Jesus will one day set up an Earthly Kingdom ruled by spiritual people. While His people wait to be installed in places of authority all over this earth at His coming, it is easy to recognize them, these people of the Kingdom. Their description is outlined in Matthew 5-6-7, in the famous lesson Jesus gave on a hillside in Galilee. We call it a sermon on a mountain…

Kingdom people live humbly. They know who they are before God and act accordingly. They are presently in a state of mourning, waiting for their King to arrive with the joys of eternity that will end their sorrows. They are gentle. They hunger for God. They are merciful, pure, peace-makers.

Kingdom people are persecuted people. They are not loved by this present evil system that the Bible calls “the world.” Yet though hated, they become the salt and light of that world.

They keep God’s laws by the inner workings of the Spirit within them. They teach those laws in their meetings. They have an authority that is not Pharisaical, but Heavenly.

They are not angry, lustful people. They are faithful to their spouses. They are never heard swearing by God or anything.

People of the Kingdom do not try to resist the evil that comes to them, and in fact they love their enemies.

They give to those who ask things of them, and their church giving is always discreet and private. Likewise their prayer and fasting life.

They are a people of forgiveness. They are other-worldly, and care not about amassing material wealth. They have no worries, for they trust their Heavenly Father perfectly. They seek His Kingdom first and know that all their needs will be supplied.

Kingdom people never condemn others, knowing the depth of their own wickedness in their flesh. They know how to ask and seek and knock on Heaven’s door when needs arise. They are always doing for others the things they would want others to do for them.

They believe in a narrow way, and a narrow gate that enters into that way. They are content to live with restrictions while those around them seem so liberated. They are on the watch for false prophets and false religions. They lovingly hear and do only what God has given them in His Word.

We need no new ways, no revolutionary ideas. We need only to buy into the revolution that Jesus Himself began with these words from the Gospel of Matthew.