Matthew 7: Good Leaders Bear Good Fruit

God has made a lot of good fruit in this world.

Can we agree on that?

Now I'm talking like actual fruit in a tree.

Like when it's perfectly ripe.

I have two favorites.

Two favorites.

Um, number one is mango.

A perfect mango is one of the greatest fruits on the planet.

Possibly my favorite is something called mango steen.

And I've had mango steen here, and they've thrown it in my like drinks in the Asian like drink places, the boba places.

And it's not the same as when I was in Colombia and they just had freshly picked mango steen.

It was the most amazing tasting fruit I've ever had.

It was a bit like um, it was like sour and really sweet.

So like you you you guys are always eating these like bad for you, like um, like what are those things called?

Sour patch kids.

It's like a better than sour patch kids, a good mango steen.

Um, if it's perfectly ripe, is there any fruit that you especially like?

What's your favorite?

Anyone?

Shout it out.

Wait, wait, see it strawberries, peaches, nectarine, mango.

I'm with you, yeah.

Watermelon.

What else?

Guava.

Oh, you like guava?

You need to get the guavas from a house.

Anyone else?

Japanese watermelon.

Oh, a good cherry.

Wow, yeah.

Um, that's good.

Uh, yeah, so we we got some people in here that like some fruit, some some of God's natural candy, right?

That stuff is so good.

And when it's when it's perfect, geez, it's it's hard to imagine that God didn't have a perfect plan to make good fruit.

Um, nobody mentioned avocado.

I'm a little surprised.

Um but there is a fruit that's called manchineal fruit.

Uh, has anyone heard of manchineal fruit?

Can we do we have uh my photos that I sent you?

Are they there?

There it is, manchineal fruit.

Um has anyone had manchineal fruit before here?

Anyone like that?

Anyone know about it?

No?

Okay.

Well, it's also called a beach apple.

And if you smell it, it smells like a like a really sweet apple, maybe like a Fuji.

And it can look kind of like a smaller Asian pear, which by the way, those are fire as well.

Um but manchineal fruit is not actually what it seems.

Um I'm gonna give you the account of a botanist whose name Nicola Strickland.

She said, Last year I went on holiday to the Caribbean island of Tobago.

On the first morning we found one of those idyllic deserted beaches, exactly as described in the brochure.

White sand, swaying palms, turquoise sea.

While searching for exotic shells and coral fragments, I saw some green fruits among the scattered coconuts and mangoes lying on the beach.

They were round, they were the size of a tangerine, and had apparently fallen from a large tree with a silvery bowl and oblique based leaves.

I rashly took a bite from this fruit and found it pleasantly sweet.

My friend also partook at my suggestion.

Moments later we noticed a strange peppery feeling in our mouths, which gradually progressed to burning.

Tearing sensation and tightness of the throat.

The symptoms worsened over a couple hours until we could barely swallow solid food because of the excruciating pain and the feeling of a huge obstructing pharyngeal lump.

Now, let me just tell you my first thought here.

You're a botanist.

What are you doing?

Like botanists, you're just like, oh, there's something on the ground.

Let's let's try it.

You know, like what this botanist has the survival skills of like cheese.

Like, what is going on?

What are you doing eating something strange you found on the ground?

I have some cool-looking mushrooms in my backyard if she wants to try her luck too.

But here's the thing for poor Nicola.

The bad fruit was nestled on the ground right in the middle of very good fruit.

It looked good, it smelled good, it even tasted good.

But manchineal fruit was not good.

Now, Manchineal has another name.

Um, it's called Manzania de la Muerte.

Little apple of death.

Now, according to the medical journals that I consulted online, the Manchineal is one of the most notorious of all irritant trees.

Every part of this plant is extremely toxic.

Not only is this plant don't touch, it's a don't be near organism.

The sap is so irritating that people have sustained blistering and burns after seeking shelter under the tree from the rain.

See the the water, even that pools next to a manchineal, if you get something out of that water, you will get terribly sick.

Just the water that touches the tree.

Guys, when people burn the wood, they get serious lung damage.

This is the manchineal fruit.

But it looks and it tastes like good fruit, and it often is seen near actual good fruit.

So today our reminder is to consider who and what you will trust.

Because on the outside they may smell sweet.

God, though, always deserves our trust, but we have to keep an eye out for the haters for the rotten fruit.

On the outside, they might look good, they might smell good, but there are signs, there will be signs.

Proverbs 14:1 says, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Proverbs 14:1

To rephrase, there is a teacher who seems right to a man, but their way is to death.

When we choose the way of Jesus, though, friends, we choose life.

We develop a sixth sense for those who would want to kill, steal, and destroy.

But it comes over time, exposure to God's word, and it comes with help.

You're not doing this alone.

We won't know the false shepherds until we've memorized the sound of the voice of the good shepherd.

So today I'm gonna give you three words of wisdom about Oh man.

Okay, three words of wisdom about trust in Jesus.

I think that's what it's supposed to say.

Three words of wisdom about trust in Jesus.

And my first word is this watch what you eat.

Watch what you eat.

Three words about trust in Jesus.

That's better.

Three words about trust in Jesus.

Watch what you eat.

My wife says sometimes I go too fast on the first one while you're writing down the top.

Watch what you eat.

But if you guys think this is about food, you're missing it.

Be careful who you listen to.

Don't eat up the deceptions of false teachers that sound sweet.

Be careful who you take advice from.

Guys, I have nothing against thrice divorced people, but I'm not going to usually take their advice on marriage.

I might want their advice on something else, but maybe not this.

I don't want to take advice from angry people about relationships.

I don't want to take advice from bitter people about not being bitter.

Bitter fruit tends to spread.

Disease needs to extend to continue.

It needs more hosts.

Grudges need fuel to survive.

Don't welcome that into your ears and said, stop.

Do not collaborate.

Do not listen.

Verse 15 says, Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravaging wolves.

You'll recognize them by their fruit.

Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

By the way, I have had some experience with thistles, especially when I was in Ireland, because there are a lot of thistles there, and um they s they hurt, and I feel like I can't get them out of my hand.

Like we were playing this game called Hurley, which I learned in Ireland, which was fun, like with the stick, and you like fling it back at them.

It's pretty cool.

Um, but like the hurley would always end up in the bramble and the bushes, and I would just reach my hand in like some idiot and just grab them, and then I would have thistles and it would just sting for for like an hour.

Um, it's much like if you've been stung by a jellyfish.

That's what a thistle is.

So it may look okay, but it's not okay.

Um so what we're saying is uh watch out for the people who consume others, those that sting.

They will pretend to be sheep, but they will have an agenda.

They tear down, they destroy, they feed on the pain of others.

A lot of times, those who feed on the pain of others have so much pain in them that they need everyone to be in pain.

They may look a bit like a good tree, but when you look through God's eyes, you will see differences.

Because God always deserves our trust, but we don't trace trust haters with rotten fruit, do we?

Now, Dr.

Tony Evans warns us.

He says, examine the evidence of a teacher's life and ministry.

Is that person's teaching and doctrine consistent with God's word?

Does his lifestyle display holiness and love for the Lord?

If either answer is no, don't be deceived.

Watch out for the counterfeit.

And let me just say this to you guys.

Um, now this sounds a little self-serving.

If you're if you have a preacher who's not a great preacher, um, but he lives his life for God, or you have a preacher over here that is a really fantastic orator, but doesn't live their life for God, only one of those is dangerous.

And I would just tell you, stick with boring.

Stick with boring.

Don't go chasing after those that are exciting if there's no fruit in their lives.

Be very careful.

Now you can have people that are talented, that are also in love with God and living that out.

But I just say, if you have to choose between boring or if you have to choose between boring and exciting, but not walking with the Lord, go boring all day long, friends.

Now, this is what's happening here.

It's interesting when you consider a wolf in sheep's clothing, right?

Like the silence of the lambs, like hiding in the skin of something else.

A sheep's clothing is their hide.

It's their skin, it's their hair.

Can a sheep survive without their skin?

Goodness gracious, I need some of my callback people.

You're all missing today.

No, you cannot, you cannot live without your skin, my friend.

I'm sure someone's like, well, actually, no, no, no, no.

Just we'll just maybe there's one more.

Okay, but here's the thing: the wolf is hiding in the body of its prey to catch more prey.

He's catfishing.

It's sinister.

You'll also notice what wolves do, friends.

They are not only deceptive, but they don't ever pick on someone their own size.

Have you noticed that?

They often don't hunt alone either.

There's sometimes that lone wolf, but usually they hunt in packs.

But then you look at, say, like a honey badger, man, that thing will fight things ten times its strength.

That's not a wolf.

But a wolf, he searches for something weak.

He's focused on exploiting something weaker than him.

Someone injured, someone already hurt by the church that might have his ear.

Or maybe someone who's been hurt by their childhood, so they trust no one.

Though the wolf doesn't usually attract the strong.

He's focused on exploiting the weak.

And he's wearing the skin of the other sheep that he's already destroyed.

Hiding behind those he's torn to shreds already.

He's dangerous, and his best trick is to get you alone and to get you teamed up upon.

Now, church, watch out for the fruit of those who tear things down.

Those who sit in the cheap seats.

Don't trust haters with rotten fruit.

Now, the people I take advice from are usually not the most gifted, although don't tell them I said that, but they are often the most selfless and the most resilient.

They often show, I mean, there is a pastor in Encanto right now, and I will tell you, this man, I'm gonna call uh Pastor Robert Pope.

He is not like this like super popular pastor that everybody knows, but man, he kills it every day, and he has been for decades.

That's the man I look up to.

He's not gonna get all these big awards, he's not gonna be the top speaker at some like prayer breakfast, but he's the one I want to be when I grow up.

I tell him that all the time.

I think it makes him feel old.

But friends, take advice from the people who show up early.

You will notice them because they are committed.

They will do jobs below them and they will not expect to be honored.

Listen to those people.

They are consistent, they are loyal, they are kind.

Watch out for the fruit of those who exalt themselves.

If a pastor or a prophet always has to have the seat of honor, keep an eye on that one, okay?

They will dislike when someone else gets gets their credit.

Watch out.

They complain about what is wrong with everyone else, but rarely talk about their own sin.

If you hear prophecies that are unique to that person alone, watch out.

Cult leaders often say they have a unique secret.

I have the secret, friends.

That's a red flag.

Watch out.

The gospel is not unique to any one place.

I want you to know we are a simple church here that shares the views of millions of churches over the last couple thousand years.

We are unique to our own context, yes, but we're not unique.

We are not more special than the church across the street.

We love Macedonia Baptist Church, the assemblies of the firstborn, Raven Street.

We're on their team.

We are all disciples of Jesus.

We've fought against several false prophets, though, in the past.

We've lost people to cults, people who did not and would not listen.

Friends, people in this church have found prophets on Instagram and TikTok and started sending them money.

They have since moved on to those people's cults.

It's why I will tell you if you ever see an interview of Johnny Chang on Instagram, block right away.

Just block.

He is a wolf.

Friends, Jesus' words aren't always easy, though, because Jesus doesn't tell us what we want to hear.

He tells us truth.

He's not influenced by your opinion or by public opinion, even though we all love people who tell us what we want to hear.

And we all love people that tell us what we want to hear, don't we?

2 Timothy 4 3 says, The time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.

They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside the myths.

Speaking of myths, has anybody seen the Odyssey yet?

Did anyone see that yet?

A few guys have seen the Odyssey?

Um did you guys like it?

No.

No.

You liked it?

Liked it?

Liked it?

Okay.

Yeah, I hated it.

Just gonna be real with you.

Um last week the family went to see the Odyssey in theaters.

I read about the content online in advance because I don't want to get surprised by something like real dirty or something like that.

One of the critiques I read online was uh that they were upset because it didn't have any sex, and I was like, sold.

I'm in.

I'm gonna watch this.

Um, but I honestly didn't like it at all.

Uh I can tell you, even as the the gross trailers started before like nasty, scary trailers, we were like, What are we about to watch?

This is these are creepy trailers before this movie.

Um now I stayed for the whole thing, but when the pig scene happened, my wife bounced.

She was done.

She's like, I'm going to Panera.

So we had like another four hours of movie before I saw my wife again.

Um but after I finished watching the whole movie, I honestly felt like I wasted all that time.

Now I know artists are different to different people, so I'm not disparaging anyone who liked it.

Um, but that's not even the point of this.

I just wanted to say I hated it.

But there is, of course, one story in the Odyssey that most of you are well acquainted with the Trojan horse of Troy.

And and you see the way evil works.

Evil doesn't usually come looking evil, evil comes looking beautiful.

The Bible says that the devil masquerades as an angel of light.

Guys, whenever you read in the Bible, the devil is offering us stuff and God is calling us to lose things.

This is what's happening.

And so this Trojan horse comes in like a gift, but it's a curse.

The thing that is supposed to herald your victory is actually sealing your death.

Friends, there are things that are made to look like gifts that are dangerous.

Um, back when I was a kid, it was like, Dad, I could buy 12 CDs for 12 cents.

And then, and can I buy these 12 CDs?

I really want to get them.

And he'd be like, son, you can't buy those CDs because then after that you have to buy 12 more, and they're like$80 a CD.

But for me, I was like, Dad, I got 12 cents.

Can we get a new Ace of Base CD, please?

And he said, No.

But guys, here's the problem: something that looks like a gift can be dangerous.

Now, if you're a young lady and a guy offers to comfort you, but he wants to comfort you alone, and you're not married to him, that's not a gift.

It's a trap.

If someone is giving away free preaching, but also has a subscription fee for you to keep listening to their deeper, more poignant preaching, sounds like a trap.

The gospel's free.

If someone wants to give you a free presentation on condos with a weekend stay that is free, just know they are also trying to trap you.

They want to scratch your itch.

And the thing about scratching is that you can't just scratch once, can you?

It fulfills your desire up until you finish scratching, and suddenly the itch gets worse, doesn't it?

It's like that free taste of heroin.

I I've not experienced it, but I know okay.

Let me just say there are liquor stores here on Market Street, and I have seen friends of mine get out of jail that have wrestled with alcoholism.

And you know what?

The first things those owners of the liquor stores do when they see my friends, this 40 is on me.

Welcome back.

It's a trap.

It looks kind, it looks peace-giving, it is a trap, and it is meant to ensnare my friends.

It's not kindness, it's predatory, and it's evil.

Watch out for the motives of those who would devour you.

Ladies, if he sweet talks you but he yells at his mom, that's bad fruit.

Watch out.

Matthew 24, 24 says, For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Take note, I have told you in advance.

Jesus warns us the kingdom of this world, this world, is about power, money, and sex.

And if we are not careful, these priorities will infect us because we consume everything from this world constantly.

But praise be to God, he equips his followers with his word and with his Holy Spirit, God in us.

Our second word about trust from Jesus is this God supplies living water to help us bear good fruit.

God supplies living water to help us bear good fruit.

Now, in verse 17, it's uh Jesus says in the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.

A good tree can't produce bad fruit, neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.

Now, Jesus has a very singular vision of what he's preaching on today, so I'm kind of pulling from different areas to speak to what he's saying.

We know what the main point of this is.

We know what the main point of it is, but I want us to talk a little bit about what do we do.

See, good trees produce good fruit.

But good trees, you know they don't just happen, right?

Like good trees need sunlight, they need fertilizer, they need plenty of water, they need protection from pests.

I come from a long line of gardeners.

I don't know if you know that.

Like uh when I was like helping my mom clean out her house, it was like full of Rose Society Awards.

Um, like actually, you know, I don't know if you guys know this, but I was born with soil underneath my fingernails.

It's crazy because it never goes away.

I'm just always trying to take care of it, but it never goes away because there is something in me that has to go and just dig my hands in the dirt to try to make my garden better.

I am 90.

Now, I love taking care of trees, but trees are fickle, they need constant upkeep.

You would think like a tree, it's just a tree, it goes.

And it's funny too, because like we take care of trees and it's so hard to take care of trees, and then you'll just like have something grow like in the middle of the cement, and it just it's it just I don't know what the deal is.

But there are some trees, especially trees that are not native to here, that need some upkeep.

They need to be trimmed, they need to be protected.

I trimmed off a limb with black fungus on one of my trees yesterday, just trying to make sure that it didn't spread to the rest of the tree to protect it.

Now, trees are low maintenance compared to some plants, but even still, you have to continue to care for trees if you want health.

It doesn't just stop.

If you have certain trees in San Diego with our base soil, and you don't add any acid to that soil ever, they'll die.

It's just how some of the trees work.

You can't sit and expect a tree to just grow.

Like trees, though, we have to do the same work with us.

We have to allow God to do that work with us, the good gardener.

And we have to cut out sin or allow him to cut out the sin in our life.

We have to feed ourselves from the word of God.

We need to bask in the warmth and presence of God in prayer, and we have to prioritize church community.

And when we do these things, we will be able to notice the teachers without fruit.

And then we will bear fruit.

Now we have our model laid out for us in the book of Galatians.

Uh this is Galatians 5 16, where he says, Walk by the Spirit, and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.

For the flesh desires what is against the spirit, and the spirit desires what against the flesh.

These are opposed to each other.

So that you don't know what you want.

But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the new the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions.

Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.

I am warning you about these things as I warned you before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Guys, every fruit of the flesh on this list is active, is active in our church.

I don't know about sorcery.

I've not experienced that one with you guys yet.

I've not seen anybody like Wingadi and Leviosa, but I have seen pretty much every sin going on here.

And let me just say, this is a hospital.

This is where you're supposed to be.

But in the last year, I've especially seen a lot of these.

Envy, provocation, hatred, strife, jealousy, dissensions, factions.

And I've heard that attitude in your words.

I can't be friends with someone who is friends with so-and-so.

Repent.

I need to warn you about so-and-so.

Repent.

I can't go to Citigroup because that person ignores me.

I can't be in a church with that backstabber.

I'm telling you guys, this is not it.

Let me just tell you all, this attitude is sin.

When you talk negatively behind the scenes or in the parking lot, it's sin.

You are bearing bad fruit.

Repent.

Cut it off.

And I'm not telling you because you have sin in your life, you're this terrible person.

I'm telling you, because you have sin in your life, you need to cut it off and return to the living water.

You got this.

It's okay.

When it's someone else doing this, also, I tell you, don't engage it.

If you are getting together with people in the church to ever discuss someone else, this is the kind of when you get to this point, this is when leadership is involved.

We don't discuss other people just to discuss them.

As someone who has been discussed about quite a bit.

Don't engage in that garbage.

That is fruit from a bad tree, and you are good trees.

You are good trees.

Now, when someone wants to talk to you about someone who is not present, I give you three options.

Number one, leave the conversation.

I'm out.

Not doing this.

Number two, say something positive about that person.

Number three, just act actively bored with this.

This is boring.

I don't want to talk about this.

It's boring.

This is boring.

I don't want this.

Gossip and backbiting do not belong in the church, although they're often in the church.

Not just here.

And when it gets to that point that you're gathering to talk about it, don't allow that to be a thing.

Most of the time, the only way we need to be talking about other people is positive gossip.

You know what I really like about that person?

See, gossip and backbiting don't belong here.

And when it gets to the point that you are gathering to talk about it, it's a problem.

It's time to apologize to ever to whoever you need to apologize to, friends.

And even if they don't forgive you, Jesus does.

And he has grace for you.

Even if they've sinned against you, it's not a license for you to sin, is it?

Is there ever a time in the Bible where someone where God says, like, well, it's okay if they did it first?

Like, football doesn't allow that, neither does the Bible.

God wants to help you remove that bad fruit, cut that branch off to help you believe the best in others because Jesus believes and believed the best in you, and he still does, friends.

If you feel guilt right now, you can go to him and know that he loves you and forgives you.

Jesus wants to give you freedom from that negativity.

He wants to bear good fruit in you.

When you plant yourself in a healthy place and are watered by the Word of God while being informed by the Spirit of God, it leads to good fruit.

This is what he describes as the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Now, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Guys, God always deserves our trust.

And he wants to make us into a people who bear good fruit.

And when we trust people, we must trust those who bear a good fruit.

The fruit of the Spirit.

People who speak honestly and draw us back to the Word of God.

And this brings us to our third word of wisdom.

And it is this if you can't see their fruit, don't sit in the shade of their tree.

If you can't see their fruit, don't sit in the shade of their tree.

Remember that manchineal fruit.

If you sit under that tree when it's raining, you will get sick.

Verse 19 every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

So you'll recognize them by their fruit.

See these trees that are trying to show you how great they are, that are poisoning you, they won't last.

They're going into the fire.

Don't acquire for yourself teachers who want to drag you into the fire with them.

Now I want to talk about the fruit of politicians for a second.

Let's talk about the fruit of social influencers, okay?

Politicians and social influencers, they got something in common.

You usually don't know their personal life.

You don't know them personally.

Now we got a couple influencers that are close to our church.

We got Danielle, who, hey foodies, hey, she does like a food blog.

I know that she's a good person.

Um, and then you have God Logic uh who also works with us, and we know him behind the scenes.

That matters a lot, friends.

That matters a lot.

But how well do you know the fruit of the influencer that you're allowing to speak into your life or even your children's lives?

This is why that the local church exists.

Why it's so imperative.

Fruit.

You have to inspect it, you have to see it up close.

It could be rotten on the inside, you have to look, it could be swarming with bugs.

Has everyone heard of this guy, Andrew Tate?

If you haven't, I'm so happy for you.

He has been influencing young men in our culture uh almost more than anyone right now.

And um, I think the biblical word for him is jerk, but I'm not sure.

So just he's he's not a good person.

Andrew is currently indicted on several sex trafficking and rape charges in multiple countries, by the way.

But he is still extremely popular, especially amongst angsty middle school boys and high school boys.

He is teaching them how to intimidate girls, separate from their family so you can subjugate them.

Does that not sound like the devil?

Does that not sound just like a wolf?

Divide, then conquer.

He is teaching them the opposite of what the Bible teaches about masculinity.

Men are meant to protect women, to honor women, to serve women, to empower women.

Manly men don't intimidate women.

That's a sign of weakness, that's a sign of insecurity, that's rotten fruit.

Manly men empower women.

They're not afraid.

We don't want wolves as leaders and full confession.

I'm just gonna say there are wolf tendencies in all of us, and I have them too.

And I always hated when a pastor says, I used to struggle with this.

Let me tell you about my now struggles, okay?

I sometimes drive like a wolf would drive.

There are days when I'm driving home from the beach and I got up real early and I just want to get home, and everybody I feel like drives 10 miles an hour in front of me, and I find myself trying to go just a little bit further past this guy till my exit, just a little bit further past this guy till, and I find myself aggressively passing people in a way that I'm like, if someone in my church saw me, they would say that's bad fruit.

And so I want you to know I'm still working on that.

That is not good fruit in my life, and it's wrong.

And if the fruit of the Spirit is patience, well, I'm not practicing patience when I'm driving sometimes on my way home.

And forgive me, Lord, when I drive down to Bonita, if I have to go through Chula Vista off of 8th Street, I just turn into who my wife just drives us there now.

That's all I do.

Um sometimes things like leaf blowers, air compressors, drones, out-of-tune guitars, and guys playing drums off beat in a drum circle as fast as he can, not as well as he can, but as fast as he can, will drive me crazy.

Like our date last night when we try to pull up on the water and just like read our books and and just like the marijuana smell was getting worse, the drums were getting worse, people pulling their cars next to me, trying to like blast their music next to me, and I just I'm just and then like it's a little warm still.

I still like I didn't do anything to anyone, but guys, the fruit, my wife could see the fruit on my face.

Why are you so angry?

I'm like, I'm not angry, I'm fine.

I still need God, and I'm still struggling in places, I still have bad fruit at times, but I repent.

I go back to the well of the living water and I seek his way, a better way.

I'm still growing like you.

I'm not saying you can't have a few wormy apples when you follow Jesus, but the longer you let that disease sit, the more it will infect an entire tree and maybe other trees.

The funny thing is that Andrew Tate, he made a lot of money showing his wealth and power, but in reality, he had much less than he advertises.

Just the last few weeks, during one of their many trials, we found out all the yachts, all the watches, all the supercars they've been showing off as theirs, they're rented.

That's so funny.

Um, so not only are they they not like they say that they're rich and powerful jerks to women, but they're not as rich and powerful as they pretend to be.

They've just been pretending.

Their lawyers have been calling it an act as an internet persona.

See, that's a rotten fruit, and you can't even know that they're pretending because you don't see what's happening the rest of the time.

I just want to read you from their lawyers.

Um, there is a saying that is uh it's called Schadenfreude, it's a it's a German term where uh you enjoy the like other people getting uh bad treatment or bad things happening to bad people.

Um that's that's maybe some bad fruit of my life.

Let me read to you from the lawyers uh of the Tates.

Andrew and Tristan Tate needed to portray such a level of wealth to promote their business teaching.

This is a direct quote, and he has air quotes.

Um, men, uh their business teaching men how to earn money.

The more hyperbolic and outlandish the post, the more likely it will generate views and likes, which in turn generate income.

In short, they are playing a role.

And so, friends, I tell to you, tell you, like those who are boring, they will not get your eyes.

Those who are outlandish, those who are crazy, those who are mean, those who are angry, they will attract your eyes because that's what the algorithm does.

In this world, people are turning to AI, podcasts, social media influencers, but I want to know how they treat their families.

I want to know how they treat their employees, how they how they treat the teachers and those who hurt them.

I want to be in the car with them when they get cut off.

I want to be sitting at a table with them when their food is late or when their food is wrong.

I want to follow the people who apologize to their waitress.

I want to be with the people who apologize to their kids, to their church, to me.

Because I'm trying to follow people who follow Jesus.

And you cannot follow people online.

So, those of you who are watching us online, you are missing it.

I'm glad you're getting some of this like unicorn blood that will keep you alive for one more week, but you are missing it.

You on the podcast, same, unless you got your own church also, and this is just a help.

But friends, I'm trying to follow people who follow Jesus.

You can't do it online.

And and so even the respecter that we the the pastor that we all respect online, we have no idea what he's really like.

You might hear a nice story, but you have no idea what he's like.

I have been in some of the room with those pastors in the green room who will claim one thing.

I've been on text threads with some of those pastors.

They're faking the funk.

Bad fruit, but you will never know.

You will never know.

But if you have to follow someone you cannot observe up close, I'm gonna give you a couple tips.

Number one, we got good books over in our church bookstore there.

We lose money on every book that you purchase because we want you to have them more than we want to make money.

If you guys need advice outside of us, that's a good place to start looking.

Okay?

Also, you can ask us for help for resources.

Here's the other things to look for.

Does the leader apologize?

Have you ever seen them apologize?

Do you see them show humility?

Do they say someone else is better than me?

Do they repent?

Do they change their mind or say they were wrong?

Do they learn?

If they are not Jesus, they should be doing this.

In Matthew 3:8, Jesus says, bear fruit that keeps with repentance.

Matthew 3:8

If your leaders have no fruit of repentance, that's a problem.

And you guys are like, wow, Pastor really does have a lot of fruit of repentance.

Yes, I've had to apologize a lot to you guys.

It's it's it's a thing.

Number three, line up their words with the Bible.

Make sure that they use the Bible in context.

One of my favorite Bible studies I love to lead is I love to start the first half by manipulating people intentionally and then showing them what I did.

Be careful.

Number four, don't trust your algorithm.

There are plenty of snakes who sneak into your feed.

People who will latch onto the coattails of good preachers and maybe even sneak onto their podcast sometimes because they say some nice things.

Guys, always have your Bibles open when they speak.

And if you're driving, you know, I don't know about that.

But honestly, have your Bible open when I speak.

This is why I want you to have your Bible.

When when you look at your Bible, you can see the context of where I came from and where I'm going.

This is one of the ways you check my work.

This stuff has convinced me more than ever the importance of the local church.

And I've had people challenge me for speaking on my suffering to my grief and my hurt from the stage, but I always want people to be the same person up here that you will see at Food for Less or at Costco.

I gotta be the same person.

Your leaders have to be the same person.

I want to be the same person with you that I am with my kids.

I want my kids to confirm, yes, he's the same person.

I want the same, be the same person from the stage that I am alone with God only.

I want to be that same person.

I want to have integrity.

But let me just say, I'm not a good person, I'm a redeemed person.

To echo the apostle Paul, though, in my own words, follow me as I follow Jesus, or only follow me as long as I am following Jesus and influenced by his spirit.

See, God always deserves our trust.

Don't trust haters with rotten fruit, but when you do trust people, trust those who bear the fruit of the Spirit, who speak honestly, and who are always drawing you back to God and his word.

Now, if we are not careful, we will judge bad teachers without looking at our own need for God.

That's a problem.

Some of you may say, Well, I may not be bearing very much good fruit, but at least I'm not like those other people doing worse things than me.

Remember, that's antinomianism.

That could be legalism, actually, I apologize.

My friend, if you are in this predicament, you are in a very dangerous place.

You are not saved by Jesus, but you don't know it.

At least the wicked know they are barreling towards hell.

But you are on the same bus without being aware.

We have to be able to acknowledge that we sin and that it separates us from God and that we need intervention from God.

19th century pastor Charles Spurgeon once said, It is not merely the wicked, the bearer of poison berries, that will be cut down, but the neutral, the man who bears no fruit of positive virtue, but also be cast into the fire.

See, God is not comparing us to others.

Did you know that?

He's comparing us to his perfect Son, Jesus.

And the Bible says, no one is righteous, not one, all have fallen short of the glory of God.

But there was a solution, friends.

That God left the perfection of heaven, came to this earth, lived the life that we could never live, as our substitute willingly died, was murdered, but was allowing it to happen so that we might be made whole with God.

Jesus rose again on the third day, showing that he was bigger than death, showing that he was bigger than those rotten apples in your tree.

Sanctifying us slowly now.

We have Jesus in our life.

But if you have not given your life to Jesus, you are also barreling towards hell.

And I exhort you now, you don't know what tomorrow brings.

Be ready now.

Give your life to Jesus now.

Be baptized and walk with God's church for the rest of your life as a disciple and a disciple maker.

We have been sent out as sheep into a world full of wolves.

And if it weren't for Jesus, the wolves would have feasted on us, or even worse, we would be the wolves.

But by his death and his resurrection, he made a way for life.

And so I urge you to find excuses to spend more time with God's word, God's church, and the people who bear the fruit of the Spirit.

In John 10, 11, Jesus said, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The hired hand, since he is not a shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming.

The wolf then snatches and scatters them.

This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn't care about the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus says.

I know my own, and my own know me.

Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus is our good shepherd.

We can trust him.

And so, City Life Church, only God always deserves our full trust.

And he always deserves our full trust.

Do not let the world tell you that his word is not true.

Do not hear that he is out of date, because his word is sharper than a double-edged sword, piercing to the innermost parts.

Only God deserves our full trust.

Don't trust haters with rotten fruit.

But when you do trust people, trust those who bear the fruit of the Spirit, who bear the fruit of repentance, who speak honestly and draw you back to God and his word.

God has you.

Let's pray.

Father, we are grateful that we get to come before you with uh, you know, some damaged leaves, some little issues that uh need to be taken care of.

And so it is in the silence of this moment, in the silence of our hearts that we confess our sins to you, cutting off those bad leaves and fruit, knowing that you are good to forgive us.

For the ways that we have made ourselves the sinner, for the ways that we have chosen the easy path, for the ways that we have overlooked the bad fruit in our lives, because we just we like the taste.

I don't know.

Thank you that when we come before you and we confess these things to you, and we truly repent, saying we want to turn away from them and turn to you, that you are good to forgive us.

That as far as the east is from the west, so our sin is from your sight.

That Father, when you look upon us, you see the righteousness, the holiness, the perfection of your Son Jesus.

How good it is to be loved by you.

Lord, I pray that you would help us not to pick those sins up as soon as we leave the door, that we would leave them at your altar forever.

That by your word, by your spirit, by your church's help, those things would be conquered forever in your name.

Lord, we love you.

We thank you.

And we pray this all in Jesus' name.

All God's people say, Amen.