Oh, good morning. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Let's pray. Oh God, you declare your almighty power. Chiefly and showing mercy and pity. Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. I think I've shared this with y'all before, but one of the most disheartening things about being a pastor is to have to listen to a guy who just picked up his Bible for the first time in three years last Tuesday. Tell you why his interpretation of a text is superior to anyone and everyone else who has ever existed in the history of the church. or when someone says they have the Holy Spirit and therefore they can go against the fundamental doctrines of the faith like the Trinity or the dual nature of Christ that have been affirmed and passed down by godly men throughout the ages who also have the Holy Spirit. The individual possession, or at least the claim of the individual possession of the Holy Spirit serves as this sort of impenetrable force field that allows people to believe and do whatever they want, regardless of whether other people who also have the Holy Spirit take a diametrically opposed position. This conundrum reeks of 21st century American individualism and not biblical, orthodox Christianity. However, there's nothing new under the sun. John was dealing with the same kinds of things in his day. People who professed to be led by the Spirit, but were teaching contrary to the apostles' teaching. And so he writes the church and tells God's people not to trust every spirit, but to test the spirits to see whether that spirit is from God or that spirit is not from God. As we heard in our responsive reading, throughout the history of the church, from the garden, through the wilderness, and into the promised land, there have been people who claim to be speaking on behalf of the Spirit of God who are liars and deceivers. Time and again, God commands His people not to just believe them because they say they're coming from Him, but to test them, to measure them and their words against God's previous revelation. If they are consistent with God's previous revelation, they can be trusted. If they are not consistent with God's previous revelation and their content or in life, they may well be speaking from a spirit. But they are not speaking from the spirit. There is no. There's no neutral. Beloved, our day, I don't have to tell you, is not altogether different from the days before us. There are supposedly very spiritual people promoting a kind of spirituality in the name of God that are not doing so on behalf of the Holy Spirit. Rather, they are speaking and living by another spirit, by the spirit of the world. Indeed, John says, the spirit of the Antichrist, and they must be avoided. These guys are not fundamentally passive agents of some good things and some other things we just don't like or happen to agree with. According to John, if anyone is speaking by a spirit that is not the spirit, they are diametrically opposed to Christ and therefore need to not just be avoided, but condemned as such. And so saints of Reformation Covenant Church, if you're willing and able, please stand as we honor the reading of God's most holy word from 1 John 4 1-6, where we'll see that God wants us to know the spirit of truth. Hear God's word. Beloved, Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God. 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 antichrist, which you heard was coming and is now in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world. Therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. This is the word of the Lord. May God add his blessing to the reading and the hearing and the preaching of his word and may he grant us all the grace to trust and obey him and all the church said. Amen, please be seated. John Stott says that the mark of the mature Christian is not only belief, but the mark of the mature Christian is also unbelief. Now he's not saying that the mark of a true Christian is someone who struggles believing the promises of God, even though mature Christians can and do struggle believing the promises of God at times. But John Stott is saying that a mature Christian is marked by what he or she believes and by what he or she doesn't believe. A mature Christian is able to discern between what he or she should believe and what he or she shouldn't believe. Much like a child lacks discernment as to what is good for them and would eat candy and ice cream at every meal if they could, so too is the Christian childish. who has not the discernment to know what he or she should be ingesting when it comes to the teachings of the truth. And this is one of the reasons John is writing his letter to these people. He recognizes that they are little children, but he wants them to mature in the faith, both in what they believe and in what they don't believe. He wants those who believe to have a maturity of the faith so that they are not shaken by false teachers, but rather they are able to stand strong in the face of uncertainty because they know they have fellowship with the apostles and therefore with the triune God himself. And to continue to help them do that, John lays out three markers that we're gonna cover today for God's people to know the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. The first marker is one of doctrinal orthodoxy. The second marker deals with a teacher's matter of origin. And the third marker deals with the teacher's matter of audience. First, and quite frankly, the easiest of all tests is to test their doctrinal orthodoxy. But we need to pay attention to something here, lest we confuse easy with simple. The people John is warning against are teachers who actually began in the church and have gone out into the world. These are not guys who are coming out of atheism and into the church to promote heresy. These are leaders who began in the church and left the church because they did not want to submit to the apostles. We discussed this a few weeks ago, but if we can be somewhat anachronistic, these guys were the first non-denominational church planters. They were self-promoters who didn't have the humility and the patience to stay in the bounds of the church and wait until the apostles commissioned them. Instead they wanted to do things their way and so they went out from the church to start their own churches while claiming to be led by the Spirit in so doing. And since they had the Holy Spirit, No one could tell them what to do. No one could tell them what to believe, and within one generation, they'd gone off the rails in major ways. The most discernible was that they began teaching a different Jesus than that of the apostles, even though they used the name of Jesus. The apostles taught Jesus was the eternal Son of God come in the flesh. He was the Lord of the cosmos to whom everyone who professed faith in Him must not only trust, but obey. And yet some of these guys thought that Jesus was merely a really spiritual being, but not God in the flesh. And so you didn't have an obligation to obey him or sacrificially love the brethren in real and tangible ways. Sin wasn't all that serious. And so you could believe what you wanted about him and live your best life now, even if it was contrary to the word of God. And still others of these guys taught that Jesus was just another good moral teacher who was the example for us to be saved. And so you had to follow all these rules of strict asceticism regarding what foods you couldn't eat, what holidays you couldn't celebrate, and what pleasure you must refrain from if you wanted to have any hope of eternal life. What makes it even more challenging They were nice guys. They were guys that had been already a part of their community. Guys that professed to be led by the Spirit. John says if they fail the most fundamental of tests, the test of doctrinal orthodoxy, particularly concerning Jesus, they do not have the Spirit of truth. And even though they claim to come from God and have His Spirit, they are not from God and they do not have His Spirit. They do not speak on behalf of the Spirit but they speak on behalf of the spirit of the Antichrist, not the spirit which is pro-Christ, but the spirit which is against the Christ. And so even though they profess Jesus, their theology fails the test, and therefore they are not to be tolerated. John would offend so many evangelicals by daring to insinuate that a teacher must have their theology right or else they're a false teacher. He says these guys who are not orthodox are not neutral. They are not nice, even if they have a great smile. And John does not applaud them for being well-intentioned, but a little off. He says, unapologetically, these guys are enemies of King Jesus. And the church is not to tolerate men like this. So that's the first test, doctrinal orthodoxy. But even the demons could pass that test. For as you know, demons are more orthodox than even the best of false teachers. And so there is a second test that is actually a little more difficult to discern, the test of origin. Now, if evangelicals are bad at applying the easiest of all tests, the test of orthodoxy, how much worse are we at applying the test of origin? John says that these guys are from the world and therefore they speak from the world. Well, how do you know where they're from? How do you know their origin? That's not different than how you can know anyone else's origin. What is their native tongue? What language do they speak? What words do they use? I'm sure there was a time when these guys were in the church, and so they picked up some Christianese and undoubtedly some Bible verses, but they went out from the church, started their own churches, and so John tells us that we must discern the difference between whether they originate from God or from the world by examining their primary language and their fundamental categories of operation. More and more they have ceased from using God's word and instead reverted back to their native language, back to the language and categories of the world. I read an article sometime back encouraging pastors to stick to their guns when it comes to speaking God's words after him and to not adopt the language of the culture to supposedly reach the culture. And the author likened this necessity of maintaining these language categories to how an expert must teach a novice how to play the game of baseball. Someone's going to learn baseball. They need to learn the language of baseball or else it won't be baseball they're learning. Now I'm not going to beat you down with another baseball illustration so soon after coming home, but let's take something you like. Let's take music as an example. If one of you poor saps ever takes upon himself or herself to try to teach me to read music and sing, one, you're a glutton for punishment, but two, you're gonna have to start with the most basic categories of music and not stray from them or I will not learn what I need to learn. Eli knows. You can't point at that little golf club looking thing and tell me it's a golf club. And when I see the golf club, then do X. And if you tell me to look at that little cursive S thing or the empty circle and try to adapt music to my categories, you will not be able to teach me music. Now you probably won't be able to teach me music even if you do use the right terms, but that's not the point that we're dealing with today. The point is that the man of God is supposed to use God's words to conform the people of God to the image of the son of God. These false teachers were no longer using God's revelation to mold and shape people according to God's will. Rather, they were speaking from the world, and therefore they were losing any semblance to the apostolic faith that brought true hope. We face these same dangers. You lose the language, you lose the war. John says, these false teachers are speaking from the spirit of error in adopting the world's language. According to John, words matter, and if a teacher is primarily using the words and categories of the world, they are not neutral, they are not just nice, well-intentioned guys, but they are speaking from a spirit of error and delusion. demanding orthodoxy and right teaching is offensive to our sensibilities. How much more is demanding right language? I have friends, dear brothers and pastors of churches and supposedly biblical counselors who have no problem embracing the language and categories of the world in order to make Christianity somehow more relevant. They'll tout Enneagram, or embrace postmodern ways of thinking about power structures, or adopt the presuppositions of critical theory in the social justice movement. And when they do this, they may have a form of godliness, but they deny the power unto. They operate with the world's words and the world's categories. You're limited to the world's answers. And the world has no hope. If you say that you're married to an emotionally abusive husband, he can deny it all day long under the guise of being dense or an ISTJ or an alpha male. And so it's gonna be really hard to one, protect you, but then to convince him that these categories are altogether inherently wrong. But, if you're married to a liar. If you're married to someone who is harsh with you and someone who refuses to live with you in an understanding way. If you're married to a man who treats you as a second class being and not as Christ treats his bride, now we can deal with this guy accordingly. It's not that the Bible doesn't address the emotionally abusive husband. It's that the word of God addresses him in a far more thorough way. in a way that is quick and powerful, like a two-edged sword that pierces even his soul and his spirit and his joints and his marrow. The categories of the world are like Band-Aids for cancer, but the word of God kills you and then brings you to life. If it's just your trauma or your addiction that triggers you and leads you to alcoholism or outbursts or mistakes, then how can you hope to be delivered? There's no salvation from those things. But if you're anxious or you're fearful and you're given to drunkenness or anger or hatred or lust, then you can bring those specific things to Jesus and he can deliver you. If you're just a racist, a homophobe or a sexist, well then you're never going to be cured because you're not dealing with the core of your problem. In trying to cure you of these things, the world offers only a light healing that will never end. It only puts a band-aid on top of a band-aid. But if you show partiality to anyone, You show partiality to any race, partiality to any gender, partiality to any socioeconomic status. If you close your heart to your neighbor, if you aren't treating every person as an image bearer of God in thought and word and deed, then by faith you can repent and you can be healed at a depth that only God can root out. Amen. Saints of old recognized the necessity of God's ministers to be ever so careful when trying to discern between what is from God and what is from the world. But they didn't pretend that it was easy or obvious on first glance. John Murray warned the difference between truth and error is not a chasm. But a razor's edge. Charles Spurgeon said, discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between what is right and wrong, but it's a matter of difference between what is right and what's almost right. And I fear that many teachers who profess to be led by the Spirit have lost this ability. Beloved, it pains me to say this, and I do not do so lightly, But when pastors do not distinguish between what is right and what is almost right, and when they embrace the language and categories of the world rather than the language and the categories of God, there is a spirit on behalf of whom they are speaking, but it is not the Holy Spirit. I tremble for them. I ache for their people when I see and hear these kinds of things taking prominence in our churches. And the scary thing to me is that while they may think they're doing this out of pure motives, John says they're operating out of a spirit of falsehood, or what's an even better translation is they're operating out of a spirit of self-delusion. They're delusional in thinking that They're operating out of love for their neighbor. For God says that when prophets and teachers and spirits speak from the world, they're actually doing so out of greed. Out of a love for themselves, rather for their neighbor. God says in Jeremiah 8, from the least of the false teachers to the greatest, every one of them is greedy for unjust gain. Now we may be tempted to think that greed means that these guys are out there seeking money, but that isn't the kind of fame, that isn't the kind of greed that we're talking about here. It's not fortune, but it's fame. Now it's easier to see the teachers who ignore the biblical teaching that are greedy for money and drive Bentleys and all that silliness. But there are others who do so for another kind of currency, for the currency of cultural relevance. That's a currency in our day. These guys want to be liked and they want the church to be relevant. And so they say benign things that echo culture and avoid supposedly mean things that are found in God's word. And while on the surface, the desire to reach the culture with the gospel can sound godly, if in trying to gain the world for Christ, they fail the tests that we're dealing with here today, their desires are proven to be anything but godly. If they avoid the words of God and speak the words of the people for the people, if they try to be nicer than God, they tell on themselves. These kinds of teachers say they love their neighbor. But in their foolishness, in their self-deluded state, they elevate the second commandment to love their neighbor above the first commandment to love the Lord their God. And in so doing, they're actually proving to hate their neighbor by bringing judgment upon them. Judgment of Yahweh without warning. These teachers promote peace. Peace when there is no peace. And they supposedly strive for peace other than is found in Christ. Then they may sound peaceful, but their peace is not from God, nor is their peace with God. And therefore, there is no peace from them at all. Chapter 14 of Jeremiah, Yahweh tells him, these kinds of prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I speak to them. They are prophesying a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. These supposed prophets of God are deceived. They think they are speaking on behalf of God, but they are speaking their own thoughts. They may well say, God told me or God has a word to me for you. And yet not only are they deceived, they may well be deceiving you if you put up with that nonsense. God has no place for their deception of his people, and thus says the Lord of hosts to his people, do not listen to the words of these prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you. Beloved, if we listen to these teachers, even if they claim to be from God and yet fail the most basic tests, do not go after them. If they fail in the test of doctrinal orthodoxy, or even if they're supposedly orthodox and yet speak from the world and using the world's categories, do not go after them. They are not being led by the spirit of truth, but rather they are being led by a spirit of error. And if you're still not sure. Well, then the third test can also be applied. The mark or the test of their audience. Now remember, John wants to reassure these people that they are indeed in the faith delivered once for all to the Saints and handed down to the apostles. And so if one of these teachers has gained an audience that is primarily of the world. Then they're leading you into danger. John says these teachers are from the world. They use the world's categories. And because they do this, the world listens to them, at least for a while. Now, this does not mean that if a teacher has a winsome personality and can engage unbelievers in a loving way and bring the gospel to bear on their life, and he can get along with people that he disagrees with, that he is necessarily a false teacher. It does not mean the teacher has to be a jerk and slice and dice with a serrated edge and get the world to hate him to prove to himself and everyone watching that he's willing to fight the world. And this doesn't mean that you get to treat people who disagree with you however you want, and when they rebuke you for your sin, you get to hide behind the veil of the victim. But what it does mean, is that if a teacher has so minimized the Word of God in order to gain cultural relevance, such that he's not gaining the world to Christ, but encouraging the world in their worldliness, he is not doing so by the power of the Spirit. If a teacher has become so friendly with feminism that he rejects God's unique calling and equipping two women as women and men as men, he or she is dangerous. If a teacher has become so friendly with the Black Lives Matter movement that he will not condemn their hatred for the unborn and God's order for the family, he is dangerous. And if a teacher has become so friendly with a political ideology that he preaches any political candidate more than Christ, he is dangerous, no matter how many people he has in his sanctuary. These kinds of teachers are greedy for cultural currency. And even though they may receive temporal praise by BLM or LGBTQ or a political party as their advocates, they are revealing themselves not to be speaking by the Spirit of God, even if they say it's the Holy Spirit. And John knows, and I know that this can all be really confusing. because their voices are so nice, so relevant, so non-controversial, but little children, we must not be fooled into thinking that every seemingly nice spirit is from God, no matter how explicit they say their gospel is. The spirits who are leading these men are or will have bad theology. They lead them to speak with worldly categories and they gain the following of the people that we too want to reach. And what's worse, brothers and sisters will follow after them. And when they do, then we're gonna be tempted to ask again and again, is it really that bad? Do we really need to apply these tests? Do we really need to look for these marks in these spirits? Does theology really matter? Are words really a big deal? Doesn't the fact that they're attracting large crowds prove that God is with them? John would have us say, yes, theology matters. Yes, words matter, and no, the fact that they're attracting large crowds doesn't prove that God is with them. John says that these kinds of men are not from God, and so when you compare their words with John's and the apostles, you will see the spirit of truth revealing who they are coming from. Apostolic theology is rock solid theology. And the apostles proclaim Christ from first to last. They demand that God's people be not conformed into the image of the world, but be transformed by the renewal of their minds and be conformed into the image of Jesus, the Christ, the eternal son of God, and the second person of the Trinity. And even though John and those who have fellowship with him are gracious, and they're kind, and they do their best to live at peace with all men, they're hated by the world, for they will not offer the world any old peace that they want. They only offer the peace that is found in Jesus. Whoever knows God listens to the apostles and listens to those who preach what they preach. This is the test of tests. Do these spirits, do you follow only the apostles' teaching? If not, repent and return to your first love. But if so, then rest assured, no matter what you hear out there, you know God. Don't rest in your experience. Don't rest in thinking you have the Holy Spirit as you pray to prayer or baptized or how to quiver in your liver one time at worship. Don't rest in any other rest offered to you that isn't found in the apostles teaching for the glory of the triune God. Which is for your good? If we continue to do this, If we continue to apply these tests and we find these marks in the men that we follow, then we will grow up in maturity in our belief and a maturity in our unbelief and you will prove that you know God and that is eternal life. That you know God and Jesus the Christ, the one in whom he sent. Let's do that together, amen? All praise to you, dear Father in heaven, for you've opened up to us the way to eternal life and the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We give you thanks for all those who have gone before us in the faith and now rest from their labors. Keep us in the same faith and embolden us by your resurrection to be fearless in the face of disease, chaos, loneliness, and every sorrow of this world. Give us the solemn expectation to cheer us that our Redeemer lives, and we too shall be resurrected and glorified to live with Him in His eternal kingdom. Through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our resurrected Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.