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 Applying the Gospel Truth to Our Lives

Sermon Title:  Apply the Gospel

Scripture Passage:  Matthew 7

Do we live out our faith?  What do we do with the sermons we hear?

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. - Matthew 7:24

If you hear and do, you are wise.  

If you hear and do not do what I say, you're a fool.

There is no middle ground, no gray area.

You must decide to follow Jesus or not.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. - Matthew 7:13-14

Points to Ponder

 1.  Get on the right path.

Enter the narrow gate.  Follow the narrow path.  Jesus is not the best way to God.  He is the ONLY way to God.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6

I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. - John 10:9

*The Wide, Broad Way:  There are many on this path.  They are interested in whatever is trending.  There are no restrictions except for "intolerance."  There are no boundaries.  The end is destruction.  It is difficult to get off of this path.

There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. - Proverbs 14:12

*The Difficult, Narrow Way:  There are fewer people on this path.  The only way to stay on this road is to put your faith in Christ.  You'll never get on this road if your faith is in yourself.  You must leave yourself and your sin.

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. - Proverbs 4:18

When tragedy strikes today, remember that when the world gets darker, Jesus gets brighter.


2.  Avoid false prophets.

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. - Matthew 7:15-20

We know false prophets by their fruits.  If what they say does not line up with scripture, they are false prophets.  Avoid them.

The Bible is our standard.

False prophets rarely talk about sin.

Stay away from "feel good" theology.

They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, "Peace, peace," but there is no peace. - Jeremiah 6:14

False prophets shout grace and whisper repentance.

They will "love you" right into Hell.

Stay away from "cool" scriptural fads.  Don't look for cool.  Look for right.  

We don't need a great communicator.  We need a truth teller.

3.  Live a genuine faith.

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?"  And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." - Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who will stand before God will make it into Heaven.  Here, God is talking to those who go to church.  He is talking to those who have Bibles.  He is talking to those who claim to know Him, but they do not know Him.  There will be many.

A real, living faith is absent from their lives.  They are not truly saved.  Faith is always accompanied by fruit.  If fruit is not there, then real faith is not there.

If there is no conviction, then they are lost (not saved). 

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say? - Luke 6:46

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall. - Matthew 7:24-27

Do not build your house on "sand."  Build your house on a firm foundation of real faith.

Apply your faith to your life!

Hope in Hard Places (Stories of Hope Series)

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The following are my  Bible study notes based on my pastor's sermon titled Hope in Hard Places.

Hope in Hard Places

Open up your Bible!  The scriptures give us hope and encouragement.

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God. 
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 
These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. - Psalm 42

They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” - Luke 24:32

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. - Romans 15:4

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

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 God's Word provides hope.  Pray the scriptures.    

We tend to believe the following lies: 

1.  What is happening to me is personal.  We tend to think we are the only ones facing a challenge.  No one is living a perfect life.  You are not alone.

2.  What is happening to me is pervasive.  We feel like our whole life is messed up.  

3.  What is happening to me is permanent.  We feel like our current circumstances will last forever.  

Those are all lies.
  
How did the psalmist combat those lies?

Learn today that we can have hope in the hardest places.

As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” - Psalm 42:10

People might say to us, "Where is your God now?"  Satan says that to us.

My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” - Psalm 42:3

The psalmist was torn up on the inside. 

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me? 

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence. - Psalm 42:5

The psalmist indicates that he is not praising God in his current time, but that he knows he will praise Him again.

The psalmist did not question God's love for him even though he felt he had been abandoned. 

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life. - Psalm 42:8

1.  He sang to God.  

When you are in a hard place, expose yourself to Godly music.    

2.  He preached hope to his heart.   

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me? 
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence. - Psalm 42:5

3.  Gather with others for worship.

These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. - Psalm 42:4

 4.  The psalmist does not ask for an escape from his circumstances.  He asks for a thirst for God instead.  

It is in the hard place that we learn to have a prayer place and a worship place.

Never doubt God's love, even in a hard place.

There is never a hard place that separates you from the love of God.

When you don't know what to do, do what you know.

Be in the Bible.  Go to church.  Attend Bible Fellowship classes.

A change in circumstances is not my greatest need.  Knowing God is my greatest need.

The eye has not seen nor has the ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love Him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9

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Our hope was never in this life.  Our hope is in eternity.