“BLESSED ASSURANCE” – Evidence #6
“Understanding The Truth”
1 John 2:18-27, 4:1-6
INTRODUCTION: We continue in our series on EVIDENCES of salvation that give us the ASSURANCE of salvation.
You can’t base your ASSURANCE of salvation on a PAST experience … it may have been COUNTERFEIT. We are to base the ASSURANCE of salvation on PRESENT EVIDENCES. We see these EVIDENCES in the book of 1 John.
We have seen, so far:
EVIDENCE #1 – A TRUE Christian will have a relationship with Jesus.
EVIDENCE #2 – A TRUE Christian will deal with the sin in their life.
EVIDENCE #3 – A TRUE Christian will obey God’s Word.
EVIDENCE #4 – A TRUE Christian will love other Christians.
EVIDENCE #5 – A TRUE Christian will forsake the world.
NOW – EVIDENCE #6 – A TRUE Christian will UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH.
Do you remember before you were saved? You read the Bible, but you really didn’t understand it … it didn’t make much sense to you. You thought of it as “The Good Book” … you respected it … BUT … it didn’t mean very much to you.
When you were saved, the Holy Spirit came to live inside of you … to TEACH you. John 16:13 - "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
There were many FALSE teachers in John’s day (like today) … leading people astray (Jim Jones, false cults). They needed a special discernment as to what was TRUE … and what was FALSE.
1 John 2:18 – “last time” or “last hour” = the time between the 1st & 2nd coming of Jesus.
FALSE teachers WILL come … we have to know the TRUTH. If you are TRULY born-again, you WON’T be fooled … this can give you the ASSURANCE of your salvation. Mark 13:22
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.”
1 John 2:19 – False teachers do not last in the church. They come and go, taking their lost followers with them. Those who follow these false teachers are LOST. This is how God purifies, purges, and cleanses the Church.
1 John 2:20-21 – The Holy Spirit is within every TRUE Christian, to warn us as to what is true/false. He is our “early warning system” … a built-in “lie detector”.
John 14:17 – “That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
John 14:26 - "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
NOW – John tells us how we can identify FALSE teachers.
1 John 2:22-23 – They deny that Jesus is who He claims to be … God in the flesh … the Savior … the only way to God the Father. They try to re-route the way to Heaven.
1 John 2:24-26 – TRUE Christians will never fall for the lies of the FALSE teachers. John 8:31 – “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;” The TRUE Christian won’t follow the FALSE teachers. John 10:5 - "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."
1 John 2:27 – The Holy Spirit will open up the Scriptures to the TRUE Christian … the TRUE Christian will stay faithful. Those who follow FALSE teachers didn’t LOSE their salvation … they didn’t backslide … they were never saved.
1 John 4:1 – We are in a Spiritual warfare. Those without the indwelling Holy Spirit will lose. 1 Tim. 4:1 – “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,”
How can you tell who is the TRUE/FALSE teacher?
1 John 4:2-3 – The FALSE teachers will CLAIM the name of Jesus (“Christian”) … use the Bible … sound religious. They will talk about the love of Jesus … and even speak of His death, burial & resurrection.
BUT – They will deny His humanity and His deity … proclaim a “works salvation” … baptism, Church membership, or some other religious activity. Their apostasy will not deal with “Who is Jesus?” … “Why did He come?” … “What did He accomplish?”
1 John 4:4 – The Holy Spirit who is in us, is far greater than those who teach the lies of Satan. Because the Holy Spirit is our teacher, the TRUE Christian will see through the lies of the Devil. WE have the “Spirit of truth”.
1 John 4:5 – The FALSE teachers will be very popular with the world. They will scratch their itching ears, saying what they want to hear. They will package their lies to make it appear as if it’s from God. They will make it very appealing to the flesh.
The TRUE gospel isn’t very popular with the world. Repentance and judgment, obedience and surrender, aren’t very popular subjects these days. Before you can get a person SAVED, you have to get them LOST. The world doesn’t want to think of themselves as lost and on their way to Hell. They want someone to tell them that they’re going to Heaven.
1 John 4:6- FALSE Christians will refuse to hear the TRUE Word of God. They will find a teacher who says what they want to hear. 2 Tim. 4:3 – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”
CONCLUSION:
Salvation will open up your eyes to the TRUTH. If the Holy Spirit lives within you, you will be able to discern the TRUTH … you will know the TRUTH. This will give you the ASSURANCE of salvation.
We need to ask ourselves the question:
o Can you discern between truth & error?
o Do you rely on the Holy Spirit to be your teacher?
o Has the Holy Spirit illuminated your heart & mind to the Scriptures?
Answers to these questions can give us the ASSURANCE as to whether or not we are saved.
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“BLESSED ASSURANCE” – Evidence #6
“Understanding The Truth” – 1 John 2:18-27, 4:1-6
INTRODUCTION: Before salvation, you couldn’t understand the Scriptures – John 16:13
1 John 2:18 – False teachers WILL come … you need to know the truth – Mark 13:22
2:19 – Those who follow false teachers are LOST ... this is how God purifies the church.
2:20-21 – The Holy Spirit is our “early warning system” – John 14:17, 14:26
2:22-23 – False teachers try to re-route the way to Heaven.
2:24-26 – True believers won’t fall for the lies of the false teachers – John 8:31, 10:5
2:27 – The followers of false teachers aren’t backsliders … they were never saved.
1 John 4:1 – We are in a Spiritual warfare – 1 Timothy 4:1
4:2-3 – False teachers claim the name of Jesus, but deny His humanity and deity … they proclaim a “works salvation”.
4:4 – The indwelling Holy Spirit is greater than the father of lies, and He is our teacher.
4:5 – False teachers appeal to the flesh and are popular.
- Judgment, repentance, obedience & surrender aren’t very popular with the lost … they don’t think of themselves as LOST.
4:6 – False Christians will follow those who teach what they want to hear – 2 Timothy 4:3
CONCLUSION:
- If you are taught by the Holy Spirit, you will have the ASSURANCE of your salvation
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
