The Fifth Sunday after Creation (NT)

1 John 4:1-21

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. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 

¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 

Do you think the AntiChrist exists? I am sure you probably thought about it once or twice, especially if you found this devotional. St John tells us not only does the spirit of the antichrist exist, but it is already in the world. Now maybe you think John is talking about the 20th Century or 21st Century. But St John is speaking to the people sshortly after Jesus' death. Already in the middle of the 1st Century the Spirit of the AntiChrist is in the world.

God has revealed his glory in many ways to his people. He has revealed his glory through prophets like, Moses, Elijah, and Isaiah. He has revealed his glory through judges like, Gideon, Samson, and Ehud. He even revealed his glory through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now St John reminded us that their are false revelations. 

There are those who follow the truth of Jesus Christ, and then there are those who have twisted, rejected, and devised the truth for themselves. These people are found within Christian denominations around the world. These teachings would have us look in all sorts of places besides Christ Jesus our Lord for salvation. 

The Spirit of the AntiChrist has been in the world for a long time. He has been working through various people and organizations. But the truth of Jesus is still be proclaimed in the world as well. Therefore, continue to test the spirits. Test them on the basis of the Holy Scirptures. (All Canonical books of the Old and New Testament.)