This week Casten looks at 1 John 4:1-6 as we continue our 1 John series

1. Testimony of Jesus
1 John 4: 1 - 6

3. 1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to
speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit
they have comes from God. For there are many false
prophets in the world. 2This is how we know if they have
the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet
acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that
person has the Spirit of God. 3But if someone claims to be
a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about
Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the
spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the
world and indeed is already here.
3
1 John 4:1-3 (NLT)

4. 1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to
speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit
they have comes from God. For there are many false
prophets in the world.
4

5. 1. Do not Believe Every Spirit
5
So many voices/spirits:
- Spirit of God
- Satan
- Evil spirits
- Internet
- TV
- Radio
- Dreams
- Myself
- Other people
- …

6. 2This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a
person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus
Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of
God.
6

7. 7
2. Spirit of God

8. 3But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not
acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not
from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist,
which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is
already here.
8

9. 9
3. Spirit of Antichrist

10. 4But you belong to God, my dear children. You have
already won a victory over those people, because the
Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives
in the world.
10

11. 11
4. Spirit of God in the Believer
• Believer belongs to God
• His Spirit in us is greater
than the spirit in the world
• Don’t live in a Christian
bubble out of fear
• No victory without conflict

12. 5Those people belong to this world, so they speak from
the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6But
we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us.
If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us.
That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or
the spirit of deception.
12

13. 13
5. Believer Speaks Testimony of Jesus
• What’s coming out of my
mouth/communicating?
• His commands ought to be
my GPS
• People will recognize the
Spirit in us by these

14. 14
Next steps
Do not believe every spirit
- Give yourself to growing your relationship with Jesus and
learning to hear from the Holy Spirit
Differentiate Spirit of God from the spirit of the Antichrist
- Find people with the Spirit of God to help you grow in
Christ
Believe that the Spirit of God is in you
- Identify areas in your life where you need to be victorious
Believer speaks testimony for Jesus
- The way you communicate and/or your GPS need change?