Try the spirits

[0:00] I know we don't make it a rule or necessarily a practice we always do but in official settings when the Governor General General walks into the room.

[0:21] ! the convener of the meeting says let us all stand likewise when the mayor enters the room for a council meeting they say let us stand for the mayor and such things as that and so I'd like us to stand for the word of God let's stand for the word of God because that's much much more important than a mayor or the governor general the representative of the queen a king much more important is the word of God isn't it he is exalted above his name and so it's nice to do that to acknowledge this is the very word of the living God and 1 John 4 verse 1 maybe we could read that together beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world amen please be seated

[1:30] I know we could go on we could read the whole chapter I'm sure but believe not every spirit is the message here try the spirits whether they are of God in a scripture in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 15 it says but he that is spiritual judgeth all things he that is spiritual judgeth all things and yet we know as our Lord tells us in Matthew 7 verse 1 judge not that you be not judged now some would consider is that a contradiction but of course it's not as some commentator has said judgment is an ambiguous word in the Greek as in the English it may mean sitting in judgment on people or even condemning them or it may mean exercising a proper discrimination in the former sense judgment is depreciated in the latter sense it is recommended consent in judgment condemning or in discerning in exercising discrimination proper discrimination the quote goes on the Christian is not to judge hypocritically or self-righteously as can be seen from the context but scripture repeatedly exhorts believers to evaluate carefully and choose between good and bad people and things the Christian is to test everything so I urge you tonight as

[3:12] I suppose the message to capture this in one sentence I urge you to be a discerning Christian a discerning Christian that's a commended characteristic of God's people that we be a discerning people and I'd like to put to you three aspects here of trying the spirits of exercising discernment of believing not every spirit but trying the spirits in what sorry in why in what and how we are to discern firstly why why are we to discern our text here tells us because many false prophets are gone out into the world many false prophets are gone out into the world it almost seems like it's escalating that it's kind of ramping up especially in this information rich yet wisdom poor world where we've got this internet where you can get all manner of teachings and all manner of topics and you can kind of have a smorgasbord just take your pick whatever takes your fancy whatever doctrine you want to kind of go that way this way or that way or blown around with every wind of doctrine we see in this information technology world and now more than ever we need discernment don't we we need discernment these days call for a high level of discernment and there is a great danger of a lack of discernment now today's church is like the religious leaders of our Lord's time who could tell the difference between superficial things like pleasant and stormy weather but not between truth and error in Matthew 16 he says as the popular way of couching it today is red sky at night is the shepherd's delight red sky in the morning is the shepherd's warning so if you get the red sky in the morning it might mean stormy weather ahead but red sky at night it's going to be a fair day in other words you can discern what the sky is telling you that it will have some foretelling some guide as to what the weather will be of course now we've got satellites that can tell us what the weather can be but even then the weather channel can get it wrong but we see the point here is our Lord says you can tell what the weather is going to do by looking at the sky but you can't tell the difference between truth and error and this is a very real problem as it was in the Lord

[6:13] Jesus' day as it is today with the religious leaders of today and we see as I say this smorgasbord of teachings on the internet where you can get variant views on all manner of topics and people can get totally swayed by what they read and particular false teachings that are endemic and there's all varieties of them today so you've got certain individuals who might have good airplay on the internet on youtube got quite a following yet might only have a tiny church in the scheme of things yet have a massive impact universally worldwide and as much as they might be popular and get lots of hits and lots of views it doesn't mean necessarily that they've got true doctrine indeed it can be contrary that the crowd follows are quite off track and it staggers me when I go for example down to

[7:17] Coorong or a Christian bookstore and you see the top 20 bestsellers usually they're all a load of rubbish generally speaking in my understanding when you see the popular authors the popular preachers and teachers of today can be quite doubtful 2 Peter 2 verse 1 tells us of damnable heresies damnable God's word foretells of such 2 Peter 2 verse 1 it says but there were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily or kind of secretly sneakily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction swift destruction now our Lord expects his own people to discriminate we should be discriminating we should be intolerant and let me explain that before you start to crucify me we should discriminate between man's viewpoint and

[8:28] God's viewpoint we've got to get what is God saying what does his word tell us clearly this is what we should discriminate by because there's no deviating from this this is the yardstick this is the plumb line of God and this is what sets what we view and what we believe we're not talking about picky gnats straining as some would resort to a judging that is harsh and prideful but a shifting of fundamentals a discerning of truth and error this is vital for us and the church worldwide is warping in this major paradigm shift you know they kind of they want to have a paradigm shift as if we've always got to change everything as it becomes seeker friendly or in actuality sinner friendly it becomes sinner friendly such that sin is never talked of and it's as some would call purpose driven is actually a fad driven church it's fad driven it's driven by the fancies and fads and the changeable hobby horses of the time the latest popular ideas that can be a great danger too and as someone has said jesus is being disguised to make him and his gospel less offensive to seekers so they want to tone it down it's like they almost got to get the scissors out and cut bits out their goal is to make sinners feel comfortable by giving them what they want instead of what they need!

[10:11] why are we to discern isn't it clear we need to we must need to why do we need to discern because we're in the midst of a battle for the truth it's a battle for truth there's a diluting of bible doctrine there are seducing spirits we read so not only is this oh you know what's your view on this or what's your view on that it's what's what does God clearly say that's what matters and the bible talks about doctrines of devils such that this is not just a different doctrine this is just not a different kind of teaching this is teaching that is demonically driven and that's the real danger isn't it as we know this is not just a matter of christians differing when someone gets doctrinally off track then they're actually being misled by spirits try the spirits whether they are of

[11:13] God doctrines of devils the Lord says in 1 John believe not every spirit now it's kind of funny and I don't know if he's watching here tonight there's someone that I've been talking to of late quite extensive email interchanges about the doctrine of the trinity the doctrine of the trinity and it boils down to the deity of christ is the lord jesus lord or is he just a man a good man a great man the most wonderful man who ever lived the greatest prophet that the world has ever known but still a man or is he god is he the i am is he the one who says before abraham was i am as he confessed the very name of god of exodus three do we downgrade denigrate and really deny the lord when we take that track and it was kind of funny today because i've spent some exhaustive interchange and i know someone might question well no it can't help me i want to be able to put this clearly the truth of the trinity is very clear it's from it's bible it's genesis through revelation the doctrine of the trinity is undeniable the doctrine of the deity of christ is a fundamental doctrine and so i have this exhaustive interchange and i said to him do you know the lord do you know that you're saved and he says oh i know that i'm saved because i speak in tongues i thought oh i said don't get me started on another heresy i've got one heresy at one time one heresy at a time please because people of god there's doctrines of devils out there there's all kinds of unbiblical doctrines that are barraging people and they're walking around in a fog the bible says believe not every spirit a man a writer of a

[13:25] Christian writer said this so skilled is error at imitating truth that the two are constantly being mistaken for each other they can couch it as jehovah's witnesses and mons can use all kinds of christian lingo and language and they can use the christian ears just as well as we can but they're talking about another jesus they don't call him lord i've noticed that very clearly with this particular interchange of weight he is lord lord that is critical and the quote goes on it is it is therefore critically important that the christian take full advantage of every provision god has made to save him from delusion prayer faith constant meditation of the scriptures obedience humility and the illumination of the holy spirit here's here's another quote christ came not to call scoffers but sinners to repentance not to build and furnish cathedral sorry i'll say that again not to build and furnish comfortable chapels churches and cathedrals in which to rock christians to sleep by means of clever essays stereotype prayers and artistic musical performances but to capture men's from the devil's clutches and their very jaws of hell this can be accomplished only by a red-hot unfettered devotion to the lord jesus christ so said ct stud one of the great men of god of history of missionary exploits why are we here to capture men from the devil's clutches and the very jaws of hell not to build some comfortable chapels and give you some pleasant lectures we're living in an age of religious tolerance and ecumenical unity again you know i talked about discrimination of course we don't discriminate racially or such but we have to discriminate about the truth because what god says is what god says that's it there's no changing it it is what it is it's the word of god and we don't say oh scholars say this scholars say that and oh that in the greek in the hebrew blah blah blah it's god's word in our hands this book believe it and receive it trust every word of it not a word of it will fail every jot every tittle every word will not fail from his word we can take absolute confidence in the word of god you know it's like someone was talking to me lately it's like does the concordance correct the word of god of course not of course not a concordance is a tool but it does not define the scriptures the word of god is the word of god and so the other word i talked about was intolerance we should be intolerant as in we shouldn't tolerate that which is falsehood or sin we'll exercise grace when we address that but we must go with what god says there's no deviation from that messages like this would be considered unloving and divisive in some churches you never hear someone talk like this because it's all wishy washy and airy fairy people worship the fuzzy wuzzy god as just an airy fairy kind of god he'll do whatever you tell him to others will ask what right do you have to judge another religion the answer is given in scripture this judges things his word will judge all god fearing people are called to make right judgments right judgments

[17:26] judgments that have already been established by the objective principles of the word of god john 7 24 it's very clear so there's really nothing more important than warning people who are being deceived about their eternal destiny it's so vital and praise god for the witnessing team praise god for individuals witnessing in their walk in life if we do not lovingly confront people with the gospel truth they may never know how to escape from the eternal fire of god's judgment we are commissioned we are sent we've got a call and we've got a a commission to go and really the most unloving thing we can do is not to warn them not to warn them and they just continue down the road to destruction and we must be willing to offend people now some people are really good at offending people I know certain people

[18:30] I know including me in that camp willing to offend now we're not talking about being offensive for offensiveness sake but we need to be willing to offend people with the gospel truth that this is the word of god this is god's truth and the exclusivity of the gospel there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved one name none other name that can save other than the name of the lord jesus christ and if we can have that heart to be willing to be offensive in a godly goodly way that god may grant some to repentance and the knowledge of the truth so many would settle these days for half truths half truths for compromising cosy crossless religion the word tells us but a little leaven leaveneth the whole lung so a little yeast in the batch of dough impacts the whole loaf we read of tears amongst the wheat of ignorance of babes in christ of christians that are kind of still you know you see it with children these days walking down the shops they've still got the dummy in their mouth they don't need that anymore why they got the you know yank it out throw it in the bin that's what we did when they got to that age didn't we love they come to an age where they don't need the what they call it the dummy in their mouth but some christians are like they're still walking around with dummies in their mouth and they're babes in christ grow up grow up come now reality is a big problem isn't it believers carnal let it go drop it off whatever's holding you back and tying you down many deceivers have gone out into the world we read and there's a danger of relying on experience oh I'm saved

[20:39] I speak in tongues don't even know who the lord is the danger of relying on experience oh you can't challenge my experience that's almost that's almost equivalent to the word of god isn't it my experience those warm goosebumps and those fuzzy feelings and those tingles and tangles and all that all that all that that this judges what is true not your experience don't rely on your experience as warm and fuzzy as it might have been and many Christians seem to like professing Christians they seem to elevate personal experience over biblical doctrine as if that's the primary means of determining what is from god you know these ones who go on all the time oh god told me this god told me that test everything prove everything try the spirits believe not every spirit it's the duty of every

[21:41] Christian to know that we know that we know and this is how we know that we know that we know this is how we know that we can proclaim defend we can guard we can pass on this truth to the next generation god helping us i pray so i pray for the next generation god help them one timothy we read uh timothy uh paul tells timothy oh timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust avoid profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called which some professing have aired concerning the faith grace be with thee amen timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust you've got some good godly teaching keep hold of it one day it's going to be rare and it's getting rarer isn't it you go to some christian bookshop she must carefully find a real bible it's like it's shocking it's shocking we cannot allow error to go on unchallenged and we must be moved by the truth and confront error now subtle error gives birth to fatal errors you know one thing leads to the other little leaven oh it's just a little just a little false doctrine here and there you know just sprinkled over things you know that's how some people would consider a little false doctrine is not going to hurt anybody we cannot allow error to go unchallenged and we must be moved by the truth and confront error the bible is filled with many warnings many warnings against dangerous teachings against empty philosophies against lying spirits against false knowledge against destructive heresies against traditions of men and worldly wisdom now we baptists can get it all wrong too not saying we've got a monopoly on the truth by any means but you know what's always the accepted and and the you know the the way we do church it's not necessarily up for challenge we have to be biblical people biblically led spiritually led and we must be willing to expose!

[23:51] and confront that which is of doubt the Lord warns of false prophets of worlds in sheep's clothing we must exercise discernment because discernment should drive our decisions and that means as we exercise discernment we realise what's the spirit of error the Bible talks about a spirit of error and a spirit of truth it says this too so you might say oh I'm feeling really spiritual today you might be totally off track what does the woman say oh I have this glowing warmth in my bosom and I've got the testimony now of this experience but they're totally misled so how critical it is I put to you to exercise discernment and don't just receive everything you fed including from me test it check it out question it is it a spirit of truth is it the spirit of truth or is it a spirit that's worldly that's self righteous that's prideful a careless spirit a divisive spirit rather let it be the spirit of truth let it be the spirit of grace the spirit of Christ let it be his tender compassionate spirit let it be a prayerful spirit let it be a careful spirit let it be the spirit of faith of love of sound mind doctrinal error dishonors

[25:20] God it's very important that we discern it and recognize it and call it for what it is because doctrinal error dishonors God doctrinal error in other words teaching that is wrong it's not true why is it a problem because it deceives it defiles it destroys false teachers bring evil fruit you know why are Christians so it's like they're spaced out with all kinds of wacko ideas and they're just blown around with every wind of doctrine and they've just got to go to this particular famous preacher or they've got to tune into his or her program and strange doctrines damnable heresies falsehood lies vain deceit discern discern doctrine I think there's a Christian program it's called learn to discern I think that's a good motto we should learn to discern doctrinal error is when a lie is presented as truth that's a problem isn't it if you're getting something that someone is telling you is true when it's wrong because who is the author of all lies the devil

[26:38] John 8 44 and Proverbs 12 22 says that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord to lie is an abomination to the Lord so we are urged to believe not every spirit but to try the spirits whether they are of God so to try the spirits calls for a discerning and a testing we've seen why it's plain obvious isn't it we need discernment especially in these days where error is just so everywhere why we need discernment is so vital today secondly what is discernment what is discernment what is this discernment that I'm calling for today discernment it means to approve things that are excellent wow don't you want to aspire to that approve things which are excellent aspire to that it's set for the defence of the gospel it exposes error and false teaching it proves all things it holds fast to that which is good and it discards what is not when you go out to a meal especially when it's all you can eat you've got to exercise discernment don't you when it's a smorgasbord all you can eat as much as you can eat you pile up your plate and you say oh

[28:00] I'll have a bit of this and a bit of that you make sure you exercise discernment and you get that which is nice and sugary and no you try to exercise discernment you try to be careful so I'm just there's that sense where we hold fast that which is good and we discard what is not what is not good put it away discernment what is it it's earnestly consenting for the faith it's proving prophecies again this recent contact I had was saying oh I've been prophesied over and I've been prophesied that this would happen and that would happen and I'm going to be going doing this and blah blah when I was in the Pentecostal movement someone prophesied over me and said I was going to go to Mount Gambia well he visits it but no God didn't call me to Mount Gambia these words these words of prophecy are very doubtful very very doubtful and I was in such a church and at times I would say thus saith the Lord and I look back and think

[29:14] I was really treading on thin ice thin ice very thin ice when I was saying such a thing that I could speak first hand that I was speaking as God that's very very dangerous looking back on that now and I regret that discernment it distinguishes between good and evil between purity and holiness discerns between right and wrong between black from white from truth from error it discerns God's will what is discernment it's avoiding being deceived by sin biblical discernment it means standing for sound doctrine what is discernment it's taking God's viewpoint as in Isaiah 55 let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts that's what

[30:22] God says I can say thus saith the Lord because that's in the book amen I can say thus saith the Lord because that's what he has said no doubt about it discernment what is discernment it grows the believers spiritually as they mature as they're led by the spirit of God as they're taught by the Bible our discernment must be founded on this book on the authority of the scriptures the authority of God's word the fundamental sufficiency of the scriptures that God's word is the foundation for our decisions of life and conduct all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works the authority of the scripture corrects and rebukes all false teaching because there is no higher authority to appeal to you know this is the supreme court there's nothing higher than this the supreme authority of the Bible is established by divine origin and inspiration 2 Peter 1 21 holy men of God we're moved it's the infallible word of God he says that my word shall not return unto me void it's going to accomplish what I send it to do it's infallible and God's word it enables the believer to comprehend spiritual things when you're feeling like you're in a fog what is God's will go to the book see what it says and obey it comprehend what's the word of God says discernment what is it it comes from studying the word of God and learning its precepts and principles and discernment comes alive to a believer through his faith and commitment to Christ

[32:16] Jesus discernment it springs from a heart felt love and commitment to God's word and from our vital devotion to the Lord doctrinal error destroys lives and prevents people from growing maturing and receiving God's blessing so how we absolutely we why we need it because we're living in a world where fake news is mainstreaming it's like a fake doctrine is that's that's popular now ever more so why we need it what we need is to have discernment in a days when many are being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin Hebrews 3 13 we need men and women of character we've seen the why we've seen the what how okay we've heard it in theory why we need it it's obvious we need it what it is it's getting the scriptures and making it happen how are we to make that real in our own lives today in the 21st century how are we to discern discernment comes as we are proving what is acceptable unto the

[33:30] Lord Ephesians 5 10 what's acceptable unto the culture of our day is one thing what is acceptable to the values politicians talk about values all the time don't they they all do whatever blue red green whatever mishmash independent it's all about values biblical values biblical values how are we to discern proving what is acceptable unto the culture proving what is acceptable unto the government or the or proving what is acceptable unto the Lord that's what matters how is our discernment level if you had a meter and you you know put on a scale a gauge you know how is your discernment level is it a bit low or you sort of let anything ride or is it hey I'm going to keep on my lookout and

[34:32] I'm going to keep my discernment level sharp God's word is the basis for our discernment and it starts with each of us and I like to I like the scripture the scriptures where it talks about examining and 2 Corinthians 13 5 for example as we know around the Lord's table it says examine yourself because it's very easy for me to examine you you know and you to examine me or the one who sat next to you the one who's on the other side of the room oh yeah you're one that you'd sort of oh I know what they're like well it's easy to examine others isn't it but what does it say examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves no you're not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobate so it's saying discernment starts with each of us and I like to to say I know I've said it many times but the one I have the most trouble with is the one who looks at me in the mirror you know he's the worst man I know examine yourselves whether you be in the faith look at yourself you know and you know all your all your defects you know parts of you and and defects of yourself that others don't even know about what it's saying is put it all to the test all things all teachings but especially make it personal examine yourselves and then 1 Thessalonians 5 21 tells us how we are to discern prove all things hold fast that which is good so let it be comprehensive prove all things that sense of proving it's like metal being tested and hammered and fired and and in the furnace there's a proving there's there's that intensive effort that's hey

[36:28] I'm going to really check things out really carefully here how are we to discern we measure things by this book they were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and search the scriptures daily whether those things were so Acts 17 11 the Bereans they measured everything they searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so what the preacher said so when you turn on the radio message or the TV the YouTube the you get the latest book search the scriptures whether those things are so and spit the bones out if there's too many bones don't even don't even go for it it's not worth the effort picking the bones out of some things there's so many bones but there are some glaring errors that we need to discern a lique-warm spirit a worldly spirit another gospel there's a dire need of separation the Bible tells us to rebuke false doctrine and it's the most loving thing we can do isn't it when someone is in false teaching my heart goes out to them you know I know sometimes we can as the

[37:55] Lord says to cast pearl before swine we can get to intensively tied up in trying to correct false doctrine from someone who's unteachable and you get to that stage where you think no they're not receiving but while someone's receptive oh how we would love them to know the truth how we would love them to know the truth to know the Lord and there's a dire need of separation to rebuke false doctrine to contend earnestly for the faith Jude says we should contend earnestly for the faith this is a hand-to-hand combat this is earnestly combating the enemies of the gospel and I like to think even our dear friends the Mormons and JWs the Seventh-day Adventists the wacko Pentecostals that there's lots of good people there and but for the grace of God I would be in their number they're doing a good work for the devil they're doing a good work they're active many of them we could learn a lot from them it's like

[39:11] I said one time I went to the Jehovah's Witness Hall up the road when it was there in Craigmore and just having a nosy really because the building was up for sale not that I can afford to buy another church building but it just seemed like I was interested to have a bit of a nosy and it just happened I had a meeting and and then one of the very well-dressed and smart fellows came and showed me around showed me the place and he showed me this map on the wall of the suburbs and I know brother Mick's got a map amen we're catching up aren't we he's got a map on the wall and it had all the suburbs of Elizabeth and and all the streets were kind of marked out in sections so that there's numbers of streets in sections and he said how that they were working through strategically the Jehovah's Witnesses are working through strategically section by section street by street house by house soul by soul with their damnable heresies damnable heresies what what we should be doing brothers and sisters what on what are we doing when the Jehovah's

[40:22] Witnesses are so organized with their demonic gospel and yet what are we doing we should combat them and we should take the message to our world friends I'm challenged myself I need to get witnessing more than I do I'm talking to me and I thank God for those who are faithfully witnessing I would like to be amongst them doing more than I do because time is short time is short there's no time to waste the enemies of the gospel are strategically spreading their falsehood their false gospel and I was blown away by it really and thought these guys are really they're really good at being bad you know they're really good at the false gospel they're they're selling this world and people are buying it friends how we need to wake up in these desperate days don't we people of God how we need sound wisdom biblical discernment to prove our work what does discernment look like it means that we will prove our work

[41:42] Galatians 6 4 Paul says to the Galatians Galatians 6 4 but every man prove his own work and then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another let's prove our work let's the work that we do let's make it really count let's make it approved unto God as we should be a workman not ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth we are to call to prove workers let these also first be proved tales of deacons we need to prove our work to get God's approval and sound doctrine it divides it confronts it judges it separates it reproves it rebukes it exposes and refutes error a Christian commentator has said this among the gifts of the spirit scarcely one is of greater practical usefulness than the gift of discernment of course it's discerning of spirits this gift should be highly valued and frankly sought as being almost indispensable in these critical times now there's a lot of talk about spiritual gifts it's usually the a misguided wrong emphasis on gifts that have fulfilled their purpose in history this writer saying the gift of the greatest practical usefulness of these days is the gift of discernment discerning spirits this gift will enable us to distinguish the chaff from the wheat to divide the manifestations of the flesh from the operations of the spirit we need to sharpen our discernment get that discernment meter at full bore so let me just close with some remarks here of some tests that we can use I put to you five tests for rather that we can use and I know I've heard people say about trying the spirits of testing the spirits and some have used it when someone supposedly speaking in tongues not the biblical tongues but the tongues of today which are false and not the real tongues and they were testing the spirits and they were found that it's not that they actually were proven to be false they couldn't confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh they couldn't confess

[44:03] Christ as Savior and Lord so it just shows that the tongues they had were not biblical they weren't of God wasn't of the spirit of God and we should try the spirits this is very important that we do that try your spiritual experiences was it of God was it just the emotion of the time four tests we can use number one the authority test the authority test these are tests you can use when you've confronted with false teachers so four tests you can take note of firstly the authority test does their teaching agree with the scriptures again these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so the authority do they appeal to the world or to biblical authority 1 John 4 verse 5 it says they are of the world therefore they speak of the world and the world heareth them in some churches it's all about oh my latest manifestation I had a visit to heaven and you know I died and came back to life again and I saw heaven and and I spoke to the angels and and this that and the other and had all these wonderful signs and wonders and oh it was just so fantastic but the authority is lacking because it's not in agreement with the scriptures it's extra biblical in other words it's adding to the scriptures the authority test number one secondly the relationship test the relationship test do they have a salvation relationship with God Jesus saith unto them I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me the relationship test and we can talk to people about doctrine till the cows come home and you know you can win an argument and lose a friend there's a sense where I can I can battle with you and

[45:58] I'm going to point out that you're wrong and I'm right and this that and the other but the point is do you know the Lord the one you're talking to do they know the Lord that's the bottom line do they confess Jesus Christ is my Lord the relationship test are they saved and when we can talk to these cultists and they go off on all their tangents it's got to you've got to bring them back to that ultimate question are you saved do you know the Lord that's the relationship test thirdly we see the motive tests the motive test 2 Peter 2 verse 3 of false teachers we read and through covetousness shall they with famed words make merchandise of you 2 Peter 2 verse 3 what's their motive and in some cults and in some of these prosperity gospel health wealth and prosperity preachers their their object is their own vain glory and their own comfort and ease in browbeating people about giving and such and and manipulation fleecing the sheep and just riding roughshod over people just the motive is wrong the false teachers you know with all their merchandise they're making merchandise of you you know go to Kurong and you see how the they're making merchandise of you you know you can get all manner of little little gifts and and articles and trinkets and you know some TV preachers you can get holy oil from Jerusalem now it's probably two cents worth of oil you know this is yours for a gift of 100 dollars you get a gift of precious oil from Jerusalem and or whatever it be or you get my hanky that I've prayed over and you can get this dirty horrible hanky that I prayed over and you can put it on yourself and that's going to heal you and you know this can be yours for just a small donation of 50 dollars just today today only for a limited time only you can have this handkerchief for 50 dollars and they're making merchandise of you can you see that these TV preachers that's what they do they're really their motive is absolutely wrong isn't it and then we see fourthly the fruit test beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing it goes on you shall know them by their fruits what's what's the fruit of such teaching is it a deeper walk with god is it a more holy is it a more growing in your faith is it a more walking in the spirit is it a more biblical sound strong growing kind of teaching that's going to help you live the christian life in a in a victorious way or is the fruit of their teaching just a wishy-washy empty kind of teaching it's not biblical does their lifestyle reflect godly living you see some of the popular preachers these days that they they walk around like rock stars you know they've got their bling and you know men wearing jewelry looking like whatever and they look like worldly rock stars the way they carry on and it's their lifestyle does it reflect godly living or are they just like living like like the world it tells of certain men who crept in unawares ungodly men turning the grace of our lord into lasciviousness which means fleshly living and denying the only lord god and our lord jesus christ there's cunning counterfeits today forgeries they're forgeries and it's happening on a global scale a perverse propaganda campaign it's carefully planned it's persuasive and it's deliberately designed to trap to control and to

[50:04] manipulate a manipulation of the message is going on and god helping us we need to be careful every church every preacher every ministry has got to watch are we being scriptural or are we getting off track is the are we detouring from what god really wants us to be telling and emphasizing and we're in a battle people of god today christians we must wage war in this battle it's a battlefront that we're in we must analyze make wise and godly decisions we must get the strategy right and beat the kingdom halls amen we've got to get the strategy not that we need to be using methodologies of men but where it's scriptural we should be actively propagating the truth to counteract the error that is prevalent how we need to brothers and sisters to be mindful of these things so please as i close let's just touch on briefly where we've traveled here tonight john says beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of god are they even of god because many false prophets are gone out into the world why because many false prophets have gone out into the world what that's why we need to discern what is discernment it means exercising biblical authority it means trying things by this book that's what it is does it measure up does it line up and how think of those tests the authority test do they regard this book as authoritative or oh well in the greek it says this and oh this verse is missing in certain manuscripts or oh you can translate it this way what does your bible say oh my bible says this rubbish this is the authority this is the authorized version the authority this has the where the word of the king is is authority the king james and it's the king jesus bible really but honestly i'm you know probably being a little flippant here but the truth is we can believe this book there's the authority of god in it it's stamped with god's authority his book the relationship test do they even know the lord the motive test are they just making merchandise or are they really genuine preachers and teachers of the truth and the fruit test what's the result of their ministry are people getting saved people growing in their faith brothers and sisters we must discern we must discern because he that is spiritual judge of all things there's a rightful judgment we're not talking about as our lord said of the pharisees they're just gnats straining nitpicking oh brother don't like the color of your tie it just it just clashes with your shirt or you know oh you know this that and the other or yeah all the just things a bit flippant somewhat really but the sense of we can nitpick or we can be spiritual and we can judge all things as in this book guides how we are to live what we are to believe and tells us what we are to be doing so be encouraged tonight i pray i've planted some seeds of hey i'm going to switch on a bit more i'm going to get that discernment meter at a high level i'm going to be alert now and i'm going to check everything including what this preacher says what every preacher says well every internet site says about doctrine and whatnot hey i'm going to actually no

[54:08] i'm not going to swallow that because that doesn't accord with this that's what measures everything amen let's pray lord we thank you that your word is truth it's authoritative and we need no question of it but rather let it question us let your word have that authority that will stand up for it and believe it and put it into action i pray in jesus name amen