKJV
· Jesus begins with the Ultimate Vision
o Have you ever known the Lord to show you a completed thing but not the process or steps to get there?
§ Successful Marriage – Process
§ God will speak to you about a Ministry – But Not the Process
· Jesus mention Light’s Influence at 4 levels
o World
o City
o House
o Men (individuals)
· It begins at an individual level…we can talk about the platitudes of faith, the kingdom, church, heaven…all these things but if it isn’t shining through us…we can’t move to the next level of influence.
· Secondly in the House
o Now that speaks to me 2 things
§ My house
§ And THIS House
o If we are going to share LIGHT with the City – they have got to see LIGHT IN OUR HOUSE!
§ When the Children of Israel building Solomon’s Temple – Iron could not strike Iron unless the enemies hear it and think ISRAELS AT WAR!
o As our church moves forward to be influence, light to a Region we must have Bright Lights in Our House!
· Light also speaks to Vision
o The Brighter the Light the easier it is to see where you are going!
V. Closing
a. As you see these first few verses of the Sermon on the Mount…I want us to recognize Jesus is addressing:
i. Kingdom Values
ii. Kingdom Attitudes
b. As Jesus followers Attitudes and Values shape your future, your family, the direction of your life…
c. It says, “Jesus Sat”
i. Have we allowed him to take his place in our lives…