Before you read the beginning of this series by Thomas Ross, to be continued on some successive Fridays, I wanted to let those interested know that more sermons are being uploaded on our church website, six so far, and there will be many more, Lord willing this summer, at this link.
1 John 4:1-6 reads as follows:
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1 John 4:1-6 reads as follows:
4:1 Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit
of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is
of God: 3 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. 4 Ye are of God, little
children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of
the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth
God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit
of truth, and the spirit of error.
The passage, interpreted grammatically and historically, refers to
human false prophets who deny the true humanity of Christ under the influence
of devils (cf. 2 John 7). The “spirits”
of 4:1-3 are human people who are trying to influence the community to which
the Apostle John was writing to adopt error.
This is the plain and obvious interpretation of the passage in context.
However, the passage has become a standard charismatic proof text for
speaking to demons, asking the demons whether Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh, and then trying to cast the demons out.
Others who are not strictly charismatic employ the passage as if it were
talking about demonic attacks from spirits upon one’s human spirit. These ideas, while very common today, have no
support whatsoever in the passage. How
did they develop?
The first known historical use of 1 John 4:1-3 in this
manner was by the demonically energized heretic Edward Irving, founder of the
Catholic Apostolic Church, who predicted the end of the world in 1868 and
affirmed that Christ had adopted man’s fallen nature. The Biographical
Dictionary of Evangelicals notes:
[B]elief in the [continuation
of the sign] gifts was a natural consequence of his Christological views (to
which the gifts testified): if Christ performed his miracles as a human
anointed by the Holy Spirit, then believers might do likewise. In October 1831
the gifts were first manifested at a Sunday service in Irving’s church. . . . For
six months during 1831 and 1832 the solicitor Robert Baxter . . . exercised an
immense influence on Irving and his congregation as a prophet, before rejecting
the manifestations. Irving remained convinced that Baxter’s gift had been
genuine, and with his flock he continued to look for the fulfillment of his
prophecies through the new movement, especially those concerning the raising up
of apostles and prophets to lead the church. (pgs. 327-328, “Irving, Edward,” Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals,
ed. T. Larsen)
Demons convinced Irving and his followers that the gifts
that ceased in the first century had been restored. Soon demon possession was taking place:
Palpable
cases of [supernatural] . . . power . . . soon came to light, and were referred
to Satanic agency. A very painful
instance was the following:—A country clergyman had two twin children, who,
whilst their father and mother were away from home, from some unexplained cause
began to speak, as was supposed, in prophecy, though they were only seven years
old. The parents, upon the receipt of
the intelligence, immediately returned, and after observation became fully
convinced that the Holy Spirit of God was speaking through their children. What they said at first “was of a very
heavenly character.” But by degrees this
wore off, and they gave utterance to many strange and extravagant orders, and
at last forbade a marriage which was going to take place. This brought matters to a crisis, and the
passage in the Bible occurred to the parents:
“Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of
God.” The father and his curate happened
to discuss the mode of doing this in the presence of the children, when the boy
cried out, “Ye may try the spirits in men, but ye may not try them in babes and
sucklings.” This speech had the effect
of postponing the trial till the next morning, when the father determined to
pursue it. The boy again cried out in a
loud voice, “Ye shall not try the spirit.”
The father said, “I will try the spirit by the Word of the living
God.” The boy answered, “If ye try the
spirit, ye shall be chastised.” The
father then read the third verse of the fourth chapter of the first Epistle of
St. John, adding that it was God’s Word, and that he would not be prevented,
and then broke down under the stress of feeling. On this the curate, after reading the same
verse, put his hand on the boy’s head, and said, “Thou spirit which possesseth
this child, wilt thou not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh?” The
boy answered loudly, “I will not.” When
his sister was questioned she said nothing.
The evil spirit was then commanded to depart. The boy looked pale, and was quite cold, and
said he felt something like a cold fluttering, and then it left him. After a short time he cried out that it was
coming again. He was told, “Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.” They
all prayed together, and the spirit never more returned.
This was the first notable instance, and
set Irving at once upon an examination of every spirit, and only those were
allowed to prophesy who had been before approved. The following question was put to the prophet
who claimed possession of the “gift”: “O
thou spirit, dost thou believe that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?” Other cases occurred, where the arrogated
gift of prophecy was so evidently inconsistent with what is right and good,
that the conclusion was come to that Satan and his angels were engaged in
marring the good work of God. This
conclusion, and the care exercised in examining and controlling the “spirits”
according to scriptural directions, only confirmed in their belief the
believers in the supposed spiritual manifestations. (pgs. 100-102 of The History and Doctrines of Irvingism, E. Miller, 2 vol. London: Thynne and Jarvis, 1878).
Thus, devils, who
were obviously controlling the entire situation, deluded Irving and his
followers into adopting a misinterpretation of 1 John 4:1-3 by apparently
leaving the bodies of two unconverted children who had been possessed, in a
manner similar to that in which the false doctrines of the Pharisees were
advanced and many were deluded to their eternal damnation because devils
allowed the sons of the Pharisees to exorcise them (Luke 11:19). By means of this delusion Satan led the Irvingites
to misuse 1 John 4, believe that prophecy and exorcism were gifts for today,
confirmed the Irvingites in their false religion, and spread Irvingite errors
to other denominations and into Christendom. This method of exorcism, adopted
because of a rejection of sola Scriptura
for what seems to “work” according to the demons themselves, was then passed
down to the Quaker woman preacher Jessie Penn-Lewis and the Christian and
Missionary Alliance continuationist minister John MacMillan, and through them
into the charismatic and Word of Faith or Prosperity Gospel movement.
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