​Jesus ended His Sermon on the Mount with three warnings. This past Sunday, we considered Jesus’ third warning about faulty foundations. It’s a warning about merely listening to His words without actually doing what He said.

Listening to Jesus can’t save you. Hearing sermons (in a building or on a mountain) can’t save you. You have to do what Jesus says. You have to put down your excuses and take the leap of faith. 

Jesus gives us a warning because He knows a storm is coming. The only way to survive that storm is to be genuinely His—in a real relationship with Him by believing, receiving, and trusting Him.

Watch our study in Matthew 7:24-27 as we carefully consider the importance of the foundation upon which we live our lives.

​You can’t just declare yourself a Christian. You must be born again. If you have been truly born again, there will be a transformation—you will become a new creation. There will be evidence of a genuine conversion that Jesus calls ‘fruit.’ 

In last week’s study, we considered Simon in Acts 8. Whether Simon was a genuine believer has been debated for centuries. Some see Simon as a new believer struggling with sin. Others view him as a false prophet who made a false profession of faith. And yet, it’s an opportunity for us to reflect on. Do you really want the genuine of your conversion to be debatable? 

Jesus tells us that many will profess to be genuine believers who have never actually been born again. Watch our second study in Matthew 7:21-23 as we heed the warning of our Savior not to be one of the ‘many.’

​Being a disciple of Jesus is more than what you say or appear to do. It’s who you are. Are you still only His creation? Then your relationship to Him is as Creator and Judge. Are you a new creation? Have you truly been born again? Then your relationship is with Him as Father. You have been given a new nature and have become one of His children!

Jesus saw us all poisoned by bitterness and bound by sin. He loved us too much to allow us to remain that way, so He came to rescue us. We know we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard of righteousness. We also know that the wages of sin is death. That’s why Jesus came to die for us. God demonstrated His love for us this way—while we were still sinners, Christ died on our behalf.

Here’s the good news: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

​Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives His disciples three dire warnings concerning false prophets, false professions, and faulty foundations. In our last study, we thoughtfully considered those who present themselves as sheep but are inwardly ravenous wolves.

This past Sunday, we turned our attention to Jesus’ second warning about false professions. How could someone say and do all the right things and not be a born-again believer and be saved? 

We see an example of a false prophet and a false profession in the same person in Acts 8 as we consider the careful warning of Jesus we read in Matthew 7:21-23.

You can identify the tree based on the fruit you see growing from it. If you see an apple on a tree, you can identify that the tree is an apple tree. 

Fruit grows out of identity. Like a tree, the fruit in our lives is more than just what we say and appear to do. The fruit we produce comes out as a result of who we are.

Jesus tells us that the fruit a person’s life produces will identify if they are a false prophet. Someone can say and do all the right things. They can (and will) have the appearance of a sheep, yet their identity is that of a ravenous wolf. 

Jesus wants His disciples to know how to spot the difference. The fruit in a person’s life will show if they are a genuine born-again believer who feeds upon God’s Word and displays the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), or someone who claims to be a believer but uses the ministry to be in proximity to born-again believers to feed their ego, insecurities, and ravenous hunger to be in control.

Heed Jesus’ warning about such people—“By their fruits you will know them.”

“Beware…” 
Jesus had to warn His disciples about false prophets who would look like them but were not His. They are not sheep but ravenous wolves. 

Jesus wasn’t using poetic language to make a point. There are some who look like Christians, talk like Christians, and walk like Christians, but are not Christians and intentionally prey upon Christians.

So how do we know who these ravenous wolves are? Thankfully Jesus tells us—“by their fruits you will know them.”

Watch our study in Matthew 7:15-20 as we meditate on the warning Jesus gives us about false prophets.

​We have a good Father who knows how to give good gifts. He promises to give us all that we need to fulfill the clear expectations that He has for the beautiful worthy difficulty of ministry. So ask, seek, and knock. Do not give up, dismiss, or diminish the clear expectations for ministry just because it’s difficult. After all, Jesus told us it will be difficult! 

In our own strength and with our own resources, His clear expectations are impossible. This drives us to two options—the narrow gate and the wide gate. The narrow gate is difficult but the wide gate leads to destruction. Embrace the impossibility of ministry and ask, seek, and knock until you see His attitudes, actions, attributes, and motivations in your heart and life.

This is the adventure that He has called us to—the beautiful worthy difficulty of ministry. So ask Him, seek Him, knock on the door of His heart. His heart for you is to give you all of this so that you can have fellowship with Him as you are a blessing in the lives of others.

​Being a dedicated disciple of Jesus is not easy. That’s why we call it the beautiful worthy difficulty of ministry. In fact, being a dedicated disciple of Jesus is impossible in our strength and with our resources. Even with all of the effort and human willpower we can muster, we will find ourselves lacking what’s required to do what God calls us to do.

That’s why we need to cry out to God for His help continually. We must continually ask. We must continually seek. And we must continually knock, knowing that He is a good Father who knows how to give good gifts.

Watch our study in Matthew 7:7-14 as we continue our study in the Sermon on the Mount and learn why asking, seeking, and knocking are essential to entering by the narrow gate.

​It's alright for a follower of Jesus to have money, but it's a problem when money becomes their motivation. It’s okay for a disciple of Jesus to have food, but things are out of order if food controls them. It's the same with clothing and the necessities of life—those things are fine for believers to possess, but if those things have control in our lives, it leads to the life-taking bondage of hoarding, coveting, and worrying. 

When we see these creeping into our lives, we need God’s way to reestablish order in our hearts and minds. Thankfully, He has given us the antidote to these things—giving, praying, and fasting.

When you give, you tell money that you have control over it. Praying releases you from the life-taking control of constantly wanting what you don’t have. Fasting deflates the power of worry by temporarily setting aside the necessities of this life to seek first the reality of the next.

Setting down our way to pick up God’s way takes faith. It takes faith to give when your heart wants to hoard. It takes faith to pray when your heart wants to covet. It takes faith to fast when your physical body tries to control you with worry over the necessities of life. Step out in faith and trust that the life-giving way of the Lord’s will release you from life-taking bondage of hoarding, coveting, and worry.

​Before sending us to minister in His name, Jesus addresses the issues of hoarding, coveting, and worrying as He expresses certain concerns about our hearts, minds, and physical bodies.

Our way of handling worry leads to hoarding, coveting, and even more worrying. When we try to manage worry in our own way, it ultimately leads to life-taking bondage. But God has a better way—one that gives life. God’s way is the antidote to our way. And in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides us with the antidote to reestablish the right order of things in our hearts. 

This past Sunday, we considered what it means to seek God’s kingdom above all else. Watch our study of Matthew 6:19-34 as we meditate on God’s way of living by faith.

​Why we pray is important. Jesus tells us that we shouldn’t pray to get noticed or to appear more spiritual to others (Matthew 6:5-7). Prayer is to further our fellowship with our Heavenly Father. We can talk to Him anywhere at any time about anything.

God, who is so good to us every day wants to talk with us—every day! And yet, Jesus recognized that this might be difficult for us. So to help His followers, Jesus provides talking points to help us construct our communication with the Lord—things that encourage dialogue.

This daily discussion is not to be filled with vain repetitions with words we mumble over and over, but a thoughtful exchange directed to a person (our Father) in a place (in Heaven) who is pure (“holy is Your name”). We can talk with Him about purpose (“You will be done”) and provision (daily bread). And we can ask him for pardon (“forgive us our trespasses”) and protection (“deliver us from the evil one”). 

Pour out your heart to God. Tell Him your hopes and fears, your concerns and burdens, your joys and sorrows. Ask Him questions, then read His answers in Scripture—not just to obtain information or attain spiritual status, but so that you can know Him.

​In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the proper motivations for everyday activities. As He teaches about the right motivations for prayer, He provides a primer on prayer—an elementary introduction to the construction of our communication with God. 

In what’s commonly referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus provides topics of conversation for His disciples as they constantly converse with their Heavenly Father. These conversations aren’t just vain repetitions, but real and honest that further our fellowship with God.

Watch our study in Matthew 6:7-15 as we ask the Lord to teach us to pray.

​Jesus teaches us that motivation for ministry in everyday activities is important. 

If you give, pray, or fast to be seen or to seem more spiritual than others, that is all you will get. You trade an eternal and enduring reward for something fleeting. More importantly, you won’t experience a deeper fellowship with your Heavenly Father. Why would you pass up on something so valuable for something so fleeting as the praise and admiration of others?

When you give, pray, or fast, find the secret place where no one knows except for God. He will see you in the secret place and reward you openly with fellowship with Him. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that our motivation for ministry in everyday activities is important. In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus addresses the motivations in three specific ministry activities (giving, prayer, and fasting) and He helps us understand the right motivation for doing these things. 

If we’re motivated by what we get from these activities, then what we get is all we’ll get. There will be no eternal reward if getting is our motivation. But even more important than the motivation for eternal rewards is fellowship with God. There is nothing greater or more valuable than fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

Watch or listen to our study in Matthew 6:1-18 as we meditate on the right motivation for ministry in everyday activities.

Read ahead for this Sunday! We jumped over verses 7-15 of Matthew 6 this week, but we will consider these verses on Sunday. Hope to see you then!

​Jesus expects His disciples to have certain attributes. His followers must be honest, have grit, and be more than a conqueror. But what if we don't have these attributes? What if we fail? What if we fall short?

Repent and cry out to Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit for help. This is the only way that we will have the attributes Jesus expects of His followers. Jesus would never expect us to do anything that He didn’t already intend to empower us to do. He expects us to have the attitudes, actions, and attributes He defines in the Sermon on the Mount, and so He will empower us to have these attitudes, actions, and attributes as we follow Him.

This doesn’t come from trying harder. It doesn’t come from minimizing or rationalizing our inherent inabilities. It doesn’t come from outsourcing this to “religious professionals”. It all comes from Him. As a disciple of Jesus, you are a living example of what it looks like to follow Him. Receive help from the Holy Spirit and rest in the loving power of Jesus. Only then will you see this manifest in selfless love that glorifies our Heavenly Father. 

​As we work through the Sermon on the Mount, we discover the attitudes, actions, and attributes we must have to continue to be Jesus’ disciples. 

These are not unattainable ideals but the basic expectations for the disciples of Jesus. Jesus expects His followers to be honest, to have grit, and to be more than conquerors. 

But what if these attitudes, actions, and attributes aren’t in us? What if we fail and fall short? It’s what we consider as we meditate on the attributes Jesus expects from us. Watch or listen to our study of Matthew 5:33-48 as we continue through the Sermon on the Mount.