"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."
1 John 4:1-3
1 John 4:1-3
Let's start the new year off with a bang, shall we?
I'm going to show you what the Bible gives us as a test to look for those things that are not of the Spirit of God (and, therefore, should be avoided.)
As you can read above, we are required to test the spirit behind everything that we come in contact with as we go through our days. Why? Because, false prophets have gone out, and are all over the place.
How can that be, you may be wondering? After all, you don't see false prophets standing on street corners, now do you? You go to church, or you go to work, or you go to the grocery store...yet, you don't remember seeing false prophets.
Well, in fact, you probably DO see them in all these places. You just don't recognize them for what they are.
In the Bible, the action of prophecy is claiming to speak what is from God, or what is in direct keeping with the revelations of God. From the time of the new covenant (sealed with the death and resurrection of Jesus), all that we have from God, and all that we have revealed from God, is contained in the Holy Bible. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit doesn't move people to speak for God. But, it does mean that EVERYTHING they say must be 100% in harmony with what the Bible says. No exceptions.
Now, think about it for a moment--how many times in a given day do you come under the influence of another person? Be it a phone call, a casual conversation at the store, a quiet moment with spouse, etc...these are all moments where you are potentially under spiritual influence.
So, the first question in your mind in each of these situations should be, "Is this person representing a spirit that is Christian, or a spirit that is antichristian." And yes, those are the ONLY two options. There is no such thing as a spiritual "middle ground." If it is not of God, it is most assuredly of satan.
When you ask this question, you need a way to find the answer. The test is given in the Scripture at the top of this article. To review:
I'm going to show you what the Bible gives us as a test to look for those things that are not of the Spirit of God (and, therefore, should be avoided.)
As you can read above, we are required to test the spirit behind everything that we come in contact with as we go through our days. Why? Because, false prophets have gone out, and are all over the place.
How can that be, you may be wondering? After all, you don't see false prophets standing on street corners, now do you? You go to church, or you go to work, or you go to the grocery store...yet, you don't remember seeing false prophets.
Well, in fact, you probably DO see them in all these places. You just don't recognize them for what they are.
In the Bible, the action of prophecy is claiming to speak what is from God, or what is in direct keeping with the revelations of God. From the time of the new covenant (sealed with the death and resurrection of Jesus), all that we have from God, and all that we have revealed from God, is contained in the Holy Bible. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit doesn't move people to speak for God. But, it does mean that EVERYTHING they say must be 100% in harmony with what the Bible says. No exceptions.
Now, think about it for a moment--how many times in a given day do you come under the influence of another person? Be it a phone call, a casual conversation at the store, a quiet moment with spouse, etc...these are all moments where you are potentially under spiritual influence.
So, the first question in your mind in each of these situations should be, "Is this person representing a spirit that is Christian, or a spirit that is antichristian." And yes, those are the ONLY two options. There is no such thing as a spiritual "middle ground." If it is not of God, it is most assuredly of satan.
When you ask this question, you need a way to find the answer. The test is given in the Scripture at the top of this article. To review:
"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God"
This means more than just what the first reading of the words might seem to say. In fact, there are a few key words here that add a deeper meaning than what we might get from just the English rendering.
Confesseth - ομολογει (homologeo - composed of the roots homou (like, or same) and logo (word)...to acknowledge, give thanks or promise.)
This word implies more than just a simple verbal statement. Instead, it represents a type of "kindred spirit", an "esprit de corp", a "blood is thicker than water"...a strong, common bond.
Another important phrase is "in the flesh". This is σαρκι (sarx - the meat of an animal, skin and bones and blood.)
So, when we put this all together, we see that a spirit (πνευμα - pneuma - a word meaning breath, which is often used to describe, as it does here, the soul) that expresses a common bond between themselves (that is firm and unbreakable) and Jesus Christ, and accordingly bears witness that Jesus did in fact come to earth as a human (flesh and bone, not just some "spirit" that looked like a human) and did fulfill the role of both messiah and savior (which is a must since that is what He said He did, and as part of our confession we believe that completely.) The soul that passes this test is of God (and is a member of the family of God Almighty.)
So, when you are listening to that song on MTV, or CMT or such, do you think the artist is passing the above test? Remember, there is only a grade of "PASS" or "FAIL." How about that movie you're watching? The TV show? The book...magazine...website...etc?
If it doesn't pass this test, it is of the spirit of antichrist. Period.
How about the church you're attending? Are the messages in line with the above? Friends? Co-workers? Are they passing the test?
Are you? Am I?
We must not fall into the "you shouldn't judge" trap. This isn't judgement--that is reserved for our Lord Jesus. This is pure discernment. And, if we don't use it, we'll be in danger of following after all sorts of wrongful, lying spirits. For the unsaved, this can be used to lead them to eternal damnation. For the called of God unto Jesus His Son, it can wreck our fellowship and remove opportunities to gain treasures in heaven.
Test the spirits!
Grace and Peace....
Confesseth - ομολογει (homologeo - composed of the roots homou (like, or same) and logo (word)...to acknowledge, give thanks or promise.)
This word implies more than just a simple verbal statement. Instead, it represents a type of "kindred spirit", an "esprit de corp", a "blood is thicker than water"...a strong, common bond.
Another important phrase is "in the flesh". This is σαρκι (sarx - the meat of an animal, skin and bones and blood.)
So, when we put this all together, we see that a spirit (πνευμα - pneuma - a word meaning breath, which is often used to describe, as it does here, the soul) that expresses a common bond between themselves (that is firm and unbreakable) and Jesus Christ, and accordingly bears witness that Jesus did in fact come to earth as a human (flesh and bone, not just some "spirit" that looked like a human) and did fulfill the role of both messiah and savior (which is a must since that is what He said He did, and as part of our confession we believe that completely.) The soul that passes this test is of God (and is a member of the family of God Almighty.)
So, when you are listening to that song on MTV, or CMT or such, do you think the artist is passing the above test? Remember, there is only a grade of "PASS" or "FAIL." How about that movie you're watching? The TV show? The book...magazine...website...etc?
If it doesn't pass this test, it is of the spirit of antichrist. Period.
How about the church you're attending? Are the messages in line with the above? Friends? Co-workers? Are they passing the test?
Are you? Am I?
We must not fall into the "you shouldn't judge" trap. This isn't judgement--that is reserved for our Lord Jesus. This is pure discernment. And, if we don't use it, we'll be in danger of following after all sorts of wrongful, lying spirits. For the unsaved, this can be used to lead them to eternal damnation. For the called of God unto Jesus His Son, it can wreck our fellowship and remove opportunities to gain treasures in heaven.
Test the spirits!
Grace and Peace....
