Changed by His Love
1 John 4:1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Someone asks me, “Why don’t you go hear So–and–so?” Well, I don’t want to waste my time. I am told to test, to prove the spirits. There is a lot of hocus–pocus going on today which I can assure you has nothing supernatural in it at all. It is just camouflaged Christianity. “Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The “false prophets” are false teachers.
Paul used the word that way in 1 Corinthians 14:3, “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” Prophesy here means “to teach, to exhort, to instruct.” There are many teachers abroad today of whom we need to beware. Many are saying more than the Scriptures say so that we need to be very careful. Just because a man comes along saying, “Lord, Lord,” does not mean that we should love him. That may be the man who is more dangerous than a rattlesnake because he may be teaching a false doctrine. He may not be really teaching the Word of God, although he carries a big Bible under his arm. 1
Loving Him
If you are not a student of the Word, your chances of being deceived are very high. If you are not attending a Bible teaching church that believes in the infallibility of the Scriptures, your chances of being deceived are very high. If you are not obeying the Scriptures, your chances of being deceived are very high. If you failed those three test, you will probably fail at the testing the spirits.
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1
Loving Others
The true test of truth is found in the Bible, and not from cultural opinions.
Make Me Like You
Lord, thank You for giving us Your written Word of Truth, that is eternal.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (1 John) (electronic ed., Vol. 56, p. 117). Nashville.
