January 9th, 2005, Sunday Morning

"Test the Spirits"
Don't take the teacher at face value--cross-reference his teaching with God's Word

OPENING: 1 John 4:1-6


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Some ways to know you have eternal life (are saved):

• 1 John 4:2: You confess Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who walked the earth as a man
  
  
• Matthew 22:37-40: You love the Lord your God with all heart, soul and mind; and love your neighbor as you love yourself

Once you've tested yourself, you must test what people tell you

• Ephesians 4:14: If you believe everything you're told ("every wind of doctrine"), you will be deceived into believing good things are bad and bad things are good; you will be confused and led astray from the truth; you won't know whom to ultimately believe
  
  
  • Proverbs 22:3: The wise man foresees and analyzes the danger/evil coming and protects himself; the foolish/simple/lazy blindly believe what they see and suffer the consequences for accepting the risk
  
  
• 1 John 4:1: God recommends you ensure what you're being told is Biblically accurate because of all the false teachers and preachers in the church today
  
  
  • Acts 17:11: Paul and Silas preached in the church in Berea, where the people were convinced after cross-referencing their sermon to the Bible scriptures
    
    
  • The first church leader Pastor Branson ever encountered was a minister of education
    
    
    • On the outside, he was the sharpest dressed, most eloquent speaker and smiled all the time
      
      
    • On the inside, he was cruel and backstabbed his fellow congregation
      
      
      • One bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch; God's people (preachers, teachers, the saved and "men of the cloth") are just as susceptible to the sins of this world as lost souls so don't let one mistreatment by a fellow Christian or pastor cause you to lose faith in the rest
  
  
• False teachers can perform signs, wonders and miracles (i.e., fortune tellers and psychics), enticing the world to follow them; but that doesn't automatically make them true teachers or Godly men; The test is:
  
  
  • Do they put all the focus on themselves or God?
  • Do they declare Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only path to salvation (becoming saved)?
  • Does their preaching lead you to a greater relationship with God or the church's extra-curricular services?
    
    
  • Why does God allow the false and wicked to have these powers (to heal, tell the future, perform extraordinary things)? One reason may be to test the people to see if they'd truly love and stay faithful to God, in the midst of temptation to follow others because of their "superhuman powers"
    
    
    • CONSIDER: Why did God even put the Apple Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden if He warned Adam and Eve not to eat of it? Perhaps to test their obedience
      
      
    • God could've made all people in the world robots, programmed to obey, never sin and constantly say, "I love you, God;" but God would prefer you WANT to love Him (natural) vs. being forced to love him (artificial, untrue love)

The majority may rule but that doesn't mean they're correct

• 1 Kings 18:17-39: Israel's King Ahab, who did evil in God's sight by worshipping the god Baal (among other sins) allowed a test to see who's god was real: Baal, supported by 450 prophets and all the people of Israel, or God, supported by His single prophet Elijah
  
  
  • Two altars were set up with a bull on each; Baal's altar was dry and the people cried out and cut themselves all day for Baal to start a fire, but to no avail
    
    
  • Elijah subsequently had his altar drenched in water three times, with a trench of water surrounding and his single prayer to God not only caused fire to consume the bull offering but dry up the trench of water
    
    
  • LESSON: FOLLOW GOD'S AUTHORITY, NOT MAN'S MAJORITY
  
  
• The world, today, will acknowledge that--historically--Jesus Christ was a Man who lived and was a good Teacher BUT WILL NOT acknowledge He's the true and living God

Part of wisdom is not only to hear God's Word but learn it, obey it and not allow your faith to be shaken by the contradicting beliefs and disasters of this world

• 1 John 4:5-6: The world and God are opposites--yin and yang; if you speak of worldly (non-Godly) things, the world will listen and accept; if you speak of God and the Bible, the world will not listen or accept
  
  
• Don't let world events dictate your life (i.e., death in the family, loss of job) and take you away from God

Just as we must consider the truth of the messenger, we must also analyze the impact of the receiver; God's Word being preached is interpreted in one of four ways: (Matthew 13:3-23: Jesus' parable of the sewn seed)

• CONTEXT: Sewer = those who preach God's Word to people ("sew seeds into the ground"); seed = God's Word
  
  
• SEEDS FALLING AWAY FROM THE SOIL, ONTO THE WAYSIDE: Those who hear but don't understand God's Word
  
  
• SEEDS FALLING ON STONY PLACES, SCORCHED BY THE SUN: Those who hear and rejoice in it for the moment but then fall apart when outside of church (i.e., loss of temper or loss of property that causes him/her to curse God's name)
  
  
• SEEDS FALLING UPON THORNS THAT CHOKED THEIR GROWTH: Those who hear God's Word but are caught up in the cares, problems, riches and material goods of this world
  
  
• SEEDS FALLING INTO GOOD, FERTILE GROUND: Those who hear, understand, are not led astray by the world's contradictory doctrine and grow in God's Word to produce seeds of their own to plant into others

CLOSER

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Because there is only one true God, there can only be one true Word (Bible) and, therefore, only one path to salvation (becoming saved)

Luke 16:13: You cannot serve two masters (God and money/things of this world) because they contradict; either you serve God and hate the sinful pleasures this world offers or you can love even one pleasure of this world and therefore hate God

Galatians 2:16: Man is not justified (saved) by following the law; so avoid doctrines/religions that require you do certain things (i.e., Catholicism's Seven Sacraments and Jehovah's Witnesses)

Isaiah 64:6 and Romans 3:23: No person is "good enough" to enter Heaven--all have fallen short of God and must be saved the same way

Romans 2:11: God regards no one more worthy than another; the greatest sinner/unbeliever of this world is on the same footing as the most obedient saved person

Don't be overwhelmed by the majority vote; strengthen your faith by remembering Elijah's situation and that Jesus, the only perfect person on earth was hated by the rest of the world