Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God: One of the first things many of us learned in this walk, was this very verse. In certain places here, men and women were taught by the Holy Ghost. Some were educated, some were not. One of the first things a new believer was taught, was how to watch for what was of God, and what was not. New born babes, could discern.

If we are in the days many are saying we are, this is a more than vital situation. Something came to me lately, that all ten of those who were awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom, were asleep. It was the call, the announcement, that woke them. Over the years, there has been an enormous focus on the Spirit of Truth. But there are different kinds of spirits and they are all speaking today. How do you know that what you are hearing is true or not. This tells us plainly, that we are not to believe every spirit. We must “try” them.

What is error? I’m afraid it’s not all about all of our man-made rules and regulations; our religious culture or even the different types of doctrine. Some of these things are good in themselves, but often, they do not reflect the doctrine of Jesus Christ. This same writer, says that “We are of God: he that knoweth God, heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. There’s no longer need to be disturbed, that when you are doing everything you can to follow the voice of the Spirit, and they don’t even want to hear you.

There is a great truth spoken here in this passage; one that has been greatly forgotten among too many. It says, that the true Children of God, love one another. Love, is of God. It’s not so strange now, that in this very reading, there was mention of the Antichrist; “Ye have heard it should come; and even now already is in the world. It was already alive and active when these words were written. I have come to believe, that one manifestation of the spirit of error, is to claim to be a follower of Christ, and act even the opposite of how He acted. Another, is to believe that one can have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, without manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. That “this,” is the only way you know who truly has it.

Because many false prophets, are gone out into the world. I do shudder to think that these very writers, said they would also be in the Church; that they would creep in unawares; deceiving many. I pray the Holy Spirit will allow me to say, that if you do not feel a true love, humility, gentleness and goodness radiating from any person, you are not dealing with the real truth. It doesn’t matter who they are or what their position is. I feel it is critical, that we all began to talk among ourselves about how to try a spirit. If we all had the same interpretations of scripture, the same understanding, we could say that it is by the Word. It is by that Word, but even that is only determined by how full we are of the Holy Ghost.

~ Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn