Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "Words of Life" by Hiram Kemp - Part 10

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"Words of Life" by Hiram Kemp - Part 10 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Alright, if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn it to 1 John chapter 4, 1 John chapter
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4.
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Last week, Chris stood in for me, did a great job looking at 1 John 3.
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This quarter we're looking at, or this part of the quarter anyway, words of life from
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1 John and each week we're trying to tackle a chapter.
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Just want to remind you of where we've been in 1 John and what that means about where
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we're headed.
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John starts out, he's talking to the church here about some false teachers that have come
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in and tried to confuse them about what it means to really know God and to be on good
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footing with God.
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And so in each chapter of 1 John, he responds to some of that and he addresses it.
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At the end of 1 John chapter 3 though, if you look at about verse 13, he starts talking
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to them about not being surprised if the world hates them.
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And the difference between Christians and the world is Christian's behavior is evident
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by the fact that we love one another.
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And he says this in 1 John 3 and verse 11.
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He said this earlier in the book already too, in 1 John 2, 7 through 11, he talks about
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our need to love one another.
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So at the end of 1 John 3, he's doubling down on this idea that Christians are marked by
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their love for one another.
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And in chapter 3 verses 14 and 15, he says, this is how you know you've passed from death
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to life.
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If you hate the brothers, you don't have eternal life.
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In 1 John, eternal life refers to Jesus Christ.
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And so he's saying, you don't have a relationship with Jesus if you're not in good standing
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with your brothers and sisters in Christ, God commands us to love one another.
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What does that look like?
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Well, 1 John 3, 16 through 18, he says, it looks like taking advantage of the opportunities
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you have in front of you.
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And when you see a brother or sister in need, you minister to their needs and do what you
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can to help them.
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And he says, this is how you know.
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You can be sure and confident before God in verse 19, and you can have full confidence
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if you love one another.
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And proof of this is God's given us his spirit.
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All right, look at 1 John 3 right before we get into chapter 4 though, verse 22 and 23.
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He says, you know, you have your prayers answered.
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And in verse 23, we know we have our prayers answered if we keep his commandments.
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And what are the two commandments that John gives in 1 John 3 and verse 23?
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All right, believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another.
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So he comes back to this love one another.
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What stands out to you about those two commands?
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Because John says we have his approval.
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God will hear our prayers if we keep his commands and his commandments are, believe on the name
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of Jesus, love one another.
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What's interesting about those two commands?
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I'll get you started, okay?
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What's the two great commands in scripture?
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Love God with all of your heart, soul, and the second command is, love your neighbor
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as yourself.
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John does his version of that here by saying, you are on good footing with God if you believe
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the right things about Jesus and if you love one another.
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And proof of that is verse 24, God's given you his spirit.
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All of that's important for chapter 4 because the Bible divisions marked by chapters and
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divisions in our Bible chapters and verses are arbitrary a lot of times.
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And so in the Bible, you think about a chapter and you might think subject has changed.
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We're talking about something different.
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But John doesn't change subjects in chapter 4.
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John doubles down on what he's been saying so far.
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And so in chapter 4, John's going to talk about evidence that we know God and that we
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belong to him.
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But just keep in mind at the end of chapter 3, John's given two primary evidences of criteria.
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Believe on the name of Jesus Christ and the second one is that you love one another.
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And that was important for John's audience because these false teachers were coming in
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and we'll just call them these religious know-it-alls.
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The official name for them were religious Gnostics.
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And they had this idea that if you were really on good terms with God, if you were really
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in good harmony and fellowship with God, you have to have secret knowledge.
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You'd have to be in their camp.
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They would have to approve of you.
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And John says, it's a lot easier than that.
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You know that you belong to God if you believe on the name of Jesus Christ.
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That means have a right view of who Jesus is.
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And if you love the brethren, and he says proof of that will be seen by the last verse
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in chapter 3, the spirit that lives in you, the spirit he's given us.
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Because as far as John's concerned, the only way to produce this kind of life is the Holy
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Spirit indwells a person and produces the fruit or the evidence that God lives in them.
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This doesn't mean the Holy Spirit comes in you, takes over and makes you do certain things.
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But if the spirit lives in you and if he dominates your life, it'll be evidenced by how you live.
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And one of the primary evidences will be you love other Christians.
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All right, so now tonight, 1 John 4, we're going to look at the evidence that we know
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God.
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How do we know we know God?
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Continuing with what he says in chapter 3, let's just look at 1 John 4, 1 through 6.
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Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
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God.
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For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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By this you know the spirit of God.
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Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
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And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
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This is the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard was coming and now is in the world
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already.
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Little children, you are from God and have overcome them.
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For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
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They are from the world.
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Therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them.
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We are from God.
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Whoever knows God listens to us and whoever is not from God does not listen to us.
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By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
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Okay, so what is the evidence in our lives that we know God?
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First thing John says in verse 1 is you have to have some proper discernment.
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So beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they come
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from God.
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For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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In verse 1, what does John mean by don't believe every spirit and test the spirit?
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What is John referring to in 1 John 4 and verse 1 by spirit here?
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What is that?
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Teachings.
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Or probably here more specifically like teachers.
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Don't believe every person that comes to you teaching, but test them, examine them
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to see whether they've come from God.
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So John's saying don't be gullible.
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One of the ways that you know that you know God is you have the discipline of spiritual
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discernment.
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You don't just go along with anything that anybody says or anybody teaches.
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You can figure some things out for yourself.
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It's similar to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5 21.
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What does Paul say there?
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Test all things, hold fast to what's good.
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Or in Ephesians 5 and verse 10, Paul says, try to discern what's pleasing to the Lord.
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So you have a responsibility.
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I have a responsibility.
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If we say we know God to test the spirits, test the teachers to see whether they're from
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God, to do some self-examination, to see whether or not what we're being taught comes from
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God.
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He says, don't believe everything.
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If you just guzzle down every religious idea that's brought to you, John says, that's evidence
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you don't know who God is.
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It's not spiritual and it's not godly to say, well, this person's talking about Jesus.
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I don't think they mislead me.
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They wouldn't lead me astray.
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John says, you should be examining, you should be testing and trying to see, does this align
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with what God wants me to believe?
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And so in verse 1, he says, test the spirits to see whether they're from God.
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The Old Testament gave two primary ways of testing prophets.
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Can you guess what they were?
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The passages on the screen if you want to cheat, okay?
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Yeah, Deuteronomy 13, 1 through 5, Deuteronomy 18, 20 through 22, what were the two ways
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in the Old Testament to test whether or not a prophet or a spokesman really was from God?
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If it came true.
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So, Deuteronomy 18, 20 through 22 says, if a prophet says something's going to happen
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and if it doesn't come to pass, you know that person's not from God.
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So if a person predicts something and it doesn't follow through, you know that person's not
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from God.
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The first test, Deuteronomy 13, 1 through 5 also says, if a person claims to be a prophet
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and they're able to even perform a miraculous sign, if they try to lead you astray to follow
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other gods, then they're also teaching you false doctrine because though they may have
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done a miraculous sign by sleight of hand or trickery, if they're not teaching you things
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that harmonize with what you already know about God, that person's also a false teacher.
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Maybe John has some of that in the back of his mind when he says, there are ways to test
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and try to figure out whether or not a teacher comes from God.
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But what other ways can you think of when you think about this idea of, okay, Kevin
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says this about the teachings, I agree with that.
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Beloved, don't believe every teaching or every teacher, but test them to see whether or not
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they've come from God.
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What would be some of the ways we do that?
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How would you test or examine whether or not something you're being taught actually comes
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from God?
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How would you know?
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Again, if you know God, you've got to be doing this.
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This is a part of spiritual discernment.
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So every time somebody does this right here, what we're doing, standing in front of you,
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teaching, preaching a sermon, teaching a class or a lesson, or you see something on social
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media or on YouTube, you should be discerning and testing and trying to figure that out.
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So my question is, how do you do that, Vivian?
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It's got to match the Bible.
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Yeah.
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So you need to examine it and see if it matches the Bible.
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But I agree with Vivian, by the way, but what if they use some Bible verses?
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I mean, what if they quote some verses?
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Then what about that?
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Okay.
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So it's got to harmonize with what the Bible's actually teaching.
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Yeah, I will start there.
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First things first, let's see if it harmonizes and matches with what the Bible actually says.
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Anybody else?
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Do their actions match?
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Does their fruit match up with what they're saying?
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In Matthew 7, 15 through 20, you remember Jesus talked about false prophets and he says,
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beware of false prophets.
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They come to you in what kind of clothing?
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Sheep clothing, but inwardly, they are?
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Ravish wolves.
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He says, you'll know them by their what?
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You'll know them by their fruit, by the evidence of their lives.
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And so, yeah, you should be looking at a person's teaching and then looking at their lives to
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see, do these things match up?
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So, so far, we've got test teachers by opening up the Bible to see if it harmonizes.
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Test the teacher by their fruit or what their actions produce.
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What else?
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How else do you test or examine to see whether a teaching's come from God?
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I don't know if you noticed this.
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I started back there.
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I'm walking down the aisle.
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I'm going to come and grab one of y'all if y'all don't talk.
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Okay, what are the other ways we can figure out whether or not a teaching comes from God?
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Open the Bible, study it, test the fruit of the teacher.
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Denver?
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Yeah, if they say, send your money to the Lord, but then they give you their address,
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you know you're in trouble.
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Yeah, you actually bring up a great point.
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There's something in the Bible about Peter says in 2 Peter 2, they make merchandise of you.
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False teachers in the New Testament are often connected to their views of finances and money.
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1 Timothy 6, same thing.
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He talks about false teachers and they promise you wealth and riches, but Paul says,
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having godliness and contentment is great gain.
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So, yeah, financial advantages and financial ploys is an indication.
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So you want to look at that.
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Any other ways that you would test and try to determine is this teaching from God or is it not?
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Joey?
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The scripture about the fruits of the teaching.
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This is important.
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Joey says it's about the fruit of the teaching.
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So earlier we talked about what's going to happen to a person as far as the fruit of the teacher.
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What are they practicing?
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But now we're talking about if I follow this teaching, here's what we've always got to be asking ourselves.
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I want to know if this teaching is true.
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If I follow this to its end and do what I'm being taught, will I behave more like Jesus or less like Jesus?
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Will I like the finished product if I put this into practice?
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Paul says in Romans 6 and verse 21, the end of some behavior is death.
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Or in 2 Corinthians 11, 15, he says, you know that the fruit of their teaching leads to their own destruction.
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So one of the ways to examine somebody's teaching is, you know, if I did more of that,
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I would be a lot more like Jesus.
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That appears to line up with scripture.
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If I practice that, I'd be further away from Jesus, and I wouldn't be the person God wanted me to be.
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So that's a great point.
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You put Lee and Joey's comments together, and there's this idea of what's the fruit of their behavior,
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but also what does this type of teaching produce?
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Look at all of these people practicing this over here, and look at their attitudes.
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Look at how they've turned out.
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I don't want to be like that.
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There's something about that teaching that makes you a meaner person, a colder person, a harsher,
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critical person that can't be in line with the truth.
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Jesus used this standard all the time.
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He said, just look at my life.
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You've seen the works.
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You've seen what it produces.
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And what does Paul say in Galatians 5, 22 and 23?
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The fruit of the...the evidence of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace.
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What does it produce?
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Anybody?
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Yeah, it should produce the Christian life.
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All right, anything else on how we test the spirits?
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Anybody else?
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How do you examine and test whether or not it's in the Bible?
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Yeah, so you do want to make sure, again, it aligns with what we know about Jesus.
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And we'll say more about verse 2 in a minute.
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Here's some other things to consider, though.
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Take an investigative approach to the Bible.
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Don't just open the Bible and, is it in the Bible?
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Take an investigative approach.
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So Acts 17 and verse 11 says, the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica.
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They received the scriptures with all readiness of mind, and they searched the
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scriptures.
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How often?
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That wasn't their, like, coffee table daily devotions.
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They were going down to the local synagogue in Thessalonica, getting the
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scroll, listening to Paul and Silas and Timothy, and then they were trying to
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check to make sure it worked out.
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If they checked behind Paul and Silas and Timothy, then we ought to check behind
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other people, too.
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So they searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things are so.
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Another thing, ask helpful and good questions.
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In Galatians 3, Paul was trying to test these false teachers, and he just asked
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his audience some questions.
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Starting in verse 2, he said, let me ask you a question.
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Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or the hearing from faith?
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Did God say to Abraham, in your seeds, all nations will be blessed or in seed?
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If you want to know if somebody's actually teaching you the truth and whether or not
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it's come from God, just start poking at their teaching with a lot of questions and
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see whether or not it properly aligns, and that'll be an indication.
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But John says, I want you to test the spirits to see whether they come from God.
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And the reason why is because many false prophets, you see that at the end of verse
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1, have gone out into the world.
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So John wrote in the first century, and he said, how many false prophets have gone
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out into the world already?
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Many.
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You think that number's decreased or increased?
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Increased.
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Flip over one page, go to 2 John.
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2 John, and look at verse 7.
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2 John 7 says, for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not
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confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, such a one as the deceiver
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and the antichrist.
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So if they needed to check in the first century, John already says,
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I believe John wrote in about 90 AD, wherever you rank this,
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there's some 60 years into Christianity.
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We're almost 2,000 years into it.
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Sixty years in, John says, there's a lot of false teachers in the world.
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You need to be checking everything because many false prophets have gone out
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into the world.
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And so John says, we should be prepared.
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What makes it hard to obey these verses today?
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1 John 4 and verse 1, what makes this challenging?
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I'm talking about how do we know we know God?
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First thing is proper discernment.
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What makes 1 John 4 and verse 1 challenging today?
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Don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether or not they come
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from God.
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What makes this hard?
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The multitude of them.
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I would say the multitude of them, but also, garnet, the multitude
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of information that comes in.
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You can learn a lot today, internet, a lot of people write books,
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a lot of people write blogs, all sorts of things.
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And there's so much information coming at us.
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Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 12, the making of many books,
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there is no end.
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There's so many people talking about God that trying to sift through it all is
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just challenging.
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Maybe some of you might remember, there was a time when the only preaching you
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really heard was where?
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It's your local congregation.
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That was it.
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Today, you can go on and if you just type in on YouTube, the Holy Spirit,
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you just might get anything you wanted.
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And so, yeah, the multitude of teachers and information about God makes
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this challenging.
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What else?
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Test the spirits to see whether they come from God.
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What makes that hard?
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A lack of knowledge of God's word.
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If you don't know the Bible, how are you going to test whether or not somebody
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else is telling the truth?
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If you don't study the Bible, you simply become a slave to what
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sounds good.
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That's it.
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You eventually are just going to have to go along with,
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that sounds really smart to me.
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That sounds like it makes a lot of sense if you don't know the Bible.
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But this verse assumes that you and I know the truth and that we can know it.
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What else makes this hard?
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I was thinking about this this afternoon.
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I thought one of the things that makes 1 John 4 and verse 1 difficult,
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don't believe every spirit but test them, is we live in a politically correct
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culture that says, you really can't say anybody else is in the wrong.
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Proverbs 12 and verse 1, the one that hates for proof or correction is foolish.
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But we live in a society that says, truth is relative, your truth,
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my truth, but you keep reading the New Testament.
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And what keeps popping up over and over again is the truth.
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Jesus says, you'll know the truth and it'll make you free, John 8, 32.
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He says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, John 14 and verse 6.
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When you live in a relative world, to open up your Bible and say, you know,
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I know you might have meant well, you might be a nice person,
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but that's wrong according to the Bible, and that's false.
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We can't go along with that.
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That's hard for a lot of people to do.
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You'll even hear members of the church say things like, I'm not going to say it's
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wrong, but I don't believe that.
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We can't put our stake in the ground and just say, that's not in the Bible,
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and because it's not in the Bible, I'm not going to go along with that.
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That's religious error.
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That's wrong.
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And maybe you might remember hearing that in times past and preaching
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and teaching, sometimes we don't talk as direct as that anymore.
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And again, we need to be wise, we need to couch things in love,
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Ephesians 4, 15, but I think that examining and that directness sometimes is a
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challenge because we live in a society that wants to approve and affirm everybody
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and not rub anybody the wrong way.
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But John challenges us.
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He says, refuse to be gullible and don't just go along with anything.
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In 2 Corinthians 11, 3 and 4, Paul says, I'm worried about you, Corinthians.
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If somebody comes to you that preaches another Jesus,
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you might just go along with it.
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John is saying, don't do that.
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Test the spirits to see whether or not they come from God because many false
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prophets have gone out into the world.
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Okay, before we move on to the second way we can know God, let me ask you one more
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question based on verse 1, and let's read it one more time.
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Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are
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from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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How do we balance testing the spirits, testing preachers and teachers,
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and at the very same time not holding everybody that preaches and teaches in
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this high degree of skepticism or just uncertainty?
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How do you balance those two ideas?
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Like, I need to be able to test the teaching to see whether or not it's
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from God, but everybody that stands up to preach or teach isn't held in the spirit
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of suspicion.
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How do you do that?
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And I'm teaching you, so I'm very concerned and worried about what you
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think about it.
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Yeah, how do you balance those two ideas?
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Like, how do you make sure, okay, I want to study my Bible,
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make sure I'm being taught the truth, but how do you make it so that you don't
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become the error detector?
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Some people do this, it becomes their hobby.
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You know, there's two ways to read books.
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Some people read books for enjoyment, some people read books as proofreaders.
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You know what a proofreader is looking for?
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Mistakes.
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They're hired to look for mistakes.
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Editors are hired to look for, tell me where I messed up.
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And it's possible to use a verse like 1 John 4 and verse 1, and that becomes your
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approach to all preaching and teaching.
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And I think there's a balance.
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So I'm asking you, how do we strike that balance between having an investigative
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mind that says, I'm not just going to guzzle down everything, but at the same
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time, everybody that teaches and preaches, I'm not holding up, you know,
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one eyebrow, looking, maybe I don't know about you, I'm unsure.
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He kind of slipped the tongue there.
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How do you do that?
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What was that?
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If you're familiar with the person, yeah, John says this repeatedly.
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You know us, he talks about their reputation.
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So a person you're familiar with, for sure.
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What else?
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What if you don't know the person?
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Levi, I think you're right.
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He says, in the beginning, you've got to give them the benefit of the doubt.
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Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, 4 and 5, love thinks no evil.
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You assume the best.
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You would have to always be assuming the best of somebody until they prove or show
20:05
you otherwise.
20:08
Yeah, a loving person would do that, for sure.
20:14
Potentially, potentially.
20:18
Right, right.
20:20
Yeah.
20:22
So here's something...
20:23
Oh, Nicole, go ahead.
20:25
Well, I was ready to move on, but go ahead.
20:27
You got your opportunity.
20:29
Assume the best of me.
20:30
I meant the best, but go ahead.
20:36
Yeah, I think we do.
20:38
Jesus talks about the weightier matters in Matthew 23 and verse 23 and weighing
20:42
things out.
20:43
I think everything that's been said has been helpful.
20:45
Here's what I would say.
20:46
Test the spirits, examine.
20:48
Keep your Bible open.
20:49
Keep your eyes open, but also assume the best of people, right?
20:53
Keep your heart open.
20:54
Assume the best of others until they show you otherwise.
20:56
Just because somebody teaches something false doesn't mean they're a false teacher.
21:00
Does that make sense?
21:01
So Apollos is wrong on baptism in Acts 18, 24 through 28, but Priscilla and Aquila
21:06
take him aside.
21:07
They don't just bust in the synagogue and embarrass him.
21:09
His intent was not to deceive.
21:11
They take him aside and they explain to him the word of God more accurately.
21:15
This matters because all sorts of people get in this pulpit.
21:17
Sometimes it's a teenager doing their first Devo or a young person giving a
21:21
lesson.
21:22
And yes, you need to be examining the Bible to make sure things are true and right
21:25
and accurate, but at the very same time, you need to make sure that you don't become
21:29
the heretic detector and your job is to figure out where everybody's false and
21:32
where they're mistaken.
21:33
And I think there's a balance with that.
21:35
Mike, go ahead.
21:35
Yeah, I think if we try to get to know people, it'll help us a great deal.
21:58
All right, here's other evidence.
21:59
We know God.
22:00
Excuse me.
22:00
Verse 1, be discerning.
22:01
Here's the second thing, properly identifying Jesus Christ.
22:04
Look at verses 2 and 3.
22:06
Ken mentioned this a moment ago, but by this, you know the spirit of God.
22:10
Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
22:14
Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
22:17
This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is
22:21
in the world already.
22:22
So John says, all right, test the spirits to see whether or not they're from God.
22:25
And one clear test is verse 2, this is how you know the spirit of God.
22:30
Every spirit that confesses Jesus has come in the flesh is from God.
22:34
So for John's audience, it was a big deal about whether or not Jesus actually came
22:38
as a human being.
22:39
Gnostic teachers were saying, Jesus just appeared to come in the flesh,
22:42
or maybe the Messiah entered a man named Jesus when he was baptized,
22:46
but he really didn't come in the flesh.
22:47
If you go back to chapter 1 in 1 John, 1 John 1, verses 1 through 3,
22:52
that's why John is adamant, that we saw him, we touched him,
22:55
we handled him with our hands, he was in our midst, the word of life.
22:59
John's saying Jesus was a flesh and blood person.
23:01
And one way to know whether or not you're of God and you're walking
23:04
with God is, do you properly identify Jesus?
23:07
These false teachers were denying that Jesus came in the flesh.
23:10
And John says, that's something that can't be negotiated.
23:12
Nicole mentioned a moment ago, there are some things that might be
23:15
matters of indifference.
23:16
There are other things that you've got to put your stake in the ground and say,
23:19
we can't budge on this.
23:21
And you know a person is of God if they properly identify Jesus.
23:25
Look at verse 3, every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
23:29
This is the spirit of the antichrist which you heard was coming and now is
23:33
in the world already.
23:33
So earlier in chapter 2, 18 and 19, John talked about the antichrist.
23:37
He talked about these various individuals that weren't from God.
23:40
He says, this is how you know a person is the antichrist.
23:43
It's not some superpower coming at the end of time with miraculous powers.
23:48
It's anybody that denies the reality of Jesus' flesh and
23:51
blood appearance as the son of God.
23:53
He says, if you deny that, you're the antichrist.
23:55
He says, many of them are already in the world.
23:57
And this is how you know you're with God.
23:59
Do you see Jesus just the way the Bible describes?
24:03
In 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 3, Paul says a similar thing.
24:06
He says, nobody can say from the spirit that Jesus is the son of God and
24:10
be cursed at the same time.
24:12
Identifying Jesus properly is a must if you're going to be with God.
24:15
Now, there's one criteria he mentions here,
24:18
which is you've got to agree that Jesus came in the flesh.
24:21
This is a big deal because a lot of people in the Bible, a lot of people in
24:24
the world, excuse me, have a lot of ideas about Jesus.
24:27
For example, atheists say Jesus never came.
24:31
But John 1, 1 through 18 says, he came, the word was made flesh and
24:35
dwelt among us.
24:36
The Muslims say, sure, he came.
24:38
But Jesus is just a prophet.
24:40
He's on the same level with Abraham, Moses, and Elijah.
24:44
Jesus that you read about in the Bible, a real flesh and blood person, but
24:47
not divine, not the Messiah.
24:50
Jehovah's Witness say Jesus came, he existed, but he's just an angel.
24:55
On the same level, maybe one hair above Michael, the archangel.
24:59
And humanists say, okay, Jesus came, he lived, but he's got some good life
25:04
principles for you, but don't get off on any kind of divine teach.
25:07
The Bible says it matters what you believe about Jesus Christ.
25:10
Look at 1 Timothy 3, look at 1 Timothy 3 and go to verse 16.
25:15
1 Timothy 3, first person that gets there, read out loud for us verse 16.
25:20
This is something the New Testament comes back to over and over again,
25:23
the flesh and blood reality that Jesus came and lived as a human being.
25:27
1 Timothy 3 and verse 16.
25:30
At the end of this section, elders and deacons, Paul says,
25:32
this is a great mystery.
25:33
What does he say?
25:34
Somebody read it, verse 16.
25:35
You've got to believe that.
25:44
Look at 2 Timothy, just flip one page over.
25:46
Go to 2 Timothy 2 and look at verse 8.
25:49
And Jeremy, since you already are in the reading mood, you just take 2 Timothy 2, 8.
25:54
Paul's at the end of his life.
25:55
You know this.
25:56
2 Timothy 4, he's going to say, I fought a good fight, finished the course,
25:59
kept the faith.
26:00
What's he reminding Timothy of at the very end?
26:02
Listen, 2 Timothy 2 and verse 8.
26:05
Paul says, Timothy, it really happened.
26:07
At the end of life, I want you to remember.
26:09
Remember, Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead,
26:13
according to my gospel.
26:14
Why does that matter?
26:15
Because Jesus isn't just some idea that Christians believe in.
26:19
He is and was a real flesh and blood human being.
26:21
Romans 1, 3 through 4, Paul says, Jesus was born in the flesh according
26:25
to the seed of David.
26:26
That's why throughout the book of Acts, just FYI, Luke is always saying,
26:30
Jesus of Nazareth, because a lot of people in the first century were named Jesus.
26:35
There's a man in Colossians 4 and verse 14, they say his name is Jesus and he's
26:39
also called Justice.
26:40
A lot of people in the first century were named Jesus.
26:42
There's bar Jesus.
26:44
But in the book of Acts, Luke is direct.
26:47
Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under the reign of Pontius Pilate and was raised
26:52
from the dead, and you've got to believe in that Jesus.
26:54
And John says, you know you're of God if you believe the right things
26:58
about Jesus, and one of those things is that Jesus came in the flesh.
27:01
And anybody that won't confess that, they don't belong to God.
27:04
So for John, that was a major sticking point.
27:06
What else would you add to that, though?
27:08
What else would you add to the list of a person has to believe this about Jesus
27:12
to properly know God, to truly know God?
27:14
Of course, Jesus came in the flesh, but that's not exhaustive.
27:17
That's not all of it.
27:18
What else would be on the list about Jesus?
27:22
He's the son of God.
27:23
He's the Messiah.
27:24
Son of God in the Bible doesn't mean like God, Jr.
27:26
It means equal footing with God, equally God, same as God, for sure.
27:31
Got to believe that.
27:32
What else?
27:33
What was that?
27:35
You've got to believe in the second coming of Jesus.
27:38
Acts 1, 9 through 11, Jesus is taken up.
27:40
Two angels stand there.
27:41
They tell the apostles, why do you stand gazing, looking up into heaven?
27:44
This same Jesus that you've seen taken up into heaven will come back
27:48
in the same form.
27:48
You've got to believe in the second coming.
27:50
What else?
27:51
Charles?
27:52
What was that?
27:54
He's creator.
27:55
Hebrews 1, Colossians 1, John 1, you just follow those ones, Jesus created.
28:00
So if he created everything, then he is not what?
28:04
He's not created.
28:05
Colossians says he created everything, Colossians 1, 15 through 17.
28:09
You've got to believe that.
28:10
Denver?
28:11
He's our high priest, for sure.
28:13
Yeah, any other facts about the personhood of Jesus you've got to believe?
28:19
You've seen God, for sure, you've got to believe that.
28:22
He told Philip that, John 14, 8 and 9.
28:24
Here's the another thing.
28:25
You have to believe Jesus was born of a virgin, that he was born of Mary,
28:28
just like the gospel writers say, Matthew 1, 18 through 25, that happened.
28:33
Got to believe that about him.
28:34
You also have to believe, Barna did some research in 2017 and they found like 45%
28:39
of professing Christians say Jesus probably sinned.
28:43
You've got to believe that Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life.
28:46
Hebrews 4, 15 says, he was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin.
28:50
You know that you belong to God if you believe the right things about Jesus.
28:53
And John says, here's how you know it.
28:56
He came in the flesh and you don't deny that.
28:57
All right, here's the other.
28:58
Overcoming the world and listening to the apostles' instructions.
29:01
4 through 6, John says, here's other proof that you belong to God.
29:04
You're not gullible.
29:05
You examine teaching, that's verse 1.
29:07
You believe the right things about Jesus.
29:09
Now, 4 through 6, he says, little children, you are from God and you've
29:12
overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
29:16
All right, who is the them?
29:17
Who is this little children?
29:19
That's the Christians.
29:20
You are from God and have overcome them.
29:22
Overcome who?
29:24
The false teachers, that would be the Antichrist.
29:26
And John has earlier mentioned, if you look at 1 John 3 and verse 10,
29:30
he's already mentioned the devil.
29:32
So you've overcome the devil and these false teachers if you believe in him, right?
29:36
You are of God and have overcome them.
29:38
How do you know you've overcome them?
29:40
Because what, in verse 4?
29:41
The one who is in you is what?
29:45
What does that tell you about the relationship between God and the devil?
29:51
God is greater.
29:56
Eventually and now, right?
29:58
It's not just in the future, one day God's going to be victorious.
30:00
God's victorious right now.
30:02
And if you're on God's side, then what does that mean about you?
30:06
Stay with it.
30:06
If you're in Christ, what does that say about you?
30:10
You're victorious right now.
30:11
Not you're going to be.
30:12
Paul says in Romans 8, 37, we are more than conquerors through him
30:16
who loved us.
30:18
So that means right now.
30:19
How do you know you're of God?
30:21
You're not this defeated person that the world's just overcoming.
30:25
1 John 5 and verse 4, he's going to say that the victory that helps us overcome
30:29
the world is even our faith.
30:30
How do I know I'm of God?
30:32
I'm not gullible, I discern, I know the right things about Jesus,
30:35
and the world's not overcoming me, I'm overcoming the world.
30:38
Why?
30:38
Because there's a greater power in me than the power that's in the world.
30:41
In verse 5, he says, they are from the world, therefore they speak from the world
30:44
and the world listens to them.
30:45
That's about the false teachers.
30:47
The false teachers are believed by the world and they're received.
30:50
So one of the ways you know you're not of God is if everybody agrees
30:53
with what you're saying.
30:54
Everybody's already in line with your teaching, everybody's signing up for that.
30:58
You know you're not of God because people only do that with worldly teaching.
31:01
They would go along with things that would affirm them.
31:04
This is something we need to take in as Christians.
31:07
Christianity is never going to be this smart, sophisticated, palatable teaching.
31:14
Sometimes you might hear a sermon and you think about somebody you know,
31:16
a friend, a family member that doesn't believe, and you think,
31:19
now that's what I'm talking about, that sounded sophisticated.
31:21
And if this person heard that, they really wouldn't know they wouldn't.
31:24
And Christianity is not designed to work that way.
31:26
Paul calls it the foolishness of preaching.
31:28
The world will always be scandalized by the cross because our world
31:32
preaches success.
31:33
And Christianity is a story of self-denial.
31:36
And when you tell people the way to victory is through defeat and through
31:40
sacrifice and surrender, that's always going to be a challenge
31:43
for people in the world to accept and believe.
31:45
And we shouldn't be surprised that people in the world don't just readily guzzle
31:49
that down.
31:49
He says in verse 5, they are of the world and that's why the world listens to them.
31:53
Flip over to chapter 5 and verse 19, John says, the whole world lies under the
31:57
sway of the wicked one.
31:58
The whole world is going this way.
32:00
You know you're of God when you're not doing that.
32:01
And then last, 1 John 4 and verse 6, he says, we are from God,
32:06
that's the apostles.
32:07
Whoever knows God listens to us and whoever is not from God does not listen
32:11
to us.
32:12
By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
32:15
One more time, everybody go to 1 John 4 and verse 6.
32:18
We are from God, this is the apostles.
32:20
Whoever knows God listens to us.
32:22
Who is that us?
32:25
Everybody, who is that us?
32:27
Apostles.
32:27
If you're writing your Bible, you might want to write that above this.
32:30
Whoever knows God listens to us, the apostles.
32:33
Whoever is not from God does not listen to who?
32:37
By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
32:41
I'm telling you, this is hard in our time.
32:43
You'll find people saying things like, now, I'm not going to say, I mean, look,
32:46
I can't say that whole church is wrong.
32:48
Well, you can in and of yourself, but John said so.
32:51
If a person or a group of people are not following what the apostles say or teach,
32:57
then they're not of the truth.
32:58
According to this verse, they're practicing what?
33:02
Error.
33:03
Can you say that?
33:04
Yes.
33:05
If I can open up my Bible and discern, hey, they're not doing what the Bible...
33:08
that's not mean, that's not unloving, that's not unkind.
33:11
If a person or a group of people won't do what the New Testament says,
33:14
I don't have to know everything about them.
33:15
I don't have...
33:16
I'm not playing God when I say this.
33:18
I can't go along with that, that's just not in the Bible.
33:20
John says, this is how you know, you can figure it out.
33:22
He says, it's discernible.
33:24
People that are following the apostles' doctrine, and this is another
33:26
important thing, in your Bible, sometimes in the Gospels, there are red letters.
33:30
What do the red letters mean?
33:32
Nothing.
33:32
That's what they mean.
33:33
They don't mean anything.
33:34
They don't mean anything because God didn't put those red letters in there.
33:37
Human editors did, and they might emphasize and point out to you,
33:40
y'all want me to extend the invitation.
33:41
Okay, well, close down shop.
33:44
You start talking about error, they put up the invitation.
33:46
So anyway, here's the thing.
33:49
The red letters in your Bible indicate what editors think.
33:51
Oh, here's where Jesus talked.
33:52
Here's where Jesus didn't speak.
33:54
And you might start getting in your mind, here's the important stuff.
33:56
John says, nope, all of this is the important stuff.
33:59
John says, if you listen to us, you're listening to God.
34:02
If you listen to what the apostles say, you're of God.
34:04
If you don't, then guess what?
34:07
You're not of God.
34:08
Here's the thing.
34:09
Jesus didn't write down any of the Bible.
34:11
The apostles did.
34:12
The only way you know anything credible about Jesus is based on apostolic testimony.
34:16
And Jesus told the apostles, I'm giving you the keys of the kingdom.
34:19
Whatever you bind on earth would have already been bound in heaven.
34:22
Whatever you loose on earth would have already been loosed in heaven.
34:24
Matthew 16, 18 through 19.
34:27
In John 20, 20 through 22, he breathed the Holy Spirit on the apostles and he says,
34:31
whoever sins you remit, they're remitted.
34:33
Whoever sins you retain, they're retained.
34:35
Meaning, you guys are my representatives.
34:37
And whoever aligns with you guys aligns with me.
34:40
And whoever rejects you, rejects me.
34:42
So when you open up the Bible, if the apostles say, here's how a person becomes
34:45
a Christian, believe on Jesus, turn away from sin, confess and be immersed,
34:51
that's a Christian.
34:51
Somebody else comes along and says, I don't think baptism's that,
34:55
that person's not of God.
34:56
Can you really say that?
34:57
The Bible says that.
34:59
If the New Testament says, here's how Christians worship, a group of people
35:03
come, well, I don't think that really matters.
35:05
I wouldn't say this is a big deal or a person's either of God or they're not.
35:08
And this is what John says.
35:09
He says, this is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
35:13
He says, it's discernible and so we've got it in the apostles' words,
35:16
which means for us, we should become thoroughly acquainted with what the
35:19
apostles are saying, because these are God's inspired spokesmen.
35:23
You want to be able to put your finger on the passage and say, hey,
35:26
here's what the...I only do what I do in religion and Christianity because the
35:28
apostles said so.
35:30
Hey, here's a verse that says this, here's a verse that says, God's the judge,
35:33
but he's also given me the blueprint to follow and I just want to do what the
35:36
apostles say.
35:37
How do you know you're of God?
35:38
You listen to what the apostles say.
35:43
There are some people that, I love Jesus, but I don't know about Paul.
35:46
That won't work.
35:47
People are like, I love Jesus, but John and...I only want to do what Jesus says.
35:50
My Jesus wouldn't do that.
35:52
The only things you know about Jesus, the only things are the things the apostles
35:56
and the prophets of the New Testament told you about them and the Old Testament,
35:59
of course, through prophecy.
36:00
So how do you know a person belongs to God?
36:02
Do they do what the Bible says according to the apostles' doctrine?
36:07
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14.37, well, just go there, 1 Corinthians 14.37,
36:12
real quick before they put up the invitation song on me again.
36:16
1 Corinthians 14.37, Paul's at the end, he's talking about spiritual gifts,
36:20
and he's going back and forth with the Corinthians about what gifts matter.
36:23
And he concludes in Chapter 14, his prophecy, more profitable than tongues.
36:26
But in 37, he says, if any man thinks he's a prophet or spiritual,
36:31
let him acknowledge that the things I'm writing to you are the
36:33
commandments of who?
36:36
So when Paul tells us to do something, or John, or James, or Peter,
36:40
it's just like the Lord himself speaking.
36:42
How do you know if you're of God?
36:44
If you do what the apostles command.
36:46
These false teachers were coming in and saying, we've got special privileges.
36:50
John says, we saw the Lord himself.
36:52
We're writing his message to you.
36:53
You're of God if you listen to us.
36:55
So, so far, we've got be discerning.
36:57
This is how you know you're of God.
36:58
When you hear something, you don't start checking what everybody else says.
37:01
You start seeing whether or not it matches up with the Bible.
37:04
Do you have the right information about Jesus?
37:06
Are you overcoming the world and listening to the apostles' instruction?
37:09
And this, loving one another.
37:10
And we'll get done with Chapter 4.
37:12
This will go quickly.
37:13
Loving one another, 7 through 12.
37:14
Let's read this.
37:15
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.
37:18
Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
37:21
Anyone who doesn't love does not know God because God is love.
37:24
John's not saying, like, love is God's essence.
37:27
He's saying, love is who God is, but it's also represented in how he behaves.
37:32
Here's a question.
37:32
How do you know that God is love?
37:36
Let me give you a hint.
37:36
It's in verses 9 and 10.
37:38
How do you know without a doubt that God is love?
37:42
By this we know, and this is the love of God made manifest.
37:45
That verse 9, the love of God is made manifest or apparent or clear.
37:49
God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him,
37:52
and this is love.
37:53
Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
37:58
or, like, the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
38:00
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
38:04
No one has ever seen God.
38:05
If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
38:09
How do you know you're of God based on these verses?
38:11
How do you know?
38:14
If you do what?
38:16
Love one another.
38:17
John's saying God is made up of so much love, it's impossible to get in his orbit,
38:21
to be in God and of God, and you not love as a result.
38:24
This is how you know you belong to God, if you love one another.
38:28
If somebody said to you, how do you know God exists?
38:30
You start walking down the evidences, right?
38:32
Design in the world, talking about cause and effect, moral argument.
38:37
You just start walking down the arguments.
38:38
How do you know God exists?
38:39
But how does somebody know God exists in you?
38:42
He says nobody's ever seen God at any time.
38:44
This is a theme in John, by the way.
38:46
He mentions this in John 6 and John 5, John 1 and verse 18.
38:50
He loves saying nobody's ever seen God.
38:52
How does somebody know that God lives in you, though?
38:54
John says the evidence of that would be you love one another.
38:58
And look at verse 11.
39:00
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
39:03
Why is it essential for your life that you know how much God loves you?
39:09
Because it's out of that love that you're going to love other people.
39:11
If you're having a hard time loving other people,
39:14
you've got to start stepping back and thinking about how much you're loved.
39:17
It's fundamental to your life that you see how much God loves you.
39:20
You do that by standing under the cross.
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We look at what Jesus did for us on the cross with the eye of faith.
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And it's out of that that you say, I'm loved by God.
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I don't have to focus on myself all the time.
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I can pour into other people and love them because God loves me.
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If you get that, then you'll go out and love other people.
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Wherever we're failing in our love toward other people,
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it's because of a disconnect between how much God really loves us.
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We didn't earn it.
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We don't deserve it, John 3, 16.
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In this way, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
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While we were yet sinners, Romans 5, 6 through 8.
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If that's true, you can go out and love people, no problem.
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And the last thing John says is this leads to a spirit-led life.
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That's in verses 13 through 21.
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And we can do this quickly.
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He says, by this we know because we have the spirit.
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This is how you know you belong to God.
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That's in verse 13.
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The Holy Spirit is given to Christians, Acts 2, 38.
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We testify that God sent his son to be the savior of the world, 14 and 15.
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He's mentioned that previously.
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You also have confidence in the day of judgment.
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Look at 17 and 18.
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By this, his love is perfected in us that we may have confidence in the day
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of judgment.
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How do we normally talk about the day of judgment?
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We hope we make it.
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Are we ready?
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We sing, right?
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That's biblical to sing.
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But here's what John says.
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You know you're of God because you have confidence in the day of judgment.
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You're looking forward to it.
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You're not ashamed of it.
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And the last thing, 19 through 21, he says you actually put it into practice.
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If you haven't seen God and you love him, you've got to love people that you see
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all the time or you're a liar.
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Let me end the class by saying this.
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A lot of people think they know God.
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And John says, you can figure it out.
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Not for other people, figure it out for yourself first.
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Am I discerning or do I just guzzle down everything that sounds good,
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looks good, is aesthetically pleasing, fits nice on a greeting card,
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or am I really a discerning person?
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Do I have the right facts about the person and work of Jesus Christ?
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Am I overcoming the world or is it overcoming me and do I listen
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to apostolic teaching?
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Do I love other people and do I live the spirit-led life?
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If that's true about us, then we belong to God, God belongs to us,
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and we already possess eternal life.
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All right, thanks for a good Bible class tonight.