Forty Days of Prayer Journal

Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church September – December 2015 Daily Devotional for Sermon Series

a study of The Sermon on the Mount

Week 11: November 16 – November 22 The following series of daily readings and questions have been designed by Pastor Tom Cullen to lead up to the sermon for the coming week. There are five daily studies for each week. Allow about 20 minutes a day to complete each daily devotional.

The weekly sermons can be heard at scbc.com Each week’s daily devotional guide is also available online at en.scbc.com.

Sermon Schedule Living in the Kingdom

November 22 – Making the right choice (Matthew 7:13-29) Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church Fall 2015 Sermon Series Devotional Guide Living in the Kingdom a study of The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount can be very difficult to listen to. We are pushed to examine our thought life, and identify the deep seated sins of anger, contempt, lust, and revenge. We are faced with some difficult self-examination questions – “Am I doing what I’m doing for God’s glory or to win the applause of others?” “Do I truly seek the qualities of the Kingdom or am I as materialistic as the next guy?” “Am I honoring God in my relationships or am I seeking to control others and manipulate others?” All these are difficult questions to address and Jesus’ words are very convicting.

But it is not Jesus’ intention to rub our noses in our failings and shortcomings. He has come to fulfill the law in us and for us.

So at the same time the Sermon on the Mount can be a joy to listen to because it makes us turn to God for help. As we are made to realize our spiritual bankruptcy we are made to realize that we need Jesus Christ to cleanse us and change our hearts.

But there is a danger isn’t there? There is a danger of listening to the sermon and simply continue to live as we always have. It is very possible to hear our Lord’s sermon – be convicted for a moment and then go on as we always have been – relating as we always have, thinking as we always have, behaving as we always have. So this brings us to the closing words of the sermon. When Jesus essentially says to us, “Don’t turn your back on what I’ve been saying. Don’t be satisfied where you are in the Kingdom of God – with the same old sin, with your same old sinful reactions, with your same old ways of nominal Christianity.

In these closing words Jesus makes his appeal. Choose the narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14), choose the fruitful way (Matthew 7:15-23), choose the obedient way (Matthew 7:24-29).

May we study these closing words carefully and choose the Jesus way to live.

In Him, Tom.

Monday November 16

 Matthew 7:13-14

1. How does Jesus compare the two gates? ______

2. What way is more appealing? Why? ______

3. What way is more popular? Why? ______

4. Given the whole sermon, what two things do you think Jesus is comparing? ______Reflect

The narrow way is everything that Jesus has just said in Matthew 5,6,7 about being in his kingdom. The broad way is everything Jesus has just said about following him without allowing our hearts to be changed by him.

I believe that Jesus is saying these words as passionately as one would scream after a child who is running into on-coming traffic and certain death. There is as much urgency in his voice as one trying to wave down a truck to warn of a bridge that is washed out. Can you hear it in his voice as he warns you – “Stay away from the broad way – it leads to destruction”?

Sometimes we hear that word “narrow” and we get a picture of it being restrictive and prohibitive, solemn and boring. And in some ways, if you follow Christ it is restrictive. You have to say no to self and your own agenda and put him first in your life. So in a sense it is restrictive.

But in a deeper way following Christ and his words leads to life. It leads to freedom from those sins that haunt you and the attitudes that plague your relationships.

In C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia four children step inside a wardrobe in order to hide. When they step into the closet it is cramped and claustrophobic. But as they step to the back of the wardrobe they discover that it opens into a wide world of adventure and new life. This is a picture of the Christian life. It is narrow in that means we follow Christ alone and put him first. But once inside you discover that you are in the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God is magnificent in its scope.

Which way are you travelling? On what road are you on? Are you responding to our Lord’s urgent plea? ______Tuesday November 17

 Matthew 7:15-20

1. Why does Jesus speak of false prophets right after giving us the warning about the broad way? ______

2. What are the characteristics of a false prophet? What do you think they would look like today? ______

3. How are false prophets like ferocious wolves? ______

4. What kind of fruit should we look for in our fellow Christians? Page 4 ______

5. What does the fruit tell you about the tree? What does a person’s actions and character tell you about their heart? ______6. There are always two dangers with these verses regarding false prophets. One danger is to become complacent. The other danger is to become overzealous in trying to recognize false prophets. How can we avoid these? ______

Reflect

Kent Hughes suggests that a preacher’s fruit is evident in two categories – what he says (his doctrine) and how he lives (his moral life).

He suggests four doctrinal tests. First, “the false prophet avoids preaching on such things as the holiness, righteousness, justice and wrath of God…. Second, he avoids preaching on the doctrine of the final judgement… Third, false prophets fail to emphasize the fallenness and depravity of mankind… Fourth false prophets de-emphasize the substitutionary death and atonement of Christ.”

Hughes continues, “There is also the test of how they live – the moral test. Here we really get to the heart of the matter… True believers have been radically altered, and though they are far from perfection and often stumble and backslide, they do manifest the character of God’s kingdom. There is a true ring to their poverty of spirit, their thirst after righteousness, their mercy and their being peacemakers. They also show the fruit of the Spirit. Believers slip and stumble, but their fruit is real, flowing from their inner beings.”

He concludes, “Our Lord’s words warn us not to be superficial regarding our own lives. Sheep, is the fleece you are wearing really yours? Did you really grow it, or is it just a uniform? Trees, what kind of fruit are you bearing? Is the fruit really yours? Does it really come from the life within, or is it just so many ornaments?”1 ______

Wednesday November 18

Reading

 Matthew 7:21-23

1. Who will enter the kingdom of heaven? ______

2. What seems to be admirable about those mentioned in verse 22? ______

3. Why would Jesus disown those described in verse 22? ______

4. Why do you think so many people mistakenly believe that religious activities are the will of the father? ______Reflect

Sinclair Ferguson offers this comment on these verses, “Jesus’ words teach us a basic lesson in spiritual discernment: it is possible to exercise “spiritual gifts” (prophecy, miracles, exorcism of demons are specifically mentioned in verse 22), yet be a total stranger to God’s saving grace. The astounding things men can do in public is no certain indication of where they stand in private before the judgement of Jesus Christ. What really counts is how we are related to Christ himself. That is why the gospel has so much more to say about the power of Christ changing our characters than about the power of Christ changing the course of nature. That distinction is a timely warning to our own generation. We are as easily mesmerized by people with unusual powers as was our Lord’s generation. We are fascinated by “signs”. But Jesus is not a wonder-worker; he is a Saviour. He delivers us from sin and transforms us morally to be like himself. That is the fruit of the true prophet of God. The

true prophet is far more interested in grace than in gifts – both in his own life and in the lives of those to whom he ministers. Have you continued to expose your life to the influences that will keep you on the way of Christ? Or have you been sidetracked by false teaching and teachers, failing to recognize the sour and harmful fruit they will produce in your life?”2

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Thursday November 19

Reading

 Matthew 7:24-27

1. List the similarities and the differences between the two houses. ______

______

2. When are the differences between the two houses seen? ______

3. What is Jesus telling us? ______

4. What events in your life would you call “storms”? What did they reveal about your character and whom you worship? ______

Reflect

Jesus is not the rock described in this passage. Verse 24 clearly tells us that the rock is hearing the words of Jesus and putting them into practice. This is the foundation that enables one to withstand life’s difficult times, it is obedience to the word of our Lord.

Notice that Jesus tells of two builders who do indeed each build a house. The casual observer walking down the street would not be able to tell the difference between the two homes. In the same way professing Christians often look alike. You cannot tell which is genuine and which is false. Both appear to be building Christian lives. Both hear the words of Jesus. Both read the Bible, go to worship, listen to sermons, buy Christian literature, and have all the marks of modern evangelical Christians today. You cannot tell the difference between a genuine Christian or a false one – until the storm hits. Then you know.

The real Christian, Jesus explains, is not whether we hear Christ’s teachings. Nor is it that we believe Christ’s teachings – it is that we obey what we hear.

We can listen to the word of God, memorize the word of God and meditate on the word of God but still miss the kingdom of heaven. We need to obey the word of God.

How is your obedience today? Are you hearing Jesus’ words and then putting them into place? Obedience is the foundation of a strong Christian life. ______

Friday November 20

 Matthew 7:28-29

1. What is the crowd’s feeling toward Jesus’ teaching? ______

2. How has Jesus demonstrated authority in this sermon? ______

3. What things about Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the mount “amaze” you? ______

4. How is the people’s reaction appropriate/inappropriate to what they have just heard? What would be the ideal reaction in your mind? ______

5. What is your reaction to Jesus’ words? ______

Reflect

Congratulations! You have no completed a full study of the sermon on the mount. Take a moment and think about all that Jesus has said to you in this sermon. Write down some of the thoughts and words that struck you during the last number of months of your study. Think of one specific teaching that has challenged you. How can you begin to integrate it into your life? Think of one specific teaching that has comforted you. When do you need to take it to heart?

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Endnotes 1. R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2001) 251-252.

2. Sinclair B. Ferguson The Sermon on the Mount (U.S.A: Banner of Truth Trust, 1987) 169.

Sermon notes for Sunday November 22 ______

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