The Last Days and the Holy Spirit

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: 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... Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us... And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him... There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also" (From I Jn. 4). What I've copied here is the bulk of 1 John 4, and this is some powerful stuff in the Spirit here. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as 'the love chapter,' but I don't know that 1 John 4 doesn't surpass it for love. What we have here is one of the most powerful and simplistic revelations of the holy Ghost that we could have, and one that can surely save our souls.

There are two huge elements pointed out in this chapter about false prophets, teachers, etc; that go hand in hand; and if we keep these things in memory we will not be deceived by any such person or persons. First of all John makes it clear that anyone who cannot and will not openly confess that God's Son Jesus Christ came from heaven and became a man, is not of God. Period. That would include things like Islam, which claims that Jesus was a very great man who was worthy of much honor as a prophet of God, but he was NOT the only begotten SON of God. With all of the wonderful things that Islam seemingly has to say about Jesus, and all of their ultra-reverence of his mother Mary; the punch line is that he's not the Son of God, so it is a enormous, disguised offence and blasphemy of Jesus. That all adds up to a very false confession of Jesus, and that adds up to Islam's founder Mohammed being a false prophet, as stated by the beloved apostle in this chapter. Anyone professing to be a prophet or teacher, Islamic or otherwise, who refuses to acknowledge Jesus as God's Son; and that he came to this world from heaven and was made a man, is false, plain and simple. The next element we see that divides those who are true from those who are false, is inseparable from the first thing we've looked at. That would be that those who are truly of God have God's love dwelling in them, and those who are false do NOT have that love demonstrated and seen in their lives. Anyone who truly believes on Jesus for who he is and what he's done, is confirmed by God when Jesus baptizes them with the holy Ghost, and God's Spirit manifests through them by a supernatural utterance of another language unknown to the one speaking it (Jn. 7:38, 39; Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:4; I Cor. 12:13). It is by this experience of faith in Jesus that "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5).

Anyone who continues to follow after the Spirit they have received, will continue to have that same love of God shed abroad in their hearts; and they will be able to recognize when someone else possesses that love, and when they do not. John makes it crystal clear in this chapter that abiding in the love of God is what marks us as true believers and followers of Jesus Christ. Those who cannot and will not even confess that Jesus is God's Son, and that he came to this world and became a man, certainly cannot have the love of God dwelling in them. It is by the faith of these things, and that he died at Calvary for our sins, and rose again from the dead; that we receive his Spirit to begin with (Gal. 3:14). So if someone cannot confess those things, then they have either never been in Christ, or they have blasphemed the holy Ghost and lost their place in the kingdom of God (Heb. 10:26,27). There simply is no such thing as faith in God apart from believing on his Son Jesus Christ, and there is no possibility of anyone possessing the love of God within themselves apart from that faith (Jn. 14:1,6). In fact everything that John stated in this chapter was confirmed and summed up by Jesus when he was here: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Mat. 7:15-20).

The last thing I would like to point out in this chapter is that those of us who DO have the confession that Jesus Christ is God's Son that came to earth to be a man, and that he died for our sins, and rose again; must keep God's love stirred and thriving within us if we want to "make [our] calling and election sure" (II Pet. 1:10). The fact that we DO have the confession that Jesus is who he is, is not enough to save us, but rather that we keep his love dwelling in us without hindrance. In other words we love because it is what we are made of, even as Jesus and the Father love because "God IS love." God saw all of man's faults and perverse ways for a long time, and found no reason to NOT send his Son to die for the sins of all men. The apostle Paul eloquently said it like this: "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:7,8). If we are true followers of Jesus, and are led by his Spirit that has "shed abroad [his love] in our hearts," then we should find no reason to not love anyone either; regardless of where they are at spiritually or otherwise. That is the earmark of the elect of God, whom the scripture says are "conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29). So again I say, 1 John 4 may be the greatest 'love' chapter in the Bible. It sure tells us who is who, and it's all about who loves Jesus, and who loves their brethren. That is the conclusion of my article, and that in fact was the conclusion of the chapter, which I will copy once more for emphasis: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." There we have the true measuring stick of our faith in Jesus. God bless.