Spiritual Gullibility
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Since our independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution, the United States of America has been engaged in 118 wars/conflicts. The cost of lives to the US in these wars have been 1.2 million casualties and rising.
There is no telling what the casualty count is in lives for the spiritual warfare that has been going on since the Garden. That number continues to rise due to false teacher/prophets and the “Spiritual Gullibility” of christians concerning the Scriptures.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
We are not to believe everything that we hear, even though it may be coming from “supposedly” Christian sources. Becoming a Contagious Christian means we must not fall into “Spiritual Gullibility”!
Gullible- easily impressed, naive, unguarded, over-trusting, ripe for the picking
Text; 1 John 4:1-6
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because 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 of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1. Test the Content; 1
1. Test the Content; 1
Content- subject, substance, message, look inside
John commands the believer to test the spirits to see if they are of God. He didn’t say judge the individual, but to test what that person believes. Does their teaching, lifestyle and fruit line up with the scriptures. If not we need to be wary of them.
One of the most dangerous deceivers in the world today is the religion of Islam. This religion teaches Jesus is a great teacher, but it also teaches the New Testament is corrupt and Jesus is not the Son of God. Since September 11, 2001, all of us have become more familiar with words such as “Islam,” “jihad,” and “Allah.” The term “Islam” means “submission” to the will of God. The person who submits is called a “Muslim,” which means “a submitted one.” Today, Islam is the second largest religion in the world. It is also by far the fastest growing religion. Today, Islam claims 1.2 billion followers, or about one out of every five people in the world. A United Nations demographic report forecasts Islam will represent at least half of the global birthrate after the year 2055.
Islam is also the world’s youngest major religion; it came into existence 1,400 years ago. It claims, however, to be the restoration of original monotheism, or worship of the one true God. Thus, Islam declares its teachings supersede both Judaism and Christianity. However, the Bible says:
22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
Higle, T. C. (2006). Journey into Becoming a Contagious Christian: A Study of First John (pp. 39–40). Tommy Higle Publishers, Inc.
Demonic forces are very clever—sometimes they don’t deny who Jesus is; they just pervert His teaching
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
2. Check their Convictions; 2-3
2. Check their Convictions; 2-3
Conviction- belief, position on something, dogma [will die for]
The key test on a persons convictions about Jesus Christ is did He come in the flesh. And that test is the “Virgin Birth”.
The Virgin Birth is the true test of a persons conviction about Christ, because you cannot be saved without believing the Virgin Birth!
Many religious teachers and leaders talk nice about Jesus. What a remarkable child/youth and man that he was. He was a religious genius, intoxicated with God and had a superior knowledge of the Word. He was a once in a lifetime “Religious Superstar”. But ask them if He was God manifest in the flesh, you get a hiccup in their conviction!
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
The virgin birth of Christ is an unmistakable reminder that salvation can never come through human effort, but must be the work of God himself.
Wayne Grudem
3. Challenge their Converts; 4-6
3. Challenge their Converts; 4-6
False preachers/teachers can fill conference centers that seat tens of thousands and can win many converts. The reason they can do this is because they are worldly. The world wants to hear about success, how to be healthy and wealthy, and how to live the Christian life without sacrifice. Wolves in sheep’s clothing!
[v.4] Every true believer can ace the spiritual test because the Spirit that fills you is greater than the spirit that fools you!
Because we know truth, we can challenge their converts in error because you are not going to change the mind of the false teacher, but you can his followers.
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
Close;
We cannot stay away from the Bible, be ignorant of it, ignore it, and yet expect to have the Spirit of God lead us and guide us. But if we will meditate in it day and night, it will make our way prosperous and we will have good success. The way to win the spiritual warfare and Become Contagious Christians is to not be Spiritually Gullible.
