The Sermon On The Mount
Adult Class--Spring 2004
Lesson 10
As Jesus finished this great sermon on the kingdom of God in our lives today, He revealed six principles about the spiritual dimension of our lives. We looked at three of these principles last time, and we end the sermon with the last three. With this, Jesus has taught us about the life that is truly good, changes that must take place in our attitudes, the right exercise of religious activities, and right daily lives. All this is about living in the kingdom of God right now, not just in some distant, utopian future.
Discipleship to Jesus will never be popular--Matthew 7:13-14
This passage is often misread as if God has deliberately obscured the way of life and made it both difficult to find and difficult to walk. In fact, God continually calls to"an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good" (Isaiah 65:1-5). He calls to us to follow Him because "the way of transgressors is hard" (Proverbs 13:15 KJV). The gate is narrow for those who follow Christ because it doesn't have to be very large--it doesn't bear enough traffic. Remember that in the ancient world, roads existed wherever people traveled. They wore the ground smooth, so the broad roads showed where traffic was very heavy while the narrow paths were traveled by few.
Most people will choose to serve themselves and their own interests. Whoever chooses that will soon conflict with God's desires and fall into sin. Since so many people choose to live this way, it seems "normal" and "right" and many are deceived into following that way of life. If nothing alarming happens to capture their attention, such people will sleepwalk through life and into an eternity in hell.
Jesus continues the call of God for us to leave the mindless crowd and follow Him. His plea is merely that we will hear Him and not our culture as the pattern for our lives. This way of life may be admired by unbelievers, or even respected, but it will never be popular in our world. The way will always be narrow because fewer people will walk in it and wear it smooth.
Real Christians obey Jesus all the way--Matthew 7:15-23
Throughout the history of God's people, there have been false prophets--those who proclaim a message God never gave. In the church there have always been teachers who profess a gospel that Christ did not bring. They may look good and sound good, but they are not good. They want something. False teachers always use their position for personal gain.
How can you tell who the false teachers are? In the Old Testament there were three tests for the false prophets:
Jesus reminds us merely to examine the quality of the lives of those who claim to be His servants. Jesus teaches against greed. Are these teachers greedy? Jesus teaches against lying. Do these teachers deceive, connive, tell partial truth and lead people astray? God's people teach His word accurately and fully. Do these teachers add to, subtract from or change the word of God to suit themselves? Actions betray reality, and deeds, not words, reveal the truth about your life. False teachers face an unenviable end! One sin or inconsistency doesn't make a person evil, but a widespread pattern of sin demonstrates that he is not a Christian.
The basic requirement of God is that we do His will. It's not enough to say some good things or do some great deeds and be sincere. We must be His. History is full of people who were sincere but were wrong. Who of us would like to stand before the Lord in judgment and answer His question, "Why did you call me 'Lord,' yet persistently refuse to do what I said?" How is He our Lord if we will not obey? If we will not have Him as Lord, we must not expect Him to be our Savior.
Faith in Christ is the foundation of a secure life--Matthew 7:24-27
Our need is to hear Jesus' words and put them into practice in our lives. As an illustration, Jesus draws an analogy to a well-built house, safe and secure on solid footing. It will stand against the storm because it is founded on a solid base and is not vulnerable at bottom. By contrast, a person who hears Jesus' words but walks away and doesn't put them into practice is a stupid man who builds his house without a foundation. The storm breaks against that house and it collapses.
Storms of life happen. The person who has built his life on Jesus Christ is not destroyed by them because at bottom what is important is his relationship to God. The person without Christ is shattered by the ordinary, inescapable unpleasantries of life. There is no substitute for developing a life that is based on the authoritative teaching of Jesus.
The reaction to Jesus’ teaching--Matthew 7:28-29
The crowds were amazed at Jesus' teaching because He taught by His own authority (But I say to you). Also, Jesus' words strike a chord deep within us as we recognize the truth, the wisdom and the depth of insight they contain. Truly, no man ever spoke like this (John 7:46). But Jesus is more than a man--He is the Messiah who ushers in the kingdom of God.
Discussion Questions: