Sermon: Hearing Voices

Take a copy of God's word this morning. We'll turn open to the book of one John as we continue our way through it. If you wanna use a pew Bible, you can do so. And turn right to page 10, 2 3, 10 23 in the Pew Bible this morning, looking at first John chapter four. We begin this morning and we'll finish this out here in the next few weeks. First John, chapter four. And this morning we're looking at verses one through six

and first John four.

All right, let's go before the Lord in prayer and let's ask for his blessing upon the word read and the word preach before we hear it this morning.

Father, even as we have sung, so we say this morning, would you speak to us?

I thank you that you are a God who is not silent, God who is not passive, God who is active in this world and who speaks with authority. We pray this morning that as we hear your word read and as we hear it preach that you would speak to us, that you would not simply speak to us, but that you would make our minds active, that you would open our deaf ears, that you would take hearts that have gone astray or stony imbibed in sin

that frankly are lukewarm and that you would make the malleable clay in your hands.

You administer to each of us as we have need this morning and only the way you can where you give hope to the despairing, where you give encouragement to the faint-hearted where you give strength to the weary where you give love to the lonely

you give grace to the needy. And on week ago, we pray that you would actively minister to us and through us by your word this morning. We pray this in the strong name of Christ Jesus. That one mediator between God and men. Amen. This morning, first John, chapter four, verses one through six. This is the holy and err sufficient word of God. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether, whether they are from God.

For many false prophets have gone out into the world by this, you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is a spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than He who is in the world.

They are from the world. Therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever's not from God is not listened to us. This we know by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of air, though the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Remember my freshman year of college, I had a communications class, uh, 1995 to 96. And I remember that professor got up and made a statement, something I had never heard before. It didn't, it didn't make sense to me. It was foreign. Remember her saying that she was single, she lived by herself. And she said that whether she's in the home or outside of the home, but always when she is home, she always has either music playing or the TV on,

and she leaves it on all the time, and she's never in silence.

That was so strange to me. Never in silence.

My guess is, is that for most of us, it's just the reverse. Today, it would be strange to be in silence. There are so many noises around us. When I was growing up, there was that song that, uh, was quite popular. Signs, signs everywhere. The signs breaking up, the scenery breaking up my mind, just always speaking to me. You have voices all over the place, constantly seeking your attention and wanting you to listen. John's concern here, as we get to these verses with

what voices you are listening to, because there is a cacophony of voices demanding your listening, and he's concerned, he's just mentioned the Spirit in verse 24, and that sends his mind racing as he mentions the spirit, he, he uses the same word again, spirit in our passage in the beginning, in verses one and two. Now this is a good rule for you biblically when you're doing Bible interpretation and when you're studying the Bible,

that often the same word can be used and it has different meanings. And that's what's happening here. Spirit can refer to different things in the scriptures. It can refer to to breath or can refer to the idea of air. It can refer to that, that breath that God breathed into man. In Genesis one and two, he breathed into man a spirit. It can also refer to the, the inner workings of a man, his his will, being stirred by his affections.

But we'll often use spirit in that way. That man has a, has a wild spirit about him or he, he lacks spirit. It can also be used to speak about the the angelic order, whether that is angels or demons. They are spirits or it can be used at times to refer to your soul in the scripture. Spirit can be substituted for soul and of course can refer to the Holy Spirit. Well, John is just mentioned at the end of chapter three. He says, we know he abides in us by

the spirit, meaning that last definition of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit who he says whom he has given to us. And having that word in his mind, spirit, it begins to send him racing and thinking about something that he is already alluded to. And that's false teachers that are in their midst. But he uses that same word spirit. But now he uses it in a different way. Do not believe every spirit in verse one. He's not talking about the Holy Spirit.

That would make zero sense. Don't believe every holy Spirit. Now, that's just one holy spirit. That's not what he's speaking about. So what's the definition of spirit that he is referring to? Well, it seems to be some combination of the spirit as the inner will of a man and then spirit as in that angelic order and especially evil spirits. So here's the idea. Do not believe every spirit from which you hear. Don't listen to every voice.

Here's almost a guarantee, every false prophet, every false teacher, every heretic in the history of the church has claimed almost without fail that they speak by the spirit. And now they, they either do that directly or indirectly because they say that they have the truth, their, their spirits are moved by the Spirit. And John is saying it may not be the spirit, the Holy Spirit that moves their spirits within them to say these things.

It may be other spirits, evil spirits that moves their spirits. So thus he begins with an exhortation test the spirits. What's the cause for the exhortation? Well, he says in the last clause of verse one, many false prophets have gone out into the world. That's the cause. There's false prophets in the world, many of them. Therefore, here's the exhortation. Test the spirits to what in John will he says in verse one to see whether they are from God.

Our first point this morning be on guard 'cause there are false prophets in the world beyond guard. 'cause there are false prophets in the world. Let's try to make this clear. There are false prophets in the world. John is saying to them, and he's not just speaking about the man that stands on the corner and others false things. He's also not just talking about in our day and age, the person that is promoting a false religion in a false church.

He says many of them have gone out. We could say in, in our day, in our world, they're on television, they're online, they're on social media, they're on podcasts, they're writing so-called Christian books. False prophets not only afflict the church, but are more often than not in the church. And John says, do not believe every spirit be on guard. He's warning them, warning us now. Now why the warning? It's not just because they exist.

It's not just because they're there, but it's because we are naive and we will tend to listen to them and give into them and be taken into them. John is saying in this says, don't be naive. Be on gore. It's easy to be taken in by quote the spiritual.

We observe something different. Maybe it's unique, maybe it's even fantastic. Or we hear it, we experience it. It's a message. It's a, it's an event. It's a charismatic person, it's a environment and it sparkles and it shines and it appeals. And so we think this must be the work of the Holy Spirit.

John says, be on guard in the early church at this time. They have a very vibrant familiarity with the spiritual world. It is they understood that. They knew it was part of their, their makeup, part of their mind, part of the philosophy of that generation. They knew that they operated in a world of spirits that all around them at all times. There's a spiritual realm where there are good and evil angelic beings that are doing battle.

They lived in the midst of that. And yet what is so fascinating, as John is writing to people with awareness like that in that day, and they were de prone to confusion about what was the work of the spirit through men and what was the work of spirits, evil spirits through men. How much more so us, we

even more susceptible because we don't think like this. You walk around most of your days and don't think about the fact that there is angelic activity happening all around you.

Something unique, something fantastic, just different occurs. And we conclude. That must be a work of God. Don't be so fast as John, you be on guard. There are false prophets in the world.

Not every spirit is, as he says, from God. Latin has that wonderful phrase. The s sai, uh, known sinon without which not sai, it is what's essential. What what is required, what is necessary. The sai of what is true is is simple. Is it from God? Is it from God? Not all things which appear spiritual or claim to be Christian are from God. Be on guard. And all the scriptures echo this need to be on guard. Paul, in speaking in Second Corinthians says this,

false prophets, deceitful workmen are distinguishing themselves, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Ah, beyond guard. Paul says, disguising themselves as apostles.

He then follows it up with he's not surprised. Why? 'cause he says even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. There are many false prophets who have gone out into the world. And wolves don't always look like wolves. They appear in sheep's clothing. Wolves don't always growl. They use smooth speech. Wolves don't always look ferocious, but they devour.

Jesus warned on the sermon, on the Mount, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's cloth, but inwardly or ravenous wolves, they appear soft to the touch.

Friendly isn't always good. Charisma shouldn't always allure a smooth speech. Shouldn't always be listened to. Why? There are many false prophets that have gone out into the world.

And there are counterfeit miracles, there are counterfeit gifts, there are counterfeit prophecies. There are counterfeit truths. Lies from the father of lies. Be on guard. Do not believe every spirit. John says.

He then takes it a step further. Second, he exhorts his readers test spirits do not believe, be on guard. And now he gives the active, be active test what you hear. So you don't believe everything and every one. Okay, John, great. Glad we're supposed to test it. How do we test it? Well, he gives a very particular test in this passage. It's particular to the circumstances of the church and what that church is facing in that generation.

He gives the positive test in verse two with its negation in verse three. And then he provides a, a little extra help in verses five and six. So let's try and sort through this test the spirits. Okay? Very particular test he gives in verse two and three, it regards the person of Jesus Christ. Verse two, the positive. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Verse three, the negation and every spirit that does not confess

Jesus is not from God. Let's take the positive first. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. He, here's an objective test. John is saying it may surprise you. Uh, but in the early church, the vast majority of early heresies were not things about Christ's deity that he was God. They, they believed he was God. The the most prominent false prophecies and false teachings and heresies of the early church was a belief

that Jesus wasn't truly man.

And in some way, John is addressing, he is addressing one of these in this text. We don't know which one, what particular heresy was in the background here, but clearly there were some that were denying that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh, that he was truly man. And this could have been some early form of gnosticism. Gnosticism will develop and believing that there is a, a singular kind of divine essence, a monad that they would call

and there would be different emanations or different lesser divine beings that would descend from it. And so you have this deity, this divine essence. And from that would emanate a, a, a being called the word. And the word would emanate and would come down, and from it would come the life. And the life would emanate from that. And it would unite itself with the man. And so it was a descending order so that the deity itself was not connected with the humanity.

Could have been that, or maybe it was a early form of doism, a a popular heresy in the early church where they believed that Jesus was not truly man, that he just appeared to suffer. He appeared to die. But we don't know in particular what it was that John is riding against here, but it's clear that they're denying that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

John saying, look, that this is an incredible heir.

He's come in the flesh and he lived and he died for sinners. He he's from God.

It's, uh, interesting to me as I've been thinking about this this week thinking, you know, I, I think, I don't wanna overstate it. It seems to me that almost every single false teaching or heresy in the church in some way, you can trace back and you can get to a christological error, an error about Christ. It somehow says something not true about Christ.

Why? Because if, if you can undermine Christ, then you undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ and you've undermined God himself. And Satan is the father of lies and he wants to undermine God. And so he goes after the person of Christ.

It's helpful to note that false prophets more often than not attempt to make the gospel more appealing in some way. They, they're doing that here. It's good to remember when you're testing what you hear, they either seek to lessen the offense of the gospel or they seek to make it more appealing. And, and both of these are rather foolish and evil. Why? Because the gospel can't be improved upon. It's from God.

Notice verse five gives us a little tidbit of hope. They are from the world and the world listens to them. The world is opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ himself will say, if the world hates you, know that it's hated me. Before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. And John grabs that same thought from Jesus. And he says they are from the world, therefore they speak from the world

and the list, the world listens to them, but we are from God. And this message we have is from God. They're from the world. So they speak to the world because they're from the world and they go to the world

and they're just seeking to, just to make it more appealing to the world.

'cause how could deity

clothe itself with humanity?

John's saying, oh, what an awful error. Be on guard against that. You, you test that.

FF Bruce said this about such things. He said, such a restatement meaning of the gospel message. It's congenial to the world because it is in line with contemporary fashion. Nevertheless, it is doomed to pass away because with a change in fashion, it loses its appeal, which the gospel never does.

Which leads to that other little nugget that John provides for testing. In verse six, he says, we are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. It's the apostolic gospel that is true, has forever been true and forever will be true. Why? Because it is from God.

It's from God.

It can't be adapted. We, we, we adapted. It doesn't change word change.

It's one of the most amazing realities. And I think one of the surest evidence is of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This one simple truth that God the son became man that he lived, that he suffered, that he died upon the cross in the place of sinners, taking their guilt and the judgment and wrath of God upon himself that he died was buried, that he rose on the third day from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

It's the same simple message, the same truth that has stood for 2000 plus years.

And it has changed lives for 2000 plus years. And it has brought hope for 2000 plus years. And it has done so across nations and across continents and across oceans. It has done so across economic conditions from famine to starvation, to prosperity. It has done so across political lines, across ethnic lines. It has done so across more than 3,500 languages. It provides life regardless of age, from birth to death, from toddler octogenarian, from recluse to socialite,

from edge, uneducated to Fulbright scholar from subsistence farmer to astrophysicist. And it has needed no change,

none, no adaption, no other word, no help. Why? 'cause it is from God.

Anything seek to deny or add to the person of Jesus Christ is not from God.

Anything that demands more of you or less of you than Jesus Christ is not from God.

Test what you hear gives a second test in the negation of verse three. Whereas in verse two, the positive dealt with an objective truth, Jesus Christ come in the flesh. The negation in verse three is about the subjective. As we test every spirit, it not only matters what was said, but what the one who says believes

every spirit does not confess Jesus is not from God. How do you identify false prophets? It's not just what they say, it's also what they themselves believe. If one does not actually confess Jesus, believe in Jesus, they themselves are a false prophet. Jesus said in Matthew seven, not everyone who says to Melo Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And he goes on to say, on that day, many will say to me,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of iniquity. That was sin. You prophesied my name and that was sin.

Both the objective and the subjective are essential. So someone says they they believe in Jesus, great, love it. Now, are we talking about the apostolic Jesus? I wanna know you're talking about the Jesus of the scriptures, the objective truth of who Jesus is.

You say, well, that person believes that they believe in the objective truth of Jesus. Great. I I want to know that. Yes, you, you believe the son of God became flesh. That's great. That's objectively true. But you know, demons believe that and shudder, they believe the objective truth.

James says, listen to voices that both point to the Christ of the scriptures. He's the Christ To know him, know him.

Once heard someone say one time, uh, sometime had passed, there was a past sermon they had listened to and uh, when it was first given, and they said, oh, that, that was a great sermon.

This was sometime past. And they said that sometime past, they knew that when that person, that that preacher, that prophet, that preacher had preached that sermon, that he was engaged in gross sin. When he preached that sermon, they said that was a great sermon.

They could have, They could have benefited from that sermon on that day. But that was not a great sermon.

There's nothing great about it.

Lord can use whatever he wants. It's not a great sermon, not before God anyway. And that's not a sermon you return to. That's not a voice you return to Just at a wedding. Yesterday, just thinking about this last night, imagine it's your wedding day. You've contracted with this wedding baker, this, this to make your wedding cake. Oh, you want a great cake on your wedding day and you want a red velvet wedding cake, and you contract with this baker,

and the baker makes a red velvet wedding cake. And oh man, it was your wedding day and you cut into that cake and it was bright and it was glorious and it was beautiful. And, and when you tasted it, oh, this, this was wonderful cake. And everybody said, oh, that was great Red velvet cake. And like any young couple, you many young couples, you take that top tier and you put that away and you froze that so that on that year anniversary,

you can get out that nasty, hard frozen top layer of cake and eat it together. And you know the days coming and you're beginning to thaw that thing. And then all of a sudden the evening news comes on And there's that baker and the head story is this, he's been arrested. Why let's A baker get arrested? Because he jeopardized public health. When he made his red velvet kicks, he didn't use milk. He, he used his own blood.

You don't ever Think in your mind, oh, but that was a great cake.

You don't return to it.

Sours the stomach Was not a great sermon because it was not to God and therefore it was not from God. You don't listen to that voice,

which your Baxter once commented. He said, there are many men who are ministers before they know how to be Christians. Test the spirits.

You aren't looking for flashy, you aren't looking for new charismatic, extraordinary. What, as apostle will say, will tickle the ears. You simply want the old, old story from preachers with ordinary faith and faithfulness. That's what you want.

John's paternal here as he's thinking about these Christians. I love it. He, he calls them little children. He's called them beloved. And as little children, he, he's warning them, he, he's equipping them. He doesn't regard such false teaching with a wave of the hand that that's his nonsense. Don't, don't worry about it. That's just a little bit of error. That's just a little bit of wandering. No, he doesn't go there.

He doesn't offer just a soft caution. He calls it for what it is. He points out in verse three that this is quote, the spirit of the antichrist. You're wandering from the apostolic gospel taking away or adding to Christ. Its complete and utter rebellion against God. It's the spirit of the antichrist. You don't play with this.

You test the spirits. You're on guard.

And then he closes verses four through six with be encouraged, be on guard, test the spirits. And then wonderfully as a good pastor, he just be encouraged. He says, you are from God who has overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. He, he's just told us so many false prophets have gone out. You go, ha, what chance do I stand? I'm naive. I'm, I'm not incredibly bright. I'm not incredibly discerning.

How, how am I going to stand?

How do I know that I won't be taken in by these wrong voices? Well, here's the encouragement. John says, there's no dualism in Christianity. There's no great war hanging in the balance between good and evil. What you often see, and in Hollywood movies and and fiction books where you're not quite sure is darkness or light going to win is, is the dark side of the forest or the good side or the light side of the forest going to win?

You don't know. There's no such dualism in the universe. God's one. It's done. It's complete. No quandary exists. Little children. He says, he who is in you, God, by the Spirit, is greater than he the devil who is in the world. Victory, secured.

The devil has no power approximating God and he reassures them or from God. Whoever knows God listens to us by this, we know the spirit of truth. He's back to the Holy Spirit. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of air. His encouragement is this. Look, you little children, you've been changed by the gospel. You have this spirit of truth within the Holy Spirit. The very power of God dwells in you. You will recognize truth as it is preached you, and you will

therefore recognize air when you hear it ultimately. And ultimately you will not be overcome by it.

So you're on guard and your testing

and you're to rest and encouragement, power of the Spirit that indwells you will carry you home. It's a guarantee.

Listen to his voice, would you? Let's pray.

Our Father, we are thankful you are a God who speaks. Forgive us for how dull we are

and how slow we are to listen. And oh, may we find that we are more and more treasuring the gospel of your son

and his life, and his death and his resurrection for sinners as our great delight and our great love. And we would not dare turn our ear to any other voice. It be that which dominates our minds, our hearts, our very lives.

And we're thankful that you are a God who has begun a good work in us and that you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Help us to be on guard, to test and even to rest in the strong encouragement that you bring your little children home. We pray all this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.