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The Sermon on the Mount: Part 3 

Matthew 5–7

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • December 13, In the year of our Lord, 2017

  1. Matthew 7.1–5 | Judging

    1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

    1. Be sure not to isolate verse 1 from its context.
    2. What is the context?
    3. This passage neither forbids all judging nor give full license to judge without qualification.
    4. What does Jesus encourage us to do?
  2. Matthew 7.6 | Discerning Haters

    6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

    1. Do we not have to make some kind of judgment here?
    2. What do dogs and swine represent?
    3. What does the holy and pearls represent?
    4. Why should we not give those good things to those animals?
    5. How do we apply this?
  3. Matthew 7.7–12 | Asking

    7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

    1. What is verse 7 encouraging us to do?
    2. How does Jesus reassure us that the Father will give to us?
      1. Do our fathers know how to give us good things?
      2. Do our fathers have any evil in them?
      3. What does this say about the Father in heaven?
    3. What is the point of this passage?
    4. How does the Golden Rule (v. 12), fit in with this teaching?
  4. Matthew 7.13–14 | Entering Life

    13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

    1. If we are saved by grace, why does Jesus say that entering by the narrow gate that leads to life is difficult?
      1. In what ways is entering the gate that leads to life difficult?
      2. Temptation certainly makes the way difficult.
    2. How many take the broad way and the narrow way by comparison?
      1. Could my definition of “few,” be different than the Father’s?
      2. Could my definition of “many,” be different than the Father’s?
  5. Matthew 7.15–20 | False Prophets

    15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

    1. Some people do not seem to think there could ever be a false prophets and others think everyone is a false prophet.
    2. Why is it hard for some people to identify false prophets or false teachers?
      1. Jesus they come to us in sheep’s clothing.
      2. They look like what a Christian should look like.
        1. They have sheep qualities and
        2. not wolf qualities.
    3. How then can we identify them so that we do not become their prey?
      1. We will know them by their fruits.
        1. Even as grapes do not come from thornbushes and
        2. even as figs do not come from thistles,
          1. so the fruits of false prophets do not resemble sheep-like qualities.
          2. What kind of qualities are those?
          3. What kind of qualities would we expect to come from wolves?
      2. What kind of fruit do good trees bear?
      3. What kind of fruit do bad trees bear?
    4. Why did Jesus let us know what will happen to trees that do not bear good fruit?
      1. In time we will see the false prophets or false teachers come down.
      2. We can also see their true nature in this manner.
    5. Therefore, listen to them and watch them.
      1. You will know who is a true sheep and a wolf.
  6. Matthew 7.21–23 | Entering the Kingdom

    21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

    1. If confessing Jesus is Lord does not guarantee our entrance into heaven, what does?
      1. Do we need to say to Him, “Lord, Lord”?
      2. What does He also want to see?
        1. He wants to see us doing the will of the heavenly Father.
        2. See Luke 6.46
    2. Why will Jesus turn away those who claimed to have done various good works in His name?
      1. Jesus never knew them.
      2. They practiced lawlessness.
  7. Matthew 7.24–27 | Doing the Sayings of Jesus

    24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

    1. Why is doing what Jesus says so important to Him?
      1. What does it mean to confess His Lordship?
      2. That makes Him more than our buddy.
    2. What does His illustration mean?
      1. Doing what He says lays a good foundation in our lives for the rough times of life and ultimately for the Judgment, for that was His point in verses 13–14, 21–23.
      2. Whereas failing to obey Him leads to disaster now and in the Judgment.
  8. VIII.Matthew 7.28–29 | Teaching with Authority

    28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes (Matthew 5.1–7.29).

    1. What astonished the people?
    2. How was His authority different than the authority of the scribes?