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You got the go? I got the scope of reference, all three. Why do you need it? Why do you need it? Come on. Come on. Okay, come on. It looks sad, like, this morning, like, choosing to have it all by ourselves. She was, like, pouting. I told her no. Yeah. I'll do it. Choice of the Lord? Of course, man. She doesn't like to hold down. What about your mic? I don't know. I am seriously thinking about, uh, making a label. Making a label? Oh, man. I want to do a snowflake something like that. Yeah. That'd be cool. That's cool. That's just like, man. You can do more with mine now. Like, uh, Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. 39. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He was talking about Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You You You Good evening everybody welcome back for Sunday night service to show the faith Baptist Church We'll just get right down to it and turn to song 180 isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful Oh Oh Wonderful Wonderful With a love of Jesus something wonderful Wonderful it is to be on the last Love beyond our human comprehending Love of God and Christ how can it be? This will be my famous heavenly name Our receiving blood of Calvary Love of Jesus something wonderful Wonderful Wonderful With a love of Jesus something wonderful Wonderful it is to be on the last Love beyond our human comprehending Love of God and Christ how can it be? This will be my famous heavenly name Our receiving blood of Calvary Love of God and Christ how can it be? This will be my famous heavenly name Amen Alright let's turn to song number 206 A song I haven't done in a while Great song 206 Oh say but I'm glad 206 oh say but I'm glad There's a song in my heart today There is a song in my heart today Something I've never had Jesus has taken my sins away Oh say but I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad Jesus has come and my cup's overrun Oh say but I'm glad A wonderful marvelous love he brings Into our heart that's sad Through darkest tunnels the soul just sings Oh say but I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad Jesus has come and my cup's overrun Oh say but I'm glad Jesus has come and my cup's overrun Oh say but I'm glad We have a fellowship rich and sweet To this canyon they hate While biting his hand the soul's sweet sweet Oh say but I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad Jesus has come and my cup's overrun Oh say but I'm glad Won't you come give him all your care Worry of morning sad You two will sing as a song you share Oh say but I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad Oh say but I'm glad Jesus has come and my cup's overrun Oh say but I'm glad Ah Alright welcome back to Shilla Faith Baptist Church We'll go through these announcements again real quick Front page of the bulletin Weekly church service time Sunday mornings at 1030 Sunday evenings at 6 and Wednesdays are evenings at 6 and Wednesdays are at 7 p.m. Underneath there is a list of soul winning times. Saturday morning is the main time. Time of location does not change. For all the other ones just call, text, let me know. 208-391-5323. Let's see here praise reports. We're at three salvations for January and that includes the year to date. Praise God for that. Back page so tonight we'll be getting into 1 John chapter number 4. New Testament Bible reading challenge. Hopefully that's going well for everyone. February 12th at 3 p.m. Ladies please come join us for Melissa's baby shower. It'll be a potluck so please bring a dish to share. Let's see what else birthdays and anniversaries. So next step is Care Bear Kara. So she said she's gonna sing for us this year so excited about that. This week's memory verse is Ezekiel 22 30. And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none. We are a family integrated church. What that means is we don't separate children from their parents for any reason. If you need privacy there's a daddy baby room over here. The mother baby room is right across the hallway. Should be all set up ready to go. Tithes and offerings for January are right below that. Don't forget to turn your phone off or place it on silent so it's not a distraction. And the very bottom line says culture has women wired to be repulsed to how God has them but wants them tired. And that was from not yeah last Sunday. So okay with that being said we'll have actually one more song before we receive the offering. If you didn't get the song sheet just raise your hand. I'll come by and get you one. I think I got everybody. If anyone doesn't have one of these raise your hand. Pass it out. We're going to rejoice in the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, though your testing seems long. In goodness liveth a song. Joy, said the Lord, he makes no mistake. Oh, at the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified. I shall come forth as good. I could not see through the shadows ahead. So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead. I bow to the will of my Master that day. Those faint tears fled away. Joy, said the Lord, he makes no mistake. At the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified. I shall come forth as good. Oh, I can see testing comes from above. God strengthens his children and purges in love. My Father knows best and I trust in his care. I will take what I will bear. Joy, said the Lord, he makes no mistake. Oh, at the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified. I shall come forth as good. Amen. All right. Well, let's go ahead and pray. Thank you so much, Lord, for allowing us to be able to gather here this evening and just pray that you would bless the service, Lord, and the fellowship afterwards and be with us as we go throughout the week. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, please turn your Bibles to 1 John, chapter number 4. Continuing our study through the epistles of John. 1 John, chapter number 4, when you get there, starting at verse number 1, the Bible reads, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist, for of ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. Brother Kevin, would you pray for us? All right, amen. So we're continuing on in our study of 1 John. So we read chapter number 4. We'll probably make it to the end of verse 6 tonight, but we have to go clean up some of chapter 3. So if you would, just go back to chapter number 3, and we'll pick it up where we left off last week. Now last week we talked about the hate spectrum, and we kind of highlighted how the world will teach this view of hatred. Like if you hate anything or anyone for any reason, you're a bigot. You're probably going to go murder somebody, and all this sort of stuff, kind of nonsense, right? And that's just obviously the world. That's what the world wants, because the world has an agenda, and most people are going to get sucked into that agenda. You know, and I always like to use this one. I hate mayonnaise, you know, with a passion, okay? You know, and I've never gone and killed anybody that's like mayonnaise. I've never blown up a mayonnaise factory or anything like that, okay? Hate is simply the opposite of love. And we talk about that all the time, and we proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt last week. But also chapter number 3, and really all these epistles here. What John wants us to see is he wants us to understand the difference between salvation and fellowship, okay? That is his goal. And we are always talking about the purpose clause, right? He keeps coming back, hey, these things are written so that you can know you're safe. Hey, you know, just have this assurance, you know, get yourself into fellowship. And then he'll go off and start talking about the commandments and talking about, you know, if you have, or if you hate your brother, the love of God's not in you. And these types of things can really mess with people, because everybody knows that everybody's a sinner. You know, deep down inside, they might say something different, but we all know that we have sins. We've all been angry at a brother, we've all been angry at a sister, we've all done that. And so, you know, people will look at these verses like, man, did I lose my salvation? And they have no idea, right? We're studying these things so that we can tell people the difference. This is a fellowship epistle. It's not to maintain your salvation, it's not to earn your salvation. That is impossible. Christ paid it all. And then we kind of left off talking about the importance of brotherly love last week, right? How that fits in to fellowship. So a person who's just constantly at odds with everyone. They come into church, they just can't get along with anyone. Obviously, we want to have patience, I have to be long suffering, all these different things, right? But, you know, there comes a certain point in time where you just realize that some people can't be helped. Some people are just not going to get it. They're just not going to go with the flow. They're not going to be on the program, right? One thing leads to another is people either quit or they get kicked out of church. And it's kind of funny that every single one of these types of people, well, I'm going to pray for you, right? Isn't that what the Grand Wizard said? I'm going to pray for you guys, that you guys get right. I'm going to go to this godly church for a little while so that I can get right with God and you guys can get right with God because we all know you guys are the reason why I act the way that I do, right? That is an example. Look, that is the perfect example of somebody out of fellowship with Christ, okay? And you have to understand that when you observe people like that, they're not in fellowship with him. We're not saying that they're not saved. I am saying I personally don't believe that he's saved. That's just my opinion. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong, okay? But people like that, okay, that are out of fellowship. You have to understand, when they say they're going to pray for you or they're going to do all this stuff, let it roll off the back because it means nothing, okay? And we took a look at Revelation chapter 3 and explain verse 20, you know, where Jesus said, hey, you know, behold, I stand at the door and knock, right? Why does he do that? Why is he doing that? Because he wants to have fellowship with his children. What father, what mother does not want to have fellowship with their children, okay? Obviously, him being perfect wants that same fellowship with us. This epistle is geared towards getting us into that position so that we can have our joy full, okay? And so that's kind of how we left off the sermon last week. Now, I titled the sermon today, The Spirit of Air. We'll get into that here in a moment, but let's go back and look at verse number 18 where we left off last week. So 1 John 3 verse 18 says, my little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. James talks about this, right? He says faith without works is dead. So when we just quote unquote love in word and deed, right? And we see a brother in need and we have the capability to fulfill that need and we don't do it, guess what? That act of faith, hey, be you warm and filled, right? Hey, have a great day. Hey, yeah, I know your world is falling apart, okay? Hope it gets better. I'll pray for you, okay? If you have the means to help that person out and don't do it, that faith, that act of faith absolutely profits your brother and it profits you zero. Nothing. It makes Christ unhappy. Now we're talking about a fellowship issue which we don't want to have, right? So he says, my little children, let us not love in word, right? Go to a lot of these big churches and you guys know this. That's what you're going to find there. People that just, oh, how's everything going? You know, and it's just like, as soon as you start talking, you're like, good. And they're just like going on to the next person, right? It's cold. It's awkward. It's bizarre. That's the spirit that are in a lot of these churches and that's exactly what John is trying to avoid, okay? That's why we want the culture in our church to be lively, to be like this, to not just say, hey, hope everything's going well, but to see if, hey, can I actually help you? Is there anything I can actually physically do to make your situation better? Because when you do that, you're doing that to Christ, that is honorable, that is justified. Look at verse 19. He says this, and hereby we know that we are of the truth, and don't miss this, and shall assure our hearts before him. Maybe you guys don't see this, I see this a lot where people will, you know, they'll call or they'll text or they'll email and they'll just be like, you know, I don't know what it is, but like I just felt like, you know, six months ago, everything was going well. I was reading the Bible, I was going soloing, I was doing these things, and now all of a sudden I'm questioning my salvation, like I'm in such a mess, what's going on? Well, I'll tell you what's going on, right? This, violating this verse right here, verse 19, and hereby we know that we are of the truth. Look, when you get backslidden, there comes a certain point, and I've been there in my life, I can tell you from experience, there comes a point where you start questioning things, okay? Now I'm not saying you're going to be like, oh, you know, I lost my salvation, or I'm not saved, but you're going to be like, just all over the place. God will actually torment you, he will chasten you to get your mind hopefully right to go back to the word or to start seeking the answers to those questions. So when people email and they call and they text, I like that because that shows that that chastening is actually driving that person to seek help and to get better, right? But what is John saying? And hereby we know that we are of the truth. Well, how do we know that? Well, we know that when we do what's mentioned in verse 18. When we don't just talk a big talk, we don't just talk a big game, but we actually apply, okay? What do we always say if you're not applying? You're dying, right? You're dying. You're not losing your salvation, but you are slipping out of fellowship with Christ, and when you do that, what do we just read in chapter number four? What happens? What's the byproduct of that? Fear. Fear hath torment, okay? These are all torments that we experience when we get out of that fellowship. So he says, and hereby we know that we are of the truth, okay? So look, when you're actively involved in maintaining that fellowship with Christ, you know what? Like he said in chapter two, your joy is full. You just know you have that assurance. And so anybody who's ever listening to this or has this question, that's my advice to you, is to get back on track. Get back in the word of God. Get back at serving the kingdom of God, and that's going to give you, look at the last part of the verse, and shall assure our hearts before him. This is the solution to get back into the kingdom of God and start working. Look, listen, adherence, right? Adherence produces assurance. Adhering to the word of God, okay? That's what he's talking about here. Adhering to the commandments, adhering to the statutes. When we adhere, when we stick to those, when we addict ourselves to those things, guess what? We get that assurance, okay? Show me somebody who's on fire for God that's questioning their salvation. It doesn't happen, okay? But there are people that will start to play mind games with themselves. Like, man, maybe I really wasn't saved, and I needed to get saved, but that's embarrassing because I went out. So many, I used to get people saved. And look, this is a real thing. This happens to people from time to time. And I'm telling you, it's because verse 18, in some capacity, is being violated in their lives. And I don't even need them to tell me that. I already know that because that is what the Bible says, right? What is the point here? Maintaining that assurance. Look at verse 20. If our heart condemn us, so this is another bit of advice that I like to give people, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things, right? Our heart will play games with us. We've talked about that in great detail. You know that. Then when you're out of fellowship with Christ, guess what? Comes the fear and the torments. So when you guys run into people out soul-winning, for example, and they're like, you know, I used to go to a Baptist church, for example. I used to go do this and do that. Show them this verse, especially when they're like, I'm just kind of down in the dumps. Let them know that God is greater than our hearts. Show them the verse. Read it to them. Explain it to them. But look at verse 21. He says, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence that God is greater than our hearts. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. So what is John saying ultimately here? Hey, you're in a win-win situation here, right? If you're out of fellowship, hey, you know, I just told you how to get back on track, but here's some assurance for you, okay? Because God's greater than your heart. You're still saved. You're saved forever. You can never lose your salvation, so you need to start there. Rejoice in that. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence towards God. You're like, oh, okay, is the hand of God going to come down on me today, you know, because I know what I'm doing is not right, right? That is tormentful. We don't want to live like that, and we don't have to live like that, right? What did we talk about this morning? Learn to say no. The most important person that you could ever tell no is yourself, your old man, right? If you can't tell your old man no, how are you going to tell the world no? How are you going to tell your boss no? How are you going to tell your neighbors no? How are you going to tell all these other people that are trying to constantly pull you back into the course of the world no? It starts with you. It starts with us. Look at verse number 22. So he says, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Stop right there for a second. Go to James. So go back in your Bible, if you would, to the book of James, James chapter number 4. James chapter number 4. Now let's take a look at something here, okay? Because what does he say? You go to James chapter 4. It says, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Okay, well here's what the Joel Osteen's or the Stephen Furtick's or, you know, these charismatic guys, here's what they're going to say, you know? God has a blessing for you today. I don't care how hurting you are. I don't care how bad your life is right now. You can live your best life now. You just need to have faith. You need to sow a seed of faith. Sow a seed of faith. Some, you know, 500, some a thousand, you know, and they'll start going off like that, right? And that seed of faith is going to jump start that momentum that you need to start asking God for more and He's going to bless you. He's going to rain down fire and brimstones of blessings on you, you know? They'll say stupid things like that, okay? And then they'll point to this verse here. Like God's some kind of a genie. And whatever we, hey, the Bible promises, whatever you ask, He's going to give you, okay? Is that really what it says? No. James chapter four, look at verse number three. All right, let's back up. Look at verse number two. He says this. It says, you lust and have not. You kill and you desire to have and you cannot obtain. You fight in war, yet you have not because you ask not, okay? So, okay, I see the problem. We need to ask. Look at verse three. Ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Go back and look at that verse again in 1 John chapter number three. 1 John 3.22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him. How do we get to that state? Well, being in fellowship with Him. When you're in fellowship with Christ, you're not going to be asking things to consume upon your lusts because you're beating down the old man, okay? So in that capacity, yes. When you pray for people, when you stand in the gap for people like we talked about this morning, guess what? God's going to answer those prayers because that furthers the kingdom of God, okay? And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. So don't ever let anyone come to you and be like, well, God hears the prayers of every single Christian no matter what. No, that is not true. Look, if you were out of fellowship, look, you're not out of the kingdom but you're not getting what you asked for because number one, you're probably asking it on your lusts and number two, when you start to ask seriously, you do the, oh, God, you know, Lord, God, please help me, right? It's like, you know, God's like, no, it's a little too late now, you know. You've been out of fellowship for a while. You need to get some things right, you know, or you go up to somebody who's back saying, hey, you know, pray for me. I probably wouldn't do that, you know, and I know people that will do that and, you know, they'll try to reach out to people that haven't been in church for a while. Hey, would you pray for me? You might not want to do that. Look at the verse a little closer. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments. Now, he's talking about the Ten Commandments. He's talking about them all, okay? How do you keep them all? By walking in the new man, okay? Now, does that mean you're not going to make mistakes? No, you're still going to sin, you're still going to make mistakes. We talk about that all the time. But, you know, when you're constantly beating down the flesh, he says this and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Look, if you get a believer who's out of fellowship and not doing things that are pleasing in his sight, he's not going to be very pleased with you, okay? So just keep that in mind. That's the point. You didn't lose your salvation. You're not going to go down that road. It's just very, very simple to understand. It is all about getting your prayers answered. So when you're in fellowship, what's the deal? You get discernment, right? You get your prayers answered because you're not asking a miss. And you know what? You're honestly going to probably have overall just better health because you're going to have that joy, okay? That's what he's talking about here. Let's see here. Look at verse number 23. He says, and this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. Now, how many people out here in the community can say that and they call themselves Christians? Very few. Very few. Most people that call themselves Christians are extremely rude. You want to talk about a hateful group of people? It's these faux Christians, okay? 357 magnum. Let's see. What else? Oh, the bat, right? Jeff and David had a guy pull a bat this big on him today. What's that all about? You got a little kid there. You got Uriah, okay? You know, they knocked on this guy's door, you know, and he didn't answer, so they walk away, and then he kicks the door open to get their attention and shows a little bat. Is that about right? Is that about what happened? How tough do you – you're so tough. You just – you're so – you must be like Rambo. You're just so awesome that you can pull, what, a 10-inch bat on somebody that has a little munchkin there. What kind of man is that? Talked about being a man this morning. Is that being a man? No, that's something else. That's something else, okay? But, you know, that's the commandment. Look, when you're doing – look, obviously when you're saved, and we're going to talk about this here in a moment, you believe on his name, you know, you're in the kingdom, you're not going anywhere, you're in his hand, no one's going to pluck you out, but what's the other part of the commandment that we need to adhere to in order to become disciples? To love the brethren, okay? That's his point. Loving the brethren, doing these things. Look at verse 24. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby, again, assurance, we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us. Look, when you quench the spirit, okay, by the spirit which he hath given us, when you quench it, okay, guess what? Fear and torment. Again, that's what happens. Your mind will start playing games on you, your heart which is, you know, wicked and deceitful above all things is going to start playing games with you, and so on and so forth. What did we read again last week? Revelation chapter number three, okay? And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him. Now, is he talking about he that keepeth his commandments stays in the body of Christ and doesn't get kicked out? No. He's talking about fellowship, right? Knocking on the door, you know, that he may sup with us, okay? I don't want to revisit that because we already looked at that last week, but that's what he's talking about. So now, with that cleaned up, let's go into chapter number four. He's going to roll right into the importance of this. So don't just dismiss these things. There is a very important reason why he's saying, look, I want you in fellowship. Number one, obviously, he wants us to have that assurance, okay? But there's another reason why he wants us to demonstrate through action and through his brotherly love, and he's going to tell us that right now. Look at verse number one, 1 John 4, 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. About, oh, man, probably about 16 years ago, Caden was just a little baby. We had, I'm just a little boy, we had some friends we used to go to church with, and we had kind of bounced around from churches. We finally found our church home, and it was a Baptist church. They took Baptists out and that whole thing. But either way, I was talking about speaking in tongues to this guy, and I was talking about Kenneth Copeland, little Casey, right? Kenneth Copeland. I'm not talking about Benny Hinn and these guys. And he was starting to come around that there was something off with them. And then he pulls me to this verse right here, no joke. He takes me right here, and he says, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And he goes, you know, you got to try the spirits. And he goes, here's how you do that. You go over to chapter five real quick, okay? You go over to chapter five. So just go to chapter five and look at verse one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, everyone that loveth him that begot loveth him also that has begotten of him. He's like, so, here's the thing. He goes, Kenneth Copeland loves Jesus Christ, right? And he starts showing me clips of Kenneth Copeland, you know, saying the name of Jesus, talking about how he loves Jesus Christ and all this stuff. He said, go to Benny Hinn. And he's like, so, even though you disagree and we kind of, we're starting to disagree on this whole tongues thing with them and some of that, he's like, he's still a brother in Christ. He's still saved because he says the name of Christ. And that's what he told me. And then let's keep reading here. We'll come back and break these verses down, but let's just read up to verse six. So verse two, hereby know ye the spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, right? And he shows me a clip of Kenneth Copeland saying that, that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. He's like, you see that? That fits right there. So he's a brother, right? Keep reading. Verse three, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is in the world. And he would just point to this. He's like, hey, Kenneth, he doesn't say that. Benny Hinn, he doesn't say that, right? Rodney Howard Brown, he doesn't say that. Oral Roberts, he doesn't say that. He starts going through all these Pentecostal guys, and they all confess Christ. They all say that he rose from the dead. He's like, so it's really just a matter of semantics, kind of a Chuck Smith kind of attitude, right? You know, everything's true. Verse four, he goes, ye of God, little children, have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. He's like, so right now you kind of have him who's in the world just kind of ruling your thoughts a little bit. And this is literally what this guy's telling me. Verse five, they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. Okay, so let's back up for a second. So he does this to me. And I'm thinking like, at this time, I wasn't reading the Bible. I was reading books about the Bible. I'd read little bits here and there. You know the story. And I just didn't know how to defend it, okay? So let's learn how to defend that. You already know these things, but the first thing I'd like to highlight is that the Bible says that the simple believeth every word. And many years down the road, when I started doing the Proverb of the Day, I started coming across that. And I've got the Holy Spirit. There's no way that these guys are saved. There's no way that these guys are right. There's something wrong. There's something that I missed when this guy told me this. The Bible says that a prudent man will look well to his going. And that's how we want to be. And so I start to read these things closer. And the answer is obviously right in front of our face. What does John say, backing up to verse 1? Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Let's stop right there for a second. Something that we, I think, all understand and hear but need to teach other people, is that every false prophet has some kind of influence with an evil spirit, okay? I'm not saying that they're necessarily all possessed all the time, but they have dealings. They are of the spirit, the spirit of the Antichrist, if you will, okay? Why do you think John says, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. And he says, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Okay, so every false prophet has one of these spirits. Not every spirit is of God. You know who some of these spirits are of. So let's look at a couple things here in verse 2. Hereby know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh is of God. Okay, again, pointing back to the importance of fellowship. Know ye the spirit of God, right? In other words, you have not quenched the spirit of God, so these things are readily available in your heart, in your mind. So when someone says something to you and it's very subtle, right, the red flags go off. That's the Holy Spirit bringing you back into remembrance, something that you read or heard from the word of God to help you understand this is a bad person. This is somebody you need to watch, keep an eye on because we're about to expose them. But I'm going somewhere with this. Verse 3, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. You see, and this right here, he's just like, see, he confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, so he is a brother, and he says, there's no way out of this for you. Really. And this is the spirit, or that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already is in the world. Verse 4, ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, verse 5, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. I found it interesting, he never read that verse to me. I don't know if I would have asked this question, probably not, but I'm going to ask it now. Who are they in verse number 5? Yea, they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. Back up to verse number 3, every spirit that confesseth. Verse 2, hereby know ye the spirit of God, so we know the spirit of God, verse 1, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, it doesn't say person. You see that? That's where he went wrong, and that's what I had missed. Believe not every spirit. Now some people will read this, and they'll just take the steering wheel again and jerk it all the way to the right, and there's a spirit of the messy hymnals, there's a spirit of whatever, there's a spirit of paint falling off the wall, and they'll go crazy with it, but no, no, no, let's understand what's going on here. Believe not every spirit. Now obviously false prophets have the spirit of antichrist. They have the spirit of the world's religion, which we're going to talk about here in a moment, which is human achievement. So what does this mean, believe not the spirits? How do they communicate? Well they communicate through false prophets, but they also communicate just through general things in culture. Right? Wine and spirits, or beer and spirits, who's ever seen that? You know, come down to this restaurant, this bar and grill, and try our spirits out. That's a good example. Believe not every spirit. They also have nonverbal communication. Okay? Certain things that are set up in the world. But, let's answer the question. So again, who are the they in verse five? The spirits of the antichrist, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is not of God. There are textbooks that communicate that. There are shows that communicate that without even saying that. Right? For example, you could watch the weather channel, or you could watch the history channel, or you could watch some of these channels, and you know what, just the news anchors and the people out there, they'll be communicating in a way which implies evolution is true. Right? That is a spirit. Okay? That is the spirit of antichrist. That is the spirit that is speaking of the world, and the world hears them. Okay? It's the general teaching that he's talking about. Now, obviously, yeah, false prophets, they definitely talk, and we know that. We'll break that down here in a moment. But, let's answer this question. So, who are the they that speak to the world? It's the spirits. So, it's not just people, but it's these spirits, right, that are sent from the devil. Go to 1 John 2, and let's answer the more important question, which is, what do they say to the world? What do these spirits say to the world? What are their marching orders, if you will? Well, it's the big three that we talked about last Sunday. 1 John 2, 16 says this, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and number three, the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. So, if you want to know how to try the spirits, you have to memorize, you have to understand these three things. You've got the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Okay, that is how we try the spirits. Is something that, I don't know, my boss, my teacher, my neighbor, a so-called friendly, or someone, is what they are trying to teach me, is what they are trying to pull me into. Does it fit into one of these three categories, right? It's not as easy as just a false prophet saying, hey, you've got to turn from sins. That's easy. That's that low-hanging fruit, right? Look, the devil's devices, I mean, they go deep. He is a subtle person, and he knows how to mess with people. He knows how to mess with us. And so, we need to understand, hey, is this thing, whatever it is, this being put in front of me, is it trying to rile up the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life? And if it is, guess what? You have done an excellent job at trying that spirit, okay? So understand that. Verse 17, 1 John 2, he says this, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Obviously, John 6.40, you're saved, you've done the will of God, okay? Go back, if you would, to chapter number four. So that is how we do it, but that's their communication, okay? The spirits of antichrist, the devil, whatever you want to say, their goal, their ideology is to get the world into all three of these categories. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. That's what happened in the Garden of Eden. It's, you know, there's nothing new under the sun. It's the same old trick, okay? So that's what he's talking about. We'll go even further with this here in a moment. So again, verse number three. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now is it in the world. Go to Luke chapter number 12. Luke chapter number 12. So how, what does this look like on another level? What does this look like in the world of Christianity today? New evangelical Christianity, if you will. Well, it looks like this. It's a different Jesus, okay? When someone's preaching a different Jesus, guess what? They are confessing that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. Talking about our Jesus. So when you go to Rock Harbor, or you go to City Point Church, or you go to The Journey, you go to any of these other churches, and they stand before their congregation and say, you know what, in the original languages, it said this. You know, what we have today is good, but it's not good enough. You know, when you hear that, they are assaulting the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, because He is the Word, and you cannot separate the two. We know that, we understand that, we've taken a deep dive into that. So that's really what that looks like to us. So when you go knock on that folk Christian's door, right, and they're just like, yeah, I'm already, I already know that, you know, and then they want to talk about all this other worldly stuff. You know what, they are influenced by a spirit. They are. And honestly, you know, when you try these churches, they are all about the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. One thousand billion percent, okay? That's not even a real number, but you get what I'm trying to say. I'm excited because that's what it is. And I mean, look around how many people are here today. You know, go to these mega churches. They're packed with people, because they have people walk down the aisles, and they're just like, hmm, is that itchin'? Let me just scratch that little thing for you there, right? That's what they do. And they have no idea that they are sitting in a church where the guy or, you know, woman behind the pulpit is actually denying that the Lord Jesus Christ even came in the flesh, right? It's not as easy and simple as just saying that. They'll never say that out loud, right? Jesus told us, hey, these people will come in my name, saying that I am the Christ. And that's what we have today. We have tons of people who come, and they say, hey, we are with the Lord Jesus Christ. I am here in his name, right? We worship him. But they're Matthew 7 type people, okay? Lord, Lord, right? That's the crowd. That's why those people go to hell, because they deny, they confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. There's only one Jesus Christ, and it's the one in this book. Their Jesus is only the lamb. He's not the lion of the tribe of Judah also. They don't ever wanna talk about that Jesus. They don't wanna talk about the Matthew 23 Jesus, right? They don't wanna talk about the Matthew 24. They don't wanna talk about the Genesis 19 or the Judges 19 or the entire book of Revelation. They don't wanna talk about that Jesus. It's only the Jesus that makes you feel good in the here and now. He doesn't exist. He's a made up God, and he's an idol today in modern Christianity, okay? So that's what this looks like. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this goes on in all kinds of churches every Sunday, every Wednesday, every small group session in these what you wanna call churches all throughout our country. And another thing that happens is obviously they downplay the moral standards in a separated Christian life, don't they? Isn't that kinda like what happens? You know, hey, it's beer 30. You know? It's like, doesn't your heart smite you for saying something like that? And it's like, why not? Why doesn't your heart smite you? Oh, I get it. Because you're promoting the religion of human achievement, which teaches the doctrine of probation, okay? What do we believe? What do we preach? What do we teach? We teach salvation. We teach what's called divine accomplishment. There are two religions in the world. It's human achievement, and that is everything other than divine accomplishment. And I've been waiting to kinda go through this for a while now, but people ask, well, why do you call it that? Well, this is what I was taught to call it, and here's why. Luke chapter 12, look at verse number 50. It says this. Jesus says, but I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Go to Luke chapter number 18. Luke chapter number 18, and look at verse 31. Luke 18, 31. Then he took unto him the 12 and said unto them, Luke 18, 31, behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. This is a big deal. Luke chapter 22. Real quickly, go to Luke chapter 22, verse 37. He says this, for I say unto you that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me. And he was reckoned among the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end. Now go over to John chapter number 19. John chapter number 19. So all throughout the Gospels here, Jesus is telling the disciples, hey, there is something that is going to be accomplished, and you know what? It's not just man, because that's another false doctrine going around today. Well, you know, it was just the man part that died. Okay, he's like half man and like fully God, or half man, half God, or whatever it is they're saying. No, he's fully man, fully God, and what he did on the cross is divine. It is God. Jesus is fully God. John 19, look at verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished. What is that? That the scripture might be fulfilled. Again, when people downplay the scriptures, they are preaching another Jesus. They are saying Jesus never came in the flesh. They have rejected the God of the universe. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, I thirst, or he sayeth I thirst, look at verse 29. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth, verse 30. And when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said it is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. That is divine accomplishment. That is the only religion that preaches salvation. That is the only religion in the world that is going to save humankind. This human achievement, oh, we have to turn from your sins. Well, here's what people will sometimes say. There's nothing wrong if you just want to help them along the way. So people that teach that you have to repent of your sins, they're just trying to help. No, they're trying to hurt, is what they are. They are knocking this accomplishment. It's called divine accomplishment for a reason. It's not divine and human accomplishment. Look, this is what man does. He wants to bring the focus back to man, back to the world, back to what the world has accomplished. That's why this repent of your sins garbage is always so popular and why it has so many different just names and so many different subtle avenues. You feel like you get to know somebody. You meet them, oh yeah, I believe it's a free gift all by faith. You start working with them for a while, but you can't just live however you want to. And it's like, oh, man, again? Yeah, again, that is the world's religion. So let's go back to the topic of these spirits. So how does this message here, this message of human achievement, if you will, how does it affect Christianity's so-called Bible versions, for example, right? The original manuscript-only argument, which, I mean, this is the battle today. I mean, we have to always be up on this. We have to always be mentioning this because this has been a huge fight for a long time and it's only gonna get worse. You will probably see this split in fundamentalism coming up. I honestly really believe that, okay? But again, anytime somebody takes that position, well, we have the truth, but it's not the whole truth. It's just kinda, you know, the best that we've got. You're done. You know, you are listening to somebody who might as well just be an archbishop or a Catholic priest because you're saying that you have to come to me for your truth, right? That's what the Catholic Church teaches and at least they are honest and at least they will tell you that's what they believe, right? But then you got these quote-unquote Protestants who are not Christians, you know? They'll say, oh, we don't agree with that. We believe the Bible, wholeheartedly. Minus Acts, you know, chapter 8, verse 37. But anyways, you know, and the last bit of Mark, too, by the way. Yeah, that's a little, that's not in the originals, but you know, aside from all that, we believe the Bible in the original languages, wherever that's at. We believe in that one because you know what? We can make that one say whatever we want to, right? That's the idea. That is the religion of the world. Again, points back to what man has achieved. They love that doctrine. They love that teaching. They live by it and they're willing to die for it, okay? But another byproduct of this whole thing is, again, I've already mentioned this, but it is your best life now. Someone has accused me, you know, of, well, you preach these messages on Sunday. It's just like, shut up, okay? Sunday morning messages are survival, okay? Look, I'm not preaching you can have your best life now because I'm trying to teach you how to be a better father, husband, wife, whatever, child, all these different things. That's surviving the world that we live in, okay? And that's okay. We need those types of things. Look, we want to be well-rounded as God's people. So the Sunday morning service is set up one way, the Sunday evening service is set up another way, and Wednesday is kind of sometimes in between and it's its own little thing, right? And that's why we say three to thrive. You want to have as many of these services as possible to grow, okay? But going back to these spirits that are mentioned here in the beginning of 1 John chapter four, I'm going to read verse three again. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, okay? You say, how do people do this today? I saw a clip of Andy Stanley, okay? And he's, I forgot what he was talking about. It was just a real short clip. It was like something somebody sent me. And he says, you know what, if you're here today and you've had a bad experience, you know, with Christianity or the Bible or somebody told you that you have to believe all these things, he's like, I just want to assure you and let you know that that is not true. We're not Christians because we have the Bible. You know, we're basically Christians because we want to be or because of some evidence or something like that. I'm like, yeah, that's weird. You know, the next day I get a recommended video. It says cross-examine. And it's like a guy stands up and asks a question about the Book of Enoch. You know, kind of funny how that one came up, right? So I'm like, I'll click on that. But it's from this organization called Cross-Examine. I forgot the guy's name who speaks in the video. But he's teaching a seminar about Christianity, if you will. And the guy stands up and he's like, I just want to know why the Book of Enoch's not in the Bible. And the guy giving the lecture, right, he pulls up some slides. He's like, the first thing you need to understand here is we're not Christians because we have the Bible. We don't need the Bible to be Christians. There's enough evidence out there in order to prove the resurrection. And it's like, yeah, but that doesn't save you. Let's go read Romans 1. Let's go read Romans chapter 2. Nature's enough to condemn you, but it's not enough to save you. It's very clear. We've looked at that in the past, okay? But that is human achievement. That is what the world is teaching us. That is what the world is teaching, right? That you can get people saved, if you will, by words of wisdom which man speaketh, okay? That spirit, that teaching, and that ideology violates 1 John 4.3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. Look, you attack the Bible, you attack the virgin birth. You attack everything about Jesus Christ and you're saying he didn't even come. Because the Jesus that we preach, he taught us what? That he would preserve his word unto all generations and all these things that we're always talking about. Starting to see the importance here. So let's move on here. Let's skip down now. Verse 5 again. They are of the world. These spirits, they are of the world. Therefore, they speak or speak they of the world and the world heareth them, okay? Another test for people, okay? Are people like really just plugged into the world? I'm seeing this at work left and right. These faux Christians are absolutely crazy. And I thank God that I actually get to witness this because I feel like it helps me to be able to explain this. You know, people, like tomorrow, somebody's gonna be like, hey, how was church? Here's what I learned in church yesterday, okay? And then the next thing, I can't wait to get drunk tonight. You know, and it's just like, dude, do you not hear yourself? And that's like a mild thing that they say. They go on to talk about all this other stuff. Verse number 5, man, they are of the world. And you know what, the world heareth them. And you guys need to understand this too, the world takes care of their own. They will get promoted sometimes faster than you. They can take more time off than you. They can get away with a lot more. But here's the thing, when you're mature and you don't let that get to you, you control the situation, guess what? Promotion comes from the Lord. He will promote you over them. And when they get envious and frustrated and start to pull that Saul-type attitude on you, you know what, that's when you know, look, you're definitely in fellowship. You are doing the right thing. And the Bible is confirming to you that they are of the world, okay? They are of the world's religion, which we have already talked about what that is. So let's look at verse number 6. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Go to Isaiah chapter 32 real quick. Isaiah chapter number 32. So again, there's how many religions, honestly, in the world when you boil everything down? There's two. We have what we like to call human achievement, divine accomplishment, okay? And guess what? Divine accomplishment has the spirit of truth and human achievement has the spirit of error, okay? Let's take a look at that. The spirit of error. This is the spirit of the world's religion. Isaiah 32. Look at verse number 6. Talking about liberals here in this chapter also, but it says this in verse 6. For the vile person will speak villainy. Okay? You ever heard of a villain? Okay, that's kind of how a vile person talks. You guys know this. You saw one today out, saw one. And his heart will work iniquity to practice hypocrisy. Okay? That's what these people do. But don't miss this. And to utter error against the Lord. To make empty the soul of the hungry and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. Again, what is that talking about? Ultimately, it's talking about the religion of human achievement. That is what it does. Human achievement utters the spirit of error. Hey, you just need to work harder. You just need to turn from this. You just need to do that because that'll please God. That'll be a great testimony and you know what? All your problems are gonna go away. But you know what that does? It makes the soul empty. It makes the soul hunger. It says this. And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. So think about the thirst that Jesus talked to the woman at the well about in John chapter four. Okay, she was thirsting for something. Eternal life and she didn't even know it. A lot of these people have no idea. They know something's wrong. They know something is missing but it takes us to point that out to them. Hey, the religion that you're currently involved in, it's wrong. It's making you thirsty. It's making you hungry spiritually. Go to James chapter number five. James chapter number five. And so I just wanted to point that out because that's exactly what the world's religions are doing. I don't care if it's a Mormon church, a Jehovah Witness church, the Seventh-day Adventist, the New Evangelicals, Crossroads, all these roads, all this life church stuff, all those things go down to one religion. And what do they do? They produce a soul that's hungry and thirsty because when you talk to them, they know in their hearts that they cannot be perfect. They know in their hearts that they're sinners. They know in their hearts that they are messed up but they're being told every Sunday, hey, it's no problem. Just confess your sins before me and all will be well and you can have your best life. Look, God's already put his law on their hearts. They know that's a lie. They just don't know how to get out of that snare. And so it takes people like us to go and show them their error of the ways. So James chapter five, let's look at verse 15 here and do some reading. So what about the spirit of error? How can that affect a believer? Can it affect a believer? Can believers get messed up? Oh yeah, go read Acts chapter 15. When the believers came down, or some men it says came down from Judea and basically told Paul and Barnabas, hey, it's being taught that you gotta be circumcised and keep law if you wanna be saved. What does it say? They had no small disputation with those men and they came to the conclusion that they need to go up into Judea and talk to the Pharisees which believed and talk to all these guys and straighten this thing out, and they did. What did they say? They said, you know nobody can keep the commandments. Nobody can be perfect. What are you doing telling people they have to follow the law to be saved or to stay saved? It doesn't make any sense. But I'm getting off track here. Look at verse 15, James five, verse 15. It says this, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven. They shall be forgiven him, okay. Look at verse 16, confess your faults one to another and pray for one another, or pray one for another that ye may be healed, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Of course, we've already kinda gone into that and that's why we have our prayer list over here. You know, it never hurts to have as many people as possible to pray for our ailments, to pray for our situations because it does work. It's a promise here as long as we're not asking a mess. But I'll get into something here in a minute. Look at verse 17, Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months, verse 18. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. So James is using this as an example to tell them the power of prayer. But look at verse 19, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, okay, now let's stop right there. James has purpose clauses as well, okay? James can be a hard book to understand especially if you're not saved because unsaved people quote James to us almost every single week, right? Okay, so what are we talking about here? Brethren, if any of you, brethren, who are the brethren? The saved, Christians, right? Do err from the truth and one convert him, okay? So someone starts getting involved in that cycle of the world, they start going after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And you who are spiritual, consider yourself and go restore that person is what he's talking about, verse 20. Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, his way shall save his soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Because if you don't know this, you're gonna know this now and you'll know it next week, well, the week after next, that believers can get so wrapped up in the sin that it causes them to die. You know, God will say, hey, look, if you're not gonna play nice, then it's time to come home because I don't need these problems, okay? We've got enough problems, so understand that. If any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, he's not saying if one convert him to salvation again, right? You lost your salvation. So if you go get him re-saved, no, it's, what does it say in verse 20? Let him know, let the person know who's doing this ministry here or this discipleship, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the heir of his way. So he's talking about a believer who's just hopped in the flesh and just, I'm living in the old man, right? When you restore that person, guess what? You're commencing a huge blessing on the kingdom of God and you're hiding a multitude of sins, okay? That is why we need to be on fire and why we need to have a heart for the brethren. It goes all back to fellowship. We gotta get moving here. Go to 2 Peter chapter two. 2 Peter chapter number two. 2 Peter chapter number two, look at verse 18. It says this, For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts, of the what? Of the flesh, through much wantonness, going back to the eyes, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. We see this all the time. I've seen this, I feel like a thousand times, it hasn't been a thousand times, but it's definitely been a lot. In the times that I've been going to church, people come in, they get on fire, they go for a while, some a couple months, some a couple weeks, some a couple years, right? And then one thing leads to another, they fall into the devil's three-cycle trap. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. What happens? Out of fellowship, all of a sudden things aren't as important as they should be to them anymore and they are done. They are now yoking themselves up with those things, They are now yoking themselves up with those who live in the air, the spirit of air. Verse 17, He therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness, not from your own salvation. Okay? These things are written to let us know, hey, you know, you're saved out of the world. Why would you want to go back and be pals and buddy up to the world and get your wisdom from the world and get your fellowship from the world because you become unproductive as a Christian once you do that and it's impossible to maintain for the believer because we have a Heavenly Father who will chase us. Okay? Let's go back to 1 John again. 1 John chapter number four. We're getting close to being done here. Close but not quite. Verse six again, We are of God. Never forget that. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. So look, here's the deal. When you're giving somebody the Bible, look, we all have different interpretations on different verses. Okay? That's fine. We all don't have to have this, you know, this attitude like, oh, I heard this guy over here. He said that. So you're not saved because you don't understand, I don't know, something deep in Ezekiel the same way. It's like, give me a break here. Do we believe the same on salvation? Do we believe the same about Christ? Do we believe this divine accomplishment? Do we believe it was finished? You know, do we have the King James Bible? Okay? When somebody though that you're talking to, they just don't get the Bible. Right? They're just like, I don't know if that really is what that means. I don't really know if Jonah was swallowed by a whale. How do you know Jesus didn't or somebody didn't mess with his words? Guess what? We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. Who's the us? Was John and the Holy Ghost that are writing these things down. Okay? So if you're of God, you're gonna hear these things. You're going to accept these things as truth. He that is not of God heareth not us. They hear words coming out of your mouth, but that's as far as it goes. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. You see, people who are sucked into the spirit of error, that is the only spirit that they will go to bat for. That is the only spirit that they can speak of and they can only speak of their prophets. People that come in here, oh, I like John MacArthur. I don't. I like Paul Washer. Well, we don't. We like Ray Comfort. We hate him. Okay? Okay? Those guys all preach human achievement 100%. They preach human achievement and the doctrine of probation. Display a period of good behavior and you know what? At the end of your life, you will know like John says, that's wicked as hell is what that is. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Isn't that what we're always doing to people? We know the spirit of truth. It lifts us up. It gets us on fire, right? And we love calling out that spirit of error and we ought to never lose that, okay? But you know when you lose that? When you get out of that fellowship. So go to John chapter number 10. Let's talk about this just a little bit further and then we'll get into the application again on how do we try these spirits. But he that knoweth God heareth us. This is what John says. So let's go back and see what John said about this in the Gospel of John. John chapter number 10, look at verse 24. John chapter 10 verse 24. It says this, then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt if thou be the Christ tell us plainly? Okay, well if you've done the reading, you know that he just told them that a few verses prior, okay? Look at what Jesus says here in verse 25. And Jesus answered them, I told you and ye believe not. Who here has ever ran into somebody with like, you know, but Jesus never claimed to be Christ. He never claimed to be the Messiah. Okay, hold, what? What? Are you nuts? Verse 25, I told you and you believe not. If he was trying to deny it, he'd be like, no, that's not what I said. Right, John the Baptist denied it, right? He's like, no, I'm not he, I'm not the Christ. You know, I was just set to make the path straight to get all these false prophets, right, out of the way so that we could get the right message of salvation going again and really make that popular, right? That's what he's saying here. I told you and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. He's like, who else around here is raising the dead? Who else around here is opening the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind, right? He's like, last time I checked, it's just me, verse 26. But ye believe not. That's what it really boils down to. Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. The Pentecostal will say, well, yeah, that's why you gotta have a heavenly prayer language because you gotta hear his voice and if you don't have it, you have it display evidence that you're saved by speaking in tongues. Nope, that's not what he's talking about. This book is his voice. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Verse 28, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Verse 29, my Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. But yet people today, what do they say? He never claimed to be the Messiah. He never claimed that, okay? Apparently you've never read John chapter 10. Apparently you've never read anything in the Bible if you're saying that. Go to, oh, verse 31, can't forget this. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone them. Okay, so this message here that we're preaching is never popular. When you tell somebody this truth here, hey, people that are saved are gonna hear the word of God. Okay, they may not understand it. No, look, nobody understands anything. When you get somebody up behind a pope and they're like, I understand all manner of truth, and I had a preacher like that. You know, he's like, I can't believe there's people out there that say they don't understand certain things in the Bible. I get it all. Okay, that is an arrogant, proud person, okay? Because there are all things that we're all wrong on. Let's just, look, we're sinners. Okay, we have that old man. But not to get too far off on that, when you teach people, hey, people that are really saved, they hear the voice of the Lord. They get the Bible. They believe it. They may read it and say, I don't understand that, but I believe it. I know you can't lose your salvation, so whatever John's saying here can't mean what I think it means, or it can't mean what John MacArthur says it means, or Paul Washer or any of these other idiots. They know that. We hear his voice. Guess what the world wants to do? They want to take up stones. I can't believe you would say that. You don't need the Bible to be saved. Look, that's really what's going on. That is the message of the world. Go back, if you would, John chapter three. And let's get into this application, and then we will be done. We're going to wrap this up right now. So again, how do we try these spirits? Well, I gave you three criteria already, OK? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Real simple. If you don't remember anything else in the sermon, just remember those three things. Engrain that into your daily life. Engrain that into your mind, because that is going to save you so much trouble, OK? It's going to keep you on track. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that is what gets believers into trouble. But how else do we try the spirits? Well, let's look at John chapter three in verse number six. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So what do you think the first step is here into trying the spirits? Well, first of all, you've got to be born of the spirit. You have to be saved. Why? Because you need a spiritual book in order to try the spirits. You need a spiritual book. You need the Holy Spirit in order to try the spirits. You need the Holy Spirit in order to discern the spirit of error. Makes perfect sense. Go to John chapter four. Look at verse 23. John chapter four, verse 23. I just mentioned this story here, but look what Jesus says in verse 23. It says this. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father seeketh such to worship Him. This is why when you're giving the gospel to people and then at the end they're like, yeah, I know what it's saying, but I just, I don't really, I'm not sure if I really believe the Bible. Like, I get your message, get what you're saying, I'll pray with you, sure. But I'm not sure if I quite believe the Bible is perfect or it's true. You got a problem. Because the Father seeketh such to worship Him. Look at verse 24. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. When anyone cuts those two words in half, guess what? They are on the side of the spirit of error. Let's take a look at another one, John chapter six. Go all the way down to verse 63. John chapter six, look at verse 63. It says this. Verse 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. You know what that verse is? That verse there is destroying human achievement. The flesh profiteth nothing. The religion of human achievement always goes back to the flesh, which has three components. What are they? Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, okay? Go to Revelation chapter two real quick. We're just gonna blaze through seven verses real quick just to show you something here. Revelation chapter number two. So again, how do we try these spirits? You gotta have the Holy Spirit. First of all, you've gotta be saved. So if you're talking to somebody and it sounds like they're a Christian and on fire, but yet they doubt the word of God, they don't believe, guess what? They don't have the sword. They don't have the spirit of truth. They're not really worshiping Him in spirit and truth. So they are of the spirit of error. Revelation chapter two. Look at this verse here, number 11. Look what it says. It says, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Go over to verse 17 real quick. Look what it says. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Look at verse 29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Go over to chapter three real quick. Look at verse six. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Is anybody doubting here that God's preserved His word? That He wants us to use His word to discern the spirit of truth and the spirit of error? I mean, look at verse 13. Might as well go through the last two. Verse 13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Verse 22. He that hath an ear, last verse in this chapter. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Okay, these churches all had a lot of problems and it all goes back to this question. Are there people in this church that have an ear to hear the word of God, what the Spirit saith unto the churches? So any person, any church that downplays the spirit, downplays the word of God, guess what? They are of the spirit of error and they have a different Jesus and they've denied Him. They have totally denied Him. But that's the tricky part, right? They'll say, no, but we believe Him. We believe in Jesus. We're here in Jesus' name. They'll say, can I pray for you before you leave my door? It's like, wow, we're good. Have a nice day, right? We're good. God doesn't hear the prayers of the unsaved unless it's Lord save me. That's the only prayer that He hears. So we're gonna stop right there for tonight and we will come back in another week or so and clean the rest of that chapter up. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, again for your truths and just the assurance that these chapters give us, Lord. And I just pray that we would continue to be a church that holds fellowship in high regards, Lord, that we may fellowship with you and never lose that, Lord, and never be out of your will. So that way we can continue to march on and preach the kingdom of God to the lost and the disciple people, Lord. Just pray for our church, Lord. Pray you continue to grow us, continue to take care of us and be with us as we go throughout the week. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, let's grab those hymn books one final time this evening. We'll turn to song number 185, My Savior's Love. My Savior's Love. 185, My Savior's Love. We stand amazed in His presence. I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene And wonder how He could love me A sinner condemned unclean Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful is My Savior's love for me For me it was in the garden He prayed not my will but thine He had no tears for His own grace But sweat drops of blood for mine Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful! And my song shall ever be Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful is My Savior's love for me He took my sins and my sorrows He made them His very own He bore the burden to Calvary And suffered and died alone Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful! And my song shall ever be Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful is My Savior's love for me For me it was in the garden And someday glory Is face I at last shall see It will be my joy through the ages To sing of His love for me Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful! And my song shall ever be Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful is My Savior's love for me Amen. Brother Dave, would you close our word prayer, please? Thank you, God. We thank you for this whole day of our morning service and community service. Lord, we just ask you to please just be able to take these in and get this message in, these teachings in, and never be tossed to and fro and carried about with everyone of doctrine or that we wouldn't be in error, Lord. We would just read your word for what it is, and we understand, Lord, that you're a spirit, and we must worship you in spirit and in truth, Lord, and we just pray that you give us the words to speak out there in the community to be able to preach your word more clearly, to found the gospel more clearly and thoroughly, Lord, so that we can clear up the problems that people have out there in the community, Lord. And we just pray that you bless the fellowship tonight and that you lead us all to our lahum say, we love you, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. .