This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Staying Focused On That Which Brings Life", 11/27/2011

STAYING FOCUSED ON THAT WHICH BRINGS LIFE

Matthew 6:25-34

THE BIG MISTAKE

V.25 "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what

ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than

meat, and the body than raiment?"

A. We, the Body of Christ are commanded to keep our focus off temporal needs.

1. Food and water satisfy us only temporally.

2. We eat because we get hungry.

a. We drink because we get thirsty.

b. There is no lasting satisfaction in either.

3. We put on clothing to protect our bodies.

a. Clothing ware out and have to be replaced.

B. We are commanded to keep our focus on what life is all about.

1. The key focus is life in the kingdom of heaven.

a. Our focus should be service and not stuff.

b. Our focus should be God and not man.

2. Our focus should be the soul and not the body.

GOD'S LOVE IS SHOWN IN HIS CREATURES

V:26. " Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into

barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

A. Birds live from moment to moment.

1. They are not conscience of tomorrow.

2. They search to find what God provides.

3. They only eat to satisfy their present need.

B. God values man more than birds.

1. What God does for the birds, He will do for you and more.

2. God uses birds to show you how He cares for His creation.

3. God uses birds to show us that we can take flight to the heavens.

a. The focus of our minds can take us up or down.

4. God uses the birds to serve himself sweet melodies of song.

a. They serenade Him with their chirps all day long.

b. We ought to serenade the Lord with our praises all day long.

C. What the birds do for God we ought to do and more.

1. We are better than the birds.

2. We have knowledge of the Lord.

3. We know his blessings.

4. If you want to get close to the Lord, just praise Him.

a. The Lord is in your praise. Psalm 22:3

WASTED ENERGY

V:27. "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?"

A. Worry accomplishes nothing.

1. Worry is wasted energy.

a. It would be better to put your mind on something you can accomplish.

2. When you worry you place a physiological burden on yourself.

a. When you worry, your focus is on the problem and not the problem solver.

b. Worry pushes God aside and places you in the forefront.

B. Worry is a lack of trust in the Lord.

1. Worry is a tool of the Devil used to take your focus off the promises of God.

WASTED THOUGHTS

V:28. "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they

grow; they toil not, neither do they spin."

A. Our clothes have no lasting value.

1. They ware out.

2. They go out of style.

3. They get to little !!

B. When we worry about the little things, we lose sight of the big picture.

1. We lose sight of God's purpose for our lives.

C. God provides for His flowers.

1. He plants them in fertile ground so they will grow unaided by man.

2. He waters them with the waters of heaven.

3. He paints them with a multitude brilliant colors.

4. God blesses Himself with their beauty.

5. He requires nothing of them.

6. Flowers are not even conscience of their existence or their purpose.

a. They are here today and gone tomorrow.

b. God then, blesses Himself with more flowers.

D. We are more than flowers

1. We ought to bless God with the beauty of our love for Him.

2. We ought to bless God with the beauty of our love for others.

3. We ought to bless God with the beauty of obedience and service.

GOD'S LOVE IS SHOWN IN NATURE

V:29. "And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like

one of these."

A. The king, God's chosen leader, didn't have clothes as pretty as the flowers.

1. God is the designer of "pretty".

2. God makes pretty "pretty".

B. God makes life beautiful.

1. God makes life beautiful for us.

2. We make life ugly for ourselves with worry.

a. Worry takes the joy out of life and replaces it with sadness.

b. Worry takes the hope out of life and replaces it with uncertainty.

c. Worry is an inward focus on us, rather than an outward focus on God.

V:30. "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow

is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

A. God does things for His Glory.

1. God does things that only have temporal value.

a. Then He repeats them for His glory.

b. The glory of the Lord is continuous.

B. God get the glory in His provisions for us.

a. It gives God great pleasure to provide for us.

b. Worry denies God that pleasure. Heb 11:6

C. When we worry we take our focus off the glory of God.

1. Faith says, He did it for us in the past and He will do it today and tomorrow.

2. What faith can we say we have if we worry ?

RIGHT THINKING

V:31. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,

Wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

A. If we have faith we recognize that God provides and that His provisions are sufficient

for our existence.

1. It takes effort on our part to stay focused on the sufficiency of God.

2. It takes effort on our part to trust the Lord to provide for needs.

a. It is one thing to say you trust Him when you can do for yourself.

b. It's another thing to trust God when you can't handle the problem and God

is long on answering your prayer.

c. It takes effort on our part to trust God in the middle of the storm.

d. It takes effort to trust God when your troubles are multiplying and everything

is going down hill.

B. Look at what Jesus is saying:

1. You ought not consider what you don't have.

2. You ought to be thankful for what you do have.

3. The only way you can consider what you don't have is that you have mind that's

working.

4. If you can consider what you don't have is the proof that you have a body that is

functioning.

5 The only reason you are here to consider, is that you been blessed with the miracle

of life.

C. The problem with worry:

1. You are trying to see with your eyes what you have to accept by faith.

2. Worry blinds us to the promises of God.

V:32. "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

A. We are better than the world, because they know only worry.

1. We know the goodness of the Lord.

2. It is natural to worry.

3. It takes a spirit filled believer to overcome worry by trusting God.

B. The Father takes care of His own.

1. We have a choice.

a. We can trust the Father to provide.

b. Or we can worry

c. One is productive and the other is not.

C. God is so attentive to us that He knows what we need before we ask.

1. It's our needs that draws us to Him in prayer.

2. God designed us to have needs which makes us dependant on Him.

3. It is the needs we have that encourages our faith.

4. We need faith to be pleasing to God. Heb 11:6

THE SOLUTION TO WORRY

V. 33. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

A. Make the needs of the Gospel your first consideration.

1. Look after the needs of the church.

2. Look after the needs of the poor.

3. Serve the Lord with gladness.

4. Love the Lord with your whole heart.

B. Seek the Kingdom first, why?

1. It is our destination.

2. It is our eternity.

B. The promise for putting God first:

1. All, not some but "All" these thing will be added to you.

2. Your needs and your wants will be provided by the Lord.

THE CONCLUSION

V:34. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for

the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

A. Let the tomorrow be tomorrow.

1. Focus on today.

2. This is the day the Lord has given, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

B. Tomorrow will come,

1. Tomorrow will have a new set of problems.

2. You can't foresee the problems of tomorrow.

C. One thing is for sure.

1. If you live tomorrow, God will be in control.

2. If you live tomorrow, you will see God blessing His creation.

a. Some of those blessing will fall on you.

3. If you live tomorrow, it will be by the Grace of God.

This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "PRAYING FOLK", 11/20/2011

PRAYING FOLK

Matt 6:5-15

RIGHT ATTITUDE

V:5. "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray

standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of

men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

A. Prayer requires the right attitude.

1. Your prayers need to be sincere.

2. There should be a purpose for your prayer.

3. The Father in Heaven is spirit, therefore we must worship Him in spirit and truth.

John 4:24

B. Prayer is not for "show"

hypocrite= hupokritai= an actor under an assumed character

1. Prayer is not for self gratification.

a. We are acting if we hold ourselves up as holy people, but all we want is the praise

of the world.

b. We need be careful to pray with sincerity, for we can be hypocrites.

2. We should not pray out of pride.

3. We should not pray to get the praise of man.

4. If our prayers are for self gratification, then self gratification is all we get.

C. There is a reward when we seek the Father in prayer. Hebrews 11:6

V:6. "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy

door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall

reward thee openly."

A. You don't need an audience when you pray.

1. Your prayer is between you and God.

2. Your prayer is unique to you.

B. You need some time alone with God.

1. Separate yourself from others and find a sanctuary for you and the Father.

2. You need some quite time with the Father.

a. We take our example from Jesus who went to the mountain or was found

off to Himself to pray. Matt 26:36, Mark 6:46, Luke 6:12

C. We should pray for our concerns.

1. We should pray for the concerns of others.

D. The Father knows where you are in prayer.

1. You can't get lost from the Father in prayer.

2. The Father knows you heart in prayer.

3. The Father knows the purpose of your prayer.

E. The Father hears your prayers.

1. He sees in secret.

2. The Father knows what you are going through.

F. The Father will answer your prayers according to His Will.

1. The Father is concerned about your needs and desires.

2. He rewards openly.

3. Others will know the results of your prayers.

a. You can't hide your blessing, because God will make them known.

4. It is by grace that the Father answers our prayers and not of any merit of ours.

a. The Father shows us favor because we are His and we trust Him.

V:7. "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that

they shall be heard for their much speaking."

A. When you pray, you don't need to repeat yourself over and over again. The Father

hears the first time you speak.

1. When your prayer has a purpose you will realize that there are many and much to

pray for.

2. To repeat your words to gain the Father's attention is a lack of faith.

V:8. "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have

need of, before ye ask him."

A. You should not worry about how someone else prays.

1. Your prayer is unique to God.

2. Your prayer is special to God.

B. God knows what is on your mind before you speak.

1. God is very attentive to His people.

2. God has an intimate relationship with His people. Rom 8:27

C. The purpose of your prayer:

1. Exercise your duty

2. Exercise your faith

3. Communicate with God

4. Intercede for others

5. Ask for forgiveness

6. Praise and worship

7. Express your gratitude

THE RIGHT PRAYER

Our Worship

V:9. "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be

thy name."

A. Claim the Father as your parent.

1. Father= pater= father or parent.

2. Call on the Father as He is your sole provider.

3. We express His nearness to us in prayer.

B. Recognize that Father reigns in Heaven.

1. The Father sees His whole plan for the ages at once.

2. The Father knows how you fit into His plan.

3. The Father is the supreme being.

4. The Father knows all.

5. The answer to your prayers fit into God's plan

C. Give the Father the highest honor; "Hallowed be thy name"

1. The Father is holy. There is none more holy than the Father.

a. He alone is holy; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one.

2. His name is above all others.

a. We should honor His name because we have the opportunity to know Him

and to call on Him.

b. We should honor him because He is our creator and provider.

c. We should honor His name because He is our salvation.

Our Submission To The Will Of The Father

V: 10. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

A. Here we are asked to pray for the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. Isa 9:7

1. Jesus has prepared a place for us in His kingdom. John 14:2-3

2. In this we have our hope and our eternal joy.

3. In this is the promise of salvation.

B. The will of the Father will be done. We must pray that we are in agreement with

His will.

1. God has a will for us on earth.

2. God has a purpose for our lives on earth.

3. It should be our greatest desire to discover and fulfill God's purpose for our

lives.

a. To discover our purpose takes constant prayer and meditation.

b. To fulfill our purpose we need the power of the Holy Spirit.

c. We must pray for our full submission to the Holy Spirit's guidance. John 14:26

C. We have no doubt that the will of the Father is done Heaven.

1. In heaven there is perfection.

2. We must pray for the perfection of His will on earth in our lives.

3. In heaven there is peace and joy. We must pray for peace and joy.

4. In heaven there is perfect holiness. We must pray for that holiness in

our lives.

5. In heaven there is perfect harmony. We must pray for that harmony in our lives.

Petition For Our Needs

V:11. "Give us this day our daily bread."

A. We are to petition the Father for this present day.

1. It is only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that He provides another day.

a. We pray not only that He provides us with another day, but protects us through

the day.

b. We pray that the Father guides us throughout the day in right directions.

B. We are to petition the Father for sufficient provisions for this day.

1. What the Lord begins, He certainly can bring to a successful completion.

2. Because we are here to pray, we have been blessed with the miracle of life.

a. Our prayer should be by faith, expecting God's blessings.

C. In this is the promise of provisions and protection.

Forgiveness The Key To Fellowship And Blessings

V:12. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

A. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

1. We owe a debt to the Father for our salvation.

2. We are commanded to ask the Father to forgive our sins.

a. We have wronged others in word, deed and thought.

b. If we say we have no sin, we lie. 1 John 1:8.

c. Because we are guilty, it is our duty to ask forgiveness.

d. God is faithful and just to forgive. 1 John 1:9.

B. It is our duty to forgive others because we have been forgiven.

1. The price of forgiveness is forgiveness.

2. It was by the grace of God that Jesus died for our sins.

3. Jesus died for us before we knew we needed forgiveness.

4. Our forgiveness was not based on any merit of ours, but the love of God.

5. Therefore, we should forgive others not on any merit of theirs.

6. We forgive others out of obedience to the Father and our love of the Father.

Petition For Wisdom And Strength

V:13. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the

kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

A. We are to petition the Father for guidance and directions.

1. We need God's strength to overcome the temptations that come our way.

2. We need God's wisdom to do the right thing.

B. We should petition the Lord for the strength to keep from being drawn back into

past sinful behavior.

1. We need wisdom to guide us away from the ever present evil activities.

2. We need God's divine intervention to protect us from the evil work of others.

3. Satan is the father of evil. We need deliverance from his power and snares

C. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. 1 Cor 10:26

1. Jesus has all power over heaven and earth. Mat 28:18

2. Jesus is able to deliver us from the hands of Satan and his demons.

D. All glory belongs to the Lord.

1. All honor and praise belongs to the Lord.

2. As we approach the Lord in prayer, we must keep in mind that His goodness endures

forever.

a. We should never lose sight of His grace and mercy which flow fresh on us each

moment of the day.

E. Amen is a Hebrew verb which means; it is firm, it is secure, it is true and faithful.

1. The Lord is true and faithful to His Word.

2. We should take our comfort from God's promises made known to us by His Word.

(Note: The phrase, "For thine is the kingdom, and power, and the glory, for ever Amen"

is not in the original Greek text. The early Jewish Fathers add this as a doxology; Adam

Clark Commentary. It may have been added for better readability in English;

Interlinear Bible).

RIGHT ACTIONS

V:14. "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive

you:"

A. The price of forgiveness is forgiveness.

B. The Father has the power to forgive. Jesus has the power to forgive. Mark 2:10

1. He who shows mercy to men, receives mercy from God.

2. You can't be blessed unless you bless.

a. When we forgive others, we relieve ourselves of the burdens of anger, frustration.

jealousy and envy.

b. Forgiveness opens the door to friendship with our brothers and fellowship with

the Father.

c. We are the chief benefactors of our own forgiveness.

V:15. "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your

trespasses."

A. We all fall short of the Glory of God.

1. The wages of sin is death.

2. We have wronged God with our sins.

3. From time to time we have wronged others in our sins.

3. The only way to loose ourselves from our sins is to forgive others who have sinned

against us, so that the Father will forgive us.

4. Love requires forgiveness.

a. We can't claim we love unless we forgive.

B. Prayer is the beginning of our healing and a closer relationship with the Father.

1. Prayer ought to move us to action.

2. Prayer ought to awaken our compassion for others.

3. Prayer underscores your love.

4. Prayer makes us conscience of the power of God.

5. Prayer empowers us to do the will of God.

6. Prayer makes us aware of our sinful state and the righteousness of God.

7. Prayer empowers us to forgive and live in fellowship with the Father.

This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Forgive And Live With Perfection", 11/13/2011

HOW TO FORGIVE AND LIVE WITH PERFECTION

Matthew 5:43-48

V.43. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine

enemy."

A. The world's way is to be selective in love.

1. This is a partial quote from Lev 19:18 with man's corruption added.

("'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your

neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD).

2. The world's way is to fit God's Word to their way of thinking. They leave out the

part that does not fit their agenda.

a. Love those who you like and hate those who you don't like.

b. Love your neighbor is required, hate is the corruption.

3. We have to be careful to quote the Word entirely and completely within it's

context.

B. God teaches us to be compassionate and leave revenge to Him.

1. We can hate the conduct of a person, yet love the person as God commands.

a. To love our enemies, we must be able to separate the conduct from the

individual. The individual we love. The conduct we hate.

b. We can pity the madness and foolishness of our enemy yet speak well to him

and of him.

2. We owe a debt of love and forgiveness to our fellowmen because we have never

been so good.

a. Throughout our life time we have hurt others with our mouths and by our actions;

sometimes knowingly and sometime unknowingly.

b. God has forgiven us with a command that we forgive others.

3. We honor the Lord when we life up our enemies in prayer.

a. What great service we do our enemies when we intercede for them when they

know not that they need prayer.

b. What great service other Christians have done us in intercessory prayer.

V.44. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to

them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

A. God teaches us to love those who hate us, which is foolish to the world.

1. God teaches us to seek the best for all including our enemies.

2. God gives us three commands.

a. Love = agapate= an unconditional love. This is what sets us apart from the world,

love rather than hate.

b. Bless (pray)= proseuchesthe= lift them up rather than pull them down,

c. Do good: take the opportunity to be kind to those that hate you.

3. God places misguided folk in our mist so they can be exposed to the Jesus in us.

a. We preach the Gospel with our lifestyle first.

b. Every difficult situation is an opportunity for our faith to be tested and a

opportunity for spiritual growth.

B. When we learn to be meek under adversity pride dissolves and humility is gained.

1. A mature Christian stands out best under persecution.

2. The humility of Jesus glowed on the cross when He said, "Father forgive them, they

know not what to do."

3. Difficult situations drive us to prayer and a closer relationship to the Father.

C. The duty of the Christian is to be the peacemaker, just as Christ made peace for us

with the Father with His shed blood. 2 Cor 5:18

V.45. "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his

sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

A. God loves His entire creation pouring grace and mercy upon all mankind.

1. If God had not been merciful to us, we would not have become His children.

2. None of us can claim righteousness for ourselves because it was a gift imputed to

us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

3. While we were evil, Christ died for our justification.

B. Because God has been merciful to us, as children of God, we must be merciful to those

who do us evil. Luke 6:36, Jude 22

C. Only God can provide rain and sunshine. They are for the comfort and provisions of a

all God's creation.

1. Evil works for the good of God's creation. All things work for the good of those

who love the Lord.

2. Some of those who are currently evil have been elected to become good according

God's divine plan.

3. Our job is to never judge, but treats others as Jesus treats us.

V:46. "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the

publicans the same?"

A. It does not take any great effort to love those who love you.

1. This is an emotion that is controlled by the flesh.

2. It takes a strong faith in Jesus to love your enemies

3. There is a reward for doing good to those who mistreat you.

a. The least in this world are those who are spiritually poor or spiritually lacking.

b. Jesus said, "what you did for least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Mat. 25:40

4. Believers ought to be the example for the world to follow.

5. The world should not be the example for believers to follow.

B. The Publicans were the tax collectors for the Roman Empire.

1. They were hated by the Jews.

2. Their character was associated with thieves and adulterers.

3. They were oppressive and profane in the execution of their duties.

4. The publicans, the most hated loved those who loved them.

5. God holds believers to a higher standard. We should love the most hated.

V: 47. "And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the

publicans so?"

A. The love of a Christian is from a much higher standard than the world.

1. We have as our example the supreme sacrificial love of Jesus

2. In Christ, we can go beyond the actions of the world.

3. We have the grace to go the second mile.

4. We have the resolve to turn the other cheek.

B. We have to be the "church" that the evil of the world sees serving the Father who will

draw them HHHHhhe called to Himself.

1. In everything we do we ought to be sowing seeds of restoration.

2. We never know if we are planting or watering.

3. What we do know by our faith and obedience following God's commands others are

drawn to Christ.

4. By treating our enemies with respect we show our religion to merciful, unselfish

and superior to all other actions.

C. We need to be careful to pray for everyone.

1. We never know when the very one we refused to pray for is in a position to do us

good.

V: 48. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

A. Knowing how we affect the world around us, we have to seek the perfection that is in

Jesus Christ.

1. We are the light that the darken world sees.

2. Some people are comfortable in the dark until they see the light.

B. The standard set by Christ is the standard we seek to achieve and the standard the

world will be drawn to.

C. We may never meet the perfection of Christ, but it is the goal we should strive for.

1. By striving for a higher goal, we will never get to the point where we feel we are

worthy of the free Grace of God.

2. By striving for a higher goal, we are constantly reminded of our sinfulness and the

righteousness of God.

3. By striving for a higher goal of perfection we are constantly growing in the Spirit.

4. By striving for a higher goal we are moving closer to Jesus.

5. By striving for a higher goal we are developing the mind of Christ.

D. We must study to conform ourselves to our heavenly role model, Jesus Christ.

1 Pet1:15-16

1. Perfection in Jesus comes at a cost.

a. Constant study and meditation on the Word.

b. Complete submission to the Holy Spirit.

c. Sacrifice our wants for the wants of Christ.

2. Perfection in Jesus being our goal, Christ will bring us to it.

This Week's Sunday School Lesson "Get Right With God And Man " , 11/7/2011

GET YOUR HEART RIGHT WITH GOD AND MAN

Matthew 5:17-26

THE MISSION OF JESUS

V.17. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to

destroy, but to fulfill."

A. Here, Jesus gives His mission for stepping down out of heaven, taking on human

Flesh and dying on the cross.

1. He came to fulfill all the requirements of the Law.

2. The Law was never designed to save mankind from his sin, but to lead him

Christ to be justified by faith. Gal 2.16, Gal 3:24, Rom 3:20.

3. Only Jesus could fulfill all the requirements of the law. Rom 8:3

4. Only Jesus could live without sin and be an acceptable sacrifice to the Father for the atonement of sin for the whole world.

5.

THE WORD IS PERMENANT

V:18. “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in

no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

A. The Word of the Lord is permanent. Mal 3:6

B. Here God indicates a change in His dispensation (house rules, the way He deals with man).

1. The dispensation of the Law was put into effect after Adam sinned.

2. The dispensation of Grace began after the death of Christ. Eph 3:2, 1 Cor 9:17

3. Christ death fulfilled all the requirements of the Law, thus ending it’s

Dispensation. Rom 8:3-4.

C. In this verse is the prophecy that the current heaven and earth will end.

1. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. 2 Peter 3:13, Rev 21:1

a. The current heaven and the current is corrupted by sin and therefore not

acceptable for eternity.

2. We are not under the penalty of the law, but continue to fulfill the law in love.

Matt. 22:39, Rom 13:9-10.

DISOBEDIENCE HAS KINGDOM CONSEQUENCES

V.19. "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall

teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever

shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

A. Believers have rewards in heaven based on their obedience to God’s Word.

1. There is a future consequence to disobedience; a lesser position in heaven.

a. We loose blessing on earth and in heaven when we disobey God’s Word.

b. Relationship with the Father is never lost but fellowship suffers under

disobedience.

c. We teach others to disobey God's commands by the bad example we set in

disobedience.

d. We are subject to judgment because of our disobedience.

2. Those who make it their business and duty to study the Word and follow in

obedience, have a greater reward in heaven and greater blessing on earth.

B. According to this verse there are divisions in heaven.

1. Great

2. Least

C. Knowledge of the Word comes with responsibilities.

1. We have the responsibly to do God's Word.

2. We have the responsibility to teach God's Word.

V:20." For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness

of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

A. Jesus had a problem with the scribes and the Pharisees.

1. They were charged with responsibility of the Word, but failed to obey the Word.

2. They were position and power seekers. Mark 12:38

3. They were proud.

4. They had the king of kings in front of them, but they failed to recognize him.

5. They followed the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. Luke 11:44

B. It does not take much to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees.

1. All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Abide in Jesus and His Word and He will abide in you. John 15:7

LOVE ON TRIAL

V:21. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and

whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment."

A. Tradition hold to the law to judge mankind.

1. Those who hold to the letter of the Law do not leave room for compassion or love.

2. Those who judge their brother entirely by the Law have little love for their brother

or may hate their brother.

WATCH YOUR ATTITUDE

V:22. "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall

be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in

danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell

fire.

A. Anger develops in the heart. If it is uncontrolled it can lead to violent actions against

a brother.

1. Cain had a problem with anger. This lead to the murder of his brother Able.

Gen 4:5-7

2. His anger leads to judgment. Gen 4:11

B. Disrespect starts in the heart.

1. When we disrespect others with our thoughts. Anger, jealousy and envy develops

and consumes us.

2. A spirit of hatred develops from evil thoughts toward others.

3. Evil thoughts lead to evil words.

a. Raca = empty headed, senseless or useless.

b. To call a person a fool is cut him with words.

c. We are held accountable to God for our thoughts and words. Matt 12:36-37,

Ecc 3:15-17.

C. We need to be careful with our words so not to bring grief to others.

1. Our mouths ought to be instruments of praise and encouragement to others.

2. We have no cause to be angry with someone because they are who they are.

a. To be angry is to judge one according to your standards.

3. We have cause for anger when we intentionally disobey God's commands or

cause grief to others because of our lack of love.

D. Our anger against others brings judgment to our selves.

AN UNACCEPTABLE GIFT.

V:23. "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother

hath ought against thee."

A. God will not accept our offering if we have wronged someone and have not

reconciled ourselves to them.

1. Our gifts of love are credited to our heavenly account.

a. We can't claim we love God and hate our brothers.

2. When we come before God, we should come with a clean heart.

V:24. "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy

brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

A. Our giving is important to God, and He desires a credit to our account. Phil 4:17

1. God has no need for our gifts, but He wants us to live in love.

2. The evidence of our love is the peace we have with our brothers.

3. The evidence we love the Lord is the love we have for our brothers.

B. The evidence of our love is in what we do for God and what we do for our brothers.

1. Christians ought to strive to live a peaceful life.

2. Jesus made peace with God for us, therefore we ought to make peace with others.

MAKE PEACE WITH OTHERS

V:25. "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at

any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer,

and thou be cast into prison."

A. Many of our problems with others could be solved if we drop our pride and seek an

agreement.

1. The immediate solution may not be completely agreeable to us, but will mean less

future problems.

2. Once we settle an issue, our peace of mind will return.

B. When we know we are in the wrong, a quick agreement is to our advantage.

V:26. "Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, until thou hast
paid the uttermost farthing."

A. The best thing we can do is settle all issues with our adversaries quickly.

1. We can be here today and gone tomorrow.

a. Any issue not settle here on earth, we will have to give an account to God in

heaven.