​Being a disciple of Jesus is more than what you say or appear to do. It’s who you are. Are you still only His creation? Then your relationship to Him is as Creator and Judge. Are you a new creation? Have you truly been born again? Then your relationship is with Him as Father. You have been given a new nature and have become one of His children!

Jesus saw us all poisoned by bitterness and bound by sin. He loved us too much to allow us to remain that way, so He came to rescue us. We know we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard of righteousness. We also know that the wages of sin is death. That’s why Jesus came to die for us. God demonstrated His love for us this way—while we were still sinners, Christ died on our behalf.

Here’s the good news: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

​Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives His disciples three dire warnings concerning false prophets, false professions, and faulty foundations. In our last study, we thoughtfully considered those who present themselves as sheep but are inwardly ravenous wolves.

This past Sunday, we turned our attention to Jesus’ second warning about false professions. How could someone say and do all the right things and not be a born-again believer and be saved? 

We see an example of a false prophet and a false profession in the same person in Acts 8 as we consider the careful warning of Jesus we read in Matthew 7:21-23.

You can identify the tree based on the fruit you see growing from it. If you see an apple on a tree, you can identify that the tree is an apple tree. 

Fruit grows out of identity. Like a tree, the fruit in our lives is more than just what we say and appear to do. The fruit we produce comes out as a result of who we are.

Jesus tells us that the fruit a person’s life produces will identify if they are a false prophet. Someone can say and do all the right things. They can (and will) have the appearance of a sheep, yet their identity is that of a ravenous wolf. 

Jesus wants His disciples to know how to spot the difference. The fruit in a person’s life will show if they are a genuine born-again believer who feeds upon God’s Word and displays the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), or someone who claims to be a believer but uses the ministry to be in proximity to born-again believers to feed their ego, insecurities, and ravenous hunger to be in control.

Heed Jesus’ warning about such people—“By their fruits you will know them.”

“Beware…” 
Jesus had to warn His disciples about false prophets who would look like them but were not His. They are not sheep but ravenous wolves. 

Jesus wasn’t using poetic language to make a point. There are some who look like Christians, talk like Christians, and walk like Christians, but are not Christians and intentionally prey upon Christians.

So how do we know who these ravenous wolves are? Thankfully Jesus tells us—“by their fruits you will know them.”

Watch our study in Matthew 7:15-20 as we meditate on the warning Jesus gives us about false prophets.

​We have a good Father who knows how to give good gifts. He promises to give us all that we need to fulfill the clear expectations that He has for the beautiful worthy difficulty of ministry. So ask, seek, and knock. Do not give up, dismiss, or diminish the clear expectations for ministry just because it’s difficult. After all, Jesus told us it will be difficult! 

In our own strength and with our own resources, His clear expectations are impossible. This drives us to two options—the narrow gate and the wide gate. The narrow gate is difficult but the wide gate leads to destruction. Embrace the impossibility of ministry and ask, seek, and knock until you see His attitudes, actions, attributes, and motivations in your heart and life.

This is the adventure that He has called us to—the beautiful worthy difficulty of ministry. So ask Him, seek Him, knock on the door of His heart. His heart for you is to give you all of this so that you can have fellowship with Him as you are a blessing in the lives of others.

​Being a dedicated disciple of Jesus is not easy. That’s why we call it the beautiful worthy difficulty of ministry. In fact, being a dedicated disciple of Jesus is impossible in our strength and with our resources. Even with all of the effort and human willpower we can muster, we will find ourselves lacking what’s required to do what God calls us to do.

That’s why we need to cry out to God for His help continually. We must continually ask. We must continually seek. And we must continually knock, knowing that He is a good Father who knows how to give good gifts.

Watch our study in Matthew 7:7-14 as we continue our study in the Sermon on the Mount and learn why asking, seeking, and knocking are essential to entering by the narrow gate.