1 John 4:1-6 : Discerning the Deception
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
How do you tell that something is authentic? We live in an age where we see fake money, fake artwork, fake gemstones, and fake memorabilia. How can we tell what is real and what is not?
During the California Gold Rush many fell prey to fool’s gold. This iron pyrite would have gold diggers fooled as they had thought they had struck it rich! However, they developed some testing to be able to tell whether it was real or not. One of these would be the softness test. Gold is softer than a human tooth where iron pyrite (fool’s gold) is harder. So they would bite it and see how hard it was. Another was the scratch test. They would scratch the material against white ceramic and see what color the material streaked. If it was yellow then it was gold and if it was greenish-black then it was fool’s gold.
The testing of this gold was of utmost importance to these explorers because their livelihoods depended on them being right. Imagine the embarrassment and devastation to both them and their families if they came home with a ton of fool’s gold.
Today we are going to discuss a testing that is much more important than the testing of gold. This testing is regarding wisdom and discernment in a world of deception.
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 John 4:1-6:
Read Full Scripture:
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.
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.
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.
Prayer
If you noticed something when we read the Scripture today - there is a recurrent phrase. “From God.” Today we are going to discuss how we can know that something is from God. How do we navigate our Christian life in the midst of such deception in our society? John tells us first that:
I. Believers Should…Exercise Great Discernment (1-3)
I. Believers Should…Exercise Great Discernment (1-3)
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. 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.
John starts off verse 1 here admonishing his readers not to believe every spirit. What does he mean by the word spirit here? John is referring to any spirit that is not aligned with the Holy Spirit. Any spirit that is not of God. These spirits are the evil spirits that speak through and/or influence the antichrists of our world. A person is either inspired by the Spirit of Truth - namely the Spirit of God - or the spirit of error - namely Satan and his demons (see verse 6).
I pray that you are not someone who believes everything you hear on the news or everything you read. I pray that you don’t even believe everything that I or any other pastor says without testing it as well!
As the Pastor John Stott once said,
“Unbelief can be as much a mark of spiritual maturity as belief. We should avoid both extremes, the superstition which believes everything and suspicion which believes nothing.”
Pastor John Stott
Sadly, in many evangelical circles, blind faith in church leaders is seen as a noble thing. Yes, we are to respect our pastors and elders. The Bible is clear on this. However, this respect should never reach to accepting false teaching or deceptive leadership.
To be undiscerning is not to be more holy. Indifferent ignorance is not viewed by God as a positive quality. Our job is to continually learn the Word of God and continue growing in our walk with Christ so that we grow in our ability to discern what is right and wrong.
John has told us not to believe every spirit - but instead to do what? Test the spirits to see if they are from God.
This word test here in Greek is dokimazō (doe-key-maz-o). It means to test or approve.
The official definition for ‘to test:’
to take measures to check the quality, performance, or reliability of (something), especially before putting it into widespread use or practice.
I love how detailed this definition is. We are to meticulously work through what is said by others before applying it to our lives.
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.
Getting back to the end of verse 1 - Why do we need to test the spirits? John lets us know that there many false prophets that have gone out into the world. There are many varieties and flavors of false teaching. He wants us to know that you can’t just be ready for one kind of false teaching. We must be prepared to discern all kinds of false teaching.
Now that we know why we need to test the spirits, John moves on to how to test the spirits. He gives a measuring rod per se.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Starting in verse 2, he shows that you can know that the teaching comes from the Spirit of God if it confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
As A.T. Robertson said - we can put the spoken words through the acid test of truth as the metallurgist does his metals. If it stands the test like a coin, it is acceptable.
Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians:
21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
We must be certain that we do not fall for what seems to be truth that isn’t truth. Also - just because someone says something that appears to be loving or nice doesn’t mean it is truth. See Paul warn about this as well:
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
False teachers may sound very convincing and sincere. Yet they still may be completely false and against what God teaches in the Scriptures. Sometimes we can mistake sincerity for truth. A great deal of false teaching has been done with complete sincerity. They truly believe the lies that Satan and his demons speak through them or others. But sincerity is not equivalent, or equal, to truth.
We can know what is good and what is truth and what is light through testing what is taught by the Word of God which confesses that Jesus Christ is God incarnate who died and resurrected and is now glorified. Any “good” teaching that does not confess the deity, perfection, incarnation, and atoning sacrifice of Christ is not good at all.
Brothers and sisters - just because someone says the name of Jesus doesn’t mean that they are speaking truth. We must discern what is truth and what is falsehood. We must research the people we listen to. And even moreso - we must run everything said through the lens of Scripture.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Interestingly we see John use one specific qualifier especially here in verse 2. He states that the real test is if the spirit confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a direct rebuke on a false teaching called Docetism that was taking a hold on the first century church. This false teaching held that Jesus never really became a man. The danger in this was that Jesus’ sacrifice would not be able to cover our sin because God cannot die if He remains Spirit only! John was quick to point out that any spirit that said Jesus didn’t become a man and take on human flesh was not from God. He wanted people to understand that Jesus is the incarnate God-man - fully God and fully man.
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.
Coming to verse three we see a revisiting of 1 John 2:18-22. If you remember a few sermons back we discussed that we need to beware of antichrists. John warned that antichrists would come and that they had, in fact, already come. These antichrists deny that Jesus is the Christ. They stand in opposition to the Word of God.
What someone says and believes about Christ is of utmost importance.
This can be applied in many areas of our lives. Let’s see if I can help us understand this principle further.
Would you take any medicine that was given to you? Would you swallow the pill at face value? Based on what the advertisement said? Or would you ask certain questions about its purity? Would you ask if it was FDA approved? Would you ask if it was doctor recommended? Would you ask about the side effects?
I pray that you would do your due diligence to be sure you were taking something that was safe for you to take. I hope that you would be sure that you had a good foundation of knowledge in order to be confident in your decision to take the medicine.
In the same way we need to ask the right questions about people and things that have influence on us. We need to exercise discernment.
If I may be so bold to apply this illustration regarding discernment to our lives today, let me give some examples my friends:
Do you research the educational choices that you or your children use? Do you research what is being taught and see if it aligns with Jesus Christ and a Biblical worldview? Because if they don’t then you or your children are learning from antichrists my friends.
Do you expect that you or your children will swallow the pills of knowledge from antichristian teachers and not have bad side effects? Be aware - as we will discuss in the 6th verse soon - there are only two categories of spirits. There is one Spirit of truth, namely God. And many spirits of error - from Satan and his demons. Yes, there may be instances where we don’t have any other options.
But be discerning.
Or - Do you ask your close friends what they believe about Christ and the Bible? Or do you just accept it when they say they go to church? Do you blindly accept their advice because they they are kind and nice to you and always seem to take your side in any disagreement you are discussing with them? Or do you measure their advice not by what they say but how what they say aligns with the Word of God? Many times you will have people who you call friends that will give un-Biblical and frankly, antichristian advice.
Friends - Be discerning.
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
Be careful who you take advice and wisdom from.
Or - When you are looking for a future spouse do you lead with hard questions about what your prospective spouse says about Christ? Or is that just an afterthought and really you just want to know whether they go to church or not so that you can pacify your conscience and your parents?
Be discerning.
When you watch certain television programs - do you pay attention to whether it is written by antichrists or not? Do you accept news you watch or hear as faultless and not research the facts behind it even though the station may stand for multiple issues that are in direct opposition to Christ?
Be discerning.
Brothers and sisters - we must exercise discernment. There is no excuse for us to be lazy in our Christian walks. We must not fall for the deception of our world today. We must exercise discernment in the midst of deception. Yet John does not want us to stop there. Believers should also:
Scripture References: 1 Thess 5:21, 2 Cor 11:13-15, 1 John 2:18-22, 1 Cor 15:33
Believers Should…Extinguish All Deception (4-5)
Believers Should…Extinguish All Deception (4-5)
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.
We do not have to be deceived my friends. We can extinguish all forms og deception because he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world!
We do not have to allow the teachings of this world to enter our homes or families. We are called to extinguish these false teachings. John actually speaks as if we already have! He says that we have overcome them. Overcome whom? Antichrists. False teaching antichrists have no authority over us and no authority in our homes. We can extinguish these false teachings through the power of Christ. The one who is in us - Christ - is greater than he who is in the world - Satan.
Yet John also lets us know in verse 5 that the world listens to them. And listen to them they do. We can see this today is such an obvious fashion. Listen to our media. Look at the corporations of our world listening to the teachings of antichrists. Antichrists who teach that God-ordained marriage is a suggestion and not a command. Do we not know that Ephesians 5:22-33 compares marriage to Christ and His church? When our culture and society corrupts the institution of marriage that Christ ordained and used to describe his relationship to the church - this hits on the very fabric of the Gospel. It is timely that Paul address sexual immorality in a direct way in the passage right before his exposition on marriage in Ephesians 5. This is because marriage is of utmost importance to God.
Sadly the teachings of antichrists are congruent, or in line, with the beliefs of the world. The world listens to and applauds the teachings of antichrists.
Yet believers should exercise great discernment, extinguish all deception, and believers should...
Scripture References: Ephesians 5:22-33, Ephesians 5:3, 5,
Believers Should…Embrace Their Distinction (6)
Believers Should…Embrace Their Distinction (6)
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.
Two of John’s “from God” statements are found in this last verse. We are from God. John identifies himself with his readers. He refers to all believers. Those who are of God and from God proclaim Jesus Christ through the Gospel.
We are to embrace our distinction. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are adopted and chosen as seen in Ephesians 1:5-10. We are from God. Because of this we are representatives of Christ. No - not just pastors - all believers are.
John asserts that when we, who are from God, speak the truth of God and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and others listen to us, we can be sure that they also know God.
However, the opposite is true as well. When we speak the truth of the Gospel about Jesus and others do not listen to us - we can be sure that they are not from God.
There is a Spirit of truth and a spirit of error. The Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of God. God speaks nothing but truth. We actually see in Scripture that is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18).
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Yet the spirit of error comes from the evil one. He speaks his native language which is lies. He has been lying since the beginning (John 8:44).
When we share the Gospel with someone, we become keenly aware of which spirit resides in that person. Those who respond with repentance and acceptance of the Gospel are of the Spirit of Truth. Those who continue to reject the Gospel are of the spirit of error - namely of Satan and his demons.
Sometimes people put too much pressure on themselves when they share the Gospel. Yesterday we got to have some Gospel conversations with people at Valley Park. Anytime that you share the Gospel you are going to have some who either have accepted it or accept it. Or you have those who are indifferent or opposed to it.
Our responsibility is not to determine which spirit they are of. We cannot save anyone. God saves people. We become aware of God’s saving grace by the fruit in which Gospel produces in their lives. Those whom God draws and who respond to the Gospel are of the Spirit of Truth. They are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. They repent and turn from their sins.
Those who reject the Gospel and drawing of Christ are obviously of the evil one and of the spirit of error.
Our job is only to present the Gospel to others. Whether they respond in a kind or adversarial way is beyond our control.
As sons and daughters of a wonderful King who wants to see more and more people respond to the Gospel - we need to embrace our distinction. We have a wonderful knowledge of salvation and our King has commanded us to share this knowledge. The Gospel should be part of who we are and flow out of our lives to others. Let me challenge you to embrace your distinction and actively share to Gospel in your community, your workplace, your school, your neighborhood, and even your family.
Scripture References: Ephesians 1:5-10, Hebrews 6:18, John 8:44
Conclusion
We have had a challenging message from John today.
He has encouraged us to exercise great discernment. We are not to be lazy in our Christian walk. We need to study the Word of God and ask that God increases our ability to understand the distinctions of good and evil and right and wrong.
He has encouraged us to extinguish all deception. We aren’t to put up with antichristian teaching in our homes and families. We are called to guard our hearts and minds and the hearts and minds of our families. We need to extinguish or discard those things that lead us away from Christ and His commands.
Finally we need to embrace our distinction. We are sons and daughters of the Most High. We need to be faithful to Him. He has not only asked us to share the Gospel - He has commanded it.
As we end today - I want us to have a time of quiet meditation on these points and try to see where we might be falling short.
I’d like to ask you to close your eyes as I ask a series of questions and reflect in your heart and mind on how you are measuring up in these areas (Ask Adam to come forward to play some music).
Are you not exercising discernment? Are you listening to things you should be guarding your mind against?
Are you going places or watching certain things that you should’t be?
Instead - brothers and sisters, decide today to extinguish and discard these deceptive things in our lives.
Finally - are you embracing your distinction? Are you sharing the Gospel with others? Are you truly one who is distinct? Are you a true believer? Spend some time evaluating your heart and be sure that you have truly put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. That you believe that he died on the cross for our sins, rose on the third day, and now is at the right hand of the Father. That you have repented, or turned away, from your sins and turned to Him for salvation. If you have but you aren’t actively sharing your faith - ask yourself why? Do you truly appreciate the gift of salvation you have recieved? Are you really obeying the second greatest commandment - is it loving your neighbor to passively watch them go to Hell? Share the Gospel my friends!
I am going to have us have a short quiet time of prayer and reflection on these questions before I close us in prayer.
Prayer
If you would like to learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ or want to obey Jesus by obeying the first commandment of a believer in going through the waters of baptism - please see me after the service.
God bless and have a blessed week!