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Believe Not Every Spirit - 1John 4
Believe Not Every Spirit - 1John 4
John writes: “believe not every spirit”. The proverb warns: “The naive believes everything, But the sensible man considers his steps” (Proverbs 14:15). As disciples of Jesus, we simply can not afford to be naïve about our faith!
The beginning of all problems is that ‘a spirit’ (Satan) lied to men (Eve) and such was believed! “Has God said”? “Surely you will not die”. This has been the continual and universal problem of our relationship with God. Not everything we hear is true! In agreement to John’s statement that there are many false prophets is the testimony of other true prophets of God as they warned time and again:
- Jeremiah 5:31 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?
- 2 Peter 2:1 1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
- 1 Timothy 4:1 1 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,
- 2 Timothy 3:13 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
- Acts 20:29-30 29 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
- Matthew 7:15-16 15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
What can we do? We are to TRUST HIM, which is to trust what He has said. We are to ‘live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ (Matt. 4:4). We are to have our faith rooted firmly on the word of God (Rom. 10:17). As Paul instructed Timothy: “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Timothy 3:14).
We must then TEST / TRY the spirits! We must always VALIDATE! This has been the solution from the beginning.
- Isaiah 8:20 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;
- Acts 17:11 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
You believe many things, we all do. WHY do you believe them? What is the foundation of your beliefs?
Hugh DeLong
