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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Alright, good morning everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats. As you find a seat, grab a song book. Turn to song number 255. 🎵Music🎵 Song number 255 as our first song this morning. Let's all stand together for this first song, if you're able. 🎵Music🎵 Song number 255, Come and Dine. All together nice and strong on that first verse. Jesus has a table spread where the saints of God are fed. He invites His chosen people, come and dine. With His manna He doth feed and supplies our every need. O, it is sweet to sup with Jesus all the time. Come and dine, the Master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry, call it now, come and dine. The disciples came to land thus obeying Christ's command. For the Master called unto them, come and dine. There they found their hearts desire, bread and fish upon the fire. The hungry every time, come and dine. The Master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry, call it now, come and dine. Soon the Lamb will take His pride. All the hosts of heaven will assemble Thee. O, it will be a glorious sight. All the saints have spotless wine. And with Jesus they will feast eternally. Come and dine, the Master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry, call it now, come and dine. Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank You for giving us another day, for giving us this morning that we can come here to Your house and hear the preaching of Your word. And we ask that You would please just bless our service, every aspect of it. Please bless the singing, that it would be pleasing to Your ears, and that we would prepare our hearts for the message. And fill past me here with Your Spirit as He preaches unto us. Give us Your Spirit in the congregation, Lord. Give us a tent of ears that are ready to hear, that we may leave here differently than when we came in, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Please turn your songbooks to song number 310. Song number 310, Footprints of Jesus. Song number 310, all together on that first verse. Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling, Come, follow me. And we see where Thy footprints falling Lead us to Thee. Footprints of Jesus, that make the pathway glow. We may follow the steps of Jesus, where'er they go. Though they lead o'er the cold, dark mountains, seeking His sheep. Or along by Siloam's fountains, helping the weak. Footprints of Jesus, that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus, where'er they go. If they lead through the temple, holy, praise be to the Lord. Or in homes of the poor and lowly, serving the Lord. Footprints of Jesus, that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus, where'er they go. Then at last, when on high, He sees us, our journey done. We will rest where the steps of Jesus end, at His throne. Footprints of Jesus, that make the pathway glow. We will follow the steps of Jesus, where'er they go. Do we have any bulletins left? If anybody needs a bulletin, raise your hand. Of course, we welcome you to come back to our Sunday evening service tonight at 5 p.m. And then we have a Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. We are currently going through the book of Isaiah, so hope to see you for our midweek Bible study. You see the so many times and teams, the list of expecting mothers, and the stats for salvation and baptisms. What is that? For the year? I don't think we got 1,023 in the month of January. That would be great, but I don't know. We'll take it. On the right-hand side, there is the upcoming church events. We have the soul winning training continuing after the service. It will be approximately around 1230. That will be the soul winning training. I want to encourage you to stay here for that, because we're actually going to be going over some of the hang-ups that people have at the door. Some of the answers that people give you that have a tendency to stump some Christians, they don't necessarily know how to respond to it. And so we're going to be going over that today. And then this Tuesday, February 18th, we have the activity at Billy B's, and that will be at 11 a.m. You have the address there. And then the TJ missions is on Saturday, February 22nd, meeting at the building at 915. And so I want to encourage you to be there for that. If you'd like to participate, just make sure you bring your passport and see Brother Hernandez for more details. Men's prayer night is coming up on Friday, March 7th. And that'll be at the building at 7 p.m. Dinner will be provided. And that is it for our announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Song number 41. Song number 41, sweet by and by. All together, nice and strong on that first verse. There's a land that is fairer than day. And by faith we can see it afar. For the Father waits over the way. To prepare us a dwelling place there. In the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by we shall peep on that beautiful shore. We shall sing on that beautiful shore. The melodious songs of the blessed. And our spirit shall sorrow no more. Not a sigh for the blessing of rest. In the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by we shall peep on that beautiful shore. To our bountiful Father above we will offer our tribute of praise. For the glorious gift of His love. And the blessings that follow our days. In the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore. Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the ushers will come forward to receive the offering. And you can turn your Bibles to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter number 2. 1 John chapter 2. The Bible reads, My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for our sins. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for our sins. And hereby do we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But if so, keepeth His word, and Him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith, He abideth in Him, ought Himself also so to walk, even as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment, which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you? Because the darkness has passed, and the true light now shineth. He that saith, He is in the light, and hateth His brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth His brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in Him. But He that hateth with His brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether He goeth, because that darkness hath blinded His eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, now that the things that are in the world. If any man loveth the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the Word of God. is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Little children, it is the last time, and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made man of us, that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that know lies of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things I have written unto you concerning them that seduce you, but the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. Let's pray to the Lord God. Thank you again for everything you've blessed us with. I'm just glad that you would meet with us here now this morning. Please feel past me here with your Holy Spirit and bless the preaching. In the Jewish name we pray, amen. Amen. Okay, we're in 1 John chapter two this morning, and look down at verse 18. It says in 1 John chapter two verse 18, "'Little children, it is the last time, "'and as ye have heard, the antichrist shall come. "'Even now are there many antichrists, "'whereby we know that it is the last time. "'They went out from us, but they were not of us, "'for if they had been of us, "'they would have no doubt have continued with us. "'But they went out, that they might be made manifest, "'that they were not all of us.'" And the title of my sermon this morning is Fakes, Fans, and Followers. Fakes, Fans, and Followers. In Christianity, we can say that there are essentially three categories of those who refer to themselves as Christians, right? And it's important for us as believers to be able to differentiate between the three. And let me just say this, is that not everything that claims to be a Christian is a Christian. Not everyone who claims to be a believer is actually a believer. Not everyone who names the name of Christ actually believes on the Lord. And it's important for us as Christians to understand that. Because here's the thing, is that Christianity has become so diluted and so mixed and so watered down when it comes to doctrinal preaching, Christians have a tendency to just lack a lot of discernment in this area, and automatically assume, right, that anyone who claims to be saved is saved, or anyone who expresses any form of zeal for the Lord, no, they must be a Christian or something like that. And so it's important for us to kind of differentiate between the three and recognize what it means to actually be a Christian. And let me just start off by saying by way of introduction that the Bible teaches that in order to become a Christian, you just have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? Meaning you have to trust Jesus as your savior, place your faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and you have the gift of eternal life. Now, along with that, the Bible also teaches that you have to believe that you can never lose your salvation. You say, why is that? Well, because eternal security is the gospel, right? Eternal security is the belief that the gift that we receive through Jesus Christ is eternal, which is why the Bible calls it eternal life, not temporal life. Not a life that can just end at any given moment based upon what you do. The Bible shows us extensively that it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, right? Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, not through your works. It says through faith and that not of yourselves. That's a key phrase there. It is the gift of God. And then it reiterates this, not of works, lest any man should boast. You know, there's a lot of beliefs out there that tries to emphasize the fact that, or they try to make it seem as though the Bible teaches that we have to have works with our faith in order to be saved. But over and over again, the overarching narrative of the Bible is that it's just by faith, okay? But to him that work is not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, listen to this, his works is counted for righteousness? No, his faith is counted for righteousness. And so it's important for us to realize and to understand as Christians that when it comes to being a Christian, converting to Christianity, that doesn't mean that someone just joins a Catholic church because the Catholic church is not a Christian institution. Doesn't, you know, it doesn't mean, well, someone became an Orthodox and so that makes them a Christian. That doesn't make them a Christian. Because of the fact that the Orthodox church, the Catholic church, anything that names the name of Christ, but does not have the right gospel is not Christian. Christian doctrine is the belief that our faith in Christ exclusively is sufficient for salvation. In fact, it's the only thing you can do to be saved, okay? And so I wanna preface this sermon with our understanding of that particular doctrine there and I'll mention that throughout the sermon. But let's talk about these three categories that I believe the Bible warns us about. Fakes, fans, and followers. And you know what? A lot of churches end up getting goofed up on this because of the fact that they don't teach doctrine, they don't teach their people what it means to be saved, what it means to be a believer, what it means to be a Christian. So let's go over number one. Let's talk about fakes, all right? Those who are phonies, they're fakes. This is comprised of only unsaved people, all right? People interpret, sometimes they interpret activity for evidence of salvation. You know, you see something on the internet, you see a sermon, people are preaching hard against sin or people are naming the name of Christ, they're taking a political stance and they're saying God, they're saying Jesus, and all that is like, oh man, this guy's a Christian. This person must be a believer for sure, you know? Because they interpret activity as evidence of salvation. Oh, he's a pastor, so he must be saved, right? Oh, he claims to be a Christian, he must be saved. But the Bible teaches, let me just say this, is that there are imposters in Christianity. And the purpose of the existence of these imposters is to deceive people into a false gospel, false doctrine, a false Christianity. The Bible tells us you don't have to turn up or go to Galatians chapter two, if you would, in Galatians chapter two. I'm gonna read to you from second Corinthians chapter 11 verse 13. It says, for such are false apostles. Now an apostle is a messenger of God, right? You have the 12 apostles, they are messengers of God, they are sent from God, they're ordained of God with the message, but here it says that there are false apostles, meaning false messengers of Christ. And if they're not really messengers of Christ, who are they? They're messengers of Satan. He says, false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Meaning that they are imposters, they're wolves in sheep's clothing, right? And it says, and no marvel, meaning, don't be surprised at this. You know, when you hear about some guy who claims to be a Christian, they claim to be a believer, they name the name of Christ, they talk about the Bible, they quote verses, but all of a sudden, then later on, a year down the road, they're denying Christ, don't marvel at that. It's very common, and in fact, the Bible warns us about this repeatedly, it says, no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. It's like, they're just following the footsteps of their dad, right? Their daddy, Satan, does the same thing. He is a fallen angel, but when he's presenting himself via teachings, doctrines, and churches, he presents himself as an angel of light, someone who's coming to bear the truth, right? You know, like Moroni in the Mormon tabernacle church, false church, he says, therefore, there's no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. So what is the Bible telling us? It's telling us that we need to make sure that we understand it and grow in our discernment to realize that just because they call themselves an apostle, they call themselves a disciple, a Christian, we need to make sure that we vet these people and see, is it really true? What is it that they believe? What is it that they're teaching? What is the core doctrines of their heart to see? Is this person actually a messenger of Christ? Are they a messenger of God? Now let me just clarify something. You know, when I'm talking about fakes, I'm referring to people who intentionally deceive people, people who actually have the agenda to fool you, wolves who are in sheep's clothing, who actually make it their ministry to deceive people, to trick people, you know, this is what I'm referring to. I'm not talking about the people who are necessarily under them, because there's a lot of people who attend these types of churches, and you know what, they're well-meaning, they're sincere, they might even be looking for the truth, but they've been caught up in the deception. These people aren't necessarily bad, they're just deceived. And so I'm not referring to those who are under them, I'm referring to the agents of Satan, these people who are fakes and phonies. Let me give you another example, look at Galatians chapter two and verse number four, and I just want you to notice these two words right here, we're gonna read the whole verse, but I want you to notice these two words. It says, and that because of, listen to this, false brethren, unawares brought in, who came in privily or privately to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. Now, notice that phrase there, that there were false brethren who came in. Now, what does that tell us? Well, a brother, according to the Bible, we would define as being someone who is a believer in Christ. That's why we call each other brother, okay? I see Brother Adrian, Brother John, we are brothers in Christ because we have both have gotten saved, we both believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're children of God, God is our Heavenly Father, therefore we share that spiritual family similarity that we're brothers and sisters in Christ, right? Well, here it says that there's false brethren. Now, what's a false brethren? It essentially means that you're dealing with someone who claims to be a brother in Christ, but actually isn't a brother in Christ. And the Bible would actually define this also as being a bastard, okay? Because the Bible talks about in Hebrew chapter 12 that if you be without chastisement, then are ye bastards and no sons. So a bastard, spiritual bastard child is someone who thinks that God is their Heavenly Father, claims that God is their Heavenly Father, but you know what? God did not beget that person. They did not beget them through the gospel, they're false brethren. And the context of Galatians chapter two, it's actually referring to Judaizers because he's writing to the churches of Galatia, which are Gentile churches, and what you have is these Pharisees and adherence to what we would consider today to be Judaism, and they're trying to come in while the Apostle Paul is gone and teach false doctrine, right? And they're claiming to be brothers. They're like, hey, we believe just like you. We believe in the first five books of the Bible and the Pentateuch. We believe in the Old Testament. We're brothers, but let me go ahead and tell you about circumcision, right? And that you must be circumcised to be saved. That's something that was taught according to Acts chapter 15. And so these false brethren, what do they do? They try to target unstable souls, babes in Christ, those who are not knowledgeable about the things of God, because they're more easily deceived. This is why the Bible tells us that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, right? Because we don't wanna be deceived by the Judaizers of this world. And may I say that this not only existed in the first century AD, it exists today too. There are Judaizers in churches today, in fundamental Baptist churches, promoting Zionism, promoting Judaism, promoting the Jews as being God's chosen people. That is Judaizing. And he says here that these are false brethren, meaning don't listen to them. They're fake brothers in Christ. They claim to be brothers in Christ, but they're fake brethren. And here's how we know. They came in privately to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. In other words, they want to challenge the babes in Christ there, regarding their salvation, regarding their belief in Christ, and cause them to question that, and essentially bring them back into spiritual bondage and to thinking that they have to go back under the law in order to be saved. And this is why later on the Apostle Paul comes and he says, I'm afraid of you. Listen, I bestow labor in you in vain. Because he's like, if you really believe that you're saved by the law, by the keeping of the law, by the adherence to the law, then you're probably not saved. Oh, you can't tell people they're not, but the Apostle Paul did. He's writing to them, and this is a letter that's being read by churches throughout the last couple thousand years. This is something that is very common. He's like, I'm afraid, I'm afraid. But what is he saying? He's not saying I'm scared of you. He's saying I'm afraid that maybe you're not even saved. And that is a fearful thing. You know, you're working with someone, someone's attending your church, they're listening to the preaching, they're getting the doctrine, they're going soul-winning, they're claiming they believe in Christ, and then all of a sudden, they're like, actually, it's my works. You're like, what, hold on a second, I thought we were brothers in Christ. I'm afraid of you. Now, let me just say this is that people who are babes in Christ can be deceived in that manner. And quite frankly, there's churches out there that are not helping with that. Because they teach such a watered-down doctrine, their preaching is so watered down when it comes to the doctrine of salvation and justification, they're not equipping their people, they're not developing their people spiritually, people like that just get deceived. And then, you know, they start saying, well, you know, if you're saved, then you'll do the works or something, you know? And so it's important for us to realize that this does exist. Now, go to John chapter six. Let me give you one of the most explicit examples of a false brethren, of a phony, of a fake. And it's important to talk about this particular person, because today in 2025, you have churches and Christians who now wanna justify this guy as being someone who is actually saved, okay? No thanks to the chosen. This quote-unquote Christian soap opera that has all kinds of extra biblical revelations, it's all gay, and it's just, and it teaches a lot of false doctrine. Yep. Now, before we read that, I'm gonna read to you from 1 John, excuse me, I'm gonna read to you from John 17, verse 12. It says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. This is Jesus praying unto the Father for his disciples. He says, those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Now, who is he referring to when he says son of perdition? He's referring to Judas Iscariot. And so right off the bat, just reading John chapter 17, we know that Judas was not saved. Let me explain to you why. You don't call saved people sons of perdition. Let me give you a synonym for perdition. Hell, right? He's a son of hell, all right? Now, I admit, some Christians can live like hell, but they wouldn't necessarily be called children of hell. Throughout the Bible, we're called sons of God, right? We believed on the Lord. The Bible tells us in John 1-12, but as many as receive them, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on his name. We should not be called sons of hell. The Bible doesn't teach that. The son of hell, the son of perdition is Judas Iscariot. Now, look at John chapter six, verse 63. It says, it is the spirit that quickened it, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him. Now, because we've already watched the trilogy, we've already seen the sequels and the prequels, we know who he's talking about, right? The people at this particular time, when this is being stated, didn't know who he was referring to, we know that it's Judas Iscariot. So based upon that, based upon this particular evidence, we see that Judas Iscariot did not believe from the beginning, meaning that when he joined the ministry of Jesus Christ, he joined with nefarious intent. He didn't join because he thought he was saved. The chosen tries to pass this guy off as being someone like, oh, he originally joined because he had the best of intentions. He really wanted to do something great. He really wanted to help Jesus Christ and do something big. Yeah, the big thing that he wanted to do is rob the ministry is what he wanted to do. Nothing noble in his intentions. And according to the Bible, it says that he didn't believe from the beginning. And by the way, again, believing is what's necessary for salvation. This is telling us he didn't get saved when he first joined. Okay? It says in verse 65, he says, and he said, therefore said I unto you that no man could come into me except that were given unto him of my father. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus, then said, Jesus unto the 12, we also go away. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you 12? And listen to this, and one of you is a devil. So in John chapter 17, he calls them the son of hell, the son of perdition. And just in case you're not familiar with perdition, he says that he's a devil. Right? He says, I've chosen you 12, we know who the 12 are. And he says, one of them is a devil. And let me just say this, you don't call Christians devils, right? And in case you just still don't believe it, Jesus clarifies further in verse 71. He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. You know, just in case you don't know what Judas Iscariot, he told you his dad's name too. For he was that should betray him being one of the 12. Now what is it showing us? It's showing us that Judas Iscariot was not saved. He was a devil. He's a son of perdition. And we can say also based upon Galatians chapter two, he's a false brother. He's a false apostle. And it's of my humble opinion that when John wrote first John chapter two, when he talks about they went out from us for they were not of us, he's referring to Judas Iscariot. Because John is one of the 12. He probably worked and labored with Judas Iscariot. He probably was one who was also deceived of Judas Iscariot's pretense and all his things that he did. And he's passing himself off as a believer and as a disciple. He was deceived. He was carried away with his deception. And he said, they went out from us for they were not of us for if they had been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us. Now, let me clarify what that passage means. Because it doesn't mean, well, if someone backslides and gets out of church, that means that we're never saved to begin with. Because that's how a lot of people try to interpret that passage. But what the passage is actually teaching is that these people are anti-Christ and its context, it's referring to people who essentially go apostate. They transgress the doctrines of Christ. They begin to deny Christ. They deny the foundational teachings of Christianity. And that is evidence that they were not of us. What's another way of saying that? They were false brethren. Go to Luke chapter 20, if you would. Talk about fakes. And you know what? In 2025, I guess we just need to teach again that Judas Iscariot was a devil who was not saved. And he's a thief. Because people are just trying to romanticize Judas Iscariot as though he's just like, oh, he's just misguided. But what do we expect from a culture that elevates murderers and stuff, right? There's murderers who did their time and now they can make a lot of money once they get out and make documentaries about them. And it's just like, hello, these people are wicked. They're evil. They've committed murder. And it's just like, when you look at Judas Iscariot, well, yeah, he stole money, but he had the best of intentions. He was just misunderstood. Yeah, he was misunderstood. Everyone thought he was a Christian. And they didn't understand that he was a devil. What are we talking about? We're talking about fakes today. And you know what? Judas Iscariots exist today. And unfortunately, they exist in churches. They exist in churches. They exist, a ton of them are online. And let me say this. Obviously, on social media, you have a mix of what we're talking about here. Because I'm sure there's people out there who are on social media that claim to be a Christian, but they're not saved. And it's not because they're trying to do anything nefarious. It's probably because they actually think that they're saved, because they've been deceived. But there's other people on social media that for sure are not saved, and they know for a fact that they're not saved. And they're essentially grifters using the name of Christ to make money. Now look at Luke chapter 20, in verse 17. Let's look at another example of this. It says, And he beheld them, in verse 17, and said, What is this then that is written, the stone which the builders rejected, the same as becoming the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon the stone shall be broken, but whosoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him, and they feared the people, for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. Now let me mention something regarding the chief priests and scribes, because I think that is a very good comparison to the fakes that we have today. Because there's fakes who are chief priests and scribes who are very wicked. They're not saved, they're devils, but then there's other Pharisees, chief priests and scribes, who are actually sincere, who actually want the truth. Now it's a minority, right? Just like it's probably a minority today. The vast majority of what we see online, who are fakes, they're probably super wicked. Look at verse 20. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should, I want you to notice this, feigned themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him into the power and authority of the governor. So what do we see here? We see that the chief priests and scribes are being critical of Jesus Christ. They're trying to entrap him, and what they do is they send forth spies who are faking themselves, feigned means to fake themselves, feigned themselves to be what? Just men, saved men. Now how are they gonna do this? By saying certain things that essentially is trying to fool them, and to think, fool the people, the masses, and try to fool Jesus Christ, that they are righteous people. And so the point that I'm making here is that don't think that just because they have Christian on the profile, believer on the profile, mommy believer, believing family, Christ is the Lord, a cross on there, a certain Christian emoji, a dove with an olive leaf in its mouth, all of a sudden, this person's saved. Why? Because there's people out there who feigned themselves, listen to this, to be just men, okay? Go to Matthew chapter seven, Matthew chapter seven, if you would, people who are fake. Now before I get into Matthew chapter seven, let me just say this because one of the reasons I wanted to preach this is because of the fact that, you know, recently, there was this guy who came out and made a tweet, and you might know who he is. His name is Kanye West. Some of you were listening to him on the way to church. And some of you in your heart are probably thinking to yourself, his name is Yi, not Kanye, pastor. He changed his name to Yi. So you know, this guy is a complete anti-Christ, reprobate false prophet, I mean, pretty much everything that I just talked about, that's him. So how do you know? Well, you know, years ago, he was elevated and unfortunate by the Christian community. And when I say Christian community, I mean it very loosely, because we're not a part of that, that particular Christian community. But you know, a lot of Christians online were thinking, were believing and saying that he was saved. Why? Oh, because he made a song called Jesus Walks. He had a tour about Jesus, and then he had church services, if you can call it that, where he's performing, and he's claiming to be a saved person. And you know, anyone with two brain cells to rub together, and they have the Bible in front of them, they can read that and be like, nah, that guy's a false brother. And people are like, no, how are you gonna say that? Judge not, how are you gonna say that he's not saved? He could be used so greatly of God, and all this stuff. And it's just like, nah, that guy's a son of perdition. It's like, no, that's wrong, you're wicked, I can't believe you're saying that. And these are things that people told me. People cussed me out literally online for saying this guy was not saved. And it doesn't really, let me just say this, it doesn't really take that much discernment, though, to like know that, right? Like my five-year-old can probably say like, that guy's probably for sure not saved. But you know, because he's parading himself to be a Christian, he's talking about, oh, he said the name Jesus, because that's all you gotta do, I guess, nowadays. He's holding so-called church services, and he's elevating Christianity, and he's performing Jesus walks, which is his Christian song that he made, so-called. You know, oh, he must be saved. And so you have all of these watered down, lukewarm, pastors and Christians who are saying, oh, for sure he's saved. And you know, in their minds, they're like, oh, he can just reach so many people, right? Because, you know, he's talking about Jesus, he's gonna reach so many people. But here's the thing, though, he's not saved, so who's he gonna reach? Unsaved people can't reach people for Christ. They can reach people to their false Christs, to their false beliefs, but they're not gonna be able to convert them to true Christianity. Why, because he doesn't really believe in the true Christ of the Bible. Now, he's saying all this stuff, and people are like, oh, yeah, this is awesome, and he's gonna be used. And then recently, he came out with this tweet, and he's been apostate for a long time. He said a lot of other crazy stuff, even a couple years back, where it was just, obviously, it should confirm to Christians that the guy's not saved. But this is what he recently said, my name is Ye, which I think Ye, if I'm not mistaken, is short for Yeezus, right? Because he calls himself Yeezus, like Jesus, and there's another guy in the Bible who calls himself, who's the guy, oh, yeah, the Antichrist, does that. No, I thought there was another, oh, yeah, there is, who wanted to be like, oh, yeah, Satan. That's right, sorry, I almost forgot that one. My name is Ye, and this is what he said, I don't need to be saved. And I had to kind of correct the spelling here, because he didn't say it that grammatically correct. He says, what you gon' wash me in the imaginary blood of Jesus? Now, let me just read this verse to you real quick. First Corinthians 12, three says, wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed. Oh, he's just backslidden, that's not, backslidden is when some dude is a Christian, he's saved, and he's out there smoking marijuana, fornicating, and involved in all kinds of sin. Backslidden is not calling the name of Jesus accursed and making fun of the blood of Jesus Christ, and saying that you don't need to be saved. The last time I checked, someone who's backslidden often wonders if they're saved, because they're so backslidden. They're just like, man, I kind of like doubt whether I'm saved, because I'm so involved in sin, I'm just away from God, and they're almost embarrassed, they're hurting, he's not, that's not this right here. Saying he doesn't need to be saved. Oh, what, you gon' wash me in the imaginary blood of Jesus? That's not a backslidden person, what is that? That's a person who's gone apostate, who's mocking Christ, he's a fake, he's a phony. And you know what, I kind of want to hear people online say I'm sorry to Christians, for getting on Christians, for saying that he's not saved. I want to hear people say, hey guys, you're right, sorry. But you know what, I'm sure a lot of them still probably believe he's saved. Folks, there's fakes out there. Don't be deceived by the fakes. And I'm not saying that someone in Hollywood can't be saved, because I don't know everyone who's in Hollywood, and there's people who are just not as famous as other people, okay, there's people who are not as powerful as other people. But I will say this, it's probably a very small pool of people who could potentially get saved in Hollywood. It's probably the guy who does the lights or something. He might be mentioned in the credits or something like that. I don't know. And don't get all excited when your favorite football athlete, when your favorite singer, when your favorite actor or actress says Jesus. Like, oh man, we got one. And it's like a lot of the Christians who feel that way, they're like, but they can do so much. Why don't you do so much? Stop relying on these so-called famous people to do the work for you. You go and preach the gospel. You're more famous in the eyes of God than that person, because that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the eyes of God, the Bible says. So if you have people who are highly esteemed in the world, because they sing, they're actors, they got an Emmy, they got a, what's that, a Grammy. God doesn't care about those things. Yeah, but in his speech he said Jesus. In his speech he said something about God. That's gonna reach so much people. I don't know if you know this, but saying God doesn't reach anybody. And let me just say this, saying Jesus doesn't reach anybody either. You have to preach Jesus according to the word of God. Because the Bible talks about false gospels. The Bible talks about another Jesus. And let me just remind you, most of the time when these people are talking about Jesus, let me just tell you, it's another Jesus. Not the Jesus of the Bible. Look at Matthew chapter seven, verse 15. Brother Ruben, if you can turn that up please. Look what it says in verse 15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. And another kind of corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by the fruit ye shall know them. I want you to notice this in verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many, listen to this, will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. Now, here's the very interesting thing about this passage, and it's very ironic, because the same people who defend Kanye West will use a passage like this to mock people like yours truly for believing that all you have to do is believe on Jesus Christ to be saved, right? Oh, saying a sinner's prayer is not gonna get you saved. It got me saved, what are you talking about? Saying a little prayer doesn't get you saved. Many will say unto me, Lord, Lord. And what is their gospel? Their gospel is you have to do the works, right? Why, because many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord. Well, sir, let's see how works help this person. Because it says in verse 22, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? I don't know about you, but preaching is, that's a big work, right? That's a major work, to prophesy in the name of Jesus Christ, that is a work. Let's see what else he does. And in thy name have cast out devils, exorcisms. That takes a lot of work. And in thy name, just in general, done many wonderful works. Now, the last time I checked, there's no sin involved here. He's not saying like, oh, you know, I drink, I smoke, I run with those that do, you know, promoting fornication. No, it sounds like a list of really good things. Preaching, exorcisms, wonderful works. Let's see how that helped them. Verse 23, then I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work, iniquity. So it's interesting how the same people who say, well, you have to do the works because the Bible says, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord. You know, the people who are saying that promote their gospel. The people that are saying, they are those people. And typically I tell those people, that's you. Matthew 7 is you. Because notice he didn't say this, many will say unto me that day, have not I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ only for salvation? Have not I placed my faith in Jesus Christ? Nowhere. It just says all the works that he accomplished, right? Showing us that these people will essentially expose themselves by telling you what they believe with their mouth, okay? And so when we talk about the fakes of this world, we're talking about people who have the label of Christianity, the label of being a believer, but they're actually imposters, they believe a false gospel. And let me just read you from Galatians chapter one. Go with me if you would to, let's see. Go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 if you would. I'm gonna read to you from Galatians one verse eight. It says, both though we are an angel from heaven, this is a good verse for the Mormons to memorize. Preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you. Let him be accursed. So it sounds like God feels strongly about this. He's like, if anyone comes to you and says anything other than the gospel message that's in this book, they're cursed, a curse means that they're damned, meaning that they can't be saved, meaning that they become children of hell, okay? Everyone understand that? And he says, if anyone comes to you preaching this, and in context referring to those Judaizers, by the way, he says, let him be accursed. And you know, if he said that, you could probably surmise that there's certain people who are like, well, what's the context, though, Paul? What do you really mean by that? So then this is what he says in verse nine. As we said before, so say I now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which he have received, let him be accursed. Just in case you didn't get it the first time, he's saying, anyone who's preaching a false gospel, they're cursed, they're damned, they cannot be saved. So let me just apply this to us in 2025. People who come to your door, those Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, people preaching that God is a woman, they come to your door, they're a curse. Because they're making it their ministry to preach a false gospel. And let me just say this is that every Christian who runs into these people at their door should rebuke these people, shame them. Why? Because of the fact that they're damning people to hell. They're literally making it their ministry to send people to hell. And I'm not saying rebuke every Jehovah's Witness either. Because there's Jehovah's Witnesses you meet every once in a while, maybe you knock on their door or a Mormon or whatever, and meekness and fear try to present the gospel to them. And if they don't want it, you wipe the dust off your feet. But if they're coming to your door, it's on. It's time to earnestly contend for the faith and rebuke that person so hard and so harshly and aggressively that maybe they'll think twice about knocking on the second door. They're just like, maybe we should choose a different block. Like, I think that's too much. Folks, I mean, this is God condemning people who do this, saying that they're cursed, that they're damned, they're fakes, they're phonies. I'm gonna read to you from 2 John 2.9, it says, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, listen to this, hath not God. So that's a very important statement there. He says, if you don't abide in the doctrine of Christ, what does it mean to abide? To live it, right? When you're abiding someone, you're remaining there, you're living there, and it says in the doctrine of Christ. What is the doctrine of Christ? You know, the deity of Jesus Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Christ of the Bible. So if a person is living in the doctrine of Christ, meaning they believe the doctrines of the Bible, and then they deviate from that, they no longer abide there, they no longer live in that spiritual house, the Bible says they don't have God. Here's another way of saying it, they're not saved. And by the way, this doesn't mean that they lost their salvation either, because you can't lose your salvation, because a person who has believed on Christ is eternally secured in the hand of God, right? According to John chapter 10, but not only that, someone who's saved will never blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ, Christianity, God the Father, because they do have the fear of God in their lives. Folks, I've run into some really backslidden wicked Christians. And when it comes to the subject of salvation, they're like ashamed, they're just like, I know I'm not right, and it's not like, yeah, Jesus is my homie, you know, and he's fine with what I'm doing or whatever. I've never heard a Christian talk like that in a backslidden state. Now, you run into Christians who may try to portray themselves as they're still doing well, but obviously inwardly they're struggling, and they're not doing well. But I'm talking about people who just literally transgress, meaning they surpass, meaning they literally break the barrier of their belief in the doctrines of Christ. That is an indication that that person is not saved. What am I trying to get across to you? I'm trying to get across that you judging someone and saying they're not saved because they transgressed the doctrines of Christ is a right thing to do. God expects us to have that discernment. And don't get fooled by this watered down Christianity that exists today that tells you you can't judge, what do you know, you're not Jesus. Yeah, but we got the mind of Christ, the Bible says. We have the mind of God, we have the Bible, and you know what, it's our Christian duty to look at people and look at what they say and what they believe and determine is this person saved or not. Well, why is that your job? Folks, when we go out sowing, that's what we're doing. When we go out and preach the gospel, we're knocking on doors and we're gauging is this person saved or not. Because we want to know if they need the gospel. And if someone says, you know, I believe in Jesus and I don't think you could lose your salvation, you're like, oh, great, this person's saved. But you know, if someone says, well, yeah, I believe in Jesus, you know, he's a God. What did you say? What was that again? About a God, you know? You would say that person's not saved. Oh, you shouldn't judge. No, the Bible tells us to judge righteous judgment and that's a righteous judgment to make. And if you are the person who does not like to judge, you're a person that does not like discernment. And you know what, discernment is a godly, virtuous quality. It's something that God expects for us to have. Okay, look at Acts 20, verse 27. Now, how do we avoid, you know, being fooled by people like this? Well, obviously, you know, we're not gonna be able to name every reprobate that exists out there, regardless of what people think they can do. You know, it's just like, well, I know every single reprobate, I know when people are false prophets. Well, you know what, the apostles didn't know that Judas was, and they walk with Jesus. There's some deceivers out there who are just really good at their deception. They know how to pull the wool over people's eyes. And you know what, it's not a shameful thing to get caught off guard and be like, well, I thought that person was saved the whole time. Because it happens to everyone. Because you know, we're not God. You know, if you know every person who's a reprobate, then you must be God, huh? But you know, we're not God. We don't have perfect understanding. We don't have omniscience. Therefore, they're gonna catch us off guard. You know, that's just how it is. But we can do certain things to avoid these fakes or to expose these fakes. Look at Acts 20, verse 27. Here's a way, he says, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. So the Apostle Paul, in this context, we're gonna read a little further in just a bit, is saying he's warning them about false prophets. And what did he do to protect them from those false prophets? He says, I've taught you the whole counsel of God. Now, this is what you need to do in order to grow in your discernment, be in a church like this, that's teaching you what the Bible actually says so you can grow in your discernment. Because you know, sometimes Christians are just too merciful. They're just like, aw. But they talk so nice about Jesus, though. And they claim to be, you know, they're farmers. Aren't all farmers Christians? Aren't all online farmers Christians? No. You know, being in church, hearing the counsel of God, helps you to have discernment. And it's a good, you know, this morning's sermon is a reality check for you. For those of you who, you know, like that farmer Christian who claims to be saved, because now you're going to think, like, is that person saved? And you know, I don't know all the homesteaders, online homesteaders, the ladies do. But you know, I'm sure there's like a lady out there who's just super popular at homesteading, and then she just like drops a Mormon doctrine on you. And you're just like, what? And it's just like, surprise, well, well, well. Surprise, surprise. It's out there. But when you're in church, you hear something like that, you're like, yeah, actually, I can't just assume that everyone who's a homesteader is saved, just because they claim to be a Christian. And let me give you a, just, this is not in my sermon, but let me just give you a good little marker to determine if those online people, homesteaders, are Mormons or not, okay? Without them saying anything about Mormonism. If they talk about God and they say, and they say, Father God, that's like a really common phrase. Obviously, we use that a lot, but when they just say, yeah, Father God, you know, says in the Bible, Father God this, Father God that, that is like a marker to determine if they, because that's how Mormons talk. They say Father God. And I'm not saying Father God is bad, I'm just saying, that's like the only thing they, that's the only way they address God. They always say, well, Father God did this, Father God did that. Just kind of throwing that out there, and now you'll pay attention more because you're receiving this counselor, man. He says, verse 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. He's telling these pastors, you gotta make sure that you educate the churches. Give them the whole counsel of God. Why? Verse 29, for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. It's gonna happen. People are gonna try to deceive you. And you know, we may not have, like you think of a church like ours, we're not gonna have grievous wolves enter in here like 24 seven every week or something. You know, it's very doctrinally sound and very educated in the Word of God. We have a lot of mature Christians who understand this, but I don't think here is where they'll necessarily enter in, they're gonna enter in through your phone at home. That's, now in 2025, it's more so through social media. Because they can't, they're not gonna come here. Why, because they could just DM you. They're not gonna come here because their video's just gonna pop up on your Instagram, on your Twitter, on your Facebook for the boomers, you know. They're gonna pop up in those areas, right? That's how they'll enter in and not spare the flock. Because now you can watch false prophets from the comforts of your own home in privacy without anybody knowing. Whereas if a false prophet comes in here, you know, they got a ton of Christians that will come down hard on that person if they're teaching false doctrine. That's not necessarily the danger now, although that could obviously be a possibility. More so it's just people coming through your phones. Podcast, right? He says in verse 30, "'Also of your own selves shall men arise, "'speaking perverse things, "'to draw away disciples after them.'" What do you mean of your own selves, the false brethren? The fakes, the phonies, the people who claim to believe the right things, but they actually don't. What's the point that I'm trying to make here with this first point? The point that I'm making here is that understand there are fake Christians out there, there's fake believers, there's false brethren, false gospels, don't just put everyone under one canopy of Christianity and just think, boy, they're just a little off. Well, let me just say this, you can't necessarily be a little off on the gospel. Like, well, I believe in Jesus, I just believe you can lose your salvation. That's not a little off, that's a lot off. That's so off, you're just gonna get right into hell. You're just gonna fall off right into the flames of hell. And so even if that trajectory moves a couple degrees in the doctrines of Christ, uh-uh, that can obviously damage a lot of people. Now, turn with me if you would to Mark chapter six, Mark chapter six. The title of the sermon is Fakes, Fans, and Followers. Fakes, Fans, and Followers. Understand that there's a lot of fakes out there who are feigning themselves to be just men. You know, I know some Christians who are saved and they're fakes, yeah, but that's a different kind of fake, right? That's people who just try to overcompensate because they want the admiration of people and they're just immature Christians. We're talking about those who are just not saved. We're talking about the Kanye Wests of this world, okay? His name is Ye, whatever. We're talking about them. Now, let's talk about the fans. So the fakes are those who are comprised of unsaved people. The fans, on the other hand, can be comprised, I see a flash, I keep seeing a flash right here, under you, brother Alex. He's secretly filming me. I'm just here, I'm kidding. Then you have the fans. Fans are comprised of both unsaved and saved people, okay? Now, what is a fan? Someone who is an admirer of the truth. Okay? And quite frankly, both camps can fall into this category, right? Unsaved people can be fans of, they can be admirers of the truth. And those are the people we wanna reach. Someone who is an admirer, they like the truth, they like what Christianity has to offer because we can use that to reel them in to get them saved, right? But then sometimes people get saved and they stay a fan. Now, look at Mark 6 first and foremost, look at verse 16, just to show you that fans in the unsaved world exist. It says in verse 16, but when Herod heard thereof, he said, it is John whom I beheaded. He is risen from the dead. And of course, he's hearing of Jesus Christ and he thinks it's John the Baptist. Verse 17 says, for Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold on John and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore, Herodias had a quarrel against him and would have killed him, but she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy, and I want you to notice this, and observed him, and when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. So Herod was actually somewhat of a fan of John the Baptist. Now, obviously, you can't take this too far because he ends up killing John the Baptist. So obviously, he didn't love him. But when it says he heard him gladly, he's like, yeah, let him talk, I wanna hear this guy. And I'm gonna tell you why, because he's a Baptist, that's why. You know, Baptists are pretty entertaining to listen to. So you know John, you know John. Camel's hair, leather and girdle, he's preaching, not like these long-robed priests, Pharisees, all of these false brethren. They're given their homilies, right? All the while, John the Baptist is actually preaching the word of God, and Herod's like, nah, I wanna hear this. Look at him go, you know? And you know what, I didn't say people are like that. I mean, I got a ton of people following me on Instagram, and I would just, there's about 10,000 people following me on Instagram, and I would say it's possible that maybe like five to 8,000 of them are probably just not safe. I don't know. Obviously, I don't know for sure, but I'm sure a lot of them just like to watch, just because it's like entertaining. Or because Christianity has so much to offer a culture, you know, can improve a society, when those principles are being put forth, people who are unsaved, they're attracted to those truths. You know, Christianity's very family-oriented, right? And so you have people who love the family, and they wanna raise their kids in a very godly way, but they're not necessarily interested in getting saved, they're not interested in doctrine, they might like that kind of content, right? Because that attracts them to like, oh, raising your kids in a moral manner, to be law-abiding citizens, to be functioning members of society, that's attractive to them, because that's what Christianity promotes and offers. Christianity is just an awesome religion, and not just an awesome, it is the most superior religion in this world, because it affects every facet of society, and it improves it. And so you have different people in society who are attracted to different aspects of Christianity, they hear a preacher get up and preach about those particular topics, if they're preaching the whole counsel of God, and they're attracted to become a fan. Now, I know this for a fact, because I've talked to people online who just love my content about the Jews. They're fans, and I can see why. You know, they're fans about anti-Zionism stuff, anti-dispensational stuff, and we see eye to eye, I mean, they're just like, brother, put on another one, and this is so good, and thank you so much for this. But then when we actually have a conversation about salvation, you know, because it's like, the Jews brought us together, right? They bring us together, and then you just find this common ground with them, you know? And then, all of a sudden, we talk about the doctrine of salvation, and it's just like, they're a straight repent of your sins, they don't even believe in the afterlife. In some cases, they're just against Jews, you know? They're just, the state of Israel, and then all of a sudden, it's just like, oh, whoa, we're actually not the same, you know? Oh, you hate Israel because you're prejudiced, I hate Israel because of what the Bible says, we are not the same. I hate it for biblical reasons, because they crucified my Savior, and he calls him the synagogue of Satan, sorry, we are not the same. But you know what, that person's a fan. And obviously, you have fans online who, they get won over because of these particular subjects, and that's great, and some of you, that's how some of you are reached, right? It exists. The point that I'm making here is that we have to understand that just because someone's a fan of Christianity doesn't necessarily make them a safe person either. And we also need to realize that just because they're a fan of a particular doctrine, of a particular principle of the Bible, we wanna make sure we don't just stop them there. We wanna bring them all the way to Christianity, right? All the way to salvation, all the way to the foot of the cross, and transform them from a fan to an actual saved Christian who believes the Bible, okay? And let me say this, when it comes to John the Baptist, Herod heard him gladly, but the Bible also says that the common people heard Jesus gladly. Common people were made up of just people. It doesn't say we're religious background, it doesn't say if there are believers, it's just people just like to listen to what he had to say, why? Because the word of God is attractive. When someone hears the preaching of God's word, they hear verses from the Bible, and the principles of the word of God, the law of the Lord is perfect! And it leaves people in awe, it leaves people intrigued, it leaves people wanting for more, why? Because it's God's word. And so it shouldn't come as a surprise when there's people out there who are fans of the word of God. Go to 2 Chronicles, if you would, 2 Chronicles 9, 2 Chronicles 9. Now, the point that I'm also making, though, is that just because they're a fan doesn't mean that automatically they're saved. And let me say this, just because they're a fan doesn't necessarily mean that they're a good person either. Because Herod was a fan, and he beheaded John the Baptist. So just because someone is a fan of Christianity, they're a fan of what the Bible says, they're a fan of what you're espousing, they're a fan of what you're preaching, doesn't necessarily mean that makes them a righteous person. I say that for all of you Alex Jones lovers out there, all the conspiracy videos that you like to watch where they claim the name of Christ, just because you agree on a particular secondary or tertiary doctrine doesn't mean they're righteous people. Sorry to break it to you, okay? I'm just giving you a reality check here. But I will say the vast majority of fans of the Bible, it's possible for them to be saved. And it's a bridge that we can use to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But here's an Old Testament example. Look at 2 Chronicles 9, verse one. It says, and when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with the very great company and camels that bear spices and golden abundance and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with them of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions, and there was nothing hid from Solomon, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their apparel and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. The modern phrase, the parallel to that would be, there was no more breath in her. It left her breathless, right? It says in verse five, and she said to the king, it was a true report which I heard in my own land of thine acts and of thy wisdom, howbeit I believed not their words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it. And behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me, for thou exceedest the fame that I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord, listen to this, thy God, which delighteth in thee to set thee on his throne. Skip down to verse nine. And she gave the king 120 talents of gold and of spices, great abundance and precious stones. Neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. I love this story because obviously Solomon pictures who? Jesus. And Jesus, of course, reiterates this story in the gospels, how people come from far and wide to hear the wisdom of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Christ. But the point that I wanna make here is that it doesn't necessarily say or indicate whether she got saved or not, right? And in fact, it says in verse eight, blessed be the Lord thy God. So obviously there's not a possessive statement regarding God for herself. It could be that she got saved. But let's just say, for example, sake that she wasn't. What attracted her to the land of God where God's people were? It was the wisdom of God that was in that land. It attracted her to come to the house of God to see God's people and it impressed her greatly. And let me say this, you know, even though it's possible that she wasn't saved, what did she do? She glorified God. And you know what? We want to make sure that we glorify God through sowing, through preaching. But you know what? We also want the unsaved and the heathen to glorify God when they see what we have. Even if they don't come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we want that to happen. But you know what? There's people out there that see a work that's being accomplished. They see your family, they see your conduct, they see your behavior, they see your work ethic, and you know what they do in their heart? They glorify God. They're like, man, God is with that person. You're like, yeah, but what if they don't get saved? Obviously, we want them to be saved, but you know what? We also want people just to glorify God in general. Because the residual of godliness from God's people would cause even the unsaved people of this world to say, wow, God is great. Look at this wonderful family. Look at these well-behaved children. Look at this godly young man. Look at this godly couple. Look at these people. And what do they do? It causes them to wanna glorify God. They're fans of what God has to offer, but it causes them to glorify God. Now, let me also say this, is that when it comes to, go with me to Mark chapter five, if you would, Mark chapter five. We wanna use those things to get people in, right? Jesus Christ used food, feeding of the 5,000, and people came to him thereafter, and he even tells them, you're coming to me because I fed you. And he didn't shun them away, but afterwards, he gave them the truth. He wanted to use that meal as a bridge to bring them in to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now, let me say this. There's nothing wrong with a fan, but once you get saved, stop being a fan, amen? You say, can Christians be fans? Yeah. You know, Christians can often come to church just because they're a fan of the preaching. They just wanna be entertained because preaching is entertaining. I mean, how many would say preaching for sure is entertaining? It is. It's just like sometimes I just like to listen to preaching because it's just fun, you know? Especially if you listen to a wild-eyed preacher, you're listening to someone who's just hanging from the chandeliers. And let me just say this, like, Baptists have generally just been that way. Even in the old IFP, there's a lot of old IFP preachers who preach, and you're just like, I just wanna come here, I just wanna listen to this, see what kind of crazy thing this guy's gonna say. And they're saved. Like, they're saved people who do that. They just constantly listen to preaching because they wanna be entertained. But here's the thing, we need to move on from that and not just, I gotta be careful doing this, you know what I mean? My heart goes out to you guys. But you know, there's people who basically, they come to church and they're not necessarily interested in applying the preaching. They're not interested in executing what the Word of God says. They just wanna be entertained. And it's what Ezekiel, it's what the Lord said to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33, that they're unto you as a very lovely song. They're listening to you like, that's a good song. That's a good sermon. That was just good. But they're not really, they walk away from the law of liberty and they forget what manner of man they were. And I'll be the first to say, I love listening to preaching. And I'll be honest, sometimes it's just for entertainment's sake. But at the end of the day, we just need a reality check to realize that we can't remain fans of preaching. We need to be executors of preaching. We need to be obedient to preaching. We need to be applicators of preaching. We need to take the divine word and apply it to what we have going on. Look at this example in Mark chapter five, verse 19. It says, howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto them, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord had done for thee and had compassion on thee. Who's he talking to? Talking to the maniac of Gadara. This guy was naked in the tombs, cutting himself with stones. The man was possessed with the legion of devils. Jesus Christ comes, he exorcises him of those devils, and then he's sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And what does he do? He's a fan of Jesus. He's like, let me go with you. I want to go wherever you're at. He wanted to go with Jesus and just kind of hang out with Jesus Christ. And what did the Lord say? He says, you can't come, but go to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord had done. Look what it says in verse 20. He departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men did marvel. You know what's here? We see a person who became a fan, but then he actually became a what? A follower. He was a fan. He's just like, I got saved. I'm a fan of Jesus. I just want to go with you. And the Lord's like, if you really want to come with me, then just go and preach. Go home. Go actually be a part of the work. And you know what? He probably never saw Jesus ever again after that, this side of eternity. But he was able to go out and actually do the work because my last point is that he became a follower. Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter four, Matthew chapter four. My last point is two minutes long, three minutes at the most. We're talking about fakes, fans, and followers. Fakes are people who claim to be Christian, claim to be saved, but they're not. Some are just fans of the principles of the word of God, but they're not saved. But they're also people who get saved, but they just remain fans of Bible content. They remain fans of preaching. They remain fans of biblical principles, and they don't go beyond that. They don't grow out of that. And you know what? It's great if you're a fan, but it's time for you to grow up. Grow up and no longer be a fan of the Bible, but a lover of the Bible, and an obedient Christian to the Bible, an obedient Christian to the word of God, an obedient Christian to preaching and of church, and become a follower. Now again, this is under the premise here that obviously a follower is a person who is saved. But just because someone isn't a follower doesn't make them not saved. We obviously understand that, right? We're talking about people who are already saved, and they choose to follow the Lord. Look at Matthew chapter four, in verse 18, it says, And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saved them to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Now, what does this tell us? It tells us that if you're gonna be a follower of Jesus Christ, it actually requires action, right? So take that off of your bio, if you're not. Follower of Jesus, bro. Bro, yeah, I'm a follower of Jesus. Oh, really? So do you preach the gospel? Well, in my own way. Well, there's only one way to do it, though. And it's not your way. And according to the Bible, if you're a truly follower of Jesus Christ, you're a fisher of men. What's a fisher of men? Someone who wins people to Christ. It's someone who shares their faith with another person in order to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And we can go through the list of what it means, what is entailed of being a follower, but here's just a great introduction to that, and that is soul winning. Preaching the gospel, getting people saved. Because here's the thing is, what are we doing when we're soul winning? I'll tell you what we're doing. We're talking about Jesus, right? I mean, that's a very just rudimentary way of explaining it, but that's literally what it is. We're going out there and telling people about Jesus. Now, obviously, we have a very systematic way of doing it. We have the plan of salvation mapped out, and we have all these verses. It's not just like, Jesus loves you, you know? We're actually going out there and showing them from the scriptures, opening our mouths boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel. You are winning people to Christ. And let me say this. If you want to graduate from a fan to a follower, one of the best ways to do it is by learning how to share your faith. Learning how to tell people about Jesus. Hey, learning how to win your friends to Christ. All of us in here, not myself, because all my friends are here, and some of the friends that I have are further out, obviously, and they're pastors, but as far as just friends, I don't really have friends. Some of you might have friends, though, at your job, in your neighborhood, and you know what? There's someone who should come to mind right now, who you've been thinking about, you're like, it's time for me to give this person the gospel. It's time for me to share the Lord Jesus Christ with this person. Hey, there's a cousin that you got. There's an uncle that you have. There is a brother or sister. There's an aunt. There's someone in your family that you know. It's time for you to just go to that person and witness to them. You know, it's time for you to exercise some of that boldness that you have at the door when you go with the church. You need to put on that boldness when you go and talk to that relative, and have that awkward conversation, and just say, hey, I gotta talk to you about something. It's been on my mind for a really long time, and I feel bad that I just have not done it more a lot sooner, but I wanna tell you, because I love you, and it's really important to me, so if you can just listen to me, I wanna show you what the Bible says on how to go to heaven. And be sincere with them. Just tell them, the reason I wanna say this is because according to the Bible, you know, there is a hell, and I don't want you to go there, and so I wanna talk to you about this, and so can you just give me a couple minutes, please, to just kinda explain to you from the Bible what the Bible says about that? You know what? Sincerity of heart can win a lot of people. The point that I'm making here is that, you know what, there's fakes out there. Differentiate who they are. Learn the difference. There's fans out there, so don't think that everyone who talks about Jesus Christ as a fan of Jesus Christ is actually saved, but then there's fans within Christianity of people who are saved. It's time for them to graduate and become a follower of Jesus Christ, someone who continues in the Word of God, someone who's reading the Bible, who makes church a priority, who makes sowing a priority, who makes the Lord Jesus Christ a priority. Which one are you? Well, if you're a fake, get out. But if you're a fan, stick around. And I hope that, if anything, maybe you're not a follower, you graduate today to become one. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your Word, and thank you for the principles thereof, Lord, and we're so thankful that the Word of God is attractive to all. It's even attractive to the unsaved, because the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it has power, has life, and it's able to search the inner recesses and the reigns. And I pray, Lord, that you would continue to use it in our personal lives, but also continue to use it as an instrument in our hands to get it to the public, to those who are not saved, and maybe those who are backslidden, to get right with God. And I pray that you'd bless us as a church, Lord, help us to be followers of you, and we love you, we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Please turn to your song books and song number 44. Song number 44, Will Work Till Jesus Comes. Song number 44, All Together Nice and Strong on that first verse. O land of rest for thee I sigh, when will the moment come? I shall lay my armor by, and dwell in peace at home. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes, and will be gathered home. To Jesus Christ I fled, for rest He paid. He ceased to roam, and lean for succor on His breast till He conduct me home. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes, and will be gathered home. I saw that once my Savior's side, no more my steps shall flow. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes. Will work till Jesus comes, and will be gathered home.