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.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ life, strength, peace and all else that flows from the throne of God is experienced because of our faith.
Yet, all Christians are called upon to be unbelievers. There is a critical time when unbelief is the right thing. To illustrate: You cannot accept Christ without rejecting self. You cannot follow the good path unless you are ready to refuse to believe the false claims of evil.
We are people of extremes. Some believe everything–a tendency to be very gullible people, especially pertaining to claims about the supernatural. Or skeptical and unable to believe anything. The Bible places the emphasis upon believing facts, not myths and legends and superstitions that have no basis. Today in Christianity many are putting as much stock in personal revelation as they express confidence in the Word of the Lord. An extreme of this “personal revelation” is the lady who killed her children, saying she heard voices.
In John’s day, in the 1st century, teachers were making the circuit teaching and doing things, perhaps giving predictions of things to come, or manifesting tongues, miracles and other things that were confusing the message of the Church. John says, “do not believe every spirit.”
“Spirit” may refer to our personal spiritual experiences, religious leaders, and religious groups. John is aware of the fact that some in the church are being guided–misguided we should say–by a spirit of error. It is an anti-Christian spirit. Paul, in drawing upon the manner in which God has gifted His servants, says,
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:14, 15
“Test” means to learn the genuineness of something by close examination. How do we do this? John tells us in the following verses.
Repent and believe
II. ABIDING IN JESUS ENABLES BELIEVERS TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE CONFESSION–JESUS IS GOD INCARNATE
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. John 4
The word “acknowledge” refers to two things: A full recognition of the true identity of Jesus and an honest and open commitment to the truth about Jesus.
The acknowledgement to which John speaks is tied to the historical incarnation of the Son of God, His appearance in history as a man in the flesh. A translation of verse 2 reads this way, “...every spirit which confesses that Jesus is Christ, come in the flesh, is of God...”
If a teacher of spiritual matters confesses this, John says, he/she is of the truth, is of God. This truth is basic and foundational to all Christian faith.
Yet, John carries the test another step. Not only must there be an acknowledgement of the historical Jesus, it must be confessed by the one teaching. Isn’t acknowledging and confessing the same? NO!
Remember even the demons acknowledged the deity of Jesus. They said, “We know who you are, the Holy One of God.” (Mk. 1:24; Lk. 4:34) Did this make them believers? NO! Why? Because they did not commit themselves to Him; they did not live by this truth!
Okay, let’s take out our GPS – GOSPEL POSITIONING SERVICE. Oh, by the way, what is the believers GPS? The Bible. John has already pointed this out.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:14
Does the Word of God reveal that you are correctly positioned? Here are some test questions:
• Do you acknowledge the entrance of the Son of God as Jesus of Nazareth into history–the one who labored and loved and died and rose again from the dead?
• Do you acknowledge the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ?–that He who was with God from the beginning, and was God, became man and lived among us?
• Do you acknowledge that? This is a question that every spiritual leader must answer in the affirmative prior to us following them.
• Do you follow Him?
• Do you live by this truth? Are you committed to Him–is he your Lord, your strength, and everything you need?
Picture two concentric circles, a model that has four elements going around the circle. The inner circle consists of what I call the non-negotiable doctrine; the incarnation of Jesus Christ and commitment to Him is at the very heart of the center circle. The outward circle contains what may be considered peripheral beliefs, practices, and doctrines.
o Denominationalism
o Worship Styles
o Strict Practices Prescribed by Churches
o Non-Essential Doctrinal Interpretations
In a recent issue of the Christian Digest is a very interesting story of a young man who grew up in a godly home and became a Christian through the influence of his family. The story goes this way.
When he went away to college, his faith was undermined by the clever presentations of teachers who challenged him to think for himself. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but what was omitted was a standard of thinking, a measurement by which human thought could be evaluated. When that is omitted the result is always that the individual himself becomes the final measuring stick, the standard. This young man fell into that trap. He began to measure everything by what he thought, including the gospel and the Bible and all the things that are in it. Little by little he drifted off into liberalism, or modernism, or whatever term you might call it. He became a minister of a liberal church, involved in social crusades, declaring nothing of the gospel, the Word of God, the life-changing message that Christ came to give. But there was an increasing emptiness in his heart and life. Gradually he found his ministry crumbling, and he was unable to accomplish the things he wanted to. Sincere, earnest, dedicated, but increasingly hungry for something real. Finally a word from his wife, which irritated him immensely when he first heard it, struck a note of fire in his heart, and the Lord used it to wake him up to the great and saving truth that Jesus Christ alone can change the hearts of men. No social revolution is worth the snap of your finger if it does not rest upon that. He began to preach this and soon his church was changed. His congregation began to come back, the pews began to fill up, and his church became a living force in his community.
There are a lot of voices out there. Religious movements are numerous and allusive, even those like the Mormons that say they believe in Jesus.
John, gives us a question for discerning the authenticity of these gurus: Do they confess Him, do they live by Him? Have they committed themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ? Are they obedient? John takes us back to the basic tenets of the Gospel.
II ABIDING IN JESUS ENABLES BELIEVERS TO MAINTAIN OUR SPIRITUAL BEARING–DAILY APPLYING SPIRITUAL VICTORY :4-6
4 You, 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.
5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We 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.
John gives his friends a little pep talk. “You are from God” is not an arrogant claim that Christians are superior and able to be presumptuous upon God.
John is simply calling the believers back to the basics. There is a need for this in all ages. Here are his goals:
1. He is reminding us we come to know God through faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Our faith connects us spiritually with the eternal God.
3. In this new birth we receive eternal life, our sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us.
4. A new way of living results from our acknowledgement and confession that Jesus is Lord.
This happens not because we are better or smatter than others; it happens because of the work of God’s grace in our lives. It doesn’t mean that we will be healthier and richer than others. It simply means that in all situations of life the grace of God is sufficient–if that is all we have, it is enough.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10
How do we keep our bearings in the spiritual life? We know in whom we have believed and we are sensitive to His leadership in our life. We know where our spiritual journey is taking us. Dietrich Schindler discussed what he calls the Foundational Principles of Multiplication in the Kingdom of God. His comments are interesting as he uses the parable of the farmer and seed.
Churches that use multiplication techniques generally spend 20- 40% of their time on evangelism and the rest of the time on comprehensive discipleship. As a result, not only is the church leading people to Christ, the converts are also leading people to Christ. Each convert learns to multiply himself.
It is in the parables of Jesus that we discover the nature of Jesus’ messianic dynasty-building and that it has to do with multiplication. Jesus depicts himself as the farmer in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9; Mark 4:1-9; Luke 8:4-8). His message of salvation is intended to produce a disciple who in turn produces other disciples in varying quantities, with the pinnacle being “one hundred-fold”. His emphasis is high-yield.[2]
In the parable of the seed growing secretly, which is recorded only in Mark 4:26-29, Jesus speaks of the axiomatic (i.e. self-evident) growth of the seed or the Gospel:
A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself [automate] the soil produces grain: first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.
Although the farmer sows and can create conditions for growth to occur, he does not ultimately have the power to make the seed grow. However, the seed (the Gospel) has this power innately. This is what Paul meant when he wrote that the Gospel was “the power of God [dynamis tou theou] for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Here we encounter the nature and power of multiplication. It resides in God and in the message that God has given to the hearers. Jesus said that this is a depiction of what the kingdom of God is like (Mark 4:26). The same power to save (Romans 1:16) is the power to multiply (Mark 4:28).
I really messed up! I hope I haven’t waited too long. Many years ago my mother gave me some plants. First, she gave me a Beef Steak Begonia. I couldn’t tell you how many new plants have been birthed from that one plant. It is still as beautiful as ever. Annually, I give it an infusion of things that keep it growing. Second, my mother gave me what was a beautiful Christmas cactus—it always blooms around Thanksgiving. This year it didn’t bloom; in fact I thought it was going to die. I have never propagated a new plant from it. If it dies, it will be gone. I made an effort to start several and hoped it was not too late. I got to thinking that is a great analogy for the church. Churches will die if they fail at the propagation principle and invest in disciples, young believers, so they will be used of God to help the church multiply. Many churches will close in the future because they failed at the propagation principle
