2007-12-20 19:11:17 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Deut.13: 1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
A prophet of God must be in agreement with the words of the prophets and the known word of God.
1John 2: 22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
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.
1John 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.
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.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Anyone who claims to be a prophet of God must agree Jesus is the Christ the Son of God who is our savior.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist
Gal. 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.
If an angel or a man preach a different gospel he is not of God.
2007-12-21 02:50:11 · answer #1 · answered by djmantx 7 · 13⤊ 0⤋
If we are saved and have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we should be (or should be *becoming*) well-versed in what the Bible says about *everything*! Then when we hear some preacher, government leader, news reporter, scientist, or other "expert" tell us something he or she believes, or if that person promotes a particular position, we can check it out against the Word of the Lord, i.e., what the Bible has to say! Some examples are: "wide-spread damage from acid rain", "global warming caused by people" (and that people can *actually* do something about it), global cooling (as was claimed in the 1970s), evolution, "new" holes in the ozone layer of the atmosphere, the dangers of rain forest destruction, or more specifically, things like "tolerance", "hate crimes", how *any" religion is as "good" as any other, etc. Thus, we can test the spirit in which such pronouncements are made, i.e., test the spirit (and motivation) behind these beliefs.
2007-12-21 14:54:57 · answer #2 · answered by trebor namyl hcaeb 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With the Bible and with the Holy Spirit inside you. Have you ever heard a "great" inspiring speaker, but been nagged with a feeling that something is wrong the entire time? Usually that is the Holy Spirit detecting something "off". So, you hold back and wait before deciding, and you listen and watch, and compare with the word of God. You pray for wisdom, and eventually the truth comes out.
Also, lets say you think you've had a vision or a dream. How do you tell if its from God, from demons, or from the Pizza you had before bed? You compare it with the sound doctrine of God's word, and if it conflicts its not from God.
That is why it is so important to be a student of the Word, and to truly know what is taught in the scriptures.
2007-12-21 11:25:47 · answer #3 · answered by Thrice Blessed 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
1 John 4
Test the Spirits
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Matthew 10:
15I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.
2007-12-23 16:34:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most people test the spirits by their own theology.
Jesus gives us a good test to test spirits with in Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Is the person who the spirit kind to other people, or does he mostly find fault in them? Is he quick to make mention of their sin, and gossip, or would he rather secretly help that person overcome that sin?
Another test is weather he draws attention more to the Lord or to himself. This is a common trait of false prophets. Beware of anyone who says, "I am a prophet of the God." If a person is a true prophet, they don't need to advertise.
2007-12-21 11:02:57 · answer #5 · answered by Caveman 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Use the Bible and the Holy Spirit living in you. If a spirit goes against the Word of God, that spirit is not of God.
2007-12-21 03:13:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
You need to have the gift of spirit by Holy Spirit, where you can discern the evil from God. Evil doesnt agree with the word of God.
2007-12-21 04:33:24 · answer #7 · answered by kumari s 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
IF the spirit is from God it will go with his teachings in the Bible, if it don't agree with his teachings it's a bad spirit
2007-12-21 03:15:25 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Doesn't it mean the trials and tribulations of life and how we choose to deal with them? I always thought it was to do with the choices we make when the 'big' things happen. Temptations that we come across etc
2007-12-21 03:14:26 · answer #9 · answered by kimbathewhitelion02 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
This was written by Brother John in his epistles and was a warning to the believers to discern the spirits.
1 John 4:1
Beloved do not believe every spirit but prove the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world
Our spirits are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. 1 John 3:24 says
" And he who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him.And in this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.
Without our abiding in the Lord and without the Spirit indwelling us we have no way to discern or test or prove the spirits of falsehood. This spirit that brother John was sharing about was that of the false prophet. A similar warning is given in chapter 2:18-23.
The" spirit of the prophet" the one prophesying is subject to this prophet ( 1 Cor 14:32)
The spirit of one who is false is a spirit of deception. Hence we need to be those who know the word which is Spirit and Life and also havea sharp discerning spirit that is abiding in the Lord to be able to prove and determine whether they someone prophesying is of God or not.
Our spirit has the ability to discern things related to Life or Death.
Romans 8:6 says
For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is Life and Peace.
Our spirit has the keen ability, because it is Joined to the Lord, to be able to sense death and anything related to it such as falsehood and deception of a false prophet.
The testing is to put this spirit on trial.
1 Cor 12:10.
This ability to discern is also a gift that the Lord has gifted to the body through certain ones... in a more specific way.. but we should all be those abiding in the Lord to have a sense of what is true and what is a lie.
This verse says..
" And to another operations of works of power and to another prophecy and to another discerning of spirits to another the various kinds of tongues and to another the interpretation of tongues."
It is only wiht our spirits indwelt by the Holy SPirit that we can distinguish the Spirit that is out of God from those that are not out of God,
1 Tim 4:1
But the Spirit says expressly that in the later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons.
Even among us as believers there will be those that have ' given heed" to deceiving spirits. They are all over the church since satan is the Master Deceiver. He will try to infiltrate and subtly mix in false things to dull the believers. He will even come as an angel of Light to fool us.
If we are not those that have been handling the genuine article of the Word oF God.. then we have no way to know what is true,so when something false comes our way.. our spirit is not sharp to pick up and discern that there is something in error here!
It all boils down to our spirit and our knowing the word. The bible tells us to " let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom."
This is not a light thing. What the Lord used to target the enemy was the Word that came out of His being. He was constituted with the Word, as should we as His believers.
The Lord in us is able to pick up what is fake and alert us through the faculty of our spirit to rightly divide the word and test what is of God or not. Our spirit has that amazing ability. We cannot depend on our mind alone. But our spirit is able to help our minds to understand what it already KNOWS:)
Great quesiton
In Christ
sandy
EDIT.
There was a sister who fellowshipped with us that has this gift of discernment. When one who was prophesying falsehood that was subtle and easily undetected she functioned to put an end to their speaking. She also had the gift of speaking in tongues and had the interpretation of it. Her spirit was keen and sharp because of her abiding kind of life with the Lord. Her clarity was a real way that the Lord gifted us with to perserve the saints from lies and subtle deceit.
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2007-12-21 10:48:23 · answer #10 · answered by Broken Alabaster Flask 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋