Why Christians Should Test Every Spirit

Yesterday, we read how John in 1 John 4:1-6 warns us of the spirit of Antichrist that we heard was coming in the form of false prophets. And that we are not to believe every spirit, but we are to test them to see if they are of God or not.

Then Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 about false prophets that transform themselves into prophets of Christ. We are not to be gullible, but be responsible and try the spirits.

Peter also warns us in 2 Peter 2:1-3 of false prophets and false teachers and their destructive heresies, and that many will follow after their destructive ways.

These false prophets and false teachers by the evil power of deception camouflage themselves to be like us. And their numbers are increasing in these last days.

The thought that there is deception in the camp of the Lord is discouraging. The fact that many will be led astray from the faith is even more disheartening. But these warnings are not meant to detour us from walking in the supernatural; they are to help us not be foolhardy. They are to aid us in being wise and able to discern true gold from fool’s gold and walking in the true power of the supernatural.

This is why we need to do as the Lord instructs us: “Try the spirits.” Evaluate or judge them; put them on trial according to the Word of God. We are the judge; the message is the defendant. The Bible is our law book that we base our judgment upon, and we are to judge the message. There are only two choices: Either the message is true or the message is false. Does the message line up with the law book, the Bible? Or do we have to compromise the truth of the Bible in an area to approve the message?

A good judge is not swayed by emotions, but has studied the law books and with wisdom implements the law. To make good judgments, we need to know what the law books says. In order to have a fair trial, the truth needs to be revealed. In order for the truth to be revealed, the message needs to be examined according to the Word of God. We cannot rightly judge unless we have studied God’s law, His Word. We are instructed in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” We are the ones who are to study the Word of God for ourselves; we are the ones who need to try the spirits; and we are the ones who are to judge the message according to the Word of God. Is the message true or false?

The evil one, Satan, and his demonic force are experts at being wicked. Through trial and error they have found our weakness and will appear as angels of light, false prophets and false teachers to cause us to fall into destruction. If they see we do not read and study the Bible on a consistent basis, they will bring false teachers and false prophets our way. Then before we know it, we could find ourselves in ruins because we believed a false prophet who declared the world was going to end yesterday. We foolishly believed that he could predict the return of the Lord when Jesus Christ clearly states in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” In our eagerness for the Lord’s return, we willfully believed the charismatic personality and are now broke and bitter because we did not “try the spirits.” We did not take the time to rightly evaluate, judge or put the message on trial to see if this message lined up with the written Word of God. {eoa}

Becky Dvorak is a prophetic healing evangelist and the Destiny Image author of DARE to Believe and Greater Than Magic. Visit her at authorbeckydvorak.com.