All right. Good morning. You guys ready to get after it? Alright. Hey, before you get too comfortable, if you got seats by you, if you could scoot in. Uh, there's some people still looking for some seats, so, um. Yeah. Do this. You guys know what I'm talking about? So if you're standing in the back, uh, if you got a seat by you, maybe raise your hand, let let the ushers know or let people know, uh, and they'll try to get you a seat if you don't have a seat in about ten minutes, there may be people that walk out of this message and there'll be seats then. So just hold tight. All right? Uh, first, John, go ahead and grab your Bibles to the book of First John. We're in chapter four. We're starting chapter four, uh, today. And we got some, we got some good, good news, but, but, but some challenging news. And let's just get, let's just get right into this because I'm on the clock. Let's go to very. The first verse we're going to look at first John four one Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. Now why does he say that? So we're like this. I thought we were just going to like celebrate baptisms and it was going to be a fun Sunday. But it's it's going to be a fun Sunday. Uh, why does he say that? Like what? What is he getting at? Like, you know, that John cares for his audience. He's been saying like little children. Uh, here he starts out beloved. Like this is coming from a place of fatherly concern. But he gets right into this warning. And the warning is like, don't believe everything you hear. Don't be so gullible. Don't just kind of take everything that you hear and swallow it and just kind of embrace it. He's like, you need to be more discerning. How many in here? I don't even know if this is the right way to say it. Celebrate April Fools Day or like you do something on April Fool's Day. My wife gets me every year. And when I say every year, every year, and she's she needs to be talked to because like, she'll like the gloves come off. She's told me that one of my kids have been in a car accident before. I know, I know, I know you find this year she told me our house was on fire like this. She gets me every year. Um, and there's a there's just like when you just jump. I thought she was trustworthy. So I just like, okay, if you say it, then, I mean, I married you, so why would you lie to me? Uh, but yet we can kind of too easily believe things like, let me just ask, do you think being gullible is a problem for Christians today? I mean, not you, of course, but like in the in the church, do you think like, man, when you look at the American church, it just seems like we might be swallowing some things we shouldn't be swallowing or some embracing some things we might shouldn't be embracing or just kind of going along with things without discernment. The critical thinking seems to be a pretty rare thing. I don't mean a critical spirit that seems to be very prevalent. Um, like a critical spirit is just, you know, negative about everything, just kind of complaining about everything. I'm not talking about that, but, but critical thinking is actively evaluating information to reach a sound conclusion or I would say a biblical conclusion. Like when you watch a show or listen to a commercial or a music or a sermon or a podcast, it's like, is that right? Is that true? I'm reminded in acts seventeen, Paul left Thessalonica teaching. There a lot of opposition. Like we're going to go to this next town is Berea, and the Bereans would listen to the teaching all day and then said they would go back and search the scriptures to see if, like, is what he's saying true? Is that right? And it was described as noble. Like that was noble. Like you get in like you should have this kind of, uh, critical thinking or as John saying, like, test the spirits. So the warning is clear. Like, don't be gullible. There's a lot of commands in Scripture to believe. Well, this is the one like, don't believe everything. Like, put your thinking cap on, test it. Is that right? Have a have a critical thinking to this. But why is he saying this? Let's look back at verse one. He says this, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God for or because. This is the reason many false prophets have gone out into the world. So the reason is like there's a lot of people telling lies. The reason I'm telling you to be discerning is because there's a lot of people telling lies. And he says there's been false prophets or many false prophets have gone out into the world. Now, that can mean a couple of things. It could mean, hey, there's false prophets that are out in this world teaching worldly things. Or it could mean there are false prophets who used to be in the church and have gone out from the church. They used to kind of believe what we believe, and now they don't. They're preaching a different gospel. I think it's more the second one. And the reason I say that is if you go back to chapter two, he says this children, verse eighteen, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They. Speaking of these kind of Antichrist anti-gospel, anti-Christian type people went out from us. So it's like they were a part of this group. They went out from us, but they were not of us. So you would think they were from us, but they're not. They they left kind of our teachings and they twisted and distorted the teachings of Christianity. I think that's what he's warning them about, because the greater threat is not wolves. It's wolves in sheep's clothing. Right? Like you, you kind of look the right part and you say Jesus and I say Jesus, and you read your Bible and I read my Bible, but but you dig into that more. It's like, I think we're coming to really different conclusions here. And, and John's saying you need to not be so gullible. Test it. Look to see that if it's true or not. But either way, if it's just a secular worldly value promoting or twisted truth, kind of clothed in Christianity, the principle is true. Don't, don't be gullible. Don't be gullible. But but here's the word I want us to to see here it says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For what? Many, many false prophets have gone out. I don't think this is an issue that a lot of people would doubt. Like, yeah, there's people that are saying wrong things. But I think we underestimate the prevalence of the problem because Guys. It's everywhere. Like it's the air we breathe. It's just the the culture we swim in just kind of this promotion. I mean, certainly like in a, in a secular, humanistic way, which seems to be the religion of our day. Like you just get it everywhere. It's like in every show and every song like, like on, on one aspect, it's like, okay, I know it's all around us, but, but also lies, um, clothed in Christian language coming from pulpits and podcasts and books kind of pushing this, um, you know, distorted gospel given license to sin, putting man at the center, not God. Like it's just, it's, it's all around. And sometimes we just get numb to it. Let me just free up some seats, um, to help us understand the scope of this problem. Guys get this. The senior advisor of the white House faith office, Paula White, is a false teacher. It's not like just this, like a backwoods kind of a little problem. Like this is this is a prevalent problem. There are false prophets twisting and distorting God's word. And John saying, you got to be discerning. You gotta be discerning. But notice how he says it. He's like, test the what? That's kind of a weird way to say it. Why do you say it like that? Test the spirit. So, so there are false prophets. There's many false prophets. These are human teachers, clearly, that he's addressing. But there's something spiritual behind it. And this isn't like new talk in the New Testament. Here's Paul addressing a problem in first Corinthians. He says, what do I imply then that food offered to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No, no, no. Isn't that anything? I imply, what pagans sacrifice they offer. To who? Demons and not to God. I do not want you to participate. With who? He's saying there's there's a spiritual reality behind these these practices. It's not just nothing. There is a spiritual reality behind this. This is in Ephesians six. Um, it says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of who. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Now, for some of you, especially if you're just like I came to church because a friend's getting baptized, you're going to get weirded out a little bit. But what he's saying is like, hey, we clearly see problems in this world. It's not just flesh and blood problems. Like, if you could peel back the flesh and blood curtain, you're going to see spiritual realities. You're going to see spiritual schemes and lies and deceptions. It's like that's where it's being fought. Or here's, here's what Paul says to his young protégé Timothy, he says, now the spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful what and teachings of who. He's like, it's not just that it's wrong that there's something behind what's wrong. It's not just that there's lies. There's liars with schemes and plans and guys. Spiritual warfare is fought on the battleground of truth and lies. Like, this is Genesis three stuff. Did God really say. And just kind of like, kind of take what God said and just twist it a little bit. Just kind of crafty. Distortions of truth and good lies have a lot of truth around it. It's just like, if I could kind of change it a little bit and set a new trajectory, then that seems to be effective. And we got to realize the situation we find ourselves in. God has revealed himself to his creation and that revelation is under attack. He wants to be distorted and undermined and changed like that is the reality that we find ourselves in. And listen. We do not want to become people with a critical spirit. We're just like, everything is bad and we just complain about everything. Nor do we want to be like these arrogant, puffed up like we know it all and no one else knows anything. Kind of people. And we don't want to throw around the word heretic too lightly. There are good and godly people who disagree about secondary issues in the Bible, like trying to come to conclusions. But it can seem, it can seem. And maybe this is part of the scheme. It can seem like the worst thing you could be as a Christian is some kind of arrogant, know it all like that. That's what you just definitely want to avoid. Which means kind of the the redirection of traffic to the other ditch has been pretty easy. So in the name of humility, we can just be gullible. Like who can know? I can't know, you can't know. Nobody can know. But John is constantly saying, I want you to know so that you would know, so that you would know. And we've become so open minded. Our brains fall out like there's no discernment. There's no testing of the spirits which John has commanded us to do here. So listen, in second Corinthians eleven, it says that Satan masquerades as an angel, like masquerades like the party put on a mask like he presents himself appealing like these lies are attractive. It looks great. It seems right to the undiscerning mind, or what Paul later says, the untrained man and hear me, church. We none of us want to get spiritually catfished. You know what I'm saying? I'm up here using hip words like I had to look it up. None of us want to get spiritually catfished. You want to be that guy that's like, oh, I met this really nice girl online and we've been talking for six months and we just really made this connection. And then after six months, you learned that Jessica's real name is Carl, and he's forty eight and he lives in his mom's basement. You don't you don't want that. We don't want to be spiritually catfished. It's like, oh, I read this new book and I got in this new podcast. I'm doing this and like, you just get in and it's like, they say Jesus, and I say Jesus, and it's all good. And behind it's a demon. Like that's what John's saying. Like, hey, test the spirits, be discerning. Don't believe everything you hear. So, so the question is that we need to ask is, how do you do that? How do you test the spirits? How do you identify false teachers? Well, we got four tests that we're going to look at. We're going to look at just one today. And then we're going to look at three of them next week. So you gotta come back even if you don't want to. You got to now. Um, so four tests, one one today and then three next week. Um, and let me just tell you this. We're not testing motives. We're testing message. It's not like, well, they're so genuine and they're so kind and they really believe what they're saying. Like, I'm sure that's great. We love to hang out. But but this is what you said. And that's not true. So you're not just testing motives. You're you're testing message. And the four tests are this the Jesus test. So we're going to look at today the life test, the worldly test and the Bible test. Or another way to think about it is we're testing people's Christology. We're testing people's regeneration. What will make sense of that more later. We're we're testing people's courage and we're testing people's alignment. And those last three we'll get into next week, it'll make more sense of it. Um, but we're going to get the Jesus test today. And let me just say this. This isn't me just saying, hey guys, do this out there. I'm saying do it everywhere, including here. Do it to every show you watch, every commercial you see, every song you listen to, every book you read, every sermon you listen to. Like do it here too. When Paul was given a speech to the Ephesian elders, I'm kind of on like the last time he would see them. He warns them, like among your own selves will rise up. Uh, teachers, uh, twisting the truth to lead disciples away. Like, you know, you gotta watch yourself like never put your guard down. Galatians one, Paul's contending for the gospel, and he says, if we, including himself or an angel of heaven, preaches another gospel than what you've heard, let them be accursed, right? So, so do it here. Be discerning people like we. We got to get this down. False teachers are many. It is a prevalent problem. Uh, deception is part of the devil's schemes. And he's good at it. He's crafty, it's tricky. And if you think like, oh, that won't happen to me, the duping has already begun. This is something that all of us need to be on our guard against. And that's why John is saying, do not believe every spirit. Put on your thinking cap. Be discerning. So let's let's get into this. You guys ready? Some of you are like, I thought we were just here to cheer on baptisms. And it's like, this is a hard left turn. Uh, but but getting this is going to make cheering more meaningful. So, so let's go at it. Alright, chapter four, verse one. You're like, that was just his introduction. We'll go. We'll get there. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world by this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is, excuse me, is not from God. So if we're to test the spirits to see if they're from God, that means that there's some spirits not from God. There's some liars behind the lies, but it also means that there is a spirit from God. And God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us in truth. And John says, I want you to know like he's repeated this with just sixteen by this we know love. Verse nineteen by this we shall know that we are of the truth. Verse twenty for whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us. And we'll get more into that next week, because he even say, we know sounds arrogant, but that's what John wants. He's like, I got something I want you to know. I want you to know about Jesus, and I want you to know when people mess up Jesus. Um, so he's, he's calling us to have a confidence and here's what we gotta get. We gotta get Jesus right? We gotta get Jesus right. And we've, we've talked about the problem or the heresy that John is confronting, um, in the church at this time, Gnosticism, that these Gnostic would come in and kind of undermine. They're not denying Jesus. It's a Christianity distortion. They believe in Jesus. They even believe in Jesus as the Son of God. They just said Jesus never had a body. He came as a spirit and kind of showed up in places at different times and did some really cool things. But he didn't have a physical body. It's like, that seems like harmless. Like at least you're still Team Jesus, right? It's like, no, no, no, no different team. Don't, don't be messing with Jesus. Because they led to some bad orthodoxy that led to some bad orthopraxy because if the spirit is good and the body is bad because Jesus didn't have a body, then as long as you kind of are enlightened in the right way, you can live however you want in the body. You're free to do whatever you like. See how that twist kind of happened? And John said, this is a problem. I mean, notice the language that John uses here that Jesus Christ has come in the what flesh is from God. You remember back in chapter one when John's introducing, he's like, I was there, I saw Jesus, I heard Jesus and I what I touched him. Why is he going to say that? That seems weird because he's saying he's real flesh and blood. I was there like he's undermining this Gnostic teaching. Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. That's a loaded statement. And we'll look more into that in a bit. But John is fighting over this flesh part like it matters. It's like, this is the fight we're going to have. Now, listen, I want to preface this. We're often, and I think rightfully so. We're often warned to not make little things into big things because we all know people that do that. It's just like, chill out. It's not that big a deal. I think you're just blowing this way out of proportion. Like you need to calm down. And I think that is that is a genuine piece of wisdom that we can all learn from. But you can go too far the other way too. Don't don't be so conflict averse. You just don't like any conflict that we, um, we, we make big things, little things. It's like, oh, why are we fighting over that? We ought to fight over that. It's a big deal. So, so yeah, don't don't make little things into big things, but also don't try to turn big things into little things. There are some hills to die on. And John's, John's saying, you're messing with my king here. And it pulls out the blocks and the Jenga tower comes down. Um, we need to contend for the faith because it is under attack. This is from Jude, uh, Verse three and four says, beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to what? Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Now why does he say that? Is he saying that this once for all, like we're not tampering with the message of the gospel. What we received, we're passing on. We're preserving it. We're not changing it because that's what was happening for certain people have crept in unnoticed, crept in where the church they've crept in the church unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our Lord, of our God and into sensuality and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. So you're getting some morality corruption here, like you're leading into sensuality, but also some doctrinal corruption like you're denying Jesus Christ. And those two things are often connected together. And John's. John's fighting this fight, saying, contend for the faith. And we need to contend for the faith because it's under attack. And the main target is the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the foundation to the gospel message, which means he's also the main target of attack. And you see it every Easter. The History Channel does some kind of show on the historical Jesus. And it's garbage, right? It's just kind of a secular viewpoint that undermines the truth of Scripture. So the most clear historical documents that we got, it's just a twist. And you start like pulling at that Jenga tower blocks and the whole thing comes down because the Gnostics, they weren't, they weren't denying Jesus. They were pro Jesus. They confessed Jesus as the Son of God. They just say he had a body. John, why are you making this such a big deal? Well, I mean, it's same team, John. Why are you fighting in house? I was like, it's not the same team. Look, this is the writer of Hebrews chapter two, verse fourteen. And since therefore the children that's us share in what flesh and blood he, Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things. What things? Flesh and blood. And there's a reason he did that, that through death you got to have a body to die. He wasn't just a spirit floating around because if he was, he didn't die. And if he didn't die, we're still in our sins that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil. Jesus has no body. We got no gospel. So he's like, it's not the same team. You're undermining the whole thing. You you sound nice because you wave the flag. It's just a completely different Jesus when you take away his body like this stuff matters. Christ is the anointed One. Emmanuel, God with us, became truly human to live a perfect, obedient life and died as a perfect sacrifice, as our human representative. And without the shedding of blood, there is not forgiveness of sins, as Hebrews nine twenty two. But not just any blood. It's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. But when Christ came into the world, it says, you have prepared a body for me. That's Hebrews ten four and he offered himself as a perfect single sacrifice for all time. That's Hebrews ten twelve. This is all that's like, has to be there for the gospel to make sense. If Christ is not truly human, he can't represent us and die on our behalf. And if he's not truly God, then he's not a perfect sacrifice. And without a perfect sacrifice, it doesn't atone for our sins. Like this stuff matters. We have to get Jesus right. And there are so many attacks on the person and work of Christ. To Mormons who teach that Jesus was a created being. The brother of Lucifer who was not born of a virgin, but God, who was also once a man, had sex with Mary. And Jesus went on to have multiple wives and children, and was rewarded for his faithfulness to become the ruler of the planet. Or Jehovah's Witnesses who claim that Jesus is a God but not the God denying the Trinity. Rather, he was the first creation of God, and he was Michael the Archangel before that, before he divested himself of his angelic nature to appear in the world as a man to Muslims who see Jesus as an Uh, an honored prophet, but denied the deity of Jesus Christ to Gandhi, who praised the teachings of Jesus but denied him as Savior of the world. And I'm not slandering anybody. These are their official doctrines, like that's what they believe. And these are other religions. And you would expect other religions to believe other things about Christ. But even even in the evangelical world, there's this undermining of Christ making him out to be some genie in a bottle that exists to serve our agenda, that we create Jesus in our own image. Like you hear people say, well, my Jesus would never say that. It's like, you don't get it, Jesus. Like, you don't get to make Jesus like that's outside of your control. Like you don't have your own personal like puppet Jesus that just thinks like you and acts like you and agrees with you all the time. If that's the case, you're Jesus and you're not. But we, we put ourselves at the center that he's just exist for the life that we want. Are we champion him as Savior but deny him as Lord? And listen, some people are just going to outright deny Jesus. But I think the greater threat for this room is the people who don't deny Jesus. They just distort him. Oh yeah, I believe in Jesus. He just doesn't have a body. I believe in Jesus. He's just Satan's brother. I believe in Jesus. It's just he wasn't, you know, eternal God. He was created. I believe in Jesus. It's just kind of these twists and just like, oh, this same team. But then you kind of get underneath. It's like not the same team. And John said, don't, don't believe everything you hear. Test the spirits because there is a spiritual demonic agenda behind the undermining of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We have to get Jesus right. Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. John five twenty three. If you knew me, you would know my father. John eight nineteen. Whoever confesses the son has the father also. First John two twenty three. Like it matters to get Jesus right. You don't get Jesus right. You don't get God right. The first test of any teacher is, do you get Jesus right? Now, I'm not saying that's the only test. We'll get into some more next week, but this is the big one. And it's not just a test for teachers. It's also a wonderful testing ground of self reflection. Do you do you get Jesus right? There was a time when Jesus was traveling with his disciples, and he was getting ready to go into Caesarea Philippi, which is a city known for very religiously pluralistic, a lot of different religious ideas. And before they go into the city, he turns to his disciples and he says, like, what are people saying about me? Who do people say that I am? Um, and he, he got some flattering answers. You know, Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist raised from the like, you're somebody like people think highly of you. You're doing some incredible things. You're gathering crowds. Like people are talking about you. And he's asking, what are people saying? And if you go to one of your friends and be like, hey, what are people saying about me? People are like, nothing. Jesus is like, he's, he's a figure. He's this public figure. Like he's known like you raised people from the dead. You miraculously feed people and heal people and give them a sight. People are going to talk and they're talking. And he's like, well, what are they saying? And guys, they were saying really flattering things. This is a powerful man. they were saying really powerful or flattering things and they were wrong. And Jesus turns to his disciples and said, okay, well, what do you say? Who do you say that I am? And listen, that's the issue. What do you do with Jesus? Right. If you're if you're a teenager here, you're kind of you're only at church because Mom and Dad said, so good job, Mom and Dad. But but I want kids to hear this like it's not what your parents believe. What do you believe? Like you got to do? What do you think of Jesus Christ? Who is he? That's what it comes down to. And, and Jesus turns to his disciples who have already kind of proclaimed, well, we think you're somebody important too, because we call you rabbi and we're following you. But I don't know if they really fully get who Jesus is. So he asked him, who do you say that I am? Let's, let's pull up that the text. Now, when Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is. And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah one of the prophets. And he said to them, but who do you say that I am? Now he asked that to the whole group. But that's a question you don't want to get wrong. You got that wrong. That's blasphemous. You're not you're not going to try to jump in that. But Peter, uh, jumps in to answer that. Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And he got help getting that right. He goes on and says, And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. He's saying, you didn't come up with that on your own. He watched Jesus perform miracles, but still you didn't get that in your own strength. My father opened your eyes that he's a he's celebrating that. He says. And I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He's saying, Peter, what you just said. I'm building something on, which means who Jesus Christ is, is the foundation of Christianity. And if you want to bring the building down, you go after the foundation. So everything I'm doing is built on this truth. I am the Messiah. I am the Son of God. Like that's who I am. And then he starts using war language. Like, why you gotta, why you gotta do that? Like, why you gotta bring in like gates of hell not prevail. Like you get this fortified city. Like why'd you bring that into the talk? Because that's where the fight happens. They're not going to win. But that's, that's where the battle is fought. Who is Jesus Christ? What do you do with Jesus Christ? Who is he? You got to deal with that. And by just not dealing with that, you're dealing with it. Just not in a very wise way. Who is Jesus Christ? When you look back at our text, John said, this is a big deal. This is by this you know that the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. Now he's not saying generally confess Jesus. Like, oh yeah, I believe in Jesus. Why do we know that? That's what the Gnostics were doing? They were confessing Jesus. They just weren't confessing him accurately. So John is not advocating for a generic confession of Jesus, but a specific, accurate confession of Jesus. That's what he's after. And then he says this. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Why has he got to say that? You could take that statement out and everything would work. Like you could just say, um. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. Go down to verse four. Little children, you are from God. Like that would work. Why you got to bring all this Antichrist talk in there like that just got weird. Why does he do that? Because he's telling us the urgency and intensity needed behind being discerning. Like he's here. Like this fight's happening. Now put your thinking cap on. Test the spirit. Have a wartime mentality, you guys. Do you know why my wife gets me every year on April Fools? Because I don't know what day it is. If I woke up and be like, April first, I'm like, I'm ready. But who knows? Like when April first happened, you know, like, nobody's like tracking April Fools. You don't know. It just it's not like this. It's not like Christmas or it's like, oh, three days till Christmas. Nobody's like five days till April Fools Day. Like nobody thinks like that. You don't know when it's coming. Just kind of sneaks up on you. It's the shamrock shake. kind of like. That's why we know Saint Patrick's Day. Really? You don't got you got nothing for April Fool's Day. Like, if Panera could do gluten free brownies, then they'd be like, oh, yeah, that's coming up or something. But you got no indicator. That's why it's like, here's why she gets me. I don't know what day it is. My question to you, do you know what day it is? Do you know what I'm saying? Like the Antichrist is already here. Many are in the world trying to deceive. Like, are you aware of the times that we live in? That truth is under attack. And and it's trying to be twisted and distorted. And there is an intentional planned effort to deceive you. And a world of lies and deception. We got to get Jesus right. So let me ask you, do you know him? If you look at verse two and he says, by this, you know the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Do you confess that because that is a loaded statement. That Jesus is Hebrew name was Joshua means Yahweh saves. Do you believe salvation is found in Jesus Christ? It's not just Jesus, it's Jesus Christ. Christ anointed one. It's the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. This one that has been promised from the beginning, way back in Genesis three. Somebody's coming, somebody's coming, somebody's coming. Do you believe it's Jesus? That he is the Christ? He is the Anointed one, the Messiah, and he has come from God. That word from is the Greek word ek can be translated from or of or out of that Jesus has come out of God. He himself is divine and his nature as well. And he came in the flesh. He is also man. And he came in the flesh to die and to die as a representative sacrifice for our sins. And he rose bodily, victoriously. Do you believe that? Do you believe that he is truly God and truly man, a sufficient Savior, the Prince of Peace, wonderful counselor, mighty God. Do you believe that he is the light of the world, the good Shepherd, the way, the truth, and the life? Do you believe he's the bread of life and living water? That anybody who believes in him would never thirst again. Do you believe that? Do you believe he is the satisfier of souls? That he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Do you believe in him? The fullness, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Do you believe he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world? Do you believe his sacrifice dealt with your sins? Do you believe he is the serpent slayer, the sin forgiver, the joy provider, the great Redeemer, the death Defeater, the righteousness giver? Do you believe he is eternally worthy of worship? Do you believe he is eternally worthy of your worship? Do you believe he's eternally worthy of your worship right now, today? Do you believe he's the King of Kings, and he's coming back to judge the world and set up his everlasting kingdom? Do you believe that? He'll mess with Jesus. Don't distort Jesus. John's saying like, I love Jesus. Stop slandering my Jesus because that's a hill I'll die on. We have to get Jesus right. And we gotta be people that when others don't get Jesus right, we say something. We're ambassadors for Christ. We need to be people who when when others do get Jesus right. We're so excited because he's our King and we want his name to be magnified to the ends of the earth. So when we celebrate baptisms, that's what's being proclaimed. It's not hear me now. It's not just people saying, hey, I really want to get my life together. It's not just people saying, I want to be a better version of me. I hope God can help. It's not just people saying, I want my sins washed away. It's not just people saying, I want to go to heaven someday. It's people saying, my eyes have been opened to the glory of God in Jesus Christ. I was blind, and now I see. Well, what do you see? The glory of God in Jesus Christ. I see Jesus as my King. I see Jesus as my Savior. I see Jesus as my Lord. I see Jesus as my leader. I want to live for Jesus. We get excited about that because Jesus is our King. So when people get baptized today, we got something to cheer about. And for other people that it's like they don't see it. Maybe they completely deny Jesus. Maybe they just try to distort Jesus. Like, well, he's not God. He's a great teacher. You will not win. The gates of hell will not prevail. And some day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. And my plea to you is, make that day to day. Bow Before you bow. Confess before you confess. You know what I'm saying? Let's pray. Father, I pray that we would not harden our heart. But today, today is the day of salvation. And as others profess, how you have saved them, would your spirit be active, opening other people's eyes to your glory in Jesus Christ? We love Jesus. Help us contend for the faith. Be ambassadors for you, representing who you are and what you've done well, because there is no greater glory than you and there's no greater enjoyment than you. We pray this in your name. And all God's people said.