1 John 4/5 – Test the Spirit’s! - Know Love! - Fear Not! – Believe!
Thesis: John gives us 4 actions that are to be apart of the children of God’s daily lives. Test the Spirit’s, Know Love, and Fear Not and believe in Jesus.
Scripture Text: 1 John 4:1-21:
1Dear 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. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 5
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burden some, 4foreveryone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 6This is the one who came by water and blood Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Concluding Remarks
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Introduction:
John tells us in 1 John 4 and 5 that the Christian must make the commitment to practice the 4 daily spiritual disciplines. It’s these 4 disciplines that will keep us were God wants us. These 4 practices will help us to mature in our faith and keep us from being deceived.
I. We are to test the Spirits to see if they are from God or not (4:1-6)
a. Testing measures how much a person knows or doesn’t know.
i. Timothy Peck in his sermon “Getting Our Bearings” states this about verse 1:That word "test" means "to try to learn the genuineness of something by close examination" (Lou and Nida, Greek English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, 27.45). The first time the bank gave me one of those new 20 dollar bills, I looked at it real closely to make sure it wasn’t counterfeit. When a store makes an outrageous claim, if you’re smart you investigate the claim before forking your money out. That’s what this word is describing, that ability to look beyond the surface, to dig deeply into the claim to see what’s underneath. John’s telling us that before we trust any spiritual experience, any religious leader, or any religious group we must first test them, dig beneath the surface, look closely, to determine whether it’s a snow job or the real thing (sermoncentral.com).
• McDowell states, “Only 15% of churched youth disagree with the statement: ‘What is right for one person in a given situation might not be right for another person who encounters the same situation.’ In other words, 85 percent of un-churched kids are liable to reason, ‘Just because it’s wrong for you doesn’t mean it’s wrong for me.’ Their idea of the distinction between right and wrong is fluid, something that is subject to change, something that is relative and personal-not constant and universal” (Page 15, Right from Wrong).
• Many today in our society have not learned the importance and the eternal value of making sure you test the messages of the spirits in this age. Therefore many have become deceived and cling to false hopes.
ii. This is why we must know what the Bible says. The Scripture helps us to discern whether a spirit is from God or not.
• If it’s not from God it will:
a. Not acknowledge the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.
b. Speak from the view point of the world not from Biblical view point.
• We can tell if a message is from the Lord or not by how well they listen to the truths of Scripture.
b. John warns us to not be gullible in this life but be wise and we do this by not believing everything a person says without first comparing their message against the standard and the truth of the Word.
i. It’s a compare and see if they align type test. Do they match in what they say or does this new message contradict the faithful message of the Word of God.
ii. This is what we are to measure other concepts and theories against.
iii. It amazes me how many people believe messages that are not rooted in Scripture and God’s Holy Word.
• The measurement to see if something is true or false is does it align with the teachings of Scripture?
a. Quote by Josh McDowell from his book Right From Wrong.
i. He states, “You’ll recall Webster first defines truth as, ‘fidelity to an original or standard.” The dictionary goes on to define truth as ‘the body of real things’, events, or facts; the property of being in accordance with fact or reality.”
ii. He notes that truth provides evidence that it is true and not false. Truth promotes truth and the right way of doing things.
iii. He adds, “I believe that one of the prime reasons this generation is setting new records for dishonesty, disrespect, sexual promiscuity, violence, suicide, and other pathologies, is because they have lost their moral underpinning; their foundational belief in morality and truth has been eroded. As journalist Rowland Nethaway said, they ‘don’t seem to know right from wrong’”(12).
c. The point from John is that truth matters in or lives. If we live by the truth then our life is blessed by God. If we believe and live by the lies of this world our lives will be cursed and fruitless.
i. Even if they are religious!
• Many have fallen for religious teachings that do not align with the Word of God.
a. The Christians have not compared what they have said and taught against the teachings of the Word.
b. Therefore they bought into lies and they think they are speaking truth when they are not.
c. Result is deception and the removal of the blessings of God.
• Some in the Christian church itself have fallen prey to false teachings that have caused division and strife.
T.S. – We are to daily test the spirits that we encounter in our lives to see if they align with God’s Word or not. Then we must do the next action and that is to love others like the Lord loves us.
II. We are to love others because we know God’s love (4:7-16).
a. Charles Salmon notes this about our chapter: Love is a very popular idea in today’s world. We distort and misinterpret it, but it is on everyone’s lips. Many of our most popular songs, books, and movies are about love. There are enough to fill a library.
We often forget love is a truly Christian idea. It is seen in its fullness only in Christ. Love originated in the mind of God, of whom it is written, "God is love." But, often what the world calls love is vastly different from what God in Christ revealed love to be.
The world describes love as a feeling, an overwhelming passion. God says it is a guiding principle of moral life. Love is the light by which the Christian makes the moral decisions of His life.
i. I sometimes sit back and get very frustrated with the views of the world’s residents. I watch what is promoted on most of the TV shows of today and I say “What is wrong with those people?” I even comment, “That is not the way of the Lord!” Then I have to be gently reminded by the Holy Spirit that those people are blind, lost, and they have a distorted lens that they look through. Why? Because they do not have true Love in their lives. They don’t know God or His ways therefore they do not have the ability to see clearly.
b. Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life says, “Life is all about love!” “Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most like him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given us; ‘the whole Law can be summed up in this one command; ‘Love others as you love yourself” (123).
i. John in our letter makes it clear that love is attained by us as we encounter and get to know God.
ii. A person who claims to have known Jesus will also know how to love others.
c. Knowing God gives us the ability to love.
i. Without experiencing God’s love in our lives we do not know how to love.
• WHAT'S GOD GOT TO DO WITH IT?
If you “Google” the word love, and you have to be very careful doing this, you will find all sorts of websites, 120,000,000 to be exact. Here are some examples that you will find:
I love Dogs.com
I love Cats.com (Although this one is a plea to spay or neuter)
I love Cheese. Com
I love Lucy.com
We love the Iraqi Information Minister.com
True Romance Dating Service.com
Love Test.com
Matchmaker.com
The Love Calculator.com On this site you type in your name and your mates name and it gives you the odds of your relationship lasting. Alana and I got 41%)
The interesting aspect is that on all these sites, love is seen as almost an entirely human endeavor.
Contributed to sermoncentral.com by: John Harvey
• Yet God is love and it becomes obvious that without God you cannot show and model love because He is the one who defines and is love.
a. There is no love outside of God!
b. We today have redefined that word love to mean a human emotion but the truth is love is defined as God.
i. This means love demonstrates the qualities and attributes of God.
ii. This means that the love of today is a counterfeit to the true meaning of love.
iii. One of the important values or actions people need is the ability to define and recognize love in its purest form and that is expressed by God.
1. Remember we have to test the spirits this means test the love spirits too.
2. Just because someone says “I Love You!” does not mean they do if they do not have the actions of love backing up their words.
ii. Love from a Kid’s Point of View, Citation:
• "What Is Love—From a Kid’s Point of View," Light Singer, (accessed 3-14-02)] What is love, from a kid’s point of view?
o "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love."
o "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."
o "Love is when someone hurts you, and you get so mad, but you don’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings."
o "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay."
o "Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
o "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
o "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
o "You really shouldn’t say ’I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Contributed to sermoncentral.com by: A. Todd Coget
d. Love is birthed in God and it is a requirement of a Christian.
i. Love is the attribute which comes from God living in us. This of course is what makes us a Christian and because the great person of Love is in us therefore it will produce the fruit of love.
ii. If we cannot love others then God does not dwell or live in us.
iii. Love is the essential ingredient that we need to live a life of purpose and eternal meaning.
iv. Really what John is saying to us is, knowing love causes us to do and show love toward others.
• We do this even when people do not deserve it!
v. The truth is God’s love should come before everything else in our life.
• Love will always tell us to not be offended.
• Love will always tell us to forgive and forget.
• Love will always tell us to let it go.
• Love will tell us to act like Jesus not like Satan.
• Love will tells us to die to self and serve others in love.
• Love will tell us not to get angry.
• Love will tells us to trust the lord and not circumstances.
• Love will tell us not to sin.
• Love will tell us to serve the Lord with all our might.
• Love will always point us toward the Lord Jesus and His great action of love.
vi. Love is to be our supreme way of dealing with others and with this world.
• When we initiate love most of the time the response back to us will be one of love.
• Peter Gillquist states, “Psychologists tell us that man has two basic needs: to love and be loved. They’re right, but their order should be reversed. According to the patterns of Scripture, we first must be loved; then we are capable of loving” (Love Now, page 75).
• Love is a present tense action – THE LOVE YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED NOW DO IT TO OTHERS!
a. This is the way of God’s love all other ways are frauds or true love.
vii. If we don’t love we don’t know God.
• This is a hard saying but it is Scriptural!
• Since God is love we must take on His very nature and love like He does.
T.S. – We have to experience love and then master the action of love because that is the nature of God. Then when love is practiced daily it has the power to cast out fear.
III. We are to understand that love casts out all fear and we are to fear not (4:17-21)
a. When a person experiences God’s perfect love then we come to understand that we need not be afraid.
i. Why? Because greater is He that lives in us then he that lives in the world.
ii. Why? Because we know that God loves us and he will take care of us.
iii. Why? Because we now are sons and daughters of Almighty God.
iv. Why? Because the Day of Judgment will pass us by.
v. Why? Because through Christ we now have eternal life forever.
vi. Why? Fear cannot reside were love is supreme.
• Fear has to do with torment and insecurity of the future.
• Definition of fear: Zimmerman 2001
a. 1. A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; apprehension; anxiety; solicitude; alarm; dread.
^ The degrees of this passion, beginning with the most moderate, may be thus expressed, -- apprehension, fear, dread, fright, terror. "Fear is an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of future danger likely to befall us." Locke. "Where no hope is left, is left no fear." Milton.
2. (Script.) (a) Apprehension of incurring, or solicitude to avoid, God's wrath; the trembling and awful reverence felt toward the Supreme Being. (b) Respectful reverence for men of authority or worth. "I will put my fear in their hearts." Jer. xxxii. 40. "I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Ps. xxxiv. 11. "render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due . . . fear to whom fear." Rom. xiii. 7.
3. That which causes, or which is the object of, apprehension or alarm; source or occasion of terror; danger; dreadfulness. "There were they in great fear, where no fear was." Ps. liii. 5. "The fear of your adventure would counsel you to a more equal enterprise." Shak.
b. Fear (Fear), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. Feared (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fearing.]
[OE. feren, faeren, to frighten, to be afraid, AS. f¿ran to terrify. See Fear, n.]
1. To feel a painful apprehension of; to be afraid of; to consider or expect with emotion of alarm or solicitude. "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Ps. xxiii. 4.
2. To have a reverential awe of; to solicitous to avoid the displeasure of. "Leave them to God above; him serve and fear." Milton.
3. To suspect; to doubt. [Obs.] "Ay what else, fear you not her courage?" Shak.
Synonyms -- To apprehend; dread; reverence; venerate.
b. Holman: Freedom from fear -- Freedom from fear comes as individuals trust in the God who protects (Ps. 23:4) and helps them (Isa. 54:14). The New Testament teaches that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Christians are no longer slaves of fear, for Christ has given them not a spirit of timidity or cowardice, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-control (2 Tim. 1:7).
i. Fear is not an attribute that God wants us dwelling on. When you learn to test the spirit’s and love like God then fear will actually be driven out of your life.
• Not falling into fear comes from having a personal loving relationship with the Lord.
• It comes by testing the spirits and understanding the attributes of God.
• It also comes from love living in our hearts and minds. Were love dwells fear cannot exist! They are incompatible.
c. Stories for Preachers and Teachers: Two things are said to be unknown to Thomas A. Edison, the great inventor--discouragement and worry (and fear). His associates have claimed that his freedom from these afflictions came from the fact that he possessed absolutely no nerves. One day, one of his associates had to report to him the failure, in immediate succession, of three experiments involving enormous expenditure of money and labor. But the inventor simply smiled at the recital. The associate, worn out with the nervous strain of his long workday, and disheartened by his disappointment, said impatiently: "Why don't you worry a little about it, Mr. Edison?" "Why should I?" was the inventor's reply. "You're worrying enough for two." The victory which overcomes the world is our faith; if we rely upon God and trust him unwaveringly, it will give us a self-composure and a peace that shall be free from worry (and fear).
d. Illustration: Fear not sermon illustration from Outreach Church.
e. This is why Martyr’s stand strong for the Lord - share the story of Dmitri from the Insanity of God! Amazing!
T.S.: When we are possessed by love – by God we will not fear because the love is more powerful than fear.
IV. Believe - 1 John 5
a. A person who believes does the following:
i. Loves others and Loves God.
ii. We love God by obeying His commands.
iii. They overcome the world
iv. They follow the Spirit of Truth
v. Knows they have life – eternal life
vi. Knows if we ask God the Father for something in His will He hears us.
vii. Prays for people in sin
viii. They do not practice sin
ix. We keep ourselves from idols
• These things above all have to do with believing in Jesus as the Son of God and savior of the world.
Conclusion:
1 John 4 and 5 promotes to us that we must DO these 4 things to follow the path of the Lord and stay rooted in Him! It’s all part of the call!
1. Test the Spirits - and make sure they are from God. We must not be deceived by the great deceiver.
2. Know love and Do love - Because God is love! Love is the key to living successfully in this life with it you succeed in life without it you fail at life.
3. Fear not – Because perfect love casts away fear and we need not worry when we trust completely in Jesus.
4. Believe – belief – trusting in Jesus – will change us and lead our public and private lives.
