By This you Know

Introduction

We return to our study in 1 John. Turn with me to chapter 4. We are going to read the first 6 verses. This morning we are going to look at the first 3 verses, and next week, Lord willing, we will look at verses 4-6. 1 John 4:1-3, read the verses. I have titled this sermon By This you Know as we see it in verse 2. What is or shall I say Who is it that we know?

I did not have any intention of this particular sermon being a new year’s sermon, but I think what we will see this morning could be very helpful as we look forward to the year ahead. This year we will have the common noise that surrounds us, but we will also have the additional noise of a presidential election. There are demands for our time and attention and influences that would long to captivate each of us. We have an idea of who the candidates are, and we have friends that we spend time with. But do we really know them? Is there a level of closeness with them that is unmatched?

My hope this morning is that we will get some absolute truths that we can apply this morning and throughout this year. One question that I have been asked is do we really know if someone is saved is not? Although the heart is the Lord’s, our text this morning gives some very clear pointers. I want us to look at all of these things through three one-word headings. By this we know the Spirit of God by first, testing (v.1), second, confession (v.2), and third, denial (v.3).

1. Testing (v.1)

Look with me at verse 1 and let us know the Spirit by testing. John begins the fourth chapter with a pair of commands. The first of which he tells his ‘beloved’ is to not believe every spirit. The implication is that there is more than one ‘spirit.’ We will see later that there is the Holy Spirit and there is the spirit of the antichrist/false prophet. To believe is to trust in what someone is saying. It goes beyond the trivial notion that I believe it is going to rain tomorrow. As in maybe it won’t. This belief that John speaks of is the full entrustment of what a person says. This full entrustment leads to “being persuaded” (Vines). This is why he commands for people not to believe every spirit.

In order to test someone’s beliefs or thoughts, you and I must have a clear conscience. John is saying that believers should not jump all in to what someone says because it sounds good. One example that comes to mind is what Paul went through in 2 Corinthians 11. In verse 12, the false teachers were guilty of “their boasted mission” that they work on the same terms as Paul and the brothers. I am sure that their boasted mission sounded like God was doing a great work in their midst. These brothers go so far as even attributing their work to be on the same grounds as Paul.

What encourages me very much is that Paul’s day is not far off from our own. Today, there is a great deal of clamor from a host of people that claim to be speaking from God. How often have you heard this phrase…” God told me…?”

The purpose for not believing every spirit is so that you and I are not led astray. For John, being the pastor at the church of Ephesus, he didn’t want his flock to be deceived. Instead, he wanted them to be ensured that they are believers in Jesus, gives them a multitude of ways that they can see that belief manifested, so that when false teachers came, they were armed for the battle. This brief description is what we have read up until this point! See, John wrote this with a pastor’s heart. John gives them direction and then explains why he gives the direction that he does.

There is a purpose to the testing of spirits as well. Verse 1 says that it helps us see whether they are from God or not. This means that the purpose of testing is not picking fights with one another, getting into secondary arguments (like eschatology or music choice, or particular dress), or boasting about your maturity level as a Christian (unbeknownst or not). Testing always has to do with looking vertically before horizontally. In other words, it is always performed out of a spirit of love, even if it hurts or is uncomfortable. Love comes down from heaven, thus we look there first.

That is true for us too isn’t it? How often do you take something that a pastor says and measure it with the word of God? I hope that you don’t take the words from the sermons I preach as standard without measuring them. The same could be said for seasoned pastors. There is no degree, age or tenure that deems a man over the means of being tested. John is telling us that every pastor or teacher must be tested. Not only pastor/teachers, but any person who promotes a gospel in promotion of the true gospel or in antagonism toward it must also be tested.

And there are many blessings that come from this aren’t they? I know personally, I appreciate it because there is a sense of accountability. You as a congregation are not gullible to where you take every word I say and run with it. It is also a blessing to my heart to see and hear that you are ardent studiers of your Bibles. You have a deep appreciation for what the Bible says and you long to follow it.

Why do we have so many false teachers today? Simply, because they go about untested by their congregations. This can be said of the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:22. Elijah is outnumbered by the prophets of Baal. Why? Because the people of Israel ran after the false gods that were erected without ever considering to question them. There are several verses that speak on the blindness of the congregations who take in false teaching weekly. Just because you put your hand on a Bible, raise the Bible or in the air, or read from it does not make a person a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. See, those who preach a false message and those who take it in today and throughout history do not see the severity of their error. If only they heeded the words of Ezekiel 14:6-10. Turn there with me if you would. Now, the context is set for the people of Israel as Ezekiel speaks from God. But the direction given, and the punishment set forth is no different than what people face today. Let us read those verses together. Read the verses. Clearly, those who take in the teaching of the false prophet and the false prophet himself or herself face the same punishment. If people heeded this today, I think you would see fewer megachurches.

Now that we have our consciences cleared and we are not just going to believe what is spoken because it sounds good, what does the second command in verse 1 “test the spirits” look like? How do we do it?

You notice very quickly that the text does not give us specific instruction as to how to go about it. And that is because situations and circumstances will be different for each case. Some are blatantly deceptive, and others are more subtle. We test well by knowing what the Bible says about Christ and taking that against the false prophet’s teaching.

This is what the Bereans were commended for in our Scripture reading this morning. They could have very easily gone the road of believing everything the apostle Paul said because he was a great teacher and preacher of the Christian faith. Now we know as Scripture tells us that Paul was a man of God, but what about those who are not?

The end of verse 1 says “for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” The enemy army is large. There is a great abundance of false teachers. They are all around the world. In America, we tend to focus on those heretics that live in America. But don’t be fooled there are false prophets preaching a false gospel all over the world. And it isn’t just recently. Might we put the testing of spirits into practice for a moment. Here is a quote from Nigerian David Oyedepo in 1983, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). God had a purpose in creating you. The ultimate objective of this goal is to make you walk on the hills here on earth to make you an outstanding success. Successful means to stand out, be distinguished among others. To walk on the heights, your will must be strong. It is your will that makes you go through and over the opposition of life. With this established will, no opposition can stop you. Exercise your will to succeed, and it will lead you through the obstacles to your palace” (wng.org). This example is obvious for us to see the falseness of the message, but regardless of the simplicity or lack thereof, those entrusted to John’s care, and you and I must be those who “test the spirits.”

2. Confession (v.2)

We know the Spirit of God by means of confession, which we will see affirmed in our second point. Look with me in verse 2. This text is vital for the discernment or testing of men and women who proclaim to be Christians.

Notice first that John addresses the confession of Christ in the flesh to “every spirit.” What does he mean? He is speaking of believers in Jesus Christ for salvation. Permit me to share 2 verses with you that I think help us see this a little better. The first is Hebrews 12:9. In the context of an earthly father’s discipline so the Father lovingly disciplines us. Notice the usage of the word ‘spirits.’ “Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” Speaking of our status in heaven in Hebrews 12:23 the author uses the phrase “spirits of the righteous made perfect.” We are made righteous in Jesus Christ and will see perfection in our eternal abode.

I want us to switch gears and think for a moment about what this verse does not say. It does not say that the Spirit of God is in you if you are Reformed, a 5-point Calvinist, a member of a Bible Fellowship Church, if you have read through the entire Bible at least 5 times, or if you have 30 people saved under your belt. Please don’t get me wrong this is not a do and don’t message. John is setting guidelines before us, so we know how to test well without hurting one another unintentionally.

What does the verse tell us? It says that every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God. In order to be of the Spirit, you must believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. But it cannot stop at Jesus coming in the flesh. Why? Because if Jesus merely came in the flesh then his birth is ordinary like any other human being. He would not have possessed the wisdom that the Bible says that he had being of the Father. Jesus’ work would not have been salvific. There would be no hope for anyone who is sitting in this room who has put their trust in him. There would be no eternal abode for believers in him.

Furthermore, the entire Bible is pointless since it points to Jesus throughout the entire book. We have no idea of how the universe came into being. We would have absolutely no reason or purpose to live. We would be hopelessly depressed far more than what is experienced in the world today. The Puritan movement of the 19th century that brought forth much of the agriculture, business, roadway systems, and other things we enjoy today would not have happened. You would not have the opportunity for higher learning because Christian originated institutions like Harvard and Princeton would not have been founded. The hospitals that we visit were first founded by the Hospitallers who were a group of Christians aiming to serve their brothers well would not have been established. Do you see the magnitude of only believing that Jesus came in the flesh? It literally affects every area of our lives!

But, because he came in the flesh, everything that the Bible says about him is true as well. These two are perfectly and necessarily linked together. You and I cannot take one truth claim by itself and separate it from the rest of the text. There are plenty of people out there that believe that Jesus came in the flesh. The Muslims are the greatest example of this. In the Quran, Al-Maidah 5:17 there are two mentions of Jesus being the “son of Mary.” There are others as well.

John 1:14 is helpful for our understanding in tying the human and divine nature of Jesus together. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John tells us plainly that Jesus’ human nature and divine nature are intertwined. As we read our Bibles, it is imperative for us to see the text in context of other texts.

3. Denial (v.3)

We also know the Spirit of God by means of confession that is denied which is our third point. We turn, now, to verse 3.

Those who do not confess Jesus deny him. This tells us two things. 1. Religions such as the Mormon’s, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims are not of the Spirit because none of them confess Jesus as God. Two of them do so out of the denial of the Trinity and one flat out rejects this truth. No matter what they may convey to you in a conversation, the negation of this belief puts them out of fellowship with God. Now the question could be asked, what about those who confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, but they are not Protestant? Anglicans and Catholics would tell you that they confess that Jesus is from God, so we are the same right? What we need to do here is what we would with anyone else, and that is, to bring to them the essential truths of what the Bible says and see where they stand on it. The Bible is clear, there must be the confession that Jesus Christ is of the flesh and that he is God. 2. Though these religions and others who believe the same are different in certain aspects, the denial of Jesus being of God is exactly the same. I want to read to you a short excerpt from the Mormon’s, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims that show the denial of the deity of Jesus Christ.

From the Mormon’s, “Mormons believe that God and Jesus Christ are wholly united in their perfect love for us, but that each is a distinct personage with His own perfect, glorified body” (D&C 130:22).

From the Jehovah Witnesses, “Jesus’ opposers accused him of making himself equal to God. However, Jesus never claimed to be on the same level as Almighty God. He said: “The Father is greater than I am” (John 14:28).

From the Quran, Az-Zukhruf 43:65 “Then, groups of the Christians disagreed in regards to Jesus. Some of them say, “He is a god”, and some say, “He is the son of God”…so woe be to those who oppress themselves by attributing godhood to Jesus, or sonship, or saying that he is one of the Trinity! Woe be to them from a painful punishment that awaits them on the Day of Judgement.”

Although each of these religions have their own name and beliefs, they can all be lumped under what our passage says as the spirit of the antichrist. Notice that these religions are not the antichrist, but they all have the spirit of the antichrist. The spirit of the antichrist directly correlates with not confessing that Jesus is of the flesh and of God. How do we know this? If you remember from 1 John 2:22, the antichrist is the one “who denies the Father and the Son.” Listen to 2 John 7, which connects 1 John 2 and our text clearly. “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Do you see the connection between the two? The antichrist and the spirit of the antichrist are the same in that they do not confess Jesus as coming in the flesh and is of God.

The spirit of the antichrist had been in the world for some time and as John states his audience was aware of that. Several writers suggest that the epistles of John as well as his gospel and Revelation were written between 90-100 A.D. Being some of the last letters written, there would have been ample mention about false teachers, and the spirit of antichrist (Acts 20:29, 1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 3:13, 2 Peter 2:1).

What we need to understand clearly is that the text tells us that “every spirit” who does not confess Jesus is not of God. There is no partiality with God. It doesn’t matter to God what the religious heading or title is. The fact is that all who deny Jesus as being God are not of the Spirit.

You and I must continue to press on in the word of truth that is “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” It is the Bible that speaks of Jesus’ divinity in which we are to measure all against.

Conclusion

So, what is God calling us to do this year, and every year. Three things, I leave you with.

1. You and I are called to be students of the Word of God. What would be said of you as to where it sits on your priority list? How important is the Bible to you? Is it something, maybe, you get to whenever you have the time? The Bible is not important only in scope of personal renewal, but it is our guide by which we hear preachers, friends, and family members. It is what we are told in the Bible that gives us the clear message of Christ, so we can discern rightly. Brothers, as you all know, this life is short, and our time spent with God in this special way through his word is only for this earth. Might you and I not look at our time with the Lord as to-do item, but as time spent in the greatest relationship on earth. You and I have the privilege of having a close and intimate relationship with God himself. Do not throw that away!

2. The text tells us that “every” spirit confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh, and we have seen that it also means that he has come from God. This applies to us as you and I are directed at any given moment to be confessors of this glorious truth. We share the gospel, and we tell people about Jesus, but when we are asked why we do what we do, or why we live as we do, we confess that it is all because of Jesus Christ. Without him coming in the flesh, fully god and fully man, we have nothing to confess. So, might you and I count it a joy to confess these truths.

3. You and I must be alert as to what is around us. Especially this year with all the extra noise that comes with a presidential election. May you and I be those who discern what people say whether they are a preacher or a politician. Our aim is to glorify God in all that we do and that includes being faithful discerners of the truth.

Benediction

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.