Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount with a simple but powerful image: homes built either on sand or on the rock. One is fragile and eventually washed away; the other is secure and withstands the storm. In this image Jesus is summing up the entire Sermon. What is above ground and external can be beautiful, but anchored to sand. It will eventually fall. But what is anchored to the rock—to Jesus himself—brings a perfect stability that can withstand anything. Only by building on the rock will we be empowered to live out the Sermon on the Mount, not as an ideal but as a reality.

Application Questions

1. When you think about your life, do you tend to focus more on the house (the externals you build) or the foundation (what's underneath that holds you up)?
2. How have you experienced the freedom and security of building your life on the rock of Jesus? Are there ways you still live as though your foundation is fragile?
3. What about the foundation of Jesus Christ allows you to live out the Sermon on the Mount in your day to day life? How can you embrace that more this week?

There are people who pretend to speak for God and who pretend to act for God. But God is not deceived. One day standing before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be those who will receive the judgment of eternal condemnation. Some will be confused because they have spoken for God as prophets. Others will be confused because they have done mighty works for God. But salvation is not based on us speaking for God or doing mighty works for Him, our salvation is based upon Christ and His finished work alone . This passage is a sober warning for us to be people of substance, not flash, to be diligent to know God and to be known by Him, and to enter through Jesus Christ, the narrow gate who leads to salvation.

Application Questions

1. Why is falsely speaking for God such a big deal?
2. Do you carefully examine the sources of truth you hear from in your life?
3. Are you more compelled by what is flashy (external and showy) or what is substantive (authentic and deep in the heart)? How do you know?
4. Have you considered the reality of“false conversion” ?
5. What is your hope built upon? How do you know?

It is very hard to go against our natural selfish desires and it is easy to love ourselves only. The whole world around us continues to tell us that our lives are more important than the lives of others. And in the mist of this way of living, Jesus commands us to be empathetic to the needs and suffering of others. Jesus knows that the path of empathy will bring life to our souls if we choose to obey Him. But, he also knows that the way of apathy will only bring destruction to souls.

Application Questions

1. In what ways do you pursue the comfortable life above the well-being of others?
2. What is a practical step that you can take to cultivate a heart of empathy?
3. Who or what is in the way for you to love others as yourself?

Where do we get the resources to live out the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus addresses our need to ask, seek, and knock in prayer to God for this and much more. Our problem is not just that we don't ask, it'swhywe don't ask: because we doubt God's goodness. When we hear Jesus'teaching and see his death and resurrection, we find a God who is a good, generous Father. With this kind of Father, why wouldn't we ask for anything we need, and take our cares and concerns to him?

Application Questions

1. Where do you“take” your cares and concerns? What does that tell you about who or what you trust the most to give you what you need?
2. Where in your life do you see evidence that you doubt God's goodness and generosity? How do you handle those doubts?
3. Do you pray (and live) like someone who has a good, generous Father in heaven? Or do you pray (and live) like someone who is orphaned and on your own?
4. What are some concerns or desires that you haven't taken to God? What would it look like to bring those to him as your good, generous Father in heaven?

As Jesus begins to sum up the Sermon on the Mount, he addresses the way we engage others. In a fascinating set of images, he demonstrates that disciples are to lovingly evaluate others for their good, not stand over them in condemnation. At the same time, disciples are to be wise in the way they move out into the world, always being discerning in relationships. When we live this out as Christians today, we become both winsome and wise.

Application Questions

1. What are some ways you are quick to condemn others?
2. What are some ways you are quick to excuse your own sin?
3. How does Jesus' love for you help you to be quick to love and slow to condemn?
4. What are some specific ways you can be more wise and loving in your relationships with others this week?