1 John 4:1-6
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
It is a command from God to test the spirits, be skeptical and stop believing every spirit simply because it claims to be of God or because it sounds good.
Just because something sounds good and we like it, is not evidence that it is truth.
False prophets hate those who question all things. They hate a challenge that exposes them. While I was in the Catholic church I began to question all that was done there, the more I questioned the more hostile those around me became.
Satan comes as an angel of light, pretending to be from God while operating contrary to Scripture with such clever deception that only those who are discerning are able to spot it. One of his very effective tactics is to rage when challenged, attempting to intimidate those who hold God's truth in highest regard.
For many years now the church has bought into the deception of all time, the very craftiness that tempted Eve in the garden, that of love of self, or as our culture titles it, "self esteem."
The church has been deceived into believing that if someone is sinning, they are doing so because of something bad that happened to them. Of course this makes no sense, because Eve disobeyed and dismissed God's wisdom by ignoring His command to refrain from eating the forbidden fruit. What wrong did God do that caused Eve to ignore God and do what she wanted to do? We know God never harmed Eve in any way, He sought to provide the best for her. She made the choice to follow what would make her feel superior.
The deception of "self esteem" has been around since the time of Eve and it has been taught as vitally important in our culture. This devilish teaching has brought us to the arrogance and rebellion we see now, increasing in intensity every day until the Lord returns.
We must ask ourselves if we are self willed, seeking our own pleasure and elevated status, or are we determined to get our counsel from the Lord to gain wisdom?
A combative arrogant man or woman lack humility, they desire to feel superior to others and even God. The more they are challenged to question their belief system, the greater they defend themselves.
A humble man or woman who deeply loves Christ will welcome discussion, check out what is being said through the Word of God to find truth and enjoy discovering God's principles.
The arrogant man or woman defends themselves to appear more exalted or excellent, everything is about themselves.
Proverbs 29:11 "A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back."
Proverbs 14:16 "A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant and careless."
Proverbs 18:1-3 "18 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.
2 A fool has no delight in understanding,
But in expressing his own heart.
3 When the wicked comes, contempt comes also;
And with dishonor comes reproach."
The humble man or woman defends the truth and Scripture, they are not concerned about themselves, but about truth and righteousness.
1 Peter 5:6 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,"
Philippians 2:3-11 "3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
No comments:
Post a Comment