Test the Spirits (‏ (7/26/10

Shalom,




Please begin by reading 1 John 4:1-6.



How can you tell when someone is lying to you? How do you spot a lie? Some people give it away with their body language. The most prominent way we detect lies is the lack of eye contact. Well then, what about spiritual issues? How can we recognize a false prophet? This is more difficult, because a false prophet may be completely convinced that what they're saying is true. But according to what you just read, we've been given a task, "test the spirits."

It's very important to ensure that we're listening to true prophets. If what someone is speaking to us isn't from Yahweh, we need to know for certain that we're not getting drawn into their lies. It said very clearly in verse 6 that we should "recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood." The word recognize means to get at the truth, to know and understand intimately. At its core it means to be able to recognize truth through personal experience. We have a built-in lie detector as long as we walk intimately with our Lord and Savior.



What's a prophet? A prophet is a person who's come under the influence of a supernatural power. His message comes from that power, whether it's good or evil. The prophet speaks the inspired message of the spirit that's helping him. A prophet of Yahweh speaks the words of Yahweh to his audience. He receives messages directly from the Holy Spirit, and his duty is to pass them along without any personal additions or subtractions.

False prophets, as mentioned in 1 John, weren't and aren't today merely misguided teachers. They're actually inspired by a demonic spirit. The passage lists two of these influences: the spirit of antichrist and the spirit of falsehood or deception. Both are worldly-minded influences. A false prophet speaks the word of his lord, and his lord is demonic. The false prophet receives his messages from a demonic spirit or just makes things up in his own mind. Either way, the messages aren't from Yahweh. And even if they have true insight, they are only meant to draw us away from the source of truth.

It's significant that almost every deviant form of Christianity diminishes or distorts the person of Jesus. The test is simple. Was Jesus truly Yahweh's Messiah, the Word made flesh, fully man and fully God; or not? If not, whatever the source of the denial, it can't be called Christian. As soon as a leader of any sort begins to speak about Jesus as less than God, know that there is false prophecy in the air.

True prophets and Christians confess the true Messiah. The word acknowledge can also be translated as to confess or to profess allegiance to. John stresses that we must believe Jesus came in the flesh. We're not to just believe that incarnation is possible, but to fully believe that Jesus is God-made-flesh. No other view of Jesus will do. No matter how impossible we believe or think virgin birth to be, know that Yahweh is capable of making it happen. Some will turn away because they just can't accept miracles like the virgin birth, but without it there is no true Christianity.

The confession of belief we make is essential and crucial to us. It stands at the very heart of our faith. Do away with this confession, and you do away with Christianity. Our Savior must be both human and divine. He must be completely human in order to take our place and bear the punishment for our sin. If he was half-God and half-human, then he had an advantage over us, and his sacrifice wouldn't be acceptable. On the other hand, if the Savior is to atone for all human sin, he must be God. Jesus set aside his divinity and became fully human. He needed to live a completely human life, a perfect human life, to be an acceptable sacrifice before our Most Holy God.



There's a real need for discernment among us. We're too often gullible and exhibit a naive readiness to credit anyone's "spiritual" messages and teachings as coming from God. Just because something is "spiritual" or supernatural doesn't mean it comes from Yahweh. There is a realm between heaven and earth where many evil spirits reside and are more than willing to share special messages with us. Don't be misguided and tolerate false prophecy or teaching too easily.

As Operation Iraqi Freedom raged, Iraq's Minister of Information daily refuted clear evidence that Iraq was losing the war. On April 6th, after coalition forces seized Baghdad's Saddam Airport, renamed it Baghdad International Airport, and started flying planes in; the newspapers quoted him as saying, "We butchered the force present at the airport." On April 7th, after US troops penetrated central Baghdad and stormed Saddam's Republican Palace, newspapers quoted him as saying, "There is no presence of American columns in the city of Baghdad at all. We besieged them, and we killed most of them." Referred to as Baghdad Bob by the US media, his efforts to explain away coalition force victories as illusions were absolutely comical and pitiful in their lies.

In the same way, our spiritual enemy is already defeated at the cross of Christ, yet he continues to hurl out lies, insults, and condemnation at the saints of Yahweh. All the powers of evil are already defeated. There's a victory in Yeshua Master Messiah right now. The Bible consistently conveys a sense of assurance and confidence in spiritual warfare for true believers. Don't listen to the false prophets who deny our spiritual strength against Satan and the demons. Satan is a worse liar than Baghdad Bob, because according to John 8:44 he's "the father of all lies."

A false prophet's position is revealed not only by his teaching, but also by the character of his audience. If his followers are from the world, and not born-again Christians, that's a pretty sure sign that he's also of the world. If his message crosses over and includes all religions and peoplesin a universalistic view, it's of this world and not from heaven. If the world is the source of his teaching, then he's being led by a spirit of error, a spirit of deception.

Christians need to listen to prophets who are inspired by the Spirit of Truth. Remember, Satan is a liar, as has already been mentioned he's the father of all lies and liars. It also says in John 8:44 that when Satan is lying, "he speaks his native language." A worldly message is given to deceive us, to turn us away from Yahweh's Truth. Lies are spoken to try to appease our fleshly nature, and all too often we allow them to do just that.



In a classic episode of the TV show The Twilight Zone from 1960 called "The Howling Man," we find a deep truth revealed. An American on a walking trip through central Europe gets caught in a raging storm. Staggering through the blinding rain, he chances upon an imposing medieval castle. It's a hermitage for a brotherhood of monks. The reclusive monks reluctantly take him in. Later that night, the American discovers a cell with a man locked inside. An ancient wooden staff bolts the door. The prisoner claims he's being held captive by the insane head monk, Brother Jerome. He pleads for the American to release him.

The prisoner's kindly face and gentle voice win the American over. He confronts Brother Jerome, who declares that the prisomer is actually none other than Satan, the "father of lies," held captive by the Staff of Truth, the one barrier he can't pass. This incredible claim convinces the American that Jerome is indeed insane. As soon as he gets the chance, he releases the prisoner - who immediately transforms into a hideous, horned demon and vanishes in a puff of smoke.

The stunned American is horrified at the realization of what he's done. Brother Jerome responds sympathetically. "I'm sorry for you, my son. All your life you will remember this night and whom you have turned loose upon the world." The American replies, "I didn't believe you. I saw him and didn't recognize him." To which Jerome solemnly observes, "That is man's weakness, and Satan's strength."

This is a good story for us to remember. Satan can transform himself into very benign and beautiful forms, but it's always a lie. His demons can do the same. We must have spiritual discernment. We must seek after and covet Yahweh's Truth. That's the only way for us to know the true from the false. We have no excuse for not recognizing the devil or his demons. Yahweh has given us everything we need to be rightly discerning.

John made a simple statement in his letter. "Whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us." We must be progressing in our knowledge of Yahweh. We must be learning to recognize and understand the things that come from Yahweh to us. We need to work at observing how our heavenly Father works in our world. We need to be experiencing his activity and becoming involved in it. We need to get to know him so well that we can't be fooled by a counterfeit.

We'll clearly recognize evil when we get to clearly recognizing Yahweh. What is untrue and worldly will be easily discerned because we've become knowledgeable about our Creator and his ways. The evil counterfeits offered by the devil and his horde will be quickly discerned and avoided if we know our Lord and Master well.



John references his apostolic authority. He wasn't being arrogant or pompous. He literally walked with Jesus. He'd been inside the empty tomb. He'd preached the Gospel for almost 60 years. He'd suffered for the faith. He was the last living member of the twelve chosen by Jesus as his disciples. He was the last person with experiential knoweldge of the facts about Jesus. When John dismissed the false prophets as enemies of Yahweh, he really did have the authority to do so. We must be ready to walk in this kind of authority.

So how do we recognize false prophets? Mostly by what they say and by who their listeners are. But most importantly by knowing Yahweh's Word and ways well enough to recognize the false from the counterfeit. Contrast the Truth you know from the Bible with what you suspect to be false teaching. When the Word of our Lord obviously is different from what's being spoken by a teacher, know that they are false because God's Word isn't. When you realize this, expose the false. You may end up being the one run out, but if the people don't deal with the false teacher you need to leave anyway. Let the Holy Spirit guide you to where you can be nurtured by the teaching of Yahweh's Truth.

We have the Holy Spirit residing in our hearts. We have the Bible, the fullness of Yahweh's revealed Word to us. We have each other for encouragement and to uphold what has been passed down to us through the ages. With all these resources at hand we can discern false teaching. The resources for growth, strength, and discernment are available to every follower of Jesus who takes advantage of them and uses them. Don't be deceived like the man in the Twilight Zone episode. All Christians are able to discern good and evil if they'll obediently follow their Lord and Master. 1 Thes 5:21-22 tells us, "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."



Blessings & Peace, Mike