to Him believing that He forgives us our failures. That is why He is at the right hand of God. That is why He says if we confess our sins we are then restored to fellowship. (Read I John 1:9; Heb. 7:25; I John 1 :6, 7.) Another factor involved here is that His words must abide in us. It is as we come to know the Word and obey the Spirit through the Word that God can answer prayer. We must believe of course that Christ is our Lord and submit to Him and trust Him in everything. Then the loving of the brethren will also be a natural result of our life of trust in Him. The first six verses of chapter 4 contain a warning against false teachers. These are not easily de tected for they come as angels of light, but God sets forth a method whereby we can, without fail, detect whether or not a person is speaking according to the Spirit of God. The first three verses read as fol lows: “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 con fesseth 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.” Here we are told to try the spirits. This word “try” means to prove or test. It is necessary that we try the spirits to see whether they are of God or not, for the reason that many false teachers have gone out into the world, in the next few verses we are instructed not to trust every spirit or every spiritual utterance. Paul warns us of the same danger in the passage where he says in writ ing to the Corinthians: “For I am
would have to say that no one could have his prayers answered. Here are some Scriptures that will help us. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and or dained you, that ye should go and bring whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). “And whatso ever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father be glori fied in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13, 14). None of these Scriptures are teach ing that we merit the answers to our prayers by doing certain things—by keeping the Ten Commandments, or other commandments as some have suggested. What God asks is that we put our trust in His name. This epistle is dealing with what we are in Christ Jesus, and it is the name of our Saviour that is powerful. What does it mean to keep His commandments? Someone says it is the law of Christ, but what is the law of Christ? It is Christ in you the hope of glory. His commandment is that we be lieve on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Now what is involved in that? First of all we have the for giveness of our sins. Second, that He is our life: therefore, it would be utterly impossible for us to come to God apart from Jesus Christ. He is our life and is risen and is seated at the right hand of God on our behalf today. It is through His power and through His name we receive an swers to prayer. But someone says, “Does not He have other commandments? Did not he say in John 15, ‘If ye abide in me’?” What is it then to abide in Him? It is simply to believe in His name and trust Him for everything. If we fail on some point, let us turn
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