“Try The Spirits Whether They Be Of God” — How do you ‘try’ spirits?

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1 KJV.

We are living in a time when you must know things in the Spirit.

You can no longer deem things true or necessary by what they appear to be. Comparing things to God’s Word is absolutely necessary but we must go deeper than that. Why?

Because our judgment is determined by our own interpretation of the scriptures or of those who have taught us.

I had a long talk with God about being here on Facebook, more than once actually. I have no desire to be dishonest, untruthful or deceptive in any way in my life today.

I also have no wish to be associated with anyone who cannot be real and upfront about their intentions and what they are really after.

We are in a time when people have been exposed to every kind of religious deception imaginable.

I have also asked God why He would allow so much false presentation of Christianity and false teachings among those who claim to be filled with His Spirit.

Rich preachers, mega-ministries that use the scripture for their own wealthy gain. How do you know which of these people are real and which are fakes that build kingdoms for themselves?

But more than that, how can you tell if even the person sitting next to you in church is real or the person who does business with you is genuine, that they are truly who they say the are?

The days of judging in the flesh are over, at least if you wish to survive the days ahead.

I received when coming here, what I believe now was the Spirit actually speaking to me.

“Let them come to know you by the spirit you manifest.” And let them, “Try your spirit to see if you are speaking what I have given you to say.”

I gave many arguments to that but to no avail. This is serious business. Many false prophets and teachers are come into this world and they will deceive many if the people do not use their spiritual tools to navigate these rough waters.

It’s close, the time when spirits of darkness will perform many signs and wonders and perhaps great miracles and healings. We cannot judge by what it appears to be.

There is an “unction” from the Holy Spirit that occurs when a spirit of God agrees with another spirit of God.

We are spirits, now and forever and that we must always remember. The flesh will go back to the dust but the spirit of man will live eternally.

A human spirit is very powerful. A human spirit endued with the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a remarkable being.

Through this baptism and the exercising of this Gift, this spirit can see and know things that cannot be seen with the naked eye and cannot be perceived with only mans thought or even education.

We have loosely used the term “agree” in some of our conversation. We surely can agree with one another to accomplish much but when our spirit agrees with another’s spirit and is sanctioned by the Holy Ghost, there is no doubt as to whether any matter is of God.

If we can be still in this hour and “revive” some of the things we have learned but either forgotten or not used, we will see the Spirit began to move more powerfully and openly.

One version of scripture uses the word try as “test.” I believe we are to “test” all spirits but not with earthly or fleshly attributes, but test them in the Spirit.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1 NKJV.

We learned years ago before we became so knowledgeable that even as newly baptized Spiritual folk we could sense if something was not truly of the Spirit.

Something was just a bit off, we could feel it, something didn’t seem just quite right about what that person said or did.

It became easy to know what was flesh and what was the true anointing of God.

We’ve allowed mans position and high regard in the church to cause us to veer away from trying the spirits of these folk, no matter what their title or accomplishments.

Good people who came into our presence from other organizations or beliefs were often rejected on face value, not by us using our Spirit given skills to know if they were sincere and if the Spirit had indeed touched their lives.

It’s far past time that we go back to the old-fashioned tried and proven way of trying spirits rather than just judging them on the surface, even if they look just like us and say the things we say.

The Spirit doesn’t make mistakes but without using the Gift that we have been given by God, we do. And that can be costly. “Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1,6)

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world……
…… We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error,” 1 John 4:1,6.

Postscript:

Two human spirits can also “agree” together to hinder any service or situation.

When combined with the forces of the enemy, they can be a powerful force to reckon with.

Others may feel this hindrance but not know where it is coming from. The Gift of Discerning of spirits can detect exactly where it is coming from and those spirits can be bound in the Name of Jesus Christ and the situation will be loosed.

The entire church can bind together in such a situation but someone must be sensitive enough to know what the issue truly is.

We often blame the enemy for binding a service and that happens but it can also be a human spirit that does not want liberty in the Spirit to be expressed or who wants to be exalted above others.

Post Postscript:

Brother Ken, I have told God at times that I did not want to see or know any more.

I thought that when I left the church that this gift would go away. It didn’t.

I saw things whether I wanted to or not. Most people do not believe that but that doesn’t change it.

It is very hard to see things the Spirit sees when others truly do not believe you can see that.

What people appear to be is not always what they really are. To think the Spirit doesn’t see that is foolish. And to think that He has not also allowed some of His servants to see it is also foolish.

This is one reason the leadership suppressed these gifts when possible. The Spirit does not just see what is inside of the saints but also can see what is in the hearts of ministers.

To think that God would not reveal these things to someone today is to deny the way He has worked all through the Old and New Testament.

Knowing the spirit of some of your family is likely the hardest part. It’s hard to know what’s in some peoples hearts when they deny it to the fullest.

The best advantage perhaps is that seeing these things can guide you in making certain decisions and the Spirit can use you to work around certain people or issues to accomplish a work He wants to do.

The other I think is that you can see good in people that others cannot see, those who have been discarded and know that underneath it all they have a good heart and truly love God and wish to grow in Him. If we could read their spirit rather than just what we see with our fleshly eyes, well ……….

First published: November 17, 2011.

~ Robert Blackburn

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Robert Blackburn

 

 

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