“Put it to the Test!”
(1 John 4:1-6)
Series: A Word for the Church [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
October 10, 2021
The Passage
1 John 4:1-6
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
Introductory Comments:
Do you know that not everything that you hear is true?
In 2007, Wikipedia reported that the comedian Sinbad had died. The only problem was, Sinbad was very much alive.
You may have heard that Osceola was a great Seminole chief. However, Osceola was never a chief.
You may have heard that if you sit too close to the TV it will damage your eyesight. Nope, not true.
You may even hear certain statistics that sound convincing, but they aren’t exactly true. Remember, 60% of statistics are made up (some of you will get that later today while eating lunch).
Today, in our study of 1 John, we’re going to talk about what it means to purposefully try to find out what is true.
John has already pointed out that there is false teaching in this world and that we should be careful.
John said in 1 John 2:18, “Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.” [on screen]
He said in 1 John 2:22-23, “Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.” [on screen]
Sometimes, we have to test what we hear to be sure that it’s true. Today’s sermon is entitled, “Put it to the Test!” [on screen]
Before we go any further, let’s pray together, and ask God to speak to us.
(prayer)
When I was a kid, my favorite test questions were always true and false questions. The reason was, even I didn’t study a lick, I still had a 50-50 chance to get the correct answer. If you think about it, in order for something to be true, there has to be an alternative to it that is false.
Listen to these statements: God created the earth out of nothing. (pause) Our world came about by an explosion of atoms which kicked off a process of evolution that continued to our current day. One of those statements is true and one is false.
Jesus is the Son of God. (pause) Jesus is just a good teacher who shows us one of many paths to God. One of those statements is true and one is false.
Chick-fil-A is the best fast food restaurant in America. That statement is true.
This morning, we’re going to look at 1 John 4:1-6. As we journey through these six verses, let us discover four actions that we must take as we live as children of God.
First, . . .
I. We must test. (verse 1) [on screen]
Sometimes you have to test something to see if it’s real. During the days of the California Gold Rush, it was said that people would bite gold coins to be sure that they were real. [see image on screen] The theory was, if they were real you could see the teeth marks since real gold was a soft metal.
Well, let’s look at the passage and see what John says about testing to see if something is from God.
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
First of all, we must understand that when John is speaking of “spirits” here he is indicating that what we’re dealing with is on a spiritual level. There is good and evil at work when it comes to truth and lies about Jesus!
So, more than anything else, John is probably speaking here about the driving factor behind what is being taught. What is the motivation behind what is being said? It is from a godly spirit or an evil spirit?
John has already said that false prophets are among the people of God teaching that which is definitely not from God.
Church, there is no shortage of people who want to share with you what they want you to know and believe. Well, what is guiding them as they seek to teach you? What is the driving force behind what they are saying? What is the spirit behind what they are saying?
John says to put it to the test to try and understand what they are saying to us.
As with Facebook, as with the news, as with political debates, as with church gossip, not everything that you hear taught concerning God is true. There may actually be evil spiritual forces involved who seek to spread lies and deception.
So, we must first hold onto this idea that what other people say needs to be put to the test.
Well, how do we test it? We’ll see that John gets into that more as we journey through the passage.
Next, John says that . . .
II. We must believe. (verses 2-3)[on screen]
John helps us out with one way—the major way—to test what is being said. Let’s look at verses 2-3.
2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
Do you really want to know if what someone teaches you is from God or not? Figure out what they do with Jesus! What do they believe about Jesus?
Notice what John focused on here: that Jesus came from God and came in the flesh.
Church, we must believe that Jesus is truly God and we must believe that Jesus truly came as a man, in the flesh.
Jesus is the God-man. He is able to satisfy all the requirements of God as a representative of humanity.
Many false teachers will try to take away from the God-ness of Jesus and many will try to take away from the human-ness of Jesus, but when the Spirit of God is speaking the truth to you about Jesus, He will speak nothing less than the fact that Jesus is truly God and truly man!
The spirit of the antichrist, of the one who is against Jesus (anti-Christ), would be absolutely delighted for you to believe lies about Jesus, but don’t fall for it! Church, we must believe the truth about Jesus!
John says of Jesus in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [on screen]
Jesus Himself said in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” [on screen]
Paul says of Jesus in 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” [on screen]
We must believe the truth about Jesus and we must test what others say about Jesus as well to be sure that it matches the truth of what the Bible teaches about Jesus.
Next, . . .
III. We must recognize. (verse 4)[on screen]
What do we have to recognize? I’m going to tell you before we read the verse and then I’m going to show you from where I got it: we must recognize that we have God’s Holy Spirit inside us. In this spiritual battle, in this spiritual confusion, in this spiritual testing, we must remember that if we belong to Jesus, God is inside us.
Listen to what John says. Look at verse 4.
4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Let’s identify the personalities spoken of simply in verse 4:
John says, “You” – That’s us. John is speaking to those who follow Jesus.
“God” – The Creator of all things, the King of all, the Ruler of all, the Loving Father!
“Little children” – Again, that’s us. Followers of Jesus are precious to John, so he calls them “little children.”
“Them” – Who’s them? Them are the false teachers, the antichrists, those being led by evil spirits.
“The one who is in you” – The One in us is God Himself! By the work of Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit dwells inside us. This passage speaks of a spiritual battle; praise God that we have the greatest Spirit in all the world dwelling inside us.
“The one who is in the world” – This is the devil; Satan himself. He is the one who reigns in the world for a short time. He is the one who spread lies and evil.
So, we have all of this information from verse 4, and here’s what it boils down to: we must recognize that there is supernatural strength inside us that comes from the Spirit of God dwelling in us!
The one who is in the world is powerful, but he’s not nearly as powerful as the One who is in us! We have nothing to fear, nothing to be confused about, nothing to be overwhelmed by, nothing to lose sleep over, nothing to be worried about, because the One who is in us, God’s Spirit, is much greater than the one in the world!
The one in the world is the one who should be in fear, the evil forces should be in fear because their end is near, but the child of God can rest in the comfort and knowledge that we belong to God and God is greater than the forces of this world.
As you seek to know what is true and what is false, as you seek to protect yourself from false teachers, do so in the strength of God’s Spirit, the One who is in you.
We must recognize, church.
Finally, . . .
IV. We must listen. (verses 5-6)[on screen]
If we want to know the truth of God, we need to listen to the truth of God. Isn’t that profound?
Listen to what John says. Look at verses 5-6.
5 They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
They are from the world—that is, the false teachers, the antichrists, the ones led by Satan.
Those in the world influence the world because they are in the world. The world listens to them because they are inside of them.
The world is deceived because they are filled with deception and are being led by deceivers.
The apostle Paul speaks about the dangers of false teachers in 2 Corinthians 11. He says in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” [on screen]
These people make it seem that they are sharing the truth, but in reality, they are sharing Satanic lies. Don’t fall for it!
The deceivers are in the world, but who is in us? God is in us! Greater is the one in us than the one in the world!
John says in verse 6, “We are from God!”
We don’t need to fall for the foolishness, the lies, and the evil because we are from God! God is in us!
John then makes a subtle turn. He says in verse 6, “Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us.”
Why doesn’t John says, “Anyone who knows God listens to God?” Who is us?
Well, remember at the beginning of 1 John, John uses the term we. He says that “We testify and declare to you . . .” and he says, “What we have seen and heard.”
Remember, when John is writing this letter, he is doing so as one of the oldest remaining members of the twelve apostles of Jesus and he is representing the entire apostolic tradition, meaning that he is speaking for all of the apostles of Jesus.
John is saying that what he is teaching is the one true message about Jesus. He is speaking the same message that all of the other apostles have spoken: that Jesus is truly God and truly man and that He is the Savior of the world!
John is saying that if anyone is from God, they will listen to us and they will listen to our message that Jesus is Lord!
Listen, church: focus on this message that John is giving us: Jesus is Lord; He is truly human, He is truly God, and He is truly our Savior.
Don’t be distracted by any other lies. Listen for the true message.
Have you ever seen how penguin mothers find their little penguin chicks? [show picture on screen] Sometimes there are thousands of other chick and mama pairs on the ice and they are all looking for one another. However, each little chick-mama combo has a unique sound combination. The mama is able to recognize the chick and the chick is able to recognize the mama by their little chirping.
Listen, church: God has a unique relationship with His children. He knows us and we know Him. Let us not be distracted by all the other chirping out there in the world. Seek God and His ways. Know God and His ways. Listen to God and His ways.
May we listen to the message of God. May we remember the age-old truth of God delivered to us by God’s revelation to mankind, may we remember the words spoken to us by Jesus, and may we pay attention to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and others. Let us listen to the Word of God so that we understand the truth of God.
Concluding Thoughts:
Church, there is a lot of information out there. False teaching abounds, not only from those who make no claim to be followers of God but also from those who claim to be part of the Church of Jesus Christ.
False teaching may be more attractive at first, but in the end, it leads to death.
We don’t need to fall for false teaching. Instead, may we rely on God’s Spirit to teach us and guide us with the truth of God.
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: The people of God are led by the Spirit of God. [on screen]
(repeat)
John has a lot to say about the Spirit of God. He teaches us, guides us, reminds us, comforts us, confirms our status as children of God, and much more. So, let us be led by Him!
So, test the spirits. Are you being influenced by the spirit of this world or by the Spirit of God?
Challenge yourself to live out this passage this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge: [on screen]
1. Put something to the test. [on screen]
Surely, there are many different influences in your life. Pick one and put it to the test. Is that influence in your life from the spirit of this world or from the Spirit of God?
Learn how to do this testing so that you will be able to put more things to the test as you develop this wisdom in your life.
2. Rest in God. [on screen]
John says to us, “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
So, church: let us rest in that fact. Find comfort and confidence in the fact that you are in Jesus and God’s Spirit is in you.
This week, challenge yourself to rest in God. When you are tempted to be anxious or fearful, challenge yourself to rest in your relationship with God.
Let the words of Psalm 116:7 encourage you, “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.”[on screen]
Closing:
Do you know the truth of God? If so, live in the truth of God? If you haven’t been changed by the truth of God, come to Him now and experience the truth and power of His love for you.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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