Gps Series

GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system that was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense. It permits land, sea and airborne users to determine their three-dimensional position, velocity and time anywhere in the world. The accuracy of it far exceeds anything that we have seen in the past and will see in the foreseeable future. Google Earth is very unique; you can enter a location anywhere in the world and it will give you a visual of the property, to include seeing vehicles, trees, and it allows you to stand on a piece of property and look around, as if you are turning.

GPS systems are small units that can go anywhere. Today, cars are equipped with a GPS system that permits the user to zero in on an address. You can mark and return to your favorite fishing spot on a lake using a GPS. With a good GPS getting lost is not likely to happen.

Some get lost on their spiritual journey. As we have already stated, John was writing to a church that was in danger of losing her bearing. In our culture all people needed a GOSPEL POSITIONING SERVICE

The same holds true for the contemporary church. In our culture postmodernity has given birth to the idea that all spiritual views are simply different roads that lead to God. We have created a confusing spider web of “spiritual paths” that leads people nowhere in their quest to know God.

Someone with integrity and who is willing to be honest needs to challenge the postmodern view of spirituality. Timothy Peck offers the following critical approach for understanding our contemporary dilemma.

Yet when you think about it, the postmodern claim that all spiritual claims are equally valid and truth is really a self-refuting claim. To claim that anyone’s spiritual truth is just as valid as anyone else’s spiritual truth is really a rejection of the existence of such a thing as spiritual truth in the first place. And if there’s no such thing as spiritual truth that statement becomes self-refuting because that statement itself is making a spiritual truth claim, namely that it’s true that there’s no such thing as spiritual truth. If there’s such a thing as spiritual truth–and that’s impossible to avoid–then there must also be such a thing as spiritual error. That’s not intolerant, close-minded or ignorant, but it’s simply being rational and consistent. Just as an example, Christians claim that Jesus Christ died on the cross, but the Muslim religion claims that Jesus did not die on the cross. Those claims cannot both be true.

John holds before the church the fact they need to discern truth from error.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12

Believers need to learn the non- negotiables of the Gospel.

At the beginning of the class he shows them a jar full of beans and he asks each participant in the class to guess how many beans are in the jar. Then he asks each participant to write down the name of his or her favorite song. When the lists are complete, he reveals the actual number of beans in the jar, and each class participant looks over the guesses to determine which one is closest to being right. Then he asks the class, "Now which one of these songs is the closest to being right?" Of course, the class answers that there is no "right" answer to a person’s favorite song, because favorite songs are simply a matter of personal taste and preference. Then the pastor asks this group of seekers, "When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is it more like guess the number of beans or choosing your favorite song?" Every time the majority of class participants respond by saying it’s more like choosing your favorite song...that’s the influence of postmodernism in our world today. (Tim Stafford, Christianity Today 9/14/92 p. 36).

We, too, need a GOSPEL POSITIONING SERVICE. John reminds us that we must not shrink away from the core beliefs we hold concerning the centrality of Jesus Christ.

John gives a process for gaining and maintaining our bearings while on our spiritual journey. He doesn’t want us to get lost. He wants us to hone in on what we used to call, in fishing language, the “honey hole.” (Illst: Spot just off the turbines at Toledo Bend Dam)

I. ABIDING IN JESUS ENABLES BELIEVERS TO TEST THE SPIRITS–DISCERNING TRUTH FROM ERROR

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

The Christian faith puts great stress upon believing. A person cannot be a believer without faith.