Focus On Discernment

1 John 4:1-6

A Study In The 2^nd Half Of First John:

1^st Half: God Is Light:

2^nd Half: God Is Love:

Love In Action:

God's Love Flows Through Us To One Another.

Our Standing Before God:

Righteousness Pursued Is An Assurance Of Our Salvation

TODAY:

FOCUS ON DISCERNMENT: THE DOCTRINAL TEST

Doctrinal Counterfeits !!

DOCTRINE IS: The Written Body Of Teachings Of A Religious Group That Are Generally Accepted By That Group

Discernment Is Not Knowing The Difference Between Right And Wrong.

It Is Knowing The Difference Between Right And Almost Right.

-Charles Spurgeon -

The Definition:

-The Ability To Know If A Spirit, Spiritual Gift Or A Teaching Is False And Evil OR From God.

- Ability To Distinguish Between The Truth Of The Word And The Deceptive Doctrines Propagated By Demons

1 JOHN 4:1-6 EXPLAINED:

Don’t Believe Everyone Who Speaks As A Self-Proclaimed Prophet,

Don’t Believe Everyone Who Claims To Have The Spirit Of God Actually Does.

Test Them All To Find Out If They Really Do Come From God.

Many False Prophets Have Already Gone Out Into The World,

And You Can Know Which Ones Come From God.

You Can Know And Recognize The Spirit Of God;

Every Spirit That Acknowledges And Confesses This Fact:

Jesus Christ Has Actually Come In The Flesh As A Man And He Is From God.

Some Do Not Confess Jesus Is From God;

This Is The Spirit Of The Antichrist;

This Antichrist Spirit Doesn’t Come From God;

This Antichrist Spirit Is The Enemy Of Christ.

Which You Have Heard Is Coming And Is Now Already In The World.

God’s Spirit Is In You And Is More Powerful Than The One That Is In The World.

They Who Teach Twisted Doctrine Are Of The World And Belong To It;

Therefore They Speak From The Viewpoint Of The World;

And The Gullible Ones Of The World Listens Closely And Pays Attention To Them.

We Who Teach God’s Word Are From God Powered By The Holy Spirit;

Whoever Knows God Personally Listens To Us;

Whoever Knows God Personally Has A Deeper Understanding Of Him.

Whoever Is Not Of God Does Not Listen To Us.

The Spirit Of Truth Motivated By God And The Spirit Of Error Motivated By Satan.

WHEN YOU HAVE SOUND DOCTRINE YOU WILL HAVE DISCERNMENT

1 JOHN 4:1-6 OUTLINED:

Test the Spirits Thru Spiritual Discernment

THE FUNDAMENTAL TEST: THE DOCTRINAL TEST (4:1–6)

• 1. THE DEMONIC SOURCE OF FALSE DOCTRINE
• 2. TO KNOW AND GUARD SOUND DOCTRINE

HOW TO TEST THE SPIRITS:

You Can’t Believe Everything You Hear.

You Can’t Believe Everything That Is Purported To Come From God.

You Can’t Believe Everything That Is Supposedly Biblical.

You Can't Believe All Teachers Of Religion.

You Can't Believe All Christian Preachers, Or Christian Evangelists Or Teachers.

You Can't Believe All Who Claim To Speak For God And Claim To Have A Prophetic Voice.

1. THE DEMONIC SOURCE OF FALSE DOCTRINE

SET LOOSE IN THE WORLD:

The Spirit Of Truth And The Spirit Of Error.

NOTE: Religious Information Is Not Benign.

All Spiritual Truth Either Comes From A DIVINE SOURCE OR A DEMONIC SOURCE.

There Are Always False Religion Zealots, Cultists.

There Are Always Those Who Come Along With Their Deceptive Schemes That Claim To Be Biblical,

That Quote Bible Verses,

That Say They Have A Message From God,

That Have A Better Way To Understand The Bible And Apply The Bible,

That Have A Way To Make The Bible Acceptable,

That Have A Way To Make The Gospel Acceptable.

REMEMBER: Discernment Is Not Knowing The Difference Between Right And Wrong. IT IS KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND ALMOST RIGHT.

THE DEMONIC SOURCE OF FALSE DOCTRINE

2. TO KNOW AND GUARD SOUND DOCTRINE

God’s Truth Must Be Guarded Very, Very Carefully.

It Is Always Under Attack.

It Is Relentlessly Under Attack.

TO GUARD TRUTH:

It’s The Guardianship That Is So Important.

We Cannot Pass On The Truth Unless We Protect It, Unless We Guard It.

There Are Those Who In Outright Attack The Bible.

There Are Those Who Are Much More Subtle Than That.

We Are Called To The Defense Of The Scripture And Defense Of Truth.

To Guard The Truth:

1. It Requires The Knowledge Of Sound Doctrine,

2. It Requires The Recognition Of Error.

Sound Doctrine And Sound Discernment In The Church.

This Is Our Primary Responsibility To Our Teaching.

How Can We Teach Sound Doctrine If We Don’t Know It?

How Can We Teach Our People To Avoid Error If We Don’t Recognize It?

When You Have Sound Doctrine You Will Have Discernment

It Is Either The Doctrine Of God Or The Doctrine Of Demons.

It Is Either That Word Sent By The Holy Spirit, OR Seducing Spirits.

Teachers Are Either The True Teachers Of God OR Hypocritical Liars, Espousing The Doctrine Of Demons Fostered By Seducing Spirits.

THE TRUTH GIVES LIFE; ERROR KILLS

SO TEST THE SPIRITS

FIRST: JOHN GIVES US A COMMAND TO TEST:

There Is A Spirit Behind Every Teaching.

Discern Whether It Is The Truth Or Error That Is Being Taught,

Discern Whether It Comes From The Spirit Of God Or A Demonic Spirit.

THE COMMAND TO TEST:

SECONDLY: THE REASON TO TEST:

Because Many False Prophets Have Gone Out Into The World.

• The Vast Majority Of Religious Teachers Are False Teachers.
• The Vast Majority Of Religious Teach Human Achievement ( Works Based Salvation )
• The Vast Majority Of Religious Groups Teaching Doctrines Of Demons Motivated By Seducing Spirits.

Matthew 7:13-14: The Narrow Way

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life,

AND THERE ARE FEW WHO FIND IT.

THE COMMAND TO TEST:

THE REASON TO TEST:

THIRD: THE WAY TO TEST:

What is the way to test and discern the truth ?

WHAT IS THE DIVINE TRUTH THAT SHOULD BE TESTED ?

1. AFFIRM THAT JESUS CHRIST IS GOD IN FLESH.

Every Spirit That Confesses That Jesus Christ Has Come In The Flesh Is From God.

You Are Confessing That:

He Is The Eternal Life.

He Came From Dwelling In The Presence Of The Father And The Spirit.

Jesus Is A Person, Not Just A Proposition.

Jesus As A Person Is God In Human Flesh, Not A Created Being.

He Is Come From God.

He Came To Carry Out His Redemptive Work As A Substitute Mankind.

The Human Jesus And The Divine Christ Are One And The Same.

There’s One Thing Demons Will Inevitably Deny In All Their Demonic Systems,

• They Will Deny The Deity Of Jesus Christ.
• They Will Deny God In Human Flesh.
• They Deny The Incarnation.

2. AFFIRM THAT JESUS IS BELIEVED TO BE THE WORD OF LIFE: THE LIVING WORD OF GOD.

Christ Comes From God As His Living Word.

One With The Father

• Sharing The Same Essence With The Father
• Dwelling In An Affable Light With The Father Before He Came To Earth.

Jesus Christ Comes From God As The Very Living Word Of God.

There Is The Written Word Of God: SCRIPTURES.

There Is The Living Word Of God: JESUS.

He Is Therefore The Very Word Of God Incarnate.

He Is The Eternal Life Who Became Flesh.

He Is the Invisible God Who Become Visible.

3. AFFIRM THAT JESUS IS CONFESSED AS LORD.

Jesus Is The Litmus Test Of Reality For People.

You Have The Right View Of Jesus.

You Have The Right Beginning.

The One Who Rejects Me Rejects Him Who Sent Me.

Anybody Who Rejects Christ Rejects God.

You Honor The Son And The Father Or Neither.

All Other Religions Worship The Same God. They Don’t.

You Reject Jesus As God In Human Flesh

You Reject Jesus As The God-Man

Fully God, Fully Man, Who Came As A Substitute For Sin,

Then You Don’t Know God No Matter What You Think.