Who do you believe?

Information Overload

In our modern day age it can be very difficult to know who or what to believe.

No matter what cultural issue you want to discuss, there is always at least two polarized sides. And they are usually very venomous and divisive towards each other.

A great example is politics. With the elections coming up, people tend to be on one side of the political spectrum or the other. And we tend to have very strong feelings for why we are there. I always want my political views in line up with scripture, because my first citizenship is in heaven and I don’t care how good a candidate is if their views do not align with scripture.

I don’t care how qualified economically they are or how much I agree with the tax or foreign policy if they don’t agree with me morally. I don’t care how great they will be for America for they are going to stripe away our moral fabric and devalue human life. Now listen carefully, I am speaking in generalities here. I am not speaking about a particular candidate, I am speaking in general, but where you can get in trouble if you aren’t careful is how we respond. Look with me at 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 2:23–26 ESV

23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

I want you to keep this attitude in mind as we look at our passage this morning. I do want to point out that the major moral political arguments might not be foolish ignorant controversies, but our attitude still needs to align with this passage.

Make sure you understand what Paul is saying here. As we engage a culture that no longer believes in the Word of God, you can’t back down from your convictions. You still need to stand on the truth of God’s Word, but the key is our attitude. First our goal need to be to love the lost and pray for them and as you engage with them remember this passage. It is so easy to talk negatively about others especially when their views are anti-Biblical. But you must remember one important truth as you interact with the lost.

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 ESV

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And that is where we need to be careful as believers.

1 John 4:1 ESV

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

So from verse 1 of chapter four we learn two very important truths for believers? What are they?

The first truth is there are false teachers. I know I have talked about them in the past, but There are a lot of people who claim to be “Christian” Pastors, both men and women, who claim to be Christian but are not.

I heard an example this past week. I read about a tik tok pastor

He is an openly gay pastor who says he is a Christian and a minister of the Gospel, but if you examine his teaching, you will find he is far from the Gospel and that is why John is urging us to test the spirits. The first part of his teaching I saw that gives away the fact he is not a minister of this Gospel (Hold up the Bible) is this quote:

“I don’t believe in hell, yet I choose to follow Jesus because I know it blesses my life and the world around me,”

Is this possible? Can you reject one of Jesus’ teachings and still quote “follow” Him?

I would argue no, do you know Jesus spoke more about hell than He did heaven?

Let’s look at Luke chapter 16

Luke 16:19–31 ESV

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

Does anyone not see the doctrine of hell in this passage?

Another example is found in Matthew 25

Matthew 25:31–46 ESV

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This is just a couple examples where Jesus spoke about the reality of hell. And remember this is from a heart of love and compassion. Jesus isn’t threatening, His desire is for everyone to repent and believe. It is God’s will that none shall perish, but we resist the Holy Spirit.

Just like the Tik Toc pastor,

Matthew 7:15 ESV

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

“For most people, sex before marriage is a healthy expression of the gift of sexuality and is not “sinful” or morally wrong,” Robertson later told Huffington Post the same year.

This leads to our second truth.

What is the second truth we learn form verse one?

Because there are false teachers, you must test the spirits.

This is so important, as you listen to different opinions, that you are aware there is absolute truth and everything that contradicts this truth is from the evil one.

That is why it is so important to know the truth so you can spot the errors.

Look at verses 2, 3 & 4 with me

1 John 4:2–4 ESV

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, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

If you remember back to chapter 1, John was writing to this church because there where false teaching claiming that Jesus did not come in the flesh that He was just a spirit.

Do you remember what John’s response was to that form chapter 1?

1 John 1:1–4 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

You must cling to the truth of scripture because there is false teachers. There were false teachers 2,000 years ago and we are still dealing with them today. Why because we have a real enemy, that wants to take as many people to hell with him as possible. His destination is already set, he knows his fate and he wants to kill and destroy as many people as possible and remember the lost are blinded by him. The lost can just pick and choose which parts of the Bible make their life better and do that and any where scripture gets tough or speaks out against their own lifestyle they can just discard that and move on. That is why John is repeating himself over and over. That is why John is pleading with you this morning like a father or mother would plead with their children. God loves you like a son or daughter. God wants you to repent that is turn from your sin. That is all of your sin even the sin that you love. Turn from all of it. Dive into His word to uproot all of Satan’s strongholds in your life.

Listen to how John closes this section

1 John 4:4–6 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

I love this truth (verse 4), I have often repeated this verse to remind myself when I doubt or when I am struggling. That He who is in me is strong than he who is in the World.

Verse 5 & 6, We want to be sure we are not lead astray. How do you do that? There are so many false teachers and false ideas about who God is and what He demands. How do you avoid being lead astray?

John 10:27–29 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

What an awesome truth that is! Amen? If you know Jesus, you hear His voice and obey. How do you make sure it is His voice? Can you trust your own heart. Just go with what feels right? No John keeps reiterating, you must evaluate what you say you believe by your actions and then you must compare them to scripture. You must have a relationship with Jesus. How do you cultivate relationships? Spending time together right? Talking and sharing your heart with each other. What is eternal life?

John 17:3 ESV

3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Do you know Him do you want to know Him. You don’t choose to follow a couple of Jesus’ commands because they bless you and those around you and then discard everything He teaches that you don’t like.

You don’t use Jesus to make your life better, when you really understand that you deserved death and hell, and it is only by the grace and sacrifice of God that you are not going to burn forever, This produces a loving response. I am so grateful that Jesus saved me I want to serve Him.

We do have a real enemy that distracts us and discourages us but take courage because He that is in you has overcome the World.