1 John Study

Lesson # 11

Don’t Believe Every Spirit

Introduction

            Teachers who claim things like, “God told me this” or “God revealed this to me” or “I got a word from the Lord, a Rhema” & do not keep their message in line with the Apostles teachings, are not motivated by the Spirit of God. Whoever speaks for God must have a message that lines up with the revealed word of God or his message is not motivated by God’s Spirit. John warns – do not believe every spirit, every individual that comes along & claims to be a spokesman for God. He asserts, we must test the spirits, the teachers & prove that their message is of God.

 

1 John 4:1-6

 

1. I John 3:24b - And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he

gave us. (NIV)

            a. My opinion – this verse should be in chapter 4, not at the end of chapter 3

            b. John begins a new thought – how the Holy Spirit affects us as Christians

            c. How we know Jesus lives in us – His Spirit

                        1) Rom.8:1-17

                                    a) Set free from law of sin & death

                                    b) The righteous requirements of law are fully met when we live

according to the Spirit

                                    c) Test – minds are set upon what the Spirit desires; mind under

the control of the Spirit – seek to please God

                                    d) If don’t have the Spirit are none of His (not of God)

                                    e) If have the Spirit

                                                (1) Body is dead because of sin, but spirit is alive

                                                (2) God will give life to your body through His Spirit

                                    f) Our obligation – put to death the misdeeds of the body by His

Spirit (to be led by the Spirit)

                                    g) You received the Spirit to draw you close to God as His children

                        2) John 14:15-21

                                    a) If love Jesus we will obey Him

                                    b) Jesus will send another counselor to be with us forever – the

                                                Spirit of truth (not leave you as orphans)

                                    c) World not accept Him – we know Him for he lives in us

                                    d) Jesus will manifest Himself to us through Him

                        3) Gal.5:16-25

                                    a) If we live by the Spirit we won’t gratify the desires of the flesh

                                    b) The acts of our sinful nature are obvious (when flesh controls)

                                    c) The Spirit of God being in control of our lives is seen when the

fruit of the Spirit is evident

 

 

 

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2. Do not believe every spirit

            a. Don’t believe everything you hear or see

                        1) Propaganda – everywhere you turn – people saying, showing things

that are not true to sway you to their way of thinking.

                        2) Is true spiritually too – are many false teachers

                                    a) Not just a few = are many

                                    b) Will claim to be of God – persuasive, personal, attractive,

appealing, full of enthusiasm

                                    c) 2 Cor.11:3,4,13-15

                                                (1) Serpent is cunning & seeks to lead you astray

                                                (2) Does this through your accepting a different message

                                                (3) Masquerading as servants of righteousness

                                                (4) Are serving Satan not God

                        3) Other passages

                                    a) Rom.16:17,18

                                                (1) Watch out for those who cause divisions (divisive)

                                                (2) Not serving Jesus but their own agenda

                                                (3) Use smooth talk & flattery to deceive the naïve

                                                            (innocent & unsuspecting; distrust no one; gullible)

                                    b) 2 Tim.3:12,13 – things are just going to get worse (deceptions)

            b. Background surrounding John’s warning

                        1) In early church the actions of the Holy Spirit brought with it some

complications.

a) Were so many diverse spiritual manifestations – 1 Cor.12

b) Some testing or touchstone was necessary

                        2) Even in OT find problems with some who called selves prophets

                                    a) Deut.13:1-5

                                                (1) Able to do miraculous signs & wonders

                                                (2) God allows as a test – will you really follow God

                                                (3) They preach rebellion against God (another way OK)

                                                (4) Were to be put to death

                                    b) Spiritual power was there, but it was evil & misdirected

                        3) In NT times - believed by masses that the spiritual world was very near

                                    a) Every rock, tree, lake, river & mountain had its god or demon

                                    b) These spiritual powers were always seeking entry into men’s

bodies & minds.

                                    c) Never been a time since when men were as conscious about

spiritual powers.

                                    d) Saw the universe as a battleground between the forces of light &

darkness.

                        4) In NT church indwelling of the Spirit more visible phenomenon

                                    a) Acts 8:17,18 – Simon saw laying on of hands brought Spirit

                                    b) Acts 10:44-46 – Cornelius & those with him spoke in tongues

                       

 

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5) Best commentary on this situation – 1 Cor.14

                                    a) People spoke in tongues (messages in a foreign language) had to

be interpreted because most or all not understand language

                                    b) Prophets not wait for others to finish & shouted out message as

if theirs more important than one speaking

                                    c) Made their assemblies very confusing (like mad men)

                        5) Problem continued on into the next centuries

                                    a) Book – “the didache” or “the teachings of the 12 apostles” had

regulations about how to deal with wandering apostles or

prophets. “Not everyone who speaks in a spirit is a prophet,

he is only a prophet if he walks in the ways of the Lord.”

                                    b) In the 3rd century – Montanus claimed he was nothing less than

                                                “the promised paraclete” & that he had messages from God

that the apostles could not bear – Jn.16:12-16

                                    c) People were swept away with a kind of self-hypnosis &

appeared possessed by the Spirit. Men would delude

themselves thinking they had a message from the Lord.

                        6) Even today people are being caught up into this because they are

looking for our assemblies to be more exciting & less apathetic.

 

3. Test the spirits to see if they are from God

            a. From God = is their source & origin in God

            b. How you recognize the Spirit of God

                        1) Acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ

                                    a) He is the center of history – one for whom all history was

prepared

                                    b) One whom Abraham & all Israel prepared the way for

                                    c) One who came in the fullness of time

                                    d) One who was the fulfillment of all the prophecies

                                    e) He came not only as a sacrifice but to reign in God’s kingdom

                        2) Acknowledges that Jesus came in the flesh

                                    a) What the Gnostics could never accept

                                                (1) Felt - matter was altogether evil – therefore body is evil

                                                (2) Therefore the incarnation was an impossibility because

a holy God could never take flesh upon Himself

                                    b) This is at the very heart of the Christian faith

                                                (1) Jesus could never be our pattern or example if He were

not flesh & blood. If He did not live under that same

conditions as men He could not show men how to

live, because life for Him would be completely

different than life for men.

                                                (2) He could never be the High Priest the writer of Hebrews

speaks about – Heb.4:14-16

                                                (3) Unless He was flesh He could never destroy the one

who held the power of death – Heb.2:14,15

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                        (4) Denies the possibility of the consecration & dedication

of the body to God (a Temple of God 1 Cor.6:19,20

3) Listens to the apostles

            a) The man whose source & origin is of God welcomes the truth

                        (1) Jesus taught

                                    (a) Mt.10:40 – if receive you they receive Me

                                    (b) Lk.10:16 – if listens to you they listen to Me

                                    (c) Jn.13:20 – accepts one I send = accepts Me

                        (2) Early church practice – Acts 2:42

                        (3) 1 Cor.14:37 – apostles words are commands of Lord

                        (4) Apostles recognized fellow apostles writings –

(agree with one another) - 2 Pet.3:15,16

                                    b) The man whose source & origin is the world rejects the truth

                                                (1) His aim is the exaltation of self not God

                                                (2) He believes that material things are the only things that

matter (unseen things are immaterial)

            c. Victory we have in Christ

1) One in us is greater than one in world. Satan did his worst to Jesus &

was defeated at the cross – Col.2:15

                        2) That victory belongs to all Christians – Eph.6:10-18

                        3) Remember whenever things look hopeless – Jesus won & so do we

                                    Rom.8:28; 1 Jn.5:4