1 John : Day 5 : The Test of Truth

Day Five: The Test of Truth

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us.  But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.  I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.  Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.  And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

1 John 2:18-28 (ESV)

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.  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.  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.  They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.  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 4:1-6 (ESV)

As Christians, we always must be on the lookout for false teachers.  They have always been around, it’s nothing new.   I can’t list here the different cults, what they believe, and why we don’t believe it; that would take too long.  I’m sure you have heard this analogy before, but it bears repeating.  When a bank teller gets trained on how to spot counterfeit currency, they don’t show that person all the different fake bills; they have them handle real currency, a lot.  They handle it so much, that the person will know just by touch if the money is fake.  This is the same with God’s Word.  There will be so many artificial messages on God’s Word, so if you immerse yourself in truth, chances are that you will be able to decipher a lie from the truth.  What I found interesting in this passage was from verse 19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us.”  I always thought that this was talking about unbelievers who appeared to be believers, but, this is about false teachers.  Whenever heresy shows up in church, it will be revealed.  The reason it will be revealed is because we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit that helps us know what is true.

A quick word about the antichrist.  In verse 22, we read that antichrists are those who teach that Jesus is not the Christ.  So many will read verse 18 and think many false teachers will come before the Antichrist.  Others may think this is a specific false teacher that went through this church.  I can’t tell you for sure.  There are many views of eschatology, and we probably won’t know whether there will be a rapture, tribulation, or a millennium until we reach glory.  But what I can tell you, is that in the end God wins, Jesus will be king, and sin and death will no longer exist.  We can have faith that no matter what happens, God is in control.

Just as there are evil teachers, there are evil spirits as well.  John warns us that if we encounter a spirit, not to assume that it is of God.   Using the same technique that we are to test teachers, we are to test spirits as well.  Know this, demons are real.  They are stronger than us, they are smarter than us, and they are far more dangerous than us.  If you are to encounter one, do not think that you can deal with them on your own.  Instead, pray and wholly depend on God.  He will give you wisdom on how to deal with the situation.  But also know that the God we serve is the same God that created that spirit.  “[H]e who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 ESV).