How to Avoid Being Deceived by the Enemy / Week 5 / The New You / Chase Snyder

Devotional

Day 1: Testing Every Spirit

The disciples faced whispers of false teachings even as they broke bread. John’s letter cuts through confusion: Test every spirit. He names the danger—deceptive messages dressed as truth, smooth words masking rebellion against Christ. Like checking scales at the market, believers weigh teachings against Scripture’s plumb line. [03:38]

John didn’t trust eloquence or popularity. He trusted the unchanging Word. False prophets still blend lies with half-truths, bending doctrines to itching ears. Their fruit looks sweet but poisons roots.

You scroll past a hundred messages daily. Which ones make you pause? When a post claims “God wants your comfort,” or a friend says “all paths lead to heaven,” do you hold it to the light of John 4:1-3? What teaching have you absorbed without testing?

“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.”
(1 John 4:1, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God for courage to question even appealing messages that contradict His Word.

Challenge: Write down one teaching you’ve heard this week. Compare it to 1 John 4:2-3.

Day 2: The Jesus Litmus Test

A woman at the well debated theology until Jesus revealed Himself as Messiah. John reduces all doctrine to one question: What do they say about Christ? First-century cults denied His humanity; modern gurus reduce Him to therapist or social critic. The test remains: true teachers proclaim Jesus as fully God, fully man, sole Savior. [10:53]

Mistaken Christology isn’t academic—it’s fatal. Deny His divinity, and the cross becomes martyrdom. Reject His humanity, and His empathy evaporates. Only the true Jesus bridges heaven and earth.

You’ll meet coworkers, podcasts, and posts that redefine Jesus. Do their words align with John’s confession? When someone says “my Jesus would never judge,” do you recall the One who cleansed temples and hell itself?

“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.”
(1 John 4:2-3a, NIV)

Prayer: Confess areas where you’ve tolerated distorted views of Christ to avoid conflict.

Challenge: Ask one person this week: “Who is Jesus to you?” Listen, then share 1 John 4:2.

Day 3: Greater in You

A demon-possessed boy convulsed until disciples remembered their authority. John thunders: He who is in you is greater! The Spirit who hovered over chaos, raised Christ, and inspired Scripture lives in you. False teachers rage like stormy seas; the Spirit within is a settled fortress. [20:29]

Victory isn’t won by your research or rhetoric. The same power that split the Red Sea silences hell’s whispers. When lies taunt, the Spirit recalls truth. When fear grips, He breathes peace.

What battle feels too heavy? Financial stress? Relational fractures? The enemy wants you to forget your Resident Advocate. How might today shift if you walked in the “greater” reality?

“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.”
(1 John 4:4, NIV)

Prayer: Thank the Spirit for specific moments He’s exposed lies and guided you this month.

Challenge: Memorize 1 John 4:4. Whisper it when overwhelmed today.

Day 4: Voices of the World

Elijah heard earthquakes before recognizing God’s whisper. John contrasts two choirs: the world’s roar and the Spirit’s clarity. False teachers draw crowds because they sing culture’s tune—self-empowerment, moral relativity, cheap grace. But God’s sheep discern their Shepherd’s voice. [23:16]

Popularity never confirms truth. Noah preached for decades with seven converts. Jesus’ crowds fled when He mentioned crosses. The world cheers messages that flatter; the Spirit convicts to transform.

What voices dominate your playlist? Do they echo heaven’s priorities or earth’s anxieties? When have you mistaken cultural trends for divine leading?

“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.”
(1 John 4:5-6a, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to mute worldly voices that numb you to His promptings.

Challenge: Replace 30 minutes of media consumption with Scripture reading today.

Day 5: The Treasure Overlooked

A merchant sold everything for one pearl. John’s readers nearly trashed the gospel for counterfeit comforts. The Fabergé egg story mirrors our blindness—we hold immeasurable worth yet chase shiny trinkets. Christ’s gospel seems foolish until the Spirit reveals its brilliance. [30:55]

Deception isn’t just believing lies—it’s undervaluing truth. We trade prayer for productivity, Scripture for self-help, worship for worry. The enemy doesn’t steal the treasure; he convinces us it’s common.

What gospel truth have you treated as ordinary? Forgiveness? Eternal life? Adoption as God’s child? When did you last marvel that the Creator knows your name?

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
(2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV)

Prayer: Confess areas where you’ve treated the gospel as routine. Ask for fresh awe.

Challenge: Text one person today: “I’m grateful Jesus is [truth from 1 John 4]. How can I pray for you?”

Sermon Summary

John opens 1 John 4 by dragging deception into the light and refusing to let it blend in. John starts blunt: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.” John frames “spirits” as teachers and their messages, because teaching is never neutral. The text insists that discernment is not passive; discernment takes truth in hand and holds every voice up to it. The enemy, who is the father of lies, does not usually come wearing a warning label. Deception shows up looking kinda true, sounding persuasive, riding emotion, and hiding in small compromises that drift a heart a few degrees off center.

1 John 4 then hands the church the first and clearest filter: what do they say about Jesus? John refuses vague spirituality and vibes; John requires a concrete confession. The text draws a line around the incarnation and lordship of Christ: “Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,” and every spirit that will not confess Jesus is not from God. This is not a side detail. John knows that if someone gets Jesus wrong, everything downstream gets twisted, no matter how polished the delivery sounds. The early denials in Ephesus about Jesus’ divinity or His true humanity mirror modern attempts to split Jesus from the God of Scripture or to tame Him into a mascot for personal preference. John keeps the essentials essential and refuses to call every secondary disagreement a false gospel.

The Spirit answers the fear that rises when deception feels loud. John anchors confidence in a line the church needs to memorize: “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” The Spirit indwells believers, and His presence outmuscles the world’s noise. This contrast runs deep: the world listens to its own because the message fits its taste, but those who are from God recognize the Shepherd’s voice and follow Him. True discernment grows where Scripture is loved, prayer quiets the noise, and hearts learn to tell the difference between the Spirit saying “No” and the enemy trying to block obedience. The gospel then lands like a Fabergé egg forgotten on a kitchen counter: priceless, near, and often overlooked. John refuses to let the church scrap what is most valuable. Right belief in the real Jesus births right living and, in time, right love.

Key Takeaways

1. Test every spirit by Scripture Discernment is not about how a message makes someone feel but whether it aligns with the Word God actually spoke. Every book, podcast, pulpit, and post needs the same plumb line. If truth is the standard, then charisma cannot be the judge. Testing protects a soul from slow drift. [04:01]
2. Start with Jesus, not vibes The first filter is clear: what do they confess about Jesus’ true humanity and full deity? If the confession bends Jesus to fit culture, it is not from God. Getting Christ wrong unravels everything else, no matter how sincere the tone. Orthodoxy begins with the incarnate Lord. [10:32]
3. Expect lies that look true Deception rarely arrives as obvious rebellion; it arrives as “almost right.” The enemy does not need a public renunciation of truth if he can win a quiet assent to a near-truth. Guard the small degrees, because trajectories begin there. [06:29]
4. Rely on the indwelling Spirit Confidence does not come from mental horsepower but from the presence of God within. The Spirit outnumbers the world and exposes voices that are not from the Father. Courage grows when hearts remember, in real time, who lives in them. [20:16]
5. Pursue closeness for real discernment Knowing Scripture is vital, but discernment ripens where intimacy with God is practiced. Prayer, meditation, and unhurried attention teach a heart to recognize the Shepherd’s tone over the static. Proximity clarifies whether a “No” is holy guidance or hellish resistance. [26:00]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:12] - Self-checkout and the feel of deception
[02:00] - The enemy’s lie-driven strategy
[02:20] - Right belief, right living, right love
[03:38] - Test every spirit against Scripture
[05:14] - Discernment is active, not passive
[06:29] - Deception usually looks kinda true
[09:59] - Start with Jesus: core test
[16:16] - Essentials versus convictions
[19:20] - Rely on the Holy Spirit
[20:16] - Greater is He in you
[22:32] - Why the world follows false voices
[24:51] - Learning the Shepherd’s voice
[27:54] - The Fabergé egg: overlooked treasure
[33:51] - Prayer and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
1 John 4:1-6 (ESV)
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

John 10:4-5 (ESV)
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

Observation questions

What specific command does John give in 1 John 4:1, and what reason does he provide for it?
According to 1 John 4:2-3, how does the passage distinguish between the "Spirit of God" and the "spirit of the antichrist"?
In the sermon example, what almost happened to the Fabergé egg before its true value was discovered, and how does this relate to the gospel? [27:54]
How does John 10:4-5 describe the relationship between the Shepherd and His sheep?

Interpretation questions

Why might testing teachings about Jesus’ humanity and divinity be the "first filter" for discernment, according to 1 John 4:2-3?
What does it mean that "the world listens to them" (1 John 4:5), and why might false teachings gain cultural traction more easily than truth? [22:32]
How does the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 John 4:4) provide practical confidence when facing deception, rather than just intellectual knowledge?
Why does Jesus’ identity as fully God and fully human matter for everyday faith and obedience, not just theological debates?

Application questions

What current teachings (podcasts, social media, books) do you need to intentionally "test" against Scripture this week? What practical step will you take to evaluate them?
Where have you seen subtle "drift" in your beliefs or habits—small compromises that feel "kinda true" but don’t align with Jesus’ full identity? [06:29]
When making a decision this week, how could you pause to ask, "Am I relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance here, or my own instincts?" What would that look like?
What distractions (noise, busyness, etc.) make it hard to recognize the Shepherd’s voice? How could you create space for prayer or Scripture to grow in discernment? [26:00]
The Fabergé egg was overlooked as common. What gospel truth have you treated as "ordinary" lately? How could you reorient your heart to treasure it? [30:55]
Who in your life needs to hear a clear confession about Jesus’ identity? How can you gently ask them, "Who do you say Jesus is?" this week?

Sermon Clips

John said if Jesus is confessed correctly as the Messiah, 100 God, a 100% human, the one who came and died for our sins, the perfect one who died in your place. If they confess him as the lord and savior of the world, then that message is from God. Like, that is the gospel. But this isn't just some small doctrinal detail. This is essential because if you get your teaching about Jesus wrong, you get all of it wrong. Like if someone gets Jesus wrong, it doesn't matter what they get right. They've missed the point. [00:13:30] (35 seconds)

Look. All teaching, all of it is a spiritual battle. Because either it's truth the spiritual battle is going out against deception and talking about the gospel, who Jesus is, or it's false, and it's an attempt to lead people away from the truth of the gospel. All teaching is a spiritual battle, whether it's true or false. And every message that we hear is shaping us and shaping you into something. And it is dangerous to believe lies, but I believe that the most dangerous lies are the ones that seem almost true. [00:07:20] (36 seconds)

Look. In other words, just because something sounds spiritual doesn't mean that it's from the spirit of God. And if you don't take a nugget away from this except for here, like this is it. Not everything that sounds spiritual is from the spirit of God. And John tells us to teach for us to learn, but for us as Christians, not just to accept every single little teaching. Look. You should do that on Sunday mornings with me. You don't accept just everything that you hear. No. We test every teaching that we have. [00:04:42] (34 seconds)

We test everything, but but what are we test? What are we holding up? Like, what is the most important, the essential thing that we should test whenever we hear different teachings or in bible study, we hear a new podcast or a new preacher, something pops up on our social media feed. Well, John tells us that the essential test, the first test that we do whenever we're trying to see if the enemy is deceiving us or not is what do they say about Jesus. This is the first and the most important test for us. [00:09:59] (33 seconds)

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How to Avoid Being Deceived by the Enemy / Week 5 / The New You / Chase Snyder

Devotional

Day 1: Testing Every Spirit

Day 2: The Jesus Litmus Test

Day 3: Greater in You

Day 4: Voices of the World

Day 5: The Treasure Overlooked

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

How to Avoid Being Deceived by the Enemy / Week 5 / The New You / Chase Snyder

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