Tough Stuff From Jesus (7)

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Tough Stuff from Jesus (7)                                      5-2-21

Bottom Line: Learning to love others as ourselves requires us to start with the correct foundation.

Introduction:

 A. What determines the kind of driver you are? (Short skits)

   1. Slowpoke going 5 miles below limit! Patience?

   2. Turn signal ignored! “They don’t!”  Considerate?

   3. Late mergers make me furious!  Peace?

 B. Why do we let others set the tone for who and when we are lights for God? Didn’t Jesus do that for us long ago?

 C. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ points were based on some basic assumptions about his audience!

   1. Seekers, lights, and real righteousness

   2. Just said for us to not worry about things, life, or tomorrow!

   3. Now more tough stuff: Matthew 7:1-12

 D. The summary is in verse 12! Do to others…

   1. Not the Golden Rule! The Bottom Line Rule!

   2. Why is it so important?

1. It is important because it is the foundation of godly behavior!

 A. Treat others like God does, vs.7-11, the context!

 B. “So in everything…” There is never an exception!

 C. It sums up the Law & the Prophets = Greatest Command!

 * Your faith is only as strong as the foundation you build on!

2. It is important because it is action not reaction!

 A. “Do to others” sets the stage for how they treat you!

 B. It may be in spite of what they have done!

 C. Our actions are not longer driven by law but by grace!

   * May help us understand that strange verse 6!

 * Be a light not a mirror! (God’s light not a reflection of others!)

3. It is important because it is the antithesis of judging! The context includes vs.1-5!

 A. “What goes around comes around!” Will that work?

 B. Judging others ignores our own personal sins and struggles! Plank vs. speck! “The guilty dog barks the loudest!” Condemn what you refuse to remove!

 C. Judging others gives us a rationale for the ungodly treatment of others! It’s not a seeker, light, & righteous!

 * The position or job of being Judge has already been taken!

Conclusion:

A. Pick your gate! The wide or the narrow, vs.13-14

B. It determines what path you are on?

C. Easy map to know where you are: Treat others as they treat you or treat others as you’d like to be treated?

D. How has Jesus been treating you?

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Bible Study for Sunday, May 2, 2021

Tough Stuff From Jesus (7)

1.  Do you have any bad driving habits that you need to work on?

2.  How much of your feelings about driving are a response to other drivers?

3.  If we are “the light of the world,” why do we let others set the tone for how we act or treat them?

4.  Why do we call Matthew 7:12 The Golden Rule? Would Jesus have called it that?

5.  Why is this challenge the foundation of godly behavior?

6.  Is there a connection between this challenge from Jesus and the greatest of all commands from God?

7.  How does this challenge change us from reaction to action?

8.  What does it mean to you to “Be a light not a mirror”?

9.  How is this challenge the antithesis of judging (7:1)?

10. How does our response to Jesus’ challenge reveal what path we are on? (See 7:13-14)