The message is very simple, "We are not supposed to believe everything we see and hear simply because it sounds spiritual or because it’s in the Church." We are counselled to use discernment.
And based on 1 John 4:1-3, we are to understand that every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is of God and every spirit which does not is the spirit of 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" (1 John 4:1-3).
The Church isn’t discerning the spirits of Antichrist like it should because we have misunderstood the meaning of this Scripture. Christians have assumed that it would be easy to discern spirits, but without understanding the true meaning of these verses, the difference between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the Antichrist will not be properly discerned. What we should be judging is not the obvious, blatant, black lies around us but simply a subtle lack of truth. And yet, how can we expose a subtle lie if we don’t know the truth ourselves?
There is something very important we must see in this phrase, "every spirit that does not confess… is the spirit of Antichrist." What the spirit of Antichrist openly confesses is not as dangerous or hard to discern as what they don’t say. This is why discerning the spirit of Antichrist is not as obvious as we’ve assumed.
"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" (1 John 4:2-3).
The word "confess" carries with it the meaning of agreement. What the Holy Spirit says and does will always "agree" with everything Jesus said and did in the flesh.
We must be careful. The spirit of Antichrist won’t always openly disagree with what Jesus did in the flesh, but may, more likely, subtly neglect to agree with Him. It is not the obvious words of disagreement that signal to us the presence of false doctrine.
No Discernment Needed for the Obvious
In fact, it doesn’t take much discernment at all to see the blatantly obvious. It is not hard to discern those who openly and outwardly deny that Jesus came in the flesh. Cults and religions which openly deny that Jesus was the Son of God or those who openly deny He was in fact God with us, are of little threat to the Church.
It is the subtle soft words of emptiness within the Church which need to be exposed first. Those which do not openly testify of Jesus’ true character. Actually, the lack of words of agreement are the most dangerous and the most deceptive.
Just because words spoken by Christian leaders sound spiritual doesn’t mean they should be heeded. The spirits of Antichrist within the Church will confess many spiritual things. They will even quote much of the Bible. They will perform signs and wonders which fascinate the soul. They will appear as apostles, prophets, and pastors, but they will avoid pointing us to the fact that Jesus Christ was the complete revelation of God’s will and character in the flesh.
The words and miracles of the Holy Spirit will always agree with the concepts Jesus revealed in the flesh. Ministers under the influence of the spirit of Antichrist will not openly confess this. They will usually confess many spiritual sounding words and do many awesome looking things within the Church. However, these messages and manifestations will clash with the revelation of Christ because they are empty of the Living Word and the Gospel of Christ.
Test the Spirits Within the Church
"Test the spirits, whether they are of God…" (1 John 4:1).
John the Apostle is writing this letter to Christians. He is not talking about testing or looking outside the boundaries of the Church. We need to take his advice and test the spirits within the Church. Some will call our obedient testing, "unbelief." Some will call us "miracle haters." But don’t be discouraged. Go ahead and test!
A true prophet (leader) won’t be shaken when tested according to the Word, but a false prophet will get very defensive and nervous.
Don’t be afraid to examine miracles either. A true miracle of God won’t fall apart simply because we examine it — but a lying wonder sure will.
In these last days, Christians need to walk in sharper perception than ever before.
"For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24).
We are dealing with something more subtle and devious than we first thought. There is a need to scripturally expose antichrist doctrines because they are well hidden within our Christian traditions. How many of us would easily admit that it’s possible for us to be deceived? We usually consider this possibility to be very remote.
The Bible clearly teaches us that the last days are going to be a time of great deception, a great falling away, and a heaping up of teachers that tickle the ears. So why do we go on as if these Scriptures don’t apply to us?
As Evangelical Christians, we are quick to point to the defective judgment of the Charismatics; but we are slow to challenge our own man-made beliefs. Conversely, the Word of Faith leaders willingly preach about the unbelief of the Fundamentalists, but fail to evaluate their own extremes. So why do we assume that antichrist teachings and attitudes are only going to deceive those who are outside our church group? We justify our beliefs by comparing our doctrines with those of our own camp. We have failed to compare ourselves to the doctrine of Christ.
If deception was so easy to detect, then why would the Bible include so much information about it? Why would Jesus warn us about the deception in the last days by saying, "take heed, watch out, and beware?" Wouldn’t we be better off if we listened to Him?
I Was Blind
There was a time when I was blind: I couldn’t see what I was doing wrong. A person who is deceived is blinded by ignorance. That is why lack of knowledge is the same as darkness and deception. The lack of the light and the absence of truth equate spiritual blindness.
But Now I See
The true revelation of Christ was the light and knowledge that set me free. In fact, the kind of knowledge that the Devil is most afraid of is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus as "light" not only reveals truth, but also exposes every hidden, ungodly lie. As long as Christians are steadily increasing in the knowledge of Christ, they will grow in righteous judgment, gain sharp discernment, and successfully expose the spirit of Antichrist.
Empty, Empty, Empty
Throughout the Bible, there are prophetic clues which identify false prophets, false teachers, false signs, lying wonders, and everything connected with deception. One of them is the concept; "empty." When I studied false prophets, I repeatedly found that emptiness was connected with false prophecies and false teachings. Therefore, emptiness is one of the biggest enemies of God’s people. In the last days, Christians will need to be filled with the Living Word of God in order to discern the empty. Empty Christians will not be able to discern empty doctrine. Christians will successfully discern the counterfeit only when they are filled with the genuine.
The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Jesus Christ and teach us truth. But the unholy spirit of Antichrist has come to magnify himself and beguile us with emptiness and vain imaginations. The goal of the Devil is to replace and substitute the truth of the Gospel with empty spiritual experiences and divination. He won’t be able to do it as long as we are established in the knowledge of the Word — especially the Word made alive through the revelation of Christ!
Healing — For Or Against
One of the most sensitive areas of doctrine in the Church is the subject of healing. The spirit of Antichrist doesn’t readily confess or agree that Jesus revealed the perfect will of God concerning healing; but, nevertheless, Jesus, through His life and words in the flesh, revealed everything God wanted us to know about healing.
As He walked the earth, He healed every sick person who came to Him by faith. He then commanded His disciples to go and do the same.
A preacher who is under the influence of a spirit of Antichrist won’t openly refute or publicly agree with scriptural healing. But he may prefer to bypass it, not talk about it, or try to surpass it. He may choose to talk about something else, especially if it sounds spiritual. If put under pressure about the subject, he may quote as many out-of-context Bible examples as he can find.
On the extra-biblical side of the scale, he may use examples based on stories from people’s experiences. On the more traditional side, he may use his own interpretations of Job’s captivity or Paul’s thorn. The point I want you to see in all of this is that people under the influence of wrong doctrines will avoid the life of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can challenge all of our false ideas about how God works.
I don’t think the book of Job or the subject of Paul’s thorn will ever make sense to a Christian until they understand that Jesus Christ is the solid foundation for everything the Bible says. Without the proper foundation, the book of Job will not come alive. Without accurate revelation based on Jesus’ life, the subject of Paul’s thorn will seem to disagree with other parts of the Bible or give us the idea that God is an inconsistent dictator.
We will never understand the book of Job as a book of deliverance until we realize Jesus Christ is the book of Job made alive. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the whole Bible made reality! He’s the most accurate interpretation of it all. He is the key that unlocks all of its hidden treasures. The will of God has been revealed in its entirety through the life of Jesus! It is a complete revelation. There is nothing missing.
Preachers who are holding to a doctrine which is influenced by the spirit of Antichrist may not openly refute these concepts and facts, but the truth may be mysteriously absent from their doctrine.
If the Devil can’t keep a preacher captive or contained by the traditions of men through unbelief, then he will try to lead him beyond the doctrine of Christ. The Devil is kept busy either trying to hold us back or push us beyond the revelation of Christ.
Holding Back or Being Pushy
If the Devil discovers that the truth about healing is being realized in a believer and he can’t steal it from him, then the next tactic is to try to lead him beyond proper teaching, into variations of healing. Inner healing of the past, falling on the floor, healing through music, and deliverance through strange experiences are good examples of this in the Church today.
False teachers, who go beyond proper doctrine, portray God as one who has unlimited ways to heal or deliver his people. That’s how we get away with so many strange methods of ministry. It is as if Jesus never came and established the standard of how God works.
We go beyond the standard of Jesus’ life to say that God heals using strange methods. "The stranger the manifestation," we reason, "the more probable that it’s God." "After all," we surmise, "Jesus put mud on the blind man’s eyes and spit on the tongue of the man who was dumb." We have made a new doctrine, "The never-been-done-before is the sign of a true miracle of God." We don’t understand why Jesus used the mud and what parable language was behind it or why He healed the way He did. We carnally think, "Jesus did it to be different."
What we should realize is miracles which have never been done before could easily be classified as antichrist manifestations, because they do not agree with the miracles Jesus performed while in the flesh. The kind of miracles which do not confess that Jesus came and performed the whole and perfect will of God in the flesh need to be exposed (1 John 4:1-3).
New Miracles
New signs and wonders confess that Jesus didn’t do all the works of God while He was on the earth. They don’t realize that those who confess, "God is doing a new thing," are really saying, "God didn’t reveal everything He wanted to show us through His Son." Preachers who defend strange new manifestations will even quote Isaiah 43:19; "Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?" What they fail to realize is Jesus is the fulfillment of that "new thing." He is the source and fulfillment of every prophetic promise. Something else they don’t realize is, even though Jesus was the manifestation of that new thing, He Himself still had to agree with the established, written will of God.
Jesus was the written Word made flesh. This means He and His Father did not invent new miracles as He ministered to people. He only performed miracles which agreed with the written Word. In fact, all the miracles Jesus performed in His earthy ministry were already established in the Word. They may seem hidden in the Old Testament, because of our lack of understanding. But He revealed them. He did not do His own thing.
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).
Jesus did not come in His own name. He came in the name of His Father. He didn’t do new miracles. He did the miracles which were already recorded in God’s Word.
New Erroneous Concepts
In the Gospels, some people who claimed to love God, were not receiving Jesus; therefore, He exposed their rejection of Him as a clear rejection of God. He was saying, "If I had done new miracles or brought them a new concept of God, then they would have had every right to reject Me."
The Word of God was His standard! He only performed miracles found in the Word of God!
Some would speculate that Jesus was so led by the Spirit that God continually sent Jesus special instructions commanding Him to perform new miracles using never-been-done-before styles and methods. But that is not the case.
If we understand that Jesus was the Word made flesh, then we will understand that He also willingly limited His ministry to the standards of the Word.
God the Father voluntarily limited Himself in the same way in the Old Testament. Although God was all-powerful and all-knowing, He limited Himself to His own Covenant and His Word. He was known as the covenant-keeping God. Everything that happened in the Old Testament had was established by covenants between God and man. There were no loose threads — no hidden agendas. God had given man His Word in order to become accessible and predictable. He willingly bound Himself to His promises. Therefore, if we realize that God’s Word is eternal; we will see that God will never do anything or be anything beyond the Word He has already given to man.
He Performed the Word
Jesus operated His earthly ministry the same way. He willingly performed and submitted Himself to the Word. He was the entire will of God put into a living body so that we could clearly see it. There was nothing that Jesus did or taught that was entirely new. He simply made the existing Word easier to understand as He fulfilled it.
Here is one example: The feeding of the thousands with the fishes and the loaves was simply the same manifestation as other miracles of multiplied food found in the Old Testament.
"Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, "Give it to the people, that they may eat. But his servant said, "What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?" He said again, "Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord" (2 Kings 4:42-44).
This concept rings true throughout Jesus’ ministry. Jesus didn’t do anything beyond the written will of God. He didn’t invent miracles on His own. He simply revealed what was already established by God. He made the Word live. He was the perfect expression of God’s character.
Now it’s our turn. We are called to glorify and reveal Jesus. We too are limited to perform only the known will of God. We are to be like Christ in everything we say and do. If we are unlike Him in any way, especially in spiritual manifestations, and are not corrected, we will become anti-Christ.
It’s very simple: God is exactly like His Word, Jesus was exactly like His Father, and we are to be exactly like Jesus. Our ultimate goal is to know Him intimately and to be willingly changed into His image.
Romans 8:29 "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren"
Some find this too limiting for them. But consider the fact that we have not yet manifested all the miracles that Jesus did. For many of us, we have yet to raise the dead, heal the sick, or even rebuke the Pharisees. Is there a shortage of miracles, signs and wonders to perform, even if we limit ourselves to those performed by Jesus?
We as believers, have become naive. We are either open to strange new miracles and manifestations or we are in the other ditch, totally opposed to signs and wonders. Both of these stances are common because we haven’t patterned ourselves after Jesus.
Rock of Safety
Jesus is the Rock of our salvation. The word "rock" can also be translated "fortress of security, refuge, or safe stronghold." The revelation of Jesus is the fortress of our salvation. The more we know about Him, the safer we will be. Remaining in the doctrine of Christ means safety. Going beyond the "Rock" is risky. We become vulnerable only when we leave the fortress. When outside the stronghold of safety, we become easy prey for the enemy. (For more on this concept, read Jesus Christ — Solid Rock, by Ted Brooks. See Resources at the back of this book.)
"Whoever transgresses (goes beyond) and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son" (2 John 1:9).
If we go beyond the doctrine of Christ, how can we say that God is with us? The doctrine of Christ isn’t just what He taught. It includes everything He did and everything He represented in the flesh. He said, "eat my flesh." This means to take in His doctrine (which includes His life and ministry) and to devour His Word.
Jesus is the truth about God made alive in the flesh. He is the foundation for all truth upon which we are to be established. If we go beyond revealed truth, we will no longer be safe. Jesus is our firm foundation — all other ground is sinking sand.
Common Errors
There are many things that the Church believes and practices which are beyond the doctrine of Christ. We are always quick to attack the Charismatic arm of the Church in this regard, but the Fundamental arm is just as vulnerable.
Some Fundamentalists are hasty to label Charismatics as "mystic," but fail to see their own mistakes. They are quick to expose Charismatic mysticism. I have read many anti-charismatic authors who say things like, "They twist the Bible to fit their theology and their experiences. And sometimes, they ignore the Bible altogether. Their brand of Christianity is a mixture mysticism and pragmatism. They exalt their feelings above traditional Christian thought. Their feelings have become more important to them objective facts."
I agree with this definition, but authors like this fail to apply the same thinking to their own mysticism. For in dealing with some of these issues, they too exalt their experiences to justify their beliefs. For instance, when dealing with the subject of healing, they ask, "Does God still heal?" And then they will base their theology on a statement like, "I prayed for sick and nothing happened, therefore, I know healing is passed away."
If we think God is saying "no" simply because the circumstances look impossible, aren’t we being just as mystic as someone who bases their beliefs on a silly vision? To form a doctrine about God’s character, based on an empty experience, is just as anti-christ as any other doctrine which doesn’t agree with what Jesus did in the flesh.
Let’s be fair. All experiences are subject to discernment. If Fundamentalists are going to expose mysticism, why don’t they expose their own first and leave the Charismatic arm of the Church to do it’s own cleansing? We have all fallen short of the stature and standard of Christ — Charismatics, and Fundamentalists alike.
Why is it so important that we deal with the ultra-sovereignty doctrine in a discernment book which has been written to expose Charismatic doctrines? It is simply because the Charismatics have borrowed this doctrine and have used it for advancements into new doctrines. The Charismatics have skillfully used the doctrine of the ultra-sovereign God to promote the Autonomous God of their revivals. "God can do anything He wants," is the byword for today’s bogus revival meetings.
If God wants to heal a woman’s neck by shaking her head back and forth for several hours during a revival service, then who are we to question it?
Most Christian dare not doubt a strange manifestation for fear of speaking out against God. Why? We respect the doctrine of the ultra-sovereign God. We believe His divine will cannot be questioned. Or it is often said that we are finite people questioning the actions of an infinite God. "After all," we’ve been told, "We can’t put God in a box."
We fail to realize that God Himself is not greater than his own promises nor does he have the kind of character that would try to venture beyond His own Word.
He will not do foolish things nor make us look foolish because that is not part of His nature. "But," someone might say, "God uses the foolish things of this world." How true this would be, if they were describing the attitude of the world toward the cross of Jesus Christ. But by foolishness, they are hinting that the silly gestures, the animal antics, and the crazy body charades, which are manifesting at various revival meetings around the country, are from God. "Because," we reason, "God uses the foolish things to confound the wise."
Why do we accept animal gestures as prophetic manifestations in revival meetings today? We seem to think that these antics are parabolic in nature.
We fail to understand God’s parable language. Therefore, we invent our own parables and think it is on the same level as God’s divine lessons. We manufacture our own manifestations and say; "God is speaking to us." When a man gets down on the floor on his hands and knees and roars like a lion, we think it is scriptural because the Bible mentions something somewhere about a lion. We are truly making a leap. And because we don’t understand God’s parable language, we don’t suspect that our actions are foreign to biblical thought. In actuality, we aren’t even close.
We are being beguiled into accepting spiritual foolishness because we forget that the prophets were sent to remind the Children of Israel to return to the Word of God. Non of the parabolic gestures that the prophets had to perform were new to those who knew the Word. All of their actions and words were prophetic because they were once again speaking and declaring God’s Word. Nothing they had to say was new or mysterious.
Today’s revival manifestations are not reminding us to return to God’s Word. In fact, I would venture to say, I have heard more sermons that belittle those who hold onto the Word, than at any other time in my life. And revival preachers love to emphasize these kind of messages. Return to the Word? On the contrary, many revival leaders can be heard saying, "Put your Bibles away, put your theology aside, and don’t question what God is doing."
Balaam’s Donkey
These so-called prophetic manifestations are usually defended as biblical in some way. For instance, some people who are confronted with how silly they look as they roar like a lion or bay like a donkey, provide us with a common response: "Well, if God can speak through Balaam’s donkey, He can speak through me."
This brings up an interesting point because God did not speak through Balaam’s donkey. God opened the donkey’s mouth and she spoke for herself (Numbers 22).
This may be closer to the truth when dealing with these foolish antics which are done in the name of the Spirit. These folks, who think that God is speaking through them by crowing like a rooster at the front of the Church, are simply opening their mouths and speaking for themselves. The silly antics alone are the telltale fruit of false seeds planted in the hearts of carnal Christians. The fruit of foolish doctrine is finally coming into full bloom.
The God of Revival
While both Fundamentalist and Charismatic camps fight with each other, they fail to see that their views of God are very similar. For both portray God as completely in control of everything which happens in their lives. We’ve been told with hypnotic repetition by both camps, "God works in mysterious ways."
God is not mysterious. He is not inventing new miracles and manifestations each new day of every new revival. God is not portrayed like that in the Bible. He is exactly like His Son. There is nothing about Him which is hidden, because Jesus completely revealed His Father to us.
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily…" (Colossians 2:9).
Let’s be Fair
If we are going to challenge Charismatic doctrine, let us be fair. There are some standard, traditional beliefs within the Church, which should also be questioned. Once again, the revelation of Christ must have the preeminence — not our denominational standards.
By looking at Jesus we can truly see and understand God’s true character. "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).
Faith Is Knowing God
True faith is knowing God through His Son. In fact, faith is knowing the true will and character of God as perfectly revealed through the knowledge of Christ. We’ll trust Him when we know Him. The more we know Him, the more we’ll trust Him.
Was Jesus’ Ministry Incomplete?
If God is doing new things today, that were never seen in Jesus’ ministry, then the revelation of Jesus was incomplete. This is exactly what the Devil wants us to think. If he can deceive us into thinking that God is doing things today which were never seen in Jesus’ ministry, then the Devil will successfully exalt himself in the Church through false signs and wonders.
"Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Satan can only have his way if he can remove or replace Jesus as the only true image of God. That is why he is called "Antichrist."
He is trying to bring false concepts of God into the Church through signs, wonders and false doctrines via leaders and teachers in the Church. If we don’t test these manifestations and doctrines, they will lead us astray.
"For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24).
This is why every spirit, every message, every miracle, and every manifestation must be tested. Do the concepts of God expressed through today’s miracles agree with the concepts of God revealed in Jesus? If they don’t, we have every right to cast them down as vain imaginations.
"Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Jesus is the revealed knowledge of God. Every thought about God — who He is and what He’s doing in the Church — must be subjected to examination in that light. We can bring every one of those thoughts into the obedience of Christ.