Last week we looked at what John meant when he said test the spirits. If a spirit confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, it can be a factual statement made in truth, but unless the spirit is in covenant with that truth that glorifies the Father and the Son, then this is from the spirit of the antichrist. Demons know who Jesus is and they know He has authority over them, but they left their position in heaven and went out with Satan to deceive the world. They have no hope of redemption so they go about working with the father of lies, Satan himself to bring as much destruction as possible.
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
So testing the spirits is a simple process. Does the message give glory to Jesus, and the Father? And does it line up with God’s word? If it misses the mark on any point, this spirit is not from God. We need to be alert and awake praying for discernment and understanding so we are not swayed by the enemy’s tactics.
Romans 13:11
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
We also looked at the fact that the world cannot hear or understand the things of God. They are foolishness to them, but to us who have the Holy Spirit in us, we hear and understand because He who is in us is greater than he that is in the world.
This week John continues his theme on loving one another and how the example of His love toward us through Jesus, should flow in our lives toward one another. We will also look at how there is no fear in perfect love.
