Testing the Voices We Hear
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro:
We live in a world that has never been louder.
From the moment we wake up, voices start competing for our attention.
Before our feet ever hit the floor…
we’re checking our phones.
Podcasts are telling us how to think.
Social media is telling us what to believe.
News outlets are telling us who to trust and who to fear.
Influencers are telling us how to live, what to buy, and what matters most.
And somewhere in the middle of all that noise, there are also spiritual voices.
Preachers on TV.
Teachers on YouTube.
Devotionals, blogs, reels, and “Christian” posts that sound good, feel encouraging, and use Bible words—but… may not actually teach Bible truth.
Every voice is saying the same thing: “Listen to me.”
And if we’re honest, most of us don’t slow down to test what we’re hearing.
If it sounds confident, we assume it’s right.
If it’s popular, we assume it’s trustworthy.
If it makes us feel good, we assume it must be from God.
But as we get into chapter 4 of our study through 1 John,… John says, not so fast.
Writing to believers, John doesn’t warn them about atheists or obvious enemies of the faith. He warns them about voices that sound spiritual but are spiritually dangerous.
He makes sure his readers know that…
Not everything that claims to be from God actually is.
John reminds us that
authentic faith is not gullible faith.
Real faith doesn’t believe everything it hears… but it tests everything it hears.
Why? Because what we listen to shapes what we believe, and what we believe shapes how we live… Which means that, If we listen to the wrong voices, we will drift from the truth.…
However, if we listen to the right voice, we will grow in confidence, assurance, and in our walk with Christ.
What we all need to seriously ask ourselves is… Which voices am I listening to—and how do I know they’re telling the truth?
That’s what John is going to help us understand as we make our way through our passage today…
(Read 1 John 3:24-4:6)
Meat:
Two Voices:
As we get into what John is talking about this morning, it seems clear to me that people have 2 voices that they can choose to listen to... the voice of God’s truth or the voice of deception… One leads us toward Christ; the other quietly pulls us away from Him.
John does a little bit of back and forth through these verse and so we will be a little bit sporadic this morning, but we will cover them all…
The first voice that we are going to look at is…
1. The Voice of Truth
1. The Voice of Truth
One of the main points that John is trying to get his readers to understand is the fact that not every “spiritual” message has the same source…
Just because the message contains spiritual language does not guarantee spiritual truth…
There are times that we, as believers, will encounter messages that feel religious, possibly come from respected voices, and even claim divine authority… but can still be wrong.…
This is why John is very specific in what he tells us to look out for… he never asks, “Does it sound spiritual?” , because a lot of things do sound spiritual, and honestly, most of them are… But John says that we must ask, “Where did it come from?”
This forces us to rethink how we evaluate what we hear. The real issue is not volume, passion, or popularity… You can turn on the TV and watch a guy (or gal) claiming to be preaching God’s Word, and they’ve got
4-5,000 people in their congregation
another 7-10,000 people watching their tv program
They’re running up and down the stage
They’re yelling at the top of lungs… sweat just pouring down their face…
And yet, you’ll find more truth in a Dr. Suess book, than what you’ll find spewing from their lips…
The dangerous thing about these people is that they don’t always oppose God openly… Most of the time, they actually claim to represent Him.
And people think that because these, so called, ministries are successful, then they must be blessed by God… but we have to remember that Satan loves to use the art of deception...
Turn with me to Matthew 7… (Read vv. 15, 21-23)
Jesus said “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves”
Notice—they don’t come looking dangerous. They come looking familiar. They look like sheep. They talk like believers. They use religious language.
Then Jesus says something that should stop us in our tracks. He says that on the day of judgment, many will say to Him,
“Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many mighty works?”
They are using these things to say that they had a successful ministry…
Many followers
Impressive ministry activity.
Spiritual results that looked powerful.
They claimed to represent God… but what does Jesus say… “… I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
They claimed to represent God, but they never belonged to Him…
That’s the deception. Satan doesn’t always attack the church by making something look obviously evil… … instead, he makes it look effective, popular, and spiritual… just disconnected from the truth.
So Jesus tells us not to judge by appearance or activity, but by fruit and obedience to God’s Word… We have to keep in mind that…
Success is not the same thing as faithfulness.
And a large following is not proof of God’s blessing.
Yes, success and growth can from God, and there are large, trustworthy and faithful ministries out there… but John reminds us that the source of a message matters more than the size of its audience.
The voice of truth, first of all…
1.1 Comes from God
1.1 Comes from God
Back to 1 John…
Last week, we ended with 1 John 3:23, where John reminded us of God’s command: to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another.
Then in verse 24, John builds on that…
1 John 3:24 “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
Again, he’s touching on our confidence and assurance of Salvation that we talked about last week… and that confidence comes from “...the Spirit whom He has given us.”
And it’s that statement that sets the stage for what follows in the rest of our passage… … God has given us His Spirit to confirm the truth.
He also gave us something else… His Word… Look at v.6 of Chapter 4… (I told you… sporadic).…
“We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us...”
Is John talking about spontaneous deafness?… No… When John says “We” and “us”, he is referring to the witness and writings of the Apostles and Prophets… the truth God gave through them, that is now preserved for us in Scripture.
Which means that the Voice of Truth is the voice that lines up with God’s revealed Word, taught and applied by the Holy Spirit God has given us.
The voice of truth comes from God… and if you want to know whether or not the voice you are hearing comes from God, then you have to do what the Berean Believers did in Acts 17:11 who…
… searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Something else about the voice of truth… It…
1.2 Confirms Christ
1.2 Confirms Christ
John makes this very clear in v.2…
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 of God,”
I want to hone in on that word “confesses” for just a moment… “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,”
This is not talking about simply saying the right words or giving verbal agreement.… … This is talking about totally embracing Jesus Christ—who He is, what He has done, and what that means for our lives.
The Greek word that is translated as “confess” means to
agree with
to affirm
to stand with
to be of one mind
This is speaking of wholehearted alignment…
And what does the voice of truth confess?… “… that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh… ”
This is a very deliberate phrase from John… he is making sure there is no confusion…
Jesus — the historical man who walked this earth
Christ — God’s promised Messiah and Savior
Has come in the flesh — fully God and fully man, truly incarnate…
This means that to truly confess Christ, we are confessing…
His incarnation — that God truly entered our world
His mission — to save sinners through His death and resurrection
His lordship — that He has the right to rule over our lives
Anything less than that is not the confession John is talking about.
You can talk about God, spirituality, miracles, love, and even use the name of “Jesus”—but if you don’t fully embrace who Jesus is and why He came, John says that message is not from God.
Which leads to the second voice…
2. The Voice of Error
2. The Voice of Error
John reminds us that alongside the truth, there is another voice at work… This voice also sounds confident. It often sounds spiritual. And sometimes it even uses the name of Jesus. But instead of leading people toward Christ, it slowly pulls them away from Him.
By definition… this voice obviously is the complete opposite of the the truth…
The Voice of Truth comes from God, whereas the Voice of Error…
2.1 Comes from the World
2.1 Comes from the World
1 John 4:1 “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.”
and then v.5
1 John 4:5 “They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.”
Remember, when John talks about “the world,” he’s not talking about planet earth or everyday human activity…
He’s talking about a system of thinking… a mindset that operates without submission to God… in fact, most often, its a system that operates in opposition to Him.
So when John says the voice of error comes from the world, he means it is shaped by:
worldly values
worldly priorities
and worldly wisdom
It may sound reasonable. It may sound compassionate. It can even even sound moral… But it does not start with God, it does not submit to God, and it does not aim to glorify God.
v.1 warns that “… many false prophets have gone out into the world” and v. 5 says… “… they speak as of the world, and the world hears them”
The voice of error always fits comfortably within the culture. There’s no friction. There’s no offense. There’s no call to repentance. The message just blends right in.
And when a message feels perfectly at home in the world, it probably didn’t come from heaven.
The voice of error tends to affirm what people already want to believe… It reshapes truth to match their cultural preferences… It softens the hard edges of Scripture.
It avoids anything that might challenge human pride or expose sin!
That’s why this voice often sounds:
tolerant rather than truthful
affirming rather than transforming
welcoming without calling for repentance
And because it aligns so well with human thinking, it spreads easily… It gains traction… It attracts crowds…
Why?… because The world listens to voices that sound like the world.
Comparing that to the voice of truth that comes from God… the truth of God has always created tension. Jesus Himself said the world would hate Him—and those who follow Him—because His truth exposes darkness.
So when a message never challenges the world’s thinking, never confronts sin, and never calls people to surrender to Christ, John says we should be concerned about its source.
The voice of error comes from the world, speaks like the world, and is applauded by the world… because it tells the world exactly what it wants to hear.
And as we continue this contrast.…
If the voice of Truth confirms Christ… Then the voice of error…
2.2 Distorts Christ
2.2 Distorts Christ
Look at v.3…
1 John 4:3 “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.”
Notice what John does not say…
He doesn’t say the voice of error always rejects Jesus outright… More often, it distorts Him.
To distort Christ means to twist who He is, alter why He came, or reduce what He accomplished. The name “Jesus” may still be used, but the meaning behind that name has been changed.
Just this past Wednesday, in our teen class for Venture Club, we were talking about Jehovah’s Witnesses… and how they have their own “translation” of the bible…
We looked at…
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
We know that “The Word” is referring to Jesus… Jesus was in the beginning with God and Jesus is God…
The New World Translation states…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”—John 1:1, New World Translation.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”—John 1:1, New World Translation.
They believe Jesus was a god (little g), but not Almighty God…
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
When Jesus says “I AM”, He is using the name that God referred to Himself as in Exodus 3… Jesus then, is claiming to be God…
The New World Translation states…
“Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been. - John 8:58 New World Translation.”
“Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been. - John 8:58 New World Translation.”
They removed Jesus’ claim of Deity…
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
In the Greek, both titles (God and Savior) are referring to One Person - Jesus Christ…
The New World Translation states…
“while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ, - Titus 2:13 New World Translation.”
“while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ, - Titus 2:13 New World Translation.”
They separate God” and “Savior” into two different beings...
Some very popular teachers today speak about Jesus, but they don’t always preach the Jesus of Scripture.
In some places, He’s minimized…
Statements like “Jesus wants you to live your best life now” are frequently made… Treating Jesus more as a means to a better life than as Lord and Savior.
In some places, He’s redefined and falsely portrayed with ideas like…
Jesus “stopped being the Son of God” on the cross
Or that He was born again while He was in Hell
Neither of which line up with Scripture…
And then in other places, He’s quietly moved past.
Jesus was a good moral example, but not the only way to God.
He was a prominent social figure in His day but He was not the atoning Savior or the Incarnate Son of God.
These are the things that John is warning us about because you cannot be saved by a distorted Christ.
A Jesus who is only a moral teacher cannot forgive sins.
A Jesus who is not fully God cannot save.
A Jesus who did not truly come in the flesh cannot truly redeem humanity.
So when John says the voice of error distorts Christ, he’s warning us that deception doesn’t usually announce itself loudly.
It slips in quietly… adjusting just enough of Jesus to make Him more comfortable, more acceptable, and less offensive…
But once Christ is distorted, the gospel is lost.
So we’ve looked at the voice of truth and we’ve looked at the voice of error. We’ve seen how one comes from God and leads us toward Christ, and how the other comes from the world and distorts Him.
And if we stopped there, this passage might feel pretty heavy… We might walk away wondering how we’re supposed to navigate all of this without being overwhelmed or confused.
But in the midst of these two voices, John gives us some encouragement…
v.4…
1 John 4:4 “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.”
This is…
3. A Promise of Discernment
3. A Promise of Discernment
Discernment doesn’t start with intelligence, experience, or maturity. It starts with identity.…
This promise of discernment is…
3.1 For God’s Children
3.1 For God’s Children
John lovingly calls them “little children.” That’s not an insult… but a sign of affection. He’s reminding them that discernment is not reserved for spiritual elites. Even ordinary believers, young in the faith, are protected because of who lives within them.
And then John makes a strong statement: “You have overcome them.”
Not you might overcome.
Not you will overcome someday.
You have overcome them.
That means discernment is not something believers are striving to earn—it’s something already granted through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Why?… John says:
“Because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
The Spirit of God who dwells in every true believer is greater than:
false teachers
deceptive systems
cultural pressure
demonic influences
When we, as followers of Christ, listens carefully, when we measure everything by Scripture, and stay anchored to Christ… we are not standing alone.
The Holy Spirit that indwells us is actively guarding, guiding, and confirming the truth.
That’s the promise of discernment:
God never asks His people to navigate spiritual confusion without His help… He has placed His own Spirit within us… and that Spirit is greater than every competing voice.
Just remember v.6…
1 John 4:6 “We are of God. He who knows God hears us…
Discernment grows as we learn to hear and recognize God’s voice in His Word.
By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
Closing:
In a world full of voices—some loud, some persuasive, some even claiming to speak for God—whose voice are you actually listening to?
The voices you give your attention to will
shape your theology…
Your theology will shape your convictions.
And your convictions will shape the direction of your life.
As you mull all of this over, I just want to say…
Don’t assume something is true because it’s popular, emotional, or successful.
Don’t assume something is true because I said it… I am certainly not infallible…
Open your Bible and Measure everything by what God has already said.
Because the Spirit of God will never lead you away from the Word of God or the Son of God.
So listen carefully.
Stand firmly.
Stay grounded in the truth.
Because by this—John says—we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Prayer:
