Proof of Life
Rev. Res Spears
Walking in Truth and Love • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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For some reason, God has seen fit to arrange my life such that I’ve had close relationships as a Christian with a surprising number of atheists.
One of my best friends is an atheist whose father was a founding member of the Secular Humanist Society of New York. This group describes itself as being committed to a “philosophy of life guided by reason and science, freed from religious and secular dogmas.”
Surprisingly, we have great discussions about Jesus and about faith. He’s still far from being a believer, so I continue to pray for him.
My boss at the cigar shop is an atheist, which is interesting, because he frequently shares among his Facebook friends events we’ve got going on here at Liberty Spring.
And he gladly allows me to advertise the Smoke & Fire Men’s Bible Study on the shop’s window. He’s even expressed an interest in joining us for one of those evenings.
When I worked at the Suffolk News-Herald, I hired a page designer who turned out to be an atheist. And I had the exquisite pleasure several years ago of watching her be baptized in faith.
I didn’t lead her to Christ, but I know — and she has said — that I planted seeds that grew into faith.
And, as a science nerd, I read a lot of articles written by and about atheist scientists. And one of the things that keeps popping up in my science nerd news feeds lately is the theory that we’re all part of a vast simulation being run by some incredibly advanced being.
In other words, you don’t exist. I don’t exist. And nothing we know exists. Not this building. Not the traffic outside on Whaleyville Blvd.
Our history, our current events, our politics — everything — is all part of the simulation. We’re not even alive, and we can’t prove that we are, because everything we’d use to prove this is part of the simulation.
If you’re laughing right now, I understand. I think it’s laughable, too. But there are well-respected scientists who are CONVINCED that this is what’s going on.
We’re all part of the Matrix. And, since it’s logically impossible to prove a negative, their arguments always come back this: “Well, you can’t prove we’re NOT in a simulation.”
Look, one of the things that I’ve learned in my interactions with atheists is that we ALL believe in something.
And I’ve come to see that some of the things atheists believe — like that we’re living in a simulation, for instance — take far more faith than it takes to believe in a God who created us and loves us.
I don’t feel any particular need to prove that I’m not part of some vast simulation. And I don’t think I need to prove to any of you that I’m alive. I’m tired, but I’m alive, and I hope that’s obvious to you.
But in the text we’re going to look at today as we continue our study in 1 John, we ARE going to see the Apostle John present for us a test of life.
And we’re going to see him suggest we use the results of that test to help us sort out false teachers from those who teach truth.
We’re going to be looking at the first few verses of chapter 4, so if you’ve got your Bible, go ahead and turn there now.
While you’re doing that, let me remind you that John gives us in this letter a sort of recipe for fellowship with God, for the deep relationship with Him that constitutes the abundant life Jesus said He came to give those who follow Him in faith.
He also describes how we can have assurance that we’re IN fellowship with God. Don’t be sinning, he says. Live like the children of God you are as believers, rather than as children of the devil.
And love one another with the choosing, self-denying, self-sacrificing love that Jesus demonstrated both in His life and in His substitutionary death on the cross.
This is part of the singular commandment God has given us — to “believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”
But what we’re going to see today is a warning from John by the Holy Spirit to not allow our love to make us gullible.
We’ll pick up in verse 24 of chapter 3.
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
This is a hinge verse. It summarizes what came before it, AND it introduces John’s warning in the next few verses.
Summarizing the previous passage, John says we can know that we have fellowship with God — that he abides in us and we in Him — if we keep His commandments.
And the commandments are to believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as Jesus commanded us to do.
And then, John gives us a test by which we can have proof of life — the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. We know that we have LIFE — that we’ve been delivered from the world of darkness and death — if the life-giving Spirit of God dwells within us.
But there’s a problem here, and the problem is that anybody can CLAIM they’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Anybody can CLAIM they’re a follower of Jesus.
We’d like to think that someone in whom the Spirit dwells would exhibit the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
But the truth is that when we grieve the Spirit by our sins, we often fail to exhibit some or all of those fruits.
Since we’re saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and for the glory of God alone, even the absence of spiritual fruit within our lives isn’t a determining factor of our salvation.
Unfortunately, some followers of Jesus CAN and DO go through their lives without ever exhibiting any of the fruits of the Spirit.
As such, they have a relationship with God, but they don’t have fellowship with Him. They have settled for the abundant life they’ll have in heaven, while taking a pass on it here on earth.
They’ve chosen to live like children of the devil, instead of living like children of God. They’ve chosen to identify with the world, rather than to identify with Christ.
They’ve chosen to love and prioritize the things of this world, rather than making their priorities the same as God’s priorities.
And in the end, they don’t look much different than the world looks. It’s hard to tell them apart from non-believers. Of course, Jesus knows those who are His, and from His throne of judgment, He’ll separate the sheep from the goats.
But for us, it’s hard sometimes to tell the difference between sheep and goats. What’s worse is that it can be just as hard for us to tell the difference between sheep and wolves in sheep’s clothing, which is the group John writes about in the first part of chapter 4. Look at verse 1.
1 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.
Love one another, but don’t be gullible. Just because someone claims to be a Christian doesn’t mean they’re a follower of Jesus.
We need to test them, because there were already false prophets — false teachers — in John’s time, and there are even more of them today.
Now, John uses the term “spirits” here in a way that sounds odd to our ears. We know he’s talking about people, because he refers to false prophets in a way that connects them to the spirits we are to test.
I think what he’s doing is reminding us that there is a spiritual battle going on that we can’t see. Paul put it this way in his letter to the Ephesians:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Folks, I’m here to tell you today that every person on earth is being controlled by one Spirit or the other. We are all being controlled either by the Holy Spirit of God or by the spirit of Satan.
I don’t mean that every person who isn’t indwelt by the Holy Spirit is possessed by the devil or by a demon.
What I mean is that if you haven’t received the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ, then you are still under the dominion of the ruler of this world, Satan. And whether knowingly or not, you are serving him.
Satan’s greatest desire is to destroy and undermine the Kingdom of God. His every action is aimed at attempting to tear down that which Jesus is building.
And right at the top of his hit list is the Church, which is the body of Christ here on earth.
So, what John is warning about here is the danger of gullibly following false teachers who are being used by Satan to tear the Church apart.
In fact, that seems to be just what had happened in the churches of Asia Minor that were the original recipients of this letter.
People within those churches who called themselves Christians had spread a false gospel that was no gospel — no good news — at all. Some were denying the deity of Jesus; others were denying the humanity of Jesus.
They had left the church, but they were still trying to derail the faith of believers with their false teaching.
And they weren’t simply wrong in their theology. Their theology was opposed to Jesus. Their theology aligned them with the devil. They were anti-Christ.
They were — and continue to be — a danger to the church. And so, John said we need to test the spirits. We need to be discerning about the messages we’ll listen to. Look at verse 2.
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.
Now, these false teachers don’t come around saying that their message is satanic in origin. No, they come saying they’re filled with the Holy Spirit of God, that they speak in God’s authority.
They say they’re Christians, and they expect us to hear and follow them in their heresies, because they claim the name of Jesus.
So, John says to test them, to examine what they say, the same you might examine a hundred-dollar bill to see if it’s real or if it’s counterfeit.
Remember that he’s already given us the test for proof of life: the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. So, considering that His presence isn’t obvious in all believers, how can we know whether He abides in a teacher or not?
Here’s the question we have to ask: What does that person believe about Jesus?
John says in verse 2 that those who have the Spirit of God — those who have passed the test that gives proof of life and are therefore from or of God — they will “confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.”
Now, the word “confess” here doesn’t mean a simple statement of facts. It implies a complete agreement with who Jesus said He is and what He said He would do. And it implies a life that has been changed by that agreement.
And there’s a lot of important theology crammed into that phrase, “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.”
First, the name Jesus is our translation of the Greek translation of of the Aramaic version of Jesus’ name, Yeshua. And Yeshua is the Aramaic version of the Hebrew name Yehoshuah, which we know as Joshua.
And Joshua means “Yahweh saves.” The same Hebrew word is often translated as “salvation” in the Old Testament.
So, the name that the angel Gabriel told Mary to give Jesus describes what He was sent to do — to bring salvation to mankind.
And Christ isn’t a last name. It’s the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah, which means anointed one. In the Old Testament, people were anointed — whether they were kings or priests — when they were set aside for service to God.
So, the idea with the term, Jesus Christ, is that He was set aside for service to God as the promised one who would bring salvation to fallen mankind.
And John says he has come in the flesh, which suggests two things. First, the fact that He CAME to us suggests that He existed with God.
This is John’s shorthand for saying that Jesus has been with God from the beginning. That He, indeed, IS God. He has been eternally divine.
But He came to us in the flesh. He came as a human baby, born to the virgin Mary.
Now, these certainly aren’t ALL the doctrines of faith that are important, but they’re the ones that seem to have been contested by the false teachers of John’s time.
And these doctrines are NECESSARY for one to believe and confess in order to be saved.
Jesus is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin in Bethlehem. He was SENT by God to bring salvation to fallen mankind.
And, as John puts it in verse 3, anyone who denies these things about Jesus isn’t of God.
Such people, instead of being controlled by the Spirit of God, are still under the power of Satan. And when they speak, they speak from the spirit of anti-Christ, from a place of opposition to Jesus.
And sometimes they camouflage their opposition by simply failing to acknowledge Him for who He is. Instead of denying Him outright, they’ll simply fail to affirm these things about Him.
Folks, I never want to discourage you from listening to other preachers and teachers. I had three excellent pastors in my life, who taught me much about walking with Jesus.
But the foundation they laid was built upon by the radio ministries of people like Charles Stanley, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and others whom I’ve listened to through the years.
But every time I hear someone preaching on the radio or watch them online, I pay close attention to what they say about Jesus.
Theology matters. What we believe about Jesus matters. What we SAY about Jesus matters.
If whatever other preachers you’re listening to or watching aren’t saying these things about Jesus, that’s a big red flag.
And if they’re not talking about sin and repentance — if they’re not talking about Jesus’ sacrificial death and supernatural resurrection — that’s a big red flag.
And if they’re actually DENYING these things about Jesus, then you need to click them off.
So, John has given us this theology-packed warning. And now he has a word of encouragement. Look at verse 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.
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
6 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.
The recipients of John’s letter seem to have stood against the false teachers. He says they’ve overcome, that they’re victorious against the false teaching.
But they’ve experienced that victory only because of the Holy Spirit within them. He is greater than the demonic spirits of this world.
And, to the extent that you are in fellowship with the Spirit — to the extent that you’re keeping yourself free from sin, that you’re believing in Jesus, keeping His Word close, and loving one another — If you’re maintaining fellowship with God in His Spirit, then you’ll be kept from falling prey to false teachers, too.
They come from the world. Their home has a system of thoughts and actions that are opposed to Jesus. And they speak the language of that godless place they call home.
Their messages are secular in nature. They’re designed to make people feel good, rather than bring them to repentance, and so the world listens to them and loves them.
I read a comment from someone recently who said she’d grown up in the Christian faith and had even professed to be a follower of Jesus for some time.
She said she liked all the Bible has to say about love, but she found the idea of hell to be distasteful, and so she turned away from Christianity.
And that’s what the false teachers do. They cut out the parts of Scripture that are convicting. They omit the parts that call for repentance. They gloss over what the Bible says about our sinful hearts. And they ignore its warnings about the coming judgment by the righteous Judge and King of kings.
That’s distasteful, they say. It doesn’t make people feel good about themselves.
And so, they try to sell a Jesus who loves without justice, a Jesus who saves without requiring repentance, a Jesus whose greatest desire is for your comfort in this life, a Jesus whose salvation amounts to little more than a bigger paycheck or a new car.
And not only do they speak the language of this world, they refuse to listen to the language of truth.
You won’t catch Joel Osteen listening to Through the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, because Osteen doesn’t want to be confronted by the real Jesus.
Osteen and the other false teachers of our day are content with the spirit of error. Quoting a line from a famous movie: “They can’t handle the truth.”
But the truth will set you free. And ONLY the truth will set you free.
It’s truly amazing what some people are willing to believe when they choose not to believe that Jesus is who He said He is and will do what He said He will do.
Test the spirits for proof of life. Look for evidence of the Holy Spirit within them by asking what they believe about Jesus. There IS a right and a wrong answer to that question. And be ready to click them off if they give the wrong answer.
There is a spiritual war going on all around us. Don’t let yourself become a victim because you fell prey to the enemy’s propaganda.