"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize The Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize The Spirit of Truth and the spirit of falsehood." 1 John 4:1-6 (NIV)
In his old age, the Apostle John wanted to advise the Christians not be believe every person or spirit that they hear. He gave them a way to test what they hear, to see if it is of God or not. He also told them that not everyone will want to hear what they have to say because they are children of God.
We are in this world but not of it. The God who is within us has overcome the world and He is greater than the spirit who is over this world. We have to understand that everyone that we talk to is not going to want to hear what we have to say. Talking about Jesus, The Christ, will turn some people off and it will upset others. Some will want to argue, but don't engage them. Just let them know that you disagree and "shake the dust off your shoes and keep on stepping" as a testimony against them. (Luke 9:5 & Matthew 10:14) Our job is to tell the world about Christ, The Holy Spirit does the conviction, convincing, and converting.
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