Where is your Discernment?
Part 2
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 5 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our[a] faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
We need to know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Test the spirits to see wether they are from God.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
Discernment is absolute. 2 By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Every messenger that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Actually, that phrase Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, before 100 A.D. when the book of 1 John was written, the big error in the church was called the Gnostic Heresy. This is Gnosticism. They just basically believe that all matter was evil. That the human body was evil. There has been other emphasis like this throughout church history. Space is evil. Time is evil. That to escape from the body is to escape from evil. The idea that Jesus came in a body, they were like, "Are you kidding me?" So actually, contrary to today, their big beef with the gospel was that they say the incarnation never happened. They were fine that Jesus was God, but he didn't really have a human body. He didn't really become a man. They denied the incarnation of Christ. That's why he says here, "By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But I don't think the big error in the church today is denying the humanity of Christ. The big error in the church today is Satan is just playing the same coin from the opposite side. The big error in the church today is denying the deity of Christ. Teaching that Jesus was just a good man, just a good moral teacher. Just a good guy, a good example, and so on. To deny, or denounce, or dilute the teachings of Jesus Christ is blasphemy, and heresy and error of the highest order. This isn't something we can kid about. It's big time. Is there anything that rises up in you about error? Where is your discernment?
Biblical and historically since the days of Aristotle and Plato it's been a broadly accepted understanding that truth is outside of yourself. That is doesn't matter what the field of study is, be it biology or theology, the truth is outside of yourself. You study and learn to get to truth. That's how you do it. That's how it has always been understood. This is the idea of thesis and anti-thesis. This is a bit of a more complex concept, but just stretch yourself. Thesis and anti-thesis, it's that there is right and there is wrong. Now this is the way that the Bible presents truth. This is the way that history has always presented truth. There is light and darkness. There is truth and error. There is heaven and hell. There is good and evil. There is God and Satan. This is not the way things are today.
About 125 years ago four philosophers,Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, and John-Paul Sartre, taught something called Existentialism. It was pulling down the fabric of truth in your Great Grandparent's lives. It invaded first Western Europe and then the world. And is so inculcated into the minds of Western world people that they hardly even recognized even Christians that they've shifted from thesis/anti-thesis thinking to what's called Continuum thinking. Continuum thinking is not right, wrong, light, darkness. Continuum thinking is really true, kinda true, a bit true, not as true, and a lot of grey. How do we settle the issues of grey continuum thinking? Does it work? That's Pragmatism. Does it feel good? That's Hedonism. Does it work for me? That's Humanism. These are the thought philosophies behind what's driving everything on MTV and in Hollywood. It's everywhere. And the followers of Jesus desperately need to take out their brains and wash them off and put them back in.
Niche was a German philosopher, raised Christian, abandoned his faith in university. Evidently brilliant, he landed a scholarship at the age of 24, the youngest person to ever hold that position at his university. Not a humble man. Niche arrogantly proclaimed, "God is dead." "There is no truth." He referred to himself as an immoralist. He also called himself "Anti-Christ." He also called himself "Conquer of God." He referred to his main book as the fifth gospel. He said this, "One day my name will be associated with the memory of a crisis without equal on the Earth. The most profound collision of conscience. A decision that was conjured up against everything that had been believed demanded. Hallowed so far. Niche said this about himself, "I am no man. I am dynamite." For the last ten years of his life he displayed signs of mental illness until he died of a stroke at the age of 55. At his funeral his friends proclaimed, "Holy be your name to all future generations." Niche more than any other single person affected Adolf Hitler. Right after Existentialism, which they teach, comes Nihilism. Nihilism is the idea that there is no truth of any kind, no accountability of any kind. There is no rallying point. There is no center. There is just me in this universe. And what works for me in this moment is what I'm going to do. But what about the followers of Jesus? Notice in verse 2, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the anti-Christ. Which you heard was coming and is now already in the world.
Discernment is a matter of truth. Notice that he says it is already in the world. This isn't a some day message. This isn't the clouds are gathering, this is here now. As close as the local high school, every channel on television, it's the philosophy of the parent next door that your kids play with and the person at the office who afflicts you about your faith. Where's your discernment?
Discernment is possible. What you believe is everything. It's where you're going, it's what your life is going to be all about. And you're going to have the capacity to discern between truth and error. I feel his tenderness like a shepherd for the sheep. Jesus said in Mathew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Hear his, John, love for the sheep. He says, "Little children, you're from God. You've overcome them." In other words do you know who you are now? Because you're not that person anymore who thought there was nothing right or wrong, everything is relative. You're not that person anymore. You've over come that. Little children you are from God and you have overcome them. You have overcome the false teachers, wrong thoughts. In order to get your sins forgiven, you had to believe some stuff. You had to set aside all that stuff, to each his own, as long as you're sincere. You had to overcome all that little children. And here is a great promise, "For he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world." Even there you didn't overcome it by yourself. God and his grace opened your eyes to some truths that are awesome. God is greater than Satan. And as John Piper likes to say, Satan is God's lackey. He is just kinda leading him around and using him for whatever he wants. Satan is not a challenge to God, but he can be a challenge to you and to me if we believe his lies. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
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