Spirit of God or Antichrist?

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because 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 of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (I Jn. 4:1-6)

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. (I Jn. 2:22)

Today there are many things attributed to the Spirit of God which are actually from the antichrist. This is not new, as the apostle John warned in his day that believers will need to test the spirits. Imagine, if you will, believing with all your heart that you are following Jesus, only to find out in the end that you followed His greatest enemy. This is not slight, inconsequential error. It is not being a few degrees “off.” It is like being 180 degrees off. It is being in league with the devil!

John wrote that those who are “of God” first and foremost confess that Jesus came in the flesh. This is the same as confessing that God’s Messiah has come, and that Messiah is Jesus. John said those who deny this are antichrist. They do not have God the Son. And they do not have God the Father. John did not mince words, did he? He spoke very plainly.

Now I must ask you if the people of modern Israel are confessing that the Messiah Jesus has come in the flesh? Are they confessing that He is the King? Are they obeying His teachings? By and large, the answer is no. As with all nations, there is only a small remnant of people in that country who love and serve Jesus. We can determine from this simple test that the nation as a whole is antichrist. What fellowship, then, can a Christian have with them? “They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.“

When they speak their war rhetoric, their “rights,” etc., they speak as all the world speaks. The world hears them. The world recognizes no power greater than brute force. As men of the world grow in their power to destroy human life in their lust for more, they also grow in their power to deceive themselves and pretend that what they are doing is moral. This is universal, and all the carnal armies on earth are invoking God’s blessing and claiming His favor.

But–We are of God, says John. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Those who are of God hear and receive the Truth. Jesus is that Truth personified. The Scriptures are that Truth written on paper. Yet today we have people claiming that those who deny Jesus and the Scriptures are “of God.”

Go to Israel and preach the person of Jesus and the New Testament Scriptures that reveal Him in His kingly majesty, and see how far you get. Little has changed in this place that God calls spiritually “Sodom and Egypt” (Rev. 11:8). But the warmongering, carnally minded church insists that to receive God’s blessing, we must “bless” and fellowship with those whom Jesus said are not Abraham’s true children (Jn. 8:37-47). Something is terribly wrong!

When you test the spirits and agree with God, refusing to join with the apostate church in her fellowship with darkness, you will no doubt be disparaged and rejected. You will be called a “liberal,” a “Muslim sympathizer,” a “traitor,” an “anti-Semite,” and more. This is nothing other than the response of a carnal mind which has not received the things of God concerning the people of God.

Remember that Jesus was called a friend of tax-collectors and sinners because He did what He could to reach such people, without regard for His reputation in a nation that was holding to a false sense of “righteousness.”

Remember how He spoke of His kingdom, how He interpreted the Old Testament prophets, and how He “spiritualized” in many of His teachings.

Remember the reason He taught in parables, and remember the political, nationalistic climate He lived in (but did not participate in).

Remember the Romans were idolaters, violent, and sexually sinful–yet He never mentioned throwing off the occupation and restoring physical land to His countrymen.

Remember that He did mention one way to inherit land when He said, “The meek shall inherit the earth.”

Remember why His servants do not fight (Jn. 18:36).

Remember the prophecies He made to His unbelieving countrymen–“Your house is left to you desolate” and “The kingdom will be taken from you and given to another nation.” (Lk. 13:35; Matt. 21:43)

Remember He redefined family when He said that those who do God’s will are His family (Matt. 12:49-50).

Remember He redefined the “children of Abraham” when He said that only those who do Abraham’s works are his children (Jn. 8:37-47).

Remember! And do not let the words of men cause you to forget.

Do not be ashamed of His words. Treasure them, believe them, and preach them. Regardless of the level of deception we are seeing around us, we can confidently trust that all things now hidden will be revealed. If the world hates us, we know that it hated Him first, and that this Chosen Prophet was without honor even in His own country.

If you have believing friends caught in this militant, pro-Israel-after-the-flesh web of lies (or pro-America or some other nation), who seem to be producing righteous fruits otherwise, pray hard that their eyes be opened! They are in spiritual peril so long as they support the works of antichrist. There comes a time when we must choose Christ even if our friends leave us. He alone has the words of life. They–and we all–must enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation. We dare not choose the fellowship of friends over Him. But also–we must continue to love fervently, not allowing our own hearts to be hardened. There are many traps laid for the saints, and we must be careful when we think we stand, lest we fall.

If you see the Truth, you cannot silence it within your heart so as to save your reputation. There is too much at stake. The Truth of the gospel is at stake. The character of God, as understood in the minds of the heathen, is at stake. Human lives are at stake. Time is running out for individuals within the rebellious, worldly church to repent and flee from false religion (remember that the harlot church is drunk with blood–Rev. 17:6). Your very own soul is at stake.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mk. 8:36-38)

May you consider these things with all sobriety. God bless you.