(Week 11)
Notes
Transcript
Announcements:
Announcements:
intro:
intro:
How many of us in this room are easily trusting
How many of us struggle to trust or trust isn’t easily given?
Have you ever trusted someone and realized they didn’t deserve your trust?
Have you ever not trusted someone and then down the road realize that they did deserve your trust?
Throughout my life, I’ve seen times where I trusted too easily and I’ve seen times where I should’ve trusted more readily
But I think a common truth is that we should not trust everything we hear we shouldn’t trust everyone around us. We shouldn’t trust everything.
It’s not an offense for trust to have to be earned whether that be me trusting you with a secret or information
Or whether that’s me, trusting a book or a study or an author
Some things are meant to be scrutinized before they’re fully trusted
Tonight we’re looking at what John calls believing every spirit
John begins this idea of how we know whether we are following the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, or whether we’re following the spirit of the age, the demonic forces of this world
And we’re gonna look across the scripture at that, But tonight, I hope that each and everyone of us will scrutinize and test and see what is true
Because there is much deception in our world today
Let’s read our text…
Text:
Text:
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.
Context:
Context:
Before we jump in to the text, I want us to look at a little bit of context
What has been happening before verse one of chapter 4 what happens at the end of chapter 3 what is discussed?
Mainly versus 19 to 24 what’s talked about?
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;
20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
We’ve talked about our standing before God where we stand in regards to relationship with him
We looked at what it means for our hearts to condemn us and for us to have confidence before God
We saw that we are supposed to love and care for one another as the body of Christ
But when we look at verse 24 it says this by the spirit whom he has given us…
And I believe this is important because he rolls right into in verse one which in the original context, this is all one document
Beloved, the one I care for my children, my spiritual kids listen
Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits plural
To see whether they are from God
For many false prophets have gone into the world.
1 John 4:1-6
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.
So when we look at verse one in context, what do you think it’s saying how do you think it ties together?
What do you think John means When he says not to believe every spirit?
What do you think? John means when he says test the spirits?
21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Who do you think John is referring to when he says false prophets?
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
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.
Looking at this passage, what are the differences between The Holy Spirit and a false spirit?
The Holy Spirit understands who Jesus is and points to him
A false spirit will deny who Jesus is And point to itself or something else
When we look at false religions, we see People say things like
Jesus was a good teacher
Jesus was a good example of morality
Jesus was a good prophet
Jesus was such a good prophet. God would not let him die and took him to heaven.
But we run into issues with these things
What are some issues We may have with these claims?
Because they sound good, they sound noble. They sound nice and respectable, but what’s wrong?
Jesus was a good teacher:
Jesus was a good teacher:
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
If Jesus were merely a good teacher, He wouldn’t have claimed divinity by using the name of God (“I AM”), which the Jews recognized as blasphemy unless it were true
Jesus was a good example of morality:
Jesus was a good example of morality:
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, He would have deceived people about His mission, making Him not a good moral example but a liar.
Jesus was a good prophet:
Jesus was a good prophet:
39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
If Jesus was merely a prophet and not the Son of God, He would have falsely prophesied His resurrection, disqualifying Him as a true prophet.
C.S. Lewis Quote from Mere Christianity:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone 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.”
I think there’s also a duality within these passages
The influence of other people need to be tested against scripture
We need to work out what we believe in the light of what God has revealed
But we also need to test our own thoughts and emotions and experiences against scripture as well
When we look at the passage before at the end of chapter 3, we’re talking about our heart and our condemnation or confidence
And I believe we need to test those things against the scripture as well
The Holy Spirit can make me feel secure in my salvation and make me feel confident in my God
But a counterfeit spirit, a worker of an equity a demon can also give me confidence and try to influence me towards feeling I’m secure because I’m so great
I’m secure because I serve
I’m secure because I teach or read or preach
We have to test our own thoughts and emotions against scripture
The Bible it working out our own salvation
This isn’t working for salvation. This is determining whether according to the text that we have our faith placed in the right thing.
Because the devil will want us to place our faith in the wrong things
Whether that’s our own ability or a 50-50 split with Jesus for salvation
Or maybe I’m a good person. Philosophy is where we put our faith.
But the reality is that we must put our faith in Jesus for salvation
Because according to the scripture, no one is good know no one
All have gone astray
All of us have fallen short of the glory of God
And we are sinners in need of a savior
And all that’s required for salvation is for us to put our faith and trust in Jesus
His death on the cross, his burial, and raising from the grave is what we put our faith in
9 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.
So while we test, false teachers or any teacher against scripture, we also must test our own hearts against scripture
Having confidence that if we’ve placed our faith in Jesus that we cannot be shaken
But not allowing us to have false confidence putting faith in ourselves or a counterfeit version of Jesus…
And we have this confidence because of verse four
Because on my own and in and of myself, I do not have the ability to survive this life and live for Jesus
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.
And this is a reality for you and me Jesus is greater than the circumstances of our lives
Jesus is greater than the schemes of the devil
Jesus is greater than any in all spiritual warfare we could go through
But he’s also greater than persecution
Retribution or slander
Verse five John takes a pivot. What do you see him saying?
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.
There is a reality where this world will not accept you and I
Have you ever experienced this? Has this been a part of your story??
Do people in your life except Christianity or did they reject it?
Do people in your life understand your love for Jesus where are they concerned by it?
There is a reality where you and I will live a life that seems foolish to the rest of the world
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
But the reality is, Christ has been risen
The evidence for this is overwhelming
And irrefutable
But the reality is for those who are not believers we look like fools
When I was working in construction, my coworkers were extremely confused why I didn’t want to have relations with women before marriage
They were extremely confused why I wouldn’t indulge in sex drugs, alcohol, and all these things to excess
Because in their minds
“Eat drink be marry for tomorrow we die”
The Christian life does not make sense to those around us
And our hope and our prayer for those coworkers, friends or family, who don’t know, Jesus
Is that they would trade the spirit of error?
Which is the wisdom of this world
In order to gain the true wisdom from God…
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
What are some more thoughts you have on this passage? What are some things that you guys see?
I believe in conclusion with these passages, we have to take wisdom from God and judge all other wisdom and insight in light of that
There were things that my foreman taught me that were really good
And there were things that my foreman wanted to teach me That were really bad
And the reality is, I had to discern the spirit of truth and the spirit of error
Because all truth is God’s truth, no matter where it comes from
But when I’m talking with someone who is a non-believer who doesn’t know Jesus and doesn’t walk with the Lord or even claim to
I’m not going to take what they say about Jesus and what they say about scripture and what they say about how to live this life as truth
Or consider what they have to say, but if it contradicts the Bible and contradicts Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I’m not gonna follow it
So we need to be careful about who speaks into our life
For many false profits have entered the world is what John says
And we need to discern where wisdom comes from
What are some ways that we can overcome or be strong in the struggle of this life?
And the struggle I’m thinking of is working with non-believers living in the same world as non-believers and interacting every day
What are some ways that we can be good Christ followers in this world?
What are some ways that we can walk worthy of the gospel? We’ve been called to
And what are some ways that we can share this truth with others?
