Prove all things

Oct 21, 2007 – Prove All Things.- 1 John 4:1-3

Intro:  Today in 1 John we will be looking how important it is to prove all things and not just believe everything you hear, even if someone famous or trustworthy says it.  In fact don’t believe everything I say unless it can be backed up by scripture.

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

1.  John says, don’t believe every spirit but test them to see if they are from God.  Talk

     about  the lady who told me once she was only to listen to me about spiritual things. 

     In John’s day false teaching was prevalent as it is today.  The difference is that in

     John’s time the Bible was not completely written.  Today it is.  Christian thought and

     Doctrine was still being formed.  Today, we have the Bible as our standard of faith

     And practice.  In this church we believe and take the Bible literally unless otherwise

     Indicated by scripture. 

2.  In John’s day the two false teaching groups were the Gnostics and the Judaizers.

    Today it is the cults, liberal churches and even some Pentecostal type groups.

3. John gives sound advice here.  Test every spirit.  Several false religions and cults,

    Started with people receiving a message from a so called angel.  Paul states in 2 Cor

    11:14, that satan can transform himself into an angel of light.  Truth never fears a

     test or avoids it.   .

4.  Here is how you test spirits

a.  They must say that Jesus has come in the flesh.  1 John 4:2

b.  Their words must agree with the word of God.

c.  What they say must lift up and exalt Jesus Christ.

d.  Jesus’  death, burial and resurrection and the redemption it brings must be the

    central focus.

e.  What is said does not in any way diminish Jesus’ divinity or humanity.  He is the

    perfect union of God and man.

5.  Finis Dake who authored the Dake’s Bible says there are Seven ways to test false

     Spirits or prophets.

a.  Their confession of Jesus Christ.  1 John 4:3

b.  Their relationship to the world.  James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-17 & 4:5

c.  How they receive Christianity.  1 John 4:6

d.  Their attitude towards the commandments of God.  John 14:15, 1 John 3:20-24 &

     4:6

e.  Love for the Brethren.  John 13:34-35, 15:12-15, 1 John 3:11-16, & 4:7-21

f.  The indwelling Holy Spirit.  1 John 4:4-6

g.  The Word of God.  2 Cor 4:4, 1 Tim 3:16, 1 John 4:6 & 5:10

By this know the Spirit of God, every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 

1.  The first way to know truth is by the Spirit of God.  This means you must be born

     again.  The Bible is a closed book without the Spirit of God.  John stated in John

     16:13-14, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.  Whatever He hears He will

     speak and tell us things which are to come.  He will glorify Jesus Christ and take

     what  is Jesus’ and declare it unto us.  I love the fact that God does not want to keep

     us in the dark about what He is doing.   The Holy Spirit will always, lift up, exalt and

     point to Christ.  He has been sent by Christ so we would not be alone.  He is our

     comforter, helper and guide. 

2.  John believed that Jesus Christ was the Logos.  The perfect union of God and man.

     100% God and 10% man.  The God Man.  God with a face. John spoke about the

     Divinity of Christ and his humanity.  Jesus Christ to John was the Alpha and Omega

     of Christian truth, thought, and belief.. 

3.  In John 1:1 &14, John states that in the beginning was the Word, He was with God

     And was God.  Then He became flesh and dwelt among mankind.  We beheld His

     Glory, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  To John , Jesus was

     The Son of God, who dwelt with the Father from the beginning.  The true essence

     And  glory of God.  Jesus Christ is the perfect union of man and God.  The perfect

     union of The Father and the Son.

And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God and this is the antichrist which you heard is coming and is now already in the world.

1.  John says if a spirit does not say that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, it is not of

     God.  John is a strong believer in Jesus’ incarnation.  Jesus was born of the virgin

     Mary, he lived 33 years, he suffered, died and rose again.  He possesses a new body

     Made of flesh and bones.  C.S. Lewis wrote.  Jesus Christ claim to be God and his

     Resurrection proved it.

2.  The Docetic and Cerinthian Gnostics denied Jesus Christ’s humanity.  Today many

     deny Jesus’ deity.  They believe He was a good man, a moral teacher, a prophet but

     not God.  John believed and knew Jesus was God with a face.  He saw the transformed

     and resurrected Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ humanity, enfleshment and incarnation is central

     to the gospel.  Talk about the sin problem.

3.  John believed any teaching, so called truth or religious remark that contradicted

     Christ’s humanity was false and not from God.  It was from the antichrist.  Remember

     When I taught about the antichrist, it is a spirit, a person and satanic philosophy or

     Teaching that always attacks who Jesus is.  Sometimes it is subtle other times it is

     Blatant.    

4.  John says you heard it is coming but you also must know it is already here.  From

     John’s days to ours there are those that are preparing the world for the visible anti-

     Christ.  This spirit tries to draw people away from Jesus Christ and take that which

     Belongs to Him alone and bestow it on an imitator or fraud.  Finis Dake writes,

     “Every spirit that inspires a teacher to deny Christ’s incarnation, passion, death,    

     Bodily resurrection and bodily ascension to heaven is not of God and is antichrist.