No one ever wants to be called ‘gullible.’

We take such a criticism as a grievous personal insult. Gullible people are perceived as being ‘out to lunch,’ or ‘out of touch,’ intellectually. They are often painted as unthinking and uncritical, always gobbling up, without discernment, the latest and greatest ideas, and embracing the most recent fads and passing trends. The simplest definition, or description, of those who are ‘gullible’ is that they believe everything they hear.

Well, oddly enough, the Apostle John had something to say about just such people. In his First Epistle he begins the fourth chapter with these strong and convicting words: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit ….” This is his way of calling out his first century readers for their spiritual gullibility and lack of discernment. And when he mentions “every spirit” he has in mind anyone who claims to speak, write, teach, or preach in the name of the Lord. We simply cannot be guilty of believing everything we read or hear.

Now, maybe you wondering what, if anything, this has to do with our sermon series on 2 John. The answer is that in his second letter, John expresses his deep concern that his brothers and sisters in Christ, or his dear “children” in the Lord, should be on the alert for the “many deceivers” who have “gone out into the world” (1:7). These are the false teachers (and false-brethren) who “do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh” (1:7).

In his first letter, however, John had already cautioned them about this grave spiritual danger, and we find his powerful words of admonition in 1 John 4:1-6—

“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” (ESV).

This coming Sunday we will take a brief detour from 2 John to consider these critical words found in the fourth chapter of the First Epistle. And, by the grace of our Lord and the power of His Word, we too will be properly warned and equipped to hold on to the truth while recognizing all counterfeits. For the fact is, none of us can afford to be gullible when it comes to matters of eternity.