John warns and instructs us in 1 John 4:1-6, "Beloved, 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. This
is how you 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 that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from
God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is
coming and is 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, and therefore they speak from the
world, and the world listens to them. We are of God, and whoever knows
God listens to us. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. This is
how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
To
protect ourselves in these last days we are to test the spirits. The
enemy's messengers will come especially to those whom they have
witnessed do not judge what appears to them, for these people are easy
prey for the enemy to devour.
We are not to be gullible,
but responsible and try the spirits. Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians
11:13-15, "For such are false apostles and deceitful workers, disguising
themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness,
whose end will be according to their works." He is warning us that
there are false prophets and false teachers and that their numbers are
increasing in these last days, but they will appear to us to be of
Christ. So just because we see or hear something amazing, does not mean
it is of God.
Peter also warns us in 2 Peter 2:1-3, "But
there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, bringing swift
destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their destructive
ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their
greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their judgment, made
long ago, does not linger, and their destruction does not slumber."
As
I meditate upon these warnings, I think of a time I was taking a nature
walk and enjoying the beauty of the rain forest. I bent down to pick up
an old rusty bucket that was in the weeds. As I reached out to grab the
bucket, I realized that I was right on top of a venomous snake in the
grass. It held its head and upper body so still that it blended in
perfectly with the tall surrounding grass. I didn't recognize it until I
was very close to it and looked it in the eye. But as soon as it knew I
had seen it, it dropped and slithered quickly away, deeper into the
thicket of the woods.
Right after my encounter with this snake, our son, Joaquin,
was down by the pond and he cried out, "Mom, there is a big snake!" The
snake he saw was different from the one I just saw. Then later that
morning our son, Andres, was walking down the path and he saw a snake,
and it was a different species. Then the next day my husband, David, was
working outside and he too came across a snake. We all came across
snakes within a two-day span of time, each one a different species, but
still they were snakes and we did not spot them until we were right on
top of them.
Beware, for there are highly venomous
spiritual snakes camouflaged within the body of Christ today. As we draw
close to the end of this age, their numbers will increase and their
poison will become deadlier than before.
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