LET'S TAKE A TEST

Introduction: The early church had been birthed in power. It developed far and wide and the Lord genuinely honored the youngster church. Notwithstanding, it wasn't numerous days until blasphemy started to crawl into the congregation. Perhaps the earliest corruption of Christianity to spread the word about an appearance was as Gnosticism.

There were numerous renditions of Gnosticism, however the essential areas of arrangement was that information and not the cross was the means to salvation. All in all, the Gnostics trusted that main through commencement into the "extraordinary" information they alone had might anybody at some point desire to be saved. They likewise accepted that all matter was malevolent. This implied that Jesus Christ didn't actually have a flesh body. In the event that matter was underhanded then Christ could never have had an actual body. It just gave the idea that He had passed on. Some accepted that Jesus kicked the bucket, however the soul of Christ left Him before the cross. This, obviously, dispensed with the cross and the restoration as the premise of salvation. Since they trusted all make a difference to be malevolent, they didn't have confidence in carrying on with sacred lives. They accepted the body could be permitted to do however it wanted body and soul were independent one from the other. As these lessons separated their direction into the congregation, certain individuals found their confidence sabotaged and they started to uncertainty their relationship with the Lord. Our text refrains tell us evidently that John felt prompted compose this book to offer confirmation to his perusers. He needs them, and us, to realize that we can realize without a doubt that we are saved. We don't need to live in uncertainty. Many do, however it doesn't need to be like that. To help us in knowing without a doubt regardless of whether we are saved, John gives his perusers a basic test they can take to figure out where they stand with the Lord. Here and there, it is similar to the accomplishment tests they made us take in school. Those tests were separated into segments that uncovered where we remained corresponding to our friend bunch all through the country. John's test uncovers where an individual stands concerning this question of salvation. His is a straightforward test, separated into five segments. I would like for us to step through this examination together tonight. You won't require a number two pencil. All you will require is a genuine heart. Step through the exam, see where you stand and assuming that redresses should be made, they will be permitted. We should inspect the segments of John's test and our own hearts this evening. We should step through an exam! I. THE COMMANDMENT SECTION A. 1 John 2:3-6 - Simply expressed, the individual who is saved will genuinely want to stroll in compliance to the uncovered will of the Lord. This is a similar standard applied by Jesus Himself - John 14:15. B. 1 John 4:6 - The reclaimed individual will get the Word of God and will adjust his/her life to it! C. 1 John 5:3 - The saved individual will encounter a delight in their heart when they get an edict from the Lord. God's requests won't be "heinous" to them, however they will be a joy and a pleasure to the spirit! (Sick. Psa. 1:1-3; Psa. 40:8; Psa. 119:35; Psa. 119:47.) D. Is there something inside you that believes should do the desire of God? You may not do it totally or impeccably, yet is there a draw inside you that makes you believe should do what God needs? That isn't normally inside man, it is extraordinarily positioned inside man when he is saved! E. How could you do on this part? Grade your own papers please! II. THE COMPASSION SECTION A. 1 John 2:9-11 - The real devotee will constantly be set apart by genuine romance for his family in Christ. An individual who shows no affection for the recovered isn't an offspring of God! B. 1 John 3:14-22 - The genuine Christian loves his brethren, as we have proactively said. However, this is an affection that is seen and not recently said! An affection rises above all damages and individual assaults. It is our unexplainable love for individuals, despite their perspectives and activities towards us, that gives us affirmation of our salvation. (Note: Verses 20-21 let us know that there are times when uncertainty might emerge and our own heart will endeavor to denounce us. That is, we might feel that we are not saved. John believes us should realize that we are not to depend on what our heart says! We are to check out at the proof and rest in the finesse of God. Since I may not feel saved, doesn't change the way that proof says that I am saved.) C. 1 John 4:20-21 - True adherents love the remainder of God's loved ones! Without this otherworldly love for the brethren an individual is basically not saved, paying little heed to what they might say! D. How goes it with you? Once more, if it's not too much trouble, grade your own papers as it were! III. THE CHRISTLIKENESS SECTION A. 1 John 3:4-10 - These stanzas uncover reality that veritable devotees carry on with an unexpected life in comparison to their general surroundings. They have been changed by the force of God and are unique, 2 Cor. 5:17! A saved individual will foster another example of life that will progressively turn out to be increasingly more like Jesus Christ, 1 John 2:6. The saved individual can not carry on with an existence of routine, unconfessed, unrepentant sin! They will sin, 1 John 1:8-10, yet there will be a draw in the heart to make it right with God and to isolate from that transgression! B. Sick. There are times when I will call a home and a more seasoned kid in that home will pick up the telephone. Frequently, it is beyond the realm of possibilities for me to recognize the contrast between that kid's voice and that of one of its folks. The expressions, articulations and sound of the voices are about something very similar. The explanation? The natural product doesn't fall a long way from the tree! C. The equivalent is valid from a profound perspective. You will look like your otherworldly dad whether it is God or Satan. You will show the attributes of your otherworldly dad. D. Did you get through that segment okay? If it's not too much trouble, keep your eyes on your own experimental outcomes. God called us to prove to be fruitful, not investigate it! IV. THE COMPANION SECTION A. 1 John 3:24 - Not just will the veritable devotee have the outer signs of salvation, for example, a longing to comply with the Lord, a craving to do His will, an adoration for the brethren that shows itself in real life as opposed to simple words and a daily existence that is set apart by a likeness to the Lord Jesus, yet the devotee will likewise have the internal proof of the Spirit of God, 1 John 4:13. B. At the moment of transformation, the Spirit of God takes up home inside the soul of the devotee. This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:13. His Spirit inside our souls gives us confirmation that we are saved, Rom. 8:16. C. His work in us is to seal us, Eph. 4:30; lead us, John 16:13; and to give us confirmation of our salvation; Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5. The presence of the Spirit of God in our lives is evidence positive that we have a place with the Lord! This is something strange, however it is significant for the confirmation of one's salvation. At the point when the Spirit of God is available in your life, He will address your heart. He will let you know things. He will direct you. He will caution you. He will lead you. He will take care of you. He will comfort you. He will show you reality. He will ascend inside your heart and affirm the truth of your reception into the group of God, ***Rom. 5:5***. Like a mother who folds her arms over that uncertain youngster ordinary and communicates her undying adoration, the Spirit of God does likewise things for the recovered offspring of the Lord. (Note: To lay it out plainly, when you get saved, there is an otherworldly impulse set inside you. You quickly start to want those things that relate to God, His Word, His work and His love. This won't be something passing, however it will persevere over the course of life in view of the presence of the Spirit in your heart.) D. Do you have the inward voice of the Holy Spirit inside your heart? His voice might be difficult to hear now and again as a result of all the commotion from the wide range of various things in our lives, yet it very well may be heard regardless! Is there a craving for the things of God? Do you want His home? Do you long to accompany His kin. Do you wind up requiring something from the Bible? At any point do you wind up expecting to look for the Lord in supplication? Companions, this isn't normally inside man! This is invested there by the effort of the Spirit of God! E. Is it safe to say that he is there? V. THE COMMITMENT SECTION A. 1 John 5:1 - The genuine devotee is one who is confiding in Jesus Christ and Him alone for their spirit's salvation. They accept every one of the Bible says regarding Him and they have embraced Jesus as their main expectation leaning on an unshakable conviction. That is the pith of salvation! It is something other than a scholarly consent to current realities, it is an individual acknowledgment of those things for oneself as your main any desire for Heaven, Acts 16:31! B. 1 John 5:13 - John lets us know that this confidence in Christ is the ground of our expectation! What are you trusting to take you to Heaven? Have little to no faith in a request you supplicated. Try not to trust a caution sensation you felt. Try not to trust everything somebody said to you. You should trust Jesus and Him alone. Nothing else will at any point get the job done to save the spirit! This is the unmistakable message of 1 John 5:9-12! How can one trust Jesus? Leaning on an unshakable conviction! You just come to where you comprehend that everything else should be ignored the work however Jesus and you basically incline toward Him alone for salvation. (Note: It might occur with regards to supplication. It might occur in only a moment when trust is moved to Jesus. It generally happens just when there is a cognizant choice to abandon an existence of wrongdoing to confidence in Christ and His completed work on the cross.) C. How could you in all actuality do in this part of the test? What are you trusting to save your spirit? Is your confidence in Jesus or the congregation? Is your confidence in Jesus or your calling of confidence or some request you implored? Is your confidence in Jesus or in the beneficial things you assume you have done? Confidence that doesn't rest in Jesus Christ isn't saving confidence by any stretch of the imagination! D. How could you score around here? I think this is where a great many people pass up this great opportunity with regards to salvation! Conc: When we took those accomplishment tests, the outcomes would return and everybody was diminished t