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Test the Teachers

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Deut 13:1-3, If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them,"

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3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul … That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God.

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Mk 13:22-23, Jesus said, “false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”

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2 Pet 2:1-3, there were many false prophets among the people just as there will be false teachers among you … In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them.

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V1, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

• To be a Christian you must be a believer but at the same time you must also be an unbeliever.

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• The word “test” is “dokimazo” • A metallurgist testing the purity of

metal.

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V2-3, This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus (is) Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

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• The first test is theological – incarnation.

• Incarnation means Jesus being God took on the nature of a human in order to die on the cross (Phil 2:6-8).

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V4-5, You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

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2 Tim 4:3-4, for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

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• The second test is doctrinal - truth or myths.

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V6, we are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

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2 Pet 1:20-21, no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Pet 3:15, Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

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• The third test is apostolic.

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• Are the teachings biblical & apostolic?

• Search the scriptures. Is the teaching consistent with both the old and new testaments (Acts 17:11)?

• Has the teaching been tested by the church in the last 2000 years?

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• Do they teach that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God without distorting his humanity or divinity?

• Do they teach the Word without adding scriptures from other religions or the secular wisdoms of the world?

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