The Call For Discernment: Part 3 - 1st John Lesson 21

Part 3

 Sometimes I wonder if I don’t spend too much time on some passages of Scripture. This will be our third Sunday looking at six verses in the first part of 1 John 4. This passage is about testing the spirits, or the exercise of discernment. As I considered whether or not I was spending too much time here I considered how much the Bible says about this issue and my conclusion was that if the Holy Spirit inspired so many New Testament writers to say so much about something, it is impossible for me to spend too much time on this issue.

The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle’s John, Peter, Paul, and Jude to address the same issue in the letters to the church. Every Gospel account records the warnings of Jesus concerning false teachers. It is probably a safe assumption that this issue is important. We have been looking at the importance of discernment over the last couple weeks and we have learned that it is important to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Those false prophets who have gone out into the world have introduced dangerous, damning heresies. I will say again, there is no such thing as a harmless heresy. And because there is no such thing as harmless heresy, the Bible, especially the New Testament, says a lot about the need to be careful. 

 Listen to the instruction Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:13-14, “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” The idea behind the word “retain” is to hold something firmly and securely in your mind. Paul tells Timothy to retain the standard of sound words which he had heard from Paul. These were the truths and teachings associated with and coming from pure and uncorrupted Christian doctrine. In Chapter 4 Paul tells Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim. 4:2-4)

 Paul knew that a time would come when the standard of sound words would no longer be the priority. Paul instructed Timothy to “guard…the treasure which had been entrusted…” Paul wanted Timothy to understand the importance of protecting and preserving and defending the standard of sound words and pure doctrines of the faith. The way we guard this treasure which has been entrusted to us is to know it so well that when anything is introduced that contradicts it, we recognize it immediately and condemn it as dangerous and destructive.

 Peter warned that “there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” (2 Peter 2:1) This is why Jude wrote, “I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” That word translated “contend earnestly” is the Greek word “agonizomai” from which we get the word “agonize” and it is intensified with a preposition.” It literally means “to fight and strive to contend for something.” Pure biblical truth is worth fighting for.

 The New Testament has so much to say regarding the importance of the purity of the truth. This is one of the major themes of John in this letter we are studying. This has been the subject John is discussing in Chapter 4 of 1 John. As we read these verses together let me give you the outline once again. We find the call to discernment in verse 1. We have the criteria of discernment in verses 2-3. And we find the characteristics of the discerning in verses 4-6. We will be focusing on verses 4-6 today. Read the passage.

 John saw the problems developing and he knew how serious the threat false doctrines posed to the people of God. So he commands those reading this letter to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” Today, we have the full revelation from God in the Bible. While this book can be easily twisted and manipulated by false teachers, if we are faithful to diligently study and practice sound exegesis, we can know the truth. From the Bible we have important doctrines which are to be known and understood.

 Let me give you an example of why this is important. One of the most prominent false teachings of the last 100 years has been the Charismatic movement and the rise of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. It has been estimated that worldwide there are some 500 million people who embrace this aberrant belief system. All it takes to avoid being sucked into this false teaching is a good understanding of theology. Theology is the doctrine of God. “Theos” means “God” and “ology” is the study of. Theology is the study of God.

 At the most basic level the Charismatic movement takes God and makes Him man’s servant. God becomes the One who is obligated to give you whatever you may have enough faith to believe to receive. Man is the one with the power to speak into existence the wealth, the health, or the reality man wants to experience. But it is wrong at the most basic level. If you test the spirit of the message of that movement, it is easy to see that at its core is a false teaching about God, and man, and the purpose for salvation. It is messed up on it’s theology of God, its doctrine of man, its soteriology, and many other critical doctrines.

Everything begins with a proper understanding of God. If you distort the doctrine of God you ruin everything. We test the spirits to see whether they are from God and we do this because everything from the Spirit of God will point us to a correct understanding of the nature and character of God. Everything that comes from the Spirit of God will teach us correctly regarding salvation. Anything that distorts the nature and character of God is from the spirit of antichrist.

 This is why it is important to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. And the criteria John gave in verses 2-3 for our testing of the spirits is the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. We dove into that last week, getting in to the doctrine of Christology. What it means to confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is that we have a solid, biblical understanding of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. We examined the humanity of Christ, the deity of Christ, and why it is important that we have a correct understanding of the God-Man. Any spirit that distorts the truth of Christ’s humanity or His deity is the spirit of antichrist.

 After giving us the command to discern, and the criteria by which we exercise this discernment, he then gives us the characteristics of those who are discerning. This is what we find in verses 4-6. I want to direct your attention to the first phrase in verse 4. “You are from God, little children…” The words “from God” appear six times in these six verses. This is the fourth time here in verse 4. You could almost entitle this section, “From God, or not from God.” The essence of discernment is the ability to determine if something is from God or not from God. The first characteristic of the one who demonstrates a commitment to testing the spirits and guarding the truth is that they are from God. The evidence of the work of God and impact of the truth of God is all over them. 

 I want to say this again. To be from God is to have the evidence of the work of God and the impact of the truth of God showing up consistently in your life. To be from God is to be a true Christian and a faithful follower of Christ. It is much more than simply making some shallow confession of Jesus. If you are “from God” the evidence of the transformation of salvation is clearly seen in the way you live. Along side the evidence of the work of salvation is the impact of the truth of God’s Word. God’s word shapes and guides your thinking. You live by the principles and precepts and truth of Scripture. God’s Word shapes your thinking, your speaking, your decisions and your life.

 Look what happens when we are “from God.” John says, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them;…” We overcome who? Who are the “them” to whom John refers here? It is the false teachers. It is everyone who speaks from the spirit of antichrist. It is those demonically inspired false teachers who deny the deity or the humanity of Christ, or get all messed up on critical doctrines of the faith. We overcome them because we have abiding in us the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit.

 John has already established this back in Chapter 2:26-27. Read this. We have defined what it means to abide in Him and for Him to abide in us. This is a very common theme in 1 John. To abide in Christ is to be of the same mind, the same heart, and the same will with Christ, who, by the way, was of the same mind, same heart, and same will with His Father. To be “from God” is to “abide in Him” and this results in thinking what He thinks, loving what He loves, and having our will in harmony with His will. The Holy Spirit makes all this happen in the true follower of Christ.

 This is what John means when he says, “because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” We tend to pull this verse out of context and apply it to any challenge we face. It is specifically a promise to overcome the false teachers. Listen, no true follower of Christ, no one who is from God, no one who abides in Him will be drawn away from the truth and victimized by any spirit of antichrist, because greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world.

 In Christ, the victory over evil has already been won. The powers of evil are fighting a loosing battle when they come against a follower of Christ armed with the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. We will know the truth because the truth sets us free. We will defend the truth because it is worth fighting for. It is worth fighting for because men live because of the truth, and error is that by which men ultimately die.

 Look at this distinct contrast painted for us in verses 5-6 between those who are from God and those who are from the world. This is another characteristic of the discerning. The discerning listens to those who are from God. Those who are not discerning are from the world and listen to the world.

Remember what John is talking about when he uses the term “world.” It isn’t this planet upon which we live. It is the sphere of Satan’s domain. It is the world that lies in the power of the evil one. Those who are from the world speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

 I know I have told this story before but it is worth telling again because it is so appropriate to this passage. During my days at NYL I was in a training session that turned into sort of a motivational challenge. The manager played a video entitled “The Secret.” The full title is “The Secret to the Law of Attraction.” After about 10 minutes it became glaringly obvious to me that this was a secularized version of Charismatic theology. At the heart of the message was that you attract and make reality that which you name and claim and believe to be yours. All it takes to make success yours is to positively affirm it and don’t allow negative thoughts to distract you from what you want. It was the power of positive thinking – on steroids. It was charismatic theology in secular clothes.

 I could not watch it. I refused to watch it. I walked out. When my manager asked me what was wrong I told him it was garbage. It was heresy. It was demonic. No one else had an issue with it. No one else was willing, or maybe even equipped to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. In that worldly environment they were speaking as from the world and the world was listening to them. I could not listen. I could not get away fast enough. 

 John tells us that this is what will happen in verse 5. “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.”

 On the other hand, verse 6 tells us, “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us…” John was including himself in the “we” who are from God. He was from God and it was obvious that the words he was speaking, and writing were “from God.” That which John spoke and wrote was consistent with what the Scriptures teach about God. The one who knows God will know whether what is being said, or what has been written, is from God. If you know God, you will recognize the things that come from God and you will listen to them.

 Here is another important thing John says here. He says, “he who is not from God does not listen to us.” Turn to 1 Corinthians 2 for a moment. Paul had a lot to say about this in this chapter. Read the chapter.

 John concludes this section with the statement, “By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” What is “this?” Those who are from God listen to God’s messengers and the Word which He has given. Those who are from the world hear only that which is from the world.

 Any message that is God-centered and comes from those who spoke and wrote the Scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that message is from God. If you test the spirit of that message, and look at the life of that messenger, you will find a person whose life has been transformed by God and he will be living according to God’s truth. You will find that the messenger is one who has overcome the world because the Holy Spirit is directing his steps. His message will be consistent with and focused on the Word of God because the Word of God was delivered from men like the Apostle John who were from God.

 All other messages will be according to the world. It will be a worldly message. It will be a man-centered message, spoken by the world and heard by those who are from the world. There will be flaws in the message. There will be distortions of the truth, or denial of the truth, or omissions of the truth.

 If you think about the most important message we have to share with the world it is clearly the gospel message. I was asked this week about whether or not I would preach about the recreational marijuana vote coming up next month. I told the person that I didn’t think I would need to preach about that in my church because I was fairly certain that I knew how everyone in my church would vote on something like that. And then I explained that we won’t win the culture war by fighting the cultural battles. The lost world is going to do what lost people do. We aren’t going to win the battle of the culture at all. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

 Our battle isn’t a battle for the culture. Our battle is a battle for the souls of people. We are to proclaim the gospel. How did a gospel saturated culture get to the point to where we already have legalized marijuana use?

 We got there because Satan has distorted the gospel. Satan inspired a gospel message that does not require repentance, commitment, doesn’t tell the hearer of the need to take up his/her cross and follow Jesus, and makes the promise of salvation as easy as A,B,C. Admit you are a sinner, believe in Jesus, and confess. Devotion and surrender to the Lordship of Christ is optional.

 This is not the gospel John the Baptist preached, and John the Baptist preached the gospel. This is not the gospel Jesus preached, and Jesus preached the gospel. This is not the gospel Peter preached, or John, or Paul, or Peter.

 My friends, if the message is from God, it will be consistent with the message of God as presented by those who were obviously from God. If the message is not from God it is from the world, presented by worldly minded, demonically inspired messengers who want to distort, deny, create doubt, or distract from the Word of God.

 Test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

 Let’s pray.