1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the
world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit
that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but
every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is
the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is
already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome
them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world,
and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God
listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This
is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who
loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does
not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among
us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved
us, we also ought to love one another.
- 1 John 4:1-11, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
Some people are dippers. Other people are divers. On this Memorial Day weekend, many water lovers will be getting out their swimsuits for the first time this year. Weather permitting, area pools and ponds and lakes and rivers will be filled with swimmers.
For the most part, these swimmers can be divided into two groups. Some people are dippers. Other people are divers. Divers are the kind that let everyone know when they hit the water. They kick off their shoes and toss their towel to the side because they can hardly wait to jump in. They get a running start and dive in with no hesitation. The splash they make gets them wet along with anyone else who happens to be in the immediate area.
Then there are the dippers. These swimmers are much more careful and deliberate. They approach the water’s edge with extreme caution. Their entry into the water looks something like an elaborate ritual. First, one toe dips into the water to see if it is warm enough for the rest of the body. Then the entire foot, then the other foot, and ever so slowly the legs sink down to knee level. Inch by inch, they carefully lower their bodies down into the water. In spite of the shivering and the chattering teeth, they sink farther and farther down until they are totally immersed. But the final plunge beneath the surface takes place only after the water has been tested and re-tested to their satisfaction.
No, this is not a sermon about the poolside etiquette, but it is about exercising caution and sound judgment when it comes to spiritual matters. This morning the apostle John encourages us to follow the example of the swimmers who carefully test the waters before they jump in. John urges us to be very careful when it comes to who or what we believe. Before we embrace any messenger, before we believe any message, the Lord commands us to test the waters, so to speak. God tells to accept only those teachings that are in full agreement with his Word. In other words,…
TEST BEFORE YOU TRUST
I. Examine the message
II. Consider the source
On the surface, it might seem like God’s command isn’t too difficult to handle. In our age of skepticism, people have no problem questioning religion in general. How many people today still believe that the Bible is God’s Word?
If you are truly enlightened, you know that science has disproved many of the Bible’s claims. God didn’t create the universe is six twenty-four hour days. There was no worldwide flood. Jesus did not physically rise from the dead on Easter morning. In the eyes of the world, the Bible belongs in the same category with Greek mythology. It contains some interesting stories, but they are just stories. It makes for some interesting reading, but it has little to do with the world in which we live.
Thankfully, God’s command to "test the spirits" is not directed at the world. God is speaking to believers, to people who do believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, to people who still believe that the Bible is without error.
Sometimes believing everybody can be just as dangerous as believing nobody. Therefore, God commands Christians not to accept every pious, religious sounding thing they hear. We are to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1).
The word used here for "testing" is found a number of times in the New Testament. It was used in the marketplace to describe the testing of metals by fire. In the ancient Near East, coins made from precious metals were used for money and trading. No doubt, there were times when dishonest businessmen tried to substitute lower quality metals for the real thing to increase their profits. To protect themselves, merchants tested the metal by fire to determine its purity and value. Under the intense heat, the impurities were burned off and what remained was the valuable metal.
The same word for testing is used here. God tells us to "test the spirits." We are to carefully examine the message of anyone who comes to us and claims to speak as God’s representative.
If the message stands the test, then and only then should we accept the message he brings.
If we are to test, we need to have a standard for testing. What is our standard? What is the fire that any kind of religious teaching must stand up to? Our perfect standard is God’s Word, nothing more, nothing less. We examine any and all religious teachings on the basis of what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures.
When John wrote these words, he had something very specific in mind. Some false teachers were denying the fact that Jesus had come to earth in the flesh. John urged his readers to test that claim, to believe it only if it agreed with the rest of God’s Word (which it didn’t).
John was addressing a specific error two thousand years ago, but the basic problem has not gone away over time. The world is still full of false teachings. Therefore, God’s command to "test the spirits" applies to God’s people more now than ever.
When you read religious materials or see what is packaged as "Christian" programming on television, do not automatically assume that what you are getting is good just because the speaker has a Bible in his hand and quotes a couple passages. Instead, listen carefully to the message and hold it up to the light of Scripture. Be like the Bereans.
When Paul traveled to Berea on his missionary journeys the people there didn’t blindly accept everything Paul told them because he was Paul the great missionary. In the book of Acts we are told that they tested Paul’s message. They examined the Scriptures every day to see if what he said was true (Acts 17:11). They receive Paul with open arms, but not simply because he was the messenger. The Bereans acknowledged that Paul was from God because of the message he preached.
When John tells us to test the spirits, he is making one major assumption: that we have the ability to test them. Testing is not the sole responsibility of the pastor or teachers or leaders in the church. It is the responsibility of all Christians. But before we can point out those things that are false, we have to have a firm grasp on the truth.
And the only way we can carry out God’s command, the only way we can grow in faith and knowledge, is through regular contact with the Word. As we dig deeper into the Word every day, we grow. We grow through personal study and family devotion. We grow at worship, in Sunday School, in Catechism class, in Bible classes.
Cherish the truth of God’s Word because it has the power to save souls from the death. Make use of the spiritual tools that God gives you to build yourself up in the wisdom of God. Defend the truth of God’s Word because it is our only weapon against the forces of evil in the world. Make use of God’s double-edged sword to test every message that appears to be religious and claims to be from God.
If there is only one true spirit among the many false teachings in the world, then all of the other ungodly, destructive messages must come from somewhere. Therefore when we test a message, we must also consider the source.
A spiritual message can come from only two places. Every message that is not from God comes from the world. The world may be attracted to a preacher because he tells them what they want to hear. Instead of remaining faithful to the Word, he may be willing to change his message, to scratch the itching ears of his hearers. The world is eager to follow to this kind of leader because they speak the same language.
If you have been following the news in the past few weeks, you have probably seen or read something about a church body in our area, actually it is another Lutheran church body (ELCA), that recently adopted a resolution to bless "same sex unions." The move was heralded by some as a bold step forward. Words used to describe the decision include: long overdue, open-minded, tolerant and loving.
In the epistle lesson for today, I John 4:1-11, the last five verses contain the word "love" eleven times. Everything John says about love is true. Love comes from God. God is love. God’s love for us motivates us to love each other. But isn’t it interesting that these five verses about love are preceded by six verses that stress the importance of guarding and defending the truth.
What it really comes down to is your definition of love. For Christians, love is not the same as open-mindedness and tolerance. Christian love does not allow people to believe that there are no consequences for sin. Christian love does not encourage sinners to continue in sin and feel good about it. True love never condones what God’s Word condemns.
The issue here is not homosexuality. This sin is only a symptom of the real problem in many churches today. The fundamental question is: What is truth? What is your foundation? What is the source of your beliefs?
I mentioned some of the different phrases used to describe the resolution to bless "same sex" unions. Let me tell you what I did not see. Bible passages were conspicuously absent. God’s Word was never held up as the absolute standard of truth. There was not a single mention of the word "sin." If the source of a river is contaminated, the water downstream will be dangerous to drink. If the source of truth is polluted or even denied, then it is a short journey to false teaching and unbelief.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of churches that have forsaken the truth of God’s Word, and now we are seeing the results. Without a firm foundation, they are giving in to social and political pressures. Preachers are serving up only what the people are willing to hear. They speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world is eager to listen.
The true mark of God’s people is that they listen to what God says. Not just what they want to hear. Not just part of it. All of it. Because we are from God, we have overcome all the false prophets in the world. How did this great victory become ours? It is certainly not because we kept the faith, because we dug in our heels and stood firm, because we were strong enough to defeat the forces of evil on our own. We have conquered them because the one in us is greater than the one who is in the world.
Satan is the "prince of this world." His goal is to lead the whole world astray. He has armies of false prophets on his side, but he is still no match for God. The Lord has defeated the forces of evil. He sent his one and only Son to die for us. Jesus said, "It is finished," and that means victory is ours. The same God who defeated "this world’s prince" lives in us.
Because we have a firm foundation, we don’t follow the latest trends in religion. Because we believe the words of Jesus, "Your word is truth" (John 17:17), we don’t give in to the pressure to change. God says it. We believe it. That settles it.
The task God has given us is not to be taken lightly. The truth and purity of the gospel are at stake. Once false teaching invades the church, it spreads like gangrene. If it is not destroyed, it can spread and grow until it destroys our faith. There are wolves out there masquerading in sheep’s clothing and they are leading many people astray.
That is why God commands us not to believe every religious sounding message we hear. Test before you trust. When we test, we examine the message. When we test, we consider the source. "This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood" (6). Amen.