Do Not Believe Every Person/Spirit 1 John 4:1-6Adapted from a

Steve Shepherd sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/do-not-believe-every-person/spirit-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-false-teaching-148974.asp

1 John 4:1 NET Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if

they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this

you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in

the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and

this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the

world.

4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you

is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak

from the world's perspective and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; the person

who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know

the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

When studying any portion of God’s Word we must view the text in light of 4 W questions.

Who wrote it? When was it written?

Who was it written to? Why was it written?

Answers to these questions allows us to understand the context of what is being said.

I failed to address these questions when we started studying John’s first epistle. When preparing today’s lesson I realized these

answers must be known in order to understand why the Holy Spirit inspired John to stress some

things to his readers.

Who wrote it?Unlike most NT letters, 1 John does not tell us who its author is. The earliest identification of

him comes from the church fathers: Irenaeus (c. A.D. 140–203), Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–

215), Tertullian (c. 155–222) and Origen (c. 185–253) all designated the writer as the

apostle John. As far as we know, no one else was suggested by the early church.

This traditional identification is confirmed by evidence in the letter itself:

The style of the Gospel of John is markedly similar to that of this letter. Both are written in

simple Greek and use contrasting figures, such as light and darkness, life and death, truth and

lies, love and hate. The mention of eyewitness testimony

harmonizes with the fact that John was a follower of Christ from the earliest days of his

ministry.

1 John 1:1 NET This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have

heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life — 2 and the life was

revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with

the Father and was revealed to us).

3 What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father

and with his Son Jesus Christ).

When was it written?The letter is difficult to date with precision, but

factors such as (1) evidence from early Christian writers (Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria),

(2) the early form of Gnosticism reflected in the denunciations of the letter and (3) indications of the advanced age of John suggest the end of

the first century.

Since the author of 1 John seems to build on concepts and themes found in the fourth Gospel

(see 1Jn 2:7–11), it is reasonable to date the letter somewhere between A.D. 85 and 95, after the writing of the Gospel, which may have been

written c. 85

Who was it written to?1Jn 2:12–14, 19; 3:1; 5:13 make it clear that this letter was addressed to believers. But the letter itself does not indicate who they were or where

they lived.

Why was it written?John’s readers were confronted with an early

form of Gnostic teaching of the Cerinthian variety. This heresy was also libertine, throwing

off all moral restraints.

Gnosticism

One of the most dangerous heresies of the first two centuries of the church was Gnosticism. Its central teaching was that spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. From this unbiblical dualism flowed five important errors. I won’t

mention all the aspects of Gnosticism, but here is one that deals directly with Jesus.

Christ’s true humanity was denied in two ways: (1) Some said that Christ only seemed to have a

body, a view called Docetism, from the Greek dokeo (“to seem”), and (2) others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism

and left him before he died, a view called Cerinthianism, after its most prominent spokesman, Cerinthus. This view is the

background of much of 1 John.

Consequently, John wrote this letter with two basic purposes in mind: (1) to expose and refute false teachers 1 John 2:26 NET These things I have written to you about those who are trying

to deceive you.and (2) to give believers assurance of salvation.

(NIVSB notes)1 John 5:13 NET I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 4:1 NET Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if

they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Can you believe in someone without believing something they say? Maybe. I’ve heard

preachers that I believed in but I didn’t always believe everything they preached.

Acts 17:11 NET These Jews (Bereans) were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica,

for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to

see if these things were so.

I think perhaps the Bereans believed in the apostle Paul very much but they still checked

with the scriptures to see if what he was saying or preaching was true.

Yes, you can believe in someone without believing every word they say. And this brings to our text. John says do not believe every spirit.

Or don’t believe what every person is saying, teaching, or preaching.

Why? Because we believe in Christ and many who

don’t believe preach a false message about life. We must cling to God, His Word and what His

people are saying.

Think about what God says about true believers versus false believers and how to overcome the

false.

1- We should refuse false prophets2- We should recognize true believers3- We should realize true power

WE SHOULD REFUSE FALSE PROPHETS

1 John 4:1 NET Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if

they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Who are you listening to? Whose stuff are you buying? Are you sure? Do you believe EVERY PERSON who speaks, teaches or preaches?

A man went to check out a used car. He knew very well the model of car that he was looking

at. When he asked three specific questions, the salesman answered him, but was wrong every time. Now either he didn’t know his product or else he was lying to influence the man to buy

the car.

We need to be careful who we’re listening to in this world and especially, when it comes to

matters of eternity!

Test the spirits. Since in the second half of the present verse the author mentions "false

prophets" who have "gone out into the world," it appears highly probable that his concept of

testing the spirits is drawn from the OT concept of testing a prophet to see whether he is a false prophet or a true one. The procedure for testing a prophet is found in Deu 13:2-6 and Deu 18:15-

22.

An OT prophet was to be tested on the basis of (a) whether or not his predictive prophecies

came true (Deu 18:22) and (b) whether or not he advocated idolatry (Deu 13:1-3). In the latter

case the people of Israel are warned that even if the prophet should perform an authenticating sign or wonder, his truth or falsity is still to be

judged on the basis of his claims, that is, whether or not he advocates idolatry.

Here in 1 John the idea of "testing the spirits" comes closer to the second OT example of

"testing the prophets" mentioned above. According to 1Jo 4:2-3, the spirits are to be tested on the basis of their Christological

confession: The person motivated by the Spirit of God will confess Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh, while the person motivated by the spirit of deceit will not confess Jesus and is

therefore not from God.

This comes close to the idea expressed by Paul in 1Cor. 12:3 where the person speaking

charismatic utterances is also to be judged on the basis of his Christological confession: 1 Corinthians 12:3 NET So I want you to

understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can

say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (NETnotes)

Oral Roberts passed away in December of 2009 from complications with pneumonia. He was 91

years old. What a past he had mainly as an evangelist, a revivalist, and a tent evangelist in years gone by. REMEMBER THOSE EARLY

DAYS WHEN HE WAS ON TV AS A HEALING PREACHER?

He would say, “Put your hand on the TV and be healed.” A guy believed him and tried it because he didn’t like his nearsighted vision. However,

he still has his nearsighted vision.What’s the problem? Could Oral Roberts not heal him? No, he couldn’t, because we know

that only God heals people. Even Oral Roberts said that, although he was still tagged a healing preacher. Was the guy’s faith not strong enough

back then to be healed?

It may have had something to do with it, because whenever he put his hand on that TV screen he made sure that no one in the house

was watching him!Roberts claimed to have had a vision from a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build an

enormous hospital complex that was to marry prayer and medicine, anchored by a 60-story

tower. In 1989, only eight years after it opened, the City of Faith was $25 million in debt and

Roberts closed the hospital.

Then there was Roberts' widely ridiculed proclamation that God would "call me home" if

he failed to meet a fundraising goal of $8 million. Some were fearful that he was referring to

suicide, given the impassioned pleas and tears that accompanied his statement. He raised $9.1

million. When Roberts made this prediction it left a lot of people feeling like, “Come on now! Who are you

kidding?”

His true followers, however, supported him and sent money, but many people thought that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It made

many people think that Roberts was just a false prophet.

I THOUGHT THAT WAY TOO.However, God is His judge just as God will be our judge. All I know is this: He did do a lot of

good and he did preach Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world. I can’t argue with that even

though I could disagree with some of his doctrine.

1 John 4:1 NET Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if

they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

There are many false prophets in the world and not all of them are in church pulpits. Many are

on TV supposedly giving advice to the world. So how do we test the spirits? There is really only

one way and that’s with the Word of God.

Does what they teach, preach or spout stack up with God’s Word? Or is it against God’s Word? You can’t always trust Oprah, Dr. Phil or Judge

Judy but you can trust God in His Word!

3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the

antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.

If a person doesn’t acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, then that

person is not from God and can’t be believed!5 They are from the world; therefore they speak

from the world's perspective and the world listens to them. Worldly people listen to worldly people. Christians listen to Christians and most

of the time we can tell the difference! In our listening we must be discerning.

WE SHOULD RECONGIZE TRUE BELIEVERS

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has

come in the flesh is from God, Remember early believers were being mislead

by Gnosticism, the belief that Jesus was not God in the flesh.

Do you know a CHRISTIAN

when you meet one?

When a Hindu woman was converted to Christ she suffered much persecution from her

unbelieving husband. When the preacher asked her what she did when her husband became angry, she said, “Well, I cook his food better.

When he complains I sweep the floor cleaner. And when he speaks unkindly, I answer him

mildly. I try to show him that when I became a Christian I became a better wife and a better mother. I try to show that I became a better

person.”

GOOD ACTIONS ON HER PART.How can we know a person is a Christian?

Sometimes their actions and/or behavior tells a lot. We might say, “They’re sure nice. They must be a Christian.” And it could be true, but it’s not

always true.There are many good people in the world who

don’t know the Lord or have trusted Him as their Savior. But good actions or Christian behavior is

a good indicator.

Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God: Some think that this is the only test of false doctrine.

This is not the only test, but it was the significant issue challenging the church in John's immediate time. Today a person might

confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh yet deny that He is God as the Bible teaches He is God. They also are giving false

doctrine because they are not presenting a true Jesus.

The principle of presenting a true Jesus is essential to the testing of spirits. No one who presents a false Jesus, or one untrue to the

Scriptures, can be regarded as a true prophet.Today, there is a lot of curiosity about the "true

Jesus." Many modern academics say they want to discover the "true Jesus" and when they say this they often mean, The "true Jesus" is not the

Jesus of the Bible.

The Biblical Jesus is make-believe. We need to discover the true Jesus behind the myths of the

Bible.

Not only is this position ignorant (ignoring the confirmed historical validity of the New

Testament) it is also arrogant.

Once any academic throws out the historical evidence of the New Testament and other

reliable ancient writings, they can only base their understanding of Jesus on their own

personal opinion. These academics present their baseless opinions as if they were scholarly

facts. (Guzik)

Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God.

If a person confesses Christ unashamedly, then that is a pretty good indicator of their faith. If a person doesn’t believe in Christ they certainly won’t confess Him. They may curse with His

name, but they won’t confess His name.

Joni Earickson Tada told about a boutique owner where she shopped. "My God!"

exclaimed the boutique owner, a tall, blonde woman with a German accent. "It would look

absolutely great on you!" She held up the jacket on its hanger, twirling it so I could see the back.

"Oh, do you know him, too?" I asked, matching her energy with a big smile. "Who?" she

wrinkled her forehead. "God. You mentioned him. The way you said his name, I thought you might know him." "Me? Nah!" she scoffed. "I did

that whole God thing many years ago. I don't need him. I have myself."

That did it. As she took my charge card from my wallet and rang up the sale, I squeezed in as

much testimony as I could. By the time I wheeled out the door with my purchase on my lap, Anushka still wasn't convinced. But she did promise to read the Joni book, if I brought back

a copy in German.

2 Timothy 1:7 NET For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-

control. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner for his sake, but by God's power accept your share

of suffering for the gospel.

I appreciate Christians who are not afraid to confess their faith in Christ in a crowd, at work,

at the ball park, or where ever they may be. Such people are true light in this dark world.

And because we have God’s Spirit within we should not be ashamed to testify or witness or

speak up for Christ! And this is one way to tell if a person is a Christian or not.

WE SHOULD REALIZE TRUE POWER

4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you

is greater than the one who is in the world. 6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does

not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Inner StrengthIf you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can get going without pep pills,If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches

and pains,If you can resist complaining and boring people

with your troubles,If you can eat the same food every day and be

grateful for it,If you can understand when your loved ones are

too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment

If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him,

If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

THEN YOU ARE WHAT? You are spiritually strong.

No, You Are Probably The Family Dog!Truthfully, it could be that any HUMAN with

these abilities would be spiritually strong! I think we all recognize that in time physical strength

wanes or leaves us. But even though we age we can become stronger because of Him who lives

within us.

4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you

is greater than the one who is in the world.

Greater is He who lives within us. Who’s that? The Spirit of Christ within us!

2 Timothy 1:7 NET For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-

control.

The spirit who lives within us is a spirit of power. We may not personally feel strong BUT HE IS! And He lives within us! And only as we allow

Him to work in us can we be strong.

George Muller (September 27, 1805 – March 10, 1898), though a man always of delicate

physical constitution, began evangelistic tours at the age of seventy. For over 17 years, traveling an equivalent of eight times around the world,

he continued to carry much of the responsibilities of the Ashley Down Orphanage

in Bristol, England—until beyond age ninety.

As a young man, Muller’s frequent and serious illness had apparently disqualified him from

military duty. Many people thought he would die early or hopelessly succumb to disease. Yet at age 92, he said: “I have been able, every day and all the day, to work, and with that ease as

seventy years ago.”

He ascribed his marvelous preservation to three causes:

(1) The exercising himself to have always a conscience void of offense, both toward God

and toward men.(2) To the love he felt for the Scriptures, and the

constant recuperative power they exercised upon his whole being.

Proverbs 4:20 NET My child, pay attention to my words; listen attentively to my sayings. 21 Do

not let them depart from your sight, guard them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those

who find them and healing to one's entire body.

(3) To the happiness he felt in God and His work, which relieved him of all anxiety and

needless wear and tear in his labors.

Could it be that the reason he was so strong and lived so long was because of Him who lived within? Greater is He who is in us than he who

is in the world.

6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does

not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

From Guzik’s commentary: the person who knows God listens to us: They who know God

enjoy fellowship with other believers; they speak the common language of fellowship with God

and with each other, because one flows from the other.

1 John 1:3 NET What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).

This language of fellowship transcends

language, culture, class, race, or any other barrier. It is a true gift from God.

In its official doctrines, the Roman Catholic Church has claimed to be the "us" in the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not

from God does not listen to us. But John can only be talking about the apostles and their authoritative revelation in the Bible when he

says us. When we know God, and are of God, we hear what the Bible says.

"If this were a mere individual talking, the claim would be presumptuous. But it is not. This is one of the apostles citing the collective testimony of all the apostles and making that testimony the measure of truth and sound doctrine." (Boice)

whoever is not from God does not listen to us: Understanding just who hears what God has

taught us through the apostles, as recorded in the New Testament, helps us to know the Spirit

of truth and the spirit of deceit. If someone hears what God has said in the Bible, we know they have the Spirit of truth. If they do not hear it,

they have the spirit of deceit.

John makes it clear that deceit has a spiritual dynamic to it; it isn't just about being educated

or smart. Some very educated, very smart people can still be influence mightily by the spirit of deceit. Since error has a spiritual dynamic to

it, keeping in the Spirit of truth is a spiritual issue.

We keep in the Spirit of truth by clinging to Jesus, the One who said I am the truth.

(Guzik)

John 14:6 NET Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through me.

Do you hear them calling? Who’s calling?

Proverbs 1:10 NET My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent!

Sinners in every sphere of society are calling to us who are in Christ in order to dupe us, deceive

us and damn us with them.

They are calling from the TV, from the movies, from the news, from politics, from the schools,

and EVEN FROM SOME PULPITS!

But John is clear in our text. Do not believe every spirit. Believe only those who truly

confess Jesus Christ. Otherwise, refuse to listen. Realize the power of God in you and live

only for Christ!