We Will Overcome (1 John 4:1-6)

INTRO

Some people have been greatly harmed by someone claiming to speak from the Lord but spoke falsely.

Someone who didn’t see a miraculous healing because they were told they didn’t have enough faith.

Some people stop going to church altogether because someone claiming to speak from the Lord abused them by claiming his own words and not the Lord’s.

I think of those bizarre situations where a preacher might say “The Lord told me I need a vacation and you are to pay for it.”

Some people are being led to hell because someone claiming to speak from the Lord actually never declares the Truth.

The thesis of this passage is seen in v.6: to discern the Spirit of truth or the spirit of error. Let me say that this is a task just as much for today as it was in John’s day. The reason for testing the spirits is given at the end of v.1: for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Well, they’re still here. People will say all kind of things. You will hear all kind of things. What are we to believe?

Our task is described in v.1: do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits. We are to test the spirits. This verb means to prove or examine something.

In order to understand anything in this passage, we have to understand what spirit(s) is referring to. This is the Greek word πνεῦμα (pneúma), which has a number of meanings. It can refer to the breath out of the mouth, the air, the life residing in man, or the Holy Spirit. The context is going to give the meaning.

Our context here is right in v.1— false prophets. We’re talking about something spiritual being spoken or proclaimed. The Complete Word Study Dictionary says that in this verse it is speaking of “a person or teacher who acts or professes to act under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by divine inspiration.” The same meaning is found in , where one spiritual gift listed is the ability to distinguish between spirits.

Someone might say, I’ve got a word from the Lord… or The Lord told me… or it might be a preacher or someone claiming to speak form the Word of God.

Maybe a man goes up to a woman and says “The Lord told me that you are to marry me.”

And that woman says “I’m supposed to test this…Nope, that’s not true...”

The NLT does a good job of translating this verse: “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.” (, NLT)

So we are to test the spirits. Is this person or teaching what it is claiming to be?

We are to test the spirits. This verb means to prove or examine something.

I heard Ravi Zacharis share about his conversation with an FBI agent, who told him that in his initial training, he was trained on identifying counterfeit money. Fraud is one of the things the FBI investigates. In training, they would handle $20 bills and count them daily. They get used to the feel, smell, the weight—they become very familiar. 20, 40, 60, 80...

At the end of the week, this agent said that counterfeit bills were slipped into some of the stacks without the agents knowing. He said he was counting his stack: 20, 40, 60, 80, 100…300— wait, this one was counterfeit. He could tell.

The point of the lesson was in order to identify the counterfeit, you have to be very familiar with the real thing.

Christians, I want to remind you that you have the real thing. You have the Word of God. And if you don’t know this, then you’ll be easily persuaded away from it.

Our task is: do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.

πνεῦμα pneúma

Our context here is right in v.1— false prophets. We’re talking about something spiritual being spoken or proclaimed. The Complete Word Study Dictionary says that in this verse it is speaking of “a person or teacher who acts or professes to act under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by divine inspiration.” The same meaning is found in , where one spiritual gift listed is the ability to distinguish between spirits.

Someone might say, I’ve got a word from the Lord… or The Lord told me… or it might be a preacher or someone claiming to speak form the Word of God.

Maybe a man goes up to a woman and says “The Lord told me that you are to marry me.”

And that woman says “I’m supposed to test this…Nope, that’s not true...”

The NLT does a good job of translating this verse: “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.” (, NLT)

So our goal is to discern between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. We do this by testing. But what is the criteria for this test?

I want to talk about the criterion and the consequence of discerning between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. The criterion and the consequence.

Most of all, I want to proclaim to you that you can overcome those who are of the spirit of error. You can rise above the false teaching and false accusations that are thrown at you by the world. This victory comes in Jesus Christ.

For those who have Jesus Christ—we will overcome the things of this world because Christ has overcome this world!

Let’s talk now about the criterion and the consequence in discerning the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Criterion

Is that person acting under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Are they really from God? The criterion is in v.2: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

At first, you might think “that’s it?” You might want a checklist that you can use whenever someone claims to speak from the Lord. Every preacher, every friend… Some people would love to have an exact list and if they can’t check off every box, then they get to yell heretic!

But this criterion is actually very comprehensive. Let’s look closer.

First, CONFESS. This is not just a mere acknowledgement. A yeah, okay, I guess that’s right statement. There is a confidence behind this word. A belief that you would even be public about.

(1) to publicly express one’s allegiance to a person, or (2) to publicly acknowledge a fact about a person (Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene A. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1988., 33.274 & 33.275).

S

So, certainly to confess is to claim allegience to Jesus Christ.

JESUS CHRIST. Jesus=Savior. It’s transliterated from the Hebrew word Yeshua (Jehovah). Christ=Anointed One, or Messiah. The One who would come to redeem the world from its sin.

Remember that what you do with Jesus matters. What you believe about Jesus and teach about Jesus.

COME IN THE FLESH. Recognizing the incarnation of God. The Messiah came in the flesh. In a way that could relate to people and ultimately save people. So the test comes down to this: do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah?

Now, let’s keep going. If someone is claiming to be inspired by God to speak something, they must confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

Now,when you confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, you recognize His authority as the Messiah. If you do that, then you recognize that His teaching should be authoritative in your life.

Notice something related: the pronouns in v.4, 5, and 6— you, they, and we. Jump to v. 6— who is “we?” John is talking about the apostles. He is claiming apostolic authority. He and other apostles were not false prophets. They were from God. So whoever knows God would listen to them. Here we have the importance of the apostles’ teaching.

Still today, we should hold everything up to the authority of Scripture. When someone claims to have a word from the Lord, test i

Still today, we should hold everything up to the authority of Scripture. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (, ESV)

When someone claims to have a word from the Lord, test it. See how they present Jesus. If they’re not directly talkig about Jesus, see how their words hold up to Scripture.

The Lord told me… can be some of the most powerful words or the most dangerous words spoken. Someone might claim they have a word to proclaim over you, but we need to recognize that the cnaon of Scripture is closed. There is not going to be a new word from the Lord. He has already revealed everything that needs to be revealed. So if someone says The Lord told me… then whatever comes out of their mouth next needs to be out of the pages of Scripture.

We are also seeing weaker theology and Bible teaching because it is driven by emotions. Sometimes it can be easier to go along with how you or others feel about a certain topic or situation than it is to stay faithful to the Truth.

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An Exegetical Summary of 1, 2 and 3 John 4:2

(1) to publicly express one’s allegiance to a person [LN (33.274)], or (2) to publicly acknowledge a fact about a person [LN (33.275)].

Popular pastor and evangelical leader John Stott, “Neither Christian believing nor Christian loving is to be indiscriminate. In particular, Christian faith is not to be mistaken for credulity. True faith examines its object before reposing confidence in it.” (John Stott, Letters of John, 156.)

The New American Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John 2. Test the Spirits (4:1–6)

“Neither Christian believing nor Christian loving is to be indiscriminate. In particular, Christian faith is not to be mistaken for credulity. True faith examines its object before reposing confidence in it.”

“Neither Christian believing nor Christian loving is to be indiscriminate. In particular, Christian faith is not to be mistaken for credulity. True faith examines its object before reposing confidence in it.” (John Stott, Letters of John, 156.)

Transition: Don’t be gullible. Test the spirits. How they handle Jesus is the criterion. Now, let’s look at the consequences.

Spirit of the antichrist. Much like we heard in

Consequence

It’s a positive consequence for those who test the spirits and stay faithful to the Lord. Look at it in v.4: you are from God (so you’re proven faithful) and have overcome them.

“Them” refers to the false teachers who claim to speaking from the Lord. In , we see that one of the goals of the false teachers was to deceive the genuine believers.

The consequence is positive because as divisive as the false teachers are trying to be, you have overcome them. You are not being brought down by their teaching; you won’t suffer the wrath that would come by their denial of Christ. You’re above all of that.

But, Christian, you also need to recognize that it is not your intellect or strong debating skills that cause you to overcome them. This is not a contest in the sense that you have to put your best out there to win.

You have overcome them. It’s already done because you believe in the eternal Truth of Jesus Christ.

You have overcome because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

We overcome because Christ overcame.

God only dwells in you when you trust Christ as the Messiah. We receive the Holy Spirit upon conversion.

There is a negative conseuqence that needs to be mention

Spirit of the antichrist. Much like we heard in .

We must also mention the negative consequence found in this passage though. V. 3 says that those who do not confess Jesus Christ are exhibiting the spirit of the antichrist. V.5 says that they are from the world. Their consequence is that they will go the way of the world, which would be to depart from this earth and their soul go on experience the wrath of God in an eternal damnation apart from God.

I hope today that you are living in the Spirit of truth and not the Spirit of error.