All in all, if I could sum up much of what we have gone over, and which our Lord has
illustrated so well in the non-exhaustive list of examples that He has given, it would be to recognize that God's kingdom has been, and always will be, a kingdom of the heart. God is interested not merely in redeeming us from the consequences and the judgments due our sins. He is interested in redeeming the whole man, from the power of sin, as well, such that, we ultimately bear the image of that which is most glorious and lovely, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. God doesn't simply want changed actions. He wants changed hearts, which produce changed actions. And in heaven, this work, in every single one of His true children, will be complete. That said, in this last section of the Sermon on the Mount, which we will seek to wrap up
in these next four sermons, our Lord then provides us with a short list of warnings, to serve as a capstone that would contain all that He has said thus far. And remember, while He is speaking primarily to His disciples, He is also addressing a large multitude that is listening in to His address, as well.
And so, we will divide this final selection into the following four warnings, beginning
with the first, this morning:
1) Beware of remaining on the broad path (vs. 13-14)
2) Beware of false prophets (vs. 15-20)
3) Beware of false conversion (vs. 21-23)
4) Beware of being merely a "hearer" and not a "doer" of Christ's Words (vs. 24-27) |
