“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” (1 John 4:1, ESV) After warning believers against a gullible approach to spirits (i.e., teachers), John then commands believers to test the spirits. The word test is an interesting word packed with meaning. Ultimately, however, the word means to evaluate. Evaluations are a routine part of life. Employers consistently evaluate their employees with annual evaluations. These are times

TEST THE SPIRITS (Part 2) In 1 John 4:1, John writes “Beloved, do not believe every spirit” (NASB). It is a prohibition. Just as individuals are called to believe on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:9-10), believers are equally called to not believe every spirit. Believers, in other words, must exercise a form of caution when dealing with “every spirit.” Now, questions may arise in your minds, “What is a spirit? Is it referring to demons? Are these angelic spirits?” John is not

I recently finished preaching through 1 John 4:1-6. In this portion of Scripture, John commands believers to test the spirits. Why is this important? In our present day, we see that believers are gullible. We are easily deceived. Like the kid who, when told that the word gullible is not in the dictionary, replies “It’s not?” believers today are prone to deception, just like the believers of John’s day. This is evidenced by the confusion recently discussed in the joint efforts