Be Real

that inside of all of us, we long for that which is real and that which is permanent and that which is lasting over that which temporary and juvenile and of the moment. We long for that because we're wired for that in our hearts and in our souls, but we're constantly looking for something to anchor our souls to. And so it's easy for us to actually look to the temporal, the momentary, and the juvenile. And that's what we're gonna talk about this morning. [00:06:15] (30 seconds)  #SeekWhatLasts

But then he gets to this end as he's kinda landing the plane and he almost makes a turn and he's like, hey. You need to watch out for and you need to be aware of false prophets. And so the first thing I hope that we see this morning is number one, that we need to be real about the danger of fake gospels. Be real about the danger of fake gospels. [00:08:58] (23 seconds)  #BewareFakeGospels

And he went outside the city of Jerusalem out into the wilderness, and he began to preach. And he would say, hey. Listen. I have heard from God, and God has shown me that if we will build an army, that he will use me as the messiah to conquer the Romans. And when we gather in up an army, we will pray for eight days. And at the end of eight days, God will tear down the walls of Jerusalem. We will march into Jerusalem, and we'll overthrow the Romans. [00:14:05] (26 seconds)  #FalseMessiahPromises

And so into that culture, Jesus begins to talk about false prophets. Not only were there false prophets, there were also false gospels. See, we tend to think of the phrase gospel as being about Jesus and the good news of peace and salvation that he brought to Earth, but the phrase gospel was already in use when Jesus stepped into the scene. [00:14:53] (21 seconds)  #GospelsCanBeFalse

As a matter of fact, gospel was first used a lot of scholars think the phrase gospel was first used about Caesar Augustus, which funny enough tie like, we've been talking about Caesar Augustus lately because he's the one that set the census that caused Mary and Joseph to to Holy Land or to go to Bethlehem. Right? And so it was the good news of Caesar that was out in the Roman Empire that the good news that Caesar would bring the peace of Rome or the Pax Romana to all the earth and that there would be peace on earth through the Roman Empire. Of course, they brought peace on earth by marching their army in and conquering everyone. [00:15:14] (35 seconds)  #GospelUsedForPower

Just as two thousand years ago, Jesus said, listen. There's all these fake gospels and fake prophets, and so beware of where they're leading you because there's a narrow path. Today, it's no different. There are all of these gospels and all of these thoughts and all of these things that are telling us, hey. Believe this. Think this, spend your money this way, behave this way, believe that, think, all of these things. And they're not directing us to the the narrow gate that Jesus calls us to, but instead, they're calling us to a kingdom of man, platforms of men that put us on a path that is not a narrow gate, but is a wide gate. All of these messages that are out there, what they're competing for is the very thing that Jesus wants from us the most. That's our hearts. [00:19:04] (42 seconds)  #HeartsAreAtStake

They're competing for our minds and our hearts and our souls. And not only that, it's so often caked and and and wrapped up in, like, seemingly biblical, seemingly churchy, seemingly scriptural language that makes it seem like maybe, hey. It is spiritual. Maybe it is something of the lord when in fact it's a fake prophet, a false prophet that's causing us, a false gospel that's leading us away. [00:19:46] (27 seconds)  #WatchForFalseGospels

We live in a moment in history where we hear the most sermons preached to us every single week than any any time in history before. If you're if you're not tracking me, let me tell you what I mean. When I was growing up, the only sermon that we heard all week was on Sunday morning. It was over in the East, sanctuary because that was the only sanctuary this church had. Alright? And we would sit in there, the pastor would preach, that was the sermon. We would go to Luby's, you know, and we would do the thing with the family, and that was the sermon that we heard that week. [00:20:45] (34 seconds)  #SermonsEverywhere

it's gonna push that to me. And because it's being repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated, it begins to take hold into my mind. And what research, like neurological research has shown us is that, hey, the brain is not like developed at one point and then done. No. As you feed our as we feed our brains information and we view things over and over again, it actually rewires the neurological pathways in our brain that over time, if we look at something and we are kinda pushing that thing over and over and over again by that algorithm, it begins to change the way that we think. And by changing the way that we think over time, it changes what we believe in our hearts. And over time, as it changes what we believe in our hearts, it changes how we live and how we act. [00:23:03] (40 seconds)  #AlgorithmsRewireUs

And that's the power that this thing right here has on us. I'm not calling out phones. I'm not calling out podcasts. I mean, I'm gonna get in the car when we get done here to drive back to Dallas, and I'm gonna listen to a podcast. Like, it's not that. It's being real. It should cause us to ask the question, what am I allowing to influence me? [00:23:44] (20 seconds)  #ChooseYourInfluence

we dropped off two princesses at this camp, and we picked up two bros. Alright? Like, what has happened? But we all know exactly what's happened. Right? Because we all live that moment of our lives. Like, you're around people and the way they're talking and the things they're saying and they're what you know, all that type of stuff, it starts to rub off on you. And then by the end of two weeks, it's like that that camp had probably been worked into a bro frenzy. I can't imagine those counselors. Those counselors were just like, oh my gosh. Right? But, like, it it it had rubbed off on us. And we kinda tend to think that that ends when we graduate out of that phase of life, but the reality is that we are still influenced and shaped by the things that we allow to be near us and the things that we allow to permeate our hearts and our minds and our lives, and they just look different as we get older. [00:25:51] (47 seconds)  #EnvironmentShapesYou

``shepherds at the time, they would take their sheep and then they would, you know, shear their sheep. They'd take the wool, and then they would make clothes out of their sheep's wool. And they did that for a couple reasons. They did that because it was cheap and shepherds didn't have a lot of money. They also did that because it when the sheep saw that shepherd, they would be like, hey. That funny looking sheep, but he's one of us. Right? Like, sheep aren't very smart. And so they would be more willing to follow the shepherd. And so when he says that they're coming to you in sheep's clothing, what he's saying is not that they're gonna come looking like the flock, but that they're gonna come looking like a shepherd. [00:27:06] (33 seconds)  #FalseShepherds

And the people that are influencing us and shaping us on and are leading us away from the narrow path that leads to Jesus and onto the wide path that leads to destruction, often they come looking like people of authority because they got a lot of followers, because they have a big platform, because they have a a show, because we've heard other people like like, whatever it is. And because of that, it seems like they have this authority. And because they have this authority, we just assume like, oh, hey. They must have this authority. They must know. And so we just follow what they're shaping us into. [00:27:39] (35 seconds)  #PlatformIsntAuthority

Now here's the interesting thing about that. When he says recognize them by their fruits, like, part of that could be that he means, hey. You'll recognize them by the way they live, the way they talk, and the way they act and all that. But another part that he means by that is is you'll recognize them by what it is they're actually sharing with you, what message, what gospel, what what they're leading you towards. And so, really, what I think he's talking about here is he's talking about holy discernment. In other words, he's saying, hey. You should have enough depth and knowledge and understanding of the gospel and of God's word and understanding that when presented with other messages, we have that back in our in our back pocket, in our minds that we filter the messages that we are receiving, not through the authority supposed authority that people have, but instead through the authority of God's word that he's given us to filter these things through. [00:28:25] (50 seconds)  #KnowByTheirFruits

And so he's saying, hey. Like like, you should know them by their fruits. Use holy discernment, and that comes from spending time in god's word and and being built up not by the things of this world and being discipled not by this, but by this. [00:29:16] (20 seconds)  #FruitOverFlash

And it is a moment though for me to like, oftentimes, I'm like, I know I'm on my phone for work, and I gotta do all those things and, like, like, all that. But I I do sometimes, like, I get that. And I have this moment of conviction where I'm like, I mean, I don't know if I was in God's word that much every day. Like, it's easier for like, let's just talk about the reality. It's easier to be discipled by this than it is to be discipled by this in the culture, in the world, in the moment that we live in. And that's why discernment is so important. That's why it's important for us to be rooted and rested on God's word so that we can be real and be careful about what it is that is shaping us. [00:30:17] (39 seconds)  #DiscernThroughScripture

Now let's be real about the uncomfortableness of that that statement. Right? He he's basically saying that there will be people that show up in eternity, and they're expecting to be granted entrance into heaven, and Jesus will look at them and say, like, I do not know you. [00:31:24] (17 seconds)  #RelationshipNotReligion

And he says to them, hey. You are around the things of God, but you're not actually with and have a relationship with God. Like, it's not for you personally. And, basically, what's happening is is Jesus spent this first warning, warning us about the external influences of our lives, and now he's talking about, hey. But you also need to be wary about the internal influence. Like, is the false is the one that's giving you falsehood somebody externally, or is it your own self? [00:31:59] (29 seconds)  #GuardAgainstSelfDeception

But I do wanna just take a moment as we're getting ready to step upon the threshold of a new year to to encourage us in something. I'm gonna pray a prayer of encouragement over us here in just a minute, but I wanna encourage us in something. That this would be a year where we wouldn't just put it on autopilot and let all of these things that are out there and are speaking to us, our social media feed, the podcast we listen to, the like, all of those things are great things in our lives. [00:34:34] (29 seconds)  #NoAutopilotFaith

But we would be real for just a moment about how those things are shaping us and how they're affecting us. And just because things are like bible and gospel adjacent, we would really look at it through the lens of like, hey. Is this drawing me closer to the narrow path? In other words, is this drawing me closer to the Lord and the things of Jesus and the things of Christ? Is it turning my heart more towards him, or is it pushing me more towards a kingdom of man and an earthly kingdom and the platform of somebody else? [00:35:02] (28 seconds)  #ChooseTheNarrowPath