“The Test”

Scripture: 1 John 4:1-6

Back in my good old school days, the most dreaded warning that I, or any student for that matter, ever heard was “There will be a test tomorrow.” And our minds start racing – how long will the test be? How many questions? What will it focus on? Can I get at least a “B” on it?

The announcement of a test brings a very real problem to our lives – but the problem isn’t with the test – it’s with our preparation for the test! The greatest anxiety that we have comes when we have neglected our studies. If we have been keeping up with the assigned reading, are current with all of our homework, and have been reviewing our class notes regularly, the test should be a “snap”! But how often are we truly ready?

Some folks believe that a life in faith consists of one test by God after another. And when each one rears its ugly head, whether it is in a strained relationship, or difficulties with our job, or loss of financial security, or a major illness, or some other stressful or anxious situation, we nearly always dread the experience and fear the outcome. And why? Because our preparation, in general, is not what it should be.

[We are] like the student who offered this answer on an astronomy test: “The moon is more important than the sun. The moon gives us light in the evening when we need it, but the sun only shines during the day when we don't need it.”
- Homiletics OnLine -

See what I mean? So what about these “life tests”? What are they for us?

Read 1 John 4:1-3

Even though we read in Deuteronomy 6:16 that we are not to test the Lord, which Jesus seemed to affirm in Matthew 4:1-7, it seems that the prohibition on testing isn’t nearly as cut and dried as it may seem. Our passage for today calls us to “test the spirits”, and clearly, one will certainly be the Holy Spirit. So maybe the word “test” has a significance that is greater than what we see at first glance.

In Matthew 4, Jesus has just been baptized and has left for his 40 day desert experience. The first temptation, or test, that Satan throws at Jesus is that the Lord should throw himself off the highest point on the temple to see if the Father would send angels to protect him. This type of test was intended to see if the word of God was true or not, and this is, I believe, the testing that we are told to avoid. We need to believe that God’s word is perfect and true, and to test it implies that we doubt that it is true. Faith in the Word should be sufficient, and testing will be nothing short of an insult to the Lord.

But the testing that today’s text calls us to be involved in is discernment, not doubt. And the test is even laid out for us – if the spirit acknowledges that Jesus is God in the flesh, it is God’s Spirit. Otherwise, it is a false spirit, and we are to avoid it like the plague that it is.

Remember a few weeks ago, when we read about the false prophets, the liars, the “antichrists” of faith? The word “antichrist”, as we learned, identifies one who stands in direct opposition to the truth of God in Christ Jesus. And these false spirits aren’t relegated to those regions that fall outside the church! They are also found within the church! And this seems to be the concern that John is expressing to the Church of his day – to be leery of false teaching, because it can tear the church apart.

Can you think of anything that could be any more divisive than to have a “false spirit” within the church, spreading its “false teaching”, its lies, its poison, among the faithful? And the issue has never been confined to the 1st century church. Gnosticism, or the claim of a secret knowledge of God, bestowed on only a very few, was intended to raise up those who had it, and to diminish those who did not; preaching that has been focused on God as a condemning force is directly counter to the true nature of God, and yet we continue to see it today; anytime that the Lord’s commandments are either intentionally misinterpreted, or even worse, simply ignored, stand in direct contrast to the truth of God. God never changes and never relents, but neither does Satan!
This is the effect of these “false spirits” that we see at work today. They weaken the Church’s message, they break the spirit of our faith, they divide congregations and denominations, and they can never - will never - be a unifying force in the true Spirit of God.

Read 1 John 4:4-6

So what do you think the Spirit of God would have the Church, this church, be about? Are you experiencing conflicting calls and contradictory messages? Are you confused as to what the Lord would have us do? Or are you hearing a clear and concise word from the Lord, but are convinced that you, and those around you, can never accomplish it?

That is the power of the false spirits that reside within the church! Ron Hutchcraft, in one of his weekly radio messages in “A Word With You”, offered a message at the end of May called “The Mission You Are Missing”. It focused on outreach to the lost and hurting of the world, and he challenged the church to truly act like the church of Jesus Christ, and not like some private social club. (My words, not his!)
But the point is, who are we reaching out to? Who are the hurting souls that we are helping to heal? Are they the ones who are already within the church, or are they the ones who have yet to seek Christ for the healing of their lives? Now don’t get me wrong – we need to be supportive and encouraging of our brothers and sisters in faith, but not to the exclusion of those who have yet to discover Christ for their own lives. John 4:35b - “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

If I may offer the closing of Hutchcraft’s message, he said:

Harvest is urgent business. If the harvest workers don't get busy and act quickly, the harvest dies. So will it be said, "There were people around us who were ready for Jesus and we weren't ready to go get them, and they weren't ready for eternity." That's going to be true unless we move beyond just fixing those who are already fixed and start working on the ones who are broken.

The spirits are calling us in many different directions but which ones are we listening to? Do we like the easier, cleaner, quieter ones, or are we willing to hear, and respond to, the far more difficult One? Remember the concept behind “a ministry of showing up”? We go where the Spirit is calling us, so that he can work through us to accomplish the will of God!

“The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (v.4) Do we freely and completely believe this? Are we prepared to acknowledge this? Are we focused on that “greatness”, or are we limited by our fear, or reluctance, or apprehension of what we might run up against? Are we listening to the voice that says “We don’t have the resources, we don’t have the time, we don’t have the abilities, we don’t have the experience, we don’t have enough people”, or do we respond to the one that cries out “The Lord has need of us. Let’s go!” What and where is our vision?

There’s a story about a duck hunter who mail-ordered a fully trained retriever pup.

After picking the dog up at the airport, the hunter stopped at a roadside point to test the dog. He threw a stick across the pond and commanded, 'Fetch.' The pup leaped for the water, ran across the water to the stick, picked it up, and ran back across the water. Astounded, the hunter repeatedly threw the stick, and the dog repeatedly retrieved it in the same unorthodox fashion.

Wanting to show off his remarkable dog, the hunter took his [hunting] partner, George, out the next morning for a demonstration. With a knowing smile, the hunter threw a stick, gave the command, then the dog ran across the water and retrieved the stick. The hunter glanced proudly at George, who returned a noncommittal look. The stick was again thrown and retrieved, but still there was no response from George.

Suppressing disappointment and irritation, the hunter demanded, 'What do you think of my new dog?' After a long, disinterested pause, George answered, 'Dog can't swim very well, can he?'
- David R. Ray, Small Churches Are the Right Size (NY: Pilgrim Press, 1982), xi,

George completely missed the importance of what the dog could do. He failed the test! The vision was wasted! But are we any better? Are we focused on the important things of God, or are we content to sit on the sidelines and rejoice over what others are doing in the Name of Jesus? Is it their testimony that we offer, or is it our own?

The test that we are to be judged against has nothing to do with how smart we are when it comes to Bible verse memorization, or how deep and thoughtful our prayers are, or how many mission trips we have been on, or how well we teach and respond during Bible studies, or how many committees or teams we serve on, or anything else that we choose to do. Our test will always be in how willing we are to seek out the true Spirit of God, to follow where ever it leads, and to do whatever it asks of us. The test is not so much about having faith, as it is about the depth and quality of it.

Are you prepared to hear the Spirit? Are you ready to follow? He has need of each and every one of us right here and right now.