1 John - Defending Our Fellowship

Let's read from God's Word, Deuteronomy 13, and we're just going to read the first four verses.

If a prophet or one who foretells by dreams appears among you and denounces to you a miraculous sign or wonder,

and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place and he says,

let us follow other gods, gods you have not known, and let us worship them,

you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.

The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

It is the Lord your God you must follow and him you must revere.

Keep his commands and obey him.

Serve him and hold fast to him.

Now with that in mind, please turn to 1 John chapter 4, which is on page 1227.

1 John 4 · chapter mention

1 John chapter 4, verses 1 to 6.

1 John 4:1–6

On page 1227, 1 John chapter 4, verses 1 to 6.

1 John 4:1–6

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God,

because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you can recognise the spirit of God.

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,

because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

They are from God.

Well, we have scripture before us.

Let us pray for God's spirit to be at work within us.

Let's pray.

The Apostle Paul writes,

We have not received the spirit of the world,

but the spirit who is from God,

that we may understand what God has freely given us.

Father, we ask that we would know the power of your spirit,

working amongst us,

working in our lives,

so that we know more about Jesus,

but also that we would experience Jesus,

that we would know the deep, intimate joy

of fellowship with God

to share in the fellowship of the Father and the Son.

we long to know that.

And so we ask for your spirit

to make that come about.

we pray it in his name.

Amen.

Amen.

So is your computer virus protection in good order?

When was the last time you did an update?

Every so often I get sent a bogus email or a corrupt file,

but because my virus defense is up to date,

it immediately identifies the problem.

A little box will appear in the corner,

a pop-up,

and tell me

that something wrong

has arrived.

It tells me what it is

and what needs to be deleted

or removed.

Now we need to make sure

that we defend

our fellowship with God

from nasty attacks

because

look at the end of verse 1,

chapter 4,

end of verse 1,

because many false prophets

have gone out

into the world.

You see,

there are many false teachers

who want to download

their false message

into our lives.

And if we are not careful,

they will corrupt

and destroy

our fellowship with God.

John's great introduction,

if you have a look back to chapter 1,

his great introduction to this letter

tells us,

chapter 1, verse 3,

he's been talking about

or introducing Jesus.

He says,

we proclaim to you

what we have seen

and what we have heard

so that you also

may have fellowship with us.

And here it is.

And our fellowship

is with the Father

and with his Son,

Jesus Christ.

And we write this

to make your

or our joy

complete.

we have been invited

to join in the fellowship

the Father has with the Son

and the Son has with the Father.

We can share in

and we can experience

this deep,

personal and intimate relationship.

And it's within the relationship

of the Father and the Son

that our joy

is made

complete.

but

it is under attack.

Look at chapter 2,

verse 26.

Chapter 2,

verse 26,

he says,

I am writing these things

to you

about those

who are trying

to lead you

astray.

Chapter 3,

verse 7.

Dear children,

do not let anyone

lead you

astray.

False prophets,

you see,

have gone out

into the world

and through their message

they are spreading

a nasty virus

that can infect,

corrupt

and seriously damage

our relationship

with God.

So we need to be able

to protect

our joy.

we need to be able

to defend

our fellowship

with God

so that we continue

to live in

and thrive

in that deep

relationship

with Him.

So how are we

going to do that?

Well,

first of all,

we need to

test

the spirits.

We need to

test the spirits.

Let's read

verse 1

of chapter 4.

Dear friends,

this is a real

kind of

deep,

loving,

intimate

letter

to the church.

He's saying to them,

I love you so much.

The reason I'm

writing this to you

is because I'm

deeply concerned

for you.

Dear friends,

do not believe

every spirit,

but test

the spirits

to see

whether they

are from God.

You see,

there are two

kinds of

spirits that we

need to be aware

of.

There is,

verse 2,

the spirit

of God.

And then if we

look at verse 3,

we're told

in the middle

of verse 3

that there is

the spirit

of the

Antichrist.

So the spirit

of God

and the spirit

of the Antichrist.

And we've already

come across

that term

before,

Antichrist.

Have a look back

at chapter 2,

verse 18.

He reminded them

there,

Dear children,

this is the last

hour,

and as you have

heard,

that the Antichrist

is coming,

and even now

many Antichrists

have come.

And as the name

suggests,

Antichrist

is one who

stands in

direct opposition

to Jesus Christ

and the ways

of Jesus Christ.

So in chapter 4,

when he starts

talking about

the spirit

of God

or the spirit

of the Antichrist,

he's talking

about what

and who

is behind

the teachers.

Who's influencing

what they have

to say?

Who's guiding

their teaching?

Who's directing

their message?

What is the source

of their message?

In fact,

in verse 6,

we're told

what their influence

is.

Look at the end

of verse 6

of chapter 4.

This is how we

recognise the

spirit of truth

and the spirit

of falsehood.

You see,

the spirit of God

is a spirit

of truth

and the spirit

of Antichrist

is a spirit

of falsehood.

We have to

recognise

these two

spirits.

spirits.

Now,

the problem

is,

these spirits

of influence

that stand

behind the

teachers

and are

at work

in the lives

of the teachers

are alive

and well

today.

Have a look

at 2 John.

Just turn over

your page there.

I'm sure it's just

turning over

one page.

2 John

verse 7.

2 John

verse 7.

Here's what he

writes.

Verse 10.

Verse 10.

If anyone

comes to you

and does not

bring this teaching,

that is the

true teaching

about Jesus,

do not

take him

into your

house or

welcome him.

Anyone who

welcomes him

shares in

his wicked

work.

You see,

it wasn't

uncommon

for a teacher

to arrive

at some

unsuspecting

house church,

so turning up

at home group

on a Wednesday

night,

claiming to

have a message

from God.

And the church

wouldn't know

them from Adam.

So they had

to be able

to discern

who this

teacher was.

Was this

teacher

influenced by

the spirit

of God

or were they

a teacher

that was

influenced by

the spirit

of the

Antichrist?

Was this

message they

were going

to bring to

the church

family true

or was it

false?

Now we

might think

we don't have

that problem

anymore.

Well I

actually think

it's got

worse.

Any one of

us can turn

on the God

channel or we

can turn on

or look up

a church

or a

speaker on

the internet

but the

question is

are we able

to discern

and test

who are

the deceivers?

Who are the

true teachers

and who are

the false

teachers?

Can you do

that?

Suppose one

of you gets

an email

about an

amazing speaker.

You look it

up on

YouTube at

your friend's

recommendation.

You don't

necessarily

recognise the

speaker's name

but it

comes with

this title

at the

bottom of

the screen

Spirit

Inspired

Ministry.

Or you

order a

book off

Amazon

and the

blurb on

the cover

gets your

attention.

You're told

that the

author is

Spirit

Anointed.

You see

today if you

want to

authenticate

your message

or your

ministry

all you

have to

do is

attach the

word

Spirit.

Spirit

Carigoline

Baptist

Church

Spirit

filled

Spirit

empowered

Spirit

driven

But here's

the question

Can you

discern what

kind of

spirit they

are filled

empowered

and driven

by?

Or are we

just so

immature and

gullible

that we

will believe

anything and

everything that

comes out of

their mouth

or what's

written in

a book

simply because

it says

Spirit.

Go back

to chapter

4 verse

1.

Dear

friends

do not

believe

every

spirit

but test

the spirits

to see

whether they

are from

God

because

many false

prophets

have gone

out into

the world.

So how

are we

going to

test

these

spirits?

Well

in a

similar

vein we

must

discern

the

spirits

carefully.

We've

got to

apply a

very

simple

test

to

everything

that we

listen to

and everything

that we

hear

including

the person

that you

are listening

to right

now.

Just

because I

say it

doesn't

mean to

say it's

true.

We need

to be

listening

carefully

discerning

what are

the spirits

saying.

The first

test is

this.

What do

they say

about

Jesus?

What do

they say

about Jesus?

These are the

tests to

discern

who the

spirits

are.

Verse 2

chapter 4

This is

how you

can

recognise

the

spirit

of

God.

Every

spirit

that

acknowledges

that

Jesus

Christ

has

come

in

the

flesh

is

from

God.

But

every

spirit

that

does

not

acknowledge

Jesus

is

not

from

God.

Now

two

things

are

implied

here.

First

it's

telling us

something

about

the

identity

of

Jesus.

So

look

again at

verse 2

it says

Jesus

Christ

has

come

in

the

flesh.

He's

come

from

heaven.

He's

come

to

earth

in

the

flesh

as

a

person.

That

means

Jesus

is

both

fully

God

and

fully

man.

He's

not

a

half

man

and

a

half

God.

He's

fully

God.

He

is

the

divine

God

walking

on

planet

earth.

Keep

your

finger

there

in

1

1 John 4 · chapter mention

John

chapter

4

and

go

back

to

the

other

book

that

John

wrote

John's

Gospel.

John

John 14 · chapter mention

chapter

14

14

verse

10

Don't

you believe,

says

Jesus,

that I

am in

the

Father

and that

the

Father

is in

me?

The

words I

say to

you

are not

just

my

own.

Rather,

it is

the

Father

living

in

me

who

is

doing

his

work.

Believe

me

when I

say that

I am

in

the

Father

and

the

Father

is

in

me

or

at

least

believe

on

the

evidence

of

the

miracles

themselves.

Jesus

coming

in the

flesh

is

God

in

human

form.

That's

how we

know

who

God

is.

If we

want to

know

who

God

is,

well,

we

look at

who

Jesus

is,

because

Jesus

reveals

God

to

us.

Through

the

miracles,

Jesus

has

proved

that

he

is

God

with

absolute

power

and

supreme

authority.

Jesus

is

the

God

man

and

that

is

why

we

worship

him,

because

he

is

God.

So

listen

carefully

to what

the

teachers

say

about

the

identity

of

Jesus.

Do

they

say

that

Jesus

is

God?

The

second

thing

is

what

do

they

say

about

his

mission?

You

see,

here's

the

connection.

If we

get the

identity

of

Jesus

wrong,

we're

going

to

get

the

mission

of

Jesus

wrong.

Because

the

primary

reason,

the

primary

mission

of

Jesus

as

the

God

man

coming

into

the

world

was

to

do

what?

To

deal

with

our

sin.

That

is

the

primary

reason.

That

is

what

everything

that

Jesus

did

points

to

and

flows

to.

That

is

the

reason.

So

have

a

look

at

1

1 John 2:2

John

chapter

2

verse

2.

We've

already

looked at

this

in

past

weeks.

1

1 John 2:2

John

chapter

2

verse

2.

We're

told

there,

chapter

2

verse

2,

that

Jesus

Christ

is

the

righteous

one.

He

is

the

atoning

sacrifice

for

our

sins,

but

not

only

for

ours,

but

also

for

the

sins

of

the

whole

world.

How

can

Jesus

take

on

the

whole

sins

of

all

the

world?

Not

just

mine,

not

just

yours,

but

how

can

he

take

all

the

sins

of

the

whole

world

upon

himself

and

die

for

us?

Well,

Jesus

came as

a man

to

identify

with

us.

He

came as

a

human

being.

Jesus

as

man

takes

on

the

sin

of

me

unto

himself

and

he

takes

my

place

on

the

cross.

He

stands

in

for

me

as

my

representative

as

a

human

being

as

a

man

he

stands

in

for

me.

How

can

he

do

it

for

everyone?

Jesus

came

as

God

to

die

our

death.

Jesus

as

God

takes

the

punishment

for

our

sins

and

he

removes

the

judgment

from

us

so

that

we

can

be

set

free

and

live

with

him

and

know

him.

That

is the

primary

reason

why

Jesus

came

as

the

God

man

to

die

for

our

sins.

So

what

do they

say

about

the

identity

of

Jesus?

What

do

they

say

about

the

mission

of

Jesus?

Now

the

teachers

who

are

distorting

this

true

message

of

Jesus

go

back

to

chapter

4

verse

3

chapter

4

the

end

of

verse

3

the

teachers

who

do

not

accept

or

distort

this

true

message

of

Jesus

he

says

this

is

the

spirit

of

the

antichrist

which

you

have

heard

is

coming

and

even

now

is

already

in

the

world

they

might

mention

the

name

Jesus

they

might

start

talking

about

Jesus

but

be

careful

it's

a

different

instead

of

talking

about

Jesus

as

God

man

who

is

worthy

of

our

worship

they

talk

about

Jesus

as

some

benefactor

Jesus

will

do

whatever

you

ask

him

to

do

they'll

say

you

just

need

to

tell

Jesus

command

Jesus

and

he

will

give

you

whatever

you

need

and

whatever

you

want

just

tell

him

and

instead

of

talking

about

Jesus

who

has

come

to

die

for

our

sins

they

talk

about

the

personal

success

that

Jesus

will

bring

to

your

life

Jesus

has

come

to

give

you

health

and

wealth

in

abundance

just

tell

him

claim

it

it's

all

yours

right

here

right

now

this

teaching

is

often

called

the

prosperity

gospel

it

is

the

spirit

of

the

antichrist

it

is

false

so

listen

to

what

they

say

what

do

they

say

about

Jesus

the

second

test

that

we

must

apply

is

this

how

do

they

treat

scripture

how

do

they

treat

scripture

so

look

at

verse

five

they

that

is

those

who

have

been

influenced

by the

spirit

of the

antichrist

they

are

from

the

world

and

therefore

speak

from

the

viewpoint

of

the

world

and

the

world

listens

to

them

their

message

that

they

have

to

share

is

based

on

their

own

authority

their

own

words

they

ignore

what

scripture

has

to

say

on

the

other

hand

look

at

verse

six

we

that

is

John

and

the

other

apostles

so

John

who's

writing

this

letter

we

John

and

the

other

apostles

he

says

we

are

from

God

and

whoever

knows

God

listens

to

us

but

whoever

is

not

from

God

does

not

listen

to

us

he's

making

it

very

clear

he says

we

don't

speak

by

our

own

authority

we're

speaking

the

words

of

God

the

words

that

we

have

are

words

that

have

come

from

God

now

here's

a

question

how

do

we

know

they

spoke

from

God

because

they're

all

claiming

to

me

this

let

me

tell

you

how

do

we

know

well

John

is

part

of

what

is

called

the

apostolic

witness

go

back

to

chapter

1

verse

1

this

is

how

he

introduces

his

whole

letter

he

wants

us

to

be

clear

that

what

he

has

is

not

made

up

it's

not

from

his

source

it

comes

from

Jesus

so

look

at

verse

1

of

chapter

1

he's

talking

about

Christ

that

which

we

have

heard

so

they

heard

with

their

own

ears

what

Jesus

taught

about

his

identity

and

mission

which

we

have

seen

with

our

eyes

they

saw

Jesus

walking

they

saw

him

crucified

and

killed

they

were

witnesses

of

him

as

he

was

raised

again

from

the

dead

we

have

looked

at

him

they

saw

Jesus

heal

the

sick

they

saw

Jesus

calm

the

storms

they

saw

Jesus

silence

the

demons

which

we

have

looked

at

and

our

hands

have

touched

they

embraced

Jesus

they

could

touch

him

they

carried

him

when

he

was

risen

from

the

dead

they

could

put

his

fingers

where

his

nail

prints

were

John

and his

fellow

apostles

were

first

witnesses

to

the

person

of

Jesus

this

is

not

made

up

it

is

true

so

chapter

1

verse

2

the

life

appeared

Jesus

appeared

we

have

seen

it

we

testify

to

it

and

now

we

proclaim

to

you

the

eternal

life

which

was

with

the

father

and

has

now

appeared

to

us

well you

say

that was

great

for those

who knew

John

and who

were

alive

when

John

was

saying

these

things

what

about

for us

because

John

is

long

since

dead

how

do

we

know

who

speaks

from

God

today

well

what

they

heard

and

what

they

saw

and

what

they

looked

at

and

what

they

touched

they

wrote

down

so

we

can

read

their

testimony

for

themselves

that's

what

John

has

done

here

he's

written

it

down

in

his

letter

and

he

wrote

it

down

in

his

gospel

and

we've

got

this

testimony

for

ourselves

and

it's

what

we

call

scripture

that

means

we

must

weigh

up

everything

we

hear

against

scripture

including

what

you're

listening

to

right

now

is

what

we're

saying

from

scripture

so

when

you

listen

to

somebody

speak

on

the

internet

and

somebody

says

if you

listen

to

this

guy

speak

have

you

heard

this

on

the

internet

or

they

give

you

a

book

and

they

say

you

should

read

this

you

need

to

ask

two

really

important

questions

here's

the

first

one

does

it

come

from

scripture

or

does

it

come

from

another

source

are

the

teachers

opening

up

their