Just as the crowd had broadened from the inner circle of Jesus’ closest disciples to the large crowd, so too does the scope of his teaching. He warns them that the gate that opens to salvation life is as hard and narrow as the gate which leads to destruction is wide and easy. The first generation of Christ’s followers will witness this with their own eyes as very few will join with them. During the first three hundred years of the church, even as she grows exponentially, the way of discipleship will remain hard.

Jesus continues in his warnings that there will be among them, “false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing” (vs. 15). False teachers do not come into the church or across the airwaves or on YouTube with fangs bared. They look like sheep – at least for a while. They appear, at first, to produce good fruit. They tap into the people’s lusts, fears, anger, or prejudices. And ultimately they lead many away from the truth and away from Christ. But Jesus says that they are recognizable: “You’ll recognize them by their fruit” (vs. 16). Here Jesus points to a principle that applies to not just prophets but all would-be disciples: Good trees produce good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit.

And to drive the point home Jesus tells us that, in the end, it is not about the words we say. It is about the quality of our faith. J.C. Ryle comments that “The Lord Jesus winds up the Sermon on the Mount by a passage of heart-piercing application. He turns from false prophets to false professors, from unsound teachers to unsound hearers.” Simply saying “Lord, Lord,” is not the final evidence of being rightly related to God (vs. 21). Rather, it is the quality of one’s faith. Do we confess that Jesus is Lord out of sincere belief and devotion or do we do so from a divided and unbelieving heart? Is our faith in word only or is it a faith that is living and active – a faith which produces good fruit?