Don't Get Fooled (again)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit that does not confess Jesus [to be the Christ come in the flesh] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard he is coming, and he is already in the world now. – 1 John 4:1-3

When I was reading on the metaphysical materialism Wiki article yesterday, I was particularly struck by one argument against the supernatural and spiritual. That is, the materialist argues, if spirits do exist they exert no influence on the natural or it is too weak and insignificant to be tested.

As Jesus said to the sons of thunder, “You do not understand what kind of spirit you are.”

From God’s perspective, the spirit is willing but the flesh is the one that is weak. The truth is that Reality is spirit and what we see, the temporal, is derived.

Not all spirits, John tells us, are from God. If you have trouble with the Bible, read the depiction of creation in Tolkien’s Silmarillion. He does a magnificent job of showing how and why God allows those rebel spirits to exist.

Whether we know it or not, whether we are aware of it or not, we all deal with spirits and the spiritual on a daily basis. I need to be able to determine if I am hearing from a true prophet, a false prophet, the Spirit of God or a deceiving, antichrist spirit. John tells me how to do that. Does this spirit witness of Christ or of something else?

I heard a guy casting out “demons” on the radio one time. He supposedly contacted some spirit and was asking it, “Did Jesus come in the flesh? Is He the Son of God?” That is a misunderstanding of what John shows us. I do not recommend having conversations with demons. Jesus says that Satan is the father of lies, so it is pointless to engage in a discussion with the devil, demons or materialist magicians. They will lie to us.

The Spirit of God and the spirit of prophecy speak of Christ as the Incarnate Son of God, or, as it says in the Revelation, “the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”. Antichrist spirits can speak glowingly of “Jesus” as the master teacher and incorporate certain of His sayings into their canon, yet they are not testifying about Christ but about themselves.

For the Christian, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ changes everything. For the antichrist, the Gospel needs to have something added; the Cross is not sufficient; Christ really didn’t die; He was not raised physically from the dead. To the deceiving spirit, Jesus is useful, even interesting but not the Alpha and Omega.

I recall C.S. Lewis talking about the error of “Christianity and ____”. There’s the antichrist. The Black Liberation theology of Wright that Obama listened to for twenty years is just such an antichrist message. The white supremacist message that travels under the guise of the Christian Identity movement is another. Preachers who get too carried away with “faith teachings” are in danger of channeling an antichrist spirit. Islam is an antichrist religion.

That does not mean we reject those people and refuse to love them or engage them. As Paul told us in Ephesians chapter 6, we are not fighting flesh and blood enemies. Our battle is with “world powers of this darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” People are enslaved to antichrists, to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. The most vital thing I can do is be a vessel suitable for the Master’s use, a clear channel for the Holy Spirit to be poured through, a purged, fruitful branch on the Vine.

I pray today, Lord, that my mind would be renewed, that I would be transformed and not conformed to the world’s fashion and image. I pray that I would be filled with the Spirit, covered with the whole armor of God and able to stand firm against the spiritual assaults that come against me. By faith today I put off the old man and with it the deceptions of the enemy. By faith I put on Christ to the glory of God.