Jesus Christ said, “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32 ASV) Of course, the most important truth is the truth about God and about God’s will for our lives. That is the kind of truth that God gives us through prophets. But Satan sends lying prophets to lead us astray. It is essential that we be able to distinguish between a true prophet of God and false prophets sent by Satan. God used Christ’s Apostle John to tell us how to distinguish between true prophets and false prophets. He wrote, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1 ASV)
The reason John wrote, “prove the spirits, whether they are of God;” is because behind the false prophets are evil spirits which motivate and animate them. This, of course, is in imitation of the operation of the Spirit of God who works in the process of true prophecy. For example, the prophet Joel said of God, “I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, …” (Acts 2:17 ASV, See also 2 Peter 1:21.)
John here is warning us of the operation of the “spirit of the antichrist” (1 John 4:3), of “the spirit of error” (1 John 4:7). Christ’s Apostle Paul warned Timothy about this same dangerous phenomenon. He wrote, “the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, …” (1 Timothy 4:1-2 ASV)
Thus, John instructs us not only to evaluate the ‘prophets’ but to scrutinize the spirit which animates them. False prophets err from the truth, not through sincere ignorance, but through hypocrisy which welcomes demonic influences into their lives. Prophets who make sincere mistakes can be corrected. Other prophets who are not sincere are incorrigible because being hypocritical they have thrown themselves open to satanic influences. These are the prophets who are deceptive and treacherous. They are the ones against whom every one who wants to know the truth needs protection.
We should not be surprised that false prophets exist. Certainly, it is “no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15 ASV)
The Apostle Paul also gave one of the tests by which we may distinguish between the operation of the Holy Spirit and the spirit of the antichrist. He said, “no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3 ASV)
Through the Apostle John, God gives us four tests which every person may apply to any ‘prophet’ to determine the most fundamental spiritual well springs of his teaching. The first test is to ask what he teaches about Jesus Christ. This test is presented in 1 John 4:2-5. In this broadcast we are only beginning to discuss this first way to test a prophet. The remaining three tests are, first, is a prophet amenable and obedient to the teachings of the Apostles of Christ. (1 John 4:6) Secondly, is his manner of life compatible with the character of God (1 John 4:7-12. The last, test to apply to every prophet is whether his life shows the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (1 John 4:13 ff)
When the Apostle John wrote, as well as in our own time, this was not an isolated and occasional problem which confronts everyone who wants to do the will of God. Rather, there were, and are, “many false prophets [who] are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1 ASV) Thus, every person is in danger and needs a method for discerning the validity of those who profess to speak to them on behalf of God.
Every false prophet is “of the world.” (1 John 4:5) The world is that realm in which the most fundamental commitments are, “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life” (1 John 2:16 ASV). The world is the place where false prophets’ spiritual, philosophical and ethical affinities consistently take them. However, they still pose a mortal peril for anyone who wants to serve God because he may be beguiled by their subtle blandishments.
In order to recognize the presence and working of false and wicked spiritual forces we must be able to recognize the presence of God’s Spirit. Through the Apostle John, God tells us, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:” (1 John 4:2 ASV)
It is not only important to recognize error when it is present, in this case to recognize the “false prophets,” but it is even more important to recognize what is valid, what is true. Thus, it is even more important to “know … the Spirit of God.” (1 John 4:2) If we recognize the working of God’s Spirit, then we will be able to recognize “the spirit of the antichrist.” (1 John 4:3) The “spirit of the antichrist” is also called, “the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
The first way both “the Spirit of God” and the “spirit of the antichrist” may be recognized is by their christology, their doctrine about Christ. This is supremely important because Christ is the focal point of the eternal plan of God. Thus, “every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:” (1 John 4:2 ASV) In order for Christ to be our redeemer we must acknowledge certain truths about him. Utterly fundamental among those truths is the fact that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” (1 John 4:2) If Christ had not come “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3) there could have been no sacrifice for sin because Christ was immortal before his incarnation. Before he was born in Bethlehem, he existed in the form of God who is immortal. (See Philippians 2:5 and 1 Timothy 6:15-16.)
Had Jesus not come in the flesh, that is, had he not become a man he would have remained immortal. That would have canceled God’s scheme of redemption. Without the sacrifice which Jesus offered for all men he could not have become our sacrifice for sin. In that case, he could not have become our Savior. [“he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.” (I John 2:2 ASV)]