Reading Excerpt...

this is long, but I think these are important words for Christians to be reminded of.
some refreshing lessons in discernment to give relief from the drudgery of emotional subjectivism.
if you dare, read on...

"The next verse in 1John 4 tells of those who are not speaking from the Spirit of God:
“[A]nd every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1John 4:3).
This time John shortens his description but it is implied that “does not confess Jesus” includes the entire person and work of Christ referred to in the previous verse which itself was a condensed version of 1John 1:1-9. To “not confess” is to not preach the gospel. The confession of the early church was an expression of the gospel: “[T]hat if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Many people fail to recognize the significance of 1John 4:3, and failing to recognize it fail to discern as they should. What they miss is a simple fact that changes everything. It is this: to “not confess” is not the same as to “deny.” This means that teaching that purports to be from the Spirit of God, but fails to proclaim the truth about who Jesus is, what He has done, and to call people to faith is not from God. There are people today who claim to be holding spiritual revivals who do not preach the gospel. Jesus and His apostles preached the gospel, calling people to repentance. The Holy Spirit will always motivate true Christians to confess the person and work of Christ.
Here is the challenge: apply the test that we learned from 1John 4:1-3 to the church today. The next time you receive teaching that purports to be Christian, whether it is from a “seeker” church or a “laughing revival” or anything in between, listen to what is proclaimed from the pulpit. If you never hear a clear message about the person and work of Christ and the claims of the gospel, the message being preached is not from the Spirit of God. You must discern spirits. If you passively accept what purports to be God’s message when it is not, you are setting yourself up for deception. Treating deception as if it were the gospel of Jesus Christ is sin.
The command to confess Christ is not satisfied by pointing to an orthodox statement of faith. Many churches that have long ago departed from the gospel still have orthodox doctrinal statements in their list of beliefs because they were required by their denominations when the church was founded. What they confess when they are speaking to people publicly today is what matters. If what is preached today is not the gospel, then they fail the test of 1John 4:1-3. If they fail, we are told to not believe them nor listen to them. If we do not heed that command we are in danger of becoming deluded and subject to the deluding influence that is characteristic of the spirit of antichrist.

The Spirit of the Antichrist
There is one more issue to be addressed in this section of scripture: “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1John 4:3). Failure to confess the unique person and work of Christ is evidence of the spirit of the antichrist. The issue of antichrist and antichrists was addressed in chapter two of this epistle. Here John applies what he taught his readers earlier.
John taught that every true Christian is anointed by God and therefore needs no “anointed one” who claims to have special teachings or revelations that they lack. The only specially anointed one is the anointed One – Jesus Christ. Anyone who claims to have special anointing and thus special knowledge, John identifies with the spirit of antichrist.
The spirit (remember that “prophets” are in view, i.e. people claiming to speak for God) that does not confess the person and work of Jesus Christ is linked to antichrist. There is a reason for this. By hiding the unique status of Jesus as “the anointed one” (Christ), the door is opened to many “anointed ones.” Thus antichrist (substitute anointed one) has a door into the church.
Also, it is important to notice what is not included here or elsewhere in the New Testament as a test of spirits: the ability to do signs and wonders. The reason this is not a valid test of spirits is that substitute “anointed ones” will do signs and wonders with the intention of misleading the elect:
Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:23, 24).
Remember that “Christ” means “anointed one” and consider the implications of these verses. There will be multiple “anointed” prophets who will do signs and wonders. The signs and wonders will serve as “proof” that they have a special anointing. The target of this deception will be the church. People who think signs and wonders are the means of testing prophets will surely be deceived.
Here is more proof that works of power are not a valid test of spirits: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:22, 23). What then is a valid test? Consider the next verse: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The valid test is conformity to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles.

Conclusion
In every case in the New Testament, we have seen that the discerning of spirits is objective, not subjective. This is necessary because spirits have a great advantage over humans in the realm of the spirit world. They have been in that realm practicing deception for thousands of years and they are good at it. They can produce whatever feeling or experience a person would normally associate with God or the Holy Spirit. The dangers of deception are greater than most people realize.
Holy Spirit inspired speech will always confess the person and work of Christ. True prophecy does not add to the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), but expounds, exhorts, encourages, and comforts by directly applying Biblical teaching to the lives of hearers (1Corinthians 14:3). If a person claims to speak for God but the person’s message content does not agree with Scripture and is outside of the sphere of material that God has revealed in the Bible, the spiritual source of the message is not God’s Spirit.
We live in the time of great deception and apostasy. It is a time when the Biblical tools for discernment are needed more than ever. We need to take these objective tools and apply them to what we hear being taught in God’s name. Each of us might be shocked to find out that we have been listening to spirits and not the Spirit of God. We must run to the gospel and begin building our houses on the rock."
Bob Dewaay
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