1 John: Test the Spirits

My name is Bill van when the pastor's here and it's my prayer today to encourage if not challenge you with where to God. Amen. Amen. I love saying that encourage but yet challenge you with the word of God. It ain't all just fun stuff. Some of it should challenge. Yes to the very core. I love that song I Can Sing of Your Love Forever cuz that's what we'll be doing resending if his love forever and ever. All right before I begin to teach let's open with prayer and give the God the glory for the blessing of his words because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The Lord we just thank you for this day Lord. Just thank you for the blessings seen and unseen Papa. Thank you for this beautiful weather that we're having a little chilly for my taste Lord, but that's okay. This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it. So father would you just open us up here this morning, or do we surrender I to you Lord, would you teach us each individually, that's for your spirit. Let it just dumb invade our hearts and our minds Jesus. We might have your peace and all of this Papa. We love you when you give for you, the praise and glory and all of God's children Said Amen in Jesus name. Yeah, listen last week Joe talked about how to know and that was the title of his lessons. How do you know meaning the heart and the Holy Spirit speak two different languages is what he was saying. So how do you know which is which well one thing that Joe paired out was it one speaks condemnation and lies to us where the other eye speaks conviction and Truth verse John 3:19 says by this we shall know that we are of the truth by dezern Discerning these things today. I want to continue that thought just a little bit as it relates to Spirit a testing the spirit and when I say Spirit when I talk About the things that I'm going to talk about today, you know, I don't want you to be thinking of Casper the Friendly Ghost raining like that. Although although we are speaking about spirits, but we're also speaking about the spirit of God who lives in us or not. So I want to make that clear. I want to I want to start out with a little story that starts out in a place where there are close to the battle lines during the Korean War and it was a century that was walking his post one night and heard a sound in the darkness and he challenged the sound. He said halt who goes there friend or Foe and a voice replied friend and the century said repeat the second verse of The Star-Spangled Banner The Voice responded. I don't know the second verse and he said okay friend you may advance. Okay, that's supposed to be funny Nobody Knows the second verse if those specially if you're an American, right? Who knows the second verse of The Star-Spangled Banner, let us didn't work for there is one that's my point. So when they said what's the second verse and an American would go I don't know then you would know that there in American. Forget it. Nevermind. Nevermind. What is that saying? It went over like a lead balloon or something like that one author write this he says Christians must be on their guard to distinguish between spiritual friend and spiritual follow. Where do you know the Star Spangled Banner or not? You must test the spirits because Terror many deceiving spirits in the world today man. That was the biggest flop in the history of flaps letting day. I don't know that I'll ever get over this. Okay. This is us to have the first thing in your outline and the topic of our lesson today, which is found in 1st John 4 verses 1 through 6 entitled testing the spirits so 1st John 4 verses 1 through 6. We're going to talk about testing the spirits. So we're challenged in verse 1 to learn how to distinguish The spirit of God from false Spirits John 1:4 John first John 4:1 says beloved. 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 John affectionately addresses Believers in this first verse is first line of this verse as beloved both by God and by John and because of his love for us and for believers John really warns them or tells them or give them a heads-up not to believe every spirit. I need you. I need you to really hear this. We really need to understand it as Christian as Believers. You can't just believe everything. Everyone says you have to test that spirit and there's there's ways of doing that. We're going to talk about that but the biggest whale Doing it is knowing the word of God and knowing that things are true based on the word of God. So John affectionately he says beloved and I think this is so important for you guys to understand what he says beloved like he's meaning like guys this is important stuff. Like it's really really important that you get what I'm trying to say to you here today in a statement really to say do not believe when he says do not believe it really means stop just stop and then I wanted to Define where he says every Spirit every Spirit refers to a person or persons dominated or influence by a demonic Spirit the spirit seek to control deceive or influence those seeking power control and influence some examples of types of these demonic forces are spirits real ejiasa T spirits of line of accusation of deception of pride of left of Crete of greed or maybe even depressing or anxious Spirits in State of being gullible and instead of being undiscerning where to test the spirits or these persons who claim to be of God or just be speaking up on the authority of God's but you might be asking yourself. Well, how do we do that? How do we test the spirits? Well, we've talked about that quite a bit in 1st John, but I'm going to recap some things for you just to kind of give you a refresher and then we'll talk about today's examples as well. But the first thing that you can do is that you can test your spirit by testing their commitment to a local body or to church or as Believers I 1st John 2:19 says this they went out from us, but they did not really belong to us for if they had belong to us. They would have remained with us, but they're going showed the none of them belonged to us. So there's a commitment there as to whether They want their standing alongside of other believers in the same Realm of the same capacity or the same understanding as other people because if they don't believe if they're they're speaking something different other than what the church or the Bible indicates them that they're not going to stick around. So that's that's one way that you test that spirit is by its commitments the other way. How do you test if they are of the Lord is it you test their lifestyle? You just look at their lifestyle according to 1st John 3. If you remember it said and this is his command to believe in the name of the son Jesus Christ and to love one another as he commanded us the one who keeps God's commands lives in him and he in them and this is how we know that he lives in us as we know it by the spirit he gives so we can tell we can discern Spirits based on a person's lifestyle that you can look around. And see whether a person is a Believer or if they believed that the way that they should leave their life is the way that God commands them to listen. There's a lot of people in and I'm sorry to say this but there's a lot of people that speak a lot of religiosity terms and I know a lot of religious things that really don't believe in Jesus Christ and it's important that you understand that because we are called and commanded to look at these Spirits. Look at these people and discern where they are. Now the other thing how we test if the if they are of the Lord is that we test the fruit of their Ministry test the fruit of their Ministry according to 1st John 4:6. 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 in the spirit of faucet to look at their Ministry looking to see if there if there's fruit in there and some people made stats it there. Say well, I don't have a Ministry. Well, yes, you do every one of us has a Ministry to go and teach and tell and disciple what Jesus taught and said, so it's our responsibility to look at these people. Listen, we shouldn't look at him. I'm not I'm not advocating that we look at somebody from a judgemental. I am looking at talking to about it from the aspect of it's an opportunity for us to disciple them. It's an opportunity for us to speak the truth to them and teach them the truth of God's word. Amen. So so don't look at this like, you know We're better than them or anything like that because we're not we just we have a calling app to do these things into speak these truths and then probably the most important. Probably the most important way that we test if they are of the Lord is what do they believe about Jesus? What do they believe about Jesus according to 1st? John 4 in this isn't our lesson text. It says this is how you can recognize the spirit of God every spirit that acknowledges. The Jesus Christ has come in. The flesh is from God. So do they teach that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. This question is so good in detecting a good spirit versus a bad spread a good person versus a bad person is the religion good or bad is the pr. People are the spirits good or bad by by testing whether Jesus is fully man or is he's fully God at what are they? What are they speaking? You know, are they saying these things some people will teach and preach? Half-truths and listen have trees will get you in hell just as quick as anything else. I'm you have to be able to understand what the Lord is teaching 1st. John 4:3 discloses that the failure to convey the work of the Son of God in the flesh is what exposes the spirit of the Antichrist. We talked about that already verse 3 says this is has an every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in. The flesh is not from God and this is the spirit of antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world. Why does this mean? Why is this important? Why is it true? Will listen if Jesus wasn't fully man in his he wasn't fully God. He wouldn't be able to do the things that he said that he has done you wouldn't be able to do the things that are in the word of God. You wouldn't be able to come down here as a man which was important. It was important because what was Jesus as he came down here as a man. He was our offering for for the sin that we had in our lives. And if Jesus had to come and died for our Cynthia's I need you to get this if you need to understand that Jesus has to be fully man and fully got it if he wasn't fully man. He couldn't come down here and die, right? Okay, so it was important that he died because of what Resume for sense because he defeated the enemy in his death. And then what was the most important thing after that then he was raised right here a so, he made came God he's fully got absolutely important that we understand this when author writes as he says you cannot ignore or deny the full deity or the full Humanity of Jesus without Nae gating God's Redemptive work. He is the god of the Old Testament who in the person of his son became incarnate or inhuman flash lived without sin died on the cross to satisfy the just demands of his lock which man had broke. He was raised from the dead in the body in which he died to become the living savior of The Sinner who will place his trust in him and that's the whole thing. So that's how we test that Spirit that's like that the easiest way to test the spirit is to understand what a person believes about Jesus Christ. John says the person who teaches this is actuated owned driven or come. Ended by the Holy Spirit test the spirit test the spirit test the spirit. How do we do that? Look at their commitment. Look at their lifestyle look at them there for the fruit of their Ministry, but more importantly look at what they believe about Jesus Christ. And this is so important that we understand that because if we don't understand it then will be deceived by other spirits will be deceived by other people and there's victory in this please hear me say this there's victory over the spirits in this verse for declares this Victory about Jesus when it says you excuse me, you are from God little children and have overcome them because greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world. There's three reasons right here that are given for Christians to have victory over spirit in the first one is it because you are from God you got that you are from God you are children of God. He calls us his children and that's the victory that We have that's the thing that we should stand up and say no matter what's coming against us no matter what what's going on? I am still a child of God. And God has this. God has me the other thing the other Victory that's their Forest. Is it what he's he overcame the world. He said that you said and John is 1633 as well. He says but take heart I have overcome the world. We are Overcomers you got that your old no matter how bad things get no matter how Bleak things seem we are Overcomers. Not because of who we are because of what Jesus has done and what Jesus has deposited in each and every one of us and that's when you got to stand up and straighten up your back and pull your shoulders back and say no I'm going to overcome this because Jesus is my Lord Jesus Is My Savior and that's what we have to do and that's why we discern the spirits so we can stand up to the people that are these, you know Tiptoe Through the Tulips kind of Christians. You just says so it'll be okay Time Heals. Everything time doesn't heal diddly-squat Jesus heals. That's why he's referred to as Jehovah because he is a Healer only he is the Healer

I had to go on and on about that but we'll just stay with the glass and the third reason for her victories in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit 1st. John 4:4 says the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. That means that we have we have something special in a and I say this to you all the time and I am maybe you'll get tired of hearing it. Maybe you don't get tired of hearing it. Maybe you need to be reassured in it. But listen when the Holy Spirit came in on us when we became Believers in Jesus Christ, there were good things deposited in us and there were peace and love and joy and goodness and kindness and the ability to do the things that God has called us to do not because of who we are but because of who he is and what he has deposited in us, which is the Holy Spirit. The holy spirit is living within each and everyone of us and that's what brings power and that's what brings Victory is the Holy Spirit. Did you get that but maybe not cuz you should be like hallelujah. Thank you Jesus because that's who we are. Maybe you're just tired because it's winter time out and it's not summer anymore. I don't know where there's power in the Holy Spirit. There's power and understanding who we are in Christ Jesus and that's what we should be advocated. You. Don't listen to we get we check about stuff like that. But it's true. It's true because the enemies going to try to influence us any way that he can get him. He's going to he's going to take things that you like. Maybe you have a most but he's going to take those things and he's going to use those things against you to make you believe what it is that he wants you to believe the deceive you and his whole is whole game in life is to deceive us so that we won't be who Jesus wants us to be so we won't walk in Victory. I'm sorry. He can come anywhere. He wants ya man. So good. Good UFO start.

Shift who knows who who knows that Emily could but listen, I love hearing about other people's dreams because especially 30 cheating dreams. I mean, obviously you got caught in something in a n s a scripture verse came to mind as well. So but less than that's the other thing is if you don't know if you haven't put that scripture verse in there if you haven't learned tested it and memorize it knows kinds of things studied on it. Has it ever even going to come out in a dream, you know what I mean? So it's important for us to be able to do that. It's important for us to study. So we test the spirits to either by observing their commitment or lifestyle their fruit what they believe about Jesus and then we know that were from God we know that the holy spirit is in us and that we have victory in that we are Overcomers men. The last thing I want to speak about is just this that the spirits the spirits are contrasted in verses 5 and 6 and this is why I love this verse more than more than Did when I started stepping it, let's put it that way the 1st John 4 5 and 6 first John Chapter 4 verses 5 and 6 says that they are from the world and therefore speak from the Viewpoint of the world how much more clear can that be? They are of the world. So therefore they speak of the world from the Viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them. 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 faucet. So John concludes that this concludes this discussion testing of the Spirits by placing this contrasting situation of false teachers of teachers that aren't Christian teachers and teachers that are and the Simplicity of this is so good that I just really want you to hear this that the Antichrist preaches anti-christian still preach teach just normal people. Not of us and there's no middle ground. There's no neutrality. There's nothing as it relates to Jesus Christ. It's like it's this or that and so we have been taught and we've been told as Christian but even a commentator says this is this false teachers are from the world and they speak out of worldly wisdom, which is just it what they want. The world wants to hear and I'll listen this it says the word speak in this verse is Leo meaning talking babbling or talking without real or spiritual sense or meaning of the word the world listens because it hears its own language and the devil tells people what they want to hear. He is their kind of preacher not not often does the Lord tell us things that we really want to hear. But the enemy will tell you things that you just want to hear things that are more believable to you because of what the world's Viewpoint of things and so that's why it's seriously important for us to understand that on the other side the Christian teachers from God and it says 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 false it is that makes sense. So so the contrasting Spirit there or the contrasting idea there is it that there's some speaking of the from the world's Viewpoint and of the world and others that are speaking of God's word. And so that's that's really kind of an easy way for us to discern this thing, correct. Correct. I'm not moving on until you're sure that you know this okay. Okay. Alright, I'm going to have the worship team come up. I just want to close with this as we end today. I want to close with this quote. I think this is the most amazing quote that I've heard. I I don't know who said it, but I do know that it I think it speaks volumes of for who we should be in what we should be but this quote says this it says the message what's the message of the Gospel? So the message authenticate the speaker? Hear me say this. Whoever's talking stop talking and listen to me the message authenticate the speaker. The speaker does not authenticate the message. So listen to me so I can come up here and do backflips. You can be the most eloquent speaker that there is he could be, you know, just making you feel good and everything is all good. But that doesn't authenticate the word that he's speaking the word authenticates the word. That's it. That's all but you that you cannot understand if the word has been authenticated if you don't understand a word you can't come in here on Sunday for 20 stinking minute and say I got this and I understand this and I'll be okay because of it that's not true. You're being deceived you need more than 20 minutes in a week. You got to get more than just a shot in the arm and you got to do more than just sit here in the seat and Nod your head yes or no, you have to take this thing for yourself because your salvation with guaranteed by G. Jesus Christ, but you have a responsibility to get out there and understand what that word of. God says, how are you going to understand the truth? If you haven't heard it, how are you going to understand the truth if you haven't used it, and that's what I'm advocating today is it you have to test the spirits the most testing of the spirits is a responsibility that you have to have by understanding the word of God. Study, what did you say? What did you say study study? Jim has a bible study on Friday and we have to study the word of God and listen to have an excuse. You just don't so don't be deceived know the truth study the truth eat breathe consume the truth of God because the question becomes which Spirit are you listening to in Jesus name?