Conclusion

The Gospels are right. No man ever spoke like this man. No man ever taught with the authority of this man. Indeed, no man ever lived like this man, died like this man, or rose from the dead like this man. Those who are wise hear his words and obey them. The fool hears them and rejects them. The wise will stand on solid rock at the judgment. The fool will only experience a tragic and great fall.

Reflect and Discuss

1. How can you know whether the authority over your life is reason, experience, tradition, or revelation?
2. Examine the characteristics of the two types of wisdom from James. Is wisdom a mental, emotional, or physical trait?
3. Where else in Matthew do you see Jesus warn of judgment?
4. How should Christians balance salvation by grace with judgment based on obedience as Jesus teaches in this passage?
5. Why is Jesus’s parable of the two builders a fitting conclusion to his Sermon on the Mount?
6. Read the other passages about great storms of judgment (Isa 28:16-22; Ezek 13:10-16). What are the causes of impending judgment in those contexts, and how do they compare with Matthew’s context?
7. What does “casual and comfortable Christianity” look like, and how does that compare to how Jesus calls his followers to live?
8. In what areas of your life (finance, work, family, recreation, etc.) would you say that you were more “amazed” at Jesus’s teachings instead of obedient to them? What can you change to be obedient in those areas?
9. Since Jesus’s words have divine authority, how does that affect your approach to the Bible?
10. How is the obedience Jesus desires both an inward piety and an outward action? How does Scripture characterize and describe obedience in both areas?