Shownotes
Pastor Barbie shares practical ways to guard yourself against false teachers and counterfeit teachings. Listen to find actionable wisdom on spiritual discernment straight from Scripture.
She digs into what makes a healthy teacher and how to recognize red flags, focusing on fruit, humility, and the power of Holy Spirit for guidance. Strengthen your walk and uncover steps to ensure the voices you follow truly align with God’s word and Spirit.
Key Insights
- Signs, wonders, and prophecy can deceive; we must learn to discern genuine spiritual fruit.
- False teachers are often self-promoting, receive glory that belongs to God, and lack humility and depth in the Word.
- The Holy Spirit and knowledge of God’s Word are essential weapons to guard against deception.
- Fruit is measured by quality, not quantity, and genuine spiritual maturity leads believers to become more like Jesus.
- Your leaders should be deeply invested in your spiritual growth, committed to presenting you mature in Christ through truth and accountability.
- Many false teachers are not intentionally corrupt but are biblically uneducated and repeat tradition rather than genuine revelation.
https://springhousemidweek.captivate.fm/episode/rabbi-lessons-from-the-teather-3
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Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcripts
Amen, Guys, you sounded awesome. Thank you for doing
Speaker:that. Thank you. Women, if you are not coming to the
Speaker:BLOOM meetings, this is what you're missing. I just want you to
Speaker:know God meets all of the needs. How y' all doing
Speaker:tonight? Did anybody hear anything about snow?
Speaker:Is it just me?
Speaker:Has anybody tried to go buy bread or milk recently? That
Speaker:would probably be a better question. God is so good,
Speaker:and I'm excited about seeing whatever it is he has. Amen.
Speaker:Amen. Amen. All right, we
Speaker:are going to jump into the word here. I'm excited. We're going to head into
Speaker:week three. The very first week, we talked about our master
Speaker:teacher. We talked about the rabbi and sitting in his
Speaker:teachings. And then last week, we talked about his student Mar,
Speaker:who became a disciple, who sat at his feet. And so if I'm going
Speaker:to share with you scriptures about good teachers
Speaker:and the teacher and sitting at those, I thought
Speaker:I just felt like, you know, it was probably important to the Lord that
Speaker:I talk to you a little bit about who
Speaker:you don't want to sit at the feet of.
Speaker:The Lord took me to a passage of scripture this week, and we're just going
Speaker:to jump into it. This week, we're going to be talking about counterfeit
Speaker:and wolves, and these are red letters. So
Speaker:we know that this is something that was important to Jesus. Nothing
Speaker:that was placed in his Word was
Speaker:wasted or put there by accident. It's purposeful.
Speaker:And so as we delve into his words and we begin to
Speaker:pay attention to teaching, pay attention to who
Speaker:we're listening to, what we're buying into, what we're
Speaker:investing into, I think it's very important that the Lord show
Speaker:us what to the cautions to have. And like with
Speaker:anything else, as Pastor Ronnie always told us, it's better to spend
Speaker:more time with the genuine than the fake, because once you recognize the
Speaker:genuine, the fake will kind of stand out to you. You're not gonna have
Speaker:to go and look for it. So we're gonna jump in tonight. We're gonna start
Speaker:with Matthew 7, beginning in verse 15. If you brought your
Speaker:Bible with you, I hope you do.
Speaker:I hope you do. Matthew 7.
Speaker:Some of the things, if it looks a little different on the screen, it's because
Speaker:I may jump a little bit between message Bible. Thanks to Pastor
Speaker:Wayne, who indoctrinated me in that and a little bit of
Speaker:NIV and a little bit of nasb. Listen,
Speaker:pull them all out. Pull them all out and just
Speaker:begin to dig through the word. It will not hurt you. And The Lord's
Speaker:discernment, the Holy Spirit. The discernment of the Holy Spirit will go, oh, this is
Speaker:good. Oh, wait, this is perfectly put together. And
Speaker:so don't be afraid of the Word. Don't be afraid of the
Speaker:Word. As long as you sit down and go, holy Spirit, lead me in this
Speaker:and trust him to do it. He will. And so we're going to start right
Speaker:here with Matthew 7:15. Watch out
Speaker:for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing. This
Speaker:is Jesus speaking. So. But inwardly, they are
Speaker:ferocious wolves. And by their fruit you will recognize them.
Speaker:Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from
Speaker:thistles? Likewise, a good tree bears good
Speaker:fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot
Speaker:bear bad fruit. And let's say this one really fast.
Speaker:I. All right, anyway, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad
Speaker:tree cannot bear good fruit. Wayne, quit laughing. Every tree that
Speaker:does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Speaker:Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them. Now,
Speaker:see, a lot of times we listen to that passage of scripture
Speaker:and we think of the people in our life, but he's
Speaker:specifically addressing teachers. He's specifically
Speaker:addressing prophets and false teachers.
Speaker:Good for you and bad for you, says not everyone. Who says to me, lord,
Speaker:Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the
Speaker:will of my Father in heaven. We just touched on this a couple of weeks
Speaker:ago. On Sunday, if you were listening and paying attention, many will
Speaker:say to me, on that day, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
Speaker:in your name and in your name drive out demons, and in your
Speaker:name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them
Speaker:plainly, I never knew you. Away from me,
Speaker:you evildoers. Here's your first point.
Speaker:Signs, wonders, and prophecy can be used as tools to deceive even
Speaker:the very elect of God.
Speaker:Just because it looks spiritual doesn't mean that it is God
Speaker:spiritual. And
Speaker:so we can't be deceived by these things
Speaker:just because this is what we've painted. Just because we
Speaker:have painted, we've garnered a society or
Speaker:a church that thinks signs and wonders must be of God.
Speaker:That's not necessarily the case. And we're gonna dig into that, even
Speaker:prophecy. Lord, there's so many passages of scripture. If you
Speaker:wanna start digging, ask the Lord to just show you all the
Speaker:scriptures on false prophets, starting back in the Old Testament, all the way
Speaker:forward. Look at their characteristics. Look at what they did. They
Speaker:prophesied the things that the people wanted to hear. They
Speaker:were Fearful, more fearful of man than they were of God. And they
Speaker:wanted the crowds. And so they said what they thought was good, what they
Speaker:wanted to share. And, you know, you could relegate
Speaker:that and go, oh, that's Old Testament. No, that's today. That's
Speaker:today. And so, as I would normally do,
Speaker:it's like, if you, Jesus, if you're gonna talk about false prophets, then
Speaker:I want to look at the first example you give after this. And the first
Speaker:example he gives us is in that Acts 13, beginning with verse
Speaker:6. I'm just gonna read that to you for a second,
Speaker:Talking about the apostles. They traveled through the whole island until they
Speaker:came to Paphos. And there they met a Jewish sorcerer and
Speaker:false prophet. You're gonna find these two words connected a lot.
Speaker:When you look up false prophet A, you're gonna see it connected to
Speaker:sorcery, because sorcery is presenting something false as
Speaker:though it is real through whatever means to begin
Speaker:to present this. And so you're gonna see that a lot. If you start to
Speaker:research this and dig into false prophets.
Speaker:And his name, it says, and a false prophet named
Speaker:Baryesu, or if you're from the south, it's Bar Jesus
Speaker:in Baresu. But Elymas the sorcerer, for that is what
Speaker:his name means. Oppose them. Then you jump down to, to
Speaker:verse 10. It says, Saul, Paul, filled with the Holy
Speaker:Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, you are a
Speaker:child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right.
Speaker:You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery.
Speaker:Will you never stop perverting the ways of the Lord?
Speaker:Those three words are very important. Deceit,
Speaker:trickery, and perverting.
Speaker:All of those things have to do with presenting something that's
Speaker:true and adding elements that aren't.
Speaker:You deceive. It's not a straight up lie. It's a
Speaker:deception. Oh, that is
Speaker:scripture that gets twisted over and over again.
Speaker:And yes, it sounds like scripture, but it's not if you pull
Speaker:it up and you know it for yourself. But if you don't know it for
Speaker:itself, if you don't know it for yourself, you put enough thees and thous
Speaker:and God saids in it, and you're gonna go, oh, that must be scripture. No,
Speaker:it's not. It's not. And we need to be wise
Speaker:in these things. Okay, so as we've talked about that, I just
Speaker:think it's super important that as we jump into this, that we begin to get.
Speaker:Here's the very first thing. His name,
Speaker:Bariyesu, Means son of Jesus.
Speaker:Okay, son of Jesus.
Speaker:That sounds good on the surface, doesn't it, Bari Esu? He's
Speaker:a son of Jesus, guys. Jesus didn't have any sons.
Speaker:God has sons. Jesus has brethren. But
Speaker:sometimes, if it sounds good, we're not paying attention,
Speaker:and it's like, oh, he's of Jesus. No, he's not. He's a
Speaker:sorcerer. He's a deceiver, and he's got followers. And
Speaker:so sometimes we have to pay attention to. To what actually says
Speaker:this about. They make falsities appear as truth,
Speaker:making truth appear false, all the while drawing
Speaker:their power from another source outside of God. They perform
Speaker:acts to distract and deceive. Perform.
Speaker:They perform acts to deceive.
Speaker:Guys, I wish I could tell you that it's not in
Speaker:the church, but this is written to us.
Speaker:I wish I could tell you that everybody who stands on a platform
Speaker:is as sincere as the day is long. I wish I could tell you that,
Speaker:but it's not true. But if you don't know the Word,
Speaker:if you don't know the Scriptures, if all you know is what everybody has told
Speaker:you or what I've told you, if all you know is what somebody else has
Speaker:presented to you, you don't know the truth.
Speaker:You need to know the truth of the Word of God. Anyway, all of these
Speaker:people are following him. Baryesu, son of Jesus. They're.
Speaker:They're digging into. He's a follower and
Speaker:he's in high ranks. And sometimes we look at somebody who's been
Speaker:promoted or who's been elevated or risen up in the
Speaker:church. Okay, I'm gonna have to do disclaimers here. I have no
Speaker:one in mind. I have no church in mind. I have no
Speaker:pastor in mind. I have none of this in mind. What I have
Speaker:in mind is the fact that the enemy in these days, in
Speaker:the last days, would love to deceive the people of God.
Speaker:And our weapons against that are the Spirit of Truth,
Speaker:the Holy Spirit that says he will guide us. The Spirit of truth and
Speaker:the Word of God. These are our weapons of our
Speaker:warfare. And if we're not in this, if we don't
Speaker:claim this and hold onto this, we are at risk.
Speaker:Because if even the very elect can be deceived,
Speaker:I like to think that I'm one of the elect. I like to think that
Speaker:I belong to him and that I would recognize someone was
Speaker:faking their way through it. But we don't unless we have the
Speaker:discernment of the Holy Spirit, which is a gift of the Holy
Speaker:Spirit. Which is yet another reason why you need
Speaker:the Holy Spirit in your life. You need the
Speaker:Holy Spirit activated in your life,
Speaker:okay? Help me, Lord. Here. The next time we see it in,
Speaker:we're gonna look at Acts 8. It says, There was Simon the
Speaker:Sorcerer. Verse 9 says. Now, for
Speaker:some time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city
Speaker:and amazed all the people of Samaria. Listen to this.
Speaker:He boasted that he was someone great.
Speaker:Well, that should have been a red flag, right? He boasted that he was someone
Speaker:great. And all the people, both high and low, gave him their
Speaker:attention and exclaimed, this man is rightly called the
Speaker:great power of God. He's called the great
Speaker:power of God. And they followed him because he had amazed them for
Speaker:a long time. But when they believed Philip, as
Speaker:he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Speaker:Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Speaker:Now listen to this. It says in verse 13,
Speaker:Simon himself believed and was
Speaker:baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished
Speaker:by the great signs and wonders. Phil,
Speaker:he believed and was baptized. And then we know
Speaker:the next portion of Scripture, if you know Scripture at all. He
Speaker:begins to watch them do signs and wonders because
Speaker:he's bought in. He's following them and he's watching these
Speaker:signs and wonders. And he's like, I wanna do that. And
Speaker:he wants to buy it. He wants to pay for what they
Speaker:have. And
Speaker:here's what he says. Peter answered, may your money perish
Speaker:with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with
Speaker:money. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that
Speaker:he may forgive you for having such a thought in your head.
Speaker:Now listen to this. He says, for I see that you are
Speaker:full of bitterness and captive to sin. Wait a
Speaker:minute. Wasn't he. Didn't he believe? And wasn't he
Speaker:baptized? Simon himself believed and was baptized.
Speaker:Guys, you can still believe and be baptized and still be
Speaker:filled with bitterness and captive to sin.
Speaker:I didn't say it. Scripture said it.
Speaker:Scripture said it. And see, that's why it's so important
Speaker:that we are
Speaker:continually having our minds renewed in the
Speaker:Word and that restoration, that
Speaker:repentance process in our lives when the Holy Spirit
Speaker:convicts us of something according to the Word, that
Speaker:we repent and that we see it and that. That we are
Speaker:quick to confess our sin. Because the Word tells us
Speaker:if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just and
Speaker:will forgive our sin. Not only that, he will cleanse us
Speaker:from all unrighteousness. See, I have A tendency to think
Speaker:that Simon, that
Speaker:Simon was moved more by the signs and wonders than he was
Speaker:by the spirit of God. And sometimes, guys, that
Speaker:happens. You get in a service and things are just, you know,
Speaker:you think you've had a conversion, but what you've had is a woo
Speaker:hoo experience with zero depth. If the Holy
Speaker:Spirit draws you, you don't need the bells and whistles.
Speaker:You don't need a band. You don't need anything except
Speaker:the Holy Spirit drawing you toward the Father.
Speaker:That's a conversion. That is a change in your life when the
Speaker:Holy Spirit draws you. Cause that's what
Speaker:lasts. Experiences don't last, guys. The
Speaker:Holy Spirit, the abiding, residing Holy Spirit
Speaker:in your life, will cause the changes to stick.
Speaker:They'll cause the commitments to last. They'll cause
Speaker:the faithfulness to be birthed. They'll cause the fruits of the
Speaker:Spirit over time to develop in your
Speaker:life. That's what we want. That's what we want.
Speaker:Simon himself believed and was baptized.
Speaker:So knowing this, I just believe this is where the Lord would
Speaker:have me go. We're gonna start with just sharing a couple of things based on
Speaker:this scripture that you can be aware of. Because it's important
Speaker:who you're sitting under, guys. It's important who you're listening to.
Speaker:It's important that podcasts. The things that you're pouring into
Speaker:your spirit are very important. The first thing I want
Speaker:you to begin to look for in as
Speaker:you're sussing this out. Beware of those who are
Speaker:great in their own eyes, if they're singing their own
Speaker:praise, if their
Speaker:vocabulary is filled with a whole lot of I, I, and
Speaker:then I and me and I and I, and then
Speaker:I. Guys, be very careful. Be
Speaker:careful when someone is grayed in their own eyes. One of the things
Speaker:that I loved so much about Mary last week was the
Speaker:bold humility. The bold humility.
Speaker:It doesn't mean we have to cower and not be aware of the wonderful
Speaker:things that God has done in and through our lives. But that's not
Speaker:the point. He's the point. He's the point.
Speaker:So if you see someone that's great in their own eyes, that
Speaker:testifies about themselves and is developing
Speaker:a following based on their greatness,
Speaker:based on their skill, based on how well they speak or how
Speaker:well they sing or how well they do, dot, dot, dot,
Speaker:and everything is about, well, I. Guys, let the red
Speaker:flag go up. Okay? Let a red flag go up. The
Speaker:second thing. Cause that's what he said right here. Elymah said he was great in
Speaker:his own eyes. He told everyone he was great. And
Speaker:anyway, the second one, someone that receives
Speaker:glory that belongs to God.
Speaker:Be very careful when you see self promotion.
Speaker:When you see somebody is just promoting themselves over and
Speaker:over. I used to, years ago, when I was
Speaker:singing and doing stuff, people would always tell me, oh, you need to do this
Speaker:or you need to promote this. Listen, if God can't
Speaker:promote me, I don't want to be promoted. If God's not gonna do it,
Speaker:I don't want it. I don't want any part of it. Because
Speaker:anything I get myself into, I have to keep
Speaker:myself in. But anything he puts me in, he can keep
Speaker:me in. You know what? I don't need to promote
Speaker:anything other than Jesus Christ
Speaker:and salvation and the gift that he has given us.
Speaker:And anybody who doesn't have that heart, if everything that
Speaker:they. Everything you see is about them, there's an issue.
Speaker:There's an issue. I promise I'm going to get to the happy side
Speaker:of this.
Speaker:Simon boasted he was someone great. Beware of pastors,
Speaker:teachers, humans in general who are great in their own
Speaker:eyes. And be very careful when you see a
Speaker:personality more than the power behind it,
Speaker:be careful, because personalities are very cool.
Speaker:But if you walk out of church talking about the
Speaker:personality rather than the message, there's an issue,
Speaker:there's a problem. And guys, I'm telling
Speaker:you this because I want you to know him. I want
Speaker:you to know his protection. I want you to know his word and
Speaker:his wisdom. Because the days are coming when you are gonna need
Speaker:his wisdom. There might not be somebody standing
Speaker:up here telling you this, and there might not be somebody sitting next to you
Speaker:going, yeah, God did. You need to know his
Speaker:truth for yourself. You need to be able to
Speaker:grab hold of it. And here's the next thing.
Speaker:Do they sell the lie?
Speaker:Because that was what Simon was doing
Speaker:and that was what Baryesu was doing. They were
Speaker:selling the falsity and allowing everything to
Speaker:come into them and gain
Speaker:followers. Boy, that's a popular word these days, isn't it?
Speaker:You do understand that false teaching is not confined to
Speaker:pulpits, right? You do understand that
Speaker:false teaching is on Facebook, it's on TikTok, it's on Insta,
Speaker:it's on bands, it's in worship teams, it's coming off of
Speaker:platforms all across. I mean, guys, some of the worst
Speaker:doctrine that you are going to encounter is coming from
Speaker:bands. And I'm not talking about secular bands.
Speaker:I'm talking about worship that has Become all about us
Speaker:rather than all about him. I'm so grateful. I am so
Speaker:grateful for Jonathan Grisham. I'm so grateful that he
Speaker:knows the Word and that he knows that we enter his gates with
Speaker:thanksgiving and we enter his courts with praise. And you all, I hope this
Speaker:raises an awareness with you on Sunday mornings when you come into
Speaker:worship, be here for the first song. Cause you wanna enter the gates with us.
Speaker:You wanna enter the gates with Thanksgiving. And if you pay attention to what
Speaker:Pastor Jonathan's doing, he's gonna go straight from that. He's gonna go into
Speaker:praise and worship, and then he's going to move slowly. There
Speaker:will be some declaration after the praise and worship. We're acknowledging that we
Speaker:have come to worship a king. And we're not making declarations until we have
Speaker:declared him king. And then you'll watch and he'll begin to move. And he'll move
Speaker:into adoration. And. And you'll watch the Holy Spirit
Speaker:begin to move into the room. Because he's checked with
Speaker:the Holy Spirit before he ever stood on the platform. And he's prayed it
Speaker:through. He hadn't gone, oh, this would be a really cool song. Why don't we
Speaker:do this? I like her voice on this. No. He sought the Lord
Speaker:about it. And if you will pay attention, he's laying
Speaker:the groundwork for us to enter into a place of adoration before
Speaker:the Lord. And guys, listen, praise sells. We know that
Speaker:it's like the most lucrative genre you can grab onto right
Speaker:now is praise. The enemy doesn't care
Speaker:about that. But he does care when you begin to adore the Father.
Speaker:He does care when you begin to shift over and the room
Speaker:changes and you begin to worship a holy God
Speaker:and our lives are changed in it. We can dance all
Speaker:day long and we can sing the upbeat good
Speaker:songs about. There's nothing wrong with them, but
Speaker:there's more. There's more. And guys, if your leaders
Speaker:don't swim at a different depth, then why are you diving in with them?
Speaker:Seriously, how
Speaker:silly and how fake it would
Speaker:be if I stood here and said, guys, I want you to know
Speaker:that there are places you can go with the Lord that you have never been
Speaker:before. I want you to know that if you will dig and if you
Speaker:will lean in and if you will spend time with him, he will take you
Speaker:places you've never been before. If I've never done it,
Speaker:I would be a liar. I would be a liar.
Speaker:But everything I just said to you is true. Everything
Speaker:you want to pour into him, you cannot out give him.
Speaker:And I tell you what, there are moments when, you know, you think, oh, yeah,
Speaker:I've been deep places with the Lord. We don't have a clue.
Speaker:We don't even swim at those depths. There are no humans that can go there.
Speaker:I'm sorry, you can't. But, oh, the opportunity
Speaker:that is there. They sell the lie. We have
Speaker:amazing concerts, gifted musicians and singers. But there's an element
Speaker:of deep honor and reverential awe that
Speaker:can be missing. And I believe that that's an
Speaker:intentional ploy. But here's the thing, guys.
Speaker:Not all false teachers are intentionally corrupt. They simply have no true understanding of
Speaker:the Word of God. They lack spiritual depth and discernment.
Speaker:They're not. There are a lot of people that are
Speaker:doing the best they can do and still
Speaker:sharing things that aren't necessarily true. Why?
Speaker:Because that's what they were taught. That's the doctrine
Speaker:they had. That's what they grew up with, and that's what they're
Speaker:sharing now. But listen, regardless of what you grew up with,
Speaker:regardless of who taught and what's been poured into your life, get
Speaker:your own revelation of the word of truth. Allow the Holy Spirit to minister
Speaker:to you so that what you teach your children is the
Speaker:best thing the Holy Spirit has revealed to you. And then let your prayer
Speaker:be. And, Lord, when Caitlin and Aaron and Matthew begin to
Speaker:seek you, Lord, give them deeper revelation. Take them somewhere you've never
Speaker:taken me before as they pursue you for themselves.
Speaker:Be as sound as you can with a human brain.
Speaker:That's the best way I can put it. Be as sound as you
Speaker:can with a human brain. Here's the thing. A lot
Speaker:of people know a lot of stuff. A lot of people know a lot of
Speaker:stuff. But a lot of people know a lot of stuff that they're not doing,
Speaker:myself included. Doesn't mean we're not saved.
Speaker:It just means sometimes we're biblically uneducated.
Speaker:Knowledge without wisdom is just information.
Speaker:Knowledge without wisdom is just information. You
Speaker:just know stuff. Wisdom will show you how to apply
Speaker:what you know. Wisdom without understanding is a library
Speaker:owned by someone who does not read. That one was free. And
Speaker:I felt like that's what the Holy Spirit told me several years ago. And so
Speaker:I'm just sharing it with you right now. We have this
Speaker:library, this depth of
Speaker:wisdom, and we don't read.
Speaker:Now, I'm not saying you're not physically capable of reading. I'm saying, but
Speaker:we don't read. We don't
Speaker:dig. And it's all right there. You know, one of the things, and I have
Speaker:it on my wall in my office. It's like really big. In
Speaker:all of your getting, get wisdom. In all of your
Speaker:getting, get understanding. Because I need
Speaker:wisdom and I need understanding. Now.
Speaker:I would have really loved to just put one of those big old psalms on
Speaker:there, like, bless the Lord, O my soul. Every day
Speaker:when I walk in that room, I am reminded that I need
Speaker:wisdom and I need understanding. And I get
Speaker:that from the Holy Spirit. It's not because I have
Speaker:anything special, anything that you don't have. I have a
Speaker:desperate place on the inside of me that goes, God, you have got to
Speaker:teach me. Because I know what I'm like when you're not teaching me.
Speaker:I know. I know what I get into. I know the foolishness
Speaker:that I'm capable of. Knowledge without wisdom is just information.
Speaker:It doesn't mean that we are not saved. It just means that we need
Speaker:to be more educated in the word all too often. And,
Speaker:guys, when I read this to you, it's because I felt like the Holy Spirit
Speaker:said it to me first. But this phrase has just
Speaker:kind of wrecked my heart because the phrase
Speaker:I had written down is all too often. We are church
Speaker:heavy and word starved. Church
Speaker:heavy and word starved. We are present
Speaker:in the room, but we're not attending.
Speaker:We're not attending to the word. We're
Speaker:not attending. We're checked out, but we're still
Speaker:in the room. I'm glad we're in the
Speaker:room, guys. That's a step. I am so glad
Speaker:we're in the room. But what if we just decided to lean
Speaker:in a little bit deeper? And what if we took our cell phones
Speaker:and threw them away? I mean, or put them under the chair?
Speaker:What if we just checked out of all of the rest
Speaker:and checked into this for an hour
Speaker:on a Sunday or on a Thursday and just
Speaker:allowed the Holy Spirit to speak? See, here's what it says.
Speaker:Jesus warns us to watch out for these prophets and tells us
Speaker:we will recognize them by their fruit. We will recognize
Speaker:these teachers by their fruit. So what is the fruit? What is
Speaker:this fruit that we're supposed to be watching for?
Speaker:I do think it's. There's a. The funny section is
Speaker:when Bariyasu, you know, son of
Speaker:Jesus, when Paul looks at him and goes, you are
Speaker:a child of the devil. Wait a minute.
Speaker:I'm a son of Jesus? No, you're a child of the devil.
Speaker:I just. I don't know. There's something about that that makes Me laugh when I
Speaker:think about that interaction. But here's what
Speaker:it says. It says the Holy Spirit in Paul, when he looked at this false
Speaker:prophet, he looked at this false prophet, and he goes straight to
Speaker:the heart of the matter. He doesn't acknowledge the fame. He doesn't
Speaker:acknowledge the number of followers that this dude has. He doesn't
Speaker:acknowledge the fake signs and wonders. He
Speaker:speaks to the fruit. He speaks to the fruit.
Speaker:He says, you are an enemy of everything that is right. Oh, wait, wait.
Speaker:So it's not just a little bit harmless, it's just like a small thing to
Speaker:be teaching people? Wrong. It's not just a small thing. You are
Speaker:an enemy of the faith. And he literally looks at him and he says, I
Speaker:see who you really are. That's the Holy
Speaker:Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit. Cause it literally
Speaker:says, filled with the spirit. I didn't, you know, I didn't
Speaker:assume that or discern that the word says that. Filled with the spirit. Did
Speaker:you know that if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you can look
Speaker:at someone and allow the discernment of the Holy Spirit
Speaker:to see who they really are?
Speaker:That could be a good thing or that could be a bad thing. But I
Speaker:want it. I want it. I want the
Speaker:discernment of the Holy Spirit. I want to be able to see.
Speaker:Because all too often, guys, we're dealing with things and
Speaker:we think we're dealing with a person. I'm dealing with
Speaker:Carol. No, you're dealing with. You're dealing with
Speaker:entities. You're dealing with spiritual
Speaker:wickedness in high places. You're dealing with things that are
Speaker:unseen. But discernment will tell you that.
Speaker:Discernment will tell you that there's an unseen battle going
Speaker:on that you're not aware of. And that unseen battle is affecting
Speaker:Carol. And that unseen battle is affecting Islan. That
Speaker:unseen battle, Carol. So you pray for Carol and you pray for
Speaker:Aislinn. God, open our eyes that we know how to pray in
Speaker:this situation, that we know how to address what's happening
Speaker:in this space rather than getting at odds with one another.
Speaker:Lord, show me what's going on here. Discernment.
Speaker:Fruit of the spirit. Love,
Speaker:joy, peace, patience, kindness,
Speaker:goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
Speaker:These are the things that we are going to begin to look for, the things
Speaker:that we're going to be able to fruit at seed. Because Matthew 7
Speaker:says, Watch out for the false prophets. You will know them, recognize them by their
Speaker:fruit. Listen, guys, fruit is measured in quality, not quantity.
Speaker:Numbers do not equate the Blessing of the Lord. Taylor Swift had 300,000 people
Speaker:at her concert, and I would dare a guess,
Speaker:and this is not against Taylor, but I didn't really see the fruit of the
Speaker:Lord in that. Numbers do
Speaker:not mean anything. If your church is growing, but
Speaker:your spirit of the people in it is dying, that's not a healthy church.
Speaker:It doesn't matter how big it gets. If the Holy Spirit
Speaker:isn't being cultivated, if you're not seeing maturity
Speaker:in the saints in the pews, if they're dealing with the same issues year after
Speaker:year after year after year and they're not growing in their faith,
Speaker:that's not healthy. We want healthy. Help
Speaker:me, Lord. The fruit we must watch for.
Speaker:In the lives of your teachers, in the life of your church, in the life
Speaker:of your leaders, in the life of the people that you're listening to on a
Speaker:daily basis, we watch for the fruit of a holy life.
Speaker:Believers maturing and growing in their faith,
Speaker:becoming more like Jesus. Are the
Speaker:people you are in fellowship with, are they growing?
Speaker:Are they becoming more like Jesus? Or are you guys
Speaker:just swimming in the shallows together?
Speaker:If they're not promoting growth
Speaker:in the Lord, if they're not helping you to
Speaker:mature in your faith, what are you doing? It
Speaker:doesn't mean you cut people off. But the fellowship, those that you
Speaker:spend the most time with, you're gonna start looking like them,
Speaker:you're gonna start acting like them. You wanna be in a
Speaker:fellowship where people are growing in their faith.
Speaker:It's not. You know it's not. You can count the
Speaker:army. You can count the numbers of an
Speaker:army that you've built, but that doesn't mean they're a good army.
Speaker:It doesn't mean that they know how to fight or that they've been discipled.
Speaker:Just because the room gets full doesn't mean that something awesome is going on.
Speaker:Because 300,000 people love to watch a
Speaker:performance. You can feel the room.
Speaker:But we want to change lives. We want
Speaker:our lives to be transformed because of the power
Speaker:of Holy Spirit. Now let me ask you these. Just a few more
Speaker:questions, guys, and then I'm going to go home and turn my phone
Speaker:off. And these are some questions I
Speaker:want you to ask yourself. Okay?
Speaker:Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 11, verse 2 and
Speaker:3, I am jealous for you with a godly
Speaker:jealousy because I have promised you to one husband to
Speaker:present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Speaker:Are your leaders jealous for you
Speaker:with a godly jealousy? Have they promised
Speaker:you to one husband to present you as a Pure
Speaker:virgin to Christ? What does that mean? Do they care about your
Speaker:soul? Do they care about your spirit?
Speaker:Are they encouraging you in your faith?
Speaker:Do they genuinely want to stand before the Lord
Speaker:with you beside them going, we walked this together.
Speaker:Are they jealous to present to the
Speaker:Lord this room, to be able to stand in the presence of the
Speaker:Lord with you guys and go, God, I did the best I could do. And
Speaker:God, I'm so grateful for each and every one of these that you've
Speaker:allowed to take this journey with me. Are your leaders
Speaker:determined to go to heaven with you?
Speaker:That's just the best way I can put it. You know, we sing that song
Speaker:all the time. I get to live with you forever. And God, some of the
Speaker:looks you all give each other during that song does not seem
Speaker:encouraging. I'm just telling you, it's like some
Speaker:people are like, this is awesome. And others are like, please God, no. Anyway,
Speaker:it's like, you mean I got to deal with eternity in this
Speaker:too. Lord, are your leaders.
Speaker:Are your leaders. There used to be a song called
Speaker:Sold out and Radical. Are your leaders committed to
Speaker:Jesus Christ? Are they invested
Speaker:in him? And are they invested in walking this journey with
Speaker:you in the kingdom toward eternity
Speaker:and the next one.
Speaker:Hold on, let me go back. I
Speaker:didn't write this one down. I'm going to give you this one. Is you have
Speaker:number 11 on there. Are your teachers
Speaker:encouraging you toward confession,
Speaker:Repentance.
Speaker:And a lifestyle that is pleasing to the Lord?
Speaker:Or are they merely teaching you grace
Speaker:and forgiveness?
Speaker:Are you being presented with a holy God
Speaker:or one that is merely benevolent.
Speaker:Or one that is merely benevolent? Do you know
Speaker:that in Hinduism, Shiva is
Speaker:talked of as being so benevolent, just
Speaker:so benevolent. And in Islam, Allah
Speaker:is the benevolent God. Our God is
Speaker:benevolent, but he is just and he is
Speaker:righteous and he is holy. Are your leaders teaching
Speaker:you that yes, God loves you, but yes, he is
Speaker:holy. I've shared before. So often
Speaker:we're getting taught about a profile God.
Speaker:This kind loving God is love. He is
Speaker:merciful, he is grace filled. And that's true.
Speaker:That is completely true. But it's not the whole story.
Speaker:Because the God of the rainbow
Speaker:is also the God who sent the flood. And if
Speaker:you're not getting a picture of a full face God
Speaker:who is asking more of us than just to
Speaker:live deceit and
Speaker:live bound and live without victory in our
Speaker:life, you're not getting the full picture. Because God has provided a way.
Speaker:And it is with repentance and it is with forgiveness and it is
Speaker:with confession. And every time, guys, if you
Speaker:will confess and you will move forward, and this is for me, I'm
Speaker:not even trying to hit you guys. Every time
Speaker:that I find these places in my life where I know that I'm failing and
Speaker:I know that I'm falling, I'm like God, I know that this is where I
Speaker:am. God, I see it. But Father, you said that if I tell you and
Speaker:if I confess it and I repent, and repent isn't
Speaker:sorry. There is a godly sorrow
Speaker:that leads to repentance according to scripture, and there is a
Speaker:worldly sorrow according to scripture that leads to death.
Speaker:You can be sorry all day long and die in your sins.
Speaker:You can be sorry. I don't believe that there's an addict
Speaker:on the planet that isn't sorry at the end of the day that they did
Speaker:what they did, that they're not making declarations. I won't do this again
Speaker:tomorrow. Repentance turns and goes in the
Speaker:opposite direction. Make sure that
Speaker:whoever's feet you are sitting at is telling you
Speaker:about this God, this holy God, God,
Speaker:this righteous God.
Speaker:Now then, the world
Speaker:will always present a fashionable God of darkness, a popular deity
Speaker:with no light in him.
Speaker:Second Corinthians, that's chapter four if you want to look it up when you get
Speaker:home. That's the message Bible it says,
Speaker:and I had just written down here. Paul's problem with the church is much the
Speaker:same as the problems we have in the churches across the nation today. We
Speaker:want a watered down gospel delivered in a shiny package with lots of
Speaker:glitter and bows. And Paul says it
Speaker:a fashionable God of darkness. See, it started
Speaker:out guys, and I know that I've shared this with you before. It started out,
Speaker:Scripture said that God created man in his own image.
Speaker:But over the years what has happened is man has begun to to create God
Speaker:in his own image. And we've created a God that is acceptable to
Speaker:us and a God that is pleasing to us, who answers our prayers
Speaker:and is that cookie jar that we run to
Speaker:because it allows us to continue in lifestyles
Speaker:that that God who created us in his own image would not have been
Speaker:pleased with. And so it's easier to just create a God in the image
Speaker:that we think is most acceptable, but that God is not the one who saved
Speaker:us, that God is not the one who will
Speaker:deliver us on the other side, that we will spend eternity with
Speaker:the holy God that is the God that we want
Speaker:to serve. Okay, I'm almost there.
Speaker:Second Timothy3.5 says this
Speaker:Beware of those who have a form of godliness but deny the power of. We
Speaker:are told from such to turn away.
Speaker:Watch out. Beware. Pay
Speaker:attention. I don't
Speaker:know why the Lord gave me this for tonight.
Speaker:I don't know. I would have rather talked about something else, something fun.
Speaker:No, I wouldn't. That's not true. That's not true. I
Speaker:wouldn't Beware from such. Turn away. And then
Speaker:he gives us this guideline. I want to show you this. Second Corinthians 4,
Speaker:2 Corinthians 4 says this
Speaker:again, Message Bible. Since God has so generously
Speaker:let us in on what he's doing. These are the apostles
Speaker:talking about teaching the Word. He says, we're not about to
Speaker:throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional
Speaker:hard times. We refuse to wear masks
Speaker:and play games. We don't maneuver and
Speaker:manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's word
Speaker:to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say
Speaker:out in the open, the whole truth on display so that
Speaker:those who want to see and can judge for
Speaker:themselves in the presence of God.
Speaker:Guys, that's what you want. That's what you want. You
Speaker:want a pastor, a leader, a teacher, a spokesperson,
Speaker:someone whoever says that they're gonna disciple
Speaker:you, that you're gonna sit under. That's what you want. You want somebody who is
Speaker:honest, who is transparent, who doesn't twist the word of
Speaker:God, who doesn't care whether they ever have an accolade or a pat on the
Speaker:back. You want somebod who is going to be sincere, who is gonna watch
Speaker:out for you in the faith that you're gonna be able to recognize the
Speaker:genuine fruit of the Spirit in their lives. That's what you want.
Speaker:That's what you want. Somebody who's going, you know what,
Speaker:Renee? You gotta grow in this area. I love
Speaker:you. Let's grow in this area. Let's grow in it together. Somebody who's
Speaker:not afraid to look at you and go, man, you're missing it. Let's get back
Speaker:on the right track here. Who's not afraid to hurt your feelings. That's one of
Speaker:the things I love about Paul. You think Peter had it, Bo, but Paul's got
Speaker:it. He wasn't afraid to hurt people's feelings. He was
Speaker:gonna deal with the matter in front of him because he loved
Speaker:the people, and he had promised to present them to the
Speaker:Lord as a holy and pure bride. And you
Speaker:can't do that if you're gonna pull your punches and
Speaker:finally, I just leave you with Paul. This final thing,
Speaker:my son, pay attention to what I say.
Speaker:Turn your ear to my words and do not let them get out of your
Speaker:sight. Keep them within your heart, for they are
Speaker:life to those who find them and health to
Speaker:one's whole body. Above all else.
Speaker:Guard your heart, for everything you
Speaker:do flows from it.
Speaker:Pay attention to his words, guys. Pay attention
Speaker:to what the Holy Spirit is saying. Watch, be
Speaker:wise, dig in to your word. Let the
Speaker:Holy Spirit lead you into all truth. And stand back and
Speaker:watch what happens. The best teacher,
Speaker:wonderful student, Iffy teacher.
Speaker:Great students, Great students. Father God, I
Speaker:thank you so much for your word and your truth and the power
Speaker:that you use to back it up every single time. So, Father,
Speaker:I am praying for the gift, the fruit of discernment in
Speaker:the lives of your people, Father, So that in these days, when
Speaker:deception arises, Father, we can call it what it is.
Speaker:Fearlessly, Father, I thank you that you are growing your
Speaker:church. You are giving us roots and you're giving us depth.
Speaker:Father God and I pray for each of these, Lord,
Speaker:that they truly may be presented before you a
Speaker:holy bride in Jesus name.
Speaker:Amen. Amen. True do love you guys. Thank you
Speaker:for sticking with me.
