The Spirit of Truth, and the Spirit of Error By Dr. Frederick K.C. Price The following is an excerpt from Dr. Prices book: Testing the Spirits 1 John 4:1-6: 1.Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2.By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3.and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4.You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5.They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6.We are of God. He who knows God hears us, he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Notice, in verse six, ...the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. All truth, relative to knowledge of God, is caused by the Holy Spirit. And all error, relative to the knowledge of God, is caused by what can be called the unholy spirit. The Spirit of Fear For instance, did you know that fear is a spirit? Second Timothy 1:7 informs us, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. The Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind is, of course, the Holy Spirit. If you let the Holy Spirit guide you, you will have a sound mind, and you will have power, because that is what Jesus said you will have. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts when we are born again, and it is by the Spirit that we love. Notice what is also said in that verse: Fear is a spirit. There are some people who are afraid of dogs. If you fear a dog, that means the dog has a greater place in the world economy than you do and that an animal is greater than a person. That is illogical. There are some people who have a fear of heights. Still more have a fear of enclosed places. Others are afraid of flying on airplanes, even though most of them have never flown on an airplane. Actually, these people are generally not afraid of the airplane itself, but of dying in an airplane crash. Satan uses the situations and circumstances of life to attack and dominate us. Because of what these spirits have done to cause people to fear, people are afraid of all kinds of crazy things. When many of these people look logically at what they are afraid of, they realize it is stupid to have that fear, because really there is no sense to it. This is exactly the point. It is not sense — it is spiritual. Fear — or Respect? Many times, we use the word fear when it should not be used. In the majority of cases when we say afraid, we should use the word respect or reverence instead. I respect and reverence fire, but I am not afraid of it. It warms the water and cooks the food in my house. It causes my car to have power so I can drive from one location to another. Therefore, I am not afraid of fire, but I respect it. I have a reverential fear of fire. Reverential fear is the kind of fear the Bible talks about when it mentions the fear of the Lord. You do not play games with Almighty God. But you should not be afraid of Him to the point that you run and hide from Him. We should reverence certain things. If a neighbor of mine has a sign on his fence that says, Beware, vicious dog, I should not be scared of that dog simply because it is a dog, or move out of the neighborhood because a dog is there. However, I should have the good sense not to go into that yard where the dog is, because I have a reverential fear of vicious dogs. Knowing the Spirit of Error 1 John 4:6: ... By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Every Christian ought to know the spirit of error and when he is manifesting himself. How are we to know? By the Word! That is one reason Satan has kept the Word of God out of the average church — kept it out in the sense of keeping individual people from getting a hold of what is really in the Word, what it is really for, and what it really says. As I said earlier in this book, without the Word, we really would have no way to judge whether the Spirit of truth or the spirit of error was manifesting in our midst. We can become so engrossed in a matter that we can forget about the reality of that situation. We do that many times when we watch a movie. After a while, a person can become so wrapped up in the characters that he or she can actually feel sorry for the people on the screen — and the people on the screen are not even people dealing with real situations, but actors impersonating imaginary characters. You cannot go simply by someones performance when it comes to determining whether or not something is of God. Some ministers can put on an Academy-Award-winning performance and people can end up going to hell because they were so convinced by that performance. You had better know the Word for yourself and be able to judge everything by Gods Word. The spirit of error will work through the spoken word just like the Spirit of truth will — but he will twist the Word just far enough out of context to impart a false faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, but false faith also comes by hearing. That is why words and the Word — are so important. Being Observant — With the Help of the Holy Spirit What makes anything that is of the spirit of error so insidious is that it looks like the truth. That is what fools people. You probably have never seen a counterfeit three dollar bill, and probably never will, because there is no such thing as an authentic three dollar bill. The United States government does not print three dollar bills, so there is no reason to counterfeit them. You counterfeit only what is real. Even if we are observant, sometimes it is easy to mistake the counterfeit for the real, simply because we are not perfect. I once worked as a cashier in a market, and one of the other cashiers took a counterfeit $10 bill from a customer because he was not paying too close attention. It looked like a real $10 bill. Even if you are observant, sometimes counterfeit money can look so much like the real thing that you have to have an extremely sharp eye or look at the bill through a magnifying glass to tell the difference. By the same token, Satan will not come at you with some outlandish story. He will come at you with something so close to the truth that it can fool the average person. That person can be someone who goes to a church where they do not teach the Bible. However, it can also be someone who is taught at least part of the Word, but is not filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, he may not have the Greater One living on the inside of him to give him signals as to what is right and what is wrong. Knowing the Spirit of Truth How do we know the Spirit of truth? By being filled with Him. That is how, because He will help us to be observant. By His leading and by the written Word of God, the Holy Spirit can help us decipher whether what is going on around us is, in fact, of the Spirit of truth or of the spirit of error. But if the Holy Spirit does not live in you, how will you be able to tell the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error when something is spiritually manifested? Everyone in error is not a bad person. Many times these people have just been deceived and did not know they were being deceived. I was deceived for years relative to the Holy Spirit and did not know it. I assumed the people I listened to knew what they were talking about. 5 How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit After reading about the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error, you may have realized that you need the Holy Spirit to help you know when something is not of God or when it is. If this is the case, receive the Holy Spirit today — right now. Do not be led astray by anyone. Search the scriptures for the truth of Gods Word. And the truth shall set you free (John 8:32). Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Read Gods Word with a heart ready to receive His revealed truth concerning being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking with other tongues. Specifically, read the Book of Acts, as well as 1 Corinthians, Chapters 12, 13, and 14. 1 know the Lord will reveal Himself and His truth to you in this most important matter. The following are some tips that will help you to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit when you are ready: POINT ONE: The first point, which is absolutely essential as you prepare to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, is that you must have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. John 7:38-39 informs us that the Promise of the Holy Spirit is made only to Believers. By no means should anyone who is not a Believer pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Here are some scriptures you may check to be sure of your salvation: John 1:12 John 5:24 Ephesians 2:8-9 John 3:3, 5 John 6:47 Acts 16:31 John 3:16,18, 36 John 20:31 If you have checked these scriptures and say, I do not know if that is me or not, or No, I know that is not me. I have never received Jesus, here is how simple it is to be saved. Romans 10:9-10 says: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Do you believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead? Have you confessed Jesus as the Lord of your life? If you have not confessed Him, and would like to, pray the following prayer aloud: Dear God, You said in Romans 10:9-10 that, If I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son, and that He was sent into the world to redeem my life. I believe that He died for me, and that He was raised from the dead for my justification. Jesus, be the Lord over my life. I confess You now as my Savior and Lord, and I do believe it with my heart. According to Your Word, I have now become the righteousness of God in Christ, and I am now saved. Thank You, Jesus. Amen. Romans 10:13 says: be saved. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall You have called upon the name of the Lord, so salvation is yours now. The scriptures fisted under POINT ONE now apply to you. Confess them as yours, believe and receive. POINT TWO: After you have read the Book of Acts and 1 Corinthians, Chapters 12-14, let the Word show you that the Holy Spirit is meant for every Believer today. Read the following passages of scripture carefully. Joel 2:28-29 Mark 1:8 Luke 11:9-13 Matthew 3:11 John 1:33 Luke 24:49 Luke 3:16 Mark 16:17 God says that in the last days He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. There is no expiration date or statute of limitation. All who seek the Holy Spirit may find Him. POINT THREE: Remember that the gift of the Holy Spirit is not given as an attainment or reward, based on some supposed degree of holiness, but based alone on the fact that Jesus promised to give Him to every Believer, freely and by grace. Below are some scriptures you may want to check: John 7:38-39 John 14:25-26 John 16:12-14 John 14:16-17 John 15:16 John 16:7 — POINT FOUR: When receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, it helps to be with a group of Spirit-filled Christians who can instruct, encourage and pray with you. Although it is not essential, I personally find it to be a great help for two specific reasons. First, because it is scriptural. Acts 8:17, 9:17, and 19:6 show us how others may help us by the laying on of hands as a point of faith release. Second, because Satan will immediately challenge the Believer as to the authenticity of his experience, it is good to have the witness of Christians who can affirm the authenticity of the experience. POINT FIVE: Now that you are ready to receive, simply pray this prayer of invitation: Father, I believe with all my heart, based on the Scriptures, that the gift of the Holy Spirit is meant for me. just as I have trusted You for my eternal salvation by faith, so now do I trust You, by faith, to give me the fullness of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. I now receive, by faith, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank You in Jesus Name, Amen. POINT SIX: Release the Spirit by praising the Lord in tongues (it will be a language you will not understand) by faith, as the Spirit gives the utterance or language. Remember, the Holy Spirit does not do the speaking, YOU DO! This is what happened to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Why would the Lord deal any differently with you? He is no respecter of persons or denominations. By faith, open your mouth and yield your tongue to the Holy Spirit. Trust Him to give you a language of praise. Initiate syllables with your tongue and lips. Remember, that even when you speak in your own familiar language, unless you open your mouth, give the sound of your voice, and move your tongue and lips, nothing comes out. Often unfamiliar words will flash into your mind. Speak them out in praise to the Lord. The more yielded and believing you become, the more fluent and free your language will become. If at first your language does not flow, do not become discouraged or doubt that you received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The devil may suggest to you that you are making it all up, but do not listen to him. Remember, the devil is a liar and the father of lies. Continue stepping out in faith by yielding your voice to the Lord. POINT SEVEN. Continue to exercise your gift daily. Like an athlete preparing for competition, you must stay in shape by giving your new experience a daily workout. Keep praying and singing in the spirit. If at all possible, seek other Spirit-filled Christians to associate with. And above all, find yourself a Spirit-filled church that is teaching the uncompromising, full-counsel of God. That is the way to grow and stay ahead of the devil. It is important — if you want to be a victorious, overcoming Believer — to not only be filled with the Spirit and be in a Spirit-filled church, but also to study the Word of God daily on your own. That way, the Spirit of God can educate you through the Word of God on the will of God and how He and the spirit of error manifest themselves around you. I cannot emphasize it strongly enough: YOU NEED THE WORD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. Being filled with the Spirit is not the end of all spiritual revelation. It is only the beginning. When you allow the Holy Spirit to lead and teach you, you will not only gain revelation knowledge, but you will have the potential of becoming a powerful and effective witness for Jesus Christ. For this reason, plus all the others I have mentioned in this book, the devil will try to intimidate you, and try to rob you of Gods best. Do not let him do that! Keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith; hold fast to the Word of God, which abides forever, and soon you will be firmly rooted and grounded in this new life in the Spirit. The Word of God says you can overcome every obstacle through Christ Jesus, because the Greater One lives
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:14:48 +0000
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