For example, I am sure that if the apostle Paul could come back today and see the excellent buildings we worship in, he would marvel over them and see them as a big improvement compared to what they had worshipped in.
But, as big a contrast as that might be, there is a greater difference he would not be able to miss. That is in the fact that the early church HAD A GREATER CONCERN FOR CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH.
It is astounding to hear what some churches will allow to be preached in their churches, in the name of Christ, and no one will ever open their mouths to stop it.
The church of Paul’s day would not have allowed that. As we read through the New Testament we find the issue of EXPOSING FALSE TEACHERS and FALSE PREACHERS cropping up often. We see it in John’s writings.
In these six verses of chapter four there are at least THREE things to consider about the false teachings they faced that we can learn from as we face false teachings today.
First, John spoke about the CONVOLUTION (TWISTING) OF THE GOSPEL. Let us look at...
I. THE CONVOLUTION
Look at verse 1. We read, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
For those of us who enjoy keeping up with political issues we are amazed that the president can give a speech and one political party will put their “SPIN” on what he said. The other party, who heard the SAME SPEECH will put their “SPIN” on what the president said, and say he said something different, even opposite of what the other party had said.
We see the same thing in the religious world.
Illus: Two men can take the SAME BIBLE. One will put his “spin” on what it says and the other will put his “spin” on it and come up with an opposing opinion.
That is, the Gospel is convoluted (twisted) by some. We see examples of this often on television. If you have watched, you have probably heard some preachers saying some of the most ridiculous things you have heard in your life.
• Some claim they have the Holy Spirit in the palms of their hands and that they can THROW Him at the congregation and knock them down.
• Some times one will walk up to a person in the congregation and “blow” him down. (To the observer it seems he must have some terrible bad breath.)
These people perform these ridiculous things under the guise of religion.
You would think what these “hucksters” are preaching would not draw a crowd that would fill a telephone booth. But, guess what, when the television cameras scan the large auditoriums it seems that there are thousands of people there.
Upon seeing these things, we can not help but ask ourselves, “How could such a “twisted” message draw such a large crowd?” (especially when often the men who preach God’s Word have only small crowds Sunday after Sunday.)
The answer is obvious. The people in those crowds are not obeying God’s Word as John said they should. He said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” We live in an age when people are SPIRITUALLY CONVOLUTED, in the sense of being all twisted up!
Some think just because someone claims something is true, that makes it true. When people hear so many different things being preached, HOW CAN PEOPLE KNOW WHAT IS TRUE?
The only way you can tell if a preacher is preaching THE TRUTH IS TO COMPARE WHAT HE SAYS WITH WHAT GOD’S WORD SAYS!
Every church should strive to be like the Bereans of Acts. The Bible says that when the preacher preached, Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, WHETHER THOSE THINGS WERE SO.”
They received what? THE WORD OF GOD! How? ...WITH ALL READINESS OF MIND...” They were willing to act on what God said but they FIRST MADE SURE WHETHER IT WAS GOD’S WORD OR NOT!
Listen, just because someone says something is true does not make it true.
For example, a Mormon will tell you, “If everyone believed the Bible, everyone would be a Mormon.” Well, one must first compare the teachings of the Mormon church with God’s Word. Once that is done we can say, “If everyone believed the Bible, there would be no Mormons.”
The reason cults are spreading like wild fire around the world is because people are not willing to check what they are saying to see if it is what the Bible teaches.
There would not be so many twisted teachings if people would TRY THE TEACHINGS of these people and be sure they agreed with God’s Word.
Before we leave this verse, please consider one more thing John warns God’s church about.
He said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: BECAUSE MANY FALSE PROPHETS ARE GONE OUT INTO THE WORLD.” Now when God says, “many,” He means “many!”
For example, in America alone, literally thousands of Mormon “missionaries” pedal their bicycles to people’s homes to teach their false doctrines, gotten from other sources than God’s Word.
HOW DO THEY DECEIVE THE PEOPLE?
First they will use terminology used across America in Christian churches. They will talk about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and salvation. They use these fronts to deceive people into believing they are just “another” Christian organization.
However, eventually they get around to telling you about “their Mormon bible.” Most folks have no way of knowing just the fact that they have had to make thousands of corrections in this book because of the many mistakes/contradictions they keep finding. But these poor, deceived, “missionaries” believe if a person reads the Book of Mormon, and then prays and asks God if it is true, that person will receive a testimony from the Holy Spirit verifying its truth. They will tell people, “If it is true, then Joseph Smith, Jr., told the truth, and so Mormonism is a true Christian church.”
Let us look at some of the dangers of that approach. God’s Word has never asked God’s people to place faith in feelings.
No matter how a person feels, if a thing contradicts God’s Word, then it is wrong!
God never told anyone to see if a Mormon bible was correct. God told us to TRY these spirits (teachers and preachers) with God’s Word. We are to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. When we do this we can find all kinds of scriptures that condemn this false religion along with their books of false teachings.
We have looked at THE CONVOLUTION (twisting) of the gospel. Now let us look at...
II. THE CONFESSION
Look at verses 2-3. We read, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
All false religions ATTACK THE DEITY OF CHRIST!
What a person believes about Christ, determines if he is a false teacher or not!
And the thing John was dealing with was the incarnation of Christ. That is, if Jesus Christ really come in the flesh or not.
To teach Christ, God’s Son, did not really come to earth in the flesh, is a deadly teaching! Why? Because, since we can not visit heaven, or hell, and still live here, it was essential that God come and reveal truth, Himself, to us. That was exactly what Christ did.
False teachers, of John’s day and our day, teach Christ was not the Messiah. Their teachings tell you other ways to get to God.
Satan knows God’s Word teaches Jesus, God’s Son, came to reveal God to us, and to pay the price for our sins, so he does all he can to lead men astray.
Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” We have to do the same thing Christians of John’s day did. As WE TRY the spirits (teachers and preachers) with God’s Word, John said, “Hereby KNOW ye the Spirit of God...”
The word “know,” is translated from the Greek, “ginosko,” which means, “Beyond doubt, be sure, understand.” They knew who the Spirit of God was in by whether they confessed, “...that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.”
Those who hold a “liberal” view of God’s Word do not see why Christians should be concerned about this detail. Often they try to sound so godly when they piously say, “You should not talk about another man’s religion!”
Illus: Suppose a man moves into town and hangs a sign on an office indicating he was a medical doctor. Suppose people ride by and see that sign. Suppose they have an ailment, so they go to him for medical help. But, suppose that man IS NOT A DOCTOR! SUPPOSE HE HAD LIED! But because he had fooled people into thinking he was a doctor, he had gotten wealthy there.
Listen, if a person did that, people would be very upset and rightfully so!
As serious as that might be, when it comes to spiritual needs it is even more serious.
John had eternity in view! He wanted them to TRY the false prophets by comparing what they said with what they had heard the apostles of Christ preach. Once they made that comparison they could reveal error.
We have looked at THE CONVOLUTION and THE CONFESSION. Let us now look at...
III. THE CONQUEST
Look at verse 4. We read, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Christians are surrounded by an ungodly world. But notice, John encouraged, “...greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
It does not matter if we are outnumbered one thousand to one. The Bible says, “...greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
It matters not how many may gang up on us and try to beat us into submission to try to make us believe what they believe. We have the truth of God’s Word to reveal who is wrong. God tells us that He that is in us is greater than all the false teachers put together.
Verse 4 clearly states, “Ye are of God, little children, AND HAVE OVERCOME THEM...”
HOW DO WE OVERCOME THEM?
Look at the words, “Ye are of God...and have OVERCOME them...” Who are these? Let us look at verse 5. We read, “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.”
The “They,” here in verse 5 is the “them,” of verse 4. Look what John says of “them,” he shows us three things about them:
A. FIRST, “...THEY ARE OF THE WORLD...”
That is, they only have a natural birth. They have never been “born-again.
One of the things that frustrates Christians is that we have to deal so much with people who have never been born-again.
The frustration comes because sinners see everything from a physical perspective, but we who are born-again see everything from the PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL perspective. SINNERS ARE SPIRITUALLY BLIND.
THEY ARE OF THE WORLD. Since they are of the world the Bible says...
B. SECONDLY, “...THEREFORE SPEAK THEY OF THE WORLD...”
That is, they speak of the only things they know how to speak about -- worldly things.
They do not know that Christ is THE DOOR to salvation. They speak of other ways to get to heaven. SINCE THEY ARE OF THE WORLD and THEY SPEAK OF THE WORLD, and guess what...
C. THIRDLY, “...THE WORLD HEARETH THEM”
When lost people speak of the world this is exactly what lost people want to hear. THE WORLD WILL HEAR FALSE PROPHETS.
Illus: Both the Pope, and Rev. Billy Graham appeared in the William Brice Football Stadium, which holds approximately 78,000 people.
Before Evangelist Billy Graham came to Columbia for the city-wide crusade, a lot of preparation had been made so as many people as possible would know of the meeting. At least a year before he was to come, plans had been made.
• Advertisements were made statewide, and the surrounding states were notified of the meeting.
• PR men were sent months in advance to prepare for his coming. Almost every church in the state and in surrounding states were notified to encourage their people to participate.
• Hundreds of billboards, around Columbia and beyond were rented months in advance to announce the meeting.
• Radio and television stations began announcing when he would be there.
• The local newspapers began to announce his coming.
• Print shops were busy printing handbills by the millions to announce his coming.
• Billy Graham later announced they had spent over three hundred thousand dollars promoting the crusade. This of course did not count the value of donated services and materials.
Finally the day arrived for the meeting to begin and they had to have everyone sit together in one area of the stadium so it would not appear so empty.
Shortly thereafter it was announced the Pope would visit Columbia, S.C., and would speak in that same stadium.
• People lined up on the road-side for miles, to get a glimpse of him.
• People began to cry with joy as he rode by.
• The stadium was filled to capacity.
The point I am trying to make is this; the crowds will flock out to hear a preacher or teacher of false doctrine.
That is not to say that if a church is full it means a preacher is a false prophet, but it is a fact the masses of people in the world today will flock to hear a preacher of false doctrine when he tells them what they want to hear.
Conclusion: Look at verse 6. We read, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”
People who know the Lord will hear the man of God who preaches God’s Word, because they are born again. However we must be vigilant, for false teachers abound.
I. THE CONVOLUTION
II. THE CONFESSION
III. THE CONQUEST
