Matthew 7:24-29  Jesus ends His sermon with one more warning. He compares those who have heard His word and act upon it and those who heard but don't.  Those who take heed of all He has spoken are like the house built on rock.. and those who don't are like houses built on sand. 

Both houses face the same storms.. the same rain and floods and winds. But one will fall and the other will stand.  In this world, the apostle wrote, we will face troubles.  Being a believer does not make us immune to the struggles of life in a fallen world.  Sometimes, we even face more!  The difference is our Foundation.  Christ Jesus is a firm foundation.  He has given Himself so that we might overcome with Him.. in Him.. and through His strength. 

This was a long sermon.. so what "words" are the ones we need to act upon? Is it the light that we need to shine?  Is it about the righteousness that we need.. a righteousness greater than the Pharisees and scribes? Is it about praying, giving, and fasting?  Or is it asking, seeking, and knocking?  In all of these things we see that Jesus is calling us to choose the narrow way.. choose to trust Him.. to seek Him first.. to come into that deeper relationship.. an intimate, personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

Jesus taught with "authority" Matthew tells us.  He knows about the storms and winds and flooding.  He knows that Life is found in His Word, in His way..  We make our choice and we either stand in Him or we fall without Him. He is urging us to choose Him!

Father in heaven, thank You for giving us the grace to hear the Words of Christ and to do them.  We know we must have His strength and wisdom and thank You for the rich supply of both according to Your loving kindness. Help us to have ears to hear and hearts to understand all that Jesus taught and did.  May our lives be built on Him and may good fruit be produced to the glory of Your Name. Amen. 

  Matthew 7:13-23  "Enter by the narrow gate... " Jesus tells us...   There are only two choices.. the "broad way that leads to destruction"  and the "narrow" one that "leads to life."  Jesus knows that many will choose the wide gate and that only a few will find the narrow way.  We all have a choice to make.. and it is not always easy. 

Jesus teaches that there are also two kinds of "prophets". The true prophet will be known by his actions.. the fruit that his life produces... "good fruit".  There are also "false prophets  who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."  Jesus assures us that we will able to recognize them "by their fruits". (verse 16 and verse 20)..

It is impossible for a "bad tree" to produce "good fruit".  When we watch carefully and pay attention to the  fruit of a person's life.. we can tell what kind of character they have and what road they have chosen. 

Jesus warns that those who are imposters.. who even tried to fool Him with their religious words and works.. will not slip into the kingdom unseen.  He sees the heart.  He knows those who are His own.  He is the vine and we are the branches and we can bear NO fruit at all without Him. 

I remember having a little poem once.. can't find it now.. but it started with the words.. "You tell on yourself.. "   By everything we do.. everything we say..we make clear the road that we have chosen.. the kind of tree we are.. the heart and soul of who we are because of Who we belong to. The Lord is never fooled by the outward appearance.. for He sees our hearts.  We may fool others.. for a time.. but eventually we tell on ourselves.. and what is hidden will come to light. 

Father in heaven, may we be genuine in our thoughts, our words, and our actions.. loving You with all our hearts and souls and minds and bodies. Completely yours. We choose the narrow way.. the way of Christ Jesus our Lord. Let Your will be done in us today as we abide in Jesus.. and may good fruit be produced in our lives to the glory of Your Name. Amen. 

 Matthew 7:7-12  Jesus tells us to "Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to your. "  Ask.. seek.. knock..  Three actions.  Verbal, mental, and physical actions. 

What are we to ask for?  The example is a son asking for bread or fish.  Asking for something good.. something necessary.. something that the father is more than willing to provide for the well-being of his child.  Jesus says, " .. how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" (v11) 

Psalm 84:11 "For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."   Paul wrote in Romans 8:32 "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" Our Father knows what we need in order to become all that He desires us to be.. and He will freely give us whatever that is.. but.. we are told to "ASK". 

We are also told to "SEEK".. and keep on seeking.  In Matthew 6:33 Jesus told us to "... seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. " We don't seek the things.. we seek Him. We seek His rule and reign.. His will.. His plan.. His way. Deuteronomy 4:29 "... you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and soul."  I Chronicles 16:11 says, "Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually."  And Acts 17:26-27 records Paul's message in Athens.. "and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." 

Jesus did not stop with telling us just to ask and to seek.. but He tells us also to knock. We are to keep on knocking.. so that the door will be opened.  In Luke's account of this message there is an example given. A man who has a late night visitor... needs bread to serve his friend. He goes to his other friend and knocks at the door, asking for 3 loaves of bread.  Although this friend has already gone to bed and doesn't want to get up.. he does "because of his persistence". (Luke 11:5-8)

We ask and seek and knock.. because our Father in heaven is a generous provider. He is also wise in His giving.. only providing that which is good.. according to His perfect will.  We ask and we trust Him to answer our prayer according to His wonderful grace and goodness. 

Father in heaven, we ask for Your grace to overflow in our lives so that we can treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. We ask for discernment.. to judge ourselves and our own motives and ideas before we dare look to judge another. We ask for the Spirit of God to help us to seek You first.. Your kingdom and Your righteousness, that we might rest in Your gracious provisions.. content and thankful. We ask all of this in the only name that enables us to come before You.. the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 Matthew 7  “Do not judge lest you be judged.”   We are reminded of this verse.. especially when someone disagrees with our judging!   Sometimes we are harsh in our judgements.. sometimes I think that we don’t really mean to judge.. but our mouths open without fully thinking through what we are saying.. and our hearts are in need of sanctification..  

Either way we need to understand what Jesus was teaching here.  The word “judge” has many possible meanings in the original language.. It can mean to separate, to put asunder, to pick out, select, or choose. It can mean to approve, esteem or prefer. It may mean to state our opinion.. or to determine or resolve… It could be meant to censure or to pass judgment.  It can also mean to condemn, avenge, or subject to punishment.  Over all.. it implies that those who judge are those who claim power over those they subject to their judgement. It comes from pride.. not from humility. 

Jesus said, “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” 

Jesus gives an example of this in Matthew 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, even while for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation.”   They measured out judgement against the poor and needy.. acting like they were better and exhibiting power over them.. but the judgement against them, Jesus says,  would be from God’s hand.. a “greater condemnation” . 

Jesus tells us how to deal with this kind of attitude in ourselves.. we must  examine ourselves.. “take the speck out of your eye”… Make sure to see clearly.. Notice your own imperfections.  Don’t be a hypocrite, pretending to be righteous.  Don’t put others down to make yourself look better.  Choose to help your brother or sister who might be dealing with an issue.. but help without passing judgement.  It is not up to us to condemn another. 

Father in heaven,  forgive us our trespasses, our debts, our sins, our judgements.. and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We are in need of Your judgement.. to discern our deepest needs and to bring them to the foot of the cross.  Thank You for seeing our hearts and revealing Yourself to us in all truth and grace… that we might repent and find new life in Christ Jesus who is the Judge of all. Lead us in Your paths, Lord God. Remove the attitude of pride and self-righteousness.  May we humbly come alongside others to carry their burdens and love them in their need.  Come Lord Jesus and live out Your life in us today. Amen. 

 Matthew 6:25-34

“.. do not be anxious for your life..”.   This is one of the most difficult things for most of us, to not be anxious.. to not worry.. to not take thought of.. the essentials of life: food, clothing, shelter.. or anything else. 

But, Jesus tells us that our “Father knows”.. our Father cares.. our Father provides.  Our faith is so small sometimes.. so we let anxiety in… 

Jesus says that anxiety can’t feed us.  It can’t cloth us.  It can’t change our height or weight or the hair on our head. It only has power over us when we let it win over faith. 

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (V33)  Seek- continually.. seek in order to find.. seek until the kingdom is foremost in your thoughts and desires.  Seek the Kingdom where Jesus reigns and rules.. where He provides every need.. where His plans and purposes fulfill every Word that He has spoken.  Seek that intimate relationship that is possible because He came.. He died.. and He rose again. 

Father in heaven,  in You alone to we find life.  You give us hope and peace and love.  You give us faith. Help us to have faith that trusts even when things don’t go as we want. Faith that Your plans are better. Thank You for providing all that we need today.  Thank You that tomorrow is in Your hands too.  May Christ be exalted as we seek Him with all our hearts today. In His name we pray. Amen. 

 Matthew6:1-24  "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men..."

Jesus says we must choose.. to serve God or to serve "mammon"... riches or wealth or any other master.  As God's children, followers of Jesus Christ, we have made that choice.  We are looking at life from a different point of view.. from God's perspective instead of man's.  Our character is being reformed and transformed by the Holy Spirit and even our "righteous" actions will be different than before. 

Jesus gives some examples of ways our religious practices must change to conform to the Father's will. 

The giving of alms is an important part of many religions.  Jesus taught that the right way to give is privately.. .in secret.  It is not something to flaunt before others to be notices and honored.  It is not something to do in order to receive a reward of any kind from others.  We give "alms".. gifts of mercy and compassion and charity.. with a heart of love.. even as our Father in heaven has given to us in our spiritual poverty. 

Prayer is without a doubt a vital part of religious life. But, it is not meant to be a show.  It is not something to do in a proud or pious way.  Jesus teaches us to come humbly before our Father.. in secret. It is a time of sweet communion with the God of peace and comfort, Who has seen our great need and desires to fill our hunger and thirst for  righteousness with His Presence. 

Prayer is not supposed to be just words.. it is meant to be meaningful.  It is a conversation and a connection with Almighty God.. our Father, who is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving.  It is seeking Him and finding Him. It is remembering that He is the Life-giver and all things are in His hands and that He knows what we need.. It is about confession and repentance.. forgiveness and intercession. It is a Father and His child sitting together in a time of intimate fellowship. 

Fasting is another aspect of many religions. And once again we see how it has been and continues to be misused.  Jesus taught that we should fast secretly. No one else needs to be in on this.. it is between us and God . 

In verses 19-24 Jesus speaks about storing up treasures. We don't really consider this a religious  practice, but there are many who think that their blessings.. their wealth.. comes because of their "righteousness".  Jesus says that earthly treasures are corruptible... only treasures in heaven are lasting.  And, even more importantly.. "where your treasure is there will your heart be also." 

So, again we are confronted by the statement He makes in verse 24.. are we serving God.. in our giving, praying, fasting, and storing up of treasures?  Or are we serving ourselves?

Father in heaven, may Your Name be kept holy, may Your kingdom come, and may Your will be done! You are our provider.. of all that we need today. Have compassion on us once again we pray.  We praise and worship You. Amen. 

 Matthew 5:21-   Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law.. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished."  Jesus Himself will do what we cannot do.. He will perfectly finish or fulfill the Law. It will take a righteousness that " surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees"... it will take a righteousness that only comes by faith in Christ the Lord. 

Jesus illustrates His point with these examples that miss the mark of God's perfect Law. 

The Law forbids murder, of course, but God's perfect will looks at hatred and anger and spite.. and unforgiveness as just as much a sin.  

The Law condemns adultery but God in His holy will desires that no marriage be marred with infidelity of any kind. 

The Law calls for "an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth.."  but what God desires for HIs children is a humble attitude that turns the cheek.. that forgives the persecuted.. that prays for the enemy. 

God's desire for His children is that we are so filled with His Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord that we think and act and talk.. like Him. He wants us to love like He does. He wants us to be "perfect" as He is. 

Only Jesus can bring us into this perfection. Only His Spirit in us can bring us out of the law of sin and death and into the eternal life that Christ died to make possible.  

Father, once again we confess our poverty of spirit.. our lack of righteousness of our own and our great and desperate need for Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Fill us Spirit of God.. transform not just our minds and wills but our character.. that we  might truly be salt and light to this sin-filled world. We ask for Your power to live in the perfection of our Lord Jesus to the glory of Your holy Name.  amen.