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So you're there in John chapter 15. John chapter 15. We'll be getting back to that but the name of the sermon is Be Fruitful. Be Fruitful. Now this idea of fruits is something that has been just completely misconstrued a lot of times as far as what that means. What are fruits? And this sermon is really, I just want to clear this up. I want to clear up what does the Bible teach about fruits? But sometimes I think we oversimplify it or we look at one aspect of what the Bible teaches about fruits and then we basically just apply that to everything. So what you have to understand is that the word fruit just means something that's just a product of something. If you think about a produce stand, if you're going down the road and then they're like fresh produce. What is that? It's basically what they produced from their garden. So it's basically what something's producing. So it's like the word repent. The word repent just means to turn from one thing to another but you need context and you need to understand that that term could be used for about anything. It could be dealing with something sinful, it could be dealing with something that's righteous, it could be dealing with anything and so the word fruit, you have to look at the context of what's being said to understand what we're dealing with here. Now what people do a lot of times though is they equate fruits with works. Now go to Philippians chapter, actually go to Psalm 104, I'm going to read to you Philippians chapter 1. But Psalm 104, I want you to see this first, that works and fruits are not the same thing. And Philippians chapter 1 in verse 21 it says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain but if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor. And it says, yet what I shall choose I what not. So the fruit of his labor is, so basically it's the product of his labor. If I continue here in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, this is the product of my labor. So in verse 13 here in Psalm 104, verse 13 it says, he watereth the hills from his chambers, the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. So this would be really weird if he said the work of thy works. Now the point I'm trying to get across here is that when you work it's going to produce something, whether good or bad, meaning that whatever works you do, whether they're good works, if it's good works it's going to produce something good, it's going to be a good type of fruit, if you're working something bad it's going to produce some bad type of fruit. Now there's three different types of fruit I want to talk about. One is the fruit of a Christian, the fruit of a believer, and then the second is the fruit of righteousness, and then the third is the fruit of the spirit. Now what people do is they mix all these together. You go to a Baptist church and it's just like, well the fruit of righteousness and the fruit of the spirit, if you're really saved then you're going to show forth the fruits of the spirit, which it doesn't say fruits by the way, it says the fruit of the spirit. So I want to basically show you that these are three different things. They're all good things, it's all things that you should be bringing forth, but they're different. You can't just mix these all together and you can't just say well, and what I'm going to show you first is that the fruit of the Christian is another Christian. Winning people to Christ and beginning people by the gospel and multiplying. What's the first commandment that God gives to man? Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. So this is something, be fruitful is a command, it's still a command, and for Christians, what we're supposed to be doing is multiplying ourselves. We believe, therefore we need to go out and tell other people so that they'll believe. And we're supposed to be multiplying ourselves. So just to show you that, go to Proverbs chapter 11, Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 30 here. I want to debunk some false doctrine when it comes to, you've probably been in churches where they're like, I'm a fruit inspector, brother. The old fruit inspectors, if you're living in sin, you're not saved. If you do this, you're not saved. I'm inspecting your fruit. I'm going to get to Matthew 7 because that's where they're going to basically go to. But they're completely off base on what fruit is and they're also just saying, they're seeing your works, right? Listen, fornication is not a fruit. I'm going to prove this to you, but like doing something bad, breaking a commandment is not fruit. What I'm going to show you, there is fruit to that. It's not good. But there's something that produces, but it's not something you want. And the idea of saying, hey, I'm watching this person and they're doing this or they're doing that. They're drinking alcohol and they're not producing fruits. It's like, well, you're completely off base then because that's not fruit anyway. I'm not condoning it. But that's not fruit. Now notice what it says in Proverbs 11 verse 30. Proverbs 11 verse 30, it says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of light and he that win its souls is wise. So what it's saying here is the fruit of the righteous and the righteous is dealing with the saved. Those that have been imputed righteousness because they believed on Christ, their soul has no guile or their spirit has no guile, as it says in Psalm 32, these are people that are saved. And it says their fruit is a tree of life. So that's what it is. It doesn't say the fruit of the righteous is someone that does right and keeps the commandments. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win his souls is wise. So what you have here in this verse is it's showing you that the souls are equated with the tree of life and the winning of souls is equated with the fruit of the righteous. Does that make sense? So winning a soul is what you're bringing forth and the tree of life is the soul. And you could probably figure out why that is because they have eternal life. You have a tree that is ever living, it's a tree of life, meaning that when you look at Genesis, what did you know about the tree of life? That if you eat of that, what happens? You live forever. So it's an eternal tree, it's a tree that lives forever. So that's the idea. Now go to Matthew chapter 7 because this is where everybody goes to and says, well, you know, I'm a fruit inspector and I'm going to know you by your fruits. Well, let's see who he's talking to because context matters. Context matters when you're dealing with this passage and you just got done saying not to cast your pearls before swine and give that which is holy unto the dogs, right? So are we talking about good, saved people right here? Then he says here in verse 15, this is beware of false prophets. So who are we talking about? As we go into this, who are we talking about? We're talking about false prophets. Now I'm not saying that this can't be equated the other direction dealing with good prophets, okay? What I'm saying here is that in context, Jesus is not talking about, you know, dealing with good prophets here. He's basically saying false prophets, that's the subject of what's being said, then he's going to do the dichotomy between good and bad, okay? Notice what it says, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves, ye shall know them by their fruits. So that phrase, ye shall know them by their fruits, who's it talking about? Those that come to church but they don't, you know, they're struggling with sin. Context matters, okay? And we need to know that when we're using these type of phrases and terminology, we need to know who we're applying this to. So you know, when I see a false prophet, and I'm going to show you what their fruit is, okay? You know, I can know a false prophet, that's what the Bible is saying here, okay? They're in sheep's clothing. Okay, and listen, by the way, the pope is not a false, he's not a sheep, he's a false prophet, okay? He's not a sheep in wolves' clothing, he's just a wolf, okay? You say, well, he is, they're not saved, okay? So it's not like they're getting, Christians are getting deceived by the pope, okay? By and large, he's just like openly like everything that the Bible says is against, okay? You know, calling a man father, he's going around in long garments, you know, he's, you know, everything that you shouldn't be doing, that's what the pope is doing, and all that. But what we're talking about is in a legitimate churches, you have wolves that are cloaked as if they're Christians, you know, and this is where you get into they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that they might be manifest, that they were not all of us, okay? This has little children as last time, and as you have heard, the antichrist shall come. Even now are there many antichrists, and he's basically saying, hey, you know, there's going to be antichrists among you, okay? There's going to be false prophets among you. Even as there's false prophets back in the day, there shall be false teachers in your day, it says in 2 Peter chapter 2. So you're going to know that they're going to be there, but it says you can know who these people are, okay? So it's not saying like you're just going to have to deal with it, and they're going to be there, and you can't know who these people are, okay? But what the Bible says here, it says you shall know them by their fruits. Notice in verse 16 there, as you keep going, do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? It says, so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. So it's basically saying, okay, let's compare them to trees, okay? Well, that's interesting because, you know, a saved person compared to the tree of life, okay? So what you have is you have a good tree that's bringing forth good fruit, and a bad tree that's bringing forth evil fruit. Now, you know, a tree could just not be bringing forth any fruit. So what you're dealing with in this passage is you're dealing with Christians that are bringing forth fruit and reprobates or children of the devil that are bringing forth their fruit, okay? And there's this middle ground of, okay, we're dealing with, okay, Christians may not be bringing forth fruit. That doesn't mean that they're not saved or they're a corrupt tree, okay? So you're dealing with the extremes, okay? You're dealing with saved people that are bringing forth fruit that are doing great things for God, and then you have, you know, these reprobate people, okay? So we're not dealing with just typical unsaved people or we're not dealing with saved people that aren't bringing forth fruit. Does that make sense? Complete polar opposites of what we're dealing with here, okay? Now this is why it's ridiculous to say that this passage is talking about, and the next verse here is going to show you that, it's ridiculous to say that this is talking about a Christian keeping the commandments. Notice what it says in the next verse here. It says, a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Now tell me right now that you never break a commandment, because I'll call you a liar, okay? If we say that we have no sin, you know, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You know what that means? You're a liar, okay? So because fleshly speaking, we have sin, okay? Now you can over spiritualize and say, well, of course our inner man doesn't have sin and can't bring forth evil fruit, and that's true, okay? But we're talking about what you can see, okay? We're talking about the fact that Jesus is saying you're going to see this, okay? So if you're going to say, well, this is bad works or this is someone not keeping the commandments, then I would out everybody in here as being a corrupt tree, because it'd be like, well, you can't bring forth evil fruit, okay? And this doctrine of sinless perfection, you know, fleshly speaking, is damnable, meaning that it is just not true. It's ridiculous to say that people that are saved never sin again, okay? Physically speaking, okay? And again, they're missing the fact that you have the old man and new man. You have the soul and the spirit that are perfect without sin, but then you have the flesh that has sin and in it dwells no good thing, okay? But the good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewed down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them, okay? So again, who are you talking about? False prophets, okay? And it's saying, hey, one brings forth like figs and grapes. The other one brings forth thorns and thistles, okay? Now I don't have this in my notes, and I'm not about to go into all this, but when you're dealing with false prophets and you're dealing with reprobates, they're always likened to thorns and briars, okay? You can go to, I think it's 2 Samuel chapter 23, where David's talking about it and says, all the sons of Belial are as thorns and briars, okay? So it equates children of the devil with thorns and briars. So if a child of the devil is equated to a thorn and briar, what's it going to bring forth, okay? Okay, so what it's stating here is that you just simplify this, okay? You go up to an apple tree, and it has an apple on it, okay? It's a good tree, okay? How do you know it's a good tree, okay? And how do you know it's an apple tree? Okay, now you could be an arborist. Is that the right term? Arborist? Anyway, so you can know everything about trees, okay? I mean, I know that's an apple tree, but most of us are looking at a tree, and I'm like, that's an apple tree. And you're like, how do you know that? Because there's apples on it, okay? Or that's an orange tree, or that's a pear tree, and you'd be like, well, how do you know that? Or, you know, did you study that? No, I see a pear, you know? So I know it by its fruit. But if I go to a thorn bush, and usually you don't see it, you feel it, because you find it as you're walking through and you get stabbed by it, you know it, why? Because it's bringing forth thorns and briars, right? It's very obvious of what it's bringing forth, okay? Now, that's very simple, but go to Matthew 23, because I'm gonna show you what this is talking about. Because obviously, he's liking it under trees and fruit, okay? So he's giving you an earthly example to explain how to find out who these people are, okay? Because reprobates, for example, you know, they do everything, okay? And they do things that are unnatural, too. But they do natural sins, too. It's not like they just only do unnatural sins, okay? Does that make sense? Like, they do unnatural things, but they also do everything, okay? They're full of all unrighteousness, wickedness, fornication, all that. So it's not like, you know, like, well, you know, they did this over here, but that's natural, so, you know, they're gonna do everything. So that being said, you can't just look at their works, necessarily, unless it is unnatural type things, okay? And in those cases that are unnatural, guess what they're trying to do? They're trying to reproduce, okay? When it comes to all those unnatural things. But notice what it says in verse 15. So Matthew 23 and verse 15, it says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. All right, so he's not dealing with his disciples here, okay? This whole chapter, this whole chapter, he's just ripping their face off, okay? It says, for ye capacity in land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. So what are they doing? They're reproducing. They're making proselytes. What's a proselyte? It's basically a disciple, right? It's someone that's a follower of them, or they, you know, they converted them. It's a converted person, right? So what are they, you know, what are they bringing forth? They're bringing forth corrupt fruit, okay? So when you see a false prophet, what's he bringing forth? Who are, you know, who are the people, you know, that come out of that church? What are they, what kind of doctrine do they have? You know, what are they, are they bringing forth? Are they getting people saved? Are they doing this or that? You know, what's their fruit? You know, what's coming forth from them, okay? And that's why when you see Ruckmanites, you know, you see Peter Ruckman, you see everybody that's coming out of that, and they all have that same Danville heresy that's coming out. You see stuff like John MacArthur and all his little, you know, people that are, that he's bringing forth are all just like him, okay? Makes sense, okay? Because everything brings forth that of its own kind, okay? So you know, you say, well, how do you know whether someone's saved, okay? Because that's the question that everybody's going to ask, you know, how do you know whether you're saved? Well, you know, honestly, you know, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, okay? So there's the fruit of the lips that you can look at, but in the end, you can't know someone's heart. But if I go out soloing with somebody, and I see that person get saved, okay, and let's say I see that person get someone else saved, you know what I'm going to determine after that? That person's a good tree. Because that person believes the right gospel, you know, they're preaching the right gospel that this person actually believed it, that person then got someone else saved, you know, and the fruit is showing you, hey, this is a good tree, okay? Does that mean that someone that doesn't produce fruit is unsaved? No, okay? But you know what that tells me is that it's harder to know people are saved when you're not, you know, actively bearing fruit. Does that make sense? So it's easier in our church to see this, because a lot of people go soul winning, right? Most of our church goes soul winning. So we're going out week by week, and we're seeing people get saved. You know what? But I've been out with people that turned out to be reprobate, and I remember seeing them give the gospel, and I remember seeing, you know, the confused look on people's faces when they would pray with them, but it was just like, you know that person didn't get it, right? And you just never see that person bring forth good fruit, okay? And so, you know, these are ways that you can know a good prophet, okay, meaning someone that's a good preacher of the gospel, and a false prophet, someone that's preaching a false gospel is, you know, are all their converts coming up to you and saying, hey, it's works, you got to repent of your sins, you got to do this or that, okay? Or are they all coming up to you saying, hey, I believe it's by grace through faith, you can never lose your salvation, and, you know, they believe right, okay? And that's how you can know that to be true, but, and I was going to show you another place here, but I don't want to take too much time on this point. By the way, this first point is going to be the crux of the sermon here, so the other two points are kind of just, I want to show you those, but I really just want to just nail this down, that when we're dealing with you shall know them by their fruits, you're not dealing with their works, okay? You're dealing with what are they producing, what are they bringing forth, okay? And this is where, okay, go to Matthew chapter three, and I know this is a more difficult passage here, but a lot of people bring this up, and they say, what is this talking about, okay? Well, when you read Matthew 23 and you understand that these people are bringing forth false proselytes, right, they're bringing forth two-fold children of hell, then you can understand where John the Baptist is coming from here, okay? Notice what he says in verse seven, it says, or what the Bible says here, it says, but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, now notice, I want you to notice this too, I don't have the verse here, but when they come there, they wanted to be baptized too, okay? So this is why he's saying it to him, and he, John the Baptist said unto him right here, it says, oh generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bring forth therefore fruits, meet for repentance, okay, and people, this phrase right here is just confused to everybody, you know, and don't get me wrong, it's a little cryptic, it's not something that you normally say or just the language, right? This is where people say, well, you know, you need to repent of your sins, and you need to do works that are gonna prove that you're saved, that's when people get out of this, I'm just telling you straight up, this is what they're saying it's saying, okay? But he's saying, bring forth therefore fruits, meet for repentance, so we know that fruits isn't works, right? We know that it's what they're bringing forth, which it actually even says that there, okay? Bring forth fruits, meet for repentance, now what's that mean? Worthy or basically that are able to repent, now the Bible says that there are people that God doesn't give repentance to anymore, okay? So what I believe he's saying is that they're bringing forth all their proselytes to him, and they can't repent, they're twofold a child of hell, okay, and you say, well, how do you know this is talking about children, well, look at the next verse, and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to what? Raise up children unto Abraham, so what are we talking about when we're talking about fruits, we're talking about children, we're talking about, you know, bringing forth after your own kind, okay? And what John the Baptist saw with these vipers is that they were bringing forth corrupt fruit and he knew they were false prophets, and he knew that they were just coming down and saying, yeah, we want to get baptized, but you know what he was saying? You're not saved, I'm not baptizing you, okay? You know how I know that? Because you shall know them by their fruits, okay? So you know, and notice what it says, and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is shewn down and cast into the fire, okay? Now in context, what does this go back to, Matthew chapter 7, okay? This doesn't mean that if you're a Christian, you don't bring forth any fruit that you're going to be cast into the fire, okay? What it's saying here is that these people are bringing forth corrupt fruit, okay? So that means they're not bringing forth good fruit, okay? He's basically saying they're not bringing forth good fruit, they're bringing forth corrupt fruit, therefore they're going to be hewn down and cast into the fire, okay? So and I know I hit through this when we went through Matthew, but it's been a while, right? So I think this is something that needs to be reminded, and I preached a sermon on the fruit of the Spirit last year, I think around November. I was actually writing this, I'm like, I feel like I preached on this before, and I looked it up, and it was almost a year ago. But I think it's something that really needs to be nailed in, that hey, when we're talking about knowing someone by their fruits, and the fruit of a Christian or the fruit of righteous, we're talking about another Christian, okay? So if you want to play that game, be like, I'm a fruit inspector, then there's going to be a lot of unsafe people you're going to find. Because most Christians do not bear fruit, fact, okay? Sad, sad, you know, but it's sad, but it's true, okay? Most Christians don't bring forth fruit. And you know what? That doesn't mean they're not saved, okay? Because the Bible doesn't say bring forth fruit and thou shalt be saved, okay? And I'm going to get to John 15 here in a second. But go to Psalm 127, Psalm 127, and just to prove this further to you, that fruit is something that you bring forth, and you can go all the way back to Genesis 1, okay? Everything brings forth after its own kind. This is very simple, okay? You bring forth after your own kind, okay? So all these fruits that I'm going to be talking about, whether it's the fruit of the righteous, whether it's the fruit of righteousness, or whether it's the fruit of the spirit, it's bringing forth after itself, okay? So if you're saved and you're made righteous by the blood of the lamb, what are you going to do? You're going to bring forth someone that's saved and is made righteous by the blood of the lamb. That's why in Daniel chapter 12, it talks about they made many righteous. They purified and made many white, okay? You know, it's talking about the fact that you give them the gospel, they've been made righteous and they have eternal life, now they're a tree of life because you won their soul to the Lord, okay? Now in Psalm 127 in verse 3, notice what it says, and this is definitely a very applicable passage to our church because we have a lot of children. Actually half our church, if not more than half, is children, which is great. But notice what it says in verse 3 here, it says, lo children are in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. So notice how it equates children with fruit of the womb, okay? So what's the fruit of Holly and I? My wife, if you don't know that's my wife, but what's the fruit of my wife and I, right? Clara, Anna, Emma, and the one that's on the way, okay? That's our fruit, okay? Is that the only fruit we ever produce as far as like Christians, you know, is that the only fruit in the world? Okay? The point I'm trying to get across here is that the Bible talks about fruit dealing with not just straight up apples and grapes and stuff like that, right? The Bible talks about fruit and dealing with other aspects, but in context of the fruit of a Christian, you're dealing with another Christian, okay? Now notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4 just to show you directly that when it's talking about, you know, the fruit, it's talking about the fact that, hey, we're bringing forth another saved person through the Gospel, okay? Notice what it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 15, 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 15, it says, for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel. Now what's another way of saying begotten? To bring forth, okay? When you beget a son, what are you doing? You're bringing forth a son, okay? So you're bringing forth someone through the Gospel. So that's what you're doing. You're duplicating, you're multiplying yourself, okay? So it's very simple when you think about it as far as what's the fruit of a Christian, okay? So when it comes to me saying, okay, how do you know that person saved? Well, I'm going to ask them, first of all, what do you believe it takes to get to heaven? That's number one, okay? You know, what do you believe, okay? But honestly, that, they could be lying because reprobates know the truth, you know, they knew God, but the Lord, if I'm not, has got us, you know, reprobates know what they should say, okay? But how ultimately am I going to know, what are they producing, okay? And that comes to churches in general, okay? You say, well, is that church, a good church? What's it producing? Say, well, it's not producing anything, but then it's unprofitable, okay? It's just like a tree, you're like, that's an apple tree over there, be like, well, it's not producing anything, so it's kind of worthless. You're like, I can't believe you'd say a church. It's not producing fruit is worthless. I didn't say it. Actually, the Bible says that. Actually, the Bible says that if you've lost your Savior, you know, as a salt, if you're not the salt of the earth, you're good for nothing, and to be trodden underfoot of men. That's what the Bible says. That's Jesus. And by the way, that's the Sermon on the Mount, that everybody loves it. That's right after the Beatitude, that's right after blessed are the meek, for they should inherit the earth, blessed are the pure in heart, for they should see God. And by the way, if you're not the salt of the earth and you've lost your Savior, you're good for nothing, okay? So this is a sermon to Christians saying, hey, you know what, if you want to be profitable, you need to be bringing forth fruit. Now go to Galatians chapter 6, because I just want to really nail this down, too, that the fruit of a Christian is reaping a tree of life, right? Or eternal life. And a lot of people take this verse and say, well, you know, I need to do good things in order to reap everlasting life, meaning I need to, this is me getting everlasting life because I'm sowing, you've got to sow to the Spirit to get that everlasting life, okay? But that's not what it's talking about, okay? It says in verse 7 here, it says, be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, okay? But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting, and let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Now I'm going to tell you that this is clearly talking about winning people to Christ, okay? You sow to the Spirit, meaning that you're going out soul winning and you're filled with the Spirit and you're walking in the Spirit and he's giving you utterance to open your mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, someone gets saved, what have you just reaped? Everlasting life. Now that person has everlasting life, okay? It's a tree of life. You've won a soul, okay? But just to show you that further, go to John chapter 4 because Jesus is going to say this, okay? Because I think John 4 really just shows you what Galatians 6 is talking about, okay? Again people will say and be like, well, you need to not be weary in well-doing and if you faint, you know, then you're going to not go to heaven, okay? People literally take all these passages and just turn them on their head, but you're dealing with, okay, if you're sowing in the Spirit, if you're walking in the Spirit, then you know what? You're going to end up reaping everlasting life. And notice what it says in verse 34. So John 4 verse 34 says, Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work, okay? Say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest, behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest. Now do you think Jesus is just talking about fields of like grain and wheat? Or do you think he's talking about the fact that he was just talking to the woman at the well and he was giving her the gospel, okay? And it says, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he has sent forth labors into his harvest. The idea is the fact that, hey, the harvest is the world, okay? The harvest is the people that you need to give the gospel to. And notice what it says right after this, right? It says, and he that reapeth receiveth wages, and notice this, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. So what are you doing? You're reaping everlasting life. Every soul that you win, you're reaping everlasting life. And here's the thing, you say, well, you're gathering, you know, both the sower and he that reapeth may rejoice together, and it's talking about later on and saying that, hey, some have already labored in it, right? So sometimes, you know, you'll water and then the other person will reap. So it's not saying, like, you're always going to be the person reaping that and winning that person, meaning that a lot of this we're doing together. It's fall. Sorry you turned that heat on. It just dries everything out. But the idea, though, is that you're reaping life everlasting. So hopefully that makes sense there, okay? Now I was going to get into the parable of the sower, but go to John 15, because I kind of want to end on this point, right, on the number one here, the fruit of the righteous. But in the parable of the sower, you have four different cases, right? You have the seed which fell by the wayside. You have the seed that was on the stony ground, and then thorns, and then on the good ground. Now the first one is obvious, person didn't get saved, you know, Satan took away the word lest they should believe and be saved, right? I mean, it's very clear that that person didn't get saved. But the other ones did get saved, okay? It's very clear, if you look at all the different passages, the one on stony ground just didn't have a good root, okay? They weren't rooted and grounded in the faith, therefore they fell out, okay? And then the thorns, it just, the cares of this world choked it, okay? But those were both saved believers. Do you notice that the majority of the ones that believed didn't do anything. They weren't bringing forth fruit, but that last one on good ground, and I'll just read to you what it says in Luke 8 verse 15, it says, but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience, okay? And I don't have time to go through that whole lesson with those, but I proved at nauseum when we went through Matthew 13 that those other two are saved, okay? They're just ones that, you know, either didn't get grounded and they had persecution, fell out, or they, you know, the cares of this world, you know, the riches and everything else that can choke you and cause you to not be fruitful. But it talks about, you know, bringing forth 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold, and what you have to understand is that I believe that's talking about yearly, okay? Because it talks about you shall reap in due season. You think about every year, you know, you say, what's the mark of how many people I should be getting saved? Well, I think that's a good mark to look at, you know, 30, 60, 100, you know, as far as the year goes, okay? And let's say you won somebody every week, that's 52 people a year, okay? So you're almost at the 60 mark. Now there's gonna be weeks where you're not gonna win somebody, but then there's weeks where you win two people and you say, well, I haven't won anybody or I've won one person. Hey, if you've won one person, you've done more than most Christians, okay? I'm not saying that's where you should stop, okay? What I'm just saying this is that most Christians are not fruitful. Most Christians are not this good ground, okay? But that's what you should be striving for and that's what John 15 is dealing with. So when you're dealing with being fruitful, first you need to have good ground, which is a good and honest heart when you're going into the Word of God and just keep it, okay? It says for you to do something, do it. And that's, you know, dealing with the Word of God, the seed is the Word of God, right? And so we need to just be in the Word of God, keeping his commandments, trying to strive to do whatever he wants us to do and notice in John 15, John 15 verse 1. This passage is not talking about eternal salvation. Now people want to try to do that, but John 15, he's talking to his disciples and he's basically saying, this is what's gonna make you my disciples. And by the way, being a disciple is not synonymous with being saved, okay? It is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, okay? You're saved, you're a believer, you have eternal life. Being a disciple, now you have a lot of stipulations that you have to pick up his cross daily, you have to deny yourself, you have to be willing to forsake father, mother, you know, family. You have to, you know, basically abide in him, as the Bible says, and you have to be fruitful, okay, to be his disciple. And so this is something that you have to be working for and doing, okay? Now to say this, you say, well, work, you know, fruit does not work, yeah, but it takes work to get the fruit, okay? Would anybody here say that soul winning is not work? If it wasn't work and it was easy, everybody would be doing it, okay? Every Christian would be doing it if it was easy, if it had no, you know, drawbacks to it, if it wasn't hard, but you know what, it is work. What's the product of that work? What's the fruit of that work? Souls saved, people going to heaven, and that's why we do it. So in John 15, verse one, it says, I am the true vine and my father is the husband then, okay? So notice that Jesus is, and obviously, you can't take the vine and the, you know, because in another place, it talks about branches and all this other stuff, you gotta just stick where you're at, okay? In this discussion that Jesus is saying, he's saying, I am the vine, okay? I am the vine, my father is the husband then, and ye are the branches, okay? So that's what we're dealing with here. He's the vine, and basically, all the branches are coming off of that, does that make sense? And the father is the husband then, okay? I mean, he's the one taking care of everything, okay? So he's showing you, you know, the relationship here. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now, just think about a tree, okay? You have an apple tree. Let's say you have a branch over there that's just withering away, it's just dead, you know, like James chapter two, you know, faith without works is dead, okay? They're not doing anything, it's not producing anything, all it's doing is suckling off the moisture that the other branches could get, okay? Does that make sense? And he's basically saying, hey, if you're not bringing forth fruit, he's gonna take that away, okay? Kind of like the church in Ephesus, he's gonna take away the candlestick if they don't repent and do the first works, okay? And notice what it says here, you know, he's purging that branch that's bringing forth fruit, that it will bring forth more fruit. So when you first get saved, listen, there's a lot of purging that needs to happen, but you can get people saved and you can win people to Christ the moment you get saved, and I've seen it happen. You know, someone understands the gospel, they have one of those little tracts or whatever, they'll go to their family member and they'll get someone saved. But you know what? They're not gonna bring forth a lot of fruit unless they purge out things in their life, okay? And that's what he's saying here is that, hey, if you're bringing forth fruit, you're gonna try to get around all those rough edges, get all that stuff that's holding you back, purge it, right? It says in verse three, now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. So he's basically saying, hey, you're clean. So he's not saying like, hey, you're not clean unless you abide in me, you're not saved unless you abide in me. It says abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. So this is, Jesus abiding with you is not synonymous with the Holy Ghost indwelling you, okay? The Holy Ghost indwelling you, that's something that's forever, the moment you believe, but Jesus coming and making his abode with you and abiding in you, listen, he that abideth in him, sinneth not, the Bible says. So that means that if you want Jesus abiding with you at that moment, then you need to not be sinning, first of all. And when you're out soul winning, don't tell me that you win someone to Christ by sinning because that's ridiculous, okay? So when you win someone to Christ, you're in the Spirit and you're not sinning as you're doing that. Does that make sense? And so abiding in him, that's something that we want to strive for, but he's basically saying, hey, listen, you can't win someone without me. That's why it's ridiculous to say that you can get someone saved without the Word of God. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and you're going to tell me, oh, they don't need the Word of God, even though it's by the incorruptible seed that we're born again by. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So just as much as when you say that the Word of God doesn't need to be there, you might as well tell me Jesus doesn't need to be there and the Bible says you cannot bring forth fruit without me. You can do nothing without me. That should be common sense, okay? But it's lost on people today and it's baffling to me. You say, why do you get angry about that? Because they're giving people a false sense of security when you go out soul winning without the Word of God and then you give some shallow soul winning presentation and you pray a prayer with somebody and then they think, oh, I'm saved, but yet they haven't actually believed on anything. They haven't heard the Word. They don't have that incorruptible seed to regenerate them and all you need is probably John 3.16, but you won't do it and it's baffling to me that people do that. And even children, listen, children need to hear the Word of God, okay? You don't need to like give them the most complicated verses in the world and I'm not saying you can't explain it, but they need the Word of God. They need to at least hear John 3.16. They need to hear that for all of a sudden it comes true with the glory of God and just tell them, hey, you're a sinner, okay? Explain what that means, but they need to hear it, okay? And notice, keep going on there, it says, I am the vine, ye are the branches, verse 5 there. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abideth not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gathered them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. So they go to hell. No, that's what people say though. It's ridiculous. Listen, when it says burned or fire, it's not always talking about hell. It's giving you a physical example. If you cut a branch off a tree, what are you going to do with it? You're going to put it in a pile, you're going to burn it, okay? So he's giving you an example that he's like, I'm done with you, okay, as a Christian. Now God has a lot of grace and this isn't like God's just like, all right, you got saved, you're not bearing fruit, you're done. I'm cutting you off, okay? God has a lot of patience, long suffering, and mercy with Christians, okay? But he's just giving you an example that, hey, he's not working with you, he's not purging a branch, he's not bringing forth anything, okay? So if you want God to be working in your life, you better be trying to bring forth fruit. Now as you keep reading there, it says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Here it is, my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples, okay? It does not say, so shall you have eternal life, so shall you be saved, it doesn't say, so shall you be a believer, okay? It says, now you clean already, but unless you abide in me, you're not going to bring forth fruit. And it's saying this, and this may be a hard pill to swallow, but if you're not bringing forth fruit, you're not his disciple. So don't put on your Facebook that you are a disciple of Jesus unless you're bringing forth fruit, unless you're winning people to Christ, okay? And you know what, that's what the Bible teaches. Now let's keep going here, I got a little bit of time to hit these other points, but that's kind of the main point I wanted to hit, okay? Last year I hit on the fruit of the Spirit, which I'm going to get to, but I really just want to get this, the fruit of a Christian is another Christian. And the Bible says, hey, we should be fruitful and multiply. And the only way you're going to do that is abiding in him, okay? Abiding in him, having a good and honest heart, keeping the word that you have, and going forward with that, let him purge you so you can bring forth more fruit, and we should all be doing that. None of us can say, we don't need to be purged anymore. We should all be saying, hey, I need purged more, I need to bring forth more fruit, I need to get better, okay? Now in, you go to Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter one, I'm going to show you this, and I'm just going to kind of explain this one really quick, because it's pretty simple, okay? This is the fruits of righteousness, okay? So you don't want to mix these up, okay? They're both good, okay? Winning someone the Christ is good, okay? But I want you to see, the fruit of the righteous and the fruit of righteousness are two different things, okay? Righteousness is like acts, does that make sense? Righteousness, someone that's righteous is a person, do you see the difference? These are things that are being done, this is a person, okay? So you know, they're different things, but they're both good, okay? But it says in Philippians chapter one, verse nine, it says, in this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God, okay? So it doesn't really tell us what they are necessarily, okay? But really it's the products of righteousness, okay? If you're, what righteousness produces is what you're getting here, okay? And then I'll show you another place where it says James chapter three, James chapter three. James chapter three. James chapter three and verse 15, just to show you kind of the dichotomy they're showing here of the earthly wisdom and wisdom that's from above, it says, this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish, for where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace, okay? So in all this, okay, I'll show you Romans chapter six, because I'm kind of losing time here. I'm down on time. What we have here is that if you do righteousness, you're going to reap the fruit of that righteousness, and it's going to be good things. Does that make sense? I'll read for you in Romans chapter two. Romans chapter two, it says, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile, but glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. So what's the fruit of doing righteousness? It's that you're going to have glory, honor and peace, okay? What's the fruit of doing wickedness? You're going to have anguish, wrath, tribulation, you know, it's going to be, you know, you're going to have punishment, okay? Righteousness, good things, you know, evil deeds, bad things, okay? It's very simple, okay? But to have fruits of righteousness is meaning that you're doing right, you're keeping the commandments, you're keeping his, you know, his law, you're doing what he tells you to do and you're going to reap fruit from that, okay? Now in Romans chapter 6 here, it's dealing with the fact of, you know, the old man, new man and the fact that we have the new man now that we can reap fruit, but it says in those in verse 21, it says, what fruit had you then in those things wherever you are now ashamed? So it's basically saying before you were saved, you just had the flesh, you were dead and unregenerated, you know, even spiritually, but it says you, you know, what fruit had you? For the end of those things is death. See ultimately, the fruit of sin is death, right? Lust when it had conceived, bring forth sin and sin when it is finished, bring forth death, okay? What's bring it forth talking about? Producing, okay? Lust will produce sin. Sin will produce death, corruption, you know, wrath, indignation, all that stuff. But it says, but now, in verse 22, being made free from sin, become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness in the end everlasting life, okay? So when you're doing righteousness, you know, basically there's a lot of things that are and it's basically saying ultimately, you're gonna be living forever, but it doesn't have to, it's basically saying that you are now made free from sin because you believed on Christ. And I know I'm not going the whole context here, but if you go to chapter 5 to chapter 6, that's the context, but it's basically saying, hey, your fruits were unto death before this because you were living in, you know, in the flesh. But now you have the option to live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and do righteousness and to basically reap the benefits of doing righteousness. And one of these examples would be this, in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 7, it says, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, okay? So what's the fruit of doing righteousness? As a Christian, okay? Because for an unsaved person, they're right, you know, their righteousnesses are as filthy rags, okay? There's no, it's not like you're gonna get a reward for that when you're in hell, does that make sense? But as a saved person, you know, doing righteousness, keeping his commandments, listen, there's rewards. There's fruit, there's a product for that work that you do, okay? So fruit isn't always just talking about winning people to Christ, okay? You know, the pure religion done before God and the Father is this, that you visit the Father, the widows and the fatherless in their affliction and that you keep yourself unspotted from the world, okay? There's other things we're supposed to do besides just winning people to Christ. Now that's huge, obviously, and that's the fruit of, that's what we bring forth, we're bringing forth of our own kind, but you should be bringing forth, you should be doing works and then you're gonna be reaping or bringing forth the fruits of that, which is honor, glory, peace, right? All those things that are gonna come with that. Now going on from that, I wanna show you the last thing is the fruit of the Spirit. So we saw the fruit of the righteous is the tree of life and he who win his soul is wise, so what's the fruit of a Christian? Another Christian. So very simple that our fruits that you see would be another Christian. What's the fruit of a reprobate? Another reprobate, okay? What's the fruit of a human being? Another human. What's the fruit of a monkey? Another monkey. What's the fruit of an apple tree? An apple. And so all I have to say is that it's very simple when you really just understand what fruit means. Now, Galatians chapter 5, Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16, just to show you context here, it says, this I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lust is against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you're not under the law. So it's basically saying if you're led of the Spirit, meaning you're walking in the Spirit, then you're not under the law. Guess what? If you're walking in the flesh and not walking in the Spirit, you are under the law. So that means you're gonna reap what you've sown in the flesh. Now notice in verse 19. Now the works of the flesh. Now notice that this did not say the fruit of the flesh. Notice that? It says the works of the flesh. So this is what you're doing, not what you're reaping or getting, you know, it's not what it's producing, okay? It says this is the works, now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wraths, stripes, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, okay? Now this is very clear when you look at other places where it says flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This is the works of the flesh. So your flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God and guess what? These works right here are not gonna give you an inheritance in eternal life, meaning it's not gonna be anything good that's gonna be like represented at the judgment seat of Christ, it's not gonna be anything that's gonna be worth anything, and these are works but it's not telling you what the fruit of that is, okay? Now I already showed you in Romans chapter two what the fruit of doing those works would be, right? Wrath, indignation, tribulation, anguish, okay? That's the fruit. That's what it's gonna produce, okay? It's gonna produce, ultimately it could produce death, sickness, disease, corruption, like that's the fruit of doing those things, okay? But you know, doing that or the works of it are different than what it's gonna bring forth. Notice in verse 22, but the fruit, now I want you, you know, if you don't mind underlining in your Bible, underlining the word fruit, is that singular or plural? Singular, right? How many people are here, well you need to bring forth the fruits of the spirit, okay? Now it's the fruit of the spirit, and you say, well why is that a big deal? Because there's nine things mentioned, and I don't believe they can be separated, okay? Meaning the fruit of the spirit is all these at once, does that make sense? So you don't just say, well I have love, but I'm not good, you know, does that make sense? Like you can't just separate these things. And notice what it says, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And neither did our Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. So this is basically saying, you know what this chapter's talking about, don't walk in the flesh, walk in the spirit, okay? And what you have here, the spirit is a person, right? The third person of the Trinity. So what are you bringing forth, you know, here? You're bringing forth, you know, who God is, okay? See God is love, therefore he can bring forth love. I'm not love, that's not, you know, like I'm not the epitome of love, does that make sense? Like I'm not peace, I'm not long suffering, you know, like I'm not that, okay? These are attributes, but these are things who God is, okay? So that's why when you bring forth the fruit of the spirit, you're bringing forth who God is, okay? So for this to be like, well, you know, the fruit of the Christian is love, peace, no, what? I thought it was God is love, okay? And everything brings forth after its own kind, so God's gonna bring forth love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, gentleness, you know, faith, meekness, temperance, okay? So it's not saying that you shouldn't bring forth this, okay? But at the same time, if you're walking in the spirit, this is what should be brought forth, and I believe the reason it says it in singular, like the fruit of the spirit is because it's all or nothing, okay? You're either bringing forth who God is or you're not, okay? And God is, you don't just pick apart who God is, okay? He's all of it. It's all or nothing, okay? That's why it's ridiculous to say, well, you know, God is, you know, love, but, you know, that's it. That's it? I thought God, you know, is also a man of war. I thought God was also a consuming fire. So you can't just take it and just say, well, it's just this one, okay? And that's what people do. They grab on to be like, well, it's just this one. It's just this fruit. No, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and it goes on down the line, okay? And God is a lot of different things, okay? And it's basically stating here that, hey, if you're walking in the spirit, and notice that there's a difference between living in the spirit and walking in the spirit. If you live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Go to Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 5, because the idea of being a child of God and walking as a child of God are two different things, and this is where people get confused when it comes to a lot of passages in the Bible, okay? Because the passages are always trying to say, well, you've got to do this or you're not safe. It's always dealing with walking or being a disciple or being fruitful or abiding in Him. It's always these passages they take you to, okay? Because they don't understand that, hey, living in the spirit is salvation, you know? And walking in the spirit, that's something that you choose to do as a Christian, and you should do it, but you don't have to be safe. Notice what it says in verse 8, so Ephesians 5 verse 8, we're going to see the same kind of thing being said. It says, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Notice that now. Now are ye the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what ye shall be, but ye know that when ye shall appear ye shall be like him, for ye shall see him as he is. We're now the sons of God, we're now, we're light in the Lord, right? Notice what it says, walk as children of light. So notice it says, now you are the children of light, but walk as children of light. Does that make sense? And it says, For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. So walking as a child of light is the same as walking in the Spirit, okay? It's the same as putting on the new man. Go to Colossians chapter 3, this is the last thing I'll show you here. This is why when you're going through 1 John, it'll basically say, if you hate your brother, you're angry with your brother without a cause, you're not in the Spirit. You can't say Christ is abiding in you if you're doing those things because you're in the flesh, okay? It's not saying God isn't with you, does that make sense? Abiding in somebody and dwelling in somebody are different, meaning that the Holy Ghost is with you forever, dwelling inside of you. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, okay? But Christ abiding with you and being on you and being filled with the Spirit, that is not an automatic thing, okay? And that's what we're talking about. We're talking about walking in the Spirit. We're talking about being filled with the Spirit and walking in the new man. That is something that is not automatic and it's not all the time, okay? Now people may think that, may be people that, I'm always walking in the Spirit, brother. Yeah, right. Okay, who are you fooling, okay? I'm going to just tell you, there's times I'm not walking in the Spirit. You know why? Because I, well, I'm not going to tell you why, but you know, the idea is that, the idea that I've never sinned, like I never get into the flesh, I never have a bad day, I never say something I'm not supposed to say, right? That never happens. That's ridiculous. And anybody that's selling you that is selling you a bill of goods and they're lying to you. So Colossians chapter three and verse nine, it says, lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Now, when you look at Ephesians and you look at Colossians, Ephesians will say, put on the new man. And in here it says, ye have put on the new man. So in this case, when it's saying put it on, that's implying that, you know, you're talking about the fact that you need to put on the new man because you're in the flesh and it's implying the old man is still there, the flesh. When it's saying you have put on the new man, that's implying that, hey, we're talking about your soul. Does that make sense? We're talking about something that had been done, right? You know, ye are yet done been saved and I have the new man, I have the new creature, right? Because those that are in Christ, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. That is true, spiritually speaking. So, you know, in the soul, I'm not putting on the new man every day. Does that make sense? The soul is already there, the new man's there, but the flesh it's not and that means I need to take my spirit, my soul and just put that on to the new man, or I'm sorry, the old man, okay? I know this is a little deep, but verse 11 there says, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Okay, so we're talking about the inner man, you know, that is a new creature. It says, put on therefore, now notice that there's a difference between you have put it on, okay, now it's saying put it on, okay? So we just got done talking about Christ in you, we're in, you know, the inner man, all that stuff, now it's saying basically you want to take that new man and put it on, okay? Meaning that you want to cover up the flesh, you want to clothe that flesh with this new man. It says put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels and mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye and above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, through the which also you are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Okay, so you can see a lot of other things that I believe is applying here. Now you could, and I've done this in the past where I've taken these, this from verse 12 down to verse 15, and there's different things that are being said in equating it to Galatians chapter 5, but it could be this, is the fact that hey, God has a lot of attributes, okay? And Galatians 5 is just hitting on them, okay? And it's basically maybe saying hey, this is an all-inclusive list, okay? Like I said, God is a consuming fire, God, you know, is a man of war, God is angry with the wicked every day, and there's a lot of attributes of God, and here it's giving some other ones, okay? So you can look at it that way, as far as forbearing one another, forgiving one another. God is very forgiving, and very forbearing, okay? He has bowels of mercies, right? And all that, now some of these are the same, like longsuffering and meekness, right? Those are exactly the same, but, so you could say okay, I'm gonna take these, and I've done it, you know, where you kind of equate them, and try to equate them, but I more so think that he's just kind of showing you some more, okay? You have Colossians that shows you some, and then Galatians shows you some more, and you know what? The whole Bible's gonna show you who God is, you know, what his attributes are, and you know what you should do? You should bring that forth, okay? Bring that forth to the forefront, and put it on, you know, put you on Christ, the Bible says. It says in Romans, so I hope that makes sense. You know, there's three different that I hit on. Again, there's other fruits that the Bible talks about, right? But these are the big ones I would say as a Christian you should know. You should know that the fruit of the righteous, the fruit of a Christian is another Christian. The fruit of righteousness is gonna be peace, and you know, honor, and glory, and those type of things, right? By doing good works, you're gonna have that. And then the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, you're bringing forth who God is, right? You're being Christ-like, you're being like him. You're emulating who he is, and bringing it forth, you know, outwardly, okay? And that, I don't believe you can just do one or the other, right? You can't say, well, just like 1 John says, you can't love God and hate your brother. Can't do it, okay? That doesn't mean that there isn't a time to hate, but hating your brother is never right. Talking about your brother in Christ, never right, okay? Well, he wronged me. He punched me in the face, never right to hate him. I didn't say you have to like him, okay? I didn't say you have to be in good fellowship with each other. I didn't say you have to like, you know, have him over for dinner or whatever, but you should never hate your brother, and you can't say, well, I love over here, but I hate this over here. Listen, then you're not loving God, because God said, if you love God, love your brother also, okay? So I believe you need to put all those together, the fruit of the Spirit together, and say, okay, if I'm loving, then I also need to be full of joy, and peace, and long-suffering. Those all work together for the same purpose, okay? So I hope all that makes sense with the fruit. I know I've hit it before, but I think it's something that needs to be hit on as far as just understanding, you know, that, you know, I'm not judging you based off what you do, okay? As far as your salvation goes, okay? I'm judging you off the fruits that you produce, okay? And listen, most people, I'm judging off what they say, okay? Whatever you tell me, because I don't see you all the time, and I'm soul-willing with you all the time. But I'll tell you, there's people that I know are saved, okay? As much as I know I'm saved, like, I know them by their fruits, right? I've seen them win people to Christ, I've seen those people win people to Christ, and you see that whole progression, and be like, I know that that person's saved because of their fruits, okay? So when people are like, well, that person's not saved, or that person's a false prophet, I'm like, you're an idiot, okay? And you know, it's just one of those things where when you know somebody, you've seen their fruit, it just validates it, okay? And same thing with false prophets, I can know a false prophet by their fruit, okay? And I can know by what they say, okay? But there are a lot of gray areas with that, meaning people can say things and they don't really believe it. There's a lot of Baptist preachers that'll say things and you're like, that is so whacked out. But they don't really believe it because they're just trying, they're proud, they don't want to give up on a doctrine they believed, you know, whatever the case may be, it's just kind of like they're just kind of sticking to their guns on something, they're kind of saying crazy stuff, and I've seen this happen with good pastors that I've known, and the old IFB that is, as far as, you know, they're kind of holding to something and they'll go really far to hold on to it, and you're like, you've got to be kidding me, how far they would go, and, you know, but I've seen their fruit, and I'm like, this person's saved, this person, I've seen them win people to Christ, I've seen their fruit, they're just really going really far to hold on to something, you know, when it comes to like a false doctrine or whatever it may be, okay? And so, that being said, I think fruit is kind of like, really just shows you, hey, this person's saved, whereas if I didn't see that person's fruit, I'd be like, this person's probably not saved, you know, because of how far down the rabbit hole they're going on things, and you know what happens when you go down this rabbit hole, you know what happens when you don't go soul winning? You forget a lot. You're not doing the work, you forget, because you know how you know the difference between good and evil, you know how you know the difference between good and evil? By reason of use, the Bible says, and there's a lot of people that should be teachers, but they're in need of milk, and, you know what, there's a lot of people, I believe, that used to be good preachers, that used to know their stuff, but they've forgotten it all. And I believe God has taken it away, okay? Not their salvation, but he's taken away their knowledge, and they're just like, just stumbling around trying to find out where they're at, to get it up on the rabbit holes, all these different things, okay? And so, but by their fruits, if you know the people and you've seen them win people to Christ and you've seen their fruit, then to me, that's going to prove a little more, okay? Now you say, well, who are you talking about? No one, really. And there's a lot of people that I used to look up to, like Ken Hovind, but I've never seen his fruit, okay? And but he's got some weird stuff that he's saying, and it really makes me wonder, okay? The stuff that he's saying and the stuff that he supports, and I know people can go down some bad rabbit holes, and I think prison just made him nuts, okay? And just, but the lack of soul winning, not being in church, like all those things play a factor in there, okay? But if he truly believes people can go to hell, then he's not saved, okay? That's truly what he believes, but if he's just like trying to get views and he's just bringing in everybody and he doesn't really believe that, that's bad, okay? I'm not condoning it, but I'm just giving him as an example, but I haven't seen his fruit, okay? I didn't get saved off Ken Hovind, but some people may have a different testament on that. They did get saved by listening to him, and you know, that's where I go into, okay, fruit is kind of like the ultimate, you know, I know this person's saved, whereas what they say, you know, whether it's good or bad, it can vary, depending on what they really believe, okay? What do they really believe, or are they just saying it, okay? So anyway, you know, the fruits, be fruitful, okay? Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. This is the, you know, the first thing that God is telling man to do. Basically you could apply that to children, but you know, how much more would we apply that to getting people saved, okay? Winning people to Christ, you know, getting people eternal life and all that, that should be the number one priority, and let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you today, and Lord just pray that you be with us as we go out soul winning today, and Lord just pray that you help us to be a fruitful church, and Lord just thank you for helping us to do that this year, and Lord just pray that we do more next year, and Lord I pray that you would purge anything in our church or any of us, Lord, purging things out of our lives that would help us to be more fruitful, and Lord just thank you for the opportunity to be in fellowship with you and to abide with you, and Lord just pray that that can happen as much as possible, and Lord just pray to be with us again. We love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen.