I'll be reading from the first
epistle of John, chapter 4, in just a moment. First John, chapter
4, if you want to follow along in your Bible. Now, just a casual
glance at the words of the prophets in the Old Testament scripture
will reveal men who were very critical of their generation,
having nothing but harsh words of judgment for most. And in
the New Testament, the apostles, not to mention the last of the
prophets, John the baptizer, the apostles and John were very
quick to expose error and called names. The apostle Paul himself
mentioned ten names and warned the people of these evil men
and women. Yet in our day, If you dare speak
out against anyone, no matter how obviously fake or false they
are, most will quickly cry out, judge not, judge not. They're ignorant of that scripture
where it's found, the context of it, being ignorant of the
fact that the Lord was talking about judging true brethren or
believers. and shortly thereafter the Lord
himself said, Judge righteous judgment. Well, the Apostle John
here in 1 John chapter 4 commands us to judge or try, especially
preachers. 1 John chapter 4 verse 1 reads
this way, Beloved, believe not every spirit. The word spirit
there is preacher. Believe not every preacher, but
try or judge the spirits, whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. John says, Believe
not every one, every preacher. Don't believe everyone who calls
themselves or is called by others reverent. In fact, they should
be immediately suspect if they carry the title reverend. That
is a title reserved for the Lord Jesus Christ alone. For Psalm
111, verse 9, says, Holy and Reverend is His name. No man and no woman deserves
that title. A title, a position, a degree,
A certificate of ordination does not make a true preacher. No, sir. God decides. God makes someone a preacher. All right? He says try them.
Test them. Put them on trial. Be skeptical
of everyone you hear. Be wary of. Be unbelieving of
these so-called preachers because, he said, many false prophets
are gone out into the world. Now, this was written only a
few years after Christ ascended back to glory. And he says, many
false prophets are already gone out into the world. Well, what
does that say about nearly 2,000 years later? Many. That word,
many, is now an astronomical number. We better be deciding
who is a true preacher and who is not. because there are so
many. Well, how do you try preaching
and preachers? How do you try them? How do you
test them? How can you distinguish the true from the false? Well,
let me tell you this. Number one, true preachers will
insist that you try them. They will insist with the Apostle
Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 who wrote this way. He says, seeing we
have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not,
and we're not going to quit, but we have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. We're not walking in craftiness,
nor handling the Word of God deceitfully. But he says, by
manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience
in the sight of God. In other words, the true preacher
just insists that people try him. How? By the Word of God. By the Word of God. Not by opinions, not by the rumors
that are heard about him. No. In fact, most true preachers
will have a bad reputation among others because Christ said they
would be hated. But try them by the Word of God. Isaiah 8. Chapter 8, verse 20
says, to the Word and to the testimony, to the law and to
the testimony. If they speak not according to
My Word, there is no light in them. They are to be tested or
tried by the Word of God, period. Acts chapter 17, verses 10 and
11 speak of a people or a Jewish people out of Berea, who were
called more noble than other Jews because they went home after
hearing the apostles preach, they went home to see and search
the Scriptures and see if what these apostles were preaching
were so, based upon the Word of God. Take no man's word for
it. Take only God's word for it.
Try the man Try his words by the Word of God, and compare
scriptures with scriptures, Old Testament with New Testament. Try him by the Word of God, and
I say him, for if it is a her, then automatically write her
off as false. According to 1 Timothy 2, verses
11 and 12, and 1 Corinthians 14, verses 34 through 36, which expressly forbid a woman
to teach." All right, try them. Try them by the Word of God.
Try their message. The apostle says, try the spirits. Test them by their message. Do
they preach the Word of God from the Word of God? In other words,
many preach or claim to believe and preach the Word of God, is
just preaching historical facts, just preaching stories from the
Scripture, just preaching moral story. But you can preach good
things and yet not preach the good news or the gospel. You
can preach about things but not preach the gospel. Listen to
what John says here in verse 2. He says, Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, or you know the leadership of the Holy Spirit
of God. For every spirit, or preacher
that is, that confesseth, or preacheth, that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God. Hereby know ye the Holy Spirit's
leadership and calling and directing of a preacher. because every
preacher that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is of God. That preacher who preaches Christ,
the first thing John said, every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ,
the true preacher sent from God is taken up with Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul said it, I am
determined not to know anything but Jesus Christ. The true preacher
is not taken up with politics, social of the day, but he is
determined not to do anything but to preach Christ and Him
crucified, realizing that it is not reformation people need,
it's regeneration, and only the gospel regenerates. Preach the
gospel, and if God changes men's hearts, then their character
will then change. So preach the gospel. That's
what the true preacher is taken up with. And the gospel is Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, Oh, that I might know
Him, see Christ, believe Christ, trust Christ, be like Christ. Well, what about Christ? What
about Jesus Christ? John said, Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Every true preacher sent by God
is a herald, a proclaimer, a declarer of the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I am an ambassador
of Christ, who he is, who Christ is, why he came, what he did
when he got here, and where he is now. And every ambassador
of the King is a bold, dogmatic proclaimer. of the sovereign
rights and claims and rules of Jesus Christ, who He is. Who
is Jesus Christ? Who is He? Well, John said He
has come in the flesh. That means He was preexistent
before He came. You can't come in the flesh if
you didn't already exist before you got here. Every preacher
confesses that Jesus Christ existed before He came to this earth.
In fact, they confess that He's God manifest in the flesh. Some believed back then that
He was God indeed. Some didn't. And even now, some
believe, but some don't. Why, there's a whole denomination
that goes door to door resisting the fact of Jesus Christ's preexistence,
saying that Jesus Christ is not God. Well, 1 John 5, verse 20, plainly
tells us, we know that the Son of God has come and given us
an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we
are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ, because
this is the true God and eternal life. John 1, verse 1, says,
In the beginning the Word was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. And on down it says, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. Paul said, Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So all who claim that Jesus Christ
is not God are false. They are false prophets. But
the true preacher, the true prophet, the true Spirit says that Jesus
Christ is God manifest in the flesh, who He is, and why He
came. Why did He come? Why must we
believe He is God? Because only God can justify
us from all things, which cannot be justified by the law of Moses. Christ alone justifies us. Why, He came down here and did
and said what only God can do and say. Why, the Pharisees one
time, after He forgave a woman her sins, they said, Who can
forgive sins but God? And that's right. And Christ
looked at that woman and said, Thy sins be forgiven thee. Only
God can justify this. Only God can forgive. Only God
can satisfy his own holy law. The scripture says there's none
good but God, none holy but one, and that's God. One time a man
came to Christ and said, good master, and he stopped him and
said, why do you call me good? There is none good but God. Christ is God in the flesh. Come to fulfill the righteousness
of law and make all of his people holy and righteous by his doing
and keeping the law. And only God is to be worshipped.
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. Him alone shalt thou worship."
But Jesus Christ allowed men and women to worship Him. Everyone
He healed and saved and was confronted by Christ worshipped Him, and
He never stopped them. He never stopped them because
He is God, Immanuel, Jehovah. Yes, He is. He said in John 8,
verse 24, If you believe not that I am, you shall die in your
sin." Thomas said it one time. He said, My Lord and my God. All who do not confess that Jesus
is indeed God to manifest in the flesh are anti-Christ. And that spirit of anti-Christ
is here now. It is here seeking to denounce
the Lordship of Christ. Not only by the out-and-out deniers
of the deity of Christ. But this false gospel, this easy-believism
that is going on today, diminishes the work of Christ, dethrones
the sovereign Christ, adds to and takes away from the finished
work of Christ. When in Him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, and all believers are complete
in Him, whoever and whatever denies the fullness of Christ
in His Redemptive work is anti-Christ. Yes, try the spirits, whether
they are of God, because many false prophets are going out
into the world. Judge them. The Scripture demands
it. If you'd like this message on
cassette tape, write to us to the address that shall be given
to you. Until next Sunday, good day. Thank you. you