1 John 4:6 KJV
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
John is obviously referring to himself and argues from the assumption that those who read this book would admit this as fact. This is exactly how we ought to approach the Word of God; rather than trying to convince people it is the Word of God we just preach it. Those who know God will hear those who do not know God will not hear.
There is also more to the term hearing than only in the sense of externally. John Gill reminds me that those who hear the Word of God will have ears that hear, not just ears.
Those that know God will come to the house of God where they can hear it preached.
We find them faithfully attending the services at the church.
We will find them sitting in on the preaching services rather than finding other things to occupy them while at church.
We will find them attentively listening to the message as it is preached, perhaps making some notes, or underscoring things in their Bible for future personal study.Those that know God not only listen to God in the sense of reading the Scriptures but also in the sense of hearing the man of God.
Those that know God will also have the ability to understand what they hear in the spiritual sense. A lost person can hear the message but will never perceive the meaning of the message. He is able to read the Bible, but not to grasp the message of the Bible. It is a dead lifeless book to him. The child of God, the one who knows God, on the other hand, will have a gift of discernment. He or she might not understand it all but will certainly understand enough to know they have heard from God.
John concludes that this is how we determine if a hearer has the spirit of truth or the spirit of error. The one who hears has the spirit of truth. The one who does not hear is not of God. The spirit in them is a spirit of error.
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
John is obviously referring to himself and argues from the assumption that those who read this book would admit this as fact. This is exactly how we ought to approach the Word of God; rather than trying to convince people it is the Word of God we just preach it. Those who know God will hear those who do not know God will not hear.
There is also more to the term hearing than only in the sense of externally. John Gill reminds me that those who hear the Word of God will have ears that hear, not just ears.
Those that know God will come to the house of God where they can hear it preached.
We find them faithfully attending the services at the church.
We will find them sitting in on the preaching services rather than finding other things to occupy them while at church.
We will find them attentively listening to the message as it is preached, perhaps making some notes, or underscoring things in their Bible for future personal study.Those that know God not only listen to God in the sense of reading the Scriptures but also in the sense of hearing the man of God.
Those that know God will also have the ability to understand what they hear in the spiritual sense. A lost person can hear the message but will never perceive the meaning of the message. He is able to read the Bible, but not to grasp the message of the Bible. It is a dead lifeless book to him. The child of God, the one who knows God, on the other hand, will have a gift of discernment. He or she might not understand it all but will certainly understand enough to know they have heard from God.
John concludes that this is how we determine if a hearer has the spirit of truth or the spirit of error. The one who hears has the spirit of truth. The one who does not hear is not of God. The spirit in them is a spirit of error.
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