Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s powerful teaching from 1 John 4 calls believers to “plow a straight furrow” by faithfully testing the spirits and guarding against false prophets. Host Steve Schwetz and TTB President Greg Harris reflect on McGee’s legacy, their global mission, and a powerful new outreach using WhatsApp. Hear testimonies from Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone as listeners around the world grow in faith through virtual study groups. Dr. McGee teaches on spiritual deception, demonism, and the rise of Antichrist, explaining how we must be grounded in the truth of Jesus Christ come in the flesh. Tune
How firm a foundation, ye saints, of the Lord is laid for your faith!
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a great day to study God’s Word, and welcome to Through the Bible. I’m Steve Schwetz, your host, and I’m so glad that we’re together as Dr. J. Vernon McGee takes us further into the New Testament book of 1 John. But before we jump in, let’s listen to a quick introduction about false prophets and those who attempt to twist and stretch the truth. Here’s Dr. McGee on what he calls plowing a straight furrow.
SPEAKER 01 :
I want to take just a moment to clarify the statement I made relative to the fact that we are not attempting to use propaganda on this program either for or against any group, nor do we make announcements relative to certain things. We feel that our work is cut out for us. And I do not attack or defend any particular group. I avoid taking a stand relative to any organization. I may seem to be attacking a certain group if they’re teaching something contrary to the Scripture as I see it when I’m teaching that particular section. Now, I do not deal in personalities, although I may mention them by name, never to condemn but to compliment. We’re teaching the Bible. I set my hand to the plow about 40 years ago, and the Lord told me not to look back to see if I was popular or if I was unpopular. Just keep plowing a straight furrow and let the clods fall where they may.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Dr. McGee recorded that decades ago. And you can be sure that through the Bible continues to follow his commitment to plow a straight furrow. Our sights are set on following Jesus Christ and the mission that he’s given us to take the whole word to the whole world. And you know, by his grace, he’s allowed us to do just that. And what’s more, he’s given us each other to stir faithfulness in each other. And we’ll keep the Bible bus going thanks to your prayer support and faithful giving that sustains this ministry even past what Dr. McGee once thought. Well, the Bible bus that we enjoy today is God’s doing, it’s not ours. And our job is to keep our eye on the furrow in front of us, as Dr. McGee has said. Now, Greg Harris, Through the Bible’s president, is God’s man for this season of plowing. Welcome to the studio today, Greg, by the way. Thank you, Steve. And what does this word from Dr. McGee mean to you in this present season at Through the Bible?
SPEAKER 03 :
It really means everything, Steve. I often say that every week and often every day as I’m faced with various decisions and opportunities and you and I talk about it and other board members, we discuss it. We always come back to this, take the whole word to the whole world. And that is the single criterion that we look at when we look at any new opportunity. The first question is, is this helping us take the whole word to the whole world and reach more people? And so this is really how we plow a straight furrow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and the furrow that Dr. McGee was referring to, I think, in context of this ministry would be just keep playing the tapes on the radio until the money runs out. And we have gone into so many different delivery methods that weren’t even around at the time that Dr. McGee was with us, and we continue to expand.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right. And one of them that we have talked about and we are going to keep talking about because it’s so exciting is called WhatsApp. WhatsApp! WhatsApp. I love it when you say that. That’s great. And let’s explain to those who maybe haven’t heard before, what is WhatsApp?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, well, it was a product, actually, technology that allows you to certainly communicate via phone, traditional phone, as well as sending audio files, documents, photos, and videos. And then you can also form groups on WhatsApp. And that’s really been the genesis of a lot of these virtual home study groups that have sprung up all over the world.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right, and there are currently 1.5 billion, with a B, users in 180 countries. So WhatsApp is really the most popular messaging app in the world. That’s actually almost a quarter of a billion more than Facebook Messenger. So this is a powerful technology, and it’s free. So there’s a very low barrier to entry. All you need is a smartphone.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, the other thing that’s exciting is WhatsApp is very popular in countries that are less than open, should we say, to the gospel. For instance, and not that Brazil is extremely oppressive, but 120 million people use WhatsApp in Brazil. It’s an incredible number. WhatsApp, relatively small market in the U.S., closer to 20, 25 million, somewhere in that range.
SPEAKER 03 :
And just around the world, as you said, so many places. By the way, smartphones are fairly inexpensive in other parts of the world. Cellular technology is actually better than it is outside the U.S., believe it or not. But let’s just get to the ministry. So what we have here is we have a partnership with a ministry that is forming these groups, as you said. They deliver a, through the Bible, a full 30-minute radio program or audio program, shall we say. We’ve got to change our language. And and they do it in the we have thousands and thousands of people all in groups of about 256 or less. And we’re getting great response. I think we should just jump in.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, the first one I look for. If you go to Ghana, Enoch, I am blessed this morning by this message from Deuteronomy 18. May God bless you.
SPEAKER 03 :
And here’s Moses, love that name, from Nigeria, who wrote, Pastor McGee’s lesson helps me understand that God has created men and women differently and looks at them as he has created them. Right now, there is a big issue in my city about how men and women should dress. Interesting. In Nigeria, he goes on, I’m so glad for this part of the study in Deuteronomy that helped me understand what God wants from us. Thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Here’s another one. And just as evidence, you know you’re in a foreign place when you’ve never heard the name before. Tatinda, at least I’ve never heard that name, from Zimbabwe wrote that the message from Deuteronomy 18 helped him to understand the difference between true prophets and false prophets. How important is that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Tremendous. Tremendous. And Steve, what I want to point out is that these are the same tenor and quality of responses that we get from the radio broadcast. You can tell people are really listening. Now we have time for just a few more. Sammy from Ghana has appreciated Through the Bible so much that he self-published a book on God’s love because of Through the Bible’s influence in his life.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Next we’ve got a study in Acts that said, this listener was listening about Acts. Shaib, or Shuab, from Sierra Leone wrote, This series is increasing my knowledge about the Bible and Jesus. It is strengthening my faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and Steve, we have a lot more, like you say, we always have to leave more on the table than we have time.
SPEAKER 04 :
Greg, why don’t you close us in prayer as we begin the study?
SPEAKER 03 :
Father, we are so grateful that you’ve given us great content, a clear vision, and open doors to take your word to the whole world. We pray that today, all over the world, you will bless the program and use your word to go deep into people’s lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now here’s Through the Bible with Dr. J. Verna McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, we’ve come to a very difficult section here in the fourth chapter of 1 John for many reasons. One of the reasons is that we’re dealing with a spirit world here of which none of us know too much about. And the second thing is, we are in the devil’s territory. And I’ve always found that when I preach on the devil, when I was a pastor, when I talked on him, he always managed to cause some interruption in the service. Generally, he’d pinch some baby, and we’d have trouble in that area. Or someone would cause a disturbance in the service. It’s amazing how he works. And there are other reasons, but we’re coming to a very important section, and you can go off the deep end on this section and become rather fanatical. And again, I think there’s been too much occupation today in this particular area on the part of Christians. But we do need to know about it, and we intend to spend as much time as we think is important in this area. Now, let me read again chapter 4, verse 1. Beloved, he’s talking now to believers, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits, or prove the spirits. I like the word prove much better. But prove the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Now, We’re dealing here with the spirit world, and the Bible has a great deal to say about it. For instance, we have in Psalm 104, at verse 4, “…who maketh his angels spirits as ministers of flaming fire.” And that’s quoted in Hebrews, the first chapter, verse 7. Actually, a great many people feel that because down a little farther in Hebrews, and we’ve already dealt with this, but let me remind you of it, “…are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be the heirs of salvation?” Now, I’ve never seen an angel, and I’ve never had a visit by one of them. I don’t personally feel that they today have a ministry to the church. My feeling is that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And you just can’t improve on that arrangement. And I’d much rather have the uncreated Holy Spirit than a created angel to follow me around or to minister. I think that today that we need to put the emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our lives. But not only are there good angels, that is, those that serve God, but there are today fallen angels and their spirits. They are called that in Scripture. The Gospels talk a great deal that in Christ’s day there were unclean spirits. That is what is known as demonism. We call them demons because the Scripture uses that term. Now, we are warned and told that the reason we’re to put on the whole armor of God and that we are in today a gigantic battle that is beyond the flesh. It’s a spiritual battle. And Paul says in Ephesians 6, 12, “…we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Now, I’ve gone into detail in that when we were there in Ephesians and also in the book of Daniel more recently, so that I’m not going back over that ground today, that we believe that the devil has the thing pretty well organized. On his side, in his army of demons, he has at the top the generals and the lieutenant colonels, and then on down to the sergeants and the corporals and the just plain ordinary infantrymen, just a regular soldier. And I think God has his organized very much the same way. And we saw an example of that in the book of Daniel. Now, we’re told here that we’re to believe not every spirit. That is, these unclean spirits. We’re to test the spirits. Now, a few years ago, that sounded rather spook. The supernatural was ridiculed, especially in college circles and among the intelligentsia. But we have now moved into an area today where Satan has become quite a reality. And there’s Satan worship. And it’s confined to a great extent. to colleges, either the campus or around the campus. We have one or two satanic churches here in Los Angeles, and we may even have more. And a few years ago, you know, it was way out in left field. It’s something that’s in existence today. And down in Florida, they had a young boy that was killed, a 17-year-old boy murdered. And they found out that it was done to appease satan. because the satanic priestess down there, just a young woman of 22, said that this boy should be killed. I have all types of clippings here before me, and these are things that are taking place today. Now, we’ve had quite a few things that have happened actually in our day that are really, and I mean really, spooky. We have, for instance, this book. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. That’s the name of the book. The author is named Richard Bach, and he has said that a voice dictated it to him and that it’s not his own style of writing, actually. And very candidly, it’s something today that I understand that many churches have recommended and several good men have been taken in by. Well, it’s the story about a theological concept of a young seagull, which has human attributes. He soared off toward unlimited perfection and found that each of us is just an idea of the great gull, and that birth and sin and sickness and death are not realities, but just illusions. And what the biblical writers call sins really are virtues. And freedom is freedom to do what one pleases. Well, that’s not new. But this, of course, is actually out of the very pit of hell itself because this is satanic. Now, we’re seeing a manifestation of demonism today, and it’s all around us. When I was in college, why, it was frowned upon, looked down upon. You were just a plebeian. It didn’t make any difference what IQ you had or what grades you made in school. But if you just happened to believe in the supernatural, you were radically wrong. And they didn’t hesitate to tell you so. Well, let me say that today that’s all changed. And it’s weird today, and many young people have gone off the deep end into this. They’ve never had any Bible training at all. Now he’s talking here to God’s children. He’s told us about how we love each other, how believers are to love each other and to help each other. But we must be careful. As we said last time, you remember that Paul said, prayed for the Philippians, and he loved them a great deal. He says, I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. It’s wonderful to love, but may I say to you, you and I are in a mean, big, wicked world. And this world we live in today is going to take us in. It’ll deceive us. We need to be careful. And he says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirit. And when I hear today somebody tells me about some person that seems to have supernatural power, maybe to heal, maybe to impart a gift, I don’t get excited. And somebody says, Why don’t you go hear so-and-so? Well, I don’t want to waste my time. I’m told today to test, to prove the spirit. And may I say to you, just because a thing looks like it’s supernatural, and there’s a lot of hocus pocus going on today, I can assure you that there’s nothing supernatural in it at all. It’s just a camouflage Christianity. We’re to test the spirit. whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Now, the false prophets that John means here, teachers. And Paul used it that way. For instance, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, 3, He that prophesieth speaketh unto man to edification and exhortation and comfort. You see, prophecy here means to teach, to exhort, to instruct, and to do that sort of thing. Now, there are many false prophets. that have gone out into the world. And I want to tell you that there are many that are abroad today that we need to beware of. I think right now that prophecy is becoming such an interesting subject, and I think rightly so. But again, the thing that has been said, Sir Robert Anderson made the statement, he says, beware of the wild utterances of prophecy mongers. Well, a lot of those abroad today. that are saying more than the Scripture says, so that we need to be very careful today. Just because a man comes along saying, Lord, Lord, that doesn’t mean we should love him. That may be the man that’s more dangerous than a rattlesnake, because he may be teaching false doctrine. That is, he’s not really teaching the Word of God. Although he may carry a big Bible under his arm. Now, will you notice verse 2? By this know ye the Spirit of God. Now, how are we to distinguish? Now, here is the way. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now, this is where it all begins. It began in Bethlehem, you see. He was born in Bethlehem, and it began there. It’s the incarnation is where we begin, because Calvary and the garden tomb are meaningless unless he’s who he claimed to be, unless he is the God-man. And so today, the way that you can determine the false one, he’ll deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that doesn’t mean they don’t talk nice about him. They talk about what a remarkable youth that he was and that he was a child that was born into the world and he was superior. They talk about the fact he was a religious genius. And that he was just intoxicated with God. And he probably had a greater knowledge of God. And he may have had something a little superior to someone else. He was a superstar, you know. They can say a lot of nice things about him, you see. But was he God manifested in the flesh? John says the Word. And who was the Word? Why, he’s God. And he created all things. And he became flesh. Where? Yonder Bethlehem at the incarnation. Jesus came in that. One of the early heresies, and John is meeting this head on. Gnosticism said that one branch of it, that Christ came upon Jesus. at his baptism and left him at Calvary. Well, may I say to you that that’s not what the Word of God teaches. The Word of God says that that babe in Bethlehem was more than a remarkable baby and that his death upon the cross was not an ordinary death. And that when he rose from the dead, he rose bodily from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses, raised for our justification. And it was, as Isaiah said, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Now, the child is born. The son is given. You see, he came out of eternity, the Ancient of Days. But the child, his humanity, was conceived in the virgin’s womb. And he came forth yonder in Bethlehem. And they came, a few shepherds and wise men, came to worship him. He was more than just a precocious child. He was the precious prince of peace. who made peace by the blood of his cross and someday shall bring peace to this war-weary world that we are living in. And the important thing for us to note here is that this is the mark. This is the way that you tell by this. Know ye the Spirit of God. Let’s find out what they believe about Jesus Christ. That’s important, very important. And now he adds to this, And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of Antichrist, of which ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is in the world. Now, he has mentioned, this is the third time that he has mentioned Antichrist. And John is the only writer who mentions Antichrist, and he only mentions it in his epistles. Now, we have this before us again, and I’m not going to be able to develop all of the great truth concerning this. But next time, I want to talk a little about Antichrist. But we’ve seen already in 1 John 2.22, “…who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ.” He’s Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Now, we find that again here in this passage of Scripture. that he’s mentioned it. But I think we had a reference even before 1 John 2.22 and 1 John 2.18, “…little children, it’s the last time, as ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come.” Even now are there many Antichrists by which we know that it’s the last time. We saw, since we’ve been in this epistle here, it can mean actually two different things. Anti can be either against Or it can be instead of. That is an imitation. And we have presented that in Scripture. The Lord Jesus said, many shall come in my name. That is imitating Antichrist in that sense. pretending to be, and the other is against Christ. Now, you have two beasts in the 13th chapter of Revelation. That first beast is a great political ruler that’s coming, Antichrist to rule the world, a world dictator. Then you have a religious ruler that is coming, and he is called the false prophet there, and he causes the world to worship the first beast. And he comes like a lamb, but underneath he’s a wolf, so that he imitates Christ. Now, I believe there will be two men, and it’ll take two men to fulfill all that’s said about Antichrist. You will have a great political ruler at the end time, and you will have a great religious ruler at the end time. Now, the civilization that we’re in is all building up to the coming of Antichrist. That is, there is coming a great religious ruler. All the religions of the world will be put together in the movements in that direction today. And you have the same kind of movement, actually, politically, because there’s a moving today toward one ruler for this world. It would bring peace, and it will bring it temporarily into the world. And it’s going to be the most frightful time that the world has ever seen. We talked about that ruler when we were in the book of Daniel. Now, that’s the picture that’s given to us here concerning antichrists. And already there are many antichrists. And there are quite a few of them about today. But they are not the antichrist, you see. They are teachers that are moving the world closer and closer to the day. And the world is being prepared for that one finally to appear. Well, we’re going to have to leave off right there today. But we’ll pick right up there next time. And so until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was a fascinating study, don’t you think? Well, next week we dive deeper into 1 John 4, and Dr. McGee tells us how we can avoid satanic deception. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the Antichrist on your own, we can help. You can download Dr. McGee’s free booklet titled Who is Antichrist from our digital library at ttb.org. Who is Antichrist? It’s one of the many great resources available to you at ttb.org, so be sure to check them all out, or just call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can help you find what you’re looking for. Well, I’m Steve Schwetz, and as always, I’ll meet you back here on Monday as we continue to make our way through the Bible. Through the Bible is a five-year study of God’s entire Word, and together we discover God’s purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know Him yet?
