Test the Spirits and Draw the Line

Transcript

GR 1099
2/20/1983

1 John 4:1-6
Gil Rugh

I John in your Bibles and the fourth chapter. Remember through the Book of I John, John has been laying down the identifying marks of a believer in Jesus Christ, how we can recognize one who is a true believer in Jesus Christ. How we can know for sure ourselves that we indeed belong to God and there are two areas that are covered—the lives we live and the doctrines we believe and those two things put together. What you believe regarding the Person and work of Christ and the life you live as a manifestation of your transformed character is the two areas, are the two areas that evidence a true relationship with God.

Now, as you talk about these matters, you are always confronted with those who would teach contrary. They would teach doctrine that differs and so when you get to chapter 4, John deals with the issue of those who would teach false doctrine. And how believers are to respond to them. What is to be our attitude, how are we to recognize those who are not truly teachers from God. Now, he has touched on this earlier.

Back in chapter 2 he talked about antichrists and in verse 22 "who is the liar but the one who both denies that Jesus is the Christ?" So the subject is not new, but he zeroes in on it in a more direct way and what he is going to talk about in chapter 4, the first six verses, are the false teachers and the spirits behind those false teachers and then the audiences these false teachers have. Those who listen and follow these false teachers.
So you have the false teachers and those who listen to them and follow them in the first six verses.

The chapter opens up again with that warm expression, beloved." Those that John does love. He is involved with as fellow believers. Then he gives them the exhortation, and you might note that word "beloved" is used down in verse 7 again "Beloved", down in verse 11, beloved. What he is going to say is very strong, very direct, and he wants them to realize it is out of an attitude and a relationship of love and concern for them that these things are spoken. So even though he has to say the hard things, he says them in the context of loving them. But even though he loves them, he does not pull back from saying the hard things in speaking very directly regarding false teachers. We have been talking about false teachers in our study of Philippians. Here we come to it in I John and the more you study the word, the more you have to be impressed with the consistent constant emphases that there is given in Scripture to warn believers about the dangers of false teachers and it's repeated again and again and sometimes get the idea that this is a negative emphases but it's really positive because it comes out of God's love for us and the concern that we function the way that He wants us to. And nothing is more detrimental and ruinous to a Christian in his testimony for Christ than persuasive false teachers because they lead us away from God's plan for us.

So John begins chapter 4. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Present tense here. Stop believing may be the emphases. Every spirit. A warning about being gullible on the part of the believers that he is writing to. There may be a tendency that John is trying to correct, a leaning towards some of the teaching that he is going to condemn and show to be false so don't be believing, but rather test the spirits. So you don't believe the spirits but you test the spirits. Now my understanding of this passage is that the spirits are manifested through the human teachers. Sometimes there are those who believe you test demons and demonic possession in a person by putting him to the test of I John 4. If this is a demon in this person, they will not be able to acknowledge Jesus Christ. That's not a good test because it's a test the demons pass in Scripture. Because during Jesus' earthly ministry the demons confronted Him and said, we know who you are —the Holy One of God. Their tongues weren't bound so they couldn't express that. They acknowledged that. So he's not talking here that you talk to a spirit within a person but rather he is saying how you identify whether this teacher is being motivated by the Spirit of God or motivated by the spirit from Satan. A demonic spirit or the Holy Spirit. But you'll know by what that teacher says. Their attitude toward the Person of Jesus Christ is going to be the focal point. "Do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. " There is a spirit from God, the Holy Spirit. He moves in the lives of those who are truly teaching His Word. Those teachers are empowered by the Spirit and just as all believers have the Spirit indwelling them, those that are gifted by the Spirit to be teaching the Word thus have their message from the Spirit. So it is the Spirit of God teaching and moving. That's the spirit behind the true prophet.

Now there are many false prophets that have gone out into the world so the presence of the true spirit and the presence of the false spirit necessitates the ability to distinguish. So you must put -them to the test. And this word "to test" the spirits is a word that is used to test metals to see if they are genuine. So a metal would be put to the test, to determine if it's genuine, if it's true. Now we as believers are not just to say, Oh, I like him. I like the way he talks. I like the way he dresses. I like what he says. We have to go beyond that to discern the truthfulness, the truth of the message, to see if it is really from God. The reason is because of the presence of the false prophets.

Look over in II Peter chapter 1, just a little bit in front of I John. Couple pages, you'll be right to II Peter, just before I John. II Peter chapter 1. And in verse 20 and 21, verses 20 and 21, you see the operation of God in true prophets, here referring to how the Old Testament was given. "But know this first of all that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, of perhaps better is not of its own origination, origin. In other words, the men who spoke didn't originate this message for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So there you see a true prophet, a true spokesman. He was moved and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

While you're in II Peter just go to the first verse of the next chapter. "But false prophets also arose among the people. Now there comes a problem. Same thing that John is talking about. Just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. That's what John is going to talk about as we move on in I John and the fourth chapter. A denial of the very heart of the gospel, the Person and work of Christ.

Now Peter gives the same warning. False prophets were among those people that will be false teachers. Difference I take it between a teacher and a prophet is a prophet was one who had received a direct revelation from God. A teacher is one who is communicating the revelation that has already been given.

I am not a prophet. I am a teacher because I am taking the truth that has already been given from God contained in the Scripture and communicated it. That's the difference. But the issue is the same. The motivation in the life of the teacher or the prophet. Now Peter says here there will be false teachers among you. This is what makes them so dangerous that they come up from among believers. They are not believers themselves, but they sneak their way in and thus they are accepted and they begin to present a message which is a corrupted message. And the goal is to lead believers astray and thus mar and ruin the testimony. There's going to have to be a discernment.

Come back to Matthew chapter 5, chapter 7. Verse 13. Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate." Matthew 7:13. "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow^ that leads to life and few there are who find it. Beware of the false prophets." Now we read verses 13 and 14 so you see the context here again is of the basic issue. It's the matter of life and how you have eternal life. The narrow gate versus the broad gate. In that context he says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. So here again is the necessity to test, to determine, because the false prophet does not necessarily come and say I'm from the church of Satan. But he comes dressed as a believer, masquerading as a believer but teaching that which is ruinous to Christians, which undermines the doctrine of salvation by grace. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so every good tree bears good fruit. The rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits.

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name cast out demons and in your name perform miracles? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. ' Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. You get the idea here that false prophets and false leaders, false teachers, can be very deceptive, cast out demons, do many mighty miracles, prophesy in Your name. Jesus says I never knew you. Wait a minute. They prophesied in His name but He never knew them. You say they masqueraded as something they weren't. They professed to be doing it in the name of Christ and Christ says I have never known you and are cast into hell.

Look over in Luke chapter 6. Luke 6:26. Just touches on what we are talking about here and where we are going in I John. You'll find false teachers are popular and John is going to come to this in a moment. You'll pick up this verse in Luke 6:26. "Woe to you when all men speak well of you for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets. We'll get to this in a moment in John. The characteristic of those preaching this kind of message is a great popularity. That does not mean that we as believers go out of our way to be unpopular as though that was a badge to wear but it is a badge to wear.

Because of our identification with Christ and the message preached about Him, there will be a rejection by those who are not believers in Christ. So those who can be popular with everyone are revealing their true character. It's the false prophets who are well spoken of by everyone and thus well accepted.

Come on over and stop in II Corinthians on our way back. There's so much material obviously. II Corinthians 11 is limited to that. II Corinthians chapter 11. Verse 13. "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ and no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness whose end shall be according to their deeds." Here again you have laid out very clearly how Satan works. Why you have to put the spirits to the test because you can believe as brilliant as Satan is, when he does a disguise, he can do a masterful disguise. One that is very, very good. And you have to look very very carefully to discern and sometimes it becomes almost impossible to discern if you will. But for the most part we as believers are responsible to make the determination to recognize the distinction. And for the bulk of false teachers that are accepted among believers today, the issue is not that it is not possible to discern, it's an unwillingness on the part of believers to discern. That believers don't want to discern because it means drawing lines and rejecting and there is a spirit that wants to accept find acceptability.

One other passage you have to mention out of Acts chapter 20. Acts 20. Which is very similar to the passage in Peter we read. Paul is speaking to the elders from the church at Ephesus in his farewell message in Acts chapter 20. Paul says in verse 26 of Acts 20, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God." There's a mark of a true teacher—to teach the whole counsel of God. "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.

Again, a strong warning of the danger to the church. That those who would promote false doctrine are going to arise from within. Remember, Jude writes and condemns the ones he writes to because they tolerated their love feasts. These kind of people. They thought it was an indication of a big heart. Jude says it's an indication of an unwillingness to walk with God and stand where He would have us stand. So from among your own selves. Now I say this and you have to be careful. Some Christians want to go on a witch hunt and so they sit down, you know, with their critical ear and listen to anybody who teaches and if they fail to cross the t right or use the right expression, they are ready to tear them to shreds. Now that kind of attitude is not what he is talking about. We're not out to look for someone to jump on. We're not out to stifle one another as believers. But we are to be testing and trying the spirits to see if this doctrine is true, if this teacher is from God. It's not enough that they attend Indian Hills Church. It's not enough that they are actively involved here. The greatest danger comes from within—not from without. The Moonies don't really threaten us a great deal. I believe they are workers of Satan. I believe their doctrine is from Satan. But that's not the real threat outside there. It's those who would arise from within among believers and distort and corrupt the message. That becomes a danger and that's where the strong warning is given.

So come back to I John. Good study for you. For your own personal study. Take the time to search through the Scripture, Old and New Testament alike starting in the New Testament if you want to limit yourself. And just go through the various books aid letters and mark out all the warnings given about false teachers and false doctrine to see if God has not belabored the point with us. Yet today we have a professing church. We have those who profess to be believers and many of them that are, who are so gullible that it is disgusting. And there's no reason for it. God has warned us repeatedly again and again to test the spirits. Say, oh, you're a divisive person. That's right. Because soon as you test the spirits, you draw lines and you mark off those who are not true to the Word. That does draw a line. You can't get away from it.

All right. Let's move on with John to see what the tests are that you apply. Verse 2. "By this you know the Spirit of God." You can see the Spirit of God at work in a teacher or a prophet by this. "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." And I take it there's two aspects emphasized here. That Jesus, Jehovah Savior, has come in the flesh as Christ. The word "Christ" means "the anointed One." He is the Messiah come in the flesh and what you have here is both the Deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ and a person must be in agreement regarding the Deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. We mast believe that Jesus, Jehovah Savior, is the Christ come in the flesh—is the point being made. And for the gnostics that we have talked about at the beginning of the letter. Those who made a distinction between the humanity and the Deity of Christ, that they do not believe that the divine Christ was truly human. Remember they believed that the Deity, that the Christ came upon Jesus, upon the human man and left Him before the crucifixion. Now you must believe in the Deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. And a person who denies the true Deity of the man Jesus Christ or denies the true humanity of the God Jesus Christ, is not a teacher from God. That's the heart of the message that he is dealing with here. That confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh, is from God. It's not such a difficult test. That's one you have to be discerning on, one you have to be careful about, one that you often have to scrutinize.

I read you some material from William Barclay earlier in our study of John. Sometimes you have to look very carefully to discern and determine where a teacher is and what they believe. But Christians have failed to be discerning. How did our major denominations come to the point where the seminaries have professors and turn out pastors who deny the Deity of Jesus Christ. What happened? Somewhere along the line there was a breakdown in the discernment and the putting to the test by believers. John Calvin was a man who strongly believed in the Deity of Jesus Christ but you have Presbyterians today who are standing in pulpits who deny the Deity of Jesus Christ. Somewhere along the line there was a breakdown that allowed these men to get ahold and take over these denominations. Failure to put to the test, to be discerning. You say, oh this is such a basic area. Everyone believes that. You see what happens though. Somewhere along the line there was a change and it comes gradually from those who work their way in, get Influence, are accepted, and nobody wants to make an issue, so we tolerate it, and the teaching grows, gets ahold and soon you have a whole church comprised of unbelievers, ungodly people. That's the basic test then. The humanity and the Deity of Jesus Christ. You have to have a correct view of the Person of Christ. That's the stress here.

He'll get down later in the chapter to talk about the finished work that Christ is the propitiation for our sins, like down in verse 10. So John is taking it piece by piece. Here, the evidence that you are looking for is the person and what they believe about the person of Christ. So you talk to a pastor. You talk to a teacher. Ask him. Do you believe that Jesus Christ was truly a man? Most of them will say yes. Ask them, Do you truly believe that He is Deity, He was God in the flesh. Now be careful. Don't want to belabor this tut there are word games that are played today among liberal theologians. They will say, Yes, I believe He was divine. You say, well, there we go. He's true. No, no, no—because many of those liberal theologians today make a distinction between being divine and being Deity. They have taken the words and given them new meaning. So you can talk to a liberal theologian who denies the Deity of Christ who will say I believe Jesus Christ was divine. Now7 there was a time when the words meant the same thing. You read the older writers and the older theologians and they use the word divine and deity interchangeably. But many liberals today use it to mean He was godlike, but He was not God. You see how subtle it works its way in. Say, oh, yes, my pastor believes that Jesus was God. I asked him. He said, yes, He's divine. Well, he almost has to go and say, well, wait a minute—what do you mean by divine? Do you mean by divine that He vas God in the flesh? Very God and very man? Well, no, no, I don't believe that. And it becomes a matter you almost have to be obnoxious.

Now one of the tests will be that if it is a true believer they won't mind. I never mind when someone pushes me to the wall and says, now, wait a minute. I want to know for sure. But you know if you have an unbeliever, they begin to get irritated. Why? Because they don't want to be revealed for what they are. There's a masquerade going on and it's important to cover it up. Otherwise why do they have to use words like divine? Because those words have a general acceptance among Christians and so if they use those words it will be accepted one way by one person and another way by another. I've listened to tapes by these men and I say, I really don't know what he believes unless I can sit down and talk to him myself. Because you don't know what he means by the words he's using. You say, well, that's hardly fair to take the words and give them different meanings. That's right. That's the kind of game the devil plays. So Gil Rugh leaves Indian Hills and the next pastor comes up and says, Oh, yes, I believe Jesus Christ is divine. You say, oh, amen. But does he believe in the Deity of Christ? Well, I mean if he believes He's divine you have to believe the deity. No, just a subtle way that Satan works and has worked.

All right. Let's move on to verse 3. "Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God." This is the negative side of the test. The positive side was in verse 2. Every spirit that does confess does agree about the Person of Christ is from God. The negative side is every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. It's just that simple and this is the spirit of the antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world.

Look over in I Corinthians chapter 12. I Corinthians chapter 12. Verse 3. "Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is accursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. It's just the same kind of issue that you recognize by what a person says about Christ where he stands. That's all. You cannot say Jesus is accursed and have the Spirit of God moving you. If the Spirit of God is enlightening you and you recognize His Lordship now it's just not a matter of mouthing the words "Jesus is Lord." Therefore I am a Christian. Therefore I am from God. But the point here is the expression of this. The revelation of your character is being made here and the recognition of who Jesus Christ is is an evidence that a person is a believer. So again the attitude toward Christ is the issue. When John says that this is the spirit of the antichrist, that's back in chapter 2 of I John and this whole section of I John 2, verses 18 to 25. You go back and read that section. We talked about the antichrists and in I John chapter 2:22, the verse we read earlier tonight. Who is the liar but the one that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. And we noted then that when you deny the Person of Christ, you deny the Person of God. So that's a characteristic of antichrist. And we noted— you're building toward the one antichrist. The antichrist that we talked about in prophecy. But all these men who deny the Person of Christ, are forerunners of the antichrist. Now that's how we ought to see them because those of us who are believers and we have studied prophecy. We are in abhorrence of the antichrist who will dominate the world during the Tribulation. Often, that anyone would give allegiance, any acceptance to him. Important to see that the Scripture classifies these false teachers in the same category. They are antichrists just as he is. But you have a Christian who wants to have a tolerance of a false teacher, you have a Christian who wants to have a tolerance of antichrist. Now how can you be one who is a lover of Christ and say, well, let's not be too hard on him?

Important. In II John 7, just turn over there, pick up this idea of antichrist again. II John 7 "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh." You see again that He has come in the flesh. Presupposes His prior existence. For the gnostics, their problem was to acknowledge His humanity—that Jesus had really come in the flesh. But you have to have both. That He did exist. He was God. He has come in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves. Again, you have a warning that is so pervasive.

So back at I John 4 through these three verses John concludes verse 3 by saying it is already in the world, this spirit of antichrist. Already in John's day. Before the last of the apostles had passed from the scene you had this spirit moving to deny the Person of Christ. 2000 years later the issues haven't changed. Already started in John's day. It was already at work. What it has done is accelerated over time. That you have those who profess to be Christians. You just have many more of them today. But who deny the Person of Christ and they are offended, offended, and we say that they are children of Satan on their way to hell. They say, oh, Indian Hills. They're arrogant. They think they're the only church in the world and on and on and on. No. The antichrist or the antichrists. They have always been that way and it's revealed by their attitude toward the Person of Christ.

Now with verse 4 through 6 what he does is talk about the character or the person of those who follow these false teachers, there do these false teachers get their hearing? Get their audience? Get their allegiance? And they are very popular. I John chapter 4:4. "You are from God little children and have overcome them because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. You are from God, little children," Those who have been born of God. We saw this in chapter 3. Those who have come to believe in Christ have been born into God's family. They are of God. They have their source and origin and their new life and their spiritual life in God and have overcome then. I take it talking about the false teachers and the false spirits. Now that's encouraging. But we talked about. We are engaged in a warfare and in a battle, but we have already overcome them. We are the victors because we are of God and God indwells us because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Now he talked about this up in verse 24 among other places. "We know by this that He abides in us by the spirit which he has given us." God abides in us and He manifests His presence by the indwelling spirit. And the indwelling spirit dwelling in us is greater than the one who is in the world. God is greater than Satan. And God has defeated Satan and so we have a greater power than is in the world. So I don't believe that I have to be afraid of false teachers and all this witchcraft that invades Christianity where Christians are running around with these superstitious slogans and phrases to chase off the devil. It's a bunch of hogwash. superstitious Christians. That's a contradiction in terms, or it should be. People running around with these phrases that think that that's the phrase and you say this it has some magical significance to drive away the devil.

You know what gives me the victory over the devil? The indwelling Spirit of God. And I don't need any magical phrases. I don't need any magical formulas. I don't need to bind him in prayer, which has been going around from some supposedly sound circles. Satan has been defeated. I'm not out trying to tie him up. I don't have to bind him. He's defeated. The one who indwells me is greater than him who is in the world. The way that I operate with false teachers is I discern and put them to the test and recognize them. Not that
I'm out trying to sneak up and tie up the devil or if I bind him in prayer, then he won't have power over me. He doesn't have power over me because the Spirit indwells me. The Spirit who indwells me is greater than the one who is in the world. He is defeated. I don't have to run around trying to bind him and I don't want to get off on a sidetrack.

Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. We have overcome them. So you note. Any Christian who gets, if I can use the phrase without confusing the theology "sucked in" here by these false teachers, it's their own fault. There is no reason or no excuse for it. Now that puts it and makes it pitiful. You think all the Christians that have gullibly been following false teachers and there's no reason for it because I have overcome them. So there is no reason for me to be taken in by them. The one who indwells me gives me the discernment and has given me the victory. Any excuses are eliminated. So it is assumed that a Christian should be and would be discerning. They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world and the world listens to them.

They are from the world. Now we are from God. They are from the world and they have the god of this world, Satan, as their father, as chapter 3 develops. So rather than being out of God they are out of the world. They are from the world. Now all that is in the world, we saw in 2:15 and 16,17, the lust of the flesh, the boastful pride of life, the lust of the eyes, that's their source and origin. They come out of this world system dominated by Satan. They speak as from the world and the world listens to them. Now you see the identification. They are of a kind and so they are attracted to one another and you listen to these false teachers, they are masters at taking the message of Christianity and corrupting it. They act as hucksters with it as Paul said in II Corinthians chapter 2 to make it saleable, acceptable to the world. So they preach a message that has enough of the biblical truth in it to draw Christians to it but it is acceptable to the world broadly and so they have a popularity with the world. But you know the issue is—they are from the world. The fact that they take biblical truths and use them doesn't mean anything. They are not offensive because
the way they present those biblical truths doesn't offend the unbeliever because they are speaking to the world, what the world wants to hear and it is a corrupted distorted message. It's a message that something good is going to happen to you. Expect a miracle. Be positive. Not going to be specific. But you look at those messages and what do you find? You find that there is some of the biblical truth there but is put in a context that the unbelievers flock to it. But they are not saved by it because there is not enough of the truth there to save someone. Just enough to lure in gullible Christians and get them to give a buck and also to make them attractive to the world. So these men are invited to speak to all kinds of audiences, Why? Not because they are proclaiming the finished work of Jesus Christ, the necessity of believing in Him and the hopeless condition of all who don't. Yet how many Christians are sucked into that kind of thing? Patter along so gullible. There's no reason for it because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. We have overcome. Some Christians want to close their eyes and remain ignorant and they are in violation of the Word of God and responsible for it.

The world listens to its own teachers so I take it that that says that those who truly teach the Word are not going to be able to expect to have the same kind of popularity in a general sense. Now God does unique things and raises up certain men for certain tasks. The general flow of things are these men are acceptable to the world because they speak as from the world. We are from God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Now that'll tell you something.

You go and analyze a church. Look at the constituency of that church. Talk to a good cross section of that church and that will give you an idea of what kind of teacher is there because you'll find out the constituency. That does not mean that on any given Sunday there aren't unbelievers at Indian Hills. Praise the Lord there are. That the Spirit of God draws them to expose them to the truth of the Word. But in the general flow of things they are believers, why? Well who else wants to come and study the Bible. How boring if you're not a Christian. You note those who are from God listen to the Word of God. Those who are not from God don't listen to the Word of God. They don't want to hear that. They are looking for something else. So you look at these popular preachers quote.

Do you need to take your Bible? Do you have your Bible along? Analyze the constituency of the congregation generally of these people. Are they comprised of believers or unbelievers? Look in some of the churches in Lincoln. I'm not saying there are no believers in those churches, but look at the vast majority of the congregation, that do you find? Unbelievers. What does that tell you about the character of the man preaching the message? He's preaching to his kind and those who are out of place and out of step identifying with the ministry of antichrist are those believers who are allowing themselves to be so gullibly lead along by one that has been defeated and overpowered by the Spirit of God who indwells them. So by this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error, how a person responds to the truth of the Word of God. So both sides are true. The one who is not from God does not listen to us. That doesn't amaze me the unbeliever doesn't want to come. The thing that excites me is when an unbeliever does come. Seems to me it has got to be an indication that the Lord is working in his life. And we have unbelievers who come back on a regular basis. They are a concern. I have expressed that. But to me it seems the Lord must be doing in their life. I can't imagine that if I was an unbeliever that I would to come at all to study the Scriptures. No purpose in it unless God is working in the life to draw them along to Himself.

Very simple passage. And you say if you've been a believer very long you say there's nothing very heavy there but it's all so crucial. That where will Indian Hills, should Jesus Christ tarry, get off the track? By failing to be discerning. Not that we want to be divisive in the wrong sense and we want to be divisive in the right sense. There are those who are antichrist. I don't want to be viewed as a friend of them. It does not bother me one bit that there are liberal ministers in town that don't view me as a friend. I hope that they feel more strongly than that about me because I do about them. I feel they are antichrist. I feel they are servants of Satan. I feel they are proclaiming a message from hell that leads to hell and as we have mentioned before the strongest warning, the strongest condemnations in Scripture are reserved for the false teachers and the false religious leaders.

My desire is that those who are under that ministry could be exposed to the gospel and brought to salvation in Christ. My prayer for those men is that God would bring wrath down upon them, make them miserable and wretched in every way and expose them for what they are—servants of hell.

One passage and we'll close. Over to I Timothy 4. "But the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times some will fall away from the faith." Terrible statement. "Paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Doctrines that have their source in the demonic world. That's crucial. Some will depart from the truth of the Word of God, fall away from the faith." That's what he is talking about. Will apostatize from the faith the truth of the Word of God. How will that happen? They evidently are exposed to the truth of the Word of God, but they move away from it. They pay attention to deceitful spirits. Now a spirit that is deceitful is one who deceives you, lures you away in a seductive way, a deceitful way. They pay attention to those kind of spirits and to teaching. That's the word "doctrine." It's the word teaching of demons. That becomes a scary thing. That's why I don't believe that a Christian ought to dabble in false teaching or with false teachers in any way. It's not, say, well, I pick up some good from them. You know there is an element there that I can learn from. You don't dabble with demons. The Word of God is clear on that. And when I expose myself to that kind of ministry, I'm exposing myself to demonic ministry and even though that Satan is a defeated foe, the victory I have over him is in Christ and by the power of the Spirit. But I move out on my own when I dabble with demons and the devil as a hay day in twisting me and getting me all fouled up in my life as a believer.

So the Scripture is clear. What do I have to do with antichrists? What do I want to do with teachings of demons? Nothing. But I want to be identified as standing against and opposed to them in every way. So the line ought to be clearly drawn. You know what happens though? Exposed to it and some are lead away from faith and apostatized from the faith because they pay attention to these kind of spirits.

I trust and pray that I'll be true to the Word. That you'll be true to the Word. Need to be careful of areas. Oh, we have the truth and others don't. We are just as susceptible to the deceitfulness of Satan as anyone. And that's why it's so crucial that we test and try, that we be sure that what is being taught is biblical, that those who are teaching are biblical and thus we have lives and ministry that exalt and honor Jesus Christ.

Let's pray together