A Simple Test

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 13th of August, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

As we continue our reading of the Apostle John’s letters to the early church, we can still see his emphasis on love, but we also receive a warning.  And this isn’t all that unusual for John, either.  Earlier, he warned us about the Antichrist, and the anti-Christs.  He cautioned us to stop walking in the darkness of sin but stay in the light that is Jesus, to stop deceiving ourselves by thinking we do not sin, to stop loving the world and all its shiny things, to not hate others in our hearts, because God sees that as the same as murder.

And he tells us all this because of love.  John is sharing the love of God with us by warning us of how God sees our actions and inactions, our words and our thoughts, even the very stirrings of our hearts.  God loves us and wants us to be with Him forever, but He is just and righteous and demands our obedience.

So John is letting us know what we should and shouldn’t do, and love is at the center of it all.  If we love others, we will not hate them.  If we love God, we will obey Him.  If we love Jesus, we will be on the alert for those who work against Him and not fall victim to their lies.  So it is in our best interests to pay close attention to what the beloved disciple and apostle has to say.

This morning, we continue with John’s 1st letter and his opening to chapter 4.  He concluded the 3rd chapter by telling us to love others so that we can stay one with God.  It was in that passage that he warned us about how hatred can doom us, because God sees hating someone in our hearts as being the same as murdering them, as taking their life from them.

John reminded us of two key points, two things God expects of us.  Our heavenly Father wants us to have faith in His Son Jesus Christ, and He wants us to love each other.  His Holy Spirit within us is proof of His love, and proof of our faith.

So let’s get to it and delve into chapter 4 of John’s 1st letter, starting with verses 1 through 11, reading today from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. 10 This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.

--1 John 4:1-11 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Almighty God, Thank You for inspiring the Apostle John and giving him insight into Your heart.  Through His writings, we know how much You love us, and what You expect of us.  Thank You, Father, for the warnings John gives as well as the encouragement.  Sadly, Father, sometimes we are stubbornly disobedient.  Too often we let the things of this world distract us from doing what we know we should do.  Forgive us these times, Father, when we rebel.  Please help us loosen our grip on the world.  Help us love others just as Your Son Jesus loved.  Keep reminding us of what You see as good and righteous behavior.  And please protect us, Father.  Shield us from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Show us what to look for within our own hearts as we test ourselves and examine our faith.  Help us purge ourselves of all hatred and prejudice, leaving only love in their place.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Dr. Joseph Stowell, in his book Fan the Flame, wrote: 

“Discernment in Scripture is the skill that enables us to differentiate. It is the ability to see issues clearly. We desperately need to cultivate this spiritual skill that will enable us to know right from wrong. We must be prepared to distinguish light from darkness, truth from error, best from better, righteousness from unrighteousness, purity from defilement, and principles from pragmatics.”

We can see a lot of John’s message echoed in these words Dr. Stowell shared with us.  For the sake of our eternal souls, we need to be able to see issues clearly and discern the difference between right and wrong, between truth and lies, between righteousness and evil, between light and darkness.

John cautions us about those who are working against Christ, who tell believable lies, who spin the devil’s message into a parody of the truth.  These are the false prophets who do not have the Spirit of God within them, who are children of the devil.  And they are so good at their craft that countless souls are lost to them and doomed to everlasting punishment.  We must not join them!

Thanks to God, we have a faithful Guide to help us discern what is true and good.  God sent His very own Holy Spirit to live within those who truly follow His Son Jesus.  But it’s up to us to listen to the Spirit and go only where He leads us.  He will help us, if we listen.

John brings up some interesting points in these opening verses this morning.  The first is that if a person says they speak for God and acknowledges that Christ Jesus came into this world in human form, in a real body, then that person indeed has the Spirit of God within them.

If you’ll recall from a few weeks ago, one of the purposes for John to write this letter was to counter what the Gnostics had been teaching the people.  The Gnostics did not believe that God, being entirely spiritual, could interact with a physical human to create a physical being.  So either Jesus couldn’t be God or He couldn’t have come to earth in a human body.  Which means the Gnostics did not have the Spirit of God in them, but instead the spirit of the Antichrist.

And then John notes that since we belong to God, we already have a victory over the world and its people, because we have God’s Spirit within us and He is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.  We won the victory through Jesus, who did all the fighting for us.

John goes on to say that the people of the world speak from the world’s viewpoint.  Worldly people see things in a worldly way.  We don’t have to look very far to see the world’s viewpoint; it’s plastered all around us.  Bigger, newer, more expensive is always better.  You need this shiny new thing to be happy.  Here, buy this, and be more popular.  Do what you want to do whenever you want to do it – everyone else does.  Just be what you want to be.  Contrast this to the biblical view, where all that truly matters, all we really need in this life, is to love God, believe in His Son, and love others as we love ourselves.

So John tells us to love one another and to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit within us.  The Spirit will help us discern what is right, what is in the biblical view, and what is wrong, what is consistent with the worldview.

John isn’t the only one to give this advice.  The Apostle Paul also tells us to love God and listen to His Holy Spirit.  Hear what Paul wrote in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5 verses 16 through 22…

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

--1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 (NLT)

God loves us and we can show our love for Him by being joyful and thankful in any and all circumstances.  Keep praying to Him in good times and bad.  For this is what God wants us to do, we who belong to Christ Jesus.

Paul also warns us not to hold back the Holy Spirit, not to muzzle Him, and certainly not to ignore Him, for He will guide us around the devil’s traps if we let Him.  He will show us what is right and wrong if we’ll just listen.

And Paul adds that we shouldn’t disregard those people who say they speak for God, but we need to listen carefully, testing everything they say through the Holy Spirit within us.  We can hold on to what is good, but steer clear of anything that is evil.

So we have a simple test to see if a person has the Spirit of God living within them, or the spirit of the world, and it boils down to their belief in Jesus as the Son of God.  But this test shouldn’t be applied just to other people.

Remember in our opening invocation where King David reminds us that the Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.  So maybe the first person we need to test… is our self.  Hear what Paul tells us in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13 verse 5…

5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is in you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.

--2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)

We need to test ourselves as well as others.  We need to look at our faith to make sure it is genuine – real, and not just phony lip-service in an attempt to appease God.  We should have no doubt that Christ is in us, that God’s Holy Spirit lives within us.  If we are unsure, then maybe our faith isn’t real.

It’s only natural to question ourselves, to wonder if we really are saved, if we’re really being true to Jesus.  But if we look deep enough, we should be able to tell whether we’re really doing as our Lord commands us.  Or are we holding back, still holding on to too much of the world?  Do we truly love others in the same way that Jesus loves, or do we harbor hatreds and prejudices in our hearts?  Are we too afraid to even look?

Family, God is good.  He loves us, and John reminds us that God showed how much He loves us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.  This is love – not that we love God, but that He loves us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sin.  Since God loves us this much, surely we ought to love each other.

And if we truly believe in Jesus and are following Him, we will examine ourselves.  We’ll look through every nook and cranny of our lives.  It may prove to be a painful examination.  But it is necessary in order for us to maintain good spiritual health.  And we have God’s own Holy Spirit to help.

So let’s be sure to test others, to see if the Spirit of God is within them, and test ourselves to be sure He is truly within us as well.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your own Son to save us.  Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to live within us and guide us, helping us discern good from evil.   And thank You for inspiring the Apostle John to share with us what you expect of us.  Forgive us those times, please Father, when we fail to follow Your Spirit’s guidance and look to the world’s viewpoint instead.  Forgive us when we struggle to let go of the world, or even loosen its grip on us.  Forgive us when we hesitate to look within ourselves, to test ourselves, to examine our faith.  Please help us see the truth.  Help us remember Your love and Your warnings.  And please, Father, shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith and tries to pull us away from You.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You showed Your love for Your Father by obeying His commands.  And You showed Your love for mankind by giving of Yourself that we might be freed from sin and gain everlasting life.  Thank You, Jesus, for loving us this much.  Please forgive us when we hesitate to follow You completely, when we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone to do as You command.  Forgive us when we don’t listen to the Holy Spirit and let the world lead us astray.  We pray, dear Lord, that You please help us give ourselves fully to You.  Help us heed all the Holy Spirit’s urgings, going only where He leads.  And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from the world’s lies and empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.

And Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.