Sermon Tone Analysis

Bible Reading

Introduction

As we continue our look into this important aspect of Spiritual Discernment, we are going to turn our attention today to the matter of testing the spirits.

In this letter that John has written to the church, he writes it with a few goals in mind.

As believers, they will still sin, but they should strive for holiness.

Gives them tests by which they can test if they are truly in Christ.

He deals with false prophets, and how to discern them.

Verses 1-6, which we read this morning, are one of the sections in which he deals with these false prophets and their teachings.

And the point of course is to warn the believers that they need to be discerning.

In verse 1 of chapter 4, we find this admonition by John that the believers are not to believe every spirit, but rather that they are to test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

As we live our lives in this world as Christians, we are commanded in God’s word that we must test the spirits to see if they are from God.

In essence, what this means is that all teaching that we receive is to be tested.

Any teaching that we receive, I would go further to say - any counsel and directing that we receive in life - it to be tested to determine if this is from God, or if this is from Satan.

But notice also in verse 1 that John says that we are to “test the spirits”.

The implication of what John is saying is that behind the words and teachings being brought across to us is a spiritual influence.

That spiritual influence is either going to be good - from God, or it is going to be deceptive - from Satan.

And so we are commanded to test the spirits.

In line with our sermon series: there is to be spiritual discernment exercised when coming to teachers.

But as we do this, we need to know how to test.

What exactly is it that we are testing?

How will we be able to discern what spirit is from God and what spirit is not from God.

And if you think that is an easy task, then let me tell you, you have not reckoned with the slyness and the cunning of Satan in this world.

You have not reckoned with your own sinful heart that is so prone to leading you into your own ways, rather than the ways of God.

This is not a statement that is made in order to frighten you into thinking that you can never discern, and that you’re doomed to failure.

It’s simply a reality of this life: that deception and falsehood is rife in the world, and it is the means that Satan is using in order to draw people away from the true and living God.

And we as the church need to come together and study God’s word together, faithfully learning and growing in our knowledge of this truth, so that we as a church will be able to stand faithfully on the truth of God’s revelation to us, so that we will not be led into deception.

We as Christians need to be those who are testing the spirits to see if they are from God.

And so the question that we will begin to answer this morning, is how do we discern, how do we test these spirits?

There are a number of ways in which we can do this, various tests that we could apply.

For example, in the Old Testament we find these words of instruction to Israel:

In this instance, any person who leads Israel away from the true God, even in the event that the person / prophet produces miraculous signs / wonders, they are not to be listened to.

In other words, God told the Israelites to test everything according to whether or not it lead to worship of Him.

Even miraculous signs are not necessarily evidence of a true teacher, if that teaching is directed away from the truth of God.

And then listen to the words of Deuteronomy 18:20-22...

So there are these various tests that God has always given by which His people were to test the spirits / prophets to see whether or not they were from Him.

But this morning I really only want to focus our attention on one particular aspect, one particular test, and that is: “Does it exalt the true Christ?”

Does the teaching, does the movement, does the church espousing these thoughts and ideas, does this group of people that I am gathering with, do they exalt the true Christ.

Note what I am not asking here.

I am not asking: “do they use the name Jesus when they teach in their church?”

I am also not asking: “do they use some verses from the Bible when they teach in their church?”

That is not the question.

There are many false teachers, there are many dangerous teachers, who use the name Jesus, and refer to Scripture.

In fact, this is one of the points that makes them so dangerous, and why it is such a challenging task to discern truth from error.

Because on the surface of it, it may sound quite true, and quite appealing.

But not everything that on cursory glance sounds true and appealing actually is.

As we consider this question, we’re going to do so by looking at it under 2 broad headings.

The Spirit of God always points people to Christ.

The Spirit of God always affirms the truth about Christ.

1.

The Spirit of God always points people to Christ.

When we come to trying to discern the Spirit of God, as opposed to the false spirits that would infiltrate the church, we need to begin by understanding that the true Spirit of God is always pointing people to Christ.

In other words, Christ is always the main focus.

He is the One that the eyes and hearts of the people of God are to look towards in this life.

He is the main point!!

Hebrews 12:2 says we “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

1.1.

Scripture always points to Christ

As we consider this further, and the reason that we must see this as so important, we must recognise that Scripture (which according to 2 Timothy 3:16 is breathed out by God) always points to Christ.

We can go through the entirety of the Old and New Testaments, and we’ll find that the Scriptures continually point to Jesus Christ.

The Law (especially portions of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) anticipates Christ by exposing our hearts, our inability to live according to God’s righteous standards, and persuading us of our need for a Savior.

The promises that we find through the Old Testament, particularly in the prophetic books, point our eyes towards Christ by creating within us a longing for the fulfilment of those promises, which we know can only come in Christ.

In the Wisdom literature (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and so on) we are compelled to look to Christ for meaning and for the ability to live wisely, because it is Christ...

Particular Old Testament offices (prophet, priest, and king) foreshadow Christ’s redemptive work.

Certain Old Testament rituals, such as the Passover (Exodus 12), foreshadow God’s redemption of his people through the Cross.

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) introduce us to Jesus Christ and his ministry on earth, culminating in his death, burial, and resurrection.

The Epistles (Romans, 1 Corinthians, and so forth) offer sustained theological reflection on the significance of the person and work of Christ for the church.

The Epistles show us how our lives are to be lived in Christ.

Revelation gives us a window into the glorious rule and reign of Christ at the right hand of the Father.

All of the Scripture always points to Christ.

It directs our eyes ultimately towards Christ.

All of the Scriptures ultimately point to the work of God done in Jesus Christ.

That is why Paul can say to the Colossians...

1.2 The Holy Spirit Always Points to Christ

But we must also remember that it’s not only the Scriptures as a whole which point to Christ, but it is also the Holy Spirit that points to Christ.

In John 14:26, as Christ begins to prepare his disciples for his own departure, He explains to them that there would be the Counselor that is to come to them...

The work of the Holy Spirit would primarily be to remind the disciples of what Jesus taught.

This is the great work of the Spirit - bringing to recollection the words of Christ to His disciples.

What is of supreme importance is really the words of Christ, the teachings of the Word that became flesh.

But the Holy Spirit comes to remind disciples of this.

Then in John 15:26, we find Jesus again telling his disciples about the work of the Spirit...

The work of the Spirit is to testify about Jesus.

The Holy Spirit does not come into the world in order to be the focus of attention, so that people’s eyes and hearts will be consumed by the Spirit.

No, the Spirit testifies about Jesus, the Son, the Word of God in the world.

The focus is on Christ.

This comes through again in John 16:13-15...

The spirit guides into all truth.

Furthermore, the Spirit brings glory to Christ (v.14).

Christ is the focus of the work of the Spirit.

The truth of Christ - the truth of His words and His life are conveyed to the disciples by the Holy Spirit.

2. It affirms the truth about Christ

This brings us to our second main point this morning.

Not only does the Spirit of God always point people to Christ, but the Spirit of God always affirms the truth about Christ.

The Spirit of God always affirms the truth about Christ, in terms of who He is, and also what He taught.

Everything about Christ: His Nature, His character, His attributes - all of this is testified to by the Spirit of truth.

But also everything that Christ taught: His doctrine, His teachings, His message - all of this is testified to by the Spirit of truth.

If I could summarize this in one phrase, the grand doctrine of salvation in and through Jesus Christ, God the Son, is testified to by the Spirit of God.

This is an essential point to recognise.

It comes out in the immediate context in terms of John’s letter.

The false teaching of the day that John was addressing was what is known as Docetism.

That is, the people believed that Jesus did not truly come in bodily form.

They would acknowledge that Jesus had come

They acknowledged the divinity of Jesus.