Let Us Be Careful Of Who We Listen To: 1st John 2:18-29

The thing about reading the letter that John wrote almost two thousand years ago is that if you wanted to you could copy it and post it as an open letter to today’s church, and people would think that you wrote about today’s church.  After two thousand years it is just as relevant to today’s church as it was to the church back then.  As we begin reading chapter two verses 18-19 John is warning the church of false teachers and prophets who want to lead believers and others away from Christ.  These false teachers want to not only lead people away, they want to trick others into believing that they are saved, that they can call themselves Christians.  Here in the United States we can see those who have joined such Churches that no longer teach the true Gospel but instead preach a gospel that takes Christ and serving God completely out of their teaching and tell people that life should be all about them.  How do we spot such a church or teacher you ask?

If we continue  to ready, John tells us what to look for and how to spot a false teacher; “I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and falsehood. And who is the great liar? The one who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people are antichrists, for they have denied the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father either.”(1^st Jn 2:21-23)  John tells us that he is wanting to be able to when someone is not a true follower, not a true believer, he makes it clear that anyone that does not believe that Christ is the son of God is not a true follower.  Let us stop and think about this for just a second, if one says that they belong to the church of God, yet does not follow Christ they are not truly someone who believes in God.  How does this look, we must look at the life that Christ lived on earth what did He teach us?  He taught us that we must live our lives for God not for ourselves.  He not only taught us that we must be obedient to God and to His teachings. “So why do you call me ‘Lord,’ when you won’t obey me?  I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me.  It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built.  But anyone who listens and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins.”(Luke 6:42-49)

Anyone teaching that all you need is love and that you need to make sure that you are doing what makes you happy, is telling you a lie.  We do need love in our life, but we must give our lives completely over to God we must start obeying  God’s word.  Our lives must become focused on God.  False teachers teach that our lives should be focused on ourselves, they often give great motivational speeches and never really teach about Christ.  We must begin to read the word God and pray to God and allow His Spirt to show us the His Truth.  “So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will continue to live in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.  And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us. I have written these things to you because you need to be aware of those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught you, and continue to live in Christ And now, dear children, continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. Since we know that God is always right, we also know that all who do what is right are his children.” (1^st Jn 2:24-29)