I John 4:4-6
The Spirit of Truth
Would you open your Bibles to…
1Jo. 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1Jo. 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
1Jo. 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
1Jo. 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1Jo. 4:5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
1Jo. 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Pray
Intro
√ Truth & Error
As we continue with our study of John’s 1st letter, and his instruction concerning the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error, I think it is important that we look a little more closely at the…
…Spirit of Truth.
I’d like to look this morning at…
Who the Spirit of Truth is
Where the Spirit of Truth lives
For those of you more familiar with the Bible you already know that the Spirit of Truth is simply another name by which the Holy Spirit is known.
So, I’m giving this disclaimer! I won’t be able to do the topic of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit justice this morning!
Spent a whole summer doing a series on the Person & Work of the Holy Spirit!
We’re working to get that up on the web for you.
But, I do believe that we can cover some ground this morning and give you a good foundation to understand the Spirit of Truth and His work in your life!
Ap. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the primary member of the Holy Trinity at work in the world today.
It is of utmost importance that we as believers understand Him and His work so that can cooperate fully with Him to accomplish God’s plan in our lives and in this world.
Let’s look together at these exciting truths!
Who is the Spirit of Truth?
√ The Spirit of Truth
In vs. 6 of our text John says…
"By this we know the spirit of truth…"
Who, or what, is this Spirit of Truth? Note the context of our text.
In vs. 1-6 we find that John is clearly delineating between the…
True and false prophets/teachers
Truth and error
God and the devil
Christ and antichrist
…so that we, the children of God, will be equipped to protect ourselves and others from the lies of Satan.
So, if we look at vs. 2 we find that John identifies the Spirit of Truth for us…
1Jo. 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
So, we understand that the Spirit of Truth is one in the same as the "Spirit of God", or more commonly named…
…the Holy Spirit who testifies to the world that Jesus Christ is God come in human flesh.
√ Jesus tells us the same thing
John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
John 14:17 “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
And…
John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
And…
John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
So we find that John simply uses the same title, or name, by which Jesus identified the 3rd Person of the Trinity.
That is, the Spirit of Truth is the Holy Spirit.
Having established the identity of the Spirit of Truth we can now gain all sorts of great insight into our text here in John's letter!
Where does the Spirit of Truth live?
√ He lives in heaven
Note what Jesus tells us regarding where it is that the Spirit of Truth came from…
John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
He was sent by God the Father from heaven! The main point that we are to understand is that the primary dwelling place of the Holy Spirit from all of eternity is…
…heaven.
Yet, He is not limited to heaven.
√ He is present everywhere
However, He is not limited to Heaven. We understand from Jesus' words in John 15 that He was sent from heaven to earth to help all believers.
The psalmist declares…
Ps. 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Ps. 139:8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Ps. 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Ps. 139:10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
So, the Spirit of Truth is everywhere!
That would indicate that He's omnipresent!
Which is a unique character trait of God!
Yet, perhaps the most exciting place that we find the Spirit of Truth living is in people!
√ He dwells within the believer
Most importantly to the child of God, the Spirit of Truth dwells within each of us! Note vs. 4 of our text…
1Jo. 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Once again we find that John is echoing the promise which Jesus gave to the disciples the night before He was crucified.
John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
John 14:17 “the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Note that Jesus tells the disciples that the Spirit of Truth is both…
“with you and will be in you”
The work of the Spirit of Truth begins when He comes along side of every human being to turn that person from sin (the lie) to truth.
That’s the “with” experience.
“with” = para
When a person gives their life to Jesus the Spirit of Truth moves into their life, literally taking up residence in that person’s body.
That’s the “in” experience.
“in” = en
There is as 3rd experience that Jesus speaks of in Acts 1:8, the “upon” experience.
“upon” = epi
But we’ll have to save that discussion for another sermon!
Back to the “in” experience, Paul speaking to the believers at Corinth tells us…
1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
So then, the Spirit of Truth - AKA
- the Holy Spirit is not only present throughout the universe…
…but He has also made Himself at
home in your body!
Ap. Think of the implications of this truth!
If you're a Christian today that means that the Holy Spirit of God Who…
Spoke the worlds into existence
Breathed life into dust and created Man
Cast Lucifer from heaven
Calls the stars out by name
Shock the chains of death from the body of Jesus
…is now living in you!
Wow! So, then…
What are you and I afraid of?
What power does Satan or the children of sin have over us?
What sin or temptation is any match for our will when we're leaning on His power?
What calling in your life is beyond His power to bring to pass!
The answer - nothing is able to stand in the way of the child of God who has submitted his/her life to authority and power of the Spirit of Truth living within them!
Read vs. 4 again…
1Jo. 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
You and I are told that we…
"have overcome them"
The question is, “who” have we overcome?
That answer, those in the world, the spirit of error, the spirit of antichrist!
How?
"because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
Listen, there is no power in the entire universe that can stand against the One who lives in you!
The same Spirit that empowered Paul to cast the demon out of the slave girl in Philipi…
…lives in you!
The same Spirit by which Peter raised Tabitha from the dead…
…lives in you!
The same Spirit by which the disciples resisted temptation, preached the Gospel, and shared the love of Jesus with the ancient world…
…lives in you!
So, when the enemy comes against you - get out your "4X4" and whup him with it!
√ Bonus
Note the relative position of the Spirit of Truth to the spirit of error there in vs. 4…
The Spirit of Truth is the "He" that is in you.
The spirit of error is the "he" that is in the world.
The point, if the Holy Spirit is living inside the believer, can a believer then be demon possessed?
No way! The Holy Spirit does not share space with the devil!
Ex. Not one example in the New Testament of a believer being demon possessed.
Ap. So why do some believe its possible?
Because if you're caught in a sin who do you want to blame?
Yourself or the Devil?
Just like the Garden…
Adam said - "It was the woman you gave me"
Eve said - "It was the serpent"
In our modern vernacular we like to say…
"The devil made me do it!"
The Lord's answer today is the same as it was in the Garden…
"not!"
The truth is that all of these well meaning Christians who claim that the sin in our lives is the result of demons living in us…
…are just wrong. It's always easier to blame the devil than to take responsibility for our own sin.
We've looked at a number of scriptures already that promise…
God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live within the believer (John 14:23)
The believers body is the Temple of God's Spirit (I Cor. 3:16 & I Cor. 6:19)
…as well as I John 4:4 that clearly places God's Spirit within you, and the enemy outside of you.
Satan simply cannot inhabit the same dwelling as God!
√ Oppression vs. possession
That's not to say that Christians are not the objects of demonic influence and attacks. We most certainly are, and the Bible speaks of the spiritual war in which we are engaged on a daily basis.
But, we must understand there is a difference between spiritual oppression/opposition and demon possession!
Christians cannot be demon possessed.
Close
√ The Spirit of Truth
God has called us to be partners with Him in His work on earth. And, He has given us the Spirit of Truth to…
Lead us in His ways
Empower us to do His work
Give us discernment that we not believe a lie
…in short, God has given His children all that they need to do His work.
We’ve been reminded this morning that God is literally living within us in the Person of the Holy Spirit!
What then can stand in our way!?
Who can resist the work of God through our lives?
Ap. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the primary member of the Holy Trinity at
work in the world today.
It is of utmost importance that we as believers understand
Him and His work so that can cooperate fully with Him to accomplish God’s plan
in our lives and in this world.