The Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error

Truth or False

1 John 4:1–6 ESV

1 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.

the grass withers and the flower fades but.. . . the Word of our God stands forever.

Pray. .

Going to live games and still watching the Jumbo screen.

I love sports; standing here this evening is a true testimony of my love for all sports.

I have a major problem, as it relates to my love for watching sports. Growing up, I rarely attended live collegiate or professional games. I was accustomed to watching on a screen.

When I got older, I could afford to go to games and my tickets were always up top. Watching the screen was still the best option even in the stadium were the game was being played.

Nowadays, I can testify that I have sat in every section at the Forum for Tiger games and Grizzlies games. No matter how close to the floor I am, my eyes wonder off to see the screen, the Jumbo Screen. Erika and I were gifted tickets in the Sissy Log Cabin seats on the Floor, in the section we the sweat of the players is not far from you and yet my eyes still looking at the screens.

Once in the presence of the real thing, seeing real players in real time; my eyes wondered to what was familiar. I couldn’t appreciate the real thing, because I wasn’t use to seeing it.

Our text gives us the same vibe. John is calling our attention to what’s real. He is calling us to differentiate between opposing views, opposing vantage points for what’s true and authentic. He does this using uncomfortable language: Test the Spirit!

Yes, you heard it correctly, John says we must engage in testing the spirits to make sure it authentic. To make sure it’s source is from God. To make sure the message is True.

Why is this important? Many False witnesses have gone out in the world spreading false teaching about Christ.

These false witnesses are teaching untruths about the Faith. Teaching falsely on important matters of doctrine; twisting the Truth about the things of God.

This testing was important in John’s day: the rise of Gnosticism and other erroneous teachings. John mentioned previously, chapter 2, about the many antichrists who were apart of the church and went out from among us, with the sole purpose of pulling people from the true doctrine of Christ into error.

This testing is important presently; we have many attacks on the church. Many false doctrines and teachings are all around and as disciples of Jesus Christ we must be on our guard and stand firm in our faith. We have to be serious about or walk with God. Steadfast and unmovable in our Love for Christ. We must have our eyes fixed on the Lord. If we have Christ at the center of our focus, we will be able to easily discern between What is True and what is in Error.

So, tonight I want us to see 2 things and be encouraged with one thought. The Test: 1.Truth or 2.Error and lastly the encouragement- Greater is He who is in You than He that is in the World.

Spirit of TRUTH- TEST

1 John 4:2 “2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,”

John’s style of writing: getting straight to the point, is evident in giving us the answer to the question surrounding his day. He doesn’t give us hypotheticals, nothing fancy just straight to the point.

The Truth test is simple: confessing Jesus and that He came in the flesh. . . this is Truth. My bible scholars understand this statement in regards to the theological weight this carries. It wasn’t simply “confess Jesus as Lord and Savior”, rather he specifically highlights an important foundational truth. Christ came in the flesh!

The Person of Christ has been difficult for people to understand throughout the ages. The virgin birth is hard for everyone to understand. The Deity of Christ and Humanity of Christ are both hard for individuals to believe.

John is aware of this and others but in this passage, he focuses on the Humanity of Christ. Did He come in the flesh? John’s burden at this point is to highlight, against false teachings, that Christ lived among us. The Incarnation of Jesus is an important truth.

One of the early belief systems denying Christ coming in the flesh was Docetism. This thought takes on the idea that Christ did not come in the Flesh; rather He “appeared to come in the flesh and died on the cross.” This view was was highly recieved by many because of the belief that the flesh was evil, the body was inferior to spiritual matter. This system believed in the Deity of Christ, but denied the humanity of Christ. This denial has huge implications on the virgin birth, the crucifixion and bodily resurrection of Christ!

John says to past the test of truth, the teacher teaching must be rooted in the Gospel. Must be rooted in the basic foundational principles. Spurgeon puts it this way, “Any doctrine that dishonors Christ—whether in His person, or His offices, or His atonement, or in any other way—you may at once conclude is not from God, for that which comes from the Spirit of God glorifies Christ.”

any teaching or doctrine dishonoring Christ in any way is false and not of God.

John believed the deity and incarnation of Christ and refutes this notion doubting the incarnation of Christ in . John 1:1-3

John 1:1–3 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:14 “14 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.”

How can we be on guard for the truth test? How can we discern what to listen for on social media, youtube and podcasts about Christ?

Psalm 1:2–4 “2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.”

Study the word- reading, listening,

Meditate on the word- after studying we are allowing the word to materialize in our lives. Applying it to every part of our lives

Be rooted in the word- when false narratives come we can stand firm in our convictions

spirit of error-test

1 John 4:3 “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.”

The teacher who teaches against the full deity and humanity of Christ diminishes the person and work of Christ.

There are many false claims concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

The classic book, The kingdom of cults, surveys different religions and their theology about Christ. the Jesus of the Jehovah Witnesses, according to their publication Watchtower, is a god, not the God. Jesus is thus an angel who became a man. He is a godlike figure, but he is not God the Son, the second member of the Trinity, as the Bible teaches. Jehovah’s Witnesses are explicit in their denial of the deity of Jesus.

According to Mormonism, there is a pantheon of gods, and God was once a man. Furthermore, Jesus, before his incarnation, was a created being and the brother of Lucifer. Jesus was born of Mary his mother, but he was not conceived by either Joseph or the Holy Spirit.

Consider Islam. No Muslim considers Jesus to be divine or the Son of God.

Those examples are bold, we can easily identify them. Others aren’t so simple.

God’s Grace and the none existing Hell.

We have to test the spirit by tuning into God’s word and having the ability to know whats True and whats false.

Spirit of God is Greater

1 John 4:4 “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.”

how can we overcome the many antichrists who have come? Where do we begin to fight against the false teachings and cults hostile to Jesus?

This sounds frightful. Cults that have risen up to attack the fundamentals of our faith. Social media influencers who are posting negative information and new ways to interpret scripture.

Can we handle living in a word constantly screaming how intolerant we are to others; but everyone is celebrated for being intolerant of us?

Since this is a political year, add the way politicians and political parties use or faith to cause more confusion. It may seem like an impossible task.

John encourages us not to be discouraged; and he says it with great resolve. John says greater is He who is in you than the one in the who is in the world.

Overcome here is νικάω (nikaō), vb. conquer; overcome; prevail.

God is victorious! He has overcome the world.

John says: remember you are a child of God. The God who created the world and all in it. The one who revealed Himself to the Old Testament saints gave them His unconditional love. The God who sent His own son Jesus to make good on His covenant Promises. The God who raised Jesus from the Dead and had Him seated at His right hand.

His spirit is living in you. He is almighty and you have no reason to fear

I never forget, years ago, Erika and I took our kids to Disney. It was a fantastic trip we had with my brother in law and his family.

We did the regular disney world stuff but my nephew, who’s in college, thought it would beneficial to get passes to Hollywood studio to ride the Tower of Terror. It’s a pretty tall building, and its terrifying.

So, I’m up for the challenge and my then 11 and 9 year old son were ready to do this.

Its night time, dark outside and the sounds of this place made my boys want to leave the line we waited for some time. My youngest Dylan is freaking out the closer we get to our final destination, I’m starting to think I’m the worst dad ever and Erika is going to give me harsh words.

I told Dylan, “hey man, we are going to be ok, we will survive. If you don’t see your dad nervous, you can be certain that everything is going to be alright.

We get on, its terrifying, we made it.

We got the photos they take while you were on the ride, of course I look terrified; but my Dylan had the look of calm because his Father assured him with his presence that everything was ok.

John says, the Spirit of the Living God is with you. He has defeated Satan, all of His enemies have been defeated.

Be confident because He is greater than the one in the world

He who is greater died on the cross and secured victory over satan. This victory purchased by the blood of Christ has given us access to the table we are about to share.

lets pray.