Our teacher John the apostle has been sharing with us in the first three chapters of his little book about how God desires fellowship with us. God has made a way for us to have a relationship with Him by removing the barrier of sin that separates us from Him, and lately John has been sharing that we must simply believe in Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us and love one another to enjoy having fellowship with God. John now directs our attention to opposition to the Spirit of God who provides the true and only way for us to have fellowship with God. He wrote in First John chapter four and verse one:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Once again John addresses his readers as “beloved”. Remember that John truly loves people. He's called the apostle of love, and he desires to keep us on the right track with relating to God. He warns us, “believe not every spirit”. The very idea of John warning us about these spirits gives us reason to expect that there are spirits that should not be believed. There is opposition to God and God's way. Even Jesus faced opposition to God's way when He was on the Earth. The book of Luke reports how Jesus Himself was tempted by a false spirit in chapter four verses one through thirteen:
1And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Since Jesus was tempted by the false spirit, the devil himself, why would we think that we would not be tempted by false spirits? There are false spirits in the world. John says so, and Jesus' experience with the devil let's us know that it is possible. John says, “many false prophets are gone out into the world”. Therefore we are to “try the spirits”. In other words, examine them. Discover whether they are speaking the truth or not. Our guide is the Holy Scriptures, and if anyone, anywhere, including this writer says anything about God and relating to Him, we must compare scripture with scripture to be sure whether someone is sharing truth with us or a lie. John has given us warning, and Jesus has given us an example, and it only behooves us to be aware that not everything or everyone is declaring the truth about relating to God in this world.
Next time we will look at one of the determining factors about false spirits, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore