B. SIGNIFICANCE
Matthew 12:45b “So also will it be with this wicked generation.”
1. MORALITY IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN IMMORALITY
2. SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A HINDRANCE TO RECEIVING THE GOSPEL
3. MAN LIVES UNDER AN ILLUSION
4. ULTIMATE JUDGMENT IS CERTAIN
Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
II. ILLUSTRATION ABOUT RELIGIOUS REFORMATION
A. RELIANCE ON EARTHLY TIES
Matthew 12:46-50 While He was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and His brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. But Jesus replied to the man who told Him: “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”
1. FAMILY WAS NOT ENOUGH
2. FAMILY WAS AN ILLUSTRATION OF JEWISH NATION
a. God’s chosen people felt they were in no need of regeneration or repentance
b. But Jesus never rejected them
B. REPLACE SELF-REFORMATION WITH RELATIONSHIP
Matthew 12:49-50 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
1. ARMS STRETCHED WIDE
2. REGENERATION IS ALL THAT MATTERS