1 John 4:1-6
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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.
Beloved. John addresses this same group throughout this letter.
Beloved is in reference to those who have been loved by God.
They are those who have experienced the love of God and are currently in his Love.
And he warns those who are the beloved because these are the people entrusted into his care.
The initial warning here is not to believe every spirit.
That we are to be believers, but we are to be believers are the correct doctrines.
What he is saying here is that there is one Spirit that we should listen to and that is the Spirit of God.
Our job is to distinguish between the false spirits (Demonic and Satanic) forces of the world and the one true and living Spirit.
thats why he says there “to see if they are from God.”
Again this is why this morning we ended by discussing how we need to be discerning and know the Word.
This is necessary, because many false prophets have gone into the world.
because many false prophets have
And how will we know them?
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
They are known by their fruits.
We watch their lives.
We talked about some distinguishing features of them this morning. Are they hypocrites? Are they liars? Are their consciences seared? Do they teach what is false?
Specifically, John tells us the distinguishing factor of the Spirit of God.
In other words, what does the Spirit of God do that the false spirit will not?
He tells us what to expect from the true spirit of God so that we will able to recognize the false.
We must know the true or will will fall prey to the false.
Look what he says.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
He tells us what to expect from the true spirit of God so that we will able to recognize the false spirits
We must know the true or we will fall prey to the false.
By this you know the Spirit of God.
he confesses Jesus Christ.
He confesses Christ has come in the flesh.
In other words, it confesses that Jesus Christ is God incarnate.
The Spirit that confesses that, is from God.
Jesus told us this. when he promised the Spirit.
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
John 16:
Jesus said the Spirit of God will glorify him.
Thats the test of whether something or someone is of the Spirit or not. Do they confess Christ?
The Holy Spirit gets blamed for a lot of things he is not doing and would not do because those things do not glorify Christ.
Verse 3 tells us clearly.
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
Anything and anyone who does not glorify Christ, is not of the Spirit of God. Its a different Spirit.
The spirit of the anti christ.
This isn’t the first time that John has mentioned this.
Flip with me over back in chapter 2
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
There are Spirits that seek to distract and distort the truth.
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We must abide in the truth, and abiding in the truth allows us to overcome through he who is in us.
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You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
We overcome by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is greater than the spirits in the world.
I think that we often probably read this verse that it is speaking of Jesus, but its speaking of the Holy Spirit.
the one who has been given to us.
The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Its his Spirit that abides in us.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
and the one who has taken up residence in us is greater than the the spirit of deception.
He glorifies Christ, he guides us in truth, he guards us in truth.He confirms that we are his.
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
He seals us for the day of redemption.
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This is much better than him giving us a fuzzy feeling, or making someone scream out of control. His work is much more meaningful than that.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
This is much better than him giving us a fuzzy feeling, or making someone scream out of control. His work is much more meaningful than that.
He is greater than he who is in the world and our understanding and desire to remain in the truth of God’s word reveals where we are.
They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 john 4:5-6
Look at the comparison.
