Test the Spirits!
1 John 4:1 ¶ 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.
The problem with true prophetic ministry has always been deception. It’s the only weapon satan has left, for he has been stripped of all power and authority when Jesus rose from the dead.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Ga 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Satan may be a liar and the father of all lies, and deception may be his only weapon, but he uses this weapon very well in the earth, even today. Just as there are true prophetic ministry and spiritual oversight, there are demonic spirits that emulate the gifts of God, with the sole intent, of causing ministries and the people of God to go astray.
De 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
Jesus warned us about false prophets:Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Why? https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2015/10/03/ravenous-wolves/)
Matthew 24:24
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect
2 Corinthians 11:13
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. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also are transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
John 10:12
But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
2 Peter 2 [Full Chapter]
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. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 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.
From the time in the garden, satan knew that if he could just get the people of God to disobey God, he would have them in his power, for how well he knows the holiness and raw power of God!
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
He knows he has no power against God, and that we do have power with God, and authority from Him. He hasn’t changed, he still whispers, ‘has God really said?’, to attempt to get us off of the Word of God, to deviate from the authority of the Scriptures. In a large sense, he has been successful.
Mohammad went up into a cave to seek God. Supposedly, an angel claiming to Gabriel appeared to him, and put him in a spiritual stupor, after clasping him, and imparting to him, ‘the oracle of God’ which Mohammad then had written, and which is now known as the Quran. Islam now claims to have a billion followers in the earth, far from Jesus, living a life of fear, violence, hatred and strife, all because one man of God, listened to another voice, heard another spirit, that pretended to be of God.
Remember, demons lie, then deceive. Jesus said ‘by their fruits, you will know them.’ And the fruit of Islam has been a blood bath for centuries.
So it is with Mormonism. A strong leader named Joseph Smith, attempting to honestly lead his people into the promised land, had a vision where Jesus and Mary supposedly appeared to him and gave him ‘a complete revelation of the Bible’, and the book of Mormon was written. Though Mormonism is not as bloody as Islam, Walter Martin in his book, ‘The Kingdom of the cults’ cites 84 key differences between Mormon doctrine and the Bible, and so you end up with a moral people, devoid of spiritual power, anointing, and living truth brought alive from the presence and power of Holy Spirit.
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Since these two deceptions were the crux of the 2012 US Presidential election, I mentioned them as examples, but I greatly encourage you to get a copy of Walter martin’s book, Kingdom of the Cults, (http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cults-Walter-Martin/dp/0764228218/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415565001&sr=1-1&keywords=walter+martin+kingdom+of+the+cults) to protect yourself from error.
Dig deep into the Word of God to discover what you believe, based upon the Bible:
John 8:31-32 (AKJV)
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Jer 14: 14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this
land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury
them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
In this verse, we have prophets that should have been speaking by the Holy Spirit, the revelations of God, yet they were hearing and seeing by another spirit, a spirit of divination, and they became deceived in their hearts.
This sends chills down my spine, in the fear of the Lord, for I seek holiness, the fear of the Lord, and truth above every other thing. None of us are immune to error, and as we studied church history in the lives of some of the most powerful servants of God, we see some that went off. William Branham denying the Trinity, and perhaps moving in a mix of true prophetic, and divination or familiar spirits,
John Alexander Dowie, claiming to be ‘a reincarnation of John the Baptist’ in his latter years, and on it goes. What about many today who ‘prophesy’ money out of people’s pockets, in the name of the Lord? Surely there are true prophets that move in the financial realm, but how many times have we heard an offering taken up, that just doesn’t sit right in our heart?
Act 16:16 ¶ And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
We must listen to our hearts and test the spirits. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t right.
1 John 4:1 ¶ 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.
Just finished a great little book, given to us by Billye Brim, called The Authority of the Believer, by John A. Macmillan. It is a great book on spiritual authority and warfare, but the last couple of chapters talk about many cases of demonic interaction with people. One chapter talks about the rise of modern day spiritualism stems from actual communication with spirits claiming to be the souls of loved ones who had died some years previously. As these spirits communicated through tapping, and other methods, the group of adherents to this mess, went from two teenaged girls, to over 10 million.
Just because an experience is supernatural, does not mean it is of God!
Remember Moses, when he appeared before Pharaoh and God turned his staff into a serpent? The Egyptian priests did the same thing by demonic power.
Please stay grounded in truth, as you move in the revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have to believe that as I stay rooted and grounded in the Word of God, that God Himself will send both laborers and teaching materials about demonic errors to keep us clean spiritually.
Like any Bible doctrine, there is a ditch on either side.
With this teaching, the two ditches are demonic deception resulting in supernatural revelation coming from demons instead of God, and then on the other side, strict legalism, resulting in no tolerance, or allowance of prophetic ministry and guidance to the church of the living God.
There is a straight and narrow way through these perils!
The cure for misuse of a gift is not “no use”, rather, “correct use”.
1Co 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
1Co 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
These are the last days, the season when the anti-Christ spirit will manifest in a man. He is described here in
2 Thess 2:9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.
If we determine to love truth and embrace it, we will be protected from sinister ministers, and snakes in pulpits, wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Let’s pray:
‘Father, I take my place in your kingdom, determined to walk in truth. Open my eyes to the true state of the ministries you have called me to, and give me wisdom on how best to pray, preach, feed, and lead your people, to best grow them up in you, and your perfect plan for us, and deliver me and protect me any others from all false prophetic, dreams, visions, or manifestation. Keep me in truth, at all cost, and prevent me from going astray. In any case that I have heard or seen things in the spirit, that are not from you, but are demonic deception, please show me, cleanse me, and keep me pure and holy in your sight, and submitted to your Word, in your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen’
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