How to Spot a Fake: 1 John 4: 1-6

I'm just so grateful for our worship team every

week. What a great, what a great crew we have.

If you have our Bibles, First John chapter four,

so it will be. While you're turning to that text,

I thought I'd tell you a story about a couple

people that lived in our former town. So, you're

not gonna know these people, so it's okay. There

was this lady. And I never learned her name,

but she pushed a cart around town, and she carried

a golf club. Almost every single day, I would

see her pushing her cart, and she would just

have who knows what in that cart all around town

with her golf club. And she would... There were

several times that I would see her on town and

I'd stop and I'd offer her some money And she

always she always turned it down she would walk

by my window the window of my office as I was

sitting there working and She just always looked

disheveled. She always looked a little rough.

I guess One day she walked by my office and I

ran outside and I had offered to give her some

food and she once again Just declined didn't

didn't want any she was real sweet, but didn't

want anything Then there was this other guy who

was completely opposite of her and he had a lot

of money. He had really nice toys. He wanted

everyone to know that he was a big deal. He ran

a successful business in town. He'd go to all

the fundraisers and community events and just

make sure everybody knew that how much he donated

to help these particular things and that's who

he was. And that's really a good illustration

of the predominant cultures that were in La Mesa.

There was quite a bit of poverty, but there was

also just at the same time there were a lot of

people that just had like a ridiculous amount

of money. But those two people in particular,

the lady with the shopping cart and the golf

club who looked homeless actually had a ton of

money. And the guy who thought he was a big deal

was actually running a Ponzi scheme and turned

out to be broke and ended up in prison. Appearances

are not always what they seem, right? With these

two people, you would have had to have known

them really well to be able to discern what they

were really like. It's not like a bad facelift.

Like you can spot that from a mile away, right?

You can spot the big fake eyelashes that some

ladies wear and realize those aren't legitimate

eyelashes, right? Like those things are easy

to spot. Our text this morning is John giving

us some warnings that we need to look out for

when it comes to false teachings. And a lot of

times, those false teachings aren't real easy

to spot. They might seem really good on the surface,

but if you really look at them, they are dangerous

and can lead you astray. So that's our text this

morning. We're gonna read the first six verses

of chapter four. If you're willing and able,

we'd love for you to stand as we honor the Lord's

word together. So John writes, excuse me, 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. Let's pray. Father, I pray

right now that as we look at your word, that

you will enlighten us, you will reveal truth

to us, that you will speak to us, and God, that

we will walk out of here knowing that you sent

your Son in the flesh to die for us so that we

could be made whole with you. And so we pray

all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, I

grew up in a Christian home. The saying is, I've

been a Christian since nine months before I was

born. That is the culture in which I lived. It's

been a part of my life ever since the beginning.

But I believe that if I wasn't a Christian, if

I didn't grow up in a Christian home, I would

still be a follower of Jesus because I am inquisitive.

I question everything. and I want to know the

reason behind it. Don't just take my word for

it, but be inquisitive about it and ask questions

about it. Do your own research. So John starts

off this chapter by telling believers to not

believe every spirit, but see if they are from

God. So he too is saying, don't just take my

word for it. Even though he has far more credibility

than I do, he's saying the same thing. I walked

with God. I saw the miracles. I got to experience

these things. But even though he could say that,

he's still saying test every spirit. And if anything

can stand up to any sort of test, it's Christianity.

He says that we need to do that. We need to test

the spirits because there are many false prophets.

Now, again, if that's true, if it was true back

in the first century, it would absolutely be

true today, correct? Not every idea that's labeled

Christian is from Christ. What we're called to

active discernment, not passive consumption.

Blindly following trends or feelings leads to

deception. Now a lot of times these aren't just

obvious heretics. They can be smooth talking

influencers. They can have a popular podcast.

Even church leaders will twist the truth. The

word spirit here refers to the motivating force

behind the message. What is the motivating force

behind the message? Is it God's spirit or is

it a deceptive one? That's what John is telling

us to test. Now the apostle Paul writes to us,

writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, that

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

there will be a group of people who do not want

to hear sound doctrine, but will have itching

ears that will accumulate teaching that suits

their passion. So Paul understands this. Not

everybody wants to hear it. In other words, churches

will be filled with people who don't want to

be challenged. They just want to be encouraged.

They just want to be made to feel good about

themselves. They don't want to hear about their

sin. They don't want to be called out on their

behavior. They don't want anyone to tell them

that they are wrong. They just want to hear about

how great they are and how much God loves them.

That is their motivating factor in going to church.

So in order to test the spirits, we have to pursue

truth. Because God is truth. God's word is truth.

And maybe you don't agree with that. Maybe you

haven't come to that conclusion and maybe you

think that Jesus was just a good teacher and

the Bible is just some old book. Here are some

facts that I want you to hear that helped me

and it solidified me in my faith. When I began

questioning if this is legitimate or not, these

are the kinds of things that I was seeking out.

Because again, I would say, because of my personality,

I truly believe I would have come to faith even

if I didn't grow up in a Christian home, because

I like facts, and I like logic. So here's how

I put this together, just maybe for your information.

So the Bible, the one you have in your hands,

the one you have on your phone, is a translation

of the actual. Bible, actually God's Word. And

that Bible was written over a period of 1 ,500

years. It was written on three different continents.

It has 40 different authors. There are historical

books in the Bible. There are books of poetry

in the Bible. There are prophetic books in the

Bible which tell you what would happen in the

future. There's letters to churches in the Bible.

There's four distinct gospel accounts in the

Bible. It is estimated that the Bible has over

300 ,000 cross references, which means that within

the 66 books of the Bible, they reference each

other over 300 ,000 times. And within that 1500

year span, written in three different geographical

locations, there is one unifying message. And

that message is Jesus. Not only that, But you

have Jesus who fulfilled over 300 prophecies

in his lifetime and will fulfill more when he

returns. Of those many prophecies that he fulfilled,

several of those refer to his life, I'm sorry,

his death, burial, and resurrection. Every prophet

or religious leader that you can think of with

the exception of Jesus is still dead and you

can visit their grave today. Once Jesus came

back to life after his resurrection, he appeared

to over 500 people. And those 500 people all

told the same story. Think about that. I have

four children. How did that thing get broken?

Whatever. How did this get messed up? All four

of them have different stories. They were all

there, but nobody can figure out the story. I

can't get four people to agree on a story. 500

people. saw the resurrected Lord and all said

the same story. And once they saw his resurrected

body, those who were skeptical about him before

then devoted their lives to him and spreading

his message to the point that many were killed

because of it. That's a lot of information. If

that isn't enough, every single year, New archaeological

discoveries that are made, they further prove

that what the Bible says happened, happened.

There are historic secular historical documents

that prove that Jesus walked the earth. There

are ancient scrolls that prove the word of God

was unchanged from the time it was written. That's

the Bible. The Quran took 23 years to write.

Their prophet has a tomb in Saudi Arabia that

you can visit. The Book of Mormon was written

by one man in 65 days based off of some golden

tablets that nobody has seen since. If you're

up for a day trip, you can go visit his grave

over there in Illinois. Buddha doesn't have a

grave because he was cremated. And his remains

were scattered around to eight different kingdoms.

Hindus believe everything's a God. Everything's

a God. But here's what you need to know. No other

religious following has a God that came to serve

and was willing to lay down his life for his

people. That's what the Bible says about our

God. So when it comes to truth, we need to look

no further than the Bible. So when someone might

say, well, the Bible isn't relevant anymore.

The Bible isn't complete because it doesn't address

this particular issue. It doesn't really get

into this idea. Or it can't be trusted because

it was written so long ago. When someone says

those types of things, you need to know those

things are not from God. That person is not speaking

on behalf of God because the Bible says that

every word is breathed out by God. Every word

is useful for teaching and correcting and rebuking

and training in righteousness. So if there is

ever a teaching that says the Bible is good,

it's a good thing to have, but we need the supplemental

material so that we can get the full picture.

That person is a false prophet. So here's some

quick facts. that you need to know about the

Bible in regards to truth. Because we have to

follow truth. This is what the Bible says, just

a few things. The Bible says that God created

the world in the beginning. In the beginning,

God created the world. It wasn't an accident,

it wasn't a big bang, it is not a theory. God

created the world. The Bible also says that sin

separates us from a holy God. Not just some sins

separate us from God, but all sins separate us

from God. Now here's where it can get tricky.

Now I don't have time to go over every single

sin, but I will point out a few that seem to

be culturally relevant in regards to this topic

because there are churches and denominations

that are promoting and accepting sin, and they're

putting it under the banner of, oh, we just need

to love everybody. So here's a few facts about

sin regarding the Bible. All right, first thing

is homosexuality is a sin. Promoting it and celebrating

it is also a sin. Life begins at conception.

God knit us together in our mother's womb. And

so by taking a pill or having an abortion is

a sin because all human life was created in God's

image. Hook up culture. And going from one partner

to another is a sin. It's not the best that God

has to offer you. Wishing for the demise of another

individual, wishing they were dead or wishing

they were hurt because you don't agree with them

is a sin. Now we can disagree and we can still

be civil to one another. We have to understand

that the hate in our culture needs to stop and

it needs to stop with us. That's what the Bible

has to say about sin. Now, the Bible says that

in order for us to be righteous before a holy

God, we have to believe and confess that his

son Jesus is our savior. Finally, the Bible says

that Jesus is going to come back again. He's

not coming back as savior, he's gonna come back

as judge. And anyone whose name is not written

in his book of life will be condemned to eternal

damnation. That's what we know to be true based

on the Bible. So be careful of anyone that teaches

anything different. There is a possibility they're

just trying to appeal to the masses. to get followers

to their podcast, to get people in their churches,

to get money to flow into their ministries, and

because the Bible's teachings can be offensive

to our flesh, they will tend to tone down its

message and tickle the ears of its followers.

That's number one when it comes to spotting a

false teacher. You need to be aware of that.

Number two is found in verse two. Number two

is acknowledging that Jesus came in the flesh.

This isn't just agreeing that Jesus was a historical

figure. It is confessing that he was fully God

and fully man. The eternal son who took on flesh,

he lived perfectly, he died for our sins, and

he rose again. Any message that diminishes his

deity or his humanity or his saving work is a

spirit of the antichrist, according to verse

three. So false teaching often sounds close to

the truth, but it denies Jesus' identity or exclusivity.

Now, some red flags that you should be aware

of when it comes to this is when somebody says,

well, Jesus was a good teacher. Well, he was,

but we cannot diminish his deity. Or you might

hear someone say when they're discussing another

devout follower of a religion, you might hear

them say, well, they're just on a different path

to God. But because of their faith and because

of their devotion, they will be in heaven as

well. Now, the problem with those types of sayings

is Jesus himself, right? In John 14, he says,

I am the way, I am the truth. I am the life,

nobody comes to the Father except through me.

So if that devout Muslim doesn't confess that

Jesus is Lord, he's not getting into heaven.

If that leader in the Mormon church, who does

all kinds of great things, who avoids sin at

all cost, if he doesn't confess that Jesus is

his savior because of what he did for us on the

cross, he's not going to be in heaven. If that

Christian who has been attending church their

whole life, serving the church, giving to the

church, inviting people to the church, If they've

never surrendered their life to the Lord and

declared Him to be Savior of the world, they

are not going to be in heaven. The only way to

get to heaven is not multiple paths. We're not

all trying to get to the top of the mountain.

We have to proclaim faith in Jesus as our Savior.

What all those other people learned, is a form

of religious behavior and thought that their

good works, thought that their attitudes would

be good enough to please God and what's gonna

end up happening is they're gonna stand before

him and he's gonna say, depart from me, I never

knew you. That's heartbreaking to think about.

Several years ago, there was this guy in our

church that got cancer, he got cancer and he

was still young, he was in his 40s, I consider

that young. All right? I still consider that

very young. He'd been in church his whole life.

He'd raised his kids in the church. He got married

in the church. And on the outside, you would

think and believe that he was a God -fearing

man. As the cancer progressed, and he realized

he was not gonna make it out, he asked me to

come see him. So we were sitting in his hospital

room, and it was just him and I. and we were

having a discussion and everything I knew about

him up until this point would have made me feel

comfortable telling everyone at his funeral that

he was in heaven and was completely healed. Everything

I knew about him until this conversation. So

I'm sitting next to his bed and he confesses

to me that he isn't quite sure if he was actually

ever saved. He learned the lingo of Christianity

but because of pride, He could never admit that

he had serious doubts about God. He was a cultural

Christian. Now when you grow up in the Bible

Belt, you better learn how to act the part, or

you will stand out like a sore thumb. The beauty

of that story is that we were able to spend over

an hour together looking at scripture. Scripture

that I thought that he knew, but he didn't. And

for the first time in that room, he repented

of his sin, he professed Christ as his savior,

and he died two weeks later. I'm so grateful

to the Lord that that's how his story ended.

But my fear is that there are so many people

who won't get that time in a hospital bed on

the verge of death to come to that conclusion.

Because tragedies happen. Time ends abruptly.

And so we need to avoid books and podcasts and

teachers and churches that will not tell you

that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. And

he offers you salvation as a free gift. Finally,

here's the hope we see in verse four. 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 this world

therefore they speak from this world and the

world listens to them So here's what I need you

to know if you're fearful of I'm never going

to be able to discern truth Here's what you need

to know the Holy Spirit in you is stronger than

any lie The Holy Spirit in you is stronger than

any lie worldly voices speak from a worldly point

of view And they gain a big audience according

to verse 5 But God's children recognize his truth

because we listen to the apostles' teachings.

We listen to the scripture according to verse

six. So I want you to have confidence in the

Lord and not yourself to be able to spot false

doctrine. This is why I prefer to study the Bible

and see what it says and not rely on somebody

else to tell me what it says. There's a place

for that, but it cannot be the primary way that

you consume the scripture. The Holy Spirit will

enlighten you. They will enlighten the scriptures

to you as you study. He will help you understand.

Trust Him in it. Now if you need help navigating

on where to start, we can help you with that.

But if you just want to pick a random book, here's

the only way I'm going to discourage you. Maybe

not start in Leviticus. It's a good book. A lot

of great truth in that book. But let's not start

in Leviticus. Let us help you with that. Because

here's what you need to know. Discernment is

not about fear. It's about confidence. You're

not fighting for victory. You are fighting from

victory. That is a major differential. when it

comes to reading the scriptures and being taught

from the scripture, is that you read it from

a place of victory in Christ. Now, I was listening

to a sermon the other day. The speaker was great,

easy to follow. There was a lot of great passion.

You could tell they had done their homework,

that you could tell that they were well prepared.

They didn't just wing this thing. It was great.

but they did not teach the scripture correctly.

And there are many ways that someone can preach

the scripture, but I'm gonna point out two of

them to you. There's many ways, but I'm gonna

point out two, because I don't wanna bore you.

The first one is there's this method called exegetical.

What exegetical means is the teacher pulls out

the meaning from the text. based on the history,

the cultural context. We are trying to understand

what was being said, who it was being said to,

where was it said, what is going on in the culture

at that time for it needing to be said. Like

that is what it means. That's exegetical. We're

pulling out the meaning from the text. Exegetical.

E -G -E -T -I -C -A -L, exegetical. I got another

one for you in a second. I lost my place. I was

trying to watch you. Exegetical. There's also

another method called eisegetical. E -I -E or

E -I -S -E -G -E -T -I -C -A -L. Isogetical.

Which is the opposite of exegetical. It is reading

into the text. It's reading into the text based

on what we think it says. Isogetical. I'll give

you a couple of examples, and I'm gonna give

you this example because it's almost Christmas

time, and I want to ruin your nativity scene,

all right? In Matthew chapter two, it reads,

verse one, in the time of King Herod, after Jesus

was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from

the east came to Jerusalem. It does not give

a number of how many came, but we would all say

there were Three wise men. Why? Because three

gifts were given, right? Three gifts were given,

and our tradition says that there were three

wise men. That's Isa Jesus. That's reading into

the text. It doesn't say there are three wise

men. I'll give you another example. Using the

story of David and Goliath. Now I've heard this

taught so many times, and I've heard it taught

so many times incorrectly that it gives a complete

wrong, application of the text. Because in that

story, David kills the giant Goliath with a rock

in a slingshot. In the times I've heard teachers

teach this text, they will say things like, you

too can slay the giants in your life. You just

have to use the right tools that God has given

you. We read ourselves into the text. In reality,

That story is not about us at all. It's really

not even about David's accomplishments. That

story is about a God who uses flawed individuals

to carry out his purposes. David trusted in the

victory that God was going to give him before

he even picked up a rock. He had faith in God

that strong. So the danger with eisegetical preaching

is that it can make the listener believe that

they have the power to victory if they become

more disciplined or they follow three easy steps.

The Bible says that he who is greater in you

is greater than the enemy that's in this world.

Paul says in Ephesians that according to the

riches of his glory He may grant you to be strengthened

with power through his spirit in your inner being

Therefore we can have victory not because of

our strength But because of him who has already

conquered death our trust cannot be in us It

cannot be in our own abilities. It has to be

in him So if you want to overcome any sort of

addiction. It is not about what you do to overcome

it. It's about what he can do in you. And so

I used to have a pretty bad temper. I used to

throw things, hit things, slam things. I could

make anybody, if I was mad at you enough, I could

make anybody feel about that big. I am still

dealing with the scars that I have caused on

others because of the words that I have said.

Now, I would justify my actions and just say

things like, well, that's just how God made me,

deal with it. He made me high strung. God wired

me to be that way. It's just who I am. But here's

what I'm gonna tell you. I didn't get better

because I learned how to take three deep breaths

when I got mad. I didn't start behaving correctly

because I learned a new set of behaviors. God

has changed my heart so dramatically over the

years that there are times I don't even recognize

myself sometimes because I know how I used to

be. There have been times over the recent years

where I am blown away by the peace that God has

given me in the midst of difficult circumstances.

He changed me. You know, that's not to say I

still don't have my old, my moments where my

old habits come out. But I've realized that when

those moments do come out, it's because I'm in

a season where I'm not pursuing the Lord the

way I should. The closer I am when I'm walking

with the Lord, the more His Spirit leads me in

ways that honor Him. The further I am from Him,

the more I have been tempted to walk in my flesh.

I am completely changed. And the victory is His,

not mine. Because if I thought it was mine, if

I thought, hey, look at me, I've changed my behavior.

I've conquered this thing. I've overcome this

addiction. I've beat this circumstance. If I

ever thought it was me, Paul says that that would

give me a reason to boast and we can't boast

in anything because it is his work in our lives

that changes us We have to keep in mind that

the victory we have is in Christ You can spot

a false teacher. You can spot a false teacher

not by being smarter But because the spirit in

you will reveal it Don't walk in fear of false

teachings, but be aware that it's all around

you and you need to be careful. Now, we can help

you discern false teachers. You know, I probably

have a list of people that you might listen to

that are pretty popular that I would caution

you on. I'm not gonna do that right now, but

if you have questions about people you listen

to, just let me know. We'll help you out. And

again, I'm saying test me on this. Don't just

take my word for it. But the truth is, you can

do it on your own as you pursue Christ. But here's

how I want to close this morning. Where are you

struggling in your life? And you have tried everything

in your power to be better, and it hasn't helped.

It's been years, decades, and you're still struggling

with the same thing. Where have you not believed

that you have victory in Christ? That he who

is in you is greater than he that is in the world.

Is there a part of you that wonders? If you've

just learned a religious behavior, but you've

not submitted your life to Christ as savior,

as the word of God is preached over you, what

truth has been revealed to you this morning?

So as we close our service this morning, maybe

that'd be your prayer. God, always reveal truth

to me. Reveal where I am struggling to do things

on my own. Remind me that I already have victory

because of what you've done. That the giants

get slayed not because you have a rock, the giants

get slayed because of the God who's in you. And

so we're gonna close our service, we're gonna

have time to respond. I wanna remind you that

I strongly desire cornerstone. to be a church

that's devoted to the breaking of bread. And

so we have provided communion for you. And what

devotion to the breaking of bread means is that

Cornerstone is a group of people that are fully

aware of their sin. And we're confessing and

repenting of our sin and remembering the sacrifice

that Jesus has for us. And so as you feel led,

as we sing. that I'm gonna encourage you to partake

in communion, if you will. But let me pray over

us, and I'm just gonna pray that God would speak

directly to your heart so you know how to respond,

and I'm not gonna try and force anything on you.

Let's pray. Father, I pray that as we close out

this service, as we close out our time this morning,

that truth will always be revealed in this place,

that we will be reminded of who we are in you.

So Father, as we sing, speak to our hearts. Freeze

from distraction. Help us walk in obedience as

we confess and repent of the sins that so easily

entangle us. And let's continue to move forward

with endurance. The race that you've marked out

for us. So Father, lead us on that path as your

spirit is greater than any lie we've ever believed.

Thank you for listening today to 563 Church,

a production of Cornerstone Church, Eldridge,

Iowa. For more information about our church or

just getting right with God, please visit us

at 563church .com. You can also find us on Facebook

and Instagram. Have a great week.