930 1 Jn.4.1-6 The True and False Confessions
1st John • Sermon • Submitted
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When elderly people, in particular, get a call supposedly coming from the taxation department or from some other agency saying that they owe them money, most times, they were believed and people paid them what they asked for
It was the elderly, mainly, who were taken in because they only knew of a time when most people were honest
But we have a phone system that can now be utilised from overseas and these scammers are fleecing people from all over the world
Australia was a country that owned Christian values and this is why the elderly assumed that what they were being told was true
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Sadly, we are in a world now where nothing can be taken for granted
There are scammers & fraudsters galore & if people are not careful, they will take you to the cleaners & clean you out
The sad reality is that there are people who are intentionally evil
But, on the other hand, you have people who are not necessarily intent on evil, but may be so misled themselves, that what they do or say ends up being evil
They may not want to willingly be causing trouble, but their denial or ignorance of the truth will still do that
Even our law system will not excuse people for ignorance of the law
If you break the law, even though you weren’t aware of it, you can still end up being punished
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The point is that, although, these scams are intentional, usually, people don’t set out to promote teaching they believe to be false
False teaching comes from their thinking that what they say is true
In our passage, false teaching & the false spirits behind the teaching or prophecy are called heresies
Q. What is a heresy? A heresy is about personal choice believing what you want to believe
It is about personal choice & the formation of a preferred manner of thinking rather than the acceptance of the truth given - it becomes a self-willed attitude to believe & accept what it suitable to the person
In contrast, a person who adheres to the truth “from the beginning” stays with that revealed truth of Jesus Christ
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Q. Can we blame them, you might ask?
Why yes, because here’s the thing: - the Scriptures teach us the truth - that which we have heard from the beginning
Q. Who has the audacity to play around with sacred matters?
Here’s the problem: false teachers/prophets have an ear to the world - they want to make their Christianity world-friendly - and we know it is not!
The world has caused them to deviate from the truth of the Lord because they care more for the world & what it thinks, than they do for what Jesus thinks
They care to look respectable more so in the world’s eyes, rather than in the sight of the Lord
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In this passage today, we will see how to determine who is true & who is false with respect to what a person believes & teaches
In these 6 verses, It has to do with a person’s confession of Jesus Christ
1. Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
1. Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
1 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.
We are commanded to not believe every spirit - this sounds rather like entering into a Séance
But it is nothing of the sort - this is not about Séances or Ouija boards or even exorcisms where a person supposedly talks with spirits
This has to do with testing people who claim to speak a word from the Lord - that they would claim is motivated by the Holy Spirit
As in the second line of this verse here: “because many false prophets have gone out into the world” - this is addressing the spirit by which the prophet speaks
Q. It is a false spirit or a true spirit? How can we tell? Well John says how in the next 2 verses
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 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.
The first thing you notice here is that the positive confession is longer than the denial - let me explain
every spirit that confesses that Jesus [Christ has come in the flesh] is from God
every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God
Every spirit, meaning every prophet
Now notice that the second line simply says, “does not confess ........Jesus”
The first line gives what you need, the second is shortened - no point in wasting ink & paper
Specifically, the confession of the prophet must be that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
To not confess Jesus means not confessing that Jesus has come in the flesh
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This same saving of ink & paper happens here in Mark’s Gospel
16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
He who believed and has been baptised shall be saved
he who has disbelieved shall be condemned
Q. What happened to “has not been baptised” shall be condemned?
A simple matter of saving ink & paper - the statement carries over to the second line
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We have hard evidence that there were teachers in the early church who believed in screwy things about Jesus
They listened to the world & what was popular in the world & reshaped the Person of Christ based on what was palatable to the world
The early church father, Tertullian, in about 180-200 AD makes note of a man named Marcion
Marcion & his followers believed that Jesus was not who He seemed to be - He was a phantom or spirit
Whilst, someone died on the cross, it only seemed like He died on the cross
Tertullian writes...
“[Marcion’s] Christ...was not what he appeared to be...incarnate without being flesh, human without being man and likewise a divine Christ without being God!
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You have another man - a contemporary of the apostle John - by the name of Cerinthus who, like Marcion, had his many followers
The early church father, Irenaeus says...
He represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human generation, while he nevertheless was more righteous, prudent, and wise than other men. Moreover, after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler, and that then he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed miracles. But at last Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again, while Christ remained impassible (i.e. Incapable of suffering or feeling pain.), inasmuch as he was a spiritual being.
Now some people might think that this is much ado about nothing
But there are ramifications to everything you say & do, as it impacts what other people might say & do
Apart from that, it also, destroys the truth of what God has said & done
The virgin birth, God became flesh, is what is particularly noted & celebrated at Christmas
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So what if they have a different view? The early church fathers had good reason for rejecting them
Irenaeus makes clear the ramifications of Cerinthus’ false profession of Jesus Christ
[If] however, Christ being flesh is now discovered to be a lie, it follows that all things which were done by the flesh of Christ were done untruly... yea, His very miracles. If with a touch, or by being touched, He freed any one of a disease, whatever was done by any [bodily] act cannot be believed to have been truly done in the absence of all reality in His body itself. Nothing substantial can be allowed to have been effected by an unsubstantial thing...On this principle, too, the sufferings of Christ will be found not to warrant faith in Him. For He suffered nothing who did not truly suffer; and a phantom could not truly suffer. God’s entire work, therefore, is subverted. Christ’s death, wherein lies the whole weight and fruit of the Christian name, is denied ...
Besides, if His flesh is denied, how is His death to be asserted; for death is the proper suffering of the flesh... if His death be denied, because of the denial of His flesh, there will be no certainty of His resurrection. For He rose not, for the very same reason that He died not,... Similarly, if Christ’s resurrection be nullified, ours also is destroyed. If Christ’s resurrection be not realized, neither shall that be for which Christ came.
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All this stemmed from the influence of the world
A world that thought that the spiritual things were good but the material things were evil
Therefore, in their minds, how could a good, spiritual God, become evil flesh
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Let me have a quick word about the relevance of this Bible reading
Every house has a foundation - if that foundation collapses, then everything you build on top of that will be for naught as it will go down with the foundations
Jesus uses this same illustration in a comparison of a house built on the rock & a house built on the sand
The point is the same: build on the rock - on the words of Jesus - & your life will be persevered & in tact
Build on the sand & when the tough times come - when the evil day comes - the foundations will collapse with the rising flood waters & the house is totalled
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Good Christian theology - not the most entertaining material - is vital for your Christian life
If you put time into understanding the things that are written, like these 6 verses today, they will stand you in good stead with the Lord and keep you in eternal life
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The person, then, that does not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God
A person needs to confess not just Jesus, but Jesus Christ
Cerinthus separated the 2 - Jesus the man of flesh, from Christ the heavenly Spirit
According to him, at Jesus’ baptism the Christ Spirit came upon Jesus
However, before the cross, the Christ Spirit left Him so that only the man Jesus suffered - God did not suffer
Notice the true confession here is Jesus Christ - the two being one - Jesus the man of flesh is Christ the heavenly being
Hard Sayings of the Bible 7 Who Are the Heretics?
According to John, a true Christian pledges allegiance to Jesus Christ, not just the Christ. And the believer acknowledges that this whole entity, “Jesus Christ,” has come from God and is really human
— F. F. Bruce and Peter Davids
22 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.
That Jesus the man of flesh is Christ the heavenly Spirit
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John goes on to say that these false prophets are called antichrists, who have the spirit of the antichrist
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2. Which Message Will You Own?
2. Which Message Will You Own?
It is said that “Old fishermen never die—they only smell that way.
”That surely describes false Christianity. It never dies—it only smells that way.
Sadly, we have to face this threat whether we like it or not
It could impact your life but also the life of your children
We have to work hard to stay true & faithful to the truth of Jesus Christ
-------- Illustration ----------------
Each year varies to the degree of fruit fly we find infesting our fruit
One year, they didn’t give us much of a problem, but last year, they took out every apricot on the tree & that was a lot
This year we have netted all our fruit trees to protect & preserve the fruit
It’s extra work, but it is worth it in the long run because you are able to preserve all the fruit from the trees
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This is not unlike the battle we face against false teaching with false views of Jesus Christ
You’re not going to find that here in our fellowship, but if you end up moving around, you may come across false teaching where they give ear to the world instead of what we have heard “from the beginning”
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This is where a Christian has to make a choice between the world & what God says in His word
If you believe that John’s message here is God-inspired (of God & from God), then you really need to find yourself in agreement with his declaration - that there are some who are of the antichrist - those who profess untruths about Jesus - sad as it is
It comes from self-will & the unwillingness to accept God’s word of truth over the things they hear from the world
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Even this kind of talk is really out of place in a secular world where they don’t wish to discriminate against any view no matter how crazy it is
There is no such thing as a heretic out there in the world
The only heretics are those who say there are heretics in the world
The world operates in relativistic terms - anyone who gives absolutes will find that they are setting themselves against the world
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The apostle has already told us that the world system will set itself against us
Where? In John’s statements about the world
19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
It is the world that pulls people their way & sets itself against the truth of God
Antichrists align with the world - They speak, they think, they live as the world does
They do as the world tells them! They listen to the world & the world happily listens to them
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
In contrast, are the faithful
6 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.
3. He Who Knows God Listens to Us
3. He Who Knows God Listens to Us
Joseph was what most people call “hustling” in New York City. He was on foot, selling his various products to passersby. He came upon a young, enthusiastic man holding shopping bags who seemed pretty interested in the products he was selling.
"So how much is that?" the young man asked Joseph within seconds. When Joseph told him the price, the customer pulled out a $20 bill folded in half and passed it over. Joseph, happy to finally make a sale, quickly gave the man his change before he had a chance to change his mind. The customer smiled and went on his way quickly.
Later that day, Joseph was counting through his “take” for the day which wasn’t very much, but enough to pay his phone bill which was due that day. He noticed that one of the bills looked different from the others. It was the $20 that was folded in half. He examined the bill, holding it up to the light, and didn’t see a hologram. When he felt the bill it didn’t “snap” and resist between his fingers like real $20s did—it just didn’t feel right. After a few minutes of comparison he noticed that the bill was actually just a piece of paper with a copy of a $20 bill on the front and back.
"Oh no," is all that Joseph could groan out when he realized that he had been passed a fake bill. He didn’t want to believe it – the bill looked so real. His entire day was a bust, and now he wouldn’t be able to pay the phone bill that had been looming over his head, motivating him to hustle in the first place.
A counterfeit can look real until it is examined more closely; It is then found to be fake
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The apostle says that to know how to tell the difference, he sets up himself & his churches in contrast to those who reject him
6 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.
Meaning that he & his churches are holding to that which was from the beginning
The testimony, the witness, of those who have handled & touched & been with Jesus Christ
1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
“See here how it is what we, the apostles, have heard, seen, etc. from the beginning & how we have proclaimed to it you…so that you may have fellowship with us”
Holding fast to this teaching is the way to determine and know the spirit of truth from the spirit of error
This is why the letters of the apostles were brought into what is called the canon of Scripture
All the New Testament books have been determined to be from the hands of the apostles or those who were closely associated with them
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Q. How might this be done?
1. Know the Word, know the Scripture
1. Know the Word, know the Scripture
In this way you will be able to determine the true from the false
Unless you know the real & true, you would not know how to tell a counterfeit
2. Read it in context
2. Read it in context
It’s what we do here as we go through Scripture book by book
False teachers use Scripture too & most times, they pick a verse here & a verse there & it becomes a pretext for what they want to say. A pretext is no substitute for context
3. Don’t be afraid to question or to ask
3. Don’t be afraid to question or to ask
Everyone of us are learners - I’m a learner
If you don’t understand something do what I do - imagine shelves in your mind - store it there & keep learning until you are confident in what you believe the Scripture is saying
Ask, ask, ask - I’m never offended by people asking me to either explain myself or if they have a question - I actually admire people who ask - they are the Berean Christians
Remember them - the message from Luke (Acts 17) that they were more noble-minded than others because, he says, “they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so”. Eagerness & Examination
4. Don’t Reject the Scripture because it seems to grate on your understanding
4. Don’t Reject the Scripture because it seems to grate on your understanding
Remember that we are not infallible - I do not trust my judgement
I do not trust that my knowledge of good & evil is correct - from the reception of that knowledge in the garden of Eden, all it has done is corrupt human beings
I rely on God telling me what is right & wrong, good & evil - that is what the exercise of faith happens to accomplish
In contrast, is the world & its ways thinking that it is the final arbiter of good & evil, yet that arbitration changes with every generation like the fashion industry
Remember what the Lord laid down with regard to repentance...
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
The way of repentance is the adoption of God’s ways & God’s thoughts
That can be done by reading, understanding & accepting that which we have heard “from the beginning”
May God bless you as your seek to trust His word over the that of the world’s & even that of your own