The Test of the Spirits
By L. A. S.
THERE is a vast difference between the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of popery. A prophet always spoke with authority; he was always a leader of the people; but he was in no sense a pope. It was not the authority of his teaching, but its character, that constituted the test on this point. The test by which we are to try the spirits and know which of them is of God, is given in 1 John 4:2, 3. “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world.” The spirit that is of God always exalts Jesus Christ as the hope of sinners. It exalts him as the one only, yet all-sufficient, means of salvation. It emphasizes the importance of the atonement of Christ, whereby divinity is united with humanity, and God is revealed dwelling in human flesh. It sets forth Jesus Christ dwelling in human flesh as the mystery of godliness through which comes salvation. Every spirit which does not exalt Christ as the Saviour of sinners, on the other hand, is not of God. Any teaching which results, either directly or indirectly, in belittling or obscuring in any way the all-important doctrine of Christ our Saviour, and the atonement, as the means of our salvation, is not of God, but is the spirit of antichrist. That spirit is everywhere abroad to-day, not only in the world, but in the church. The papal spirit exalts man in the place of God. Any teaching which exalts human authority and human wisdom, which calls attention to any man in the place of Christ, or by which any man exalts himself to the position of lord over God’s heritage, is inspired by the spirit of antichrist. Apply this test to any religious system which is prominent in the world to-day, or to the teaching of any individual who is a religious leader among the people, and the result will show whether it is from God or from another source. It is a simple test: Does the teaching exalt Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners? Is this its whole aim and purpose? Or does it, in any degree, call the attention away from Christ to something else? Does it exalt any man, or any human authority? Does it make some human mind the interpreter of God’s Word, the guide into spiritual truth, in place of the divinely appointed teacher—the Holy Spirit? One thing is certain,—the devil will never be connected with any teaching which seeks wholly and entirely to exalt Christ as the one all-sufficient Saviour of sinners. Any teaching which does this—any person whose work is of this nature—is beyond all question directed by the Spirit of God. L. A. S.