Sermon: Discern and Distinguish Between Spirits

#1765
Martin G. Collins
Given 01-Jun-24; 59 minutes 2024-06-01

As Jesus Christ's ministry advanced, it was not the persuasiveness or power of Jesus' words that determined how people responded to Him, but the spiritual condition of their hearts. If God does not open a person's heart and mind with His Spirit, there could be no true faithful belief.

Please turn with me to John 8, verse 44 as we take a dovetail into something else here but that is still related for the sake of the sermon. When the Jews claimed to be Abraham's physical descendants yet did not believe in Jesus, the true Messiah, they showed more than just unbelief. They revealed their hostility toward God and they did not want to accept that Jesus comes from God and speaks the very words of God. Their behavior contradicted their claim.

So the response to Jesus shows that they are not truly God's spiritual children, but children of the Devil. The clear implication is that not all religious people are children of God, not even Jewish people who reject Jesus, but only those who at least believe in Jesus as the Messiah, as the Christ.

Jesus said to those Jews:

John 8:44-45 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe Me."

Satan, the father of lies, is a spirit of confusion, therefore we are at war with this master conspirator—the leader and the dark influencer of this world. As a rebellious liar, his evil plan is to deceive and destroy humanity.

Please turn over to I John 2, verse 18. Satan, the master antichrist, is the chief deceptive schemer and he has many antichrists working for him.

I John 2:18-23 [My Bible has the caption, Deceptions of the Last Hour.] Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

So this is why the apostle John tells us to test the spirits whether they are of God. We must test their intrinsic character, their moral worth, and their agreement with the written Word of God, the established truth.

Now, the apostle Paul had to confront an opposition rising in Corinth who used spiritual and prophetical heresies as they disregarded Christ and the apostles teaching of the truth. Paul writes in I Corinthians 12:10 of the "discerning of spirits" as translated in the King James and New King James versions, or the "distinguishing between spirits," as translated in the NIV, "an ability to discern and distinguish between the utterances of true spirits and false ones," as paraphrased in the Amplified Version.

God gives spiritual gifts to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit knowledge. Beware of those who claim to speak under a spirit's prompting. Paul warns us in,

I Thessalonians 5:21-22 Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

We do not know exactly what all of the problems were in the churches to which the apostle John was writing in his first letter. We know there was a schism in which those who professed to have a greater knowledge of spiritual matters withdrew from the original Christian assembly. It may be that they thought they had a better revelation of the truth than others. If they left, it is easy to deduce that they would have pretended to be more spiritual than those that they disagreed with, which was the membership of the church.

Please turn with me to I John 4. Now in I John 4, verses 1 through 6 John deals with this problem, which is similar to what we must resist and deal with today. And he explains that we are commanded to test those who claim to be inspired. He also writes that there is a standard to be used in testing them and that there is practical application of these ideas to the problem of distinguishing between true and merely professing Christians. In this last section, John deals with the radical distinction between the church and the world and shows the relationship of each to true church doctrine.

So the contrasts in this section are therefore between the Holy Spirit and false spirits, belief and unbelief, and, in a summary way, between truth and error. In this 4th chapter of his first epistle (or first letter), the apostle John denounces those who, through false doctrines, try to deceive church members. He sees a spirit that is more than a mere worldly spirit, one whose origin is demonic and antichrist.

John says a theological examination is necessary using the question of whether we confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. So distinguishing the truth from a lie requires close scrutiny about whether the teaching conforms to authoritative revelation, has value for edification, and has been evaluated by those with spiritual discernment, such as God's ministers. Now we arrive here ready to read these verses.

I John 4:1-6 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets [or teachers] have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He [that is, Jesus Christ] who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Just as some people do today, a person during John's time would delude himself into a skewed mindset in which he sincerely thought that he had a direct message from the Spirit of God. Now, sadly, it was not. It has not been uncommon for some church attendees to believe that God is revealing new truths to them. Usually there is the motivating problem of deep-seated pride when that happens.

John lays out the criteria for judging and discerning between the true and the false because of such presumptuous people. Verse 1 again says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Now, testing the spirits requires the same amount of effort as that of examining the Scriptures. The Bible tells us certain things that we need to do to learn the Bible itself. And it is a wonderful thing that it gives us such instructions to guide us, such practical application. In John 5:39 Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures." The word search there means to examine very thoroughly and to investigate. It implies a good deal of diligence and effort in finding the truth.

In the audience that was there with Jesus, there were Jews who were no doubt proud of their knowledge of the Scripture. They had searched the Scriptures, but they were selective in what they saw there. They were seeing certain things and were refusing to see other things. So Christ reminded them that the Scriptures testified of Him and they had shut off that part of Scripture. It was not penetrating them at all and they did not come to the Scriptures to learn what was there. They came to confirm what they wanted to see there.

Turn over to I Corinthians 11, verse 17. Sometimes people do the same thing when they listen to the complaints, gripes, and accusations of others within the visible church. There has always been a small dissatisfied group of people instigating an undercurrent of complaints and they manage to find one another; and it must be a common spirit that links them.

I Corinthians 11:17-19 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved [that is, those who are genuine saints] may be recognized among you.

So knowing human nature, Paul assumed such divisions were inevitable even among Christians so that those who act worthy of God's approval can be made evident, sometimes eventually, not right away. Now, it is important that it eventually becomes clear exactly who the elect of God are so that the individual member can verify in his own mind that he is indeed being prepared for God's Kingdom and to produce a true witness of God's way of life.

Those who test the spirits can avoid the aggressive and proud antichrist spirit, while at the same time, confirming their own steadfastness within the church.

One of the most magnificent things about Scripture is its extraordinary stability and firmness as we see in I John 4:1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are God." That is a command.

Now, if we were careful to observe such stable and steady biblical statements, much of the aggravating controversy and resentment could be avoided within our own life. Sometimes our troubles are the result of our tendency to extremes. Humans tend to go from one extreme to the other instead of maintaining scriptural stability and steadfastness.

Please turn with me to II Timothy 1, verse 7. Going to extremes seems to be the tendency of humanity which we have brought in from the world. Maybe confusion about the function of God's Spirit is a carryover from that. The place of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's calling and inspiration is not one of weakness or incomprehension. It is clearly defined.

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

It provides the means to be disciplined and self-controlled. It provides the capability for self-government. This is stability! The person who has the Holy Spirit abiding within manifests stability and steadfastness.

In Ephesians 5:18, the apostle Paul said, "Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." So when filled with the Spirit of God, we have mental and spiritual power and stability with no confusion. Whenever there is confusion, God is not the author, Satan is or our own human nature has gotten us mixed up.

Paul told the Corinthians to speak one at a time, let all things be done in order. He said, I Corinthians 14:33, "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." Is there peace in our life? If there is not, then we should be very concerned and look for what the source of the confusion is. The Spirit that comes from God is a Spirit of order, not disorder. It is a Spirit of love that makes available inspiration and power and intellect and mind. The whole person is positively influenced and it evolves and functions as a perfectly stable body with no schism, rivalry, or opposition.

The Spirit of God must be guiding us, not some false evil spirit telling us what our human nature wants to hear.

Which is more important: inspiration or doctrine? Inspiration or doctrine should not be emphasized at the expense of the other. These are not contrasting things, they are meant to be complementary. That is something that has been happening in the church almost from the beginning. Human reasoning tends to oscillate between extreme positions instead of combining the two, that is, inspiration and doctrine.

Historically, some have not have tended to emphasize the influence of the Spirit over that of doctrine, but they emphasize inspiration at the expense of doctrine and truth. And those who lean more toward inspiration than spiritual teachings or other scriptural teachings can claim that the ministry should not spend time defining doctrine. Sometimes people think they have personally received new truth or knowledge by inspiration. We see that people come and go for that very reason.

If it is contrary to the true church's biblical based beliefs, to the church's doctrine, to the Holy Scripture's teachings, it is of an antichrist spirit. And when the whole emphasis is placed independently on inspiration or doctrine, there is a tendency toward liberal excesses or the tendency in the opposite direction to pharisaical restrictions.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

This statement is reemphasized in Proverbs 16:25.

It is the result of putting the whole emphasis on one or the other about which the apostle Paul was contending with the church at Corinth—the whole idea of identifying the complete unified body, not aspects separate and independent. Some of the Corinthian brethren tended to think of the independent and separate parts instead of realizing this steadfastness and unity. That is always a great characteristic of God's people.

Independent human reasoning was a problem the early church struggled with. And there was a serious movement within the church that if not dealt with would affect the stability of the church. It had to be dealt with before the disunity festered and spread. It was exactly what the apostle John wrote about in his first epistle. There were certain people who claimed unusual authority from God, who claimed to have the Spirit in an unusual and special way. Their self-righteousness and rejection of God's authority self-justified their contrariness and their uncooperativeness. They were impatient with definition and doctrine and they wanted to promote their philosophically based inspiration that they claimed was from God.

The great fight for the faith was fought beginning in the first century and has continued ever since. There has always been a tendency to talk against those who support the authority of the church. Jesus Christ is Head of the church. That is clear.

They justify their rebellious attitudes by saying they were every bit as inspired as the ministry. They self-proclaimed themselves as to be recipients of the Holy Spirit but their words, attitudes, and actions clearly showed to those who tested the spirits that they were of a different spirit. Any spirit that is not of God is anti-God, anti-Christ.

There are always those who are willingly deceived by "repackaged old heresies." God's church has repeatedly fought modified theological deceptions for almost 2,000 years now. And some of the repackaged lies recycled through the ages are now still in the end time church, still recirculating. For example, Jesus Christ is a created being. Another one: All seventh day Sabbath keepers are part of God's church. They are Trinitarian, they do not even have the same God. You do not have to eat unleavened bread daily during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, another false thing that keeps recycling. There is no need to emphasize the law of God. Another one, it is not wrong for a believer to marry an unbeliever. Another one, tithing is an Old Testament teaching that only applies to farmers. And there are many more false teachings that are dumped into the church and it seems like it always works to screen some people out. That is by God's design.

Both spirit and doctrine are necessary to have stability and order. One of the problems facing the greater church of God today is this human tendency to erode and destabilize church doctrine and decide, using their own intellect, which doctrines are worthy to be accepted. Human nature desires to choose for itself from the religious smorgasbord table. Sometimes the ministry finds itself fighting on two fronts. We are obviously critical of both "pure intellectualism," which is a form of human reasoning, and the opposite front, "pharisaism," which is law and judgment without mercy.

So God's ministers have always had their critics. On the one hand, we have been commissioned to guard the truth, which requires upholding godly standards in the church. So there are those who accuse us of being too firm. On the other hand, we have been commissioned to be forgiving and extend mercy without tolerating willful sin in the congregation. So others accuse us of allowing sin in our midst. Thus, we receive criticism from all sides. It is not an easy job. It is a good thing God is the one who carries it out in us, or we pray that be the case.

The Spirit is essential and inspiration is vital. However, truth and definition and doctrine and principles are equally vital and essential. Inspiration must be based on doctrine and truth. We read, "By this we know that He abides in us," by the Spirit that He has given us. And also we read, "Do not believe every spirit, but tests the spirits, whether they are of God."

Let us look at this in detail as the apostle John presents it to us. We are commanded to test and try the spirits.

Turn with me to Matthew 22, verse 36. Some seem to dislike the whole idea of definitions and examining and testing and they just want to go on without meditating, that is, without deep contemplation about applying God's principles. Some people claim to be Christian but are opposed to the technicalities of doctrine, which includes God's law. Decades ago, I heard one church member say, what is so important about doctrine? And others said, I do not want to hear about the law. We know what is most important! Jesus defined doctrine and magnified God's two great laws.

Matthew 22:36-39 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You shall love" is a perfectly true statement but almost meaningless. We have little or no way to apply it practically without definition, without true doctrine to define it, without God's inspiration through His Holy Spirit to motivate us to do it. It is our duty to understand the truth we claim to believe so we are able, if called upon, to clearly explain technical matters of definition for the benefit of others or technical matters of doctrine.

How does emotion come into it? How does it play into it? Often people judge a minister by how he moves them emotionally. Some religious movements have a pep rally approach. They leave worship services feeling high on religion. Many people enjoy having their emotions yanked up and down and from side to side. But when it comes to doctrine and definition, they see no value in it because their emotions are not titillated by doctrine and definition. Emotionally excited people lose interest if their emotions are not excited by the teacher.

And we see a similar problem with the media. The news must be sensationalized to stimulate the listener's and reader's interest and emotions. You may remember this man, but Bill Moyers, an American journalist and political commentator, made a perceptive observation about media, entertainment, and the news. He said, "Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate, you create a climate of expectation that requires a higher and higher level of intensity." He really nailed that one, did he not? That is what we see today in everything having to do with the media.

Now, this abandonment of the truth in order to exaggerate for the purpose of enticing and gaining viewership can be a type of deception. Therefore, we would be wise to test the motives of others, particularly the worldly, because God commands us through the apostle John to do so, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test whether they are of God."

Scripture tells us why we should do this, "Because many false prophets have gone out into the world." And Peter's solution is found in I Peter 5,

I Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

The apostle Paul is very clear in his warning,

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So even though this passage is familiar to us, we pause for thought about the full extent of this message. There are false prophets, there are evil spirits. There is a Devil who is so clever and subtle that he can transform himself into an angel of light.

Please turn over in II Corinthians 11, verse 13. This angel of light, who by this very description, at first glance resembles God's teachings. His deceptions are very hard to distinguish from the truth by the undiscerning person. And if it were possible, he could even deceive the elect of God. But why can he not? What stops him from deceiving us? Nothing physical. It is the Holy Spirit, the mind of God in us that we must draw from to be able to discern the fake angel of light, the unclean deceptive spirit.

II Corinthians 11:13-15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

If upon our calling and subsequent conversion leading to salvation we are only dealing with God's Spirit, there would be no need to test the spirits. But the very name, Holy Spirit, suggests other spirits, unclean spirits, rebellious spirits, and demonic spirits.

Another reason for testing the spirits is the evidence provided by the long history of the church of the havoc that had often been inflicted on the church because people would not try and test the spirits. It is counterproductive to believe that since we have been greatly blessed and have grown so much, therefore we are always right.

Please turn with me to Acts 17, verse 10. Physical blessings and the appearance of righteousness are not indications of either true conversion or discernment of spirits. This is one of the reasons why true doctrine, diligent examination, and right application of the Scriptures are so important.

Acts 17:10-12 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness [they are teachable], and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

Although we are very concerned about sincerity and honesty, we are also concerned about truth and error. And truth and error are something that must be defined. Truth separates us from other religions, even from mainstream "Christian" churches.

Jesus made a very clear statement in John 8:32, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." He also said in,

John 17:15-19 "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

So we are distinguished from the world because we are both set free and sanctified by the truth. God's Word, God's mind, and God's Spirit are interrelated and, in a sense, one and the same. They all originate from the Father.

Now, the prophets, Jesus Christ, His apostles, and the church have kept God's commandments, the seventh day Sabbath, the annual feast days, and accept Jesus Christ as the Savior. Other religions, no matter how "Christian" they claim to be, are of a different spirit. Their prideful human traditions supersede the doctrines of God's Word. God cannot lead rebellious people because they are of a different spirit, just as God could not lead Satan and the rebellious angels who followed him.

As a reminder, Jesus warns us through John in I John 4:1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they have God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." I keep repeating that because it is so important to get locked into our minds.

By referring to his followers as beloved, the apostle John is writing to all his disciples. And later in verse 4, he says, "You are of God, little children," using the expression "little children" deliberately. In other words, you, the ordinary church members, little children—you hear us because you are of the truth.

Please turn to I Corinthians 2, verse 10. God gives us the power to examine and test the spirits. Verse 4 says, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." But we have been given the power of understanding, discernment, and wisdom from the mind of God by the way of His Spirit. The apostle Paul tells us this at great length in I Corinthians.

I Corinthians 2:10-14 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Now, some tests are dangerous if we completely rely on them. To begin with, let us look at how this testing should not be done.

First, it would be wrong for us to try to determine who has the Holy Spirit by looking for all the gifts of the Spirit to be present in all who have the Holy Spirit. An obvious example is the gift of tongues, the gift of being able to speak several different languages. Everybody does not receive that. I can only speak one language and I struggle with the second one. There are others who can speak 5, 10, and who knows how many languages. And I admire that gift in them. That is a wonderful gift.

You recall that the apostle Paul asked the question in I Corinthians 12:30, "Do all speak with tongues?" The whole chapter is designed to show that the gifts are distributed by Jesus Christ Himself and He may or may not give these gifts, and the manifestation of gifts is not an essential proof of the possession of the Holy Spirit.

Please turn with me to Matthew 7, verse 15. Let us not confuse the gifts of the Spirit with the fruit of the Spirit, which everyone who has the Holy Spirit must be producing: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So producing spiritual fruit is actually a very good way to discern spirits.

Matthew 7:15-18 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."

That is almost a tongue twister, is it not? "Big black bear bit a big black bug. Big black bug made a big black bear bleed." That was one of those Spokesman's Club tongue twisters that I just butchered. But it is very similar.

Matthew 7:19-23 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. [It is important if it is repeated in Scripture.] Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesized in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"

To those who keep Sunday as a day of rest are breaking God's law because the law of God says the seventh day is the Sabbath. Therefore, they are spiritual outlaws.

Genesis 2:2-3 And on the seventh day God ended His work which he had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Who in the world thinks they have the right to go against what the God of the universe and beyond says He did for us in creating the Sabbath day and blessing it and sanctifying it? Since breaking one of the Ten Commandments makes us guilty of breaking all of them, then those who refuse to keep the seventh day holy that God established at the end of the Creation Week are lawless. God says He never knew them.

Turn to Jeremiah 17, verse 10. We cannot stop at the obvious when discerning the spirits. The more subtle spirits are just as dangerous because they work on attitudes. God looks at the fruit produced by people to measure them and evaluate their true intentions and loyalties.

Jeremiah 17:10 "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."

Second, a very dangerous way of testing the spirit is to judge in terms of phenomena, as in the appearance of the gift of healing or the specific physical result of a man's ministry. People look at a man's physical accomplishments or the appearance of impressive works, and say this man must be right. Look at the results that he had on a physical level. We see this to a great extent in the pharmaceutical and natural health industries where there is the appearance of a cure. But given enough time, many cures have little or no effect on the disease or harmful side effects are discovered with long term use. Many doctors admit they cannot cure the ailment but are merely managing the disease.

Please turn to Matthew 24, verse 23. Now, the test of phenomena, taken alone, is a dangerous one because deceitful spirits may appear to work miracles through people, similar to the way drugs cover up symptoms that may seem to make people feel cured.

Matthew 24:23-24 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' and or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

There is a principle there. It is not just applying to false Christs and false prophets. It is applying to all liars. You look at the governments of the world. They are liars to the point where they are deceiving the entire world population in many ways. We must be balanced by not judging on the one hand, yet not being naively accepting on the other. Jesus teaches us that we must be wisely discerning of false teachers coming into our midst.

Please turn over to II Thessalonians 2, verse 9. The life of the prophet or teacher and the results of his influence on others are the fruit of or works that indicate whether his message is in agreement with God's righteous way of life. Satan is the power behind the Antichrist, working with almost unrestricted power on his behalf through signs and wonders which, though they are false, entice people to believe that the Antichrist is God.

II Thessalonians 2:9-12 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

So because unbelievers have rejected God's offer of salvation, God sends them a strong delusion. As part of His righteous judgment, God blinds and turns these rebellious unbelievers over to believe what is false, thereby embracing the Antichrist. He does not have to cause them necessarily to believe a lie. But all He has to do is remove the truth from them or the understanding of the truth. And by human nature and Satan's influence, they automatically migrate toward the false.

People without God's Spirit are easily deceived, they are easily deluded. A delusion is a false belief firmly maintained in spite of indisputable, obvious proof to the contrary. Boy, has the COVID-19 crisis made that clear.

Three, a person full of zeal does not imply that the Holy Spirit is working in him. Evil spirits are often enthusiastically deceitful.

Please turn over to Romans 10, verse 2. Now, obviously, this is pointed at the world, but those who come from the world and influence the church should be very carefully evaluated, I guess is the best way to put it. Great excitement and energy alone are not proof of the indwelling of God's Spirit, neither is strong assurance or confidence. A person's zeal and sincerity alone do not lead him to salvation. The general principle is that many sincere religious people are wrong in their beliefs.

Romans 10:2-3 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

Many people do not believe in Christ because they fail to submit to God's righteousness and instead attempt to be righteous before God on the basis of their own works. These people are easily misled because they are drunk by their own enthusiasm since it is not according to or based on the Word of God. The truth, often the only test of the spirit that is applied, is that a man speaks with confidence and assurance and that he is energetic. Human nature can hide false feelings and present them as something good to use. That as a test alone is inadequate and misleading.

So those are just some of the things to avoid making a mistake by only using those to distinguish what is of which spirit. So let us go to what are the true tests for discerning the spirits.

The first and most important test is the one that God gives us. What is the source of the prophet's inspiration? Is it of God? In that case, the prophet is a true prophet. So if it is not of God, then he must not be believed or followed regardless of how great his wisdom or how impressive his activity is.

There have always been false prophets and God's people have always had the task of distinguishing between those who are of God and those who speak either of themselves or by the power of the Devil. The Old Testament contains an excellent example in the case of Micaiah and the prophets of King Ahab recorded in I Kings 22.

King Ahab of Israel had been trying to persuade King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him in the battle against Syria to annex a piece of real estate known as Ramoth Gilead. But Jehoshaphat was skeptical. He wanted to ask whether the venture was blessed by the Lord by inquiring of a prophet. And when he expressed his desire, Ahab responded by calling together 400 of the court prophets, who then all testified, "Go, for the Lord will give it into the king's hand" (verse 6).

Ahab was pleased but Jehoshaphat was dissatisfied because he sensed that these men were merely paid mouthpieces kept by Ahab for propaganda purposes. Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of Him (verse 7)?" Ahab admitted that there was a man named Micaiah but he said that he hated him because he never prophesied any good thing about Ahab. And they did not want to hear Micaiah. Nevertheless, at Jehoshaphat's insistence, this unpopular prophet was called.

At first, the prophet ridiculed the king, saying word-for-word exactly what the false prophets had prophesied. But everyone understood what he was doing. And Ahab finally called and said this, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord (verse 16)?" At this point, Micaiah replied, as God has instructed him, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace (verse 17).'"

Now, this was clearly a prophecy of the death of Ahab and it was obviously unpopular. Micaiah was imprisoned, but as he was being taken to prison, he called out, "If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me [speaking to Ahab]." That is in verse 28. Furthermore, he challenged all the people to take note of his prophecy by saying that.

Here is precisely the problem with which the apostle John was dealing with in his churches. It is the question of "who is right!" And there is one most important test by which true and false prophets may be distinguished: fulfillment. Whose prophecies come true? Will Ahab be killed or will he not? Will Israel be scattered or will she return victorious? In this case, Micaiah was vindicated.

And this is the test that Jeremiah gives in Jeremiah 28:9, "But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true." Or from the negative side, it is also the test given to the people in Deuteronomy 18:22, "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is, a message the Lord has not spoken, the prophet has spoken presumptuously, do not be afraid of him."

But suppose that the prophecy of a false prophet just happens to come true. It is conceivable. Or suppose that the prophecy is of such a general nature or involves such didactic material that it is just not capable of being tested in this way. What then?

Please turn to Deuteronomy 13. In that case, says Deuteronomy, the prophet must be tested by whether or not he leads the people to serve false gods. Notice how God Himself tests us to see if we will rightly test the spirits.

Deuteronomy 13:1-4 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him."

Now, that is a pretty heavy verse there (verse 4). I am going to read it again because it is a command full of commands.

Deuteronomy 13:4-5 "You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst."

So in verse 3, Moses spells out the reason why God tests us. God wants to know if we genuinely love Him with our whole being. Moses also clearly states why that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is trying to persuade us "to turn you away from the Lord" and "to entice you away from the way" we have been commanded to walk. Moses states it twice in two slightly different wordings to emphasize that teachers with a wrong spirit have one purpose in mind: to draw us away from the way that God has commanded us to live. And often these people with an antichrist spirit do not even know they are being used as an instrument of Satan.

Please turn over to John 5, verse 38. Second, another similar very important test is the right understanding and conformity to scriptural teaching. Do not be fooled by those who overwhelm you with their spiritual-sounding opinions.

John 5:38-40 "But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He [God the Father] sent, Him [that is, Jesus Christ] you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."

Everything we believe about Jesus Christ must be put to the test of Scripture. John said only those who know God and are of Him will listen to what Jesus and the apostles have to say. Only those who are called and have received the Holy Spirit will truly listen to what God's Word has to say. By listening, internalizing it, applying it, the result will be bearing spiritual fruit.

I John 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

So the first thing to ask about someone who claims to be filled with the Spirit and who claims to teach the truth is: does his teaching conform to Scripture? Does what he says agree with God's law and His prophets and with Jesus Christ and His apostles?

In the context of the church, the term teacher refers to more than the ministry. It also refers to anyone who explains or interprets biblical information openly. Whether a person's explanations conform to scriptural teaching is a very reliable and effective test of the spirits.

Three, the next true test examines a necessary characteristic of every true Christian, especially of a true minister of God, "teachability." Teachability, a readiness to listen to scriptural teaching and to abide by it. Is the teacher personally willing to submit to the inspired written Word of God? This is a very revealing test.

If someone is presumptuous and prideful, he will think he is above and beyond the confines of Scripture, but he will usually not admit it openly. So this requires the next question. Does he live his own life according to Scripture? Humanity's attitude originates from the spirit of error and is empowered by the world's viewpoint and values.

Please turn over to I Timothy 6, verse 20. People who are not true believers resist sound doctrine. It does not make sense to them and does not fit their self-centered materialistic system of thought. The wrong spirit will always resist the teachings of Scripture and deep down will be almost contemptuous of it. He believes that conformity to Scripture cramps his lifestyle and interferes with the way he wants to live.

So that has always been the characteristic of those who have tended to go astray. It is easy for a church to have that tendency if the ministry does not guard the truth carefully and with diligence. The apostle Paul told the younger pastor Timothy to guard the truth for the same reason we are talking about here today.

I Timothy 6:20-21 0 Timothy! Guard what is committed to your trust, avoiding the vain and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the the faith [or the truth].

False teachers who claim to preach spiritual knowledge are liars because they reject the truth. Therefore, their teaching cannot be true knowledge.

Let us quickly wrap this up. The fourth and the greatest test is that the true spirit always glorifies God the Father and Jesus Christ. They are always the primary focus. The Father is Supreme and Omnipotent with Jesus Christ at His right hand. The true minister is not the man who talks about inspirations, experiences, and visions, and extensively what he has done and seen, but about what the Father and Jesus Christ are doing. They are working! Jesus said, "I work and My Father works."

If we have the spirit of truth, we are enabled to truly glorify God. And how do we glorify God? You know the way—by the righteous way we live our life—God's way of life—we glorify God. By living in conformity to Scripture, we give a true witness that truly glorifies God.

Paul commands us in I Corinthians 10:31, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Doing all things to the glory of God requires that we perform our responsibility to live a life of love toward God, toward our family, to our brethren, and our neighbor.

Always remember that our redemption and spiritual freedom are given to us not primarily for our own good—although it is for our own good—but for the good of others. What are we doing to show love toward others? What are our actions? What are our thoughts?

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