It's Time For A Test
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Children of God are known as “believers”, but just because we are “believers” doesn’t mean we are to believe everything that flies by.
We are not told to just believe anything. Faith is no better than its ORIGIN and faith is no better than its OBJECT.
Some people believe that faith is a careless shot in the dark, but let me tell you tonight, faith is not simply deciding on what you want to believe and then believing it.
Faith is not trying to make yourself believe what is not true.
Faith is getting a word from God and acting on that. That is Bible faith.
We are called believers because we believe the Word of God, but I want you to notice, the first three words of our text tonight tells us, “Beloved, believe not...”
Let’s read it...
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
John appeals and beckons the believers with tender loving care. He admonishes us not to believe every spirit.
Every teacher and preacher of the word of God is inspired and directed by one of two spirits.
They are either directed by the Spirit of God or by a demon spirit. What is our responsibility?
John tells us to test the spirits.
I want to preach for a little while tonight on the thought of “It’s Time For A Test”
You know, I have been amazed not only that some people will not believe, but also been amazed what some people will believe.
There is a great struggle going on today between Christ and Antichrist that has been going on since time started.
Listen to me right here...the Devil would rather get you to believe a wrong thing than do a wrong thing. Why? The thought is the father of the deed. If he can get the wrong thoughts in your mind, then he doesn’t have to worry about the deed. “As a man thinketh so is he.”
There’s a great saying I heard from Adrian Rogers:
You sow a thought, you reap a deed.
You sow a deed, you reap a habit.
You sow a habit, you reap a character.
You sow a character, you reap a destiny.
You see? It all begins with a thought. So the devil wants to set up a false belief system.
Just as the Word of God tells us what to believe, it also tells us what NOT to believe!
It’s time for a test!
So, you might wonder, if our responsibility as children of God is to try, or test, the spirits, how exactly do you do that?
Well, as with everything, God doesn’t tell us to do something without telling us HOW to do it, so let’s look into these verses and see what He has to tell us tonight.
I-You Test The Spirits By The WORD OF GOD
I-You Test The Spirits By The WORD OF GOD
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The Bible tells us that we can test false spirits by the way they respond to the word of God. Those who are from God will listen to the word of God and obey it. Those who are not from God will reject the word of God and will not be able to understand it.
Those who are of the world are evident because they speak as of the world; the influence of the world is evident in their speech.
Those who are of the world are also evident because the world hears them. They face none of the rejection the child of God will face from the world, because they are friends with the world.
The Devil came to Jesus in the wilderness to tempt Jesus.
How did Jesus deal with the Devil? By using the Word of God.
Three times Jesus said to the Devil in those three temptations, “it is written.”
There is incredible power in the Word of God.
Psalm 138:2 (KJV 1900)
2 ... thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
When some false prophet comes, if you will use the Word of God, it will go through him like a knife through hot butter.
If you don’t know how to handle the Word of God, you are going to be a sitting duck for these false apostles and you are not going to know how to test the spirits.
First, How do you Test a False Prophet? By THE WORD OF GOD
II-You Test The Spirits By The SON OF GOD
II-You Test The Spirits By The SON OF GOD
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Those who will not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
These verses talk about the INCARNATION. It is talking about Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. Vs. 2, “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.”
Vs. 3, “Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that spirit of Antichrist.
John uses two names: Jesus, which is His human name, and Christ, which is His divine title, and he puts them together. Christ is not His last name; that is His title. He is MAN and MESSIAH at the same time. Jesus is His earthly name; Christ , which means Messiah the anointed one, the appointed one, is His divine title. There is not another like Him. Jesus is the GOD-MAN. Jesus is God in human flesh. This is the fundamental doctrine of our faith. Jesus stepped out of Heaven and took upon Him human flesh. We call that incarnation.
Jesus became the Son of Man so that I could become a son of God. Jesus was born of a virgin, so that we might be born again.
He is not half God and half man.
Not all man and no God.
Not all God and no man.
He is the God-Man.
There will never be another like Him. And if you don’t accept that you are not of Christ, you are of Antichrist.
Don’t believe every spirit. Test the spirits whether they are of God. Don’t let some false prophet teach you. We believe in Jesus the great man, the great teacher, the great prophet and deny His deity.
It is a heresy to deny His HUMANITY.
It is a heresy to deny His DEITY.
You test the spirits by the Word of God, the Son of God, and
III-You Test The Spirits By The SPIRIT OF GOD
III-You Test The Spirits By The SPIRIT OF GOD
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
The Bible says a threefold cord is not easily broken. What is the threefold cord?
The WORD of God
The SON of God
The SPIRIT of God
You have got to have not only the Word of God that tells about the Son of God, but you have to have the Spirit of God to help you understand the Word of God so you will know the Son of God.
27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Verse 4 establishes a foundational truth: believers are indwelt by the Spirit of God, a presence that empowers them to overcome the influences of the world, which can include false teachings and deceptive spirits.
John assures the readers of their victory over these false influences due to the greater power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
We have the Object of our faith, The Lord Jesus;
We have the Record of our faith, The Word of God.
We have the Energizer of our faith, The Holy Spirit of God who illumines us and takes the things of Jesus and shows them to us and makes them real to us.
The Bible is the Word of God, Jesus is the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit of God will help you understand that.
Today, we are being faced as never before with the spirit of Antichrist and the Spirit of Christ. As for me, I choose Christ! I choose Jesus and I know that I know that I know I can test the spirits. God said don’t believe everything.
Now I can test the spirits by the Word of God, but the Son of God and by the Spirit of God because “greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
C.H. Spurgeon said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
We have a lot of almost right in our world today. We live in a culture that has blurred the line between right and almost right so much that the two are nearly indistinguishable.
It’s time for a test!
How do we navigate it? With the Word of God, the Son of God, and the Spirit of God…We stand on the Truth! The Truth, which is the Son of God, revealed to us by the Spirit of God, in the Word of God!