Testing the Spirits

A Sermon on 1 John 4:1–8 preached by Jolan Koekemoer

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Thank you, Pastor Phil, for mentioning at the start of this service that we sang three hymns. There’s a secret there that will come up later in our sermon, in the fact that I mentioned three hymns.

My name is Jolan. I’m one of the pastoral interns this year, and I’m also one of the leaders of Celebrate Recovery here at Kitwe Church. I’ve had the privilege of serving in a number of ministries, but I joined this church in 2018, and when I joined, I remember I didn’t come from a church background. I had a whole lot of questions.

As we come to our Scripture today, take your Bibles and go to the book of 1 John, chapter 4. As you find your place, let me say that this was one of the first books I went to, and it’s been a great encouragement to me ever since, because the book of 1 John is written to believers so that they may know they have eternal life.

As you find your place in 1 John chapter 4, let me tell you a brief story. A few years ago — this was after I came to church and became a believer — I had the opportunity to buy my first car. I was really excited about buying a car. I had the one I wanted picked out; I knew what I wanted to get. But I needed to find someone to sell me the car. As I went and found this car and was looking at it, I realized this was my first car, and I didn’t know anything about cars. I was young. I’d never bothered to work with my dad on cars growing up — I had an elder brother, and that was both his opportunity and his responsibility. Dad would say, “One of you come help,” and I would say, “You go do it,” because I didn’t want to. I regretted that at this point, trying to buy my first car, because I realized I had no idea what I was doing.

So I took someone with me to see this car. It was a blue Vitz — a Toyota Vitz. I looked at it and thought, “Yeah, it has four wheels. I think that’s a car. Looks good to me.” But I got into the car with the person I’d brought along, and while I did the driving, he did the testing. He looked at a few things and figured some stuff out, and by the end of it, I turned to him and asked, “Do you think I should buy this car?” And he said, “Yeah, based on these things and the tests I’ve done, you should buy this car.” So I did, and I’ve been happy with it since.

A couple of years afterward, my mom, who by this point had been working and saving up, had the opportunity to buy a car, and I got roped into helping. As we talked about buying this car, we realized maybe it was best to get somebody else to test it for us, so we asked somebody from Lusaka to help us. Based on their recommendation, we bought a car, and when it landed in my yard, I thought, “Oh no. This is a terrible car.”

By this point I’d been driving my own car for a while, and I realized there were some tests even I could do to check whether or not it was a good car. Test number one: were both side mirrors firmly attached to the car? No — failed test number one. Test number two: does it have a working air conditioner? No, it doesn’t have that either. Test number three: does it start? Yes, it starts — okay, one out of three. This isn’t looking like a good car. Test number four: when I drive it, does it make weird noises? Since I’d been driving my own car, I knew what a car was supposed to sound like, and yes, it was making strange, different noises. Oh no, this car isn’t looking good at all. And the last test — the final nail in the coffin, the moment I knew this was not the right car to have purchased — does the car stay running while we’re driving it? No, it doesn’t do that either. Okay. This is a terrible car. I put the car through five tests.

Now, moving from that story to our Scripture today — don’t worry, we’ll come back to it. As I mentioned, the purpose of this book is so that we may know we have eternal life, and that’s stated in 1 John 5:13. Our passage today is chapter 4, verses 1 through 8:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

John writes this section with five tests of the Spirit. I had the grace — and, frankly, the opportunity — to borrow my points from someone else’s passage, because in our church, we come under submission to Christ and all of the teaching of God’s Word is the same, since it’s not a matter of opinion but the objective Word of God. Pastor Phil mentioned these exact five points as he was preaching through the book of Romans.

Here is the point of our message today: there are five ways you, as a believer, with no special training, insight, or enhancement, can see for yourself — wherever you are today in your walk with Christ — what spirit, what message, what prophecy is actually from God. You have the ability. That is the point of our passage, and there are five tests you can apply to do it.

You might think to yourself, “Jolan, that’s a bold statement. How can I, who has never been to Bible school, who doesn’t even fully know all these theological words, who doesn’t understand what other teachers mean by half of what they say — how can I possibly test these spirits? How can I really know what is and isn’t from God?”

Verse 4 answers this: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” It isn’t us who actually discerns — it isn’t us who actually knows — but rather the One who is in us. Notice it says “have overcome them” — past tense. It’s looking back on something already done. Victory has been won. It isn’t as though these false prophets, or new-fangled ideas, or anything else, are going to steal something from you. Victory is accomplished. You have overcome them — not because of what you know, but because He who is in you, the Spirit who dwells in you as a believer, whether you’re a baby believer like I was in 2018 or a believer wherever you are today, is greater than he who is in the world.

John says “little children” here to refer to the church. Earlier in the same book, in chapter 2, he uses the terms “young men” and “fathers,” referring to different stages of spiritual growth. But here it doesn’t matter whether you’re further along or younger in the faith — he just says “children.” The idea is that when you’re born, when you become a child, it’s done to you. You were birthed.

When I came to know Christ, I remember an awkward moment. I’d started serving on the AV team here at Kitwe Church. One Sunday morning — and this is where the hymns come in — we were playing music, and I clearly wasn’t paying close attention. We had YouTube up, and I saw a playlist where all the songs mentioned Jesus and the Word of the Lord, and I thought that was good enough. I thought, “It’s fine.”

I’m sorry, Pastor Phil, I’m going to pick on you a little more today — but Pastor Phil came up to me and said, “Jolan, I don’t mind the music, but could we play some hymns instead of what we’re playing right now?” I looked at him and realized I didn’t actually know what a hymn was. I said, essentially, “Fine, give me some hymns and I’ll play them. I’m not arguing, I’m not trying to be difficult — just tell me which ones are the hymns and I’ll play those.”

Even though I didn’t know what a hymn was, even I, at that point in my spiritual life, could test whatever message was coming to me using the five tests we’re going to use today — not because of what I knew, but because of the One who was in me.

So then why do we need to confront or test these spirits in the first place? You might say, “Jolan, you’ve said we’ve overcome them. You’ve said the One in us is greater, that they can’t steal our salvation, and that this book was written so we may know we have eternal life, forever. So why do I need to confront this?”

Because while these false prophecies may not steal our eternal life, they do change the way we live — and, more importantly, they change what we teach. And what we teach becomes the foundation someone else may build their faith on. Are we giving people the right foundation, or are we sending them straight toward their own ruin?

So, here are the five points. Number one: does it exalt the true Christ? (verse 2). Number two: does it oppose worldliness? (verse 5). Number three: does it point people to Scripture? (verse 6). Number four: does it elevate truth? (also verse 6). Number five: does it produce a love for God and for others? (verses 7–8). If you didn’t catch all of that, don’t worry — I’ll repeat each one as we go through them.

Does it exalt the true Christ?

Verse 2 says, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” What does it mean to confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? Do I simply mean acknowledging that He lived? Sure, anybody can say that — “Jesus was a good person, I’m sure He had some good things to say.” That’s not what we’re talking about. Here’s what must actually be acknowledged:

First, that Jesus is God, existing before the beginning of time. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Second, that Jesus was born of a virgin. Luke 1:34–35: “And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God.'”

Third, that He lived a sinless life. Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Fourth, that He died a death He didn’t deserve. 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Fifth, that the purpose of His death was to pay the penalty for the sins of the world. Colossians 1:14: “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Sixth, that He rose bodily on the third day. 1 Corinthians 15:4 says that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures — that He rose again, bodily resurrected.

Seventh, that He rose again in victory over death — not only bodily resurrected, but with a purpose. Jesus spoke to His disciples in Luke 24:39: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Eighth, that He ascended into heaven. Acts 1:9: “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

Ninth, that He will come again. Hebrews 9:27–28: “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

To acknowledge Christ means to take Scripture at its word and to recognize He is who He says He is — that everything true about our Messiah is real and evident today, that nothing has been added to or taken away from His godhood, His personhood, or His character, and that none of it has changed with time. Anything that teaches otherwise is falsehood. That’s what verse 2 means: “By this you know the Spirit of God — every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”

Does it oppose worldliness?

Whatever message, whatever spirit, whatever prophecy it may be — does it oppose worldliness? Verse 4 says, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.”

I’m thankful I don’t have to guess what John means by “worldliness” — he already addresses this two chapters earlier, in 1 John 2:16: “For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.” The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life — that is from the world.

So what does that look like today? Here are some common phrases: “Do whatever makes you happy.” “God doesn’t want you to be poor.” “Why would God want you to suffer? Don’t you know God loves you too much for that?” These are ideas of worldliness — none of these are promises we’ve been given. Instead, we’re told we need to die to ourselves and our desires. Luke 9:23: “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'” It means dying to yourself.

Passages like 1 Peter 4:12–16, 2 Timothy 3:12, Philippians 1:29, Acts 5:40–41, Romans 8:17–18, 2 Corinthians 12:10, Colossians 1:24, 1 Thessalonians 3, 2 Thessalonians 4–5, all tell us that believers will suffer for the sake of Christ. This isn’t a matter left to one ambiguous passage that says maybe things will be difficult — we’ve always been told that following Christ means dying to self, and that we will suffer for the sake of His name. If a teaching promises health and wealth or easy living, it’s false prophecy. That’s the test.

Does it point people to Scripture?

Verse 6 says, “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” So where do I find truth — not my truth, not your truth, but truth itself?

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” One of my favorite ways to put this — which I read in a devotional — is really simple: faith is simply taking God at His word. Whatever God says in Scripture just is true. I don’t have to guess, argue, reason, or convince my feelings. None of that changes the truth, none of it moves the truth. What God says is true is just true.

Does it elevate truth?

It’s one thing to acknowledge that Scripture is truth; it’s another thing entirely to live in that truth. Plenty of people would easily say, “Yeah, I believe what the Bible says,” and yet their lives don’t reflect it — their message doesn’t reflect it. In the same verse, verse 6, truth is compared to error. It isn’t only the source that needs to be confirmed — the content itself has to agree with the truth of Scripture. So what is truth? Whatever Scripture says is true. Anything out of line with Scripture is falsehood.

Let me make this personal. I mentioned I have the opportunity to lead at Celebrate Recovery, but this ministry started out of my own need — I needed to find hope and freedom from sin issues I was struggling with, and I continue to struggle with sin. As I walked my Christian walk, I came across many Christian counseling programs. They would all say the same thing: “We love the Bible, we love Jesus, of course.” And yet, when you looked into their content, in one way or another they all said something like this: “Your problem, Jolan, is that you were a good person. At some point in your life you were headed on the right road, and you fell off. Something happened — something tragic, something traumatic — and we acknowledge that it hurt. You were a good person and you fell off. So we need to go back, find that trauma, undo that hurt, and get you back on the road.”

The problem is, I was never a good person. I could face any trauma I wanted, but if I’m not founded in Christ, if I don’t believe in Jesus, I’m going to end up sinning anyway. No one needs to convince me to sin. Does the teaching elevate truth? In that same line of thinking, what I actually needed — and this is what led me to Celebrate Recovery, and I’m so thankful I see this in all of our church’s teaching — is found in Romans 3:10–12: “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.'”

I don’t need someone to fix my trauma. I need someone to acknowledge that I’m a sinner. I needed someone to show me my need for Christ, and to apply truth to whatever sin I had built up over my life. We need a Savior, and we, as Christians, need to come back to the objective truth of God’s Word and choose to live in that truth. Psalm 119:30 says, “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your just decrees before me” — whatever God says to be true, I will choose to follow.

Anyone who teaches anything other than this — anyone who brings “Jesus plus something” — is a false prophet; that is not a spirit from God.

Does it produce a love for God and for others?

Verses 7 and 8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

I feel like this point is often underestimated or underrepresented when we talk about truth. We want to properly represent God and Scripture, but the whole point of doing so is that love comes from God for the purpose of making us love others — and sometimes we fail to hold to this test.

Love comes from God, and it comes with a command at the same time. John clarifies this in his Gospel, chapter 13, verses 34–35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Anything that teaches selfishness and selfish gain over the benefit of someone else is false prophecy.

This section of our passage ends with love. But what is love? Love means seeking someone else’s benefit at your own expense. John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” It costs us something, and it hurts. It comes at our expense, and we don’t get anything back for it — we give a piece of ourselves to someone else. And we’re able to do this because we have been loved — because Christ did that for us on the cross.

So what was the point of my first story? Christian, regardless of where you are in your faith, you can analyze and see for yourself whether something is from God or not. And lies will come, so be prepared — by knowing truth, by loving God, and by serving others. It’s almost like we’ve heard that somewhere before — and that’s no accident. Those three action steps come from Scripture, and they are true. That is how you prepare, and that is how you choose to walk as a believer.

You’re not supposed to outsource the testing of the spirits to your pastor or your “more spiritual” friend. At a certain point, I shouldn’t have needed a friend to check my car — I could have run the tests myself. And if you’re a believer, you should be running the tests yourself. It’s okay to ask for help; we’re not saying don’t ask. But we should be striving to seek the truth, to know truth, to love God, and to serve others. You can, and you are able to, determine the truth — and you have the tests to do so. There are five of them. Come back to this passage — I recommend it.

If you’re here and you’re a seeking friend — maybe you’re not a Christian — don’t you want this kind of love? What have these other spirits, these other tests, these other prophecies actually brought into your life? Have they produced the kind of freedom you’re looking for? Do you have any guarantees? Do you know where you’re headed?

Because 1 John tells us that we can know we have eternal life. Our spirit, our gospel, our truth is just that — truth — and it waits for you with open arms.

Thank you. Let’s pray.

Lord, we thank You for Your grace and mercy. We thank You for who You are and what You’ve done on the cross. We ask for a hand of blessing, that we would see our need for You, and that we can know we can face truth, come to truth, and test any message that comes, because of the work You’ve done in us. We thank You, Lord, that You have not left us empty-handed, and that You walk with us. I ask and pray for a blessing on everyone here tonight, in Christ’s name. Amen.