At this time, children can be dismissed to Children's Church, and Mrs. Wiener will be there at the back to take you to Children's Church this morning. And then, if you will, open your Bibles to the book of 1 John, in Chapter 4, this morning. 1 John, in Chapter 4. We'll be looking at the first six verses of this chapter. First John 4, I'll read these verses. John writes, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And 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 in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. and hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Thinking about a necessary test this morning, and I would begin by just noting this, that we live in a difficult time here in America in that popular Christianity in America is not biblical, and biblical Christianity is not popular. Many professing believers are opting for popular Christianity over biblical Christianity. But let's be honest, it's a danger we all face to one degree or another. There's not a one of us sitting here this morning that don't face the danger of embracing at least some form of popular Christianity even though it may not be biblical. And I think maybe one of the reasons for that is because many times we make our decisions based on how we feel. I like this. This feels good to me. And we do what we want to do because it's just what we want to do instead of asking the question, is it right? Is it biblical? Does it line up with the word of God? And so we need to note that just because somebody claims to be a Christian doesn't make it so. Just because they claim to speak for God doesn't make it so. And so we are admonished, we're challenged here in verse 1 of 1 John 4. to try the spirits, whether they are of God, to test the spirits, to discern whether they are of God or not. You know, I thought it was interesting as I'm reading this and I'm asking myself the question, John says, try the spirits, whether they are of God, he doesn't say, Try men, test men to see if they're of God. And he says, try the spirits. Why does he use that term? Why does he say test the spirits as opposed to testing men? And I think the answer to that question is the understanding that the Holy Spirit is back of biblical Christianity. He is the one that is behind the truth. He is the one that has revealed the truth. The Bible has been given by inspiration of God and the Spirit of God moved the writers of the scripture so that they wrote the words of God. The Holy Spirit is back of the truth, but it is demonic spirits that are back of the truth. And so I would take you for a moment just to 1 Timothy chapter 4 and note that Paul says that very thing in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1. If you'll notice that verse, as Paul has even wrote about the last days and a popular but unbiblical Christianity, he begins chapter 3. talking about that, and then that those who believe and preach the truth are even persecuted for that, and yet there's an admonition in the latter part of chapter three to remain in the truth, and Paul will continue that. I'm sorry, I'm in 2 Timothy. We should be in 1 Timothy, so my apologies. So in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to what? Seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. He goes on to say, some of the false teaching would be forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it would be received with thanksgiving. if we're to be sanctified by the word of God in prayer. And Paul talks about some of the specifics there that would be taught, the errors that would be taught. And there's many, but the point is that it's the demonic spirits that are behind that. So all error, no matter what it is, has its source not in God and not in man, but in Satan. And he uses his demons, and he does use men who have embraced that, the false teachers, to spread those lies, but they have their ultimate source in Satan himself. And so we need to test the spirits. We need to test the things that we hear, the teaching of men. Is it of God? Is it coming from the Holy Spirit? Or is it coming from demonic spirits? And John in this text, going back to 1 John chapter four, gives us two tests that we can apply towards men to determine whether they are of which spirit they're of, whether they're of the Holy Spirit or whether they are of demonic spirit. The first is the faith test. What do they believe? You'll notice that in verse two, John says, we know the spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Bible Christianity proclaims the deity of Jesus Christ. In John 1 and verse 1 we read, "...in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And in verse 14, "...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Clearly John is using that term, the Word, to apply to Jesus Christ, the One who became flesh. And he says that the Word was God, that Jesus is indeed God come in the flesh. In John 10, beginning in verse 30, Jesus made the statement, I and my Father are one And the Jews took up stones to stone him, and Jesus asked him, you know, why are you stoning me? And the Jews said, we're not stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because thou, being a man, makest thyself God. When he said, I and my father are one, they understood that he was claiming to be God. And they're ready to stone him saying he's blaspheming, but we know what John revealed at the very beginning of his letter, and it's revealed in other parts of the Word of God as well, that Jesus was God come in the flesh, that he wasn't blaspheming, he was telling the truth, that he was indeed one with the Father, that we believe in one God, in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so that's sound doctrine. That's what is part of the foundation of biblical Christianity, And so as we examine the beliefs of others, we have to ask the question, what do they believe? We have to give them the faith test. Not every organization that calls itself Christian or that is called Christian by others holds to biblical doctrine. Now, let me, I'm gonna give you some illustrations this morning. This message is probably long on illustration. I'm just trying to help you understand this this morning. And I don't want to offend anybody. It's not my point. And you know, there's good people in organizations that claim to be Christian that are not. I'm not trying to put people down. I'm simply trying to point out truth. The fellow once told me, he said, you know, if you want me to come to your church, don't tell me what's wrong with everybody else's church, tell me what's right with yours. He used the illustration of, he said, you know, if you want me to buy a Ford, don't tell me what's wrong with a Chevy, tell me what's right with a Ford. And I thought, well, you know, that sounds good, except suppose there's a problem with a Chevy that's life threatening. You know, I can tell you what's right about a Ford, I'm simply using his illustration, okay? So if you're a Ford or Chevy guy, whatever, don't worry about it. I'm simply using his illustration. But if there's a problem with the Chevy, I need to tell you not just what's right with a Ford, but you ought to buy a Ford because if you buy a Chevy, you're putting your life in danger. So if that's an issue, I need to know that. So it's not always, we can't always just be positive. Sometimes we have to point out truth. The Lord told Jeremiah at the beginning of his ministry, in Jeremiah 1.10, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out, to pull down, to destroy, to throw down, to build and to plant. It first of all began with tearing down and rooting out and throwing down and then you can build and plant. And sometimes it's necessary to pull down, destroy and throw down before you can plant and build. Sometimes it's necessary to see what's wrong before we can see what is right. So, let me just give you some illustrations. These were taken from the November 20th, 2024 edition of the Sword of the Lord. There was an article in there that said Pope Francis spoke to a group of young people in Singapore and he said this, quote, all religions are paths to reach God. They are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for everyone and since God is God for all men, we are all children of God. Some seek. is in the religious groups, Sikhs, some Muslims, some Hindus, some Christian, but they are all paths to God. Jesus said in John 14, six, I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh unto God but by me. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. There is only one path to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. And yes, anyone can believe But if you don't believe on Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're not going to the Father. And that's not my words, that's not our words, that's what our church teaches, but it's not our words, that's what the Bible says. And we have to go with the Bible. There was another illustration in there about a Drew Stever, who is a pastor. in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, but who identifies as a man, she recently suggested that the Bible, and thus its moral standards, are not compatible with modern society. Quote, it's hard to relate it to modern times because it wasn't written for 2024, it was written for then. In other words, the Bible, we don't have to believe and accept all the Bible today because it was written back in its day and applied in that day, but it doesn't all apply today. 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, truly furnished unto all good works. It is profitable for every generation. The words of God endure to all generations. And so we have to ask, what do you believe? It's not enough just to call yourself a Christian to be identified as a Christian. What do you believe? Let me read you a statement. And I just ask you, you don't need to answer out loud, but in your mind, just think about this. Do you agree with this following statement? We believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ as the literal son of God and a distinct member of the Godhead, along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to earth to experience the trials of a mortal life, to teach and to testify of God, to perform mighty miracles and to complete his atoning sacrifice. which would allow us to be cleansed from sin and to be resurrected. So let me ask you, first of all, does that sound good? Okay, so far so good, right? Because of Jesus' sacrifice for you, you can repent and be forgiven completely. In addition, every bit of unfairness you've endured will be made right someday through Jesus Christ. We can overcome not just the spiritual death of sin, but physical death as well through Jesus. Because He rose from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion, you too can someday be resurrected and live with God and your loved ones in a perfected body, free from sickness and pain. What's wrong with that statement? Sounds good, doesn't it? You know, if you take it at face value, it sounds like, that's the Bible. I mean, that's what we believe. But that is a doctrinal statement of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Mormons. By the way, they go on to say, the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. So, you know, you have to look deeper even than that, because if that's all you look at, you say, oh, they're Christians. Yeah, well, they also believe that everybody existed with God prior to their birth, that they, the Mormon church, is the restoration of the true church. that the Book of Mormon is God's Word along with the Old Testament and the New Testament. And they believe that when they're baptized, they're promising God that they will, quote, keep His commandments, show love to others, and take Jesus Christ's name upon them. And if they do these things, God promises to forgive their sins, to bless them with His Holy Spirit, and help them return to live with Him forever. So they preach a works salvation. So even though the initial doctrinal statement sounds good, it's not right. And there are other errors in the Mormon church, but just understand that you can't always just even look at a basic doctrinal statement. You gotta dig deeper. You gotta really look at what they teach, not just in parts, but in a whole. They further state that if we live righteously, repenting as needed to the end of our mortal life, we'll enter spirit paradise. So we need to test the teachings of organizations. and ask the question, what do they believe? What do they believe about Jesus? What do they believe about, and if I'm not mistaken, I'm drawing this one from memory, but I think the Mormons believe that Jesus was born at some time in the past, begotten of the Father, and that Satan is his brother, that Satan went bad, Jesus went good. that everybody will one day, that God wasn't always God, we know Him today, that there was a day when God was like us, and that one day we will be like God. It goes back to the lie that Satan told in the Garden of Eden. And so you've gotta dig, you've gotta look, you can't take everything at face value. And by the way, Paul didn't mince words when speaking about those who preached any other way to heaven than through faith in Christ. He stated in Galatians 1.8, but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. It's pretty strong language that Paul is saying that because if they preach another gospel, they are condemning men to hell because they're teaching them this is the way to heaven when it's not. And so let's be careful because not everybody that calls themselves a Christian or is designated as a Christian, not every organization that says they are followers of God or of Jesus Christ are indeed of God. That we must test the spirits, every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, it's the spirit of antichrist. that is already in the world, and it has its ultimate source in Satan, who will be the power behind the Antichrist. By the way, not only do not all organizations that call themselves Christians are, but we have to be careful about what people who claim to be followers of Christ hold to, what they believe. I ran across in something I was looking at, I ran across this statement by an individual. I thought it was interesting the way he stated this. He said, hi, everyone. I just declared myself Christian back at the start of the year. And I've been with a non-denominational Christian church for about a year and was open to seeking God even before that. It's clear that God has made significant changes and transformations in my life so far so good. I adore Jesus. so far so good, and I think he really may be the one. And there's a problem there. I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I love Jesus, God has made changes in my life, and maybe he's the one. Well, if you don't believe that he is the one, you can't be saved. Either he is God or he's not, he is the only way of salvation or he's not, you can't have it both ways. And I'm not judging this man's heart. I'm looking at what he says and I'm saying that doesn't line up with God. I don't know his heart, but what he's saying indicates that he's never really come to true saving faith in Christ. That's what he says. I'm not gonna go around and judge people's heart. I can only judge what they say and what they do and make an evaluation based upon that. There was a popular contemporary Christian singer songwriter who was interviewed on the national radio program and at one point she was asked, do you feel that homosexuality is a sin? Now there's a problem with that question right at the outset. What's the problem? Do you feel that homosexuality is a sin? What's wrong with that? Say it loud. Do you feel? It doesn't matter what I feel. But that was the question. After a pause, this Christian singer-songwriter responded this way. You know, I can't honestly answer that. I have too many people that I love that are homosexual, and I don't know. I actually had a conversation with somebody last night about it, and I was like, I can't say one way or the other, I'm not God. So when people ask questions like that, that's what my go-to is. I just say, read the Bible and find out for yourself, and when you find out, let me know, because I'm learning too. At that point, the host replied, wow, You're a pro already. After that interview, there were people who faulted the host for asking the question and faulted the singer for the way that she answered the question, and the host responded to the criticism this way. The backlash received from our interview has been very disappointing to witness. I was shocked by the number of attacks and the assumption there was on somebody simply saying, I don't know. The truth is, you don't know. You don't know if she was dodging the question, You don't know if she was lying, and neither do I. Well, that's true. I mean, she could have been just put on the spot and like, I don't want to answer this question because I may lose listeners, I may lose some of my revenue if I say what I really believe, so let me just say I don't know. That's possible, although the way that she said it would suggest that she really didn't know what she really believed. But anyway. But this host who asked the question went on to say, I know that Moses thought it was a sin. I know Paul thought it was a sin. But Jesus didn't speak on it. How many times do we hear that in popular Christianity in America? Well, Jesus didn't say anything about it. And therefore, it must be okay with Jesus because he didn't speak about it. Then this guy went on to say, "...and Paul and Moses didn't always get things right in their writings, nor was it always recorded, copied, and translated correctly." In other words, the Bible is not God's Word, it's the writings of men. John 16, 8 and 9 says, and he quotes the Bible, when the Holy Spirit comes, he'll expose the world concerning sin and righteousness and judge, this is his quote, sin and righteousness and concerning judging, that's not what it says, it says concerning judgment. not us judging, but God judging us. Of sin, because they're not believing in me. Jesus identified sin as not believing in himself, not our sexual preference or wrongdoings, but rather our unbelief. So it's possible that someone doesn't know what is considered a sin and what isn't, and neither does anyone else. Not Moses, not Paul, not you, not me, or the singer, because we're not God. Well, the Bible is very clear about what is and isn't sin. And Paul wrote it, Moses wrote it, and Jesus spoke about it, and they all spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke as God, and then the men who wrote, wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, by the Spirit of God. They wrote the Word of God. It is all God's Word, and it is right. God's Word is perfect. And so we have to go back to what does the Bible say? I was reminded in looking at all this that there is, I ran across an article a while back about the He Gets Us campaign, which began, I think, maybe last year's Super Bowl or two years ago, the Super Bowl. They started these commercials. If you watch any sports, you'll see it. And they all try to present Jesus as just He's one of us and He gets it because He had a dysfunctional family and He was lonely. You know, he had anxiety and things like that. And trying to really, what they say is we're trying to present Jesus, we're trying to change, we're trying to present Jesus and correct some of the misconceptions that have been put out there by his followers. In other words, those who profess to be Christians are not actually presenting God as he really is, Christ as he really is. So we're gonna show you what Jesus was really like. So somebody wrote an article, Seven Problems with the He Gets Us Campaign. Let me just run through this real quick. And by the way, I'm spending most of the time on this first test, and we'll talk about the other one briefly. But Seven Problems with the He Gets Us Campaign, and it says that Jesus of this campaign is nothing more than an inspiring human who relates to our problems and cares, who relates to our problems and cares a whole lot about a culturally palatable version of social justice. In other words, he promotes social justice in a way that's acceptable to the culture. So he says the fact that Jesus gets us stripped from the context of his identity is meaningless. The first problem is they don't mention the deity of Christ. It's all about his humanity. And they don't say anything about his deity. He's presented as an example, not a savior. The campaign says he wants you to care about Jesus because he's a great moral example. They say, for instance, no matter what we think of Christianity, most people can agree on one thing. During his lifetime, Jesus set a pretty good example of peace and love. But there's nothing in the campaign that presents Jesus as God or a savior for humanity. Matter of fact, they say that the goal is inspiration, not salvation through Jesus Christ. This whole program was made up by a marketing agency and the president of the marketing agency said, ultimately the goal is inspiration, not recruitment or conversion. We want to just inspire you to be like Jesus. So we don't say anything about his deity. We don't speak about the need for salvation from sin. We just tell you Jesus set a good example and you ought to be like him. It reinforces what culture wants to believe about Jesus. while leaving out what culture doesn't want to believe about Jesus. They talk about how Jesus invited everyone to sit at his table, how inclusive he was, how the religious do-gooders began to whisper behind his back, and how the name of Jesus has been used to harm and divide. But if you look at how he lived, you see how backward that really is. Jesus was not exclusive, he was radically inclusive. Jesus ate Republicans and sinners, but why? Because he just wanted to include everybody, y'all come follow me, everything's okay. No, because he wanted them to see their need of salvation in him. He wanted them to understand their sin and that they needed to be saved through him. They needed the forgiveness of their sins through faith in him. And that's why he, yes, he did welcome everyone to come to him to hear the message of the gospel. Well, I could go on, but let me give you one other. The follow-up that's offered by the He Gets Us campaign could lead somebody away from the truth rather than toward it, because if you want to find out more, there's a way you can go to their website. If you want to find out more, you let them know, and then they'll point you to a church. The churches volunteer to be a part of this. So when somebody responds, they point you to a church in your area. But the problem is they have no doctrinal statement. There's no requirement for that church to say that we believe certain core doctrines. So you could end up in a church that doesn't preach salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. You could end up in a church that preaches that just do good, live a good life, and be like Jesus, and you'll go to heaven. And you end up, the person who's actually maybe seeking truth, maybe they really are seeking truth, but instead of getting truth, they get error, and they wind up spending eternity separated from God in hell because they didn't get the truth. And on and on we could go. But the point is, as John says, there is a doctrinal test that must be applied to every organization and every individual that claims to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, a spokesperson for Jesus Christ. What do they believe? beginning with what do they believe about Jesus Christ, who is he, and what was his mission, and as he came into the world. And if they don't believe the truth about Jesus Christ, or the core doctrines of the faith, then they are not speaking by the spirit of God, they're speaking by the spirit and the lies of Satan. And that's a hard thing to say, I understand that. I don't say that self-righteously or condemning people as Paul noted in Galatians 1. If somebody preaches another gospel, they should be accursed because they're leading men astray, leading men to hell because they're not giving them truth. And it shouldn't be that we look at all this with a self-righteous, we're right and you're wrong, and we're going to heaven, you're going to hell, yada, yada, yada, we're so good and you're so bad. No, we should have compassion, that people are being led astray. And compassionately share truth with them, and pray that God will use the truth to bring them to Himself. Because ultimately, it is the truth and it is the Spirit of God and the Word of God that are gonna bring men to salvation by faith in Christ alone. And so our hearts ought to break for people that are caught up in these false teachings, for people that embrace a popular Christianity that is not biblical. But there's a second test that John gives us, not only the faith test, but what about the fellowship test? He says in verse five, they, that is, the false prophets, they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God, and he that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us, and by that we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Who do they embrace, and who embraces them? John reminds us in verse 4 that you are of God, little children, you've overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. A true believer is not taken in by the false teaching because he has the Holy Spirit indwelling him, teaching him, warning him. He hears something and it doesn't sound right. because the Holy Spirit is sounding a warning bell in his heart. In 1 John 2, verse 18, John writes, Little children, it is the last time, and as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists, whereby we know it is the last time, but he goes on to say, but you have an unction from the Holy One, that is the Holy Spirit, and you know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. And then he says in verse 27 of chapter two, the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. You have the anointing, you have the Holy Spirit within you to teach you the truth, and the word of God to teach you the truth. And so, We go back to what does the Bible say, and we question things on the basis of the word of God, and the spirit of God gives us an understanding. And so we embrace truth, and we embrace those who teach truth. When they're teaching it, biblical truth, we can see, yes, they are of God. I listen to what they're saying, and I understand that. And I embrace them because they are one of us. But unbelievers don't, except truth. Whenever you bring biblical truth into a conversation with someone who, maybe it's someone like that songwriter who claimed that she was a follower of Christ, but she didn't know whether homosexuality was a sin or not. When you bring biblical truth into a conversation, or you're trying to expose error, and the person you're talking to gets mad, or refuses to accept what you're saying, that's an indication there's something wrong there. Because a believer, he may live contrary to truth, he can sin, but when you confront him with the truth, he may not want to change, but he'll know in his heart you're right. But you know, I thought about this, even Lot, Lot was about as worldly of a believer as you could find presented in the Word of God. I mean, he lived in Sodom. He didn't participate in the sins of Sodom. It grieved his heart. He saw all that was going on around him, and he didn't agree with it, and it grieved him to see it. But he wouldn't leave because he was making money there. He's living for this world. But one day God sent the angels to destroy the city and to deliver Lot because Abraham had prayed for him. And when the angel said to Lot, get out because God is gonna destroy this city because of their wickedness, Lot didn't say, oh, come on, you're kidding. No, it's not so, no, Lot understood. He agreed, he understood. He accepted what they said at face value. Yeah, God's gonna destroy this place. And he knew it deserved it. because of the weakness of the place. Even though he's a worldly believer, when he heard the truth, he accepted it, he believed it. He didn't want to leave. He was hesitant to leave. They finally had to drag him out because everything he was living for was there. He was going to lose it all. He was hesitant to leave, but they did bring him out. But the point is that he accepted the truth. When he heard it, he believed it and accepted it. He even tried to tell his unbelieving sons-in-law that God was going to destroy the city. They didn't believe it because they had seen the way Lot lived and so they didn't believe in God because they didn't see any evidence of it in Lot's life. But at least, you know, here's a worldly believer who accepts the truth when he's confronted with it. That's generally the mark of a true believer is even if he's not living the truth, when he hears it and when he's confronted with it, he might get mad, but he can't disagree with you. But an unbeliever will try to tell you, no, you're wrong and I'm right. But John says here that these false teachers are of the world and so the world hears them. True believers are rejected by the world, but unbelievers masquerading as believers and worldly believers are embraced by the world. Jesus said, woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. You go back and read the Old Testament prophets and the men that preach truth, the response of the people was, stop being so negative. We don't want to hear all this negative stuff about judgment. Preach good things to us. Preach pleasant messages. Preach, you know, fun, lighthearted, good, and tell us we're all doing okay and everything's fine and God's not going to judge us. That's what the false prophets were saying in those days. And men like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Micah and others, they're preaching the judgment of God. The people didn't want to hear it. Stop telling us that. We don't want to hear that. That's often the response of the world. Don't preach that negative message. We don't wanna hear about God and judgment and sin. We just wanna hear about a God who's all love and embraces everybody and won't send anybody to hell. That in the end, love wins, that everybody gets to go to heaven because God is a God of love. So Peter reminds us that there are false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you who privately will bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." So there's the faith test, but there's a fellowship test. Who embraces these people? And whom do they embrace? How do they respond to truth? and who's following them, people who believe and preach the truth of sin and the need of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ or those that preach that God's just a God of love and compassion and loves everybody and accepts everybody just as they are and would never judge anybody, would never punish sin, certainly wouldn't condemn men to hell. That's the question we have to ask. And so hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error So we must try the spirits to see if they are truly of God or not. We cannot embrace something just because we like it, or just because we like them, or just because we don't want to be offensive. Jesus spoke strongly about false teachers and false teaching, and it was offensive. At one point the disciples said, Lord, don't you know you offended the Pharisees? It didn't matter to him because they were teaching false doctrine and people were, if they believed what they were preaching, they were gonna go to hell. If their teaching is not of the word of God, doesn't agree with the word of God, it's of the devil, it must be shunned. And as we have opportunity, we should compassionately share truth with them. And ultimately, it's the truth that sets you free. And so if we can speak the truth in love, God may use that to convince them of their error and to lead them to saving faith in Jesus Christ. But if we just tell them they're okay and agree, yeah, you're a Christian, it's what you say, and I just accept that at face value, I'm not helping them. and I ought to care more about their souls than about my reputation or about their feelings. Sometimes it's hard to do. Again, we have to do it with compassion, but we must stand for truth. We must test the spirits to see what they're of. Let's stand together for prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your word. and its truth. Again, we thank you that for most of us, all of our lives, we've had the truth, the true message of the gospel. And there was a day when we admitted our sin and our need of your forgiveness and believed on Christ as our savior. And we thank you, Father, for your Holy Spirit's working in our hearts to convict us of our sin and to draw us to yourself. And Lord, I do pray that if there's one here today who's never believed on Christ, that today would be the day of salvation for them. Father, help us who know Christ not to be self-righteous and proud. We should be humble and grateful that we've had access to the truth and have compassion on those who have yet to hear the true message of the gospel. Father, give us that compassion, that heart of love, even as Paul spoke about his love for the Jewish people who had rejected Christ and were following the teachings of Judaism, trying to earn their way to heaven through keeping the law. Paul's heart broke for them. He wanted to see them safe. Father, may that be our heart as well, for those around us who are mired in sin and in error. And so, Father, encourage us through your word. Strengthen us through your word. Give us your heart of love for the lost around us, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.