Many False Prophets (1 John 4:1-6)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:04.040 Will please remain standing if you're able, and let's turn our attention to first 2 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:08.230 John, one of the last letters of the New Testament, a small letter, 3 00:00:08.669 --> 00:00:13.429 and then a little collection of letters by John. This one the first 4 00:00:13.509 --> 00:00:18.789 of those first John, and I'll be reading chapter four, verses one through 5 00:00:18.949 --> 00:00:23.620 six. This is God's word. Let us hear it and heed it. 6 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:30.899 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether 7 00:00:30.940 --> 00:00:35.619 they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 8 00:00:36.890 --> 00:00:41.689 By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that 9 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:46.770 Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that 10 00:00:46.890 --> 00:00:51.600 does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the 11 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:56.600 antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 12 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:02.679 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who 13 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.189 is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are 14 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:08.909 from the world. Therefore, they speak from the world and the world listens 15 00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:14.590 to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, 16 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:19.180 whoever is not from God does not listen to to us. By this we 17 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:23.900 know the spirit of the truth and that are or rather by this we know 18 00:01:23.019 --> 00:01:30.659 the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Amen, maybe seated well. 19 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:34.930 I'm going to spend a few sermons on this passage. Want to begin 20 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:40.450 by just a going through it with you briefly. I'm seeing in sort of 21 00:01:40.569 --> 00:01:49.920 its basic elements what is said here. First, we notice that John Addresses 22 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:53.400 his readers again as beloved. This is one of the ways in which he 23 00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:00.510 seems to change sections or notify another section. He kind of comes at them 24 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:05.109 again and says, Hey, remember who you are. I have something else 25 00:02:05.189 --> 00:02:07.430 to say to you, beloved, and then he gives them this warning. 26 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:12.189 He says do not believe every spirit, and that's going to be our main 27 00:02:12.310 --> 00:02:17.500 focus for today, just this reality that there exists true things and false things 28 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:23.500 in the world, false spirits, true spirits, things that are from God 29 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:30.250 and things that are not from God. John Recognizes this reality and speaks to 30 00:02:30.370 --> 00:02:34.490 these Christians in light of that. He speaks to US and he says here's 31 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:38.289 how you know by this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that 32 00:02:38.490 --> 00:02:46.400 confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God. This word confess 33 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:52.240 could also be profess. Sometimes it's used as a way to show a kind 34 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:59.069 of exclamation or a pronouncement, an official teaching in light of a and light 35 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:04.110 of some authority behind it. Either way you take it, here it is 36 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:09.870 what is the spirit saying, what is this person saying? Here? Spirit 37 00:03:10.030 --> 00:03:17.620 is used in a kind of a way that describes this principle or action of 38 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:24.460 people, a speaking it's a spirit that is not merely an action or a 39 00:03:24.539 --> 00:03:30.770 principle, but it's connected to either the spirit of God himself or to the 40 00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:37.810 world, as he says, or the Anti Christ, and he's talking to 41 00:03:37.889 --> 00:03:39.610 them. Finally, all note about this passage. He's talking to them in 42 00:03:39.650 --> 00:03:46.360 a situation that is very much a now moment and an ongoing thing. First, 43 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:51.919 notice the way he says that Jesus, every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ 44 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:57.590 has come in the flesh, is from God. That little word has is 45 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:01.830 important. The verb is a perfect verb and basically that means that it it's 46 00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:09.949 a word that expresses something in the past that has continuing significance. In other 47 00:04:09.990 --> 00:04:13.500 words, it's not just that Jesus came, and that's all I want you 48 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:18.100 to know, but Jesus came in. It has ongoing consequences. Will come 49 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:23.139 back to that. Later, the same kind of word or the same kind 50 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:28.529 of verb is used when it's talks about the spirit of antichrist. This is 51 00:04:28.569 --> 00:04:30.689 the spirit of the antichrist which you heard was coming and is now in the 52 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:38.759 world. Already there's this thing that is happening now, something that was expected, 53 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:46.399 but it's not purely in the future. It's happened and it continues with 54 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:49.639 that. In the situation, they have to be discerning people. They have 55 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:53.910 to decide what is true and what is false, and you have to do 56 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:59.269 that as well. Let's step back in time for a moment and imagine a 57 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:02.670 scenario, if you would with me. Let's imagine a young man in the 58 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:08.579 first century. He's come to Ephesus, here, where John was. Maybe 59 00:05:08.620 --> 00:05:12.740 he was going to train in a medical school there. will say that he's 60 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:15.220 far away from home. He's learning to be a man, he's hoping to 61 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:19.300 make his way in the world and in this new city he's made a new 62 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:24.689 friend, a Christian friend, a neighbor who doesn't live too far away. 63 00:05:25.769 --> 00:05:29.250 He tends to shop in the Agora around the same time of day. They 64 00:05:29.410 --> 00:05:33.250 get together, they talk, they're becoming friends, and this neighbor, this 65 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:40.279 Christian friend, invites this new young man to Ephesus, to church. He 66 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:45.879 decides to go there. They sing and they pray, they hear God's word 67 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.670 read and expounded, just as we do today. But while he's there he 68 00:05:49.750 --> 00:05:58.910 hears some very peculiar things. He hears about this man named Jesus. He's 69 00:05:58.949 --> 00:06:02.550 heard about him before, but in some more detail. On this particular day, 70 00:06:03.819 --> 00:06:08.740 he hears that this there is this Jesus, and he is believed by 71 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:15.459 these Christians to be a god, or rather the God for they Christians, 72 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:20.529 that the Christians, they reject all other gods and they give only their allegiance 73 00:06:20.730 --> 00:06:26.810 to this Jesus. I'll from his perspective. He thinks about this and he 74 00:06:26.889 --> 00:06:30.689 says well, in some ways they are very much like the Jews. Their 75 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:38.439 services are nearly the same. The their services are the same. And this 76 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:43.360 Jesus said to have been a Jew himself, even the son of an ancient 77 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:47.910 king, King David, the father of their faith, Abraham. He's talked 78 00:06:47.910 --> 00:06:54.629 about as a new Moses, a new Elijah. The whole thing sounds very 79 00:06:54.709 --> 00:06:59.949 Jewish in fact, but it's not centered on the ancient fathers or the temple 80 00:06:59.990 --> 00:07:03.300 or Israel or the sacrifices or the purity laws, and in that way it's 81 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:09.459 also very different from the Jews. Everything is so focused. Instead of on 82 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:18.370 these old institutions, it's so centrally focused on Jesus. This Jesus says he's 83 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:24.490 distinct from God, the father, but also one with him. He's promised 84 00:07:24.529 --> 00:07:29.009 to send his spirit, which they claim has happened, who is also God. 85 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.680 But though they make these distinctions between these three persons, they don't make 86 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:39.920 any divine distinctions and they say that each of them, the each of these 87 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:46.870 three persons together are one God. It's a lot to take in, but 88 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:50.949 at the core of it all is this central belief that God and the purpose 89 00:07:51.029 --> 00:08:00.339 and of Jesus has come into the world to save the world. Though Ephesians, 90 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:05.660 these Christians, and this church that he attends, they're not proud, 91 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:11.379 like many of the other Ephesians are a concerning artemis and our temple in particular. 92 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:16.209 In fact, regarding that particular temple, they refuse to worship there. 93 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:20.970 They won't even go and in some of them have even quit their jobs there. 94 00:08:22.569 --> 00:08:30.360 They have a kind of humility to it's a weird thing. Instead of 95 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:35.440 just transferring sort of Artemis, the great pride of the Ephesians, to Jesus, 96 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:41.200 the great pride of the Jews. Maybe hard to know. They love 97 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:43.149 him and they have confidence in him, but at the same time they're marked 98 00:08:43.190 --> 00:08:48.190 by a humility instead of pride. They're happy to be Christians, they're willing 99 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:54.230 to die for it, but they see themselves not as great ones. They're 100 00:08:54.230 --> 00:09:00.700 not filled with the kind of worldly patriotism that the Ephesians have. They see 101 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:05.179 themselves as sinners, as needy people, as broken people, as lost people 102 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:20.370 who have been found. This sounds intriguing at least. Sounds lovely and remarkable 103 00:09:20.529 --> 00:09:24.000 in other ways, but at the same time you know he has his friend 104 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:30.679 when he knows that the this community is not a perfect one. It's got 105 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.799 problems. His friend tells him that the church recently lost several members who claimed 106 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:41.710 they were Christians but in fact aren't. In fact there's divisions and struggles within 107 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:45.909 the church. John has been speaking to this issue. They recently received this 108 00:09:46.110 --> 00:09:50.309 letter teaching them how to deal with this situation, what they are to do. 109 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:56.100 They are to hold to the Gospel. They are not to believe a 110 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:03.220 different gospel like these other people have who say they're Christians and talk about Jesus, 111 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:09.289 but but aren't they preach a different Christ from a different spirit, and 112 00:10:09.409 --> 00:10:13.450 in some ways, honestly, it sounds kind of mean headed. Aren't they 113 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:18.529 supposed to be known by their love? What's with all the division? What's 114 00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:20.679 with all the these people are Christians, in these people are not Christians, 115 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.879 and all of that? Why can't they just get along together rather than adding 116 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:30.600 yet another God to the Pantheon and then dividing over how to worship him? 117 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:35.110 And besides that, how do they know who's right and WHO's wrong? How 118 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:41.190 do they know the ones who left weren't the right ones? His friends a 119 00:10:41.230 --> 00:10:46.269 nice guy, but he doesn't sound very nice when he says other people aren't 120 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:52.620 Christians. In fact, he says that John has taught them that they have 121 00:10:52.820 --> 00:11:01.580 the spirit of antichrist. Those are pretty strong words. So what's this young 122 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:05.330 man supposed to make of all of this? There's our scenario, or first 123 00:11:05.450 --> 00:11:13.129 century scenario, or maybe it's a twenty one century scenario. Right, there 124 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:16.690 are some of you here who day today, who have been in this young 125 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:20.159 man's shoes before. I know this because I've talked to you, I've heard 126 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:26.720 your stories and maybe you're even here today asking the very same question. How 127 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:31.720 can I know the truth? What is to be believed? Maybe, like 128 00:11:31.870 --> 00:11:37.389 our young man, a friend invited you. Maybe you've lost a family member 129 00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:41.110 recently and you're trying to figure out how to process that. Or maybe you're 130 00:11:41.149 --> 00:11:45.029 here because you just have a school assignment that's been given to you and you 131 00:11:45.070 --> 00:11:50.860 have a report that's do Monday. There are a thousand reasons why you might 132 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.179 show up here on any given Sunday, but at the end you and all 133 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:58.500 of us have the same kind of question to answer that this young man had. 134 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:07.730 Is it true? Is it from God? How can I know if 135 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:15.090 this describes you? Let me start out by saying good for you. Being 136 00:12:15.370 --> 00:12:20.320 open and honest, being a listener, having humility is not an easy thing 137 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:26.000 to do. Being uncomfortable is not easy, unless, of course, you're 138 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:30.870 desperate for salvation, and then no amount of does comfort attends to hold us 139 00:12:30.870 --> 00:12:35.470 back. Nevertheless, I do want to recognize that for most of us, 140 00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:41.029 coming face to face with our uncertainties, with our doubts, with our core 141 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:50.620 beliefs and unbeliefs, that can be a very unnerving thing. This is true 142 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:56.259 for Christians as well well. You might be surprised to learn, then, 143 00:12:56.340 --> 00:13:03.129 is that the Bible actually invites this kind of questioning. God himself has written 144 00:13:03.129 --> 00:13:07.889 down in his very word this reality that we all experience as human beings, 145 00:13:09.970 --> 00:13:15.679 this reality that there are different and competing truths in the world and that we 146 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:20.480 all have to process that and come to conclusions about it. Now you might 147 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.639 say, well, I don't really need to come to a conclusion about it 148 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:28.870 and we can delay these things, perhaps for a little bit of time. 149 00:13:31.429 --> 00:13:35.990 We like to delay, maybe even the hard work of truth testing because, 150 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:45.500 well, it's hard, I'm unnerving and scary and life is busy. But 151 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:50.100 let me remind you that life is also short. Even if you don't believe 152 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:58.009 in an afterlife, doesn't truth matter right here, right now? Think about 153 00:13:58.009 --> 00:14:03.009 the basic questions which we operate on in just our everyday lives. Doesn't it 154 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:11.279 matter whether racism is really evil or not, if theft is a real crime 155 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:18.000 or not? Is God really powerful and really good or not? Is Love 156 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:24.200 something that we owe one another and should give to one another or is it 157 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:31.230 not? These kinds of core things, these central things, truth with a 158 00:14:31.350 --> 00:14:37.549 capital T, we might say, are essential for living our lives and we 159 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:41.139 might not necessarily know them or have all the answers, but the fact is 160 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:43.620 is that we are operating on them, whether we like it or not. 161 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:50.500 We have to on the basis of these things, we make decisions every single 162 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:56.049 day. They are the lane markers we drive our cars in. They're the 163 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:00.889 winds into which we open our sales, they're the ways and they're the reasons 164 00:15:01.049 --> 00:15:05.649 behind why we say that's not fair and you shouldn't have done that for me 165 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:13.159 or to me. They shape our priorities. They teach us about how to 166 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:20.720 interpret our experiences. The truth of love, for example, makes a hug 167 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:28.149 from a friend in a time of sorrow deep and meaningful, because love is 168 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:37.259 not an abstat and abstract idea or social construct. It's real and it's meaningful 169 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:43.659 and you feel it when your friend embraces you. The Truth Matters Love. 170 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:50.129 The truth of love makes a hug from a friend have importance and significance and 171 00:15:50.330 --> 00:15:58.129 not just be physical bodies moving like robots. It's a truth thing, it's 172 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:04.679 a wonderful thing. Or take another example, the truth of justice makes things 173 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:12.720 like forgiveness and reconciliation more than just arbitrary constructs. They make them things worth 174 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:18.750 pursuing, worth fighting for, worth Eve in dying for. The truth that 175 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:25.830 God is good and powerful as our creator gives us value outside of our circumstances 176 00:16:25.950 --> 00:16:32.549 and talents. The truth that God is good and powerful makes us obligated beyond 177 00:16:32.590 --> 00:16:38.259 our personal proclivities. The truth that God is good and powerful gives us out 178 00:16:38.259 --> 00:16:44.700 its hope outside of our experiences of this world, when he sends his son 179 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:48.850 into the world and says that we can have eternal life in him. So 180 00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:52.610 you see what I mean. I'm saying that truth matters. Of course it 181 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:57.210 matters. We live every moment of our lives on the basis of what we 182 00:16:57.409 --> 00:17:04.480 believe about the truth. So while it's hard to face our doubts, I 183 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:11.640 know that, and all the possibility of saying that we're wrong or being humbled 184 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:17.430 or being a sir or being uncertain is hard to deal with, we have 185 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:22.190 to face it at some point. We have to ask these kinds of questions. 186 00:17:22.670 --> 00:17:29.230 What is true and what is not? We ask this in really simple 187 00:17:29.349 --> 00:17:33.019 things. Right, you get a cupe on and your email. Is this 188 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:37.180 legit or is the spam right? It makes a difference and if it makes 189 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:41.859 a difference for something as simple as whether you're going to say fifteen percent at 190 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:47.970 the department store. Shouldn't it matter for what whether or not you will go 191 00:17:48.250 --> 00:17:57.009 to heaven or hell? So I find it remarkable that the Bible doesn't Swish 192 00:17:57.049 --> 00:18:03.240 all of this away, sweep it under the rug, this reality of our 193 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:11.000 lives about truth and falsehoods, the reality of our struggles in needing to know 194 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:19.470 and yet unknowing or not knowing. The Bible speaks in truth to the necessity 195 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:26.069 of finding truth and it invites it. Bring it on, bring your questions, 196 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:36.980 bring your concerns. Beloved the apostle rights do not believe every spirit, 197 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:42.569 but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. The Apostle John, 198 00:18:42.569 --> 00:18:48.250 in this letter, inspired by the spirit of God, does not simply 199 00:18:48.329 --> 00:18:52.329 say believe me, listen to what I say and God will abide in you. 200 00:18:53.369 --> 00:18:56.759 Now he does make that claim, as he says at the end. 201 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:02.519 He says whoever knows God listens to us. That's verse six. And if 202 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:06.839 that wasn't clear, whoever is not from God does not listen to us. 203 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:11.109 Right. So he certainly says you must believe me, you must hear me 204 00:19:11.230 --> 00:19:17.069 if you are to know the truth and to abide in God. But he 205 00:19:17.150 --> 00:19:22.230 doesn't only say that, he makes a claim. He makes a promise of 206 00:19:22.269 --> 00:19:29.460 eternal value and he says test it, not just believe me, test the 207 00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:36.579 spirits. He recognizes the fact that there are competing voices out there, false 208 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:40.930 prophets who have gone out into the world, and many of them, or 209 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:45.210 and all of them, all of these false prophets, aren't speaking lies. 210 00:19:45.569 --> 00:19:55.559 There are people who call themselves Christians but are not. Isn't that just common 211 00:19:55.720 --> 00:20:00.960 sense, whether you're a Christian or not? Wouldn't that just be an obvious 212 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.670 truth? Why? Because people are liars, people are hypocrites. It's a 213 00:20:08.869 --> 00:20:14.109 part of this world that we live and it's one of the things that Jesus 214 00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:18.630 is saving us from. But John is warning. If you listen to these 215 00:20:18.750 --> 00:20:25.420 people, you will fall back into the darkness. If you listen to us, 216 00:20:25.779 --> 00:20:30.740 you will abide in God. Now, before you form any conclusions about 217 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:34.769 that, you have to recognize that what John says about their being multiple and 218 00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:40.890 competing voices is true, and it's the same back then, or is the 219 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:48.210 same today, as it was in the early Church Urch. This is undeniable. 220 00:20:48.569 --> 00:20:51.960 John is right and honest for saying it. There's no way around this. 221 00:20:52.359 --> 00:21:00.000 Reality and necessays. The necessity of a test is required. Think about 222 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.750 it this way. Let's say you're given two hundred dollar bills. One is 223 00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:10.789 real and one is a fake. You need some sort of test. Is 224 00:21:11.269 --> 00:21:15.789 because I said so going to be good enough? Well, maybe, depending 225 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:18.549 on the source and WHO's saying it. But what if you don't know? 226 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:22.220 What if you haven't yet spent in time with the source, it's going to 227 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:27.420 be difficult to know how to test. So John doesn't just say because I 228 00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:32.299 said so or because someone, some other man, says so. He says 229 00:21:32.339 --> 00:21:36.250 here's the test, here's how you know which is true and which is false. 230 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:41.049 Does the person profess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh or not? 231 00:21:42.970 --> 00:21:48.960 If he professes this, then he speaks the truth and is therefore from 232 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:53.440 God. If he denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, then 233 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:59.359 he does not speak the truth and is from God. Now I know what 234 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.990 you're thinking. You're thinking, well, of course John gives this test right. 235 00:22:08.109 --> 00:22:12.829 What gives John the right to give this test? What if the other 236 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:17.460 person said the opposite thing? What if they said the way to the know 237 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.859 the truth is to see who denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. 238 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:25.900 I'm just right back to square one. Yes, it's true that there 239 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:30.009 are competing voices. Yes, it's true that we need a test, but 240 00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:33.250 of course you're given going to give me this answer because you want me to 241 00:22:33.369 --> 00:22:40.089 believe what you're saying. Well, how do we think about that? Well, 242 00:22:40.130 --> 00:22:42.009 the first thing I want to say is that, while it's true that 243 00:22:42.289 --> 00:22:48.640 two people can give opposing tests, it doesn't mean that both are equally right. 244 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:55.319 And is the person who is telling you the truth and telling you about 245 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.950 the true test wrong for offering that to you? In other words, if 246 00:23:00.990 --> 00:23:04.869 a person says this is true and here's how you know, are they to 247 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:11.470 be judged by that and say how could you possibly do that? Of course 248 00:23:11.589 --> 00:23:15.420 you would say that. I don't think so, and there's a lot of 249 00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:19.220 reasons for it. For example, for for one reason, what else is 250 00:23:19.299 --> 00:23:26.180 a person supposed to say? Let's say someone steals your identity and you have 251 00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:29.809 to go before a judge and there's another person there standing right next to you. 252 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:36.289 There's another Christopher, Christopher Chalka me. One says he's the Real Christopher, 253 00:23:36.329 --> 00:23:40.650 or the other says he is the Real Christopher. What am I supposed 254 00:23:40.650 --> 00:23:45.559 to do? I could say believe me. The judge would say, okay, 255 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:48.480 I can give a test. Right. I can say, look, 256 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:53.319 here's my birth certificate. Whoever was born on this day, on my birthdays 257 00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:56.710 the Real Christopher. Or I could go to my mother and I could say, 258 00:23:56.910 --> 00:24:00.630 listen, here's the testimony of my mother. Now, this May or 259 00:24:00.670 --> 00:24:03.349 may not convince the judge, but here's the point I'm wanting to make. 260 00:24:03.829 --> 00:24:11.380 Would you blame me for offering my birth certificate, the testimony of my mother 261 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:18.740 other documents as proof? What else is of an supposed to do other than 262 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:23.180 offer legitimate tests to test the truth? Is he supposed to lie and give 263 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:26.609 false tests? Is he supposed to not give you any test at all? 264 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:32.369 No, he's doing the only thing that can be done. You want to 265 00:24:32.450 --> 00:24:36.250 know the truth, good test the truth. How do I test the truth? 266 00:24:36.769 --> 00:24:42.680 By this a true test. Obviously a liar is going to make a 267 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:48.559 counterclaim, but that doesn't mean that the truth teller is wrong. It's not 268 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:55.309 right to scoff at somebody WHO's trying to defend the truth, and we shouldn't 269 00:24:55.349 --> 00:24:59.869 scoff at John as he speaks this way, as he says, believe me. 270 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:03.269 And here's the test. He's testifying to what he knows is true. 271 00:25:03.309 --> 00:25:07.859 John does nothing wrong in being one to give us a test and to back 272 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:17.859 up that claim. Now what about the test in particular? Now we're at 273 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:22.170 the really hard stuff. John says that the way to know a true spirit 274 00:25:22.289 --> 00:25:26.450 is to God, is from God, is to see whether or not he 275 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:30.890 professes Jesus, Christ has come in the flesh. So here's the question you 276 00:25:32.089 --> 00:25:38.119 have to answer. Is this a good test? Is it true? Should 277 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:44.200 this be? Is this a valid way to decide this? Well, it 278 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:49.670 is, and for many reasons. One is that John is not unique in 279 00:25:49.789 --> 00:25:56.029 giving this test. Throughout the New Testament there are there's a deep concern that 280 00:25:56.069 --> 00:26:00.549 Christians be able to know and have confidence in their knowledge of the truth, 281 00:26:00.789 --> 00:26:04.940 because there are liars out there. It's essential that we be able to discern 282 00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:10.460 and John is not claiming something unique here. In other words, we can't 283 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:14.579 Impune John's character and say, well, of course you did that. There 284 00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:18.339 were lots of people that were doing this in the same way. They were 285 00:26:18.420 --> 00:26:23.130 testifying together of the truth. His message about Jesus is the same message that 286 00:26:23.250 --> 00:26:29.210 you hear from the other apostles who knew Jesus, who were sent out by 287 00:26:29.250 --> 00:26:33.680 him and taught by him. It was a message also that these men and 288 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:40.759 women and children who follow Jesus would suffer for, would die for, people 289 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:47.150 from different backgrounds, different places, different races, Different Ages, all willing 290 00:26:47.230 --> 00:26:52.869 to die for Jesus who had come in the flesh. You have to explain 291 00:26:52.990 --> 00:26:59.430 the personal motivation is not a key here. Paul says similar things. He 292 00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:04.299 says, am I preaching this Gospel to you of self promotion or gain? 293 00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:08.819 If that were the case, why would I be sitting in jail, beaten, 294 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:14.859 flogged and all the rest? A second thing to note here is that 295 00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:22.130 they're not saying things about Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians. They're not 296 00:27:22.410 --> 00:27:29.569 saying this test about this one who only lives in statues and myths and rituals. 297 00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:37.400 They are saying things about Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There they, that 298 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.200 is, Christians, and the apostle here in particular, is saying something about 299 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:48.549 a historical event, even something that has happened in their lifetimes, something that 300 00:27:48.710 --> 00:27:56.470 they saw. They are resting their faith on the verifiable facts of history. 301 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:03.859 They're not making a leap of faith and the unknown mythologies. They're saying, 302 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:11.980 I knew this man n this is what he did, this is how he 303 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:17.329 died, this is how he rose from the dead and this is what happened 304 00:28:17.410 --> 00:28:21.930 when I saw him ascend into heaven. And this is what's happening now, 305 00:28:22.410 --> 00:28:26.609 as the spirit that he has promised is now going out into the world and 306 00:28:26.130 --> 00:28:34.920 turning it over. They're resting their faith on the verifiable hat facts of history, 307 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:41.750 things testified to by multiple sources in and outside of the Bible. A 308 00:28:41.549 --> 00:28:48.109 man from Nazareth, born of Virgin, according to prophecy, is a remarkable 309 00:28:48.309 --> 00:28:53.109 thing. Imagine if you knew a man who was born from Nazareth, from 310 00:28:53.109 --> 00:29:00.059 a virgin according to all of the prophecies of the Old Testament, you would 311 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:06.220 probably have something to say about that too. He was heralded by angels and 312 00:29:06.380 --> 00:29:11.490 dreams and many other events surrounding his coming. During his life, Jesus did 313 00:29:11.849 --> 00:29:17.089 countless miracles, including raising people from the dead, telling them things that were 314 00:29:17.130 --> 00:29:22.089 hidden from others. He walked on water, he fed thousands of people with 315 00:29:22.210 --> 00:29:26.599 a few loaves of bread and fish. He prophesied about his own death and 316 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:33.160 Resurrection Multiple Times. He spoke with authority on everything. He was perfect and 317 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:38.470 gentle and wise in every thing. He was meek and courageous and wise, 318 00:29:38.789 --> 00:29:44.670 I said that, and loving. He was dutiful in all things. He 319 00:29:44.869 --> 00:29:52.430 was also confusing and mysterious and powerful. He was worshiped by disabled people, 320 00:29:52.670 --> 00:29:56.819 Thieves, adulterers, all kinds of sinners who turned their lives around for him. 321 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:03.619 He was hated by powerful and self assured people who were threatened by the 322 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:14.289 good that he did. God became man. And then, after all of 323 00:30:14.410 --> 00:30:19.289 this, he willingly knew and gave himself over to death, even crucifixion, 324 00:30:19.450 --> 00:30:26.599 on across a cursed place. He suffered a number of other humiliations and sufferings. 325 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:30.599 Blood poured out of his body as he hung heavy on, trying and 326 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:37.349 heaving his last breaths. And even in these moments he was promising eternal life 327 00:30:37.950 --> 00:30:44.269 to and thief on a cross next to him, whom everyone could see was 328 00:30:44.990 --> 00:30:52.099 hanging with him. And all of this was prophesied for thousands of years by 329 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:57.140 profit after profit after profit from the Lord. He was the Promised Messiah, 330 00:30:57.299 --> 00:31:00.140 the Christ, the son of David, the king, who had come into 331 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:06.049 the world to save their people or to save God's people from them their sins. 332 00:31:07.609 --> 00:31:11.730 This is what John saw, and not just John, but all of 333 00:31:11.849 --> 00:31:17.569 the apostles and all of the disciples and people who followed him and people who 334 00:31:17.609 --> 00:31:23.599 didn't even believe saw these things and subsequently tried to cover them up. So 335 00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:30.039 when John says that True Christians profess that Jesus came in the flesh, he's 336 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:37.509 talking about this mission. He's not nearly speaking about the incarnation or this this 337 00:31:38.509 --> 00:31:45.069 particular thing that's happening. He's talking about this Salvivic event in which God comes 338 00:31:45.109 --> 00:31:52.539 into the world and accomplishes salvation for the world. It's not just the incarnation, 339 00:31:52.660 --> 00:32:00.819 it's about the mission of the incarnation, which culminated in the Cross and 340 00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:08.569 the resurrection and the ascension and the sending of the spirit. Jesus uses this 341 00:32:08.690 --> 00:32:15.119 language about coming. He doesn't merely say I come as a way to point 342 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:21.960 out a fact I picked up milk. No, he says I come as 343 00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:25.839 a way to talk about what he's doing. I'll give you one example. 344 00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:31.390 There's ten others throughout the gospel of John and other places, but in John 345 00:32:31.549 --> 00:32:37.309 Eighteen thirty seven he says the reason I was born and came into the world 346 00:32:37.829 --> 00:32:45.500 is to testify to the truth. This is the reason I was born and 347 00:32:45.779 --> 00:32:52.980 came into the world to testify to the truth. So if this is what 348 00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:57.539 the son of God did, does it make sense that the emissaries of that 349 00:32:57.779 --> 00:33:02.250 son would say here's the test by which you know the truth? The one 350 00:33:02.410 --> 00:33:08.690 who professes that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh to testify to the truth, 351 00:33:09.130 --> 00:33:15.119 to die to the cross to bring salvation to all of us? John's 352 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:20.400 test is a good one, because God himself came into the world to tell 353 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:28.549 us these things. The mission was made complete when Jesus rose victorious over the 354 00:33:28.670 --> 00:33:32.750 grave. In his death, he was conqueror and as his people saw him, 355 00:33:32.789 --> 00:33:38.670 after his resurrection and before his ascension, and even by visions in heaven 356 00:33:38.710 --> 00:33:46.180 itself, the world was put on notice that the savior has come. Let 357 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:52.900 me ask this question about this test in this way. What other possible test 358 00:33:53.940 --> 00:34:02.490 could one use then this? Is there any other? There isn't to know 359 00:34:02.730 --> 00:34:07.809 whether something is of the truth or not, whether it conforms to the testimony 360 00:34:07.930 --> 00:34:13.519 of God himself or not. We must see whether or not it conforms to 361 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:21.760 the testimony and the mission of Jesus. Let me say that again. To 362 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:25.269 know whether something is of the truth or not, you have to ask does 363 00:34:25.469 --> 00:34:31.389 it conform to the testimony of God himself, who came in the flesh to 364 00:34:31.590 --> 00:34:37.550 testify about the truth? Does it conform with what he said, with what 365 00:34:37.780 --> 00:34:51.380 he did and with his mission? John Has Authority absolutely given to him by 366 00:34:51.500 --> 00:34:57.329 God himself, the Holy Spirit working through him, but only in so far 367 00:34:57.369 --> 00:35:04.130 as he speaks the truth. Another one of Jesus's Apostles said the same thing 368 00:35:05.409 --> 00:35:10.159 Paul says in Second Corinthians Eleven. For for if someone coomes and proclaims another 369 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:15.360 Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from 370 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:20.000 the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel to them the 371 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.829 one that you accept, and then he chides them, you put up with 372 00:35:22.909 --> 00:35:30.630 it readily enough. Or listen to this from Galatians chapter one. He says, 373 00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:34.030 Paul, say as grace to you and peace from God, our father 374 00:35:34.230 --> 00:35:38.380 and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us 375 00:35:38.739 --> 00:35:43.219 from the present Evil Age, according to the will of God our father. 376 00:35:44.699 --> 00:35:50.050 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the 377 00:35:50.170 --> 00:35:53.809 grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is 378 00:35:53.929 --> 00:35:58.730 another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the 379 00:35:58.889 --> 00:36:05.039 Gospel of Christ. But if we or an angel from heaven should preach to 380 00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:07.760 you a gospel contrary to the one who we preach to you, let him 381 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:16.559 be a cursed. If I, an apostle of God, say something that 382 00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:22.789 doesn't conform to this testimony that it conform that side, that is a different 383 00:36:22.989 --> 00:36:30.630 gospel than the one that Jesus brought. If an angel itself comes from Heaven 384 00:36:30.670 --> 00:36:40.699 and proclaims a different Gospel, let him be cursed by God. If you 385 00:36:40.860 --> 00:36:45.539 want a surefire way to know the truth, you cannot depend on the claims 386 00:36:45.619 --> 00:36:52.849 of men alone, even good men, holy men, apostolic men. These 387 00:36:52.010 --> 00:36:58.369 things have no have weight. Of course, an honest man is an honest 388 00:36:58.449 --> 00:37:05.440 man and that's good, but the ultimate authority of the one, the ultimate 389 00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:12.599 authority is the it comes from the one who has the eternal weight of glory 390 00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:17.710 of God, and that's Jesus Christ, who speaks in the world by his 391 00:37:17.869 --> 00:37:24.190 spirit. Everything must be tested according to that. Even the apostles of the 392 00:37:24.349 --> 00:37:34.019 Lord put our obligation first and foremost here. So what should we say to 393 00:37:34.139 --> 00:37:37.780 that young man in Ephesus who is trying to sort all these things out? 394 00:37:39.539 --> 00:37:44.099 I would say to him this, as I would say to anyone who wants 395 00:37:44.179 --> 00:37:47.409 to know what the truth is. To know the truth, you must know 396 00:37:47.570 --> 00:37:55.250 God, and to know God you must know Jesus, and to know Jesus 397 00:37:55.530 --> 00:38:00.320 you must hear the words that he has spoken by his spirit, the words 398 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:07.400 that the spirit has testified about him. And where do you find these words? 399 00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:12.519 You find them in the pages of the Bible, words that have been 400 00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:20.630 recorded infallibly by the Holy Spirit in the pages of your Bible. Open them, 401 00:38:22.190 --> 00:38:30.539 read them, hear the Voice of God. If you must hear the 402 00:38:30.739 --> 00:38:37.539 voice of God, in order to hear God, there must be some place 403 00:38:37.699 --> 00:38:45.889 where he has spoken. He says that he has spoken here. So will 404 00:38:45.889 --> 00:38:51.250 you just walk away from that before or even listening? Well, how could 405 00:38:51.250 --> 00:38:57.239 I ever know? Or will you listen? Well, but here's the remarkable 406 00:38:57.320 --> 00:39:04.280 thing about God. Unlike man, he can testify to the truthfulness of this 407 00:39:04.760 --> 00:39:12.869 himself, directly to your soul. A friend can tell you truly whether or 408 00:39:12.909 --> 00:39:15.829 not he said something. You can go to your friend and you can say 409 00:39:15.269 --> 00:39:19.670 men did you say this? And they can say yes or no. Of 410 00:39:19.789 --> 00:39:23.980 course people lie and what not, but God doesn't lie. Let me ask 411 00:39:23.980 --> 00:39:28.460 you this. If a friend can tell you whether or not he or she 412 00:39:28.659 --> 00:39:34.860 said something, is God less powerful than your friend? If a friend can 413 00:39:34.980 --> 00:39:38.130 testify to you about the truthfulness of their words? Oh No, I never 414 00:39:38.289 --> 00:39:43.889 said that. Okay, thanks, or yeah, absolutely I said that. 415 00:39:44.289 --> 00:39:50.210 If a friend can do that, is God less than your friend. Will 416 00:39:50.289 --> 00:39:53.599 God leave it up to your own confusion and doubt to figure out whether what 417 00:39:53.719 --> 00:40:00.760 he says is true or not? Of course not. The Bible says that 418 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:05.039 when God speaks to us in the pages of his word, he makes that 419 00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:10.789 word living and active by also speaking directly to our hearts. When we read 420 00:40:10.829 --> 00:40:15.269 the pages of the word, they open up to us. Jesus says, 421 00:40:15.550 --> 00:40:24.460 my sheep will hear my voice. That's an amazing thing. Trust him for 422 00:40:24.619 --> 00:40:30.260 that. Listen to his words, just as you might have listened to him 423 00:40:30.300 --> 00:40:36.050 as you were sitting by the sea hearing him teach, or in a crowded 424 00:40:36.210 --> 00:40:40.010 market place or in the upper room before his death. Listen to his words 425 00:40:40.130 --> 00:40:50.559 and hear the truthfulness in them and then believe. Do not stand at a 426 00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:54.280 distance. Don't persecute the one who speaks in truth and came to save. 427 00:40:54.960 --> 00:41:04.510 Instead, follow him, trust him, trust him for the salvation that he 428 00:41:04.710 --> 00:41:12.110 came in the flesh to bring, hope for his return. Learn every word, 429 00:41:12.750 --> 00:41:17.820 conform your life to his loving will, and in this you will be 430 00:41:19.059 --> 00:41:25.260 called a Christian. Let's pray and ask that God would make us Christians