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1 John 4 "Test the Spirits"
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now 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. 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 4:1-6)
After living in Japan for over ten years I have to say that the Japanese as a people are not very religious, and yet they are profoundly spiritual at the same time. The Ministry of Education and Bureau of Statistics reports the total number of Shinto worshipers in Japan to be around 100 million or over 75% of the entire population. But when asked, few Japanese would identify themselves as Shinto. Actually as few as 3.3% in polls respond as being Shinto believers. The situation is similar in regards to Buddhism. Most Japanese only "practice" religion when there is a major family event such as a wedding or funeral. We often lament that Christians in Japan are less than 2% but compared to only 3.3% for the so-called native religion of Japan, maybe we are not that far behind. It would seem that Japanese have a general disinterest in organized religion as a whole.
Yet at the same time there is a huge appetite for spiritual things. I am used to walking down the street at night and seeing the candle-lighted tables of palm readers and fortune tellers. I am no longer surprised when a young man with his hand raised high approaches me at the station and asks me if he can pray for my blood to be cleansed. In every book store the spiritual section is filled with titles about the occult and the television shows and comic books abound with ghosts, spirits and mediums. The one section of the Japanese spiritual scene that seems to be active are the new religions that have embraced the role of this spiritual power. Makuhari, Tenrikyo and other groups focus on healing power to promote their doctrines.
The Bible teaches that there is no difference between
races, spiritually speaking. Paul said, "There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28) Ultimately we
all come from the same Adam, created in the image of God. That image
of God means that we all have a spirit, and with a spirit comes a desire
for spiritual things. The Japanese are a spiritual people simply because
they are human beings and were made that way by God. But why then the
indifference toward organized religion? In the 17th century laws were
created in Japan that forced every family to register their religion
annually with the local shrines and temples. If a person refused to
register, not only they, but their whole community would face punishment
from the central government. These laws were made specifically to stop
the spread of Christianity. The extreme religious organization throughout
the whole country down to the neighborhood level was simply a way to
control the people. During the war years a similar kind of religious
structure was used to conform people to the national line of thought.
It is no wonder that the people of Japan would be fed up with organized
religion. The most successful Christian movement in Japan was an attempt
to be Christian without any organization at all. A Christian faith without
church. This way of thinking appealed to Japanese but predictably it
did not last beyond the writings of its founder. I believe that many
other places in the world are becoming quite similar to Japan in this
respect. Europe has grown tired of state churches and Catholic power
and though these organizations might claim that all the citizens in
their nations are their members they are just fooling themselves as
their beautiful cathedrals are empty on Sunday morning. In America the
older churches with their impressive organizations are not drawing people
like they used to.
John writes, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits, whether they are of God;" If the average Japanese, or
European for that matter is still spiritual even though they distrust
religion, what are they left with? For the Japanese, one look at Shinto
or Buddhism tells them that these do not satisfy. They are empty shells.
The newer religions are certainly interesting, but they are also scary.
You run the risk of becoming involved in a doomsday cult, being brainwashed,
tricked out of your money, or all of the above. If the old established
religions are empty and the new ones are dangerous, where does that
leave you? One popular choice is magic, spiritism and the New Age. There
is the excitement of power and mystery without the heavy weight of tradition.
But let me tell you, just because something is spiritual does not mean
that it is from God. In fact, very little of the spirit world is of
God. John gives us a very sure test to know whether something is from
God or not. "By this you know the Spirit of God; Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every
spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is not of God."
What is the test? First of all, confession. Most cults, religions and
mysteries don’t tell you everything at the beginning. You have
to earn your way into the inner circle. If you pay your dues then you
are allowed to take the next class or go to the next level. Everything
there is to know about Christianity is all written in this book, the
Bible. It has been all out in the open for over a millennium and some
of the best minds in history have done their best to study its truths
and make its contents clear to the world. Any spirit that would hide,
is of the dark and is not of God.
Second they must confess that Jesus is Christ. That He is the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. Many of the world religions respect Jesus as a prophet or a teacher. But this is not enough. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6) I know that there are people who teach things from the Bible and then also teach things from the Hindu scriptures or the writings of the Zen masters. They borrow from here and they borrow from there and try to select truth where ever they find it. I want you to see the problem in this approach. What does this kind of person measure truth by? How can he say that this teaching of Buddha is really truth, but this other one isn’t. It all comes down to colossal pride, with this one person thinking that he has it all figured out and that he is smarter than Jesus and Buddha and Mohammed and all the best thinkers of history put together. What do you think is the likelihood of that? When you say that Jesus is Christ you are also saying that He is the truth and you are willing to use Him as your standard of truth.
The third test is that they must confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. God so loved the world that He sent His only
begotten Son so that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but
have everlasting life. Most religions don’t view God as loving
His world, or even caring enough to bother much with it. Instead they
require their believers to work hard to earn their way up to a higher
plane. They consider this world to be nothing and something to be discarded
in favor of the next life. They cannot believe that God would lower
Himself to our level just to save us. But that is exactly what Jesus
did. He emptied Himself of all that it was to be God and became human
like us so that He could save us from our sins by dying on the cross.
The starting point for all true faith is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
It our utter inability to do anything to earn our way to heaven and
His great mercy and grace to do everything for us. It must start with
grace or it is not of God.
Because we are spiritual beings we must seek out the things of the spirit.
But with old established churches dead and many different kinds of spiritual
experiences out there we must be careful. There are many false prophets
even within Christianity. I have to agree with many Japanese that organized
religion is not very trustworthy. And yet I know that the church is
the body of Christ and that He is in His church. Test the spirits. A
couple years back I got a telephone call from a friend that I had grown
up with in Oregon. He was in the Army stationed here in Japan and had
been invited to attend a church in Tokyo that called itself "of
Christ". But he asked me on the phone, "Jonathan, they are
trying to tell me that I am not really saved. If I miss a meeting they
tell me I am in danger of hell. I’m saved, aren’t I?"
The spirit there was one of fear. When he came to this church he noticed
the difference in the spirit right away. Perfect love casts out all
fear. In that church you never find out what they truly believe. Everything
is hidden. They don’t confess plainly, rather they try to control
people through deceit. What you are told in the beginning is different
than what you are told later on. Folks, this is the spirit behind the
cults and I want you to know how to recognize it. It is a controlling
spirit just like the one that was behind the religious laws of 17th
century Japan and the National Shinto of the 30’s. It is the exact
same spirit of the Antichrist at the end of the age that we studied
about in Revelation. It wants to set itself above Jesus, and deny the
grace of God. It is the spirit of this world, and it wants to control
you. But He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world! You
don’t have to be pushed around. Now you know the test to really
know if something is from God or not. Is it confessed openly and completely?
Even if the name of it has "Jesus" or "God" or "Christ"
doesn’t mean it is really of Him. Is everything in the light or
is most of it hidden? Is it based on the truth that Jesus is Lord? Or
are they just using the words or the name of Jesus to promote their
own agenda? Who is in the driving seat? Is grace the starting point,
Jesus crucified for us, or do they require much more from you than God
ever does?
If you are new here. I invite you to do what the Bible
says, "Test the spirit" here at Tokyo Horizon Chapel. See
if we confess what we believe. See if Jesus really is our Lord, and
we really do treat Him as our God, obeying His word and not our own
plans. See if our starting point is grace, Jesus in the flesh, crucified
for us, not Jesus plus something else that we have to do, but simply
Jesus.
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to be a prayer partner |
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to be a prayer partner! |