Kingdom Living Series

Kingdom Living

Matthew 7:28-8:1

Our life will be revolutionized when we allow Christ and his message to rule our lives.

SLIDE #1

INTRODUCTION

• Today we reach the end of the Sermon on the Mount Series.

• Jesus laid out a new foundation for living, a new foundation that was utterly foreign to the way the people had perceived God.

• By coming to live as a man on earth, Jesus was able to see life from a perspective that otherwise, He may have never had.

• The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (NASB).

• Part of the reason Jesus came to live as a man is so that He could experience what we experience and see what we see.

• He came to not only be a sacrifice for our sins, but He came to show us the way those who are in His kingdom should live.

• One of the great things about God is the fact that we do not have to wonder how we need to live to please Him.

• God does not move the goalposts in us; He has been consistent in what He desires from us.

• Do you want to know something that has always interested me?

• The perception that God shows us His will for us so that we can become enslaved, or that all God wants to do is to make sure we do not have fun in this life!

• Nothing can be further from the truth; God WANTS you to have an abundant life in HIm.

• God desires you to have a peaceful life in HIm, and God desires you to be faithful to Him.

• Why does He desire us to live and act in a certain way? Because just like a good parent, He wants us to have the best life possible!

• When you first glance at the two verses we are going to dig into today, it is easy to overlook the verses because, after all, the Sermon on the Mount is over, or is it?

• Today we are going to make three observations concerning the concept of Kingdom living.

• Jesus laid out what God wants for us so that while we live this life, we can live a life that we KNOW is pleasing to Him, along with one being able to live the fullest life possible!

• Big Idea of the Message: Our life will be revolutionized when we allow Christ and his message to rule our lives.

• Let’s turn to Matthew 7:28-8:1 as we unfold some issues concerning Kingdom living!

SLIDE #2

Bible Verse

Matthew 7:28 (CSB)

28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

SLIDE #3

1. I. Kingdom living produces astonishing results.

Explanation

• I love verse 28!

• Matthew 7:28 (CSB) — 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

• If you have ever heard something that would shake you at your core, you know what these folks were thinking as well as how they were feeling.

• Many walked away that day and completely missed Christ!

• This does not mean they weren’t impressed with his teachings.

• Matthew 7:28 says that “the crowds were amazed at his teaching.” “ASTONISHED” in this verse means that they were completely blown away.

• The word translated ASTONISHED is a powerful verb that can be used to denote, wonder, or fear (USB HANDBOOK).

• I have to think in this context it can mean a little of both. The teachings of Jesus brought a sense of wonder to the crowd as well as a bit of fear.

• One can understand why so many rejected Christ’s message.

• His message was a direct attack on their religious leadership—the Pharisees.

• This message was foreign to everything they had been taught and believed.

• But even more, the truth is that it went to the heart of their security.

• The message of Jesus got uncomfortably close to their security.

• What was their security?

• It was what can often be ours as well: it is way easier to follow the rules than to change attitudes.

• A checklist is a more convenient measure of righteousness.

• If they took this message to heart, it was going to force them to trust God rather than themselves.

• The thought of actually putting their lives and trust into the hands of God is scary, especially when you are not used to doing so.

• What truly astonished the crowds had to do as much with the method of Jesus’ teaching than even the content. We will expand on that thought in verse 29.