TEST THE SPIRITS: THE TRUE SPIRIT

We often wonder what is wrong with our world. Over the last several years, the level of anger and violence has escalated across American society. People offer explanations and blame, but very few solutions. We wonder what is the solution?  Not just the solution for the mass shootings, or the rising anger but what about the despair and hopelessness? Unfortunately, we are trying to solve spiritual problems with only political or social solutions. Our approach is like putting a square peg in a round hole!  Our sermon series starting this week is Test the Spirits.  More than ever, we need to understand the spiritual nature of our lives and how it impacts our actions and decisions.  It is obvious that we are being infected with a plague of evil intents and actions, but how do we confront it?  Our first sermon is The True Spirit which is taken from 1 John 4:1-10.  The Apostle John tells the early believers to test the spirits, but he is also trying to give these believers practical direction for confronting the evil and deception of their time.  These words should not only inform us but also inspire us. The power of the Holy Spirit is available to all believers and it will lead them to the truth.  The Spirit of Truth which is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, desires to share with you the truth that can set you free, break every chain of deception, and lift from your heart a spirit of fear.  This is our prayer for you as you read 1 John 4:1-10, that you will see a clearer vision of your eternal hope and it will guide you into God’s peace!  1 John 4:1-10:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NIV)