August 23 - Test the Spirits

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 31,32; 1 John 4 

MAXIMize YOUR DAY 

Any spirit or belief system that does not believe
Jesus is the Christ is quite obviously Anti-Christ! 

This chapter in 1 John is the measuring stick for evaluating belief systems: Dear friends, 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. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist (4:1-3). The dividing line is their view of the virgin-born Son of God. If Jesus is not seen as fully God and fully man, then He cannot be our Saviour.

While I was a student in Bible College we learned how false religions, cults and even some fringe Christian sects can be identified by their faulty view of Christ. Though warned not to by the college president, I took a good friend into a spiritist church (oh, the foolishness of youth!). It seemed like a regular Christian service at first, complete with the sharing of “testimonies.” But though we heard about healings and miracles, there was no mention of sin, salvation or Jesus. When the congregation divided themselves into small rooms where they could join hands and experience spirit entities, we politely excused ourselves. When one of the leaders followed us out the front door, I explained we were students of the Bible and what he just saw in there did not measure up (young, foolish, and not very diplomatic!).

I learned many things that day (like obeying your elders), but foremost was the importance of sound doctrine.  We interpret experience based on Scripture, not the other way around. People get into serious trouble when they pursue experiences and then proof text Scripture to fit. Experiences, like encountering the genuine love of God, will follow behind a real relationship with the Son of God based on the truth of His Word: If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him (4:15,16).

“Lord, of all the tests in life, none is more important than testing and identifying the spirit of the antichrist. If only Your people had tested the false gods they served in Jeremiah’s day (32:29-35). As the false spirits of my day call out to me, give me the wisdom of Your Spirit to mark them with a failing grade!”