Introduction Question: Are you RENDERING to God the things that are God’s?

Premise: No resolutions can be kept if none are made.

1. PREPARE for suffering, persecution, and the final judgment (that day)

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, is not rich toward God . . . . . You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect” Luke 12:20-21; 40; Matt. 5:10-12

2. TAKE Jesus’ teaching on sin seriously
“Self-sufficiency, anger, lust, hatred, unfaithfulness, revenge, hypocrisy, unforgiveness, idolatry, worry, worldliness, judgmentalism, self-righteousness”

“Ask God to cleanse the inside of your cup and to give you a hunger for righteousness” Matt. 5:6

“Jesus never cleanses excuses - He died for sins”

3. FEAR the Lord, PREACH repentance, and WARN sinners by using the law (depart from evil)

“Gods justice stands forever against the sinner in utter severity. The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become the deadly opiate for the consciences of millions. It hushes their fears and allows them to practice all pleasant forms of iniquity while death draws everyday nearer and the command to repent goes unregarded.” A.W. Tozer
(Matt. 3:7-8; 4:17; 5:20; 5:29; 7:13; 7:23)

“We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses, to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.” John Stott

“I have never known one person in the whole course of my ministry who acknowledged that the first notions of religion in his own heart arose from a sense of the goodness of God.”
Isaac Watts

4. PRACTICE biblical meditation and implementation (hears – acts)

“The activity of calling to mind, thinking over, dwelling on, and applying to oneself the various things one knows about the works, and ways and purpose and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God as a means of communion with God.” J.I. Packer (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1, Rom. 12:2, Phil. 4:8; Ezra 7:10)

The narrow way strips one of all pretense of meritorious worth but once on the way one often finds delight and freedom. Prov. 4:19

5. ENTHRONE Jesus as King and obey the will of God by the power of the Holy Spirt (Lord, Lord)

“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1

Will you give to God the things that belong to God? Rom. 14:7-9; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 1:3-14

Discussion Questions:
1. What spoke to you from the message this past Sunday?
2. Did you gain any new insights from Matthew 7:24-29?
3. What do you think Jesus meant when He said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God?” What belongs to God as you think about your own life in relationship to God? Try to be specific.
4. Do you feel you are prepared for suffering, persecution, and the judgment day? How have you prepared yourself? If you feel unprepared, why?
5. Which of these do you struggle with the most as it relates to Jesus’ teaching? Pick just one that is especially troubling to you. Do you have any kind of “game plan” in terms of overcoming? “Self-sufficiency, anger, lust, hatred, unfaithfulness, revenge, hypocrisy, unforgiveness, idolatry, worry, worldliness, judgmentalism, self-righteousness”
6. What do you make of the two quotes by Stott and Watts? What do you disagree with and why?
“We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses, to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.” Stott
“I have never known one person in the whole course of my ministry who acknowledged that the first notions of religion in his own heart arose from a sense of the goodness of God.” Watts
7. Do we do an adequate job of instructing our people regarding the “fear of the Lord and “repentance towards God?” Explain!
8. What part does biblical mediation play in your daily walk and journey with Jesus? Give a specific example.
9. What does it mean to you in practice to “enthrone Jesus as King?”