1 John 4:1 "Test the spirits. By this you know the spirit of God; every spirit that declares Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God but is the spirit of the antichrist."
But do we obey that command? It doesn’t seem so. I have been in hundreds of churches and heard a zillion spiritual phenomena. In not one, and I mean zero, did I hear of a spirit being tested. That oversight has allowed demons to deceive believers into believing their spiritual phenomena to be of the Holy Spirit of God. Though I could cite other examples, Mari Beth of Naples, Florida was counseling a young Baptist lady who was in spiritual turmoil. Here is what Mari Meth told me about her experience with Rachael . . .
"Rachel loves the Lord, reads her Bible, and could speak in tongues. I asked Rachel if she had ever had her "tongue" spirit tested as commanded by 1John 4:1-3:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God . . . Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 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."
"Rachel conceded that she had not had her spirit tested in that way, that she would like to have it done, so we met a couple of days later in a prayer room at the 1st Baptist Church. After a short time of prayer, I asked Rachel to start speaking in tongues.
"While Rachel was doing so, I said in a quiet voice, ‘Spirit, in the name of the Lord Jesus, declare that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.’ The spirit did not respond directly, but Rachel started speaking louder in tongues.
"Again I said, ‘Spirit, in the name of the Lord Jesus, declare that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.’
Again, the spirit did not acknowledge Jesus. Now does it not strike you as strange, that a spirit (supposedly of God) would not confess Jesus? It did me, so I said, "Don't you see, Rachel, this spirit cannot be of the Lord? It refuses to confess Jesus."
"To which Rachel replied, ‘But in my mind this spirit is saying, `I am lord.'’ "
"I was almost deceived by that declaration, but just last night an elder brother warned me demons were cunning and could say something like that. So I pressed that spirit with, ‘Spirit, are you the Lord who died on the Cross, was buried, rose again on the third day, and now sits at the right hand of Authority on high?’
"The spirit within Rachel shrieked out, ‘Nooooooooo!’
"Rachel's face contorted. Hissing and snarling, she fell off her chair. Her hands twisted into unnatural claw-like shapes. She curled into a fetal position and whimpered, ‘Please help me get rid of this thing.’ I phoned some elder brethren and asked them to come help me and within an hour Rachel was freed of that demon."
I could give other examples, but that one should suffice. Brethren with a ministry in deliverance will uniformly attest to one truth: Interact with an evil spirit long enough, and you will end up with one in residence! You say it couldn't happen to you? If you are exercising a spiritual "gift" and don’t have that spirit properly tested, it certainly could.
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