"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 will 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 have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time."
1 John 4:1-3
The Bible makes it clear that everyone who has ever lived always operates under the influence of something beyond the material realm. We are all constantly under the influence of a "spirit" of some variety. What many don't realize is that there are only two categories of influence: it's either The Holy Spirit of God or deceitful spirits.
1 Timothy 4:1-3 reveals, "Now The Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth."
One of the telltale signs of deceiving spirits is religious legalism. In the New Testament, the Pharisees and Teachers of The Law thought of themselves as genuine followers of YAHWEH with all their rules, regulations, rituals, and countless oral traditions. But when Jesus arrived, in fulfillment of Scripture as the prophesied Messiah, they chose to follow deceiving spirits rather than Him.
Deceiving spirits will readily convince us that lies are truth: that God doesn't exist, that withholding generosity is prudence, that withdrawal from community is beneficial, and that our closet sin is perfectly acceptable. Deceitful spirits will also entice us to reject anything and everything that doesn't give us warm fuzzies, anything challenging or corrective, as religious legalism.
Both the Old and New Testament writers taught that we are all operating under the influence. That influence is either A) The Spirit of The Lord or B) deceitful spirits. There is no third category. Galatians 5:16-25 clears it all up for us.
Deceitful spirits are very real and they operate in opposition to The Holy Spirit. There is great error and tragic consequence in assuming deceitful spirits manifest as the dark entities of fiction and fantasy. They don't. Instead, Scripture teaches us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light and that his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Cor 11:14-15).
Ultimately those deceiving spirits manifest as one or more of the seven deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth), which are contrary to the seven heavenly virtues (humility, charity, chastity, gratitude, temperance, patience, and diligence). The Apostle Paul stated it like this in Galatians 5:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and manipulation; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will -not- inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.
Many religions and organizations referring to themselves as churches today are nothing more than masquerading frauds. Many have King Ahabs at the helm: leaders, pastors, teachers, preachers, evangelists, prophets, apostles, bishops, elders, and others under the influence of deceitful spirits.
The litmus test isn't whether or not a leader or representative simply states, "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh." Mormons will tell you that Jesus Christ came in the flesh... but they'll also tell you He was not the eternal Son of God. Muslims will tell you that Jesus was a real person... but they'll also tell you He was a prophet with little to no credibility. Many Jews believe that Jesus came in the flesh... but they boldly reject Him as the prophesied Christ/Messiah.
2 Chronicles 18 tells a story of the reality of deceitful spirits. Ahab was the corrupt and evil king of the northern kingdom of Israel while King Jehosephat ruled the southern kingdom of Judah. Ahab was so wicked the egregious sins of his predecessors were trivial to him. He sacrificed his firstborn and youngest sons as offerings for favor in his building projects. When Ahab decided to go to war against another country, he wanted King Jehosephat's blessing and support.
Jehosephat agreed with the one condition that Ahab would first seek the counsel of The LORD. Ahab brought forth his four hundred payroll prophets who proceeded to give him resounding approval regarding his plan of attack. Jehosephat wasn't convinced. Reluctantly, Ahab brought in Micaiah, the one true prophet of The LORD. Knowing that Ahab had no interest in the truth, Micaiah initially quipped, "Attack and be victorious, for they will be given into your hand!"
Ahab wasn't happy with Micaiah's sarcastic prophesy and demanded he tell the truth. Micaiah then not only told Ahab about his inevitable defeat but also about his prophetic vision:
I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and left. And the LORD said, "Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?"... Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, "I will entice him." The LORD asked "By what means?" He said, "I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets." The LORD said, "You will succeed in enticing him; go and do it."
The point is this: We're all under the influence. We can either intentionally and willfully yield to The Holy Spirit of God -or- choose to remain under the influence of deceitful spirits. Those deceitful spirits will entice us, just like King Ahab, with all the juicy lies we desire. They will lead us to reject not only sound doctrine but Christ Himself, to pursue myths, endless genealogies, and fruitless discussions, to follow the teachings of demons as substitutes for the righteousness of Christ, and to gather a multitude of experts around us to tell us precisely what our depraved hearts are dying to hear.
The way we test both message and messenger isn't by how we feel about it or whether it fits our life goals, customs, traditions, or worldview. Instead, testing comes by meditating on the Word day and night, calling out to God Almighty, our Creator, Redeemer, and LORD for understanding, discernment, wisdom, and correction, and through repenting of our sins - not merely to avoid the unpleasantries of Hell - but in joyful surrender to honor our resurrected King as slaves of righteousness!
We're all constantly under the influence without exception. The question is, who's influencing you?
Blessings,
Kevin M. Kelley
Listen to my podcast sermons >HERE<
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