I John 4

TESTING THE SPIRITS

Read the full chapter. Come back to v. 1-3.

1. Every prophet (i.e. an inspired speaker; a foreteller, a poet, an interpreter of oracles or hidden

things) speaks from one of these three spirits:

a) The Spirit of God – Rev. 19:10

b) The Human Spirit – I Cor. 7:12 & 25

c) A demonic spirit (influencing one’s thoughts/beliefs) – Mt. 16:21-23

2. TEST = to approve, allow, discern, examine; scrutinize to see whether or not it is genuine

• ‘Spirits’ identified in verses 1-6 as Antichrist (meaning opposed to Christ) – are:

o False/untrue/lying spirit – v. 1

o spirit of error – v. 6

• Spirit of Truth – v. 6 – knows and hears those who speak the Gospel revealed in scripture.

o V.S. the Spirit of error who refuses to hear scriptural truth.

3. HOW to ‘test’ the spirit - some guidelines given us (above) in this chapter and in I Thess. 5:19-22 –

• Do not quench the Spirit – Do not extinquish, suppress, stifle the influence

• Do not despise prophesies - to make of no account of scriptural foundation discourse, divinely inspired. (Read the underlined portion of Kingdom Dynamics between I Jn. 4:6 and 7)

• Test all things; hold fast what is good. Prove the sincerity/genuineness; then keep secure, keep firm possession of what is good.

• Abstain from every form of evil - to hold oneself off; refrain) from all appearance, views, fashion, shape, sight, external/outward form or figure of evil (hurtful effect or influence)

• Spirit of the world or of Truth – I Jn. 4:5-6

o Love or Not Love – v. 7-13

o What we confess with our mouth/lives – v. 14-17

o Love/Peace vs fear/torment – v. 18

o Love vs hate/liar – v. 19-21

4. Scriptural examples to examine:

• Acts 16:16-18 – spirit of divination (python) operating through slave girl to bring profit via

fortune telling (i.e. to utter spells under the pretense of telling the future)

• Matt. 22:22-32 – Sadducees question Jesus as to the resurrection (which they didn’t believe in) by relating a story of a man who died leaving his wife to have children by his brothers. Who’s wife will she be in the resurrection? Jesus answered, You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God…

o This is a problem among believers even today! They are not well acquainted with the scriptures!

• II Pet. 3:12-18 (READ) – Know what scripture teaches!

4. LOVE (agape) Manifested – v. 7-21

• Agape love, in a social and moral sense, is to love by valuing and esteeming others. We have a genuine concern for them, are faithful towards them, and delight in them.

• Loving others is evidence that we are born of God (v. 7-8) and know Him.

o We knew and walk in the truth of His taking our guilt upon Himself to forgive us that guiltiness (He paid our debt – propitiation).

o We are well acquainted with His love for us – v. 11-12 – and His love lives in us. His love motivates our choices and actions.

• We have testimonies of Him – v. 14-16

o We tell of His loving-kindness towards us in actions, protections, words of encouragement…

o We confess that Jesus is truly the Son of God

 The soldier at Jesus crucifixion can to this conclusion in Mt. 27:54 – So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened (Jesus’ last words of forgiveness, curtain of temple tearing, rocks splitting), they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the son of God!”

 Our confession is based upon who we know Him to be and that we believe Him.

• Maturing in Love is seen – v. 17-20 – by

o Fear that torments us is overcome.

 We cannot fear what we know God already has victory over. (Ps. 2!)

 Giving into dread, terror, flight, fright, or freeze is evidence that we are not completed in our maturity of love.

 Fear of God, on the other hand, brings a bold confidence!

o We understand that to walk in love towards others is obedience and fulfillment of God’s commands, and frees us to walk in Truth.

 A lie is the opposite of Truth.

 We understand that Jesus is our prime example of how to love, even the ones hard to love, as He did in life and as He gave His life on the cross.

 Love conquers all fears, all hinderances, all selfish motivations, all evil.

o The Proof that we’ve Tested the Spirits and Walk in Christ then is that we

 Love one another with an innocent and sincere heart.

 I Pet. 1:22 – Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.

 In loving others, we love God best because we find ourselves praying for them, being kind to them, encouraging them, etc.

 As a friend of mine frequently says, “Love always wins!”