Provoking Thoughts From 1 John (12 Of 16)

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.