FALSE PROPHETS AND FAITHFUL PRIESTS
1 John 4:1-6
INTRO: Here is a word of warning which the Lord God gives to us about the danger of false prophets. It is a warning from God that we are not to believe everything we hear even though it may come from supposedly Christian sources.
ILLUS: Teaching a little baby to eat on its own is a fascinating thing. But one of the things you have to teach a little one as they learn how to eat for themselves is to examine their food and to know what they’re putting in their mouth. If they don’t learn to examine what they’re eating then it would be possible for them to get something in their body that would be damaging and detrimental to them.
The same thing is true on the part of a young Christian. New Christians need to be very, very careful what they eat in terms of spiritual food. Do not be gullible, do not receive everything you hear just because the person who says it claims that he is of God.
Notice in vv. 4, 5, and 6 that each one of these verses begins in a very definite manner. V. 4 begins “you.” V. 5 says “they,” talking about another group. And then v. 6 says, “we.” Those three words summarize what we have in these verses.
I. FALSE PROPHETS (v. 1).
The Bible teaches the existence of false prophets. There were false prophets in the days of John. In Jude v. 4 the Bible tells us how those false prophets try to operate. The Bible says that they creep in unawares, they sneak in, they come in the side door. They come in because their purpose is to undermine and to sow the spirit of error in the minds of people.
The word “try” (KJV) is a word that we use to describe the testing of metal to see if it is genuine. It means to put something to the test. The word here simply means that we have a responsibility to put to test the things that we hear, to determine if we’re listening to the spirit of error or to the spirit of truth.
I want to show you how to check out a false prophet and a faithful preacher.
1. The Content Test. Check out what they have to say, the content of their message. Look at vv. 2-3. Many times a false prophet will say a great deal of good things, a lot of things that are true. Don’t let that fool you. A broken watch is right two times every day. Because they may teach some things that are good does not necessarily mean that you buy everything they have to say.
The key is what their message says about the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do they believe about the incarnation of the Lord Jesus? Inevitably a false prophet will be off base somewhere in relationship to the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
ILLUS: The Jesus Seminar is a group of so called scholars who meet every year to determine which of the words in the New Testament attributed to Jesus He actually spoke. They met in Atlanta a few years ago and determined that Jesus only said one word in the Model Prayer or what we call the Lord’s Prayer. The word “Father” is the only word He actually said according to them.
They have a rather unique way of determining what Jesus said. They vote by using little beads of different colors. If it’s a red bead, it means they believe the saying is what Jesus said. If it’s a pink bead they say, “Well, Jesus may have said something like this.” A gray bead means that it contains some ideas of Jesus. And a black bead meant Jesus never said this.
Now isn’t that nice of them to tell us they have appointed themselves the authorities, 2,000 years later, of what Jesus said and what Jesus didn’t say. So they said it was not likely that Jesus ever composed a prayer like this. In fact, one of the brilliant scholars says, “I think He prayed but I don’t think He made a big deal out of it.” They have reduced Jesus to a speechless Jesus and they have said to us we don’t really know what Jesus said if He ever said anything or not.
2. The Manner Test. In other words, how does he go about what he does? How does he appeal to this old world? Look at v. 5. The false prophet always has a hearing by the world. I’m not saying for a moment that popularity is a proof that you’re a false prophet.
There are many fine, godly, wonderful Bible preachers and teachers who have a marvelous following of people. But I am saying that mere popularity and crowd-drawing appeal is not any evidence that the individual is of God.
3. The Money Test (2 Peter 2:2-3). The false prophet always flunks the money test. This does not mean that every time there is an appeal made for money that this means the individual is a false prophet. There are many very fine Christian causes that are worthy of your support. You need to watch very carefully how the funds are used and watch very carefully to see if the individual who is making the appeal is overly interested in money matters. If that individual himself gets involved in a very elaborate lifestyle and begins to use the funds for his own selfish desires and his own covetous desires, and if they won’t give you an audit of their books then I’d be very, very careful about giving to it.
4. The Morality Test (2 Peter 2:1). Check into their lifestyle. Some of the most immoral people in all of the world have been people who have claimed to be messengers of God. See if they measure up to the standards of the Word of God. Check their converts out. Of course, all of us are ashamed of some of our converts.
ILLUS: R. G. Lee told about walking down the street and a drunk staggered up to him and said, “Oh, Preacher, I’m one of your converts.” The preacher looked at him and said, “Yeah, you look like one of mine. You certainly don’t look like one of the Lord’s.” (Pastor’s Conference at CNC in 1974)
All of us are ashamed of some of them, but I’m saying for the most part the gospel will cause people to be Bible-loving, Jesus-loving, home-loving, church-loving, family-loving, neighborhood-loving kind of people. It will change your life.
II. THE FAITHFUL PREACHERS (v.6).
How do you recognize a faithful preacher of the Word?
Agreement With the Bible (v. 2). Check it out in the Bible, see what the Bible says, and if the preacher agrees with what the Bible says he’s right. If the preacher disagrees with what the Bible says then the preacher is wrong, he’s missed it.
Acceptance on the part of believers. Look again at v. 6. What John’s simply saying is if a man is really of God he will have an acceptance on the part of Bible believers. You know, those who do not believe the Bible, those who are not of God will always be uncomfortable with Bible preaching. That’s the way it was with Jesus. Look at the Pharisees. They were always uncomfortable with Jesus. They were always disturbed by His preaching. They were constantly criticizing His teaching.
III. THE FEARLESS PEOPLE (v. 4).
We are living in a world where there is the spirit of error. Where Satan’s messengers would buffet the Child of God. How are we as the people of God to cope? How can the people of God be sure to distinguish between a false prophet and a faithful preacher? There is a:
Relationship — “you are of God.” We have a special relationship to the Almighty Creator of the Universe, He is our Father. Just as a parent will see to it that his child is guarded from that which is wrong and that which is harmful and untrue, it is our opportunity as children of God to have a heavenly Father who cares for us and sees to it that we understand that which is true and are able to detect that which is false.
Result — “you have overcome them.” The tense of the verb is something done in the past with a present result. Speaking of the cross where Jesus overcame the wicked one. You and I have a blessed result. We can overcome the spirit of error in the power of the Lord Jesus.
Reason — How do we overcome? “Greater is He that is in you that he than he that is in the world.” We have the divine spirit of God within us to protect us against the spirit of error.
CONC: In the day in which we are living it is very important to test the prophets since there are so many false prophets around. If you will follow the steps given in this message, you should be able to discern them.
NOTE: This message is a revision of a sermon preached by my late father Ted Wood. It appears (though I can’t be certain) that he may have used Warren Wiersbe’s book "Be Real" for some of his inspiration.
