Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1.
As the years went by and the number of believers grew, John labored with increasing fidelity and earnestness for his brethren. The times were full of peril for the church. Satanic delusions existed everywhere. By misrepresentation and falsehood the emissaries of Satan sought to arouse opposition against the doctrines of Christ, and in consequence dissensions and heresies were imperiling the church…. Thus many were being led into the mazes of skepticism and delusion.
John was filled with sadness as he saw these poisonous errors creeping into the church. He saw the dangers to which the church was exposed, and he met the emergency with promptness and decision. The epistles of John breathe the spirit of love. It seems as if he wrote with a pen dipped in love. But when he came in contact with those who were breaking the law of God, yet claiming that they were living without sin, he did not hesitate to warn them of their fearful deception….
We are authorized to hold in the same estimation as did the beloved disciple those who claim to abide in Christ while living in transgression of God’s law. There exist in these last days evils similar to those that threatened the prosperity of the early church; and the teachings of the apostle John on these points should be carefully heeded…. While we are to love the souls for whom Christ died, we are to make no compromise with evil. We are not to unite with the rebellious and call this charity. God requires His people in this age of the world to stand for the right as unflinchingly as did John in opposition to soul-destroying errors….
He declared what he knew, what he had seen and heard…. Out of the abundance of a heart overflowing with love for the Saviour he spoke; and no power could stay his words….
So may every true believer be able, through his own experience, to “set to his seal that God is true” (John 3:33). He can bear witness to that which he has seen and heard and felt of the power of Christ.
Conflict and Courage p. 358
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Prayer Requests
—–Asking for prayer for Evelyn, a premature baby that isn’t eating on her own and is in NICU. I promised her mom that I would pray for her. Please pray for a miracle that might honor God, heal this little baby, and give her mom some rest and grow her faith in the living and powerful God. Jesse
—–Please pray for Linda who has cellulitis and is in rehab. Rose
—–Asking for prayer for two families in my church. One family lost a daughter and the other family lost a brother. Rodney
—–Prayer request for a friend at work. CT scan is showing a mass in the upper part of their left lung. Not yet determined what it is. Joe
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Dear Friends,
Last week I caught a virus that made me pretty miserable. A few days later Peter came down with it. Now Emma has it. How quickly a virus can spread among family.
Just so, how quickly we can we become infected with the “virus” of sin. How many times we are so congested with the sins that bind us that we feel like we are drowning in a sea of evil habits, evil thoughts, wrong attitudes, wanting to fit in with those around us. The sin virus does not just “run its course” and we get well like a cold virus does however. Sin is fatal. Solomon observed, “A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. . . . Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually, he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly, suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.” Prov 6:12-15 Paul lists the symptoms of the virus of sin so prevalent in the time in which we live, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 1 Tim 3:1-5
Paul tells us, “the wages of sin is death.” Praise God! He does not stop there. He continues with the remedy for the virus of sin, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom 6:23 Our Dear Saviour provides us with a way of escape from the sin virus that is destroying us. He loves us so much that He “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14 Indeed, His Great Heart of Love is yearning over us. With tears in His voice He pleads, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die? Eze 33:11
May we turn to the Great Remedy for sin, even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May we follow His commands that we may be cured of the virus of sin. May we daily walk so close to Him that we will not become reinfected with the sin virus is my prayer.
Rose