Testing the Spirits

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church once again. A great blessing to have you worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with us. I'm going to invite you, brethren, to please open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle John.

The first letter of the Apostle John. Today we're going to continue with our series of studies and assertions that we're making about the characteristics of a biblical church. And I think we're coming to the end of the short series that we've done for the last 10 weeks. addressing the final one, the final assertion that we're going to be making, of believers is one that is committed to test the spirits or to discern false doctrine." We are going to be making the assertion once again that a biblical community of Christians, of believers, that a biblical church is one that is committed to test the spirits or to discern the spirits.

And that particularly referring to false teaching or false doctrine. The passage that we're going to be addressing today is found in 1 John Chapter 4 from verses 1 through 6. The reason why I wanted to make this assertion is because the Apostle John is going to tell us there in verse 1, very clearly, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits. to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets or false teachers have gone out into the world."

Hence, we are making the assertion that a biblical community of Christians, those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, is a community of believers that is committed to discern the spirits. In other words, to distinguish between the truth of God And those teachings are false teachings that come, as we're going to see here, from the spirit of the Antichrist. Christians, as they come together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, they are called to test the spirits and not to believe every spirit, but rather to test those spirits. We're going to be addressing that, as I said, from the first six verses of Chapter 4. Let us come before the Lord Jesus Christ and let us pray that He will help us, guide us, and apply His Word to our hearts.

That we will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Let us pray together, brethren. Father, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. And we give you thanks for your patience, and your sovereignty, and your providence for us, Lord. That even though many times we do not understand or comprehend the things that may happen in us and around us.

We do know that you are perfect, that you are good, that you keep us, that you sustain us, that you point us to the ultimate goal that you have appointed for us. And for that we give you thanks, O Lord. We pray that our minds will be enlarged, that our hearts will be enlarged to fully understand and comprehend the greatness of the love of God in sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to die upon the cross for our sins. When we are with so many trials and many difficulties around us and so much of anxiety and confusion within ourselves and around us, Lord, I pray that one thing that is certain and that we are sure of is that Jesus Christ died upon the cross and that by purely, by the grace of God, that we are united to him and there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus. Now, Lord, as we come before you, we pray that you will teach us your word, that you will help us, Lord, to speak with clarity, that we will have freedom in our thoughts to communicate the Word of God to the brothers and sisters, and also that you will grant freedom in our hearts, in a humble heart, to receive your words according to what is written that we will be able to learn the importance and understand how we are supposed to discern the spirits according to the Scriptures and how we can behold Christ more and more.

I pray, O Lord, that you will guide us, that you will protect us, that you will sustain us, that you will direct us in ways of righteousness, that you will protect us from our own interpretations, and that we will see Jesus Christ, Him crucified, resurrected, victoriously seated at the right hand of the Father with this glorious promise that one day He's going to come. to take his bride out of this wilderness. Bless us, Lord, with your word. We want to be strengthened in the inner person by and through your word, so we ask that you will be present among us by your Holy Spirit. Bless us, Lord, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Okay, as I said, 1 John 4, the first six verses is what we're gonna be studying this afternoon. So let us read together 1 John 4 1-6. Beloved, 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.

For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world, therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 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 of truth and the spirit of error. Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. I suppose that I will start just simply by asking you a question. That is, if someone was going to come to you, a person perhaps that is not a Christian or someone that is inquiring into Christianity.

And someone was going to ask you, as a Christian, what do you think that is the main threat against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ? What do you think that is the main risk or threat for the people of God, for the people of Jesus Christ? What would be your answer? Perhaps some people may say that the main threat to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the world. Because when we go to the Scriptures, we know and we realize that the Scriptures very clearly tells us that there's going to be enmity between the world and the people of God.

That there's going to be trials, that there's going to be persecutions, that there's going to be mocking that is coming from the world against the people of God. So, we could very well conclude that one of the main threats towards the Christian people, towards the Christian church, is the world. But someone may say, well, not the world, but perhaps the one that is in the power of the world. The one that controls the world. And that is Satan.

Someone may say, well, the scriptures very clearly tell us that this world is under the power of Satan. And that Satan is the father of lies. Whom he has been sinning from the very beginning. And that he's opposing the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's opposing the people of Christ.

That's why even the Antichrist is moved by the power of Satan. So someone can come to the conclusion that one of the main threats to the people of God is Satan. But someone may say, well, you know, perhaps the main threat of the Christian church is not so much outside of the church, but it's within the context of the church. And that could be very well false Christians, false believers, those who profess to be in Christ, those who profess to follow the Lord. But they do not have the principle of Christ in them.

Rather, they have the principle of Satan. These are enemies of the church that are within the church. They bring division, they bring separation, they bring sin into the context of the church. Everyone or any person that might choose any of those 3 answers will be biblically correct. Because the world, Satan, and false believers are a threat to the church.

But let me submit to you that when you go through the 1st letter of the Apostle John. You will realize that perhaps the main threat against the Christian church are false teachers. False prophets. Because in a sense, in a false teacher, in a false prophet, you have those 3 aspects that we mentioned before. The world, Satan, and a false profession of faith.

A false teacher is a person that belongs to the system of the world. And that is moved by the principle of Satan, of the Antichrist. That is a false Christian, a false believer that now is actively attacking the people of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you will see through this letter, these antichrists, these false teachers, are enemies not only of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they are enemies also of the people of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One would expect that the Lord, or the Apostle, will call us to remove ourselves from those false teachers. Actually, we're supposed to do so. But what the Apostle does here, in this passage that we have before us, is that he tells us that there's a duty for the Christian. And that duty for the Christian is that we are not to believe every spirit that speaks about Christ. But rather that we are to test the spirit.

And the reason why we are to test those spirits is because many false prophets have gone out into the world. That is what he says there in verse 1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. But test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Why?

For many false prophets or false teachers have gone out into the world." False teachers and false prophets are perhaps the main threat against the people of the Lord. And this is because they will seemingly be speaking about Jesus Christ. But they are not speaking about the biblical Christ. They will seemingly be speaking about the things of the Lord.

But they are not genuinely and truthfully speaking the things of the Lord. And it's the message of those Christians, of those prophets, of those teachers that will come into the hearts of people. And they can affect spiritually the people of the Lord. Many times, or most of the time, or always better, is better to know that which is not of Christ. Rather than to think that something may be of Christ when it happens to be completely of the Antichrist.

That's why the Apostle is going to call us here to discern these spirits. To test the spirits. I'm going to submit to you that one of the duties of the Christian is to be able, through the knowledge of the truth in the Scriptures and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Not to believe every single spirit that speaks unto us. But rather to discern, to test the spirits and to know if they come from God or if they come from the devil. Because if they come from the devil, they are not what our soul needs.

This is the message here of the Apostle John. I want us to consider that very important idea. That Christians are supposed to test the spirits. To discern the spirits. To know if they come from God or they come from the devil.

This is the picture that John is going to present in this passage to us. It is very simple. This is the picture that he presents to us in these 6 verses. There are 2 kingdoms. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

The kingdom of God is moved by the Spirit of God. And the kingdom of Satan is moved by the spirit of Satan, or the spirit of error. On this side, of the side of God, we have the spirit of truth as we read that in verse 6. And in this kingdom of Satan, we have the spirit of error, which is the spirit of the Antichrist. And both kingdoms have messengers.

These messengers are the proclaimers of the message of this kingdom. On the side of the kingdom of God that is moved by the spirit of truth, we have the apostles. The apostles, John and the other apostles, are the messengers of this kingdom that speak to the people of this kingdom. These are the true prophets. These are the genuine teachers.

John is including himself in the group of the apostles, those by whom we know the truth of the kingdom of God. And on this other side, this kingdom of darkness, this kingdom of death, we also have messengers. And these messengers are going to be these false prophets that John says in verse 1, have gone out into the world. These are the messengers of the kingdom of Satan that speak through the spirit of error. We have truth on one side and we have error on the other side.

And the Apostle does not tell us that this is not going to happen. But rather he tells us that it is the duty of Christians Or better, the expectation of the call to Christians to test the spirits. To see to which one of those 2 kingdoms he belongs. To the kingdom of truth that comes from God. Or to the kingdom of Satan that is the spirit of error.

To test, to discern, to see what this spirit is coming from. And who it is proclaiming. What is the message that it's actually preaching. This is what we have there in those 6 verses. I want us to give depth to this topic of false teachers.

And this call that we have as Christians. To discern these spirits. So I want us to do a few things if the Lord allows us and gives us the time. First, the first thing that I want us to do is to answer the question of what is a false teacher? We cannot discern spirits or we cannot test the spirits if we do not know what a false teacher is.

We need to know what a false teacher is. So that we can distinguish and differentiate that from the messengers or the prophets of God. With the apostles and all of those people that will be ordained then by the Holy Spirit to speak in the kingdom of the Lord. So first, I want us to consider what is a false teacher or a false prophet. Second, after we've done that, and I hope the Lord allows us with the time.

I want us to consider why it is important. for the Christians and for the community of believers to be able to test the spirits. Why is it important that we don't simply ignore false teachers or false prophets? But rather that through the knowledge of the Scriptures, that we discern the spirits, that we test the spirits. And even though we are not called to be on the streets to say, you are a false teacher, at least that we have the ability from the truth of the Scriptures to test the spirits, to discern the spirits.

Why is that important? Once we have done that, what is a false teacher and why is it important for us to consider, to be able to discern? Then I want us to move into the characteristics of false teachers that are presented by John in these 6 verses. We're going to see 2 or 3 according to the time. whatever the time that we have, 2 or 3 characteristics of false teachers that we see from this text.

And then finally, once we have understood what is a false teacher and why is it important for us as the people of God to discern the spirits and also the characteristics of false teachers, then we will go into the how. How are we supposed to discern the spirits or to test the spirits? To discern that which comes from God and to discern that which comes from Satan. We are going to do that and I hope that we will do it within the time that we have before us. Let us start, first of all, with the what.

What is a false teacher? Or what is a false prophet? If someone was going to ask you that question, what is a false teacher? What is a false prophet? Perhaps, We may be inclined to say that a false teacher or a false prophet is a person who teaches a false teaching or a false doctrine.

And that might seem to be the reasonable answer to that. Well, a false teacher is a person who teaches a false doctrine or a false teaching. But let me submit to you that even though that definition of a false teacher or a false prophet might sound logical. A person who teaches a false teaching is a false teacher or a false prophet. That is not actually the definition of a false teacher or a false prophet in the Scriptures.

Because let me submit to you that in a sense, all of us have errors in our understanding of the things of God. And in a sense, we all have false teachings in our set of doctrine and our set of understanding. A false teacher is much more than having a teaching that is wrong or that is false. I'm going to submit to you that there's going to be many things that have been said from the pulpit, from my lips, that might not correspond entirely to what is according to the Scriptures. We always hope and pray and we try to submit as much as we can to the Scriptures to understand the testimony of the Scriptures.

But it would be prideful to believe that no man is without error. We all have errors in our understanding of the things of God, and we progressively want to advance in our understanding of the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. So a false teacher is much more than just simply having a set of doctrine in the wrong view, in the wrong understanding. I'm going to submit to you that I false teacher, a false prophet, Beyond the understanding that is wrong. There's a spiritual principle that is operating in that person.

And a spiritual principle that moves that person. A false teacher and a false prophet is going to be someone who belongs to the system of Satan. Who belongs to the system of the Antichrist. Who belongs to the system of the world. And is moved by the principle of the world to oppose the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's why John is going to call these ones the Antichrist. If you pay attention to verse 6 or verse 5, there the apostle is speaking about these false teachers or false prophets. And he very well tells us that they belong to the world. Verse 5, they are from the world. This day is referring to false teachers.

They are from the world. Therefore, they speak from the world and the world listens to them. These people are the ones who have the principle of the Antichrist operating in them. If you pay attention there to verse 3. In verse 3 it says, "...

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 is now in the world already." A false teacher is a person that belongs to the system of unrighteousness, to the kingdom of darkness. And the condition of this person is not a condition of the intellect. That they have something wrong in doctrine is deeper than that.

It's a spiritual condition of this person that now belongs and is inserted into the system of the world, into the system of darkness. Because of that, they oppose the Lord Jesus Christ and they speak things contrary to the Lord Jesus Christ. When it comes to errors of doctrine and when it comes to things that might not be in alignment with the scriptures, there are certain types of people within the context of the church, or within the context of the kingdom of God, That we are called to correct them and to bring them into alignment. You may remember the example of Apollos. Remember in Acts chapter 18?

That he did not have a full understanding of the things of the Lord. And that he was speaking in a way, that in a sense, it was erroneous teaching. But then a brother and a sister came and helped him so that he could understand in alignment with the will of the Lord. Was this brother teaching something that was false? Yes, he was teaching something that was erroneous.

But the principle that was operating in him was not a principle of the system of darkness, but rather it was the principle of Christ Jesus. And he was being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now, this is very important because I feel that within the Protestant Church, sometimes it's so easy for us to point our finger to someone who believes contrary to what we believe and to call them false teachers or to call them false prophets. While this may be the truth, it is important for us to be able to discern biblically that which is a false prophet and that which is a false teacher. If we have a shallow understanding of what a false prophet is, then we might end up pointing our fingers to too many people that are not, and we are not going to be able to discern biblically when a false prophet or a false teacher comes onto our way.

So a false teacher is the one who has this principle, a spiritual principle, and it is not only present here in 1 John, but also present in 2 Peter and in the book of Jude. There's false teachers that are going to be within the context of But now, why is it important? Why is it important for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ that we will learn and that we will be committed to discern between these false teachers that speak from the kingdom of God and the teachers or the prophets that speak from the kingdom of the Lord? Why is it important? And the main answer here is this, that false teachers do not only have intellectual consequences in those who listen to them, but more importantly, false teachers have spiritual consequences in those who listen to them.

The problem of a false teacher, or the problem of false doctrine, or errors in doctrine, is not only an intellectual problem, but rather it's a spiritual problem. If you pay attention to verse 1, the Apostle does not tell us that the false prophet is someone who speaks erroneously only. But rather, he speaks in spiritual terms. In verse 1 he says, Beloved, do not believe every doctrine. Now, he does not say doctrine, but he 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. " False teachers and false prophets do not only have consequences in their listeners at an intellectual level. In other words, that they communicate to them errors and they're deviating their minds into wrong understanding. But false teachers have spiritual consequences in those who listen to them.

That is, that if there is a person that is given to listen to and to follow a person that is a false teacher, either a man or a woman, the consequences in the life of that person that is given to listen to that person is not only going to be a wrong understanding of things, but it's actually going to be a spiritual consequence. That person, might not end up coming to Christ genuinely. And if that person is in Christ, that person will never grow, spiritually speaking. We are told very clearly in Romans chapter 10, that faith comes by hearing, and hearing through or by the Word of the Lord. It is through the Word of the Lord, the one that nourishes, spiritually speaking, the faith of the person.

It is the Word and the truth of God, the one that produces faith in a person. So, if a person is always listening or submitting to a type of teaching that does not correspond to the truth of the Word of the Lord, it does not matter what that message is. It might be fleshly appealing to the emotions of the person, but that message is not going to have a spiritual fruit. Faith comes by hearing the word of the Lord. So that's why it is so important that we will be careful with ourselves.

And that we will be able to discern the truth of God and the error of the spirit of Satan. Why? Because this has spiritual consequences. And the most devastating spiritual consequence is that any message that does not correspond to the truth of God does not have the power to save. Any message that does not correspond to the truth of God, as is given to us in the Scriptures, does not have the power to save, does not have the power to edify, does not have the power to mature a person in conformity to Christ.

If a person is always given to, or listening to, a person who is proclaiming a wrong message, that person will never either come to Christ or mature. We are given that terrifying, implicit reality in verse 6. If you pay attention to verse 6, so that you understand. When the apostle speaks in verse 5 of, they, this is the false teachers. And in verse 6, when he speaks of, we, this is the apostles unto whom the scriptures were entrusted.

He says that in verse 6. Pay attention to verse 6. We, that is the apostles, are from God. So, we, me, John, he says, and the others, those who had fellowship with God, with Jesus, I mean. We, the apostles, are from God.

Whoever knows God listens to us. Now remember that the apostles, they represent now the scriptures, right? Because the apostles died. We do not have the apostles with us. Peter and John, they are not with us anymore.

They left us their writings. And in their writings, we have the words of the apostles, and we have the words of Christ that were given unto the apostles. So the authority of the scriptures is they were of the Lord, as we have it in what is written Through the mouth of the apostles coming from the Lord Jesus Christ. So when he says, we, the apostles, he's speaking to the authority of what we have in our hands, the scriptures. It says, verse 6, we, the apostles, 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 of truth and the spirit of error. Hearing the words of Christ is not an intellectual exercise. Hearing the words of the Lord Jesus Christ is a spiritual exercise.

Those who have been saved and given life by the Savior, they become the sheep of Jesus Christ. And the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ, they hear the voice of the shepherd. And they follow the shepherd. Because the shepherd and the sheep are one, spiritually speaking. And the way that the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd is now through the Word of God that was given to us through the apostles.

So those who are from God, he says in verse 6. Those who are genuine Christians. Those who have the Spirit of Christ in them. Those who have the Spirit of the Holy One, 1 John chapter 2. Those who have the truth of God in them.

Those who have the Spirit of truth in them. They listen to the apostles. Not because we have some level of fellowship with Paul and Peter and John, but rather because they communicate the truth that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. But the terrifying thing is that those who do not listen to them, in other words, those for whom the words of the apostles are not appealing, those for whom the words of Christ do not have any value, those for whom the words of the Savior are worthless, And they don't deserve my time and my effort. My affections are given to something else rather than the voice of Christ.

Those who do not listen to the voice of God given through Christ and the apostles. And now in the Scriptures, they are from the world. They have the spirit of error. Once again, he says, we are, verse 6, we are from God, the apostles. Whoever knows God listens to us.

Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. The words of God are close to the ears of the fleshly person. The words of Jesus Christ are close to the person that is blind because it belongs to the system of darkness. And because they belong to the system of darkness, there's going to be many times in which these people, wanting and pretending to be externally Christians, are going to accumulate unto themselves people that speak according to their own passions.

Which is what Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, if you read it with me, in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Speaking of the type of people that belong to the system that do not listen to the apostles and the words of the apostles, but listen to the spirit of error, the spirit of the world. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead by His appearance and His kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. Why? Verse three, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober-minded and endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry." The time is coming, it says the apostle here, that people will not endure the sound teaching that comes from the kingdom of God. People will not endure the words of the Spirit of truth.

People will not endure the words that are coming from this kingdom of Jesus Christ. Because of that, they will deviate and they will accumulate unto themselves teachers that speak according to their own fleshly passions. People that are speaking, perhaps, seemingly, like in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they're speaking about a different Christ. Not the biblical Christ.

A Christ that speaks according to their own passions. Paul says to Timothy that he's to be ready to preach the word in season and out of season. Because that time will come. So the reason why it is important for us to test the Spirit, and for us to discern the Spirit and the truth, is because these false teachers, or these false teachings, will have consequences in us that go beyond our mind, and that will affect us spiritually speaking. If a person is seeking the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and is seeking and pursuing God, if that person is exposed to false teaching, then that person is not going to find Christ.

Why? Because that is not the truth of Christ. And if there is a person who happens to be a Christian within that context, then that person is not going to be fed. That person is not going to be nourished. Spiritually speaking, and that person is going to be lacking.

Why? Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of God. The Word of God is that which gives the faith to the person and is strengthened. And the Word of God, of course, when that Word is truth. So now we return to our text and having spoken about the definition of what a false teacher is and why it is important for us to discern that, I want to point you to two or three characteristics that we are going to see here in this text of false teachers and false believers.

I hope that this helps us understand the nature of what it is discerning and understanding false teaching from biblical teaching. I'm going to give you here two or three characteristics. The first one that I want you to pay close attention to, it is that false teachers or false prophets happen to come out of the context of the local church or the church better. False teachers or false prophets come out of the context of the church. What will expect that false teachers and false prophets, they are clearly outside of what is called the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But I'm going to show you here from the text that false teachers are those who have come out of the visible context of those who are in the community of believers. The Apostle uses an expression there in verse 1 that he also uses in chapter 2 and in 2 John. It says in verse 1, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Why? For many false prophets have gone out into the world."

This is an expression that belongs only to John. These false prophets, he says, have gone out into the world. When the apostle uses this expression, he's speaking about people that were in the context of the church, these false teachers, these antichrists, and they went out of the church. The most famous reference that we have to that is found in verse 18 of chapter 2. Here we will have the same concept and the same idea of going out into the world.

And that is that they were in the context of the church. They were professing to be brothers and sisters. They went out of the context of the church in verse 18, chapter 2. It says, Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming.

So now, many Antichrists have come. These Antichrists are the false teachers. Therefore, we know that is the last hour. We know that this is false teachers because he said to us that this is the spirit that is operating in them in chapter 4. Pay attention to the verse 19.

They, it is referring to verse 18. Those who have the spirit of the Antichrist. The Antichrist, sometimes people will use to speak about every single Christian. But in context, this they is referring to those who have the Antichrist. 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," this is false teachers, Antichrist, "...they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you know all things, so you have all knowledge." That is the contrast.

This Antichrist, these false teachers that are within the context of the Church, they have gone out into the world. They have the spirit of the Antichrist. You, he says, you have the Holy One. You have the Spirit of God in you. If you come to 2 John, in 2 John, he will make the most clear reference to this idea of these false teachers that have gone out into the world from the context of the Church.

2 John, verse 7. 2 John, chapter 1, verse 7. It says, For many deceivers, verse 7 of the 2nd letter of the Apostle John. For many deceivers have gone out into the world. Once again, they were in the context of the church.

And they went out of the context of the church. For many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the Antichrist. So the principle of the Antichrist was operating within those people that were in the context of the Christian community.

And this principle now operated so strongly that they were removed from the context of the church. And now they are accumulating unto themselves people that will speak and teach according to their own passions. It's not that these people left Christianity. Externally and openly. And now they say, I'm going to follow this other thing.

Or I'm going to be an atheist. Or I'm going to be an agnostic. And I'm going to oppose Christianity from there. No, it's that these people now, they will go on to continue to proclaim a Christ that is not biblical. A Christ that is not according to the Scriptures.

They have gone out of the context of the Apostolic Church. The Church that was founded upon the truth of the Apostles. And now they are preaching according to the spirit of error. Not according to the Spirit of God. Now, this is very important for us to know.

Why? Because we would expect that false teachers and false prophets will be openly against Christianity. But the danger of a false teacher and the danger of a false prophet is that they will name the name of Christ. They will name the gospel. They will name the things of the scriptures.

They may even come and open the scriptures to speak things or read things from the scriptures. But the idea of a false teacher is that they will confuse the truth with something close to the truth. And they present a Christ that is not the biblical Christ. They will present a truth that is not the truth of the scriptures. Rather, they will speak things that are not corresponding to the truth of the apostles.

This is what was happening very early on in the church. If you come to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We can see there that something like this was already happening in the context of the church very early on. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. It says, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." This is something important of Christ and about Christ, His second coming. Now, "...

concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brethren, Not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit..." Pay attention to this. "...either by a spirit, or a spoken word, or a letter, seeming to be from us." That is speaking of the apostles.

Once again, verse 2. "...not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit, or by a spoken word, or a letter, seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For the day will not come."

And he teaches about that. But what is the point here? That very early in the context of the church, there was a group of people, perhaps men and women, who were calling or giving unto themselves a certain level of authority. And they knew that God's authority had been given to the church in the apostles. So they were writing letters and they were preaching messages that seemed to be close to the message of the apostles.

That seemed to be close to the message of the people of God. They seemed to be so similar to that, that it was difficult for the people of God to discern. They were speaking about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were speaking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were speaking about the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were speaking about the nature of the Son of God. They were not denying Christ. They were teaching about Christ, but they were actively teaching something that was wrong and something that Paul and John and Peter called the spirit of the Antichrist. And once again, the seriousness of this matter is not that a person may be just simply confused in their mind and in their intellect about a particular doctrine. But the problem is that false teachers and false doctrine will eventually impact the life of a Christian spiritually speaking.

And that is one of the most, or the second reason here, if we return to 1 John. So first, one of the characteristics of these false teachers is that these false teachers come out of the context of the local church, or better, of the community of Christians. False prophets, false teachers, they are not necessarily outside, but they are around us, or among us. Now, it does not mean necessarily that every local church is going to have a false prophet or false teacher wanting to be, or developing into, Perhaps it may be the case. But that does not necessarily mean that every single local church is going to have a person that is under that path of being a false teacher, a false prophet.

What it means is that in the context of the people of God is where there's going to be false teachers and false prophets that are going to go out of the people of God. And this should not alarm us. Because the Lord has said in 2 Peter chapter 2, and also in the book of Jude, that these people have been appointed to be within the context of the church. You know, I wanted to write about our coming salvation. I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith.

This faith that was once for all delivered to the saint. Why? For certain people have crept into the church unnoticed or unaware. These people that have been... Appointed from a long time ago for this condemnation is as in the book of Jude.

Now, these people come into the context of the church. They have been decreed or appointed by God to be within the context of the church. We know from 1 Corinthians chapter 11 that the reason why these people are within the context of the church is for the purification of the bride and also for the judgment that will come upon these people. So we should not be alarmed that false teachers and false prophets are going to proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we ought to be is that we need to be prepared according to the truth of God.

So that false teachers and false doctrine will not have a spiritual impact in the church and in our lives. But second, and perhaps this is the most important thing that I want to share with you, and that is that false teachers, false Christians, False teachers, false prophets, those who have the spirit of error in them. Those who are proclaiming a message anti-Christ, or against the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not proclaim, or they will not preach, or they will not confess the biblical Christ. This is the main thing.

This is the main error of a false teacher. False teachers, false prophets do not confess, do not proclaim, do not preach the biblical Christ. I'm not saying false teachers or false prophets do not speak about Christ, or do not preach about Christ. They do not preach, they do not confess the biblical Christ. I can give a version made up in my own mind and call that Christ.

But the fact that I call him Christ does not necessarily mean that he's the biblical Christ. A person is not his or her name. A person is the truth of his characteristics. So even though there might be people who preach and say things about Christ. If that person or that group of people are not preaching the biblical Christ.

Then that person falls into this category of what we have here. We see that example there in verse 2 and 3 of chapter 4 of the 1st letter of the Apostle John. It says in verse 2, 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 now and is in the world already. The Apostle tells us that the way that you know or discern these spirits is that the spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, this is of God. But the spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, this is the spirit of the Antichrist. The spirit that is already operating in the system of the world.

Now, what the puzzle is addressing here is a situation that was going on in this church. And that is that there was a group of people that were actually teaching and saying that Jesus Christ had not come in the flesh. They were denying the physical aspect of the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what they were getting out of that teaching is that because Jesus Christ had not come in the flesh like one of us, then it was not expected of us to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. They were saying, it is irrational to expect from you to be as holy as the Lord Jesus Christ was.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. He was only a spirit. And the spirit is good, and the spirit is perfect, and the spirit is powerful. Just because you are flesh and spirit, then you cannot be like the Lord Jesus Christ. But the principle of what we have here was a denial of the biblical Christ.

A denial of the biblical characteristics of who Christ Jesus is. The important thing here is not so much a doctrine about Christ, which is really important. That we understand who Christ Jesus is, as the Son of God, who came as a man and God. And in Him we have salvation. But very importantly also, from a practical point of view, is that the definition of Christ that we have according to the Scripture is going to define our Christian life and our practice.

In this context of this church, as I mentioned, these people were denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. They were saying, you can be unrighteous. You can live your life in sin. Why? Because you are not like Christ.

You are flesh and blood. But the apostle is going to say very clearly, as we explored this last week, that those people who have been born of God, they are to be righteous. Why? Because He is righteous. You pay attention to chapter 3 verse 7.

In chapter 3 verse 7 here we have the deception of these false teachers in the context of this church. It says, let us read from verse 4 in chapter 3. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared, that is Christ, in order to take away sin, and 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. In verse seven, he addresses the false teachers. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness Righteousness is righteous as He is righteous.

In other words, if you say that you have been born of Him, you are also to be like Him because He is righteous. They were denying the biblical Christ, these false teachers, and by denying the biblical Christ, they were bringing another heresy into the practical life of the Christian. By denying the biblical Christ, you affect the life of the Christian. Once again, pay attention to verse 29 of chapter 2. Verse 29 of chapter 2, it says, Why is he saying all of these things?

Because the false teachers, the false prophets that were in the context of this church, They were denying that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. He was only spirit. And because he's only spirit, you cannot be like Jesus Christ because you're flesh and spirit. So do not expect to be as holy and righteous as Jesus Christ because you are not like him. So the apostle is going to go through all of these letters saying, if you say that you are in the light and if you walk in darkness, you're a liar because you're not practicing the truth.

If you say that you know him and you don't obey his commandments, you're a liar because you're not keeping his word. The one who keeps his word is meant to walk as he walks. Why? Because he's trying to argue that the biblical Christ came in the flesh to die for our sins. Chapter 4, this is love that God sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins.

Not that we love him first, but that he loved us in sending his son. Hence, because the biblical Christ came, we can live a biblical life trying to become like the Lord Jesus Christ. My point is this, that I-denial of the biblical Christ is always going to be seen in I-denial of the practical application of the truth. The truth is not only to be known. The truth is not only to be understood.

The truth is not only something that you put in your head. But the truth of Christ is meant to set you free. The truth of Christ is meant to transform you. The truth of Christ is meant to make you like the Lord Jesus Christ. And only the truth of the biblical Christ is that which is going to accomplish the spiritual outcome of making you like the Lord Jesus Christ.

So false teachers, when they come with their false doctrine, False teachers, when they come with the errors in what they teach about Jesus Christ, even though it might sound similar to the things of Christ, they will not have benefit spiritually for the people of God. This is how angry Paul was with the Corinthians. If you come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, because the Corinthians were listening To other Jesus, or about other Gospels, and other things. Not that there is another Jesus, or any other Gospel. But he was really upset.

Because, you know, I suppose, righteously, let's say, upset. Because people were paying attention to false apostles. It says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11.

I wish you... I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to the one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." So, in other words, please listen to me. Listen to the foolish way in which I'm going to speak to you because I actually minister to you for Christ, he says there.

Verse 3, but I am afraid. I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from my sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaim, we apostles and apostolic men, Or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received. Or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted. You put up with it really enough.

He's upset there. "...you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so ignorant.

Indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. These false prophets, these false teachers, were not coming to deny Jesus Christ. They were speaking about a Christ that was close, or a truth that was close, or a spirit that seemed to be the Spirit of God. But this was not having benefit, spiritually speaking, in the context of the church. Because the person who changes the nature of Christ, and does not proclaim the biblical Christ, will eventually affect spiritually those who listen to that.

Because a Christ that is not Christ does not have the power to save. A Christ that is not Christ does not have the power to transform. Let us return to a text and let me give you the the last characteristic of a false prophet. We said, first, that these false teachers, false prophets, come out of the context of the church, of the people of God. Second, these false teachers, false prophets, deny or do not proclaim the biblical Christ.

And this affects spiritually speaking, to those who listen to them. Thirdly, and with this I will finish, is that these false teachers, or false prophets, they will be in the system of the world. They will look like the world and they will be led and moved by the things that define the world. Pay attention to verse 4 as the Apostle speaks of the Christians and then in verse 5 of the false teachers. It says, "...

little children." You are from God and have overcome them, that is, the false teachers. For he who is in you, the Spirit, is greater than he who is in the world, the spirit of error. The spirit that is in you is greater than the spirit that is of this world, the spirit of error. That's why you have the victory over this world.

What is the victory? Faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You receive the Spirit. Verse 5, speaking of these false teachers, they are from the world.

Therefore, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them." False teachers and false prophets, once again, they have a principle of the spirit of error that is the principle of this world. And hence, they're going to look like the world, they're going to speak from the world, and the world is going to listen to them. When you put that together with what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, that there will be times in which people will accumulate unto themselves people that speak according to their passions, their itching ears. Then you know that these are the passions of the flesh.

He will say here in chapter 2 verse 15, if you remember 1 John chapter 2 verse 15, do not love the world or the things in the world. 1 John 3, verse 15, "...do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever." The false teacher and false prophet will many times appeal to the things of the world and to the itching ears of their listeners to keep them captive into the things that they say. The passions of the flesh, the passions of the eye, the pride of our life. All of these things that define the system of the world is what defines what the message of the false teacher is going to be.

They will sound like the world. They will look like the world. They speak from the world and the things of the world. And the world will listen to them. Why?

Because there's going to be times in which people will not endure sound doctrine, as Paul says to Timothy. But they will accumulate unto themselves these teachers that will speak according to their own passions. The purpose of that message and the purpose of that truth It's not to point fingers. It's not to divide. It's not to separate.

It's just to simply speak what the Scriptures actually say. Are we perfect? We are not perfect. Far from perfect. But we are called as individuals and as Christians to know the truth of Jesus Christ.

So by knowing the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're able to discern that which corresponds to the Scriptures and that which does not correspond to the Scriptures. Because apart from the truth of the Scriptures, I want someone to tell me that I'm good. I want someone to tell me that I'm okay. I want someone to tell me that I'm the best. I want someone to tell me that I'm the center of the world.

I want someone to tell me that everyone is my enemy and that I'm right and everyone is wrong. I want someone to tell me that I'm going to be prosperous. I want someone to tell me that I'm going to be rich. I want someone to tell me that everything is fine with me and that there's no problem at all. But these are not the things that the Spirit of God communicates to the heart of the believer.

He points us not to the things that we are, but to who Christ Jesus is, so that we can understand ourselves. Not in light of our errors, not in light of our sins, not in light of our accomplishments or the things that we are or the things that we are not. But we understand ourselves in light of who He is. So that even our brokenness, our sins, and our failures make sense in light of who He is. And what He has done, the biblical Jesus Christ.

Because when we understand who we are in light of who He is, we can deal with our failures, we can deal with our sins, we can deal with our brokenness, and we can deal with the blessings that God might give us in light of who He is. So the message of the Gospel and the message of the truth of the Scriptures is to point to the biblical Christ. That's why it says in verse 2, and with this I finish. How do we then discern the Spirit? How do we do it?

By knowing Christ. It says in verse 2, By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. If the false teachers proclaim a different Christ that does not have impact or effect on the believers, then the true Christians are the ones who proclaim the principle of Christ. The apostles were pointing to Jesus Christ.

They were pointing to the Jesus Christ who came in the flesh to die upon the cross for our sins. They were pointing to the biblical Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And this man, Jesus Christ, is the one who has the power to save. And He's the one who has the power to edify the person who has come by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. The idea is that the church will grow in understanding of the Savior.

The idea is that the believer, the individual, will grow in understanding of who Jesus is. Through the Word of the Lord. And as they grow in understanding of the Word of the Lord. They will be growing not only in understanding of information and truth. But they will also be transformed and conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Because if this church to whom this letter was written. was the church of Ephesus, which is likely that this church is at least one of the churches in the Ephesian region. If this is the church of Ephesus, we learned in Revelation chapter 2 that these people actually learned very well to test those who were apostles and those who were not apostles. But they left something very important as they were pursuing their discerning abilities to test the spirits in Revelation chapter 2 verse 1.

Revelation 2, verse 1, it says, "...to the angel of the church in Ephesus write..." Revelation 2, verse 1, "...to the angel of the church in Ephesus write the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks among the seven golden abstinence. I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you can know better.

with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. They fulfilled very well the expectation here that they are to discern the spirits, and to test the spirits, and to know who are speaking from God, and who are speaking from Jesus, and who are not these false prophets that we learned there in verse 2. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up with my namesake, but you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen.

Repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans and other false teachers, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

What is the call to the Christian? Not that they will fill their brains with so much information and truth about the things of Christ. That they will be able to point their fingers to the people that are proclaiming a different thing. We ought to do that. But the main thing that the Christian is meant to do, it is to pursue the person of Jesus Christ.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, 1 John chapter 2, and in the truth of His Word, 2 John. So by the Spirit and by the truth we come close to Christ. We grow in understanding of the doctrine of Christ, 2 John chapter 1 verse 9. The doctrine of Christ that is true and love. And by growing in understanding of the doctrine of Christ.

We're not only able to discern that which is wrong, but we're also able to have the heart of Christ towards one another and even to the person that is in error. Because independently of those teachers and independently of those prophets, that which we're called to do, it is to be compassionate and loving to the one who is in error, to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ with the purpose that they will come to Jesus for the salvation of their souls. And until that person has not died and given an account before the Lord that they indeed were the false teachers that were appointed from eternity past to condemnation, we don't know that. And we are to, what Paul says to Timothy in 2nd Timothy chapter 2, we are to try to convince the one that is in error. So perhaps we may bring that person to understanding of the things of Christ.

And then we might prevent them from the snare of the devil. The church is to grow in understanding of the things of Christ through the Word of the Savior. Growing the understanding of the person of Christ in love for Him. So that we are not only proclaimers of truth, but also we live the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we going to be perfect in that process?

We're not going to be. But the best place in which we can be, it is just acknowledging our deficiencies and our limitations, and to come to the Word, and to depend upon the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that what we hear from others will be discerned through the truth of the Scriptures. Let me give you with this, and with this I finish, in 1 John 2, verse 26. Come with me, and with this I finish. 1 John 2, verse 26.

I write these things to you, it says in 1 John chapter 2 verse 26. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. Those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you have received 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 that he has taught you, you will abide or abide in him.

That which prevents us from following the errors of the flesh and the errors of the spirit of error. It is not our ability to discern or our intellect, but it's the spirit of Christ that has been given to the genuine Christian. The genuine Christian will always come to the understanding of the things of Christ. Not perfectly, but the genuine Christian, the one who has received the spirit of God, the one who has the spirit in their heart, that person will hear the voice of the shepherd and they will follow the shepherd. Not because they're smart, not because they're theologians, not because they have answers to every single question.

By virtue of the grace of God that is given to the person, to the simple, to the humble, to the one that may have limitations of understanding, the one that might not be able to read, but is able to understand as someone else, reads aloud the Word of God to them. The person, by virtue of the Spirit of God in them, is now given the promise that the system of this world of darkness of life will not prevail upon that person. But rather, this person will come to the truth, will abide in the truth, and will be in the truth. Not because of their ability to hold strong to Jesus Christ and to the truth. But rather because the Spirit of God has generally been given to this person.

That's why we want to proclaim the message of the gospel. So that people will be genuinely saved and come to Christ. Because once a person is genuinely saved, this person is no longer the responsibility of the brethren of the church. But it's the responsibility of God. And God who has begun a good work in that person, that person will be brought to completion by the Spirit of God.

But if that person has not come to Christ, then we need to do all sorts of things to try to keep people around us. But it is the Spirit of God, the one that keeps not only people in the context of the church, or in the context of the people of God, but more importantly and ultimately, it is the Spirit of God that keeps a person coming to the feet of Jesus Christ. Because that person is in the hands of the Savior. And praise God that that is true, because if it was not because of the Spirit of the Lord, all of us will end up with not only Iranian's doctrine, but we will all end up blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ with our mouth and with our behavior. Praise God that grace is available to the one who comes to the Savior, and that grace is the one that initiates and finishes the work, giving us the truth of Christ and bringing us, all of us, into glory where Jesus Christ is.

Amen? Amen.