#147 LTLT S5 EP 21: Identifying False Prophets: Insights from 1 John 4:1-6

What if you could discern the true spirit of God in a world filled with misleading voices? On this episode of "Learning to Live in Truth," we embark on a heartfelt spiritual journey through 1 John, Chapter 4. Kicking off with a prayer that sets a reflective tone, we dig into the critical importance of spiritual discernment. Not everyone who speaks in God's name is truly sent by Him, and by examining the scriptures, we gain insights into recognizing God's presence in others and situations through their fruits. We also tackle the sobering reality of false prophets and how personal knowledge of Jesus Christ and diligent study of His Word can guide us in identifying the true Spirit of God.

Our exploration doesn't stop there. We also delve into the transformative power of unconditional love and the strength derived from our unwavering faith. Reflecting on Jesus' teachings, we discuss how to be a light in a sometimes dark world, affirming that despite the enemy's apparent victories, our triumph is already secured through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. We wrap up with a prayer of gratitude for God's continual blessings and guidance, inviting you to join us as we continue our deeper exploration of the fourth chapter of 1 John. Many blessings and much love to all who listen.

Chapters

• 0:00 Discerning Spirits in the World
• 14:35 Prayer for Strength and Love

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:14

Hello, hello, and welcome back to Learning to Live in Truth. Amen, I hope all is well. Hope that today has been a good day for you. Amen, it's a brand new week y'all. Yeah, I hope you had a good weekend. Amen, I hope that you was able to go to a Sunday service somewhere out there.

Speaker 1: 0:35

Amen, today we are ready to get into the Word. If you don't know who I am, my name is Catherine Amen, I am a pastor, I am a wife. I am, at the end of the day, a child of God Just seeking to do the will of the Lord For my life. I might be used as his vessel, and I hope that you feel the same way About whatever you've been called to do. Amen, all right, y'all, without further ado, let's go ahead and get it in. Let's pray, father, we thank you so much for your grace and your mercy. Thank you, god, for allowing us this day and allowing us another opportunity to get into your word, your word. I pray here now that you would grant me revelation, god, that you allow me to be able to see what I wouldn't see without asking you, god, open up my eyes, open up our eyes, open up our ears, open up our hearts more than anything that we might receive what it is that you have for us on today. We pray the blessings of the Lord Will be among and be upon your children. We pray this prayer and we ask it all In the precious and the mighty and matchless name Of Jesus Christ. We do pray, amen, amen, hallelujah. So it is definitely early here where I am. I don't know what time of day you are listening to this, but again, I pray. The blessings of the Lord be upon you, hallelujah. So we've been in 1 John. We are now at chapter 4. Yes, we are chapter 4.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Picking up at the first verse, he says Beloved, believe not every spirit, spirit, but try the spirit whether they be, whether they are of God. He says, 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 Whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now, already it is it in the world, amen. So, um, we are talking about whether or not these spirits that we encounter are of god, amen. And the first verse teaches us and lets us know. He says just because they say the name of Jesus, or just because they say the name of God, or they say that they believe or whatever, have you it necessarily that they are of God? Yeah, so it's like well, how do you know? Well, at the end of the day, jesus taught us in the gospel, according to John, that you'll know them by their fruit. Amen, we will know folks by their fruit, amen. He says to us in this first verse and I'm going to take it one verse at a time, as I've read three, and y'all, I'm drinking my coffee and that music you hear in the background, that's the relax movement. Amen, y'all know, I love it on youtube.

Speaker 1: 4:14

Um, he says to believe, not every spirit, he said, but try the spirits. So what does that mean? Try the spirits. That means, simply, people, things might happen in your life. Amen, try that spirit, make sure that it is of God. Amen. He says whether they are of god. If you know who jesus is yourself, then you're going to be able to recognize him in other people, in other situations and other things. Amen, jesus knows how to confirm himself. And because, at the end of the day, that's really what we're doing. We're trying the spirit by the spirit, amen. Whatever god tells you, whatever, uh, he enlightens you about, whatever he opens his eyes, opens your eyes to, um, he always has a way of letting us know that it is him. Amen, especially, look, especially when we're looking, uh, for we're looking for something that would give us, I guess you would say, a little bit more clarity. He knows how to do that. Amen. And this is how we'll know whether it's from God or whether they are from God, will know whether it's from God or whether they are from God. I mean man. He said because every, he said because many false prophets are gone out into the world. So a whole lot of folks that are out there doing this and doing that, saying they're doing it because God told them to. But it's really not them. Yeah, I mean, it's really not God. Y'all, excuse me, it is them in their self, in their own strength, doing what they're doing. Amen.

Speaker 1: 6:05

He says Hereby know ye, the Spirit of God, get to know who God is, amen. How do we get to know who God is Reading his word? Come on somebody. Hallelujah, this is how we get to know him. Amen, because he Come on somebody. Hallelujah. This is how we get to know him. Amen, because he reveals himself through the word of God. Amen. And what we understand out of the word of God he allows us to understand In everything around us, in the people that we deal with On a daily basis Hallelujah, come on somebody.

Speaker 1: 6:39

He says every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh out, wait, wait, I'm sorry, y'all, I'm getting confused. Look, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, okay. Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, okay. So it says every spirit that believes and says you know, jesus Christ is the son of God, he says they are of God, okay. He says every spirit and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, okay. So they have to believe that Jesus, the word, was made flesh. Yes, john teaches us that as well. Yeah, they got to believe that Jesus walked this earth, amen. That Jesus died on the cross for every last one of us. They got to believe that Jesus died for them. They got to put their faith, put their salvation in Jesus. This is really what 1 John is teaching us here in this moment Is that they have to believe that Jesus died for them, that Jesus lived and died for them and resurrected himself. Hallelujah, amen, he says. And this is that spirit. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1: 8:12

He says every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. That Jesus Christ has come in the flesh Is not of God. They are not of God. I'm saying it again they are not of God. If they don't confess that Jesus came and died and lived or resurrected Amen. If they don't confess that and they don't believe that, then they are the Antichrist, the spirit of Antichrist, the spirit of Antichrist. Amen, he says, whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already is in the world. So he says to us this ain't nothing new, this ain't the first time you're hearing this. To us, this ain't nothing new. This ain't the first time you're hearing this. It's already been said that the antichrist, the spirit of antichrist, would come, amen.

Speaker 1: 9:08

People professing god but not acknowledging jesus as being the son of god. He says they're already in the world. Hallelujah, amen. This is how we can know that that is the spirit of antichrist. The reality is is they might be good people, but if they don't believe that jesus christ died for them, then who are they representing? They're representing themselves, amen.

Speaker 1: 9:38

And you look, either you don't serve God or you're not. And part of serving God is believing that his son Came into this world and died so that we might be able to live. Amen. He says ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them. He says because greater is he that is in you Than he that is in you, than he that is in the world. This is verse 4.

Speaker 1: 10:07

I just read Amen. He says this is who you are. You are of God. He says because you are of God, you've overcome them. Anything and anybody who will come to you that don't believe that Jesus died for them on the cross, you've already won. Amen. Excuse me, the fight has already been won. Amen, you don't got. He's just greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Amen, you have greatness inside of you. Amen that is in you than he that is in the world. Amen, you have greatness inside of you. Amen. You don't have to stoop to the levels of other people. Amen.

Speaker 1: 10:51

He says look, they are of the world. He's talking about the Antichrist, the ones that don't believe that Jesus died, died on the cross, the ones that don't believe that jesus came in the flesh. Okay, he says they are of the world. Therefore, speak they of the world and the world heareth them. He says when they're of the world, the world listens to them, the world follows them. The world, you know, the world acknowledges them, the world mimics them. The world, you know, the world. Okay, they're of the world and the world is going to hear what they're saying Hallelujah. Look, he says 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.

Speaker 1: 11:44

So verse 6 says to us if they hear you, if they listen to you, if they can acknowledge you, amen. This is, they are of God. You're teaching and you're preaching and you're doing the deeds of God, doing the things of God. You know, he says and you have people that are listening, people that are responding, people that, um, hear you. He says we're all of the same family, hallelujah. And it's the same with the world. The world don't want to hear you. The world want to call you this, call you that and make fun of you and, you know, challenge you in a way that says that, tries to make you seem like you aren't who you are and do this, that and the other. He said the world is going to hear them. That's the way it works. Hallelujah, amen.

Speaker 1: 12:37

But here we have a blueprint of what it looks like to be of God and not to be of God. Amen, look when a duck quacks. Believe the quack that it's a duck? Amen, call it what it is. At the end of the day, people have the right to choose who they will serve. Hallelujah, you cannot force them to serve God just because you are, amen, hallelujah. You let your light speak for itself. Hallelujah, amen, because at the end of the day, that's what's going to happen. You have your light speak for itself, hallelujah, amen, because at the end of the day, that's what's going to happen. You have a light. Either people are going to see it or they're not. Amen.

Speaker 1: 13:20

And you know as much as we hate to see people lost in this world, reality is that you ain't assigned to save everybody, hallelujah, but you are assigned to somebody. Come on somebody. Amen. We're are assigned to somebody. Come on somebody. Amen, we're all assigned to people. Amen, hallelujah, we're all assigned to be a part of, I guess you could say them coming into Christ. Amen, we're all ushers into Christ. Amen. And the greatest way that we usher people in is by the light that we shine. Hallelujah, how we talk to them, how we treat them, how we love on them, hallelujah, hallelujah. Jesus, that's what we're coming into on tomorrow, talking about loving one another, amen.

Speaker 1: 14:10

And so you know, at the end of the day, take this with a grain of salt. Amen, because this is a powerful short, but it's powerful. Hallelujah, because so many times people are being fooled and manipulated to believe something that is really not true. Amen, look at it when it barks, when it quacks, call it what it is. Amen, amen.

Speaker 1: 14:36

At the end of the day, you can't judge nobody. At the end of the day, all we're called to do is love people, amen, love people, amen. And it doesn't mean look, you love them, irregardless of whether they're saved or not. Amen, this is a big one. Hallelujah, you got to love them, irregardless of whether they're saved or not. You know what I mean. Look, he said don't take them out of the world, but make them strong enough to be in the world, amen, hallelujah. Jesus asked the Father to give us all that we need to be able to be a light in the world. Don't just take them out of the world, amen, but give them everything they need to be able to be in the world and stand for him at the end of the day. Stand for Jesus, hallelujah. It ain't easy, it ain't always comfortable, hallelujah, but he's already said the greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, amen. The enemy might look like he winning, but he not. He already lost when Jesus went on the cross. Amen. Jesus fulfilled his purpose. Amen, when he came into this world, hallelujah. So be there as it may. As much as the enemy looks like he's winning, he's already lost. Amen, hallelujah, he's already lost.

Speaker 1: 16:13

Let's pray, pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day, thank you so much for all that it's been. Thank you, god for this. Uh, it's a lesson on tonight, on today.

Speaker 1: 16:24

Whomever where, whenever they're listening to this, we pray that these diamonds, every diamond here, would just know that they are blessed in you.

Speaker 1: 16:33

I pray, god, that you will continue to do a work in their lives that only you can do. We thank you so much for your love that keeps on keeping us, and we pray for anyone that says pray for me, whatever the issue or concern, whatever's going on in their physical health, in their money, whatever's going on in their lives, god, that they will know that you are the great I am, that you are there, amen, and they can lean and depend on you. I pray, god, that today will be just another day that we will trust you with all and with everything, most of all our soul, father. We love you so much, so very grateful, so thankful. In Jesus Christ's name, we do pray Amen, amen and amen, hallelujah, y'all, make sure y'all come on back with me on tomorrow as we continue the journey through this fourth chapter of 1 John. So many blessings and so much love from me to you. Y'all have a great and blessed day, amen, amen.