Join me once again in your Bibles
with me, please, to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Continuing study of 1 John, covering
again and mentioning some things that we've seen in the previous
chapters and opening up those thoughts a little bit further. We'll see where that leads us
today. We'll start with, we're gonna
read the first four verses of chapter four of 1 John. It says, Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because
many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that
confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have
heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the
world. You are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you
than he that is in the world." Quite a bit said here, and in
some ways pretty straightforward, in some ways a lot to be said. Here in the first verse where
it says, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
have God, because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. And John points that out earlier
in the book we've seen. And when we spent quite a bit
of time in the book of Jude dealing with the Antichrist and the issues
that those bring up and that that has to deal with, It was a very real thing at that
time, a very real thing at our time, and in all of the church's
history from Adam, Eve on, it's been the same. It's been the
same. There are those that are antichrist and And I think sometimes
people get confused about what that term means and what that
term is. And I'm going to read a quote
that I found and that we brought clear back in February of this
year by a man speaking about what antichrist is, or kind of
a definition of it, and I like the guy's, what he says here,
and we're gonna see that the scripture confirms what he says
here. And the quote is, every man who opposes the spirit of
the gospel, and every teacher and writer who endeavors to lower
the gospel standard to the spirit and taste of the world, is a
genuine antichrist no matter among whom he is found. And here,
especially like this where it speaks of opposes the spirit
of the gospel and those who endeavor to lower the gospel standard
to the spirit and taste of the world. And then he says, is a
genuine Antichrist, no matter among whom he is found. And we've
seen those, we're gonna mention some of that. here in just a
bit about those that preach the doctrines and yet are anti-Christ
in that they change what they stand for and how they are presented
that they, in another thought that I had in reading for today
and studying for the lesson today was often the doctrines of the
gospel are taught, but as the sovereignty of God say, and not
so much the sovereign God taught. And there's a difference. Also that Paul speaks in a, we're
not gonna go to that spot, but in Philippians, Paul's speaking
about those who preach Christ out of contention or out of envy
or those type of things. And he says, if it's true to
what the gospel says, it's to be believed. no matter what the
motive that was behind it may be, might've been, and it appears
that there were those that were jealous of what Paul, they appeared
that he had or what they thought of that and were preaching the
same things. And he said that no matter how
it's presented or preached or the motive behind it, if it squares
with what the scripture says, it's true. And we don't know
the hearts of, we don't know the hearts of men. And when the
word is opened or thoughts are brought from it, if it squares
with the scripture says, that's God's word. And it's brought
out and it's opened and taught by sinful men, not by, God himself, but by his spirit
it's brought out through his people, through God's people
and brings out what that is. where it says, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. That
sounds like something that's above maybe our pay grade, but
it is not because what we're gonna see is how the spirits
are tried is by the word that we hold. And if they square with
what the scripture says, or rather the scripture is square with
what they say, That's what we want, that's what we must stand
by. Fault can be brought to the ones that bring the word, obviously,
but if it's God's word, no fault can be taken with that. And that's
how the spirit and the spirit, the word here, spirits and spirits
used isn't as we think of the Holy Spirit, but the frame of
mind, the thoughts, the teaching, or the doctrine can be the spirit
of something, not the eternal spirit as we think of that, but
the direction or the core of what's
said has to be square with what the
scripture says. There'll be in, And like I said,
in our times, in old times, and always will be, those that are
anti-Christ or have the spirits that are not of God, and we as
the Bereans that it says were more noble than others because
they sought to see what the scriptures said about things that were brought
forth. And I think that's the true intent and thought of trying
the spirits here. It's not what we think of it,
it's what the scriptures think of what is brought forth. God's word is the standard by
which all is tried. Spirits are doctrines said to
come from God and or everyone who teaches or preaches in the
name of the gospel, but only the scripture bears the truth.
There are those that claim to speak for God that that, and
even those from organizations or groups that we believe to
be gospel, true to the gospel, when they come out with an idea
or thought that is not true to what it says, or that diminishes,
as it says, brings down to our level, those things that speaks
of God, then there's a problem. And it's not, it's not so. And we've known
and, heard of those that have a low opinion of who the Lord
is, that claim to be gospel-believing people, and if they bring him
down to our level, even the littlest bit, to our level or near our
level, there's a problem. There's a problem. The scriptures
do not speak of our Lord as one such as we are. I'd like to read
a couple of of passages to start with here
before we get too far along, in Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, and I'd
like to read. Read down through the first chapter here, it says,
God who at sundry time and in diverse manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds. who being the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high, being made so much better than the angels as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all
the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, who
maketh his angels' spirits and his ministers a flame of fire?
But unto the son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall
perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall wax old as doth
the garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold
them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Chapter two, verse one. Therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. And here it covers
a lot of ground, obviously, but speaking about the Lord and his
various characters and offices and things he has done and does do
for the church and for himself. and for us, and it says, starting
out in the one, it says that he's, in time past, spoke unto
the fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, spoken
unto us by his son, and we have the appointed heir of all things.
But those prophets only spoke that word that the true prophet,
the Lord himself, gave those words to be spoken. Those were
not men's words. Those were his words spoken.
And in the last times when he actually was incarnate, was on
the earth, spoke by him. He spoke and those were the same
words that the prophets brought forth. They weren't other words. They weren't different words.
and that those should be held on to it. lest they slip and
the scripture again being the final and total authority on
what we evaluate when it says try the spirits, try the messages
brought forth or tried to be brought forth. What it says of
the Lord himself, the scripture is the measure to go by We have
to go by that. Anything that, again, as that
quote said, detracts or brings down his character and who he
is, is not to be believed. And it says, believe not every
spirit, try the spirits, and try it with what the scripture
has to say that, Here in 1 John again, just for
another thought with this, in chapter four, where it says in
verse two, after trying the spirits, Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is of God. And verse three, conversely of
that, every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist
that it speaks about. But here in verse two, hereby
know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God. says, try the spirits, and here,
verse two, it says, hereby ye know the spirit of God. That's
kind of an important spot, I would think. Hereby we know these things,
and it says, every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is of God. There are those that will say,
yeah, Jesus Christ came in the flesh, but what that verse, and
we're gonna look at several places, what that is also speaking about
is not just saying that, yes, that's true, he came in the flesh,
but the Lord Jesus Christ, all that that title infers and refers
to, all his attributes, and all his being and all his connection
to the church and salvation and redeeming the people. All of
that has to be inferred by that, not just a lot of people have
said the little believers prayer type thing and can say those
things, and there's some true things spoken of in those. But that's not speaking necessarily
about the true Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, and all those
things. When the Lord was speaking to
those two in Luke 24, and in the Old Testament, which is all
they had in their hands at the time, in all the Old Testament,
those things concerning himself. And I don't think it meant picking
out a few of the places that people say are messianic texts,
but I think it meant in all of those texts how it speaks of
him, and not just mentioning that someone has come, that one
that the scriptures speak of, and it has to include all those
points and attributes of who the Lord is, because a lot of
people will say it, can say, yeah, I believe the Lord came. You can say that, but you can't,
it's like the passage, and we're gonna read several places, but
that no man can say, call him Lord, but by the spirit. And
a lot of people voice the words of that, but what's being spoken
of is the spirit of that or what that entails and infers and what
it means. And that is the trying of the
spirit is what, if by saying, If by saying that we confess
he came in the flesh, if we do not hold to all what the scripture
says who he is, then that's a different gospel that isn't a gospel. That's
something else. That's not speaking of the true,
the Messiah that was foretold and that came. Part of what has to be set forth
and means has to be meant by that is he was exalted before he came as
the son of God, as almighty God. Also his true humanity has to
be, all this is part and parcel of his, let's turn to the book of John. I'd like to read the first, just
a few verses here of John. It says, in the beginning was
the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. The
same was God in the beginning with God. All things were made
by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light
that all men through him might believe. He was not that light,
but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true
light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He
was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world
knew him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace.
In this introduction, the book of John puts forth quite a picture
of who the Lord is, who he's speaking of, who the Lord is,
and of his, before coming to earth, he was in his glory, He
was the creator of heaven and earth and all created beings.
He is the one with whom God has to do with man, is by him the
true mediator, the true prophet, priest, and king between
God, the Father, and his people. This all has to be brought, packaged
in that thought of saying that Christ has come in the flesh, the one that was spoken of, it
has to concede and hold forth his offices,
several offices, that of Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the
true Messiah, the true prophet, priest, and king, that holds
forth all the doctrines of the gospel which came by him, that
of his intercession, satisfaction, sacrifice to God for his people,
that he is the only savior and redeemer of men, and all else
that the word speaks of him. And obviously, due to time and
space, it's like the passage that says the world couldn't
contain the whole or even the half if all was written what
the Lord did. We mentioned all what the scripture
says about him, we'd be here quite a while. But all this has
to be tied into that thinking and that thought of those that
say that Christ has come in the flesh, or those that say he's
not come in the flesh. It has to, either confirm and stand in all
of what the scripture says about it, or there's a problem, and
that is a problem. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians,
if you would, please. I'm gonna look at a few places.
1 Corinthians in chapter 15. First Corinthians chapter 15.
Starting with the first verse and reading
down about a few verses, it says, moreover brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received and wherein you stand. by which also you are saved if
you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he
was seen of Cephas, and then of the 12. After that, he was
seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part
remain unto this present day, unto this present, but some are
fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James,
then of all the apostles." And this is what he declared that,
which you have to keep in memory, he says, the gospel which I preached,
which you have received, unless you have believed in vain. we
have to cover a little bit of ground to see what Paul said
about the Lord, but it, that the gospel that was given and
there was not made for, made up by someone or by him, but
as according to the scriptures, and he says that was delivered
in verse three, received, he died for our sins according to
the scripture, that he was buried and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures. And that's the true test, again,
that we have to gauge all things by is what the Scriptures have
to say. We can't conjecture. There's passages and places where
we surmise some things, but that isn't always wise because We
can surmise things incorrectly if the scriptures don't say those
things directly to us. There has to be that. A couple
things that Paul did have to say that we're gonna look at
in the Book of Romans. The Book of Romans, not to... Well, let's start here. Romans
chapter one, we're gonna be in several places in Romans, but
it starts out with the first chapter of Romans says, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God, which he had promised for by his prophets
in the holy scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh
and declared to be the son of God with power according to the
spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have
received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among
all nations for his name. among whom are ye also the called
of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for you all. that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing
I make mention of you always in my prayers, make and request,
if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey
by the will of God to come unto you. But here speaking of those
things that according to the scripture that we have and that
we see and that we know, all those things about the Lord that we must believe and that the
scripture folds forth. In chapter three, a couple of
verses in chapter three of Romans, starting at verse 21, Brother Loren covered some ground
through here in a different passage, but about the the deeds of the
law and the flesh. Verse 20 says, by the deeds of
the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight, for by the laws
and knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the laws manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference For all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. to declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believe in Jesus. Whereas boasting then, it is
excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but
by the law of faith." And it goes on in that line. here speaking
once again about and toward the God, the Savior, Jesus Christ,
our righteousness, and that has to be part and parcel of saying
the Lord, the Christ has come, that the Christ, the Messiah,
the anointed, the sent one, that's how it has to be talked about.
Not just the mere point of doctrine, maybe in a confession or something
that says we believe he came in the flesh. Men can say that
as they can say anything. And not, be standing for what the scriptures
say completely about him. In just a verse in chapter four, it says, Down through here, it talks about
our justification by our Lord and how we can be just and how
we are just in Him. And then verse 25 of chapter
four says, who is delivered for our offenses and was raised for
our justification. Again, why he came, and we're
not gonna turn to Isaiah 53, but Isaiah 53 goes down The list of how that came about,
how we can be seen as righteous in him, that he had purchased
and did all that. That's the one that we have to
say has come in the flesh. That's the one. the hope of Israel,
and there were those who recognized that when he was born, when he
was born in the flesh, and knew that this was who they were looking
for, that this was the one the gospel in the Old Testament spoke
of, and was the true one, and that had them. And again, this
passes square with what people say when Yes, I believe he came
in the flesh. This one has to be the one that's
talked about, the one that's intended and meant there. And then a couple verses in chapter
16. While we're in Romans chapter
16. And the last three verses of
the Book of Romans say, now to him that is of power to establish
you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret
since the world began. But now is made manifest and
by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment
of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience
of faith. To God only wise be glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen. And here again, by the
revelation of God to his people that we can say, yes, we believe. that the Lord has come, was come
in the flesh. This one that's talked about,
this one that, as it says here, that scripture's according to
the prophets' commandment of God, by the everlasting God,
these things, that is the one that's spoken of. A lot that we can look at, but
let's go to Colossians. Book of Colossians. Colossians chapter one start
with verse 12 and reading down just a bit. Again, keeping in
mind that trying the spirit according to what the scripture says as
far as the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and what that all
entails or infers to us. It says, giving thanks unto the
Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. who is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him. And he is before
all things and by him all things consist. And he is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, And you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue
in the faith grounded and settled, be moved not away from the hope
of the gospel, which ye have heard and which was preached
to every creature, which is under heaven, whereof I Paul and made
a minister. And here, all this that speaks of the Lord
and what the standing that we have in him because of what he
has done for his people. And here, especially in verse
23, it says, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye
have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven. And again, the scriptures are not gonna
move us away from the true gospel if they are grounded in the scriptures. If those things that are brought
forth and taught as true and as the gospel, if they can be
substantiated substantiated from the scriptures, they are, hold
on to those things, and those are the things that we would
hold on to. And then, back in 1 John. Let me see, where
do I put that? In 1 John, First seven verses, as the book
of 1 John opens up, it says, that which was from
the beginning. which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands
have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested and
we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life, which was with the father and was manifested unto us. That
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you
may also have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is
with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And these
things write we unto you that your joy may be full. This then
is the message which we have heard of him and we declare unto
you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If
we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we
lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin and this Here
particularly, it says, if we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, clenches us from all sin. And the only way that we
can walk in the light is by his spirit revealing truth to us,
and also walking in what the scripture has to say. That's
the light we have. And there are those that don't
like to have this light shine on them, and it says that we
hide from the light because it reveals our deeds, if they are
evil or not. And I think it's especially so
with the scripture, as it says, try the spirits, try those that
bring forth evil. the word of God so called if
it is indeed the word of God so called. And the book of John covers that time and again through
here that we stay in the light, we're safe in the light and that
light is of his word itself. So once again here it says, believe
not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God,
because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And
again, at those verses say in the book of Jude, him able to
keep us from falling and present us faultless, watch over us and
keep us. And that is our prayer. And with
that, we'll disconnect for today and connect it up next time. Thank you for your attention,
and as Brother Mike has quoted from the book of John many times,
be free.