God’s love for us… (6)

Testing to know if something is from God…

Many years ago, I worked at a place where we sold rust inhibitor for outdoor wood stoves. In Northwestern Ontario, there was a lot of wood. There was a pulp and paper plant as well as an OSB plant. There was a lot of wood available for burning in wood stoves.

One thing that is important is making sure that the water in the stove and in the lines has the proper ph level. If the balance is off, it will cause the steel to corrode and eventually rust out. The furnaces we sold had a fire box that used 3/8” metal. Some tried Stainless steel, anything to try to make sure that the furnace wouldn’t rust out and be unable to hold any water. The litmus paper would identify whether or not the ph level was at the proper balance.

Tonight as we look at our Scripture, John is going to tell us what the test is to see if someone is a false prophet or not.

Let’s read

1 John 4:1–6 NIV

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

John starts this chapter off with a warning.

Do not believe every spirit…

but

Test the spirits to see whether they are from God…

This isn’t just for a pastor or a theologian, this is for each and every one of us. If there has ever been a day that we could get ourselves in hot water, it is today.

In John’s day, people were very localized, and yet they seemed to get around. They could confuse people with the truth. Even more so today, we have more access to information than we have ever had. If we want to research a topic, or maybe we are surfing the web, and something catches our attention. We stop and listen for a while, maybe we keep surfing, or we start to listen to someone, and before we know it, we are hooked into listening to a certain speaker.

How can we know if they are good or not?

A few years ago, there was a group that held a meeting or two in LeRoy, They were Iglesia ni Christo. It might sound harmless, It means Church of Christ.

Regardless of where we are getting our teaching, it is imperative for us to make sure that we test the spirits. Even when I am teaching, not that I want someone to argue every point that I preach, but we need to

Test the spirits to see whether they are of God…

If we don’t we are fair game for every wind of teaching.

John stressed Jesus Christ… He warned the people in Ephesus because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Even when Jesus was on earth, He warned His disciples.

Matthew 24:24 NIV

24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Here Jesus warned that even the elect, even the cream of the crop, could be deceived by false prophets if that were possible. If we believe everything that we are taught without digging into God’s word, we might be deceived.

In the 4th century, when a group of people sat down and decided what books should be in the New Testament, they had criteria, and they tested books to see whether or not they met the test.

One book that was discredited was the Book of Thomas. Some people were trying to say that Thomas, Jesus’ disciple, had written it, but when push came to shove, it didn’t meet the test.

Even books and authors that we read today need to meet the test as to whether they are worth reading or not. Just because something might be interesting, doesn’t make it worthy of our time.

John said in verse 2-3

1 John 4:2–3 NIV

2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

What did he mean

that Jesus has come in the flesh?

Some people were saying that Jesus wasn’t actually a human, but He was only spirit so He really didn’t die for our sins. There are people that say that Jesus was only human, that He was a good moral teacher, but He wasn’t raised from the dead.

Both of these are opposite perspectives, but they are both wrong.

John 1:14 NLT

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

As Christians we believe that

Jesus was fully God and fully man…

He was born of a virgin named Mary. He lived a sinless life. He suffered at the hands of Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, rose on the third day, ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. We believe that He will come again in power and He will judge the living and the dead.

We believe that He is the Son of God, but we also believe that He is the second person of the trinity. On God, and three distinct person: God the Fathjer, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

If somebody that you are watching, reading or listening to doesn’t believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man, you should stop listening, because they aren’t speaking the truth.

They have the spirit of antichrist…

This isn’t talking about the end of days. The Great Tribulation. This is referring to people that reject the truth about Jesus and are even antagonistic or strongly detest Him. The early church suffered great persecutions, and there are many in our world that suffer today. I don’t believe that the Antichrist has been revealed but the spirit of antichrist is in the world. It might mask itself as religion or science but the goal is to destroy our faith in Christ.

1 John 4:4 NIV

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Tonight, I want to leave you with hope. Because you believe that Jesus is your Savior, that He died on the cross for you. He died as the sinless sacrifice. The grave had no power to keep Him. Even though His body died, He rose from the dead.

God lives in you and He is greater than the one that is in the world. The devil is a defeated foe. He has already been defeated, and one day he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

We have hope and we believe that Jesus will come again one day and receive us to Himself that where He is there we may be also.

1 John 4:5 NIV

5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

Don’t be disheartened if people don’t believe you, if the argue with you, if they persecute you.

2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV

4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The old saying is

Birds of a feather flock together…

People that aren’t believers, hold to the same viewpoint. If they are from another religion, they might say,

We worship the same god…

If they are good people, they believe

I can get to heaven by the good that I do…

If they believe in evolution,

We are just animals and when we die, that’s it…

We need to pray that God will draw them and that He will open the eyes of unbelievers to see how much He loves them.

Let’s close with verse 6

1 John 4:6 NIV

6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

We live in a world where there is a lot of gray areas. the lines are getting blurred. Even many Christians today don’t believe that Jesus is God or that the Holy Spirit is more than a force.

John makes it simple.

If you believe God’s word. In God’s word is the plan of salvation. In God’s word is how we can live godly lives in Christ Jesus.

If we set aside God’s word and live according to our own standards, we are not living in the truth.

Jesus said that He was going to Heaven so that He could send the Holy Spirit, and when He comes, He would lead us into all truth.

Hebrews 13:8 NIV

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Many people don’t want to believe this. Society has changed a lot even in the last 100 years, but Jesus Christ is still the same as He was yesterday. He will not fail you. he doesn’t change like shifting shadows depending on the time of day.

Let’s hold on to Jesus, because He is holding on to us.

Let’s pray!