The Only Question That Matters
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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.
Opponents to the gospel lay claim not only to God, but boast of their inspiration by the “spirit’. They felt they were above, better than, more in the know… and gave the evidence by their prophetic utterings and other signs such as tongues, etc., These “signs” were present in the religious of the time, and were taken very seeriously.
1 Corinthians 12:3 (ESV)
3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
They were zealous in proclamation (cf. 2 John 7) and may have been even more successful than the faithful community in making converts from the world (4:5). Likely John saw in them the fulfillment of Jesus’ warnings (cf. Mark 13:22) against false prophets in the “end times” (cf. 2:18).
The success of the false prophets was a problem in itself, and a test for such was more critical and important.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
How does this confession give evidence of the Spirit? For John, as for Paul, the truth of the Christian gospel is hid from the world (cf. 1 Cor 2:7–16). Only because there is a divine intervention and the darkness is removed can the light of the gospel be recognized (cf. 4:6)
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.
Jesus had said that antichrist would come… John must now announce that the spirit of antichrist was present in the false teachers.… see 1 John 2.18-20
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
The struggle in the controversy was not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Eph 6:12). Hence, whatever success the opponents had had within the community resulted from satanic inspiration.
Note- this is not a church fight or a division necessarily- it’s evil.
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.
They overcame the false teachers because their genuine faith was real, not phony. they overcame because of their relationship with Christ Himself.
They didn’t give in or go with them… because they believed in Christ not in the false teachings.
They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.
In contrast to the “dear children” who “are from God” are the false teachers who “are from the world.” The false teachers are successful “in the world” because their thinking, their theology, is accomodated to the world’s beliefs. So their teaching is philosophically congenial to the prevailing currents of the day. Naturally the world hears such teachers gladly. The term “world” (kosmos) is probably to be understood in two ways: as a system of thought antithetical to Christian belief and as a description of those members of the community who were led astray by the false teachers. That some members of the community were easily persuaded to forsake the truth of the gospel should not bewilder the faithful. Although these members appeared to belong to the community, their willingness to hear and follow the false teachers showed their true colors.
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 argument is parallel to that of Jesus in John 8:47: “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (cf. John 10:4–5; 18:37). So a second test for discerning the presence of the Spirit of God is added to the one developed in v. 2. When people confess that Jesus came in the flesh, when they hear God speak to them in the gospel of his Son and are obedient to it, then the “Spirit of truth” has been present and active. When people deny the gospel, when they will not hear it as God’s Word and will not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, then “the spirit of falsehood” has been at work.
John 10:4–5 (ESV)
4When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Who Is Jesus? The only question that matters.
Is he a “Good man”, a shining “example”, or just a great “teacher”? Or is He God come in the flesh.
C.S Lewis in Mere Christianity said,
I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic– on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg– or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Christians are those who know the truth… see 1 John 2.20, 27
But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
Christians either have the spirit of Christ, or they don’t. see Romans 8.9
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
False Christians in John’s day used two special words to describe their experience: “Knowledge” and “Unction.” they believed they had a special knowledge from God given to them by a special anointing from God that set them apart… however, the Bible in numerous places says that all Christians have received the Spirit of God, and therefore recognize the lie.
The one thing that all true believers acknowledge is 1 John 4.2
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Not all preachers and teachers who claim to be Christian are really Christian- that is John’s point in our scripture this morning. please read the text again… 1 John 4.1-6
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. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 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. 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. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 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.
If they confess that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, then they belong to the true faith. If they deny Christ, then they belong to Antichrist. They are in and of the world, and are not, like true believers, called out of the world. When they speak, the world (unsaved persons) hears them and believes them. But the unsaved world can never understand a true Christian. A Christian speaks under the direction of the Spirit of Truth; a false teacher speaks under the influence of the spirit of error—the spirit of antichrist.- Warren Wiersbe
Let’s return to the scripture 1 John 4.2
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Don’t be misled by the simplicity of the verse. Confession is much more than identification. Remember Mark 1.24 in that passage, a man with an unclean spirit cried out, “
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
The spirit in that man knew good and well who Jesus was, but it did not save him.
Confession of Jesus is not a theological statement about Jesus- it is a testimony about one’s personal experience and relationship with Jesus.
Think about something John said earlier in this epistle, ...seee 1 John 2.25
And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
Without that personal experience of and relationship with Christ, there is not eternal life.
Church membership will not save you. Look at Romans 10.9-10
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The spirit of antichrist confesses with their mouth all the right things but it comes from a properly formatted series of words, not from a personally changed heart and life that has experienced Jesus. they say things like, “We believe in God and Jesus, but we have to disagree with you.”
they come in the form of false faiths (cults) and their emissaries (Missionaries).
False religions.....…
False Christians.........
You can’t accept the Father but deny the Son, and vice versa… look at John 10.30
I and the Father are one.”
Look at John 5.23
that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
The Only Question That Matters Has An Answer
The Only Question That Matters Has An Answer
You can spend a lot of time trying to determine the validity of my teaching.
You can spend a lot of time trying to determine if this religion, philosophy or person is valid.
But- bottom line
The Only Question That Matters Is Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
The Only Question That Matters Is Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
Look at Mark 8.27-29
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
This account, of Jesus’ asking the question, “Who do you say that I am”.… appears in Matthew, Mark, Luke- and not John. There’s possibly a reason for that. John knew that he knew that he knew- (as did Matthew, Mark, and Luke… but did their readers?)-
The Only Question That Matters Is Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
The Only Question That Matters Is Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
Who Is Jesus? Your Answer Determines Your Future
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.1 John 2.24
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.1 John 2.28
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
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