How to discern False Prophe..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, brothers and sisters. As I said today, I want us to continue and address what we did last week, what we started last week, and that is how to discern the spirit of the Antichrist that operates in false teachers.

The Scriptures extensively warns us about the reality that there is going to be false teachers or that there's going to be false prophets in the context of the church. We don't have to just look back into church history to realize that throughout time there have been many men and sadly women who claim to be speaking on behalf of God, affecting the church and the people of God. We have to only see it in our current time to realize that there are many people, men and women, who claim to be speaking from the Spirit of God And the Apostle John says to us in the first six verses, chapter four, that they are not speaking from the spirit of God. They are speaking from the spirit of the Antichrist. A very serious matter, brethren, because if it was not by the grace of the Lord, even the person that speaks from the pulpit could end up being a false prophet in the hands of Satan.

It is only the grace of the Lord, the one that sustains us. So it is with much reverence that I call you, brethren, to read with me the first 12 verses of chapter 4. And the reason why I'm getting you to read these 12 verses is because I want you to see this connection that the apostle has. The Apostle connects in the first six verses the idea of truth, the truth to which he wants to point us by the Spirit, the truth that we are to discern from the error of the false prophets, and he's going to connect that with love. in the second section, starting from verse 7, to the point that both of those sections, verse 1 and verse 7, the Apostle will start the same way with the word Beloved.

The reason why he does that is because, as I'm going to show you this truth that we are to discern, this truth in which we need to abide, it is not only a truth that the Apostle expects that abides in the mind of the Church, but it's a practical truth that is actually tested by the fruit that it produces, and that is love. You remember how the Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew chapter 7, that there will be many false prophets that will arise. They will come in sheep clothing. How do we know them? We'll know them by their fruits.

So this is what we are going to be reading here in these 12 verses, and I hope that the Lord will give me and give us clarity to speak according to the truth of our Lord. This is 1 John chapter 4. Let us read the first 12 verses, paying careful attention to each one of these words and with reverence. Beloved, the apostle says, 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.

By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 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. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them.

That is the false teachers. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They, that's the false teachers, false prophets, they are from the world. Therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We, speaking of the apostles, 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, capital S, the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error. Now he connects with 7. Beloved, let us love one another.

For love is from or out of God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. Amen. This is the Word of the Lord.

Now, my dear brother, my dear sister, if you carefully read the Scriptures from the Book of Genesis all the way to the Book of Revelation, you will realize that the Spirit of God that inspired the Scriptures will speak about our salvation in many different ways. There are many illustrations and many different ways in which the Spirit of God will depict our salvation. For instance, if you remember how the prophets in the Old Testament spoke about salvation, we have this very well-known way of speaking about being in Christ. That is that we had a heart of stone, remember, and that was changed into a heart of flesh. That is, that when we had a heart of stone, we were dead to the things of God, and we were not alive to the things of God, so we were not sensitive, we could not hear the word of the Lord.

But when the Spirit of God came, then that heart of stone was a heart changed to a heart of flesh. When we come into the New Testament, the New Testament is actually going to elaborate and expand on those beautiful ways that the Old Testament had to speak about our salvation. So that which was a heart of stone into a heart of flesh in the New Testament, for instance, for the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2, he will tell us that we were dead in our trespasses, you remember. and that we have been made alive together with the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, we had a heart of stone, and now we had a heart of flesh.

In the New Testament, according to Paul, we were dead in our trespasses, and now we are made alive together in Jesus Christ, Ephesians chapter 2, from death to life. The same apostle Paul will use different illustrations to depict that salvation. For instance, in Acts chapter 26 and in Colossians chapter 1, he will tell us that we were in the kingdom of darkness and that we have been translated into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we were in this kingdom of darkness that was ruled by Satan. And now we are in the kingdom of light, which is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. A heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

We were dead, and now we're made alive in Christ. We were in darkness. We were darkness, even he says in Ephesians chapter 4. And now we are in the kingdom of light of the Lord Jesus Christ. And perhaps one of the most beautiful illustrations that the Apostle Paul gives us is found in Romans chapter 8 and Galatians chapter 4.

There he says that before Jesus Christ, we were slaves, that we were in bondage to the law, that we were under the power of the law, and hence we were slaves. But now that the Spirit of God has been given to us, we have been liberated from the bondage that we had under the law, and now we are free, that we are so free that we are considered to be the children of God. We have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ by whom we cry, Abba, Father. heart of stone into a heart of flesh we were dead now we are alive now we were in the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light we were slaves in bondage to the law and now we have been liberated to be called the children of god there's one other illustration that the scriptures use to speak of the genuine salvation of the christian and that is the one that we have in front of us in first john chapter four that is the translation or the moving if you understand me from the kingdom of error into the kingdom of truth." That is that the Christian who has been visited by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ has been illuminated so that he has been rescued from the lies and the errors of Satan.

into the knowledge of Christ Jesus, which is true. This is not only used by the Apostle John in the verses that we have, but this is also used by the Apostle Paul. If you quickly come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and 4, and when you have the time you can read it by yourself, you can see a beautiful depiction and illustration of what genuine salvation is. That is, that we were blind And now we can see the truth of God. That we were in the error, that we were in the lies of Satan, and now we are in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That the genuine Christian has been translated, taken from error into truth. The apostle summarizes that in verses 3 to 6 of chapter 4 of 2 Corinthians. He says, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we, that is the apostles, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves, the apostles, as your servants for Jesus' sake.

Now pay attention to verse six. The apostle now is going to bring this illustration to speak about this genuine salvation. We were dead or we were blind, and now we can see the truth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Verse six, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That is that salvation is, my dear brother and sister, that before Jesus Christ, we were blind to the glories of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We were blind to the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ as it is presented in the gospel. We did not know the truth. We were walking in error. But now when the Spirit of God comes and visits a person, then the eyes of that person are open. to see the glory of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This idea of genuine salvation being from error to truth is so important that both the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter many times will speak about being saved as obeying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can pay attention in your own time to 1 Peter 2, verse 7 and onwards. You can pay attention to 1 Peter 4, verses 17-19. There the Scripture tells us that to be saved is to obey the truth, to obey the gospel, to obey the word of truth, to obey the word of the Lord. Even that those who do not believe, or those who reject Jesus Christ, according to 1 Peter 2, They have been destined to disobey or not to obey the word of the Lord.

Why? Because salvation from a spiritual point of view can be seen from having been translated from the kingdom of error into the kingdom of truth. of the truth. This is so important that if you return to 1 John chapter 5, then you will realize that the whole summation, if that is a word in English, that the whole summary of the whole thing is that we have received the understanding of Jesus Christ who is true, that is pointing us to the truth of God. This is how he concludes this book in 1 John chapter 5 verse 20.

Pay attention to that. This is what the Apostle John says. And we know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding Pay attention to this. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. In other words, has illuminated us to the truth, has taken us from the error of the things that we did not understand.

He has taken us into things that now we understand. And we know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the eternal life. This is very important, brother, because when we're speaking about truth from the scriptures, we're not speaking about having an intellectual and correct assessment of a piece of information, but rather when we're speaking about the truth from the point of view of the scriptures, we're speaking about a spiritual experience.

And that is that the person is taken not from being confused only, but that person is being taken from being dead, blind, heart of stone, into having a heart that now understands the things of the Lord, and that is to be in the truth. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, right? No one comes to the Father except through the Lord Jesus Christ. To be in union with God. reality of the truth in contrast with the error is so powerful that even the Apostle John in the verse 6 that we read he's going to give that personality to the truth when he says in verse 6 of chapter 4 we are from God whoever knows God listens to us whoever is not from God does not listen to us by this we know and then at least in the years we have the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, the spirit with a capital S, I have it in the ESV.

If you have a different translation, we just simply go to verse six of chapter five, and then you can realize that the truth for Paul, for John, is God himself in union with the Christian. Verse six, this is, Chapter 5 or 6, this is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And pay attention, and the Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth, or truth. This change from error into truth is not an intellectual thing that is going on, but rather is a spiritual transformation.

The Apostle John concludes that to be removed from error into truth is this spiritual transformation now that is not only a change, but requires that the person that is living in the truth is actually walking in it. So hence, everyone who is operating from the kingdom of darkness, everyone who is operating from the kingdom of error, will want two things. Satan wants that those who are in error will remain in error. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. blind their eyes, blind their consciences.

Why? Because Satan wants that those who have not experienced Jesus Christ through the gospel will remain blinded to the gospel. We read that in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4. But also what Satan wants is that those who are in the truth, that they will be deceived from the truth, brethren. Now, Paul and everyone knows that once the Lord secures a person in His hands, nothing is going to happen to that person.

We know from the Scriptures the reality that if a person has been united to Christ, the Lord will bring that work to completion. And Satan knows that he cannot destroy the spiritual life that has been given to a Christian. But Satan does know something, and that is that he can deceive. the Christian, that he can deceive the mind of the Christian. Otherwise, the apostle will not be given us the instruction that we have before us.

So this is a very serious matter. It is a very serious matter for the church, and it's a very serious matter in general for the kingdom of God, because the scripture have told us that there are many false teachers that have gone into the world who are trying to deceive the Christian. And the Christian should not take a position of, I belong to the correct church. I have the correct version of the Bible. I have the correct theology.

No, because we can be deceived. That's why the apostle is giving this instruction here. And what I want us to do, my dear brother and sister, is just a couple of things, trying just to be able to do everything that I was supposed to do. A couple of things that I want us to do with these six verses that we have in front of us. The first thing is that I want us to see the seriousness of the concern of this apostle.

And I hope that we might not only be able to understand with our minds the concern of this apostle, but join him by our spirit. in the concern that the apostle had. The apostle was very concerned because it was a serious matter that Christians could be deceived by false teachers, first thing. And the second thing that I want us to do is just to see the content of that instruction or the contents of that test. What are the things that we need to test in false teachers so that we will know if they are speaking from God or if they are speaking from the spirit of the Antichrist?

This is perhaps the most important thing that we are going to do. First of all, I want us to see the seriousness of the concern for this apostle. We have it there in verse 1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit that tests the spirits, so to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Brethren, hear the heart of this apostle. an old man who knows who is about to die. And then he sees all of these little children in the church. And he knows that many of them can be easily deceived by the presence of all of these false teachers and false prophets. And the exhortation of the apostle is not one of intellectual information only, but it's one that is coming from the heart.

He cared so much for the church, that He's giving this concern from His heart. Just remember 2 Peter 1, that He's writing to remind the church, knowing that He's about to die, that He's about to perish, or that He's about to go into the Exodus, as He says. He's writing those things to remind the church, because there's going to be post-teachers that are going to be present in the context of the church. The heart of the apostle was a heart that was taken by the Spirit of Christ so much that his concern was not so much about the type of life that he had lived up to that point, which he had been faithful, but the concern of the apostle was what is going to happen with the church. He loved the brothers and sisters to the point that he sacrificed for the brothers and sisters was nothing to compare with the love that he had for the souls of these brothers and sisters.

And he was not so much concerned about what are you going to have to eat or where are you going to be gathering or if you're going to have sufficient money or if you're going to have this or that, but rather the apostle was concerned with truth. Because truth is what the enemy is trying to deviate us from. Satan wants the church to deviate into error, and that is the maximum attack that Satan can have against the Christian. But what is the nature, or what is the heart of this concern that Apostle John had? Let me just show you a couple of things to show you what is the heart of the concern that John had.

If you pay careful attention to verse 4 and 5 of chapter 5, we already know what the Apostle thinks about the end for the Christian. If you pay attention to chapter 5, verse 6 and verse 4 and 5, we will know already what is what the Apostle already knows the destination of the Christian is. It says in verse 4 of chapter 5, For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. Categorical statement. everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

In other words, everyone who is a genuine child of God will have victory over the world, right? That's what he says there. He continues. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith, he says, who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God?

In other words, the person who genuinely has faith in Jesus Christ, the person who is a genuine child of God, It is very likely that we'll overcome the world, brethren. No, we'll certainly overcome the world. There's nothing that Satan can do to defeat the people of God. You see that, right? There's absolutely nothing that Satan can do to ultimately and finally defeat those who are in the context of the church.

No. Those who are born of God, brethren. Those who have faith. Those who have faith in Jesus Christ have the certainty that they will have victory in the end. That's why in verse 4 of chapter 4, He says and gives us that glorious promise.

Chapter 4, verse 4. Little children. That is all of us. That was them initially, but now by the Spirit it's all of us. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them.

That is the false teachers. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Set. That is final. Satan will not overcome the church.

It does not matter the trials or the tribulations of the life of the individual believer, of the congregation, of the believers, Satan will not overcome the church finally and ultimately. So then why is the Apostle John giving us this exhortation? Right? If the Christian and the Church is not going to fall, why is the Apostle telling us, even from his heart, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits? What is the value of that exhortation if we know that the Christians overcome the world and that finally their victory will be their faith?

Well, my dear brother and sister, as I said, coming from error into truth, it is not only being translated from error into truth, but it's more than that. It is actually walking and living in the truth. The apostle is not concerned with the final outcome of the church, because he knows that even though the church may go through trials and tribulations, and false teachers will be present, that the final outcome is that the church is going to be victorious. He's not concerned about this in the end. He's concerned about what false prophets can presently do in the life of the church.

Brethren, you understand what I mean? I feel that I'm not speaking very clear English today. You understand, right? He's not concerned about the final outcome, but he's concerned about what he can do in the present time by deceiving the church. He was so concerned about this that he wrote a whole letter about it.

Did you know that the first six verses of chapter 4, it is actually just a little summary of a whole letter. And that whole letter is called 2 John. Come with me to 2 John. If you want to understand the first six verses of 1 John chapter 4, you don't have to go to a commentary. You have to go to 2 John, and then you will understand what the puzzle says there.

Pay attention now to the reality, brethren, brothers and sisters and friends and little kids. Pay attention to the nature of truth for the apostle. Because if we understand this, we will be able to understand what is the threat of the false teachers and false prophets. Brethren, if you listen to many sermons, contemporary sermons of all preachers in these first six verses of chapter four, You will see how preachers today read into this passage the excesses of the charismatic church, or the prosperity gospel, or whatever other thing that... Okay, we agree with that, but this is not what John was saying to the church.

It will be only beneficial to us if we understand what John was saying to the church, and then we take that and we apply it to us. You see that, right? 2 John explains what is the concern that the apostle had. Read it with me. Please see how important the truth was for John.

It says, 2 John 1, "...the elder to the elect lady and her children..." Now pay attention, "...whom I love in truth, And not only I, but also all who know the truth. Two, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.

Now, Brett, I don't know about you, but for me, that is a lot of words true in just a couple of sentences, right? There is a lot of mentions of true in just a couple of sentences to the point that if you don't know what he's talking about, you would just simply pass over those words that are there. Let us read it again. "...the elder that is himself to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever."

Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father. Now, this is very important to understand, 1 John. From God the Father, and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, or the Son of the Father. Now he qualifies the relationship of the Father and the Son by saying, in truth and in love. Did you see that, brethren, in the text?

How is God the Father, the Father of the Son? In truth and in love. That is written there in the Scriptures, right? The relationship of the Father and the relationship of the Son is in truth and in love. Now He's going to apply it to the life of the church.

Verse 4, I rejoice greatly... Pay attention to this. I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth. just as we were commanded by the Father." Now, pay attention to what the apostle does not say.

The apostle does not say, I rejoice greatly that the people in the church, they knew the truth so good that they could give an answer to all the theological questions that we brought to them. But rather, the apostle says that I found some of your children walking in the truth. If you read carefully 1 John 1, verses 5 and 6, then you will realize that he says that God is light and in Him is not darkness at all. If anyone says that they have fellowship with God while they walk in darkness, then the apostle says they are liars. They lie and they do not practice the truth.

The concern that the apostle had was a practical concern, not a doctrinal concern. This is very important. The threat of the false prophets to the church was not only a doctrinal threat, but it was a practical threat to the church. To the point that if you continue, He says, I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. And this is the commandment, just as you have had from the beginning, that you should walk in it. And now pay attention, why, Apostle Paul, should we love one another? Why, Apostle Paul, why should we walk and obey the commandments? Why?

Verse 7, "...for many deceivers have gone out into the world, Those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, such as the one, the deceiver, the Antichrist, watch yourselves so that you may not lose what we or you have worked for, but may win a full reward." Sophie has written on my Bible and I cannot read that very well there. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son."

Verse 10, "...if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works." I hope that you can remember what we have just read there. "...but my dear brother and sister, The concern of the apostle was not a doctrinal one.

I hope that I have made that point clear. It was a practical concern. False teachers were not only affecting the theology of the church, more than that, they were affecting the practice in the life of the church. And the doctrines that they were bringing into the church We're not affecting their Christology only, the doctrine of Jesus Christ, but more importantly, we're affecting what people were doing against each other. They were sinning against each other, and they're walking unrighteously, and the false prophets were saying that that was acceptable.

Now, let us return to 1 John chapter 4. Now, why then is the apostle, if this is the nature of his concern, why is he so concerned with these false teachers? Yeah, we have said that it's a practical concern, but why is he so concerned with the reality of these false teachers? Let me just give you a couple of reasons, and I'll try to be quick with this. First, he is concerned with these false teachers, because these false teachers, these false prophets, brethren, these are the prophetic spiritual fulfillment of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once again, the apostle was so concerned with these false prophets in the context of the church, because these false prophets were the prophetic and spiritual fulfillment of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not going to take you there because the time is going, but you will have just to... perhaps you know the passage and then you can read it on your own time. Matthew 7, verses 13 and onwards. Matthew 24, verses 5 and onward, and Matthew 24, verse 24, you can check that on your own time.

But the Lord Jesus Christ gives the promise to the hearers, to the disciples, that there will be false teachers and false prophets. In Matthew 24, sorry, we have to read it, brother. If you come with me to Matthew 24, The Lord Jesus Christ is going to make a connection, a prophetic connection between false teachers and the lack of love among the Christians. You remember this. There's going to be a connection between the false teachers and the lack of love among Christians.

Matthew chapter 24. Now, I know, brethren, that Depending on your eschatological view, you might look back into Matthew chapter 24, and then you might say, that was already fulfilled, and that is going to be fulfilled. It really doesn't matter. Because for the church of the time of the Apostle John, Ephesus, this was for them. It really doesn't matter what you think.

It does matter. But what matters is what the apostles and the early church believed about that text. They did not know that there was going to be 2,000 years of delay. For them, that was real. So if you come to Matthew chapter 24, if you go to Matthew chapter 24, this was the prophetic utterance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew chapter 24, let us just simply read from verse 5. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray." Just this utterance of that statement is what we use for developing our theology of the Antichrist. You know about the Antichrist? The word Antichrist is only used twice in the Bible, in 1 John 4 and 2 John.

Any other comment that we make about the Antichrist is taken from passages that we think speak about the Antichrist, but not literally about the Antichrist. But anyway, here verse 6, or at least this verse 5, speaks of this person that will come saying that they are the Christ, or instead of Jesus, and they will lead many astray. If you jump to verse 9, pay attention to verse 9. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another."

Brethren, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. Here together we have the prophetic words of Jesus Christ connecting the presence of false teachers affecting the church, not the church being unable to give a theological answer to a question, but actually the presence of false teachers affecting the love of the church. Brethren, do you see that? 2 John, walking in the truth, it is to love one another and the commandments.

John was concerned, not because my Baptist church in Ephesus will be confused about the modes of baptism, no brethren. He was concerned because false teachers and false prophets will bring heresies and ways of seeing Christ that were not according to the Bible that will lead people to hate one another. that will lead people not to love one another, that will lead people not to live in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was concerned for that. That was the spiritual prophetic fulfillment of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This church, they heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from Matthew chapter 24 and they said, wow, these are times, these are times. Now let us return to 1 John chapter 4. So John was concerned because this was the prophetic fulfillment of it. And because it was the spirit of the Antichrist that was working in these false teachers. We have there in verse 5, And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard was coming. Now it is in the world already. Do you see that, brother? That says, this is the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard was coming. And it's now already in the world.

Where did they hear that from? Of course, they hear that from the prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then the other apostles that will speak about it and about it. That the spirit of the Antichrist is already in the world, and it's operated among the many false teachers and many false prophets. But the second reason for concern is this. Pay attention to verse 1.

The Apostle in verse 1 is going to tell us from where these false teachers come from. In verse 1 it says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Now pay attention to this. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. It's the same expression that John uses in 2 John chapter 7.

chapter 1 verse 7, for many false teachers have gone out into the world. And people throughout church history have asked themselves, what is he referring to? What is John referring to the fact that many false teachers have gone out into the world? Some people have said that what the apostle refers to here is just simply that False prophets are present in the world. And it's just a general way of saying that false teachers are present in the world.

Some other people have said that going out into the world is that these false teachers, false prophets, were initially in Jerusalem, and then they went to the Gentile world, which makes sense, right? Because some of the early heresies of the church were about keeping the law and being circumcised, if you remember the book of Acts, right? So it makes sense that some of these false teachers have gone out into the world, is that they have departed from Israel and have gone into the Gentile lands. And the other option is that actually these false teachers were in the context of the church, and now they have left the church and they have gone out into the world. While any of those three possibilities is possible, I think that is more the third one, because if you come to 2 John chapter 18, then is the first instance in which the apostle is going to speak about this Antichrist.

And there he will tell us where they come from. It says in verse 18 of chapter 2, children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, which is the same way of speaking in 1 John chapter 4, children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrists have come.

Therefore, know that it is the last hour. They," verse 19, referring to the Antichrist or to these false teachers, "...they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it may become plain that they all are not of us."

It's very likely, brethren, that these false teachers, if you take 2 Peter chapter 2, and then if you take Jude verses 3 to 5, that these men were in the context of the church and that these men were leaving the congregations of some of these congregations. And they were these false teachers that were trying to deceive the Christians. These were people that were not but actually they knew the Scriptures. These were people, not that they were coming to Christianity for the very first time, but rather they knew the Bible, they knew the Scriptures, they knew the teachings of the apostles. And that's why when you go to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1 and 2, then you will hear that these false teachers were writing fake letters.

You remember that we read that last week? That they will be false words that were coming from these false teachers. And brethren, these were not few, but the text says that they were how many? Many! Brethren, imagine yourself, like if we cannot fill this for the church, imagine this with your little kids.

Imagine that the Lord has given you two, three, four kids. And imagine that you're going to die on Tuesday. And then imagine that you know that there's someone that wants to come and attack your children. But on Wednesday, you're not going to be there. You're not going to be there on Thursday to come and protect them and defend them.

The Apostle John was in that way concerned for the church, because the threats of these false teachers that were going to come in the context of the church, they were going to lead the people of God to hate and not to love one another. I can prove you that because I don't have much time, but let me just simply bring you to 1 John 2, verse 26. This is the heart of the concern of the apostle here, 26 in chapter 2. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. You see that in verse 26, brethren, these are the false teachers.

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you receive from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and it's true, and it's no lie, just as He has taught you, abide in Him." When you read chapter 5, verse 20, that is that Christ has given us the understanding of the true God, and then we're united to Him. In other words, you're going to be victorious.

But the false teachers were trying to bring these destructive heresies, and we see them in chapter 3. Read with me and be patient, please, with my reading, because brethren, I think this is going to give us a clear understanding of what the concern of John is. Chapter 3, see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

Beloved, we are God's children, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who does hope in Him purifies himself as he is pure." You see the concern of the apostle? The concern of the apostle is my little children, brothers and sisters.

What a great love he has for us that we have become the children of God and my little children. The promise is this, that even though you are in trials and tribulations today, when you finally see him, you're going to become like your Lord and Savior. And because you hope in that, you are to live lives today that are pure, because if you hope in him, today, you purify yourself." See, he's concerned that the church will be so strengthened by the love of the Father and Jesus Christ, that they will live holy lives. Then he says in verse 4, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. You know that He, a peer, that is Jesus. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, so that in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him."

Now pay attention to 7, "...little children, let no one deceive you. Who are the ones that are trying to deceive the church? The false teachers and false prophets. Verse 7, let no one deceive you.

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared Watch to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother." When we arrive to 1 John chapter 4, the apostle says, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Christ is speaking from God. Whoever confesses or does not confess that Jesus is the Christ is the Antichrist. Why? Because in the mind of the apostle was this, who Jesus Christ is and what he came to do.

Not only my thoughts and my ideas about who he is, but who he is applied to the soul of the one who claims to be a child of God. The false teachers were denying the deity and the equality of the Son and the Father and the role that the Son had in coming to destroy the works of the devil. Pay attention to chapter 2 verse 21 so that I can confirm the statement that I have just made from the scriptures. The false teachers, brethren, were denying that Jesus and the Father were God, and that the Father has sent Jesus to destroy the works of the devil. It says in verse 21, I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lies of the truth.

Verse 22 of chapter 2. Who is the liar? but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ." In other words, he who denies that Jesus is the Messiah. And what does the Messiah require?

The Messiah requires the Father sending Him, and the Messiah requires a mission for which He was sent. What is the mission that the Father gave to the Messiah? That He will come to liberate His people from their sins. The mission of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God-man, was to come to apply his life into the life of those who receive him so that they will walk in righteousness and they will love one another. The false teachers were denying both who Jesus Christ was, Jesus and the Father, not God, and also they were denying that the presence of Christ in the church was meant to be seen in the love that one had for the another.

It says in verse 22, Who is a liar, but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist. He who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father." And this is the promise that He made to us, eternal life. And bear with me, brethren, as I make you read another verse. This is the promise, eternal life.

Come with me to chapter 5 and read with me verse 11. This is the promise. If you have the Son, you have the Father. If you have the Father, you have the Son. And this is the promise, eternal life.

Verse 11 in chapter 5. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life. This is the proof, in other words, that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life.

Whoever does not have the Son does not have life. What is this life of the Son abiding in the church or abiding in the Christian? That the outcome will be that we walk in the truth, that we love one another. What these false teachers were doing to the church is bringing heresies and doctrines against Jesus Christ that were seen in the church as allowance for the church to live lives of unrighteousness and not to love one another. That's why when you read the passage in 2 Timothy chapter 4, remember when Paul says to Timothy, preach the word, because there will be times, he says, in which they will come with these words to scratch your itchy knees.

Do you remember that passage? They will accumulate unto themselves teachers that speak according to their own passions, that people sometimes, there will be a time in which people will not endure sound doctrine, there will be a time in which people will not endure the word of the Lord, and because they don't endure the word of the Lord, they will accumulate unto themselves false teachers that speak words according to their itching ears, deviating from the truth, you can read it on your time, deviating from the truth and falling into lies, falling into myths. Brethren, two things simply that I want us just to consider from this. The Bible that we have in our hands is the Word of God that God gave the church through the ministry of the prophets, so that the church throughout church history will stand not upon the intellect of men, but that we will stand upon the words of the Lord. They are not supposed to abide here, brother, but they are supposed to abide in our hearts.

Because the person who has been translated from error into truth is not a person that is supposed to know the truth only, but is supposed to walk in that truth. And brothers and sisters, the manifestation of the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives is not only abiding in this abstract view of the future in which I'm going to make it until the end. Yes, praise God for that. Praise God that we're going to make it until the end. But the truth and the power of the truth of God is meant to be evidence in the present time.

Because Satan cannot ultimately destroy the church, but Satan can deceive the church into focusing on things that is not Christ Himself. And then the life of those who are not focused on Jesus Christ, the Messiah that was sent to remove us and to free us from our sin, then the lives of those people is going to be clearly manifested in the present. Truth is one in which we are supposed to walk. And the truth that has been given to us in the scripture is something that we're to be thankful for. Because apart from the truth of God given to us through the prophets and the apostles in the scriptures, we're not going to be able to know how to live, and we're not going to be able to know how to love our brothers and sisters.

Such is the seriousness of this matter, that I don't know if you remember what we read there in 2 John, that he says, if anyone does not bring you this teaching, you remember what he says in 2 John? If anyone does not bring you, he doesn't say, if anyone brings you a different teaching, if anyone does not bring you this teaching, are we to open our doors? No, the one who does not bring the power of Jesus Christ applied to the life of the sinner, brethren, is preaching a different gospel. I could go for another 20 minutes to speak about this, but I will not, but please pay attention to this, brethren. The problems in which we live in our church today is not about having the truths of the gospel correctly, because many people have the truths of the gospel in a very correct way and very clearly.

That is not the problem. The problem that the church faces is that when it comes to applying the truth of the gospel to the life of the sinner, then we don't bring the application of that truth and what the gospel is meant to do in the life of the person who truly believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. The transformation that is meant to be seen in the person that truly believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. One thing is to uphold the truths and the statements of the gospel. Another thing is to uphold that which is meant to be the fruit of this message in the life of that person.

Because the Bible does not say that you shall know them by the answers that they give to the question of the gospel. The Bible says you shall know them by their... fruit, brethren. It is not a gospel that we ought to know, but it's a gospel that we need to walk into. It is not a truth that we need to assess and understand, but it's a truth that we need to have in our heart and to walk in that truth.

So when the Spirit of God sees our church or sees any other church joining the Apostle John, they can say, I'm so rejoicing, I'm so glad that I see some of your children who are walking in the truth, because the genuine truth and the sword of the Word of God, brethren, will always produce a transformed life. And if your life is not being transformed by the Word of God, then what would be the problem? I wonder. Here from Monday to Saturday, I'm not walking in the ways that I'm supposed to walk. What would be the problem?

Would be the problem with the sword of Jesus Christ? Or there will be something that is going on here, brother? This is the question that we need to ask ourselves and humbly come before Him, because when the Spirit of God comes to us by faith and opens His Word and the Word is treasured up in our hearts, then the outcome of it is not a theologian, brethren. He's not a theologian. The outcome of it is a child of God, not a child of Satan, but a child of God who walks in the ways of the Son and bearing fruits, fruits of righteousness in Christ for the glory of the Father.

Amen.