(ThyBlackMan.com) Today we who call ourselves Believers and Children of God are surrounded by popular teachings absorbed by millions and millions of people. The problem is that too many of us have rationalized these teachings to be correct because we don’t believe that many people can be deceived. But sadly, that is exactly what is happening. And we need to realize that the majority has never clung to the truth. I am well-versed regarding Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholicism, Unity School of Christianity and Mormonism, to name a few. But this article, this time, is not about any of the above. Not this time. This article is a red alert to born-again believers inside the “Christian” church.
THIS ARTICLE MAY BE THE MOST VALUABLE SPIRITUAL ARTICLE YOU READ THIS YEAR
How can so many millions of people be deceived by damnable heresies, false doctrines, doctrines of demons, false teachers, false prophets, fake ministers and what the Bible calls “another gospel”? Easy. But in this article I am going to tell you HOW THE BIBLE SAYS TO TRY A SPIRIT, SPOT FALSE DOCTRINES AND FALSE TEACHERS NOT OF GOD! And God’s Word is doing the judging, not me! So be advised that I am going to say what the Bible says (in context), not my interpretation. Thus if you disagree, realize who you will be disagreeing with.
First millions are deceived because they blindly trust their spiritual or religious leaders instead of fact checking, truth seeking and studying to shew themselves approved. It is both easier and lazy to allow someone to study for you and give you the answers every 
Sunday or at weekly Bible study. But the problem comes in when those leaders are inaccurate or when they have agendas that do not support the agenda of the Messiah. And if you neither know not understand what the scriptures say for yourself, you are likely to fall for the version given to you by deceivers from the pulpit.
Second millions of you are deceived because the doctrine sounds good and it catches what the Bible calls “itching ears” so you are turned unto fables and false doctrines as 11 Timothy 4:3-4 warns us. The doctrine of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life fills the ears and feeds the hearts and minds of “the simple” with materialism, riches and acquiring treasures on Earth in direct violation of Matthew 6:19-20. And many of you are willing to sit under the moneychangers so God can be treated like your personal Santa Claus. You are even willing to pay the false teachers in order to learn the key to what you think is your “blessing”.
This is why people like Kenneth Copeland, T.D. Jakes. Paula White, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Juanita Bynum, Dale Bronner, Joel Olsteen, Marilyn Hickey, Jesse Duplantis, Fred Price and other charlatans have had thriving mega-ministries all these years. And even Joyce Meyer has danced far too close to the flames, yet all the while battling with the integrity of her teachings vs the pull of mammon. Every single one of them is a fake and that can be proven by scripture quite easily – if you know the scriptures and what to look for. Knowing what to look for is complex, but not complicated.
No man (or woman) can serve two Gods and these fakes have chosen to serve the god of mammon. But so many of them are teaching the false doctrines, standing together and using the Bible as a mask that unsuspecting believers dare not call them out.
The third reason many of you are deceived by these fakes is because almost nobody is teaching you how to try a spirit to see if it is of God. And if you are not discovering how to do so for yourself, you are an easy target for deception. I have visited a hundred churches and taught in a hundred more. Yet I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard any teaching on how to try a spirit, how to spot false doctrine or how to spot false teachers.
The Bible tells us what we are supposed to do and it is clear in 1 John 4:1 that we are told to try the spirits to see if they are of God. Any time the Bible tells us to do something, somewhere in the Bible are the instructions on how to do it. Often in the same book? Not necessarily, but in the text from Genesis to Revelations – definitely.
Here are examples of believers who followed the command of 1 John 4:1 and tried the spirits to see if they were of God instead of just blindly believing them? Peter before he got out of the boat and walked across the water (Matthew 14:28), Thomas (John 20:24-28). There are many others but sadly, many of you would have told them to stop judging. Yet all the while they were doing what the Word of God told and taught them to do. What most “Christians” today are unwilling to do.
Neither Christ nor the Apostles nor the Prophets took the soft road. They refused to sit under false doctrine. They identified it (and the false teachers like the Pharisees), exposed it and rejected it. Many of you are willing to sit under false doctrine that paves the way to Hell instead just to keep peace, just to avoid being ostracized and shamefully to avoid speaking the truth. And it is dangerous to compromise on the truth. Very dangerous.
IF YOU CANNOT SPOT A FALSE TEACHER, MAYBE YOU JUST DON’T WANT TO
The Bible makes it crystal clear that we are to know the difference between those who are for and those who are against, the sheep and the goats, the hot and the cold, the sheep and the wolves, false teachers, false ministers, false doctrines and false prophets (like Juanita Bynum). We are to mark them and avoid them, not simply pray for them and keep swallowing their poison (Romans 16:17). And any appearance of peace based on compromising the truth is not peace at all, it is ungodly compromise. The Messiah (Yeshua) said this in Matthew 10: 34-36:
Matthew 10:34-36 King James Version (KJV)
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
The fourth reason many of you are deceived is because your legitimate concerns are shut down or shamed and ostracized by the protective mechanisms of false teachers and their false doctrines. You are told “touch not mine anointed”. But as you will learn in this article, many of those teachers were never God’s anointed (Matthew 7:22-23). They were wolves in sheep’s clothing. They were the thieves of John 10:10 that came to steal, kill and destroy (false ministers in the text). Or you are told “judge not”. But you never realized that it was and is God who has judged these fakes already, not you. And to relay His judgment by exposing them is godly, not you making personal judgments.
The fifth reason is because most of you have no idea how Satan operates. Many of you think he is almost as obvious as a horned monster with a pitchfork. but he is much more subtle, crafty, experienced in scripture and clever than that or he would never have fooled Eve and gotten Adam to fall.
The Bible tells us not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices because if we are, he will take advantage of us (11 Cor. 2:11). You need to realize he will come as an angel of light (11 Cor. 11:14) or rather a messenger of God. He will know and skillfully use the Word of God and likewise his ministers will use good words and eloquent speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple (Romans 16:18).
These false ministers or false prophets can read from the Bible, speak the Word of God or say the name of Jesus without their tongues fall out. These fake ministers present “another gospel”, not simply another doctrine. That means we are being warned the false doctrine in the church will be called the “gospel” but it is actually “another gospel” (Gal. 1:6-12) – a false gospel which is attached to a false Christ (11 Cor. 11:4). This other gospel and other Christ is exactly what the false ministers named in this article are presenting to you. It is a “gospel” of compromise, mammon, materialism, treasures placed on Earth, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, the pride of life and the desired of the flesh through the un-renewed carnal minds of people who want God for what He can give them instead of who He is.
I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU ALL THE WAYS TO TRY A SPIRIT OR SPOT A FAKE BECAUSE I WILL NOT HELP BUILD A CHECKLIST FOR FALSE MINISTERS TO USE TO AVOID SCRUTINY, EXPOSURE AND ACCOUNTABILITY!!! STUDY TO SHEW YOURSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD!!!
Today if a minister speaks well, dresses well, seems to make sense and preaches a comfortable message filled with what you want to hear, most people assume he or she is of God. Not automatically true at all. So now I am going to tell you how to try a spirit and how to spot a false minister, false doctrine, false teacher and/or a false prophet. And though there are many others outside of the church that proclaims to follow Christ as the Messiah, today I am going to address to those inside the “Christian” church. By no means are these all of the ways to try a spirit so hopefully you will find and share other ways.
HOW TO TRY A SPIRIT:
By its fruit (fruit and works are not the same thing). Start with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 because these fruit are always present when the Holy Spirit is present inside a believer. If these fruits are not present, no matter how much the minister speaks about God, the minister is not a believer. As for the fruit of the believer himself, know that a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit – but a bad tree can do good works so you have to discern the difference.
By who is being promoted. God says He shares His glory with nobody outside of the Godhead (or as many of you say, the Trinity).
By the Word of God which is fit for reproof, correction and instruction. Does the minister follow the Word of God or twist it by using his or her own interpretations, commentaries and Bible versions that say what he/she wants it to say?
Beware of the “Try The Spirit By The Spirit” Deception! First of all, people say that but where is it written? Stop repeating sayings or phrases not written in the Bible as if they are. Such a phrase is not anywhere near an interpretation nor understanding of 1 John 4:1. If you suggest to try a spirit by your own spirit, what if your own spirit is inaccurate, inexperienced or flat out biased about what you want to hear and see?
There are counterfeit spirits just as Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. There are demonic spirits that tell you just what you want to hear. Or others that sound like your dearly departed loved ones. There are times when people here from their own personal spirits but assume they heard from God. There are the human spirits of people who wish you well – or not. There is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God who communicates with the believer in various ways from dreams to human vessels to the voice that speaks to your spirit. The matter is complex but not complicated. That is why you must study and learn to identify who is speaking to you.
The Messiah (Yeshua or Yahoshua), in John 10:27 states that His sheep know His voice. But that does not mean His sheep cannot be deceived by other spirits. Adam knew God one on one but he was still deceived. If we could never be deceived there would be no need to try the spirits as we are told to do in 1 John 4:1. If it were that easy, over a billion Catholics would not be so deceived that they follow a man (the pope) disguised as a High Priest when the Bible neither validates the Catholic Church nor any pope as part of the ministry of Christ.
If it were that easy to try the spirits, millions of you would not be chasing your blessings behind false ministers, fake teachers, false doctrines and false prophets who get rich, brainwash you and control your wallet all at the same time. If it were that easy, you would not be paying these fake ministers for their book, CDs and conferences which are simply a mix of their false doctrine and the repackaged Word of God that they do not even own. If it were that easy, those church leaders who claim to be so spiritual would not be dividing churches and sitting under denominations that the Christ never created. Trying the spirits is absolutely essential but not easy – at least until you become skilled in doing so.
If you are saying to try the spirits against the Holy Spirit, that could work but there are several things to consider. What if you are relying on the Holy Spirit but you really don’t know Him? What if you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit (very different from water baptism)? What if you don’t know His methods or modes of communication with you? What if you are more into religion than relationship, thus not being born again so the holy Spirit is not dwelling in you? In many churches today the members may know and hear about the Father and the Son, but they receive very little accurate and in-depth teaching about the Holy Spirit.
In 1 Cor. 12:4-11 we learn of the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit as HE chooses. And while there is a gift of “discerning of spirits”, the teaching on the gifts given by the Holy Spirit does not mean every believer receives every gift. The gift of Discerning of Spirits will tell a believer who has that gift exactly what spirits he or she is dealing with. As long as the gift is being used properly and the believer is listening and willing to stand with what the gift reveals (not his or her own personal bias), the truth will be revealed and the fakes will be exposed to the believer. I suggest you find out if you have that gift and how it works. Odd that most churches never teach their members about this gift. You can guess why.
I could keep going and tell you other ways to try a spirit and spot a fake but I have to stop here. Why? Because I am not supposed to do all of your studying and homework for you. Why? Because I have given you enough for you to continue with your Bible, your Concordance, your Bible dictionary and the Holy Spirit. Why? Because whether you agree or not, I have challenged your thinking, your comfort zone and what you have blindly accepted. And finally, why? Because I am not trying to unwrap a checklist that fakes, false ministers, false teachers and false prophets can use to repair the holes in their deception.
Staff Writer; Trevo Craw
