Test The Spirits

Fake News! We’ve become familiar with that term in the media in our political age. And we’ve learned or are now learning to be more discerning whenever questionable news stories comes our way today. Especially, now with the advent of AI. But what’s quite remarkable is that when it comes to the spiritual realm, fake news has been around since the beginning of the church. There have always been teachers or movements around who promote a Fake Jesus, a Jesus who is far less than what the Bible reveals Him to be. Oh yes, these promoters of their “fake Jesus” will say all kinds of good things about Jesus. They may acknowledge that he was a good man, a great teacher, and even a good model to follow. But if you take them to task, they will quickly admit that’s all Jesus is to them. They refuse to believe that Jesus is divine, or that He died for our sins, or even rose from the dead.

In fact, what if I told you that there’s a reason for their promotion of a fake Jesus? What if I told you there is a highly organized, invisible force in our world dedicated to distorting the truth about Jesus? Sometimes it shows up in a self-help book, a viral podcast, or through the teachings of someone who claims to have great spiritual insight. But its goal is always the same – these teachers seek to offer you something that feels good, looks spiritual, or sounds profoundly deep – but in doing so, they offer a counterfeit version of Jesus that can never save your soul, remove your sins, or make you right with God.

So today, as we return to 1 John, John is going to tells us why we are constantly being bombarded with these “fake versions of Jesus” and how we can factcheck these teachers so that we might be able to discern who is truly of God and who is not. So, if you brought your Bible today, let me encourage you to open it to 1 John 4:1-6, where John is going to help us test the spirits behind the messages we consume today. And he begins by addressing the spirit of the age. The reason why our world is full of false prophets who promote a fake Jesus. So, let’s start there, by unpacking…

The Spirit of the Age: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 Now, before we unpack the “spirit of the age” John reminds us of who we are. He calls the recipients of his letter the “Beloved.” This is not just a sweet way of introducing this topic to those who claim to follow Jesus. It’s Johns way of reminding us that as Christians, we are the clearly the object of God’s unconditional love. He is writing to those who have been loved by God despite our sin. He is writing to us who are loved by God even though we deserved judgment. We were loved by God through Jesus , who died for us to bring us to God. And to be called the beloved means that we are loved by God today, tomorrow and forever, because God never stops loving His own. And so, in the most intimate term possible, as God’s beloved, we are given a command: “do not believe every spirit” In other words, we live in a world of endless counterfeit spirits that are not from God. Spirits that promote secular humanism, where man is the end of all things. Spirits that promote philosophies that feel good and sound good but do nothing to free us from our slavery to sin. Spirits that tell us we don’t need Jesus to find spiritual fulfillment but these spirits always leave us empty and wanting.

So, as God’s beloved, we are commanded to not believe every spirit that sounds good or sounds spiritual. So, what John is doing here is warning us against spiritual gullibility. But the question for us is simple. If we are not to believe every spirit, how do we discern which spirits are from God and which are not. He tells us: “but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”

The word “test” in this passage is an imperative and it means to put something to rigorous examination to discover its genuineness. We need to test the spirits to see if what is being taught to us is spiritually true, or if it is counterfeit? Is what is being taught something that is clearly taught in the Scriptures? Remember, that all seemingly spiritual or religious activity is not necessarily godly activity. So, we need to examine what is being taught? Just because someone sounds good, appears to be spiritual, doesn‘t mean that they are teaching truth about Jesus. We need to evaluate both the message and messenger by the Word of God, to see if it rings true.

Another aspect of this “testing” is that this command is a plural command. When John gives this command to the beloved, He is giving it, not to individuals but to the church as a whole. The church has a responsibility to be doctrine detectives. This is not simply the responsibility of a lead pastor or elders. God’s people have God’s Spirit, and because God’s Spirit is the Spirit of truth – and because the Spirit of God’s main purpose is to glorify Jesus – the church, we the people of God, have the spiritual capacity within us to determine if what we are hearing is from God or from a different kind of spirit. So, in the verses to follow, we are given three ways to test the spirits. But first, John also wants us to know the origin of these counterfeit spirits by simply saying: for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
These false prophets are men or women who claim to be spiritually enlightened. They claim to speak for God. But John says, “Not so fast!” NOT every spiritual teacher is a credible teacher. There are spiritual deceivers and liars out there, and they work hard trying to earn your trust. So, every spiritual leader must be tested by the church.

That’s why Pastor’s like me go through a rigorous ordination process before we are ordained to as ministers of the gospel. We are tested on what we believe: we are tested on what we believe about the Bible, what we believe about Jesus, what we believe about salvation by faith. We are tested about the work of the Holy Spirit and the role of the church and so on. And if we pass these rigorous tests, we are ordained by God’s people and then set apart to serve as ministers of the gospel.

But even though we have this kind of rigorous testing process in place, we still need to discern what other teachers are promoting out there. Are they teaching the Jesus of the Scriptures, or are they promoting a fake Jesus? Let me give you some examples of some false teachers today: Marcus Borg, a theologian who wrote many books about Jesus, viewed Jesus not as a divine, miracle-working savior who died to pay for sins, but as a deeply human, historically revolutionary figure. He described Jesus as a “spirit person,” who invited followers into a transforming, experiential relationship with the sacred. He sounded quite spiritual. He used the right words, but his teaching were false.
Bishop John Shelby Spong believed Jesus was a radical historical figure who broke down tribal boundaries and religious dogma, but he rejected traditional supernatural doctrines like the Virgin Birth, the physical Resurrection of Jesus, and denied that Jesus was God. He was in a position of great spiritual authority, but promoted a fake Jesus.
Tony Robbins identifies as a Christian but does not publicly adhere to traditional, orthodox evangelical doctrines like the incarnation of Jesus, nor the divinity of Jesus. And He does not believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world. Instead, He combines elements of his Christian upbringing with New Age and universalist spiritual principles, focusing on human potential and service rather than specific theological truths. In fact, he sounds spiritual, but when he speaks about God, he speaks of the universe or infinite intelligence as a “loving energy.” Again, he sounds authoritative, but for the uninformed, he can be very misleading, because once again, he is promoting a fake Jesus.

Now, these are just three examples of men who sound good, who sound spiritual, but are false prophets. And we know they are false promoters of Jesus, because each of them fails what John describes here as the Jesus Test. So, let’s look at what that test entails: The Jesus Test: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 1 John 4:2-3 Now, one way you can test where a person is coming from is to ask them what they think about Jesus. Ask them, “Who is Jesus to you?” They will either confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and is from God. Or they will NOT confess that Jesus is from God. It’s that simple.

Let’s look at the true confession first: What’s the content of a true confession? First, a true confession acknowledges that Jesus is the “Christ” a title similar but not completely identical to “Son of God.” Jesus is the anointed Messiah. Jesus is the promised King. He came preaching the good news of the kingdom and told us that the kingdom of God is at hand. And the reason the kingdom of God was at hand, is that Jesus Himself is the Messiah who came to establish His reign in the hearts of man.

Second, a true confession recognizes that Jesus is the Eternal Incarnate One. It confesses Jesus’ divine origin as the Son of God, who came from heaven to become one of us. Therefore, when you confess that Jesus came from heaven, you are stating that you believe Jesus is fully God and fully man. But what is even more convincing is that the verb “come” in this verse is in the perfect tense. And this perfect tense verb means that when Jesus came to us – when He took on human flesh, He didn’t just merely make an appearance in the flesh, but He continues to inhabit His human body today. And when He returns, we will see Him in that same body. So, this is a confession that believes that Jesus is fully divine and fully human, both now and forever.

This confession then, combats two of the heresies being promoted by false teachers. I’ve mentioned these before, but here is what was being taught and sometimes still believed today: First, the heresy of Docetism – the belief that Jesus only appeared to have a body. That he was just a phantom spirit, denying his humanity as being real.

Second, the heresy of Gnosticism – the belief that all physical matter is evil. So, at the time John wrote this, there were some false teachers telling people that Jesus couldn’t have come in the flesh, for that would mean He was evil. So, these teachers promoted a fake Jesus, a mystical Jesus. Not one that really lived among us… Now, people rarely deny that Jesus existed today. But, as we have seen, many try to rewrite him. They try to strip away his divine nature, ignore his hard teachings, and transform him into a source of emotional healing, a personal friend, or a customizable life coach. They make Jesus into the image of someone that might be easier to believe in. But their version of Jesus is a fake Jesus.

So, let’s look at bit closer now at the false confession. John writes next: and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Here John names this deceitful spirit, calling it the spirit of the antichrist. In this context and in all of John’s writings, John is speaking of personified evil. In chapter two, John identified the spirit of the antichrist as a person saying: Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:22

This then is the spirit of the evil one at work in the world today that not only opposes Christ but is openly hostile to Christians and wants to deceive us so we will not believe in the true Jesus who is God’s Son. The spirit of the antichrist does not want anyone to believe that Jesus has come in the flesh, so He could die for our sins. The antichrist doesn’t want anyone to find forgiveness in Christ, hope in Christ, eternal life in Christ. Because the spirit of the antichrist wants to keep people enslaved to sin, so that no one will bow the knee to Jesus…
So, that’s the Jesus Test. If you test a teacher and find out if they confess Jesus is the Messiah who has come in the flesh. They are confessing that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. They pass the test.

Now, let’s look at the next test, The Culture Test: They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:5 Simon Kistemaker describes the world in this way: “Here it means a world of people who are hostile to God… the false prophets “are from the world.” The derive their principles, goals, and existence from the world of hostility in which Satan rules as prince. Furthermore, their teaching, opinions, and values are atheistic and antichristian., What these false prophets say is quite persuasive, for “the world listens to them.” The world agrees with the teachings of the false teachers and thus falls in line with the antichrist in opposing God.

Here’s the culture test: False teaching thrives when it tells the culture exactly what it wants to hear. Our culture wants to hear there is no such thing as sin. Our culture wants to hear that there is no such thing as a God who judges sin. And therefore, our culture does not want a Savior who died to take away our sins. Our culture just wants a comfortable and friendly Jesus. Not one who calls you to turn from sin and follow Him. Our culture just wants to hear: “you do you; follow your heart; live your best life now.” That’s the trap of those who speak from the world. They tell their listeners what they want to hear. And they become quite popular. But remember, popularity is not a measure of truth.

That’s why John now adds verse 6, saying: We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:5 In other words, the words of the apostles are from God. Their words are not their own but are the written record of God’s will. They are spiritual truths that can only be understood by those who have the Spirit of truth.
That’s why our culture often opposes the truth or refuses to listen to the truth. The world only listens to whatever appeals to their earthly passions. Those who are hostile to God think it is ludicrous to surrender to God’s ways. To deny the flesh and pursue holiness is laughable to them. In fact, Peter described the world’s reaction to people who follow Jesus, saying this: They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 1 Peter 4:4
So, how do we apply the culture test? Simple. If a spiritual message seamlessly fits into your cultural comfort zone without ever challenging your lifestyle as a Christ follower, then check its origin. In other words, if it doesn’t fit in with God’s will or God’s ways, it is not from God and doesn’t fit into a life a true Christ follower. That’s the culture test. Now, let’s look at the final test. What we might call the power test…

The Power Test: Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 This verse reveals three truths that speak of the power given to us to handle any error or attacks that flow out of the spirit of the age. First, John writes, “Little children, you are from God” So the first power given to us is our identity as God’s children. You are from God. The moment you trusted in Jesus, God adopted you as His child. God is now your Father. And since God is greater than he who is in the world, you never have to fear or be intimidated by anything happening in our culture. No matter what evil comes your way, God will always have your back. You are from God. And He is great.

Second, John writes, and you “have overcome them” This is a term of victory. Our faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, is what gives us the victory. We “have” conquered the evil forces of this world, because Jesus conquered sin and death on the cross. And since Jesus has overcome the world, we have overcome the world.

Thirdly, John writes, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. This is our true power, because it is God’s power dwelling in us. The one who is in you is the promised Holy Spirit, whom you received when you believed in Jesus. And the Holy Spirit in you is vastly more powerful than the spirit of the age. For the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. As a result, you now possess an internal spiritual compass to help you discern truth from error. You have the power in you to recognize who teaches the truth about Jesus, and who is the liar. And that power should give you confidence to stand firm for Jesus in a world that often hates Jesus. That’s the power test. God has already given us all we need to discern truth from error because we belong to Him, we have conquered the evil on in Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit living in us, who is greater than he who is in the world.

So, in light of these truths, let me encourage us with two applications today. First, we need to recognize that these truths were not written to you as an individual Christ followers, but to the community of faith. Therefore, one of the best ways to ensure that you can overcome the spirit of the age and know the difference between what is true and what is false, is to stay connected with God’s people. For when you’re with God’s people, but you will grow in your own ability to discern truth from error.

Second, get to know Jesus. The more you know the original the better you will be able to recognize the fakes. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He is not some mystical spirit guide. He is the second person of the Godhead. He is fully God and fully man. And because He was fully man, salvation is now available to anyone who trusts in Him. So, get to know Jesus. Learn Jesus, trust in Jesus and you will never be led astray. That’s one reason why the Apostles Creed was written. The Apostles wrote their creed to help early Christians know the true Jesus. And so, as we conclude this morning, would you please stand and read it with me:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; The Holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.

May we follow this Jesus, the true Jesus. May we believe in Him, walk with Him, obey Him and glorify Him.