“Watch out that no one deceives you.” Jesus in Matthew 24:4
We must watch out that not even you deceive yourself. When you hear God (directly or through others, preachers etc) you must test everything. Everything. God commands you to do that. He also commands you to do that with the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Your believing must come from faith that you know that God is speaking.
Let’s consider some scriptures.
“Dear 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.” 1 John 4:1
“Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” Rev 2:2
“Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.” 1 Cor. 14:29
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.”Prov. 14:15
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.” Notice that Peter here warns and guarantees that 1) there will be false teachers among you. 2) They will secretly introduce destructive heresies. This doesn’t mean that they themselves will recognize the gravity of their actions. Notice that even Judas who sold Christ went back in regret and tried to return the money. 3) They will even deny the sovereign Lord who bought them”. Notice that they don’t have to deny Jesus by their words (saying verbally). They will deny Jesus by what they do, by their actions and direction. Remember Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matt 7:21. This calls for great discernment but this must be done in the spirit of humility and meekness.
So don’t believe every man of God or every preacher you here without testing carefully what they say. But this must be done in the spirit of Christ–the spirit of meekness and humility.
“You will know them by their fruits.” Matt 7:16. This was Jesus teaching. So you should not only test the words that you hear people speak but also test their fruits–they way they act. The NLT translation of the Bible translates this verse as “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.”
Every word that is spoken has a spirit behind it. When Peter tried to stop Jesus from dying on the cross, Jesus said: ” Satan, get thee behind me”. Satan is a spirit. The words were spoken by Peter but the Spirit behind the words was Satan’s spirit.
Look at these scriptures.
“Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Cor. 12:13
“Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” 1 John 4:3
Again, note that Spirits don’t go around talking by themselves. Spirits can only talk through people. These scriptures are referring to people and what they say but they focus on the spirits with which these people speak.
People can do even good things with a spirit of rebellion and anger. When even good things are done in such a spirit, they become of the devil and glorify Satan. The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of meekness and humility and only things done in the Spirit of Christ glorify God. The spirit of anger and rebellion are the spirits of Satan.