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Do Not Believe Every Spirit - 1 John 4
Do Not Believe Every Spirit - 1 John 4
“1 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. (1 John 4:1)
God is a God of truth. He will not and can not lie or deceive.
Satan is a liar. Jesus said of him: “44 " You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
As John writes these letters, he will mention ‘truth’ some 20 times. We are of the truth (3:19), we know the truth (2:21), we practice the truth (1:6), the truth is in us (1:8), we walk in truth (2Jn4, 3Jn 3). Truth is to be our life.
In our modern age of information, we are deluged with more information than we can ever digest. The problem is that a huge part of such information simply is not true! Every truth present in the Bible is countered with many contortions and perversions of it.
I heard that years ago in training to be a bank teller, the way they trained them to know the difference between counterfeit money and real money was for them to handle the real thing over and over and over. Then, when they tested them by slipping in a counterfeit bill, it was readily discerned simply because it wasn’t ‘right’. I think the same basic principle will help you to know truth. You must ‘handle’ it continuously. Read, study it, memorize it, compare it, contemplate it, talk about it, teach it. But whatever you do, TEST ALL THINGS. Prove all things. Hold on only to that which is true.
Hugh DeLong
