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Sermons from 1 John |
DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR |
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Other sermons from 1 John
Sharing The Word Of Life (1:1-3) Other sermons in this study is being added as they are prepared & preached.
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Several years ago I was standing in line at the grocery store and I found myself reading the headlines off a paper called the Weekly World News. On the front was a picture of Ross Perot and an alien. The headline read: “Space Alien meets with Ross Perot!” That kind of sparked my curiosity, so I looked around to see if there was anyone that I knew and then bought me a copy. Now you talk about some educational stuff – you need to read the Weekly World News. To give you an idea of the content, here are just a few of the stories that were in that one particular copy:
My favorite was: “Lost dog finds way home after watching Lassie movie.” Let me share with you what the article said: “A spunky little pooch named Lady trotted about 100 miles in 14 days to get back to the humans she loved after she was lost in a Minnesota forest ravaged by fire. ‘Some would say it was instinct and some would say it was the power of love,’ happy owner Sue Riesgraf said of Lady’s heroic journey back. ‘But she watched the Lassie Come Home movie, so she knew what to do.’” It makes you wonder what’s wrong with all the other newspapers that fail to report such wonderful happenings and events! Seriously, I can’t believe that people believe such stories. Apparently there are some that do. Some people will believe just about anything, especially if it is in the newspaper or on TV. As we look as 1 John 4:1-6, John says, “Don’t believe everything that you hear.” He declares that not everything you hear is true. He tells us in verse 1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit.” When John speaks of “every spirit” he is referring primarily to religious teachers and preachers. John is telling us that not everyone who claims to be a prophet or preacher is the real deal. He is telling us that everyone who claims to be teaching and preaching the Bible may not actually be doing so. John’s words remind us that not every religious group that claims to be of God is of God and that every Church that has a sign out front that reads “Such and such Church” is a real and Biblical Church. His words remind us that everyone preacher standing in the pulpit declaring they are of God and preaching the truth of God is not necessarily doing so. There are some counterfeits. In fact, he declares in verse 1 that there are “many false prophets.” History is full of examples of people that were led deceived and led astray by false teachers and preachers. In A.D. 45, a man named Theudas persuaded thousands of people to abandon their homes and follow him out to the Jordon River. He promised them that at his command, the Jordon would divide and he would lead them dry-shod across. In A.D. 54, a man from Egypt arrived in Jerusalem claiming to be the prophet. He persuaded 30 thousand people to follow him to the Mount of Olives by promising them that at his command the walls of Jerusalem would fall down. I think back a few years ago to Jim Jones and the members of the People’s Temple in San Francisco, California. He led some many of the members to follow him to Guyana, where on November 18, 1978 he led more than 900 to commit suicide. Even more recent were Marshall Applegate and the group called Heaven’s Gate and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas. In my opinion, many of those we hear on the religious TV stations are just as dangerous and Biblically corrupt, although a bit more cleverly disguised in their message and methods. Again, John is telling us not to believe everything that we hear. He tells us to “try the spirits, whether they are of God.” The word “try” means to test or prove. The word was used of putting metals to the test to see if they were genuine. John is telling us that we are to make sure that who we listen to and what we hear is the truth. I think of the Berean believers. They were people that tried the spirits. We read in Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” They were willing listeners of what was proclaimed, but they did not take it for granted that what was said was truth. They searched the scriptures, that is, they personally investigated what was said to make sure it was God’s Word. We are to be the same when it comes to what we hear. We are to make sure that what we are listening to is indeed God’s Word. As we look at 1 John 4:1-6, we find John using three personal pronouns that describe three different groups of people. In verse 4 he describes one group when he says, “Ye are of God.” In verse 5 he describes another group when he says, “They are of the world.” Then in verse 6 he describes another group when he says, “We are of God.” Let’s look at verses 1-6 through these three groups. First, we see: 1. THOSE THAT PERVERT THE TRUTH This group is found in John’s words, “They are of the world” in verse five. These are the “false prophets” that he refers to in verse one. The word “false” speaks of an imposter, someone who is pretending to be what he or she is not. Their ministry is false and their message is false. They are nothing more than religious phonies. Jesus warned of these false prophets. He said in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” The word “false” that Jesus used speaks of those who are mendacious, one who is promulgating erroneous doctrine, speaking lies. He described them as wearing “sheep’s clothing.” Outwardly they were one thing. They claimed to be of God. But, inwardly they were totally something else. They were like ravening wolves. Their motive and method was extortion and selfish-gain. Earlier in our study of 1 John we saw that John declared that one of the purposes of his letter was to guard believers from being deceived by these false prophets. He said in 1 John 2:26, “These things have I written unto concerning them that seduce you.” These false prophets seek to cause us to wander, to err from the truth. How can we know who is false? John gives us two ways to put someone to the test. First, we should ask the question: A) What Do They Teach We read in verses 2-3, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: [3] And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” In John’s day there was form of Docetism that held the view that Christ was a spirit who only seemed to be a true man. These taught that Jesus did not actually become man. There was also a heresy known as the Cerinthian heresy. Those who held to this teaching taught that Jesus was the physical son of Joseph, and at His baptism, he was come upon by an aeonian, or eternal being, Christ. From that point, the Christ abode in the human Jesus. When Jesus went to the cross, the divine Christ abandoned him, and Jesus died as a mere man. There were the Gnostics who denied that the historical Jesus was the incarnate Christ. The real issue behind what these groups were teaching was a denial of the deity of Jesus Christ. John had said earlier, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). Anyone or any teaching that denies the deity of Christ is a false prophet and a false teaching. The issue is always what do they believe and say about Jesus! That is test number one. A popular figure in liberal theology is the Episcopalian Bishop, John Shelby Spong of Newark, N.J. On a website maintained to promote his teachings, there is an article entitled “A Call for a New Reformation” written by Spong. At the end of the article he lists 12 issues that he calls for Christian of the world to debate with about. These issues he calls his theses. They are:
The John of the Bible would call that John a “false prophet” and his teaching as bearing the “spirit of antichrist.” When John Shelby Spong, and all like him, denies the deity of Christ they are identifying themselves as a false prophet. Again, the test of the real and false is what a person believes and says about Jesus Christ. The first question that is asked is what do they teach. The second question is: B) Whom Do They Reach In verse 5 we read, “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.” John says that first of all, false teachers and preachers are “of the world.” They are not of God. They are of world system that seeks to substitute God and supplant God. Therefore, “speak they of the world.” Their message may be clothed and dressed in Christian language; it is a message that has the world’s aims and ambitions as its motive. Both their methods and message are driven by the world. Thirdly, those of the world “heareth them.” Those of the world think like the world, therefore the message of the false prophets are readily accepted and embraced by the world. When determining who is real and who is false ask the question, “Who is listening to them? Who is accepting what they teach and preach? Is it those who are firmly grounded in the truths of the Bible or those who take the Bible lightly?” It is not uncommon for false teachers and preachers to have masses following them. Why is that? This world is drawn to a worldly message. They are easily drawn to a message that appeals to their worldly way of thinking and living. There are those who pervert the truth! How are we to respond to them? We are to reject them! The second group John describes is: 2. THOSE THAT PREACH THE TRUTH In verse 6 John describes a group in which he places himself. He says, “We are of God.” He now describes those who are real and genuine. These are those who are faithful and true to the Word of God in their teaching and preaching. They are the real McCoy. There are many who pervert the truth, but thank God, there are also those who preach the truth. This group is “of God.” They are both saved and sent by God. We see that: A) They Preach The Bible They don’t deny the Bible. They declare the Bible! They don’t attack the Bible. They affirm the Bible! They don’t pervert the truth. They preach the truth! The central theme of their message is the deity of Jesus Christ. John says in verse 2, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” They believe what the Bible says about Jesus and they proclaim what the Bible says about Jesus. There is no compromise or wobble room when it comes to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Christ and the motive and message of their teaching and preaching is to proclaim His deity. John Shelby Spong may have his theses, but those “of God” have theirs:
Those that are “of God” preach the Bible! Secondly: B) They Reach The Believer In verse 6 John says, “We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth us.” Those who know God recognize the truth and lovingly and willingly received the truth. Those who pervert the truth are embraced by the world. Those who preach the truth are embraced by those who are of God. Truth is not only something proclaimed by those who are “of God,” but it also something perceived by those who are “of God.” The real preacher declares the truth and the real believer discerns the truth. How should we respond to those who preach the truth? The false preacher is to be rejected. The real preacher is to be received. Let me say a brief word about the third group John describes. We see: 3. THOSE THAT PRACTICE THE TRUTH In verse 4 John says, “Ye are of God.” John is now speaking of not only those who proclaim the truth, but of those who hear the truth. These are true believers, those who believe the truth and live the truth. They believe right and they live right. These are those who practice the truth. Their practice of truth is evident in the fact: A) They Are Established In The Scriptures In verse 4 John says of this group that they “have overcome them.” Of course the “them” is referring to the false teachers and preachers. They have not been seduced by these charlatans and religious phonies. They know better because they are grounded in the Scriptures – the Word of God. Paul’s admonition in Colossians 2:7 is that every believer is to be, “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” In Ephesians 4:14 he spoke of believers growing and maturing, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Believers are to be strong in the Lord and His Word. Secondly: B) They Are Enabled By The Spirit In verse 4, John explains that a secret to their overcoming is that “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” A real believer has living within him or her One that is greater than the world. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. These that are “of God” are those who allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives conforming them to the image of Jesus Christ, maturing them, and enabling them to be conquerors in their life. How do we respond to this group? Be one of them!
(1) www.disoceseofnewark.org/jsspong/reform.html |