Accurate Discerning of Spirits
2 Corinthians 11:14 (NKJV) And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
One of the worst things that can happen to us, as believers, is to think we are following God’s spirit and that we are doing everything we are supposed to be doing, only to find out that we are following the wrong spirit… a spirit opposite of God; satan, transformed as an angel of light. This is why accurate discerning of spirits is so important in the life of a believer.
Satan wants to get into our lives and into the body of Christ so badly, he will go to great lengths to use other people to do so. He will use people that are naive, people that are prideful, people that want attention, people that don’t know the truth or Word of God and more.
These people may have good intentions to do the right thing, but because of their lack of knowledge, they are in a very dangerous place. The enemy can play on that and use it to his advantage.They become duped into following a spirit that has disguised itself as the spirit of God.
The disguise of the angel of light looks very, very close to the real thing, but one thing that will expose it is humility (or lack of it). It hates humility. It may appear to be humble and sweet on the outside, but on the inside it is anything but humble or sweet.
Because this spirit does not like humility, it is always all about ME, MYSELF and I. It hides behind FAKE humility. But it will be exposed, the longer we wait and watch.
It is a prideful spirit, and pride likes a pat on the back for everything, and it likes to stick out its chest and say “look at ME and my accomplishments”! If it doesn’t get this it will begin to starve and its true colors will show up.
It will begin to manifest in outbursts or temper tantrums, pouting fits, etc. This will typically happen if the person in whom the spirit is working begins to be told that they can’t do something that they desire to do.
A great example of this would be if a person holds a position in a church. If they are operating under God’s spirit, they will have no problem with taking a break from their position if asked to do so. They might not always fully understand why they’re being asked to take a break, but they will not throw tantrums or cause a huge scene.
A false spirit will create havoc if this happens. They will cry, look for pity, make you feel guilty and a multitude of other things just to try to get their way or to make you feel terrible, all with the hopes that they will ultimately get you to change your mind and not make them take a break.
This is so common nowadays that it can be scary. But remember… greater is He who is in us. God will help us overcome.
(1 John 4:4 NKJV) 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.
Notice that the word “he” is used twice in that verse. He, with a capital H and he with a small h, clearly defining God is the “He” that is in us, vs. the “he” that is in the world.
Let us share a little story with you about some of our own experiences with this false spirit.
We were at a church-related conference. We were enjoying the messages from the various speakers. Each day was a new speaker and we were having fun!
One day we both got this weird feeling when a particular speaker was announced. We just couldn’t sit still through this person’s message. We tried to sit and listen, but we were both very irritated. While we sat there, we asked God, “what is it Lord, why do we feel this way toward this speaker?”
He gave us a vision. There, we saw Jesus up on the platform, where the speaker was speaking; however the speaker was way out in front of Him. Jesus was in the background, not in the forefront where He should have been.
This confirmed why we were feeling awful on the inside. The speaker was not with God. Instead, they had left God behind to teach and promote things that didn’t line up with God’s word. It had hints of scripture interjected into it, so it sounded slightly Biblical, but it was, in fact, very far from the truth of God’s word.
This happens at times when we get ahead of God and move on our own agenda, all supposedly in the name of God. This is not a good thing. We can get so far out there! Not only do we hurt ourselves, but we hurt others that are following us.
This particular speaker may have started out with good intentions but somehow, somewhere along the road they got off track and they lined themselves up with the wrong spirit, transformed as an angel of light.
Sadly, people in this situation will usually keep getting further and further from God’s truth and deeper into doctrinal error because they won’t listen to anyone who tries to help them or correct them. This is a very dangerous place to be.
So how do we keep ourselves from falling into this trap and following the wrong spirit? How do we protect ourselves and guard our hearts, to keep them from being duped and lead down the wrong path, all the while thinking we are following God’s spirit?
We need to ask God for discernment to help us stay on track, so that we will not get caught up with this type of false spirit. And if we know someone that has already aligned themselves with a false spirit and can’t see it, we need to pray that God will help them to see the truth and that His truth will set them free.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie