This week we are
looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in
the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of John. Yesterday we looked on
as John commanded the members of the church at Ephesus to
not just gullibly trust everyone who claimed to be speaking for God.
Instead of gullibly trusting that everyone who claimed
to be speaking on behalf of God was genuinely speaking on behalf of God, John
commanded the members of the church to critically examine the claims of those
who were claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or
not they were genuinely speaking on behalf of God. We discovered a timeless
truth when it comes to connecting in true community in that true community and
connection with God and others requires that we put to the test what we are
taught by others.
The timeless reality is that there are many people who
claim to speak on behalf of God. There are many people who claim to have a
message from God when it comes to how one can experience true community and
connection with God. And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, we are
not just to gullibly trust everyone who claims to be speaking for God.
Instead of gullibly trusting that everyone who claims
to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God, as
followers of Jesus, we are to critically examine the claims of those who are
claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they
are genuinely speaking on behalf of God. Now a natural question that could
arise at this point is “Well Dave that sounds great, but how exactly are we
supposed to do that? How are we to critically
examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order
to determine whether or not they are genuinely speaking on behalf of God?
If that question is running through your mind, I just
want to let you know that you are asking a great question. And fortunately for
us we see John answer that question in what he says next. So let’s look at what
John says next, in 1 John 4:2-3:
2 By
this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not
confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is
coming, and now it is already in the world.
Here we see John provide the first of two different
tests that the readers of his letter throughout history were to employ to
critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of
God in order to determine whether or not they were genuinely speaking on behalf
of God. First John explained that a person can arrive at the knowledge, that
someone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is actually speaking on
behalf of God by the content of their message.
John stated that the person who claims to be speaking
on behalf of God and who teaches a message that proclaims and pledges
allegiance to Jesus being God in a bod who entered into humanity to appear and
reveal Himself to humanity is actually speaking on behalf of God. By contrast,
the person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God and who teaches a message
that proclaims and pledges allegiance to a message that denies and rejects
Jesus as being God in a bod is not speaking on behalf of God.
Instead, John states that the person who teaches a
message that proclaims and pledges allegiance to a message that denies and
rejects Jesus as being God in a bod is speaking on behalf of the spirit of the
antichrist. Now your immediate response to John’s statement is “what does that
even mean?”
Earlier in this letter, we looked on as John explained
to the members of the church at Ephesus that, just as it is for us today, they were
part of the final and climactic chapters of God’s story on earth. And as part
of that story there will be those who will stand as adversaries to Jesus Christ
and his kingdom.
John explained that while the Antichrist, which is the
last great world leader who will place Himself in opposition to God and His
kingdom mission that we read about in the Book of Revelation has not yet
appeared, there are already present those who possess the same spirit as the
spirit of the antichrist and are adversaries to God and His kingdom mission.
And these antichrists will be present until Jesus comes again. As we get closer
to the end of God’s story on earth the adversaries of Jesus Christ will
continue to become more and more hostile to the kingdom of God.
John is calling the members of the church at Ephesus,
and followers of Jesus throughout history, to recognize the spirit of the
antichrist who oppose God and the kingdom of God by their false teaching that denies
and rejects Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah. Here we see
John reveal a timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to
be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. And that test is
this: What is the content of
the message that we are being taught?
Does
the content of the message being taught proclaim and pledge allegiance to Jesus
as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and
rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from
God? Or does content of the message
being taught deny and reject Jesus as being God in a bod
who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from
the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?
But
not only does the content of the message being taught provide a
timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on
behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. We see John provide a
second test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on
behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God.
Friday we will discover that test together…
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