CULTIVATING FOUNDATIONS THAT CANNOT BE SHAKEN
I. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: CORE VALUES OF THE KINGDOM
A. The Sermon on the Mount is the “constitution of God’s Kingdom.” It is the litmus test to measure spiritual development
and ministry impact. We measure our ministry impact by how much people seek to walk out the Sermon on the Mount
values (not by the size of our ministry). These values are to be the themes that we are to emphasize most in our ministries.
B. Many ministries today are discouraged because of feeling unsuccessful in ministry (as judged by the size of one’s
ministry). We must embrace God’s standards for evaluating our success.
C. The foundational call in the Sermon on the Mount is to live out the 8 beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-12) as we pursue 100-fold
obedience (Mt. 5:48; 6:22). The beatitudes are like 8 beautiful flowers in the “garden in our heart” that God wants to fully
blossom. They define love, godliness and spiritual maturity that pleases God. They describe the lifestyle that is the core
reality of God’s Kingdom.
D. These 8 flowers need to be carefully and continually cultivated as we “weed our garden” by resisting the 6
negative influences (toxins/poisons) related to our natural lusts (Mt. 5:21-48) and as we “water our garden” by pursuing
the 5 positive nutrients (prayer, fasting, giving, serving and blessing enemies, Mt. 6:1-18) that position us to receive a
greater impartation of grace.
E. Mt. 5-7 describes the process that allows the 8 beatitudes to come to maturity. In this passage, Jesus is not rebuking
His people but helping them by giving insight that leads to freedom for the heart. He did not intend to give comprehensive
teaching on the path to freedom. Rather, He focused on the need to make quality decisions to resist lust and nurture our
heart in grace.
F. A wise man builds his personal life and ministry on the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.
24 Whoever hears these sayings of Mine (Sermon on the Mount), and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built
his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be
like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. (Mt. 7:24-27)
G. There is a 3-fold application of the winds that will test our personal and ministry foundations. First, are winds that
every ministry experiences periodically throughout decades of ministry. Second, are eschatological winds at the end of
the age. Third, is the evaluation we receive for our individual life and the quality of our ministry at the Judgment Seat of
Christ (1 Cor. 3:11-15).
26 He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27
Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken...that the things which cannot be
shaken may remain. 28 Therefore…let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear. (Heb. 12:26-28)
H. One of the pressures in the Church comes from false teachers (see 2 Peter 2 and Jude). The most common area
of false teaching is that which perverts the understanding of the grace of God. This happens by reducing its message to
receiving forgiveness without repentance and seeking to make people comfortable with God while continuing in their sin.
Grace is commonly presented today as an insurance policy for people who want to continue in their sin.
4 For certain men (false teachers) have crept in unnoticed…ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness
and deny…our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)
I. The true grace message inspires us to deny lust and gives us power to walk godly. The true teaching on grace is
the only way that we can experience God’s power in our spirit.
11 The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared…12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live…godly in the present age… (Titus 2:11-12)
J. Much “grace teaching” is not according to truth. It empowers compromise and gives people false confidence in
their relationship with God instead of equipping them to be great in God.
19 Whoever breaks…the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom…whoever
does and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom. (Mt. 5:19)
K. Grace gives us confidence that God enjoys us and will bless us (after we stumble and repent) and that He will
discipline us in His zeal (if we do not repent). There are three different mindsets in the Church today. First, some teach
high standards of holiness yet with an impatient and intolerant God (mean God). Second, some teach low standards of
holiness with a very gracious all accepting God (kind God). Finally, the Scripture exhorts us to teach high standards of
holiness that war against sin in our relationship with a very kind God.
L. What are false teachings? They are ones that do not hold to the main doctrines of Scripture. For example, they
deny that Jesus provides the ONLY way of salvation or teachings that omit calling people to live holy (as defined by the
8 beatitudes). False teachings are not only given by those involved in false religions but can also be given by teachers
who are born again believers.
M. Some popular ministries are led by false teachers. Do not be seduced by how large a ministry is.
1 There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly (subtly) bring in destructive heresies…2 Many will follow their
destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed (ridiculed). 3 By covetousness they will exploit you
(manipulate) with deceptive words…13 They are…carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you…14 They
have a heart trained (experts in greed) in covetous practices…20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of…Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse
for them than the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than
having known it, to turn from the holy commandment… (2 Pet. 2:1-3, 13-21)
N. The Scripture prophesies of spiritual compromise in the Church in the End-Times.
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines
of demons… (1 Tim. 4:1)
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin
(Antichrist) is revealed, the son of perdition… (2 Thes. 2:3)
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have
itching ears (eagerly seek to be satisfied), they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away
from the truth… (2 Tim. 4:3-4)
II. PRIMARY FOCUS: CALLING US TO PURSUE 100-FOLD OBEDIENCE (MT. 5:48)
A. Jesus’ called us to pursue a lifestyle of obedience that seeks to be perfect (mature in obedience). Walking mature
in our obedience is relative in this age and absolute in the age-to-come. In this age, we never attain to perfection in the
absolute sense. We are to walk in the fullness of the light that we receive from the Spirit. This includes declaring war on
all our lust that the Spirit reveals.
48 You shall be perfect (walk in all the light you receive) as your Father…is perfect. (Mt. 5:48)
B. The pursuit of 100-fold obedience includes making a covenant with our eyes (Ps. 101:3; Job 31:1), bridling our speech
(Jas 3:2; Eph. 4:29-5:4), managing our time (for service and prayer with the Word, Eph. 5:15-16) and money to increase
the Kingdom beyond our personal comfort and honor (Mt. 6:19-21) as we engage in communing prayer with the Holy
Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).
III. BEATITUDES: BRIEF DEFINITIONS (MT. 5:3–12)
A. True spiritual reality is defined by the 8 beatitudes. They describe what pleases God and what He wants to
duplicate in the nations through ministry. Implied in all of God’s commands is the promise of the enabling to walk out the
command. Thus, all eight beatitudes are a part of our inheritance. God will bless the pursuit and progressive attainment
of these 8 expressions of grace in the heart.
B. Being poor in spirit (theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Mt. 5:3) – to acknowledge that we are in great need of help
to sustain wholeheartedness. This is to understand, that we are in a serious dilemma in needing a breakthrough in our
heart (insight/power) and ministry in godliness.
C. Mourning for breakthrough (for they shall be comforted, Mt. 5:4) – to be desperate enough to be “extreme” in
pursuit of a progressive breakthrough in our heart (insight/power) and ministry.
D. Walking in meekness (shall inherit the earth, Mt. 5:5) – to walk in the fasted lifestyle or to have a servant spirit in the
use of our natural strengths (time, money, energy, reputation, authority, etc.). Humility or meekness speaks of using our
resources with a servant spirit, as we lay down personal rights in serving without regard for receiving the reward (honor,
money) from people.
E. Hungering for righteousness (for they shall be filled, Mt. 5:6) – sustained faithfulness in seeking God with
wholeheartedness through changing circumstances and seasons of our life.
F. Relating to others with mercy (for they shall obtain mercy, Mt. 5:7) – having a tender spirit in how we treat others
in light of receiving God’s mercy in our many failures (Ps. 18:35; 130:3-4).
G. Being pure in heart (they shall see God, Mt. 5:8) – breakthrough of purity in our thoughts (bitterness, immorality)
and motives (helping people for their benefit without any personal gain).
H. Becoming an anointed peacemaker (called sons of God, Mt. 5:9) – anointing to bring peace (reconciliation) to
that which is out of God’s will (restoring relationships, bodies, legislation).
I. Enduring persecution (theirs is the kingdom, Mt. 5:10-12) – bearing the counterattack for plundering Satan’s
Kingdom because we operate in power and/or stand for righteousness.
J. In Mt. 5:3-5, we begin the process of transformation as the first three beatitudes (poverty of spirit, mourning and
meekness) relate to “perceiving ourselves” differently. Mt. 5:6 points to “sustained zeal” as we break through in mercy
(Mt. 5-7), purity (Mt. 5:8), anointed service (Mt. 5:9) that brings persecution that requires endurance (Mt. 5:10-12).
The way to awaken a sense of being poor in spirit and desperately mourning for a breakthrough is to set our heart to
walk out the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle in a literal and consistent way, especially in determining to be perfect
(Mt. 5:48) and to have a good or single eye (Mt. 6:22-23).
IV. SALT AND LIGHT: OUR CALL TO MAKE AN IMPACT AND TO BE GREAT (MT. 5:13-20)
A. Jesus referred to two metaphors of salt (flavor, preservation) and light (direction, life) in Mt. 5:13-16. They emphasize
the impact that God’s people will have on individuals and society (political, military, economic, educational, family, media,
arts, technology, social institutions, etc). This impact is dependent on walking out the beatitudes in a consistent and
corporate way.
B. In Mt. 5:17-18, Jesus said that He did not come to destroy (minimize) God’s moral commands in the OT law. He
came so that the fullness of what God originally intended in each of His commandments would eventually be fully
expressed in the lives of His people.
C. Jesus invited “whosoever” or everyone to be great in His Kingdom (Mt. 5:19-20). We cannot repent of the desire
for greatness because God designed our spirit with this longing. We repent for seeking it in a wrong way. Without the
paradigm of being on a journey to greatness, the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle is much more difficult to sustain. God
invites us to greatness without regard to our outward achievements or the size of our ministry impact. It is based on the
development of our heart (love, meekness, revelation or righteousness, peace, joy, Rom. 14:17).
V. OVERCOMING HINDRANCES: RESISTING THE TOXIN OF SIN (MT. 5:21–48)
A. Jesus did not come to destroy the moral law but to make a way to fully express the righteousness that agreed with
God’s original intention when giving it in the OT (5:17–20). Jesus gave six practical areas in which we must wage war
against lust (1 Pet. 2:11): anger (spirit of murder, Mt. 5:21-26), adultery (spirit of immorality, Mt. 5:27-30), disregarding
the sanctity of marriage (spirit of treachery, Mal. 2:13-17 or disloyalty that disregards the sanctity of marriage,
Mt. 5:31-32), false commitments (spirit of manipulation that seeks to promote ourselves, Mt. 5:33-37). To use “spin” to
present ourselves in a false way about our commitments in the past and the present (by lack of follow through),
demanding justice (spirit of pride or bitterness that insists on our personal rights, Mt. 5:38-41) and refusing to retaliate
(spirit of revenge or animosity in relationships, Mt. 5:42-47).
B. Jesus ends this section with the call to be perfect or mature in our obedience to God.
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mt. 5:48)
VI. POSITIONING OUR HEART TO RECEIVE GRACE: THE FASTED LIFESTYLE (MT. 6:1–23)
A. Jesus describes five “grace-releasing activities” in our devotional life that position our heart to receive more
strength in the grace of God. Our heart receives more grace as we consistently and secretly serve and give (charitable
deeds: giving service and/or money (6:1–4, 19-21), pray (6:5–13), bless adversaries (forgiving, 6:14–15; 5:44) and fast
(6:16–18).
B. These five areas are expressions of “voluntary weakness” because we invest our natural strengths
(time, money, energy, reputation, etc.) into Kingdom purposes. The normal use of our strengths is to increase
our personal comfort, wealth and honor. In other words, by the fasted lifestyle we bring our natural strengths
to God as we trust Him to “return” our strength back to us in a way that enriches our personal spheres of
responsibility and transforms us with meekness.
9 My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness (voluntary weakness or the fasted
life style)…I boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9)
C. Our devotional lives are the means of appropriating free grace, not of earning it. In these five areas
we position our “cold heart” before the “bonfire of God’s enabling grace” so as to receive the Spirit’s
empowering. In this way, we receive enlarged capacities to walk out the 8 beatitudes. We must not allow these
“means of grace” to be reduced to mechanics used in a hypocritical show of devotion that seeks superiority
over others, thus quenching the power of grace in us.
D. Spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting, meditation on the Word, etc) are ordained by God as a necessary
way to posture our heart to freely receive more grace. These activities do not earn us God’s favor. The power
is in the “bonfire of God’s presence” not in the cold flesh positioned in front of it. Spiritual disciplines do not
earn us God’s favor but gives us the opportunity to show our value of the relationship. God gives to our heart
on the basis of how much we hunger for relationship with Him. God sees our hunger for Him as our love for
Him. God honors how much we value the relationship by giving us more according to our hunger. God gives
more to our heart but does not love us more when we live in spiritual disciplines.
E. God can smile over our life in a general sense, while He deals with a particular sin in our life. That one issue does not
define our entire relationship with God. When we neglect to honestly and thoroughly confront sin in our heart we are not
loved less by God but we do suffer lost in several ways. We minimize our ability to experience the joy of our salvation, the
spirit of revelation, godly fellowship and to receive eternal rewards. The pursuit of full obedience is different than attaining
it. There are powerful dynamics that occur in our heart when we soberly aim at pursuing 100-fold obedience. Pursuing
obedience in 98% of your life has limited blessing. It is in the last 2% that we receive “double” grace. We rob people by
“lowering the standard of grace.” The cost of non-discipleship is very high.
F. Sincere repentance eventually results in a change in our character. Repentance includes our resolve to declare
war against a particular sin that we commit. Those with sincere repentance quickly renew their war against the sin they
just stumbled in.
G. We experience the power and pleasure of godliness when the lamp of our body (that which brings light to our
inner man) is good or single. This speaks of living in the pursuit of 100-fold obedience.
22 The lamp (source of light) of the body is the eye (of the heart; Eph. 1:18). If therefore your eye is good (single, KJV),
your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad (lacks single focus), your whole body will be full of darkness.
(Mt. 6:22-23)
VII. PURSUING OUR DESTINY WITHOUT FEAR OR ANXIETY (MT. 6:24–34)
A. Jesus addresses one of the most important areas in which we pursue our destiny as related to our finances and
possessions. This is vital in sustaining grace to walk out the beatitudes. We are not only to be different in our devotional
lives, but also in the way we pursue our destiny (ambitions) as related to the use of money. Faith in God’s provision is a
vital dimension of our spiritual life.
B. Jesus calls us to escape the slavery of covetousness that is fueled by the fear of not having enough. We are
naturally preoccupied with our pursuit of food, drink, clothing and housing. Fear or anxiety rise up in us to resist our
progress in walking out the beatitudes.
C. Jesus urges us all to use money now to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven (6:19–20). He declared the
impossibility of loving God and money (6:21–22). Our highest reason for seeking prosperity must be for the glory of
Jesus and the increase of His Kingdom and not for personal wealth (6:23–24) that is rooted in fear or anxiety (6:25–34).
We must love God while we believe Him for the release of the covenant blessing of prosperity (Deut. 8:18; 28:1-14).
VIII. WALKING OUT THE BEATITUDES: ENDURING RELATIONAL TENSIONS (MT. 7:1-20)
A. Seeking to walk out this Kingdom lifestyle will create many complex relational dynamics that are both positive
and negative. Many relationships will change as we walk out Kingdom values. New relationships will be established as
old ones are changed (sometimes improved and other times damaged). We must not judge (Mt. 7:1-5) as we seek to
walk in a Kingdom lifestyle.
B. The issue is judging people in areas of their spirituality as depicted in Mt. 6:1-33. This is very different from the scriptural
responsibility to bring scandalous sin into the light through due process (Mt. 18:15-18; 1 Tim. 5:19-20; 1 Cor. 5:1-13;
2 Thes. 3:10-15; Rev. 2:2-3, 14-15, 20).
C. We are not to judge others in the small areas of their life and thus, close our heart to them.
D. Some will reject our pearls (Sermon on the Mount Kingdom values, Mt. 7:6). Do not give what is holy to the dogs;
nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Mt. 7:6) In
the case of seeking to help a brother with a non-scandalous issue in his life, Jesus exhorts them not to give advice about
truth to those who are unreceptive. Dogs do not value holy things as swine do not value pearls. Initially, they will trample
the pearls then eventually turn on you and seek to tear your reputation and life to pieces.
E. We must not trust our natural strengths to war against them. We must be careful not to neglect prayer knowing
that the spirit of prayer is our best tool (not our only one) (Mt. 7:7-12).
F. We will face the presence of false prophets and messages (2 Pet. 3:3) that will seek to hinder us from entering the
narrow gate and the difficult way (Mt. 7:13-20). There are two ways to approach life (7:13–14). This also leads to conflict.
We must discern the presence of the counterfeit messengers and messages (7:15–20) as part of the adversarial element
that we encounter.
IX. MANIFESTING KINGDOM REALITY: STANDING STRONG IN TESTING (MT. 7:21–27)
A. These 8 flowers will be fully tested. It is not enough to proclaim this reality. The essential issue is whether we walk
it out in pressure.
B. Storms will test the reality of our foundation. The storms of personal pressures, the eschatological storm
(2 Thes. 2:3-4) or the final judgment (1 Cor. 3:10-15) will show forth the truth of which of the two approaches we have
chosen to build our lives and ministries upon (7:24–27).