Bringing Scripture to Life

1 st John 4:2-3 GUIDE for Testing the spirits Pastor Jason Stewart I.       Introduction: This morning as we continue on in our look from 1 st John 4, we are going to see the importance that the Holy Spirit plays in guiding us into the truth of God’s Word, and how He will always point us toward Jesus Christ. II.      Revelation/Application: Testing the Spirit Last week we looked at (v.1) and how God has given us the “Command” to test the spirits, and this week we are going to see that God has given us a Supernatural Guide to help us when testing the spirits, Himself.   The first key area we will be looking at is our “Guide” for Testing the Spirits. This is Point One of this mornings’ message: We test the spirits with the Holy Spirit. 1. In order to test the spirits, we have to have the right Guide to lead us in the testing. We find this truth being presented to us in (vv.2-3). The Bible says in 1 John 4:2, “By ...

1 John 4:1 COMMAND to Test the spirits Pastor Jason Stewart I.       Introduction: Please read Wreckers  for an illustration to help drive home the importance of this message. II.       Revelation/Application: Testing the Spirit a.     The Command for Testing (4:1) 1. Not every spirit is of God. Just as God has His representatives so too does Satan have people under his influence also. Ever since Satan successfully tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, he has been distorting God’s Word in order to deceive people and separate them from God. 2. In fact Scripture tells us that he is the master mind behind all false teachers and errant doctrine (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). That is why John says, “Do not believe every spirit” (4:1a). In essence, John is telling us not to believe everything we hear! As Christians we are called to be like the Berean’s in order to determine what is true and what is error (Ac...