July 16, 2023
Morning Service

I wonder if you have heard that there has been counterfeit money moving around Mitchell lately.  As a business owner it would be extremely important for you to be well trained on identifying the difference between the real money and the counterfeit.  They can look very similar but there are ways to tell them apart including an ink marker, the texture, and holding it up to the light which reveals an interwoven thread that proves it is real.

As a Jesus follower it is also very important for us to be able to tell the difference between what is real and what is counterfeit.  We are a society that is flooded with a world of information and much of it conflicts directly against each other.  It is so easy to be deceived if you do not have a way to identify what is true and what is false.  Paul warned Timothy in his first letter that deception would abound in the “latter times.”

1Ti 4:1-3 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, (2) speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, (3) forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth

            Certainly we are in these latter times as we are surrounded by “deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.”  Society today is deceived in to believing abortion is a part of women’s health and mutilating children to change their God given gender is perfectly normal.  These are only a couple of the results of our enemy’s deception at work in our world.  States are allowing a child to be murdered right up to the point of delivery and children as young as five years old to make a decision on their gender that is life-changing.  What about those things sound true at all, but we see many protesting for the “right” to do these very things?  The church is even falling prey to these deceptions by approving of “same sex” marriages and allowing practicing homosexuals to hold offices within the church in the name of inclusion.  These situations are very obvious to us and easy for us to judge between what is true and what is false.  But there are many subtler things that can deceive us. We are caught asking ourselves; “How can I know who or what to believe as truth?”  Paul closed out his letter to the Thessalonians with a “to do list” that included this:

 

1Th 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

            As we now continue in our study of I John, John instructs us on this subject of “testing all things.”  We must be constantly on guard and be aware that our enemy is seeking to deceive us in subtle ways that even sound like they line up with God’ Word but do not.  John gives us some guidelines to go by to test the information we are given and to prove it as true or false.

 

1Jn 4:1-3Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (2)  By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, (3) 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.

            The first test is an easy one; do they confess Jesus came to earth being both fully God and fully man.  Any denying or questioning of Jesus as the Son of God or as our only path to salvation is a revelation to us that the source of the information is false.  John is very clear that the denying of Jesus comes from the “spirit of the Antichrist.” This test method is similar to what was suggested previously to find a true $100 bill, we hold it up to the Light and see how it compares to Him and who He says He is.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 Anyone who lessens the value of Jesus is not from God and therefore is not true.

 Secondly to test the spirits, we have also been given God’s Word in the form of written words in our Bible.  We believe this book to be the infallible words of God and our map to absolute truth.  Paul told Timothy this in his second letter:

 

2Ti 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

            Our Bible is the filter in which we can run all information through to see if it is true or false.  If what we are being told lines up with God’s Word, we can be safe to recognize it as true and use it “for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.”  If it does not line up, then we need to quickly label it as being false and avoid it all together.  The Word equips us for every good work; in other words, it gives us a standard to judge everything against to determine if it is from God or not.  To use this test though, we must be a student of the Word.  We need to read and study the Word seeking a knowledge and understanding of it in order to apply to our lives (wisdom).  Being in the Word, is the key to all spiritual growth and it is also vital in our protection from being deceived and that is why we meet three times a week to study it.  In testing the spirits, we are finally given an ace up our sleeve as John continues his teaching:

 

1Jn 4:4-6 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  (5)  They are of the world. Therefore, they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.  (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 (deception NLT).

            There is a whole lot in these three short verses.  However, I want to follow our testing the spirits theme, we are shown that the Spirit “who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”  The Holy Spirit within us is our ace card.  He is greater than any of the deceiving spirits we will encounter.  Know that, believe that and learn to trust that Spirit in you as you encounter things of this world that may sound like the truth, but when tested they fall short.  If you are in tune to God through the Spirit, He will guide you to “KNOW the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.”  We can test all that we hear and know what is true and what is false.  It just takes effort on our part to study the Word and also pray for the ability to be able to “discern the spirits.”  In I Corinthians 12, the gift chapter along with Romans 12, Paul shows us the gifts that are available to us upon the asking.  He mentions the gifts of ministries, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healings, and then finishes with these in verse 10.

 

1Co 12:10-11 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  (11)  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

            The “discerning of spirits” is a basic gift each of us need to specifically ask God for in our walk with Him.  Through the Holy Spirit within us we can “discern” (to perceive or recognize something) for being of God or from our enemy.  In our society today, this is vital that we have this discernment because the deception is so great and so cleverly disguised.  We can discern between what is true and what is false by listening to the Spirit within us. 

            God has equipped us with tools to be able to know and recognize the difference between what is true and what is false.  Hold it up to the Light of Jesus and compare it to Him.  Put it next to the Word of God and see if it lines up or contradicts what Truth is written there.  Learn to listen to the Spirit that is within you and allow Him to lead you to the Truth.  Pray for the gift of “discerning of spirits” which will also be done through the Holy Spirit within you.  These are the ways God has equipped us to not be deceived in this deceptive age.

            Jesus proclaimed to us that “I am the Way the Truth and the Life,” He is our path to God and to the truth.  We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10).  Our God is a God of order, and any confusion you experience does not come from Him.  I want to close with this today to help you when confusion comes your way.

 

1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

            I encourage you to get into the Word, test the spirits and hold fast to what is good!

 

Heavenly Father, thank You that You have revealed to us the Truth and given us these avenues to test the spirits.  Give us a desire to read Your Word and stir the Spirit within us to recognize deception and to hold fast to what is good.