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Sermon Notes

Matthew’s Themes

  • Jesus is the king
  • We are part of Jesus’ new kingdom
  • Jesus teaches us how to live in this kingdom

Key Point: Because Jesus loves us, he warns us.

1. Be careful about the prophets who are speaking into your life (7:15-21).
“Deceivers and imposters, under the pretense of divine inspiration fostering revolutionary changes, they persuaded the multitude to act like madmen, and led them out into the desert under the belief that God would there give them tokens of deliverance.” – Josephus, J.W. 2.259

How to spot a false prophet

  • “sheep’s clothing” – Do they pretend to be something they are not?
  • “ferocious wolves”–Do they serve their own appetites?
  • “their fruit”–Do their private lives reflect healthy decisions?

2. Jesus warns us that impressive ministry accomplishments are not the same as being known by the Father in heaven.

Notice: A public testimony and a powerful display of religious intensity does not equate to being known by Jesus

  1. These teachings help prepare us for the future. Because storms will come. – Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus’ teachings bring an inconvenience in the present that serve to protect us in the future. The locale of the sermon near the Sea of Galilee finds a natural setting for this parable. The alluvial sand ringing the seashore was hard on the surface during the hot summer months. But a wise builder would not be fooled by the surface conditions. He would dig down sometimes ten feet below the surface sand to the bedrock and there establish the foundation for his house. When the winter rains came, causing the Jordan River pouring into the sea to overflow its banks, houses built the sandy surface would have an unstable foundation. But houses built on the bedrock would be able to withstand the floods. Excavations in the late 1970’s in the region uncovered basalt stone bedrock that was apparently used for the foundation of a building in antiquity. – Michael J. Wilkins, The NIV Application Commentary

Jesus’ teachings bring an inconvenience in the present that serve to protect us in the future.

Check Your Theological Dashboard
What warnings do you see?
Which inconvenient teaching of Jesus do you need to put into practice?

  • To be salt and light with good deeds – Matt. 5:14-16
  • To embrace the permanency of the God’s Law – Matt. 5:17-20
  • To love your enemies – Matt. 5:43-48
  • To avoid hypocrisy – Matt. 6:2-3, 5, 16-17
  • To be careful in judging others – Matt. 7:1-5
  • To ask, seek and knock – Matt. 7:7-11
  • To do to others what I want done to me – Matt. 7:12

Discussion Questions

TALK IT OUT

  1. Pastor Rusty shared 3 ways to spot a false prophet: 1) Sheep’s Clothing—
    they pretend to be something they are not. 2) Ferocious Wolves— they
    serve their own appetites. 3) The Fruit— their private lives do not reflect
    healthy decisions. Why do you think God warns us about bad leaders?
  2. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says impressive ministry accomplishments do
    not always mean leaders are people of God. Jesus said God will
    eventually reveal that He never knew some of these. What cautionary
    lessons should we learn about ourselves and our leaders from Jesus?
  3. Jesus encourages us in verse 24 to build our spiritual homes on “solid
    rock.” What do you think Jesus is trying to teach us in this statement?
  4. What “sandy foundations” do you see that people are mistakenly tempted
    to build their spiritual houses on today?
  5. Why do you think Jesus included these warnings in the Sermon on the
    Mount?
  6. What caution from this sermon and passage do you most need to be on
    guard against?

LIVE IT OUT

Which inconvenient teaching of Jesus do you need to put into practice?

  • To be salt and light with good deeds – Matt. 5:14-16
  • To embrace the permanency of the God’s Law – Matt. 5:17-20
  • To love your enemies – Matt. 5:43-48
  • To avoid hypocrisy – Matt. 6:2-3, 5, 16-17
  • To be careful in judging others – Matt. 7:1-5
  • To ask, seek and knock – Matt. 7:7-11
  • To do to others what I want done to me – Matt. 7:12

After selecting one of these areas to work on this week, list 3 habits you’re going to
change or 3 things you’re going to begin to do this week based upon what we have
learned from Jesus.

Pause right now and ask God to help you make these changes.