Turn with me to the book of 1
Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5. I'm going to read a couple of
passages here. Go over to 1 John, 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 21 and
22. The apostle writing to the church
that is in Thessalonica says, Prove all things. hold fast that which is good,
and abstain from all appearance of evil." Three things Paul instructs us to do. Three things. Number one, prove
all things. That is, all things that are
preached. Examine the message by the word
of God. I had a fellow that I was talking
to yesterday, and he asked me, he said, I won't go into the
depth of the conversation, but one of the things he asked me
was this. He said, how do I know certain things? I said this,
number one, first thing. What does the Scripture say? What does the Word of God say?
Go to the Word of God. Prove all things. Examine what
you hear by the Word of God. Let the Scriptures be the test. Let the Scriptures be the standard
of truth. If it be so, receive it. If it be not so, according to
the Scriptures, reject it. It's not so. Prove all things. Hold fast, secondly, that which
is good, that which is profitable, that which is agreeable to sound
doctrine, to the Scriptures. That's what he's talking about.
Hold fast that which is good. Rest your soul on that. that which is edifying, that
which is instructive, in principle or in practice, hold fast, even
if the majority rejects it. So believe me, the multitudes
are not always on the side of truth. In fact, by and large,
they are not. came to this earth, he was rejected
by the scribes and the Pharisees, the rulers of the people, and
the masses. By and large, he was just a small
group, just a handful, just a remnant. And then thirdly, Paul says,
abstain from all appearance of evil. Now, I know that We've
heard that scripture quoted, you know, you ought to abstain
from all appearances of evil. You shouldn't go into, you know,
places that are not, you know, becoming, you know. Don't go
in honky-tonks and don't go, don't, abstain from all appearances
of evil. And I'm sure that's good advice.
But that's not what this means, basically. It means abstain from
all appearances of doctrinal evil. Not only open error, heresy,
but whatever has a suspicious hint about it. I heard Brother
Mahan say one time, he said, you may not be able to say that
that particular, that one message was, you know, it or It may not
be something that happened last week or something, but generally
speaking, it's just something that's just inconsistent. It's just not always top dead
centers, not always right on the money. He said there's an
appearance of evil, doctrinal evil. Abstain from all appearances
of doctrinal evil. Let me ask you this. Is the preaching of the gospel
of God, free grace, preaching of Christ, that which Almighty
God has done, has finished, is the preaching of the gospel enough? Is it enough? Or do we need to
kind of maybe get something going here? Maybe we need to get us
some methods. Maybe we ought to try a few new
things. Get a little program going or something, or slip a
ten-dollar bill or something in a songbook. Whoever gets it
today can have it. Do you think we need to maybe
get a little something going, you know? Or is preaching of
Christ, the glory of Almighty God in the person of His blessed
Son, is that enough? Oh, you know. You know. appearances of evil. Prove all
things by the Word of God. Hold fast that which is good. God is good. Not good, but God. Hold fast that which is good.
And abstain from all appearances of evil. Now turn with me to
1 John. I wanted to read that to start. This is where I'm going to be
today. I want to preach this morning on acid test. That's what I named
this, the acid test. John, 1 John, 1 John 4, 1 John 4, 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 confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth
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? Ye are of
God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They 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 is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth. and the spirit of error. Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God, for God is love." There are four things that I
would like to look at this morning, just a few minutes. a divine test, thirdly, a divine position, and
then a divine command, a divine warning. John says in that first verse,
Beloved, and here is a warning, Believe not every spirit. Try
them. Believe them not. Don't believe
every man that's standing in a pulpit. That's what it means. Don't believe every man that
stands in a pulpit and just preaches something. Why? Verse 5 says, because they're
of the world. Therefore, speak they of the
world, and the world heareth them. Now, be careful here. Believe not, every spirit. I had a fellow tell me one time,
and I may have told you this before, but if I have, bear with
me. This man stood in a pulpit and preached a consistent message. I had a nephew ask him one day. He said, you know, you say, speaking
of my friend that was preaching, sovereign grace preacher, he
said, you say, that that fellow's wrong, they're wrong, they say
you're wrong. You say they're hucksters, they say you are. You say this is right, they say
this is right. They say salvation is evidenced
by this, and you say it's this. And he said, now, how do I know? How do I know? How do I know? And you know what? That's a pretty good question.
That's a good question. How do I know that what you're
saying is so? What's the acid test? How do
I know that what you're preaching is the truth? My friend told him, he said,
but for the grace of God, you won't know. And here's what will
happen. You'll find or you'll hear something
that sounds right to you, sounds good to you. But for God's grace, you'll settle
down right there, satisfied. But for God's grace, you'll die
right there and you'll perish. Now, you know, that's a pretty
serious question. How do I know? How do I know? John warns. He said, Believe
not every spirit. Try the spirits. Analyze what
they're preaching by the Word of God, not whether or not it
looks good or sounds good or makes sense to you. Analyze. Try the spirits, whether they
are of God. Why? Because many false prophets
are going out into the world. Now, here's a warning. Listen
up. Listen to what he's saying, beloved. Try them. Listen to these men.
Matthew 7, verse 15 says, "...they come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Man, stand, preach. I flipped
on television this morning. There is no telling how many
men and women I listen to for, you know, preaching. Much of them. How do I know? How do I know what they're saying
is not so? Someone says, but now wait a
minute. Judge not. Judge not. lest you be judged."
Have you ever had anybody tell you that? Judge not. Now, you
know, we're all on the same road, or maybe we're going in the same
direction. We may be on a different road, but we're all headed to
the same place. No, we're not. Judge not. Does that mean that we shouldn't
call a spade a spade? Did our Lord? Did our Lord not
look to those scribes and Pharisees and tell them, he said, ìYouíre
white and sepulchrous. Youíre full of dead menís bones,
you snakes, deceivers, liars.î Let me ask you this, was he setting
forth that which is so? Sure he was. What is John doing
right here? ìBeloved, believe not every spirit.î
Why? ìTry them, because theyíre false
prophets.î Is he judging them? Is he speaking that which is
so? What does it mean then? When someone tells you, judge
not, let me tell you what that means. Don't judge another's
intent in trifling matters. That's what it means. Let me
give you an example. Someone says to you, you know,
Oh, I tell you this, I am just thrilled to death that you came
today. Afterwards you leave and somebody
says to you, I heard what they said, but you know what they
meant? I'll tell you what they meant.
Somebody says something in a trifling matter. Don't judge another man's
intent. But as far as judging what a
man preaches, John said, you better be careful. Be careful. Beware. Beloved, believe not
every spirit. So next time somebody says, now,
don't judge them. Now, I know they may not be preaching
what you're preaching. Let me ask you this. Based on
what they're preaching, is it according to the Scriptures?
If it's not according to the Scriptures, don't receive it. It is not the truth. The Scripture says that they're
going to deceive many, these false Christs, false prophets.
Mark 13, 22 says, they shall show signs and wonders to seduce,
if it were possible, even the elect. If it were possible. Somebody
asked me one day, they said, you believe that these folks
that are healing people, do you believe that that's all false? I said, well, I'll be real honest
with you. I don't know. Some of them were
really healed. They're faking it. Their legs
got longer. I don't know. I don't really
know. But I will tell you this. Based on what the man that says
that he's performing those miracles is preaching, what I hear that
man say according to the Scriptures, that man's a liar. He's a liar. Turn with me to Matthew 7. Matthew
7. Matthew 7, verse 15. Matthew 7, 15. This very chapter right here
started off, look at just verse one, just so you can read it.
Judge not that you be not judged. Here's our Lord speaking. Verse
15, he says, Beware of false prophets which come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly They're ravening wolves. You
shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes, or thorns,
or figs, or thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit." I want to challenge you whenever you're
reading the Scriptures and it talks about good fruit, good
master. You remember the words of our
Lord, that none's good but God. Good fruit. God's fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. Verse 21 says, Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? In thy name cast out devils.
In thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you effectually, lovingly, everlastingly. Depart
from me, ye that were iniquitous. They called them many marvelous
works. We prophesied in your name. We
did all these miracles and signs and wonders. We healed people
in your name. I never knew you. John says,
Beloved, Don't believe. Believe not every spirit. Try
the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world. Verse 2, hereby, here is that
divine test, that acid test, hereby, know ye the Spirit of
God. Now, you know, we ought to take
note right here. We ought to listen up right here.
Hereby, this way, right here, here it is, this is it. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit, every preacher
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is coming to flesh is of God. Now, someone says, you mean to
tell me That's it. That's it. Every man that stands up and
says, I confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Yeah. But what does it mean when
John said, Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God? First of all, here's what it
means. to confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
It's to confess that Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, was before
He came. That's the first thing. Every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,
He was before He came. So it's to confess, first of
all, His eternality. He is the eternal God. In John
8, 58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am." To say that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is to say that He is the I Am. He said, I'm the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last. He is not bound by time, by space. Therefore, He is eternal. He is the eternal God. If there
was an instant in which He was not, then there was an instant in
which there was no God. In that case, atheism is right. This would indicate change. If
there was a time, if there was an instant when He was not, and
He said, I change nothing. I'm God. I've changed. Therefore,
you sons of Jacob are not concerned." What is it to confess that Jesus
Christ has come into flesh? It's to say that He was always. He is. I am. Moses said, who
shall I say sent me? He said, you tell them I am,
that I am eternal. Being eternal, He is absolutely
first cause of all things. His eternality set forth by His
attributes, His eternal power, all things, the Scripture says,
all things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. He made all things. Therefore,
He must be eternal. His eternal knowledge, Acts 15,
18 says, known unto God are all His works from the beginning
of the world. He's eternal. His mercy. Psalm 103, 17. It's from everlasting to everlasting. He's eternal. How do I know? The man that I'm hearing, how
do I know? Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh is born of God. To confess that He came
in the flesh is to say that He is. He's eternal. Secondly, it's
to say that He pain that He came. It is to confess His humanity.
We looked at that a few weeks ago. In the beginning was the
Word. That is what He just said. The
Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word was made
flesh. Flesh. True flesh. The great
mystery of God and His manifest in the flesh. Galatians 4, 4 to 6, when it says that He came, you will know the bottom line. Why did He come? Why did He come? Here is what Galatians 4, 4 to
6 says, For when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. To confess that Jesus Christ,
not just to say, I believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh,
therefore, everything that I say, no matter what, is so. A man that confesses Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh, first of all, confesses that He is
eternal God. come into this world, God-man. And thirdly, it's to say, He
that has come in the flesh accomplished that which He came to do. He
accomplished it. Now, you know, you may find someone
stand up and say, Oh, I believe it. I believe that God is. He's eternal God. I believe He
came in the flesh. But I'll guarantee you right
here, This right here is where you're going to find that most
people are going to part ways right here, that he actually
accomplished that which he came to do, that he accomplished it. John 17, verse 4, he says, I
have glorified thee, praying to his Father on the earth. I
have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I finished it. Lo, he said, I come in the volume
of the book to do thy will, O God. At the age of twelve, he said,
I must be about my father's business. John 4, 34, he said, My meat
is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish the From
the cross, he cried, it is finished. Let me ask you this. What did
he finish? The Father chose a people in
Him, in Christ, from the foundation of the world, chosen that we
might be holy and without blame before Him in love. Chosen in
Christ, their federal head, the Lord Jesus Christ as their federal
head, representative, came into this world made of one, made
under the law, fulfilled that law, brought in an everlasting
righteousness, went to the cross as their substitute with their
guilt imputed to Him. He died. under the judgment of
Almighty God, under the law. The law demanded the wages of
sin, death. He died in their place. He died
for them. I laid down my life for the sheep. Put away their guilt. Put away
their sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as Brother Scott
said, restored that which He took not away. Restored it. is what it is, to confess, to
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is coming to flesh. He is the
eternal God who came into this world and accomplished that which
He purposed to do. Chose a people, He lived for
them, died for them, buried with them, raised with them, ascended
even now at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make
intercession for them. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. That's what it is to confess
that He's come in the flesh. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. This is that spirit of anti-Christ. It may not be anti-morality. or anti-religion, but it is anti-Christ. It is against Him, that spirit
of anti-Christ. Oh, consider our divine position. Verse 4, John says, ìYe are of
God, little children. You are born of God. Born of
God by sovereign grace. You are of God by the power of
God. His electing grace, adopting
grace, keeping grace. And you've overcome them. What does that mean, you've overcome
them? These false prophets. Had it been possible, even the
elect would have been deceived. But it's not possible. You, by
God's grace, God's power, God's purpose, God's will, Discern
error. You know. Ever had somebody ask you say,
well, what do you believe? What do you believe? Sometimes
it's hard to just. Set down right at the drop of
a hat, somebody says, tell me everything and you think of everything
that you've ever heard, everything concerning sovereign grace, God's
will and God's purpose. You may want to You know, well,
I believe that God is sovereign, but they'll say, oh, I believe
that too. And you try somehow to put it
in words, but when you hear someone stand up and clearly set forth
the glory of Almighty God in the person of His blessed Son,
His sovereignty, His will, His purpose, Him, clearly you say,
that's what I believe right there. That's what I believe. I believe
in Him. You've overcome them. Why? Because greater is He that is
in you than is in the world. Greater is He that's in you. John says, verse 6, We are of
God. Who is that? Preachers. Setting
forth the glory of God. We are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. They hear the voice of Him, my
sheep, hear my voice. A man that stands up in the pulpit
that sets forth the glory of God, preaches Christ, he that
knoweth God hears us, receives that word, embraces the Christ
that is set forth. In that divine command, Beloved,
let us love one another. For love is of God. Everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not,
loveth not God. For God is love. Love. Love for Him. Love comes from Him. It is the
fruit of His Spirit. It's the evidence of regeneration. Everyone that truly loves is
born of God. I think of that scripture when the Lord says,
By this shall all men know that you're my disciples. Well, there's
another that's caused your ears to stick up, you know. Have you
ever noticed the more you hear the gospel, the more you have
to hear the gospel? The more you hear, the more you've
got to hear. I've got to hear. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples." The believer says, okay, all right, I want
to hear it one more time. Tell me, by this you have love
one for another. You love the brethren. You love
Him. You love each other. By this
shall all men know you are my disciples. God is love. It is His nature to love. It
is His nature to show mercy, to forgive. His love, His love,
His mercy is not indiscriminate. He is a just God. He will by
no means clear the guilty. God Almighty is love. Beloved, believe not every spirit. Triumph! Triumph by the Word
of God! Is it so that a man's will is
free? You know better than that. You
know better. Try them. See if they are of
God. A man that doesn't confess that
Jesus Christ has come into flesh, the eternal God, came into this
world in the likeness of sinful flesh, without sin, truly made
flesh. made and accomplished, performed,
accomplished, finished the work that the Father gave Him to do.
That's what it is to confess to Jesus Christ. That's the acid
test. Has He done that which He said
He's done? Yes, He has. Acid test. Every spirit that confesses,
not. Well, what about all these fellows
that are standing today and preaching All these things, it's not according
to this scripture right here. They're sincere. Hitler was sincere. Well, what do you call them? They're
false prophets. Well, that's kind of straightforward, isn't
it? They're false prophets. Every man that confesses not
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. Don't hear them. Don't hear them. don't hear.