Discerning Truth and Error (I John 4:1-6)

Introduction

Thesis Statement

Call to Turn to Passage: 1 John 4:1-6

Introduction

What does the world say Jesus is? (Taken from “What religion says about Jesus - Truth Is The Word”)

In Islam, Jesus is only a messenger and a prophet of Allah. He cannot be 100% God and 100% man, for he was never crucified, denying his divinity. In Hinduism, Jesus is considered an Avatar, which “is the name given to an appearance on earth of one” of the deities they worship. Some in Hinduism believe Jesus was an enlightened teacher such as a master or a guru. In Buddhism, they do not have much about him because it predates Christ by six hundred years but if they did have anything on him, he would be considered an “enlightened teacher.” In Mormonism, their church IS “the church of Jesus Christ”, that Jesus came from not earth but somewhere on another planet through a deified man and his wife. He has a younger brother, and it is Satan. Jehovah Witnesses believe that “When the time came for a messiah to redeem humanity, Michael the Archangel became a human in the form of Jesus. Jesus was created and was therefore not ‘god’ and he is not part of any supposed trinity.” In Christianity, Jesus is fully God and fully man, part of the triune Godhead who came to the earth to be among us and saving all of us, for those who know him are his beloved. Thus, 1 John 4:1-6 acknowledges the importance of knowing that because we are his beloved, we should first test the spirit (vs. 1-3); second, we should overcome the world (vs. 4-5); third, we should listen to the Scriptures (vs. 6).

Let us turn to 1 John 4:1-6

Read Text

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Prayer: May the Words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, our Rock and Redeemer. Amen.

Main Point 1: 1 John 4:1 acknowledges the importance of knowing that because we are his beloved, we should first test the spirit.

A. How? First, we must not believe every spirit. The Greek word is πιστεύετε, to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust. John is commanding the church they must NOT believe, “not giving credence to” every spirit. What spirit is John talking about? In Acts 8:9, Luke states, “But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.” In Acts 16:16, Luke acknowledges, “ As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.” When John uses “every spirit,” it is spirit of divination, “ a spirit that “can have a “controlling influence” on an individual, just like it did with the slave girl and Simon, practicing magic and fortune-telling.

B. Second, we should examine the spirits. John goes on to day, “But test the spirits”, which is to examine what the spirits are saying. This, too, is a command to examine destructive statements, which you must evaluate. This you should do all the time. Christians must examine any spirit that professes prophetic utterances, or future events that other Christians say will occur, especially when you test it with Scripture. John even says, “you all test”, which includes all of us today. All believers are too test spirits and prophets are telling anyone because the Christian will know if it is true or not. “What is being tested would actually stand the test”, especially when it came to Old Testament prophets such as Elijah in 1 Kings 18:1–22 and how God used him to “test” the prophets of Baal and Asherah.

C. Third, we should know false prophets. Moses shows us how to distinguish between a true prophet and a false prophet. In Deuteronomy 18:22 “when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him,” and in Deut. 13:1-5, Moses suggests that those who foretells by dreams but says, “worship other gods,” you must not listen to them since they are are not acknowledging the true God who gave them to dreams. In John’s time, there are “many” of them, which shows they were trying to infiltrate the church and sway the congregants to false truths about Jesus and divinations. Jesus even talks about false prophets in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves,” and Matthew 24:11“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.” False prophets have the purpose of turning people to their way of thinking, just those those Moses addressed.

Main Point 2: 1 John 4:2-3 acknowledges the importance of knowing that because you are beloved, know the Spirit of God (vs. 2-3).

Subpoint 1:

Subpoint 2

Illustration

Subpoint 3

Application

Main Point 3: Because you are beloved, overcome the world (vs. 4-6)

Subpoint 1

Illustration

Subpoint 2

Subpoint 3

Application

Conclusion