I've entitled the message for
this evening, Hearing and Not Hearing. Now look what John says in verse
six. The dogmatism and the confidence
of this statement, we are of God. He that knoweth God He that's
not of God, heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Now that is either the statement
of an arrogant cult leader. If you're of God, if you know God, you'll hear
me. If you don't know God, if you're not of God, you won't
hear me. Now that's quite a statement.
And it's either the statement of an arrogant cult leader or
it's divinely inspired. One of those two. The person that is not of God
doesn't hear us. They can't. The person that knows
God hears us. They believe what we say and
by this we see the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. What a statement. What a statement. If you know God you'll hear what
I'm saying tonight and believe it. Because what I'm saying is
going to line up with the God you know. You see, if you know
God, you know Him. And when you hear that which
is true concerning Him, you know it. And when you hear that which
is false concerning Him, you know it. You have to know God
first. But if you know God, if you know the living God, you're
going to hear and believe what I'm saying. I'm saying that with
just as much confidence as John did. I believe that. The only
way I would say it is because it's in the scripture. But if
you know God, you will hear and you will agree. You will believe
what I'm saying. And if you're not of God, if
you don't know God, you will not hear and you will not believe
and you're under the spirit of error. You've been deceived and
you're one who is of the world and not of God. Now that's strong
language, isn't it? Extremely strong language. Let's
read these verses again, verses four through six. You are of God, little children,
and have overcome them. And he's talking about the false
prophets that were mentioned in the first three verses. You've
overcome them, and here's why, 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. They speak a language the world
can understand, and the world heareth them. They agree with
what they're hearing. 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 he says in verse four, you
are of God, little children. This has to do with origin. This
is where you're from. If you're of God, that means
you're from God. Now that's language that's hard
to understand, but it has something to do with union, the eternal
union the believer has with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
you've always been in Christ. You're of God. If you're a believer,
and this is mysterious, it's glorious, but I love thinking
about this. When I get to heaven, I'm gonna
find out I've always been there. It's like I never left. I've
always been in the beloved. That's what he means when he
says you're of God. You're from him. That's your
origin. Your origin's not of the world. Your origin comes
from your eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
glorious. To be of God has to do with possession. That means you belong to him.
I am my beloved's and he is mine. And to be of God has to do with
a relationship. I've got a relationship with
the living God, the eternal God. I'm his son. I'm a son of God. That's what every believer is.
What's that scripture? John 1 12, but as many as received
him to them, give you the right, the power to become the sons
of God, even to them, which believe on his name and beloved. I do
believe on his name. His name right now is my only
entrance into heaven. I really believe that to believe
on his name, believes that you will only be saved for his name's
sake and no reason in you. even to them which believe on
his name, which were born, which were birthed. This is how they
become sons of God, which were born, not of blood, not because
my mom and dad are Christians, not of the will of man, not because
a bunch of men got together and prayed for me and made sure I
would be saved, not of the will of the flesh, not as an act of
my free will. Free will's not true. There's
nothing true, it's ridiculous. If you're birthed, if you're
a son of God, it's because you've been born of God. And what's the evidence of being
of God? Turn with me to John chapter 8. Hold your finger there
in verse John chapter 4. I love the simplicity of these
words. John chapter 8. What is the evidence
that someone has been born of God? What is the evidence that
someone really is of God? That God is their origin. That
God owns them. That He's their God. What's the
evidence? Look in John chapter 8 verse
47. He that is of God, what? Heareth God's words. You hear the gospel. You hear. Look what he says to these people.
You therefore hear them not because you're not of God. The reason
you don't believe me is because you are not of God. What language? But it's the truth,
isn't it? He that's of God, Heareth God's
words, you therefore hear them not because you are not of God. And I can say, if I'm preaching
the gospel and somebody refuses to believe, it's easy enough
to say, heartbreaking, but still easy enough to say, you're not
of God. He that's of God, heareth God's words. I love that scripture
in John chapter 10, where he said, you believe not because
you're not of my shape. He didn't say, you're not my sheep because
you don't believe. He said, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep, as I said unto you. I think of what the Pharisees
said as they listened to Christ preached. And when he finished
his message, they said, these are hard sayings. These are harsh
words, disagreeable to humanity. Who can hear such preaching? Well, he that is of God can hear
and rejoice in it. And he that's not of God does
not hear. Now, the Lord said, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them. and they follow
me." Now, I've never heard the literal voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but I've certainly heard his voice in preaching of the
gospel, where I know it is the Word of God. Now, he says in
verse 4, you are of God, little children, and have overcome them. Well, who's he talking about?
Well, look back up in verse 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
believe not every preacher, but try the spirits. Put them to
the test. whether they are of God, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world. Many. Don't believe just because
somebody is preaching from scriptures that they're of God. Don't believe
that simply because they're saying some good things they're of God.
And he gives us a real simple test as to how we can know if
somebody is of God. Verse two. Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ,
now remember confession has something to do with what they publicly
state. It's not in their private conversation, it's their public
confession. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. 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 you've heard that it
should come and even now already it's in the world. Now here is
the test as to whether or not a man is preaching the truth
whether he's preaching the gospel whether he is of God and it's
very simple. You confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Now, somebody says everybody
makes that confession. Now, hold on. Hold on. Everybody
might say, yeah, I believe Jesus Christ came in the flesh, but
what does that mean? To say that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is to say that he eternally was before he came. He is the eternal, uncreated,
sovereign Son of God, equal with the Father. He was before he
came. That statement is meaningless
without that. And this one who is the eternal
God, the creator, came in the flesh. God was manifest in the
flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Somebody says, well, I agree
with that. Okay, let's take it a little further. He was before he came. He came in the flesh. And here's
where people get stuck. He did what He came to do. That's the gospel. He did what
He came to do. He said in John chapter 17 verse
1, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy Son. Now he's talking
about the cross. The reason the universe was created.
Everything was for the cross. Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son, that thy son also might glorify thee. This is why he
came to glorify his father. And he said in John chapter 17
verse 4, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work. Thou gavest me to do. Now when
we talk about Him doing what He came to do, number one, He
glorified God. And He glorified God by finishing
the work the Father gave Him to do. And what is that work?
Well, we read in the opening page of the chapter of the New
Testament, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save
His people from their sins. And you know what that means?
When He said, I finish the work you gave me to do, everybody
he died for, their salvation was completely finished. Now that's salvation, a complete
work. Now the false prophet will always
try to get you to do something because they want you to not
believe in the completed, finished work. The false prophets are
always giving you something to do to complete the work. And
this is a denial of His finished work. There's something you need
to do to complete it. And I'll tell you what, if I
think there's something I need to do to complete it, I know I won't do
it. I just know that. I know I won't be saved if that's
the case. But thank God He finished the work when He had by Himself,
and that means without any help from me, without any help from
you, when He had by Himself purged put away our sins. He sat down
at the right hand of God. Why did he sit down? Because
he finished the work. He finished the work. Now that
is the gospel. and someone that leaves you something
to do. You know, the way people, preachers,
present the gospel as an offer. God's offering you forgiveness.
God's offering you salvation. Well, that means as to whether
or not you're saved is dependent upon your acceptance or rejection
of the offer. All that is is salvation by works. God doesn't
offer anything. He only speaks by commandment.
Thou hast given commandment, the psalmist said, to save me.
A finished and completed work. And now let's go on reading.
You are God's little children. You've overcome them, these false
prophets. You haven't given in to their
message. And here's why. Because greater
is he that's in you than he that's in the world. The reason you've
overcome them is not because of some spiritual strength that
you possess, but because greater is he that's in you than he that's
in the world. And the one who is in the world
is Satan. He inspires the message of Antichrist. And let me remind you, Antichrist
means in the stead of Christ. Usually when people think of
Antichrist, they think of some kind of monstrous looking being
that is just scary looking, snakes coming out, and oh, you know,
no. Antichrist means in the stead
of. in the place of Christ. Antichrist is one who masquerades
as the Christ. I'm the Christ. My message is
the message of Christ. That's antichrist. Now he says
you've overcome them because greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. Now Satan is very powerful but
Christ is omnipotent. He's all powerful. And that's
why every believer is eternally secure. Christ died for them. Christ put away their sins. He
justified them. He gave them His Spirit. He gave
them a life that cannot be extinguished. And they're eternally secure
because of His great power. Now, I'm not going to persevere
because of any power in me. I know that. I'm just dead sure
of that. You are too if you're a believer.
You understand that. Here's our hope, greater is He
that's in you than he that's in the world. And the reason
I'm going to continue to look to Christ only is because of
His omnipotence. I'm kept, that's what Peter said,
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 10. Here's why I'm not overcome.
It's not because I'm smarter. It's not because I have some
kind of spiritual strength. It's because of Him. It's only
because of Him. Look in John chapter 10, verse
26. He said, 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 father which gave them me
is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. You see, I and my father are one. The strength
of my father's hand is my hand and nobody's able to pluck them
out of my hand. Hence the security of God's people. Now back to
our text in first John chapter four. The reason you've overcome them
is because greater is he that's in you than he that's in the
world. Verse five, they, these false prophets, these men who
don't come with the message, they are of the world. It's very important. They are
of the world. Therefore, speak they of the
world and the world heareth them. That means they're not of God. If they're of the world, they're
not of God. They're of the world of which
it said the world by wisdom knew not God. They're of the world
for which Christ refused to pray. He said in John chapter 17 verse
9, I pray for them, I pray not for the world. That's clear language,
isn't it? I pray not for the world. but
for them which you have given me. They are of the world where
the Lord said, the world cannot hate you. He said this to unbelievers,
the world cannot hate you, but me it hated because I testify
of it that the works thereof, all the works, the religious
works, the bad works, the good works, all the works, they're
evil. That's why the world hates me. The world of which John said,
Look in 1 John 2, since you're there in 1 John, verse 15. Love not the world. Neither the things that are in
the world, if any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him, for all that's in the world. Now before I go
on, when you think of the world, if you think of the planet, I
love this planet, don't you? This is my father's world. I
was so thrilled when I saw that big moon coming in. That's my
father's moon. It was so beautiful. The world,
the beauty, it's a blessing to be in the world. And this is
not saying that we hate everything about the world. No, this is
my father's world. This is talking about the world that doesn't
love God. It's talking about the world that doesn't believe
the gospel. This is talking about the world that doesn't promote
the gospel. Now look what he says, love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. For if
any man loved the world, the father's not in him. For all
that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, pleasure, the lust
of the eyes, popularity, the pride of life, self-righteousness
is not of the father. but it is of the world. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 17. Hold your finger there in first
John and turn to Psalm 17. David is praying. This is a prayer
of David, the man after God's own heart. And he says in verse
13, arise, O Lord, disappoint him. Cast him down, deliver my
soul from the wicked which is thy sword. The wicked, you're
using them, they're your sword. From men which are thy hand,
oh Lord. From men of the world which have
their portion in this life. And whose belly thou fillest
with thy head treasures. They're full of children, they
leave the rest of their substance to their babes, they have plenty.
But he says, as for me, I'll behold thy face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." Now, notice
the men of the world, they have their portion in this life. That's
what they care about, the here and the now. What would a prophet
of man if he gained the whole world and lose his soul? Because
they are of the world, they speak of the world, and the world understands
them. You see, their preaching has
an appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life. That's the appeal of false preaching. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
two. I want you to look at these scriptures with me. Colossians
chapter two, verse eight. Colossians chapter two, verse
eight. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy. Colossians chapter 2 verse 8,
beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit
after the traditions of men, after the rudiments, the ABCs
of the world. and not after Christ, for in
Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete." Isn't that what the message of the Gospel is?
You are complete. You lack nothing. You have all
that God requires. You're perfect in Christ Jesus.
You are complete in Him. And the philosophy of the world,
the preaching of the world is going to try to draw you away
from you are complete. There's something you need to
do to complete this. That's the message of the false
prophet. There's something you need to do. Look in verse 20
of Colossians chapter 2. Wherefore if you be dead with
Christ from the rudiments, the elements, the way of thinking
of the world, why as though living in the world are you subject
to ordinances? man-made rules. Touch not, taste
not, handle not. If you don't touch this, if you
don't taste that, if you don't handle that, you'll be holy.
Which all are to perish with the using. If that's what your
religion is, you're going to perish. All it is, is the doctrine
and commandments of men. Which things indeed have a show
of wisdom and will worship. I have control over my will,
and humility, I'm humbling myself, and neglecting of the body, asceticism,
but not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Now, these men
of the world don't want you to believe that you're complete
in Christ Jesus. Because if you do not believe you're complete
in Christ Jesus, that means you look somewhere else for completion.
That means you look to what you do and they'll give you rules
to get you to look elsewhere. They'll tell you how to not be
worldly in order to make you utterly worldly. Now that is
what he is warning of. And the world heareth him. What
they say appeals to the lust of the flesh. And religion is
an appeal to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.
Worrying about what men think, trying to show men how religious
you are, and posh you are, and good you are, and comparing yourself
with somebody else, and the pride of life, self-righteousness.
There's an appeal in the worldly preaching to the flesh. Now,
go back to our text in 1 John chapter 3, or verse John chapter
4. He says in verse 6, we are of
God. Now I imagine just about every
preacher makes that claim. And I imagine just about every
church makes that claim. We're of God. God's behind this. God's inspired this. We're trying
to reach people for God. We're trying to affect the culture
and we're trying to become relevant so people can really hear what
we're saying and we're trying to we're trying to really speak
to people for God. Everybody makes that claim. I
don't know. If the preacher said I'm not
from God you wouldn't want to hear him would you? You wouldn't
want to have anything to do with him. Why would I come hear you? Our church
doesn't have anything to do with God. Why would you want to be
there? Of course they're going to make this claim. We're of God. Now
look what he says. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. Now, if you know God, you'll
hear me and you'll believe what I'm saying. And if you don't
hear me and you don't believe what I'm saying, you're not of
God. You're of the world. Now, this
statement is so important. He that knoweth God, Now, if you know God, I'll put it this way. Somebody
says, I know Todd Daubert. Oh, I do too. I know Todd Daubert.
He's four foot seven. He has a full head of hair. Different
person. Different person, I don't know
that person. And when you know God, if somebody says something
that's contrary to the God you know, you know it's not God.
Here's the key, knowing God, you gotta know God in order to
be able to discern whether or not what you're hearing is from
God or not. God is holy. God is absolutely sovereign.
That means He's the cause of causes and He controls everybody
and everything. His will is always done. God
is immutable. He cannot change. God is just. He will never let sin go unpunished,
but He's made a way to be just and justify the ungodly through
the gospel. We know who God is. And when
we hear somebody say something about Him that's contrary to
that, we know it's wrong. We know it's not him. And if
I tell who he is, if I preach the God that lines up with the
God you know, the God that every believer knows, you'll know that's
a God. That's true. You see, you've
got to know God to be able to discern. And if you don't know
God, you cannot discern. We are of God, he that knoweth
God. And the only way I'm going to
know God is if He reveals Himself to me through the gospel. I mean,
we're totally dependent upon revelation, Him making Himself
known. But when He makes Himself known,
you know Him. You know Him. You might not know all the terms,
but you know Him. And you know who He is. And when
somebody, for instance, says, well, God predestinates everything. And you might not have ever heard
predestination before. We say, yeah, that's who God is. That's
just who He is. Because you know 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. Now you remember I've already
touched on this, that test John gave as to who knows God and
who preaches the gospel. He said, whoso confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now in that seven
word statement we have everything we believe. It's brilliant that
he could put so much in such a simple statement. Well, it's of the Holy Spirit.
It's not like he was smart. It's because God's the Holy Spirit,
but it is amazing. He was before he came. He's the
eternal God. He came in the flesh and he did
what he came to do. He accomplished salvation. He completed salvation. We're
trusting a finished work. We're trusting him who finished
the work and anybody that gives you something to do is not of
God. Now, all who preach the gospel. Speak of him who finished the
work. I'm not giving you anything to
do. Give me something to do. No, I'm not going to do it. The
message of false religion is do. The message of the gospel
is done. It's that simple. And if you believe this, you'll
rejoice in it. You're glad because you know in and of yourself you
can't do anything else. Now, he that knoweth God, heareth
us. And if you don't know God, you
won't hear. Now, let me finish with this
statement. He that's not of God heareth
not us, and we don't expect them to. The natural man can't hear.
Why don't you understand my speech? The Lord said, because you can't.
Because you can't hear my word. You see, only those who have
hearing ears hear. But in this thing of hearing, You cannot hear the gospel except
as a sinner. And the only way you can know
you're a sinner is if God has done something for you. An unbeliever
doesn't have any idea what sin is in the first place. They just
think it's behavioral, it's if I'd stop this and start that.
But if God reveals to you that you are a sinner, and what do
I mean by that, or what does the Bible mean by that? It means
you cannot not sin. How about you? Can you keep from
sinning? Can you go five seconds without
sinning? Then you're not a sinner. A sinner is someone who all they
do You see? And this is the testimony of
Scripture. And I'm saying this even here while I'm preaching
to you, I'm sinning. What's wrong with you? I'm a
sinner. I can't say anything without
sin. Well, can I listen to you? Sure can. That's the only person
I want to listen to is someone who really believes himself to
be a sinner saved by grace. We're in 1 John, look in chapter
1, verse 8. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We lose all credibility
the moment we say that. Look in verse 10. If we say we've
not sinned with regard to anything we do, we make him a liar and
his word is not in us. Now you can only hear the gospel
as a sinner. Now what do I mean by that? Being totally depraved, And I
believe that about myself, I believe about you too. I believe about
all men. Being totally depraved, first
of all, I need a written revelation from God that states the truth
without error, because I don't trust any man. I've got to have
a written revelation from God. Thank God for the Bible. What
I'm preaching, I appeal to you, search and see if what I'm teaching
is according to scripture. That's my only appeal. But I
know I need to have a written revelation that tells me the
truth. I'm totally dependent on that. Not only that, I need,
being a sinner, I need a written revelation. Being a sinner, I
need a God that can will my salvation. I'm like that leopard, Lord,
if you will. You can make me clean because
if He doesn't will my salvation, I won't be saved. I need a God,
a sovereign God who can will my salvation. Being a sinner,
I need God to choose me because I know, I know that if He doesn't
choose me, I won't choose Him. I know there's no hope for me
if He doesn't sovereignly choose me to be His. That's what election
is. He chose who'd be saved before the foundation of the world.
Somebody says, you always hammer on election. I'm going to keep
hammering on it. I love it. Election's who God is. I need
being a sinner, being a real sinner, not a sham sinner, not
a famed sinner, not one who takes the title but doesn't really
believe it, but being a real sinner. I need Jesus Christ to
die for me in such a way that there's no possibility that I'll
be damned. If you tell me that Jesus Christ
can die for somebody and may wind up in hell anyway, I've
got no hope. The only hope I have is that
he died for me and accomplished my salvation. Being a sinner,
I need grace that saves. I don't need an offer of grace.
I need irresistible grace. I need invincible grace. I need
grace that causes my salvation. Being a sinner, I need to be
preserved by God or I won't persevere. This is what I need. You see,
you can only hear the gospel as a sinner. And the moment you're
hearing not as a sinner, all this stuff, it's not all that
important. But if you hear as a sinner,
It's absolutely essential. If I hear a message that contradicts
this, it gives me no hope of being saved. That's how personal
I take all this. You know, a believer loves God, loves all of his attributes,
loves his way of saving. And if someone says something
contrary to what they know is true, they take it personal.
They take it personal because they love God, they love Christ,
they love the gospel, and they're offended by anything that detracts
from His glory. What a summary. We are of God, verse 6, 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. The spirit
of truth, you hear and believe. The spirit of error, you refuse
to hear, you say, I do not believe that. Do you hear? Do you believe? Do you find salvation
in the gospel where Christ was before he came? He came in the
flesh in saving power and did everything he came to do. Do you believe that? You're of
the spirit of truth. Do you not believe that? Then
you're of the spirit of error. Now one last scripture, turn
to Galatians chapter six. Now, this is the Apostle Paul
speaking. This is the man that God used
more than anybody else to expound the gospel. This is the man who
wrote 13 books in the Bible. Quite a man. God used him to
found churches. He was beaten on a regular basis
for the cause of Christ. There isn't any man that I admire
more than the Apostle Paul. Would you agree with me? Paul
the Apostle, what a man. Now look what he says. Verse
14. But God forbid that I should
glory, that I should rejoice in, that I should have confidence
in. That's what the word means. God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's all Paul glories in. Anything
else? Nope. Nope. All my hope is found in the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't glory in anything else.
I don't glory in God's revelation to me. You know, he was brought
up into the third heaven. And Christ directly taught him
the gospel. Oh, what revelations this man
had. Do you glory in that, Paul? No,
I glory in the cross. I only glory in who he is and
what he did. Nothing else. And look what this
did in his attitude toward the world. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world
is crucified into me. All that the world loves is a crucified thing. I see no
beauty. I see no glory. the maxims of
the world, the desires of the world, the religion of the world.
It's crucified unto me. And you know, everybody that
glories only in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world
is going to find them to be as useless as a crucified felon.
But that's the way it is. Can you say, can I say, God forbid
that I should save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom, not by which, by whom, you can't separate the cross
and the person of Christ, the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. Let's pray together. Lord, we're so thankful for your
word that we're not dependent upon men's thoughts and men's
opinions and ideas, but you have left us your glorious word. And Lord, how we thank you for
the message of the word that tells us who you are in your
holiness and in your glory and in your righteousness and your
sovereignty and your power. And your word tells us who we
are, nothing but sin. But your word tells us of the
salvation that's in your son that makes us complete and that
there's nothing we need to do to complete it. Lord, we ask
that you would enable us to be faithful in preaching your gospel. And Lord, we ask for grace. that you would order our steps
in your word and let not any iniquity have dominion over us.
I bless this word for Christ's sake, in his name we pray.