The last time we addressed the Sermon on the Mount we talked about being free from fear, that the warning to “Beware of false prophets” was not a call to fear but instead a release from it. Jesus’ words are never to be fear inducing because His character is love and as we have learned from I John 4:18, “perfect love casts out all fear.” The warning to beware of false prophets was a call to preparation. To beware is to prepare ourselves to not be harmed by something that is coming. It doesn’t mean to be afraid, it means to be prepared. So when Jesus says “Beware of false prophets” He is telling us to do the work of preparing our hearts, our lives and even our communities to not be easily deceived or divided. This is why our rallying point for that warning has been that we must look within before we look around because we do not withstand false prophets by locking our doors but by guarding our hearts, by praying daily for the searching of the Holy Spirit and by responding to His searching with repentance and by being washed by the Word of God. R.T. Kendall wrote “Don’t become preoccupied or enamored with what is false; get to know the true and genuine so well that the false is immediately recognizable.” Here is the truth that we often struggle with, we can’t keep false prophets from making appearances in our lives but we can keep our hearts from being deceived and our communities from being divided; that’s the calling to “beware” it is not to avoid, it is not to be afraid, it is to be prepared, to be so firmly established in God’s love through God’s Word that we are not easily moved or deceived. Let’s remember this, false prophets are influenced by Satan and Satan’s purpose is always to rob, kill and destroy; don’t ever take pity upon deceit, pray for the deceived; pray for both those spreading and believing the false message, but don’t ever take the message lightly because the purpose of the message is to destroy us and defame Christ. Jesus’ last statement about false prophets was “by their fruits you will know them”. He then says “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven”. This is another warning of preparation not a reason to fear. The key verse for the Sermon on the Mount has been Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The sermon began with telling us that surpassing righteousness is the requirement for entering the kingdom of heaven, the rest of the sermon described and defined surpassing righteousness and now the sermon ends where it began, with a final revelation of who enters the kingdom of heaven. It’s not the scribes and the Pharisees that do many religious acts but never deal with their prideful hearts. It’s not the false prophets that have a message and ministry of charisma but are motivated by their own desires for reputation and applause. Those that enter the kingdom of heaven are a specific group, they choose the narrow way, they resist the pull to settle for what seems right to them or accept a broader way of comfort. In verse 21 Jesus tells us exactly who enters the kingdom of heaven, “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.” The Sermon on the Mount described surpassing righteousness and now Jesus very simply defines it, it is doing the will of the Father. Today the question we have to address is “what is the will of the Father?” The will of the Father is surpassing righteousness, it is the narrow way, it is denying ourselves, carrying the cross and following Jesus, it is what God desires and requires, but what is it? It is not something we pray, it is not a task we complete, it is not a lifestyle we adhere to; I believe that the will of the Father is a condition we yield our hearts to and the position we place Him within our hearts. This morning I pray that Jesus’ words and actions will teach us more clearly what the will of the Father is so that we can stop trying to accomplish the will of God for ourselves and instead start living in the will of our Father for His glory.