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.
• Astonishing teaching can lead to astonishing changes in one’s life!
• Think about how different life could be if you could incorporate just the teachings of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount!
• The words of Jesus, the Word of God, has to power to produce astonishing results in the lives of those who will allow it to happen!
• Hebrews 4:12 (CSB) — 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
• Romans 10:17 reminds us,
• Romans 10:17 (CSB) — 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.
• What were some reasons for the astonishment of the crowd?
• He spoke the truth (John 14:6; 18:37). Corrupt and evasive reasoning marked the sermons of many of the scribes (Matt. 5:21 ff.).
• He presented matters of great significance, matters of life, death, and eternity (see the entire sermon). They often wasted their time on trivialities (Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42).
• There was structure in his preaching. As their Talmud proves, they often rambled on and on.
• He excited curiosity by making generous use of illustrations (5:13–16; 6:26–30; 7:24–27; etc.) and concrete examples (5:21–6:24; etc.), as the sermon shows from beginning to end. Their speeches were often dry as dust.
• Finally, and this is the most important, (which we will cover next) for it is specifically stated in verse 29, He spoke “with authority” (Matt. 5:18, 26; etc.), for his message came straight from the very heart and mind of the Father (John 8:26), hence also from his own inner being, and from Scripture (5:17; 7:12; cf. 4:4, 7, 10).
• The leaders were constantly borrowing from fallible sources, one scribe quoting another scribe.
• They were trying to draw water from broken cisterns. He drew from himself, being “the Fountain of living waters” (Jer. 2:13). (Baker NTC, Matthew).
• Kingdom living is transforming; kingdom living will produce astonishing results! I know this from my own life!
SLIDE #4
Bible Verse
Matthew 7:29 (CSB)
29because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
SLIDE #5
2. II. Kingdom living based on genuine authority.
Explanation
• Earlier I mentioned that the people were astonished by the manner of Jesus teaching as much as they were with the content. The content was astonishing; however, how Jesus taught was amazing.
• The religious leader’s manner was to take a scripture verse and cite what a variety of other rabbis or teachers had said about it. But Jesus taught directly without referring to other teachers.
• The religious leaders based their authority on what they taught from what others taught! Jesus did no such thing; He taught based on HIS authority.
• Why does this point matter? People tend to make the ways of God more burdensome and complicated.
• Kingdom living means a new way of life that requires aversion for self-trust and confidence in someone else.
• But kingdom living is authentic living.
• Jesus’s hearers hadn’t been truly living.
• They were under so much bondage and guilt because they couldn’t keep up with the Pharisees’ demands.
• If this weren’t the case, Christ wouldn’t have said in Matthew 11:29–30, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me … for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
• There is an implied alternate burden that Jesus speaks.
• There is a switching of burdens that Christ suggests. His is lighter than the alternative.
• The alternative is the Jewish rabbinical teachings that caused so much undue stress.
• Christ offers his instead. What makes His way better?
• When we apply the kingdom attitudes that Christ references in his Sermon on the Mount, we realize we don’t have to trust in ourselves or any other person or set of rules to keep us in right standing before a holy God.
• Instead, a relationship can be formed.
• Many Christians have built their Christian beliefs on false assumptions and massive expectations.
• They feel as though they have to perform for Christ rather than rest in his grace and righteousness.
• This is the message of Christ; it is meant to free you. It is only by the Spirit that we can experience the new life that Christ has created in us.
• When people set the rules, on what authority do they do so? If a person sets their own rules on what authority do they do so?
• Why is this thought critical?
• Imagine one day you decide to drive 80 mph down Fry.
• Then you get pulled over, then what happens next?
• Most likely, you will get a ticket and a trip to jail.
• Then let say you argue with the officer asking them based on what authority do they give you the ticket because you decided that the speed limit down Fry is actually 90 (you did not have time to put of the new signs) so you were actually going ten under the speed limit.
• Do you think the officer would buy that? NO WAY! WHY? Because you do not have the authority to change the rules!
• Do you realize that when you build your life on anything other than the authority of God’s Word, you have built your life on nothing because you cannot change the speed limit God set for creation.
• You will not be able to demand that God let you into HIS kingdom because you took it upon yourself to change the rules.
• Let’s loo kat a closing thought in Matthew 8:1.
SLIDE #6
Bible Verse
Matthew 8:1 (CSB)
1When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
SLIDE #7
3. III. Kingdom living is open to everyone.
Explanation
• The invitation is open to everyone; God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH! 1 Timothy 2:4!
• In the crowd that day, there were many people from different walks of life; Jesus was preaching to all of them!
• Jesus died so EVERYONE would have the opportunity to be in His family!
• But to be able to experience Kingdom living and later, eternal life, we have to allow some things to change!
• In the movie Dr. Strange, the title character’s hands become almost useless due to an accident.
• Dr. Strange is a very narcissistic, prideful man.
• He does everything in his power to make his hands better but to no avail.
• Finally, he travels to the other side of the world and ends up in some mystical temple world where he is introduced to another dimension, another world.
• At first, Dr. Strange refuses to believe in that nonsense because he has never heard of it—and if he has never heard of it, then it must not be real.
• Ultimately, he wanted his hands healed, but in order to do that, he would have to force himself to forget everything he thought he knew about everything and open his mind to a new reality—then his hands would be healed.
• While Christians do not believe in magic and the mystic arts, we can’t ignore the strong parallel to us as Jesus’s disciples.
• We hear this message from Jesus, and it challenges everything we thought we knew about spirituality.
• We can walk about away unchanged, convincing ourselves that Jesus is wrong and we are right, or we can forget everything we think we know about true spirituality and allow Christ’s truth to change us and make us whole.
• We have to be willing to allow Jesus to turn our world upside down!
• We have to be able to trust Him with our lives!
CONCLUSION
• Big Idea of the Message: Our life will be revolutionized when we allow Christ and his message to rule our lives.
• What is life about today? What are you building your life upon?
• God has a plan for your life and He has an eternal home waiting for you.
• Application Point: There are many areas of life we like to control, but when we give them over to Christ, he knows exactly what to do with them.
