Skip to main content

Rethrone Part 3

Week 3

Text: Matthew 7:12–27
Topic(s): Following Jesus, Spiritual Foundations, Spiritual Fruit
Big Idea of the Message: True disciples will bear spiritual fruit as evidence of God in their lives.
Application Point: The believer should consider what their spiritual foundation is and how that shapes and sustains their Christian walk.

Talking Points:

  1. This passage starts with the Golden Rule: we should treat others the way we desire to be treated (v. 12). Then it becomes a cautionary tale to listeners: there is only one way to eternal life—through Jesus. Don’t be deceived by the “wide” gate that leads to destruction, but instead choose the “hard” path that leads to life (vv. 13–14).

  2. Jesus continues his teaching with another warning about false prophets who look like good guys but really are bad news (v. 15). He uses the illustration of a tree to point out how we will know the good from the bad. A good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit (vv. 15–20). Consider having two apple trees in your yard. As spring comes, beautiful, sweet-smelling blossoms bloom on both. When you pick the apples, however, one tree bears sweet, juicy McIntosh apples. They get made into delicious pies, crisps, and applesauce. The other tree produces apples that look just as good, but when you sink your teeth into one, it is sour and bitter. It’s a crab apple tree: worthless except for feeding the birds.

  3. Charles Spurge on writes,“All the talking, thinking, posturing in the world will not save a man. There must be in him such a faith as produces holiness” (C. H. Spurgeon, “The Disowned” [sermon, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, December 7, 1902], Spurgeon’s Sermons 48, Christian Classics Ethereal
    Library website,     https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons48/sermons48.xlix.html?highlight=2808#hi ghlight). As Jesus continues teaching, he tells us that there will be people who claim to know him, who say they did amazing things in his name, but in fact he never even knew them (vv. 21–23). Ouch! We might work hard to look like a good Christian. We can do all the right things and stay away from all the wrong things. We can follow all the rules and memorize all the Bible verses, but if our faith is just an act and we haven’t actually repented or asked God to be the boss in our life, it is worthless. We can’t earn our salvation or fake our way to heaven. We must believe, confess, repent, and allow Jesus to rule our life. His work in us is what will bear good fruit. We can’t will ourselves into producing good apples when our very DNA is a crab apple tree.

  4. Instead off a king it, we must build our faith or “house” on the foundation of Jesus (vv. 24–27). Shoddily built houses with foundations of celebrity Christianity, the prosperity gospel of “if I’m good, then I’ll get stuff from God,” or your parent’s faith will not make it. Yes, we can be encouraged by the faith of famous believers, our parents, or God’s provision, but the only foundation we can build upon that will sustain the hurricanes the world throws at us is the foundation of Jesus’s love,

death, burial, and resurrection and the Spirit-guided, authentic response to his

call to be brought back into reconciliation to God.
5. Thesepeoplearepayingthepricefortheliteralcrumblingfoundationsoftheir

actual house s: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/these-homes-are- crumbling-from-their-foundation-790384707513! A specific mineral, pyrrhotite, found in the concrete mix expands over time and wear, causing the foundations to fail. As we consider what it means to be a disciple of Christ, it’s important that the ingredients in our spiritual foundations can withhold the wear and tear of life.

Week 4

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Eternal Truth of God - Part 2

  The Eternal Truth of God Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations. I. GOD IS TRUE. 1. He is true in His very nature. Falsehood is the wickedness — I dare not call it the infirmity — the wickedness of little natures; but as for the Great Supreme, you cannot conceive Him acting in any manner that is otherwise than straightforward, upright, and truthful. A God of truth and righteousness is He essentially. He must be so. 2. The Lord our God is not only true in His nature, but He is true to His nature. You never find Him doing anything that is not godlike. Select the acts of His creation. If He makes an aphis to creep upon a rosebud, you will find traces of infinite wisdom in it: you shall submit the insect to the microscope and discern wisdom in it as glorious as that which shines in yonder rolling stars. If in providence some minor event comes under your notice, in that event you shall find no deviation from the constant ru...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man's Needs, God's Wealth

  Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." God's Boundless Wealth Describing God's wealth with mere words feels inadequate, yet some metaphors and titles help us grasp its magnitude. Figures and Titles That Illuminate God's Wealth The Sun : God as our Sun illuminates every aspect of our existence, from the highest peaks to the deepest valleys. His light and warmth nurture life in all its forms. The Ocean : Like the ocean's tide filling every bay and inlet, God's goodness pulsates throughout the universe, touching every corner with His tender mercies. Titles such as the "God of hope," the "God of peace," the "God of all comfort," and the "Father of mercies" offer glimpses into the richness of His nature. Yet, the ultimate revelation of His wealth is encapsulated in the simple yet profound declaration, "God is love." God's Promises and Prov...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Gospel of Our Creation- Part 1

  The Gospel of Our Creation Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD he is God: it is he that has made us, and not we; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.… It is he that hath made us, and not we. This declaration was held to be a gospel. It occurs in a psalm that may well be regarded as a universal psalm. It is not for Jesus only, but for "all people that on earth do dwell." And amongst the reasons wherefore it calls on all to be joyful in the Lord, there is this one - that "it is he that hath made us," etc.   I. NOW, WE CANNOT CONCEIVE OF GOD AS ACTING WITHOUT MOTIVE. And -   II. THEREFORE THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A MOTIVE FOR THE CREATION OF MAN.  We can trace reasons and evidence of purpose in all God's work; hence,ce we are sure there must have been such when he created man.   III. AND THIS MOTIVE MUST HAVE BEEN GRACIOUS OR THE REVERSE.   1. It could not have been the reverse; for, whether we look at the structure of man's body, where all seems so adapte...
Post a Comment
Read more