1 John 4
1 John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Game
Game
Round 1
Dewdropper - lazy person
Round 2
Noodle Juice - tea
Round 3
Bees Knees - extraordinary person/thing
Round 4
Dolled Up - dressed nice
Round 5
It’s Jake - okay, fine
Round 6
Egg - a person who leads an absurdly wealthy, extravagant lifestyle
Round 7
Get a wiggle on - Let’s get going
Round 8
Know your onions - To know whats up or whats going on
Round 9
Putting on the Ritz - doing something with style
Round 10
Iron ones shoelace - to excuse yourself to the bathroom
Round 11
Mazuma - cash, money
Announcements
Announcements
1 // Grow group
Grow group is November 20th! Going through James chapter 5! Boys meet at Dario on University at 6:30, girls meet at Dario in King at 6!
2 // Friendsgiving:
Something that we have been wanting to do for years is finally happening. On November 15th, REVO Students will be having a friendsgiving event across all three of our locations at 6:30 PM. We will all sit around the ultra-mega-large thanksgiving table, eat our favorite thanksgiving desserts, write what we are thankful for, and even play a football game, and have a discussion on gratitude! This would be such a fun night for you to invite your friends too, be sure to put it on your calendar!
3 // No Students Thanksgiving Week
We do this every year, so it shouldn’t surprise you, but we will not be meeting on Wednesday, November 22nd because of the Thanksgiving Holiday! We will miss each of you so much, but we hope that you have a great time celebrating with friends and family.
4 // YouTube Channel Launching:
We are finally getting out of the stone age! We are launching a REVO Students YouTube channel on November 22nd, the night that we are not meeting. This channel is going to provide you with content that will give you some laughs, promote upcoming events, and most importantly give you resources to help you grow deeper towards Jesus! What to do in the meantime?! Follow our YouTube channel by scanning this QR code, or by clicking on the link in our Instagram Bio! Be sure to subscribe and hit the bell so you will be notified when we drop our first video on November 22nd!!
Intro
Intro
We are continuing in our series on 1 John!
Tonight we are going through chapter 4 of 1 John
The first chapter focuses on the fact that if we are a believer in Christ we are to walk in the light just as God is light
Chapter 2 talks about how we are to flee sin, and how everything in the world is against God, and we are to be for God
Chapter 3, the midway point of the book, John tells us to stop and realize how much God loves us that He made us His children
That then leads us to chapter 4
Body
Body
Test the Spirits
Test the Spirits
1 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.
John starts out verse one by telling us the theme of chapter 4
Test the Spirits
This isn’t the first time that John has warned us to test the spirits and be on guard
In chapter 2 James does the exact same thing
That’s because all around you are people that are trying to pull you farther and farther away from God
There is people all over that are claiming to know Jesus and believe in Jesus, but they are seeking to pull you away from God
This is happening today — just like it happened then
There is always people and things that are trying to take you away from God
You are always going to be pulled and always struggle, so how can you know a good spirit from a bad spirit?
John tells you to test the spirits, but how can test the Spirits?
Here are three questions that will show us the
What do they they believe?
What do they they believe?
The first one is very simple
What do they believe?
Listen to what John tells us
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, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
John tells us that when we are testing the spirits we need to consider what they believe
Not what they believe about current events going
John says we need to see what they believe about Jesus specifically
He tells us very plainly that every person/spirit/thing that claims the name of God will confess Jesus is Lord
If they don’t confess Jesus as Lord then they are not of God
That Satan is active everywhere actively trying to pull people away from God, leading them in the wrong path
The wrong path can be things that are completely evil, but the wrong path can also be very good things
The wrong path can look like serving and loving people and helping people.
It’s not about your actions, it’s about your heart
It’s about knowing and following Jesus
So when it comes to testing the spirits, testing those that are trying to lead you must ask the question
What do they believe?
What do they claim?
What do they claim?
The second question we need to ask is
What do they claim?
Not only do we need to ask what they believe, but we also need to ask what are they claiming
4 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. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 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.
John tells us that we have Jesus who has overcome all the evil spirits
All the things that are actively trying to pull us away from God, Jesus has already defeated on the cross
That’s why in the book John, John makes sure to record this
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Jesus declared it is finished
The battle we face is over
All those who claim they are greater have already lost
So John is telling us how do you test the spirits? See what they claim
If they claim to be greater, more important, more powerful, or know more they are wrong
Jesus declared it is finished
They have already lost
John tells us that they have been defeated
To test the spirits we need to see what they claim
What do they do?
What do they do?
The last question we must ask is this
What do they do?
We need to see what they believe, we need to see what they claim, and finally we need to ask what do they do
Listen to the last verses of 1 John 4
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Those who love God and are seeking after Him will love other people
Will seek to serve and help them in all things
If they hate their brother, there is no love with them it is clear and evident that they are not for God
John here is almost echoing what James says when James tells us that faith without works is dead
It doesn’t matter if they claim they know God if they don’t show it
Listen to what John tells us earlier in the chapter
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
We are to love because God Himself is love
Those who are trying to lead us away from God may claim they are doing it because of “love” but they aren’t
True love is demonstrated in God alone — in Jesus’ sacrifice
When it comes to testing the spirits we need to see what they are doing
Are they showing love just like Christ, or are they showing hatred or self-promotion?
Conclusion
Conclusion
1 John is all about helping the believer see lies and know Jesus
In chapter 4 John makes it clear that we must learn to test the spirits
To test everything that we come into contact with
Because if we don’t test things to see what they really are, we will fall for everything