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How to Test the Spirits.

What is the difference between a false teacher and a true Spiritual teacher.

Matthew 24:4-14.

"4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumour’s of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

The Lord said that there would come false teachers and prophets at the end times and this was restated in the second letter of Peter, chapter 2 .
2 Peter 2:1

"1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;"

Peter also mentions what will happen to them.

There are many passages in the New Testament which also mention the coming of false teachers, the source being Satan, they are his mouthpieces

No false prophet comes out of his or her own mind, they come out of the teaching that comes from Satan or one of his angels. All false prophets speak the same words, their manifestation may vary from each person but they are all mouthpieces for Satan.

Satan and his followers spend much time corrupting the truth of God.
In 2 corinthians 11:13,14 we find,

"13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

Satan and possibly his followers, are able to turn their appearance into angels of light, so covering their lack of truth.

The first temptation was in the Garden of Eden, Eve was tempted by Satan in the form of a serpent, by putting doubt into the mind of Eve.

Genesis 3:1-4
"1 Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: "

Ye shall not surely die: Satan was sort of right with that statement because Adam and Eve were now separated from God, however, they still lived as humans on the earth, it was many years before they physically died, but they were instantly dead from God.

Satan continued, until Eve took the fruit and gave Adam a piece to eat.

Satan uses this method to spread his message, to distort the Word of God.
This has lead too many people doubting the Word of God or even not believe that it is true, it is because of this action by Satan that the Scripture is so full of warnings.

For example, 1 Timothy 4:1

"1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"

The passage of 1 Timothy links false doctrine with demonic source. False teachers are not primarily to blame, they are however, secondarily to blame, but the blame rests totally with Satan and his Satanic angels, the false teacher is just the mouthpiece, the next time you here someone preaching against the Word of God, then that is a demonic source.

Idols

Paul asks "is there any problems with making offerings to idols," many people think that if you want to worship something other than God, then that is your choice. Many still continue to worship idols, made of wood or rock, made by the hands of man for many years, why. Because the idols are controlled by demons and so become very attractive.

1 Corinthians 10:19-21.
"19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils."

What people think is an idol, is in fact one of Satan’s angelic beings, so you are actually worshipping Satan’s angels, a demon, so while an idol may be nothing, the angelic being connected is not.

In Acts 20:30 we find Paul speaking to the Ephesians the following words,:-

"29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."

Note verse 30, Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. of our own ranks, Today these demonic deception comes under names such as Jehovah’s Witness, Christian Science, Mormonism, Possibly Roman Catholicism, all are cults run by Satan. During the time of Apostle John there were a group called the Gnostics, they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ, they were very good at deceiving true believers, so John wrote 1 John under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Reason for testing the Spirits

In 1 John 4:1-7 we find:-
"1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 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.
4 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.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 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.
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."

We are told to "test the spirits," Why? Note that there is a human agent which is connected to the Satanic power.
Note that John starts the verse with the word, "Beloved" The letter was written to true believers, unbelievers would not know what John was talking about.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 we are told many things not to do but also verse 19 "Quench not the Spirit. "

"19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesying's.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."

In Mark 13:21-23,

"21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things."

Jesus gave the disciples a warning about false messengers, They will not deceive the true elected, but they will try. There are many strange voices in todays world. We must always believe in God, but beware.

How to test the spirits?

1 John 4:1-3 gives us the clue,

"1 Beloved, try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 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"

Questions you should ask,

1) Do they confess the divine Jesus, our Lord, "confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:" A person confesses continually that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God

2) Are Jesus and God the same, verse 2 "Every spirit [that} confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:" There is no "That"in the original, This means that the person must be able to accept that Jesus is the Christ and the divine God as well, basically one Person, any words Jesus speaks are also coming from God. Anyone can believe in the creed of Christianity, but not the person of Christ, they must be demon controlled if not.

Finally, In Mark 1:23-25, we find that the demons knew Jesus and who He was, would you make Him Lord of your life if He was not God?

The act of salvation comes by confessing Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit always give honour to the Lord, in verse 3 of 1 John :1-3 we find "every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist" He is of "the spirit of the antichrist" against or in place of Christ, antichrist is a system of opposition against Christ

How do we fight.

With the power of the Holy Spirit, 1 John 4:4

"4 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. "

The Holy Spirit is far more powerful than any demons and Satan and we possess the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Holy Spirit as protection,
1 John 2:19,20,

"19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things."

We know the truth through the Holy Spirit, no true christian is ever going to be removed from Christ The Holy Spirit will never let them become trapped and seducing into false doctrine.

The true teacher of God’s Word.

This person will have declared that the Bible was the revelation from God

In 1 John 4:4-8

"4 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.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
6 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.
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

The world enjoys listening to them, verse 5 "and the world heareth them." Each of the groups appeals to different parts of a person, so be very aware of their teaching.

If anyone adds to the scripture, then reject their teaching, The Old and New Testaments are complete, no new "discovery"

1 John 2:24

"24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father."

The Bible tells us to stand upon God’s foundations.

We must test the spirits to see whether they are of God.

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