06.30.24 | Testing Truth and Tall Tales | Matt Carr

Truth VS Deception:
    • God: Telling the truth is good
    • The World: Deceiving others is good

discerning the Spirit of truth from false spirits.
How do we discern the Spirit of truth from false spirits?
We can discern the Spirit of truth by examining the spirits.

Read Scripture: 1 John 4:1-6 1.

1. The Problem:
    False prophets are in the world
        • Don’t believe every spirit  
      • Jesus warned about them (Matt 7:15)
       • Moses’ instructions for determining a true prophet (Deut. 18:22)
       
• “Credulity is the person who just believes anything anybody tells him for no reason at all. But faith, authentic faith, biblical faith, is grounded in the trustworthiness of God Himself.” - RC Sproul

     • Test the spirits  
    • Credibility: A prophet’s credibility is determined by their source.
     • Spiritual activity does not necessarily mean Godly activity.

2. The Test: Jesus has come in the flesh
      • Confess Jesus: • Jesus is the messiah.
      • He is the Son of God.  
     • The incarnation is essential and primary.

     • Why test?
     
     • What is more important than settling who Jesus is? 
     • What will happen to the next generation? 

3. The Source: The Spirit of Truth is from God 
     • From God vs From the World 
     • The Christian’s Message 
     • The World’s Message 
     • The MESSAGE reveals the SOURCE 

4. The Solution: Our God is Greater