October 25, 2020

Last Sunday I preached a full sermon (about 35 minutes) to my church family on John – the Apostle – the Elder.

Here’s an excerpt from that sermon:

John continues – on why the truth and love is so important to him, and why it must be important to us as well:

I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. (2 John 1:7)

Sounds like a lot of people today in this world and of this world. There are false teachers everywhere. They deny that Christ came in a real body. This mislead believers. They distract believers. They try to pull them away from God and His Kingdom.

There are even false teachers inside church buildings today. You must verify what you hear from a teacher – from a preacher – from a pastor – from a televangelist. You must verify what you hear with God’s Truth. If it doesn’t sound right to you – then verify it with God’s Truth. God’s Truth is flawless. God’s Truth is the Word.

In the latter portion of the Gospel Of Matthew Jesus predicts future events. In red letters:

Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in My name – claiming – ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. (24:4-5)

Don’t be deceived by the imposters who pretend to know Christ – when they don’t. Or if they do know Him they intentionally say things that aren’t the Truth.

In the next few verses of Matthew – in red letters – Christ speaks of wars and threats of wars and famines and earthquakes. Sounds like 2020. Don’t be overwhelmed by these events. They will come and go. This is not the end, but the end is near.

Don’t follow the false prophets and the miracle workers who claim they are the Messiah. Jesus Christ is the One and Only Messiah !

I’m teaching out of John’s 2ND Letter, but in John’s 1ST Letter he writes about the false prophets that were in the new church at the time – as well as out in the world. He writes that we need to test them. In 2020 we should “fact-check” them. We must determine whether or not someone talking to us about God – actually has the Spirit that comes from God. Or – is their “Spirit” manmade ?

You know I watch a lot of TBN these days. Billy Graham’s classic crusades are on there each week. That’s what got me watching TBN in the first place several years ago. They’re a few other preachers and shows I watch on a regular basis. I’m always looking for new preachers and new shows. Sometimes I stumble across a new one, and I watch it for an episode or two or more, and I think to myself, “No – no – there’s something that’s not quite right with that. That goes against my learning. That goes against my Bible studying. I need to verify or refute that.”

They’re some preachers on TV who are in it for the entertainment value. They are putting on a show. They wanna be stars. They wanna be rock stars. I’ve visited a few churches like that – in-person – here in South Florida and over in Southwest Florida. It seems to me that they are elevating themselves above the people that they are speaking to. I’m turned-off by those types of preachers. When it comes to God – I don’t want to be entertained. I want to be educated. On Sundays I want to walk out of here smarter – and closer to God – than I was when I walked in here, and I do.

So John knows a thing or two about Jesus. He was with Jesus. He was one of the first to follow Jesus. John is called “the one whom Jesus loved”. He was 1 of the 12 disciples. He was a close personal friend of Jesus. He was there !

And so John writes to us in his letter that if a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body – that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus – that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist – which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. (1 John 4:2b-3)

Jesus Christ came in a real body. God became flesh in Christ. He is both fully man and He is fully God. He is the Christ. He is the Son of God.

That’s the Truth then. That’s the Truth now. That’s the Truth forever. See when you have the Spirit of God within you – the Spirit teaches you the Truth – so that you can go and tell the Truth to others – so that you can spread the Gospel – so that you can evangelize. We are commanded to be messengers for the messages of the Holy Spirit.