Testing the Spirits – Part 1

1 John 4:1-6

May 11, 2003

 

            Take your Bibles with me this morning and turn to the book of 1 John. We will be starting chapter four this morning, reading from verses 1 through 6. 1 John 4:1-6. Follow along with me as I read the text. Read text. Let’s pray.

            In the 1700s, during what is commonly called the Great Awakening, many people came to know and love the Lord Jesus. It was a time of incredible response to the Gospel message. Churches in America were fuller than they had ever been, some churches were having several services throughout the week, and the focus of worship services was for the most part the preaching of the Gospel, the Word of God. And naturally, whenever something mighty and powerful happens within the church, there are prone to be two extremes, and the Great Awakening was no different.

On one hand, there were people within the church who wanted no part of the Great Awakening. They saw people having strong, intense, emotional reactions to the preaching they were hearing and the Gospel message. These reactions included fits of screaming, weeping, crying out, growing weak, trembling, and for some, even passing out. Seeing these responses, some people thought there was no way the Holy Spirit was being honored or glorified by such behavior. And if the Spirit was not honored by this behavior, then He certainly must not be the author of the work, so these people largely stayed away from churches and people involved in the Great Awakening, and some of them even wrote against the events of the Great Awakening. They judged that such intense, strong emotional and physical reactions to hearing the Word were not orderly or appropriate, and thus they condemned the great work of God that was occurring.

On the other hand, there were those who were so caught up in the Awakening that they accepted anything and everything that happened as the work of the Spirit of God. Anyone who claimed to have any experience at all, no matter what effect it had had on the person’s life since or how compatible it was with Scripture, was accepted as being of God. Because these people feared quenching the Holy Spirit and stifling the Great Awakening, they became completely undiscerning and allowed many to run into excess that clearly violated scriptural principles.

In the middle of these two extreme positions stood men like Jonathan Edwards. He was not ready to allow all experiences or feelings to pass as being from the Spirit of God, but he also would not dismiss the work as a whole or in some of its parts. Because of the great controversy produced by the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards wrote a treatise entitled Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, in which he outlined from this passage, 1 John 4:1-6, how the people of his day should discern whether the Great Awakening, both as a whole and in individual instances, was from the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, or from the spirit of error.

Today his call for discernment is as needed as it was nearly 300 years ago. There are, in our churches today, people on both ends of the spectrum. There are those who are completely caught up in experience and emotion, and there are those who are completely against any kind of experience or emotion, who believe that faith should be something purely intellectual, traditional, and academic.

To balance these two extremes, John, here in 1 John 4, gives us several tests by which we may know whether something is truly a work of the Spirit or whether it is a work of the devil. Christians are not to blindly accept anything anyone says as being from God, but we are to be discerning and able to tell what is true from what is false, what is of God from what is of the devil.

This becomes very difficult at times, especially in our day. The mode of operation of our day is tolerance, and so anyone who comes in and draws a line demarcating what is truth and what is error is called intolerant, unloving, narrow-minded, and academic. Experience is the thing to be prized. Many, many ministries advertise the quality of their ministry not by how truthful the message is, or how biblically sound the doctrine is, but by how effective the ministry outwardly appears to be, or by the external results it seems to be producing. And anyone who might criticize such a ministry is immediately called upon to explain the results, even if the ministry itself clearly contradicts Scripture.

This type of thinking is the prevailing mindset of our culture. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote that this type of thinking is “very loose and very false and very flabby thinking…The attitude of many seems to be, ‘We do not want these arguments…As long as we are all Christians, anyhow, somehow, all is well. Do not let us argue about doctrine, let us all be Christians together and talk about the love of God.’” He went on to add, “It is important that we should realize that if we speak like that we are denying the Scriptures. The Scriptures are full of arguments…” And he’s right! The Scriptures from start to finish are full of arguments, full of absolutes that must either be received or rejected. As Jay Adams has pointed out, from the beginning of the creation of man to the eternal state there are two and only two options – God’s way or not God’s way. There was a choice to either eat or not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and in the end there is either heaven or hell for every person. With so much at stake, do we have any choice but to be earnest and diligent about examining what we hear and testing it with Scripture to see if it is in fact truth? With the eternal destiny of every person hanging in the balance, can we be so passive and so “tolerant” that we allow for anything to pass without first being filtered through some sort of test, without first putting it to the fire to see if it is genuine?

The answer of Scripture is that we cannot conform to the spirit of our age. We cannot allow for anything to pass as Christianity because someone has had an experience, because someone has felt a burning in his bosom, or because something has produced incredible results. Eternity is too long and hell is too miserable and God’s wrath is too terrible to be unconcerned about whether something is of God or whether something is of the devil. It is not enough to have “feel-good” theology or “whatever-works” theology. And so John calls us to be discerning, to know what source the messages we hear and the experiences we have and others have come from. We must be discerning.

The whole theme of these six verses before us this morning is discernment – being able to distinguish between what comes from the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Why is this important? This is important because one of the sources of our security as believers is the Holy Spirit. At the end of chapter 3 John said, We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. A valid test of faith is the presence of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit indwells a person, then that person is a child of God. Paul wrote in Romans 8:14, For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. The ones who are being led, indwelt, controlled, filled with the Holy Spirit, these are the children of God. So now it must be asked, “Who then is indwelt by the Spirit of God? How can I know if someone who claims to have the Spirit does in fact have the Spirit and speak truth?” How can a person be discerning and tell who is speaking from the spirit of truth and who is speaking from the spirit of error?

First of all, it is important that we understand that discernment is not an option for the child of God. Discernment, being able to rightly judge whether something comes from God or from some other source, is commanded of believers. John begins this chapter with a command, and the command is two-fold. He writes, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. There is a command that we not be gullible, but that we become discerning and be able to distinguish truth from error.

Christians, then, are first commanded not to believe everything they hear, especially concerning religious matters and matters of truth. The idea here is to stop doing an action that you are currently doing. It seems that John’s readers were having trouble being discerning, and they were neglecting their duty as Christians to be pillars of truth. John commands them to stop believing every spirit.

So many people will easily believe just about anything they hear. They watch religious people on television and are willing to believe in anything that happens or is said or done. They choose a church and don’t give thought to the content of what they are hearing. Perhaps the pastor seems nice, genuine, sincere, or kind, and so anyone who is such a person surely must be speaking truth. And people so easily forget that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). False teachers don’t go around wearing a sign saying, “I’m a false teacher, don’t believe me!” They go around claiming to be speaking truth, disguising what and who they really are. Because someone presents himself well or speaks winsomely, kindly, or with gracious words is no mark that the person is from God. He could very well be the devil in disguise. And to prevent us from believing in the devil’s lies John commands us to be discerning. We are commanded to not believe everyone and everything, but to stop being gullible.

The alternative to gullibility is to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. There is a test that we are to apply, several tests in fact, to determine whether a spirit is from God. Now, this inevitably raises the question, “What does John mean by ‘spirits’ in this text? How do we test something we cannot see or hear?” I think there are two helpful keys to understanding this concept. The first is at the end of this verse. John says, many false prophets have gone out into the world. Whatever John means by spirits, we know that it is linked to prophets – to those who claim to speak the Word of God from the Spirit of God. Those who would claim to speak the Word of the Lord are to be tested in what they say.

Why does John then not be consistent with the idea of false prophets? Why does he speak of spirits rather than prophets throughout this passage? Why does he not say that we should test the prophets, to see whether they are true or false? The reason that John does this is to show the seriousness of what is at stake. If it were simply the words of men that were the issue, this would not be such a big deal. But what is at stake is doctrines that issue from spiritual forces. The real source of these teachings that Christians need to guard against is not the prophets, but the ones who inspire them. Wicked, demonic, deceitful spirits are the ones who lead astray the false prophets, who give the false prophets deceiving messages full of lies and destruction. In 1 Timothy 4:1 Paul puts it like this, But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. The some to whom Paul refers are false prophets, liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. They are men who at one time had the appearance of being in the faith, but subsequently fell away. And how did they fall away? They paid attention to deceitful spirits. They went after doctrines of demons. The messages of false prophets are not messages that originate with a human source. They are demonically inspired. They come from wicked, deceitful spirits and are doctrines taught by demons.

For this reason John commands us to test the spirits. We are to test to see what spirit is controlling and influencing a person. Is it the Spirit of truth or the spirit of error? Is it the Holy Spirit or is it a deceitful spirit, a demonic spirit? This is why doctrine is so crucial to the church. False doctrine and false teaching is not a collection of innocent mistakes. False teaching is demonic teaching. And there are many, many false prophets who go out into the world teaching doctrines of demons and using the guise of religion, even Christianity. They even disguise themselves as angels of light. So John uses the term ‘spirits’ to emphasize the ultimate source of the prophets: either from God or from the devil. If you follow a false prophet, you are not simply following the wrong person; you are following demonic forces, teachings, and powers. This is serious business; it is not a secondary issue.

Seeing this, then, it is abundantly clear why we must have some tests to discern between the true and the false, but how? What kinds of tests should we use? During the Great Awakening some used tests of an external nature, such as emotional reactions. Today others might use pragmatic tests. In other words, their test might be, “Does it produce powerful, effective results?” One area many people apply these kinds of tests is people’s “healing” ministries. Some people wonder how seemingly supernatural events occur if a person is a false prophet, forgetting that Satan and demons can work lying miracles, as Pharaoh’s magicians did in Exodus. Others may appeal to a man’s external appearance – how he speaks or comes across. The external appearance of a man is no test of his truthfulness and soundness of doctrine. Just because someone is likeable does not mean he is not a false prophet. We can tell a false prophet by certain objective tests that we must apply if we are not to be gullible and easily misled.

These tests, by the way, are likened to the kind of test that is used on something like gold or silver. They are tests that prove the genuineness of something. In the Old Testament this word used for test, as used in the Septuagint, carried the idea of testing for genuineness by using fire. So John is saying that when we hear someone claim something to be truth from God, we are to prove that it is true by putting it through tests. We are to investigate the claim, and we are to filter it through a grid to make sure that it is truly a message from God. We are to test the spirits, which is essentially saying to take what those who claim to speak truth are saying, and test to see what the source of the message is. Does the message originate with the Holy Spirit, or does it originate with demonic forces? We are to put it through the fires of testing.

What, then, are the tests that we need to apply? What qualifies something as being from God? How can we know if something is truly from God or not? Fortunately, John does not imply that you need a doctorate in theology to discern between the true and the false. In fact, every Christian is equipped to perform these tests, as John expresses in verse 4. No one who is a child of God can claim not to have what it takes to be discerning. We all will be held responsible for obedience to this command. If, as Christians, we are not being discerning, then we are sinning because we are disobeying a clear command of Scripture.

There are four tests that John gives us to enable us to be discerning. We are given four tests by which we are commanded to determine if someone brings the Word of God or the doctrine of demons. All of these tests are doctrinal in nature. They involve content and what is being taught. John does not discuss emotions, feelings, or results here as being what authenticates a prophet. The man of God is not verified based on audience approval ratings. How we discern what spirit is at work is based on doctrine. This morning we will look at the first test, and then next week we will finish with the last three tests. And again, I must repeat myself because I think this is so essential: all of us are required to understand these tests and to use them to protect ourselves and others from false prophets. This is not solely the job of the pastor, or the elders, or some other church officer. This is the job and duty of every child of God. We are all commanded to be able to use these tests and discern truth from error.

 

Test #1 – The Christological Test (vv. 2-3)

 

            The first test that John gives to us is found in verses 2 and 3, and it is the Christological test. The Christological test. Christology is the study of Jesus Christ, and it is the term used to describe the doctrinal understanding we have of Jesus as revealed in the Bible. So John begins this series of tests with the Christological test, and essentially the question we must ask when we hear someone claim to teach God’s Word is, “What is their doctrine concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God?” To discern truth from error we must begin with a person’s understanding of Jesus Christ. It is absolutely fundamental. If they do not understand the biblical teaching about Jesus Christ, then they have no sure foundation to build upon, and the whole structure of their teaching will be a sham and will collapse on the day of judgment. So when we hear a teaching that someone claims is from God, the first question we must always ask ourselves is, “What does this person think of our Lord Jesus Christ? How is He defined and described and discussed by this teacher?”

            Notice that John begins with this fundamental doctrine of God the Son in verse 2. He says, By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Now, that is a strong statement. Yet it is a sure, rock-solid statement that we can always rely upon. What does John mean by this statement?  I would like to start with what he does not mean, and then delve into what he does mean.

            John does not mean that anyone who gives lip-service to the incarnation is from God. John does not mean that anyone who merely intellectually assents to the doctrine of the incarnation is from God. To help you understand this, I want you to turn over to 1 Corinthians 12:3. Here Paul gives a basic test to see if the Holy Spirit is at work. He writes, Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Obviously Paul is not saying that every person who utters the three words, “Jesus is Lord” is speaking by the Holy Spirit. People can say that without the assistance of the Holy Spirit if we simply mean uttering words with our mouths. But no one can say “Jesus is Lord” with his mouth, mind, heart, will, and soul except by the Holy Spirit. No one who honors the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can do so except by the Holy Spirit. And I think John is driving home the same point. He is not saying that a person who merely causes his vocal chords to make the appropriate sounds is from God. It is not a magical sentence to say that instantly makes us children of God. No, that is not it.

            So what is it then? I think that what John is saying here basically boils down to this: Everyone who exalts the historical man named Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Son of God, and constantly goes about trying to raise men’s affections for Jesus as revealed in the Bible is from God. If a person teaches doctrine in such a way as to raise our love and devotion to Jesus as the Christ, the very Son of God, the God-Man, then we know that person speaks from God.

            Notice that this confession is about Jesus. But it is not about Jesus as man only, it is a confession about Jesus Christ. This is very important. John is not using titles here to no purpose. To the contrary, John is emphatically making a point that Jesus was both a man and the very Son of God. He is the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus, the man Jesus, is not just a man; He is Jesus Christ. The true teacher will acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah. He will make much of the fact that Jesus is the One who came to save the world from sin.

            There is also a sense of exclusivity here. The Christ is the only way of salvation for everyone, both Jews and Gentiles. So not only will a person indwelt by the Spirit of God acknowledge and believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but he will also teach that no one comes to the Father except by Jesus Christ. The true prophet and teacher who teaches God’s Word will exalt Christ as the only way of salvation.

            Notice also that the one from God claims that Jesus has come in the flesh. There is an idea here of eternal existence before Jesus’ birth. Jesus came from somewhere. He came into our world from another realm, another place. The man who lived in human flesh did not begin His existence in Bethlehem. His existence has no beginning. He is the One who has existed from eternity past, and at a point in time He came in the flesh. He left heaven and the glorious presence of the Father and came to dwell among human beings in a most humble fashion. But this was not the beginning of His existence. It was merely His existence going from heaven to earth. He came in the flesh.

            And we must also emphasize that He was truly a man. We must never forget this most crucial point of doctrine. Not only was Jesus fully God, but He also was fully man. He lived as a man, He worked like a man, He had parents and siblings, He had to eat, He got tired, He got thirsty. He lived as a real human being. Jesus was not a phantom or some form of superhuman. No, He was every bit as much a human being as we are in this room this morning, yet undefiled by sin, and to this very day He remains the God-Man, still fully man and fully God, glorified forever. Many times we are so adamant to defend the doctrine of Jesus as fully God that we tend to downplay the fact that He was just as human as we are, yet without sin. Somehow full deity and full humanity fused into one body of flesh, and that Person, Jesus Christ, being 100% man and 100% God, physically and literally died on the cross for the sin of the world. We cannot fully explain how these things can be so, yet we believe them to be so, and everyone who is from God acknowledges with delight and adoration and reverence that these things are true.

            If a person refuses to accept these truths about our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a sure sign that proves that person is not of God. Look at verse 3. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. If a person does not teach the truth about Jesus Christ, we can know for certain that he is not from God. John makes an even stronger statement, saying that if a person does not adhere to the true doctrine of Jesus, then that false prophet is taught by the spirit of the antichrist. To deny the truth about Jesus Christ is to be of the spirit of the antichrist! John reminds his readers that they know about this demonic spirit of antichrist, and that the spirit is already at work in the world. False teaching about Jesus Christ is inspired by the spirit of the antichrist. We can only imagine what a horrible state the world will be in when that one, ultimate Antichrist comes, whom Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians 2 as the man of lawlessness, and makes law his demonic doctrines that pervert the truth about Jesus.

            There is much that could be said about this, but time does not permit. I would, however, draw your attention to 1 John 2:18-27. There, if you remember, John deals with the antichrist in some greater detail, and if you remember, these antichrists were not from without the church, but they arose from within. These false prophets who have gone out into the world often begin within the church. They come from within the fellowship of believers, and they depart, proving they never belonged to the people of God at all. This makes it even more crucial that as Christians we are discerning.

            Sadly, at one church where I was the children’s minister I discovered that an adult Sunday school teacher did not believe in the deity of Christ. He believed that Jesus was not fully God. I had some conversations with this man about these issues to be quite clear as to what he believed, and without question he denied the deity of Jesus. When I brought this to the attention of the church leadership, it was dismissed as unimportant. The man was believed to be well-intentioned and good-natured, so he could not possibly be harmful. It is sad that this church is not alone in this type of doctrinal apathy, even about such crucial issues as the deity of our Lord. This issue eventually led to my resignation, and my resolve to be all the more diligent about discerning the spirits.

            As Christians we are called to be defenders of the faith, to contend for the truth. Paul called the church the pillar and support of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). If the church ceases to be discerning, and if it ceases to test the spirits to see whether or not they are from God, how will it ever support the truth? It starts with individual Christians. As believers we must be doctrinally aware, and it begins with the doctrine of Jesus Christ. What a person believes about Jesus Christ is the foundational test to determine whether he is of the spirit of truth or the spirit of error.

            This is something that all Christians are capable of discerning. When trying to discern the spirits, the fundamental question is, “Does this message elevate my love, my affection, my worship, my adoration of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Or does it serve some other end? Do I learn more about the preacher or the Savior?” False prophets may use Jesus’ name, but they never will exalt His name, magnify His name, and cause others to follow after the true Jesus who called us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. We can discern the spirits by examining whether they confess the truth about Jesus, and by so doing elevate the saints’ love of the Savior. Let’s pray.

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