In the First Epistle of John he exhorted the Church at Ephesus (where the weight of early and strong Christian tradition puts John at this time in his life) to do something unheard of in the church today. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And 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.” (1 John 4:1-3) Most Believers do not have the ability in God to “try the spirits whether they are of God:” I think I am going to try real hard to replace the reference Christian in my vocabulary with Believer. Almost everyone we talk with today call themselves a Christian and well we all know that is not true. But, a Believer is one that is presently and continually giving of himself to God in faith and living in a vital relationship with Him. Only those who do so can partake of the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God that are hidden in Christ Jesus. It is no wonder many Believers struggle with areas in their lives they do not possess the ability in God to “try” or judge the spirits. Without a trying or judging of the spirit there will never be a separation from ungodliness and unrighteousness. Why do we think we are not to judge things and people? Judgment is a big part of our everyday natural life. I will wear this shirt, no I will not wear that one. I like this food, no I do not like this food. I will buy this car, this house, the list goes on. Judgment is critical to who we are and to who we hang around. Why would we not use judgment in our spiritual life? How can we serve the Lord if we do not have the ability to know the difference between things that are Godly and things ungodly, between things righteous and things unrighteous, between the clean and the unclean things? There is a critical need within the Body of Christ to be able to judge righteous judgment and then separate ourselves from the things that are not of God. God commanded Moses, “Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. 3Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 22:2-3) Now God here was speaking to Moses who was to speak to the Children of Isreal through the high priest Aaron, but this truth is still in affect today for us. I would say even more so today. Remember the lessons learned recorded (1 Corinthians 10:1-10) in the Bible are examples (from the Children of Isreal) for our benefit and learning so that we would not make the same mistakes. Paul writes, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12) What will prevent us from falling? Heeding the “examples” (lessons), thus having the ability in God to be able to judge people, situations and circumstances in our lives so that we will be able to separate ourselves from ungodly things and walk with the Lord. Last year Karen and I had to make a tough decision, either stay at the church we have been attending for over five years or separate ourselves from them because of gross ungodly behavior from the leadership. To be able to walk with God we had to separate ourselves inspite of the love we had for many. How will we be able to judge big things in our lives if we fail to judge little things? We all know (I guess) what lying, cheating, stealing, murder, and adultery look like, but what about the areas that are not frank sin? How will we be able to put the mind of Christ on and know what God wants if we daily read the newspaper and watch TV, cannot keep our mouth shut, cannot keep our thought life pure from evil fantasies and lustful desires; instead we are taking on the mind of the world. Oh no my friend we must even judge these non sin areas in our lives and separate ourselves. God said, “Be ye holy for I am holy” and He meant it. We can see the reward (something we get from God out from our behavior) of not judging areas in our lives, “having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence:” a very strong price to pay for disobedience indeed. It is no wonder the church, especially in American, has entered into an unholy alliance with politicians for power, influence, favor, and money. I have seen this happen over the last eight years, the church has forsaken God as its source and turned to the arm of man to provide all it needs. Paul in Philippians writes, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Now it says “need” not needs. Prosperity driven emotional, self-seeking, selfish Christians (not Believers) read needs into this verse. Needs are things; building cars, clothing, ministry, but “need” is what God knows you are in need of and what only God can provide. Please know the “riches in glory by Christ Jesus” is much more than having our fleshly wants and desires satisfied. The “riches” of Christ Jesus have nothing to do with earthly things, they are things of the Spirit of God; wholeness, health, and completeness in God. Yet the church of today goes after these earthly beggarly things with a great fervor while dismissing the real spiritual things of God. And why? The church of today lacks the spiritual ability to judge things and then separate themselves. In God there is a process; judgment then separation. If you wants to be able to operate and function with God you will need to be able to possess His Spirit and wisdom to be able to see what is moving in lives and situations so that you can quickly move away from them if not you will get sucked into them, stumble out of the way everlasting, and get off track. Some my friend never recover and get back on track, take heed, “take heed less he fall.”
But here in 1 John, John exhorts the Church to never put their personal commitment and their trust in everything, and yes that even means the church. I could tell you of the countless 1,000s of stories where someone put their total commitment and trust in a so called man of God, well . . . I am sure you have your stories too. We must never commit ourselves to every person Jesus never did that. In this world and sad to say in the church there are many misleading elements not to mention the so called biblical teachings. Great deception is found in false prophets and those who appear to be of God. These prophets and men of God are to be tested to determine their source because many false prophets who have the spirit of anti-Christ (against or not of Christ) have gone out into the world. John says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Now John is not talking about demons as many teach, oh no John is taking about men. “Try (test or judge) the spirits” to see what is their source. How will they know a false prophet from a real prophet if they can not judge their spirit? Signs and wonders, what most people in the church go after, will not be a measuring stick of their source. Did you know there is probably more false and even demonic spirits operating in most churches during Sunday services than true spirit of God? One of the greatest I often see is religious Jezebel spirit. Remember, the one that shouts the loudest, jumps, the highest, and rolls the longest is probably not in the Holy Spirit, but their spirit. When the Spirit of God comes to man it always brings man down into a place of inactivity. The Spirit of God shuts man’s feelings and emotions down. We will not feel like standing to our feet and shake our fist as our head bobbles to and fro, but just be thankful to be alive, quiet before Him. John to receive the Book of Revelation, fell at the feet of Jesus as a dead man, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” (Revelation 1:17) What a godly place in God dead at the feet of Jesus. Most of Chapter three of 1 John deals with the manifestation of sources that is the manifestation in men so Chapter three serves as a background and guide for Chapter four to be able fulfill the exhortation to try or judge the spirits. Now it is not hard to be able to try or test the spirits. John is not telling the Church or us something spiritually hard to do. You know we make this wondrous walk with the Lord so difficult by making everything we do spiritual. Far too many Christians today (in the world corporately) are looking for a demon under every rock instead just walking with the Lord in a simplistic and holy way where we just get to know Him in a personal way (as we know other people), and just allow God to speak to our heart. But no everything is demonic, the devil is doing this or I am taking back what the devil stole. Mule muffins! Our focus is to be on the Lord he will take care of the devil if we take care of Him in our lives. My friend it is not hard to determine the source of people. All we have to do is keep our mouth shut and our eyes and ears open.
This ability to judge things becomes very critical to my ability to pastor our Church in Germany. Most if not all of our members were non-Americans. Now I know Americans quite well, but now Africans, Europeans, Asians, and the like not so much. When two ladies were brought before me to settle a dispute or circumstance I could not rely on my natural ability to determine who was right and who was wrong in this situation. I had to judge by their spirit, not by the Holy Spirit, but by the spirit they were of. And I always found the one who was of the spirit of Christ (not anti-Christ); humble and lowly of heart, not taking a threatening or accusing approach, but open to correction was innocent or blameless in the situation. What a wonderful guide to have to help people who could not control or help themselves. And let me tell you when you get people from all traditions and nationalities together problems will come. The key is to identify what is their source? Is their source God or the gods of this world? If you can identify someone’s source then you will be able to know who and what they are made of. This ability to judge or try their spirit also helped me to pass judgment. The one who is soft-hearted to the leading of the Holy Spirit will not defend themselves. A strong word of correction is not needed. But the one built on themselves, usually justifying themselves at the others expense, must be dealt with much more severe because of their hard heart and callous words and emotions.
This need to “try (judge or test) the spirits” also became critical for my success of knowing who to trust and who not to trust with the things of God and our Church. This also was a big sticking point with my associate pastor. Joseph was from Nigeria a great friend and a man who loved the word of God. At first in our relationship we walked together, agreeing on many things and God did many wonderful things for us, but as time went on and as the church grew there was a big push by Joseph to open the Church to Ministers (who said they were pastors, preachers, teachers, evangelists) from Nigeria and west Africa. It became painfully obvious unless we could work this out God separation was inevitable. I have seen too many of these so called ministers from Nigeria and Ghana in operation in other churches (both in Africa and Germany), I have seen their source and know their motives and could not allow them to minister in our Church unless we both (Joseph and I) talked with them and we talked together well in advance of the service. Well, this became a wedge that grew between Joseph and I that ultimately ended in us separating ourselves from each other and me and my family going back to the States early. Judgment then separation is the process God is looking for in mature Believers. How could I allow them to minister when their motive and intentions were to make money? And they were good, very good at manipulating people into giving them money. Most religious people are smooth and well spoken, gifted speakers, but they are not broken speakers, the ones God uses. But God does not operate this way, we must have the ability to “try,” to test, and even judge the spirits of men, by the Spirit of God, to know what spirit they are of. Paul commanded Timothy, “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. 22Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” (1 Titus 5:21-22) Never allow someone to pray for you that you do not know. Wait, watch their character, get to know them first, judge what spirit they are of, find out what their source is. If you do not know what spirit they are of you could be opening yourself up to some really bad spiritual things. Remember, either we are filled with the Holy Spirit or we will be filled with some other spirit. What spirit are you of? Written by David Stahl
But here in 1 John, John exhorts the Church to never put their personal commitment and their trust in everything, and yes that even means the church. I could tell you of the countless 1,000s of stories where someone put their total commitment and trust in a so called man of God, well . . . I am sure you have your stories too. We must never commit ourselves to every person Jesus never did that. In this world and sad to say in the church there are many misleading elements not to mention the so called biblical teachings. Great deception is found in false prophets and those who appear to be of God. These prophets and men of God are to be tested to determine their source because many false prophets who have the spirit of anti-Christ (against or not of Christ) have gone out into the world. John says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Now John is not talking about demons as many teach, oh no John is taking about men. “Try (test or judge) the spirits” to see what is their source. How will they know a false prophet from a real prophet if they can not judge their spirit? Signs and wonders, what most people in the church go after, will not be a measuring stick of their source. Did you know there is probably more false and even demonic spirits operating in most churches during Sunday services than true spirit of God? One of the greatest I often see is religious Jezebel spirit. Remember, the one that shouts the loudest, jumps, the highest, and rolls the longest is probably not in the Holy Spirit, but their spirit. When the Spirit of God comes to man it always brings man down into a place of inactivity. The Spirit of God shuts man’s feelings and emotions down. We will not feel like standing to our feet and shake our fist as our head bobbles to and fro, but just be thankful to be alive, quiet before Him. John to receive the Book of Revelation, fell at the feet of Jesus as a dead man, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” (Revelation 1:17) What a godly place in God dead at the feet of Jesus. Most of Chapter three of 1 John deals with the manifestation of sources that is the manifestation in men so Chapter three serves as a background and guide for Chapter four to be able fulfill the exhortation to try or judge the spirits. Now it is not hard to be able to try or test the spirits. John is not telling the Church or us something spiritually hard to do. You know we make this wondrous walk with the Lord so difficult by making everything we do spiritual. Far too many Christians today (in the world corporately) are looking for a demon under every rock instead just walking with the Lord in a simplistic and holy way where we just get to know Him in a personal way (as we know other people), and just allow God to speak to our heart. But no everything is demonic, the devil is doing this or I am taking back what the devil stole. Mule muffins! Our focus is to be on the Lord he will take care of the devil if we take care of Him in our lives. My friend it is not hard to determine the source of people. All we have to do is keep our mouth shut and our eyes and ears open.
This ability to judge things becomes very critical to my ability to pastor our Church in Germany. Most if not all of our members were non-Americans. Now I know Americans quite well, but now Africans, Europeans, Asians, and the like not so much. When two ladies were brought before me to settle a dispute or circumstance I could not rely on my natural ability to determine who was right and who was wrong in this situation. I had to judge by their spirit, not by the Holy Spirit, but by the spirit they were of. And I always found the one who was of the spirit of Christ (not anti-Christ); humble and lowly of heart, not taking a threatening or accusing approach, but open to correction was innocent or blameless in the situation. What a wonderful guide to have to help people who could not control or help themselves. And let me tell you when you get people from all traditions and nationalities together problems will come. The key is to identify what is their source? Is their source God or the gods of this world? If you can identify someone’s source then you will be able to know who and what they are made of. This ability to judge or try their spirit also helped me to pass judgment. The one who is soft-hearted to the leading of the Holy Spirit will not defend themselves. A strong word of correction is not needed. But the one built on themselves, usually justifying themselves at the others expense, must be dealt with much more severe because of their hard heart and callous words and emotions.
This need to “try (judge or test) the spirits” also became critical for my success of knowing who to trust and who not to trust with the things of God and our Church. This also was a big sticking point with my associate pastor. Joseph was from Nigeria a great friend and a man who loved the word of God. At first in our relationship we walked together, agreeing on many things and God did many wonderful things for us, but as time went on and as the church grew there was a big push by Joseph to open the Church to Ministers (who said they were pastors, preachers, teachers, evangelists) from Nigeria and west Africa. It became painfully obvious unless we could work this out God separation was inevitable. I have seen too many of these so called ministers from Nigeria and Ghana in operation in other churches (both in Africa and Germany), I have seen their source and know their motives and could not allow them to minister in our Church unless we both (Joseph and I) talked with them and we talked together well in advance of the service. Well, this became a wedge that grew between Joseph and I that ultimately ended in us separating ourselves from each other and me and my family going back to the States early. Judgment then separation is the process God is looking for in mature Believers. How could I allow them to minister when their motive and intentions were to make money? And they were good, very good at manipulating people into giving them money. Most religious people are smooth and well spoken, gifted speakers, but they are not broken speakers, the ones God uses. But God does not operate this way, we must have the ability to “try,” to test, and even judge the spirits of men, by the Spirit of God, to know what spirit they are of. Paul commanded Timothy, “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. 22Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” (1 Titus 5:21-22) Never allow someone to pray for you that you do not know. Wait, watch their character, get to know them first, judge what spirit they are of, find out what their source is. If you do not know what spirit they are of you could be opening yourself up to some really bad spiritual things. Remember, either we are filled with the Holy Spirit or we will be filled with some other spirit. What spirit are you of? Written by David Stahl
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