Test the Spirits

One of the countries hardest hit with the Coronavirus is South Korea. These past couple of weeks, those affected have doubled and then doubled again. The reason for the fast spread of the virus is because of a cult group called Sincheonji (“new heavens and new earth”). They are so secretive about their membership because one of their tactics is to actually go inside Christian churches and act like Christians, all the while lead them away from Christ. And tragically, they are very successful. It has worked so well that they refuse to tell the government who are their members because they do not want their identities known in the churches that they are secretly planted. And without this knowledge, the government can’t contain the virus spread. What a predicament.

But here is the real question? How is this cult group or any cult group so successful in actually converting Christians “in their own churches”? The answer is that they are dealing with people who do not test the spirits and do not know how to test the spirits. They are unequipped and immature as Christians and it makes them subject to such dark and deep deception.

To root out these deceitful spirits, John tells us that we must realize: 1) The reasons why we do NOT test the spirits, 2) The reasons why we MUST test the spirits, and 3) The tests of different spirits.

Text: 1 John 4:1-3
Speaker: Sam Shin
Date: 3/1/2020