I've entitled the message for
this morning, Hearing and Not Hearing. I'm reading from 1 John
chapter four, verses four through six. John says, ye are of God,
little children, and have overcome them. If you're asking, well,
who is it they've overcome? He had been talking about the
false prophets. bringing another message in the
previous verse. He said, you've overcome them
because greater is he that's in you than he that's in the
world. They, these false prophets, are
of the world. Therefore speak they of the world
and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that's not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error." Now, what a dogmatic statement
John makes. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. And he that's not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. And that could almost sound like
some kind of dogmatic statement from a cult leader demanding
exclusive obedience to what's being said. But this is not a
statement from a cult leader This is the divinely inspired
apostle making this statement. We are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that's not of God, heareth
not us. Now, John is saying, if you know
God, you'll hear me. And that doesn't just mean audibly. You'll believe what I'm saying. And if you're not of God, if
you don't know God, you will not hear me. Now let's begin
in verse four. You are of God, little children. Now he's speaking to believers.
Not every body is of God. But every believer is, you are
of God, little children. Now, what this has to do with
is origin. It's where you're from. You are
from God. Your origin is God himself. Now, what this is a reference
to is the glorious truth of the believer's eternal union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer doesn't find their
origin from this world. Their origin is being eternally
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. I've always been in him. Whom he did foreknow. That means
love beforehand, know beforehand. Every believer has always been
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read how we're chosen in him
before the foundation of the world. In Christ is our standing
and that's our origin. You know, when I get to heaven,
I'll find out I've always been there in the person of Christ,
being united to him. You know, this is really what
we're confessing in baptism. When someone is baptized, they're
confessing when Christ lived, I was in him. When he died, I
was in him. I died as well. When he was raised
from the dead, I was in him. I was raised from the dead in
him. As he ascended into heaven, I ascended with him, in him. This is the believer's eternal
union with Christ. And that's what he's talking
about when he says you are of God, little children. That's
where you're from. Your salvation is of the Lord. And it also has to do with possession. You're of God. That means you
belong to him. I am my beloved's and he is mine. It has to do
with a relationship, a son of God. Behold what manner of love
the Father bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons
of God. To as many as received him, to
them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on his name, which were born, birthed, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of
God. Now, what is the evidence of
being of God? He said, you are of God, little
children. What is the evidence that one
is of God? John chapter eight, verse 47
says, he that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear
them not. He was speaking to people who
were rejecting his message. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God." Now, if I'm preaching the word
of God and you hear me, You're of God. If you believe what's
being said, if you, if I'm preaching the word of God and you say,
I won't hear that, I don't believe that. That would mean you are
not of God. The Lord said, my sheep hear
my voice. I know them and they follow me. Now he says, you are of God,
little children, and have overcome them. And the ones that he's
speaking of that they've overcome are the false prophets. In verse
one of this same chapter, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits, whether they're of God, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, but
is of that spirit of Antichrist, where if you've heard that it
should come, And even now, already it's in the world. Now you're
of God, little children, and have overcome them, these men
with this false message. They don't confess that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh. Now when I confess that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh, I confess that he was before
he came. He's the eternal God. He never
had a beginning. He never had a cause. He is life,
independent life in himself. He's always had the life of God. I love that passage of scripture
in John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word
and the word was with God and the word was God. The word was
with God, a different person, Yet the Word was God, the eternal
God. He always was. This is speaking of His eternal
isness. He was before He came. He came
in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And He did what He came to do. You know, most preaching, and
this is really the message of a false prophet, so listen real
carefully. Most preaching begins with man and man's need. They'll even talk about his sin
and his need to be saved, but they begin with man. man's need
and God's desire to meet that need. Kind of like God is around
just to help men. Now, that is a completely wrong
view of the gospel and of God. Why did the Lord come? Well,
he said in John chapter 17, verse one, Father, the hour has come,
talking about the hour of the cross, glorify thy son, that
thy son also might glorify thee. Salvation. is for the glory of
God. Now, many men benefit from that.
We're thankful for that. We're thankful for the mercy
and the grace and love that's in the gospel. But understand
this, God does what he does for his own glory. The Lord said in John chapter
17 verse 4, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. I finished it. There's
nothing left to do. And that's what glorifies God.
Christ completed work. Now, the false prophet will always
give you something to do to complete that work. The false prophet
presents the gospel as an offer. God is offering you forgiveness.
God is offering you eternal life. God is offering you grace. God
wants you to have this, and He's offering it to you. But as to
whether or not you have it, it's up to whether or not you decide
to accept it or reject it. You see, if salvation is an offer,
that means it's ultimately dependent upon what you do with that offer. It's actually a message of salvation
by works. And that's what the false prophet
is always going to be doing. He's going to be giving you something
to do to complete the work. It won't be complete unless your
hand does what you're supposed to do. And when that message
is preached, it's a message of the false prophets. They deny
a finished work. I love what the Lord said in
John chapter 19 verse 30, it is finished. Not the door is
open and now let's see what happens. It is finished. When he said
it is finished, the salvation of everybody he died for was
accomplished. All of the elect, their sins
were paid for. They were justified by what he
did on Calvary's tree. The gospel is not an offer. The
gospel is a completed work that he has done. Now, notice it says,
you are of God, little children, and have overcome them, these
false prophets. And here's the reason why. It's
not because you're smarter. It's not because you're more
spiritual. It's not because you're better. It's because greater
is he that's in you than he that is in the world. That is why
a believer will not be deceived. That is why a believer will continue
to the end, because greater is he that is in them. The Lord
Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. Now Satan
is very powerful, but Christ is omnipotent. And that's why
every believer is eternally secure. Christ died for them. Christ
put away their sin. Christ justified them. Christ
is in heaven right now as their great intercessor. He is salvation. And greater is he that's in you,
John says to the believer, than he that is in the world. In John chapter 10, verse 26,
we read these words. Verse 26, but you believe not,
because you're not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand, my all-powerful hand. My father which gave them me,
he's talking about the gift of God to Christ, his bride, the
elect. My father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man's able to pluck them out of my
father's hand. I and my father are one. Now you're of God, little
children. You've overcome them, because
greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. Now in
verse five, he says, And he's speaking of the false prophets.
He says, they are of the world. Therefore speak they of the world
and the world heareth them. Now, what John is saying is these
men are not of God. They are of the world, the same
world which the world by wisdom knew not God. The world for which
Christ refused to pray. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which you have given me. The world
that hates Christ, the Lord said, the world cannot hate you, but
me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the deeds thereof
are evil. The world which he commanded
us not to love, love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that's of the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passes
away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever. They are of the world, the world
that hates God. Now, the world doesn't mean the
planet. It's that the world's religion, the world's maxims,
the world's values, that which is against God, that which is
against the gospel, that which is against the way of salvation
by Christ and salvation by grace. That's the world he's speaking
of. They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world. They
speak in a manner in which the world can understand and which
the world can relate. They're speaking of the world.
Let me show you this in Colossians chapter two. This is the message
of the false prophet Paul gives in Colossians chapter two, beginning
in verse eight. He says, beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy. and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments, the ABCs, the elements, the principles
of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete. That means if you're
a believer, you don't lack anything. You're perfectly holy, you're
perfectly justified, you're perfectly accepted in God's sight. Holy,
unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. Colossians 1.22
says, and that's because of what he accomplished on Calvary's
tree. He put away your sins, he gave you his righteousness,
and you are perfect in him. And the world will say, you're
not complete. There's something you need to
do to complete what he did in order for you to be saved. It's
a system of salvation by works. That's all the world understands.
Look in Colossians 2, verse 20. Wherefore, if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world, Why, as though living
in the world, are you subject to ordinances, all these man-made
rules and regulations that come out of religion? And all it is
is worldly. And then he gives the touch not,
taste not, handle not. If you don't touch this, if you
don't taste this, if you don't handle this, you'll be okay,
you'll be good. That's what you need to do. And
Paul tells us, which all are to perish with the using. If
that's what my religion's about, what I do and don't do, all I'm
going to do is perish. And all it is is after the doctrines
and commandments of men, which things have indeed a show of
wisdom and will worship. And in Humility, a voluntary
humility, neglecting of the body, not in any order to the satisfying
of the flesh. That is nothing more than fleshly
religion. And that's what the world understands. They speak of the world, and
you know, man's religion is an appeal to the flesh. The lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. trying to impress men,
loving the praise of men, wanting their approval, the pride of
life, self-righteousness. The entire appeal of human religion
is to the flesh. And verse six, John says, we
are of God. We're not of the world. We are
of God. I realize that every preacher
in every church makes that claim. We're of God. All the denominations,
we've got a better grasp on God than the other denominations
do. We're of God. God sent us. Everybody makes
that claim. I realize that. But remember,
John gave us a test. by which we can know whether
or not someone is of God. And that test is found in that
seven-word statement, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. He was
before he came. He came in the flesh. He is eternal
God, He came in the flesh, the Word was made flesh, and He did
what He came to do, to glorify His Father, to finish the work
the Father gave Him to do. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And that is exactly what He did. And someone that leaves something
for you to do to complete the work, that person is a false
prophet. They don't really know the gospel.
So you can judge whether somebody's telling you the truth by what
they say. John 4, verse 6, we are of God. Everybody that preaches the gospel,
they're of God. We are of God. He that knoweth
God Now, if you don't know God, when
you hear a false prophet, you don't know what he's saying is
wrong because you don't know God. But if you know God, if you know
his character, as the scripture reveals, he's absolutely sovereign,
in control of everything, that he's eternal, that he never had
a beginning, that he's absolutely just, that he will not let any
sin go unpunished because he's just. If you know he's love and
his love is a saving love, behold, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you. Before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, a God of absolute predestination. That's the only God there is,
is a God of absolute predestination. When you know God, you know his
character, you know his attributes, you know he can't change, he's
immutable, you know He's infinite. Now, when you know this God and
you hear someone say something contrary to the God you know,
you know that person is not of God, or they wouldn't be saying
that about God if they knew him. Because folks who know God know
God. They know what he's like. God
has revealed himself in the gospel to them through his word. And
if somebody says, I know Todd Nybert, And, oh, well, what do
you, what's he like? Well, he's got a full head of
red hair, and he's four foot six. Well, that's not the Todd
Nyberg I know. You see, if you know God, you know him. And if
you hear somebody say something contrary to the one you know,
you know that person is not of God. They're misrepresenting
the character of God. Now, he that knoweth God, heareth
us. If you know God, you know who
he is. And when you hear truth concerning him, you say, yes,
that's the God I know. That's the God who has been revealed
to me. You understand that. Now, we are of God, he that knoweth
God heareth us, and he that's not of God. There is such a thing as being
not of God. If you're not eternally united
to the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not of God. You remember when
the Lord said concerning his people, they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. Now, those who are of the world
are those who are not of God. Those are the ones who do not
hear the gospel. Now, he that's not of God, heareth
not us, and we don't expect them to. We don't expect them to.
You know, there are sheep and there are goats. Sheep hear,
goats do not hear. A goat will always have a but,
some kind of objection to what they hear. Sheep hear, but goats
do not hear. Now, what is the key in this
thing of hearing? You know, I want to have a hearing
ear, don't you? Lord said, he that hath ears to hear, let him
hear. Let every man be swift to hear
and slow to speak. I want to hear what God says. I want to hear the gospel as
gospel. Now, what is the key in this
thing of hearing? He that's of God, heareth us. He that's not of God, heareth
not us. I want to know if I'm a hearer.
Well, I begin with what I've already stated. He that's of
God, heareth God's words. And you can only hear God's words
when you're hearing as a sinner. Now let me repeat that statement.
You can only hear God's words when you're hearing as a sinner. Because if you're not hearing
as a sinner, you can't understand, you don't have a frame of reference,
you don't have a need for what you're hearing. You may disagree
with it, but if you're a sinner, you're gonna have a different
way of hearing than everybody else. You see, everybody that's
of God is a sinner. Now, you say, isn't everybody
sinners? Yeah, everybody's sinners, but
not everybody knows it. I'm talking about the people
who know it. A sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin. That's how they see themselves.
They cannot not sin. A sinner is someone who can't
look down his nose at anybody in moral superiority. A sinner
is somebody that has no claims on God. He doesn't have a sense
of entitlement. He's a sinner. Now, when you're a sinner, the
reason you know you're a sinner is because you've been given
a new nature. You're of God. You've been born
of God, you've been given a holy nature, and you're the only one
really that can see what sin is in the first place. An unbeliever
doesn't have any understanding of sin. They think it's all behavioral.
They don't know anything about having an evil heart that is
nothing but evil. I think of that scripture, God
saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, do you think, well, my heart's
not like that. It's not like every imagination
of my thoughts is only evil continually. I don't believe that about myself.
Well, it's because you don't have a new nature. Because if
you had a holy nature, a new nature, you would see that that's
the truth about yourself. You see, when you Here, as a
sinner, you will be hearing with a sense of need. And here's the
first thing that you're going to need. You're going to have
to have an inspired revelation written down called the Bible.
You're going to need that because you don't trust men, you know
how sinful you are, you know how sinful men are, and you don't
trust any man simply to tell you the truth. You're going to
have to have an inspired word from God written down by God
himself through men so you can know the truth. There is no salvation
apart from the Bible. knowing the truth of the Bible.
And if this is not God's inspired word, it's no different than
reading Shakespeare or some other form of literature. But no, this
is the inspired word of God. How do you expect me to believe
that? Well, do you believe that God created the universe? If
he can create the universe, he can inspire men to write a book
that is without error. Now, when you see yourself to
be a sinner, You need God to do something for you because
you know you can't do anything to save yourself. You need God
to choose you. You know, I love election. God
choosing who would be saved because I know if he didn't choose me,
I'd never choose him. I know myself. I wouldn't do
it. I need God to elect a people. I need to be one of them. I need
Christ to be a successful Savior. If you would tell me that Christ
could die for somebody and they wind up in hell anyway, you're
taking away my only hope because my only hope is that he died
for me and actually put away my sin. And it is no more. I
need grace that actually saves. It's invincible and it's irresistible. Grace that won't take no for
an answer. I need to be preserved by God's grace. I need all these
things because I'm a sinner. You know, there are just not
many sinners. But I tell you what, every sinner that knows
themselves to be a sinner, by the grace of God, is somebody
Christ came to save. We read in 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now, if you're a sinner, You
need a God, a sovereign God who can command your salvation and
save you by who Christ is and what he did with no help from
yourself. That's what you need. Now, that
is the spirit. That's hearing. You hear that
way. That's the spirit of truth. And that is the spirit of error. I'd like to end with this scripture.
Paul said in Galatians 6.14, but God forbid that I should
glory. that I should have confidence in, that I should rest in, that
I should rejoice in, that I should trust anything save the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified
to me. I see this world in the light
of the cross, and I see it for what it is, and I unto the world,
the world also has no love for me. Now, I want to be one of
these hearers, don't you? We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make himself known to you.