Dear Friend of the Persecuted Church—

            Remember’s work springs from one thing—our love for the Body of Christ. But what does that mean? What is “love for the Body of Christ”? What does it look like, and how important is it?

            As I’ve asked those questions, 1 John 4 has become a very special chapter to me—because it answers them. There the apostle grapples with the idea of agape love, the love that starts in our relationship with God and flows through those that have been indwelled by His Spirit, and its application cannot help but add power to your prayers.

            I would like to spend the next couple of weeks examining this chapter, beginning today with verses 1-6:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

The Mark of the Body

It would be impossible to truly love the Body of Christ without knowing what the “Body of Christ” is. We can define it broadly as the community of believers, but that does not get us far. There are so many doctrinal splits, denominational divides, and pseudo-Christian cults. In the midst of the truth of God Word are the many false prophets that “are gone out into the world.”

These false prophets come in deception, but though they may sound good, at their core they are missing the Spirit of God, the hallmark of truth. False prophets have no Spirit of God; they have false spirits, and the author of 1 John gives us a simple test to determine between the two.

But the Body of Christ is defined by one inimitable attribute: the presence of the Spirit of God. It is not just that the Body of Christ feels the presence of the Spirit, or follows the leading of the Spirit, though those are important. The Spirit of God indwells every member of the Body of Christ. “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

That indwelling is the mark of the Body. We have a common indwelling, a common power, and a common message of truth. In fact, our common indwelling is the way that we are able to communicate one with another—“he that knoweth God heareth us.” The world does not understand the Body, because they do not have the indwelling of the Spirit! But you and I, fellow members, can recognize the indwelling in our brothers and sisters, and minister to them in the fullness of that communion.

And when you do not know how to pray for our brothers and sisters, remember that this Spirit intercedes on our behalf. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

Yours for the Body of Christ,

Gabriel J. Waddell
Executive Director