"They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:5,6).
Jesus is come in human flesh and frailty, and it's a joy to hear Him and see Him work through those who discover that they don't have to climb the ladder and become someone great. Nor do they have to hear that mysterious "call to the ministry". I hear Him speak through the "lowliest of brethren" when His voice isn't distorted by servitude to the religious system that cripples God's people and forever shrivels their limbs from lack of use. I hear Him speak through the "lowliest of brethren" when His voice isn't distorted by the spirit of antichrist that would convince us that Jesus Christ came in human flesh way back when, but now only comes through those "special ones" who stand as little christs; as mediators, convincing us that we are dependent upon them, at least until those of us who might aspire to greatness can become one of them. No thanks. I tried that route, and it's not God's way. "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God [we being the temple of God], showing himself that he is God" (2 Thes. 2:3, 4).
How do you test the spirit to see if it is the spirit of truth or the spirit of error? I think that John gives us a very important key in the above passage, and it's this: "Do they hear us?" Does the pastor believe deep in his heart that Jesus speaks to and through every member, or does he sort of placate or humor the people by politely tolerating their revelations and then move the church forward in the direction that he believes only he can ascertain? Do the leaders control the people by being their constant source of God's word and God's authority in their lives, or do they simply lead by example from beneath while watching over, allowing the people the freedom to follow Christ's voice individually and directly, and allowing them the opportunity to fail as well as succeed? Is there a control spirit that seeks to guard the people from other voices in the body of Christ, or is there a true conviction that we are ONE body, and that any member is as valuable as any other member, Christ Jesus being the Head of the body universal, and is there faith enough to trust the Spirit of God within the people to lead them into all truth and to keep them from falling into error?
Do they hear us? Do they believe, as John said, that we are not totally dependent upon our teachers, as long as the Holy Spirit, THE Teacher, abides within? Do they recognize the presence of God in His people, and do they hear the word of God through His people? Do they actually believe that Jesus Christ inhabits His people (His true followers only, of course) by His Sprit? I find that those who do not, carry many wounds from the abuses suffered at the hands of the spirit of this age that so animates the organized church today, and I find that they, as so often is the case with the abused, unwittingly become abusers themselves, at times hurting God's people as much as caring for them.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits. Are they anointed, are they powerful preachers, are they gifted or knowledgeable? That's fine, but all of those things can hide the truth of the life behind the ministry. Do they hear us? Do they have a deep conviction, and therefore state with their mouths and with their lives, that as ministers, they are not to rule the people, nor are they to primarily preach to the people, but stand before them as examples of service and Christian living? Do they believe, and therefore state that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh of every true follower of Christ - His body in the Earth? Do they believe that there is only one Head of His body, and that He desires to lead the body through a consensus to His will, rather than through a hierarchy of authority patterned after the world's political system or after the Old Testament prophet, priest, or king? Are they working their way up the ladder or down? Are they first or last, greatest or least? "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:3-11).
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ… Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels [or messengers], intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations- 'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,' which all concern things which perish with the using-according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh" (Col. 2:8, 18-23).
Beloved, He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. If you want to check the spirit behind the minister, this is a key indicator of the spirit of error or the spirit of truth. Do they hear us? If they do not, they have a greatly inflated image of their own importance. Do they listen, really listen to us (us being the other members of the body of Christ), or do they, as leaders, only speak to us, and maybe listen only when we confirm their beliefs or affirm their ministry? It doesn't necessarily mean that their hearts are wrong, for we have had centuries of poor examples, and we have been taught to seek greatness as compatible with or even comparable to holiness or effectiveness. It doesn't necessarily mean their hearts are wrong, but it does indicate the leaven of the spirit of the world; the spirit of antichrist that hinders us from recognizing the Word of Life present within His people.
Do they hear us? That is a key indicator of truth or error, and I hope that you will study John's epistles for yourself, and discover the many other key indicators of truth and error found within those rich letters. Many of the indicators of the spirit of antichrist in today's system are clearly portrayed for us in John's third letter where he lists the actions of Diotrephes. I don't feel I should attempt to go any deeper into this subject. The Spirit of the Lord will show you much more than I can, if you are willing to spend the time looking into it for yourself. Meditate on the things you've read in these articles, and go to John's epistles and read and re-read them for yourself. Let the Holy Spirit begin to show you the spirit that is behind so much of what we call Christian ministry today.
Yes, these abuses happen because men's heart motives are not pure - because they love to have the preeminence. However, I believe that many times, it's the system that is more to blame, for it is the system that nurtures and cultivates these impure motives, while convincing us that our pursuit of preeminence is God's way, when it is not.
Here's an example of how one of these abuses perpetuates itself within the system of organized religion. As an example, we have Bob, a pastor of a church, and a man of God, and a true gift to the body of Christ as a shepherd or a teacher. First of all, Bob is in the position of the senior pastor of a church - a position that has no precedent in New Testament scripture. No where in the New Testament do we find a single person or a group of people as head or heads over an organization called a church. This comes from the world's system of organization. The body of Christ is not an organization, but an organism, and Christ is to be the only head of the living organism called The Body of Christ. So, as a leader or CEO of an earthly organization, Bob really has his work cut out for him in trying to build and to equip the people of God under his care by ministering within a worldly system. But, for the most part, he does a wonderful job by today's standards.
Bob is a godly man and a great preacher or teacher, and he has been instrumental in equipping a young man named Tim. Tim has seen God work in his own life to equip and to gift him for ministry, and his example of ministry is his mentor Bob. So, Tim begins to long to minister to God's people, like his mentor Bob, and Tim, perhaps, makes the mistake of verbalizing this longing to Bob. Or, worse yet, Bob comes to recognize the potential in Tim because the people begin to look to Tim as a spiritual leader and teacher. Bob, because of the position he has as head of an organization, with all of the seductive stumbling blocks that go along with a paid position as the head, and because of the many abuses Bob has experienced while giving his life in the context of an unscriptural church system, begins to see Tim as a threat to him, his family, and his ministry. Now, if Bob and Tim were a part of a New Testament expression of the Body of Christ, rather than the system that tries to pass as such, Tim would pose no threat to Bob. The older mentor would be overjoyed at the development of his young son, and of the prospect of them working together and with others as a team, and with Tim's eventual maturation and character development. However, that is not the case. So, like King Saul with David, Bob begins to cast a wary eye at Tim.
What happens next is so unfortunate, but I've seen it happen more than once. Like King Saul, who saw David as a threat to "his kingdom", Bob can see the tremendous potential in Tim, and because of Tim's words, or the people's words, Bob no longer sees that great potential as a means of service to his own ministry (kingdom) but as a threat to it. Like King Saul, Bob begins to cast spears at Tim, and Bob does so perhaps unintentionally, as Bob himself struggles with many issues in his own life that perhaps Tim has exacerbated a bit.
This is a terrible abuse perpetrated upon the innocent young man by his mentor, for whom Tim would gladly have given his life, but if Tim faces the injustice with the correct attitude, the Lord will use it greatly in his life. However, many times these young disciples do not respond correctly. Even so, a right attitude and a pure heart will not win Bob's favor back any more than David's pure actions and motives won Saul's. Eventually, Bob's cruelties, coldness or rejections, or just Bob's unwillingness to allow Tim the opportunities to begin to exercise the gift that God has placed in him, will drive Tim away, usually after painful years of Tim trying to serve his mentor, and after painful years of the confusion that comes from being abused by a "spiritual father". So finally, Tim leaves Bob's church or organization or ministry in hopes of finding an opportunity to begin to exercise the gifts that God has placed within him.
When Tim leaves, Bob sees it as a personal betrayal and becomes wounded or embittered. Their relationship is for a time strained, then becomes more congenial and less painful due to distance, and eventually settles into mutual respect and appreciation. However, the wonderful bond and friendship shat should have been, will never be. Unfortunately, there can be no real reconciliation, for there can be no repentance or forgiveness. Bob can never see his cruelties to Tim, for his own wounds and his own kingdom (ministry), that he feels compelled to preserve, will never allow him to see what he did to Tim. Therefore, he will never ask for forgiveness. Though Tim forgives, there is still no openness and trust that is the basis for relationship. Tim has learned the hard way to guard carefully his true feelings and to share with Bob only a small portion of what God is doing in him or saying to him.
And Tim, after leaving, probably confessed to others of the injustice he suffered at the hands of his mentor. The fact that he didn't carefully guard Bob's reputation made its way back to Bob, confirming his feelings of betrayal. He "forgives", but never confronts Tim. Tim forgives, but never confronts Bob. They go their separate ways. Tim starts his own church or ministry, and he eventually mentors a young man, and then repeats the cycle, becoming an unwitting abuser, just as he was abused.
From the very beginning, and through the unfortunate end, these abuses happen, and reconciliation is not obtained, because of a lack of obedience to the scripture that gives us the guidelines for our relationships and for dealing with the difficulties that arise in relationship. The true culprit is the spirit of this world, after which our church structure and ministry is patterned. It is of the world, and the reason why we cannot "hear" what the scripture teaches, and find healthy relationships as members of His body, is because we have chosen to be "of the world". "They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:5,6).
Remember Jesus' words: "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors'. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves" (Luke 22:25, 26). These abuses simply would not happen if there was not a personal "kingdom" for which the "minister" contends. It happens because they've built, not people, not the kingdom of heaven, but something they can put their name on: a ministry, a church, an organization. It is theirs. They've sacrificed and invested much. They are in control as lords over the people, yet considered benefactors, or servants (ministers) of the people. To some extent, they use the people to fulfill some personal need, and the people use them, and many times use them up. It is a vicious and ugly system, but we continue to struggle and bleed to perpetuate it because we are convinced it is the work and will of God. However, I submit to you that we are convinced of that, not because the scripture teaches it, but because tradition has brainwashed us. Very simply, it is all we have ever known so we see nothing more.
The Spirit of Antichrist Series