1 John 4: 1-3
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
John said: "Do not believe every spirit." We Chinese always care about the "responsiveness" of any god. If this god is responsive, we will believe in him, and vice versa. Whether that god is responsive or not is the most important thing in our religion. We don't care whether that god is true or not. I used to preach the gospel in the countryside in Taiwan. I once heard about a temple that was very popular with the thieves, for they would never get caught if they went to worship that very responsive idol. But that idol was not the true God. What John meant was not to believe every spirit. He didn't tell us to believe no spirit at all, for some spirits are from God, while others are from the evil spirits. John gave us two principles to discern: first, does this spirit acknowledge that Jesus has come in flesh? At that time the Gnostics didn't acknowledge that Jesus has come in flesh by questioning how good and evil can become one. But that is exactly God's mystery. The holy God came in flesh of a human being in order to save the world. But they denied God's work based on their own thoughts and deductions. Likewise, many people today still deny Gods' work and accomplishment based on their own deduction. Others even lift up their ministry to imposter Christ. Some of them do have power from the spiritual world, but not from Christ. So we must be able to discern.
Secondly, those who belong to God must be subject to the authority of the church, and vice versa. It is no longer something simple to discern the work of the evil spirit now. Some people just ask a person whether he acknowledges that Jesus has come in flesh, when they try to cast out demon from him. But the evil spirit has come in different forms right now. Therefore, apart from the first principle, we should also apply the second principle, which is to ask whether that spirit is subject to the authority of the church. I am not just referring to an individual church, but all the churches as a whole. If a spirit cannot be subject to the authority of the Church, then it must not be from God, for 1 Corinthians 14:32 says: "And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets." May God give us a sensitive heart to receive His revelation and work, so that God's name can be glorified through you and me.
Pray with Pastor Tong Liu
Lord, we thank you, for you gave us a sensitive heart, so that every day we can discern whether our thoughts are from God or from our own, or from the deception of Satan. May the Lord give us a discerning spirit and a wise heart to be subject to your work. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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