Ninety years ago (1926, 1927, 1929, 1930?), as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were preparing to play the USC Trojans in college football, Notre Dame’s coach Knute Rockne was aware that his USC opponents had a far better team. So he devised a scheme to intimidate the opposing players.
Rockne scoured the city of South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame's hometown), and hand-picked 100 of the largest men he could find—each at least six-foot-five and 300 pounds (This was in the days when the average college football player weighed 200 pounds or less). He put the men in Fighting Irish uniforms and, at game time, marched them onto the field ahead of the real team. (Obviously, this was before the days of limited rosters and eligibility restrictions.)
As USC watched those giants line up on the sidelines, they forgot about their talent and their undefeated record, and they began mentally preparing themselves for a beating. Though none of the specially recruited men played during the game, their presence on the sidelines was enough to knock USC’s concentration off balance. Knute Rockne's trick had worked; he had intimidated the Trojan players into giving up before the game even started. (Steve May, Sermonnotes.com; www.PreachingToday.com)
Today, the enemy of your soul would do the same thing to you. As a believer in Christ, you are on a far better team, God’s team! But Satan wants to intimidate you into giving up even before you begin. Please, don’t let him. Don’t be fooled by the devil. Don’t fall for his tricks, and don’t let him intimidate you.
You see, since Christ defeated Satan on the cross, the only play he has against believers is deceit and intimidation, and he is very good at it. So how do you recognize Satan’s schemes? How do you keep from being fooled and intimidated? Well, if you have your bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 John 4, 1 John 4, where the Bible tells us how to discern truth from treachery.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (ESV)
Don’t believe everything you hear, because there are a lot of liars in the world. Some of them claim to speak for God, but they only speak for themselves, or worse yet, an evil spirit. So...
TEST THE SPIRITS.
Examine every source of information. Investigate every speaker to see if he or she is genuine.
The Greek word for “test” was used in Bible days to describe the testing of metals, like gold or silver, to prove them genuine. And that’s what you need to do with every source of information you receive – prove it genuine; test it to see if it is pure. You see, good liars are masters at mixing a little bit of error with a whole lot of truth. But like a little bit of rat poison in an otherwise healthy, delicious meal, their words are deadly to your spirit.
In an interview with New York Magazine several years ago, Lady Gaga said: What I've discovered is that in art, as in music, there's a lot of truth—and then there's a lie. The artist is essentially creating his work to make this lie a truth, but then he slides it in amongst all the others. The tiny little lie is the moment I live for, my moment. It's the moment the audience falls in love. (Vanessa Grigoriadis, “Growing Up Gaga,” New York Magazine, 3-28-10; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, I don’t mean to bash Lada Gaga, but she describes the mastery of Satan to fool many people. He slides a lie into a whole lot of truth, and people fall in love with it. You see it in the media all the time if you care to examine it.
In fact, just a few years ago (2016), The Economist magazine featured an article entitled, “Yes, I'd lie to you: The post-truth world.” The article analyzed the dishonesty that's wreaking havoc in politics, journalism, social media, and many other areas. One expert quoted in the article said, “Right now, it pays to be outrageous, but not to be truthful.”
The article also highlighted one of the most effective ways to tell lies – by hiding the truth in a glut of information. For example, China's authorities do not try to censor everything they do not like on social media, but often flood the networks with distracting information. (“Yes, I'd lie to you,” The Economist, 9-10-16; www. PreachingToday.com)
That not only happens in China; it happens everywhere all the time. The glut of information distracts from the real truth and leads many people astray. Don’t you be one of those people! Instead, test the spirits. Examine every source of information to make sure it is 100% pure and genuine. In other words, listen carefully to every communicator. First...
LISTEN TO WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT CHRIST.
Pay attention to their ideas about Jesus. Notice what they teach about the Lord.
1 John 4:2-3 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (ESV)
Those that are opposed to Christ, i.e., those that are anti-Christ deny that Jesus is God in the flesh.
In the 1st and 2nd Centuries, a group of people, called the Docetists, taught that God did not become a real, flesh and blood human being. They said that Jesus only appeared to be human. “He was God,” they said, “But He was not a real man.” I find it interesting that early on people had trouble believing that Jesus was human.
Today, people have trouble believing that Jesus was really God. They accept His humanity, but they reject the notion that this human being could be God in the flesh.
The fact is the Bible teaches both. Jesus is fully God AND fully man. He is God in the flesh.
John, the writer of this letter himself, declares in the very first verse: “That... which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands... we... proclaim to you” (1 John 1:1-2). Jesus was no mere apparition. He was a real flesh and blood human being that John saw, heard, and touched!
More than that, Jesus was God Himself in the flesh. At the beginning of his Gospel, John writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” (John 1:1, 14).
That’s the truth about Jesus, and anyone who says differently is not telling you the truth!
J. I. Packer once said, “The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught ot talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.” (J. I. Packer, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no.6; www.PreachingToday.com)
Think about it: The infinite became an infant! The truth of the incarnation is central to our Christian Faith; and to deny it is a rejection of all we hold dear as followers of Christ.
Timothy Keller, former pastor of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, says:
“Christianity... provides the promise of a God who is completely present with us in suffering. Only Christians believe in a God who says, ‘Here I am alongside of you. I have experienced the same suffering you have. I know what it is like.’ No other religion even begins to offer that assurance.”
Keller says, “After the World Trade Center tragedy, between 600 and 800 new people began attending Redeemer. The sudden influx of people pressed the question, ‘What does your God have to offer me at a time like this?’”
Keller preached, “Christianity is the only faith that tells you that God lost a child in an act of violent injustice. Christianity is the only religion that tells you, therefore, [that] God suffered as you have suffered.” (Tim Keller, “Preaching amid Pluralism,” Leadership, Winter 2002, pp.34-35; www.PreachingToday.com)
God Himself entered your pain to deliver you from it. He died on a cross and rose again to bring about your salvation. All you need to do is trust Him!
Oh, dear friend, if you haven’t trusted Christ with your life, I urge you to do it right now. Just call upon Him and ask Him to save you from your sins. Then watch as He begins the transformation process to get you ready for Heaven.
That’s the Gospel, the Good News, the essence of what we believe as followers of Christ. But not only that, that’s the truth; and to deny the truth is to deny Christ Himself, reducing the Christian faith to a meaningless belief system.
In November 2011, Vishal Mangalwadi, a Christian scholar from India, visited two classes at a Christina University here in North America.
He asked both classes, “How many of you would still believe Christianity if you found out tomorrow that Christianity was not true. That is: God never became a man; Jesus did not die for our sin; or, that he did not rise from the dead?”
Twelve hands went up in [the class of about 25 students]. Mangalwadi says, “These sincere and devout students had grown up in Christian homes, gone to church all their lives, and studied in Christian schools. Some had been in that Christian university for three years! They respected their elders who taught them that Christianity was all about faith with little concern for truth.”
Then he says, “Christianity lost America because 20th-century evangelicalism branded itself as the party of faith. Secularism (science, university, media) became the party of truth. This is one reason why 70 percent of Christian youth give up meaningful involvement with the church when they grow up… Secularism acquired the “truth” brand by default because evangelicalism began defining the Church's mission as [just] cultivating faith, not [also] promoting knowledge of truth. (Vishal Mangalwadi, "Why Christianity Lost America?" Vishal Mangalwadi's Blog, 12-10-11; www.PreachingToday.com)
If God did NOT become a man, if Jesus did NOT die for our sins and rise again, then our faith is meaningless. Or as the Apostle Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “We are of all people most to be pitied.”
But in fact, God DID become a man. Jesus DID die for our sins and rose again. It’s a fact of history to which the empty tomb and hundreds of independent eyewitnesses attest. It’s the truth, and anybody who says differently is not telling you the truth.
So if you want to keep from being fooled, first of all, listen to what communicators say about Christ. Then second...
LISTEN TO GOD’S SPIRIT WITHIN.
Hear the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit who lives in every believer. Pay attention to the Spirit God has put inside you to guide and direct you.
1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (ESV)
The Holy Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit of antichrist who lives in the world. God put His Spirit in every believer to help them overcome all the schemes of the devil, to help them discern the difference between the truth and a lie. So if you’re a believer, just listen to God’s Holy Spirit within.
Some time ago (2004), David Page in Norfolk, England, dug up what appeared to be an unexploded WWI bomb. For four hours he held the cylinder, waiting for rescue or an immediate death. He held onto it, because he was afraid that letting go would detonate the device.
While holding the bomb, the terrified 40-year-old used his cell phone to call an emergency operator. He even gave the operator his last words for his family. The operator kept saying it would be okay, but Page kept telling her, “You're not the one holding the bomb.”
First responders rushed to the work-yard in eastern England, and army bomb disposal experts finally arrived. However, the drama came to an abrupt end when they identified the “bomb” as part of the hydraulic suspension system from a Citroen, a popular European car. (“‘Bomb’ of a Car Has Man Worried,” Reuters, 9-6-04; www.PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes, you can be frozen with irrational fear. Satan would have you believe things that are just not true – that God doesn’t love you, that God won’t provide for you, or that God hasn’t forgiven you. Satan would have you hold onto many lies, which stop you dead in your tracks. But if you take the time to listen to God’s Spirit within, you could let go of your fears and conquer the father of all lies, the devil himself. In fact, if you are a believer in Jesus, you have already overcome and will continue to overcome (perfect tense), because you have God’s powerful Holy Spirit within.
Lee Eclov, a pastor in the Chicago area, talks about an experience he had some time ago (20 years) that opened his eyes to the reality of spiritual warfare. While he was sound asleep, he heard the phone ringing (or so he thought). In the darkness, he grabbed blindly for the phone, but he was so groggy that he couldn't really wake up. When he put the phone to his ear, he heard a voice, flat and menacing. The voice just said, “You thought we'd forgotten you.”
Then there was just silence, but Pastor Eclov was sure the person on the other end of the line was still there. His mind was racing to think, “Who wanted to hurt me? Who wanted me to cower in fear? The man who got angry a few weeks ago when we wouldn't give him money?” Pastor Eclov said, “I was getting very scared. I sensed this was something dark and diabolical.”
He couldn't even speak, but somehow he simply blurted out, “Jesus!” And suddenly the fear left his heart and his bedroom. He came wide awake and realized he did not have the phone in his hand; that it was still across the room. Yet he knew that what had happened was more than just a dream. He had felt the presence of real evil—the presence of the Evil One. But now, after calling on Jesus' name, he wasn't frightened. As a matter of fact, he was exhilarated at the power of Jesus' name. He got up, turned on the bathroom light, washed his face, and cleared his head. Then he went back to bed. “Surrounded by the presence of Christ,” he said, “I felt a great peace.”
Then as he was falling back asleep, he heard a melody in his mind. It was beautiful, like a lullaby. He recognized it but couldn't place it. The next morning it came to him: It was a tune from Les Miserables, and the words, which he says he didn't fully know at the time, are “You will keep me safe, and you will keep me close; I'll sleep in your embrace at last." Pastor Eclov says, “I've always felt that my heavenly Father hummed me to sleep that night—that night when the power of Jesus' name conquered the Evil One.” (Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, IL; www.PreachingToday.com)
God’s Spirit within overcame the evil without, and Pastor Eclov found peace that night. You too can find peace, as well, even when the Evil One himself threatens you, because “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” All you have to do is listen to that “still small voice,” that quiet lullaby, of God’s Holy Spirit.
If you want to keep from being fooled, 1st, listen to what communicators say about Christ; 2nd, listen to God’s Spirit within; and 3rd...
LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD.
Pay attention to what the Bible says. Check everything you hear with the Scriptures, even what you think may be coming from the Holy Spirit, because God’s Spirit will never contradict what God says in His Word.
1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. (ESV)
False prophets listen to the world, which listens to them, who listen to the world, which listens to them, and on and on ad infinitum. There is no objective standard
So don’t listen to the world. Don’t pay attention to the culture around you, which is full of misinformation.
Like the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, “When they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding” (2 Corinthians 10:12).
Once upon a time, there was a clockmaker, who had a reputation for making the most accurate clocks in the world. People would stop by his shop on their way to work every morning to set their watches by the clocks in his window. One man was especially careful, synchronizing his watch to the second with the clocks in the window. This went on for many years until the clockmaker grew to be very old and was ready to retire.
Until then, he didn’t have much time to chat with anyone who stopped outside his shop to set their watches. However, on his last morning at the shop, he took the time to chat with everyone who came by. The man who was very meticulous about setting his watch told the clockmaker, “I don’t know what I’m going to do when you’re gone. I’m responsible for setting the big clock in the town square, and I stop here every morning to get the correct time.”
The clockmaker gasped. He said, “That can’t be, because I set my clocks by the town clock every evening before I go home.!”
Who knows how far off they got over the years, misleading the entire town, but that’s exactly how our culture operates. People in the world set their clocks by each other, thinking they’re accurate when they have no idea how far off the truth they really are. So don’t listen to the world.
Instead, listen to the Word. Open the Bible to see what God has to say.
1 John 4:6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (ESV)
The “we” in this verse are the apostles, those whom Christ directly commissioned to spread His words around the world. Christ told them that the Holy Spirit would help them remember everything He said and lead them into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13).
So we recognize the truth by listening to what the apostles taught as recorded in the New Testament. We know the difference between truth and error by comparing what we hear with what God says in His Word. My dear friends, the Bible is God’s objective standard by which we judge everything!
Mickey Moore, a Christian concert artist, was packing up after a concert one night, when he sent a young woman to pick up his children at the home they were staying in. Since the children didn't know her, Mickey told her to give his son, Trevor, their secret family code word so he would know she was authorized to pick them up.
A little later, Mickey received a phone call. Trevor refused to leave because the woman hadn't given the right word. Mickey told her that the word was “Dinosaur Monster,” but the word was simply “Dinosaur,” and little 6-year-old Trevor wasn’t about to go with anyone who didn’t know the word.
Fortunately, his dad was able to straighten things out and get his children home, but Trevor showed great wisdom. Mickey says, “It was an odd feeling to be interrogated by my six-year-old son. He knew the word, and even though he was given words that were very close to the real thing, they weren't true – and he knew the difference.” (Mickey Moore. Christian Reader, Vol. 25, no. 4).
You too can know the difference if you know the Word, the Word of God, that is. If you want to keep from being fooled, listen to what communicators say about Christ; listen to God’s Sprit within; and listen to God Word.
Bob Mumford, in his book Take Another Look at Guidance, talks about a particular harbor in Italy, which can be reached only by sailing up a narrow channel between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have been wrecked, and navigation is hazardous. To guide the ships safely into port, three lights have been mounted on three huge poles in the harbor. When the three lights are perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship can safely proceed up the narrow channel. If the pilot sees two or three lights, he knows he's off course and in danger. (Gregory Asimakoupoulos, Concord, California. Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 4; www.PreachingToday.com)
In the same way, God has provided three lights to guide you safely home: His Holy Word; His
Holy Spirit; and His Only Son. Make sure they line up in your life, so you can stay on course and out of trouble.
