1.
Grace,
mercy and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Today we’ll be looking at
1 John 4:1-11, specifically at the first six verses. In this section of the Apostle John’s letter
to the Christian Church John is trying to make clear that it isn’t enough just
to know that we’re God’s children through our Savior Jesus’ death on the cross
for our sins, but we must also be ready to evaluate the claims of those who
would seek to lead us away from Christ. In
other words, John wants every Christian to be careful about what he or she
believes to be true and from God. The
message is entitled, “Test the Spirits.” Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Do
you remember what it was like growing up in your parent’s house? Or maybe you’re still growing up there. Your mom would ask you questions like, “Did you clean your room?” or “Did you wash behind your ears?” Where did you go tonight, did you finish your
homework, were you kind to your classmates at school (and if I call your
teacher will she say that)? Or your
mom would say, no you’re not wearing that
to school, or wash that pink dye out of your hair. Our parents would
constantly test us when we were growing up to make sure we were learning to be
good neighbors, citizens, family members and so that we would be prepared for
life outside of our parent’s home.
3.
So
too, as Christians the Apostle John tells us in 1 John 4 to test the Spirits to
see if they are from God, so that we may know the truth of the Gospel in how
we’ve been saved from our sins, from death and from the devil’s power through
our Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection. John
says in 1 John 4:1-3, “1Beloved, 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. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and
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.
These
days it’s fashionable to be tolerant. After
all, who wants to be called intolerant?
Back in 2009 there was controversy over Carrie Prejean who was Miss
California. The controversy was about her beliefs towards homosexuality in the
Miss USA pageant. All she said was that
she believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman the way that God
created and ordained marriage from the very beginning. But, here in 1 John 4 we learn that there are
some spiritual teachings that are deadly, because they lead us away from Jesus
and the salvation that’s found in Him in being the substitute for our sin in
dying on the cross for us. If some
physicians today were treating people with leeches and bloodletting to rid the
body of foul “humors” they would be a health hazard. The state would deny them a license to
practice medicine. Here then is the problem
for us as believers. We wish to
communicate with God, but when we listen to Him, we hear a babble of voices all
claiming to speak for him. Every
believer in all times has to confront the same problem—who is telling me the
truth that is found in the writings of Holy Scripture?
5.
It
was happening during the time of John the Apostle. There were Spirits (that is spiritual
teachers) such as Cerinthus who were drawing people away from their Savior. John’s advice to the believers was to: test them. How?
Since you can’t read their minds or look into their hearts, listen to
what they say. Evaluate their confession, that is, the position of
their teachings. Their appearance,
style, personality and number of followers aren’t what matters. What are they teaching people?
6.
Here
in 1 John 4, the Apostle gives us two touchstones of truth. Every true spiritual teacher confesses Jesus as having come into the
flesh. This confession involves the
doctrine of the the Trinity, which expresses God’s identity, and the doctrines
of the two natures in Christ, that he’s true God and true man in one person.
7.
Every
true teacher places this truth that Jesus is the Son of God in the flesh at the
center of their teaching. All
non-Christian cults deny it, and thus they’re what the Apostle John says are
the spirit of the antichrist. The
antichrist is the Bible’s way of saying anything that’s against Jesus Christ
and the message of salvation that’s found in Him. As bad as Cerinthus’ cult was, things got
worse for the Christians in Asia Minor.
1700 years ago most of Christianity was plunged in a terrible
conflict. A strain of anti-Christian
virus called Arianism, which denied Jesus’ full divine nature, swept through
many of the eastern churches. It was to
combat this virus that led Christians to compose the Nicene and Athanasian
Creeds, which exist for one purpose: to confess that Jesus has come into the
flesh.
8.
Even
today there are false spirits that deny the Trinity, the two natures of Christ
and His incarnation. Obviously, Buddhism
and Hinduism want nothing to do with the biblical Christ, neither does Judaism,
Islam, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In fact, even university theology and philosophy departments are hostile
to the idea that Jesus Christ has come into the flesh to be our substitute for sin
by dying on the cross for us. The
Apostle John’s point is that there’s great risk if we let these people teach us
about God.
9.
Let’s move on, 1 John 4:4-6 says, 4Little
children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world;
therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We
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.
10.
Here
is John’s second touchstone of truth for discerning true “spirits.” We are
from God, and whoever knows God listens to us.
In other words, John and the other apostles were humble men, but
they had no hesitation about claiming apostolic authority for their teaching. The apostles had received information
directly from the Holy Spirit as eyewitnesses of the Savior. Remember, there were no New Testament Bibles
available. Until the written copies of
the four gospels and the book of Acts, the 21 letters and Revelation were
gathered and bound. Until then, the word
of the apostles was the Bible! This
second test of truth centers on the source of people’s information.
11.
All
false teaching is drawn from sources other than the apostles, whether from
pagan philosophies, mysticism, astrology, or popular mythologies. But, John says that whoever isn’t from God
doesn’t listen to the apostle’s teachings.
This is how we can recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of
falsehood. The Apostle Paul wrote of the
two touchstones of truth in this way in Ephesians 2:19-20, “You are members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the
apostles (the New Testament) and the prophets (the Old Testament), with Christ
Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
12.
Here’s
how Christians today can pick their way through the noise of religious
claims. Our generation has more than its
share of cult activity. People claim to
speak for God, proclaiming a divine now word,
which to them has more authority than the then
word of the Bible. People claim
authority from God over other people’s lives.
Churches bind people’s consciences with their man-made traditions. “Test
the spirits” John says. Compare
their confession to the teaching of the apostles, just as the Berean church did
when the Apostle Paul came to their synagogue.
Acts 17:11 tells us, “[The
Bereans] received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures
every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
13.
False
teachers sometimes enjoy outward success.
This could dismay small groups of true believers, who might doubt
whether they are still on the path of truth.
But John says that’s to be expected.
John says in 1 John 4:5, “that
false teachers are from the world and speak from the viewpoint of the world and
the world listens to them.” Numbers
never guarantee which side God is on, the prophet Elijah and Noah could tell
you that. Popularity isn’t the same
thing as truth. It might mean simply
that a lot of fools are standing in the same place.
14.
It
may look sometimes as though true Christians are few. It may be lonely to be a Biblical Christian
in a secular university classroom where there are no absolutes, where all truth
and morality are relative. You may feel
lonely to be the only Christian in your family.
But John has words of hope for us, “You
dear children are from God and have overcome them.” The Word of God is mightier than the
mightiest PhD dissertation and more influential than the most popular talk show
host. We know this because the one who
is in us, the Holy Spirit, is greater than the one who is in the world, that is
Satan. That’s why Paul tells us in Rom.
8:37, “We are more than conquerors
through Christ Jesus.” Satan’s power
is broken. His evil head was crushed by
Jesus on the cross once and for all, and we’re safe in our Savior’s arms. Amen.
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