I want to even step back further from that, and give you a principle that actually is ubiquitous to the entire lot of it. If we don't master this, then we can't deal with anger, and fear, and lust, and calling people idiots. We can't deal with those things if we don't deal with this - and I think Jesus deals with it brilliantly in the end of the Sermon on the Mount. This is what it says, in Matthew 7:13.
Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the road, that leads to destruction, and many wander through it. But small is the gate, and narrow is the road, that leads to life, and only a few will find it.
Just to be clear, that has nothing to do with heaven and hell. That has everything to do with the fact that, in life, most people don't have what it takes to make a decision to make their life better. Most people just do what everybody else is doing, and find themselves completely unravelling.
When you see euphemisms in scripture like death, darkness, decrease, destruction, it's not necessarily talking about being literally dead, or literally dark. It has to do with a realm of life that is destroying you; light/life/increases, a realm of life that's leading you to life.
He says: watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you'll recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
In other words, if what they're doing is working, they're likely a good piece of tree. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut off and thrown in the fire. Thus, by their fruits, you will recognise them.
Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who's in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out devils, and perform miracles? Then I will tell them plainly: I never knew you.
So this is very challenging to us, because to Jesus, calling Him Lord isn’t enough. If I ask someone: why are you saved; if their only answer is: I believe in Jesus; believing in Jesus, really, is that it? Honestly, believing in Jesus only qualifies you to be a demon with skin on. Demons believe in Jesus. What does that have to do with anything?
Wait a minute. Jesus says: people who've called Me Lord, and cast out devils, and prophesied, and performed miracles - it doesn't necessarily mean that they know me - and that is very scary, because then the question is: what does it mean to know God? I thought that's what it meant to know God. What does it mean to know God?
The only scripture in the whole Bible, that defines what it means to know God, is Jeremiah 22:16. It says: when you take care of the poor and the afflicted, that is what it means to know God.
In other words, when you do something for someone, who can't possibly do anything in return for you - that is when you get to know God, because that is exactly what God did for you. It's that sort of principle; and He keeps going. It says: it's all about how you treat others. This is where He keeps going:
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and puts them into practice (hearing/doing), is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. The rain come down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teachings, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the other teachers of the law.
Now let me read one more scripture to you. This is Deuteronomy 30:19, that has the same sort of principle that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This would have been the Bible in Jesus' day, maybe this was His key text, before He preached this.
It says: I call heaven and earth as a witness against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, that you and your children may live; and that you may love the Lord your God and listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him; for the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.