Sermon26-15 Mt7 Guide

Matthew 7:12-27 theme verse Matthew 7:21

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this eighth Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, through Matthew 11, we learned that we have to learn His humility and gentleness, while taking His yoke, after coming to Him in faith. Yet, this week, we would like to learn few lessons through Matthew 7 that that faith should go together with doing.

1)    Today’s text is one part of famous Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5–7.

Regarding the theme and structure of the Sermon on the mountain, there are many interpretations. Among them, Daniel Patte argues that the Sermon on the Mount is structured in an inverse parallel chiastic pattern, which is very similar to the screen. According to him, the overall theme is the authoritative teaching of Jesus Christ, I mean, that the righteousness of His disciples should surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees. However, his interpretation that the message of the Beatitudes invites the general audience into the life of discipleship, as well as certain aspects of his structural analysis—such as separating Matthew 5:20 (which speaks about the “greater righteousness”) from verses 5:17–19, and separating 6:19–21 from 6:22—has not received much support from commentators. And there is also an analysis somewhat similar to Patte’s proposal by Luz. After he connects the Messianic teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7) with the following chapters (8–9), he argues that the focus of the Sermon on the Mount is the Lord’s Prayer in 6:7–15, emphasizing the importance of discipleship. According to his interpretation, the sermon leads the audience from actions to prayer, and from the strict demands of God’s will to the place where they encounter God’s grace. This grace, he says, enables the disciples to live according to God’s will, which continues to be proclaimed after verse 6:15. However, scholars have pointed out that Luz’s division of the passage from 6:19 to 7:11 into two substructures is not appropriate. As such although there are many other opinions, I would like to provide following interpretation on the Sermon on the Mount based on these discussions as follows:

As you see on the screen, the Sermon on the Mount takes a chiastic structure through which after His disciples were defined as those who receive the Beatitudes and live according to the will of the Father, becoming good trees, they have to enter through the narrow gate and walk hard path to be the light and salt of the world for His glory through their good deeds so that their righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the scribes. Yet, it is said that the enabler of this is the grace of God received through prayer.

2)    By the way, among these teachings, if we look more closely at today’s text, I mean,

after the Lord first said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets,”

He exhorted us to enter through the narrow gate, because although the gate is narrow and the road is difficult, so only a few find it, yet it is the way leads to life.

But, on the other hand, the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road is broad, and many enter through it. Therefore our Lord warned us to beware of false prophets who lead people down this path of destruction, as they could be recognized by their fruits since all the outward actions originate from the hearts.

As such, He said only a person whose heart had been well cultivated could bear good fruit. In other words, not everyone who merely say, “Lord, Lord,”  could enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of the Father.

Furthermore, even if someone shows the fruits of ministry such as prophesying, or casting out demons, or even performing miracles, yet if those are not grounded in a true relationship with the Lord, our Lord said that He never knew them and to depart from Him, you workers of lawlessness.

And then finally, the Lord concluded by saying “Whoever hears and does His words is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. So, even when storms and hardships come, it will not fall. But the person who hears yet does not do my words is like someone foolish who built his house on sand so that when difficulties come, it would ultimately fall.”

3)    So we would like to meditate on several points to learn few lessons together.

First, I hope we may think about what the will of the Father is in verse 21. According to verse 12, the Father’s will is to do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. In other words, this is well known as  the Golden Rule.

Put another way, this also can be understood as to love, as a Cor 13:5 says “love does not self-seek”, I mean, love seeks others’ goodness. That’s why Gary Chapman, in his book, “The Five Love Languages”, explains that love should be expressed through the words, gifts, and actions and communicated in the way as partner needs, desires, or prefers.

In this perspective, our Lord reinterprets the spirit of the Law in the following verses of 5:21–6:4 and 6:16–7:6. For example, He reinterprets the sixth commandment “Do not murder” as not even insulting a brother, in other words, showing respect to one’s brother. And also likewise, He reinterprets the seventh commandment “Do not commit adultery,” as showing respect for another’s wife. And even the Lord challenges us to reach the spirit of the law to treat evil people with kindness and to love even enemies. And that’s why the Lord also says in Matthew 23:23 that “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.”

4)    However, the Lord said that the path of a true disciple is to enter by the narrow gate and to go the hard way difficult road so that although there are few people who walk on this path, yet it is the way that leads to life.

In contrast, the way that leads to destruction has a large gate and a easy way, so that those who enter by it are many, yet it leads to the destruction.

So the Lord warned false prophets who lead people onto this broad road of destruction, and to beware of them.

Therefore I believe this is a teaching that we, as the Lord’s true disciples, should always keep in mind.

5)    Furthermore, it is said that disciples who live according to God’s will are also those who hear the Lord’s words and puts them into practice.

And also He said such a person is like a wise man who built his house on the rock so that no matter what difficulties or storms come, it will not fall.

Here, the rock that the Lord speaks of is not the rock mentioned in Mt 16:18 “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” where the rock refers to the confession of faith of Peter that “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Rather, in today’s text, the rock refers to the words of Jesus Christ or living according to His words. And going one step further, it also refers to a relationship with the Lord, I mean, a relationship in which the Lord truly knows the person.

That’s why Jesus said that those who live in this way are people who bear such fruit that no matter what hardships come upon them, they will not fall.

However, He said also the person who hears the Lord’s words but does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. So when difficulties come, the house will collapse.

6)    By the way in verse 17 our Lord tells us a very important truth. I mean, He said only healthy tree can bear beautiful fruits.

Here, the good tree can refer to a person’s character. The Bible makes it clear that in the relationship between character and fruit, both of which relate to the will of the Father, character always precedes fruit. In other words, in order to bear good fruit, one has to first become a good tree. Therefore, if we want to live according to the Father’s will, we should not focus first on trying to produce fruit; rather, we have to first become a good tree.

This is not merely a matter of sequence. Just as fruit reveals the identity of the tree it comes from, a transformation of character must come first, so that the corresponding fruit will naturally grow from it.

Generally speaking, “works” are something a person tries to accomplish by their own effort, yet fruit grows naturally when a branch remains in the tree and receives the life-giving sap flowing from it.

Therefore, when a tree is healthy, it is natural that it will bear beautiful fruit. When character formation, I mean, an inner transformation of our nature, occurs first, then the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, will naturally be born.

7)    But, these qualities of character are not moral standards that God has established for us to achieve by our own effort. Rather, they are gifts that the gracious God gives to us.

Therefore, when we say that character comes first, it does not mean that our effort comes first; instead, it means that God’s grace first transforms our very nature so that this transformation of character is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it becomes the very foundation for bearing fruit.

Such inner change is grounded in being born again, and it means becoming more like the Son, that is, growing to resemble the gentle and humble character of the Son. In other words, this transformation must come before the bearing of fruit. As we move forward in obedience through the concrete disciplines of daily life, our character is gradually transformed into the likeness of the Lord whom we love, little by little.

8)    As such, our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees and the scribes, just as the Lord challenges us. To do this, we are called not only to keep the literal meaning of the Law but also its spirit, facing a deeper and more profound challenge of obedience to the Law. Yet since this challenge is something we cannot possibly fulfill by our own strength. I mean, although we desire to obey, yet due to our weakness we inevitably feel our shortcomings. But, at that times, we can learn the Lord’s humility and gentleness so that rather than relying on ourselves, we rely wholly on the Lord and obey to the leading of the Holy Spirit, so that we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, rather than our own fruit through which we can not only become the light and salt of the world, but also we can glorify God. Therefore, I pray that this year, as we respond to the grace of the Lord, we may live according to God’s will. But when we fall because of our total depravity and inability, we may crucify our old self that acts according to our own will and strength. Instead, in every moment and matter, we may depend more on the Lord and rely on His grace to obey Him, so that we may learn His character, to bear beautiful fruit for His glory.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that our Lord commanded us to do the will of the Father even though it is the narrow way, yet since it leads us life so that through obeying to His words to be a healthy tree for His glory. So after reflecting our life and checking whether we are in the way of life, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, in order to to obey to the words of the Lord toward the way of life, we have to be a healthy tree first. This is possible to be born again through the Holy Spirit and to be cultivated with good character by His grace. So after reflecting our life and checking whether we are becoming a healthy tree, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.