How is your listening

1 John 4:1-6 is an interesting section of John's letter.
John writes to reassure, and (3:24) reassures his readers they are God’s children because he lives in them by his spirit. But 4:1 is a warning not every spirit is from God.

1. Be discerning
John exhorts his readers to exercise discernment when listening to those who claim to speak in the name of God. He doesn’t want them to be gullible. Instaed they are to test what people teach them, why? (1) “because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
In fact (2:19-23) even from in their own church ppl had left. Why? Because they denied Jesus Christ, the issue seemed to be that they denied he was the Messiah (2:22). In Chapter 4:2 it is that they are denying that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Do you see why it matters? – because if you deny Jesus came in the flesh, then he has not suffered in the flesh and the gospel dissolves. So John exhorts his readers to be discerning, to test what people teach.

It poses the question how is my listening? Is it discerning listening? Do I have the Bible open in front of me as people teach me? I guess we may find ourselves thinking ‘its ok its so and so I know them I can trust them. Or I’ve read their other books so it’ll be ok.’ That is just what this passage is saying you can’t do – these men now teaching heresy used to be in the church. Be discerning

2. Be testing
John gives them two tests of what people are teaching them (6) so that they may recognise the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 1. Good teaching teaches that Jesus came in the flesh (2) thsi is expressed both negatively(3) and positively(2). 2. Good teaching is in the apostolic tradition (6).

Do you see the two tests? What does it say about Jesus and does it fit with what the Apostles taught? It is not Jesus + or Jesus-, it is just the gospel of grace.

Notice it doesn’t give numerical response as a test. Why? Because the world will love to hear what the world wants to hear (5). We need to listen to this warning from John. Numbers don't equal good teaching.

Am I applying those two tests? Do I examine what I read and hear in light of those two areas?

3. Be encouraged
This is a letter written to reassure and even here John does that. (4) God’s children are overcomers. In this battle between the world and God, between the spirit of God and the spirit of the antichrist. (4) the outcome is not in doubt they are overcomers not because of what they do but because Christ when he ascended poured out his spirit into his people.

Be discerning, be testing, be encouraged.

Listening to that good teaching , holding on to Jesus as God’s Son the Messiah made man will affect the way we live (7-21) as we seek to live like him.